It was finally the day, and my stomach kept turning uncomfortably as I shovelled my breakfast down. My hands were trembling as I pushed Iggy into his cage, meowing in protest.

"Sorry, Iggs. I don't think I can let you out until we reach Hogwarts," I said sympathetically, scratching his neck with a finger.

My nerves only got worse after Father apparated us, and my things, to the train station.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I grumbled. Iggy growled in agreement, at least, I supposed that was what the squeaky sound that came from him was supposed to be.

"Camille," Father cleared his throat authoritatively.

I straightened my back and met his gaze questioningly.

"Remember, you're a Selwyn. A pureblood. You will bring pride to our name, do you hear?"

"Yes, Father," I nodded.

"Good," he smiled at me. "Move along, now."

Steadying Iggy's cage carefully in front of me, I heaved my trolley forward towards platform 9. My face scrunched up in confusion as I approached.

"Where's platform 9 and ¾?" I turned to my mother, standing next to me. A rare smile spread across her lips.

"See that wall?" She bent down to whisper in my ear. I nodded at the wall she was pointing to. "All you have to do is...run through it." I drew back doubtfully.

"Are you sure?" My parents exchanged an amused glance before my mother set a gentle hand on my arm.

"Come, I'll show you." I watched skeptically as my mother walked head towards the very solid-looking wall and...vanished. I shook my head, then squinted at the spot she had been.

"Mother?" Father chuckled, pushing me gently closer.

"Your turn, now. It's better to run if you're nervous." I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, and pushed forward. I didn't crash.

My eyes fluttered open nervously, before widening in amazement.

A bright-red steam engine was waiting on the tracks next to a crowded platform, a different platform from the one I was on just barely a few seconds ago.

"Go on, Camille," Father said gently. I jumped a bit, having not noticed my parents' sudden appearance beside me.

"Okay," I inhaled deeply. "I can do this." Turning around to wave and send a last smile to my parents, I made my way towards the train.

The first few carriages were already filled with students. Heart beating frantically in my chest, I searched for an empty carriage, or at least, someone I knew. My eyebrows rose as I spotted a boy my age, with unruly dark hair and a...scar on his forehead sitting alone in a carriage. Harry Potter, I mused. I've heard my parents talk about him a lot. The boy who lived. For a short moment, I struggled internally between going in to see what he was like and looking for my friends. My overwhelming curiosity won out in the end. I took a deep breath and straightened.

"Hello," I peered through the door of the compartment. "Can I sit here?" He startled up a bit, before shaking his head.

"Okay," I grinned. "Mind giving me a hand with these, then?" I asked sheepishly, gesturing towards my trunk. "I don't think I can manage on my own."

"Sure," he jumped up from his seat. I took Iggy's cage carefully off the top and placed it on a seat, before taking one end of the trunk.

"On three," he said. "One...two...three!" We heaved my trunk off the trolley and into the carriage. After much struggling, we managed to get it under the seat at last.

"Thanks," I panted, blowing my curls out of my face. "Camille Selwyn, nice to meet you." He shook my outstretched hand almost hesitatingly.

"Harry Potter."

"I know who you are. You're rather famous in the wizarding world, see," I replied with a grin.

The door of the compartment slid open, and a ginger-haired boy came in.

"Anyone sitting there?" he pointed to the seat across from me. "Everywhere else is full."

We shook our heads and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. I stifled a chuckle. Evidently, I wasn't the only one aware of Harry Potter's presence. Same, ginger. Same, I thought amusedly.

"Hey, Ron." The compartment door slid open yet again, and two older identical boys with ginger hair peeked in. So the ginger's name is Ron, and these are his brothers. My brain took a few seconds to link everything together, but by the time I was done, I was shifting uncomfortably in my seat. They were the Weasleys. Purebloods who were very much muggle-tolerant. Blood traitors, my parents called them. Because of that, the other pureblood families weren't terribly fond of them, and likewise.

"Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train—Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," Ron mumbled.

"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley." Weasley! I was right, then. "This is Ron, our brother. And," he squinted at me, "who are you?"

"Camille. Camille Selwyn," I replied reluctantly.

"Selwyn, you say?" The twins exchanged a glance, before turning back to me in interest. "We would've thought you'd be with your friends in the carriages all the way at the back." I was annoyed. They were judging me because of my name. None of your business, I wanted to snap, if not for the fact that I could feel they were trying to test me, see how much of an entitled pureblood heir I was. And I didn't want to prove their suspicions right.

"I couldn't find them," I answered truthfully.

"Your family doesn't like ours' very much," Ron began doubtfully. "Won't your parents be mad if they know you...you know, associate with us?" I bit back a sigh. True, my parents hadn't brought me up to tolerate muggles or "blood-traitors". But I had always thought I would like to meet one before deciding for myself how bad they were.

"They couldn't do a thing even if they knew. Anyways," I shrugged, "does it matter?" The twins exchanged another glance at each other, then beamed delightedly at me.

"We like you, Selwyn. See you guys later, then." They left our compartment as quickly as they arrived. Well, then.

"Um," I cleared my throat. "I'll change into my robes first, yeah?" Without waiting for a response, I grabbed my new Hogwarts robes and left the compartment.

It was easy to lose your footing on a fast moving train, I soon realized. Even keeping one hand on the side of pathway didn't help much.

"Hey," I called out to a girl walking towards me with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth. "Do you know where the loo is?"

"Middle of the train. I can bring you there if you want."

"Sure."

"I'm Hermione Granger," she announced, turning to me. Ah, a muggle-born. I stifled the distaste that I had been taught to feel. "What's your name?"

"Camille Selwyn."

Hermione Granger was rather chatty, I decided, after bidding her goodbye and "see you later". I hardly got a word in. But despite that, I found that I liked her. She was obviously very smart, and I respected intelligence.

I perked up as I spotted Draco, together with Crabbe and Goyle (unpleasant boys whom I didn't like much), leaving my compartment in a huff.

"Draco!" I called. "What were you doing there?" He stopped and grabbed my arm as he passed me.

"It's a Weasley," he spat, "and Harry Potter, who's actually a disappointment. You shouldn't sit with them, you can come with us."

"Don't be silly," I laughed, tugging my arm away. "I've got my things in there and besides, we're reaching already. See you, Draco."

Just then 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."

I hurried to the front, where a crowd of students was gathering. The train slowed down and finally stopped. I joined the rest as everyone jostled their way out onto the dark platform outside. I shivered in the cold night air, tugging my robes closer around me.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" came a loud booming voice and a lantern bobbing over everybody's heads. "All right there, Harry?" I glanced around to look for him and Ron.

I joined their stumble down a rocky, steep path. No one said anything, except for the occasional sniffle from a boy somewhere behind me. Perhaps he was missing his family already, I thought.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a unified "Oooooh!"

The narrow path we were on had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows twinkling brightly, was a huge castle.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid instructed, pointing to a fleet of small boats sitting in the water by the shore.

"C'mon," Hermione tugged my arm excitedly, dragging me towards a boat Harry and Ron were getting into.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then—FORWARD!"

I gasped as the boat lurched forward suddenly, following the others across the lake.

Like everyone else, I gaped up at the castle, towering over us as we sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" bellowed Hagrid as our boats reached the cliff. Hermione and I ducked down simultaneously as we went through a thick curtain of ivy that hid an opening in the cliff. I couldn't see a thing in the darkness as we floated through a long tunnel, until we finally reached a sort of underground harbor. I clambered out gratefully onto solid land.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried a chubby boy blissfully, holding out his hands. With some difficulty, we made our way up to a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, emerging at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge oaken door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


well, that was a fast update. so Camille's finally met the Golden Trio, yay. good lord, i've been writing and editing almost non-stop for a while now. it's insane, i've had like almost no writer's block at all since school started, when assignments are gathering in huge mountains. fantastic.

anyways. i hope you liked this one and...if you could leave a review or a follow (preferably both, obviously), i'll love you forever.

peace out,

catastropherika xo