Chapter 1.

I woke up in my long four-poster bed, breathing in deeply to smell the air wafting in from a nearby window. Looking out, I saw that the weather was quite a strange combination of snow and rain, creating a grey slush that blanketed the school grounds. On the plus side, I loved the smell and sound of the rain. On the minus side, there probably wasn't going to be flying lessons for a while.

Groggily, I dragged myself out of bed and over to my mirror. I had to get ready for my first day at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It wasn't my first year here, I was seventeen now. I thought about how much I had change since I first got my letter. My mousy brown hair that was cut short back then had grown into shoulder-length feathers. My blue-grey eyes were darker. My skin was tanner, more freckled.

A loud yawning snapped me out of my thoughts. My best friend since year two, Britney, was awake with a sparkle in her eye and a grin on her face.

"It's good to be back, eh Di?" she giggled, brushing wavy blonde hair out of her face. Ugh. If there was one thing that I could change about myself, it would be my name. Dinah Robertson. It sounded so dated, so OLD. Not like Britney, which sounded fresh and new. I envied her. She had everything a girl could ever dream for, especially clothes. I swear walking into her closet was like a miniature mall, minus the icky toilets. It was originally so stuffed with clothes that Professor McGonagall had to enchant it so that it was three times as big on the inside than on the outside. Unfortunately, she only brought an excess of clothes that were NOT on the school uniform. At least she was open to sharing it with me.

I turned to my trunk where normally my school ties and other Gryffindor (which I was very happy to be placed in) crested items would be, but they were all gone, along with my robes. In their place were a sack of money and an envelope with the Hogwarts seal on it. Puzzled, I glanced over at Britney, who had the same things on her own trunk.

"Hey Britney, do you have any idea what this might be?" I asked her, waving the letter in the air. She shook her head.

"Let's read ours together." She suggested as I tore open the seal. The note inside read in emerald green ink:

Hogwarts Students,

We are pleased to tell you that at the request of a student, school uniforms are no longer required. Feel free to wear whatever you wish, so long as it is not a safety hazard. In the enclosed sack, we have provided you your money back for all the school apparel you have purchased over the summer.

Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall

Britney and I looked from each other, to the note, to the sack, then back to each other again. I didn't know which was bigger; my gaping mouth or her mischievous smile.

"I can't believe that Professor McGonagall would completely get rid of the dress code just because of one student. She must be under the Imperious curse or something, she would never do that of her own free will…" I trailed off, but Britney just gave me a sideways look and said,

"Do you expect me to complain that now I can wear all the clothes I brought?" She skipped over to her closet. "I'm going to get dressed, are you coming?"

I stared in awe at her expansive collection of clothes, shoes, and makeup.

"I still can't believe that you own pretty much all this!" I laughed. "Pick something out for me, will you?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" She said excitedly as she dashed behind a rack of clothes.

"Ooh, look, you should totally wear these cute wedges." She called, tossing them over to me.

After what felt like an hour of picking out clothes, we strutted out, acting and feeling like runway models. I checked myself out in Britney's full length mirror on the door. She had put me in a sparkly pink and yellow off the shoulder top, dark magenta cuffed jeans, and velvety black wedges that were designed to look like a tuxedo, with a white frill and a pink bow tie. I glanced nervously at Britney.

"Uh, Britney, don't you think that this outfit is a little much for school?" I questioned her. She quickly countered,

"Oh come on, Di, have some fun with your clothes!" She twirled around in her own floral printed blue sundress and silver flats. "Besides," she went on, "You'll be picking up boys faster than a Firebolt with that on!"

At that comment, I turned bright red. I was never really lucky in love. It wasn't that I was mean or ugly or anything, it was just that I froze up whenever I tried to talk to them. And despite all my friends' valiant efforts, I was still currently single. Britney, of course, was just itching to change that.

I gave my watch a quick glance, then did a double take and whirled around to Britney.

"We're going to be late for breakfast! Come on Britney, we have to go!" We both dashed down the stairs, book bags flailing around wildly. Little did we know how much we were getting ourselves into…