I opened my eyes to the sun peeking through my window. It was earlier than my usual wake up time, but I couldn't get back to sleep, the excitement coursing through my body was too great. I gently move Milly of my stomach and she meows in protest but quickly goes back to sleep. I dress quickly and then quietly open my door listening for any noised realising my parents aren't up yet, I open my trunk and go through it one last time to ensure that I have everything that I need. Just as I am closing the lid to the trunk there is a gentle knock on my door. Before it quietly opens and my mum looks in. Upon seeing me dressed she smiled.
"I thought I heard you moving around, excited are you?" she asks.
"Yes" I say quietly
"Nervous too I bet, well, how about you come down and I can cook you some pancakes hey?"
I follow my mum quickly as we walk down the stairs. By the time my dad wanders into the kitchen the pancakes are in the pan and I am sipping a hot chocolate. After kissing my mum on the cheek, he pulled me into a tight hug.
"There you are Rose." My mum says putting a plate of pancakes in front of me.
I smile at her and have to swallow a lump that has suddenly formed in my throat. As much as I have been looking forward to going to Hogwarts, the thought that I have been ignoring for the last few months hits me, I am going to miss my mum and dad terribly.
As if reading my thoughts, my mum quickly pulls me into a hug whispering into my ear.
"Oh don't you go missing us, you are going to have a wonderful time at Hogwarts just like I did, and we don't want you to feel bad that you're having fun without us ok."
I nod my head against my mum's neck and I see my dad nodding in agreement with mum, I am suddenly blinking back tears that have suddenly appeared.
"Now let's eat pancakes." Mum says sitting down in her seat. I smile and pour maple syrup on the pancakes and take a bite. They really are the best ones I've ever had.
After breakfast, we make sure everything is packed for the 20th time, and we put a very unhappy Milly in her cat carrier, just before we are due to go to Alex's mum and dad sit me down in the lounge.
"We know you're going to have an amazing time at Hogwarts, so we thought we would give you a little present to take with you." My dad says handing over a package wrapped in lime green wrapping paper.
I open the wrapping paper slowly and find a journal and some quills and ink, beneath that there is a picture of the three of us smiling at a dinner we went too earlier on this year.
"The journal is to write in as you need. The photo, is to make you smile and remember us."
I wipe the tears from my eyes and hug my dad then my mum. I have time to put them into my trunk before we have to leave for the train. We meet Alex and her parents out the front of their house, and quickly walk to the station were we have to wait only five minutes before a train stops at our platform. The journey into kings cross seems to take longer than the 40 minutes it actually takes. Once at Kings Cross we load everything onto luggage carriers and then find our way to platforms 9 and 10.
"okay you have to aim for the middle of the barrier, a slight jog is always good" my mum says, I nod then take a deep breath and start to push my trolley forward at a quick jog, the wall is coming closer and closer, suddenly I am running in darkness for a moment before I find myself gently jogging on to a platform with a large scarlet train on my left. Hogwarts Express is written on a plaque at the top of the train. The sign above me reads Platform 9 ¾ and I can't wipe the grin off my face, stepping to the side of the platform, I see Alex come through followed quickly by our parents.
We walk down the platform until we find an empty carriage, our parents help us put our luggage in before we go back out to the platform. Alex is quietly talking to her parents, I turn around to my mum and dad and give them a tight hug. They hug me back and give me a quick kiss, I have tears in my eyes, and quickly wipe them away, this is not the time or place to cry I tell myself. The warning horn goes and I quickly give mum and dad another hug before Alex is grabbing my hand and we manage to jump on the train just before it pulls away from the platform. We stand next to the door and wave at our parents until the train turns a corner and we can't see them anymore.
'Well we're Hogwarts students now" Alex says smiling and I nod and smile back, my tears have disappeared under the excitement that is now swelling in my stomach at the adventures to come. We make our way back down to the carriage and find a girl with golden hair in a plait down her back trying to push her case up onto the bag rail.
"Did you want some help?" Alex asks and the girl spins around, dropping the case onto the ground with a thud.
"Oh were you both sitting here, I'm sorry but everywhere else was pretty full, and I thought this was empty"
"It's fine, I'm Alex, this is Rose" Alex says nodding her head to me.
'I'm Sally and yes I would love help with the trunk" she said smiling. With all three of us girls pushing the trunk, it only takes a minute before it is safely above the seat and we all sit down. Alex next to me and Sally opposite us.
"Did you guys know you were magic before you came here?" Sally asks
We both nod, "we live down the street from each other, and our mums work at the ministry."
"Oh that's cool, I never even know the magical world existed until a month ago when a Professor McGonagall came and delivered my letter. Mum and Dad were ever so surprised, but happy. Which house do you want to be in, I think I want to be in Gryffindor"
Alex and I looked at each other, we had talked exhaustively over this exact topic all summer and varied differently in our answers.
"I want to be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor" Alex said smiling, hey maybe we can be in the same house"
How about you Rose?" Sally said looking at me.
"I want to be Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff" I reply
"Hufflepuff, why would you want to be in Hufflepuff only idiots are sorted into there, almost as bad as being a Slytherin" a voice said scornfully from the door, I looked over and saw a tall slim brown haired girl already in robes looking at us, I couldn't figure out if she what year she would be in although she didn't look too much older than us, perhaps a second year.
"Hufflepuff are loyal and hardworking, there's nothing wrong with that. What house are you in?" I ask slightly annoyed at her accusations.
"I'm a first year, both my parents were Gryffindor. Although my sister is a Hufflepuff and she is as stupid as can be. Hopefully I follow their lead and not my sisters, although I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad. I'm Natasha by the way.
"So if you've done insulting my friend, is there anything I can help you with? Alex says standing up next to me.
"I was looking for a friend, but she's not here, so I don't need to be" the girl says loftily before walking off.
"I hope whatever house she's in I'm not in" Alex mutters as she sits down and we all giggle.
The peace was broken a few minutes later by a knock on the door, we all looked up to see three people standing there, a boy and girl both with blond hair and blue eyes that must have been twins and a girl with brown hair in a plait over her shoulder and grey eyes looked in.
The boy stepped forward.
"Hi, we were just wondering if you have any spare seats, as we can't find anywhere else"
"Of course come in" I say smiling, and the other girls nodded their heads in agreement. When they had all settled down, we go around and introduced ourselves, the boy and girl are indeed twins, Alexander and Mary whilst the Brown haired girl mumbled that her name was Sarah. All three were muggles and didn't mind what house they went into. We passed the time chatting about our family's and Mary was interrupted of a story about when they were kids by another knock on the door, this time there was a lady standing there.
"Anything from the trolley dears?" we pooled our money and brought a bit of everything so Alexander, Mary, Sarah and Sally could try everything.
"The frogs aren't actually alive are they?" Asked Sarah quietly warily eyeing a frog.
"No, they are just charmed to act alive, but only for a few jumps" Alex answers, Sarah smiles before opening one
Once all the food is finished, we talk quietly before the door to the carriage opens again and an older girl with bushy brown hair looks in.
"Are you all first years" she asks and we nod.
"Welcome, my name is Hermione Granger, I am a Gryffindor 5th year prefect, if you need any help just find me and I can help. How is the train journey going?"
We all nod and murmur that it is going well.
"Well that's good." She says before slipping out again and leaving us in peace.
The afternoon is spent talking about our families, what Hogwarts is going to be like. I spend a large part looking out the window, as the sky begins to darken the prefect from before opens our door again.
"We are going to arrive at Hogwarts shortly, I recommend that you change into your robes, also leave your luggage on the train, it will get taken up to your dorms." She said smiling at us then turning to leave.
We quickly pull on our robes and ensure that everything is packed away, I can feel the train start to slow and the excitement in my stomach starts to build again. As the train stops, I grab Alex's hand and we make our way out of the carriage and onto the platform.
There is a sharp voice calling for the first years and the 6 of us edge along the bustling platform towards us, as we find the professor calling us, I see the girl from before and quickly look away. As the platform empties the professor looks over all of us.
Is this all of you? She asks and quickly counts us, nodding she speaks again. 'okay then let 's go'. She leads us down a dark narrow path lit by torches every 10 meters or so. We come out onto a landing and I gasp with the other students, Hogwarts is lit up on the other side of the lake.
"Wow" I hear Alex gasp next to me.
"Please four to a boat, four to a boat" the professor says stepping into one, I follow Alex, Mary and Sarah into a boat and quietly sit down. The boats glide across the lake, bringing us closer to the castle, I can see shadows move past the windows and the castle is even larger the closer we get. The view is cut off from us, as we enter a dark cave, a few people scream, but the professor calls on us to calm down, as she does lamps ignite and we see a small sandy cove in front of us. We quickly get off the boats, and I am glad to be back on steady land. We follow the professor up the stairs, into a hall where I can hear the voices of hundreds of people on the left, she leads us to the right and into a small room where she stops us.
"Professor McGonagall will be along momentarily to take you to the sorting. "She says before disappearing.
I tie my hair up again and look around at the 40 or so other students here. I recognise one or two as ministry children, but the rest are a blank. I see the girl from before, who is talking quietly with three others and quickly look away. Only a minute later, a lady who must be Professor McGonagall comes into the room.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. In a moment I will take you to be sorted. We have four houses Gryffindor, (I see the girl smile at that) Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. They have all produced outstanding wizards and witches and each have a memorable histroy. Whilst you are here your house will be like your family, you will study together, sleep in the same dorms, gain and lose points together. I recommend that you make friends with your fellow housemates as you will be with them for the next 7 years. Please follow me.
We follow Professor McGonagall into the great hall and I gasp. There are four huge tables for the four houses and what seems to be a million candles lit throughout the room, lighting it up. We walk down between two tables and everyone is turning to look at us. As we stop, I shuffle closer to Alex and for a moment we grab each other's hands, nerves filling my stomach. I look around trying to figure out how we are going to be sorted when a voice startles me. It is coming from a hat on a stool in front of me.
It sings a song and I suddenly realise that I only need to put the hat on my head. I breathe a sigh of relief, trying to listen to the song, but the butterflies in my stomach are not helping my attention span.
It soon finishes and Professor McGonagall is standing in front of us again.
"When I call your name please come forward and sit on the stool, I will place the hat on your head.
"Abercombie, Euan" she says and I see a boy with red hair walk unsteadily up to the chair. The hat is only on his head for a moment before it yells out Gryffindor. The table on the immediate left cheers and he goes there gratefully.
Gryffindor gets another boy then the first girl, followed by a Slytherin and then a Ravenclaw before Eli Alexandra" is called. I give one last squeeze to Alex's hand and she goes up to the stool. She has only sat there for a moment before it calls out Gryffindor. I smile at her and shoot a thumbs up. Next is 'Foxworthy Natasha' and I see the girl from before go up to the stool. Only a second passes before she gets her wish to be placed into Gryffindor. I almost groan, as I want to be with Alex, but I don't want to be with Natasha.
Soon the twins go up, Alexander is placed in Gryffindor and Mary is placed in Ravenclaw. Soon Sarah's name is called and she walks up nervously, the hat sits on her for a few moments, before announcing the house. She becomes the first Hufflepuff girl. The rest of the first years, get separated almost evenly, and finally I am the only one standing there.
"Zeller Rose" Professor McGonagall says and I walk up to the stool on shaky legs
"Ah Rose, I remember your mother, she was an easy Ravenclaw but you're less easy to sort, you could almost fit into any house." 'please Gryffindor' I whisper under my breath over and over again.
"Oh you want to be in Gryffindor do you why would that be?" The hat questions and I think about Alex.
"Loyalty to friends, is admirable, but I think another house will suit you better. So it better be Huffelpuff. The hat yells and I slide off the seat, taking one glance over to Alex who smiles and waves at me and then I walk slowly over to the Hufflepuff table and try to smile at all the people who are clapping and smiling at me. Taking a seat next to Sarah, I look at the other first years that are also in Hufflepuff and smile at them. Just then Professor Dumbledore clears his throat and begins a short speech. After he sits down the food appears on the table. I gasp in surprise at all the food available. I eat a pull some roast vegetables onto my plate.
"I'm Sarah,' Sarah says looking around at the others,
"What are your names?" she asks looking around at the other girls.
We introduce each other the girl sitting on my left introduces herself as Kate, her curly brown hair and glasses making her look younger than her age. She tells us quietly that she never knew about the magical world until she received her letter and a visit from Professor McGonagall. The two girls opposite me one with straight blonde hair and brown eyes says she is Sally and that her dad was a wizard, finally we look at the last girl, a brunette haired girl with her hair going everywhere in wild curls, she smiles at us and says that her name is Ally, and that both her parents are magic.
The main meal disappears and then desserts appear, a chocolate pudding appears next to me and I instantly put some on my plate and start eating. After finishing dessert Professor Dumbledore stands up and starts to speak, he has only been speaking for a few moments when another professor who has just been introduced stands and starts to give a speech. I try to listen, but my stomach is full and I am tired after such a big day, so I slowly lose concentration, I look over at the Gryffindor table and see Alex is also looking decidedly inattentive. Finally the professor stops talking and with only a few more words Professor Dumbledore dismisses us.
I stand up with the other first years, unsure of what to do when an older girl comes up.
"First years, follow me please, keep close" She says before leading us out of the Great Hall, she leads us almost directly across the entrance hall away from the rest of the students and down a small set of stairs. We walk down a long hallway that is lit with lamps at intervals along the wall, they flicker and cause shadows from the draught of students walking past. We walk for a minute or two before the girl stops us in front of a picture of a numerous barrels with a fruit bowl on top.
"To enter the Hufflepuff Common Room, you need to tickle this barrel' the girl says tickling the third barrel on the right and by saying the password. The current password is Cedric. As she says this, the picture opens up to reveal a large hole in the wall, if you do not say the right password or tickle the right barrel, you will be squirted with vinegar." A few of the boys giggle and she looks at them.
"I'm not joking," She retorted seriously
"Now let's go in"
I follow Sarah into the common room, it is a round room with yellow and black couches scattered around. A fire is roaring on the left and people are already scattered on the couches and tables reading or chatting with friends. They all look up at us and smile, some even wave.
There are various plants hanging around the room, the one next to me seems to be humming.
"Um, is this plant humming?" I question the prefect
"Yes some of the plants sing, but don't worry they are all perfectly fine." She answers with a smile.
I look out the window closest to me and am surprised to be looking at dandelions and rippling grass. "What the" I say and the others look at me, I point to the window and ask "Aren't we underground?'
"Of course we are, it's magic" Ally snaps.
Before I can say anything else the prefect speaks up.
"Girls dormitories are down the yellow door, the boys down the black door. Bathrooms are at the end of the corridors. I follow the other girls through the door into another tunnel with lamps flickering along the way. , the first door on the left has 'first years' written on it and Ally opens the door, the lights instantly going on. As we enter, we all gasp at the dormitory.
Like the common room, it is a large round room with the walls painted yellow. There are 5 beds spaced around the room. I see my trunk on the second bed to the left, Sarah is on my left, Kate is on my right then Sally and Ally on the last two beds. We've just started to unpack when there is a knock on our door. We look at each other not sure what to say when the door opens gently. A lady walks in and smiles around at us.
"Glad to see you're all settling in. My name is Professor Sprout, I am the Head of Hufflepuff House and also the Herbology professor. Who do we have this year? She asks, we go around and introduce ourselves.
"Well welcome to Hufflepuff if you need any help, always feel free to come and find me okay." She says and then leaves us to finish unpacking.
After I finish unpacking, I head out of the dormitory and turn left to find the bathroom, I am not sure exactly where to go, but there is only one way it can be, as the corridor turns left, I see a door on the corner labelled Bathroom. I push open the door, down the centre of the room there is a line of hand basins, on the right there are toilets and on the left are showers, I walk down the line of showers and notice that half the cubicles are baths and there are some showers on the toilet side as well. I quickly go to the toilet before brushing my teeth and heading back to the dorm. Closing my curtains I call out a night to my fellow housemates and the light above my bed goes out. Within minutes I am drifting into sleep.