A word of advice to possible hogwarts students: Find your friend's compartment before the Hogwarts Express is in motion. It was my 3rd year here and here I was, clumsily tripping down the narrow hall, casting a hopeful glance into each passing compartment as the train rattled on. Finally, after a near catastrophe with the witch pushing the trolley, I saw Jill slumped up against a window in the adjacent compartment. I dove, and made it through, shutting the door loudly behind me.
"Jesus christmas." I murmered, leaning up against the sliding door for a few moments before taking my seat across from Jillian.
"Hey! I thought I'd lost you." Jill said, referring to their seperation at platform 9 and 3/4.
"Ha! You're not that lucky." I replied.
Jill smiled and turned back to stare out the window. I did the same. The lull of the train rumbling over the tracks had us both nodding off.
A first year, already in her robes, came scuttling nervousely by our compartment. I smiled, and she responded with a clearly nervous, stretching of the lips.
I was tickled. I remembered my first year. I leaned my head against the cool window and sank back into the memory.
Already in her robes, an 11 year old Sarah Poe scurried into a compartment and sat down near the window. The train had just started to move. She watched her mother and father waving proudly as they slowly shrank into the distance.
"I cant do this." she thought to herself. She had passed 2 roguish looking redheaded third years on her way in, telling their younger brother that in the Sorting Ceremony, you had to fight a troll.
"Hi." said a girl across from her.
Sarah jumped. She had not seen the girl, she had been too busy planning ambush tactics for the troll. The girl was a first year too, judging by the plain black tie with the Hogwarts crest on it. She had a light dusting of freckles over the bridge of her nose, with bright blue intellegent eyes. Her straight shiny brown hair fell past her shoulders and was held back on one side by a sparkly yellow hair clip. She held Hogwarts, A History in her lap.
"Hi." Sarah replied.
"I'm Jillian Thimbleword. You can call me Jill if you want. You're a first year too?"
"Yeah. I'm Sarah Poe. Erm..Or Sally."
"Nice to meet you."
Sarah nodded in response. Jillian smiled at her. She returned the favor.
And they had been besties ever since.
"Sar!" said Jill, poking me with her shoe from across the compartment.
"Yeah Im awake. What the fuss?" I stammered, bolting upright and stretching.
"I bought you a chocolate frog." she replied, tossing me the pentagonal box.
"Thanks!" I said, attempting to catch the box, which instead bounced off my chest and onto the floor. I hastily picked it up.
Jill giggled at my clumsiness. "Smooth move. I can really see why you're the best chaser on your team."
I grinned. Jill, as position of best frend, had the right to poke fun at me. She was a Ravenclaw, and lived up to every quality the Sorting Hat sang about. Brilliant at every subject, clever and yet not dorky or fussy in any way.
Dean Thomas came into our compartment and sat next to Jill.
He fancied her. I could tell.
"Hey Jill. How was your summer?"
"Good! I spent it at the beach." she giggled.
"Really? How was it?" Dean gave me a look out of the corner of his eye.
Being the graceful friend I am, I took the hint and picked that oppurtune moment to change into my robes.
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By the time we entered the Great Hall, dusk was upon us.
I looked up at the bewitched ceiling, and at all the floating candles.
It was good to be home.
I gave Jill's hand a squeeze as she flitted over to the Ravenclaw table. I turned to examine the table full of my fellow Gryffindors.
Where are the little...aha!
I walked over to my targets: two tall, redheaded 5th years. Using the element of obnoxious suprise, I stuck my head right into their conversation and threw an arm around each of their shoulders.
"Hey guys! Did you miss me?"
Fred and George laughed and scooched over so I could squeeze between them.
"Like hell we missed you." said Fred sarcastically.
"Did you have a productive summer?" asked George devilishly.
"On the contrary..." I pulled out 2 small firecrackers from my robes. Each one was about the size of your thumb, wrapped in shiny blue foil.
The twins looked skeptical.
"I call them Snappers." I explained, handing one to each of the boys, who pocketed them. "All the noise of some of your biggest rockets compressed into a handy travel-sized bit of fun."
Fred grinned. "Well Sally, you're learning."
"Impressive." nodded George.
I grinned. Other than my mother and occasionally Jill, Fred was the only one who exercised the nickname Sally. He knew it. He thought as my best friend it was a certain privelage, and would consider it a threat to his authority if someone else used that title to adress me.
Just as Jill embodies all that I am not, Fred and George embody all that I am. Just as clever and mischevious, these two were my Gryffindor family.
"What about you boys? Did you do it? Did you get the forms-"
"Yeah! Mums onto us of course." mumbled George.
They were referring to the Weasley Wizard Wheezes. With a new mind to help concoct all sorts of loud, bangy, chaotic, disruptive things, the twins thought they should give their buisness another go.
"We have 5 orders so far." grinned Fred. "Mum would flip her lid if she knew you were in on it."
I smirked. I had stayed at the Burrow this past summer for a few days. Mrs. Weasley, ever doting, fell in love with me just as she had Ron's guests: Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. I was a clever girl, very clever, and I knew how to cover my tracks. I was also very good at all my classes and got very many O's on my OWLs.
Mrs. Weasley was always hinting at Fred and George that they could pick up a few study habits from me.
(I hadnt the heart to point out I learned my study habits from Jillian Thumbleword. )
"Yeah you little..." George put me in a headlock and gave me a nuggie.
"Aye! Gerroff!" my muffled voice came from under his arm.
I pulled myself out and quickly ruffled his hair as best I could.
I adjusted my gold headband over my untidy dirty blonde plaits, and turned as the Sorting Ceremony began.
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It felt good to be back. I was early to Potions, not only because Its the first day back but because it was my favorite subject, taught by my favorite teacher.
I walked in to the dingy classroom and plopped my bag at the table in the front of the classroom, near Professor Snape's desk. He eyed me warily.
"Hey Professor! How was your summer holiday?" I chirped. He hated it when I chirped.
"Mediocre." He stated in that low, always annoyed sounding voice.
I smiled and heaved my potions book onto the table.
"Planning on wasting my time as an insufferable know it all again, this year, Poe?"
I glared at him with one eye, a challenging smirk on my face.
"Same as always, Snapey-Wapey."
He glared at me with all the hatred in his soul.
This wasn't new, however. Since 3rd quarter of my first year this exchange of name calling had become quite routine. He'd call me Poe. I'd call him Snapey-Wapey.
He wouldn't ever take away house points for this. It was a mutual understanding between us.
I jumped up and walked over to Snape's desk. I pulled a daisy from my robes and put it on his desk.
"Here's to one more year as my favorite teacher."
He glared up at me, sweeping the daisy away casually with a pale hand.
"And one more year of headaches from the biggest nuisance." He said back.
With a smirk, I said "Let the torment begin."
His eyes glinted with the grin that wouldn't dare cross his face.
I shrugged and walked back to my table as the rest of the students came trickling in.
As I sat down and opened my book to the page number written on the blackboard, I saw out of the corner of my eye Snape picking up the discarded daisy and putting it gingerly in his desk drawer.
I smiled.
You see, I have Snape figured out. And he's not a bad man, you just have to understand him. For him to like you is for him to hate you. And once you accept that, your friendship is limitless.
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The first day of classes, although exciting, left me desperately tired as I climbed through the portrait hole into the common room that evening.
Fred and George motioned me to come sit in the corner with them. It looked like they had quite a handful of order forms in their hands.
With a tired sigh, I walked over and flopped down next to Fred in a squishy armchair.
"Rough day back, my little minion?" asked George, flipping through the papers.
"Ungh. Homework already." I kicked at my bag full of the homework I had just spent 2 hours completing in the Library with Jill.
"Thats nothing compared to the noble work saddled upon us 5th years!" Said Fred, motioning to their almost bare peices of parchment.
Fred had drawn and animated a little sketch of what looked like flying socks in the upperhand corner of his. They fluttered up and down the right margin, bumping into eachother as they fluttered.
"You poor martyrs." I said sarcastically, closing my eyes and resting my head on the worn robed shoulder of Fred Weasley.
"Dont you go to sleep now, we know how you drool." joked Fred. He had a slight look of disappointment in his eyes as I then lifted my head.
"Have you had Care of Magical Creatures?" I asked. "Hows Hagrid?"
"He's a nutter." said Fred, indicating several bandaged fingers. "Blast ended screwts."
I groaned a little. I had that class tomorrow.
"Well, I need my beauty rest." I said, struggling slightly to get out of the nest I had made in the crook of Fred's knees. I picked up my bag.
"Yeah you do." Said George.
I swatted him on the back of the head.
"Night." I said as I made my way into the dormitories.
"Night."
"Night."
The stairs felt like they went on for eternity. I opened the door to the room that I shared with Lucy Gringway, Lulu Satchelbucket, Hermione Granger and Lavender Brown.
Hermione was reading on her bed by the light of her wand.
"Hey Hermione! Hows it?" I asked, kicking off the converse sneakers that I rebelliously wore with my uniform and pulling off my knee socks.
"Great! I'm taking this really great class this year, Ancient Runes, and the rubric covers..."
She went on talking about her class as I changed discreetly into my pajamas. Jillian and Hermione were similar in their brightness. However, Hermione's bossy and slightly motherly personality just didnt click with mine quite like Jill's bossiness. Dont ask why.
"...And that by midyear we wont even be using the translator!" she finished with gusto.
"You're kidding!" I said, yawning. I opened my drawer and pulled out a silver tin can.
"You aren't still using those, are you? Arent they a bit juvenile?" asked Hermione, grinning.
"I prefer simpler forms of communication." I grinned, and walked over to the window.
The length from the Gryffindor tower to the Ravenclaw tower was quite a stretch, but With the Wizarding world, the old-school Muggle method of tin-can communication was made wireless.
I sat on the window, dangling my feet through the baulstrade that kept us from falling out. I drew the curtains behind me.
I looked to my right. Faraway in the distance, I saw the tiny blue speck of Jill, dangling from her window.
"Hey Jill." I spoke into the can.
"Hey!" She responded. "First day damage status?"
"Moderate. Snapey- Wapey is still cranky. Professor Binns still drawling. And you?"
"Similar." She replied. "Dean asked me out today."
I nearly dropped my tin can.
"No way!" I feigned amazement. I knew he would sooner or later. "What did you say?"
"I said I needed a day to think about it." I could hear the grin in her voice.
"Haha you're such a diva." I teased.
"What are you're thoughts?" She asked.
"Dean is great! Friendly. Looks more grown up this year."
"yeah!" She replied dreamily.
There was a short silence.
"Oh, I had Defense Against the Dark Arks today."
"Really? Hows the new professor?" I asked.
"Unconventional. You'll love him." She said. "Right up you're alley."
I didnt quite know what she meant by that. So far all that's up my alley is Professor Snape, and he hates me.
"I can't wait!" I said into the tin can.
I heard a yawn come from the other end.
"I think I need to get some sleep. I'm pooped." she said.
"Yeah, me too. Talk to you in the morning." I said.
"Goodnight!"
"night".
I pulled my legs back through the baulstrade and swung around into the dorm. I pulled down my bed clothes and hopped in, drawing my curtains around me. It was a chilly night.
Hermione courteously dimmed her reading lamp.
"Night Hermione."
"Mhm." She mumbled, deeply involved in her Ancient Runes.
My mind began to go into the state of incontrollable thinking that happens right before you go to sleep.
Faces of Snape, Dumbledore, Jill and the Great Hall whizzed in and out of my mind.
There was one face however, that kept sticking in my mind.
I smiled and pretended I was back with my head on Fred Weasley's shoulder as I fell into a deep sleep.