Wizard Love!

Idina Wood stood on Platform 9 ¾ and looked around. The place was a bustle of activity as people here, there, left, right and centre all hurried to either get on or else put their children on the Hogwarts Express. Many of the faces were new to Idina and she couldn’t spot anyone she recognised amongst the crowds.

Her nine year old brother, Harry, named for, as her father put it “the best Seeker Gryffindor’s ever known” grinned up at her. “You scared?”

“No, but you’ll be scared in two years time when this is you,” Idina replied, giving him a push.

“Hey, enough of that,” said their father, coming up to them, having finally loaded her new trunk onto the train. In truth, Idina was a little nervous. She had never been away from home on her own before. To show that she didn’t mean it, she gave Harry a hug. He submitted briefly and then wriggled away. “Get off, people are looking!”

Their parents laughed. It was odd, Idina often thought, that they made such a loving couple. Her father had been the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team in his last three years at Hogwarts and had been rather a determined sort; known for pushing his team to play their best and beat all other teams they played. Subsequently, one might think that he would never in a million years ever fall in love with a Ravenclaw, even one as pretty as their mother, and yet it had happened. Persephone Oakleaf had won his heart just as he had won hers and, both mad Quidditch fanatics as they were, both of them were supportive of their children’s desires to make the Quidditch team.

“When I go to Hogwarts, I’m going to make the team in the first year,” Harry insisted, intent on being like his namesake in every respect.

Oliver laughed. “We’ll see! But even if you don’t, if you keep up practising, you can make it in second year!”

Idina glanced over her shoulder as the train whistled. It was nearly time to go.

“Have you got everything?” Persephone asked her, slightly anxiously.

Idina nodded. “Yes, Mum.” And then she gave her mother a firm hug. “Write to me lots, won’t you?”

She laughed, lightly. “Of course we will, sweetie!”

“Take care, love,” Oliver told her, giving her a firm but loving hug. “And don’t take any grief from those Slytherins – unless by some minor chance you end up in that house.”

“Not that it matters,” her mother chimed in, with a glance at her husband.

“Of course not,” Oliver replied, but when Persephone was preoccupied with Harry, he winked at his daughter. “Just as long as you’re in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.”

Idina beamed at him, and then turned to her brother. “Bye, Harry, oh, and Mum, remember to let him out at nights before he goes to bed.”

“Ha ha, very funny!” Harry replied, sarcastically.

Grinning cheekily, Idina hopped aboard the train and hurried along to the compartment where her luggage sat waiting for her. Her new Barn Owl Aeschylus sat asleep in his cage on the seat beside her. Idina waved to her family until they were out of sight, and then she sat back in the compartment and thought.

Hogwarts; she was finally going. The summer had seemed to last years since she had received her letter; although it had been packed with getting her robes, a wand (nine inches, willow and phoenix feather) cauldron, books and everything else she needed to start a new term at Hogwarts. Whilst she was brimming with excitement, after hearing her parents stories of the great castle and its forbidden forest and the ghosts and the teachers and the spells and the classes, she was also a little nervous.

“Just do your best,” they had soothed her. “We’ll be proud of you whatever happens.”

“Hey.”

Roused from her long train of thought, Idina looked up to see a pale boy with dark hair, about her own age, standing in the doorway of her compartment. He was dragging a trunk behind him and had an owl cage containing a ruffled looking Tawny under one arm.

“Can I sit here?” The boy indicated the seat opposite her. “Everywhere else is full to bursting.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” replied Idina, and the boy gave her a grateful smile as he dragged his luggage into the compartment. “Sweet looking owl,” she added. “What’s she called?”

“Athena,” replied the boy, running a hand through his dark hair. Then, awkwardly, he added “What’s yours called?”

“Aeschylus. Oh, and I’m Idina. Idina Wood.”

“Blake Nott,” replied the boy, sitting down opposite her. He looked slightly agitated.

“Are you nervous?” Idina asked. “You look nervous.”

Blake shrugged, casually. “I just want to do right by my dad, that’s all. He’s putting a lot of pressure on me to get into Slytherin.” Idina flinched. Ok, she was in a compartment with a Slytherin; her father had told her not to get too friendly with them. Still, she might as well be polite; the boy might not end up in Slytherin after all. “What about you? Where are you hoping to go?”

“Maybe Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor like my parents,” Idina replied, trying to sound casual.

“Oh, wait! Of course! Wood! Isn’t your dad Keeper for Puddlemere United?”

“Yeah, and my mum’s Beater.”

“Cool!” Blake leaned back, looking more relaxed. “My dad just works for the Ministry.”

“Doing what?”

“Magical Law Enforcement. My older brother Ivan wants to go into that too when he leaves Hogwarts.”

“What about you? Do you want to do that?”

“Nah. I’d rather play Quidditch or do something with animals.”

“That’s cool,” Idina replied. “I can’t wait until third year when we do Care of Magical Creatures.”

“Yeah, I hear there’s meant to be things like unicorns and hippogriffs in the forest!” Blake’s eyes shone with excitement. “And Thestrals; although I’ve never seen one, you know, never having seen death before, but even so, it’d be so cool-!”

He broke off as the compartment door was thrust open and a voice said “So, there you are!”

Idina looked up to see a boy a few years older than them, already dressed in Hogwarts robes, with shoulder length dark hair and a sneer writ upon his face. He largely ignored her and addressed Blake. “And there was me thinking you might have missed the train; more’s the pity!”

“Hey, Ivan,” Blake muttered, quietly.

Ivan glanced over at Idina. “And who’s this?”

Idina swallowed. “I’m Idina.”

“Oh, cute, you’ve found yourself a friend!” sneered Ivan. “Wonder how long she’ll last before she decides you’re a loser!”

Blake flinched, uncomfortably. Idina sprang to her feet. “Leave him alone!”

Ivan laughed, fearlessly. “What are you going to do? Put a hex on me and get into trouble before you’ve even got to Hogwarts?”

“Who needs hexes?” asked Idina, and she kicked him firmly in the shin.

“Argh!” Ivan yelped. Recovering he scowled at her and reached for his wand. “Right, that’s it!”

Blake sprang to his feet. “Mum said you’re not to hex anyone on the train again!”

“Mum’s not here!” Ivan retorted.

“Just leave us alone!” snapped Blake.

Ivan regarded him with a cool look, and then, replacing his wand inside his robes, he seized his little brother by the front of his collar. “Get one thing straight, pleb! Once we’re in Hogwarts, you have to do what I say or else, got it?”

“Got it,” Blake muttered, squirming.

Ivan gave him a shove, releasing him, and Blake toppled back into his seat. Ivan turned to Idina. “As for you, you just watch your step, right?”

Idina didn’t answer him; instead she glared up at his defiantly. Ivan left the compartment and she tuned to Blake, who was righting himself. “Are you ok?”

“Fine,” Blake replied, straightening his jumper. “He’s just a bully.”

“You shouldn’t let him push you around like that.”

Blake laughed. “”Like I have a choice! Do you have older siblings?”

“No, just a younger brother.”

“You’re lucky.”

They sat in silence for a while, and then as the sky began to darken above them, Blake said “I think we’re nearly there.”

It was true; a few moments later the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmede station. Now both in their Hogwarts robes, Idina and Blake hopped out amid a sea of black as they joined their fellow students.

“Firs’ years this way!” barked a voice and they turned to see a giant of a man carrying a lantern and beckoning them over. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and also Care of Magical Creatures teacher, led them to a series of boats at the side of the lake. “No more’n four to a boat!”

Idina and Blake found themselves joined in their boat by a girl with long blonde hair and a boy with pale, almost white hair and wide eyes. “Hi,” chirped the girl. “I’m Helena, Helena Macmillan. And this is Lysander Scamander.”

“Scamander...” Idina repeated, thoughtfully. “Wait; are you related to New Scamander, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?”

“He’s my great grandfather,” replied Lysander, nodding, although his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

“Well,” said Blake, “I’m Blake Nott.”

“And I’m Idina Wood,” added Idina as the boats pushed off from the side of the lake.

“Where are you hoping to go?” asked Helena, excitably. Then, without waiting for an answer, she added “I want to be in Hufflepuff, like my parents, although if I ended up in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor it wouldn’t be too bad, I suppose, but I should really stick with the family traditions.”

“Well, my parents are hoping I’ll get into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw,” Idina said.

“My whole family’s been in Slytherin for years,” Blake added, dully. “So I probably will be too.”

“Oh.” Helena looked surprised and then she smiled, encouragingly. “Or you might not.”

“I just hope that our common room doesn’t have any Wrackspurts or Nargles,” said Lysander, causing the other three to exchange glances and shrugs.

As the castle of Hogwarts came into sight, Idina held her breath. It looked beautiful and inviting and was lit with what must have been thousands of candles. In a clump, the first years were led from the boats and up a flight of stairs to a large front door. Hagrid knocked once and the door was opened by a thin, wiry old woman in emerald green robes and a matching pointed hat. Her hair was mousy and frizzy and restrained in a bun at the back of her head. Golden, half-moon spectacles were perched on her nose.

“Firs’ years, Professor Conchrose,” announced Hagrid.

“Thank you, Hagrid,” she replied, in a peasant but professional manner, and then the led the first years into the castle. Idina looked all around her, marvelling. It was just as her parents had described it to her, and more. Professor Conchrose led them all in a line into the Great Hall, where each first year felt the eyes of their fellow students upon them and a sense of pressure settled into the air.

Before them, the headmaster Professor Flitwick, as he had been recently elected by Professor MacGonagall upon her retirement, sat in the middle of the table, flanked on either side by teachers of all shapes, sizes and ages, and they too watched the first year students as they filed into the hall. Professor Conchrose halted before a small stool where the Sorting Hat sat and, turning efficiently to the first years, she drew a scroll from the inside of her robes and unrolled it. “When I announce your name, you will come forwards, I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your house. Jeremiah Ashbourne?”

Idina, Blake, Helena and Lysander watched as a small, sandy-haired boy stepped nervously up to the stool, sat down and Professor Conchrose placed the Sorting Hat on his head. The Hat seemed to consider for a few minutes before shouting out “Ravenclaw!”

The Ravenclaw students cheered as they welcomed their new student and Professor Conchrose continued down the list of names.

“Helena Macmillan!” she called eventually.

“Yes!” Helena whispered, excitedly, and she scurried up to the stool. No sooner was the hat placed upon her head, it cried out “Hufflepuff!”

Idina laughed, and then noticed that Blake was looking pale. Turning, she saw that Ivan, sat with the Slytherins was shooting him a dark look, making him feel uneasy.

“Blake Nott!” called Professor Conchrose.

“Good luck,” Idina muttered to him, but Blake didn’t respond; instead he simply stepped up to the stool. The Hat took a long time to consider before it finally shouted out “Slytherin!”

Blake looked relieved as he joined the Slytherins. “I heard that the head of their house was really a vampire,” Lysander said, matter-of-factly.

Idina laughed. “No, I don’t think he was!”

“Lysander Scamander!”

Lysander walked up to the stool, sat down and the Hat was placed upon his head. “Ravenclaw!” it cried, presently.

They seemed to take forever to get to Idina’s name, for this year there were a lot of first years with names beginning with “S” and “T” but then eventually, after “Erica Timmons” was placed in Hufflepuff, they came to “Idina Wood!”

Nerves filling her, Idina stepped quietly up to the Hat, wishing everyone would look away whilst she was being sorted. Professor Conchrose placed the Hat on her head and a tiny voice murmured “Hm, another Wood, is it? Well, let’s see...there’s courage and determination and loyalty and I see a pure heart too, so...Gryffindor!”

The Gryffindor students burst into applause and Idina roused herself as it sank in that she was in the same house as some of the greatest Hogwarts students to ever live; her father and the great Harry Potter included, and she went to join them at the Gryffindor table. The sorting finally over, the feasting began after Professor Flitwick bid it, and the golden plates, bowls and goblets in front of them magically filled with food and drink. Picking a chicken leg onto her plate with her knife and fork, Idina looked over at the Slytherin table where, to her surprise, Blake seemed to be connecting somewhat with his fellow Slytherins. She smiled. Maybe from now on Ivan would leave him alone.

“So, you’re a Wood?” said a voice to her left. Looking up, she noticed a fourth year with dark, untidy hair and brown eyes, and a cheeky expression on his face grinning at her.

“Yeah, my dad’s Oliver Wood,” she replied.

“I know. He was Captain of Gryffindor Quidditch Team when my dad was Seeker,” the boy replied, sticking out his hand. “James Potter.”

Idina stared at him. “What; your dad’s Harry Potter?”

“Yep!” He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. My dad says that your dad was the best Seeker he ever had.”

James beamed, proudly. “He was; he was great!”

Idina quickly settled down amongst her classmates as the feast wore on, and then, eventually, when everyone was very much full, the tables were cleared and their Prefect, a lad named Roland Finch-Fletchly, led them through to their Common Room, which, Idina smiled to see, was still guarded by The Fat Lady.

“Password?” she asked them.

“Monks Hood,” replied Roland and the portrait swung back to admit them. Idina followed her fellow girls up to their dormitory and, to her immense pleasure, saw that her trunk and other belongings had been stored by a bed right beside the window. Looking out, she could see the grounds and the Quidditch pitch just below.

She smiled as she finally tumbled into bed and closed her eyes, knowing that when she woke up it would be the start of a whole new life at Hogwarts...