POV - Alissa

I slowly walk over to my side of the room and look in my trunk. I filled it up to the top but there is still so much stuff to put in. And this Hogwarts school only lets us take one trunk. How do the other students manage this? I would use a simple spell to shrink all my stuff but that wouldn't help much since I can't do magic out of school before I am seventeen. I sigh and look over to Gwendolyne's bed. Her perfectly pink trunk is filled to the top but she has everything in it already.

"Did you use magic to get that in?" I ask and she turns around, hands on her hips.
"Of course not, we are not allowed to use magic until we're seventeen. And I would hurry, we leave in half an hour you know." She pouts her lips and quickly walks out the door. I sigh.
My perfect little twin sister. You wouldn't find any twin in the world who's more different than we are. She's tall, skinny and has long silky blonde hair, always gets the cute boys and everyone likes her. Then there's me. My dark brown hair, wavy and fuzzy, I'm not very tall or handsome so I've never hold hands with a boy before. I only have three good friends at my school but they mean everything to me. I feel bad for leaving them behind.

"MOOOOM!" I yell and I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. She looks at my trunk and all the stuff hanging over it an besides it.
"You really need that much stuff?" she sighs as she takes out her wand and begins shrinking my clothes and books.
"Well yeah, and we can only take one trunk." I sigh and when she clicks the lock shut I follow her downstairs to the fireplace.

I quickly grab the cage of Merlin, my Northern saw-whet owl. He's very small but when he's angry he can make a sound of something that sounds like a saw that's being sharpened. He looks at me with his big yellow brownish eyes and kirrs softly.
"Yeah buddy, you can make some new friends here in England, and don't worry, I'll send you to France often enough!" I talk to him and gently rub his head with my finger.

"Accio trunks!" my father says with a flick of his wand, and a few seconds later the two trunks and my broom come flying down the stairs. Gwen doesn't have a pet or a broom, she finds pets disgusting and Quidditch is for boys she says. I on the other hand am a very good Quidditch player. I was a Chaser in my team on Beauxbatons. Been a Beater too, but that just wasn't my cup of tea.

"Everyone ready?" my mother asks and she opens the box of Floo powder. I grab a handful and step into the fireplace, Merlin's cage tightly in my other hand.
"Kings Cross Station!" I say clearly and vanish in the smoke. Once I step out the fireplace I quickly walk away not to draw attention. I've been here once before but have never looked around very much. People stare at me and I figure it is because of the tiny owl I have with me. I just hope my parents hurry.

When my mom gets out with my trunk I go get a cart to put everything on it, making sure Merlin is nice and secure. When Gwen finally walks out the fireplace, complaining how she got Floo powder over her white shirt, we walk to the gate of platform 9 ¾, which lies between platforms nine and then. Muggles can't see it but we have to be careful running towards it because we just can't complain running into a solid wall and disappearing out of nowhere.

I get through first and Merlin shrieks impatiently upon seeing the other owls. He begins spreading his wings to the barn owl on the cart next to mine.
"Come on now little fella, you think you look frightening? Make some friends, not enemies please." I laugh and smile to the blonde haired girl with the barn owl.

Someone helps me put my trunk and owl in the train and then I step outside again to say goodbye to my parents. Gwen is already gone, off into the far back of the train.
"Bye mom, bye dad." I say as I hug them. Of course I'm used to saying goodbye for a few months but this is different. Feels like my first train ride to Beauxbatons, and that was just 4 hours, this is almost a whole day!
"You will make new friends, I promise Ally." My mother says as she pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head.
"Now off you go, or the train leaves without you!" she pushes me toward the door just as someone blows a whistle and the doors start closing. I quickly jump on the red and black train and wave to my parents as the train rolls on.

I grab my trunk and owl and walk through the small corridors of the train. Most cars are already full but I find one halfway through with a few seats open. I slide open the door and stick my head in. There's a pretty redheaded girl sitting with a weird looking blonde.
"Hi, can I sit here? The rest is almost full." I ask nervously and the redhead smiles.
"Of course, come in!" she says and I do. I push my trunk under one of the benches and set Merlin's cage on top.
"He's cute. My brother has an owl that's even smaller, never shuts up the little bugger." She laughs and sticks out her hand.
"I'm Ginny, this is Luna." She points to the blonde who now is staring out of the window with a weird gaze. I frown.
"Don't mind her, she can be a little curious sometime but she's nice." I nod and look back at the redhead, Ginny.
"I'm Alissa, it is my first year here. My parents got a job at the Ministry of Magic so I had to transfer from Beauxbatons." I say and she smiles at me.

We start talking over normal stuff and I begin to think she is really nice. Then the door slides open and two boys and a girl stand in front of it.
"There you are! I have searched the whole train for you!" the dark haired boy with glasses says and walks up to Ginny. He kisses her and I sit there uncomfortably staring out the window.
"Who's your new friend?" the girl asks. She also is kind of ginger haired, but the boy next to her is really orange. I try to smile.
"My name is Alissa, I transferred from Beauxbatons this year." I say and the ginger boy looks surprised.
"So you speak French?" he asks and steps in the car. He is very tall but looks really clumsy too.
"Well no, I lived in the Netherlands and since we have a lot of foreign students the main language at Beauxbatons is English. I do know a few French words, but not whole sentences." I admit.

"Whoa, you have a tiny owl too! I have one that's even smaller, his name is Pidwidgeon. Never shuts up." I smile.
"Yeah, Ginny already told me, so you are her brother?" I ask.
"One of 'em anyway." He says shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm the youngest one, have six more brothers. Three of them already graduated but the twins roam around the train here somewhere. Can't miss them." Ginny says and I nod.
"Well I'm Ron, and this is Hermione and that's Harry." Ron says and I shake their hands. They all sit down and we chat for a bit before Hermione looks on her watch and jumps up a little.
"Well look at the time! We have to change! We'll be there soon!" she jumps up and walks out of the car, Ron on her feet. Harry stays with us and we all change into robes.

I slide my wand in my pocket and click the trunk shut.
"So what house do you think you come in?" Ginny asks and I frown.
"House?" I ask.
"Yeah, we have four houses, we are all in Gryffindor except for Luna, she's a Ravenclaw." Ginny says and I still look confused.
"I'm sorry, we didn't have houses at Beauxbatons." I admit and Ginny smiles.
"Doesn't matter. Well, there are four of them. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuf and Slytherin. Gryffindor stands for bravery, Ravenclaw for intelligence, Hufflepuf for hard work and loyalty and last Slytherin stand for ambition. That's where all the lovers for the Dark Magic go to. Almost every dark wizard has been in Slytherin. No good for you there. You'll be sorted by the Sorting Hat, then you spend the rest of your school time with people from your house." Ginny explains and I nod.
"Well see I guess."