Charlotte's Adventures
I loved England.
When we finally moved from New Zealand to England to be with our family, I couldn't believe it. I thought that my mum was joking, or playing with me. But she turned out to be telling the truth. By far, the worst part of leaving was my friends. We probably cried for at least half an hour before I left. Brooke even came to the airport to see me go. But I was finally off.
Bloody hell. This is so not what I needed. And on my first day at Hogwarts too. It all started with us running late. You see, I was muggle-born, and my mum thought that it would be easy to find the platform. My little brother, Ben, held us up by taking forever to get ready. Then I didn't work out how to get on to the platform until it was about 10 minutes to 11. "Come on, Charlotte. I'll help you load your trunks onto the train." My mum grabbed my trunks and hauled them onto the scarlet train. "Bye Ben. I'll see you at Christmas." The train hooted, and I jumped on. "I'll see you at Christmas, and write to you everyday-" " Not everyday mum. Once a week, maximum." " Yes, of course. And you're sure you have everything?" "Yes mum. I'll see you at Christmas." The train started moving. "Goodbye!" Mum yelled and waved and then she and the rest of the platform went out of sight.
I started to walk through the train, trying to find someone to sit with. I stopped outside a compartment about halfway down and sighed. I was never going to find one! At that moment a girl with silvery blonde hair and blue eyes a couple of years older than me stepped out of the compartment laughing. "Could I sit with you, please? There's no where else." I asked. "Sure, if that's okay with the others." She stepped aside so I could peer into the compartment. There was 5 people in the compartment; a girl with super scarlet hair and blue eyes that was my age (13), a boy with black hair and bright green eyes that was also my age and wore glasses, a older boy that had blue hair and green eyes and looked the same age as the older girl, and a boy with reddish hair and blue eyes that was that same age as me too. " She can stay." said the black haired boy after looking me over critically. "I dunno Al. What house you in?" asked the red haired boy. "Excuse me?" I asked, confused. " What house are you in." repeated the red haired boy. "I don't know." I replied. "What do you mean? You have to know your house!" said the scarlet haired girl indignantly. Suddenly, the blue haired boy stood up. "Are you, by any chance, Charlotte Forsyth?" "Yes." I answered, glad that I could finally answer a question. "Hello. My name is Teddy Lupin, and I am Head Boy. Welcome to Hogwarts." He sat down. "Well come in." he said. I sat down next to the scarlet haired girl, feeling awkward. "Oh, right!" said Teddy, face-palming. " Guys, this is Charlotte Forsyth. She comes from New Zealand, and in New Zealand they start high school or college at 13 or Yr. 3 here and Yr. 9 there. She's gonna be sorted in the Entrance Hall, just before the feast starts. Charlotte, this is Victoire," he pointed at the silver haired girl, who waved "Rose" the scarlet haired girl waved "Albus" the black haired boy grinned "and Dylan." the reddish haired boy grinned and waved. Albus then pointed at a cage that I had been pulling and my trunk. "Let's get that up here." he said. I hadn't noticed before, but above the seats were spaces to put your trunks. Albus and Dylan heaved up my trunk, then sat back down. "Thanks." I said. "What sort of animal do you have?" asked Rose. "A black cat." I answered. "Her name is Lucky. Are any of you allergic to cats, or can I get her out?" "None of us are allergic, I'll get my cat out too!" said Rose excitedly. Rose and I bent down to unlock the cages to our cats. I pushed my cage under the seat after I had got Lucky out. Before anyone could protest, I lifted Lucky up to sniff Albus. Lucky purred. "Watcha doing?" said Dylan apprehensively as I let Lucky sniff him. As I lifted Lucky to sniff Victoire, I told him. " I named Lucky that for a reason. Before Lucky was named, a girl came over to our house one day. I can't remember what it was for, but Lucky sniffed her. Then Lucky started growling. She nudged my knee and looked at me. Then she looked at the girl -Meg, I think her name was- and growled. Then, just as Meg was about to go out the door, Lucky growled and I looked at Meg's pocket. She was stealing from us! I, of course, stopped Meg, and took back our stuff. But Lucky knows when people are untrustworthy or bad, so I let her sniff people and if she growls they're bad, if she purrs they're good. It's quite simple really." During the time that she had been explaining that, she had also let Lucky sniff Teddy. Lucky let out a huge purr, and settled in a spot next to Rose's white cat, Snowy.
About halfway through the day, a lady with a trolley full of sweets with weird names came along. "Anything from the trolley dears?" "Yeah, I'll take a packet of Droobles, and 7 pumpkin pasties" said Teddy. " I'll have 1 packet of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, and 10 chocolate frogs." That was Rose. "Droobles, 20 chocolate frogs, and 2 pumpkin pasties." said Albus. " Droobles, 13 chocolate frogs and 3 pumpkin pasties." Dylan said. "And can I have - what was it? Oh yeah- Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, and 15 chocolate frogs. Thank you." I said. We all paid, but Dylan needed to help me with my money, as I couldn't quite remember how to handle it. The nice lady gave us our food and walked off. I sat down and then looked at the food around us. " These chocolate frogs aren't really frogs, are they?" I was starting to think that nothing could surprise me. " No, its just a spell. Besides, it's the cards you want. What ones did you get?" said Dylan. I slowly opened my chocolate frog packet, and quickly caught the frog when it tried to escape. "Do you, eat it?" I asked, trying not to squirm as the chocolate frog wriggled in my hand. "Yeah, once you lick them they spell stops and they go back to being non-charmed sweets. " answered Albus.
I gave the head of the frog a tentative lick. As soon as my tongue touched the frog, it stopped wriggling and became frozen. It had turned solid. Cool! I next tried the jellybeans. I stuck my hand in and came out with a pink one. "Yum!" I put it in my mouth, then suddenly everyone's faces turned to mine. "What?" "What flavour did you get?" asked Victoire. " Strawberry." "Lucky!" she said enviously. "My first one was salt." As well as strawberry, I got blueberry, lettuce, sugar, orange, apple, chocolate, chicken, and even ate a weird looking one that no one else dared eat that was green with brown dots that turned out to be pistachio ice-cream.
As the light started fading and the lanterns were lit, Teddy said "Time to put on our robes!" We all got them on and as the train neared the station Teddy pulled us all out of the compartment. "Where are we going?" asked Rose as we hurried along to the rear of the train. Teddy didn't answer. Then we passed the final compartment and stood waiting at the very last door of the train.
"Hey, Al, Rose, Ted, Victoire! Whacha doing down here?" A boy with messy black hair and hazel eyes strode out of the last compartment. "Hey James." said Albus. "Who is this lovely lady I see before me?" said James, then bowed to me. "I'm Charlotte. I just moved here from New Zealand." I answered, before sinking into a old-fashioned curtsy. "How did you know to do that?" said James, astonished. "Do what?" I asked. "Do a curtsy. Almost every girl I have ever meet hasn't even heard of the word curtsy." "Yes, well that's what happened when you take ballet for 7 years." Then the train stopped. "Come on!" said Teddy. "We need to get there before anyone else so we can get in the first carriage, let Charlotte be Sorted, and get into the Hall before the Feast starts." "Can I come?" asked James. "Sure, just hurry!" said Teddy.
We raced out of the train the second it stopped, and ran to the first carriage. Thankfully we were the first out, and not caught in the rush of people now just starting to climb out of the train. "Hurry, hurry!" said Teddy impatiently. We all clambered into one horseless carriage and it set off. Teddy gave the front of the carriage a small tap with his wand, and we were on our way. He tapped the front once more, and it started going faster. "So, whats going to happen when we get up to the school?" I asked. "A teacher came and explained some of it to us, but I didn't quite understand. We arrived two days ago, so he also brought all my school gear. " "Well, when we get up to the school there is a small classroom right next to the Hall. You and who ever you chose can come in with you to see your Sorting." "And what are these houses? And what ones are you in?" "Well, there are four houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Gryffindor- the house of bravery, Ravenclaw- the house of intelligence, Slytherin- the house of cunning and great ambition, and Hufflepuff - the house of loyalty. These are not the only things that separate these houses, but there they are. Rose, James, and I are in Gryffindor, Albus and Dylan are in Slytherin, and Victorie is in Ravenclaw." "I hope I get in Gryffindor." I said softly. "I do too." said Rose. "That means you can share a room with me! We'll have so much fun!" At that moment the carriage stopped. "We're here!" cried James victoriously.
We jumped out of the carriage and sprinted towards the castle. The teacher that had talked to me about Hogwarts also showed me a photo of it so I could be prepared, but it was nothing compared to the real thing. It rose up magnificently, with small lights twinkling. I knew at once that this would be a great home. As we dashed into the Entrance Hall, we found the Headmistress, Professor McGonagall standing there waiting. "Good time, Teddy." she said to Teddy, who beamed. "Now, Miss Forsyth, who would you like to come in and see your Sorting with you?" "All of them." I replied. "They are all great people, I would be proud to call them my friends, and I would like them to see my Sorting." "Of course." said the Headmistress, but I thought I saw a glimmer of confusion and a sparkle of happiness in her eyes before she turned and directed us into a small room to the side of the Hall.
There was a stool and a dirty old hat sitting on the stool. "Well, put it on!" said the Headmistress impatiently. "We need to hurry up!" I slowly lowered the hat onto my head. It slipped down past my eyes. I stared at the inside of the hat. "Why, I don't believe it." came a little voice into my ear. "First the redhead, then Miss Bossy, and now you. Now, to your Sorting. You have intelligence and wit, but you are also sly and cunning, with a thirst to prove yourself. You are loyal, and trust people easily. And you are brave and noble, courageous too. But where to put you?" "Gryffindor, Gryffindor." "Gryffindor you say. Well, I must follow my own decision and I have decided you belong in ... GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted out the house name so the other could hear it. "Yay!" screamed Rose. She grabbed onto my arms and I grabbed onto hers."We are together! We are together! We are together!" "Will you please be quiet and go into the hall? Teddy, make sure Charlotte knows where to go tomorrow, wont you?" "Oh course, Professor." "WE ARE TOGETHER! WE ARE TOGETHER! WE ARE TOGETHER!" "Will you two SHUT UP!" yelled Teddy.
After me and Rose had quietened down, we followed Teddy out to the Great Hall. It was lit by thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air (obviously with magic, I thought), over four long tables at which students were beginning to sit down at. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates, sparkling cutlery and a weird sort of old-fashioned cup that Rose told me was a goblet. Another long table was at the very front of the Hall and that was where the Headmistress and the rest of the teachers were sitting. The door to the Great Hall was in the middle of one of the shorter sides, and the Gryffindor table was just on the left to the door. To the left of the Gryffindor table was the Slytherins, to the right was the Ravenclaws, and on the right of the Ravenclaws was the Hufflepuffs. I sat down, and then felt someone staring at me. I turned around. "Holy s***!" An old-fashioned ghost was staring at me. He was wearing a huge ruff and tights, like in the 14th century. "Well if my presence is not welcome then I shall-"said the ghost stiffly before he was interrupted by Teddy. "She doesn't want you gone, she's new and it was her first time seeing a ghost ever. You can excuse her, can't you?" "Well, I guess." said the ghost. "Charlotte, this is Sir Nicholas de Mismy-Porpington, ghost of Gryffindor Tower, or as everyone else calls him, Nearly Headless Nick. Nick, this is Charlotte Forsyth, just moved here from NZ and has no idea about anything remotely wizardly." said James. "Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?" I asked, finding it impossible to believe that some could be nearly headless- I mean, either your heads off or it's not. "Like this." said Nick irritably and pulled his left ear. His head swung like a door hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but done a very bad job at it. I grimaced. By then the whole school had entered Great Hall. Suddenly the doors to the Great hall opened, and a tiny wizard with a tuft if white hair on his head walked in, followed by a bunch of meek looking first years. As I saw a couple of the first years look at the ceiling, I did too. I was slightly surprised to see that the Great Hall appeared to open to the heavens, but I'd gamble my cat that some sort of spell turned the roof see through so we could see outside. It was dark, and some grey clouds rolled across the sky. I looked back at the little wizard who had put the hat onto the stool, which was at the front of the room. He then conjured a list of names form out of nowhere (I knew my mind would reel if I thought about the illogically that made it appeared so I pushed away that thought), and read out the first name. Balme, Ellie ran up to the stool and put on the hat. About 20 seconds later the hat shouted SLYTHERIN! The rest carried on with Barrett, Ava (HUFFLEPUFF!) and Boot, Mia (RAVENCLAW!). Demetri, Holly became the first new Gryffindor. After about ten minutes that hat finished off with Wintnows, Josh (HUFFLEPUFF!) and Yoshima, Katie (RAVENCLAW!). The tiny wizard vanished the paper and stool, and carried the hat to the table where he put it in the care of a man that had a round, slightly chubby face. Then Professor McGonagall stood up. "I would like make one quick notice before we eat (Albus made a growling sound in the back of his throat). Do not touch the underside of the tables. It is being cleansed and the stuff they use in the potion when mixed together can be toxic and fatal to humans. Thank you. Now we shall feast!" and with that she sat down, and the tables magically filled themselves before my eyes.
Empty dishes became full of mashed potato, clean plates tall with chicken drumsticks piled high. It looked absolutely delicious! I grabbed my plate and started picking up what I wanted and putting it on my plate. Then I heard Rose giggling. I turned around, and I think that it was lucky that I had put my plate down. Albus' mouth was full to the brim of something edible. "'is is a'olu'ly d'li'isos!" spluttered Albus. You could barely catch the words, what with stuff being sprayed with flying chunks of whatever was in Albus' mouth and him being nearly un-understandable. He took a huge swallow and said again calmly, "This is delicious." "Albus, please never talk with food in your mouth again." said Rose and I simultaneously. We looked each and laughed. Then I looked at Roses plate, then at mine. "We like the same things!" I said, surprised. She looked at our plates. "Yeah, we do." she said, surprised. Then she looked down the table and squealed. "OMG! Come on Charlotte!" she dragged me by the hand halfway down the table to a group of girls our age.
"Hi guys! Have a good summer?" "ROSE!" screamed one of the girls. She jumped up and gave Rose a hug. So did the 2 other girls. I stood awkwardly off to one side. After the girls had exchanged hellos (and I was thinking about dashing back to Albus and James), one of the girls turned to me. "Who are you?" she asked. "This is Charlotte," cut in Rose. "She's from New Zealand, and only just got sorted into Gryffindor as in NZ they don't sort them or anything till they are in Yr. 3! Anyway, shes new here." "Ohhhhh." said all the girls. "Well, in that case, welcome to Hogwarts! I'm Alice, and this is Olivia and Isabella." Alice had a nice, kind face, green eyes and blonde wavy curls that went to her shoulders, Olivia had raven black hair that was cropped into a pixie cut and looked wonderful with her bright blue eyes, and Isabella had light brown hair with some blonde stripes and bluish-greenish eyes. Olivia's eyes lit up when she saw my hair. "Guys, I just noticed some thing." she said. "Wait," I interrupted. "Are you talking-" "-about the-" "colour? Ahhh!" Olivia and I screamed. "What?" said Alice, and Isabella and Roses faces showed their confusion. Olivia explained. "Our hair colour! We all have different sorts! I have black, Charlotte has dark brown, Rose has red, Isabella has light brownish-blonde, and Alice has blonde!" "Wow." said Rose. "That is kinda creepy." Then the food turned into dessert, and we sat down and ate till we were full. Rose and I ate a whole chocolate cake by ourselves, and Isabella and Olivia fought over a chocolate eclair until I pointed out there was one more, and Alice hogged the strawberry ice cream. When everyone was finished, the uneaten food magically disappeared, and everyone turned to look at Professor McGonagall, who was standing up.
"Now that we are all fed and watered, I would like to give out some start-of-term notices. First years should know that the forest in the grounds, known as the Forbidden Forest, is out of bounds. Some of our older students should remember that too." Her eyes flickered toward James and his friends, then strangely enough to me. "I have also be asked by Mr Filch, our caretaker, to remind you that you are to use magic in the corridors and also that you are not to use any Ever-Bashing Boomerangs, Fanged Frisbees, Snapping Stoneflyers or Screaming Yo-yos in the castle. Any Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products are not to be used in the corridors (Her eyes twinkled). Quidditch trials are to be held at the end of the second week of term. See Madam Hooch if you want to try out for your house team. Now off to bed."
James pulled me out of my seat. "Come on!" "Where are we going?" I laughed. James, I and James friends sprinted out of the Great Hall and ran up a huge flight of stairs. When we reached the end of that staircase I looked upwards. It seemed that it went on forever. James pulled me over to a tapestry. "What the..." I said in wonder as he looked around, then brushed the tapestry to the side. A hole appeared behind the tapestry. He crouched and walked into it, and I followed. It soon widened, and we could stand up. "This is Alex, Liam, Jack and Owen." said James. Alex had brown hair and green eyes, Liam was blonde with brown eyes, Alex was black with black hair and brown eyes, and Owen had brownish-reddish hair and blue eyes. "Hi, I'm Charlotte." I said as I shook hands with them. "I see your point, James." said Liam, looking at me. I was confused, but decided to let it go. "Shut up Liam! Come on Charlotte." He said, motioning for me to follow. We walked for about five minutes, the boys explaining Quidditch to me. It turned out James was on the team, as was Owen and Liam. Alex was the quiet one of the group, I thought. Anyway, we came to the end of the tunnel. James swept aside the tapestry blocking this end, and held it open for me to walk thorough. He then dropped it just as Liam walked through, making Liam trip up. James laughed. He then took me over to a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress. "This is the entrance to Gryffindor Common Room," explained James. Just before he could utter the password, Rose, Isabella, Olivia and Alice came tearing round the corner.
"Charlotte!" screamed Rose. She pulled me away from James. "What did you do to her!" she screamed at James. All the other girls were puffing, but Roses anger seemed to give her more strength, as she was screaming at James without the slightest sign of tiredness. "What have you done to her!" Rose whipped out her wand and pointed it at James. "Nothing." said James, looking slightly worried. "I swear, James Sirus Potter, if Charlotte is harmed I will shread you into one thousand pieces!" James friends laughed quietly. They didn't want that anger directed at them, that's for sure. "Charlotte, are you fine?" asked Rose worriedly, turning to look at me. "Yeah." I nodded. "Let's go into the Common Room. Mandragora." she said to the fat lady. The fat lady swung open, revealing a door shaped hole that they walked through. It lead them into the Gryffindor common room, which was a warm, cosy room full of squishy armchairs, a bookcase, a couple of tables, and a roaring fire. "Come to our room." said Isabella. We walked to another doorway, which lead to a spiral staircase. On the first level they stopped, and stepped onto a balcony with two different doors. Alice led them to the one on the left. It had five four-poster beds with velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. I got the one next to Rose and Isabella, the one on the left to the middle. We all got changed and fell into bed, falling asleep almost the moment our heads hit the pillows.