Once I get on the train, I immediately find Lizzy. I sit down across from her and we start to talk about our new classes. We start Care of Magical Creatures this year. Eventually, Zac shows up holding the hand of another girl. A pang of jealousy and betraying flash in my mind. But then he says, "This is my little sister, Zoey. She's a first year now." Whew!
Zac's little sister is actually really funny. And smart too! But for some reason, she doesn't like Quidditch! She's more interested in her grades. She talks about how she already knows almost as much as Zac. And to prove it, she takes a pair of glasses out of her pocket. She smashes them against the wall. "What was that for?" I asked. "Watch," she said, "Oculus Reparo" The glasses repaired themselves perfectly! I didn't even know that spell.
When we got off the train, instead of being ushered to the boats, we walked over to carriages that were led by huge, winged, black horses. They were quite the sight. Super sleek and shiny. I asked Lizzy, "What are those things pulling the carriages?" She said, "What things, I don't see anything." Then, out of nowhere, Zac stated, "Those are Thestrals. You can only see them if you have seen death. I can't see them but I know the're there."
I thought back to that night when my dad died protecting us. He thought the man was coming after me and my mom. He was only coming after the Sorcerer's Stone. I was 6 years old and my mom and I were inside. My dad said, "There's a man I've never seen before outside." So he walked outside and the man drew his wand. My dad ended up getting into a wizards duel with a stranger. The man's spell, threw my dad against a stone wall and a couple of boulders fell right on top of him.
I started screaming because I just saw my dad die. The stranger heard me and started walking towards the house. Once he got there, he took me from my mom and threatened to hurt me if my mom didn't give him the stone. So she ran downstairs and grabbed the stone. Then she tossed the stone to him and he shoved me back to her. He left and just disappeared into the night.
"Marietta? Are you getting on the carriage or not?" Zac asked. I stepped on the carriage and sat next to Zac. He said cheerily, "One thing to look forward to is no Cassie this year!" "Yeah!" I said my spirits lifting. "Who's ready for Quidditch again this year?" Lizzy asked. "ME!" I said excitedly. We were going to have a new Quidditch Captain this year because Percy Bubly graduated.
"Who do you think is going to be the new Captain?" Zac inquired. "Um. Probably Beatrix Weasley. One of the other Chasers. I think she's the oldest," Lizzy said. "Who's going to be the new Keeper? And the new Beater? They both graduated," Zac pointed out. But no one answered because we finally pulled up to Hogwarts.
The sight was still amazing, even after a full year there. We filed into the Great Hall and took our seats at Gryffindor's table. A few minutes later, a bunch of first years, including Zoey, walked into the Great Hall. The same teacher, Professor Mishan, brought out the Sorting Hat. Everyone got sorted into appropriate houses. Unsurprisingly, Zoey became a Ravenclaw.
We ate our food and desserts and went to Gryffindor Tower. I was surprised to see my same dorm room as last year with the same girls. I said hi to Ginny, Charity, and Hannah. Then I went to bed exhausted from the long train ride and carriage ride.