Potterbook | *Started*

Benjamin | Hogwarts Express

Ben stood by quietly as the group of students moved away in ones and twos. The strain of his smile lessened to a slight smirk. He struggled pulling his trunk off the cart with one hand while holding onto Chaucer with the other. Once he had a grip on the handle he started to drag it with the bottom end scrapping against the station floor and onto the Hogwarts Express.

"There sure are a lot of weirdos going to this school, Chaucer," Ben remarked as he trudged down the corridor looking for an empty compartment far off from other people.

"Rrrrrrrrr."

"I'm not weird, you're weird. You have a billion siblings and you never even bother to write them. Despicable."

"Rrrrr Rrrrrrrrrr"

"Yeah, well I'm a wizard. Next time you give me lip I'll turn you into soap and make you put you in your own mouth."

Ben stopped halfway down the train car leaning his trunk upright against the wall. Chaucer wiggled out of his hand and settled on top of the trunk while he shook his wrist of kinks. He was just beginning to relax against the wall himself when something collided with his side. As the girl who ran into him collected herself he pushed himself off the wall and turned fully facing her.

"I'm sorrry," she said, offering him a hand. "Are you okay? I didn't meant to make you bump into me... I was just looking for my brother and sisters." Ben watched as the girl bit her lip. It would've looked cute if he didn't know girls were infected with dangerous girlie germs. "Uh, anyway. My name's Samara. Samara Devereux. What's yours?"

He stared at her for a full half-minute before answering. She seemed almost normal, pity really. His first conversation with someone magical and he couldn't even begin coercing her into being his henchwoman.

"I'm Benjamin Fletcher, but I guess you can call me Ben. I don't really like the way words with the letter J in them sound," he pointed toward his trunk, "and that's Chaucer. He's a prodigal frog who abandoned his family so he could be captured by the man who works at Diagon Alley's pet store in hopes of one day being bought by the future dictator of the magical world. That's me, by the way."

Ben picked up his toad, cradling him in the crook of his arm and pulling his trunk into the nearest compartment. After dropping his trunk so it leaned against the seats, he stuck his head back outside the door and 'smiled' at Samara.

"You can join me in here if you want. Just don't give me any of your girl diseases okay," he asked giving her an awkward wink.

Fiona | Aboard the Hogwarts Express


Fiona sighed and picked up Syria, stepping out of her compartment, and shutting the door. She liked being alone, but she liked her friends even more. She checked two compartments, barging in and opening doors without knocking, then leaving the door open when she left.

“You know what,” She said to Syria, “I think they’re avoiding me. I wouldn’t know why.” The cat mewed in response, her way of saying her owner was mean.

“I know you love me,” Fiona cooed, stroking the cats back. She pushed her way past other students, checking compartments, looking for anyone she knew. She gave up, at least for the moment. It felt like she had walked past thousands of compartments, and they were all starting to look the same, but with different students. She finally opened the door to her compartment, and stopped.

Another girl sat alone in the compartment. Fiona stopped. The girl had that new student look about her, and a smile formed on Fiona’s face.

“You are in the wrong compartment.” She said unkindly, “please leave.” She looked around, not seeing her trunk or broomstick. She was in the wrong compartment. She mentally hit her palm on her forehead and shook her head. She didn’t apologize, just stroked Syria’s back and waited for the girl to say something in her defense.

Allen Selwyn/Alice Potter | In front of a compartment

"It looks like this is the only semi-empty one around here..." Allen made a mournful face and looked at Alice, who was back from investigating the other side of the corridor. "Did you find any?"

"No..." Alice admitted. "It looks like we were late to get the good seats. Oh well."

Allen slid the door open, and lo! There sat the girl he had twice bumped into earlier. Opposite her was a boy wearing glasses and holding a toad in his palm. The girl looked up, and stared. "You."

Alice looked at her partner-in-crime wryly as he adopted an innocent look on his face. "Well, everything else was occupied, so can we sit here? Please? Thanks." He plopped down beside the boy without waiting for an answer, and Alice did the same, albeit beside the girl. She seemed nonplussed, looking from Allen to Alice and back, not quite sure what to make of them. Allen beamed at the girl. "So what's your name?"

Spoiler

Oh wow, we're moving so fast already!

Matt | Platform 9 and 3/4 / The express

I found myself on platform 9 and 3/4 away from the clutches of Father. I was certain that they wanted to give me a cold, stiff hug that was the only sign of affection they'd displayed in the summer two years ago after they discovered me fiddling with Muggle card tricks.

Smoke billowed from the train, like a protective layer that protected me from them. One of my younger brothers would mention "let-down". The smoke was good.

I heaved my trunk onto the train and dragged it along the narrow corridors. Ten minutes later, I entered an empty compartment and sat next to the window with my legs bridging across the floor onto the other seat. Doodling on the misted window, the compartment door slowly slid open. I turned around.

"Free comp--oh, Matt! Good to see you."

I turned around to see Owen - a fellow fourth year in Gryffindor who was in the Quidditch team last year. "Owen! How are you?"

"I'm alright. Summer was good. Yours?"

"I'm still a disgrace, apparently. Dad's being an idiot, and cold and I'm beginning to wonder if they actually like me or not." I sighed. "Never mind."

The Hogwarts Express then shuddered and stopped. It shuddered again and the floor began to rumble under our feet. I knew we were on the way to Hogwarts.

Perhaps this year would be the year when my practical work matched my written work. After that, we'd really see who was a disgrace.

Samara | Hogwarts Express:

Samara stared at the boy named Ben for a moment, not really processing his words. Then she blinked, realizing that he was inviting her into the compartment. She didn't really know how to respond to him just yet, so she tugged her trunk into the compartment and over to the window, where she sat it neatly under the window. A moment later, a black cat came running in and Samara blinked.

"Where were you?" she reprimanded, picking the cat up and plonking herself down on the seat. "Silly cat. I thought I'd lost you when we entered the station, but nooo. You ran off, didn't you?" She looked up, suddenly remembering the boy. He was busy talking to his toad, so she put the cat down and turned to her trunk to pull out a book. "I swear, Salem, sometimes I don't know what to do with you." She turned back to face the cat, who was sitting on the seat giving her the guiltiest innocent look. Samara didn't buy it for a second and gave him a stern one in return. "Now, you stay right there until we get to school. I don't want you disappearing again on me. Gods, my father paid a fortune for you."

Abruptly, the door slid open and Samara looked up. She stared at the people framed in the doorway for a moment before the boy's face registered. It was the boy who had bumped into her twice earlier! She scowled and snapped, "You." But she didn't get to say much more as the boy invited himself in and sat down without waiting for a reply. And then he had the nerve to ask her for her name! Her gaze narrowed as she flicked a glance from the boy to the girl who had accompanied him into the compartment. She wasn't fooled at all by the look he was giving her--or the smile. "Samara Devereux," she stated abruptly and picked up her book, flicking it open to the chapter she'd stopped at the night before. Salem gave a pitiful meow as the girl nudged him a little. Then the cat proceeded to hiss and slinked around onto Samara's trunk.

Silence descended--or rather, semi-silence. Ben was still arguing with his toad. Samara wasn't exactly listening, but she thought he was on about something to do with recruiting henchmen? She shook her head, smirking slightly. Odd boy, that one, she thought, flicking Ben a glance. Then she glanced towards the girl and froze, seeing the scar on the redhead's forehead for the first time. She abruptly sat upright. "You're Alice Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, aren't you?" she asked, suddenly very interested in her new companions, not that she had to like them, though.

Regina Jutsonberg | Hogwarts Express

Regina watched her grandfather wave unanimously with the other parents and guardians and younger siblings who had come to drop off their wizard children as the train slowly pulled away from platform 9 3/4 and out of King's Cross station.

She hadn't waved back, but instead looked into his old man's eyes and seeing the excitement all over his face. It had been their dream - for both of them - that there would be another wizard in the family, another eleven year-old leaving for Hogwarts and learning the extraordinary.

However, eversince the day of her tenth birthday, their profound grandfather-and-granddaughter relationship disintergrated in the heart of the child who had felt betrayed and lied to, for having been left ignorant on the matter of the death of her parents.

Once she could no longer see the face of the old man, Regina looked at the notepad she had left open on her lap, and, tilting her head slightly to the side, she noticed her little green, slimy toad eyeing her in such a 'philosophical' way (which was how she liked to call her toad's expression at times like these).

She wondered what would happen if she talked to him this time. Would he respond like on the night before she had received her Hogwarts admission letter, or would he just let out his classic croak?

"Gooey?"

She hadn't gotten a reply but was determined to get her toad to talk again. She took out the Muggle pen she had brought along with her - the one she kept between the spirals of her notepad - and scribbled down resentfully, the pen scratching away at the poor paper that would have caught fire if she had kept up with such an act.

"Gooey, do it again, please. Why aren't you talking?"

"Who are you talking to?" A blonde girl, wearing colourful clothes poked her nose through the compartment door, peering around as though she had been looking for something.

She had a trunk and her owl cage behind her, Regina tried making out the name that was written on the trunk but half of it was hidden by the girl's legs. 'BON' was all she could see, then gave up and looked back at the girl's beaming face, without saying a word.

She remained speechless as the girl had not given her the chance to open her mouth to utter even the slightest word.

Leopoldina Rockharrow | On the Platform

"And Leo, remember to cleanse every night, right? And Iffy says she'll send you some of that Egyptian stuff she always uses."

"Yes, Phora, alright," Leo said, trying to wrestle out of her eldest sister's arms. Eduaphora had gotten the First of September off especially to bid her four sisters farewell. "Quin and Ara and Lav have my back anyway."

"Yeah, we look after Leo-"

"And Leo will take care of us." As usual, Quintinia finished Araminta's sentence. "Which, according to Mother, is a difficult job to do."

"I don't want you two in detention once this year, do you hear?" Their mother was wringing her hands anxiously.

"I want to go to Hogwarts," Bert said in a small voice from where his father had slung an arm around his shoulders.

"Next year." Leopoldina leant down and hugged her brother tight. "I'll miss you."

"Come on." Lavinia was checking her dangling gold watch- an antique she found in a Muggle store. "We'll miss the train."

"Bye Mum!"

"Bye Phora!"

"Bye Dad!"

"Bye Bert!"

And then in a tangle of cat carriers and trunks and the arms of the twins and hips and elbows and high-heeled Muggle shoes, Leopoldina was bundled onto the Hogwarts Express.

Here, it was a reality. She was really leaving home. She was going to Hogwarts. There were owls and wands and cauldrons dangling off people's arms, corners of trunks hanging precariously over the edge of the luggage rack, breath misting up windows.

Lavinia scuttled off to go and do her Prefect duties, and Leopoldina looked at the twins expectantly.

"Well," said Araminta. "Now, little Leo, the time has come,"

"for us to say goodbye," finished Quintinia.

"Why, where are you two going?"

"We have business to attend to," Araminta said vaguely.

"With whom?"

"Nobody. Quidditch stuff," Quintinia said. "Owen Pepperidge has quit the team and we want to know why. And if he has any good try-out strategies. Since he's not trying out this year, he'll be happy to share, right?" The twins had always been Beaters, just as long as Leopoldina had played Seeker.

"Alright," she said with a shrug. "I better go meet some future classmates."

"That's better!" Araminta winked. "And remember- no Slytherins!"

Leopoldina sighed. All her family were in Gryffindor- apart from her father who had been a Slytherin, but was considered a convert upon marrying her mother. Leopoldina thought of all the houses Gryffindor suited her the best- she could never imagine being in Slytherin, nor was she smart enough to be in Ravenclaw. But Hufflepuff...

She made her way down the carriage. There was a compartment full of laughing Seventh Years, a lot of older students all greeting each other in the corridor. She then came to a couple in their late teens who were giving each other a rather non-verbal hello.

"Excuse me- excuse me!" she said loudly, but they were oblivious. She put Angelica's carrier in front of her and tried to push her way past.

Except something went wrong and perhaps the cage latched onto the handle, but all of a sudden, Leopoldina was falling into the compartment beside the couple.

It was full of people her own age.

"Hello," she said to them all. "Sorry, I just-" She looked back at the couple, who hadn't budged.

"That's alright," said a blond boy. "Are you a First Year as well?"

"Yes," Leopoldina said, taking in the two boys, the curly haired girl and the tiny red-head.

"I'm Allen Selwyn," said the boy. "This is Benjamin Fletcher, Samara Devereaux and... Alice Potter."

"No way," said Leopoldina, practically falling again. "You're Alice Potter?" she said to the redhead. "Do you really have the... scar?"

Alice pouted and held back her hair. Leopoldina grinned. "Too cool. You're in our year?"

"Yes," Alice said.

"I'm sorry, we didn't catch your name," Allen prompted.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Leopoldina Rockharrow. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Alice Potter | Compartment on the Express

"Nice to meet you too." Alice stifled a yawn and looked outside, oblivious to everyone's stares. "How long does it take to get to Hogwarts, anyway?"

"So you're the Girl Who Lived," Ben mumbled to himself. "I saw you outside. You had an owl with you."

Alice stared at him. "Yes...her name is Hedwig. Is that important, though?"

"No leader of the world can have an owl!" he proclaimed. "Only reptiles are fit for the job of being the Supreme Leader's familiars!"

"But I believe toads are amphibians?"

Ben stared at Allen, shocked, and then glared at his toad. "You should've told me you were an amphibian, you dancing ball of mud."

"Rrrr."

"Don't you take that tone with me!" Allen stared.

Samara was still busy staring at Alice when the latter made a wry face. "You know, I could do better with more talking and less staring." She grinned at Samara. "So what's that book you're reading?"

"This? It's for Care of Magical Creatures. I find hippogriffs particularly fascinating."

"Hippogriffs?"

"Ahem." They all looked around to face a largely ignored Leopoldina Rockharrow. "What house are you hoping for, Miss Potter?"

"House?" Alice looked nonplussed. "I don't know what you mean by that..."

"Houses!" Allen leaned forwards, his blue eyes taking on a dreamy sheen. "I wanna go to Slytherin. My parents and godfather were in there, you know...and so was Merlin!"

"Ugh, Slytherin." Leo rolled her eyes. "I'm going to be in Gryffindor, like all my family has been!" She shot a glare of disgust at Allen. "Slytherins are just backstabbing snakes that don't deserve to--"

"Don't deserve to what, exactly?" Alice stepped in. Allen was her first friend, whatever else he also was; she didn't want him to be insulted in this manner right in front of her eyes. "You realize that's my friend you're talking to, Rockharrow."

But Allen had other ideas. "I expect you Rockharrows will always be narrow-minded little kittens." He glared. "I shouldn't have expected any more from a spoiled brat from a spoiled family."

"Allen!"

Alice stared at him, surprised. But Leo was bristling, and she stepped closer to him. "Don't you dare insult my family, shortiecakes! I'll burn you down to hell and back if you do!"

"Call me shortiecakes again and I'll spell your face into a pig's!"

"Stop it this instant!" Alice roared. "Rockharrow, please, get out of my sight, and stop upsetting my friend. I won't stand for it if you hurt him in anyway."

"Have it your way, Potter." The other girl sneered. "I expect you're going to end up in Slytherin just like that pipsqueak over there. I'm just wasting my time." She turned around and walked off, leaving the four alone in the compartment. Alice dropped back onto her seat and hid her face in her hands while Allen privately fumed to himself. Samara was the first to break the silence.

"So...that was quite the heated discussion."

Sae Carrow I Hogwarts Express

Sae wandered aimlessly through the train corridor, her trunk situated away with the other's beneath the train, with her broom still perched on her shoulder and Felix in her arms. She had a dreamy sort of look in her eyes that drew many awkward glances her way as people wondered what exactly was wrong with her.

"We don't have many friends, do we, Felix?" she said aloud, though not necessarily directed toward the cat in her arms. One would assume that a person would be upset about a realization like this, however Sae continued with the same dreamy tone she typically carried in conversation.

At last she stumbled upon a compartment with two familiar fourth year faces - Owen again, and a boy Matt who was also in her year. "Hello there, boys," she said, a sweet smile on her face. "Mind if I join you?"

They both shrugged, with Owen adding, "be my guest."

"How was your summer, Matt?" Sae asked as she sat between the boys on their bench, rather than taking a seat on the empty bench across from them. Felix, however, jumped out of her arms and promptly snuggled himself in the center of the empty seat.

"Disgraceful, apparently," he mumbled to himself, but then he looked up at Sae and forced a little smile. "Want to see a trick?" he asked as he pulled a deck of cards from his pocket.

"I'd love to," Sae said with a smile. As he shuffled the cards and prepared his trick, Sae rambled on about muggle magic. "Did you know the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest have a fascination with muggle magic tricks? They don't come into contact with muggles often. Anything muggle is just the most wonderful thing to them."

"You know you aren't supposed to go into the Forbidden Forest, Sae" Owen said with a laugh from where he sat on her other side.

Sae turned and smiled at him. "Perhaps," she said. She then turned back to Matt, giving him her full attention as he displayed his card trick and the countryside flew by the window beyond.

Cillian Tooley | Hogwarts Express

Something sped along the train's narrow corridor, weaving between the legs of several students. Somehow, it managed to catch a few chatty first years off guard, as they sprawled to the ground, hastily trying to get out of the way. Cauldrons toppled over, gobstones spilled and rolled away in foul trails of gooey saliva.

Several heads whipped back trying to make out the furry creature, only to realize it was somebody's cat. The furball in question had finally poke its head around a compartment, and disappeared as swiftly as it came.

"You might want to clean that up," Cillian said, pointing to the spitting marbles. He was already dressed in his Slytherin robes, strolling after his beloved feline as though without a care in the world.

Cillian tried to ignore all the vicious glances and muttered curses thrown his way, but his tell-tale ears were as red as the Gryffindor colors. It was strange to see Puckers act out, but then again, it's been months since they were back at Hogwarts. England's air can have that affect on a cat. And maybe even on him.

As he made his way into the compartment the cat had dashed to, he found himself face to face with two fellow Quidditch players from the opposing teams, and the strange Ravenclaw girl, who he could never remember her name.

Correction, one fellow Quidditch player.

Apparently, Pepperidge quit and Tooley wanted nothing to do with the boy anymore.

Puckers, meanwhile, found a home on Edmunds' lap. The cat had a fondness for cardboard cards and enjoyed chewing on the edges. Edmund on the other hand, looked forlorn. He was just about to finish his trick...

"Why, Edmunds, we meet again," Cillian said. "And how's the family?"
He recalled the time his family was invited over to the Edmunds' estate for tea and business matters.

"Excuse me, girl," Cillian said, just as Edmund was about to speak. "What was your name again? I'm always forgetting."

It downright bothered him not knowing.

Owen Pepperidge | Hogwarts Express

"Her name's Saelynn," said Owen. "But I figure only family names matter to you so you'd better call her Carrow." He said the last word in a bitter mockery of the Slytherin's voice.

Cillian wrinkled his nose. "So judgemental, Pepperidge. I'd expect nothing less from a Gryffindor."

Owen let out a snort and reached for his wand but Cillian was faster. With a wand pointed between his eyes Owen could do nothing but show his hands were empty and fume.

"So judgemental and so easy to provoke."

"Shut it, Tooley."

"And so eloquent. Who'd have thought?"

"You'll pay for this," Owen muttered but the rest of the thought process was interrupted by an exclamation from Matt.

"Hey presto!" he said, brandishing the deck of cards with a flourish. He appeared to have turned every card in the pack into the Ace of Clubs. Even better, Matt's wand wasn't even in sight. It must have been a Muggle trick. "Wait-- was nobody watching? Nevermind..."

"Talking about clubs, Pepperidge," said Cillian, turning his attention back to the Gryffindor. "If you manage to set up that Duelling Club you've been talking about, then why don't we continue this disagreement there?"

"Nothing would make me happier," said Owen. Apparently it was the right answer because Cillian lowered his wand and stalked off down the train.

"Always happy to see old red-ears go," Owen grumbled.

"I have a tongue, you know," said Sae who'd been eerily quiet throughout the whole exchange. "It's quite a nice one, as they go."

Matt looked as confused as Owen felt. "That's good, Sae," Matt replied. "But why are you telling us?"

"Because it means I can talk for myself." Sae looked at Owen meaningfully.

There was a clatter as the compartment door opened. It was Cillian again. Before even Owen could manage a "Look who's back!" the Slytherin spoke cooly and calmly to the carriage.

"I'm afraid I forgot my cat."

Puckers mewled and rolled over in Matt's lap. Cillian's ears burned.

Samara | Hogwarts Express:

"So...that was quite the heated discussion." Samara glanced from the door where Rockharrow had been to the other three people sitting in the compartment with her. Ben had gone back to talking to his toad, reprimanding him for not telling Ben that the toad was an amphibian. Samara decided to ignore Ben for a moment and looked towards Allen and Alice.

Allen was the first to reply. "Bloodtraitors," he muttered, "the lot of them."

Samara blinked at him, and decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell him that, despite her pureblood name, she was actually a half-blood. She swallowed and looked away. 'I've heard of them." Allen looked her way and she just shrugged, pulled her book back up in front of her face. She peeked over the edge of it, frowning. Allen had turned his attention to Alice. Samara was thankful that the attention had been turned away from her.

"Are you okay?" he asked the Girl-Who-Lived. Samara didn't expect her to answer, so she flicked Ben a glance. The boy was still scolding his toad. Samara giggled; she couldn't help it. Ben was amusing. And now he was eyeing her. She gave him a narrowed eyed look that clearly told him to stop looking at her.

Benjamin | Hogwarts Express

Ben gazed at Samara, letting a small smile spread across his lips at the look she was giving him. At least he now knew she was capable of expressing emotions other than disdain and apathy, though apathy was really the lack of emotions, but it wasn't like someone would correct him on his own thoughts. He broke his staring contest with Samara to cast a look at Alice Potter, the Girl Who Lived. She thought he couldn't tell the difference between a reptile and an amphibian? Chaucer would one day be a dragon, which was classified as a reptile. It wasn't his fault she didn't share his foresight. And that other boy. He glared at the boy sitting next to him, Allen.

"You know," Ben said with an audible edge to his voice, "calling someone a 'Bloodtraitor' implies that they share a blood connection with you. If you honestly believe anyone calling themselves Pureblood hasn't had at least a dozen muggleborn or halfies in the mix, you might well be an inbred pureblood. It'd take that level of stupidity to believe that crock."

Chaucer let out a low ribbit as Ben's hand tightened its grip, his other hand balled into a fist. This was exactly the kind of bigotry he wanted to end and here it was being spouted out of the mouth of children his own age. He glared at Alice next.

"The most surprising thing is that you want to be his friend. You Know Who was all about Purebloods standing above all others and punishing the Bloodtraitors. To think I actually wanted to work with you."

He pushed his head against the back of his chair rather forcefully and let out a deep sigh that came out more as a growl. His eyes shut for a moment, opening a handful of seconds later with the playful gleam returned to them.

"When I overtake the Ministry of Magic, all those stupid laws that favor bigots over the rest of us, including the 'magical creatures', are gone. Magic is magic. You have a problem with that, I'll destroy you," he looked back at Samara, "except you, of course. Since you're my first friend I won't really mind what you do. After all, everyone needs a fatal flaw." He added a hearty chuckle for good measure.

Allen Selwyn/Alice Potter | Hogwarts Express

"...I didn't mean to say that." Allen rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on when Alice turned her narrow gold eyes accusingly on him. "I know Muggles are people too, I just...I don't know. I don't know." He looked away from the others, unable to meet their eyes. It was a slip of the tongue, and he hadn't meant to call her that, but he had, and now he couldn't take it back. After a while, Alice finally cleared her throat.

"So uh...why do you really want to get into Slytherin so much?"

Allen looked back at her. "Well...my godfather was in there, and so were my parents. Frankly, I feel like I won't be accepted anywhere else, you know?"

"I'm not surprised," Samara mumbled, face hidden behind her book. "With a disposition like that..."

"I never bumped into you on purpose!" Allen protested. "I was just distracted..."

Samara ignored him, turning a page of her book. Allen looked pathetically at her and then back at Alice. "Honestly, I never meant to hurt anyone..."

"I believe you." Alice patted his shoulder ingratiatingly, not wanting him to break out into a fountain of tears and flood the compartment floor. She straightened and looked outside. "It looks like evening..."

"We must be close to Hogwarts!" It was Ben, his eyes gleaming triumphantly at the others. Alice rather thought he was beginning to look like a gecko. "Soon, very soon, I shall be in position to take over the world!"

"With an amphibian," the Potter girl remarked drolly, receiving a glare in return. Allen stiffled his laughter and looked outside as well. "I suppose we should be changing into robes then."

"I suppose." Alice stood up. "So who's going first?"

Spoiler

This is going back in time a little just to explain what happened to Val.

Valentina Esparza I Hogwarts Express

Valentina climbed onto the Hogwarts Express uncertainly, unsure of what to expect. The train had only just arrived and many of the other students seemed to be lingering on the platform, talking amongst themselves. Some of them were saying sentimental goodbyes to their families, others trying desperately and unsuccessfully to get away from them. A few others like Valentina stood around looking lost, clearly waiting for the throngs of students to begin climbing aboard the train.

She stepped into the train’s corridor, feeling the gentle hum and vibration of the resting train pass through her. The corridor was fairly well lit, although some of the lights further down the aisle flickered uncertainly – but there was no doubt that would be magically fixed soon enough. She walked down the aisle, brushing her fingers lightly against the wall as if afraid that the train would start moving at any minute and send her flying down the corridor. As she walked along, she peered into some of the compartments. There were a few odd students who had already taken their places but the majority of the compartments were still empty.

At the end of the corridor was a door she guessed led to the luggage compartment. She moved towards it, curious and momentarily almost forgetting that she was on a train and not already in the castle. Scrawled on the wooden door in black paint were the words “Noli Intrare”.

Growing up as an Esparza meant that Valentina had been taught some Latin, but although she instantly recognised that the words were Latin, she couldn’t put a finger on what they meant. She considered the door. Behind her she could hear more students boarding the Hogwarts Express, although none of them were in sight yet.

Looking guiltily behind her, she darted into the nearest compartment and left her luggage lying there. She crossed her fingers and hoped vehemently that nobody would look inside her trunk, and then walked back out into the corridor and pushed the door open. It swung open with a creak.

Inside, it was dark to the point of pitch blackness. She pushed the door shut behind her and the sounds outside almost instantaneously faded to a muffled nothing. She felt inside her pocket for her wand. Under her parents’ strict supervision she had never even tried to use it before – but now it settled neatly in her hand, vibrating friendly power towards her. She ran a gentle hand along it. Thirteen inches of light mahogany with a sphinx hair core; it was hers and only hers.

She took a deep breath and held her wand out, preparing to cast her first spell. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach; she had only ever read about doing things like this before. But unknown to her parents, she had been watching their spells for years. Most of them were too difficult for her to even think of attempting, but this one she felt was at least worth a try.

“Lumos,” she said, and the tip of the wand lit up. She exhaled and gave off a little laugh of joy and relief. It had worked. She really was a witch.

She moved forward. She could now see what was all around her: piles of trunks, boxes and cages. She kept moving towards the back of the room, when her skin began to prickle and she froze on the spot. She turned slowly; she had felt something gently stroking the lower part of her leg.

She held her breath and closed her eyes, her wand dangling limply and uselessly in her hand, as the tendrils of the plant wrapped themselves tenderly around her leg and forced her down onto the ground. Silent and steady, it began to seep out of the cage and wrap itself around her. She felt herself slipping into a deep sleep.

It was only now that she remembered what the Latin words scrawled on her door had truly meant. Noli Intrare.

Do Not Enter.

Spoiler

Although this may seem a little extreme for the Hogwarts Express, I suppose the room she entered must simply have been the area where they stored the dangerous magical plants/other things they were transporting to Hogwarts. If anyone wants to save Val, feel free.