Although she had never been on a train ride before, she was certain that this had to be the oddest train flight that anyone had ever taken. Beside her was her new pet owl, Orion, was sitting in his cage, both of which were presents from Ron and Hermione. Becky had gotten an owl, too, and she had named hers Aldwin, and Doug had named his owl Wendelyn.
Lily looked out the window at the countryside floating under her. She could see houses rushing past through the scattered clouds. There were only three of them in the compartment- herself, Becky, and Doug. Doug and Becky were sitting across from each other, and whatever they said had started an argument. Lily had finally given up on trying to make polite conversation after James had left with a somewhat mean-looking bunch.
Someone ran through the corridor and doubled back to open their door. It was a boy with bright blond hair neatly combed and parted. He seemed to have a slight problem with saying his R's. "Hey, some kid's down tha. Everybody's saying that his name's James Potta o somethin'. Do you-" He saw Lily, who quickly smoothed down her bangs quickly.
"Hey, you-"
"She what?" Becky interjected. She knew what attention Lily might get at Hogwarts, but she also knew that Lily didn't want that attention.
"Hey, you can't be Lily Potta, by any chance, could you?"
"What's it to you?" Doug asked.
"Hey, I'm jus' saying that if-"
Becky cut in again. "Go and stare at James. He's the one to be goggled at."
Without saying a word, and looking slightly surprised, the boy left.
"I think you might get a lot of that at Hogwarts," Becky warned Lily. Lily nodded silently. "But don't worry. The way James is acting, people will be talking mostly about him. You might get to have a normal life there"
Lily nodded. The thought didn't make her feel any better. Maybe James would still talk to her sometimes. He hadn't said a word to her since yesterday. If that was the price of a normal life, she didn't want any piece of it.
Becky kept trying to make conversation. "I hope I'm not in Slytherin. I kind of want to be in Gryffindor. That's where my dad went when he went to school here. But then again, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are okay."
"Are those the houses?" Doug asked.
Lily turned to them and asked, "What houses?"
Becky started to explain. "The students who go to Hogwarts are split up into four houses- that's where we stay and study. We'll be classmates with the other first years in our house. Gryffindor is for the daring, brave, chivalrous people. Hufflepuffs are just, loyal, and patient, hard workers. Ravenclaws are wise and want to learn. And then the Slytherins are for the misfits. But the polite way of saying that is 'They go to any means to achieve their ends.'"
"I think I'll be in Gryffindor. I mean, I did go into Knockturn Alley and come out alive," Doug said dreamily. He'd been bragging about that lately, and when he told the tale now, it seemed that he purposely threw the table over on the owner just for the fun of it and then had flown expertly on a broomstick, dodging laser rays from the owner's wand, with James cowering behind the trash cans. Lily hadn't made any comments, but James, when he'd heard part where he had been hiding behind the trash cans, and given Doug a perfectly round and nicely colored black eye. Neville had gotten rid of it after about two minutes, but Doug said it still stung a bit.
"What house do you think you'll be in?" Becky asked Lily.
Lily shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. I mean, I'm not that brave, but then again, I've never had anyone to be loyal to, and, even though I get good marks in school, I don't know if I'm that wise. And I don't really want that much that I can get by any means."
"You're a Potter," Becky said. "You'll probably be in Gryffindor."
"How do you know?"
"Well, your dad-"
"Who?"
"Your dad."
"My dad was in Gryffindor?" Had Becky mentioned that in the conversation already? Lily strictly instructed herself to pay more attention in the future.
"Yeah."
Lily was silent for a few moments, as was Becky, who was wondering if she should tell Lily about Harry- if Harry was in fact her dad. If Ron and Hermione hadn't told her, they probably had a good reason for it, but then again, Lily deserved to know. She made up her mind to ask Ron and Hermione as soon as she could, but in the meantime, she'd have to stall for time.
"Well, in that case, I hope I'm in Gryffindor."
"Good choice," Becky commended her. "Hey, Doug. Tell us the story about the Knockturn Alley incident again. We'll tell you if all the changes fit together."
Doug smiled good-naturedly and began to tell his story all over, with Becky and Lily interrupting at parts to tell him what didn't fit, or to congratulate him on a part he'd just added.
The trio stood on the train platform along with the rest of the crowd of children from the train, standing with their owls in their cages, which were clutched tightly in the children's hands. Everyone was in their black Hogwarts robes and carrying their things. Lily, looking around, could tell the first years from the older children by the amount of nervousness shown. The first years were either sticking to older siblings as if they were barnacles, or they had found other first years, and the group of them were sticking to each other like barnacles. She spotted James far off, trying to seem macho as usual lately, but she could tell that he was slightly afraid. He was standing with a somewhat mean-looking bunch.
"Firs' years, over here!"
A grin appeared on Becky's face and rapidly spread into a full-grown smile. "That's Hagrid," she told them. "We met him in Knockturn Alley, remember? I can't wait to see him again!"
Lily and Doug followed as Becky led the way into a wave of other first years. "Maybe we can go to his cabin this year. I used to go over all the time for tea and things. I'll ask him" she said again. "His house isn't the greatest, I know, but it's nice in its own way, even if it does take a bit of getting used to. Harry told me that once, he and Hermione had to help him get rid of a dragon he was taking care of. He said that the cottage has never been the same ever since. I swear, Hagrid wouldn't harm a fly. Dad says that one time, he even cared for a spider that, at the time, was rumored to be killing people."
Lily, thinking Brownie would be glad to hear about other spiders in the area, repeated this to her. Her response, however, was not one she had hoped for.
He did not! Brownie responded vehemently. Aragog never killed a single person! The whole spider population knows that! Aragog's a hero, and nothing less, mind! All the spiders owe Hagrid a lot of gratitude!
Lily let Brownie rant on as she looked around, carefully trying to keep up with Doug and Becky. She accidentally bumped into someone. "Sorry," she said.
The boy who'd bumped into her turned. Lily's heart soared as she realized it was James, and she silently prayed for at least a single word of acknowledgment. Instead, he looked at her, seemed momentarily surprised, and then said, "Oh. It's you."
Lily listened to the sound of her heart falling from its highest perch right onto the concrete so far down below.
Ahead, she realized that they had approached a large black lake that had boats pulled up to the shore, bobbing slightly in the water. But the thing that mostly captured her attention was the vision beyond the lake- the building(s) with all the lights and turrets. The lights slanted across the water towards them, stretching to meet the boats and welcome them. Lily noticed that although it was velvety dark in the sky with no moon (but a few stars), she could still see the outline of the place perfectly. That must be Hogwarts, she decided right before Hagrid told them all so a moment later. Lily decided that it was beautiful and magical all on its own, and she momentarily forgot James and his group.
"Four to a boat," Hagrid called out. James went away with his own crowd, laughing. Lily wouldn't have been at all surprised to find that they were laughing at her, which didn't help her mood at all. She clamored into a boat with Doug and Becky, and the three made their owls as comfortable as possible on the seats beside them. A few seconds later, the boy who hadn't been able to say his R's climbed in with them, looking away from them with a small, pinched mouth and sorrowful-looking eyes. As he climbed in, he set his own owl's cage next to him. Lily almost felt sorry for the boy.
"Hi," she said. "I'm Lily."
The boy looked at her with narrowed eyes. She almost thought she could read his mind for a few seconds, so clearly could she hear him thinking, Aha, I knew it.
Becky, with a slightly disappointed sigh in Lily, gave in. "I'm Becky."
Doug stuck his hand out. "I'm Doug."
The boy considered them for a few moments and shook Doug's hand. "I'm Soup. Tommy Soup, actually, but evwybody calls me Soup."
"Like... Tomato Soup?" Doug asked with a slight smile.
Soup moved a bit on his bench uncomfortably. "Yeah," he muttered, obviously not liking the nickname.
Doug apologized. "Sorry, but- Well, you know."
Soup nodded. "I know. My pawents wen't good speakas, and my mom was usually, uh, dwunk. I guess I got the accent fwom haw."
Lily nodded. "I'd look out for my brother, James. He's..."
"Changed," Becky supplied.
"Exactly," Lily agreed. "You'd be an open target for him, I must admit."
"And for anybody," Doug added.
Soup looked down at his hands. "He already did. Yah bwather, James, I mean."
"I'm sorry," Lily said, truly meaning it.
"Oh, you shouldn't be. He's the one that should be sawy."
"Yeah, but he is my brother, even if I am-" she cut herself off in what she considered to be the nick of time.
"Even if you are getting to the point where you're ashamed to say that," Becky finished for her. Apparently she hadn't been in the nick of time as much as she had thought.
"Everyone here?" Hagrid shouted. "All firs' years. All right, then. FORWARD!"
The boats began to float steadily towards the mystical Hogwarts.
"Well, if you want," Doug said slowly, "you can hang with us."
Becky glared at him, then thought twice and smiled at Soup. Lily was already grinning at the way Soup's face immediately lit up.
"Thanks!"
The boats pulled ashore and Hagrid got out of his boat first. Obediently, all the first years followed him in a tight, silent group as they walked slowly down the dirt path. Hagrid finally stopped in front of a large door and knocked loudly three times.
"We're off to another year at Hogwarts," Ron said slowly.
"Yep. Just another year," Harry agreed. He ducked and looked straight ahead as Ron caught him craning his neck to get a look at the first years. "I've been thinking," he admitted.
"Now that's a miracle if I ever heard of one," Ron said dryly.
Harry ignored his tone. Instead, he switched what he'd really been thinking to another thing he'd been worrying about. "What if one of them is placed in Slytherin? I mean, I don't mind Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw that much, but Slytherin?"
"Right. And what if Quidditch is outlawed in the wizarding world tomorrow?"
Harry laughed slightly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Nothing to worry about." Except what he was really thinking...
Meanwhile, Ron looked at his watch. "Hermione's late! Now that really is a mira- Oh wait a second." He tapped the watch's face and watched as the hands began to move again. "Never mind."
Harry smiled as he watched Hermione walk into the great hall to open the door. He heard her voice a few moments later, her "teaching voice," he and Ron called it, as she rehearsed the speech she'd heard from Professor McGonagall. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet..."