Julia was overexcited. The long-awaited day of finally going to Hogwarts had come! She, her parents, and her sister, Orla, had all come to see her off. After a little argument between her parents about using magic to come, they had arrived to King's Cross at last. They walked, or in Julia's case bounced, over to the renowned barrier between the muggle and wizarding world, Julia felt curious, after all, despite the lack of magic, the muggle world is as fascinating as ever. She and her family found the barrier, and her mum motioned for her to go, but when Julia saw it, she froze. Suddenly she felt a little scared and nervous. What if she makes no friends? What if she fails her classes? And most importantly, could she live without her family? The doubts flooded her brain, and she found herself backing away, until Julia felt someone take her hand and say "Julia?". The voice was soft, and gentle, so when she turned around, the last person she expected to see was Orla. Her sister's face was twisted in concern, "Are you okay?". The question was so genuine, Julia felt a pang of guilt, she looked down, and shrugged to answer Orla's question. "It'll be okay. I know its hard, but this will be a decision you'll never regret", said a new voice, her mum's. Julia thought for a moment, then smiled, nodded and said, "I'm going to Hogwarts no matter what.", the looked at the barrier and ran straight towards it.

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Julia loved the barrier. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. At first she thought she would bump into it, but took her parents advice and didn't slow down, once she was in it, Julia felt as though for that one second, her body and her soul were separated, as if she was a ghost. After Julia and her mother, came Orla, and her father, judging by their expressions she could see Orla enjoyed it, and that her parents were feeling a lot of nostalgia, probably of their first day at Hogwarts. They walked towards the crowd, and Julia soaked in the feeling, of other witches and wizard, like her. Most of them were wearing muggle clothing, as to blend in with the muggles in King's Cross, but after looking at actual muggles, Julia could only imagine how eccentric wizarding folks looked like to muggles. She checked her watch

10:56

"Six minutes until I escape you all, and go to Hogwarts!" she joked.
"Bit too eager to leave us, no? I think we should kidnap her, and never let her away from us", her mum joked back, smiling.
Orla laughed, and said"Good idea! Can you clean my room for me?"
"Hey! Anyway, you must write, at least once a week or i'll send an owl with a dungbomb!" Julia threatened
They all laughed. Then the whistle blew, it was time for Julia's journey to start. She hugged everyone in turn, made them promise to write, picked up her suitcase and walked towards the train, for a new chapter of her life to begin.

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She dragged her suitcase over to the train, thinking about all the wonderful books in there which she would soon read. Just by taking a glimpse at the books, Julia knew that, she was going to love all the classes at Hogwarts. She kept moving, hoping to find an empty, or at least almost empty, cabin for her. Julia was carrying one of her favorite books, and she had plans to read it, secretly she hoped to find a friend to, what is the point of doing well if you are completely lonely? Julia loved to have friends, but making them? That was a whole different story. Finally she found a cabin with one girl inside, she looked like a first year too Julia, and she was reading a book, so that immediately had Julia's hopes up. Maybe she would make a friend after all. She slid open the glass door, seeing the girl properly. She had a pale skin tone, dark brown, doe shaped eyes. A cute, button nose, and she had black, wavy hair which reached till her shoulders. She looked friendly, and kind to Julia. The girl hadn't noticed her yet so Julia decided to introduce herself. Whats the harm? Maybe she would get a friend. She put her trunk down and said "Hello! I'm Julia, Julia Evans", Julia said, hoping she and the girl would become friends.

Julia knew, that she and the girl, whose name was Lily, were going to be great friends. As soon as Julia introduced herself, Lily smiled and said "I am Lily Clarke. Take a seat, please.", she motioned towards a seat opposite hers, and Julia sat down, dragging her trunk along. As she took her seat Julia looked at Lily's book, feeling curious. It was called Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed, Julia had read through a few pages before, as it was in their list for Hogwarts, and had found it really good. Was Lily too, like Julia, a book lover? She heard the whistle blow, and then they were off, at last, to Hogwarts! Feeling elated, she quickly slid towards the window and looked out, she saw Orla and her parents waving, she opened the window looked out, and shouted over the thousands of voices, towards her family, "Bye! You better write, and Orla, don't even think about going in my room!", she saw her parents laugh, and her sister's face fall, Julia stuck her tongue out, and waved, until the train moved, and the station became a tiny speck.

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Julia closed the window, then slid back into her original seat, then she realized how she must have sounded while shouting out the window and felt a little self-conscious, Julia smiled sheepishly, and said "Sorry about that, wanted to say bye. Anyway, you said something?" "Do you love books? You seem interested.". Julia could have laughed. Like books? She adored them. Everywhere she went, she was always carrying some book. Currently she was reading Hogwarts: A History, it was the best, and the most addictive book Julia had ever read. She realized Lily would be waiting for an answer, so she said "I more than adore books, they were probably the best thing invented in history", she laughed. "At the moment i'm reading Hogwarts: A History, what about you? You also seem interested, do you like books?", she asked, getting a feeling this was going to be a great friendship.

Julia listened as Lily spoke, slowly feeling enthralled. This girl was so much like her. They both loved books, and she seemed really kind, and Julia was sure that if she got the chance to be friends with Lily, she wouldn't hesitate. She would be delighted to have such a wonderful friend. But the question that kept circling her mind was, would Lily want to be friends with her? Julia wasn't the ideal person to befriend. People often thought she was very weird. She knew the accusations were false, and they came from only a few people, but it still hurt when she heard them. It hurt to know that people thought she was abnormal, that she was unkind, or a... freak. She had told this to her mother once, and she had told Julia "No matter what people say, the people who matter will never say anything. As muggles say 'Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind' Always remember that" Up until then Julia had alway thought of muggles as dumb or annoying, then she realized they're not as bad as some people make them look. In fact, Julia thought the wizarding world could learn a lot from the muggles but who was she to say that? She turned her mind back to Lily and listened to what she was saying, deciding it didn't matter if she and Lily became friends, at least she wasn't alone now.

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The train kept moving with a nice, repetitive chuf, chuf, chuf. Julia had always liked trains. They way the looked, the way the moved, the sound the made, everything. She loved travelling on trains despite only doing it twice before through muggle means. Julia looked out the window then back, just as Lily chuckled and said, "Been reading books since the day I could read. I love them, because you can actually feel yourself inside them." Julia completely agreed. She had always been happy about liking books. Reading was something that bound most people together, if not all. Almost everyone liked them. She was still pondering over this, when she just caught Lily ask "Wanna be friends?". At first Julia thought she heard wrong. Could it really be? The she looked up and saw the hope in Lily's eyes. She thought for a moment and said, "Yes! I'd love to" Julia smiled, maybe she was making a friend after all.