On The Way Towards Hogwarts

She hated trains, she decided as it ran at a fast pace and shook side to side. She walked from compartment to compartment merely peering in and before she could enter to sit beside new people, she changed her mind.

This probably won't make me a Gryffindor she thought smirking.

She shook her head and instead kept walking, too scared to socialize. Once she found a lonesome compartment she slipped in and placed her things over her head.

She then sat down and admired the view as she sat beside the window.

Alice quietly made her way down the corridor of the crowded train. There were students everywhere, shouting and waving around their wands. It appeared that several of the students knew each other and the compartments were filling up quickly, the air abuzz with chatter.
Alice didn't recognize anyone she knew as she waited among the crowd at the mysterious Platform. Her mother had been her guide through the wall- the young girl didn't even realize that her own matriarch was a Witch. Though she didn't wish to acknowledge this anymore. She stood quietly on the platform with Alice, gave her a chaste kiss, and sent her on her way.
Alice clutched tightly to the top of the birdcage which held her dozing Great Horned Owl.
"Really, how can you be quiet at a time like this?" Alice muttered, her stomach jittery with nerves. Her large green eyes were soaking up the world around her and desperately looking for a place to sit.
That's when she spotted the near empty compartment, save one girl.
She appeared to be around her age and she sat looking out the window.
Alice shrugged silently to herself before stepping to the door of the car.
"Is anyone else joining you? Do you mind if I sit with you?"

It was was beautiful outside, A few minutes ago it looked full of life from the hectic students and parents, and in a sudden moment, nature surrounding them. It was peaceful. She let out a small delighted smile and wondered just what it was going to be like. She had been given Hogwarts: A History, from her mother but it was safely in her trunk. The only real thing she had with her was her wand and Coeur.

A small meow was what signaled her someone was entering the door. She was surprised at the loud noise of the old doors opening. She was always lost in her thoughts and in fact she wouldn't have even noticed had it not been her cat letting out a meow from her satchel. She turned her head, looking away from the window to face her.

"No, I don't mind at all, do sit" she said.

She was pleasant being polite she believed and let out a small smile to accentuate her politeness.

Alice was excited that the girl accepted her into the car. The bag that was upon her shoulder was weighing heavily and Nike was flapping about his cage. It was the cat that startled him.
Alice looked up at the girl who wore a pleasant smile and she reciprocated, her lips stretching across her teeth in a large warm grin.
"Thank you so much. It seems all the other kids know one another on the train. I'm new to this school." Alice began conversation. She placed Nike on the train seat opposite the girl and flung her suitcase on top on the rack. With a sigh she landed on the seat. "It's the first time I've seen a train this old too. Usually you only see these on the old films and programs on the telly."
Alice looked over to see a cat among the girl's belongings. This caused the girl to smile as she was very fond of cats.
A realization hit Alice as she looked the girl over, digesting her appearance.
"Oh, how very rude of me!" She exclaimed, jumping to her feet once again. She held out her hand in greeting. "My name is Alice Carroll Lane."

She blinked at the change of the girl's demeanor. She sure was perky, and for once she didn't really mind, finding her personality as contagious.

"Sorry" she began, seeing the owl flapping around. She was immediately glad she didn't get an owl, and covered Coeur with the flap of the satchel. "She's scared too" she said softly as her cat hid herself more into the satchel.

Hearing her comment about her being a first year did relax her more.

"I'm a first year too" she said with enthusiasm that somewhat surprised her. "Oh, I'm Tess McCartney"

She followed her steps and leaned to grab her hand to shake it.

"That's brilliant! We can learn the ropes together." Alice said with a smile. The nervousness and jitters that had accompanied her upon the train had left.
Alice settled down onto the seat across from Tess and pulled her feet up beside her. She removed her coat and placed it over the cage of the owl trying to hush him up.
"Nike is just a big brat. Sorry if he startled your cat." She apologized. "Mum wanted me to have an owl so I could fly post home. I suppose that means this school we're going to doesn't have the post." She glanced out the window at the moving landscape. "It sure feels strange leaving without my family. How about you? Are you from around London?"

She let out a wide smile and nodded. She hadn't really felt that she would find someone to talk to too quick but she quite liked the girl's enthusiasm. She found herself opening up faster than she expected.

"Absolutely!" she said nodding.

Her eyes trailed towards the owl, he was quite beautiful she admitted, but birds were tricky. Honestly she chose Coeur because she called out to her, if not she'd ask for a dog not because of being a familiar but because she loved them.

"I chose Coeur because...well she reminded me of an Ocelot. I love wild cats, but domesticated cats...not so much" she said.

Coeur meowed as if she was protesting and Tess immediately picked up her cat and nuzzled it.

"Of course Coeur is the exception" she cooed at her cat. "She's an Ocicat, she's practically a dog in a cat's body, with her love of swimming and fetching!" Coeur purred in contentment and her ears lowered showing her devotion. Tess smiled and kissed the top of her head. She hated to admit it but she was growing attached to her.

"You need an owl to send mail?" she thought frowning. I do hope you can borrow one at Hogwarts

"Oh...well we recently moved to London, prior to that we'd lived in Liverpool, and prior to that we lived in America" she said smiling. "You?"

"America? Oh how fascinating!" Alice chortled. "I'm from the London area, Uxbridge. But that's only been for the past year. My Da travels about. I was born in Scotland and lived here and there for a few years, then Ireland. I've been in England ever since I was eight and London area for the past two years."
Alice had been wondering what the strange accent was that lined the girl's voice. It was rather strange but Alice enjoyed the sound of it.
"She is a beautiful cat." She beamed over at the satchel, picturing in her head the hiding feline. "Quite exotic as well- though I suppose we should be getting used to the strange and unusual. I was a bit taken off my guard when me Mum brought me to Diagon Alley, to be honest."
Alice kicked her shoes off as she reclined on the seat, she didn't want to deter others from coming but all the excitement was wearing her out. And she was rather hungry. "Do you know much about the school we're headed to?"

She shrugged smiling slightly.

" I'm surprised that you didn't catch on to my accent, I do tend to allow some of my accent to get in" she said softly. "I'm afraid I haven't had too much of a chance to explore around London" she admitted.

She was very sheltered she figured considering that she did not know much of the area. As long as she could remember she was put in a bubble, she resented it, that is until now that she realized those 'accidents' were simply her magic not being correctly channeled.

Ah Diagon Alley, now she definitely understood that and nodded amused.

"Oh yes, my father was so excited to show me around, he said he hadn't been there in over fifteen years! My mother, never gone to Diagon was excited, after all it was much different than Beauxbaton wizarding villages. Personally I was more curious about the people than the shops. And as for Hogwarts..well somewaht" she said.

Sitting up, she climb the seat and took struggled to take out her book and plopped herself down once more. She shuffled through the pages till she found a picture of the castle.

"My mother gave me this..." she said. "This is the castle" she said pointing at the picture "I know that within the castle it is divided into four houses: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin"

"Fifteen years? Oh my!" Alice laughed. "My mother was a Witch but she hasn't practiced in many years. She still doesn't want to return to a Magical lifestyle and she doesn't want my siblings to know about it either. Right now they all think I'm off to a fancy boarding school." Alice admitted as she watched the girl climb the seat. "Diagon Alley turned out to be a 'quick grab your books, owl, wand, and robes' adventure and we were gone." Disappointment rang in her voice.

Tess returned to her height with a book, opening to show Alice grand pictures of a castle. The auburn haired girl's mouth dropped open as she looked at the magnificent structure. "It has to be ancient!" She cried. out. "And houses? What do the houses do?"

Alice was extremely pleased that she had encountered such a knowledgeable and friendly girl. She was so excited for her year but she didn't know what she was to expect.

Tess' eyes brightened finding that someone asking her questions about Hogwarts made her feel that she knew something. She didn't know much, except if it came from her textbooks, after all her parents had made sure of it.

She put her book on her lap and began to look for the crests, while she did so she didn't stop explaining.

"Well in Hogwarts, there is a Sorting hat, that once placed on the top of your head, your personality traits decree just what house do you belong in. There are four as I said before and well, each are different."

As she found the first crest she showed her the yellow crest with the badger.

"Based on this book, if you are loyal, dedicated, hard working, love fair play, and have patience, Hufflepuff is the best house for you. Personally I don't think I'll get in this house, I don't have much patience... you?"

"Patience?" Alice snickered. "My Mum always says it's a great trait to have and it's too bad that I don't have any of it."

Alice was grateful for the girl's guidance. She has risked going out on a limb and being made fun of or rejected for her ignorance but Tess was being very generous with the information.

She looked down upon the book where Tess was pointing and looked at the small Badger that was upon the yellow crest. "How'd they choose a Badger as a mascot anyways?"

She smirked hearing her comment about patience.

"See each house is assigned an element...Hufflepuff is earth, and I suppose that's why they chose the badger"

Immediately began flipping to the next crest, which she showed immediately.

"This is Ravenclaw," she said showing the blue and bronze crest. "They are known for be intelligent, wit, wisdom, creativity, and individuality."

She wrinkled her nose in thought.

"You know, I feel like if you say you belong in this house, you'll seem pompous" she said amused.

"Pompous I am not. And if grades are an indicator of intelligence....I don't really have much." Alice laughed. "I'm afraid that I am far too distracted. People are a lot more important than lessons, I believe. Besides, when am I really going to need silly concepts like arithmetic anyways? I'm sure we're not going to need all of that stuff when we get to the school. Surely they'll teach us all about magic. And in a castle that big there has to be so much to explore! I wonder if they have an secret passageways and hidden rooms." Alice's heart was racing as she thought of what types of terrible skeletons could be buried in that old castle. It was exciting.

"There are two more houses that you haven't explained? Correct?" Alice said with wonder as she looked at the Ravenclaw crest. "I probably should open this book at some point and actually read it myself but you are doing such a fantastic job at explaining it all."

Alice's excitement caused her to stand up and cross the car to sit beside the girl to get a better look at the giant book she had before her.

She couldn't help but laugh at the comment that she made about Ravenclaw, and she couldn't help but smile at the word adventure.

"Adventure?" she said smiling. "I admit I've never gone on any kind of adventure.....I guess until now..going to Hogwarts..I never had the chance"

She looked down for a bit, but hearing her question she nodded and slipped her book closer to Alice now that she was beside her now and showed her the crimson and gold crest.

"Gryffindor" she said smiling "Fire element. They are known to possess bravery, chivalry, courage, and are known to be daring"

She showed her the lion.

"From what you said, I think this really fits you" she said smiling shyly at her. "Personally I feel like the last house fits me best. Slytherin"

"Daring is a trait that has always been used to describe me- though I can't always say in the most positive sense. Gryffindor sounds like a really honorable house though. It must be pretty nice to have a lion as a mascot as well. Certainly a lot more intimidating than a raven and a badger." Alice responded.

She was looking down upon the crest for Gryffindor when her gaze shifted to the last house crest that Tess indicated to. "Slytherin....an interesting name no doubt. Why do you say it suits you best?" She looked down upon a crouching snake against a green backdrop/

She smiled hearing Alice describe herself.

"And while the lion is very honorable to have, I'd never be a Gryffindor because I-I'm not too courageous. But Slytherin, the water element, they are known to be ambitious, traditional, resourceful, cunning and seek power. And while those traits seem bad actually I find myself fitting there more. I mean...I might be hard working like a Hufflepuff, but I'm not too down to earth, and I'm not as studious as a Ravenclaw, nor brave like Gryffindor...but Slytherin? I'm ambitious, and as for power, I want to hone it and know my own strength"

She looked down at the serpent and sighed.

"That and every single person on my father's side has been in Slytherin...I can't be different" she murmured.

"You could be different," Alice encouraged Tess. "Who knows, maybe you'll be a Gryffindor after all! Everyone has their own different style of bravery, I think." She gave Tess an encouraging shoulder squeeze.

Alice looked back out the window and her green eyes followed the passing treeline. "What exactly do people do at Hogwarts that there needs to be houses? Do they have any sports or something? And what's there to win?"

Her questions flew forth from her mouth and quickly she covered her lips with her hand. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so inquisitive. I really ought to read the book for myself, learn a thing or two. Do you by chance know if there is food service on this train? I'm rather hungry."

She looked at her shyly, but smiled a genuine one as she said this.

"Perhaps" she said softly.

Maybe she was supposed to be a Gryffindor, maybe, who knew! She smiled softly and laughed as she heard her excitement.

"It's no problem" she said kindly. "I love someone who'd want to know more...but if you must know, the houses are divided because of friendly competition! There's a game called Quidditch where each house has their own and compete in those games, as well as house points given in classes, so it's both points for academia and athleticism!" she later added "As for food, well that I have no idea"

"Quidditch, what a funny word!" Alice chortled. "Though I probably should be getting used to strange sounding things. I mean- Hogwarts itself is a bit amusing."

She left the side of Tess to return to her seat on the opposite side of the room. She settled into the cushion and put her feet up, turning her head to look at Tess. "You say that all the Wizard's on your dad's side are Slytherin...so your father is a Wizard? Is your mother as well?"

She let out a "hmm" and nodded. She let out a smile thinking of her family and answered.

"Hm, yes. Daddy's family have all been Slytherin wizards, he has so much school pride, he actually gave me his tie....I do hope I get in the house" she said frowning. "Mere, um..Mum, she is also a witch, but she went to Beauxbatons school. You?" she asked curious.

"Beauxbatons? I've never heard of that school." Alice responded. "My mother was a Witch but I don't know much about her. Both her parents aren't Magical...Muggles I think she called them...and neither is my Father. She was pressured by me Da to give up Magics to move with him to Scotland. They had a sort of elicit relationship at the time. She was so in love with him, still is, that she decided to give it up. She said something about a storm that was beginning to brew on the Magic front and she knew a war was coming. She didn't feel very connected. And I guess me Da said that she was bullied by several of the students at Hogwarts." Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"So she gave it all up and raised me and my siblings in the non Magical world. Didn't even bother to tell us that she was a Witch. O' Course she didn't expect me to start having difficulties in school. I was often sent to the Headmaster's office for accidents. I tried to explain to people that they weren't my fault but I suppose my pranking outside of these random occurrences didn't really help my story. Mum figured out before long that I was a Witch as well. It's a bit strange and she isn't very keen on talking about it so I am not even certain of what house she could have been in. Though, I think she was a Slytherin."

She nodded and looked at her with genuine interest.

"Ah, you're a half-blood" she said curious. "You really lived in a Muggle world?! That's fantastic!"

Noticing her exclamation, she blushed slightly.

"I'm sorry but that's really interesting to me. Personally I shared a similar life to yours. My father and mother both chose to move to America because of the war that was beginning to rise. My mother had me in America, and they actually thought I was born a Squib because of my lack of signs of magic"

She ended up whispering Squib, as if she was cursing, or saying something most foul.

"They decided than rather than live with Muggles, or live with Wizards, they lived in isolation in a giant mansion. I was home schooled for my parents were...were surprised I did not have any signs of magic. Later was it that I began to do things I couldn't explain to my parents. I once was found on the roof, with no way of me getting up there on my own, apparently I had apparated to the roof. We moved to London once she found out I was getting of age and...I couldn't go to Salem...they slayed witches in the past you know." she whispered. "So now I'm here I guess."

She lifted her brow in genuine interest.

"How is the Muggle world may I ask?"

"Half Blood?" Alice laughed. "Alright, I'm a half blood I take it. And what is the world is a-" she paused to lean in and whisper back to Tess "squib?" She wrinkled her nose at the word. It was rather strange to say.

"And I suppose the Muggle world is doing rather dandy. We've had some wars ourselves- though I suppose no matter where you go, if there is people there is conflict." Alice shrugged her shoulders. "There's been a lot of technological advances. Me Mum got me this before I left. Sort of a going away gift." She answered and pulled a smart phone out of her pocket. "She'd prefer me to write so that I don't drive up the phone bill but she said that I can give her a call every- hang on....it doesn't seem to be working." Alice's face contorted as she looked down at the phone. It was flashing on and off. "I hope it's alright because I just downloaded all my music onto the bloody machine." She groaned. "Other than that there isn't really much I can say about it. Other than the Magical world is much more fantastic."

Alice glanced out the door window and noticed that a cart seemed to be making its way up the aisle. The smell of chocolates and warm bread made its way through the train and she inhaled sharply, her stomach growling with the hopes of food.

Her eyes grew wide seeing the "phone" object that Alice was holding.

"Phone" she murmured and tilted her head to look at it from many angles.

Muggles don't use owls? she thought surprised.

"Fantastic!" she said.

She felt herself feeling a little foolish asking this, but she needed to know, was magic around her and did she simply not notice? She was in that awkward grey area where she had a mixture of Muggle and Magic, but in her psyche that is what everyone did. Slowly she was learning from her mother that some objects she saw that were normal, they were magical.

"Um..Alice? Do-do Muggles use Floo powder? You know where, where one uses a powder at the chimney place to teleport?" she asked.

She was going to answer Alice's question, that is until she smelled fresh bread.

"Food cart" she purred in excitement and opened the compartment door.

"Hello dears!" the old woman said looking at the hungry children. "What would you like?"

"Cinnamon roll please" she said taking out four sickles.

She handed the lady the money and she got her hot cinnamon roll.

"You want something Alice?" she asked.