Chapter 2! This is a long one but mostly because I wanted to test myself to see if I could write out the plot of the Harry Potter story... Sorry if you don't like this one, but I thought the Muggleborn characters should hear it and I tried to make it fun. Lots of dialogue this time, enjoy!
Also hugs and butterfly kisses to my reviewer WhatsTheTimeMrWolf and to my muses EmFelton7 and Luxembourgsbucktoothedgirl 3
I studied the girl for a few seconds before hesitantly pulling my trunk into the compartment. I pushed it neatly underneath one of the benches and sat down, my feet dangling a few centimetres above the carpet.
She looked me up and down critically.
"You're not very tall, are you?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, silently hating her already. Em tried to drag her case through the door, banging it loudly on both sides of the frame before finally fitting it through. She sat down on it and reached round to slide the compartment door shut again.
An awkward silence filled the carriage.
Em and I looked at each other, and then towards the sullen girl in the corner. It was then that I noticed a large, golden carry-case at the girl's feet.
"What's that?" I asked curiously, forgetting that I didn't even know the girl's name.
She smiled at me and reached down to pick up the container. She flicked a latch and took out a large, very fluffy white cat.
"This is Maleficent. He's a pureblood, like me."
I exchanged glances with Em again as Eleanor placed Maleficent back inside the cat carrier.
"Cool name," she said, "I don't have any pets. My mum's allergic."
I suddenly remembered: Chula's cage was still out in the corridor! I sprang up from my seat and snatched up the small cage from where I had left it and returned to my seat.
"This is Chula," I said proudly.
Em smiled, "I love owls."
The other girl sneered, "He's not a very big owl, is he?"
"She-" I corrected, "-is a perfectly normal size for her age."
Before I could stop her the other girl leaned in and stuck her fingers in the cage. Chula swivelled her head round and promptly bit her.
The girl let out a yell and pulled her hand back, clutching it to her chest.
"It bit me!" She yelled, "That monster bit me!"
I shook my head at her, "Serves you right for poking her. Don't touch another person's owl."
She scowled at me.
"Anyway," said Em, tactfully changing the subject, "I'm Em and this is Charley. We're new."
The girl held out her hand (not the one Chula had bitten) towards Em.
"Eleanor Corner, pureblood. What's your blood status?"
I looked puzzled, but Em extended her hand and shook Eleanor's.
"Muggleborn, but my brother went to Hogwarts before me."
I remembered the tall boy on the platform. So he was a wizard too.
Eleanor then turned to me expectantly.
"Err..." I said, unsure what to say.
"Are your parents wizards?" she said impatiently.
"No." I replied.
"Neither of them?" she continued.
"Neither of them."
"Then you're a Muggleborn," said Em, "But it's nothing to be worried about. You're no less magical than people who've come from long lines of witches and wizards."
I smiled at her and was about to say thanks when Eleanor spoke up again.
"I come from a long line of magical folk. My parents are Cho Chang and Michael Corner. They fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. They were both in Ravenclaw so I expect I'll be a Ravenclaw too. I'm definitely smart enough to be."
I said nothing. I was really starting to dislike this girl.
"My brother was a Gryffindor," said Em, "He says it usually stays in the family. He's already given me his old Gryffindor scarf." She reached into her trunk and pulled out a red and gold woollen scarf. It was a little worn around the edges but she didn't seem to mind.
"Gryffindor? Pah," scoffed Eleanor, "A bunch of dangerous, head-strong morons. I'd hate to be a Gryffindor."
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Em narrow her eyes slightly. She stuffed the scarf back into the trunk and clipped it closed again.
I coughed once, and they both turned to look at me.
"What's Gryffindor?"
They stared, bewildered. Eleanor's eyes were almost popping out of her sockets.
"What do you mean 'What's Gryffindor'?! How can you not know what Gryffindor is?" Eleanor laughed, "I bet you don't know what Ravenclaw is either!"
I shook my head slowly.
Em's face was blank, "Hufflepuff? Slytherin?"
I shook my head again. Eleanor roared with laughter in the corner.
Em sighed and turned to me.
"Hundreds of years ago Hogwarts was founded by 4 great witches and wizards; Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They're the Hogwarts Founders, and they decided to split the students into 4 houses. There are a lot of stereotypes and myths surrounding the house system but my brother told me essentially all the nasty people get put in Slytherin, all the good people get sorted into Gryffindor, all the smart people are in Ravenclaw and then Hufflepuff is..." Em seemed to be looking for the right words, and then shrugged.
"Hufflepuff is just everyone else."
Eleanor laughed and leaned towards me.
"They're the biggest jokes of the school. If you're a Hufflepuff it's probably because you were dropped on your head when you were born!" She sniggered.
I sighed and said to Em "I wish I had an older brother to teach me this stuff."
She nodded, "Dan's really great, he even told me some of the secret passages and where the Gryffindor Common Room is."
"I have a younger brother," I said, "But he's only 5."
Eleanor chimed in, "I have a younger brother too. He's coming to Hogwarts next year."
Silence followed, and my brain processed what I'd been told. Sorting? How do they sort people?
"How does the sorting work?" I asked.
As Em opened her mouth to speak, the compartment door slid open. A girl with curly red hair quickly slid in and slammed it shut, before pulling down the blinds on either side so our room was no longer visible from the corridor. She spun to face us.
"I'm sorry for barging in but I'm hiding from my cousin so would it be alright if I stayed here?"
I was impressed. The girl had said all this in one breath. I smiled and moved up the bench to make room for her, pulling Chula's cage with me.
"Love your owl!" she said, hopping up onto the seat, "Mine's a bit smaller and a snowy."
I nodded, "She's called Chula, and I'm Charley."
The girl smiled back, "Rose Weasley."
Eleanor spun her head round so fast I'm certain her neck must have cricked.
"Weasley?" she repeated. Rose nodded and took a deep breath.
Eleanor's mouth was open.
" As in the Weasleys?"
Rose nodded again. I was puzzled.
"What's so special about being a Weasley?" I asked, then realised what I'd said, "No offence, Rose."
"None taken," she said, tapping her long nails on the upholstered seat cushion, "and, in my opinion, there's nothing special about my family at all."
Em shook her head, "I'm a Muggleborn and even I know this. Ron Weasley was best friends with Harry Potter and fought in the Battle of Hogwarts with the rest of the Weasleys."
Eleanor joined in.
"And if you're Rose then that makes your parents Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."
I uncrossed my legs and then re-crossed them the other way. "Never heard of them."
Rose smiled, "Good. Finally; someone who won't treat me differently."
I shrugged.
"I've never even heard of the Battle of Hogwarts."
"You're Muggleborn, of course you don't know this stuff," Rose said, "There was a Dark Wizard years ago who started killing Muggleborns and Muggles because he was a Pureblood supremacist." She noticed the blank look on my face. "He just really hated people who didn't have wizard parents." I nodded.
"He tried to kill a baby called Harry Potter because there was a prophecy that said that baby was the only person who could ever stop him. The baby's parents gave their lives trying to protect their son and because of them he survived the attack, although he was now an orphan and had to go live with his horrible Muggle aunt and uncle. Voldemort 's body was destroyed by his own killing curse and his followers were put in prison."
I was impressed. Rose appeared to know the whole story as if she was reading from a textbook.
"When he was 11 he got a letter from Hogwarts and went to Hogwarts. He learnt he was famous and became friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, my parents." She smiled wider.
"At the end of his first year Harry came face to face with Voldemort again, although it was only his spirit this time. He fought him and won. The next year he fought Voldemort's past self and a basilisk in a secret chamber underneath the school, and then the next year he had to deal with dementors, his teacher being a werewolf and the escape of a convicted criminal from Azkaban (the wizarding prison) who just so happened to be his Godfather. In his fourth year he was accidentally entered into the Triwizard Tournament and had to fight a dragon, merfolk and when he won he was kidnapped by Voldemort's followers and held hostage while they created a new body for Voldemort. He then had to fight Voldemort and another student ended up dying. The Ministry of Magic didn't believe that Voldemort was back and the Daily Prophet started saying that Harry was just trying to get attention and that Dumbledore, Hogwarts Headmaster at the time and possibly the wisest man who ever lived, was just a batty old loon and that everything was fine when it actually wasn't."
As she took another breath to carry on the compartment door opened again and another red-headed girl poked her head in.
"Has anyone seen-"she stopped when she saw Rose sitting next to me.
"Rose! You totally abandoned me back there."
Rose grabbed her arm and pulled her into the compartment, slamming the door behind her.
"I'm hiding from James, if you must know." She turned to rest of us.
"Everyone, this is Roxanne, my cousin. Roxie, this is Charley and..." she paused, realising. "I don't know anyone else's names."
Em stood and went to hug first Rose, then Roxie. "Emily Swan, pleased to meet you. Another Weasley I'm guessing?"
Roxie nodded. "It's the Weasley red hair that gives us away."
Eleanor was now gaping at Roxie.
"Roxanne Weasley?"
She nodded, confused. "I prefer Roxie. And you are?"
"Eleanor Corner, pureblood." She replied almost automatically. Roxie smiled back a little awkwardly.
Rose elbowed Roxie, "I'm just telling Charley 'The Story'," she said, smiling at what was obviously an in-joke.
Roxie laughed loudly and sat down in the seat opposite me, "Do carry on Rosie, you tell it so well."
Rose sat back down and I prompted her.
"Dumbledore was a batty old loon..."
Roxie was shocked. "What? No he wasn't! He was the wisest wizard ever-"Rose put up a hand and silenced her.
"The Prophet told everyone that Dumbledore was a batty old loon, but of course he wasn't. He was just the only one who believed Harry. Dumbledore rounded up all the witches and wizards who'd been willing to fight Voldemort the first time round, a group called the Order of the Phoenix."
"Because Dumbledore had a pet phoenix." said Roxie.
"Don't interrupt," scowled Rose. Roxie smiled and pretended to zip her lips.
"The Order started trying to convince people that Voldemort really was back but the Ministry kept denying it. Dumbledore wasn't speaking to Harry at all and then the Ministry sent one of their senior members into Hogwarts to keep control of the school and stop Harry convincing all the students that Voldemort really was back. She was called Delores Umbridge and she eventually took over Hogwarts and forced Dumbledore into hiding."
"Umbridge was a right cow," added Roxie, with a sly smile at Rose who had started pouting at being interrupted again. "She was obsessed with blood purity and hated 'half breeds'."
"Like centaurs, werewolves etc." said Rose.
"Yeah," said Roxie, "She started trying to spy on the students and refused to teach real Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"Mum said she didn't even teach them spells and all they did was copy from the textbook." Cut in Eleanor from her corner.
Rose looked her and tilted her head slightly, thinking.
"Who's your Mum?" she said.
"Cho Chang." replied Eleanor. Rose and Roxie exchanged a look and then Roxie continued.
"So Harry took it upon himself to start teaching Defence Against the Dark Art. He was really good at it and soon he had a massive group of people involved. They started calling themselves Dumbledore's Army."
Rose spoke next.
"That group included my Mum and Dad, Roxie's mum and dad and Eleanor's Mum too. They had about 30 members and used to practice in this secret magical room in Hogwarts, but that got destroyed by Fiendyfire in the Battle of Hogwarts.
"When Umbridge found out about the group she broke into the room and rounded everyone up for questioning, but Harry and his friends snuck away and broke into the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. They had a huge fight with the Death Eaters and then-"
"Wait wait," I said, "Who are the Death Eaters?"
"Voldemort's followers," said Roxie, "Didn't Rose mention that?"
I shook my head and Roxie smacked Rose lightly on the arm.
"Silly girl, that's important!"
Rose grumbled and carried on anyway.
"They started fighting the Death Eaters and because Harry had trained them all up they were doing alright, but then some of the Order of the Phoenix arrived to help. Sirius Black died, Harry almost killed Bellatrix Lestrange and then Voldemort himself showed up, just in time to be seen by the Minister of Magic himself, who finally realised he was back and had to resign because of it.
"Umbridge got carried off by centaurs after she screamed at them that they were 'half-blood scum' or something, and then everyone went home for the summer." Rose smiled and nodded at Roxie.
"The next year Harry spent a lot of time with Ginny Weasley," grinned Roxie, "and then towards the end of the year he went off hunting Horcruxes with Dumbledore, who was now speaking to him again. They managed to get one but then it turned out it wasn't real and then Severus Snape killed Dumbledore and there were Death Eaters in Hogwarts and it was a big old mess for a while."
Rose stage whispered to me as Roxie paused.
"Horcruxes are inanimate objects that a person has hidden a piece of their soul inside. Voldemort made about 7."
"Wizards can hide their souls?" I said, shocked.
"Yes but no-one really does unless they're paranoid or evil or both," said Roxie, "and Voldemort was both. That's why he survived the night that he tried to kill Harry, because pieces of his soul lived on. One was in a diary, one in a ring, one in a snake, one in a diadem, one in a cup, one in-"
"And so on," interrupted Rose, "That summer the Ministry fell to Voldemort and the Death Eaters, although the general public didn't know it. It wasn't safe for Harry or most people to return to Hogwarts. If you were on the wrong side or a Muggleborn it was not a safe time for you. Teams of rogue witches and wizards were going round 'snatching' people they thought were Muggleborn and taking them to Voldemort's followers in exchange for gold. Harry and my parents went on the run and ended up searching for the rest of the Horcruxes and also for the Deathly Hallows, 3 ancient artefacts that Voldemort wanted. Legend said anyone who possessed all three would be the master of Death himself."
Roxie started making funny noises in the corner, as if she was a captive audience. "Ooh, aaah!" she cooed at Rose, who smirked back.
"Harry already owned one of the items, an invisibility cloak that had been passed down through his family," continued Rose, "But they got caught by snatchers and my Mum was tortured because she was a Muggleborn. Dobby the elf helped them and their friends Luna and Mr Ollivander escape and lost his life doing so. They managed to break into the castle without anyone noticing and then found a group of students hiding in the secret room that Dumbledore's Army had previously practiced in. They learned the school was being run by Death Eaters and Severus Snape, one of Voldemort's most trusted servants. Along with the Order of the Phoenix they seized the school from the Death Eaters, but then Voldemort showed up, having found one of the Deathly Hallows; the Elder Wand. The wand was the most powerful ever made and Voldemort thought it would make him unbeatable. He led an attack on the school and the older students and teachers of Hogwarts fought the Death Eaters in the Battle of Hogwarts. There were losses to both sides-"
"Our grandmother killed Bellatrix Lestrange!" cried Roxie.
"- and eventually Voldemort called a ceasefire. He gave Harry Potter one hour to meet him in the Forbidden Forest or he would kill everyone in the castle. Harry sacrificed himself for his friends and went to the forest where Voldemort was waiting. Voldemort killed Harry and took his body back into Hogwarts to gloat."
"He killed Harry?" I said, confused. "I thought you said that-"
Rose nodded and talked over me quickly, "I know, it's confusing. Voldemort hadn't killed Harry; he'd killed the part of his soul inside of Harry."
"Screw this," I thought, "I'm not going to question this anymore, I'm lost either way."
"Harry jumped back up and led another charge against Voldemort. Some giants turned up and some giant spiders-"
I shuddered.
"-and they somehow managed to win. Order was restored, Voldemort was killed by Harry and they all lived happily ever after and had lots of sex and babies." said Rose.
"The end." finished Roxie.
Em and I looked at each other and started clapping. Roxie and Rose laughed and then took a bow.
"Thank you, thank you." said Roxie, still laughing.
The train jolted suddenly and both Rose and Roxie, who had been standing at the time, were thrown to the floor.
"What is it?" Eleanor said, "What's happening?"
The train was still moving and nothing seemed wrong to me. Rose stood and brushed her robes off.
"Maybe there was something on the track she said, sitting back next to me. As we looked out the window the train rounded a corner and we gasped in unison. Hogwarts Castle silhouetted against the sunset, its turrets clearly visible in the dying light. The Express moved slowly towards it as we watched a few tiny, faraway owls swooping into one of the largest towers, which I took to be the Owlery that the man in the pet shop had mentioned when I'd bought Chula.
It was really starting to sink in. Magic was real. Centaurs existed. I was about to start at a new a school with new people who know an awful lot more about this world than I do.
Rose brought me out of my thoughts with a hushed whisper.
"We're here."
