Harry Potter and the Chalice of the Enchanter


Chapter Two

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September 1 swiftly came about, leaving the summer far behind. Rachel's trunk was packed and she was ready to board the Hogwarts Express. Her Hogsmeade permission slip had been signed and now lay at the bottom of her oak trunk with the books and her supplies. She had made sure to secure important papers in the bottom compartment of the trunk, so that she would not lose them. She had heard somewhere that personal belongings had a strange way of disappearing if you weren't careful at Hogwarts.

Aunt Megan and Rachel had taken a portkey to get to the station. This particular portkey was only to be used one person at a time. It let out into a restroom in the station. They were both clothed in Muggle attire and were carrying one trunk and one covered cage with them. Megan had enchanted Rachel's trunk so that it was bottomless. Rachel could bring with her whatever she wanted without having to worry about the space. She had brought an extra set of robes to change into on the train. She wanted to blend in with the other children.

Rachel was the first to come out of the portkey, crashing onto the cold bathroom floor. Thankfully, she was not the one carrying her belongings. Aunt Megan was next, she had the owl's cage in one hand and the handle to Rachel's trunk in the other. She didn't crash to the floor, but merely seemed to float into the near-empty restroom. Rachel smiled ruefully. She would never handle portkeys as well as Aunt Megan.

They left the bathroom and sat down on one of the large benches. Rachel pulled her ticket out of her pocket and started to read. "They tricked me!" she cried in dismay. "This ticket's a phony!" Rachel shoved the ticket in Aunt Megan's hand. "See, see? Platform 9 and 3/4. There's no such thing! They were testing me to see if I would notice, and I didn't. I failed wizarding and I haven't even arrived at Hogwarts yet."

Aunt Megan laughed, giving Rachel her ticket back. "I should have told you before we got here. Oh, well, its too late now. Follow me, and take the owl."

Rachel followed Aunt Megan through King's Cross Station until they stopped in front of the barrier positioned between platforms nine and ten.

"Go on." Aunt Megan urged. "Just walk right through. I promise you'll be fine."

Rachel look back at Aunt Megan, thinking that she had surely gone crackers. She took a deep breathe, closed her eyes, and walked forward. After about twenty paces, she opened her eyes. She was no longer in front of the barrier. Instead, she was standing on a platform in front of a large red engine with the word "Hogwarts

Express" stencled in gold.

"I made it!" she laughed and turned around to find Aunt Megan. Aunt Megan was standing right next to a woman who had five kids in tow. Each kid had firey read hair and a myriad of freckles. There was only one girl, and she looked younger than Rachel, but one of the four boys appeared to be Rachel's age.

"Rachel, come over here!" Aunt Megan called to her. "I want you to meet someone!"

Rachel skipped over to where her aunt was, owl cage in hand. "This is Mrs. Weasley," Aunt Megan began, "these are her kids, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy. Ron here is your age, he has offered to help you adjust." The boy named Ron blushed and Rachel smiled at him. He seemed nice enough. The oldest boy, Percy was very smug looking, wearing his shiny Prefects badge. The two other boys were twins, they were both dressed in the traditional black robes. Ron, however, was wearing Muggle

clothes, like Rachel.

"Thanks." Rachel smiled again. "It was very nice of you to offer"

"Um... you're welcome." Ron said, blushing in an even deeper tone now. His burgundy cheeks clashed with his flaming red hair.

Fred Weasley laughed at this. "He didn't offer! Mum practically had to force him to do it!" Both of the twins were in hysterics now. One of them, either Fred or George, Rachel couldn't tell, was rolling about on the ground and clutching his stomach.

Ron's face was now a deep maroon. "Shut up!" he yelled at his brothers. Percy looked at the twins with disgust.

"Mum, these two are embarrassing me beyind belief. I'll be talking with Penelope and her friends." Percy stormed off , leaving Mrs. Weasley with an exasperated look on her face.

"Boys," she barked to the twins, "stop laughing. This really isn't all that funny. And besides, your embarrassing your brother." Amazingly, the twins obeyed and Mrs. Weasley turned back to Aunt Megan. "Terribly sorry about that, they'll behave better under Dumbledore's watchful eye." Something in Mrs. Weasley's face indicated that she really didn't believe what she said. Rachel didn't care how good this Dumbledore guy was, judging by the boys' antics, the Weasley twins were going to behave just as poorly around him as they do with their mother.

***

On the train, Rachel sat across from Ron. He said that if she didn't stay with him and his friends, she would fall in with the wrong crowd. Rachel had no idea what he meant until a few moments after they had sat down. A tall boy with white blonde hair sauntered into their train car with two large, stupid looking boys. Rachel thought the first boy was rather handsome, aside from the sneer on his face.

"So, you've got a girlfriend, Weasley? What happened to Hermione? Won't the mudblood be terribly hurt?" The first boy laughed with the other two.

"Can it, Draco. Hermione's not my girlfriend, and neither is she." Ron jabbed his thumb in Rachel's direction, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Well I can see that." Draco sneered. "I didn't think a Weasley could get a date. That was evident at the ball last year." Draco turned his attention to Rachel. "So, I'm Draco Malfoy, they," he indicated to the two boys who were with him, "are Crabbe and Goyle."

"Hi." the two boys mumbled. Rachel could tell that Draco was the boss and that Crabbe and Goyle pretty much did what he wanted them to.

Ron gave Rachel a pleading look and mouthed the words, "Make him go away." Rachel nodded in Ron's direction.

"Anyway, what's your name? I don't believe I've seen you before." Draco appeared to be interested in what Rachel was going to say.

"Rachel Witt. I just graduated from the Phoenix School of Elementary Magic. I'm coming here for my fifth, sixth and seventh years."

"Witt? Your mother is muggle born, then." Draco was starting to get his sneer back.

"That's right." Rachel replied suspiciously. She didn't know what Draco was getting at. Who cared if her mother was muggle born?

"Can you believe this?" Draco exclaimed, turning to Crabbe and Goyle. "They're letting mudbloods work for the Ministry! And American mudbloods at that! What's next?" he threw his hands up in mock despair.

"Excuse me, I think you're time is up." Rachel stood up. Draco scoffed and left, dragging both Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

Just as they were leaving, two more people came in the car, a girl and boy. 'Not more people!' Rachel thought. She really just wanted to go to sleep. She had, in a sense, jet-lag from the portkey.

"Hi Hermione!" Ron said, happily to the girl. Hermione smiled back and waved. She had bushy brown hair and an aura about her that said 'I'm smart and I know it.'

"Hey, what about me?" the boy asked, feigning a hurt look. The boy had wild, black hair and glases. 'He is really cute.' Rachel thought to herself.

"Hi Harry!" Ron gushed with mock enthusiasm.

"Much better." Harry replied.

"So, we have a new friend!" Hermione squealed and clasped her hands. She looked Rachel over and in a more serious tone, said "Judging by the frown on your face, you've met Malfoy."

Rachel smiled, this girl seemed nice, so did the boy named Harry. "Yup! And he was ever so charming!" Rachel loved being sarcastic, and she could tell that so did they.

Hermione squealed again. "She's American! Can you believe it?" Hermione looked back at Rachel. "So, why are you here?"

"Well, I'm Rachel Witt. I just graduated from the Phoenix Academy of Elementary Magic. This is the school that I'm attending for the next three years."

"I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione stuck her hand out, Rachel shook it, Harry stepped forward.

"I'm Harry Potter." He brushed back his hair. Rachel gasped, there was a scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightening. This was Harry Potter! The boys who lived! She would be going to school with Harry Potter!