The Life of Portia Boyd

Chapter three; part two

Bumps, dreams and a hat.

Portia sat listening to Sofia; she was talking about her new home. She had left the Dales to live in Great Yarmouth; a town on the south east coast of England.

Her parents had got new jobs in the town centre; Sofia never said what they did. They left Sofia and her brother in the morning and they came back in the evening. Sofia's brother, Alexander was a two years older than Sofia and he was a muggle. Portia never really liked him; mainly because he used to always push her in puddles full of mud when Sofia lived in the Dales.

Sofia was now talking about a girl her brother knew, she was called Violet and she was the same age as Alexander. From the information given to Portia, Violet wasn't a very nice person. She would kill frogs and butterflies, she tickled everyone she met and she giggled at everything. Of course Sofia laughed at everything too, but at least she didn't tickle everyone and kill things, well except flies, flies were evil. Flies could live in the most disgusting places, they could ruin your food and they could get in your hair when you were trying to sleep.

Flies deserved to die, what use were they to the human race?

Then Sofia stopped talking and looked towards the window of the compartment and blushed. Portia could have fallen off her seat, since when did Sofia blush? Portia turned around to see James and Sirius looking at them. Sirius looked very interested in the conversation while James was yawning, not even bothering to cover his mouth as he did. Portia looked back at Sofia who was gulping. The compartment door opened and Sirius sat next to Portia.

"Hey, why did you go walking around?" asked Sirius looking hurt.

"I got bored..."

"You mean you think were boring?" asked James also looking indignant.

"No, no I don't think that at all, what I meant to say was that I was bored without you there," Portia paused to see if she was forgiven.

James smiled. "Oh good, but I was joking."

Portia just smiled, while thinking, "Well it wasn't that funny pompous."

"Anyway," said Sirius. "Who is this Portia?" he pointed at Sofia, who started to look offended.

"Sirius it's rude to point," said Portia automatically. "This is Sofia Ray; I've known her since I was five."

Sirius thought for a minute before saying, "Sofia means wisdom in Greek you know?"

Portia smiled, at least Sirius knew something. "No Sirius I didn't know, how do you know that?"

"Well my cousin has a baby name book and I was reading it once before, I happened to see the name, liked it and read what it meant."

"Wow is your cousin having a baby?" came Sofia's voice, she loved babies. Portia grinned; had Sofia missed the complement Sirius had just given her?

"At least her confidence is rising," thought Portia.

Sirius smiled, "Yeah she is, the baby will be born in about three months; I'll be an uncle in three months," he added.

"Half uncle," corrected Sofia.

"Why will I be a half uncle?"

"Because she's your cousin and not your sister, if she were your sister you would be an uncle, but since she isn't your sister you're going to be a half uncle or a second cousin, I think" Sofia smiled shyly and blushed again.

"Bit of a mouthful wasn't it?" thought Portia again.

Sofia continued, "I bet you will be an uncle though, erm...sorry I don't know your name."

"Oh I'm Sirius Black and this is James Potter," Sirius pointed to James who was sitting near Sofia. "And I don't think I will be an uncle then."

"Why not, don't you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Yeah I have a brother, but the chances of him getting a girl to have a baby are a million to one."

"Why, is he ugly?" asked Portia suddenly. "Sorry."

"No he's as good looking as me; just he only looks for certain girls, the wrong type of girls."

Sofia looked at Portia with a confused look. "What type of girls does he go for?"

Before Sirius could answer the compartment door opened again and a girl stood there looking down at them. "Hi, has anyone seen a cat?" she asked.

"No sorry," said Portia and Sofia together.

Sirius shook his heads while James looked at the girl with amazement, "How did you get your hair so orange?"

Portia moved her head suddenly to look at the girl. It was true she had auburn hair and it was very bright, but it was a beautiful colour. The girl had sparkling green eyes which looked like they were going to suddenly explode. Sofia looked at the girl as well; maybe it was because she was shocked too, or maybe it was because she had auburn hair and felt insulted. Sirius was instead looking at James in amazement. James was grinning and was wanting for an answer.

The girl glared at James with all the hate she could manage. "It's natural; can I ask how you got your hair so messy?"

It was James's turn to glare, but his glare wasn't as hateful. "Listen I have a potion for you, you can use that to change your hair into a nice colour." Sirius sniggered at James's remark and the look on the girl's face. Portia admitted it was a good retaliation, but still what James was doing wasn't right. The girl tightened her lips so they were hard to see.

"Hey listen I have a pin, you can use it to deflate your head so it's at a normal size." And with that she stormed out of the compartment. James turned white; his black hair made him look like Snow White. Sirius was laughing so hard that tears were streaming from his eyes with Portia and Sofia giggling in the background. "That will teach you to mess with a redhead," laughed Sofia.

"You're a redhead, why aren't you like that?" sulked James.

"Because my hair isn't as red as hers and you were nasty James; you didn't even find out her name before you were evil to her." Portia was about to nod when James scowled at Sofia obviously because she thought the girl was right and he was wrong. Sirius stopped laughing immediately; maybe it was because he sensed tension. There was a silence before Portia spoke. "Listen I need to go back to my compartment Sofia, will you be alright on your own?"

"Yeah, I'll be busting Portia."

"What does busting mean?" asked James and Sirius together coming out of their silence.

Portia laughed and left the compartment, followed by Sirius and James.

"So what does it mean?" asked Sirius catching up to Portia.

"It means great, brilliant, you get the picture; she picked it up from Tollington."

"Where's that?" asked James arriving at her side.

Portia shrugged and they carried on walking until they got to their compartment. Portia opened the compartment door, stepped inside and sat down. She sighed; was it going to be alright at Hogwarts? Her mother was right, boys were from hell. So far James and Sirius had tried to make most peoples lives hell, first they played a trick on Portia, then they hung Severus Snape upside down and then James was mean to the redheaded girl with Sirius encouraging him by laughing. Then something else came to Portia's mind; Katie had said to her, "seen one you like," after Portia had mentioned she was thinking about boys. Why did she say it? Katie must have liked boys to say that because she was smiling when she said it. Then Portia was knocked out of her thoughts.

"Hey Portia you alright?" asked Sirius. He was now seated down with James, who was looking out of the window again.

"Yeah I was just thinking," said Portia absently, while looking at James.

"What were you thinking about?"

Portia looked quickly at Sirius. "Great why is everyone so nosey, it's my business what I'm thinking not theirs."

"I was thinking about... boys." "Am I ever going to stop using that idea?" Portia asked herself.

Sirius smiled, "Seen one you liked?"

Portia shook her head. "No I was just thinking about them that's all."

Sirius laughed, "And I thought you were going to say me."

Portia and James smiled too. "Nah Sirius," said James. "She likes me don't you Portia." It didn't sound like a question, it sounded like it was a well known fact.

Portia laughed. "What are you two talking about? Why are you asking if I like you?"

Sirius and James ignored what Portia had just said and carried on. "James I think you are mistaken, she's known me longer than you therefore she likes me best."

"I think it is you who is mistaken, she looks at me with wonder and with love; she likes me Sirius."

Portia just sat back, looked out of the window and smiled. "I'll let them carry on, they obviously don't need me in this conversation, but I wonder why they are arguing over why I like them." Portia ran threw these ideas through her mind until her eyes began to drop down. She felt a yawn coming on and moved her hand over her mouth which she had now opened and breathed out trying to be as quiet as possible. When she had finished she placed her hand down on her lap and closed her eyes and began to think about Hogwarts and who she was going to be with. She started to think about Sofia, her friend from the Dales and Katie from Beverly; they had been nice to her so far, maybe they would help her with her plans. Then the plans came back; they were going to be accomplished. Portia got so wrapped up in her thinking that she didn't notice she was sleeping right in the middle of Sirius and James's argument.

Portia was riding her horse again in the Dales; she was watching something, but she couldn't see exactly what it was. She was squinting her eyes so much they were nearly closed. Something was moving below her; it was moving slowly. Portia got off her horse and began to walk down the hill moving towards the moving thing. Suddenly she was closer to it than before, like she had ran very quickly to get there.

The thing was a person in black; it was wearing a black cloak. It was walking slowly and Portia could hear sniffing coming from it. She couldn't see its arms, just its legs moving one leg at a time.

"Hey why are you crying?" Portia just assumed it was crying because it was sniffing. The person didn't answer, but it stopped. Portia stopped too, why had it stopped? And even more importantly why had she? Portia looked around and she noticed she wasn't in the Dales no more, she was in a dark house. She noticed that everything was black and the walls were not decorated with colours but with white paint.

Portia looked back to where the person was standing only to find two people were there instead. They were both in black cloaks and one was leaning on the right shoulder of the other. Was one of them crying with the other comforting? She walked towards them and put her hand on the shoulder of the one sniffing. She smiled sympathetically hoping the cloaked person would look at her, but it wouldn't, instead it shrugged her off and ran down the corridor. The other person looked at her and whispered, "He'll be alright, he just needs to let go of his life and do his job."

"What?" asked Portia. She looked at the person and stepped back. "Why does he need to let go?"

The person held its arm in one hand and sighed. "It's just what he has to do, we all have to let go, it's just the way it has to be."

Before Portia could ask any more questions she felt a poke on her head. She looked up and heard a voice. "Hey Portia wake up, we're at Hogsmade, WAKE UP!"

The cloaked person looked at Portia, even though Portia couldn't see it, she knew straight away it was looking at her face. "You better run to whoever that is, he or she might miss you." Portia heard the person smile; hold on you couldn't hear smiles, you saw them. Portia frowned; whatever this was it wasn't good.

"Why must I go? Who are you? And most importantly where am I?" Portia asked her questions without taking a breath. When she finished she gasped for air, then something else caught her attention, she could feel what she was doing. She touched herself and she felt a touch on her skin she recognised as her own fingers. "Why do I feel?" she asked aloud.

The cloaked figure shrugged and turned its back to Portia and began to walk. "Maybe you like it here?"

Portia frowned again, "I think you're being very rude, turning your back on me, I haven't done anything..."

"That's right," interrupted the figure. "You haven't done anything for us, why should I be so kind to you when you're not kind to us?" The figure had turned back round, most probably to see Portia's expression.

Portia was confused, she hadn't been nasty to anyone, she was against violence and bullying. Why was this person judging her? She was trying to help the other person who was obviously upset about something and she was being as polite as she could to this person who was in return being so horrid to her. She hadn't done anything wrong; if the person had let her finish without again being rude she would have listened to Portia finishing her sentence.

"You don't understand do you? You're just a child living in your own world, I would expect that from any child," the figure explained. "But I still don't see why I should be nice to you when you have not taken our advice and completely ignored us. Are we so insignificant that we don't matter to you or your aims and objectives?" The figure waited for an answer of Portia.

"How do you know about my aims?" asked Portia.

"I have watched with your eyes, listened with your ears and thought with your brain, I know everything about you Portia Marie Boyd, absolutely everything." The figure began to walk towards Portia. "I could help, I am your friend; you have known me ever since you were born and yet you don't trust me."

"I don't even know you, I have no idea who you are, what you look like or were you are from and I think you are again being rude by entering my life and not even telling me until now, what have I done to you to make you so hateful towards me?" Portia was beginning to have enough, she was ready to go back to the Hogwarts express and tell Sirius and James about her stupid meeting with this person and start Hogwarts like a NORMAL witch.

The figure laughed. "You have totally ignored me since you could think for yourself," the figure explained. "When you were five you swallowed a bug, I told you not to, when you were ten you sat on that dangerous hill with your friend Sofia Ray and I told you not to." Portia was now beginning to understand, well a little anyway. "you have totally ignored me since you could think for yourself and now you don't even hear me, you do anything without thinking and it was only until you realised you were going to be in a war which is full of hurt and pain you started to use me, but you used me and you haven't even begun to think of how you can help yourself."

"I don't understand; when have I used you?" The Portia heard the voice again.

"PORTIA WAKE UP NOW!"

"Go to him, he wants you, but you will hear from me again Portia Marie Boyd, trust me you will." And the figure was gone and so was the house. Portia just realised something before she came out of her dream.

"Portia wake up, come on you're scaring me," Sirius exclaimed while shaking Portia wildly.

Portia opened her eyes to see Sirius right in front of her and James sat next to her. She put her hands on Sirius's arm and gripped it gently. Sirius gazed at Portia's arm for a few seconds before jumping back like Portia had bitten him. Portia scanned for James who was smiling gently; she went out to reach him just to see if he was real. James gave her his hand.

"You okay Portia?" he asked. Portia nodded. She was trying to remember why she hadn't woken up, where had she been? James smiled even more and pulled Portia up so she was sitting straight.

Sirius was watching Portia carefully; he seemed to look bewildered at her but at the same time have fear of what had just happened. "Why didn't you wake up? I was shouting for ages but you wouldn't even stare."

Portia smiled. "I was mostly probably having a lovely dream and you went and interrupted it." She got up and stretched; suddenly James looked at her strangely. Portia looked at him. "What's the matter?" she asked.

James didn't say anything at first; he was looking at Portia's body in a very strange way. Finally he said, "Why do you have bumps?"

Portia looked down at her body. Indeed she had bumps over where her chest and heart was, she had never noticed them before; well she realised they weren't big bumps. She glanced at James and smiled. "I don't know James; maybe I'll ask Sofia if she has these."

"She does actually," came Sirius's voice. James raised a questioning eyebrow at Sirius.

"How would you know?" Sirius touched his cheeks when James had finished. Portia also gave Sirius a questioning look. Why did he know?

"Because I kind of looked at her in that place, by accident and she had some." Sirius was beginning to turn a shade of red. "I was just looking at her that's all."

James and Portia glanced at each other and grinned evilly. They had embarrassed Sirius, obviously something that usually never happened. Sirius gave a sigh and picked up his truck. "Listen we better get out of here or the train will leave with us on board." And he quickly walked out of the compartment obviously ashamed of what he had said and done. Portia picked up her truck and owl cage and followed Sirius, with James behind her.

Sirius was in fact right; the train was practically empty except for the minor children who had also come out late. The students looked scared, maybe they were first years and they didn't know what to do. They were rather small like Portia, but some were as tall as James and Sirius. They left the train quickly and stepped outside into a train station which was full of students.

The students were either holding the train doors open or were getting into a carriage. Portia had no idea where to go and by the looks of things neither had James or Sirius. Then Portia heard a gruff voice coming from over the crowds. "Firs'-years this way!" Portia looked around and saw a man over the crowd. He had some sort of beard and long shaggy hair. Portia poked James gently on his arm and pointed to the direction of the man calling first years. Without waiting she walked through the crowd and up to a man who was a...Giant.

He really was a giant; he was so much taller than the tallest students who past him. He was huge in height and width, but his voice was different. It may have boomed but it sounded caring and bold. She would love her father to have a voice like that.

The giant looked own at Portia and smiled. "Firs-year then? Glad I found one of yeh." He seemed troubled; maybe it was the responsibility of finding every single first year and taking them safely into Hogwarts. Portia looked back the crowd and looked for James, Sirius, Sofia or even Katie, just someone to talk to and to make the giant feel less pressured. Then she saw Katie; she was wearing her hair half up half down and was scanning the crowd for familiar faces.

"Katie, Katie Taylor it's me Portia Boyd." When Katie finally looked in her direction Portia made a motion with her hands for her to come over. Katie looked relieved to see Portia. Her face was red and she was breathing heavily; she looked like she had been for a run.

"Portia, I'm so glad to see you, I was getting worried," said Katie. "I was so bored on the train; I had to put up with a little fat boy telling me how he was scared about Hogwarts and another boy who slept for most of the journey. Well actually the boy sleeping looked quite cute and when he did wake up he was ever so kind, he offered me chocolate and he asked my name and what house I wanted to be in, but that was the last few minutes of the trip so we didn't get much information for each other." Katie smiled. "So how have you been?"

"Well I met two boys, Sirius Black and James Potter and....."

Katie looked shocked. "Did you say Black?" At Portia's nod she suddenly started glancing around to see if anyone was looking at her. "Oh my god Portia you were speaking to the eldest son of Jude and Nemesis Black; they are members of one of the most powerful families in our world, did you say anything about muggles or muggle-borns?"

Portia shock her head, she had been speaking to a boy from an important family. Had she been rude? "But wait, he didn't seem like a boy who was spoilt and mean, that was more like James. Sirius was a joker but he wasn't an evil child."

"Good, because the Black family hates muggles and muggle-borns; the lot of them would kill any muggle-born if it weren't against the law." Katie looked disgusted. "Bloody purebloods, you know I don't see why there has to be this much commotion about blood and heritage, its madness, all of it."

"I thought you were a pureblood," said Portia quickly.

"I am, but I'm not as bad as them, I may not live in a big mansion or have a lot of money like them but I am thankful I do not think like them, their all full of shit."

"I'm a pureblood too, am I like them?" asked Portia.

Katie looked at Portia and smiled. "I have never heard you put down muggles or muggle-borns, so I am assuming you don't hate them, is that correct?"

Portia nodded. "Then you have nothing to worry about; unless you're parents don't like muggles."

Portia shrugged and then said, "Were you just swearing a moment ago?" Katie smiled sadly and nodded. "Why?"

"Because I was angry, I don't like the way people think now- a- days, its all about power and leadership, not love and equality." Katie frowned. "Best not to say anything else about it, I may not agree but I don't like getting blamed for starting a fight."

Then Portia felt a tap on her shoulder; she turned around to see Sofia Ray. "Oh you found me."

"You bet I did and who is this Portia?" Sofia nodded to Katie who was looking confused.

"Oh Sofia this is Katie Taylor and Katie this is Sofia Ray my old friend from the Yorkshire Dales." Katie and Sofia shook hands and exchanged greetings to each other. They spent the rest of the ten minutes talking about Hogwarts, even when they were lead to the boats their conversations never paused.

It wasn't until they had actually been in the boat for about a minute when Portia noticed Sofia looking at a girl who was sharing the boat with them.

The girl had red hair which was just above her shoulders, then Portia realised it was the girl from the train who had had an argument with James. The girl was looking out to Hogwarts, she had a strange expression on her face, but Portia couldn't quite place it.

"Are you alright?" Sofia asked the girl. The girl glanced slowly at Sofia and smiled.

"Oh yes I'm quite fine thank you." Portia noticed a tear mark on her face. Had she been crying? Well whatever she had done Portia was determined not to get involved. It wasn't because she didn't want to; it was because she didn't want to hurt the girl by asking her if she was alright, or if she had been hurt by someone. It wasn't a nice way to talk to someone, Portia knew all about that.

Sofia sighed, she obviously didn't want to get into a depressing conversation with the girl either. Sofia had always been like that, she wasn't one for making people feel better because when people were upset it would make her upset too. She would calm people down if they were angry or in hysterical tears but if they were just upset she wasn't one for making them feel happy.

The girl glanced back to Hogwarts and remained in that position until they reached the actual school its self. The school was enormous, it was the most beautiful castle Portia had ever seen and she learned quickly to appreciate it. Portia departed from her boat with Sofia and Katie and walked to the doors which opened automatically before them. The girl who was with them on the boat had disappeared since they had left and Portia had made to major effort to look for her.

They walked up some stairs that lead to what the giant called the great hall. At the top was a woman who looked like she was entering her thirties. She was wearing a black dress and a black hat with a bun underneath. She wasn't smiling and Portia was beginning to wonder what sort of person this woman was.

"Welcome first years to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, but before we let you enter the Great hall for your sorting I need to say a few words," said the woman. "When you are sorted you will join your fellow classmates and house members, the houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." She spoke of Sytherin with hate and anger for some reason. "Your house will be like your family, you will work to make their lives better by getting awarded house points, if you do well in your subjects you will receive points but if you disobey a teacher or break any school rules you will loose points and the house with the most points at the end of the year wins the Hogwarts house cup." Portia started to feel this woman had remembered this little speech off by heart; like it was her duty to do so.

The woman opened the doors and said, "They're ready for you now." She began to walk past the doors and into the Great hall, followed by Portia and the rest of the first years. Portia looked around her and saw the rest of the students looking at them. She saw four different tables filled with students and a table at the front, for the teachers. Then Portia's attention was directed to the ceiling, which looked like a sky filled with candles. "It's not real you know," said Katie pointing up at the ceiling. "It's enchanted, I read it in Hogwarts: A History." Then everyone in front of Portia stopped and looked up at the woman who was holding an old hat and was standing next to a stool. "Is this the sorting?"

"When I call your name you must step forward, sit on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head."

Portia looked around to Sofia and Katie who looked bewildered as well. Then the first name was called out. "Arch, Anthony."

A small boy with sandy coloured hair walked up to the stool and sat on it. The woman placed the hat on the boy's head and the boy suddenly flinched. Portia watched the boy carefully; she gazed at his expression, his every movement and his features. It had gone about thirty seconds when suddenly the sorting hat did something rather strange, it shouted......

"RAVENCLAW!"

The small boy waited until the woman took the hat off him and he walked to the table were blue was the main colour. He seemed happy that he was put in Ravenclaw, maybe it was one of the best houses to be in, that would be his opinion though; it wouldn't mean it was a fact. Portia smiled nervously and looked back to the woman reading from a list.

"Black, Sirius."

Sirius Black walked past Portia and glanced at her for a second before walking to the stool. He sat down and waited for the Sorting hat to be put on his head. He looked so calm and ready. Portia smiled at him, and he smiled back. She couldn't believe it, he was smiling back; the son of an important pureblood family was smiling at her. "Wait he's smiled at me before, why am I so excited? It's the same Sirius Black who played a trick on me on the train and talked about his family as a normal child who disagreed with their family would." She didn't let these thoughts forget what Katie had told her about pure-blooded families.

Again about thirty seconds later the hat shouted.....

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius looked shocked, but he still had a grin on his face, he walked down to the Gryffindor table which held red as its main colour. Portia was happy for Sirius, but she remembered something he said on the train; "If it has something to do with family then I'll be in Slytherin," Portia's smile fell; she felt something bad was going to come out of this. Again the woman called out another child, "Bones, Amelia."

Portia watched a girl with brown hair and black glasses walk up to the stool just as Anthony Arch and Sirius did. Thirty seconds later the hat shouted out,

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The girl walked to the table with a yellow cloth on it and sat herself down, she seemed rather happy to be in Hufflepuff, even though Katie said she would be disappointed.

Portia glanced behind her to look at Katie and Sofia who were looking quite nervous, what were they nervous for? As long as they do their work and be nice to other people they would be alright. "That's the ticket Portia, be brave, there's no need to panic."

"Boyd, Portia."

"Panic mode, oh my goodness it's me now, I'm not ready, oh why did my last name have to start with a B?"

Portia began to walk nervously through the crowd of First years and headed towards the stool. She wanted to fall and not even go through with it, but that would be embarrassing for her and her parents. She sat slowly on the stool and relaxed herself as much as she could. She felt the hat being placed on her head, but then she realised the hat was better off her head.

"Well, well, what do we have here? A Boyd, I remember your father and mother and I see them in you, but don't worry there's not much of them there," said the hat. Portia widened her eyes in shock; the hat was talking to her, could anyone else hear what he was saying? "No they can't Portia Boyd, that's very lucky for some people, now let's see. Where shall I put you? Well there is definitely some Gryffindor qualities in you, brave like your father I see, but you don't like speaking out for yourself, you think too much for other people, a Hufflepuff quality if ever I saw one, and you are loyal to your friends, but not as much to your parents." Portia started to look at Katie and Sofia who were watching her with great interest. "There's some ambition in here too, a Slytherin quality but I know that's not where you belong, too concerned about others than yourself, but there is something in here you are not willing to sacrifice, your life perhaps?" Portia really wanted to nod but every eye in the hall was watching her, she started to wish that someone would talk so everyone would pay more attention to that person that her. "don't worry Portia Boyd I'm nearly there, you have a brilliant mind, your plans to reach your objectives are brilliant, even though you haven't realised you have made them and there are some blank spaces in them, Oh my, Miss Boyd you are very difficult to place, but I have made up my mind, better be...."

Portia closed her eyes; this was going to be seven years of her life and even though it wasn't like a life or death situation, it was even more frightening or more exciting than anything she had ever done in her life so far. Before the sorting hat shouted out her house Portia had one thought, "I wonder if Sirius is watching me."