A/N- This is the story formerly known as WEIRD HAPPENINGS AT HOGWARTS but I
finally got off my butt and divided it into chapters, and fixed up the
spelling and grammar. I also improved the fight scene in chapter 10 !
Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think- please review!
Chapter 1
A new year had dawned and there was something in the air at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It wasn't the competitive spirit between the four Hogwarts houses Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, in preparation for the Quidditch cup. Nor was it the aroma of fine foods wafting from the kitchens, in preparation for the traditional start of year feast. However, there was something in the air at Hogwarts, that was for certain, and the year that lay ahead was certainly going to be one full of magical surprises.
The morning sun was shining brightly outside on the huge grounds of Hogwarts but there was little sunshine to be seen in the dimly lit office of Professor McGonagall. Professor Minerva McGonagall was the deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. She was also the head of Gryffindor house and the teacher of transfiguration. Professor McGonagall sat at her desk, quill in hand signing forms. She had a tower of parchment piled on her desk to sign. It seemed the pile of forms was growing, but they all needed to be signed by her, with no magic involved. Her square shaped glasses slid down her nose as single tear trickled down her cheek. It splattered onto the parchment and caused the ink to run. "Oh blast"! She muttered, quickly dabbing the ink.
Professor McGonagall sighed heavily and cleared away the forms to one side of her desk. She replaced her quill in the pot of ink and quickly wiped her eyes. Professor McGonagall stood up and tucked her chair in under the desk. She took a deep breath and decided to join the rest of the staff in the staffroom. In a few hours the newest students of Hogwarts would arrive after their journey across the lake and would be waiting for her to take them to the great hall for their sorting ceremony. "That bloody sorting hat!" Minerva muttered to herself. It was not widely known that she and the sorting hat had.shall we say "creative differences". Nevertheless she hated it with passion. "At least I only have to encounter it once a year" she thought to herself. Although it seemed her strong dislike for the hat seemed to grow each year. Minerva extinguished her oil lamp which sat on her desk, leaving her office in complete darkness. She walked out and with a flick of her wand her office was securely locked.
Professor McGonagall unrolled the parchment which contained all the names of the first year students who were about to be sorted. "Aleckseia Byrne" she called, in a stern tone. A young witch with glossy black hair and luminous yellow eyes approached the stool. She looked very nervous and stayed a great distance away from the Professor as though she was going to bite her. Professor McGonagall was in a very bad mood because of the devilish sorting hat but her face softened when she saw how scared Aleckseia looked. She gave Aleckseia a gentle smile, and patted the stool beckoning her towards it. Aleckseia sat down on the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the dirty brown sorting hat on the head of the witch. "Whatever should I do with you?" the hat sneered. "I'll put you in. Slytherin!" it exclaimed.
"Here we go again", thought Professor McGonagall. She cleared her throat and read out the next student's name. "Felix Buttersworth". A tall, lanky boy with long blonde hair that was spiked up approached the stool. He sat down and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. It rested on the top of his spiky hair and would not fit over it. This was quite a sight indeed and many students smothered their giggles. "What have we here?" the sorting hat taunted. "Are you the son of a porcupine or a pineapple?" Felix blushed deeply. "I think I'll chuck you in Hufflepuff!" Felix was fighting back tears. Professor McGonagall gripped the hat tightly and yanked it off the boy's head. Her heart went out to Felix and it took almost all of her self control to stop herself setting the sorting hat on fire, right there and then and watching it burn.
"Just what did you think you were doing out there? Are you trying to make these new students more nervous than they already are?" Professor McGonagall bellowed. "Why I ought to finish you off!" She gripped the hat firmly and fumbled with her robes trying to find her wand which was hidden deep inside her pocket. Her fingers gripped the wand and she pulled it out and pointed it directly at the hat's wicked sneering face. She raised her wand and was ready to strike. Then all of a sudden a strong hand gripped her shoulder. She turned around and was faced with Albus Dumbledore the headmaster of Hogwarts. "Professor McGonagall! Do calm down at once!" he said with urgency. "But Albus!" she exclaimed. "Did you see what happened out there in the sorting ceremony?
Each year this hat seems to cause more grief and I cannot begin to imagine how much this is upsetting our students. He nodded. "Minerva, I do understand." The headmaster said. "Now would you kindly return to the hall and I shall deal with the sorting hat." Dumbledore said sternly. "As you wish." Said Professor McGonagall coolly, handing him the tatty old hat. She turned on her heel and stormed back to the great hall, her green robes brushing the floor behind her.
The great hall was packed full with the newly sorted first years and the teachers plus the rest of the students dining in true Hogwarts style. The great hall was lavishly decorated and the ceiling was once again bewitched to look like the night sky. There were huge platters all along the tables piled high with the most delicious foods imaginable. In addition, there was brass goblets filled with the finest of juices scattered along the tables. Aleckseia Byrne sat at the Slytherin table looking quite apprehensive. She had barely touched her food and her eyes were darting from person to person. She looked very anxious indeed. All the other first years were beginning to socialise but she sat there quietly without speaking a word.
All of a sudden her face was splashed with pumpkin juice. The girl sitting opposite her had knocked her goblet over and the juice had splashed everywhere. Aleckseia gave a small shriek and looked as though she was about to burst into hysterics. "Good God, I'm terribly sorry!" apologised the girl who had spilt the juice. Aleckseia noticed straight away how wild and curly her chestnut coloured hair was. It spiralled outwards from her head and contrasted greatly with her milky white skin and deep blue eyes. "I'm awfully clumsy! Oh, let me help you!" she said reaching over and wiping Aleckseia's face with her lace handkerchief. "I'm really quite alright" began Aleckseia but was interrupted when a bowl of peas was knocked over by the girl who had been leaning over the table to wipe her face. "Oh blast, I've really done it now!" said the girl in between giggles. "Good one Neecholi!" called a boy who was sitting two places down from Aleckseia.
Peas were scattered everywhere and Aleckseia's face was still dripping with pumpkin juice. "Look you lot, outta the way I can fix it" said a snooty voice. The voice belonged to a fifth year, Draco Malfoy who was sitting down the far end of the Slytherin table. Out of his pocket he produced a fine silver wand. He tapped it twice then called out "Reparo". The mess vanished, the bowl returned to it's original position and Aleckseia's face was clean again like nothing had ever happened. Draco smirked at the first years and replaced his wand. "Simple" he said in a haughty tone. "Brilliant!" said Neecholi in awe. Draco smiled tightly, and strode back to his seat. Neecholi turned to face Aleckseia. "Well now that catastrophe is over I'd like to introduce myself." Neecholi smiled. "I'm Neecholi Leech" she said confidently and stuck her hand out to Aleckseia, knocking over a bowl of tomato soup. The soup spilled all over the table and onto her lap. The ladle crashed onto the floor. Neecholi pulled her hand back. "Oops" she said shamefacedly. "Well I guess I better call Draco over again" Aleckseia said with a smile.
Madame Hooch paced back and forth between her class of first year Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Everyone in the class stood still, with their broomsticks beside them and their backs up straight and tall. Nobody dared to move. Aleckseia was standing next to her new friend Neecholi. Although she was the only friend she had at Hogwarts so far Aleckseia looked like she didn't want to be around her. In fact the whole class seemed uncomfortable around Neecholi because it was their first flying lesson and if she was capable of causing such destruction at a simple sit down dinner like last night who knew what damage she would cause on a broomstick. "Alright" said Madame Hooch in a firm tone. "Welcome to Hogwarts. Today I will be teaching you how to fly on your brooms and I will be keeping an eye out for the talented ones in this bunch.
As you know, there are four Quidditch teams at Hogwarts and this year we will be running things a little different. We will be having four reserve teams. This means you students have a chance of making those teams, and possibly even joining the house teams if you are asked to." Neecholi's eyes lit up. "Quidditch!" she gasped. "I love Quidditch!" Aleckseia looked horrified. "It's very dangerous isn't it?" she asked cautiously. "I mean, many have had terrible accidents! I heard even Harry Potter was almost killed once! He who defeated you-know-who!" Neecholi's face darkened. Aleckseia looked worried. "Uh, did I say something wrong..." she trailed off. Neecholi looked infuriated but her face instantly changed when she met Aleckseia's eyes. "Of course not!" she replied cheerily. "Come on, let's prove ourselves to Hooch, I'm dying to join that Quidditch team!" Neecholi said with enthusiasm. Aleckseia gave her a weak smile. Making the Quidditch team was not at the top of her list for things to accomplish at Hogwarts. In fact it was not on her agenda at all.
The students were waiting in line for their turn to show their broom skills to Madame Hooch. "Neecholi seems really keen on making the Quidditch team" whispered Aleckseia to a fellow Slytherin named Jissikah who happened to share her dormitory. "In that case we better warn Madame Pomfrey in advance!" said Jissikah spitefully. "Neecholi already ruined the feast last night, who knows what kind of damage she could inflict on herself let alone the field and the other players in a game of Quidditch!" Jissikah cackled. Aleckseia forced a laugh. She agreed that Neecholi was not the most co- ordinated witch on the planet but at the same time she wondered why Jissikah was being so nasty. At that very moment a girl went zooming past on her broom. She braked and came to a standstill immediately in mid air. Then she did several quick twirls and spun around upside down in a full loop followed by a wronski feint before landing smoothly on the grass right in front of Madame Hooch. Madame Hooch burst into applause. "Outstanding!" she cried, tears welling in her eyes. She ran over to hug the rider. "What a talent!" She gushed, pulling away from the rider but still gripping her shoulders tightly. "Absolutely sensational! Never have I seen a first year with such great skill! With the ability to cut corners so smoothly and ride with such ease!" Madame Hooch was bursting with pride "I must inform the Slytherin team right away! She said. "Forget the reserves; you belong up with the best of them!" Madame Hooch let go of the girl and stepped backwards, beaming with pride. "Who the hell was that?" Aleckseia wondered. Madame Hooch stepped out of the way and everyone could clearly see the talented rider was none the less that Neecholi Leech, whose modest face was turning a deep shade of crimson.
Harry Potter the fifth year was sitting in the library hunched over his notebook trying to finish his potions assignment. He was scribbling down notes into his book at a speedy pace. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. All of a sudden he was interrupted when his best friend Ron Weasley came over with a large box of Bertie Botts every flavour beans. "Thought you might need some fuel Harry" he said smiling. Harry looked extremely grateful. "Thanks Ron" said Harry, ripping the box of beans open. He took a handful and shovelled them into his mouth. He chewed them thoughtfully. "Nothing beats the taste of salmon, raspberry and beetle dung" said Harry contentedly. Ron burst out laughing. "That's bloody disgusting Harry! I wonder if we will ever get sick of Bertie Botts jellybeans" Ron mused. "Well if there's one thing I'm sick of its Potions! Harry muttered. "Does Snape actually find pleasure in weighing us down with useless homework?" he asked. Ron shrugged. "I haven't even started my assignment! Lighten up Harry; we have two weeks to do it." Ron said casually. "Harry packed up his things. "You're right Ron, I think I'll go easy on myself tonight, no study whatsoever." Ron smiled. "That's the spirit Harry!" he said slapping his friend on the back. "Now let's have some fun tonight! How bout we take your invisibility cloak and hide out in the girls' showers? Harry looked appalled. "Ron!" he said shocked. Then he quickly leaned over to Ron and whispered "let's do it!" Ron gave him a mischievous smile. "This'll be bloody brilliant!"
Chapter 1
A new year had dawned and there was something in the air at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It wasn't the competitive spirit between the four Hogwarts houses Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, in preparation for the Quidditch cup. Nor was it the aroma of fine foods wafting from the kitchens, in preparation for the traditional start of year feast. However, there was something in the air at Hogwarts, that was for certain, and the year that lay ahead was certainly going to be one full of magical surprises.
The morning sun was shining brightly outside on the huge grounds of Hogwarts but there was little sunshine to be seen in the dimly lit office of Professor McGonagall. Professor Minerva McGonagall was the deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. She was also the head of Gryffindor house and the teacher of transfiguration. Professor McGonagall sat at her desk, quill in hand signing forms. She had a tower of parchment piled on her desk to sign. It seemed the pile of forms was growing, but they all needed to be signed by her, with no magic involved. Her square shaped glasses slid down her nose as single tear trickled down her cheek. It splattered onto the parchment and caused the ink to run. "Oh blast"! She muttered, quickly dabbing the ink.
Professor McGonagall sighed heavily and cleared away the forms to one side of her desk. She replaced her quill in the pot of ink and quickly wiped her eyes. Professor McGonagall stood up and tucked her chair in under the desk. She took a deep breath and decided to join the rest of the staff in the staffroom. In a few hours the newest students of Hogwarts would arrive after their journey across the lake and would be waiting for her to take them to the great hall for their sorting ceremony. "That bloody sorting hat!" Minerva muttered to herself. It was not widely known that she and the sorting hat had.shall we say "creative differences". Nevertheless she hated it with passion. "At least I only have to encounter it once a year" she thought to herself. Although it seemed her strong dislike for the hat seemed to grow each year. Minerva extinguished her oil lamp which sat on her desk, leaving her office in complete darkness. She walked out and with a flick of her wand her office was securely locked.
Professor McGonagall unrolled the parchment which contained all the names of the first year students who were about to be sorted. "Aleckseia Byrne" she called, in a stern tone. A young witch with glossy black hair and luminous yellow eyes approached the stool. She looked very nervous and stayed a great distance away from the Professor as though she was going to bite her. Professor McGonagall was in a very bad mood because of the devilish sorting hat but her face softened when she saw how scared Aleckseia looked. She gave Aleckseia a gentle smile, and patted the stool beckoning her towards it. Aleckseia sat down on the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the dirty brown sorting hat on the head of the witch. "Whatever should I do with you?" the hat sneered. "I'll put you in. Slytherin!" it exclaimed.
"Here we go again", thought Professor McGonagall. She cleared her throat and read out the next student's name. "Felix Buttersworth". A tall, lanky boy with long blonde hair that was spiked up approached the stool. He sat down and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. It rested on the top of his spiky hair and would not fit over it. This was quite a sight indeed and many students smothered their giggles. "What have we here?" the sorting hat taunted. "Are you the son of a porcupine or a pineapple?" Felix blushed deeply. "I think I'll chuck you in Hufflepuff!" Felix was fighting back tears. Professor McGonagall gripped the hat tightly and yanked it off the boy's head. Her heart went out to Felix and it took almost all of her self control to stop herself setting the sorting hat on fire, right there and then and watching it burn.
"Just what did you think you were doing out there? Are you trying to make these new students more nervous than they already are?" Professor McGonagall bellowed. "Why I ought to finish you off!" She gripped the hat firmly and fumbled with her robes trying to find her wand which was hidden deep inside her pocket. Her fingers gripped the wand and she pulled it out and pointed it directly at the hat's wicked sneering face. She raised her wand and was ready to strike. Then all of a sudden a strong hand gripped her shoulder. She turned around and was faced with Albus Dumbledore the headmaster of Hogwarts. "Professor McGonagall! Do calm down at once!" he said with urgency. "But Albus!" she exclaimed. "Did you see what happened out there in the sorting ceremony?
Each year this hat seems to cause more grief and I cannot begin to imagine how much this is upsetting our students. He nodded. "Minerva, I do understand." The headmaster said. "Now would you kindly return to the hall and I shall deal with the sorting hat." Dumbledore said sternly. "As you wish." Said Professor McGonagall coolly, handing him the tatty old hat. She turned on her heel and stormed back to the great hall, her green robes brushing the floor behind her.
The great hall was packed full with the newly sorted first years and the teachers plus the rest of the students dining in true Hogwarts style. The great hall was lavishly decorated and the ceiling was once again bewitched to look like the night sky. There were huge platters all along the tables piled high with the most delicious foods imaginable. In addition, there was brass goblets filled with the finest of juices scattered along the tables. Aleckseia Byrne sat at the Slytherin table looking quite apprehensive. She had barely touched her food and her eyes were darting from person to person. She looked very anxious indeed. All the other first years were beginning to socialise but she sat there quietly without speaking a word.
All of a sudden her face was splashed with pumpkin juice. The girl sitting opposite her had knocked her goblet over and the juice had splashed everywhere. Aleckseia gave a small shriek and looked as though she was about to burst into hysterics. "Good God, I'm terribly sorry!" apologised the girl who had spilt the juice. Aleckseia noticed straight away how wild and curly her chestnut coloured hair was. It spiralled outwards from her head and contrasted greatly with her milky white skin and deep blue eyes. "I'm awfully clumsy! Oh, let me help you!" she said reaching over and wiping Aleckseia's face with her lace handkerchief. "I'm really quite alright" began Aleckseia but was interrupted when a bowl of peas was knocked over by the girl who had been leaning over the table to wipe her face. "Oh blast, I've really done it now!" said the girl in between giggles. "Good one Neecholi!" called a boy who was sitting two places down from Aleckseia.
Peas were scattered everywhere and Aleckseia's face was still dripping with pumpkin juice. "Look you lot, outta the way I can fix it" said a snooty voice. The voice belonged to a fifth year, Draco Malfoy who was sitting down the far end of the Slytherin table. Out of his pocket he produced a fine silver wand. He tapped it twice then called out "Reparo". The mess vanished, the bowl returned to it's original position and Aleckseia's face was clean again like nothing had ever happened. Draco smirked at the first years and replaced his wand. "Simple" he said in a haughty tone. "Brilliant!" said Neecholi in awe. Draco smiled tightly, and strode back to his seat. Neecholi turned to face Aleckseia. "Well now that catastrophe is over I'd like to introduce myself." Neecholi smiled. "I'm Neecholi Leech" she said confidently and stuck her hand out to Aleckseia, knocking over a bowl of tomato soup. The soup spilled all over the table and onto her lap. The ladle crashed onto the floor. Neecholi pulled her hand back. "Oops" she said shamefacedly. "Well I guess I better call Draco over again" Aleckseia said with a smile.
Madame Hooch paced back and forth between her class of first year Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Everyone in the class stood still, with their broomsticks beside them and their backs up straight and tall. Nobody dared to move. Aleckseia was standing next to her new friend Neecholi. Although she was the only friend she had at Hogwarts so far Aleckseia looked like she didn't want to be around her. In fact the whole class seemed uncomfortable around Neecholi because it was their first flying lesson and if she was capable of causing such destruction at a simple sit down dinner like last night who knew what damage she would cause on a broomstick. "Alright" said Madame Hooch in a firm tone. "Welcome to Hogwarts. Today I will be teaching you how to fly on your brooms and I will be keeping an eye out for the talented ones in this bunch.
As you know, there are four Quidditch teams at Hogwarts and this year we will be running things a little different. We will be having four reserve teams. This means you students have a chance of making those teams, and possibly even joining the house teams if you are asked to." Neecholi's eyes lit up. "Quidditch!" she gasped. "I love Quidditch!" Aleckseia looked horrified. "It's very dangerous isn't it?" she asked cautiously. "I mean, many have had terrible accidents! I heard even Harry Potter was almost killed once! He who defeated you-know-who!" Neecholi's face darkened. Aleckseia looked worried. "Uh, did I say something wrong..." she trailed off. Neecholi looked infuriated but her face instantly changed when she met Aleckseia's eyes. "Of course not!" she replied cheerily. "Come on, let's prove ourselves to Hooch, I'm dying to join that Quidditch team!" Neecholi said with enthusiasm. Aleckseia gave her a weak smile. Making the Quidditch team was not at the top of her list for things to accomplish at Hogwarts. In fact it was not on her agenda at all.
The students were waiting in line for their turn to show their broom skills to Madame Hooch. "Neecholi seems really keen on making the Quidditch team" whispered Aleckseia to a fellow Slytherin named Jissikah who happened to share her dormitory. "In that case we better warn Madame Pomfrey in advance!" said Jissikah spitefully. "Neecholi already ruined the feast last night, who knows what kind of damage she could inflict on herself let alone the field and the other players in a game of Quidditch!" Jissikah cackled. Aleckseia forced a laugh. She agreed that Neecholi was not the most co- ordinated witch on the planet but at the same time she wondered why Jissikah was being so nasty. At that very moment a girl went zooming past on her broom. She braked and came to a standstill immediately in mid air. Then she did several quick twirls and spun around upside down in a full loop followed by a wronski feint before landing smoothly on the grass right in front of Madame Hooch. Madame Hooch burst into applause. "Outstanding!" she cried, tears welling in her eyes. She ran over to hug the rider. "What a talent!" She gushed, pulling away from the rider but still gripping her shoulders tightly. "Absolutely sensational! Never have I seen a first year with such great skill! With the ability to cut corners so smoothly and ride with such ease!" Madame Hooch was bursting with pride "I must inform the Slytherin team right away! She said. "Forget the reserves; you belong up with the best of them!" Madame Hooch let go of the girl and stepped backwards, beaming with pride. "Who the hell was that?" Aleckseia wondered. Madame Hooch stepped out of the way and everyone could clearly see the talented rider was none the less that Neecholi Leech, whose modest face was turning a deep shade of crimson.
Harry Potter the fifth year was sitting in the library hunched over his notebook trying to finish his potions assignment. He was scribbling down notes into his book at a speedy pace. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. All of a sudden he was interrupted when his best friend Ron Weasley came over with a large box of Bertie Botts every flavour beans. "Thought you might need some fuel Harry" he said smiling. Harry looked extremely grateful. "Thanks Ron" said Harry, ripping the box of beans open. He took a handful and shovelled them into his mouth. He chewed them thoughtfully. "Nothing beats the taste of salmon, raspberry and beetle dung" said Harry contentedly. Ron burst out laughing. "That's bloody disgusting Harry! I wonder if we will ever get sick of Bertie Botts jellybeans" Ron mused. "Well if there's one thing I'm sick of its Potions! Harry muttered. "Does Snape actually find pleasure in weighing us down with useless homework?" he asked. Ron shrugged. "I haven't even started my assignment! Lighten up Harry; we have two weeks to do it." Ron said casually. "Harry packed up his things. "You're right Ron, I think I'll go easy on myself tonight, no study whatsoever." Ron smiled. "That's the spirit Harry!" he said slapping his friend on the back. "Now let's have some fun tonight! How bout we take your invisibility cloak and hide out in the girls' showers? Harry looked appalled. "Ron!" he said shocked. Then he quickly leaned over to Ron and whispered "let's do it!" Ron gave him a mischievous smile. "This'll be bloody brilliant!"