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First time by Elza

Books » Harry Potter Rated: T, English,

Romance, Severus S., Words: 181k+, Favs: 142,
Follows: 47, Published: Jun 22, 2003 Updated: Mar
27, 2005

Chapter 1: Arrival at Hogwarts 224

Author's note:

Greetings to all Potter fans!

This is my first attempt at a fic, and also my

second attempt at writing anything in English, so
please, be kind to me, English unfortunately isn't
my first language. Still, there shouldn't be too
many mistakes, but if you do happen to find
one, I'd be more than happy if you told me – so I
can avoid doing it again.

Now, as for the plot – I had it all planned out

before reading the fifth book, so if you've read it
already, please try and pretend that you haven't,
otherwise the story won't make too much sense.

The first three chapters are just a boring

introduction of characters and lessons (and I
also had to use a couple of sentences from the
first book – I hope it doesn't matter too much),
so don't get put off and read on, it does get
more interesting, but don't expect too much
action (or cliffhangers); this fic is meant to be a
slowly developing romance, based mainly on
the thoughts of the main heroine and dialogues,
which I tried to make as realistic as possible. As
a matter of fact, my main goal was to keep
Snape in character right until the end, so I'd love
to know whether I did a good job of it. Which
means that even though the fic is finished, I'm
still craving for reviews, so please let me know
what you thought of the story, OK?

Finally, here's the standard disclaimer: I don't

own the characters (and unlike most people, I
don't mind, because Snape isn't real ... but if he
was, rest assured I'd do practically anything to
get my hands on him), the settings etc. – all that
belongs to the best writer in the world, J. K.
Rowling. But I do own most of the plot and also
Elizabeth, Jane, Joshua, Jamie, and a few
others.

Well, enough of my blabbing, go on to read the

story. And hopefully, enjoy!

Elza

Chapter 1

Arrival at Hogwarts

"Come on, Elizabeth, hurry up or you'll miss the

train!" yelled a young woman with long blond
hair, making her way through the crowd at
King's Cross station.

Elizabeth, her daughter, was a small but pretty

girl, with blue eyes and a boy's haircut. At that
moment, she was desperately trying to keep up
with her mother, a task made difficult by the fact
that her mother wasn't pushing a heavy trolley
loaded with luggage.

"Mum, wait up!" she wailed.

Her mother, however, didn't slow down. In fact,

she did quite the opposite, which, until now,
Elizabeth had thought was beyond the power of
any human being, let alone an ordinary English
mother. And she was just starting to think there
was absolutely no chance of her making it to the
platform alive, when her mother finally came to
a standstill and turned to face her, looking as
fresh as if she'd just come out of the shower.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, was feeling like
her lungs were about to explode, so she simply
collapsed on the spot, hoping she'd never have
to get up again.

But her mother thought otherwise. "Get up,

Elizabeth!" she ordered. "Get up and tell me
exactly how we're supposed to get to that
platform of yours ... what was the number
again?"

"Nine and three-quarters," Elizabeth answered

wearily, but remained seated on the ground.

"Yes, that. What did grandmother say about it?"

"She said we should somehow walk through the

solid barrier between platforms nine and ten to
get there," Elizabeth said, rubbing her eyes.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Come on,

move!"

Carefully, Elizabeth pulled herself to her feet,

and searched the area for any sign of the
magical barrier. Finally, she spotted it, and,
fortunately, it was only a few metres away.
Slowly, she pushed her trolley towards it, with
her mother hot on her heels. But, unlike any
other sane person, she didn't stop in front of the
barrier. Instead, she continued straight into it,
closing her eyes right before she met the solid
wall. There was no collision, however, and when
Elizabeth opened her eyes again, she found
herself not at the modern platform she'd just left,
but at a completely different one, which looked
like it belonged to another century. The only
similarity between the two was, that it, too, was
crowded with people, hurrying in all directions.

When she finally took in everything that was

there to be taken in, especially the red steam
engine with Hogwarts Express written on the
front, Elizabeth turned her attention towards her
mother, and had to stifle a laugh when she saw
her gaping open-mouthed at the unusual sight
before her.

"We're twenty minutes early," she announced,

making her mother snap out of her trance.

"Yes, well, if you hadn't rushed so much..."

"What?" Elizabeth cried. "You were the one

yelling something about missing the train all the
time!"

"I know, I know, I was only joking," her mother

said good-naturedly. "Anyway, you can be
happy you're here so early, at least you can find
a good spot for yourself."

Elizabeth had to admit her mother had a point

there, so she quickly set off in search of an
empty compartment. She found one almost
immediately, and with her mother's help, she
managed to get all of her luggage on the train
and still have a few minutes left until its
departure.

"Don't forget to send me owls – at least every

week!" her mother called from the platform. "I
want to know everything, about the classes,
about the teachers, about the kids..."

"Okay, okay, I get what you mean," Elizabeth cut

in impatiently, wishing to have the goodbyes
behind her as quickly as possible. Because
even though her mother could sometimes
become very annoying, she still loved her, and
was sure that if this farewell went on any longer,
she'd get homesick before even leaving the
station. Fortunately for her, though, at that
moment, the train let out a loud whistle, and
slowly began pulling out of the station. Elizabeth
blew her mother an invisible kiss, before finally
leaving her far behind, enveloped in a cloud of
steam.

The train quickly started gathering up speed,

and soon houses were replaced by fields and
small clusters of trees. Elizabeth sat with her
nose pressed against the window, and had just
started speculating whether to take a nap or not,
when a tall girl with long brown hair appeared at
the door of the compartment.

"Hello. Mind if I sit down here?" she asked.

"Not at all, go ahead."

"My name's Jane Wells, by the way," said the

girl as she stretched out her hand.

"And mine's Elizabeth Woodhouse." She shook

the hand and asked: "Going to Hogwarts for the
first time, I suppose?"

"That's right. I nearly missed the train, though,

took me a while before I figured out how to get
onto the platform. My parents weren't of any
help, either, as they're both Muggles."

"So are mine. Luckily, my grandmother's a

witch, so she told me all about the platform."

Both girls then fell into silence, each absorbed

in her own thoughts. But they were soon
disturbed by the sound of a trolley, and a few
seconds later, a plump lady stuck her head
through the door.

"Would you like some sweets, darlings?" she

asked.

Elizabeth searched the trolley. She'd never seen

or heard of any of the sweets there, so she just
picked Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans and
hoped she'd made the right decision. As she
saw, Jane also had a hard time making a
choicel; in the end she went for the Chocolate
Frogs.

After the lady had left, Elizabeth cautiously

opened the Beans. She half-expected the box to
blow up in her face or something, but nothing
happened. So she picked a scarlet bean and
put it in her mouth.

"Mmmm ... raspberry. You want some?" she

asked Jane and held the box out to her.

"Thanks," said Jane as she took an orange

bean and popped it in her mouth. But a few
seconds later, she spat it back into her her
hand. "Yuck! What is this? I thought it would be
an orange-flavoured bean, and instead it tasted
like ... egg yolk?" She looked at Elizabeth
quizzically.

"Well, I suppose anything is possible with

these," answered Elizabeth and looked
inquiringly at the yellow bean she was about to
put in her mouth. And sure enough – it turned
out to taste like mustard. Which, actually, was a
relief for her, as she'd expected something far
worse.

"I think I'll try the Chocolate Frogs," said Jane. "I
just hope they're really made out of chocolate.
Coming across a poo-flavoured frog is an
experience I'd gladly give a miss."

With that, she opened one of the little boxes

containing the frogs. But as soon as she did, the
frog suddenly came to life, glanced at Jane,
took a giant leap, and before either of the girls
could react, it was gone.

"I'll be more careful with the next one," muttered

Jane, and she really did manage to catch the
frog in time and put it in her mouth. "Mmmm ...
delicious. I think that's the best chocolate I've
ever eaten."

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had taken the empty box

and now showed Jane the card she'd found
inside.

Jane examined it. On one side of the card was a

photo – but not an ordinary one. The man in the
photo was moving, he even winked at Jane.
And suddenly, he was gone.

"Hey, where'd he go?" asked Jane, puzzled.

Getting no answer, she turned the card over and
read out the name written there – Godric
Gryffindor.

"I've read about him," said Elizabeth. "He's one

of the four founders of Hogwarts. One of the
houses is named after him. By the way, which
house would you like to be in?"

"I don't know. Which ones are there? You see, I

only got my books yesterday, so I didn't get a
chance to find out much about Hogwarts yet ...
or any of this wizarding stuff, anyway."

"Well, there's Gryffindor – that's for brave

people, then there's Ravenclaw – you go there if
you're clever, Hufflepuff – if you're loyal and ...
Slytherin – that's where all the bad people go."

"Hmmm ... sounds like Ravenclaw for me. I've

always been the smartest in my class at basic
school."

"Yeah, me too. Maybe we'll be together.

Anyway, I think we should change into our
school robes. We should be arriving in a few
minutes."

They did as Elizabeth had said, and a moment

later, the train came to a halt. They got off and
their attention was immediately attracted by a
giant who was waving a lantern and shouting:
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!"

So the girls walked over to where the giant was

standing and waited. Soon, a bunch of other
kids joined them. Elizabeth noticed a thin boy
with hair that looked like it hadn't been combed
for ages and a scar on his forehead which was
shaped like a bolt of lightning.

"Look over there!" she whispered to Jane. "That

boy – it's Harry Potter!"

"Who's Harry Potter?" asked Jane.

"Oh, I keep forgetting you haven't read anything

yet." She was going to tell Jane all about Harry,
but just then, the giant yelled: "Follow me!" so
she just muttered: "I'll tell you some other time,"
as she struggled to keep up with the giant's long
strides.

A few minutes later, they reached a little harbour

where a number of primitive-looking boats was
tied. There was a lake stretching on as far as
they could see.

"No more'n four to a boat!" called the giant as

he climbed into one of the boats himself. Jane
and Elizabeth shared a boat with two other girls.

As soon as all the kids found empty spots, the

boats set off. A while later, a huge castle came
into view, with countless towers and turrets, and
situated on the top of a cliff.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," whispered Elizabeth.

"It's amazing," was everything Jane was

capable of saying, she just gaped open-
mouthed at the sight in front of her.

Finally, the boats landed, and the giant led all of

them to a massive gate which immediately
opened. They walked in and found themselves
in a huge Entrance Hall. A witch, with black hair
pulled back in a tight bun and wearing an
emerald-green robe, stood there, obviously
waiting for them.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said

the giant.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

Hagrid left and Professor McGonagall ushered

them into a small, empty chamber.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said as soon as

they were all inside. She then told them about
the four houses and that the Sorting Ceremony
would begin soon. After that, she left.

All the students started talking excitedly and

Elizabeth chose this moment to tell Jane about
Harry. "You see, a couple of years ago, there
was a wizard who went really bad. He killed
everyone who got in his way. He killed Harry's
parents, too. But when he tried to kill Harry,
something happened ... and the spell turned
against him. Harry survived – managing to get
away with only the scar."

"Wow," was all Jane could say at first. Then she

asked: "What was the wizard called, anyway?"

"Voldemort," answered Elizabeth, lowering her

voice.

"Wow," said Jane again. "The name itself gives

you the creeps, doesn't it?"

The girls were so absorbed in their conversation

about Harry and Voldemort, that they didn't even
notice the bunch of ghosts suddenly swooping
into the room, scaring everyone out of their wits.

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