Disclaimer – The original Harry Potter characters and the world of Harry Potter are not of my own invention and I do not claim ownership of them. KC
The Hogwarts Express had gathered a decent amount of speed before Aubrey brought her head back into the carriage. Turning around, Aubrey saw the boy who had helped her on the station was waiting for her.
"Do you want to find a compartment together?" he asked. She nodded, glad that she would have someone to talk to. They soon found an empty compartment and sat opposite each other next to the window.
"I'm Henry Wilks by the way," he said, holding his hand out to her.
She took his hand and shook it. "Aubrey Jones," she said, introducing herself.
"Are you a First Year too?" he asked and she nodded in reply.
She had noticed on the platform that he was about the same height as her and had brown hair and pale, silver eyes. His nose was slightly squared at the end and dimples formed on his cheeks when he smiled.
"I've been dreaming about going to Hogwarts ever since I was born," he said, getting the conversation going. "What house do you hope you'll be in?"
"House?" she asked.
His eyes widened slightly. "Oh, are you Muggle-born?" and, with the lack of an answer from her, he swiftly elaborated: "A person whose parents aren't magical that is. In the wizarding world we call non magic folk Muggles."
"Oh, well, yes I am then," she said shyly.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," he added quickly. "In fact I think it's fascinating. I don't know any Muggle-borns you see. I'm what's called a Pure-blood wizard and my family… well, they have never really communicated with anyone else who isn't from a pure-blood family."
"Why not?" she asked, suddenly intrigued.
He cringed slightly. "I don't like to admit it but my family has a dark background. They were members of one the darkest magical groups in history when I was about six. But when their leader was destroyed, they said that they were only involved because they were hexed. I don't know if I believe them though. Have you heard of the Battle of Hogwarts yet?"
She shook her head.
"Well about twenty-five years or so ago now a dark wizard called Voldemort appeared. He was very powerful and killed anyone who stood in the way of his quest towards ultimate power. But one night when he went to kill a family by the name of Potter, he was unable to kill the baby boy, Harry Potter, and disappeared. Most people believed he had been destroyed but when Harry was about fourteen he came back and tried to pick up from where he left off with the whole 'ultimate power' thing. But at the same time as Voldemort was gaining followers, so was Harry, with the help of the famous Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore that is. It's all very complicated and I'm probably not doing a very good job of explaining it. But Dumbledore was killed by his spy and one thing lead to another and Voldemort war spread to the grounds of Hogwarts. Many died but Harry Potter destroyed Voldemort once and for all. It's now a very famous battle in our history and is being taught in school, so I guess you will learn more about it later."
Suddenly something Mr Splint had told her sprung into her mind. "Did the war spread beyond Hogwarts, like to Diagon Alley?" she asked.
"Yes. Many places were affected, including Diagon Alley, and over many years too. Pretty much the entire country could tell something was going on, Muggles and all! The Ministry was pretty worried that the Muggles would find out about us lot. Did you notice anything strange about five years ago?"
She tried to remember back to when she was six… there was something. "That was the year that winter seemed to last forever. The skies were always dark and cold."
"Yeah that would have been the dark magic in the air. Spread like pollution. I feel guilty about it even though I wasn't directly involved, only connected to those who were."
"Was your family on Voldemort's side?"
"Yes," he said, looking ashamed. "People called Voldemort's followers Death Eaters. Just the name makes me shudder. This is why I'm concerned about the sorting ceremony."
"Sorting ceremony?" she asked, probably sounding pretty clueless by now.
"When students arrive at Hogwarts they get sorted into one of four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin are their names. Dumbledore and Harry Potter were in Gryffindor while Voldemort and most death eaters were in Slytherin. All my family were in Slytherin and I'm afraid I'll be in it too. Everyone says Slytherin is the house that dark wizards come from. I really hope I'm not placed in Slytherin. I don't want to be like my family." Aubrey couldn't help but notice the determination in his voice.
Thankfully the lady with the food cart rolled past, breaking the tension in the air and they each purchased handfuls of savouries and sweets to share. Henry explained to Aubrey what most of the foods were. They had a great time laughing at each other when the other got a bad tasting bean from the packet of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. Henry then showed her the basic spells he knew and the Accio spell, which was a bit more advanced, and that he had used to retrieve her papers out of the sky at the station.
"It took me a while to master because you usually learn it in Third year. But I got lazy, not wanting to walk across my room to get things," he said cheekily.
Soon a prefect came past their compartment and told them that they would be arriving at Hogwarts soon. Aubrey went into the girls' lavatory to change into her uniform while Henry did the same in the boys'.
Aubrey looked at her reflection in the lavatory mirror once she was fully dressed in her uniform. She had her hair tied back in her favourite way (a high ponytail) and her dark brown eyes shone. She brushed her fingers along a small collection of freckles on her pointed nose, sighing in defeat at how the sun treated her skin.
She met Henry back in their compartment and they gathered their remaining food into their pockets, stashing it for later. The train slowly came to a stop and they jumped off the carriage and onto the platform. Aubrey could see the pointed roofs of the castle over the trees and shivered with excitement.
She and Henry went to collect their trunks and owls together (Henry had a big black owl called Dex) but were called into the group of other first year students as they would enter Hogwarts in a special way. This special way was by boat and Henry and Aubrey made sure they sat together. As they crossed the lake that stretched out next to the castle the first year students were able to get their first look of Hogwarts.
It was more that Aubrey could have ever wished for. The grey stone of the castle's walls and towers glowed in the moonlight while yellow light shone through the windows from inside the castle. The scale of the castle was overwhelming and she looked at it eagerly. Dark horseless drawn carriages crossing the battered looking bridge leading to castle caught Aubrey's eye. Guessing this was how the other students were getting into the school, she wondered how she and her fellow first years would be. But she didn't have to wait long before the boats entered a tunnel under the castle and docked at an underground harbour.
She and Henry clambered out of their boat and entered the castle. They climbed a tall flight of stairs with the other First Years and arrived in the large Entrance Hall. At once Aubrey noticed the patchwork like quality of the stone walls. Some patches were of old grey stone that looked burnt and chipped while others were made of flawlessly light stone. The floor too was either uneven or incredibly smooth like ice.
"The castle really did take a battering," whispered Henry in wonderment. "At least they were able to save most of it."
Aubrey pictured the battle in her head and she shivered. Now that she could see the wounds it had made on the castle, she could only imagine the wounds it had left on those involved and the families others left behind.
A very short man with a shock of white hair (who introduced himself as Professor Flitwick) met the First Years at the top of the stairs and told them the sorting ceremony would be starting soon. Then, forming two lines, the First Years entered the Great Hall.
The ceiling was the first thing that caught Aubrey's attention as it looked exactly like the night sky. The floating candles highlighted the large windows and walls which mirrored the patchwork like quality of the Entrance Hall's walls. But it was the four long tables stretching the length of the hall and completely occupied by smiling students that made her feel especially excited.
The First Years made their way to the far end of the hall and gathered in front of a podium which had an elderly witch in an emerald green cloak and matching hat standing behind it.
"Welcome First Year students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she said. "I am Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts. First, before you start your school year, you will be sorted into one of the four school houses. They are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Your will be called in alphabetical order of your last names. When your name is called you will come to the front and the sorting hat will be placed on your head," she said, gesturing towards another professor who was holding a worn brown hat. "Now let us begin…"
She then commenced to read out each of the first year students' names and, one by one, they approached the hat nervously. The hat shouted the name of one of the houses as it was placed, in turn, on each of the students' heads. Then, once the student had been placed, they joined their house's table to the cheers of their other house members.
"Nell Green!" called Professor McGonagall.
Aubrey recognised the girl called as the one whom she had met briefly in Ollivander's Wand Shop. Nell skipped nervously up to the hat and a split second later it placed her in Gryffindor house. Aubrey watched as Nell's smile spread from ear to ear and then, with her green eyes sparkling, bounced off to join the cheering Gryffindor table.
"Aubrey Jones!"
Aubrey gulped and felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter madly. She approached the hat and felt its weight as the professor placed it on her head.
"Well, well, well" she heard a whisper in her head "Another little Muggle-born. The ones without any knowledge of magic are always tricky. But your qualities speak for themselves…"
"Gryffindor!" shouted the hat to the rest of the hall.
The Gryffindor table cheered once more and on her way to the table she met Henry's eye. She nodded at him in encouragement, hoping for both his sake and her own that her new friend was also placed in Gryffindor. But they had to wait until the very end as his name was the last on the list.
"Henry Wilks!"
The hat was placed on his head and the hall waited. But the hat didn't shout anything for a long time. In fact people around her started murmuring about how long it was taking and she started worrying for her friend. Then finally the hat shouted out its decision.
"Slytherin!"
Aubrey's heart shot down to her stomach and she watched as her friend shuffled toward the Slytherin table, whose occupants were clapping loudly. Henry looked like he was going to cry. She watched as he slumped down at the table and she tried to catch his eye. But he stared glumly at the floor.
"I wish all out new First Years the best of luck while at Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "May you strive to be the best students you can be. In fact, and I direct this to all students, I expect every one of you to study hard and follow the school rules. In turn, I am sure we will see many of you graduate from Hogwarts as great witches and wizards. Now, let the feast begin!"
With a flourish of her hand food of all sorts appeared on the gold platters in front of them. The sudden presence of food made Aubrey realise just how hungry she was and helped herself to a large plate of mash potato.
"I remember you from Ollivander's," said Nell who was sitting next to her. "I'm Nell."
"I'm Aubrey," she said before sticking a large fork full of turkey into her mouth.
"I'm half and half," said Nell, who was eager to make conversation.
"I'm Muggle-born," Aubrey returned.
They continued this way throughout the rest of dinner, trading information about themselves and their families back and forth. Nell was very bubbly and even though she was a small girl, she had a large personality. Aubrey liked the thought of having her as a friend.
At the end of the feast Professor McGonagall asked for each house to leave one after the other with Gryffindor leaving first, followed by Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and lastly Slytherin. As she stood to follow the Gryffindor prefect out of the hall, Aubrey glanced over to where Henry was sitting. He had hardly eaten a thing off his plate and was pushing the food around with his fork. She wished she could quickly go over to talk to him. But as it was she already had to run to catch up with the other Gryffindor First Years as they left the hall.
Walking into the Gryffindor common room after climbing a dozen or so moving staircases, Aubrey was delighted at the sight of fire lit room. Gryffindor decorations covered the curved walls and comfortable looking chairs were placed at random throughout the room.
The prefect led the first years up the spiral staircase to their dormitories (one for girls and one for boys) and left them to get settled in. Aubrey and Nell claimed the two four-poster beds closest to the window while the other two girls took the beds on the opposite wall.
While the other three girls started to unpack their belongings from their trunks, Aubrey couldn't help but let her mind wander back to her miserable friend Henry. If only she could reassure him that his time at Hogwarts would still be great even though he was in Slytherin. Then a thought sprung to her mind; 'If Slytherin were the last to leave the Great Hall, would he still be there?'
Making an excuse about needing to get something she left her dorm mates to their unpacking and raced down the stairwell into the common room. However the Gryffindor prefect was sitting next to the fire and frowned at her when he saw her.
"Where do you think you're going? No students are allowed out of the common room at night. School Rules," he said, getting up to stand in front of her.
"My bracelet from my parents, I think it broke and fell off my wrist in the Great Hall," she lied. "I just want to go find it."
"I'll go…" he started to say but she interrupted.
"I remember where I was sitting so it would be a lot quicker if just went down there myself," she said, hoping he would see through her lie.
"Fine, but go quickly. I could lose my badge for letting you go," he conceded and she ran out of the room before he could change his mind.
She sprinted down the staircases in the Picture Hall and reached the corridor leading away from the Great Hall just as Henry walked slowly out into it. He was near the back of the Slytherin group so she called out his name, careful not to attract the attention of the other Slytherins. He turned around, looking surprised to see her there, and approached her quickly.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Aren't all the Gryffindor students already in their dormitories?"
"Yes," she said, trying to get her breath back, "but I wanted to make sure you are all right. I know it wasn't the decision you were hoping for."
"You wanted to make sure I was alright?" he said, surprised at her comment.
"Well, we're friends aren't we?
"You still want to be my friend even though I'm in Slytherin? But Gryffindor and Slytherin are enemies."
She smiled. "Just because Gryffindor and Slytherin are enemies doesn't mean that we can't be friends."
A smile of relief flooded his face. "I think I'm going to like having you as a friend, Aubrey."
"And I you, Henry," she replied with a grin. "See you tomorrow!"
When she finally returned to the common room, relieving the prefect from his worry, she didn't hesitate to jump up the stairs to her dormitory two at a time. Nell was the only one still awake in her dormitory when she entered and her friend gave her a relieved smile.
"I was wondering where you were!" Nell exclaimed as loudly as possible without waking the other girls. "In fact where were you?"
"Just reassuring a friend," Aubrey whispered in reply.
Nell shrugged and settled down under the covers of her bed, obviously not wishing to know any more.
When Aubrey too finally climbed into her bed she could already hear the rhythmic breathing of the other three girls in the room. But Aubrey did not feel at all tired, in fact, she felt exhilarated. She couldn't wait to spend another day at Hogwarts.
CHAPTER 3 (YEAR 2) NOW AVAILABLE
As a first-time FanFiction writer, I would love a review or feedback from you on my writing. Just like Aubrey I am very excited to be setting out on a new journey and I can't wait to share more of my ideas with you.
KC