Kapitel 10: PENNY

It had arrived; the first day of school had finally come, and Penny couldn't help but smile and talk, talk and jump. That could be easily the best day of Penny's life, that was for sure. She was just a bit sad that her father had to work that morning, so he couldn't accompany them to the train.

The station was beautiful, and she couldn't help but observe all the Muggles who ran to their train. She wondered what a typical Muggles' morning could be, how their jobs were, where they lived, and what their favorite animals were. She wondered if they knew about Bowtruckles and what they called them.

"Penny, stay close. You wouldn't want Mother to worry." At Percy's words, she pushed her trolley further and walked closer to her brothers.

"Why, 'Mother'?" She asked Percy, who was walking like the Minister was watching them.

"How should I call her?" Percy stated.

"Mom," she said with a smile, looking fondly at her mother. "Like always."

"Don't mind him, Pen," George said. "He is not the same Percy anymore."

"He is a Prefect now," said Fred with a loud laugh, and Penny looked at Percy, blinking her eyes. Percy had always been the most formal among them, and he wasn't even the oldest, but maybe it hadn't been a good idea to make him Prefect; Percy needed to smile more.

"Stay together, guys," Penny heard her mother speak highly to overcome the noise made by the Muggles and the trains. "It's always the same, every year, packed with Muggles; come on," they walked a bit more before their mother asked what the platform number was.

"Nine and three-quarters," Ginny said, tugging at their mother's hand. "Mom, can't I go..."

"You're not old enough, Ginny. Now be quiet." Penny's smile faded as she observed her little sister's expression. She was so happy to go that she hadn't thought about Ginny. Penny stopped her trolley next to her sister and took her hand while Percy was marching towards the barrier. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared. Penny's eyes widened, amazed; it was so cool.

"Fred, you are next," their mother said, turning to the twins.

"I'm not Fred; I'm George," said one of the twins, and Penny had to look two times to be sure who was talking. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?" Penny's gaze fixed on Ron, who was shaking his head and looking down.

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," Fred said before running to the barrier, followed by George.

"Do you want to go first?" Ron asked, looking at Penny, who couldn't understand why her brother seemed so down. Maybe he was nervous for their first day.

"No, no, you go," she said with a cheerful voice.

Ron was ready to walk towards the barrier, but suddenly, a boy her age took their attention. He walked closer shyly and politely. He had messy black hair and green eyes hidden behind a pair of round glasses. Penny looked around, but he seemed to be alone.

"Hello, dear," her mother said with a sweet smile. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron and Penny are new, too." The boy turned to them with a shy smile, and they returned the gesture.

"Yes," said the boy. "The thing is… I… I don't know how to --"

"How to get to the platform?" her mother asked kindly, and the boy nodded.

"Not to worry," she said before explaining to him how he could reach the platform for the Hogwarts Express. He must have been a muggle-born, which was fascinating, but she wondered why he was alone.

"Er --- ok," he said, unsure, but he followed the woman's instruction anyway.

"What a dear boy," her mother said, and Penny found herself nodding her head in agreement.

When Penny reached the platform, she stayed put for a moment, looking at what was before her. She had accompanied her brothers the previous years, but now it was different because she was going to be one of the students, and everything seemed different, better, and brighter. She couldn't wait to jump on the Express of Hogwarts.

Suddenly, someone bumped her trunk with something she had never seen. It seemed like a trunk, but it was very different from hers: It was light blue with wheels on it. The girl who was pulling it was taller than her, but she seemed around the same age. On her shoulders, there was a big backpack hanging. On one hand, she had a cage with a little owl in it, and on the other, she was pulling the strange trunk.

"Oh, sorry," the girl said calmly before turning to a woman standing next to Penny, wide-eyed and looking at the train.

"Mom, come on," the girl said.

"Seriously?" the woman said. "Not even a 'wow' or a moment to look at it," she said, pointing at the Express for Hogwarts.

"It's a train," the girl said, scrolling her shoulders before walking towards the train.

"You'll never change," the woman said with a laugh, following her daughter. That girl was surely a Muggleborn, and Penny really wanted to ask her what the name of that curious trunk was.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose," she heard her mother say while rubbing Ron's nose with a handkerchief as he tried to break free from her hold.

"Aaah, has the little Ronnie got something on his nose?" said Fred with a mocking tone while George was helping Penny to put her trunk on the train.

"Shut up," said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" their mother asked. Percy arrived already changed in his new black robes, and his silver badge with the letter P on it was shown on his chest.

"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up the front. The prefects have got two compartments to themselves --"

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said Fred with fake surprise, making Penny start jiggle. "You should have said something; we had no idea."

"Hang on, I remember him saying something about it," said George. "Once ---"

"Or twice ---"

"A minute ---"

"All summer ---"

"Shut up," said Percy before kissing their mother and walking away. Then, the woman turned to the twins.

"Now, you two," her mother wanted the twins to behave. They always were up to something, either at home or at school. In the past few years, they had received countless owls from Hogwarts to tell the Weasleys how their twin sons had deserved detention for something they had done.

"And look after Ron and Penny."

"Oh, mom!" Fred exclaimed in a cheerful voice. "Guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?" Penny really wanted to know who they met. "The black-haired boy next to us at the station from before is Harry Potter!" Penny gasped, putting her hands on her mouth, while Ginny jumped up and down.

"Oh, Mom, can I go and see him?!"

"You already did," their mother said, stopping the youngest of her children. "And he is not an animal in the zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?" the woman asked, unsure if that was another of the twins' jokes. Penny really hoped they weren't making fun of her; she really wanted to meet Harry Potter.

"I asked him," he said, "And I saw his scar. Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?" Their mother suddenly became stern.

"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. Don't you dare" Penny was fearing for Fred now, their mother could be dangerous when she had that look.

"Alright, alright. Calm down," he said before a whistle sounded. Penny and her brothers hugged their mother and their little sister before getting on the train.

"Oh no, Ginny, don't cry," Penny said, tightening her hold on her sister's hand when she saw Ginny crying.

"Yeah, we'll send you loads of owls," said Fred.

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!"

"Only joking, Mom." All of them laughed, and as soon as Penny left Ginny's hand, the train started to move. Penny waved one last time before jumping in excitement. She was on the train, finally on her way to Hogwarts.

"I'm going to look for a seat," Ron said, walking in the corridor.

"Fred, George!" They turned to see one of the twins' friends running to them. Penny knew him; his name was Lee Jordan, and she liked him because he was always happy.

"I have to show you something," he said excitedly before turning to Penny. "Hey, little lady," Penny smiled.

"Yeah, whatever you want," said Fred. "But we need to find a seat," a smirk appeared on his lips.

"I happen to know the perfect seat," said Lee Jordan, but before she could hear the end of the conversation, she decided to follow Ron. Her twin brother had taken a seat with Harry Potter, but they weren't talking much… they weren't talking at all—but when she was about to enter, George stopped her.

"Hey, Pen, do you want to see a tarantula?"

A huge smile appeared on the girl's face. "A tarantula?"

"Yeah, Lee's got one," George said with a smile, taking her hand, while Fred said the same thing to Ron and Harry.

"Penny's tugging along," said George over his twin's shoulder.

"Right," mumbled Ron.

"I'll be right back," Penny assured.

"Yeah, I know," Ron said, nodding his head.

"Harry," Fred said. "We didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Fred. That's George. She is our little sister, Penny." Penny waved her hand to Harry with a big smile. "And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then," Fred said, closing the door, and they started to walk through the corridor.

"Do you think he found the seats?" George asked, still holding Penny's hand.

"Lee never fails me," Fred said with a smirk. Penny didn't understand very well what they were talking about but it wasn't unusual, they talked like that most of the time.

"Have you seen the pretty Hufflepuff?" Fred asked.

"Yeah," said George, "I've seen Fay at the platform." Fay was the girl they had met that day at Diagon Alley. Penny observed her older brother and his strange face at the mention of the girl, and she found herself frowning a bit.

"Here we are," Fred said, his smirk even wider. Her brother opened the door of a compartment, and there was a pretty girl with dark hair and grey eyes focused on a notebook with a pencil in her hand, a girl dressed all in black with ivory skin who was arguing with Lee Jordan.

"This train is full of compartments. Why here?" the girl dressed in black said.

"Why not?" asked Lee.

"Well, hello there," said Fred, leaning his shoulder on the door frame. The girls looked at him. "You've found real good seats, Lee," the girl with ivory skin groaned, sitting back.

"Charm, attack him," she said to the little dog half sleeping on the other girl's lap.

"It's a dog!" Penny said, leaving George's side to run towards the little dog, who moved his tail happily. She didn't know dogs were allowed at Hogwarts. The girl to whom the dog belonged looked at her with a surprised smile.

"Hey girls," said George, sitting next to the window. "Spent a good summer?"

"Yeah, I wonder," Fred said with a mocking tone, sitting next to his twin. "I believe I've sent you a letter about that, Sien."

"Who's Sien?" the girl in black said with a sarcastic smile and crossed arms.

"The summer has been good," the other girl said kindly.

"Even in the hell?" said George.

The girl nodded her head, "As good as it can be," then turned to Penny, "And who is she?"

Penny, who had been petting the little dog till that moment, looked up. "Oh, sorry! I'm Penny."

"Hi," the girl said. "I'm Cordelia. This is Charm, and this is Sienna." Penny turned to the girl, who smiled at her.

"You have beautiful hair," Penny said, looking at Sienna's long, thick black hair.

"Thanks," Sienna said. "I love your sweater." Penny looked at her clothes.

"My mom made it," she said before George put her on his lap.

"Alright," George said, "I believe Lee has something to show you." Lee gasped and took a cage with a black tarantula in it.

"Oh wow," Penny muttered, looking closer to the animal in the cage.

"Oh, God," Sienna said with a disgusted expression. "Is it even allowed?"

"You're being racist, Sien," Fred said with a smirk. "Charm is allowed, but the tarantula isn't? Why? Because it could be nasty?"

"And you know everything about nasty, don't you, Weasley?" she bit back, never stopping smiling sarcastically. Penny couldn't understand if the two of them were friends or not, but Fred seemed to be having lots of fun.

"Bicker all you want," said Cordelia. "But don't bring Charm into this." The little dog waved his tail, looking fondly at Cordelia, who was sketching something in her notebook. Penny got curious, so she hopped off George's lap and looked at what the girl was drawing.

"Oh wow!" Penny said, looking at a perfect picture of Charm; it was so beautiful; it seemed real, but it was just made with pencils.

"Do you like it?" Cordelia asked sweetly, making Penny nod her head in response.

"You're very good," Penny said, then looked Cordelia in the eyes with amazed eyes. "Can you draw a Niffler?"

"A—Niffler?" Cordelia asked in surprise but with a smile. "I've never seen a Niffler."

"Don't worry!" Penny exclaimed happily. "I know how it is." Cordelia laughed elegantly, and she moved over to make space next to her.

"Then sit here and help me," she said; Penny giggled and sat down.

"Are you sure you're related?" Sienna asked with a frown, looking at Penny talking to Cordelia.

"Of course," Fred said. "Don't you see who she took her beauty from?" Sienna's gaze moved from Fred to Penny and back to Fred.

"Not the slightest," George started to laugh loudly.

"She told you, brother," he said. Lee immediately started to laugh with him.

"She told you, too. We have the same face!" Fred argued, looking at his twin, who kept laughing.

"Anyway," Fred ignored them. "Do you know who is on the train?" the two girls frowned in confusion.

"Harry Potter," said George excitedly.

"What? Really?" Lee exclaimed while the two girls looked at each other with wide eyes.

Penny really liked Fred and George's friends; they were very nice. Cordelia was sweet, and Sienna was funny. She even found out that Sienna loved music. Cordelia had promised her that she would teach Penny how to draw, not that Penny would ever be that good; drawing wasn't really one of her main skills.

After spending hours with them, Penny really wanted to go to Ron. She waited for Cordelia to finish the beautiful drawing, and then she walked out of the compartment with the piece of paper in her hands. She wanted to show it to Ron.

Penny was walking when she saw Oliver Wood walking towards her. She couldn't help but smile even more and blush. When he noticed her, he smiled at her.

"Hi, Penny."

"Hi," she muttered, waving her hand before walking away without stopping smiling.

She really hoped she would be sorted in Gryffindor, not just because all her family had been sorted there but also because Oliver Wood was in it.

She was walking to where she had seen Ron last, and she was looking at all the students in the corridor, near Ron's compartment there was a girl with brown hair and large front teeth, with a boy who seemed really sad, another boy, shorter than the others, and the girl with the strange trunk. Penny was almost at the door when it opened loudly, and three boys ran out.

"Get out of my way!" said a pale boy, pushing her to the side and making Cordelia's drawing fall.

"Hey!" the girl with the strange trunk said, walking to the pale boy. "Say sorry."

"What have you said?" he asked with an almost disgusted tone.

"You pushed her," the girl said while the other with frizzy hair was picking up Penny's drawing.

The boy looked at Penny and observed her. A strange expression appeared on his face, as if he were somehow superior.

"Weasley was on my way," Penny frowned. He knew who she was, so he must have been part of a wizardly family, and not a very nice one.

"So, you're not just rude but blind, too," the girl said coolly.

"Cora, leave it," the short boy said, looking between the girl and the pale boy. He glared at the girl but eventually turned to walk away. Cora stared at the pale boy until he disappeared, and then she let out an irritated growl.

"Are you ok?" asked the girl with frizzy hair.

Penny turned to her with a smile. "Oh yes, no harm done. Thank you, though," she said, turning to the other girl, who scrolled her shoulder with a smile.

"I hate bullies," she said coolly.

"I'm Penny," she introduced herself.

"I'm Hermione Granger," the girl with frizzy hair said. "This is Cora; he is Seamus, and he is Neville."

"Didn't you happen to have seen a toad?" the boy asked.

"Sorry, no," answered Penny. She really hoped he would find his pet again. Then she turned to Ron's compartment. Those three got out of there.

"What has been going on?" asked Hermione, entering the boys' compartment as if she were a ticket inspector.

"Ronnie, are you and Harry alright?" she asked, entering too. Ron and Harry were there, and her twin was holding Scabbers by his tail. She gasped and took him in her hands.

"Ron, have you been fighting?" asked Penny, checking on Scabbers, who seemed just asleep.

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," he said before turning to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You better hurry up and put on your robes. I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there." Hermione really seemed a girl who liked to have everything under her control, but she was even very polite; after all, she was warning them.

"Would you mind leaving while we change?" said Ron.

"All right -- I only came here because people outside are behaving very childish," she said in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Ron glared at her, and she left.

Penny looked at Harry, who looked at her with a shy smile. She then noticed a lot of sweets on the table. "You were hungry, were you?" she said, petting Scabbers. Then she turned to Ron with wide eyes. "Have you found Agrippa?"

Ron shook his head. "No, but Harry found Dumbledore," Penny looked at Harry, who nodded.

"And Ron gave me Morgana and lots of others."

"So, he can start collecting them." They really seemed to get along, and Penny was really happy.

"Oh, wow. That's good," she said, giving Scabbers back to Ron. "I can't wait to arrive." She then looked out of the window, noticing the sky getting darker and darker, and Harry did the same, probably wondering what Hogwarts would be like.

"Penny, we have to change," Ron said, and Penny nodded her head but didn't move.

"Penny," he said, gesturing to Harry.

"Oh yes!" she exclaimed. She wasn't shy about her brothers changing in front of her, but Harry wasn't her brother. So, she took her robes.

"I'll go change; I'll see you in a bit," she said before exiting.

When she got back, the two boys had already changed, and she put her previous clothes in her bag. Suddenly, her harmonica fell on the floor. She was ready to pick it up, but Harry was faster.

"You play?" he asked curiously.

"Oh yes," said Penny.

"Almost every minute," Ron said, nodding his head. Penny giggled.

"All my brothers say that if I don't talk, I play." Harry smiled less shyly than before.

"I would like to hear you play sometimes," Penny giggled again.

"Oh wow, yes, of course." Harry was very nice, and she could see how Ron was at ease with him. She really thought that they could be the best of friends. She just hoped that the three of them would be sorted in the same House, but she really didn't want to think about that. She couldn't wait to arrive at Hogwarts.