"Have a safe trip, dear! Make sure to send me an owl when you are all settled in," Petunia called out, waving at Harriet as she let a conductor take her daughter's luggage.
"Bye, Mother! I'll see you at Christmas!" Harriet shouted. She glanced at the clock mounted on the stations wall. Still about half an hour till the Hogwarts Express left. She started to go down the carriage, looking for someone her age. There weren't many people on the train yet.
Finally, she came to a carriage with a girl reading a large copy of 'Hogwarts: A History.' "You got a copy, too? Mother said that it was supposed to have a lot of information about Hogwarts," Harriet said in way of greetings.
The bushy-haired girl looked up. She had light freckles on her face and a slight overbite. "That's what the man at the bookstore said. It's very interesting!"
"My name's Harriet Dursley! Pleased to meet you. Are you a first year too?" she asked as she plunked down across from the other girl. "I've known I was magic for a long time, but Mother really doesn't know that much about the Wizarding world."
"I am Hermione Granger! Really? I had no idea about magic at all. I'm the first witch in my family! Mother and father were so surprised when my owl arrived."
"I was raised mostly Muggle, myself. My aunt and uncle adopted me. They're Muggles. My uncle absolutely hates magic. Doesn't like me much at all. My parents weren't Muggles, though." Harriet pulled out her glasses case from a pocket and put on her reading glasses over her bright toad-green eyes.
"Oh? I am, um, sorry to hear about your parents," Hermione said over her book. She did have a sympathetic look on her face.
"I was really young. I don't remember them at all. Auntie loves me like her own daughter, so it's not too bad. She's my mothers sister. Do you have any other family?" Harriet looked up from her own copy of Hogwarts: A History. She glanced outside to see more people coming through the magical barrier.
"No, I'm an only child. I do wish I had a brother or sister sometimes."
"Not me. My cousin is a big old bully. He's as big a whale and loves to beat up kids around the block," Harriet groused.
A blond-haired boy stuck his head into the room. "You haven't happened to see a boy, first year, with a scar on his forehead, have you?"
Both of them shook their heads. Once he was gone and Hermione was reading here book, Harriet furtively made sure her long bangs were covering her forehead well.
"He must be looking for Harry Potter," Hermione mused. "I guess he should be on the train this year."
"Really?" the other girl almost squeaked.
"Oh, yes. What House are you looking to get sorted into?" the bushy-haired girl asked.
"Oh, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, I think. Those seem to be the only really decent houses. I don't think I'd like to be a Slytherin or Hufflepuff."
"Me, too! I really hope that we get into the same House. Then we can be dorm mates!"
The door banged open again. "Has anyone seen a toad?" a small boy about their age asked plaintively.
They shook their heads again. "Do you need some help finding it?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, please! I don't want to lose Trevor! My gran will be so mad!" the slightly tubby boy seemed very happy at her offer of help.
"I'm Harriet Dursley!"
"And I'm Hermione Granger! What's your name?" Hermione scrambled to her feet and put away her book into a bag.
"Neville Longbottom. You're first years too?" he asked.
"Yes," Harriet said as she took off her reading glasses and stowed her own books in her backpack.
They spent most of the trip looking for Trevor, without any luck. When they saw the food cart, they ran back to their seats. Harriet pulled out her purse and withdrew her pouch of money. She and Hermione were a bit stumped by the types of sweets on the cart. Deciding to err on the side of caution (so she said) Harriet bought at least one of everything.
"You're well off, Harriet?" Hermione asked as she munched on a chocolate frog. They had squealed in surprise when it tried to hop off.
"Well, we're not really rich, but Uncle Vernon makes good money. My parents left me a vault of Wizarding money too." Harriet smiled in happiness. It was nice to have new friends, even if she was away from home and her old friends.
"Oh? It looks like we are there. We'd better get our robes on. Should we wear our hats, too?" the other girl asked.
Harriet jammed on her pointed hat. The better to hide her forehead, she thought. "Witches wear these sort of things, I guess." They exited the train and then heard a voice bellowing out.
"Firs Years, over here! Firs Years!" a gigantic man shouted. He was twice the height of a normal man and three times as wide, with a shaggy beard and weird coat made of furs.
The girls looked around frantically, but no one other than the First Years seemed to think the man was out of place. A few of the older students even waved to him. With trepidation, the two girls ended up in a small boat with Neville and another boy with shockingly red hair. The boats floated off in a row magically.
"Hi! I'm Ron Weasley! Neville said you tried to help him find his toad?" Ron said in greeting. "Watch it, Neville!"
Ron's warning was too late. Neville had fallen into the water! Harriet and Hermione squealed like girls in fright. But only a moment later, a tentacle lifted the boy out of the water and deposited him back into the tiny boat.
"There, there! No fuss! He'll be all right." Hagrid shouted, calming all of the children down. "Duck yer heads here!" And with that, the boats slid into a small cave and docks. The huge man happened to find Neville's toad too! He knocked on a huge door that opened immediately. "The Firs Years, Professor McGonagal."
The old witch that had opened the door led them up a long flight of steps and to a room. Off in the distance, the chatter of exited children could be heard. The professor disappeared, just before ghosts walked through the walls into the room they were in. Harriet and Hermione shared a worried glance when Ron mentioned to poor Neville that they had to wrestle a troll to be admitted to the school.
After their brief introduction and scare, the ghosts wandered towards the feast. Then Professor McGonagal ushered them into the main hall and to the front. On a stool in front of them sat the most ragged of hats. After it sang out its song, Professor McGonagal called out the first student to put on the hat.
Finally, "Dursley, Harriet," was called.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Arthur Hansen
(Posted Mon, 01 Nov 2004 19:43)
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