Chapter Summary: In the days before the beginning of school term, and on the train, Lavender confides her exasperation at her parents and sisters, the evilness of her new owl, and her anticipation of her new school to her new diary.

August 27th, 1992

Happy birthday to me! 'Lo, this is Lavender Brown. Hi, there! I am now eleven years old, and in a few days, I'll be a First Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are a diary, a rather pretty blue one, which I got for my birthday [today.]

I live in a rather nice house with my mum, dad, and two little sisters, Rosemary and Laurel. Rosemary is four years old, and thinks she is the queen of the world [which my parents treat her as, because they're afraid of the middle-child syndrome she might come down with if she isn't praised and pampered enough]. Laurel is almost a year old, and is the most adorable baby girl ever [except when she's colicky and screams the night away, but that's hardly ever. I admit that I don't think she's very cute then.]

As I said before, I am now eleven years old, I have kind of sunshine-y golden blonde hair, and blue eyes. I'm really short, which I hate, because the stupid boys at my Primary Magic School tease me about it. Mum says that pretty soon I'll be much taller than them, but I really, really wish that I were taller than them now, so they would just shut up. Sometimes they just make me want to—

Oh, no! Rosemary is throwing a tantrum downstairs. Again. Really, that's all she ever does. I don't understand how she can do it like she does, because, with all that kicking and screaming and hitting at whoever's in range, it must be very tiring.

She's really giving me a headache. I best go see what she wants, because no one else seems to be responding, and I can't hear myself think.

August 29th, 1992

AHHHHH! I just want to scream! Mum took me to Diagon Alley today for my school supplies, [nothing like waiting until the last moment] but, of course, Rosemary had to come too. Dad stayed at home with Laurel, though, so that was one less thing to worry about. But, oh my goodness, Rosemary is enough worry to last me until I have children. Now, that's a scary thought.

Well, anyway, we got through the Leaky Cauldron without too much trouble. We did run into Mrs Hominy, which didn't bother me, because she's always been fond of me. But I can tell Mum doesn't like her much. She says she doesn't trust Divination, and Mrs. Hominy is a self-proclaimed Seer. But, all the same, she likes me. And sure enough, when Mum mentioned Hogwarts, I was cooed over.

"You'll be amazing, Lavender, dear! Ever since you were born, you've shown such amazing promise, especially with The Sight. I know you'll do so very well!" she gushed. I was rather enjoying the praise and was a little disappointed when Mum pulled me out of the favourable conversation.

"It was so nice seeing you, Margery, but we really ought to get going." Mum started ushering me through the door in the back. "We're expected home for supper—I don't think Andrew can handle Laurel for longer than that; she really can get a bit out of hand—and we really have much to do."

"Oh, of course, Alice," Mrs. Hominy waved her hand towards the door. "Go on, you've got a lot ahead of you." She turned back to me. "Good luck, Lavender. I have a feeling you may soon find a challenge that far surpasses you alone," she said, in an oddly chilling voice. She peered at me closely, as if measuring me up. I squirmed a bit under her piercing gaze. She straightened up, bid my mum goodbye, and took her leave out into the muggle street.

I watched after her, feeling odd and a bit confused. What was she on about?

Rosemary interrupted, squealing to Mum that she wanted to look in the pet shop. Mum took her hand, pushed me in front of her, so as to keep an eye on me, and marched us through the door.

I looked around the small back alley, waiting for Mum to open the gate. Nothing really remarkable there at all. Holding on to a fidgeting, impatient Rosemary, Mum counted bricks. Tapping on the last one, she stepped back as the dark red bricks rearranged themselves into a doorway.

Mum pushed me into Diagon Alley, a bit rougher than necessary, really, and dragged Rosemary after her. I guess that even just a few minutes of speaking with Mrs. Hominy puts her off, because she certainly seemed in a terrible mood.

All through my robe fitting at Madame Malkin's, she grasped Rosemary's hand tightly, scowling, thin-lipped, and most obviously angry. Rosemary could, apparently, tell that Mum was upset, so she mercifully kept quiet.

I don't know why she got so upset over Mrs. Hominy, but she was upset. She cooled off considerably after we got into the pet shop. I guess nobody can look at all the adorable animals [although some aren't very cute] and stay too mad for long.

After a bit of browsing, and a bit of whining and wheedling on Rosemary's part, we left with a small snowy owl for me to take to school ["So as to keep in touch with your family," Mum said] and two kittens.

Our last cat died a couple months ago, but no one really cared, because he was ugly, old, and mean. Mum said we needed a new housecat, and asked me to pick out one that I liked, but then Rosemary asked, "Won't the kitty wouldn't be lonely without a kitty friend?" Mum tried to say that the kitty wouldn't be lonely, but Rosemary refused to listen. After a few minutes of Rosemary repeating, "I know, but won't the kitty be lonely when everyone's at school/we're on vacation/we go play outside?" Mum finally surrendered, I guess figuring that taking care of two cats would be easier than arguing with Rosemary. I would have to agree.

We walked out into Diagon Alley. I was carrying my owl's cage. She was ruffling her feathers and glaring at me indignantly with her oversized grey eyes. Hey, was it my fault that the stupid cage was too big for me to carry? No. But I'm still slapping myself over the wonderful choice of owl. Of course, I pick the one that has an attitude.

Mum was carrying the two cat baskets. Rosemary was whining that she wanted to carry one, too, but Mum knew better than that. Good thing, too, because after Rosemary gets tired of carrying something, she sets it down and forgets about it. I think we all remember a bit too well when Mum let her carry a basketful of rather expensive Transfiguration Aids. She had no dessert for a month after that episode.

After a couple minutes of pushing ourselves through the crowded streets, we reached Flourish and Blotts. I found it all rather boring, so I let Mum find all my schoolbooks. I kept myself busy be paging through an impressive volume of Greek History. The stories a bit more incredible than the Muggle Myths, but much more believable. For us, anyway. I suppose if a Muggle managed to come across that particular book, they'd say it was ridiculous nonsense, because Wizarding Greek Myths are actually history, not fictional stories, and are told as such.

I did find a couple good names for our new pets. It was a toss-up between Persephone, Helen, or Alcmene for my owl, but I settled on Helen, because it was much easier to say than the other two were. For the cats, I intended to name them Circe and Calypso, two ancient sorceress-goddesses, and thought that it would fit them best.

Rosemary, however, didn't approve of the names for the cats, and we got into an argument about it. Mum straightened it out by naming the black-and-silver one Demi, and the grey-and-blue one Blueberry.

After we left Flourish and Blotts, we went into the Broomstick Supply store, because Mum needed a new broom seat for Laurel. I looked at a few of the newer broomsticks, including the Nimbus 2000, which I guess was pretty neat. I really don't care for Quidditch, though, so nothing really interested me that much. I'd much rather watch than play.

There were a lot of kids ogling the Nimbus, so after I'd had my peek at it, I squeezed out to find Rosemary and Mum.

Well, it was easy enough. Mum was arguing, rather a bit louder than necessary, really, with a set-looking clerk.

"What do you mean, I have to pay for it? I most certainly will not!"

"Miss, if your kid broke that merchandise, you're going to have to pay for it," the clerk explained tersely, not attempting to feign politeness.

"That is NOT my child!" Mum hissed at the discourteous clerk. I peeked around Mum, who I had quietly approached from behind. Sure enough, the little girl whose hand was grasped by the nasty clerk, she was maybe five or six, was not Rosemary.

The clerk didn't even have the humility to look ashamed.

"Well, what was I to think? The little brat was standing by you."

Mum grabbed the little girl by the hand, yanking her away. "It was an accident. She's just a kid. There's no need for insults and names to be thrown." She crouched down until she was eye-level with the little girl, who was near tears. "Honey, do you know where your mum is? Are you lost?"

The little girl sniffled and shook her head. She pointed over to where a witch—her mother—stood over an older boy who was goggling over the Nimbus 2000.

"Well, maybe you ought to go back to your mummy. It's okay." The little girl sniffed again, pulled her sweater sleeve across her tear-streaked face, nodded, and scurried off towards her mother.

"Well." Mum straightened up and glared at the clerk. "I see that my business is apparently not welcome here, so I shall take it elsewhere," Mum said shortly. She marched out of the store, Rosemary obliviously skipping along behind her. Oh, my goodness, it was so embarrassing standing in that store. Everyone looked at me. I wanted to run out and yell at Mum never to embarrass me like that again. I walked out after them, tucking my head to my chest and shielding my face with my hand. Utterly horrified and embarrassed.

I was on the verge of tears throughout the rest of that hellish shopping trip. Mum got in a few more rows with salespeople, during which I hid outside. I didn't know if I was angry or upset. But I wanted to yell at Mum. A lot. And loud, too. Maybe even send her a howler, just so she'd never do that again.

Of course, I didn't yell at my mother, but I dreamed about how good it would feel all day. But, of course, that wasn't really possible, and when that realisation confronted me, I sulked. I sulked all through the Potions Shop and my wand fitting. Mr. Ollivander was creepy, and I was glad I found a good wand within the first five minutes.

After we were done with all the shopping, Mum bought us all a cone from Florean Fortescue's. My anger cooled off a bit after that, but then Rosemary accidentally dumped her entire chocolate and marshmallow ice cream cone down the front of my robes and into my lap. We came straight home after that. And I'm still a bit mad, even though it was an accident. I'm much less angry after writing in this, because earlier I was contemplating shoving Rosemary, in her dainty little lemon-yellow robes, into the muddy ditch in front of our house.

I'm thinking it was probably a good idea not to.

I probably won't be writing for a while, because we're going to visit Grammie tomorrow [kill me, please. I mean, I love Grammie, but her house is so unimaginably boring!], and then I'm off to Hogwarts! Very exciting and all, don't get me wrong, but I expect it'll be exhausting.

And I have come to the conclusion that Helen is an evil, evil, demon owl, bent on the idea driving me mad.

September 1st, 1992

Ok, so I lied a bit. I thought I wouldn't be writing for at least a week, with classes starting and all, but I didn't take into account the eternity-plus-an-hour train ride. Parvati, Padma, and Mandy are asleep. Well, Padma is asleep, Mandy and Parvati are just out in the clouds somewhere. And I'm bored straight out of my mind.

Perhaps I'd better explain who they are [I'm leaving out the trip to Grammie's on purpose, because it was dull and uneventful, just like always.] Parvati and Padma Patil are twins. They're both really pretty, with cream-and-coffee skin and dark eyes and shiny black hair. Parvati is a bit more outgoing than Padma, but they're both very nice. Padma is seems bit shy and very timid at first, but she can be—er—rather insane when she gets comfortable around you. Mandy Brocklehurst is very nice as well. She has very dark hair—at first I thought it was black—but when the light hits it right, you can tell it's not black, but a very dark, deep red, almost like red wine or blood. She has grey eyes and a pale complexion, and looks a bit Gothic. She isn't, though. Well, at least she doesn't dress anything like it if she is, which I doubt. When she got on the train and came into my compartment, she was wearing electric blue robes with a vivid, fluorescent green tank top and jeans underneath. She had artfully left her robes hang open so you could see. I thought it was pretty cool.

She was very upbeat and chatty, and in no time was prattling on about which House she was hoping for (Ravenclaw), how unfair it was that broomsticks went against school code, how First Years should at least be allowed to try out for House teams, and how the uniforms were a bit drab. It wasn't very hard to keep up, because, given the opportunity, I can chatter and talk quick as anyone.

Parvati and Padma came in a bit later, right before the train left the station. They were breathing heavily and dragging their trunks behind them.

"This…seat (huff) taken?" Parvati asked, gasping for breath, leaning over forward with her hands on her knees. Taking another great breath, she stood upright and flipped her long rope of hair over her shoulder.

"Sorry about that," she apologised, shaking her head. "My mum thought we'd be too early if we left on time, so we had to run to catch the train. She still doesn't quite understand Muggle traffic." She smiled, revealing straight white teeth. "Oh, I'm Parvati Patil, by the way, and this is my twin sister, Padma."

Padma smiled vaguely, waved, and voiced a timid hello.

"I'm Lavender Brown." I self-consciously brushed some hair that had fallen out of my braided pigtails aside. "It's nice to meet you." I smiled, hoping I didn't look or sound too stupid.

"And I'm Mandy Brocklehurst," Mandy popped in, smiling idiotically.

"Nice to meet you!" Parvati announced cheerfully. She set down a small purple purse by the seat next to me and—

Sorry. Someone came into the compartment. And I found that instead of an owl in my cage, there's a cat. Demi, our new black-and-silver kitten is in it, instead of Helen. And I have no doubts on who switched them. Give you one guess. Of course that would be Rosemary. So now I'm owl-less [but Rosemary'll get in trouble, so it's worth it. And I didn't like Helen much anyway.]

Oh, and about the visitor. She was kind of rude. And mean, too. She just flung open the compartment door and announced, "Have any of you seen a toad hopping around anyplace? Neville Longbottom's misplaced one and we can't find it anywhere." She talked pretty quickly, but I could have gone faster. But, I don't know, she seemed a bit well, snippish. As if this were such a bother to her to come in here. That we ought to have just read her mind while she was still down the corridor, appeared out in the corridor and shouted, "There's no toad in here!" so as to save her time. And perhaps we ought to cover our heads with pillowcases so she doesn't have to look at us either! When she saw me writing, she bustled over and peeked into this diary before I could put it away.

"Oh, is that a diary? I keep one too," she said, peering over my words.

"Yeah. This is my first. I just got it a few days ago. A birthday gift, from my Mum's friend." I smiled, trying to be friendly. I closed the book and shoved it into my book pack. Maybe first impressions weren't everything.

"Oh, well I've been keeping one ever since I was six. When I first learned to read and write, my Mum got me one for a present. I write in mine every single day."

Okay, was it just me, or did she seem to be desperate to outdo me at anything? It's just a diary, not a competition!

Just then, a squat, round boy peeped in from behind the door.

"He-Hermione? Is my toad in here? Or should I keep looking?"

"No, Neville. Why don't you go check the baggage compartment? And why don't you," she pointed to me, and indicated that I should get up, "go and help him."

"Oh, uh, okay…" I said vaguely. At the same time I was wondering, since when was I included into this goose hunt? Sure, I would have volunteered to help, but that girl—Hermione, I guess her name is—just ordered me. Didn't even bother asking my name, just "Hey, you! Help him. I'm far too important and busy to go to the baggage compartment!"

I got up and followed Neville, I guess it is, to the front of the train. Pulling open the door, I walked into the dark, musty smelling train car. Lots of creepy, glowing eyes peered at me from the dim, windowless compartment. Everybody's pets, apparently.

"Well, just look around a bit. Trevor likes to hide in corners. Oh, and thanks for helping me," Neville said, nervously peering around the corners.

I smiled, glad that someone appreciated my efforts.

"No problem," I said, poking through a pile of luggage. Now, secretly, I felt that this was the last place the toad would be. Well, it probably was here at some time, but with all the cats and owls about, it wasn't here for long.

Sure enough, we searched for about a half an hour, and we found nothing. I was sneezing a lot from the dust.

I figured that while I was there I might as well check on Helen, since I had seen her cage sitting on top of a pile.

But when I pulled up the black cover we had used while walking through the muggle part of the train station, Helen wasn't there. Demi, my personal favourite kitten, was sitting in the bottom of the cage, mewing pitifully.

"Oh, no, Demi!" I whispered under my breath. But I'd put Helen in there last night! And then I let Rosemary play with her this morning, right before we left, and—and then I left the room! I was mentally kicking myself. Why had I not bothered to check!?

Now that I think about it, I like Demi much better, and Mum'll send Helen with post tomorrow anyway, so I'll get both, and Rosemary will get into trouble! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Well, after I discovered the pet-switch, me and Neville left the baggage compartment, me carrying Demi, and him sadly empty-handed. He thanked me in the corridor, and then went on, opening doors and asking after a toad.

The snack-cart witch came by right after I got in the compartment, so the four of us all pitched in to buy a ton of stuff to share. My favourite sweet is the gum. It fills the room up with such pretty blue and purple bubbles, and it tastes like peppermint, one of my favourite flavours.

Since then, mostly we've been just chatting idly, the topics varying from school to pets [they all loved Demi, and she quite enjoyed the attention] to our families.

Parvati and Padma are purebloods, like me. Mandy's half-and-half. Her mum [who she lives with; her parents are divorced] is a witch, but her dad's a muggle. Mandy says he never adjusted to his wife and daughter being witches, so they divorced, and she hasn't seen him since she was five.

None of us care about families or blood, so we don't hold prejudice against that kind of thing.

I have a feeling it may be a while till we get to school. And it just occurred to me that I've never thought about my House preference. Not once! But after hearing it all, I think perhaps that I'd like to be in Gryffindor, but really, I don't see myself as terribly brave. More likely I'll be a Ravenclaw, or maybe a Slytherin. I do like to have my way a lot, and I want to be a great, powerful witch someday. Slytherin just can't be as bad as all that I've heard, anyway. But really, my first pick would have to be Gryffindor.

I think I'm going to cut out for a while, explore the train, meet some new people. Parvati said she'd come if I went, and I'm terrifically bored, so I think now is a good time.

A bit later, maybe an hour or two, still September 1st

You'll never guess what I've heard from some other kids! Harry Potter, THE Harry Potter, is on the train! And he's going to be in my year! In my classes! Maybe even in my HOUSE!

We heard this first from a couple of second year Gryffindors in the compartment next to ours, and then two Third Year girls. One was a Ravenclaw and the other girl was either Gryffindor or Slytherin. I can't really remember. All I remember is that they were nice.

I wanted to go find his compartment and talk to him, but when we got there, I saw that Hermione girl go in. And I wasn't about to stay in the same room with her, even if it were to meet…someone very important.

Oh, THANK GOD! There was just an announcement. We'll be in Hogsmeade station in fifteen minutes! I better go change my robes! I can't wait!

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