New Beginnings
This story takes place well after the Harry Potter and his generation of students have left Hogwarts. ElfFlame and I had created several sets of children from the various stories we've written, and since they were all around the same age, decided to throw them into school together. So this is a story, hopefully soon to be a series of stories based on several others. To help make more sense of these stories, it may help to read my story, De Die In Diem: From Day to Day, and ElfFlame's stories, Dragon's Tears, and Lost Love. Most of the kids come from those. We've also created many original kids not from our stories to help fill the ranks. Many of their last names may sound familiar to you. ElfFlame has files of the names and basic family trees of some of the children for all who are interested in finding out more background on these kids. Email her at ElfFlame@hotmail.com if you want them. We hope you enjoy these, we've been having lots of fun thinking about them!
Teecie Goes To Hogwarts
It was the last week of August, and Ticia Orendes, otherwise known as Teecie, was in Diagon Alley with her family. This would be her first year attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and today she was being fitted for robes and getting her first wand. Teecie was nervous, she'd never been away from home before, and didn't want to get homesick. She was so nervous, in fact, that she was thinking about not going at all.
Her father, Lucius Malfoy, stayed at home and took care of Teecie and her sisters, and since she was the youngest, he'd be home all alone now. He might get lonely, and Teecie couldn't stand the thought of her father being lonely. Her mother, Adriana, was back at home now too, but she spent all her time outside on the farm, working with the animals, the orchard, and the wheat field. Teecie helped Lucius with the chores of running a home. He might not be able to do it all by himself. And everybody knew, she made the best dinner rolls in the whole family. They were her specialty, nobody else could do it quite like she could. The more Teecie thought about it, the more she realized she was needed at home, not Hogwarts.
Teecie gripped her wand tightly in her fist, trying to calm herself down. She looked at the wand distastefully. It was eight inches long, made of swishy black ash and had a unicorn hair in it. The unicorn hair was the only thing that allowed Teecie to stand the wand at all. She'd wanted a pink wand, and this ugly black one was the only one she'd been allowed to have. Mr. Ollivander, the man who ran the wand shop, informed her that most wands didn't come in pink. When she'd suggested that he go and find her one of the few wands that did come in pink, Teecie had been led quickly out of the store by her mother, where she'd been told to respect her elders or she'd be grounded when they got home.
Teecie looked at herself in the mirror of Madam Malkin's robe shop, as she was being fitted for robes. She'd been disappointed yet again after she'd been told that the robes had to be black. Teecie wanted pink robes to match her pink wand, yet it seemed that this horrid school was determined to ruin her life. Teecie hated black, it was such a sad and boring colour.
Teecie's older sister, Kali stood next to her. They'd been left alone while the rest of the family looked at owls at the emporium. Kali looked bored as she waited for her sister to be done. She looked around and watched the other customers being fitted for robes. There was a blonde girl about Teecie's age being fitted a few stools down from them. The girl was very pretty, but wore a sour expression. She was alone as well, and looked at the sisters and scowled.
The girl listened as Teecie made a fuss about the robes-she wanted hers to be less billowy, and was letting Madam Malkin know that. As Teecie was finally done, she hopped off the stool, and swept out of the store, without a backward glance. Kali thanked Madam Malkin and walked away. As she passed the blonde girl, she heard her mutter, "Stupid brat," in reference to Teecie. Kali knew Teecie could be bratty at times, but wasn't about to let somebody else say that about her. Without breaking her stride, she stuck her foot out and upset the stool the blonde girl stood on, sending her flying through the air. She tumbled to the floor, all twisted in the cloth she was being fitted in. Kali continued to walk out of the store, put her arm around Teecie's shoulders, and together they walked to meet their family at Flourish and Blotts.
Lucius showed Teecie the owl they'd picked out for her. Teecie didn't want an owl, she wanted a kitten. Diablo, the old farm tomcat and his mate had had another litter of kittens earlier that holiday, and she wanted to take one of them. There was a fluffy white kitten that Teecie had fallen in love with, and she wanted that instead of the dumb owl. True the owl was a nice, snowy white owl, but who wanted to cuddle a bird?
As they walked through the aisles of the Flourish and Blotts, collecting the books on her list, she saw a series of books on one of the shelves that interested her. The Many Adventures of Amaris Bradford, the Teen Witch Sleuth. The picture on the cover showed a girl of about 14 years or so, with brown spiky hair. Teecie thought she looked very cool, and decided she had to have those books. Lucius saw Teecie's enthusiasm for them and felt they might help her get excited about school. He thought the girl on the cover was a wholesome looking young lady that would be a good role model for his daughter. He bought Teecie the first three books to get her started.
That evening, Teecie was sitting at her father's feet on the carpet in front of the fireplace. They were reading-Teecie, her first Amaris Bradford book, and Lucius, the Evening Prophet. Teecie sighed, set the book down, and leaned her head against her father's legs. Lucius set his paper down, and looked at his daughter. "What's the matter, honey?" He asked, patting the top of her head.
Teecie sighed again. "I don't think I want to go to Hogwarts, daddy. Can't I stay here with you? Please?" Teecie's voice broke and Lucius could hear her snuffling.
"You're going to have so much fun there. You'll make lots of friends, you won't even miss us! Besides, Draco and your sisters will be there, and so will Uncle Sev. And you have your own owl to send posts home everyday if you want," Lucius spoke soothingly, trying to calm his youngest daughter's fears.
"But I want to stay here, with you and mummy," Teecie cried. "I don't want to be a witch, why can't I be a squib and stay at home?"
"Because, your name was on the list for Hogwarts, that means your supposed to be a witch. I know it's scary right now, you've never been away from us before, and you're going to be doing some new things. But after a few days, you'll get used to it, and you'll be busy learning all sorts of new things. You won't even miss us, I promise," Lucius leaned down and gave his daughter a hug. "Would it help if you took that kitten you wanted, with you?" He asked.
"Can I name him 'Snowball'?" Teecie asked, sniffling.
"You can name him whatever you want. And you can take all of your dolls with you too. You might be able to play with some of the other girls there. And you can take your books. These new books will be fun for you to read," Lucius said pointing to the Amaris book on the floor next to Teecie, "And you can take all of your Anne books. I know she's your favourite because you have the same coloured hair. Remember she had to go away to school too."
"And you'll send me presents?" Teecie asked, looking up at her father with a pitiful look on her face that completely melted her father's heart.
"Of course, I'll send you a box every week," He promised.
"Make sure you send lots of Mars bars, they don't have those there," Teecie said, sounding a little more confident. "And M&M's, and Coke, send some bottles of that too. And potato crisps, and...How 'bout I just send you a list each week?"
Lucius smiled to himself, "Sure, you do that."
Finally September first arrived, and Teecie traveled with her family to King's Cross train station in London. Her mother took her hand and walked through Platform 9 3/4, to the other side. It would be Teecie's first train ride. Reni and Kali followed a minute later, followed by Lucius and the trolley with his daughters' trunks. Three daughters and four trunks-Teecie had ended up taking a few more things than originally planned.
Adriana and Lucius hugged and kissed their daughters goodbye, and watched as they walked away from them and onto the train. Teecie tried not to look back, she knew if she did, she'd never be able to go.
Teecie followed her sisters into a compartment on the train, and sat down, looking out the window. She made Kali sit next to her, snuggling against her for comfort. Several hours later, when Reni and Kali had left to walk around for a while, to look for their friends, the blonde-haired girl Kali had tripped in Madam Malkin's shop came into the compartment. Teecie was reading her battered copy of Anne of Green Gables so deeply, she didn't hear the girl come in. "I saw you in the robe shop last week. What's your name?" Teecie heard a voice ask, startling her out of her reading.
Looking up, she saw a girl with her hands on her hips, smirking at her. "Ticia Orendes," Teecie replied, "But my friends call me 'Teecie'."
"Teecie? That's a dumb name. My name's Lisette Crabbe," Lisette said. She looked at the book in Teecie's hand. "Anne of Green Gables, what kind of stupid Muggle book is that? Are you a Mudblood?"
Teecie couldn't get over how rude this girl was. "What does it matter if I'm a Mudblood? Why do you care?"
"Well, it matters, because everybody knows Mudbloods aren't as good at magic as purebloods are."
"That's dumb. My mother was Muggle-born, and she's the most powerful witch in the entire world! Besides they fought a war a long time ago that proved that everybody's equal. Whoever told you purebloods are better?"
"My father. He's pureblood, so am I."
"Well then, your father's stupid, and so are you for believing him," Teecie said, growing more confident in her anger. She stood up, looking Lisette in the eye. "Get out of my compartment, before I throw you out!"
Lisette smirked again, "You can't throw me out, you don't own this compartment!"
Teecie advanced upon Lisette, taking her wand out of her robes and pointing it at her. "You wanna see a neat trick? I know how to turn a person into an ugly toad. Although, that would be an improvement for you!" Raising her wand high in the air and opening her mouth, she watched as Lisette backed out of the compartment.
"Like you could really do that. I have to go anyway, that's all," Lisette said, scowling and walking away.
Several minutes later, Reni and Kali returned to the compartment to hear the tale of fighting off Lisette. "She looked just like an orc," Teecie said, referring to some of their favourite movies. Kali indulged her sister by cringing at the description, she knew Teecie enjoyed being dramatic.
The day passed, and finally the train arrived at its final destination. The students piled off the train in a jumbled mass. The first year students were called to the front, in order to take the traditional boat ride up to the school. Teecie clung tightly to Kali's hand. "I don't want to go by myself," She whispered, her earlier confidence now gone.
Kali tried to unwind her sister's fingers from her hand without success. "It's a lot of fun Teecie, you'll like it. Reni and I have to go in the carriages to the school. We'll see you there in a little while, all right?"
And that's how Kali found herself holding onto Teecie's hand during the carriage ride to the school. Teecie was firmly wedged in between her two older sisters. "This is so embarrassing," Reni muttered to herself.
"You have to go up to the Sorting Hat by yourself, and that's final!" Kali said, exasperatedly after Teecie begged her to go with her. "You're grown up enough to do that!"
Teecie was miserable, thinking about having to go up there by herself. As the carriages arrived at the school, she had to find out where to catch up with the other first year students. She found a large group of people her age in the main hallway, getting a tour of the school. A man with graying hair was telling them about the history of the school as he led them into the Great Hall.
The other students were already at their tables by the time the first years made it inside the room. Standing huddled about in the middle of the room, they waited as the Sorting Hat sang a song. Then, one by one, they were called up to it. Being an "O", Teecie had a lot of waiting to do until her turn came. She watched as Lisette Crabbe was sorted into Slytherin. She looked around and spotted Reni at the Slytherin table, and Kali at the Ravenclaw table. She saw her brother Draco and Uncle Sev sitting up at the professor's table.
After what felt like forever, Teecie heard her name called out. She slowly walked up to the hat. It was very dirty, she wasn't sure if she wanted to put something that so many other people had worn before her, on her head. Looking wearily at the man who'd led them into the room, she put the hat over her head, as closely as possible without actually touching her curly red hair. She jumped as she heard a voice speaking to her. "Another Orendes, eh? Which house would you like to be in?" The hat asked her, more out of curiosity than anything else.
"Well," Teecie started, thinking about that question, "Yellow doesn't go well with my hair, so not Hufflepuff. Green makes me look ill, so not Slytherin. Blue is cute, but maroon is closest to pink, so I'd say Gryffindor."
The Sorting Hat had never heard a response quite like that before and couldn't help chuckling a little bit. "Well, you're lucky, because Gryffindor it is, but not because it's the closest to pink." Teecie heard cheering from one of the tables. As the hat was taken off her head, she saw the people from her house welcoming her to Gryffindor. Walking down the stairs and over to the table, Teecie found an empty area of the table, and sat down.
As the crowd of first year students dwindled down, Teecie heard a name, "Paige Weasley," and saw a girl who looked a lot like herself, approach the hat. This girl was sorted into Gryffindor. Paige walked over to Teecie, and sat down next to her. The next girl, Patricia Weasley, Paige's twin sister, was sorted into Gryffindor as well. She sat down on the other side of Teecie.
When the sorting had finished, Professor Snape stood up to make his welcoming speech. He wished everybody a good evening, gave a warning about never entering the Forbidden Forest, and told them to eat well, as the food began to appear at the tables.
The Great Hall was soon buzzing with students chattering about their summer holidays, and people catching up with one another. Teecie remained silent, as did the girls on either side of her. She was too nervous to eat anything more than a few bites of mashed potatoes.
As the meal wound down, the professor who'd led them into the room, and called out their names, approached the table and introduced himself as Professor Lupin, Head of Gryffindor House. As he saw the three silent girls, he stopped talking and looked at them. They could have been triplets, yet he knew they were unrelated. Lupin approached them with a warm smile on his face that helped make Teecie feel better. "How are you three young ladies doing this evening?" He asked.
The girls on either side of her remained silent, so Teecie spoke up, "We're doing as well as can be expected, under the circumstances."
Professor Lupin tried to hide the smile growing on his face. "Are the circumstances so bad that you have to cope with?" He asked seriously.
Teecie sighed. "Well, they've been better, I will admit that. These are the times that try the soul," Teecie answered, just as seriously, shaking her head slowly.
Professor Lupin had to bite his cheek in order to keep from laughing out loud at this overly dramatic child. "Well, I'm sure things will look brighter in a few days, after you've adjusted to your new surroundings."
"We can only hope that, can't we?"
Professor Lupin had to end this conversation or he'd insult this adorable child by laughing hysterically at her. "Well, I'd better see to the housing arrangements, if you ladies will excuse me," He bowed politely to the girls before turning on his heel and walking away from them.
After a few more minutes, the students began to leave the Great Hall, following the prefects to their houses. The Gryffindors learned the password, "Bertie Bott," and the painting of the Fat Lady opened up, allowing them all entrance to the tower. Their prefect gave told them all sorts of rules about the house and the school. He showed them where the dormitories were, and they all trickled off to see them.
Teecie found herself in a room with the two Weasley girls from dinner. They were the only girls in their year, so the three beds were spread out. Teecie found her two trunks, the cage with her owl, whom she'd named "Snowflake," and the basket containing her kitten, "Snowball," by one of the four poster beds.
Teecie opened her trunks. One of them contained her clothes, and all the books and equipment she needed for school. The second one contained all the books, dolls, and other clothes she'd brought with her. Fortunately, most rooms were set up for five students, so there was extra room for all her stuff. The other girls didn't seem to have too much to unpack, and didn't mind that Teecie took over the majority of the room.
As Teecie got ready for bed that first night, she put on her favourite pink nightgown, and slipped in between the warm bed sheets. She pulled the curtains and read some more of Anne of Green Gables, before turning out her light.
Perhaps this wouldn't be so horrible after all.
This story takes place well after the Harry Potter and his generation of students have left Hogwarts. ElfFlame and I had created several sets of children from the various stories we've written, and since they were all around the same age, decided to throw them into school together. So this is a story, hopefully soon to be a series of stories based on several others. To help make more sense of these stories, it may help to read my story, De Die In Diem: From Day to Day, and ElfFlame's stories, Dragon's Tears, and Lost Love. Most of the kids come from those. We've also created many original kids not from our stories to help fill the ranks. Many of their last names may sound familiar to you. ElfFlame has files of the names and basic family trees of some of the children for all who are interested in finding out more background on these kids. Email her at ElfFlame@hotmail.com if you want them. We hope you enjoy these, we've been having lots of fun thinking about them!
Teecie Goes To Hogwarts
It was the last week of August, and Ticia Orendes, otherwise known as Teecie, was in Diagon Alley with her family. This would be her first year attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and today she was being fitted for robes and getting her first wand. Teecie was nervous, she'd never been away from home before, and didn't want to get homesick. She was so nervous, in fact, that she was thinking about not going at all.
Her father, Lucius Malfoy, stayed at home and took care of Teecie and her sisters, and since she was the youngest, he'd be home all alone now. He might get lonely, and Teecie couldn't stand the thought of her father being lonely. Her mother, Adriana, was back at home now too, but she spent all her time outside on the farm, working with the animals, the orchard, and the wheat field. Teecie helped Lucius with the chores of running a home. He might not be able to do it all by himself. And everybody knew, she made the best dinner rolls in the whole family. They were her specialty, nobody else could do it quite like she could. The more Teecie thought about it, the more she realized she was needed at home, not Hogwarts.
Teecie gripped her wand tightly in her fist, trying to calm herself down. She looked at the wand distastefully. It was eight inches long, made of swishy black ash and had a unicorn hair in it. The unicorn hair was the only thing that allowed Teecie to stand the wand at all. She'd wanted a pink wand, and this ugly black one was the only one she'd been allowed to have. Mr. Ollivander, the man who ran the wand shop, informed her that most wands didn't come in pink. When she'd suggested that he go and find her one of the few wands that did come in pink, Teecie had been led quickly out of the store by her mother, where she'd been told to respect her elders or she'd be grounded when they got home.
Teecie looked at herself in the mirror of Madam Malkin's robe shop, as she was being fitted for robes. She'd been disappointed yet again after she'd been told that the robes had to be black. Teecie wanted pink robes to match her pink wand, yet it seemed that this horrid school was determined to ruin her life. Teecie hated black, it was such a sad and boring colour.
Teecie's older sister, Kali stood next to her. They'd been left alone while the rest of the family looked at owls at the emporium. Kali looked bored as she waited for her sister to be done. She looked around and watched the other customers being fitted for robes. There was a blonde girl about Teecie's age being fitted a few stools down from them. The girl was very pretty, but wore a sour expression. She was alone as well, and looked at the sisters and scowled.
The girl listened as Teecie made a fuss about the robes-she wanted hers to be less billowy, and was letting Madam Malkin know that. As Teecie was finally done, she hopped off the stool, and swept out of the store, without a backward glance. Kali thanked Madam Malkin and walked away. As she passed the blonde girl, she heard her mutter, "Stupid brat," in reference to Teecie. Kali knew Teecie could be bratty at times, but wasn't about to let somebody else say that about her. Without breaking her stride, she stuck her foot out and upset the stool the blonde girl stood on, sending her flying through the air. She tumbled to the floor, all twisted in the cloth she was being fitted in. Kali continued to walk out of the store, put her arm around Teecie's shoulders, and together they walked to meet their family at Flourish and Blotts.
Lucius showed Teecie the owl they'd picked out for her. Teecie didn't want an owl, she wanted a kitten. Diablo, the old farm tomcat and his mate had had another litter of kittens earlier that holiday, and she wanted to take one of them. There was a fluffy white kitten that Teecie had fallen in love with, and she wanted that instead of the dumb owl. True the owl was a nice, snowy white owl, but who wanted to cuddle a bird?
As they walked through the aisles of the Flourish and Blotts, collecting the books on her list, she saw a series of books on one of the shelves that interested her. The Many Adventures of Amaris Bradford, the Teen Witch Sleuth. The picture on the cover showed a girl of about 14 years or so, with brown spiky hair. Teecie thought she looked very cool, and decided she had to have those books. Lucius saw Teecie's enthusiasm for them and felt they might help her get excited about school. He thought the girl on the cover was a wholesome looking young lady that would be a good role model for his daughter. He bought Teecie the first three books to get her started.
That evening, Teecie was sitting at her father's feet on the carpet in front of the fireplace. They were reading-Teecie, her first Amaris Bradford book, and Lucius, the Evening Prophet. Teecie sighed, set the book down, and leaned her head against her father's legs. Lucius set his paper down, and looked at his daughter. "What's the matter, honey?" He asked, patting the top of her head.
Teecie sighed again. "I don't think I want to go to Hogwarts, daddy. Can't I stay here with you? Please?" Teecie's voice broke and Lucius could hear her snuffling.
"You're going to have so much fun there. You'll make lots of friends, you won't even miss us! Besides, Draco and your sisters will be there, and so will Uncle Sev. And you have your own owl to send posts home everyday if you want," Lucius spoke soothingly, trying to calm his youngest daughter's fears.
"But I want to stay here, with you and mummy," Teecie cried. "I don't want to be a witch, why can't I be a squib and stay at home?"
"Because, your name was on the list for Hogwarts, that means your supposed to be a witch. I know it's scary right now, you've never been away from us before, and you're going to be doing some new things. But after a few days, you'll get used to it, and you'll be busy learning all sorts of new things. You won't even miss us, I promise," Lucius leaned down and gave his daughter a hug. "Would it help if you took that kitten you wanted, with you?" He asked.
"Can I name him 'Snowball'?" Teecie asked, sniffling.
"You can name him whatever you want. And you can take all of your dolls with you too. You might be able to play with some of the other girls there. And you can take your books. These new books will be fun for you to read," Lucius said pointing to the Amaris book on the floor next to Teecie, "And you can take all of your Anne books. I know she's your favourite because you have the same coloured hair. Remember she had to go away to school too."
"And you'll send me presents?" Teecie asked, looking up at her father with a pitiful look on her face that completely melted her father's heart.
"Of course, I'll send you a box every week," He promised.
"Make sure you send lots of Mars bars, they don't have those there," Teecie said, sounding a little more confident. "And M&M's, and Coke, send some bottles of that too. And potato crisps, and...How 'bout I just send you a list each week?"
Lucius smiled to himself, "Sure, you do that."
Finally September first arrived, and Teecie traveled with her family to King's Cross train station in London. Her mother took her hand and walked through Platform 9 3/4, to the other side. It would be Teecie's first train ride. Reni and Kali followed a minute later, followed by Lucius and the trolley with his daughters' trunks. Three daughters and four trunks-Teecie had ended up taking a few more things than originally planned.
Adriana and Lucius hugged and kissed their daughters goodbye, and watched as they walked away from them and onto the train. Teecie tried not to look back, she knew if she did, she'd never be able to go.
Teecie followed her sisters into a compartment on the train, and sat down, looking out the window. She made Kali sit next to her, snuggling against her for comfort. Several hours later, when Reni and Kali had left to walk around for a while, to look for their friends, the blonde-haired girl Kali had tripped in Madam Malkin's shop came into the compartment. Teecie was reading her battered copy of Anne of Green Gables so deeply, she didn't hear the girl come in. "I saw you in the robe shop last week. What's your name?" Teecie heard a voice ask, startling her out of her reading.
Looking up, she saw a girl with her hands on her hips, smirking at her. "Ticia Orendes," Teecie replied, "But my friends call me 'Teecie'."
"Teecie? That's a dumb name. My name's Lisette Crabbe," Lisette said. She looked at the book in Teecie's hand. "Anne of Green Gables, what kind of stupid Muggle book is that? Are you a Mudblood?"
Teecie couldn't get over how rude this girl was. "What does it matter if I'm a Mudblood? Why do you care?"
"Well, it matters, because everybody knows Mudbloods aren't as good at magic as purebloods are."
"That's dumb. My mother was Muggle-born, and she's the most powerful witch in the entire world! Besides they fought a war a long time ago that proved that everybody's equal. Whoever told you purebloods are better?"
"My father. He's pureblood, so am I."
"Well then, your father's stupid, and so are you for believing him," Teecie said, growing more confident in her anger. She stood up, looking Lisette in the eye. "Get out of my compartment, before I throw you out!"
Lisette smirked again, "You can't throw me out, you don't own this compartment!"
Teecie advanced upon Lisette, taking her wand out of her robes and pointing it at her. "You wanna see a neat trick? I know how to turn a person into an ugly toad. Although, that would be an improvement for you!" Raising her wand high in the air and opening her mouth, she watched as Lisette backed out of the compartment.
"Like you could really do that. I have to go anyway, that's all," Lisette said, scowling and walking away.
Several minutes later, Reni and Kali returned to the compartment to hear the tale of fighting off Lisette. "She looked just like an orc," Teecie said, referring to some of their favourite movies. Kali indulged her sister by cringing at the description, she knew Teecie enjoyed being dramatic.
The day passed, and finally the train arrived at its final destination. The students piled off the train in a jumbled mass. The first year students were called to the front, in order to take the traditional boat ride up to the school. Teecie clung tightly to Kali's hand. "I don't want to go by myself," She whispered, her earlier confidence now gone.
Kali tried to unwind her sister's fingers from her hand without success. "It's a lot of fun Teecie, you'll like it. Reni and I have to go in the carriages to the school. We'll see you there in a little while, all right?"
And that's how Kali found herself holding onto Teecie's hand during the carriage ride to the school. Teecie was firmly wedged in between her two older sisters. "This is so embarrassing," Reni muttered to herself.
"You have to go up to the Sorting Hat by yourself, and that's final!" Kali said, exasperatedly after Teecie begged her to go with her. "You're grown up enough to do that!"
Teecie was miserable, thinking about having to go up there by herself. As the carriages arrived at the school, she had to find out where to catch up with the other first year students. She found a large group of people her age in the main hallway, getting a tour of the school. A man with graying hair was telling them about the history of the school as he led them into the Great Hall.
The other students were already at their tables by the time the first years made it inside the room. Standing huddled about in the middle of the room, they waited as the Sorting Hat sang a song. Then, one by one, they were called up to it. Being an "O", Teecie had a lot of waiting to do until her turn came. She watched as Lisette Crabbe was sorted into Slytherin. She looked around and spotted Reni at the Slytherin table, and Kali at the Ravenclaw table. She saw her brother Draco and Uncle Sev sitting up at the professor's table.
After what felt like forever, Teecie heard her name called out. She slowly walked up to the hat. It was very dirty, she wasn't sure if she wanted to put something that so many other people had worn before her, on her head. Looking wearily at the man who'd led them into the room, she put the hat over her head, as closely as possible without actually touching her curly red hair. She jumped as she heard a voice speaking to her. "Another Orendes, eh? Which house would you like to be in?" The hat asked her, more out of curiosity than anything else.
"Well," Teecie started, thinking about that question, "Yellow doesn't go well with my hair, so not Hufflepuff. Green makes me look ill, so not Slytherin. Blue is cute, but maroon is closest to pink, so I'd say Gryffindor."
The Sorting Hat had never heard a response quite like that before and couldn't help chuckling a little bit. "Well, you're lucky, because Gryffindor it is, but not because it's the closest to pink." Teecie heard cheering from one of the tables. As the hat was taken off her head, she saw the people from her house welcoming her to Gryffindor. Walking down the stairs and over to the table, Teecie found an empty area of the table, and sat down.
As the crowd of first year students dwindled down, Teecie heard a name, "Paige Weasley," and saw a girl who looked a lot like herself, approach the hat. This girl was sorted into Gryffindor. Paige walked over to Teecie, and sat down next to her. The next girl, Patricia Weasley, Paige's twin sister, was sorted into Gryffindor as well. She sat down on the other side of Teecie.
When the sorting had finished, Professor Snape stood up to make his welcoming speech. He wished everybody a good evening, gave a warning about never entering the Forbidden Forest, and told them to eat well, as the food began to appear at the tables.
The Great Hall was soon buzzing with students chattering about their summer holidays, and people catching up with one another. Teecie remained silent, as did the girls on either side of her. She was too nervous to eat anything more than a few bites of mashed potatoes.
As the meal wound down, the professor who'd led them into the room, and called out their names, approached the table and introduced himself as Professor Lupin, Head of Gryffindor House. As he saw the three silent girls, he stopped talking and looked at them. They could have been triplets, yet he knew they were unrelated. Lupin approached them with a warm smile on his face that helped make Teecie feel better. "How are you three young ladies doing this evening?" He asked.
The girls on either side of her remained silent, so Teecie spoke up, "We're doing as well as can be expected, under the circumstances."
Professor Lupin tried to hide the smile growing on his face. "Are the circumstances so bad that you have to cope with?" He asked seriously.
Teecie sighed. "Well, they've been better, I will admit that. These are the times that try the soul," Teecie answered, just as seriously, shaking her head slowly.
Professor Lupin had to bite his cheek in order to keep from laughing out loud at this overly dramatic child. "Well, I'm sure things will look brighter in a few days, after you've adjusted to your new surroundings."
"We can only hope that, can't we?"
Professor Lupin had to end this conversation or he'd insult this adorable child by laughing hysterically at her. "Well, I'd better see to the housing arrangements, if you ladies will excuse me," He bowed politely to the girls before turning on his heel and walking away from them.
After a few more minutes, the students began to leave the Great Hall, following the prefects to their houses. The Gryffindors learned the password, "Bertie Bott," and the painting of the Fat Lady opened up, allowing them all entrance to the tower. Their prefect gave told them all sorts of rules about the house and the school. He showed them where the dormitories were, and they all trickled off to see them.
Teecie found herself in a room with the two Weasley girls from dinner. They were the only girls in their year, so the three beds were spread out. Teecie found her two trunks, the cage with her owl, whom she'd named "Snowflake," and the basket containing her kitten, "Snowball," by one of the four poster beds.
Teecie opened her trunks. One of them contained her clothes, and all the books and equipment she needed for school. The second one contained all the books, dolls, and other clothes she'd brought with her. Fortunately, most rooms were set up for five students, so there was extra room for all her stuff. The other girls didn't seem to have too much to unpack, and didn't mind that Teecie took over the majority of the room.
As Teecie got ready for bed that first night, she put on her favourite pink nightgown, and slipped in between the warm bed sheets. She pulled the curtains and read some more of Anne of Green Gables, before turning out her light.
Perhaps this wouldn't be so horrible after all.