Chapter 4
The Hogwarts Express
"PUT THOSE THINGS AWAY!" Vernon roared from across the kitchen.
Some of the most fun I'd had in my entire life came from the past month of the Dursleys being so frightened of Harry and me that they couldn't bear to even be in the same room as us. They practically ran from the room whenever one of us entered. Especially Dudley; he screamed while he ran.
"Now why would I do that?" I pondered slowly, tapping my wand lazily against the kitchen table, making all the Dursleys flinch. I still had no idea how to use the wand, of course, but the Dursleys didn't know that.
"You're still under my roof, girl," Mr. Dursley growled.
I merely smirked, unfazed by his aggressive tone. "Not for much longer," I sang, waving my wand around aimlessly. The Dursley's eyes widened in fright and anger, tracking the wand's movements as if it were about to blow flames, but they stayed silent.
Carrying his own wand, Harry followed me towards our room and we broke out into laughter once we were out of the Dursley's hearing range. "What idiots!" I mused.
"They honestly think we can already do magic!" Harry said, amused. I sighed happily and plopped down on the bed.
"Life's never been better," I said, grinning widely. "Only two more weeks and we'll be out of this dump!" Harry beamed and sat down next to me.
It had been two weeks since we had been to Diagon Alley and we'd been counting down the days; seconds even; until Hogwarts. We could barely contain our excitement.
We had both hungrily scanned through all the books we had bought, and both found them quite interesting. My mind was still blown on the thought of the wizarding world, but I was slowly adjusting to it. Through the books, we learned about the kind of classes we'd be taking and what we'd be learning. There were classes based around defensive magic, and shifting magic and even potion making. I had no idea what I was most excited for.
I had decided to name my black owl Crescent, because she had a brown crescent moon-shaped marking under her beak. She was so beautiful and very sweet. She was an extremely lively little bugger and often hooted every time Harry or I entered our room. Harry had named his own owl Hedwig, a name that he'd found in A History of Magic.
Harry and I were buzzing by the last day of August, but we still had the issue of convincing his aunt and uncle to take us there. We quietly strolled into the living room where the three Dursleys were watching something on television. We both cleared our throats, and to my amusement, Dudley screamed and ran from the room. A big coward, that one was.
"All right, Dudley?" I called after him. Harry nudged me to shut up, but was trying to keep back a smile.
"Uncle Vernon?" he asked cautiously. Mr. Dursley grunted. "Er—Lydia and I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to—to go to Hogwarts."
Another grunt.
"Can you take us there?" I said slowly and received merely another grunt. "So in English does that mean—"
Harry cut me off with a harder nudge.
"Thank you," Harry responded, shooting me a look. I grinned innocently, and unable to keep back a smile, he chuckled quietly. When we were about to go up the stairs, Mr. Dursley actually spoke in a language other than pig.
"Funny way to get to wizard's school, by train. I thought they'd have magic carpets," he mocked. I was about to retort something very mean but Harry cut me off with another look when I opened my mouth. I sighed in contempt. "Where is this school anyway?"
"I don't know," Harry answered, pulling out the train ticket Hagrid had given us nearly a month ago. "We're just supposed to take the train from platform nine and three quarters at eleven o'clock."
Harry's aunt and uncle turned to stare at us as if we'd grown an extra head each.
"There's no platform nine and three quarters!" Mr. Dursley exclaimed. "Barking mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. We'll take you two. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway. Got to get that ruddy tail removed from Dudley before he goes to Smeltings."
The next morning, I mumbled sleepily as I was shaken awake by my best friend. I groaned and turned over to face him. "What?" I mumbled annoyed. He raised an eyebrow and I shot straight up in realization.
"I can't believe we're leaving! Today's the day! We finally leave this ruddy house! I can't believe it!" I almost sang as I jumped up and started packing the last of my things. It was five thirty in the morning, and normally I didn't handle mornings very well, but I didn't care. I was wide awake already.
"I promised that we'd get out of here, didn't I?" Harry said, smiling at me. I remembered the promise he made me and smiled back.
"Yeah, you did."
By ten thirty, we were standing hopelessly in between platforms nine and ten. Mr. Dursley was grinning rather nastily at us. Where was platform nine and three quarters? It couldn't be all a joke! I'd seen magic with my own eyes! I'd been to Diagon Alley! I refused to believe it was all made up.
"Have a good term," sneered Mr. Dursley as he walked away with his family, all of them laughing. I looked around, starting to panic.
"Well, now what? Where is this bloody place?" I questioned.
"Dunno. We'll have to ask someone," Harry answered.
"I'll do it," I said, noticing a passing guard. I approached the guard hastily and asked, "Excuse me; do you know where platform nine and three quarters is?"
Just like the Dursleys had done yesterday, the guard gave me a rather strange look.
"There is no platform 'nine and three quarters' little miss," he explained to me, confused.
"The one going to Hogwarts?"
"Hogwarts? Where's that? What's that?"
"I dunno. It's a school. I thought you'd know. You do work here, after all," I replied, crossing my arms.
"Stop being funny with me, miss! I don't have a clue what you are talking about!" he explained, annoyed. I narrowed my eyes.
"I'm not being funny with you, my friend and I are just trying to get to school. Are you gonna help us or not?" I seethed. My hair had started to turn red and the guard backed away a little in fear. Harry pushed me aside upon realizing that I was only making matters worse for us.
"What's happening to her hair?" the guard cried. Harry shrugged it off.
"It's er, it's a really rare medical condition. Don't worry about it," he lied. Harry wasn't a very good liar, honestly. The guard slowly nodded, unsure. Harry continued desperately, "Do you know where the train that leaves at eleven is?" Harry asked desperately.
The guard sighed and shook his head. "There is none," he replied sharply and walked away, muttering something about time wasters. I glared after him. Harry turned to me helplessly.
"—packed with Muggles, of course—"
Our heads both snapped towards the voice. Muggles. Who else used that word outside of the magic world? We saw a red-haired family passing us, pushing large trunks and an owl. I felt a huge sense of relief, this family had to know how to get to the train. Harry and I hurried after them, analyzing their every move.
"Now, what's the platform number?" the plump mother of the group asked her children, a group of four boys and a little girl.
"Nine and three quarters!" exclaimed the small girl. My heart gave another leap of relief at the platform number. This was it. Other wizards! "Mom, can't I go…"
"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet!" replied the mother. "Alright, you first, Percy."
The oldest looking boy charged towards the divider between platforms nine and ten. Just when he was about to crash… he vanished. I blinked a couple of times to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.
"Fred, you next," said the mother, pushing forward one boy who looked just like the one standing next to him. Twins?
"I'm not Fred, I'm George!" sighed the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother. Can't you tell I'm George?"
"Sorry, George, dear."
"Only joking. I am Fred," said the boy, taking off towards the barrier. I snorted. His twin, George, went after him and together, they too vanished. But how? I glanced at Harry, who seemed just as astonished as I was.
"Excuse me," Harry said politely. The mother looked back at us and smiled warmly.
"Hello, dears," she greeted. I instantly felt very comforted, an effect that no adult in the past had ever had on me. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new too." She pointed to the last and youngest of her sons. Ron was a tall and thin boy, with red hair like the rest and freckles.
"Hello," I greeted Ron, excited to know another magic kid our age. Hopefully this one would turn out better than that robe shop boy. I turned back to his mother, smiling. "It's our first year, but my friend and I don't exactly know how to…"
I pointed to the barrier and she seemed to understand.
"How to get onto the platform?" she asked kindly. Harry and I looked at each other and nodded back at her. She smiled again.
"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared to crash into it. That's very important. Best to do it at a run if you're nervous. Go on before Ron." I nodded.
"Want to go first?" I suggested to Harry, nudging him forward.
"Here goes nothing," he said dully. I watched as he did as the woman told him, imitating what we had seen those older boys do before. My eyes widened in shock as Harry seemed to melt right through the barrier, disappearing out of sight. I glanced back at the woman.
"Just like that?" I asked cautiously.
"Exactly, dear," she answered sweetly. I nodded, said thanks and looked forward, sighing. I closed my eyes and charged straight towards the barrier. I crashed into something, but it wasn't the barrier. The barrier was long gone. What I had crashed into was Harry, rubbing his head.
"Sorry," I laughed. The sight before me was incredible. "Blimey!" I breathed.
The platform was loud and busy, packed with witches and wizards of all ages. Cages of owls and toads and cats were perched on giant trunks. A group of older girls were chattering excitedly about their new, stylish wizard hats. A bullet-like spark whizzed by only a few inches above me and the mother of the boy that had accidentally set it off scolded him. And of course, the highlight of the platform was the giant scarlet train that was waiting for the students to board.
We headed towards the train with our luggage, panting by the time we managed to haul it on board with us.
The first couple of compartments were already full but we finally found an unoccupied one on the end of the train. We placed Hedwig and Crescent inside first and tried unsuccessfully to haul our heavy luggage into the compartment.
"Need a hand?" asked the red-haired twins we had seen before. I nodded.
"A hand would be nice," I panted, letting go of my trunk. With the help of the twins, we finally managed to get our luggage tucked away.
"Thanks," we said in unison. Harry pushed away sweat from his bangs and immediately the two twins' eyes widened.
"Blimey, are you—?" asked one of them.
"He is," said the other. "Aren't you?"
"What?" we asked.
"Harry Potter!" the twins chorused amazed.
"Oh, him," Harry said, slightly startled. "I mean, yes, I am."
Harry turned pink as they gawked at him in amazement. I rolled my eyes. I took Harry's shoulder, pushed him into the compartment and turned to them.
"Thanks for the help, goodbye," I said pointedly. They hadn't seemed to realize they had been staring at Harry. They turned their attention to me.
"Who're you?" one of them asked.
"Lydia Black," I greeted, hoping that my name would be unfamiliar to them. Unfortunately, my hopes were crushed when their eyes widened at my name as well. They shared a smirk.
"Oh, you're a Black, huh? Well, Miss Black, we are honored to be in your presence," joked the first.
"Absolutely dignified," the other continued.
"I'm flattered," I played along. "What's your name then?"
"Weasley. He's Fred, I'm George," the one named George said. I pretended to be shocked at their name.
"A Weasley? Really, the honor's all mine."
The twins shared a look, seemingly impressed.
"You know, George, she's not too bad. For a Black," said the first, Fred.
"I couldn't agree more, Fred," agreed George.
"Thanks," I said, not sure if it was really a complement, "I guess."
A shrill voice came from outside of the train calling their names and the twins glanced out the window.
"Got to go," said Fred.
"See you later, Harry, Lydia!" called George as they left, returning to their family. From our compartment window, we could see the red-haired family. Harry and I peered out the window, silently watching as the mother tried to wipe something off of Ron's nose.
"Can't stay long, Mother," said the oldest, puffing out his chest which held a badge with the letter P on it. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves—"
"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" George cut in. "You should have said something, we had no idea."
"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," replied Fred. "Once—"
"Or twice—"
"A minute—"
"All summer—"
"Oh, shut up," shot their brother, Percy. Once he had left, their mother turned to them warningly.
"Now, you two—this year you'll behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me that you've blown up a toilet, or something—"
"Blown up a toilet?" Fred said curiously. "We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea, though, thanks, Mom," agreed George. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me. I'd been a little reluctant towards them because of how they'd stared at Harry, but maybe these twins weren't awful.
"Hey, Mom, guess who we met on the train?"
Harry and I both leaned back so they couldn't see us through the window.
"You know the black-haired boy that was near us in the station? You know who he is?"
"Who?" said their mother.
"Harry Potter!" they chorused. The little girl's excited voice rang out, but her mother ignored it.
"Is he really? How do you know?" she asked.
"We asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there—like lightning!"
"Oh that poor dear! He and his friend were ever so polite when they asked how to get onto the platform. Do you know who the girl was?"
"Guess who she is?" said George eagerly.
"Lydia Black! She's a Black! I wonder if she remembers Sirius Black," Fred replied, without waiting for his mother's answer.
"More importantly, if Harry remembers You-Know-Who?" George intervened. Their mother crossed her arms and fixed them with a very stern look.
"Fred and George Weasley, I forbid you to ask either of them that! They don't need to be reminded on their first day of school!" their mother warned. The whistle of the train blew. "Now hurry, you'll be late for the train!"
Fred and George clambered onto the train. They must have claimed the compartment next door to ours, because a few moments later they were leaning out the window closest to the one we'd been watching them from. They kissed their mother goodbye and then leaned towards their crying sister.
"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls," said Fred.
"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!" George offered brightly and received a scolding from their mother. When the train finally started to move, their sister Ginny chased after it until it gathered too much speed for her to keep up.
I kicked my feet up onto the seat across from me as the train picked up more and more speed. Harry and I stared out the window, watching the houses pass by. The compartment door opened and the youngest red-head, Ron, stood in the doorway.
"Anyone sitting there?" he asked shyly, pointing to the seat across from Harry. "Everywhere else is full."
I smiled friendly, excited to officially meet the boy my age, and removed my feet from the seat. "Go ahead," I invited. "I'm Lydia Black." I held out my hand for him to take. He shook it, sitting across from us. He still had a smudge of dirt on his nose.
"I'm Ron. Ron Weasley," he greeted. Harry was about to introduce himself, the twins came in once again.
"Hey, Ron, Harry, Lydia," they said. "We're going down to the middle of the train—Lee Jordan's got a massive tarantula down there," said Fred, winking. Ron shuddered, but I perked up a little.
"A massive tarantula?" I repeated interestedly.
"Yeah, wanna see it?" asked George.
"I'd love to, but I'm going to stay with Harry here. Thanks though," I refused, ruffling up Harry's already messy hair. When they left, Ron looked at Harry, amazed.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" he blurted out. Harry nodded. "I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes, you know. Have you really got—?"
Ron pointed to his own forehead, implying the scar on Harry's.
Harry nodded, pushing up his bangs for Ron to see.
"Whoa," said Ron incredulously. He stared for a few moments, but realized what he was doing and shyly looked out the window.
"Are all your family wizards?" Harry asked, trying to spark up a conversation. The boy seemed nice enough.
"Yeah, I think so," answered Ron. "I think my mum has a second cousin or something that's an accountant but we never talk to him." I smiled.
"You're so lucky," I said. "You must know loads about magic already. I know squat."
Ron looked a bit surprised.
"Really? But—er—well, you are a Black right?" he asked nervously. I nodded. "Oh. Well, I just thought that you'd know something about magic. I mean your family's...well…" he trailed off, not knowing how to explain it.
"They were all wizards, right? At least, that's what I was told, but I don't really know much," I pondered. Ron nodded.
"Most of them anyway. The Black family is well known in the wizarding world. Mostly pureblood family; mostly Slytherins," he explained.
"Slytherins?" I repeated. During the story of Harry's parents, I remember Hagrid mentioning that Voldemort had been a Slytherin. But… that was the bad house, right? I didn't want to be a Slytherin if it meant being around a bunch of evil wizards. Ron nodded once more.
"Yeah. Only a few members of the Black family haven't been in Slytherin. I think Sirius Black was one of them," he explained, now more nervously.
"I've heard that name before. Who is it?" I asked, remembering that his brother had asked if I remembered him.
"Er, well… he's kinda your dad," he answered anxiously. I widened my eyes a bit.
"My dad?" I repeated.
"You really don't know his name?"
I shook my head, absentmindedly clutching my necklace in my hand. S. Black. So that was his name. My father's name was Sirius Black. And he was a murderer.
"Bloody hell, you really don't know anything about the magic world!" Ron exclaimed, genuinely surprised. I shrugged, taking in the information I just received. "I heard you both went to go live with muggles. What are they like?"
"Horrible," Harry replied instantly, but then reconsidered his words. "Well, not all of them are, but my aunt, uncle and cousin are."
"Those three are just pigs that were taught to walk on their hind legs," I added on. Harry and Ron laughed. "I dunno why I got sent to live with them. They legally adopted me but I think someone bullied them into it. But at least Harry and I had each other."
"Yeah, we grew up together," Harry continued. "We're basically brother and sister."
As we continued to chat, we learned about Ron's rat, Scabbers—an old, fat gray rat that slept all the time— and the rest of Ron's large family. His family was poor apparently and he was ashamed of it, but I personally didn't think that he should be.
The wizarding world was afraid to say Lord Voldemort's name, I learned, considering Ron's reaction when Harry said it. I didn't get what the big deal was; it was just a name. I think it's rather silly to be afraid of a name.
About an hour and a half into the ride, a plump, kind looking witch with a big smile pushed the compartment door open and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
I curiously looked around the door to see what was on the cart she was pushing. It appeared to be an assortment of treats and desserts.
"I've got a sandwich," muttered Ron, embarrassed, but Harry and I quickly jumped up. I hadn't realized it before, but I actually was pretty hungry. I had expected there to be the common candies you find in the market like Snickers and Red Vines. Instead, there were candies that I've never seen before, like cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs. Harry and I eagerly got a little bit of everything.
We brought our armloads of treats into the compartment to a shocked Ron.
"Hungry, much?" he commented.
"What is all of this? I've never seen any of this stuff before," I said, dumping it onto the seat.
"Well, what kind of things did you eat then?" Ron said, perplexed at the idea of other sorts of candy. It was my turn to feel a little embarrassed.
"Well, Muggles don't have any of this stuff. They've got their own kinds of candy but Harry and me never really had any of it before anyway. The Dursleys wouldn't pay for it. Not for us," I mumbled, cheeks flaming. I never told any person before how the Dursleys treated us. No one before really cared enough to listen.
Ron frowned. "They sound like right gits," he said genuinely. I smiled. Ron took out his sandwich and looked at it disgusted when pulling it apart.
"She always forgets I don't like corned beef," he groaned miserably. A small smile played on my face as I took a cauldron cake and threw it onto his lap.
"Forget the sandwich," I told him. "We have plenty of food."
I warmed up to Ron rather quickly. For the first time in my life, I knew what it was like to have another friend my age that wasn't the boy I'd grown up with. I knew Harry felt the same way. The three of us ate our way through the treats and candies together, while the sandwiches lay forgotten. My favorite by far was the pumpkin pasties.
The chocolate frogs were enchanted candies that really looked and acted like… well, frogs. Inside each chocolate frog box was a collectible card of a famous witch or wizard. Harry had gotten a card of Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. But before I could even see the Headmaster, he'd vanished from the card!
"Well you don't expect him to hang around forever, do you," Ron shrugged.
The card I'd gotten was a witch named Rowena Ravenclaw. I vaguely remembered the names of the Hogwarts houses that Hagrid had mentioned. I think Ravenclaw was one of them. Sure enough, I was right! The card read that she was one of the founders of Hogwarts!
I had a particularly good time with the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. They weren't kidding when they said every flavor. I ate each one without hesitation, and got mostly lucky with them. But I was unfortunate enough to come across a soap flavored one.
I was so involved in the conversation with my friends that I didn't even notice the knock on the compartment door. I jumped when I saw a tall, older blonde boy standing in the doorway. He smiled amicably and nodded his head.
"Hey, do you mind if I sit here for a while? My friends are idiots and I don't want to get in trouble," he asked, slightly timidly. His accent was Irish. I'd never met someone from Ireland before.
"Sure," Ron accepted. The boy grinned again in thanks and sat down across from me, looking around at Ron.
"Are you Fred and George's little brother?"
Ron went pink again, and nodded. He'd mentioned when talking about his family that he felt a lot of pressure to live up to his brothers, but still didn't want to be in their shadow. I'll bet he was assuming that this boy was about to embarrass him with a story of his prankster twin brothers.
The boy merely smiled. "I've heard a lot about you. They're coincidentally who I'm hiding from right now. They're setting this giant tarantula on—"
He stopped at the horrified look on Ron's face.
"Well, the point is I don't want to start my fourth year with a detention."
"Hang on," Ron said, "are you Jason? Fred and George have talked about you."
"That's me," the boy, Jason, replied. He finally looked at Harry and me, as if noticing us for the first time. "Are you guys all first years?" We all nodded. "I guess that's why you're all so short."
"Hey!" I cried. He chuckled.
"Just kidding, just kidding! My name's Jason Ericson," he introduced, holding his hand out to us. I shook his hand.
"I'm Lydia. Lydia Black," I said, leaning back into my seat. He stopped.
"You're Lydia Black?" he repeated, astounded. I was taken back a bit. This was the strongest reaction to my name I had gotten yet.
"Er— yes?" I answered ruefully. Jason stared for a moment longer before realizing what he was doing.
"Sorry. I just didn't know that you'd be… well, here," he explained, gesturing dramatically to the seat I sat in. I decided to go with it.
"Well, here I am," I replied.
"Then, you're Harry Potter, right?" Jason asked Harry next. Harry nodded. Jason beamed. "Wow. I knew the day would come but… wow. All three of you."
The three of us didn't exactly know what to say.
We were thankfully saved when we heard a shrill shriek coming from the corridor. Jason's smile immediately dropped. "And there it is," he groaned, standing up. He turned back to us. "It's better to not be at the scene of the crime. Don't fancy the wrath of McGonagall when she finds out about that." He started to walk out, but stopped and turned back again. "Oh, you want Gryffindor, by the way. It's the best."
He smiled and finally left.
"He seemed nice," I said considerately. "Weird, but nice."
Several people came into our compartment following Jason.
"Sorry, but have you seen a toad?" A shy, tearful boy with dark hair asked timidly, entering our compartment. We shook our heads and the boy cried a little harder. "I've lost him again! He keeps getting away from me!"
"Don't worry; he'll turn up soon," I reassured softly. Looking at me, the boy blushed and he nodded sadly.
"Yeah," the boy muttered miserably. "If you see him, just tell me…" And he left.
"I'd lose a toad if I'd brought one too," Ron added, shrugging. "Instead I've got Scabbers." He looked spiritlessly at his fat rat, still snoozing in his lap. "I swear, he could have died and you wouldn't know the difference. Fred and George taught me a spell to turn him yellow, but I don't think it works."
He pulled out his old, chipped wand and pointed it at the rat. He cleared his throat and sat up straight. He had only just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. In the doorway was a young girl with wild brown hair, already dressed in her school robes.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she asked. She sounded rather bossy. I was used to bossy people, and I definitely didn't like them.
"We already told him we hadn't," replied Ron impatiently, but the girl was no longer listening. She stared intently at his raised wand.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then," she encouraged, sitting down on one of the open seats. I raised my eyebrows a bit, both put-off by this somewhat overbearing girl and interested to see the magic Ron could do.
Ron cleared his throat once more. "Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!" Ron chanted. Everyone stared at the gray and fat rat, which indeed stayed gray and fat.
"Well, that was effective," I stated sarcastically. Ron sighed.
"I knew I shouldn't have believed Fred and George," he groaned.
The girl started talking very fast about how she had spent her whole summer reading and memorizing our textbooks and how she was excited to learn everything considering she came from a family with no magic.
"I'm Hermione Granger, by the way—who are you?" she finished, ending her very long rant. Harry, Ron and I exchange a look, stunned.
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered carefully.
"Lydia Black," I said, irked by the girl.
"Harry Potter," Harry introduced.
"Good lord—are you really?" she exclaimed. "I've read so much about you! You're in Modern Magical History, Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"I am?" Harry spoke, looking absolutely dazed. I barked out a laugh.
"It's gonna be television for you next, Potter," I commented. Harry flushed.
"Shuttup," he mumbled.
The boy who'd lost his toad had been awfully quiet the entire time. So, before Hermione could go off again, I asked, "What's your name?"
The boy had turned approximately the shade of a tomato. "N-Neville Longbottom," he said, very quietly. I smiled at him.
"Nice to meet you, Neville. I really do hope you find your toad, by the way," I declared. I barely heard his reply of thanks.
"What house do you all think you'll be in?" Hermione asked. I clenched my fist, really trying my hardest to be nice. Come on, Lydia, it's only the first day. Don't upset anyone, I thought. "I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You'd better change. I expect we'll be there soon."
She and Neville finally left.
"I think I have a headache," I complained, rubbing my head.
"Well, whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not," Ron agreed.
Only a short while later, another group came barging in. I let out a noise of disgust when I saw who was standing in the middle of the group of three. Oh great, it's him. The robe boy. Two thick boys stood at his sides, almost like bodyguards. They made him look much smaller than usual.
"So, I was right, wasn't I? It really is you," he sneered at Harry. "Famous Harry Potter, right at the end of this train."
I narrowed my eyes defensively
"What's it to you?" I ordered coldly. His cool blue eyes snapped towards me, smirking callously.
"And of course I was right about you as well. Lydia Black. The last Black heir," he observed. My expression tightened. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere. You look just like your father. I've seen loads of pictures of him, of course. Mostly mugshots."
I growled, wanting more than anything to punch the smug expression right of his arrogant face. The boy turned to Ron next.
"Red hair, freckles, and hand-me-down robes; you must be a Weasley," he stated. Ron mirrored my expression, glaring at the boy. The boy turned back to Harry and me. "You'll find out soon that some wizarding families are much better than others. Some are the wrong sort—you don't want to go making friends with them. I can help you there."
He stuck out his hand towards us confidently.
"Draco Malfoy," he introduced, and then gestured to his large friends. "This Crabbe and Goyle." I glared, crossing my arms over my chest. I assume he was implying that people like himself were the right sort and those like Ron were the wrong sort? Load of rubbish.
My expression didn't change, nor did I make a move to shake his hand. I stared Malfoy down icily. Harry didn't take his hand either. "I think I can tell who the wrong sorts are for myself, thanks," he replied coldly. A pink tint appeared on Malfoy's face and his hand slowly slid back down to his side.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he warned. "Your parents didn't know what was good for them either. That'll rub off on you if you hang around riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid."
Malfoy addressed me next. "The Blacks used to be a good family until blood traitors like you came along."
I didn't know what that meant, but I didn't have to grow up in the magic world to know that it wasn't very nice. I bolted up, getting very close to Malfoy's face. "Get out, you little twerp," I growled dangerously. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other, before bursting out in laughter.
"Oh, you're gonna fight us? A little girl?" Malfoy mocked, ignoring my threatening expression and the way my hair had started to blaze red like a fire.
"You don't think I will?" I snarled. "I'm used to dealing with kids like you. You don't scare me. I don't care that you have little bodyguards to defend you like the coward you are; if you don't leave now, I will give you a black eye. Won't that look great on the first day of school?"
For a moment, Malfoy's smug expression had dropped when he realized I was serious. But then it returned as he took a small step closer, not backing down.
"It's funny, Black," he said, "I told you you looked like your father before. But now I really think I can see the murderer."
My veins went cold.
"Get. Out," I said with much less fervor.
Malfoy seemed to be satisfied with the way I reacted. He turned around and muttered to his friends, and disappeared from our compartment.
I plopped down in my seat once they'd left, crossing my arms over my chest. Harry scooted closer to me, knowing that I had been deeply affected by Malfoy's words.
"Hey, don't listen to that prat. He doesn't know what he's talking about," Ron comforted.
"It's really just like you said," Harry continued. "He's just a coward."
I gave my best attempt to smile at the boys, but it came out as more of a grimace. I leapt up from my seat once more, uncomfortable under the scrutiny.
"I imagine we're almost there. We really should change," I suggested in an overly optimistic voice. "You boys can go first. Let me know when you're done."
Without giving them the time to respond, I swiftly slid the compartment door open and let it close behind me. In the train hallway, I slumped against the wall.
I tried not to feel affected by Malfoy's words. I really did. I still hadn't processed the information of what my father had done; it was a hard truth to be forced to accept. To have it shoved in my face like that by that horrible boy, plus saying I looked like him…
I could hear Harry and Ron's voices through the compartment door.
"Is she alright?" Ron said.
"She's been really upset ever since she found out about…"
Harry trailed off. Ron's response was astonished. "What, she didn't know before?"
"Neither of us did."
There was a short pause. And then Harry continued, "Come on, let's change."
Minutes later, they'd finished and I took my turn to change into my plain black robes. By the time we were all dressed and sitting together in the compartment, the air had returned back to normal and we pretended Draco Malfoy had never entered our compartment in the first place.
About five minutes later, the lights dimmed and the train slowly came to a stop. Leaving our luggage behind, Harry, Ron and I pushed through the crowd onto a tiny, dark platform outside of the train. I shuddered the moment my exposed skin hit the freezing air.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" a familiar voice boomed through the crowd. I turned to meet the large warm face of Hagrid and grinned.
"Hi Hagrid!" I yelled happily. Hagrid beamed towards mine and Harry's direction.
"Harry, Lydia, all righ' there?" he greeted genially. As the group of first years like us stumbled and slipped down the narrow, following Hagrid.
"He's huge! Who is he?" Ron asked, flabbergasted.
"That's Hagrid. He's the gamekeeper here," Harry explained to him. As we followed the steep path, a dark, sparkling lake slowly came into view. Beyond the lake rested a giant castle with torch lit windows and mazes of passageways. There were gasps throughout our group.
"Bloody hell!" I blurted out loudly; much louder than anyone else. I ignored the glances in my direction. A set of small boats were parked on the shore of the black lake, waiting for us.
"No more than four ter a boat!" Hagrid called out. Harry, Ron and I took the closest one, and Hermione sat with us. I chose to ignore her, in the value of my sanity. Once everyone had settled in their boats, we glided across the lake together.
By the time the boats lurched onto the other side of the shore, I was shaking. Not from nerves, or fear, or even anticipation; but from pure excitement. Harry, Ron and I trudged up to the front side-by-side, right behind Hagrid, and clambered up the stony passage to the castle doors.
Hagrid knocked three times. "Welcome to Hogwarts, firs' years," he announced.
The giant oak doors swung open slowly.
~o~