Chapter 1 - Starting off

My milky white barn owl, Luna, named after Luna Lovegood, one of the founders of Dumbledore's army, was jostling around in her cage as I approached the scarlet steam engine with the Hogwarts crest on it pulled up into the station. "Luna, quiet down, you'll attract too much attention. Now, don't give me that face! Ok, come on, we got a train to catch." I whispered reassuringly to my feathered companion.

I stepped onto the train car and found the first compartment to settle myself comfortably in. I let Luna out for a bit of a stretch and stuck my nose in one of the spell books. After about ten minutes, I heard the click of the compartment door open. Luna became a little flustered and quickly dashed back to her golden steeled cage. That is when I first came in contact with Elizabeth Louise, Elizabeth Louise Lennox to be exact. She became one of my closest friends at Hogwarts and I was about to meet her. "Uh, Hi. Can I sit in here? All the other compartments are full." said a blonde haired girl.

The girl was average height, gold eyes, with a fair skin tone. She seemed friendly enough so I motioned to the seat and said, "Yeah you can sit here, My name is Amelia by the way. Amelia Susan Cresswell. Nice to meet you."

I extended my hand in a greeting and she awkwardly shook it. I was nervous for Hogwarts but, meeting new people was going to be my downfall. I didn't have any people skills, so instead of starting a conversation with my compartment buddy, I shut up and went back to reading 1,0000 Magical Herbs and Fungi. It was quite interesting actually. I had already read about gillyweed, which was a worm-like plant that made you half fish and allowed you to breathe underwater. My reading on the armenian lily was cut short however by a tap on the shoulder. It was the girl, who hadn't bothered to introduce herself. "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, the names Elizabeth Louise Lennox. Nice to meet ya." Elizabeth said in a casual fashion.

Elizabeth seemed very gold-hearted, loyal and she had a hint of nerve. A very interesting personality, if I don't say so myself. "Whatcha reading?" she asked, "Is that 1,0000 Magical Herbs and Fungi? I've never read that one. What's it about?"

For sure she asked lots of questions but, even so, I was happy to talk to someone other than Luna. "Oh, yeah, I love this book. I'm really interested in herbology, but, this year, I mostly want to learn defence against the dark arts! It seems really interesting."

Elizabeth and I exchanged stories, interests, secrets, advice, and other great things until suddenly... "We will be arriving at Hogwarts in an hour, please have your baggage ready and your uniforms on. First years must follow Mr. Rubeus Hagrid down to the boats when we arrive. Thank you." the speaker crackled a little and was silenced. "Oh god, better get our uniforms on." I said with urgency, "I'm new to the school but, I'm being put into third year classes. I'd just better put the stuff on."

We both quickly changed into our robes, ties, and I personally, wrapped my scarf around my neck. It was pouring rain when we got outside and I snuggled deeper into my woolen scarf. We walked around looking for this Rubues Hagrid fellow, until... "Fir' years o'er here!" boomed a deep voice. This must have been Hagrid. This giant of a man explained the sorting process and brought us down to the boats where we would arrive at the Great Hall. This was where we would be sorted into four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. "'Ere you go, right up there on the stool, there you go." Hagrid helped me onto a small stool and the sorting began. They placed the old worn hat on my brown hair. As they did so, a rip in the hat opened wide and started to talk. "Ahh! Another late bloomer I see, You beat up some kids who were bothering your sister. Hmm, you are a smart one too. Likes to read lots of books. Well, seeing that is makes more sense you're a... GRYFFINDOR!" the hat boomed. Hagrid certainly seemed happy. He shook my hand and said he was Gryffindor once, until he got expelled in his third year but that his story shouldn't discourage me. My fingers almost got crushed by the size of his massive hand. I was so happy when Elizabeth got chosen for Gryffindor too! We high-fived and it was really great. Our uniforms changed from the generic black robes and ties to red and gold colors. My scarf also changed red and yellow. I showed Elizabeth to the grand hall and we sat down with our fellow Gryffindors and ate amazing food. I had third helpings of the shepard pie and loved all the little toffee candies they had in a jar when the desserts were magiced up to the golden platters. "Dish ish reawy goob." I said, my mouth stuffed with treacle tart.

I met so many new people, Max, Sam, Debby, Fleur, Septima, Charisma and countless others. As I walked up to bed with Elizabeth, I knew more than anything in the whole world, that I was going to love it here. I would love it more than my own home, no, this was my home. So as I drifted off to sleep under a crescent moon, I anticipated an awesome year. "Sweet dreams..." I whispered to luna, and I finally drifted off to sleep.