Going back to school after summer holiday is always hard. Letting go of summer innocence for months of studying and homework is the most dreaded experience of any child's life, wizard or muggle. But going back to school when my life had been changed over the three months I had been away from my friends was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. It was harder for my parents. I was a half blood and after only four years of knowing I was a witch my poor mother was shocked again when I had become a werewolf.

My parents didn't want me to go back, my dad offered to teach me from home until I could better handle my... condition. But I told him that there was no controlling it any better than I already had. So with my trunk packed with wolfsbane and Dumbledore warned, my father brought me to King's Cross Station.

"Are you sure you want to go back Maxine? I can always tutor you." my dad insisted one last time.

"No, thank you. If I stay sheltered I'll never be able to get ahold of it. Besides, Dumbledore knows what to do on the... full moon." I whispered.

He smiled, "My brave little girl," he said to himself, "well, onto the train you go!" he said with a smile. He pulled me into a quick hug and I boarded the train. I waved to him with all the other students until we couldn't see our parents anymore. Most of the other kids had gotten into the compartments and I searched for one with my friends in it. I found my friends Lavender, Padma, and Parvati in a compartment farther down the train.

I knocked and opened the door, "Seat taken?" I asked pointing to the empty seat next to Padma.

"Of coarse not! Sit down!" She nearly yelled pulling me down next to her. We all giggled as we settled in for the long train ride up to Hogwarts.

"Max! What happened to your face?" Lavender asked.

"You're looking lovely as well." I said sarcastically.

"Sorry, I mean the scratches." She said motioning to my left cheeh where I had a long scratch that went from my jaw to my eye.

"Oh, we got in a car accident." I lied.

I was met with a chorus of "No way's," and "Shut up's."

"Why didn't you write us?" Parvati asked.

"Forgot about it, now tell me about your summers." I said. They all launched into their own stories

When we finally got to Hogwarts we all filed into the great hall for the Dumbledore's speach.

He introduced a lady dressed in pink as Dolores Umbridge, the new defence against the dark arts teacher. You could tell from her face that she as an uptight lady, and when she interupted Dumbledore it was clear that she would be causing trouble. After the speach Lavender and Parvati went up to the Gryffindor tower with their house while Padma and I were shuffled up to the Ravenclaw tower.

We sat in the common room for what seemed like hours talking with the other kids about the summer and complaining about the schoolwork. Some older kids freaked out the first years by telling them that teachers assigned a week's worth of detention for being late to class but Padma and I told them they were lying.

At around midnight Padma and I went up to our dormitory where all of the girls were asleep except fr Niki. Niki was... odd she was pale, extremely skinny, dyed her hair strage colors and barely ever talked to us. This year her hair was black with blue stripes and she was sitting in her bed reading a very thick book, even for a Raenclaw.

"Hey Niki, nice hair." I said trying to be friendly.

"Thanks." She said quietly while flipping the page of her book.

I turned to Padma, "Alright well I'm going to bed, night!" I said.

"Night!" We both got into our pajamas and went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up earlier than the other girls and went over to my trunk. I pulled out the planner my mom had gotten me and opened it to the calender page. I had exactly two weeks until the next full moon. I changed out of my pajamas into my uniform. I brushed my hair and pulled it into a high ponytail and looked into the hand mirror on my nightstand. With my hair up the scratch seemed even bigger so I let my hair down again.