Chapter Two: New Friends, New Enemies, New Beginnings
"Take care!" Ms. Fawn said as she finally let Elle out of a squeezing embrace. "Henry, William, you'll look after your sister won't you?" She asked as put a hand on each of their cheeks and kissed them on the forehead.
"We will mum," Henry said, jerking out of her grasp. He didn't like the whole touchy feely goodbyes; after all they were only going away to school.
"Now Elle, if you need anythin' at all you send an owl, hear?" She said as she grasped her tightly.
"I will mum!" Elle said, trying to free herself. She was assisted by the train whistle that blared a few short seconds afterward. "Oh dear! Hurry now! Hurry! That'll be the train!" Elle quickly bounded after Edward, Henry and Will as they'd tried escaping to the train. The four quickly found an empty compartment and stuck their heads out the window and waved to their foster mother.
"I'm counting on you boys! Write often! Elle! Take care!" Ms. Fawn called as the train began to lug out of the station.
"We will!" The orphans all called back in unison, waving to their foster mother as she slowly passed out of sight. Finally the train rounded a bend and the station disappeared from sight. Will snapped the window shut as they all gathered in the empty train car.
"Well, I'm off," said Henry, turning to hunt down his fellow 5th year Gryffindors who were lurking some where on the train.
"Wait up!" Edward called, chasing after him. Edward was indeed the tag along, though he was a Hufflepuff he was still good friends with a number of Gryffindors.
"You'll be alright, Elle?" Will asked as he prepared to join his friends. "If you want I could stay with you." She noticed it was a reluctant offer, but she knew he meant well.
"Yeah I'll be fine," she said, sliding onto one of the plush seats, "go on! I'll see you later!" Will smiled and disappeared along the corridor, calling back that he'd stop by to check on how she was getting on. She smirked slightly as she leaned against the window, her green eyes gazing at the countryside that was passing quickly on both sides of the train. It was only a few moments before Elle jumped at a knock on her compartment door.
"Is this box taken?" A girl with vibrant red hair asked, her amber eyes glowing on a freckled face; she was around the same age as Elle, perhaps even the same year. She appeared a little out of place, but then again all first years did (or that was at least what will told her).
"Nope," Elle said, "I'm the only one." She turned slightly to face the girl who sat across from her. "I'm Ellerianna Hawkins."
"Wow, that's a mouthful. I'm Lyn," She said, leaning forward to shake Elle's ha, "Lyn Weasly."
"Nice to meet you. You can call me Elle, my brother's do." She smiled, hoping that she'd be able to become friends with the Weasly girl.
"You're not related to Will, Henry and Edward are you?" Lyn asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, why?" Elle asked a little puzzled.
"Right, I knew it! My sisters told me all about the Hawkins boys! My sister Nora, she's a fourth year, has the biggest crush on Henry! She couldn't stop talking about him all summer! Then there's Melanie, she's a 5th year, and she cannot shut up about William. She was all 'Will this' and 'Will that'. I swear I was gunna be sick!"
"Yeah, I heard my brothers were pretty popular." Elle said, laughing as Lyn impersonated her sister.
"No, they're the most popular boys in school. What with Will being the Captain of the Ravenclaw team this year and Henry being Gryffindor's star beater an' all. I'm surprised you can handle being around them." Lyn said as she emphasized why Elle's brothers were so talked about.
"It's all good fun really, I like listening to them talk about plays and maneuvers. How many sibling do you have other than your two sisters?" Elle asked Lyn, she was just curious because form the way Lyn talked it was as if she had a huge family.
"Six," Lyn announced proudly, "four sisters and two brothers." She went on to describe them. "The eldest is Victoria, she's a 7th year with a bit of a nasty temper. Then there's TJ, he's a 6th year and like a big teddy bear, really sensitive and understanding. Behind him by a year are Melanie and Michael, twins. Watch out for them, big trouble, they take after my uncles I swear! Already told you about Nora the 4th year and then Sabrina's a 2nd year ahead of me. Almost all of them are in Gryffindor, save Melanie. She's a Ravenclaw, also the only one with blond hair. She likes to pretend she isn't related to the lot of us." They shared a good laugh as Lyn described her siblings.
"I've only got my three: Will, Henry and Eddy. Although, I'm the only one who can get away with calling him that," Elle said, remarking on the nickname she'd given her brother.
"They ditch you like my lot did?" Lyn asked, leaning back with her hands behind her head.
"Yeah, only Will offered to stay but I sent him off to be with his friends, and I think Henry didn't want another tag along. Eddy half wishes he was a Gryffindor I think. He enjoys his house though I know he does." Elle said. For a while the girls chatted about Hogwarts and the different stories they'd heard about the different teachers. Lyn asked what it was like, to have only three siblings. "It must be awful dull at your house."
"Not at all! It's really funny, because Edward is always chasing Henry because Henry's taken something of his. Will's always trying to break them up, but gives in and starts chasing me because I've got nothing else to do! And they're always making me laugh! It's always an adventure for us, I love my family." Elle said, laughing as she remembered some of the better chase scenes that had played out just this past summer.
"Don't get me wrong!" Lyn said, "I love my family too, just not all of them. I could defiantly due without Victoria! I suppose I could get rid of Michael too, he's always so annoying. I wouldn't mind trapping the 'fan girls', as dad calls them, in a vanishing cabinet." Elle chucked as Lyn schemed on how to rid herself of her more annoying siblings.
The door of the compartment gave a little squeak as a stout girl in their age group slid it open. Her short blond hair and watery blue eyes made her look like a blond mouse a well-fed blond mouse. "Sorry," she squeaked, "just wondering any of you'd seen a turtle, he's always scampering away from me."
"Nope," Lyn and Elle said together. Sighing the girl hurried off to search other compartments, "how do you lose a turtle? Honestly?"
"Beats me," Elle said, shrugging and laughing slightly.
"Hey Elle," Lyn said, her head cocked to the side (it was a habit of hers, when she was thinking), "what sort of animal do you have? I've got Fiji." Out of her pocket she pulled the small rat. It wasn't the dirty sort of rat, but the white and black spotted kind you could buy at a Muggle pet store.
"Lyn! Is that a rat?" Elle asked, stating the obvious.
"No duh! I got him in Diagon ally yesterday.
"Oh! He's cute!" Elle said ("She," Lyn corrected), "I've got a Barn Owl. Her name's Moon Face." This said the owl gave a soft hoot from inside her cage as her name was mentioned. Lyn gave a sudden start; clearly she hadn't seen Moon Face in her cage. "You really need to be aware of your surroundings."
"Mel says that," Lyn grumbled, allowing Fiji to crawl back into her pocket. "Won't eat Fiji will she?"
"No, Moon Face knows what's food and what isn't," Elle informed Lyn. They were interrupted again when the door slid open with a slight jerk this time. There was another student around their same year standing in the doorway; only he was tall and skinny. His messy blond hair was sticking up on odd ends, his dark blue eyes hid behind a pair of round glasses.
"Either of you seen a turtle? Charlie's lost hers," He asked, their response was once more no, he began to leave, only to turn right back around. "The prefects informed us that we'd be arriving shortly so you might want to change."
"Thanks," Elle said curtly, sending him away.
"God! You'd think the turtle just popped into thin air." Lyn said with a wave of her hand, at that exact moment a faint popping sound was heard and a purple and green turtle appeared next to Lyn, who yelped and jumped into the air, "ok! I did not mean literally!" This sent Elle into a fit of laughter as she doubled up in her seat.
"Grab it before it disappears again!" Elle said, regaining her self-control. Lyn scooped it up in both hands and went to hunt down this 'Charlie' she returned a few minutes later with a bag full of Pumpkin Muffins. "She was ever so happy that we'd found Kiwi she just had to find some way to thank me," Lyn grumbled as she tossed the muffins at Elle who gratefully snapped one up. The Trolley stopped by a few minutes later and the two gratefully purchased Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Beans, Cauldron Cakes and Licorice Wands. As she snacked on the sweets they continued to chat when their door slid open again, only this time it was Will.
"Wow!" He said as he spotted the sweets and shook his head. "I see you've made a friend Elle."
"Oh! Will this is Lyn Weasly, Lyn this is my brother Will!" She quickly introduced the two as she finished swallowing what she'd been eating.
"Nice to meet you," Lyn said as she nodded to Will, her eyes wide.
"Another Weasly, 'eh? Welcome aboard. Any ways, you two should change soon. I expect we'll be there sometime in the next thirty minutes." With that he waved and headed back down the trail, informing students of how close they were to arrival. Quickly they dug into their trunks to find their school robes, only a few moments later they were fully dressed and making sure everything was secure in their trucks. Elle checked Moon Face's cage and the locks on her trunk. Lyn was trying to coax Fiji into a little cage but the rat was reluctant to leave Lyn's pocket. "Come on Fiji, please!"
"Just grab her," Elle said, taking a light hold of Fiji's tail and transplanting the rat from the shirt pocket to the cage. Fiji gave a squeak of unhappiness, but stayed perfectly still until Elle let go of her. Lyn quickly locked up the rat's cage and the two sat once more and looked out the window. It was dark out now, the trees were close together in an impenetrable wall of foliage, the sky was gray and black with clouds, the moon was halfway to its midpoint in the sky, and it was getting late.
Finally the train lurched to a top and every one inside was ordered out in an orderly fashion. Elle gulped and looked reluctantly at each other when Will returned. "Didn't think I'd leave you alone did you?" He said slyly, "Besides, I can't have my little sister messing up my reputation!" He quickly dodged Elle before escorting the girls off the train with all the other students. A green lantern floated high in the air and Elle found herself staring at it. Time slowed momentarily as she gazed into that green light and felt cold, as if something terrible had happened in the eerie glowing green light, it was a horrible feeling.
"Well, well," A cold voice said, bringing her back down to earth, "if it isn't another Weasly, and look, another one of the Orphans." A tall boy, probably a fourth year or so, stood before them in the school uniform. His black eyes burned with a strange hunger inside his skull, the thuggish boys around him were all big and thickly muscled, Elle felt sick, as they seemed to close in on them.
"Back off Morgrin," Will snarled. Elle had never seen him like this; his hand was already leaning toward his wand, would a fight break out on the platform?
Morgrin shrugged and howled out laughter, "Say what you like Hawkins, you can't frighten me."
"Your point being?" Henry asked as he walked up beside his twin. A pair of tough looking red head strolled up and leaned against Lyn, they must have been Melanie and Michael.
"Nothing," Morgrin snarled sarcastically, "I just felt like warning you, that's all." He smiled wolfishly before walking off.
"That was close," Will said, "watch out for him. Morgrin can be a bit nasty sometimes, ok all the time."
"Don't worry," Elle said, "I can take care of myself ya know."
"Anyways!" Henry said clasping her on the shoulders, "head towards the green lantern, don't look him in the eye, and have a nice ride! We'll see you up at the castle."
"Wait," Elle said, "what! Henry! Will? Edward?" No one offered and explanation, but a shove in the lantern's direction. She and Lyn walked forward reluctantly and had to muffle gasps as they saw what awaited them. "A centaur!" Lyn whispered excitedly, "I've never seen one up close before!"
"First Years," he said ominously, his equine body a midnight black with four white leg markings that rose to above his knees while his human body was a dark ebony color, the horns on his head sawed down and the fur on his face shaved completely off, "this way."