Hello! :) This is my first Harry Potter story, and I'm really excited about it! I'm really enjoying writing this, and I hope that all of the readers will enjoy it as much as I do. So please review if you want me to continue with this story. I don't like to put time and effort into something that no one likes, so I update quicker when I know that people enjoy what I'm putting out for them. Moral of this rant, if you want to see this continue, then please review! Now on with the story.

Just in case you guys don't already know, I don't own anything Harry Potter, even though I wish I did.

Vi908


"Have a good time at school, darling," My mother said, pushing a piece of my dark hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear softly. "Don't forget that you can always owl home if you get homesick or-."

"Mother, stop it," I backed away from her grasp icily. I was still too mad at her to even think about being homesick or wanting to go home. At this point, I was glad to be leaving her for a whole year. Succeed

She shot me a warning look. "Adalyn Lucille Clark, don't you dare give me that attitude. Not now."

"I'm not giving you any attitude, Mom," Well, that was a big fat lie. I was giving her all of my attitude that I could. I rolled my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time in the last hour.

"Now is not the time, Addie," Mother shot me another one of her looks and I backed down a bit. Those looks made her face contort scarily, like the flesh was melting off of her skull. You definitely don't want to see one of those looks coming your way, and I was pushing.

"Okay," I gave in quietly, turning my head away from my mother and crossing my arms across my chest. Just because I had stopped for now didn't mean that our argument was over. Our argument wasn't even close to being done.

Mom pulled me towards her in a loose, awkward hug; my arms didn't even go around her. At the moment, I was too mad realize that I was going to miss my mother when I left for this new school where I didn't know anyone except for my 13 year old sister. Mom and I had always been close, until recently that is. "Take care of Stella. Make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. You know how she is."

"Mom, I don't need looking after," My little sister, Stella, piped up beside me, looking a little annoyed. "I am 13 years old after all. I can take care of myself."

"Sure, sure," Mom laughed and pulled Stella in to give her a hug. Their hug was a lot less awkward than mine and mom's had been. Probably because the two of them were on normal speaking terms.

"We ought to go. The train is leaving in a few minutes," I motioned for Stella to follow me to get on the train, but my mom interrupted me by clearing her throat.

"Addie," She looked intensely at me. "Aren't you forgetting to say good bye to Phil?"

Oh, right. Phil. I had almost forgotten about him. Then again, if I had really forgotten about him I would have thought I was getting ready to go to my old school, not this foreign Hogwarts place.

All of this was stupid Phil's fault, him and his stupid job. Ever since he had married my mother and forced us to move halfway around the world so he could continue his stupid job as a stupid manager of a stupid Quidditch team, my whole life had become a living hell. I had to leave my home, my friends, and my old school for this new world I didn't know. I was especially mad about having to leave my older sister and best friend, Faye, who was 20 and not under Mom's roof anymore; Faye was in healing school so she got to stay in the States. I had begged and pleaded with Mom to let me stay and live with Faye in her apartment, but Mom just wouldn't go for and it, so now I was miserable all because of Phil so excuse me if I didn't want to say good bye to him.

"Have a good term, Addie," Phil said kindly, too kindly if you ask me. He just wanted me to like him for my mom's sake. Well, I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

"Bye, Phil," I replied somewhat rudely, grabbing Stella by the arm and dragging her onto the Hogwarts Express after me.

"You know you could be a little bit nicer to him," Stella reprimanded me and I looked down at her. Sure, I was only 5'2, but Stella was even shorter due to our family genes that caused all of us to be short. I could easily take her in a fight, without magic, if I wanted to. "What? He was only trying to be nice."

"Well, I don't want him to be nice to me. I just want him to go away," I replied sourly.

Stella and I entered an empty compartment on the train in silence. Both of us knew that there was no use in arguing about this anymore. We had argued about the situation all summer, which was when Mom married Phil and we had to move to the south of England, and the arguing was putting a strain on all of our relationships. Even though I hated to admit it, my mom was happy with Phil, and there would be no going back now, as much as I wanted to.

"I'm going to go have a look around," Stella got up from her seat in the compartment after a few minutes of silence.

"You heard what Mom said, Stell, don't go getting into too much trouble," I joked and my sister cracked a smile. For right now, all was forgotten.

After ten minutes had passed and I was still sitting in the compartment alone, I figured that Stella had met some new people. My little sister had always been a lot better at making friends than I had. Not that I wasn't friendly, Stella was just more approachable than I was. Oh well, it wasn't that I cared too much anyways. I really didn't care if I made friends or not. I was going to be out of this God forsaken place as soon as possible.

As I relaxed into the comfy seat, content with being alone, a loud, accented voice interrupted my peace and quiet, "Oi, Katie, Angelina! Over here!"

"This compartment isn't empty," another, softer voice belonging to a brunette girl followed after, wafting into my compartment.

"Hello, do you mind if we sit here?" The owner of the first voice was a tall, skinny, and gorgeous blonde girl with a mane of curly hair pulled back into a loose French braid.

"No, of course not," I welcomed them in politely; actually, I sort of wanted to be alone, but I wasn't going to be rude to people I didn't even know. A second later, another girl entered. She was taller than the blonde girl, with glowing toffee colored skin and long black hair. She, too, was beautiful.

"Hey, girls—Oh, there's someone else in here," the girl who had just entered noticed that I was sitting in the compartment, too.

"I don't think I've seen you around," the brunette said to me sweetly, she came across as very nice and sincere. Like the other girls, she was very pretty, but with a more girl next door type of look. "I'm Katie Bell."

"Hi, I'm Addie, Addie Clark. I'm a transfer student going into seventh year," I explained sheepishly. Truth be told, I was a little more nervous about fitting in at Hogwarts than I had let on to anyone. Here I was going to be brand new in my last year of school at a place where no doubt people had already formed friendships and bonds. I wasn't sure if there would be a place for me there.

"Well, that explains why we don't recognize you," the black girl said matter-of-factly. "I'm Angelina Johnson and this is Alicia Spinnet…Have you been sorted into a House yet?"

I nodded. "Yeah, some McGonagall lady came by and sorted my sister and me earlier in the summer. I'm in Gryffindor."

"Oh, wicked!" Katie exclaimed. "We're all in Gryffindor, too!"

I smiled slightly. It would be okay to know that I was going to have some people to tag along with at the school so I didn't get completely lost when we arrived.

"Gryffindor is the only place you want to be anyways," Alicia smiled warmly and went on to explain herself. "Hufflepuffs are kind of daft and Ravenclaws always have their heads shoved in their books and those bloody Slytherins are just gits whose wands are shoved so far up their arses-."

Katie stepped in to stop Alicia's rant before it got any more heated. "I think what Alicia is trying to say is 'Welcome to Gryffindor.'"

"Thank you," I laughed at the girls, especially Alicia who seemed like quite the hot head.

"So what brings you to Hogwarts for your last year?" Angelina asked curiously, but not nosily. I could tell she was just trying to make conversation and not stick her nose in my business.

"My mom got remarried and my stepfather is from here and he can't relocate because of his job so we were pretty much forced to move here," I'm sure that sounded awfully bitter when I said it but it was the truth.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Katie said sympathetically. She was a real sweetheart, and I could already tell that even though I had only known her for ten minutes at the most.

Alicia kicked off her tennis shoes that she was wearing, getting comfortable. "What does your stepfather do?"

"Phil is the manager of a Quidditch team."

"Quidditch? Quidditch? Did someone say Quidditch?" A boy opened the door to the compartment, three other boys following behind him.

Alicia rolled her eyes dramatically at the first boy, the one with cropped, dark hair and sparkling amber eyes. "Yes, Oliver, someone said Quidditch."

"Lads, this is Addie. She's a transfer in seventh year and she's going to be in Gryffindor," Angelina introduced me to the newcomers in our compartment.

"Hiya, Addie," two of the boys said in unison. They were a pair of redheaded twins with matching playful smiles on their faces. They were tall, over 6 feet, and very gangly, but in a cute way.

"I'm Fred," the one on the right said.

"And I'm George," the other one on the left said. "Or wait-."

"Is it the other way around?" His brother completed, leaving me utterly confused. Which one was which? Would I ever know?

"Don't let them confuse you, Addie," the boy standing beside them said. He was a somewhat nerdy looking black boy with a pleasant way about him. "Fred is an inch taller than George—you can tell if you look closely. I'm Lee Jordan by the way."

The twins and Lee say down on either side of me, squishing me between them on the seat. The compartment most definitely was not built to hold eight people.

"So what's this you were talking about Quidditch?" the first boy, the one I had yet to be introduced to, said quickly.

"Honestly, Oliver, I love Quidditch as much as the next bloke, but can't you just give it a rest for a while?" Fred, or was it George?, said. "The term hasn't even started yet."

The boy, whose name I had caught was Oliver, looked slightly offended. "I was just wondering what the girls were talking about."

"Addie was just saying that her stepfather is the manager of a Quidditch team," Katie explained to the boys who had missed the conversation.

"Really?" Oliver's eyes lit up brightly. "Which one?"

"Puddlemere United."

"Oh dear Merlin," I heard Alicia mutter under her breath. At first I wasn't sure why she did this but I caught on pretty quickly.

"Are you serious? Your stepfather is Philbert Deverill? The Philbert Deverill?" Oliver exclaimed, nearly shouting, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes which went unnoticed by him.

"Yes, I'm serious."

"Wow," Oliver looked overwhelmed for a moment before he started going off on a tangent, asking me if Phil and I ever talked about Quidditch tactics or stuff like that. It really took all I had not to laugh in his face.

"Oliver—your name is Oliver, right?" I stopped his tirade of questions and he nodded his head yes. "Phil and I don't talk about Quidditch, ever, because, frankly, I don't like Quidditch at all."

Silence befell the whole compartment and everyone seemed to be staring at me, mouths agape. Back home, most people liked Quidditch, but it wasn't as big of a deal as it apparently was here. The people in the compartment looked like they had never even contemplated someone not liking Quidditch before.

"You don't like Quidditch?" Oliver broke the silence with a disbelieving question. "How? Why? Are you mad?"

"I just don't like it, and no, I'm not angry," I answered, confused by his last question and what it had to do with what we were talking about. Katie then explained that 'mad' meant crazy and I quickly responded that I wasn't that either.

"How do you not like Quidditch?" Oliver still seemed floored, though the others had gotten over the initial shock of my statement.

"I just never have. There isn't a real reason why except that I don't like it," I told Oliver.

"Yeah, just lay off it, mate," Lee said, sympathetic to my cause. "She just doesn't like Quidditch."

"Well, she says she doesn't like Quidditch," Oliver rubbed his chin, thinking. Then, he turned to look at me. "Look here, Lassie, you're going to like Quidditch by the end of this year if my name isn't Oliver Wood!"

He seemed serious, with a tinge of humor in his eyes, just a tinge. "Feel free to try, Oliver, but I don't think you'll get anywhere."

"You know what, Fred?" One of the twins, presumably George, said.

"What, George?"

"I think I like this girl," George said laughing. "Even though she doesn't like Quidditch."

Fred nodded enthusiastically. "I think it's because she challenged Wood."

"Yes, that's definitely it," George laughed and Oliver shot the two red heads a glare, jokingly, of course.

Katie smiled warmly. "I actually find it quite refreshing that you don't like Quidditch, Addie. It's all anyone can seem to talk about. Even though I love the sport, it'll be nice to be around someone who isn't obsessed with it for a change."

I returned Katie's smile, thankful for her and the ease of tension in the compartment since I had announced my distaste for the no-doubt favorite sport at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As the train ride continued and my new acquaintances, I guess they could be called that, went on grilling me on my life and such, subjects from where I used to attend school (The Salem School for Witches and Wizards) to my favorite candy (Droobles). The conversation flew smoothly between all of us, and even though they all had known each other for numerous years, I didn't feel left out. I fit in with this group and they were making my new life at Hogwarts look much more enjoyable.

However, while everyone was playing around and pleasantly snacking on candy that we had bought off of a little cart that had come around earlier, the Hogwarts Express suddenly stopped. Based on the looks off the others in the compartment, this was not normal. I peered outside the window along with the others questioningly.

"Why has the train stopped?" Angelina voiced what everyone else was thinking, but not one had asked.

"Dunno," Lee Jordan shrugged, but then shivered from the cold that had just immersed the compartment. It was so cold that the windows had started freezing over. While I wasn't completely used to weather in the United Kingdom, I knew enough to know that this wasn't the usual.

Quiet murmurs continued to fill the compartment, but all the whispers hushed as a feeling of utter dread came over all of us. In the hallway of the train, a hooded, black, ghostlike figure glided by and an even worse feeling arose within me. I had never felt this awful before, and I was paralyzed; my whole body was motionless as the figure moved past our compartment and signs of life seemed to be returning to nearly everyone.

"What was that?" Alicia's voice cracked as she asked the question. Her face was completely lacking in color.

"It was a dementor," Angelina answered confidently. She explained that she had read about them in a book that Professor McGonagall had told her about to help her with her Defense Against the Dark Arts studies the year before. "They're the guards of Azkaban Prison."

Katie shivered in the corner, seeming to take the dementor's visit worse that everyone else. Angelina put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Everyone else appeared to be recovering at their own paces, but handling it well all the same. Color returned slightly to the faces of everyone around me.

"That was awful," Katie's voice was still a bit weak when she spoke. The people in the compartment all nodded their heads in agreement with her statement.

"Did we ever tell you that joke about the hinkypunk and the werewolf?" Fred—or George, I couldn't tell which one since they were both sitting down—grinned and a new atmosphere spread. Gone was the feeling of despair and hopelessness and in came cheer and happiness. Fred and George were a riot and they did a very good job of cheering us all up after the dementor incident. The twins had us all laughing in no time, and though we hadn't forgotten what had happened, it seemed just as things had before the dementor arrived on the Hogwarts Express.

Before I knew it, the train had arrived at the station and I was quickly ushered off by Angelina and towards an area where students were being loaded into carriages to take them up to the castles, well, that was what Alicia had told me. I wouldn't have thought anything of these carriages at all except that they were pulled by nothing, absolutely nothing. Where a horse would usually stand attached to the front of the carriage, there was nothing at all.

"Why isn't there a horse pulling the carriage?" I asked, somewhat confused. No one else seemed to think anything of it.

"Oh, that's just how they always are," Alicia said nonchalantly. "I guess the carriages are enchanted or something."

Angelina directed me into one of the carriages. After me, Alicia, Lee, Oliver and Angelina got in the carriage. Katie, Fred, and Gorge had opted to wait for the next carriage so it wouldn't be too crowded. I was sitting comfortably between Angelina and Oliver, who was persisting on asking me every question he could think of about my stepfather, Phil.

"So what is he like?" Oliver asked curiously, after revealing to me that Puddlemere United was his favorite Quidditch team. He was actually kind of cute, in a somewhat annoying way. "What is Philbert Deverill really like?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "He's okay, I guess. I mean, I haven't known him too long. He just married my mom in June."

"I take it you two aren't close?" Angelina said; it was more of a statement than a question. I had to admit that my dislike of Phil was coming across pretty clearly in our conversation.

"I still can't believe Philbert Deverill is your stepfather," Oliver smiled and I rolled my eyes, not in a rude way, in a wow-you've-said-that-20-times-way.

Alicia snorted, apparently feeling the same way that I was. "Oh, Ollie, give it a rest."

Oliver scowled at the use of his nickname 'Ollie' and everyone else snickered at his obvious distaste for it. The carriage fell silent, with Oliver sulking, and it left me time to take in the sights around me in peace.

Hogwarts grounds were unlike anything I'd ever seen. Vast wilderness was all that I could see beyond the path that the carriage was winding down and it was absolutely beautiful. At my old school, there had been nothing like this, only a typical school building on a typical street in Wizarding Salem. This place just seemed…magical. The tall, dark green tress, the crisp September air, and the crescent shaped moon that reflected down out of the night sky all added to the mysteriousness and uniqueness of the place. I had never seen anything as beautiful.

"Just wait till you see the castle," Angelina whispered to me as the carriage trekked onwards.

"I'll never forget the first time I saw Hogwarts," Lee reminisced nostalgically. "We should be coming into view of it soon."

All fell silent again as the horseless carriage rounded a bend and came out into an opening. My mouth dropped in awe at the sigh that befell me. In front of me stood a huge, rambling castle, with towers and turrets and everything one would expect a magnificent castle to have. Hogwarts Castle, though it had been described to me many times in great detail throughout the last few hours, was much more than the words that had been spoken about. Like the grounds that surrounded it, Hogwarts Castle was stupendously and utterly magical. There was no way that anyone could think that it had been built by muggles. I tried to think of words to describe how I felt about my new school, but I couldn't. Honestly, I couldn't believe I was going to be living in a castle, let alone one like Hogwarts.

The carriage pulled up to the front of the castle for us to unload, and huge double doors opened up to let us inside. I got out of the carriage, with the help of the gentlemanly Oliver who offered Angelina and me his arm to help us out of the carriage. Alicia slapped his hand away from her and jumped out by herself.

We walked in the front doors and I was guided over to the Great Hall, the room where, I was told, all the meals were held as well as the big gatherings. From there, I was directed towards the Gryffindor table where I sat on a long bench between Oliver and Alicia. Everything around me seemed to be moving rather quickly and I really had no idea what was going on. This school was going to take a lot of getting used to on my part.

As people continued to file into the Great Hall, Oliver, Alicia, Angelina, and Lee started filling me in on what was to happen now. Once every one was seated, all of the first years would enter and they would be sorted into Houses, just like Stella and I had been earlier in the summer. The sorting, according to them, would probably be long and tedious, but the feast afterwards would be to die for.

Just like they had told, the first years were led into the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall and sorted into different Houses. I had personally thought the process was very interesting, but that was probably because I hadn't been forced to endure it for 6 years. After the Sorting, a very old man, with long silver hair and a beard to match, as well as half-moon spectacles sitting on his extremely crooked nose, stood to speak.

"That's Professor Dumbledore," Oliver whispered to me, and I nodded. I knew who Albus Dumbledore was. Everyone knew who Albus Dumbledore was; I had just never seen him before in person.

"Welcome!" Professor Dumbledore's voice boomed throughout the Great Hall. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business.

"They are station at every entrance to the grounds and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises—or even Invisibility Cloaks. It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure no student runs afoul of the demntors.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Scattered, unenthusiastic applause sounded throughout the room while Dumbledore paused. "As to our second new appointment, Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

Applause erupted from the Gryffindor table, and I assumed that this Professor Hagrid must be very popular with the Gryffindors. Clapping at the Gryffindor table continued for a long time, much longer than it did at the other tables.

Professor Dumbledore started speaking again. "Well, I think that's everything of importance. Let the feast begin!"

The golden plates and goblets on the table before us suddenly filled up with delicious food and drink. I was amazed by the fact that the food had appeared out of nowhere. At my old school, there had just been a regular cafeteria, nothing at all like this.

"Isn't it great?" One of the twins said, patting his stomach. "I'm so full. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat again."

"That's what he says now, but just wait till tomorrow morning," Angelina laughed.

I ate as much as I could before I gave up on trying to stuff more food down my throat, and I really didn't think I could eat again anytime soon. After the meal, I was getting a little drowsy so Alicia, Angelina, and Katie decided to go ahead and show me the way to Gryffindor Tower, which was where the Gryffindor House was located.

As the girls led me up a complicated combination of staircases and passageways, I realized I was never going to be able to get around this place by myself, at least not anytime soon. Hopefully, I would have at least a couple of my new acquaintances in all of my classes so I wouldn't get lost. I was already horrible with directions; who knows how many times I was going to get lost in this gigantic castle.

Finally, Angelina, Katie, and Alicia stopped in front of a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress. The portrait responded to them stopping in front her saying, "Password?"

"Fortuna Major," Angelina told the fat lady, and then the portrait swung open, revealing a round opening in the wall that led into a warm room containing squashy armchairs, a fireplace, and tables. Some people were already sitting around socializing and catching up on what they did over the summer.

"This is the common room," Katie said before she led the way up a staircase to the right in the common room. "And this leads to the girl's dormitories. Ours is the last one."

Katie opened the door to our dormitory. Inside were four four-poster beds all trimmed with garnet colored hangings. All of our things were each placed beside our own comfy bed and the sheets were already turned back and everything.

My bed was calling my name. I could barely keep my eyes open as I put on my pajamas and crawled into my bed. Before I was completely out, I figured I ought to say something. "Good night, everybody."

"Night, Addie," Katie laughed. Apparently, I was really comical when I get very tired at night. I'd have to remember to ask her about it the next morning.

"Good night," Angelina said warmly. "I'll wake you up tomorrow morning so you can have plenty of time to get ready before breakfast."

The last thing I heard before I went to sleep was Alicia saying, "I sure hope you don't snore, Addie, or I might just have to get my wand out and shut you up."


Well, how'd you like it?