The morning heat coming through the window awakens my body and brings me to life, the cream curtain fails to keep the sunlight from burning my eyes. i throw the tangled blanket next to me and dart down the stairs to where my mother and father; kerry and martin smith, were sat on a small oak dinner table which was occupied by 4 chairs. "foods in the microwave dear" my mother chrips up before i even enter the kitchen, i open the silver door to find a hot bowl of porridge and blueberries waiting for me, the smell makes my mouth water and my stomach rumble with anticipation. I sit next to my father who was eating the same as me and i start to eat the porrige greedily. my elbow slides on something, a small peice of paper with a red wax mark on the back, my hogwarts letter. i recieved my letter last week and i couldnt stop smiling, my mother went to hogwarts but my father is a muggle, when they told me the story of when she told him she was a witch he said he nearly ran away because he thought my mother was crazy but once she proved it by setting the stove on fire without even saying anything he believed her.
After breakfast i run into my room and put on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a floral shirt which flows past my hips, i grab my toothbrush and put it into my suitcase and i eagerly zip it up and drag it downstairs, letting it hit one step at a time, i turned 11 last October so this is my first year at hogwarts and i couldnt be more excited! i open the large red front door, throw my suitcase outside so my father can put it into the boot of our car, then i grab my mother by the wrist and lead her to the car "slow down the train doesnt leave for another 4 hours" you see i live in a small village in devon so we have to leave early if we want to get to london in time. the car door is already open so i slide into the back seat and buckle myself in then i slam the door shut and place my hands onto my lap and tap my foot impatientally, the car jumps into action and lifts off the floor "make sure the invisability is on" my mother says sternly to my father. My eyes close tightly, i hate the beginning of a car journey.
Once i open my eyes we are high in the sky flying over bright green fields "mum how long have we been driving?" "about 3 hours dear, we are only 20 minutes away" her strong british accent the same as mine put emphasis on '20'. I must have fallen asleep; my stomach turns in excitment soon i will be among my fellow students in the common room of whatever house the sorting hat puts me in. i stare out the window intently at the clouds changing their form every minute or so,it was fascinating however my gaze was interupted by a dipping feeling in my stomach, were here, down on the ground was kings cross station stood. The car comes to a halt and we slam onto the concrete. Crowds swarm the platforms, there must be about 200 people just in the entrance, i weave myself through the clusters of people, this reminds me of diagon alley when i got tabs my owl and my wand from olivanders, dragon heartstrings,maple and 12 and a half inches. My eyes turn to behind me and i look over my shoulder to my mother and father who both nodded forwards, i look forward and notice a boy about my height pushing a cart with his owl,books and suitcase on it. i rush forward my hands vibrating as the cart bounces over the cobbles; "excuse me" the boy turns around, his skin is pale and his golden eyes sparkle in the dim lighting of the station, hes wearing jeans and a burgandy jacket "are you going to hogwarts?" i say hesistantly, he smiles and he gets a dimple in one cheek "yes,first year what about you" i nod and smile back. My mother and Father catch up to me and the boy and hand me a ticket which says 'hogwarts express, platform 9 and 3/4' i turn to my mother raising one eyebrow "platform 9 and 3/4?" the boy laughs along with my parents "right over here" my father runs towards a wall and goes through it, my heart stops and i let out a shriek "go on" my mother pushes me towards the wall, i breathe in slowly and run as fast as i can whilst releasing it, i sht my eyes as i approach closer to the bricks and before i know it im on a platform where a red train stands steaming and whilstling, children of all ages were climbing on board and some were waving their parents good bye. My mother has tears in her eyes and she smiles which spills a tear over he cheek, i hug her tighlty and my father strokes my head then plants a kiss onto my forehead "i love you both" "we love you too sweetheart, now go" i smile and run towards the nearest door and wait there until the train urges forward, it lets out a loud whistle and i wave to my parents then i turn to find a booth that i can sit in. After i pass about 5 booths i find one which is empty, i open the door which has a glass window that covers it and sit down on a red velvet seat, i look out of the window, the sun looks so beautiful casting shadows onto the countryside, we have been travelling for about half an hour and no one has accompanied me, thats when my thought was interupted, it seems like i cant have any moment to myself. The door opened and it was the boy from the station "mind if i sit, the boys in my booth are annoying me" i laugh and nod, he moves swiftly and sits down facing me as he brushes a lock of light brown hair off his forehead. "The names cedric,cedric diggory" "nice to meet you cedric, im evelyn smith" he smiles and i want to know more about him "did your parents go to hogwarts?" he bites his lip, looks down and looks back at me "my father did, amos diggory but my mother died whilst giving birth to me" i feel my face drop and i think he notices "its fine,dont fret,i didnt know her" he smile but it doesnt reach my eyes instead i feel sorrow dawn in them "what about you" i sit up straight and tell him about my parents and the day the met, we both laugh for a few minutes and then our conversation switches to our time in hogwarts "what house do you want to be in cedric?" he thinks for a moment and then answers "hufflepuff, my father was in it; what about you?" "im not sure, my mother was in ravenclaw but i dont really have a preference" cedric nods and opens a bag which sat next to him, he pulls a multicoloured box out and i make out the words bertie-bots every flavour beans, "want one?" he holds out a dark red one in the palm of his hand i take it and smile "thank you" we eat one at the same time and our faces contrast mine in delight and his in disgust, "mm cherry!" he rolls his eyes and swallows the bean quickly "earwarx" we both pull a face and burst into laughter again "were here!" we both lean close to the window but its hard to see anything because the only light is moonlight, cedric turns to me "maybe it was a slytherin messing with us" i turn and crease my eyebrows at him, my mother has told me about the founders of the houses and i recognise the name slytherin, salazar slytherin "i bet there not that bad" he lets out a laugh and we sit back down, the train jerks and stops, "they werent lying" he does a half smile and reaches up for his suitcase which he put above him when he entered the booth, we walk out side by side and both gasp at the sight of a huge man with a long fuzzy black beard "this way to the carriages,first years follow me" he shouts and holds a lantern infront of him, the crowd of students move forward in canon, we are close to the front so we get the third carriage, a red headed boy was already sat in it, we climb in clumsily and bevore we even sit down the carriage moves forward, the ride is quiet for a while and the awkward silence sends me and cedric into a frenzy of laughter, amongst the noice the boy speaks up "percy weasley" we both look at him and say our names at the same time, we both start laughing again but the boy doesnt crack a smile, i hold out my hand and he shakes it "first year you?" he releases my hand and replies "third year, former prefect and head boy" he sits up straight. Cedric chirps up "impressive" i nudge him with my elbow "what" he laughs, i shake my head and the silence takes over once more. The rest of the ride is just silent apart from the glances and small laughs between me and cedric. For the rest of the journey i watch Cedrics expressions change from curiosity to confusion "whats wrong?" i ask "these horse creatures are quite freaky looking arnt they" for once since we met a few hours ago his british accent didnt make me feel warm inside but cold and confused "wh-what horses cedric?" i stutter as i look over at Percy who seems to have the same expression as me, cedric points to the front f the carriage "there!... wait cant you see them?" i shake my head and look directly into his eyes "oh" he looks down at his black trainers and leans his head on his hand whilst struggling to keep balance as the carriage moves, the tense atmosphere has become worse so i imitate what cedric does unintentionally and so does percy, its intimidating having a third year ride along with you especially a head boy. The tension between us releases as gasps come from other first years, i look over into the direction where a girl is pointing and i clearly see a huge castle with magnificent architecture and orange glowing lights. The orange lights coming from the huge doors which are open for us illuminates the first two carraiages in front of us clearly showing there flaws as shadows cast across their faces. Once we come to a halt i leap out of the carriage with the help of Cedric and eagerly walk side by side with him through the entrance and up a huge flight of concrecte stairs. As we draw closer to the top the first years stop in cannon and the rest of the school carry on walking noisely into a doubled door room. A cat is sat infront of us and the people at the front look at eachother which creases inbetween their eyebrows, the cat was sat very proudly almost human like and its eyes stared at us like we were prey. The cat then suddenly became bigger and bigger until its form turned into a women who looked in her sixties but she was probably much older gasps come from the swarm of people and the chatter rises into an unbearable noise,i turn to see the commotion and shake my head, i dont speak because the professor is staring us down, i turn my attention back to the front when my sight is interupted by a girl about the same height as me stretching her hand out towards me with a beaming smile on her face; i look around but her eyes fix on me only blinking once every 10 seconds, i realise that the gesture is towards me so i awkwardly clasp her hand and shake it twice "Victoria Sefton you?" i stutter before i am interupted by a voice which speaks over my shoulder "Cedric Diggory" cedric puts his arm out to her and she gladly shakes it, thank goodness, i let out a laugh as he says "and she is evelyn smith" he gestures towards me, the girl flicks her long bronze hair over her shoulder and lets out a proud smile which drops when she looks up, i look up aswell and a man with hardly any hair on the top of his head but a lot flowing down his back is stood there with his shoulders hunched over, "now first years this is Argus Filch however you must name him , he will take you up to a room where you can change into your robes, now remeber these robes are not permanant and shall be changed once you are put into your houses" her scottish accent is charming and makes you listen intently at what she has to say. The proffeser turns to the double doors where the rest of the year entered and slips in majesticly, Filch huffs "this way" and leads us through a cascading amount of stairs.
We enter the 'Great Hall' as it is called, awkwardly, the rest of the school is looking up at us but in an intimidating way, my heart races as we reach the front of the hall where all the professors stand. A stool is placed next to a huge owl monument which im guessing is where the headmaster stands when giving speeches, the Scottish women interrupts my thoughts "now students as you know you are sorted into houses dependent on your ability's and personalities, my name is Mrs Mcgonnagel and i will be calling your names out one by one to come up and let the sorting hat decide your fate" She clears her throat and unravels a cream parchment scroll which is smothered with black ink "Cedric Diggory" he turns to me and smiles, climbs up onto the platform and sits on the small wooden stool, "now cedric i am going to place the sorting hat onto your head you ready?" he nods and the hat is placed onto his head flattening his brown hair, a deep and unnerving voice comes from the hat which causes my eyes to open with shock. "hmm... yes ...okay,Loyal,truthful, lets say.. Hufflepuff!" a long table of students cheer and Cedric goes to join them after taking a glance at me and giving me a cocky smile, i laugh and shake my head. The students are whittled down until there is only a hand full left "Evelyn smith" i take a deep breath and make my way up to the platform praying that i dont trip on my temporary robes, i take a seat and the hat lands on my head shifting back and forth causing my body to jolt and lose balance "ahhh tough one, your loyalty to your close ones is outstanding, however your cunning and sly and also have the determination of a slytherin; however! your mind is ready and wise... i would say..." i shut my eyes, i dont really have a preference but it is still nerve racking "ravenclaw!" i jump up smiling and join my fellow house members on the second long table from the right, several people shake my hand and some pat my back, i sit on the bench and fold my arms turning my attention back on to the last two students to be placed, the boy is placed in slytherin fairly quickly and then the last girl who i recognize to be Victoria sefton takes her place on the podium before her name is calld out, she sits eagerly on the stool tapping her legs, without hesitation the hat shouts "ravenclaw" and a sigh of relief falls out of my mouth at least i know somebody even if it is vaguely.
Victoria sits next to me and she greets everyone with a big smile and a friendly hello;I start to smile with her as they greet me once more. The room is filled with laughter and friendly chatter "silence!" Echos around the room in a deep wise voice,it is the headmaster stood behind the golden owl monument just like I said,I sit up proudly at my prediction. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, there will be a new defense against the dark arts teacher whilst professer quirrel is away, proffesser Taylor will be stepping in" the whole hall of clapped,but slytherin cheered the loudest and some even stood up,am I missing something? a large group of girls and boys sat on my table sighed and rolled there eyes, I guess not many people like them I laughed to myself;I lean closer to Victoria "why is everyone rolling there eyes at slytherin" I ask she knows more than me about Hogwarts "they are proud stuck up and sly" she snorts "so is taylor,graduated 3 years ago,one of the best witches slytherins had" a dark haired boy leans over and intrudes our conversation, we both look at him and are mesmerised by his peircing green eyes the same as Victorias "who are you?" Victoria says as she lays her head on her palm "Travis ryman you?" His hand cuts across my vision lands in front of Victoria she shakes it and exclaims her name proudly, "welcome to Hogwarts Victoria,your going to enjoy it" he smiles which lights up his whole face "what year are you in?" I say quickly almost protective over my new friend "second" he laughs probably at my tone of voice,I smile at her and with that dumbledore shouts "let the feast begin"
After we have all eaton, the prefects of ravenclaw lead us up a huge flight of stairs towards the ravenclaw tower,the motion makes my full stomach queasy,I can tell it's the same for Victoria. Hufflepuff join our side and I smile at Cedric who is looking at me with an excited expression then the two houses split, we turn left and they carry on forwards. We come to an abrupt stop and the prefect boy holds a giant eagle knocker in his hand and bangs it on the wooden door,he steps back two steps and the knocker speaks "which came first the Phoenix or the flame?" The prefects turn to eachother with shock and then turn to the other students looking for an answer, I look around and everyone seems to be hiding away, Victoria faces me and both our faces light up with knowledge our voices come out as one "a circle has no beginning" the door opens and people pat us on the back as they walk into the common room,my feet out glued,how did I know that?!
Victoria grabs my hand and pulls me into the common room,my shoes sink down into the midnight blue carpet and I gaze at the blue and bronze drapes hanging over the arched windows, a fire is lit in one corner and a few sofas are dotted around "girls this way" the girl prefect shouts and we form an orderly line behind her, she taps on a door next to a huge white marble statue of whom I can only assume is Rowana ravenclaw and walks up a small flight of stairs, at the top of the stairs are hue four poster beds with the ravenclaw badge on each drape that hangs over them, my trunk and tabs,my cat are waiting for me on my bed aswell as a ravenclaw uniform, white shirt,blue tie,black skirt and a robe with the ravenclaw badge on it.
I fold my uniform up and place it onto the windowsill next to my bed then I put some shorts on and a vest top much like the rest of the girls in the dormitory and slip into the blue silk quilt along with my green blanket from home. Most girls fall asleep instantly especially first years and some read their favourite novels,that seems like a good idea so I hang off my bed upside down and pull Hogwarts,a history out of my trunk. The pages create a world around me,like I am in Hogwarts when it was first founded. After around an hour of reading my eyes droop and the moonlight that was lighting my pages disappears as I drift off to sleep.
The next morning I am awoken quickly by the fluster of girls rushing around the room getting dressed, "what time is it?" I ask Victoria who's bed was on the right of mine "6 am" she replies wiping her eyes a moving her long side fringe to the other side of her face; I plan my day in my head according to the timetable that was put on my uniform last night
-shower
-get dressed
-breakfast
-potions
-transfiguration
-lunch
-divination
I sigh at divination, I've never been a believer in predicting the future.
After my shower I let my hair dry naturally letting it fall over my shoulders naturally wavy. Then I put on my shirt tie and skirt and pull my robe over my head,I trace the badge of ravenclaw carefully, I am honoured to be part of one of the most intelligent houses in Hogwarts.
Me and Victoria settle down for breakfast in the great hall and each have bacon and three slices of toast,there isn't much talking while we eat as she is staring at Travis who is sitting across from us but a little further to the right,I tut and she turns around almost blushing but laughing at the same time. I look around for Cedric but I can't seem to find him, my head is changing direction every 10 seconds whilst my eyes scan the crowds of smiling first years and tired 7th years that's when my eyes interlock with his as he walks down the aisle to his table, he mouths "morning" and I laugh whilst mouthing it back to him. It saddens me that he doesn't sit with us but obviously he has his own friends, a little bit of jealousy grows inside me.
A boy called Blaise places himself next to Victoria and they are deep in conversation like they have known eachother for years, she pushes his shoulder and he threatens to pour her glass of water over her head,some of the slytherin table are looking at him in disgust and most of ravenclaw are doing the same,I admire his determination to not let the competitiveness of the houses get in the way of his previous friendships.
I decide to let them stay deep in conversation and I walk over to where Cedric is sat,my steps echo through the hall and his friend group look at me like I'm from another planet,he smiles and shuffles up the bench to make room for me,awkwardly I sit down and place my hands together on my lap my breathing becomes more noticeable and I can hear my own heartbeat through the silence I breath in until my lungs hurt "we have potions next" Cedric turns to me and rolls his eyes "oh god I'm crap at potions,I tried making a sleeping potion once,I ended up turning my whole face purple for about a week" my laugh comes out louder than expected and I blush at the stares that I attracted "students must now go to lessons" a Scottish accent rings through the quiet conversations and students start removing themselves from the hall,I stand up before Cedric and run over to the ravenclaw table where I left my potions book,I then run back over to where Cedric waits for me and we make our way to class.
The room is dimly lit and 5 tables are dotted around the room without any chairs surrounding them,a huge square mahogany table stands at the front with a concoction of potions taking up most of the room "6 to a table" a deep voice came from the back of the classroom, we instantly huddled around the tables equally as a man with chin length black hair stomps down the aisle to his desk,his black cloak flying behind him. Aggressively he starts writing professer on the black board "my name is professer snape" he bangs the chalk on the board creating a full stop, then he carries on writing 'a cure for boils' "get our your books magical drafts and potions and turn to page 394" his intimidating voice turns the room even colder than it was before and the eerie silence makes me shiver. I guide Cedric through the instructions,helping him crush the snake fangs and making sure he takes the cauldron of at the right time otherwise instead of curing them he would create boils. snape swept round the classroom inspecting everyone's work and groans in disgust at a few gryffindors. As he reached our desk I kept my head down and made it look like I was reading the instructions "very good miss smith" I smile half heartedly at the seemingly cold man it didn't feel right;him congratulating me. Once he left our desk I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding and slowly stirred my potion deep in thought although I did not know what I was thinking about.
After class we met up with Victoria and Blaise who had divination "how was it" I laugh and Victoria lets out a groan "awful, proseffer trelawny is a wackjob" Blaise nods in agreement and we start walking to transfiguration class where we meet up with Travis "what lesson have you got?" I start walking backwards so I can see him properly "potions" he replies with a sigh. "Me and ced just came from potions what's the deal with snape?" "Well he's moany,boring,mean and a bit scary to be honest" we all laugh at his comment "yeah I gathered that but doesn't he like gryffindor house or something,he pulled a face at all their potions" this time all of us look at Travis waiting for a reply "he's head of slytherin house, the main rivals of gryf-wait he let you make potions?" His face was twisted into shock "Erm yes it's potions class?" Cedric says sarcastically "he didn't let us make a potion until three quarters of the way into first year!" Me and Cedric smile at eachother proudly "it's cause we're special".
It's only been around a day and a half within meeting Victoria,Travis,Blaise and Cedric and already we are acting like we grew up together although Blaise and Victoria did,A smile creeps on to my face. We say good bye to Travis and make our way through the crowds of people to get to the transfiguration classroom,most of the class was seated by the time we entered the bright room so we sat scattered as most of the tables were full. We got a disapproving look from professer mcConigal and she carried on her speech about how transfiguration is one of the hardest subjects to master. She demonstrated turning a bird into a quill by tapping the bird twice with her wand and reciting "avi ut penna" the bird morphed into a cream feather quil with gold glitter embedded into it,chatter came like a tidal wave over the class starteing from the back,I turned to two tables down where Victoria sat and I raised my eyebrows. "Silence" mcgonigals stern voice made the whole room focused however laughter was coming from the middle table "mr weasley maybe you can demonstrate to the class" he elbows his fellow gryffindor and someone at the back shouts "go on fred" Fred weasley taps the bird twice and recites the spell "avi ut penna" the bird quickly changes but the quill has feet,the whole class bursts into laughter and I think I see a smile forcing itself onto mcgonigals face.
The rest of the day was just a blur and before I knew it we were sat in the great hall eating our dinner,huge amounts of food magically appeared on the table in front of us and I immediately took a chicken wing and ate it,then after I have eaten my main I dig into some jelly and ice cream. I look towards the hufflepuff table where Cedric is elbowing a black haired boy,he spots me and and taps his cheek indicating that I have food round my mouth,I blush and wipe it down with my sleeve,he laughs but I can't hear it over the conversations all around us,a giggle escapes my mouth and so does a little bit of jelly,it falls onto my robes. I feel my eyes widen and my skin becoming beet root red,I don't turn back to look at him,oh my gosh that was embarrassing. Victoria is facing me with her hand on her mouth and her eyes are squinting "stop laughing it wasn't funny" I try to keep a serious face but I end up in hysterics just like her. Blaise stands up and places a hand on Victorias shoulder "I'm going to the common room,see you in the morning" "night" we both say still laughing. About 15 minutes pass and we decide to head up to bed. Victoria runs up the stairs "eager to see Travis are we?" She turns to face me and her eyes widen "no.. I mean yes but Blaise Erm" her face turns red. "Try to speak sense Vic,I was just messing with ya,calm down" I laugh "don't do that!" She pushes my shoulder and walks backwards up the stairs whilst she carries on speaking "besides i see the way you look at Cedric,so you can't make fun of m-" "Vic!" I grab her arm as the stair case moves swiftly,her foot halfway off the edge. Victoria places a hand on her chest "thanks for that,Merlin's beard I could of died" I roll my eyes "you need to more careful Vic,you slipped on a chocolate frog on the train!" We both laugh and wait till the staircase resumes it's usual position, we answer the riddle and enter our common room, Travis is sat on a blue armchair reading a book and two girls were spinning a globe talking about the different magical references to each country. Victoria avoids eye contact with Travis as we pass him to go to our dorm,I sit on her blue fur blanket,I raise my eyebrow at her "drop it will you;I'm only eleven" "nearly twelve" our laughter returns to the point where we can't breathe. I pass her one of her books and I take one for myself, mines about slytherin house, I lie on my belly so my arms and legs are hanging off Victorias bed and start reading. Before I know it I turn the last pages and close the book, I move my stiff neck and look up at Vic who's just finished reading also "sleep?" I ask, Victoria nods and I move sleepily to my bed and fall into my dreams instantly.
I am shook awake by the head girl "quickly come on,we have to go all students must report to the great hall" her voice echos through my head causing me a headache,I look to my right and Victorias still asleep,I walk over to her bed and rub my eyes "Vic,wake up...we've got to go to the great hall" she darts out of bed and we rush down the flights of stairs,carefully trying not to anger 7th years. Once we reach the doors to the hall we stop and look at eachother, she bursts out laughing "what?" I say "your hair,it's twice as big" I slap a hand over my eyes "oh god" a crowd of 7th years come near us and we get lost in the sea of students as they sweep us up into the great hall,we rush to our seats and share concerned glances with the other ravenclaws. "Silence please" dumbledores voice rings through the hall "now I'm sorry for dragging you all out of bed at this hour and I trust you to stay calm; the bloody baron is missing and peeves is roaming free,there is no one to control him, he is even attacking slytherins now,please be aware. A teacher will be in each dorm room as a precaution,good night students and stay safe" Victoria starts panicking,I lean over her shoulder "who's peeves?" She asks me "I read about him last night in one of your books,he is a poltergeist and he does not belong to a house however the bloody baron has control over him and since he is the slytherin ghost peeves doesn't normally frighten slytherins" some of the older years nod in approval at my explanation "oh god, Travis what time is it?" Victoria swivels her whole body round to face him "about 4:30 am" he replies, I run my fingers through my matted hair and yawn.
On our way back to the dormitories most people were silent and the only noise that's heard is people yawning and Vic's humming,I raise an eyebrow at her and she laughs. A hand grabs my arm and pulls me around the corner but not before I grab Victoria, there's nothing there just a dark corridor with snoring pictures "lumos" my wand lights up and Victoria holds my arm tightly "there's no one here Vic" she gasps "w-what if it's peeves" we both stop and face eachother then run back the way we came,once we turn the corner to where we once stood I say "nox" whilst breathing heavily and we rely on the dim fires to lead us back to the common room. I hear footsteps and a voice echoing through the corridor that we got dragged into "flitwick!" "Uh what are you two doing here! Your meant to be in your dorms by now!" Flitwick crosses his arms,"I got this" Vic whispers into my ear "professor flitwick,we were walking and-" she starts sobbing "Evelyn got dragged backwards into a corridor and her only reaction was to grab me,we were then on a corridor with nobody there so we just assumed that it was peeves" she wipes a fake tear of her cheek and stares at flitwick dropping her gaze a little "ahh I see,well off to bed now,don't want another incident" we nod and run to the spiralling stairs which lead to the astronomy tower "good one Vic!" We laugh but then quickly stop as we enter the common room. Silently we make our way up to bed,whisper night to eachother and fall back to sleep.
My eyes snap open and a smile grows on my face,the hot summer air blows my blinds around "get up darling" it was September 1st the best day of the year;apart from Christmas of course. This year I take pride in my appearance I unravel my damp plait that I put in the night before and run my fingers through it,my hair still my natural blonde colour falls down near my ribs,I slip on a blue button up shirt and some black skinny jeans "look at you my little seventh year" my mother cups my face in her hands and kisses my cheek, "Cedric,Blaise and Victoria are waiting for you outside, so I guess this is goodbye then for another year" she adds "goodbye mother, I hug her tightly, "write to me as often as possible" I feel guilt and sadness rising in my stomach, leaving mother on her own after dad's tragic accident 3 years ago "I love you mum" "love you to dear" I bounce down the stairs with my trunk and tabs my tawny owl, "fancy seeing you here" Blaise says as he smiles,I run up to him and hug him,he opens the car door and I climb into the backseat next to Victoria she squeals and hugs me "it's been to long" her voice is muffled because of my clothes "I know" it felt so good to be back with the people I love,I just wish mother could come with us; in the front seat a boy clears his throat, I lean over the chair and throw my arms round his neck so we are facing the same way "and how has your summer been" he looks up,his hair still curly and tousled but his features have become strong and chiseled "hot" I laugh "haven't changed one bit" he shakes his head as he talks,I plant a kiss on his cheek and the car starts into action, as usual my nerves return "I hate flying" everybody laughs "we know" Victoria says,it feels like a short trip to the station because all we did was laugh about Victorias clumsiness and listen to our favourite wizard bands.
We arrive at the station and I can't help but smile "for old times sake" we all turn to Cedric and walk in a crowded huddle towards the wall "ready?" I ask "ready" everyone replies at the same time, one by one we run through the wall,I go first,after I am through I stand on the platform and take a deep breath in,the magic I feel inside me still hasn't died down and the smoke from the unchanged train dances around in my eyes. 'Its good to be back' I think to myself as the rest come through and stand next to me. We sit down on the train and reminisce about our first year and we watch a few of them kiss their mothers goodbye "remember that time when you guys waited outside my common room and peeves attacked you by throwing eggs at you" Blaise laughs uncontrollably "yeah well remember the time when you got hit by a jinx and couldn't stop throwing up slime in the great hall" Blaise expression fades into an unamused face whilst the rest of us crack up. "Guys,just to piss fred and George off let's buy all of the sweets off the trolley" Cedric winks "think your on to something there ced" Blaise raises his eyebrows and turns his head "yeah let's play them at there own game!" Victoria jumps out of her seat in excitement "calm down Vic" I laugh and then pull out a pouch of money from my pocket,everyone follows my lead. After about half an hour the small sweet old lady comes around pushing the cart "anything from the trolley dears?" She croaks as the trolley comes into view from our car "we will take everything" Cedric stands up and passes her all our galleons and sickles.
The car is full of every colour sweet you could imagine, I pick up a chocolate frog from the pile and eat it as fast as I can,I wouldn't want it to run away,I remember seeing one fly past our window when we were in 3rd year apparently it was from Harry Potters car. We all start packing the leftover sweets into our trunks and start getting ready to get off the train.
On the platform harry,Ron and hermione are stood talking to hagrid "ugh miss know it all" Vic huffs and rolls her eyes, most ravenclaws don't really have a good relationship with her,ever since third year she has been stealing all the academic success from ravenclaw. We pass them and fix our eyes forward apart from Cedric who does a weird boy gesture towards harry. This year the travel to to castle is boats the same as the year before, the trio lead the way and we get in the boat behind them,the water looks black and creepy. About three quarters over the lake Cedric stands up "sit down,you might fall in!" I order,I try to keep a straight face but it fails "your afraid of everything"he mocks Blaise then leans to the left so the boat tips to the side "oh gosh please stop,I'm already sea sick" Victorias face has gone pale but Blaise keeps rocking it "were not gonna fall in stop being so scared" then with one final swing to the left Cedric topples over the side into the deep water as with the rest of us "good job were not in our robes yet" Cedric says whilst treading the water,his eyes glow orange with the light off the boat and his hair is dark and all over the place,I splash him with freezing cold water as he ducks my head under, "let's get to shore,think I'm gonna' get phneumonia " Cedric turns to tip the boat so it's straight and hold it in place for me to get in. "C'mon vic&blaise were get-" I look where they fell in and Victoria has her arms wrapped around Blaise and they are kissing! I raise my eyebrows at Cedric and get into the boat, Cedric clears his throat and Victoria nervous laughs and swims to the boat in front of Blaise.
Me and Victoria sit at the back and the boys are at the front paddling in the water trying to make the boat go quicker so we can catch up with everybody else but it doesn't seem to be working,the enchanted boat just stays the same speed. By the time we reach the harbour type cave no students are around "where have you four been?!" Professer mcgonigal looks down at us through her glasses,we all tense up and look at the floor which is covered water that was dripping off us "we fell in,sorry professer,we tried to get here quicker but the boats are stubborn" Cedric steps forward "hmmm well make sure it doesn't happen again,now get into your robes ands go to your common rooms" she goes to turn away "what about the feast?" I ask "the feast I over,however I'm sure one of your house mates will fill you in on what is happening this year" she swivels her emerald green cloak and turns away from us with a smirk on her face. We quickly say bye to eachother and run up to our dorm room,we answer the riddle which seems to be getting harder each year. "What happened at the great hall?" Victoria asks breathing heavily "oh my gosh, you missed it, we were just sat there and then these girls came in from beauxbattons academy and all the boys were drooling which was disturbing, anyway then these boys,well men came in from Bulgaria and there so beautiful,it was like a dream" a group of girls close their eyes and place a hand on tier heart "why are they here?" I reply,a blonde girl comes forward and moves her hair out of her face "it's the tri wizard tournament, one student from each school competes for eternal glory in a series of dangerous tasks,shame for most of us you have to be 17 to enter" I feel my eyes widen "no doubt Cedric the prefect will want to enter" Victoria laughs.
We get into bed early ready for our lessons tomorrow, I lean in closer to Victorias bed and whisper "so?" I fold my arms "what?" Victoria creases her eyebrows "are you going to talk about what happened less than a few hours ago in the lake?!" My whisper becomes loud "ohh that,well I fell on him when we fell out the boat and then when we came to the surface he leaned in and well you know the rest" it's dark but I swear I could see her blush,I give a smile and bury my head in my now blue blanket.
The first lesson we have in the morning is defence against the dark arts,apparently there's another new teacher called professer moody,I think I overheard someone saying he used to catch dark wizards and send them to askaban. Before lesson I meet up with Cedric who's eating some form of sweets inside a circle of boys "Cedric!" I call out waving my arm in the air,he dismisses himself and walks over to me running a hand through his golden hair "you coming to class?" He asks me, which kind of kills my question because I was going to ask him the same thing "yes obviously" I say sarcastically and we run down the corridor to DADA. There are only a few students in the room,Victoria and Blaise,another slytherin,another ravenclaw and two hufflepuffs, I sit next to Victoria and Cedric places himself next to Blaise. "Where were you?" Victoria faces me and leans her head on her hand in a questioning motion "with Cedric" it slips out casually but Vic raises her eyebrow and smirks "no no,we were just talking AS FRIENDS" ever since 5th year she's been obsessed 'cevelyn' as she called it,back then it made me cringe,but now it doesn't seem bad,wait what. The classroom door slams open which startles the whole class, a short man dressed in tatty robes limps into the room whilst taking a swig out of a silver flask,his face is covered with scars and he has one very freaking looking fake eye strapped around his head,his voice comes out croaky and dim "now I'm proffesser moody, your new defence against the dark arts teacher,I'm here because dumbledore asked me to any questions?" The class room is so silent I swear you could hear the waves of the black lake through the pathetically opened window. "Good now does anybody know about the three unforgivable curses?" Still no reply "okay..can any of you name one?" Victoria raises her hand "the imperius curse?" Moody excitedly extends his hand out in Victorias direction "very good miss?..." "Sefton, proffesser" Victoria replies with no emotion, "anyone else?" This time fred answers "the crutiatus curse" "excellent" moody writes the crutiatus curse on the blackboard behind him, "now there's one last one, you,go write it on the blackboard" at first I am in a daze until I realize that he is staring at me, Victoria quickly whispers "the death curse" under her breath and I make my way up to the board,I hate being in front of lots of people,I feel my palms go sweaty, I write as neatly as I can 'the death curse' on the board and go to sit down but I am stopped, "now miss Smythe is it?" I nod "well miss Smythe do you know the spell?" I nod again "what is it?" My breathing becomes shallow as he is in my face, looking deranged and mad "avada kedavra" I whisper "say it louder girl,I don't think the class heard you" "avada kedavra" I say again this time anger is in my voice,I don't know why but I really dislike him. "Ahh yes,here here" he gestures me over to a desk and pulls out a cockroach, "ready?.. Avada kedavra" with one flash of green the cockroach was dead and the whole class was stunned and quiet "class dismissed" he says sternly and turns to take a sip out of the flask. "Well that was quite disturbing" Blaise says as we walk down the corridor towards divination, I make a noise in approval, Blaise and Victoria wave us goodbye as they go down to potions and me and Cedric enter the mad professer trelawnys classroom,the table and chairs are set in a semi circle,on different level around a desk with a single crystal ball in the middle of it. "Good morning students" her shaky voice echos through the huge room "we are going to learn the art of crystal ball reading,so now everyone get out your textbooks and turn to page twenty three,there you will find a colour key and what each colour means, you there what's your name?" A small dainty brunette girl answers in a timid voice "Anna Cook" she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear using her pale hand "okay Anna now place your hand on top of the ball and close your eyes" as she does this the ball turns a dark blue, almost grey "okay so look for the colour in the book" a boy quickly glances down and runs his finger down the page "sadness" "ooh watch out girl, there will be sadness in your future" the girl looks startled and looks down at her lap, "okay now you two" trawlany was standing over us staring at us through her huge glasses, Cedric places his hand on the crystal ball and it turns a magenta colour, I scan the colours on the first two pages and nothing,then as I turn the page the last colour matches up with the one on the ball, I blush slightly and close the book "so?... My dear are you alright" her voice seems more shaky,I hadn't realised how long everyone was waiting for me to answer, embarrassed, I tell the class "love" some of the class tut, trelawny clasps her hands together And smiles and Cedric gives a smug look and a half smile, should I tell Victoria what happened,or will it make her more determined to get me and ced together; wait what if he loves someone else and that's why he gave me the snug look because I don't know! 'Breathe, breathe' I think in my head whilst inhaling and exhaling slowly, my mind speaks to me again 'your here to study,if you want to be a healer you have to concentrate on your classes,not boys' that's when I come back to reality in the classroom, everybody is staring at me especially proffesser trelawny,if she staring at me strangely then I must have looked weird. After class I leave Cedric with his other friends and run off to find Victoria, whilst on my search I accidentally push a fifth year over, "watch where your going half blood!" His bright blue eyes glare at me as he fixes his white blonde hair,I shrug it off and turn a corner where Victoria is just leaving the potions class "want to spend lunch up in the common room, I'm not really hungry" I ask whilst trying to distract the stare I was getting from a tall,tanned boy "yeah, why not, we could research some things". We enter the common room and sit crossed legged in front of the wooden book shelf, Victorias hands scan over several books until she pulls one out "ah here it is, a history on the tri wizard tournament" she hands me the burgundy book with gold patterns down the spine "and why do I need to read this?" I toss the book around in my hands until I accidentally drop it on my foot "becausee, it's going put your mind at ease,I saw your face when I said Cedric will probably enter, your worried about him getting hurt,so I though wwe should research it" I laugh a little "am I really that bad at hiding my emotions?" Victoria smirks and we start reading,flicking through page after page of worn out parchment until we come to a moving picture of a boy,with deep green eyes lay on the floor staring upwards, underneath the picture in bold black writing said
~max carter 1970-1985~
The only recorded death of the tri wizard tournament.
We both gasp in horror at the words "he was only 15" I mourn,Victorias eyebrows crease as she reads further down the page out loud "the first task of the tournament was when max carter was tragically murdered,battleing a dragon is no simple task however Carter's particular dragon was harder to beat, the Hungarian horntail. Max's wand was lost during his first minute of the task,when he went to retrieve it,the wand was broke, carter tried to cast a protective shield spell which rebounded and caught the attention of the dragon. Deeper down in the rocks carter ran then after 15 minutes of anticipation and worry his body was found, trampled and nearly non-existent" I breathe in and the out shakily,I close my eyes and lean back on the armchair which is behind me "it's going to be okay you know" Victoria shuffles next to me and hands me my favourite book, Hogwarts a history which makes me smile half heartedly.
We go down into the great hall to catch the end of lunch and we sit next to Cedric and Blaise facing them, Victoria leans over and pours some soup into a bowl, she speaks in between mouthfuls of the orangy, red liquid "so.. We were doing some research..up in our common room (she holds a finger up to pause and swallow) and we found out that a boy called max carter" "died!" I interrupt "seriously how?" Blaise leans forward after exchanging a worried glance with Cedric, Victoria continues talking and tells the boys about the dragon and what happened, whilst I quickly drum my fingers on the table after she finishes talking I add "so please don't enter it's too dangerous" "er well Erm we kind of already did..." I feel my heart drop as Blaise continues "but don't worry, we probably won't even get picked and if one of us is actually chosen then it's one death, one out of hundreds of champions" Cedric nods a long and so do I whilst trying to reassure my self.
The rest of September went fairly quickly and I worried less and less about the tournament,which was strange seen as though the choosing was in a few weeks.
Victoria woke me up shaking me on the morning of October 13th "wake up,come on wake up it's your birthday" I sat up smiling and she handed me a badly wrapped,solid present, I untie the string which is around the brown paper and tear off the packaging it was 4 thick books,each in the colour of the 4 houses "history on all the four houses,thought you might want a copy of your own, stops you from bending my pages" she perches herself on my bed and laughs,"now get dressed and meet me downstairs in the great hall for some breakfast, and don't forget Cedric's present" I throw on my robes and reach under my bed for the long present and quickly make my way downstairs. Cedric,Blaise and Victoria are already sat on a table not eating,they must be waiting for me. Cedric spots me and eyes the package which is longer than me, I plant it on the table "happy joint birthday!" I hug him and slide the present in front of him,knocking over a glass of water in the process "from all us" Victoria says crossing her arms on the table,Cedric eagerly rips open the present to reveal a large broomstick "omg that's a fire bolt" a first year ran up to stand behind us, Cedric smile lights up the whole atmosphere and most of the table was crowding around us. "Why don't you try it out ced" a girl with long brunette hair and a stunning complexion says, then the hufflepuff quidditch captain comes over "woah is that the firebolt,we will definatly have an edge on ravenclaw tomorrow" he yelps excitedly.
The quidditch stadium was shaking with the amount of noise everyone was making, all the house colours were dotted around in groups,I was wearing a blue scarf and a yellow scarf,obviously I support my team but I can't ignore cedric. Victoria starts cheering really loudly as the hufflepuff team were being lead on by Cedric then the ravenclaw team being lead on by luna lovegood the greatest seeker ravenclaw has ever had. The crowd roars and the game begins