Welcome to the CRAZY Side!

Summary:It's a new year at Hogwarts, a first for our newest first years. Along the way, they'll learn more about secrets from their past where magic goes deeper than they originally thought. Betrayal and secrets thought to be insignificant happen to have the biggest part of Voldemort's newest plan to claim power.

Disclaimer: I don't own most of what you see here. I own pretty much only one of the OCs and the other ones belong to several of my friends and role-playing partners. The characters you do recognize belong to, well… obviously not me. So, now that we're on the same page, I own what I own, including most of the plot. The rest of the plot belongs to the amazing people who stuck with the rp I created and based this story on.

Credits:

Cloe belongs to me,

Laerwen aka: MP belongs to none other than MP aka: Luthien Saralonde,

Genevieve belongs to Squeaky aka: Dancing Dork,

Mason belongs to Jude (I have no idea what his penname is anymore, since he changes it so much),

Sharpay/Ashley kind of sort of belongs to me and Beth (Bethany-something).

Credit for Ryan/Ethan and Dumbledore goes to me,

Credit for the elves from Middle Earth and partially Dumbledore goes to MP,

Credit for Sharpay goes to Charlene (Charmingly Char – or something like that),

Credit for Nessie and Edward goes to Vampp aka: TheBadassRoza.

Chapter 1: Platform 9 ¾ and the Hogwarts Express

A calm breeze pushed the cotton candy clouds through the early morning air, creating a trail of mist across the sky. The excitement could almost be felt beaming down on everyone below like the rays of sun that sneaked past the oncoming clouds rolling its way. Just moments before, King's Cross Station had been flooded with many excited students waiting to board the Hogwarts Express. Now, it lay empty on the outside to any unsuspecting visitor.

A large light brown bear-sized wolf sped across the ground as fast as her legs could carry her, her green eyes full of fear, desperate to make it on time. She kept on running, knowing full well she couldn't go back. Not there; not where she'd come from. They would never accept her if they knew the truth. She couldn't let them know and now that she'd run away, she could never go back there again. As the train station came into sight, she darted full speed ahead, her four furry paws hitting the solid cement ground like boulders. She briefly glanced over her shoulder just to check. Good. They aren't following her... yet. Remembering to pay attention to what was in front of her so she wouldn't hurt herself, she glanced over only to realize she was going too fast; at this rate, she was never going to be able to stop in time.

The wall in front of her separating tracks 9 and 10 was getting closer and she knew she was going to crash into it. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to stop before she got seriously hurt this time. Just as she was about to hit it, she squinted her eyes closed even tighter expecting to hit something hard, but it never came. Silently wondering if she had missed it, she decided to open her eyes to check so she didn't get hit by a train, but being the clumsy girl she was, she tripped on something and tumbled across the platform. Slowly but surely, she could feel herself slowly phasing back into her human form… The thought that she only had the clothes she'd strapped to her ankle to change into never occurred to her.

Finally managing to open her eyes, she realized she was still tumbling at top speed across the platform and managed to catch the number. 'Platform 9 ¾,' she read to herself, realizing she'd never seen this one here before and, quite frankly, she wasn't even convinced it existed. Then again, stranger things had happened to her. Tumbling onto the train waiting there, she fell into something that covered her from anyone's sight. Before she even had the time to wonder where exactly she was, she quickly remembered her clothes and changed into them before removing the curtain from on top of her and looking around in confusion, strands of her blonde hair falling in the way of her eyes. Her problems couldn't get too much worse, could they?

~~~~~~ Genevieve ran through the entrance to King's Cross station with her carriage like a madwoman, nearly running over everyone in her way. She looked down at her watch once again to check the time. 10:50. 'Running late as usual,' she thought, 'I only have 10 minutes to get to the platform before the train leaves without me! Which reminds me, I was so anxious to get to the train station I didn't looked at my ticket yet to even find out where I'm supposed to be going.' She shook her head, reached into her pocket, and pulled out her ticket, then stopped dead in her tracks. 'Platform 9 and ¾? Is that even possible? There must be some mistake.' She began running once again and headed for Platforms 9 and 10, noticing this mystery platform wasn't there. 'There must be someone that can explain this to me.'

Noticing a guard passing by, she went up to him, figuring he might be able to tell her what was going on. "Excuse me," she said to get his attention and he turned to her expectantly, "I'm having a little trouble with my ticket. It says I'm supposed to be going to Platform 9 and ¾."

The guard paused for a moment and cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out what she was getting at. "9 and ¾?" he replied, looking at her like she was crazy, "Don't be ridiculous." With that, he walked away mumbling, leaving the brunette to sigh hopelessly.

She looked at her watch again. 10:54. 'I'll never make it to Hogwarts at this rate...' She groaned as she rolled her carriage over to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10.

Pulling it up against the wall, she went to lean back, but never hit it; instead she fell. She grabbed the handle of her cart to catch her balance, but pulled it down with her instead as she hit the floor with a thud. She stayed on the floor for a moment, wondering what had happened. She didn't seem to be hurt so much as confused, which she guessed she took as a good sign. Standing up, she looked around noticing that she wasn't standing between platforms 9 and 10 anymore. When she turned around, her jaw dropped as she stared in awe.

The Hogwarts express was waiting on the tracks in front of her and students were loading onto the train. She looked up and smiled to herself. 'Platform 9 and ¾,' she thought to herself excitedly, 'I made it.' It definitely wasn't the best way of getting there but that wasn't important. She was there and that's all that mattered. She grabbed her carriage and walked towards the train, picking up her trunk and boarding the train just as the whistle was blowing. Looking down at her watch again, she noticed what time it was; exactly 11:00; right on time.

~~~~~~ "Ethan, hurry up!" Sharpay bellowed to her brother, but seeing him give her a look, she sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine. Ryan. Whatever. Why did you have to go and change your stupid name anyway?"

They had been walking to the platform to get on their train to Hogwarts. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him the rest of the way because they were, of course, running late because Ethan was always rather slow and she was getting annoyed. Sharpay had been very excited to go to Hogwarts ever since she found out from their mom; she was wearing her witch's hat and everything, though her brother didn't seem all that thrilled. Before Ethan had a chance to answer her question, he noticed the look on his sister's face when she saw what time it was and he promptly kept his mouth shut; 11:00. 'We're so going to miss the train,' Sharpay panicked to herself as she kept hold of her brother and ran, but stopped between tracks 9 and 10 as she realized something was missing.

"Ethan, where the hell is the gate?" she yelled, not caring that she was calling him by his real name and not his stupid made up name, "Ugh! We're going to be late!"

Ethan had given up trying to argue with her a long time ago, but he had to admit she had a point. Platform 9 ¾ was nowhere to be seen. Just the name suggested it shouldn't even exist. The pair of blondes stood there looking around for a simple explanation, but even they knew things weren't always what they seemed. Maybe the ticket meant they were supposed to go to Platform 9. Before he could suggest that maybe there had been a mistake when printing the ticket, Sharpay grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him to get him to put some effort into helping her figure out what was going on. Ethan stumbled backwards and fell right through the wall in between the platforms.

'What the hell?' Sharpay thought in confusion, watching him disappear right before her eyes. After a moment, she picked up her luggage and followed him, hoping that was their gate to this mysterious magical platform. When she got to the other side of the wall, she noticed her brother dusting himself off as he stood up and collected his luggage. The train's whistle signaled to its passengers that it was about to leave. "Come on, we have to go," she yelled, grabbing Ethan's arm and rushing onto the train just as the doors closed behind them. She sighed to herself, making sure they had everything with them. "Phew, that was close," she said, turning to Ethan and gave him a sharp look, "Next time, don't take so damn long."

~~~~~~ A mysterious brunette had been just strolling around casually, trying not to look suspicious as he approached the station. A small blue creature sat on his shoulder, half asleep. The boy softly stroked his pet's head and slowly walked over to a wall in between platforms 9 and 10. Quickly hiding behind it, he transformed into his ghost form. His brown hair was now snow white and his originally blue eyes glowed green. He leaned against the wall as he was turning intangible and, without taking notice, fell on the ground.

"Oomph," he muttered, landing with a hard thump, waking his pet in the process. Getting up and brushing the dirt off himself, he started looking around. "Where are we, Al?" he asked the mudkip perched on his shoulder.

"Mud Mud Kippppp," the blue creature replied back.

The ghost boy just stared blankly at him and then grinned as he realized what that meant. "Oh, well, I don't know where I am, but I know I'm gonna have lots of fun," he stated, an evil smirk tugging at his lips as his eyes turned blood red for a second before returning to normal once again. Popping the collar on his leather jacket, he walked toward the train with his best friend on his shoulder and his luggage in hand. All the while, not noticing he was still in his ghost form.

As he walked into the train, his pet jumped on his head as if trying to tell him something. "What is it, Al?" the boy asked him and, as he looked up, the mudkip started pulling on his hair. The ghost boy reached up and attempted to get him off his head. Suddenly, he noticed that his hair was white as the blue mudkip returned to his perch on the boy's shoulder.

'Oh, no, no, no, how could I be so stupid?' He quickly ran inside one of the booths inside the train and changed back to his human form, turning his hair back to its natural dark chestnut color with streaks of blonde in it as his eyes returned to their original shade of blue. He swiftly emerged from the booth and started to wander around the train.

~~~~~~ The blonde wolf girl noticed the doors of the train closing and began to panic slightly. 'What am I going to do now?' she thought to herself, realizing she was back to her full human form. Glancing around the train at all the funny people who looked to be maybe about her age and older, she noticed them wearing all sorts of different clothes; most wearing or changing into these silly black robes. 'Where am I and what dimension did I stumble into this time?' She shook her head, standing up, and began to walk through the train in confusion. Sure, her original plan was to get on a train and leave this place, but something didn't seem right. There had to be somebody who could explain this to her.

As she continued to wander the train, which hadn't even left the station yet, she stopped and stood still, eyes widened. She perked her ears a bit to listen. There was something strange outside and it seemed... different. It wasn't like anything she'd picked up on before. Sniffing the air, she noticed its scent was definitely unusual; not human... not quite alive either. What could possibly be causing her senses to tingle like that? She looked out one of the windows and there it was; this strange boy with this funny-looking creature sitting on his shoulder and he was nearing the train with this strange grin on his face.

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind that frightened her a bit. 'Maybe they found me and sent that... thing out to get me and drag me back,' she began to panic. She stood still, frozen, glued to her spot as the meaning of that thought overwhelmed her. She had to do something, but didn't know quite what. The only thing she was sure of was that boy wasn't giving off any heat. 'What is he?' she wondered to herself, trying her hardest not to be spotted by it.

She watched in horror as she saw the boy literally walk into the train and he didn't get in through a door. 'That's definitely not normal,' she thought in fear, 'What is that thing?'

This would usually be the part in the horror movie where she'd hide behind her mum until it was over, but unfortunately she was a long way from home; farther away from home now than she'd ever been. Carefully checking through the window in the door leading into the next car, she could see all the way through the train to where someone had pulled the shade on one of the doors, blocking her view. The boy, it, thing was only a few cars ahead of her and she couldn't afford to let him see her. She just couldn't... He might try to take her back and she couldn't have him do that; not now... now that she'd come this far. Sensing him approaching in her direction, she hid in one of the little booths which she'd landed in to begin with.

'He can't see me. He just can't,' she thought, biting her lip worriedly, trying her best to make herself invisible, 'But there's nowhere else to go. I'm trapped.'

~~~~~~ The brunette slowly made his way through the cars, looking around the train for an empty booth, but all of them were packed with people until he finally saw one with only one person in it. Pausing, he could sense a huge amount of fear coming from that particular booth. 'Did this girl see me transform?' he wondered, putting up his innocent façade, and walked into the room with her.

"Um, hi... Can I sit with you?" he asked her quietly, casting her a lost puppy look.

'I should win an award for my amazing acting skills,' he thought to himself, his facial expression betraying no part of what he was thinking.

The frightened blonde girl looked at him hard, trying her best not to show him how freaked out she was that he'd found her. He seemed like he didn't really know who she was, though she couldn't really tell because he had the puppy dog eyes all wrong. In truth, he was actually pretty good – she would know, since she had tons of practice giving people that face all the time. She figured biting him would be out of the question if he could just phase right through her grip.

'How am I going to get around it this time?' she pondered, giving him a thorough inspection, 'There is no way he's going to take me back.'

"Uh... sure... I guess," she answered casually, positioning herself nearest the exit of the booth in case she needed to make a quick get away.

He looked different this time from when she saw him at a distance. His hair was different... and his eyes weren't the same scary color they were before. She was positive it was the same person though. His odd scent was still there, tickling her nose. He seemed kind of friendly, but that's just what they wanted her to think. She quickly decided she wasn't going to take any chances. She'd just have to watch her back and not let her guard down. She'd even fight if she needed to.

'No matter what, he isn't going to take me back again. Not now. Not ever,' she sighed heavily as she tried to calm herself so as not to betray her doubts.

"Thanks. By the way, my name is Mason and this is my pal, Alphonse," the boy said, referring to the mudkip on his shoulder as he sat down across from her.

"Mud Mud Kippppp," Alphonse said cheerfully to the girl. Mason gave her a smile and tried to act on his best behavior; the last thing he wanted was for his secret to get out.

"Heh," she muttered, noticing his all-too-innocent smile and that little... thing on his shoulder.

It really didn't seem like he knew who she was. That was strange. She was usually good at reading people and he definitely seemed like he was hiding something, but that could just be the thing she'd seen before. In any case, she didn't want to be that quick to trust him, but she could at least give him her name, right? And if he was waiting for that moment to grab her, she could always run away and get help. Then again... who would help a little girl who was running away from a boy who looked about her age? Not many people actually.

"I'm... Cloe," she told him quietly, looking around for anyone she might recognize who might be hiding somewhere so they could jump out and attack her at any moment. Turning back to the odd boy, she eyeballed the little Alphonse on his shoulder. It kept looking at her curiously and she got the feeling she was being watched by more than just that... whatever it really was.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you, Cloe," Mason said with a small smile. He didn't want to overdo the innocent boy act and besides, he had a feeling she knew he was hiding either his Death Note or his ghost powers. Either way, he felt a strange presence coming from her.

'I better watch my back,' he decided to himself, sitting back in his seat. He could feel his dark side starting to take over from the inside and his eyes started to change color, but he quickly stopped himself before his expression began to change. 'This girl might be suspicious, but I don't want to kill her... at least not yet... and besides I don't know her last name, so for now I better control myself and lay low,' he thought to himself.

Alphonse slowly crawled onto his lap and he began to gently scratch his friend's head. "So, how long does this train take to get to Hogwarts?" he asked, luckily having overheard some kids talking about the upcoming year on the way here, so he assumed the train was going there. From what he'd heard, he thought it was some type of magical school or something.

'So, that's where I'm going,' Cloe thought, finding herself slightly relieved, but curious all the same. She'd originally been under the impression these people were going to some kind of dork convention. At least she would have fit in at one of those.

The two continued to talk for a little while longer until Cloe went dead silent and wouldn't stop giving him this hard look. Mason pretended to be uncomfortable, though he knew she knew something.

(A/N) Okay pplz. This is chappie one of the ever exciting roleplay and now story started forever ago! WOOT! I can just feel the excitement. I expect reviews and definitely some readers, too. Seriously… I've been having such a bad year, the least you can do is make things a little bit better by leaving me even just a sentence about whether or not you liked this totally original idea my peeps and I worked so hard to come up with. Oh, come on, guys. You know I luv you! huggles! 3

EDIT:

As many of you may know from looking at my updated profile, I'm embarking on a massive "spring cleaning" of my entire account – including each of my profiles and ALL of my stories. This is the 18th fic I uploaded to my account.

So, here are the edits I made to this chapter: fixed a few grammatical errors, corrected the formatting, tweaked a few words in the narration, and weeded out any spelling errors there might have been. Nothing drastic.

Original post: 10/8/09

Revised: 10/23/11

Reposted: 10/30/11