Chapter Four: New Acquaintances
The time left until term started at Hogwarts slowly diminished. On the day the train was leaving, I packed and repacked my trunks and bags, making sure nothing had been left behind. Sir Dinadan hooted nervously in his cage while my cat, Felon, brandished her claws at him. ("He'll have to get over it," I thought, "because I am not leaving Felon behind.") Arriving at the station and running through the post between platforms nine and ten, I found myself on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, surrounded by a throng of excited students. Some said goodbye to their families, while others gave their luggage to attendants so it could be loaded as cargo.
After getting a hug from Mother and a bit of advice from Father ("Never, ever cast a spell unless you're sure which way your wand is pointing!"), I climbed onto the Hogwarts Express and found an empty room. Soon after I had sat down, a pale, slim, blonde boy about my age walked in. He wore Hogwarts robes with silver and dark green trim, the Slytherin colors. His hair was slicked back neatly, and he wore a rather confident grin.
"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he said, extending his hand, which I shook. Then he took a seat across from me. "I suppose you're a first year, too. D'you know what House you'll be in?"
I shrugged and raised my eyebrows. "My family doesn't have a specific House." At the word "family," Draco leaned forward slightly.
"What family would that be?"
"The Zænidhs. I'm wizard all the way back."
Draco smiled disarmingly. "A pureblood! Well then, I bet you'd be good in Slytherin. I know I'll be in Slytherin. Best House! Good professors, too. I hear Professor Snape is the only Potions Master this side of Moscow to have taken on a dragon single-handedly and won!"
I smiled and nodded approvingly, not bothering to inform him that never, in my entire genealogy, had there been a Gryffindor and a Slytherin in the same immediate family. However, I had no qualms against any of the Houses. I figured that the unflattering rumors about Slytherin were exaggerated, or based on just a few people.
As if in response to my thoughts, two such people appeared in the doorway. Their stocky frames and blank faces made them look like mindless bodyguards. I quickly banished the thought from my head; it's never a good idea to formulate a bad opinion of someone twice your size.
"What now?" asked Draco, a flash of irritation crossing his face.
"We heard that Harry Potter has just got on the train!"
Immediately, both Draco and I stood up. "Harry Potter!" he exclaimed.
"The Boy Who Lived!" I added excitedly. As a small child, I had been told more stories of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named than I could count. Remembering the Diagon Alley incident, I hoped Harry wouldn't remember me forevermore as "the girl who almost knocked me over with a wheeled trunk."
No sooner than we had both spoken, the train whistled loudly and started off with a lurch.
"Ai!" I squeaked, and fell hard onto the bench. Draco and the other two boys had managed to catch themselves against the walls; the latter two were snickering at my reaction.
Draco turned to them sharply. "Crabbe! Goyle! Shut up, you great lumps! Can't you see it's not funny?" The duo averted their eyes and mumbled an apology, stepping back out into the hallway. "Sorry about them, they're not too bright...um...what did you say your name was, again?"
I laughed softly. "I didn't say, or else I'm sure you would have remembered. Andromeda."
At this, Draco's eyes twinkled. "I see I'm not the only person at Hogwarts named for the stars!"
"Father thought it would be clever. You know, 'Zænidh,' stars, they go together." I rolled my eyes. "I have two older sisters, one named Gemini and the other named Libra. However, Father just couldn't bring himself to name me 'Taurus,' so he chose 'Andromeda' instead. Mother was quite thankful."
Draco laughed cheerfully. "At least it's a proper witch name, not some awful Muggle name like 'Susie Anne!'"
Presently, an elderly witch knocked on the door and entered with a giant cart full of sweets. Draco and I selected various snacks, such as pumpkin pastries, cauldron cakes, and of course, chocolate frogs. We paid for it all and bid her a good afternoon. Then Crabbe and Goyle returned. One of them was holding a toad and grinning smugly.
"Think Neville's looking for this?" he questioned.
"Yes, I do, although I doubt you could do much thinking," Draco drawled. "Why don't you take it to him?"
"Sure," grunted the other boy, and they left.
"Do you know who this 'Neville' fellow is?" I asked Draco, interested.
"Of course," he replied, taken aback. "He's a Longbottom. Stuffy, dull family. On the clumsy side. Bet he'll be in Hufflepuff." I agreed, thinking of my father, two aunts, and numerous cousins who seemed to fit the description.
Puzzled, he added, "For coming from a wizarding family, it doesn't seem like you know many people. You didn't even recognize the name 'Malfoy.'"
I shrugged. "I guess we don't get out much. The estate is on Muggle land," I added almost sadly.
Draco grinned. "There are some families you don't want to get mixed up with. The wrong sort. I can help you there." I took the proffered hand, and we shook again.
Suddenly, a girl with bushy, long hair swung in the door. "Have you seen a toad?" she inquired. "A boy named Neville's lost one."
Draco and I exchanged a look of recognition. "Yeah," I replied, "just a minute ago. But someone is already taking it back to him." The girl breathed a sigh of relief and hurried away.
Draco suddenly started chuckling. "Nice cover; thanks!"
"What do you mean, 'nice cover?'"
The blonde boy was almost on the verge of giggling by now. "When I told Goyle to take the toad to Neville, what I really meant was...hide it someplace!"
At this, I, too exploded with laughter. When he had finally calmed down, Draco stood, saying, "I'm going to go meet that Potter chap. Care to come along?"
"No, thanks," I said, figuring that enough people would be bugging Harry already. "I'll meet him sooner or later."
When Draco had left, I pulled out the book Magical Drafts and Potions, opened it to the table of contents, and read silently:
"Chapter 1: Knowing Your Ingredients
Chapter 2: Safety When Using Cauldrons
Chapter 3: Choosing the Right Potion
Chapter 4: How to Slay a Dragon"
My eyes almost popped out upon seeing Chapter 4's title. I flipped to page 108 to read it. There, in giant blue letters, were the words: "Ha ha! Just Kidding!" Below, there was a wizard-picture of a pale, greasy-haired man alternately pointing a wand at a dragon and dodging its flames. "It must be Professor Snape!" I thought, although I knew I was jumping to conclusions.
Just then, Draco returned, looking rather put off, his cheeks tinged with pink. "That Potter is a disagreeable type. Won't shake hands, and won't talk civilly. His friend Ron," he growled spitefully, "laughs at my name, and has a mad beast of a rat that bit Goyle's hand." He pointed at the red mark on the whining boy's hand, then noticed it was bleeding. "Go find a nurse, already!" Waving Goyle out the door, he pushed Crabbe out as well. "Make sure he doesn't faint or something!"
Then he looked at me straight on. "Whatever you do, don't try to befriend Potter. He's one of the wrong sort. He'd betray you in a heartbeat!" He looked as though he might explode.
"Alright, I trust you," I said sincerely. "Here, have a chocolate frog." Draco gloomily opened the box, snatching the frog expertly in his fist and shoving it in his mouth whole. Pulling the Famous Wizard card out of the box, his face suddenly brightened.
Swallowing the frog as quickly as possible, he shouted, "It's Salazar Slytherin, founder of Slytherin House and a Parselmouth! It just reminded me...I heard there's a Parselmouth girl going to be a first-year at Hogwarts, and she's on the train too! Come on, we have to go meet her, I know she'll be in Slytherin!"
Stashing the card in a pocket, he dashed out before I could blink. A moment later he reappeared in the doorway. "Well? Aren't you coming?" Too surprised by Draco's sudden change of mood to argue with him, I stood and followed. Asking a few upper-classmen if they had seen the Parselmouth, we found her compartment.
The girl looked up nervously as Draco entered with his nose high and a swagger in his step, but relaxed a bit upon seeing me. "I see we have another Parselmouth at Hogwarts. There hasn't been one of those since the Dark Lord himself was there."
I thought to myself, "What an odd thing to say when you first meet someone!" But I guessed it was his way of breaking the ice. After all, it seemed laughably absurd, comparing a shy, blonde girl to the Dark Lord!
"I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," said the pale boy, extending his hand. The girl almost sniggered at the mention of his name, but shook his hand anyway.
"Well, I'm Chloe Simmons," replied the green-eyed girl. "Pleased to meet you, I'm sure."
"And I am Andromeda Zænidh," I stated evenly. I saw the corners of her mouth pull into a slight smile. "Good day."
Walking back to our compartment, we were advised by the same bushy-haired girl that we should change into our Hogwarts robes, as we would be arriving soon. Fortunately, I was already wearing my uniform shirt and tie, and only had to put on the black robe over it. Draco excused himself to go change, muttering something about not being able to wear Slytherin colors to the Sorting ceremony.
"What a peculiar young man," I thought, thinking of everything he had said throughout the train ride. "But surely more pleasant than Harry Potter."
To Be Continued...
Disclaimer: I only own Andromeda, her family, Sir Dinadan, Felon, and anything else not found in the book, such as the Potions book table of contents and the 'ha ha! just kidding!', the idea that Snape slew a dragon (correct me if that is in the book, but I doubted it), and any original dialogue or event. Also keep in mind that the things people say in my story are not necessarily my real opinions; for example, I don't mean to insult the name "Susie Anne." The Parselmouth, Chloe Simmons, belongs to the Fanfiction.net author Wildmage42. I am using Chloe with permission, encouragement, and guidance from Wildmage42. I have also granted Wildmage42 permission to use Andromeda Zænidh in a separate fan fic...it's on my favorite stories list; go ahead and read it!