As per usual, I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of J. K. Rowling's original content. I wouldn't be here if I did and she deserves all the credit. This is an original story I felt like writing to expand a little on different facets of the magical life style. Let me know what you think please!
If you've read this story before please note ALL of Year 1 has been revised so some things have changed. Most of it's minor to improve the quality but certain things like Hagrid have changed completely. Just skip it if you want but some changes might confuse you in later chapters. Also some typos have been corrected but no matter how many times I proof read it there are always more so sorry.
Year 1 Part 1
The Hogwarts Express was much grander than I had ever even imagined. It was the purest scarlet I had ever seen and the steam billowing out of the smokestack was snow white. I followed my mother to the back of the train and she asked one of the older boys to help me load my trunk. His black blazer had a gleaming blue badge with the letter P on it. A prefect. I tried to keep from staring.
"First year, eh? Well good to see you. The younger kids usually sit near the front of the train, but you can sit wherever you'd like." He smiled and turned to help another kid.
"Now make sure you're careful, and please write often." My mother gave me a long hug and kissed the top of my head. "I'll see you when you go on break, okay? Please be safe."
I assured her I would be okay and waved goodbye as I boarded the train. Heeding the older student's words, I headed toward the first few cars. Younger students stood in timid bunches in the aisles, being shoved by the larger kids trying to move toward the back. I found a compartment that was empty and opened the door, taking a window seat. I carefully set the cage of my screech owl on the rack above me and strapped it down with a luggage strap. A girl with long blonde hair and a boy with an upturned nose stood outside the compartment door gawking at me like I had broken a rule, but I waved them in none the less.
"We should take our seats, the train leaves soon." I held out my hand. "Hi, I'm Amelia."
She shook it with a grip like a dead fish. "I'm Keeli."
"Cad." Despite his timidness before, he seemed perfectly relaxed settled into the train's seat. "Hey, your dad runs the transportation station in Diagon Alley, doesn't he?"
"Well, he runs the live creatures division, but yeah."
"I thought I recognized you. My family runs Ollivander's just up the road."
"The wand shop?" Keeli's mouth dropped open. "You mean you make wands?"
"Well, my Dad does."
"Does he come around much? Ollivander, I mean." I asked him.
"Not really. He's really old and he said he wants to enjoy his retirement."
"He just gave your family a whole wand shop?" Keeli still seemed to be coming terms with the idea.
"Well, my Dad is something like his great-great-nephew or something." he shrugged. "I wasn't born yet, so I'm not really sure."
I was about to ask him how it was living on Diagon Alley when we heard a commotion in the corridor. We poked our heads out and saw a smaller first year facing off with two other taller girls with likewise blank robes.
"I only asked if I could sit with you." the smaller one had his wand out.
The taller girl eyed it. "And we said no, so buzz off."
"No one else is using the seat, why can't I sit there?"
"Because we don't want I your sort sitting with us." the other girl sneered.
"What, a boy?"
"No. You're an Apertice, aren't you?"
"And what of it?"
"We don't want your type with us."
"Oi!" Cad yelled right next to my ear, making my flinch. "You're an Apertice? Well you can come sit with us then!"
The Apertice regarded the bright smile like he'd rather throw himself off the train but the two girls took advantage of the distraction. The taller one waved her wand at the hand holding their compartment door open and he flinched as if it stung and let go. They slammed the door in his face and he sighed before turning towards us. He took the seat closest to the aisle like he was expecting to have to make a quick escape.
"What's an Apertice?" Keeli asked Cad in a whisper.
"No idea." he said brightly, turning to the other boy. "Just figured you could use a friend. I'm Cad."
"Louk." he ignored the outstretched hand.
"So, uh, what is an Apertice?"
A scowl this time. "It's my last name. My family's name."
"I don't see what's so bad about being part of a family." Cad tried to joke.
The other boy didn't grace it with a response.
"You weren't going to hex them were you?" I asked. Thankfully his wand was put away in his robes.
"Me? Oh, I don't know any hexes. Not yet, at least."
"Then why wave your wand in front of their faces?" Keeli sounded as if it was the worst possible idea ever which, in fairness, it probably was.
"Well they didn't know I don't know any magic, do they?" a smirk played at the corner of his mouth.
""Oh good." Keeli let out a whoosh of air. "I thought I was the only one. I'm Muggleborn, you see. I don't know anything."
"Lots of kids don't know anything." I offered. "It depends on how strict your parents were on the 'no under-aged magic' thing. So don't worry too much, they start off really slow. Lots of kids come in from Muggles and they turn out just fine."
She still looked nervous. "I've read through my books a little bit so I wouldn't be so far behind. I can't wait to learn Transfiguration. Just think, being able to turn someone into a teacup!"
"That's really advanced though. For a while, we'll just be working with non-living objects. It would be cool to give yourself wings though." I added.
"That's silly. Who wants wings when you can just levitate yourself?" Cad asked.
"Because it's almost impossible to control yourself while levitating. Besides, everyone knows real wizards use Apparition." Louk sneered.
"Oh, and can you Apparate?" I crossed my arms.
"I can't take the test yet, duh." He made a droopy face at me which made me chuckle despite it probably not meaning to.
"Oh, be quiet, Louk. Everyone has to start out on the bottom." Cad nudged him in the side.
Louk shrugged and looked out the compartment window at the hallway.
"So Amelia, you've had your older brothers come through here, right? What have they said? What houses were they in?"
I shook my head this time. "My oldest brother flunked out of Hogwarts his first year and he works on racing brooms now. My other brother never went, he joined the military in the Muggle world."
A knock sounded on the glass door and we looked up to see a girl standing there. Cad got up and cracked it. Despite the completely transparent glass he asked. "Who is it?"
"May I sit with you? Everywhere else is full."
"What's the magic word?"
"Annoying." she grinned, edging past him to sit next to me.
"How did you know?" he closed the door again.
"I'm Amelia." I offered my hand and she shook it with a much firmer grip than Keeli had.
"Amber."
"Well, Amber, we were just talking about siblings who've come through. You have any?" Cad asked.
"Only child I'm afraid. You lot?"
We all shook our heads which won no confidence from me. Despite my words to Keeli I was very nervous. "What houses do you think we'll be in?"
Cad looked around the room conspiratorially. "You know I hear if the hat can't place you, you have to fight a badger, a lion, a snake, and an eagle to choose where you go."
Keeli looked horrified but Amber let out a laugh. "How would that even work?"
"See they give you a sword and they set you against them one at a time. Then a boar with wings flies down from the enchanted ceiling-"
"Oh my word, just stop." Amber was laughing.
"What? Just wanting everyone to be prepared. I know I would want some warning if I had to fight a lion."
"That's the largest load of waffle I've ever heard." I chuckled.
Even Keeli was smiling a little bit at hearing it was a joke, but Louk remained unphased.
"So, what's it really going to be like?" Keeli asked quietly.
"They just stick a hat on your head and it reads your mind to tell you what house you're in." Amber seemed bored at the thought.
"What house do you want to be in?" I asked her.
"Don't know. Figured the hat would tell me." she shrugged. "After all, I get to go to Hogwarts either way."
"Are you Muggleborn too?" Keeli asked her.
"Oh no, but both my parents work in the Muggle world for some reason." she rolled her eyes like the thought annoyed her. "I don't get as much news like others do but once I go here I don't have to worry about that."
"Oh." Keeli seemed a little crestfallen.
Cad seemed to notice and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I hear there is a great big lake, and they take all the kids across on tiny little rickety boats and if you fall in, a giant squid eats you."
"They wouldn't do that, the squid would get too fat." Louk snapped, but it caused everyone to laugh. He looked around like we'd lost our minds but a smile did make a slight appearance after a few seconds.
A prefect came around and told us we should change into our robes as we were getting close. We did as we were told, trying not to elbow anyone in the face. We topped it all off with a pointy hat and I felt like a proper witch for once. The train slid to a halt and we left our luggage like we had been told. I waved at my owl as we filed into the crowded hallway, following the crowd.
"First years! First years over here!" A man with a knitted jumper under his robes was waving a lit wand above all the heads.
I strung my arm through Amber and Keeli's so we wouldn't get lost, having to fight the crowd to get over to him. The man looked a bit like someone's nice Uncle had gotten lost to the hot chocolate store and his nice smile did nothing to tarnish the image. He introduced himself as Professor Longbottom and made pleasant small talk with us while we waited for everyone. Once the crowd thinned out and he was fairly certain we had everyone he led us down to the shore of a huge black lake.
The boats were surprisingly roomy, although someone did say they saw a tentacle swipe at one of the back ones. We followed the glowing lantern across the misty water until a huge castle came into view. It towered into the sky, light flickering in the hundreds of windows. At the foot of it stood an old boathouse which seemed to be our destination. Then we climbed up an endless number of stairs for what seemed like forever until we got into the main courtyard of the school. We were lead into the main entrance hall and up a huge grand staircase. At the entrance to the closed Great Hall, a smiling man with messy black hair stood.
"Harry." the man with the jumper nodded as he walked past the other through the doors.
"Neville." a returning nod. "Good evening, I'm Professor Potter. Behind me here is the Great Hall. We're gonna walk in two lines, and then stand in front of the main table. Then I'll call you up one by one and place the Sorting Hat on your heads. After you're in your house, you'll sit with them, and then we'll start eating.
"The houses are Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Huffelpuff. Once you join a house, they become like your family here." warm smile graced his features at this. "You do everything with your house. Achievements will win your house points, and demerits lose you points. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup. Any questions?" he waited for our timid head shakes before leading us forward.
The ceiling was studded with stars. It was the clearest autumn night I had ever seen and I almost got run over by the boy behind me because I was struck dumb staring. Candles floated everywhere and students sat at four long tables watching our procession to the front. We stood in a tight group around the base of some low stairs, staring at a hat sitting on a stool like it was made of live tarantulas. Professor Potter opened up a large scroll.
"Abergine, Katie." A black girl with curly hair gulped and went to sit on the stool.
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted
She smiled and moved to the cheering table.
"Apertice, Louk." The boy went to the stage and got sorted into Slytherin.
A few students down was the other girl from the train, Amber Celeste, and she was sorted into Gryffindor. Then in no time it was my turn.
"Hearn, Amelia."
I walked up the steps and almost collapsed onto the stool. The hat was too big for my head and fell over my eyes. I heard a soft humming, like someone was thinking really hard on something. Finally the hat shouted "Ravenclaw!" and it was lifted from my head. I was the first Ravenclaw student chosen and one of the tables on the right cheered. I sat at an empty place and a lot of the students shook my hand. By the time I looked up Caduceus Mervin, the boy with the upturned nose from the train, was called to the stage. He was also sorted into Gryffindor. Then later down Keeli Phillips was sorted into Ravenclaw. She had to sit a few kids down from me as four people had been sorted between us but I gave her a thumbs up. There were only five kids left and they went by pretty quickly. Christopher Underman was the last person and with that the ceremony was ended. The Headmistress, McGonagall, stood up and cleared her throat. The Hall quieted instantly and she began her speech.
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here you will learn everything you need to know to be a successful and productive member of the magical community. I hope to see a lot of enthusiasm from our new students as well as our old ones, to make this a very productive year. Now, let's eat." She clapped sharply and food appeared on the tables.
The spread was better than anything could have imagined. My favorite foods just appeared before my eyes, and many others I didn't even know existed. Soon after the food appeared, so did the ghosts. One of the older students pointed the Grey Lady out to us, the Ravenclaw house ghost. I saw maybe a dozen more and my curiosity outweighed my hunger long enough to ask about a few of them. I was told to stay away from the Bloody Baron, but the rest were okay. There was also a warning about something called a Peeves but my stomach growled loudly and I was too embarrassed to ask him to repeat himself. My curiosity sated, I piled my plate high and continued to do so until I couldn't reach up to grab the fork.
Then the delicious dishes were replaced with heaps of desserts. Ice cream and cakes lined the tables and I somehow found room in my stomach to shove in more food. The Gryffindor's started a food fight at their table but no one else had the energy to get up and join. McGonagall put a quick stop to it with a few stern glances and the rowdy students calmed down enough to settle back into their seats.
McGonagall clapped again and the tables were once again lined with cutlery that sparkled like they hadn't seen a morsel of food. She cleared her throat and her voice filled the Hall again. "Before we retire for the night let me remind you of a few rules. Despite popular belief magic is still forbidden in the corridors and you will be punished, whether you started the duel or not. The Forbidden Forest is still forbidden and I find myself surprised I have to remind you all of that fact every year. Now first years, follow your Head Girl and Boy to your Houses. Goodnight to all of you and we shall see you bright and early tomorrow." She gestured towards the door and everyone left in a hurry.
A tall boy with brunette hair and a girl with long black hair walked over to our end of the table. They smiled and said to follow them, and then led us out of the Great Hall behind the Huffelpuff first years. At the entrance to a huge staircase, the Hufflepuffs veered down and the two older Ravenclaws led us up. And then we climbed.
I suddenly regretted eating all of that food. We had dozens of flights of stairs to climb and I could barely move. By the time we reached our landing, we were all puffing heavily. The two older students smiled knowingly.
"You get used to it after a while." The girl reassured us. "This is the entrance to the Ravenclaw Tower. Knock with the knocker and you have to answer a riddle to get inside."
The boy demonstrated. The eagle mouth that held the ring asked "I travel in a circle, and yet always a straight line. What am I?"
"Hm, I'm not sure." he furrowed his brow and stroked his chin in concentration. "Elizabeth?"
"I don't know. A clock, like for time?" she mirrored his stance.
"No…" he said slowly. "Do any of you have an idea?"
One of the boys from the back piped up loudly. "A wheel!"
"Correct." The door swung open and we filed inside. I saw the two Prefects exchange a smile and wondered if they had not known on purpose.
The common room was made out of beautiful marble with thick sapphire rugs everywhere. Curtains hung from the tall windows and bronze eagles topped each floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, of which there were over a dozen. Blue couches stood in front of a white marble fireplace and desks were lined against the walls.
"This library is rival to the main Hogwarts one, but I suspect you will still be traversing there many times over the year. The notice board is there by the door, you should check it every morning for announcements and meetings of all the different clubs. Gobstones Club meets tomorrow after school to recruit new members. I'm the Captain so you shouldn't have any problem getting in." he gave a silly smile and a bunch of the girls swooned. "Alright, boys follow me to your dorms and you girls can go with Elizabeth. Good night!"
"Don't listen to him, Potions Club is the one to join. Now come on, girls." She smiled and led us down a small hallway off of the common room. We climbed one flight and she motioned onward as the stairs continued. "The higher you go the higher grade the students are. There are a lot of dorms but you guys get the bottom two here. Your names are on your nightstand so look around. Bathroom is down the hall, and you'll need to get up by seven for breakfast. Sleep well!" and she walked up the stairs.
We exchanged nervous glances before entering the two dorms with a bronze one on their doors. I found mine in the first room closest to the door, and all of my stuff was placed in front of my bed.
"Where is my owl?" a redheaded girl asked
"In the Owlery, they move them there when we get here." the girl with the bed across from me answered.
Keeli walked in and found her name on the bed next to mine. "Looks like we're roomies." She sat down
"Guess so. I'm going to grab a shower and then call it a night. I'm wiped and want to get some rest before tomorrow. It's going to be a big day."
She agreed and followed me to the white marble bathroom. The taps were bronze and gave the option of four different soaps. I could have spent an hour in there but my heavy eyes protested and I found myself snuggled into my covers before long.
The sun stretched through the window and fell on my curtains. I looked through the window and the large clock on the tower said it was almost seven. I got up and woke the rest of my dorm room, then ran down to the bathroom to get ready for the day. A million girls were in the bathroom, and being one of the smallest forced me to wait for a mirror for nearly fifteen minutes. The Great Hall was packed with students and Keeli and I had to shove to find seats at the Ravenclaw table. Breakfast was just as delicious as dinner but with the added excitement of seeing our head of house circle around with a stack of schedules.
Poor Professor Flitwick wasn't very tall and he had to practically wrestle around the legs of students while squeaking out names.
"Helga Ramirov?! Helga?!"
I sat with Keeli and the other first year girls and waited impatiently for my name to be called. After what seemed like an eternity he came trotting over to us and handed me a folded sheet of paper. I tore it open and looked at my schedule. First up was Potions, followed by Charms and Transfiguration! I giggled with joy and quickly grabbed my bag to head down to the dungeons. The other first year girls followed me timidly as we tried to maneuver all of the school's pathways. The cheery potions teacher, Professor Slughorn, greeted us warmly and directed us to our seats. We were with the Slytherin first years and I took a seat next to Louk.
"I'm so excited! Potions has been the thing I have been looking toward the most." I bubbled at him.
"I'm more into Defense Against the Dark Arts, but I guess Potions is alright. More discreet than a loud spell, I suppose."
"And I would argue you could do a lot more with potions than spells. It's potions used mostly in medical care now. Healers are required to know Advanced Potions to be hired."
"I suppose you want to be a Healer then?"
"I guess." I looked down and blushed. "I don't really know what I'm good at yet."
"I'm sure you can't be awful." He looked up as the Professor addressed us
"Good morning students. Here is Potions, obviously, and I'll be your Professor. We'll start out with something simple at first. A cure for boils. Open your books to page seven and read through the instructions. Then I'd like you all to write a twelve inch essay detailing the steps taken, the ingredients, and certain things to look out for so you don't make any mistakes. Feel free to help each other."
I flipped open my book and pulled out no time I already had the ingredient list and the first six steps. I glanced over and noticed Louk's paper was blank.
"What's wrong?" I whispered.
"I don't understand. I'm just supposed to copy all this down?"
"Pretty much. Just so we know what we're doing when the time comes. So we don't jump straight to step three before we've added the quills, you know?"
"You are much better at this than I am."
"You're better at the wand stuff. I've never been too good with spell work."
"So the Flobberworm Mucus is after the quills?"
"No, not Flobberworm Mucus, horned slugs." I pointed to the step he'd skipped.
Professor Slughorn walked around to see how we were all doing. He looked at my completed essay and beamed as he read it over.
"Excellent, dear girl! May I ask your name?"
"Amelia Hearn, sir." I smiled as I stoppered my ink bottle.
"Ah yes, I had the pleasure of your older brother." He look made it clear how much of a 'pleasure' that had been. "Well, this is very well done. I appreciate you took time to pay attention to the heat levels here in your third paragraph. We'll be working with this for the rest of the week, but feel free to look on ahead at the Herbicide on page twelve. I dare say you'll find it easy as well."
I nodded with a smile and flipped my textbook back open.
"Show off." Louk whispered, scratching out his last line.
"You're just jealous."
All too soon class was over and it was time to climb back up the stairs to try and find where Defense Against the Dark Arts was. We were with the Slytherins again, so we banded together and climbed. We found classroom three 'A' easily enough and sat down. A large skeleton was strung from the ceiling and I couldn't help but stare. Professor Potter was standing in the front of the room wearing what looked like a comfy handmade sweater with a golden dragon on the front. I felt a little better to finally recognize someone.
"Take any seat you'd like. I don't see the need for a seating chart just yet. Unless you all are a chatty lot."
We did so and the bell rang and he stood up. "Well, good morning and happy first year! I'm Professor Potter as you know, and this is Defense Against the Dark Arts, or DADA as a lot of people call it. I figured we'd start out with something easy our first day. I'd like to know what questions you all have about this class."
We all looked at each other uncertainty. Was this guy for real?
"Come on, don't be shy. It's a very large topic with a lot of misconceptions. Ask away, I'm all ears!"
Louk slowly raised his hand and Professor Potter gave him a wide smile. "Yes?"
"Is it true we learn about Dark creatures in here as well as spells?"
"Yes, we do learn about some. Most, like vampires and hags, we only read about. A couple I can bring in and show you all."
"Like what?" Keeli asked timidly, before realizing she hadn't raised her hand. She did so, repeating the question somewhat unnecessarily.
"Well, I can't go and spoil everything can I? But, for instance, pixies and grindylows are easy to find. And usually show up in O.W.L.s. Anyone else?"
I raised my hand. "Do we learn any potions in here?"
He chuckled. "Luckily no, I'm abysmal. We learn about the Polyjuice and Wolfsbane Potions in theory but not practice. Any demonstrations I leave to the very capable hands of Professor Slughorn."
"Is it true this job used to be cursed?" A Slytherin boy raised his hand.
Professor Potter looked a little less cheery at that one. "Some say so. But I've been here a few years and nothing too bad has happened yet. But we'll sure see, won't we?"
We all quieted down at his answer and he nodded at our silence. "Why don't we start with the coursework?" he tapped a projector with his wand, turning it on. Another flick and the shades were closed on all the windows. The skeleton on the ceiling looked no less menacing lurking in the dark corner of the room.
"Something easy, shall we? Ghosts. Here here can tell me of a ghost?"
The class went by quickly, mostly discussing the Hogwarts ghosts and their houses. As the bell rang he waved us all out saying there was no homework. We scooted out, not wanting him to change his mind.