Saras adventures

by Koenigin des Nordens

Summary: The eleven year old German muggle-born Gudrun Irene Sara Stähler is surprised to get a letter informing her of getting accepted into Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She soon befriends herself with Lily and Alice while also making acquaintance with the Marauders. As the years go by, she finds herself being especially close with one of the four boys.

4. 3 Thank you for travelling with DB

I broke the promise I had given to McGonagall of not talking to anyone about Hogwarts on the very same day by calling my best friend Oliver. I told him pretty much everything. Oliver and I met a couple of years ago during a science project. Since then we have been very close friends. We text and phone almost every day and my sister is completely convinced that we'll marry one day. I don't think so. Not only is Oliver 3 years older than me but I've also never wanted anything more than friendship from him. Oliver first thought I had pranking him. Only later he started to believe me. He was said that it meant I couldn't text him anymore but happy since I promised that I'd write him loads of letters. He promised to reply. I was packing and thinking about the hard question of which books I'd take with me, when my mom came into my room. "Hey, Darling, I've found a train connection to London for you. But there is some bad news. I've only managed to get one ticket. I already knew that I couldn't come with you, because of work, but I hope you sister would be able to. Now you have to go all alone." That was frightening. "You will fail" the nasty voice told me "There's no way you'll survive on your own." I tried to give my mom a reassuring smile. "I'll manage." I said. "Yes, I thought so. You've grown up a lot in the past months. So here is your connection." Salem to Basel, Basel to Offenburg, Offenburg to Strasbourg, Strasbourg to Lille Europe and then Lille Europe to St Pancras. "I've booked a hotel in London. The next day you'll have to get up and go to Kings cross. There must be a printing error on the ticket. Not likely that there is a platform 9 3/4 in Kings Cross. But I'm sure you'll find out when you get there. I'll miss you a lot. Promise that you'll write me a letter at least twice a week. And don't worry that much about getting good grades. You're not your sister and you don't have to be." "I promise that I'll write letters, Mama. I love you." She hugged me and I felt safe and secure for what seemed to be the first time in ages. On the next day I said goodbye to my family on the train station. "I love you, sis." Maria told me. "Don't forget to write letters." My mom said while hugging me. "You've told her to write to us like 5 times already. She won't forget that, Mama." Maria said sounding slightly annoyed. "I love you both." I heard myself say. I felt like I was going to cry. "Do you have the permission sheet that allows you to travel to the UK." "Yeah mom, of course." "Good, I'll miss you." Five minutes later I was sitting on a seat in the train. So far, so good. I was afraid that something would go wrong. My mom had found a connection that would give me 2 hours and 6 minutes in Strasbourg to get on a different train, but the 'Deutsche Bahn' was late all the time. Moreover, I was afraid of the passport control in Lille Europe. Would they really allow an eleven-year-old to travel into the UK on her own? I tried to call myself down by using my old method. Counting down from 10 in Spanish. My heart slowed down a little bit. I took my MP3-player out of my backpack. I'd spent a lot of time in the last days downloading all the songs I had downloaded on my phone on the MP3-player too. My sister had given it to me. She knew how much I love listening to music. I put my headphones into my ears and started listening to "der heimliche Aufmarsch". It's a GDR propaganda song. It always reminded me of my grandfather. My grandfather who had fought against the Nazis in the resistance. My grandfather who had been put into a concentration camp for being a communist. My grandfather who successfully escaped only to get captured and killed later. My mom had a father you could be proud of. I didn't like to think about my great-grandfather on my father's side though. He had been in the SS. "You're not at fault for the crimes of your ancestors." I assured myself. I closed my eyes. Thought of the photo of my grandfather that my mother had on her desk. I'd taken a copy of it with me. I missed the next train because we arrived in Basel with a delay of 15 minutes. No problem I told myself. Only one hour in Strasbourg. Still a lot of time. I got to Offenburg on time only to find out that the next train to Strasbourg had been cancelled. You'll still have 6 minutes in Strasbourg I told myself trying to stop from feeling panicky. I bought myself a brezel and sat down on a bench. The train arrived on time, but I didn't find a seat, so I sat down on the floor. I knew that French trains don't tell you the platform they depart from on the ticket. Instead, it will be shown on a website half an hour before the departure. I was excited and afraid. What if Sirius mother wasn't the only who thought like that? Would I be bullied for being muggle-born? I took my phone out of my backpack. McGonagall had told me that I could give it to the principal after arriving in Hogwarts. I tried to check the website. I didn't have any Wi-Fi. Dammit. Praying to God that she'd pick up I called my sister. "Yeah, of course I can look on the website for you. It isn't showing me yet though. I'll call you when it does. My heart started beating faster. "What if I had to get to a platform that was far away from the one, I'd arrive on?" My mind was running. I needed to calm down somehow. I took out the bag with cashew nuts my mom had given to me and ate some. Having something to chew on helped. The train was two minutes late. I felt a panic attack coming. I saw my sister calling, so I picked up the phone. "It's platform 2, okay? Good luck. I love you." I was incredibly lucky. The train arrived on platform 1. I just had to get off run down the stairs and up again at the next station. French trains normally close their doors 2 minutes before departure, I arrived maybe thirty seconds before departure. But they kept one door open, so I still managed to get in. I felt incredibly relieved. Now I just needed to find my seat. The problem was that I didn't know which coach I was in. That was only written on the outside of the train. How was I going to find my seat? I walked through the train and saw a dark-skinned, pretty women who put her suitcase into the luggage rack

. "Gott sei Dank" (thanks to God) she murmured to herself. "You speak German!" I exclaimed. She smiled: "Yes". "Can help you me? I need to find my seat and I don't know which coach we are in." She smiled "Yeah, of course, show me your ticket. Ohh okay, you have to go in this direction. I think six or seven couches from here. And of course look for seat 76." "Thank you very much." "It's no problem. Pretty brave of a young girl like you to travel on her own. I don't think I could have done when I was your age." When I finally found my seat, I was so relieved that I could finally relax and start reading. It was funny. When you asked the train personal a question in English they replied in French with a friendly smile. Sadly, I didn't understand any French at all. I read one of my favourite books. "Das siebte Kreuz" ("the seventh cross") by Anna Seghers. It was a book about a man who escaped from a concentration camp. He was part of a group of seven people who tried to escape out of which only one survived and didn't get recaptured. I loved the book. It made me think of my grandfather. I'd also taken the diary he had written before his time in the concentration camp and after he'd escaped with me and loads of other books. No wonder my suitcase was so heavy. A friendly man helped me put it into the space above our seats. A women helped me putting it down when we arrived in Lille. I was worried because of the passport control, but my mom had told me that on the train to London one of the train attendants would be by my side and help me. I got through the ticket control and after that had to talk to a guy at the passport control and show him my permission sheet. He raised his eyebrows. "Only eleven are you and travelling all on your own?" "I'm not alone. A train attendant was supposed to come with me to London but I haven't seen him yet." "Ohh, that will be Mr. Stevens. He's over there. Still. Why are you travelling on your own?" "My mom didn't get a ticket to come with me. She booked the train last minute, because it was unclear if I would get accepted into the school in the UK I'm going to go to." "You're going to go to school in the UK?" "Yes." He nodded. "Okay, who is going to pick you up at the train station in London?" "My godmother." I lied. He nodded again. "Okay, enjoy your journey." I let out a sigh of relief. Then I walked past the passport control to the train attendant who was already smiling at me. "Gudrun, is it? Or should I call you miss Stähler?" I laughed. "Gudrun is fine." It was funny to hear him try to pronounce my name correctly. I thought about maybe calling myself Sara at Hogwarts. Gudrun was, while I liked it's meaning, a name I had been bullied for. I chatted with my train attendant during most of the train ride. I asked him the meaning of some English words I hasn't understood during the day and some others I was curious about. The rest of the time I spent reading my favourite book and the facts that were shown on the train display like the trains record speed for example. I said goodbye to my train attendant after he'd showed me the way to the underground. When I finally arrived at the hotel I felt so tired that I could probably have fallen asleep while standing. I got the key to my room and fell asleep the moment my head touched the pillow. On the next morning I woke up at 7:30, put on the school uniform, ate breakfast and checked out of the hotel at about 8:30. Then I went to the Underground station. I knew that I was way to early, but I was afraid of not finding the right platform. Plus I'd seen on the day before that there was a book store next to the train station. I went to the book store and found some Terry Pratchett volumes that I hadn't read before. My mom had given me a hundred pounds, just in case anything went wrong. I went to the train station afterwards and asked one of the personnel after platform 9 3/4. He told me that he didn't like little girls playing pranks on him. I felt despair. What if it really all had been a joke? But Diagon alley had been real, disapparating had been real and my owl and the wand were proof of that. I waited at platform 9 for some time in hope that it just had been a printing error even though they didn't show the Hogwarts express on the display. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice: "Mom, we are way to early." "Well better to early than to late, Sirius. Now behave. You know the way to platform 9 3/4. I need to leave I have work to do. Make our family proud for once." "Bye, mom." I turned around to look at the boy and saw him walking in my direction. His mom had disappeared. I assumed she probably disapparated. "Hi" Sirius said "I'm sorry for what my mom said last time we met each other. A shame that was part of your introduction to the wizarding world." He held out his hand to me: "What's your name, if I may ask." I smiled: "Sara." I decided in that moment that it was wiser to use my second name. New world, new name. Also it was easier to pronounce in English than Gudrun. "Well, it's my second name." I explained. "Well, what's your first name, pretty Sara?" My heart stopped. Had he just called me pretty? "Gudrun" I said blushing. He grinned: "That's a nice name. I've never heard it before though. Should I show you the way to the platform?" "That would be very nice." I replied. "Kind" the voice in my head said. "You have to stop using the word nice so often. It sounds stupid. You need to expand your vocabulary." Dammit. Now the voice started to sound like my former English teacher. "I'm always nice." Sirius claimed. "May I take your suitcase, Lady Sara?" "That's very ni-kind. Thank you a lot, Sirius. Also, I'd like to return the compliment. You're quite good-looking yourself, lord Black." Was that a blush on his face? I couldn't tell since he turned around very quickly with two suitcases and walked into the direction he'd come from. He stopped before a wall. "I know it sounds weird, but we have to walk straight through the wall. Then will reach platform 9 3/4." I gasped. That sounded dangerous. "But before we go, I want to ask you something. You have a slight accent. Are you from a different country?" "Yes." I responded. "I'm German." His grin turned into a smile. "Well, normally I'd say ladies first but since you've never seen anyone through the wall I will go first, if it's okay for you?" "It's fine." Sirius went through the wall. I followed him shortly after. I was a little bit afraid when I was directly before the wall, but since I'd seen Sirius go through, I managed to calm myself down. I came out on the other side. The train was already there. "Amazing" Sirius proclaimed. "We have the whole train to choose our seats from. I'm afraid I will have to leave you alone quite soon though. My mom wants me to look for my cousin Bellatrix and I don't think she'd be happy, if she found out that I talked to you again as much as I'd love to. Maybe we'll see each other again on the train or even get sorted into the same houses. You know what houses are right?" "Yes. I read about them in a book and McGonagall told me." Of course" Sirius exclaimed. "Books! That's the reason your suitcase is so heavy. You must be quite smart." "My sister is smarter." I replied truthfully. He smiled: "I doubt that. Your English is amazing by the way and I sadly really have to leave now I think. But before I do one last question. What house would you like to get sorted into?" "Ravenclaw sounds quite cool. But Gryffindor even better. My main goal is not to get into Slytherin though." Sirius laughed: "An honourable goal. My whole family got sorted into Slytherin, but I hope to break that tradition. See you later, smart Sara. Have a good time." He hadn't even told me what house he'd like to get into. But I didn't mind. Aside from Oliver and Marx in year 1 and 2 no boy had ever been that nice to me. I picked up my suitcase and walked into the train. I found a seat in an empty compartment. Shortly after I said down a red-haired girl opened the door. "Hey, may I sit here? My name's Lily and this is Severus." "Yeah, of course. I'm Sara." Lily sat down and smiled. Her friend Severus seemed less happy but decided to stay with her. Lily and I talked about a lot of stuff. We had had similar experiences so far since they were both muggle-born. Lily was funny and kind and we got along very well. After a while we stopped talking and Lily started looking out of the window while I started reading. After a while I heard some voices outside on the corridor talking. I'd always been envied for being able to hear very low sounds and conversations that took place pretty far away. But so far it had only helped me hear people gossiping about me behind my back and blessed me with migraine attacks. "I'm telling you, Sirius. I'm not searching the entire train with you for some girl you think is pretty. I'm going back now." Were they talking about me? "Come on, just one more department and it's not, because I think she's pretty but because I left without giving her a chance to say goodbye to me and I enjoyed talking to her." The other boy sighed. "Okay, one more department. But just one." The door to our department was opened. "Ahh, there she is. Hi Sara, sorry for leaving so suddenly, have you been enjoying your time on the train so far? This is James." "Hi, Sirius. There was no need to search the train for me. I know why you left and it's no problem at all. Hello James. Nice to meet you. These are Lily and Severus. They are the reason that yes I've enjoyed my time on the train so far." "You were right." James murmured. "She is pretty. Lily too though." He probably wasn't aware of the fact that I could understand him, but I felt flattered. "Hello Lily, hello Severus." James said aloud. "And guten Tag, Sara." That made me smile, it was good to hear my mother tongue again, even if it was with a strong British accent. "Could you maybe go back to your own department, Potter, Black. You're blocking the corridor and I've heard enough of your nonsense." I was surprised. It was the first time I had heard Severus voice. James and Sirius looked slightly irritated, but they decided to leave after saying goodbye. "Was that really necessary, Severus?" Lily sounded very annoyed. "Did you like their dumb rambling, Lily?" "Well yes and there's no reason to be so mean, Severus." I suddenly decided that there was no need to listen to their fight. I hated conflict. "I'm going to go sit in a different department. I'm sorry Lily, but I hate arguments. Bye." With that I took my suitcase and left. I could see James and Sirius slowly walking the corridor before me, maybe 20 metres away. I started walking faster so I could walk with them. "Sirius" I exclaimed. He turned around. "Ohh, hi Sara, what are you doing here?" "Can I sit with you? Severus and Lily are arguing, and I have no interest in listening to that." "Yeah, sure" James said. "May I take your suitcase?" "Hey, I wanted to ask that!" I laughed. "Two gentlemen I have here. Sirius, you already carried it to the train station, but you can have my backpack, if you want." He took it. "Ohh, there have to be many books in there. Quite heavy." I laughed again. I had carried it from train to train, from platform to platform, so I knew what he meant. We found the department, aside from the two there was another boy named Remus. He was sleeping though. Not long after we sat down, a women appeared and sold us sweets. I didn't buy any, because I wanted to save money for other occasions, but Sirius and James bought some and shared them with me. The two boys were kind. They answered all questions I had about Hogwarts, made me laugh with their (mostly) silly jokes and complemented me on my English, my looks and my humour. I felt more confident afterwards and I managed to shut down the voice for most of the trip. I told them about going to school in Germany, my family, my dog and my love for books. "Wasn't it boring going to a girl's school? Without any boys there?" "Well, it was only for one year, but I got bullied by the boys at my former school, so it was a big improvement." "Ohh god, why would they bully someone like you? That's awful." "Well, it's over now and I'm fine." "Do you think you will miss your old friends?" "Yeah, definitely. It's sad that they don't go here too. But it seems I've already found new ones." Sirius laughed. We did some more small talk after that. At some point he asked me, what I was reading at the moment, so I told him about the seventh cross. "Wow" he said. "That's interesting. If I could speak German I'd borrow it. I've got a question. What did your own family do during the Nazi regime? Do you know that and how is Nazi Germany talked about in Germany? Is it glorified by some people?" "Well, my great-grandfather was in the SS." Sirius gasped. "My mother's father was part of the resistance. He got put into a concentration camp for being a communist, fled and got recaptured later. Then he was shot." "Wow" Sirius said. "He sounds like a cool guy." "He was. I've got his diary. He wrote before being put into the concentration camp and after he'd escaped. He didn't write much about his time there. My grandma said, he wanted to write that down after the war ended. Never got a chance to, sadly." "Shame." Sirius said. "That's extremely interesting. Maybe I will learn German to read that diary one day." "Maybe I will translate it for you one day." Sirius raised his eyebrow. "You'd do that?" "Yeah, sure. You haven't told me which Hogwarts house you'd like to get in yet." "Gryffindor of course. But I mainly want to break the family tradition of getting put into Slytherin." "And you James?" "I'm hoping for Gryffindor too." I hoped we'd all manage to get into Gryffindor. I spent most of the rest of the train ride reading, eating sweets and talking to Remus who awoke shortly before we reached the train station.