CHAPTER 1

You're Not Touching The Chocolate Frogs On My Watch!

"Come on, just a little further," I huffed, tiptoeing to push with all my might. All the effort was for naught, though, as my trunk fell from the ledge once again with a deafening thud. Liakáda, my white and gold Exotic Shorthair, meowed. Glaring at the shelf above the seats, a.k.a. my goal at that moment, I moaned in frustration before gripping the handle on the side to prepare for another go.

"Excuse me."

I let out a startled squeak before turning to the compartment door. A boy with black hair and emerald eyes stared at me nervously.

"Could I share this compartment with you?" he asked, awkwardly fidgeting from side to side.

I beamed. "Of course! No problem at all!"

The boy smiled in relief before dragging his trunk in, placing it on the shelf above his seat, and sitting down quietly. Liakáda made his way into the boy's lap. The boy awkwardly looked at him. On the other hand, I continued struggling, trying to push my trunk onto the shelf. A quiet cough rang out in the compartment.

"Do you need some help with that?" the boy asked.

"Thank goodness!" I said in relief. He picked my kitten up, setting him to the side before standing and helping me push the heavy trunk into the overhead shelf. I sighed with satisfaction when it was finally in place, and we both sat down across from each other, close to the window. I grabbed Liakáda and sat him in my lap. The train started to move, gaining speed after a few seconds. Houses flashed past the windows, blurry images contorted by the train's speed.

"Thanks for the help," I said, smiling. "I'm Ivy Willows. I'm actually from America, so in addition to it being my first year staying in England, it's going to be my first year at Hogwarts, too."

"I'm Harry Potter, first year as well," he said.

My mouth dropped. "Harry Potter?!"

"Yeah, that's my name," Harry said jokingly.

"W-what? I can't believe - "

"Um, do you have room for one more? Everywhere else is full," a voice asked.

Harry and I turned to the speaker, a redheaded boy. I nodded and the boy sat down next to me. I smiled brightly before turning to him. "Hi, I'm Ivy Willows. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Ron Weasley," he said quietly, blushing under my gaze. I noticed him glance at Harry before turning away as if he hadn't looked. The compartment door opened again. Two redheaded twins stood in the doorway.

"Hey, Ron. Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," Ron mumbled.

"Harry," said one of the twins, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother."

The other twin turned to me, grinning. "Hi there. Who're you?"

"Ivy Willows," I said, smiling. "First year."

"Well, we've got to go. See you later, then," they said simultaneously.

"Bye," Harry, Ron, and I said. The twins turned to leave, closing the compartment door behind them.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

"Oh. Well, I thought it might've been one of Fred and George's jokes," Ron said. "And have you really got the - you know..."

He pointed to Harry's forehead.

"Yeah," Harry said, lifting his bangs to reveal the lightning shaped scar on his forehead. It looked really cool, but a bit daunting.

I spoke. "So that's where You - Know - Who..."

"Yes," Harry said. "But I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Just a green flash of light, but that's it."

"Wow," I breathed. An awkward silence engulfed the compartment. Ron was glancing at Harry again. It seemed Harry had noticed, too. I petted Liakáda's head as he purred in content.

"Are both of your families all wizards?" Harry asked in interest. I shook my head.

"My mum is a witch, but I'm not sure about my dad or his side of the family. He left when I was little."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear," Harry said.

"Yeah, it's okay, but thanks." I smiled. "My mum's side of the family are all wizards and witches. What about you, Ron?"

"Er - yes, I think so," he said. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"So you guys must know loads of magic already," Harry said.

"No, I haven't learned a single spell or charm or anything. I'm completely new," Ron admitted.

"I've read and memorized most of the spells in our books, but I haven't practiced them yet," I said.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What're they like?"

"Horrible," Harry said. "Well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Five," Ron said gloomily. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached into his jacket and pulled out a grey lump.

"I-Is that the rat?" I asked, slightly grossed out.

Ron nodded. "You're lucky you've got that kitten. What's its name?"

"Liakáda," I said. "My mum got him for my birthday in April. What about your rat?"

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless; he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff - I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink, and he got very quiet. I didn't see what was wrong. There was no shame in being unable to afford an owl.

"Don't worry about it, Ron. Look, we can share my kitten!" I joked. "Liakáda is totally fine with that!"

Liakáda meowed, looking up at me with his big eyes.

Harry spoke up. "There's no shame in not being able to afford things. I had no money until a month ago. I had to borrow all of Dudley's old clothes and never got proper birthday presents."

As Harry went on, Ron seemed to cheer up.

"... and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort."

Ron and I gasped.

"Y-you said his name," I said, shocked and impressed at the same time. "I'd have thought that you, of all people..."

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn... I bet," he added, sounding worried, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be," I said in a, hopefully, comforting voice. "There are a lot of students from Muggle families who didn't know about magic until they got their letters, too. They catch on quickly. I'm sure you will, too."

We settled into a comfortable silence. I watched out the window, noting how we were passing many fields full of cows and sheeps. At around 12:30 PM, a clattering noise sounded outside the compartment door before it slid open, revealing a smiling, dimpled woman. "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry instantly jumped up, and I followed suit after putting Liakáda on the seat. I was starved; I hadn't eaten much for breakfast because I was so darn excited about going to Hogwarts. Ron stayed seated, muttering that he had brought sandwiches. We walked out into the corridor.

"There's so much!" Harry exclaimed in wonder. "What do I get?"

I held up my black pouch full with Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts.

"I'm going to buy a little bit of everything! Mum doesn't let me eat too much candy, so I'm taking advantage of this opportunity!" I said, grinning widely.

Harry laughed. "I'll do the same, too! I've never had wizard candy before."

We both bought some of everything, arms full a few seconds later. I paid her eleven Sickles and seven Knuts. Ron stared at us when we walked back into the compartment, dumping all the food down on the seats. I took a seat, and Liakáda crawled into my lap.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," Harry and I both said. Harry took a bite out of a pumpkin pasty, as I watched Ron unwrap a lumpy package that revealed four sandwiches. He pulled one apart before saying, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"I'll trade you a sandwich for a pasty," I said, smiling.

"You don't want one of these," Ron said quickly. "They're all dry. Mum doesn't have much time - you know, with the five of us."

"Just take one, Ron!" I jokingly demanded. He grabbed it gratefully. "Thanks."

I stood on the seats and grabbed Liakáda's cat treats from my trunk. After sitting down and feeding Liakáda some treats, I proceeded to grab a treat for myself. We spent the next few minutes just pigging out. I was eating a Cauldron Cake when Harry spoke up.

"What are these?" he asked, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They aren't actual frogs, are they?"

I laughed. "Nope, they're enchanted chocolate frogs. Check the card, though. That's what you really want."

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. "So this is Dumbledore!"

"You've never heard of Dumbledore? He's only the greatest wizard of all time!" I exclaimed. I grabbed one of the Chocolate Frogs from the pile. (I had an extremely large sweet tooth - especially for chocolate!) "I'm still looking for Circe."

I unwrapped the Chocolate Frog, taking a giant bite. "Mmm, it's so good! Chocolate is my favorite!"

Ron and Harry laughed at the dreamy look on my face.

"You're in love!" Harry teased. I threw the Chocolate Frog card (Godric Gryffindor) at his face, laughing.

Ron grabbed a Chocolate Frog as Harry looked down at his card of Dumbledore. "He's gone!"

"Well, you can't expect him to stay around all day," Ron said. "Oh, I've gotten Morgana again. I've got six of her already. Do any of you want it? You can start collecting?"

"I've already got her, but thanks anyway," I said. I noticed him staring at the rest of the Chocolate Frogs, just waiting to be opened.

I sighed. "You can have half of them. You're lucky I'm being nice," I said in mock anger.

Ron nodded happily before grabbing another Chocolate Frog. Harry was still staring at his card.

"In the Muggle world, people stay put in photos," he said.

"Do they really?" Ron asked. "Weird!"

Harry looked at me. "You aren't surprised. Were you raised in a Muggle area in America?"

I nodded. "Yup, I lived in Manhattan. It's, like, 'Muggle Central.' Lots and lots of Muggles."

Harry reached over to the other side of the seat to grab a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"You'll want to be careful with those. When they say every flavor, they mean it. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one time," Ron warned.

I took a brown one, looking at it cautiously before taking a small bite.

"Yum, cinnamon!" I said in relief.

Ron picked up a green one, biting into the corner. "Bleh - I got sprouts."

We spent the next ten minutes trying all the beans we dared to taste. I got chocolate, coffee, strawberry, potato, blueberry (yuck!), olive, ham, dirt, and green apple. It was fun to watch Harry and Ron scrunch their faces in disgust when they got a disgusting flavor like sardine.

There was a knock on the compartment door and it opened, revealing a teary round-faced boy about our age.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

We shook our heads, and he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"I'm sure you'll find him soon," I said.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him, could you tell me?"

We nodded, and he left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

Scabbers was asleep on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."

He opened his trunk, pushed a few things aside, and pulled out a battered-looking wand. The wood was missing a few chunks in certain places, and the top was so worn, some of the core was sticking out.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway -"

He was just about to cast the spell when the door opened again. It was the boy with the missing toad, but there was another addition to his lone self. The girl with bushy hair, large teeth, and a slightly snobbish tone spoke.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one."

"We already told him we hadn't seen it," Ron said. The girl wasn't listening, though. Her eyes were trained on Ron's wand.

"Oh, are you doing magic?" she asked. "Let's see it, then."

"Er - all right."

He cleared his throat.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He waved his wand, but nothing happened to Scabbers. He was the same greyish tone that he was before.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course. I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. Who are you?"

I didn't hear half of what she was saying. She spoke really quickly. Ron and Harry's faces were stunned, too, though it might've been because of the fact that she learned all the books by heart.

"I'm Ivy Willows," I said, giving her a smile.

"I'm Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter."

"Are you really?" she said, a little surprised. "I've read all about you. I got a few extra books for background reading and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Am I?" said Harry, looking a bit dazed.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

Then she left, taking the toad boy with her.

"Whatever house she's in, I hope I'm not in it, too," Ron said.

"Maybe we'll get to be friends with Hermione soon. After all, you've got to know a person to judge them," I said.

"Yeah, yeah." Ron tossed his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell. George gave it to me; bet he knew it was a dud."

"Are your brothers in Gryffindor?" I asked with interest. Ron nodded.

"Which house do you want to be in? I've always thought Gryffindor or Ravenclaw would be nice."

"I want Gryffindor." Ron said. "All of my family has been in Gryffindor. Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad. I can't even imagine what my mum would do if they put me in Slytherin."

"That's the house Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who was in, right?" Harry asked.

"Yup," I said. Ron sighed, looking gloomy.

"Here, Ron, have another Cauldron Cake." I was hoping that he would cheer up and forget about the houses.

"Yeah, here, eat some more chocolate frogs," Harry said, catching on to what I was doing.

"Thanks, guys," Ron said, pulling a half-smile.

"So what do your brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" asked Harry.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," Ron said.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Did you guys hear about the break in at Gringotts the other day? It's all over Daily Prophet."

"Really? What happened?" Harry asked.

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it," Ron said, looking excited.

We became quiet. I started thinking of You-Know-Who. Who knew what was going through his head? Why did he do what he did?

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.

"Sweetwater All-Stars are definitely the best!" I exclaimed.

"You Americans and your Quidditch teams," Ron muttered, rolling his eyes jokingly.

"What's Quidditch?" Harry asked.

"What?!" I shouted, making Ron and Harry jump. "You don't know what it is? It's only the greatest sport ever!"

I explained the whole game: the four balls, positions, rules, and the playing field. Ron and I took turns saying which games we'd been to, our favorite players, and which broomsticks we wanted. Suddenly, the compartment door slid open.

There were three boys, two large ones on both sides of the pale blonde boy in the middle.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry. I stared at the pale boy before shifting my gaze to the two thick boys behind him. I noticed Harry and Ron do the same.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," the boy said carelessly. "My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron let out a cough to cover his snicker. Draco Malfoy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

I narrowed my eyes at him, glaring with all my might, hoping to set his hair on fire or something. Maybe he noticed the glare or felt the intensity of it, but he then turned to me. His eyebrows quirked up when he saw me giving him an icy look. A smirk formed on his face.

"You're cute," he said. "What's your name?"

"None of your business," I shot back.

"Oh, American, are you? I'm fond of American accents."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not fond of you, so go away."

His smirk grew, but he said no more to me and turned to Harry.

"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand. Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry said coolly.

Draco didn't necessarily turn red, but a light pink dusted his cheeks.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Ron, Harry, and I stood.

"Say that again," Ron growled, face as red as his hair.

"You going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

"We will if you don't get out," I snapped, taking a step toward him.

"Right with you on that one, Ivy," Harry said, also moving up.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some," Draco said, eyeing the piles of candy that were on the seats.

Goyle reached out for some Chocolate Frogs next to me.

"Not on my watch!" I shouted as I lunged to hit Goyle, but before I could even touch him, Goyle let out a girly shriek.

Scabbers had sunk his teeth into Goyle's knuckle, hanging on for dear life as Goyle shook his hand, screaming and yelling. Draco and Crabbe did nothing to help him, only back away. Goyle flung his hand around and around, and Scabbers went flying straight into the window. The three boys upped and left, and Hermione Granger decided to come right after they left.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry and I. "Oh, wait, no - I don't believe it! He's gone back to sleep!"

"You've met Malfoy before?" I asked.

Harry explained their meeting in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of their family. They were the first to come back to our side when You-Know-Who disappeared," I said, looking at Ron and Harry.

"Yeah, they claimed they had been bewitched. But Dad reckons they'd switch right back with You-Know-Who if he ever came back," Ron said, eyes wide. He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You should put on your robes. I went to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. Have you been fighting? You'll be in trouble before we even get to Hogwarts!"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron said, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we changed?"

"All right - I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione, sticking her nose in the air in disapproval.
"And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Ron glared at her as she left. I looked out the window. The sky was a dark purple, almost the black that I knew night to be so well. I could feel that the train was slower than before.

Harry and Ron took off their jackets, slipping on their robes. It wasn't awkward because we were slipping on robes over our clothes. Oh no, the awkwardness came from us facing away from each other, trying to put on the robes in the small compartment space.

"Oof, sorry, Ron, was that your foot?" I said when I stepped back onto something moving but firm.

"Yeah, it's okay. Oh, sorry, Harry, did I elbow you?"

"No worries. It's fine."

A few minutes later, we were done. I was still brushing out my black locks with a white hair brush, Ron was rubbing the dirt smudge on his nose, and Harry was trying to flatten his messy hair.

A voice echoed through the train. "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."

I felt the butterflies in my stomach flutter violently. I could see Ron turning pale, and Harry's face a bit nervous. We grabbed all of our remaining candy (I tried to grab all of the Chocolate Frogs left) and shoved them into our pockets before joining the throng of students in the corridor.

The train slowed down and then stopped. Everyone shoved their way off the train onto the little platform. A chill was in the air, and I shivered, grabbing Harry's hand for warmth. He looked at me.

"Uh, just so I won't lose you," I said, giving him a timid smile.

He didn't say anything, but he didn't let go, either. Ron looked at us, confused. A light came bobbing toward us, and a booming voice sounded, stopping in front of us to reveal a person I hadn't seen in a long time.

""Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Alright there, Harry? Oh, Ivy! Nice to see yeh!"

"Hagrid!" I exclaimed, giving him a hug.

"How's yer mum doin'? You hadn't come to visit in a long time, so I thought somethin' was up," he said, grinning.
"Mum's doing okay," I said, shrugging. "She's out looking for bad wizards again."

"Well, it's a good thing you're here now, so yeh won't be caught up in all that. Oh! Hey! Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

I grabbed Harry's hand again, his warmth seeping into my cold hand. We followed Hagrid, slipping and sliding as we made our way through the dark on a steep and narrow path.

"Yeh all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

Everyone of us "ooh-ed" and "ah-ed" as the path in front of us opened to reveal a glittering black lake. Across the lake on a hill sat Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Oh, how I've missed this place," I sighed, looking up at the castle's lights and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid shouted, pointing to a whole bunch of boats in the water near the shore. Harry, Ron, and I got into one. Hermione followed us.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid asked. "Okay, forward!"

All of the boats started to move as one unit. No one spoke; we were all too busy staring at the castle looming above us.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled, and we all ducked as a curtain of ivy (*pun intended :) *) brushed our heads. We went through a dark tunnel under the castle, stopping at an underground harbor where we all stumbled off with jelly legs.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" Hagrid asked Neville as he got out of his boat.

"Trevor!" Neville cried, grabbing the toad. Then we walked through a passageway in the dark, following Hagrid's lamp, ending up on the wet grass in front of Hogwarts. We walked up the stairs to the large oak doors.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised his large fist, knocking thrice on the doors that would lead us to our home for the next seven years.