CHAPTER ONE
Disclaimers and all that good stuff…we all know I didn't magically come up with Harry Potter and all his buddies…so…that's my disclaimer. All the characters that you don't recognize are mine though! Thanks to CarpetAnime for fixing my story…it needed help.
Don't read unless you've already read OotP!!!!
"The Headmistress is really overacting; we didn't do anything too drastic this time." Terran Kelby rolled her eyes and rested her feet atop a stained coffee table. She munched pensively on a toothpick. She pushed her chair back and sighed.
"I don't know, we did kind of do something to push her over the line. I mean, I just thought that since we got away with all those other things, we would get away with this one." Rhiannon Anila sat cross-legged near a dying fire. She shut her eyes briefly, and a short wind put the fire out completely.
"You shouldn't use your craft like that! Besides it's freaking cold in here!" A girl sitting in the farthest corner of the room stood up. She narrowed her eyes, and the fire returned. She smiled and gave her friend a smug look.
"I shouldn't use my craft? Ha! You're sure one to talk! It's your fault that we're in this fix in the first place!" Rhiannon stood and faced her shocked friend; a slight wind blew out many of the candles illuminating the small room.
"MY FAULT?!" Eithine roared, and each candle fumed upward. She glared at her friend as if daring her to try and put them out again. Rhiannon scoffed and sat back down, her back to her seething friend. Terran started to laugh in her usual shrill mocking tone.
"Is-something-funny?" Eithine asked, accenting each word, as if to let out a spurt of anger in each intonation. She began to laugh harder and crouched forward clutching her stomach.
"You…fight…like…a…couple!" She managed through uncontrolled giggles and then flopped her head back and continued to howl. Eithine approached her, her hands stretched out as if to grab her neck and wring it.
"Let it go; she's only trying to lighten things up." Eddania put her hand on Eithine's shoulder. Eithine turned and smiled at her blonde haired friend. "So we're being sent away from Salem…not too great is it?" Eddania smiled and sank into a soft blue chair, her charred black eyes dropped to the floor.
"Yeah, well, it's about time they did something. I mean we did do a lot of reckless things. I mean that trick you played on Professor Brinston- Terr, that was too good!" Rhiannon chuckled softly at the memory, and Terran grinned mischievously.
"Girls you need to pack! You'll be leaving in about half an hour!" Their Headmistress called from outside the door, and their smiles all faded as reality sank in.
***
"What is the special feast for tonight?" Harry asked dropping his bag into a chair next to the fire place. "I mean, nothing important happened, did it?" He scanned Hermione's thoughtful face for an answer. She looked up suddenly,
"I did overhear McGonagall saying something about exchange students… But Hogwarts can't get students from other schools can it?" Hermione dropped her bag to the floor and headed towards the girl's dorm muttering to herself.
"Wow, exchange students! Whatdya think mate? Another European school? Maybe it's Fleur." Ron blushed and melted into a chair. Unfortunately, the chair he 'melted' into was where Crookshanks had been sleeping peacefully. Ron yelped and was brought back to the real world. "Damn it! Hermione come do something about your bloody cat!" He scowled and marched up to the boy's dormitory, leaving Harry to his thoughts.
It has to be another European school; I mean where else would we get exchange students from? Harry wished Hermione was there to answer his question, but he was alone in the common room. Alone that is, except for a very cranky Crookshanks. He decided to head down to the great hall early.
"It's been at least fifteen minutes- what the hell are we waiting for?" Ron squirmed restlessly in his seat. The three of them were sitting at the very end of the Gryffindor table; next to them stood an empty table. The first years were few this year, and most were sorted into the other houses. This gave Gryffindor an extreme shortage, but it also meant that at least there would be no first years to worry about.
"Patience Ron, there should be some reason. I mean if it is exchange students, they might be late." Hermione scolded him and returned to her book. Probably something about quantum physics. Harry wondered if they even studied stuff like that here. The hall was surprisingly quiet, but the tense atmosphere was thick.
A shrill laugh broke out near the great hall entrance; Dumbledore smiled and waved his wand. The doors creaked open and four girls dressed in black from head to toe stood behind it. They looked somewhat taken aback. Murmurs and whispers broke out in the great hall. The four walked forward between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Harry couldn't get a good look at them.
"Everyone, these are our new exchange students. They come to us from Salem Witching Academy, an all girls Witching school in Boston. Please do not treat them like strangers but as your own classmates. I will introduce you to each of them- first, we have Terran Kelby." He moved his hand slightly as if instructing one of them to move forward. Harry now had a good view of each.
The girl on the far left stepped forward. He heard Hermione scoff slightly, and Ron gave a low whistle. Harry could see why- she wore a short, raven black skirt coupled with a shirt buttoned only in the middle and barely concealed the skin beneath it. Ron's whistle was for more than just the shirt and skirt ensemble, for this witch from Salem finished off the set with rose embroidered panty hose laced with a fine floss that mirrored the lacings of her knee high boots. Terran tilted her head and scanned the room quickly before stepping back, her wide sleeves swaying with the movement.
Dumbledore smiled at her and called out another name, "Rhiannon Anila will also be joining our school." As the girl moved out from the line of four, Harry's mouth dropped; she looked as if she stepped out from the pages of a history book, from the 1600's to be exact. Her velveteen black dress swished past her ankles, flowing out across her slim hips from a tightly drawn corset. Skin tight sleeves that opened like a blossom over her hands peaked out from underneath the thick cape drawn across her shoulders. Her pert lips opened in a smile as she ran a hurried hand through her blonde hair, yet her navy eyes frowned.
"Yes and we also have, Eddania Chailyn." The girl to the right of Rhiannon walked forward, her clothes standing in startling contrast to the previous two. Her pale blonde hair blended perfectly against the ankle length white dress that hugged her waist. Two thick cords wound crisscross over her bust and ended in a rounding lace embroidery that patterned roses and ivy. She raised her hand and gave a small wave.
"Last, but, as we all know, not least, Eithine Romney." At the introduction, she crossed her arms and greeted her new school mates with a fierce scowl that more than unnerved Harry. Her ensemble seemed to fit her mood perfectly- while her friends' clothing were all unique, each was fabricated in soft materials, yet this ballroom-esque dress looked as if it were shorn from the thickest muslin. Her midnight hued hair that gathered in tangles of curls hung free past her waist and gathered against the base of the blood red gown. Tapered at lengths across its seams were layers of black ribbon, frayed, braided, and then brocaded over thin black sheer. The bust was a myriad of near blacks and close reds that merged into a color of their own. Yet against these earthen shades rested a plain silver cross strung through a simple platinum chain. Framed against her pale skin and this somber attire were two grey eyes, eyes that seemed to see everything and miss nothing. It was with a sweep of these eyes across the hall that she returned to the line.
Dumbledore stood, a grave look on his face, "These are no ordinary students; they have been sent to us because their former school couldn't train them any further. There are a small percentage of wizards and witches around the world that are able to perform magic without a wand. Usually it is only manifested when a great deal of emotion is powered behind it, such as when someone is greatly angered or saddened. However, there are those who can harness this ability on an everyday basis. Your new classmates have this ability, and it is called the Craft. The Craft relies on the four elements, and as such require a different type of training, training of which will continue to be taught here. So please, if their mannerisms seem different or strange, try not to get short with them. Hopefully, we can all learn from each other." Dumbledore smiled brightly and sat back down.
Professor McGonagall stood and cleared her throat, "Due to the shortage of first years sorted into Gryffindor, all four girls will now be Gryffindors." She waved her hand towards the Gryffindor table, and the four girls made their way towards it. Harry noticed with amounting excitement that they were heading for the empty table next to the three of them.
"A small percentage? Does Dumbledore realize that that small percentage is four percent of the wizarding community?" Hermione hissed at Harry and Ron.
Harry was faintly shocked at this. How could four girls have these gifts, unless they were related in some way? Eithine sat a few scoots from Harry, her friend Terran next to her and the other two others across from them.
"God, now the whole world knows about our craft!" Eithine banged her head slightly against the table, her plate rattling a bit. "Oh- and why didn't the Headmistress tell us we were being sent here so we could further our education? We just assumed we had pushed her over the line with that whole…flying…to…New York…thing." She muttered, losing grip of her words. Harry watched her intently and felt compelled to say something. He also caught himself blushing; she was attractive….I guess Cho isn't the best out there, he thought, grinning mentally.
"Hi, I'm Hermione. I'm also in sixth year." Hermione held out her hand to Rhiannon who smiled and took Hermione's hand. Hermione let out a small breath; she was probably thinking she would do something drastic.
"Yes, well this is an interesting place. I read up on it before we left, in a book called Hogwarts, A History. A pretty good read- not the best…but okay." Hermione beamed at her.
Harry realized what that meant: Hermione had just found her soul mate. He chuckled to himself.
"Who're your friends…?" Eithine asked, pointing at both Ron and Harry. Ron sat up in his seat, and when Harry turned his head toward Eithine, he blushed again.
"Well that's Ron and that's Harry, they're also in sixth year." Harry was thankful to her for not saying his full name; he was worried that the news paper over in the US slaughtered him like the one here. He glanced away from Eithine as she turned her scowl at him.
"So, are you two a couple?" She put up two fingers, pointed at Harry, and then Hermione. Hermione scoffed and Harry blushed; he hoped they didn't look like a couple. That would be awful.
"No!" Harry said relaxing a bit at the look on Eithine's face. Was it relief? He was probably seeing things.... Hermione looked to Harry as if to ask him, why he had answered in such a manner. Ron simply stared at Terran…longingly most likely. "What element are you?" Harry asked Eithine. She frowned.
"I thought it would be obvious, why, with Eithie's flaring attitude…she's obviously a fire!" Terran answered for her.
Eithine's scowl deepened as she stared intently at her golden plate which remained empty even thought all the others had filled. "Don't be frightened by her, she's always this anti-social." Terran laughed, and Harry recognized it as the same shrill laugh that had come from behind the great hall doors.
"When will you get your uniforms?" Hermione asked, obviously trying desperately to change the subject. She, too, had seen the look on Eithine's face.
"These are our uniforms; the Headmaster said we could wear our other school's uniforms, 'cause we're special." Eddania spoke up.
She had remained quiet for the past couple minutes. She filled her cup with pumpkin juice and took a sip, she grimaced. "This is gonna kill me…god…" She raised her right eyebrow and took another sip. "Much better." She sighed.
"Not fair Edd! I want some water too!" Terran whined, "This pumpkin shit'll kill me!"
Eddania scoffed, but raised her eyebrow again. Terran squealed and reached for her cup. She took a sip and dropped it yelping. "NOT HOT WATER!!!" She screamed as she smacked Eddania.
"Give it to me. You know, Edd, if you had just given her cold water this would be much easier." Rhiannon grabbed the scalding cup and yelped like Terran.
Eithine burst out, "Give me the damn cup, I'll make it cold." Eithine grabbed the cup, and narrowed her eyes a bit. She handed it back to Terran who sighed happily at her now cold water. Eithine rolled her eyes and sat forward. Harry stared at her fixedly, he didn't understand. She was supposed to be fire, how could she make the water cold?
"How did you--" She cut Harry off.
"Make the water cold?" He nodded, "Since my craft is fire, I can also use any sort of regeneration of my element such as heat and raise it or lower it. So I simply lowered the heat." She said it almost tonelessly as if was some sort of incantation that had been drilled into her head for hours.
"Oh…" Harry continued to eat his beef stew. He couldn't believe what he had just seen or heard. These girls were for real- he had never heard of such powers before. He felt a ripple of excitement surge through him as he thought of the year to come: with these new additions to Gryffindor it could be nothing but exciting. Hopefully it would be more exciting than troubling. Harry would just have to try and ignore the fact that Voldemort was still…just still. That would be hard to ignore, considering that even if he put in an effort to ignore it, the watchful eye of everyone around him would bring him back to square one.
"Um, can you show us to…what…the…Gryffin-whatsit…you know, the place where we'll be sleeping?" Eddania asked, setting her fork down and breathing in deeply.
Harry could have almost laughed; it was odd indeed to have some one who didn't know all the school houses. They would unquestionably have a hard time getting along. He watched the four girls' facial expressions as Hermione explained in detail where the Gryffindor tower was, and how to enter it.
"Yeah, Herm what's the 'P' on your shirt for?" Eithine threw back her curly hair and shrugged. Hermione stared at her shocked, it was either because of the new nick-name or the fact that Eithine didn't know what a prefect was.
"I'm a p-prefect." Hermione responded, stuttering a bit at the knowledge that she was answering such a ludicrous question. It was kind of like asking, 'what do you use a broom for?'. Eithine stared back at Hermione rather dumbfounded, and before she could ask what a prefect was, Hermione promptly answered. "Prefects are two students from each house who get chosen to kind of …help keep order in the school. The teachers can't do it all, you know." A look of understanding was starting to etch itself across Eithine's face.
"I think we should head up to the common room now." Harry said, breaking up most of the conversation. He noticed that the great hall had started to clear out, and the Fat Lady never liked to have late arrivals. "You guys can follow us if you like." He offered to the four girls.
"Of course we'll follow, otherwise we'd get lost!" Harry nodded stupidly as Eithine glanced at him. They stood and made their way up to the Gryffindor tower, it was a pretty strange trip. Hermione was explaining about the moving stairs, and the doors that didn't open unless you asked them. Rhiannon and Eddania listened intently, while the other two lazily strolled behind them.
"This," Hermione said pointing to the portrait of the Fat Lady, "is the Gryffindor tower. The password is Page Wings so don't forget it." The Fat Lady opened with a slight creak. The four girls followed after Ron and Hermione. Harry came in after Eithine, grinning as a sudden thought ran through his sixteen year old brain.
"Wow, you guys went all out on this school spirit thing." Terran laughed along with Eithine. Rhiannon flashed them a scolding look.
"Yeah, we kind of did." Hermione flushed; Harry couldn't tell if she was proud or embarrassed. Hermione pointed toward the girls' dormitory and started to lead them to it.
"Ms.Granger, do you honestly expect four other girls to fit in an already full dormitory?" Hermione turned to face an unusually stern Professor McGonagall. She shook her head as she stared down at her feet, she was nervous. "Yes, well ladies if you'll please come this way. You have a separate dormitory, so not to cause any trouble of course." McGonagall lead them past the boys' dormitory to a door that Harry had never seen before. Either he had just missed it for the past five years or it had just appeared. Knowing Hogwarts, he was betting on the latter.
McGonagall opened the door and inside was a dreary looking room: black curtains that hung neatly around each of the many windows, coordinating poster beds decorated with long deep velvet red curtains for each of the girls. A trunk was at the end of each of their beds, and against one of the walls was an in-built wardrobe. Harry strained his neck a bit more and saw a dark wood door that must've lead to a bathroom.
"This room is where you'll be sleeping; there are no anti-boys charms so keep your guard up. I'm sure you'll be able to deal with it though." She sent a dark look at both Ron and Harry. "You'll get your schedules tomorrow. Goodnight…behave." The girls nodded.
"Not too bad…." Terran muttered walking into the room.
Taking this as his queue to leave, Harry decided to finish up his potions essay. Due to the past year's exploits, he, Ron, and Hermione received good scores in Potions on their O.W.L.S and were given the chance to take an advanced potions class. Hermione beat them into saying yes, which was proving to be unfortunate. Harry pulled out his quill and parchment and began to write.
"What're you working on?" Harry jumped at the question getting a splatter of ink on his parchment. He turned slightly; Eithine was looking over his shoulder. He noticed she was no longer wearing her dress but instead a sleeveless black silk pajama. He felt his cheeks flare.
"A p-p-potions essay." He managed. She nodded and sat near the fire, pulling her knees to her chest.
"It's really cold in here." She said, but then narrowed her eyes a tad. A crackling fire suddenly ignited in the fire place. Harry was still startled at her power, well, at all of their powers. Terran ran from the room and threw herself on top of Eithine. "Damn it! You're going to kill me!"
"Ohh, it's so nice here! Boys! I plan to break all their hearts! Me the ice queen!" Terran gave a sharp giggle and pointed at the fire which froze. Harry couldn't believe it, she just froze fire (yeah, no shit Harry). "Oops, I guess I should keep a better watch on my craft. It's already pretty cold in here. Although…Eithie you're scalding!" Terran gave another giggle at her own pun.
"I'm not in the mood! So get off me, damn it!" Eithine thinned her eyes and the fire broke free of the ice that contained it. "Now get the hell off me!"
Terran refused to move. She squirmed a bit as if nestling herself deeper into Eithine's lap. Eithine gave a small shrug. "Fine, you asked for it…I guess you don't like your hair that much. Too bad." Terran jumped from Eithine's lap as if it had just caught fire. She gave her a defiant look and strolled back toward the room.
"You guys have an interesting relationship." Harry said aloud, Eithine turned and threw darts at him with her eyes. Harry amused himself at the thought of questioning her sexuality. Although Terran did say that she liked boys, she could be bisexual.
"Are you a couple?" Harry laughed and Eithine stood and glared at him.
"Maybe I can give you an answer," she said, narrowing her eyes. Harry didn't expect this; was she really going to use her craft?
"Hey, what a sec-" He fell back in his chair as his potions essay burst into flames. He watched as it curled up and was reduced to ashes. He stood up furious; she was actually smiling at him. What does she think she's playing at? Using her craft like that! She could've killed me!
"So um, I guess I should be going now. Just to let you know, you can stare at my breasts and fantasize as much as you want, but it'll always be just fantasies! G'night!" She waved her fingers at him and casually sauntered towards her dorm room.
"Yeah? Well I think skrewts are more attractive!" He yelled back at her, and she turned on her heel. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, as if he had just run a four mile marathon. She smiled…almost sweetly. It scared him, plenty.
"Is that so? I'll be sure to give one your- wait a second. What the hell is a skrewt? Some kind of a 'British Thing'? You people are odd." She shifted her weight, and looked at the fire, dazed. It abruptly went out, she bid him goodnight and disappeared behind the dorm door.
"Damn it, now I have to write this all over again!" Harry clenched his fists and made his way to the boys' dormitory. The few people who were sitting in the common room watched Harry's retreating back with wonderment.
Harry threw on his pajamas and shut himself away in his four poster bed. He was almost glad that he had his anger to distract him. Not a night passed that he wasn't back there in the department of mysteries. The prophecy, the death eaters, and the veil. The last look on his Godfather's face; his smile still visible through the shock. He turned over and tried to push it to the back of his mind. There's no use in dwelling on it, Sirius is gone. I have to accept that, he's gone and I won't ever see him again. He's just gone. He was tossed into a restless sleep.
Ohh, God. It kills me, Sirius is gone, but I haven't accepted it…and of course neither has Harry. How can Sirius be gone? He's supposed to hook up with Remus! But, beside the obvious, please review, and all that good stuff. Sorry if Harry sounds pervy, but hey, he's sixteen! Hehehehehehe, *cough*…hum…yeah.