Chapter I: The Journey Unravels
It was her first year at Hogwarts School for witchcraft and wizardry. Susan Henkel sat eagerly on a bench waiting for her sister, Rosemary to return with the first year chemistry set she would need as a student at Hogwarts. "Did someone order a first year chemistry set?" Susan yelled and jumped with joy as she sprinted towards the next shop to obtain a crucial thing needed to perform magic.
A wand.
Susan eagerly followed her sister and even had to be held by her hand to avoid a mishap where she would be lost. But containing her would prove more difficult that can be done once they neared the shoppe where she would purchase her main tool for sorcery. "I'm gonna be a wizard!" she shouted as she sprinted into the shop like a wild animal.
Her short, boyish hair tussled in the wind like grass in a storm. Indeed, her hair was never all that neat. She would always have stray hair no matter how she wore it. It was never quite clear whether her hair was black, dark brown, or a very dark auburn. It always looked different, depending on the lighting. Her skin was not sickly pale unlike most of the students. She had a healthy, rosy, peach skin tone. She also wore a strawberry barrette that was slipping out of her hair slowly but surely. It always fell out, no matter what. Just like her crooked glasses, which were constantly fogging up due to the weather, it was something she just learned to ignore.
By the time she got into the shoppe, her sister was far behind her. "One wand, please!" she shouted. The shoppe owner cried out in a startled yell and fell onto the floor. "Are you alright?" she asked sprinting toward him. He got up, brushed himself off, and approached Susan. "You certainly are the eager mcbeaver, aren't you?" Susan smiled, but she had a one track mind at that point. "Do I get my wand now?" The shoppe keeper smiled and said "Of course!" Susan jumped with joy and her sister entered the shoppe out of breath entirely.
"Rosemary! It's been so long. Who's your friend?" Rosemary looked at Olivander like this was a joke and shook her head. "This is my sister, Susan. But it's nice to see you again, Olivander." Rosemary turned to Susan as if to chew her out. "Don't do that again, okay?" Susan nodded and quickly tuned to Olivander. "Right this way then." he said. The trio went into a storage hall filled with wands. It was almost as if this was the place where wands were being made. Were they? Who knows? Susan promptly waved the first wand Olivander gave to her.
Items were thrown around. Smoke was emitted. It was all just trial and error and chaos as they went through eleven different wands before the right one could be found. When the finally found the wand that Susan would wield as a wizard for the rest of her days, Susan was shaking. If you could even call it "finding" the wand. A slight jiggle was being heard in the shelves, then a box came flying toward Susan. It hit her right in the back of the head and knocked her down. "Ow! What the blimey fuck?" Olivander looked in astonishment at her mouth and Rosemary gave her a scowl. It seems like she would, too. After all, she was wearing a button up shirt with a burgundy cardigan sweater and an ankle length skirt to match. Her hair was tidy and held in a hairband. She wore no jewelry or make up. It was clear that Rosemary was very conservative. Susan was unable to pick up on anything that was going on, so she pulled the red ribbon off the black box. It didn't seem like it was being presented as a gift, but rather, being held inside it's box. Nevertheless, she opened it, and examined the wand within. It was a long thin wand with rough edges and was all white. Unlike any wand she had heard about or that her family had wielded. She waved the wand and flinched. It shot a direct beam of black light towards the wall. The beam was absorbed and the wall glowed for a few seconds before it subsided. Susan could not contain her excitement. "I did it!" she shouted.
Olivander looked with astonishment. "That wand is a ten inch dullahan's bone. From Black Rose Wood. Only reserved for the most special wizards." Rosemary looked at Olivander. He looked more worried than anything else. She knew as much as he did that wizards don't choose wands. Wands choose the wizards. "But who in Merlin's name would craft a wand from a Dullahan's bone? Aren't they nearly extinct?" Olivander raised a brow at her question. Perhaps this was common knowledge to him, but to her it was a foreign concept. "Why, my dear, this is exactly WHY they're endangered. Wand crafting with bones of a Dullahan has been outlawed and the species has been protected, all though, existing wands have not been confiscated. Merlin knows why."
"Please can we get it, sis? Please?" Rosemary sighed and nodded her head. She knew that she was only going to start an argument if she said no. Susan jumped with joy and went up to the counter to purchase her precious tool. It was registered as "BLACK ROSE 10" DULLAHAN'S BONE" on the certificate. "This wand is official property of Witch Susan Henkel."
"How much?" asked Rosemary. Olivander gave a vibe of panic. "Oh, no no no no no no. No charge, for a pair of lovely ladies like yourself." It was evident that he was trying to get rid of it, but he didn't want any evidence of it being there to begin with.
The 11-year-old Susan bolted out of the shoppe as an extremely happy little girl. "Wait right here." Rosemary walked into a washroom, came out wearing a black uniform with a blue and grey tie and a black school robe with a matching jumper and below the knee skirt with a pointed hat. She handed Susan a bundle of black clothing. Susan looked in confusion. "What's with these rather queer looking threads?" "That's your uniform. Go change in that washroom." While Susan didn't want to change her clothes in a public washroom, she had no choice. She simply ran in, changed, and came right out. It was uniform that looked exactly the same as Rosemary's.
Rosemary presented her with a sweet, lest she complain endlessly of her experience in there. Susan brutally unwrapped it and began eating.
"It's almost time for us to get on our train." "Okay sis. What platform are we on?" Rosemary handed her a card. "We're Platform Nine and Three Quarters." Susan looked at Rosemary in disbelief. "What kind of queer platform is that?" "The one that gets us to the school. It has been for 3 years for me." Susan still had a look of disbelief, but she still decided to go along with it.
Once she got to the platform, which did in fact exist, she noticed something crucial was missing. "Where's the train?" she asked. Rosemary smiled. "Now, what you're going to do is run straight through that wall to get on the train." Susan was completely put off. "Like hell I am! You're gonna make a fool out of me! I won't do it!" Rosemary sighed and looked at another student. This student seemed a bit odd, but beggars can't be choosers. "Excuse me. My little sister is scared to go through. Would you mind going through and showing her it's safe?" The student smiled and held out her hand. "Certainly. My name is Luna Lovegood. And who might I be acquainting myself with?" "My name is Rosemary Henkel, and this is my little sister, Susan. This is her first year at Hogwarts." Luna knelt down to Susan's level with a reassuring look. "It's completely safe." Susan still looked a little frightened. Probably because to her, this girl seemed like she was certifiably insane. Naturally, her credibility seemed little to none and the things she said didn't seem reassuring.
Luna smiled, stood up and firmly grabbed her belongings. "Wish me luck, daddy." Luna's father smiled and waved her off. "I'll see you on the other side," he said. Luna then turned to Susan. "Do this exactly." Luna stood straight, gripping her belongings firmly and then ran straight through the platform. Susan looked in complete awe. "Me next! Me next! I wanna do it, now!" Rosemary smiled and said, "Go on, then." Susan shouted a huge joyous sound and mimicked Luna's exact movement, until she got halfway in the platform and just stopped. "See you on the other side, Rosie!" Rosemary yelled out in terror. "Idiot! Go all the way through! Don't just stop half way!" Susan looked in confusion and before she could react was sucked through the platform.
As her yells faded away, Rosemary looked in complete shock. "I am incredibly worried." Luna's dad gave Rosemary a reassuring look. "Don't worry. She'll be fine. My daughter used to be just like her. Come to think of it, she's still just like her." Rosemary felt slightly reassured although for the most part was still very worried. Rosemary quickly began to panic. The man quickly went to comfort her. "Hey, you're going in after her, right? We're not going anywhere just yet." Rosemary nodded and felt much more reassured.
"My name is Xenophilous Lovegood." Rosemary looked in shock. "The Xenophilous Lovegood?" Xenophilous chuckled for a bit. "Who else would I be?"
Rosemary's nostalgic childhood quickly possessed her. "You were on that show The Alchemist's Hour!" Xenophilous looked in shock. That show hasn't been on T.V. since 1984. It was cancelled due to poor ratings. "You've seen that show?" "I'm your biggest fan! I've always dreamed of meeting you in person. I also read 'The Quibbler'. No, I eat, sleep and breathe 'The Quibbler'! Oh my, this is stupid. That chapter of my life should have been over when I was 5. I'm 14 now! Oh but I've spent so much money on merchandise in my childhood and I still have all of it. You must think I'm insane."
Xenophilous laughed. "Not one bit, Miss Rosemary. You're quite normal to me." Rosemary chuckled, altogether abandoning any thoughts of her sister. "I think children that attend Hogwarts have a quirk of their own each. Everyone's a little dotty."
All of the sudden, thunder barged in and rolled over furiously. Xenophilous looked at his idolizer. "I think it's going to storm. It's been cloudy all day." Rosemary smiled. "I hope Susan will be okay away from home. She's a bit of an imp." Xenophilous looked at Rosemary, as if to comfort her. "She'll be okay. I know what it's like to worry about a loved one whom you can't watch over anymore. Especially when she has a tendency to get into trouble. Believe me. At least you're able to watch over your sister."
While Luna and Susan are 2 completely different people, they are very similar in person. Luna has probably done the same thing or something very alike in her first year. Rosemary felt much more reassured, as Luna was very much alive and well.
"Oh blimey! Look at the time! I'll miss the damn train!" Rosemary hurried through the platform and Xenophilous went after her. He could tell how high strung she was, considering the train wasn't scheduled to leave for 15 more minutes.
On the other side, a girl with wavy dark red hair and an innocent looking face with blue eyes and a man whom was cross-eyed and had shoulder length white hair which was the texture of candyfloss popped out. "Susan! Thank Merlin you're alright!" Luna was helping Susan regather her belongings which had all fallen out of her trunk. She waved her wand using a spell she had learned from her mother to make sure nothing was missing in the event that this happened. Low and behold, a sock found it's way to the trunk. Rosemary walked over and grabbed Susan by her collar. "Can't you stay out of trouble for five minutes! You had me scared to death! For Merlin's sake! Try not to do anything stupid while you're at Hogwarts! You-won't-last!" Susan didn't seemed to be listening. "Rosemary, that hurts!" she whined. Rosemary let her go and said "Let's just get on the train." Susan made sure all her belongings were collected and hopped onto the scarlet coloured engine. Next came Rosemary after her, then Luna. After a few minutes, the train hissed and took off.
As clouds advanced over the train station, it began to drizzle slightly. The storm, however, had already started in the wizard world.
On the train, there was a sudden jolt that came from a bookbag. Susan yelped , fell down, and landed on another passenger from which the bookbag came. "Get off me!" Susan rose up. "Sorry!" A slightly plump but attractive young blonde boy stood up. Susan smiled and held out her hand. "My name is Susan Henkel!" The boy shook her hand. "Neville. Neville Longbottom." Susan chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Longbottom." Neville took his seat and in walked an estranged young blonde whom Susan was familiar with. "You're the girl who helped me earlier. Luna, was it?" Luna smiled. "Glad to see you're okay." Neville looked in question, as this girl was unquestionably odd, but decided to brush it off simply because she seemed interesting.
Susan decided to change the subject "My mum is actually a professor at this school." Luna smiled. "Oh is she? What subject does she teach?" Susan smiled. "She's an alchemy teacher." Luna smiled. "I'm taking alchemy this year, so I'll definitely say hi when I see her." Susan smiled. "What do your parents do?" Luna smiled and giggled. "My dad is a wizard," she said. Susan smiled. "My dad is a muggle actor." Luna giggled. "So you're a half-blood?" she asked. Susan nodded while fixing her strawberry barrette. She then turned to Neville. "What about your parents?" Neville gave a quick shrug of the shoulders and said nothing. Susan laughed. "Don't be silly. Come on. You're not excluded from the conversation or anything." Neville simply hung his head and didn't say anything. Susan looked while laughing. "Why the long face?" Neville quickly scowled at her. "BACK OFF!" Susan looked with astonishment. "Geez', Neville. What's got you all worked up?" Neville sighed. "I'm sorry. I just get really sensitive about my parents." Susan looked with remorse. "Did they pass?" Neville looked away. "They might as well have." Luna began to drift off into a daydream. Susan looked at her. "Are you alright?" Luna nodded her head. "Yeah. I just miss my mum." And with that she stared off into space.
Susan held out her arms like she was a cross. "Group hug, guys. Let's spread some good feelings." Neville almost dog piled on Susan, Luna seemed like she was in need of a wake up call as she joined the hug. The little girl patted their backs. "Ya know, guys, my grandmum passed, too. I know how ya feel." Susan shook off what she just said, smiled and said "I'm gonna go get something to brighten the mood. Be back in a jiff!"
Susan skipped off to the food cart to get some licorice muffins. It's true, they are a bit tart, but they are quite excellent in making happiness in its consumers.
"Bloody. It's pissing cats and dogs out." As Susan approached the cart, the train came to a grinding halt. Susan was thrown forward into the compartment in front of her and the lights all went out. Luggage trunks fell from the top and nearly landed on the girl. "What the hell? Who turned out the lights?" Other passengers expressed the same confusion as her. Susan felt her face and then shifted into panic mode when she noticed her glasses and barrette had fallen off. It wasn't long before she found them, though. Once she put on her barrette and glasses, she saw a figure hunched over and covered some sort of cloak. She rubbed her eyes and was instantly greeted by something terrifying. It was a large floating skeletal figure with seemingly no head. At least the hood of the cloak heavily covered it. No doubt in Susan's mind. It was the Dementors. The same ones whom had been attacking the magical world since Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban in their pursuit of him.
Susan leapt to her feet but quickly fell over. She tried to cry out in the hopes that someone would hear her, but she couldn't. She couldn't even move. She could barely breathe. Only enough to sustain her life. The Dementor reached its long fingers of bone out and ran them through the girl's tussled hair. It fished out a few dark strands of hair from Susan's head. As soon as the Dementor got the strand, it disappeared. Susan watched Dementors come out of different train cars and vanish shortly before she blacked out. Her last conscious thought was what might be done with that hair and what did the Dementors want with something like that
