It was nine o'clock in the morning and Winnie was more than halfway through Hogwarts a History. Winnie was like a sponge with information, she took in like a dehydrated person would chug a bottle of water; desperately and always seeking more. Willie enjoyed learning as well, just not with the same enthusiasm and ease that his sister inherited from their mother.
"Are you dressed?" their mother called through the house.
"I've been dressed since five," Winnie said, her tone eager and excited.
"Well, I've been dressed since 4:30!" Willie shot back smugly more towards his sister than his mother.
"Not now, we need to get going." Their mother had already loaded the trunks into the car and was now attempting to get her two oldest children into the car without an argument. The pups had gone for a run early that morning with their brother and had since shifted back and gotten dressed. If anything it was to attempt to bring down her own nerves at the thought of her babies going of to school for so long.
She glanced down towards her youngest son, who had turned four just a few days ago and was preoccupied with his toys at the moment; but sensed his mother's apprehension gave her a toothy grin and stuck out his tongue. She couldn't help but wonder if her too would also be going off to hogwarts when he turned eleven in seven years.
Winnie and Willie both tore off towards the car, too excited to stop and wave until they were both seated in the back seat. As they drove off towards the train station, Winnie could see the whole pack was outside waving and she waved back eagerly.
Hagrid had explained to their mother how to get onto the platform. Winnie listened carefully, knowing her mother could not follow them any further.
"I want you to write often and be good. I'm sure they will let me know if you get into any trouble," she warned her children, eyeing Winnie specifically as she warned them about getting into trouble. Winnie was highly intelligent and always flourished academically but she was also a known troublemaker; never anything serious but enough to gain her the reputation.
"Don't worry, mom! We'll be fine," Winnie promised as she braced herself to run at a wall. She knew she wasn't going to be hurt; having already watched a few children go through but the small part of her mind was screaming at her for even thinking about deliberately running at a brick wall.
"We've got to go, five minutes!" Willie cried, pointing to his watch and steering his trunk towards the wall.
"Alright, get out of her!" their mother cried; hugging her children one last time before the disappeared through the brick wall.
Winnie couldn't believe how many people were on the platform. They all varied in age from eleven all the way up to seventeen or eighteen. They were all rushing towards the train, a massive stack of trunks sat by the train, Winnie and Willie took the opportunity to set their trunks down.
"Don't forget to take a uniform with you; you will be expected to be in your rodes upon arrival," a man with messy blonde hair announced. Winnie and Willie pulled a set of robes from their trunk and dashed onto the train. Winnie and Willie stuck close to one another as the tried to find a compartment that wasn't full.
They found a compartment that only contained three people, so Winnie knocked lightly on the door. They three older children looked up and one of the boys pulled the door open.
"Can my sister and I sit in here? Everywhere else is full," Willie said, gesturing the still crowded hallway.
A boy with messy red hair and freckles nodded but his mouth was too full of food to actually speak. Winnie sat down next to a girl with bushy brown hair and brown hair. Beside her was a red cat with messy fur and an expression that could only be described as mean. Wille sat down next to a boy with black hair, green eyes, glasses and a scar of a lightning bolt on his forehead. The boy had a snow white owl in a cage beside him who hooted merrily at the site of the twins' owl Luna.
"I'm Winnie and this is my twin brother Willie," Winnie introduced as she pointed to her brother who had joined the boys in shoving his face with candies Winnie had never heard of before.
"I'm Hermione Granger and the redhead pig is Ron Weasley and the other pig is Harry Potter," the girl said smiling almost evilly and her friends. "I'm guessing your first years."
"How can you tell?" Winnie asked nervously; her voice shaking.
"You look about ready to wet yourself," Ron said frankly. Though Hermione reached over and smacked his head, Winnie couldn't help but respect the boy for being so upfront and honest. It was expressed with none of the fear or hesitance that Winnie was used to receiving from non-wolf children. No one in the compartment seemed to hold any fear or hesitance towards her; which made Winnie feel normal among the group.
Willie opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by Winnie who suddenly came to a realization. "Wait a minute; did you say Harry Potter?"
Harry blushed slightly at being recognized but gave a brief nod to the girl.
"Willie, he's a legend. I read that he stopped a powerful wizard who was trying to kill him when he was only a baby!" Winnie explained. She found that to be pretty remarkable for a non-wolf child; let alone so young.
Willie rolled his eyes at his sister and gave an exaggerated sigh.
"This is the first time since we got our letters that her face hasn't been shoved into a book."
"At least I've lifted a book," Winnie shot back, knowing he would be able to catch up to her in no time, because he was just as smart as Winnie.
"You're muggle-born," Ron suddenly asked but turned pink at the sudden realization of what he said. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry."
"It's fine and our father is a wizard. He never went to Hogwarts but he still passed the gene down to us. But our mother isn't a witch," Winnie informed not sure whether or not it would be completely accurate to call her mother a mere muggle.
Winnie knew her father did not come from a magical bloodline aside from his wolf blood, which has been passed down from generation to generation for the past several centuries.
"That's cool; you've been reading? What have you read so far?" Hermione asked Winnie in an excited tone, causing Willie, Ron and Harry to all groan and roll their eyes.
Hermione and Willie spent the rest of the ride discussing the books Winnie had read and Hermione gave her advice and recommendations for what Winnie should read next and what books would be most helpful for her coming classes.
"Transfiguration books are all fascinating," Hermione explained as she helped Winnie with her tie for her uniform. Winnie had never worn a tie before and was grateful for the help from the older witch.
"I read a beginner's guide to transfiguration," Winnie said happily. "It was fascinating. I look forward to learning how to transform random objects."
"I have my books from all of my previous years if your are interesting in reading them when you are finished with yours," Hermione offered happily, glad to have finally met someone who was as enthusiastic about learning as she was. Winnie burst into a big grin and nodded at Hermione.
"That would be great! Thanks Hermione," she said in wonder. "What house are you in?"
"I am in Gryffindor. I'm in my fourth year," Hermione replied as they went back to the compartment with the boys, who were in their robes already. Winnie couldn't help but grin at how formal she and her brother both looked. It was only the rarest occasions that they were dressed in anything more formal than jeans and sweaters. Why waste such money on clothes that could be destroyed the minute one of the children decided to shift without removing their clothes?
Of course both Winnie and Willie were both controlled enough that that would not be an issue now; it was more likely to occur among pack mates when a playfight is initiated without notice or warning. Neither Winnie nor Willie would allow that to happen right now because as the train began to slow down to a stop; the twins were too nervous to do anything but clutch each other's hands.