MJ's Hogwarts Journal Chapter 2

Sunday 1^st September

I woke up, got changed, ate my breakfast and was ready, sat at the bottom of the stairs before anyone else had even climbed out of bed. I double checked my trunk, repacked my things and even skim-read through some if my schoolbooks again. When Mom came down the stairs I raced into the kitchen, poured everyone’s cereal into a bowl and even made Dad a cup of tea. They ate so slowly though, I thought we were going to be late. I had shovelled my cereal into my mouth and shoved my bowl in the kitchen sink ages ago. Viki lay back in her chair and gave a yawn. She rubbed her right eye before tugging at a knot in her hair. “Viki!” I screamed. “Are you doing that on purpose? We’re going to be late.” We had to leave by quarter-to-eight.

“Chill,” sighed Viki. She pushed herself up out of her chair and swiped her breakfast bowl from off the table. “I’ll be ready in a sec’,” she huffed and stormed off. Mom followed her out of the room, still wearing her dressing gown. I sighed watching them go and flopped down in one of the dining room chairs.

Dad sat sprawled out over the kitchen table with a map and two ‘A to Z’s laid out in front of him. “You know how to get to London,” I sighed. “You drove us there before, to Diagon Alley, remember?” I said in a patronising tone – I didn’t mean to. I was just so anxious that we wouldn’t make it in time, it slipped out.

“I know, I know,” he grumbled, slamming his empty cup down against the kitchen counter. “I’m just checking…” Checking for what? To see if the roads mysteriously changed direction and that our maps would also have changed to show the new road route? All he had to do was follow the signposts. It couldn’t be that hard.

After Mom helped me load my trunk into the boot of the car, Dad checked the pressure in his tyres and Viki went back to the toilet twice, we finally got going. I sat, leaning against the window, staring out of the car. Every road sign we passed, I checked to make sure London was marked on it and how many miles left we had to go. ‘London: 120 miles’ was the first sign. I sighed, slouching back in my seat. My hands gripped tight over my journal. My train ticket was still hidden away in the back of the book. There was no way that I was going to lose it.

‘London: 86 miles’ said the next sign. I bashed my forehead against the window and groaned. This may well be the last car journey that I would have to make with my family for almost a whole year, but it didn’t mean that I had to enjoy it. We drove through fields, farms, wooded areas, busy cities and old-fashioned villages. The remaining miles didn’t seem to go down very fast. ‘London: 54½ miles’.

Viki tried to get me to play ‘I Spy’ with her, but I couldn’t concentrate. Besides, on the motorway you drive past everything at such a speed that by the time you’ve even finished the, “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…” chant, you’ve pretty much driven past the thing that you were thinking of anyway.

My stomach began to grumble. I pinched my eyes shut and gripped my tummy tight. Long and boring journeys always made me hungry. I guess I shouldn’t have gotten up and eaten breakfast quite so early. As we approached another roundabout, I gazed out of the window again. ‘London: 37 miles’. Arching my head over Dad’s shoulders I tried to catch a glance at the car’s clock. It was twenty-five-past-nine. Groaning I threw my head back against the seat’s headrest and closed my eyes. We were never going to make it. We were never going to get to King’s Cross in time.

My head lolled on my shoulder. The bumps from the road bashed me into the side of the car. Still I kept my eyes closed and breathed slowly. My left sleeve was pulled. I jerked my arm away – it had to be Viki. She tugged at my t-shirt again. “Stop it!” I snapped throwing her hand off me.

“We’re here,” she sang out. “Look, we’re here.” My eyes shot open. Viki was right; we were there.

After fumbling with my trunk through the station entrance, Viki found me a luggage cart and we loaded my stuff into it. Dad marched us down the station with Mom not far behind him. Viki and I trailed, pushing my luggage cart between us. Luckily, we didn’t have to go far – platforms nine to eleven were at a separate part of the train station. Passing through the walkway I looked up at the sign above. There was an arrow pointing left with a sign saying, ‘To platforms 9b, 10b & 11b,’ and there was an arrow pointing right with a sign that read, ‘To platforms 9a, 10a and 11a.’ “Viki,” I hissed as I elbowed her. “The platform’s not here. The ticket says nine and three-quarters.” Viki gave a snigger.

“Nine and three-quarters,” she laughed. “Come on, there is no such thing.” My feet stopped. What if she was right? I swallowed hard. Staring ahead at all of the people rushing about the platforms my bottom lip began to quiver. There couldn’t possibly be a platform nine and three-quarters, could there? It wasn’t on the sign. No decimal place platforms were. I rubbed my hands up to my eyes and pressed my head on Viki’s shoulder. I felt her arms wrap around me and pat me on the back.

“Come on girls,” Mom shouted over her shoulder at us. “This way, hurry. Follow this girl.” My head shot up. Viki and I both grabbed hold of the cart and ran after Mom. She and Dad were pacing after a family a little way ahead of them. “I heard her say Hogwarts,” Mom called out to me. Me and Viki ran faster. The family ahead were running with their cart too.

“That’s it Pansy,” the mom said to her daughter. “Just run straight at the wall.”

“Straight at the wall?” Viki screeched in my ear. “We’ll crash.”

“Look!” Mom shouted over Viki’s wailing. Viki and I gasped. The girl and her parents ran in to the wall and vanished.

“Where’d they go? Where’d they go?” Viki cried.

“I don’t know!” I exclaimed. My heart raged against my ribcage, trying to break free from its imprisonment. The wall got nearer. We ran faster. Mom shouted for us to run through. “Here it goes,” I muttered to Viki as I tightened my grip on the cart. The wall was an inch from the trolley. I snapped my eyes tight. I held my breath. The luggage cart kept rolling. We moved forwards.

A deep hooting rang in my ear. Thick smoke wafted up my nose and clung to my throat. My eyes shot open. We were here. We made it. We were on the other side. Platform nine and three-quarters. A massive, old, steam train stood in front of us at the platform. It had five huge carriages, each one scarlet with gold lettering, which read: ‘Hogwarts Express’. Thousands of people surrounded us at the platform. Some were draped in cloaks, others in suits; there were Merlin hats, broomsticks, trunks, owls… it was… well amazing. A hand gripped my right shoulder. I gasped and turned around. “Mom,” I breathed. I forgot she was with me.

“Take care dear,” she said as she dragged me into a hug. Her arms pressed against my shoulders and my back. I just stood there. I didn’t know what to do. Mom’s never really hugged me before. Dad ruffled up my hair and patted me on the left shoulder.

“Good luck kiddo,” he muttered. As Mom let me go, I looked up at him and smiled.

“Thanks,” I said with a shrug.

The Hogwarts Express hooted again. Loads of kids began making a run for the train. “You’d better go,” said Mom with a hand curled at her chest. She gave a sniff and I noticed her eyes glisten as she looked at me. Throwing my messenger bag over my shoulder I grabbed the handle on my trunk.

“Don’t forget me,” sang Viki as she threw her arms around my neck. I staggered backwards.

“Watch it!” I warned her.

“Don’t forget me, will you?” she said loosening her grip. Letting a breath flutter out of my nose, I smiled at her.

“How can I forget an annoying sister like you?” I laughed. She smiled back – her eyes too were watering. Gripping one hand on my trunk I gave them a wave.

“You must write,” Viki blurted out as she took a step towards me. “I want to hear everything. Every class, every teacher, every spell… you will promise?” I blinked hard, feeling my eyes sting and a lump appear in my throat.

“I promise,” I replied as the train hooted for a third time. I dragged my trunk to the train and turned back to wave at my parents and Viki one final time.

*

The platform was full of parents, siblings and grandparents all giving their friendly goodbyes and last words of advice. “Oh Neville, not again,” came a sigh from an elderly lady at one of the windows.

“Your wand!” shouted another lady, poking her hand through a window and waving a stick around.

Dragging my trunk down the aisle of the carriage, I peered inside the passing compartments on both my left and right. Most of them were already full. A gaggle of girls sat giggling in the one. Some boys were wrestling with each other in another. Lots of students appeared to be catching up after the summer break or were already deep in conversation. One compartment was so full, people were queuing up outside of it. “Have you seen it?” asked one girl to another who had just managed to push herself out of the crowd and back into the corridor. The girl nodded. “Is it big?” The girl nodded. “Hairy?” The girl nodded again.

“Whoa, Lee,” shouted a boy from within the crowd. “Let us ‘ave a look.” More students started to line up outside. I lowered my head and kept moving.

Most of the compartments on the train were the same. They were all full of friendship groups, talking, laughing and messing about. Everybody seemed to know each other. I bet they all already knew magic too. I bet they all knew spells, tonnes of them. They could probably turn me into a fly the second I walked into their compartment. Then they’d take it in turns trying to squat me. I took in a deep breath and shook my head. Maybe I made the wrong decision. My shoulders drooped as I stared down at the floor. Maybe I shouldn’t have come at all. My palms grew sweaty. They slipped from the handle of my trunk as I tried kicking open the door to the next carriage. The trunk fell. Feeling my cheeks heat up I quickly bent down, swiped my case’s handle and tried to continue down the aisle as though nothing had happened.

The noise lowered as I stepped inside. Moving down the train, I continued examining the compartments as I passed by. The kids here didn’t seem as lively, but the compartments were all still full. The train gave another long toot. “All aboard!” shouted a male voice from outside of the train. Windows thumped as parents banged against them, desperate to wave goodbye to their children. Hissing sounded from above. Steam seeped in through the windows. Metal screeched. A rhythmical clanking vibrated underfoot. The train jolted forwards. I stumbled. Throwing a hand out, I grabbed onto the handle of the nearest compartment. Steadying myself I peered inside. A girl with red hair sat, alone in the corner by the window, reading. I smiled. ‘Maybe I could sit with her,’ I wondered.

Sliding the compartment door open, I knocked against the glass. “Hi,” I blurted out with a big smile as I took a step inside. “Do you mind if I sit in here?” The girl lifted her head from her book and shrugged.

“Okay,” she murmured and went back to reading. Dragging my trunk inside, the compartment door slid closed behind me. I tugged my bag off. over my head and dropped it onto the seat opposite her. Turning back to my trunk I gave a tug. Grunting I bent down, gripped my left hand underneath the trunk and clutched the handle with my right. I hurled it up onto the edge of the table. “Do you need help?” asked the red-haired girl, standing up.

“Yes please,” I muttered. Together we managed to heave my trunk up and onto the luggage rack above. “Thanks,” I breathed as we shoved it inside. I have no idea how she managed to get her trunk up there by herself. I felt my cheeks heat up at the worry of over packing.

Sitting down I curled my hair behind my ear. The girl picked her book back up and flicked open the pages. “I’m Melanie by the way,” I told her, unable to bear being silent for the entire journey. If I didn’t announce who I was soon, it would seem silly, almost impossible, to half an hour into the journey. “Melanie Jade Frost, but I prefer MJ.” The girl pulled her book closer towards herself and forced a smile at me.

“I’m Josie,” she replied, barely moving her lips.

“Are you a First-Year too?” I asked. I had to. Yeah, she looked young and was alone, but that didn’t mean she was a First-Year. She just might look rather young for her age and like being alone. She pinched in her lips and nodded. I smiled back at her, then she returned to reading her book.

I gazed around the compartment. The seats were similar to the ones that you get on a bus, a little like a bench, but with padding. These were a musty looking blue – judging by the possible age of this train (being a steam train) the seating was probably as old as the vehicle itself. There was only enough room for two people to a seat too. The table that sat between us was of a very dark wood. It too wasn’t very long. It lay from the window to the edge of the seats. It wasn’t very wide either – I could easily have reached over to poke Josie on the shoulder, without even stretching. I didn’t, but I could have done. The window to my right looked out onto the backs of old buildings and factories. I guess London is probably a pretty boring place for scenery. Opposite the window was the compartment entrance. The edges were wooden, and the sliding door sat in the centre, with a large window from waist height. It might be possible to fit an extra two people in the room if they stood right by the doorframe, but it would be a very tight squeeze. I guess the compartments had to be small to fit all of the students inside the train. I read that there are over a thousand students at Hogwarts. That means that there has to be over a thousand students on this very train. Thinking about it like that, considering the volume of students, this compartment felt kind of large.

With the view outside being boring buildings, there really wasn’t a lot to look at. I stared ahead at Josie. Her red hair arched around her face and curled at the ends, just below her shoulders. A purple strand of hair peered out between the layers on the right-hand side of her head. It matched her glasses. With her book in her hand, she also held the cuffs to her black jacket tight around her wrists. She must have sensed me looking at her, because she pulled her book up towards her face. I gave a squeal and clasped my hands against the edge of the table. “Is that ‘Peter Pan’?” I gasped. Lowering her book, Josie looked up at me and nodded. Seeing my smile, she held the cover up towards me. “I love ‘Peter Pan’. Who’s your favourite Lost Boy?” Her pale cheeks turned pink as she pinched her lips in and looked back down at her book.

“Slighhtly,” she smiled.

“Mine too!” I gasped. Slotting something between the pages, Josie closed her book. “What’s your favourite part?” Josie gave a shrug, pulling her book closer towards herself. “I just love the interaction between Peter and Hook, don’t you? And the part where Peter is sword fighting with Hook and his crew – that’s my favourite… although I do like it at the beginning when Peter teachers Wendy and her brothers how to fly. You know, I’ve never met anyone who likes Peter Pan before.” Josie giggled. I quickly pinched my mouth shut, feeling my cheeks turn red – I think I’d said too much. I couldn’t help it; I just get so carried away when I’m talking about Peter Pan.

I tapped my nails against the table for a bit whilst Josie went back to reading. Gosh, I wish I had brought a book with me too. I guess I could always have got out my schoolbooks, but I didn’t want anyone to think that I’m some sort of boffin or a show-off. Or even worse – someone might ask me about magic or get me to show them a spell. I couldn’t do that. I could barely even remember the basic history of the school. What was I even doing here? I bet Josie knew loads of magic already. She probably came from a big magical family who’ve all been to Hogwarts and know all of the spells and all of the teachers. ‘Why am I even here?’ I wondered as I leant against the window, shoving my cheek into my fist.

I gave a big, overdramatic sigh. Josie’s eyes fluttered as she glanced over at me, before returning back to her book. Staring at her, my vision caught upon the three bright buttons that were sewn to the collar of her black jacket. One was large and purple, which sat at the wider part of her collar. The other two were smaller – one was green, the other yellow; they sat above the purple, forming a triangle between them. “I like your buttons,” I said pointing at them. “They’re really unusual.”

“Thanks,” she blushed looking up. “I added them myself.”

“Really? That’s so creative. I wish I could do that,” I told her in awe.

“You can,” said Josie with a shrug. “It wasn’t hard. I only used a needle and thread.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “But I can’t use either. I’m rubbish at sewing.” Josie giggled again and I felt my cheeks tingling once more.

“I guess you’re from a wizarding family then,” she said with a smirk. “I read that ordinary none-magic things appear to amaze wizarding families – just as magic amazes none-magic folk.”

“No,” I laughed. “I’m not from a magic family – I just can’t sew.” Josie smiled and then the two of us started laughing together.

The compartment window rattled. We stopped laughing and turned towards the door. A boy with a head full of dark, curly hair was stood in the doorway. Acknowledging us, he nodded his head before sliding open the compartment door. “Can I sit with you girls?” he asked. “Everywhere else is either too loud or full.” I turned to Josie, who shrugged and went back to reading again.

“Sure,” I told him with a smile. “I’m Melanie Jade Frost by the way – MJ for short. And this is Josie,” I announced as he closed the compartment door. Taking off his backpack he dropped it on the floor and slid into the seat beside me.

“I’m Jed,” he said in a deep dialect. “Well Jack actually. Jack Edwards, but people call me Jed.”

“Cool!” I replied with a smile.

The three of us sat in silence for a while. It kind of annoyed me, because I’d just managed to get Josie talking, but I wondered if having a third person in the room would make the journey to Scotland a little more interesting. Not that Josie wasn’t. It’s just that I would definitely have struggled trying to come up with all of the topics to talk to her about by myself for the entire journey.

“Lee Jordan’s going to be a popular dude at Hogwarts this year, you know,” said Jed, trying to start a conversation. “He’s got a tarantula – everyone’s paying to see it. They’re even queuing outside the carriage.”

“A real tarantula,” I gasped. “Is that even allowed?”

 “Probably not,” he replied with a shrug. “I bet one of the professors’ll confiscate it as soon as he steps foot on campus.” I began wondering if that was why I saw a large crowd of kids as I entered the train. I’m sure one of them mentioned the name Lee… come to think of it I wasn’t entirely certain what I had seen or heard. It all went by in a bit of a blur. “I dunno where he got it from though,” Jed went on. “The only place I know that sells things like that is Knockturn Alley, but you’ve gotta be mad – or dodgy, to want to go to a place like that. I bet the Weasley twins put him up to it.”

“What year are you in, then?” I asked. He seemed to already know everyone and spoke as though we should too.

“Oh, I’m only just starting my first year,” he said running a hand through his head of curls. “My cousin, Vince, is in his fifth year ‘nd my dad’s in the Ministry, so I guess I just know a lot of guys already. What about you two?”

“First-Years,” I said answering for the both of us. I was a little worried that I may have offended Josie, but she didn’t seem to be paying our conversation much attention.

Digging his right elbow into the back of the seat, Jed swivelled himself around to face us more. “Arh,” he said as he raised his eyebrows. “So d’you guys have any idea what house you might be in?”

“Houses?” I repeated with a frown, feeling stupid.

“Yeah, yer know – Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw ‘n’ Hufflepuff.” I had read about them, but I still wasn’t sure what they all meant. I could tell Jed knew I was confused. He smiled and leant a little closer as he began to explain, “Gryffindor is the house where all of the brave, daring, big-headed-leaders get sorted into – the Headmaster, Dumbledore, was a Gryffindor when he went to Hogwarts. The logo’s a lion, as in as-brave-as-a-lion and their colours are scarlet and gold. Then there’s Slytherin – they’re full of all the ambitious, cunning and resourceful students, although not all people believe that’s a good thing. Most of the families are all full-blooded witches and wizards; although Dad says he knew a Muggle-born Slytherin when he was at Hogwarts. My old man was in Slytherin – my whole family ‘ave been, so it’s kind of important, really, that I get picked.” He looked down as he said this and fiddled with the buttons on his beige jacket pockets.

“Anyways,” he went on giving his head a shake and looking up at us again. “The Slytherin crescent’s a snake and their colours are green and silver – although some say its green and platinum, but that’s an argument for another time. The next house is Ravenclaw. Everyone who’s in Ravenclaw is highly intelligent and very… well, odd.”

“Odd?” I repeated frowning. I sensed Josie look up from her book as well. “How can a house make you odd?”

“Ya know,” Jed muttered with a shrug. “Odd… they do strange things and think of weird experiments… ya know, that sort of thing.” I couldn’t help but laugh. That wasn’t exactly what I’d read, but it was an interesting way of wording it. And who was I to know, I didn’t know the first thing about magic. I don’t think Josie was very impressed though. I caught her rolling her eyes and she shuffled herself towards the window a little more.

“Ravenclaw’s emblem is an eagle – representing wisdom and their colours are blue and bronze,” said Jed after we had both finished laughing. “And last,” he continued. “Is Hufflepuff. The weakest of all students end out there.” I threw him another frown and Josie shuffled lower into her seat. “All of the wimpy kids get thrown into Hufflepuff. Their house values patients, loyalty and equality, which is really just an excuse for kids with no guts.” I think Jed must have noticed my frown drop and my bottom lip shake a little. “No one wants t’ get stuck in there – trust me.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and swallowed. “Their animal’s a badger an’ its colours are yellow and black. Notice how bronze, silver and gold are left to the other houses, whilst Hufflepuff gets left with charcoal.” I shuddered. These houses sounded just like troublesome hierarchies to me. But then again, I should have realised that even in the wizarding world there are snobby hierarchies after my trip to Diagon Alley.

While Jed slipped off his jacket, I gazed out of the window. The busyness of the city had long passed us by. People’s back gardens and the occasional green open land swept by. I could see from Josie’s reflection in the window that she wasn’t reading anymore. Her eyes just stared in one spot on the page. I bet she was worried about being placed in Hufflepuff – I know I was.

Having heard the scraping of a zip open, followed by rummaging, I turned back around. Jed had his backpack on his lap and had his arm deep inside. “Whatcha lookin’ for?” I asked, wondering if it was going to be some kind of amazing magic related item.

“Just my notebook,” he said as he continued with his rummage. “Arh ha! Found it.” He pulled out an A5 sized, black book, a small, black inkpot and a grey feather quill.

“What’s it for?” I asked him.

Jed shrugged as he replied, “Anything I guess – mostly poems though.”

“Poems. Can I hear one?” I asked eagerly. Jed wrinkled up his nose. “Oh, come on… why’d you get it out if you weren’t going to read us any?” His eyes darted to the table.

“I was gonna write down your names, so I don’t forget ‘em.” I burst out laughing. Jed’s forehead furrowed. I clasped my hand over my mouth – I honestly thought he was joking. I looked over at Josie. She too was trying to conceal a smile, pinching in her lips her cheeks reddened.

“Ha!” laughed Jed. “Gotcha.” My eyes widened as I tilted my head at him. “Made you laugh though, didn’t I?” At this he looked directly at Josie.

“Okay,” she said with a nervous giggle. “Maybe a little.”

Fields of sheep and cows roamed by. Their shapes were no more than blurs of colour as we whizzed past on the Hogwarts Express. My stomach began to rumble. Resting my head against the window, I noticed my cheeks stinging from all the smiling. ‘Wow,’ I thought. ‘I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun.’

A rattling sounded from out in the corridor. Metal chimed against crockery, wrappers rustled, wheels scraped across the crooked floorboards. The rhythmical jangling halted outside our compartment door. A short, plump lady with a perm of grey curly hair (a little similar to Jed’s actually) rapped on the opposite side of our compartment door, before sliding it open. “Anything off the trolley, dears?” Jed shot a hand down his pocket and hummed to himself. Staring past Jed, I looked and the tea-trolley that the lady was pushing. It was stacked with small, pentagon shaped blue boxes with golden swirls, which read ‘Chocolate Frogs’. I gave a shudder – I hoped that they weren’t real frogs covered in chocolate. My eyes wandered over to what looked like a stack of chocolate cupcakes covered with dripping green icing. Beside those were what looked like gummy snakes in a pot and those really long spirally lollypops that you get at the beach with sticks of rock. There were little pastries wrapped up in white napkins, a polystyrene-looking stick stuffed with rosy-red lollypops, small clusters of sweets that looked like penny-chews, a rainbow-coloured tube (that reminded me of ‘Smarties’) and a large jug filled with a thick dark-orange liquid.

“Have you got any pumpkin pasties?” asked Jed as he jumped up.

“Sure do,” said the lady with a smile.

“Could I have one please?” he asked. “Actually, better make that two,” he added as we heard his stomach growl. “I missed breakfast this morning.”

“Sure, sure. Two pumpkin pasties it is. Would you like some pumpkin juice to go with them?”

“Please,” he replied with a nod. Peering his head over his shoulder, Jed asked, “D’you girls want anything?”

“Nah thanks,” I replied. “I’ve got some peanut butter and jam sandwiches in my bag.” I didn’t feel like mentioning that my parents hadn’t exactly given me a lot of wizarding money – I only had what was left over from the day my parents bought my school supplies in Diagon Alley. Jed turned to Josie; she looked up at him and shook her head. A smile crept across his face as he turned back to the lady and her trolley.

“We’ll have a tube of ‘Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’ too, please,” he said.

My eyes widened. I shimmed myself around to face Jed more and waited whilst he handed over his wizarding money to the tea-trolley lady before asking, “What on Earth are ‘Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’?” Jed smirked as he dropped back into his seat beside me.

“You never heard of ‘em?” he asked. I shook my head. The little lady with the trolley called out a, ‘Goodbye,’ to us as she closed our compartment door and continued rattling the trolley down the train. “I guess Muggles don’t have many sweets then.” I didn’t bother questioning him – about the sweets or that he had assumed that I was from a Muggle family. I guess I was being obvious, not knowing about the Hogwarts houses or wizard sweets. “‘Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’ are exactly what they say on the tin… well tube. They’re jellybeans, but they come in every flavour. You can get ordinary flavoured ones like orange, bubble-gum, toast, spinach, chicken-steak pie and marmalade, but then you can get really odd ones like grass, soap, parchment an’ dirt.” I shuddered.

“Dirt? Are you mad?” I exclaimed. Jed laughed.

“Yep, but that’s the fun of it,” said Jed. “You could ‘ave somethin’ really strange in one, but then you could ‘ave your favourite flavour in the next. I’ve even had a cheese an’ onion omelette one once.”

“Wow!” I gasped. “So, you can really get every flavour?” Jed nodded. “So, you mean I could end out with a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich flavoured jellybean?”

“Yep,” said Jed with a nod. “You got that right.”

All this talk about food made my stomach gurgle again. I pulled up the flap of my bag and searched for my sandwiches. “You not having anything, José?” asked Jed. She looked up at him and shook her head.

“I’m fine.” She gave a forceful smile and shot her eyes back down to her book. Jed nudged me with his elbow. Looking over at him, his eyebrows shot up and his brow creased as he poked his head in Josie’s direction. I gave him a shrug, poking the right corner of my mouth up. ‘She’s just shy,’ I told myself. ‘She’ll come around.’

After I had finished my sandwiches and Jed his pastry, he popped open the lid of his tube of sweets. “Anyone want one?” he asked. I turned towards him and smirked. “Come on MJ – you feelin’ brave?” Gripping the edges of my hoodie sleeves I gave a nervous laugh. “Come on,” Jed chuckled. Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

“Okay,” I murmured. He shook the tube a little. A small handful of coloured jellybeans rolled out of the tube and scattered across the table. Sliding the rest of the sweets back inside, Jed returned the lid to the top of the tube. Across the table lay a few pinky-red sweets, a couple of browns, three different shades of green and a purple.

“Careful which ya pick,” Jed warned. “The colour usually matches the flavour.” My fingers hovered over a brown one, but I pulled my hand back and took another glance over the sweets on the table. “My cousin, Vince, had a grey one once – claimed it was pepper flavour.”

“Pepper?” I repeated scrunching up my nose. Josie shuddered. “Well I’m glad there aren’t any greys here,” I told him. My hand returned back to the brown sweet.

“Go on,” Jed said. “See what flavour you get.”

Taking the brown jellybean, I popped it in my mouth and pinched my eyes shut, not wanting to see their reactions if I got a horrible tasting one. “Well…?” asked Jed. Opening my eyes, I gave a little giggle.

“Coffee,” I told them.

“Come José,” said Jed. “You next.” Biting her bottom lip, Josie shook her head. “Aww, come on Josie…” Again, she shook her head.

“No,” she murmured. “I’m okay, thank you.”

“Fine,” he said to her with a smile. “I’ll go next.” Stretching his hand across the table Jed opted for the other brown coloured bean. He dropped it into his mouth and chewed it a while before pulling a bit of a face. “Baked bean,” he said sticking out his tongue and shaking his head. Covering my mouth, I laughed. “Hey,” he whined, “Not funny. Come on, let’s go again.”

Picking up one of the green sweets I asked him, “So are all of your family magic?” Jed opened the tube of sweets back up and poured a few more onto the table. A few more browns scooted out, as well as a yellow one, two white and a grey striped one. Jed pinched a two-tone brown one off the table and chucked it into his mouth.

“Yep,” he replied. “I think so.” A grin stretched across his face. “Yes, chocolate éclair,” he beamed having picked a nice flavoured sweet. I picked up a bright green sweet and sat it on my tongue. “My grandad still writes for ‘The Daily Prophet’.” Seeing my frown, Jed added, “It’s one of the wizarding newspapers. My dad works for the Ministry. He’s one of the advisor’s for using magic; he’s always researchin’ into really old rules and trying t’ get them t’ bring some of ‘em back. He’s quite close to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. And he works closely with the Hogwarts board of governors, which is how I know so many of the other students. My mom used to be a herbologist, along with her sister, but she works as a healer now at ‘Saint Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries’.” Jed and Josie stared laughing as I pulled a face, having eaten my jellybean. “What flavour did ya get?”

“Grass,” I moaned, sticking out my tongue. I watched as Jed picked up a green sweet, so I opted for the grey striped one.

“I think one of my great-uncle’s might be a Squib,” Jed went on, throwing his jellybean into his mouth. “But Dad never speaks of him.”

“What’s a Squib?” I asked watching Jed pull a face.

“Brussel sprout,” he muttered wiping his tongue on the back of his hand. He swiped a white sweet from the pile and chucked it in his mouth. “A Squib’s a person born into a wizarding family, but they don’t have any magic powers. I guess it’s kind of the opposite of being Muggle-born. Arh – coconut.”

Although Josie was too reluctant to try one of ‘Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’, she did perk up a bit watching us try them. She laughed when Jed got soap and I ate a sausage flavoured one. She even joined in with us guessing what some of the flavours might be. While I ate a cheese flavoured bean, Jed turned to me and asked, “So what’s your family like?” My eyes dropped to the table and I twisted my finger around the end of my hair. My stomach felt a little strange. It was like my intestines were trying to knot themselves. My palms dampened. I rubbed my hands down my jeans. I couldn’t figure out whether I felt strange from the sweets, or whether I was just nervous about talking about my family. I gave a shrug, not really having a lot to say as I looked from Josie to Jed.

“Well, I’m Muggle-born,” I said with another shrug. “I never even knew there was such thing as magic before I got the letter from Hogwarts,” I confessed, whilst staring at the table. My throat felt dry. I swallowed and shook my head. Looking up at Jed I said, “I always knew there was something different about me though.” I turned to Josie and smiled. “I guess I just never knew what it was before. I know I’m not going to be the best at magic, but I’m going to give it my best.” Jed rubbed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and forced a smile.

“Being Muggle-born is nothing to be ashamed of,” he told me with a warm smile. “There are loads of Muggle-borns at Hogwarts an’ I bet most a them’ve never heard of the school before either, but you know what? Some of ‘em turn out to be the best witches and wizards in the school.” I gave him a weak smile. “Just don’t go blabberin’ it about,” he warned. “Not all families are as welcomin’ for Muggle-borns as I am. There are some families who believe you don’t belong in Hogwarts, so just be careful who you tell.”

Most of the sweets were now gone. I ended out with bacon, toast, honey, chilli and bubble-gum. Jed got cauliflower, pumpkin, sardine, dog food and banana. Josie was still yet to try one though. “Come on Josie,” I told her. “Just try one. It might not be that bad.” Dragging my hands around the edges of the table, I gathered all of the sweets together in a pile. A selection of different shades of red and a few green remained. “Why don’t we all have a red one each?” I suggested.

“Alright,” Jack said with a nod.

“Okay,” Josie agreed poking her glasses back up her nose, as she smiled at me. I beamed back at her and poked a more creamy-pink coloured sweet in her direction – I couldn’t think of anything that tasted bad that was pale pink in colour. Jed grabbed a dark redy-brown one and I took a bright red one.

“So Josie,” I said as I chewed my jellybean – it was watermelon. “What about your family?” Jed gave a groan. We both frowned and turned to him.

“It’s cinnamon,” he moaned. “I don’t like cinnamon.”

“Strawberries and cream,” Josie said with a giggle. Jed stuck his tongue out at her and folded his arms.

“So,” he said leaning back in his seat. “What’s your family like then?” he asked Josie. The smile faded from Josie’s face. Her shoulders drooped. Her eyes glued to a knot in the wood of the table. She pulled her book towards her chest and bit onto her bottom lip.

The window to the compartment rattled. We spun our heads towards it. Three boys stood on the other side of the compartment door. “Careful,” Jed muttered under his breath, barely moving his lips, before bearing a big grin. Looking at the boys, Jed gave a nod of his head, signalling for them to come in. Opening the door was a pale faced boy with scraped back blond hair. Either side of him towered a large, bulky, dark haired guy. The two looked like bodyguards. Their faces scrunched into a stare. The one on the left was slightly taller and a little thinner than the one on the right – he had a little more hair too. It was dark brown and a little curly, but nothing like the candyfloss cloud on Jed’s head. The other broadly built boy’s head was mostly shaved, except he had a little bit of fringe spiked up. Neither of them said anything. They just stood. Staring. Eyes fixed upon the other boy who had entered the room.

“Jed,” said the pale boy with a smirk, holding out his right hand. Jed got up and shook the boy’s hand. They both patted each other on the back, before Jed dropped back down into his seat. The other boy slid into the seat opposite. Josie twitched her head towards him and shuffled closer to the window and stuck her head in her book.

“Draco,” smiled Jed. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah,” nodded the blond boy. “It’s been a while.”

“Sure has. By the way, this is MJ,” Jed said jerking a thumb in my direction. Curling my hair behind my right ear I smiled at him.

“Hi,” was all I managed to say. I was still too scared of the bodyguards in the doorway to say anything else. The boy gave a sort of smile and nodded his head. My eyes widened as I stared at him. ‘It’s him,’ I realised. It was the boy from that snooty wizarding family who I had spotted several times around Diagon Alley. I felt my throat close up, as I tried to swallow.

“And Josie,” said Jed, as he pointed at her. Josie looked up at the boy and poked a smile out of the corner of her mouth.

“Hi,” he smirked back. “I’m Draco, Draco Malfoy.” He held his hand out towards Josie for her to shake. Her fingers trembled as she hesitated to remove her hand from her book. As she placed her hand in his, I noticed his smile soften. Josie was quick to swipe her hand back though. Then he held his hand out to me.

“Hey,” I said trying my hardest to smile, whilst letting out a nervous breath. His hand was cold, and my spine tingled.

“This is Crabbe,” said Draco nudging his head towards the shorter more rounded boy in the right corner. “And Goyle,” he said rolling his eyes towards the slightly curly haired boy. I glanced over at the two bodyguards, but neither of them budged. Crabbe seemed to grunt at the mention of his name, but Goyle stayed silent. Both boys just stared ahead at their leader, watching the scene unfold at the table.

“Jed, have you heard?” Draco asked. Folding his arms on the table, the blond-haired boy leant closer towards Jed. “My father says that Harry Potter is supposed to be attending Hogwarts with us this year. Have you seen him?”

“No,” gasped Jed. “You mean he’s really here. He’s actually coming to Hogwarts?”

“Yeah,” replied Draco with a grin. “Dad’s on the school’s governing board,” he said to me. “He knows everything that happens at Hogwarts – probably before the Headmaster.” At this he gave a laugh. I snapped my eyes shut as I shuddered again.

Turning to Jed, I nudged him with my elbow. “Who’s Harry Potter?” I asked.

“I guess some families don’t like to talk about him,” said the blond boy simply. “I can’t say I blame them. After You-Know-Who disappeared, I’d hate the Ministry to catch me talking too much about him too.” This he said entirely to Jed – it was almost as if I wasn’t even there.

Placing her book down on the table, Josie looked towards me and said, “I think I know a little about Harry Potter.” She glanced towards Jed, before resting her eyes upon Draco as she said, “I’m not sure if I’ve got it all right, so you’ll have to correct me if I’m wrong.” Jed gave her a smile as she returned her attention to me. Curling her hair behind her ear, Josie stared at a patch of the table in front of me while she explained, “Harry Potter was said to be the only one who stood in the way of the Dark Lord’s path to victory during the Great Wizarding War. However, Harry was only a baby at the time. As the Dark Lord, (known by most now as You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) grew more powerful, he knew that he needed to kill Harry Potter if he were to ever succeed in his plan of overthrowing the Ministry and abolishing all Muggle-born witches and wizards. The Dark Lord murdered anyone who crossed his path or came in his way of getting to young Harry. However, when the Dark Lord tried to kill Harry, he couldn’t. No one knows exactly what happened that night, but the Dark Lord vanished, leaving one-year-old Harry Potter alone and parentless. No one has seen the Dark Lord since.”

Hearing that story made my heart sink. Did I really want to be a witch if this sort of thing went on? Wizards killing other wizards? Full-blooded magic-folk murdering people like me. And why? Because they could? My heart rapped in my chest. I felt my breathing grow heavy. My palms dripped with sweat. I gripped the cuffs of my hoodie tight. The dampness from my hands had already darkened the edges of my blue sleeves.

“Bravo,” said Draco with a grin, as he faced Josie. “Almost impressed.” His grin faded to a scowl as he turned to Jed. “You missed out the part about You-Know-Who’s followers, the Death Eaters, and how he placed those who refused to serve him under the Imperius Curse – one of the three Unforgivable Curses, to force them to carry out his bidding. And that You-Know-Who was only trying to do the right thing by purifying the wizarding blood line.” He spoke the last with a smirk.

“Malfoy,” Jed growled. Anger filled is face as his eyebrows daggered down. His nose snarled as he spoke to the boy opposite through gritted teeth. “Don’t say that. You know all that pure-blood nonsense isn’t true. You don’t have to say everything your father tells you.” Jed leant back and raised an eyebrow at the pale boy, whose face reddened. Draco’s bodyguards took a step closer. The round boy pounded his right fist into this left hand. The other just took a towering step forward. With his head down, Draco glanced over at me and then Josie, before locking eyes with Jed.

“Okay,” he mumbled with a shrug. He muttered something under his breath, which I think was supposed to be an apology; but he could have said anything, really. Jed seemed to believe him though; his cold stare softened.

Jed jabbed his elbow into the back of the seat again, twisting himself around to face us more. I personally think that he was just trying to block out the view of Blondie’s hitmen. “Want one?” asked Jed, pointing to the remaining few ‘Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’ that still lay in the centre of the table. I swung my head around to Jed with a frown. They were just at each other’s throats and now he was being nice. What was with them?

“Nah thanks,” replied Draco holding up a hand.

“Oh, go on,” Jed sighed rolling his eyes. Draco shook his head. “Whatta ya afraid of, Malfoy?”

“Nothing,” said Draco with a shrug. “It’s just there’s only green and red left. I don’t wanna end up with a bogey flavoured one, or ketchup.”

“What’s wrong with ketchup?” I asked. It seemed a rather odd flavour to protest against when placing it in the same sentence as ‘bogey flavour’. Draco shuddered.

“Yuck!” he exclaimed. “I hate the stuff.”

“Come on, man,” said Jed with a smirk. “Even Josie’s tried one. Man up.” I watched as his pale cheeks turned a deep pink. He glared at Jed, before shifting his eyes towards Josie. Puffing out a breath of air from the corner of his mouth, Draco straightened his back and reached out for a pinkish-red jellybean.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll take one, but you have to too,” he said to Jed, who with a smirk agreed to the challenge, scooping a dark green sweet off the table. Jed clasped a hand to his mouth.

“Yuck,” he spat the sweet out and stuffed it in one of his pockets. “Pickled cabbage – disgusting.” I caught Josie giggling behind her hand. I smiled too – it was quite funny. Draco smirked. “Alright,” grumbled Jed as he scrunched his face up. “What flavour did you get?”

“Strawberry ice-cream,” Draco replied with a smug grin. “Aye – sorry mate. Told you I don’t like those sweets.”

I think the sweets worked. If Jed was trying to share them with Draco as a sort of peace offering, it totally worked. Boys seem to be so simple to sort out. Just give them food and their temper washes away – I’ll have to try and remember that. The other boy’s snobby attitude slid a little and neither of them lost their temper with one another again. Draco almost looked cute when he sported a more genuine smile – okay, I said almost. Part of me began to wonder whether the sudden change in the blond boy’s behaviour was due to the company. Jed may have snapped at him for mentioning removing Muggle-born magic-folk from the wizarding world, but he gave no indication as to who in the room he was likely to offend. I wondered whether this more pleasant personality was just a front until he could expose who the Muggle-born was. I could be wrong, but it seemed a logical theory at the time.

Josie had returned to reading – I can’t say that I blame her. But she did look up several times during the conversation. Sometimes she joined in with me laughing at Jed and other times I caught her curling a piece of hair behind her ear whilst listening to Draco talk. Fanning the corner of her book’s pages with her thumb, Josie looked from Draco to Jed, while the boys discussed wands. “Go on then,” said Draco with a jerk of his head. “Show us.” Picking his jacket up from under the table, Jed dove his hand into the inner pocket and pulled out a long, sandy-brown stick.

“Twelve and three-quarter inches long and made of ash wood,” explained Jed and he held his wand out for Draco to see. “It’s got a dragon’s heartstring as its core and’s ‘rather ridged’ accordin’ to Ollivander. What d’you think?”

“Nice,” said Draco nodding his head as he examined Jed’s wand. “It’s pretty long, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” said Jed with a shrug. Jed placed his wand on the table between us. Looking down at it a smile crept into the corner of my mouth. His wand looked similar to mine. His had more random, rounded engravings in it though, compared to mine.

Seemingly impressed with his own wand, Jed challenged Draco to reveal his. Opening up his black jacket, Draco pulled out his own stick. His was much shorter than Jed’s and a lot plainer too. Actually, from a distance it almost looked plastic. “Ten inches long and made of hawthorn. It’s got a unicorn hair core and is reasonably springy,” beamed Draco as he held his wand out with both hands between his index finger and his thumb. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Josie’s head twitch up from her book and towards the conversation. I turned to her and smiled. She smiled back and leant forwards, tilting her head towards Draco.

“Isn’t a hawthorn wand supposed to be really difficult to master?” she asked him. “Mister Ollivander told me only exceptionally talented wizards can use them… and even they’re known to have problems.” Turning to Josie, Draco leant back. Placing his wand down on the table he gave her a slight smile.

“The wand’s been fine for me so far,” he told her. “It chose me within an instant. It’s like we were meant to be.” Josie’s eyes shot down to the table. Reaching a hand behind her head she scratched the back of her neck, turning herself away from the blond boy and went back to her book.

My eyes lay fixed on the table, staring at both of the wands. They were very different from one another. Apart from Jed’s being a lot longer, they were both of different colours and shapes. While Jed’s looked very much like an ordinary twig and was wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, Draco’s was the same thickness at both ends. His was also coloured a slightly darker brown towards one end and was ringed at the ridge where the colours changed.

Jed tapped me on the arm. I flinched. “Sorry,” I said shaking my head. “I was miles away.”

“It’s okay MJ,” he said with a smile. “What about your wand?” I felt my cheeks tingle as all eyes fell upon me. I bit the edge of my bottom lip as I pulled open the flap of my messenger bag. The spiralling returned to my stomach. What if there was something wrong with it? Or something bad? This was the most important and most special thing in the entire world to me. I couldn’t have them make fun of it. Okay, I trusted Josie not to… and maybe Jed, but not Draco and his cronies.

I swallowed as I gripped the handle. My tongue scraped against the roof of my mouth. “Here,” I mumbled, holding my wand up in front of me. Jed let out a whistle.

“That’s almost gotta be as long as mine,” said Jed, holding his wand alongside it in comparison.

“Not quite,” I told him. My heart drummed at my chest. “It’s twelve and a half inches long, slightly springy and made of cedar wood. It has a unicorn tail hair as its core too.” Draco seemed to nod in approval – although it was possibly just because our wands shared the same core. A smile spread across my face. Finally, I managed to say something knowledgeable that nobody else knew but me. It may have just been about my wand, but at least it made me look a smidge intelligent. “It took Mister Ollivander three attempts to help me find the right wand,” I told them. “The first was barely in my hands a second before he whipped it away.”

“Yeah,” said Jed with a smile. “He’s always like that. He can change his mind so often. Too often,” he added with a laugh. “It took my cousin, Vince, seven attempts to get his wand right. Mister Ollivander nearly had to close up shop it took that long.” I smiled at him.

“Mister Ollivander told me that my wand was supposed to show strength and loyalty,” I said as I looked down at it, twisting it in my hand. I noticed a knot in the wood near the centre that kind of placed my wand’s point at an angle. It made me smirk – I hadn’t seen one do that yet. Maybe mine was extra unique. “I’m not quite sure what he meant though…”

“It’s kind of like a fate,” Draco began. “Or a destiny. To a certain degree your path is already chosen. You just have to decide which are the right turns to take along the way. The wand kind of senses that, which is why the wand picks the master and not the other way around.” My eyes widened and I found myself genuinely smiling at him. That was pretty interesting. ‘Having my destiny already written out for me is a little creepy,’ I thought. But knowing that me and my wand are in control of it made my stomach tingle with a thousand fireworks.

Josie had been gazing at Draco throughout his little wand-destiny speech too. Although I’m not quite sure she was as impressed as me. Her smile was softer – barely a line creased her face. Draco caught her staring and turned towards her. “What about your wand?” he asked her. “Can we take a look?” Josie nodded and pulled open the flap of her black and white spotted bag that sat beside her. As she put her hand into her bag, I lifted my head higher, trying to peer inside and sneak the first glance.

“Here,” she squeaked holding her wand in front of her. Its wood was a great deal darker than mine. It was almost black. There was a fine detailed, intricate, spiralled pattern engraved into the wood as well. As she twisted it in her hands, I noticed a winding leaf design uncoiling from the handle to the tip. “Mine’s ten inches long, is made of ebony and has a phoenix feather as its core,” she said as she glanced up at me. “Oh,” she added. “And it’s slightly swishy.”

“Impressive,” said Jed with a nod. Josie’s cheeks turned pink as she smiled at him.

“Yeah,” agreed Draco. “Very. Ebony wood and a phoenix feather are an extremely rare combination.” Josie’s blush grew a deeper pink as she turned to Draco. “Very impressive. Nice length too,” he added, swiping his wand off the table and placing it back inside his inner jacket pocket. I’m sure he was just jealous that mine and Jed’s were longer than his. You know, thinking about it, I’m sure I read somewhere that wands tend represent your height. So, if you’re going to be tall, you’ll end out with a really long wand, but if you’re going to be short your wand will reflect that. I’m not quite sure how that works for Blondie, here, though. He already seemed tall. I’m sure there was something to do with wand length being influenced by a person’s conflicting characteristics – but it was a little complicated for me to comprehend. Maybe after I understand magic a little better, I’ll go back and try and find it.

After the little wand analogy, Jed began scribbling away with his inkpot and quill in his notebook. I tried stretching my neck up to see if I could peer over his shoulder and read what he was writing, but the glares from the two round bodyguards made me squirm back into the corner. Josie rested her head against the window and gazed outside. Tilting my head towards her I tried to gain her attention, but she seemed too engrossed in the scenery to even blink. Draco had got up and was muttering something to his two beefy accomplices. The shorter, chubbier boy crept his head over Draco’s shoulder to look at me. Catching me glaring back at him he ducked his head and mumbled something in Draco’s ear. As he replied, the other boy lifted his head and glanced at Josie, before returning his attention back to Malfoy and sniggered. I felt a shudder creep its way up my spine. I shook my head a little and sat up straight. Gripping my nails into the seat, I kept a stern eye on the three boys in the corner. They were up to something, I could tell. I just couldn’t figure out what it was.

Sliding back into the seat beside Josie, Blondie had a rather smug grin on his face. I flickered my eyes towards his bodyguards and they too had smirks splattered across their faces. Leaning back, he hooked his left arm across the back of the seat, behind Josie. “So,” he said. Both Jed and Josie turned towards him. Folding my arms, I glared at him. “Have you guys talked houses?” asked Malfoy as his eyebrows rose slightly. Jed closed his notebook, keeping his quill in the page.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, folding his arms onto the table, Jed leant closer towards Malfoy. “I just pray I’m not in Hufflepuff”

“I know,” Malfoy agreed and leaned towards the table.

“My father’s coutin’ on me to be in Slytherin,” Jed confessed, gripping his upper arms tight. The sleeves of his t-shirt creased under the pressure of his fingers. “Although I don’t suppose Ravenclaw would be too awful,” he added rolling his eyes.

“I know,” Malfoy replied and leant back again, poking his left elbow into the back of the seat. “I’d rather go home than have my parents know I was sorted into Hufflepuff. I guess I’d have to come up with some excuse that I didn’t like the school – shouldn’t be hard,” he sneered. “My father wanted to send me to Durmstrang Institute, in northern Europe, but my mother didn’t want me being too far from home.” Josie turned to him with a smile. His confession did seem kind of amusing especially considering he walked around with two bodyguards and was trying to make himself appear far more superior than everyone else.

“I heard,” Jed said. Talking about the Hogwarts houses again seemed to make Jed nervous. Puffing out a breath, he ran a hand through his hair. I guess this whole houses thing is taken really seriously amongst wizarding families.

Looking first at me, then at Josie, Blondie jabbed his elbow into the back off the seat and gripped his left wrist with his right hand. I tried to soften my glare a little, only to prevent him from getting angry with me or asking too many questions. “Well then girls,” he said as he looked at both of us. “What about you?” There was a knock on the compartment glass. Malfoy’s guards stepped aside, and the door was slid open. A short girl with long, bushy, sandy-brown hair stepped inside. She was already wearing her school robes. Behind her hovered a round-faced boy whose front teeth stuck out as his bottom lip quivered.

“Excuse me,” said the girl. “My name’s Hermione Granger and this here is Neville Longbottom,” she announced rather proudly. “We’re making our way down the train asking if anyone has found a toad. Neville’s lost his.”

“That’s our cue outta here, boys,” said Malfoy as he gave a nod towards the two at the door and slid out of his seat. Turning back towards us, he gave another nod to Jed. “Catch you later.” Pushing past the girl, Malfoy scooted out of the room with his bodyguards in tow.

“Sorry,” said Jed with a shrug to the girl. “We haven’t seen one.”

“Never mind,” replied the girl with a sigh. “Come on Neville; let’s ask in the next compartment.” As she turned to leave, the quivering boy forced a smile at us and held up his right hand as a sort of wave before following the girl back out, tugging the compartment door closed behind him.

Not too long after the two looking for the lost toad left, the sky grew darker. Jed suggested that we changed into our school robes. “We should be at Hogsmeade soon,” he told us.

“Hogsmeade?” I repeated. “Doesn’t the train stop at Hogwarts?”

“Nope,” said Jed with a smile. “We stop at Hogsmeade; it’s a small village not too far from the school. Hogwarts is hidden, ya see, so that no one can ever find it – apart from the teachers, that is. A couple of them are sent to meet us at the station t’ take us to the school. But it’s so dark when we get there that we’ve got no idea where we’re goin’.”

The three of us sat in silence for the remainder of the journey. As I watched the scenery pass by, fog clouded the windows. The sun had long set and the darkness crept in. “We will be reaching Hogsmeade station in five minutes’ time,” echoed a voice down the train. “Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately.” Slipping his wand into his inner robe pocket, Jed rose from his seat.

“Come on,” he said as he stepped towards the compartment door. Grabbing my wand, I did the same and followed after him with Josie not far behind.

Feet stomped down the train. Voices loudened as we made our way out of the compartment and towards the train door. Muffled talkings of self-drawn-carriages and feasts fluttered in and out amongst the ramblings. Metal screeched. We jolted to a halt. I gripped my hand against the wall to steady myself from nearly bumping into a tall, blond haired boy who wore a blue tie in front. With a steaming hiss, the doors parted. Elbows and shoulders barged into me as the stampede of students raced out of the train.

Stepping out onto the platform edge, an icy chill nipped at my face. I wrapped my arms around myself pulling my robes tight. I let out a breath. A small cloud poofed out in front of me, before dancing about into the night. My arms shivered. I guess I should have expected the drop in temperature – it was night and I had just travelled the majority of the way north of the map.

My right arm throbbed as I got thrown to the side. Bodies moshed in all directions. Wafts of black blurred my vision. I spun around. Jed and Josie were gone. I gripped a hand to my chest and began stretching my head over the elbows, shoulders and heads. “Firs’-Years!” bellowed a male voice. His roaring tingled through my ears. “Firs’-Years,” he repeated. “Over here! C’mon, follow me – any more Firs’-Years?” I strained my neck more, trying to locate the voice through the crowd. My eyes widened. It was him. Towering over everyone was the giant that I had seen in Diagon Alley outside of ‘Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasion’. Standing way over everyone else to the far-left hand side of the platform, seeing him up close now, he had to be over eight foot tall – probably higher. “Firs’-Years, follow me,” he said as a small crowd began to build around him. “Firs’-Years follow me!” As he spoke his long, fuzzy beard bounced against his chest. He waved over his shoulder announcing, “Mind yer step, now!”

With all of us apparent First-Years surrounding him, he led us away from the crowd of all of the other students. While the rest of the school went right along the platform we walked left. Leaving the path, the giant led us down a steep, muddy trail. Along the way, he introduced himself as, Hagrid. He said that he was the gamekeeper and the keeper of keys. I had no idea that he was a member of staff at the school when I saw him back in Diagon Alley. I don’t think Mom would be far too happy – she was the one who warned us away from him.

The forested area dimmed whatever light there was left to the day. Fumbling in the dark, my feet skidded. I grabbed out for a tree. My shoes jarred against the edge of a tree root as I regained my balance. Someone skidded into me from behind. I shot my head over my shoulder. It was the boy from earlier, who had lost his toad. He sniffed and mumbled an apology. I nodded and let him carry on following close behind.

The walk continued in silence, until the forest of trees began to thin. “Yeh’ll get the firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec’,” said Hagrid over his shoulder to us. “Jus’ ‘round this bend here.” Clambering through a gap in the trees, the narrow path that we had been following opened up into a clearing. In front of us lay a huge black lake – okay so it only looked black in the night light. I imagine it was more of a murky bluey-green. Over the other side of the lake, on top of huge cliff, stood a castle. There were a chorus of, “Oooow,” and “Arrrh,” as well as many gasps and whispers. I didn’t need an introduction. I knew that was Hogwarts. There were so many turrets and thousands of glowing windows. A huge flag was flapping at the top of the tallest tower.

“Wow!” I breathed. Viki would be so jealous.

“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called. I looked down at the edge of the shore. There were lots of small row boats (well I’m going to assume they were row boats), but none of them had any oars. “Everyone in,” he shouted, clambering into a boat for himself. It dipped a great deal in to the water – I’m surprised with how big he is that the boat actually stayed afloat. Jed waved Josie and me over to one of the boats and we quickly went over to join him. As everyone grouped off a small pale faced girl with her hair in an immense dark brown bob joined us in the back of our boat. She gave me a glare, folded her arms and crossed one leg over her knee. “Come on, ‘urry it up,” called the giant. “We ‘aven’t got all evenin’.” I turned to Josie. She hadn’t got in yet. She stood by the edge of the boat staring into the water.

“José…” I called out. “Josie, are you okay?” Holding a hand to her mouth, she looked up at me. Her eyes widened and she frowned at me as she took a step back. Hagrid called again for everyone to hurry up. “Come on,” I said softly, holding out my hand. “It’ll be okay… I promise.” I couldn’t say that I knew what was going to happen, but I had to try and help her. Her hand edged towards mine, but as Hagrid turned towards us and cleared his throat with a deafening cough, she snapped it back. “Please Josie,” I whispered to her. “You can do it. I know you can.” I heard the giant give a sigh beside me as I refused to break eye contact with her – I guess giants don’t like waiting. I watched as Josie’s eyes flickered towards him before turning back to the water. Closing her eyes, she took in a breath, before returning her sight to me. She edged her hand forwards. I took it. “I’ve got you, Josie,” I told her, as I led her into the boat. “It’s okay.”

With Josie now sat beside me, squeezing the blood circulation from my arm, Hagrid stood up in his boat and shouted, “Right then – forward!” the boats then started to drift across the lake all by themselves. The journey was a short and silent one. No one said a peep as the castle grew ever closer. We didn’t sail around the edge of the land like I thought we would though. Instead we were aimed directly for the cliff side. “Heads down,” yelled the giant as we drifted closer towards the cliff side. The rock face was covered in crawling ivy. Holding a hand in front of his face, Hagrid appeared to lift the ivy covered cliff face up like a curtain and we glided through. “Oy, you there!” shouted Hagrid pointing at the quivering toadless boy. Neville sat up straight, wide eyed and alert. “Is this your toad?” In the palm of his hand, the giant held a small, round, khaki-coloured toad.

“Trevor!” cried Neville.

The boats soon docked themselves at the edge of a stone path where the water ended inside the cliff-cave. Hagrid got us all to follow him as he clambered up a steep slope. As the slope levelled out, we found ourselves back outside again and walking through long, wet grass. The castle loomed over us. In the dark, its menacing shadows actually made the castle look like something out of a 1950s horror movie. “Not much further now,” he warned us as we headed up the castle’s stone steps. Having made it to the top before us, because he could take the stairs three at a time, Hagrid waited until all of us were stood outside the huge, double, oak doors before he raised his hand to the knocker and banged it three times.

The door swung open. A tall, thin lady with dark grey hair and emerald-green robes stood before us. “The Firs’-Years, Professor McGonagall,” said the giant, bowing low.

“Thank you, Hagrid,” replied Professor McGonagall with a stern nod. “I will take them from here.” Hagrid rose from his bow and took a step to the side, allowing us to pass him. “Follow me,” she ordered at us. Following her march, we entered through the castle doors. The ceiling was so high and a huge chandelier full of candles wavered above us – just like the shops in Diagon Alley (I’m starting to think that my theory of the wizarding world not using any form of electricity is true). Walking past a set of grand double doors, we could hear voices – lots of them, on the other side. A deep, male voice bellowed for silence and room died down in an instant. ‘That must be where the rest of the school are,’ I realised.

Following the female professor, we turned down a corridor that seemed to lead all the way along the side of the room where I heard everyone talking. At the end of the corridor was a small, black door. Opening the door, she ducked, making sure not to bump her pointed witch’s hat on the doorframe. We followed her. As we all crowded inside, I arched my head at the room around us. Apart from a candle lit on either side of the wall, we stood in darkness. When the last student filed into the room and closed the door behind themselves, there was barely any room to move. I felt like we were sardines crammed in a room, just waiting for someone to open the room up and tip us all out. A foot stomped on my toe. I seeped a breath and turned to my left. It was Jed. “Sorry,” he whispered. I turned the corner of my mouth up into a smile and shrugged. If anyone were going to step on my toe in this cramped space, I’d rather it be someone I know. I looked around for Josie, but I couldn’t see her.

After asking for silence, Professor McGonagall welcomed us all to Hogwarts and introduced herself as the school’s Deputy Headmistress. She then went on to explain the Hogwarts houses, as Jed had done for me earlier; however, she made them sound a little more extreme in terms of their importance. ‘One must eat, sleep, breath, think and learn in one’s house,’ was pretty much how she worded it. Depending on what house we would be sorted into, these would be the people that we would be sharing our classes with, our mealtimes with and our dormitories with for the next seven years. My palms began to sweat. I wiped my hands down my robes and swallowed. Professor McGonagall then went on to explain that in order to be sorted into our house, we needed to try on a hat. She then disappeared through another small door behind where she had been standing only to reappear moments later. “They are ready for you,” she said as she returned. “Now come on quickly. Chop, chop. Now don’t forget, wait for your name to be called alphabetically and step up.”

We followed her through the tiny doorway and into the next room. As I stepped through, thousands of eyes stared back at me. I balled my hands into fists and pressed my arms into my sides. I gave a shaky breath as I followed the line of students and stood near the side of the room next to Jed. Four long tables spread out across the room. On each of the tables, the students wore different coloured ties. The first table nearest the entrance wore green, the next blue, then red and on the far side, yellow. Not wanting to see all of the students staring back at me, I shot my eyes up to the ceiling. I gasped. It was a dark purple-blue and was full of shining stars. “Wow,” I breathed. A cloud appeared to brush by, and a crescent moon shone through.

“It’s not really the sky,” whispered Jed, holding a hand across his mouth as he leant towards me. I turned to him with a frown. “It’s bewitched to imitate what the sky looks like outside.” I gave a nod and looked back up at the sky-ceiling.

Jed nudged me. I turned to him and he poked his finger in the direction of a pointed, Merlin-like, black hat on a stool in front of the table full of teachers. It was heavily creased, and its point leant to one side. Then it moved. Two of the creases near the top appeared to blink, like eyes. Then the crease near the hat’s brim began to move too – it arched up in the corners, almost like a mouth. But then, it spoke:

“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,

But don’t judge on what you see,

I’ll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There’s nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can’t see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you’ve a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You’ll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don’t be afraid

And don’t get in a flap!

You’re in safe hands (though I have none)

For I’m a Thinking Cap!”

I let out a breath – I hadn’t realised that I was holding it. A few other First-Years gasped too. The entire hall broke into applause as the Sorting Hat finished his little song.

Professor McGonagall took a step forwards, beside the Sorting Hat and stool. She unrolled the parchment in her hands and ordered for each student to step up to the stool and try the hat on once their name was called. My intestines knotted and my stomach spiralled. Trying on the hat in front of everyone and it sorting you into your house in front of the entire school and it can read everything in your mind – well at least that’s what I’m assuming, ‘There’s nothing hidden in your head the Sorting Hat can’t see,’ means.

“Abbott, Hannah,” called Professor McGonagall as she looked down her nose at the paper. A pink-faced girl with blonde hair in pigtails fumbled forwards. Professor McGonagall grabbed the hat by the tip. Hannah sat on the stool and the Deputy Headmistress dropped the hat onto the girl’s head. It dropped down way over her eyes.

The hat’s mouth moved, as it appeared to hum to itself, before shouting out, “Hufflepuff!” As Professor McGonagall pulled the hat off Hannah’s head, the table on the far end of the room broke into cheer and applause, as the girl went over to join them.

The next student was call: “Bones, Susan.” She ended out being in Hufflepuff as well. My stomach winced. I gripped my arms around it. The first two names to be called were in Hufflepuff and both Jed and Blondie had said how that was the worst house to be sorted into. What if more people than usual were sorted into Hufflepuff? What if, this year, everyone was sorted into Hufflepuff? Glancing over at Hannah and Susan, they didn’t seem to mind. I wish I didn’t care, like them. I wanted to be in a cool house, surrounded by people who’d defend me, not join in with the jeers and taunts. Is that too much to ask?

The next two were boys. They got sorted into Ravenclaw. A Gryffindor. A Slytherin. This was starting to look a little bit more equal. A Hufflepuff. “Edwards, Jack,” announced the professor. Jed turned to me.

“Good luck,” I whispered. Making his way through the path of First-Year students, Blondie patted Jed on the back. As he perched on the edge of the stool, Professor McGonagall dropped the hat on his head.

It gave a little hum before shouting out, “Slytherin.” When the Professor McGonagall removed the hat from Jed, his face broke into a big smile as the Slytherin table broke into a round of applause. One boy stood up and called out Jed’s name as he clapped – I guessed that was his cousin.

I pulled the sleeves of my robes tighter around my hands as my name drew nearer. Another Hufflepuff. A Gryffindor. “Frost, Melanie Jade.” My heart stopped. Then it drummed louder. Louder. Everyone was staring at me. My eyes widened. I shuffled my feet forwards towards the stool and sat down. The hat covered my eyes. I was glad. It meant that I couldn’t see everyone’s face staring back at me.

“Hmm,” said a deep, male voice at my ear. “A tricky one. You definitely don’t want to be in Hufflepuff, do you?” The drum inside of me beat louder. Faster. Who was this voice? Was it the hat? I think it was. But could everyone hear him talking? He didn’t speak for anyone else. “You know MJ,” the voice went on. “You could do well in Ravenclaw… you have a very bright mind… but would you be happy, hmmm? There’s something odd about this one… very odd indeed. Not a bad one, definitely not, but great potential, yes. Great potential. You could do great things MJ. Very great. Well, it will have to be: Slytherin!”

As the hat was lifted off my head, I saw the Slytherin table break into cheers and applause. My cheeks stung, as I felt them turn pink. Joining the table, many of the older students reached over and shook my hand as I sat down next to Jed. He was smiling at me and patted me on the back. A male and female student, wearing a large ‘P’ badge next to their tie, came over to me and congratulated me. I don’t quite understand how someone can be congratulated for just trying on a hat, but oh well.

The table in front of me was laid with empty plates, bowls, cups, goblets, trays, unused knives, forks and spoons. Glancing down at them my stomach gurgled. Holding a hand to my stomach I looked up. I don’t think anyone noticed my grumbling tummy. I guess I’d been so worried about what house I was going to be put in that I hadn’t realised how hungry I was. Those peanut butter and jam sandwiches were hours ago.

I turned back to the front of the hall. A few more students had been sorted since me. The girl and boy looking for the lost toad got sorted into Gryffindor. There were a couple more people at the Hufflepuff table too. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle – Malfoy’s bodyguards, had both been made Slytherins and sat on the opposite side of the table to Jed and me. Another boy became a member of the Gryffindor house too.

“Malfoy, Draco,” announced Professor McGonagall. Weaving his way in and out of the remaining students, Blondie made his way to the front. Sitting on the stool he looked kind of worried as the professor dropped the hat on his head.

“Slytherin,” the hat screamed immediately. With a big smirk on his face, Blondie came over to join us. Goyle slid along a little and Malfoy sat between him and Crabbe.

Soon after, Josie was called. She got sorted into Ravenclaw. Her table is the one right next to ours, so I was able to see her. I tried to wave to her, but I don’t think she noticed me. She sat a little away from the others by herself, but another student – the tall, blond guy that I nearly bumped into on the train, went and sat next to her. I think that the table after Josie’s belongs to Gryffindor and the one on the far side is where the Hufflepuff people were sat. When that Potter guy, that they were talking about in the train earlier, ended out in Gryffindor, all of the Slytherins started hissing and booing – it was kind of funny. But I’m glad that the other houses didn’t do that to me when I got sorted into Slytherin.

While the rest of the students got sorted into their houses, I took the opportunity to look up at the teacher’s table. To the far left sat a few witches. One wore a deep blue robe, another a metallic purpley coloured one; one wore shiny, dark, grey and another black. Beside them sat a very small man, maybe he was a dwarf, or a goblin. Yeah, he looked a little like the goblins from ‘Gringotts Bank’, although he didn’t exactly have the pointed ears. Next to him was an empty chair, which seemed to belong to the Deputy Headmistress, Professor McGonagall. Beside the empty chair sat a man with a huge, white, long beard and crescent moon spectacles. I recognised him from my schoolbooks. This was the school’s Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. Pinching my lips in, I gazed at him. His long flowing white hair and mystical purple robes gave him a Merlin-like quality. And he was a wizard too, so that kind of made the whole thing perfect. I just hope that I don’t end out accidentally calling him Merlin.

To the right of the Headmaster sat a man dressed all in black with long, black greasy-looking hair. Frowning, I glanced at the man sat beside him. He was wearing a deep musty purple robe with a large matching-coloured turban. Holding a hand to my mouth I stared as they muttered something to one another. They were the men that I saw at ‘The Leaky Cauldron’. I had no idea that they were teachers at the school when I saw them before. They were glaring at one another. I guess they just don’t get along very well. I’m not sure it’s wise to be sitting them two together then. Swallowing, I shifted my sight from them to the rest of the teachers at the table. In the next seat was a plump woman wearing a deep plant-green coloured robe. A lady in dusty-grey robes, wearing large, round spectacles that enlarged her eyes was next. On the end of the table sat a man in long, dark-brown robes. He kept his arms up the sleeves of his robes the entire time, even when all of the other teachers applauded.

After the last student was picked into their house, Professor McGonagall took her seat at the teachers’ table and the school’s Headmaster stepped in front of the school. As he waved his wand about, I gasped as a wooden stand spiralled out from the ground. The professor stretched his arms out and the wooden stand spiralled out too, creating wings. “Wow,” I whispered as the top of the stand formed into the shape of an owl with outstretched wings.

“Welcome,” beamed the professor. His voice was warm and well… welcoming, as it echoed down the hall. “Welcome all to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!” I clasped a hand to my mouth as everyone broke into a round of applause. Pinching my lips tight together, I tried to conceal a giggle. That was his big announcement. Nitwit, blubber, oddment and tweak? I only have one word: wow! I love this school already. Why weren’t any of the Muggle-teachers this cool?

As Professor Dumbledore returned to his seat at the teachers’ table, he gave a nod towards us all. Food appeared. Literally. It just pinged there. The tables were full. There were bowls full of steamed vegetables, plates full of meats, a massive tray of roast potatoes, a huge gravy boat, a mountain of Yorkshire puddings, mugs of green tea, goblets full of fruit juices, towers of ice cream, a massive chocolate cake and piles and piles of profiteroles. My mouth watered. This was more food than I had ever seen in my entire life. Okay, so I was never starved, but to say that there was always food in our house was an understatement.

As we tucked into our feast, a ghoulish cackle sounded. I jumped dropping my fork as ghosts swept in from the wall behind me. Gripping Jed’s arm tight I gasped as they swooped through the hall, each choosing to sit at different tables. One of the taller ghosts floated down to sit at our table. He had a head of curly hair, a thick moustache and was dressed in long flowing, lace-edged clothing. He definitely died a long time ago; his clothes were defiantly older than Edwardian, maybe they were Elizabethan… or older maybe. Goyle slid along the bench-seat a little, as the ghost hovered by. Taking the move as an invite, the ghost squeezed himself into the gap between Goyle and Blondie. The ghost smiled at me with a nod, before introducing himself to us as the Bloody Baron. “Evening First-Years,” said the ghostly man. “For I am your house ghost.” Upon noticing our confused looks, the ghost continued. “You see, every house here at Hogwarts has its own ghost. Hufflepuff has the Fat Friar, Gryffindor has Nearly Headless Nick, Ravenclaw has the beautiful Grey Lady and, why, you lucky fellows have me.”

“Why are you called the Bloody Baron?” asked the pale-faced, dark haired girl who had sat with us in the boat ride to the castle – her name was Pansy Parkinson and she got sorted into Slytherin too.

“Why I am a baron, am I not, fair maiden?” said the grey figure. “And by the looks of things,” he said gesturing at the dripping, silvery stain down his right side, “I’m bloody.” As the Bloody Baron said this, Blondie squirmed towards Crabbe. Lowering my head, I tried to conceal a giggle – serves him right. Okay, so I don’t know what the three of them were planning, but they were definitely up to something and Malfoy was definitely the ringleader.

(Skimming back through what I’ve wrote today, I’ve just realised how my first name terms with Malfoy disappeared as soon as I saw him sniggering with his cronies. It’s amazing what a gesture can do to you.)

After the feast was over, Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair and returned to his wooden owl stand. “First-Years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.” The professor looked towards the Gryffindor table and everyone turned towards two identical-looking red-haired boys, who began to snigger. “I have been asked by Mister Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.” A shudder crept up my back.

‘A very painful death?’ If he hadn’t had such a strict and serious look on his face, I could easily have laughed. I’m glad I didn’t though, for no one else did. This guy must really be serious. Does that mean they keep monsters in this castle? There have to be monsters in a place like this, right? Okay, now I’m curious. I wonder what on Earth could be hidden on the right-hand side of the third floor.

“And now before we go to bed,” the Headmaster continued. “Let us sing the school song. Everyone pick your favourite tune… and off we go.” My eyes shifted around the room as the whole hall broke into song. It was really difficult to understand what anyone was saying, as exactly as the Headmaster had requested, everyone sang the song to their own tune. Not having a clue what the words were, I just sat and listened to the random ramblings. Like I said, it was really hard to understand what people were singing, but I think that it went a little something like this:

“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,

With some interesting stuff,

For now they’re bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we’ve forgot,

Just do your best, we’ll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.”

The majority of the hall finished the song within a minute or two of on another, but the red-haired twins on the Gryffindor table finished way after everyone else – they were singing it to the tune of a really slow death march. It was pretty funny. At first Professor Dumbledore was frowning at them, but in the end even he was smiling a little.

After the red-haired Gryffindor twins had finished singing the school song, Professor Dumbledore announced that it was time to retire from the Great Hall to bed – his words, not mine. Us First-Years were all to be led out of the Great Hall by our house Prefects. The Slytherin Prefects were a girl named Ivy with long, flowing, brown wavy hair and a guy with dark, sweptback hair named Vlad – I don’t think this was his actual name, but it’s what he told us to call him, so we did.

Once we were out of the Great Hall, Ivy set us all into single file. “First-Years follow me,” she ordered. Vlad followed us from behind (probably to make sure that none of us got lost or swayed from the group) as Ivy lead us through the castle. It didn’t actually occur to me until afterwards that this walk was the most important thing that I would need to learn. It was our main route from our dormitory to the main school’s hall. The place where we will be eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. The place that I will need to have to find first thing tomorrow morning. It’s a good thing that I’ll have some other Slytherin students with me, because I really don’t think that I’ll be able to remember the way – I’m rubbish at directions.

So, leaving the Great Hall, Ivy led us down a long, stone corridor. Huge staircases sprang off in different directions. We passed by one on our right that spiralled upwards, there was another on our left where the corridor just ended and there was a little sort of balcony. The ground started to shake as the staircase twisted itself from pointing in the direction that we had just come from to the direction that the students who stood at the balcony’s edge were facing. I think that group were Hufflepuff being led to their common room at some other location in the school. “Careful,” Ivy warned, hearing the scraping of stone as the staircase to our left moved. “The staircases change direction on Wednesdays and Fridays… and sometimes Sundays,” she told us as we walked by another staircase. This one went off to our right and the steep steps appeared to go almost vertically straight up. “Oh, and beware of false stairs,” added Ivy as she turned around to face us and started walking backwards. Hearing some of us raise questions about a ‘false’ stair, Ivy elaborated, “Some stairs have a missing step that gives off a sort of illusion that it’s real. You just have to try and remember them.”

As we walked further along the corridor, I began to notice movement all around me. It wasn’t other students or more stairs… it was the walls. The walls either side of us were lined with paintings. Well at least, at first, I thought they were paintings. They moved. Not the frame. The people. The people in the paintings spoke and blinked – some even moved from one painting to another. My heart raced inside my chest as I watched a tall, thin man with white, curly hair disappear from the edge of his painting and suddenly reappeared in the next, alongside a rather plum looking woman with lots of fruit in her hair. He took her hand and as he kissed it; she gave a weird sort of giggling snigger, before slapping him across the face. He then leapt back out of her painting and reappeared in his own. Would you call it painting hopping? It was… well terrifying and absolutely amazing at the same time. Some of the paintings acknowledged us as we went by. One specific picture that appeared to be full of elegant gentlemen sitting down at a huge dining table spoke out to Ivy as we walked by. “Are these our new First-Years?” asked the man at the head of the table.

“Yep,” she replied with a nod. “All Slytherins too.”

“My, my,” said another man. “You’d better watch your back,” he warned. “Too many Slytherins in one place can be trouble, you know.” As he spoke, he pointed a finger towards us.

“Nonsense,” roared a portrait of a rather important looking man from the painting up above. He wore royal red coloured robes, with fur edging. As he shook his fist at the people in the painting below a band of golden bangles jangled at his wrist and his fingers were barred with chunky golden rings. “Slytherin is the most royal of all the houses, you know. After all, its colours are green and platinum.” At this, the men in the other painting laughed.

“You’re full a hot air,” barked the man at the head of the table.

“Yeah,” agreed the man to his left. “You mean green and silver.”

“Platinum,” bellowed the jewelled man.

“Oh yeah,” sneered a scrawny man at the dining table, whose back was to us. “Why don’t you come down here and fight for it?”

“That I shall,” he beamed back.

“Come on,” Ivy ordered, leading us away from the bickering paintings. “I’ll let the Bloody Baron deal with them.”

Ivy led us along several corridors and even down a narrow, dusty, winding staircase – well actually it was more like an extremely narrow turret. The floor crumbled underneath our feet as we climbed down the stairs. And they were so steep; I had to claw my nails into the walls to make sure that I didn’t stumble forwards. You definitely couldn’t be late for a class and run down these stairs in a hurry. It would be impossible to rush down them. They might collapse on themselves. Seriously this school has so much magic and already I’ve seen so many death traps. Moving staircases, missing steps, old crumbling castle parts… can’t they just wave a magic wand and fix these… these… impurities? Obviously not. Maybe this magic business is a little more complicated than I imagined.

The staircase winded down and down, further and further. We must have climbed down over two-hundred stairs. The lower we climbed, the darker it got. At intervals along the walls lay flamed torches. Seriously, this school trusts students with fire? My old school never even let you near a plug socket or a light switch in case you got an electric shock.

As we reached the end of the winding stairs, Ivy led us along another corridor. This one was a lot darker and narrower than the main school corridor that we first started in. There were no windows. There weren’t even any paintings. The walls were just dark and grey. Like the winding staircase, though, there were fire torches and lanterns hooked on various parts along the wall. We passed a few doors on the left and one on the right, before Ivy stopped at a doorway at the end of the corridor. “Here we are,” she announced, waiting for all of us to catch up. “The Slytherin Dungeon.” Slates of wood outlined a sort of entrance to an old, metal door. As the flame from a nearby oil-lantern flickered I could see that the wood housed loads of spider webs. Taking a step back, I shuddered. A hand touched my left shoulder. I gasped, spinning around.

“It’s okay,” whispered a voice. I smiled. It was Jed. Seeing him grin back, I let my shoulders relax a little.

“Right,” Ivy projected as she gave a nod to Vlad. “What I am about to tell you, you must not reveal to a single soul – living or other means. It is the most important thing that you will ever hear – well for your first year here anyway.” I swallowed. The most important thing. The tops of my arms tingled. “Behind this door,” Ivy went on, “is the Slytherin Common Room. No one outside of Slytherin is allowed to enter other than the school’s Headmaster Professor Dumbledore or the Deputy Head Professor McGonagall. All staff related issues can be talked over with our Head-of-House, Professor Snape. Now, I’m about to tell you the biggest secret you will ever keep, so everyone come closer together.” The tingling spread from my arms to my stomach as we all crowded around the Prefect. “This,” she whispered, “is your Slytherin password: Salazar Slytherin. You will need to say it every time you need to get into the Common Room. Forget it and you’ll be locked out. Let someone who isn’t a Slytherin know it and let’s just say they’ll be dire consequences.”

“Yeah,” agreed Vlad from behind us. My eyes widened as his voice made me jump. We all spun around to face him. “The last kid who let someone know our password ended out dangling in chains by his ankles and held over one of Professor Kettleburn’s hippogriffs.” My voice-box gave out a squeak. Pinching my nails into my palms I took a step back. I had no idea what a hippogriff was, but I knew it was bad.

“Vlad!” gasped Ivy as she threw him a glare. “Don’t go scaring them.” My shoulders relaxed. I let out my breath, although I hadn’t realised that I was holding it. Vlad was obviously only trying to scare us. “It wasn’t a hippogriff. It was a double-headed salamander.” I clasped both hands to my mouth as my throat let out another squeak. Okay, punishment in this place is brutal. I know what a salamander is, so a two-headed one… and that’s not as scary as a hippogriff? Okay, I take it back, Muggle schools aren’t that bad.

While I stood there imagining the terrifying punishments that this school could give, Ivy said the Slytherin password, opening up the door to the common room. As she stepped inside, we all followed after her.

Warm air engulfed my body as we stepped inside. Being called ‘The Slytherin Dungeon’ I was expecting it to be constantly freezing down here – I don’t like the cold. But it wasn’t. It was warm. Okay, so it wasn’t lovely and hot, but it was comfortable. A huge fire blazed in the fireplace – again, the teachers here actually trust these kids not to push each other into the fire or throw their homework in or someone else’s homework. These teachers must be insane. Either that or these students must be really mature – no scratch that, I’ve met Draco Malfoy.

A huge chandelier hung from the centre of the celling. I craned my neck looking at it whilst Ivy and Vlad instructed us that the girls’ dormitories were to the right and the boys’ were to the left. “And don’t even think you can get away with wondering in on the others’,” Ivy warned with a smile. “Each dormitory is charmed, so as not to let the other gender in.” I heard a few groans from the boys. What did I tell you? – definitely not mature.

“Well enjoy,” said Vlad. “This is your new home. When you’re not in classes, in the library studying or having meals in the Great Hall, this is where you will be spending all of your spare time.”

“So you’d better get used to each other,” Ivy added with a laugh. “‘Cause you’re all gonna be together for the next seven years.”

“Y’all best get some sleep,” said Vlad as he gave a stretch. “‘Cause you’ve got a busy day ahead of you tomorrow.”

“You should find your things are already in your rooms,” said Ivy with a smile. “If you need anything just ask one of us. We’re always here to help out a fellow Slytherin.”

After that we all left the Common Room and made our way to our rooms. Just as Ivy said, all of our belongings were there. Our trunks were placed at the bottom of four-poster beds with long, green and grey striped drapes. On top of the mattresses were our uniforms and they (whoever ‘they’ are) had also given all of us green and silver striped ties. Our robes had even been lined with the Slytherin colours and a logo of a snake appeared sewn on the robes left side.

I’m sharing a room with three other Slytherin First-Year girls: Pansy (who was the girl that we met at the row boats), Scarlett (who apparently has a twin sister named Crimson in Gryffindor) and another student named Priscilla. No one really talked much once we got settled into our room. I guess with all of the travelling and everything that had gone on today everyone just wanted to go to bed. Not me. I’m too excited to sleep. I can’t believe it; I’m actually here, at Hogwarts. I’m surrounded by magical people, magical things and a magical room. Everything is just so amazing. And this book that Viki bought me, it’s the Slytherin colours. Even the snake on the back matches the one on the logo of my uniform. This is so cool. I’m so going to have to show Jed my book tomorrow. I kind of feel bad that Josie got sorted into Ravenclaw though and not Slytherin, like Jed and me. I hope I’ll still get to see her around school. Maybe we’ll have a lesson together? I hope so.

Oh, and mentioning school, I can’t wait for lessons to start tomorrow. I’m starting to worry that I haven’t studied enough. I bet everyone is way smarter than me. I don’t know anything about magic, yet it’s obvious that so many others know loads of spells. Okay, so I’ve read through some of the books, but without actually understanding it, most of what I read just feels like gobbledegook. I guess worrying about it now isn’t going to do me any good. I should really try to get some sleep. I don’t want to be tired in class tomorrow.
 

- Josie -