Samantha and Leslie talked the whole train ride about how excited they were for school. The night before, Samantha had read about some spells in a book she had gotten, and the two discussed spells they wanted to learn, and which House they wanted to be in.
Leslie told Samantha about how her dad had been in Ravenclaw and her Mom and brother had been in Gryffindor. Samantha had no idea which house her parents had been in.
After learning more about the houses, Samantha determined she would be in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Leslie thought she herself would be in Hufflepuff, but hoped she would be with Samantha.
Soon, the trolley witch came around and offered them snacks.
"Woah, what is all of this?" Samantha stared bewilderedly at all of the treats on the cart, having never seen anything like it before.
"I forgot you've never tried any of this stuff before," Leslie said, looking over the cart to decide what she wanted. "You'd probably like... cauldron cakes... and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans... oh, and chocolate frogs are always fun..." Leslie said slowly, grabbing a few things off of the cart herself as she spoke.
The two paid for their treats and then hurried back to their compartment, excited to eat their candy.
A few hours later, Samantha and Leslie were visited by Leslie's brother Jack and a few of his friends, Stuart and William.
"Leslie, how're you doing so far?" Jack asked his sister as he strolled into their compartment.
Jack was tall and strong, with brown hair he kept brushed out of his face and kind brown eyes.
"I'm doing well," Leslie replied.
"Ah, I see you made a friend. I'm Jack, Leslie's brother. What's your name?" Jack introduced himself, holding his hand out to shake Samantha's.
"Hi. I'm Samantha," said Samantha, smiling and shaking Jack's hand, then waving politely at Jacks friends.
"Tell him your last name," Leslie whispered to her.
Jack chuckled a little, looking unsurely at Leslie. "Why's that impor-," Jack started, but was cut off by Samantha.
"My last name is Potter. You may have heard of my brother, Harry," Samantha told him and his friends.
"Wait, you're Harry Potter's sister? You grew up with the boy who defeated You-Know-Who?" William said, while Stuart gaped at her.
"Yeah," said Samantha casually, enjoying the attention. "He doesn't remember defeating Voldemort though."
Suddenly the compartment went quiet aside from Leslie's gasp.
"What?" Samantha asked, thoroughly confused at what she had done wrong.
"You- you said his name..." Jack whispered.
"Oh. Are we not supposed to?" asked Samantha, looking around at everyone's shocked faces.
"I mean... there's no rule against it... but people are terrified of him, so usually no one does," Leslie quietly informed her.
"Huh. No offense, but that seems kind of stupid. By not saying his name, you're showing him that he has power over you," Samantha spoke what was on her mind, and there was a silence following her statement where the others all thought it over.
Finally, Jack spoke. "Well, just wanted to see if you were doing okay, Leslie. I'll see you two at Hogwarts for the Sorting Ceremony," He winked, and he and his friends left the compartment.
Another few hours later, when it was halfway through sunset, another group of people joined them, however neither Samantha nor Leslie had ever met them, let alone were related to them.
The group consisted of two boys and a girl. They knocked on our compartment door before entering and introducing themselves.
"Hi, we're first years as well and just thought we'd introduce ourselves to you guys, seeing as we'll all be in the same grade" the girl announced, smiling warmly. "I'm Ellie and this is Max and Hudson," Ellie pointed to each boy as she said their names.
Ellie had light brown hair that went a third of the way down her back and was half wavy half straight and clear, blue eyes. She had freckles, and her wand was gripped tightly in her hand, as if she were prepared to use it on anyone who remotely threatened her.
Max had olive skin and dark brown hair that had been messily brushed out of his face but still stuck up on the top of his head. His eyes were hazel, and his face was thin, with a well-defined jaw.
Hudson had dark skin, with black, curly hair cut very short and large, dark brown eyes. He was relatively taller than the other two, and despite his height, kept looking around the compartment as if he didn't trust it.
"Hi, Ellie, Max, and Hudson," Samantha said brightly, looking at each of them in turn. "I'm Samantha, and this is Leslie," she said, gesturing to Leslie.
Leslie smiled nervously, tucking some of her short, yellow-blonde hair behind her ear. "Nice to meet you," she said, looking down a second later.
"So, tell us a little about yourselves. How long have you known you're a witch? What house do you want to be in? Are there other wizards or witches in your family?" Ellie asked the girls excitedly, and she sat across from Leslie and Samantha with Max and Hudson on either side of her.
"Fine, but you have to tell us about yourselves after," challenged Samantha, smirking.
"Okay, sure," Max shrugged, leaning into the corner of the compartment.
"Well I think I'll be in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. I've known I'm a witch since I was four. My parents were both wizards, and my brother and sister are too. My aunt, uncle, and cousin, who we live with, aren't,'' Samantha explained to them.
"Why do you live with your aunt and uncle?" asked Ellie.
Samantha smiled, excited to tell them. She hadn't realized Harry was such a big deal until then, and was very happy with the newfound attention it was getting her. "Well, you see, my mom and dad were killed by Voldemort-yes, I say his name-," she added, when Max looked at her with wide eyes, "-when all three of us were very little. And maybe Voldemort-please calm down, it's just a name-would've killed us too, had my brother not been Harry Potter," Samantha said, smiling triumphantly once she'd finished her quick explanation.
Max gawked at her, but Ellie looked confused and Hudson looked sorry for her.
"Sorry your parents died," he mumbled, looking at his feet.
Samantha smiled warmly at him, before laughing at the completely shocked look on Max's face.
"Yes, Max, you are in the presence of Harry Potter's talented, amazing sister, no need to stare, I can sign whatever," Samantha joked, pretending to look for a quill in her bag. This finally made Max move again, and he laughed.
"No thanks, I don't want others to envy me too much, what with having the famous Samantha Potter's autograph," he responded sarcastically, and he and Samantha laughed.
"Okay, um, not to be rude, but what did Harry Potter do?" Ellie asked.
"Have you heard of Voldemort?" Samantha asked her.
"Not- not really... I've heard the name, but don't know what he actually did..." Ellie looked embarrassed, and stared down at her feet.
"No problem. I don't know too much about him, however I do know that he was the most evil wizard to ever live. Well, when I was almost three, he came to our house with the intent of killing all of us. He killed my dad and mom. But when he tried to kill my brother Harry, something happened, I'm not sure what, and he was defeated and all Harry has is a scar on his forehead," Samantha explained.
"So, the most powerful dark wizard of all time was defeated by a baby?" Ellie asked as if she did not believe the story in any way.
"Like I said, I don't know the full story. I don't remember much from two years old, and I didn't have anyone to tell me what happened. My aunt and uncle don't really like magic too much, they're very concerned about being normal, and they never talked about my parents. Harry and my little sister, Lauren, both believe that our parents died in a car crash, because that's what they've been told," explained Samantha.
"Hold up, you're trying to tell me that famous Harry Potter, the one who defeated You-Know-Who, doesn't even know magic exists?" Max asked her.
"He has no idea," Samantha smiled sadly.
There was a moment of silence before Ellie spoke up again. "So, Leslie, tell us about yourself," she said.
"It's gonna be a little boring compared to Sam's story, but I'm half-blood. My mom's a witch, pureblood, and my dad's a Muggle-born wizard. I have an older half brother on my mom's side that she had when she was young, twenty years old," Leslie informed the three of them.
"My mom had me when she was eighteen," Samantha said very quietly, not intending for others to hear, although she had a sneaking suspicion that Max did.
"My mom was in Gryffindor, and my dad was in Ravenclaw. My brother is in Gryffindor. I don't think I'm brave enough to be in Gryffindor. I think I'll be in Hufflepuff, but I'm hoping to end up wherever Samantha ends up." Leslie smiled at Samantha, and Samantha smiled back.
"So that was our backstories, what about you three?" Samantha asked Ellie, Max, and Hudson.
Ellie quickly looked at Max and Hudson, then decided to go first. "Well, as you may've already figured out by my lack of knowledge about Harry Potter, I'm a Muggle-born witch. I have a seven year old brother named Jaxon and three year old twin sisters named Claire and Bailey. I don't know for sure yet, but I'm not too sure that any of them are magical, although Jaxon was very eager to try magic after finding out I could do it. I've done a little research on the houses and what type of people usually end up in which house, and I think Ravenclaw is most likely, but possibly Hufflepuff," Ellie told everyone, then looked at Max, signaling to him it was his turn to speak.
"I'm a pureblood. Both parents work at the Ministry," he said, stopping when he realized that Samantha had no idea what he was talking about. "The Ministry," he repeated, staring at her, obviously shocked. "Of Magic? The Ministry of Magic. It's the wizard government," he further explained, and Samantha noded. "Anyways, my parents are both Aurors, kind of like wizard police, but better. They were both Gryffindors, so I'm hoping to live up to and continue their legacy. I have a thirteen year old sister, Margot. She goes here, you'll probably see her around sometimes. She's in Gryffindor," Max told them coolly, barely making eye contact with anyone. Samantha looked him up and down again, noticing for the first time his loose, ripped jeans and dirty black Converse. He examined his wand with a bored expression on his face.
"Hudson, I guess that leaves you," Ellie said, glancing at the nervous-looking Hudson sitting next to her.
"I'm, uh, a half blood technically, but my mom was killed fighting that dark wizard when I was very young, so I was raised by my Muggle father, so I always knew about the Wizarding world, but not much, because my dad didn't know too much either," Hudson said, looking gloomily down at his hands. "I don't have any siblings. I also don't know what house my mom was in, but from what I've heard, I think I'll be Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw," Hudson's voice was quiet and calm, very level, never changing tone.
"I'm so sorry about your mom, Hudson," Samantha said, and for the first time, she made eye contact with Hudson for more than a second, and the two understood each other.
They talked the rest of the way to Hogwarts. When they got there, they were loaded onto boats and lugged across the water, then led to an empty chamber, where they could hear the buzz of the voices of the rest of the school.
A stern-looking lady with glasses and black hair wearing emerald green robes stood at the front of the group of nervous-looking first years.
"Leslie," Samantha whispered, a touch of nerves in her voice. "How are we sorted?"
"Jack said it was a really hard test, and my mom wouldn't tell me anything," Leslie whispered back, looking absolutely petrified.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, first years. I am professor McGonagall, your transfiguration teacher. In a moment, we will have our welcoming feast, but first, you will be sorted into your houses. This is very important, because you will be with your house all the time. You will sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The houses are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Each house has produced some outstanding wizards and witches. While at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you points for your house while any rule breaking will lose you points for your house. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will earn the House Cup, which is a great honor. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes. I will come get you when we're ready for you," Professor McGonagall announced, and then stepped out of the room, leaving the first years alone.
There was quiet conversation, mostly of nervous students asking others from families with a long history of wizards what exactly you had to do to get into a house. Samantha could hear a few people reciting all of the spells they knew.
"Okay, students, it's time'', Professor McGonagall had returned, and she led the anxious students into the Great Hall.
Samantha stared up at the ceiling in awe. It looked exactly like the sky outside, and had it not been warm inside of the Great Hall, she would have thought that it really was the outside sky.
She then looked towards the front of the room, where she saw a stool with an extremely worn-out hat sitting on it. Suddenly, a tear near the brim opened and the hat began to sing a cheerful song about the following Sorting.
Samantha gasped and looked excitedly at Leslie. "Oh, we just have to put the hat on! That's not hard at all!"
Suddenly very excited, Samantha waited with bated breath for the Sorting Hat to finish it's song so she could be sorted.
"Okay, students, when I call your name, you will come up to the stool and try on the hat to be Sorted," Professor McGonagall announced after the Sorting Hat's song.
"Andrews, Kirsty," Professor McGonagall said.
A pale girl with sleek black hair stepped up to the hat, setting it on her head, where it slipped over her head. A few moments later, the Hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!" and Kirsty ran to the table with the blue and bronze decorations.
"Belby, Marcus."
A dirty-blonde boy ran up to the stool, and he tried on the Hat, which was quiet for a moment before shouting "RAVENCLAW!" He ran down and sat next to Kirsty.
"Bell, Katie!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" Shouted the hat.
A few more names, and then:
"Carter, Leslie"
Nervously, Leslie approached the stool. She took one final look at Samantha, who smiled comfortingly, and put the hat on her head.
It took a little longer than with the other students, but soon shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"
Smiling nervously, she scampered over to the Gryffindor table.
"Chang, Cho!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
A few names later:
"Edwards, Hudson!"
The hat settled on his head for barely a second before shouting "HUFFLEPUFF!", and Hudson ran over to the Hufflepuff table.
And then, another few names later:
"Langbert, Max!"
Again, the hat had barely touched his head before shouting "GRYFFINDOR!"
Smirking, Max ran down to the Gryffindor table, settling back to watch the rest of the Sorting.
"McCarmac, Ellie!"
Like a few times before, the hat paused a minute before shouting "RAVENCLAW!"
Ellie smiled brightly and ran down to the Ravenclaw table.
After what seemed like ages, it was finally time for Samantha to be Sorted.
She ran up and put the hat on her head.
"Hm, a lot like your father, I see," the Hat said, startling Samantha. "But some definite qualities of your mother."
"The Hat knows my parents?" Samantha thought, wishing she had known them too.
"Ah, yes, I did. I Sorted them both when they came to Hogwarts," the Hat said.
"What house were they in?" Samantha thought, realizing the Hat could read her mind.
"Both in Gryffindor, where you'll be as well. Could've told you ages ago, had you not had so many questions," The Hat said, annoyed, then yelled "GRYFFINDOR!", and Samantha ran excitedly down to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Leslie.
Looking around the table, she saw a great number of kind-looking people. Max was sitting next to a girl who looked a lot like him, who Samantha assumed was his sister Margot. She also saw four boys all with flaming red hair, two of whom seemed like they were twins as they looked perfectly identical. Besides her, Leslie, and Max, there were three other first years sitting at the table, such as Elias Gavins, a tan boy with a lot of thick, light brown, curly hair, Cormac McLaggen, a tall, mean looking boy with short, tan hair, and of course Katie, with her long dark brown hair and eyes, and there were also still the few remaining students left to be sorted.
Samantha studied the table where the rest of the teachers sat. In the middle, there was an old man with long, gray hair and a long, gray beard. Even though Samantha hadn't seen him since she was two, she knew at once that he must be Albus Dumbledore. She also saw Hagrid, the giant man who had rowed all of them across the water. There was also a very small man with glasses, a thin woman with long hair that was every shade of blonde, a dumpy witch with messy grey hair and robes dusted in a light layer of dirt, a teacher who was see-through and Samantha assumed was a ghost, a woman with short, spiky gray hair, a wizard who looked a little... well, broken, physically, was the best way to put it, and finally, a strict-looking man with greasy black hair and a hooked nose.
She looked at the man. He looked at her. And he scowled. Samantha's face remained plain, unreadable, but on the inside, a spark had ignited. She wasn't sure who this man was, but she knew they would not get along. She knew they shared a mutual hatred, one she did not know the origin of, one she knew, deep down, she hadn't started; she knew that it was there, and that it would only deepen. She knew there was no stopping it.
And yet, she felt sorry for him. She felt as if, from this one look, she understood him. She couldn't explain what, exactly, she understood about him, she just knew it was there. Something neither would talk about but both would know existed, and she was happy to leave it that way.
Once the rest of the Sorting was complete, there was a pretty even split amongst the new first years. Four more new students had joined the Gryffindor table, and there were about ten at every other table as well.
Samantha saw Albus Dumbledore get to his feet, and a hush fell upon the room.
"Hello, everyone. Welcome, first years, and welcome back, second through seventh years. I hope you are all looking forward to this upcoming school year. I have just a few quick announcements before we get started on our feast. We are proud to welcome Professor Margaret Cemp, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I hope everyone can give her a warm Hogwarts welcome," Professor Dumbledore smiled, looking back at the blonde lady sitting at the staff table. She looked very nervous and was checking all around her constantly as if to make sure she was doing everything right.
"Also, first years should note that the forest on the grounds is off-limits to all. No magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch tryouts will be held the second week of term. Contact Madam Hooch if you are interested.
''Alright, now let the feast begin!" Dumbledore called, and walked back to his seat. Samantha looked down, and was shocked to see food filling the plates that had been empty seconds before.
They ate and ate, enjoying all of the delicious food. Samantha and Leslie met Fred and George, second year trouble-making twins who Samantha took an instant liking to and Leslie was a little cautious of them at first, but was quickly very fond of them. They met other new first years, such as Gwendolyn Williams and Damon Taylor, a tall boy with sleek black hair and light brown skin who Max took an instant liking to.
Once the feast was complete, they were dismissed to go to the dormitories. Leslie and Samantha followed the large group of people to their house common room.
"Alright, everyone, the password is phalanx!'' Samantha heard someone shout, and the painting on the wall swung open to reveal a doorway into a comfortable-looking room. The crowd around her crawled in, and she followed them.
"First years, follow me, boys, at the top of these stairs is your dormitory, girls, at the top of this one!" an official-looking black boy with neatly cut hair directed them.
Samantha and Leslie climbed up the stairs and found their stuff sitting at the end of different beds. There were three other girls in their dormitory, Alyssa Stante, Katie Bell and Gwendolyn Williams. Alyssa was an awkward-looking girl with braces and thin lips, a very square face, and thin, light brown hair that went just past her shoulders. Gwendolyn was simple-looking but pretty, with pale blonde, almost colorless hair that went about a third of the way down her back and gray eyes, plump, red lips, and pale skin.
Leslie and Samantha changed into pajamas and then sat on their beds facing each other to talk.
"I still can't believe this is happening. Even though I'm here, it still feels like some crazy prank that the Dursleys are pulling. Although, they would never pay for all of this. Most of what they do is complain about how much it costs them to keep Harry, Lauren and I," Samantha laughed.
Leslie smiled softly. "Well, I promise you that this is not a prank."
"I wonder how my siblings are doing. I was always the bold one, the one who stood up for them. Not that they're not bold, it's just that I was the most bold, if that makes sense," Samantha explained to Leslie.
"No, I get it" Leslie smiled, then yawned. "I'm tired. I think I'm gonna go to bed."
"Night, Les," Samantha smiled, climbing under the warm bed sheets.
"G'night, Sam," Leslie replied.