"We'll miss you, Mickey." Jenna hugged the elf after watching his large blue eyes get filled with tears.
"Oh, what is poor Mickey going to do without his two little saints running around the house and causing trouble!" He sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his little hand.
"I think you've misunderstood the meaning of saint, Mickey. Because saint and trouble usually don't come in the same sentence," James said teasingly, trying to cheer the house-elf up, but it only made him sob harder.
"Oh, how Mickey is going to miss his little master's witty jokes!" he said between his sobs.
"I'll miss you, too." James patted him on the head gently. "But we'll come back soon for Christmas break!" Mickey's mood was slightly picked up at the mention of those words.
After bidding their goodbyes, James and Jenna walked along with their parents for a few minutes until they finally reached the main road.
Mr. Potter took out his wand and gave it a quick wave. "All right, then. The Knight Bus will be here any moment now."
And sure enough, there it came; a triple-decker, violently purple bus pulled up out of nowhere. It had gigantic pairs of wheels and it headlights screeched to a halt exactly where the Potters stood with their trunks. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus.
Moments later, a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to greet them. The man then helped them with their trunks and took them up.
"Hey, no pushing!" Mrs. Potter called after the twins as they raced each other inside the bus, but they soon came to a bus as they looked around them in awe.
There were no seats; instead, half a dozen brass bedsteads stood beside the curtained windows. Candles were burning in brackets beside each bed, illuminating the wood-paneled walls.
Once Mr. Potter paid the driver and the bus started on, they had to hold on tight until they finally got to King's Cross station, but they made sure to enjoy the ride and its fast speed.
When they finally got to the station, it had gotten too hard to control their excitement as they ran around to find platform 9 and 10. They both had their train tickets in their hands, belonging to platform 9 3/4.
"We're almost there," Mrs. Potter announced, smiling at how excited her kids were for their first day at Hogwarts.
"I still can't believe we're not allowed to bring our own broomsticks," Jenna said for what felt like to be the hundredth time that week.
"Yeah." James nodded in agreement. "We would've totally made the Gryffindor team."
"And how are you so sure that you're going to be sorted into Gryffindor house?" Mrs. Potter questioned, half angry that her kids had taken over from her husband's house-prejudice.
But she quickly came to regret asking that question, because the next moment, James and Jenna pretended to draw imaginary swords out of their robes and pointed them up in the sky, saying together, "Because we belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!"
Mrs. Potter threw a deadly glare at her husband, knowing all too well that he had rehearsed that line with the twins and was responsible for all of this.
"But does it really matter if we're sorted into another house, though?" Jenna asked, this time less enthusiastically.
"Of course it doesn't matter. We'll be happy either way," said Mrs. Potter kindly.
"Of course we'll be happy," said Mr. Potter, smiling reassuringly at them before adding in a mumble, "as long as you're in Gryffindor."
"Fleamont!"
"Oh, all right! It doesn't matter to us!" He said with a teasing eye-roll.
"Even if we're sorted into Slytherin?" James asked with a mischievous grin, trying to provoke his father.
"Slytherin – ouch – yes, fine, it really doesn't matter," Mr. Potter exclaimed, having to change his tone after receiving a smack on his arm from his wife.
"There! Look!" Jenna suddenly pointed when she spotted the platform, her hair turning orange in excitement again.
But she quickly tried to focus and turn it back to brown when she saw a few Muggles passing by giving her weird looks.
"Ready, guys?" Mr. Potter said brightly.
"As ready as one can be!" James said eagerly. But confused for not hearing her sister's remark on the matter, he turned around to look for her.
Jenna was frozen on the spot, a few steps behind the rest of the family, her hair a deep shade of gray as she stared at the ground.
Knowing exactly what was wrong, Euphemia sighed under her breath before walking back and toward her daughter, offering her a little smile.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Mrs. Potter asked gently, putting a hand on her daughter's arm.
"What if – what if everyone thinks I'm a freak?" said Jenna anxiously, pointing at her hair.
But before her mother could comfort her, James walked forward with his chest out as he said proudly, "Then they'll have to be prepared for their asses to be kicked! I'm the only one who's allowed to call you freak!"
Jenna giggled, but then said even more strongly, "I can kick their asses myself, I wouldn't need a boy to do it for me!"
"That's my girl!" Mr. Potter said happily, as if cheering her on for wanting to beat up others. "But then what's the matter?"
"I just — I don't want them to think I'm different."
Her mother smiled kindly at her before saying, "Everyone's different in their own way, once you get to know them. And that's when you'll realize our uniqueness is what makes us special. And there's no need to feel ashamed about it."
Jenna looked up at her mother with glimmering eyes and smiled, her hair turning a peaceful color of blue. But this time, she didn't try to change it.
"Okay.... Let's do this!" she said brightly, rubbing her hands together in glee.
"Oh, yeah!" James beamed. "Hogwarts, ready or not, here we come!"