The Seven Stones of Merlin

Chapter 2

I had dreamt of this moment for years; ever since I heard mum and dad's stories of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts had simply been a setting for stories up until now, and I was positively buzzing with excitement. The train pulled into Hogsmeade station and all the students started to file out, in by no means an orderly manner. Molly looked at me and we grinned. Life at Hogwarts was just about to begin.

We stood up and joined the flow of students running through the hall of the train. Molly went in front of me and held open the door and I reached out to take the handle from her when someone shoved into my back and I fell out of the train and onto my sister. We lay sprawled on the platform for a moment, too shocked to move. Finally, I got up and held out my hand for Molly.

"Why did you push my sister off the train, Malfoy? Answer me!"

Fabian.

I went over to where Fabian was pointing his wand at a blonde boy wearing pristine green robes. The boy sneered.

"I didn't see her, Prewett. Anyway, what does it matter? Mudbloods like your dear 'sister' should watch where they step," he turned to face me, "Hear that, ginger? You need to be more careful around here. Hogwarts isn't all sunshine and rainbows like your blood traitor family must've told you."

I fought back the tears threatening to escape from my eyes as he glared at me one last time. I returned it, hardly. Malfoy smirked and returned to my brother.

"You know what I think, traitor? I think people like you need to be punished for not valuing your status," he raised his wand, "and I think I know exactly how to do that. Cru-"

"Mr Malfoy, what on earth are you doing? Detention this evening!" A stern voice called through the crowds, which immediately parted to let the woman through. I could only assume that this was Professor McGonagall, a teacher that Gideon had described to me as 'a badass teacher that could make even Dumbledore cower in FEAR'. He might have been exaggerating slightly.

She was clearly respected judging by the response from the students. Malfoy hung his head and stuttered "Um- I was just- it wasn't- Prewett-"

"Be quiet, Malfoy. Save excuses for detention." She turned to the crowd that had formed, "First years follow the prefects. Hagrid will be waiting for you at the lake. The rest of you know where to go. I'll see you all at the Feast."

And with that, McGonagall was gone. I liked her already.

"Alright, first year Gryffindors follow me!" came a voice from behind me. Malfoy glared at Fabian and I one last time and left to join a group of laughing Slytherins. I decided that I hated them. I heard Molly say something behind me and I joined the cluster of first years waiting to go.

~𖣔︎~

We had reached the lake in a few minutes. The prefect was having a conversation with a man that looked way too tall. The tall man turned to face us and smiled, the type of smile that told you 'you're welcome here'.

"Hello firs' years! Welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Hagrid an' I'm the keeper of keys and grounds here. Righ' then, there's four to a boat. Group up and grab a boat!" he said. Molly and I immediately looked at each other; of course we'd be together. We looked around for another pair to join up with and I recognised a small redheaded girl who lives across the road from me, Lily Evans. She was standing next to a scared-looking boy who I'd never seen before. Lily caught my eye, smiled and started walking towards us.

"Hi Lily, I didn't know you were a witch! Is that sister of yours here too?" Molly asked and scanned the faces of the other people around us.

"Oh, no I'm the only witch in the family," Lily said with a nervous smile. "Hey, this is Severus. Tuney doesn't like him that much but he's a really good friend. Sev, this is Molly and this is Elenora. They live near me," Severus gave us a cautious look and muttered something to Lily. Molly and I stood there awkwardly as they had a quiet conversation.

"Lily, Severus, sorry to interrupt but we need to get to a boat before everyone leaves without us," I said and Severus glared at me.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Let's go," Lily said, as if she had just realised that we were in front of her.

Lily and Severus stepped onto the boat and Molly followed behind them. I stayed behind as someone or rather, a group of someones had caught my eye. A group of boys were causing a scene a few boats down. One of them was leaning over the side to talk to a very angry-looking girl. I couldn't quite catch what they were saying but I heard snippets.

"Come on Mary," that must be dad's friend's daughter, Mary Macdonald. "Just one little date," the boy continued. Seriously? We haven't even got to the castle and this guy is asking someone out already? I could see that Mary was bright red from here. She looked very embarrassed as she told him something I couldn't quite make out but from the boy's response I could guess she had declined his offer. Good, I thought, at least she has some sense.

Molly cleared her throat and I spun around to see an angry Severus (why does he hate me so much?), an awkward Lily and an impatient Molly beckoning for me to hurry up. I quickly stepped into the boat and heard Hagrid shout "Everyone ready? Let's go!" and we started to move across the water as if pulled by an invisible rope.

~𖣔︎~

The boat ride was awkward to say the least. Lily and Severus sat at the back, muttering to each other presumably about Molly and I while I looked around the rest of the boats trying to recognise someone. Surely there'd be at least one person I knew besides Lily? I scanned the faces of my new classmates, settling on a particular boat. The boys from before looked as if they were trying to topple their boat, which was an incredibly stupid idea, for obvious reasons.

Hagrid hadn't noticed the boys' shenanigans as he was having a rather animated conversation with an abnormally short girl in one of the front boats. The boy that asked out Mary Macdonald looked like he was trying to wrestle something out of his friend's hands, causing their boat to start rocking from side to side quite a lot. I could hear them shouting at each other but also laughing so I'm sure they were just having a bit of fun. If fun is what they call about to flip over their boat and drown then good for them. I wasn't completely sure, maybe just 97%, that those boys would very possibly be the troublemakers of our year.