Lennox Kingsleigh slowly opened her eyes, letting out a yawn and glancing over to Liam, her friend, who was taking up an entire train seat by himself. He was sprawled out all over, and snoring like it was his job. She smiled at his sleeping body, and then turned her attention to the window. Her eyes wandered curiously about the scenery before her. Although it was very dark, and was what she guessed to be about ten at night, she could see perfectly. The large magnificent castle stood proudly on the hill as the train approached it, and the lights beamed through the dark night.
She threw her half eaten blueberry muffin at Liam's face, and he jumped up onto his feet like a ninja. His eyes were wide, and searching the cart. She began to laugh hysterically as he realized the object that hit him was completely harmless. He picked up the muffin skeptically. He then shrugged and ate the rest of it in one bite. Lennox rolled her eyes, and got up to gather her things. Liam assisted her. He was her best friend in the entire world, and she was very depressed to know that this would be his last year at Hogwarts.
They had been friends since she'd been sorted into Slytherin. He was the only nice one, being her mentor the first terrifying year. He was a rare kind of Slytherin, besides the members of Lennox's family who were all in Slytherin house. Including her. The only, and youngest kid, of the family hadn't been sorted yet. He would be in just a matter of an hour, however. Jake. He was slightly nervous he wouldn't get into the same house as the rest of his family. They all assured him he would. Lennox is the oldest, then comes Max the fifth year, Bradley in his fourth year, Skylar the third year, and Gregory the second year. Jake was the newbie, the first year (or soon to be anyways.) They were all sitting in a different cart. Liam and she had shared one with just the two of them every year.
She felt the train come to a stop, which was slow and gentle. She got her carry on bags, and Liam snatched his, and they were off. The hallway was filled with kids of all ages, struggling to get through the crowd of people. They could have just stepped over most of them. She glanced at the rest of her family who were all in one bunch. She could tell by the large blob of dark raven like hair who the lot of them were. She ruffled Jake's hair as she and Liam walked past them and out to the carriages. She looked at the Thestrals that were pulling them. She was positive she was the only one that could see them out of the group that rode on their carriage. It saddened her to be reminded she could see them.
Their things were taken into another area while they entered and waltzed into the Great Hall, taking their rightful place at the Slytherin table. She looked up at the decorations, which were extravagant to say the least. Candles hung in mid air, and the ceiling bewitched to look like the night sky. The stars shone brightly, and the clouds came overhead. It was absolutely magical, not even trying to be cliche. Everyone chatted amongst themselves and waited patiently for the sorting to begin. Finally McGonagall brought in the first years. She saw Jake walk nervously in the middle of the group, with his new black robes on. He glanced at Lennox and she shot him a smile.
"It'll be okay." she mouthed to him silently. He nodded, and took in a deep breath, halting at the front of the room with the others.
"Now... when I call your name, please come forward." said McGonagall in her professional voice. She put on her circular reading spectacles.
"Kendra Aarons." she announced first. A young blonde girl walked up hesitantly, and sat down on the black stool, shaking dreadfully.
"Hmm... hmm... Hufflepuff!" exclaimed the sorting hat with excitement. The Hufflepuff table cheered loudly for their new member.
"Walter Doyle." she said next. A skinny red haired boy stepped up. The sorting hat didn't take long to decide for the young boy to be in Ravenclaw.
"Taylor Hastings." was the next girl. She practically skipped up to the front. After about half a second of sitting down, she got right back up and joined the Gryffindores.
"Jacob Kingsleigh." her brother. Next. She smiled up at him as he inched his way up there. He closed his eyes and waited for the dread to be over.
"Another Kingsleigh? This is almost as bad as the Weasleys!" yelled the sorting hat. Laughter was heard from all around the room.
"No difficulty here... Slytherin!" and with that there was a look of relief on Jake's face as he hurried over to his sister. She gave him a big hug, nearly squeezing him to death. She was so happy his frightening moments were over.
"See! I knew you'd get in." she nudged him as he sat in between Greg and another kid from Slytherin. More kids were sorted, and then Dumbledore stepped up to the podium, unveiling a marvelous metal Goblet that burned with blue flames.
"This year I am proud to announce that Hogwarts will be the host to the legendary Tri-Wizard Tournament." he began. There was chatter amongst everyone around the room. Excitement, some confusion, and a little bit of fear swept over the room.
"For those of you who do not know what that is. It is a competition that brings together three schools to perform a series of magical tasks." After a fiasco with the ceiling and an unknown man limping across the front, everyone seemed to settle down.
"I must warn you. This competition isn't for the faint hearted. Now I will introduce the lovely ladies of the Beauxbaton Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madam Maxime!" Just then a whole group of beautiful girls of all ages walked in with elegance and grace, charming butterflies from their fingertips and dancing to the front. They had beautiful satin blue uniforms with lovely willow crooked hats, and most of them had lovely blonde hair.
"Now our friends from the North. I will present the men of Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning!" strapping young men came in, marching and doing acrobatics.
"Whoa... those Beauxbaton ladies are FINE." whispered Liam into her ear. She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. He let out a small 'ouch' and listened to what Dumbledore was about to say next. He stood back up at the podium. She watched the very tall Headmistress of the all girls' academy cross over to where Hagrid was. She had to be at least eight feet in height.
"Now... there has been a slight change with rules. I leave your attention with Bartemius Crouch, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." said Dumbledore. An older man with a black bolo hat and a gray moustache stepped to the front, and looked over every student in the crowd.
"For safety purposes, the Ministry of Magic has decided no wizard under the age of 16... is allowed to compete in the competition." he announced. There were yells of anger across the room within seconds. 'Rubbish, nonsense, and bloody hell' were the most popular words screamed.
"SILENCE!" commanded Dumbledore in a voice of pure furiosity. Everyone ceased their complaining, and continued to listen.
"Now. No students under the age of 16... you heard Mister Crouch. Let the feast begin." he said monotonously. Food then appeared on platters before us. She watched as Liam stuffed his face, literally, with everything he could get his hands on. She drew then line when he tried to take chicken from her plate.
"This is my food! Get your own you oinker!" she shoved him aside, and guarded her plate protectively. It was only after ten minutes he was done eating. She was surprised he hadn't eaten the entire table. She'd never seen anyone eat as much as him.
"Before I send you off to your common rooms I feel the need to tell you names can be put into the Goblet beginning tomorrow. We will announce the winner this hour next Thursday. Have a wonderful night, and be ready for classes in the morning. Again- welcome to Durmstrang and Beauxbaton." Dumbledore waved. The prefects showed the first years to the dormitories, while the rest of them just waltzed into the common rooms by themselves. She jumped on Liam's back and they rode down to the dungeon together, laughing all the way there. He was considerably strong for having eaten so much. Then again, Lennox wasn't that heavy. He almost accidentally ran into Professor Snape. That could have potentially been a disaster. It was extremely late when everyone got into their house, but she wasn't tired. She could have stayed up all night. She wasn't much for sleep these days. She sat on the green Slytherin couch near the fire, giggling as Liam clutched his stomach in pure agony and pain. He moaned like a ghost, taking in choppy breaths. She figured if he took in a deep one it might hurt him too much.
"I feel sick." he mumbled, slowly blinking and looking at her. She could have smacked him. Well of course he does!
"It's because you ate so much piggy! I tried to warn you... but you seemed lost in the Carrot Cake..." she explained. She could tell he wanted to playfully punch her arm, but he didn't have the strength to do it with the way he felt. Her siblings all gathered around her, waiting to sleep for awhile. Jake sat on her lap with the biggest smile he'd ever had.
"I'm so happy you got into Slytherin bud." she hugged him once more. He tried to wriggle his way out of her grasp.
"Gregory. I think Liam would like it if you sat on his lap." she suggested to the second youngest brother. He smiled at her. Liam's eyes shot open immediately. They were wide with fright. Meanwhile Gregory was getting ready to jump.
"No. No no no NO! UGHHH!" he shrieked as Gregory hopped up onto him. They all laughed as they watched Liam's expression go from peaceful to terror. She then looked at the time. It was almost midnight. She had Liam walk her younger brothers up to the boy's dorm, while she and Skylar jogged up to the girl's. Their things were already put into place, and they changed into their pajamas. Lennox was very happy to be back at Hogwarts. Classes would begin tomorrow. She had already memorized her schedule. She took her education very seriously, and she was top notch in all of her classes. She thought over her schedule in her head once more before she decided to focus her mind on other things before the morning.
1 - Defense Against the Dark Arts
2 - Divination
3 - Charms
4 - Transfiguration
5 - Herbology
6 - History of Magic
7 - Care of Magical Creatures
8 - Potions