The Shifter

The Express

I stand in front of the brick divide between Platforms 9 and 10, knowing exactly what I have to do, yet dreading it nonetheless. Doubts swirl through my mind. What if it's all fake? Could the Platform be shut off? Is it even the right year? Will they be there?
    Behind me I hear my family urging me on. They know next to nothing, yet are being so supportive. I heave a quick sigh, hope for the best, and roll my trolley at the very solid-looking wall in front of me, picking up speed as I go. Just before I reach the bricks, I screw my eyes tightly shut and clutch the cage holding my tawny barn owl (a gift from my parents), Hera, making sure she is not hurt in the likely event that I make a spectacular crash.
    I am enveloped in a cool mist-like sensation. I open my eyes, not believing that I've done it. I have. The Hogwarts Express stretches out along its track, billowing steam. Around it, young witches and wizards are bidding their parents (wizard and muggle alike) farewell. My stomach is filled with warmth; I have waited years for this moment.
    I turn to see my family enter the station, their faces of shock mirroring mine. Together, we walk in the direction of the engine and I peer at the crowd, looking for them. I listen to the familiar sound of my mom checking everything I'm doing. It's almost reassuring to know that she hasn't changed. Suddenly she comes up beside me and squeezes my hand, making her signature excited mom squeak.
    "Your big day! Honestly, when we got the letter I was kind of skeptical, but now... you're gonna be a witch!"
I smile at the memory of the day I received my letter. Rachel had been leaving for school with my dad when they came across the letter addressed to Miss Caroline Gruenbaum, First bedroom on the right at the end of the hall, 2235 Paddock Place on our doorstep. Of course I knew immediately what it was, but my family was bewildered. The Ministry representative showed up five minutes after we opened it. At first, my parents were terrified but honestly, he sold them.
And now look at me: I'm finally here. Once my dad is finished helping me load my luggage onto the train, my mom launches into the "my baby's so big speech" (complete with tears and everything) and my dad lectures me about "being careful". Called it. I give Rachel one last hug and I board the train, waving back at my family.
Once they are out of sight, my smile falls off my face. I need to find them. The books never mentioned which compartment they sat in, right? Either way, I don't remember, and I need to start looking.
I heave my heavy suitcase from the carpeted floor of the isle and am just picking up Hera when someone collides into the metal cage I'm holding, causing the owl to let out a screech that makes kids in the surrounding compartments clap their hands to their ears. Nice one, Caroline. Guess I'm still not used to this eleven-year-old body. I turn to apologize to the person I just mutilated with a birdcage and stop short.
"I am so sorry. Let me help you." Her almond shaped green eyes are filled with sincerity, bringing out her stunning, slightly auburn hair. A few freckles dot her now slightly pink face, There's no mistaking her. Lily Evans. Okay, not what I was expecting.
"Hello?" She's standing in front of me, holding the cage out. "You okay there?"
I'd been staring at her for at least half a minute. Nice.
"Yeah, yeah," I responded, trying to play it off. "What's your name?" Smooth.
A sour voice emanates from my right. "Why does it matter? Come on Lily, let's find somewhere to sit before all the other gits have taken the seats up."
I should have known. My eyes reluctantly absorb his revolting appearance, greasy from head to toe (especially his black, chin-length hair), a nasty hooked nose, and sallow skin. Severus Snape. Ew.
I purse my lips but decide to ignore him. There's no use causing a bigger scene than I already have on the first day of school.
"Sev, honestly!" she chastises him, then addresses me, "Sorry about him. Do you have an accent? Oh, and I'm Lily Evans, first year, nice to meet you."
I grin, she seems to like me. "Yeah, I'm from the US. Caroline Gruenbaum, I'm a first year too. Sorry for hitting you. Can I maybe find a seat with you guys? I don't know anyone else here."
"I just love how you talk. Yeah you can sit with us. Right, Sev?"
Snape grunts moodily in response.
Wonderful, if I remember correctly, they should take me right where I want to go. I follow the two young wizards down the incredibly long isle, by full compartment after full compartment, finally stopping at one that still has room for a few more people. My heart leaps when I see who's sitting inside.
My gaze lands on a laughing, glasses-clad boy, with the messiest black hair I've ever seen. On the bench next to him, sits another boy, this one with sleek, combed, mahogany hair, not quite long enough to pull back, but longer than the average eleven year old's. I know right away who these two are: the soon-to-be dynamic duo of Hogwarts (though they don't know it yet), James Potter and Sirius Black.
Snape slides open the glass door and I catch a second of the boys' conversation.
"Well, Bruntley's good for the Cannon's, but Ireland's also got a really good Keeper this year- Ah, hello there." James stopps speaking and both boys look up from the Quidditch magazine on the table in front of them.
Lily mumbles, "Hi," as she and Snape slide onto the seat across from James and Sirius, and I slide in next to them. We're still missing two, but this is a start.
A sniff from Lily's direction pulls me from my thoughts and I glance at her to see tears brimming in her emerald eyes as she gazes out the train window. Wow, she is really beautiful. Snape seems to comfort her and I catch a few words about Petunia, Oh, yeah.
They carry on with their hushed conversation until Snape says, "You'd better be in Slytherin. Then we'll be together," at normal volume.
"Slytherin?" James says from the corner, making a face of disapproval. He laughs, "Who wants to be in Slytherin?" he asks. He turns to Sirius. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"
Sirius, who'd been staring at Severus, snaps to attention at the question. Despite James' beaming face, he doesn't' smile back. "My whole family's been in Slytherin," he says.
"Blimey!" cries James, eyebrows climbing his forehead, "and I thought you seemed alright!"
That makes Sirius grin. Severus is frowning severely at the conversation and Lily is glancing back and forth between the boys, listening to the conversation as if watching a tennis match, an unsure look on her face. It is a hilarious sight.
"Perhaps I'll break tradition," Sirius says boastfully to James. I hold back a snicker. "Where are you headed if you've got the choice?"
James stands, his maroon and gold sneakers proudly on display as he brandishes an imaginary sword. This kid is too much. I love it. "Gryffindor! Where the brave at heart dwell! Just like my dad," he shouts.
Snape snorts.
All four of us in the compartment turn to look at him.
"Got a problem with that?" James demands, his enormous pride obviously wounded by the expression playing on Snape's ugly face.
"No," Snape says with a shrug. Lily seems surprised by his sudden attitude, she's probably only ever seen his more reserved side. He has a sneer twisting his revolting features now, that I know is caused by James. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy..."
Sirius laughs, a short, barking sound, "Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?"
James roars with laughter. So it begins.
Lily leaps to her feet, scowling at James. I can almost feel the anger radiating off her in scorching waves. "Come on Severus," she says, shooting eye-daggers at James, "let's go find another compartment."
"Oooooh," Sirius teases, grinning mockingly at Snape.
James smirks and I bite the inside of my lips, barely containing my laughter.
Lily grabs hold of Snape's hand, looks at me for a few seconds (I avoid her gaze), and pulls Snape out the door. He trips as they enter the hallway, turns, and glowers back at James.
"See ya, Snivellus!" calls Sirius, and again the two boys burst into laughter when the compartment door slams, joined by me this time. They seem to notice my presence for the first time, both peering at me with interested eyes.
"Hi," I say, deciding to introduce myself, "I'm Caroline. Are you first years too?" I ask, though I already know the answer.
"Yeah," James speaks first, "I'm James, James Potter." I can imagine him practicing that in the mirror. I smile in return.
"I'm Sirius," Sirius tells me. I notice he doesn't mention his last name, I wonder why?
I might as well. "Serious about what?" I ask, putting on a mock confused tone. This should be fun.
"Hey, he said that too! Not serious, Sirius is my name."
I laugh. "I know. I was just messing with you."
"You're American," James observes, finally.
"Yeah. I was raised in the US, but my parents bought a house in Surrey about a year ago, so now we only go to the US in the summers."
"Cool," James responds. "Anyway, I've got food. You wanna share?"
Sirius responds for me. "Sure."
James pulls Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, and other treats from his bag, and has just begun to divvy them up, when the compartment door slides open again. This better be who I hope it is. I raise my eyes from the table to see a small, slender boy standing in the doorway, tightly clutching a book to his oversized beige sweater clad chest. His curly, sand colored hair obscures his huge olive green eyes mostly from view, as well as a few light pink scars already criss crossed on his face. Remus Lupin. For sure.
When he speaks it's in a small voice, as if he is afraid of being noticed by too many people, which, to be honest he probably is. "Can I sit in here? I got kicked out of my old compartment."
"Yeah, sure," Sirius responds, not even bothering to look up from his snacks.
Remus slides into the seat across from me and the two other boys begin rough housing and laughing on my right. Before Remus can shove his nose back into his book, which I know he's bound to do, I strike up a conversation with him.
"Hi. What's your name?" I ask and he looks at me like he has no clue why I'm paying him any attention at all. It breaks my heart.
"Rem-Remus Lupin," he responds quietly and I can't help but smile.
"I'm Caroline Gruenbaum. What book is that?"
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
No way. "Oh, I've read that! Can I come over there with you? These two are... difficult to sit by."
He nods and I take the seat next to him. "Want a chocolate frog?" I ask, guessing the answer.
Remus seems to perk up at the mention of chocolate. "Sure," he says, reaching out his hand. I watch as he unwraps the candy, every movement precise, so as not to pull his sleeves from his arms. He looks at me. "Where are you from?"
"America," I answer. I'm going to have to say that a lot.
He nods. "Yeah, I gathered. Just curious. Sorry."
'You don't have to be sorry, I'd wanna know too. You wanna just read together over here?" I question, glancing across the table at James and Sirius who, finally exhausted from all their play fighting, have fallen back onto their bench, breathing heavily. Somehow, James' hair is even messier than it was before they started screwing around.
Remus nods again and just as I begin to pull my own copy of Fantastic Beasts out of my suitcase, the glass door slides open yet again, but this time a bright eyed girl looks in wearing a shiny Head Girl pin on her chest. She beams around at us. "Been told to tell everyone to put on their robes," she informs us, "We're nearly there."
"Hey Andromeda!" Sirius says, recognising her. "You got Head Girl? Good on you!"
She grins proudly. "I did. Lucius got Head Boy, so the family's proud. Course' some of 'em don't think mine counts, seeing as I'm a Hufflepuff, but wotcher on them, I say. Well, I better go, got to tell every compartment. Good luck on the lake, you lot!" She ducked away, closing the door behind her.
"That was my cousin, Andromeda Black," Sirius explains to James as Remus and I return to our reading.
"I don't know my cousins," James said. "Our family isn't real chummy with us. Mum cries about it a lot, but Mum cries a lot in general. Dad says it's political, why we aren't close, says we don't wanna get involved with dark wizards and all that."
Sirius says, "My family's pretty dark too. You heard Andromeda, she's looked down on because she's in Hufflepuff House and on account she's got muggleborn friends. I'm a bit afraid of not getting into Slytherin but all the same..." He pauses, a wistful look on his face. "Well, what do you lot think about... you know... purebloods and muggleborns and all that stuff?"
Remus and I look up from our books once more; the conversation is getting interesting.
James snorts. "Blood status is such a stupid debate. It's only blood! It's got nothing to do with how good your magic is! Look at squibs and muggleborns, there are tons of 'em, aren't there?"
"Well my family comes from a long line of pure blood wizards," Sirius responds, "And my parents are gaga for the whole concept. They've been long time supporters of a wizard who wants to wipe out all the "lesser" bloodlines. They think they're royalty because of their stupid blood status."
"Rubbish," James says, "I'm pureblood too, and I'm not royalty."
Sirius perks up. "Probably have the same blood in our veins then. We might be cousins for all we know."
"Maybe," James agrees, laughing. "I wouldn't know because my family doesn't put stock in all that." He shrugged.
Remus pipes up. "So you think anyone could be a great wizard, despite what they are?" I know I'm the only one who catches the double meaning there.
It's the first time he's spoken to them since they exchanged names hours ago. James and Sirius look over at him, startled, seeming to have forgotten he was there at all. "Yeah," James responds. "Anyone who can perform magic and goes to Hogwarts is on an equal playing field with me as far as I'm concerned. I don't know any more magic than anyone else on this train for being pureblood."
"I'm half blood," Remus says. "My mum's a muggle. My dad's a wizard. He works at the Ministry."
"Lupin, you said your name was, right?" Sirius asks him.
"Yeah."
"Your dad must be Lyall Lupin, who wrote the Werewolf Restriction Act of 1963."
"That's the one," Remus says, a twinge of bitterness in his voice that only I seem to pick up.
"Well that's cool," Sirius says. "My uncle Abraxus Malfoy works at the Ministry too."
Remus looks sideways at me. "What about you?"
I hesitate just for a second, worrying, but then remind myself who I'm dealing with. "My parents are both muggles, but my little sister might not be. Just a few days ago she didn't want to eat her carrots and she just made them vanish off the plate, which is how I started, by making things disappear."
James is about to respond when the train jolts to a stop. I peer out the window to see another station, this time with a background of lush, rolling hills. My heart rate accelerates tremendously. We're here.