"Davis! Davis Anne Nine it's 10:00am, why aren't you awake?! The train leaves in exactly one hour!" My mother screamed from the living room below.
I rolled over and blearily eyed the digital clock across the room: 9:45am.
My half-awake-delirious state was interrupted by a pounding on my door followed by another shout from my mum. Getting out of my bed, I grabbed a blue flannel, a pair of jeans, and headed to the shower to appease my mother. Every year on September 1st since the day that I had received my letter from Hogwarts, she would be up at 6:30am sharp. She would be constantly bustling around the house making breakfast and double-triple-quadruple checking everything. She was even more nervous and busier than last year because my younger brother, Jonathan, also received a letter. This would be his first year and my mother wanted to make sure everything was perfect.
Ten minutes later, I had successfully washed up and made my bed. Grabbing my yellow trunk, I hobbled down to the kitchen where the intoxicating scent of waffles was floating around.
"Good morning, darling," my dad said as I set my trunk by the door and took the seat next to his. My father was a short man with a thick patch of greying hair that stuck out in about every which way. He had on his pair of wire rimmed reading glasses and his nose buried deep in the comic section of the newspaper. My mother was the complete opposite of him. She was tall and slender with pale skin and flowing red hair. It will forever be a mystery to me how my parents ended up together.
My mother instantly shoved a stack of golden waffles under my nose and poured me a tall glass of orange juice. As I was pouring syrup and smiling over at my dad, Johnny flew in and hopped onto the chair across from me. He was dressed in a grey sweater and jeans and wore an expression of excitement on his small face.
"What's the train like? Is Hogwarts scary? What if I'm in Slytherin? What's Dumbledore like? Are the teachers mean? Do they give detentions on the first day? How many classes—" Johnny went on and on with the same questions he'd been pestering me about all last night upon my arrival home from my day out with my best friends.
I waited patiently until he ran out of breath and blinked at me with those clear blue eyes of his barely visible over a stack of waffles.
"You won't be in Slytherin, Johnny," I said taking a bite of waffles.
"What if I am and I turn bad?" He asked worriedly. He picked slightly at his stack before eating some.
"Then Mum and Dad will disown—" I started to say.
"Davis Anne, you watch your mouth!" Mom scolded from across the kitchen. "Fred, tell your daughter she's being unreasonable!"
"Good one, Davis," Dad said not looking up from the newspaper.
"Frederick!"
"What? It was just a little joke," he grumbled turning the page.
"Well, I don't think it's funny," Mom huffed.
I kept eating waffles and winked at Johnny.
"You'll be fine, I promise nothing bad will happen. There were many great wizards that were once in Slytherin. I'm sure you will be as well," I said.
Johnny poked his waffles again, still unconvinced.
"Hey, kids! It's almost time to go!" Mom announced loudly.
"Come on, let's wash up and get our trunks before Mom really starts yelling," I said quickly.
Johnny grinned and ran out of the kitchen.
I lugged the trunks out and my dad helped me load them into the car. Mom rushed Johnny and I into the back seat before fussing about Dad's hair and then we were off.
Arriving at the station, my parents rushed Johnny and his trunk through Platform 9 and 3/4 leaving me to push my own through the wall. The grand train sat surrounded by families, smoke, and many chittering first years.
"Hey, Davis! Davis Nine!"
I spun on my heel and spotted Zach's shock of blonde hair and frantically waving hands. Ernie was next to him smiling vaguely and Hannah grinning from between the two.
As I made my way over to them, a tall shoulder knocked into my own which sent me spinning around. I dropped my trunk and lost my footing.
"Watch where you're going, Hufflepuff," a voice snarled as I stood up and seized my trunk. It was Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.
"Why don't you?" I snapped back turning away and dragged my luggage towards Zach.
"You fell over," Zach said laughing.
"Was that Malfoy I saw you talking to?" Ernie asked winking suggestively. "I see he somehow got over his slug affliction I expertly hexed him with last year."
That part was true. Ernie, Hannah, Susan Bones , Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein, and Terry Boot had swamped Malfoy and his goons with a hilarious mix of jinxes and hexes when they had tried to jump The Chosen One last year. The three Slytherins were left as slugs. I was forever mad I had missed it because I was in the bathroom which is coincidentally where Harry Potter had been heading.
"Are you hurt?" Hannah pressed between the boys and grabbed my shoulders.
"I'm fine, really, he just bumped into me is all. Come on, help me get my luggage on the train before it crushes me," I said after hugging Hannah with my free arm.
Ernie grabbed one end and I pulled hard on the other. Eventually, it was loaded.
"Wait, isn't your brother starting this year?" Hannah asked excitedly.
I grinned. "Yeah, I'm going to go find him and get him a seat before my parents get too emotional and squeeze the kid to death. Save me a seat, will you?"
"Not a chance," said Zach grabbing Ernie and scrambling onto the train.
I huffed and looked over at Hannah.
"Keep an eye on them for me, I'll be back," I said and made my way over to my sobbing mother and stoic father.
Johnny was squished in my mother's arms and looking quite perturbed.
"Make sure he gets a seat, Davis, and that this year is perfect for him and everything goes smoothly," Mum said between hiccups. "Make sure that you're both on the train home for Christmas Break!"
Johnny pulled himself away from Mum and took my hand nervously. I gave it a small squeeze of reassurance before it was my turn to be crushed to death in Mum's arms. Dad smiled, ruffled Johnny's hair, and patted my shoulder.
The train whistle blew loudly signaling the final call for boarding and I tugged Johnny towards it. He hopped on in front of me, letting go of my hand. I followed him on and noticed a compartment full of other nervous first years.
"Hey," I said as I crouched down next to my little brother and pointed over to it. "Try them for a seat."
He nodded slowly and went off. I made sure he was sitting down before making my way down the train hall to find my friends. Just what Mum had wanted.
I heard Zach before I saw him. He was shouting and Ernie was guffawing loudly. Poor Hannah was probably trying to get them to settle down. I opened the compartment door and slid in next to her. Ernie was doubled over near the window, red-faced and dying of laughter. Zach had stopped yelling and was now silently fuming at him.
"What did I miss?" I asked suspiciously.
Hannah shook her head of blonde waves and launched into the story.
"Apparently Zach has had this secret that he told Ernest in complete faith he'd take it to his grave. Yet Ernest just spilled the whole thing to me. Zach's never been this embarrassed before. Wait till you hear it!"
"Spill," I pressed.
Hannah was about to open her mouth when Zach jumped up and glared at her.
"Abbott, I swear if you open your mouth and tell Davis, I'll never speak to you or Ernie or her again," he said quietly.
"I don't see how that's a problem," Ernest whispered causing me to giggle.
"Come on Zach, you can tell me anything! What happens between the four of us stays between the four of us," I said sitting up and looking him dead in the eye.
"You wouldn't understand," Zach muttered.
Right at that moment, the train jolted forward and began its way to Hogwarts causing Zach to fall back into his seat. He sighed loudly and glared at the three of us from under his mop of thick blonde hair.
"You've piqued my curiosity, tell me?" I asked him again.
"No, Davis, I told you that you wouldn't understand," he snapped and looked out the window angrily.
I frowned, letting it slide.
About two hours into the ride, a knock on the door snapped us out of our trance-like state. I made to open the compartment door, but it slid open and in stumbled an out of breath fourth year. He scanned our faces and decided Ernie was the one he wanted to talk to.
"Are you Davis Nine?" He asked stepping forward and shoving an envelope under Ernie's nose.
"Nice try, buddy, but she is sitting over there," he said attempting to hide a laugh rising in his throat.
The boy froze and his cheeks flushed as he slowly turned around and handed me the envelope. As I took it from his hand, he spun on his heel and sprinted from the compartment not even bothering to shut the door.
"Well, that was awkward," Hannah said and Ernest burst out laughing for the second time today.
I shook my head as I tore open the letter and removed the paper inside. It was written in flowing handwriting and addressed to me. Frowning, I scanned the contents before handing it to Hannah. She squinted and read it aloud:
"Dear Miss Davis Nine,
I would like to take a moment introduce myself. My name is Professor Horace Slughorn and I will be teaching Potions to sixth year N. E. W. T. students such as yourself.
You must be wondering why you have received this letter from me. It is to my liking that I select esteemed students who only strive to achieve the best to join me this year. I would be very much obliged if you would come to the first train compartment upon reading this to meet with me and the other students I have selected. Lunch will be provided and you'll be back with your friends in no time.
I do hope to see you there. Best of luck this year in Potions.
-Professor Horace Slughorn"
Hannah gave me the letter back and I re-read it to myself.
"Did Dumbledore finally fire Snape or something?" Zach asked scooting closer to us and appearing much happier than before.
"I hope," said Ernie. "Are you going to go to this meeting then?"
I shrugged. "I don't really want to—"
"You're so going!" Hannah said enthusiastically.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"You always go the extra mile in classes Now, you're getting recognized for being super smart," she said smiling.
"Nice, a club for nerds, just for you, Davis!" Zach said winking.
"I told you I'm the Queen of the Nerds," I shot back. "I guess I'll go."
I didn't understand why I was nervous, but I was indeed apprehensive as I made my way to the front of the train. A few other students joined me and before long, a small crowd of people were outside the compartment whispering excitedly. I shuffled my feet and realized I knew no one here. A few other Hufflepuff students were here, but I had never talked to them before so I tried to focus on just breathing deeply.
As everyone squished inside and took a seat, my eyes were greeted with what appeared to be a walrus in green robes smiling at us. I was shoved between a Ravenclaw and one of the unknown Hufflepuff students.
The walrus rubbed its mustache and introduced itself as Professor Slughorn.
"Welcome to the Slug Club," he said as he adjusted his robes and smiled widely.
He talked about how he was very excited to be teaching at Hogwarts for, apparently, the second time and that he was able to organize these parties. Lunch was actually provided and he asked a few students about their families. After the final story had been told, Slughorn bid us a happy remainder of the train ride and shooed us back to our compartments.
Upon arriving back, I discovered the others had already changed into their robes so I did the same. Once I was done, they bombarded me with questions about the afternoon spent with Slughorn and as Zach said, 'other nerds'.
I relayed the whole thing about how he had worked at Hogwarts before and was excited to be back. Also, I told them about the parties he planned to throw through the year.
"Dull and boring," Ernie said through a yawn as we pulled into the Hogsmeade train station.
"There's the reason Ernest Macmillan wasn't invited," I said getting up and opening the compartment door.
He made a face at me and followed Zach into the flood of students exiting the train. We boarded the carriages that were pulled along by nothing and were swept up to the castle to a waiting feast.