Chapter One
As if going to a new school was enough, it had to be one that I knew nothing about. Magic? Wands? Spells? When my mom first explained it all to me, I didn't know if I should believe her, or think she was going mad. My dad was just as confused as I was, which made me feel a little better. Apparently, my mom hadn't told him about her secret of being a witch. Not until last month when I got a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I was nervous. Downright petrified. Would I seem like a freak not knowing about anything whatsoever about this magic? For a second, I couldn't help but be mad at my mom for not telling me earlier. But then again, she hadn't known she'd passed her magic blood into me until recently. Nothing to be mad about, I kept telling myself. I just didn't want to embarrass myself on the first day.
And then, as if reading my mind, my mom spoke up from behind me. "Don't worry, Kim. Not many kids go into Hogwarts knowing everything about magic. You won't be alone." She gave me a reassuring smile, and I smiled back uneasily.
"So, Danielle," my dad said to my mom, looking around the train station in which we were standing, "Where's the platform? Nine and Three Quarters, did you say?"
Nodding, my mom replied, "Yes, this way," before taking my hand and briskly walking down a crowded walkway. I could hear the luggage cart Dad was wheeling behind us rattle loudly. I hoped it didn't fall over. I'd only look more embarrassed than I already felt. It seemed like it took forever to get to the platform. I felt like I had trudged a mile, but then again, it could just be the nervousness setting in deeper.
"Here!" Mom cried cheerfully, clapping her hands. We were staring at a barrier between platforms nine and ten.
I looked at her like she was crazy. "Wow, this train looks great Mom," I said sarcastically, bending in to stare at the red brick of the barrier wall. Mom tutted and shook her head, pulling me back and turning around so we both faced my father.
"No need to be a smart aleck," she warned sternly. I heaved a sigh. No fun was she. "Didn't I tell you the Hogwarts Express had a hidden platform entry? Oh well, I must've skipped over that. Anyway, Kim, just walk through the platform wall. It's as simple as pie. But don't get noticed. You too, Lance," she added, giving a quick nod to Dad. And before I could blink, my mom was gone. She had turned to the barrier, stepped through, and was gone. Just like that.
I shot a confused look at Dad, but before I could ask, "What just happened here?" he pushed me backward through the barrier wall, right after a group of tourists mumbled past. Good disguise. I didn't feel anything as I went through the wall, but only the numbed pain on my rear when I fell backwards onto the floor behind it. Too distracted to have embarrassment flush through me, I stumbled upward and looked around in amazement. A sleek, black, huge train was sitting ten feet away from me. I got out of the way just before my dad emerged through the barrier, still wheeling my luggage cart. Walking over to Mom, I pointed out the train to Dad.
"Is that the Hogwarts Express?" I asked Mom, almost in awe. A few seconds of scanning the train did the trick- a huge plate reading 'Hogwarts Express' on the side. Duh, that showed just how observant I was. "Never mind," I said. My dad handed me one of my suitcases, but held the other in his own hand.
"Do you want us to come on the train with you?" he asked, meaning him and my mom.
This would definitely make my nerves calmer, but would do nothing for the reputation I had to build. What would people think of me if I had my parents help me find a seat? They'd think I was a little baby, that's what. No way, I'd do it myself.
"No way," I blurted, but quickly added, "I think I can find a seat myself." Mom and Dad smiled, and to my dismay, each gave me a kiss on the cheek. I pulled a disgusted face, and they relented, knowing their "little girl" was too old for kisses. With a new ambition to get as quickly away from my parents as possible, I grabbed my other suitcase out of Dad's grasp, and trotted up to one of the entrances on to the train.
As soon as I left my Mom, my ambition died away and I wanted to run back. I just then realized going to a new school meant meeting new people. That was definitely not one of my favorite things to do. Fortunately, it seemed as luck was on my side today. But not for everyone.
There was a girl struggling to get through the narrow passageway onto the train. No wonder- with closer studying, I found out she was balancing four gigantic suitcases. Her blonde hair was tied atop her head in a messy bun, although I thought it to be neat before she got here. Four suitcases was definitely a lot to try to stuff through that doorway, and this girl was having a lot of trouble.
Just as I had predicted, one of her suitcases wobbled dangerously for a moment, and tumbled off her stack and fell to the cobblestone platform floor, as if in slow motion. It must've been jam-packed, because on impact with the surface, it flew open, causing girly magazines and knick-knacks to fly everywhere. She turned around facing me and cursed. The poor girl obviously hadn't realized I was there, because she dropped the rest of her suitcases to the floor, blocking the train entryway, and hopped down from the steps.
So much for me finding an empty seat. By the time I helped this girl out every compartment would be filled. I sighed, and bent down to pick up a magazine that had fell nearest me. Finally, the girl noticed I was a person.
"Oh! Hi! Sorry, about this. I guess I should've had someone help me get my things onto the train," she announced in a cheery voice, not exactly looking sorry at all. She swiped the magazine from my hand and muttered a "Thanks." This girl was obviously keener on getting all of her things packed up quickly so people wouldn't think she was clumsy.
"I'll help," I said, setting my own suitcases down and scavenging for things that had been dropped. "Oh, I'm Kim Carrey, by the way," I introduced, still doubled over, collecting a glitzy picture frame and another fashion magazine. I glanced over at the unfortunate girl, and saw she was wearing a mini skirt, not the best article of clothing for bending down.
"Hey- thanks!" she said, standing back up straight and emptying the crapload of belongings in her arms into the open suitcase. "I'm Brooke Farlee. This your first year here?" Brooke then asked, sounding curious. I walked over to her, picking up the last bit of junk and dropping it into the luggage compartment.
"Yeah," I confessed, nodding my head. "Same for you?" Brooke looked to be the same age as me. Maybe a year or two older, but it was darn close.
She bent down and snapped the clasps closed on the suitcase, picking three up and heading for the entrance to the train again. "Yup, a firstie. Mind getting that for me?" Brooke motioned to the last of her suitcases, and I nodded and scrambled for my own. Tucking a bit of my sandy blonde hair behind my ears, I grabbed the suitcase handles and followed Brooke onto the train.
I didn't expect the inside to look less magnificent than the outside, but boy, was I wrong. The interior of the Hogwarts Express was fancy and formal looking, but much less peaceful. In fact, it was completely chaotic. Everyone must've arrived earlier than me, or maybe it was Brooke that delayed me, for the train was packed.
"Whoa!" Brooke squealed, ducking down from an incoming paper airplane. Older teenagers pushed passed us, trying to settle everyone down. I prodded her back.
"Check the compartments!" I yelled over the noise, wanting to find some peace and quiet. Luckily, the first compartment Brooke checked seemed to be a good place to settle into. When I stepped through the compartment doorway though, I didn't think so. Why had Brooke chosen a compartment with two boys? The last thing I wanted to worry about at the moment was that of the male species. Darn. At least they seemed to be our age.
Both boys looked extremely relieved to see us enter. They were sitting across from each other, the one on the left was tall and had shaggy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and the boy on the right had normal cut, slightly curly brown hair and green eyes. Brooke walked passed, obviously already asked if us two could sit with the guys, and docked her luggage up top. I followed and did the same, making sure not to knock anyone else's suitcases. That would be disastrous.
I turned around, Brooke winked to me, flipping her gorgeous blonde hair, and sat nearest to the door next to the blonde boy. Well, this seemed awkward. I was left to sit next to the brown-haired kid, next to the window. My nervous feeling that had left me after I met Brooke seeped back again. Just dandy.
There was a moment of silence before Brooke's peppy voice jumped in. "So! Who are you two? I'm Brooke!" she smiled widely, her eyes narrow as slits above her cheeks. Heart pounding, I spoke up too, not wanting to seem like some kind of shy girl, which, of course, I was.
"And I'm Kim," I greeted, looking from one boy to the other. The brown-haired boy seemed like he would rather be elsewhere, and wasn't looking at anyone except the ceiling. The blonde boy though, was happy enough to be talking to us.
"Sam," he introduced, giving a smug smile and nodding. Sam glanced at the brown-haired boy, and seeing as that kid didn't seem like he was going to say anything anytime soon, decided to tell us his name. "Oh, and that's Carver," Sam pointed to the boy, who nodded briefly, and went back to staring. Staring at the compartment door, this time.
Brooke decided to disregard Carver and just talk to Sam and I. It did seem like the thing to do. Leave the boy out if he didn't want to talk, because I wasn't about to say anything to him. I looked to Brooke, and waited for her to start up a conversation, since she seemed to be the chatty type. I definitely wasn't going to start one up.
To my surprise, it was Sam that started speaking, "What houses are you guys hoping to get in? Me, well, I'm hoping for Gryffindor." He looked to both of us, and Brooke replied before I could.
"Gryffindor, of course, for me too. Who wouldn't? But then again, I'll probably end up in Hufflepuff," she sighed and shook her head. "I really hope not, though."
I knew a little about these houses, and new that Gryffindor was definitely the number one choice of practically everyone. "Same with me. Gryffindor all the way," I nodded. "I'm almost positive I'll make it into Ravenclaw," I added as an afterthought. When I began to think about it, it made enough sense. I had about straight A's in all of my previous classes. Better start calling them muggle classes, I reminded myself. Got to use the wizard slang if I want to fit in.
Brooke didn't wait for Carver's answer. It seemed she knew it wasn't coming anytime soon. "It really sucks being first year though. I really don't know anything about Hogwarts. Sure, there are the basic details and all, but I'm half blood. My dad started telling me I might be a witch until last year. I thought he was going mad."
"Tell me about it," I groaned, and slouched down in my seat. "I just learned about this magic crap a month ago. Mum didn't even bother saying she had magic blood, seemed like she totally forgot about it." Sam laughed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"And you guys think you've got it bad? I'm muggle born! I still don't get anything. Except, Quidditch. I bought a load of books from Diagon Alley all about it. And get this- the pictures in the books move! Either of you like Quidditch?" Sam asked, a hopeful look plastered on his face. Ranting to his parents all August must've made them go crazy, and now he was going to start on us.
I shook my head. "Sorry, I don't have a clue." And this was true. Mom never told me about Quidditch. I had to suppress a giggle when Sam first said the name of it. Quidditch was definitely an odd word. But then again, so was muggle. The wizarding world was chock full of them.
Brooke, on the other hand, did know about this Quidditch. And a great deal, to boot. "Quidditch is great!" she exclaimed, a little overenthusiastically. Neither bothered to explain what it was to me before going off in their own little world of teams and chasers, beaters and seekers. Whatever those were. I used the time to get a good glimpse at the pasture, but after an hour, I began to get restless. Weren't those two done with Quidditch already? Couldn't I get in the conversation again?
My gaze wandered to the compartment door, and then to Carver, who was sitting on the same side of the compartment as me. I had completely forgotten about him, he hadn't even said one word through the whole trip. Maybe he was shy, or maybe he just didn't like us. At least he had found something to do besides stare aimlessly around the compartment. He was reading a book- one with a very thick binding, I noticed.
Then as I was watching him, I saw Carver's eyes pick up from the text in the book, and wander over to Brooke and Sam, still happily chatting away. Then, to my horror, he looked over to me. Oh great, complete eye contact was made between him and I. It might've given him the wrong ideas. Luckily, I looked back over to Sam, before Carver and me were staring at each other too long. Was he still looking at me? I was too embarrassed to check.
Before a moment had passed after that incident, the compartment door flew open, revealing a short, stout boy with black, ruffled hair. He looked cute, almost like a teddy bear. His hazel eyes darted around the compartment's occupants before landing on Sam. The boy smiled a smile that showed all of his teeth.
"I thought I heard a familiar voice! Did you think you were just going to leave all of us at school behind?" The boy walked over to Sam, who stood up, smiling also. The boys did a sort of handshake before talking again.
"Rob? Dude! You're here!" Sam shouted. Even Carver looked up from what he was reading to see the commotion. I was a bit taken aback.
"You're a wizard, Sam? Why didn't you tell me! Of course, I didn't find out until a few months ago. That letter came completely out of the blue!" the boy named Rob took a seat next to Brooke, not noticing she was there, and Sam sat down after. Brooke didn't seem to like being unnoticed. She fixed her face into a pout, and waited for the old friend's conversation to die down.
"Sam, aren't you going to introduce me and Kim to your friend?" she asked, putting a smile on. Sam looked up, forgetting there were other people there.
"Oh. Oh yeah! Rob, this is Brooke," he pointed to Brooke, "Kim," he pointed to me, " and Carver. We're all first years, too. Oh yeah, and everyone, this is Rob." Sam laughed as Rob smiled and waved. Rob definitely seemed like a cheerful person.
"Yeah, nice to meet you all," he greeted; giving a wary look at Carver, who had went back to his book. I realized Carver was just plain unsociable, and to avoid him in the future if I could help it. I made a mental note, just as another boy, this one much taller and much older, knocked on the compartment door and entered.
Now, I was never one to go googley-eyed over a boy. But this boy, he was super good-looking. Very easy on the eyes. His black hair was spiked to perfection, and he had the most adorable blue eyes. Eyes you could just sink into, eyes that would melt all of your troubles away. But he was only in the doorway for a moment, to get one point across.
"We'll be arriving in a minute. Change into your robes. You'll receive further instructions when we stop," he informed. And in a flash, he was gone.
And sure enough, I looked out the window, shocked to see how dark it was. Just over the hill in the distance, I could clearly make out the outline of a castle. We were there at last. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Disclaimer: Please note that everything you recognize is property of J.K. Rowling. Only the story plot and student characters were created by me. Most to all of the professors and staff were not my idea, but that of J.K. Rowling's.
AN: Well, this is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction! Hope you all like it. Please remember to review and share what you think. Chapter Two to be coming shortly.