i. andy arrives at narnia and a hat yells at her

AS IF PHASING through a wall hadn't been enough of a shock, the inside of the train that would take her to Hogwarts was kind of driving her crazy. In a good way.

　It was finally the first of September, the day she had been waiting for the whole summer, and when Professor McGonagall had turned up in her home and gotten her to Europe through a chimney —a chimney!—, Andy had found herself to be at a loss for words.

　Which was not common.

　London's King Cross station was a big place, with exactly eleven platforms, and none of those was the one that was written on the small ticket that the professor had given her. Maybe Andy didn't have too much knowledge of Europe's trains, but she could swear that platforms didn't just come in quarters.

　Still, she had trusted the professor's words, even if they made the woman sound a little crazy.

　Suicide by brick didn't sound so bad, except for the part where it would be terribly embarrassing.

　She gripped tightly her trolley, staring at the wall in front of her, and without much more thought, she ran towards it with her eyes closed. She braced for the impact that surely was to come... but never came.

　Holy. Mother. Of. Zeus. What had just happened?

　Her eyes opened slowly when she became aware of the sound of people's laughter and chatter. She almost took a step back, before reminding herself that others would enter from where she had, and stepped aside. Was this what mortals felt like when they winded up inside Camp Half-blood on accident?

　It was nuts. One second, she was surrounded by people carrying suitcases and wearing jeans and t-shirts and normal clothes, and the next she was in the middle of a mass of people wearing tunics and robes!

　Di immortals, had she gone through Narnia's wardrobe?

　A whoosh sound startled her and she was grateful that she had moved to the side, given that the source of the noise was a big family going through the same wall.

　( A wall! Through. A. Wall! So crazy. )

　Now that she wasn't in immediate danger, she took a look around, stroking her owl's feathers lightly. It appeared she was now on a busy platform, just like the rest of them, except for the fact that it came with an incredibly long shiny red train.

　Andy left her luggage where everyone seemed to be leaving it, and she gripped tightly the little cage where stood her owl Sirrah —named after a star.

　As she stood before the train without going in, she was aware of people having to go around her to enter, but the witch couldn't bring herself to go inside just yet. This was the train her mom had taken for seven years, the professor had told her. One that Andy would take too for that amount of time and she needed a couple of seconds to interiorize--

　"Sorry for that, pal!"

　Her inner turmoil had been interrupted by some force (girl) crashing into her. After regaining her balance, Andromeda furrowed her brows at the blonde matt of hair that stood below her.

　"Aren't you gonna enter? You've been standing there an awful lot o' time. Just asking. I don't know, need any help? You look like you do. I can push you a little if you want to"

　The girl, who looked to be around Andy's age, had said all that without taking a second to breathe and seemed to regret it when she was done, taking a big and shaky breath.

　Andy blinked, surprised.

　"I'm Bellamy Wood, by the way. Nice meeting you!" the blonde said, holding a hand out for Andy to shake, and once again, talking in one go. "Oh, ehrm, want that push?"

　Andy suspected that Bellamy was very eager to push someone, and she almost felt pity for her when she shook her head.

　"Merlin, that sucks. Not that I have anything against you, that would be rude, it's just that I really wanted to push my brother, but he got away before I could!"

　Somehow, Bellamy Wood reminded Andy of herself, talking nonstop without a filter between her brain and mouth; the main difference being that Andy in no way in Hell would go out of her way to talk to strangers. Especially those her age.

　"Now that I think about it," the blonde girl let out. "... are you going inside?"

　Andy spared a glance to the girl before looking at the train.

　"Oh, yeah. I just needed a minute to... take it all in," she excused herself, finally on the right mind to just get it over with.

　"Bloody Hell, you're American!" Bellamy let out, startling Ady. "I thought only British people could go to Hogwarts!"

　Stepping into the train made appear butterflies inside her stomach, a new adventure beginning in a place that had been her mom's home and that would be hers too.

　"I am British, though. I was born here," she explained looking back at Bellamy, who stood on the platform with her mouth wide open in surprise. "The name's Andromeda, by the way. "

　She smiled at the other preteen while taking a look around the inside of the train.

　"Oh, like the galaxy?"

　"Sure, that too," she tilted her head. She wasn't used to associating her name with that meaning. "It's actually from a princess in a greek myth. My friends call me Andy. "

　The train was bizarre-looking, and at the same time, it was the most normal thing she had seen ever since she set foot on the platform.

　It looked like a regular train, she guessed, with a narrow corridor and compartments on both sides, but the more she looked, the less ordinary it appeared. She could swear she had seen small creatures floating over their heads making angry noises, and she had definitely seen fireworks coming out of a wand held by a student.

　"Your name is weird, but I love mythology," Bellamy said then, bringing Andy's attention to her once again. "My name means fine friend! Do you want to sit with me on the compartment?"

　Andy found herself looking at the British girl in a new light: She didn't just look her age, she must be her age! Which meant that Andy wasn't looking towards a future of loneliness on the train and the school.

　Thanks to the gods for people that can talk to strangers, she thought.

　"Are you a first-year too?" she asked anyway, not wanting to assume wrong and be destined to spend the next seven years wallowing in self-pity alone.

　Bellamy, oblivious to Andy's inner panic, nodded her head with a big smile on her lips.

　"I am, but I can introduce you to people!" she answered, walking in front of Andy. "Come on, let's enter this one. "

　The blonde girl opened one of the doors on their left, walking inside and throwing herself into one of the long seats.

　Andy followed her, taking a second to analyze the scenery.

　"My brother Oliver is two years ahead of us and I know some of his friends, " Bellamy continued chatting, waving her hand eagerly at someone through the big window. "Are you a muggle-born?"

　Andromeda left Sirrah carefully on the seat opposite Bellamy, and sat beside the owl.

　"I'm a half-blood, " Andy said, and she couldn't believe just how right that statement was, "My mom was a witch. Her house was the scarlet one. "

　Bellamy's face lit up with recognition. "That one's Gryffindor! My brother goes there too. I hope I don't end up there, though, just to piss him off. "

　"Piss him off?"

　Andy tilted her head. Why would that piss someone off?

　"He's all for house spirit," the girl explained, rolling her eyes. "You should see him playing quidditch at home! Completely obsessed, it's an illness. "

　"What's... quiddy?" she asked, not having heard that word ever and Bellamy looked at her with eyes so wide open that they looked as if they would fall out of their sockets, "I didn't grow up with magic. "

　"Oh, don't worry, that's fine! You'll see, quidditch..."

　Bellamy started going on about a sport that was played in the air, with too many balls and a complicated points system. According to her, almost everyone in Hogwarts liked quidditch, and there was even an international cup that took place every four years. Andy had already lost track of time when a woman opened the door and offered them sweets (all of them were odd, but she bought some nonetheless. There were chocolate frogs that jumped and beans that tasted like gum or puke).

　Hours later, both girls kept talking and getting to know each other. It had been a while ago that they had put their robes on, and they were waiting outside of the train in the middle of all students, in the cold of a Scottish night.

　"What about our stuff?" Andy asked, standing on her tippy-toes to see if anyone was carrying it.

　A tall and enormous man appeared on the small and dark platform, holding in one hand a lamp that danced from side to side above the children's heads.

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

　"They enchant it to go to our dorm once we've been sorted in a house, " Bellamy answered Andy, while both of them followed the man ( was he a man? he looked like a giant ) through a narrow path.

　They were wandering through what seemed to be a forest of large and high trees that were very close together. It must have rained at some point of the day, given that the ground felt slippery and Andy's boots left deep imprints on the mud.

　"You'll get your firs' sight of Hogwarts in a sec," the big hairy man called over his shoulder, accent rolling through his words, "Jus' round this bend here."

　The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

　Andy let out a gasp and heard murmurs of admiration. The castle was something out of a fairy tale.
　
　"No more'n four to a boat!" shouted the man then, as if he had had that happen many times before, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

　"That one is empty, run!"

　Bellamy held Andy's hand and dragged her to the lake, rushing to get into one of the empty boats.

　The water encircling them was sparkling and Andy leaned forward over the edge, checking if she could see the ground. A small face with gills smiled at her and waved its hand. She blinked, surprised, and turned her head to Bellamy to see if she had seen that too, but her blonde friend was preoccupied looking at two boys that had entered the boat while Andy was distracted by the lake. 

　"Hi! I'm Bellamy and this is Andy, we're best friends!"

　Andy, who wasn't used to making friends easily outside Camp Half-Blood, wasn't able to hide her surprise at their newly-affirmed friendship status. A smile made its way onto her face.

　"Cedric Diggory, nice to meet you!" said the boy sitting in front of Andy. His brown hair flopped down his forehead, almost covering his big grey eyes. He seemed skinny and tall, even sitting.

　Both girls glanced at the other boy, waiting for him to introduce himself.

　The boy, with black long hair and shiny blue eyes, appeared to be shy. At least more than his friend.

　"Roger Davies, hi."

　A small light began to shine in the corner of Andy's vision, and she raised her head to marvel at the lights that floated over the lake, illuminating the night and creating reflections on the water. In the background, she was able to hear the conversation that the three occupants of the boat were having — if you can call a conversation something that just Bellamy was involved in.

　Looking at the rest of the boats, she was startled when she saw once again the man who was guiding them, who had a boat to himself and occupied it entirely. He was enormous. Andy didn't know if giants existed in the wizarding world — in the demigod one, yes, but thank the gods they weren't going to make an appearance anytime soon — but if they did exist, this man had to be one.

　Turning back to her boat, she realized that she was not the only one who had noticed the size of the man.

　"My brother told me his name is Rubeus Hagrid," was explaining Bellamy. "He's Hogwarts' groundkeeper, it's amazing!"

　"Are there any creatures in this lake?" Andy asked then, thinking back to whatever had waved at her and leaning over the water, Cedric Diggory copying her movements.

　"There's a selkie colony, mermaids, tritons, grindylows, hippocampi, lobalugs, and even a giant squid," Roger Davis informed, and that was the first time Andy had heard his voice ever since he had told them his name.

　Mermaids? she thought. Would they be like the ones in the Sea of Monsters, that drove you to your death with just their voices?

　She hoped not, but like her friend Cleo used to say, they were in this world for a good time, not a long one.

　Apart from the mermaids, Andromeda knew of hippocampi, because they were creatures from greek mythology, and that same summer she had seen some, but she had never heard of any of the other creatures.

　"How do you know all that?" Andy asked, glancing at the boy for a second before looking once again at the lake, narrowing her eyes to see if she was able to catch sight of another creature.

　"Oh, I like reading."

　Couldn't be me, Andy thought. She was dyslexic.

　(Hey, you keep discovering more and more perks of being a demigod! After finding out about the short life expectancy, you find out that you can't even read the McDonalds menu. Better hold on to your seat while you discover the rest because this will be just getting worse.)

　"So you want to be a Ravenclaw?" Bellamy asked Roger, and Andy associated that house with the blue one that her friend had her was for smart and curious people. " Sounds like a very interesting house! Did you know that to enter its tower you have to solve a riddle? I like the colour blue, too, so that's a plus."

　"Any house is fine, I suppose," Roger replied, and the remaining three in the boat nodded, agreeing with him.

　"I hope I get Hufflepuff," Andy admitted. "Sounds like a quiet house."

　Peace of mind was precisely what Andy needed during the year, she had enough craziness during summer to add on top of that problems at school.

　( Well, more problems than she caused in Muggle schools. She had blown up a couple of labs and had been expelled from most of the ones she had attended, but that was life. She didn't want to imagine what he would do in a wizarding school. )

　"My father told me that the Hufflepuff house is next to the kitchens," added Cedric, who also seemed to lean towards the idea, "And that's perfect for the midnight snack. "

　The boy, who seemed as amazed as Andy at what might lie in the depths of the lake, kept trying to see beyond the surface.

　Leaning down too, she finally saw the creature greeting them both, and noticed the little noise of surprise that Cedric emitted. Anticipating the reaction, Andy grabbed onto the boy's robes just as he leaned too far, preventing him from nearly falling into the water.

　"Damn, you have good reflexes!"

　"Did you want to pay the giant squid a visit, Cedric?" Andromeda asked laughing, remembering how Roger had said there was one living in the lake.

　"It sure must feel lonely," the blonde girl commented, leaning over Andy's shoulder to look at the freshwater surface again.

☄︎. *. ⋆
⋆ · ˚ ༘ * 🔭

　THE GREAT HALL had quickly become a paradise for Andromeda. The boat trip had taken them to the Scottish castle grounds, where they had met Professor McGonagall.

　Andy had already met her the week before, but apparently, most of her students hadn't. She led them into the dining room, where she gathered them in a row, and they all walked to the other end of the dining room, between two of the four tables.

　She could never have imagined such a strange and splendid place as the Great Hall. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, which floated in the air above four large tables, where the other students were already seated. Andy stared at the ceiling with her mouth half-open: it looked exactly like a starry night, the most beautiful one she had ever seen, without any trace of light pollution.

　"It's enchanted to look like the sky," stated Roger, who seemed to have read Andy's mind.

　It was incredible to think that such a precise and beautiful image was not a ceiling, but the product of a spell.

　They stood in a row in front of the dais, among all the students and the teachers. Professor McGonagall walked to a four-legged stool in front and placed a pointy hat on top of it, which her three new friends had already told Andy about.

　They put the Hat on you and it would select a house for you, and although she had heard someone sigh in relief as they realized that this was just the Selection, Andy felt capable of taking on anything for being there.

　A rip near the edge opened, and to Andy's surprise, it began to sing. When it was done, Great Hall erupted in applause and the hat tipped as if bowing, becoming rigid again on the stool.

　"I hope we get into the same house," Andy whispered, glancing at Bellamy, Roger, and Cedric, who seemed just as nervous as she was.

　The murmurs in the great room began to dissipate as the old professor cleared her throat and held her hat in one hand. Professor McGonagall then stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

　"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Corner, Elladora!"

　A girl with very long black hair sat down and stood with her hat on her head until the slot in the hat opened again.

　"SLYTHERIN!"

　The emerald house erupted in applause welcoming her while the girl sat among the students.

　"Davies, Roger!" Andy smiled at him, watching as Cedric muttered something to Roger before he sat on the stool.

　For a couple of seconds, they waited anxiously for the verdict, until the hat yelled "RAVENCLAW!". The three friends clapped at the boy, and Andy heard Bellamy whisper that she had known that would happen.

　"Diggory, Cedric!" called the professor, and once again the small friend group watched in expectancy as one of them got selected.

　The hat, without a second thought ( could they be called thoughts? ) let out a house's name. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

　Bellamy and Andy looked at each other, they were already being separated and they had just met. Names were called as both of them searched for their friends at the different tables, finding them to be between older students—

　"Jackson, Andromeda!"

　Andy gulped and let go of Bellamy's hand. She felt all eyes on her as she walked up the dais and put on the big brown hat.

　"Hm, and what do we have here?" Andy almost jumped at the sudden voice inside her head. "Full of courage, I see. A sharp mind, too. A desperate need to prove yourself, but... Not here?"

　The hat must have been reading her mind, because the moment she thought back to her conversation with her friends, it started talking once again.

　"Ah, you wish for the tranquillity of Hufflepuff, not the busyness of Gryffindor, Slytherin, or Ravenclaw? Hmmm, such a shame. You could achieve greatness in either of those houses!"

　I can achieve greatness anywhere, mister, she thought, with a frown on her face.

　"If you're sure, then- HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat, and Andy took it off with a grin on her face.

　Once again, she searched for her freshly-made friend and as "Jenkins, Noel" was sorted into Ravenclaw, she took a sit between Cedric and an older student.

　"I'm so glad we're in the same house!" she told him, right after he hugged her.

　"Yes, it's great! A shame that Roger got into Ravenclaw, " he added, looking towards the raven-haired boy in the blue house.

　"I just hope that Bellamy gets sorted with us, " Andy confessed, watching as two ginger brothers got sorted into Gryffindor. "I think it's her turn now, there can't be that many people starting with W."

　As if on cue, professor McGonagall called her name, and it was then that both pre-teens realized that their friend was the only one left.

　"Wood, Bellamy!"

　Andy tapped her fingers against the table, watching the Hat dip on Bellamy's head until it covered her eyes. For half a minute, the Hall waited, until the Hat decided on its verdict and—

　"HUFFLEPUFF!"

　"YES!" Andy half-screamed, throwing a punch in the air as everyone around her clapped.

　Making her way towards the table, Andy saw Bellamy waving exaggeratedly at someone at the Gryffindor table, a mischievous smile on her face, and Andy covered her mouth to hide that she was laughing.

　It seemed that Bell had managed to spite her brother, after all.

(i am deeply sorry for taking
this long. bye-bye, see you
in another three months!
i'm kidding. well, at least i
hope i am.
-ren <3 )