Chapter 7: Hogwarts Express!

Instead of crashing into the barrier, Phoenix came face to face with a scarlet red steam engine. 'This is wonderful!' She looked around and saw kids her age and older saying goodbyes to their parents before getting onto the train. Some kids had on their robes. The rest had casual wear.

"Look there they are!" exclaimed Paige as she pushed through the small crowd.

"Took you guys long enough!" retorted Henry.

"It was your daughter. She was checking some boy out. And he was kind of cute." She exclaimed.

"Boy? Wait a minute! Do I need to worry about some boy now? Did I mention you and Katie can not even think about boys until your 32?" He and Paige laughed as Phoenix's cheeks matched the train.

"I thought you already liked someone?" asked her brother, making his sister's cheeks turn even redder. "Wasn't it your best friend Kaleb? Or did I read you diary wrong?"

"You read my diary! Why you…..!"

Henry ran behind his father while their mother held Phoenix back. "Okay, you have my permission to kill him when you get back, but right now you need to get on the train!"

"I already put your things in a compartment. It looked like you were alone. I don't know if anyone went in afterwards. Cali would love it if you let her out as soon as you can." Henry informed her.

The family gathered around to give one enormous bear hug. Phoenix took a big breath, smiled, and went onto the train.

It didn't take her long to find her compartment. She opened and closed the door behind her. Phoenix went to the window, found her family, and gave them one last wave. 'This is the last I will see them until the holidays. I have never been this far away from home!' The train whistle blew and took off. She was on her way to Hogwarts.

Cali's cage was sitting on the opposite side of Phoenix. She reached over and opened the cage door. Cali came out purring, stretching her legs. She was glad to see Phoenix, though she was giving her a dirty look and cussing her out left and right with her tail. Phoenix didn't take any offense. She knew Cali would get over it soon.

With a slight knock, the door opened. A bushy brown-haired girl poked her head inside. "Excuse me? I didn't realize anyone was here. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

Not realizing everyone was settling down into compartments, Phoenix answered, "No, go ahead." Phoenix grabbed Cali's cat cage and set it on the top rack above her with her bag. Cali jumped on her lap, curled up, and went to sleep the moment Phoenix sat back down.

The girl sat opposite of Phoenix and remained quiet. Ten minutes went by, and the girl looked anxious. 'She looks like she is dying to say something!'

"My name is Hermione Granger. What's yours?" she said, breaking the silence.

"Phoenix Matthews."

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, because you don't sound like you are from here."

"Oh no, I'm from San Francisco in the U.S."

"You're from the United States?! Wow, it has been decades since anyone outside of Europe has been to Hogwarts! I read that in Hogwarts A History."

"Yeah, I read something like that in my letter." 'Hogwarts A History? Maybe I need to read that!'

Cali, annoyed by all the talking, jumped off of Phoenix and went over to Hermione. Phoenix smiled and laughed at the look on Hermione's face. "She likes you. She goes up to people she likes. Oh, and her name is Cali."

Hermione relaxed and started petting Cali's head. Phoenix went back to staring out the window. As Hermione went to pet Cali's neck, her hand brushed the tag on Cali's collar. She grabbed hold of it and shifted the collar around to get a better look. The tag was no ordinary cat tag. There was no information on it. In fact, there was nothing written on it period. She turned it over to the back side and saw the symbol of a triquetra engraved on it. This interested Hermione. What did this symbol mean to Phoenix?

Hermione looked at Phoenix, who was still taking in the countryside. She was getting ready to ask her about it when the door slid open and a boy's head popped inside.

"Sorry. My name is Neville, and I was wondering if you have seen my toad? I lost it, and I'm trying to find it."

Both Phoenix and Hermione shook their heads.

"No sorry, no toads hopped through here, but we can help you find it." Phoenix responded.

"You will? Thanks!"

"As soon as we get our robes on, we'll help you." Hermione chipped in.

Neville nodded his thanks then left, motioning that he will start down at the end. The two got up and put their robes on. 'This is so weird. I never had to wear robes at Magic School. We wore normal clothes. The teachers wore robes.'

When the two got their robes on, Hermione slid the door open, and Phoenix closed it behind them. They opened many compartments and not one person so far has seen Neville's toad. 'I have the feeling his toad hopped off a long time ago!'

They didn't have much time as a prefect, doing his routine route, warned. So they checked one more compartment before going back to theirs. They both found Neville coming down the hallway and teamed up with him. He mentioned he checked the last compartment, but Hermione insisted on checking it again.

Hermione opened the compartment door, "Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one."

Phoenix looked as Neville left. She observed the two boys. One boy had red hair and freckles, and the other had black hair and a lighting bolt scar on his forehead. Both, she realized, were the ones at the train station. They had piles of candy surrounding them. The red head having most of the opened candy. 'What did they do? Buy the whole trolley or something?' she couldn't help wonder. She noticed a pathetic-looking rat sitting in the red head boy's lap. 'It looks like Hermione and I caught them in the middle of doing something. Red head has his wand out. I wonder if he would do magic? I want to see this.'

"We haven't seen it. We told the boy who already asked!" The red head boy answered. Hermione was not about to give up, but walked into the compartment and sat down. Phoenix followed.

"Are you going to use magic?" Phoenix asked, intrigued. "May we see?"

"All right." He said a minor annoyance in his voice. He cleared his throat, raised his wand, and began.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,

Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow"

Phoenix giggled as he waved his wand like a maniac. Nothing happened. 'Okay, I have heard many spells in my life, and this has to be the funniest! I wonder where he got it from?'

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" retorted Hermione. "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."

'Well, I have done hundreds of spells. I could make that spell work without a wand.'

The two boys looked at Hermione in annoyance. Hermione continued, not noticing.

"My name is Phoenix, Phoenix Matthews. This is Hermione Granger. What's yours?" Phoenix introduced as she butted into Hermione's one person conversation.

"Ron Weasley." Ron said a mouth full of candy, "I remember you from the station."

"Oh yes, I thought that was you. Thanks again for the help."

"No problem."

Phoenix looked at the dark-headed boy, "And may I ask what your name is?"

"My name is Harry, Harry Potter. I saw you at the bank."

"Oh yeah, that was me. And you were at the station, right?"

"Yes." Harry immediately liked this girl. She didn't flinch and got excited over hearing his name like other people in the Wizarding world. It was as if she didn't know who he was. Or didn't really care about his fame. He liked the idea. He hoped Phoenix would be in the same house as he and Ron. He heard about the houses through the conversation Hermione was having to herself.