ect_deux @ 2007-08-06T21:42:00

2007-08-07T01:45:06Z

Receiving a letter from a “magical” school when you’re eleven years old and have been told magic doesn’t exist is weird enough. The people you encounter in this “wizarding world”? They’re even weirder. As if the introduction to this world wasn’t hard enough on me, I had to go through the “portal” to Diagon Alley and communicate with these odd people. Why had my parents sent me to England to do this on my own? I had no idea.

First stop was, of course, the book store. Looking up at the “Flourish and Blotts” sign, I walked in. Not only was this place the perfect book store, but also, the perfect place to make a fort. Walking up to the books on werewolves, there was a pile of books, and a sign taped on them, reading “Touch my fort and die.” Raising an eyebrow, I looked in. The girl looked up, only for a second, and then growled at me to go away. Something tells me I’m going to be making friends with this girl at school. I walked away, grabbing the books I’d need for school, then walking out of the store.

Walking into the alley, I had to duck before I gained a spork to the eye. I looked to see where the flying fork/spoon hybrid was coming from. There was a girl, down the end of the alley, with a case of sporks and a bag full of golf clubs. What the hell do people feed their kids in this world, rusty nails and crazy pills? Like the other girl, I had an odd feeling we’d meet again.

After looking for the Owl Emporium for over an hour, I had to face the truth: I was lost. I ended up on the stairs of Gringotts, whatever that may be. I decided to give up and just bury my head in hands. At that point, I just wanted to go home. I could barely find my way out of a paper bag, let alone around this place I’ve never been, around people I’ve never met, and with money I don’t even know how to spend.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Jumping up and squealing, I turned around to see who dared scare the shit out of me. Right as I was going to spurt something stupid out, I looked up. I have to say, I was not disappointed with what I saw. Hello Mr. Beautiful.

“Do you need some help?” a soft Scottish accent spoke.

“I need you in my pants…” I thought to myself. Shaking my thoughts away, I looked up at him, nodding.

He took my hand as I suppressed a squeal. He took the list from my hands and read it over. “You’re a first year I see… I’m in fifth. First, you’ll want to get to the Owl Emporium, that’s right down here…” he said, walking me over.

“Do I get to know your name? Or are you just going to keep dragging me around this alley with all these freaks?”

“Oh, right…” he said, turning toward me and holding out his hand. “I’m Oliver Wood…”

I giggled and shook his hand.

“And you are…”

“In love…” I gasped out.

“Excuse me?”

I cleared my throat, embarrassed. “Jennifer, call me that, I’ll kill you.”

“Okay… what can I call you without getting killed?”

I thought for a moment. “Angel. No last name, no middle name, just call me Angel.”

He smiled. “I think I can handle doing that.”

“That’s good, because you won’t be calling me anything else.”

He smiled again as he walked me into the Emporium. “If you’re a first year, you’ll want to take an owl with you. That way you can communicate with people outside of Hogwarts. I’d suggest an owl that won’t be easily detected, in case the Ministry starts tracking owls. Understand?”

“You lost me after ‘if you’re a first year’.”

He picked up a cage containing a tawny owl. “If you’re getting an owl, this one would be best.”

I handed him my money. “Here, I don’t know how to work this money.”

He set them down on a table. “This golden one is a galleon. It’s worth the most. It’s equal to 492 knuts, those are the little bronze ones. Consider galleons the Muggle dollar.”

“One question… what the heckle is a Muggle?”

“Muggle is just a name for someone who’s non-magic.”

“Right… continue.”

“So this next one is a silver sickle; there are 29 Knuts to a sickle, and 17 sickles to a galleon. Are you with me so far?”

I nodded. “Possibly.”

He continued. “And this small bronze one is the Knut, it’s worth the least.”

“I’ve got it. Now go spend it for me.”

He smiled and went up to pay for my owl. When he walked back, I looked at him. “So you’re fifth year. That would make you…”

He looked at me. “You mean my age? That would make me 15.”

I smiled. “Good enough for me.”

He picked up my list and crossed off the owl, grabbed my hand, and dragged me back out to the alley.

After hours and hours of shopping, he helped me get my stuff up to my room in the Leaky Cauldron. He raised an eyebrow.

“You’re staying here, all alone?”

I nodded. “As soon as I got my letter, my parents got me a plane ticket to England.”

“That kind of sucks a bit.”

I shrugged. “That’s life. People always leave.”

“If you need anything, my parents and I are a couple rooms down.”

“Thanks for helping me out today… I really appreciate it.”

He smirked. “It was no trouble at all.” He kissed my cheek and walked out.

I waited until he was far down the hall, closed my door, and squealed like a little girl. He wasn’t a boyfriend, hell, he wasn’t really a friend. But damn was he hot.

Over the next couple weeks, I took to looking around the Leaky Cauldron, seeing what was going on in the wizarding world. I even started reading the newspaper. I was starting to wonder who this “Harry Potter” kid was, and why he was such a big deal, so I decided to ask my one source of everything magic: Oliver.

I walked down to his room and knocked. After being invited in, I opened the door and sat on the couch.

“What brings you down here?”

“I have a question. What the heck is a Harry Potter, and why is he such a big deal? I mean, there are a lot of wizards and witches my age, why is he special?”

“Wait… your parents sent you here and didn’t bother to tell you about Harry Potter?”
“My parents are… mingles?”

“You mean Muggle.”

“Yeah, whatever you say. Now, tell me who Harry Potter is.”

He sat down beside me. “You know that not all wizards and witches are good, right?”

“Um… how can I put this? Oh wait, DUH.”

He sighed. “There’s one wizard, worse than the worst. He despised everyone and everything good. He was power hungry, and would kill without mercy.”

“Okay… where’s this going?”

“I’m getting there…” he cleared his throat. “One day, he went after the Potter family. He killed Lily and James, his parents, without even thinking twice about it. He went to kill him, and he couldn’t. He just disappeared.”

“How could he not kill a baby?”

He shrugged. “He’s the only person to ever survive the killing curse, and nobody knows how he’d done it.”

“So he’s famous for not being dead.”

“Basically.”

I stretched. “So, is this “bad wizard” gone?”

“We think so. There hasn’t been any activity from him for years, ever since that night.”

“Great, so when do we start school?”

He checked the calendar. “September first… so that’s next week.”

I nodded. “Sounds fun, I’m going for a walk.”

“Need help getting around? If so I could walk you to the stores.”

I smiled. “Mr. Wood, is this your way of flirting with me? If so, it may be working on me.”

He shrugged. “That’s for you to find out, isn’t it?”

I walked down to Diagon Alley and looked around. He quickly pulled on his jacket and followed.

“So where can I get some ice cream or something around here?”

He pointed to the ice cream shop right down the street.

“Right…” I said, walking in. With a quick look at the menu, I raised an eyebrow. “Bertie Botts Bean Cream Surprise… Jelly Slug Sundae… Chocolate Frog Crunch… haven’t you people ever heard of VANILLA?”

He smiled. “No one ever has the balls to order the Bertie Botts Bean Cream Surprise. You never know what you’re going to eat…”

I walked up to the counter. “One Bertie Botts Bean Cream Surprise… add some extra surprise to that.”

The worker nodded and handed me the ice cream as I paid him.

“What are you doing?” Oliver asked, taking one look at the sundae. “That’s just nasty.”

“I am eating this. And YOU are joining me.” I said, sitting at the table and handing him a spoon.

He gulped and poked around as I put some on my spoon and ate.

“Not bad. There’s some cherries, some chocolate, some milk…” I then gagged. “And booger, and vomit… and something I can’t quite identify.”

Oliver smirked. “And that is why no one has the balls to try it.” He said, taking some whipped cream off the top and eating it.

“Wimp…” I muttered, eating another scoop. I looked around the ice cream parlor, and a lot of people were giving me weird looks.

“What’s with the stare fest?”

“Because no one ever makes it through the sundae without gagging, it’s a common fact.”

I rolled my eyes as I continued eating. After I’d finished, I set my spoon down and took a drink. Looking around, I realized everyone was still staring.

“What, you people can do the impossible, but you can’t handle a Muggle born beating you at eating ice cream?”

They looked back down at their own ice cream as Oliver looked over at me.

“Do I have ice cream on my cheek or something?”

He smiled and nodded.

“Get it for me?” I said, handing him a napkin.

Oddly enough, he didn’t use the napkin. He ended up cleaning it off… with his lips. I could get used to this magical world.

Author's Note: Yes, I've just introduced myself. You don't like it, you'll just have to deal with it. The train ride's coming up. Come on, do you really think i'll exclude you THAT long?!

Boarding the Hogwarts Express was nothing near normal. When Oliver had taken me to the station, he ended up abandoning me and leaving me there to look like an idiot. Looking down at my ticket, I saw something very off. The train was leaving from Platform 9 ¾ , which we all know is impossible.

I walked between the platforms of 9 and 10, possibly looking for it. All I saw were brick walls and a lot of people giving me odd looks. Who could blame them? I was the idiotic girl pushing an owl, a trunk, and a shit load of books. I sighed, getting ready to turn around and get a plane ticket home.

Then I saw that girl from Diagon Alley. Not the one that formed the book fort, the insane one who nearly took my eye out with a spork. She looked ready to run into a wall.

“What are you doing?” I asked, pushing my cart over.

“I’m getting on the platform. Now it’s my turn. What’s your favorite position?”

“What?”

“Do you want me to show you how you get on or not?”

I nodded as she ran toward the wall. I raised my eyebrow and followed. Instead of hitting the wall, we went right through it. And I ended up ramming my cart into a set of redheads.

“Oi! What was that about?!”

I bit my lip. “Sorry! I couldn’t control the trolley. I didn’t mean to do it. Are you alright?”

“Way to go, George. You’re scaring the first years before we even get to school!” He looked over to me. “I’m sorry; my brother’s an insufferable git who didn’t move his ass out of the way…”

I chewed on my lip and nodded, avoiding a squeal.

“I’m Fred by the way… Fred Weasley… and my git of a brother is George.”

George looked over at me and glared. I smiled weakly.

“And judging by the silence and shit load of luggage, I take it you’re a first year?”

Before I could answer, the girl introduced herself.

“I am Ducky, hear me roar!”

I raised an eyebrow as Fred looked at me.

“And you are?”

“Oh… sorry.” I muttered, holding out my hand. “Angel…”

“Yeah right…” George mumbled under his breath, getting the last of his things on the trolley.

“You’ll hear me say this many times… ignore him. I’m the better twin.”

I nodded as I got on the train.

“If you need anything, I’m in Gryffindor… you can find me in the common room.”

At that, he disappeared down the hall and got himself into a cart.

I sighed as I walked down. All of them were full or near full, except one of them. And to my luck, it was Ms. Book Fort. Reluctantly, I went in and sat down. She looked up at me for a minute.

“You took the roof of my book fort.”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to. I was just trying to get my shopping done…”

She giggled, and then snorted, holding out her hand. “Magik…”

I smiled weakly. “Angel…”

She plopped on the seat next to me. “You’re a Muggle born…”

“Is it that obvious?”

She nodded. “The Muggle born are always the ones who are the most scared of everything.”

“What’s a Gryffindor?” I asked.

She giggled as Ducky walked in.

“Ducky, she doesn’t know what a Gryffindor is!”

Ducky giggled uncontrollably.

“What?” I asked, looking around. “Is it something bad?”

Magik rolled her eyes. “There are four houses at Hogwarts. They’re Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff.”

“So what does each one mean?”

Ducky sighed. “Gryffindor is for the brave people, the people who really have balls and guts.”

“I’ve got balls…”

Magik continued. “Ravenclaw is for the really smart and sarcastic people, who keep everything to themselves.”

“I’m a smart hermit…”

Ducky spoke again. “Slytherin is for the cunning and sneaky people, who can weasel their way out of any situation and get what they want.”

“I’m spoiled…”

Magik finished. “And Hufflepuff is for the just and loyal, the people who have sticks up their asses.”

“I’m loyal…”

Ducky smirked. “I guess you don’t stand a chance at the sorting ceremony… They take your brain out, and then poke around to find out where you belong.”

I squeaked. “Is that legal?!”

They started cracking up. “You’ll see…” they said in unison.

I gulped as two boys entered the cart. One of them was highly attractive, dark hair and amazing grey eyes. The other had light brown hair, oddly enough with some grey. He had scratches on his face and sat beside Magik.

“We were just telling the Muggle girl about the sorting ceremony, Sirius…” Magik spoke up.

“Oh, you mean taking your brain out? It’s scary, isn’t it?” He said, looking at me.

I squeaked as the other boy facepalmed.

“Don’t scare the new kids, Magik.” He started, and then looked at me. “I’m Remus John Lupin, avoid these dunderheads.”

“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?” Sirius spoke up.

“I think he called you a dunderhead…” Ducky told him.

Remus rolled his eyes. “The sorting is nothing. They put a hat on your head and it tells you where you belong.”

I glared at Magik and Ducky, respectively, as Remus took out a chocolate bar and started eating it.

“It was just a joke.” Magik spoke up.

“Not a very funny one.” Remus commented, sticking the chocolate bar back in his pocket.

I got to my feet and walked out to the hallway, closing the door behind me. Walking down the shaky hall, I sighed, checking each cart for a familiar face, but I didn’t find them anywhere. I did, however, meet a prick.

He walked out of his cart right after I’d walked by. With his blonde hair hanging over his face, he pulled on the back on my robes. I sighed, turning around.

“You must be new…” he smirked, holding out a hand. “Draco Malfoy. And you are?”

I looked down at his hand, smirking back. “Me? I’m four words. Not interested in you.”

He glared at me. “You better watch your back at this school. You’ll want to make friends, not enemies.”

“When I do make friends, I’d rather make friends with people who spend more time being decent than worrying about their hair care products.” I snapped, turning away.

Just like I’d judged him to be, he was a prick, and tripped me, laughed, and ran away. I sighed, getting back to my feet and dusting off my robes.

“You okay?” someone asked, helping me up.

I sighed. “Just peachy… I’ve spent my way to my new school getting tripped, tricked, and abandoned.” I looked up to see who had helped me. “I’m sorry…” I said, holding out my hand. “Thank you, my name’s Angel.”

He quickly shook my hand. “Mikey, I’m a second year Ravenclaw. And you are?”

“First year, in case it wasn’t obvious…”

He smirked. “I best get going…” he said, going into a nearby cart.

I looked around again. I saw many people in carts, with signs posted up, including ‘First Years at the Disco’, ‘Davey and Jade’, ‘My Chemical Hogwarts’, and many others. I walked to an empty cart and lay down across the seat. I looked up as the door opened.

“Can I help you?”

“Sorry for leaving you back there… it was just…”

“You didn’t want your friends to see you with a first year. I get it. It’s the whole ‘popularity’ thing. Third grade all over again.”

He sighed. “It wasn’t that…”

I sat up in my seat. “Then what was it? I’m eleven, I’m not retarded.”

He kissed my forehead. “I’ll talk to you when we get there. I promise.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course you will. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to converse with other kids my age, because apparently, I’m not good enough for you and your fifth year friends.” At that, I got up and walked back down to Magik and Ducky. Magik was busy turning Remus blue, while Ducky was flipping through a magazine.

I plopped down in my seat, sighing. Ducky looked over at me.

“I know that sigh, boy trouble.”

Remus raised an eyebrow, mumbling “Boy trouble, she’s only eleven!”

Magik shut him up in her own way as I played with my bangs. “Forget it…” I sighed out, twirling my hair around my finger.

Author's Note Two: Remus Blue. That didn't take long.

When the train finally stopped, Magik didn’t bother to put her book down. She walked right off the step, and nearly splattered on her face. She grabbed the tie of another first year, who I recognized from the ‘Davey and Jade” cart. After a squeal, the other boy from the cart reached to catch the boy, and caught her in the process. They quickly stood up.

As one boy fixed his tie, the other helped Magik up. He was wearing pink and silver eye shadow, possibly to match the other boy’s pink tie.

“Davey…” the eye shadow owner said, holding out his hand.

Magik smiled and looked over at the other boy, ignoring the hand. “And who might you be?”

“Jade Puget… first year.”

She giggled. “I could get used to first year.”

I rolled my eyes as we started boarding the boats. I got in one with Magik, Ducky, Sirius, and Remus. I looked across at the other first years. One boy, wearing a heavy amount of eyeliner, tripped on his way in, falling overboard. When someone I suspected his friend tried to help him out, he pulled him in as well, soaking them both head to toe.

“Pete, your eyeliner’s running!” one of the First Years at the Disco yelled.

Pete squealed, climbed in the boat, and took a mirror out of his pocket, frantically fixing his makeup.

The rest of the trip across the lake went smoothly, and we stood on the stairs outside the Great Hall. Pat and Pete were huddled up in a giant towel, shivering. I saw Malfoy again, and to tell the truth, I wanted to push him off and watch him go splat. I sat on the stairs until we were told to get up and go into the hall.

Walking in, I couldn’t help but drop my jaw. This place was huge, and I could swear, it was cloudy in there. I looked around the tables: one draped in blue/bronze, one draped in scarlet/gold, one draped in silver/green, and one draped in yellow/black. I felt bad for them; they had no sparkle to them.

Then we stopped in front of a stool, on top of which a shaggy hat was placed. The woman who identified herself as “Professor McGonagall” picked up the hat, then a list.

“Melyssa Andersen…”

“It is MAGIK, god damnit!” she screamed, taking her seat at the stool and shoving the hat on her head. “You put me in Slytherin, I’ll cut you with my book fort.”

“Hm, perhaps in Ravenclaw…”

She growled under her breath, glaring up at the hat.

“GRYFFINDOR!” it shouted. She squealed and ran over to the Gryffindor table, plopping down beside one of the Weasleys.

I bit my lip and looked around, thinking to myself. “Andersen… after A is B… which means next is…”

“Jennifer Marie Bartlett…”

I bit my lip and walked up to the stool. I looked around. Oliver was whispering to one of his friends, and Magik was looking at me like a hawk. I sighed as the hat was placed on my head.

“Very brave I see… you’ve got a good mind to you… very cunning… and loyal as can be. Where to put you?”

I sighed, looking up at the hat, biting my lip. Gryffindor sounded good, but then again, Oliver was in there, and he didn’t want to be seen with me. There was Slytherin, where I could be the biggest bitch ever. Hufflepuff was a choice, if it didn’t know where to put me… but then again…

“RAVENCLAW!” it shouted. The crowd clapped and I looked over at the Ravenclaw table. There were a lot of dorks and weirdos. And something tells me I’ll be sneaking up to Gryffindor a lot. I took my seat and looked around.

After a while, there were more sortings. Lunish Black, Sirius Black, Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger, and Remus Lupin had all made it in to Gryffindor, and it was Davey’s turn up.

“David Anthony Marchand…”

Through Jade’s giggling, you heard Davey grunt, go up, and plop onto the stool. Within seconds, that hat deemed him a Gryffindor, and he walked over, pushing everything off and lying across the table. Then he proceeded to wash off his eye shadow and apply gold eye shadow with scarlet eyeliner.

After Sonny Moore was sorted into Hufflepuff, it was Ducky’s turn. Who names their child Ducky?

“Brittany Nicole Ogborn…”

Apparently nobody.

She looked around and whistled, avoiding the name she was born with. Finally, Sirius picked her up and dropped her on the stool, then walked back. “For future reference, old hag, it’s DUCKY.”

The hat quickly put her into Gryffindor, and she ran over to the table, sat down, and buried her head in her hands, obviously embarrassed by her birth name.

When Harry Potter went up, he was sorted into Gryffindor, is anybody surprised by this? That’s just like them putting Malfoy in Slytherin.

Then it was Jade’s turn. Davey glared at the hat, wishing death upon it if it sorted him anywhere other than Gryffindor. He cursed under his breath as he looked up at the hat.

“Jaden Errol Puget…”

Jade walked up and plopped in the stool, looking over at Davey. After it shouted “GRYFFINDOR”, Davey jumped up and squealed, waving his jacket and hoodie like a set of pom poms. Of course, everyone cracked up at this, but he didn’t give two shits.

Finally, we got to the last name: Blaise Zabini. He looked like one of those misunderstood characters, and I felt bad for him once he got sorted into Slytherin. Apparently, a lot of other people did too. He made the slow walk over to the table and sat down beside Malfoy, covering his neck quickly.

After many boring words from the headmaster, the feast began. I looked around my house table. Jon Walker was a fellow first year, Mikey Way from the train was a second year, Cody Matthews, who I was told to be the resident Ravenclaw rock star, was a third year, and Sodapop Curtis joined him in third year. No, seriously. Sodapop. Then I looked over at the Gryffindor table. Magik was turning Remus yet another shade of blue, Ducky was clinging to who I heard from the sorting was Ryan Ross, and Oliver was conversing with the Weasley twins.

Sighing, I poked around at my food. Then, out of nowhere, a gob of mashed potato hit me in the middle of my forehead.

“THAT’S FOR DESTROYING MY BOOK FORT… OH YEAH, FOOD FIGHT!” Magik screamed, standing up on the Gryffindor table and smashing a pie on the ground. Davey screamed and quickly dove under the table, fixing his hair. The teachers all stood up and tried stopping us, but let’s face it. Tons of kids vs. teachers is a losing battle.

I ended up hopping across two tables and picking up Gryffindor’s food, then running back, throwing it at them. Magik was hit in the face with a blueberry pie, and it was quite entertaining.

Ducky gasped. “THAT WAS MY BLUEBERRY PIE!” she yelled, picking up a turkey and flinging it across the Great Hall. I squealed and ducked, ending up in a Hufflepuff’s lap, but hey, I’m not complaining. Fourth year’s got a nice body.

He raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Cedric Diggory…”

I giggled and held out my hand. “Angel…” I managed to get out, before kissing him on the cheek, grabbing a spoonful of green beans, and flinging it in Magik’s face.

“TWO POINTS!” Fred yelled, apparently keeping score.

“That Ravenclaw’s got an arm on her!” George followed.

All of a sudden, Davey came up from under the table. “WHO GOT MACARONI IN MY HAIR?!” he screamed, picking up a bowl of potatoes and hurling it across the hall to the Slytherin table. When it came to his hair, this guy didn’t joke around.

After another hour, we’d all worn ourselves out. Surprisingly, Professor Dumbledore didn’t even make an attempt to stop us. He just sat back, smiled, and ate lemon candies. I got the last shot in, pelting the Potions professor with a heaping bowl of steamed vegetables. Something tells me that’s going to come back and bite me in the ass.

The prefects walked us to the Common Room, Gryffindor to one tower, and Ravenclaw to the other. After I found out where my room was, I snuck out and walked up to the Gryffindor tower. Magik came stumbling up three minutes later, wiping green beans from her hair. She whispered the password to the portrait and let me in.

“She’s a Ravenclaw, what’s she doing here?!” a fellow first year asked.

“I invited her. Is that a problem?”

“No ma’am…” he said, sinking in his chair.

I sat down on one of the tables. “So, how’s it up here in Gryffindor?”

“A lot better than Ravenclaw, apparently. You didn’t even last five minutes in there.”

“That’s because everyone in that house is an anti-social, sarcastic, witty, head up the ass twat.” I ranted, pouting. “There’s no one fun… though there was that Hufflepuff…”

“Damn, you don’t waste anytime, do you? First Gryffindor, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, I take it you’re going to fall for a Slytherin next?” Ducky asked.

“Hey, at least I haven’t been here less than a day and already gotten the title of ‘Gryffindwhore.’”

“Touché.”

Author's Note: You can have the blueberry pie. Blueberries are nasty.