4 "First Stop. Trouble"
'My name is Brittany Markham.' She stepped into the compartment, without waiting for invitation. She looked both Beck and Jerrod over, shaking her head.
'A guitar!' said Brittany, 'what a stupid Muggle object.' With a flick of her wand, the guitar escaped Jerrod's hands, and she caught it. Jerrod could feel the temper rising in him. He slid his wand into his hand, and stood, wand pointed at
Brittany's nose.
'Give it back!' Two wands appeared over Brittany's shoulder, wielded by her posse.
'I like it; I think I'll keep it.' Blue sparks popped from the end of Jerrod's wand, as he struggled to keep calm. He glanced at Beck, who gave a slight nod.
'Sonorous!' he said, turning the wand on himself. He screamed at the intruders, voice magically amplified a hundred-fold. They staggered under the enormous noise.
'Quietus!' cried Beck, dispelling Jerrod's voice. Now, with both wands pointed at the floored girls, three spells were cast.
'Petrificus Totalus!' said Jerrod.
'Immobulous!' said Beck.
'Levicorpus!' Jerrod shouted, aiming it at Brittany. Brittany whisked into the air, held aloft by her ankle. She quickly dropped the guitar, which Jerrod caught.
'Go. Away' he said, firmly. He relaxed the spell, and Brittany hit the floor, hard. Between them, Jerrod and Beck moved the unconscious girls to another empty compartment. The train shuddered, and began to slow down.
'Time to get changed' Beck said. Both of their school robes were in their luggage so they returned to their compartment. Jerrod waited patiently outside for Beck to change, and she lingered outside while he did the same.
Jerrod slid open the door, letting Beck back in. He had his first good look at her in the uniform. He began at her feet. Polished black shoes, with grey anklet socks; skin toned stockings;a plaid skirt, which fell to just above her knees; a woollen jumper; and a cloak which reached the carpet, with the Gryffindor insignia stitched on it. He looked down at his. His new pants were one size toobig, but he'd preferred them that way, and his hooded cloak brushed the floor. Unlike Beck's though, Jerrod hadn't had a house emblem on his. The train stopped.
'Time to go' said Jerrod, opening the door for Beck. She passed, and together they stepped from the train.
'Firs' years!' shouted a giant of a man.
'Who is that?' asked Jerrod quietly.
'That's Hagrid, the groundskeeper.' Beck waved at the ten-foot tall man, who waved back. 'He was here when my parent's came to school.' Jerrod looked the man over. His beard had already begun to silver, and his weary face betrayed years of work.
'Come on, we want to get a carriage don't we?' Beck grabbed Jerrod's hands and pulled him toward the waiting horse-carriages. The only problem he saw was that there were no horses.
'Self-propelled carriages, that's nifty.' Jerrod stepped up into the carriage behind Beck.
'Don't be stupid, they're drawn by thestral's. They're invisible, unless you've seen something horrific.'
'How do you know?' Jerrod knew instantly he shouldn't have asked.