Author: Eclectia88

Synopsis: There's a new girl in Hogwarts, she just transferred from America. There's something strange about her, but no one knows what it is. Harry, Hermione, and Ron take it upon themselves to find out what it is.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I'm not JKR. Get it through your heads already. No matter how much I want to be. *Runs away sobbing* How could you ruin my day by making me accept reality?

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Mackenzie O'Conall accepted her fate as she boarded the 767 for London. T'would be the last time she ever saw her belovéd New York City. The last time she saw the skyline that had daily greeted her for the past 15 years of her life. The 767 that carried her halfway across the world, or so it seemed, was carrying her far, far away from all she knew and held dear. So what if she would be going to a Magic Academy for the first time.

Even though she was a witch, most other academies wouldn't accept her because of her father's heritage. Her father was a vampire. Which made her half immortal. And deadly. Her mother was a witch, and she had educated Mackenzie for the past years of her life.

Being half vampire wasn't the most fun part of her life. Her best friend, Willow, didn't even know about her 'abilities'. Willow thought she was just super strong. Her best grades in middle school was in phys ed. But that wouldn't matter now. She wasn't going to a normal school anymore.

Hogwarts was supposedly the best magic academy in the western world. 'Ha!' thought Mackenzie derisively. 'No school in England can be the best!'

Little did she know the school wasn't in England. It was in Scotland, one of her heritage countries. She was going to feel right at home.

Mackenzie's POV

Boarding the plane, I began to feel apprehensive. It was my first time going to another country, and my mother wasn't even going to be there with me. Plus I was going to be around people like me, at least partially like me, and they would still shun me if they knew about my other half. Better not to make any close friends, I reasoned. They would only desert me when they found out.

I took my letter of acceptance out of my suede leather purse. I had tried not to ruin the seal on the letter, because it was the first letter I had ever gotten that was sealed with wax instead of a glue paste. The paper was thick and yellowish; it seemed like papyrus paper instead of paper made from trees. I reread the supply list, wondering where on earth I was going to get all of this. A cauldron? The last time I had seen one of those was in the Salem Museum. A wand? Surely they were joking. What use would I have for a wand?

I had never used one before, always doing my magic through my fingers. If I used them before, would I still be allowed to use them in Hogwarts? Or would I be forced to use a wand? I hope not. I think I recall my mom using one, once. I think she wanted me to try, but things went haywire. Majorly. As in I smashed ALL the clocks and vases in our apartment. Not purposely of course, it just kinda happened.

I think that was when Momma decided not to let me use a wand. It was kinda nice, being able to make things happen by pointing your finger at someone. The preps never know what hit 'em. Those were the best days.

But now everything was changing. A representative of the school was supposed to meet me at the airport, but whether one did or not was a different story.

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I stepped off the plane, and looked around me. There, in the corner, was a man holding a sign with my name on it. He looked normal enough. I walked over to him, and he asked if I was Mackenzie.

"Yes, sir. I am."

"Delighted to meet you. I am Remus Lupin."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Lupin."

"I think that we'd best be going." We began to head out to his car, after getting my luggage. " Ms. O'Conall, you don't have an aversion to dogs, do you?"

"No, they're my favorite animals. Why?"

"My dog, Sirius, is in my car. That's why I was wondering."

We reached the car, and I saw a huge black dog sitting in the back. His tail began to thump wildly, and I could've sworn I saw a grin on his face.

"Sirius…isn't that the dog star?" I asked.

"Yes. You know your astronomy, Ms. O'Conall."

"Thank you."

We reached London, and carried my belongings into a bar (She's American, remember!) called The Leaky Cauldron. I was given a room by the proprietor, an old man named Tom. Then Mr. Lupin took me into Diagon Alley.

I was shocked at the number of witches and wizards that they managed to pack into one place. And this place was tiny. Crammed to the gills with people too. I could barely move through the crowd, wouldn't have been able to had it not been from Mr. Lupin and Sirius. Sirius kept his furry body close to me, and kept away people trying to jostle me. Mr. Lupin was able to part the crowd, if not very effectively, and I stayed close to him.

Our first stop was Gringotts, and I fingered the wallet full of American dollars that I had saved, along with money from my mom through my purse wall. Mr. Lupin marched up to a desk where a-a goblin? was sitting.

"An' 'ow mai I 'elp oo toodai, miss?" he asked, in a strong Cockney accent.

"I would like to open an account, sir."

"Very well, t'en. D'yoo 'ave any money to exc'ange?"

"Yes, sir. Right here." I patted my purse.

"Okay. Fill these out, please." I filled out the forms, leaving the ones I didn't know blank.

"Mr. Lupin?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Could you help me with these? I don't know where I'm staying for the summer, and all."

"Let's see, Professor Dumbledore said you'd be staying at Hogwarts, unless you wanted to go home for the summer. I'd say put down Hogwarts as your place of residence, and your home address as the second one."

"Thanks." I handed back the forms to the goblin, and he then asked for the money I wanted to exchange. I handed that over as well, and he handed me a key. I must've looked at it curiously, for Mr. Lupin explained it was the key to my vault, where my money was being stored. "Oh," I replied, feeling more than a little foolish.

After we regained a bit of money, we picked up Sirius at the doors. I read the inscription above them, noticing it for the first time.

" 'Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there. '

That's interesting. Scary, but interesting."

" 'Tis both of those, but 'tis also true, Ms. O'Conall," replied Remus.

"PROFESSOR!" called a voice from behind us. I turned to see a raven-haired young man, a red-haired young man, and a brunette young woman skid to a stop in front of us.

"Hello Harry, Ron, Hermione," Remus greeted.

"Hey, Fluffy," the raven-haired one said, moving to pet Sirius.

"His name is Sirius," I said coldly.

"What?" the redhead asked. "You-how-what?"

"Two excellent questions," I snapped. "For your information, Ink, the dog's name is Sirius. Si-ri-us, like the star."

"You're from America, aren't you?" asked the girl.

"New York," I replied. She seemed nice enough, even if I wasn't looking for friends.

"Wow. I haven't been there since I was a little girl. My name's Hermione Granger. And you are…"

"Mackenzie O'Conall."

"You going to Hogwarts this year?" asked the redhead.

"Yeah, Flame, I am." Hermione busted out laughing when I said that.

"Don't call me th-Hermione! Stop laughing!"

"Why so touchy, Ron? It was pretty funny." Ink had spoken again.

"You'd be touchy too, Ink, had she called you something."

"She did. Am I right, Mackenzie? By the way, I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

Ahh. Harry Potter. Famous Harry Potter. Heard all about you from Daddy. No need to get all fawning over you, you're just a normal kid like me.

I touched the scar on my upper arm self-consciously, and smiled at Harry. "It's nice to meet you, Harry. I've heard a lot about you from my dad."

"Wow, I think you're the first one who hasn't gone gaga over him," Hermione said.

"Is that what most people do?"

"Yeah, and then stare at my scar," Harry said bitterly.

"Fun, I'm sure."

"Harry, Ron, Hermione. I hate to interrupt, when you're getting along so nicely," I snorted, "but Ms. O'Conall and I need to finish shopping for her school supplies."

"Could I come along, Professor?" asked Hermione. "They're going to go into the Quidditch shop, and I really don't want to go."

"I suppose you may, if Ms. O'Conall doesn't mind."

"Not a'tall, Sir. I'd like someone to talk to."

Our first stop was the robe store. Madame Malkin fussed over me like there was no tomorrow.

"She does that with everyone," Hermione whispered.

After the robes, we visited the Apothecary, the bookstore, the Cauldron Shop, and Magical Menagerie. I didn't like any of the pets, so I left that store empty-handed. Next stop was Ollivander's Wand Shop.

We entered the store, and the bell jangled, almost ominously, above us. As we crowded into the antechamber, a voice was heard out of nowhere.

"I was wondering if I'd ever be seeing you here, Ms. O'Conall. It seems to be just a week ago that your grandparents were in here buying a wand for their daughters."

"Daughters? I don't have any aunts."

"Of course you don't. Not anymore."

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"Your Aunt Lily was an Auror. She was killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, along with her husband, James."

Remus sucked in a breath at these words. "Do you mean to say…" he began.

"Indeed I do, Mr. Lupin. And had Mrs. O'Conall been in London at that time, she would've had-"

"I understand, Mr. Ollivander. But I don't see why we need to discuss it here."

"As you wish, Sir. The customer is always right. Now, Ms. O'Conall, which is your wand arm?"

"My right, Sir." The measuring tape began to take measures of the most odd places as Mr. Ollivander retrieved wands from the storeroom and shelves surrounding us.

He handed me wand after wand, but none seemed suitable for me. He went through 15/16 of the shop trying to find the correct wand.

"It's hopeless, Sir," I moaned. "There are no wands for me."

"Ms. O'Conall, can you do magic already?" asked Remus and Mr. Ollivander simultaneously.

"Of course." I raised my right arm, and pointed at a shattered vase. "Reparo!" A bolt of light shot out of the ends of my outstretched fingers, and the vase was as good as new.

"Ohmigod!" exclaimed Hermione. "That's so awesome! You're a mystician!"

"A what?"

"It means you can do magic without using a wand!"

"I'm sure it's very common. Isn't it?"

"Oh, no, Ms. O'Conall. It's not very common at all. The last known mystician was Merlin himself. And only Queen Mab, for who it is still being decided whether or not she was real, was before him." Mr. Ollivander explained.

"It's not an evil trait though, right? I'm not evil, am I?"

"You are most assuredly not evil. Although being a mystician is both a good and bad thing, depending on how you look at it," said Mr. Lupin. "Perhaps we should be heading back to The Leaky Cauldron, aye?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," I agreed. "Hermione, you won't say anything, will you?"

"No, not if you don't want me to."

"I just don't want gossip going around about me before I even start school, you know?"

"I understand."

"Thank you. And we're here. Are you going home, Hermione, or staying here overnight, since the train leaves tomorrow?"

"I'm staying. I think Harry and Ron are too."

"Oh, joy."

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At precisely 10:45 the next morning, we boarded the Hogwarts Express. I chose not to sit with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, though I did promise to visit them. I found an empty compartment, and opened one of my books about potions. It had always been an especially good subject of mine back home. I was in the middle of reading about the Polyjuice Potion when the door slid open.

"D'you mind if we join you?" a blond-haired young man asked.

"No, not at all. Come on in."

The blond guy introduced himself as Draco Malfoy, and his two friends as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

"It's very nice to meet you all. I'm Mackenzie O'Conall."

"What house are you in?" Draco asked.

"I don't know, Draco. I guess I'll find out when we get there."

The witch that pushed the food trolley rapped on the door.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked. "Oh, are you the new girl? Mackenzie, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Wonderful. The headmaster asked me to owl him if I spotted you."

She handed the food to the guys, and left for the next compartment.

"That's a lot of food, guys. Are you sure you're going to be able to eat it all?"

"Of course," said Draco. "D'you want some? We have enough, if you don't eat too much."

"You've never been to New York then have you? We eat a lot in New York."

"I didn't know you were from America. Did you go to Salem?"

"No, I was privately tutored." No sense in saying I went to a middle school. They probably wouldn't know what one is, anyway. "I think I'll go visit a few friends, okay? I'll see y'all later."

While I was visiting Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they were visited by Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle.

"What are you doing here, Mackenzie?" he asked.

"I said I was going to visit a few friends. I am."

"You shouldn't be hanging out with those creeps."

"That's it!" I cried. I grabbed Draco by the robes, and pulled him back to the compartment we were sharing. "What do you have against them?"

"They're mudbloods and mudblood lovers!" he snarled.

"Are you that prejudiced? Can't you even see that the person you've been spending time with the whole train ride is only half witch? Good God, had I known you were like this, I ne'er would've allowed you to join me!"

"You're only half witch? What's your other half?"

Now, let me warn you, when I get mad, really mad, things change about my appearance. My hair grows, turns blood red, my eyes glow, and my fingernails and canines get longer.

Draco noticed these changes and backed away. Wise choice.

"What are you?" he repeated.

"Didn't you ever study vampires in DADA?"

"You're half vampire?"

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mysticpixie