Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I really DO own, Jo, Jen and
Tom.
HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGE'S RETURN
By Kat
CHAPTER ONE: NEW STUDENT, NEW TEACHER
Ixana Mage made her solitary way down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express hugging her cat Sam just a little too tightly to her chest. Normally, the honey colored tabby would protest at this treatment, but Sam, like most cats, could sense his mistress' distress and so, being a kind sort of cat, he allowed her to squish him a little in reassurance. Sam had been the only constant in Ix's life for four years, that and being solitary, but recently her life had gone through such a major upheaval, it was no wonder she was clinging to her tabby.
Ix had spent the last four years going the Old Tara School of Magic in Ireland, and though they hadn't been happy years, she was still nervous about her transfer to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had no idea what Hogwarts was like, and she was sure that if nothing else, she would miss the Tara school itself.
Old Tara was a beautiful place. The school was held in the old underground palace of the Sidhe, and though the High Faeries had long gone, the palace still held all of the majesty and wonder of the Sealy Court.
The people however, had not been so majestical or wonderful. For the first three years of her enrolment there, her fellow students and teachers had been content to ignore Ix as much as possible. Ix hadn't really minded this, she was a hermit at heart, and all she needed in life was Sam and her art and magic. But last year, with the increasing threat of Voldemort and the confirmation of his return at the end of the year had turned everyone at Old Tara decidedly against her. They had been so hostile towards her and made her life so miserable that when she had returned home for the summer holidays she had burst into tears (something she rarely did in public) and refused to ever return to that school again.
Her father had ranted and raved, sent angry owls to the Headmaster and accused him of prejudice and bigotry. When he received no reply, Ixana's mother had glanced at her doleful daughter and decided firmly that she would be transferred to Hogwarts for the remainder of her schooling.
So it was that Ixana now found herself nervously looking for a compartment on the Hogwarts Express on the first of September, about to start her fifth year of Wizard's school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
She absentmindedly fell over a round-faced boy who had been kneeling on the ground.
"Ow. Sorry." Ix mumbled blushing a little in embarrassment.
"Oh, no, I'm sorry," said the boy, blushing as well, "I was looking for my toad, have you seen him?"
Ixana shook her head no and the boy gave a long-suffering sigh.
"This always happens," he moaned, "I don't understand why Trevor insists on always disappearing!"
"Maybe Sam can help?" Ixana asked, holding her cat up for inspection. Sam closed his eyes and purred, "He's very smart." Ix assured the boy.
"Oh really? That would be brilliant! My name's Neville Longbottom, I don't believe we've met before," Neville stood up and reached out a hand to help Ixana up to her feet.
"My name's Ixana," Ixana replied. It was amazing, she hadn't even got to the school yet and she was already meeting people. Hogwarts must be a fantastic place.
"Are you a Hufflepuff or something?" Neville asked politely as Ix asked Sam to find Trevor and but her cat to the ground.
"Sorry what?" Ix asked.
"I asked if you were a Hufflepuff. I was wondering why I've never seen you before."
"You haven't seen me before because I just transferred here from Old Tara. What's a Hufflepuff?"
"Oh!" Exclaimed her companion. Here it comes, Ix thought, he'll find out why I left and then he'll start ignoring me like everyone else.
Neville however, did nothing of the sort. He simply started to follow Sam and explain about the Houses at Hogwarts.
"I thought for sure I would be a Hufflepuff," He confided, "But the sorting hat put me in Gryffindor. I still haven't really figured that one out. Ah! Trevor! Thanks Ixana!" Neville bent down eagerly to scoop up a very large toad. Ixana noticed that the toad looked extremely put out by the fact that it had been found.
Neville proceeded to lead Ix to a compartment, talking brightly about all the teachers at Hogwarts and his favorite subject, which was Herbology, and consequently the only subject he did well in.
"Really?" Ix asked in interest, "My mother owns an Herbology shop."
Neville's entire face lit up and the two students chatted happily about magical plants, Neville barely stopping for breath as he opened the door to a compartment and sat down in one of the seats, motioning for Ix to sit across from him.
"Going to introduce us Neville?" asked an amused female voice. Both Neville and Ixana started and turned around to stare at a girl with bushy brown hair and a prefect's badge pinned to her robes sitting next to Neville.
"Oh! Hermione! This is Ixana, she just transferred from Old Tara." Neville explained going slightly red in the face.
"Old Tara? Where's that?" asked a boy sitting in a corner. Ixana turned to look at him and realized with a shock of recognition (triggered by the lightning shaped scar on his forehead) that she was sitting in a train compartment with Harry Potter.
"Meath, in Southern Ireland. Honestly, don't you read?" Hermione asked in an exasperated tone.
"Not often," Harry replied lightly. Ixana got the feeling that this was well-trodden ground, and also that Hermione and Harry were very old, and very good friends.
"Why did you transfer?" Asked a tall boy with flaming red hair, freckles and a long nose. He also was wearing a badge.
It was the question she'd been dreading. Ixana tried to speak but couldn't find the proper words to explain it all.
"Oh leave her alone Ron," said a girl who was obviously his sister, "that's her own business."
"I only ASKED, Ginny, you don't have to bite my head off!" Ron replied hotly.
"So, what year are you in Ixana?" Ginny asked, smoothly ignoring her brother.
"F- fifth," Ix told her.
"Brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed, "So am I! I hope you get into Gryffindor, we can study for our OWLs together."
Ix smiled at her, and was about to reply when the door burst open and in walked a pale, sneering boy flanked by what looked like a pair of hairless Gorillas. Harry and Ron immediately stood up and glared at them. Ginny looked apprehensive, Neville a little scared and Hermione (Ix was starting to notice that this was a common expression on her face) looked exasperated.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry growled coldly.
"I'm just taking a look around Potter," the pale boy sneered in what Ixana supposed was an attempt at innocent indignation, "I'm allowed to do that aren't I?"
"Well take a look somewhere else Malfoy before I hex you!" Ron snarled.
"Tsk, tsk," Malfoy shook his head, "And this is how a prefect acts on the first day of school? You'll lose your badge Weasley if you're not careful."
"And you'll lose a lot more if you don't leave us alone!" Harry snapped, "I'm sick of you Malfoy! I'm warning you, I doubt I'll be in the mood to tolerate your crap this year. You'd better watch it."
"My "crap" is what's going to get tolerated, Potter, just you wait! You're on the losing team, I warned you, but you wouldn't listen. The Dark Lord will have his revenge, and so will I!"
Ixana stared in alarm at the unfolding drama. Harry and Ron looked as if they would turn into wolves any minute and rip Malfoy's throat out. Ginny and Hermione placed restraining hands on Ron and Harry's shoulders respectively.
"Get off me Ginny!" Ron yelled.
"Yeah, let him go, let's see what the Weasle can do!" Malfoy sneered.
"Is anything wrong?" asked a polite voice behind Malfoy.
Malfoy jumped around and stared at the tall figure behind him squeaking "who the Hell are you?!" in his surprise.
The man sighed much in the same way Hermione had.
"Please don't use such language. It's unbecoming. My name is Jorin Mage and I'm you're new History of Magic teacher. I repeat: is anything wrong?"
Malfoy was saved from answering (which he did not seem very capable of doing anyways) by Ixana giving a shrill squeal and fighting her way past the three Slytherins to attach herself delightedly to Professor Mage's middle.
"Uncle Jo!" She trilled, "What are you doing here? I'm so happy to see you!"
"Ix!" Jo said happily ruffling her hair. "How's my favorite niece?"
"I'm your only niece." Ix pointed out.
"That's true." Jo smiled, "I told your dad not to tell you I was coming here to teach. I wanted it to be a surprise." He held her at arms length, peering anxiously at his nieces face. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle took the opportunity to sneak away, while Hermione took the opportunity to notice that Ix and Jo did in fact look remarkably similar. They were both tall and lean, and they both had the exact same color hair, which was a surprising shade of goldish orange. The only real differences she could remark (besides the obvious disparity in age and sex) was that Professor Mage's eyes were dark forest green and Ixana's were light turquoise and Ixana had long wavy hair tied untidily in a ponytail whereas her uncles was, well, kind of all over the place. It was actually quite similar to Harry's.
"I heard what happened Ix," Jo was saying seriously now, looking down at his niece, "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"
Ix could feel the tears start to well in her eyes at her favorite uncles words but she forced them down and nodded. She turned abruptly and introduced him to the rest of the people in the compartment. When she got to Harry, Jo stared at him for a long time, an unreadable look on his face. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes: he was use to it.
"Umm... Sir?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes Hermione?" Jo asked smiling at her so that his eyes crinkled. He smiles like Lupin, Hermione thought suddenly, and got an inexplicable conviction that he would be a great teacher.
"Well, you said that you are our new History of Magic teacher. Uh, what happened to Professor Binns?"
"The Headmaster laid him to rest. It took a lot of conversations via magic mirror to convince Professor Binns that I was, in fact, an adequately competent History teacher, but in the end he seemed satisfied to leave his class in my care and finally make the final journey."
"Magic Mirror?" Harry asked, putting this fact and his accent together in his mind, "Are you American?"
"Canadian," Professor Mage answered, "I was actually born in Ireland, but I moved to Canada when I was one." He smiled around at the company, "Well, I will be seeing you all soon," he looked at his watch, "We should be arriving at Hogsmede Station shortly." He gave Ixana a light squeeze on the shoulder and walked down the corridor. When he was safely out of sight Ginny got up to close the compartment door.
"Wow Ix," she said, "your uncle is brilliant!"
Hermione nodded in agreement.
A/N: Thanks to my mommy for editing this story, and thanks to Fred for the wonderful ideas and suggestions. I'm sorry that there is so many Original Characters, it started with Ix, but I didn't have a plot, then when I thought of Jo as the new teacher, and the fact that Ix and Jo are both named "Mage" (completely coincidental by the way) the plot just fell into place. And I couldn't have Jo without Tom and Jen; they are all characters from a comic I will hopefully someday write. Besides, there are entirely too little Canadian characters in the world, so here is my contribution of three. Though Jen is actually only a resident. If you don't like OC, then don't read this, but they are such lovely characters, please give them a try? *Huggles,* Kat.
HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGE'S RETURN
By Kat
CHAPTER ONE: NEW STUDENT, NEW TEACHER
Ixana Mage made her solitary way down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express hugging her cat Sam just a little too tightly to her chest. Normally, the honey colored tabby would protest at this treatment, but Sam, like most cats, could sense his mistress' distress and so, being a kind sort of cat, he allowed her to squish him a little in reassurance. Sam had been the only constant in Ix's life for four years, that and being solitary, but recently her life had gone through such a major upheaval, it was no wonder she was clinging to her tabby.
Ix had spent the last four years going the Old Tara School of Magic in Ireland, and though they hadn't been happy years, she was still nervous about her transfer to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had no idea what Hogwarts was like, and she was sure that if nothing else, she would miss the Tara school itself.
Old Tara was a beautiful place. The school was held in the old underground palace of the Sidhe, and though the High Faeries had long gone, the palace still held all of the majesty and wonder of the Sealy Court.
The people however, had not been so majestical or wonderful. For the first three years of her enrolment there, her fellow students and teachers had been content to ignore Ix as much as possible. Ix hadn't really minded this, she was a hermit at heart, and all she needed in life was Sam and her art and magic. But last year, with the increasing threat of Voldemort and the confirmation of his return at the end of the year had turned everyone at Old Tara decidedly against her. They had been so hostile towards her and made her life so miserable that when she had returned home for the summer holidays she had burst into tears (something she rarely did in public) and refused to ever return to that school again.
Her father had ranted and raved, sent angry owls to the Headmaster and accused him of prejudice and bigotry. When he received no reply, Ixana's mother had glanced at her doleful daughter and decided firmly that she would be transferred to Hogwarts for the remainder of her schooling.
So it was that Ixana now found herself nervously looking for a compartment on the Hogwarts Express on the first of September, about to start her fifth year of Wizard's school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
She absentmindedly fell over a round-faced boy who had been kneeling on the ground.
"Ow. Sorry." Ix mumbled blushing a little in embarrassment.
"Oh, no, I'm sorry," said the boy, blushing as well, "I was looking for my toad, have you seen him?"
Ixana shook her head no and the boy gave a long-suffering sigh.
"This always happens," he moaned, "I don't understand why Trevor insists on always disappearing!"
"Maybe Sam can help?" Ixana asked, holding her cat up for inspection. Sam closed his eyes and purred, "He's very smart." Ix assured the boy.
"Oh really? That would be brilliant! My name's Neville Longbottom, I don't believe we've met before," Neville stood up and reached out a hand to help Ixana up to her feet.
"My name's Ixana," Ixana replied. It was amazing, she hadn't even got to the school yet and she was already meeting people. Hogwarts must be a fantastic place.
"Are you a Hufflepuff or something?" Neville asked politely as Ix asked Sam to find Trevor and but her cat to the ground.
"Sorry what?" Ix asked.
"I asked if you were a Hufflepuff. I was wondering why I've never seen you before."
"You haven't seen me before because I just transferred here from Old Tara. What's a Hufflepuff?"
"Oh!" Exclaimed her companion. Here it comes, Ix thought, he'll find out why I left and then he'll start ignoring me like everyone else.
Neville however, did nothing of the sort. He simply started to follow Sam and explain about the Houses at Hogwarts.
"I thought for sure I would be a Hufflepuff," He confided, "But the sorting hat put me in Gryffindor. I still haven't really figured that one out. Ah! Trevor! Thanks Ixana!" Neville bent down eagerly to scoop up a very large toad. Ixana noticed that the toad looked extremely put out by the fact that it had been found.
Neville proceeded to lead Ix to a compartment, talking brightly about all the teachers at Hogwarts and his favorite subject, which was Herbology, and consequently the only subject he did well in.
"Really?" Ix asked in interest, "My mother owns an Herbology shop."
Neville's entire face lit up and the two students chatted happily about magical plants, Neville barely stopping for breath as he opened the door to a compartment and sat down in one of the seats, motioning for Ix to sit across from him.
"Going to introduce us Neville?" asked an amused female voice. Both Neville and Ixana started and turned around to stare at a girl with bushy brown hair and a prefect's badge pinned to her robes sitting next to Neville.
"Oh! Hermione! This is Ixana, she just transferred from Old Tara." Neville explained going slightly red in the face.
"Old Tara? Where's that?" asked a boy sitting in a corner. Ixana turned to look at him and realized with a shock of recognition (triggered by the lightning shaped scar on his forehead) that she was sitting in a train compartment with Harry Potter.
"Meath, in Southern Ireland. Honestly, don't you read?" Hermione asked in an exasperated tone.
"Not often," Harry replied lightly. Ixana got the feeling that this was well-trodden ground, and also that Hermione and Harry were very old, and very good friends.
"Why did you transfer?" Asked a tall boy with flaming red hair, freckles and a long nose. He also was wearing a badge.
It was the question she'd been dreading. Ixana tried to speak but couldn't find the proper words to explain it all.
"Oh leave her alone Ron," said a girl who was obviously his sister, "that's her own business."
"I only ASKED, Ginny, you don't have to bite my head off!" Ron replied hotly.
"So, what year are you in Ixana?" Ginny asked, smoothly ignoring her brother.
"F- fifth," Ix told her.
"Brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed, "So am I! I hope you get into Gryffindor, we can study for our OWLs together."
Ix smiled at her, and was about to reply when the door burst open and in walked a pale, sneering boy flanked by what looked like a pair of hairless Gorillas. Harry and Ron immediately stood up and glared at them. Ginny looked apprehensive, Neville a little scared and Hermione (Ix was starting to notice that this was a common expression on her face) looked exasperated.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry growled coldly.
"I'm just taking a look around Potter," the pale boy sneered in what Ixana supposed was an attempt at innocent indignation, "I'm allowed to do that aren't I?"
"Well take a look somewhere else Malfoy before I hex you!" Ron snarled.
"Tsk, tsk," Malfoy shook his head, "And this is how a prefect acts on the first day of school? You'll lose your badge Weasley if you're not careful."
"And you'll lose a lot more if you don't leave us alone!" Harry snapped, "I'm sick of you Malfoy! I'm warning you, I doubt I'll be in the mood to tolerate your crap this year. You'd better watch it."
"My "crap" is what's going to get tolerated, Potter, just you wait! You're on the losing team, I warned you, but you wouldn't listen. The Dark Lord will have his revenge, and so will I!"
Ixana stared in alarm at the unfolding drama. Harry and Ron looked as if they would turn into wolves any minute and rip Malfoy's throat out. Ginny and Hermione placed restraining hands on Ron and Harry's shoulders respectively.
"Get off me Ginny!" Ron yelled.
"Yeah, let him go, let's see what the Weasle can do!" Malfoy sneered.
"Is anything wrong?" asked a polite voice behind Malfoy.
Malfoy jumped around and stared at the tall figure behind him squeaking "who the Hell are you?!" in his surprise.
The man sighed much in the same way Hermione had.
"Please don't use such language. It's unbecoming. My name is Jorin Mage and I'm you're new History of Magic teacher. I repeat: is anything wrong?"
Malfoy was saved from answering (which he did not seem very capable of doing anyways) by Ixana giving a shrill squeal and fighting her way past the three Slytherins to attach herself delightedly to Professor Mage's middle.
"Uncle Jo!" She trilled, "What are you doing here? I'm so happy to see you!"
"Ix!" Jo said happily ruffling her hair. "How's my favorite niece?"
"I'm your only niece." Ix pointed out.
"That's true." Jo smiled, "I told your dad not to tell you I was coming here to teach. I wanted it to be a surprise." He held her at arms length, peering anxiously at his nieces face. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle took the opportunity to sneak away, while Hermione took the opportunity to notice that Ix and Jo did in fact look remarkably similar. They were both tall and lean, and they both had the exact same color hair, which was a surprising shade of goldish orange. The only real differences she could remark (besides the obvious disparity in age and sex) was that Professor Mage's eyes were dark forest green and Ixana's were light turquoise and Ixana had long wavy hair tied untidily in a ponytail whereas her uncles was, well, kind of all over the place. It was actually quite similar to Harry's.
"I heard what happened Ix," Jo was saying seriously now, looking down at his niece, "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"
Ix could feel the tears start to well in her eyes at her favorite uncles words but she forced them down and nodded. She turned abruptly and introduced him to the rest of the people in the compartment. When she got to Harry, Jo stared at him for a long time, an unreadable look on his face. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes: he was use to it.
"Umm... Sir?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes Hermione?" Jo asked smiling at her so that his eyes crinkled. He smiles like Lupin, Hermione thought suddenly, and got an inexplicable conviction that he would be a great teacher.
"Well, you said that you are our new History of Magic teacher. Uh, what happened to Professor Binns?"
"The Headmaster laid him to rest. It took a lot of conversations via magic mirror to convince Professor Binns that I was, in fact, an adequately competent History teacher, but in the end he seemed satisfied to leave his class in my care and finally make the final journey."
"Magic Mirror?" Harry asked, putting this fact and his accent together in his mind, "Are you American?"
"Canadian," Professor Mage answered, "I was actually born in Ireland, but I moved to Canada when I was one." He smiled around at the company, "Well, I will be seeing you all soon," he looked at his watch, "We should be arriving at Hogsmede Station shortly." He gave Ixana a light squeeze on the shoulder and walked down the corridor. When he was safely out of sight Ginny got up to close the compartment door.
"Wow Ix," she said, "your uncle is brilliant!"
Hermione nodded in agreement.
A/N: Thanks to my mommy for editing this story, and thanks to Fred for the wonderful ideas and suggestions. I'm sorry that there is so many Original Characters, it started with Ix, but I didn't have a plot, then when I thought of Jo as the new teacher, and the fact that Ix and Jo are both named "Mage" (completely coincidental by the way) the plot just fell into place. And I couldn't have Jo without Tom and Jen; they are all characters from a comic I will hopefully someday write. Besides, there are entirely too little Canadian characters in the world, so here is my contribution of three. Though Jen is actually only a resident. If you don't like OC, then don't read this, but they are such lovely characters, please give them a try? *Huggles,* Kat.