Athena
I listened as Meg told me about what her life was like before Hogwarts, peppered with little stories about her little sister, Lavender.
"These days it's 'Can I have a rabbit' this and 'Can I have a rabbit' that with Lav...Mother won't ever let her, thinks she's too young, but she doesn't see that. It gets rather annoying...but I won't bore you anymore, Athena. I've always wondered: what's it like, being a triplet?" Meg said in a rush.
"Well, on one hand, you've got a big sister to confide in and a little sister to watch out for, but on the other, there's not a whole lot of privacy."
"Hey, at least you're not Siamese triplets. Look on the bright side," joked Meg. I laughed, brushing my shoulder-length strawberry-blond hair back.
"Siamese triplets! I can't imagine..."
"Hey, Ath," Meg spoke softly, leaning closer. "What do you think of Jacky over there? Pretty cute, no?"
"I guess...but Meg, do you really want a shy, shy, shy boyfriend named Jack Frost? Think about it..." I told her, trying not to giggle. It was mean, but I couldn't help it...Jack Frost! And the way his teeth were chattering now from the cold as Ellen tried hopelessly to make conversation, it was funnier than ever.
"All the same, don't let your sister get too friendly," she said, eyes dancing. I swatted at her, laughing now.
"You little flirt!" I whispered, careful not to let Jack here us at the end of the cabin. I shook my head. 'Jacky?' Give me a break.
"So do you know what the Sorting will be like?"
"I was hoping you would. Pat's been on about how difficult it is that I'm about to jump off the train and run home!"
"You wouldn't!"
"You're right, I wouldn't, but it's still scary. What if we really have to fight a vampire? I don't even know the first thing about magic..."
"Calm down, Athy. I mean, they know a lot of us are Muggle-born, so I don't think they'd expect us to know anything. They would have said so, wouldn't they?" Meg bit into a Chocolate Frog, closing her eyes in delight, and then opened them again as she swallowed and pulled out the card. Her words had soothed my mind a little, but still...what if there was some sort of second test to see if we really took Hogwarts seriously or something?
"Trudy the Druidess. Hmm...name's sort of weird, but I like her." The card showed a smiling woman with jet-black hair and excessive makeup waving her staff at us. "Got character." I laughed as she turned the card over.
TRUDY THE DRUIDESS
CURRENTLY DECEASED
Famous for her invention of the Blocking Spell in 1659, Trudy gathered fame and reputation
and became able to write a book entitled Dueling for Dummies in her later years. Sadly, she
was caught unawares on the streets of France and lost the most horrendous wizard's duel ever
fought - the winner was none other than Sancho the Snake-eyed.
"Too bad," I remarked. "Especially since she spent so much time on writing about how to win a duel - what a way to go. May I have one?"
"Sure," Meg replied. "You know, I love these things! Want to start a joint card collection?"
"Sure!" I agreed, glad that she'd had the same idea I had. I ripped the plastic off of another Chocolate Frog and ate it quickly, being the chocoholic I am. The card showed me a smiling young man with a tiny pointed hat and long white hair.
MARTIN O'LEERS
CURRENTLY HEAD OF SPY DEPARTMENT, MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Martin is often considered the best spy of modern times. His life's work is to find the evil
cronies of You-Know-Who and bring them to justice, a noble cause in the opinion of many.
Martin is also a superb golfer, and he enjoys writing in his spare time.
I was addicted. We ate Chocolate Frogs almost the rest of the train ride - Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans kind of lost their appeal when I got asparagus. Ugh!
But even with all that, my apprehension about the Sorting didn't wear off...