Holly Knight's stomach rolled as she looked at the front doors of King's Cross Station while her father loaded her trunk and her new spotted owl, Athena, onto a trolley for her. She could hear Athena screeching in annoyance as she was woken from her nap, but Holly was concerned with other things. As she thought about getting onto the train, her mouth went dry and horrible scenarios chased each other around her head. What if she couldn't find a seat? What if no one wanted to talk to her? What if they all thought she was a know-it-all? What if they made fun of her eyes? These and many other frightening prospects made her sigh as her father pushed the trolley up beside her.
"Hey, Holly-Golly, why the long face?" her father teased.
She looked at him over her shoulder and forced a smile, "It's fine, Dad. I'm just a bit nervous."
Her father wrapped one arm around her shoulders and said, "Don't you worry, Holly. You're going to be great. And remember, if you need anything you can just send me a letter."
Holly nodded and took a deep breath before lifting her chin and taking her trolley from her Dad. He followed her into the station and waited while she looked for platforms nine and ten. Holly looked uncertainly at the barrier and muttered to her father, "The instructions said just to walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Well, here goes nothing, I guess." She began pushing her trolley toward the barrier, gathering speed as she approached and thinking to herself that she was completely mental. Her father jogged along behind her, and she could practically feel the uncertainty rolling off him. However, as they reached the barrier, they kept right on going and in a moment emerged on a crowded platform. Children and parents were milling around, hugging, laughing, talking, loading luggage. Holly grinned over her shoulder at her father.
"Well, Holly, let's find you a place, shall we? Looks like we only have a couple of minutes," her Dad said, glancing up at the big clock over the platform that read 10:56. They walked along the train, looking for empty compartments, but the best they found was an empty seat in a compartment that was apparently already occupied by five other students. "It'll be a bit snug, but this could be a great opportunity to make some friends, Holly," her father said as they surveyed the five other trunks in the overhead storage.
Holly swallowed and tried to distract her rolling stomach by wondering whether the other people in the compartment were boys or girls or both. She wondered if they knew each other already. Then she pressed her lips together and took a deep breath, "Dad, this is going to be a good year. Even if the people in this compartment don't like me, there are loads of other people, and I have a chance to get to know them and let them get to know me."
Her Dad smiled broadly, his blue eyes twinkling, "That's the spirit, Holly-Golly. Oh, sorry, you probably don't want your new friends to hear me call you that, you being practically grown-up and all."
"It's alright, Dad," she said, smiling up at him. Then she gave him a big hug and said, "I'm going to miss you. I promise to write at least once a week."
"I'll miss you, too. I'm looking forward to hearing all about Hogwarts, and I bet you Christmas will be here before you know it and you can tell me all about everything you've learned," her father said, returning the hug. At that moment, the final whistle blew and her Dad moved toward the corridor, "That's my cue. Why don't you get settled and I'll go wave to you from the platform."
Holly nodded and took the seat by the window, waiting to see her father again. As the train began to leave the station, he appeared in the crowd of other parents, waving and smiling enthusiastically. Holly waved back and forced the smile on her face to stay put, "Well, no going back now, Holly."
As the platform fell away and the train gathered speed, Holly sighed and went back to wondering what sort of people she was sharing a compartment with. She supposed that if they were too beastly she could always go beg to squeeze in somewhere else. She was just considering this when the compartment door slid open and she leapt to her feet.
"Oh," said a tall red-haired boy as he spotted her. Behind him were several other red-headed boys, all of different ages, two of whom appeared to be twins. She realized immediately that they were all brothers. Brothers with nice, normal brown eyes. "Hello, there. What's your name?"
She ducked her head in a vain attempt to hide her eyes, "Holly Knight. I'm sorry for intruding, but there were no other seats. Of course, if you'd rather I sat somewhere else I'm sure I could figure something out."
She heard the boys laugh and her face went red, then the oldest boy said kindly, "Hey, its alright. You're perfectly welcome to stay if you don't mind dealing with a bunch of ruffians like us."
"Speak for yourself, Bill," said one of the younger boys, the one with glasses. The oldest boy, Bill, nudged him with his elbow.
Holly smiled slightly, and sat back down, keeping her eyes hidden. She peeked at them through her eyelashes as they filed into the compartment and took their seats.
Once everyone was seated, one of the twins, who was sitting beside her said, "We don't bite, you know. Well, Percy might, but Bill and Charlie won't let him."
"Shut up, Fred," growled the boy with glasses.
Holly unconsciously lifted her head as she laughed along with Fred, his twin, and the two older boys. Bill spoke again, "Well, boys, I think we have her attention. Let me introduce everyone, Miss Knight. I'm Bill Weasley and these are my younger brothers, Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George."
"It's very nice to meet you, but please just call me Holly. When you say Miss Knight I feel like I'm in trouble," Holly said.
"When we're in trouble, our Mum just yells 'Fred! George! You two will be the death of me!" said George from the other side of Fred, his voice going high and somewhat shrieky. They all laughed.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters, Holly?" asked Percy suddenly.
She shook her head, "No, it's just me and my Dad."
"What about your Mum?" asked Fred.
Charlie kicked Fred, "Sorry, Holly. Mum's tried to teach him manners, but he's too thick."
"Hey! I'm not thick, you are!" Fred snarled, kicking Charlie back.
"It's alright, really," said Holly, hoping to break things up, "My Mum died when I was really little. My Dad raised me. Neither of them had any magic, though."
"Oh, so you're a Muggle-born," said Charlie smiling, "Our Dad would love to talk to you."
"Our whole family is magic, but Dad is really interested in Muggles," explained George.
"Dad is in charge of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic," added Fred.
"The what?" asked Holly.
"The Ministry of Magic. It's the wizard government, and the Minister of Magic is in charge of everything," offered Percy.
Holly nodded, "So like the Prime Minister and Parliament and all the British Ministries?"
Bill nodded, "You've got the idea. There are some differences, but I wouldn't worry too much about that for now."
"Do you know anything about Hogwarts, Holly?" asked George.
Holly replied, "Well, not a lot, but I know there are four houses. I read a little about each one in a book I got at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley. I think I'd like to be in Gryffindor, but I guess Ravenclaw would be alright, too."
"So do we," George said, "We're first years, too. All our family's been in Gryffindor."
"If you two don't get into Gryffindor, you'd better not tell anyone we're related," said Bill, but his eyes were laughing when he said it.
"The only house you definitely don't want is Slytherin," said Charlie, "Just about every dark wizard Britain's ever seen has been in Slytherin."
Holly's eyes widened, "I think I'd ask to transfer."
"If you do get put in Slytherin, we could probably sneak you into Gryffindor anyway," said Fred encouragingly.
"Fred, that would be against the rules," Percy said sternly, "Everyone's to stay with their own house."
"Oh, don't be such a prat, Percy," said Fred.
Holly laughed and said, "Well, at least I can come and visit if my house mates are really beastly."
"Definitely," said Bill.
Suddenly, the second oldest boy, Charlie, looked at her more closely and said, "Wow, I just noticed your eyes, Holly."
Holly's smile vanished and she ducked her head, "Yeah, they've always been like that. My mother's were the same, only hers were blue and brown instead of green and brown." She'd been teased at school about her eyes before. Both of them were a warm, almost honey-colored brown and a rich, icy green. The brown was more obvious around the outer ring and the green radiated outward from the pupil.
"Can I see?" asked Fred, leaning forward.
Bill's hand shot across the aisle and pushed his younger brother back before he asked, "What's wrong, Holly?"
She looked up at him and said, "Well, don't you think they're sort of…freaky?"
Bill looked surprised, and his expression was mimicked by his brothers. Finally getting a good look at her, Fred announced with a grin, "I think they look really ace."
"Yeah, they make you look wicked," added George.
Holly smiled, "Hopefully other people at Hogwarts agree with you."
"Hey, if anyone gives you any trouble, just let me and Charlie know and we'll take care of it," said Bill seriously.
"Thank you," Holly said, hoping they knew she really meant it. No one had ever stood up for her before.
Suddenly the compartment door slid open and an older witch pushing a cart of candy asked, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
"No thanks, ma'am. We're all set. Holly?" Bill turned to the younger girl, who shook her head.
"Very well, then," said the woman, closing the door.
"Are you sure you don't want anything, Holly? It's a long trip," Charlie told her.
She nodded, "I had a pretty big breakfast, and my Dad and I usually only eat twice a day anyhow."
Charlie nodded, "There's always a big feast at the beginning of the year. We'll all be so stuffed tonight we won't be able to do anything but go to sleep."
"That sounds lovely," Holly said.
As the countryside flew by and Holly asked the older boys questions about Hogwarts, Fred and George slowly nodded off, as they'd already heard the answers to the questions Holly was asking and they had been up early.
When it was fully dark, Charlie said, "Well, we'd best wake Fred and George. We're getting close and we all need to change."
Bill frowned at the twins, "We should just leave them after what they did this morning."
"What's that?" Holly asked.
"They pulled some Muggle nonsense and tied the bathroom door and our little sister's door together. Then they messed with Mum's clock and made it look like Charlie and I snuck out, so she wrathed at us for half an hour. They also hid all of mine and Charlie's books," Bill said, "We were all nearly late and I thought Mum was going to have a fit."
Holly looked thoughtfully at the twins as Charlie stood up to wake them. Then she held up a hand and looked at Charlie with a mischievous grin, "Do any of you three know a good water charm?"
Bill raised an eyebrow, "Sure. What did you have in mind?"
Holly stood up and stepped up on the seat, taking care not to wake Fred. She reached into a pocket on the side of her trunk and pulled out two balloons. As she started to get down the train gave a jerk and she lost her balance, nearly falling backward off the seat. Charlie jumped forward and caught her before she could topple to the compartment floor. She smiled at him over her shoulder as he put her down, "Thanks, Charlie."
"Not a problem. Now what exactly are you planning?" Charlie asked as Bill and Percy leaned in to listen as well.
"Percy, could you hold one of these balloons?" Holly asked, holding a blue one out to him. Percy nodded and took the balloon. Holly began to stretch hers and told Percy to do the same as Bill and Charlie watched curiously. Finally, she said, "Alright, Bill and Charlie, can you fill these with water?"
Bill and Charlie looked at one another and grinned as they caught onto her plan, "Sure."
They filled the balloons with water and Percy and Holly tied them off. Then Holly pulled out her wand and pointed it at her balloon, "Wingardium Leviosa." The balloon drifted up into the air as Percy copied her. All four of them crowded into the corner furthest from the twins as Percy and Holly maneuvered the balloons directly over Fred and George. Holly looked at Percy and whispered, "On my count. Three, two, one!"
They both let the balloons go at once and they came down with a great SPLASH on Fred and George's heads. "Argh!" both boys shouted as they leapt up sputtering. They stared in shock at their brothers and Holly as they roared with laughter on the other side of the compartment, holding onto each other for support.
Finally Bill managed, "That's for this morning!"
George said, "I just can't believe you got us!"
"It was Holly's idea, really," Charlie said as he started to calm down.
Holly smiled shyly as the twins turned to look at her. Fred smiled, "I'm impressed. How about you George?"
"Definitely."
"Is it official, then?" Fred asked George, who nodded.
"Is what official?" Holly asked warily.
The twins each seized one of her hands and shook it, flinging water all over the place, "Welcome to the pranksters club, Holly."
"The what?" she asked, grinning as they shook her hands so hard she nearly fell over.
"Yeah, you two've lost us as well," Bill said.
"It means you, Holly, are officially one of us," George told her.
Holly grinned as Bill shook his head, "Alright all of you, it's time to change for school. Holly, we'll all go out in the corridor while you change, then we'll swap."
Holly nodded and the boys filed out of the compartment.
After all of them had changed and Bill had dried the seat from the water balloons, they all sat back down and talked while they waited for the train to arrive. Finally, it began to slow and pulled into the station.
"Alright, you three, we'll see you later," Charlie said to Holly, Fred, and George as they hopped onto the platform.
Holly was about to ask what he meant when she heard a booming voice call out, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Come on then!"
"Come on, Holly," said Fred as he and George started toward the biggest man Holly had ever seen. She doubted her head would reach his waist if they were standing side by side. She just managed to keep up with the twins as they crowded around the man along with what could only be the rest of the first year students.
"Alrigh' then, follow me everyone," the huge man said, turning and walking off into the dark.
"Who is that?" Holly whispered to George as they all jogged to keep up with the man.
"I think that's Hagrid, the groundskeeper. Charlie talks about him sometimes," George replied.
Holly blinked, "Is…is he a giant?"
George laughed, "No. I think Charlie said he's half giant, but there's no way a full-blooded giant would be allowed at Hogwarts. They're really fierce, and more than twice Hagrid's size."
As he finished speaking, they turned a corner and everyone was distracted by the beautiful sight that lay before them. Across a wide, glassy lake a castle rose up on top of a cliff, its windows glowing and glittering on the surface of the water. Holly gasped and forgot all about giants. "It's beautiful," she said to no one in particular.
"Yeah, I guess," Fred said, "I wonder what we have to do for the sorting. I tried to get Percy to tell, but he wouldn't."
"Sorting?" Holly asked. At that moment however, they came to a stop in front of a line of boats and Hagrid ordered them to step into them in groups of no more than four. Holly scrambled into one of the boats with Fred, George, and a very pretty black girl. Then the boats set off across the lake without any visible means of propulsion. After the initial thrill of being in a boat that was moving on its own, Holly joined everyone else in admiring the castle as they swept closer. They sailed through a curtain of hanging vines in the side of the cliff and came to an underground port. Holly did her best to stick with Fred and George as they jogged up the steps and came out on the grass in the shadow of the castle