Ghelli: Thanks mate, you rock! Here's your chance!

Chapter 3

Not for Squids

Oh gawd, oh gawd, oh gawd.

"Are you Ok, Zukie. Don't worry, Platform 9 ¾ scares everyone first time," Chrys assured patting me on the shoulder, jolting my lungs into gear again. Running at the wall was the easy part. I had done it a couple a times and as long as you didn't hit it with your nose, it didn't even hurt. What gripped me just short of a heart attack was the other side.

Waking up that morning I had felt the chest sucking anticipation of the first day of school. I had spent my entire life a Kyneema Primary School. It was a school of fifty kids, a place so small it didn't have a fire bell, it had an aid screaming "Fire!" What was I to expect? This was a school for an entirecountry!

The plus side was that just about everyone else would be new too.

The barman woke me up early with a large breakfast and a steaming hot coffee. My mother warned me that coffee stunted growth in the same tone she warned me about why I should wear clean underwear (in case you get hit by a bus. Like the first thing you don't do after getting hit by a bus is wet yourself!), but just having a warm drink in my hand calmed me down. Tom grinned, a few teeth shy, and helped me tug a three or four travel bags onto the pavement while there was a lull in business for Pedro. It was unnerving to have cars putter by while they stared at Flynn's cage, apparently empty except for a grubby old log.

"Come on, you can sit in the car with my friends," chirped Chrys, pressing me forward. I was frozen to the cement gripping the trolley piled with my bags in white knuckles. The platform on the outside was almost bare…. This… Oh gawd, so many people. All I could do was utter a panicked squeak.

Knots of kids shuttled back and forth, squealing with delight. Elder kids laughed and shoved each other playfully. Strange creatures yammered and shrieked. People scraped past me and made me want to squeeze into the tiniest possible shape. I had come from a place which allowed me to develop a personal space of at least a metre, people were coming so close!

Forcing myself to breath I took a shaking step forward after my lead, trying to weave the trolley through the mosh and then carried my bags into a car which would be towed behind an impressive red steam engine. It was my first time on a train. Inside three other seventh years talked and giggled excitedly over their holidays. Finally I shifted Flynn's cage into my lap and squeezed myself into a corner.

I wanted a window seat but all the girls leaned across it as they chattered like monkeys. One was trying to stare inconspicuously at Flynn who had puffed his feathers and turned his back on them doing his best 'I'm not here' impression with his neck stretched up and beak partly open. He rolled his black pupil on yellow iris eyes at me before closing it to complete the illusion.

Finally, tittering breathlessly, Chrysanthemum plumped herself on the other side with her tortoiseshell cat hugged to her chest despite its best efforts to crawl under the seat.

"Oh my god! Did you see Demitri's new hair cut?"

"I know, too bad he's going with Eliza," replied one of the girls with a dreamy smile.

"Sylvia said she cheated on him over the holidays," whispered another amongst the conspirators.

I sighed and tried to make pictures out of the markings on Flynn's plumage.

"Oh yeah," said Chrys apologetically trying to invite me closer to the group. "Everyone, this is Maree, but everyone calls her Zukie. She's the one my uncle found, remember?"

My stare darkened a little, the tone suggested he had discovered some strange deep sea fish and should come and goggle at it.

"Oh, the one from 'Downundah!" said one trying out an Australian accent. If she said anything about shrimp on the barbie, I'd show her a prawn on the barbie. "What kind of owl is that?"

"He's not an owl," I replied tartly. "He's a tawny frogmouth, a kind of nightjar."

"Oh, uh, sorry," the girl, an piqued expression flitting across her face that said know-it-all brat all too clearly before turning back to more important topics, such as Demitri's availability on the meat market. I restrained myself from rolling my eyes or sighing again. I found it hard talking to girls, boys were much more straight forward, and they didn't giggle.

The train whistle blew and it jolted forward, chuffing slowly and then picking up speed. Peeking through the girl's bowed heads, I watched the train station and furiously waving parents vanished into a dot on the horizon and out of sight. Unfamiliar trees whooshed pasted in a tealy blur and then made way to lush paddocks of green grass speckled with diary cattle and sheep.

Seeing actual green grass was an eye opener. Seeing it I never realised just how brown our grass actually was. Green mountains, green grass, green leaves. Jeeze! Why couldn't they share it around!

After a while the train ride had lost its novelty. It was a bus with more bumps. Leaning on my elbow I wanted to read some of the spell books but they were hidden right at the bottom of one of my floral travel bags. I settled for spinning my wand through my fingers to relieve the boredom.

"Maybe you can change into your robes now, Zukie," suggested one of the girls noticing my discomfort. "Then you can look around for some first years. We'll look after your nightjar."

"Naw, I'll take it with me."

I thanked her and pulled the crumpled black material from a little backpack before hefting up a trunk and bags.

"Watchit!" growled Flynn, turning his back on me.

After several attempts I managed to squeeze through the door and staggered from car to car until I found the change room. Three other girls were already lined up impatiently with the same black robes draped over their arms. The girl in front of me smiled vaguely, curling a bit of hair around one finger but then went back to stare at the panorama zipping past.

Finally it was my turn and I turned the lock behind me.

Tossing the robes on halfhazardly, I was jabbed by every one of the two dozen pins I had scrounged to peg up my sleeves and cuffs and as it hung off me in folds. I wondered if it was meant to be like that. The sleeves belled like some medieval princess's and the rest kind of sulked by my ankles. On the hanger it had appeared perfectly wizardly, something that belonged to Disney's Fantasia.

Wear had made it a dark grey rather that the roguish black of the other students, and the black satin that lined the cuffs for some reason reminded me of red if I glimpsed it from the corner of my eye. The lady pinning me up had waved it away, saying that that was because it was second hand and I shouldn't worry about it.

"Very nice, although you might want to take it in when you get to Hogwarts."

"AHHHH!" I pivoted, and lunged out, only to forget there was door that separated me and freedom. I told you running into walls didn't hurt. "THE MIRROR'S TALKING!"

"It was a compliment dear, you'll fill it in I'm sure," it tried to sooth in a motherly voice that reminded me of Mrs Potts. I stopped pounding and reminded myself where and what I was now. How did it make the noise? Standing on my toes I tried to pry it from its hook to see what was behind it but the ticklish giggles was disturbing. "If you want try the levitation spell. Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Uh, thanks. Wingar-"

"No dear, the emphasis is on the gar. Now again, Wingardium Leviosa"

"Wingardium Leviosa" Using the wand to direct it I floated it down so I could get a decent look at me in my robes, from the back and the side. "Hey! This ain't too bad! Thanks, Mrs, um, Mirr-achoo!"

The wand bucked, the mirror froze in midair, contorted and rolled across the floor of the dressing room, a pumpkin.

At least its still in one piece, I sighed. Smuggling it under my robes in embarrassment I gave the wand an almost reprimanding shake before stuffing it back in its pocket as a boy slid in behind me, flashing suspicious looks. I chuckled uneasily and hid the pumpkin in one of my large bags and then reloaded, shuffling like a giant turtle.

Then to find some first years.

I tried a few cars, each full of nervously chatting kids. Some invited me to join them, until they saw I had half my room with me. Luckily on the forth try I slid a door open to find a single boy. He looked like he'd been snorting a fireplace but I didn't feel like being picky. I fought to drag my laden body through, no longer patient.

"I'm sitting here, everywhere else is full. Got a problem?" I demanded, panting and trying to lift my trunk into the over head. It was like asking an ant to lift a seashell but I tried to do so anyway. He sat up to help, placing his still smoking wand to the side and wiping away the soot, but I shot him a harsh glare. My motto was always 'if you can't stand on your own to feet, you may as well lay down,' even if it was physically impossible. He watched a little while longer, glancing up from his study book if I grunted loudly when finally he huffed and intoned "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The trunk quivered as it lifted off the seat, as high as I'd been able to lift it, and settled gently in the overhead at Sooty's direction.

I shot him a savage glare that meant death but he regarded me only with vague interest. "Did I ask you to do that? No! So just leave me stuff alone!"

His eyes travelled down and settled on my wand in my jeans pocket. "You're welcome," he said diffidently and sank back onto his seat with the already dog eared textbook.

If that wasn't enough the Brit started showing off. I watched him enviously as he repaired a tear in his shirt. I was already considering his possibilities with the rest of my clothing and any nightly excursions.

He had a shock of smooth blonde hair, not that ugly brownish blonde, or white blonde, more of a crayon yellow cupping his head down below his ears. He was tall, but that wasn't saying a lot when you were my size, but not lanky. He also wasn't as pale as the rest of these kids.

He noticed me watching with the same faint, dreamy smile. Alright, alright. I couldn't keep my jaw from sagging. I had turned the spell book back to front and hadn't seen any spell of the kind. He'd put two and two together and realised I wasn't a magic family, moogle or whatever. He took the opportunity to introduce me to a variety of, things, off a little trolley. Those that didn't make my tastebuds explode in ecstasy made me vow to never let my tongue out in public again. When the packet says every flavour in the magic world, do your self a favour and believe them.

Yellow does not automatically mean pineapple.

That was not where things ended. Lively lollies and exploding sherbet, I'm surprised they didn't have hazard signs on them:

WARNING: Beware chocolate may attack.

Hey! Don't laugh! You try being mauled by a chocolate frog! I loosed a yell as it twitched and jumped at me. Now I am not under any, any, ANY, circumstances afraid of insects, or snakes, or octopuses or stuff, but when it moved, just I was about to sink my teeth it, you can understand why I was edgy about wizard food. But chocolate was chocolate. After Ol'mate tamed it with a flick of his wand (I had since given up the wand after turning jellybean into a miniature squash), I scarfed it down quite happily.

By the time the train chuffed to a stop, my complexion was probably begging for mercy, but as I always said, why regret tomorrow? I guess that explains a lot about me and my endless supply of bruises.

Taking a deep breath and squinting in concentration at my trunk, I raised my wand. Float, float, float! I repeated over and over, and aloud said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

I'm doing it! I'm doing it! I thought with dizzy delight, but on the outside I kept a smooth, smug smile. "I told you I didn't need your help."

As the sentence finished, there was a cartoony pop! like a champagne bottle being opened and the pumpkin rolled in its wake with a large crack down its side. "Let's see you try that! Much easier than lugging a stupid trunk around!" The smug smile stretched just a little too much as I restrained the urge to kick something. Blondie just smiled politely and handed it back to me.

Well, it's easier to carry, I reasoned, the toothy grin turning genuine again. With similar pops, the assortment of clothes and knickknacks morphed into various kinds of pumpkins. Stuffing them back into their bags I slung them over back, considerably lighter. I winked at Blondie.

"Can you turn them back," he said sceptically, following me out the door.

"This is a magic school. Someone else can do it!" He didn't say anything but radiated a quiet disapproval at the sentiment.

Stepping out into the hallway I almost bumped into someone, saved by paranoid reflexes but being overloaded with vegetables made me over balance and grope the car wall for balance.

Without waiting a hand reached down and almost yanked my arm out of my socket as she yanked me to my feet and pumped the arm enthusiastically, and to a step in close.

"Hi! I'm Anjuli!"

I yelped and shuffled backwards when she leaned in, her body not an inch from mine. And her voice! It sounded just like a spaniel puppy, like it's about to wet itself with joy even if you were only out of its sight for two seconds. She was oblivious and went on shaking.

"Hi," I said with distaste and unpeeling my hand from hers. "I'm Zukie."

"Wow! You're Australian? More foreign students!" she squealed and threw her arms around my neck before I could scramble back further. I resisted the urge to cringe and nodded, backing into Blondie as an excuse to escape. "And you've met Leo! My family and his family go way back! Big wizarding family, his! How's Vivian? What about yours? Did you move here?"

Trying to answer her questions was like paddling up Kakadu Falls in a kayak. She paused for breath waiting for me to answer with bright green eyes dancing and her nape length blonde hair swinging around her head with each skippy little movement she made.

"Uh, yes?"

Anjuli's smile faltered, but pressed on. "Come on! My older sisters told me all about the Sorting! I'm going to be in Ravenclaw, just like them."

"You never know," Leo said amiably with bored swinging strides as he got off the car and was swallowed up by the milling kids. In fact he seemed bored with the whole ordeal. Not wanting to be stuck with Anjuli, I cleared the steps with a leap and squeezed between two other first years to reach him. Unfortunately Anjuli slid through the gap after me and I ended up being squoshed even closer to her as the gap closed in.

The trip must have been longer than I percieved because a chill evening breeze was playing with the drooping sleeves of the other students. Stars unbelievably bright twinkled overhead. Even though I was in the northern hemisphere, I still tried to make sense of the patterns, searching for my guiding constellation, the Southern Cross. It was conspicuously absent from sky and in its place was a swathe of bright pinpricks.

Huge conifer trees rose up around the bare cement platform veiling everything beyond it from view save a narrow but well kept track blanketed with dead pine needles. Standing in front of it was a monster of a man, practically a bear in double knit trousers brandishing a bright lantern that miraculously managed to illuminate the entire group. "Firs' years! Firs' years gather round!"

The older years laughed and giggled, some calling out idle menaces that would await us first years. Some waved their arms like jelly fish and others made low wailing sounds before ducking out of sight.

Trying to touch as few people as possible, I suddenly jumped aside as Anjuli's arm shot into the air and waved madly. "Ingrid! Ingrid!" Another girl squeezed her way next to Anjuli with the same mindless zeal. The girls threw their arms around each other, each trying to natter over the other until Anjuli introduced me to her. I nodded absently and tried to escape further by ducking beneath Leo's dangling sleeve.

"Help me!" I hissed.

"Why? Anjuli's just being nice." Leo's smile turned sly.

"Do it or I'll kick your shins in!" Leo's eyes flew open in amazement, whether at the shock of being threatened, or being threatened by someone who came halfway up his chest, who knew, but nether the less put his body between me and the tedious ramblings of teen angst.

"Alright! All firs' years off? Leave yer bags here, they'll be over the other side wait'n," the bear man boomed laughingly, stroking the immense beard. It didn't need trimming, it needed a whipper snipper.

"He's not going to eat us is he? Grind our bones to make his bread and all that?"

Leo chuckled as we started down the winding path, stumbling slightly as the pine needles hid slippery rocks. "Of course not, that's Rubeus Hagrid, game warden for the Forbidden Forest."

My ears perked. "Forbidden ay? Pray tell."

His answer cut off as the path opened up and the loud murmurs of awe spread infectiously from first year to first year. Looming against a swollen moon was the silhouette of a castle. It wasn't just a castle, it was a castle with extra fries. Turrets and towers sprung up like mushrooms, gargoyles could be made out clinging to the rooftops. Keystone arches with flowery piers and abutments. Last but not least a huge glassy lake spread out like a mirror before it, upon which were moored a flotilla of little rowboats.

"No ov'rload'n the boats, four to a ship," called Mr Hagrid, taking up one all on his own. Tagging at Leo's heels who had unwittingly become my guide, he was to my horror leading us to where Blonde and Blonder were signalling to us.

"Pretend we don't see them!" I demanded, grabbing his sleeve and trying to tug him in a different direction.

"You'd probably be doing pretty well to be friends with Anjuli, you know. She and I were home schooled, all of her family are in extended classes." Leo continued to be bored, and two things became very obvious. One, he found Anjuli just as irritating but enjoyed seeing me suffer for his own quiet entertainment, and two, I was dealing with a nerd.

"Oh," I said with growing dread. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against brainiacs. It's just that all the knowledge they stored seemed to push out all the other bits relating to personality. I was beginning to suspect Leo wasn't much different with that quiet, malleable thing he had going. "I dibs bow!"

"Dibs?"

"Save? I dunno, but its mine."

"You're awfully pushy for a little girl you know." Without answering I leapt into the boat, my ankle catching the side, sinking it lower into the water and splashing over the rim. The girls squealed but after it settled Leo stepped in calmly, squeezing in beside me no matter how I tried to spread out. He ignored my dirty looks and gazed out over the water, winking silver on the ripples.

I was no stranger to the water, I loved it despite living far inland, maybe because I lived inland. Every year my family would take at least one fishing trip and I adored the relaxing dip and roll of our little tinny as other boats whizzed across the dam. I can vividly remember being little and sitting on my haunches holding two anchor ropes pretending I was steering a racing car, making squealing and bouncing noises as the boat jumped from wave to wave.

I knelt peering over the bow while the girls tried to bail out the water and leaves floating in the bottom. Sitting deep in the water Mr Hagrid tapped the side his boat with an umbrella and slid smoothly into the water slicing it into sheets of moon silver with the rest gliding behind it.

"Come'on faster, faster, faster!" I urged as ours chugged along near the front.

"You do realise it's an inanimate object don't you?" Leo said, dipping his arm into the water. His cup hand gouged out a trail behind us before the waters folded in on it.

"Yeah, well having a mouth doesn't seem to be a limiting criteria in this little slice of insanity."

"Tu shay," he smirked, and flicked a handful of water at me. I scooped up my own and flung it with a fan of droplets, sniggering.

"Come on guys, don't do that!" Anjuli pleaded, wiping off the droplets that pelted her. In defiance I scooped up another and rocked onto my knees to fling it further. The boat pitched crazily and it twisted and turned with each spasm. With a fiendish grin I realised we could steer it even a little with our weight. The boat was slowly veering towards another boat just ahead filled with two boys and two girls. The girl lounging across the bow seat saw us and returned the malicious grin.

"Well well well!" she called, straightening. To call her slender would miss the perfect opportunity to use emaciated. She was tallish, from what I could see, with legs like toothpicks beneath her skirt and a neck like a slinky. It was so long in comparison to her tiny, freckled head. Her laughter was a loud jolting bray, just like a zebra in a Serengeti documentary. Moonlight shone behind them. The silhouette of one of them was small, the shadows and highlights melting over his copper hair. Recognition finally pierced my brain.

Shorty.

"You gotta be josh'n," I whispered under my breath, my hand reaching without thought to my waist where the twisted bars of the trolley had scraped gashes like bite marks. My teeth flashed menacingly.

I threw my weight to one side and the boat tilted upwards, twisting ever so slightly towards their boat. It wasn't enough.I grabbed Leo's shoulder who was watching impassively and yanked him to my side despite a cry of protest. The weight shifted dangerously and the little rowboat swerved sharply, now on a beeline for Shorty's boat. As I grew close I recognised the girl too, the one who called me foreign. There was no sign of the foxy boy but I wasn't surprised. He had looked a lot older.

"Mudblood!" the giraffe necked girl trumpeted.

There was a sharp intake in breath from the boats within earshot. It must have been an insult or something.

"Make this thing go faster!" I hissed savagely to Leo.

"I don't know how!"

"I thought you were in extended classes!"

"That was things like algebra! Algebra!"

Too late! Giraffe withdrew the slender shadow that must have been her wand and jabbed it at the boat. Its occupants whistled and crowed as it cut smoothly through the water spraying plumes behind it.

"Stop yers horseplay!" Hagrid growled over the top of the waves that were now coursing out to rock the other boats.

"Back down while you still can, house elf!"

"No way!" I snapped back ignoring Anjuli trying to order me around. I groped for Leo again but he was a quick learner and hugged his sleeves to his chest. Their boat loomed!

FWWACK!

Their bow ploughed into our side, dipping and lifted beneath the rim of our own! They didn't stop there! The momentum thrust up and the wood scraped loudly on wood, shoving our boat up onto its side. The girls squealed and latched onto the side!

I wasn't quick enough. The boat's grizzly moan threatened to capsize. Already off balance crouched on my haunches I was catapulted from my seat and over the side. My shoulder slammed into something solid and clutched it with limbs still flailing.

"Whoa!" It was Leo I had grasped and we toppled, scrabbling on the slippery wood and into the icy water.

Cold! My mind shut down momentarily in shock. So icy was the frigid moonlit waters the wind was knocked out of me and I instinctively tried to suck in air to refill it. Water poured into my lungs and I coughed and clawed my way back towards the water's surface, gleaming like fish scales as waves tossed around.

Luckily Leo had more sense. As I struggled blindly upwards for air his arms encircled my body and held me down. Bubbles streamed from his nostrils and his blonde hair floated like a ghostly halo around my head. He jerked his head upwards to get some sense into me. Overhead the hulls of the rowboats behind us passed overhead. Had I broken the surface my skull would have collided with them and been sucked under again, unconscious.

My lungs screamed and my struggling subsided. Finally he let go and I surged towards the surface. I gagged, coughing up water and trying, trying to get air between my ragged gasps. My arms felt like spaghetti so my pathetic paddling did little to keep me afloat and my waterlogged robes sagged on my body so that I couldn't rely on natural buoyancy. With a sharp kick I broke the surface again and spun whilst treading water to look for Leo.

He was stroking after our boat which after its short tussle had drifted back on course towards the castle with the girls encouraging him from the back. He wasn't getting anywhere fast as he too fought against the weight of his robes.

Now what? I let myself sink to regain some strength before I tried to chase after them. Floating above the water meant my face was stung by the breeze and my teeth chattered steadily. The Sorting thing would be over by the time I got there.

Of course, I could have relieved the burden of my robe, let it descend to a watery grave and make a break for it, but I would do so over my dead body. What was left over from my venture at Diagon Alley was non existent.

Still holding my breath and trying to remain calm I looked through the inky blackness. Far, far below I thought I could make out lights, fairy lights fluttering in a watery haze. I watched them dreamily and then gazed up. The surface was now a pretty way above me. Had I let myself drop that far? A feeble kick didn't do much and my lungs were starting to complain. I dreamily watched the bubbles trickle out my nose in a thin stream.

Suddenly something gripped my shoe. Something had been fluttering around it for the past couple minutes but I had passed it off as seaweed. How far away was the bottom? I glanced below and huge, watery eye stared back, a narrow catlike pupil focused on me.

I screamed! Expelling the last of my air I thrashed upwards desperately. Almost on top of me was a parrot like beak, snapping shut and spewing its own cloud of bubbles. It snapped again and it was like the sound had intercepted the messages travelling down my nerves for a brief second. Did squid have echolocation? Dolphins did and it stunned their prey. Then again, maybe in this magic place it just used a mind zap.

A red tentacle snaked up and shook me into action again. I breached and waved wildly with a watery shriek, splashing and thrashing. It was probably the worst thing to do when being attacked, but logic had packed its bags and gone to Bali.

"GEDOVERERE! GET! Get over here!" Water churned and I saw Hagrid's boat moseying despite his best efforts to force it faster, waving that stupid pink umbrella as he yelled at it. Other slower boats were closing in and one was edging towards us with the people at the bow leaning their weight to guide it.

"Zukie! Don't panic!" Leo again! He was stroking furiously back towards me.

I sank again unable to keep afloat. The giant squid's tentacle snaked out again but I dived beneath it. It was horrible, like being stuck in slow motion, every movement sluggish and exaggerated in the sucking force of the water. I slithered in and out trying to steal another breath but a tentacle blockaded me from reaching it. Panic was using up my air faster and my lungs felt like the were being throttled! The sharp stabbing pain of a stitch in my side crippled me.

Above Leo grabbed my outstretched arm and tugged me out of the way squid's coils again! I took in a delirious breath but Leo jerked me aside again. An immense slimy tentacle slapped the surface where we had been. My hand slipped and I was plunged under. Leo's hands waved around above my head, each time missing my own by inches.

"Weeeelp!" I burbled, tears of fear mixing with the water. The huge shining bubbles wafted around like I was in a fantasy and as gigantic limbs thrashed the waters, the currents bashed my body.

Abruptly a tentacle wrapped around my waist, and squeezed! They slithered around my waist, tiny suckers latching onto my bear skin and lifting me like a rag doll. My underwater screams severed and my head swam from lack of oxygen and exhaustion. With conscious thought becoming more and more distant I dreamily groped for the hem of my robes, floating like cuttlefish frills around me. Water currents flowed as the squid was taking me somewhere, up or down I could no longer tell. Lights above and lights below enhanced the feelings of detachment.

Got it, I thought vaguely, my head lolly like a lead weight. I gripped the weapon tightly, wound my arm back, and stabbed!

The nappy pin gored a tentacle and with a sharp movement ripped a long slash along its length.

It wailed, relinquishing its grip! Another nerve rattling snap of the beak froze me but I had anticipated it. I kicked up as alien blood billowed through the water and I clawed what I hoped was upwards. I was barely a foot below the surface and Leo was right there.

Shoving me behind him he clumsily gripped his wand as he treaded water, splashing and mumbling to himself. "Joliectus? No, um! Oh! Ah ha! Rictusempra!"

The wand fizzed. Leo tried again. "RictusempraRictusempraRICTUSEMPRA!""

The water bubbled around the tip. "RICT-US-EMPRA"

A blast of air erupted from wand, and shot us into the air like a bottle rocket! I met the water in a belly flop and the needled prickles stung like mad.

"I got you!" I looked around as two people stood up from another boat, peeling of their robes and dived in.

"I can do it myself," I gasped, dog paddling towards the boat on my own but it was so faint it was inaudible. Leo gratefully accepted the help, stroking in tandem with the boy who helped him while a thin, sick looking boy hauled him in sopping.

"Stop it!' My rescuer gulped and shoved me up. I waved away the sick boy's arms up and grunting and groaning fell panting into the bottom of the boat with Leo. We glared at each other.

"You didn't have to pull me in after you."

"I didn't need your help."

"Could have fooled me." I looked up at this voice. It was Leo's rescuer, an aloof boy with his dark hair plastered around his face. Breathing out he sat down sweeping the twin strands framing his face back behind his ears where a short ponytail spiked out from his neck.

After her came mine, a girl whose own straw like hair made me believe the black was dye. That wasn't the only artifice she had, mascara dripped down her cheeks like inky tears and smeared black lipstick painted the clear picture she was of those people who were always trying to be dark and brooding. In fact except for being eleven she was what people looked for in a Halloween witch costume. She shook her hair out like a dog spraying droplets at the rest of us turning it almost fluffy. Grinning like a crocodile she shrugged on her dry rob.

"Stop it Felix, you're getting us wet!" complained the sick boy, with a sulky expression. The roll of Felix's eyes made me believe this was usual. Neat stolen blonde hair combed to one side and pallid skin. I didn't even need to look to tell his nails were conscientiously well kept and he probably labelled his underwear after the days of the week. He was trying to shield the last member staring distantly across the water. His hair, a little lighter than the boy who was obviously his brother was cut in jagged strips, the longest almost scapula length and some tufts cut close to the scalp.

"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree!" he sang toneless. It felt like he wasn't staring at me, curled shivering at the bottom on the floor, but piercing through me to the water below.

"Hey! He said that last week!" the whiny boy chirped, and fished into his breast pocket. He withdrew, safe in a sealed plastic bag, a notebook and pen. He flipped through it eagerly and then recited. "Googa baron sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bus is he."

I snorted. "King of the bus? Get real, it's a nursery rhyme. A kookaburra is a bird that's call sounds like its laughing. Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra, how gay your life must be."

"See!" he insisted. "He knew you were coming!"

I shot a look at Felix. "The nerd is Sebastian, the freaky one is Kalchas. He's psychic, 'cept he has a detached retina in his second sight."

Why did I keep being surprised? "Huh?"

"He's like a fritzy radio, only you don't know if he's picking up stuff from the past, or the future. He's a bit-" Felix tapped her temple meaningfully.

"He is not!" protested Sebastian. "Why are you telling her? She's a, a, a ratbag!" He glared at me.

Felix shrugged.

The sound of another boat was coming closer and it pulled up beside us. Hagrid's huge profile leaned over the side. "Are you kiddies alright?" he asked was a cross between concern and annoyance.

"Yah," I wheezed.

"I'll be have'n to tell the Headmaster, you know." Now that look was directed at me. I nodded remorsefully and slumped back. "Poor Squiddy! He was only try'n ta help."

"Help!" I said without force. "He tried to drag me to Davey's Locker!"

"That's the ocean," corrected Leo.

"Shutup!"

"No, he was trying to help you back to your boat but you kepta squirming!" The giant man nodded and called to the rest of the group bobbing up and down and trying to peer at us in curiosity. A sheet of ivy vines draped over the boat as it passed through into a tunnel and then into enormous cavern, its acoustics mellowing the noises to an almost musical whisper. The boats bumped onto a jetty and that other boy eased me onto it. I didn't even have the strength to remind him I could do it myself. I just slumped in my sopping robes, shivering like a vibrating squiggle pen.

A shadow loomed over me and I glanced up. I immediately regretted it, being locked into the icy gaze of a stern woman people back home called 'spritely'. Spritely had nothing to do with it, it was sheer uncompromising will.

"I saw your antics on the lake," she said in a withering tone. I tried to appear cute and apologetic but that would cut no slack with her. She caught Leo's eye and waved him in beside. She murmured a few words and Fwoot

I held my arms out from my body giving them a shake. Dry as a dingos dinner. My hands raked through my hair. It too was dry but the while still bound it its tail, the tail part had become poofy

"All right, everyone gather round. I am Professor McGonagall." She didn't have to raise her voice, the rest of the first years hushed up immediately and crowded in front of her. Between the heads I saw Shorty and the Giraffe smirking but it was cut short with a glance. Behind her Hagrid rapped three times on huge oaken door, aged and knotted which swung open smoothly. "And welcome, to one of the most prestigious academies in the world, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"