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Chapter 9
Jade looked around the platform, her eyes wide. It was packed with people in bright clothing, and the train was a bright scarlet steam engine. People were jostling each other, calling to friends and their children, and other students to their friends. And the sound of animals added to the cacophony of noise.
"I didn't expect it to be so packed." Tony said.
"Neither did I." Pepper agreed with him.
"It's nearly time to go." Jade said, her hands tightly gripping her trolley which held her trunk and the cat carrier, which in turn held the black kitten that Madam Harkness had given her. She would have had an owl, but she got a cat instead as her mobile was able to work anywhere, thanks to the improvements her dad had made on it. She chewed on her lip nervously. She'd agreed to a test year at Hogwarts, and then, if she liked it, she would continue, if not, then she'd pull out and go to Salem.
"Alright." Tony said. "Now, you remember what we agreed. You check in every two days. If one of us doesn't hear from you in that time limit-"
"The entire team will probably come looking for me in a panic, yes, I know." She said. "I'll make sure to call. I don't think the teachers would be too happy if Thor and the Hulk ended up raising the school to the ground looking for me just because I forgot to check in with you." And the scary part was, they would do it too. And her dad would turn up in full armour as well; ready to blast anyone out of the way to find out if she was alright. And then she'd end up being pulled out of Hogwarts because Tony would reason that if she couldn't check in when there could be danger, then it was better for her to be closer to home.
"Good." Tony said. Then, he pulled his daughter into a hug. "Take care of yourself kiddo. And don't take off your bracelets. And remember, you have that communicator for emergencies only. But keep it on you at all times." He didn't tell her about the tracker he'd placed in the communicator and her bracelets though…
"I won't dad." Jade said. She was only on the second set, and was struggling to be able to control the amount of power she held within her that was within her grasp. At any time, her precarious grasp on it could slip, and goodness knows what would end up destroyed. Last time, it had been a few walls in the Avengers mansion. Luckily, no one had been hurt, but Jade had been unconscious for two days. "And I'll remember."
When Tony released her, Jade found herself in a hug from Pepper. "Be careful and have fun. Don't forget to keep up your work."
"I won't." Jade said, smiling. "And I'll try not to get into too much trouble."
Pepper frowned, but Tony just laughed. They both knew she was referring to her pranks. The least entertaining of which had been Thor going round with neon pink hair for three days (and yes, that did include his beard).
"Just try not to drive everyone from the school." Tony said, grinning.
"I won't. Just a few." She grinned back at him.
The whistle blew, and she got two more hugs from her parents and then Tony helped her put her things on the train. As the train pulled from the station, Jade waved and then, when they were out of sight, Jade picked up her wicker basket and her trunk and went in search of a compartment. She found an empty one, and put the trunk on an overhead rack and let Bonnie out of her basket before she sat down. The small kitten jumped onto her lap and curled up. Jade absentmindedly started stroking her thick soft fur. Soon, there was a knock on the compartment door.
"It's open." Jade said.
The door opened to reveal a bushy haired girl, and a chubby looking boy, who was holding a toad in his hand.
"Is it alright if we sit here?" The girl asked.
"Sure." Jade said, smiling at them.
"I'm Hermione Granger. This is Neville Longbottom." The girl said.
"Jade Stark." Jade said.
"Really? I thought you looked familiar!" Hermione said.
"Yeah, I guess I would."
"So, you know each other?" Neville asked, a bit confused.
"No." Hermione said. "Jade's the daughter of a very rich celebrity genius. I heard you followed in your father's footsteps when it came to knowledge."
"Yeah, I did. But my mother certainly wasn't dumb. And of course, my adoptive mum, Pepper, is smart too. I guess I have a lot of influences."
"Your adoptive mum?" Neville asked.
"My birth mother, Lily, died when I was one." Jade admitted. "But, I can't remember her. I know she cared for me, and everything, but, to me, Pepper is my mum, you know?"
"Yeah." Neville said, nodding his head.
"That's so sad!" Hermione said. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost my mum, but I guess being as young as you were, it's different."
Jade nodded. "So, what houses do you think you'll be in?"
"Well, I've heard Gryffindor is by far the best. Apparently, it was Dumbledore's own house. But, I wouldn't mind being in Ravenclaw."
"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff." Neville said. "Both my parents were Gryffindor, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get in."
"Hufflepuff? What's wrong with Hufflepuff?" Jade asked.
"It's the leftover house." Neville muttered dejectedly.
Jade snorted. "From what I've read, it's the house for those who are loyal, and hardworking." She pointed out. "What's so bad about that? Plus, you can have the attributes of other houses too, without having to worry about the house rivalries, and it will allow making friends with those in other houses a bit easier to do."
"Now you've put it that way, I see the point." Hermione said.
"And, I wouldn't go in a house, just because it was Dumbledore's when he was in school." She sneered when she said the name Dumbledore.
The other two occupants of the compartment frowned. "Do you have a problem with the headmaster?" Hermione asked.
"From what I understand, he's manipulative, and used to getting his own way. I mean, he even has the minister at his every beck and call."
"But, he's a hero." Neville said.
"No man, no matter who they are, should be able to control as much power as he does. There's a muggle saying, 'Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.' The question is, how much power does he really have and how much has it corrupted him?"
"Well, we'll just have to gather evidence, and see what it tells us." Hermione said.
"Good idea. Never take things at face value. That's what I've always been taught by my various… tutors." How do you explain you tended to spend a lot of time with the Avengers and learnt from experience due to who exactly was on the team? For example, if you looked at Bruce Banner, you wouldn't think there was anything special about him. But then he went Hulk…
"You have a lot of tutors?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. I tried school, but I was a bit too far advanced. That's lucky now, I guess. I'll find it easy to keep up with the non-magic curriculum while at Hogwarts. That was actually one of the cons of going. Hogwarts doesn't teach anything non magic."
"There's muggle studies." Neville pointed out.
"Will that teach math, English, chemistry, biology, physics? Will it teach about technology?"
"I assume it teaches about technology." Neville said. "I had a look in one of the books when I was at Flourish and Blott's during the summer. It had a picture of a muggle type writer. It was amazing."
Jade and Hermione stared.
"How far behind are wizards?" Hermione asked.
"Further than I thought." Jade said. "Here at least. Salem had a mix of both magic and non-magic curriculum."
"Then why come to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.
"For a trial run." Jade said. "I wanted to see the school my biological mum would have gone to. At the end of first year, I'll decide if I want to stay. If I don't, then I'm pulling out and going to Salem."
"Is that possible?" Hermione asked. "I know your dad's influential in the muggle world, but I doubt he is in the Wizarding World."
"Dad has a few tricks up his sleeve." Jade said grinning. In other words, the entire team of Avengers, and then there was Loki. The Wizarding world would be begging for her to leave if Loki decided to get involved if they tried to keep her in Britain. Not to mention the others. "Plus, Professor McGonagall already said it would be alright. I'm an American citizen. I'm only in Britain for schooling, so the British Ministry has no say over where I'm tutored. If I want to go to Salem, they can't stop me."
The rest of the journey was spent in friendly conversation. Jade found that Neville was rather shy and he had created a sort of mental shell that he could retreat into if he thought things were getting a bit much. Jade resigned to try and bring him out of that. Hermione was eager for any new knowledge that she could get her hands on. Jade could hold a reasonable conversation with her about science. Nothing like she could with Franklin, but Franklin's dad was a genius and had passed that to his son, like Jade had inherited her dad's brain (metaphorically speaking).
When they reached the station, the three exited the train and placed their things in the designated area.
"Firs' years! Firs' years to me!" A giant loomed on the platform, a lamp in his hand. He had wild black hair and a beard, but under it, a kind face. They walked over to him and he led them and the other first years to some boats. "No more than four to a boat." Hagrid said.
Jade, Hermione and Neville ended up sharing a boat with an Irish boy called Seamus Finnegan. Jade almost laughed when the other three gasped at their first sight of the castle. It was beautiful, she'd admit, but, after seeing Asguard, nothing really compared. Even if she'd only been dream walking at the time. But Hogwarts, while beautiful, paled compared to the home of the Gods.
"Still got Trevor, Neville?" Jade asked. The toad had almost escaped a few times on the train, but through the three's combined efforts, he'd never made it out of the compartment.
"Yes, thankfully. I don't think I'd ever see him again if I lost him here. And gran would kill me."
When the boats docked, they all got off and the giant led them up stairs and into the castle. Jade smiled as she looked around, memorising everything she could. Which passage led where would come in handy later on. At the top of the stairs, they were met by McGonagall.
"The Firs' years, Professor McGonagall." The giant said.
"Thank you Hagrid." She said, assessing the group.
The giant, Hagrid, left, and then McGonagall turned her full attention to the group.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few moments you will be led into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into one of four houses. They are; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you are here, your houses will be like your family. Good work will be rewarded by gaining house points. Rule breaking will lose you points. Now, I will go and see if they are ready for you, you may want to take the time to sort yourselves out." Her eyes fixed on a red haired boy who had dirt on his nose and Neville, whose cloak was fastened under his ear. Then, she walked through the double doors.
"Neville, sort your cloak out." Jade said softly to him. Neville quickly did as he was told.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"How do you think they'll sort us?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know, but it can't be some sort of magic test, we haven't even started to learn!" Jade said.
"My brother Fred said something about fighting a troll." The red haired boy said.
"I don't think the teachers would put us in that sort of danger. Don't be stupid." Hermione said.
"Well what would you know about it?"
"There's a little thing called common sense." Jade said, rolling her eyes.
"Which you are obviously lacking." Hermione added, glaring at the red head.
The boy's face started to heat up, the tips of his ears went the same colour as his hair. Before he could respond, McGonagall was back.
"They are ready for you now." She said.
They were all lead into the hall. The ceiling reflected the dark night sky.
"It's not really the night sky." Hermione said. "It's an enchantment. I read about it in Hogwarts; A History."
"Yeah, me too." Jade said. "I have a lot of questions about that book."
As they reached the end of the hall, Jade saw that there was a ragged hat on a stool. A tear opened at the base of the hat, and it began to sing. When the hat had finished, McGonagall began calling out names. First years would go up, put the hat on, and then the hat would shout out a house, and they would go to their House table.
"Granger, Hermione." McGonagall called.
The hat took a while, but eventually it called out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Smiling, she took off the hat and headed for the table. Soon after, Neville was called. After a minute, he joined Hermione at the badger's table. Then, Jade's own name was called. She walked up to the stool, sat down and felt the hat placed on her head.
"Well this is interesting. You will probably cause quite a stir at Hogwarts, Miss Stark. And in the Wizarding world. Quite a few people will be unhappy when and if they ever discover that their saviour is in fact a muggle born. It seems you have the attributes for all the houses. You are very difficult to sort. But, now I look deeper, I can see fierce loyalty to those you are close too. Better be HUFFLEPUFF!" Grinning, Jade took off the hat and walked confidently to the table, where she sat down with Neville and Hermione. Glancing at the teachers table she could see an old man with long white hair and a beard to match watching her. He seemed to have gone into some sort of shock. He quickly snapped out of it and resumed watching the sorting. That was obviously Dumbledore. When the sorting was over, the feast began and Jade helped herself to food and ate quickly. But neatly. Unlike the red haired Gryffindor first year who Hermione had a spat with earlier and seemed to be a human food disposal unit. The food was amazing and was cooked very well. Jade had fun talking to Hermione and Neville and by the time the feast had finished and they were dismissed, Jade was really starting to feel tired. She would be glad to get to bed.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed, please review!