Chapter 8

"You will write to us at least once a week?"

"I'll write every day mum I promise."

"Don't do that you'll wear out Rodney." Jack chuckled and the owl in it's cage seemed to agree with him as it hooted.

The Edwards family pushed a Kings Cross trolley along the polished floor towards platform nine and ten. It drew the occasional glance by porters and passengers due to the large old-fashioned steamer trunk and more strangely the tawny owl in a cage resting on top.

They stopped at the barrier and Cat turned to look at her parents. "Well mfmm…" she attempted before being crushed in a hug by her mum who had changed her mind.

"Nope this is silly, you're not going." She continued to crush her daughter in a tight hug. Jack eventually stepped forward and gently removed his wife's arms from his daughter. He then replaced hers with his own all though without trying to squeeze the life out of her. After a few moments he pulled back and with hands on her shoulders said "I love you Cat, we both love you so much. It's fine to miss us but it will feel like you've been there a week and it'll be Christmas and we'll see you again. Be good, work hard, wash behind your ears and all that…"

"And have fun." Audrey managed to hiccup out as she sobbed and clung to Jack.

"I love you Mum, Dad. I'll see you soon." Cat pulled them both into a hug trying to hide the tears in her eyes at their parting. After what felt like far too short a time they released each other and with one look back, Cat turned and pushed the trolley towards the barrier. She sped up to a run and shut her eyes tightly as she approached the barrier. And then there was a rushing and there was light behind her eyelids and sounds of laughing and chatter and the trundling of trolleys and she opened her eyes. A scarlet steam train greeted her, with the words Hogwarts Express in gold along its side below the now familiar coat of arms showing the lion, eagle, badger and snake. It was beautiful and strange and her mind did not at first believe what her eyes told her. She turned round to see nothing but blank brick wall and a sign saying exit keep clear.

"Bye Mum, Dad." Cat whispered. She touched her face and found her finger wet with tears, no I want this, I want to learn magic and find out who I am. Slowly she managed to get a hold of herself and again looked down the platform, This proved to be a mistake as all she could see was parents hugging children, they were strangely dressed true but they were saying goodbye to their families and she nearly started crying all over again as the thought of not seeing her parents for months came flooding back.

"Are you alright dear?"

Cat turned slowly towards the speaker. It felt like her mind was swimming up from deep water, as she slowly was able to focus. A hand touched her shoulder, somewhat hesitantly and gave her a gentle touch.

"Don't worry dear; you'll see them again before you know it. And you'll have so much fun you wont remember to miss them." The speaker produced a handkerchief from the end of her wand and wiped Cat's eyes. Oh I did start crying again. What is wrong with me today? I just can't stop blubbering.

"What's your name dear?" The old woman who Cat could now see for one, wore a deep emerald set of robes and a matching witches hat, with what looked like a raven perched on the brim. In one hand she held a green leather handbag and in the other she had a hand resting on the shoulders of a boy.
"Catherine Edwards." She managed to sniff after a few seconds.

"A pleasure miss Edwards, I am Mrs Longbottom and this is my grandson Neville." She turned to the somewhat portly boy next to her and scolded him. "Neville say hello, boy." Neville immediately hurried forward nearly tripping over his trunk in the action and offered his hands. "Hello Catherine."

Feeling a little better and resisting the urge to giggle, Catherine gave a small, watery smile and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you Neville." Neville gave a hesitant smile in return to the pretty girl in front of him.

Cat saw the older Longbottom whip out an ornate gold pocket watch and with a raised silver eyebrow under a monocle check the time. "Well it's five to eleven, so I shall take my leave of you Neville, remember to be a gentleman and find miss Edwards a seat on the train." She turned to the small blonde girl before her with the startling violet eyes. "A pleasure to meet you miss Edwards." With that she turned on her heel and disappeared with a crack. Catherine literally jumped backwards, she was so startled and promptly fell over her own trunk. Rodney hooted at her angrily and shuffled his wings as his cage was bashed by the falling trunk.
"Sorry Rod." She said standing up again and dusting off her jeans.
"I like your owl. My gran wouldn't let me have one because uncle Algie got me a toad for Christmas." He picked up a small cage with his trunk and waited for something. "Well shall we find a compartment?" He asked after a few seconds of Cat staring at him blankly.

"Oh right, ok." She followed Neville through the crowd, with many apologies and an amount of angry hooting from Rodney, she managed to avoid any serious injury or maiming to other people on the platform. She struggled to get her trunk up onto the train. It was damn heavy and she nearly lost her balance every time she tried to step up onto the train while dragging it.

"Here let me get that." She looked up into the grey eyes of a handsome boy with ruffled dark brown hair. Cat decided that his already chiselled features and strong jaw line made him look nice He smiled and grabbed her trunk. "You have to let go, I can't lift it and you at the same time." The boy said with a grin.
"Oh right thanks." Cat blushed and released the handle. She realised she was staring at him and hurriedly looked away and stepped past him onto the train. He chuckled and hefted her trunk.
"Just a sec dad." The older boy called back to a bespectacled man in tweed robes and a deer stalker. Wizard's really do dress strangely. Cat chuckled to herself remembering the stuffed bird on Neville's Gram's hat. Neville led them into an empty compartment, and the older boy heaved both of their trunks onto the luggage rack. He smiled and shrugged off their thanks before excusing himself to say goodbye to his parents and go find his friends. He wished them luck for the sorting and laughed at their blank expressions. "You'll see when you get there. Nice to meet you guys." He gave a winning smile to Cat who again felt heat rise to her face and ducked out of the compartment. Neville stood on the seat and busied himself with his trunk in the rack. Cat sat down and began idly watching the people outside while twirling her wand in her hand. She saw a blonde haired boy in a pin stripe suit with his equally blonde elegantly robed mother send a red spark from his wand at a black boy in a similar blazer who dodged and fired one back. "Neville can we do magic here?" Cat asked turning back to the boy across from her who had gotten a large book out.
"Yes, this is a place like Diagon Alley where you can do magic because it's impossible for muggles to see you do it."

Cat got excited, she had been told by McGonagall that she wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school and she was itching to have a go at some of the spells she'd read about in the standard book of spells grade one. Cat would begrudgingly admit that while she was smart she didn't work as hard as she should, and had somewhat surprised her parents over the past few weeks by both reading and taking notes on her text books. Her reasoning had been that the other students who had wizarding parents would have an advantage on her and she was already behind. She assumed that Neville would know lots of magic and she really hoped it was easy to do and that she didn't embarrass herself. She lovingly stroked her wand admiring the intricate patterns in the wood before plucking up the courage to try.

"Lumos", she said holding her wand out in front of her like a tiny sword. She beamed as the end of her wand lit up brightly like a small lightbulb on the tip had been turned on. "Nox." When she finished the charm she felt a slight tug in her mind not dissimilar to, in a strange way, as if she had been standing and the relief upon sitting down. Or like holding something heavy and putting it down. She tried a different spell taking more care this time to point it away from Neville who was watching her intently. "Vermillious" she incanted thrusting her wand with a slight twirl as the book had said. This time she felt the slight tug in her mind as a stream of scarlet sparks flew out of her wand at the floor. Once again she felt a slight relief as she ended the flow of magic.

"Wow." She looked at Neville who was fingering his own unornamented wand. "You're really good."

"What?"

"I can barely do a Lumos, I thought you were a muggleborn?"

"Um I am-"

"Excuse me do you mind if I sit here?" The compartment door opened to reveal another girl who looked to be in first year. She had long bushy brown hair down past her shoulders and large brown eyes, she had a trunk on the ground and a small pile of books under her arm. She had already put on her black Hogwarts robe but was still clearly wearing jeans and a blue jumper underneath.

"Sure…" Cat looked to Neville to see if he minded and he nodded with a shy smile.

"Hello I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" She walked into the compartment and stuck out her hand to both Cat and Neville.

"Cat, and this is Neville". Cat smiled really hoping she made a friend, she wasn't sure if the shy boy liked her or not.

"Cat? Is that short for Catherine?" Hermione furrowed her brow and crinkled her nose seeming annoyed that someone might be named after an animal.

"Yeah, but my friends call me Cat." She replied with what she hoped was an open smile. Hermione smiled back timidly and asked for their help getting her trunk on to the shelf.

"I like your owl…Cat." She said admiring the tawny bird with the big amber eyes. "What's its name?"

"Rodney, do you guys mind if I let him out he's getting irritable about being shut in his cage." Rodney seemed almost as taken with Hermione as he had in the shop with Catherine. He looked haughtily about as he enjoyed the attention of Hermione's careful attention to his feathers. It was after all his right in life that people would lavish attention on his plumage. Hermione giggled at the owl's imperious attitude as it perched on top of Cat's knee.

"So which house do you guys think you'll be in, I personally hope I'm in Gryffindor as it seems the most noble house, and historically it has had the largest number of Muggleborn's so I should hopefully fit in there. Ravenclaw would also be good as they have a reputation for being the most academic which I suppose will look good to future employers. I suppose Hufflepuff would be alright but I still think I'd be disappointed to be placed there." Cat listened to the girl with wide eyes and worried that she hadn't given any thought to future employment the test to place you in your house now seemed a far more scary thought with the possibility that it could affect here entire future.

"My mum was a Gryffindor as was most of my family apart from me dad. He was a Ravenclaw first in about a hundred years for my family. My Gran was convinced I wasn't going to get into Hogwarts, she thought I was a squib as I didn't do any magic until my great uncle Algie dropped me out of a window to get me to do magic."

"He dropped you out of a window?!" Cat gasped. Hermione mirrored her horrified expression.

"He didn't mean to but it was fine cos I just bounced down the garden path. They were so happy I was a wizard he bought me Trevor." Cat raised an eyebrow and shared a concerned look with the brown-haired girl to her left. He dropped him out of a window and bought him a toad to congratulate him on being a wizard. These people are really quite strange.

While she was pondering the quirks of this new world the train gave a long whistle and began to move off.

"Oh isn't it fascinating that in 1848… or was it 1849? Anyway in the 19th Century to get around the problem of transporting hundreds of students without muggles seeing the ministry, under Ottaline Gambol bought a steam train." Cat tuned out of Hermione's impromptu lecture a little as she gazed out of the window, idly stroking Rodney's feathers. They passed out of London quite quickly she thought and were soon speeding between hedgerows on what appeared to be a perfectly normal train track complete with tunnels, signal boxes and graffiti. "The ministry of magic had to use one hundred and sixty-seven memory charms…" Cat focused again on the girl next to her, she was talking at a hundred miles a minute. How does she know all this stuff she said she was a muggleborn? I knew it I'm going to be so behind. Neville might not be very good but at least he knows all this stuff. She looked at Neville who seemed enthralled by the lecture, or at Hermione's seemingly endless knowledge about the Hogwarts Express. Glancing around the compartment Cat noticed the tank which Neville had placed on the seat next to him and had originally held Trevor, the brown toad, was now conspicuously empty.

"Neville." Cat interrupted Hermione who was now moving topic to magical transport in general and was musing on the merits of portkeys as opposed to apparition, whatever those were. "Where's Trevor?" The boy panicked and immediately began rooting around on the floor crawling around until he reached the compartment door which everyone now realised was open a little over four inches or so. Hermione looked a little perturbed at being stopped mid-flow but the thought of a toad crawling around her with its slime and its webbed feet, and she was standing on the cushion looking around wildly before she realised what was happening.

"Oh no! I've lost him." Neville looked absolutely devastated at the loss of his pet, Cat looked at Hermione who looked embarrassed at being up on the seat. Cat if she was honest hoped they didn't find the amphibian but she liked Neville.

"Don't worry Neville we know he's on the train and he can't open doors so he must be on the carriage and probably just in the hallway," Cat said this, attempting to reassure Neville, as she stepped out and realised the problem. All the compartment doors were open with students, many already in their robes, milling around and talking to friends. I bet you ten pounds, or galleons that Trevor has been squished.

"She's right you know Neville, we'll find him, Cat you go left and ask in the compartments, I'll go right. Neville you stay here and save our seats." Hermione issued instructions and bustled off down the carriage. Neville glanced at Cat and she just shrugged before doing as Hermione had told her. She stepped out of the carriage and walked down it carefully placing her feet, at any moment expecting a crunch or squelch as her feet touch the floor. A group of older students stopped talking and watched the small pretty blonde girl in the muggle clothing, stepping exaggeratedly carefully while peering at the floor and occasionally whispering 'Trevor'. Fred and George Weasley and their friend and comrade in mischief Lee Jordan looked at each other as she passed before copying her, stepping and staring at the floor while whispering Trevor, louder and louder as she walked down the carriage. Other people watched as the Weasley twins copied the little first year's strange antics and began to laugh at the strange spectacle. With the amount of attention their mimicry received it wasn't long before Cat realised that people were laughing at her. Her cheeks burned and she whirled round to see three older boys all whirl round and copy her posture staring down the carriage in the way she was. The audience burst into laughter at the sight. The boys felt bad immediately when they turned to see Cat burst into tears and run, silently sobbing, past them down the carriage to her compartment. She raced into it and slammed the door before slipping down the door to bury her head in her hands in embarrassment and despair. She'd only just got here and already people were making fun of her, no one would want to be her friend now that she was the weird girl who talked to the carpet.

"What is that smell?" A high humorless drawl came from above her head. A shoe jabbed her harshly in the side as she sat slumped on the floor. She turned to see it and shuffle away from the black, leather. Her eyes trailed up the black pinstriped trouser to a set of robes cut like a suit to a sneering face. It was the blonde boy from the platform who had used magic. As she looked at him he smirked at her in a way which made her feel even smaller.

"Dirty blood, I suspect Dray." A girl to his left with dark hair and eyes and bored expression, "don't get to close you might catch something." She said before turning to Cat. "What are you waiting for get out. Your kind are not welcome here mudblood."

"Mudblood?" Cat stood shakily and stared at the occupants of the room.

"Muggleborn." The black boy from the train didn't look up from a magazine to answer her question. Two large boys, easily a head taller than Cat who was tall for her age, stood up and moved towards her menacingly, flanking the blonde boy.

"Get out mudblood, as I said your kind are not welcome, honestly it's a disgrace that they even let you people into the school." Frankly quite frightened by now Cat pulled the sliding door open behind her and practically ran out to escape the unfriendly words and hostile boys.

Cat walked down the carriage not seeing her compartment and began to seriously wonder what she'd let herself in for in coming here, the only students she'd met had either made fun of her or been scary. She hadn't actually stopped crying from the humiliation she had received in front of the entire carriage, and then those horrible people in the compartment she'd gone into by mistake. After wiping away the tears she glanced into each compartment until she spotted hers on the second trip down the corridor. She hadn't immediately noticed it because where they had left it empty it now had the two red-head boys and their friend the black boy with dread locks sitting talking to Neville. She looked longingly at her trunk and Rodney perched on Neville's knee but there was no way she was going to go back in there to be subjected to further humiliation, she was too emotionally exhausted already. Why can't I find anyone who's nice?

"Cat have you found it?" She turned to see Hermione looking at her quizzically, taking in her tear-stained face and lack of amphibian quarry. "What happened to you?" Cat angrily brushed the tears away from her eyes and grumbled out "nothing." She was damned if she was going to cry again in front of this superior girl who had already made her feel insecure and stupid this journey. She stalked past Hermione and into the nearest compartment with free seats. It was occupied already but she didn't care as she sat down in a huff. She hadn't even looked up to see whose privacy she had invaded before Hermione followed her into the cabin.

"Has anyone seen a toad, a boy named Neville's lost one, and my friend here has decided that she doesn't care if it's found or not." Hermione looked down her nose disdainfully at Catherine before turning to look at the two occupants of the compartment. A gangly boy with scruffy clothes and bright red hair was holding a wand aloft above a contentedly snacking rat. Across from him was a shorter boy with messy black hair, and large green eyes, magnified by a pair of glasses held together at the bridge by sticky tape. Hermione immediately forgot what she had come in for at the thought of a magical demonstration. Cat surreptitiously glanced up through the curtain of her hair and observed the trio. She recognised the redhead as the rude boy in Madame Malkin's shop in Diagon Alley. His name was Tod or John or Ron or something like that. He had a patch of dirt on his nose and his freckles were marching down what wasn't covered in the dirt and had invaded his cheeks and forehead. He was glancing at the dark-haired boy with a confused look. Ron found Hermione's forwardness in barging in and demanding to see magic, very unnerving, the blonde girl who was huddled over in the corner was an even stranger creature to the youngest Weasley male. She had run in apparently crying and all but hidden herself without saying anything since. He supposed there was some sort of comfort that you were supposed to follow when dealing with crying girls but couldn't think what to do before he and his new friend were interrupted by the precocious brunette at the door. Who did she think she was making demands of him to do magic which he had only wanted to show Harry Potter. He did however recite a scrap of doggerel while flicking his wand at Scabbers. Nothing happened as he had expected. It wouldn't be the first time his brothers told him a fake spell.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" Cat could hear the disdain in Hermione's voice and smiled to herself as the bossy girl began demonstrating some of the spells from their charms text-book.

"Holy cricket, you're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" Cat decided that Hermione was a poor actor, while she had not attempted to hide her excitement at meeting Harry Potter, whoever that was, she completely failed to hide her uninterested in making Ron's acquaintance. She stood abruptly and announced that they should change into their robes, She turned to Cat and in the same bossy tone asked: "Are you coming or not?"

Cat stood somewhat reluctantly, but she did have to get changed and going with Hermione did she have to admit, beat moping with two strangers. Cat was quite glad that Hermione didn't bring up the state she had found her in, or why she was so worked up. The pregnant silence in the compartment as they changed into their school uniform and robes was still awkward and neither girl really knew how to break it, If either girl had known what the other really thought of each other they would probably have been friends a lot sooner. Cat was lonely and terrified that her loneliness would only continue when they reached Hogwarts. The thought that the Weasley's mimicry of her was only a bit of fun teasing and wasn't mean maliciously never crossed her mind. She hadn't had an easy social life in school, apart from Simon, she'd had very few friends. Most people thought she was weird for some intangible quality. She'd found this incredibly frustrating as she couldn't think what to change to make people like her. Now Hermione was ignoring her and probably couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts to meet other people and make other friends. Cat sat down with a thump, angry that no one wanted to be her friend. Cat wasn't the only one dealing with insecurities. Hermione was watching her out of the corner of her eye thinking almost exactly the same things. She noticed that Cat hadn't listened to her when she was talking about the train and she chided herself for as usual running her mouth when she was nervous. Cat had clearly found her annoying and a know-it-all just like all the girls at her old school had. Hermione really wanted to be Cat's friend. She'd been really nice to Neville. She was confused by Cat being in tears when she found her after looking for the toad, Hermione didn't know what to do really. She hadn't cried a lot as a child, instead finding solace and self-soothing in other worlds contained in writing. Here and now confronted by someone she hoped to befriend she had no idea how to comfort her without seeming to forward and overstepping what she perceived were the parameters of their relationship. So it was that as the carriage which had slowed down, jolted to a stop at Hogsmeade station, the two girls and Neville who had returned (without Trevor) helped each other with their trunks and stepped out into the twilight. Cat followed the others as if in a daze, barely registering the slight tug on her arm, from Hermione leading her off with some other students away from the main crowd. The sound of Hagrid, failed to penetrate her all-consuming thoughts. She was too busy reviewing how she had made a fool of herself and ruined any chance of friends to take in the half-giant's instructions to the other first years and merely allowed herself to be led along in the crowd towards her future, A future which had only this morning seemed so bright and filled with promise, but now was tainted with the certainty that it would be a lonely future. Hermione felt rather than observed Cat's lethargy and guided the girl into a small boat, with a red-head with a round face, who introduced herself as Susan. Hermione nudged Cat as she failed to respond to Hagrid who was taking a register. Cat came back to reality somewhat after that and watched like the others in fascination as the boats drifted forward without visible propulsion and sailed in a v formation across the still dark waters. Like a flock of swallows through the night sky, the boats glided across the black lake, the reflection from each boat's lantern casting strange distorted reflections and shadows across the faces in the boats. Cat was so absorbed in observing the dancing shadows on her fellow passengers she didn't hear the gasps and exclamations from the front boats but when Hermione and Susan gasped next to her she looked up to see what had taken their breath away. The boats had rounded a small hill and there it was before them, lit against the mountains behind it, golden light pinpricked through hundreds of windows, its towers clipping the base of the moon. Cat saw her first glimpse of Hogwarts and she too, as every student had done before her in a thousand years, gasped.

Ok here it is they're at Hogwarts, stay tuned for sorting, drama and a shadow on the horizon. Please review. Your servant Marmite and Jelly, over and out.