Chapter Eleven: Traveling to Hogwarts
I arrived at the 'school' the next day. I had spent a very restless night in a hotel room by myself and now felt anxious and nervous. I didn't know what to expect or how to behave. All I knew was that I was terrified and confused.
Luckily Alistair and Hector were still around. After getting over the initial terror they had instilled in me I learnt to appreciate the company of these men. They were kind and funny and I felt safe when they were around. Alistair was like the father I always wanted but never knew. He was large and towering but he spoke with a gentle voice I assumed he used around the sons he had told me about.
The journey to the school was long but the two men kept me entertained with stories of their time at Hogwarts. Although I still wished I didn't have to be older then everyone and was worried about my lack of experience with magic, their stories made me a little excited about seeing the school. Their tales were filled with joy and happy times and this was a great comfort to me.
We traveled in a black ministry of magic car. Hector explained to me that the school term had already started so I wasn't going to travel by the train that normally escorted students at the start of the school year. The two men were to take me to the headmistress and then go back to the ministry. I tried not to think of them leaving me. Eventually we arrived at what seemed to be a huge castle. It was scary and foreboding however when my escorts eyes lit up at seeing the building I knew I would be ok.
As soon as we had reached the headmistresses office, which involved traveling up countless fights of stairs, walking down many dingy corridors and telling a large statue gargoyle the password (which happened to be "dementor"), the time came to say goodbye to Hector and Alistair. It was a teary goodbye, with a lot of hugging and whispers of meeting again and then they were gone.
I waited outside the office door as I had been instructed. Unused to the cold, it was always warm back home, I found myself shivering in the drafty corridor and hoping that inside the office there would be a fire by which I could warm myself. The cold didn't help the mood I was in and by the time the door opened I was cranky and short of temper. I huffed, stood up and entered the large room.