Chapter One – No Distractions?
"Are Brits any different from Americans, mom?" Carrie asked as she double-checked her trunk for things she might've missed.
"Am I any different, darling?" Carrie's mom, Alyssa, asked.
"Just the funny accent that after twenty years you still haven't managed to get rid of," Carrie laughed.
Alyssa came over and sat on Carrie's bed, watching her daughter fold her panties. "Hogwarts will be just like Oakwood, darling, I promise. Just new people and new professors, that's all. I've told you everything I remember about the place, you'll do fine." Alyssa hugged her daughter and Carrie stole one last glance at her room before she left it for what seemed like would be forever.
Carrie Maureen White is the only daughter of Jerry and Alyssa White. Jerry was an American editor of a popular Quidditch magazine and Alyssa an intelligent British potions researcher. Alyssa had graduated from Hogwarts where she intended to send her children until, of course, she had met and married Jerry. After a long talk they had decided to send little Carrie to Oakwood, a top American school of witchcraft and wizardry, rather than Hogwarts. However, last year, the Whites began having disputes with Oakwood's school board and after a letter to Headmaster McGonagall it was decided that Carrie carry out the remainder of her education at Hogwarts. McGonagall even paid them a visit during the summer with the sorting hat to save Carrie the embarrassment of having to get sorted with the first years. Carrie had ended up in Ravenclaw, just like her mother. Carrie remembered being distinctly thankful she had a lot of blue clothes.
She was seventeen this year. Her seventh year. She didn't know a lot about British culture or schools, despite her mother, and was feeling rather shaky about being sent to Hogwarts. "They don't take many students that haven't attended there from the start so you'd better not let them down," Alyssa had lectured. Alyssa tried to convince Carrie that because her marks were so good (she was the top in her class at Oakwood) Headmaster McGonagall had made a special exception for her but Carrie suspected she was only being let into Hogwarts because Alyssa had been one of Professor McGonagall's all-time favorite students.
After Carrie and her mom (Jerry was away on business) had apparated near the train station they hurried through the barrier and onto the platform. Carrie said her goodbyes with a sinking feeling, Alyssa gave Hogwarts tips and rules through heavy smooches that made Carrie go, "Mom!", and finally Carrie hurried onto the train.
Carrie was positively scared stiff as she went down the corridor, lugging her heavy trunk behind her. Every compartment seemed to be full with cliques that had a lot of catching up to do. Carrie was beginning to feel the inevitable feeling of being excluded. She had never felt this at Oakwood. She had been popular with her fellow classmates and well-liked by the teachers. She was beginning to panic, catching glimpses of curious faces as she strode along.
Finally, after her second time down the corridor someone opened a door and called, "Hey, do you need somewhere to sit?" The voice belonged to a tall, gangly girl who was very pale with short, spiky black hair. She had large amounts of black eye makeup and sported black fingernails.
Carrie was a little repulsed by the girl's appearance but quickly shoved it away since she was smart enough to realize that the girl was offering a seat. "Yes! Please!" Carrie sighed in relief and hurried into the compartment. There was another person in there, a large, heavy-set boy with short mousy brown hair and large bulgy eyes.
The boy put her trunk up for her and she sat down across from them both, feeling very uncomfortable. "Hi, I'm Roger Solo," the boy held out a pudgy hand that Carrie shook with a forced smile.
"I'm Katy Welsh," the dark-haired girl said, giving a large, toothy smile that seemed out of place next to the dark makeup and black fingernails.
"Well it's really nice to meet you both. I'm Carrie White. I'm from Oakwood but my parents decided to send me to Hogwarts this year and –"
"Whoa, what's this? Oakwood? So you're American?" asked Katy.
"Oh yeah," began Carrie nervously.
"Uh. I just love girls with accents," Roger said happily.
"He means guys with accents," Katy said, grinning. Carrie frowned, confused.
Roger gasped and glared at Katy. "Oh come on, like she's going to tell anyone," reasoned Katy to a hurt looking Roger.
"You won't tell anyone will you?" Roger had a pleading look on his face.
"No. I don't mind. Why, is that kind of thing not accepted at Hogwarts?" Carrie
tried to make it sound as though being homosexual was just peachy back at Oakwood but truth was if someone there found out you were gay you'd never have friends again. Carrie had always tried to stay away from the subject but once or twice she had gone with the rest of the group and joined in on poking fun. It made her very guilty sitting here with Roger. He seemed so nice.
"Are you kidding me? The Quidditch jocks would be lighting his boxer-briefs on fire for weeks if they found out," smiled Katy. She had a way of saying what would be normally very rude things in a way that made them innocent and harmless. If some of Carrie's friends back at Oakwood had said "He means guys with accents," at that moment like Katy did they would've been making fun of Roger but Katy wasn't.
Carrie gave a nervous laugh, not entirely sure if she was supposed to or not. Thankfully Katy and Roger were both smiling. They seemed cool.
"So have you already been sorted or do you have to stand up there with the FB's when we get back to the castle?" Katy asked.
"FB's?"
"Fresh Bacon. We're referring to the first years," explained Roger.
"Oh. Well, I've already been sorted into Ravenclaw," Carrie said. This obviously was not a good thing because at that point her new-found friends sighed.
"We're in Hufflepuff," groaned Roger. "It's too bad, we'd love to help you out and show you the ropes."
"Oh, well I do know a little bit. My mom went to Hogwarts so she's told me a lot about it. I'm not entirely helpless. I just hope I'll make friends easy," Carrie said and then inwardly wished she hadn't said that last part. It made it sound as though she didn't consider Katy and Roger her friends, which (much to her surprise), Carrie was finding that she actually did think of Katy and Roger as friends. Katy and Roger didn't seem to notice that Carrie was accidentally implying anything.
For the rest of the journey on the train (which was an irritatingly long one – Carrie didn't like to go too long without stretching her legs) the little group chatted and carried on. At once Carrie recognized that Katy and Roger were outcasts together, Katy being the funny leader and Roger sticking with the sensitive loyal follower part. Carrie thought they were fun. A lot of fun. It was surprising, she wouldn't have been caught dead hanging out with people like this at Oakwood.
Finally, Carrie found herself in the black school robes, so different from Oakwood's blue, and marching along with Katy and Roger into a carriage. Carrie was entranced by Hogwarts. It was gorgeous. It was a fucking castle for god's sake. Oakwood had just been a collection of fancy Roman-styled buildings in the middle of hot, dry, Texas.
Maybe this year won't be so bad after all, thought Carrie, smiling up at the castle. She'd learn much more at Hogwarts, she was sure. It was supposed to be the best school worldwide. And this year there was nothing to stop her from her studies, nothing to distract her.
Just then a tall, handsome, sandy-blonde boy stepped in front of her, talking animatedly to a bunch of other tall, handsome boys. Okay, maybe there was something to distract her after all.