Disclaimer: Most of the characters belong to JK Rowling (wonderful woman,
isn't she?) Kristin, however, belongs to me (because she's me) and her cat
belongs to me (see reason before)
----
" I can't believe I'm going through with this," Kristin wrote in her journal. "I'm never going to fit in. Never mind getting on the train. I should have laid on the tracks. It would have been more productive." But the train from platform nine and three quarters and Kristin were already on their way to Hogwarts and there was nothing that could be done about it anymore.
Kristin was surrounded by kids but still felt alone. Her journal was all she had. She didn't know anyone and had the feeling it was going to stay that way. She was never in a school long enough to make friends before she got kicked out. And what for? Accidentally frying a flock of chickens when trying to turn a feather into a match? Ha! Best barbecue this side of the Atlantic. There had been many more but she pushed them from her memory.
She couldn't screw this one up. Hogwarts was the greatest wizardry school in the world, if she got kicked out of this one, it would be the end of her. Kristin shook with anxiety. She tried to relax and watch the scenery from her window but it didn't work. She just kept thinking about how humiliating it would be to get kicked out of Hogwarts for something stupid. She'd probably be the first one ever to knock Harry Potter off his broom. Nah! That's impossible! Finally she gave up staring out the window and started listening to the chat between the two boys in front of her. They were talking about the houses they wanted to live in.
"I really want to be in Gryffindor. That's where Harry Potter lives. Then I could meet him and be best friends with the greatest wizard that ever lived."
"Just because you meet him doesn't make him your best friend, stupid!" the other boy said. "Just as long as I'm not in Slytherin. They say You-Know- Who lived there when he was in Hogwarts."
"Shh," the first boy scolded, "don't talk about him too loud. I heard he can hear you even when you don't say his name."
Kristin stopped listening there. They were so wrong about Voldemort hearing anyone (unless he was in the room -or- you were trying to sneak out of the house). They were right about the houses though. That was the last thing Kristin needed; to be stuck in Slytherin. That wouldn't help her reputation. No. she needed a new start in a good house where no one knew who she was. Dumbledore would know but there was nothing she could do about that. She was born with that and it would never escape her.
She could see her reflection in the window. Her hazel eyes betrayed her overactive nerves. She hoped no one else could notice it. Probably not. They wouldn't know if she was nervous or not. They probably wouldn't even know her name in three months. Maybe, that one girl who even Dumbledore himself couldn't reach out to. That screw up who even got kicked out of Hogwarts. People only got expelled from Hogwarts for deadly crimes.
Finally the train stopped. Kristin was already in her robes, but she still wasn't ready for what awaited her. She sighed and ran a hand through her long brown hair before she filtered out of the train car into the room with the rest of new kids. They were all much younger than she was but not everyone had spent the past six years in eight different schools of witchcraft. The woman explained the procedure of house selection but Kristin didn't really pay attention, nothing could be worse than what she had already gone through. The group was led onto the stage. Kristin's body was shaking horribly under her robe. Great! Her fate would be decided in front of hundreds of kids. 'I sure hope nothing too much is said. I'd never live it down if they found out.'
"Campbell, Kristin," she sighed heavily and audibly. "Here goes nothing" she said under her breath and sat down on the chair in front of the huge room of people watching her. The hall was huge. It was very beautiful and she looked at the blue cloudless sky portrayed on the ceiling. She saw Professor Dumbledore smiling at her and wondered if he looked that same way at her father so long ago. The old, battered hat was placed upon her head. It didn't take a while to decide her new fate as it had with the students before but quickly yelled its answer.
"SLYTHERIN!" Kristin shuddered. Exactly what she was afraid of. She looked pleadingly at Professor Dumbledore but he smiled at her, not maliciously as she had been used to but a kind smile as if saying 'don't worry, dear. It's all for the best.' This made her shudder less but didn't ease the tension of being in the house of her father's legacy. It's not like she was using her real last name so her identity would be protected for a while.
She strolled to her table trying to appear as if it didn't affect her, as if she wanted to be in Slytherin. She didn't need people saying that she thought she was too good for her house. If that is what the hat said. then that is what the hat said. It was her fate now. She sat at her table without a word- on her part and everyone else's- and watched the others be assigned to their tables. Neither of the two boys sitting in front of her made it to Gryffindor - one was in Ravenclaw, the other in Hufflepuff.
Kristin picked at the food in front of her, without eating much of it. She couldn't eat while thinking about what could happen. Her first class was potions with Gryffindor. 'Great! My first chance is the premiere opportunity to blow something up. sixth year potions. Just wonderful.'
She left the feast early and walked around what would be her new school and home. Everything seemed harmless enough. until she could get a hold of it. Once put in Kristin's hand; any item became a hazardous weapon. She couldn't control her magic. Sure she was a sixth year but she never understood how to control her powers. Everything she tried seemed to be executed ten fold.
"'I can't believe they sent me here' she continued to tell herself. 'This is a place for wonderful witches not for someone who can't even keep her bedroom from burning down every time she wants to turn on a light.' Dumbledore must have one amazing plan.
Finally a bell interrupted her wanderings. Time to go blow another place up.
------
"Time to get partners," Professor Snape announced. Kristin just sat and waited to be the last one left, as always. No one had talked to her the entire time she had been here. She'd made an effort a couple times but no response to be had. "Potter! Don't have a partner? Big surprise. How about Miss Campbell? Did I say that right?" Kristin nodded. "Do you have a partner?"
"No, sir," Kristin replied.
"Ah, polite young lady. I'm sorry but you'll have to partner with Mr. Harry Potter."
"Yes, sir." She looked up at her new lab partner. She had never seen Harry Potter before, just read about him in books and such. He really was a striking character in person. He had beautiful dark hair and the most piercing green eyes. "Hello," she greeted.
"Hi," Harry Potter took a seat next to her. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him. She'd never seen a celebrity before. She wasn't sure whether she liked him or not. She was not so sure about his past experiences. She looked up back into his eyes and he met his gaze. It was a deep, powerful glare that she couldn't shake -and- didn't want to shake.
"Well," she started nervously, locked in his eyes, "should we begin?"
"I suppose we should," Harry replied. He broke their gaze to start filling a vial with pixie saliva. "Do you want to handle this?" He handed her another vial and some unicorn horn shavings.
"I really shouldn't." she pushed it away. He looked at her puzzledly. "I'm really not good at this," she answered his unspoken question. I always end up killing something helpless."
"I can help you through it," Harry wrapped his arms around her from behind and guided her hands through the steps for the potion. He whispered key spell words and many other unrelated things into her ears. Kristin smiled though it all. She smiled until she heard and saw the explosion take place on the table in front of her.
----
" I can't believe I'm going through with this," Kristin wrote in her journal. "I'm never going to fit in. Never mind getting on the train. I should have laid on the tracks. It would have been more productive." But the train from platform nine and three quarters and Kristin were already on their way to Hogwarts and there was nothing that could be done about it anymore.
Kristin was surrounded by kids but still felt alone. Her journal was all she had. She didn't know anyone and had the feeling it was going to stay that way. She was never in a school long enough to make friends before she got kicked out. And what for? Accidentally frying a flock of chickens when trying to turn a feather into a match? Ha! Best barbecue this side of the Atlantic. There had been many more but she pushed them from her memory.
She couldn't screw this one up. Hogwarts was the greatest wizardry school in the world, if she got kicked out of this one, it would be the end of her. Kristin shook with anxiety. She tried to relax and watch the scenery from her window but it didn't work. She just kept thinking about how humiliating it would be to get kicked out of Hogwarts for something stupid. She'd probably be the first one ever to knock Harry Potter off his broom. Nah! That's impossible! Finally she gave up staring out the window and started listening to the chat between the two boys in front of her. They were talking about the houses they wanted to live in.
"I really want to be in Gryffindor. That's where Harry Potter lives. Then I could meet him and be best friends with the greatest wizard that ever lived."
"Just because you meet him doesn't make him your best friend, stupid!" the other boy said. "Just as long as I'm not in Slytherin. They say You-Know- Who lived there when he was in Hogwarts."
"Shh," the first boy scolded, "don't talk about him too loud. I heard he can hear you even when you don't say his name."
Kristin stopped listening there. They were so wrong about Voldemort hearing anyone (unless he was in the room -or- you were trying to sneak out of the house). They were right about the houses though. That was the last thing Kristin needed; to be stuck in Slytherin. That wouldn't help her reputation. No. she needed a new start in a good house where no one knew who she was. Dumbledore would know but there was nothing she could do about that. She was born with that and it would never escape her.
She could see her reflection in the window. Her hazel eyes betrayed her overactive nerves. She hoped no one else could notice it. Probably not. They wouldn't know if she was nervous or not. They probably wouldn't even know her name in three months. Maybe, that one girl who even Dumbledore himself couldn't reach out to. That screw up who even got kicked out of Hogwarts. People only got expelled from Hogwarts for deadly crimes.
Finally the train stopped. Kristin was already in her robes, but she still wasn't ready for what awaited her. She sighed and ran a hand through her long brown hair before she filtered out of the train car into the room with the rest of new kids. They were all much younger than she was but not everyone had spent the past six years in eight different schools of witchcraft. The woman explained the procedure of house selection but Kristin didn't really pay attention, nothing could be worse than what she had already gone through. The group was led onto the stage. Kristin's body was shaking horribly under her robe. Great! Her fate would be decided in front of hundreds of kids. 'I sure hope nothing too much is said. I'd never live it down if they found out.'
"Campbell, Kristin," she sighed heavily and audibly. "Here goes nothing" she said under her breath and sat down on the chair in front of the huge room of people watching her. The hall was huge. It was very beautiful and she looked at the blue cloudless sky portrayed on the ceiling. She saw Professor Dumbledore smiling at her and wondered if he looked that same way at her father so long ago. The old, battered hat was placed upon her head. It didn't take a while to decide her new fate as it had with the students before but quickly yelled its answer.
"SLYTHERIN!" Kristin shuddered. Exactly what she was afraid of. She looked pleadingly at Professor Dumbledore but he smiled at her, not maliciously as she had been used to but a kind smile as if saying 'don't worry, dear. It's all for the best.' This made her shudder less but didn't ease the tension of being in the house of her father's legacy. It's not like she was using her real last name so her identity would be protected for a while.
She strolled to her table trying to appear as if it didn't affect her, as if she wanted to be in Slytherin. She didn't need people saying that she thought she was too good for her house. If that is what the hat said. then that is what the hat said. It was her fate now. She sat at her table without a word- on her part and everyone else's- and watched the others be assigned to their tables. Neither of the two boys sitting in front of her made it to Gryffindor - one was in Ravenclaw, the other in Hufflepuff.
Kristin picked at the food in front of her, without eating much of it. She couldn't eat while thinking about what could happen. Her first class was potions with Gryffindor. 'Great! My first chance is the premiere opportunity to blow something up. sixth year potions. Just wonderful.'
She left the feast early and walked around what would be her new school and home. Everything seemed harmless enough. until she could get a hold of it. Once put in Kristin's hand; any item became a hazardous weapon. She couldn't control her magic. Sure she was a sixth year but she never understood how to control her powers. Everything she tried seemed to be executed ten fold.
"'I can't believe they sent me here' she continued to tell herself. 'This is a place for wonderful witches not for someone who can't even keep her bedroom from burning down every time she wants to turn on a light.' Dumbledore must have one amazing plan.
Finally a bell interrupted her wanderings. Time to go blow another place up.
------
"Time to get partners," Professor Snape announced. Kristin just sat and waited to be the last one left, as always. No one had talked to her the entire time she had been here. She'd made an effort a couple times but no response to be had. "Potter! Don't have a partner? Big surprise. How about Miss Campbell? Did I say that right?" Kristin nodded. "Do you have a partner?"
"No, sir," Kristin replied.
"Ah, polite young lady. I'm sorry but you'll have to partner with Mr. Harry Potter."
"Yes, sir." She looked up at her new lab partner. She had never seen Harry Potter before, just read about him in books and such. He really was a striking character in person. He had beautiful dark hair and the most piercing green eyes. "Hello," she greeted.
"Hi," Harry Potter took a seat next to her. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him. She'd never seen a celebrity before. She wasn't sure whether she liked him or not. She was not so sure about his past experiences. She looked up back into his eyes and he met his gaze. It was a deep, powerful glare that she couldn't shake -and- didn't want to shake.
"Well," she started nervously, locked in his eyes, "should we begin?"
"I suppose we should," Harry replied. He broke their gaze to start filling a vial with pixie saliva. "Do you want to handle this?" He handed her another vial and some unicorn horn shavings.
"I really shouldn't." she pushed it away. He looked at her puzzledly. "I'm really not good at this," she answered his unspoken question. I always end up killing something helpless."
"I can help you through it," Harry wrapped his arms around her from behind and guided her hands through the steps for the potion. He whispered key spell words and many other unrelated things into her ears. Kristin smiled though it all. She smiled until she heard and saw the explosion take place on the table in front of her.