Day one

By the time light beaming from the sun was piercing my bedroom window in the morning of September 1st, I had already been awake for several hours. Hogwarts was finally upon me; ever since being reborn in this world I had been imagining how this day was going to go. Looking around my room, it was hard to imagine that I would be leaving all of this behind, a small part of me wished that students could travel home at night to their homes.

Mum's voice shook me from my melancholy thoughts as it reverberated through the house, "ALEX, SASHA, REBECCA, DOWNSTAIRS IN 5 MINUTES, WE ARE RUNNING BEHIND SCHEDULE."

Wincing at the piercing sound of my mother's voice, I couldn't help but think that maybe boarding at school has an upside to it as well. Dragging my trunk behind me, I made my way downstairs. When I made it to the kitchen, I found everyone sitting down for a quick breakfast.

After wolfing down my breakfast as quick as I could, I asked eagerly, "When are we leaving?"

Dad smiled at my tone, set a small box on the table, and said, "Soon, but before we leave, there is something your mother and I want to give you."

As he slid the package over to me, I reached out and opened the box to find a bronze collar that had a round blue metal tag on it. On the back of the tag was our house coat of arms, and on the front said, Athena. While admiring the craftsmanship, dad informed me, "We got permission from the headmaster for Athena to go with you, but he suggested that we try and make her a bit more inconspicuous."

Hearing her name called, Athena sauntered into the kitchen like she owned the place. With a nod towards Athena, he said, "Put it on her, you'll get a kick out of it."

I tapped on the table and called out, "Athena, come here, girl."

Always happy to jump onto the table and to be the center of attention, Athena leaped towards the table coming at a stop before me. Picking up the collar, I said, "This is for you."

Unimpressed, Athena looked at me like I was crazy as if to say that there was no way in hell I was putting a collar on her.

"Come on, don't be like that." Seeing that Athena wasn't swayed, I pulled out the big guns. "If you don't put this on, you'll have to stay here while I leave for Hogwarts."

Right on cue, Sasha called out, "Don't do it, Athena." Rebecca quickly followed up, "Ya, if you don't put the collar on, you can stay here with us. We'll have lots of fun."

Fully understanding what the twins viewed as fun, Athena leaped into my lap shivering in fear. I slid the oversized collar over her head and around her neck. The collar shrank in place, fitting her perfectly. Immediately her horns and wings seemed to fold inward and under her fur until they were no longer visible.

"Oooh." The twins hummed in awe.

Curious to see if the horns were gone, or simply invisible, I rubbed Athena' head. Not feeling anything, I shot a curious glance towards my dad, "Don't worry, when you take it off, everything will return to normal." He reassured me.

Admiring the enchantment as it was custom designed for Athena, I asked, "Did you do the charm-work yourself?"

A proud look appeared on his face "Of course. Do you think I would let someone else handle this? Besides, custom charm-work is one of my favorite things to do; it challenges me to become a better enchanter. Over the years, I have had to do some interesting challenges. Once, I made a clock for a lovely lady which kept track of her family's movement. Nice lady, loads of kids."

Hearing him talk about the clock that could track family members brought up an old memory from the books. I bet it was the Weasley's family clock. Curious, I asked, "That seems like a useful thing to have, why don't we have one?"

Dad shot a look towards mum, and she smirked and asked, "What makes you think I don't have something that can secretly track your movement?"

Of course mum magically lo-jacked me. Thinking about all my extracurricular activities that I've been up to in the forest, a nervous laugh escaped me. I hope it's more of a vague tracker like the Weasley's rather than some type of real-time tracker.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, mom interjected, "Well, since dad gave you his gift, it's time for me to give you mine. I have been saving this for you for years now." Sliding a small package towards me, she said, "Be careful while opening it."

Slowly opening the box, I discovered a small vial with a golden liquid in it. Eyes wide, I turned to mom and whispered, "Is this what I think it is?"

Mum shot my dad a smug look and replied, "I decided to save you a vial of the Felix Felicis that I made six years ago."

A little stunned at the magnitude of the gift, I whispered, "But this has to be worth almost a thousand galleons."

Mum reached out and bobbed me on the head, saying, "You're worth it, besides not only is this your going away present, but it also counts as your birthday present as well."

Not knowing what to say, I hugged her. She continued, "Now, first some ground rules. I'm not going to go into the consequence of using the potion during exams, or competitions or other regulated events. But know that there are severe penalties involved."

Wanting to needle her a bit, I interjected: "Technically, you just did go into it."

Smacking the back of my head, she went on, "Remember, once you take this, you can't take any more for at least a decade. Otherwise, the only luck you will have when you take it will be bad luck."

After nodding my understanding and handling the vial carefully, I packed it deep within my trunk. After securing everything, I asked, "How are we getting to the platform in London?"

"We're taking the knight bus," Dad informed me.

As we left our property, the heavy gate closed behind us with a loud click. Outside the gate was a small paved path that led to the road. Upon reaching the road, Dad whipped out his wand and flicked it out like he was hailing a cab. Within moments, a blue triple-decker bus seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Seeing my trunk once we all made it on board, the driver made the connection and asked, "You guys headed to the platform in London?"

Dad rubbed my head and proudly replied, "Yes, Alex is headed for his first year at Hogwarts."

Nodding his head the driver responded, "That will be 11 sickles per person."

After dad handed over 55 sickles, we made our way to the seating area; it was half full of students with their parents heading to Hogwarts. A little apprehensive, from the description in the books, I sat down fully expecting to get thrown forward next time the bus stopped abruptly. However, as soon as I sat, Dad pointed his wand at me and muttered an incantation under his breath.

All of a sudden, I was unable to move from the chair. Dad looked at me and said, "Sticking charm, trust me, you'll be thankful in a moment. Once mom got the twins situated, the bus took off like a bat out of hell. The countryside began blurring because we were moving so quickly. With a loud bang, the bus slammed to a stop. Luckily, the charm held me in place. Otherwise, I definitely would have been thrown across the bus floor, just like in the books.

After a few more quick stops, we made it to London in record time. At the train station, we left the knight bus behind. Once all the parents and students had gotten off, the bus left so quickly; it almost looked like teleportation. Making our way down the platforms, I kept eyeing the platform numbers. Once we got in between platforms nine and ten, dad pushed me towards the brick column and said, "Go on, you won't feel a thing."

Telling myself that the brick column only seemed solid and I was not going to run smack into a wall, I decided to make a run for it. I charged ahead, and at the last moment, I couldn't help but close my eyes. The next thing I knew, I was at platform 9 3/4, and the black and red Hogwarts express train was right in front of me. Turning, I saw my parents come through the archway, each holding one of the twins as they made their way through the platform wall.

Students and their families filled the platform; most students looked eager to get on the train, while some of the parents were subtly wiping away tears, saying goodbye to their children. Hoping to avoid a scene with my parents, I hugged them goodbye.

Dad let go after a brief hug, but mum held on. After a minute, I tried to pull away, but her arms were like vice grips refusing to let me go. "Come on," dad consoled, "It's not like you won't see him again; he'll be home for Christmas."

Reluctantly she let me go, and demanded, "I expect weekly letters from you."

Sensing my freedom was at hand, I quickly reassured her, "Don't worry so much mum, I'll write to you all the time, I promise. Besides, Christmas will be here before you know it."

As soon as mum let me go, the twins nearly knocked me over in a ferocious hug. After several minutes more of reassuring them that I would be returning at Christmas, I made my way to the train. Before I got on, a voice called out to me, "Alex."

Turning towards the sound of the voice, I saw Cedric's head sticking out the window of a train compartment, waving to me. "I'll be right there, save me a seat," I called out. By the time I made it onto the train it was packed full of students, making my way to the compartment where Cedric was difficult. Finally, I arrived at the compartment and found Cedric and Anna sitting on opposite sides, next to Anna was another girl with dark skin, dark brown hair, and eyes of the same deep color.

Looking me up and down, she boldly challenged me with a slight accent that sounded somewhat familiar, "Who are you?"

Slightly taken aback at her tone, Anna nudged her elbow and said, "That's just Alex, Ced and I know him from way back." Looking at me, Anna flicked her long blond hair towards the girl next to her and continued, "This is Alicia Spinnet; she is originally from Egypt. Her family moved near to my house about a year ago."

Seemingly satisfied with Anna's response, she nodded and gestured like she was permitting me to sit. Cedric made eye contact with me and shrugged seeming to imply, what are you going to do. Girls are somewhat crazy.

After sitting down next to Cedric, I looked at Alicia and greeted in Arabic, "Hi Alicia, It's nice to meet you." Her eyes brightened at hearing Arabic, and she replied with a smile, "It's nice to meet you too Alex. Are you excited as much as I am about starting school?"

"Definitely," I replied.

She continued " I am so glad I found someone else who can speak Arabic. While I speak good English, sometimes it's nice to speak to someone in my natural language."

After a few minutes of small talk, I noticed Anna's eyes narrowing and she snapped, "Don't you know it's rude to speak in front of other people who can't speak the same language?"

Raising my eyebrow at her outburst, I said, "If you want to understand what we're saying there is an easy remedy, all you have to do is ask, and I'll teach you."

After a moment of trying to find an argument to my response, she gave in and said, "Fine, just until we learn, no speaking in a different language in front of us."

I shot a grin towards Cedric because Anna had volunteered him to learn Arabic as well and said, "Don't you love it when you get volun-told to do something?" Hearing my question, Anna's face went slightly pink in embarrassment.

Taking pity on her, Cedric responded, "No worries, besides, it will be nice to learn another language. How many languages are you up to now?"

"I'm up to four languages now, English, French, Arabic, and Spanish."

Alicia raised her eyebrows, Cedric whistled, and Anna grumbled under her breath. Around thirty minutes later, the train started moving and I excitedly said, "This is it; we're finally on our way to Hogwarts."