CHAPTER 1 - CALM BEFORE THE STORM - September 1, 2019
"OLIVER, WAKE UP!" a forceful voice demanded. The young brown-haired boy's eyes popped open to see his brunette mother towering over him with a scolding face. He quickly sat up as his mother commanded him to get ready for his trip to Hogwarts. He changed his clothes in a rush and opened his bedroom door while trying to get his ripped left shoe on.
"You should get new shoes" A young, annoying feminine voice called from the hallway. His beady-eyed younger sister, Isabella, stood at her door frame, wearing a pink sequin dress and clear plastic heels. "I guess" he replied. She scrunched her button nose and rolled her eyes then scampered downstairs to the kitchen, probably to beg their mother for something.
Oliver soon followed his sister downstairs after he slipped his other shoe on. The wooden steps creaked as he rushed down the stairs and entered the dining room. His three older siblings were already sitting at the rotting mahogany table, his other younger siblings most likely asleep. Jack definitely was, his favorite thing to do was sleep. He lumbered to the table and sat in a creaky old wooden chair, picking up a steaming slice of toast, a jar of raspberry jam, and a butter knife on the way.
"Oh, look who's finally awake!" His brother, William, sarcastically said, while stuffing his face with eggs. "Oh, be quiet, will you?" Muttered Noah. "You woke up just a few minutes ago." Of all Oliver's siblings, Noah was by far the nicest. William playfully elbowed him. "Oh, come on! You know I was just joking around!" Oliver sighed and began to spread jam on his toast. Gwen's grumbling and mumbles could be heard from the kitchen as she was forced out of the bathroom so Isabella and Rosemary could get ready.
"Ready for your third year, slugger?" His father said from behind him as his hand messed up Oliver's hair. Oliver cringed as he fixed his hair. "Yeah, you ready slugger?" William mocked him. The twins, William and Gwen were in their last year at Hogwarts, but William sure acted as if he was in his first. Rosemary, another younger sister of his, was going to be in her first year, but even she was more mature than William.
"Don't do that William, how about you, Rosemary, ready for your first year?" His father asked as he saw the dark-haired girl being pushed out of the bathroom by Isabella. "Uh, I guess?" She replied. "Don't worry, I'll share all the secret passageways, so you can get out of class!" William cut in. "No, he won't!" His older sister said. Gwen was quite tall but built like a twig. Though she might have seemed weak and frail, she was surprisingly strong, always sticking up for the younger ones. Except for Isabella. She was just god-awful. "He never does, cause it's about all he's got up here." She said as she glared at him, pointing to her temple.
"Alright children, go grab your trunks. We'll be heading to King's Cross soon." His mother butted in before any more remarks were made. The five dark-haired children went to retrieve their bags. Oliver had taken a long time to haul his suitcases from his room to the car; they were stuffed to the brim with his textbooks, extra parchment, and at least fifteen books. By the time he had gotten downstairs, everybody was waiting in the car. He sighed and dragged his cases outside, stuffed them in the boot, and sat in the car. He buckled in and prepared for a long, and most likely noisy, ride to the station.
The family of nine quickly exited the car and hurried towards the train station. Inside, Oliver led them to the "9 ¾ Hogwarts Express" sign. He probably knew King's Cross Station better than anyone else in England. His family went through, one by one until it was just him. Oliver had always felt nervous about passing through. He looked at the bricks as if someone might have hexed them and he could have ended up in the cold mountains of Siberia, or on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. He knew it was virtually impossible, but he had always had his suspicions. He took a deep breath, stared into the brick wall, and ran through.
"William, please don't get suspended again." His mother begged. "No promises!" He said as he ran away to his group of friends, Noah behind him after he said his goodbyes since his two older brothers were both in the same friend group. "Gwen, please make better grades this year!" Oliver's mother then scolded her. "I'll try." She replied as she then ran off. "Oliver, don't let your siblings make fun of you for being in Ravenclaw, and look after Rosemary." Oliver was the odd one out in the family; practically everyone else in his family was a Gryffindor, except for him. "Got it, mom."
He ran towards the train and hopped onto the steps. He looked towards his mom. He could see tears well up in her eyes as steam began to fill the station. He looked towards his dad. He was nodding at him and smiling. Though he hadn't talked very much this morning, Oliver knew he felt just the same as his mom did. The train began to pull away from the platform. His parents waved goodbye, and he gestured back. He saw them slowly get smaller and smaller until they were gone, the darkness of the tunnel enveloping his surroundings. He smiled and walked into the warmth and light of the Hogwarts Express.
He entered Compartment 8, the section of the train he and all his friends had met in the first year. He remembers them all being so naïve and innocent. Even though it was only three years ago, now only one of his friends remained so. Hana has always been like a child; she never saw how horrid the world was, as with most Hufflepuffs. Elizabeth, being the chaotic Gryffindor, was always careless and pulling pranks. She usually ended up in the hospital wing or with Hana rubbing aloe on a scratch, cut, or a burn. Linnea was the Slytherin of the group, trying to prove that she was the best and fighting constantly with Elizabeth. It always started with a verbal argument, but if left unchecked, it could escalate into punching and shoving.
Now Oliver was excited to see his friends again and to start a normal third year. He began to think back to when they met, starting with him, sitting in this very compartment when a girl with a dark red pixie cut knocked on the door, asking if she could sit there. He complied and she sat across from him. They talked for a bit about Hogwarts houses and such until another knock came at the compartment door; another brunette with perfectly straight hair and dark brown eyes, her tanned hand raised to a fist as she rapped at the glass. She said there were no more compartments open and asked if anyone else was sitting in the compartment. They declined and she sat down, joining their conversation, stating she has to be in Slytherin. Their conversation became more in-depth when a short, blonde, blue-eyed girl burst into the compartment, sitting in the open seat, next to Oliver. Out of breath, she said her name was Hana, declared she was going to be best friends with them all, then immediately passed out.
Oliver slightly chuckled to himself, thinking of the ridiculously excited and motivated girl. His compartment door slid open and in came the girl with brown, straight hair sitting next to the dyed red-head with short unruly hair that had come in when Oliver was day-dreaming. They smiled, exchanged greetings, and began to tell each other stories of their summer breaks. "I got to go visit Glasgow with my foster family!" Proclaimed Elizabeth while trying to tame her wild hair. "Yeah, I also got to see some family." Said Oliver. "There were so many relatives that if we all wanted to go to a restaurant, we would have to book the whole place!" Linnea, the one with straighter hair, sat up straight and cleared her throat. Boy, were we going to be in for a ride.
"My vacation was very enjoyable as well." She pompously bragged. "First, my family and I traveled to Marseille to visit a cousin. We even got to see Beauxbatons on our way to Amsterdam to visit my aunt and uncle. We then went to Cologne to go sight-seeing, Madrid to explore the wonderful architecture, and finally, Lisbon to-" She was interrupted by the compartment door gently sliding open. "Hi, guys, sorry I'm a little late!" Piped the excited voice behind the door. She stepped out and sat on the bench next to Oliver, her crystal-blue eyes and golden hair shining in the sunlight, almost as if an angel had cast a spotlight on her. "I got caught up with an old friend from second year. How are you guys?" "Pretty good!" Elizabeth replied, her face stuffed with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that she pulled out of her jacket pocket.
"Quite pleasant, how about you, Hana?" Linnea jumped in before Elizabeth could say anything else and get bread crumbs everywhere. "OHH! I'm so fantastic!" Hana spoke with horrible grammar. "I got a Pygmy Puff, and I named him Alexander, and he's adorable and I love him!" Hana spoke, her words squished together as she progressively got faster. Hana seemed to be done talking and was now bouncing in her seat, looking at Oliver. "How 'bout you Olive?" She asked, calling him by the nickname he told her so many times not to call him. He cringed then answered, "I'm okay, saw a lot of family over the summer." He shrugged.
"Oh! That reminds me! I also saw my Uncle Bark, he works for-" Oliver didn't notice that he had started to tune her out and looked at her sparkling eyes that held so much emotion. The way they lit up when she got more passionate and excited, the way- "Okay, you need to calm down now!" Linnea ordered as Hana began to tremble with excitement. The last time she got too excited she ran around Hogsmeade, gathering every stray cat and giving them mini-sombreros. Unfortunately, Linnea had to be the one to get all of the cats out of Hana's death grip. She ended up with many scratches littered around her face, arms, and hands.
Oliver looked out the window, seeing streaks of colour that went by as the train continued forward. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" A voice called from the compartment door. The four friends turned their heads and saw an old witch gripping a trolley full of candies, cakes, and cookies. "No, thank you," Linnea replied. "Four chocolate frogs please!" Hana cut in. The trolley lady complied as Hana gave her a small handful of golden galleons and took them, then handing her the indigo and gold packages. She then pushed the cart to the next train carriage humming a tune nobody knew.
Hana's rose beige hands extended as she gave everyone a chocolate frog. Elizabeth ripped open the box, putting her sandwich aside. The frog jumped from her hand and onto Linnea's face, everyone burst out into laughter as they saw her eyes widen and cross, looking at the enchanted chocolate on her nose. Elizabeth grabbed the frog off her face and shoved it in her mouth. "I got Harry Potter! Man, I already have, like, 7 of these !" she complained as she looked at the pentagonal card.
"I have Severus Snape! That's a first!" Hana said as she bounced more, excited to add to her collection that lay in her desk drawer, which was most likely now in her suitcase to show off to her Hufflepuff peers. "Anyway, did you guys get your parents to sign the Hogsmeade paper?" Oliver asked, resting his elbows on his knees. Everyone confirmed that their parents signed the forms and started to ramble on about ridiculous homework and long essays. Soon the conversation turned to 'Are Wands Malleable?', and Oliver stopped everything before it went too far. "C'mon, I just need a sledgehammer!" Hana whined, holding her cypress wand. "No!" Oliver said sternly. Hana whined, huffed, crossed her arms, and fell back into her seat.
Oliver opened his chocolate frog package. He popped the candy into his mouth and shoved the wrapper into his pocket. He took a peek at his card; it read, "Professor Armando Dippet". "WOW!" Screeched Hana. "You got the Armando Dippet card! That one is SO rare!" She began to fidget with her hands and focus her sapphire eyes on his card. Oliver shrugged and said, "You can have it. I usually just throw them out or give them to Jack, anyway." He handed her the card, and she swiped it away, giggling and jumping in her seat. Elizabeth and Linnea looked her way, but just chuckled and continued with their conversation. They would probably end up in an argument, so Oliver made sure to keep an eye on them.
"So, Oliver, how's Ravenclaw?" Hana asked, her attention strictly on his dull brown eyes. His attention was torn away from the lion and the snake, and now only on the blue-eyed girl with long blonde hair. He stuttered a bit before he answered "Good? I think?" He internally cringed at his answer and look at the girl whose eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "I-I mean... um..." He stopped when he heard Hana's giggling. Oliver's cheeks turned redder than a Remembrall when you've forgotten something. Hana noticed and started freaking out "Oh no! Are you sick? I have Ibuprofen in my pocket!" "N-no I'm okay," Oliver replied. "Are you sure, you're really red." Hana pointed out. Oliver stuttered again then rubbed his face as if it would help. "Olive, you're gonna rub off all your skin cells!" She said as she grabbed his wrist and gently removed his hands from his face.
"What the hay (Hana would never let them say cuss words) are you guys talking about over there?" A smooth voice called from across from them. Linnea was looking at them curiously, with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face. Elizabeth whispered something to her and they giggled. They were laughing now, but this friendliness would most definitely turn into bickering before they arrived at Hogwarts. "What are you guys laughing about?" Hana asked innocently "Oh, nothing." Linnea shrugged with a sly look. Oliver looked at them suspiciously before the two turned back and resumed their conversation. He looked back at Hana until he heard... arguing, of course. The blonde and the brunet looked at the two girls who were previously giggling and snickering and were now yelling at each other. This would be a while.