Diane Lupin was the probably the most excited young girl on the Platform. Which was completely fair, as for nearly six years of her life she had believed she would be unable to attend due to her… condition.
"You'll write me lots, won't you?" Diane's little brother, Romulus, piped up. Rom was six years old, born only a few months before Diane's… condition formed.
"Of course I will, Rom!" Diane beamed. "Who else would I write to?"
"Be good, Diane," Diane's mother ruffled her hair. "And have fun."
"I will! I promise," Diane began to board the train as she attempted to fix her hair, but she couldn't put hair back in her braid without re-doing the whole thing, and she didn't have time for that. "I'll learn everything I can. I've been given a great opportunity and I won't waste it, no matter what!"
Diane's family waved as she boarded the train fully and she waved back for a moment before turning to go find a seat on the train.
After wandering down the train a ways and seeing no-where empty to sit, Diane was approached by a girl with long blond pigtails, seemingly out of the blue.
"Are you lost? Would you like to sit here with me and my friends? My name's Lorelei, by the way, what's yours?" All of this was said incredibly fast, like if she didn't say it quickly she wouldn't say it at all.
"Lorelei, when I said ask her if she wants to sit with us, I didn't mean 'scare her off'!" a laugh emitted from the compartment behind Lorelei. Looking over Lorelei's shoulder, Diane saw two girls with black hair - one of definitely Indian descent wearing glasses, and a white girl with her hair in a bun. Both were giggling.
"S-sorry!" Lorelei blushed, and Diane smiled.
"Sure, I'd love to sit with you!" she grinned. Just because she made friends didn't mean they had to know about her affliction, right? "My name is Diane Lupin."
Lorelei grinned and scurried to sit back down as Diane walked in and sat down as well - Lorelei next to the girl with glasses, and Diane next to the girl with a bun. The dark-haired girls both grinned at Diane - wide, almost predatory grins.
"So, Miss Lupin, I'm Lizzie Potter, and the one next to you is Juliet Black," the glasses girl chirped as she fixed her glasses so that they were perched in a perfectly jaunty manner across her nose. "It's nice to meet you! Well, probably."
"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" Diane recoiled away from Potter, frowning. Had she been tricked? Did they know what she was?
"Nothing!" Potter laughed at the look on Diane's face. "It means nothing except that we can't predict the future, and one day this memory of meeting may become bittersweet."
"Somehow, I don't think Diane thinks your extensional philosophy is very funny, Lizzie," Juliet shook her head. "Try something else."
"Fine," Lizzie pouted. "Sorry, Diane. I really was trying to be funny, but I think that I may have scared you instead."
"That would be an accurate assessment," Diane could feel her eye twitching. Lorelei and Juliet seemed decent enough, but Lizzie seemed unable to read her audience, and as a result, a bit annoying. And yet, her open body language clearly showed her to be a perfectly nice person. How interesting.
"Yeah, Liz," Juliet snarked, "Philosophy isn't funny. Get with the trends, really now!" Juliet waved her hand impatiently through the air, and Diane giggled.
The train ride continued, and the four girls got to know each-other better. Diane learned that Lorelei was worried she was going to flunk every class, Juliet despised her family and would give the world to not be in Slytherin, and that Lizzie was actually funny, but couldn't read her audience worth an earwax-flavored Bertie Bott's.
Of course, with all the sharing and getting to know each-other, Diane still held her secret close to her chest. They couldn't know, one slip up and she'd be sent back home, Headmistress Dumbledore was already taking a huge risk letting her attend in the first place. So as the conversation progressed, Diane kept her words purposely vague and told them very little.
The education of someone like her was technically illegal, after all. If they knew, if they told, she wouldn't be the only one crushed by the scandal.
The train reached the school at about six in the evening, which would allow for every first-year to get in the school and get sorted before the choosing of guardians at about seven-thirty. Diane wasn't concerned with the guardians ceremony. She wouldn't get chosen, after all, not with her condition. But she hoped one of the other girls she had been riding with got it. Juliet in particular seemed like a strong candidate in her eyes.
After boating and shuffling and speeches, they were finally lead into the Great Hall, and the Sorting Ceremony began. After a student was sorted, they all stood in a perfect line to wait for the Guardians Ceremony.
Diane couldn't help but to shuffle her feet nervously as the Sorting began. What if the Hat wouldn't sort her? What if it just opened it's rip of a mouth and told the whole room what she was?
"Black, Juliet!" was the first name called that Diane recognized. To her delight, and Juliet's obvious relief, the hat yelled out "Gryffindor!" almost the moment she sat down.
"Evans, Lilybeth!" was sorted into Gryffindor, Diane noted somewhere in the back of her mind. She didn't know the vast majority of the people here, and as a result didn't care where they ended up.
Finally, after what felt like ages to Diane, Professor Thoth McGonagall, a severe and intimidating man, called out "Lupin, Diane!" and she moved up to put on the Hat.
The Hat seemed to hum as it sat on her head, like it was thinking, thinking deeply. Diane swore she'd never felt so nervous in all her life. She gripped her sleeves in her hands. The silence seemed to stretch on forever. Finally, the hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!" before promptly falling silent again.
Diane smiled as she got up and took her place in the inward-facing lineup for the Choosing of Guardians. She'd passed the first hurdle. Sure, there were more hurdles to come, but that was hardly the point, and besides, if she handled them one at a time, none of them would seem that big!
The sorting continued on, but only three people really stood out to Diane. The other two girls from the train both became Gryffindors, and an interesting-looking girl with a short black bob announced as "Snape, Vera!" who was sorted into Slytherin.
After the Sorting finished, Professor McGonagall stood in front of them again and gave another speech.
"Every year, magic itself selects a number of eleven-year-olds born of magic to protect this world from harm. Now, magic is preparing to select more, and you are now eleven. May the future Guardians be blessed and the rest of you also find success in improving our world in your own way." He smiled, and it almost looked sad.
Suddenly, a glow emanated from the ceiling and six tendrils of light spun downward around each other, causing a collective gasp from the hall. Six? Usually there were only one or two Guardians chosen per year at Hogwarts. What on earth could this increase mean?
Diane, for her part, felt mesmerized by the light. No, it wasn't light - it was pure magic, meant only for those who could best protect the interests of wizards and witches everywhere. The tendrils neared the floor and stopped twirling around each other and leveled out, speeding towards the line of students. One of them almost looked like it was heading for Diane, but that was impossible.
Except sometimes the impossible is indeed possible, for one of the tendrils slammed into Diane's chest and knocked the air of her lungs as the world seemed to turn golden for a moment. Then, as quickly as the sensation came, it faded away.
Diane stared blankly ahead of her, feeling a heavy weight clutched in her hand. It seemed like forever before she managed to gather the courage to look down and see what the weight was. To her complete disbelief and mounting adoration, it was her wand, transformed into a Guardian's staff. Her staff was a glistening gold, headed by a wonderful and unrealistically large round ruby. As Diane kept looking at herself, she noticed her outfit.
Now, every Guardian had an outfit that was connected to the power magic had gifted them. The outfit was what allowed them to access this extra power, because the human body could only handle so much magic. This circumvention tool was also highly connected to the Guardian's personality, so every one looked different and changed as the Guardian who wore it aged and changed.
Diane's outfit was a red knee-length dress with long, drooping sleeves and golden trim, with boots to match. And underneath, she was also wearing a pair of golden tights. It was beautiful - and nothing she had ever believed she would get a chance to wear.
A few minutes passed, and Diane spent them twirling and attempting to get a better look at herself. She was only really broken out of this hypnotic activity when Professor McGonagall announced they ought to sit down for the feast now, and the new Guardians would come see him in his office after the feast.
Summoned to a Professor's office already? Even for such a benign reason - did McGonagall know? Would she tell the other Guardians? Diane reached up and began playing with her braid as she walked to her seat.