DISCLAIMER:
Me: Can I own Harry Potter yet?
JK Rowing: no.
Me: wahh D'=
That's right, I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.
I do, however, own the characters Katherine Corville, Yuri Diggory, William Diggory, and any other OC characters that I introduce later in the story.
All other characters belong to JK Rowling, as well as any details to the original plot and any places mentioned in this story that were also mentioned in the original book series.
Love you JK Rowling, you're the best writer EVER!
Enjoy my fanfic =]
It was the first of September and I stood at the space between platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross Station. My name is Katherine Joanne Coville, and today was my very first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was already nervous enough to be going to a whole new school teaching completely unfamiliar subjects to me. It didn't make it any better that I knew no one else attending the school and was probably one of the very few students who had no experience with magic and whose parents were both "muggles."
It was about a month ago when I'd discovered who I was. Sometime in August. I was lying in my bed listening to the radio when I heard my mother call my name from downstairs.
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"Kat! You've got mail!" My mother's voice called from the floor below. I raised my head up from my fluffy purple pillow and got up out of my bed. When I got downstairs, my mother handed me a letter - still enclosed in the envelope – with a scarlet red seal on it.
Carefully, I opened the letter, inside was a note I had never expected to read.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Dear Ms. Corville,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress
I looked up from my letter. "Mom, this isn't funny." I said. My mother looked utterly confused. I handed her the letter. As she read, I said, "If you'd planned to play a trick on me, you've failed miserably."
My mother shook her head as she finished reading the letter. There was no humor in her eyes when she spoke. "Sweetheart, I didn't do this." She said, shocked. "Where would I have gotten the seal?"
I looked at her. Was it possible that she was telling the truth? That I truly had been invited to attend a school of magic? "What do they mean by 'We expect your owl by no later than July 31st'? What are we supposed to do with an owl? And where would we find one?" I asked, searching for some proof of this madness.
"Honey, you don't honestly think this is for real, do you?" She asked.
As she spoke these words, I looked out the window. A white owl with small black specks was sitting on our window sill.
I was silent for a moment. Still watching the owl, I spoke words I couldn't believe came out of my own mouth.
"It could be."
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My kitten, Nala (I'd named her after the lioness in "The Lion King"), was purring while making Figure 8's around my ankles. I lifted her up into my arms and began to scratch behind her ears.
As I patted my kitten, I remembered the day I'd gotten her, my first day shopping as a witch. A Giant of a man named Hagrid had come to our house and explained to us that we could transfer our muggle (he'd explained the meaning of the word then) money for Wizarding money. He then took us to an old pub called the Leaky Caldron. He'd introduced me to Tom the Barman. He was obscenely old.
We had gone to the back of the bar, where Hagrid had taken out an umbrella and tapped a few of the bricks on the wall, after which the wall sprung to life, maneuvering around until they formed an archway. On the other side of the doorway was a cobbled street filled with all kinds of stores with peculiar names. "Owlots Owl Emporium;" "Ollivander's Wands;" etc.
We went first to Gringott's Wizard Bank, where we cashed in some of my family's money for Wizard money. Afterward we went to get all the items on my list. A set of black robes, all the books I needed, and Nala. We walked into the Wizard equivalent of a pet shop, where she followed me around until I simply had to pick her up.
While in Diagon Alley (That's what Hagrid had told me it was called.) we also bought me my first wand. It was made of oak and unicorn hair with a drop of Dragon's blood. Ollivander said that the wand chose the wizard, and had me try out quite a few wands until we finally found the perfect one.
Nala had gotten pretty scared when I'd nearly blown up a chair with the first wand.
She was so adorable…
I snapped out of my memories when my father began to speak.
"Alright, Kat. I just spoke to the man over there," My father pointed in the direction of a tall, dark-haired man who looked like he was in desperate need of a comb. He had a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead and was obscenely thin. The man was standing with a very pretty woman with long, fire red hair and many freckles and three children. Standing next to this family was a man with the same fiery red hair as the woman and the same freckles. I assumed them to be related. The man stood with a beautiful woman with long, bushy brown hair and two children. "He said that he'd show you how to get to Platform 9 and Three-Quarters. And, he's got three children, you should go and speak to them, having a friend would probably make this easier." He said, smiling as he took my trolley from me, wheeling it toward the man with the strange scar…
I nodded as my father led the way with my trolley to the two families. The tall, dark-haired man with the scar on his head was the first to speak.
"Hello, Katherine. My name's Harry Potter. This is my wife, Ginny," he pointed at the woman with the fire-red hair. When Harry started speaking, Nala perked her head up and adjusted her ears, as if it mattered whether she heard Harry. She couldn't understand him anyway. "And my three children, James, Albus, and Lilly." He gestured to each of the children in turn and they nodded awkwardly as they said their greetings. James had his father's messy black hair and some of his features, but with his mother's brown eyes. Albus was the mirror image of his father. From his messy black hair to his stunning green eyes, and Lilly looked exactly like her mother.
Next, Harry motioned to the family standing next to him and introduced them. "This," He gestured to the red-haired man and his wife, "is my friend Ron Weasley and my other friend –his wife– Hermione Granger. These are their children, Rose and Hugo." He said. Rose had all her mother's features, and her mother's eyes. The only difference was that she had her father's hair. Hugo, like Albus, was the spitting image of his father. I guess neither one of their children had inherited Hermione's bushy brown hair.
I turned back to Harry, who was now explaining to us how to get to the Platform.
"Ok, just follow James and Hugo. All you have to do is run into the division between platforms 9 and 10…Don't worry you won't crash." He added, seeing our terrified faces.
James went first, followed by Hugo, demonstrating what would happen. When James ran for the wall, at high speed, even though Harry had said they wouldn't crash, I still averted my eyes, afraid of seeing him crash. Instead, he went straight through the solid brick, and was gone. The same was true for Hugo. Next went Rose, looking confident. After Rose went Albus, followed by their parents and Lilly.
Next it was my turn. I placed Nala into my trolley, which my father had returned to my possession, and ran. I ran as fast as I could toward the barrier, closing my eyes tight. I felt a whoosh as I passed through the barrier, and opened my eyes. I was standing on a platform. A bright red steam engine was before me, with "The Hogwarts Express" written in gold letters across the side. All around me, students were kissing their parents and younger siblings good-bye and waving as they ran onto the train or met up with friends. Rose and Albus ran over to me.
"Where are your parents?" Rose asked.
"Only my father came. My mother was at work…and they're muggles, they couldn't pass through the barrier." I said, looking at my feet.
"Oh," Albus said. "No matter, then. Let's get onto the train. We don't want to have to split up. Look, everyone's almost already on!" Nala looked frightened at the haste in Albus's voice. She was so adorable, how she tried to act as if she understood the dialogue around her.
The three of us ran onto the train and walked along until we found an empty compartment. When we were all seated, Nala leapt up into my arms and curled up, making herself comfortable. I began to pet her again.
"So, what House do you think you'll end up in?" Rose asked me. "Albus and I'll probably end up in Gryffindor." She said. "All of our parents were in that House."
"Err…" I started. "What House?" They two of them looked at me for a moment, confused by my ignorance. Then Rose explained.
"Well, at Hogwarts, there are four Houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Every year, the Houses compete for the House Cup. If students in a House do something outstanding, they are rewarded with House Points. If they misbehave, points are taken away from their House. At the end of the year, the House with the most points wins the House cup. Gryffindor's been winning the House cup every year since our parents, all of them, started attending. Before that, it had always been Slytherin. But then, the year our parents came, that all changed, and Gryffindor beat Slytherin, and it's been that way every year since.
"Anyway, each House looks for certain qualities in its students. Gryffindor looks for courage, bravery, and outstanding character and things like that. Slytherin is basically all purebloods. Basically all jerks, as far as we know." She said.
"Hey! My father told me that isn't true." Albus interjected. "My middle name is Severus. He said Severus Snape was in Slytherin, and that he was probably the bravest man he ever knew." He finished.
"Well, most of them are jerks. The founder of the House, Salazar Slytherin, wanted only purebloods to attend the school. That's why they basically only take purebloods into the House, either purebloods or people who show that they could be great. And then Hufflepuff basically just looks for people who are kind and always willing to help people. Sweet people. And last, but not least, Ravenclaw picks intelligent people. Real smart people, of course, if the hat thinks of sending you to a House you aren't happy with, you could always change it. My mother did. She was meant to be in Ravenclaw, but picked Gryffindor. And so did Albus's father. He was meant to be in Slytherin."
"Wait, a hat chooses?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"Well, yeah. It's called the Sorting Hat. It's ancient, been at the school since the beginning. It's enchanted so that it can tell which House you belong in." Albus said.
"Oh…" I said. They seemed to know so much about what was to come already, and I was clueless. I felt so stupid. "Well, I hope to get into Gryffindor, I guess. I mean, I'd want to be with you guys." I said, immediately feeling stupid.
"Well that's good, you'll be with us!" Albus said, beaming.
Rose was just explaining to me about all the things she'd read about when Hugo and James came over.
"Hey there kidddos!" Said Hugo, snickering.
"Ready for your first year at Hogwarts?" James said menacingly.
"James, Hugo, bug off." Rose said.
"Or what? You'll hex me?" James retorted.
"No, We'd just prefer that you not make us miserable. And if you're here to tell us all about the frightening things at Hogwarts that await the first years, can it. We won't believe you." Rose said.
"You know, for family you treat us pretty damn bad." Hugo said.
"Yeah, you'd think we'd nearly chopped her fingers off when she was young."
"You did nearly chop my fingers off when I was young." Rose said. "All the more reason not to trust you."
"Not to trust us with knives. With information on Hogwarts, we're here for you. We have been here much longer than you lot." James snickered at Rose.
"Well, maybe they could help us." I chimed in. When everyone stared at me, I slunk a bit in my chair.
They stared for a moment. "Now here's a girl who's got a bit of sense." Hugo said, slapping his hand on my shoulder as he and James sat down in our compartment.
"Then again, she doesn't know you as well as we do." Said Albus. He looked at me. "Trust me, Kat, you don't want adive from them. They'll only try to scare you. And if they tell you sny bit of the truth, it'll be exaggerated. Best you learn this stuff on your own rather than from them."
"Oh please." Hugo said.
"Don't you have your own friends you should be bothering?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow.
"'Course we do, but it's just so much more fun to be with our little family." James answered, smirking.
"Ugh, just get out, won't you?" Albus said, pushing the boys out of the compartment and shutting the little glass door.
Nala sat on my lap, purring for the rest of the train ride while Albus, Rose and I talked about Hogwarts, and what we thought would await us there. Rose enlightening us about the mysteries of Hogwarts she'd read about over the Summer the whole way.
Alright, hope you liked the first chapter(Sorry I had to edit it!!!) Please REVIEW! I take any suggestions, and if anyone has an idea of where this story might be going, please let me know, cause I don't =P
Chapter 2's been edited as well, so make sure you read that!