Magyk: Darkness and Light

Chapter 14

A few days later, the trio used Draco's broomstick to carry them to the Hogmeade station. Luckily, Dumbledore gives them a magical map as a guide for them to follow the direction. At first, Hermione disagreed with Draco's idea to fly away from their home to the train station nearby Hogwarts. She claimed it was too dangerous for them to ride the broomstick that barely supported three children on one broomstick or worse, fell off to the ground while travelling in the air. She also suggested that they walked on the ground because it made her feel safe. Draco scoffed at her and proudly assured that he can handle his broomstick because he has been practicing his skill in flying at their home every day. Tom sided with Draco saying that they could be tired by walking a miles away from home to go to Hogwarts and he wouldn't mind riding a broomstick even though he never taken any interest in flying lesson. "Come on, Hermione. You know I'll never let anything happen to you," said Draco while his hands reaching out to grab her hands. "We will keep you save from the danger; I control the broomstick to fly safely at the air", said Tom while he was sitting down on the sofa. She silenced for a while with her eyes still looking at the boys. "Alright", she sighed with defeated face. They have to shrink their trunk into a small toy so it would be easy for them to keep it in their pocket. It took an hour for them to arrive at the train station. "I can't believe we're here now! Well, I shouldn't doubt at your flying skill, but you managed to bring three of us together here", Hermione said with smile on her face. "It's okay. But I never thought Hermione Granger would admit she's wrong for the first time", Draco smirked in a playful manner. She bristled at his words but rolled her eyes instead of firing back. They sat down on the bench in the platform of Hogmeade station waiting for Hogwarts Express. "What house do you reckon you'll be in?" Hermione asked the boys. "Slytherin", Tom answered immediately. "Same with you too", Draco agreed with Tom. "Everyone in my family were Slytherin", he added again. "Well it seems to suit you nicely. You're both cunning and ambitious", she said. "You might ended up in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor", said Draco with gloomy feeling. "It doesn't matter. As long as we stick together till the end", Tom said with determined voice. He reached out to grab Hermione's and Draco's hands. "I heard that those houses have their own founders. Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff created Hogwarts together over a thousand years ago. They built Hogwarts far from prying Muggle eyes. I think that term would be referred to the non-magic people. Remember when I told you about witchcraft crimes in the Middle Ages, wizards and witches suffered from persecution by Muggle back then. Theory had said that Rowena Ravenclaw came up with the name of Hogwarts after dreaming of a warty hog that led her to a cliff by a lake," she gushed over the information of Hogwarts that she read on the Hogwarts the History. "I can't wait to get my hands on potion, I bet the first lesson will be Forgetfulness Potion", Draco said in excited tone. He already remembered everything he read in Potion textbook and it always been his favorite subject since the age of two. Their conversation stopped when a steam engine came towards the train station. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Then, a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and a voice of man clearly shouting with his Scottish accent "Firs' year! Firs' year! C'mon, follow me." Slipping and tumbling, they followed the Scottish teacher down to the steep, narrow path. The path was surrounding by thick trees there. 'It must be a forest here' Tom thought to himself. Nobody spoke much."Yeh'll get yer firs sight o' Hogwarts in a sec", said the teacher over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here". There was a loud "Oooooh!" The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. "No more'n four to a boat!" The teacher said, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Tom and Draco were followed by Hermione and the chubby face boy sat opposite her in the boat. "Everyone in?" shouted the teacher, who had a boat to himself. "Right then- Forward!" And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, still awestruck at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. "Head down!" yelled the teacher as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They carried along a dark tunnel , which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. Then, they clambered up the passageway in the rock after the teacher's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up and crowded the teacher. "Thank you, Armstrong. I will take them from here", said Dumbledore with handsome smile although he's in his fifties. He pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was spacious you could have thought it was like viewing into a royal ballroom at night. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. " Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" Hermione whispered quietly beside Draco and Tom. Draco just struggled not to gape in awe. The ceiling looked like a dark night sky , clear of clouds and littered with thousands of flickering candles. "It's not real. It's just bewitched to look like the sky outside. It was mentioned in Hogwarts the History", Tom explained to Draco and Hermione. They could heard loud noises coming out from the older students talking with each other as their eyes looked curious at the fresh young first year students already in the Great Hall.