(1) Lux Brumalis (R. Weasley)

Chapter Ten

Pixie makes her way along with the crowds of students as they all make their way off the train. She climbs from the train and onto the platform which is bustling with students, a sea of black robes. She wrinkles her nose a little and pulls her own robes closer to herself. It's raining and it's cold and it's so Scottish. If this isn't a dreary image. All that black. All that rain. She lets out a breath, blowing a loose strand of her hair from her eyes. She was excited about this, but the weather is just not helping her mood.

"Firs' years!" Hagrid voice booms through the whispers and chattering. "Firs' years over here!" Pixie lets out a breath and looks around for him, which proves to be easy considering Hagrid's sheer size. Numerous tiny bodies start to move towards where Hagrid is calling for first years. Pixie does the same. "C'mon, follow me" Hagrid adds. "Any more firs' years?" He leads the first years down a steep and narrow path. Pixie is careful of her footing, mostly because the ground is wet and slippery from the rain and because she is aware these shoes have no grip on the sole of her shoes. She can see Ron and Harry ahead of her, she'd chosen not to go with them when they left, mostly because she wanted to get changed in peace. No offence to them, they're clearly nice boys but she just wanted to be girly for a few moments, to fix her hair and put on some lip gloss. "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid offers over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here" The narrow path opens onto the edge of a huge lake. And across it, perched atop a high mountain, is a vast castle. Gothic and medieval. Her mother told her about it, but actually seeing it in the flesh is something else. It's bigger than she expected. She glances to her side as Hermione slips through the crowd to join her, the two of them sharing a look. Pixie gives her a small smile and then turns back to the lake. She lets out a breath and tugs her robes closer as a chill runs through her.

.........

Up at the castle, all the first years huddle closer, subconsciously trying to protect themselves from the rain and the cold as they follow Hagrid up a flight of steps towards a huge oak front door.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid asks as he looks around, making sure he hasn't lost any of the students. His eyes land on Neville. "You there, still got your toad?" He asks, Neville sniffles and nods. Hagrid then turns and raises a gigantic fist to knock on the door three times. Each one is heavy. Almost forboding. Pixie takes a breath and tries to stand up taller. This is it. This is the beginning of her magical career. This is everything she's been waiting for. Her excitement is back, but so are her nerves. She wants to do good. To be good at magic. Her mother is an incredibly gifted witch, she wants to be just like her. She wants a good job, whether at the Ministry or with MACUSA. She wants to be the best. The door swings open, almost at once. A tall older witch in emerald-green robes stands on the other side. Stern faced. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall" Hagrid offers.

"Thank you, Hagrid" She offers. "I will take them from here" She pulls the door open wider and ushers the first years into the castle. She leads them into a small empty chamber, but voices can be heard coming from a door to the right of the one they are lead into it. It's clear that everyone is in that room, and not this one. "Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall tells the students. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, whilst you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, whilst any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting" Her eyes linger on Neville's cloak, fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. "I shall return then we are ready for you" McGonagall adds. "Please wait quietly" She then leaves the chamber. Pixie lets out a breath and straightens her robes a little. Her eyes scanning around the students huddled in this tiny chamber. Landing on Harry she cocks her head. Harry gives Pixie a small wave, she raises an eyebrow, her head held up high but she wiggles her fingers in a wave back at him before she lets out a breath. Digging into her pocket she pulls out her cell phone and touches the button on the side to awaken it. She wants to text her parents, to tell them that she has arrived. The phone seems to think about it. A lot. Before it struggles to light up. It almost instantly dies again. She frowns and holds down the button again. The screen lighting up quicker this time but it then dies again. She pats the phone against her hand and frowns as the display statics out. Completely dying on her. Her battery was fully charged when she left the house that morning.

"What the..." She complains and shakes the phone a little. "What is going on with this thing?"

"It's because electricity, and computers and radar, and all those things – they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air," Hermione informs her, Pixie turns to face her.

"What?" Pixie asks her.

"There is too much magic in the air" Hermione repeats but knows that it was probably not needed by the look on Pixie's face. She'd heard her loud and clear, like a fog horn of bad news. Pixie has lived with tech her entire life. She can't go without it. it was tech that got her up in the morning. Made her breakfast. Turned on the tv.

"No...tech?" Pixie asks and then looks down at her phone. She honestly looks like she is about to pass out with this news. Like her whole world has just fallen apart at her feet and shattered into a million tiny pieces. "Oh no," She whispers and hums in distress, fingers curling around her phone. Her mother must have known. Her mother went to Hogwarts. She has to have known. But she kept it from her. She chose not to tell her this. She lets out a breath and shivers violently. She is not reacting very well to the thought of having to go about the day to day without her phone, or a television, or music. Several people behind her suddenly scream causing Pixie to jump and spin slightly. Her eyes widen when she sees about twenty ghosts streaming through the back wall. They glide across the room talking to one another, ignoring the first years.

"Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance" The fat little monk states.

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bag name and you know, he's not really even a ghost...I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost suddenly sees the first years. Nobody answers him.

"New students!" The Fat Friar cheers. "About to be sorted, I suppose?" A few nervous students nod along to his question. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff" He offers. "My old house, you know"

"Move along now" McGonagall scolds as she returns. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start" One by one, the ghost all float away in opposite directions. "Now, form a line," McGonagall tells the first years. "And follow me"