Hermione
It was dusk when the carriage door slid open again. Gwen looked up from her book, as Harry and Ron, the latter of whom had just been about to turn his rat yellow, turned towards the door. A small girl with bushy brown hair and two front teeth that were slightly larger than the rest peered inside. She didn’t say anything as she gazed around, then her shoulders deflated.
‘Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville’s lost one.’
She was wearing her plain black robes, clearly a first year too, with a wand in her right hand. She glanced between the three of them.
Gwen was the only one to reply. ‘No, sorry. If we do, we'll let you know.’
The girl nodded, sending her a small smile, then her eyes flitted back to the wand in Ron’s hand. ‘You’re doing magic? Let’s see it then.’
Ron raised an eyebrow, then turned back to his rat. He cleared his throat, looking slightly taken aback as the girl sat down next to Gwen.
‘Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow… turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.’
He waved his wand but nothing happened. The rat, Scabbers, Gwen had learned earlier, stayed grey and fast asleep. The girl glanced between the three of them.
‘Is that a real spell?’ she said. ‘Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve only tried a few simple ones myself, but they’ve all worked for me. Nobody in my family is magic, you see, so it was a surprise when I received my letter. Of course, though, I was ever so pleased. Hogwrats is the best school of witchcraft, I’ve heard - I read all through all of our set books and now know them by heart, I just hope it’s enough. I’m Hermione Granger, by the way. What are your names?’
The other three glanced between themselves; Gwen was relieved to see the surprise on their faces, that neither of them had learnt the books by heart either.
‘I’m Gwen Everill,’ Gwen said. Hermione shook her hand.
‘Ron Weasley.’
‘Harry Potter.’
The same look that Gwen had seen on Ron’s face when he’d learned Harry’s name passed over Hermione’s.
‘Are you really?’ she said quickly. ‘I’ve read all about you. I bought a few extra books for background reading, you see.’ She began to list off some books that Harry’s name had featured in. Gwen had only heard of two of them, as Edward had received some books on the history of Dark Arts for his eleventh birthday.
‘Am I?’ Harry said when she had finished. He looked dazed.
Hermione continued, speaking fast as she went on to talk about the Hogwarts houses. She seemed to like the idea of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. She finished by telling them that they ought to change, then left the compartment, sliding the door shut behind her.
‘Whatever house I’m in, I hope she’s not in it,’ Ron huffed, throwing his wand back into his trunk. ‘Stupid spell. George gave it to me. Bet he knew it wasn't real.’
Harry looked at Gwen. ‘What house are your families in?’
Ron answered first. ‘Gryffindor.’ He grimaced. ‘My whole family were in Gryffindor. I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad, but I don't know what I’ll do if I’m not…’
‘My brothers are Slytherin,’ Gwen told them. ‘Not all of them are bad, you know,’ she continued, seeing Ron’s expression. ‘Just because You-Know-Who was in it, doesn’t mean they’re all evil. Most of my family are Slytherin and none of them followed him.’ She failed to mention the rumours surrounding her parents. ‘The other side of my family are all Ravenclaw.’
Ron flopped back in his seat. ‘I hope I don’t get Slytherin. No offence, Gwen,’ he added, when he saw the raise of her eyebrows.
‘None taken,’ she said bluntly, but didn’t press the matter.
The three fell into silence for a moment, then Harry said, ‘What do wizards do once they leave Hogwarts?’
‘Go into work,’ Ron said. ‘My brother Charlie works in Romania with dragons, and Bill is a curse-breaker.’
Gwen closed her book in her lap. ‘Did you guys see the break-in at Gringotts? It’s been all over the Daily Prophet.’
Ron nodded, eyes wide. Harry looked confused.
‘Oh, I suppose you wouldn’t know in the Muggle World,’ she continued. ‘Someone broke in, but didn’t take anything. That’s why it’s so concerning, because no one knows who did it or how they did.’
‘Dad reckons it was a really powerful Dark Wizard, to get into Gringotts,’ Ron said.
Harry looked uncomfortable. Gwen had an idea.
‘You really don’t know much about magic, do you?’ she said. It came out more patronising than she intended. ‘What I mean is, have you heard of a metamorphmagus?’
Harry shook his head again.
‘They’re so cool,’ Ron said, joining in. ‘They can change their appearance at will.’
Harry looked between them. ‘Really?’
‘Yep,’ Gwen nodded. ‘I know one.’
‘Who?’
She grinned. ‘Watch me very closely.’ With her eyes flitting between the two boys, Gwen concentrated on shifting her hair colour from its natural icy blonde to that deep crimson she loved the most. Both Harry and Ron watched with wide eyes, as a newfound wave of confidence came over her, and Gwen changed it from crimson to teal, then bubblegum pink, then lavender.
‘Wicked,’ Ron said.
Gwen changed her hair back to blonde. Harry grinned at her.
‘How do you do that?’ he asked.
‘I was born with it,’ she explained. ‘I don’t usually use it though.’
‘If it were me, I’d be changing my appearance all the time,’ Ron said.
Gwen nodded. She would use it all the time if she wasn’t worried her parents would be mad at her. They hated that she could change her appearance, she even overheard them once calling it a mutation. Since then, she never used it around them.
Eventually the conversation moved on; Gwen took Hermione Granger’s advice, and decided to go change into her new robes.
When she arrived back to the compartment, three other first years were blocking her way. At first, she thought she’d got the wrong carriage, but once she’d peered through the small gap behind one of the larger boys, she noticed the looks on Harry and Ron’s faces.
She muttered a small ‘excuse me’, squeezing past them and into the compartment.
‘…you don’t want to be mingling with the wrong sort,’ the boy at the front was saying. He barely spared Gwen a glance as she shuffled past. He was holding his hand out toward Harry.
Harry didn’t take his hand. ‘I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.’
Gwen finally turned to see the boy standing in the compartment doorway. A jolt of anxiety punched her gut as she recognised him - that white blond hair was impossible to miss - and, at Harry’s words, his pale skin tinged slightly pink. Oh, no.
The boy finally registered Gwen. The two large boys flanking either side of him like bodyguards she didn’t recognise, but him, it was impossible not to know him.
‘Draco,’ she said. He glared at her.
‘You’re here then,’ he said venomously. Draco Malfoy and Gwen had spent a few years of their childhood. Back when they were innocent to everything. It had taken Edward’s coercion and a huge falling out between both their families before the two had drifted apart. She had forgotten until now that he would be going to Hogwarts this year too. Draco had seemed to always dislike her, for reasons unknown to Gwen. As children, you could go as far as to say they were friends, but following the Everill-Malfoy feud, as it were, Draco had decided he hated her.
‘Looks like it,’ she said. She stood opposite him, almost defensively over Ron and Harry. ‘You’re in here preaching you Pure-Blood, I expect? Haven’t you learnt that there are much more important things in life?’
Draco’s jaw clenched. ‘You should learn to be more polite.’ He looked at Harry. ‘If you’re not careful, you’ll end up the same as your parents.’
Ron, whose face was now as red as his hair, leapt to his feet. ‘Say that again.’
Draco continued taunting. ‘Oh, you’ll fight us?’
Harry, who was still in his chair, said, ‘Unless you get out now.’
Gwen put a hand out in front of Ron. ‘Just leave, Draco. No one wants you here.’
Draco’s smirk was infuriating; he was clearly enjoying Ron’s anger. ‘I don’t want to,’ he went on. ‘We’ve eaten all our food, and it looks like you’ve got some to spare.’
The lad on the left reached forward, his large hand going to grab some of the chocolate frogs lying on the seat. Ron dived towards them, but before the boy could get any, he let out a huge cry, withdrawing his hand; Scabbers the rat dangled from the end of one of his fingers, his tiny teeth deep sunken into his knuckles. Draco and the other bodyguard backed away as the one howling flung his hand out. Scabbers’ grip loosened and the rat hit Orion’s cage, startling the owl awake. The three boys disappeared almost immediately and, as Ron picked up Scabbers by the tail, Hermione Granger appeared in the doorway.
‘You haven’t been fighting, have you?’ she asked. ‘You’ll be in trouble before we even get there.’
Ron scowled at her. ‘Scabbers has been fighting, not us. What do you want?’
‘I only came to tell you that we’ll be arriving soon,’ she said. ‘I’ve just been up and asked the driver. People have been acting very childishly and are running up and down the corridors.’ She went to leave, then turned back to Ron. ‘You’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know?’
Ron continued to glare at her as she left, properly this time. He examined Scabbers, a small smile tugging on his face as he mentioned that the rat had just gone back to sleep.
‘He’s not knocked out?’ Harry asked.
Apparently not. Ron didn’t seem too worried, so Gwen left the compartment as her two new friends changed. When Harry poked his head out to say she could come back in, a voice emerged throughout the train, announcing that they would be arriving in five minutes.
Dusk had fallen. Gwen gazed out the window as she began to gather some things she thought she might need. Her wand, her cloak… that seemed to be all. After all, Felix had told her that their trunks would be taken off the train separately and placed in their dorms before that evening.
The three joined all the other students in the manic corridor as the train slowed to a stop. A pang of nerves hit her gut once more, and she noticed that Harry and Ron looked quite pale. Harry handed her another handful of sweets which she crammed in her pockets, then, as the train finally stopped, the three followed the crowd off the train.
The cold night air made Gwen shiver as she descended, trying to see over the many, many heads to spot one of her brothers. She was too short to see very far.
‘Where do we go?’ she asked Ron.
As if on cue, a loud voice emerged in the darkness, accompanied by a bobbing lamp over the sea of students.
‘Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here!’
Gwen followed the voice, making sure that her new friends were still with her as they approached an impossibly tall, hairy man with a surprisingly friendly face.
‘Alright, Harry?’ the man said, spotting the three of them in the crowd.
‘Alright, Hagrid?’
Gwen turned to Harry. ‘You know him?’
‘He was the one that brought me my Hogwarts letter.’
The man continued to bellow out to the first years, then began to lead them down a dark narrow path between the trees. Hermione Granger fell into step beside Gwen. A boy in front of them sniffed once or twice.
It was so dark, Gwen could hardly even see the path beneath her feet. She wondered how long they would be walking for, until a few students gasped up ahead, and the trees surrounding them cleared and they were faced with a huge lake, reflecting the black sky and stars. Before them, on top of a cliff, stood the beautiful castle, the one she would now be calling her home, and she felt her jaw fall open in awe.
It was even more magnificent than she had imagined.
‘Alright, firs’ years,’ the man Hagrid called. ‘Everyone in the boats! No more than four to a boat!’
The students began to clamber into some small wooden sailboats that lined the dock. Gwen climbed into the one that Harry and Ron were already in, gesturing for Hermione to join them, who appeared a little lost.
Hagrid called once again, and the boats began to move on their own, gliding over the glassy water serenely. Everyone was silent as the boats moved, more than fifty pairs of eyes focused on the castle in all its glory. Gwen noticed how the stars reflected in the windows of all the towers and turrets.
‘Heads down!’ Hagrid called once again, and the students all bent their heads as the boats reached a small opening in the cliff. They went through a curtain of ivory, emerging into a kind of cave lined with great torches. Eventually, they reached an almost underground harbour, and, at Hagrid’s word, the first year students climbed onto the pebbly shore.
‘Who’s lost a toad?’ Hagrid said as he checked the boats. A boy with sandy hair and a round face rushed forward, thanking Hagrid as he took the toad in his hands. That must be Neville, Gwen thought as she joined Harry and Ron again.
Hagrid led them through a passageway until eventually they reached wet grass and the entrance to the castle. With his lamp still bobbing slightly, Hagrid rapped three times on the huge oak doors.