Bringing Hope to Hogwarts Chapter 1 - The Hogwarts Express, a harry potter fanfic

BRINGING HOPE TO HOGWARTS

This is my first EVER fanfic, guys! Please R&R, it'd really help an aspiring writer!

Chapter One – The Hogwarts Express

"Are you ready?" the man asked.

The girl looked up at him from behind blue-framed glasses. "I don't think I'll ever be ready." She replied. She took a deep breath. "Let's go."

They took a run at the imposing wall, closing their eyes simultaneously as the bricks melted around them and they emerged in a scene of noise, steam and chaos.

Meena Hope looked back at the wall that she had just run through. 'Well that was just absurd.' She mumbled.

Her companion was lightly shaking his shoulders. 'Urgh, it never gets any better.'

They took a moment to step to the side, letting yet more students through the wall, and then they paused to look about them. The man smiled. "It's nice to know some things never change."

He was looking about the platform fondly, at the children appearing and disappearing behind swarms of steam billowing from the gleaming red locomotive, the parents giving last minute instructions, the loud rattles of luggage trollies as they rattled past, and the jolly shouts friends were calling to one-another after another seemingly endless summer.

Sampson looked down at his short friend. He too wore glasses, and his shaggy ginger locks flopped over his forehead, almost obscuring his friendly green eyes. He had the aura of a man who was always calm, a smile never too far away from twitching at his lips. Right now though, his face was taught with worry.

"I'm going to miss you, Kiddo." He said.

Meena smiled warmly at him. "I'll miss you too, Sam. Owl me at least once a week."

Sampson laughed heartily, a sound that brought a smile to the face of anyone who heard it. 'Now what kind of sixteen year old actually wants to be checked upon each and every week?"

She shucked and pointed at herself. "This kind."

He chuckled at her retort, before his face fell back into worry. "You'll be okay, Kiddo, I know it. Give it time."

She sighed, looking at her heavy boot-clad feet. "I know. Just don't forget about me, Sam, promise you'll write."

"Never. I'd write twice a week if you wished it of me."

"Now I know you're going soft, Sam."

He shrugged loosely. "I was a Hufflepuff; I've always been soft."

At that moment a whistle erupted through the station, and the people milling about them began to shift towards the doors of The Hogwarts Express. Meena sucked in a big mouthful of air, before expelling it in one quick rush. "Right, I suppose I better be off."

"Okay Kiddo. Take care. Owl me when you can."

"I will, Sam, I promise." She reached down to grip her small trunk, but then she abruptly stood up and flung her arms around the older man's waist, leaving her trunk on the floor.

He was so surprised her failed to react for a moment, but then he slowly, cautiously, laid his hands to rest on her shoulder blades, her head barely reaching the top of his shoulder.

"Thank you, Sam, for all you've done for me."

Before he could reply, she had let go and turned around, once more reaching for her trunk and the handle of her owl cage, and was walking away towards the train. Sam watched her go with a lump in his throat and a sense of protectiveness that he couldn't quite shake.

Once aboard the train, Meena watched out of the window at the platform; people were waiving and shouting last minute reminders to write home, and the students inside the train were hanging out the windows, returning the waves with reassurances that they wouldn't forget to write. She joined in with a group of younger children leaning out a window, and caught sight of Sam, who gave her a reassuring smile and a cheery wave. She smiled and waved back, then a growing rumble emitted from beneath their feet and the train began to slow process of lumbering out the station. She continued to wave to Sam until his copper head was no longer visible in the mass of parents and guardians on the platform, and she felt a heavy pain in her chest, like the echoing slam of a prison door.

She turned away from the window was a weary smile. As the Hogwarts Express came up to speed, roaring along the tracks, Meena began the task of finding herself somewhere to sit. Her trunk handle firmly grasped in her left hand, and her right closing around the handle of her birdcage, she slowly made her way up the train. As the train gave an unexpected lurch, Meena momentarily lost her footing and almost tripped, her bird cage swinging wildly in her attempt to steady herself. Her eagle owl, Duke, screeched in protest at being thrown about so unceremoniously.

'Sorry, Duke' Meena mumbled, rearranging her grasp on his cage as she proceeded down the train with steady caution. She soon found, however, that finding somewhere to sit would be trickier than she'd originally thought. The booths were already overflowing with students; the first years giving awkward introductions and the older students bellowing to each other down the corridor, and laughing over various stories they shared of their summers.

She eventually found a compartment containing only three children, all of whom appeared to be first years, as they were sat a fair distance apart and awkwardly trying to make conversation. She stepped through the still open door and the children looked up at her. She smiled in what she hoped was a friendly, non-threatening way.

"Um, hello." She started, uncertainly. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here." She looked from each face to the next, from the ruddy face of a ginger little boy, to the dark eyes of a pretty Asian girl. None of them replied, so she just placed her trunk in the hold and Duke on the seat next to her, pulled a book out of her bag and began to read, the train rattling and swaying through the English countryside.

She was aware of the fact that the children hardly said more than a few words to one-another. That was of course, until she heard a faint call from out in the trains hall; 'Anything from the trolley?'. In answer, she scooted herself along the seat to peer out of the compartment to find a tiny witch pulling an enormous trolley laden with sweets, pasties and various other snacks about three compartments away. Doors were being wrenched open at the sound of her call, and people were hurrying toward her, hands digging in their pockets for Galleons and Sickles as they went.

The children beside her began to glow with happiness. She rolled her eyes, Children and sweets, honestly.

To no-one in particular, the little Asian girl whispered "My sister, she's a sixth year in Ravenclaw, told me all about this trolly! It has every kind of sweet you could imagine!"

"Woah." Replied the third child as the little old witch pulled up outside their door, her cart laden with sweets.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" She asked in a sweet voice.

Meena shook her head, "Not for me, thanks Ma'am." before burying herself in her book once more. The children about her each bought some items, and this seemed to be what broke the ice, as they began a constant stream of chit-chatter that lasted all the way until the skies began to darken and the scenery outside the windows changed from rolling green hills to sharp peaks and rocky slopes.

For the last hour or so of the journey, she could see the school Prefects walking up and down the corridors, shouting for people to put on their robes as they would be arriving soon.

Meena left The Hogwarts Express, following the mess of students who poured out of her doors onto the dark little platform, leaving Duke and her trunk with the other students' luggage. It was when Meena had reached the platform when she realised that, actually, she had no idea what to do next. The first years had been called across the platform by a man. Well, no, he couldn't be called a man, really. In the dark and holding a lantern, the man was as tall and wide as a wall, with a large, black beard, and long, unruly hair. He was wearing a coat made of some kind of animal skin, which had so many patches and pockets it was a wonder the whole thing was still keeping together.

She looked around her, hoping for some inclination of what to do, and she could see students looking at her inquisitively. She briefly wondered what they were looking at until she realised everyone was already wearing house colours, but her robes were still plain black, the crest of Hogwarts the only emblazonment to the folds of fabric. Meena stood off to the side, letting the throng of students wash about her like a wave of one mass, until she found herself quite alone on the platform; with just the huddled first years and the monster of a man for guidance – all the older students, having done this plenty of times before, had disappeared under an arch with a sign that read 'Hogsmede Station'.

'Hey! 'Yuh don' 'appen ter be Miss 'Ope, now, do yeh?!' the man bellowed down the platform at the solitary figure of Meena. She had jumped at the sound of the man's booming voice, but the first years, being so close to the enormous man, had covered their ears with their hands.

Meena nodded in response, and made her way towards the giant of a man. She stopped at the back of the first-year children, in front of one of the few lamp lights the graced the stations walls.

"She looks like an angel." She heard a small girl whisper to another girl beside her. Meena laughed inside her head. The lamplight behind her was illuminating her hair in a bright halo. Her hair was always what bought the most attention to her; not only did she have corkscrew curls that tumbled about her head to her shoulders; they were also a pure white. Not the platinum blonde she'd seen on so many Muggle girls, but actual white, And right this moment, the soft evening drizzle that soaked the Scottish evening was being caught in the hundreds of tight curls that flew about her head, and the flickering lamplight licked lightly against her milky skin, casting half her face into deep shadow.

Meena turned to face the giant of a man in amusement. Up close, Meena found that, contrary to the effect his size and wild hair had from a distance, the enormous man had a welcoming, smiling face, with happy little eyes, that shone black in the darkness.

Addressing not only Meena, but the first years as well, the man spoke again, this time in a calm, kind tone, though his voice still boomed like the foghorn of a ship in the quiet of the sleepy station. 'Now, wel'ome everyone, my name is Hagrid. I'll be taking yeh up teh the cas'le, 'kay?' He turned his gaze to Meena, who had to crane her neck to be able to look him in the eyes.

He waved a giant hand at Meena for her to come forward, and he greeted her in a lightly hushed voice, bending forward so he was closer to her level. "'Ello, the name's Rubeus Hagrid, Care 'o Magical Creature Professor an' Grounds Keeper for 'Ogwarts."

"Pleasure to meet you, Sir." She said politely, as she held out her hand.

He smiled warmly and he took it, his single hand enveloping Meena's entirely, his hands rough and coarse, and he lightly shook her hand, though her entire arm moved with his own small movement.

"Now 'en, Miss 'Ope, Dumbledore 'as told me to be on the look-ou' for yuh. Transfer, eh? C'mon then, we'll get yuh sorted." He raised his voice, again addressing the swarming children, "Righ', teh the cas'le! Follow me 'n everyone!" And he waved a hand through the air as he turned on his heel and stamped out of the station, the first years almost having to run at his heels to cope with this amazing stride.

Meena followed Professor Hagrid out of the station and up a small track until they came to a beautiful lake, the surface as flat and still as a mirror, reflecting the welcoming glow of hundreds of windows shining from the great castle that stood before them, a black silhouette against the blue of the evening sky.

She heard light gasps as the first years caught up round the corner, taking in their first vision of their new school. Meena looked around and a peal of laughter escaped her lips.

'="Boats?" she asked aloud to her new Professor.

He smiled down at her; her short physique just reaching his elbow. "It's tradition tha' the Firs' years take the boats."

He calmly guided them into the boats, sitting four students each – apart from Hagrids, he had one to himself, and even then it looked in danger of sinking – which then merrily bobbed their way along the calm waters. The children within the boats huddled together to talk to their sailing companions, looking up wondrously at the castle, which, close up, was positively monstrous; Meena had never seen anything taller than the towers which stood dotted about the castle.

Once inside the castle, Hagrid had led up many flights of stairs to a small room where a witch was waiting for them. She wore black robes trimmed with green tartan, little spectacles sat tentatively on her nose. A black witch's hat was propped upon her head, which was adorned with a multitude of green and black feathers, to match her tartan robes. Her hair was pulled back onto a tight bun at the base of her neck, just under her hat. Meena's hand instinctively came up to brush her wild mane out of her face – she'd forgotten to pull it back up, and it was now tumbling over her shoulders and whipping various first-years in the face every times she moved.

The witches face was sharp, yet not unkind, and her bird-like eyes flitted between the different students, eventually coming to rest upon Meena. Taking in her appearance, from the bright turquoise glasses to the bush of curls, Meena could see the woman's eyes darken in distaste. Her face screwed up slightly, as if someone had placed some very smelly old cheese under her nose. Her eyes moved on from Meena to Hagrid, her distaste apparently forgotten, she broke into a friendly smile that completely changed her stern looking eyes.

"Thank you, Hagrid. If you would, please." She gestured for Hagrid to move through a door behind her.

"Righ' you are, Professor McGonagall" he replied, shuffling his great mass through the small doorway. In the brief moment the door was open, Meena heard the buzzing of hundreds of people chatting and telling stories, though when the door closed again, the small room in which she stood fell silent once more. McGonagall was addressing the first years about houses. Meena listened closely, and thought she heard a slight twang of distaste when she proclaimed the last house, Slytherin.

"Let us begin the Sorting."