First of all, I apologize for not doing the Grace Kabra-Cahill story first. While I have some of it planned out, the writing just isn't flowing for me, so I'm writing the story of Amy's years at Hogwarts first. Keep in mind that all characters from the 39 clues series will be slightly OOC, especially the kids, because they haven't had quite as much parental influence yet.

And so let a hopefully epic story begin!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plotline.

"Happy Birthday, Amy!"

Whuh?

"Amy! It's your eleventh birthday! Wake up!"

"Dan, I'm still half asleep. Wait a second." Amy blinked a few times, picked up her glasses, and felt more awake. "Okay. I'm up. What now?"

"You got a little bit of mail, and some presents!" Dan replied.

"I'll check the mail first." As they went downstairs, Amy felt… different than usual. More alive. In the mail pile, nothing really stood out except one large letter with green writing. "Huh? What's this?"

"Open it! It looks mysterious!" Just then, the doorbell rang.

As Dan rushed to the door, Amy turned over the letter. It said,

Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Hello," said the person who had come in the door. "My name is Minerva McGonagall."

As Amy walked through the brick wall, she was glad that the Professor had told her about it. She would have never looked there. By the time she got onto the train, after loading her light bags, there was only one compartment that had a space, and it had some third-years and a sleeping teacher in it. "Um, h-h-hi, c-c-an I-I sit h-here?" she trembled.

One of them, a girl with bushy, brown hair, recognized her dilemma instantly. "Of course, Ron can move over and you can sit next to me."

"Hey, why do I have to move?" grinned an overenthusiastic redhead. "Why can't Harry and you switch?"

The girl chose not to respond, instead pointed her wand at him.

"Moving!" he quickly said, switching to the other seat.

The girl lowered her wand. "You can sit next to me. What's your name?"

"A-amy C-cahill." She stuttered.

"Hi, Amy. My name's Hermione Granger. The idiot over there is Ron Weasley, and he's Harry Potter."

Amy gasped. "I-I'm not magical, but I've read about you! You defeated You-Know-Who when you were a baby, but your p-parents d-died…" she trailed off.

Hermione noticed the stutter coming back when she talked about Harry's parents, making her wonder what had happened to Amy's own parents.

"So, you're muggleborn, but you read all of the books? Sounds like 'Mione here. She also read all of the books before–" Hermione had hexed Ron silent.

This use of magic made Amy look at her own wand, stuck in her right pocket. It was 12.5 inches, rosewood with a surprising core – Felix Felicis. Good for healing. "Y-you read a-all of your b-books, too?"

Hermione smiled and nodded. "Yeah. The Hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw."

"The H-hat?"

"Oh, that's right. The books don't talk about that. Since you're a first year, you'll be Sorted into your house before you eat. You put on a hat, and it decides which house you belong in."

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Three Galleons says it's Malfoy." Harry said glumly.

"No bet."

The door slid open, and in came a familiar-looking boy. He had cinnamon-colored skin and immaculate jet-black hair. A pale, blond boy stood behind him.

The blonde spoke. "Allow me to introduce Ian Kabra." He smirked.

Ron stood up. "Get lost." He glared at Ian. "You too."

Ian raised an eyebrow, peering into the compartment behind Ron. "Cahill? You're here, too?"

Amy gathered her courage. She'd met Ian at some family gatherings at Grace's house, and he was very stuck-up. "G-go a-away."

"Cahill?" Malfoy suddenly seemed interested in her. "Aren't your parents–"

"Langlock." Malfoy's tongue glued itself to the roof of his mouth.

The Golden Trio turned to Amy as a silent Malfoy dragged Ian away, closing the compartment.

"Where'd you learn that?" Ron demanded.

Amy blushed. "Well, all the spells that I've seen seemed to be based in Latin, so I just–"

"Figured it out!" Hermione gasped, her eyes shining. "That's brilliant!"

The professor in the corner shifted and yawned.

"Professor?" Harry asked. "Are you awake?"

The professor sat up, yawning. "Yes. Are we at Hogwarts yet?"

"No."

"Ah, well then. If you don't mind, who are you?" He surveyed them, stopping at Harry's scar. "Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded glumly. "Yeah."

He nodded, moving on quickly. "You look like your father. And the rest of you?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Ron Weasley."

"A-amy C-cahill."

His eyes locked on her. "Cahill?"

She nodded, confused. "Wh-why?"

"Is Grace your grandmother?"

She stared at him, shocked. "Do you know her?"

He nodded, not meeting her eyes. "She's… an old friend of mine."

Harry shivered. "Is it just me, or is it getting colder?"

Ice began creeping up the windows, and the train shuddered to a halt.

"Wh-what's th-that?" Amy trembled. "It's so c-cold."

"Dementors." Professor Lupin drew his wand. "Keep back."

The four students gathered behind him as he stepped towards the door. Amy felt a coldness creep into her heart, into her soul, as the door slid open to reveal a cloaked figure… someone was screaming… there was fire… fire… and she was falling down, down, down…

"Uhh." Amy moaned. "Wha'?" she blinked and sat up. They were still on the train, in the compartment, and professor Lupin was sitting next to her.

"Here… have some chocolate." He spoke gently. "It will help."

She gratefully accepted the chocolate and ate the whole bar. "What w-were those… d-d-Dementors? Why d-did we pass out?"

"The guards of Azkaban, the wizarding prison." He explained. "Recently, a mass-murderer has escaped, for the first time in history. They were sent out to catch him."

"W-why did we f-faint?"

"Not 'we.'" He shook his head. "You and Harry. Is there anything that you have in common?"

Amy shivered; the compartment suddenly seemed colder. "M-my parents d-died when I was seven." She whispered. "I d-don't remember them v-very much."

He frowned. "That's odd. Did you hear anything when you passed out?"

"Fire." Amy's voice was barely audible. "They died in a fire."

"Bond, James!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Cahill, Amy!"

Amy walked up to the stool nervously and placed the hat on her head.

Well, it seemed to speak in her head. Another Cahill. I Sorted your parents, you know.

My parents were magical? She thought.

Yes. Beatrice is a squib.

Oh! That makes sense! But why did the house burn down, then?

You'll find out in due time. Now, let's see… plenty of brains, but you're not exactly a Ravenclaw type. No ambition. You're nice and loyal, but you're equally brave and just.

Me? Brave? That's a laugh.

You'd be surprised. You're equal in both houses. Do you have a preference?

Amy hesitated. Gryffindor, with my friends, please.

All right. "GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted out to the school.

Amy scampered down to the red-and-gold table and sat next to Hermione, across from Harry. As she watched, she saw six other people that she recognized from the family reunions. Ian Kabra immediately became a Slytherin, as did Jonah Wizard. Ted, Ned, and Sinead Starling became Ravenclaws, and Hamilton Holt joined her in Gryffindor.

Hamilton sat down next to Harry. "Hello." He said, not at all shy. "You're Amy Cahill, right? From that lady's family reunions?"

Amy nodded. "Y-yes."

Hamilton looked at the others. "Hi. I'm Hamilton Holt."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione gaped at him, taking in his size. He was almost as big as some of the fourth years. Ron recovered first. "Ron Weasley. Say, were you always that big? Ow!" Hermione had whapped his head.

"Sorry about that idiot. I'm Hermione Granger."

The first-year grinned. "That's okay. Most of my family are worse. The Hat's probably going to put my sisters here just because they're too stupid to be anywhere else."

Before Harry introduced himself, the food appeared. Amy gasped. "How did it do that? Where did it come from?"

Hamilton stared at her. "Don't you know? I thought that your parents told you."

Amy tried to glare at him, but failed. "I-idiot." She turned to the food, ignoring his protests, and realized that a small note had appeared on her plate.

Miss Cahill,

Please see me in my office after dinner. The password is 'Licorice Wand."

-Albus Dumbledore

She looked around the hall and realized that Hamilton, Ian, Jonah, and the Starlings had received similar notes.

She shrugged and began eating.

"Licorice Wand." As the gargoyles creaked open, Ian Kabra walked up.

"Hello," He spoke. "You were sorted into Gryffindor."

"A-and you're in S-slytherin."

Ian nodded. "By far the best house. I saw you talking with a Mudblood and a Blood Traitor."

"A wh-what and a wh-what?"

Ian sighed. "Muggleborn and a pureblood who associates with the wrong type of people."

"What t-type of p-people?"

Ian shrugged. "Mudbloods and muggles. They're so inferior–"

"Langlock."

Ian glared at her and gestured to his mouth.

"I-I'm not u-undoing it until y-you apologize."

He glared at her and gestured to his mouth.

"Finite Incantatem."

"Filthy mudbloods–"

"Langlock."

They walked up the staircase to professor Dumbledore's office, Ian glaring at Amy and Amy trying to ignore him.

"P-professor Dumbledore?" she called, and knocked on his door, which swung open.

As Amy walked in, she couldn't help staring around at everything. There were moving portraits all around, and many silver spinning instruments. The thing that caught her eye the most, however, was a beautiful red, orange, and gold bird. "Wow," she whispered. "Are you a phoenix?"

The phoenix flew from his perch and landed on her shoulder.

She hesitantly reached up to pet it, relaxing as he started to sing.

"Miss Cahill?" Amy jumped. She had forgotten that Professor Dumbledore was in the office. He chuckled. "May I introduce you to Fawkes?"

"Hello, Fawkes," she murmured. "You're beautiful."

Ian tapped her on the shoulder.

"Fine." She glared at him. "Don't insult my friends again. Finite Incantatem." In the back of her mind, she noticed that she didn't stutter while Fawkes was with her.

"Miss Cahill?" she had again forgotten the headmaster,

"Yes, headmaster?"

"Do you mind telling me where you learned that spell?" His eyes twinkled.

"I – I realized that spells were based in Latin, so I looked at the Latin roots and conjugated them, and I hope that it wasn't against the rules, sir." She said very quickly.

Before he could reply, a commotion was heard downstairs.

"But, yo–"

"Imbecile–"

"Shut up–"

Dumbledore sighed. "It appears that the others have arrived." He waved his wand, and soon five people marched in, glaring at each other. "Now that everyone is here, I assume that you know the reason that I have invited you all here." Everyone except Amy nodded.

"What reason?" she asked. "I mean, I think that we're all related…"

Professor Dumbledore sighed. "I would have thought that your parents might have explained it to you." he sounded disappointed. "All right. As you know, you are a Cahill. What you don't know is that the Cahills are a very important chapter in the history of the world, both Muggle and Wizard. There are five branches–"

"Four," Sinead interrupted him. "There are only four."

Dumbledore inclined his head. "If I may continue, there are five branches. Ekaterina, Tomas, Lucian, Janus, and Madrigal."

The last one drew a shuddering breath from everyone in the room. "But they're evil!" Hamilton burst out. "And they're not even a real branch."

The headmaster shrugged. "The Madrigals are shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows who they are, or what they do. Therefore, there is not much that I can say about them. Now, I will tell you about the other branches. Each branch has a special… talent, I believe, is the best way to put it. The Tomas," he nodded to Hamilton. "Are famed for their strength and battle skills. The Ekaterina, or Ekats," he gestured towards the triplets. "Are scientific geniuses. They invented many things. The Janus are the creative geniuses."

"That's me, yo!" Jonah grinned.

"And, last but not least, are the Lucians. They are well known for their strategies, cunning, and ruthlessness."

"That would be me." Now Amy heard the sly, calculating undertone to Ian's voice, as if he were evaluating her and finding her weaknesses.

She glared at him, encouraged by Fawkes. He glared back, and they engaged in a fierce mental battle. The room filled with tension, as the other children watched in awe. Not many people could stand up to a Kabra.

"Ahem," Dumbledore interrupted them both, causing them to look away at the same time. "To get to know each other better, I recommend that we say our name, branch, wand wood, and wand core."

The seven Cahills stared at him, wondering if he would really force them to introduce themselves.

Hamilton finally stepped forward. "My name is Hamilton Holt. I'm a Tomas." He glared at the Starlings. "My wand is Ironwood with the heartstring of a Norwegian Ridgeback." He glared at Sinead, daring her to go next.

She stepped up. "I'm Sinead Starling, Ekat. Willow with Siren hair."

Her brothers went next. "Hi." They said in unison. "Ted and Ned Starling, also Ekats. Willow with powdered dragon scale."

"Yo. I'm, like–"

"Please cut the 'yo's.'" Ian interrupted. "We can hardly understand you."

Jonah scowled. "Uh, okay. I'm Jonah Wizard. Janus, totally. Oak with a Roc feather."

Ian was the last before Amy. "Hello. I am Ian Kabra. I am a Lucian. Obviously. My wand is Yew with crushed basilisk eggshell."

Now all eyes were on Amy. "M-my name is Amy Cahill. I d-don't know my branch. My wand is r-rosewood with a core of Felix Felicis."

"You have liquid luck as your wand core?" Sinead asked disbelievingly. "I thought that it was impossible to have a potion as your wand core."

"It is rare, but not impossible." Dumbledore commented thoughtfully. "Those who have them are extraordinarily gifted." There was another brief pause as everyone stared at Amy. "Now, back to the reason why you are all here. I would like to meet with you all every week, but so as to avoid problems, I will meet with everyone on a separate day. These meetings will be included in your schedules, and they will be different for every one of you. You will get your schedules tomorrow, at breakfast. It is late, and you all should be getting to sleep." As they all moved towards the door, Dumbledore called out to Amy. "Miss Cahill, if you would remain behind a moment."

"Yes, professor?" Amy walked back to his desk. "What is it?"

Her eyes met his suddenly serious ones. "There are dangers in this world that you are not aware of, and cannot fight. Many things have been hidden from you; I seek to rectify this problem." He smiled, catching her off-guard. "Watch for the hidden enemy. Your first lesson will be tomorrow. Now, however, you should head back to your dormitory. I believe that curfew is in a few minutes, so you might want to hurry."

Amy gasped and nodded, realizing how late it was. She raced out of Professor Dumbledore's office, getting to Gryffindor Tower with a minute to spare, when she realized that she didn't know the password. "Er…" she timidly asked the Fat Lady. "C-can you tell me the p-password?"

The Fat Lady sighed and shook her head. "No, I'm not allowed, even though you're clearly a Gryffindor. You can wait until someone comes out, or until a teacher comes by."

Amy sighed and sat down. "Can you go inside the common room and get someone?"

"No, there aren't any pictures in there that I can go to. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's not your fault. Do you know if there are any teachers nearby?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, Professor McGonagall is down that hallway and coming towards us. She should be here soon."

Amy stood up and heard light footsteps, but they didn't sound quite like footsteps…

A cat walked into the light, eyes glowing with the reflected fire of the torch. Amy sighed and sat down. "I don't suppose that you know where Professor McGonagall is?" she asked the cat, not expecting it to respond.

Instead of walking away, however, the cat began to transform into a human.

Amy clambered up again and gasped. "P-professor! Y-you're an Animagus!"

Professor McGonagall, who was now fully human, smiled her thin smile. "Yes I am, Miss Cahill. Now, why are you sitting outside the entry to the common room after curfew?"

"I'm s-sorry. Professor Dumbledore c-called me up to his o-office, and I d-don't know the p-password."

"It's all right, Miss Cahill. You won't be getting detention. This has happened to many students, and I suspect that it will happen again. The password is Mandragora."

"Th-thank you, professor." Amy stumbled as the portrait hole swung open. "G-good night."

"So, what did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to Amy.

Amy shrugged, not wanting to reveal what Dumbledore had said, about the Cahill family. She was still taking it in. The most powerful family in history? Branches?

"Amy? Amy? Amy!"

Amy blinked. Hermione was waving her hand in her face, trying to wake her up. "Sorry, I zoned off a bit."

"It's okay." Hermione grinned. "It happens to everyone. Anyway, you seem nice. Do you want to study together tomorrow?"

"Sure." Amy smiled back. "That sounds nice."

"Double DADA with Slytherin, potions with Slytherin, free period, Charms with Ravenclaw, lunch, Transfiguration with Slytherin, ending with History of Magic with Hufflepuff." Hamilton read off his schedule. "You too?"

"Y-yeah, almost the same." I have a meeting with Dumbledore from eight to nine, she added silently.

"Okay. Class starts in five minutes."

Amy and Hamilton got to the DADA classroom just in time. The bell rang as they sat down, and Professor Lupin started his lesson.

"As you may know, I'm Professor Lupin." He smiled at the Gryffindors, ignoring the sneers of the Slytherin half. "Welcome to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. This first class is going to be fairly… unorthodox. After a quick introduction, I'm going to be doing the same for every year up to fifth: Boggarts. Now, does anyone know what Boggarts are?"

Amy's hand shot up. "Boggarts are a magical creature that takes on the form of your worst fear," she tried to remember. "I think that to defeat them, you have to think of your fear in a ridiculous manner and say Ridikulus."

Professor Lupin smiled. "Exactly. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, since you haven't preformed any magic before, not counting accidental magic, think of a simple harmless spell. You could have heard of it at home, or read it in a textbook. If you can't think of anything, look through your book until you find one. Does everyone have a harmless spell in mind?"

The class nodded.

"All right. On the count of three, perform the spell. One, Two, Three!"

There was a call of Expelliarmus as the first spell was cast. Suddenly, everybody called out different spells, most of which had no affect. Amy saw Ian point his wand at a Gryffindor, one of Amy's dorm-mates. "Wingardium–"

"Langlock!" Ian suddenly found his tongue yet again glued to the roof of his mouth.

Correctly guessing who had cast it, he glared in Amy's direction.

She did her best to look innocent, but utterly failed and broke down in giggles. Hamilton also saw Ian and, guessing what Amy had done, also began laughing.

"All right," Professor Lupin called out, quieting the class. "Does anyone have any questions?"

Ian, still glaring at Amy, raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Kabra?"

Ian pointed to his mouth, causing the entire class to realize what had happened and burst into laughter. Even the Slytherins seemed to think that it was funny.

Professor Lupin hid a smile of his own. "Who cast the spell?"

Amy, suddenly timid, raised her hand.

"Miss Cahill, what spell did you use?"

"L-langlock, sir." Amy stuttered.

A few Slytherins snickered at her stumble, but, remembering what she had done to Ian, they quickly quieted.

"Ah, I see." The Professor smiled encouragingly. "Do you know the counterspell?"

Amy nodded. "Finite Incantatem." She cast, ungluing Ian's tongue.

"Amazing. Ten points to Gryffindor for good spell-work." Amy smiled back at him. "Now. On to Boggarts. As Miss Cahill pointed out earlier, Boggarts take the form of whatever you fear the most. You may not know what it is, or it may be a combination of things. To defeat it, think of your fear in a ridiculous manner and say Ridukulus. Repeat after me: Ridikulus."

"Ridikulus." The class obediently repeated.

"Very good. Now, if you find that you panic, or can't think of your fear in a funny way, simply step aside and let the next person take your place." The professor raised his wand, muttering something, and a large shaking cupboard floated into the room. It landed on the floor in front of the class, still banging loudly. "Now, everybody form a line. Push the desks aside." There was a large screeching noise as everyone pushed the chairs and tables to the edges of the room. Amy somehow got shoved near the front of the line, right in front of Hamilton.

The first boy was a young Gryffindor. He stepped up as Professor Lupin unlocked the cupboard, and a strange whirling… thing flew out. It quickly solidified into a small swarm of angry hornets.

"Ridikulus!"

The hornets turned into Honey and began eating each other as the class burst into laughter.

As the next student stepped forward, Amy began to think about what her worst fear would be. Dan dead? On fire? That was probably it. How could it be funny? Um… Dan would jump up and peel the fake wounds off, pretending to be a ninja, Amy decided. It was so… so Dan.

Before she knew it, it was her turn. As she expected, a dead Dan flew out of the closet, covered in wounds and shrouded in flames. Amy still had to consciously remind herself that Dan was alive, Dan was alive. She opened her mouth to say the spell when a second figure stepped out of the cupboard. She was a woman, with cinnamon skin and honey-colored eyes. Something about her… scared Amy. Very deeply, as if she had some bad memories of her, but she couldn't remember ever seeing her before. Something stirred in her, a long-lost memory. The scary woman smirked and spoke quietly. "You're so weak, you can barely speak in front of people, you don't deserve to live. Die, just like your parents did…"

Amy stumbled back, only half-conscious of someone leading her away from the boggart, out into the hallway. Wet grass against her legs… smoke in the air… people screaming… Where did that come from? She thought.

As she calmed down, she looked up to see the one person in the world that she least expected. "What d-do you w-want, Ian?" she tried to snap.

"I have a few questions for you." he stared at her, blocking the doorway back to the class.

"Th-then ask."

"It's about your Boggart. About the shape that it took."

"Wh-what do you w-want to know? I c-can't promise I'll answer t-truthfully."

Ian shrugged. "All right. It's only one question." His amber eyes seemed to pierce her. "Why did your boggart look like my mother?"