Selena Malast never seemed different. She attended primary school, she had a loving family, she turned 11 years old. But Selena was a witch. On that 11th birthday, she received a creamy envelope containing a letter: her invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Selena went to Diagon Alley and purchased everything a young Hogwarts student would need: robes, cauldrons, textbooks, potion ingredients, and a wand. Then, at the start of term, she packed her things and took her beloved cat. With her parents and siblings, she ran through the wall to platform 9 3/4's when no Muggle was watching. Before her, the Hogwarts Express stood...
September 1st, 1993. Wednesday.
After saying goodbye to her parents, Selena slowly moved onto the steam engine. The rush of families outside wasn't quieted indoors, the train's windows open as children waved to their relatives. The plush carpet and lush interior of the train made her stomach tighten in knots. She was finally here. Holding her black cat in her arms, she stroked his fur gently, feeling the anxious ties in her stomach loosen.
Rain dripped down the side of her face, drops covering her yellow slicker. It had been raining in London non-stop, and the drive from her house in Bath had been full of the downpour.
Selena tucked a piece of her dark hair behind an ear, catching her reflection in a wood panel as she walked down the corridor. Her pale skin seemed to glow, probably even lighter than normal, making her freckles glow. She'd been waiting to get on the Hogwarts Express her whole life, and though she was thrilled, it was also terrifying. Gulping, she straightened her green shirt (with the Quidditch team, 'The Irish' printed on it, naturally) and white shorts.
She glanced around the different compartments, seeing if any weren't full. Moving past the windows, she peered at children, some reading or sleeping who seemed unfazed by the train station's commotion. She was looking through the windows when she bumped into something hard. Her head snapped to look in front of her in time to see a girl drop a green book.
"Oh!" Selena gasped, "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"
The girl bent down to grab her book and came back up with a smile, bright golden eyes glowing. Selena scanned her outfit, just a plain T-shirt, jeans, and flats. Selena could see the girl's wand tucked into the back pocket of her jeans. Her own wand was safe inside the burlap bag at her hip.
"No need to apologize. I wasn't paying attention… just reading. Sorry. Have you ever read Hogwarts, A History? My mum got me it for school. It's quite interesting," the girl babbled, nodding. "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Hazel. Hazel Rose Locarn. And you are?"
"Selena Malast. Are you in a compartment? I still need one," Selena admitted, her cat meowing softly as she scratched his chin. Her charm bracelet (ever present on her wrist) jingled, the little charms clinking.
"No, I'm still looking," Hazel admitted, tugging on a lock of her dark brown hair.
"Alright… well, what about this?" Selena asked, walking over past one with a group of girls to a compartment with just one person. He was an older-looking boy with blond hair leaning against the window.
"I'm not sure…" Hazel said hesitantly, wrapping her arms around her book.
Selena shrugged. "The other compartments are filling pretty quickly." Without another word, she slid the door open. The boy didn't move. Hazel regretfully shuffled in and slowly sat down, almost as if spikes were on the seats.
"Is it alright if we sit here?" Selena asked the boy sitting across from her.
He slowly turned around and faced Selena, scanning her expression with light blue eyes. She could tell he was pretty tall just by him sitting. He smiled slightly. "Sure," he said, almost in a whisper.
Selena felt herself smile and nod. "Thanks."
"I'm Damon by the way," the boy added.
"Selena."
"A-and I'm Hazel," the other girl said. Damon gave her a light smile and she returned it, relaxing a bit. Within five seconds, she'd opened her book and had begun reading again.
Selena plopped down in a seat, setting her cat beside her. He meowed again, crawling over her lap to lay against her burlap bag. Grinning, Selena pat his little ears, glancing out the window at the brick wall of the train station.
"Is this your first year?" Damon asked half-heartedly, drawing her attention back.
Selena nodded slowly. "Yes… What year are you in?"
"Fourth" Damon said. He turned a bit, and Selena saw his vintage bag. On it was a Slytherin badge, the serpent hissing against the emerald-silver backgroud.
"You're in Slytherin?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered quickly, looking away.
At that time, the train whistle blew, cueing everyone by the windows to cry farewells. With a lurch, the Hogwarts Express began to move forward. They chugged out of the station, the brick wall rushing past in a blur of red before a rainy landscape was visible. Feeling a spark of excitement, Selena smiled at Hazel who beamed back. Damon just looked bored, brushing his blond fringe to the side.
With a click, the door compartment came open.
A boy walked in, Hazel and Damon paying no attention, but Selena looked up at him. He glanced at her through shaggy, light brown hair, fidgeting with his mahogany, button-up cardigan. An expensive-looking gold necklace hung around his neck, clashing with a black V-neck and track pants. But what surprised Selena was his dyed fringe, a green color like grass. The rabbit cradled in his left arm twitched its nose.
"Hullo. Is this compartment taken? All the others are full," the stranger said.
"No," Selena answered quietly.
He nodded and sat down next to Damon, moving more towards the wall, and away from the Slytherin boy.
"I'm Rolf Iredine," the stranger said, setting the rabbit down beside him.
"I'm Selena. This is Hazel, and Damon," she replied, motioning to the others. Hazel looked up over her book. Rolf waved slightly and Hazel ducked back behind the pages.
"So… I like your pet bunny," Selena said weakly, trying to start conversation.
"Thanks," Rolf said with a grin. "His name is Karrot… Who's that?" He nodded to Selena's cat, who was fast asleep by now.
"Oh! This is Crescent," Selena said.
The view outside the window transitioned to forest suddenly, the trees flying past the train. Selena bit back a smile. Hogwarts was getting closer.
2 Hours Later
Selena was shaken awake. An ache in her neck spread, making her sit up from where she'd fallen asleep against the wall.
Hazel jerked forward and dropped her book once again. "What's going on?" she asked, looking out the window.
The sky had gone a slate gray, blanketing the sun. A lake and forest spilled out below them, mist swirling across the glassy surface. Rain fell, dousing the land in a haze, drops dancing on the water's surface. Selena frowned. That didn't look like the pictures of the Black Lake her brother had shown her, from Hogwarts.
"We can't be at Hogwarts… It takes longer to get there!" Damon said, standing up. He walked to the door, opening it to a hallway of chattering voices. Without warning, the train shook and cries came from all the other compartments. Damon stumbled backwards and slipped onto his seat. The door flew shut with a bang, the lights flickering before going off completely.
"What was that?" Selena heard Rolf say. Her blue eyes adjusted to the darkness, a pop like snapping bones making everyone jump. A chill spread through the air, frost suddenly crackling as it crept across the window pane. The rain that had been running down the glass chilled to ice, like teardrops. Selena breathed, her breath flowing out in front of her like fog. She could tell Hazel was cold as well. Selena saw the silhouette of Rolf pick his rabbit up, holding it close. Selena placed a hand on Crescent's cool fur.
Damon said nothing, watching the frost on the window sparkle and obscure the scenery outside. Selena felt Crescent tense up in the dark, pushing himself closer to the wall.
Hazel gasped and Selena jerked her head towards the door, her eyes widening in horror.
In front of the compartment entrance, a bony hand waved itself in front of the door, its fingers floating through the frozen air. The lock clicked and the door slid open. Damon jumped to his feet as Hazel screamed, Selena petrified in her seat.
Ooooh! Cliff-hanger! So, thank you and I will be uploading part 2 soon!
I bet you all know what's coming, but what they do might surprise you! So, I still want people! Also, if you haven't talked to me about your character's year yet, I can't put them in yet. So, please Read ch7 for that matter.
So, I'm sorry for the short A/N and I'm sorry if the chapter was not done to justice. I accept minor comments, just please no harsh ones!
And remember, I will get everyone in within the first 10 chapters and they'll be posted every day. One chapter a day I mean. So, thank-you for reading and everyone for their support.
8/2/16: Wow, so I think it's, like, 5 years later since I first wrote this chapter. I've gone back and polished this chapter up some. I'm going to go through the entire story (I hope) and edit each chapter before I begin writing more chapters later. And this A/N... wow... I sound so different.
Thanks for reading! :)