Hello! Welcome to my new story. I have only written the first two chapters so will be slow to upload as life is busy. I hope you enjoy it! Please remember to review- both positive and negative feedback is welcome. Review spur me on and help me to make the story better.
Chapter 1
To say that Charlie Weasley was excited would be an understatement. The year before he had watched his older brother and best friend disappear off to Hogwarts and return knowing all kinds of spells and having encountered all kinds of creatures and magic that had previously been unheard of to Charlie and now it was his turn. He had cheerfully waved goodbye to his mother who was angrily chasing round Fred who had just slipped a gnome from the garden into a passer-by's coat, thereby causing havoc on Platform 9 ¾. Inside the train Charlie waved goodbye to his brother Bill and went to find other first years, not keen to hang out solely with his older brother. He eventually found a group of other first years in the last carriage.
Charlie quickly introduced himself to the nervous group in front of him. The first person he was introduced to was Laura Abbott, a short, dark haired girl, next to her sat Dev Wood from East London. Dev looked the most nervous and explained that his parents were not wizards. He described finding out that he was a wizard and the surprise of both he and his parents. Charlie tried to put him at ease reassuring him that he also knew little of what he could expect to find at the school and his older brother as in second year. After ten minutes Dev looked slightly more reassured and Charlie turned his attention to the students sitting across the carriage.
Across from Dev and Laura were Oliver Sprout and Frances Fudge. The last person he was introduced to was a pale girl with long blonde hair and a thick fringe who introduced herself as Ophelia Rowle.
The conversation revolved around the classes everyone was most looking forward to. Frances was keen to start Herbology, she explained that her parents had a large greenhouse in their garden which was filled with interesting plants. Her parents had taught her lots about the different flowers and bushes that grew in there but she could not wait to find out more. Oliver said he couldn't wait to start transfiguration. He thought it would be fun to be able to tease his younger siblings by turning their favourite toys into beetles. Laura was not sure what classes she was most excited for but was eager to see the great hall and the forbidden forest. Dev listened intently, with everything he heard completely alien to him. He asked questions about Herbology and the great hall.
Ophelia said that she was eager to start flying lessons. Charlie agreed enthusiastically, claiming that even though first years could not have their own brooms that he was desperate to learn how to fly. Charlie and Ophelia then debated the outcome of the latest Quidditch league. Ophelia revealed herself of be a loyal supporter of the Holyhead Harpies while Charlie openly lamented his disappointment in the Chudley Cannons coming the bottom of the league once again. Ophelia and Charlie then spent almost an hour trying to explain Quidditch to Dev and teaching him all the rules.
When Dev expressed some enthusiasm for seeing the game Charlie invited him to be a Cannons fan but Ophelia recommended against it. Charlie defended the Cannons vigoiously, although after a snort of derision from Ophelia concluded somewhat somberly that at least they weren't as bad as the Wigtown Wanderers. With pleasant company and lively conversation the train journey to Hogwarts flew by. Soon they were ushered off the train onto a wet and windy platform. All six of them huddled together until they were called over by Hagrid and divided into boats. Charlie found himself in a boat with Ophelia, Oliver and Laura. The boat was slightly rocky from the wind but overall the passing was calm and the first years were mesmerised by the sight of the castle appearing in front of them.
The wonderment Charlie felt was soon replaced by fear when they got out of the boat and he was faced with the stern looking Professor McGonagall who looked as intimidating as his brother Bill had described. Charlie already knew that the formidable looking woman was the head of Gryffindor House and the Professor of Transfiguration. Bill had also told her that Professor McGonagall could turn into a cat but he refused to believe that it was possible.
The first years huddled together as Hagrid waved them goodbye and Professor McGonagall led them the up the stairs into the Entrance Hall. It was there she explained to them that a sorting hat would be placed on their heads and that hat would decide what house they would be placed into. Charlie fidgeted nervously. He wanted to be placed in Gryffindor like his brother and his parents. He wondered at their reaction if he was placed in Slytherin. The only thing he had ever heard about Slytherin is that was the house that all of the bad wizards were sorted into. HE glanced around and noticed that all of the others were nervous. Dev, who was now standing to one side of him looked practically green and Ophelia on his right seemed to be very preoccupied with a fancy looking broach on her robes. Charlie considered whispering some reassuring words to his new friends but did not have a chance as they were walked into the Great Hall.
The scene before them provided some distraction from having to put on the sorting hat. The hall was mesmerising and Charlie could barely take his eyes off the sky. Only doing so when the hat that had suddenly appeared in front of them started to sing. The sorting began, as Charlie was last he paid little attention to the initial sorting of the eleven year olds. Rather he looked around, spotting Dumbledore and his long beard, who he recognised off of his chocolate frog cards. He also spotted Hagrid who gave him a small nod. After examining the teachers at great length he turned his eyes to the Gryffindor table and spotted his red haired brother Bill who was smiling enthusiastically at him.
Charlie turned his focus back to the sorting Laura had been the first to have been sorted and have been placed in Hufflepuff. The sorting went on where he watched Frances get sorted into Ravenclaw. A young girl called Cedrella Johnston was sorted into Slytherin, a boy called Peter Jones was sorted into Hufflepuff. Soon they called Ophelia Rowle's name. She sat on the stool, looking very pale. The hat seemed to sit on her for longer than most of the others that had preceded her and she seemed to be getting paler the longer that she sat there. Eventually, after what felt like about ten minutes the hat opened its slit and yelled Gryffindor.
Ophelia looked slightly surprised and slightly upset as she slowly walked over to the Gryffindor table where she was quickly embraced by a group of other first years who had already been sorted. Charlie waited patiently for his turn as Titus Scamander was sorted into Hufflepuff and Aldo Umbridge was sorted into Slytherin. Eventually his name was called by Professor McGonagall. He sat on the stool and the hat was on his head for all of three seconds before it yelled Gryffindor.
Charlie jumped up enthusiastically and rushed over to the Gryffindor table where he was greeted by his very happy brother. After getting a hug from Bill Charlie took his seat next to Ophelia. The next person to be sorted; Dev, also joined them at the Gryffindor table. As soon as the sorting was over the feast began. The table in front of them filled with food which Charlie and the others enthusiastically filled their plates with. Charlie glanced over at Ophelia who was sitting next to them half way through the meal, her plate filled with chicken and potatoes barely touched.
"Are you ok?" Charlie whispered.
She looked at him with her blue eyes, her long blonde hair covered half of his face. She shook her head. "My parents won't approve."
Charlie furrowed his brow, it took him a second to work out that she was not talking about the food. "Of Gryffindor?"
She nodded and leaned closer to them, "they were all in Slytherin. They will be so disappointed."
Charlie threw his arm around her, the way he did with his little sister Ginny when she was upset. "Don't worry, it will be ok. We will work out a way to tell them tomorrow."
She gave him a slight smile and a small nod and started eating. The rest of the evening was cheerful as everyone ate their fill and Nearly Headless Nick took it upon himself to share his wisdom with the newest Gryffindors. Eventually the plates were cleared and Dumbledore asked the Prefects to lead them to their dorms.
The next morning over breakfast Charlie and Dev destracted themselves from their nerves of starting real magic lessons by helping Ophelia draft a letter to her parents explaining that she had been sorted into Gryffindor. Ophelia decided an upbeat tone was best and said in the letter that at least she wasn't a hufflepuff. Charlie had argued against that assertion, "that is rude. There is nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff."
"Well I know that but my parents disagree."
The first few weeks passed quickly for Charlie. Their classes were tougher than Charlie could have predicted but everything was more interesting than he could ever have imagined. Their first flying lesson took place in the first week and Charlie was the first to get the broom to fly into his hand and the first to fly more than a metre in height. He was amazed to see that Bill had not been lying about Profesor McGonagall's unique ability to become a cat. He had to be told to close his mouth by the Professor after she revealed her skill in their first lesson.
By the end of the first month Charlie had also established a group of friends from among the Gryffindor first years. Dev, Ophelia and a dark haired half-blood witch called Amory Bertram from Shetland. Ophelia had stuck close to Charlie since their conversation about the sorting hat and the letters to their parents. During their second week of term she had fiercely defended Charlie to a group of third year slytherins who made fun of his second hand robes and called him a ginger minger. The language Ophelia had used in retaliation had earned her two weeks of detention but she took it in her stride.
Dev had the bed next to Charlies and had the same enthusiasm over flying as Charlie, which was all it takes to became fast friends when you were eleven. Amory, who was in Ophelia's dorm room became friends with them after Charlie stood up to a rather ugly Slytherin boy over a comment he made about Amory's raven hair.
As predicted Ophelia's parents were disappointed in her sorting result and in the first weeks of school she got many letters from home which drove her to her dorm in tears. It transpired that all of her family had been enthusiastic Slytherins including Ophelia's older brother Thorfinn who had just finished Hogwarts and taken a job in Borgin and Burke. Charlie knew little of the shop or the Rowle family but when he asked Bill his brother told him that Borgin and Burkes was a shop in Knockturn Alley filled with dark magic.
In conversations about their families Ophelia normally stayed quiet while Amory talked about her mother witch and her muggle father's weird relationship and Dev asked pointed questions about what it was like to grow up with magic and described his muggle upbringing. The little Ophelia said about her family seemed to suggest that they were quite wealthy and old wizarding family, a great uncle of hers had once been the minister for magic.
However as the term progressed and the homework and lessons faced became more challenging Charlie thought little about Ophelia's background and instead their conversations focused on their life at Hogwarts and much of their spare time was spent exploring the great castle. At Christmas the four of them handed in their final essays of the term and headed home to visit their parents. Charlie was glad to be back in the chaotic Burrow alongside his brothers and sister. Three year old Ginny was wrecking havoc, sometimes with assistance of Fred and George.
On Christmas Eve they sat around the living room with Mrs Weasley's favourite musician playing over the wireless. Mrs Weasley had drank too much giggle water and was singing along in the corner. Fred and George where in the corner whispering. Ginny and Ron had been put to bed by Mr Weasley and Percy and Bill were both reading.
Mr Weasley pulled his second eldest son onto the kitchen to help him get some more pumpkin juice for the twins. While Charlie poured pumpkin juice by hand into the glasses for his young brothers Mr Weasley asked him about school.
"It is good," Charlie replied, "I am enjoying my classes and have got As and Bs in most of my essays so far. I couldn't believe it that Professor McGonagall is an animagus. I didn't even know what that is. When Bill told me she could turn into a cat I thought he was pulling my leg. Also I met Hagrid the gamekeeper. He was nursing an injured Bowtruckle and he let me meet it. It was so cool. He also told me loads about Bllywigs, did you know if they sting you they make you giddy?"
"No I didn't know that Charlie."
"I love being part of Gryffindor. We won our first Quidditch match against Slytherin and they won which was great! Especially because there is this horrible second year on the team who keeps calling Dev a… a…. mud… I don't want to say it."
"A mudblood?" Mr Weasley mouthed somberly.
"Yeah." Charlie replied sadly.
"That isn't very nice Charlie."
"I tried to stand up to him for Dev but the guy threatened to pound me into the dirt so Ophelia and Amory dragged me away."
"That was probably wise."
"Who are Amory and Ophelia? Are they other friends in Gryffindor?"
"Yeah, they are other first years. Amory is from Shetland. Her mum does research into magical plants up there on one of the tiny islands which is only inhabited by sheep and her dad is a muggle. He is a dok-tour, apparently that is kind of like a healer."
"That is cool." Mr Weasley repeated, "A Dok-tour. I wonder how he heals people without magic."
"I'm not sure. I will ask Amory. Ophelia is from Bristol. Her dad works in the ministry. In the International Magical Office of Law."
"Oh really?" Arthur raised an eyebrow. It was a prestigious team to be part of and Arthur knew a number of members of the team and wondered who Ophelia's father may be. "What is her dad's name?"
"I am not sure about his first name but Ophelia's last name is Rowle."
"Rowle?" Arthur raised his eyebrows. He knew Eridanus Rowle in the International Magical Office of Law. He was very successful in his role there but was not well liked. Primarily because of hisbarely disguised love of the dark arts. Eridanus Rowle had not openly supported he who must not be named but he had hinted at his approval during the wizarding war. He had also been a supporter of putting further restrictions on relationships with Muggles like they had in the United States.
"Is Ophelia in Gryffindor?"
"Yeah dad." Charlie said, as if surprised at his father's obtuseness before he wandered into the living room, pumpkin juice in hand, leaving his father in the kitchen worried about his son's new friend.
