All The Houses

Meeting New People

The few weeks I had left in the summer flew by and before I knew I was heading to Hogwarts.
"Now have you got everything?" Asked my mom.
"For the hundredth time, yes." I replied. She was fussing about all morning. It's what moms do I suppose.
"I can't believe your a witch. We're going to miss you." I noticed that tears were pricking her eyes. I hugged her to reassure her.
" I'll be home at Christmas" I say.
"I know. I shouldn't cry." She sniffed. I turned to my dad and embraced him too.
" Go show those witches and wizards that your the best muggle-born witch there is." He says
"I will' I reply. We walked through the wall, that a passing wizard told us to go through to get to platform 9 and three quarters. I saw the most amazing train. It was an old fashioned steam engine. It was red and had the words Hogwarts express painted on the side in big gold letters. I got on and as it pulled away from the station I waved to my parents. I set of to find a compartment. I couldn't find an empty one. So after passing a compartment full of 6th years laughing at me I sat down in the next one. There was girl sitting there.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" I asked her. She gave a friendly smile.
"Sure." I sat down "So, what's your name? Mines Teresita."
"Calandra" I replied.
"Are you from Ireland? You sound Irish."
"Yeah, I am"
"So what Hogwarts house do you hope to be in?" Does this girl ever stop asking questions, I think to myself.
"I dunno, I'm a muggle-born" I reply
"Oh how old are you?"
"12."
"Ahh. Your one of the late comers".
"Yeah my mom was saying that. How come I got my letter 1 year late?"
" Well.... you see... how do I explain... there was this bad guy called.... V...Vol.. Voldemort, sorry still hard to say the name even though he is dead. Well anyway he was this really bad guy who hated muggles and muggle-borns. He took over the ministry and Hogwarts so it wasn't safe to send out the letters to the muggle-borns who were meant to start that year. Then there was this war and he was Killed. We'll probably learn about it in history of magic."
"Oh, ok".
"So you wanna know about the houses?"
"Sorry?"
"The Hogwarts houses. You wanna know the names and stuff?"
"Yeah, sure"
"There is Ravenclaw, for the wise and smart people. Hufflepuff for the kind, loyal and talented people. Gryffindor for the brave people, and Slytherin for the determined, and I mean determined. They're not usually very nice and will do anything, to get what they want. There a bit selfish, but I also say you shouldn't judge someone by there house."
"Cool". There was silence. I watched her stare out the window. She had long blonde hair that fell down the side of here face like a curtain. Her eyes were olive and her skin was pale. She looked completely different to me. I have brown hair, it long, but not as long as hers. My eyes are as blue as you can get and shine like crystals, and my skin is caramel. Which is unusual for an Irish person, since we don't get much sun. While I was thinking about this, out of nowhere, Simba jumps onto my lap.
"How did you get out of your travel crate?" I laugh. If cats smile, then that's what he did, a mischievous smile. He curled up on my lap and began to purr.
"He's cute" said Teresita. "What's his name?"
"Simba"
"He must be a smart cat to have got out of his crate". Teresita and I talked for awhile about Hogwarts. Simba was fast a sleep on my lap. Teresita introduced me to her owl and she explained owl post. When we were almost there a boy burst into our compartment. Teresita and I jumped with fright and so did Simba.
"Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you I was looking for my rat. Have you seen him?"
"A rat!" Screeched Teresita. Simba seemed to understand the word and began licking his lips. I quickly put him back in his crate and locked it with a small pad lock.
"I'll help you look for your rat" I say.
"I'm gonna stay here" said Teresita nervously. "I don't like rats much"
"Ok, can you keep an eye on Simba please?". She nodded in reply and lifted her legs onto her seat and scanned the ground. I set of with boy.
" What's your name?" he asks me.
"Calandra, and yours?"
"Justin. Calandra is a unusual name"
"Yeah it means the Lark bird"
"Are you a first year?"
"Yeah, I'm a late comer."
" Cool, I'm a second year."
"What house are you in?" He hesitated for a second.
"Um, Slytherin" he says reluctantly. "But I'm different to other Slytherins, I swear"
" I believe you.... hey is that your rat?!" I shout pointing at the luggage rack above some group of giggling girls. He stepped forward, but I grabbed his arm.
"Don't make it obvious or those girls will start panicking" I whisper
"Ok". He walks over to the girls who start giggling even more.
"Hi Justin" I hear one of them say. He seems popular with the girls.
"Hey girls" he says in a charming voice "Can I just look at the tag on that bag, I think mine was switched by accident"
"Sure" they all reply. He reached up and I saw him cup his hands around his rat.
"Nope, not my bag" he says and walks away.
" Those girls look disappointed to see you leave".
"What can I say, I'm irresistible" he says in a mock vain voice.
"Ha. What's your rat called?"
"Albert. Wanna hold him?" I nod and he hands Albert to me.
"He so cute"
"Yeah, he is" he smiles at me, and suddenly I see why girls are so fond of him. He has such a charming smile, and his eyes were a beautiful crystal blue. His hair was jet black and short.
" I better get back to my compartment, before we get there." I say
"Ok, see you at the sorting"
"Bye". I turn around and walk back to my compartment. I find a boy and another girl sitting in my seat
" Oh, hi Calandra. Did you catch that rat?" I nod. "This is Rose and Ren, they are late coming muggle-Borns too". I smile at them and noticed they look similar.
"Are you two ..."
" Twins? Yes" I was cut of by the boy.
" Cool" I say. We all talk until we get to Hogwarts. The girl was very different from the boy. The boy was loud and liked to joke around, but the girl was serious and mature and compared to her brother kinda shy. They were both really nice though. After a while we saw the Hogwarts castle. It loomed over the lake. It was dark and you could just make out the outline. The windows were bright and welcoming. The train stopped and swarms of students began to get off it. When we got off we heard a load booming voice shouting
"Firs years. Over 'er". When I saw who the voice was coming from, I was as shocked. He must have been the biggest man I have ever seen. He looked like a small giant.
"Now is tha' ev' one" he shouted. I don't think he even meant to shout, he just had a loud voice.
"Ok, now ev' one get on a boat, and we're going to row across the lake" the man shouted. I froze. I have a fear of water and I can't swim.