Hogwarts, Wow
"Get up! You have to be awake to go to Hogwarts!" Marlene’s older brother, Carl, yells through her door. She opens her eyes and drags herself out of bed. Today is September 1st, 1971. Marlene’s first day at Hogwarts. She put on a pair of trousers and a t-shirt. She just knows her mum will hate her wearing this. It's perfect. She walks downstairs.
"WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!?!?!" Mama shouts.
"Clothes," Marlene says nonchalantly.
Mama groans, "你很难对付!" she says.
"I know!" Marlene responds, "It's great, right!" She grabs a piece of toast from the table and puts them on her plate. She sits down at the table to eat thinking about going to Hogwarts. She’s hoping to be in Gryffindor, which is the house her family has been in for years, at least Dad's side. Māmā's family is from China, so they all went to Fèng Huáng School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Are you excited for Hogwarts?" Carl asks.
"I'm stoked! I can't wait, but I'm nervous I won't make any new friends! What if my only friends are Peter and James and we're in different houses!" She replies.
"You'll be fine Marley," Carl says.
"Carl! 你的妹妹不叫Marley!" Māmā says. Mama hates when people call Marlene Marley, she feels like it takes away from Marlene’s femininity.
"Māmā! I don't care if he calls me Marley!" Marlene says.
"You're still young! You'll understand when you want a husband!" Māmā says. Marlene knows not to fight back, Māmā will not argue any further, she thinks Marlene will understand when she’s older.
The rest of breakfast is silent. Afterwards Marlene goes to her room and looks around, a lot of her stuff is in her trunk. She can't believe she won't see her room for the next four months. She wonders what Hogwarts is like. At least She has Peter and James, hopefully. She thinks she can ride the train with them. It would be easier, but Māmā thinks it’s weird that her best friends are boys. Māmā has a lot of opinions on what she does, wearing trousers, hanging out with guys. Anything not feminine enough in her mind is bad for Marlene.
- ••
"Alright McKinnons, lets head out!" Dad shouts across the house. Marlene drags her trunk down stairs and puts it in the car. She knows it's odd for pureblood families to have cars, but they do.
"I can't wait to see all my friends again! Oh, and Hogsmead!" Carl says, Carl is going into his 3rd year at Hogwarts, so he gets to go to Hogsmead this year, and he can't help but rub it in Marlene’s face.
"Well I will have a great time at Hogwarts, I'm sure of it!" She says.
"Of course you will!" Carl says.
- ••
They arrive at Kings Cross at 10:45, they walk to the barrier and go through. They pop out on the platform and Marlene immediately looks for James and Peter.
"Marley, over here!" She hears a voice to her left call, Marlene looks over to fine James. Marlene runs over to meet him.
"Hiiii!" Marlene says.
"Hey! What's up?" James asks.
"Nothing much. You excited for Hogwarts?" Marlene asks.
"Can't wait!" He replies.
"We should probably get on the train." She says.
"Your so right, let's go get a seat!" He says.
They board the train together, with Peter too. They look around and find an empty compartment, they sit down.
"Hey, can I sit?" a voice says from the door, it's a boy, with black hair, pale skin and grey eyes.
"Sure! I'm James Potter," James says.
"Great! A Potter, Mum would hate me sitting here, Sirius Black," the boy, Sirius, says.
"I'm Marlene McKinnon, and this is Peter Pettigrew." Marlene says.
"Nice to meet you!" Sirius says. Suddenly, the door opens and a tall boy with curly-ish light brown hair and a bunch of scars is there.
"Please, sit!" James says, "I'm James Potter, that's Marlene McKinnon, he's Peter Pettigrew, and this is Sirius Black."
"I'm Remus Lupin," the new boy says.
"Nice to meet you Remus!" Sirius says, politely.
"So, what house is everyone hoping for?" James says, "Personally, I want to be a Gryffindor!"
"Same!" Marlene says.
"Me too!" Peter says.
"Well my whole family's in Slytherin, but I could be the one to change that. I can’t imagine mum’s reaction," Sirius says.
"I have to be a Gryffindor, Māmā would be angry if I was anything else," She says.
"Why do you call your mum mama?" Sirius asks, James nudges him, "Sorry if that's rude."
"No problem, I call her Māmā because in Chinese Māmā means mum, and my mum's Chinese so I call her Māmā," Marlene says.
"Wow, that's really cool!" Remus says.
- ••
They talked for the rest of the train. When they arrived at Hogsmeade they went on these boats up to the castle. Peter, James, Remus, and Sirius all went on a boat together, so Marlene ended up with 2 girls named Mary and Lily and a boy named Severus. They arrive at the castle to be greeted by a lady in green robes and a witch hat. "Welcome to Hogwarts! The sorting ceremony will begin shortly, but first, you must know the houses, they are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Whilst you're here, your house will be like your family, following rules and doing good will gain points for your house, breaking the rules will lose them." She says, and she walks through these giant double doors.
A few minutes later she emerges again saying, "Follow me."
They follow the lady into the dining hall, it's enormous and the ceiling is enchanted to look like the sky! There's floating candles above four long tables, one for each house. They follow her to the front where she picks up a hat and a scroll, she says, "The sorting ceremony will now begin," and she starts reading off names.
"Sirius Black," she says, the boy from the train. He walks towards the hat cautiously, it is placed on his head and the hat bellows, "GRYFFINDOR!" the look of fear in his eyes as he goes to sit at Gryffindor table.
"Lily Evans," she says, that's the girl Marlene was on the boat with, she walks up to the stool and the hat is placed on her head it bellows, "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Pandora Rosier," "SLYTHERIN!"
"Remus Lupin," the lady says, the hat says, "GRYFFINDOR!" for him too.
"Mary MacDonald," is also in "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Marlene McKinnon," she says. That's her. She walks up to the stool and sits. The woman places the hat on Marlene’s head and it bellows, "GRYFFINDOR!" Marlene smiles walking to the large table to sit with her new friends.
Dorcas Meadows is a Slytherin, Marlene can just tell she won't like her. Peter and James are in Gryffindor, which means Marlene’s with all of her friends.
- ••
After the feast they head to our dorms. She doesn't bother unpacking, seeing as she has all day tomorrow to do that. She rummages through her trunk and puts on her pyjamas. Marlene is so glad her roommates are just Mary and Lily. She’s sure the three of them will be best friends. After brushing her teeth she collapses onto her bed and goes to sleep.