September 1st, 1971
September 1st, 1971
Peter sat next to Marlene, both eating scrambled eggs and bacon. They were sitting at their favorite booth in the Inn, the corner one by the windows. They could barely contain their excitement; neither could sit still!
It was a tradition for the McKinnon's and Pettigrew's to meet at the Pettigrew's Inn on September 1st. Marlene and Peter were the youngest in their families and had watched their various cousins and siblings go off to Hogwarts, wishing they could have gone with them. But now most of them had left Hogwarts, and Marlene and Peter were finally entering their first year.
The two sat talking rapidly about life at Hogwarts and what houses they might be sorted into. Marlene’s entire family was sorted into Gryffindor, and she was always bolder than Peter had ever dared to be, so Peter thought she was sure to be in Gryffindor. However, he did not know what house he would be sorted into.
Peter’s parents were in different houses, his Dad was in Ravenclaw, and his Mum was in Hufflepuff. He had no siblings, only two older cousins, and both were in Hufflepuff. Peter supposed he might be in Hufflepuff, as most of his relatives were. He wanted to go into Gryffindor; August would be there, and likely Marlene also.
The one house he certainly did not want was Slytherin. He had heard all about it from his Uncle Lee when he was younger, about how most dark wizards came from Slytherin until Aunt Pamela told him to stop. He still heard plenty from August about how cruel some Slytherins in his year were.
They were interrupted by Millie, Marlene’s older sister, coming over. She had left Hogwarts a year ago and had since become a Dragonoligist. She stole a bit of bacon off of both Marlene’s and Peter’s plates.
“I was sent to tell you that we were taking the floo to the Leaky Cauldron in 15 minutes. Make sure you get all your stuff together; none of us want to spend the next week mailing you stuff.” Millie said, still chewing on the stolen bacon. Marlene and Peter both jumped up, and Millie called out after them. “Oy, come clean up your plates!”
They both did not turn back and ran down the street to Peter’s house, where they had left their stuff and up the stairs to Peter’s room.
“I think my trunk is cooler than yours,” Marlene said, picking up her trunk. It had many Quidditch stickers on it, making Peter’s, which had just his name on it, look dull in comparison.
“Mum wouldn’t let me decorate mine!” Peter said, picking up his own trunk.
“Well, that’s stupid,” Marlene said as she picked up her owl, Athena. Peter had wanted a pet for his first year, but his parents said they would get one when he entered his second year. “I wish the first years could bring their brooms,” Marlene added, sounding disappointed. “What are we supposed to do when we’re not in class? Study? That’s boring!
Peter agreed; he, too, wished he could’ve brought his broom. He did know many other ways to spend his free time, as most of it had been spent in either his or Marlene’s backyards, flying, throwing quaffles around, and reading the latest comics. “I think they want us to study in our free time, Marls,” Peter responded with a shrug.
“You know what, Pete, I might just stay here.”
They headed back downstairs, and both slipped a Chocolate Frog or two into their pockets for the ride. They arrived back at the Inn, where their families awaited them. Aunt Pamela wrapped Peter in a tight and rather unnecessary hug.
“Stay out of trouble and study hard, Peter. Oh, and make sure to pay attention in all your classes, and you get enough sleep, and don’t eat too many sweets on the train so you’ll have space for dinner-”
“The best part of the train is eating all the candy!” Uncle Lee said as his Aunt pulled away. He patted Peter on the shoulder. “Keep a healthy balance of trouble and studying, you hear me?” Peter nodded, and they moved on to say goodbye to Marlene as Aunt Lisa (who was Marlene’s Aunt, but he called her Aunt anyways) moved over to Peter and hugged him.
“Marvin and Raymond wanted to come, but they got stuck at work and wanted me to say goodbye for them.” She said, letting him go. “Don’t spend too much time studying; you’ll miss all the fun.”
“Yeah,” August interjected. “Help me hex some of the Slytherins, won’t you?”
“Absolutely!” Peter responded, as many of the adults yelled that they were absolutely not to hex anyone except Uncle Lee, who said only if they deserved it.
After what seemed like hours to Peter, they all finally flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and took the Ministry rental car Uncle Lee had gotten them. It was very cramped, their parents were in the front seats and the rest in the back, but they got to the station at ten sharp.
Marlene and Peter shared a trolley for their stuff, and they took turns as they pushed it through the station. They arrived at the barrier between 9 and 10, and when a loud crowd formed, Peter and Marlene ran through the barrier together. They had gotten there very early, and the Platform was not very crowded. Shortly afterward, Millie and August came through, and then their parents. Peter’s mother engulfed him in a bone-crushing hug.
“Mum!” Peter muttered irritably.
She let go of him. “Oh, but I just can’t believe it!” She said tearfully, “My only son is heading off to Hogwarts!”
“But the train doesn’t even leave for 40 minutes!”
“Oh, I know.” She continued tearfully. “But I won’t see you till Christmas!”
His father thankfully came over as Peter’s face was becoming more red by the second. “Relax, Barbara, you’ll be able to manage. Roger and Val have been just fine, and they’ve done this how many times?”
Millie, who had been talking with August before he went to claim a compartment, joined in. “Yeah, Mrs. P. They were nervous when I went since I was the first in the family, and everyone was fine within a week or so!”
Peter’s mother wiped her eyes and was distracted as August called her over. Millie directed her attention towards Peter and spoke in a very pompous voice. “I expect you plan to fulfill your promise of helping August hex the Slytherins?”
Peter said yes, just as his father said no. “I’m all for a little fun here and there, but please, no hexing or dueling!” His father said.
“If anything, some of those Slytherins deserve it,” Millie said. “Thinking they’re better than everyone because they’re pure-bloods, bullying the muggle-borns.”
“I would rather you let the Professors deal with them.”
Mille shrugged. “Thing is, that doesn’t work. No amount of detentions stops them. You have to fight back.”
“Fight back without getting hexed, please.” His father directed his attention towards Peter.
“How am I supposed to control who does or who doesn’t hex me, Dad?” Peter exclaimed, rolling his eyes.
Millie grinned, “It’s the Ravenclaw in you; Mr. P. Gryffindor's are much more exciting!” Peter’s mother returned as Marlene and her parents joined in from their own conversation.
“I think I’ve proofread more of August’s year’s star charts than Professor Fawley has!” His mother exclaimed.
Mrs. McKinnon agreed, “Oh, The amount of Herbology essays I’ve reviewed over the years.”
Marlene made his way over to him. “Wanna claim a compartment before your Mum gets all emotional again?”
Peter very much did not want to be embarrassed again, so he followed Marlene to the train. There was a separate carriage for Owls, so they headed there first so Marlene could drop off Athena. Most of the compartments were empty, so they had many choices and decided on one towards the back of the train. They changed into their Hogwarts robes before they left.
By the time they returned to their families, the train would be leaving in 15 minutes. August had returned from his friends also and was saying goodbye to Peter’s parents. Millie came over and patted Peter on the back.
“Don’t study too hard, and remember, avoid Pince like the Plague.” She smiled, “I’ll see you at Christmas.” And she moved on to hugging Marlene as Peter went over to his parents. His mother gave him another bone-crushing hug.
“Mum!” He said irritably.
“I have an excuse this time!” She said, letting go of him, still holding his shoulders. “Remember, I packed all three of you sandwiches, so don’t fill up too much on sweets; I know Val gave you stuff too, study, and make sure to stay out of detention; remember to write too; I wanna hear all about your house and your classes.”
“Got it.” He nodded, knowing he was about to fill up on sweets.
“One detention isn’t the end of the world.” His father said. “Just stay away from Forrest; I don’t want you near it.”
Peter nodded, and he quite agreed. He did not want to be near the Forest. The Conductor started shouting for the doors to be closed, and Peter quickly ran to get on.
“I’ll see you at Christmas!” His mother shouted as Peter darted after Marlene.