Pearl stared at the wall apprehensively. Rose told her she'd have to go through without her because she needed to use her own resolute determination to pass through the barrier to platform 9 ¾. Everyone was waiting on her, and Rose had promised to be right behind her with her stuff. Pearl took a deep breath and ran headfirst at the wall and just when she thought she was going to crash, she found herself on the platform to the Hogwarts express. If she thought she was out of the woods though, she had another think coming. Students and their parents surrounded the tiny elf and she had to jump around as quickly as she could to avoid being trampled. "Hey watch it! I'm down here, you're about to squash me!" Pearl yelped, but no one could hear her over the hustle and bustle of the busy station. Some random witch kicked her over, perhaps not unintentionally by the looks of it, and Pearl almost got stepped on by another student before someone snatched her out of harm's way.
"Woah, are you alright?" Pearl looked up to see the most unusual looking girl she had ever laid eyes on. In fact, the girl had three. She was also one of the tallest eleven or twelve year olds she had ever seen. She had beautiful black skin and a messy afro, and was wearing ripped leggings and a pink and blue tie-died t-shirt. She looked quite disheveled, but the overall effect of the outfit was cheerful and carefree. "I'm Garnet by the way." The girl said, and Pearl realized she'd been gawking at her this whole time.
"Oh, uh…Yeah, I'm fine" Pearl mumbled awkwardly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Pearl." The two shook hands just as Rose walked in through the barrier.
"Oh, there you are, Pearl." Rose said and walked over to Garnet. "Sorry I took so long, some of your stuff fell out of the cart." Rose then turned her attention to the other child. "You must be new young lady. I'm Professor Quartz, the headmaster, but I teach herbology as well. What's your name?"
"Garnet." The girl said timidly.
"Pleasure." Rose said warmly and gave the child a bright smile. "Well, you best be getting on the train as soon as possible, or all the good spots will be taken." Garnet stayed to help Rose and Pearl take Pearl's school things though, and by the time they got everything (including Garnet's own supplies) to the train, there were almost no seats left, so they decided to ride in the caboose. Garnet clambered in with both of their trunks and Pearl walked at her side. Garnet seemed a bit clumsy but the girl was very strong to be able to get it all on her own, even considering her size. As it turned out Amethyst was in the back as well, but she seemed upset. Pearl noticed that her eyes were rather bloodshot, and wondered if she had been crying. She seemed to perk up when she saw Pearl though, and walked over to meet her.
"Hey Pearl, nice to see you again." She said warmly, but Pearl thought she still sensed a bit of a tremor to the girl's voice.
"You two know each other?" Garnet asked, and Amethyst introduced herself and told her how she and Pearl met at the wand shop. The three girls sat down and began to talk about wands. "I actually got mine when I was younger than eleven because my uncles trade used ones illegally." Garnet winked. "I've had this since I was eight, actually. One of the ones they had stocked up chose me so they let me keep it. It was hawthorn and phoenix feather, twelve inches and quite bendy, an Olivander wand. But after my parents died, I had a piece of wood from each of theirs incorporated into mine, and a piece of the core. My Dad's wand was Cypress and dragon heartstring, and my Mom's was Silver Lime and phoenix feather."
"Wow, I'm sorry about your parents, G. Mine aren't around anymore either." Amethyst said sympathetically.
"Yeah, I hope I get into Gryfindor or Ravenclaw like one of them." Garnet said. "What about you?"
"I just wanna find wherever I really belong, ya know? As long as I'm not in Slytherin, I'm good." Amethyst replied.
"I want to be sorted into Gryfindor like Professor Quartz." Pearl piped up. "She said I'll probably be sorted into Ravenclaw the way I've been studying though." She giggled. "I'm with Amethyst though,
I'd be happy with anything but Slytherin."
The three kids became fast friends that day, eating every flavor beans and chatting about all the crazy adventures Garnet shared about her two uncles, whom had raised her after her parents died. Turns out Garnet's father had two identical triplet brothers, who had been real pranksters back in their school days. The girls' ribs ached with laughter after a particular story about the time they cast an invisibility charm on the Slytherin keeper's pants during a quidditch match. He didn't even notice until after the announcer pointed it out! Before any of the children knew it, the train came to a stop and they were moments away from their first look at Hogwarts.