Part Two – Childhood

Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.
Nobody that matters, that is. Distant relatives of course
Die, whom one never has seen or has seen for an hour,
And they gave one candy in a pink-and-green stripéd bag, or a jack-knife,
And went away, and cannot really be said to have lived at all.

—Edna St. Vincent Millay

Chapter One

The last two months before Hogwarts seemed to crawl by. Uncle Vernon still hadn't forgiven her for the scene at the zoo, so he had taken to pretending Holly didn't exist. Petunia had adopted this attitude as well, though not until a week after the incident, once everyone in the neighborhood had heard of it, courtesy of Piers. The small minds of Little Whinging seemed to have collectively decided that Holly was touched in the head, and Aunt Petunia had yanked her out of dance and Girl Guides as a result. The only thing Holly had to continue were her piano lessons, as Mrs. Figg had come by the house and personally asked after Holly when she had missed a lesson.

Minerva McGonagall had been a steady constant ever since the incident at the zoo. Her support, along with Phin's, had gone a long way to easing the nightmares and the flashbacks that had followed. They had continued to take her out on weekends, and sometimes they did nothing much at all. One memorable trip they simply went to a large play park in Hampshire. Holly had spent the entire afternoon running mad. It was a balm to her, not to have expectations of behavior, and to be able to act as a child would.

The morning of September first dawned like any other, but Holly was awake before the sun. She had packed and repacked her trunk several times, fussily rearranging her books (hers, one of her father's, and three of her mother's). Holly had spent the previous two months using her extra time to read her school books, paying particular attention to the sections Professor McGonagall had told her would be useful. Now, in addition to the wand movements, Holly had a basic understanding of each subject's first chapter.

After dressing in red day robes, Holly dragged her mahogany and gold-trimmed trunk—the one that hadn't had her mother's initials on it—down the stairs into the entryway. The doorbell rang, as if on cue, and Holly opened it, letting Phin into the house. The moment he stepped inside, his Muggle business suit transformed into a very nice set of black robes.

"All right, Holly?" he asked when he saw her, his kind face relaxed.

"Well, my tummy's all anxious and Artemis has been hiding since last night," Holly told him.

"Here," Phin said, handing her a brown paper package. "Your Defense book. I'll go get the cat, you say goodbye to your relatives."

Holly nodded, walking into the kitchen where her family sat, inhaling their breakfasts. None of them looked up at her arrival except Bobby. "Well, goodbye," she said, without much enthusiasm.

"Bye, Holly," Bobby said, climbing out of his chair to come give her a hug. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Holly said, her chest aching. She pulled back, rubbing one hand over her scar. "See you later alligator."

"After while crocodile." Bobby's lip was trembling, but he manage to give her a tremulous smile when she winked at him.

The Dursley seniors were looking pointedly at their breakfasts. "Well, see you," Holly told them, ignoring Dudley.

Holly turned to go, almost bumping into Phin, who had Artemis in a cage. The cat was spitting, but Urquart's attention was on Holly's relatives.

"Your niece said goodbye. Aren't you going to say it back?" His voice was firm and cold.

Vernon looked up then, and looked as though he might explode at the sight of Phin in robes. "Now see here, I won't have any of your sort telling me how to behave in my own house."

Phin narrowed his eyes, but Holly touched his arm before he could say anything else. "Just leave it. I don't care. I shan't miss them."

"You're wearing a dress," Bobby exclaimed.

Phin got a puckish look on his face. "Am I?" He looked down rather dramatically. "Well, let that be a lesson to you, young sir. Never get dressed in the dark."

Bobby giggled, and Holly said goodbye to him once more before stepping out into the hall with Phin. Holly took firm hold of her trunk, and Phin touched her hand, apparating them to the Leaky Cauldron. Once there, he led her inside to a booth.

The grubby little pub hadn't changed since Holly had first seen it. It was still dark and shabby as ever, though Phin had assured her that they served good food. He led her to a corner booth, and within minutes, the bartender had come over to their table to take their order, nearly tripping over Holly's things.

"G'morning Mr. Urquart," the wizard said. He was wizened, toothless, and vaguely resembled a walnut.

"Good morning, Tom," Phin replied. "We'll have two of the breakfast specials."

The other man nodded, only giving a quick glance to Holly before stopping in shock. "Good Lord, is this—can it be—?"

"Don't finish that sentence," Phin warned him, grabbing his wrist. Tom nodded in some haste, nearly stumbling over himself to leave their table. Once he was gone, Phin took out the morning paper from one of his pockets. He separated the front page from the other sections and began to read. The headline that seemed to have him entranced said, Gringotts Thief Still Remains at Large. Holly grabbed the funnies, accidentally pulling the editorials with it. She glanced cursorily at the first one.

The Fallacies of Fudge
by Robert Ogden

If the last ten years have taught us anything, it is that hard won safety should be protected at all costs. The personal loss to all of us after the Great Wizarding War cannot be overestimated, but have we gone too far in the other direction? Another war should be prevented if possible, but what about when that cost begins to be our freedoms themselves?

After the ascension of Bartemius Crouch to the seat of Minister for Magic, the vacancy left in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was filled by the ambitious Cornelius Fudge, OM1. Though formerly Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, he leapfrogged over more experienced DMLE candidates—including Frank Longbottom, Head of the Auror Office—to the top job. With him he brought Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, along with sweeping new changes to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement…

Tom set Holly's breakfast before her, and she quickly put the paper aside and dug in. Though she was hungry, every bite felt like lead going down into her stomach. When she could no longer eat the eggs or bacon easily, Holly switched to her porridge with alacrity. It still felt like sawdust in her mouth.

"Nervous?" Phin asked with some amusement, cutting into his fried tomato.

Holly nodded.

"So is Minerva," Phin said, taking a bite of the red fruit. "She has been packing and repacking for two days straight."

"Hasn't she been a teacher at Hogwarts for forever now?" Holly asked, giggling.

"Oh, little lass, even teachers get nervous. She has a lovely little speech she prepared and memorized that you'll get to hear later. I know, because I have heard at least ten different versions of it over the years."

Smiling, Holly ate a bit more. She felt a little braver now, though less than she wished. In truth, her biggest fear wasn't Hogwarts itself or even the lessons, for McGonagall would be with her and had told her that everyone started at the same level. No, what she was scared of was that she wouldn't make any friends at all. She had never had a true friend who she could confined her secrets to, only acquaintances she played with. It would be nice for that to change, now that Dudley and Aunt Petunia didn't stand in the way.

At a quarter 'til eleven, Phin led Holly over to the hearth. He took a handful of green floo powder, place a knut in the tin, and stepped into the fireplace. He called out, "Platform Nine and Three Quarters!" disappearing with Holly's cat and trunk.

Holly followed suit, throwing the powder down and calling out her destination. She felt as though the bottom of the world had fallen out beneath her, and she had to forcibly restrain herself from smiling. She had done that once before on the way to Tinworth and gotten a mouthful of soot. The fireplaces flew by at dizzying speeds as she spun round and round, and made her way to the train platform. When she began to slow, Holly walking motions with her feet so that she could smoothly exit the fireplace when she arrived.

Stepping into the antechamber, Holly felt slightly giddy from the trip. Phin siphoned the soot off of her immediately, returning Holly to immaculate condition. He then swished and flicked his wand, and Holly's trunk followed after him as they exited the small room designated for Floo arrivals.

Platform Nine and Three Quarters was a hive of activity. From one end to another, it was packed with people. The scarlet train was puffing happily, preparing for departure, and the sight of it took Holly's breath away. Cats and kneazles were running free all around the station, and Holly heard Artemis give a plaintive meow, probably wishing to join in the fun. Phin kept a steady hand at her back, leading Holly through the maze of people and down the length of the train. The first few carriages were already filled to the brim with students, some of whom were hanging out the windows to call to their families or waving to friends that had not been seen in three months.

On their way to an emptier compartment, Phin came up short when he saw a stately old witch talking to a pudgy little boy. She was wearing a rather dramatic hat with a vulture on it, and carrying a handbag. The boy had brownish-blond hair, and a round face, and he was clutching a toad to his chest as he listened to the older woman speak.

"Augusta!" Phin called out.

The older woman looked up, smiling when she saw Phin. "Elphinstone, you old thing. What are you doing here?"

Phin led Holly forward, until they could all speak without shouting. "Just bringing a wee sprite to the train. Holly Potter, this is Madam Augusta Longbottom and her grandson Neville."

Holly gave a little wave to Neville. He was gaping at her in awe, completely stupefied. Madam Longbottom placed a hand up to her mouth, covering it and saying, "Oh my stars."

Phin looked to Holly before a fuss could be made. "Neville will be in your year, Holly, and his parents were Gryffindors, just like yours."

Holly grinned at the boy, saying, "Good on you, mate."

He turned bright red.

"Where is Frank?" Phin asked Augusta.

Her lips pursed, and the older witch looked as though she wanted to hex someone. "He's at work."

Phin's jaw clenched, and he nodded shortly. "Fudge?"

"No," Augusta said, her lips getting even thinner.

Neville looked miserable at this exchange, and then gave a cry of dismay. "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, Neville," Augusta Longbottom sighed.

Phin gave the older witch a sympathetic look, and then took Holly's trunk and levitated it onto the carriage. Holly carried Artemis's cage. They found her a compartment with only one other student in it, a little girl, and once inside, Phin turned to Holly for a last time. The little blonde haired girl watched curiously.

"All right, got your books?" Phin asked.

"Check!"

"Got your cat?"

"Check!"

"Got your wand and robes?"

"Check, check!"

"Good," Phin said, letting out a breath. "Anything else can be bought and sent. Now, remember what I told you about getting to the kitchens."

"The painting of the pear, tickle it," Holly repeated dutifully. "But don't worry about feeding Artemis, because the house elves will do it, and there is plenty of mice for her to catch."

"Good." His kind eyes looked a little misty then. "I'll miss you, sprite." Holly happily let him swing her up for a great big hug, burrowing her face into his neck. "You need anything," he said quietly, "go straight to Minerva or send me an owl. I'm just in Hogsmeade, and I can come very quickly."

"I'll remember," Holly promised.

Phin kissed the crown of her head, before setting her back on her feet. "Go mbeannaí Dia duit," he murmured in Gaelic. The train whistled then, signaling its imminent departure. Phin gave her one last squeeze, before leaving the compartment and heading back to the platform. From there, he raised his hand in farewell. Holly waved with all her might, and as the train pulled away, she kept her eyes on Phin until he disappeared from sight.

Once the train was out of the station, Holly pulled back from the window and looked over at the girl who was watching her with no small amount of curiosity. Having been waving out the window as well, the little girl had only just sat back down. She was a very pretty child, with bright blue eyes and shoulder-length curly blonde hair—though her curls were small and there were so many of them!—and skin the color of hickory. There were freckles on her face as well, but they blended into her features nicely. Holly thought she looked interesting.

"Hello," Holly said, trying to be as friendly as possible. "I'm Holly Potter."

The girl's eyes widened, but she didn't fawn over Holly the way the redhead had been expecting. Instead, the blonde tilted her head to the side and said, "You're taller than I thought you'd be."

Holly burst into laughter. "And I'm still growing too!"

The other girl giggled. "My mummy said you'd be in my year, but I didn't know you would end up in my compartment!"

Sitting down across from her, Holly smiled. "Your mum talked about me?"

"Oh, yes," the girl said. "My mummy used to put me to sleep with the story of the girl who was born to save us all. I think she liked it even better than I did, but it was a favorite of mine too!"

"Naturally," Holly joked, inclining her head. Then a thought occurred to her. "Are all your family magic?"

"Yes," the girl said, nodding and making her curls dance. "My mummy's family is really old. My mummy says my father's is too, but he was a bum and ran off when I was a baby and my brother was still in my mummy's tummy. Grand-mère says Mummy is well shot of him."

"Is your grandmother French?" Holly asked.

"She's from Madagascar. My grandfather went there to go Erumpent hunting, but he met my grandmother instead. They came back here to England, where my grandfather had a farm, she has lived here ever since."

The girl was obviously friendly, and had no boundaries when it came to sharing information. Holly realized that she still didn't know the girl's name, but before she could ask for it, the compartment door opened and two more girls stood there. They were twins, both with long black hair down to their bottoms, just like Holly, though theirs was as straight as a board. One was wearing pink, the other purple.

The pink twin looked between the blonde and Holly, and asked, "Anyone else sitting in here? It seems like there are only singles left, and we couldn't find any space for two."

"Sure," Holly said, moving Artemis's cage to the blonde's bench so that the twins could sit together. She then got up to help them with their trunks, and her seat partner did too. "Come on in."

Once the twins were inside, and the door closed once more, the pink twin said, "I'm Parvati Patil, and this is my sister Padma."

"I'm Holly Potter," she said, smiling at them.

The twins gasped, looking at her again more closely. "You are, aren't you?" Padma said. "Do you really have a scar from it?"

"Padma!" Parvati admonished, smacking her sister's arm.

"Yeah," Holly said, shifting slightly, "but it's really little."

"Can you show us?" Padma asked eagerly. "I've never seen a curse scar before."

"Not really," Holly said, not wanting to flash her underthings at them to do it. She wasn't about to pull her robes off in public, thank you very much.

"Too bad," Padma said, sounding genuinely disappointed.

"Don't listen to her," Parvati said, smiling kindly at Holly. "It's nice to meet you, by the way."

Holly smiled. "You too. You're first years, right?"

"Yeah," Padma jumped in. "We're the first in our family to attend Hogwarts, everyone before us went to school in India. You both first years too?"

Holly and the blonde nodded.

The door opened again, and a little pug-faced girl with short, chin length hair stood there, looking at the twins in annoyance. "I have been looking for the two of you everywhere!" She said this as if it was a big imposition to do so. Parvati got a look of veiled distaste on her face at the sight of the new girl, but Padma looked very excited.

"Pansy, come here, you will never believe who we have just met!" Padma said. Parvati shifted seats, coming over to sit next to Holly. The new girl, Pansy, took the place she had vacated without a second glance. "It's Holly Potter!"

Pansy followed Padma's gaze to Holly, her eyes going wide. She immediately stood up and held out her hand to Holly. "Pansy Parkinson."

Holly shook her hand, saying, "Holly Potter, how do you do?"

Pansy sat back down next to Parvati, looking as though she was the cat who got the cream. "Daphne will never believe me when I tell her that I met you first. We had a bet, you see, and now she owes me a Chocolate Frog."

Everything from her tone of voice to her expression repelled Holly, and she was rather annoyed that Pansy had decided to sit with them. To distract herself, she let Artemis out of her cage, and the cat immediately hopped up on Holly's lap, turning in a circle once and then settling down.

"Oh, he's so cute," the blonde girl cooed over the cat. "What's his name?"

"This is Artemis, and she's a girl," Holly told her. "She was my mum's."

"Your mother's?" Pansy jumped in. "Was Artemis there too that night?"

Holly nodded.

"Why, then she's the Cat Who Lived!" Pansy said, snickering.

Padma giggled, but Parvati rolled her eyes and turned away from her sister and Pansy. The cheeks of the blonde sitting next to Holly had gotten red, and she looked spitting mad at the pair of them for laughing. Holly just felt annoyed, and she wished Pansy would leave.

"You simply have to be in Slytherin," Pansy told Holly. "Anywhere else is simply not worth mentioning, so much better than being a Gryffindor."

Now Holly was feeling properly brassed off, and she wasn't even aware of what she had said before the words came tumbling out of her mouth. "Slytherin? Who would want to be in Slytherin?" She turned to the blonde next to her. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Definitely," the blonde said with a wicked grin, not missing a beat. "I hate snakes. They hide in the lavender fields on our farm, and they're the worst! Besides, Gryffindor is loads better, and my family has been in there for generations."

Pansy made a disparaging noise in her throat.

"Got a problem with that?" the blonde asked Pansy rudely.

"No," Pansy said, pug nose in the air. "If you'd rather be cocky rather than cunning—"

"And what house will you be in, seeing as you're neither?" Holly jumped in.

The blonde laughed, and Parvati giggled, and Padma looked back and forth between Pansy and Holly as if she wasn't sure which one she should be rooting for.

Pansy stood, her cheeks flushed. "Come on, Padma, let's go find Daphne." The two girls left the compartment loudly, taking their trunks with them, Padma looking slightly sorry to go.

Holly laughed even as they were leaving, turning to fondly shake hands with the girl sitting next to her. "This, I think, is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"I agree," the blonde said, beaming back.

"So, it might help a little if you told me your name."

"Oh," the blonde laughed. "I'm Lavender, Lavender Brown." She reached across to shake hands with Parvati as well.

"Sorry if we caused a problem between you and your sister," Holly said to Parvati.

"Ugh, don't be," Parvati said, rolling her eyes. "Pansy is rotten, but our dads work together at the Ministry, so we're forced to see her often."

"Poor you," Holly said sympathetically. Looking at both girls, she asked, "So what House do you two want to be in?"

"I do want to be in Gryffindor," Lavender assured Holly. "It's a matter of family pride."

Holly grinned at her. "My parents were in Gryffindor too. Head Boy and Girl together."

Parvati sighed. "That is so romantic."

"So you want to be in Gryffindor too, right?" Lavender guessed.

"Sure," Holly said shrugging. "That would be fine. Like I said, my parents were Gryffindors, and so was a friend of my mother's, who visits me. Her husband, though, was a Hufflepuff and he's great." She grinned at them wickedly. "Just not Slytherin; I hate snakes too."

This set all three girls off in peals of laughter again.

"What House do you want to be in?" Holly asked Parvati.

"Gryffindor sounds good," the Indian girl said. "Padma read about the Houses to me from Hogwarts, A History, but any of them are fine with me. Ravenclaw would be okay, I guess; I like puzzles."

"How about cards?" Holly asked, pulling a deck from her pocket. "Anyone want to play?"

It quickly became clear that neither Parvati nor Lavender had any experience with Muggle games, but Holly taught them Go Fish and Crazy Eights, and Lavender was quite happy playing something other than Exploding Snap, which she confessed she didn't like because it singed her hair. It was Parvati though that truly grasped the point of the games, and she seemed to have a strategic mind, for soon had both Lavender and Holly begging for mercy. They played on this way for over an hour as the scenery outside the train changed from city to farmland.

At about five minutes after twelve, the door to the compartment opened once more, revealing a witch with a dimpled smile who asked, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Holly, Lavender, and Parvati all leapt to their feet—playing and talking incessantly had made them very hungry—and they walked out into the corridor. Lavender immediately fixated on the candy, while Parvati asked the woman if she had any sandwiches left. The witch reached beneath the cart and pulled out a deviled ham and an egg sandwich, and Parvati and Holly bought one of each, along with two glass containers of Pumpkin Juice. Lavender also got a sandwich, a watercress one, along with several pasties and cakes. Holly also purchased Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron Cakes.

Happily, all three dug into the food and candies. Holly really liked the juice, which she hadn't had before, and all of the sweets she had eaten so far tasted amazing. After the cakes and pasties were gone, the three turned their attention to the other things remaining.

Picking up a Chocolate Frog, Holly frowned. "They're not really frogs, are they?"

Parvati laughed. "No, just enchanted chocolate. There are trading cards in them as well. Lots of Wizarding children collect them. My sister does."

"So does my brother," Lavender said. "He's been trying to get Merlin for ages now."

Holly dug through all the containers and soon had several trading cards that she gave to Parvati for Padma to have. All of them, that is, except the one of Albus Dumbledore. That one she had kept, turning it over in her hands.

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times,
Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the
Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the
twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy
with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore
enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

It had been a little thrill to get it, though, she had been extremely disconcerted when she had turned the card over to see Dumbledore missing.

"He's gone!"

"He'll be back," Parvati said knowingly.

"Muggle photos don't move, you know," Holly told her, putting the card in her trunk. She had never noticed the moving pictures in her photo album actually leaving their portraits.

Parvati nodded. "I've heard that. Wizarding ones have a special potion they're developed in, and that's nothing to the paintings."

Holly nodded, having seen many wizarding paintings over the past several months. "Professor McGonagall showed me some. Nothing in the Muggle world had ever prepared me for that."

"Wait—so that's true?" Lavender asked. "You really did grow up with Muggles?"

Holly nodded. "Yeah, my aunt and uncle, and my cousins too."

They went back to playing cards after that, something that kept them busy as the hours passed, while Holly answered their questions about the Muggle world. After a while, Holly opened up the bean package, and popped one in her mouth, immediately spitting it back out again. The taste of Brussels sprouts was still on her tongue as she scrubbed at it with the sleeve of her robe. "Gross, what is that?"

Lavender was laughing so hard that she clutched at the sides of her waist. Parvati gazed at Holly sympathetically. "Every Flavor Beans mean every flavor. Which one did you get?"

"Sprouts," Holly said, still scrubbing.

"That's nothing," Lavender told her, leaning forward eagerly. "I once got a dirt-flavored one."

"Yuck," Holly said, wrinkling her nose. She looked out the window and saw that the countryside now visible was becoming wilder. The hedgerows and plowed fields were gone, and in their place were woods, winding rivers, and dark green hills.

As she put the beans aside, there was a knock at their compartment door, and Neville poked his head inside. He looked tearful, and rather intimidated by the three of them. Holly wondered if he knew how to talk to girls.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?" All three girls shook their heads, and he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

Artemis cracked one eye open from her perch atop Holly's trunk, as if to say: That is not how a well-trained pet behaves. Holly grinned at her, before turning to Neville.

"He'll turn up," Holly told him, looking back to her cards.

"Yes," said Neville miserably. "Well, if you see him…"

He left.

"Who wants a toad anyway? If it was me, I would have lost it on purpose!" Parvati said, shaking her head.

Lavender wrinkled up her nose. "Toads are dirty. I've been begging Mummy to get me a rabbit for so long now, but she says that she will be the one the ends up taking care of it."

"I have an owl," Parvati told the other two girls. "He is gold, and his name is Felix. Technically, I share him with Padma, but she doesn't like birds at all."

"I saw the owls in Diagon Alley," Holly said. "I wanted this snowy one so badly, but Professor McGonagall said that since I already had Artemis, I couldn't bring another pet to Hogwarts."

"But you're the Girl Who Lived," Lavender said, and for some reason that dumb name didn't sound so stupid when it was said by a friend. "Couldn't you just…I don't know, do as you please?"

"If only," Holly theatrically muttered, putting down a pair of twos. She pushed a hank of her red hair behind her when it fell forward.

"Your hair is so beautiful, Holly," Parvati said, her voice thick with envy. "You have to let me braid it some time. I've learned all sorts of simple spells for hairstyles."

"Sure," Holly said, perking up. "My curls are the worst, and I would love anything to help them."

"Oh, teach me too," Lavender said. "My mummy didn't let me learn anything useful before today. She wouldn't even let me keep my wand in my room."

Parvati stood, coming over to where Holly sat. She pulled out her rowan wand, and took a piece of Holly's hair between her fingers. "Hmm, I should practice on small sections first, just to see if it works. We should have time this weekend, and in the evenings."

Holly smiled, hoping beyond hope that Lavender and Parvati were in her House with her.

The compartment door slid open once more, and the girls saw that Neville was back, but this time he had a strange girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," the new girl said in a bossy tone of voice. She had bushy brown hair that reached her shoulder blades, and rather large front teeth.

"We've already said we haven't," Lavender said to the girl, but the brunette wasn't listening, she was looking at Parvati's wand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down in their compartment as if she had been invited.

Parvati made a stabbing motion with her wand and said, "Plectere!" As promised, the little piece of Holly's hair she was holding separated into three sections, and braided itself perfectly.

Lavender clapped her hands. "That was wonderful!"

Holly felt the flawless braid, smiling up at Parvati. "Thank you."

"What a silly spell!" the bossy girl said, drawing all their attention to her. "It's not useful at all, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice, but nothing so pointless as that. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard—I learned all our books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough—I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you lot?"

She said this all very fast, and Lavender looked taken aback, looking at Hermione as if she didn't know quite what to make of her. Holly certainly didn't, and considering what Professor McGonagall had told her, learning the books by heart was extremely superfluous.

"Lavender Brown."

"I'm Parvati Patil." Parvati's voice was practically icy, which Holly thought was fitting considering the insult Hermione had paid her.

"Holly Potter," she said, still sitting with Parvati's hand holding her hair.

"Are you really?" Hermione asked, coming over and grabbing Holly's hand and shaking it up and down. "I know all about you, of course—I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, and your story was just fascinating, I read all about it that I could."

Holly glared at the girl, thinking sarcastically that she was glad the details of her parents' deaths had made for such captivating reading. She pulled her hand back from Hermione and crossed her arms.

Hermione didn't seem to realize that the temperature in the compartment was now practically icy. "Do any of you know what House you'll be in?" Hermione asked them. "I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I heard Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…Anyway, we'd better go find your toad, Neville. You three had better change. I think we'll be there soon."

She left, taking Neville the toadless boy with her.

Lavender crossed her fingers, holding them up dramatically. "Please don't let her be a Gryffindor. Please don't let her be a Gryffindor."

Holly and Parvati laughed, and quickly undid the braid in Holly's hair so that they could all get changed into their robes. Artemis hopped down from Holly's trunk, stretching dramatically, and Holly laughed, lifting her cat into her arms. "Who is the cleverest cat in all the world? You would never wander off like a bad little toad, would you?" Artemis purred some more, butting her head into Holly's chin.

All three girls pulled their robes from their trunks, giggling as they all seemed to collectively get caught in a cascade of fabric. Holly pulled her red robes over her head, sorry to part with them, and pulled on her black school ones. She kept her body turned from her friends, not quite eager to show her scar yet. Once dressed, Holly pulled out her hair from her collar, running her brush carefully through the long, curly locks.

"I'm hungry," Lavender said as she buttoned her robes, "but I couldn't eat another bite of candy."

"The feast happens right after the sorting," Holly assured her, remembering what Professor McGonagall had said. "And they have plenty of food of the non-candy variety; Professor McGonagall told me so."

Lavender grinned, and opened her mouth to speak when the compartment door opened again. Hermione Granger was back.

"Did you just say Professor McGonagall?" Hermione asked, as if the name had perked her ears up. "You know her?"

"Yes," Holly answered her. She was reluctant to say more, as it might confuse people if she told them Professor McGonagall had been a friend of her mother's. Besides, the stern witch had already warned Holly that she would treat her quite differently in school, and not play favorites.

"I saw her name on my letter, of course," Hermione was saying, "but it was Professor Flitwick who did my visit and showed me around Diagon Alley. He was very informative, and we spent ever so long in the bookstore. He is the Head of Ravenclaw House, you know, and I think he would be just wonderful to have for a Head of House. His subject is Charms, and I cannot wait to take his class. He said we won't actually be preforming charms until we have learned about wand movements and such, but I have been practicing as much as I can."

"Really," Parvati said flatly.

Lavender giggled, and Hermione looked back and forth between the pair of them in confusion.

Holly kept waiting for Hermione to leave, but she never did. As the red-head was adjusting her cuffs, Hermione said to her, "You should take off your bracelet, you know."

"What?" Holly asked, looking up.

"The school rules say that for all students not yet of age all jewelry below the neck should not be visible, and I can clearly see your bracelet."

Parvati reached over, taking Holly's silver bangle in hand and tucked it up the sleeve cuff and buttoned Holly's clasps below it. "There," Parvati said, snapping at Hermione. "Happy now?"

Holly shot her friend a grateful look, but Hermione just looked mutinous. "You should still take it off. What if someone sees it?"

"I'm not taking it off," Holly said flatly. "It's precious to me, and I will tell a teacher that if I'm asked." The redhead then reached up and checked that her topaz earrings were still safely fastened. She did not wish to speak to Hermione anymore, and she hoped that the bossy girl ended up in a different House from her.

"Fine," Hermione said airily, her nose upturned and her cheeks red. "Get in trouble, see if I care. Though if we are in the same House, you better not lose us House points." She sniffed. "I just spoke to the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors."

"We are children," Lavender said, eyebrows raised. "How are we supposed to act?"

Hermione huffed, and left their compartment for the last time.

It was getting dark outside, and the train was slowing down. Holly could see mountains and forests, and the sky was now a deep purple color. A disembodied voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."

Holly felt uneasy, suddenly attacked by nerves and Parvati didn't look much better. Lavender and Holly helped her clear the wrappers and divide the remaining sweets between the three of them and stow it in their trunks. Then she coaxed Artemis back into her carrier, though the cat glared at her while complying. Once the train stopped, the children joined the crowd in the corridor and stepped out onto a tiny, dark platform.

The cool air bit at their cheeks, but Holly was too excited and nervous to feel it. Her legs were bouncing as she looked around the little station.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" The three first years turned to see a man, twice as tall as Phin, and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be human, more like a giant, and so wild—long tangles of bushy hair and a beard on his most of his face, and two bright black eyes barely peaked out from behind it. He was holding up a bright lantern. "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"

All the first years on the platform crowded around him, and the giant led them down a steep and narrow path. It was hard to see, and almost everyone was silent. "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the giant yelled out, "jus' round this bend here."

The students seemed to collectively gasp as the small path opened onto a huge lake. High on a mountain on the other side, proud and tall, was a vast castle with high towers and turrets.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the man said, and Holly then saw the little fleet of boats sitting in the water by the shore.

"Parvati!" a voice cried out, and Holly turned to see Padma hurrying towards them.

"Don't you belong with Pansy?" Parvati asked in a cool voice, crossing her arms.

"I'm so sorry," her sister said. "She was just the worst about Holly. She was telling everyone she had met her, though I wouldn't let her tell anyone where you were sitting. No one bothered you, right?" She said the last bit to Holly.

Holly shook her head, liking Padma a lot better now. She climbed into a boat, Lavender sitting next to her, with the twins taking positions opposite.

"Everyone in?" called out the large man. "Right then—FORWARD!"

All of the boats moved as one, cutting smoothly though the water as they headed for the cliffs and the castle. Obediently, they all ducked when they passed under a curtain of ivy that covered an opening in the cliff face before they sailed into an underground harbor, where they got out, climbing over rocks.

"Oi, you there! Is this your toad?" asked the giant, who as checking the boats as the students climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed happily, holding out his hands and taking his toad.

They followed their guide up a rock-carved passageway, eventually coming out on smooth grass that practically kissed the castle steps. Walking up a flight of stone steps, the students stopped in front of an enormous oak door.

The giant raised a hand the size of a trash can lid and knocked three times.