Poles Apart

Ch. 1 – Changing

I sat alone in my compartment on the Hogwarts Express, too shy to join a group of students and introduce myself. Nobody liked me at my old school, so why would they like me here? But then again, things were different here. Very different. Sometimes it was hard for me to wrap my head around it.

My dad didn't believe it. When I got the crisp, yellow letter in the mail, he thought it was a joke. But I knew in my heart it had to be real! Since he wouldn't take me to Diagon Alley for my supplies, I had to figure out everything myself. It wasn't too hard. The hardest part was wrapping my head around the idea that my entire life was changing just because of this one, simple piece of mail. I snuck out of the house, took a taxi to London, bought my school supplies, and here I was.

I was a watch. Well, not yet. But I will be. Then it occurred to me I hadn't tried to use my wand yet! How could I be a witch if I hadn't used my wand? I opened up my spellbook and took my want out of my pocket. I flipped to a random page and help my wand up. I was just about to mutter "Lumos," when my cell phone dropped out of my pocket! I got down my hands and knees to pick it up. Then, I realized it was broken! The screen had cracked and the battery popped out. What was I going to do?

Maybe some kind of magic would fix it. I looked back at The Standard Book of Spells, searching for some kind of spell that could fix stuff. On the same page as Lumos, I saw Reparo – for fixing. It was exactly what I was looking for! I held my phone pieces in my hand and pointed my wand at them. "REPARO!" I yelled. Then, it was like nothing I'd ever seen in my entire life! It was just like magic! It just fixed itself, like that! Not only that, but it turned into an mp3 phone, with all my favorite songs! I was beginning to really like magic! Just then, a compartment door opened. With a start, I realized it was mine!

I looked up. It was a girl my age with really bushy hair and big teeth. What did she want with me?

"I hard you doing magic. Reparo. Did it work? What were you fixing?" she said in a matter-of-fact way.

I stared at her. How nosy. "Umm… my cell phone? It broke." I looked down at it.

"Oh, cool! What kind of phone is it? I was going to get one, but then I realized I was going to Hogwarts. Speaking of which, we should change into our school robes."

"Oh," I said. I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing a pink v-neck op and a pair of skinny jeans. My Converse were pink too—they matched my top. I didn't want to change; this was my favorite outfit! I looked at my friend. She was wearing a plain t-shirt and plain jeans. How plain.

She sat down on the sea opposite from me. "My name's Hermione. What's yours?"

"Bella," I answered.

"That's pretty! I knew a girl named Bella at my other school. You know, my regular school. I didn't know I was going to a wizarding school until now!"

"Me neither! I'm really excited!" Before I could say anything else, my phone rang… it was my dad! How was I going to explain I had to run away from home?? I panicked.

Before I could pick it up, the compartment opened. Two boys stood there. One had bright red hair, and the other had jet black hair and glasses. I noticed a big lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. How… mysterious.

"What that music? Does one of you have a radio?" asked the Redhead.

"No," I said, "it's just my cellphone." Duhh… what else would it be?

"A cellphone? What's that? Does it work like a radio?" He had a confused expression on his face. He scratched his flaming head and looked down at it in my hand.

I stared at him. What the heck? How does he not know what a cellphone is? Did he live under a rock all of his life?

"No, Ron. You can talk to other people in different places on a cellphone. Everybody has a number. When you want to talk to somebody, you dial their number and then you can talk to them," said the black-haired one. "By the way, I'm Harry. This Ron."

"Hi," said Ron.

"I'm Hermione," said Hermione.

"I'm Bella," said I. I was so confused and excited at the same time! I had friends! Real friends, sitting with me right now! Even if one of them was a little weird, I had friends! I squealed with excitement. This was better than I thought was possible.