This story is one in which I dreamed about. It features Hogwarts not as a witch and wizarding school but as a private school preparing students for their important, final exams which determine what they will do once they leave into the real world.
This obviously means that none of the students can perform magic and is basically like an ordinary high school. It is full of odd classes, extracurricular activities, dating, the latest trends, and everyone's favorite, drama. But I promise to keep the characters in their designed character to the best of my ability (:
Warning: This story features misuse of JK Rowling's terms. If you do not like this, then I suggest you either backspace away from this page or press the back button at the top left of the screen to save you from an anger episode and makes the likeliness of me chewing you out and informing you of something I already warned you about much, much less.
And I understand that I am doubling my responsibility by starting another story, but I'm willing to take that chance. The reason I haven't been able to post anything in the past 2-3 weeks is because I've been on vacation and without internet. So I haven't been able to do much of anything. So, I'm really sorry about that. I hope you enjoy this new story as much as I do.
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"You're going to love it at Hogwarts, sweetie. I promise you that it'll be the best junior year ever! I've heard great things about their headmaster." Desdemona's mother's words rang through her head as she made her way down the crowded sidewalk. Several people turned their heads to stare at the obviously lost girl, her large suitcases trailing behind her, and the piece of parchment clutched in her mitted hand.
It was raining down hard on everything that could be touched. This consisted of the streets, sidewalks, buildings, and innocent people racing to their destination. Desdemona, hiding under her black umbrella, clearly couldn't find her destination. Hogwarts was supposed to be obvious even to a blind man; with it's high cathedral-type walls, the vibrant window glass art, the chiming bells signifying the end of one class period and the beginning of another, but Desdemona couldn't seem to find her new school.
She hit pause on her mp3 player as she waited for the crossing signal to change. The directions were clear: start on Gryffindor Ave., take a left onto Ariana Ln., and pass through the small town of Hogsmeade. Take a right onto Godric Ave. and you have arrived at Hogwarts in the next 3 blocks.
Desdemona glanced at her surroundings and sighed. A great puff of white escaped into the air; she was on the corner of Helena Ave. and Godric Ave. A boy suddenly passed by, dressed in long black robes that lightly grazed the soaked ground, in the opposite direction in which Desdemona was heading. This, as she had been told, was the uniform for all Hogwarts students. The only difference was that some students had different colored ties. She called out to him in hopes of catching his attention. However, he made no action of having noticed her. Desdemona quickly began to follow the boy.
He was quick with his long legs carrying him further than Desdemona so by the time he turned the corner she had to run to keep up. But as she was coming up on the corner she noticed what she had missed before. The giant church-like building rose high into the sky vanishing into the overcast clouds. Students of different ages were filing through the double-doors, each talking to the person next to them. Desdemona was about to follow them, before she noticed a sign in the corner of her eyes; it read, 'All first years and/or new students please report the main office immediately.' Desdemona noticed that the sign had an arrow pointed up; she followed it.
After following the many directions of the labeled signs, Desdemona arrived at a part of the building labeled 'Main Office.' She cautiously pushed the heavy doors open, not wanting to disturb the man at the desk, with a sign that read 'Mr. Filch', who was filing through a tall stack of papers. Her attempt was reined useless once the man heard the door click behind her.
"Hello," the man grunted, "Who are you?"
Desdemona opened her mouth first at the man's rudeness but quickly blinked and regained her composure, "My name is Desdemona Argale. I'm the new transfer from London's Public Academy. The note said I'd be receiving several things here."
"Yes, sit down. Set your luggage over in the corner and someone will be with you in a moment." Desdemona obeyed and took a seat next to a terrified looking eleven-year-old after placing her bags with the many others. She smiled warmly at the 6th grader, but the child only shrunk further back into her seat. Desdemona abandoned the attempt and sat patiently for the 'someone.'
Several moments later and old woman clad in green dress robes entered the room and handed out a piece of paper to each student. After she finished speaking with each one, she handed them several things. A striped tie, striped scarf, and a sew-on badge to put on their robes. Finally, the lady reached Desdemona; she stared sternly at Desdemona handing her the same piece of paper as the other children. After Desdemona finished bubbling in her answers, she handed the paper back to the woman.
"Hello! What is your name?" She inquired.
"My name is Desdemona Argale."
"Ah, the transfer from London's Public Academy. We're delighted to have you joining us at Hogwarts," she smiled before pulling her stern face again, "One moment, please." The old woman made several different noises as she scanned the answers. Finally, she set the quiz at her side, "The qualities of a Gryffindor! I've been having a lot of you lately. Well Mrs. Argale, here are your things. Please give our seamstresses your robes so that they may place the Gryffindor insignia upon your robes. My name is Professor McGonagall and I'll be your Head of House. If you ever get into trouble, you will be sent to me. And the same goes for if you have any questions; you may ask me anything you like. Now, if you would please head through that door, your house Prefects will be waiting for you to give you and your fellow Gryffindor's a tour of Hogwarts."
Professor McGonagall then moved onto her next victim. Desdemona sat there for a moment, taking in what had just been explained to her. A few moments later she stood and began walking towards the room McGonagall had pointed out. She pushed open the door and saw four separate groups. They all turned to look at her, expecting her to come into each of their groups before they glanced down at the bundle in her hands. The group to her left cheered and beckoned her into the line with welcoming arms. A girl with bushy, brown hair came forward, followed by an embarrassed red-head. Desdemona heard him muttering curses at a girl named Hermione.
"You must be Desdemona Argale; the new transfer. I'm Hermione Granger and this is Ronald Weasley." The bushy haired girl held out her smooth hand, staring at Desdemona with eyes full of interest.
Desdemona took the hand into her hand and shook it firmly, "How do you do. How did you know that I was Desdemona?"
"Professor Dumbledore told all of the Prefects that there would be a new transfer in her junior year attending our school. You obviously don't look like you belong with the rest of these students, so I assumed that you must be her. Now, I don't have time to give you a special tour tonight, but tomorrow if you need help finding some of your classes feel free to ask. You'll be sharing a dorm with me and another junior, so if you would please stick by me it would be a lot easier." Hermione smiled before retreating back to the front of the line.
Along the way a cold voice called across the room, "Hey Granger, you should invest in that thing called a straightener! I hear it does wonders for untamed hair such as your own!"
Hermione turned an unnatural shade of scarlet beneath her waves. Her expression was murderous as she murmured, "Oh how I'd like to knock his lights out!"
Ron reached out an arm, but quickly decided against it and settled for putting his hands in his pockets, "But you already have, Hermione. In our freshman year you gave him the classic one-two." Hermione huffed angrily explaining that that was not the point.
As the last of the first years filed through the doors, Desdemona herself wondered why Hermione had not attempted to tame her large curls. Desdemona played with her naturally wavy hair and wished for perfectly straight hair. Not that she minded her hair now, but she wanted it to be better and more beautiful.
"If I could have all first years and transfers head this way!" Desdemona turned to see two students holding open large double-doors. They led onto a lit stage where she soon realized was an auditorium. The seats were filled with students who had been to the school before. They were all watching the first years with bored expressions on their faces. At the very right of the stage stood an old man with bright blue eyes that pierced everyone in the room.
The old man raised his arms to silence the several hushed conversations throughout the auditorium. All of them were stopped at once. The old man smiled, "I would like to welcome the new first years and I ask that you welcome them into your house with warmth. Now, our first student is not a first year, but a transfer from London's Public Academy. Please come forward Desdemona Argale." Desdemona, not shy of the stage stood center stage and faced the crowd. "Desdemona, please state which house you are in and take a seat with the designated group."
Desdemona nodded her head before her voice rang loud and clear through the room, "Gryffindor."
A loud cheer erupted from the top right part of the room. With a destination, Desdemona quickly walked down to her house. She was welcomed with outstretched hands and pats on the back as she stumbled to find an empty seat amongst her new family. Finally she found Hermione, who had beckoned her over and pointed to the empty seat next to her.
Hermione, obviously in better spirits than ten minutes ago, began chattering away, "How are you doing Desdemona? Is everything alright? You didn't get hassled by a Slytherin did you? How was London's Public Academy? I heard they have wonderful academics. Second best to Hogwarts, I believe! How are you adjusting? Is there anything I can help you with? Are you making fri-"
"She'll be scared of people if you keep interrogating her like that," the boy on her left said. "Hi, I'm Harry Potter." Desdemona's jaw dropped open. She stared stupidly at the boy in front of her. She took in his green eyes, untidy black hair, and the dark lightning bolt imprinted on his forehead. He was real, and he was looking at Desdemona with worried eyes, "Are you alright?"
She shook her head, star-struck to say the least, "Yes, I-….I'm sorry. It's just, wow, you're Harry Potter! Not even able to walk and defeating the world's biggest mass murderer. You're amazing, you know that?"
"So I've been told once or twice," he answered bitterly.
"I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to offend you. I was just a little…er…sorry! I really didn't…" Desdemona let the end of her sentence drop off. Harry's expression wasn't one of anger anymore, but he seemed rather amused. "What?"
"I'm the one who should be sorry. I should be used to it by now." Harry's eyes wandered around the room as noise soon rose again as a student made their way to the Ravenclaw crowd. He looked back at the girl next to him, "So you're from London's Public Academy?"
"Um…yeah. My parents weren't satisfied with where we lived or that LPA wasn't best in academics, so they moved into the Hogwarts district, and now I'm here. I just wish they would have figured this out sooner. I hate adapting to new places after I've been somewhere else for so long. You know what I mean?"
Harry gave a little laugh, "Not really. I've only ever been to Hogwarts, or my aunt and uncles."
"Oh, that's right. I'm sorry, I forgot." All of the embarrassment was making Desdemona's blush deeper and deeper as she cradled her face in her cloth-covered hands.
"You know, you apologize an awful lot."
"Yeah," she sighed, "When I'm nervous I tend to say stupid things. And I can't help but let the words spill right through my lips! It's a nasty habit but I can't break it. I'm more comfortable with saying things already written out for me and knowing what happens next. Like a play for instance! You know what happens; no surprises."
"But that takes all the fun out of life! Wouldn't it be boring to know everything? Without surprises everything would be so…so dull and not, well, surprising."
"I guess so. Maybe it's just the actress in me screaming out. Or maybe I could considered a dull person," Desdemona teased before laughing lightly.
"So you like to act? I don't know if your parents told you about it, but Hogwarts supposedly has a great acting group. Except for the fact that it's crawling with Slytherins," Harry sneered, "I supposed it is pretty good. I think we're doing Cinderella this year."
"Really?! That is one of my all time favorite fairytales. The way that true love prevails no matter what and the how both Cinderella and her prince go through many things just to find each other; it's powerful and magical and everything that a girl dreams of! Oh how I'd love to be – "
"I welcome each of you new students to the school that is Hogwarts. Work hard for your dreams and you will be given great treasures in return. After all, a students mind is their greatest asset." Dumbledore continued to inform everyone of rule changes and recapped the old rules for the new students. After all was said and done he gave his thanks to the staff and dismissed everyone from the room, "Have a great year and make wise decisions!"
"Alright, everyone please follow me in an orderly fashion. I will now be leading you all to the dormitories. On the Gryffindor wall is a list. It will tell you which room you will be staying in. Please head straight for this room and go right to bed. Tomorrow is a big day for most of you." Most of the Gryffindors groaned at Hermione's request.
Many cheered however when the same rude voice from earlier hollered, "Party in the Slytherin common room! Everyone but Potter's friends is invited!" Harry growled from next to Desdemona. His hands curled at his sides while he grumbled the things he'd like to do to the boy named Malfoy. Desdemona blushed when Harry suggested tying him up and throwing him from the Astronomy tower and laughing as he freefell to his demise.
By the time the first years had left their robes with the seamstresses, and everyone had changed, more than half of the Gryffindors were gone. The only people left were obviously close friends of Harry. Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and those she had just met, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, Collin Creavey, and Dean Thomas.
The group of friends huddled around the fire, catching up on everything that happened during the summer. Desdemona felt disconnected from them. She tapped Hermione gently on the shoulder, "Hermione, do you mind showing me our room. I'd like to go to sleep early. Being in this new place and all…"
"Of course! I think I'll get some rest too. The early bird gets the worm and all." She smiled and bade her friend's good-bye before leading the new girl up the staircase. They didn't speak to each other on the way up; silence seemed to soothe both of them for the time being. But once they reached the dorm Hermione spoke, "If you really do need anything Des, Harry, Ron, and I will be more than glad to help you out."
"Des?" She smiled at the nickname.
"I'm sorry, would you like me to use your full name?" Hermione's worried demeanor made Desdemona laugh.
"No, I actually quite like it. Thanks Hermione. I'll keep everything you told me in mind. Have a nice sleep. Sweet dreams!" Des smiled again as she made her way to her suitcase, that had been placed at the end of her bed. She grabbed her night things and changed before slipping into her bed. Hermione shut off the lights, whispering goodnight, and crawled into her own bed. Hermione fell asleep before Des did. She lay awake thinking of her family and old friends. But she couldn't help but feel guilty that she actually didn't mind being away from them.
Hogwarts was great, better than London's Public Academy, and it made her feel ashamed.
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Now, I haven't decided who Desdemona's love interest is going to be. So, if you would leave your thoughts on whom you would like that to be, please do so in either a message or a comment. And also, tell me why. Not how they will fall in love, but why you think he is worthy to be fallen in love with. It's always refreshing to see how other people view characters and it helps me form them better in a story.