Halle Potter and the first year of Madness
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Halle swiftly turned her head to the familiar voice that had called her name.
Halle nor Ronnie, had heard the compartment door slide open but there in the door way stood six people.
Three of them Halle instantly recognised. Before her stood the brother and sister and their other presumed god brother that she had met at Diagon Alley, however there was a big contrast to how they had looked at her then, to how they were looking at her now and she definitely did not like it one bit.
Halle did not recognise the other three people standing with them. Two rather large boys who stood in the back as though they were bodyguards and a short, round faced girl with dark brown hair. Halle didn't like being judgmental, but the look of all of them gave her a bad vibe.
The six of them together reminded Halle of Dudley. She was also heavily reminded of Sarah Rodham.
Sarah Rodham was a girl that Halle had attended Primary school with. Dudley held nothing back when it came to bullying Halle, but Sarah was her worst enemy during school. She had been able to get away with much more than Dudley had, considering he would use her as a punching bag. Sarah and her little gang could definitely rival that of Dudley's.
She was a cruel girl, whose innocent looks made her appear like an angel as Halle heard her parents always claim in the school yard. Sarah was anything but. On many occasions she belittled Halle, made her do her homework and even twice stole her gym kit and flushed it in the girls bathroom.
The school could miraculously never prove it was Sarah and her friends. Halle suspected it was due to the fact that Mr Rodham always made massive charitable donations at any of the school events.
Halle amazingly always kept a firm head on when it came to either two. She learnt to run. She learnt to hide. She learnt to always be alert and quick witted even. She did her best to never show them her tears. She did her best to hold her head high.
Although the constant bullying hurt, she liked to think it made her a stronger person.
The six kids in front of her definitely gave her, Sarah and Dudley vibes and she was pushing down the urge to not bolt out the compartment and knock them over.
Halle took a deep breath. She could sense that she wasn't going to like this encounter already but she would face it head on with a neutral mind.
"So it's true then, they're saying it all down the train that Halle Potter is in this compartment. That's you, yes?" Said the blonde boy, his voice laced with 'superiority.'
Halle tried to recall the two boys names that she recognised. What had the older girl called them? They were strange names…..Ah yes, Draco and Blaise and of course she couldn't forget Phina.
Phina had almost ruined her birthday with her arrogant comments but Halle had managed to get past her blue feelings and had enjoyed her birthday with Hagrid.
"Yes." She answered aloof.
She was not happy to see Phina or her brother again, she peered to see if the boy Dewei or the older girl Lu was anywhere insight to save her from conversing with them.
"This is Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy." Said Draco mistaking Halle's eye direction toward them.
"This is my god brother Blaise Zabini. This is my twin Sister Serphina Malfoy and I'm Draco Malfoy." Said Draco pompously as if that was supposed to mean anything to Halle whatsoever.
Halle out of the corner of her eye, saw Ronnie make a face but other wise she said nothing. She really didn't want to have any conversation with these people but decided not to try and make the situation awkward, so she decided to reply back.
"Hi, I'm Halle and this is Veronica Weasley." Said Halle trying to be nice. She could tell that Ronnie was not enthusiastic about meeting the people in their compartment but she too gave a nice enough smile although Halle could tell it wasn't sincere.
Phina's eyes scanned over Ronnie and the look she gave her was not pleasant. Blaise arched his eyebrow as he looked over at Ronnie. The girl, Pansy gave a loud snigger that she didn't even bother, try hiding whilst Draco gave a sly smirk.
Ronnie's blue eyes darkened as she scowled and addressed them.
"Have you got a problem with my name or something?" Asked Ronnie rather Brazenly.
"No, just your face." Said Pansy meanly. Phina snorted.
Halle thought that was rich coming from someone with a pug face like her and was about to speak up but Ronnie beat her too it.
"Oh, wow that was funny. What a funny remark. Did you hear that Halle? The troll made a joke and Pale face over here laughed at her joke, so it has to be funny. Good for you." Said Ronnie sarcastically whilst clapping her hands condescendingly at Pansy.
Halle couldn't help but smirk herself.
She saw Pansy sneer whilst a tinge of pink crept into Phina's cheeks. Halle couldn't help but think that it did something for her complexion which looked like it had been devoid of sunlight her entire life. She saw the two thick boys and Draco sneer but oddly enough she was sure she caught the Blaise boy in the back trying to hide his laughter.
"Pale face? What a cute little insult. How inventive. I'd insult you back but it looks like nature did that for you. That disgusting crop of red hair, those obvious hand me down clothes. Oh and that blood traitor family you have, that have more children then they can afford. Yeah I'll stay pale and you can stay poor and grimy." Said Phina viciously.
Ronnie's face went red as she scowled even further but said nothing. The two girls continued to stare each other out.
If looks could kill.
Draco appeared to take her silence as a victory because he then smugly addressed Halle.
"You'll soon find out, there are some wizarding families that are better than others Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. We can help you there." Said Draco extending his hand proudly.
The others looked at her expectantly.
"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." Said Halle coldly.
Phina turned towards Halle, her eyes becoming slits. Draco too now had a tinge of pink creep into his cheeks. Blaise looked indifferent whilst Pansy looked like she wanted to jump on Halle any second and the boys Crabbe and Goyle looked like lost little puppies unable to comprehend their masters being rejected.
Phina recovered first.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys, and it'll rub off on you." Said Phina cruelly.
Ronnie went to stand but Halle stopped her.
"My parents went out with honour and dignity and had more class than any of you carry in a single bone of your bodies and I'd rather be riffraff, than some wannabe self important lowlives who feel the need to belittle others just to feed their insecure and narcissistic tendencies." Said Halle darkly.
She was glad she had such a strong facade in place, otherwise she was sure she would have attempted to get up and fight them and considering herself and Ronnie were heavily outnumbered she would just have to fight with her words. Something she had learnt to do with Dudley, even if he did bully her nonstop.
"Firstly Potter! Make no mistake. The only lowlives here are you two, and as for self importance? The correction would be just important. We're the only people that matter here and we'll be happy to show you just how important we are." Said Draco audaciously.
Halle observed all six of them. Draco looked at them smugly. Phina had a dark smile grace her features, whilst Crabbe and Goyle began to shuffle in the back as though eager to take action. Her eyes once again caught the movement of Blaise who seemed to walk out of sight and away from their compartment.
Pansy suddenly gave a hideous giggle as a fake pout came on her face.
"Guys I'm hungry." She said with a devious little smirk.
"And to think we're all out of food." Said Draco very sarky.
"I know, we'll just take theirs and they won't be able to stop us." Said Phina unpleasantly with the last part sounding threatening.
"No, but I can." Said a familiar voice.
Halle couldn't see her but she knew who was standing outside. She let out a silent sigh of relief.
The other five children instantly turned and stepped outside the compartment which cleared space for the newcomer to step into view through the glass.
It was the older girl from Diagon Alley. Lu. She was standing there with folded arms and looking sternly at the others.
"Hey Lu." Said Phina coolly.
"Phina, Draco and it's Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Pansy Parkinson right?" Asked Lu. Her voice firm and serious as she eyed each offender in front of her.
Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle nodded.
"Right and is there a valid reason why your threatening to steal from these two girls." She asked looking through the door at Halle and Ronnie.
"We wasn't. We were just making friends with them is that not allowed anymore?" Said Draco lying through his teeth with a charming smile.
If Halle hadn't been present for the exchange herself she would've almost been inclined to believe him. He seemed extremely confident to give such a bare faced lie to her.
"Really? And you couldn't wait until you got to Hogwarts?" Said Lu unsmiling and in a tone that said she didn't believe a word he had said.
"We were bored." Said Phina in a sickly sweet voice that made Halle want to puke. It was the type of tone she had heard multiple times when Dudley wanted to get something from his parents. That manipulative and innocent voice that drove Halle up the wall.
"Don't give me any of that rubbish Phina. Now as we're not at Hogwarts yet and you're not in houses, I can't take points from you. I also only heard part of the conversation too, so I can't make accusations here without proper proof but I'll tell you this. If I catch you troubling these girls or anybody else before we get off this train, when you are sorted I'll be sure to inform your head of house or houses and see to it that you all get a decent punishment and if you end up in the house that I think you guys will, then I'll ask for it to be extra harsh. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, so run along back to your compartment and stay there before I change my mind." Said Lu authoritatively.
Draco sneered before quickly walking away, to which Crabbe and Goyle followed looking dumbstruck at being told off. Pansy too who looked vexed, walked quickly behind them. Phina gave them both one last glare that was extended to Lu before walking off with her head held high. Halle released another breath. She now noticed her heart beat was slowing down.
Lu watched the five of them walk down the corridor until they were in the next carriage and out of sight. She turned toward the compartment and walked in and sat opposite the girls. For a moment there was silence and Halle felt she should break it.
"Um, thank you. I hope that doing that won't cause any problems for you." Said Halle quietly.
The older girl was stunningly gorgeous to look at but had very intimidating eyes. Halle felt like she was looking at someone who was three times her age.
Her face broke out into a warm smile.
"Nah. I'm head girl, I have the authority to tell them off. Are the two of you alright?" She asked looking at them expectantly.
Halle nodded and Ronnie did too.
"Good. Hey, don't I know you?" Said the girl looking at Halle.
"Oh, Uh, yeah we were both at Diagon Alley a month ago. I was the girl in the unstylish clothes." Said Halle pointing toward her outfit.
Recognition flittered in her eyes before a look of amusement resided in them.
"Ah yes, miss flash, right?" She said with an amused grin.
Halle gave a sheepish grin as she felt herself go a little red and Ronnie gave her a strange look.
"Uh yeah." She said with a embarrassed chuckle.
"So miss flash, you got a name?" She asked pleasantly.
"Uh yeah. I'm Halle. Halle Potter." Said Halle kindly.
Lu gave a look of surprise.
"Wow. Awesome." She said beaming at her.
"What about you reds?" She said turning to Ronnie with another kind smile.
"I'm Veronica. Veronica Weasley but just call me Ronnie. Everyone does." Said Ronnie Amiable.
"Pleasure to meet you both. I'm Colubra Zabini but everyone calls me Lu." Said Lu kindly.
"Zabini? So you're related to that Blaise kid?" Asked Ronnie curiously.
"Yep. Blaise is my little brother and yes I did see him too. Don't worry I'll make sure he doesn't bother you either." She said reassuringly.
"But Malfoy said that Blaise was their god brother. Does that make you their god sister?" Asked Ronnie uncomfortable.
"Afraid so." Said Lu Casually.
She was now giving Ronnie a peculiar look.
"Oh." Said Ronnie, disappointment evident in her tone.
Lu gave a chuckle.
"Does that mean you don't like me now?" She asked Ronnie but there was no hostility in her voice. Her question had been asked teasingly.
"Well… I….." Ronnie trailed off not knowing what to say.
"Relax. Look, just because uncle Lucius and your dad have beef. Yes I know how they feel about each other but that doesn't mean that the children have to feel the same way." Informed Lu.
"No, I know it's just, your god siblings don't seem to see it that way and after what just transpired I'm pretty sure neither party will see it that way either. Not to mention, well it's a stance thing isn't it. You don't even know me but you know about my dad and clearly more about his relationship with theirs. You can say that, but the way they were talking, it's already set in." Said Ronnie in a formal and clipped sort of tone.
Halle could tell she was trying not to be disrespectful but the conversation was one that seemed to have a strong emotional reaction from her.
"Yes well sometimes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and I get it, what we're taught is what we know but with every generation comes something new. I'm a Slytherin and yet here I am most likely talking to a Gryffindor, knowing your family but I don't judge or hate you because of what your family's stance is in the wizarding world. I was taught certain values as a child but I also have my own mind and my own principles. There's a reason we go to school. To learn things on our own. Otherwise our parents could just teach us. Look my point is just because my god family is the Malfoy's, that doesn't mean they define me as a witch, the same way you being a Weasley doesn't either. Other than the red hair." Said Lu smirking. She continued.
"Every Weasley that's come to Hogwarts have been their own people, some funnier, some smarter. None of that had anything to do with the name or blood status for that matter. Do you get what I'm saying?" Asked Lu carefully.
"Yeah but it's just, I've heard things….."
"I know what you've heard and I'm not telling you to disregard it either but I tend to judge on Character. On Morality. Not preconceived notions and now that you've had that time, you can make a judgment on first impressions with my god siblings and the other students you met or you can attempt to bury the hatchet and start over." Said Lu calmly.
"Sorry but no chance." Said Ronnie fiercely.
"Well that's your choice and I won't try to influence it but hopefully you won't go around judging everybody without getting to know them first. Especially Slytherins." Said Lu still in a light hearted tone.
"Yeah I suppose you're right on that front. It makes me no better than those who judge me. Thanks." Said Ronnie in a small mumble.
"You're welcome. You're quiet. Don't have an opinion on such matters?" Asked Lu with a kind smile to Halle.
"Oh, sorry it's just I don't really know that much about it all." Said Halle a little timidly.
"Oh right, I almost forgot." Said Lu a little uneasy. She then gave her an apologetic smile.
Halle looked in her lap. Although she could understand some parts of the conversation, she didn't know fully what was going on. She had told herself she would be a great witch but she didn't know anything about magic other than small things she had read in the books she had bought from Diagon Alley but even now it was as if that information had zipped and climbed itself out of her head.
"Don't worry that's not a bad thing. It's good to have a fresh mind when it comes to the wizarding world. Maybe not everything but there are definitely some outdated themes in our world. Sometimes when a wizard hasn't been raised in our ways, let's just say they can have a refreshing take on some things. Don't let it get you down. You'll still learn plenty of things whilst at Hogwarts and you certainly won't be the only one who is new to it all." Said Lu firmly.
Halle gave a faint smile and a nod of her head.
"Wow." Said Ronnie.
"What?" Asked Lu curiously.
"I can't believe I'm talking to a nice Slytherin." Said Ronnie.
"Well they do exist. We're not all dark witches and wizards. The difference is you usually only hear about the dark ones from Slytherin and believe it or not, it's only a small percentage. You have your bad batch in every bunch and that includes the other houses." Said Lu Casually.
"Well I guess I'll look out for the nice ones." Said Ronnie passably.
"And if the not so nice ones bother you. You let me know and I'll deal with them." Said Lu firmly.
"Why? Why you being so nice to a bunch of first years? It's almost unheard of." Said Ronnie jokingly.
Halle was about to crack a smile but she saw something in Lu's eyes erupt but she couldn't tell what it was.
"Hogwarts should feel like home to everyone and as Head girl I make it a priority to ensure that everyone feels welcomed. Hogwarts is a home to all. When you get there you'll understand that better." Said Lu becoming rather thoughtful.
When she came out of her daze she gave both Halle and Ronnie another smile.
"Look I better go and check on the other students. Besides I don't wanna interrupt your little feast any further." Said Lu gesturing at the many sweets still on the chair.
Both Halle and Ronnie gave sheepish grins.
"Thank you." Said Halle sincerely.
"Don't thank me. A girl in your year came and found me. Quite a little madam she is too. Helping another student out when she saw the others and came to our compartment. If I see her I'll be sure to tell her to drop in. Any who, things to do, people to see, all whilst being beautifully Prestige." She said playfully with a strong flick of her hair.
Both Halle and Ronnie sniggered.
She turned to walk out the compartment before stopping and turning back. She then swiped a chocolate frog from the seat and with one last wink she left with a vigorous swag and a peace sign over her shoulder as she walked away from their compartment.
Halle and Ronnie watched until she was out of sight.
"Well dare I say it. I've found a Slytherin that I actually like and I've not even been sorted yet. Well at least Dad will be proud. Dad always says that we shouldn't prejudge anyone especially Slytherins. It's hard though because they're usually the difficult ones." Said Ronnie thoughtfully.
"So you don't think that you'll be in Slytherin then?" Asked Halle curiously.
"NO! I mean no. Well I hope not. It's possible as there's no guarantee but all my family have been Gryffindors for years. I'm really hoping not to change that. I'm pretty sure my family wouldn't handle it well." Said Ronnie a little tense.
Halle noted the tenseness in her voice and looked down at the pile of sweets on the chair. She looked at the purple box that Lu had swiped and picked two up handing one to Ronnie.
"So are these Chocolate frogs nice then? Also these aren't real frogs are they?" Asked Halle changing the topic.
It seemed to work as Ronnie's face perked up.
"They're delicious and don't worry it's just a spell. Besides it's the cards that you want. Each one's got a famous witch or wizard card in them. You can start up a collection." Said Ronnie tearing into her chocolate frog.
Halle opened her own and to her surprise saw her chocolate frog jump out the window. The wizarding world was definitely insane.
"Ah, shame. What card have you got?" Asked Ronnie.
Halle looked at the card in her packaging. She was surprised to see her new headmaster, Albus Dumbledore with some information about him. She told Ronnie before looking down to see he had left. The two had earlier touched on moving and non moving pictures but it was quite surreal to see in person.
The two girls began eating more chocolate frogs and soon Halle had a little collection of several wizards which she even managed to trade a couple cards with Ronnie. They both soon turned to a set of Berti Botts every flavoured beans which Halle had much fun watching Ronnie squirm and fidget at every green one she picked.
Time passed by as the daylight got darker and they passed plenty of fields and hills.
They were in the middle of talking when they're compartment door opened up again. In front of them was a small bushy haired girl already in her Hogwarts robes.
"Hello. I see you're both fine now. Honestly, people prancing up and down the corridors with no good purpose. I'm glad our head girl got to you when she did." Said the girl, her tone sounding quite bossy.
"You're the girl that helped us?" Asked Ronnie scrutinising the girl from head to toe.
"Yes. I was helping this boy look for his toad when I saw all those students standing there being rather rude. So I went to the front carriages where the head boys, head girls and prefects were sitting. By the way have any of you seen a toad?" She said a little snobbish.
Halle felt bad for thinking that way considering the girl had helped them out of a sticky situation but her voice was all sorts of pompous but she also thought back to a little while back when Lu had given them a lecture not to prejudge people.
"No." Said Halle and Ronnie.
"Well if you do see him…..Why do you have so much sweets?" She asked noticing all the sweets littered across the chair.
Before either Ronnie or Halle could get in an answer, the girl spoke again.
"Do you know how much sugar and calories that your putting into your bodies? All those sweets will make your teeth rot." Said the girl sniffily.
"Rigggghhhttt. Do you want one?" Asked Ronnie in a sarcastic tone.
"No thank you. I had a very nutritional and healthy breakfast this morning, complemented by healthy snack bars and fruit for lunch. You two should try it sometime. If you like I could make charts for you? but after our first classes. I don't want to make any mistakes. I've read all our course books and learnt them by heart. I do hope it will be enough. No one in my family has magic at tall so it was such a surprise to learn that I was a witch. I was worried I wouldn't be good at magic but I've managed to practice a few spells whilst on the train. Have you? Granted I've only tried simple ones but they've all worked for me. Anyway I assume you both have names?" She replied in very quick concession whilst missing Veronica's sarcasm completely.
Halle looked at Ronnie and Ronnie looked back at her. Both were very stunned at the girl before them. Halle had done some reading and she could now even remember some of the passages from her books but she had not learnt anything off by heart. She was relieved to see the look of shock on Ronnie's face and assumed she hadn't either. Ronnie recovered first and began to speak.
"This is Halle and I'm…."
"Holy cricket. Your Halle Potter. I've read all about you. I bought extra books to do background reading and your in several of them. I'm Hermione Granger and you are?" She said turning to Ronnie.
"Veronica Weasley." She said in an now fully annoyed voice.
"Pleasure. Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I hope to be in Gryffindor. By far it sounds the best. I hear that Dumbledore was in that house too. Although I suppose Ravenclaw doesn't sound that bad either. Any who I ought to keep searching for the toad. You two better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon." Said Hermione and with a flick of her hair she was out the door.
Ronnie threw her head back into the seat.
"Are you ok?" Halle asked a little put out for the second time today.
"I'm trying my hardest not to say anything about that girl that would earn me a clipping round the head if mum was here right now. I'm trying to take on board what Lu said but Merlin is that hard to do right now. I mean you heard all that right? I'm not crazy or on a sugar high right? Said Ronnie.
That put a small smirk on Halle's lips.
"If anyone even cares about our well being they won't put us in the same house as her." Said Ronnie picking up a new sweet and throwing it in her mouth.
Halle thought about everything the girl Hermione had just said. She had told them that no one else in her family was magic, making her Muggleborn. Of course Lu had said, that being from the Muggle side wasn't bad and Hagrid had told her that her mother was very talented in school but worry started pulsing through her chest again.
Hermione had read all the books and learnt it by heart. Halle hadn't done any of that. Yes she had read but more out of anticipation than actual studying. What if she got to lessons and couldn't do a single spell because she hadn't taken the initiative to learn her textbooks?
"Ronnie. Do you think we'll be good at lessons considering we haven't learnt any of the textbooks?" Asked Halle now fidgety.
Ronnie sat up and faced her.
"Trust me Halle. I guarantee you that half of the students in our year won't have studied the textbooks off by heart. Hell they probably won't even have opened them. Look I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with studying and I'd even accept it if she was just a Muggleborn who's anxious but she obviously was just flaunting her intelligence. She's like my brother Percy. Ugh.
Listen we'll do great, good, bad or mediocre in lessons but which ever one it is we won't be alone. Besides if we're in lessons together than there's one subject we'll do great in." Said Ronnie confidently.
"What's that?" Asked Halle curiously.
"Potions." Said Ronnie with an excited glint in her eye.
"Potions?" Questioned Halle.
"Yup. I'm great at potions. I haven't studied the books back and forth but I've been making potions since I was six years old. My dad got us mini potion kits when we were younger and I always did exceptionally well when following the instructions. If we're in lessons together I'll be more than willing to help you out. As for the rest of our subjects well I'll probably be hanging in there by the skin of my teeth so don't worry about it." Said Ronnie casually as her hand went for another sweet.
She let out a shriek when her hand touched something slimy. Halle looked down to see a little toad munching on a half eaten pumpkin pasty.
"I think we found the toad." Said Halle laughing at the look on Ronnie's face.
"We're not calling her back." Said Ronnie strongly.
Halle nodded in agreement. She wasn't ready for any more conversations on the train.
She took the toad and the pasty it was eating and placed it on top of Scabbers cage. Suddenly they heard a voice announcement. They were nearing Hogwarts. The two quickly changed and gathered their remaining sweets. Halle picked up the toad as she and Ronnie left the compartment. Nerves and excitement fluttered inside her as the train began to slow down. Hogwarts was close.
Even with her worries and nerves, Halle couldn't wait.
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