Haylie squeezed underneath her bed, trying desperately to reach her book bag. Once she had successfully grabbed her bag, she threw it on the bed and hurried around her room. She grabbed her coat, her money, and her new fuzzy hat that felt so warm upon her head.
"Natalie! Are you almost ready?" Haylie called, slipping on her matching gloves and earmuffs. September had passed two weeks before and the halfway point of October was hurrying upon the excited school.
"Yes Haylie, I coming! Just keep your shirt on!" Natalie yelled back from the bathroom, as Haylie plopped her and her bag back down on the newly made sheets of Corinne's bed.
"Get off Hay! Geez, I've made that bed three times this morning and every time I do one of you… "Corinne yelled, making eye contact with both Haylie and Eileen, "Sit on it and mess it up!"
"Why are you so annoying?" Eileen retorted, brushing her hair gently, "We're supposed to be having a fun day today, not one filled with worry!"
"You just made no sense at all," Corinne shot back, finishing her job by placing her snowy white pillow directly upon the backboard of the bed. Eileen rolled her eyes and slammed the brush down on the wooden bureau.
"What I meant, was that you need to relax and stop worrying about being so…" Eileen struggled to find the word, "well….annoying." Corinne's venomous stare stopped Eileen from continuing with her observations. Haylie giggled and peered out the foggy window and could see the sun shining.
"Why is the sun out if the air is so cold? Haylie asked. Natalie finally emerged from the bathroom and also looked out at the sky.
"What I would like to know is, why is it so cold? It's never this chilly this early!" Natalie said, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Nothing has been normal this year," Haylie replied, hoisting her heavy bag over her shoulder, quietly groaning at the weight he had to carry.
"Alright everyone! It's finally time," Professor McGonagall yelled over the incessant chatting of the students, "We will now be journeying to Hogsmeade!" The students cheered and Corinne squealed and Haylie clapped her hands loudly, smiling at Hermione who was standing beside her.
"I must say, though, that this is the first year we are letting our 1st Years venture to Hogsmeade. Because of that I am very much concerned, so all First Years must travel with at least one witch or wizard in 3rd year or above," Professor McGonagall folded up he scroll and smiled at the crowd of excited students, "Now…it's time to go!" The crowd cheered once again and different groups were forming and entering the trains. Hermione grabbed Haylie's hand and Haylie signaled to her friends to come with them. Haylie, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Eileen, Corinne, and Natalie all jumped into one compartment just as the train began to push forward into its full speed. The trip seemed to last forever for the 1st Years, who had never experienced the joy of Hogsmeade.
"We need to go into Zonkos!" Ron ordered. Everyone agreed as they pulled up to the train station. The brakes of the old train squealed miserably and Haylie squinted her eyes in pain. They all ran off the train yelling and screaming at the tops of their lungs. Haylie laughed when she saw Snape practically being run over by a group of 2nd years, hurrying to enter the town. Snape grunted angrily and pushed a few students out of the way to enter the main security building. Haylie giggled and grabbed her sister's hand, so they wouldn't get separated. Finally, Haylie's group entered Hogsmeade and even the 6th years seemed enchanted.
"It's so…cool!" Haylie yelped, her smile as big as ever.
"Let's go into Honeydukes!" Corinne yelled, jabbing her finger in the direction of a small brick building with a sign the shape of a huge lollipop hanging from the roof. As the small group approached the store Haylie could see the lollipop sign changing colors, from blue to red to rainbow. Inside the store was even more brilliant. Thousands of various types of chocolates, candies, and lollipops lined the walls and shelves of sweets of strange shapes and colors were being torn apart by little children.
"No Brandon! That's mine!" one little girl yelped, as her twin brother snatched the sour candy ear from her fingers.
"It's mine Cora! I was born first so I get the ear," her brother yelled, stuffing the candy into his pocket. The small girl's cheeks blushed red as her eyes began to squint and her nostrils flare. Haylie pointed this out to Natalie and both of them watched the small children
"I don't want the toenail candy! It doesn't taste sour like the ear!" cried the girl, whose name was obviously Cora, shaking her head causing her black curls to whip her red face. Her brother slapped his hands on his pocket, sticking his tongue out to tease his sister. Apparently, Cora didn't feel like losing the game. Almost at once the girl mumbled two words and her brother's fingers began to smoke and turn as red as burning embers. Natalie gasped as the boy cried out for his mother. Once Brandon had let go Cora slipped her tiny hand into his front pocket and retrieved the admirable piece of candy. The jaws of all members of Haylie's group dropped.
"Thank you Brandon," Cora smiled sweetly, stuffing the sugary substance into her open mouth. Brandon then charged at her and Cora's smile disappeared. Now both children ran throughout the store, chasing each other, sending many boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans splattering on the clean wooden floor.
"You and I used to do that Hay," Hermione smiled, observing a box of laughing taffies, "Only, you didn't burn my hand with spells." They all laughed and decided to leave the store once the manager had entered and saw the mess Cora and Brandon had made.
"What happened here?" the manager screamed, causing every customer in the store to turn and freeze.
"I think we better go," Ron said, trying to push behind Harry, "Mr. Honeyduke doesn't like me very much." Corinne and Hermione both gave him confused glances.
"Why?" Corinne asked, her eyebrows furrowing. Ron gulped.
"Lets just say I ….may have almost blown up this store…in my younger years," Ron whispered, still attempting to shield himself from Mr. Honeyduke's eyes. Hermione dropped the box of laughing taffies she had held in her hands and hurriedly grabbed it from the floor as many people started to look their way.
"Ronald! How?" she hissed, shaking her head. Unfortunately, Ron didn't have a chance to explain himself. Mr. Honeyduke's head jerked from left to right, his dark brown eyes searching for the guilty culprit. Haylie saw his eyes wander to Harry and then to the top of Ron's blazing red hair, which could be seen from behind Harry's shoulder.
"Weasley!" Mr. Honeyduke roared, "What did you do?!" Ron shuddered and quickly pushed Harry out of the way and busted open the Honeydukes door.
"See you later!" Ron yelled, tripping down the steps, but quickly gathering his composure and continuing his flee.
"You come back here right now!" Mr. Honeydukes ran after him and everyone could hear the angry man screaming.
"I guess we better go save Ron," Harry exclaimed, the others following him out the door.
"Doesn't it seem like we have to save him every day?" Hermione sighed, placing the box of candies back on the shelf and proceeding to the outdoors with her friends. Haylie squinted her eyes as she stepped into the sun, which continued to shine bright down on the busy village. There was no sight of Ron or the angry Mr. Honeyduke.
"Well, Ron can take care of himself, "Hermione said, turning to the others, "after all, he gets himself out of trouble all the time." Everyone agreed and they all walked down the wide open streets slowly, so the first years could observe the qualities of the village, good and bad. Haylie was having the best time of her life. Several elder aged witches swooped down on all the girls and looped glorious silver necklaces around their throats.
"They are a new product! A wonderful product! All you have to do ladies is whisper ShowaWingardiumHogsmeade," the women chirped, taking Eileen's necklace and pushing it in her face. Haylie examined her free necklace. It was certainly beautiful and glamorous. It was a silver chain, but the links were curled and tiny engravings of the Hogsmeade town logo were etched onto each separate links. Along the chain were tiny diamonds that hung downward and surrounded a good-sized Heart piece that opened up into a locket. Haylie stared at it, awed, and suddenly saw the letter H appear on the heart.
"Wow! Look! My initial is on it! How did it do that?" Haylie asked, showing the sales-witch her necklace. Surprisingly, the witch looked astonished.
"I don't know Hun, I've never seen one of the necklaces do that before! Maybe your powers have affected it. Do you have any special magical qualities?"
"No that I know of," Haylie said, not removing her eyes from the polished silver.
"Um…may I ask if this is real silver?" Corinne questioned. The sales-witch nodded and handed Corinne a business card that said, Silver is a Witch's Best Tool.
"We are a new company! We're trying to sell our product and we were told to give out ten of these maps to promising young ladies. Please, do show your friends and tell them to come buy something! We would love to start selling right away!"
"Thank you Miss, we will surely tell our friends about these," Hermione said, putting hers around her neck. At the sound of that the sales-witch cried out in excitement.
"Oh! Thank you dears! Please just visit our store! Just for a moment and I know you will be captivated by the beauty and uses for our wonderful jewelry," the witch said, now turning to and Harry, "And for you my dear…oh my! You're Harry Potter! Can I have your autograph?" The sale-witch fished through her large purse and threw a small picture of someone at Harry.
"You have a picture of me?" Harry asked, taking one step back, giving Hermione a sideways glance.
"Please sign it! My daughter loves you! She says you're cute!"
"Oh…well, then…okay," Harry mumbled, sending a glare at the girls, who were giggling loudly, "What's her name?"
" Gwen," she wailed, almost in tears with happiness, "I'm sorry, I have just had such a bad week and it's so great to meet some nice children and to meet a celebrity! Oh…I could cry with joy!" With those words intact, she began to bawl, tears pouring from her brown eyes. Harry, at this point, tried to sign the picture as fast as he could, fearing she would suffer a heart attack. He shoved the picture back into the woman's hand.
"Thank you, oh thank you dear boy….oh, who is this?"
"Hey guys, I'm back," Ron had stepped up behind Haylie, "What's wrong with you?" Hermione stared daggers at Ron.
"What?"
"Don't be so rude!"
"Are you Ronald Weasley?" the witch asked, her tears now disappearing. Ron nodded cautiously. The sale's witch once again squealed with happiness.
"Omigoodness! I haven't seen you since you were a wee little tike!" she reached out and gave Ron a huge, overbearing hug. The group's eyes all opened wide. Ron seemed as surprised as they were and Haylie began to wonder whether the woman had flown from a mental institution.
"I am an old friend of your fathers! We used to date during our time in Hogwarts," the witch's smile faltered and she let go, "Before Molly came." Ron now seemed to be scared and Hermione and Haylie both stepped in.
"Alright…well," Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and pulled him away from the slightly spiffed witch, "I think we should all head over to the store, right?"
"Yeah!" Haylie jumped in, feeling worried for their safety. The sales-witch now smiled.
"That's a great idea!" she pointed at the building that stood behind her. Every person in the group flashed the woman a smile and started to run to the store. Once they found the safety of the store, they all began to laugh.
"That woman had either one too many Butterbeers or she has too many screws loose in the noggin," Ron laughed. They all finished their giggles and peered around the room. They were almost blinded from the glittery walls and merchandise that filled the room. Many people were already shopping around the store, and more seemed to enter every minute. Haylie smiled and clutched her necklace in her hands. Now this is the life, she thought smiling even more brightly than the jewelry.