Elvira woke up abruptly, blinded by the bright sunlight. Turning over, she glanced at her clock and groaned miserably. It was 10:10 am, and she was late. She got up quickly, jerked off her pyjamas, threw on her white shirt and messily buttoned it. With her skirt unbuttoned, sliding down her legs and her head up her sweater arm, she shot out of her room, nearly hitting her brother.
"Oi, watch where you're going!" he snapped at her, pushing her into the wall as he walked past her.
"Why the hell didn't you wake me? We have to leave in 5 minutes!" She yelled, but he seemed to have disappeared into his room, because she got no answer. She righted her sweater and buttoned her skirt, and ran downstairs to where her parents sat waiting in the sitting room.
"Why didn't anyone wake me?" She tried again, cramming a crumpet into her mouth, and two additional ones into her pocket.
"We asked Vincent to wake you an hour ago." Her mother replied stiffly.
"Well.." she began, spraying crumbs on the rug, her mother snapped at her not to talk with food in her mouth and to get ready to leave. She stomped out of the sitting room and upstairs to her bedroom. She brushed her hair quickly, and started hauling her trunk out onto the landing.
"Dad! I need help!" she yelled. The staircase creaked and the dull thud of enormous feet got closer, as her father ascended the stairs. His large, grumpy face appeared, and he stuck his hand out before even getting to the top. Elvira pushed the large trunk towards him, and followed him back down. They all gathered in the library to take the floo to Diagon Alley, and after a lot of swearing from her dad, who was much too large to fit in the fireplace, let alone with two trunks, they disappeared one by one.
―
30 minutes later the Crabbe family appeared on platform 9 3/4. She had gone the previous year as well, to see her brother off for his first year at Hogwarts, but she had been too busy sulking about not being allowed to go yet, to really notice what went on around her. She drank in all the sights and sounds, her body quivering with anticipation. They walked towards the Hogwarts Express.
"Mum, I'm going to go and find a compartment" she said distantly, unable to take her eyes off all the people bustling around. Her father helped her brother heave both of their trunks onto the train. Her mother gave her a brief hug and a peck on the cheek, and her father just nodded at her.
"Send us an owl tonight," he said gruffly, as if withholding affection until he was sure she lived up to the family name. She nodded and got on the train after her big, burly brother. He used her trunk to push her in front of him, and shovelled her down the corridor.
"You're sitting with us. Dad's orders" Vincent grunted. Elvira was about to tell him she did not care one bit about their dad's orders, and that she would find her own compartment when a blonde boy stood up and extended his hand.
"Ah, the second Crabbe. I'm Draco Malfoy" he said, pausing dramatically between his first and last name. Elvira grasped his hand.
"Elvira." she muttered, letting go of his manicured hand as quickly as she could. His hair was slicked back, which made his head look like a giant upside-down egg.
"This is Pansy and Gregory." Draco said, gesturing lazily towards a boy about Vincent's size and a mean-looking girl with beady eyes. Gregory grunted and Pansy scowled. She felt right at home. Vincent prodded Elvira in the back, and she reluctantly sat down. He put their trunks on the luggage rack, and sat down next to her. Elvira had a feeling this would be the least enjoyable afternoon of her life. She was not wrong. Draco talked about his father non-stop. Elvira had heard about Lucius and Draco Malfoy for years. Her brother had always tagged along to play with Draco whenever his father had visited Lucius. For all her brothers talking, Draco underwhelmed her. He was pompous and arrogant, and he seemed devoid of any real substance. It was hour upon hour about his fancy broomsticks and his fathers money and power.
After spending most of her day wishing the floor would fall out so she could escape the endless bragging of Pansy and Draco, the train slowed down. A voice told them to leave their things on the train, and to have a nice evening. Elvira jumped out of the compartment as quickly as she could, eager to leave the others behind. She stumbled down the trains steep stairs, nearly taking a sulky Hufflepuff with her, and breathed in the cold air.
"First years! First years over here!" Elvira turned towards the voice and stopped dead, causing a pile-up of angry students behind her. A giant, hairy man was standing to the side of the platform, a group of tiny, terrified people beside him. She walked hesitantly towards him, and he smiled at her. She smiled back and stood next to a ginger girl in worn-out robes.
"That's Hagrid. My brothers says he's not as scary as he looks." the ginger girl offered.
"My brother usually just talks about the food." Elvira said and the girl smiled at her. Hagrid counted them to make sure they were all there before walking them towards a fleet of tiny little boats. Elvira stepped into a boat, and the ginger girl sat down next to her. The boat lurched and swayed, before gliding along the lake on its own accord. Elvira gripped the sides, scrunching her eyes shut. She was not fond of boats. There was a loud, collective gasp, and Elvira opened her eyes again to see a huge castle, hundreds, maybe thousands of tiny windows lighting it up.
"Whoa." she said, wishing that the boat would go faster, so she could see it up close. Their boat obeyed. It creaked and shot off, skipping across the water.
"No, no, I didn't mean it, don't go faster." she yelled at the boat, but it didn't listen. Elvira closed her eyes again, willing the boat to stop before they slammed into the boathouse. It didn't stop, but it avoided the dock narrowly by skidding onto the grassy bank next to it. She and the red-haired girl hurried out of the boat before it took off again. The other boats glided peacefully up to the docks, depositing their passengers before floating off to the side. Hagrid got out of his boat and came over to see if they were alright. Elvira swore to herself she would walk from the train next year.
They were ushered into the entrance hall, where a stern looking woman stood. Hagrid bid them all good night and good luck, before disappearing through a set of doors. The woman looked at all of them, before introducing herself as Professor McGonagall, telling them about the sorting and the houses. Then she turned around and opened the doors behind her, telling them to follow her. They walked up to a stool, where an old hat was placed. Elvira, and several of the other first years, jumped violently when the hat started singing. After the hat had finished singing Professor McGonagall took out a list and started calling out names. She barely had any time to feel queasy, because her name was one of the first on the list.
"Elvira Crabbe" said Professor McGonagall, her glasses perched on her nose. Elvira took a deep breath, and walked towards her, and sat down. The hat was placed on her head. It discussed back and forth with itself. Elvira wondered how life was for a talking hat.
"SLYTHERIN!" It shouted loudly, and she stumbled awkwardly over to the table where she saw her brother slapping his beefy hands together, grinning. She sat down next to him, and was congratulated and welcomed pompously by Draco, who kept up a running commentary on the heritage and blood purity of the people being sorted.
"Oh, look, another Weasley" he drawled. Elvira turned around and saw the red headed girl she had shared a boat with, but wisely kept her mouth shut when Draco continued
"They're pure blood, of course, but father says they're even worse than the mudbloods." He tutted loudly. She swore to herself she would try to make other friends than this bunch in the morning.
Before long, the sorting was over, and the headmaster stood to welcome them all to another year. He said a couple of things, that Elvira couldn't focus on because of the constant moans about Draco's fathers opinions on everyone, and then he sat back down. Food filled the plates, drinks filled the pitchers and Elvira was feeling more hopeful than she had all day. At least the food was top notch, even if the company was so and so.
Right after the start of term feast, Elvira had sent her parents an owl telling them she was sorted into Slytherin, and in return she got sent a huge gift basket of sweets a couple of days later. She'd lost the basket to her greedy brother, though she didn't put up much of a fight. She had never been that fond of sweets anyway she thought as she watched her brother cramming her jam tart into his mouth.