AN: Leave it to me to not update for several months only once again return and update at 3:00 in the morning lol. Most anyone who reads this probably has forgotten about it. I know I would've. Regardless, I hope you enjoy and I'll try to be better at updates.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.
The Train Ride
"Oh wow," Ron said in awe. He stared at Harry, mouth gaping and an awkward silence filled the compartment. After noticing that he had reacted star struck and gawked at Harry for an unhealthy amount of time, he gazed out the window. Selena wondered if he had even noticed her sitting there really.
"Are all your family wizards?" Harry asked Ron. Selena had been too stunned by her brother's fame to say anything.
"Er—yes, I think so," answered Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him." That's probably got more to do with him being an accountant, she thought to herself but she didn't dare say it aloud. She'd always thought that there was no job more terribly boring than an accountant, except maybe Uncle Vernon's profession…
It was likely that Ron's family was similar to the ones the boy in the robe shop was talking about. They could be an old wizarding family of sorts.
"So you must know loads of magic already," Harry commented.
Ron dodged this question by asking one of his own, "I heard you went to live with muggles. What are they like?"
"Specifics or in general?" Selena asked. There were muggles like the Dursleys, intolerant and perturbed by anything out of the ordinary. Then, there were muggles like the Garcias, excepting and unconventional (compared to what she had seen).
"The ones we live with are horrible, but not all of them. Selena's friend is nice enough. I wish we'd grown up with three wizard brothers." She couldn't help but agree with what Harry had said. It would have been nice to live with other magic beings.
"Five," Ron corrected looking rather glum. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." Selena could relate and she knew Harry could too. Neither of them ever got anything new. It was all Dudley's old stuff. Even, reluctantly, some of her Aunt Petunia's old clothes.
Ron put a hand inside his jacket and pulled out a fat, grey rat. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff - I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears tinged pink at his slip up. In Selena's eyes there was nothing wrong with not being able to afford something. The Garcia's often struggled to make ends meet. They pushed it sending Liza to private school. Mrs. Garcia was an artist and Mr. Garcia worked at a hotel. Selena only knew about their money struggles because Liza once told her when it was getting bad.
She and Harry tried to cheer Ron up by telling him about how they never got anything from the Dursleys. "I had to wear all of my cousin's old clothes." Harry said.
"So did I," Selena added.
"I got a coat hanger for Christmas," said Harry.
"I got a sock. A single sock." said Selena.
The two siblings went back and forth with this for a while. This seemed to cheer Ron up.
"... and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort-" Harry stopped in his tracks. And Ron gaped. Then he gasped.
"What?" asked Harry. Selena narrowed her eyes at him. She remembered earlier when Hagrid couldn't even bare to speak the name. Harry had to beg him to tell them.
"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Ron exclaimed. "I'd have thought you of all people…"
"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name. I just didn't know that it was something you weren't supposed to do. I don't know anything. See I'll probably be worst in class." Harry voiced concerns. He had never told her about them but she had had the same worries herself, but she figured that even she could catch up if she read enough. Harry wasn't as much of a reader.
Ron soothed his apprehension, ""You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."
For a time, the children stopped talking they simply looked out at the rolling green hills with roaming sheep and cattle. She could imagine the scene as a picture in one of Liza's scrapbooks. There was a clattering coming down the hallway and a smiling face peeked around a trolley at them. "Anything off the trolley dears?"
Harry pratically jumped from his seat. Ron once again looked embarrassed and muttered something about having a sandwich. Harry turned around to Selena, "What do you want?"
"I don't know Harry, something breakfast-like." They hadn't eaten breakfast. Harry went out into the corridor.
She and Ron sat there in silence each staring at the door waiting for a Harry to return. He took much longer than she expected. When he returned, he was cradling a pile of goodies in his arms. He poured them out on the nearest seat and announced, "Anyone hungry?"
He picked up a particularly large pasty and took a bite out of it. Selena motioned at him with her hands for him to give her some. He handed her one as well. Ron took out a package of a rather soggy looking sandwich. He sighed loudly, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef…"
"Swap you for one of these," Harry offered brandishing a pasty, "Go on—"
Ron waved him off, "You don't want this, trust me. She hasn't got much time, what with five of us."
"Here just have a pasty," Ron took one quick look at his sandwich and tossed it on the seat beside him with a look of disgust. He took the pasty and hastily unwrapped it.
Selena handed him a bright green rope like candy that looked an awful lot like a twizzler, "Here have one of these." He took it quickly and placed it directly next to him for safe keeping. The children proceeded to dig into the candy. Selena looked over at Harry. He seemed happier than she'd ever seen him.
"What are these?" He held up a golden pentagonal box to Ron. The front of the package said 'Chocolate Frogs'. "There not actually frogs?" Nothing would really surprise Selena at this point, but if they were real frogs, she would not be eating them.
"No," Ron answered. "But see what the card is. I'm missing an Agrippa."
"What?" Harry asked.
"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know. Chocolate Frogs have cards inside of them, you know, to collect. Famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred but I don't have Agrippa or Ptolemy."
"Ptolemy was a wizard?" Selena asked shocked. She supposed it made sense. Ron simply nodded taking a bite of a pasty.
Harry opened his Chocolate Frog box and pulled out the card. "So this is Dumbledore!" He said excitedly. He handed the card to Selena. The man was elderly with long silvery hair and a beard, wearing half-moon glasses. He had a long nose and some sort of twinkle in his eyes. After getting a good look at the card, Selena handed it back to Harry.
"Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a Chocolate Frog? I might get Agrippa," Harry handed him a box quickly, "Thanks."
Harry read aloud off the back of the card, "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." He read the last part with a bit of confusion. Then his face lit up with surprise, "He's gone!" Harry flashed the card at her.
"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," Ron said nonchalantly. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting."
Harry looked at the card Ron had given him and handed it to his sister. "Here, Selena, you take this one." Ron was eyeing the pile. "Help yourself," He told him. "But in, you know the Muggle World people just stay put in photos."
"Do they? What they don't move at all?" Ron's voice was filled with amazement. "Weird."
Harry split all of the Chocolate Frog cards that Ron didn't want with Selena. After digging through the pile of candy Harry pulled out a box titled Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. "You've got to be careful with those," Ron warned. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor - you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavored one once."
Ron picked out a bright green bean and took a bite, "Bleaaargh, see it's sprouts."
The children each grabbed a pile of beans and took turns tasting them. Selena had some delicious ones like watermelon and tuttifruitie, but she also had disgusting ones like soap, vomit, and rotten egg which she had to spit out into Ron's paper sandwich bag.
A knock at the compartment door ended their bean tasting. A teary-eyed boy with a round face came in. "Sorry, have you seen a toad?" When the group shook their heads side to side he cried out, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"I'm sure he'll turn up." Harry said.
"Do you want some help?" offered Selena who wanted to get up to stretch her legs and did not want to eat another bean, good or otherwise.
The boy sniffled and nodded, "Would you? I've already got some others helping, but the more the merrier."
"Sure." She answered. "I'll be back soon, Harry." Her brother said nothing but smiled up at her. "So," she turned to the boy. "What's your name?"
"Oh, um, I'm Neville," He answered in stammers.
She stretched her hand out for him to shake, "I'm Selena," He grabbed it rather timidly. "So, should I just walk down the hall and ask compartments?"
"Sure, I've gone that way, so maybe you could go this way?" He pointed down the aisle. Selena nodded and followed down the corridor.
She knocked on the nearest compartment door and slid it open seconds later. She was met with several annoyed stares from people much older than her. She opened her mouth a few times to speak but the words wouldn't come out. "Have any of you seen a toad?"
"A toad?" One girl spoke. Her tone was laced with judgement.
"Yes, it's like a frog but not a frog." She explained.
"I know what a toad is. It's not here now scram kid!" The girl ordered nostrils flaring. Selena hurried out of the compartment. She asked a few more compartments with much better results but still none had seen Trevor the toad.
She decided that her attempts were futile and she should just find her way back to Harry and Ron. A few doors down from their compartment a bushy-haired girl—who was already wearing her robes—stopped her to ask about the toad, "Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one."
"No and neither has anyone down that way for a while." Selena informed her so that she didn't waste her time.
"Oh, so you're looking too. I'm Hermione Granger," She said extending her hand.
"I'm Selena Potter," She replied.
"Really! I just met your brother. He says he hadn't read any of the material over the summer. I suspect you haven't either. I did. I've tried to memorize all that I can." Hermione rambled.
"I didn't really have the time, with all the excitement and all."
"That's understandable, I suppose. You should really get changed. I suspect we'll be arriving soon."
"Oh, thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I think I'll be heading back to my compartment now." Selena hurried off a hint of a blush on her cheeks. Since when did she feel so awkward around strangers? First barely talking around Ron and now dodging a conversation with Hermione Granger. Come to think of it she hadn't really interacted with anyone other than Harry and Liza—and to a lesser extent the Dursleys.
Selena slid the door open to find a rather unexpected sight. Three boys were standing in their compartment. The two large ones she did not recognize but the third she did. It was the boy from Madam Malkin's. The three turned around and faced her. "You must be the sister." Robe shop boy said.
"Yes," She muttered and slipped past them to sit down next to Harry.
"Well, this is Crabbe and Goyle," He gestured to the beefy boys "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron coughed into his hand attempting and failing to hide a snicker. Draco blinked at him a slight smirk falling on his lips. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Selena's nosed crinkled in disgust at his words. She crossed her arms across her chest.
He turned his attention toward Harry, "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
He held out his hand for Harry to take. After a few moments of silence Harry said, "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks."
Draco seemed taken aback a slight flush on his pale cheek. Selena looked at the boy darkly, "You're not wanted here. Get out."
"I'd be careful if I were you two," 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 that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."
All three stood up. "Say that again," Ron growled.
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.
"Unless you get out now," said Harry rising a bit taller. Selena stood near him not sure of what to do. The goons standing on each side of Draco were much bigger than Harry and Ron.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached for the chocolate frogs sitting next to Ron. In response, he dove to the seat to prevent the larger boy from stealing his food. Before Goyle could lay a finger on Ron or the candy, he pulled away and winced waving his hand around wildly. He had a rat—Scabbers to be precise—dangling from the knuckle of his index finger. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away until they hit the sliding door. Goyle continued to thrash his hand around until the fat rat hit the window. Selena gasped in horror at the sound of his soft body hitting the glass. At this the three boys fled the room.
Not only a second later Hermione Granger came in. "Since when is our compartment Grand Central Station?" Selena lamented.
Hermione's jaw dropped at the sight of the wreckage and Ron picking up Scabbers by the tail. "What is going on here?"
"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said examining the rat.
"Will he be alright?" Selena asked trying not to sound too concerned.
"No—wait I don't believe it! He's gone back to sleep." Ron placed the plump creature on his seat. "You've met Malfoy before?"
Harry retold the details of their meeting.
"I've heard of his family," Ron said darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned towards Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"
"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scathingly. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"
"All right - I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," Hermione complained in a stuffy tone. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"
Once the other girl left, Selena pulled off her jumper and buttoned up her oxford over her undershirt. Then she slipped on her black robe. Harry and Ron did the same. The ginger-haired boy's was a little short on him, stopping well above his ankles.
A announcement 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." Selena looked around for a speaker before realizing that they didn't need one because magic existed.
The children looked at each other with excitement and nervousness etched upon their faces. Selena felt little butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Her head felt airy. Ron and Harry gathered up the last bits of candy and crammed them in their robe pockets.
She followed Harry closely as they joined the crowd. The air was cold and the robes were not nearly as warm and comfortable as her jumper. Liza had given it to her one year for Christmas. She bought it for Selena at a ski lodge. It was one of her most treasured possessions.
In the distance Selena could see fluttering lamp light bounding closer and closer. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" A gruff voice, that could only belong to Hagrid, boomed over the crowd. "Selena?"
The giant man smiled down at the two of them. "C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
The children all followed him down a narrow decline. Selena felt mildly fearful as it was surrounded by dark unfamiliar woods. Everyone was silent. She found Neville's toad on the ground once before he went on to lose it another three times.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid hollered, face peering over his shoulder from behind his long, wiry hair and beard, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud howl sometime after that. Selena wasn't sure if it was a wolf or just someone messing around. Soon her line of sight widened to reveal a vast castle seated atop a dark lake. Moonlight lit up the windows and twinkled across the lake's occasional ripples.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called out. Harry and Ron sat down in a boat. Before Selena could do anything, Hermione and Neville sat down.
Harry looked at Selena with furrowed brows. He opened his mouth to speak, but Selena did before he could, "It's okay. I'll just ride with someone else." He nodded mouth etched in a thin line, a guilty look upon his face.
Selena took a deep breath before sitting herself in the nearest boat. Two girls followed her in. One was blonde with pigtails and the other had a short dark bob. Seconds later a boy grabbed the rim of the boat and swung himself in. They all jumped back slightly. The light-haired girl looked frighten whilst the darker one just looked annoyed. "Hello Ladies," He said waggling his eyebrows. The girl with the bob sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Everyone in?" Hagrid called, "Right then - FORWARD!"
The boats moved without any rowing or motors. Everyone just stared up at the castle in awe. "Head's down!" Hagrid shouted in warning. The boats reached a cliff. They floated through a curtain of ivy. They went through a short, dark tunnel which seemed to go underneath the castle. It reminded Selena of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory—except not terrifying. The dinghies beached on some gravel and they all climbed out from the boats.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" Hagrid, who was looking through all the boats for lost possessions, called out.
"Trevor!" cried Neville delighted, holding out his hands to accept the amphibian. They traversed another trail this time with an incline. After walking on so many bumpy surfaces, Selena felt relief walking on the grass wet with night-time dew.
The group of them stopped at the top of three stone step where they stood in front of a large oak door. "Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid remarked with a laugh. He raised up his fist and knocked three times on the Hogwarts door.