Chapter 1: Welcome to Hogwarts
"I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it."
-Jack Handey
Date: Sunday, August 31st, 1976
Time: 2pm
Location: New House in Gravesend, a small village somewhere in England
After much thinking and discussion -with myself-, I have decided that this year, I should write down all of what is to happen in this book -journal, diary, whatever you want to call it- I never have been one for writing down my thoughts, but as I'm in a new location, about to go off on a 'New Adventure', of sorts, I suppose I should figure out how to do so. I need some way to vent my anger, and this seems to be the healthiest way.
I also think that, if I should ever decide to show anybody the contents of this book, -to show them how screwed up my life truly is- that I should let them know the basics.
My name is Elliette Hannah Norman. My first name is probably one of the most notable things my mother has ever come up with, as I am yet to find anyone with a name as imaginative and utterly amazing as mine.
Though of course, not many people seem to be coherent enough to ever pronounce it right without me literally spelling it out for them. It's always irked me greatly, the fact that a name as perfectly feminine as mine could be mistaken for such a loathsome name as 'Elliot'.
Which is why, I usually just encourage everyone simply to call me 'Ellie'. Much easier for their poor little brains, you see. A whole syllable less to comprehend!
Ack, I'm getting off topic…
Anyway, continuing on. I turned sixteen at the end of last year, quite a feat really. I've been rather sure since about age twelve that I was simply too mental to survive this long without simply being murdered by someone, friend or foe -Or by throwing myself off some sort of high location, like a cliff, or the Harbour Bridge…
Don't get me wrong, I simply adore my friends, and I'm almost positive that they love me as well, but sometimes I think I'm a bit much, even for them.
I have three brothers and two sisters, but my parents separated before I turned three. I live with my mum, older brother Tom, and little sisters, Kady and Samara. My younger brothers, Michael and Izaac are still in Australia, living with my dad and step-mum.
I long ago gave up on the idea of a 'normal family' and five years ago completely trashed the idea of living a 'normal life'.
Reason?
I'm a witch.
Yes. A witch.
No you are not misreading, no I am not going mad.
(It's a bit late for that really)
Here's how it happened:
Five years ago, about a week after my eleventh birthday, I was happily eating breakfast with my mum and brother, blissfully enjoying the silence -we didn't speak often while eating, it usually ended with some sort of argument between myself and Tom, the stupid arse-, when it happened.
An owl swooped through the open door, landed right in front of my plate of toast, and stuck out a feathery, letter-bound leg.
Naturally, at that sweet, innocent age of eleven, my reaction was instantaneous.
"HOLY CRAP! Mum! There's an owl in the butter!"
Tactful, I know.
It's not like I even like butter or anything anyway.
Pft.
My brother quickly fell back in his chair, and my mum stood up, backing away slowly, pregnant with my little sisters at the time -barely, but still.
I was the only one who remained at the table.
After getting over the initial shock that yes, there was a nocturnal bird of prey on the kitchen table, I had a good look at the bird.
It was quite a beautiful creature really, all glossy feathers and shiny eyes. I have always had a soft spot for odd animals.
I was having a rather intense staring contest with the bird before I glanced down at its extended leg. Without actually moving closer, I checked the letter. My eyes must have widened to twice their size once I realised.
"Mu…Mum?" I said in a quiet voice, shaking ever so slightly. "Mum. It's got my name on it."
"What?" she said sharply, glancing between me and the bird warily, "Ellie, just get up and move away from it before it does anything!"
I, of course, was doing no such thing.
"The letter! It has my name on it mum! See, look!" I turned to my mum, pointing at the letter in question.
She slowly realised what I'd said, before slowly moving closer. After getting close enough to check for herself, but not near enough to be within striking distance of the owl, which was calming waiting for someone to just take the letter, she gasped slightly.
I took that as confirmation enough to take it and open it.
As soon as I had done so, the owl snatched a crust of toast off my plate, and flapped over to sit on one of the unoccupied chairs.
I stared at it rather fondly. It seemed more intelligent than my brother, that first owl.
I then stared down at the letter in my hands for a few seconds, before finally tearing it open.
It had two sheets of parchment inside, and I pulled them out, unfolding them and quickly began to read my letter.
Dear Miss Norman,
I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected to attend the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Magic at the start of February. This may come as a shock, but I will happily explain to you and your family members in this letter.
Witches and wizards still exist today. There are hundreds of thousands of magical people all around the world, and it has come to our attention that you are one. Don't worry; there are plenty of other children your age who come from Muggle (non-magic) parentage. I am sure there have been many occasions where you have done something you nor anyone around you could explain. This is perfectly normal for one your age.
It has been the duty of those of us at ANZIM to teach young Australian and New Zealand witches and wizards how to control their magic since our ancestors first settled here, something I'm sure you learnt about at school.
As it is, you are now obliged to attend this school starting from the 1st of February. I have further enclosed all the supplies you will need for the school year, how to attain them, and how to get to ANZIM.
Regards,
Elizabeth Johnson,
Deputy Head Mistress.
After reading the letter through about five times, I handed it to my mother, speechless.
It had to be some sort of ruse, surely.
But then I remembered Christmas a few years beforehand, when I had gotten into an argument with one of my cousins and he disappeared from right in front of me, reappearing again a few minutes later, screaming, clinging to the windowsill in the bathroom.
And that time at school when some of the nastier boys were teasing me, and in a moment of courage -I've always been easily intimidated- and anger, told them they'd be better off as rats than people, and they proceeded to grow rather long, bony tails.
At first I'd been rather shocked and frightened by those incidents, and ones following that, but after reading that letter, it was starting to make sense.
I then scanned the list of books and such I would be needing, growing more excited by the minute, especially after seeing I could bring a pet owl.
Most of what I remember after that is mum freaking out, my brother saying in a rather pompous and sure-of-himself way that it couldn't possibly be true, and me asking if I could get an owl as a late birthday present.
Mum ended up sending a reply back with the owl -I was terribly sad to see it go-, still not entirely convinced, while I demanded we travel to Sydney -the nearest place with a magical shop district and direct transport to the school- right then. Mum wouldn't answer me until she'd got the reply though, which explained in more detail the situation. After a few days, mum finally accepted that it was true, and we drove to Sydney.
It took us a while to find the place, which was concealed behind a small office building, about a kilometre east of the Harbour Bridge. Once we were through the office, we were directed to a stairwell, leading down. Mum hesitated at first, but eventually we made it to Gresford Street.
It turned out to be a rather long underground street, buildings sporting signs and posters of various magical goods on either side. I gripped my mum's hand tightly, barely able to control my excitement. I immediately went to move towards the building that had a large number of owls out the front of it, but mum jerked me back.
"Don't go running off anywhere," She told me sternly, "We need to figure out how we're supposed to buy you this stuff. I highly doubt I can buy you a cauldron with a twenty dollar note."
I grudgingly obliged, instead moving towards a rather large building covered in several signs depicting jewels, bars of gold, and odd looking coins.
After swapping our 'Muggle money' for a bag of the odd looking coins -which I learned were called Galleons, Sickles and Knuts- we made our way to several different shops to get my school robes -they were a nice navy-blue colour, with a light blue blouse and black pleated skirt-, books, cauldron and potion ingredients.
Eventually we found ourselves inside the Wandmakers, a shop that looked rather small from the outside, but inside had row upon row of shelves stacked with small boxes. I will always remember my feeling of excitement and anticipation as a rotund old woman came bustling out from one of the aisles of shelves and smiled kindly at me.
"Getting your wand for school, dear? Follow me, we'll see if we can find it,"
I started spurting questions about wands, which the old witch seemed all too happy to answer, all the while magicing a tape-measure to measure my arm -by itself-, which made me gape.
After a minute or two, she stood on a stool and reached up to a box on one of the highest shelves, pulling it down and opening it, extending it towards me and saying, "Cypress and Unicorn hair, eleven and three-quarter inches. Slightly springy. Give it a try my dear!"
I gingerly took the wand, balancing it in my right hand before pointing it at the ribbon that had just recently tied the box.
Upon doing so, the ribbon deftly rose and re-tied itself rather neatly, and I gave a little squeal of delight.
The old woman grinned at me and said, "Yes, it'll do quite well I'm sure. That'll be seven galleons my dear, thank you!"
We quickly paid her and left, me gripping the wand like it could disappear at any moment. Mum looked into the purse of coins and said, "We've still got a few of those gold coins, and plenty of the silver and bronze ones… I think we ought to get you an owl, so that you can write while you're at this school…" My eyes immediately lit up and I beamed at my mother.
"Really? Thank you thank you thank you!" I quickly darted over to the shop I'd seen earlier, gazing hungrily at the owls -not in the 'I want to eat them' sense, of course!-, when I heard someone near me -who definitely wasn't my mum or brother- say to me;
"A-are you starting this year too?" I turned to face whoever had spoken curiously. It was a girl around my age, with brown hair and a rather embarrassed expression on her face. I nodded slowly before answering her.
"Yeah… I didn't even know I was a witch until a few days ago actually!" The other girls face lit up.
"Really? Me either! I just came to get all my stuff, and mum said I can get a cat!" She grinned, glancing inside the shop as eagerly as I was staring at the owls.
"My mum just said I can get an owl!" I replied, trying not to sound too arrogant, but failing miserably. Though at the time I was too excited to really care.
The girl gaped at me. "Wow! Mum doesn't really like birds much… She flipped out when the owl delivered my letter, it was priceless!" She smirked rather happily before continuing, "She said I can get a cat though, they make less noise or something…" She shrugged before exclaiming, "Oh! I'm Kailee by the way! Kailee McMillan!" She stuck out a hand and I shook it happily.
"I'm Ellie Norman; it's so nice to meet someone else who can use magic!" I creased my eyes in a smile before turning to my mum, who had finally joined me and said to her, "Look! I found someone else who's going to my school!" My mum sighed and said, "That's great, Ellie. Now do you want to get this owl or not?"
My eyes widened and I nodded furiously, turning back to Kailee.
"Let's get inside and look at them all!"
Kailee nodded to me, and we both bolted into the shop, staring at all the different owls, cats, rats, toads and various other creatures I didn't recognise inside the little magical pet shop. Eventually she found a small tabby kitten, claimed it was 'too cute not to buy' and proceeded to cling to it, refusing to look at any of the other cats.
I was making my way around, looking at all the different owls, trying to decide which one to choose. I finally came to a barn owl, which looked a fair bit smaller than the other ones around it, and seemed to be getting picked on by them. I immediately felt a sort of kinship towards the bird and quickly swotted away the larger ones, extending a hand to stroke the small bird.
It seemed to look up at me gratefully, leaning into my fingers and hooting happily.
I grinned in delight and announced to my mum, "I want this one!" She came over, looked at the small owl and nodded her consent.
A few minutes later, both animals and their cages, food -and a few toys- were respectively paid for, we were outside the shop, mine and Kailee's mother's exclaiming to one another about how much of a shock it had been to find out about the whole magical world.
Not long after, mum decided that we should be heading back, and I turned to Kailee.
"I guess I'll see you at school then!"
"Yeah I guess so! Nice meeting you!"
She walked away with her mother, giving me a small wave over her shoulder, still clinging to her little tabby kitten.
At that point I had decided that it had probably been the best day of my life –so far- and can honestly think of no better day even now, as I'm writing this down.
I remember the rest of January passing agonisingly slow, me having read all my school books two times over in my excitement. On the 31st of January, we drove back to Sydney and stayed the night at a pub/hotel down the road from the office concealing Gresford Street. I woke early the next morning, my trunk packed and my owl, Rae, sitting content in her cage.
We drove to the Sydney train station, and followed the signs only I could see –quite literally. There were signs directing to an old platform believed to be disused by the muggles, signs that obviously had one of those special concealment charms I'd read about- until we made it to the platform, which at first glance appeared to be abandoned and broken, but after a second look, was swarming with people, trunks and cages, moving to get onto what looked like a converted coal train.
I had to bring mum and Tom forward more before they were able to see it, and when they finally did they stopped and blinked for a bit, gaping at what had just appeared to be a dusty old train platform.
Really, it was pretty amazing.
It didn't take long before I spotted Kailee, and started waving like mad at her, grinning ridiculously.
She made her way over and we made small-talk about how excited we were, before deciding it was time to get on the train and find a seat.
I looked back at my mum and brother –who looked quite jealous I might add-, smiling rather sadly, before rushing and hugging them both.
"I get holidays the same as normal, so I'll see you in 10 weeks. I'll write to you as soon as I can, and please don't worry about me!"
My mum nodded, smiling through a few tears and said, "You better! Now go on, get on the train. I'll be here when you get back."
I smiled at her, kissed her goodbye and pulled my trunk towards the train, carrying Rae's cage in my free hand.
Now, that was just what happened before I got to ANZIM. What happened once I finally got there will take much too long to explain in this, as I actually have a more important thing to talk about now, and I don't think this book has enough room for my whole schooling there.
Because now, after living in Australia for 16 years, and going to that school for five…
We've moved to England.
And I sure as hell am not happy about it.
And honestly, I don't even think the reason is completely legitimate.
I had a fairly good life back home. I went to a school hidden in an unknown –and probably wizard-made- oasis in the middle of the Australian desert. I had –have- an amazing group of friends there.
But then mum gets offered a bloody job in some unknown bloody village in Kent managing some sort of million-bloody-dollar horse stud, and I'm not allowed to stay in Australia.
Not for my friends.
Not for my school.
Not for my life.
And all I can say is this.
Seriously mum?
Do you hate me that much because I can use magic and you can't?
Thanks.
You have officially ruined my life.
And tomorrow, I get to start at a whole new Wizarding School!
Whoopdeefuckingdoo.
'Best in the Country'? It's the only one in this damned water-logged country. And it's not even in bloody England for crying out loud! It's in Scotland.
Like seriously.
What the hell.
'Oldest Wizarding School in the World' be damned, I don't want to go there.
It's completely unfair.
Oh and also.
We just moved away from Australia. Probably the safest place in the world compared to England right about now.
Because you know.
There's a war.
And a group of bloody Pure-Blood lunatics are going around killing muggles and muggle-borns for fun!
Does no-one get that?
I might end up dead at the end of the year, just for being who I am.
And that makes me not particularly happy.
So for now, I've shut myself in this room. I'm not even going to call it my room, because I'm going off to bloody Hogwarts for the rest of the year, and I don't really plan on coming 'home' for Christmas or Easter.
And all I want to do now is eat a chocolate bloody whale, appearance be damned.
I hate my life.
Date: Same
Time: 6pm-ish
Location: Same
Mum is calling me down for dinner.
But I refuse to go down there.
I don't care what it is she's cooked to try and soften me up. I'm not going down there.
…
Oh great, someone's knocking on my door now.
Bugger it all.
Date: Same
Time: Closer to 7
Location: Same
…That bitch.
She went and cooked my favourite food.
And sent the twins to get me.
How slack can you get?
I was perfectly happy brooding in my room, listening to totally inappropriate music –according to my mood at least… I'm pretty sure ABBA doesn't make me seem all rebellious and depressed or anything, but it's the best music I have- and writing in this, and she had to go and bloody ruin all of that.
By making me Potato Bake.
Merlin I hate her so much.
More so now because I just couldn't tell the twins why I didn't want to go eat my favourite food.
She's evil.
Cruel, manipulative and evil.
Now it's actually making me want to go to this stupid school, if only to get away from her.
So now, after actually having eaten something -besides chocolate frogs and sugar quills- since arriving at this stupid new house, I'm feeling even more depressed.
Ugh…
Can't You-Know-Who just come and kill me now, when I don't mind simply just dying?
Nothing in the world is fair.
Date: Same
Time: 10pm
Location: Same
I went and had a shower to try and calm myself down.
It was damn well working too.
Until Tom cam and bashed on the door, yelling at me that mum had yelled at him to tell me to get out because I'd been in the shower for nearly forty minutes.
Pft. You can't blame me if I was trying to drown myself.
Either way, I'm sitting in bed again now, and I turned my music off two hours ago so the twins could go to sleep and I'm completely bored.
So bored that once I've finished writing this, I'll start reading Hogwarts: A History.
Only because I have nothing better to do.
Not because I look forward to going to the place.
Ok?
Ok.
Date: Monday September 1st
Time: 7am
Location: Bathroom
Mum came and practically broke my door down trying to get me up at five this morning.
I mean come on.
What the frig?
Why would anyone in their right mind try to do something as terrible as that?
Anyway, now that I've convinced mum that yes I do have everything packed –not for lack of not trying- and actually eaten something substantial for breakfast, I've locked myself in here, pretending to brush my hair –well, not really pretending, I'm actually attempting to coax my messy brown wavy-curly-straight hair into a suitable state of not-quite-as-messy…ness… And I'm failing horribly so I'll make this short and try to do something about this damned mop- while venting my anger in here…
Because I think she's also got the girls to do her dirty-work for her.
They were the ones who served me breakfast, all super-bright-smiles and 'I'll miss you Ellie!'s and I swear to god it's breaking my heart, trying to be depressed and angry when they're just radiating joy and cuteness at me like that!
And the whole time mum kept giving me these damned pointed looks and it's driving me insane.
And don't even get me started on Tom.
Just because he's technically an adult now, doesn't mean he can boss me around! Besides, I'm the one who could turn him into a bloody platypus if I wanted to!
And if I was actually allowed to use magic outside of school…
Details! What do they matter?
Oh, and-
…
I swear to Merlin, if he knocks on the door one more time, I'm going to curse him where the sun don't shine.
Date: Same
Time: 9am
Location: Somewhere close-ish to London
Now sitting in the car, driving through some village about 30 kms out of London. Or something…
I don't know where we are to be perfectly honest, only that as soon as we get to Kings Cross station, I'm getting as far away from my mum as possible, as soon as possible.
But at the minute I'm sitting between the twins, and they're constantly trying to read this over my shoulder, so I should put it away before my hand slips and I let out a swear.
Date: Same
Time: 11:05am
Location: Kings Cross Station
When we first got to Kings Cross, I had to get out the letter we'd got as a reply for the application for me, explaining the situation. I had of course attempted to burn the letter, but mum had sent it with Rae herself, amidst my mutters of 'traitor' aimed at my bird.
I looked at the platform mentioned in the letter, and the directions to get into it, quite amused at how everything and nothing was easy in the wizarding world. We went inside, obtaining a trolley for me, making it easier to carry my trunk –which had to be about five times heavier than it had been at my first year at ANZIM. I suppose after living in the magical world for 5 years, you tend to accumulate a lot of junk- and Rae's cage, and started counting platform numbers.
We got to the space between platforms nine and ten and I immediately smirked at the barrier.
It was quite ingenious really.
It'd be funny though, if on one of the few days the barrier wasn't sealed, some unknowing muggle just happened to lean against it…
I had to hold back a chuckle and glanced at mum quickly, -keeping my glare internal- and said to her in a rather airy voice, "Take Tom and walk through that wall there."
She looked at me as if I was mad, but I gave her a pointed look. She sighed, frowning, before putting a hand on Tom's back, pushing him along as she began walking towards the wall, and just as she was about to hit it, she visibly flinched –and vanished.
I gave a triumphant smile and turned to the twins, grinning.
"Come on you two! Let's see what it looks like!"
They grinned at me, clutching at the back of my shirt as I pushed my trolley forwards, through the barrier and out onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
I held back my look of surprise and awe as I took in the scarlet steam-engine in front of me, bearing the words 'Hogwarts Express'.
I had to admit, it was a fair bit classier than the old coal train in Australia.
But old Rusty –as most of us ANZIM students had fondly called the converted freight- still had her charm! I wasn't turning over to the dark side just because they had a better train than us!
I'm not that much of a flake.
Pft.
I steered the trolley closer to mum, looking around anxiously, feeling some stares from the students my age, and shrinking at the attention.
Can't blame me really, after spending five years as just another True-Blue Aussie Witch, in amongst other such companions, with the occasional Maori or New Zealand accented person.
And now everyone was staring at me.
I wanted to curl up and just die.
Overly shy muggle-born, thy name is Ellie Norman.
I grimaced slightly, now actually deigning to look at my mother, if only to avoid the stares of my new classmates. She smiled sympathetically, though she was also feeling rather intimidated by some rather odd looks from some of the other parents.
Having second thoughts now mum?
Hah.
It took a moment but I finally said to her, "So uhm… the train'll be leaving in five minutes so… I should probably…" I gestured weakly at the train, which had indeed started to steam up quite nicely. Mum nodded at me.
"Yeah. You should go…" I nodded too, feeling more awkward by the second.
I leaned down and gave the girls each a big hug, now reconsidering coming back for Christmas and Easter.
They waved tearfully at me and I grudgingly let mum hug me as well, then just giving my brother this odd sort of wave. We hadn't really had much physical contact since I was about 7 so… Wasn't a big deal really.
I gave them all an awkward smile, before quickly kissing each of the twins on the forehead. I turned and pushed my trolley towards the train, looking over my shoulder at my family, giving them one last quick wave before levitating my trunk onto the train, taking Rae's cage in my hand and jumping up myself. I pulled the trunk along, glancing in each compartment as I went, before I finally –thankfully- found an empty one.
I practically vaulted myself inside, pushing my trunk under the chair and putting Rae's cage on the seat, turning and closing the door before sitting down.
I let Rae out of her cage, watching as she quickly swooped down to rest on the armrest, smiling lightly as she immediately began preening herself.
I opened my trunk, groping inside and pulling out my new robes -which were black rather than navy blue- and tugged them on over my plain black shirt and jeans. I fumbled around some more before pulling out first Hogwarts: A History and then this.
I set Hogwarts: A History down next to me, and pulled a quill out of my pocket, and immediately began writing all of this down.
So now I've been sitting here for about ten minutes, occasionally glancing out the window to watch England fly by.
And I'm completely bored, so I think I might keep reading that book…
Date: Same
Time: A few hours later
Location: Hogwarts Express, a fair amount closer to Scotland
I cannot believe this.
Why didn't she write me for crying out loud?
If I'm not so happy to see her, I might just kill her.
Merlin… I honestly wasn't expecting this…
Okay so, now to explain.
I'd probably been reading the book for only fifteen minutes, before the compartment door opened.
I literally flinched, looking up very slowly at who was now standing in front of me.
Turned out it was more than just one person though.
Naturally.
"Hi there! I'm Marlene! So you're the new girl everyone's said they saw?"
I blinked in surprise, staring at the light-haired girl in front of me, who was flashing a brilliant smile at me.
I opened my mouth to reply, but one of her friends, a girl with darker hair -though not quite as dark as mine- slapped the first girl, Marlene, on the side of the head.
"Sorry about that, we really should keep her on a tighter leash." She shook her head at her friend, who was glaring and rubbing her head. "Anyway, my name's Mary. Mary McDonald. It is rather nice to meet you, of course. This one just needs to learn the art of subtlety."
I gave a weak little smile at that, finally finding my chance to reply to them. "It's okay, I was expecting this to happen eventually… My name's Ellie… Norman." I added after a pause, rubbing the back of my neck. "It's… nice to meet you too, I guess…"
Mary smiled at me and asked "Where are you from exactly? Like, you don't sound British at all so…?" I gave a soft laugh at that.
Of course I didn't sound British!
Pft.
"Australia. I'm from Australia…" Finally, the last girl –she had bright red hair- spoke.
"Australia? I thought so. It either had to be that or New Zealand, really." She nodded her fiery-coloured head and stated, "I'm Lily Evans. Welcome to Hogwarts. Well, we haven't quite got there yet so, Welcome to the Hogwarts Express!" She smiled at me and I let out a proper laugh.
My first in a few months, actually. It rather astonished me. But anyway.
I smiled at them all properly now. If I was going to have to go to this school for the next two years, I might as well make some new friends, much as I hate to do so.
But this lot seemed alright, really.
"Wait," Marlene scrunched up her face slightly, as if in deep thought. "There's a difference between Australian and New Zealand accents?"
Seriously?
I couldn't help but crack up at that, once the question had registered in my mind.
"What?" Marlene said, frowning at me. I just shook my head, covering my mouth with my hand as I continued laughing –it's a habit I developed because of how terrible my teeth were when I was younger. In my 3rd year at ANZIM though, me and my friends experimented a bit and managed to make them all the right size and in the right place, much to my intense relief. I have never been able to laugh without instinctively covering my mouth though-. "What?"
Marlene was now looking more than a bit put out, so I stopped my laughter and replied in as calm a tone I could, "There is a world of differences with Australian and New Zealand accents. Trust me."
Marlene looked rather shocked by that, and I grinned at her. It was then I realised this lot weren't going anywhere anytime soon, so I quickly put a piece of scrap parchment in my book to mark the page and sat it down next to me, looking back up at them.
Lily smiled at me, noticing my subtle invitation and sat down on the seat next to me. Marlene and Mary sat down across from us, and Mary quickly spotted Rae.
"Oh my god that owl is so cute! What sort is it?"
I smiled, stroking Rae's head. "She's a barn owl,"
"Seriously? I thought they were a lot bigger than that,"
"She's a dwarf of sorts…"
"What's her name?" Lily asked, leaning across me to stroke Rae as well. Being a bit of attention-lover, Rae was enjoying this immensely, hooting softly when Lily stroked her.
"Rae. It's short for Raelene,"
"That's pretty," Marlene said, nodding her head in approval. "Anyway, what year are you in? You look about the same as us, but you're kinda short- Ow!" She glared at Mary, who had slapped her on the arm.
I laughed. "It's okay, I know I'm a midget, I got over it a while ago… I'm sixteen so, I'm preeetty sure I'm in sixth year… Am I right?"
Lily nodded and Marlene grinned. "Excellent! You're in our year! Now all you have to do is get in Gryffindor!"
I smiled lightly, recalling seeing the different houses mentioned in Hogwarts: A History multiple times, also noting the red and gold emblems on the three girls' robes. "Is that what you're in? You must be brave, to insult every new person you meet," I grinned devilishly at her and she laughed a little nervously.
"Yeah well, we don't get too many new people. Especially from other countries."
I nodded in understanding. "I don't imagine there are too many kids from Australia at Hogwarts…"
"One more than you know though, Lev."
The voice came from the doorway, which had been left open, and in my shock at hearing such a familiar tone and accent, I almost forgot to look and see.
"Holy shit… HOLY SHIT!" I exclaimed, jumping up and running at the source of the voice. Dyed black hair was practically suffocating me, but I hardly cared.
"Good to see you too, Levi,"
I ended the hug then, looking up at my best friend –she'd been taller than me for several years now- and grinning. "What the hell are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were here? Why didn't I see you on the Platform?"
She snorted. "You'd think you would've said something nicer. Maybe like, 'Oh, Kailee! It has been so long! Let us run off into the sunset in our happiness!', or have you forgotten what you used to be like? Hm?"
Always the charmer, that Kailee.
I rolled my eyes. "Normally, yes. But as you can see we have company!" I turned around, facing the others –who looked more than a little shocked and confused- before facing her again. "And you didn't answer my question!"
Kailee rolled her eyes. "If you're going to inform me that we're 'in company', you should introduce me first, Levi,"
I scowled, knowing she was right.
"Fine, but then you're answering me! Lily, Marlene, Mary, this is Kailee McMillan. She's been my best friend for five years, and until quite recently, I believed she was still in Australia. Kailee, this is Lily Evans, Mary McDonald and Marlene…" I stared at Marlene blankly for a minute. "You know, you never did tell me your last name…"
"Oh! Sorry about that! It's McKinnon. Marlene McKinnon."
"Righto. Well then, Kailee, would you care to take a seat and tell me why you are here and not at ANZIM. Did you get lost in the post?"
I of course, had been helping packing, still not quite having moved to England. But she should have been in Australia, at ANZIM with the rest of my friends I'd left behind…
But here she was, standing right in front of me.
And I've never been happier.
"Well you see Lev, not too long ago, I put my name in for that Lottery the Sunday Telegraph has been doing special. You know, in the Muggle Newspapers," I nodded, Kailee had been rather adamant about always getting a ticket for that, saying she'd get it one day… "And guess what happened? I actually won! Mum was so amazed! Mostly 'cos it'd actually been a Muggle paper. She didn't know I got it, you see. But guess how much it'd gotten up to by the time I won?"
I shrugged. "A hundred thousand? I don't know…"
Kailee grinned slowly, eyes glinting. "One Million Australian Dollars!"
I gaped at her. "You're joking!"
She shook her head, smiling smugly at me. "And you always told me not to do it cos I was 'only fifteen'. Pft. Proved you wrong, my friend."
I shook my head, laughing lightly.
"So mum decided, as a reward for getting us that much money, we could move wherever I wanted! So I decided to come up here with you! You know, so you wouldn't forget where you really belong, and such," She winked at me, still grinning cattishly.
I continued to shake my head. "Kailee McMillan; Money-Maker Extraordinaire!" I grinned at her and she laughed.
"Yes I quite like the sound of that!" We both laughed for a bit more, before I noticed something.
"Oi, where's Cheezel?"
Kailee snorted and rolled her eyes. "Who knows? Off showing everyone who's boss probably. 'Marking his territory'" We both cracked up at that, and it was also then I realised that there were still other people with us. I blushed slightly and coughed.
Mary frowned slightly. "Uhm… Who or what is 'Cheezel'? And how is he 'marking his territory' exactly?"
I laughed and gave Kailee a look. "I'll let you explain that, friend o' mine!"
She snorted and answered Mary, a slight grimace on her face. "Cheezel is my cat. He 'marks his territory' by drooling on anything and everything."
Marlene burst out laughing. "Seriously? Your cat drools? That's classic! And your owl is a midget," She aimed the last bit at me, earning herself another slap from Mary.
I sighed, looking down at my undersized bird, who was currently staring –glaring? - at Marlene quite intensely, her feathers puffing out. I laughed and stroked her. "It's all right Rae; she doesn't know how amazing you really are!" The owl looked up at me now, and if she had eyebrows I swear one of them would have been raised.
I rolled my eyes and scoffed at everyone else in the compartment, "Birds! I'll never understand them," We all were laughing then, when suddenly yet another voice came from the door –I'm thinking now that we should've closed it…-.
This time however, it was male, and I certainly didn't recognise it.
"I'll say. Birds are the most confusing things ever. One minute they're all sweet and innocent and then the next: BAM! Take your eyes out!"
I gave a start, looking at the one who'd spoken. It was a tall boy with messy black hair and glasses that seemed to rest crookedly on his nose -yet it seemed intentional-.
And he wasn't alone.
There were three other boys behind him, and all four of them seemed to be the same age as those of us already in the compartment –which was now seeming really crowded!-.
The boy closest behind him was about the same height as him, with shaggy black shoulder-length hair and a suspicious looking smirk. Next to him was a short plump boy with dirty-blonde hair, who seemed to be rather enjoying himself.
The last boy was shorter than the first two, but not quite as short as the little fatty –I know that sounds mean, but it's the truth. He looked like he'd had about ten too many pork-chops at the barbeque-. He had sandy brown hair that fell around his face, and a set of barely noticeable scars running down his face.
As I sat looking at them all, the other girls –not including Kailee of course, she was as surprised as I was at the new company- let off mixed reactions.
By mixed, I mean that Mary and Marlene seemed absolutely delighted to see the boys, while Lily looked as if someone had just told her that her dog had been run over by a car and some creepy old guy had made a stew out of its remains.
Which obviously wasn't the case.
All that had happened was a group of cute boys –minus fatty- had just waltzed into our compartment. Why was she looking so affronted?
Lily pretty much answered the question for me when she started talking to them.
"What on earth are you doing here? Get out. Now," She was glaring at the boy with glasses, who seemed rather put out by this reaction.
"Aw come on Evans, aren't you happy to see me? I'm sure you missed me over the summer!"
"Don't make me laugh. Can't you just bugger off to your own compartment?"
"Say James," Marlene interrupted loudly, startling most of us. "Are you here to meet our new classmates and hopefully-soon-to-be-fellow-Gryffindors?" She turned her face slightly to grin at me and Kailee.
James turned out to be Glasses-boy, and he swung his head to look at me and Kailee. After a few seconds he started to grin, before stepping over and wedging himself between us.
And draped his arms over our shoulders.
Yeah I know.
The audacity.
Pft. Lily seems to hate him, but I reckon he's cute.
Although, his light-haired friend with the scars seems to be more my type… Hm…
Anyhow, after he threw himself all over me and Kailee, his mate with the long hair sat on Kailee's other side, next to Lily, who glared at him as well.
"Well that's why we came here of course! To welcome our lovely new friends to our school!" James exclaimed at Marlene, who grinned at him.
"You aren't Purebloods though are you?" His friend asked rather seriously.
"Ah, n-no. I'm Muggle-born and Kailee is either Muggle-born or Half-blood… Uhm, why?" I replied, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Excellent!" He exclaimed. "Now there's no chance of you being in Slytherin! One-in-three shot of being with us!"
Kailee looked at me and asked, "Care to tell me what Slytherin is? You obviously read into this…" She looked pointedly at my long-abandoned book.
After I explained the basics of the houses, with help from the others, we got to introducing ourselves to the boys and vice-versa.
"I'm Ellie Norman and this is Kailee McMillan. We've both transferred from Australia, for different reasons of course…" I looked at James and he nodded.
"I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew." He pointed to each of the other blokes as he said their names, and my eyes lingered on Remus a few seconds longer than the others, before turning back to James, smiling.
"Pleasure to meet you," He grinned back. "I'm hoping that you do realise the compartment is over-flowing…?"
James laughed and finally extracted himself from the chair, moving to the doorway, his friends following.
Before they left, James turned back and looked at Lily. "It was nice to see you again Evans. You too Marley, Mary," He grinned at me and Kailee then. "Welcome to Hogwarts,"
He strode out, Sirius and Peter in tow, but Remus lingered behind, speaking for the first time.
"If they start getting in your face, come see me and I'll tell them to bugger off, okay?" He gave me and Kailee pointed looks before nodding. "Ladies," He nodded again and walked out, closing the door behind us, and leaving me blushing slightly.
I quickly willed the blush away, turning to Kailee with a raised eyebrow.
"Well isn't this turning out to be a rather eventful train-ride?"
She started laughing and before long the rest of us were too, even Lily.
After we finally stopped, Lily turned to us rather seriously.
"If Potter bothers you at all, tell me and I'll hex him into next week. I seriously will have no problem with doing so,"
I blinked. "You mean James? He seemed alright though…" I looked at Marlene and Mary questioningly, who rolled their eyes at Lily.
"Can't you just get over it, Lil? The bloke is trying to be nice. Heck, he didn't even ask you out!" Mary said, throwing Lily a look. "You know, he isn't as bad as you make him out to be. If you just got to know him, you would realise that!"
"And besides, it isn't as if he's ever actually been mean to you, not like Snape-" Marlene continued after Mary, before getting interrupted.
"You leave Sev out of this Marlene!" She said angrily, glaring at Marlene, who looked exasperated.
"Don't tell me you're still friends with him, Lily!" Mary exclaimed hoarsely, eyes wide.
"Well I haven't spoken to him if that's what you're worried about! But I've known him for years, so just lay off! He never used to be like he is, you know…"
"Lily. It doesn't matter what he used to be like. The fact is he's not like that now. He's a complete arse and you know it! He called you a you-know-what for crying out loud!" Marlene exclaimed.
Me and Kailee were by now looking and feeling rather uncomfortable with the conversation, considering we had no idea what was going on. But Lily quickly ended it.
"I know what he called me Marlene, thank you. And I know what he's like now. So just be quiet." She glared daggers at the pair of them, before looking at Kailee and me, softening her expression and voice –which you know, thank god-. "I'm sorry you two, you don't have a clue what we're talking about do you?" We shook our heads and she grimaced. "Sorry. We got a bit carried away…"
I nodded and replied weakly, "It's alright… How long before we get there do you s'pose?"
I peered out the window quickly before turning back to her. "A few more hours…"
I groaned at that, and Kailee snorted. "I thought you didn't want to go to Hogwarts?" I glared at her before turning my head away, sticking my nose in the air.
"Maybe I changed my mind! Considering how many lovely people there are here…" I gave Lily a pointed look and she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah yeah, you think they were cute, I get it! Just wait until we get to the school, you will hate Potter, trust me!"
I snorted. "Not bloody likely! I reckon you just have a stick up your arse!"
Marlene cackled and grinned at me. "This one is definitely staying with us!"
I smirked. "Thank you Marlene, lovely to know somebody loves me,"
Kailee snorted and drawled at me, "Oh yes. I'm sure I will come begging for you to be my friend again. Pft,"
I fixed another glare on her.
I mean really.
I'm the one who always says 'pft'!
She has absolutely no right to steal that from me!
"Oh, go levitate a roo…" She said, rolling her eyes at me whilst smirking up a storm.
I blushed and glared at her. "Don't even bring that up!"
"Bring what up?" Marlene questioned, eyes glinting as she leant towards us.
I shook my head furiously, but Kailee just kept smirking.
"Well you see, in first year, when we were learning 'Wingardium Leviosa', Ellie decided to go practice by herself, and-"
Kailee was cut off rather suddenly…
When I lunged at her…
And knocked her off her seat and onto the compartment floor…
Oops.
Sorry.
…
Actually, I'm really not. She'll get over it.
Anyway, once she was on the ground and my hand was clamped firmly over her mouth, I turned to the others and said sweetly, my eyes glinting dangerously "Don't worry ladies. It wasn't that important a story; you really don't need to know. In fact, you don't really want to know… do you?" My eyes shifted slowly from Lily, to Mary and then to Marlene, before resting on Kailee, who rolled her eyes at me.
"Actually I thought that story sounded absolutely spiffy, if you wouldn't mind tell-"
Marlene was cut off when Mary clamped her hand over Marlene's mouth at her, shaking her head furiously at her rather idiotic friend. Lily said nothing the whole time this was going on.
Smart girl, that Lily Evans.
So anyway, after I let Kailee back up –with many accompanying glares of mass destruction- and we all settled back down a bit, I took this out and started writing in it. I will admit though, despite being a total cow, I did miss Kailee and I'm so so glad she's here with me.
It just makes the whole prospect of being in England –Scotland- so much… nicer.
Because you gotta have friends!
End-note; I may eventually relay the origins of my nickname in here, and tell the others… maybe…
Date: Same
Time: 5 minutes later
Location: Same
"Oi Lev, what the hell is that you've been writing in for the past hour and thus ignoring me?"
"Bugger off."
"You're a bitch."
"Love you too."
"Yeah, right."
Oh how I've missed her.
Date: Same
Time: Much, much later
Location: Hufflepuff Girls Dormitory…
Okay so, this is totally unexpected…
And it's funny because I'm not even that angry about it anymore.
Sure I'm annoyed I can't talk to Kailee, but I did manage to… become friends, with some of the people in my new House… I mean, they're completely mental, but I'm sure once I've stopped acting so depressed we'll get along perfectly fine…
So… Guess I better explain what happened then…
Well, after much of Kailee unsuccessfully trying to make me show her what I'd been writing, and snacking on various… snackage… The train started slowing down, and we got off at Hogsmeade Station. Kailee and I were standing around looking rather confused and feeling quite out of place, and plenty of people were staring at us. I stared at my feet, completely unsure of what to do, but then Lily came up to us, sympathy etched all over her face.
Of course though, Marlene was with her.
"Aha! Don't you guys look like a couple of first years!" She laughed at her 'cleverness' for a bit before Mary slapped her arm –for like the tenth time since I've met them… A bit violent isn't she? - Marlene huffed and went to walk away, but Lily rolled her eyes, grabbing at her sleeve.
"For crying out loud Marlene, don't be so over-dramatic! The only reason Mary slapped you this time was because you were being rude! So basically, you deserved it," Marlene snorted but Lily continued anyway. "Now, let's go get a carriage before they're all gone!"
Marlene sighed. "Fine. Come on then you pair, I doubt you'll have to go across the lake like the first years," I frowned at that.
"They have to swim across a lake?"
That got me a few laughs. "No, there are boats. Hagrid takes them."
Uhm.
"Who's Hagrid?"
Not two seconds after I asked that, I heard a group of boys laughing, accompanied by a great, booming laugh, obviously from an adult.
Kailee and I swung around. Only a few feet away was the group of boys we'd met earlier, but they were with someone else too.
A giant of a man, with a great mane of bushy hair and beard, and tiny black eyes winking out. At first I was rather intimidated, but as they moved closer to us, I saw that he was rather like a big jolly Santa.
James was talking to him as they came towards us, and after a second I realised exactly what they were talking about.
"… the two girls there, the one with black hair and the short one next to her. They're the ones from Australia,"
Finally they were in front of us, and I raised my eyebrow at James.
"'The short one next to her'? Really? Couldn't come up with anything better?"
He looked down at me, grinning. "Sorry, I couldn't say that you have brown hair, he might've thought I was pointing out Mary or Marley," He shrugged, but Marlene had to say something –of course. You know, she reminds me of me a bit… except I'm smarter… And that's why Marlene is now never going to read this!
"I'll have you know, James, that my hair is blonde." She even had the audacity to look insulted.
I mean come on.
I'm the one he called short!
Not that I care much really, people have been calling me short since I was 14, which was about the time I stopped growing whilst everyone else just kept shooting up, the bastards…
Gah, off topic…
James gave Marlene a sceptical look, mostly aimed at the hair in question -which technically was blonde, just a very very dark shade of blonde… which, in the dark, looks like a light brown.
And really, the whole thing was really just funny.
So I started laughing.
This, of course, got me plenty of odd looks from my new school-mates.
But seriously, I didn't even care at that point; I was just way too amused.
"What? What's so funny?" Marlene was looking particularly annoyed now, either because I was laughing, or because she didn't know why. Maybe both.
"I-it's just, hah, that the way you-you said that was just, hahah, so serious!" I answered her, amidst my continuing giggles,
"Oh yes, hardy-har, let's laugh at Marlene because she's 'serious'." Marlene rolled her eyes at me, smirking despite herself. I winced slightly through my laughter and managed to stop after another minute or so, breathing deeply, not even bothering to try and keep a straight face.
I turned to the others, grinning rather stupidly and saying rather loudly, "Well then, we best get to the carriages! Onwards!" I struck a rather ridiculous pose, before marching off. It took me a moment before a paused and slunk back to the others, whispering in Mary's ear "Where is it we're heading exactly?" She rolled her eyes.
"Don't hurt yourself…" Kailee patted the top of my head affectionately and I swiped at her. I heard the boys sniggering behind me and swung round, eyebrow raised.
"I'm sorry if I don't know my way around yet, but I would appreciate it if you would not laugh at me whilst I try to figure it out," Sirius snorted at me, rolling his eyes.
"Oh I'm sorry Skippy, did I offend you? I do apologise." My eyes narrowed at him before I simply huffed and turned away, nose in the air.
"Well, i' was good seein' ya 'gain, boys, but I best be gettin' these Firs' years t' the boats," Hagrid grinned down at them, lifting a dustbin sized hand in farewell before striding off and yelling out, "Firs' years! Come on, Firs' years to me!" A crowd of anxious looking eleven year olds began forming around the giant man, and I couldn't help but giggle at the terrified looks on their faces.
"Come on then newbies, we'll show you the way," Marlene grinned at me and we all set off -waving at the boys over our shoulders- up a trail, where there were masses of students getting into horseless carriages.
At first I did a double take. How on earth would they get up to the school?
Then I saw one of them jolt forward and start rolling smoothly up and as my eyes followed it, mouth hanging open, I spotter the castle.
In short, it was huge.
My eyes probably looked like they belonged on a chameleon as I stared at the place in complete awe.
I was going to live there? Maybe mum wasn't so mean after all…
I slowly swivelled my head around to look at Kailee, who was equally as amazed. I saw Mary roll her eyes and Lily sighed.
"Come on you lot, let's just get a carriage…"
We moved towards the gates, and had just started climbing up when we heard a voice behind us.
"Ah, Miss Norman, Miss McMillan!" Me and Kailee swung our heads around and saw a very short wizard standing next to the gates, gesturing for us to go to him. I looked at Lily, who nodded, and grabbed Kailee's arm, moving towards the little teacher, whose eyes twinkled up at us. "Glad you made it here safely girls! I hope your journeys from Australia were good?" We nodded slowly and he beamed. "Good, good! Now, Professor Dumbledore asked me to escort you two up to the castle, after everyone else, so you can get sorted after the First years."
I paled at this and opened my mouth. "Uhm, sir-"
"Professor Flitwick, my dear!"
"Ah, right, Professor Flitwick… Well, me and Kailee were wondering," I glanced at Kailee, who nodded, knowing what I was about to ask, "If maybe we could take the carriage with Lily?"
Professor Flitwick smiled a little sadly and shook his head, "Sorry girls. I'm glad you've made friends already, and I know Miss Evans is very responsible, but I can't. I hope you understand, the Headmaster asked me to take you up to the castle."
I frowned slightly, before nodding, rather dejected knowing I wasn't able to sit and talk with the others for a while longer.
After all the students had gone ahead in the carriages, there was only one left, and we followed the Professor into it, still slightly depressed. After a couple of minutes we stopped and hopped out, staring up at the castle.
It loomed completely over us now, and me and Kailee could only stare up at it, lights shining through windows several floors up. We didn't speak as we made our way inside. We came into an Entrance Hall and heard the sounds of the students in an adjoining room, talking and laughing amongst themselves, and I itched to just be able to sit and blend in with them all, knowing that in a few minutes they would all be staring at me…
I gulped, glancing anxiously at Kailee, who looked as nervous as I felt, but gave me a reassuring smile anyway.
We stood by the doors for a few minutes before the First years came in. A lot of them were staring at us, and whispering to each other before their attention was drawn by a severe looking witch with emerald green robes and a tight bun underneath a pointed hat. She began talking to the First years, but I was too nervous to really pay attention, biting at my lip and shuffling my feet.
Once she finished talking to them, she walked over to me and Kailee.
"Thank you Filius, I can take the girls from here." Flitwick nodded and walked into the hall, and for the brief moment the great oak double doors were open, the noise from inside grew louder. I stared at the doors intently, before looking at the emerald-clad witch in front of us. "Well girls, I'm sure you enjoyed the train ride here?" I looked at her in surprise for a few seconds.
"Well, uhm… I… guess?" I scrunched up my face, wondering what on earth she was talking about, before she let out a small chuckle, and I all-out stared at her.
"You don't need to worry girls. I'm Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House," this got our attention and we straightened up slightly, instantly hoping that we would get into Gryffindor with our new friends. McGonagall smiled before continuing, "I'll be taking the First years in in a moment, and I expect you to walk in after them, am I understood?" We nodded quickly, and I instantly felt my palms start to sweat.
"Good. Well then, I'll be seeing you girls shortly." She strode back to the First years, calling them to order and lead them into the Great Hall, the noise inside quieting slightly at the sight of the eleven year olds. I glanced at Kailee, and we joined on the end of the line, towering over the kids in front of us, and feeling completely out of place as we walked in.
Instantly people began pointing and whispering, staring at myself and Kailee with wide eyes.
Which you know, totally helped.
Pft.
I stared down at my feet as I walked, determined not to look at anyone, when Kailee nudged me in the side.
I looked up at her and she pointed to our right. I turned as we walked and saw, at the far table, Lily, Mary, Marlene and the boys waving and grinning at us, sending thumbs up of encouragement. I felt a little better, sending them a small wave in return, before stopping. I turned my head to look at McGonagall, standing at the front of the Hall, in front of a long table full of teachers, placing a stool on the ground and holding a battered old hat in her hand.
I stared intensely at the thing, trying to send it waves of my need to be sorted into Gryffindor, before McGonagall cleared her throat, and long list in front of her.
She began calling out the names of the little First years, and they all stepped forward, one after the other and got sorted. As the number of eleven year olds in front of us dwindled, me and Kailee edged forwards, knowing there was going to be an announcement for us.
Once the last First year had run off to their new house, McGonagall rolled up her scroll, and looked at Kailee and I, gesturing for us to come forward more. We stopped when we were standing directly in front of her, both fidgeting nervously. She gave us a tight smile before talking to the rest of the students.
"This year we have two transfer students from Australia, Miss Kailee McMillan and Miss Ellie Norman. I hope that all of you welcome them to your school with open arms." The last part seemed almost a threat, and indeed many students were looking rather frightened. "Miss McMillan first, would you please sit on the stool and place the Sorting Hat on your head."
Kailee gulped and nodded, moving forward and turning, sitting down and letting the Hat get put on her head. She jumped slightly when it did, mouth open in shock. After a few short moments, the Hat seemed to make up its mind and screamed out to the Hall 'GRYFFINDOR!" Kailee almost fell off the chair with how quickly she relaxed, letting out a huge breath.
I gave her a small smile as she took off the hat, handing it back to McGonagall, and running down the tables, diving in between Lily and Marlene, grinning at me when she turned back around. I could feel my heart racing as I sat down on the stool, chewing on my lip and gripping the edges of the stool so hard my fingers were turning white. I felt the Hat drop onto my head, and forced back a yelp as it immediately began talking to me.
"Well well, you're certainly different to your friend… You're fairly cunning, but Muggle-born, so I shouldn't put you in Slytherin…" I relaxed slightly. One down. "You're fairly smart too, yes… You could do well in Ravenclaw…" I tensed again.
No. I wanted to be in Gryffindor.
With Kailee.
"Gryffindor? Want to be with your friends? Well I suppose…" My heart soared. I'd be with them! I was going to be in Gryffindor! "But you really don't have any Gryffindor qualities… No, I think you'd be better off in HUFFLEPUFF!"
It screamed the last word and I froze.
I could see the students with black and yellow ties and emblems cheer, amazed that they got someone from overseas in their house, but I couldn't hear them. My eyes were wide and I was stiff as a board.
No…
No.
I immediately began screaming at the hat in my head, begging it to re-sort me, and put me in Gryffindor, with Kailee, who I could see, her whole face screaming how shocked and confused she was, like me.
But the Hat was silent, completely limp on my head before I felt Professor McGonagall lift it off and roll it up. I stared down at my feet.
Hufflepuff!
Why was I in Hufflepuff?
WHY?
My mind was racing, trying to think of something to do; ask to be re-sorted, or apparated back to Australia or even just get up and move.
I felt McGonagall's hand on my shoulder and slowly looked up at her. Her lips were drawn in a thin line and she said rather stiffly, "Miss Norman, if you would please join the rest of your house."
I blinked slowly, and stood up, walking to the table and sitting next to one of the newly-sorted First years, not even taking in their appearance.
I stared at my hands, which I'd placed in my lap, as the Headmaster stood up and addressed the students. I didn't listen to any of what he was saying, and when food suddenly appeared in front of me, I didn't move to eat any until the First year next to me nudged me cautiously and asked if I wanted any potato bake.
The irony of it made me laugh, which seemed to scare the kid, who I now realised was a little girl with long blonde hair. I apologised and spooned some of it onto the plate in front of me, picking at it with my fork, occasionally putting some in my mouth and chewing slowly.
To be honest, I wasn't at all hungry, but I figured if I didn't eat, the teachers would notice and say something to me. I sighed and began eating it properly, but only what was on my plate. Just as I finished, the food disappeared and was replaced with desserts of all sorts.
I blinked back my surprise at the little jelly-covered cheesecake that was sitting right in front of me, with about a dozen caramel tarts on a plate behind it.
My favourite desserts.
I laughed again, grabbed the cheesecake and actually ate the whole thing, as well as two of the caramel tarts. As I was licking my fingers clean of crumbs and stray caramel, the desserts disappeared and the Headmaster stood up again. And this time I actually listened to him.
"Well, wasn't that a wonderful feast! I hope you all enjoyed it!" I could have sworn the old man's blue eyes were looking directly at me as he said that. "Now it's time for you all to get into bed and get a good rest for tomorrow! Good Night! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" He waved jovially and I raised my eyebrows.
He was insane.
I mean, yes, I can talk, but seriously.
I stood up with the rest of the students, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do, before a tall, freckled girl my age -from Hufflepuff- came up to me, smiling. "Hey, my name's Andie, Andie Brighton! Welcome to Hufflepuff!" I couldn't help but smile at the girls' enthusiasm, but was rather put off by the huge polka-dotted bow that sat on top of her short, strawberry blonde hair.
"Uhm, hi Andie, I'm Ellie…" She grinned at me, obviously happy I'd responded, before linking her arm through mine.
"Come on, I'll take you to the dormitory, ahead of the First years! They're always so slow!" She seemed to frown at the smaller kids, but grinned again when she spotted another Hufflepuff girl in front of us, who seemed rather put out. "Oh, hey Kira! Look, it's the new girl, Ellie! I'm taking her to the Dorm, wanna come?"
The other girl, Kira, raised her eyebrow and said, "Of course I'm coming you idiot, it's my dorm too!" I blinked a few times, wondering how I'd managed to get caught up in this.
"Oh right! Sorry Ralee!" Andie grinned at her friend, ruffling her hair as she dragged me past.
Kira followed after us, letting out a huge sigh. "Sorry about her, she can get… over excited… And sorry in advance for me. Once I've had some sleep, I'll be as mental as she is…" I blinked at her.
"Uhm… Sorry?"
"Well, I'm dead tired after the train ride, and after eating the amount I did… When I'm not tired, I can act as bad as her, so, I'm sorry. In advance." She yawned after she finished, grimacing slightly. Andie just kept pushing through the other students, humming happily and clinging to my arm like a tick.
I know, not the best simile in the world, but it's true.
"Oh… Well, I guess I should apologise too…" Kira and Andie both looked at me curiously. "Once I've gotten over the fact I'm in Hufflepuff, I'll probably be just as insane…"
"You don't like Hufflepuff?" Andie looked particularly hurt as she knocked over a younger student, wearing a blue and bronze tie, who scowled at her.
"Oh, well… I don't hate Hufflepuff or anything but… I was kinda hoping to get into Gryffindor… With Kailee… We've known each other for years, and she's my best friend so…" I shrugged helplessly.
Kira nodded, thinking for a minute. "Well then," she stated, "It seems like me and Andie will have to convince you that Hufflepuff is way better than Gryffindor!"
I let out a little chuckle, and we were just about to push through the doors when I heard some familiar voices behind me.
"I'm sorry, Travis, but did you just say Hufflepuff is better than Gryffindor?" I turned and saw Kailee with all the other Gryffindors I'd met earlier today. Kira glared at James, who was the one who'd spoken.
"Why yes Potter I did. And I would find it nice for once if you didn't call me Travis!" Andie looked like she was holding back a laugh, but managed to glare at James as well.
"I don't see why I can't, it is your name," James seemed to give Kira a pointed look, and she scowled.
"Yes. My last name." I glanced at her anxiously before saying something.
"Uhm, Kira?" she looked at me, and I continued, "Calm down? You said you're tired…? So let's go," She sighed and nodded, grabbing Andie, who began to protest, but I gave them an I'll-only-be-a-minute look, and she stopped, moving outside the doors. I turned to the others and gave them a sad smile. "Hey." At this, Kailee lunged at me.
"I'm so sorry for not getting into the same house as you! So so so sorry! You're going to be all alone, and I'd hoped me coming here with you would mean you wouldn't be, I'm sorry!" She hugged me tightly as she said all this and I sighed.
"It's not your fault…" She looked up at me, and I gave her another small smile. "And anyway, I don't think I'll be as alone as you seem to think… Kira and Andie seem as crazy as us and the guys back home," Kailee chuckled at this.
"I doubt that…" I gave her a look that clearly said Don't-count-on-it and she rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever…"
I laughed at her, ruffling her hair, and turned to the others.
Sirius and James immediately made faces and hissed "Traitor!" At me, though they were laughing underneath. I snorted, ignoring them and gave the girls a little grimace. "Sorry Marley, looks like I kinda can't stick with you lot…"
Marlene rubbed the back of her head, smiling sadly, "Yea, I guess not… Bugger."
Lily rolled her eyes, "We'll still talk to you in class, even if you are a Hufflepuff," James and Sirius hissed again, but Remus smacked them both on the back of the head, and they stopped, glaring at him.
I laughed. "I guess I can talk to you guys too, even if you are only Gryffindors." Kailee and Marlene snorted at this, and Kailee ruffled my hair –to my intense displeasure-
"Well Lev, we're gonna head up, because apparently our dormitory is in one of the highest towers…" She grimaced at me and I laughed, giving her a little hug.
"Yea, that's the only thing I'm jealous about with you Hufflepuffs," Sirius said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "You're Dorm is only in the Basement and its right near the kitchens… Plus it's near impossible to get in; I can't tell you how many times I've been covered in vinegar…"
I blinked at him in shock. "Uhm… what?"
He looked up me, smirking. "Oh? They haven't told you? Well then…." He paused for a minute, exchanging a grin with James, before patting me on the shoulder, walking past me towards the doors, "Have fun Skippy!"
James and Sirius both cracked up and walked out the doors, Remus and Peter trailing after them, the former shaking his head. I looked at the others, but they shrugged, not having a clue what they were laughing about.
"See you in class then, Lev…" Kailee said sadly, walking away with the others. I walked through the doors, watching as my friends disappeared up the stairs, and turned to Kira and Andie, who were waiting for me.
"This a-way!" Andie exclaimed, grabbing my arm and dragging me to a door on the other end of the hall, pushing it open and running down the corridor, pulling me and Kira along. I tried to look around as we ran, but didn't get much of a chance to.
Suddenly we stopped and Andie grinned over at me, before leaning against a barrel.
There were a few barrels actually, stacked on top of each other…
And, from the smell of them…
They were filled with…
"Okay, what's with the vinegar?" I was suspicious now, and entirely wary of the barrels, which seemed to just be sitting there, but I knew what was lurking inside them, waiting to be set upon unsuspecting students.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, just so long as you tap the barrel!"
Andie grinned at me, and I just gave her a dead pan look.
"U-huh… Okay, where is the Sorting Hat kept, I'm not rooming with you."
Andie rolled her eyes at me. "Listen. You want to be covered in vinegar?" I shook my head. "Well good, because if you did, I'd be sincerely worried about your mental health," I rolled my eyes.
Yeah.
My mental health.
Pft.
"So anyway, all you have to do, is tap this barrel," she patted the one she was currently leaning against, and I immediately took note of which one it was -two from the bottom, middle of the second row-, "like this." Andie bent down and tapped the barrel in the same beat of her saying –in a ridiculously sing-song voice- "Hel-ga Huff-le-puff!"
As soon as she'd tapped it the fifth time, the lid of the barrel fell off, revealing a passageway. I raised my eyebrow. "Okay, I'm impressed…"
"Wait til you see the Common Room!" Andie said excitedly, ducking down and began crawling through the tunnel.
"Uhm, is that safe?" I turned to Kira, who smiled lightly.
"Don't worry, there's no spider webs or anything. But you have to be careful, a few feet in there's a hole," I snorted at this, and crouched down, crawling after Andie and stood up at the end of the little passageway.
"Okay then Andie, what's so exciting about the Common Ro-" I stopped mid-word when I actually saw it.
The room was surprisingly round, earthy and low-ceilinged, with a sunny atmosphere; it seemed very warm and welcoming. There were lots of yellow hangings, burnished copper, and overstuffed sofas and armchairs covered in yellow and black, and circular windows that were charmed to look like rippling grass and dandelions. There were a bunch of interesting looking plants around the room –some of them were dancing and talking- on the windowsills and hanging from the ceiling. There was also a large, honey coloured, wooden mantelpiece with carvings of badgers on it. Above it was a portrait of a plump, kindly looking witch, who must have been Helga Hufflepuff.
I slowly spun around, taking the whole room in with my mouth open.
"It's…" I paused, trying to think up a suitable word, slowly turning back to Andie and Kira, who had just straightened up, dusting herself off. "…it's just… wow."
Kira snorted. "Yea, it's pretty good…" She started moving towards a tunnel to the right of the fireplace, yawning again. "Come on, we'll show you to the Dorm…" I nodded, moving after her and crawled into the tunnel, which was larger than the one leading into the common room, and had several other tunnels branching off it.
We turned into the third on the left and met a completely round door with a copper handle and plaque reading '6th Year Girls'. Kira pushed the door open and crawled through, straightening and letting out a content sigh. I went through the doorway after her, looking around at the four-poster beds covered in patchwork quilts, and the copper lamps and copper bed-warmers hanging on the wall.
There were six beds, and three other girls were already sitting on each of them, chatting absently to each other. They looked up at me, and a tall red-haired girl stood up, walking over with a smile, extending her hand. "Hey, I'm Josey Underhill, the Prefect for our year. It's great to have you in our House," I gave her a small smile back, glancing at the other two girls, one with platinum blonde hair tied over her shoulder in a long plait, the other with black hair just reaching her shoulders.
They smiled at me as well, waving briefly before introducing themselves.
"I'm Faith Newton, nice to meet you," The blonde girl said, looking at her friend.
"I'm Helen Doughty. I'm sorry you had to meet Andie before us, she's probably near scared you away," She cracked a small grin and I laughed, looking at Andie, who was scowling slightly, about to open her mouth in a retort.
"Andie, get over it," Kira said, her voice muffled through blankets, as she'd collapsed onto her bed. Andie huffed and folded her arms across her chest, moving to her own bed.
I rubbed the back of my neck before glancing at the other three girls, who'd gone back to their beds. I looked at the last bed in the room, which was in between Kira and Andie's, and saw my trunk sitting at the end, Rae's cage sitting on top, the small barn owl blinking up at me. I smiled and walked towards her, pulling her out of the cage and going towards the circular window above my new bedside table. I opened it and put my arm out, giving Rae one last scratch before she flew off, circling up into the sky. I looked out the window for a few minutes. The windows seemed to open out on a side of the castle I hadn't seen from the outside, with a view of a cluster of Greenhouses.
I smiled lightly, before shutting the window, turning and climbing onto my new bed, running my hand over the blankets, -which were ridiculously soft- and sighed.
I looked over at Kira, who was already asleep, and Andie, who was sticking a few posters behind her bed, joining at least a dozen others. I sighed again, standing up and walking to my trunk, opening it and pulling out my pyjamas, walking towards a door directly across from the one leading back to the Common Room.
I shut the door behind me and looked around the bathroom with its copper sinks and taps, and a big porcelain bath standing on curled feet and a shower-head hanging above it, yellow and black striped curtains pushed to the side. I got changed, looking at myself in the huge mirror resting above the sink, vines curling around the rims of it and a single bright yellow flower resting at the top.
I pulled my hair into a bun, brushed my teeth and walked back out, met with a snort of laughter.
"You've got zebra-print pyjamas?" Andie was looking at me, a huge grin on her face and obviously holding back laughter. "Where did you even find those?"
I rolled my eyes. "You're just jealous. I got them back in Australia. If you want, I can write to my friends and ask them to buy you a pair next holidays?"
Andie laughed, shaking her head. "I'll think about it,"
I shook my head, reaching into my trunk for this book and a quill, shuffling under the covers of my bed. I started writing this, and have been for close to an hour and my hand is absolutely killing me. Everyone else fell asleep a while ago, so now that I'm done, I don't have anyone to talk to…
I guess I better get to sleep too then; after all, I do have to go to class tomorrow.
And if I don't go, I'm pretty sure Kailee will kill me.
…
I'm also pretty sure Andie's going to jump on me in the morning if I don't get up…
So, I'd better get up before her.
I guess all I can say is…
Welcome to Hogwarts.
Authors Note:
So, what does everyone think? I'm mostly amazed at how long it is XD
And, if you were wondering, a handful of these characters are based on me and my actual friends, and I will probably add a few more in different houses so... If I know you and you're reading this, I hope I captured you properly! :D
Review?