"Could you please not act like… well, you?" I asked my little brother.
He was such a little embarrassment at times. Okay, I know he is only six-years-old and he can't help it, but still. When we are in public, can't he just behave? Mum swatted me on the back of the head and told me to be nice. It's hard to be nice to a little pest, and she always takes his side. It doesn't matter what he does, as soon as I yell at him, it's me who gets in trouble.
That's why I am thankful that I am finally starting school. It seemed to me, that it took forever for me to turn eleven years old, and there was a while there when I thought I wasn't even going to go. When You-Know-Who took the wizarding world over completely, my family went into hiding.
Even though it was scary, I have to wonder if spending all our time together was the reason why we didn't get along. My parents spent most of the time lately fighting, and they were like that before. In fact, sometimes I felt sick with the affection that they used to show for each other because they were scared. That was during the beginning months of hiding, but after that, they fought a lot.
Timmy was always on my case, and he always wanted me to play with him. We stayed at my house, but my dad did the fidie charm… or something like that… whatever it was, it kept us hidden because my dad was the secret keeper. Most of my days were spent in the toy room entertaining a five year old. Timmy didn't have the same fear that my parents and I had, but then again, he was so young. He didn't understand exactly what war was.
It was a relief when it was all over. Luckily, our neighbourhood seemed to miss You-Know-Who's reign of terror, so most of Timmy's friends were still around. So thankfully, he spent the summer playing with them, and I could go back to spending my time by myself. There weren't any kids my age in my neighbourhood, so I've been always a loner, but I've never really minded.
Now that I am starting Hogwarts though, I am so hoping to find some friends. And I am lucky enough to be going when Hogwarts isn't going to be so scary. I am so glad I wasn't old enough to go last year, and I feel sorry for the people who had been there. I heard about what happened, and I can't even imagine living that way. I was lucky that my parents decided to go into hiding.
So, after letting out an aggravated sigh, I went onto the train, and had my father follow me to find a compartment. I found one with a boy (who was kind of cute) inside and asked my dad to put my trunk inside. I stepped off the train for a moment to let my mum do her tearful good-bye, give my brother a pat on the head and say bye to my dad.
"Don't wait for the train to go," I told them before I hurried back onto the train.
In the compartment I'd found, another boy had joined. I sighed, great, I was going to be stuck with two boys the whole way there. I entered the compartment, and sat down across from them.
"What's your name?" The boy with black hair and blue eyes asked me… he wasn't as cute as the other boy, but he was okay.
"Ellen, Ellen Perenge," I answered. "What's yours?"
"Devon Smith," he answered.
"Ben Hoofer," the other boy answered before I could ask.
"Hoofer?" I asked. "Are you serious?"
Oops. The thing about first impressions is that you only get to make one… and I'm sure Ben didn't think much of me after that comment. He just gave a small shrug and looked out the window.
"Is Perenge seriously your last name?" He asked as he glared out the window.
"I'm sorry," I said. "That came out wrong, it's just that I've never heard of that name… ever."
"Well, I've never heard of the last name Perenge… ever," Ben retorted.
Luckily, a short girl with long red hair entered the compartment with a trunk, so it ended that conversation. I wondered if Hogwarts had a course that taught people how to talk to people without offending them. I really wanted to make friends at Hogwarts, and so far I had blown it. I didn't say much as the boys helped the new girl put her trunk in the luggage rack.
"I'm Tara," the girl said afterwards. "Tara Cretins."
We all introduced ourselves to her. A few moments later, the train began to move.
"So… are you all first years as well?" Tara asked.
I nodded but didn't say anything, I was still feeling embarrassed about what had happened with Ben. By that point, I wasn't sure if the boys were first years, but they both nodded.
"Good," Tara said. "So, what House are you hoping to be in? Wait, is anyone here Muggleborn?"
"Half-blood," Devon said. "My mum is Muggleborn, so if you have a problem with them-"
"Of course not," Tara snapped. "I just figured that if anyone was muggleborn, than they wouldn't know what I was talking about. Anyway, I am hoping to be a Ravenclaw. I am smart, so that's where I will be. No way will I be in Slytherin… and definitely not Hufflepuff. I'd settle for Gryffindor, but I'm very sure that I'll be Ravenclaw."
Devon just gave a shrug. "My parents were Gryffindor, so likely I will be too."
This Tara girl seemed kind of conceited. What was wrong with Hufflepuff? My mother was a Hufflepuff in her school days, and there wasn't anything wrong with her. My dad was a Gryffindor, so I figure I will be one or the other. I couldn't see myself being a Ravenclaw, I am not the studios type, and I most definitely wouldn't be Slytherin. So that's what I told them.
"Probably Ravenclaw," Ben said in a bored voice.
"Ooh, so are you smart then?" Tara asked.
"I expect so, but who knows," Ben said. "My siblings and my parents were all Ravenclaws, so I probably will be too."
Ben didn't seem too happy about this. Maybe he wanted to be in a different house. Whatever it was, I figured I would ask… maybe make up for the poor impression I'd made in the beginning.
"You don't want to be Ravenclaw?" I asked.
"To be honest, I don't really care. I mean, I expect I will be. My family has always been in Ravenclaw, but maybe I will be the different one. I don't really care what house of the four I end up in," he answered.
"You mean… you'd want to be in Slytherin?" Tara asked in disbelief. "They're all bad people."
"Oh they are not," Ben snapped.
At least I wasn't the only one making a bad impression with Ben.
"The Death Eaters came from all four houses," he said. "Maybe there was a lot from Slytherin, but not every witch or wizard that ends up there turns out bad."
"Yeah but… I heard that last year, none of the Slytherin's stayed to fight," Devon said. "They all left."
"And they wanted to turn Harry Potter in," Tara added.
"One Slytherin," I said. "Not all of them, one."
I wasn't sure if I agreed with Ben or not. I suppose it wouldn't be fair to accuse a whole house of being dark though. It wasn't the entire house that turned Harry in though, it was some Seventh Year girl who did it. And according to my parents, some people snuck back in, so maybe some of the Slytherin's did.
"Well, maybe I'll make a difference this year," Ben said.
I stared at him with shock… was he going to try and get into Slytherin house?
