Note: The only character I own is
Laurelle. The rest of the characters,
and Hogwarts, belong to JK Rowling. I
hope you like it, I'm rather pleased with it.
Thanks! J
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The light inside the Hogwarts
Express was dim due to the overcast skies outside, and it rather matched the
growing sense of dread that was now welling up inside of Laurelle. This could only be expected from a child of
her background, however. Born to a family
of considerable means, Laurelle's mother died of pneumonia, and her father, in
his grief, died shortly after. At the
age of seven, Laurelle was alone in the world, except for her aged grandfather
who cared little for the girl. He
enrolled her in one boarding school after another, moving her all over the
world, but Laurelle was not like any of the people she met. In each school, she was the outcast; teased,
berated, and scorned. She was the
outsider, the only one with no family to go home to over the holidays, the only
one who never received letters and packages from home. Why the other students picked on her, none
could say. She was certainly very
lovely, with long, straight medium brown hair to her waist and prominent hazel
eyes surrounded by a forest of dark eyelashes.
She was thin and of average height, with a fair complexion. She was a quiet child, though if this was
natural or just from constant harassment, one could not be sure. It was a shame that a child as eloquent as
she should have no one to share her words with, yet it was true- in her whole
life, Laurelle had never had a single friend.
When she
boarded the Hogwarts Express, she had managed to find, amid the crowded
compartments full of students greeting old friends and swapping stories of
their latest adventures, a compartment that was almost empty, except for a
small group people in the end of the car.
Laurelle situated herself as far away from the others as possible and
opened one of her new schoolbooks. She
stared at the pages, not taking in any of the words, but reviewing in her head
what had taken place over the last few days.
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She had
been seated at the small desk in her room at Waldport Boarding Academy for Boys
and Girls when a swift tapping noise came from her door. She had answered the door and was greeted by
one of the maids. The maid handed her
an envelope and swiftly bid her a good day and departed. Laurelle had shut the door, staring at the
envelope. Someone had sent her a
letter! She had never received a letter
before. On the envelope, in green ink,
it read:
Miss Laurelle Cordovan
C/o Waldport Boarding Academy for Boys and Girls
2442 Muldrow Lane
Surrey, England
She quickly tore the envelope open. She noticed right away that the paper was
different than she was used to. She
unfolded the paper and looked at it for a long time. It read:
Miss Cordovan:
It is our
great honor to accept you into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (Witchcraft?
Laurelle thought. Wizardry? Hogwarts?)
We do understand, however, that you have not been attending
any other school of magic, but we believe that with some tutoring from some of
the other students, you will be caught up in no time. The sheet enclosed is the list of supplies that you will need to
purchase from Diagon Alley before the start of the school year. Term begins on September 1st. You will board the Hogwarts Express from
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Laurelle
could scarcely believe her eyes. She
was a witch? After a brief feeling of
elation, her conscience chimed in with "Why should this place be any
different? Why should anyone like you
any better here?" Laurelle felt all
of the familiar agony return. She was
to leave one hell to possibly only find another. Yet when she thought of her classmates… She decided that it was better than nothing. She would be starting over, in a place where
no one knew her. And who knew? Perhaps she would actually fit in…
She had
stood in the train station looking very confused. Her headmistress had left, leaving her alone in the station, even
though it was crawling with other people.
She was toting her trunk with increasing difficulty, and couldn't seem
to find her train. She checked the
letter again. Yes, today was the first,
and it did say Platform 9 and ¾.
"Looking for Platform 9 and ¾?"
Laurelle looked up quickly.
The speaker was a boy, slightly taller than her, with jet-black hair and
glasses, behind which were eyes the color of emeralds. She quickly found her voice.
"Yes, yes I am. How
did you know?"
He grinned. "Every
one looks like that the first time.
Here, I'll show you."
He showed
her how to go through the barrier. She
started to run towards it, bracing herself for the pain she was almost certain
she would be experiencing in a short amount of time, yet amazingly she made it
to the other side unscathed. Everything
here was so odd! Diagon Alley had been
another thing all together, and now this!
The black haired boy raced through next. "Thank you," Laurelle said, remembering her manners. The boy nodded, then turned to find his
friends. Laurelle dragged her trunk
around until she found the car where she was now sitting.
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She was
abruptly jerked from her daze by a voice.
"You, there, sitting by yourself!" said the same boy she had
encountered earlier
"Me?" said Laurelle.
Of course you, she thought to herself, how many other people
are sitting alone in this car?
"Yeah. What's your
name?" he asked, walking over to her.
His friends followed.
"Laurelle. And you?"
"Harry. Pleased to
meet you, Laurelle." Harry said, extending his hand to shake hers. She looked up to find herself looking
directly into his eyes. For a moment,
all she could do was return the gaze, until Harry remembered his manners.
"These are my friends," he added, now blushing slightly. "Hermione, Ron,
Neville, and Ginny." He pointed to each
one as he said their name. "You look too
old to be a first year…. what year are you in?"
"Fifth, but I'm only starting wizard schooling now." She hoped he didn't think her to be a fool.
"Ah! Same as us!" he
said with a smile. "Well, actually,
Ginny's a fourth year."
A voice came over the loudspeaker. "We will be reaching our destination in roughly fifteen minutes."
"We should get ready", said Hermione.
Laurelle
reached into her trunk and pulled out her new robes. Looking at the clothes, she was doubtful that she would be
comfortable in them. She put them on
over her skirt and sweater. Nothing had
ever felt more comfortable to her. She
looked out the window again to see the sun beginning to peek out of the
clouds. Yet again, the sky matched her
mood.
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