VI

September 1st, 1991

The journey from Platform 9 ¾ to Hogwarts is long, but full of commotion.

When the train pulls out of the station and Yvonne can no longer see her parents, she and Neville settle back down into their seats. They continue their conversation, awkwardly flowing from one subject to the next yet casually getting to know each other. She tells him about her sisters, the fifth birthday she spent in France with her mother's family, and the first time she learned to swim. In exchange, Neville talks about his home in Devon, his favorite sweets, and the times when he accidentally used magic (there's a lot). She notices that Neville doesn't mention his parents or grandmother that much, but she's polite enough to not ask him about it. Instead, Yvonne gets Neville to smile and relax when she mentions her family's garden, which in turn makes him share his anticipation regarding Herbology and his nervousness about performing spell work.

It doesn't take long though until they are joined by two other first years: Oliver Rivers and Roger Malone.

The two boys aren't unfriendly by any means—it's quite the opposite actually. They are boisterous and rowdy, laughing loudly at each other's jokes, and when they ask questions, they come out more like demands. Over and over they ask Yvonne and Neville about themselves and it's clear that Oliver and Roger are already friends since they are hardly asking each other any questions. It feels too much like an interrogation to Yvonne, but she answers nonetheless even as her fingers twist and she can't exactly look them in the eye after awhile.

Neville seems to also hate being put on the spot because his face grows redder and redder as his answers get shorter and shorter.

Later, when the two boys are finally satisfied with personal questions, they try to pull Yvonne and Neville into their other conversations. They speak mostly about Quidditch and learning how to 'really' fly. Yvonne tries to follow along and join in, yet it proves to be fruitless—her one attempt at shifting the topic to the Hogwarts library earns her weird looks all around. Neville, on the other hand, is able to participate for quite a bit until eventually he too grows quiet when the boys start to argue and trade insults over their favorite teams.

It's all in good fun but, to say the least, Yvonne and Neville stop talking not long after Oliver and Roger arrive.

Yvonne is bothered, of course, though she can't find the gall to be so rude as to ask them to find another compartment. She wishes it was just her and Neville—then she might be able to talk more.

After that, their compartment is relatively calm until the first commotion happens three hours into their train ride. Oliver and Roger are still talking, Yvonne has her head deep in a book, and Neville is eating a pack of butterscotch when he suddenly jumps up.

"Trevor!" Neville screams, head swinging left and right.

The four of them jump into action, searching the cabin top to bottom for the missing toad. They check behind their cases and lift their luggage. Neville is on his hands and knees, looking under the seat. Oliver and Roger look in tight corners, pressing their faces against the walls. And it's not until Yvonne mentions looking in the corridor that they realize the potential severity of the situation. They've all been in and out of the compartment since the trains left the station, going to the loo and stretching their legs. Even more so, the trolley witch has already stopped by and, as their cabin spent a long time deciding on sweets, Trevor could have easily escaped at any point.

Oliver and Roger look worried but mostly because it is clear that Neville is going to cry.

However, before the first tear can drop, Yvonne is offering her help and a solution.

"We'll search the train. You and I both know what Trevor looks like so we can go. Oliver and Roger can stay here in case Trevor comes back." Yvonne reassures him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Neville's body is shaking slightly and she rubs her hand across his back, hoping to offer him support.

She tries to ignore the grateful looks Oliver and Roger send her. She really only suggests they stay behind because she doesn't think they will be much help. Plus, someone has to stay with Copernicus.

"But—but what if we can't find him?" Neville whines.

Yvonne gives him what she hopes is a reassuring look. "He was just here right? Worst thing, he's just gotten lost somewhere. I'm sure he's close by."

Neville's face promptly turns pale and he clutches at his robes. "My Gran'll kill me if she finds out!"

"Neville," she says, talking to him like she does when Tammy or Maggy are having a fit. "Trevor is on the train. We just need to look for him. Can you help?"

He finally listens to her, sucking his complaints back in and nodding his head.

She suggests they split up so they can cover more ground. Neville looks apprehensive about making the journey alone, but she gives a small smile and tells him to come back in an hour or two if he doesn't find Trevor. After that, they can try something else.

Her solution halts Neville's tears nevertheless, so, four hours into the train ride, Yvonne is walking, cabin to cabin, asking anyone if they've seen a Natterjack toad.

As she moves along, uncomfortably knocking on compartments over and over, Yvonne sees all kinds of students and yet, it becomes clear shortly into her search that towards the front of the train is where most of the older students are. Some give her strange looks, some look down at her and quirk their eyebrows, and some even shoo her away before she can get her question out.

It causes as much apprehension as it does chagrin but she keeps going only because she's worried for Trevor and doesn't want to see Neville upset. That doesn't mean everything's hunky-dory though. She's never interacted with so many strangers and her body is so hot with embarrassment that she's sweating in her robes.

It's not until she's on her fourteenth cabin and her third coach that one of the older students tells her to go check in with the Prefects. She awkwardly has to ask the older girl what a Prefect is, but once she figures it out, she's endlessly thankful. She won't have to knock on cabins anymore and, instead, she can find someone that might know a better way to find Trevor.

As she makes her way to the front of the train where the Prefects' compartment is, Yvonne stumbles across her second commotion of the train ride.

She's passing from one coach to the next when a compartment up ahead explodes with purple smoke. There's a soft pop noise, the exclaims of surprise, and then the cabin's door opens immediately. Thick smoke bleeds out into the coach, causing the students in the other compartments to stick their heads out into the corridor. Yvonne can hear yelling and coughing coming from the contaminated compartment until a lanky, ginger-haired boy comes out, screaming into the corridor.

"I'll kill them!" He cries in a shrill voice, glasses askew on his nose, and Yvonne has to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing at the look of him.

From head to toe, he's covered in purple splotches that make it seem he's been pelted with balls of paint. Each spot on him emits more of the purple smoke and it looks as if he's turned into a giant, violet smog monster. Even the freckles that pepper his ivory skin start to turn purple as the seconds pass.

Yvonne giggles quietly and it seems she's not the only one that finds amusement in the situation. Other students laugh loudly at the boy's predicament and some even playfully jeer at him. On the other hand, the boy does not look pleased and his face turns as red as it does stern.

"Got you again, Weasley?" Someone says.

"Those twins sure know how to pull a prank!" Another laughs.

The smoking boy grits his teeth through it all and stomps angrily down the corridor. Yvonne, still trying not to laugh, hurriedly moves out of his way as he nearly pushes by her without a thought. The rest of the coach is still laughing even as the smoke fades and follows after the boy. They all crane their heads, watching his path as coach after coach is filled with the purple smog.

"Are you a first year?" Someone calls to her.

Yvonne turns around and looks into the soft, blue eyes of a girl with hazelwood skin. She's already wearing her Hogwarts robes and there's a blue-striped tie around her neck. Her face is kind and there's a gentle smile on her face when Yvonne finally meets her gaze.

"Oh, yes. My name is Yvonne Shacklebolt. I came from, uhm, Coach 6." She needlessly points over her shoulder and stumbles slightly over her words. "My friend lost his toad and another student told me to check in with a Prefect?"

The other girl nods then. "That'd be me, then. I'm Penelope Clearwater, one of the Prefects for Ravenclaw. Do you know what your friend's toad looks like? Does it have a name?" Penelope asks.

"Yes, his name is Trevor and he's a brown Natterjack toad about this big." Yvonne explains, using her hands to show the size of the toad.

"How long has he been missing?" Penelope steps into the corridor with her then, closing the door to her compartment. All around them, the other students have gone back inside their own compartments, still talking loudly about the prank they witnessed.

"I'm not sure, Neville didn't notice he was missing right away and the Trolley witch already stopped by. He could have escaped then."

"Well," Penelope starts, crossing her arms. "I reckon he hasn't gone too far, right? Why don't you check the trolley? I'll find you once we arrive at Hogsmeade Station and if you still haven't found him, we can use some detection spells and ask one of the attendants, okay?"

Yvonne tries not to pout at the 'solution' she's given. She hates to think that if they don't find Trevor, Neville will be left to worry in their compartment until they arrive. But, it's not like Trevor could have hopped off the train right? Maybe the attendants are used to pets going missing and this isn't a big deal.

Poor Neville.

Nodding her head, she offers Penelope a polite smile. "Thank you. I'll go find the Trolley witch now."

The older girl nods once more and goes to return to her compartment, but Yvonne stops her before she can fully enter.

"Uhm," Yvonne hesitates, rubbing her thumb over her fingers on one hand. "Does that happen often? The thing with the purple smoke?"

Penelope stares at her for a bit before sighing. "Unfortunately, yes. Especially if your name is Percy Weasley."

Yvonne's head tilts slightly. "Sorry?"

"What I mean to say is when you are the older brother of the Weasley Twins and you've just been made a Prefect, one can expect some type of trouble." She shakes her head before continuing. "Piece of advice: don't touch any of the juices tomorrow, those tossers spiked it with something last year on the first day of class. Turned all of our tongues different colors, at that."

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand?"

Penelope sighs once more. "Hopefully, you'll never have to. Stay away from the two, ginger-haired blokes alright? They're twins and there's nothing kind about them. Poor Percy." She mumbles the last part but Yvonne catches it anyway.

Yvonne figures the boy who left the coach is Percy Weasley and he must have gotten pranked by his brothers. Sounds like they were trying to give him an…exciting first day as a Prefect. It had seemed harmless enough, but maybe they were being mean on purpose? Yvonne can't imagine her sisters going out of their way to upset her but she holds her tongue.

In either case, she reasons, she will definitely not be drinking any juice come morning.

Thanking Penelope once again, Yvonne leaves the coach and starts retracing her steps, watching the floor for a lost toad. The sun has dipped a little lower in the sky but thankfully she's saved time on her search by going to the Prefects coach. So, by the time she's back at her cabin, only an hour and a half has passed. She checks in on Copernicus, who is stretched out in a patch of sun that's on Neville's seat. Oliver and Roger are in a game of Old Maid with some sparkling, red cards and they simply shake their heads when she asks about Neville.

She sighs at their attitudes but heads back into the corridor.

She finds the Trolley witch a little past her cabin, making her way back up the train. Yvonne explains the situation and together they search the trolley for a stowaway Trevor yet, sadly, come up empty. The elderly witch gives her a pack of jelly slugs for her trouble.

"And dear," The witch tells her as Yvonne pockets the sweets. "You should change into your Hogwarts robes soon. There's always a rush within the last hours."

Smiling at the advice, Yvonne returns to her cabin, passes on the advice to Oliver and Roger, and goes to change into her school robes. When she returns, they have switched to a game of Gin Rummy and it's as if she's never even said anything—their eyes are glued to their cards. Her Hogwarts robes offer more warmth and her skirt is long enough that she can tuck her legs up onto the bench under her. She curls around the book from earlier.

And so continues the story of Dymphna Furmage, a witch that was famously abducted by pixies and tried to have them eradicated by the Ministry of Magic.

By the time Neville finally returns, another hour has passed and Yvonne is almost finished with her book. There's obvious tear marks on his face and there's a bushy-haired girl behind him, patting him on the back as she holds open the compartment door for him.

"Don't fret, Neville. I'm sure the Professors will know how to locate your toad." The girl says in an obvious attempt to cheer Neville up.

But Neville only nods his down-turned head and slumps over to his seat.

The girl stands for a moment, watching Neville before making brief eye contact with Yvonne and giving a sad sigh. After that, she leaves.

The silence in their cabin is heavy.

Yvonne closes her book and leans towards Neville, holding her book close to her chest. "Are you okay, Neville?" She asks.

"We couldn't find him." he sniffs, lifting a hand to wipe at his face.

"Oh," Yvonne bites at her bottom lip in hesitation before extending a hand to grab Neville's free one, pushing through her timidness to give him comfort. "It's gonna' be alright though. I talked to a Prefect and she said she'll help us once the train has stopped."

"That's hours from now." Neville mumbles.

She strengthens the grip on his hand and frowns. She feels so bad for him. If only they were able to find Trevor. Ruddy toad. She hopes he's alright.

"Do you want to hold Copernicus?" She offers gingerly.

Neville shakes his head and gives her an uneven smile. "No, but thanks Yvonne."

Giving his hand one last squeeze, Yvonne sits back in her seat, still holding her book close. Her thumb lightly taps at the spine as she watches Neville gather his Hogwarts robes and leave for the toilet. Sighing, she turns her attention out the window.

The sun slowly makes its descent as the journey to Hogwarts continues. Yvonne stares at the clouds, imagining shapes in them, and takes in the passing landscape. Cornwall has it's hills and cliffs but her home might as well be flatlands compared to this. The ridges here roll on into the sunset and it feels almost bizarre to be unable to see far into the horizon, no matter what direction her eyes turn.

Yvonne settles against the wall and tries to imagine what her life at Hogwarts will be like.

She doesn't realize she's drifted off until someone gently touches her shoulder and she opens her eyes to a blushing, periwinkle dusk. The soft pinks of the sky are falling into the lavender shadows of the clouds. And it's colder; Yvonne can feel the lingering chill in the air now that she's awake.

She turns to see who is waking her up.

Neville, face dry but still overcast, gives her a nervous smile. "A Prefect came and said we'll be there soon. We have to gather our stuff up and leave it on the train when we're getting off."

"Alright," Yvonne turns away and covers her mouth with her hand as she yawns. "Thank you, Neville."

Yvonne hasn't spread out too much in the compartment. She simply puts her still-unfinished book away and guides Copernicus back into his cage, watching to make sure his water bowl refills. Next to her, Oliver and Roger have made a mess, so Yvonne listens as they debate over which item belongs to each other. She turns her attention back to the window after watching them yank back and forth over a comic.

When the train finally pulls into Hogsmeade Station, the sun is below the horizon and the sky is darkening. The compartments slide open and Yvonne's smile is on as she stands and exits the train. The small, brick buildings surrounding the platform are lit up by candles and there's dense forest all around. There's a giant, hulking figure walking in the shadows of the steam the train lets out. A lantern is swinging back and forth at its front, the glow of light cutting through the steam like a laser.

"First years! First years over here!" A booming, gruff voice calls.

From in between the steam steps a towering man with a long mane of wild, grizzly hair. He's covered by the heavy, brown coat of fur he wears and a great belt is strapped across his large belly, the silver of the buckle glittering in the last of the sunlight. He's the biggest man Yvonne has ever seen, with a dense, black beard and bushy brows that lift as he smiles down at some of the other first year students gathering in front of him.

"First years! C'mon, follow me! Send all the first years here, c'mon!" The man holds up his lantern and Yvonne steps forward into the crowd of kids. "Oy! Is this someone's toad?" says the man, bending down to scoop up something from the ground.

"Trevor!" Neville cries as soon as he sees the brown toad in the man's hand.

Yvonne smiles and looks behind her to see if she can find Penny. The Prefect is already making her way over when Yvonne waves her hand, hoping the older girl can see her standing at the back. Once Penny makes eye contact with her, she points to where Neville is up at the front. He's all sniffles, even as he reunites with his pet.

Penny nods in her head in understanding and shouts good luck before she turns around to go in another direction with all the other students.

The giant man is smiling down at Neville when Yvonne turns back around. "You'll wanna keep careful hold of your toad. Don' wanna lose him to the Great Lake—not a loyal friend like him."

Neville nods his head quickly and holds Trevor close to his chest.

"Right then, follow me and mind your step now! We're going 'round that bend there!"

The group moves with the man, all huddled together and whispering excitedly. Yvonne walks forward until she's next to Neville as they move onto the path and she gives him a smile. "I knew he'd come back." She whispers to him over the surrounding chatter.

"I'm never letting him out of my sight again." Neville promises, cheeks glowing with happiness.

Slipping and stumbling along the path through the trees, Yvonne almost slides into the blonde girl in front of her until a tall boy next to her, with short, kinky hair and hickory skin, offers her a hand. She steadies herself with his help and sends him a shy, grateful nod.

When they finally break through the thicket, all of the kids, including Yvonne, let out noises of awe. Some gasp, some cheer, and someone loudly "Oooh!"s at the sight of the Great Lake that stretches before them. The midnight waters reach far and wide, small ripples from the night air caressing its inky depths, and balanced on a mountain side sits Hogwarts Castle, lit up from all the candles it houses. The castle is made up of peaked towers, machicolated ramparts, and jutting turrets. The main castle rests further back while the keep and a great hall of windows hangs over the cliff face, facing the mountain range on the other side of the lake. Lights follow the stone stairs that descend in the lake. It looks like a pathway of golden stars that sprout into the sky and bloom into a nebula at the top.

"No more than four a boat!" The great man bellows and Yvonne follows his finger to see a fleet of small, wooden boats resting on the lake's shore. Each of them are topped with lanterns that sway as students carefully board.

Yvonne watches as Neville boards with a bespeckled boy, a ginger-haired boy, and the girl that stopped by their cabin earlier. All of their faces are pale in the moonlight that climbs the night sky.

The tall boy from earlier helps her into a boat and sits beside her. "I'm Dean Thomas," he leans over and whispers to her with a friendly smile. Yvonne shyly introduces herself back.

They're joined by a delicate-looking girl with copper twintails and another boy. Yvonne stares at the last boy for a moment until she recognizes him as the same sandy-haired boy she saw back at Madam Malkin's. He's smaller now that she sees him standing up, but his cheerful grin is still as wide as it was last time.

"Howya doin'?" he says, comfortably sitting down. "Name's Seamus Finnigan."

"I'm Lisa Turpin," says the other girl, voice quiet and subdued as her eyes stay on the castle in the distance.

"I'm Yvonne Shacklebolt," she says, eyes watching Seamus to see if he will recognize her. Though, she has no reason to worry. His attention only stays on her for the second of her introduction before he promptly leans over to Dean and starts talking to him about the size of the man that's climbing into a boat all by himself.

"We all in?" says the man in question. "Right then—Onward!" His yell is immediately followed by the boats taking off, all at once, in a slow crawl across the lake's surface.

The ride is gentle and the lake is calm. At first, there's bits of chit chat here and there across all the boats, but soon they're all silent again as they glide closer to the castle. It's even larger up close, Yvonne realizes and her chest swells with the knowledge that this is going to be her second home for the next seven years. There will be so many corridors and rooms to explore and every day she'll get to watch the sun rise and set over the Great Lake.

Yvonne lightly sighs in delight, taking in the grandeur of the castle.

A quick peek into the lake waters shows no sign of the giant squid she's heard about.

"Heads down!" yells the man, several boats behind, and all the children follow along with his command. They're closing in on the castle now and heading for a wreath of ivy that shrouds a shadowed tunnel in the cliff side. The ivy peels back like a curtain drawing itself to let in the light and they're suddenly gliding underneath the castle, into the bowels of the mountain. The sounds are so echoed in the cavern that Yvonne can hear the fierce breath of the giant man and the plopplopplop as water drips from the stalagmite hanging inside the cave.

A tucked away harbor greets them with light at the end of the tunnel and all the boats slowly pull to a stop, one-by-one, to let all the students out safely. Yvonne's boat is one of the first to dock so she gets to watch all the other kids stumble out and take in the staircase that leads up to the castle.

The man looks to Neville once he gets out, the small boat shaking at his displaced weight. "Got your toad?"

Neville still has Trevor gripped to his chest.

"Right! Come on then!" A big wave of his meaty hand and the giant man starts to ascend. They all gather behind him into a restless line and follow him up.

The rocky, uneven staircase soon turns to stone the higher they climb. It widens and straightens as they get closer to the top until, finally, they reach the lower levels of the castle and are suddenly walking on smooth, marbled stone that is free of any scratches or scuffs. There's proper banisters, with ornate cuts of stone for the balusters and newels and torches no longer hang from wooden poles but instead, there are fires lit in great, limestone pillars. The inside of the castle is tall and grand with rounded archways and high ceilings. They continue up on their journey, turning onto different staircases until they reach a large, oak door.

"Everyone here?" asks the giant man, looking around. "You're all ready?"

Someone shakes their head no, but the man smiles anyway.

"Good luck, you lot." And he raises his fist and KNOCKKNOCKKNOCKs at the door three times.

Yvonne can feel the sounds vibrating in her chest with the sudden drumming of her heart.

She's finally here. This is Hogwarts.


A/N: We're finally digging into canon y'all! Yay! It took six chapters but we made it :'). Also I forgot to give a cheer last chapter for Neville's sweet introduction but, you know, technically Pansy was our first hp character to be introduced so *le shrug* but what do you guys think? i love neville personally so whenever i see him in a fic I'm like yes, please!

Anyway please enjoy this chapter and review, favorite, or follow if that fits your fancy. I'll probably be updating in a day or two so stay tuned *mwah*