Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do own any characters made up for the purpose of this story. Please do not use them.
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Chapter Two
New Friends on the Hogwarts Express
Exactly a week later, Amber was anxiously waiting in the living room for the person who would be there to escort her to the train station. She had been wondering about the train ride for a few days now, and had decided that for it to be a wizard train, it was probably concealed. This was a logical thought, seeing as Amber knew there was no evidence of a Platform 9 ¾, having ridden the train from Platform 10 to visit her grandparents in a city a few miles away.
Mrs. Hutchingson had finally told her husband about the shopping trip to Diagon Alley three days previously. He had been grateful she had not told him sooner; he was having a difficult time at work and was not very happy as of late. Luckily, it was a Saturday, so both of Amber's parents could come to say good-bye.
"Are you sure it's a train you'll be taking?" Mr. Hutchingson questioned his daughter as he walked into the room.
"I think so," Amber replied, glancing out the window.
"How are we going to get there?" Mrs. Hutchingson was clutching her purse as she walked into the living room behind her husband.
"I don't know," Amber tore her eyes from the window. "Professor Longbottom said that it would be someone else coming."
There was a rumbling outside. Amber sprung to her feet to look out the window. She was disappointed when the car pulled into the driveway of Number 4 and a portly man stepped out of the car, followed by a slender, horse-faced lady and a boy and a girl. It was just the old Dursleys' son and his family. A few seconds later, a baby blue car rolled up the street and stopped in front of the Hutchingsons' house. Amber squealed with excitement when a short, blonde haired man stepped out of the passenger's side and strode briskly toward their front door.
She flung the door open before the man could even knock. Grinning, she looked up into his face and asked, "Are you the guy taking us to the train station?"
"Yes," he replied with a short smile. "I'm Dennis Creevey."
"I'm Amber, and these are my parents!" Amber turned to look at them as they walked up behind her. "I'll go get Twilight's cage so we can put it in the car!"
"Car?" she heard her father say as she sped up the stairs and to her room.
Amber burst into her room and was about to grab Twilight's cage from her dresser when she heard an excited little voice coming through her window. Interested, she crept over to the open window to see what was going on. In Number 4, standing at the window of the room straight in front of Amber's, the boy and girl she had seen just minutes before were talking to each other about going to Hogwarts. Amber stood, rooted to the spot. Listening very closely, she caught what the little girl was saying.
"I wish I could go to Hogwarts! You're so lucky!"
"Better not let dad hear you saying that, Cindy," the boy snorted. "You know how much he hates me now."
"He doesn't hate you, Theo!" the girl answered.
"Theodore! Come on, or you'll be late!" Amber heard someone call.
"Amber, what's taking so long?" her own mother called up the stairs.
Snatching Twilight's cage from the dresser, she dashed down the stairs.
"Mum, the boy next door..." Amber began to say, but she was interrupted by Mr. Creevey.
"We'd better get going if you don't want to miss the train. Your trunk is already in the car, Amber."
Amber opened her mouth to speak again, but her mother stuffed her jacket into her arms and pushed her out the door. Once Mr. Hutchingson had locked the door behind them, they set off for the car. When Amber looked back over her shoulder, she saw that the boy, Theo, was with his father in the car. His father didn't look very happy, but Theo was just sitting there nonchalantly.
I wonder why his father isn't happy he's a wizard? Amber thought. She got into the car with a gasp. At first she hadn't noticed the magical roominess of the seats, having been preoccupied looking at the Dursleys. Her mother and father got in beside her, and there was still room for at least three more people.
Not wanting to embarrass her parents, Amber said nothing and only smiled when Mr. Creevey got into the passenger seat, which could have fit two more people along with him. The car rumbled to life, and the man sitting behind the wheel pulled the car away from the house and down the street. She stole one last glance back at her home, and saw that the Dursleys' car was just now pulling out of the driveway.
Maybe I can ask Theo about his parents when we're at school. Amber smiled, turning back around. He might like to know that a witch lives next door to his grandparents.
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Amber watched the scenery go by until they arrived at the train station. They piled out of the car, and Mr. Creevey went to get her trunk. He placed it on a trolley, and Amber put Twilight and his cage on top. With her father's help, she wheeled the trolley into the station. Mr. Creevey escorted them toward Platforms 9 and 10. Amber had a fleeting thought about where the Platform to Hogwarts was hidden before her parents were biding her a teary good-bye.
"Write to us as often as you can, and don't get in trouble!" Mrs. Hutchingson squeezed Amber tightly. "And don't get hurt!"
"Be good, Amber," her father simply told her, giving her a gentle hug.
"Bye, mum. Bye, dad. I'll write as soon as I get there," Amber assured them. "And I'll try not to get into trouble, or get hurt."
Her parents kissed her on the cheek, and then went off back to the car.
"Come on. I'm supposed to show you how to get onto the Platform. You'll have to get onto the train yourself," Mr. Creevey glanced around. He took hold of Amber's trolley and casually went over to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. Amber followed.
"We just walk through this wall," he whispered to her.
"Walk through it?" Amber asked with skepticism.
He nodded. "On my signal. Okay...now."
And Mr. Creevey slipped through the wall, Amber following. She gasped when she saw the Hogwarts Express. A giant clock, Amber saw, said it was five minutes until the train left. Mr. Creevey bade her good-bye, and disappeared back through the wall. Feeling rather lonely, she pushed her trolley forward into the crowd. Parents and children were saying good-bye to one another as the students clambered onto the train. Amber silently wished her parents had come onto the Platform with her.
Amber was barely able to get her trunk up onto the train by heaving it. She grunted, trying to get it further inside.
"Need some help?" a voice asked.
Amber jumped, and looked up to see the black haired kid she'd met in Diagon Alley. He grinned at her.
"Yes, thanks," Amber went back outside to grab Twilight.
"I'm David Potter," he said when she came back on with Twilight.
"I'm Amber Hutchingson," she replied.
"I know. Neville told us. Got an owl, huh?" David lifted one end of her trunk and began dragging it. "Would you like to come sit with me? I've already got a compartment. My parents dropped me off fifteen minutes early. Dad had to get to work."
Amber nodded. "Sure!"
The two of them heard whispering. David turned around and saw a group of twelve year old girls crowded around a compartment door. As soon as they saw him looking, they pushed one another inside. One of them squealed and slammed the door shut. Without so much as a roll of his eyes, David turned back and started dragging the trunk again.
A few minutes later, just as the train lurched into motion, David pulled open a compartment door and thrust Amber's heavy trunk inside. When Amber preceded after him, she found that the compartment wasn't empty. One of the red heads from the ice cream shop back in Diagon Alley was talking loudly – so loudly Amber was amazed she hadn't heard him outside – to a sandy blonde haired boy in the seat opposite him. The blonde boy was plump and reminded Amber of someone, but she couldn't place who at the moment.
"Hey, David! I was just telling Phil here about Uncle Fred and Uncle George's store," the red head pulled out a licorice wand and wiggled it.
"You trust them too much, Alex," David laughed. He and Amber put her trunk on an empty seat before David sat down next to Alex.
Amber stood on the last empty seat and put Twilight in the luggage rack.
"Hey, you're that girl, Amy, or whatever," Alex stated.
"Very observational, aren't you?" David grabbed the licorice wand from his cousin and ate half of it in one bite.
"Yeah, I am. This is Phil. Phil, this is my cousin, David, and Amy something-or-other," Alex snatched the rest of the licorice wand from David and tossed it up into the cage of a soft brown barn owl. The owl regarded it with disgust.
"My name is Amber Hutchingson," Amber stood up on the seat again and pulled the sticky candy out of the owl's cage. The owl hooted thankfully. "You better be nicer to your pet, or she won't send your mail for you."
Alex gaped at her, but David and Phil laughed.
As if to change the subject, Phil said, "My full name is Phinidelus Longbottom. And no one's called me 'Phil' before."
"You're Professor Longbottom's son?" Amber asked.
"Yeah. He told me I'd probably meet you," Phil replied with a smile.
Alex pulled a bag of jellybeans from his pocket. "Anyone want one?"
"No, thanks. I'm not very lucky with Bertie Bott's," Phil smiled sheepishly.
"What are they?" Amber inquired.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans," Alex shoved the bag under her nose. "I've already eaten all the gross ones, so you don't need to worry."
Amber was about to take one when David snatched the bag from them both.
"Alex, you're nothing but a carrot-topped liar," David snapped. "He says that to everyone just to watch their faces when they get horseradish or boogie flavored ones."
Amber raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Alex growled. "They're gonna make you Prefect fifth year, Dave, if you keep that up."
"Mum and Dad would be happy," David jeered.
Alex stuck a hand into his pocket again and pulled out a clear bag of brightly multicolored toffees. "Oops, I'm saving those."
"What were they?" Amber wondered as he shoved them into a different pocket.
"Pieces from Skiving Snackboxes," Alex answered. "Used to get out of class."
"Why would you want to get out of class?" Amber watched as Alex started eating a black cake. "And what's that?"
"Mauldon make," Alex told her, his mouth full. "Ooo 'ant won?"
Amber wrinkled her nose at him.
Alex swallowed. "I guess that's a no."
"Stop it, Alex!" David laughed. "You're such a pig!"
"Am not!" he retorted, throwing his trash at David, who ignored him.
"The Skiving Snackboxes are for lazy people who don't want to worry about schoolwork. And these are called Cauldron Cakes," David spoke to Amber. "My cousin doesn't like to give straight answers."
"I do to!" Alex unwrapped another package and caught the little brown thing that hopped into the air.
"What's that?" Amber stared as Alex struggled to get the candy inside his mouth.
"That is Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' version of a Chocolate Frog," David chuckled when the frog-shaped chocolate slipped from Alex's fingers and landed on Phil's head. "They're called You- Chocolate-Hogs. They're fun to try and eat because they'll do anything to stop you from getting them in your mouth."
"Wow," Amber whispered, watching as Alex pounced on Phil to try and grab the live candy.
"Where'd it go?" Alex demanded, looking left and right for his escaped candy while Phil tried to push him off.
"The luggage rack!" David shouted, pointing above the two boys.
The chocolate frog was waddling further into the darkness of the rack. Alex scrambled off Phil, and stood up on his seat to try and catch the elusive chocolate. The other three stood up to watch the hilarious sight.
"Here little frog. Come here!" Alex stuck his hand into the luggage rack. The frog jumped over it, flew in between two silver, metal bars, and snap, was gobbled up by Twilight.
David was laughing so hard he had to sit down. Phil was grinning crazily. Amber crossed her arms and looked at Twilight.
"That wasn't very nice, Twilight!" she told the bird sternly.
He hooted shrilly and ruffled his wings. Alex's barn owl screeched.
"Ruddy owl," Alex sighed, sitting back down.
David patted him on the back, still wiping tears from his eyes. "You might want to stick to regular Chocolate Frogs, mate."
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Later on the train ride, just as it was getting dark, the four of them were visited by an unfriendly person Amber recognized. The pointed face of Garren Malphoy sneered at her when he and three other first years, all of them bulky and muscular, entered the compartment.
"I should have known the Potty and Weasel boys would be with a Mudblood," he declared clamorously.
"Who're you?" David requested, standing up.
Alex looked like he was ready to punch Garren when Phil, looking panicked, grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Garren Malphoy," he smirked. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize me. I was so sure your father would have told you all about my father."
"Yeah, all about how he helped Dumbledore be murdered! But then again, your father was the one who was supposed to but was too much of a coward in the end!" David was throwing death glares at the young Malphoy.
Garren hissed. "Don't call my Dad a coward, Potty, or you'll regret it!"
"David!" Amber jumped up, blocking him from getting at Malphoy. "Stop!"
"But he called you a...a...you know!" David snarled viciously. "He deserves a good beating. His whole family does!"
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" a kind voice interrupted the short silence.
"You watch yourself, Potter," Malphoy spat this last word before going off with his cronies.
Half-heartedly, David bought them some candy from the cart lady and they spent a few minutes of silence eating.
Amber looked down at her Pumpkin Pastie. "What exactly did he call me?"
"It's a really dirty word for someone who's Muggleborn. The whole wretched Malphoy family hates everyone who isn't pureblooded," David violently opened a Chocolate Frog and the candy hit the window with a dull thunk. "Whoops."
"Professor Longbottom said the same thing about the family when I met Garren," Amber muttered.
"You've met him before?" Alex looked up.
Amber nodded.
"That would explain how he knew you were Muggleborn," David opened another Chocolate Frog.
"If he ever says that word in front of me again, I'll punch his lights out. Or hex him so badly, it'll take months for them to figure him out. Or..."
"You're making it worse, Alex," David told him. "I can already see why my dad and Draco Malphoy were enemies."
"Who's Dumbledore?" Amber asked, remembering what David had said.
"Greatest wizard of all time," Alex smiled fondly. "He died before we were all born. My Dad says he was off his rocker, but Mum says he was more brilliant than you can imagine."
"My Dad saw him murdered," David cut in, a bitterness in his voice. "My Dad's teacher, Snape, who Dumbledore, above all others, trusted, betrayed Dumbledore in the end and murdered him. There is one curse so unforgivable...and Snape used it on Dumbledore..." he stopped. "We're almost there; we might want to get our robes on. I'll tell you the story another time."
Amber, feeling disappointed, closed her eyes to allow the boys to change before changing herself. The four of them occupied themselves at the window, trying to be the first one to see Hogwarts.
"I see it!" Amber cried a few minutes later. The sight of the castle was magnificent, and the moonlight from the nearly full moon made it even better. "It's beautiful!"
"I can't wait to find out what House I'm in," Alex grinned.
"House?" Amber blinked. She remembered David asking her about Houses back in Diagon Alley.
"There are four Houses you can be in at Hogwarts. Gryffindor is for the brave; Ravenclaw is for the smart; Hufflepuff for the kind and caring; and Slytherin for the people like the Malphoys," David counted off the Houses on his fingers. "I'm hoping for Gryffindor. It was the House my parents were in."
"Me, too!" Alex added.
The train began to slow down and they got all of their belongings so they could be taken up to the castle. Alex stuffed the rest of his candy inside his pockets just as the train jerked to a stop.
The four of them headed out of the compartment and outside into the crowd.
"Firs' years!" a loud, booming voice shouted above the commotion of students. "Firs' years! Over here!"
"It's Hagrid!" David's face lit up. Amber almost lost him in the throng of people as he darted over to the giant of a man. Alex, Amber, and Phil walked over to them.
"Hello, David!" Hagrid smiled. His beard was silvery white in places, along with his mane of scraggly hair. "Firs' years! Over here, please! Firs' years!"
A number of the students walked over to them, all looking scared. Amber saw Garren and his cronies walking over, arrogant looks on their faces. Malphoy smirked at Hagrid, a look of disgusted amusement replacing his arrogance.
"Alright, all the Firs' years here?" Hagrid peered down at them. "Righ' now, come on."
David talked happily with Hagrid as the giant brought them to the edge of a large lake. There were a number of boats floating in the water.
"Everybody in," Hagrid instructed, taking the biggest one for himself.
Phil clambered in first, and Amber jumped in behind him. David and Alex got in, though just barely; Alex almost over-turned the whole boat. Once all the new students were in the boats, they began gliding across the smooth, black surface of the lake. Amber watched with wide eyes as Hogwarts loomed closer, becoming even more magnificent the closer they got.
"It's greater than I imagined," David whispered over the quiet sound of the water lapping against the sides of the boats.
"I didn't even know what to expect," Amber whispered back.
It was a few minutes later when they scrambled out of the boats and onto a rocky shore. There was a splash, and a few people began laughing. David looked around to see that Malphoy and his friends were pointing and laughing the loudest at the girl who had fallen into the water. She had long, blonde hair; dark eyebrows; and slightly bulging eyes. Hagrid walked over to her and pulled her out of the water by the back of her robes.
"Don' worry. Professor Lovegood'll dry you when we get inside," Hagrid told her.
The girl squeaked. "She's my mum!"
"Is she, now?" Hagrid grinned through his beard. "Well, you've got nothin' ta worry 'bout. You're not the only one ta fall into the lake."
"I didn't fall," she stated. "Someone pushed me."
Hagrid did not hear this, as he was already walking up toward the entrance of the castle. Malphoy smirked at his friends, and Amber knew he was the one who had probably pushed the girl into the water.
As they followed Hagrid, Amber walked over to the girl.
"Hi, I'm Amber. Did you happen to see who pushed you?"
"No, they pushed me from behind, didn't they? If I had been them, I wouldn't have wanted me to see me, either," she looked up at the windows of the castle. Her large, misty eyes reflected the lights coming from them. "It's an awfully nice night out for Quintums, isn't it?"
"What?" Amber blinked in confusion.
"Quintums. They're tiny bugs that light up, trying to get you to follow them. They're much like hinkypunks, except for they fly," she pointed up at the sky. "They like nice, clear nights."
"There's no such thing as Quintumples!" Alex's voice hissed from behind them. "That's all fake stuff from the Quibbler!"
"You're Luna Lovegood's daughter, aren't you?" David asked, jabbing his elbow into Alex's side.
"Yes. You're Harry Potter's son." It was more a statement then a question. "I'm Lucy Lovegood-Ackerley. And you are Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger's son." Her last statement was directed at Alex, who was pulling a licorice wand apart.
"Yeah, so?" Alex tripped over a step as they began walking up the stairs to the entrance.
"Everyone knows they are the best friends of Harry Potter," Lucy blinked slowly at him. "I always thought that their children would be nice people."
Alex pocketed the licorice wand again. "Are you saying I'm not nice?"
"Gather round!" a crystal clear voice rang out. They had entered Hogwarts, and Amber gasped. She had been so busy listening to the conversation, she hadn't taken a good look around.
Hogwarts was as much a magic castle as she had imagined. There were gray stone walls, staircases here and there, a long corridor, and portraits with moving pictures that talked. It was completely empty, and Amber wondered for a moment why.
"Gather round!" the lady with the clear voice called, ushering them toward her.
"Professor, one of 'em fell in," Hagrid pointed out.
"Thank you, Hagrid," she smiled at him as he disappeared deeper into the castle. "Well, Lucy, I didn't expect you falling into the lake in such a short time." Professor Lovegood took out her wand and pointed it at Lucy's wet clothing. It was dry within a few minutes. "Now that that's taken care of, I would like to ask you to stay here for a moment so that the Sorting Hat can be set up. I will be back as soon as we're ready."
With that, she walked away.
The first years began muttering amongst themselves. Amber heard a girl with short cropped hair and tiny framed glasses comment on how she knew she was going to get into Slytherin. The boy she had been talking to, who was short and skinny with a bad case of freckles, said he hoped to be in Gryffindor. After that, the girl turned away from him and began talking to Malphoy.
Amber suddenly remembered about Theo, and looked around for him. She spotted him at the back of the group, leaning against the wall and looking surly. It was clear from the expression on his face that he really didn't want to be there. While Alex and David animatedly talked about something called Quidditch, she slipped through the students and went over to Theo.
"Hi, I'm Amber," she said with a happy smile.
He glanced up at her before turning away. "Go away. I don't want to talk to anyone."
Amber, not wanting to intrude too much, shrugged and went back to David and Alex, who were now talking about ghosts, just as Professor Lovegood came back.
"The Sorting Hat is ready to begin. Come along."
They trooped down the corridor behind her and entered into a grand hall. There were four, long tables lined up side by side. All of the older students, from second to seventh, were seated at these tables. A fifth table was placed along the wall facing them, and all of the teachers and staff were sitting there. Directly in front of this table stood a three legged stool with a tattered, wizard's hat upon it.
Professor Lovegood stopped them right in front of this stool and hat. Everyone in the hall seemed to be waiting for something to happen; and finally, something did.
A tear in the hat opened up, and the hat began to sing.
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End of Chapter Two