Melisa Song was a 14 year old girl who went to Beauxbatons Academy to learn magic. She lived with her mother and aunt in a small house in Paris, France and hardly spoke any French. Her mother wanted to get away from Bulgaria so she had to move. She had been going to Durmstrang for 3 years and had made friends that she didn't quite like. She was raised in England, but moved to Bulgaris when she was 11 for reasons she didn't know. Though she spoke choppy Bulgarian, she could communicate. All her friends had their noses absorbed in the dark arts and nothing else. Melisa's favorite subject was Transfiguration. She wasn't very keen on moving to France , but then again getting away from Durmstrang was a great relief. Since she had moved over the summer she had no idea what Beauxbatons would be like so she kept her head high imagining a great school where everyone was friendly and welcomed her into her fourth year like she had been there since year one. Summer wasn't that much of a relief since she had to learn French in three months so she could communicate with the other students and teachers. But it was May and she was failing all her subjects including transfiguration.
"But mom they talk to fast!" said Melisa for the one thousandth time. She was failing all her subjects and her mom was having another row with her.
"Obviously you don't try hard enough! Your teachers have sent homework in English to help you and your still failing every subject!"
"It's not my fault I don't know how to do it because they teach it in French!"
"Alright! That's it! I can't take it your going to Hogwarts!"
"Well it's not-what? I'm going where?"
"Hogwarts. The third school of witchcraft and wizardry. You're leaving once term ends. The sooner the better. I can't take this." And so Melisa Song found herself packing up again at the end of the summer to go to Hogwarts. She wouldn't see her mom or aunt until Christmas. At least that would give her some time to cool down.
"Bye Lisa I'll miss you! Send me loads of owls and tell me how school is going! Bye now!" Her mom had a long drive ahead of her to get back to France.
Melisa boarded the Hogwarts Express and looked for an empty compartment so she could sit and cry. She missed her mom and aunt already. Don't think about that it's only going to make you cry, she thought to herself as a small tear escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheek. She placed her owl beside her and gave it some owl treats from the box. She stroked her owl and put it the top compartment of her train cabin. Just then 3 boys walked into her cabin. They each had on a Hogwarts robe with a patch on it that said 'Slytherin' and had a silver snake on it. One boy had sleek blonde hair that was pushed back. He had hazel eyes and a mean look to him. The other two looked stupid though others would be stupid to pick a fight with them because they were easily going to win. They were both very muscular but looked to stupid to even transfigure a tea bag.
"So you're the girl who got kicked out of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons?" he asked with a sneer.
"No, I'm not," she snapped back "and who are you?"
"Malfoy," he answered "Draco Malfoy, this is Crabbe and Goyle," he said indicating to the two thugs behind him, "and you?"
"Melisa Song," she whispered.
"Well what house do you want to be in?" He asked her, not even bothering to say hello and that he was sorry for barging into her train compartment.
"Umm well….," she said looking at his badge and wondering if he would get upset and insult her if she didn't say Slytherin. "Gryffindor sounds nice," she mumbled.
"Gryffindor! HA! That's the worst house you could ever be in!"
"Oh really Malfoy?" asked a voice unfamiliar to Melisa. All of a sudden 2 boys and one girl walked into her train cabin. The boy who had spoken had untidy black hair and glasses. Melisa recognized him at once as Harry Potter and her eyes flew up to his scar. The other boy was tall, had red hair, and freckles. The girl was a bit shorter that the other two and had bushy brown hair and slightly larger than average front teeth.
"Leave her alone Malfoy or else I'll curse you into oblivion!" The girl pulled out her wand and pointed it right into Malfoy's face. Malfoy gave them each a penetrating look and walked out of the cabin followed by Crabbe and Goyle.
"Thanks," said Melisa looking over at the three people who had saved her from Malfoy.
"Anytime," said the boy with the red hair "I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley. This is Harry Potter and this-"
"-is Hermione Granger," said Hermione cutting him off "Malfoy is the evilest slimiest git around so you don't want to go making friends with him unless you want trouble and for the rest of the school, except the Slytherins of course, to hate you." Hermione said this all extremely fast, leaving a very confused Melisa. But one message was clear. Malfoy means trouble. So Melisa made a mental note to stay away from that 'Malfoy character'.
"What's your name anyway?" asked Harry.
"Oh, sorry," she said forgetting to give her name at the beginning. "Melisa Song, I'm new and I'm starting fifth year. I never came here before. I'm originally from here but my dad got transferred to Bulgaria when I was 11 so I started at Durmstrang. During my third year m-my dad he-he d-died and…..," oh no here come the tears she thought. But she couldn't stop them now. They came spilling out like an overflowed water tank. Hermione conjured up a tissue, and Melisa gave her a watery smile.
"You don't have to continue," said Hermione with a comforting smile.
"No th-that's ok I want to. It feels better to talk about it. I've kept it to myself for so long. It feels better. Anyway after my dad died my mom I guess couldn't take it so my aunt came to live with us and we moved to France to start over fresh. I attended Beauxbatons but I did so horribly that my mom sent me here," Melisa chuckled a bit while the others laughed.
"Why did you do so badly?" asked Harry, Ron, and Hermione in unison.
"Well I tried but I just couldn't learn French in time. I only had three months, you know. But I think I know the basics. The professors talked to fast, and even though they gave me homework in English I still couldn't do it because they taught the lesson in French! Of course my mother thought I wasn't trying my hardest even though I was." Ron muttered something that sounded like 'mothers' but they all laughed. Ron continued talking.
"Yeah, and my mom is worse. Everything that the twins do is always my fault. And if they ever quit school before the year is over it'll be my fault too. Also if they-"
"Alright Ron we know how unfairly you mom treats you. But you really should try to stop your brothers-"
"Knew you'd say that," said Ron smiling at Harry and Melisa.
"We have arrived Miss Song." said Professor McGonagall walking into their train compartment. "If you three could please let us have some time alone so she could be sorted, that would be greatly appreciated."
"Oh, but can they please stay professor? They're my friends!" Melisa gave Professor McGonagall a pleading look.
"Alright Miss Song, but don't think I'll be this flexible in class." Professor McGonagall said.
"Yes ma'am." Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on Melisa's head and waited for the result.
"Well, well, well what have we here?" The sorting hat said. Melisa looked at Ron, Hermione, and Harry to see if they could hear it. They made no notice to the sorting hat's words, so she assumed they could not. "No dear, they can't hear me," the soring hat said, "but you can. Now let me think. Which house to put you in? Not Slytherin huh? Same thing Harry Potter said when he first placed the sorting hat on his head. Let's have a look see in your head. Hmmmmmm...plenty of brain power...a dash of cunning...a heap of courage...let me think. Maybe...GRYFFINDOR! The hat shouted the last word out so loudly the glass on the compartment door shook. Harry, Ron, and Hermione let out a shout of joy. Even Profesor McGonagall smiled.
"Well Miss Song I hope to see you bright and early tomorrow morning in my class. Untill then I'm sure Harry and Hermione will make you feel right at home. Good evening." Professor McGonagall picked up the sorting hat and swept out of the train compartment.
"C'mon Melisa I'll show you the way," said Hermione. "It really is great that you got into Gryffindor, you know. I didn't want to tell you this in case you got placed into a different house, but Gryffindor is the best. Even the Headmaster Dumbledore was in it when he was in Hogwarts. And I read in Hogwarts, A History that Gryffindor-""Hermione no one exept you in the whole school has read half the books you have, espeially if they are half my weight. Like Hogwarts, A History." Ron said rolling his eyes.
"Ron that statement clearly proves that you have never even seen the book, much less picked it up. Hogwarts, A History is exactly 975 pages and weighs about 20 pounds. Unless you weigh 40 pounds, which you don't, you shouldn't go around shooting off your mouth and saying things that you have no idea are true or not." Hermione said giving Ron an evil glare.
"You'll get used to it." Harry said to Melisa. "They argue all the time. No use trying to stop it." Harry watched as Ron and Hermione bickered in the background.
The four finally found an empty carrige and climbed inside. They rode in silence for the time it took to get to the castle. Finally Melisa broke the ice.
"Wow. It sure is beautiful. Look at the lake. And the windows. And the castle itself!"
"Denis Creevy, Colin's brother, fell in once. The giant squid pushed him out." Harry pointed to the boats of first years gliding across the lake.
"There's a giant squid in there?" Melisa shreiked making Ron jump and nearly drop Pig on the floor. Pig hooted noisily and flapped around in the cage.
"Yes," said Hermione, "sometimes in the summer, you can see it stretching its tentacles."
"Wow," said Melisa as the carriges came to an abrupt stop. Everyone climbed out and started walking up the Hogwarts steps. In the pouring rain.
"I could have jumped in the lake!" Lavender cried as she wiped her eyes and hands dry without sucess. "After all, I'd be drier!" Melisa laughed at Lavender. She couldn't understand why others didn't like the rain. She had always loved it. Just like her dad. She threw her hands up in the air and twirled around. She then put her head back and drank in the cool, clear raindrops. Hermione pulled Melisa into the hallway as they entered the castle. Professor McGonagall called out to the crowd.
"Melisa Song? Miss Song? Where are you?"
"Here Professor! I'm right here!"
"Good. Silence students! Silence!" A hush fell over the crowd. "This is Melisa Song. She is new this year and will be starting in the fifth year. I'm sure you all will treat her like she has been here the whole time. Now, let us all proceed into the great hall to enjoy the-" CRACK. The falling of a giant water balloon cut Professor McGonagall's speech short.
"PEEVES!" Screamed all the students.
"Peeves! Get out of here at once!" Professor McGonagall said as she wiped wet hair off her face. All the girls screamed and ran into the Great Hall followed by the boys as Peeves emptied his stash of water balloons by throwing them out into the crowd.
Finally everyone got in to the Great Hall and sat down, wet or dry (mostly wet) and sat down at their appointed table. Melisa sat at the Gryffindor table between Hermione and Dean Thomas. Harry and Ron sat across from them. Professor McGonagall could be seen leading in the first years. Then the sorting began.
"ABRAHAM JOSHUA!" Professor McGonagall called.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted. Every Gryffindor including Melisa applauded.
"ADAMS JANELLE!" Professor McGonagall shouted.
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted. This time the Ravenclaw table applauded. Melisa soon got bored of watching first years get sorted and sit down. Apparently, so did Ron and Harry. Ron pulled out a feather from his pocket and set it on the table. He then blew it to Harry who had made a goalpost with his fingers.
"Missed," Harry whispered. Melisa then copied Harry and made a goalpost with her fingers for Ron to shoot in. After a couple of minutes of playing Melisa got bored again.
"I have an idea," she said. he set the feather down on the table and murmured and incantation. The feather went shooting across the table and hit a first year in the head. Melisa, Ron, and Harry quickly looked away and tried to surpress giggles. After another few minutes of 'hit and look away' the sorting ended and the last student (Zven Matthew) sat down at the Hufflepuff table. Dumbledore stood up and started his welcoming speech.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. To our new faces welcome! To our old faces, welcome back! I have the pleasure of introducing you to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Vimpare!" A tall pale man wearing all black sauntered into the room and sat down at the teacher's table in front of the Great Hall. He had jet black hair that was cut very short. His eyes were a steel gray that seemed to hold a dark mysterious secret. He sipped at his goblet and smiled at the students. There was a very short and choppy applause. "Well now that everyone is introduced I think it's quite fitting to say that the Forbidden Forest is as always forbbidden. Mr.Filch has added some more rules to his list, and if anyone wishes to view them, you know where to go. Now the moment you've all been waiting for. Dig in!" Dumbledore smiled at his students.
"Finally!" Ron grabbed as much food as he could have on his plate.
"Ron you are such a pig." Hermione rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Ffanks." Ron splattered Hermione with mashed potatoes and gravy. Melissa watched the scenario and laughed. She took in all the events that had happened that day. She closed her eyes and sighed. All of a sudden she felt a feather hit her in the back of the head. Melisa opened her eyes and saw Ron and Harry pointed to each other with malice and mashed potatoes all over their faces. She threw back her head and laughed like crazy. This, she thought, was the best place on earth.