ROTBFTD at Hogwarts: The Red Death

A New Home

"Here we go," Rapunzel whispered, her voice tight with excitement.

Elsa nodded and tried for a smile, feeling like there was a snowstorm raging in her stomach. Why couldn't she just get butterflies like everybody else?

The cousins stood in the corridor of the Express, surrounded by other First-Years. Some of them looked positively elated to be there, like Rapunzel, but most of them looked sick to their stomachs, like they had snowstorms of their own to deal with.

Any second now, the doors would open and they would disembark. Rapunzel couldn't wait for that moment. Elsa wished it would never come.

Outside the window was a quiet, deserted platform, no different to the ones Muggles used at King's Cross. It was now completely dark outside, with only several ancient lampposts dotted all the way down the side of the stop providing a dim light. This combined with the thick fog only increased Elsa's anxiety. This didn't feel like the warm welcome she had expected.

Rapunzel must have seen her face, as the next moment her hand was in her cousin's and the doors screeched open.

The swarm of First-Years pushed forwards, shoving and clambering over one another in order to get onto the platform first. Elsa clung tighter to Rapunzel's hand, determined not to lose her in the chaos.

When they reached the end of the corridor, Elsa was almost thankful to be getting off the train. Rapunzel dragged her level with her and they hopped onto the platform together. The September air was freezing, Elsa could see her breath clouding in the air, and she wondered how the train had been kept so warm before she remembered the amount of charms that must have been cast on the Express over the years.

"First-Years, this way! Follow me!" a voice shouted over the racket of students piling out of the carriages.

Elsa stood on her tiptoes, peering over the sea of heads to see a large, grubby man who had appeared at the far end of the platform, shouting and holding a lantern above his head. He had dirty-blonde hair and a long, braided moustache which just about reached the top of his pot-belly. Over his broad shoulders, he wore some kind of animal pelt and a tight-fitting shirt. Elsa was almost positive that shirt was an entirely different colour, underneath all the grime and stains smeared all over it. But the strangest, ( and frankly most frightening ) thing about him was the ghastly hook that held the lantern instead of his hand. The lantern swung haphazardly from it, throwing flickering light that reflected off the hook.

Many of the First-Years eyed that hook with a mix of fear and fascination.

Beside her, Elsa felt Rapunzel squeeze her hand.

"He looks ... friendly," Rapunzel whispered. Elsa wondered if they were seeing the same person.

Together, they joined the crowd of First-Years as they followed the strange hook-man down a dark hillside path. The girls clung tightly to one another as they tried to keep their footing. He led them to a group of small boats, beached in a line on the dark shore of a lake, each only large enough for four people. The fog lay over the surface of the lake like a blanket. Elsa remembered her parents telling her you could almost always see Hogwarts from the edge of the lake, but tonight the fog was so thick it obscured all but the brightest lights twinkling in the distance.

The hook-man clambered into one of the boats in the middle of the group, taking up two seats by himself. Elsa made to stand patiently near the back of the crowd to wait their turn, but her cousin had other ideas. She dragged Elsa to the front and practically shoved her into one of the empty boats. Eventually, two more people joined them. Once everyone was in, the hook-man threw his hook forward and shouted "GO!" and the boats began to move.