Chapter Three
The Hogwarts Express
Courtney and her family arrived at King's Cross Station at ten sharp, an hour early just in case anything went wrong.
"This, I have to see," Da had said. "A letter was carried by owl to our home, we've been to Diagon Alley, but this is the one thing I've been waiting for years to see: someone walking through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten."
Courtney was wheeling her belongings - carried in a pair of decent-sized trunks, with Athena perched on top. They approached the partition between Platforms Nine and Ten.
When they were only feet away, Courtney looked at her parents. "Well, goodbye, I guess. I'll see you in December."
They nodded and then hugged her - first Mum, then Da. "I want to see Athena every week," Mum said. "Let us know how things are going."
Courtney smiled. "Of course." Then she looked at the barrier, inhaled, exhaled, ran straight at the wall, right to the other side.
Da looked up. "Did I just miss it? Really?"
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The enchanted train station platform where the Hogwarts Express made its annual departure. Courtney's gaze swept around the area, from the various children pouring in from all the other gates from all over Britain to the long, magically powered train that sat on tracks along the center.
Courtney set her focus on an open door on the train and started walking toward it.
At this point, it was early enough that few of the compartments had people in them and only one or two were completely full. Courtney found an empty compartment, sat down, and dropped her belongings next to the seat.
It was about five minutes before the compartment's door opened again and another girl came in. She had pale skin covered in freckles and a short head of light brown hair. "Hey, are these seats taken?" she asked.
Courtney waved a hand over the empty seats. "Go ahead."
The girl put down her belongings out of the way and sat down beside Courtney. "I'm Lynne. First-year. You?"
"Courtney. Same." She extended a hand, and Lynne shook it. "Which House do you think you'll be in?"
Lynne smiled. "I just know I'm going to get Ravenclaw. I don't doubt it at all. What about you?"
Ravenclaw. The House of the intelligent. The smartest students weren't always in Ravenclaw, but Ravenclaw students are the ones who place a lot of value in knowledge. Considering Hogwarts was, well, a school, the House of Ravenclaw had a good reputation.
Courtney shrugged. "I don't know yet. I always figured the Sorting Hat would just know best. But I'm not getting Slytherin."
Lynne winced. "Yeah, Slytherin's the worst."
Slytherin was the House of the sly and cunning, and even though the House has changed enough in recent years that it now allowed Muggleborns, it still produced more Dark wizards and criminals than any other House at Hogwarts.
"Well, you seem nice enough," Lynne added. "Here's hoping we get the same House."
Courtney thought about it. Lynne's tone felt strange, not sarcastic or anything, but it sounded like Lynne was not used to saying these words. Like the Lynne she was talking to was not what she was normally like.
Well, she does expect to be a Ravenclaw. One of Ravenclaw's negative stereotypes was that of a loner who pushes away other people in favor of books. If Lynne expected to be there… There was a good chance she wasn't normally so talkative. No, she had to make an effort to have the conversation they'd already had.
And she did make that effort. For whatever reason, Lynne was willing to make the effort to talk to Courtney. That gave her points in Courtney's book any day.
"Sure," she said finally. "Hope we both make it to Ravenclaw."
They continued talking as the train started to move. After a while, the trolley had passed and they purchased two containers of Bertie Bott's. Throughout the entire train ride, dozens of students walked through the hall outside the compartments.
The train slowed down some as Courtney and Lynne heard a loud voice shouting, "First-years!"
He was an enormous man, positively towering over the eleven-year-old students. His thick brown beard had random wisps of grey scattered about. He spoke in a hoarse yet strong voice when he addressed the students. His name was Rubeus Hagrid.
"The older students take the train all the way," Hagrid said. "But first-years go with me, across the lake. Gives a good first impression, y'see."
As the boats started moving, Courtney could see exactly why this was part of the first impression. The sun had started its descent and had changed the color of the sky. The light reflected off the water in just the right angles and colors to make the castle at the end of it all stand out more. It was truly a sight to behold.
The boats approached the shore at the other end and came to a halt.
Courtney and the other first-years had arrived at Hogwarts.