Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I want to. I dow however wish I owned draco Malfoy
Argus gazed out the window as the city slipped out of sight. He wondered if his life was to get any better. A while later, he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.
"Argus." Argus turned and saw his sister gazing at him. "You okay?"
"Yeah," he replied half heartedly, "Just thinking."
Just then, the compartment door slid open and a pair of young witches walked in.
"Emmy!" cried a small redheaded girl, "I feel like I haven't seen you in like forever!" Argus found himself snickering at the over exuberance of Emilia's friend, Costella Bones. The girl was known for her small size – and enormous mouth. Emilia smiled, how ever and returned the greeting.
"I'm so sorry about your parents, Emilia," said a tall, plump girl with curly black hair. "You too, Argus," she continued. Argus smiled genuinely. Pomona Mandrak was Emilia's closest friend. She was very kind and inclusive. Unlike most people, Argus felt that she saw his squibness as a difference instead of a burden. Both of Emilia's friends were in Hufflepuff with Emilia, and they had been friends since first year. Argus felt a wave of sadness pass over him. He had never had any friends. Most people treated him like he had some sort of ultra contagious disease.
Costella and Pomona sat down in the compartment. Soon, Argus heard the door slide open once more. A thin lady pushing a cart laden with sweets walked in and asked in an unusually deep voice:
"Candy from the trolley?"
"We'll take five of everything please." Said Emilia, handing over eight silver sickles and three bronze knuts. Argus gorged himself on the delicious food and asked:
"Is it always like this?"
"Yup!" said Costella, "Except the chocolate frogs are new. We had chocolate muggles before." Argus gaped. Seeing his confusion, Costella grinned. "Just kidding! They had chocolate newts before. But I heard that this one kid was test phobic, and every time he saw a chocolate newt he thought of the N.E.W.T.S and had a nervous breakdown, only it wasn't a normal breakdown. He got the symptoms of a dementor attack and of course the only way to cure that was with chocolate. Well, the only chocolate on this train were the chocolate newts, and those just made the situation worse. So they changed the chocolate creature to frogs so nobody would have another reaction." This made everybody in the compartment break into fits of laughter. Then Pomona made it even worse when she said:
"He was from some really distinguished Slytherin family too. His name was something Malfoy, right?"
"Yeah," said Emilia, "Capricorn Malfoy. He was also the one who Alastor the first year turned into a weasel."
"If only the Wealeys knew," said Pomona, wistfully. "Capricorn called Ronald Percival, the last Weasley here, that all the time. I guess he felt self-conscious or something." After that, they all sat in a contented silence until Pomona said that she had to put her robes on.
"We should all do that," replied Emilia, "You to, Argus." Argus had a uniform like everybody else. The only difference was that since he would not be sorted, they would remain the same instead of changing to fit the house colors. As he pulled on the robes, Argus felt like a magical person for the first time in his life. No one would have to know he was a squib. He even bet that Costella, a charms expert, could fix his uniform to look like a Hufflepuff one. Argus overflowed with pride when one by one each of the girls complemented his robes.
Finally, the train slowed to a stop. He got out with Emilia and her friends. They herded him in the direction of the carriages with mighty thestrals attached to them (Argus and Emilia could see them since they had watched their parents die.) Costella ran to an empty one and jumped in. She motioned for the rest to follow her. The head girl, Minerva, was trying unsuccessfully to enforce the carriage limit rules.
"No more than six to a carriage, no more than six to a carriage!" she called. She looked really frazzled and her tight bun was coming undone and her rectangular spectacles were crooked.
The carriage ride was fun, but Argus felt a feeling of dread rise up in his chest as the castle loomed into view. He wondered, with a feeling of doubt, if Hogwarts would have him.