Chapter 1

The sun was shining in the vast, blue sky as Serena Snow sat aboard the Hogwarts Express, in her own compartment. It was the first day of her fourth year at Hogwarts and she was not going to be late to anything. She had already decided it, two weeks ago and she was feeling motivated. Her kitten, Mo, was curled up in a ball next to her.

"Serena!" it was a familiar voice.

"Hello Mo-kun." she said, politely, "Ohio! How are you doing?"

It had been shocking at first, when Serena first realized that she could talk to animals. It was in the beginning of her first year, in the great hall. An owl flew across the room and yelled her name. She had gasped. When her friends asked her what was wrong, she said that she had spilled her pumpkin juice.

"I'm doing great, Serena-san." said Mo, bringing her back to reality, "and you?"

Serena glanced nervously at her watch. "I'm doing g-OH MY GOODNESS!"

Mo squinted his eyes playfully "You can't honestly blame yourself for the Hogwarts express being late."

"No, it's not that," she said, twirling a strand of baby pink hair around her finger and giggling, "I just totally forgot to wear my Hogwarts uniform!"

Mo yawned. "Serena…"

Serena laughed lightly. "It's hard to remember these things…summer vacation and all."

"Who are you talking to, Serena?"

Serena whipped around to see Lavender Brown standing there, leaning on the compartment door..

"LAV-LAV!" Serena yelled as she went in for a hug, Lavender had been such a great friend to Serena since the first day of her first year here at Hogwarts. Even still, Serena had made an unbreakable vow to Professor Dumbledore that she wouldn't tell anyone about her ability to speak to animals. It would just cause too much of a distraction, he had said, and Serena had reluctantly agreed.

As the two friends walked out into the main compartment, Serena glanced around. Nothing had changed much since last year. Even though it was only the beginning of the year, there was a couple awkwardly snogging on a bench and a collection of first years huddled a good distance away, pointing and giggling. The trolley lady was selling magical treats and people were causing mischief all around. Then she noticed someone who she had never seen before, standing alone by a pile of textbooks in the corner. The girl looked about her age and was tall and lanky with straight, well-styled black hair. As the Serena got closer, she noticed that there were streaks of electric blue highlighting the dark mass. She was immediately intrigued.

Suddenly, the girl moved towards her. Lavender giggled loudly and whispered something in her ear, over the noise of the train.

"What?" "That's Daphne-Skylar. She's a transfer student from Beauxbatons."

"You know I can hear you." said the girl, softly, looking at Lavender with piercing blue eyes.

Lavender looked taken aback. "Oh my gosh! You have really good hearing!"

"No," she said, now looking from Lavender to Serena to Lavender again, "I can just read minds. I'm not an ordinary Hogwarts student. Oh and by the way, I'd prefer if you just called me Daphne."

Serena grinned broadly, "Well, welcome to Hogwarts, Daphne! This is Lavender and I'm Serena. Well, you can just call me 'Rena. Some people do…well, actually, nobody calls me that!"

"Thanks, Serena." said Daphne, glaring maliciously at Lavender.

Lavender blushed.

"Well…Serena said it! Welcome to Hogwarts!" she babbled, "I'll just…be going now."

With that, Lavender dashed across the rattling train and into a compartment where a few of her other friends were sitting, talking. By now, the first years had migrated into their own compartment as well and the snogging couple were nowhere to be seen. The low buzz of the excited students had died down and the room had fallen silent.

Daphne beckoned Serena to follow her and led her into an empty compartment. She looked around as if to make sure there was no one listening.

"So Serena," Daphne pulled a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, "is there anything special about you?"

Serena shrugged nonchalantly, "No, not particularly," she lied, "I'm just a normal girl."

Daphne looked pensive.

"Well, I am one of the top witches in my grade! And I'm kind of clumsy…" she admitted.

Daphne didn't look satisfied. "I just feel a sense about you…that you're different. Can you talk to animals?"

Serena gasped and promptly blushed. "That's supposed to be a secret. I promised Professor Dumbledore…"

"Don't worry. I'm sure Albus will be fine with me knowing."

Serena's eyes grew wide. "You're on a first name basis with Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes," said Daphne, "I've known him since I was born."

Serena looked intrigued but just as she was about to question Daphne further, she heard a quiet beeping sound.

"OH MY GOSH!" She squealed, jumping slightly.

Daphne didn't say anything but looked at her, in amusement.

"The Hogwarts express is late!" Serena adjusted a button on her watch so that the beeping sound stopped, "Oh my gosh! I swore I wouldn't be late today!"

Daphne smirked. "I'm sure it will be alright if everyone is late. "

At that, the two of them fell silent for a while. The only noise was the rattling of the train and the trolley lady screeching about chocolate frogs. Serena wondered if Daphne had really transferred from Beauxbatons and why. She debated in her mind whether or not to ask, or if it would come out rude. At length, she decided on a compromise.

"Daphne," she started, "have you ever been to another school for witchcraft and wizardry?"

Daphne looked down. "I don't usually tell people this," she started, "but I sense something different about you. So this is my story…"

"I was born in Los Angeles," Daphne said quietly, "a year after I was born, my parents died in a tragic car crash. I had to learn how to survive on my own. One day, when I was in the woods, picking berries for my survival, a magical thing happened. A mother wolf came up to me and told me that she was meant to take care of me. I lived with the wolves for the first ten years of my life. I had little contact with human beings. One day, a group of British soldiers were hunting in the woods where I lived. They found me, and in an attempt to rescue me, they tore me away from everything I knew. They took me on a ship back to England, where through a complicated process they found out that I was the lost princess."

"Lost princess?" questioned Serena, wide-eyed.

"Yes. The lost princess," Daphne sighed, deep in thought, "They gave me all the riches a young princess could desire. But I chose a nobler path. I knew something was different about me and I knew...it was dangerous. I was being hunted by my evil uncle, who wanted the thrown. He was already the king of Scotland, but he wanted more. I didn't want to start a war between two nations, so I went under cover. My mother, the queen, contacted Albus insisting that I go to Hogwarts. He wanted to accept me immediately, but he knew that it would be too dangerous for me there, too. So I had to wait at Beauxbatons, until my uncle was defeated. Only then, could I safely transfer here."

The traincar was silent, as Daphne's words echoed off the walls. Then, Selena burst into tears.

"It must have been so hard!" she sobbed, "how could you manage?"

"It was tragic," Daphne admitted, "but beautiful, as well."

Just then, the train slowed and the settled to a halt.

"Oh my gosh, we're not so late after all!" cried Serena, gratefully gathering her things and beckoning Mo-kun to sit on her shoulder. Daphne rolled her eyes, silently.

"Serena..." she whispered quietly.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry to say it...but you will soon have bigger things to worry about once the school-year begins..."