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Chapter 6: Arrival at Hogwarts
🕑 Added 2025-10-31 01:30:47 +0000 UTCChapter 6: Arrival at Hogwarts
It was Sean's first time seeing a Chocolate Frog card. For the other two first-years in Compartment Two, it was a new experience as well, and the conversation naturally turned to their discoveries.
"Whoa! Derwent Shimpling!" Justin exclaimed, holding up his card.
"Do you know who he is?" Hermione asked.
"No, but I have the deepest respect for what he did."
Hermione raised an eyebrow and took the card from Justin's hand to read it aloud.
"Derwent Shimpling: Famous for eating an entire Venomous Tentacula on a bet and surviving, though his skin remains purple to this day."
She finished reading, then turned to glare at Justin. "Idiot."
"Alright, you have a point," Justin conceded without argument. Their attention then shifted to Hermione's card.
"Godric Gryffindor," she announced, her chin held high and a proud smile spreading across her face. "One of the founders of Hogwarts. An entire house is named after him, you know."
"That's brilliant," Justin said with genuine admiration. "I read about him in Hogwarts: A History. The book said he left a sword hidden somewhere in the castle." Hermione beamed, clearly pleased by his interest.
While they talked, the train had left London far behind and was now speeding through rolling green pastures dotted with sheep and cattle. For a few moments, they fell silent, simply watching the hills and fields fly past. Occasionally, they spotted people on horseback in white riding gear, looking like tiny flowers in a vast oil painting.
"You know," Hermione said quietly, "he's incredibly quiet."
She didn't need to say a name. Justin knew exactly who she meant.
"Not always," Justin replied with a grin, his dimples showing. He picked up a Pumpkin Pasty from the pile. "Sean, do me a favour and help me with this, will you?"
A slender hand shot out from behind a thick, brown textbook and took the pasty.
"Thanks."
The quiet reply came a few seconds later. Justin's dimples deepened.
"My mother always told me that the most capable people are often the quietest," he said, his gaze drifting to Sean's pilling robes and his intensely focused expression. "She said that even if a mountain were to collapse in front of them, they wouldn't be startled. But… they're often not very lucky in other ways."
He gestured vaguely at Sean. "Mother said I should always seek out friends like that. Her advice helped me find my best mates at Summer Fields, my old school. And she was right. I think we'll be friends for life. We all promised to write, even though we're at different schools now. I can show you their letters, if you like."
He opened his trunk, revealing a neatly stacked bundle of envelopes next to a scattering of photographs of him and his friends.
As Hermione was looking on with some surprise, a tearful voice came from the corridor. "Trevor! Where are you!"
A round-faced boy stumbled into their compartment. "Sorry," he asked timidly, "but have any of you seen a toad?"
The next time Sean looked up, he was jolted from his concentration by the warm, yellow glow of the carriage lamps. He rubbed his eyes and realized he was the only one left in the compartment. A glance outside revealed a dark, twilight sky. It was time to change into his school robes.
As he closed his copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, he found a small note tucked between the pages.
Sean, we've gone to help a boy named Neville find his toad. If you want to join, we're in the corridors.
Sean thought for a moment, then turned the note over and scribbled a reply on the back.
Train's about to arrive. Remember to change your robes.
He then grabbed his own school robes and slid the compartment door open.
The corridor was now a cacophony of noise, ten times louder than before. It seemed the students in every compartment had become fast friends, their voices rising in volume as their excitement grew. As Sean walked past one compartment, he overheard a familiar argument.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow," a young, uncertain male voice recited.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" a girl's voice asked skeptically. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and they've all worked for me… Here, let me show you. Oculus Reparo."
Sean knew exactly what was happening. He was about to move on when the door to that same compartment was flung open by a boy with platinum blond hair, flanked by two other boys who looked like his personal bodyguards. Sean didn't need to guess what would happen next.
Sure enough, a sneering voice soon drifted down the corridor.
"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
Such a venomous tongue, Sean thought, continuing on his way to the changing rooms without a backward glance.
A moment later, he heard a loud yelp from the compartment. He could guess what had happened: Scabbers must have bitten Goyle, creating a diversion for Harry.
That might be the only time Peter Pettigrew ever actually helped Harry, he mused.
By the time the trio was reunited in their compartment, the roar of the scarlet steam engine was at its peak. The train slowly began to lose speed. Outside the windows, under a deep purple sky, they could see nothing but a vast expanse of mountains and forests.
Hermione and Justin were practically vibrating with excitement.
The three of them disembarked onto a tiny, dark platform. In the distance, they could see a giant of a man holding a lantern, looking for all the world like a man-eating ogre from a fairytale. The night air was bitingly cold, but for the first time, Sean didn't shiver. He was no longer wearing donated, threadbare clothes. His new, plain Hogwarts robes were thick and warm.
They followed Hagrid through the woods, and when Hogwarts Castle finally came into view, a collective, resounding gasp of awe came from the first-years.
"WOOOOOW!"
Justin's cry was the loudest of all, earning him a playful glare from Hermione.
"Forgive me, Hermione," he said, his voice full of wonder, "but Eton wasn't an easy thing to give up. I made the right decision, though. Just look at this castle! And the floating lights… and the moving statues… If my mother could see this, she… I think she'd be proud of me."
They crossed the great black lake in small boats, passed through a boathouse, and climbed a flight of stone steps carved into a cliff. Finally, the group of small witches and wizards came to a stop before the grand entrance to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall was waiting to give her speech about the four houses and the Sorting Ceremony.
