Hey Everyone!
My best friend and I decided to write a story together. We have different writing styles and views in this story so please go check out her version. Her name is Scarterror The Fallen.
But back to my version... This is my first Harry Potter story so please be gentle.
I hope you guys enjoy...
Chapter 1: Friendship at first sight
I sit at the kitchen table and stare at my mother. She is busy making us pancakes for breakfast. I tuck my feet under me and lean on the table with my elbows. "So Mother," I begin. She turns her head slightly in my direction and hums. "I got a letter in the mail yesterday, saying that I have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Care to explain?" I ask her and rest my chin on my hand. She turns around with a big smile on her face.
"You got what? Oh Sweetheart it's probably just a prank," She says. I squint at her. "Through a letter? I don't think so Mother. A phone call I could believe to be a prank but a letter? And if it is a prank then it is a very elaborate prank. I mean it lists all the things that I am going to need for the year, like books and clothes and a wand and a cauldron. Please tell me again how this is a prank," I say and get up from the chair, waving the letter around.
My mother frowns and holds out her hand for the letter. "Let me see that. I still think it's a prank but you're right, it's a very elaborate one. 'Dear Miss Chapman…'" she trails off as she starts to read the letter. She takes my seat at the table while I continue making the pancakes. After a while she sets the letter on the table. My mother get up and sticks her head out of the kitchen and yells for my father, "Honey! Can you come down here for a minute?"
Through the thin ceiling and the fact that our house is just plain small, I can hear my father stumble over something in his study. I giggle and take the pancakes off the stove. I hear his light footsteps on the stairs and then my father is standing behind me. I elbow him as he tries to sneak an arm past me to get to the pancakes. "Not yet, Father of mine," I say and shoo him away. He pouts at me, but takes a seat at the table.
I pour more pancake batter in the pan and turn to look at my parents. "Honey, look at this letter," my mother hands my father the letter. "Someone send this to our daughter. I don't know what this person is getting out of sending things like this to a child, but it is disturbing. Do you think we should go to the police?" she asks him.
My eyes bulge. What? Why does she want to go to the police? Isn't that taking things a bit far?
"Sweet Cake I don't think that is necessary. Besides we don't know who send this letter so going to the police is taking it a bit too far," my father says and studies the letter. People always said that I and my father were a lot alike; I never saw it, until now. I nod my head at him.
That's right Father, tell her there is no need to involve the police. If it ever got out that we went to the police with a letter like this I would be the laughing stock of the year at school. I might not have any friends and I might not care what the other kids think of me, but I do care about not getting laughed at. It is just to humiliating.
I smell something off. What is that smell? Is that the smell of something burning? Oh Bullocks the pancakes! I quickly turn around and flip the pancakes. It's a bit burned on the one side now but with enough syrup I won't even taste it.
"Are we sure this is not a prank?" my father asks. I shake my head. Do these people know nothing of pranks? "No Father, it is not a prank. A prank would be calling me or just sending me a plain letter, but this letter includes lists of everything that I will need. And yes, Mother already said that it could be a very elaborate prank and I will admit that that is a possibility, but it just seems too weird. Except if it is you and Mother that is behind the whole thing," I say and cock my head to the side, a small smile playing at my lips. My father laughs and puts the letter down. "Oh Little Bug, I am flattered that you think your mother and I could come up with something like this, but it was not us. I promise you," he says. I frown. It has to be them. The alternative is too scary to think about.
"Oh come on Father, stop joking around. I don't know anyone else that would do something like this, so it has to be you," I say and flip the pancakes again. Luckily this side of the pancakes is nice and golden brown. "Samanwhyne we are telling you the truth. We did not do this," my mother says. I turn around and stare at her.
So this was either a very elaborate prank or… nope, there is no such thing as witches and wizards. Silly me, for even thinking it. I plate up the pancakes for all of us and put the plates in front of my parents. "Well then, it must have been a very elaborate prank then. I will throw the letter away and we can all sit down to a nice breakfast," I say and grab the letter. Just as I am about to throw the letter away, there is a knock on the door.
I look at my parents. "Who could possibly want to see us this early in the morning?" my mother asks as she gets up to go answer the door. "If it is Mrs Brown, I am not here," my father whispers. He takes his plate and runs out the back door. I snigger. He must have done something to her cat again.
"Oh my Lord! You are a big fellow," I hear my mother's voice coming from the front of the house. A big fellow? I run to the front door with the letter still in my hand. Upon seeing the man standing on our porch, I stop dead in my tracks. Holy mother of all things Holy. Mother was right, he is a big fellow.
"Good Mornin' folks. My name is Rubeus Hagrid. I am sorry to bother yeh this early in the mornin' but I was sent to make sure that Miss Chapman got her acceptance letter. Oh would yeh look at that, she did. All righty then, I shall pick yeh all up to go shopping for her school supplies in an hour. Then we can all have a nice chat about Miss Chapman's magic and Hogwarts. I will also answer any questions yeh may have. Until later then," Mr Hagrid says. He takes one step of our porch and gets on a motorcycle. How is that thing supporting his weight?
I look at my mother. "Care to explain?" I ask her. My mother shakes her head.
An hour later and I have eaten, showered, got dressed, brushed my teeth and drunk a cup of tea to calm my nerves. My mother and father are arguing about Mr Hagrid. Mother wants to call the cops and have him arrested and Father wants to give him a change to explain himself. Me? I just want to see this whole thing unravel.
I hear a knock on the door and get up to go answer it. Mother and Father is too busy fighting to notice me leaving the room. I open the door and look up… and up… and up. Holy Mother, he is truly a big man. "Mr Hagrid, nice to see you again," I say and step aside letting him come in. he has to bow his head and turn sideways to get through the door. "Oh Miss chapman, no need to be so formal. Yeh can just call me Hagrid. Are yeh and yer folks ready to go?" he asks. I shake my head and my parents come into the entryway.
"Mother wants to have you arrested," I say and give a half smirk. My mother snakes an arm around my waist, claps her hand over my mouth, pulls me into her chest and smiles at Hagrid. I struggle to get free. What the hell woman? I am just telling the truth! You are the one that has been arguing with Father about this for nearly an hour! I lick her hand as much as I can before she lets me go with a disgusted look on her face.
I run over to Hagrid and grab his leg. "So Hagrid, where are we going to shopping for all of my school supplies?" I ask. Hagrid looks down at me with a kind smile and pats my head. "In Diagon Alley, Miss Chapman. It a busy shopping street completely unseen by Muggles, in London," he says and takes out a leather pouch. Muggles? I look at him strangely.
"What are muggles and why can't they see it?" I ask him and cock my head to the left. "Muggles are what we wizards and witches call yer parents. They are people without magic. Do yeh folks have a fireplace?" he asks and looks into our living room. "Ah there yeh go. I thought I saw a chimney outside. All righty then, yeh folks ready to go?" he asks and looks at us. I follow him into the living room.
"Hagrid why do you need the fireplace?" I ask. He opens the leather pouch in his hand and offers it to me. "We are going to be traveling to Diagon Alley with Floo powder. Yeh folks live quite a way aways from London, so I thought I would make it easier on all of us. Take a handful Miss Chapman, then step into the fireplace and yell clearly 'Diagon Alley'. Then throw the powder at yer feet. Do yeh understand? Yer mother will go after yeh and then yer father and then I shall follow yeh and we can go to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to get yeh money," he says and pushes me toward the fireplace.
Everything this man says is confusing, and he thinks that we are going to travel to London using powder. I can't wait for this to blow up in his face. I snigger and step into the fireplace. "Samanwhyne get out of that fireplace right now. This man is clearly delusional and you will not feed into his fantasies," my mother says and points to the floor in front of her.
I give her a half smirk.
"DIAGON ALLEY!" I yell and throw the powder to my feet. A wall of green fire descends on me. I yell and throw my hands out to protect myself. A cold breeze lifts my hair from the back of my neck. Oh that feels good. Wait, a cold breeze? I open my eyes and look around me. I am standing in a fireplace in what looks like a library. A bunch of people are walking past me and smiling at me. What are they wearing?
I step out of the fireplace. "Hallo, young girl, can I help you" a friendly voice asks beside me. I jump to my right. "Uhm where am I?" I ask the woman that talked to me. "Oh you are in Flourish and Blotts. I am the owner. Are you here to get your school books?" she asks me. Suddenly a green plume of flames appears in the fireplace. It dies down and my mother is standing there. She steps out of the fireplace and grabs me. She picks me up and hugs me hard.
"Are you okay Sweetheart?" she asks me. I nod into her neck. "Oh my, I'm sorry. I did not realize that you are a muggle-born. This must all seem so strange to you. I will go get your school books and wait for your teacher to show up," the kind woman says and hobbles away. Muggle-born? Was she talking to me? About me?
Another plume of green flames appears and my father steps out. The gawks at our surroundings. My mother grabs his arm and pulls him toward us. Could this whole story of me being a witch be true? If I hadn't just travelled from one fireplace to another one I would never have believed it. But here I am, in a completely different place.
"Michael where are we?" my mother asks my father. I look around me again. My father shakes his head and throws his hands in the air. "I don't know Clair. I don't know where we are, I don't know how we got here, I don't know anything anymore," my father sounds near to hysterics at the end of his speech.
The owner of the shop approaches us with a bundle of books. "Here you go, young one," she says and holds the books out toward us. "Oh let me pay for those. Sorry it took me so long folks, I got a bit stuck in yer fireplace," Hagrid says behind us. He hands the woman some coins that look like gold and takes the books from her. "Shall we go to the bank to get more galleons?" he asks looking at us expectantly.
Please tell me that this is all a dream?
A few weeks later and I'm packed and ready to go to the train station. Hagrid showed up last night and gave me my ticket and to apologise for not going with me personally. He said he had another student he had to take. I shrugged and told him that it was okay.
"Sam, are you ready to go?" my father yells from somewhere down the stairs. "Yes, Father! I may need some help with my trunk and owl. I can carry the rest of my things on my own," I yell back. I hear him come up the stairs and he enters my room. I grab all of my extra things like my school back pack and the bag with all my school books. My dad lifts the trunk and walks out of my room like a penguin. I walk out of my room and my mother goes into my room to get the things that I had missed.
We load everything in the car and then it is off to King's Cross Station. I need to get onto Platform 9¾, which I do not know how I am going to manage. My parents told me this morning that such a platform does not exist. There must be a way, I am sure of it. I laughed at the Floo Powder; I am not going to laugh at the platform.
Nearly three hours later we arrive at the station. My mother runs to get me a trolley while my father and I unpack the car. "Little Bug are you sure that you have everything that you are going to need?" my father asks me. I nod and say, "Yes, Father. I double checked everything before I packed, while I packed and after I packed. I am not taking the chance that I am going to miss some sort of item in a class."
My mother comes rolling along on a trolley. She has put her feet on the trolley and thrown herself forward with her stomach balancing on the handle of the trolley. My mother can be such a child sometimes. Though I do not do things like that myself, I still smile when she or my father does it. She stops the trolley in front of us and gives me a huge smile.
I grab her hand and drag her to the station. "Little Bug, aren't you going to help me with your school thing?" my father yells at us. "Sorry, Father I can't hear you. The trains are making too much noise," I yell back and walk into the station. The station is big, for someone as small as me.
Mother and I slowly start to walk toward platform 9¾ while waiting for father to catch up. We arrive at platform 9 and platform 10 but there is no platform 9¾. We walk up and down the platforms again but still no platform 9¾ has appeared. My father soon joins us.
"Honey why don't go ask someone if they know where this platform is?" my mother asks my father. He nods and says, "Alright, that sounds like a good idea. Little Bug stay here with your trolley until we get back, okay?" my father asks-says to me. I nod and grab the handle of the trolley and they walk away.
I look around me and notice a bunch of young people with trolleys. Many of them have either owls or cats in cages on their trolleys. I follow them a little bit down the platform and watch as a few of them run straight at a wall and disappear through it. My eyes widen to the sizes of saucers. They… they… did they just disappear through the wall?
I go up to the younger girl and a girl that looks slightly older then the young one.
"Excuse me, could you please tell me where those people disappeared too? Could it perhaps be to platform 9¾? And if it is could you please show me how to get there as well?" I ask the both of them. The older girl turned up her nose. "Ugh a muggle-born," she sneered, well it looked like a sneer to me. She disappeared through the wall. "Don't mind her, I'll help you out. All you do is just run straight into the wall, not too fast or others will hear. You go first, I will follow," she explains and smiles at me. I give her a small smile in return.
I take a deep breath and start to jog towards the wall. Just as I am about to go through, I hear my parents call my name with a big 'No' following. I feel a slight pressure against my body and everything is black around me, but then I am standing on a platform looking at a big train that says 'Hogwarts Express'. I look around me at all the other students and parents milling about.
I turn back around to wait for the girl that helped me. She said that she would follow me, but where is she now? A few seconds later my parents come through the wall. "Look Mother, we found the platform and look at the train. Isn't it tremendous? I can't wait to get on it," I squeal and jump around. I don't think I have ever been this excited over anything.
Suddenly a hissing cat come through the barrier follow by the girl that helped me. "Shadow, get back here! How did you get out of your cage?" she yells at the cat. I smile at the way she interacts with the cat.
"Sweetheart I'm glad you are so excited, but are you really sure that you want to go?" my mother asks me. I nod. "Yes, I really do. I want to go explore and learn more about my magic," I say and turn to look at her. "I will try and call you once a week and if I cannot call you, I shall write you a letter. Don't worry Mother, I will be alright," I try and reassure her.
My father bends down and gives me a tight hug and I return it. "We will miss you Little Bug and try to stay out of trouble, do you hear me?" my father says in my ear. "I make no promises," I whisper back. Why does my throat feel so tight?
My mother hugs me next and she keeps muttering how she loves me and how she will miss me. "I love you to Mother, please don't cry," I say and stroke her hair. She gives an unsteady laugh and lets me go.
I wave at them as they disappear back through the wall. I look toward the girl that helped me and she looks like she might have spaced out. I walk up to her and look at what she is looking at. She's looking at another girl. "What are you staring at?" I ask, trying to figure out what was so interesting about this girl.
The girl that helped me jumps. "Don't do that!" She scolds me and clutches at her heart. I laugh at her reaction. "Names Samanwhyne Chapman, but do call me Sam," I say and she holds out her hand for me to shake. "Scarter Maestro, I don't have a nickname," She says and I shake her hand. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out," I say and we start walking toward the train.
We get on the train and Scarter asks me if that was my parents. I nod and I look into carriages for an empty one. "Yes, have yours gone already?" I ask as we find an empty carriage. She sighs as we walk in. "No, they had other engagements to get too, luckily my brother and sister were with me," she answers my question as we sit down.
I look at her and I remember the nasty girl that was with her. "Oh, was your sister that girl that was rude?" I ask. She nods and says, "Yes, that would be Astra, my brother is much nicer though, his name is Garrus." She smiles and I smile in return. I wonder what it would be like to have had siblings growing up.
"I've always wanted siblings. So I guess you're not um, what do you call them… muggle born?" I ask and try to get a better position on my seat. I wonder if growing up a witch would have altered me in any way. Would I have turned out more like Astra or would I still be relative the same as I am now?
"Yes, we are pure-blood, meaning our whole family are witches and wizards. Our blood line goes way back. You also get half-bloods; they have one muggle parent and one magical parent. You also get squibs, those are muggles born from witches and wizards, very rare, but they do happen," she explains. I stare at her with wide eyes.
I never knew there was so much to the magical world! I want to learn everything that I can about it. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to explain potentially useless things to you," she says and blushes. She looks down at the ground and I shake my head. "No, no it's fine. I like learning new things," I say excitedly. I wiggle forward in my seat and look at her with curiosity. "So tell me about the school," I instruct her.
The train to starts to move and my excitement jumps up another notch.
"Well it's one of the best schools out there for the wizarding world. There is also the Ilvermorny School, but that's in America. Hogwarts is dived into four houses; Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. You get sorted based on your personality; they place a sorting hat on you and it will sort you. Ravenclaw's are the smartest, Gryffindor's are the bravest, Hufflepuff's are the most loyal and Slytherin's are more ambitious? I don't want to outright say they are the evil ones," she explains and I take in everything she just said.
"Are those the only defining traits?" I ask. If that was the case I would probably be sorted into Ravenclaw or into Hufflepuff. She tilts her head and thinks. "I don't believe so, but that is the stereotype for each house I think. Though most now believe that Hufflepuff are more aloof," she says and I nod. "I see. Which house do you wish to be in?" I ask her. I think I might actually want her to think the same way as me. I want to be in the same house as her.
She smiles proudly at me. "Ravenclaw, no doubt about it. I intend to follow my family," She says. I smile at her. She wants to be in one of the houses that I think I might be sorted into. "I wonder what house I'll be," I say and lean back in my seat.
If the two of us could be in the same house we could have so much fun together. Scarter looks out the window and it looks like she is spacing out again; so I leave her alone to her own thoughts. I can't wait to get to the school and start learning magic. I might have had a big smile on my face the rest of the way there. Scarter starts humming softly and it sooths my nerves.
We pull into a station and get off the train. Hagrid is walking up to us saying that all first years should follow him. We follow him to a flotilla of boats that can seat 4-5 each. Scarter, two other boys, one other girl and I get into one boat and glide over a large lake. Once on the other side we get led into the magnificent castle. Inside we met an older woman with glasses that introduced herself as Professor McGonagall. After a while she led us into a big hall with four big tables.
There was a bunch of children at each of the tables and in different colour clothes. We walk down the aisle between two tables and to the front where a bunch of professors are sitting. On a single small chair is a big, brown hat and Professor McGonagall goes to stand behind it. This must be the sorting hat. I gulp and look around me, at all of the children. They all seem excited to have us here.
Professor McGonagall tells us that the headmaster would like to say a few words to us and an elderly man gets up and introduces himself as Professor Dumbledore. He talks about the rules and about the forbidden forest. Why would there be a forest so close to the castle if it was forbidden? And why is it forbidden? Is there something dangerous inside the forest? I gulp again and my eyes widen.
Once the headmaster is done Professor McGonagall rolls open a parchment. "I'm going to read your name and when I do please step up to the sorting hat to be sorted," she said before starting to list off names. The first girl to be called up was a girl with fuzzy brown hair. She sits down and gets sorted into Gryffindor. She looks very proud about that fact and walks over to a gold and red covered table.
Next up was a white haired boy. He was being mean earlier to a red haired boy and was trying to make friends with a dark haired boy. He looks like a horrible boy. He sits down and the hat doesn't even touch his head before it calls out 'Slytherin'. The table that is covered in green and silver cheers and the boy walks over to them with a smirk. Definitely a horrible boy. I look at Scarter and she has spaced out again. She needs to be careful or she might fail her classes.
"Samanwhyne Chapman," Professor McGonagall says and I step up to the stool. I sit down and she places the hat on my head. "You have a good head on you; smart, resourceful and courageous. You could fit into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," the hat says. He turns my head to the left and then to the right. "You have no opinion about either house and no reaction to my choices. You might be a difficult one to place," he continues. I shake my head slightly and frown. "Well Mister Hat, could you make a choice please? Quite frankly I would not mind being in either of those houses, from what I have heard both those houses are very respectable houses," I say to the hat and try to stare up at it.
"Respectable as well and confidant. I believe you have made my choice for me. GRYFFINDOR!" he yells. I get up and walk past Scarter. I smile at her, hoping that by some miracle she gets into Gryffindor as well.
"Scarter Maestro," Professor McGonagall says as I take a seat at the red and gold table. Scar, I decide her nickname will be, gulps and goes to take a seat. The hat is placed on her head and she stiffens. I cross my fingers.
She rolls her eyes and I smile. A minute or two goes by before Scar scowls. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat says loudly. My mouth falls open and I stare at her. Her eyes goes wide and she looks shaken as she walks to her new house table.
I look at her as the rest of the children's names were called. She looks sad and confused. I feel bad for her, I know she wanted to be in Ravenclaw. Yet I think she will thrive and show that this will not get her down.
Suddenly a buffet appears on all of the tables and I stare at it in amusement. I dig in and look at the other kids around me. "Could you please pass me a bowl of corn?" a boy next to me asks. I hand the bowl over and he introduces himself as Neville Longbottom. I smile at him and tell him to call me Sam.
After our bellies were stuffed we got up from our tables and form groups of two. I look over the Slytherin table and see Scar walking with the girl she was looking at earlier on the platform. I smile and try to get her attention but she isn't looking at me and I frown.
Maybe we won't be friends after all.
We follow our prefect to a portrait of a rather large lady. He gives her our password and she swings open to reveal a huge room. We walk into this beautiful room and the prefect calls it our common room. He shows us where our dorm rooms are and some of the girls and I walk up the steps to go find out which rooms is ours. I walk next to the girl with the fuzzy brown hair.
"Hallo there, my name is Sam. What's yours?" I ask her. She smiles at me. "Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you," she says. Maybe she and I could be friends. The prefect tells us that we are in the same room and we share another smile.
I think I might have made a good choice coming here. I feel like this is where I belong.
Th only down side so far is not being in the same house as Scar.
And maybe not being friends with her.
HEY-HEY
Hope you enjoyed that. If you did please leave a review, if you didn't please leave me a review and tell me what you don't like.
There will be more to come so please hang in there.
But without further a-do, Bye!
Love from the wolfiest girl you will ever meet
