It was early morning on a hot Saturday in August; the birds were merrily chirping, and the noises of the town-folk of Liverpool, echoed briskly through the walls of an apartment. Young Caliope Crinisis, a petite platinum blonde witch of 12, awoke with a start.

"Blasted, I forgot to reset the damn thing" She croaked, referring to the obnoxious ringing of the Crimson Alarm Clock to the left of her mattress.

With not an ounce of energy, she somehow managed to hurl herself out of bed, and walked rather drunkenly into the nearby kitchen. Ophelia Crinisis, Caliope's mother, was in the middle of a very important talk with her boss, whose head seemed to be nestled directly in the hearth of the fireplace.

"So Ill come in this afternoon than?" She barked eagerly,

"Yes sir, the report will be finished by early next week".

Mrs. Crinisis's boss nodded, and with a sudden "pop" his head had disappeared from the fire.

If there was ever a walking definition of a Workaholic, Mrs. Crinisis was it. She was a highly ambitious woman who slaved away most of her days itching for a high promotion at the Ministry of Magic, where she worked on the panel for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

"Well somebody's up awfully early" Said Mrs. Crinisis, with an exasperated tone to her voice, as though she hadn't slept in days. "I need to run to the office real quick, pick up a sack of galleons, and we'll be off…I promise".

While Caliope Certainly appreciated her mother's promise, she highly doubted that it was true. She never doubted that her mother would be taking her to Diagon alley, but she was almost positive it would be much later in the day than they had initially planned.

"Make me a list of all the school things you'll be needing while I'm gone, and feed that damn Owl…. It's hooting like mad". Said Mrs. Crinisis, referring to Artemis, Caliope's gray owl that was currently fluttering madly around the house.

Much to Caliope's dismay, Artemis wasn't allowed onto the streets of Liverpool during the day, owing much to the fact that the town's population was almost entirely Muggle. With a rushed goodbye, Mrs. Crinisis disapperated with a faint pop. Following her mothers instructions, she took out a quill and a roll of parchment, and wrote "wish-list" at the top. Hogwarts sent a list of the things the students would need each summer, but Caliope was most certainly hoping on obtaining a few extras this year.

After about 2 hours, much to Caliope's surprise: Mrs. Crinisis apparated clear onto the kitchen floor. Wearing a brilliant white coat, and a feathered cap.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ive been ready since 9 this morning" growled Caliope.

"Right than, would you mind bringing me the urn?"

Mrs. Crinisis was referring to the large crystal urn the family kept in their living room, which was home to what many at first glance would take to be ashes. But rather, it was filled with floo powder, the substance that enabled wizarding transportation through fireplaces across britain. Mrs. Crinisis put her hand into the urn, took a small handful of the powder, threw it into the fire, and said very clearly:

"Diagon Alley!". Soon after her mother had zoomed into the fireplace, Caliope did the same.
A whirlwind of colors, and spinning met her eyes, being used to this she shut them on instinct. What seemed like 10 minutes later, she sprawled out of the fireplace at The Leaky Cauldron.

Not to any surprise of Caliope's, her mother was already having a few drinks at the bar. "Oh hello dear" She said brightly.

"Lovely day isnt it?" "Yea, I suppose we would know that if we were outside wouldn't we?" Caliope murmered.

"Right than" her mother said with a small chirp, as she walked away from the bar rather like Caliope had gotten out of bed this morning.

They tapped the third brick from the left on the wall, and the archway to Diagon Alley appeared thinly. Mrs. Crinisis was actually quite right, it was a glorious day. However Caliope didn't seem to think that her mother deserved too much credit, owing to the fact that she had somehow managed to get drunk in less than 10 minutes. They walked for a little while, stopping occasionally to say hello to some of Caliopes school friends, and to let Mrs. Crinisis sit down for a bit.

Once they had bought Caliope's school robes, her new term books, picked up some wand polish, bought 12 rolls of parchment and 12 bottles of ink and fresh quills, they decided to step into "Quality Quidditch supplies" to have a look at a new broom for Caliope.

"What do you need a broom for?" Asked Mrs. Crinisis, speaking much more soberly than she had previously done so. "Your not even on your house Quidditch team".

This so much was true, Caliopes nervousness and insecurity her first year, had prevented her from trying for a spot on the team. She wasn't nescessarily lacking talent, and her ambition for the sport was certainly there, But her shy sense kept her from these types of social functions.

"This is going to be my year, I really want to play mum…" Caliope said shrilly.

"Sweetums, quidditch may just not be your thing…Not everybody is a Viktor Krum on a broom you know". Said Mrs. Crinisis matter-of-factly.

However, these words of comfort werent going to sell Caliope, her mother had played on the Ravenclaw house team when she went to Hogwarts, and nothing was going to stop Caliope from doing the same. They continued browsing broom after broom, naturally Caliope's heart fell for the firebolt…but she knew perfectly well her mother would never allow it, drunken or not. Giving up on a racing broom this time around, Caliope bought a small poster of her favorite team: The Tutshill Tornadoes. The man at the register glared down at her, in a dissaproving sort of way. Apparently thinking that all young girls were trouble-makers. When he had rung up the poster, sparks had shot straight from the top of the cash register, sending sparks all across the store. People were ducking in all directions, and staring at the remarkable show of fireworks booming all across the ceiling.
The words "Congratulations, 10,000,000th customer!" Appeared in the billowing sparks. The man looked at Caliope in a befuddled sort of way, but than spoke, in a horribly drawling voice:

"Congratulations…you are the 10,000,000th customer to purchase an item at Quality quidditch supplies, you will receive a free firebolt, and a years subscription to "Quidditch Today".

It was a slightly tense moment, overcome with excitement and surprise, Caliope hadn't the slightest clue what to do or say. With slick timing, her mother did the honors:

"good lord cal! Did you hear what that man just said?" Caliope had heard him, but it felt as though everything needed repeating at the given time.

The cashier was wearing an expression that suggested he was half expecting her to start screaming. She accepted the firebolt, and the coupon for the magazine, and left the store. As soon as Mrs. Crinisis and Caliope exited, 10 minutes of built up excitement seemed to pour from inside of Caliope.

"I cant believe it!" she exclaimed "things like this never happen to me! A real firebolt…Im just bound to make the team now!".
Mrs. Crinisis had no side comments to make, and simply hugged her, as soberly as ever.

The next morning everyone was in a mad dash to make the school train. Caliope had gotten up and dressed so quickly, that she failed to realize she had been attempting to put her arms through one of her pantlegs. She quickly gathered up all of her new books, quills, parchment, her firebolt, robes, and stuffed them into a magically expandable suitcase. Mrs. Crinisis entered the room with one of those expressions that suggested something was just bound to be forgotten. She billowed through all of Caliope's drawers and closets, until finally making sure that they weren't leaving anything crucial behind. Mrs. Crinisis dashed out of the room in order to make a phone call to the ministry, asking them to send over one of their cars in order to get to the train station. Kings Cross station was a horribly long drive from where the Crinisis family lived, and they had practically no time to spare.

At about 7:30, Mrs. Crinisis and Caliope dashed out of their apartment complex carrying all there things, both of them had bits of toast in their mouths. Outside the building, the man driving the ministry car helped them stuff Caliope's suitcase, and Artemis's cage into the trunk.

"Damn, we've got to get moving Cal," said Mrs. Crinisis hurriedly checking her watch.

The car ride to Kings Cross station was not a pleasant one, the cars driver seemed to have a nasty bit of the flu, and would vomit about every ten minutes into a bucket settled next to him. He also wasn't a very pleasant fellow, and Mrs. Crinisis often found herself making forced conversation about the weather, or the condition of the roads. At half past ten, the car stopped in front of Kings Cross station. They quickly took the suitcase and cage out of the trunk, and bid a final farewell to the vomiting chaffer. Mrs. Crinisis dashed to the front of the line, and got a cart for Caliope and her school things. They waited for a quarter of an hour, than made their way towards platform 9 ¾. They casually walked towords the barrier, pretending to be very interested in the people passing, than, without a backwards glance the pushed up against the barrier and found themselves at the archway of platform 9 ¾.

The train was now boarding, and Mrs. Crinisis bid Caliope a final farewell hug and kiss "You'll always be my little firebolt cal" she said "Don't ever forget that, have an excellent term!"

Caliope dashed to the steps of the near-moving train, and climbed in. She found her best friend, fellow Ravenclaw Mandy Brocklehurst saving her a seat in a compartment near the end of the train. "Boy have I got something to show you" Caliope said excitedly. "What are you on about?" said Mandy. Caliope put her on hold, while she waved goodbye to her mother, and yelled

"Bye mum, send me a something good! Love ya!." She crawled back into her seat. "Send me something good? Well that was a heartwarming goodbye…nearly shed a tear on that one I did". Said Mandy sarcastically.

"Anyway what's this your dying to show me?"

Caliope looked around to be sure that no one was watching, the last thing she wanted was to have everyone up in arms over a broomstick.
"Well…you've got to promise not to tell anyone, atleast not yet" she said nervously.
"What? You havent committed a crime have you?" Said Mandy.
"Ofcourse I havent! Its just one of those things that you let people find out on there own, you with me?" said Caliope.

"Right than" barked Mandy.

Caliope reached into her suitcase, and pulled out the glimmering firebolt. It was looking as beautiful as ever, its bristles were so neat and straight, its handle was so shiny that you could see your reflection, and it was smooth as baby's bottom.
"
Your kidding me!!!" chirped Mandy, in not exactly the tone of voice Caliope had been hoping for. "How the blazes did you get this! This is amazing!"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down, do you want the whole train to notice I've got the most expensive broom you can buy?" said Caliope in a hushed whisper.

"You didn't steal that thing, did you Cal?" said Mandy

"Because well…that's not exactly the best way to get things…but I suppose a firebolts a.."

"Oh for heavens sake!" barked Caliope "We've been on this train for all of ten minutes and you have twice now accused me of committing a crime."

"I won it…10,000,000th customer to purchase an item at Quality quidditch supplies. I also got a subscription to "Quidditch Today".

"Well Ill be damned" said Mandy, "Do you realize that as a friend, I will not allow you to skip Quidditch tryouts this year? A real firebolt…"

Caliope had figured that Mandy would react this way. Mandy loved Quidditch dearly, but when it came down to things she probably couldn't steer a broom to save her grandmother. Caliope supposed that Mandy's way of making up for it was to make sure that Caliope got a top spot on the house team.

Once Mandy had calmed down from the initial excitement that the firebolt had caused, the conversation strayed to the lingering "Daily Prophet" Newspaper, that was laying astray on the empty seat beside them.

"Ooohh, did you hear about what happened at Gringotts?" said Mandy in her most gossipy voice, pointing to the headlining article and moving picture on the front page.

"Actually I havent" said Caliope, "I've been in a sort of isolation from these papers as of late".

"Sure you have, your just lazy" said Mandy with a shrill smile. "Anyway, apparently some of the vault keepers at gringotts have been murdered mysteriously."

"How?" asked Caliope earnestly.

"Supposedly some strange shimmer was coming from inside some of the vaults, I suppose the goblins thought it must have been an intruder or something like that…and naturally they opened them".

"Well what happened than?" Asked Caliope rather curiously.

"Apparently that's all everybody knows." Said Mandy with a shrug. "Just a pink shimmer…or glow….or whatever you wanna call it, than a bunch of dead goblins, weird isnt it?"
"Yea…It is" Caliope Agreed.

For the next hour Mandy and Caliope sat in discussion over everything they had done over the holidays, Mandy discussed her families vacation to brazil, and Caliope elaborated on her mothers new wave of moneymaking tactics. Than, they could hear the pistons on the train hooting and initially slowing down.

"Finally" said Caliope "Im starved, I could practically eat a whole cow" Mandy nodded rather sulkily, as though the thought of food was just to much to handle.

The engine finally stopped in Hogsmeade station, and the students began unloading off of the bus. Unlike the previous day in Diagon Alley, it was cold and mucky, Mandy and Caliope quickly changed into their school robes, and gathered into a carriage with two HufflePuffs to which they didn't know the names of.

"Dreary sort of day isnt it" Said one of the HufflePuffs. "My name is Blake Stonewall, you're the Crinisis girl arent you? Yea…I think your mum just had one of our nifflers locked up come to think of it."

"Oh!" said Caliope, blushing more than slightly. "I'm sorry!"

"T's alright…nasty little things they can be anyway, took all my ruddy watches that dad keeps bringing me"

Blake was a built boy, with tight, short, golden curls, and a charming smile. Caliope didn't tell Mandy that she thought this ofcourse, she didn't think her face could handle being any more red than it already was.

'This is Roswell Ellington, also a Hufflepuff" Said Blake, nodding his head at the tall boy sitting next to him.

This seemed to get Mandy a little more interested in the conversation. Every couple of seconds, she and Roswell would make eye-contact, and quickly turn away from eachother, a trace of the giggles could be heard from the girls side of the carriage.

Once the carriage had pulled up to the front of the gates with the rest, everyone hurried out in an attempt to reach the great hall. They left their things in the carriage, knowing that it would later be hauled off to their dormitories.

Mandy's excitement over the feast awaiting them, seemed to be interfering with her coordination, as she absentmindly tripped over her school robes into a large puddle.

"Great, another stunning entrance" she croaked, getting up and taking out her wand.
"Removio!" she yelled, as her robes once again became black and spotless.

The rest of the 2nd years made their way into the great hall, ringing their clothing dry and stomping their feet. Mandy and Caliope parted ways with Blake and Roswell, and took seats at the RavenClaw table.

After about a quarter of an hour passing, the sorting ceremony had ended. And the feast had began, immediately on the table appeared the delicious cuisine that Caliope had been missing her entire summer holiday. It tasted so good that both Mandy and Caliope gave enormous sigh's of relief.

"Now THIS is what has been absent from my life" said Mandy, chewing a rather large piece of roast beef.

When the plates had all cleared, and everyone was simply bursting to the brink with food. Dumbledore had stood up.

"Now that we are all properly stuffed" he said in a cheerful voice "I welcome you to another grand year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Where you will again be furthering your magical educations at a higher level."

He paused for a second, most likely to make sure everyone was still following him, and went on again:
"This year at Hogwarts may seem slightly different to those of you familiar with the Hogwarts classes and teachers. Both Professors Mcgonogall and Flitwick are taking a leave of abscense for a large chunk of the school year."

"Well Ill be damned…" Whispered Mandy

Caliope wasn't entirely sure what she made of this announcement, she respected Mcgonogall…that was a given, but she had never really come to a clear decision on whether or not she was too mad for her. And as for Flitwick…there wasn't anything particularly Unlikable about him…he was pretty much your average teacher, tolerable most of the time.
really come to a clear decision on whether or not she was too mad for her. And as for Flitwick…there wasn't anything particularly Unlikable about him…he was pretty much your average teacher, tolerable most of the time.