the 5th marauder

1- The Hogwarts Express

"Catie! Catherine!" I heard my dad calling me from the living room. "Just one second! I'm nearly dressed!" I was wearing faded jeans and a long sleeved shirt as I bended down to slip on my shoes. I grabbed my bag and rushed down, nearly tripping on my untied shoelaces. Grabbing a blueberry muffin from the kitchen table, I followed my dad out of the house and to the car. throwing my bag in the trunk with the rest of my bags, I slammed it closed and hopped into the passenger seat next to my dad, making sure my cat was ok in her carrier. "excited?" I nodded vigorously. Today was my first day at a new school, and no one word could describe my excitement when I got my letter a month ago. It told me that I was a witch! Of course, I've knew about the existence of the wizarding world for forever. My favorite Aunt, (my dad's sister, Nellie) is a witch. She was never very good at keeping secrets. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I never got a letter at age 11. I'm 15 now, and I got one this fall. Apparently, I hadn't shown any magical capabilities till this year, when I made some weird things happen. That's why I got my letter so late. I went to Diagon Alley just last week to get all of my things for school. I've spent all the time since reading my textbooks. I'll be about 1 year behind everyone else in my grade, but headmaster Dumbledore had agreed to me getting extra lessons/help on my own so I can catch up. I'm so thankful to my aunt, if she had never taught me these things, I would be 4 years behind instead of 1. Headmaster Dumbledore agreed to hide that fact from the ministry, considering she might get in quite a bit of trouble for exposing their world to muggles, even if it is only my dad and me. "Be sure to send me letters, dear." Nodding to my dad, I laid back my head. "I can't believe this is really happening." My dad chuckled. "You're gonna do amazing, you know that? plus, you'll finally be able to help around the house with all those spells!" he said, nudging me with his elbow. "I do help around the house! and anyway, underage witches and wizards can't use their magic outside of school. It's not allowed. I said, rolling my eyes. I finished up my muffin as we drove through the streets.

We finally reached the station, and my dad helped me put my things on my trolley. I rolled it into the station. "The letter said platform 9¾." I said, looking up to my dad. "Yep. Nellie said it's right over here." I followed him to the platform in between 9 and 10. "What now?" I raised one eyebrow. "I think you're supposed to walk through it?" He said. But only a witch or wizard can go through hon. So this is where I say goodbye." My face dropping, I gave him a big hug. "I'll write every day. And I'll see you at Christmas!" He smiled. "Good luck, Cat. He ruffled my hair and stood back." I turned towards the platform, took a deep breath as I closed my eyes, and ran through. Immediately the sound of talking and people bustling around met my ears. I opened my eyes to see a crowd of people talking to each other and hugging, all holding the same trolleys as me. Many adults were wearing robes, and I saw many of the kids holding strange items and large books. Pushing through the crowd, trolley first, I helped myself to the large train awaiting me. Bringing my things up, I entered the first empty train booth I could find and set my things down. I closed the door and sat, looking down through the window at who are soon to be my fellow students. I spotted a solemn looking family, all with black hair and pale skin. One tired looking boy, a skinny boy talking to the parents, and a small girl with big eyes and crazy hair. I turned back to face the other side of the compartment, where Bagel (my cat) was fast asleep in her carrier.

After 10 minutes or so, the platform outside had become nearly empty. Most students were on the train, and families had left. My compartment is still empty, though. *SHLUNK. The door to my compartment slid open loudly, and I jolted to look. "Oh shoot-sorry!" A tan boy with brown eyes and round glasses was standing there. "Didn't think it would be so loud. Mind if we sit?" He turned so I could see three other guys standing behind him. A short blonde boy, a tall, skinny boy with sandy brown hair, and the same pale guy I saw earlier. (the tired looking one). He didn't look so upset anymore. "uhm, yeah, sure." I nodded, reaching over to take my cat off the seat. They came in and sat down, the glasses boy sat across from me, the tall one next to me, and the other two next to glasses boy. "I'm James. He reached out a hand and flashed a grin. "Catherine." I shook his hand. This is Remus (tall boy), Sirius, (pale boy), and Peter (short boy). I nodded to all of them and down. "You have a pet?" The boy named Sirius asked, nodding to the carrier on my lap. "oh, yeah. My cat, Bagel. She's 5 months old." I turned my carrier to face him, showing a small siamese cat, now awake and sniffing the carrier door. He smiled, reaching out his hand to let her see it. "I saw you on the platform before. That was your family?" I asked. His expression slightly changed and he leaned back. "yeah." He clasped his hands together and sighed. "the whole lot of 'em are bastards if you ask me." James cut in. "How so?" I furrowed my brow. "Eh, don't worry about it." Sirius said, waving his hand in dismissal. "right." We spent some time talking, and I explained why I'm coming to Hogwarts in the fifth year. Eventually we got a knock on the door. I slid the door open and a stout old woman stood there with a small cart. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" Looking down, I stared at all the weird looking snacks. Pulling some of the money I had from my pockets, I handed her some sickles, and picked somethings. Remus got a chocolate bar, and James and Peter got some other candy as well. Sharing with each other, we traded chocolate frog cards and ate Bertie Botts every flavor beans.

After some time, Peter had fallen asleep, they had changed into their school robes (I don't have any) and we were nearing our destination. I watched out the window as trees flew by below the tracks. I saw the large looming shadow of the Hogwarts castle as we got closer. My aunt had shown me some pictures, but they didn't do it justice. We eventually reached the hogsmeade station, and we grabbed our things, Sirius waking up Peter, and we followed the rest of the students out of the train. I stepped on to the platform, and, following the rest of the students, was led to a group of large black carriages, drawn by some odd looking horses. They were all black, bony, and had holes in their ears and skin. Their ghostly eyes were creepy as well.. Our things were given to some people and put in a separate carriage. I followed James to one and hopped inside. The four of them sat talking while I stared out to the large lake and Hogwarts. Everything seemed so magical. When we finally reached the castle, we ascended a long stone staircase to the top. All of the students turned to walk towards a large door. I started to follow along, but was stopped by a tall woman. "Are you Catherine Adilet, dear?" I looked up and nodded to her. "I assumed so. Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, we'll need to get you changed into some robes. Follow me." Trailing behind her, I looked around the halls at the moving paintings that were looking down at me. "I'm Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house and transfiguration teacher here. You will get assigned a house on your own, and your own head of house will help you with your schedule. She suddenly stopped and turned where large Griffin statue stood. She whispered something to it, and all of a sudden a staircase emerged. Just go through there, and Professor Dumbledore will help you. Staring up the spiral stairs, I started to walk up the steps.