Chapter One: The Journey Begins
September 1st, 1991
A tiny, dark haired first year stood awkwardly in the hallway of the scarlet train that would momentarily take her to her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She found an empty comparment and took her time putting away her trunk and her gray owl, Orion, she shared with her older brother who was a third year at Hogwarts. She looked nervously out the window scanning for her parents, but the train lurched away. Suddenly the compartment door opened and another first year with shaggy black hair and glasses moved slightly in the doorway.
"Mind if I join you." He asked.
"Not at all. I'm Nellie Diggory and you"
"Harry Potter." He looked nervous as he said it as people in the wizarding world seemed to become over excited when they learned they were in the presence of the boy who lived.
Sensing that he was nervous and not wanting to scare him off, Nellie, who was quite surprised to be meeting the Harry Potter whom she had heard so much about, kept a calm, pleasant face and said, "Lovely to meet you, Harry. Can't wait to arrive and you." Harry was about to reply when a red headed first year appeared in the door way.
"Anyone sitting here? Everywhere else is full" He said as Harry shook his head.
The red head sat down as the compartment door opened and two more identical red heads entered the compartment.
"Hey Ron. Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train. Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there." The first twin said.
"Harry, did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then." The second twin, George, said.
"Bye." Harry said as the twins left the compartment without a glance at the girl seated next to their sister.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out and, even though Nellie was trying to treat him like a normal student, she was also on the edge of her seat wishing to hear everything he would tell them.
Harry nodded and Ron blushed.
"Oh. I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes. And have you really got- you know." He pointed at Harry's forehead. Nellie inched forward as Harry pushed back his bangs to reveal his lightning shaped scar. Nellie couldn't help but gasp as Ron continued to speak.
"So is that where You-Know-Who-?"
"Yes, but I can't remember it." Harry said.
"Nothing." Nellie blurted out on a slightly excited manner.
"Well I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."
"Wow." Ron and Nellie said and all three fidgeted awkwardly in their seats.
Harry broke the silence by turning the questions onto his to companions.
"Are all your family wizards?"
Ron answered first "Yes I think so. I think mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we don't talk about him. "
"My dad's side is all wizards, but my mum's mum is a muggle." Nellie said.
"So you must know loads if magic already." Harry asked excitedly.
Nellie grinned nervously. "My brother lent me his old spell books before I got my own, but I don't know much."
Ron shrugged and changed the subject. The three began to discuss their families back home. Harry had lived with his muggle aunt and uncle who seemed absolutely horrid to Ron who lives with his lovely parents and five brothers and a sister. All his stuff was second-hand, but there was plenty of love to go around. Nellie told the boys of her mum who doted on her and her brother whom she was very close with, and she spoke of her father that loved to take her into town on Sundays for ice cream after dinner while her brother was away at school. Nellie then blushed, feeling bad about her fortunate family experience when Harry's childhood was horrid.
Ron changed the subject again by pulling a fat gray rat from his coat pocket. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made prefect but they couldn't aff- I mean I got Scabbers instead." Ron blushed and Nellie said,
"That's neat. I wish I had a pet of my own. I share Orion with my brother."
Harry then told Ron of his own money problems up until recently.
"...and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort-"
Nellie and Ron gasped.
"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Nellie yelled shocked.
"I'm not being brave or anything, saying the name. I just never knew I shouldn't."
The three sat in silence again until a voice said.
"Anything from the trolley dears?"
Harry and Nellie leapt to their feet, and Nellie purchased a cauldron cake and chocolate frog. Harry on the other hand returned with a heaping load of food.
"Hungry are you?" Ron asked inspecting his sandwich with disgust.
"Starving." Harry said offering him a snack and opening a chocolate frog.
Harry opened a chocolate frog and jumped as his frog leapt out of the open window.
"That's rotten luck." Ron said.
"They've only got one good jump in them." Nellie added.
The three lost track of time devouring Harry's snacks. Ron was about to show them a spell his brothers showed him but they were interrupted by until a girl with messy brown hair opened the door.
"Has anyone seen a road. Neville's lost one." She asked.
"Haven't seen it. Sorry" Nellie said.
"Oh you're doing magic. Let's see then." The girl said.
Ron turned slightly red and then cleared his throat "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid fat rat yellow." He said, but nothing happened causing him to turn a deep scarlet.
"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells and they've all worked for me. Nobody in family's magic at all, it was such a surprise when I got my letter-" The girl continued in an arrogant tone. Nellie tuned her out until she decided she might as well introduce herself.
"I'm Hermione Granger by the way, and you are?"
"I'm Ron Weasley." Ron muttered.
"Nellie Diggory." Nellie added hoping she would leave soon.
"Harry Potter." Harry said.
"Are you really? I know all about you, of course. I got a few extra books for background reading and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century." Hermione said.
"Am I?" Harry asked.
"Goodness you didn't know, if have found out everything I could if it was me. You three had better change. I expect we'll be arriving soon." She said and finally left the compartment.
The three exchanges a glance and let out a sigh of relief as she left only it didn't last long as not long after they began discussing Ron's older brothers and explaining Quidditch the compartment door burst open again.
Three boys entered the compartment and none of them looked friendly.
"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" A pale boy said.
"Yes." Harry said as the three original passengers scooped out their visitors.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and Goyle. My names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Draco said as Ron chuckled.
Nellie elbowed him, but it was too late. Draco rounded on Ron and sneered.
"Think my names funny do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasley's have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford. You'll soon find that some wizarding families are better than others Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
He held his hand out to Harry, but Harry didn't take it.
"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself thanks." Harry said coolly.
Draco turned pink. "I'd be careful if were you, Potter. Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either. You hang around with riffraffs and it'll rub off on you."
Harry, Ron, and Nellie leapt to their feet. Ron's face was bright red, and
Nellie had whipped out her wand. Nobody messed with her friends.
"Say that again." Nellie threatened.
"Oh, you're going to fight us." Draco sneered.
"Unless you get out now." Harry said bravely.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Draco said inspecting their food.
Ron and Nellie both lunged for Draco and his friends, but before they could touch him Scabbers attacked Goyle. Goyle managed to fling Scabbers off of him and the three disappeared.
Moments later they were rejoined by none other than Hermione Granger.
"What has been going on?" She asked.
"Can we help you with something?" Ron asked sounding exasperated.
"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on. I've just been up front to ask the conductor, he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting have you? You'll be in trouble before we are even there." Hermione complained.
"Scabbers has been fighting not us. Would you mind leaving while we change?" Ron groaned.
"All right. I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors. And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Hermione said, pointing at her nose before she left.
Nellie gathered her robes and left to find a compartment to change in waving at her friends. "I'll meet you before we head up to the school." She said as a voice echoed through the train, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
Nellie hurried into an empty compartment and changed before joining her friends outside the train.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right over there, Harry?" A giant man called to Harry. Nellie gasped at the sight of him. She had never seen a giant before and he was impressive.
"C'mon, follow me. Any more firs' years? Mind your step. Follow me. You'll get your firs' view of Hogwarts soon. No more than four to a boat." He called as the first years saw the castle looming in the distance.
Nellie was impressed as she climbed into a bought with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
The first years arrived at the castle with awestruck faces, and the giant, Harry told them was named Hagrid, knocked on the door to the castle where Nellie and her friends were about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.