Chapter 3-The Portkey and the Platform
Victoria awoke the next morning to the sound of her family bustling about. From what she could hear, her parents were already up, finishing the last of the packing before the portkey arrived. Her sister was also awake, but from the mutterings on the other side of the wall was not out of bed. Finally Victoria managed to crack her eyes open and squinted at the clock on her bedside table, the bright numbers currently read 5:50 AM on a normal day she would still be asleep and would have another hour before getting up.
She was just contemplating this when there was a tap on her door, as she expected it was her mother with her head in the doorway.
"Victoria, time to get up, there's still enough time to eat if you like; the portkey leaves in an hour."
She knew this already of course, and after a few more minutes she finally got out of bed and (slowly) began to dress.
Fifteen to twenty minutes later, (10 if she hurried) she was seated at the kitchen table trying her best to be enthusiastic about the bowl of cereal in front of her.
"Mom, is my broom packed?" Victoria asked.
"Yes dear." Her mother replied, "We'll unpack your broom when we get to London, your dad is already there, he left earlier this morning. The rest of us will meet him; he should be from his meeting with the Minister and the Aurors department by the time we get there."
Across the table Olive was in a similar state of not being completely awake, it was early for both of them.
"Why couldn't the port key be earlier?" She grumbled as she finished her cereal.
"Your father has to report to the British Ministry by 10 AM, London time, with the time difference that should give us a few more hours to get settled; for today at least." Her mother replied.
An hour later they were all hiking out from the now deserted house. Everything had been packed and shrunk into boxes or suitcases and was being levitated or dragged and it was still early enough that any passing Muggles would not see the activity. Victoria was currently being carried by her mother who one arm and her wand in the other, it made for slow travel but with her father already in London it was the best her mother could do.
The port key was scheduled to go off in a park around the corner, so at least the walk wasn't very far. Her mother searched the park for several minutes before locating what appeared to be a normal tin can, then she glanced at her watch which read in bright orange letters: "slightly early" and she nodded to herself as if confirming something. After a few minutes the port key began to glow and her mother spoke as she took Olive's hand.
"Everyone hang on!" Then they all hung on to each other and they were off!
Victoria rarely traveled by port key, normally she didn't have the need to and everywhere she had to be she was either transported by Side along Apparation or by broom. She felt the familiar jerk at her middle section and she was only dimly aware of everything else around her, the faintest hint of someone holding on before they all ended up on a hillside overlooking a small town.
Victoria looked around her. It was about what she had expected with the town bustling about in the early afternoon.
"Olive take the suitcases please, the house is just over this way… Your father should be back by now."
Moving slowly, her mother continued to levitate the boxes and suitcases, she was about to take a break when there was a soft "pop" a few feet away.
"Oh, Jeffrey, thank goodness!" Her mother exclaimed, "Can you take Victoria back to the house and then help me with these boxes?"
"Sure thing, love." Her father said amiably as he took Victoria and then began walking briskly over the hill. After a few feet her father Apparated again and they were standing next to a modest walk up on a relatively quiet street.
Then he tapped the doorknob of the house with his wand and entered.
Upon entering, the house was empty except for a few odds and ends in the entryway which Victoria was sure her father had placed their earlier. Waving his wand her father conjured a soft cushy chair and set her in it before speaking.
"I have to help your mother and sister bring in the rest of the things, I'll be back soon."
Her family returned a short time later and spent the better part of the day bustling around organizing the house. She and Olive decided who got which room and Victoria spent the rest of the afternoon until dinner time organizing her own space. She was already looking forward to her school shopping in Diagon Alley in the next few weeks. While she didn't have to buy everything she still had to get school robes and a few other things before beginning her term at Hogwarts.
Another three weeks passed surprisingly smoothly, her father had started work at the British Ministry and her mother was preparing for the trip to Diagon Alley. Victoria had spent the last 3 weeks when she wasn't getting settled talking to Jeremiah using the two-way mirrors they had gotten when they had first started at the American Wizard Institute along with her school supplies Victoria was still thinking about the other two items she wanted to buy-an owl and a broomstick.
"Can't you use one of the school owls?" Her mother asked.
"Sure," Victoria replied, "but not continuously, besides you know how hard it would be for me to get up to the school owlery?"
Finally her mother sighed.
"We can look." She finally replied.
"And my broom?"
"I'll think about it." Her mother answered, "but you may not get anything for your birthday or Christmas."
An hour later they were all standing in Diagon Alley. Their first stop was Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and as was her habit, she always knew when Hogwarts students walked through her doors.
"Hogwarts dears?" She asked in a friendly, warm voice and Victoria and her sisters spent the next few minutes being fitted for robes, Madame conjuring a special chair for Victoria to sit in while she took measurements all the while muttering to herself.
"Girl is no bigger than a pixie…" She muttered before retreating to the back of the shop and returning with one of the smallest pairs of robes Victoria had ever seen. "I think they should fit dear, but if you need more I'm afraid I'm going to have to special order."
After stopping to get their robes and books (they needed several new volumes that the American school didn't require) they stopped for lunch, but Victoria was looking forward to going to Eylops Owl Emporium and Quality Quidditch Supplies.
"Let's get the broom first." Her mother said in a tired voice. "I don't fancy taking an owl into Quality Quidditch Supplies."
Victoria agreed, her mother had a point.
Quality Quidditch Supplies was crowded as Victoria had expected and while her sister disappeared into Flourish and Blotts, Victoria and her mother went in search of a new broom. It took a while to explain to the sale wizard what they wanted and what it was going to be used for and he only looked at them and frowned as if he had never heard of a broom being used in such a way before.
"If it's going to be modified Madame," he told her mother, "may I suggest a Nimbus or an older Firebolt model."
"I need a more multipurpose broom." Victoria added, "I need something that will go slow enough indoors, but fast enough outdoors."
The punchy looking wizard, considered then nodded and returned a few minutes later with a sleek looking model. The handle was almost black with the finally trimmed twigs Victoria associated with the Firebolt models.
"This is last year's model for Firebolt, it flies well and it turns nicely, so I think it will slow down gradually enough that it would work suitably indoors, but it would require good handling to do so."
"Do you have any sort of tether that would prevent to one from falling off?" Her mother asked (she was always worrying about Victoria falling off her broom, but with the old Nimbus that was hardly a concern).
The wizard considered, clearly the situation was making him think.
"I have a tether, but they're mostly for stunt and distance flying, or Merlin forbid you have a Seeker doing the Wronski Feint."
Victoria smirked to herself.
The sales wizard returned a few minutes later with a small strap of leather and showed it to her mother.
"Like I said madame, these are mostly used by Quidditch players and a few Aurors I know so they don't get blown off course flying halfway to who knows where."
Her mother studied the piece of leather critically.
"It should work." She said decisively, "We'll just have to try it."
A little over an hour later they were walking out of Quality Quidditch Supplies; with a broom wrapped in heavy brown paper. Victoria was pleased with her broom and even though it wasn't the current model, it would work well for what she had in mind.
Their next stop was the Emporium. The shop was dusty, crowded and noisy and it took some maneuvering but Victoria was finally inside her broom drifting sluggishly in the cramped space.
"What can I do for you today?" The witch behind the counter asked.
"My daughter's going to be starting school," her mother explained, "she wants an owl."
"Oh, we had several to choose from… Several breeds and a few good flyers that will make excellent mail delivery…" She rattled on for a few more minutes. Carefully Victoria made her way through the crowded aisles. She finally selected an owl at the very back of the shop, a stately looking horned owl who regarded her imperiously, but he looked like he would get the job done.
I first her mother wasn't too keen on that particular owl saying it was too big and she was probably better something smaller.
"What about the Christmas packages mom, and owl any smaller than that isn't going to be to carry a full size box!" She reasoned, her voice rising several degrees in the small space causing several witches and wizards to turn around and look for the source of the noise.
It was late in the afternoon when they left of the Emporium, the entire excursion had cost Victoria over 100 galleons, most of which she would have to pay back to her mother at some point. She considered she would be glad when she was out of school and she can make her own money. Afterwards, they picked Olive up at Flourish and Blotts where she was contentedly reading and Floo home from the Leaky Cauldron, which was no easy task given their large parcels and one indignant owl.
Less than two weeks later, it was September 1 and Victoria and Olive prepared to head for Kings Cross.
That morning was like any other morning except that it wasn't. Victoria was up unusually early and dressed in everything except her outer robe for school. Afterwards, she glanced at herself in the mirror on her far wall. The mirror had been a gift from her father from a friend at work who had traveled to Germany and bought an enchanted mirror, they were more common in that part of the world although they weren't too common in the States or in Britain that she knew of.
"You look very nice dear." The mirror told her in a slightly sleepy voice and she took in her reflection. A small witch with dark hair and eyes stared back at her, she was currently seated on her new Firebolt which hovered serenely at the exact height she desired. The broom was good, but it would still require some practice to learn how to fly it properly.
When she came down for breakfast Olive was already dressed in her full school robes eating a bowl of cereal. There was no way her sister looked like your average second year, Victoria thought, her sister was tall for her age taking after their father in height and stature.
As soon as she was finished with her breakfast her mother helped her on with her robe.
"The car will be here soon." She said, "Your father rented down for the morning."
Sure enough the Ministry cars pulled up shortly after 10 AM. The trunks and Victoria's owl, now christened Alastair after a famous Auror, were loaded into the trunks. Needless to say it was not a quiet trip to Kings Cross.
Finally they arrived at Kings Cross with 20 minutes to spare. It took some negotiation but finally everything was out of the car and being pushed on trolleys towards Platform 9 and Three Quarters. Her mother was pulling Victoria's trolley behind her while Victoria flew at shoulder height alongside the rest of the group.
In a matter of minutes everyone was on the crowded platform. There were parents and students everywhere; moms and dads making it sure everyone was settled before the train took off. Olive was easy she was on the train in a matter of minutes as soon as her trunk was settled, all she needed was her stack of Muggle novels and she would be good until they arrived at Hogwarts.
Victoria was a little harder and it took her father several minutes to settle her in a compartment giving her one last piece of information.
"I had an owl from Minerva this morning…" Her father explained, "Professor Hagrid will be there to meet you, he will get you off the train and up to the castle." Then her father gave her one last kiss and hastily departed the train to stand next to her mother on the platform waving one last time as the whistle blew again and the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station.
