The Hufflepuff Girl

Chapter 5

       Time passed quickly after that; the last week in July came and then went, the whole of August seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye. Before any of us knew, it was September 1st. I remember that morning, it was beyond hectic. Andrew had something at work that day, Cameron had a playdate to attend at one, Christine and Eponine were coming down with something that had them running high fevers and then the twins and I were going to be heading to Hogwarts... Kaitlyn was a near mess when we left. Her eyes were wide and wild, hair messily pushed back. The entire morning was filled with shouting and crying and stress and I was so grateful to finally get on the road, even as I was squeezed between two arguing brothers.

       "You've got your trunks, right?" Kaitlyn had asked nearly half an hour into the hour drive to King's Cross, "everything packed?"

        "Little late to be askin', mum," laughed James, "but I'm all set."

       "I have all my things," said Emmanuel.

       "I know Belle has all her things," she muttered. Of course she did, she had helped me pack. "You've got your wands?"

       "Yes," we all answered.

       "Belle," she began, looking at me in the rearview mirror. "How's Beast doing."

       The animal in question was sleeping quite peacefully in the cage on my lap, curled up into a little ball of purring fur. "Fine, mum," I answered.

       Kaitlyn sighed in relief as we pulled up to a stoplight. She took that moment to lay her head against the steering wheel, breathing deeply in and out. I felt bad for her, today was certainly not her day. The car began rolling once more when the light turned green, driving smoothly down the road towards the largest train station in London. In curiosity, I took a look at the time; the numbers on the digital clock read 9:45. According to the twins, the train, which one had to run through a brick wall to get to, left at eleven o'clock. The closer the time came to eleven, the more jittery I became. I was going to be leaving home for the first time, attending a school I hardly knew anything about, learning about something I hardly knew about.

       Those thoughts plagued my mind until the car jerked to a stop in a parking spot in front of King's Cross station. Kaitlyn nearly screamed the word, "out!" as she barreled out her door to rip open the trunk. James followed her with a roll of his eyes, Emmanuel with a grumble of annoyance as the two moved around back to grab their trunks.

       I hopped out after them, my landing jolting Beast awake. He growled softly at me, his tiny paw wiping at his eyes. I shook my head and laughed, walking around towards where Kaitlyn and the twins were. They'd grabbed three trolleys, seemingly magically, and had loaded all our things onto them, pushing mine towards me without care. I caught the handle, placing Beasts cage on top of my trunk. On Kaitlyn's word, the four of us began into the station. It was surprisingly less crowded than I'd imagined, of course, there were still loads of people and I couldn't tell who exactly was going to Hogwarts and who was going, well, anywhere else.

       After we'd made it through the gate, Kaitlyn rushed us along, checking a clock on the wall that read 10:37. It took a while for us to find the place to get onto the Hogwarts platform, platform 9 ¾ apparently, as there were nearly too many people on the platforms. It was only when I saw two heads of bright red hair disappearing that I found where we were supposed to be headed. With a shout, I pointed, ignoring the stares I drew as I ran towards the last of the Weasley's standing on the muggle platform. It was Mrs. Weasley and her daughter, both of whom looked at my call. Seeing my face made Mrs. Weasley break out into a smile.

       "Belle, dear," she said, "how are you doing?"

       "I'm good, thank you."

       "Molly?!" I heard Kaitlyn exclaim.