Disclaimer: I don´t own anything all rights go to J.K. Rowling
Chapter 4: The Journey from Platform 9 ¾
The one and a half month leading up to September 1 was quite uneventful for Jen. Nothing had really changed from before she had gotten her Hogwarts letter except that Jen and her parent's relationship had become a bit frostier.
Jen had started to read through her set books and the extra books she had gotten so she would be prepared when she got to Hogwarts. She tucked herself away in her room or in a corner in the backyard to avoid her parents and Danvers and her gang while she read through the books. All the books were very interesting, and she learnt a lot about the wizarding society that she hadn't known before, admittedly she didn't know a whole lot about it to begin with as Peter never really told them all the details.
It was in A History About the Dark Arts Rise and Fall that Jen first read about Voldemort, a very dark wizard, and Harry Potter and how he defeated Voldemort while he was only a baby.
Jen was horrified about all the evil things that Voldemort had done and relieved that he was defeated but she thought it was ridiculous that wizards called Voldemort You-Know-Who instead of his real name. Jen had asked her brother why they called him You-Know-Who instead of Voldemort and he told her it was because they were still afraid.
Jen also got to know her little kitten Sliver more. Silver liked sleeping beside Jen on her pillow and when Jen read, whether outside or in her room, Silver liked to curl up in her lap. She was a rather calm kitten that would rather curl up and sleep in the cosiest place she could find than go out and explore.
The closer to September 1 it got the more nervous and excited Jen got. She reread her set books again and again trying to memorise what stood in them so she would be prepared.
Every time Peter found her anxiously reading through one of her set books he would just smile and tell her not to worry as she probably already knew more than those from wizarding families. Jen didn't believe him and only continued to read.
"I think Transfiguration and Potions looks most interesting," Jen told Peter about a week before September 1.
"Both are interesting subjects," Peter said. "But the Potion teacher, Professor Snape, is awful. He only likes the Slytherins and he criticise everyone. So don't be too excited about his lessons, they are a nightmare."
Jen was very disappointed by this because she had been really excited about Potions and didn't want the subject to be ruined just because of a bad teacher.
They were sitting in Peter's blue and bronze Ravenclaw room each reading a book, Jen was reading Hogwarts: A History, in silencewhen she suddenly thought of something that really worried her.
"Peter?" Jen said.
"Mmhmm," Peter said and turned page in his book.
"What if I get sorted in a different house than you?" Jen said and Peter looked up from his book. "What if I´m not sorted into Ravenclaw?"
"Then you are in another house," he said.
"Yeah, but you won´t hate me if I´m in another house, right?"
"Jen, I could never hate you," Peter said. "I would be equally proud whichever house you end up in."
"Even if I end up in Slytherin?" Jen asked, she had read about Slytherin and the bad reputation it had in more than one of her books and heard Peter talk about them as if the house was only made up of bad people.
"Yeah, I would be proud even if you ended up in Slytherin," Peter said. "But I´m quite sure you won´t end up in Slytherin, you are too nice."
Jen laughed and hugged her brother who hugged her back tightly.
((&))
The day before Jen would go to Hogwarts, she packed her trunk and made sure she hadn´t forgotten anything before she decided she would cook a goodbye dinner to the whole family.
So, while Mr and Mrs MacAvity were at work Jen made dinner.
The dinner was actually quite pleasant; Jen talked with her parents and siblings and had fun.
"How are Jen and I getting to King´s Cross Station tomorrow?" Peter asked when they had finished the dessert.
"You will have to take the bus," Mrs MacAvity said. "We have just gotten a really big case."
A thing Jen hated about her parents was that they were always working, if they got a case they worked from early morning to late evening. All three siblings had, because of this, quiet early learnt how to take care of themselves so they didn´t have to be dependent on their parents or a babysitter.
"Okay," Peter said.
When the dinner was done Jen and Peter said goodbye to their parents because they knew their parents would be gone before they woke up the next morning.
"Goodbye mother and father," Jen said and hugged them both.
"You are coming home for Christmas, right?" her father asked.
"Yeah, I will come home for Christmas," Jen said then grimaced as she remembered something. "But, father, aren´t we going to Great Aunt Clarice in America over Christmas?"
"Clarice went on a cruise with some friends," Mr MacAvity said with a smile. "So, it will only be us five this year."
Jen smiled and gave her father another hug.
When Jen had finished saying goodbye to her parents she went up to her room and once again checked so she had packed everything. She then made herself ready for bed and crawled under her blankets and cuddled up to Silver. As she closed her eyes the only thing she could think of was that this time the next day she would be at Hogwarts.
((&))
Jen woke up early the next morning, when she looked at the alarm clock at her bedside table it showed six o'clock. She tried to go back to sleep but after half an hour she realised that it was hopeless, she was far too excited and nervous to be able to sleep.
When she realised that she got out of bed and tried to calm her nerves by once again go through her trunk to make sure she had everything. When she had checked that she had packed everything, she decided to go down to the kitchen and make breakfast for herself and her siblings.
Peter and Olivia came into the kitchen just as she was done frying the bacon and eggs. They sat down and ate while Olivia chatted in her usual happy way.
When Jen had finished her breakfast, she went up to her room where she checked her trunk one last time and then spent half an hour trying to get Silver into a woven basket in which she would get to Hogwarts.
When she finally had managed to get Silver into the basket, she grabbed her trunk and brought it down to the first floor and placed it in the hallway by the door before going back up to fetch Silvers basket and Popcorns cage. As Jen placed the basket and cage in the hallway Peter came down the stairs with his own trunk and new broomstick placing them beside her trunk.
Olivia was standing in the doorway to the living room and Jen realised it was time to say goodbye to her little sister.
"Goodbye Olivia," Jen said and hugged her little sister tightly while she tried, and failed, to not cry.
"Goodbye Jen," Olivia said and hugged Jen tightly and then turned and hugged Peter just as tight. "Goodbye Peter."
Olivia sniffed and dried some tears with her sleeve.
"You have to write me," she said. "Both of you and when you come home for Christmas you have to tell me everything that has happened."
"We promise," both Jen and Peter said at the same time.
Then they grabbed their trunks and pets and broomstick and went out of the house and started to make their way to the bus stop. As Jen looked back one last time, she could see that Olivia was waving after them from the doorway of their house and she waved back at her as best she could as she was holding both her trunk and Silvers basket.
The bus ride to King´s Cross Station was short but a bit uncomfortable with all the strange glances people gave them because of Popcorn, Silver and Peter´s broomstick. They also kept glancing at Jen as she was so nervous that she couldn't sit still and kept shifting in her seat.
"Stop moving," Peter said a bit annoyed. "If you are nervous you can always sit with me on the train, just keep in mind that I will have to go to the Prefects meeting during the ride."
"Yes, I want to sit with you," Jen said quietly, calming down a bit so she stopped moving but still nervously looking out of the window.
The bus arrived at King´s Cross Station at ten o´clock so they had an hour before the Hogwarts Express would leave. Jen dumped her trunk on a trolley and then put Silver´s basket on top of the trunk, Peter had done the same and had also put his broomstick on his trolley.
They started to walk through the station pushing their trolleys in front of them heading for the wall separating platforms nine and ten where they would find the portal to Platform 9 ¾.
When Jen and Peter arrived at the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ Jen saw three people standing there looking confused and worried. It was a man and a woman who looked to be in their forties and a young girl, with very bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, who looked to be about Jen's age.
"Are you certain that we are supposed to go through the wall to get to Platform 9 ¾?" the woman asked the girl.
"Yes, mum, I´m certain," the bushy haired girl said but she looked worried. "The witch that informed me that I am a witch said that I should run through the wall to get to the platform and I read it in one of my books too."
As Jen heard the girl say that she took a careful step towards the little family.
"Excuse me, but are you going to Hogwarts?" Jen asked the girl.
All three members of the family turned their heads and looked at Jen and Peter.
"Yes, I´m starting my first year at Hogwarts," the girl said. "Are you also going to Hogwarts?"
"Yeah, I´m also starting my first year and my brother is starting his fifth," Jen said.
"Then you know how to get through the portal!" the bushy haired girl said. "We are supposed to run through the wall, right?"
"Yes," Jen said. "The only thing we have to do is run through the wall between platforms 9 and 10 and we will get to the platform."
"Look, mum, I was right," the girl said and turned towards Jen stretching out her hand. "My name is Hermione Granger, by the way."
"Jennifer MacAvity," Jen said and shook Hermione's hand. "But everyone calls me Jen."
"And my name is Peter MacAvity," Peter said and shook Hermione's and Mr and Mrs Granger´s hands.
When everyone had shook hands Hermione nervously looked towards the wall between platforms 9 and 10, as if she wasn't certain she wouldn't crash into it. Jen remembered that she had thought that she was going to crash into the wall when she had first stood there five years earlier.
"We can do it together if you want?" Jen said to Hermione. "Your parents can come after with my brother."
"Yeah," Hermione said. "I think I would like that."
So both Jen and Hermione grabbed their trolleys and went to stand side by side facing the wall between platforms nine and ten. Then they both quickly looked at each other smiling nervously before they started to walk towards the wall.
The closer to the wall they got the more nervous Jen got and they walked faster and faster until they were running. When they were just one meter from the wall Jen closed her eyes out of reflex.
Jen and Hermione continued to run but when they never crashed into a wall they stopped, and Jen opened her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she saw a scarlet steam engine that was realising smoke that floated out over the crowd at the pact platform next to it. She had first seen that train and platform five years ago when she had followed her parents here to say goodbye to Peter when he had gone to his first year at Hogwarts.
When Jen now looked at the scarlet train, she saw it differently than she had done five years ago. Then she had seen it as the train that would take her brother away to a new exciting world while leaving her behind, but now it would be her that the train would take away to that new exciting world. Now she looked upon the train with excitement and nervous expectancy instead of the dread and jealousy she had done back then.
Jen turned around and saw her brother and Mr and Mrs Granger walking out from under a wrought-iron archway with the words Platform 9 ¾ on it.
"Would you like to sit with me on the train?" Jen heard Hermione ask.
Jen threw a quick glance at Hermione before turning to Peter and looking uncertainly at him. Peter only nodded and smiled to show that it was okay that Jen sat with Hermione at the train instead of him.
"Yes, I would like that," Jen said to Hermione.
Hermione smiled broadly before all five of them headed down the train in search of an empty compartment. While they walked Peter was calling out greetings to his friends and sometimes, he had to stop to hug someone or look at something one of his friends showed him before hurrying after the others.
They finally found an empty compartment near the end of the train. Jen put Silver´s basket inside of it before Peter and Mr Granger helped get the girls trunks inside. When the trunks were loaded in the compartment Hermione turned to say goodbye to her parents and Jen turned to talk to Peter.
"Do you want me to sit in your compartment or is it okay if I sit with my friends?" Peter asked.
Jen looked over at Hermione who was crying while she hugged her parents.
"I think it´s okay if you sit with your friends," Jen said. "But you got to promise that you´ll at least come by one time during the ride."
"I promise I will come by," Peter said, and Jen hugged him.
When Jen released Peter, he took his trolley and started to walk back up the train in search of the compartment his friends were sitting in. Jen looked after him before climbing into her and Hermione´s compartment and waited for Hermione to finish saying goodbye to her parents.
Hermione walked into the compartment, with tears still streaming down her cheeks, when it was about five minutes before the train would leave. She took out a handkerchief and started rubbing her eyes with it.
When the train finally stated to leave the platform, Hermione leant out through the window and waved goodbye to her parents as long as she could see them. When Hermione no longer could see her parents, she leant back into the compartment and closed the window.
The two girls stared awkwardly at each other while the houses of London flew by outside the window.
"So are the whole of your family wizards and witches?" Hermione finally asked. "It would be fantastic to grow up in a family with witches and wizards. I´m the only person in my family with magical powers. I´m also an only child so it would be really cool to have a wizard brother."
Hermione said all this very fast and Jen was impressed with how someone could talk so fast.
"Both my parents are Muggles," Jen said and smiled at Hermione. "Me and Peter are the only ones in my family with magical powers, but our little sister might also have magical powers too, but we don´t know that until she gets her Hogwarts letter."
"What do your parents work with?" Hermione said as fast as before. "Mine are dentists' and they are really strict when it comes to tooth hygiene. I've actually never had sweets. They were really chocked when they found out I'm a with, but when they got it explained they were very pleased."
"My parents are lawyers," Jen said. "They work a lot and they hate everything that has to do with magic."
"Oh, I´m so sorry," Hermione said looking very shocked at how anyone couldn't like magic.
They both sat some time in silence after that, caught in their own thoughts. After a little bit Jen let Silver out of her basket and the kitten curled up in her lap, glad to be out of the uncomfortable basket.
"You have a really cute kitten," Hermione said and ended the silence. "I would really like to have a pet too, but my parents said I have to wait. They don´t think I'm old enough for a pet."
"Yeah, she is cute," Jen said and petted Silver. "I bought her when I was in Diagon Alley. My parent's didn´t want me to have a pet but Peter and I bought her anyway, mother and father wasn´t very happy when we came home with her. Have you read any of the set books?"
"Oh, yes," Hermione said excitedly. "I have learned all our set books by heart, and I have also read some extra book for background information. I thought that would be good so that I would come prepared when I came to Hogwarts. Have you also read the set books? And have you gotten some extra books, too?"
"I have read our set books, but I can´t say that I have memorised them," Jen said. "But I have also gotten some extra book. Two about history and then some books about magical creatures and then some fictional books."
"So, you are looking forward to the Magical Creatures class, then?" Hermione asked.
"Oh yes, but Peter said that we won't take that class until third year," Jen said.
"You said your brother is starting his fifth year, right?" Hermione asked and Jen nodded. "Which house is he in? I have read a bit about houses and I think Gryffindor sounds by far the best, I mean, Dumbledore was in that house when he was at Hogwarts, but I don´t think Ravenclaw sounds too bad either."
"Well my brother is in Ravenclaw," Jen said. "I would, of course, prefer to get into Ravenclaw but Peter says he will be proud of me whichever house I get sorted into so it doesn´t really matter which house I get into, as long as it isn´t Slytherin. Peter says nearly all Slytherins are evil."
"From what I´ve read about the houses and about Slytherin I wouldn't want to be in that house either," Hermione said. "But I don´t think that all of the people in Slytherin are evil, either. I´m sure that there are some good people there."
Just then the compartment door slid open and Peter appeared in the doorway. He was already dressed in his Hogwarts robes and his Prefects badge was gleaming at his chest.
"Jen I´ve just been up in the Prefects compartment," he said. "I will do my round on the train and then I will be in the middle of the train with my friends, if you are wondering where I am."
"Okay," Jen said.
"And you should change to your Hogwarts robes," Peter said before leaving the compartment.
Hermione was looking after Peter before turning to Jen.
"You never told me your brother was a Prefect," she said. "That's so cool."
"Oh, I didn't think about it," Jen said.
They then decided that they should change into their Hogwarts robes and started rummaging through their trunks to find them. When they had changed, they heard a great clattering outside in the corridor and once again the compartment door slid open, this time to a smiling dimpled woman with a trolley.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" the woman asked.
Jen was eager to try some of the wizard sweets her brother had told her about. Hermione wasn´t nearly as excited as Jen, as she was never allowed sweets at home, but Jen convinced her to at least try something.
Jen bought some Chocolate Frogs, a bag of Bertie Bott´s Every-Flavour Beans and some Pumpkin Pasties. Hermione also bought some Pumpkin Pasties and some Liquorice Wands.
"My parents are going to be so disappointed in me," Hermione said as she took a bite of a Pumpkin Pasty.
Jen didn´t say anything in response and ate a Chocolate Frog instead becoming fascinated by the card that came with it. The card had a picture of a very old woman in purple robes and a large wizard's hat and held a cane in her hands and under the picture was a name, Pomperi Possa. Jen turned the card over and read the text that was written there.
Pomperi Possa lived in Scandinavia during the 11th
century and is particularly famous for her perfection
of human transfiguration and great work in the subject.
She is known to have transfigured her enemies into
stones and had a very well-made invisibility cloak that
she used to hide from wizards and muggles alike.
She also used the invisibility cloak to sneak up on people
she didn't like and whack them in the head with her cane.
"Hermione, look," Jen said handing the card to her. "The frog came with a card of a famous witch."
"Oh," Hermione said eagerly reading the card. "Now I wished I had gotten some, not to eat of course but to look at the cards. Do you have more?"
The next ten minutes were spent opening Chocolate Frog's, reading cards and eating sweets while laughing at one thing or another.
They continued to talk, and Jen told Hermione about her parents and why they didn´t like magic and about Tracy Danvers and her gang and how they were bullying her in school. Hermione told Jen that she also had been bullied in school and how she didn´t really have any friends.
They talked about school, what they liked to do and what they thought Hogwarts would be like. This was probably the most fun Jen had ever had with another girl her age.
Jen had never met anyone that were like Hermione, someone she could talk for hours with without getting bored, someone that had the same interests as her, someone that actually enjoyed talking with her.
Outside the window the houses of London had long since been left behind and now it was neat green fields flashing by outside the window and they soon transitioned over into woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills.
Suddenly the compartment door slid open and a plump round-faced boy stood in the doorway.
"Sorry," he sniffed. "But have you seen a toad at all?"
"No, we haven´t," Hermione said, and Jen shook her head. "But we can help you look if you want?"
"Oh, you don't have to," the boy said and tried to dry his tears with his shirt sleeve.
"It's no bother," Jen said and stood up. "We want to."
"Thank you," the boy sniffed. "My name is Neville Longbottom, by the way."
"Hermione Granger."
"Jennifer MacAvity, but I prefer to be called Jen."
Jen managed to quiet quickly put Silver back in her basket before all three of them walked out in the corridor. Hermione went first and asked in the next compartment but they hadn´t seen the toad either.
Then it was Jen's turn and she opened the door to the next compartment. When the door opened six pairs of eyes turned towards her. It was three girls and three boys in the compartment and two of the boys looked identical with flaming red hair and freckles.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a toad?" Jen asked.
"A toad, Forge, have we seen it?" one of the twins said smiling widely.
"I don´t know, Gred, have we?" said the other twin smiling just as wide.
Jen looked between the two grinning boys and immediately realised that they were making fun of her.
"Oh, stop making the girl uncomfortable, you two," a dark-skinned girl said. "No, we have unfortunately not seen a toad, have you lost yours?"
"No, I haven´t lost a toad but my friend has," Jen said and gestured to Neville behind her in the corridor.
"Okay, I hope you find it," the girl said and smiled.
Jen smiled back before she closed the compartment door and she, Hermione and Neville continued to ask around for Neville´s toad.
About five compartments later Hermione opened the door to a compartment with only two boys in it. The inhabitants of the compartment looked like they were starting their first year at Hogwarts.
One was rather short and skinny with black, unruly hair and round glasses that were held together with Sellotape and his muggle clothes were at least four sizes too big for him. The other boy was tall, thin, gangly and had flaming red hair and a lot of freckles, he reminded Jen of the twins from some compartments ago and Jen thought that they had to be related. At the seat between the boys were a large pile of sweets that they seemed to be sharing.
The boy with red hair also had a big dirt stain on his long nose, had a sleeping rat in his lap and he was holding his wand in the air as if he was about to do magic.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville´s lost one," Hermione said.
"We´ve already told him we haven't seen it," said the red-haired boy but neither Jen nor Hermione was listening because both had realised that he was about to do some kind of magic and both of them was equally excited about the prospect of seeing some magic.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let´s see it then," Hermione said and sat down.
Jen followed Hermione into the compartment and sat down next to her while she smiled at the red-haired boy who looked rather taken aback.
"Er-all right."
He cleared his throat.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
The boy waved his wand, but nothing happened. The spell was obviously meant to change colour of the rat in the boy´s lap but the rat stayed grey.
Jen was certain that it was a fake spell because all the spells she had read or heard her brother talk about had been completely different. She also knew that to change colour of an object was difficult Transfiguration magic that no one that hadn´t even started their first year at Hogwarts would be able to do.
"Are you sure that´s a real spell?" Hermione said. "Well, it´s not very good, is it? I´ve tried a few simple spells just for practice and it´s all worked for me. Nobody in my family´s magic at all, it all was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it´s the very best school of witchcraft there is, I´ve heard – I´ve learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I´m Hermione Granger, by the way, and this is Jennifer MacAvity but she prefers to be called Jen, who are you?"
Hermione said this a lot faster than when she spoke to Jen and Jen guessed that she spoke so fast because she was nervous.
The two boys looked at each other before answering.
"I´m Ron Weasley," the red-haired boy said.
"Harry Potter," said the black haired, bespectacled boy.
Jen stared speechless at the black-haired boy and her eyes were instantly drawn to his forehead where nearly hidden by his fringe she could see the lightning bolt shaped scar. This was Harry Potter the boy who had defeated Voldemort.
"Are you really?" Hermione said. "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books, Jen did too, for background reading, and you´re in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"Am I?" Harry said, looking a bit dazed.
"Goodness, didn´t you know, I´d have found out everything I could if it was me," Hermione said, and Jen nodded in agreement. "Do either of you know what house you´ll be in? I´ve been asking around and I hope I´m in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we´d better go and look for Neville´s toad. You two better change, you know, I expect we´ll be there soon."
Hermione stood up and left with Neville in tow. Jen was about to follow them when she stopped in the doorway.
"It was really nice meeting you both," Jen said. "I hope you´ll get that spell to work it would be nice to see some magic, my brother is in Ravenclaw but he isn´t allowed to do magic at home and my parents are Muggles. I´m really excited to see which house I end up in, I´m hoping for Ravenclaw but Gryffindor would be fine too. I hope I´ll see you later."
Jen smiled at both boys before leaving the compartment and hurrying after Hermione and Neville.
When Jen reached them, Neville had his head stuck into jet another compartment asking about his toad.
"It wasn´t there either," he said solemnly when he had closed the compartment door.
"Come on, Neville, we will find it," Jen said. "We can ask my brother he´s a Prefect and he´ll certainly be able to help. He should be in one of these compartments."
It didn´t take long before they found Peter sitting in one compartment with his friends. When Jen opened the door all heads in the compartment turned to her.
"Jen!" Peter said and gave her a big smile before turning to his friends. "Hey, guys, this is my little sister, so you got to be nice to her."
"Sure," one of the guys in the compartment said. "You are right, Pete, you´re really looking similar."
The others in the compartment agreed and Jen felt her face go red from all the attention she got.
"Did you want anything Jen?" Peter asked.
"Yes," Jen said. "My friend Neville here has lost his toad and I´m helping him find it and I thought that you might be able to help us."
"Of course, I can," Peter said. "I´m going to see what I can do. What's the toads name?"
"Trevor," Neville said.
Peter then pulled out his wand from his robes and waved it through the air.
"Accio Trevor the toad!" he called and a minute later a toad came soaring through the air and into Peter's hand.
"Here you go," Peter said and handed the rather chocked looking Trevor to Neville. "And don't lose it again."
"Oh, thank you," Neville said happily. "Thank you so much."
"Thanks Peter," Jen said moving to close the compartment door.
"No worries," Peter said. "And Jen, when the train stops I´ll find you and make sure you don´t get lost in the crowd."
"Okay," Jen said before stepping out of the compartment. "See you later."
When Jen had closed the compartment door she turned to Neville and Hermione.
"Shall we go back to the compartments?" she said.
"Yes, I´m going back to mine now," Neville said happily, holding on to Trevor tightly.
"I would like to go up front and ask the driver if we are there soon first," Hermione said.
"Yeah, I would like to know that too," Jen said. "I guess we will see you later Neville."
"Yeah, bye Neville," Hermione said.
"Thanks for helping me look," Neville said. "It was really nice."
"It was nothing," Jen said.
"No worries," Hermione said. "See you later."
They went in separate directions and Hermione and Jen started to walk up the train. It wasn´t long before they had reached the front of the train where the driver told them they were nearly there.
They then to walk back to their own compartment. They had just reached their compartment when they heard a commotion and howling coming from Harry and Ron´s compartment. They looked at each other before turning and running towards the commotion but when they were nearly there, they were pushed out of the way by two big burly boys and a smaller one with platinum blonde hair.
"Hey, that was rude!" Jen called after them, but they ignored her.
Jen decided to ignore it and followed Hermione into the compartment. When Jen came into the compartment, she saw Ron picking up his rat by its tale and all the candy was now lying all over the floor.
"What happened?" Jen said but the boys ignored both her and Hermione.
"I think he´s been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at the rat. "No – I don´t believe it – he´s gone back to sleep."
The rat was indeed sleeping but Jen didn´t understand what was so significant about that.
"You´ve met Malfoy before?" Ron asked Harry.
Jen assumed Malfoy was one of the boys that had pushed past her and Hermione in the corridor.
Harry told Ron about his meeting with Malfoy in Diagon Alley.
"I´ve heard of his family," Ron said darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they´d been bewitched. My dad doesn´t believe it. He says Malfoy´s father didn´t need an excuse to go over to the Dark side." He turned to Jen and Hermione. "Can I help you with something?"
"You´d better hurry up and put your robes on, we´ve just been up front to ask the driver and he says we´re nearly there. You haven´t been fighting, have you? You´ll be in trouble before we even get there!" Hermione said.
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron said holding out his rat so they could see, scowling at them. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"
"Well, we only came in here because we heard a commotion and thought that we could help," Jen said. "And if I were you, I would be a bit nicer to people that are trying to help you."
Jen turned and walked out of the compartment with Hermione behind her but just before Hermione closed the door, she turned to Ron again.
"And you´ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Hermione said and closed the door.
Jen and Hermione walked back to their own compartment where they sat down and turned to each other.
"Who does he think he is?" Hermione said. "They have been fighting before we even get to Hogwarts and he is blaming his rat!"
"I know," Jen said. "And he´s so rude it´s a miracle that anyone want to sit in the same compartment as him."
Just then a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes´ time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."
Jen immediately felt the anger and frustration she earlier felt over Harry and Ron turn into nervousness. Jen got more and more nervous as she and Hermione put their candy into their trunks and then joined the crowed thronging the corridor.
Just as they got into the corridor Jen heard Neville's voice from somewhere.
"Oh, no Trevor. I can't have lost him again."
Jen felt bad for the boy but as she couldn't see either Neville or his toad, she could do nothing to help him.
The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. When they got out of the train Jen could feel the cold night air hit her and she started shivering.
Then Jen saw a lamp bobbing over the heads of the other students and heard a voice calling: "Firs´-years over here! Firs´-years! "
Jen and Hermione started to fight their way towards the voice who was calling for the first-years. Jen had a hard time fighting her way through the crowd thanks to her small stature and wouldn´t have made it to the caller if her brother hadn´t found her and guided her and Hermione through the crowd.
When they had gotten out of the crowd Jen could for the first time see who it was that was calling for the first-years. When Jen saw who it was that were calling her mouth open in chock. It was a giant of a man with a wild mane of black hair and a big wild beard; you could barely see anything of the face except the eyes, which were black but seemed nice.
"Hey, Hagrid," Peter said.
"Hey, Peter," the giant answered before continuing calling after the first-years.
"This is Hagrid," Peter said to Jen. "He's Gamekeeper at Hogwarts and he´ll take you to the castle. I have to go now but I´ll see you later and if I don´t see you tonight I´ll see you tomorrow at breakfast."
"Okay," Jen said and hugged her brother before he hurried away into the crowd.
"Firs´-years! Firs´-years!" Hagrid called. "C´mon, follow me – any more firs´-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs´-years follow me!"
Slipping and stumbling, Jen and Hermione together with the other first-years followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was very dark on either side of the path, but Jen could discern the dark shapes of trees there. It was very quiet so when Jen suddenly heard someone making a sound behind her, she jumped before she realised that it was only Neville who sniffed. He probably hadn´t found his toad.
"Yeh´ll get yer firs´ sight o´ Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus´ round the bend here."
"Oooooh!" Jen said together with nearly all the other first-years.
The narrow path had opened on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. Jen thought that it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life.
"No more´n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a small fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.
Jen and Hermione followed Harry and Ron into one boat. Jen got into the boat nearly without taking her eyes from the castle, she felt like she never wanted to take her eyes of it.
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then- FORWARD!"
And the fleet of little boats obediently moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was smooth as glass. Nobody was speaking and Jen continued to look up at the castle. It was towering over her and became steadily bigger as the boats came closer to the cliff on which the castle stood. It was amazing and only seemed to become more beautiful and more amazing the closer they got. Jen could hardly believe that this would be her home for the rest of the year.
"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. Jen could no longer see the castle because they were in a long dark tunnel that seemed to go right under it. They soon reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to the rocks and pebbles.
As Jen climbed out of the boat she tripped and with a loud – SPLASH! – she fell forward into the water. While some of the first-years around her started laughing a large hand grabbed the back of her robes and put her securely down on the shore, her robes and hair dripping.
"Yeh good?" Hagrid asked her and Jen nodded, and he turned and walked towards the boats.
"Oy, you there! Is this yer toad?" said Hagrid, who was now checking the boats.
"Trevor!" Neville blissfully cried, holding out his hands.
Jen smiled as she saw Neville once again holding Trevor in his hands.
They started to climb up a passageway following Hagrid's lamp. Finally, they came out onto the smooth, damp grass in the shadow of the castle.
They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around a huge, oak front door, Jen shivering in her wet clothes.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid said and then raised one of his gigantic fists and knocked three times on the castle door.
AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter