Chapter Two: To Hogwarts they go
The month seemed to go on forever waiting for the first of September. The girls talked nothing but about the school, and all the fun they will have. Nicholas was now going into his second year with James, and they told the girls and Albus all the scary things that went on at the school, like the basilisk, and ghosts that haunts the girls' bathrooms. The stories scared the kids too much that they went to their parents and their parents had the boys stop telling tales and to get their chores done.
Anna and Gaby along with Albus were in the backyard chasing the chickens that littered the yard. The children were followed by Anna's miniature pinscher named Teddy Bear who enjoyed himself by chasing after the children and nipping at their feet. They laughed and played most of the day, and by dinner time the kids were tired out and fell quickly to sleep after they had ate their dinner.
But nothing lasts forever, so the summer finally came to an end and September 1st arrived, making the children more enthusiastic and keeping the parents busy. On that particular morning, it was Gaby's turn to wake her sister up, since she had jumped out of bed the second she heard their mother call. Anna and Gaby got dressed in record time and the entire family made their way to King's Cross together. Each of the three Tavian children had a cage or basket, housing their pets. Arianna's cat was grey with orange spots everywhere. Its white feet made it look like it was wearing shoes, while the orange stripe up her nose gave the cat a very unique appearance. Gabrielle's cat, on the other hand, had a pure black, with a white spot on its chest in the shape of a triangle and had startling green eyes. Nicholas was the only one carrying a cage, which was home to his very noble looking brown owl.
The parents helped Anna and Gaby through the barrier after Nicholas ran straight through, as to prove his skills.
By the time the twins stepped into the world they really belonged to, Nicholas had already disappeared to take his baggage to the train, returning shortly to say goodbye to the parents.
The train whistle blew loud and Hannah and John were rushing the girls to get onto the train before it left, but the girls were more interested in finding Albus. They searched around but couldn't find him, so they boarded when the conductor shouted "All aboard!" Anna and Gaby hugged and kissed their parents good bye and promised them that they would write often.
Once on the train the two girls with their trunks in hand looked for an empty compartment. They found one towards the back where there sat Rose Weasley and Albus. Anna slid open the compartment and entered followed by her sister. They placed their trunks up on the racks and sat down opposite of each other.
"Hi Rose, Albus." Gaby said sitting down next to Rose. "Are you all excited?"
"Of course we are, but Hugo and James were telling the stories again about how scary Hogwarts can be." Rose replied.
"Just ignore em, we'll find out here soon." Anna said.
"Yeah, besides, you know how those two are." Gabrielle said, making everyone in the compartment nod.
A minute later, the four were sitting back, talking and watching the landscape change slightly under their eyes. They knew each other since as long as they could remember, without exaggerating, so they had enough subjects to talk about for years.
The door flew open and James Potter came in, followed by Nicholas Tavian. Both boys grinned at their siblings and friends before sitting down and closing the door behind them.
"Won't be able to join you for too long, a friend of ours smuggled Doxi eggs onto the train." Nicholas said, looking rather excited and making the younger wizards laugh shortly, although they secretly made a note to be especially careful with what they eat in the next few days.
A blonde boy, looking no older than Albus, stopped in front of their door for a second but glared coldly and continued to walk when he saw the older boys.
"Who was that?" Gaby asked.
"Oh that was Scorpius Malfoy, I heard his dad was a deatheater so many years ago." Albus replied.
The two older siblings rolled their eyes and then turned from the compartment and walked away. Moments later the four friends heard screaming down the car. Anna stuck her head out to see what was going on, there she saw two other first year girls running out of their compartment holding their noses. Then the smell hit Anna, and she quickly closed the compartment door and slightly opened the window.
The older siblings did more than just doxy eggs, they've snuck in dung bombs and hid them into some girls purse, and they went off. The smell was coming through the crack in the compartment door and everyone in the compartment started to gag. No wonder why the older ones left in such a hurry.
"I'm going to kill those two!" Gabrielle muttered, holding her nose and using a magazine as a fan to keep the smell away from the pets.
"Not if I get to them first." Albus added, opening the window more and sitting back down, giving an irritated sigh.
It took quite some time before the air returned to its normal smell and by the time this happened, the lunch trolley was just a few meters away. The children quickly took out some money and chose a few snacks for later. None of them had much of an appetite.
The journey ended all too soon and the Hogwarts Express stopped in Hogsmade and the station became flooded with students. A strong voice called all the first years and a line formed as the smallest students quickly did what they were told. Gaby and Anna managed to stay close to Rose and Albus and all four got into a boat, gliding steadily towards the school.
Once they got docked at the school, all the first years were led up to the castle and inside the grand oak doors. All the first years looked around the grand entrance way in awe, wispering about what they were seeing. Anna, Gaby, Albus and Rose stuck close together each looking in a different direction seeing a staircase that led up stiars. I wonder where that leads? Gaby thought to herself.
The first years were soon greated by an elderly woman who had her hair pulled back into a tight bun, and wore emerald green velvet robes. She was very stern looking, and had sent shivers up the first years. The woman stood there for a few minutes waiting for the rest of the first years to finish coming up the stairs.
"Good Evening, and welcome to Hogwarts: School of witchcraft and wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall." The woman finally said and all the chattering first years came to a silent. "In a moment you will pass through these doors you will be led to the front of the room where you are sorted into houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Once you are sorted you may go to your house and the feast would begin."
The woman turned around and walked into the Great Hall, gesturing for the students to follow. In turn, the eleven year olds paired up and made a long line, entering the Hall and preparing to be sorted. Very few talked; most looked with amazement at the ceiling and the ghosts. A transparent man with a tall collar bowed as a group of girls passed. Gaby, who had paired up with her sister, looked rather terrified at another ghost which had stains all over him, stains that looked terribly similar to blood.
Professor McGonagall stopped and turned around to face the four tables. Next to her, an old hat stood on a small chair. The woman took a parchment and told the children to be quiet. As soon as they listened to her, something like a mouth appeared on the Hat and it started to sing.
The song told the story of four great wizards, about their dream of having a place to educate the young and protect those like theirselves. Then, after the song told them about the very first days of Hogwarts, the Hat continued by asking the four houses to honor that history and work together in peace.
The long song soon ended and Professor McGonagall turned back to the nervous first years and gave them a small smile and started calling out the names in alphabetical order. "Abbott, Liza" said the woman and out of the line came a little girl with blond hair and brown eyes. She sat on the bench and the sorting hat was placed on her head. "HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat exclaimed and the little girl ran off to the hufflepuff table.
The line started to get shorter and shorter soon it was just the two Tavian girls left standing. Albus and Rose were sorted into Gryffindor, the two girls were hopping that the hat didn't seperate them and they gave eachother a hug when Anna's name was called. She sat on the bench clenching the side, the hat was placed on her head and for what seem like an hour the hat finally declared Gryffindor, and the black haired girl ran off and sat next to Rose.
Gaby followed and quickly took Anna's place on the small bench. The Sorting Hat took its time, searching deep into the girl's head. Gabrielle started to get nervous as the Hat whispered into her ear, asking and telling her about the sort of future she could have. Just when panic started to sneak into her heart, the Hat yelled "Gryffindor!", making her jump right up and take the seat next to her sister.
The four started talking as the sorting continued, interrupted only by some of the older students when they welcomed them. Anna, Rose, Gaby and Albus were having a debate about why they should - or should not - stay out of the Forbidden Forest when the food appeared on the tables, distracting all the students.
By the time the dinner was over, everyone was tired, full and sleepy, so the head boys and girls led the first years to their dorms. To the three girls' excitement, Rose and the twins shared a dorm, but, despite their intentions of staying up all night to celebrate, they fell asleep as soon as they changed and got into the beds that would be theirs for the next seven years.
The following morning the girls waited for Albus to get out of bed. It was the first day of term where they actually started classes. Anna was excited, and by the looks on the other two girls faces they too seemed excited. The girls patiently paced the commonroom floor waiting for Albus, what seemed like an half hour later, the red head boy came down the stairs.
"What took you so long?" Gaby asked.
Albus groaned, and all four of them headed for the Great Hall for breakfast. Gaby, Anna and Rose looked around them, staring at pictures that seemed to move while Albus stuck behind them and slowly made his way to the Great Hall. In the Great hall there were a few students at the Gryffindor table, and the four first years walked over and sat down a few people away from James and Nicholas.
Professor McGonagall walked down the the gryffindor table with the class lists. Gaby, Anna and Rose looked at theirs, and were excited for classes to start. They turned to Albus who seemed to be sleeping at his plate, Rose gave his shoulder a shake and he popped back to "life".
"Good morning Albus, Are you with us or still in your bed?" Rose asked.
"Very funny." the boy muttered, rubbing his eyes and filling his plate, still half asleep.
"Wow, Al, that's almost a sentence." Gaby said, rather amused by his state. "What did you do, go on your very first adventure without us?"
"My dorm mates are insomniacs." Albus answered, glaring at the three girls like it was their fault he didn't get any sleep. He then concentrated on his plate and ignored Rose and Anna as they rolled their eyes, while Gaby tried her best not to laugh.
Not much later, the students started leaving the Great Hall on their way to the first classes of the school year. Albus had started to wake up by then, but he was still in a foul mood by the time they reached the cottage that belonged to the Keeper of Keys and Grounds, Hagrid.