Maraudesses: Second Year
Azethena and Kherezae
1
Stowaways
"Shh!" Kari muttered urgently, trying to contain her own giggling, as she attempted to pull on Riley's sister's robes with one index finger hovering over her lips. Her eyes sparkled with amusement and mischief—she was all for the mischief, she just didn't want to get caught. At least, not before they got to Hogwarts, because who knew what would happen if the four of them were caught while on the train? They might never get to see Hogwarts! This was a one-time deal, Kari was sure; they'd nearly gotten away with it already, but if they were caught, she doubted they'd have the chance to sneak on the Hogwarts Express next year.
"What are you so worried about?" Lilly laughed. She was already firmly in her robes. The crest of Gryffindor all of the robes bore looked both perfectly matched and out-of-place on each of the girls as they hunched in the lavatory, trying not to get caught. On the one hand, Gryffindors were known for mischief, but on the other, none of these four had been Sorted though they were of age to be in their second year in Hogwarts.
"Do you want to get caught?" Kari hissed.
"Oh, don't worry so much," Lilly scoffed, tucking her blonde hair behind one ear.
Kari smirked. "I'm not worried about being caught because we'd get in trouble," she said. "If we get caught, who's to say they won't stop this train and send us home before we ever get to Hogwarts? And it hasn't even started moving yet, so how easy would that be?" She pursed her lips as if to say, 'What then?' "I bet you can Apparate on the train, too, so they wouldn't even need to stop it."
"And I thought you were smart," Riley teased. "We can't Apparate; they'd say we're too young. I know. I get it all the time." She rolled her eyes, and they knew she was thinking of her mother, a stickler for the rules. "But you know she would have done it back then if she had needed to!"
"If she needed to," Rachel agreed pointedly. She was right; there was a difference between needing to and wanting to.
Kari sighed. "Fine, but they can make a Portkey and send us home, and then your mum would kill us, Riley."
"And then Dad," Riley agreed, "because Mum would kill him for not telling her that you three know about Hogwarts." She slouched against the wall in her older sister's robes; of the four of them, only Riley and Kari began to fit Celie's robes, as they were the tallest of the quartet and Celie had inherited the Weasley height to the fullest extent. Lilly and Rachel wore Jon's robes; Jon was only a year older than Riley, and not so tall as Celie. They might have been able to wear the younger Hannah's robes, but she was uncharacteristically short for a first year, especially a Weasley first year, and none of them could fit in her robes.
"Speaking of…" Kari mumbled. The train started rumbling; its horn gave a loud blow. "Ri, you should make sure your dad hasn't noticed we're gone yet."
"Why don't you check?" Riley complained.
"Actually, it'll take two of us," Kari said with a shrug, pointing to the small window in the back wall of the lavatory. They were in the caboose, so if they were to look out that window, they would be able to see Platform 9 ¾ even as the train was starting away. "C'mon, Ri, we're tallest so it'll be easier if we do it." She walked over to stand underneath the window, gesturing for Riley to come over and stand on her shoulders.
With a sigh, Riley obliged. However, Kari's genius plan didn't hold out long; even if Riley could manage to climb up on Kari's shoulders, she wouldn't trust the thin girl to hold her weight. "No way," she said after a half-hearted attempt at climbing up onto the auburn-haired girl's shoulders.
Kari rolled her eyes, giving Lilly and Rachel a pleading look. With an amused smile, Rachel joined them under the window and suggested, "Riley doesn't need to be lifted that much. You take one leg, I'll take the other."
Riley didn't look too thrilled with the plan, but then again, she didn't get much say in the matter. She was helplessly lifted up as Kari and Rachel each took firm hold of one of her legs; she let out a small squeak as she almost fell over backwards, but she managed to grab the window's sill to balance herself. She tried to pull herself up so that she could see out the window, but she was lacking a couple inches. "Could you at least lift me high enough that I'm not doing this for nothing?" she complained. She yelped as they gave her a sort of toss into the air in order to grab onto a lower part of her legs, but they did manage to raise her up high enough that she could see through the little window in the back of the caboose. She pressed her nose to the glass, watching Platform 9 ¾ growing smaller as they moved away. It took a moment, but she spotted Ron—still waving as the Hogwarts Express rattled off into the distance. "He's waving," she said, laughing a little to herself. Her dad had the worst memory. Plus he rarely noticed the things right under his nose.
"Should have expected as much," Lilly teased with a grin as she inspected her fingernails.
Riley shot her a playful glare, but she knew that her friend meant no insult to her father. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Ron waved until he couldn't see the Hogwarts Express any longer, and then he turned away, picking up the potted flower he had gotten for Hermione from where he'd left it sitting on the ground next to him. He smiled to himself. "Another year at Hogwarts… I remember the days."
With that he pulled out his wand, Apparating home.
"Still waving," Riley said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, come off it, you can't possibly see him anymore," Kari huffed, dropping Riley roughly. The Weasley girl landed on one leg, her other still in Rachel's grip, and fell over, pulling Rache with her. They ended up a tangled pile of bony limbs and oversized robes on the floor of the lavatory, Riley trying hard not to giggle since she, by all rights, ought to be annoyed. She was failing miserable.
"Ew," Lilly said, raising an eyebrow. "Who knows what's been on these floors?"
At the comment, Riley and Rachel quickly disentangled themselves from one another, standing and brushing themselves off as if they would be able to wipe away any lavatory-floor-germs that easily. "Thanks for that thought," Riley said sarcastically.
"No problem," Lilly said with an impish grin.
Ron was home for all of five minutes we he groaned, knocking the heel of his hand against his forehead. He knew he'd forgotten something! He finished watering the flower he'd gotten for Hermione and then pulled his wand back out, Apparating back to Platform 9 ¾.
Once there he made his way out through the barrier and to the parking lot, where he'd left his car. He'd been taking underage wizards to the Platform—of course he hadn't Apparated there! Silly me, leaving my car, he thought, laughing.
All four girls jumped as a stall door creaked open with the flush of a toilet. A sheepish-looking little first-year girl walked out, taking in the older girls' Gryffindor robes and smiling hesitantly. "Hi," she said.
Kari paused for a moment, but then decided that the girl must not have been listening. She didn't look like someone who had just overheard talk about four girls sneaking onto the Hogwarts express. "Hey," she said sweetly, bending to the girl's level—which wasn't very much lower than her own, considering they were just a year apart in age—and putting her hands on her knees. "This your first year?"
"Yeah," the girl agreed. "I'm a little nervous about the Sorting, though." She wrinkled her nose. "My big sister's been telling me all sorts of horrid things about it. I don't believe her, but I'm still nervous."
The four stowaways exchanged a mischievous look, all thinking the same thing. It was Riley who started it, though. "Well, it's good that you aren't listening to your sister," she said, her manner perfectly motherly despite the mischief she was planning. "After all, for all your sister pretends to think you're annoying, she doesn't really wish you would fall into a pit of hungry thestrals. She'd never admit it, but she loves you too much to tell you how horrible the Sorting really is."
"Oh, yes," Lilly agreed, bobbing her head eagerly as she saw the direction their mischief was taking. "She'd never want to tell you how awfully painful it is. How it haunts your nightmares for the rest of your life. She loves you far too much to tell you that thinking about the Sorting will make full grown adults cry. Good thing you've got us strangers to give you a proper warning, eh?"
The little girl's eyes went wide. "Is it really that bad?" she asked innocently, looking quite distraught.
"Oh, yes, that bad and worse," Kari said, finishing their plot up. "Rache, here, still has scars." She gestured to the black-haired girl, and Rachel affected a properly horrified look at remembering how she had gotten the mentioned 'scars'.
"Er, well, okay, thanks for, er, telling me," the little girl stuttered, hesitantly heading for the door. "I should, er, be going." And she made haste out of the lavatory, eager to be away from the four frightening older girls.
Ron slammed on his brakes, swearing under his breath as he realized what else he had left behind at King's Cross Station. Angry drivers honked at him from behind after a skidding of tires as the people driving innocently along behind him barely managed to avoid forming a car pile-up at his abrupt stop, but he ignored it. "I should have known!" he exclaimed, thumping his forehead against his steering wheel.
Finally he started driving again. He couldn't do anything at the moment; he'd have to wait for the owl Hogwarts would inevitably send.
"Come on, let's go greet everyone," Lilly said, starting for the lavatory door now that all of them were outfitted in 'borrowed' robes, but Kari caught her wrist and yanked her back sharply. "What?" Lilly demanded, turning to face her friend.
"That's just asking to get caught!" Kari replied. "I want to say hello to everyone just as badly as you, but if we're to have a chance to actually see Hogwarts, we need to stay back here until the train stops. Understand?"
"Fine, fine," Lilly agreed, rolling her eyes.
"Well, they know me—" Riley began, starting for the door, but Kari cut her off even more vehemently.
"All the more reason to stay back here!" Kari exclaimed. "Celie and Jon will have told everyone that you didn't get your owl, you know that."
Riley froze, growing aggravated upon that realization. "You're right… I'll have to wring their necks, you know…"
Rachel laughed, putting down the lid on a toilet and straddling it. "Why's that?"
"Oh, don't be stupid," Lilly said, but she wasn't being mean. They always joked around rather roughly; they were good enough friends to survive petty insults. "It will take her ages to get rid of the reputation they will have given her. 'Oh, that Riley, she's such a Squib,' and 'I bet she couldn't even make a feather float.'"
Riley nodded gravely, glowering at the mental images of her older siblings.
Kari rolled her eyes, sitting haphazardly on a sink after making sure she wouldn't be getting Celie's robes wet. "Like you care, Rile," she replied with a smirk.
The red-haired Weasley grinned her acknowledgement of the truth in Kari's statement. It was true. None of them really cared what others thought of them—that was the beauty of their friendship. They were free to act as crazy as they wanted because they truly didn't mind if people stared and laughed, especially when they were all together.
"So, how long d'you suppose we have to wait in this stinking lavatory before we get to Hogwarts?" Lilly asked, pinching her nose shut with a forefinger and thumb.
"Dunno," Rachel replied, crossing her legs beneath her on the toilet lid and brushing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. "I hope it isn't too long. I want to see Hogwarts!"
Riley shrugged. "Celie told me once that the ride takes about three hours," she said.
"Ugh," Lilly groaned, fanning her hands in front of her face as if the smell of the lavatory was overwhelming. In truth, it wasn't all that bad, though no one wanted to spend hours in a lavatory if they could help it.
"I guess we might as well get comfortable," Rachel murmured brightly. "We're in for a long ride."
Kari echoed Lilly's groan and asked idly, "What d'you think are the chances that no one we know will have to use the lavatory in three hours?"
"Firs' years, firs' years this way," came a deep, rough voice in the darkness. It was raining. It was miserable. The four stowaways were soaked, but they didn't much care.
"It's Hagrid!" Kari murmured excitedly to the other three, trying to keep her voice low, but it was hard work maintaining a volume that was audible over the rain and yells of Hogwarts students yet quiet enough not to be overheard by unwanted ears. Not that anyone was listening to other people's conversations. "He's still here!"
"How old d'you suppose he is?" Lilly asked with a grin that was barely discernable in the dark.
"Dunno," Riley replied. "Ancient. C'mon, let's go with the first years."
"Mmkay," Rachel replied, and they made their way through the crowd toward the sound of Hagrid's voice.
By the time they made it there and saw the boats waiting to carry them across the lake, they were quite thoroughly soaked and their buoyant spirits were beginning deflate just the tiniest bit. "Remind me why we're going across the wet lake in the wet rain in wet boats," Lilly said, "when we could be taking dry carriages up to the castle?"
"Well, the carriages are pulled by invisible horse-like critters that would probably tear the flesh from your limbs if Hagrid had not trained them well," Rachel pointed out with a grin.
"There is that," Lilly agreed with a sideways smile.
"Well, into the boats, firs' years," Hagrid's voice boomed. They couldn't see him, though they could make out his position because of the lantern bobbing high above the heads of the first years in the direction his voice came from. His charges clambered into the rickety-looking boats obediently, most of them too nervous to do anything on their own and very grateful for the instruction of the loud voice.
The four stowaways found their own little boat and climbed in, shivering in the cold rain. They could see their breath on the air in front of them. Everything was wet. "I can't wait to get inside," Rachel murmured through chattering teeth.
"I might rather stay out here," Lilly muttered. She pulled a sopping wet lock of hair away from her face, her expression reflecting her disgust. "Rain hair is worse than hat hair."
Kari laughed and nudged Lilly with her shoulder, as they were seat mates facing Riley and Rachel, who shared their own seat. "So, d'you suppose someone will lose their toad this year?" she asked rather randomly.
"Huh?" Lilly asked, leaning back to properly give Kari a look that asked if she was insane, limp wet hair forgotten.
"Neville lost his toad first year," Rachel replied for Kari, rubbing her arms to ward out the chill.
"Who cares?" Lilly retorted with an expression that plainly said, 'Duh?'
"Lovely," Kari muttered, rolling her eyes and laughing.
The boats reached the opposite shore, and the first years made their trek up to the castle to wait in a wet, nervous, shivering, chattering group before the doors leading to the Great Hall. Behind them was a trail of wet footprints and damp streaks where soaking robes too long for their owners had dragged along the floor—like Kari and Riley's, since Celie's robes were even too long for them though they were the tallest of the twelve-year-olds hiding among the first years. Had the little eleven-year-olds been less nervous and more attentive, they might have recognized the stowaways in their midst by the Gryffindor crests on their heavy wet robes, but all of them were fearful about the Sorting to come. Even Hannah, Riley's younger sister, didn't notice them—she of all the first years should have. It helped that they were standing behind her, Kari supposed.
"Uh, what are we going to do now?" Kari whispered. "Our names aren't going to be on the list to be Sorted, and I think they'd notice if we snuck over to the Gryffindor table…"
There was no time to find an answer to her question. The huge doors to the Great Hall opened, and the four of them were staring at the massive hall with the first years, the sight just as new to them as the younger children who actually belonged here. They gaped at the long House tables, the candles floating all around, the festive decorations hanging all along the walls…
A man Riley instantly recognized was herding the first years forward to Sort them. When she spotted him, her eyes went wide and she yanked the sleeves of her three friends, pulling them down into a crouch, her breathing quick and her pulse racing.
"What?" Lilly asked irritably.
"Uncle Harry's doing the Sorting!" Riley spluttered. "Celie and Jon never told us that!"
"Uh-oh…" Kari murmured. Harry would recognize all four of them. Though Kari, Rachel, and Lilly honestly should know nothing of the wizarding world, being Muggle-born, they knew a great deal. They'd read the Harry Potter books and, in so doing, had realized that it was all true, and their beloved series about Harry was bewitched so that wizards would not notice the books. It had been an easy enough spell to break, as Riley's father, Ron, had noticed; the problem wasn't breaking it, but knowing what to look for. No one with wizarding blood could read the books. That was what should have tipped the four twelve-year-olds off to the fact that Riley wouldn't be getting an owl to go to Hogwarts—she could read the books. So the three Muggle-borns had known about the wizarding world for around three years, and they had met several of the characters from their beloved books, like Harry and most of Ron's siblings. Of course, Hermione, Riley's mother, didn't know that, and in truth, it was a miracle that they had kept their little secret from her for so long, even if she was away a lot because of her work as an Unspeakable. They were just lucky that Ron was too scared to tell Hermione that he hadn't modified Kari, Rachel, and Lilly's memory when he found out what they knew.
"Oh, c'mon, Harry's cool," Lilly said. "He won't—" She tried to stand up, but Kari yanked her down roughly.
"Not that cool!" Kari said. "He's Ron's best mate, and he doesn't mind us knowing about the wizarding world, but us sneaking to Hogwarts is quite another story!" She was right, though Harry might mind if he knew how they had found out. Ron didn't mind being part of the subject of a series of books, but he had the sense to realize that Harry wouldn't be too fond of the idea, and he hadn't told his old friend.
Rachel nodded fervently, but with a panicked glance around, she muttered, "I think it's a little too late to worry about Harry. The crowd is thinning." It was true; all around them, the first years were dispersing as Harry called them to be Sorted. So engrossed had the stowaways been in their worried conversation that they hadn't noticed the Sorting Hat's booming voice calling out Houses.
"Bugger," Lilly muttered, and she straightened.
"What are you doing?" Kari hissed, trying to pull her back down by tugging on her sleeve.
"Well, Rache is right," Lilly replied, looking down at Kari irritably and jerking her sleeve out of her friend's grasp. "Too late to worry now."
Harry was busy enough with calling the names to be Sorted that he didn't notice the four twelve-year-olds until the last name had been called and a 'Zelanie, Greg' was sitting on the stool beneath the Sorting Hat anxiously. Harry turned his emerald green eyes on them, perplexed, but he quickly gained a half-disapproving, half-amused expression. The Sorting Hat drowned out his words with a tremendously loud, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and little Greg slipped from the stool with a slightly disappointed expression, taking the hat from his head and setting it gently on the stool before he ran off to join the Hufflepuff table, which was cheering loudly.
"I should have expected something like this," Harry said bemusedly. "You four ought to be ashamed of yourselves."
"Oh, like you wouldn't have done the same thing in our position," Riley said with a grin.
Harry had no reply for that. They all knew he would have done the same thing had he found out about Hogwarts while living with the Dursleys but had not gotten an owl. The Sorting Hat saved him a bit of trouble, though, by exclaiming, "Now, then, what's all this, aren't you going to call these four to be Sorted?"
"Yes, Professor Potter, what's going on?" a stern voice asked, and the four girls turned and quailed a bit as they saw the thin woman standing before the chair of the Headmaster, her hands on the table as she raised an inquiring eyebrow at Harry. She could only be McGonagall—but of course, had they expected Dumbledore to still be Headmaster so many years later?
Even Harry seemed to blanche at the Headmaster—Headmistress'—question. Kari felt a little guilty—they couldn't get Harry into trouble, could they? "These four aren't on the list to be Sorted, Headmistress," Harry said. "I believe they snuck onto the Hogwarts Express."
McGonagall looked them up and down with one eyebrow arched, taking in their Gryffindor robes and Riley's obviously-Weasley look. "Ah, the one who didn't get an owl… And who are these three?"
Riley shot Kari a Look as if to say, 'I told you so,' but curtsied to McGonagall—a mistake, obviously, as she flinched when the cold, wet robes she'd held out to curtsy settled on her skin again—and said, "These are my friends, Lilly Watson, Rachel Taylor, and Kari Darling." She withheld the information that they were Muggle-born. It just wasn't wise to ask for trouble—even Riley knew that, and she fancied herself Uncle Fred and Uncle George's protégé.
The whole Great Hall had been silent, but now there was an outbreak of murmuring. Nothing like this had ever happened at Hogwarts. McGonagall quieted the assembled students with a wave of her hand, obviously thinking along the same lines as the students of Hogwarts. "How did you manage to sneak on the train?" she asked stiffly.
"There must be some sort of stowaway detection spell on the train," Kari whispered, jostling her friends with her elbows, as she watched McGonagall. "And we snuck past it. That's why she looks shocked. D'you think?"
"Shut up!" Riley hissed, glaring back at Kari, and then she looked at McGonagall apologetically. "Um, we… We just got on when no one was looking… And hid in the lavatory… We borrowed my brother and sister's robes…"
"That's all?" McGonagall asked sharply. "You didn't have any help?"
"No…" Riley said, furrowing her brow, obviously confused. "No one would have helped us. They would have told us we shouldn't be sneaking to Hogwarts."
McGonagall cracked a grin, and Kari rolled her eyes. Admitting that you knew better than to do something but did it anyway was just genius. She gave Riley a shove, and the Weasley girl shot her another glare. "Not even your uncles, Miss Weasley?"
"Fred and George?" Riley asked. She laughed. "I suppose they would have, but no. We didn't think it would be very hard, so we didn't ask for their help."
The Headmistress exchanged a glance with Harry, and he replied wryly, "At least she's honest."
McGonagall sighed. To the students of Hogwarts, she said, "You may eat. I have matters to take care of." As if they didn't know that. They all started whispering, and she started down from the teachers' table, heading toward the four stowaways and Harry. "Come along, all of you," she said, leading them out of the Great Hall.
The four twelve-year-olds exchanged glances that were a mixture of worry and excitement. This was fun. "D'you think we'll be in big trouble?" Rachel asked nervously. Of all of them, she was the shyest and the one most afraid of being in trouble, but she never turned down an opportunity to engage in mischief. The worrying came later.
"Duh," Lilly snapped, rolling her eyes, but she grinned.
Once they were well away from the noise of the Great Hall, McGonagall stopped abruptly, and Rachel nearly ran into her. She blushed, backing up a few steps. "Watson, Darling, Taylor," the Headmistress said, turning around in a swirl of robes and looking down at them with a hawk-like gaze. "I've never heard of you three. Are you even of wizarding families?"
"No," Kari admitted reluctantly.
McGonagall sniffed disapprovingly and glared at Riley. "Did you tell them?"
Riley considered for a long moment. On the one hand, she would be inviting trouble if she took the blame, but on the other, did she really want to give away the Harry Potter books? So many Muggles loved them, and they did no harm—no one truly believed that they were real. It was really coincidence that her three friends had found out. They never would have if Riley had magic. "Yes," she said finally. "I'm really sorry, but they're my best friends."
"That's no excuse," McGonagall said sternly. She turned to Harry. "We'll need to perform memory charms on them and send them home. Make a Portkey—the effects of the spells will last long enough to allow them to take the Portkey without remembering it."
Harry nodded and took a watch from his pocket. To Riley he said, "Give this to your father when you get back. Tell him to return it to me."
Riley nodded sadly and watched as he enchanted the pocket watch. Kari pleaded with McGonagall, "Please, can't you let us keep our memories? I promise we won't try to sneak on again, we only wanted to see Hogwarts, what use is coming if we can't remember it?"
"You never should have known of this school or the wizarding world in the first place," McGonagall said sharply, but then she softened. "Don't worry. You won't feel as if you missed anything." Then she turned to Riley and said, "And you. Don't tell them again. If you do, I will know."
Riley nodded reluctantly.
"Please, Headmistress?" Lilly pleaded. But three pairs of puppy-dog eyes had no effect on the stern Headmistress. She looked at Harry as she pulled out her wand, who nodded to say he was ready, putting the Portkey down.
McGonagall looked almost apologetic as she turned the wand on Lilly first, murmuring, "Obliviate!"
But nothing happened.
Lilly and the Headmistress stared at one another, both equally stunned. After a long moment of silence, McGonagall said, "Th—that spell works on Muggles and wizards alike, how can it not work on you?"
Kari snickered to herself despite her bewilderment over the malfunctioning spell—she had never expected to see McGonagall dumbfounded. "Momentary glitch?" she offered.
McGonagall gave Kari a sharp look, and the girl seemed to shrink as she waved innocently. "Perhaps," the Headmistress admitted, turning to Kari. She raised the wand again and said, more loudly this time, "Obliviate!"
Again, nothing happened.
Kari and Lilly exchanged an excited glance. Whatever was going on, they liked it! When they looked back at McGonagall, she looked to be completely and utterly confused. She turned to Harry and said, "You try it."
Harry nodded slowly, eyes wide with his own confusion. He still had his wand out after spelling the Portkey, so he pointed it at Lilly and said, "Obliviate!"
Still nothing.
"You know, I'll sue if you cause some sort of permanent damage to my brain," Lilly commented, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, it doesn't look like the Memory Charm is working, but who are you to tell if it isn't scrambling my brains?"
Harry blinked. "Uh…"
"Try Taylor," McGonagall said, pointing at Rachel.
"Wait—" Rachel raised her hands as if to ward the spell off. She didn't want to be the odd man out if the spell did work on her.
Too late. "Obliviate," Harry said, but it was a bit half-hearted—and sure enough, it didn't work.
McGonagall stared for a moment before asking, "Have you four been warded against spells?"
"No," Riley said. "The only spells ever cast on me were by Uncle Fred and Uncle George. And they were mostly things to turn me yellow and stuff."
Kari, Rachel, and Lilly laughed at that, but they seemed to be the only ones who found it funny at the moment.
McGonagall took Harry by the shoulders, leading him off a ways so they could talk without the four twelve-year-olds overhearing them. The children waited rather anxiously, exchanging glances, excited and puzzled. "What's going on?" Kari asked Riley in a harsh whisper.
"You expect me to know?" Riley asked. "You know more magic than I do and I'm the one in the wizard family!"
It wasn't long before the two adults came back, and McGonagall said, "You four obviously have some sort of magic." She stood straight, stiff, and they could tell that she was puzzled despite her stern expression. "I should have guessed when you weren't detected on the Hogwarts Express. However," she continued, cutting off their excited cheer, "it's no magic I've ever heard of or seen. You will start school here, but it will be hard for you."
"Oh, we don't care," Kari said. "We just want to stay here—we'll work hard."
"Please, Miss Darling, do not interrupt me," McGonagall said sharply, raising an eyebrow. Kari lowered her gaze apologetically. "As I was saying," the Headmistress continued, "you will have to make up you first year work while working on your second year this year. It will not be easy. You will have the same amount of work as everyone else, but it will be twice as hard because you missed the basics. Picking up what you missed in first year is left to you in your free time. I don't know how your magic will work and if it will be as easy for you as for the other students to master spells. I can't help you with that, as I don't know what makes your magic so different that it is undetectable and, apparently, unaffected by normal magic. Do you think you're up for it?"
"Oh, yes, of course," Kari said immediately. Easy for her to say. She had always found learning easy. All four of them were intelligent, but Kari perhaps moreso than the others. She might be called the Hermione of the group, except for the fact that she would by no means do things like color-coded homework schedules—she never studied, her homework took her a fraction of the time it rightfully ought to, and yet she still seemed to make excellent grades. The other four, though, weren't any less enthusiastic about being able to go, regardless of how hard it might be.
"Very good," McGonagall said. "You will stay the night in my chambers. You will be Sorted in the morning at breakfast and get your schedules with everyone else. After, you will meet your parents in Diagon Alley to get wands and school supplies. You will miss the first week of school, but you will be expected to make up the work you missed. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," they chimed. It never occurred to them that she might be treating them a little harshly—having to make up their first week's work when they had the basics from first year to learn. They were just happy to be there.
"Now Professor Potter will show you to my chambers. I have to get back to the feast." McGonagall nodded to Harry, and he smiled, bending down to dispel the portkey charm on his pocket watch. The Headmistress strode off down the hall the way they had come, her robes whispering on the floor behind her. Harry, his hair a mess as always, pocketed his watch and beckoned for the girls to follow as he led them to the Headmistress' rooms.
The Great Hall was abuzz with excitement. The stool with the Sorting Hat had been set up once again that morning after everyone had eaten, and the four girls from the night before were back. Almost everyone in the Hall knew who they were now thanks to Riley's siblings in Gryffindor—word traveled fast about something as interesting as this.
The ceiling of the Great Hall showed a sunny day. The sky was a bright, cerulean blue and puffy cumulus clouds drifted lazily along the blue dome of the heavens. Birds chirped through the open windows where the owls had already made their morning delivery—the delivery on the first morning of school was always large, since parents were making sure their children, especially the first years, had made it to school without incident.
All four of the girls were nervous as they stood in front of the Sorting Hat, the eyes of the entire Hall on them, but none would admit it, not even shy Rachel. Since the whole Hall was whispering about them, they decided to whisper amongst themselves, as well. "Let's all try to get into Gryffindor," Lilly said.
"Of course we'll all get into Gryffindor," Riley replied with a broad grin. "My whole family's in Gryffindor, and that hat wouldn't split up friends as good as us."
"I'm no ordinary hat," the Sorting Hat replied quietly, its voice mockingly irate, startling the four of them. At least Riley ought not to have been surprised, but none of them were used to animate objects that should be inanimate. Hermione kept her household fairly Muggle-friendly, so there weren't too many magical items there.
This was no ordinary Sorting ceremony, so it wasn't nearly as neat and orderly as usual. Harry had no parchment listing their names—he simply called them forward as he saw fit. "Riley Weasley," he said, beckoning her forward.
She shot him a glare as she slid onto the stool, telling him how very much she appreciated being made to go first. He grinned light-heartedly at her and settled the hat on her head.
It had only been on her head a few seconds when it pronounced, "GRYFFINDOR!" Riley smiled and bowed dramatically as the Gryffindors applauded, causing the Sorting Hat to slip off her head. Harry caught it, and it grumbled to itself about disrespectful children.
"Rachel Taylor," Harry called, gesturing her forward. She went nervously to the stool, her face screwed up in concentration even before he put the hat on her head. She wanted Gryffindor.
But the hat had barely touched her head when it cried, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"What!" she demanded, glaring upward at the Sorting Hat she couldn't see as it perched on her head. Then she looked around, saw all the students of Hogwarts laughing at her, blushed deeply, and barely managed to hand the Sorting Hat back to Harry before stumbling over to the Hufflepuff table embarrassedly.
"Kari Darling," Harry said, and she slid onto the stool half-heartedly. She knew she would most likely end up in Ravenclaw.
Sure enough, the hat was only on her head for a moment or so before it pronounced in a loud, booming voice, "RAVENCLAW!"
She smiled and took the hat from her head, handing it to Harry and walking over to the Ravenclaw table, where she was received with much applause.
"Lilly Watson," Harry said. She sat on the stool, looking none-too-pleased that all of her friends were in different Houses. Harry put the Sorting Hat on her head, but surprisingly enough, it didn't announce her House immediately as it had the other three.
In her ear, it whispered, "This will be hard on you. But this is where you must go. It will make sense in time. It's all right here in your head."
Before she could begin to protest or ask what in the nine hells the hat was talking about, it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"
Her eyes widened and, with a reaction similar to Rachel's, she demanded, "What!" But she didn't get embarrassed when the whole Hall laughed at her. Instead, she sulkily thrust the hat into Harry's arms and stalked over to the Slytherin table, pushing a Slytherin first year over as she sat at the end of the table. She was muttering something about not even being pureblood, but no one heard her.
"An unusual start-of-term breakfast, I know," Headmistress McGonagall said, "but now things shall be returning to normal. Time tables, everyone!" She brandished her wand and, without having to voice the spell, made hundreds of schedules fly from its tip. They went to their respective owners, surprising one Hufflepuff badly as it gave her a paper cut.
As soon as everyone had their schedules, they began filing out of the Great Hall. The four who had been sorted belatedly were some of the last to leave, as they were waiting for Harry, who was to give them a Portkey to Diagon Alley. It had all been arranged; Hermione and Ron would take them to Diagon Alley, and the three Muggle-borns' parents had given the wizards money to exchange at Gringotts, as it was easier for Ron and Hermione to just Apparate to Diagon Alley without worrying about the parents who couldn't.
They were heading for the door when a boy in Gryffindor robes ran up in front of them. He was very odd-looking, not like the typical Hogwarts student at all—he had a Mohawk, for one, and he wore eyeliner, spiked bracelets, and a brightly colored tie that hung loosely about the neck of his robes. His fingernails were painted black. "Can you help me?" he asked, his accent thick. It sounded as if his native tongue was Chinese. "Me American. Me no speak-y British accent."
They stared for a moment, not sure what to make of him, and then they burst out laughing—except Lilly, who was in a bit of a foul mood after being Sorted into Slytherin. She made little effort to sound friendly as she said, "That's a Chinese accent, you dolt. Not American. I would know. I'm American."
"Oh. Right," he said, blinking as if he'd just remembered, losing his mock-Chinese accent. He stared a moment and then snatched Rachel's schedule out of her hands, running off.
"Um… What was that?" Kari asked, still laughing.
"I'm not sure," Rachel said, still holding out her hands as if her schedule was in them.
Presently the odd boy zipped back into the Great Hall and returned Rachel's schedule with a cheesy grin. He turned to leave again, but Riley stopped him by grabbing his elbow. "Hey—who're you?"
"Marcus," he replied. He saluted and shrugged her hand off, waving back at them as he left the hall.
"I like him," Kari laughed. "That's great."
"Bloody awesome," Riley agreed. Lilly just rolled her eyes. "Oh, cheer up," Riley said. "You realize there's one of us in each House? We can wreak more havoc that way."
Lilly perked up a bit at that, but it would take a little longer for her mood to lighten completely.
"Are you four ready?" Harry asked, startling them. He watched after Marcus tearing off down the hallway just outside the Great Hall and said, "I see you've met Marcus."
"Strange, isn't he?" Rachel asked.
"But funny," Kari said, grinning. "He seems cool."
"He transferred from an American wizarding school last year," Harry said. "Most people like him, but the Slytherins, naturally, have an aversion to him. No offense," he added last second to Lilly, who rolled her eyes at him. "He had an odd Sorting, too, but he wasn't by himself. He spent a week telling people he was an oversized first year."
Riley grinned. "And what are we going to tell people?"
"Dunno," Harry replied. "That you're stowaways?"
"That we are," Kari said, laughing.
Harry grinned and spelled his pocket watch again, putting it at the end of a table near the door. "You'll have my class soon, if you look at your time tables," he said. "See you soon."
They grinned and grabbed the Portkey. They were off to Diagon Alley.
They appeared out back of the Leaky Cauldron, pocket watch in hand. Ron and Hermione were waiting, and Hermione seemed torn between lecturing Riley and congratulating her on getting into Hogwarts after all. "Riley, I should be punishing you for telling your friends when I told you not to—"
Riley shot a look at her dad, and he grinned sheepishly. Apparently he'd had the same thoughts about keeping the Harry Potter books a secret between the five of them. Not that she blamed him—her mother would be murderously angry with the author should she find out about them, and the twelve-year-old didn't think Rowling would escape the confrontation with her mother unscathed.
"You should have known better, young lady, but I suppose there's no harm done," Hermione admitted. "All four of you got into Hogwarts… Imagine that, magic no one's heard of…" She clucked her tongue to herself, tapping the bricks in the alley wall to open the way to Diagon Alley. If Riley knew her mother like she thought she did, she knew that the woman would be searching books for months to find out what magic her daughter and her three friends had turned up with.
The girls were overly anxious to see Diagon Alley, which was still hidden behind the brick wall. They knew how it had been described in the books, but it wasn't a primary source and they were sure it looked different from Rowling's description. Kari was grinning and hopping up and down, trying to get a first glimpse over Ron's head as Hermione tapped the last brick and the wall started parting in the middle. All she could see were the tops of buildings and a few hats, so she gave up and waited with everyone else.
"Well, here we are," Hermione said and smiled at the girls. The girls, except for Riley who had been there numerous times, ran into the open path. They chattered amongst themselves about the similarities and differences between what they knew and imagined about Diagon Alley. Hermione gave Ron a smile, and he returned it.
"Okay, girls, we better get going, we have a lot of shops to visit," Hermione said and the girls walked back over to Riley and her family. Kari noticed they hadn't been given a list of supplies, but she didn't say anything. She was sure Hermione knew exactly what they needed… and she did.
"Okay, what's first," Hermione turned around and examined the girls. "Right. You need to get robes—you can't walk around wearing Celie and Jon's robes all year, now can you? First stop, Madam Malkin's."
"She's still there?" Lilly asked bluntly; she imagined the woman to be old in the books, and she was sure the witch would have to be dead by now.
"Why wouldn't she be?" Hermione asked, but Lilly just shrugged. On their way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, they passed several shops the girls recognized, one being Ollivanders'; Lilly had thought old Ollivander would be dead by now, too. She buried her hands in her robes' pockets and sighed quietly; she really wanted to know what the Sorting Hat's prediction meant. It was a random thought, but once she remembered the odd Sorting she was burning with curiosity. She hadn't had time to tell her friends about it yet, so for now she was on her own about the matter. She was so lost in thought that she almost ran into Rachel when they stopped in front of Madam Malkin's shop.
"Here we are," Ron said cheerfully which made Rachel jump. He hadn't talked at all today. They stepped inside and a squat lady greeted them with a smile. She opened her mouth but closed it again with and odd expression on her small face. She placed a forefinger beneath her lips as she examined the lot that had just walked in; she had no clue why four students would be out of school and in oversized robes, but regardless, she greeted them like she would any customer.
"Welcome. Hogwarts, m'dears?" she asked quite pleasantly.
"Yes, please," said Hermione in a formal voice.
"First years?" Madam Malkin asked carefully, but thought it was a stupid question since they were all already in robes.
"No, we need crests on them," Hermione said promptly. Madam Malkin examined the girls again.
"All Gryffindor?" she asked.
"Yes," said Hermione.
"No, mum, we didn't all get into Gryffindor," Riley corrected her mother. She had just remembered that nobody ever informed her parents what Houses they'd been Sorted into. Madam Malkin's expression grew even more confused. "I'm the only one that did. Kari's in Ravenclaw, Rache's in Hufflepuff and Lilly is in… Slytherin."
"That's im—" Hermione started, but she cut herself off—she didn't want to be impolite even though she knew it wasn't possible. "Okay then. Did you get that, Madam Malkin?"
"Yes, follow me, darlings," she replied, and the four girls followed her obediently, Lilly dragging her feet over the wooden floor; she was obviously in a bad mood again. Ron and Hermione waited in the front while the girls followed Madam Malkin far behind the welcoming counter. There were a few bored witches sitting around the large area of space and another—slightly less bored—working on an older wizard's robes.
"Susan, Anaeh, Martha, and Julie, would you please get these girls fitted for Hogwarts robes?" Madam Malkin addressed the bundle of witches. The four whose names she had called stood up and got stools from the far left corner of the room. They set them up next to the older wizard and told the girls to come stand on them. The girls each stood on a stool and immediately got black robes pulled over their heads.
The four witches pinned the robes to the right length very quickly—they did an amazingly fast job for not using a lot of magic. One of the only times one of them used magic was when Martha pinned Rachel in the leg by accident. The Hufflepuff girl wasn't bleeding badly at all, but Martha healed the wound promptly and apologized, which made Kari wonder if they used that spell a lot.
"Crest?" Anaeh demanded of Lilly once she was finished.
"Uhm… Slytherin," Lilly replied and Anaeh walked over to a plastic box and got the correct crest out. She started sewing it onto the twelve-year-old's robes; the other witches followed her lead, finding out which crests their customers needed, but the other three were more polite than Lilly had been.
After the girls were done, they examined themselves in the full-body mirrors that were on the wall near the front counter. The witches, who now knew the girls' exact sizes, made two more robes that looked exactly like the ones they were wearing appear stacked next to the girls with a flick of their wands.
"You need winter cloaks, too, darlings?" Susan asked.
"Er… yes," Kari replied when nobody else did and four cloaks appeared on the stack. "Thanks."
The four friends walked back to the front of the shop where Hermione and Ron were waiting. They slowly turned around, modeling their uniforms for the couple. Lilly was obviously in a better mood now, remembering that she had been given the opportunity to go to Hogwarts despite having to be in Slytherin. Ron and Hermione complimented the girls on their school robes and went up to Madam Malkin to pay.
"Are you paying for everyone?" Madam Malkin asked Ron, and the three muggle-born witches exchanged glances—they didn't have any money. In fact, they hadn't thought of their parents at all—did they even know that their daughters were at Hogwarts?
"Yes," Ron replied and turned to the girls. "Don't worry, girls, we went to inform your parents as soon as we found out. They were angry, of course, but also happy for you lot. Especially your father, Kari… anyways, they gave us muggle money so we could exchange it for wizarding money."
The girls were relieved to hear that their parents hadn't exploded. It was a good thing they already knew each other; Rachel doubted her parents would appreciate a random wizarding family telling them that their daughter wasn't going to be home for almost a year.
After getting the rest of their supplies, including their wands—which all, surprisingly, had the same core of dragon heartstring—they asked Hermione if they could get pets with their leftover money. They knew would probably need some spending money at Hogwarts, but they really wanted to have pets. Hermione eventually gave in and they went to go look at a pet store.
The shop had really changed since Harry Potter's school times. They didn't just have owls, cats and toads—they had any animal imaginable. Riley swore she saw a flamingo running around near the rabbit cages.
"Are we allowed to bring other animals to Hogwarts? Besides an owl, cat or toad, I mean," Kari asked Hermione and Ron.
"Well, they've changed the rules a bit. I don't think they ever cared; they let me take a rat when the rules weren't changed yet,'' Ron explained. The girls knew exactly what he was talking about.
The girls split up with huge grins on their faces, searching the shop for the perfect pet. After looking at some cats, Rachel grew rather fond of the little fluff ball she had been holding in her right hand the whole time. It turned out to be a chinchilla. After the other three had seen that Rachel had already decided what she wanted, they hurried up with their search.
Kari had looked at everything from purple mice to parrots when she smelled something awful: the ferret cage. She had always liked ferrets, but because of their smell she never got one. In the corner opposite to where most of the ferrets were huddled was a lone ferret with its face buried under its paws. Kari was somehow drawn to it; she just had to pick it up. She put the little creature up to her nose; shockingly it didn't smell at all. Kari had found her pet, and she was also immediately curious about how the pet store had found a ferret that didn't smell; she sought out one of the witches who worked in the store to ask about it while she waited for Riley and Lilly to make their choices.
Lilly was having fun with a small white monkey type of animal when she noticed the snakes in front of her. She nearly dropped the monkey when she saw them—she had always wanted a snake. She put the monkey gently despite her sudden interest in the slithering reptiles and walked over to the snakes' cages. Most of them were green, but some of them were very exotic colors. Lilly liked the one that was white with orange diamonds the best—she didn't know what kind of snake it was or how big it was going to be, but she liked it. The three girls happily walked over to Ron, Hermione and Riley.
"What did you pick out, Ri?" Lilly asked, showing off her snake.
"Pig," Riley replied. "I didn't like anything here and I've always liked Pig. We have more owls at home, so dad said I can take him."
"Nice," Lilly replied and they walked up to the counter to pay.
Once they got outside with their animals in small separate cages, Hermione gave each of them a small sack.
"That's your money. Ron and I put a little bit extra in there, congratulating you on getting into Hogwarts," Hermione said. It wasn't a huge sacrifice; since Harry's time at Hogwarts, the Weasleys had all climbed out of Wizarding poverty, quite to their rival families' dismay. "Now why don't you think of names for your new pets while we summon your trunks and Pig over here? We asked your parents to pack you some clothes and such since you can't just wear those robes all day."
"Burt," Kari said—she already knew exactly what she was going to name her pet.
"Burt?" Lilly demanded incredulously. She knew Kari hated short, abrupt names like Burt, Bob, and Joe, so it was quite a surprise to hear the name her friend had picked out. "Did you hit your head in there?"
Kari laughed and shook her head, explaining, "Short for Sherbet. You remember my grandpa's horse, right? We always called him Burt. He was my favorite horse."
"You're naming a ferret after a horse." Riley was grinning as she rolled her eyes at Kari, clearly finding the idea ridiculous. "Brilliant."
"Well, why not?" Kari asked defensively. "Anyway, your owl's name is Pig, so you can't talk."
"Short for Pigwidgeon," Riley protested. Kari just raised an eyebrow; the Weasley girl got the point. "Okay, okay, I'll shut it."
"Well, what about your pet, Lilly?" Kari asked now that the name of her ferret had been settled.
"Hum… snake…" Lilly said and thought for a while. "Scale… no… umm… I don't know!"
"Maybe Fluff," Rachel mused. Her three friends turned to stare at her, and she jumped a little, eyes going wide. "What? Oh! No, I was thinking about my chinchilla's name!"
"Oh," Kari said, crestfallen at the fact that she didn't have a good excuse to tease her Hufflepuff friend. "Well, anyway…" She looked back to Lilly's snake, eyeing it thoughtfully. "What about Slither or something?"
"No, I bet half the snakes in England are named Slither," Lilly replied, waving the notion off. "Hm. Maybe Milky. He looks like milk, right?"
"Yeah, curdled milk," Riley responded sarcastically, grinning.
"How about something with slime in it?" Rachel piped up.
Once again she got a round of disbelieving stares. "Does your chinchilla have a cold or something?" Riley asked, puzzled at why anyone would name a ball of fluff like the pet Rachel held anything containing the word 'slime'. "I mean, I could understand naming it that if it had a runny nose or something…"
"Ew!" Rache exclaimed, wrinkling her nose. "Not my chinchilla, Lilly's snake!" She grumbled something about slimy snot as she petted her chinchilla, quite thoroughly disgusted.
"Hmm, that might work," Lilly agreed. She thought for a second before beaming and exclaiming, "Oh, oh! King Slimy!"
Kari snorted in an attempt to keep from outright laughing. "Right," she replied sarcastically.
Riley seemed to share the sentiment. "Don't expect me to start calling a snake 'His Majesty' and 'My Liege,'" she said with a smile.
"Okay, okay, fine," Lilly snapped, but she wasn't really irritated in the least. "Mr. Slimy suit your fancies?"
"Excellent," Kari said, nodding. She was relieved that the hunt for the snake's name was over with. Seemed a picky reptile to her… Well, actually it was the owner who was picky. She grinned, amused, and turned to the only remaining girl who needed to select a name for her pet. "Rache?"
"I'm really not good at this… give me a while," Rachel replied after a moment, grinning sheepishly. She eyed her chinchilla as if concentrating on the furry little creature long enough would make a name for it pop out of thin air.
"Usually, we aren't supposed to summon things this far, but I left them with one of the people at the Leaky Cauldron, so they didn't have far to go. We will send Pigwidgeon along soon," Hermione said, cutting off any chance for one of Rachel's friends to make fun of the expression on her face. "Now where is that portkey?"
"I left it in front of the entrance so we wouldn't accidentally portkey ourselves," Kari said. "Don't worry, I hid it."
"Okay then, let's go, you girls really need to get back to school," Hermione said and made her way to the entrance. They girls each took their Hogwarts trunks and followed Hermione. It didn't take long to get back to the entrance to Diagon Alley. "So, where did you hide the portkey?" Riley's mother asked Kari with a smile.
"It's behind this garbage bin," Kari said, nudging it with her foot. The bin scooted to the side a bit, revealing Harry's watch.
"Okay, then, on three you all grab onto the watch," Hermione said and hugged them all. "Have fun you all. 1…"
The girls crouched down next to the watch. "I'll name the chinchilla Schimmel," Rachel murmured belatedly.
"2…"
"What?" her friends demanded. Too late…
"3."