Feedback is always welcomed, for encouragement for me to continue and for constructive criticism so I can improve :)
I forget to mention in my first chapter, many of the characters and the world this takes place in belongs to Ms Rowling. I'm merely playing in it :)
It had seemed like no time at all when the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station. I collected my things and followed Lucia, Avery and Ruby out of our compartment and off the train. I still get excited when I reach Hogwarts. Even the carriage ride there is incredible, sitting in the horseless carriages being brought up past the picturesque village of Hogsmeade, through the huge gates flanked by winged boars, past the Forbidden Forest that seemed to lurk in the shadows now that the sun was setting, past the Quidditch Pitch where I spend a majority of my time here, and finally to the enormous castle. The castle stood tall on the edge of a cliff, the sparkling Scottish loch below is unseen from here. The castle had numerous towers and seemed to stretch on forever. One time in my first year Avery and I got lost and spent the entire night wandering the castle without seeing anything familiar. While we are much better at getting around the castle, occasionally I'll walk down a corridor and realise I have no idea where I am.
The carriages pulled to a stop outside the front doors to the castle and we all piled out and headed in towards the Great Hall. I spotted Sirius out of the corner of my eye. I blushed and hoped to Merlin I was looking presentable. I tugged at my skirt to make sure it wasn't riding up and rolled the sleeves of my jumper down. We had changed into our school uniforms on the train about an hour ago, not bothering with our cloaks. No one does anymore. As I entered the Great Hall my thoughts left Sirius and I was in awe yet again. Nothing had changed in the five years I've been here but I still love every bit of Hogwarts, the Great Hall being a favourite. The house tables stretched out towards the head table down the end where all the teachers were sat. There was one new face sitting at the table, probably the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. We had had a new one every year so far, it was as if the position was cursed or something. Candles hung in the air above the tables and the enchanted roof showed the now beautiful night sky. Portraits of men and women in old fashion clothing lined the hall; they all smiled down on us.
I waved goodbye to my friends as I made my way to the Hufflepuff table, which was starting to get crowded. I spotted Gwen well before I found the others.
"Gwen" I called out, grinning. She turned around and grinned back.
"Hey Charlotte" she replied, scooting over so I could sit between her and a seventh year boy.
"How has your summer been?" I asked as I settled in.
"Pretty good actually" Gwen started. When you got Gwen started on something it was impossible to stop her. "I didn't go anywhere or anything but my brothers and I hung out a lot which is nice, I don't get to hang out with them much anymore. Not now that Dave lives in London. I went down to London a few times actually, and I stayed with him. That was great, do you know how good the shopping is in London? And the sights, I just love walking around and being a part of the city. I'm so glad my mum is a muggle, I couldn't stand not being comfortable around muggles. I mean, imagine not going to the museums when you're in London purely because you didn't know anything about muggles!"
Gwen continued for a while and I kind of tuned out a bit. Not that I didn't like listening to her, she's hilarious and usually quite interesting but when she mentioned muggles I remembered the attacks outside Manchester. It was the first time a family had been attacked, and they were seemingly innocent. I mean, they were obvious innocent but there was no motive behind it. So far the attacks had all been on high profile muggle born wizards and witches. This was just a muggle family, they hadn't done anything to gain the attention of You Know Who. The idea sent shivers through my body.
Just then Gwen stopped talking and greeted some people. I looked up and saw some more of the Hufflepuffs in my year. Melody, Heidi and Russell sat down opposite us.
"Do any of you know who made prefect?" Melody asked. Melody had a way of looking at things with such an intensity that it makes it hard to keep eye contact. Whatever she looks at has her complete attention. We all looked down at the still empty plates on the table as she attempted to look at us.
"Yeah, Marcus is one of them" Russell replied. "I could have sworn it was going to be Gordon though, he had been sucking up to Professor Sprout since he first realised she chose the prefects back in second year"
"Sprout tends to see through that sort of stuff" I replied with a grin. Professor Sprout was the Head of the Hufflepuff house and the Herbology professor. She was a short, stout middle-aged woman with a hell of a lot of personality. A lot of students from other houses didn't particularly like her but that was probably because she blatantly favours Hufflepuff students. She would bring in some plants from the greenhouses so we could decorate the common room with them. She also helps us with our Herbology homework, which is handy because I swear I would have failed by now if it weren't for her.
"And Yolanda would be the other prefect considering the rest of us girls are here" Heidi added.
I looked around. I hadn't realised Yolanda wasn't here yet. I spotted her talking to a group of Ravenclaws I didn't recognise. Sure enough she had a prefect badge pinned to her jumper. Good for her. She was the type of person who always did the right thing and was kind to everyone but because she was quiet and shy, nobody realised. Sure, they knew her but they never gave her a second thought. I'm glad Sprout had chosen her for prefect, it would boost her confidence quite a bit.
We were joined by the other four boys and finally Yolanda before the doors where we had all entered opened again and a group of small, frightened children walked in nervously. First years. I remembered what it was like being the young and new to a world I was still figuring out. I remember looking around at all the other kids in my year, wondering which ones I'd be friends with, which ones I wouldn't get along with, which ones I'd have pathetic crushes on… I glanced over to the Gryffindor students and spotted Sirius again instantly. I think it had gotten to the point where I was subconsciously keeping track of where he was in a room, because whenever I looked up to find him I could spot him within seconds. Merlin I've become pathetic. Sirius was completely oblivious to my obsession, talking quietly with his friends, James, Remus and Peter. From the looks on their faces they were planning something.
The sorting went by quickly and Professor Dumbledore walked out in front of us.
"Welcome back students" he began, "to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"
The entire school had fallen silent, I'm pretty sure Dumbledore was the only person with the power to do that.
"And welcome to all our new students, may you find friendship and happiness in all your respective houses. Before I let you eat tonight I would like to hold your attention for a few moments. Firstly I would like to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Faye."
The woman I hadn't recognised at the staff table stood momentarily before taking her seat again quickly. She was very short and thin, it looked as if she would float away if there were a light breeze. There would be no way she could last a year here when so many others had left.
"Thank you Professor Faye, I hope you enjoy your time with us". Even Dumbledore sounded as if he didn't have faith in her.
"Just one thing but you can tuck into your dinner tonight. As many of you are aware, these are increasingly dark times for us in the Wizarding World. A word of caution for all of you, if you remember to be true to yourself and honest to those around you, not even the darkest wizard can sway you from your path"
There were mumbles across the room. None were audible enough to interpret but I didn't need to hear them. They were talking about You Know Who and the recent attacks. Again, a shiver passed through my body. Why was this scaring me so much?
"Now, as I promised," Dumbledore concluded, "you may eat."
Delicious food appeared on the tables in front of us and suddenly the hall was filled with noise and movement as students started conversations and dug into their dinners. I joined them, but remained silent as Dumbledore's words continued to ring in my ears. If Dumbledore was starting to worry about You Know Who, then maybe I should be more worried. Should I tell my family to watch out? For what exactly? I didn't know what You Know Who looked like, nor any of his followers. And it wouldn't be like anyone who faced them had a chance.
I didn't feel hungry any more. Instead, I shifted food around my plate as my thoughts became increasingly anxious.