A Light in the Dark
Summary
Peace filled the wizarding world after Harry Potter defeated Voldemort. It has been almost fifty years since his children left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and everyone has pretty much forgotten the dark times. However, people have started disappearing and no one knows who will be next. Parents are keeping a close eye when their children are out and a wand is always nearby.
All the same, four kids, unaffected by disappearances, are starting their first year at Hogwarts. Meeting in a train compartment with odd names carved into the wood, they all become instant friends. Over time they share all their secrets and, once word of the troubles at home reach them, ideas of what's behind the disappearances. Although these friends are close can they pull through the hard times and maybe even face death together.
Common Meetings
Chapter 1
The bustle on the platform didn't help with Amberly's nervousness as she slowly looked around at all the people. Everyone looked excited as they got ready to leave, hugging parents and siblings goodbye, meeting up with old friends, and loading onto the scarlet train. Amberly swallowed and shifted slightly then looked up at her brother, Charlie, as he grasped her shoulder.
"You look nervous," he teased, smiling easily at her.
Amberly shrugged slightly and looked back at the train. Charlie just smiled and led her that way helping her with her trunk.
"You'll be fine. I know everything is different at first, but you'll survive. I did and you see how I turned out," he said with a grin.
"Annoying?" she asked jokingly making her brother glare at her before he pulled her trunk onto the train.
"For that comment you get to find your own compartment," he shot back as he walked away.
"But... but... Charlie!" she called out after him, but he just ignored her. She let out a long sigh and started searching for a place to sit.
Braden and Rebekah had already said their goodbyes and were now comfortably seated in a compartment about halfway down the train. Rebekah, who was extremely shy had pestered their parents arrive early so that she didn't have to deal with the crowds. Braden was the older of the twins, only by a few minutes, but that doesn't stop him from lording it over his sister.
"Hey little sis, come over here and look at this, it looks like someone has carved their name in the wall here," he said as he examined his find.
Rebekah reluctantly dragged her nose out of her copy of The Basics of Potion Making and glared at her brother as she said, "We're twins, doofus. That means that we're the exact same age, and I'm two inches taller than you, you can't exactly call me your 'little' sister. Anyways what do I care about some scratches left by some delinquents who probably aren't even still attending Hogwarts?" She leaned in, her curiosity getting the better of her, "Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, what kind of names are those. Who in their right mind would want to be called Wormtail?"
"I still think it's cool," Braden said as Rebekah picked up her potions book again. "I wonder if I could find out who they really were, "He grumbled as their compartment door slid open.
Amberly looked at the obvious twins and swallowed in apprehension. She opened and closed her mouth a few times but nothing came out. After a little while she finally got the words out, "Sorry to intrude, but may I join you?"
Down the car a ways a young boy, obviously in his first year, was walking up and down the aisle trying to find a seat. He almost hadn't made it to the station on time and was betting that he would have to wonder the train until it arrived at the school. In reality Jaxon Rast had no idea what he was getting into, he didn't even know he was a wizard till about a month ago.
A soft purr below him made him look down. A gray tabby was winding in and out of his legs. He blinked in surprise, wondering who it belonged to, but it soon took off to chase a rat. He just shook his head and kept going. Soon he heard voices and saw a girl asking to join two kids who had a compartment to themselves. As he looked in Jaxon notice that the compartment would easily hold four people. He swallowed and headed that way. "C... can I sit here too," he stammered looking at them sheepishly.
"Sure," Braden answered immediately to both of the newcomers glad to have someone to talk to other than his brainyack sister.
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Rebekah grumbled, annoyed at the loss of her semi-quiet reading time.
"Oh, come on Bekka, join the group it'll be a lot more fun than reading some dusty old book," Braden teased.
"Shut up, Braden," Bekka shot back, "You heard what our brother Lucas said 'potions is the hardest class for first years' and he should know, after all he was one last year.
The two newcomers sat silently watching this exchange between brother and sister until they heard a knock outside their compartment door.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?" a matronly old witch asked sweetly as they slid the door open. Everyone made their purchases except the new boy, who respectfully declined.
After introductions were made Braden offered Jaxon one of the Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans that he bought from the trolley.
"Sure, I've never had one before,"Jaxon accepted taking the candy offered to him and popping it into his mouth.
Almost immediately Jaxon began coughing and spitting. Braden burst out laughing while Amberly and Bekka tried to help the poor boy back into his seat.
"What in the world was that?" Jaxon exclaimed, " It tasted like wet dog fur!"
"It probably was," Bekka explained patiently while glaring at her brother who was still laughing hysterically. " When they say every flavor they truly mean every flavor."
Not long after everything had settled back down they heard a soft scratching at the door. Amberly, who was closest to the door, opened it to allow in a large gray tabby. The cat silently padded over to Jaxon, jumped up onto his lap, and promptly went to sleep. Jaxon looked down at the cat but didn't move. The cat purred softly but didn't wake up.
"Is it yours Amberly asked Jaxon, smiling at him.
"N.... no . I don't even know where it came from," he said looking up at his companions. Amberly looked confused but just shrugged.
"There's no problem bringing a pet to school," she said " I have an owl but he's with my trunk in back."
Jaxon just nodded slightly remembering the letter he received saying something about animals. As he looked around he thought to himself these people seem kind of nice, even if Braden does like playing pranks on people. I we stay friends once we reach the school.
"So, what house are you all planning on being in?" Braden asked the group. Jaxon looked confused at the question.
Amberly noticed the look and began to explain,"There are four houses Gryffindor, the brave; Ravenclaw, the wise; Hufflepuff, the loyal;and Slytherin, the sly."
"Is there one for the clueless?" Jaxon asked weakly.
Amberly laughed quietly and shook her head. "My parents and brother were in Ravenclaw and that's where I'd like to be, but it really doesn't matter so long as it's not Slytherin," she said to Braden.
"Well I'm going to be in Gryffindor," Braden boasted, "I don't care what anyone says."
"I guess it doesn't really matter what I want since it isn't my choice, but I would really like to be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," Bekka added quietly.
"Wait," Jaxon interjected, "If you don't get to choose your own house, How do you know which one you're in?"
"Well, this is how it works," Braden began with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "When we get off the train, we will be led into the Forbidden Forest by this Big brute of a man, people say he's half giant but I think that that's just an exaggeration. Anyways, once we get into the forest the man who led us there will apperate back to the castle and we will have to find our own way out, fighting all sorts of monsters along the way."
"M... monsters," Jaxon stammered out.
"Oh yeah, all kinds, giant spiders, angry centaurs, trolls, they even say that there's an enchanter car that tries to run the new students over. Afterward we are sorted on how we decided to get out. Well... those of us that survive that is," Braden said with an evil grin.
Bekka who had been silently laughing with Amberly at the increasingly terrified look on Jaxon's face finally took pity on the poor boy and said, "Shame on you, Braden, scaring the new kid like that. Anyways, you know that it's not possible to apperate inside school grounds. " She turned to Jaxon, "all that's going to happen is when we get off the train we will take a boat across the lake up to the castle. When we get there we will line up and walk into the great hall. One of the professors will call out the names and when it's your turn you go up and sit on the stool at the front of the hall. The professor will place the Sorting Hat on your head and it will call out what house you're supposed to be in."
"So, it's just random?" Jaxon asked as Braden grumbled something about Bekka spoiling all his fun.
"Not exactly," Amberly jumped in, "You see the sorting hat has a really strong enchantment placed on it."
"How does it decide?" Jaxon asked amazed.
"Well, it's mostly based on your personality, but it's really hard to explain exactly why the hat chooses certain houses for certain people," Amberly said in a sophisticated voice. Jaxon laughed lightly, knowing that her answer really meant that she had no clue, and resumed petting the cat in his lap.
"You know, my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, I don't know, maybe three hundred times great grandfather and grandmother were the first ones sorted by the hat," Amberly said after a little while.
"What houses were they in?" Jaxon asked
"Ravenclaw. There hasn't been a single member of my family not in Ravenclaw," she stated a little smugly.
"Never?" he asked amazed.
"Never ever," she answered with a smile.
"That's cool,"he said before looking over at Bekka and the book she was reading. "Is that a good book?" he asked .
AN:I just sent this out as a tester just to get a feel for the publishing process. If you like it please tell me by reviewing. This started as a role play between my friend Chrystan and me so please disregaurd any structural changes and if any of you grammer nazis catch any mistakes tell me and I'll correct them.
P.S. I own nothing so please don't sue me ( you wont get much anyway except maybe my awsome collection of books, but you nice people wouldn't sue me for that would you * insert puppy dog eyes here*.)