Sacrifice Pemberline stepped gingerly into the wooden basin filled with steaming water. The magically heated bath was an entirely new experience for the eleven year old girl. Before moving in with her great uncle in Hogsmeade, she had never experienced magic of any kind. Add to that the fact that her stepmother in America had forced her to bathe in the pond behind the house. It was strange indeed.
After getting used to the temperature of the water, Sacrifice began washing her long golden hair. She didn't know if it was the magic, or simply the heat, but the fleas were much easier to get out of her golden curls than they were in the cold pond back home. She ran a delicate finger over the smooth skin of her face, remembering vividly the bruise that had faded only days before; a parting gift from her stepmother. If not for her older brothers who were living on their own now, Sacrifice would still be living in that house.
She had only just arrived at her uncle's apothecary earlier that morning, but already she'd be taking the short journey to Hogwarts in a few hours. Uncle Figgleforth had been so kind, buying all of Sacrifice's robes and school supplies, as she had no money of her own.
After finishing her bath, the young witch changed into the new school clothing that had been laid out on the bed nearby. She'd been given this room to use on school holidays and such. It was small, but she'd never had a bedroom before. Wanting to change as soon as possible, she reached for the hook her outer robes had been hanging on earlier, but her hand met only air.
Frowning, Sacrifice looked around her small room, hoping to find her outer robes. Her uncle had bought them for her earlier that day and already she'd lost them! For a moment she thought she might cry. All the things her uncle had gotten her, school books, new trunk, all her robes, even the expensive oak wand with a dragon heartstring, nothing compared to the outer robes. They were a light blue color, 'to compliment your eyes', her uncle had explained. The soft velvet material and enveloped her in a warmth she hadn't felt since her mother had died.
Kneeling down to look under the bed once more, Sacrifice didn't know if she could summon the strength to get back up again. 'Never be afraid to come for me for help,' she suddenly remembered her uncle saying to her. Even though the man had been so patient and loving to her so far, she wasn't sure if she was ready to go to him for help just yet. But she couldn't go to school without her outer robes...
Making the decision, Sacrifice stepped out of her room and ventured to find her uncle. She found him downstairs in the apothecary. "Uncle Figgleforth," she blurted out quickly, "have you seen my--" Quickly she stopped talking, covering her mouth with her hand. In her hurry to ask for the robes, she hadn't noticed that her uncle was busy helping a customer. She desperately hoped that her uncle wasn't angry with her.
She started to take tentative steps backwards, when her uncle said, "One moment honey. I can help you when I'm done helping Professor Snape."Sacrifice sighed, grateful that she wasn't at her stepmothers tea shop. If ever she had interrupted then... Sacrifice shook her head, she wasn't going to think about THAT anymore. Waiting patiently for her uncle to finish helping the customer, she took the time to study the man called Professor Snape. He was tall and skinny, with harsh looking black eyes. This was a Professor not to be triffled with, Sacrifice decided.
When her uncle was done packaging up his belongings, Professor Snape paid with his coins and then nodded politely as he left the store. Even though the Professor definitely looked strict, for some reason, Sacrifice could tell that the man could be trusted.
"What did you need Sacrifice?" her uncle asked politely, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Uncle, have you seen my outer robes? I thought I might have left them somewhere in the shop," Sacrifice looked down, turning slightly red. She didn't want to seem ungrateful, how could she have lost her robes so carelessly?
"Ah, is that what you were worried about?" the elderly man said cheerfully. Sacrifice's blush deepened, and she nodded sincerely. Figgleforth merely chuckled, while pulling a brown paper parcel printed with the logo of the small robes shop from beneath the counter.
Sacrifice let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Thank you uncle!" She dashed up the stairs in renewed spirits. Only a little longer until she was an official Hogwarts student.
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The night air was unusually calm, and as a result there was barely a ripple on the glassy surface of the lake. Sacrifice could see the towering castle of Hogwarts in the distance. It was lit up cheerily with hundreds of warm orange lights pouring out of the many windows. She let out a contented sigh, her eyes traveling once more to the surface of the lake.
The older students had already left, and the first years had begun to clamour over who got to sit in which boat. Sacrifice was unsure of which boat to choose. She didn't want to accidentally cause a set of friends to be separated, but the spaces were quickly filling up.
"No way!" came an arrogant voice from nearby, startling Sacrifice out of her thoughts. "If I ride with you two tubs of lard,
I'll end up at the bottom of the lake. Obviously you fatasses will sink the boat." sacrifice looked over to see a blonde boy with very pale skin trying to physically block two huge boys from entering his boat. They just stared at him blankly.
"But Draco," The fatter of the two said. "Your father told you to be friends with us." He simply stood his ground, looking dumbly at the smaller boy.
"This has nothing to do with that!" Draco hissed. "Besides, this boat is full!"
The more muscular of the goons screwed up his face in obvious confusion. "but the big shaggy guy said four people to a boat, and there's only you and that girl," He motioned to the bushy-haired brunette perched in the very front of the boat, reading a book by wandlight.
"What are you talking about?" Draco scoffed. "I have..." he looked around breifly,"-these two!"
Sacrifice was nearly pulled off her feet as Draco seized her by the wrist and pulled her in the direction of the boat. Draco had also latched on to a skinny boy with glasses, who looked just as dumbfounded as she felt.
Before either of the chubby boys could protest further, they were shuffled off by Hagrid to find their own boat. Even though Sacrifice had half a mind to deck the blond boy and find another boat, everywhere else was full, so she kept her mouth shut and settled in. Thankfully they didn't have to row, the boats being pulled by it's own force. Sacrifice looked around wide eyed and amazed, tentatively she dipped a finger into the cool water of the lake.
"I read about these boats!" the fluffy haired girl exclaimed. "They're enchanted to move on their own."
"These boats aren't that amazing," the blond haired boy drawled. "It's just a simple enchantment. At Malfoy manor, my father has several boats for guests to tour the back gardens."
"Wow," Sacrifice gasped, even though she thought this boy was a bit conceited, she couldn't help but marvel at the image of a grand manor with beautiful gardens.
"Yes," Draco continued, his chest puffing up a little more. "But our summer home is much more impressive. But I suppose you all know about the Malfoy homes."
Sacrifice blushed, she didn't know anything about Malfoys... should she? She hated not knowing anything about the wizarding world. Looking around at the others, she relaxed when she realized that the others had the same confused look on their faces.
"Oh don't tell me you're all mudbloods!" the boy exclaimed.
"Mudbloods?!" the fluffy haired girl exclaimed. Whatever the boy had said must have angered the girl, although Sacrifice didn't know what it meant.
Finally she decided to speak up, "I'm Sacrifice Pemberline, from America." She held out her hand to be shook by the blond boy first, keeping her face calm and determined.
"I'm Draco Malfoy," the boy replied, holding up his own hand. She didn't know what she did, but it seemed as though she had impressed Draco.
"I'm Harry Potter," the little boy with glasses finally said. His voice was quiet and shook just a little, as if he was worried he might be rejected. At the same moment both Draco and the puffy haired girl gasped.
"Harry Potter?!" the girl exclaimed, "I read about you!"
"Yeah I- I heard," the boy replied.
"Famous?" Sacrifice asked. She really wished she had read some of her school books before hand, she felt so lost and confused.
"He killed you-know-who," Draco said reverently.
"I know who?" Sacrificed asked, thoroughly confused, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Voldemort," Harry replied. Draco gasped. Sacrifice eyed him suspiciously, wondering what all the fuss was about.
"Here," the bushy haired girl said, "you can borrow my history book." She pulled out a heavy tome from her rucksack. "Everything you'll want to know about recent magical history is in there. It's really a quite fascinating read. Did you know that back in 18-"
"I don't suppose any of you have heard about 'Oddballs Owl Orders' have you?" Draco interrupted. "I ordered some Blasting Bombs from it. My father says he thinks that they won't work that well, since the company isn't very reputable. But he said I could try them at Hogwarts."
Tucking her borrowed book into her own rucksack, (Sacrifice briefly wondered why the girl would want to lug such a big book around instead of leaving it in her trunk) she hoped that Draco wouldn't be doing anything stupid that might get them into trouble.
"My father says there's a squid down in the lake," he continued, "I wonder if there really is."
It seemed as though Hermione had found another book in her rucksack and had began to read. Harry wasn't really listening to Draco either, so Sacrifice didn't feel so guilty about not listening either.
"What house do you think you'll be sorted into?" Harry asked her quietly. Draco was still talking, it didn't seem like he'd noticed they weren't listening.
"Oh I don't know," Sacrifice replied. Her uncle had mentioned a little bit about the houses earlier that day. They all seemed pretty good. "You get sorted into houses on what fits your personality best. So I guess whatever house you're sorted into is best for you."
"I heard that all the bad wizards get sorted into Slytherin."
"Oh I don't think that could be true," Sacrifice replied. "If it was, why would they have that house at all?"
Harry sat back, looking deep in thought. Sacrifice decided not to interrupt him. She was gazing out across the clear still water of the lake when she was suddenly brought back to reality.
"Here, let's just try it," she heard Draco say. And then there was a quiet little plop sound as a tiny object hit the surface of the water. Before she could even react, there was an ear splitting blast and the boat lurched sideways. Moments later, she was immersed in the ice cold water, struggling to find the surface and to get back to the air.