Gwendoline and Marisole had been best friends since they could remember, part of an elite group of families in the US with a big secret…they were magical. Gwen and Mari (what they were known by) were fifteen years old and currently attending the Ilvermorny School of witchcraft and wizardry. Hidden atop a large mountain that the No-Majs could not see or detect, the school had been educating young American witches and wizards since the early 1600s. Gwen and Mari were just two of the hundreds of students that had made their mark there since the small family school took shape way back then.
While most students (and in fact most witches and wizards) used wands to conduct their magic, Gwen and Mari were different and it was that difference that made them so desirable by the good and bad sides of magic alike. Gwen had a wand (mostly for appearances sake) but her magic came from her (and her families large magic book), with the point of a finger or spoken incantation she performed feats that some of the most advanced wizards could hardly dream of. It was powerful and unruly and she sometimes got into trouble for her trigger happy pointer causing havoc at school and at home. Mari also had a different skill set, again, she owned a wand, but her magic came from her mother's side of her family where Fairy blood coursed through their veins. Mari, the fourth generation to have this, had wings that retracted into her back and could produce fairy dust, giving not only her, but others the ability to fly (I'm sure you can understand how this could have gotten her into trouble at school); beyond those things she was a master potions maker and had mastered concoctions that other witches her age could hardly imagine.
On a snowy evening Mari and Gwen sat practicing shape shifting spells with their wands, eager to master the art after having gotten into trouble at school again before winter break for using "undisciplined" magic (as their Headmistress called it) after a rousing argument with another student during a history of magic class.
"This is so dumb." Gwen threw her wand down on the ground in front of the cup they were trying to turn into a trophy.
"Just concentrate." Mari said standing and trying again. The cup shook, but no change. She signed heavily and sat back down, "maybe this is dumb."
"Maybe we just aren't the kind of witches who can use wands?" Gwen sat down across from Mari, the cup between them. They were sitting in Gwen's living room; a fire glowing in the fireplace lit the far corner of the room. Gwen flipped the page in her text book, then went to her own magic book and began flipping. "Ha!"
"What?"
"I found the same spell in my book. Let me try something." She stood up, exhaled pointed and flicked the wand as she said the incantation, "Fera Verto."
"GWEN! It worked." Gwen opened her eyes and looked down and before her stood a trophy. "How did you get it?" Mari asked picking up the trophy and examining it.
"I don't know, I pulled up the shape shifter page in my book then I closed my eyes and just imagined I was pointing with my finger instead of a wand, and I don't know, I guess it worked!"
Just as Mari was about to stand up and try again their mothers walked into the room. Just as Gwen and Mari had been best friends since birth, their mothers had also been lifelong friends. "Hi Mom" Mari said as the two women came in and sat down.
"Girls, we have some news for you." Gwen's mom said, "Come here." The girls got up and sat on the couch across from their mothers.
"What is it?" Gwen asked curious.
"You got some mail today, just now actually."
The girls looked at each other, then to the window mystified, snow was coming down everywhere, plus it was 8 o'clock at night. "Who's delivering mail now?" Gwen asked, again looking curious.
"Someplace very special." Mari's mother reached across and handed the girls matching envelopes made of thick parchment with bright green letting on the front.
Gwen looked at the front of her letter, then turned it over and saw it, the Hogwarts seal. "Oh my God." She said as she opened the letter.
To Ms. G. Pearce,
We are pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
As you have demonstrated a set of skills of much interest to us here at Hogwarts we request that you begin your journey with us at the start of the second term of your 4th year; these changes have already been discussed with your teachers at Ilvermorny.
Please arrange to arrive up to three days prior to term so you can be designated into a house and set up in your dormitory before the rest of our students return.
We look forward to meeting you at the start of term.
Please find enclosed a list of books and materials you'll need to begin with us here (you may find you already have most of these items, but do double check).
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Gwen and Mari quickly compared their letters which seemed almost identical; the girls squealed and hugged as they jumped up and down in Gwen's living room. Hogwarts was the cream of the crop in terms of magic schools and as far as they knew they were the first American's to ever be offered a spot. This was a big deal.
A few weeks later, after Christmas and New Years the girls and their parents went to the famous London Wizarding epicenter, Diagon Alley (by way of the flew network) to get their new Hogwarts uniforms and any incidentals they'd need that they didn't already have. Gwen also got a new carrying case for her beloved Cat, Wrenly, so he would be comfortable on the train and Mari's parents bought her an Owl that she named Vuelo so that she not only would have a pet, but so that she and Gwen (and more importantly their parents) could contact them and send packages whenever they needed to.
The girls decided to go exploring around while their parents set up some accounts for them at Gringots bank. As they moved through the crowds of people things were familiar and fantastical all at once. It's not like they weren't witches, they knew a little about this, so the items and shops didn't throw them off, but the scale of this place, it was vast in comparison to the availability in America, entire towns hidden away from Non-Majs was a concept they scarcely knew or understood; sure their school was hidden from the eyes of those without the sight, but entire villages for witches and wizards was amazing to say the least.
They had wandered in and out of all types of shops, when they came across Zonkos Joke Shop, Gwen opened the door and the bell chimed as they made their way in. The room smelled like chocolate and fire smoke and they breathed it in as they walked through the aisles of funny little items. "We could make most of this." Mari whispered to Gwen as she passed and moved down another hall. Gwen was looking at a pair of extendable ears when she suddenly felt as though she were being watched. She turned around and saw a tall, good looking red haired boy standing behind her.
"Hello." He said in a cool British accent
"Hi." She said, realizing just then how uncouth her own American accent must seem. "What's up?" She asked trying to remain calm.
"Just saw you looking, got anyone in mind for those?"
Gwen smiled looking down, "well," she said with a little more confidence, "I was thinking how great these would be for a girl in my previous History of Magic class. She was always borrowing my earrings and never returning them."
"I may have some things you'd be more interested in?"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, my brother and I kind of make things like this on our own, we'd love to own a shop like this someday."
"That's pretty cool, do you go to Hogwarts?"
"Yeah of course, you?"
"I will be going, my best friend and I just got pulled from Ilvermorny, and we're set to start this second term of the year."
"What year?"
"I'm in my 4th, you?"
"Me too."
"Nice, at least they'll be one friendly face."
"Two actually."
"What?"
"I'm a twin, so technically."
Gwen laughed, "Oh, that's cool, is he around today?"
"Yeah somewhere."
Just then, Gwen saw Mari coming around the corner, "Oh, this is my friend Marisole." Mari walked over.
"It's Mari actually." She stood next to Gwen
"Oh, right, I'm George." He put his hand out and Mari shook it, but he was looking at Gwen, she smiled again, and Mari whispered something in her ear.
"Well, we better go, our parents are probably done at Gringots." Gwen responded, her cheeks flushing just a bit as she spoke. "It was great to meet your George, I'll see you around."
"Looks like you will." He looked toward Mari, "it was nice to meet you too."
"You too cutie." Mari took Gwen's arm and led her back onto the sunny street.
"I can't believe you said that." Gwen said once they were out of ear shot.
"Oh stop, he wasn't really paying me any attention." She winked at her friend.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh please, you'll be dating before we've been at this new school for two weeks. I'm calling it."
"You're wrong, that's not me anymore. I'm off men."
"You can't avoid the dating game forever Gweny, they won't all be like Dan." Mari began to walk down the lane back toward the center of Diagon Alley.
The night before they were leaving Gwen and Mari stayed at the Leaky Cauldron, a small pub that housed the occasional witch or wizard on their travels. Tom, the proprietor was very kind and offered the girls plenty of food and drink during their stay. They stuffed themselves with lamb stew, fish and chips and basically anything that wasn't something they could have gotten on the regular in the states. They washed it all down with pumpkin juice, again, something they had never had and went to bed talking and laughing about how they would take over this school.
As Gwen laid her head on her pillow she thought about the boy from the jokeshop again, George. She quickly imagined a wonderful reunion where he'd ask her out and she'd say yes. Then in a quiet whisper she said to herself. "Not again Gwen, just stop, boyfriends are not in the cards for you." She closed her eyes again and fell asleep.
The next day Gwen woke early, so she decided to have one last walk around Diagon Alley before they left for school. She put on her shoes and strode out to the courtyard where she opened the passage way with the quick flick of a finger smiling as she passed through. It was quiet, eerie almost, but she continued walking, looking in the shop windows at things she found interesting or funny. She did one loop around and as she was almost back to the passageway she saw a turnoff. The sign above it said Knockturn Alley, the path was winding and dark, and as she peered down she caught sight of something odd. It was quick, but she swore she'd seen a person dart into a building, as if they were running from someone. Her curiosity was getting the better of her and just as she was about to take a step onto the odd street she heard her name, "Gwen!" Turning at the sound she looked and saw it was her mother standing at the open passageway that lead in or out of Diagon Alley.
"What?" She yelled back, irritated that she'd been interrupted.
"Let's go. It's time."
Gwen looked down at her watch; she'd been wandering for over an hour, "Damn." She whispered to herself as she jogged back toward the entrance. "Sorry mom didn't realize I'd been out this long, just wanted one last look around."
"It's ok. You're all packed upstairs?"
"Yeah, ready to go."
"Great, go get your stuff and meet up out front. There's a car that's going to take us to King's Cross."
"Huh?"
"The train station."
"Train?" Gwen questioned, "Why can't we use floo powder."
"The floo network doesn't work inside Hogwarts hunnie, you'll have to take the Hogwarts express, and they've sent it up just for the two of you."
"Really?" Gwen asked sounding excited, she'd read about the train of course, but since it wasn't the start of the term yet (as they were going three days early) she didn't think they'd be able to take it.
"Yeah, go on." Gwen ran back into the pub and up the stairs, she flicked her finger toward her truck and Wrenly's carrier (which he was already sleeping in) and they began to follow her back down the stairs.
She got back outside and found that everyone was already waiting by the car. Her truck floated into the trunk as Wrenly's carrier floated gently into the back seat. Gwen slid into the car next to Mari and whispered, "The Hogwarts Express, can you believe this?" The girls giggled as the car started and they drove down the street.
King's Cross was busy, as they were warned by Tom it would be, but no one seemed to notice them as they wheeled their carts casually through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Once on platform nine and three quarters the girls said their goodbyes to their parents and boarded the train; which had been shortened to include the engine car and just two other passenger cars. From photos in books they knew the normal train would have been much longer, but it was still magnificent. They opened an empty compartment door and sat down opposite each other. "Are you nervous?" Mari asked as she adjusted into her seat.
"Yeah, kind of a lot actually."
"You think we'll be in the same house?"
"God I hope so, I hadn't even thought of that."
"I was reading Hogwarts a History last night and I got deep into the sorting hat chapter, I'm pretty scared the hat's gonna put me somewhere horrible or that it just won't do anything and I'll just have to sleep in a broom closet or something."
Gwen laughed, "Well if that happens you can come sleep with me. I won't let them make you sleep in a cupboard, who sleeps in cupboard." They both laughed as the train started to go. About an hour into the ride there was a knock on the door and Gwen opened it to find a delightfully pudgy old witch pushing a cart. "Hello" she said as she opened the door.
"Anything off the trolly dears?" The lady asked with a big smile.
"Oh, I don't know, what do you have?" At this point Mari had gotten up from her seat to see what was going on.
"We have all kinds of things, my most popular item is the pumpkin pasty though, here, take one each, on me." The lady handed each girl a small turnover like pie.
"Really?" Mari said taking her pie.
"Sure, enjoy, and if you need anything else I'll be up with the driver, this is just such fun making this special trip." The lady sort of squeaked a laugh as she passed them on her way down the corridor. The girls sat down with their treats and began eating. They were delicious, sort of a handheld pumpkin pie much like they would eat on the American holiday of Thanksgiving.
The train ride was longer than they had expected, and about half way through they both fell asleep. It wasn't until the train screeched to a halt that Gwen opened her eyes, Mari was still asleep, so she shook her awake, they looked to the window and their jaws dropped. Hogwarts castle was in view and it was spectacular. The girls groggily stumbled onto the platform where they were greeted by a very very large man. "Welcome." He bellowed as he waved them toward him, "Name's Rubius Hagrid, I'm the keeper of keys and grounds here at Hogwarts, and you must be Gwendoline and Marisole, yeah?" The man, while large, had sparkling kind eyes and he spoke with warmth that put the girls at ease, and they nodded.
"It's Gwen actually," she replied sheepishly
"And you can call me Mari, nice to meet you Mr. Hagrid"
"Well, you can drop the Mister, just Hagrid is fine with me." He winked at the girls and smiled, "Now come on with me, we'll teke ye up to the castle and get ye all settled."
They followed him to the end of long dock, he got into a boat, that looked as though it couldn't fit any more people with him, but he gestured for them to climb into the front, and to their surprise, it held. The boat began moving on its own and the girls became slightly giddy, "This is great!" Gwen said to Hagrid as they sped across the black water.
"Yeah, I was gonna take you up the path, normally the boats are just sumthin we do for first years, but since you're gettin a late start, I thought you might like it."
"We do, thanks for this!" The boat stopped and they stepped onto the soft grass and made their way up to the massive castle.
The trio walked into the entrance hall, the girls could see that their trunks and pets were sitting by the stairs, "Ok." Hagrid said, "You two wait here, Professor McGonagall will be in to get your shortly, I best get back to it. Nice to meet ya both, and I'll be seeing you in class."
"Are you a teacher too?" Gwen asked
"Yep, Care O Magical Creatures. Thanks to Dumbledore, oh great man. Alrighty then."
"Thanks for your help." Mari called as Hagrid moved back toward the door and disappeared. Mari looked around the space, "Wow, now what?"
"I guess we wait for Professor…umm, what did he say?"
"McGonagall." A sharp, but friendly voice said from behind them, the girls spun around to see a older witch standing on the stairs. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she wore small glasses on the end of her nose. "Welcome, please follow me this way." The witch moved past them and through two great doors to their left.
"Oh, is this the great hall?" Mari said as they walked fast to keep up with her.
"It is." The professor said not turning around. When they reached the front of the room, the professor turned and smiled at them. Now, we've prepared a little welcome meal for you, some of the other teachers will be down shortly, but first we need to sort you into your houses. So if you'd both come up this way. Stepping up onto a stage-like platform the girls saw an old hat sitting on a stool, the sorting hat, they knew it of course, but had never seen it.
The hat moved suddenly and its brim opened like a kind of mouth, and it began to speak. "Welcome." It said to them and they nodded their acknowledgement. "Now normally I do this whole diddy and sing a song, but as this is off book, let's say we just get you settled, ey?"
Professor McGonagall gestured for Gwen to come sit down on the stool, she took the hat, and as the girl sat down she placed it gingerly on her head. The hat thought for a few minutes and then yelled out with a ringing echo (as the room was empty) "GRYFYNDOR!" Professor McGonagall removed the hat and Gwen stepped aside.
Mari then sat down on the bench, it took a very long time for the hat to announce her house and from the looks of it, it seemed that Mari was having a conversation inside her head with the hat. Gwen looked at the professor, who assured her that this type of thing was very normal. Suddenly the hat shouted again, "GRYFYNDOR!" When the hat was removed Mari stepped down.
"Ok, have a seat and I'll be back with a few more teachers, you girls can get started." Professor McGonagall took the hat and rushed away toward the door at the other end of the massive hall.
Sitting at the only table in the room, Gwen turned to Mari, "That took a while, what was going on?"
"Oh, the hat wanted to put me in another house, but I really wanted to be with you, so I urged to be able to stay together. It tried to tell me that I could do really well in this other house, but I just didn't want that."
"That's good. I'm glad it let you choose, what was the other house?"
Mari squirmed a bit in her seat, "I don't know." She lied.