Shinikka's first year at hogwarts.
Chapter 1. I got into Hogwarts
On August 12th 1991 Shinikka went out to check her letterbox and inside the box she a yellowish parchment envelope. Yah I'm going to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Inside the envelope there was the following letter.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Redding
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than August 12. Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts.
I took the letter inside and went next door to see my friend Harry Potter.
Hey harry did you get into hogwarts?
Oh, hey Shinikka, yes I got into hogwarts, do you know a place where we can get all of our school supplies.
Yes, there is a place called Diagon alley, I said.
Shall we go together tomorrow, I can ask hagrid if you want me to, harry said.
Yes you do that se you tomorrow.
Chapter 2. Getting to Diagon Alley and Gringotts bank.
The following morning I got up, dressed and grabbed my letter, then I went next door to see harry and hagrid.
Harry said morning, ready to go.
Yes I am ready to go to Diagon alley.
Harry and me had never been into London before.
This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."
It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out,Harry and me wouldn't have noticed it was there.
For a famous place it was dark and shabby.
Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."
He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.
The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them. "Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."
Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..." 56
A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy.
Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -"
There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...
"Gringotts," said Hagrid.
We had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -
"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as we walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.
A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in avast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing
coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.
"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's and Ms Shinikka Redding's safe."
"You have his key, Sir?"
"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry and me watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.
"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key. The goblin looked at it closely.
"That seems to be in order."
Err Shinikka do you have your key.
Yes hagrid I do, i said and I put it on the counter
That seems to be in order
"I will have Someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!" Griphook was yet another goblin.
Griphook said vault 687.
This is your vault harry, said hagrid
Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.
Griphook said vault 736.
This is your vault Shinikka said hagrid.
I gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.
Hagrid then told us that The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, easy to remember. Right.
Chapter 3. School supplies.
Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry and me entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.
Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.
"Hogwarts, dears, she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here.
She led us to the back of the shop where her assistant was waiting and fitted our long back robes.
But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry hopped down from the footstool, I hoped of my footstool as well.
We stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote.
We bought Harry's and my school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all.
Hagrid wouldn't let Harry and me buy a solid gold cauldron each, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of
feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry and me.
Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing and I carried a cage that had a tawny owl in it.
The last shop was olivanders wand shop. Harry's wand was holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple.
My wand was 12 1/4 inches, Dogwood contains one unicorn tail hair, Unveilding.
Chapter 4. The Hogwarts Express.
On September the first me and harry got on the hogwarts express at platform 9 and 3/4 at Kings cross station.
We found a compartment and sat down.
The door of the compartment slid open and a young boy enters the compartment.
"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry and me. "Everywhere else is full."
Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and me and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.
The boy said I'm Ron weasley.
Harry said I'm Harry Potter.
I said I'm Shinikka Redding.
At 12 o'clock the lunch trolley came. Harry said I'm hungry. He got some Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry and me had never seen in our life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman who was pushing the trolley eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.
At about haft past seven A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
The train stopped by a small platform.
First years, first years this way please, said hagrid. Hey hagrid me and harry said together.
Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud "Oooooh!"
The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by me.
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"
And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they
all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain
of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried
along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
Chapter 5. The Sorting Hat.
The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid. "Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
She pulled the door, The stone walls were lit
with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.
They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
The sorting hat began to sing
Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, But don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black, Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuff is are true And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The hat finished its song and bowed to each of the tables
When I call your name you will put on the hat and sit on the Stool to be sorted.
Abbott, Hannah!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Bones, Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF"
"Boot, Terry!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
Brown, Lavender
GRYFFINDOR
Granger, Hermione
GRYFFINDOR
Malfoy, Draco
SLYTHERIN
Potter, Harry
Harry steped forward
Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting...
So where shall I put you?"
Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, Not Slytherin, not Slytherin.
"Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that - no? Well, if you're sure - better be GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry went to sit at the Gryffindor table
Redding, Shinikka
I stepped forward and put the hat on and sat down.
Hmm said the hat, you're brave and smart, I know where to put you.
GRYFFINDOR!
I took of the hat and went to sit down at the Gryffindor table beside Harry.
Weasley, Ronald
GRYFFINDOR.!
Ron joined me and harry at the gryffindor table.
Chapter 6. The feast.
Welcome," professor dumbledore said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
"Thank you!"
He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.
"Is he - a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.
"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"
Mine and Harry's mouths fell open. The dishes in front of us were now piled with food. We had never seen so many things we liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries,
Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.
When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding.
And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.
Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.
"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
And now bed time. Of you trot.
The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries.
At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" she said. "Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it - Neville needed a leg up - and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.
Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another.
Night I said to harry and Ron.
Chapter 7. First lessons
And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry and me quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.
We had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week we went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for.
Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old
indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while we scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.
Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.
Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson,
only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of
a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story.
For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed
full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.
Chapter 8. Potions
Friday was an important day for myself, Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.
"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.
"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true."
"Wish McGonagall favored us, " said Harry. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.
At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry - he hated him.
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had y caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving
here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach
That is one class I am going to hate I said.
Chapter 9. The flying lesson.
At 3.3O the following Thursday afternoon harry, Ron and Shinikka went down into the grounds for their first flying lesson with slytherin house. The Slytherins were already there and so where 20 broomsticks lying in neat lines. Ron said Fred and George complained about the school brooms, saying they vibrated if you went to high.
Our teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Harry and me glanced down at our brooms. They were old and some of the twigs stuck out at od angles
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"'
"UP everyone shouted.
Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, along with mine, but it was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.
When I blow my whistle I want everyone to hover above the ground. 3-2-1.
But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and -
WHAM - a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and
started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.
Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his. "Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy - it's all right, everyone is to keep their feet on the ground while I take this boy to the hospital wing.
Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."
The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.
"Give that here, Malfoy, it's not yours," said Shinikka quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.
Malfoy smiled nastily.
"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree?"
"Give it here!" Shinikka yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Redding
I Grabbed my broom.
"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble.
I ignored her. Blood was pounding in my ears. I mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up I soared; air rushed through my hair, and his robes whipped out behind me -and in a rush of fierce joy I realized i'd found something i could do without being taught - this was easy, this was wonderful. I I pulled my broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring
whoop from Ron and Harry. I turned my broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.
"Give it here,"I called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!" "Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.
I knew, somehow, what to do. I leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfay like a javelin. Malfoy
only just got out of the way in time; I made a sharp about-face and
held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.
.
Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.
I saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and
then start to fall. I leaned forward and pointed my broom handle down - next second I was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball
- wind whistled in my ears, mingled with the screams of people watching - I stretched out his hand - a foot from the ground I caught it, just in time to pull my broom straight, and I toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in my fist.
SHINIKKA REDDING!
My heart sank faster than I'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. I got to my feet, trembling.
Never - in all my time at Hogwarts, follow me, she said.
She lead me inside the castle and took me to outside a classroom. She poked her head inside.
Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"
Wood? thought Shinikka , bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on her?
But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwicks class looking confused.
"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at me.
Redding, this is Oliver wood, wood, redding is going to be our new seeker.
I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule about first years not allowed a broomstick at school. I will get her a Nimbus Two Thousand, also a Gryffindor quidditch robes.
Seeker said harry.
You must be the youngest seeker in a century said Ron.
It was after dinner, we were in the library doing out homework. I had just finished telling them what happened after I left the grounds with McGonagall. Ron told me that Fred and George were on the team as beaters.
I said that I started training next week only wood wants to keep it a secret, plus I get my own broomstick.
Chapter 10. First quidditch practice.
The following Wednesday I saw my barn owl come in to the hall carrying a big box and a letter followed by 3 screech owls carry a long package. The dumped it in front of me. I opened the letter first which was lucky because it said.
DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session. There are also your Gryffindor quidditch robes.
Professor M. McGonagall.
At seven o'clock that night I made my way to the quidditch pitch for my first practice.
As seven o'clock drew nearer, I left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. I had never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were three golden poles with hoops on the end.
Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, I mounted my broomstick and kicked off from the ground What a feeling - I swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch.
"Hey, Redding come down!'
Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him.
"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant... you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."
He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.
Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side.
Three of them are called Chasers."
This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"
"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper -I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."
The next position are the beaters, Fred and George Weasley are ours. The fly around protect their team from the. Bludgers. These are the two black balls, he showed me.
The last position is the seeker. Which has to catch the golden snitch. The golden snitch is worth 150 points. the game ends when the snitch is caught. That's enough for tonight.
Chapter 11. Hallowe'en
October had arrived at Hogwarts, on Friday the thirty-first hallowe'en morning professor Flitwick said its time that we start to make objects fly. The charm we are going to learn is Wingardium Leviosa. Now you try. Ron happened to be paired with hermione granger.
Me and Harry weren't having much luck at all.
Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck than us.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly. "
That night we went down to the great hall for the hallowe'en feast. It was a joyful night for everyone.
After the feast we went up to the common room and I said the password but the fat lady said no there is a new password. I found Percy and asked for the password. He said it was now "Pig snout" I went back to the fat lady and said "Pig snout" and she let us inside to Gryffindor tower.
Chapter 12 Quidditch Gryffindor vs Slytherin.
The following Saturday morning I woke up early, I was very nervous because today was my very first quidditch match. The Gryffindor team were playing the Slytherin team. I dressed into my school robes, I would get changed down at the pitch with the rest of the Gryffindor team. I checked the time, it was 9 o'clock, wood had told us to meet at the pitch at 10.30 half an hour before the match would start.
I went down to the great hall where the rest of the house were up eating breakfast and looking forward to a good match. I found Harry and Ron and went over to them and sat down beside hermione who was now our friend. I got myself a bowl of porridge.
At quarter past ten, wood said team time to go to the pitch to get ready for the match. Harry Ron and Hermione wished me good luck. We got changed into our quidditch robes and protective gear, pulled on our boots and sat down to listen to wood's pre match talk.
Wood cleared his throat for silence.
"Okay, men," he said.
"And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.
And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."
"The big one," said Fred Weasley.
"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.
"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told me, "we were on the team last year."
"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."
He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else."
"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you.
I followed Fred and George out onto the pitch, carrying my Nimbus 2000.
Lee Jordan who was commentating the match closely watched by professor McGonagall, said here are the Gryffindors,
Keeper. Oliver Wood (captain)Chasers. Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia . Fred and George WeasleyAnd Seeker, Shinikka Redding, only a first year.
They are followed by the Slytherins
Keeper. Miles Bletchley. Chasers. Marcus Flint, Adrian Pucey and Graham Montague. Beaters. Lucian Bole and Peregrine Derrick Seeker. Terence Higgs.
Today's referee will be madam hooch.
I want a nice fair game from all of you, she said.
The quaffle is released and the match begins.
Johnson grabs the quaffle and off she goes, passes to Spinnet, who passes to Bell, who takes a shot, keeper Bletchley dives and misses, Gryffindor score. It's 10-nil to Gryffindor.
20 minutes into ghee game Gryffindor lead 50-10 and I spotted the snitch and I go after the snitch.
Oh, redding's seen the snitch, look at her go, Jordan says.
Terence Higgs hasn't heard Lee Jordan.
5 minutes later I am so close to the snitch I reach out a hand and grab it, hooch sees me and blows her whistle.
Jordan says, redding's got the snitch, Gryffindor wins 200-10.
The Slytherins were furious at not winning the game.
Harry, Ron and Hermione said well done, good game.
There was a huge party up in Gryffindor tower that night, it went on till midnight, when professor mcgonagall told us to go to bed and sleep.
Chapter 13. Christmas at Hogwarts
At the end of November ravenclaw bet Hufflepuff 180 to 60 in their quidditch match, this means that we have the lead in the quidditch cup.
December had arrived at Hogwarts. All of us students were required to were our winter uniform.
On the second week of December, mcgonagall came round getting name of people who would be staying at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays. From December 20th to January 8th the following year. Me, Harry and the Weasley's signed her list to stay for the break.
The night after term ended harry and Ron went for a walk outside in the second floor, where they ran into peeves the poltergeist. Peeves called upon filtch . Harry and Ron ran into the third floor corridor which was out of bounds to everyone that year.
The reason why it was out of bounds because there was a three-headed dog.
The following morning they told me what they had seen last night on their night stroll in the castle. Harry said what are they thinking keeping a dog like that locked up in a school.
Do you want to go and see Hagrid, Shinikka? Asked Harry.
Yes I said, hang on I will get my winter robe on.
Harry told hagrid about the monstrous dog they met last night.
How do you know about Fluffy.
That thing has a name. Said Harry.
Yes, hagrid said, he's mine.
On Christmas morning I woke up and saw a pile of presents at the foot of my bed. I got up and took the pile of presents down to the common room where harry and Ron were opening theirs.
I got.
An eagle feather quill from Hermione.
Chocolate frogs from Ron
A purple jumper from Mrs Weasley.
A flute that sounded like and owl from Hagrid
Hogwarts a history and quidditch through the ages from harry.
Scarlet dress robes from Dumbledore.
Harry got the same as me for Ron, Hermione and Hagrid.
A green jumper from Mrs Weasley, and a box of cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties from me, an invisibility cloak from Dumbledore.
That dinner time we went down to the great hall for the Christmas feast. The food included turkey, roast and boiled potatoes, chipolatas, buttered peas, gravy and cranberry sauce. Flaming puddings followed the turkey with silver sickles inside them. There were crackers placed on the table, harry got a wizards chess set, I got a emerald hat, and Ron got several white mice which mrs Norris ate for her Christmas dinner.
Chapter 14 Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff.
The new term started January 10th, so I had quidditch Practice again. If we won we would take the lead for the house cup beating Slytherin for the first time in 6 years.
The game was to be played on February 10th.
The morning of February tenth came round, it was the day of my second quidditch match. The Gryffindor team were playing the Hufflepuff team.
And here are the Gryffindor's said Lee Jordan, who was commentating the match.
Keeper. Oliver Wood (captain)
Chasers. Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet.
Beaters. Fred and George Weasley
And Seeker, Shinikka Redding, only a first year, who caught the snitch to win Gryffindor's last match against Slytherin.
And here are the Hufflepuff's
Keeper: Herbert fleet
Chasers: Malcolm Preece, Heidi Macavoy, Tamsin Applebee
Beaters: Maxine O'Flaherty, Anthony Rickett
Seeker: Cedric Diggory.
The quaffle is released and the game begins.
Preece grabs the quaffle passes to Applebee. Applebee takes a shot for goal. Wood saved it and throws the quaffle to Bell, who passes to Spinnet who shots and Scores, 10-nil to Gryffindor
Ten minutes passed it, 30-20 to Hufflepuff.
Fifteen minutes later it's 60-40 to Gryffindor, I have seen the snitch and so has Cedric, neck and neck we go after the snitch, Cedric got hit by a bludger from Fred Weasley.
Two minutes late I caught the snitch.
Jordan says, redding's got the snitch, Gryffindor has won two-hundred and ten to sixty. Gryffindor was now in the lead for the house cup.
At the start of term slytherin narrowly won against ravenclaw 180-50.
Chapter 15. Easter.
As we entered April, hermione started studying like crazy and told the rest of us to do the same. Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione.
They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with her, trying to get through all their extra work.
"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.
Chapter 16. The Norwegian ridgeback
One the 15th of April , Harry, Ron, Hermione and me were siting in the library finishing our potions homework. Ron looked up and saw hagrid emerge from within the bookshelves, carrying a book.
He saw us and told us to come and see him that night in his hut. At seven o'clock, the trio left the gryffindor common room, I told them that I was not going and warned them they may lose house points if the were caught.
The trio returned at midnight, they told me that hagrid had a Norwegian ridgeback in his hut. He won the dragon egg from a stranger in the pub.
The following week the trio spent all of their free time in Hagrid's hut helping out with the dragon who he had called Norbet.
One night Ron said that they could send Norbert to Charlie in Romania. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"
"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"
And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send -an owl to Charlie to ask him. Charlie replied the following day and told them to tell Hagrid to met him in hogsmeade, In a weeks time. One week later, Hagrid took Norbet to hogsmeade to give him to Charlie to take home to Romania.
Chapter 17: the quidditch final and cup presentation.
In early May, slytherin beat Hufflepuff 230-60 in there quidditch match meaning that they were in second place for the quidditch cup.
On the morning 25th of May the atmosphere in the gryffindor common room was tense, it was the morning of the final game of the season, gryffindor vs ravenclaw. I myself was really nervous about the game today, if we won we would claim the quidditch cup after a 7 year losing streak.
10:30
I was sitting in the changing room with the rest of the gryffindor team waiting for wood's prep talk before the match.
Wood began by saying "we have got the best team in the school this year, we have a really great chance at winning the quidditch cup this year. We are the only team who has not lost a game this season."
It's time, good luck all of you and may the best team win said wood.
"Here are the gryffindor's" said lee Jordan who was the commentator again.
Keeper. Oliver Wood (captain)
Chasers. Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet.
Beaters. Fred and George Weasley
And Seeker, Shinikka Redding, only a first year, who caught the snitch in both of gryffindor's last two games to win
Here come the Ravenclaws
Keeper:Grant Page
Beaters:Duncan Inglebee,Jason Samuels.
Chasers: Roger Davies(Captain), Randolph Burrow, Jereny Stretton
Seeker: Cho Chang
The bludgers and snitch are released.
The quaffle is released, game on
Five minutes gone and the score is 10-0 gryffindor, Angelina scored the first goal of the game, getting the quaffle past Page.
20 minutes later and Gryffindor is leading 50-20 and I have seen the snitch, so has Chang.
10 minutes later the snitch chase is still on and the snitch is so close I reach my hand out and grab it. Hooch sees me and blows her whistle.
Reddings got the snitch gryffindor has won 300-20.
We are told the presentation will be tonight after dinner.
After dinner that night, dumbledore stood up and beckoned hooch to come forward with the quidditch cup.
At the end of the season the points are.
4th place: Hufflepuff with 180 points
3rd place: ravenclaw with 250 points
2nd place: slytherin with 320 points
And the quidditch cup goes to gryffindor with a massive 710 points in the tournament.
Well done GRYFFINDOR!
The Current house points are:
Gryffindor: 525, Slytherin: 472, ravenclaw: 428 and Hufflepuff: 382.
There was a huge celebration in the common room afterwords that went on all night.
Chapter 18: exams
On the last Monday in May we received our timetable for the exams starting next Wednesday. We needed to pass the exams to get into the second year.
1st year exam timetable
Day 1: Wednesday
Morning: transfiguration
Afternoon: charms
Day 2: Thursday
Morning: charms
11pm: astronomy
Day 3: Friday
Break: should be used for studying.
Weekend
Day 4: Monday
Morning: defence against the dark arts
Afternoon: potions
Day 5: Tuesday
Morning: last exam
History of magic
The following Wednesday morning found all of the first years outside professor mcgonagall's room for the transfiguration exam.
When my name was called I went inside and mcgonagall told me that I had to change a mouse into a snuffbox. My snuffbox was good and didn't have whiskers so I did not lose points I was hopping for an A in every exam.
That afternoon was the herbology exam in which I think I did well on. I had to use diffindo on a devils snare and then use incendio on a different but same type of plant.
After that I went back to the common room to revise for charms and astronomy tomorrow.
The charms exam the following morning was simple. I had to make a pineapple tap dance across a desk and also do wingardium leviosa on a feather and a candle wick.
I spent the afternoon revising the stars and planets for Astronomy at eleven o'clock tonight.
I had a rest day so I slept in after the exam last night which I don't think I did well on because it is hard to remember all the movements of the planets and the names of the stars.
I spent the weekend revising for potions and defence against the dark arts on Monday.
Monday morning came around and I did the defence against the dark arts exam in which I had to preform the knockback jinx and do a Lumos spell to awaken a gargoyle.
That afternoon was the potions exam where I had to make a forgetfulness potion. I found it creepy with Snape breathing down my neck the entire time.
Tuesday morning was the final exam, history of magic, in which it was the only theory exam of the lot, I had to answer an hour of questions about wizards that had invented self stirring cauldrons. It was the most boring exam of the lot.
We go told that we would not receive our results till the following Wednesday, two days from the end of term.
Chapter 19. The exam results and the end of term feast.
The following Wednesday we received our exam results
I had gotten:
Astromony: B
Defence against the dark arts: A
Herbology: A
Potions: B
Charms: A
Transfiguration: A
History of Magic: B
Hermione had got 6 A's and one B in Defence against the dark arts. Ron and harry both got 3 B's and 4 A's each. The whole first year had passed and was going on together into the second year.
Finnaly the last day of term had arrived, most people spent the day packing there trunks ready to go home tommorrow morning.
Later that day we made our way to the great hall for the end of year feast. The great hall was deced out in scarlet and gold to celebrate us winning the house cup for the first time in seven years.
Dumbledore told the school the points at the end of the year were, in fourth place, hufflepuff with four hundred and twenty-six points, ravenclaw are in third with Four Hundred and Fifty-Eight points , in second place slytherin with Five Hundred points and in first place with Five Hundred Sixty Six points and the winners of this years house cup:
GRYFFINDOR!
The house cup celebrations began with most of the school throwing their black hats in the air.
The following day we rode the hogwarts express back home harry was going to live permantly at my house now, I had seen dumbledore this morning and he had let harry come and live with me now.