A/N: Hullo again. I must say I'm getting on with this rather more quickly than usual. Awesomeness...always helps to have Harry Potter fresh in your mind while you're writing.
I reccomend reading The Wounded by...someone on here. I'm sorry I can't give proper credit...but it really is a spectacularly written fic (as far as I've gone with it anyway). Excellent...I love Lupin.
Again, I couldn't really encorporate my title into the chapter I wrote....so you're going to have to be content with less unusual ones. :A/N
Chapter 3
The First Day of School
Celsea lay in bed with all her belongings packed into a trunk that had been her last purchase at Diagon Alley. She smiled and stared up towards her tomorrow she would be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The thought bewildered her and set her into a fresh fit of giggles. She had told her friends that her uncle had wished her to go to boarding school. They didn't mind. She knew they wouldn't.
She wasn't incredibly well liked at that school, and allthough she had lots of people she was acquainted with and who she could work well with on school projects, she had stopped having best friends at the age of 12. It all started when she had invited some friends to spend the night at her house. This was when she was fairly new to living full time in England and did not know that it was her uncle's custom to become drunk in the evenings. Needless to say, none of the girls' mothers were very thrilled at the prospect of any of their prescious bundles of joy coming to spend the night with them anymore. There was someone who she cared about at that school, but she still wasn't very intimate with her.
As Celsea lay there, she wondered why she was so excited. This place would probably just be like any other school - except for the fact that it was a wizarding school - and she would just be the outsider. It was even stranger to her that she should be kept awake by this anticipation. To her, nothing was worth enough excitement to warrant a sleepless night. She simply could not comprehend why she was behaving like this. Turning over, she sighed, and eventually lost herself in the Land of Nod.
Celsea woke up to the sound of her uncle screaming for his breakfast, and something to calm his apparantly massive hangover. She completed her chores as fast as possible, and fought the battle against gravity and friction trying to get her trunk downstairs.
Just as she was about to leave the house, the doorbell rang.
Who on earth would come calling at this hour??!!
Her uncle raved and sought refuge upstairs, away from all the noise. Celsea opened the door with immense curiosity.
Remus Lupin stood on her doorstep.
We thought you might need some help getting to the station.
Closer observation revealed Hermione standing beside him, and a car in the background.
That'd be great!
She stepped back inside and grabbed her trunk, and the cage containing her owl, shouting to her uncle that she was leaving as she went. Remus helped her with her trunk, which they fit along with six others in the boot of the magically enlarged car. Her eyes were wide with suprise to find that not only was the boot enlarged, but the rest of it was as well. Miraculously, she was the eleventh person to fit inside the car.
Was your uncle going to give you a ride to the station?
This was Mrs. Weasley.
Surely you weren't thinking of walking all the way to King's Cross!!Well...I was going to take the underground...and go the you know...muggle way.Good thing for you we came along then!
It soon came to her attention that a big black dog also shared the room in the car with them. He reminded her so much of her own Veritas that she was taken aback for a moment.
Who's this?
She stretched out her hand and immediatly began doting on the dog.
He's a cute puppy, yes he is!
Although in her experience this was what one normally did with a dog, it caused several other of the passengers to laugh.
Well...that's....that's Harry's godfather.Your godfather's a dog?!No...but he can turn into one.
Although she did not have hard feelings towards anyone who might be Harry's godfather, she did not touch the dog for the rest of the journey. The wizarding world was indeed a strange place.
They got to the station soon after that, and commenced to unloading everyone's belongings. Celsea looked uncertainly around. The ticket said Platform 9 3/4, but she had visited King's Cross station many times and knew that at this station and others that there was no such platform. However, there were many more strange things apparent in this world she never knew existed.
This is where I leave you.
The voice of Remus Lupin startled her out of her thoughts.
Oh...er...yeah well...see you then...
She did not say it, but she felt quite uncomofortable at the thought of not having him around to explain anything to her. She didn't really know the other children, and felt a little out of place. Remus was the person she had spent the most time around and therefore she felt the most comfortable nearest to him. It never occured to her that they would be separated.
Write to me lots allright! Make sure you write me on the first night and tell me everything! Oh, I almost forgot. I have a letter here for you from Dumbledore. He says you need to read it on the train, and it will fill you in on some things you might find useful about the school and what's expected of you and such.
After promising to read the letter, and to write as soon as she had a spare moment, Celsea followed the other children towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. She was quite a bit surprised to see them vanishing right through the barrier as they ran at it, and when it was her turn, she felt quite frightened. She started at a slow walk, and then gradually picked it up. What if it didn't work? Thankfull, she was greeted with the sight of the Hogwarts Express as soon as she was through.
Come with us then.
Hermione pulled her towards the train, and took her with the rest of the group to find a spare compartment. For lack of space, they ended up separating, and Celsea was left on her own. Hermione appologized over and over again, saying to Celsea that she felt horribly for doing it, but most of them were going to be split up as well. Celsea told her she didn't mind at all, seeing as everyone on the train was almost a stranger to her anyway, it didn't make a difference. Thankfully, the people in the compartment with her did not ask any questions about who she was and why she was there.
She took this opportunity to read the letter from Dumbledore.
Celsea Hatwell,
I suppose you must have more than your share of questions to ask me, as this will all be a new experience for you. Everything you need you have. Remus has made sure of that. I hope you had a pleasant time shopping.
First of all, I need you to follow the First Years on the boats across the lakes. You won't be able to miss where you're supposed to go.
After going across the lake, you will be sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. Neither of the houses are superior to the other, although there is huge rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I have instructed the Heads of Houses that there is a young girl coming, and have asked if they mind giving you help in getting caught up to Year Five. Not all will be helping you, only your Head of House. If you can do so quickly, then you will remain in Fifth Year, if not I am afraid you will have to be moved down to the year that is suitable.
I wish you the best of times upon the Hogwarts Express, and I look foreward to seeing you at Hogwarts
-Albus Dumbledore
Well, this letter was certainly enlightening. She had no idea which house she would be sorted into, and was glad that she would be among others who would be just as oblivious.
The train ride went along uneventfully, and soon enough they arrived at the station. Celsea looked around for her trunk, but it was nowhere to be seen. She heard some other first years talking about how your luggage was taken into the castle for you, and she felt a little less apprehensive.
First Years this way!
She followed the sound of the voice to the shore of a lake where several nervous children gathered beside some boats. She noticed with discomfort that they were all at least a foot shorter than her. She got in a boat with some first years who looked harmless, and fairly well enjoyed the boat trip to the castle.
When they reached Hogwarts, Celsea looked up in awe. The castle was brilliantly constructed and the girl fell in love with it instantly. They got out of the boats, and followed another professor towards the Great Hall. She revealed herself to be Professor McGonagall, and she told them about the sorting process. Soon after they were taken into the Great Hall itself, and Celsea again felt extremely conscious of her height.
There was a tattered old hat in the centre of the room on a stool. Soon, a tear in the brim opened into a mouth and it sang a song. It sang about all the houses standing together in times of trouble. Fair enough.
Adams, Geoffery.
She watched as the boy walked up towards the hat and put it on. It nearly engulfed his whole head, and there was a moment of silence before the hat screamed out,
The Gryffindor house tables cheered, and a very relieved Geoffery Adams walked over to them and took a seat.
Fairly soon the list had whittled down to the , and it was her turn.
Hatwell, Celsea.
She walked foreward, more embarassed than ever that she did not resemble the stature of a first year at all. She was sure she could hear whisperings amongst the older students, and felt they were all looking at her expectantly. She placed the hat on her head.
Hmm...very interesting. You seem to embody certain qualities of all the houses. I won't put you in Hufflepuff...and not Ravenclaw either. It seems to me to be between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I think....hmm...I think it has to be..
She waited expectantly, and then heard
She walked over towards the Slytherin house table and took a seat amongst the cheering throng. As she walked there, she thought she noticed a dissapointed look on Hermione Granger's face.
Later on in the Common Room, Celsea sat and felt extremely sleepy. However, she was not to sleep now apparently, as a very tall, dark looking professor entered the room. Celsea looked upon him with interest, and he walked towards her.
Miss...Hatwell I believe?
She nodded. What was this about?
I am the Head of Slytherin House, Professor Snape. I have been instructed by Professor Dumbledore that you need tutoring to get you up to Fifth Year.
Again she nodded and remembered the letter.
I hope this isn't too much of a trouble for you, Professor.
He looked at her, as if thoughtfullness was something foreign.
The only trouble will be if you decide to be troublesome, Miss Hatwell. Meet me after classes tomorrow. Take notes on everything and try your best, but no one expects you to understand it.Thank you, Professor.
He turned and looked at her with intrest in his eyes. Apparently she was different, or else he wouldn't have had let out such expressions. He nodded and left.
Celsea waited until most of the other people had taken a bed in a dorm room. She stayed in the Common Room until it was empty, and then found some parchment and a quill and ink and began a letter to Remus.
Dear Remus,
Well, the first day's over and it's been very exciting. I love the castle, although I felt really embarassed to be the tallest one during the Sorting.
I've been sorted into Slytherin House, and Professor Snape is going to help get me caught up to Fifth Year. I think Hermione was dissapointed that I was put in Slytherin. I don't know what I think of it yet, because I don't know anyone yet. I suppose tomorrow I'll talk to some people and find out a little more about the school.
Write back soon,
-Celsea Hatwell
She folded the letter, and decided to wait for tomorrow to send it. She didn't know where her owl was, but she supposed it was somewhere with everyone else's. She realized then that she did not yet think of a name for the bird.
What...what to name him. I don't know at all...
She almost dropped off to sleep then and there, but had the presence of mind to drag herself towards up to her dorm room and fall alseep.
A/N: Well this one's a bit shorter than the last two...but then there was less to talk about. The next day should be interesting wink :A/N
