NB. Everything in this story is present and correct at the time I wrote it. Some bits may seem a bit irrelevant or strange, but trust me, there are some people out there that know what I'm talking about! And make sure you review! This is my first fanfic so I need as much help as I can get!
Mr and Mrs Lovegood-Davill lived in the small village of Ottery St. Catchpole. They had a beautiful daughter named Katie and had just witnessed the new arrival of baby Devonn into the family. Their daughter Katie was incredibly bright for her age and was continuously writing new articles for the family magazine The Quibbler. Baby Devonn, though only 1 month old, also showed the same amazing intelligence. Despite the fact he was only a few weeks in age he had alreadly learnt to walk and talk. Mrs Lovegood-Davill, more commonly known as Luna, had met her husband Daniel in her 7th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After graduating Hogwarts, Luna had immediately taken up the position of editor for The Quibbler, the magazine that had become a family heirloom. As fascinating as the Lovegood-Davill family seemed, they were considered perfectly normal in the area in which they lived. Just around the corner for example lived the famous Chadwick-Blooms. Sarah Chadwick-Bloom and her husband Orlando were rolling in money and lived in a huge mansion on top of the hill. Orlando was a famous muggle actor and earned a fortune meaning that Sarah had everything she could possibly imagine, from 4 beautiful children to a job as astronomy teacher at Howarts. Everything was normal for the residents of Ottery St. Catchpole, but something was soon going to happen that would change it forever.....
It was Sunday, and the day before Katie Lovegood-Davill would be going back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had recieved her acceptance letter only a year ago and had been excited ever since. But for the moment (instead of writing new articles or packing her case), Katie was stuck in her bedroom with no means of escape. She had also been banned from going downstairs due to the fact that she'd supposedly been tormeting her brother with magic that morning. Her parents obviously thought that if they released her Katie would attempt to do it again.
"It wasn't my fault!" Katie screamed as she heard her mum walk past on her way to the bathroom that evening. "I didn't do it on purpose!"
Katie's mum had obviously decided to ignore her as punishment, aswell as lock her in her room, because she didn't reply to Katie's innocent pleas. It wasn't Katie's fault what had happened though, even if she was the only one that knew it. Katie had been instructed to play hide and seek with her brother Devonn, though very reluctantly, but because she was a good girl Katie had done as she'd been told. She ended up getting so frustrated however at her brother (who refused to count) that she'd accidently banished him somwhere. This somewhere happened to be on top of her mum whilst she was preparing the dinner, causing her to smash several priceless plates. So now Katie was stuck in her bedroom with nothing to do and (so it seemed) the whole world hating her.
After a while of sitting and feeling sorry for herself Katie decided it was about time she got some sleep. She quickly changed into her pyjamas and slipped between the cold sheets. The house was completely silent, except for the hum of the boiler, and Katie could see the faint outline of the moon peeping through from behind the layer of clouds that covered the sky. She sighed deeply, closed her eyes and turned over when,
'tap, tap, tap' Katie sat up and opened her eyes, 'tap, tap, tap', there it was again.
She stood up and realised that the tapping sound was coming from her window. She pulled back the curtain and saw a large barn owl perched precariously on the windowsill. In its beak was an envelope with a red seal. Katie opened the window, letting the warm summer breeze blow in, and took the letter from the owl who immediately flew off into the night. Katie turned the parchment envelope over, the seal bore the symbol of the Ministry of Magic and a picture of a wand emitting stars. She pulled out the letter and read:
Dear Miss Lovegood-Davill,
We have recieved intelligence that you performed the Banishing Charm at nineteen minutes past eleven this morning in you place of residence in Ottery St. Catchpole.
As you know, under-age witches are not permitted to perform spells out of school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Under-Age Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).
Please also remember that all magic is not permitted in front of muggles.
Enjoy your holidays!
Yours Sincerely,
Jamina Hopkirk
Improper Use of Magic Office
Ministry of Magic
Katie sat down, fuming. It wasn't her fault she'd done magic. It was an accident which couldn't have been prevented, and now she had an official warning from the Ministry of Magic to pay for it.
"Great," thought Katie, "At least I haven't been expelled." With that she flopped back down onto her bed, dropped the letter into the bin and fell fast asleep.
As the next morning arrived it brought the back to school feelings with it. Katie's stomach was churning furiously and she couldn't bring her self to eat anything. Every time her mum sopke to her she'd reply in the same monotonous voice or avoid talking altogether. The morning seemed to take hours to pass, partially due to the fact Katie had woken so early out of excitement and partially because the train didn't leave for Hogwarts until midday. This was some new rule that the new Hogwarts head teacher had brought in only the previous year. Professor Dumbledore had reluctantly stepped down from his position as head of the school and the place had been immediately filled by Professor Lubella, Dumbledore's second cousin's daughter twice removed, or something along those lines. She thought that the first day of term was one of the worst days of the year and so should be as short as possible, and after many disputes with her fellow teachers this ended up being put into action by having a half day at the beginning of each term. Right now it was nearing eleven o'clock and Katie was sat at the bottom of the stairs with her bags waiting to leave any moment. Her mum Luna, was hurrying around the kitchen trying to force food down her daughter and stuff extra food into her suitcase. Katie's little brother Devonn was playing happily in the lounge, unaware that in a few years time he would be going through the same set of emotions as his big sister.
"Come on then darling," said Luna, smiling at her daughter, "Let's be off."
Katie plodded nervously out of the hallway and clambered into the Ministry taxi waiting outside, her mum soon followed clutching a screaming Devonn.
For the whole journey Katie stared out of the window and didn't utter a word until they reached Kings Cross Station. After giving her mum and brother a quick kiss, she hurried over to platform 9 ¾ where she saw her friend Louise waiting for her, waving excitedly as she witnessed the arrival of Katie.
After hauling their luggage onto the train, Katie and Louise went off to find an empty compartment.
"I wonder where Kate's got to," said Katie anxiously, "I hope she's remembered we're back at school today."
"I'm sure she has," replied Louise, "You can't really forget a day like this." Katie waved quickly to her mum then hopped onto the Hogwarts Express. They sat down and Katie got out her parchment and quill and started to write, humming the Red Dwarf theme tune as she wrote. Louise gazed out the window at the early morning sky and sighed deeply,
"I'm glad we're going back," she said as she slumped back into the corner. The station clock chimed 12 o' clock and the train started to move away from the platform. Katie peered out of the window, looking for inspiration for her article. She obviously found this inspiration as all was quiet for a moment, each girl deep in thought, when the silence was broken by a young, brown haired girl entering their compartment of the train.
"Hiya!" she said brightly as she shut the glass door behind her, "How are you? I'm new here, I can't wait! I hope I'm in Ravenclaw! Go Ravenclaw!" She danced her way down the train and sat herself between Katie and Louise, knocking Katie's quill out of her hand in the process and bouncing up and down on the chair to Louise's annoyance. "Well? Aren't you going to speak to me then?" she said, staring wide eyed at Louise.
"Err, hi," said Louise reluctantly, wondering who this girl was and what she was doing here. Katie bent down to pick up her swan feather quill but she was beaten to it by the annoying first year.
"Here you are!" she said happily, placing the feather on Katie's lap. "Can I ask you a question?" the girl said, directing her voice at Louise. "Which house are you in and where do you think I'll be put?"
"Well," replied Louise, "I'm in Ravenclaw, and by the sounds of it you want to be in that house too. Though thinking about it, you'll probably be put in Hufflepuff." Katie sniggered, everyone knew that Hufflepuff was a house full of duffers.
"Aww," said the first year, "Well I don't suppose it matters really anyway. Go Ravenclaw! I'm Julie by the way," she added.
"I'm Louise, and this is Katie," Louise replied, who was liking the girl less and less by the second.
"Great to meet you guys! I'll leave you alone now shall I? You look busy" and with that final question Julie exited the train compartment singing Mysterious Girl loudly and out of tune.
"What was that?" asked Katie as soon as she'd gone. She looked like she had just seen a ghost.
"Dunno," said Louise, "But what ever it was it sure wasn't good." They laughed together for a minute about their encounter with Julie then went back to their writing, humming and sightseeing.
Soon it started to grow dark outside and the lights of the train came on. They had been travelling for hours and Katie had managed to write five articles for The Quibbler and Louise had managed to eat her way through 26 chocolate frogs that she had bought off the witch with the sweet trolley. They had had several visitors to their compartment aswell throughout the jouney. Namely a fellow Hufflepuff 2nd year Harriet Morgana who, to Katie's amusement, stayed for a while to chat about marshmallows.
"I think we should get changed into our robes now," mentioned Katie as she realised they were approaching the station, so she and Louise went off to find the toilets to change into their Hogwarts uniform.
As the Hogwarts Express eventually drew into Hogsmeade station, the students on the train gave a loud cheer. Katie and Louise, along with about 400 other people, piled off the train and hurried across the platform to the horseless carriages on the other side of the road. It was pouring with rain and lightning bolts were creating enormous zigzags and illuminating the night sky. Katie could here the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Mr. Procella , calling loudly down the platform for all the first years, but even his voice wasn't loud enough to overpower the crashes of thunder that deafened the town every few minutes. Katie and Louise hopped onto the nearest carriage, along with another dark haired girl that they didn't know, and the carriages started to advance. As quickly as they had set off, the students arrived at the magnificant castle that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
A/N Well yeh, I hoped you liked it! Please review, I appreciate it! I would also like you to know that this is my least favourite chapter and it took me ages to write it, please don't be put off by it!