Disclaimer: "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" That is the sound of me, running away from all the J.K Rowling fans out there. Wait a minute, I'm not J.K Rowlings! How silly of me. For a moment I forgot and was afraid I would have to give out five million signatures. But now I remember, and so should you, that I am not the creator of the Harry Potter series, nor any characters directly related to that magnificent piece of work. Darn!

Chapter Five: The Train

The scene that met her eyes when Jenna opened them was one of confusion. A scarlet train engine sat puffing smoke under a sign declaring that this was "Platform 9 3/4." Excited students of all ages ran up and down the platform as agitated parents tried to make sure their students had remembered their books, clean underwear, and everything else under the sun. Jenna would later swear she even heard the words "kitchen sink" and "suitcase" in the same sentence. Yells of excitement erupted when friend met friend after the long summer and some scared kids near Jenna's own age wouldn't leave their parents' sides.

"Well, let's get you onto the train, and then I have some other business to which I must attend." Professor McGonagall walked Jenna to the door of a carriage, kindly pulling one of the heavy suitcases. She handed both up to Jenna, and after saying "Good-bye and good luck," shut the door and walked off down the platform.

Suddenly Jenna felt scared. The absence of a familiar face, albeit a stern one, brought the truth home to her. She would be miles away from anyone she knew and wouldn't see her family for several months. Jenna would be in a completely strange environment, learning things she had only dreamed of before. She felt her eyes burn with tears she refused to shed.

To take her mind off her sudden homesickness, Jenna set about finding an empty compartment. There wasn't one. She headed back down the aisle, pulling both suitcases behind her, to one with only one occupant. Jenna figured that since she must brave the presence of an unknown person, it ought to be only one.

Jenna knocked on the door. Through the frosted glass, she saw the person stand and open the door. "Hi, could-" But before Jenna could finish my sentence, she was interrupted.

"Hey, Grace, I've been looking for you." It was the boy Jenna had met in the bookstore. "I never properly introduced myself..." He stopped and looked at the girl who had slid open the compartment door. "It seems you have found another friend."

"Actually, I-" Interrupted again, this time by the other girl.

"I'm Lily Evans. And you are?"

"James Potter. And this," he gestured at Jenna, "is Grace."

"Actually, I'm Jenna Smith." She corrected. "May we come in?"

Lily stepped aside. "So why did he call you Grace?"

"Well, he found me in Flourish and Blotts on the floor." Jenna lifted her suitcases into the overhead compartment. "I tripped, and my books found themselves at the other end of the aisle. James helped me pick them up."

"So, Jenna Grace, why do you have two trunks?" James asked as all three sat. "Most kids only have one."

"Well, they're both half full of books. I would have only brought one suitcase, but then I would have no clothes. I just couldn't leave all my books, plus I had all my school books."

"You know Hogwarts has a huge library, don't you?" James asked.

"Yeah, I asked Professor McGonagall yesterday."

At this, Lily looked very interested. "But McGonagall was with me all day yesterday."

"Impossible. She was with me this morning as well." Jenna contradicted.

"I wonder how that would work, because she brought me here. James, do you know?" Lily had also figured that James was wizard-born.

"No, I don't."

"Jamsie!" A boisterous black haired boy bounded down the corridor and into the compartment. "I thought I heard your voice!" He plopped himself down next to Lily, across from James.

"Hey, Sirius. Wondered when you'd show up." James introduced the girls to his friend.

"Sirius? What a seriously cool name." Lily quipped.

"Ha, ha. Like I haven't heard that one a thousand times before." Sirius momentarily scowled before returning to his good-natured grin. "So are you two Muggle-born?"

"Yes." "Yeah." Jenna and Lily answered at the same time.

"Cool! Tell me about them." Sirius looked eager. "I wasn't allowed to talk to Muggles. Mother thought they would 'corrupt me' or something."

"Only if you tell us about yours." Lily required.

The four first-years traded stories for several hours until they were interrupted by a plump woman with a cart of brightly wrapped sweets. "Anything from the cart, dears?"

"Heck yeah!" James and Sirius said in unison. They each bought as much as they could carry and dumped it on the floor of the compartment, as the spare seats were occupied by various carry-on bags. Seeing that the other three were prepared to immerse themselves into sugar induced mania, Jenna pulled her book out of her backpack.

"Hey, Jenna Grace, what's that?" Lily asked. Jenna lifted the book to show the title- The Once and Future King. "Yuck. Too long and boring for me."

"I've actually read that. How do you like it?" James was much more interested than Lily.

"It's good. The King Arthur story is really interesting." Jenna replied.

"Okay, before you get into some book discussion, have pity on the rest of us uneducated fools and tell us which house you want to be in." Sirius was about as interested as Lily, though not as uneducated as he'd like them to believe.

Professor McGonagall had told the girls about the different houses the day before, but they were both interested on the "insider opinion," complete with stereotypes, that the boys would give them.

"Well, I would like to be in Ravenclaw." James said. "My mother was in it, and everybody says I'm a lot like her."

"Ravenclaw's okay, but it's full of snotfaces who think they're better because they're clever. I want Gryffindor!" Sirius struck a pose like a bodybuilder. "Strong and brave describes me perfectly, don't you think?"

"Compared to a snail, certainly." Lily threw a piece of candy at him, hitting him right between the eyes.

"OW! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot. Sit down."

"I'm not an idiot. Slytherins are idiots. I mean, can you imagine being stuck with Snapey-poo for seven long, long years?" Sirius pretended to pout. James snorted.

"Uh, explanation please?" Lily asked.

But none was necessary. The compartment door slammed open to show a gangly, pale boy. An ugly sneer twisted his mouth. A wand that showed much use despite his obvious young age was already in his hand. "Don't you ever call me that again, or you will find your ears removed from your head."

"Oh, look, James, Sevy has graced us with his presence again. What shall we do this time?"

Then the newcomer saw Lily and Jenna. "Consorting with mudbloods, are you, Black? Wait until your mother finds out. And James Potter, too. Just a couple of bloodtraitors. Why I lower my undefiled self to your level, I will never know." The boy turned on his heel and left.

Sirius pulled out his own wand and pointed it at the retreating back. "Snape isn't the only one who knows a couple curses. I had the same luck in families." But Sirius was prevented from his dearest wish of cursing Snape by the appearance of several older students, who cast withering glances at the young boy holding a wand.

"Is he a relative of yours?" Jenna asked when Sirius sat down again.

"Distantly. And I don't know why he's talking about 'undefiled.' His mother is the only wizard blood that moron has." Sirius answered. "Like I already told you, my family is pure-blood. And proud about it. They only barely tolerated James, even though his family is also pureblood. His family hasn't had a Slytherin in thousands of years."

"Why is that such a big deal?" Lily asked.

"Slytherins tend to be pure-blood, and hate those who aren't. My entire family is Slytherin. I would rather die than be one of them." The word was said with utmost contempt. "But if that half-blood idiot isn't in Slytherin, I'll eat my socks."

James snorted. "I'll do better than that. I'll eat his socks."

After grumbling for several minutes about Snape and his evilness, the sugar regained the attentions of the two boys and talk turned instead to Quidditch and explaining the game to the very interested Lily. Jenna returned to her book. The rest of the train ride passed in a peaceful manner, with occasional interruptions to try and get Jenna to eat some wiggling or puke green or floating candy. It never worked. While she was fascinated with most things magical, that interest didn't extend to food that had no business being called edible.

Evening came, and the first years were told to put on their school robes, as the train was nearing a small village, where the students would disembark. As the four were leaving the compartment, Jenna asked, "Don't we need to bring our trunks?"

Sirius answered, grinning. "Don't worry about it. That's what houselves are for."

"Houselves?" She asked as the train lurched to a stop at the platform.

James explained about the diminutive help that many wealthier families and large establishment, such as the school, often had as the students disembarked from the train.

Thick tree surrounded the small station, seen only as darker shadows in the gloom of nightfall. A voice called over the heads of the milling students. "Firs' years over here! Firs' years, follow me!"

Turning toward the voice, Jenna saw a lamb moving high above the heads of the students, carried by a giant of a man with a face made more wild by the lamplight reflected from his black eyes. The four moved toward him, Jenna nearly falling on the slight step off the platform. The bobbing lamp led the first years down a steep rocky path through the black trees. "Yeh'll see the school jus' round the next bend," the giant said.

Around the promised bend, the tree suddenly cleared and a castle was seen, high on a hilltop on the other side of an enormous, black lake. The school was twinkling with many lit windows, reflected in the glassy water. The smooth surface of the lake was disturbed only by a fleet of small boats anchored by magical means near the shore.

"Four to a boat! Any more'n that, and you'll be squid food!"

Thus warned, the young students climbed into the waiting boats. Jenna, Lily, Sirius and James claimed one, James sitting next to Lily to continue his instruction on Quidditch. Once all the students were settled, the man gave a command and the boats slid forward toward the towering castle. On the boat, Sirius kept first Jenna, and then drew the attention of the other two, with stories of the giant squid that supposedly lived in the lake. Jenna listened, but didn't quite believe it until something long and slimy brushed the fingertips she was trailing behind the boat. She then jerked her hand inside the boat and listened with renewed interest to Sirius's tale.

Under a curtain of vines the boats glided, and through an underground tunnel, before bumping gently against a rocky shore. Clambering out of the boat, Jenna felt a surge of nerves. This was the place she would spend the greater part of the next seven years, as a student of magic.

The giant led the small crowd of students to a giant set of double doors, and knocked with a sound that echoed across the lake and back.

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