The Trouble Tails of Life at Hogwarts
Chapter 1
Seeing so many parents bidding good bye to their children was almost unbearable. Why couldn't my family be here? Why did I have to fly halfway around the world to attend school and my so called parents didn't even come to see me off.
"I actually make it! I didn't crash through!!" some young girl screamed in front of the station's portway only moments before tripping over nothing and landing face first on the station floor.
"Ditz," I muttered to myself tearing my eyes away from the window as she picked herself back up. I pulled out my book from my book bag and lost myself in an Ann Rice vampire book, at least until I sensed someone looking at me.
Looking up form my book, I saw the girl who tripped only moments before standing at the door to my compartment. She was wearing a light blue sundress, Gucci heels (Yes, I know some brand names) and her knees were red, no doubt a result of her troubles on the platform. We locked eyes for a moment, (ok, I glared) before she moved onto find a different compartment. Once again, I lost myself in the wonderful words of Ann Rice.
When the compartment door opened a few minutes later I feared it would be that ditz girls but to my surprise three boys stood in the doorway. Two of the boys were identical red haired twins. The third had dark frown dreadlocks that looked a little out of place here in England, at least to me they did.
"Mind if we joined you?" Dreadlock Boy asked politely.
"Not at all," I said gesturing for them to sit. "I was beginning to wonder if I had pledge." They laughed as they took sets, the twins across from me and Dreadlocks next to me.
"My name's Fred," one of the twins said. "This is my brother George and our friend Lee Jordan."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Alexandretta," I said, putting my book into my lap.
"You're a first year right?" George asked before adding, "Where ya from?"
"I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana, USA."
"That's quite a mouth full," Lee Jordan said raising an eyebrow. "What brings you to England and Hogwarts?"
"Long story really," I muttered not really wanting to explain. "So, what's it like at Hogwarts?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.
"Kind of hard to describe," Fred answered, "What's it like where you come from?"
"Like most everywhere else really, save for around Halloween."
"What changes at Halloween?" Fred and George asked as one.
"Well, around Halloween you can't go a day without running into vampires," I said.
"Wow, you've meet a vampire?" Lee asked in wonder.
"Sure. Hell, last year I opened my front door one night to find The Vampire Lestat on my front steps. I've even gone to vampire parties before," I said, remembering last Halloween when I snuck into Ann Rice's annual vampire Halloween party.
"But you are like what, eleven?" George asked.
"Ten actually," I corrected him. "I still have a few months."
The compartment door was opened before any of the boys could ask another question. This time a troubled looking boy, who could only be a first year like me, stood in the doorway. "Have any of you seen my toad?" he asked us in despair.
"No sorry," we all said. He closed the door whaling about how he lost his poor toad, Trevor I believe he called it.
"First years," Fred muttered. "They're always losing something."
"Hey, I take offence to that! I'm a first year," I said glaring at him.
"First years always lose things, even their ways at school. It's a fact," he argued, to which the others agreed with him.
"Well, I won't," I vowed.
"Yes you will. Everyone does," George said.
"Watch me then," I said moments before the door was opened yet again. This time a young girl with brushy brown hair stood in the doorway dressed in her school robes.
"Have any of you guys seen a toad? A boy name Neville's lost one," she said in a know-it-all tone of voice.
"We've already told him we haven't," the boys answered.
"If we do, we'll let him know," I added before she closed the compartment door.
"You know, seeing that girl in her robes reminds me that we all may want to change into ours. It won't be too much longer 'til we get there," Lee said, getting up to pull out his robes from his bag.
"Alright then," I said standing up, "that's my cue to leave." I took my book bag with me, seeing as how my robes where in it, as I walked out the compartment in search of the restroom where I could change.
Compartments were full of kids. Most were already wearing the school robes while others were gathering theirs to put on. One compartment had a red haired boy, who I would bet was related to the twins, and a black hair boy. Another contained a skinny blond boy and two body guard looking boys. I continued down the corridor, trying not to pay too much attention to people in their compartments when two boys ran into me coming out of one.
"Hello," I snapped at them as I pushed myself off the wall I was shoved into. Turning to look at my attacks "Can't you see I'm,…whoa." I was distracted in my anger by one of my attackers' appearance. A line of small blue diamonds ran down the left side of his dark face, disappearing under the collar of his shirt. The other boy, who was blushing brightly, stammered apologies as I was zoned into the little blue diamonds the guy with dark skin had. "Are those tattoos?" I finally asked him in a daze.
"Umm…yes?" he answered.
I walked away without another word. The whole time changing and walk back to my compartment my mind was thinking about tattoos.