Chapter Nine

They all sat there, eating the candy Chloe had bought them all. Ron had thanked her a thousand times, but she just smiled and told him that no friend of hers was going to eat that weird looking sandwich. They had all laughed at her comment, and were eating the strange sweets.

"Every-flavored beans?" Chloe said as she looked at the box.

"They mean it when they say that. There's peppermint, chocolate, spinach, and even liver. My brother told me once that he ate one that tasted like boogers once." Ron said. Harry spit out the bean he was eating, causing the three of them to burst out laughing.

Harry picked up a box that had the words 'CHOCOLATE FROGS' written on it.

"These aren't real frogs, are they?" he asked Ron.

"It's just a spell. And besides, it's the cards you want. Each box has a card that says something about a famous which or wizard." Ron explained. Harry opened the box, and a chocolate frog jumped out, clinging onto the window. Before he could grab it, the frog jumped out the window, disappearing from sight.

"Well that's rotten luck." Ron said. Harry picked up the card that was inside the box. Chloe looked over his shoulder at the card. Written in fancy print were the words 'Albus Dumbledore'. Harry stuffed the card into his pocket. Chloe picked up a box of 'Sweet Rocks', little pieces of hard candy designed the look like rocks, and began to eat those.

"This is Scabbers, my pet rat." Ron said as he pulled a huge rat from his pocket. Chloe gasped and picked it up.

"Aw!! He's so cute!" she said, petting the little creature. Ron's jaw dropped.

"You actually think rat's are cute?" he asked her in shock. Harry was shocked as well.

"Of course I do, don't you?" she asked as she gently touched the little rat's whiskers. It looked up at her, almost as if deciding if she was a friend or an enemy.

"My brother Fred gave me a spell that will turn him yellow, you want to see?" Ron asked. Chloe nodded and set the rat down in Ron's lap. She and Harry watched as Ron took out his wand. He was about to say something, when a girl walked into the compartment. She had messy brown hair and was already wearing her black witch robe.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost his." the girl said.

"Sorry, but we haven't seen one." Chloe said. The red-head looked at Ron's wand.

"Oh, you're doing magic? Let's see, then." she said. Ron cleared his throat and began to say the spell.

"Sunshine, daisies

butter mellow,

turn this stupid,

fat rat yellow."

Nothing happened. Chloe, Harry, and Ron just shrugged.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" the red-head asked. Ron just shrugged again.

"I've tried a few simple ones, and they've worked perfectly for me." she said and walked over to Harry. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Harry's glasses.

"Occulous repairo." she said. Suddenly the Scotch tape that held the glasses together began to fall off, and it was fixed like new. Harry took his glasses off and looked at them in shock.

"That's better, isn't it?" the red-head asked. Chloe's jaw dropped as she leaned in to look at Harry's glasses. Ron looked shocked as well. The red-head's jaw dropped as she realized who the dark-haired boy and blonde-haired girl she had met truly were.

"Holy crickets, you're Harry Potter! And you're Chloe Johnson!" she said in shock.

"I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" she asked Ron.

"Ronald Weasley." he said through a mouth-full of candy.

"What a pleasure." She said sarcastically, "You should change into your robes, we're going to be arriving soon." Hermione said and left. Ron groaned.

"I really hope she isn't in my House." he said. Harry and Chloe gave him a confused look.

"What's a House?" Chloe asked him.

"You'll learn more about that when we get to Hogwarts, it's kind of hard to explain." Ron said, shoving more candy into his mouth. Chloe, Ron, and Harry changed into their robes a few minutes before the train arrived at the station. Harry and Ron waited outside the compartment, taking turns with Chloe as they changed into their uniforms and robes. They looked out the window once the train had come to a stop. They realized it had taken them longer than they thought to get to Hogwarts, it was already night outside. As they hopped off the train, they heard a voice booming over all of the others.

"Alright, first years! This way please!" Hagrid shouted, a lantern in one of his hands. Chloe smiled when she saw him.

"Hagrid!" she said and ran up to him, hugging the giant man. He chuckled and hugged her back.

"It's a pleasure to see you again too, Chloe." he said as Harry and Ron caught up to them. Many other children followed as well.

Hagrid led them all to the enchanted boats that would carry them down the gentle river to the school. Ron, Harry, and Chloe all hopped into one and were magically pulled with the others through the water. As they looked through the fog that hung just above the water, a huge castle came into view.

Hogwarts.

The school of witchcraft and wizardry that they'd be attending for the whole year. The building was amazing, magnificent. It reminded Chloe of the castles she'd read about in all of her fantasy books.

"Wow." she and Harry said at the same time.