20 Chapter:20 Making Friends/First Sight

Shocked as she might be, the witch with the trolley still happily passed on all the items that Victoire just purchased from her. There were seven carton boxes of pumpkin pie, three cylindrical boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, another seven boxes of cauldron cakes with two muffin-like cakes in each pack, Five Licorice Wands that looked an awful lot like strands of rope dipped in white chocolate, and a flask of freshly brewed, or maybe it was freshly conjured, coffee. 

She handed the packages one by one to Fred who passed them to his twin George who in turn passed them to Victoire who placed them on a foldable table-top attached to the space between two windows. 

The old witch took out one last cardboard box but appeared to have some difficulty in pulling it past the trolley hatch and opted to use her wand to levitate it out and into the compartment.

"That's twenty-five boxes of chocolate frogs. The total would be 5 galleons and 8 sickles, dear."

The witch smiled, quite satisfied with her most recent customer's purchase.

Victoire reached into her pocket and cashed in the coins sitting in her system. Another nice feature about it was that she could redeem her money in any denomination she wanted, be it her wish to redeem a thousand galleons in sickles or even knuts. 

She took out exactly five gold galleons and eight silver sickles, passing them to George who passed the money to Fred who in turn paid the witch.

Moments later their compartment door was once again closed and a silence descended on all five of them. Be it Angelina and Alicia or George and Fred, they were all staring at Victoire who was slowly opening one of the pumpkin pies or rather pumpkin pasties.

She tore open the box, picked up the pasty using the tissue packed along with it, and revealing her uncharacteristically sharp canines, she bit into the somewhat crunchy surface of the sweet.

 A torrent of sweetness burst inside her mouth and she purred at the taste, completely unaware of her four companions who were trying their hardest to avert their gazes.

She finished the pasty and looked around to see the others facing away from her, Fred and George had both taken a keen interest in one particular pattern on the compartment door, while Alicia and Angelina had suddenly found the floor boarding quite impressive and were doing their hardest to avert their eyes.

Ah, crap!

She lost control over her allure again. 

It was not like having a severe headache or stomach ache helped much but she should have exercised a basic level of discipline. Which she failed to do so.

She looked at her recent purchase and concluded she could eat less. She pushed a cauldron cake towards Alicia and asked,

"You want vun?"

"Eep!"

Poor girl was quite startled upon seeing Victoire's face drawn close to hers, so much so that she let out a yelp and tumbled over Angelina. 

The compartment was filled with laughter as Fred and George, both shaking with laughter, helped Alicia up while Angelina, who was beneath her, tried to stifle her laughter.

As they went back to their seats, Victoire asked again, and this time, she received a direct answer which was in the form of Angelina taking the cauldron cake from her hand,

"Don't worry, if she doesn't fancy it, I'll tuck in. I'm famished."

And with that, she took a bite out of the cake under the sad eyes of her friend, which lit up when a second cake was handed to her.

While Victoire chewed on her Licorice Wand, she noticed that Fred and George were eating their homemade ham and corn sandwich instead of the treats she offered. And boy did their faces look sad,

"Vhat are you two vaiting for, a formal een-vite?"

The twins' eyes lit up and they each went for a pumpkin pasties.

The rest of the journey to Hogwarts was spent either eating or talking about the entrance ceremony. 

Fred and George speculated that there must be some sort of task or challenge before they are to be sorted in houses,

"Mum and Dad kept it hushed, and so did Bill and Percy. Ah, Bill and Percy are our older siblings, they're still at Hogwarts, you know."

"Who knows, mate? Maybe we'll end up having to bloody well fight trolls."

Said the twins, scaring the two girls as well. 

Victoire thought that as the adult of the group, her soul's almost fifty you know, she ought to give them a bit of confidence boost,

"Breelliant guess, if ze trolls are ze ones getting sorted zat eez."

Nothing like a good old joke to lighten the mood. 

In another, and rather more successful, attempt at lightening the mood, Fred proposed the game of Bertie Roulette, a suggestion that earned him four strange looks. It was only after he explained the concept that they realized he was spewing it from the top of his head.

The game he proposed was simple enough, they were to pass around a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Bean and each of them was to either take one toffee at a time or try their luck and eat more and pass on. Each of them was also required to describe the taste of the bean they picked.

Starting from Victoire, whose cries of protest were drowned under the excuse that as the owner of the candy box, she should go first.

'Cheeky little brats!'

She cursed under her breath and saw to her surprise that the system's observation feature was able to identify the taste as well.

[Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean: A magical jelly bean that can have a delightful or dreadful flavor.

Flavor: Chocolate]

'Heh, time to teach these kids a lesson on how grown-ups play a game.'

She popped the brownish bean into her mouth and, under the anticipatory gazes of her new acquaintances, began to chew slowly.

"Hmm, tastes like..."

Alicia slowly grasped onto Angelina's hand and the twins' breathing slowed down considerably,

"Chocolate. Not bad, looks like I am quite lucky."

The twins sighed disappointedly and Alicia finally let go of Angelina's hand from a grip that was, from the look on Angelina's face, considerably painful.

"Let me try again."

And this time, she popped in an emerald green one,

[Taste: Mint]

"It's mint." (Or meent for those who want a French accent)

Again the twins groan since it means they would have poorer luck,

"Again!"

[Taste: Apple]

"Again!"

[Taste: Orange]

"Again!" 

But this time she had to promise them it was the last one. She simply couldn't stand the watery eyes of Alicia as she silently pleaded with her to stop.

"Okay, eet's ze last one."

This time she purposefully picked a poorer choice... or did she? 

[Taste: Blood]

As soon as she began chewing on it, a sickly metallic taste began to cover her tongue and she felt the toffee pop like a balloon, filling her mouth with a red liquid that tasted like blood and was somehow sweet at the same time. 

"Pity, blood."

Finally, the smile returned to the twins' faces and in their joy, Fred, George, and Angelina missed the moment when Victoire flashed her sharp canines covered in blood-red at Alicia whose eyes went wide at the sight.

'Oh, shucks, now I feel more like a vampire rather than a Veela."

It seems that after Victoire's streak of victories, Angelina was feeling quite lucky as she volunteered to go next on their game.

"It's earwax!"

Cried Angelina in disgust as she popped in a yellowish-brown bean.

The twins burst into laughter and even Victoire giggled a bit but Alicia was feeling too shy to respond.

Not willing to admit defeat, Angelina popped in a second one only to cry out again,

"This one is soap."

A row of bubbles flew out of her mouth as she said so. 

Next was Fred and he appeared to be quite the lucky one,

"Hah, Cinnamon."

"Give it here."

George took the box from Fred's hand and bit one for himself,

"Bacon, not bad."

They all turned to Alicia who was still lost in her thoughts and absentmindedly took one out of the bag and ate it only to cough up moments later,

"Hot, hot, hot, Pep...pep...pepper! Hot pepper!"

She fanned her mouth as she babbled out the taste and her tongue was too hot for her to notice that it was Victoire who handed her a cup of cold coffee. (Cold coffee as in left out too long and was no longer hot.)

They continued the game with Victoire already declared the winner and George being declared the loser after the rest of his toffees turned out to be grass, dirt, sausage, and fish oil flavors.

Time passed by as they continued to indulge in similar, or rather the same, game again or talked of quidditch or the sorting ceremony.

Evening came soon and the sky was blanketed under the dim light of the fading sun, an announcement sounded throughout the first-year coach declaring their imminent arrival at Hogwarts and instructions on what to do.

"We will be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Students are requested to leave their luggage onboard from where it will be taken to their dorm separately. First-year please note that the Hogwarts gamekeeper will be taking them to the castle through the boats. The rest of the student body is requested to board the carriages."

"Merlin's beard! I thought the bloody train would take forever to get there."

Cursed Fred as his brother George stretched out beside him. Truth was, he too wanted to stretch out a bit but Victoire was sitting right next to him and he subconsciously didn't want to do anything to discomfort her.

Such was the power of a Veela's charm, even after being divided in half and being suppressed with full force, it could still affect the people in the vicinity. A much weaker effect but an effect nonetheless.

Fred and George went out to change the corridor, leaving Alicia and Angelina along with Victoire to clean up the snack wrappers and change into their uniform. Victoire didn't need to, she was already wearing them when she boarded the train or was placed on it, either way she just needed to change the 'Cerulean Mint' under her tongue with a new one. 

When the train came to a halt, almost immediately a notification appeared in front of her.

[*Ding*

Note: A long-term tracking spell had just been planted on the item 'Wand of the Dragon's Roar'.

Tracking spell range: Unlimited (Planetarily)

Tracking capability: Location(Passive)/ Spell Being Cast(Active).]

So that's why Potter wasn't tried when he inflated his aunt. Wait, that came out a bit wrong.

'Ahem. So that's why Potter wasn't incriminated for his accidental magic in the third book. But then why did the ministry send a warning letter in the second one, if the trace was applied only on the wand, then how did they find out that Harry, or rather Dobby, had just cast a levitation spell?'

The answer was quite simple, either because someone other than the student's family saw the spell and set of some wards in the Ministry. Or that it was Dobby who left a magic signature strong enough to be noticed by the Ministry. 

Well, those questions can be reserved for a later date, right now, however, she was quite happy to know that her original wand was trace-free. 

The train finally came to a halt and the coach was filled with hustle and bustle as the other first-years attempted to push their way out first. Victoire and associates too pushed past the crowd and got off the train. 

By now, the sun had completely sunk beyond the horizon, and a dark sky blanketed the world. The night was accompanied by a drizzle and a chilly wind that caused the other kids to shiver like rattles.

"How on earth are you not freezing?"

Angelina asked once she noticed that Victoire, unlike the other students, was not shivering or tightening her clothes about her body. 

"Genetics, I guess."

George turned,

"Gene-what?"

However, his question remained unanswered as a booming voice sounded not far from them. 

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

There, not far ahead of them, stood a giant of man. Nearly twice the height of an average person and five times as broad, he looked like a man capable of great violence. But Victoire knew that under that hulking mass of flesh laid a baby's heart, probably the genetical dumbness of a giant and average intelligence of a human competing within his head but still the 'heart of a child' is a more polite term to express his situation.

"C'mon, follow me firs' years. Any more firs' years on the train?"

He asked a girl less than half his height who shouted out an answer that was lost in the howling of the wind and of children and teenagers.

"This way firs' years, to the pier."

And with that, he raised a lantern that was nearly as large as a disco ball and led the children towards what appeared to be a large water body.

Victoire turned and saw the senior student who had just answered Hagrid, jump into the train and again jump to the other side through the open door. She caught a glimpse of pink in the drizzle which was now a heavy downpour. 

A hand gripped her shoulder and she turned to see the drenched face of Angelina as she shouted,

"What's the hold-up, Tory?"

Victoire, now used to being referred to as Tory, shook her head and followed after her. 

"Careful now,"

Shouted Hagrid as a boy grasped onto him to prevent himself from slipping.

They continued down a narrow, downward slope that was lit by gas lamps and Hagrid's extra-large-sized oil lamp. 

Soon they reached the stone pier and they had shelter overhead once more,

"Now, firs' years! Into the boats!"

Roared the gamekeeper as the students started to huddle around him. 

"No more'n four on one boat."

He reminded the first years as a group of five girls tried to fit into a single one.

Victoire and the two girls, Angelina and Alicia found an empty boat and occupied it. The boys, seeing as there were already three girls on a single boat, refrained from joining them. Unfortunately, that also meant that there's was only one with three students in it, and therefore Hagrid was the one who joined as the fourth. The two girls squeezed together to make space for Victoire. 

Poor Alicia, her face was scarlet enough to almost shine under the lamp's light. Thankfully, Hagrid's large body shielded them from the bright light. 

"Everyone in? Remember only four in one boat."

He reminded the students,

Victoire wanted to that there's got about seven in it, but she didn't. Noticing the boats, she concluded that each of them had space wide enough for four adults but Hagrid himself took up the seat of four and therefore they had to squeeze in uncomfortably.

 "Everyone in? Alright then, FORWARD!"

He stood at the prow or rather the front of the boat and shouted. 

At once the boat began to sail, creating a fleet of vessels sailing in a straight line.

They sailed for a moment and then were out from under the shelter and into the heavy rainstorm. Hagrid's boat was at the forefront and therefore the first to be hit by the rain.

At once Victoire felt like a drowned bird, which she partially was, and gasped for air as she was hit in the face by a splatter of water. Though they were covered by Hagrid's large body, Angelina and Alicia were not spared from the same fate and found themselves spluttering.

But, surprisingly enough, the discomfort was only temporary after which the heavy pour seemed to ease up a little and the students could see a brightly lit mass in the distance. 

"Jus' around the bend, ya'll will get yr' firs' sight o' Hogwarts."

He exclaimed as the boats neared in on a bend with a bridge going overhead. Victoire could make out dimly lit shapes of thestrals pulling dark carriages across it.

"Mind the head!"

Hagrid exclaimed as he had to duck to avoid getting hit by the bridge. Some other kids in the back followed his lead and ducked to protect their heads from an invisible barrier ahead. 

This was the less scarier and more difficult part of their journey, now comes the scarier and easier part. Once past the bridge, the narrow stream flowed into a larger water body, better known as the 'Great Lake'. 

There was an absolute silence except for the sound of raindrops on the boat and the water. Complete and utter silence. 

They sailed through the lake, a dense fog occupying the center of the lake. As they did so, Victoire noticed figures swimming alongside their boats. Female bodies with fish tails, they were the mermaids of the great lake, not their servants the fish-creature that obstructed Harry's second task in the tri-wizard tournament, no, they were more human-like and more.. beautiful.

Victoire was affected by the natural charm of the mermaid, just like humans were by hers, and she let go of all restraints she had placed on her allure, and a wave of heat burst from within her body. 

The heat was scalding and yet did little damage, no damage even except for the rainwater that was fast evaporating from her clothes. 

Unable to control herself, she allowed her hand to dip into the water, reaching for the mermaid. And yet as she did so, the water boiled all around her hand once it was past the surface, and just as she was about to reach for the creature, a huge palm grasped onto her shoulder,

"Careful now, don't wanna startle them mermaids. Beautiful as they may be, they play nasty little tricks when they get angry."

Hagrid warned her and promptly withdrew his hand which started to scald from the heat she was emitting. 

Victoire took a deep breath and clamped down hard on her allure, commanding it to withdraw back into her skin. It took a while, but she was able to fully restrain it just before they left the fog.

As she was taking one last look at the water beneath them, she saw that cheeky mermaid point at her giggle along with others that were down there. Mischievous as they were, Victoire couldn't deny that these women had a unique sort of beauty to them. 

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a collective gasp of surprise from the first-year students sailing in behind them. 

There, not far in front of them stood a tall and imposing, majestic castle. Its numerous turrets and towers rose high into the sky and glinted under the moon's light. Its windows were lit with soft light from lit within its walls, and a gate opened to its side, leading to a pier waiting for them. 

Finally, she was finally at Hogwarts. 

***

Guys, comments. Nearly half the fun of writing is from reading your comments.