Edited
To say that the train ride had been eventful so far would be a complete under statement. They had eaten a bunch of junk food, made a new friend called Ron, a girl name Hermione had walked in and showed them some magic, a boy name Neville who had lost his toad had come in, and they had talked a bit about the magic world.
Ron was just taking Harry and Kirra through the finer points of the game magic game, quidditch when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.
Four boys entered, and the twins instantly recognized the two middles one at once: it was the pale boy and the brunette from Madam Malkin's robe shop.
Draco was looking at Harry and Kirra with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley whereas Mattheo was just looking down at the girl with an unreadable expression on his face, but an obvious sneer tugging on his lips.
"Is it true?" Draco suddenly said. "They're saying all down the train that the Potter twins are in this compartment. So it's you two, is it?"
"Yes," said Harry but Kirra just glared up at the pale boy, trying to ignore the gaze from Mattheo.Kirra looked at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of Draco and Mattheo, they looked like bodyguards.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle, That's Mattheo Riddle" said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Kirra was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger.
Draco Malfoy looked at him. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned back to Harry and Kirra.
"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potters. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held out his hand to shake but neither of the twins shook it.
"I think we can tell who the wrong sort are for ourselves, thanks," Kirra said coolly and Mattheo couldn't help but grin slightly but it only grew as the girl continued "oh and in case there is a stick so far up your ass that it is jabbing your brain and stopping its function, that means piss off please."
Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. "What did you say to me?" Draco sneered as he took a step forward
"You heard Malfoy, I said piss off" The girl commented and Draco only seemed to get more annoyed with the girl
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you." All three of them stood up
"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.
"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron or his sister.
"But we don't feet like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Kirra had pushed Goyle back.
Goyle let out a horrible yell and looked like he was about to hit the girl. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung his fist towards the girl but Kirra had ducked and then pushed the boy back once more, only making him angrier
Goyle let out another angry huff and went to punch her once more but Mattheo had reached forward and grabbed Goyles wrist tightly in his hand.
Goyle looked back at him in anger but when he saw the look on Mattheo's face he cowered slightly and put his arm back down towards his side. Mattheo gave the girl one last look before the group of boys piled out of the compartment.
A second later, Hermione Granger had come back in. "What has been going on?" she said, looking at them all.
"You've met Malfoy before?" Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.
"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."
He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"
"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"
"Hey only Kirra has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her but shut up when he caught the glare Kirra was sending him.
"Would you mind leaving while we change?"
"All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Ron glared at her as she left.
"Alright, I'll go get changed in the bathrooms, I'll be back soon" Kirra muttered out softly and grabbed her stuff and left to go to the bathrooms.
The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Kirra shivered in the cold night air, she hadn't managed to find her brother since when she came out of the bathroom everyone was crowding the halls to get out of the train.
Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Kirra heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Kirra? Wheres yeh brother" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.
"somewhere in the crowd" she muttered up to him and he nodded his head softly
"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Kirra thought there must be thick trees there.
Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice. "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud "Oooooh!" The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Kirra looked around once more to see if she could find her brother but she had no luck
"Lost?" she heard a familiar voice from behind her and she let out a small sigh before turning to look up at the boy who had the same smirk on his face
"No, I'm just looking for my brother" she muttered out with a sigh and Mattheo looked around sarcastically before looking back down at her, "I'm going to be going in the boat with him"
"well I cant see him, guess that just means youre gonna have to hop in the boat with me" Mattheo said to her, not actually looking for her brother
She didn't look at him, instead looking around to try and find her brother or Ron, or at least somebody that she knew. "Or I could go and find someone else to sit with" she replied and he chuckled slightly
"all the other boats are full, theres two spots left in that boat there" Mattheo says and points over at a boat with two boys in the front of it already. Kirra looked around at the other boats and he was right, all of the other boats were now filled with first years, chattering amongst themselves excitedly
"fine" she muttered and the two of them made it over to the boat and sat down in the back of it, Kirra tried not to look at the water and tried her best to ignore the coldness that was radiating up from the chilling lake and the cool air that was nipping at her skin. Her strong fear of water that she had, had for as long as she could remember, was internally laughing at her as she sat in the boat on the lake.
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!" And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass.
Kirra was just about to finally relax when the boat suddenly shook roughly, she grabbed onto the sides of the boat and let out a large gasp. She heard laughter and saw the three boys in the boat giggling as she watched her reaction, clearly amused at the sight of her fear.
Then they grabbed onto the side of the boat and did it again, the water splashed up the sides of the boat and Kirra's breath immediately got heavier as her eyes widened and goosebumps covered her skin, wrapping her in a tight blanket of overwhelming fear, suffocating her.
Tears began to pool in the bottom of her eyes as she attempted to calm herself down, Its just water, its just water, there is nothing down there that is going to grab you and drag you to the bottom
She had been having nightmares about it since she was a baby, trapped in a dark cave, the sound of screeching and crying as she was grabbed by thousands of hands and ripped down into the water, her arms flailing as she struggled to swim to the top, begging for air to be reuntied with her growing lungs.
Flashes of her nightmares flew through her brain, the sound of crying and screaming, the feeling of fear and desperation. The cold overwhelming feeling of a loss of hope, and finally the coldness consuming her body completely.
The boat continued to shake underneath her, "Stop! Please stop!" she begged as she gripped the boat even tighter, her cheeks going red and tears falling from her eyes.
"Calm down Potter it's just a bit of water" Mattheo laughed but she didn't calm down, her eyes clenched shut and she pulled herself into the middle of the boat as she tried her best not to let out a cry of fear
"Please stop!" she choked out and her breathing became worse and sweat began to drip down her face, mixing with her helpless tears. Kirra felt her chest begin to ache and her head throbbed as she struggled to breathe, and suddenly the smirk dropped from Mattheo's face as he realized how serious it was getting
"Hey stop now that's enough" Mattheo quickly commanded the two boys at the front and they instantly stopped, not wanting to get on Mattheo's bad side.
Mattheo quickly pulled himself next to the girl and grabbed onto her shoulders "hey hey, listen to me, listen to my voice okay." he demanded but she didn't calm down and her breathing didn't get any better
"listen to me, you're okay, nothing is going to happen to you okay," Mattheo said as he began to freak out, he shook her shoulders and then growled under his breath and grabbed her chin, and forced her to look up at him.
She stared into his eyes for a few moments, taking in all of the colors that resided in them, all the beautiful earthy tones "you need to calm down, slow your breathing," he demanded and she nodded her head and he began to show her how to breathe, and soon she matched his breathing and began to calm down
"Th-thank you," she whispered out to Mattheo but a scoff fell from his lips as he went back to his seat.
"I only helped you so that I wouldn't get in trouble, so you don't need to thank me" Mattheo didn't say anything after that, he was back to his original spot on the boat and didn't even bother to look over at her
"merlin, what a baby" one of the boys at the front commented while the other one laughed, and a laugh even fell from Mattheos lips. Kirra let out a sigh and just kept her eyes on the castle in front of them.
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Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. "Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.
They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them. "Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.
They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. "Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.