Tyne and Molly

by Letter Writers

These are the journals of two girls in two seperate magical schools. One is a Slytherin, and one goes to an Americain school called SwampWash. They have seperate adventures, some that include Hogwarts characters (Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Pansy)

5. Chapter 5. Molly Arrives at Swampwash

September 3rd

(Dear Diary

I want to tell you about my morning, but)

Tyne, I think you should read this if you can.

I don't think you are being fair and that's why I think you should read this. I have been thinking and I have come to the conclusion that we both exist and that we are both writing in our diaries. I don't know why both our diaries say the same thing but it doesn't matter. You obviously understand the importance of having a diary, or else we wouldn't be arguing. I think a diary is important too and I want to continue mine. I thought of ripping out the pages of my diary and pasting them in a new book, but I am not sure whether that would destroy your diary or not, so I didn't. I don't want to copy out all those pages either. So I think we should just ignore one another's entries and keep writing as if the other weren't there. That means DON'T read the other person's entry, don't read mine and I won't read yours.

I don't think we should be very mean to each other either. I will try my best to be civil toward you even though I don't like you and you aren't very nice to me. I also think you are a really good drawer, I saw your pictures in my book and I really like them. I especially like the rose. You are also a real good writer, your entries are really clear, like stories. I read your last entry because I was bored and it gave me something to do. It was really good.

So I am going to put an entry in and I hope you don't read it. And by the way, what does your diary look like? Mine is small (a little bigger than pocket size, but it fits in my robe pocket) and it has a dark red-brown leather cover. It looks worn and used even though it is brand new and there is a worn old scratch on the back. The corners at the bottom are worn away too. Just curious to what your diary looks like.

Please don't read my diary entries.

Molly

Dear Diary,

Hmmmmm. I really do like this robe. It's rather strange but I do think it is beautiful. Right now, the sky material is a clear blue and there's a sun on my shoulder. It's really bright and it was giving me a headache so I covered it up with my coat. Further inspecting this Swampwash badge I do think it to be very interesting. I shall tell you more about the badge...there's a big green S in the middle of it. It makes me think of Superman. In the background it is split into four parts with four different birds on it, a crane, a swan, a falcon and an eagle. Maury just told me it's a Harpy eagle and it stands for Harpygape. He also just explained that all the birds represent the houses Alaina explained to me yesterday. Funny, Alaina's description of the houses were a little more...upbeat, chirpy-like. She seemed to look up to the other houses (except Harpygape, she didn't say much about them) and spoke fondly about the Mithlewads. But anyhow, here they are:

Swan: Mithlewad house (dreamers/thinkers. Maury says they think and daydream and end up nowhere, that they are all artistic, spiritual and storytellers with good imaginations)

Crane: Cranewood (dreamers/thinkers. Maury says they dream high and are sensible and end up somewhere later in life.)

Harpy Eagle: Harpygape (Maury says they rarely think or dream, in fact they do nothing good at all.)

Falcon: Everfly (Maury says they're falcons because they soar above everyone else. He says they are supposed to be courageous but really they are just conceited and stuck up and think they are brave.)

There is also something written underneath the badge. It's in another language. It says (just a minute, I have to copy it down): 'Non Universus Malumis Se Rub_re'. O.K. there. Maury says this is "Latin or something" and it's the school emblem and he doesn't know what it means. I think it sounds funny, and I wish I knew what it means. Why don't they just write these things is English?

I am sitting on a bench at an underground station called "Queensboro Plaza" right now. I have nothing to do and Uncle Elmo said the underground that takes us to Swampwash won't be loading for another hour and a half. It isn't even here yet. Uncle Elmo isn't here either. He left. Aunt Moesha insisted that he take us to the station this morning and He said he couldn't because he had to go to work early today, but in the end he said he would. And as soon as we got here he said: "Well, I better be off now. Maury, I trust you won't miss it if you remember last year's procedures. Take care of Molly and please don't mention to your mother that I left so early... She wouldn't like that. But you can take care of yourselves so, yes, have a nice trip. Here's some cash for the cart, get yourselves some treats. Well, bye then". And then he left. Then I was bored so I started to pelt Maury with questions and he got really annoyed and told me to 'stuff a sock in it'. So I got out my journal and I am writing now. And I can't think of a single thing to say.

Well, I can think of one thing to say. This morning I was bed and I heard this little rustling sound and I opened my eye to see what it was. At first I didn't see anything different and then there was this slight twitch in the corner of my eye and I saw something. There was a little person no bigger than a three-year-old child. Only that the little person looked like Yoda and it was very green. I gasped, it turned around and looked at me with big yellow-green eyes, and after an awkward pause I bolted upright and screamed. I was scared witless. The little elf thing had been holding a tray and when I screamed it dropped it and ran. A few moments later Aunt Moesha appeared in the doorway wearing a housecoat and said "Molly! Molly! What's wrong with you?!". I explained that there was a little green elf in the room a moment ago, and she didn't seem a bit surprised. She just said "Oh, that's called a house elf. You aren't supposed to see them but our house elf is a little clumsy sometimes." Then she shrieked "Goosy!" and left. I could hear her out in the hall as she shouted, "oh, there you are!" and she began to admonish it. I got out of my bed and peered around the corner. I could see the poor little elf cowering before her and it kept squeaking little words like "yes miss, sorry miss." I felt pretty bad actually. It sounded as though she was mad at it because it woke me up. I wasn't mad at all. I tried to make things better by saying "The elf wasn't that loud, Moesha, I was kind of already awake." Then Moesha sent the elf back into the spare room to clean up the mess it had made and She told me not to talk to her ( I didn't know the elf was a girl until then). So the elf went back into the room and it was blushing with shame. And it had really, really green skin. I looked at it because it looked so weird. She was wearing a brown robe with soiled spots on it and she had nothing on her feet. And by the way, she had really odd feet. Four toes only on each foot and her feet were webbed. And her feet were green too. She had barely any hair, just a measly little tuft (it was green too) and she had pointed yoda ears. She started to pick up the smashed glass and the spoiled food (it had been bringing me breakfast I think.) When Moesha was well out of range of hearing me I said "I'm sorry I got you into trouble."

"Sorry miss, very very sorry" she squeaked. She wouldn't look at me and she was acting so nervous. I really felt terrible.

"Can I help you clean that up?" I asked.

"No no no, Goosey will do it." she squeaked.

"I've never seen an elf before" I said, and she didn't reply.

"I'm really sorry" I said " are you sure I can't help you?

This time she answered "Please don't speak to Goosey, you will get Goosey in trouble". So I didn't, I sat on the bed and watched her and she made no eye contact with me. Then she finished and she got up and left the room. So then I got changed into my common robe (It was really pretty this morning, like the colours of dawn) and I was checking to make sure I had everything I needed and I looked outside for a minute. The spare room had a stained glass window of a sorceress with a raven on her shoulder, and she was leaning over a very big crystal ball. The crystal ball was made of lightly tinted glass but it was mostly clear and I could see the back yard out side through it; I could see the sea in the distance. Then I looked at a picture of an old woman spinning a wheel. Well, that's what the picture was yesterday, I had fallen asleep watching her spin and thinking of how tedious that must be if magic pictures do feel and think. But it so happened that this time I looked at her she was sleeping. That made me glad to see her take a break and I thought I wouldn't tell Moesha because she might get mad and wake her up. When I turned around to face the bed, there was a steaming tray on the bed table and the house elf was nowhere in sight. So I ate breakfast and went downstairs and then

I am on the underground now. It was very strange. I looked up from writing in my journal and at first I realised that people were staring at me and Maury. I don't know if they were staring at our robes or if they were staring at the crow in the cage. It doesn't surprise me, If I walked by someone dressed as funny as I am now a few days ago, I would have stared and even snickered. But now I felt kind of uncomfortable that they were staring at me as they walked by. Then I saw a girl with dirty-blonde pig-tail braided hair and she was wearing a robe and carrying a lot of luggage and a there was a crow on her shoulder. She seemed to be in a rush. I pointed it out to Maury and he looked up from his book and said "what time is it?". I looked at my watch and said "ten to eight." He looked at me in shock and said "What?". So I repeated that it was 7:50 a.m. and he jumped up and said "Holy Smokes! The subway leaves in ten minutes! Geez Molly, why didn't you tell me what time it was?!?!". He grabbed his suitcase and headed into the crowd. I ran picked up my luggage (and his crow which he'd forgotten) and ran after him into the crowd.

"Where are we going to?" I shouted to him over the sound of hissing and metal grinding from the tracks and I was also shouting because he was ten feet in front of me.

"I don't remember!" He said.

"What? What do you mean you don't remember? We might miss our ride!"

"I've only done this once before. What? of course we won't miss it! Don't be stupid."

Maury stopped running for a second and I stopped behind him. I looked at my watch, it said 7:52.

"The Swampwash Express is sub number 7½ right? We have to find number 7 and number 8." He said, turning in circles and looking at signs. "Shit!" he yelled. An old lady near us looked at him with a dirty look and continued on her way mumbling 'punks'.

"Stop muggle swearing, it isn't cool, you're embarrassing me" I said. I looked around and saw signs saying 'SUB#19 Brooklyn' and 'SUB#21 Harlem exit 3' but I didn't see 7, 8, or 7½, or anything remotely close to those numbers. No signs or patterns to know which way to go or anything. We were panicking and I had no idea where to go. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and there was that girl with the braids. Now that she was up close I noticed she was my age and that she was also lost and panicking too.

"Where¼? she said and before she could finish I answered:

"I don't know, we're lost."

"Me too, I was hoping you knew¼"

I looked at my watch, 7:54. "Maury, we've go to ask someone for directions!" I shouted.

"What?" he said "Of course not, I know where I am going!" and he walked back out into the crowd, and the girl with the pigtails and I followed. "You do not!" I said.

"It doesn't work anyway, they are really rude and they laugh in your face" said the girl who was running beside me.

"Well, we'll have to try again because if we don't then we're screwed" I said. The girl started to laugh and I didn't know why so I said "What?"

"The way you just said that, it was so funny. Because you're like, British or something and it sounded funny. Skroood" she said imitating me. Maury laughed too, but I didn't. I was sort of insulted that she made fun of the way I talked. All I could think in my head was 'thank heavens I don't talk like you, you stupid like, American'. Just then one of the women in the blue uniforms walked by and I ran to her, the others followed me.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find route seven and a..."

"Don't tell me, route 7 ½, right?" she snapped back at us, she pronounced it 'ROWT' too and I tried not to laugh. I couldn't think of what to say so I stammered 'uh¼'.

"You little freaks have been hounding me all day. Is this some kind of joke? Everyone dress up in funny black cloaks and carry crows around in cages and ask stupid questions? Look, I'm not here to fall for stupid pranks. Get out of here!" grade

"Told you so" I heard the American girl say in my left ear.

"B¼but we aren't looking for route 7½." I said. "Actually, we were wondering if you could direct us to route number 7. Just seven."

"Just seven huh? Then why did you just say 7½" She didn't look too convinced so I decided to convince her. Or tell her a convincing story, which is almost the same thing"

"Well, you see Miss, I come from the United Kingdom where they use trains and in England they sometimes have numbers like ½, or ¾ or ¼ because in the olden days when they added more routes they didn't bother changing the whole system around so they just added ½ and stuff, so I got confused and I was wondering if you could show me the way to the underground platform, I mean, route 7."

"Oh" she said. "Ok, sure."

The girl with the pigtails nudged me and whispered "way to go!" but I didn't answer because I was still ticked with her. He led us down a few tunnel passages and I kept glancing at my watch. 7:56 a.m. 7:57 a.m.

"Here you are" She said when we reached Subway #7. "Thank you very much." I said.

"By the way¼" she continued and I ground my teeth hoping she'd hurry and leave seeing as we were tied for time. "What's up with the funny costumes anyway?"

"They are for religious purposes" I declared in an offended tone, and she said "oh, sorry." and left. Then I turned to Maury and said "Well?"

"What?" he asked.

"You said if we found SUB 7 and SUB 8 then you'd know where we had to go next." I said and waited for a reply. He looked around and said nothing. I stared at him. "Well?"

"They changed it all around in here, I don't recognise anything."

"What do you mean you don't recognise anything??? Are you joking? You have got to be joking! Look at my watch, it's 7:57, no, now it's 7:58, and you are trying to tell me that you don't know where we are going? Are you absolutely stupid? FIGURE IT OUT!!!" I had never been so mad at anyone in my life. (well...)

"Is she your sister?" The girl asked.

"NO" we both responded at once.

"I was told to look for a brick wall with the word 'phantom' sprayed on it with green muggle spray paint. We'll just have to find that." The girl said.

"Yeah, I know that" said Maury.

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" I inquired as I turned around and ran looking at the tiled walls. The girl with the braids followed me for a second but I told her to run in an opposite direction so we'd find it faster. I searched every wall for the word 'phantom' but I couldn't see it. Again I was panicking and I was afraid to look at my watch. Then I did and I saw it was 7:59. 'we're never going to find it' I thought, and just then I heard the girl yell "Here! Over here, I found it over here!". With a sigh of relief I ran back to where our luggage was sitting and so did the other two. The girl said "This way" and we all followed her. The crow under my hand was shaking around as I ran and it cawed in retort.

"See that wall there? The cement wall between the posts?" Maury asked "When you get there, don't stop running, just run right through it."

"WHAT? Are you positively batty?" I kept running but looked over at Maury for an explanation. I was not going to run into a cement wall.

"No, it's true" The girl said. She was running beside me again as if I was her friend or something. "That's the instructions I was given. Don't be afraid, the wall disappears. Just close your eyes and you won't see it coming. Trust us, you have to run through or you'll miss it."

Just then Maury ran right into the wall and disappeared. I was shocked.

"I'll go through first" she said and I watched her as she ran into it and completely disappeared. I was a few feet away from it now and running at it. I was afraid of running into it and thought I might stop suddenly, because I am a big chicken after all. I closed my eyes and ran. I didn't know how close I was while I ran, I kept wanting to stop, but I knew if I did I would miss the ride. And then I hit it, I felt my whole body run into something and I opened my eyes and stalled. But I opened my eyes just in time to see the cement disappear and the new area was revealed. It felt like I had run through a soft layer of watery glass and then I sort of floated through the door. Then I stopped dead in my tracks to take in my new surroundings, it was like something I had never seen before and only imagined. It was quite different from any ordinary underground tunnel, I don't know what I had been expecting. The floor was dirt and the walls were made of wooden frames and rocks, like a well-lit old abandoned mine shaft which is probably what it was. The room was lit with little round glass windows that had pieces of glass hung from string in front of them, casting little rainbows on the walls. It was misty in there too, or maybe it was just steam from the old engines. The underground cars were very old like and seemed to float above the ground, they weren't even attached to the tracks! But then I saw the other two waving at me and I remembered how late we were, so I ran toward them. Then a boy in robes, he looked to be 15 or so, hurried up to us. He was kind of cute actually. He had chocolate brown hair and dark brown eyes and he was really cute, I think the American girl thought so too. But anyway, back to the story, he asked us our names. We told him (and that's when I found out the girl's last name is Penderghast) and he directed us "Good, we've been waiting for you three, Penderghast, go to passenger car number 8, Grier and Thumbleknuckle, passenger car #3, quick, it's about to leave." He had a Spanish accent. And so we ran to our passenger cars and I heard the clinking sound that trains make when the engine makes it's first jolt which, now that I think of it, is probably why they call it a train reaction...or is it a chain reaction? Slowly, the underground railway began to move. The doors opened and we ran and jumped on just as the underground car began to move. Inside, there was a narrow hallway and on either side there were seats. Each passenger car had two rooms in it, separated by a narrow door and a curtain. Both rooms were full of babbling students and cages full of strange looking pets. Maury and I went into the second compartment and sat down on empty seats. Everyone was talking and babbling and laughing. Well, there were two other people that looked to be eleven and they weren't talking, just staring. Just like I was, but all the older people were talking. Maury was talking too, and I listened in on his conversation. Then his conversation got boring and I didn't understand half of what he was saying so I looked around the room. The first thing that caught my eye was a big fluffy lime green creature that looked to be a bird sitting in a big wicker cage. There were lots of birds, lots of crows but also a turkey, a parrot and an owl. In the travel cages under the seats there was a Jack Russel terrier and a really scrawny little speckled ugly looking cat with two different eye colours who kept growling at each other. There was a Jack rabbit and a Tortoise under there too, and a creature so black and fluffy with no visible features that I wasn't quite sure what it was. Then I looked at the people. There must have been 20 other people all stuffed in the same compartment. Half the people in the room were white and probably American, but the other half weren't. There was a Chinese girl and a Chinese boy, And there was an older girl who was really tall and she was African I think, her skin was so dark, the darkest I'd seen ever. She also had a really big friendly grin and her hair was really curly and short. There was a Mexican boy and an older Jamaican with long dread-locks down past his shoulders. There was also a really pretty girl with silvery-blonde hair and very fair complexion, all the guys were talking to her. There was also this really short girl with dark brown skin and a strong build, I don't know what nationality she was though. There was a set of twin girls who looked like they were Greek or something too. And one of the girls that looked to be my age and was sitting quietly also had a tan complexion but I really don't know where she's from. Then Maury shoved me and I turned around and realised half the compartment was looking at me and I felt a little stupid. I hadn't meant to stare at them, I was just noticing they were all of different cultures. Now they were all staring at me.

"Well say hello!" Maury said to me.

"Uh h¼h¼hello¼" I stammered. There was this uproar from all of them and I blushed because I had missed what they were laughing at.

"Awwww, your little cousin is so cute!" Said one of the twins.

"No need to be shy, little bird, we are all brothers and sisters here!" Said the Jamaican boy with a thick accent and he winked at me. I blushed a second time, but I don't think it showed because Ii was already really red.

"She's a first grader, give her a week and she'll get right into the crowd. Don't you remember your first grade?" Said one of the American girls.

"Well welcome to Swampwash, you will have a blast. My name is Donnelly." Said the Jamaican and he shook my hand. "This is Odette" he said putting his arm around the girl with the silver hair "She comes from Germany, her grandfather was a Veela". I had no idea what he meant by that, but I smiled and nodded. If I asked every magical person what every second word was that they said, I'd be sitting there for years while they explained themselves. He went on introducing the others, Diego (the Mexican), Ts'o Lin and Sun (the Chinese sister and brother), Kindowzhaywa (the African girl, called K.Z.), Terrence (a second grade American boy from Addlepaten, an all magic town hidden in Manhattan), Helen and Lucia (The third grade twins from Greece), Kiri (A maori native girl from New Zealand), Vaughan (another boy from Addlepaten, only he's a 6th grade), Murron (an Irish American girl who lives in Buckfeet, a wizarding town in Massachusetts), Rosinante (a girl from San Grissato, a wizarding town in Mexico), Willa (a 4th grade Canadian girl from an all magic village in Nova Scotia called Waddlecrone), and Gilles (a French Canadian wizard from A non-magic town called Jolliett). Then we welcomed the other two first graders into the group, their names were Julian (a shy guy from Slugbroth, New Jersey, another wizarding town) and Mylynn (from Hawaii). Then I noticed three other people sitting in the corner of the compartment who they hadn't mentioned. They were scowling and mumbling to each other quietly. I asked Odette who they were and she said "Oh¼", then she quietly said in my ear "That's Salome, Ingmar and Orson, they're Harpygapes. Don't approach them unless you don't want your limbs anymore."

Up till now, the tunnel we had been travelling through had been well lit with lots of those little windows, but it suddenly went dark. Some of us made a surprised sound and then Some old fashioned lanterns flickered on. These were really nifty lanterns! To start off with, dear Journal, they float in mid air! They just drift over your head and when you clap, one of them will drift toward you. There were four in each compartment. I really loved them, I kept clapping, then Donnelly told me (In that mature way that makes you feel kind of stupid)not to because sometimes they get confused and flicker out or break and then they are almost impossible to start up again. We could hear the others in the next room laughing amid themselves. Then there was an applause over something funny, and all the lights flickered out. There were many people for a split second who screeched at the sudden darkness and then a lot of laughter. We were laughing too, and then everyone stopped because someone on the other side of the curtain said "Shhhh! did anybody hear that sound?". It was strangely silent and everyone had their ears strained. Suddenly, Someone on the other side of the curtain yelled "GAHHH!" and then everyone screamed and ran into our compartment and there was a great pile up. Two or three people sat in a seat and some people sat on the floor (some of them were truly rolling on the floor in laughter). Then one of the boys jumped out from the curtain and nobody knew he was still in the compartment and everyone screamed and laughed. Then someone let out their pet wombat and everyone was having so much fun and I knew I would like this school.

Then someone appeared in thin air at the end of the compartment (I screamed and everyone laughed at me). It turned out to be that cute Mexican who crossed my name off the list. I was told he was the male prefect for the Mithlewad house.

"Is there any need for all this disorderliness?" He said and smiled.

"The lanterns burnt out in the other compartment." Said one of the girls.

"Did anyone think to put two of these ones in the other room?" He said and everyone chorused "No" and laughed at how stupid they had been.

"I'm going to have to tell you to split up, this is an emergency hazard"

"What ever you say, Francisco, I mean, yes sir, prefect, sure man!" Donnelly said.

"Anyway" said the prefect " I came to tell you that the conveylavators are now able to be used and if you would just go one at a time in an orderly fashion¼"

Willa and I and another girl from the other compartment (Shobanah, an East-Indian girl) were the only ones sitting and The prefect was lost somewhere in the stampede. The other two sitting with me were laughing.

"Finally we get the compartment to ourselves!" Said Willa.

"What's a conveylavator?" I asked.

"Sorry, I forgot you didn't know. Each car has an in conveylevator and an out conveylevator. It's like a transport or an elevator and it brings you to other passenger cars. You just say the sub car number before you walk through the wall and then you show up in a different car."

"Really?" I asked, absolutely amazed. The crowd was thinning out now.

" Yeah, it's how we visit our friends. It gets crazy though."

"Oh?" I said.

Just then we heard some rattling and squealing in the next compartment and then some voices "Hagarth, stop! Catch it! Don't let it get away! " and a pink and white and black spotted pig came tearing through the curtain and ran straight through the compartment, under the legs of the few people left and ran straight through the wall.

"Where did it go? Did you see Roxanne's pig run through here?"

"A pig? Did any of you see a pig? asked Willa, turning to me and Shobanah.

"Really, Willa, where did he go?" Asked the tall blonde girl with Medieval princess Laia buns.

"That way, Lavinia, where else?" Willa pointed at the out conveylavator.

"Thanks a heap Willa" she said sarcastically and she and Roxanne pushed through. "Back to square one" she sighed and said "one!" just before she went through the conveylevator. Willa laughed.

"I see what you mean by crazy" I said.

"That's nothing, it gets worse." she replied. "Problem is if you don't say the number, it picks for you. The teachers are all in subs number 27 and 28 and they pretend they don't know what's happening. They don't know how bad it is anyway, because the conveylavator can't randomly pick cars 27 and 28 and so nothing crazy ever happens in there. The trip to Swampwash is always like this, everyone's so happy to be going back and they get really hyper. And it goes really bananas near the last two hours when they start to play 'Truth, Curse or Dare'. We all have to return to our original carts when we get to Nova Abergavenny."

"Oh." I said.

Just then a 6th grade wizard ran through and he was wearing his underpants only. He shouted "WOOOOO!". I stared, completely startled.

"Welcome back to the Swampwash express, Leonardo!" said Willa, clapping and laughing to herself, drawing all the lanterns near her..

"Yo, Willa! Hey Shobanah! Hey you I don't know!" He shouted, then he said "4!" just before he ran through the wall. I was still sitting there with eyes wide and my chin dropped.

"That's just a yearly tradition. He has to run through all the cars, except #27 and #28. He was drawn last year, it's just a guy thing. He gets 20 sickles for it."

"Oh¼Do you think I could try it?"

"You want to streak through the compartments? Go ahead, no one's stopping you."

"No." I said, blushing "I meant, could I go through the conveylevator too?"

"Sure." She laughed, "Go ahead, we're going to sit here and talk and watch the parade go by. Just don't go in the caboose or in any of the carts between 9 and 13, those are Harpygape cars, they sort of took them over and they aren't any fun. They won't let you pass or anything, they're a pack of rabid bullies. They'll initiate you or make you pay your way out. Just don't go there. And when you are done, feel free to return here to SUB car #3, It's the sane car for the cooler people, which is why only three of us are here."

"Sure" I smiled "Can you look after the bird for me?"

"Which one?" she asked, looking from birdcage to birdcage.

"The crow in the red wicker cage" I said pointing it out.

"What's its name?" She asked.

"Well, It's Maury's bird but he hasn't named her yet, I don't think he plans to either. Call it what you want."

"I'll think of a name" she said.

I stood up and faced the wall. I wasn't sure where to go, but I thought of the number 8 where the Penderghast girl was sent and I thought I'd say hello and thank her for the help. And maybe find out her name as well so I could add it into my journal or something. So I said "8" and cautiously stepped into the wall. It felt like taking a normal step across a room and my foot went down on solid ground into another compartment. Again I had felt that watery glass layer when I went through. This compartment was very loud, with about 30 people in it. Everyone stared at me and then went back to what they were doing. But this one older guy with blonde hair tied back in a ponytail said with an accent "Hi, can I help you?"

"I was looking for a girl¼with blonde braids, this is her compartment, I think."

"Yes, she left, she had a headache. I don't know where she went though."

"Oh, alright, thank you very much" I said. I wandered into the next compartment where I went through the conveylevator and into car #4, then car #7, then car #14. They were all full of balmies and maniacs. In car #16 they threw a cushion at me as soon as I entered. I left #16 and went back to car #3. Willa had left, But Shobanah and Donnelly and Odette and Vaughan and Rosinante and Lavinia and Roxanne and Roxanne's pig (his name's Hagarth, he was tied up on a string) were all there. I stayed and talked awhile. Then that got boring, so I left. I entered car number 20 where, as Willa said, there was a group of people playing truth or dare Truth, Curse, or Dare. I entered the next one ( #21) and I found a car packed with about 50 6th graders. I proceeded on to #22 (another packed car), then #23(a hostile Everfly car, they asked me "Are you an Everfly?" I said no, I was a first grader. I was asked "Do you want to be a Everfly?". I said I didn't know, they said "What kind of music do you like?" I shrugged and said the music I listen to. "Do you Like the Weird Sisters?" I shrugged again. "Are you American?". I said "no." Then they said "Well then you aren't welcome, get lost."), then #24, full, then #25 which was positively startling. It was empty. Or so I thought.

"Oh my gosh, Hello? Is anyone in here?" It was very strange, I didn't know that it was possible for a room on the Swampwash Express to be empty, and so silent.

Up till this car, #3 had been the quietest. Then:

"Hello. Who goes there?"

I walked past the curtain and there was a boy, my age, sitting all alone in a chair. He was staring out the black window and as I entered the room he slowly turned his head toward the curtain.

"I'm Molly" I said, "who are you?"

"Jarvis"

"You startled me" I said. "I thought the room was empty."

"It sort of is." He said. I have to tell you, Diary, he was eerie in a way I can't explain. He just sat there all alone and stared through me. It was spooky. I felt bad for him that he was sitting there all alone. "Your hair is very long" he said.

"Yes, it is." I said. Nobody had started a conversation with me like that before. Sure my hair is long, just about reaches my bum. I somehow didn't like him saying anything about my hair; he was so spooky. It felt like if he said something about my hair, he'd jinx it or something and it would all fall out tomorrow. ( I just knocked on the wooden bedpost, I really sort of like my long black hair, I've never cut it and I don't want to lose it all tomorrow).

"You haven't by any chance seen a girl with blonde hair in braids, about my age, have you?" I asked him. He paused for a minute and said nothing, just stared through me with his ghostly haunted eyes and said nothing. Dark brown hollow eyes that stared through me as if he wasn't really looking at me, as though he was seeing something else completely. Perhaps he wasn't seeing me at all, as though he was seeing something else. Like he was peering into my soul. It made me feel as though I wasn't there and I didn't want to be there either. I was just about to turn and leave and say 'never mind' when he broke the silence (giving me a slight jolt) and said: "I assure you I haven't seen her"

"Well¼if you do, then tell her I'm looking for her."

I gave him no time to respond and then I went to the conveylevater and quickly said "#19" and stepped through the wall. Perhaps it was rude dear diary, but if I could only explain just how creepy he was. In a way I didn't want to leave him sitting there alone, but I did not want to sit there another second with him staring through me so I made my choice and I left. I do not know yet if I chose correctly.

When I entered car #19, I found a more peaceful compartment with only 3 people, one was asleep and the other two were playing a game of chess where the pieces on the board move and literally attack each other. On the other side of the curtain I found Maury and his friends, Alaina and Florence and 5 other people I didn't know (3 girls, 2 guys, I know them now though. The three girls were Rhodine, Brigid and Imogene, the two guys were Jasper and Ryer), they were all playing a quiet game of cards. They are all Cranewood second-graders. They all said 'Hi' and Florence introduced us to each other. Then they asked if I want to play cards, but I said I'd rather not. So I went back into the silent compartment and pulled my journal out of my pocket. Then I sat down and that's all I've been doing since, writing in here. I suppose an hour or so has gone by. I am very bored. Nothing much has happened and It's only 1:27 p.m. Maury said we get to Nova Abergavenny at around 5 o'clockish, then it takes a little while longer to get from Nova Abergavenny to Swampwash Academy. Suddenly this trip feels very, very long. The cold sound of the sub cars whistling through the tunnels is getting monotonous and this whole cart is very dull. The only thing that happened so far was that Leonardo whizzed through here and everyone else was shocked. Only a few people came walking through looking for an Orley Hangmeyer or an Emma Hiccoughson, or just wandering through. A few wet sponges came flying through too. We just kept picking them up and throwing them out the 'out' conveylevator, some of them came back. But that got boring after a while. A cat wandered in here too, it's still here, it went to sleep on someone's luggage. It's 1:35 now. I wasn't writing anything at all for a minute (well, a few minutes), just staring out the window at the repetitive blackness. The peacefulness of this car was only good for a while. It's really getting boring now. I'm going to explore. Write to you later dear diary.

Hello Dear Diary, it's late now, well after 11:00. That's 11:00 at night. The last 12 hours have been absolutely fabulous. I am at Swampwash now, sitting in my bed writing by floating lantern. Every few minutes or so the lantern flickers out and floats downward and I have to clap or snap or make a sound to light it up again. I found out they do that so that they don't drift off on their own and start a fire. My bed is absolutely amazing, the most beautiful I have ever seen. It's a captain canopy bed. The mattress is up high past my head and you climb a ladder to get up to it. There are dark blue velvet and silver silk curtains that surround the bed. And underneath the bed it is empty, a hollow space with a sofa to sit upon, like your own little private closet room. You can draw the curtains too and change in there. There is a wardrobe in there where you hang your clothes and a bed table. The frame is made of dark oak wood and underneath in the open space there is a silver curtain and behind the silver curtain there are a thousand (well maybe not a thousand) several girl's name's carved into the wood, girls who owned the dormitory before. I wish I could draw well, I would draw the scene for you. But now is not the time for that because I have not yet told you about the rest of my day yet after I last wrote, and there is a lot to tell!

After I went to explore, I went to 3 more rooms before I visited #26. The second I arrived in that compartment, there she was. The girl with the braids saw me before I saw her.

"Hi!" She said with a broad grin. She stood up as she said it and the crow on her shoulder, who had not been expecting her to jump up, flapped about as it lost it's balance and fell off.

"Hello." I said. I smiled. Then there was that bit of silence and neither of us knew what to say to each other.

"I'm sorry I laughed at the way you talked."

"It's alright." I said. I didn't really mind so much anymore. I suppose I just wanted a friend. There was another moment of silence and then we both spoke at the same time, both thanking each other for helping to be on time for the Sub departure. It was funny, actually "Thank you for¼oh¼no, thank you." We both laughed. I sat down in the chair beside hers and she sat down too. "I was just reading some of my books." she said and I told her I had only read the history one. I don't remember what we talked about, but we talked a lot about everything and nothing really important. Then we realised we didn't even know each other's names, so we laughed and introduced ourselves. She told me her name was Bertie, and then I found out later that it's really Roberta, but she hates her name.

I'm going to tell you a little bit about Roberta. Roberta has an interesting way about her. To begin with she has amazing green eyes. They are REALLY green! The same colour as celery. I always wanted green eyes instead of these boring big blue eyes that I have. But her eyes are small, like slits, and they are nice eyes, just different. She has a round face and a blunt nose and her eyebrows are so light they are barely visible. Her lips are squishy and it makes her whole face very characteristic, like a cartoon character. Her hair is dirty blonde and frazzled and about shoulder length, which she wears in two thick frizzy braids and an uneven part at the back. She has no freckles like I do, but she has dimples. From what I can see so far, she has a great sense of humour and laughs at a lot of things. But sometimes she can be really rude and mischievous. Her crow's name is Simone and her favourite colour is purple (Roberta likes purple, not the crow).

There were a few other first graders in the same compartment with us, but none of them spoke English (or the same language) so they all sat around and did nothing. After a while, we were bored too and so we got up and we left. I told her I had friends in car #3, and so we went there. Everyone was there, well not everyone, but it was full. There were other people there I didn't know. Well, the boy with the blonde hair tied back was there, I found out that he was Russian and his name was Ilia. There was also a girl with frizzy red hair named Rhona Bernard. Then Willa arrived and she had the crow with her. When the crow saw me it flew onto my shoulder. I was impressed to have her fly to me. I had been wanting to take the crow out of the cage and let it sit on my shoulder or let it fly somewhere or something, but because it is Maury's crow I dared not to. Willa told me then that she'd named her Gilova. I liked the name but I told her that it wasn't my bird, and it all depended on what Maury thought. Then I decided I would find Maury and tell him. He never seemed to care about the bird at all. Up till then I hadn't even seen it out of it's cage. I really like the crow, I don't understand why Maury doesn't.

When I went back to car #19, Maury and his friends were no longer playing cards, they were just talking quietly amongst themselves. That's when I told him that Willa had named the crow Gilova and he just said "Yeah, sure, whatever". Then I told him that Roberta and I would be wandering around and he said "Ok, just don't go near the Harpygape cars." So then Roberta and I went back to car #8 to get something out of her luggage. This time it looked as if the car was crammed with about 40 or 50 people, only all the faces I'd seen the first time I'd entered this cart had been replaced by a whole set of completely different people. We had to shove our way through to get to her suitcase and politely ask the person who was sitting on it to get off of it. Roberta put in her "History of Swampwash" and "Magical Theory" (with great difficulty because of the crowd) and took out her notepad and some money. Then we got out as soon as we could, which took awhile.

"It says in 'The History of Swampwash' that it's always been crazy like this. My dad didn't tell me that the school was this crazy, Then again he was always a sensible student." Roberta announced as soon as we'd arrived in #26. She also had a sarcastic sneer on her face when she said "...HE was always a SENSIBLE student". It gave me the thought that she didn't like her dad much.

"I don't mind it so much. It looks like I'll have fun here." I said.

"So will I. I'm not sensible like my dad. I'm going to get into as much trouble as I can manage." She rolled her eyes when she said it. It made me kind of jealous. At least she HAS a dad.

"Do you get along with your dad?" I asked.

"No." She grumbled. "He doesn't like me very much, he likes Anthony and Otto and William; they're my brothers, a lot more than me. He makes me call him sir and he doesn't think anything is funny. Everything is SERIOUS, SERIOUS, SERIOUS! All he does is write his stupid books all the time."

"What about your Mom? You get along with her, don't you?"

"No. My mom left when I was a baby. My Aunt says she just walked out the door one day and never talked to us again, but she lives in Brambleberry, that's in Maine, with her new husband. I wrote a few times, my dad doesn't know though. Doesn't matter anyway, she never wrote back. Doesn't bug me, not like I ever knew her or anything. My Aunt is like my mom. Do you like your Parents?"

I didn't know what to say. She just poured out all these miseries and I love my mom a lot. "Yeah, my mom's ok, she tells me to do stuff all the time though." I said, even though my mom doesn't tell me to do stuff ALL the time, just clean my room and stuff, like normal moms. I just didn't want to tell her how great we get along because I felt sort of guilty.

"Yeah, but what about your dad?" she said.

I pretended I didn't hear her and I said "let's go look at all the carts one by one!" She was really smitten with the idea and she didn't notice I was avoiding her question. "Yes! Let's go boy hunting!" she said. I am so glad I didn't have to talk about it. The last time I told Becky Lewis in first grade, it spread around and Tom Carston said "HA HA! You don't have a dad! That's what a bastard is!" And I cried and I wanted to go home, but there was only an hour left of school and my mom was working at one of her jobs, so I sat in the office and cried. It doesn't matter, really, that was a long time ago. It's just that I feel so stupid sometimes not having a dad like everyone else. I mean, I don't even know who he is, and it's so embarrassing to tell people. My mom doesn't think it matters or something, as much as I ask her. I wish she would. I'm never going to tell any of this to Roberta.

So we were looking in all the cars (except the Harpygape cars) to see what was in them. We started at number 1 and worked our way up. Nobody had told me that #1 was really the prefect car. 4 prefects with gold badges and a girl with a bigger gold badge sat around in there with their friends and when we arrived they asked if they could help us. I said no. Roberta said yes. The prefects looked at us funny. Then Roberta smiled at Fransisco and asked him when the refreshment cart would be coming around. Now I could definitely tell she liked him and I rolled my eyes. He told us the cart was passing through somewhere but he didn't know where. So we thanked him and continued on through the other cars. As soon as we got into car #2, Roberta giggled and said "he's sooooooooo cute!"

"We went in there on purpose just so you could see the Mexican prefect, didn't we!"

"Yes" she sighed. I was sickened.

"You don't even know his name do you?"

"No I don't, do you? He is so cute, don't you think so Molly? Don't you think he's cute?"

"No!" I said. "That's gross."

Compartment #2 was very full and loud and I was glad nobody heard us talking about that because it was sort of embarrassing. For the rest of the trip we wandered into the other cars and talked a lot. Roberta often pointed out people to me and she would talk about them out loud. Sometimes she said really rude things about them, she said them indiscreetly and I realised she was very bold and had no shame at all. Sometimes the conversation went like this:

"And that's so-and-so, she's just like all the women on her mother's side of the family, really nosy."

"Roberta!"

"Her mom is nosy too and she gossips all the time my Aunt told me."

"Roberta! That's rude! Don't say that!"

"Everyone knows it."

"Well you shouldn't say it, it's rude!"

"So? If she doesn't want people to say she's nosy, she shouldn't be nosy. I'm telling you for your own good."

And many other conversations like that one. She pointed me out to a lot of people and told me where they were from and how her dad knows them and usually how rich or poor they were. When we got to car #15, we found the trolley cart and we bought some sweets and things to nibble on. Magic sweets are very strange. They have these little packages called chocolate frogs which you collect cards from (the frogs actually jump and the pictures on the cards move around just like all the pictures at Aunt Moesha's house and in my text books) and these little jelly beans, called Bertie Bott's ever flavour beans. Bertie says she likes them and likes the name Bertie especially because of this, and that everyone likes the name Bertie but no one likes the name Roberta. I don't think so, I quite like the name Roberta. I'd rather be called Roberta than named after a jelly-bean.

We were about to enter car number #25 when I said "No, no! Let's not go in there. Roberta, there's a... creepy sort of boy in there, I'd rather not see him again." Roberta looked at me straight in the face and her eyes lit up.

"A Boy?" She asked. And when I nodded she grinned and said "Is he cuuuute???"

"Heavens no! He's about the creepiest human I've ever met."

"Hmmmm..." she said and I could tell she had stopped listening because her eyes had drifted across the room to where a group of boys were standing and laughing. I sighed.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" She asked.

"No, nothing at all." I think I was glaring at her. This was perhaps...the, um, 10th time that hour she was distracted by a boy while I was speaking with her. It was getting annoying. The boys passed us and left the car. Immediately, Roberta said "Wasn't the blonde one cute? C'mon, let's follow them!" And she pulled my arm along so I had no choice. I sighed all the way. Until we saw another boy who was (in Roberta's opinion) far cuter than the last, then another, and another and so on.

While we were in a very crowded car number 17, people started arriving through the conveylevater quickly and grumbling that the prefects had started sending people back to their assigned cars because there were twenty minutes left before the sub arrived in Nova Abergavenny. A moan rose from the people in the compartment and they slowly glided toward the conveylevater.

"I guess I better go back to #8 then." Roberta said with a look of disappointment. "See you later."

"See you later." I said. Roberta was at the front of the crowd and I watched her go through the wall. The crowd around me was very thick and I kept getting pushed and shoved this way and that way. It was one of those times that I hated being so small. Most of them apologised when they accidentally elbowed me or bumped into me, but the struggle to get to the conveylevator was getting tighter and tighter. Then someone behind me tripped and fell into me and I was pushed into the wall. The boy apologised as he sandwiched me into the wall and it took me a moment before I recognised where I was, but then it was too late. The conveylevater chose a random car and I sunk through into the next room. This room was also crowded and as I entered I noticed that Gilova wasn't on my shoulder anymore and I had to go back to get her. I also noticed that several of the people in the compartment were glaring at me and I didn't recognise where I was.

"Who are you?"

"Where am I?"

"Look, Kid, you answer our questions first, Who are you?"

"I'm Molly Thumbleknuckle" I was irritated that they'd called me kid, but I wasn't going to say anything about it because It finally hit me where I was.

"What kind of a name is that?"

"Um, a British one." I didn't know what else to say and neither did they because there was a big pause and they were all glaring at me. I noticed even some of the harpygapes were close to my age. I saw Orson and Ingmar among them.

"Do you know what we do to first graders who come in here uninvited?"

"No."

"Well, you have a few options..." but I didn't get to hear them, fortunately, because someone came through the conveylevator at that exact moment.

"Has anyone seen Cheryl?" I turned my head and saw that the prefect, Francisco, was standing there looking out of place.

"No, we haven't seen her around in a long time." said the guy who had been bullying me. Then Fransisco gave him a stern look and he looked at me.

"Lloyd, what are you doing?"

"Oh, me? Nothing, I was just having a friendly conversation with this first grader here." He put his arm over my shoulder as if being 'friendly' and I felt really awkward.

"You've been warned many times and if it weren't for Cheryl I'd have you sent to talk to the Head Mistress. You've got to stop initiating the first graders. If I have to talk to you about this again, it'll be the last time. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Lloyd said coldly like he hissing of a snake.

"Come on, I'll take you back to your compartment" Fransisco said and I followed gladly.

"Wait" I said "I forgot my crow in room #17, can we go get it?"

"Sure" he said. So we went to room 17 and I told Fancisco how I had been pushed into the Harpygape compartment. I got Gilova and we walked to the out conveylevator. But before we went through, Fransisco said to me in a hushed tone:

"Look, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't mention to anyone that I was in the Harpygape compartment."

"No Problem." I said, right away wondering why it mattered. I am still trying to figure out why he asked me not to tell, was he not supposed to be there?

He escorted me back to #3 and I said good bye and sat down. Everyone was happy to see me and I listened to them all talking excitedly about Swampwash. And I found myself growing more and more excited as I learned more of our destination. I truly felt as though I belonged to this group of people. I have never felt this way before, in school it was always a struggle and a contest to get to the top, or as far from the bottom as possible. Here I was me, and they were them and everyone was themselves. Nobody cared if you said something dumb or did your hair funny. We all wore funny clothes, so we were the same. And as I watched them carefully I noticed that they respected everyone. It was nice, and I don't feel so afraid of this school anymore.

Twenty minutes later, though it felt shorter, the lanterns went out and we were left in the darkness for only a moment before the unbearable brightness of daylight hit us. We all winced and groaned and Donnelly said "Man, I hate that part." I tried to pry my eyes open, but it was no use. Sorta like visiting the loo at night but worse. When I had adjusted I looked outside and I saw houses. Many, many houses but odd looking like those at Haddletoe. I saw people all standing around too, dressed like us yet some plainer.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Nova Abergaveny" whined Ts'o Lin who had her face buried in a cushion.

"It's named after Abergaveny, a non muggle community in the old world, ever heard of it?" Vaughan was sitting next to me leaning over the seat and looking out the window with fairly wide eyes. I shook my head.

"No."

"Aren't you from England?"

"Yes."

"Then you must have heard of it" He looked at me with a quizzical expression. "Whereabouts in England?"

"London"

"London?! Why would you choose Swampwash over Hogwarts?"

"I dunno."

"Oh" Another puzzled look. "Oh, Ok. Well, It's nothing really. I wish I could go to Hogwarts, My Aunt Ursula went there and they have all the fun there, all the real action. Nothing interesting happens at Swampwash."

"Oh." I said. The sub car was beginning to slow down and I could see a sort of station out of the window.

"You'll love the Cranewood house. There's no doubt that if your cousin is in it then you'll be in it too. I'm in it and I swear it's the best. We win the Quadpot cup every year too. And when we don't it's just because the Harpygapes always cheat." I didn't say anything after this because I was trying to make sense of what he'd said and because the sub had come to a complete stop.

"Well! At least we're finally here!" I said.

"That's what you think." laughed Vaughan. He walked away into the jumble before I could ask him exactly what he meant. Everyone was standing up and shuffling around. I got up, picked up my luggage and stood beside Maury. When the door opened, everyone poured out and I found myself standing in a scrambled crowd.

"First graders over here please!"

"Go that way" said Maury. I walked in the direction of the calling and soon came to a crowd of first graders. They all stood around looking shy and nervous and I began to wonder if I looked the same. I looked up and saw Roberta waving at me and so I walked closer to her. When I got to her she loudly whispered "That's Mistress Mancesa, she's a real witch!" Just after she said this, the teacher turned and glared at Roberta. Her lips were thin and she looked frightfully strict.

"State your name, quickly now, who are you? Speak!"

"Bertie."

"By your surname."

"Penderghast, Bertie Penderghast"

"Oh you're the Penderghast girl, are you?

"Yes Miss"

"Already running in the wrong direction, aren't you? Your father's a fine man and this school is meant for the finest young witches and wizards. We want none of your sass here and if you will not cease to continue this malicious behaviour, you will not be welcome at Swampwash. Is that clear?"

"Yes Miss."

"And you, state your name." She glared at me.

"Molly Thumbleknuckle" There was a snicker and a giggle as I said my name from somewhere in the crowd and I presumed they were laughing at my name, often people do that. The Mistress did nothing to stop this.

"I've never heard of you before, are you sure you are enrolled in this school?"

"I..I'm pretty sure."

"Impudence! Either you are or you aren't."

"Yes."

"Yes Miss."

"Yes Miss."

"I suggest you spend time with the more promising students at this school. It will do the both of you some good." Then she looked up over the heads of the other students and ignored us. I felt very embarrassed and angry and I could tell by Roberta's face that she was frustrated too. She didn't blush , she just had a set face and looked as though someone had punched her pride in the nose. Everyone around us had a concerned look on their faces; all the first graders towering over me looked troubled and none of them said a word. I myself was trying to hold back the urge to speak up and tell her off, tell her she did not know whether I was a promising student or not. Even if I wasn't she shouldn't have said it. Roberta was holding it back too and I could see on the faces of the others that they also didn't agree. But the fear of being sent back and denied the privilege of attending this school was too much to bear, so we remained silent.

She read off a list of names and we all called out 'Present' when she called on us. She completely skipped Mine and Roberta's names, but she paused twice and glared at us partway through reading. I presume this was where our names were supposed to be called off. I watched each person say 'Present' after their name, at least I saw some of them. There were a lot and I am so short I couldn't see all of them. I recognized a few of them, the ones I'd seen in the compartment. Mylynn was standing in front of me, and I recognized the other 1st grader boy from #3, Julian. I saw a short stumpy boy I'd recognized and I found out his name is Pete Glendellameyer. I remember this because it is nice to see someone with a longer last name than mine. And that boy I saw at the Robe sewing place, his name is Ian Bronsen and he looks like he's shy. I also recognized another person from the Robery, the temperamental blonde girl who shrieked at me. Her name's Elsie Mundon, and she has two sidekicks, Erica Jayne Gibson, a saucy squinting brunette and Gwendolyn Friar, a scowling tall girl with mousy coloured hair. Elsie looked at me funny, but a I don't think she recognized me which is a very good thing. She looks kind of frightening. Some new names I learned were Joel Mernon, Benigna Peasegood, Leah Smethwyck, Ian McCormack, Maximus Brankovitch IV (whatever you do, do NOT say it without the IV, apparently he's famous or something) and a few others. And before I forget, there was another name, a name I have already mentioned. Mistress Mancesa called out "Crowle, Jarvis" and I heard him answer from the other side of the crowd. "That's him!" I whispered to Roberta. "Huh? Who?" "Nevermind." I said. I tried to stand on my tippy toes to see him, but everyone else was too, and whispering and I was too short. I wondered to myself why everyone else had to see, but I didn't think about it too long.

At the end of the list, The Mistress called out to everyone.

"Children (as if we were little kindergartners), Pay close attention for I will not repeat it twice for those stupid enough to ignore. We have hours ahead of us."

I groaned. Hours? Maury had said a 'little longer'. Then she went on and on about proper conduct and rules and on and on. She was so orderly and demanding, I was afraid I wouldn't like this school at all. I wouldn't last in that sort of standing for for more than a week. But then I thought, 'it can't be like that all the time, just think about the underground!' because I have never seen such disorder in my life. I really hope it doesn't turn out that way, all strict-like. Then came the fun part.

"Until we catch our next ride, I will take you on a tour of Nova Abergavenny" she said. Then she continued on to tell us all about the town. She explained that it was one of the oldest Wizarding towns in New England. It was the home of many famous witches and wizards and a haven for the years of the witch trials. She told us that Nova Abergavenny was world renowned for it's magic resources, all of which (for the first time in my life) I found dreadfully interesting. She showed us castles (lots of castles! Towering over the town, she calls them "New England castles")and told us who they belonged to now, and who they once belonged to, people like the first King and Queen in the new world. I didn't know there were Royalties in America, but Roberta assured me that in the Wizarding world there were, and that until the last 20 years (they abolished the monarchy government in the American Wizarding world) they always have. Mistress Mancesa told us that Third Grade students had permission to visit the town on specified occasions during the school year. I had already gathered this because as we traveled through the town, I saw several older students wandering around and dashing in and out of the shops. For a tour, I found it rather fascinating. Roberta, on the other hand, spent the entire time yawning and rolling her eyes and announcing "We already know this stuff" *sigh* "Why does it take so long" *sigh* "First graders should be allowed to shop too!" *grumble* "there's no reason we should have to carry our luggage around!". Of course, she said none of it loud enough for everyone to hear (at least not Mistress Mancesa), but she certainly made her point. I find it really annoying, actually, I've never met someone who complains more than Roberta.

Finally, Mistress Mancesa told us it was time to continue on our trip, and so she directed us down the road to the sea. We walked onto the dock and I saw big ships, old ones, galleons with tall masts.

"Are we going on a boat?" I was amazed.

"Of course, silly, you don't WALK to an island!"

"Swampwash is on an island?"

Not only Roberta, but some other people laughed at me too. I didn't feel so humiliated because I felt too glorious to be humiliated. I'd never been on an island in my LIFE! I was going to a private magic school on an island! It is all too strange how your life can go from dreadfully dull to marvelous in a day! We were joined by the other students a few moments later and we were led onto one of the ships. I glanced at the name of the ship, written in swirly blue letters, it was called 'Albion's Sigh'. Once we got aboard the ship(and Boarding the ship was a long and memorable experience, It isn't everyday you board a ship that is the type you only see in movies), we were led to a little room on deck where we were to keep our luggage (and our pets). As I stood on the deck with Roberta it occurred to me that there was no crew. I asked Roberta why this was and she gave me a funny look.

"Silly, It's a Magic ship. We don't a crew. It moves itself."

And It really was magic. I watched in awe as the sails seemed to rise by themselves, a misty blue breeze filled them up and I felt the ship move. It had that same feeling as the underground, not rocking as ships usually do, not swaying, but gliding. Like a leaf floating on a calm glassy pond. I felt magic all around me, the air was as magic as it was salty.

Then we were free to wander around, so we did. Roberta and I walked the deck once and then I thought of that movie, Titanic, and I said

"Roberta, let's look at the front of the ship."

As we walked there, I told her all about non magic stuff, and all the stuff on TV, and the Princess Bride, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Archie comics, and she seemed almost interested, and she asked me all about "muggle" stuff.

"I don't get it." She said "So if you break something in the muggle, I mean, non magical world, you don't fix it? You just toss it? No Repairo?"

"Well, we try to fix it, with glue and stuff, but you can't fix everything."

"Sure you can, but glue? That's not fixing, that's just sticking back together."

"Well, yeah."

"That's Stupid."

"No it isn't."

"You muggles are so primitive and confused. Like, you're all walking into, like, doors instead 'a just openin' them. It's stupid."

"What? We're not stupid. And we don't walk into doors, we open them."

"It's a metaphor."

"Ok, well, I think magic's like cheating. At least WE don't cheat."

"Better to cheat than walk into doors."

Me: *sigh*

"Yeah, but, without magic, how do you cook?"

Well, Anyway, we went to the front of the ship and just before we turned the corner, we heard someone talking. I looked and I saw two boys, one, a boy with reddish brown hair and freckles, was leaning over the side and the other, with brown hair and tan skin, was standing on the rail. Then they turned around and saw us and got down immediately. The boy with the hat bowed slightly and laughed to himself, in a nervous manner.

"Ladies!" He said. He had some sort of an accent, but I didn't catch it right away. Then he looked at me and asked "Do I...know you?"

In fact, I did know him. He was very familiar and I knew EXACTLY why.

"Yes. You pushed me into the conveylavator."

"Oh. So sorry about that." he bowed again. "I'd love to say it won't happen again, and it probably won't, but you never know, it might, I'm very clumsy, and I'd hate to make promises I can't keep."

'Oh that's REALLY charming', I thought 'I'm so sorry, but I might do it again.' I could tell now by his accent he was Australian. I kept walking.

"Do you have a name?" he asked.

"I got pushed into a Harpygape car, lucky for you I got out alive."

"Oh. I...I really am sorry. If I knew I would have caused you such distress I would have held on to you and gone in with you and given all those dumb harpygapes a couple knuckle sandwiches and shiners."

I disappeared around the corner then because I did NOT want to hang around this DROOLING numbskull.

"Will you not even leave me with a name?"

I kept walking, completely ignoring him. Roberta grabbed my arm, her jaw dropped and nothing came out, but her expression was filled with shock and horror. She faced their direction and yelled "She accepts your apology, Her name's Molly, and I'm Roberta and..." but I didn't let her finish. I pulled her along and stomped down the deck, she tagged behind me.

"That" she said "Is the cutest guy so far on this trip and he's AUSTRALIAN and you just, like, told him off! What's wrong with you?"

"Who cares WHAT he looks like! That's not the point!"

"But he apologized! Twice!"

"Yeah, and this makes a difference because, what, because you think he's cute?"

"That and..."

"That's Pathetic." I spat.

"No YOU'RE pathetic!"

And then I didn't respond. Again I was wondering why I was still hanging around her. We just walked around the deck ( I wouldn't say AROUND it, because every time we got to the front of the ship, I turned around and walked the other way)about 6 times and anyone who'd have seen us would have been confused because we appeared to detest one another and yet we were still walking together. I felt grumbly but as I watched the sun setting, I felt that "Never let the sun go down on your anger" thing. Somehow the Sun pulled my grudge down with it. With the light of the sun floating on the sea and casting long shadows on the deck, my mind drifted and I saw the spellbound ship under a different colour. I looked at all the enchanted parts of the boat, the ropes moving around on their own and the captain's wheel moving all by itself too. I felt daydreamy and I kept thinking about the new school and other things and every surprise that had entered my head that day. And so when Roberta spoke, I forgot we were mad at each other.

"Where is everyone?"

It hadn't occurred to me. Lots of people were on deck, but not the whole schoolful. So we wandered around until we found the way to get downstairs under the deck. Well, there was more than one way, actually. There were stairs and, near the back of the ship, there was a pole, like a fireman's pole. So we went down the fun way, and slid down passing two cabin floors into some back room full of mops and buckets and rope. We went through a door and found an empty kitchen and then through another door, and there was a short hallway and while we were passing through, we could hear the sound of people. A moment later we found ourselves in a big, wide open floor where all the storage was and, also, where all the people were. We wandered around, talking to people and looking out the little tiny circly window things. It was loud down there, all the chattering, but not loud enough to drown out the distinct sound of thunder, and a blast of pouring rain sweeping over the deck. Everyone was hushed, it was funny how for a split second, nobody spoke and then all at once everyone did. They all got up and flocked to the stairs. Knowing all my life that lightening and boats don't mix, I was scared out of my wits.

"But Roberta, it's a ship! Is it safe?"

"'Course it's safe! It's a magic ship, magic ships don't sink. The Ship's Unsinkable."

"Don't say that." I said as I remembered what they said about the Titanic, not that I'm superstitious or anything.

But in the end, I was convinced, and I went with her to the deck. It was fabulous, all dark and stormy and windy and the rain was coming down by the bucketful. Forked lightning flashed across the sky. It was like a party, everyone laughing and screaming and sliding. Everyone was soaked within a few seconds. It was so fun.

The time passed by so quickly, and slowly the storm sort of died out. I hardly noticed. Someone's voice rang loud and clear from somewhere on the deck, it sounded like a megaphone.

"Students, we are now 10 minutes away from Swampwash Island. I ask that you all return to the cargo floor."

As everyone walked toward the stairs, Roberta grabbed my sleeve and whispered "How would you like to take a look at the island first?" I was torn between following our instructions and just taking a quick peek, but I didn't ponder over it too long and I went with Roberta in the opposite direction. We leaned over the side of the deck and, to our surprise, we saw nothing. We looked around and saw nothing. It was very puzzling.

"Where is it?" I asked, but Roberta didn't know the answer. She snuck along the side of the deck, dodging behind things to keep hidden from the dispersing crowd by the stairs. We crawled along hiding, scrambling and hiding, until we came to the other set of stairs that leads to above the captain's quarter's, the part that is above the rest of the ship. Just as we reached the top of the stairs, we saw Mistress Mancesa and another teacher walking toward us. We charged behind a big barrel and luckily they didn't see us. They walked down the stairs and Roberta said "The coast is clear." We got up and looked around. No Island.

"I have an idea, maybe we can't see it because it's dark now and kinda foggy. We should go up higher." she said.

"But you can't..." but then I realized she meant the crow's nest. "NO! BERTY, that's too DANGEROUS!!!"

We argued, but in the end I found myself climbing up a slippery, wobbly net, extremely high up above the deck. We scrambled into the crow's nest, and I do admit I was enjoying it. I always wondered what it was like to climb up into a crow's nest. It was Marvelous.

But there was no island.

"I don't get it, this is so weird." Roberta said, and I thought the same thing. And then it happened.

"LOOK!" I screamed, pointing at the front of the ship. It was disappearing, going invisible, and at a quick rate. "What's happening?" I asked Roberta, but she couldn't speak, she was petrified with fear. Seeing her didn't make me feel any more courageous. There was only half a ship left and we were getting nearer and nearer. We panicked.

"What's going on! Help!"

"We're going to get swallowed up!"

"We're going to die!"

Roberta was screaming and I had my hands clenched to the rim of the crow's nest. There was just that moment, as it came so near and I opened my mouth to scream and I saw my hands disappear in front of me. I felt that glassy conveylevator feeling and my hair flew back like a blast of wind. All at once, the front of the ship and the island appeared and there was much less wind.

"What...How...whi..em..."

"Wicked!" Roberta said.

"A...A castle?"

"Of course, isn't it beautiful?"

"We just went through some sort of invisible wall, didn't we?" I said this very slowly and unsurely.

"WOW! YEAH! This is so cool!"

And now that I think about it, it kinda was. I mean, it was terrifying, but once you get past the horror of watching your own hands disappear and the feeling of being in a 'Twilight Zone' episode, and the indefinity of whether you peed your robes or not, It really was pretty awesome.

And so was the Island. Perhaps a little stone-age-like. It was rocky looking, with a big volcano in the middle of it and on top of the Volcano was the castle. Big tall pointy towers with copper roofs and turrets, not quite the same as the old gray castles in Great Britain; it was all dark and spooky. Lightening flashed across the sky and a silhouette of the island outlined with pure white light stuck in my mind, I see it when I close my eyes even now. I was awed by it. School, in a real true castle! And even now I can't believe I am in one, right now. It's so much more than I imagined, or ever could imagine.

After we stood a minute, and our nerves cooled off and our hearts calmed, we felt like we should go back. Although my hands were shaking, I made it down the net. We scrambled to the pole and went down. At the bottom, we met the 'wonder' boys, white-faced and quivering with fear. I knew exactly what had happened to them and without a word spoken, we sort of returned to the cargo deck as a group. Lucky for us, we returned unnoticed. But I came to, and when I felt braver (and realized I had actually walked with the stupid boys) I pulled Roberta behind me and we got lost in the crowd. Then I saw Odette (she's so white, she sticks out like the moon. She reminds me of 'Almalthia' on the Last Unicorn) with Donnelly and the twins and Rosinante and K.Z. So we stood around with them, then the ship slowed down and came to a stop and we got our luggage and walked off.

It was a dock which we stepped off onto, I can't think why it felt so plain to step off onto a dock. Perhaps I was expecting something more glamorous and shiny, especially after all the surprises of that day. Maybe a fleet of royal trumpeters, a fanfare welcome. Oh dear, I am getting tired. And my hand is so cramped. I ought to finish this entry soon. The excitement of the day that kept me awake an hour ago is fading and only now do I feel like drifting off to sleep. But I have to finish now, tonight, while it is fresh in my mind.

Well, anyhow. We were led off the dock by adults, my first glimpse at the teachers that whole day. It was very dark, but not too dark to recognize the tall thin sourly figure at the front, striding and pert, Mistress Mancesa led us all. At the end of the dock I thought I saw smoke drifting out of a hillside, but on further inspection, I saw a light, a little window. It was a house or cabin of some sort. Queer thing about it was that it was a very small sort of fort. "That" The voice came from behind me and made me jump because I didn't expect it "is the home of one of the many grounds keepers." It was Sun. He continued

"Just noticed you were looking at it, thought you might want to know."

"Thank you, but why is it so small?"

"You'll see." He said. I was just about to demand him to tell me. I hate it when people say "You'll See", it really gets on my nerves, people always say that to small people. They seem to think I am a little child seeing everything for the first time. "Just look, little stupid one, you will see for yourself in just a moment, and then you can gasp with delight and let out a series of ooohing and aaaahhing.! You will see!" I mean, I asked didn't I? All I want is an answer in plain old human dialect. Have I expressed how much I hate it when people say those two little words? Anyway, I'm babbling. A few moments later the door of the little cottage opened and out came a little man with a lamp in his hand. He stood there and waited for the crowd to catch up to him, which I think intelligent for any person who stands two feet high.

"Is he a dwarf?" I asked, and Roberta and Sun laughed at me. I was soon corrected. It was explained to me that the "Nirmish" are a nation of little people (known to the American Natives as Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg, or "the little people of the wood"), and that there are many Elven nationalities all over the world, the Nirmish are strictly East coast American Elven people. "They were here long before the Native Americans got here, but they were sort of swarmed out. There's so little area for them now, they only reside in thick wilderness places, like Canada. One clan of them was adopted onto this island and they stayed here ever since, some of them even work here." I also found out that this particular Nirmish fellow was named kamwekek-uh-something-or-other, but that everyone just calls him 'Grembly.' "You can't strike up a conversation with him, he's horribly cranky, Grembly is just a rotten to the core angry spiteful little beast."

When we reached him, he had a word with Mistress Mancesa and I was very glad to be within an eavesdropping distance.

"The Beasts are muzzled and slumbering, out cold, the north passage is quite safe."

"What a treat!" Alaina declared "We get to see Edom and Syphreida!"

"What are those?" I asked.

"Dragons!" she said. I gasped, and she smiled. "You can't mean...I mean...real dragons? I didn't think they really existed!"

"Yes." Alaina's whisper became a shining smile.

"Alaina, if Dragons exist, what about other things, Unicorns? Faer..."

"They do! And you'll see them all here."

I felt a bubbling bursting feeling inside me. I can't explain how happy and wonderful I felt at that moment. Walking on air, joyous, light hearted. You grow up to fairy tales, and being a child you believe them. Then one day, someone tells you they don't exist and you look and you learn and you feel foolish because it's just impossible. But you want to believe and you make yourself and you look outside in the early morning hours, and they aren't there. Faeries, Unicorns, elves, magic, they aren't isn't there. And no matter how often you look, you know you'll never see them because they don't exist. And then one day, all of a sudden they do, and you see dragons and go to school in a castle. Hope was once lost, and you've found it. And you feel like you can close your eyes and throw your arms in the air and fly. And even if I can't right now, there's no doubt in my mind that someday I can and will. And that is what magic is. It's really real.

I watched the little man they call Grembly as he walked toward a tall wall that I hadn't noticed until just then because it was hidden by trees and shadow. There were tall gates and the little man hobbled toward them, he looked and walked like an oompa-loompa. He took a set of keys out of his pocket and threw them up in the air. They sprung wings and flew up to the top of the gate and with the speed of a hummingbird, they flew to various locks hidden in the entwining patterns in the gate. They returned to his hand and he stepped back, the grand gates swung open.

We all walked through, as I passed Grembly, I noticed his face was gruesome and miserable, I shuddered. The path was cobblestoned and the edge was trimmed with a short rock wall. Great big trees (they sounded like they were breathing) hovered over us. And then a gasp wove through the crowd. I looked and saw them. Two enormous jet-black dragons on either side of the road lay sleeping. The sight of them made me want to cry, not because I was upset, but because they were breath taking. Both had muzzles on them and were attached to a chain. One of them was sleeping on it's back with it's feet up in the air; it's enormous stomach heaved up and down with each moaning snore. Nobody dared make a sound, we all knew they were sleeping, but the razor sharp claws and teeth and cold leathery black, black skin left nobody feeling safe. We all tiptoed by gaping at them. Imogene's whispering was the only sound I could hear other than the breathing of the Dragons. She told us that they were purebred 'Hebridean Blacks' imported from Britain and that they protect the school grounds. Nearly 200 years old. The one with it's feet in the air is a male an his name is Edom and the one lying down (which was much bigger!) Was his mate and her name is Syphreida. "They roam the grounds freely at night and outside the sea wall in the day" she informed Roberta and I and any of the other First graders nearby. "You definitely can't sneak out on the grounds at night at THIS school, unless your lifelong dream is to be toasted by a dragon." I thought, with that information, only an idiot would sneak out at night.

We continued on the trail and at the bottom of the volcano there was another gate and, on either side of the gate, two guards stood on duty. Not just any guards, Trolls. Green skinned hairy warty 'forest' trolls. When we approached, one of them charged at us, grunting and howling. Some of us screamed (yes, I was one of them) and the tall drooling beast looked all confused and it ran the other way. "Fear not students!" Roared the voice of Mancesa "Behold the stupidest creatures on the face of the earth. True, they can be vicious, yet they wouldn't dare attack a group of students. But I do not advise you approach them without a teacher, I can not guarantee you will return unharmed." The gates opened on their own and we proceeded on the long journey.

Now, it was a LONG walk to the castle. You'd think they'd build a conveylavator or something, but we had to walk to the top of the volcano on one of those paths that go all the way around it a few times. The view was exhilarating, but the walk was exhausting. When we reached the top, everyone was on all fours panting and gasping. Well, not really, but it gives you the picture. When we got to the castle, we walked across the drawbridge and let me tell you something astounding. Until then, I thought the castle was on top of a tall pointy mountain. When I looked over the side of the drawbridge to see the moat, there wasn't one, there was nothing at all. Just a sort of deep pit. I pointed it out to Florence and Imogene and Sun and Imogene said "Yeah, it's the dead Volcano shaft, The castle is right in the middle of the hole, floating or something. Don't ask me how it works, I don't get it myself. 'Ts kinda like the Caramilk secret. But in a war or something, I'd say it's ingenious." I tried to look at the bottom to see what the castle was on and it appears to be rock, but what the rock is attached to is a mystery. "You wouldn't want to fall in that moat" said Sun, and I smiled in agreement.

The gatehouse gate was already up and so we walked into a courtyard. The ground was dusty, but there was a fountain and lots of little gardens. We walked through the gardens and through an archway. We had to climb a long flight of stairs (my legs were SO worn out) and finally, we reached the big red doors of the castle. They, too, opened on their own and we entered a room filled with floating lanterns. I guess you can call it the foyer, it had a big green carpet ( a long velvet one going up the stairs ) and it had the crest on my robe in the middle of it. The foyer was long and empty, several corridors were detached from it and as we passed them, I looked down them.

We were instructed to leave our luggage (only Mancesa said 'things' in a most informal way. They say the word "things" a lot in America.) there and follow her. We were led through one of the corridors and up a flight of stairs and down another hall. I kept looking at the walls and windows. There were carvings throughout the castle, in the stone, gargoyles and even scenes and pictures and busts. The windows were almost all really tall, some were open and drafty, some were painted glass. Some of the painted glass figures moved. There were tall candle holders and sometimes floating lanterns. The second passage had torches of blue fire on the wall!

Finally, we entered a vast hall with tables and a ceiling higher than any I've ever seen (For some reason, it appeared to fade off as if it was full of dark fog) and 5 gigantic stained glass pictures. One, the biggest, was up at the top and showed a picture of an elderly woman. Beneath her, the other four portrayed two women and two men. Underneath them were written the names "Millicent Everfly, Theodore Mithlewad, Edgar Harpygape, and Yancy Cranewood" and on the large window "Uma Swampwash". By looking at the colours and the names, I somehow figured these were important people that had something to do with the naming of the school and the houses. I didn't know quite how though.

There were also 5 tables, one where the teachers sat and four other long ones. The other four were arranged in a circle, in the middle was a stone floor and a mosaic with the Swampwash crest. Everyone sat down and so did Roberta and I, but then we were told the first graders weren't supposed to. So we stood around in the middle with the other first graders. All the other students at the table clapped. I felt a little embarrassed. We stood in a clump of nervous students and that's when I noticed a stool on the 'S' of the mosaic with an old battered box on it. Mancesa entered the crowd. She had a scroll in her hand and, surprisingly, she had a smile on her face. She stood by the stool and I looked at the cylinder black box, wondering what was in it. All of a sudden, the box shook a little and I heard it cough. My eyes opened wide, I think, because I was taken aback.

Mistress Mancesa gently removed the lid off the box. She reached her hands inside and slowly pulled something out. I wasn't sure what it was, it appeared to be a dirty mass of material and patches. The thing quivered and coughed again and spoke.

"Dust, dust, I want a new box!"

The students at the tables laughed.

The first grader's mouths dropped as she turned the thing around and placed it on the stool. It was a hat, the hat Alaina had told me about, an old dusty witches hat. And not only that, it had a face! It's expression, it was a very expressive hat, seemed to be disgruntled and jaded. It sighed before it started to chant a song about sorting students into their houses. It was kind of spooky, I wasn't feeling to keen about putting it on my head. Roberta leaned over and whispered to me.

"You think it carries lice?"

Mancesa opened the scroll and read out the names in a random order. This is when I learned everyone's names. Roberta was called up before I was and she looked at me before she went up, her face said "I'm scared", "I hope we get to be in the same house", and "eww, lice". She sat down and plunked the hat on her head. It took almost a minute and then the hat called out "EVERFLY!"

The Everfly table cheered. Roberta took the hat off and her face was white. She went to her table and I thought 'I hope it isn't THAT bad.' I watched as the others went through the sorting. And let me add, Two more Everflys were, to my disappointment, well I bet you already know. The Titanic boys who's names are really River and Jordan(I find this funny). That mean girl (Elsie Mundon) and her friends were sent to Harpygape. I was one of the last ten standing there and I was just wishing the hat would hurry up and call my name. I looked around at the others and there was Jarvis, the creepy guy. He was standing farther away than anyone else and there was a prefect standing next to him. I wondered why he needed someone standing with him, was he a criminal or something? He was staring clean through the hat, cold brown eyes. I felt cold and I shivered. I turned my eyes back to the hat.

"Thumbleknuckle, Molly!"

It was my turn. Timidly, I approached the stool. I picked up the hat, sat down and put the hat on. It dropped over my eyes.

"Why! If it isn't...oh but it is!"

'Isn't what?' I thought and the hat responded.

"I mean, I am glad to see you! I sorted your parents, unforgettable."

'How...'

"I am one and many hats, you see, Your parents...both of them noble students at Hogwarts, both Gryffindors. Your mother...brilliant...it's a shame really."

'My mother went to Hogwarts?'

"Of course she did, foolish child. I'm proud to say, she was a prefect. And your father, quite the student, but..."

'You knew my father???" I thought, I was shocked.

"Doesn't everyone?" The hat sarcastically murmured.

'Who..."

"It is not my concern to discuss such things, now where to put you..."

Confusion filled my mind...my mother...my father? This old withered hat knew things I'd never known. My mind drifted and I couldn't think of anything but who my father was.

"Child!" rumbled the hat "I do ask again, where is it you wish to be placed?"

'I...I don't know'

"Definitely NOT Cranewood. Well, you certainly are a dreamer, you'd be an excellent Mithlewad...and yet..."

"EVERFLY!"

I heard the cheers of the Everfly table. I reached up to take the hat off and I heard it mutter the words "At Peace, child. All will be unveiled when the time is right." The words trailed off to a whisper As I lifted the hat from my head. I wasn't really sure it the hat had said anything, as I slid off the stool, the distant, unfamiliar voice echoed in my head. The next name was called as I walked across the 'Everfly' part of the mosaic toward the table to sit in the empty seat beside Roberta. "Welcome to Swampwash!" "Hooray!" "I do say, Huzzah!" I heard the voices around me say. "Way to go Molly!" I heard Donnelly's voice loud and clear above the others. I looked at the faces of my fellow house students, they ware shaking my hand and patting my back. I sat down. I felt like a cloud, drifting to the table. My mind was all muffled. I looked up to the stained glass picture of Millicent Everfly. She smiled at me, and I managed to return a weak one. Roberta poked me in the arm.

"What am I going to do? My father will kill me!"

"What?" The down horrific look on her face blew away the cloud that had been drifting over my head.

"I was supposed to be in Cranewood! My whole family was...My dad'll be so disappointed, I don't know what I'll tell him." She looked like she just might cry.

"It'll be alright, cheer up." I didn't know what to say to make her feel better.

"What are you so down about?" She questioned.

"Nothing." I replied. "I'm alright." I turned around to see the center of the room where the stool was.

"Took you long enough in under the hat, what were you chatting about? The meaning of existence?"

I didn't answer her.

I tried to watch the sorting to distract my mind, but I found my mind gave in. Staring at the tiles of the mosaic, my mind was spinning out words, trying desperately to break through with an answer. My mom was a prefect "...a noble student...A Gryffindor...Brilliant" he'd said. "A shame really...a shame really...a shame" Again, the echoing. "Your father...quite a student...my father" The hat knew him. "Doesn't everyone?"

A hush went over the crowd and I broke from my whirling mind. Looking up from the floor, I was Mancesa, the hat, the prefect and the last student. Jarvis Crowle. Everyone in the great hall was silent and staring. The strange boy was holding onto the arm of the prefect, the prefect was leading him to the stool. I was staring at the boy, every sign of him made me feel awkward. You could hear his scuffling feet as he slowly and carefully staggered across the floor. You would almost think him injured, the way he walked. He took every step with uncertainty. I shuddered again.

He sat on the stool and put the hat on his head. The room was so quiet you could only hear the faint crunching and shuffling of robes, I actually heard a pin fall somewhere near the Harpygape table.

"EVERFLY!" the hat shouted.

The boy scrambled off the seat. Nobody cheered. As the prefect helped him across the room, someone from our table clapped. It was Donnelly, he shouted "Yeah Jarvis!!!" and he was giving the other Everfly students admonishing looks. We began to clap, and I clapped to be polite. He went to sit at the far end of the table. They welcomed him, but in comparison to the other welcomes, I would say this one was dead and lacking enthusiasm. You could hear Donnelly's friendly voice loud and clear above the others. The students in the great hall resumed their chatting.

"That boy gives me the willies." Said Roberta.

"He's the creepy guy I told you about, the one in car #25!"

Roberta looked like she had no clue what I was talking about, 'which figures' I thought.

"What a freak!" Some guy across the table sniggered to his friend. "Did you see his face? Spooky or what!"

"He's Blind."

Across the table, A tall older girl with short, choppy hair explained. Several students within hearing distance turned their ears to hear her.

"It's true." She went on. "It's an untreatable blindness, not even magic can fix it. I heard all about it, he's the first blind kid to go to an all magic school ever. The school department is trying to see how it goes."

Blind? I was shocked...blind? I felt so embarrassed. All that time, the guy couldn't see. Everything explained itself, the shuffling, being led to the stool by a prefect, the creepy eyes, the way he stared right through you. I felt guilt and remorse. I was so ashamed, I should have known. But...

"It isn't possible." I said. "Berty, He saw me...he saw my hair..."

"Yeah," said the tall girl "Isn't that creepy? How he does that? They say he knows things, they say he's got the other sense or something. Hold a picture behind his back and he'll tell you what's on it, can't see it or anything, just knows."

I shuddered. ESP or something. But he was still spooky. I felt pretty bad though. "I assure you I haven't seen her." he'd said in the underground. Of course he hadn't seen Roberta, he couldn't see Roberta! All at once I felt not only spooked, but sorry. I felt sorry for him, and angry at myself for not giving him the Everfly cheer and welcome like I should have. We all should have. Would the other tables have welcomed him? Everfly really is the snob house. I wish I had been a Cranewood.

"Eh eh em!" Mancesa coughed. She was standing up on the platform near the windows. It reminded me of church. She welcomed us to the school and talked on and on, updating things for the other students from last year, introducing new teachers, announcing new rules, explaining to the first years that we would get a tour of the school tomorrow, that we would start classes the day after. She also mentioned our 'special' student and told us that if he ever asked us to lead him somewhere or assist him in anything, we were expected to and would face the consequences if we didn't. I was actually amazed at her switch of attitude. She was still strict and blunt and demanding, but not in such a terrible manner. She was content and occasionally smiled. I figured the trip didn't agree with her. Maybe she was more at home at the school, felt more comfortable. She went on to tell us that the tryouts for the Quidditch and Quodpot teams would be held in a week, the Prefect meeting the following day, and that there were lists for various clubs hanging on the board in the north tower. She also wanted to inform the students with a low regretful voice that the Principal, for personal reasons, had decided to take some time off. "I'm not sure quite when he will be returning, but until then I am his replacement." There was a worried and unsettled mumble among the other students. "This is awful." "I wonder what happened?" "I hope he comes back soon." "Not Mancesa! Couldn't he have found an alternate substitute?" From the looks on their faces, I shared their sympathy even though I didn't know the one they were grieving for.

With that, she smiled and said "Now, before we begin the feast and festivities, let us sing the school anthem. With that, all the students rose and sang. I didn't know the words ( I don't know them now either)or the tune, but I managed to follow along as best I could. At the end, everyone shouted/sang the last line "MAY THE SPIRIT OF SWAMPWASH REIGN ON!!!"

And with those words, the tables were magically filled with trays and plates and food and candles and everything to eat you can imagine. I ate a lot, I felt quite piggish. I think everyone else did too, there was so much to eat and so many hungry people. Everyone was talking and making conversation and introducing themselves and telling old stories. I could hardly keep track of people, they kept trading seats. Nearly halfway through, the short haired girl and her friend noticed their other friend at the other end. So they swapped seats, and with my luck, you can guess who sat in their old seats.

"Why if it isn't the ladies!" The Australian boy called River plunked down in the seat straight across from me. I can say this did NOT put a big grin on my face.

"Go away, little BOYS aren't welcome here." I'm not a mean person, but I know how to put on a mean mask. I drew out these words slowly and coldly, nice and threatening. I was hoping he'd shut up and leave. But he didn't.

"OOOOOH! Now if that wasn't the worst comeback." His friend, who hadn't spoken up till now, laughed as he said it.

"Marvy!" Jarvis smiled and sat up. "You're muggle born, you are! Like me!"

I almost smiled, but then I caught myself and turned it into a sigh. My temperamental grudgy behavior just turned around, stuck it's tongue out at me and pinched my cheeks. My face showed that I was furious, but truth was, inside, I was only

. = that mad.

Actually, I was bursting and bubbly. 1st reason: I had found another first year who wasn't a magic born person. He was brought up like ME. He knew what a telephone was and that all you need is T.V and mars bars to succeed in life. 2nd reason: he was really nice. Well...Ok, here it is, I'm confessing. He is really cute and charming and if there's any living example of charisma, it's him. Every time he looks at me, his eyes are just so...and his accent...and every time he speaks or looks at me, I just want to giggle. I don't want Roberta to know this though. She has a big mouth, and I keep telling her not to drool over all the boys (because it's annoying and sickening when she does it) but if she knows that I'm secretly drooling up a river, she'll turn it all on me and use it and there will be war.

But anyway, If there's one thing about me, I am very secretive. If I know something that I don't want anyone else to know, the last thing I'll do is say it. If I like someone, the last thing I will do is show any indication of it. Besides, I needed pokerface practice. I made sure I looked really mad ( I did laugh a few times, I couldn't help it )for almost the entire meal. He asked someone about the invisible wall, and I listened too (I definitely wanted to understand that one) and a fourth year, Guido Offenbach, told us that it's a cover for the island, the island is uncharted on non-magical maps and it creates a mirage so that anyone who doesn't know the exact whereabouts of the Island only sees the ocean waves. 'Like a forcefield or something', I thought and River suprised me when he said "Like star trek!". Then one of the older students started up a conversation and he was talking about the game Quadpot with such enthusiasm, he attracted a whole audience (6 or 7 first grade students) and we all listened and I think Quadpot sounds fascinating. A game played on broomsticks. I want to play it.

We were all so awed by it. We all asked him so many questions. His name is Kermit Postlewaithe (when he said kermit, River and I tried to keep back the laughter. I pictured a frog on a broomstick)and he is the captain of the Quadpot team. He talked about it with such spunk, we were the last to rise from the table, the last in the line leaving the great hall, the last to get our luggage, and we followed him back to the dormitories. We had to split up then, First graders went with the first graders, and we were split again, Boys and girls. Roberta and I went up the Tower and down the hall. All the rooms were full, but the last one at the very end of the hall next to another tower, we found a room with only one girl. We decided to claim that room. I already described the room, so you have a nice picture in your mind. But let me say it is a classic room, furnished with old stuff, the tables and desks are so antique. It reminds me of a queen's room. The other girl, by the way, is named Min Lahm-Si and she's from Bhutan (I don't have a clue where this is). She doesn't speak a word of English, but she has a handy little translator, you speak your language and it transforms it in her language on the page in writing. She has another one that translates to English. She walks around with them hanging out of her pocket. There are only three in the room, one bed is empty. The other rooms fit four. After I arranged all my things and made the room a little homey I joined Roberta (she had dumped her luggage on the floor and taken off) with meeting the other girls and racing in the hallway in our pyjamas (they all had Victorian nighties, I felt a little out in my T-shirt and the 'cool' blue flannel pants I had pestered my mom for forever). But long before the others ended their enormous pillow fight/slumber party/ghost stories/truth-or-curse rampage, I felt drawn to sit under the bed and write in my Diary. I'm not there now, though, I moved to my bed long ago and then I had to move again about an hour ago because the lamp got tired and made a 'phht' sound and refused to light up. No, at the moment, I am sitting under a blanket on the sill of the casement, writing by moonlight.

Roberta is snoring, Min Lahm-Si is asleep and even Gilova is tucked under her wing. I am, perhaps, the only one awake in the castle. Maybe. Maybe there is someone else on the island who is too over come by the events of the day, who's silently scribbling in a diary. It is so quiet. Now my hand is sore beyond belief, and I know I need to sleep. I don't know what time it is, I don't think it matters. I doubt I can even force myself to sleep. I can't sleep. The day was far too exciting. All I can think about is what I will see tomorrow, and Roberta and River and Jarvis and the Dragons and the ugly little man they call Grembly and Mancesa and 'Albion's sigh' and the conveylevators and the hat and what it said...my parents. My father...the biggest question. I kept pausing as I wrote because I couldn't think of anything else. Like when you read a book and you realize you've stopped reading it and you're thinking or worrying about something else. My father. The Griffindor Wizard with black hair, or so I've always presumed. My mom doesn't have black hair, it must be my dad. I wonder if he's short...

I just saw a shooting star!!!! It was beautiful. As shooting stars usually are. I made a wish...but I'm not telling!

I suppose...I guess it wouldn't hurt to crawl into the bed and close my eyes and think of sleepy things...big snoring dragons with their feet in the air...it's worth a try.