Mary took a breath; it was almost time. She checked her appearance in the reflection on one of her silver platters; she had to look absolutely perfect and presentable for her job. Her chestnut brown hair was curled at the nape of her neck, preserved thanks to a charm she had used. Her dark brown eyes were shining with excitement. Mary's cheeks were rosy and her lips were pink, ready to give the smile she had loads of time to practice on when stopping to offer the children sweets.
She had spent weeks preparing herself for this moment, practically tasting the satisfaction she'd bring to all of her new customers.
Baking was in her blood, a passion of her family for generations. She enjoyed baking new creations, providing them to all of the people in her close knitted area. Unfortunately, many of them were as poor as she was, so receiving the funding to maintain a proper place of business was near impossible.
That changed when someone–a very important someone–approached her with an offer. It was the opportunity of a lifetime; and she said yes with no questions asked (even though there were questions swarming around the offer itself). Mary would have been a fool if she had denied it!
Her trolley was prepped before it was even time for her to do anything with it; she had unloaded and restocked it a plethora of times until it felt exactly as she wanted it. Through her excitement, Mary even added silver bells to give it that extra dazzle.
She tapped one of the bells, hearing it charm and giggling with excitement. It was a sound she'd be getting used to very soon.
What was taking time so long? Mary was ready to go!
She smoothed her burgundy skirt, making sure that all creases were in their proper places and not a wrinkle was in sight. Mary couldn't walk around the train looking a mess!
Taking a deep breath, Mary looked at the time inside the compartment. It was time, and children would be loading inside very quickly. She straightened the pastries out in line for the umpteenth time; they had to be perfect.
Getting into position, Mary pushed the trolley with a smile. It was time for her skills to be put into use outside of her home. It was time for her life to change for the better with this new job. It was time for her to open the door and begin her work; none of the children could leave without getting some of her goodies!
Mary's name would be known on this train, or so she thought. Mary wouldn't have known that over the years she'd only be known as the Tea Trolley Witch on Hogwarts Express, hardly acknowledged at all. Despite that, she'd always keep that smile on her face for those satisfied children.
A/N: Written for HSWW (Challenges and Assignments) and The Houses Competition
(THC) House: Hufflepuff; Year: HoH; Category: Drabble; Prompt(s): [event] First Day of Work
(HSWW) Assignment #2 - Careers Advice Task 3 (BONUS): write about the Tea Trolley Witch
365 Prompts Challenge: 318. Title - One Door Opens
Insane House Challenge: Restriction - Only one person in the story.
Pop Chart Challenge: Teletubbies - "Eh Oh!"
Word count: 476