Chapter 1

Arabela sighed as she double checked that she had everything she needed before turning to Ebony, her tawny owl, and stroked her beak.

"Hurry up or you won't be able to catch the train!" She heard her mom's voice call from the den. Ara ran her fingers through her hair in a feeble attempt to keep it tamed before grabbing Ebony and rushing out the door. She closed the door behind her and quickly got into the passenger seat but not before putting her owl in the back.

"I'm here!" She flashed a weak smile at her mom as she fumbled to buckle her seatbelt.

"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Her mom asked her calmly. Ara held back a groan as she let out a hum in approval. Her mom looked over her once before nodding and turning the keys in the ignition. Once they exited their neighborhood, Ara sighed and slumped down in her seat.

She started wondering about Hogwarts as she sat back up and pushed up her black rimmed glasses. Was it going to be anything like her old school? She scoffed silently at her thoughts. Of course not! Her old school was a muggle school and was so boring. Though both of her parents had and practiced magic, she was mostly raised as a muggle. Her father liked to ramble on about spells and how magic worked; for the most part it was interesting but she still zoned out sometimes. She knew many things about the wizarding world but she still acted much like a muggle.

Ara sighed as she rested her head in the window. There was no way everyone slept together in one big dorm. Would they have a homeroom? Would they have mascot? Maybe they would be sorted. But how would they be sorted? Would they be asked to take a test? Are wrinkled her nose. God, she hoped not. What if they were asked to fight against each other? Her stomach squeamed with worry at that. Even though Ara knew spells, she knew she wasn't invincible, there would definitely be a student stronger than her. Ara shook her head slightly and closed her eyes tightly. No, she thought to herself, stop thinking like that. But she couldn't.

What if nobody liked her? What if she didn't make any friends? Would people make fun of her because she was raised as a muggle? What if they picked on her height? Even though she was probably going to stop growing pretty soon, Ara was only 4 foot 10! What if they didn't like her long hair? What if they pulled it? What if they made fun of her robes? What if she had bought the wrong robes?!

Ara started panicking as all these thoughts ran through her mind. Maybe she could just live as a muggle for the rest of her life. She spared a glimpse at her mom. Should Ara tell her? She sighed. No, she shouldn't. Her mother had already spent money on all of her supplies. Ara continued thinking of everything that could go wrong. Apparently, there were many things.

Before she even realized it, they had arrived at King's Cross Station, only noticing their arrival when she heard the whistles of trains. Arabela let out a shaky sigh and tried to collect her thoughts, only to start panicking again. She got out of the car and went to get Ebony. Ara stood in front of the station as her mom took out her trunk.

"Where's Platform 9 3/4?" Ara asked her mom as she glanced at the labels. There was only Platform 9 and Platform 10; no platform 9 3/4 though. Her mother walked up next to her.

"Your father said it was in the wall," Ara turned to her mom with wide eyes.

"What?!" She squeaked in a hushed tone. "A wall doesn't exactly meet all of the requirements of a platform!" Angela rolled her eyes at her daughter.

"Cariña, it's magic," Ara blinked then smiled sheepishly.

"Oh right. We have that. I forgot," Angela looked around then started to drag her daughter's trunk toward a cart.

"Hold the cart steady," Ara did so as her mother lifted the luggage onto the cart. Once everything was on, she topped it all with the cage of her owl. Ara wheeled the cart to wall between 9 and 10.

"So," she started, leaning her arms on the cart while resting her head on her fist. "How do we get to the platform?" Her mother shook her head.

"I don't remember what your father told me. Perhaps we could find another student going to hogwarts," Angela suggested. Her daughter gaped at her.

"Seriously," she deadpanned. "That's your idea. You know what, let's just go back home. If we can't even figure out how to get to the train, what's the point of going to a school of mag-," Ara cut off with a squeak when she tripped over her own feet as she turned around and fell. Fortunately, she landed on something soft. Unfortunately, that something soft was a human that she had dragged down with her.

Arabela groaned before quickly shooting up.

"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry!" She kept apologizing as she helped the person up. That person turned out to be a red headed boy half a foot taller than her. The boy brushed off some dust off of himself.

"It's okay, I'm fine," he grinned widely. His English accent didn't escape the attention of the girl. Ara looked at him warily.

"Are you sure?" The boy nodded before sending her a questioning gaze.

"Did you say gods?" Ara turned bright red.

"Yeah, um, I'm, uh, trying out new religions," she hesitantly replied.

"Fred!" Ara looked behind him to see a whole family of red heads. She supposed they must be his family.

"Are they talking to you?" She asked him. He grinned.

"Yep. Are you going to Hogwarts?" She brightened up. Maybe he knew how to get to the platform!

"Yeah, it's gonna be my first year,"

"Really?" He asked her. "It's gonna be our first year, too," Ara looked at him quizzically.

"Our?"

"My brother, George. We're twins," as soon as the words left his mouth, another Fred came up behind him. Ara blinked twice before nervously smiling at the twins.

"Um hi. You're George, right?" He nodded, not looking very surprised that a stranger new his name.

"Yep. We're the Weasley's," Ara suddenly remembered that they probably new how to get on the platform.

"Oh, um, do you guys know how to get on Platform nine and three quarters?" They grinned simultaneously before getting their carts that were by the red heads that Ara guessed was their family.

"Made some new friends already, I see," Ara jumped at the sudden voice of her mother behind her.

"I don't know if you would call them my friends. I mean, I only just met them and I fell on top of one them," Arabela bit her bottom lip.

The twins came back with their luggage and their family of red heads.

"Hello, I'm Fred and George's mum, Molly. Is this your first time going to the platform?" A lady that looked like she was in her thirties, maybe forties, with bright red hair asked warmly. Ara nodded hesitantly.

"Well that's okay, everyone has their first time. Fred, how about you go first?" Molly said as she looked at Fred.

"He's not Fred, he's George. I'm Fred!" George cried indignantly. Ara looked confused and wondered if she had gotten the names wrong or if they were just playing a joke on their mother. Molly sighed.

"I'm sorry, Fred. I'm sorry, George. George, would you like to go first?"

"We were just joking, I am Fred. Honestly woman, you call yourself out mother," Fred laughed as he took a running start and went straight into the wall. Ara wanted to be surprised but couldn't find herself to care. She was always being amazed by magic she hadn't seen before, port keys and objects that were bigger in the inside were just two examples out of many.

"George, you go next," Molly told her son in a slightly annoyed tone. George grinned cockily at Ara before racing into the wall.

"Would you like to go next... I'm sorry, I never got your name," Ara turned to Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm Arabela," she smiled nervously.

"Well then, Arabela, would you like to try?" Ara observed the wall warily. What if something went wrong and she ran straight into the wall? She swallowed down her fear and nodded.

Arabela distanced herself from the wall a ways then started jogging. Her brown orbs widened in fear as the wall grew closer before being squeezed shut.