Zelie and Calira Shacklevolt were walking along with Kings Cross station, asking around if anyone knew how to get onto Platform 9 3/4. Of course, the Muggles knew nothing of this platform, and just shot them peculiar glances. Cali sighed. “How are we going to get to Hogwarts if we can’t even get on the right train?” Zelie shrugged. 

Calira Shacklevolt was a tall, lanky seventeen-year-old with chocolate brown hair and tan skin. Cali took after her mother, who was practically her twin. Full lips and high cheekbones gave Cali an air of maturity. Her pretty face, complemented by sharp hazel eyes, was simple, yet fair. Cali practically looked like an adult and acted like one as well. 

Zelie, on the other hand, looked nothing like her sister nor her parents. Thick, curly, midnight black hair flowed down to the backs of her knees. Strange golden eyes stood out against her lovely olive skin and full, deep red lips and long, dark lashes complemented her more-than-pretty face. Zel’s rather short stature added to her slightly youthful air, but despite looking younger, she was sixteen. 

The pair had both gotten their Hogwarts acceptance letters a few days ago, and were now searching for the correct platform. 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had changed their acceptance procedures since the great Harry Potter attended Hogwarts. Only witches and wizards between sixteen and eighteen were accepted every year rather than twelve-year-olds, which is how it had been until very recently. Studies conducted by the Ministry of Magic had informed the Wizarding World that witches and wizards under the ages of sixteen attending any wizarding school did not absorb and retain as much new information as those between sixteen and eighteen, which was an issue considering all of the new information young Hogwarts students would be having to learn about the new world they had just been introduced to.

“Why don’t we go search around platforms nine and ten? See if there’s any clue on how to get there.” Zelie looked up at Calira for confirmation. Cali nodded, but a firm voice rang out from across the station, catching the girls’ attention: 

“Come on now, boys, we need to get onto Platform 9 and 3/4 before the Hogwarts Express leaves without you! Now, run this way. I’ll be right behind you!” The voice belonged to a brown-haired, blue-eyed woman ushering two handsome boys and their trolleys through a wall. Calira and Zelie exchanged looks, then ran up to the woman. 

“Excuse me, we need to get onto Platform 9 and ¾. Could you help us?” Cali asked her. The woman nodded. 

“Of course, dearies! Just run right through that wall.” She pointed to the brick wall in front of them. Calira and Zelie stared at it in disbelief. The woman said this completely normally, as if nothing was strange about running head-first into a solid brick wall. Despite this, the girls did as they are told. Before they knew it, they were right next to the two boys they saw earlier, and they were on a platform: Platform 9 and ¾.

“Thank you, ma'am!” Zelie called. The woman waved back at them, but soon she was concealed by the others on the platform. Cali and Zelie quickly boarded the Hogwarts Express with their belongings. 

“I wish we had a mum or dad who could’ve told us how to get here before we left,” Calira told Zelie as they moved through the train, looking for an empty compartment. Zelie nodded. She too wished they had living parents. Their grandparents had passed away, and their parents were murdered. Zelie wished she knew who had done it, but that remained a mystery to both Cali and herself. Since they had no other friends or family to live with, the girls had been staying in the orphanage for the past ten years. It was the only place they could stay.

Soon enough, they found an empty compartment and sat down. Zelie decided to examine her wand. It was a Thunderbird feather core, fifteen and a half inches long, and made from ebony wood. Its handle had diamond shapes carved into it; simple and elegant. It fit perfectly in Zel’s small hand. 

Calira’s wand was a dragon heartstring core, fourteen and three quarter inches long, and had ancient runes carved from the handle up to the very tip of the wand.

A few minutes passed before the two boys they saw with the woman at Kings Cross station appeared in the compartment doorway. “Can we join you, ladies?” one asked. 

“The others are full,” added the other. The two sisters nodded, and the boys stumbled in and sat across from them. They seemed to be brothers, judging from their suitcases, on which were written ‘A. Thornwood’ and ‘J. Thornwood’. But despite this, the two boys looked nothing alike. 

One of them, the taller boy, had messy blond hair and striking, stormy blue eyes. The other boy had golden-brown hair and forest green eyes. Zelie had to suppress her smile. The pair were related, but in name alone. Zelie had a knack for judging the personality of a person based on just a few minutes of observing them. Not to mention, those judgments were almost always on point. 

“So, who are you two?” Zelie asked the newcomers.

“I’m Jace,” replied the blond. 

“And I’m Alexander. But Alec is cool, too,” added the green-eyed boy. 

The girls nodded. Cali, being the more eager of the two sisters, decided to warm up to the pair. “I’m Calira, but you can call me Cali,” she responded, subtly tossing her hair. Zelie snorted. Calira turned her gaze to her little sister, hazel eyes swimming with anger. Zelie smiled, then turned her attention to the very confused brothers. 

“I’m Zelie. If we get along, you can call me Zel.” The young girl smiled, amused. “I’m a year younger than Cali.” With a mischievous look at her sister, Zelie flipped her mass of hair, promptly smacking her sister in the face. Cali’s face contorted with rage, but it melted when hysterical laughter filled the compartment. A blush bloomed on Cali’s cheeks, and those sharp hazel eyes averted themselves from any others. Guilt began to clench Zel’s heart. 

Calira was a proud girl, and Zelie had damaged it in front of two lovely boys that she had no doubt been hoping to befriend. Cali looked up to see Zel’s hand on her shoulder. Her otherworldly eyes were soft and swimming with apologies. Zel’s mouth opened as if to say something, but an old, pleasant voice cut her off. 

“Anything from the trolley, dears?” The sweet-faced trolley lady smiled down at the four children. Zelie bought a pack of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, a pack of Peppermint Toads, two packs of Fizzing Whizbees, and three chocolate frogs. Cali bought some Fizzing Whizbees, two chocolate frogs, and two licorice wands. The boys each bought two licorice wands, one chocolate frog, Peppermint Toads, and a licorice wand. The trolley lady soon moved along as the children ate their goodies. 

Wow. These are way better than the stale bread at the orphanage, Zelie thought as she munched on a chocolate frog. “Oh, look!” Zelie exclaimed out of nowhere. “I got Rowena Ravenclaw on my card! And Flitwick too! And look here, The Grey Lady!” she smiled, examining her cards. 

“I got Ollivander. Oh, Hargold too! Cool.” Calira admired her cards, then stuffed them into her pocket. 

    “What House do you want to get sorted into when we get Hogwarts?” Jace asked Zelie. 

“I don’t know. I think I would fit in best into either Ravenclaw or Slytherin” Zelie replied. 

“But I asked you which house you wanted to be in, not which one you would best fit into.” Jace peered down at her. Zelie tilted her head in thought, doing her best to suppress a smile, gentle and pleased. He actually cares about what I think? Jace leaned forward, eyes expectant. 

Zelie shrugged. “Still Ravenclaw or Slytherin. You?”

“I’m not sure yet. Anything but Hufflepuff, I guess,” Jace replied, smirking. 

Zelie chuckled. “You know, Slytherin might be a good fit for you,” Zelie studied him. 

Jace smirked at her. “Because I’m evil?” Jace raised his brows, and Zelie laughed. 

“Yes, exactly that.” Jace smiled. Zelie continued. “But if that’s true, I’d be there too.” Jace frowned, cocking his head slightly to one side. Zelie smiled, eyes twinkling. “I have a bit of an attitude.” The pair laughed together, unaware of the dark-haired girl, watching with resentful eyes. 

“I would like to be in Ravenclaw. I fancy myself to be quite bright. But I don’t like to read. I’d rather go shopping.” 

Alec raised his eyebrows at Cali. “You do you, Calira. Personally, I’d rather play sports. I’m very competitive.” Alec smirked as Jace cringed, no doubt recalling many childhood games together. 

Cali wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like competition. People always get hurt.” Cali smiled. “So yeah, Ravenclaw. Not Hufflepuff though. I couldn’t bear all the do-gooder happy attitude.” Before anyone could respond, the train came to a sudden halt: right over an old, rotting bridge that was built across a giant river. Alec’s shoulder’s tensed, green eyes darting around the compartment. Calira squeezed one of her licorice wands so hard, it broke. Jace’s eyes lit up as he smiled, excited.  Zelie shivered, but her strange, golden eyes were clear. 

Zel’s tawny owl, Reef, started to hoot nervously, and her cat, Mala, crawled into Zel’s lap and curled up into a little ball of midnight fur. 

“What do you think is going on?” Cali whispered. They all shrugged. 

Just then, the compartment door slid open creakily, all on its own, and they saw a body float through it, slowly and soundlessly. At first, Zelie thought it was dementor, but then she saw it didn’t have the same look. It was floating, yes, and cloaked, but the cloak was midnight blue, and it had a staff in its right hand. It was also about eight to ten feet tall. 

Suddenly, Zelie realized what this creature is. She had read about it in a book about mythical creatures at the Muggle library. 

“It’s a Karna! It’s a Karna! Get down, everyone!” she yelled. They all scrambled under the seats, watching the Karna move through the compartment. Thankfully, Karnas were deaf, so they could yell as much as they want and it wouldn’t hear a thing. They were also blind, which meant that this one didn’t see the children hide under the chairs. 

However, they could sense emotions, bad ones more than good ones. Once they sensed these emotions, they picked up the person they sensed them from and took them to their lair, where they fed on their emotions, until that person was left with no more feelings. 

Suddenly, the Karna started to creep over to the seat that the boys were hiding under, and SNATCH! It grabbed Alec in its big black hand and carried him out of the compartment. “Alec!” Jace yelled, but the Karna didn’t stop. Jace ran after it, Zelie right on his heels. Suitcases in hand, they whacked the Karna as hard as they could. The Karna released a scream so horrible, Cali passed out. It exploded in a cloud of blue dust, and Alec fell to the ground. 

Jace raced over to him and helped him back to the compartment, where they laid him down across the seat. He was unconscious, and his shirt was torn. They looked through the holes to find three bloody gashes across his chest. Since there were no adults around, they had to deal with this themselves until they got to Hogwarts. 

Zelie bandaged him up to stop the bleeding, and Cali fed him bits of chocolate. Zel’s mouth was pressed into a thin line. Would Alec make it? Zelie and Calira Shacklevolt were walking along with Kings Cross station, asking around if anyone knew how to get onto Platform 9 3/4. Of course, the Muggles knew nothing of this platform, and just shot them peculiar glances. Cali sighed. “How are we going to get to Hogwarts if we can’t even get on the right train?” Zelie shrugged. 

Calira Shacklevolt was a tall, lanky seventeen-year-old with chocolate brown hair and tan skin. Cali took after her mother, who was practically her twin. Full lips and high cheekbones gave Cali an air of maturity. Her pretty face, complemented by sharp hazel eyes, was simple, yet fair. Cali practically looked like an adult and acted like one as well. 

Zelie, on the other hand, looked nothing like her sister nor her parents. Thick, curly, midnight black hair flowed down to the backs of her knees. Strange golden eyes stood out against her lovely olive skin and full, deep red lips and long, dark lashes complemented her more-than-pretty face. Zel’s rather short stature added to her slightly youthful air, but despite looking younger, she was sixteen. 

The pair had both gotten their Hogwarts acceptance letters a few days ago, and were now searching for the correct platform. 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had changed their acceptance procedures since the great Harry Potter attended Hogwarts. Only witches and wizards between sixteen and eighteen were accepted every year rather than twelve-year-olds, which is how it had been until very recently. Studies conducted by the Ministry of Magic had informed the Wizarding World that witches and wizards under the ages of sixteen attending any wizarding school did not absorb and retain as much new information as those between sixteen and eighteen, which was an issue considering all of the new information young Hogwarts students would be having to learn about the new world they had just been introduced to.

“Why don’t we go search around platforms nine and ten? See if there’s any clue on how to get there.” Zelie looked up at Calira for confirmation. Cali nodded, but a firm voice rang out from across the station, catching the girls’ attention: 

“Come on now, boys, we need to get onto Platform 9 and 3/4 before the Hogwarts Express leaves without you! Now, run this way. I’ll be right behind you!” The voice belonged to a brown-haired, blue-eyed woman ushering two handsome boys and their trolleys through a wall. Calira and Zelie exchanged looks, then ran up to the woman. 

“Excuse me, we need to get onto Platform 9 and ¾. Could you help us?” Cali asked her. The woman nodded. 

“Of course, dearies! Just run right through that wall.” She pointed to the brick wall in front of them. Calira and Zelie stared at it in disbelief. The woman said this completely normally, as if nothing was strange about running head-first into a solid brick wall. Despite this, the girls did as they are told. Before they knew it, they were right next to the two boys they saw earlier, and they were on a platform: Platform 9 and ¾.

“Thank you, ma'am!” Zelie called. The woman waved back at them, but soon she was concealed by the others on the platform. Cali and Zelie quickly boarded the Hogwarts Express with their belongings. 

“I wish we had a mum or dad who could’ve told us how to get here before we left,” Calira told Zelie as they moved through the train, looking for an empty compartment. Zelie nodded. She too wished they had living parents. Their grandparents had passed away, and their parents were murdered. Zelie wished she knew who had done it, but that remained a mystery to both Cali and herself. Since they had no other friends or family to live with, the girls had been staying in the orphanage for the past ten years. It was the only place they could stay.

Soon enough, they found an empty compartment and sat down. Zelie decided to examine her wand. It was a Thunderbird feather core, fifteen and a half inches long, and made from ebony wood. Its handle had diamond shapes carved into it; simple and elegant. It fit perfectly in Zel’s small hand. 

Calira’s wand was a dragon heartstring core, fourteen and three quarter inches long, and had ancient runes carved from the handle up to the very tip of the wand.

A few minutes passed before the two boys they saw with the woman at Kings Cross station appeared in the compartment doorway. “Can we join you, ladies?” one asked. 

“The others are full,” added the other. The two sisters nodded, and the boys stumbled in and sat across from them. They seemed to be brothers, judging from their suitcases, on which were written ‘A. Thornwood’ and ‘J. Thornwood’. But despite this, the two boys looked nothing alike. 

One of them, the taller boy, had messy blond hair and striking, stormy blue eyes. The other boy had golden-brown hair and forest green eyes. Zelie had to suppress her smile. The pair were related, but in name alone. Zelie had a knack for judging the personality of a person based on just a few minutes of observing them. Not to mention, those judgments were almost always on point. 

“So, who are you two?” Zelie asked the newcomers.

“I’m Jace,” replied the blond. 

“And I’m Alexander. But Alec is cool, too,” added the green-eyed boy. 

The girls nodded. Cali, being the more eager of the two sisters, decided to warm up to the pair. “I’m Calira, but you can call me Cali,” she responded, subtly tossing her hair. Zelie snorted. Calira turned her gaze to her little sister, hazel eyes swimming with anger. Zelie smiled, then turned her attention to the very confused brothers. 

“I’m Zelie. If we get along, you can call me Zel.” The young girl smiled, amused. “I’m a year younger than Cali.” With a mischievous look at her sister, Zelie flipped her mass of hair, promptly smacking her sister in the face. Cali’s face contorted with rage, but it melted when hysterical laughter filled the compartment. A blush bloomed on Cali’s cheeks, and those sharp hazel eyes averted themselves from any others. Guilt began to clench Zel’s heart. 

Calira was a proud girl, and Zelie had damaged it in front of two lovely boys that she had no doubt been hoping to befriend. Cali looked up to see Zel’s hand on her shoulder. Her otherworldly eyes were soft and swimming with apologies. Zel’s mouth opened as if to say something, but an old, pleasant voice cut her off. 

“Anything from the trolley, dears?” The sweet-faced trolley lady smiled down at the four children. Zelie bought a pack of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, a pack of Peppermint Toads, two packs of Fizzing Whizbees, and three chocolate frogs. Cali bought some Fizzing Whizbees, two chocolate frogs, and two licorice wands. The boys each bought two licorice wands, one chocolate frog, Peppermint Toads, and a licorice wand. The trolley lady soon moved along as the children ate their goodies. 

Wow. These are way better than the stale bread at the orphanage, Zelie thought as she munched on a chocolate frog. “Oh, look!” Zelie exclaimed out of nowhere. “I got Rowena Ravenclaw on my card! And Flitwick too! And look here, The Grey Lady!” she smiled, examining her cards. 

“I got Ollivander. Oh, Hargold too! Cool.” Calira admired her cards, then stuffed them into her pocket. 

    “What House do you want to get sorted into when we get Hogwarts?” Jace asked Zelie. 

“I don’t know. I think I would fit in best into either Ravenclaw or Slytherin” Zelie replied. 

“But I asked you which house you wanted to be in, not which one you would best fit into.” Jace peered down at her. Zelie tilted her head in thought, doing her best to suppress a smile, gentle and pleased. He actually cares about what I think? Jace leaned forward, eyes expectant. 

Zelie shrugged. “Still Ravenclaw or Slytherin. You?”

“I’m not sure yet. Anything but Hufflepuff, I guess,” Jace replied, smirking. 

Zelie chuckled. “You know, Slytherin might be a good fit for you,” Zelie studied him. 

Jace smirked at her. “Because I’m evil?” Jace raised his brows, and Zelie laughed. 

“Yes, exactly that.” Jace smiled. Zelie continued. “But if that’s true, I’d be there too.” Jace frowned, cocking his head slightly to one side. Zelie smiled, eyes twinkling. “I have a bit of an attitude.” The pair laughed together, unaware of the dark-haired girl, watching with resentful eyes. 

“I would like to be in Ravenclaw. I fancy myself to be quite bright. But I don’t like to read. I’d rather go shopping.” 

Alec raised his eyebrows at Cali. “You do you, Calira. Personally, I’d rather play sports. I’m very competitive.” Alec smirked as Jace cringed, no doubt recalling many childhood games together. 

Cali wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like competition. People always get hurt.” Cali smiled. “So yeah, Ravenclaw. Not Hufflepuff though. I couldn’t bear all the do-gooder happy attitude.” Before anyone could respond, the train came to a sudden halt: right over an old, rotting bridge that was built across a giant river. Alec’s shoulder’s tensed, green eyes darting around the compartment. Calira squeezed one of her licorice wands so hard, it broke. Jace’s eyes lit up as he smiled, excited.  Zelie shivered, but her strange, golden eyes were clear. 

Zel’s tawny owl, Reef, started to hoot nervously, and her cat, Mala, crawled into Zel’s lap and curled up into a little ball of midnight fur. 

“What do you think is going on?” Cali whispered. They all shrugged. 

Just then, the compartment door slid open creakily, all on its own, and they saw a body float through it, slowly and soundlessly. At first, Zelie thought it was dementor, but then she saw it didn’t have the same look. It was floating, yes, and cloaked, but the cloak was midnight blue, and it had a staff in its right hand. It was also about eight to ten feet tall. 

Suddenly, Zelie realized what this creature is. She had read about it in a book about mythical creatures at the Muggle library. 

“It’s a Karna! It’s a Karna! Get down, everyone!” she yelled. They all scrambled under the seats, watching the Karna move through the compartment. Thankfully, Karnas were deaf, so they could yell as much as they want and it wouldn’t hear a thing. They were also blind, which meant that this one didn’t see the children hide under the chairs. 

However, they could sense emotions, bad ones more than good ones. Once they sensed these emotions, they picked up the person they sensed them from and took them to their lair, where they fed on their emotions, until that person was left with no more feelings. 

Suddenly, the Karna started to creep over to the seat that the boys were hiding under, and SNATCH! It grabbed Alec in its big black hand and carried him out of the compartment. “Alec!” Jace yelled, but the Karna didn’t stop. Jace ran after it, Zelie right on his heels. Suitcases in hand, they whacked the Karna as hard as they could. The Karna released a scream so horrible, Cali passed out. It exploded in a cloud of blue dust, and Alec fell to the ground. 

Jace raced over to him and helped him back to the compartment, where they laid him down across the seat. He was unconscious, and his shirt was torn. They looked through the holes to find three bloody gashes across his chest. Since there were no adults around, they had to deal with this themselves until they got to Hogwarts. 

Zelie bandaged him up to stop the bleeding, and Cali fed him bits of chocolate. Zel’s mouth was pressed into a thin line. Would Alec make it?