Chapter 2
The Trip to Hogwarts
Yes, it was true. James felt like he had the best luck in the world. Sirius Black, his best friend since he was inside his mum's stomach, was also a wizard and would be going to school with him at Hogwarts. It was two months after the day Sirius told him he was a wizard. Despite his and Sirius's utter joy and excitement, they somehow made it through the rest of July and August. They weren't patient, though. Every day Sirius would be over his house, and they would ask his parents all these questions about Hogwarts. They learned that there were four houses at Hogwarts, which were named after the school's founders: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. James's parents were in Gryffindor, but they would not tell him how you were sorted into each house . They learned about Quidditch, the wizard sport. His mum was a Quiddtich champion in her day. Finally, the day much anticipated had come, August 31, the day they would make their departure.
David and Sylvia Potter drove the two wizards to King's Cross Station. They said their good byes, and Sylvia told her son to send her an owl as soon as he got settled in. He would, James told her.
But standing there on platform nine, the two didn't feel so excited or overjoyed anymore.
"What are we supposed to do? There's no platform nine and three quarters here! Just platform nine, and platform ten!" Sirius complained, "I think your parents left out a tidbit of information!"
"Don't blame me!" James said, holding up his hands. Sirius started pacing which was not a good sign. Whenever he did that, it meant he was getting really mad. James knew he had a short temper.
"Only eleven minutes until the train-"
"Hey, look, there's someone carrying an owl! I bet he knows how to get there!" James said excitedly. He ran over to where the kid was standing, and Sirius followed him. The boy didn't look very nice. He had greased back black hair, cold gray eyes, a pointed nose, and was wearing a smirk on his face. James tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me. Are you going to Hogwarts?" he asked politely.
"Obviously," he sneered.
"Oh, yes, well um, do you know how to get to platform nine and three quarters? There's-"
The boy interrupted James by laughing out loud. It was an evil laugh.
But before Sirius could say something mean to the boy, he ran. He ran straight through the wall.
"Did you just see-"
"Yes," James interjected, "I think to get to platform nine and three quarters, we have to run through the barrier. This time it was Sirius's turn to laugh. James picked up his heavy suitcase, and started to walk, then jog, then run to where the boy had disappeared seconds before. He was coming closer, closer, he was now feet from the wall. He closed his eyes and braced himself for a heavy impact, but much to his surprise, he didn't feel a thing. He stopped running, and opened his eyes. He saw a scarlet steam engine looming ahead of him. The platform number read nine and 3 quarters. The platform was crowded with Hogwarts students in robes, all carrying suitcases or trunks, and some carrying an owl in a cage. He immediately recognized the mean boy, who was with another kid who had blacker hair than the first. He also looked a lot meaner. The first one pointed at James and said something and they both started snickering. James glared at them. Then, suddenly, someone crashed into him from behind, making them both fall over. And James's suitcase fly out of his hands. It seemed as if everyone was laughing at them. Talk about great first impressions.
James groaned and rubbed his elbow, which he had fallen on. He turned his head and saw that Sirius was sprawled on the floor next to him. He groaned even louder.
"What did you do that for?" he demanded.
"Well, excuse me, I wasn't the one standing in front of the other side of the wall, practically, asking for someone to crash into me!" he said angrily, "It wasn't-"
"Ouch! That has got to hurt," said a female voice. James realized he was still lying on the floor. He quickly got up and brushed himself off. He turned around to see a girl their age. She was very good looking. She had long, curly red hair, and bright green eyes.
"Nah, not really," he said, trying not to grimace from the pain.
"Oh?" she said. James knew she didn't believe him.
"This is out first year at Hogwarts, how about you?" Sirius said, changing the subject. James gave him a look that plainly said, "thank you."
"Me too. By the way, I'm Lily Riddle. You would be?" she said.
"Sirius Black. Pleasure to meet you." He bowed and kissed her hand. She giggled. James rolled his eyes.
"I'm James Potter," James said.
"Nice to meet you too James," she said, "Oh shoot, only 3 minutes till the train leaves, we're gonna be late! Sorry, have to run, see you at Hogwarts!" and she was gone.
"We gotta go too Sirius, c'mon!" James said as he picked up his suitcase, he ran to the train, with Sirius at his heels, just as the doors were closing. They hopped on the train as it pulled away from the platform. They looked everywhere for a seat, but they found one no where.
"What are we going to do now?" Sirius whined.
"We still have the compartment in the very back," James reminded him patiently. They walked to the very back of the train, and sure enough, there sat only one boy, looking lonely. He looked up quickly.
"Hey, can we sit here?" Sirius asked, "The rest of the train's full."
"Sure!" he said brightly. He was rather shabby looking, James though. His robes had patches on them and were several inches short. He had tangled brown hair, and his eyes looked tired. James and Sirius sat in the seats across from the boy.
"I'm Remus Lupin," he said shyly, "What's your name?"
"Petty White," Sirius said with a straight face. James kicked him in the shins. Whenever someone asked his name, he would say "Petty White" because it was the opposite of "Sirius Black" James thought it was a stupid joke.
"Please excuse Sirius here, he's on the slow side. He forgets his name sometimes," James explained. Remus looked very confused.
"Look what you did James, you confused the poor guy!" Sirius said. James rolled his eyes.
"My name is James Potter," he explained to Remus, "and this is Sirius Black. Get it? Petty, serious, white, black?" Remus burst out laughing.
"Ha! See, my jokes are funny, James!" he said proudly.
"Nah, I was laughing at how lame that was!" Remus said in between giggles. Sirius pretended to look hurt, but then he, too started laughing. James couldn't help himself. He joined in the laugh-fest too. He liked Remus Lupin. He looked like he would be a good friend. Suddenly, the door to the compartment opened and in walked the mean boy and his sidekick. They were still laughing.
"What's so funny? How you couldn't get through the barrier earlier?" he asked sarcastically.
"No, it's your hair. It looks like you used about 3 pounds of gel.," Sirius said wickedly. The boy frowned. The frown turned into a glare. He walked right over to where Sirius sat. "I am not going to take any crap from you this year, Black. No matter how special you think you are." He said coldly. Sirius raised and eyebrow at the boy, and he looked right back at Sirius. For a minute James thought Sirius would punch him. They were interrupted by the compartment door opening once again, but this time by a chubby little witch pushing a cart full of sweets.
"Come, Lucius," the boy growled to his sidekick, "we'll settle this later."
"Ohhhhh, I am trembling in fear!" Sirius said sarcastically. The boy looked over his shoulder.
"You don't want to get on my bad side, Black. Unfortunately you already are," he said coldly. Sirius fainted in mock terror. By this time Remus and James were howling with laughter. The two boys sauntered out the door.
"Ooh, Pepper Imps, I've really been looking forward to these!" Remus said excitedly. The woman pushing the cart said they cost 3 knuts apiece. Remus's face fell. James quickly said he would pay for them. He bought all kinds of weird candy which included chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and of course, Pepper Imps.
The rest of the train ride went smoothly and quickly. No more unwelcome visits from the boy and Lucius. James really had to find out his name. They spent the rest of the ride telling jokes and eating. Sirius bravely tried a jelly bean that was a blackish-gray color. It turned out to be dirt. Remus tried a brown one that he thought was chocolate, but turned out to be...well never mind that.
It felt like the train was slowing down, and sure enough, they heard what must have been the conductor's voice yelling, "Last stop, Hogwarts!" The three wizards gathered their suitcases and walked off the train and onto the platform.
"FIRS YEARS O'ER HERE!!!" a deep voice boomed. It came from a giant of a man, who introduced himself as Hagrid. He instructed them to get on the boat he was pointing to. It looked small, but somehow, they all fit on with room to spare. James took in his surroundings. He saw a very large lake, sparkling in the moonlight. And beyond that, a huge castle, bigger than anything James had ever seen before. He could see that the castle had four big towers, and at least 15 smaller ones. The castle looked as if it was 20 stories high! His eyes were fixed on the castle, open wide. "Wow..." he breathed. He had been looking for the castle for so long, he didn't even realize that the boat was pulling up to a dock. James started to feel nervous. What happened now?
Hagrid let the first years off the boat, up a hill, and finally up to the huge wooden doors of Hogwarts. He banged three times on the door with his massive fists. The doors opened magically, welcoming them inside.
AN: Hello! Glad you liked the first one, which in my opinion sucked big time! Its cuz I wrote that like a year ago, I just couldn't figure out how to post it on ffnet!! Just to let ya know, chapters 1-3 really are not that good in my opinion, but they get so much better from then on, if I do say so myself! Oh, BTW don't think Evilla is out of the picture just cuz she's not mentioned in this part, she'll be back next chapter!! Just to let you guys know, don't be so nice in your reviews! Well excluding one VERY RUDE person *cough* I'd like to know how I can improve on this, what u like, wut u don't like, etc...Ok I've babbled enough, so please review and all flames will be laughed at and deleted! Thanks! Luv ya, Amy
Disclaimer: Anyone or anything you recognize in the Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling. Anything else belongs to me.
The Trip to Hogwarts
Yes, it was true. James felt like he had the best luck in the world. Sirius Black, his best friend since he was inside his mum's stomach, was also a wizard and would be going to school with him at Hogwarts. It was two months after the day Sirius told him he was a wizard. Despite his and Sirius's utter joy and excitement, they somehow made it through the rest of July and August. They weren't patient, though. Every day Sirius would be over his house, and they would ask his parents all these questions about Hogwarts. They learned that there were four houses at Hogwarts, which were named after the school's founders: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. James's parents were in Gryffindor, but they would not tell him how you were sorted into each house . They learned about Quidditch, the wizard sport. His mum was a Quiddtich champion in her day. Finally, the day much anticipated had come, August 31, the day they would make their departure.
David and Sylvia Potter drove the two wizards to King's Cross Station. They said their good byes, and Sylvia told her son to send her an owl as soon as he got settled in. He would, James told her.
But standing there on platform nine, the two didn't feel so excited or overjoyed anymore.
"What are we supposed to do? There's no platform nine and three quarters here! Just platform nine, and platform ten!" Sirius complained, "I think your parents left out a tidbit of information!"
"Don't blame me!" James said, holding up his hands. Sirius started pacing which was not a good sign. Whenever he did that, it meant he was getting really mad. James knew he had a short temper.
"Only eleven minutes until the train-"
"Hey, look, there's someone carrying an owl! I bet he knows how to get there!" James said excitedly. He ran over to where the kid was standing, and Sirius followed him. The boy didn't look very nice. He had greased back black hair, cold gray eyes, a pointed nose, and was wearing a smirk on his face. James tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me. Are you going to Hogwarts?" he asked politely.
"Obviously," he sneered.
"Oh, yes, well um, do you know how to get to platform nine and three quarters? There's-"
The boy interrupted James by laughing out loud. It was an evil laugh.
But before Sirius could say something mean to the boy, he ran. He ran straight through the wall.
"Did you just see-"
"Yes," James interjected, "I think to get to platform nine and three quarters, we have to run through the barrier. This time it was Sirius's turn to laugh. James picked up his heavy suitcase, and started to walk, then jog, then run to where the boy had disappeared seconds before. He was coming closer, closer, he was now feet from the wall. He closed his eyes and braced himself for a heavy impact, but much to his surprise, he didn't feel a thing. He stopped running, and opened his eyes. He saw a scarlet steam engine looming ahead of him. The platform number read nine and 3 quarters. The platform was crowded with Hogwarts students in robes, all carrying suitcases or trunks, and some carrying an owl in a cage. He immediately recognized the mean boy, who was with another kid who had blacker hair than the first. He also looked a lot meaner. The first one pointed at James and said something and they both started snickering. James glared at them. Then, suddenly, someone crashed into him from behind, making them both fall over. And James's suitcase fly out of his hands. It seemed as if everyone was laughing at them. Talk about great first impressions.
James groaned and rubbed his elbow, which he had fallen on. He turned his head and saw that Sirius was sprawled on the floor next to him. He groaned even louder.
"What did you do that for?" he demanded.
"Well, excuse me, I wasn't the one standing in front of the other side of the wall, practically, asking for someone to crash into me!" he said angrily, "It wasn't-"
"Ouch! That has got to hurt," said a female voice. James realized he was still lying on the floor. He quickly got up and brushed himself off. He turned around to see a girl their age. She was very good looking. She had long, curly red hair, and bright green eyes.
"Nah, not really," he said, trying not to grimace from the pain.
"Oh?" she said. James knew she didn't believe him.
"This is out first year at Hogwarts, how about you?" Sirius said, changing the subject. James gave him a look that plainly said, "thank you."
"Me too. By the way, I'm Lily Riddle. You would be?" she said.
"Sirius Black. Pleasure to meet you." He bowed and kissed her hand. She giggled. James rolled his eyes.
"I'm James Potter," James said.
"Nice to meet you too James," she said, "Oh shoot, only 3 minutes till the train leaves, we're gonna be late! Sorry, have to run, see you at Hogwarts!" and she was gone.
"We gotta go too Sirius, c'mon!" James said as he picked up his suitcase, he ran to the train, with Sirius at his heels, just as the doors were closing. They hopped on the train as it pulled away from the platform. They looked everywhere for a seat, but they found one no where.
"What are we going to do now?" Sirius whined.
"We still have the compartment in the very back," James reminded him patiently. They walked to the very back of the train, and sure enough, there sat only one boy, looking lonely. He looked up quickly.
"Hey, can we sit here?" Sirius asked, "The rest of the train's full."
"Sure!" he said brightly. He was rather shabby looking, James though. His robes had patches on them and were several inches short. He had tangled brown hair, and his eyes looked tired. James and Sirius sat in the seats across from the boy.
"I'm Remus Lupin," he said shyly, "What's your name?"
"Petty White," Sirius said with a straight face. James kicked him in the shins. Whenever someone asked his name, he would say "Petty White" because it was the opposite of "Sirius Black" James thought it was a stupid joke.
"Please excuse Sirius here, he's on the slow side. He forgets his name sometimes," James explained. Remus looked very confused.
"Look what you did James, you confused the poor guy!" Sirius said. James rolled his eyes.
"My name is James Potter," he explained to Remus, "and this is Sirius Black. Get it? Petty, serious, white, black?" Remus burst out laughing.
"Ha! See, my jokes are funny, James!" he said proudly.
"Nah, I was laughing at how lame that was!" Remus said in between giggles. Sirius pretended to look hurt, but then he, too started laughing. James couldn't help himself. He joined in the laugh-fest too. He liked Remus Lupin. He looked like he would be a good friend. Suddenly, the door to the compartment opened and in walked the mean boy and his sidekick. They were still laughing.
"What's so funny? How you couldn't get through the barrier earlier?" he asked sarcastically.
"No, it's your hair. It looks like you used about 3 pounds of gel.," Sirius said wickedly. The boy frowned. The frown turned into a glare. He walked right over to where Sirius sat. "I am not going to take any crap from you this year, Black. No matter how special you think you are." He said coldly. Sirius raised and eyebrow at the boy, and he looked right back at Sirius. For a minute James thought Sirius would punch him. They were interrupted by the compartment door opening once again, but this time by a chubby little witch pushing a cart full of sweets.
"Come, Lucius," the boy growled to his sidekick, "we'll settle this later."
"Ohhhhh, I am trembling in fear!" Sirius said sarcastically. The boy looked over his shoulder.
"You don't want to get on my bad side, Black. Unfortunately you already are," he said coldly. Sirius fainted in mock terror. By this time Remus and James were howling with laughter. The two boys sauntered out the door.
"Ooh, Pepper Imps, I've really been looking forward to these!" Remus said excitedly. The woman pushing the cart said they cost 3 knuts apiece. Remus's face fell. James quickly said he would pay for them. He bought all kinds of weird candy which included chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and of course, Pepper Imps.
The rest of the train ride went smoothly and quickly. No more unwelcome visits from the boy and Lucius. James really had to find out his name. They spent the rest of the ride telling jokes and eating. Sirius bravely tried a jelly bean that was a blackish-gray color. It turned out to be dirt. Remus tried a brown one that he thought was chocolate, but turned out to be...well never mind that.
It felt like the train was slowing down, and sure enough, they heard what must have been the conductor's voice yelling, "Last stop, Hogwarts!" The three wizards gathered their suitcases and walked off the train and onto the platform.
"FIRS YEARS O'ER HERE!!!" a deep voice boomed. It came from a giant of a man, who introduced himself as Hagrid. He instructed them to get on the boat he was pointing to. It looked small, but somehow, they all fit on with room to spare. James took in his surroundings. He saw a very large lake, sparkling in the moonlight. And beyond that, a huge castle, bigger than anything James had ever seen before. He could see that the castle had four big towers, and at least 15 smaller ones. The castle looked as if it was 20 stories high! His eyes were fixed on the castle, open wide. "Wow..." he breathed. He had been looking for the castle for so long, he didn't even realize that the boat was pulling up to a dock. James started to feel nervous. What happened now?
Hagrid let the first years off the boat, up a hill, and finally up to the huge wooden doors of Hogwarts. He banged three times on the door with his massive fists. The doors opened magically, welcoming them inside.
AN: Hello! Glad you liked the first one, which in my opinion sucked big time! Its cuz I wrote that like a year ago, I just couldn't figure out how to post it on ffnet!! Just to let ya know, chapters 1-3 really are not that good in my opinion, but they get so much better from then on, if I do say so myself! Oh, BTW don't think Evilla is out of the picture just cuz she's not mentioned in this part, she'll be back next chapter!! Just to let you guys know, don't be so nice in your reviews! Well excluding one VERY RUDE person *cough* I'd like to know how I can improve on this, what u like, wut u don't like, etc...Ok I've babbled enough, so please review and all flames will be laughed at and deleted! Thanks! Luv ya, Amy
Disclaimer: Anyone or anything you recognize in the Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling. Anything else belongs to me.