Chapter 2
“Anything from the trolley dears?” Rose looked up from her
journal at a sweet old voice. She dug into her pocket to find some sickles.
Staring at the assortment of sweets, she heard a soft, young voice
“You don’t have any Skittles by any chance, do you?” She
glanced over and saw a small girl, she was still holding all of her bags in her
hands. Rose wondered at her question. She’d only heard of Skittles a few times,
they seemed to be a popular Muggle treat.
“The Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans are a bit like
Skittles” The trolley woman replied. He girl nodded, and then took out a small
handful of coins.
“Sorry, I don’t understand this money yet, could you help
me?” This time, the question was directed at Rose. She reached over and took
out the amount needed.
“Thanks.” The girl turned, and started to walk away, her
cloak dragging behind her.
“Wait! Do you want to sit with me?” Rose blurted the
question out. The girl turned back, surprised. Her chestnut brown hair fell
over one eye, but it couldn’t hide her happiness. She quickly strode towards
Rose, and followed her into the compartment.
“Who’s that Rose?” James asked. He and Albus looked up from
their own pile of sweets.
“This is…” Rose paused, realizing that she did not know the
girls name. “Erm…”
“Penny, my name is Penny” The girl looked at the pile of
treats that the boys had in front of them. Her eyes grew wide.
“Whoa. I’ve never seen sweets like these before! I rarely
get sugary stuff at home, and when I do, it is nothing like this stuff! My Dad’s really strict on candy, something
about eating too much will make you big, I don’t know. That’s why I wanted
Skittles, I only ever got those at sleepovers. But now I have these jelly bean
kind of things… Do they come with a map of flavours or something?” Penny looked
up, breathless. She turned slightly pink and apologized.
“Its alright, no worries.” Albus quickly replied “We’ve got
a younger sister at home who never stops talking!” He grinned, and Penny smiled
back.
“I’m just really nervous. I don’t
know anybody who is magical, well except me, and a woman from the school who
came down and explained to my parents what was going on. I think they just
about had a heart attack when they found out. You’d think my Dad had seen a
ghost!” Rose nodded, she had heard stories from her Mum about being muggle
born, and the surprise it brought.
The small group spent the rest of the train ride playing
card games. Rose taught Penny how to play exploding snap, and she taught her a
muggle card game called “Slap”. Rose was sure that she had found a great new
friend.
The train slowly came to a stop, and James hopped off before
the others. He turned back as they clambered off.
“You three go and find Hagrid now. He’s the big tall bloke,
can’t miss him!” James turned and went with the flow of students. The three
first years looked around, and sure enough, there was a huge man standing at
the end of the platform, calling
“Firs’ Years, over here! Firs’ Years!” Rose swallowed her
nervousness and led the way through the crowd. As they reached Hagrid, he
readily gave Rose and Albus a hug.
“Can’t wait to see the sorting tonight! So many new students! The boats are almost filled, jus’ a few more after you two.”
“Two..?” Rose replied, and she glanced around. Sure enough,
Penny was nowhere to be seen. Rose hurried back towards the train, and caught a
glimpse of her behind a pillar.
“What are you doing back here? The boats are going to leave
without us!” Rose pulled on her friend’s arm, but Penny wouldn’t budge.
“I'm scared. What if they don't let me in
after all?” She replied, she looked truly frightened.
“Penny, don't worry! My Mum's a muggle born,
and everybody I meet tells me how she was the brightest witch of her age. Now
come on!” Rose yanked, and Penny
followed, though very reluctantly.
The first years had only just all sat down in the boats as
they pushed away from the shore. Penny bent over the back end of the boat she
was sharing with Rose and Albus, looking puzzled.
“Where’s the motor? I don’t understand how this is moving
without a motor!” Rose chuckled, she knew what the rough idea of a motor was
because of her Grandpa Weasley.
“There’s no motor,” She replied “This is Hogwarts, it’s
running on magic!” Penny looked pleasantly surprised, and then giggled like a
small child.
“This is SO COOL!”
Rose stood stock still as Professor McGonagall strode
towards the front of the Great Hall. She hadn’t heard a single phrase of the
Sorting Hat’s song. Her mind was turning in circles. She had to be Gryffindor,
she just had to be! She looked beside
her and saw Penny wringing her hands. Penny looked back, and they both smiled.
Professor McGonagall unrolled a piece of parchment
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit
on the stool to be sorted,” She said
“Annad, Timothy” A young, dark skinned boy scurried up to the
seat, his curly hair stuck up under the sorting hat when McGonagall placed it
onto his head.
“HUFFLEPUFF!” The hat shouted. Rose turned her head, and watched the boy
hurry over to the table on the right.
Name after name was called, Rose felt Penny leave her side,
and was excited to see that she was sorted into Gryffindor. Now Rose wanted to
be in Gryffindor all the more.
Finally, Professor McGonagall called
“Weasley, Rose” Rose stepped up to the three legged stool,
and gingerly sat down. The hat was placed slowly on her head, and she took a
deep breath.
“GRYFFINDOR!” Rose
pulled of the sorting hat and jumped up happily. She nearly skipped all the way
to the Gryffindor table, and squeezed in beside Penny. The two girls hugged
each other happily, whispering their congratulations until one of the Prefects
shushed them.
Rose looked up. It was nearly Albus’ turn. She pulled her
hands inside her sleeve and crossed her fingers.
“Potter, Albus” Rose watched as he slowly trekked up to the
stool. The hat had not even touched his head, when it loudly exclaimed
“GRYFFINDOR!” Rose cheered with the
rest of the table as Albus quickly trotted over to the table.
“I can’t believe it, I simply can’t believe it!” Rose grinned
at Penny.
“Neither can I, honestly.” Rose looked around her.
“Its so much food!” Rose nodded, and leaned back on her
hands. Penny did the same, and they shared a contented sigh.
Rose felt a tap on her shoulder, and she straightened up. It
was James.
“ ‘Scuse me, but is it true?” The question was directed at
Penny. Rose looked back at James, perplexed.
“Is that really your name?” James said.
“Wait, I missed something – what’s your last name Penny?”
Rose quickly interjected.
“I’m Penny. Penny Dursley.”
