Chapter 2: Welcome to Hogwarts
Tugs on her hair accompanied by a loud SCREECH! from Sanvi and Agni was a perfect wake up call. A.J. got up and grabbed her clothes that she laid out the night before, to take a shower and get dressed for today. Twenty minutes later, A.J. turned off the shower and began getting dressed in her undergarments. Before putting on her clothes, A.J. saw her reflection in the mirror. The same icy blue eyes that Harry Potter has, long, bright auburn, hair, an oval face, straight button nose, Cupid's Bow lips, dimples on her cheekbones, and a sort of structured sharpness that can only be inherited by her parents. She took a deep breath and continued with her task. Wearing a Burberry White Sheer Cotton Button-Up Blose, Paige Denim High Rise Edgemont Dark Grey Skinny Jeans, grey knee high socks, Frye Phillip Ring Tall Woman's Riding Boots, a god ball necklace, her silver hoop earrings, rings, and cuff bracelet, A.J. was ready to go.
"8:20 am: right on schedule," she muttered to herself. Grabbing some help from the manager, Tom, he levitated all of her trunks downstairs, where she proceeded to wait for Professor Dumbledore to pick her up. When eight-thirty struck the clock, in came Professor Dumbledore entered with his usual 'larger-than-life' presence.
He spotted her and calmly walked over to her. "Miss Hernandez," he said. "Are you ready?"
"Yup. All my stuff is packed, and my birds are in their cages, ready to go," she affirmed. Using his wand, he lifted them out the door into a car that he called in a favor at the Ministry to have. Soon, it drives them all the way to King's Cross Station, where he helps loads her trunks on a cart. Dumbledore hands A.J. her train ticket for the platform. After he wished her good luck at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore Disapparated back to his office, awaiting the next batch of students. Walking towards the wall between Platforms 9 and 10, she passed straight through as she reached Platform 9 ¾. She sees the red and black train, the Hogwarts Express, right in front, and has a feeling of excitement running through her veins. She goes to a worker and asks to help her put her stuff on the train, to which he agrees. In no time at all, A.J.'s things were packed away, nice and tight.
Turning around, A.J. noticed all the people staring at her as if she were an animal on display at the zoo. Everywhere she went, they whispered about her, trying to figure out if she's Harry Potter's long lost sister. The thought was laughable but could understand their confusion when a girl who looks much like the late Lily Potter, is here among them. Ridding herself of their lingering stares, A.J. enters the train as she finds an empty compartment all to herself, while thinking of a plan to get close to the Golden Trio, find Sirius Black, and prove his innocence that he wasn't responsible for Lily and James's deaths.
"I always knew what'll happen, but never fully processed I could - literally - change how the story's written," A.J. grumbled to herself. "Mom, Dad. I'm scared, and I need you to give me a sign right now. Please tell me if I can be the person Dumbledore expects me to be," A.J. begs her parents in Heaven, but all she got is silence. The pleading in A.J.'s voice made her sound younger than she actually was, terrified at what's happening. However, out of the corner of her eye, a piece of paper caught her attention. Coming closer, she saw it was a 'Wanted' poster of a man named Sirius Black. His appearance was sad, deranged, and desperate. As Lily's reincarnation, A.J. knew what went down that night: changing Secret Keepers, Wormtail betraying Lily and James, Voldemort killing them, and leaving Harry an orphan at a year old. Now, with the news that Sirius Black escaped Azkaban, things are going to be even more tense, since everyone's telling Harry not to go looking for that man. Looking out the glass, A.J. saw parents were saying goodbye to their children, telling them to write and to have a good year at Hogwarts. Now, she's determined to make things right: for Harry, for his parents, and for Sirius. Too engrossed in plotting her mission, she didn't see three Gryffindors get into the compartment next to her. The train began to pull away from the terminal and off it went for another school year.
The train kept going on and on as the rain beat heavily down, A.J. read her book in peace when – suddenly – the train stopped halfway. The lights began to flicker on and off until they turned off completely. The frost on the doors and windows crept quickly, making the air freezing around her. A ghost-like shadow came through her door. The lock undid itself and pushed aside to let the thing in the compartment. In a second of instinct, A.J. pulled out her wand to defend herself.
"Expecto Patronum!" A burst of white light shot out in the form of a fennec fox. Her Patronus toyed with the Dementor until it pushed the Dementor away with a blinding, great force that caused the door to slam shut. A.J. tried to inhale oxygen after the Dementor attack, remaining calm and collected. Realizing that the human isn't who they're looking for, the Dementor began moving towards its next target; unfortunately, it was heading towards Harry Potter's compartment.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione start walking towards a section where they can talk freely about the Azkaban escapee, Sirius Black as well as Harry losing his temper with Aunt Marge.
"I didn't mean to blow her up!" Harry exclaimed. "I just…lost control."
"Brilliant," Ron said. Hermione shook her head in disappointment.
"Honestly Ron, it's not funny. Harry was lucky not to be expelled," she stated with concern.
"I was lucky not to be arrested," The Golden Trio reached a compartment with a man sleeping in the corner.
"Come on. Everywhere else is full," Hermione said. As they all piled in, they wondered who that man next to them is. He seemed tired and silvery scars were on one side of his face.
"Who do you think that is?" Ron asked out loud.
"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione answered. Ron, on the other hand, didn't take the new information very well, since he thought (in his head) that Hermione's a know-it-all.
"Do you know everything? How is it she knows everything?" Ron exasperated towards the fact Hermione Granger knows everything.
"It's on his suitcase, Ronald," She pointed towards the suitcase above the sleeping professor.
"Oh." The simple explanation of her figuring out his name made him feel a little embarrassed. Harry didn't even smile at his best mate's embarrassment, but the reality of Sirius Black coming after him weighed on his mind.
"Do you think he's really asleep?" Harry wondered.
"Seems to be. Why?" Hermione asked.
"I gotta tell you something." Harry shut the door and began to repeat what Mr. Weasley told him. The train took off and headed straight towards Hogwarts.
"Let me get this straight: Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to come after you?" Ron questioned.
"Yeah," Harry answered.
"But…they'll catch Black, won't they? I mean, everyone's looking for him," Hermione implied.
"Sure. Except no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before…and he's a raving, murderous, lunatic." Hearing Ron emphasize Sirius Black's 'sanity' (or lack thereof), made Harry feel worse about himself.
"Thanks, Ron." The train came to a screeching halt. People in different compartments began whispering to each other what's going on.
"Why are we stopping? We can't be there yet." Hermione wondered the same questions that were on everyone's mind: Why the train stopped suddenly? Why are the lights flickering on and off? Are they under attack?
"What's going on?" Ron freaked when the movement of the train pushed back students who were taking a peek outside their compartments.
"Don't know. Maybe we've broken down," Harry concurred. Suddenly, the lights in the entire train went out. The new students and returning years were freaking out with their friends, huddling close together.
"Ouch, Ron. That was my foot," He didn't hear since he put his hand on the window, staring paranoid into the distance.
"There's something moving out there." His voice began to crack in nervousness and fear. Metal creaking from the obvious weight of whatever is happening outside has come to light. "I think someone's coming aboard." The train ferociously shook side to side, scaring the students much more. Windows began frosting up; the compartments started getting colder, able to see your breath coming out in pants. A shadowy figure came floating near the door where the Golden Trio were sitting in. With a wave of its bony, skeletal hand, the door unlocked and came inside. Before it could leave, the creature focused, intently, on Harry: enough to begin sucking out all happy memories from him. Harry went rigid, heard a woman's scream, and passed out.
"Harry." A voice called him as he opened his eyes. "Harry, are you alright?" The feeling came back to his body as Hermione handed him back his glasses. The man with them gave a piece of candy to the pale boy who passed out.
"Here, eat this. It'll help." Harry grabbed it, however, hesitant to eat it. "It's alright. It's chocolate," he said. Harry stared at the door breathing heavily.
Harry stared at the door breathing heavily. "What was that thing that came?"
"It was a Dementor; one of the guards of Azkaban. It's gone now. It was searching the train for Sirius Black," Professor Lupin confirmed as he placed the chocolate bar on the seat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to have a little word with the driver." He got up and headed out. "Eat. You'll feel better." As he left, Harry took a bite of the chocolate while staring at his friends.
"What happened to me?" Harry asked.
"Well, you sort of went rigid. We thought you were having a fit or something," Ron pointed out.
"And did either of you two…you know…pass out?" Harry croaked out.
"No. I felt weird, though. Like I'd never be cheerful again," Ron confirmed.
"But someone was screaming. A woman." Hermione and Ron stared at him as if he had grown two heads.
"No one was screaming, Harry." The train began moving again and continued towards its destination. Harry was glad that thing was gone, but the gut-wrenching fear of facing and experiencing it, never really left his mind. By the time the train stopped, the thought of them had increased exponentially, now growing – in his mind – as a justifiable concern. Carriages stood there for the returning students taking them to the school. Jumped into a carriage, the ride began to Hogwarts. They all gathered in the Main Entrance while students filed out in clumps to avoid and escape the rain. A.J. hides behind a pillar watching the First Years all soaked to the bone from crossing the Black Lake, entered the Great Hall in a single line, nervous about the Sorting. Waiting for her turn, all that ran through her head was one thing: "You can do this."
I do not own the Harry Potter universe, characters (except my OC A.J. Hernandez), or storyline plots from either the books and/or movies; that all belongs to J.K. Rowling, who is still totally awesome. A shoutout to my two new followers - PrincessBlonde and sephchipmunk - for liking my story, even though it's my first HP Fanfic. Please leave a comment if you want to or not, but still...Thanks for reading! 😁😄
Also, all of the published chapters are going through a significant re-edit and grammatical x-ray, a lot of chapters will be better written, which I hope you will all enjoy again.
Songs Used:
4.) John Williams - Apparition on the Train (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Soundtrack)