Year One

Chapter One: Platform 9 ¾ Rendezvous

Part 1

Madeline and Violet had been best of friends pretty much since the age of four. Both girls had found themselves in the same pre-school. One of the older boys had stolen Madeline's fruit snacks, but the girl was too afraid to tattle on him. Violet, upon hearing of Maddy's plight, promptly went up to the boy, punched him in the nose, and returned the fruit snacks. The end result had been one bloody nose, several days of suspension from pre-school for Violet, fruit snacks for Maddy, and the nickname of Violent Violet or sometimes just Violent.

From there on out the girls were inseparable. They went to the same primary school, studied together, had sleep-overs, watched movies, cried when Violet's dog Scout died, and stayed up talking all night when their mothers thought they were sleeping. Living two houses apart didn't help the situation either (from their mothers' perspectives).

However there came a day at the end of June when their lives split. Madeline's birthday was June 28th, and in the year 2016 she turned eleven. On that sunny sweltering day in June, she received a hand-addressed letter written on heavy parchment with bright green ink. Her parents gave it to her along with the rest of her birthday cards, and when she finally opened it at the end of the night, her jaw dropped and she had to sit down quickly.

Dear Ms. Jacobson,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment as well as instructions on how to reply. Upon your reply, a representative of the Ministry of Magic will appear to guide you and your family through the first steps of becoming a witch.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerly,

Aeneas Bedivere

Deputy Headmaster

She and her family wondered if it was all a joke, except that there was a curiously intelligent barn owl waiting on the back porch. They followed the instructions for replying, and not three hours had passed when an eccentrically dressed woman appeared on their door step. She introduced herself as Tilda Goodwing and proceeded to prove without a doubt that witches and wizards did exist and that the weird things that had been happening around Maddy were in fact magic.

Tilda showed them everything. She arranged to take them to London where she showed them Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Flourish & Blotts, Madame Maulkins, and so much more! The last stop of the day had been at Ollivander's Wand Shop where a kindly young man with weirdly opalescent eyes found the perfect wand for Maddy (Aspen, 10 ¼", Unicorn Hair, Unbending).

As they were getting ready to leave, Tilda stopped them all and turned a serious gaze on Madeline. "Now, Maddy. I know you're going to want to tell all of your friends about this, but it has to be a secret okay?" Tilda's strawberry blond hair bobbed as she shook her head. The young witch and her family all agreed to keep the wizarding world a secret before Tilda smiled and left.

Maddy's parents and sister were still in awe of Diagon Alley and didn't quite want to leave yet, so they stopped by an ice cream shop and sat down to eat just to spend a few more minutes watching the witches and wizards go about their shopping. It was at this point that it hit Maddy that she wouldn't be able to tell Violet about any of this. They wouldn't even be going to the same school any more. The young witch's stomach suddenly felt sour and she pushed the rest of her ice cream away.

The rest of the summer was misery for Maddy. She noticed that Violet was hanging out with her brothers more often as well, almost as if they two of them had unspokenly agreed that having some time apart would be good. However September first was closing in fast and Maddy had to tell Vi that she wouldn't be going to secondary school with her. It took until August 30th for her to think of what she was going to say to her best friend.

She started by walking over to Vi's house. However it seemed Vi had a similar idea and the two girls met outside Mr. Hendrick's house that stood in between theirs. "Hey," Maddy finally said.

"Hi," Violet replied. "So, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"Yeah, me too," Madeline said. "But you go first."

Violet nodded before taking a deep breath and letting it back out. "I got accepted to a private secondary school," the older girl said quickly. Violet never had been one to edge around the subject.

Madeline looked up in surprise. "What?"

"I know! I know we said we'd be friends forever, and we still can be! We just won't be going to the same school anymore." Violet was talking with her hands as she tried to explain things to her friend.

"Me too," Madeline said quietly when Violet stopped for breath.

"What?"

"I got accepted to a private secondary school too."

"Is that what you were coming to tell me?"

"Yeah. Is this why both of us were avoiding each other all summer?" Maddy smiled sadly.

"I guess so," Violet smiled back. "Well we've still got a day and a half before I have to leave."

"Me too," Madeline replied. "What do ya wanna do?"

The girls spent the rest of the day together and wound up sleeping at Violet's house. They didn't even split up when it was time to pack the next morning. Instead they helped each other, first packing up Violet's things in a large trunk. Then they went to Madeline's house to pack up her things. Madeline made sure to hide her spellbooks on the bottom of her trunk so Violet wouldn't find them. However the time came eventually when they had to split up. They promised to send each other letters every week until they could see each other again in June. Tearfully, they split apart and went to their own homes because both had to be up early to leave for school.

Madeline woke up early the next morning, ate a small breakfast, and loaded up her things in the car. It was about a three hour drive from Cardiff to Kings Cross station in London. The morning traffic on the M4 was light and they made good time. However the entire way Maddy was quiet. She only spoke a few times to her younger sister before they were pulling up to a parking spot near Kings Cross. The hustle and bustle at the train station was enough to push depressing thoughts from the young witch's mind though as they worked their way through to the division between platforms nine and ten. Tilda had told them to simply walk through the wall dividing the two platforms.

Of course, the Jacobson family was a little hesitant until they saw a family of red-heads running through the station and into the wall. No one seemed to pay them any attention though, much to their surprise. Finally, Madeline led the way and pushed her trolley cart up to the wall and paused a second before pushing against it. Despite the fact that Tilda had told her this would happen, she was still amazed when the trolley continued rolling and she felt a shiver as she emerged into a world where hooting owls, croaking toads, people dressed in clashing muggle clothes, and trolleys loaded up with trunks were the norm. Maddy's family followed close behind the girl as they wove their way through the crowds of wizards and witches. They spotted a few other muggle families like theirs looking around anxiously.

Eventually they found a carriage that looked only half full and Madeline's father helped her to load up her trunk. The goodbye to her family was difficult, but eventually she was on the train and sliding into an empty compartment with her black cat, Stormaggedon. She watched others run up and down the aisle for a few minutes until a familiar face passed by. "Violet?!" Madeline jumped to her feet and stuck her head out the compartment door.

Violet whipped around at the sound of her friend's voice. "Maddy!?"

"YOU'RE A WITCH!"

Part 2

Dear Ms. Hayden,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment as well as instructions on how to reply. Upon your reply, a representative of the Ministry of Magic will appear to guide you and your family through the first steps of becoming a witch.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerly,

Aeneas Bedivere

Deputy Headmaster

Violet ran into her family's sitting room where her parents were watching the morning news. It was June first and the girl had just gone out to get the mail where she'd found a hand-addressed letter written on heavy paper in bright green ink… and it was addressed to her! "MUM! DAD!" she shouted. "I TOLD YOU! MAGIC IS REAL!" Violet had been experiencing what she had termed "weird shit" happening to her since last Christmas. Simple things really… like a book she'd lost suddenly showing up on her bed, or a Christmas ornament fixing itself (it had fallen and broken, but when her parents had come to check it out, it was suddenly whole again).

Violet's parents had taken some convincing, believing the whole thing to be a hoax initially. However when Tilda Goodwing from the Ministry of Magic had shown up, they'd had no other choice but to believe. So it was that the Hayden family had found itself being led around Diagon Alley acquiring spellbooks, robes, a Greater Sooty Owl named Crone, and a magic wand (Pear, 13 inches, Dragon Heartstring, Slightly Springy). Violet was most excited for the potions ingredients however. Tail of newt, eye of rat, beetle scarabs… all of it was purchased and placed in little glass ingredient containers inside a black with silver trim potions bag. She'd wanted to buy the self-stirring cauldron as well, but her parents had told her "not now" and she'd only gotten a standard size two pewter cauldron.

However as they were headed back to Cardiff, the girl realized that she wouldn't be able to tell any of this to her best friend. Maddy was a muggle and couldn't know of the existence of wizards and witches. Tilda Goodwing had made that abundantly clear. She steeled herself though and decided to try to ease the parting blow by slowly spending less time with her friend. If she made it seem like she was moving on, would it still hurt as much once September came?

Violet spent nearly the entire summer avoiding Maddy, only hanging out with the girl about once or twice a week, and only in groups. However as September snuck up on them, she decided she had to tell her friend something. So on August 30th, she made up her mind and trekked over to Maddy only to discover the other girl had also been accepted at a private secondary school. Well, at least they would both be kept busy. They spent the last day and a half of their summer together trying to make up for their stupidity of staying away from each other. Violet had had to hide an indignant Crone in the basement, but she didn't regret it and accepted the sharp nips to her fingers as punishment readily.

Finally, September first came and the Hayden family packed into their minivan and made the three hour trip from Cardiff to London. Kings Cross station was busy as ever and the family had no problem quietly slipping through the portal between platforms nine and ten (it had taken some work convincing her mother that it was safe though). Despite the fact that this would be the last she'd see her family till Christmas break, Violet was ecstatic to see all of the wizards, witches, owls, cats, and a scarlet steam engine glistening in the sunny morning light.

Violet's brothers helped to load her trunk onto the train once they found a carriage that was mostly empty, and the goodbyes were kept short and sweet. Finally, she was walking down the aisle of the carriage looking for an empty compartment when a familiar voice called out. She spun around to find Maddy's bewildered head poking out of one of the compartments she'd just passed. Violet's eyes bulged as she replied, "Maddy!?"

"YOU'RE A WITCH!" they both exclaimed in unison.

Authors' Notes: Hey everyone! So here's a new story from me and queenoftheslayers! We're getting together again to write a whole story set in the second generation era of Harry Potter, but it's all from the point of view of two unknown muggleborns! We are planning to go through each year with these characters. Approximately ten chapters per year, and possibly one or two set during the summer. We hope you enjoy this! We will certainly enjoy writing it! Oh! Yes! I forgot to mention, as the title implies, this story will be addressing several muggleborn problems that have drifted into the headcanon of many people. A lot of our ideas are coming from the Muggleborn Problems tumblr page, if you wanted to check that out!

Thanks for reading!