Ah yes, I have actually updated! WAHOOOOOOOOOO! Soon we will meet my
infamous character that no one has heard of, Camellia Dale! Got to go set
off some of Fred and George's fireworks.... hope I don't blow up anything...
Chapter Two Hogwarts Express
The next day, Tom the barkeep awakened both boys. He carelessly walked back to their room, opened the door with a spare key and clapped his hands. The shutters immediately responded, flinging wide open letting sunlight flood the room. James hurriedly awoke, throwing back his blankets and jumping out of bed. It took more than sunlight to wake Sirius Black; so, James threw his pillow at him, knocking over Gwen's cage.
"OY! What was that for?" Sirius said, throwing his own pillow back at James, who ducked. Sirius slowly got out of his bed, making it a great deal harder than it had to be. James was already dressed; was packing the rest of his things in his trunk, which had arrived late last night.
"When are you getting your trunk? You can't obviously carry your things into Platform 9 and ¾ like that! It will draw attention." James questioned, as Sirius dressed leisurely. James rolled his eyes at Sirius, who stuck out his tongue in retaliation.
It was 8:00 by the time they had gotten everything ready to go. Once or twice, Sirius wondered how they were getting to King's Cross.
"James, how are we...erm...getting to King's Cross? I mean we very well can't drive! And there's no way to Floo Powder over. So I guess we can't use magic." Sirius finally cracked and asked.
When James didn't reply immediately, Sirius knew James had something up his sleeve, so didn't question it any further. Seeing as Sirius didn't have his own trunk to put his packages in, James lent him a space in his own. Sirius squeezed all of his purchases in a tiny corner of James's leather trunk. At 9:00, Tom brought the boys breakfast. Sirius stuffed his face with two pieces of toast and jam, and then gulped down a glass of milk. James was starving, so he eat almost as much as Sirius did. At 10:00, an hour before the Hogwarts Express left, they gathered their things and piled them outside of the Leaky Cauldron.
"So, you never answered my question. Exactly how are we getting to King's Cross?" Sirius stared at James with a confused look on his face. James simply looked at the busy street.
"We are taking a cab. I have enough muggle money. It should be interesting though. I mean, it's not as though our owls' cages are normal in the muggle world. I hope the cab driver doesn't ask questions." James said, as he waved down a cab. He peeked his head into the window asking how much a drive to King's Cross would be. "Excuse me, sir? How much would a drive to the King's Cross Station be?" James said politely. The driver, who was looking out of his windshield, turned to James.
"Uh...I couldn't give you an exact amount. Just hop in and I'll take you and your buddy to King's Cross. You can just pile your stuff in the trunk." The driver indicated for James and Sirius to get in the car. Sirius looked a bit reproachful, he hadn't ever ridden in a cab before. James noticed the look on his friend's face.
"It's alright, just help me with my stuff, and then we can go to the station." James said in a whisper. Sirius grabbed an end of the trunk, the owl cages balanced on top. James grabbed the other end and jammed his trunk into the back of the car. Then, they grabbed the cages and carried them into the backseat of the car. Once inside, they realized that this was going to be a long ride. The car bounced uncomfortably. The seats were scratchy, and James and Sirius were wedged in the backseat with two considerably large birdcages.
It took a good 20 minutes to get to the train station. When they arrived, Sirius flung open his door and leaped out of the car. James slowly got out and went around the car to pull out his trunk. Sirius helped James carry his trunk.
"How do you reckon we get to Platform 9 and ¾?" James asked, looking between Platform 9 and 10. Again, Sirius knew the answer.
"My father told me how once. You just run at the barrier between Platform 9 and 10. Then, you'll go through on to Platform 9 and ¾." Sirius explained, as if this was the most obvious answer in the world. James looked at Sirius like his was crazy.
"You're off your rocker, mate." He said, as Sirius picked up his end of James's trunk. James grabbed the handle and lifted it up. "Well, let's see if your maniac idea works. If it doesn't..." But what James would do to Sirius, Sirius never found out, because at that moment, Sirius bounded at the barrier and went through.
A giant red steam engine materialized in front of James's eyes. It had the words HOGWARTS EXPRESS printed in gold lettering on the front of the engine. James turned to look at Sirius, who was breathing heavily from running. There was an amazed look on Sirius's face, as though he was surprised that his idea worked.
All along the platform were witches and wizards seeing their children off. A wizard with a white poster in hand that read: 'SIRIUS BLACK' was standing next to a trunk. Sirius ran to the man and smiled. "Hello sir. I'm Sirius. Can I have my trunk?" Sirius pointed to the black leather trunk the man was standing in front of. The man, one of Theodore's friends, smiled at Sirius and shook his hand. "Of course. Here's a package from your mother, and a note. Have a good year, Sirius!" The man handed Sirius a small paper bag, with a scroll tied to it. Sirius dragged his trunk next to James. "Got your trunk? Good. Now let's find a way onto the train." James said, dragging his trunk along behind him.
Once in a while, Sirius would catch snippets of their conversation. One elderly wizard was shoving his two twin daughters at the train saying "Goodbye Anna and Bella. Have a good year at Hogwarts. Don't cause mischief!" A younger mother was helping her blonde son onto the train, waving. "Bye Luicius!"
Once they found an entrance to the train, James spoke up. "Well, let's get on it then. We better hope there's an empty compartment, cause I don't feel like sitting next to a Slytherin." James led the way onto the train searching all along it. Finally an empty compartment was found. It was midway along the train.
"This one's okay." They piled their trunks into a luggage space and collapsed onto the cushiony seats. Sirius looked out at all of the parents waving goodbye to their children. James sighed and laid his head back on the chair. The train started to move.
A boy about their age popped his head into their compartment. He had reddish brown hair with golden eyes. His hair was fluffy and looked like he hadn't run a comb through it. He had dark shadows under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in days. His robes looked used, and his shoes looked 2 sizes to big for him.
"Do you mind if I sit in here? Everywhere else is full." He voice was soft, as though he hardly ever used it. James shrugged. Sirius nodded. Why not, they could use some more people any way. It was getting boring, staring out the window.
"Sure. What's your name? I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black." James motioned to Sirius, who turned his attention to the newcomer. The boy opened the compartment door and shoved his trunk into the luggage space. He sat down next to James.
"I'm Remus Lupin. Isn't your dad on England's Quidditch team?" He asked eyeing, James's Quidditch shirt. Remus looked at James with an amazed look on his face. James laughed.
"Yeah, he is. Don't you know that I get that a lot?" he laughed, answering Remus's question. Remus laughed with him. Sirius grinned. Remus looked about the compartment and asked another question.
"Are you a pureblood? Or a muggle-born?" he asked, turning to Sirius, who was rubbing his head contently. Remus watched Sirius for a while until Sirius sighed, and rolled his eyes.
"I'm a pureblood, but the way my mum acts about me, you would think I was a muggle. How `bout you Remus? We all know Jim here is. Quidditch Master!" Sirius chortled. Remus shook his head as he laughed. James snickered.
"My mum's a witch and my dad's a wizard, but my Uncle Brian is a muggle. So answer that for yourself." He shot a glare in Sirius's general direction. Sirius just waved it off. "James? Have you got your own broom? I have, but my dad made me keep it at home." James yawned and rubbed his arm.
"Yeah, I got my own broom. It's not very good, compared to the one my dad's got, but I'll take it. I wish first years could play on the house Quidditch teams." James said, thoughtfully looking out of the window, watching fields roll by.
Around noon, the witch with the food trolley rolled by. She slid open the door to find two boys fast asleep, and the other paging through Standard Book of Spells Grade 1. It was Remus Lupin who was leafing through the book, and Sirius Black and James Potter were snoring in their sleep. Remus looked up from the page about Wand Lighting Spells.
"Hello? Anything off the trolley?" the witch said in a pleasant tone. Remus paid for a stack of Cauldron Cakes. The witch slid the door closed and kept rolling along. Once she was gone, Remus threw one at Sirius. It hit him square in the forehead. He snorted awake.
"Hey! What's this?" Sirius found the Cauldron Cake that was sitting in his lap. He held it up for Remus to see. Remus laughed, rolled his eyes, and then explained to Sirius. "The witch with the food trolley just came by. I bought a stack of Cauldron Cakes. I threw one at you thinking you would be hungry." Remus clarified to Sirius. Sirius shook James awake violently. James groggily stood up, yawned, and stretched. James sat back down on the cushiony maroon seat. Remus threw a Cauldron Cake at James, who caught it.
"Thanks mate!" he said, pushing up his glasses. As they ate silently, a girl with chin length brown hair slid open their compartment door. She had blue eyes. She was already in her Hogwarts uniform.
"Hullo!" said Sirius, through a mouthful of Cauldron Cake. He waved at her. Remus and James waved as well. She crossed her arms and smiled at them.
"Hello. I'm Camellia Dale. You haven't by any chance seen a snowy owl fly past? She got loose again." She said all of this rather fast. Sirius was still staring at her. Remus was listening intensively. James's attention was lost; he was staring outside the window.
"Hi Camellia. I'm Sirius Black. That's Remus Lupin," Sirius said, pointing at Remus. "And that's James Potter." He pointed to James, who was oblivious that his name had been mentioned. Camellia looked about the compartment for a while, then asked about her owl.
"So you haven't seen a snowy owl? That bloody bird's going to cause me more stress than all year at school." Camellia plopped down in a seat beside Sirius. "Is this seat taken? I hope not, `cause I'm not moving. I've been up and down this bloody train 6 times!" She threw her hands up in the air. She then drew her attention to James.
"Is he related to Robert Potter? The Quidditch player?" Camellia raised an eyebrow. She finally sent Sirius's Cauldron Cake wrapper in James's direction. It hit him in the side of the face, causing him to turn at look at them. He was startled by Camellia's appearance in the compartment.
"How? Who's? What's going on!" He stared at her. Camellia smiled and waved sarcastically. Sirius sniggered at James's response to Camellia. Remus shut his book with a snap that made everyone jump.
"Well, James, Camellia came in when you were so absentmindedly looking out of the window. She even asked you a question, but you were too bloody busy staring at the field of cows..." James cocked his head and gave a confused look at Remus. Everyone was staring at James. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Are you going to give Camellia an answer or not?" he said exasperated. James still looked really confused. He turned to Camellia.
"I'm sorry. What was the question?" James sat up straight, determined to pay attention. Camellia smiled at him. It was cute how oblivious he was. So she sat up straight and asked the same question.
"Are you related to Robert Potter? You look a lot like him." Camellia put her hands in her lap. James rested his head on his hands. He looked up at her and smiled.
"Yeah. It's not as fun as you think it might be though. During Quidditch season, I hardly ever see him. And when I do, he forgets who I am. He forgot my birthday last year, and Christmas. He's a really good player though. I play too, but I doubt I'll ever play as good as him. Why do you ask though? Did you meet him or something?" James sat back up, waiting for Camellia's response.
"Yeah. I've met him. Not to be mean or anything, but he wasn't very nice. I asked him for his autograph and he pushed me out of the way. My mum was furious. I was only 7 at the time. I'll tell you though, your father can sure beat a bludger." Camellia sighed, thinking of the memory.
A long silence was after this remark. Camellia shrugged, and got up.
"I'll guess I'll go find Emma then." She looked at her watch. "You better start changing into your robes, you know. We only have 10 minutes left. See you at Hogwarts!" She waved, leaving them. After she left them, Sirius broke out in fits of hysterical laughter. James watched him nervously, scared of his friends mental state.
"What's so funny?" asked Remus, looking over the top of his book. Sirius stopped laughing, but was red in the face. He pointed at James. James, who had been dressing in his school robes, stopped moving.
"You are so oblivious. It's funny." Sirius laughed to himself. James started moving again. Remus was shaking his head, while strapping his cloak on.
"Sirius, mate, get dressed. Stop laughing."
At exactly 6:00, the sky was darkening and the train rolled to a stop. The pistons hissed while a magically loud voice permeated throughout the train.
"Please exit the train. Leave all luggages on the train. Have a good year!" Sirius, Remus, and James jumped off the train and stood out on the Platform. They heard a booming voice call out over the crowd.
"Firs` years! Firs` years! This way please!" A giant sized man stood 2 feet above everyone else. He had a ragged black beard with a matted mess of hair. He was wearing a moleskin overcoat and boots the size of smallish dolphins. Sirius looked up at this man, amazed.
"Who do you reckon that is?" he whispered into James's ear. James shrugged; not knowing who it was either. The man led the first years to a small dock, where about 50 undersized boats were roped to the dock.
"Four to a boat! Four to a boat!" the man bellowed. Sirius, James, and Remus all clambered into a boat, followed by another boy, with white blonde hair and freckles. The giant man took up one boat by himself. With one wave of a bright pink umbrella, the boats shook to life. They moved slowly but surely across the wide lake. A large rock appeared, obscuring Sirius's first view of Hogwarts. James tugged Sirius to the side, revealing a huge castle with many sparkling lights and towers. The light from all the windows gave the castle a gleaming look. Sirius gave a small "Oh!" when they moved even closer.
When they arrived at the dock, they only had a short way to walk to the main entrance of the castle. The giant led them to a large set of thick wooden doors. He pounded on the door with a humongous hand. Sirius could hear a large echoing of the sound from the other side of the door. Then, the door squeaked open, to revel a small witch with her hair pinned back in a bun. She had on bottle green robes and a black pointed hat.
"The firs` years Professor McGonagall." The giant waved a great arm over their heads and nodded at the witch. She looked nervous. Professor McGonagall waved the man off, beckoning to the crowd of first years.
"Yes, well come inside, just here, don't go any farther. I'll explain what you're about to do inside." Her voice was scratchy almost hoarse. Sirius, Remus, and James followed the witch inside. Once everyone was inside, she started to explain. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. This is my first year at Hogwarts, so I am just as nervous as you. The process that you are about to do is called the Sorting. There are Four Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Your house will be your family while you are at Hogwarts. Now please wait here, while I go see if they're ready for you." The professor left, leaving the crowd of nervous first years whispering to each other.
Sirius looked about the hall. It was large and made out of a pewter grey stone. There were torches every now and again, and they were standing on a great rug with the Hogwarts crest upon it. Then, Sirius turned to ask Remus what house he would like to be in.
"Remus, we never asked you, what house do you want to land in?" Sirius elbowed James, who turned to them. Remus looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. What house did he want to be in? He never really thought of that.
"I'd say probably Gryffindor. I heard they're the best." Remus ran a hand through his red-brown mane of hair. Sirius nodded, James said "Uh-Huh." Then, Professor McGonagall came back into the room. She beckoned for them to follow. She threw open wide wooden doors that were the entrance into the Great Hall.
Sirius's eyes grew wide at the sight of the Great Hall. It was huge. When Sirius looked up, he thought there was no ceiling to the room. The ceiling was imitating the sky outside. It showed a darkening sky with stars sprinkled about. There were candles, like the ones at the Leaky Cauldron, were floating illumining the space. There were four tables, over which hung tapestries with each house's mascot. The second one in from the left was Gryffindor. Next to Gryffindor was Ravenclaw, and then Hufflepuff, to the other side of Gryffindor was Slytherin. A great silver serpent was curled into an 'S' on their tapestry. However, in front of the house tables was an enormous table, the banner behind which showed the Hogwarts Crest.
Professor McGonagall set down a three-legged stool with a thunk. She placed a ragged old hat on it. She stepped aside and stared at the hat. A large rip near the brim opened and it broke out in song.
The minute the hat was done, applause broke out in the hall. It only stopped when Professor McGonagall spoke up.
"First years, I will call out your name, and you will sit on the stool. Put on the hat and it will shout your house!" Then the sorting began. Sirius was starting to get nervous. What if he didn't land in the same house as James? Or Remus? McGonagall called out the first name.
"Abnee, Abina!" A short blonde haired girl ran up to the stool and pulled the hat over her ears. The hat paused, and then shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF" Applause started as Abina ran off to join the Hufflepuff table.
"Ashley, Greg!" A black boy ran up to the stool and put on the hat. The hat shouted immediately "RAVENCLAW!" Sirius knew whose name was coming next. Everyone always pronounced it wrong. He waited for the butchering of the name.
"Black, Sirius!" Sirius sighed; it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. He walked out to the stool, picked up the hat, placed it on his head and waited. Ah, what do we have here? A young Black. Well, let me look...bravery, a certain disregard for the rules, intelligence, I'd have to say you belong in GRYFFINDOR! Sirius let out a sigh of relief. He was in the best house, Gryffindor. Now all that needed to happen was for Remus and James to be in the same house.
Sirius ran to join the mass of scarlet and gold clad students. He sat down next to an older student, with mangy red hair. The boy looked at him.
"Hullo." He said as Bernhard, Riley was being sorted into Slytherin. Sirius nodded and turned his attention to the next person being sorted.
"Dale, Camellia!" Sirius whipped his head around to stare at the girl walking towards the stool. He was confused. That certainly didn't look like the Camellia Dale he had met on the train. This Camellia had bright blonde hair with green eyes. The Camellia on the train had light brown hair and blue eyes. That hat shouted out GRYFFINDOR, and Camellia came to join the table. She sat across from Sirius.
"On the train you had light brown hair! What's going on!?" He asked, looking majorly confused. Camellia laughed.
"I'm a Metamorphagus. Don't worry; you're not off your onion." She explained, seeing the confused look on Sirius's face. She went on, "Metamorphgi are really rare, you have to be born one. Metamorphgi can change their appearance at will. See watch!" Camellia screwed up her eyes in a pained expression, and her hair turned light brown and shrank to chin length. Sirius jumped so hard his knee hit the table.
"Wow." He said. But at that moment, Professor McGonagall called out "Lupin, Remus!" Sirius and Camellia turned around to see Remus walking up to the stool, looking paler than ever. He shoved the hat on his head and waiting patiently. Lupin is it? Well, let's take a look at what we have. Bravery, intelligence, mischief. I'll say GRYFFINDOR! Sirius clapped so hard, his hands tingled. Remus came and sat down on the other side of Sirius. Remus waved lightly at Camellia, who smiled. All James had to do was get into Gryffindor as well. The next 10 minutes were used up with names that begin with M, N, or O. Remus turned to Sirius as McBell, Anna was being sorted. Remus waited till the hat was done, RAVENCLAW, and then spoke to Sirius.
"You know, James better well get into Gryffindor. It will be boring without him." Remus whispered. Sirius agreed, the friendship they made in the past 2 days would be worth nothing if he didn't make Gryffindor. The next name was "Pettigrew, Peter." A small boy with bleach blonde hair scurried up to the hat and stool. He sat down, and put the hat lightly on his head. The hat shouted out GRYFFINDOR! Peter came to join the Gryffindor table.
"POTTER, JAMES!" Professor McGonagall screeched. James, who was as white as one of the pearly ghosts, strided up to the stool. He sat down and pulled the hat over his ears. The hat remained silent for a long while, but then, whispered into James's ear.
"A Potter do we have...yes, I see the Quidditch talent. I see that you have a certain disregard of the rules. There is also much bravery hidden in your heart. Intelligence, as well. I'll put you in GRYFFINDOR!" the hat bellowed the last word, sending a ringing throughout James's entire body. He grinned wildly as he sat the hat back down on the stool, and scampered to the Gryffindor table.
Sirius and Remus were smiling so hard that they're face hurt, when they heard that James made it into Gryffindor. When James sat down next to Remus, Sirius clapped him on the back.
"Glad you could join us oh Jamesie-poo!" he said jokingly. James rolled his eyes at his friend and laughed along with him.
Ah yes, an interesting way to end a chapter...oh well you'll just have to deal with it until I can get over this writer's block. Please review me, or else I'll have to set my flying monkeys with rabies on you. (Oh well you caught me. I don't really have flying monkeys with rabies, but I do have a unintelligent cat!)
Chapter Two Hogwarts Express
The next day, Tom the barkeep awakened both boys. He carelessly walked back to their room, opened the door with a spare key and clapped his hands. The shutters immediately responded, flinging wide open letting sunlight flood the room. James hurriedly awoke, throwing back his blankets and jumping out of bed. It took more than sunlight to wake Sirius Black; so, James threw his pillow at him, knocking over Gwen's cage.
"OY! What was that for?" Sirius said, throwing his own pillow back at James, who ducked. Sirius slowly got out of his bed, making it a great deal harder than it had to be. James was already dressed; was packing the rest of his things in his trunk, which had arrived late last night.
"When are you getting your trunk? You can't obviously carry your things into Platform 9 and ¾ like that! It will draw attention." James questioned, as Sirius dressed leisurely. James rolled his eyes at Sirius, who stuck out his tongue in retaliation.
It was 8:00 by the time they had gotten everything ready to go. Once or twice, Sirius wondered how they were getting to King's Cross.
"James, how are we...erm...getting to King's Cross? I mean we very well can't drive! And there's no way to Floo Powder over. So I guess we can't use magic." Sirius finally cracked and asked.
When James didn't reply immediately, Sirius knew James had something up his sleeve, so didn't question it any further. Seeing as Sirius didn't have his own trunk to put his packages in, James lent him a space in his own. Sirius squeezed all of his purchases in a tiny corner of James's leather trunk. At 9:00, Tom brought the boys breakfast. Sirius stuffed his face with two pieces of toast and jam, and then gulped down a glass of milk. James was starving, so he eat almost as much as Sirius did. At 10:00, an hour before the Hogwarts Express left, they gathered their things and piled them outside of the Leaky Cauldron.
"So, you never answered my question. Exactly how are we getting to King's Cross?" Sirius stared at James with a confused look on his face. James simply looked at the busy street.
"We are taking a cab. I have enough muggle money. It should be interesting though. I mean, it's not as though our owls' cages are normal in the muggle world. I hope the cab driver doesn't ask questions." James said, as he waved down a cab. He peeked his head into the window asking how much a drive to King's Cross would be. "Excuse me, sir? How much would a drive to the King's Cross Station be?" James said politely. The driver, who was looking out of his windshield, turned to James.
"Uh...I couldn't give you an exact amount. Just hop in and I'll take you and your buddy to King's Cross. You can just pile your stuff in the trunk." The driver indicated for James and Sirius to get in the car. Sirius looked a bit reproachful, he hadn't ever ridden in a cab before. James noticed the look on his friend's face.
"It's alright, just help me with my stuff, and then we can go to the station." James said in a whisper. Sirius grabbed an end of the trunk, the owl cages balanced on top. James grabbed the other end and jammed his trunk into the back of the car. Then, they grabbed the cages and carried them into the backseat of the car. Once inside, they realized that this was going to be a long ride. The car bounced uncomfortably. The seats were scratchy, and James and Sirius were wedged in the backseat with two considerably large birdcages.
It took a good 20 minutes to get to the train station. When they arrived, Sirius flung open his door and leaped out of the car. James slowly got out and went around the car to pull out his trunk. Sirius helped James carry his trunk.
"How do you reckon we get to Platform 9 and ¾?" James asked, looking between Platform 9 and 10. Again, Sirius knew the answer.
"My father told me how once. You just run at the barrier between Platform 9 and 10. Then, you'll go through on to Platform 9 and ¾." Sirius explained, as if this was the most obvious answer in the world. James looked at Sirius like his was crazy.
"You're off your rocker, mate." He said, as Sirius picked up his end of James's trunk. James grabbed the handle and lifted it up. "Well, let's see if your maniac idea works. If it doesn't..." But what James would do to Sirius, Sirius never found out, because at that moment, Sirius bounded at the barrier and went through.
A giant red steam engine materialized in front of James's eyes. It had the words HOGWARTS EXPRESS printed in gold lettering on the front of the engine. James turned to look at Sirius, who was breathing heavily from running. There was an amazed look on Sirius's face, as though he was surprised that his idea worked.
All along the platform were witches and wizards seeing their children off. A wizard with a white poster in hand that read: 'SIRIUS BLACK' was standing next to a trunk. Sirius ran to the man and smiled. "Hello sir. I'm Sirius. Can I have my trunk?" Sirius pointed to the black leather trunk the man was standing in front of. The man, one of Theodore's friends, smiled at Sirius and shook his hand. "Of course. Here's a package from your mother, and a note. Have a good year, Sirius!" The man handed Sirius a small paper bag, with a scroll tied to it. Sirius dragged his trunk next to James. "Got your trunk? Good. Now let's find a way onto the train." James said, dragging his trunk along behind him.
Once in a while, Sirius would catch snippets of their conversation. One elderly wizard was shoving his two twin daughters at the train saying "Goodbye Anna and Bella. Have a good year at Hogwarts. Don't cause mischief!" A younger mother was helping her blonde son onto the train, waving. "Bye Luicius!"
Once they found an entrance to the train, James spoke up. "Well, let's get on it then. We better hope there's an empty compartment, cause I don't feel like sitting next to a Slytherin." James led the way onto the train searching all along it. Finally an empty compartment was found. It was midway along the train.
"This one's okay." They piled their trunks into a luggage space and collapsed onto the cushiony seats. Sirius looked out at all of the parents waving goodbye to their children. James sighed and laid his head back on the chair. The train started to move.
A boy about their age popped his head into their compartment. He had reddish brown hair with golden eyes. His hair was fluffy and looked like he hadn't run a comb through it. He had dark shadows under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in days. His robes looked used, and his shoes looked 2 sizes to big for him.
"Do you mind if I sit in here? Everywhere else is full." He voice was soft, as though he hardly ever used it. James shrugged. Sirius nodded. Why not, they could use some more people any way. It was getting boring, staring out the window.
"Sure. What's your name? I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black." James motioned to Sirius, who turned his attention to the newcomer. The boy opened the compartment door and shoved his trunk into the luggage space. He sat down next to James.
"I'm Remus Lupin. Isn't your dad on England's Quidditch team?" He asked eyeing, James's Quidditch shirt. Remus looked at James with an amazed look on his face. James laughed.
"Yeah, he is. Don't you know that I get that a lot?" he laughed, answering Remus's question. Remus laughed with him. Sirius grinned. Remus looked about the compartment and asked another question.
"Are you a pureblood? Or a muggle-born?" he asked, turning to Sirius, who was rubbing his head contently. Remus watched Sirius for a while until Sirius sighed, and rolled his eyes.
"I'm a pureblood, but the way my mum acts about me, you would think I was a muggle. How `bout you Remus? We all know Jim here is. Quidditch Master!" Sirius chortled. Remus shook his head as he laughed. James snickered.
"My mum's a witch and my dad's a wizard, but my Uncle Brian is a muggle. So answer that for yourself." He shot a glare in Sirius's general direction. Sirius just waved it off. "James? Have you got your own broom? I have, but my dad made me keep it at home." James yawned and rubbed his arm.
"Yeah, I got my own broom. It's not very good, compared to the one my dad's got, but I'll take it. I wish first years could play on the house Quidditch teams." James said, thoughtfully looking out of the window, watching fields roll by.
Around noon, the witch with the food trolley rolled by. She slid open the door to find two boys fast asleep, and the other paging through Standard Book of Spells Grade 1. It was Remus Lupin who was leafing through the book, and Sirius Black and James Potter were snoring in their sleep. Remus looked up from the page about Wand Lighting Spells.
"Hello? Anything off the trolley?" the witch said in a pleasant tone. Remus paid for a stack of Cauldron Cakes. The witch slid the door closed and kept rolling along. Once she was gone, Remus threw one at Sirius. It hit him square in the forehead. He snorted awake.
"Hey! What's this?" Sirius found the Cauldron Cake that was sitting in his lap. He held it up for Remus to see. Remus laughed, rolled his eyes, and then explained to Sirius. "The witch with the food trolley just came by. I bought a stack of Cauldron Cakes. I threw one at you thinking you would be hungry." Remus clarified to Sirius. Sirius shook James awake violently. James groggily stood up, yawned, and stretched. James sat back down on the cushiony maroon seat. Remus threw a Cauldron Cake at James, who caught it.
"Thanks mate!" he said, pushing up his glasses. As they ate silently, a girl with chin length brown hair slid open their compartment door. She had blue eyes. She was already in her Hogwarts uniform.
"Hullo!" said Sirius, through a mouthful of Cauldron Cake. He waved at her. Remus and James waved as well. She crossed her arms and smiled at them.
"Hello. I'm Camellia Dale. You haven't by any chance seen a snowy owl fly past? She got loose again." She said all of this rather fast. Sirius was still staring at her. Remus was listening intensively. James's attention was lost; he was staring outside the window.
"Hi Camellia. I'm Sirius Black. That's Remus Lupin," Sirius said, pointing at Remus. "And that's James Potter." He pointed to James, who was oblivious that his name had been mentioned. Camellia looked about the compartment for a while, then asked about her owl.
"So you haven't seen a snowy owl? That bloody bird's going to cause me more stress than all year at school." Camellia plopped down in a seat beside Sirius. "Is this seat taken? I hope not, `cause I'm not moving. I've been up and down this bloody train 6 times!" She threw her hands up in the air. She then drew her attention to James.
"Is he related to Robert Potter? The Quidditch player?" Camellia raised an eyebrow. She finally sent Sirius's Cauldron Cake wrapper in James's direction. It hit him in the side of the face, causing him to turn at look at them. He was startled by Camellia's appearance in the compartment.
"How? Who's? What's going on!" He stared at her. Camellia smiled and waved sarcastically. Sirius sniggered at James's response to Camellia. Remus shut his book with a snap that made everyone jump.
"Well, James, Camellia came in when you were so absentmindedly looking out of the window. She even asked you a question, but you were too bloody busy staring at the field of cows..." James cocked his head and gave a confused look at Remus. Everyone was staring at James. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Are you going to give Camellia an answer or not?" he said exasperated. James still looked really confused. He turned to Camellia.
"I'm sorry. What was the question?" James sat up straight, determined to pay attention. Camellia smiled at him. It was cute how oblivious he was. So she sat up straight and asked the same question.
"Are you related to Robert Potter? You look a lot like him." Camellia put her hands in her lap. James rested his head on his hands. He looked up at her and smiled.
"Yeah. It's not as fun as you think it might be though. During Quidditch season, I hardly ever see him. And when I do, he forgets who I am. He forgot my birthday last year, and Christmas. He's a really good player though. I play too, but I doubt I'll ever play as good as him. Why do you ask though? Did you meet him or something?" James sat back up, waiting for Camellia's response.
"Yeah. I've met him. Not to be mean or anything, but he wasn't very nice. I asked him for his autograph and he pushed me out of the way. My mum was furious. I was only 7 at the time. I'll tell you though, your father can sure beat a bludger." Camellia sighed, thinking of the memory.
A long silence was after this remark. Camellia shrugged, and got up.
"I'll guess I'll go find Emma then." She looked at her watch. "You better start changing into your robes, you know. We only have 10 minutes left. See you at Hogwarts!" She waved, leaving them. After she left them, Sirius broke out in fits of hysterical laughter. James watched him nervously, scared of his friends mental state.
"What's so funny?" asked Remus, looking over the top of his book. Sirius stopped laughing, but was red in the face. He pointed at James. James, who had been dressing in his school robes, stopped moving.
"You are so oblivious. It's funny." Sirius laughed to himself. James started moving again. Remus was shaking his head, while strapping his cloak on.
"Sirius, mate, get dressed. Stop laughing."
At exactly 6:00, the sky was darkening and the train rolled to a stop. The pistons hissed while a magically loud voice permeated throughout the train.
"Please exit the train. Leave all luggages on the train. Have a good year!" Sirius, Remus, and James jumped off the train and stood out on the Platform. They heard a booming voice call out over the crowd.
"Firs` years! Firs` years! This way please!" A giant sized man stood 2 feet above everyone else. He had a ragged black beard with a matted mess of hair. He was wearing a moleskin overcoat and boots the size of smallish dolphins. Sirius looked up at this man, amazed.
"Who do you reckon that is?" he whispered into James's ear. James shrugged; not knowing who it was either. The man led the first years to a small dock, where about 50 undersized boats were roped to the dock.
"Four to a boat! Four to a boat!" the man bellowed. Sirius, James, and Remus all clambered into a boat, followed by another boy, with white blonde hair and freckles. The giant man took up one boat by himself. With one wave of a bright pink umbrella, the boats shook to life. They moved slowly but surely across the wide lake. A large rock appeared, obscuring Sirius's first view of Hogwarts. James tugged Sirius to the side, revealing a huge castle with many sparkling lights and towers. The light from all the windows gave the castle a gleaming look. Sirius gave a small "Oh!" when they moved even closer.
When they arrived at the dock, they only had a short way to walk to the main entrance of the castle. The giant led them to a large set of thick wooden doors. He pounded on the door with a humongous hand. Sirius could hear a large echoing of the sound from the other side of the door. Then, the door squeaked open, to revel a small witch with her hair pinned back in a bun. She had on bottle green robes and a black pointed hat.
"The firs` years Professor McGonagall." The giant waved a great arm over their heads and nodded at the witch. She looked nervous. Professor McGonagall waved the man off, beckoning to the crowd of first years.
"Yes, well come inside, just here, don't go any farther. I'll explain what you're about to do inside." Her voice was scratchy almost hoarse. Sirius, Remus, and James followed the witch inside. Once everyone was inside, she started to explain. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. This is my first year at Hogwarts, so I am just as nervous as you. The process that you are about to do is called the Sorting. There are Four Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Your house will be your family while you are at Hogwarts. Now please wait here, while I go see if they're ready for you." The professor left, leaving the crowd of nervous first years whispering to each other.
Sirius looked about the hall. It was large and made out of a pewter grey stone. There were torches every now and again, and they were standing on a great rug with the Hogwarts crest upon it. Then, Sirius turned to ask Remus what house he would like to be in.
"Remus, we never asked you, what house do you want to land in?" Sirius elbowed James, who turned to them. Remus looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. What house did he want to be in? He never really thought of that.
"I'd say probably Gryffindor. I heard they're the best." Remus ran a hand through his red-brown mane of hair. Sirius nodded, James said "Uh-Huh." Then, Professor McGonagall came back into the room. She beckoned for them to follow. She threw open wide wooden doors that were the entrance into the Great Hall.
Sirius's eyes grew wide at the sight of the Great Hall. It was huge. When Sirius looked up, he thought there was no ceiling to the room. The ceiling was imitating the sky outside. It showed a darkening sky with stars sprinkled about. There were candles, like the ones at the Leaky Cauldron, were floating illumining the space. There were four tables, over which hung tapestries with each house's mascot. The second one in from the left was Gryffindor. Next to Gryffindor was Ravenclaw, and then Hufflepuff, to the other side of Gryffindor was Slytherin. A great silver serpent was curled into an 'S' on their tapestry. However, in front of the house tables was an enormous table, the banner behind which showed the Hogwarts Crest.
Professor McGonagall set down a three-legged stool with a thunk. She placed a ragged old hat on it. She stepped aside and stared at the hat. A large rip near the brim opened and it broke out in song.
The minute the hat was done, applause broke out in the hall. It only stopped when Professor McGonagall spoke up.
"First years, I will call out your name, and you will sit on the stool. Put on the hat and it will shout your house!" Then the sorting began. Sirius was starting to get nervous. What if he didn't land in the same house as James? Or Remus? McGonagall called out the first name.
"Abnee, Abina!" A short blonde haired girl ran up to the stool and pulled the hat over her ears. The hat paused, and then shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF" Applause started as Abina ran off to join the Hufflepuff table.
"Ashley, Greg!" A black boy ran up to the stool and put on the hat. The hat shouted immediately "RAVENCLAW!" Sirius knew whose name was coming next. Everyone always pronounced it wrong. He waited for the butchering of the name.
"Black, Sirius!" Sirius sighed; it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. He walked out to the stool, picked up the hat, placed it on his head and waited. Ah, what do we have here? A young Black. Well, let me look...bravery, a certain disregard for the rules, intelligence, I'd have to say you belong in GRYFFINDOR! Sirius let out a sigh of relief. He was in the best house, Gryffindor. Now all that needed to happen was for Remus and James to be in the same house.
Sirius ran to join the mass of scarlet and gold clad students. He sat down next to an older student, with mangy red hair. The boy looked at him.
"Hullo." He said as Bernhard, Riley was being sorted into Slytherin. Sirius nodded and turned his attention to the next person being sorted.
"Dale, Camellia!" Sirius whipped his head around to stare at the girl walking towards the stool. He was confused. That certainly didn't look like the Camellia Dale he had met on the train. This Camellia had bright blonde hair with green eyes. The Camellia on the train had light brown hair and blue eyes. That hat shouted out GRYFFINDOR, and Camellia came to join the table. She sat across from Sirius.
"On the train you had light brown hair! What's going on!?" He asked, looking majorly confused. Camellia laughed.
"I'm a Metamorphagus. Don't worry; you're not off your onion." She explained, seeing the confused look on Sirius's face. She went on, "Metamorphgi are really rare, you have to be born one. Metamorphgi can change their appearance at will. See watch!" Camellia screwed up her eyes in a pained expression, and her hair turned light brown and shrank to chin length. Sirius jumped so hard his knee hit the table.
"Wow." He said. But at that moment, Professor McGonagall called out "Lupin, Remus!" Sirius and Camellia turned around to see Remus walking up to the stool, looking paler than ever. He shoved the hat on his head and waiting patiently. Lupin is it? Well, let's take a look at what we have. Bravery, intelligence, mischief. I'll say GRYFFINDOR! Sirius clapped so hard, his hands tingled. Remus came and sat down on the other side of Sirius. Remus waved lightly at Camellia, who smiled. All James had to do was get into Gryffindor as well. The next 10 minutes were used up with names that begin with M, N, or O. Remus turned to Sirius as McBell, Anna was being sorted. Remus waited till the hat was done, RAVENCLAW, and then spoke to Sirius.
"You know, James better well get into Gryffindor. It will be boring without him." Remus whispered. Sirius agreed, the friendship they made in the past 2 days would be worth nothing if he didn't make Gryffindor. The next name was "Pettigrew, Peter." A small boy with bleach blonde hair scurried up to the hat and stool. He sat down, and put the hat lightly on his head. The hat shouted out GRYFFINDOR! Peter came to join the Gryffindor table.
"POTTER, JAMES!" Professor McGonagall screeched. James, who was as white as one of the pearly ghosts, strided up to the stool. He sat down and pulled the hat over his ears. The hat remained silent for a long while, but then, whispered into James's ear.
"A Potter do we have...yes, I see the Quidditch talent. I see that you have a certain disregard of the rules. There is also much bravery hidden in your heart. Intelligence, as well. I'll put you in GRYFFINDOR!" the hat bellowed the last word, sending a ringing throughout James's entire body. He grinned wildly as he sat the hat back down on the stool, and scampered to the Gryffindor table.
Sirius and Remus were smiling so hard that they're face hurt, when they heard that James made it into Gryffindor. When James sat down next to Remus, Sirius clapped him on the back.
"Glad you could join us oh Jamesie-poo!" he said jokingly. James rolled his eyes at his friend and laughed along with him.
Ah yes, an interesting way to end a chapter...oh well you'll just have to deal with it until I can get over this writer's block. Please review me, or else I'll have to set my flying monkeys with rabies on you. (Oh well you caught me. I don't really have flying monkeys with rabies, but I do have a unintelligent cat!)