𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 • (𝐝.𝐦.)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨

♔

"So they're called Fleetwood what?"

"Fleetwood Mac."

"-And Stevie Nicks is a witch?" Ron asked.

"Oh, she's totally a witch, I mean it's so obvious. It's my favorite no-maj music to listen to," I said.

"No-maj? What's that?" Harry asked, and I looked over to him.

"It's what we call people who aren't wizards or witches in America," I answered. "Oh, we call them muggles here, it rolls off the tongue a bit easier," Hermione said, and I sort of agreed.

"What house were you in at your old school?"

"Thunderbird," I answered, and Ron's eyes went wide. "Wicked," He breathed, and I chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"Yeah, it was lots of fun. Is Hogwarts a good school?" I asked, and it was now Hermione's turn to pipe up.

"Oh, the best. I personally think Hogwarts is the finest wizarding institute in the world," She raved, and I smiled. "Good, wouldn't want to be going to a school nobody liked," I said with a smile.

As I sat and got to know everyone, I decided to ask about the blonde boy that I had seen on the platform earlier. "Do any of you know a boy with really light blonde hair? He shoved my shoulder on the platform, then he starting ranting about it like it was my fault," I said, filling them in on my experience.

They looked at each other for a few seconds before coming to a conclusion that they all seemed to agree upon. "That'd be Draco Malfoy," Harry said.

"Sounds like a supervillain," I said, joking mostly to myself, but they nodded. "He's a real creep, that Malfoy," Ron said, his voice dripping with disdain.

I had come to the conclusion Draco Malfoy wasn't exactly a friend of theirs. "What house is he in?" I asked out of sheer curiosity.

"Slytherin," Hermione said darkly.

"What are the houses again? And the traits?" I asked, not understanding the Slytherin stigma.

"Hufflepuffs are really nice and fluffy, Ravenclaws are dead smart and bookish, Gryffindors are brave and like- really, really cool. Then there's the Slytherins. They're slippery and deceitful, not mention they've produced the highest number of dark wizards over any other house," Ron went on and on, and I nodded at every overwhelming thing he said. 

"Wow, so Slytherin's not where I want to be I suppose," I hummed, and Harry nodded. "No, not really," He said.

Harry didn't talk much, I noticed. He probably wasn't comfortable with me yet, though, so I didn't give up hope after knowing him for only this short of a time.

I made sure to acknowledge everything he said so he knew I appreciated it, wanting to make him more trusting of me, but he didn't seem sold on me quite yet. Which was okay, I didn't expect him to right away.

I'd give it time.

Something else I decided to give time too was the flood of thoughts about Draco Malfoy bouncing around my head. Why couldn't I get that platinum blonde enigma out of my mind?

As the train approached Hogwarts rapidly, I took a few minutes to look out the window and really soak in my surroundings. Massachusetts was beautiful, sure, but this was something entirely different. Scotland was gorgeous.

Leaving from London, I really didn't know where Hogwarts was going to be, but I suppose the Highlands of Scotland was as good a guess as any. I would've never known that but I reminded myself this was not America, and we weren't just taking a road trip to the Jersey Shore.

I guess I fell asleep at some point during the journey because when I finally opened my eyes again to Ron shaking me gently, we had arrived.

"We're here, Maggie," He smiled down at me, and I nodded, stretching out before following the rest of them out of the train. We all had our bags taken for us and transported to the castle while we got into carriages pulled by lanky horse-like beasts.

They were so odd-looking. Almost like they were corpses. Very strange. Nobody else seemed to be phased by it though, so I just chose to act as if this was normal.

When the castle came into better view, I was in awe of what I was seeing. It was gigantic and just so beautiful. It looked... well, it looked magical. I know, I know, shoot me, but Hogwarts really lived up to its contents.

"Amazing, right?" Ron chirped, and I nodded, still staring at the castle. Ilvermorny is huge too and just as magical-looking, but something about Hogwarts was different. Its splendor was unmatched, and this was obvious.

"Drooling, are you?" I heard a pointed voice ask from the side of me when we finally got out of the carriages.

I turned and looked at Draco, knowing the irritating shrill could only belong to one person. "You again," I said, unimpressed with who my eyes landed on. "I don't know why you've decided to be a dick to me, but I'm exhausted. I'm just going to go about my year here pretending you don't exist, okay?" I said in an upbeat tone, smiling painfully.

"What's the problem here?" Ron asked, standing next to me with crossed arms as Draco sneered at us both. "Oh, you've picked prime friends for only just getting here," He said spitefully, and I rolled my eyes, turning to look at Ron instead.

"I have to get sorted, where do we go for that?" I asked, and he pointed to where the whole group of students was walking.

"We'll go to the Great Hall for that. That's where we have all of our meals and stuff like that, and sometimes Hermione studies in there, no idea why though," He said, and I nodded.

"What house are you looking forward to getting?" Hermione asked and I shrugged, genuinely not knowing.

"I haven't thought about it, but Gryffindor seems to be all the rage according to everyone I've talked to. My dad only hopes I get Slytherin and said that his friend's son Blaise goes here, but I don't know which house he's in."

"Blaise Zabini? He's a Slytherin," Harry said, and I looked over at him.

"Oh. We'll see where I end up then," I chuckled, and we all sat down in the Great Hall. They gave a whole talk about the first years and the Sorting, but since I was new and a fifth year, I was meant to go first.

"Magdelena Warrington!"

♔

i'm obsessed with how the cover for this book came out. i spent a good amount of time on it and i'm actually really proud of it. i'm so used to make super simple covers but this one was so fun and different for me, i'm don't know, but let me know if you like it!