CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE
The rest of February was alright. Gryffindor had beaten Hufflepuff in a landslide when they'd played them at Quidditch. Sirius and Jane had even had a chance to sneak away from the victory party for a bit.
When March rolled around, Jane and the rest of her Healing Theory class started packing their bags for a five day trip to the Pendle Hill Academy of Healing down in Lancashire. It was currently the fourth, and Jane was grudgingly having to wake up early and lug her bags down to the Entrance Hall. The boys had also woken up early to see her off, which she found rather sweet since it was a Saturday, and they could have been sleeping in.
"Merlin, why are they making you get up so early?" James asked, rubbing his eyes as they walked before putting his glasses back on.
"Train for Clitheroe leaves at six," Jane said.
Jane had studied her itinerary front to back. On the one hand, it all seemed very exciting. After all, this was the school that she hoped to train at after Hogwarts. However, she didn't really consider anyone in her Healing Theory class to be her friend. Five days with eight people that she hardly spoke to (it was a very small class) seemed a sort of nightmare waiting to happen. She didn't really mind Coleman Vane, they talked to each other occasionally, and his girlfriend, Cassie Hamby, seemed nice enough, but they never really spoke. She and Parker Tollison used to get on well enough, but ever since he sort of snapped at her back in November, she'd stayed away from him.
"You've got money, right?" Sirius asked, as he had been going down her checklist of things she was supposed to bring.
"Yes, Sirius, I've gotten everything I need," Jane said. "I double checked that list already."
Sirius scowled and crumpled up the list in his hands before throwing it at Jane. It bounced off her head, and she was too tired to retaliate.
"I'm just trying to be helpful," he said.
"I'm still trying to wake up," Peter added, giving a big yawn, causing Jane to yawn as well.
"Make sure you take lots of pictures," Remus told her.
"I will," Jane promised. "I hear it's supposed to be really lovely there."
"You're gonna love Clitheroe," James said, "even if you don't like the school. Muggles live there, but it's actually filled with Witches and Wizards. In fact, I think most of the places around Pendle Hill are predominantly Wizarding towns. I'm pretty sure the Abbotts live in Barley."
Jane listened as James rambled on and on. She was sure she'd love the school and all the towns around it. However, she'd much rather visit the school with her friends rather than with her class.
When they reached the Entrance Hall, Jane dropped her bags to the floor and looked around at her sleepy classmates; they had already formed their little groups. Rachel Burke and Sadie Selwyn were standing just a few feet away from where Jane and the boys were; Kevin Fawley had apparently come to see Sadie off as well. Coleman Vane and Parker Tollison were talking to each other happily as though the early time didn't affect them, their girlfriends, Cassie Hamby and Alicia Campbell (who were both also in the class) seemed less enthusiastic. Helen McDowell was talking loudly to Professor Costner about something, and Andrew Abbott stood by himself; he, like Jane, didn't seem to be great friends with anyone else in the class either, though Jane knew that he and Parker were roommates, so that had to count for something.
Professor Costner handed them all tags to put on their bags. Jane wrote her name and her school on the purple luggage tags and the boys helped her attach them. And all too soon, Jane was saying goodbye to her friends.
"I'll see you Wednesday," James said as he hugged her.
She hugged the rest of the boys, and when she came to Sirius, she hugged him just a little bit tighter and for just a little bit longer than the others. She really wanted to give him a goodbye kiss, but of course, with so many people in the vicinity (especially the other boys), it wasn't plausible. Sirius patted her on the back before letting go of her.
"We'll miss ya, Janie," he said, and Jane forced a small smile despite the fact that she was tired and half-dreading the trip.
Within moments, the boys were gone, and Jane was on her own, heading to Hogsmeade Station with the rest of her Healing Theory class. Jane boarded the train headed to Clitheroe and found an empty compartment. She didn't even bother putting her bags on the luggage racks; she just curled up in her seat and shut her eyes, falling asleep before the train even started on its four and a half hour journey.
Jane awoke around ten o'clock. She stared out of her window as the train neared its destination. It was cloudy and dreary looking outside, and Jane took that as an implication of how this trip was going to be.
Around forty minutes later, the train came to a stop at Clitheroe Railway Station, and Jane exited to the platform, leaving her luggage behind as she'd been instructed. Her stomach growled. She'd slept straight through the promised breakfast on the train, and she was seriously regretting it.
As it turned out, Platform Nine and Three Quarters wasn't the only magical train platform hidden in the Muggle world. For example, Clitheroe Railway Station was only supposed to have two platforms. However, there were five other platforms hidden from the Muggle population, the entrances to which could be reached by walking through different parts of the walls inside the Old Station building. Jane didn't understand why this information surprised her so much as she walked through the barrier from Platform Three, but it did.
Waiting for them outside of the train station was a young woman with short blonde hair and a pointed chin. She gave them a warm, welcoming smile.
"Well, don't you all look wonderful in your Muggle clothes!" the girl said brightly.
Jane cut her eyes to Professor Costner, who was wearing red pants paired with an orange blazer, and she shook her head slightly.
"My name is Alison, and I'll be one of your tour guides for today," she said in a voice that sounded as though she'd rehearsed this many times. "I'm a student at the Academy, and in a few moments, I'll be showing you around Clitheroe. We'll wait as the others get here."
Jane looked behind her and noticed that a few other people had joined their little tour group. Kids around her age, most with who she assumed were their parents. Jane thought she heard Rachel mutter something about "home-schooled kids," and she just assumed that that's who they were.
A few minutes later, they were walking around the town as Alison showed them where students from the Academy liked to hang out when they weren't in classes. Jane was fascinated by the tour. She learned that there were three types of places in Clitheroe. 1) regular Muggle joints, nothing out of the ordinary there, 2) pubs and restaurants owned by witches or wizards, but open to the Muggle population as well (Alison told them that to spot these places, you simply needed to look for a golden wand painted in the windows that apparently Muggles couldn't see), and 3) a few Wizarding shops that were hidden from Muggle view, such as Bracebuckle's Apothecary and Mister Whistlethorpe's Quality Robes. All in all, Clitheroe was a beautiful little town, and James had been right; she did love it.
They ate at a little pub called Finnigan's which was Wizard owned. For some reason, Jane admired the way that the menu displayed the prices in Muggle currency as well as the Wizarding kind, which presumably the Muggles could not see on their menus. It was nice to know, with all the things going wrong in the world today, that there were still places that Wizarding folk could coexist peacefully with Muggles like this. It filled her with a sense of hope.
Once everybody was finished with their lunch, and Jane's stomach was satisfied, they made their way to an alley near the town library. They were going to be travelling by Portkey to get to the school, and Jane was very excited because she'd never travelled that way before. She only hoped it was better than travelling by Floo Powder.
There were two Portkeys, an old shoe and a top hat, both set to leave at 1:45. Jane gathered around the top hat because it seemed to have the least amount of people at it. She placed her index finger on the brim of the hat and waited. A few moments later, Jane felt something like a hook tugging on her from somewhere behind her belly button. She could feel herself being lifted from the ground, and everything around her was a blur. Her finger felt like it'd been glued to the hat, and before she knew it, she was standing on a freshly mowed lawn in front of a beautiful building where people from all over seemed to be gathered.
The Pendle Hill Academy of Healing was tucked away between Pendle Hill and Worsaw Hill, somewhere near Ridding Wood. Jane wasn't exactly sure how they managed to keep Muggles away, but since it was there, she assumed that the academy was conforming to Ministry regulations. The school itself was a beautiful building, and the grounds were swarming with witches and wizards who were talking and laughing or studying in little groups.
Despite it being fairly chilly outside, Jane noticed that all the gardens were in full bloom and the grass was a vibrant green; it looked very inviting as though she could lay on it for hours and be content. She noticed how other students from different schools had arrived. One school had arrived in a lavish light-blue carriage pulled by a dozen Abraxans. Scrawled in golden letters over a beautiful coat of arms on the door of the carriage were the words: L'Académie de Magie de Beauxbâtons. Boys and Girls, still dressed in their school uniforms, were filing out of the carriage; they obviously had a lot more students interested in Healing than Hogwarts did.
The students of the Salem Witches' Institute had arrived in what looked like a normal Muggle car with tented windows that had little spangled flags on the front. Of course, most Muggle cars didn't seat eighteen people, or fly. These students didn't appear to have school uniforms, or if they did, they weren't wearing them, and Jane found herself a little envious of one girl's flowing red robes with her matching hat titled to the side.
At least two schools arrived in boats, and they were currently docked in the school's lake. One was a big and skeletal looking ship that seemed to be something out of the sixteenth century. It had the appearance of an old Spanish galleon. The other boat was a large yakatabune, and Jane assumed that that held the students of the Mahoutokoro School of Magic in Japan that Professor Costner had talked about in class. Apparently, that school turned out more Healers in one year than Hogwarts did in three.
There was also a fairly large palanquin from the South Indian Academy of Sorcery. Jane wasn't exactly sure how it transported itself as it had been here before she'd arrived.
They'd all been ushered into the beautiful building. The chancellor of the school had welcomed them all happily. And then came the thing that Jane had been dreading. Room assignments.
A few of the schools had been walked to one of the visitor's buildings. They all broke off into their respective groups once there.
"Right, so it'll be three to a room," Professor Costner had said, pushing his glasses up his nose and looking at the piece of paper in his hand. "Mister Abbott, here you go," he said handing Andrew a golden room key with a number attached to it. "You'll be rooming with Tollison and Vane of course.
"Miss Burke," he said turning to find Rachel and give her a key as well. "You'll be with Miss Campbell and Miss Hamby.
"And Miss Hensworth, you'll be with McDowell and Selwyn."
Costner handed Jane their room key. She turned it and the tag over in her hand. Room 210. She groaned internally; hopefully, they wouldn't have to spend too much time in their rooms, but for now, they had at least an hour before they had a tour of the grounds.
Jane chanced a glance at Helen and Sadie. Helen seemed to be eyeing Sadie with a look of contempt, and Sadie seemed not to notice, or rather not to care; she showed no sign of emotion about the situation whatsoever. Jane, trying to emulate her, just turned and walked away to find their dorm, the other two girls following behind her at varying distances.
They climbed the stairs to the second floor, and Jane came to a stop in front of a mahogany door with their room number above it. A new golden plaque on the door read: Reserved: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jane saw Rachel Burke unlocking the door to the room next to theirs. Jane let out a small sigh and unlocked the door. Pushing it open and walking inside, Jane took in the lovely room that had more than enough space for just three people. She walked over to the four-poster that had her bags on it and immediately sat down and dug out a book from one of her bags.
As she'd expected, none of them said a word; they weren't exactly great pals. Helen McDowell was very popular at Hogwarts; she had a plethora of friends from different houses and years, none of which included Jane, and especially not the likes of a Slytherin, for Jane had learned over her years at Hogwarts that the prejudice against Slytherin house wasn't just exclusive to Gryffindors. Sadie Selwyn had only three people that she actually cared to hang out with at Hogwarts and that was Rachel Burke, Priscilla Greengrass, and Kevin Fawley. And of course, Jane had her own friends that didn't venture very far outside of Gryffindor house.
Jane just wished that she could have a cigarette right then. Or maybe one of her friends. Or maybe Sirius because this trip was going to be a lonely one.