Hogwarts: The Adventure Begins - BOOK 1 (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

2: The Hogwarts Express

It was September 1st.

Remus was taking me down to King's Cross and telling me all about the houses. He told me that Gryffindor was for the brave, Ravenclaw for the clever people, Hufflepuff for the patient and Slytherin for the cunning. I wanted to be a Gryffindor like he was, but in all honesty, I wouldn't have minded. Each house had its good points and I was looking forward to making friends wherever I found myself. My only thought was I wanted to separate myself from the misdeeds of my family, I was determined to be different to them. If I was put in Slytherin, that opportunity would slip away as people would be adamant I was evil.

We got to King's Cross station and Remus told me that to get to Platform 9 3/4 I would have to walk through a barrier. I blinked a few times after he told me this and he laughed.

'I thought the same,' he said, 'Trust me, I wouldn't let you hurt yourself for a prank.'

To be honest, I didn't really trust him but I did it anyway. I closed my eyes and ran towards the barrier, expecting to crash but I just kept running. I opened my eyes to find myself on Platform 9 3/4. The Hogwarts Express was sitting and waiting to set off!

'Goodbye! Don't forget to write to me,' said Remus as he helped me get my trunk on the train. As I sat down in an empty carriage I started worrying. I had been a bit of a loner through school, and I worried that it would be the same at Hogwarts. People thought I was weird because strange things constantly happened around me.

What if no one likes me? What if they hate me because of my family? What if they bully me because of it? I thought and then a boy looked in the door.

'Mind if I sit here?' he asked. He was tall, with untidy black hair and blue eyes and he looked as nervous as me.

'Sure!' I said, pushing my worries to the back of my mind.

'I'm Nico Cortell!' he said holding out his hand.

'Molly Black!' I replied, shaking his hand firmly.

To my surprise, he made no comment about my family. Maybe he was just too polite?

'I'm a Muggle-born,' he said, smiling, 'I've never seen magic before! It was such a shock, we didn't quite believe it at first! It did make sense though, weird things always happened to me. What about you?'

'I'm a pureblood,' I replied, 'But I live with a half-blood wizard so I'm aware of some muggle things. I went to a Muggle school before this!'

'That's awesome!' he was about to continue when the door slid open.

'I'm sorry, but I can't find anywhere to sit...' the boy said, 'Can I join you?'

He had brown hair and kind hazel eyes. He looked really shy and seemed scared to be talking to us, so I gave him a warm smile.

'Of course! What's your name?' I asked.

'Josh Freeman,' he said, 'You?'

'I'm Nico Cortell, she's Molly Black!' Nico grinned at him.

'Black? Any relation to Sirius Black?' he asked, mouth agape.

'He's my father,' I replied stiffly. Just when I thought things were going well.

'Who is that?' Nico asked. Of course, being Muggle-born he would have no idea.

'It doesn't matter,' Josh smiled, 'I won't judge you for it.'

'Oh... Well... What house do you hope to get put in?' Nico asked, quickly changing the subject. He could sense the sudden tension.

'Gryffindor!' I replied, 'What about you!?'

'Gryffindor as well!' he said smiling. I had the feeling we were going to get along.

'I don't mind, but I guess Gryffindor as well if I want to hang out with you!' Josh laughed.

'Did you hear! The Harry Potter is going to be in our year!' Nico said.

'Seriously?' I replied. Harry Potter had defeated You-Know-Who when he was just a baby and if Nico knew of him, it was obvious how famous he was.

'Yeah! And he is a couple of carriages down!' he replied looking excited.

'Yeah, but maybe we should leave him... He will probably have lots of people crowding around him!' I said and they both agreed.

When the Trolley Lady came past with all the sweets Nico and Josh bought tons, but I didn't have any money for it. Josh bought extra for me, despite my protests. He seemed super generous and I thanked him graciously. The rest of the journey consisted of daring each other to try Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and trading Chocolate Frog Cards.

We eventually arrived at Hogwarts and when we got off the train, a giant man who was called Hagrid, called all the first years over. We all got on a boat and as we were going along we caught our first glimpse of Hogwarts.

'Wow!' me and Nico said at the same time and we laughed.

Hogwarts was a giant castle that had owls flying about and lights everywhere that made it look very welcoming.

'I hope we'll be in the same house!' Nico said to me and I agreed. In the short time, I had known him I had become very good friends with him. He just seemed like my sort of person.

This was going to be the start of a great friendship.