Through the Pages of Time: Joey’s Hogwarts Tale

Joey stood on Platform 9¾, staring at the steaming scarlet locomotive before her. The Hogwarts Express loomed ahead, but she still hadn't quite recovered from the shock.

"Dear, you must write to your mother when you get to school," her mother, Linda, reminded her gently.

"I know, Mom."

Beside her, her older brother Ryan grinned. "Don't cry, Joey. You'll get to go to Hogwarts next year too."

The girl in question—Emma, known as Joey—blinked at them, her lips pressed together in frustration. Cry? She wasn't crying because she was sad about school. She was crying because she had just been forcibly relocated from America to England!

Born into an American wizarding family, she had spent ten blissful years believing that Voldemort had absolutely nothing to do with her. She had been safe. Content. And now, suddenly, she was in British.

Eyes shimmering with barely suppressed emotion, Joey turned to her mother and asked, "Mom, can I go back to America?"

"Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in the world, Emma," Ryan said, ruffling her curls.

"Don't touch my head, Ryan!" she snapped, shaking him off with an irritated frown. "Dad always said Ilvermorny is the best!"

"Oh, really?" Ryan smirked. "Then don't forget to tell him that when he gets off work."

Linda chuckled softly. "And Joey, be polite to your brother."

Joey huffed, crossing her arms. Sorry, Dad. She hadn't meant to throw him under the bus, but it was too late now.

Her father, Luther Forrest, was an American Auror—a formidable one at that. Joey had lived a perfectly peaceful life in the States, confident that she would never be tangled in Harry Potter's story. But then, a few months ago, an owl had crashed straight into her forehead, dropping an envelope with a very British seal.

That was when her nightmare had begun.

Why on earth was she going to Hogwarts?!

She had spent a good portion of that summer panicking. She wasn't supposed to be part of the main story! She should have been preparing for Ilvermorny, learning magic in a relatively peaceful setting. If she had known she was going to Hogwarts, she would have spent the past ten years training like a proper protagonist—learning spells, memorizing potions, anything to survive!

Joey still remembered the heated argument that followed the arrival of her Hogwarts letter.

"Aren't we American wizards? Why are we going to England?!" she had demanded.

Her father had laughed, completely unbothered by her distress. "Because, sweetheart, your mother's only condition for marrying me was that our future child would attend Hogwarts."

He had even looked a little bashful as he admitted, "You know, I had to beat out quite a few suitors to win her over."

Was this really the time to boast about your romantic conquests?! Joey had wanted to scream. It didn't help that her father had been fresh off an Auror mission at the time, his robes still stained with blood. It made the whole love story sound a bit more… sinister.

Linda had simply smiled and linked arms with her husband, thoroughly unbothered by Joey's distress.

That was when Joey realized she had never stood a chance in this argument.

And so, they had moved to a quiet hillside in England. Her father had transferred to the U.S. Department of Magical Communication in Britain, though he still retained his Auror status. Her mother had easily returned to her old position as a healer at St. Mungo's.

And Joey?

She was doomed to the Hogwarts experience.

A sudden jolt interrupted her thoughts, and before she knew what was happening, she was tumbling forward—straight onto the train tracks.

"JOEY!"

Linda's hand shot out, grabbing Joey by the collar just in time. Ryan caught her arm and hauled her back onto the platform.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!"

A flustered, plump woman was holding onto a struggling red-haired boy, her face torn between concern and exasperation.

"For Merlin's sake, FRED! STOP MOVING! And GEORGE, don't you dare try to stuff your brother into the suitcase!"

Joey, still dazed from her near-death experience, looked up. The boy who had crashed into her turned to apologize.

"I'm really sorry, ma'am," he said, though his face twisted mischievously the moment he looked at the woman holding him captive.

Joey squinted. Twins.

She wasn't an expert in all things Hogwarts, but she had a pretty good idea of who these troublemakers were.

Nearby, another red-haired boy—slightly younger—stared up at them, looking scandalized. "RON likes it!" he blurted.

"He does NOT like it!"

A third redhead—a tall, older boy—sighed, folding his arms. "Bill, if you make another joke, I'll steal your owl."

Molly Weasley, as Joey now realized, was busy smacking each of the red-headed boys over the head.

It was a chaotic but strangely comforting scene.

Then, suddenly—

"Oh! Linda? Is that you?!"

The plump woman gasped, her expression lighting up as she grabbed Linda by the shoulders. "It's been years! We all thought you'd been taken by some foreigner and hidden away!" She then turned her attention to Joey, eyes welling up. "And this must be your child! Oh, you poor dear, you must have suffered so much—"

…Okay, it wasn't just her who thought that.

Joey nodded solemnly, giving her mother a knowing look.

Linda's grip on her wand tightened threateningly, and Joey quickly covered her mouth before she said something that would get her hexed.

A short while later, the group had finally calmed down, and Fred—who had introduced himself properly this time—turned to Joey with a grin.

"Want a candy?" he offered, pulling out a bright green sweet.

Joey took it, then promptly handed it to Ryan. "Thanks, but I'm losing a tooth. My brother can have it instead."

Ryan unwrapped the candy and popped it into his mouth.

He had just enough time to say, "It doesn't taste like—" before his entire head transformed into a giant rainbow-colored bubble.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

The Weasley twins howled with laughter, slapping their knees. Even Joey couldn't hold back her laughter—her usually serious brother now looked like a walking soap bubble.

Fred grinned. "It's a mix of Muggle Rainbow Bubble Gum and our own enchanted Bubble Super Gum!"

"Genius," Ryan said, once his head had returned to normal.

"Don't encourage them!" Molly scolded, though her stern tone softened when she saw her son's delighted face.

As chaos continued around her, Joey could only grin. The Weasley twins were famous pranksters, and she had no intention of underestimating them.

This school year was already shaping up to be… interesting.

That evening, the families returned to the Burrow. Joey took one look at the house and fell in love.

"This place is amazing!" she breathed.

Ron blushed. "We're poor," he mumbled.

"Don't be silly! This is exactly how wizards should live!" Joey spun around, admiring the magical clock and the self-washing dishes.

Her mother, however, was less impressed.

"Speaking of magic," Linda said coolly, "Joey, would you care to explain why your father's shaving cream turned pink last week?"

Fred and George turned to Joey, grinning.

"You did that?"

Joey smirked. "That was nothing."

"Oh, we're going to get along just fine."

And just like that, Joey knew—this was only the beginning of the madness.