Blue Eyed Girl

The sun shone brightly in the crystal blue sky as the Hogwarts Express glided through the English countryside. On board were hundreds of eager students awaiting their arrival at Hogsmeade Station to begin another year at Hogwarts. In the last compartment of the train sat a beautiful, fifteen (soon to be sixteen) year old girl intently writing a letter to her best friend.

Dear Delia,

Here I am. I'm on the train, leaving from the station, on the way to a new life. I know what you'll say, I'm being too dramatic, but let's forget about that for a second. I already miss you, Dee! How am I going to do this without you? I haven't done anything too embarrassing yet. Although, there was one close call that involved my trolley and a very angry man with newly bruised heels, but I won't go into details. I don't have much to say to you now. I pretty much told you everything on the phone last night! Wonder why I'm bothering to right this letter? Well, it's because I need to do something to occupy the time. You know how great I am at sitting still for a long time.

The girl paused and smiled, reminiscing about the wonderful times she had with her friend. She couldn't help but think that there may not be many more times like that now that she was on her way to her new school. Don't think about that! she scolded herself. She hunched over to finish her letter.

I miss you! (I think I already mentioned that...oh well, bear with me) Try not to have too much fun without me. (You know I'm kidding) Keep in touch.

Love always,

Rox

Roxanne's silver blue eyes perused the letter one last time, carefully folded it, and placed it into her trunk. She sat back in her seat, trying to get comfortable for the long ride ahead. She leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the window and watched as the lush green hills passed by.

Well, here I am, she thought. I wanted a change of scenery, and I got it.

Although, when she said she wanted a change this wasn't exactly what she had in mind. She was ready to graduate from her old school and she was excited to be able to go to a new school and learn skills for the profession she would, one day, pursue. She had been quite surprised when her father informed her that he had been transferred to the Ministry in England and the whole family would be moving there. She, of course, had been very excited for her father because this was a wonderful opportunity for him, but she couldn't help feeling sad that she was leaving her beloved home in New York and all of her friends.

Everything will be fine. Just wait, she told herself as she saw dark clouds forming toward the horizon.

Just then, the door to her compartment slid open and in walked two boys who looked about her age.

"Oh, sorry...looks like this one's full," said the taller of the two.

"Oh, no, that's okay. You can sit here if you want," said Roxanne, still a little startled from the unexpected entrance.

"Alright, thanks. This train's packed," said the same boy, smiling. Roxanne smiled back as she moved her trunk to make room for the boys to sit down. "I'm Seamus Finnegan and this here is Dean Thomas."

"Roxanne Moore," she replied.

"Nice to meet you," said Dean. "What year are you?"

"Sixth," Roxanne answered him. "How about you guys?"

"We're both fifth," Dean responded.

"What house are you in?" Seamus asked curiously. "I don't think I've seen you before."

"Oh...I don't know," Roxanne replied. Seamus and Dean both gave her odd looks. "I'm new," she finished seeing the puzzled looks they gave her.

"Oh," Seamus laughed, "that would explain why I've never seen you before...and also your hesitation."

"Yeah, I was worried for a second when you didn't answer," chuckled Dean.

"So, are you getting sorted with the first years?" Dean asked.

"I don't know, I guess."

"Well, you want to get sorted into Gryffindor, just so you know," said Dean, "it's the best house of course." Seamus nodded in agreement.

Roxanne laughed, "Lemme guess, you're in Gryffindor?"

"You got it," answered Dean smiling. "How'd you know?" he asked sarcastically.

"Lucky guess," Roxanne smiled and gazed out the window again.

Not too bad so far, Roxanne thought to herself. She had always enjoyed getting to know new people.

"So, where are you from?" asked Seamus after a long silence.

"New York," Roxanne answered, suddenly reminded of how much she missed her friends.

"Figures," said Dean, "I could tell by the accent."

She laughed and turned back to them. She never thought of herself having an accent.

"So, why are you transferring here, if you don't mind my asking?" Dean asked.

"Well, my dad worked for the Ministry in New York, and there was an open position at the Ministry in London. So he was promoted, and this is his new job," Roxanne replied.

"Why do you have to change schools? Why couldn't you stay in your old school?" Seamus asked, inquisitively.

"Well, I wouldn't have a place to live. You see, in the U.S. the magic schools aren't boarding schools. There are different wizarding communities all over the country and each one has a school. Pretty much all witches and wizards in the country live in one of the communities, so basically you go to the school in your community."

"Hmm, I never knew that," Seamus said with his brow furrowed.

Roxanne smiled, "Well, now you do."

The rest of the train ride passed quickly. The boys discussed quidditch for a while and Roxanne interjected every now and then. The sky had steadily become darker, but it was not yet raining. They finally reached the station and quickly filed off the train.

"Firs' years this way," Roxanne heard a somewhat familiar voice say. She turned and saw a friendly face she recognized from her earlier visit to Hogwarts with her father.

"Hello there, Roxanne! Made the trip alrigh', I see," Hagrid said as she neared.

"Hey, Hagrid. Yeah, the trip was fine. Do you know where I'm supposed to go?"

"Jus' follow me. You'll be joinin' the firs' years to be sorted."

"Okay."

Roxanne walked with Hagrid toward the lake followed by a group of frightened looking first years. They all boarded small wooden boats to make the journey across the serene lake

Not five minutes into their crossing, the heavens opened and rain began to pour down on them. Roxanne, along with the other first years in her boat, desperately clung to the sides of the boat as the wind howled and the once calm lake became rather rough.

They eventually reached the other side of the lake. Everyone quickly scrambled out of the boats, not wanting to spend any more time in them than necessary. Many of the first years looked quite shaken up, and a few looked rather green. She did her best to try to console one particular girl who had been sniffling even before they entered the boats, obviously homesick.

"Well, tha' was quite the ride, wouldn' yeh say?" Hagrid remarked, trying to make light of the situation. Some of the students glared at him, while Roxanne smiled and rolled her eyes.

You can say that again, she thought to herself. Hopefully this wouldn't reflect the rest of her experience at Hogwarts.