The One Where June Runs Through a Wall

*Click*

I snapped another photo as I watched a girl run through the barrier into platform 9 ¾. Was I a tourist? Nope. I just wanted to remember my first days as a witch.

When that giant man had come to my house (Hagrid was his name?), my parents and I could hardly believe what we were hearing. Hogwarts? Wizards? It all seemed so impossible. To be honest, a normal person would have thought it was a prank. But I always knew I wasn't entirely me, Mostly because I desired to be anything but. Something about that giant man seemed trustworthy. And besides, I would have much rather gone to a wizarding school than… what was it?... right, muggle school, so why would I question it?

And so there I stood, at King's Cross, as the wide eyed eleven-year-old me continued to, snap pictures at all I saw. My trolley sat beside me, my suitcases and brand new owl stacked on top of each other. I had rightfully named my tawny owl Peck, as that was what he continuously did.

But now, my wonder was starting to be replaced by confusion. I had caught a few people entering platform 9 ¾ , but I wasn't exactly sure how to do it myself. I mean, they sort of just disappeared… wouldn't that hurt? Or get me stuck in a wall? I mean, ouch. Mind you, I certainly was excited to…

"All right?" Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see a grinning boy, about my age. His brown hair was a total mess, and as I stared into his deep brown eyes I noticed him sizing me up

*Click*

"Oh erm...sorry...h-hello!" I managed to squeak out, surprising myself a little at the high pitched noise I was unaware I was able to make. I tucked a loose strand of my wily blonde hair behind my ear.

The boy chuckled, and offered his hand, "I'm James. James Potter. I'm guessing you're a muggle born?"

I regained my confidence, grabbed his hand, and replied, "Well, I think that's what it's called. My parents were non-wizards, and I was just dropped off here. Not quite sure how to, well, get to the platform,"

"Well isnt it just your lucky day? 'Cause it just so happens that this is my second year, actually, so I could show you the way," James's confidence made me a little more comfortable with the whole running through a wall thing, and before I knew it, the two of us were on the platform.

Although I didn't want to show it, and make the boy think me even stranger, I was completely freaking out. I had just walked right through a brick wall!? If this is the first step to get to the bloody school, I could only imagine what I was gonna see next!

"There's my family," he pointed over towards four people who had just gotten through as well. A man, probably his father, was pushing his trolley, and the women was dragging her two children, saying "It won't be long! Before you know it, you will be here too. Now say goodbye to your brother," The little boy and girl were crying, hanging on to their mother's arms.

James headed over towards them, "Well, good luck. I'll see ya," he called back to me, waving.

I tried to call to him, but he was out of earshot. Blimey! I forgot to tell him my name! I grabbed my trolley and attempted to maneuver it around so I could head over to James's family, when I bumped into something solid.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" I started stammering, before I even looked at who I hit. I saw three girls, a horrified look stuck on their faces.

"Merlin's beard!" the one in the middle exclaimed. She looked me up and down, scoffed, and muttered, "Of course, a mudblood," before she grabbed on to the girl on her left's arm and forcefully pulled her away. The girl on the left looked back at me, almost regretfully, but I must have been seeing things because after I blinked, she was looking straight ahead and they continued on their way.

"Don't mind them, I promise all purebloods aren't like that," I shake myself out of my state of shock to see a small girl standing right next to me with her trolley as well.

"I'm Eloise, by the way. I'm not a pureblood, but my dad is. My mum's a muggle, so that makes me a half blood," the petite girl stated, quite quickly.

"I'm Juniper," I smiled. It was nice to see a friendly face. I mean, James's face was indeed friendly, but I seemed a little more interested in making friends than he did.

"Whatta cool name! Mind if I call you Junie?" Eloise started walking so I hurriedly followed her.

"Loads of people call me June, but I guess Junie is alright," I picked up speed, trying to catch up with her, I did not want another new potential friend getting away again. For such a petite girl, she sure walked fast. I watched amusedly as her short brown curls bounced along as she walked.

"So Junie, you're a first year?" I nodded and she exclaimed "So am I! Oh, we are going to have a smashing time I just know it!" We dropped off our trolley's and made our way to the train door. It felt a lot nicer to have a mate to wander around with, rather than being all alone. I snapped a quick picture of the train and then followed her to the first empty compartment we could find.

Once we entered, I immediately sat down and pull out some of the wizarding money my parents had to exchange their money for. Testing my memory so as to not seem like a total amature, I recited in my head the values and names of each type of coin. Eloise was leaning completely out of the window, half her body hanging outside, waving goodbye to her mum and dad most likely.

The clock struck eleven, and, now that all students were aboard, the train started its journey to Hogwarts. I suddenly really started to realize that this was happening. No matter how many times I pinched myself, there was no way I was waking up. This was the point of no return. I was really sitting here with a fellow wizard, on a hidden train, off to a magical school. Some how I was able to not faint from all the amazement. My camera is mostly the reason I stayed sane, for I could always have proof, I knew this wasn't a dream. I certainly missed the comfort of having my friends from primary school, but my parents helped me fabricate a story of an incredible opportunity at a boarding school far away. This way I was being ambiguous about the details, while allowing me the option of visiting every summer.

Once we were completely out of the station, Eloise pulled herself back into our trolley.

"So, where's your wand?" She pointed hers at me, to my alarm, but then giggled and brought it back to rest in her lap. My wand! I had almost forgotten I had one of those things now! That was just like me, to forget something so important. I drew the wooden stick out of my inside jacket pocket and began to examine it for the billionth and third time. It was long, thin, and dark brown. I remembered the old man saying, in his mysterious voice, that it was made of willow and unicorn hair. I mentioned that to Eloise as I display it for her, and she sang a chorus of oohs and aahs.

"Mine is ash and phoenix feather," she gazed proudly at her wand, "Oh! I know a spell!"

My mouth fell open, this would be the first time I would see someone so magic up close and personal. Eloise proceeded to clear her throat, tapped her wand on her knees, and raised both hands. She opened her mouth to say the spell, but then pursed her lips. Keeping her wand in the air, she rummaged around in her pocket until she pulled out a chapstick tube. She placed it on the seat next to her, squinted her eyes in focus, and stated clearly:

"Spongify"

The chapstick seemed to jump a little when the spell hit it, however I was not amazed. I had certainly seen much more impressive things since this whole wizarding thing came into my life.

Eloise saw my doubt and giggle, "Watch this". After putting down her wand, she picked up the chapstick and threw it at the door to the compartment. The tube missed, but bounced off the wall like a bouncy ball. Instead of stopping, it continued to ricochet from wall to wall to door to wall until the compartment door slid open and someone was hit; right in the face.

"Bloody…" the boy yelled. The chapstick would have kept on bouncing around if his mate hadn't have caught it.

Eloise squeaked and stood up to retrieve her chapstick, "My bad! I was just showing my friend here some spells! You are?"

She sat down, but this time next to me. Three boys entered and sat down across from us. "We were looking for an empty compartment," said the chapstick victim, still rubbing his nose, "But this is the least crowded one we could find," he saw the girls confusion and added "A bunch of people kept coming to ours to see our mates super fat cat,"

This made me laugh as well. Fat cats. The wizarding world wasn't so different from my old world afterall.

We then learned that the boys names were Calum, Xavier, and Anders (Anders was unfortunately the one who was hit by our bouncing chapstick). We introduced ourselves, and suddenly we were all chatting away. We all were first years, and all three boys were purebloods, and family friends. I learned about this interesting sport, called quidditch. It was like football mixed with basketball, but on broomsticks! All I was imagining in my head was the witch from the Wizard of Oz flying around, which seemed so silly. The idea of it made me chuckle and I mentioned this to the others. Immediately I was bombarded by pictures and cards of quidditch players. Soon enough I had learned what the balls were called, the different players, fouls, and so much more about quidditch. Most importantly, to my annoyance, I learned that first years couldn't play.

"Are you kidding me?" I was yelling at my brand new mates, probably not the best idea.

"Sorry June, it's just the way it is," Shrugged Xavier, pushing his straight blonde hair out of his face.

I crossed my arms and complained, "I finally get excited about quidditch and find out I can't try out til next year?"

"Yep," Eloise confirmed.

"But..." started Anders, I eyes widened and I turned so I was directly looking at him. He looked a little taken aback by my aggressive behavior, so I leaned back and pretended to not be screaming inside. What but?!

He continued, "well, there are exceptions. You know Harry Potter? He was a seeker his first year,"

In the midst of freaking out because there were exceptions, I managed to catch something.

"Potter?" I asked, "as in James Potter?"

Anders laughed, "I guess so, but more people would recognize Harry first!"

My blank stare caused a chorus of gasps, "You don't know who Harry Potter is? The boy who lived? Nothing?" Calum may have been a big eleven-year-old, but he was missing one big detail.

"Er, hello? Muggle born?" I pointed to my face, "So anyway, why should I know James's dad..."

"Look outside!" squealed Eloise, face pressed up against the glass. Outside, beginning to emerge in the darkness, was a giant castle.

"Hogwarts," I gasped.

*Click*

I had never seen anything like it. It was a beautiful building, as tall as skyscrapers. It was like a castle I had seen in fairy tales, only darker and more mysterious. It sat next to a giant lake, but just as I was getting a good look, the castle was out of sight, replaced by trees.

Eloise and I suddenly realized that all the boys were in their robes and we still needed to change.

"Well, we'll see you at the sorting!" Eloise sang, as she skipped out of the compartment and I scurried after her. I stopped for a moment, and waved at my three new mates, who smiled and waved back, before starting a conversation about who knows what. It was real, this all was real. I decided to skip down the hall as well, as a true expression of the excitement I was feeling.