The lights to the Hedley estate were off and allowed the darkness of the night to creep through its halls. There was however, one light that remained on and that light belonged to Joshua. He ran around his room throwing items into the large trunk, which held the Hogwarts crest on its lid and his initials J.W.H on the sides in silver. He continuously ran back and forth from the large walk in cupboard and ensuite bathroom grabbing clothing and toiletries that he thought he may need. Some of his books remained on the large desk in the corner by his door and his wand rested on the single bedside table next to his double bed which he'd pushed against the wall.
His linen curtains were open along with the window which was open to allow Athena to swoop in and out as she pleased. The mahogany floor boards were covered by a large blue carpet and his walls were filled with paintings and drawings of birds, flowers, quidditch matches, Zerum doing household chores and spells being cast and their effects. Joshua thought about grabbing a few of these but realised that at Hogwarts there would be new opportunities to draw and paint other things. He threw in the last few things and shut his trunk with a satisfied sigh. He sat on his bird just as Athena swooped in and perched on his shoulder.
I see you've finally finished doing what your parents asked you to do four days ago. "Hey, I started packing four days ago like they asked", and you kept unpacking everything to get to your books, which by the way there are still a few on your desk. Joshua glanced at his desk and groaned, he kicked his trunk open and threw the books inside. "There! Finally done!" Athena gave a slight laugh and there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" "You seriously going to ask that question? There's only three possibilities." Joshua opened his door to see his sister in her nightgown. "Why are you still up?" "Just finished packing, why are you still up?" Melissa walked in and sat on the bed, stroking Athena's feathers who'd started to make an appreciative sound from the action. "I never am able to sleep the night before the train ride." "It's that exciting?" "It's that exciting." Joshua smiled at his sister's response.
"Mell what if something bad happens?" Melissa arched her eyebrows, "What do you mean by that?" "I mean what if something happens that would cause you or Mom and Dad to not want to talk to me anymore?" Melissa stood up and hugged her little brother, "What did Mom, Dad and Nanna always tell us growing up?" "Never try a Weasley's Wicked Wheezes product?" Melissa laughed, "No. About family." "Never leave family." "Exactly. There is almost nothing that could get you in trouble at Hogwarts if you follow the rules. Besides, if something happens you know that I'll be there to back you up. Your sister is quite the dueller you know, not to mention my Quidditch skills are not bad either." Joshua smiled but it faded quickly, "What if I'm put in Slytherin?" "So, what if you're put in Slytherin. You'll go down in the Hedley history as the first one to do so." Joshua smiled at this response, he hugged his sister again. "Okay, now that you have nothing to worry about, try and get some sleep. Mom and Dad don't need both of us being unenthusiastic about the train tomorrow." Melissa bid her brother goodnight and left. Joshua turned his bedroom light off, the moonlight now replacing it, and climbed into bed. "Athena, I can't wait for tomorrow!" Goodnight Josh. Joshua fell into blissful sleep.
Joshua awoke to his mother lightly shaking him, "Time to get up my boy," Joshua opened his eyes slightly to see that it was still dark. "Why are we up so early?" "Your father and I aren't able to apparate two full trunks and the four of us all at once." "Make two trips?" Louise laughed at her son's wit, "Come quickly before the food Zerum made gets cold." Joshua got out of bed and looked at the clock on his wall. It was three in the morning! He'd only gotten two hours of sleep. Joshua wavered between walking to the door and going back to sleep, he knew that if he went back to bed they would leave without him. So, rather groggily, Joshua stumbled out of bed and made his way to the dining hall. Melissa met him along the way and smiled, "Welcome to the time known as Sparrow's Fart! For sparrow's only fart at three in the morning." Joshua rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "No wonder it stinks."
Joshua and Melissa were waiting for their parents outside the main front door, they had said that there was a surprise for them. Joshua began to get antsy in the chilly air when the garage doors started to move. The garage doors never moved for any reason at all. From the garage emerged a sleek royal blue car that Joshua thought looked amazing. The car pulled in front of the children and the backseat door opened to Craig's large grin. "What do you think? We had to get a car when we realised we couldn't apparate the two of you and your luggage." Joshua was grinning just like his father while Melissa said, "Isn't it a bit too flashy?" "Maybe, but it was the first thing I saw so we bought it." Craig moved out of the car and opened the trunk, he levitated the children's two trunks into the car trunk easily. "What about Athena?" "She will be in the back with us," "Will there be enough space?" "More than." Craig opened the door for the children to climb in, the inside of the car was enchanted to expand to accommodate all its passengers. Joshua set Athena's cage down beside him and she chirped This Rolls Royce is very nice. "You know the make of the car?" Just because I'm a bird, doesn't mean I don't know things.
"Okay, it's a four hour drive to London so I suggest that the two of you get comfortable." Melissa and Joshua heeded their mother's words and lay down on the seats, Melissa remaining awake and Joshua falling asleep quickly.
The next time Joshua awoke, he noticed that his father parking the car in a space at King's Cross Station. "Louise, I'll fetch the trollies so long could you help the kids unload?" Louise nodded her head and got out the front passenger side and made her way to the trunk. "You two help your mother so long." The children moved out the car and helped their mother remove their trunks and Melissa's new Nimbus 2009 from the trunk and waited for their father to reappear. Once he had, they loaded the trollies and started walking towards the train stations entrance.
As they walked through King's Cross with their parents, Joshua and Melissa would draw attention here and there from muggles. From raised eyebrows to frowns of disapproval, Joshua felt embarrassed, but Melissa held her head high as she pushed her trolley along. They reached the barrier of nine and ten quickly, without falter Melissa picked up her speed and she vanished through the barrier wall. Joshua stopped and looked at his parents, "I can't believe this is happening." Louise put her hand on her son's shoulder, "It will be the greatest time of your life my child, you'll meet and befriend so many people." "And maybe even find the one you'll spend the rest of your life with." Louise glared at her husband, "He's going to Hogwarts to study, not be a womaniser Craig." Craig simply laughed, "Odd coming from a Gryffindor, I'm just saying that he's got his father's dashing good looks." "He looks a lot better than you did your first year." Craig stopped laughing and stared at his wife, Joshua took this as the opportunity to run at the barrier. Just before he hit the wall Athena chirped in fright, but the impact never came. When Joshua slowed down again he was staring at the large crimson red locomotive with the Hogwarts crest on its front.
Joshua started to try and make his way through the crowd, even though he wasn't late the platform still had many other students and their parents. Joshua started to panic but he was saved when Melissa called his name. He pushed his way through the crowd to her. "Where's Mom and Dad?" "I think they're having an argument at the moment." "Mom shooting at Dad about his looks again?" Joshua nodded, and Melissa shook her head in exasperation. Melissa helped her brother load his trunk into a compartment and stood outside the train waiting for their parents to appear. They didn't wait long until they did appear, Louise was smiling while Craig was muttering under his breath. Louise hugged both her children, "I can't believe both my little chickens are growing up so quickly. Now, again, what are you going to Hogwarts for?" "To study and enrich our minds." Melissa and Joshua said in unison. "What are you not there for?" "To cause trouble for Professor McGonagall or the other staff and blow up the school." "Good, now you sure you have everything?" "Yes Mom." "Oh, I'm going to miss you both so much." Louise hugged them again when they heard the conductor yell "All Aboard!" Melissa quickly darted onto the train and disappeared, Joshua remained behind to hug his parents a little longer, "What if I'm put in Slytherin? What would you do?" Craig knelt to talk to his son, "Then you and I will have a little rivalry, won't we?" Craig laughed, "It does not matter what house you're in my boy, all we care about is that you make amazing memories. Besides, you'll then be the first Hedley in Slytherin, they'll be lucky and fortunate to have you." Joshua hugged them one more time and hopped aboard the train as well. He turned to wave out the window at them as the train pulled away. His parents waved back, and Louise shouted to her son, "Lookout for a girl named Claudia! She's Muggleborn and I'm sure she'd appreciate a little help with our world." The train pulled out of the station and Joshua's parents disappeared from his sight.
Joshua found his sister sitting in a compartment and slipped in and sat next to her, she wasn't alone in the compartment though. Three other people were there, a girl chatting with Melissa and another girl sitting closely next to a boy who looked like her. The blond next to his sister was Tiff Newbold, Melissa's best friend since her first year. Her hair curtained her round face and her round green eyes would occasionally wander to a random spot before focusing again. She was slightly bigger then Melissa, who had a thin but strong frame perfect for being a chaser. Tiff also played Quidditch, she was one of Ravenclaw's Beaters.
Joshua didn't pay attention to the conversation between the blonds and looked at the two strangers in front of him. Both were raven haired, they both had almond shaped eyes, the girl's eyes were blue while the boys were amber making him look rather unnerving, but he seemed to exude a calming aura which made Joshua comfortable. They were staring out the window of the train, watching the trees and fields pass by. "Hello", Joshua finally said, grabbing their attention, "I'm Joshua Hedley, what are your name's?" The girl opened her mouth to speak but the compartment door opened and revealed another girl. She was short, shortest out of all of them, her pale green eyes slightly magnified by the glasses she wore, which were nearly covered by her fringe of her brown bob of hair. "Can I", she started rather timidly, "can I maybe sit here please? No one is letting me in anywhere else." Melissa momentarily stopped talking to Tiff to respond, "Of course you can! Make yourself at home." The girl closed the door behind her and sat next to the two raven haired children.
Joshua turned to greet the girl, "Hello, my name is Joshua Hedley. What's yours?" "Claudia," the girl responded, "Claudia Claassen." "Claassen… I've never heard that wizarding family name before." Claudia shook her head at Joshua's remark, "Because it isn't a wizarding family name. No one in my family is a wizard. I-I'm the first one." Joshua raised his eyebrows, not at the fact that Claudia was Muggleborn, but because her accent was rather strange. "What part of England are you from?" Again, Claudia shook her head, "No part, my family is from South Africa, we moved to England to make my studies… easier I suppose." Tiff took interest in Claudia when she heard 'South Africa'. "South Africa you say? Is it true that there are wild animals in the streets? Do you ride elephants to school?" Claudia threw her hands in the air in exasperation, "Why does everyone think that! Of course not, none of that is true! Yes, South Africa is a third world country, but we don't have wild animals strolling around everywhere." Tiff looked crestfallen, she'd hoped that the stories were true because to her it seemed like fun to ride an animal to school.
Tiff perked up again though and clapped her hands, "Well that's another rumour I can cross off the list!" She began talking with Melissa again shortly after that. Joshua shook his head and turned back to the twins, "Sorry about her, she can be quite eccentric at times." "It's okay," said the girl, "nothing new for us to be honest." "I never really caught your names. What are they?" The girl shot a glance at the door before answering Joshua. "Willow Branch. My brother here is Rowan Branch." "You can call me 'R' though, our family are tree farmers, so they decided to curse us with our names. Willow is a much better name than Rowan though." Joshua smiled at Rowan's feigned distress.
The six young witches and wizards continued to talk as the train carried on. It was a long way to Hogwarts, so they decided to get to know each other a little better. Already, they knew they would be friends.