I took a deep breath, and sunk down into my seat. "Ace?"
Ace looked up. "What is it?" Despite his personality, Ace still looked like a Slytherin. He had shaggy blonde hair that curled around his ears, and green eyes that looked intimidating and ready to roll at any given moment. He usually had a bored expression on his face when not talking. He ws quite pale, and about six inches taller than me, which was really irritating.
"What are most Slytherin's like?" I knew this question would earn me "the face", but this time it didn't. He merely shook his head and gave the classic Slytherin eye roll. Ace and I were the only two sitting in this compartment so far, but soon, a girl with mid-length brown hair and a very hyper attitude bounced in.
"Hi," She smiled, and you could basically see the mischievousness running through her veins. "I'm Logan Hughes! Can I sit here?"
I heard Ace mutter something about 'As long as you don't get us kicked off,' so I turned and patted the seat next to me. "Sure! I'm Riley Jennings. I'm going to be in my 1st year."
Logan sat, shivering with energy. "Me too! Maybe we'll get sorted into the same house! Erm... Who's that?" She tilted her head, and gave a questioning glance toward Ace, who had previously ignored her.
"Oh, that's Ace. He's in Slytherin, 2nd year!''
Logan looked briefly shocked. "Slytherin? But my dad said Slytherin's were goblin bogey eaters!" I couldn't help bursting at her comment.
Ace, as predicted, shot her and myself a look. "Not all Slytherin's are like that, you know."
I bowed my head in the way that oh-so-many times had gotten me out of trouble with Ace. "I know Ace. I'm sorry." He stuck his tongue out at me, and smiled as a girl with curly brown hair knocked on the door of the compartment. She was pretty, with bright blue eyes and jeans and a Coldplay t-shirt under her robes, which she was already wearing. They displayed the Slytherin logo, so I assumed she was one of Ace's friends.
"'Ay I come in?" She spoke with a Scottish accent, something Ace seemed to find funny, for he smiled even wider.
"Hey. Riley, this is my friend Isla. She's in Slytherin with me. Isla, this is Riley, one of my best friends, and Logan... whom I just met," He nodded awkwardly, and sunk back into his seat.
"'Ello!" Logan waved. "I'm practicing my British accent! How am I doing?"
Isla laughed. "Really well, only you're a wee bit off. Sounds more Australian."
I, however, was choking on laughter in my seat. "Nice to meet you Isla." I managed to choke out, though it was stifled by hysterical giggles. Yet again, two more people stood by the edge of our door. Half of the compartment was taken up, four seats left. This time, the people standing by the doors looked to be about the same in age. One was a girl, holding a long wand, cherry-wood, it was beautiful. The girl had sandy blonde hair, and blue eyes that shifted in the sunlight. When the sun hit them, they turned an amazing shade of gray. She smiled, and took a step inside.
"Hello," She said, looking a bit nervous. "I'm Aislan. Would you mind if my brother and I sat here? The seats are really starting to fill up." She blushed, and stepped back outside the glass window separating us from the aisle.
Isla sat up straighter. "Hello Aislan! I remember you, you were in my boat last year, when we were heading to the castle the first day!" Aislan smiled, obviously glad she was recognized.
Then I noticed her brother. He had really fluffy blonde hair, and marvelous green eyes. He was covered in freckles.. he had the same look Logan had. Ready to prank you as soon as the chance was given. He stepped in casually, and sat down, even though he wasn't invited yet. "I'm Pierre." He said, sitting in the corner closest to the isle-window, with a wide grin.
"Riley..." I said, trailing off. Something about him made me feel like I was about to be tricked. Or robbed. Or shot with paintball. Either way, I felt the need to hide my valuables. "And this is Ace, Logan, and Isla." I pointed to each person in turn. They all waved, and Aislan breathed a sigh of relief and sat down.
"So," Aislan began, "What houses are you all in?"
Ace, who had been busy staring out the window with his bored Slytherin expression, turned his head sideways to look at her. "Isla and I are in Slytherin." Isla nodded.
Logan spoke up, since she hadn't in a while. "We're first years! I hope I'm in Gryffindor.. I hear that's where all the best pranks go down!" she winked.
Pierre laughed. "If that's true, I hope I'm a Gryffindor too."
I shook my head. "I don't know... Maybe Ravenclaw would be nice.. you wouldn't ever be suspected of pranks."
Logan apparently recognized this a spark of genius. "That's an amazing idea... maybe I can beg the sorting hat..."
Suddenly the train slammed to a halt. The air began to grow colder... I shivered, and huddled close to the window. "Ace? Isla? Aislan? Does this always happen?" I said, not really scared, but more surprised.
Ace gave an apologetic smile. "Yeah... I forgot to mention that. They send the Demontors through the train now, to detect anything that shouldn't be here. Which is weird.. considering there's no threat now, thanks to Harry Potter."
Isla touched her hand lightly to the glass which was beginning to freeze over. "'Atch out for Brutus, though. The older kids nick-named 'im that. 'E's the worst of the Demontors... uncontrollable."
Aislan shivered and nodded. "He goes after the ones with the worst pasts... he came after a boy I was sitting with last year. He was rendered incapable of fighting back... he passed out. I don't know why they just send Brutus back to Azkaban."
A bony hand cloaked in silky material opened our door. He looked in, with no face. Then he turned, and kept floating forward. A dozen other Demontors passed, before the last one floated in. He stopped particularly in our compartment. His hood-covered face turned to look at Pierre who shoved himself in a corner, up against the frozen window. Aislan squeezed herself next to him, whimpering quietly. His eyes scanned Isla next, who didn't look very scared, only annoyed. She stared back until he turned to stare at Logan and I. Logan pressed herself against my shoulder, holding my arm in a death grip. I felt his stare slide over me, freezing, like ice. His cloaked figure finally came to a rest on Ace. Ace, being his onry and daring self, stared directly back. I saw a mist, like a glimmering fabric appear between them. I heard screaming from other cabins, the loudest screeching, 'Brutus has gotten the Slytherin!'
Ace seemed pained. He screamed in agony, yet half of us could only watch. We couldn't very well do anything anyways, we didn't know any spells. Ace had sunken low in the seat by now, his face contorted in pain. He screamed more, and Aislan slipped out of the door behind the Demontor, unnoticed. Isla had decided she had had enough.
She pulled her wand from her robes, and bellowed a spell, at the top of her lungs. "FORMET!" Suddenly, a sparking blue force field circled the Demontor, and he was flung out into the aisle. It simply floated back up, but instead of returning to us, continued down the hall. I jumped to my feet, and stood over Ace. His feet were strung in between mine, since he had been sitting across from me.
"Ace?" I asked, rubbing my arm from where Logan's fingernails had left crescent marks. I flicked one of his curls off his forehead, and noticed he was passed out. Isla busied herself pulling him back into the seat, and Logan began eating candy as if nothing had happened. At this point, Aislan reappeared with an older student. I faintly recognized him.
He bent over Ace, than spoke in a heavy British accent. "Teddy Lupin. I see your friend got attacked by Brutus." I nodded mutely, and watched as Aislan sat back down next to Pierre. Isla tugged on a strand of her hair, and Logan continued eating her candy. "Well... My dad always said chocolate had good healing power." He produced a small chocolate bar from his pocket and handed it to me. "Make him eat it when he comes to." He nodded, and turned promptly on his heel and left. I held the chocolate in my hands and stared at Ace.
"Did this happen to him last year too?"
"No, last 'ear he was fine. I sat with 'im on the train. It floated straight past, after giving us a look." At this point, a bellowing voice was heard calling down the train.
"SECOND YEARS! THIS WAY, THIS WAY!" Isla sighed, and grabbed her bag.
"Listen. Lass, if you need anything, come talk to me, okay?"
"Okay.." I said quietly, still stunned from the earlier events.
Aislan gave Pierre a quick hug, and gathered her things. "Nice to meet all of you, now I really must be going. Good luck to all of you!" She then followed Isla, slipping quietly down the hall.
"What a Ravenclaw." Pierre said, laughing at his own sister. Logan gave him a look, popping a tan-colored bean into her mouth.
"Ew! Earwax!" She squealed, her face puckering. "It tastes like troll butt!"
"And you would know that how?" Pierre said, raising an eyebrow and grinning.
"Shut up." She said, whacking him lightly and rolling her eyes. Ace sat up, and blinked.
"Ugh. What happened?" He looked really tired, and paler than normal, which is to say, paler than a vampire.
"The Demontor... Brutus... he did something," I said, passing him the chocolate bar. "Teddy Lupin said to eat it. They called second years already."
Ace's eyes widened. "I'm going to be late!" He stuffed the bar into his mouth and grabbed his bag. "Good luck to all of you!" He stumbled out the door, just as the same bellowing voice called for first years.
"I guess it's our turn now," Logan said, carefully stowing her candy in her pocket. All three of us grabbed our bags, and stepped out to find all the other years had been called and we hadn't noticed. Now it was just the first years. There was a lady standing at the door of the train. She had long shiny brown hair, tied up in a bun. She had warm brown eyes, and fair skin. She was helping each student down the stairs onto the landing.
"Hello, I'm Professor Callahan. I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts." She took my arm, and guided me down the steps. I waited for Pierre and Logan. Pierre ignored the Professor, and jumped off the train, grinning. Logan tripped while going down the stairs.
"Ah!" She yelled, as she almost fell on her face, but was saved by a quick, expert flick of Professor Callahan's wand.
"Careful there," She said, smiling. "Don't want to get hurt on your first day!" Logan nodded, and scrambled over to Pierre and I.
"I wasn't going to fall," She protested, but it was all to obvious she was.
Professor Callahan was now standing in front of a long dock, where boats were tied. "Three to a boat, this is how we'll head to the castle today."
I quickly grabbed hold of Logan and Pierre's arm's. "Guys? I'm terrified of water."
Logan's eyes widened, which scared me. "Come on!" She then proceeded to shove me into a boat. Pierre followed.
I moaned. "Why water?" I refused to look at it, and picked fuzz off my clothes.
"What if," Pierre paused, thinking, "I pushed you out?"
My chest tightened, and my lungs seemed to receive less air. "Don't. I would die." He stuck his tongue out at me. In those few terrifying moments, we had managed to row all the way to the castle. I practically jumped onto the land. "I'm free!" I yelled, and grabbed Logan's candy.
"Hey!" She yelled, and ripped the bag out of my hands. "Not my every flavor beans!"
I grabbed a handful, and marched after Professor Callahan. She pulled open the large oak doors, and gracefully mastered the steps. "On your way up, mind the staircases. They change." Somehow, Pierre, Logan, and I floated to the back of the crowd. It was probably because Logan felt the need to ask every portrait if they had seen any pelican-eating gnomes. I don't have a clue where that came from.
Soon, we reached the top of about twenty-four staircases. Professor Callahan began talking, but I couldn't hear her. I pulled myself up onto the banister, to see if I could hear better. "Once you go inside, you will be sorted into a house. You will sit with and live with those in your house, so please try and get along. You cannot change what the hat says. Once you are called, you will sit on a stool in front of the entire school. The hat will determine what house you belong in, and you will sit at that table. May luck be with you." She led us inside to the single largest and most extravagant room I'd ever seen. The ceiling was decorated with stars, and four flags hung over the four tables.
We stood in the middle of the room, and walked to the table where the teachers sat. Professor Callahan produced a scroll, and started calling names. I wasn't listening, until I heard my name called. "Riley Jennings!" My name echoed through the room. I pushed my way through the crowd, and sat on the stool, my face bright red.
A hat with a face was placed on my head. It had a purple-blue worn look to it. I closed my eyes as it muttered. "Kind and mischievous... drawn to trouble... brave and smart, yet cunning and capable of extreme deceit..." I hoped no one heard what it was saying about me... even though it was mostly good, what it said about me, it also highlighted my ability to lie undetected. "Better be... GRYFFINDOR!" I opened my eyes, and my face broke into a grin. I half ran, half bounced over to the Gryffindor table.
A couple other names stuck out to me. Albus Potter, Rose Weasley, and Scorpius Malfoy. They were obviously the children of some of the greatest heroes alive! They were sorted into their respective houses. Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor. There was a disturbing tension as Harry Potter's son was sorted into Slytherin. And Draco Malfoy's son... a Gryffindor? Could they have gotten mixed up? Scorpius slid into the bench across from me.
I looked back over to Pierre and Logan, who were still waiting. Logan's name was called next.
"Logan Hughes!" Logan seemed unable to wipe the smile off her face, for she hopped straight up onto the stool and kept smiling as the hat muttered. Eventually, the hat yelled a house. "HUFFLEPUFF!" Logan still smiled wide, and waved at me as she bounced to her table. I waited for Pierre's name to be called.
"Pierre Sloane!" Pierre's fluffy hair bounced as he jumped onto the stool. He looked confused for a moment as the hat muttered, then mad, then pleased. "SLYTHERIN!" He practically flew over to his table, and sat next to Ace and Isla.
Soon, all the first years had been sorted, and the headmaster, Professor McGonagall, began her speech.
"Hello my new pupils. Welcome, to Hogwarts!" She smiled, and flicked her wand, changing the enchantment on the ceiling. "I hope you all will find family within your new houses. Please, if you are having a problem, speak to your house leaders. Merci Molloy, Hufflepuff house leader. Lyric Erben, Ravenclaw house leader. Chloƫ Duncan, Gryffindor house leader. Walter Lynch, Slytherin house leader. Our other teachers are: Laura Winter, Transfiguration. Ross Sholl, Charms. Maia Callahan, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Filius Flitwick, History. Severus Snape, Potions. Neville Longbottom, Herbology. Hayley Walls, Care of Magical Creatures. Peyton Ross, astronomy. Travis McGee, Divination. Phineas Peters, Muggle Studies. Our last teacher, Sylvia Freeman, Ancient Runes. Let this be a magical yet educational year. I look forward to getting to know all of you. You'll be showed to your dormatories now."
The rest of the night went quickly. I didn't get to see Ace, Logan, Pierre, Aislan, or Isla for the rest of the night. I didn't even get a chance to meet my roommates, as soon as I got my bed and trunk, I collapsed onto the bed after putting my stuff and the trunk, and closed my eyes after a long day.
SUPER long for me! Still accepting characters, will be updated again Wednesday. Hey, can anyone tell me what passive voice is, or how to fix it? It keeps popping up... I have no clue what to do about it. I would really appreciate the help!
-Gwen
