POV - Alissa

I get off the train together with Ginny, Harry and Luna. And we walk to these carriages that seem to be pulled by nothing but air. I stop and look at the carriage. Luna stops with me.
"You can't see them isn't it?" I look at her. What the hell is she talking about? She's even weirder than I imagined.
"The carriages. They are being pulled by Thestrals." She says in a calm, wavy voice.
"They can only be seen by people who have seen death. I for example can see them. So does Harry." She adds and then just gets in the carriage like nothing happened. I look again but still nothing. What does she mean by having seen death? I just go after her and as soon as I sit the carriage starts rolling.

Halfway through an ugly toad jumps on my lap. I shriek but Ginny takes it off.
"Looks like Neville lost his toad again. Hello there Trevor!" she keeps the toad in her hands until we get to the castle. Then she leaves us to go find the Neville kid. Who on earth keeps a toad as a pet in a castle full of owls?

I am left with Harry and Luna and we haul our trunks to the castle. There we leave them with the big pile and I carefully place Merlin on top of my trunk.
"Don't worry," Harry says as he puts his beautiful white snow owl next to Merlin.
"They will bring them to the Owlery. Your owl will fit in just perfectly with the rest. This is Hedwig." He points at the white bird, who lovingly nibbles on his finger.
"She's beautiful." I say and we walk up the stairs.
"We will sit at our table, you'll have to get into your house first, hope you get in Gryffindor." He says and then he walks away. It is a first, but I think I made myself some friend here. Ginny, Harry, even the weird Luna. Maybe England won't be so bad after all.

"Well, look who we got there. Enjoyed your train ride on your own?" I hear Gwen's high pitched voice coming around the corner. I was wrong. As long as she's here, I'll be miserable.
"You probably love this smelly old castle. I can't wait until this year is over, than I can beg mom and dad to send me back to Beauxbatons." She adds dramatic.
"Oh, have you met my new friends?" she says with a curl on her lips as a few figures in black and green robes come closer.
"See Draco, this is the loser sister I told you about. Nothing special really." Then her and the white haired boy walk away without another word. I curse in myself and walk into the great hall. Its ceiling looks amazing.

I see Gwen standing next to some younger kids in the front of the hall and walk up to her. A very old man with an enormous beard and long silvery hair stands up and speaks.

"Welcome students. Today begins the new year at Hogwarts. Welcome first years and of course our transfers from Beauxbatons. We hope you enjoy it here as much as you did at your old school." A few whispers go around the hall and the man continues to speak. When he's finished a skinny woman with a pointy hat walks up with a piece of parchment in her hands.
"We begin the choosing ceremony with our newest students. Gwendolyne Addina, will you please take place on the stool? I will place the sorting hat on your head and it will tell you in which house you will be staying.

Gwen walks up to the stool and looks at the hideous hat. The professor places it on her head and after a few seconds of silence it shouts 'SLYTHERIN'. I roll my eyes. Like that was a surprise.
"Next up Alissa Addina." I sigh and walk up to the stool. Take place and feel the hat falling over my eyes. I hear it mumble very softly.
"Hmmm… good brains... Very loyal... also very brave… this one is difficult… I'm going to go with… GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouts and I feel a rush of relief. I look at the red and gold table and everyone claps and shouts. I spot Ginny and Harry sitting along a lot of redheads.

I walk over to Ginny and she scoots up a little bit so I can squeeze myself between her and a clumsy blonde boy.
"I'm Neville." He says and shakes my hand.
"Ah, the one with the lost toad." I say and he blushes.
"Yeah, Trevor likes to run away quite a lot. Always comes back though." I nod and turn over to Ginny, where we chat a little.

A few of the first years gets placed into Gryffindor as well and I clap with the rest of my house.
"So," Ron says with his mouth full.
"Who was that girl next to you just now, the Slytherin?" he continues after he gets a poke in the ribs from Hermione and swallows what he was eating.
"She's my sister. Twin sister actually." I sigh.
"Oh really, you look nothing alike." Ginny says and I nod.
"Thank god not." I say and prick my fork into a potato.

"Did we hear 'twin'?" it sounds like an echo and when I look up I think that someone knocked me on the head because I'm seeing double.
"Alissa, meet Fred and George, my two other brothers. And if you haven't figured it out yet, they're twins." I blink a few times. They are really handsome, both of them. And they look exactly alike. It is actually scary.
"I'm Fred." The left one says.
"And I'm George." The right one says.
"How on earth does anyone keep you guys apart?" I ask confused, trying to find something, maybe a freckle that is out of place to keep them apart.
"They don't." they say, again in unison.

They walk away followed by a dark skinned guy with dreadlocks. I am intrigued by them. And I will definitely talk to them again. Before Gwen does. She always steals away the boys I like.
"So you are a year five aren't you?" Ginny asks and I nod.
"Well I am too, Harry and the rest are in year six and the two psychos could have been in year seven but they failed their exams so they have to take sixth year all over again." Ginny explains and I nod. That means I at least have a friend in most of my classes. It also means I will have no class together with the twins.

"Do you have a Quidditch team here?" I ask Harry when desert is almost over. He nods enthusiastic.
"We have one for each house. I am the Captain of the Gryffindor team, also Seeker. You play?" he asks as he puts in a spoonful of pudding.
"Yeah, I played in Beauxbatons team as Chaser." I say and Harry smiles.
"Try outs for the team start in two weeks, why don't you join? We'll see if you are good enough to make the team. Current positions are all filled except for two Chasers, so you might be lucky! I'm the Seeker, Ron here is the Keeper, Fred and George are the Beaters and Ginny is the only Chaser we have right now." No doubt about it. I'm joining that team, that'll give me some time with the twins.
"Cool, I will definitely try out!" I say. I feel better than I have in a long time and I'm beginning to think England is indeed not so bad after all.