Chapter 3: The Hogwarts Express
When she arrived at the other side of the wall, Callie gasped in reaction to seeing the wonderfully old fashioned Hogwarts express. The platform was pleasantly smoky and filled with happy, young witches and wizards saying good-bye to their families. For a moment Callie wished her parents were there to see her off, but that feelings passed and she walked toward the storage car. She placed her trunk in the car with the others and took Commotion out of her basket.
"You can put your lovely cat in with the other beasts if you like," a deep, friendly voice said behind her. Callie turned around and immediately looked up. A huge, bearded man stood in front of her. He had layers of weathered, leather clothing on, all under a gigantic over coat. He pointed an umbrella at a nearby car and smiled invitingly.
"Will she be okay for the whole trip," Callie asked softly.
"'Course she will be, nice and smooth. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts," Hagrid continued.
"I'm Callie and this is Commotion," she said motioning to the little calico. She leaned over and whispered to the cat, and it swished it's tail and walked into the car that Hagrid had previously mentioned.
"Thanks much…do people call you Mr. Hagrid?" She asked.
"Oh my no!" Hagrid laughed. "Just Hagrid will do fine, see you at Hogwarts Callie." He then walked off in the other direction. Callie smiled; everything was working out fine. She could handle everything on her own. The bell rang on the train telling the students left on the platform to board. Callie noticed that she was one of the last students to board the train. She jumped up the steps and took one last look at the station before entering the train's narrow halls. She walked past each room, and everyone was full. She started to panic, 'What if I can't find a room with any empty spaces?' she thought in a hurry. Suddenly she did a double take. Something in the room she had just passed caused her to back up and peek in. Two red heads occupied the room. Callie slowly walked into the almost full room.
"Do..do you guys have any room? All the other compartments are full," she asked. Fred and George looked up.
"Eh! Callie right?" one of the said enthusiastically.
"Course you can room with us, have a seat!" the other said with matched excitement. Callie smiled shyly and entered the crowded car. She sat near to the window.
"Fancy meeting you here…" a familiar voice next to her said. She spun around and Oliver Wood sat slyly smiling next to her.
"Nice to see you again Mr. Wood," she said re-gaining courage. One of the girls, she had long black hair pulled into a messy braid, asked:
"You two… know each other?"
Oliver put his arm around Callie. "Oh yeah! We're long time friends. Her mum and my mum went to school together… " When he saw the looks he was getting from his friends he sighed and took his arm off Callie's shoulder.
"All right, all right. I met her at Quality Quidditch," he said shortening the name.
"Yeah that's what I thought." The same girl said with a laugh. She than turned her attention to Callie.
"Hullo. I'm Angelina and this…" she said pointing to girl sitting on the ground rummaging through a small bag. "…is Alicia," she finished. Alicia looked up and waved.
" 'Lo.." she said simply and went back to rummaging.
"She's looking for money, so when the cart comes around she can get some Bertie Botts." Angelina offered.
"Ahhh," Callie said. "The cart?"
One of the twins perked up and answered. "The cart that brings the sweets around. Bloody Hell! Didn't you have those in the states?"
"Well, we didn't take a train to school!" Callie said laughing. "And are you Fred or George? Sorry, I can't tell the difference yet." Without looking up, Alicia answered.
"He's Fred," referring to the twin who just spoke. "And he's George," she said, pointing to the twin seated on the floor. The two twins looked at her with amazed eyes, Callie did the same. She spoke for all three of them when she asked,
"How can you possibly tell the difference that quickly?"
Alicia looked up from her purse for the first time since Callie had been in the compartment and smiled.
"Oh we'll tell you later… It's a kind of secret you see…" Callie shrugged in response and the rest of the compartment continued on in conversation.
About five minutes later, a boy about Fred and George's age entered the train compartment. He had relatively long, black dreads and he was already dressed in his school robes.
"Oi! I'm glad I found you guys. Been looking everywhere." He sat down on the floor of the compartment next to Alicia who was still searching through her purse. George nudged Callie and pointed to the boy on the floor.
"This here's Lee Jordan. He's a 5th year like us." He poked Lee in the shoulder.
"Lee, this is Callie, she's new, in from the states." Lee reached over and shook Callie's hand warmly.
" Nice to meet you," he began. "Make sure you think Gryffindor when your getting sorted," he added in a typical British accent. Lee looked over at Alicia desperately looking through he purse.
"What exactly are you looking for?" he asked.
"I want Bertie Botts when the cart comes 'round. I need my money. This thing is bottomless you know. It's not a regular purse." Alicia stated.
"Ohhhhhhhh!" almost everyone in the cabin answered. She just rolled her eyes and kept looking. Callie settled back into her chair. Then she remembered something that had been bothering her. She carefully poked Oliver who was dozing next to her on the seat.
He grumbled then awoke. "What is it love? I'm trying to get some rest here," he said with a lazy smile. Callie rolled her eyes and continued.
"What does everyone mean when they tell me to, 'Think Gryffindor when I get sorted?" she asked.
"Ahh," he began. "Well, all the first years get sorted into their houses on the day of arrival. There's four houses, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor." As he said the last name he pointed to himself and grinned. "You are sorted by the sorting hat, who is placed on your head to read your thoughts. It decides which house your in. Everyone here is in Gryffindor, so we want you to be there with us." Callie still looked a bit confused about the whole procedure, so Oliver added, "Don't worry. Professor McGonagall will explain it better at the school." Callie nodded.
"I hope I do get placed in your house.. whats it called Gryffindor? You guys are wicked fun." While the chatting continued, an older woman pushing a cart full of sweets stopped at their door.
"Anything off the cart, dears?" she asked.
"AH HA!" Alicia yelled. She held up a handful of coins. The rest of the cabin rolled their eyes and approached the cart. Oliver offered his hand to Callie.
"Off we go Callie. You haven't lived until you've tried a Fizzing Whizbee." Callie grabbed the money out of her pocket and grabbed Oliver's warm hand. She smiled shyly as he lifted her off the seat and the two waited in line behind the girls, the twins and Lee.
When the cart finally pulled away, they had spent 28 sickles and 6 knuts on candy. The cabin was full of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (Alicia had purchased 3 packages), Fizzing Whizbees, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Pepper Imps, Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Slugs and Pumpkin Pastries. As Callie attempted to chew a piece of Droobles Gum, Fred offered her a box of Bertie Bott's Beans.
"Go on then, try some. There's all different kinds, you never know what you'll get," he coaxed. Callie bravely dug in and pulled out a strange orange colored bean.
"Well that certainly looks interesting," Angelina commented, looking at the bean and scrunching her nose. Callie took a deep breath and popped the bean in her mouth. As soon as she began chewing, she smiled.
"Ummm, marmalade, " she giggled.
"Lucky!" Oliver laughed. "The first time I tried them, I got a pepper flavored one." He said sticking out his tongue and wiggling it.
"Have you ever had the grass flavor?" Lee asked. Everyone except Alicia shook their heads. She was digging into her bag of beans like her life depended on it. "They're actually quite good." He finished. Everyone just stared at him. Someone threw a blue bean and hit Lee square in the nose.
"Bloody Hell!" he yelled. Assuming it was one of the twins, he threw a jelly slug at each of them. In turn they not only threw Pepper Imps back at Lee but they threw Beans at Oliver and the girls also. With in about 30 seconds, an all out candy war was being waged in the train car. The girls squealed and the guys yelled as Chocolate frogs went jumping out the window and blue bubbles from the bubble gum filled the ceiling. Callie chucked a slug at Oliver and hit him in the back of the neck, and then she pelted both George and Lee with Fizzing Whizbees. The battle stopped in an instant when the soldiers heard a throat being cleared at their door. Another red haired boy also in his robes was tapping his fingers impatiently against the doorframe.
"I just wanted to let you know that we are nearing our destination. You should all change into you robes right about now," the boy explained with a smirk of disapproval on his face.
"But Percy," Lee began from the floor. He was covered in sticky candy. "I'm already in my robes!" The boys began laughing.
"Callie," George began. "This is our brother Percy the Prefect." Callie was upside down on one of the seats and Fred was on one side of her with Oliver on the other. She righted herself before speaking.
"Oh.. hello." She stammered. "I'm Callie, Callie Winnapeg. I saw you on the platform this morning I think." Percy nodded politely and walked off whistling to himself.
"Oh my," Callie began with a giggle. "He didn't look to happy. We'd better clean this up."
Angelina cleared her throat, similar to Percy's previous action. She took her wand and large plastic bag out of a handbag she carried, and stood up.
"Accio candy wrappers!" All the wrappers flew into the bag, and the mess was gone. Everyone clapped and yelled "Well done!" and "Good Show!"
"Now that's done, boys out so we can change into our uniforms," Angelina ordered. The four boys pouted, but they slowly marched outside. Callie had to punch Oliver in the arm to get him out the door. The three girls laughed when they finally closed the door. As they changed they chatted. Callie told them a bit about her previous life, leaving out of course, anything about her parents.
"So," Alicia began. " Do you fancy Ollie then?" Callie blushed a bit then replied in a cool voice.
"Oliver you mean? He's not bad on the eyes I suppose," she said smiling.
"That's for sure," Angelina agreed. "But the boys so caught up in Quidditch, it's ridiculous. I must say though, he seems to have taken a bit of a liking to you Callie dear." Callie blushed again.
"Well, we'll see… we'll see," she replied. When they were all dressed, Callie noticed her robes had a different emblem on them than the other girls. Alicia noticed her confusion.
"You'll get the same if… when you're sorted into Gryffindor," she said with a reassuring smile. They let the boys back in, who had apparently went and changed in the toilets and all sat down for a quick chat before they reached the school. Callie closed her eyes and wished that she would be sorted into Gryffindor house. She adored the girls, the twins and Lee were hilarious and Oliver.. well he was just Oliver, that's all she needed to say. She was interrupted by Oliver lightly pinching her arm.
"We're there love. Let's be off," he said with a raise of his eyebrows. Callie took a deep breath and followed her new friends off the train.
