A/N: I don't own rights to Harry Potter, Just playing around with the Characters ad settings.
OC warning!: Ok, so the story is written from the point of view of an original character, I hope you like her as you get to know her better with each chapter;)
P.S: A great many thanks to my beta xiotonks, when I re-read what I sent you, I cringed. Thank you for correcting my errors.
Interhouse Politics
A white light typical of Polish Grey skies penetrated the room. Once it reached my eyes I woke up. I hate Mondays. I cuddled with the zebra blanket I stole from my roommate and open my eyes. I drowsily got up. Upon entering the bathroom I looked in the mirror. The reflection showed an 18 year old woman with bags under her piercing grey eyes, a messy bun of sky-blue dreadlocks, wearing a black t-shirt that said: Slut.
I sprayed some water on my face and poured the rest of it into a plastic bottle. Still not fully awake, I walked to the sunroom and began watering a row of half-grown ganja plants. "Good morning my babies, have you slept well? You're growing beautifully." I caressed the leaves with my hands.
"I love you guys grow tall". I dragged my feet to the kitchen and made coffee. I poured milk halfway and took a sip. The aroma filled my senses and I felt like I was coming back to live. I took a seat in the living room on the massive IKEA couch and picked up the joint I made last night.
I lit it up and took a long drag. I took another sip of coffee before I exhaled. Wicked. Nothing beats ganja that you grow by yourself with loving care. I took another drag and buried myself deeper into the couch. I wished I could change channels with the power of my mind. I stared intensely at the screen thinking about watching the discovery channel. The screen roared to life and right on the discovery channel! I look at the screen, then at the burning joint in my hand.
"This shit is good! I'm the fucking queen of weed." Suddenly I heard a load 'pop' as if someone opened a bottle of champagne. I turned my head and froze in shock. Right there in my living room, stood this ridiculously old dude, white hair and beard and all. He would make such a better Merlin than Sam Neil.
"Hello Miss Blackcross". His voice was deep with a hint of mischief.
"Umm. Santa Claus?" I mumbled without much thought.
"I'm afraid not this time Miss Blackcross." He sat down on the other end of the couch and took my coffee mug to take a sniff.
"Can I help you?" this was such a surreal situation that I couldn't think of anything else to say.
He took a sip of my coffee.
"Mmm very good, I think I would very much like the same." He ignored me and placed a tip of wood against my mug. Suddenly it filled with freshly brewed liquid with a hint of milk in it. At this point I just took another drag and decided to humor my own delusion.
"So who are you anyway?" I asked sitting back.
"Ah yes, excuse me, Albus Percival Woolfric…Brain Dumbledore" He reached his hand out.
I shook it reluctantly. Brian?
"Umm Hi nice to meet you. You obviously know my name already… soooo why are you here?"
"Well haven't you noticed that you changed the channel without a remote?" He asked with great amusement.
"Yeah I thought it was the weed." I didn't even think before responding.
"I guess you can say it partly was. The cannabis that you've been inhaling for the past month has awakened your powers as a witch" He said, deadly serious.
"A what? Witch? OK, lets say I believe you, what does it mean for me?". Acceptance is the last stage of denial.
"It means you have been accepted as a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry of witch I have the pleasure of being Headmaster of. He took something out of his silk robes and handed it to me. It was a letter. I looked at him for confirmation. He nodded, his white mane shaking slightly.
I tore through the envelope and took something out that looked like medieval parchment covered with gothic calligraphy.
I couldn't read it.
"Yeah ok, so why would I go to school? I just graduated, sure I'm unemployed but that's just 'cause I'm still looking for a job!"
"You will receive a full scholarship from the school, on top of that you will receive a full magical education on subject such as Defense against the dark arts, charms, potions and herbology."
"Hold on. Herbology?" As in growing herbs and plants? I was interested.
"Yes, the magical properties of plants." Dumbledore looked at me as if he understood what I was thinking. He knew I was hooked.
"So let me get this straight. You want me to go to a school, for free no less, get a free course about plants, plus I will be able to make coffee out of thin air?" Yeah that trick was neat.
"Much more than that Miss Blackcross, but of course what you said was also true" the bastard knew he got me.
"Okay."
"Okay? Are you agreeing Miss Blackcross?"
"Yeah, what do I have to do?" what the fuck was I getting myself into? What if this was some kind of sick sect thing?
"No need to worry miss Blackcross, you will find that I am truthful in my words. I will send a helper for you so he can explain everything to you." And then he was gone, damn that 'pop' thing was so silly.
The rest of the day went with a blur. I smoked and just sat their in a daze. At one point I got up and went to take a bath. Afterwards I got dressed in a loose black t-shirt, cargo pants and my favorite yellow-green stripped hat.
'pop'
Again? I turned my head just to see a true giant of a man. He had a messy black beard and crows nest hair.
"Hullo there, names Rei 'innit? I'm Hagrid, nice meetin' ya." He bent down to me and smiled.
" Hey there big man, so you are suppose to be my "guide" or whatever?" Better play along with it.
"s'right that. First I'm gonna take ya shopping at Diagon Alley."
"Sounds like it's in another country!" Probably Britain, the dudes talk like brits after all.
"S'not a problem see, I got it here.." he started rummaging through his robes. "It's here somewhere…oh there it is!" He took out something that looked like an old ping-pong racket.
"This being…?" He cut me off with a wave of his hand.
"It's a portkey of course" No shit? A what?
"What do I do with it? I haven't played in a while…"
He reached out with the racket and nodded for me to take it. The second my fingers brushed the wooden handle I felt the world get sucked into itself. If one could implode the feeling would be similar.
Before now I didn't realize that my eyes where kept shut. I opened them and couldn't believe what they saw. I was right next to the Piccadilly circle, that freaky looking cupid was pointing his damn arrow at me.
"London?" I asked shyly.
Where else? Let's go, we don't have much time, and we have loads to do!" Did he just skip?
So he led me over to a more shabby part of London, to an old-school pub. It looked like the pub was unaffected by the passing centuries and got lost somewhere in the 17th century. He led me to the back and took out his own peace of wood. Was that really a wand? He tapped a few bricks in some mysterious order and they moved uncovering an old-town type of street. I'm starting to enjoy this whole magic business.
"First off, we need to get you a wand. Olivander's is just around the corner. I'll meet ya back 'ere after you're done." Hagrid directed me to the shop, then went his own way.
I entered the wide door of Olivander's to find another ridiculously old dude climbing a ladder. Were all wizards so damn old?
"I'll be with you in a moment" he said without looking my way.
I walked over to something akin to a desk and waited for gramps to get off the ladder. He took his time and moved closer as if to inspect me.
"Ahh yes, Miss Blackcross I was hoping you would visit my shop. I heard all about you" He said with a bit of pride.
"What exactly did you hear? I bet it's all lies anyway…" I was confused and slightly freaked. My rep in town was not one of the best.
"Why you are the young muggle who awakened her magical powers! Admitted to Hogwarts on a full scholarship I heard. Nobody has ever got a free pass at Hogwarts." He said with a matter of fact tone.
"Ok so that's kinda true, how exactly do you know all this?" I was very confused.
He took something from his desk and threw it to me. "The Daily Profit" it read. Bastard paparazzi's I looked stoned out of my ass on this photo!
"Ok, well I'm here so hook me up dude". I couldn't believe I was in a paper.
"Yes, hmmm let's see I think I have something just for you given the way your powers have awakened." He mumbled under his breath as he started browsing through the shelves. He took a dusty box from some shelf and opened it to reveal a carved piece of wood. It had some kind of Celtic rune all over it.
I looked to him for explanations.
"Well don't stand like that, give it a wave" he said encouragingly.
I took the stick, wand? Into my hands. It was warm and smooth to the touch. A very beautiful thing actually. I looked up and he nodded waving his hands. I shrugged and made a swish-like wave with the wand. The plant in the corner of the shop started rapidly growing.
"Oh my, this has to be reported to the minister. Quite extraordinary, really", With these words he pulled out his own wand and the plant stopped growing. He waved again and nothing happened.
"Very extraordinary indeed." He walked to the fireplace and stuck his head in the flames. Before I registered this enough to freak me out he was back.
"Yes well, this wand was made for you young Miss." His eyes were glazed over in wonder.
"Oh, ok what now?."
"Hagrid should be arriving for you in just a …" His doorbell rang with glee. "..moment" Olivander trailed off as he saw the impressive figure of Hagrid in the doorway.
"Time to go to the ministry Rei". Ministry, what the fuck?
"Um, right ok how much do I pay you?" I turned to Mr. Ancient, questioning.
"It has already been paid for Miss Blackcross." What a cryptic old fuck.
"Ok..going? Hagrid?"
"Right lets go". And we left the store.
The details of how we got to the ministry are rather blurry, I know there was some phone booth involved and a Willy Wonka elevator.
Anyway I was sitting in something I was told was the Ministers office and waited. How is it possible that with all that magic they still play the same shitty elevator music in the waiting rooms. I thought there would be something like Gregorian chants or something. The people in the other room appeared to be arguing. I wonder what the hell that was about. Oh here they came.
"Miss Blackcross, I am Minister Fudge, head of the Ministry of Magic. We have come to an agreement that we must place a seal on your powers until you are educated enough to not cause harm with them.
"Well fine, do your voodoo and I'll be on my way right?" I had to be powerful, I had to keep that in mind.
"Voodoo? Yes, well we thought that we would rather give you an object that will act like a seal. For example that hat you have, would be perfect. You don't take it off often do you?" His voice was sugar-coated, fake son of a bitch.
"Nah its my lucky hat, I only take it to sleep and wash, it holds my dreadlocks in place." They wanted to give me control? They really had to think I was a dumb stoner.
"Jolly good then. May I have it for a moment?" He reached for my hat.
"Yeah." I stopped him and took it off myself. A fountain of blue dreadlocks fell to my shoulders. "There you go minister". I handed the hat to him.
He gave it to some guy that I hadn't noticed before. "Send it to the Aurors to place a power seal."
The guy disappeared as fast as he appeared.
"So who wants a cup of tea?" the minister smiled.
After getting my powers sealed we continued shopping for school supplies. It was the middle of the school year so I was probably the only student there.
I got all the funky books, deciding to buy everything for all the years in Hogwarts. It was paid for right?
Hagrid took me back to my flat. "Now we are going to your basement. Dumbledore has made a bit of an adjustment you'll find." We went to the row of compartments in our community basement and entered one numbered 11. He did some kind of mojo with his wand and the door opened.
"No need for picking locks eh?" My own sense of humor felt dry to me.
We entered the compartment and there was a fireplace. Damn that magic shit was good.
"Can I ask for a couch and a glass table too?" I looked to him hopefully.
"Might as well learn to do that one day, at Hogwarts I mean." He moved toward the grand fireplace and took out a pouch from his coat.
"This fireplace has a direct connection to the one in Dumbledore's Office. Your things have already been moved."
"My things? What things?" I hope they packed some seeds at least!
He ignored my question. "Well off ya go, you gotta take some of this here, floo-powder, and say very clearly where ya wanna go. In this case, Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts."
I took the powder that looked more like dust to me. He led me inside the fireplace. I felt ridiculous. Hagrid moved away and shook his head in encouragement. I looked at the dirt in my hand and shrugged. Here went nothing.
"Dumbledore's Office, Hogwarts!" Did I just scream?
It threw me a few meters on the floor.
"Wow, can I do that again?" was my exclamation when I raised my head to take in my surroundings the oddness of which I cannot describe.
"In due time I'm sure. Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Blackcross. Now come along before we show you your accommodation we need to get you sorted". He went out of his office and I followed him.
"Sorted? What does that mean" I thought communism was dead.
"You will be sorted into your house. Now come along, everyone's waiting in the Great Hall."
He opened a pair of heavy doors revealing a hall indeed. It looked like a church but instead of praying grannies there were tables full of food with students sitting at them. The ceiling was see-through and you could see the sky. I thought I might like this place after all. Dumbledore led me to the front of the room and took a place at the stand.
"May I have all of your attention? We have a new student joining us today. So I would like all of you to give her a warm welcome when she gets sorted. Now, Miss Blackcross, I would like you to come up here, please, so I can place the sorting hat upon your head."
"But I cannot take this hat off.." I whispered with a bit of worry.
"No mind, we shall not take it off" He winked! Gandalf winked, this was strange.
"Alright then" I sat at some kind of barstool and Gandalf placed something that looked like a Halloween hat on my head.
"Interesting!" The thing spoke! Holly fuck. "So much power, a few admiring qualities too, I see bravery, but such a cunning mind too. Where to place you. Not very loyal, Hufflepuff is not the place for you. What do we have here, wit, sharp, a great mind definitely but not much ambition to study. I will have to say…Slytherin!"
What was that about? I didn't even have time for it to sink it in when the Hall roared in applause and I was led by yet another old hag, this time female, to a table lined with green. Someone that looked like a blond fag walked over to me.
"Draco Malfoy's the name. Blackcross? Never heard of the name before, where are you from?" I could sense a bit of hostility in his voice. I believed if I didn't play my cards right this could mean trouble.
"Poland actually, not many famous wizards there" I wondered if he would swallow that.
"Quite right, well, welcome to Slytherin, the house of the strong." He reached out with his hand.
"Rei, pleasure" I wondered if these bastards knew sarcasm.
"Well have a seat and join the proud snakes." Apparently not. Well, let the games begin.
It was kinda cool that we slept in the dungeons, emo but cool. The only thing that bugged me is that I didn't have enough light for my babies. I needed to find some other place to grow.
I opened my trunk to find the bag I had on the table before I left. Gandalf scored big time in my book. I took out some papers and began rolling.
It has been a week since I came to the castle and in that time I have gathered enough information to form a plan of action. I discovered that there is a big amount of hostility between people from different houses, especially Gryffindor and my own house. There is supposedly a lot of mugglephobia in my house, they have a word they use for muggleborns - mudbloods. I would probably categorize that somewhere next to Dyke.
The system of house loyalty is childishly simple. It appears that like in high school each house has a king and queen. They call them prefects. If you find a way to lure one of them, the house is yours. Our prefects are Draco and Pansy. I still can't figure out the pair of them. They are supposedly together, both big shots in terms of wealth, but their game is strange. It appears that it is them that are the big muggle-haters when they leave the dungeons but inside Slytherin house they are usually silent and keep to themselves. I don't bye into the relationship shit either. That boy is so gay. And I think I saw Pansy checking me out in the showers. The girl has potential. The problem is that I still feel some bad vibes from my housemates. This will be the first order of operation. I need to gain position in my own house before I can make some serious changes in this place. I light up and the plan began to form itself. I roll a bunch of new joints and decide to take them into the common room. Most of the people in Draco's year are there on the leather sofas. I am in first year because of my lack of knowledge but I decide to play that to my advantage.
"Hey, 'sup?" I let myself fall on the sofa and look at Draco with a lazy gaze. My blue dreadlocks dangle over my left shoulder.
"What do you want, mudblood?" See hostility, I told ya.
"Just wanted to chill with the rest of the house. Smoke some G and all." I take out a fatty and lighten it up.
"G?" Draco smells the smoke and makes a disgusted face. He is such a queen.
"Ganja Baby! Here have a puff, it will blow your mind, not literally you know.." I pass the joint over to Draco. He doesn't look too pleased and is just about to hand it back. I grin.
"The Gryffindors where afraid to try, the pussies. Why the hell are they called the brave again?"
That appears to make Draco think. I can see the little wheels turning in his head. I get the house etiquette, he cannot refuse under such pressure.
"Well of course they were, the buggers. Why did you even offer it to them? I on the other hand will give it a try" It sounds like the entire house holds its breath as Draco takes a drag. I can see his eyes watering, he is about to cough. No, he holds it in, I might start to have some respect for the sissy. He exhales cautiously and then I see him getting it. His eyes glaze over and he looks at me. He nods. Suddenly a bunch of other student start asking me for a puff. The plan is in action.
A few hours later the Slytherin house is as high as a kite.
"You know, I was thinking about doing my O. by the end of the year. The little dudes are hysterical but one gets bored after a while…" I trail off and wait for Draco to oppose me in 3…2….1…
"Preposterous! You can't complete all those years of schooling in such a short time. It's impossible, you don't even know the Wingardium charm. Don't be ridiculous, you herb is good but it's messing with your head." Bingo right where I want him.
"Ok then, who says it can't be done? Let's have a little wager. If I win, you all have to write a petition to Snape, saying that you want to relieve Pansy of her prefect duties and put me in her place."
"This is bullshit. Draco? She is raving mad!" Pansy didn't take my words well as predicted.
"Calm down darling it's impossible to be done. What if you don't do it? Hmm? What if we win, what do we get?" Shot. Hoop. Sinker.
"What do you want? I will be your slave and do all your bidding no matter what it is" Bite rich-boy, bite. He seems to be thinking about it. Come on blondie.
"Alright." He finally says.
"What? Draco you must be joking, she isn't.." She protested vigorously.
"Its done. I accept the wager." And we shake hands. Ok, everything is set in motion, next step: talking to Snape.