I ran around the grounds for an hour, careful to keep the castle in sight the whole time so I wouldn't get lost. On my way back to the castle, I met Hagrid, the huge man who had brought us across the lake yesterday and who had known Harry Potter.
"Good morning, Hagrid," I called.
"Morning! Wauts yer name?"
"I'm Lillian Granger. I'm in Slytherin."
"I knew. I saw yer sorting yesterday. Ye got a sister in Gryffindor eh?"
"Yeah, Hermione."
"Yeh must 'ave been disappointed to be put in Slytherin eh, with yer sister in Gryffindor?"
"No, not really. Hermione and I are very different and we tend to disagree. I told the sorting hat to place me where I belonged and I wound up in Slytherin. I expected Ravenclaw though."
"Well, I'suppose."
"I'm a bit concerned though. All the other Slytherin first years are Purebloods and already know each other. Professor Snape told them that they have to treat me equally and that blood status is no excuse for anything."
"If Perfesser Snape's lookin' out for yeh, ye'll do fine. Yer alright fer a Slytherin yeh know. Ye'll have to come by fer tea sometime."
"Thanks Hagrid! I'd better get going."
I ran back up to the castle, stopping to walk once I reached the Entrance Hall. No need to give any teachers any reason to give me detention just yet.
Throughout the day I endured people looking at me and whispering to each other behind their hands. Some of the other first years even had the nerve to try to do it during class! The teachers didn't appreciate it.
My last class before lunch was transfiguration. I was really looking forward to this class because all the reading I had done was so interesting.
When I arrived, I sat down at an empty desk on the Slytherin side of the room and pulled out my text book and a Muggle notebook and pen. Then I looked around the room at my classmates. The rest of my house was present and they were talking amongst themselves. Most of the Gryffindors also appeared to be in their seats, but I noticed Harry Potter and his red-haired friend were still notably absent.
I saw them at breakfast together, and was only a tiny bit envious that kids in other houses made friends so quickly. There was a tabby cat sitting on Professor McGonagall's desk. The door opened and Harry Potter and the other boy ran in.
"Blimey, can you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if we were late?" the boy said. The tabby cat jumped off the desk and turned into Professor McGonagall!
"That was bloody brilliant Professor!
"Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch."
"We got lost," Harry said.
"Perhaps a map then. I trust you don't need one to find your seats." I snickered.
Professor McGonagall has definitely won the spot of my favorite Professor so far. Insulting their intelligence like that, in a way that only worked because they were too dense to realize it. Granted, potions is after lunch, with Gryffindor, so I bet Potter and his buddy will be insulted by Professor Snape too. I hope we learn a lot in potions. The class sounds absolutely fascinating.
I was right. Transfiguration is going to be great. Hermione and I answered all of Professor McGonagall's questions. I earned twenty points for Slytherin. Hermione earned twenty for Gryffindor, but Potter lost five for talking to his sidekick Weasley during class.
As the class filed out, complaining about the first homework assignment, a two and a half foot essay on the dangers of transfiguration, I thanked Professor McGonagall. When I left the room, Hermione tapped me on the shoulder.
"Want to walk to lunch together?"
"I guess."
"Look, Lily, I'm sorry for whatever I did to upset you."
"Hermione, honestly, forgetting about me isn't the kind of thing I can forgive right away. I know it's been a few months, but I can't forgive you for abandoning me."
"I owled Mum and Dad and told them I was in Gryffindor, but I didn't tell them about you. You can do that for yourself."
"Thanks Hermione."
"See you later Lily," Hermione called as she entered the Great Hall and went to sit at the Gryffindor table. I felt someone watching me and when I turned around I found Professor Snape glaring at me. I looked away and went to sit down. That man is so good at sneaking up behind me it's scary, I thought as I sat down to eat my lunch. He really seems to hate me. I haven't even been here two days yet and I certainly haven't done anything wrong.
I ate my lunch and descended into the dungeons for double potions with the Gryffindors. The Slytherins were waiting on one side of the hall and the Gryffindors on the other side. I waited with the Slytherins but they made it clear by shooting me sideways glances that they didn't want me near them.
Malfoy and his bodyguards started threatening Potter and Weasley and sure enough they rose to the bait. They seemed nice enough, but also seemed to have not even half a brain between the pair of them. Hermione stepped in front of and told them not to listen to Malfoy and that it would only put Gryffindor in the negatives for points. That wasn't enough to stop those two though, and they would have started a fight right there if some other Gryffindors hadn't held them back. Then they resorted to glaring at Malfoy from their side of the hallway.
The door to the classroom opened and Professor Snape said enter. Everyone looked around, but when they didn't see him, they filed into the classroom. Once again, I chose an empty desk at the front of the room and sat alone, getting out my notebook, pens, text and cauldron.
Professor Snape shoved the door to the classroom open and it slammed shut behind him. He strode to the front of the classroom and his robes billowed behind him threateningly. He gave a speech about the expectations we were to be held to and picked on Potter, who knew none of the answers to any of the questions he was asked. Clearly he hadn't bothered to open a book before coming either which lowered my opinion of him even more. Hermione raised her hand and was practically bouncing up and down in her seat every time Professor Snape asked a question. She looked ridiculous. While I also knew the answers, I chose not to make a fool out of myself on the first day of class by reciting answers straight from the textbook when Professor Snape had called on someone else.
After that, Professor Snape gave us notes to copy from the blackboard, and when we had finished, he asked more questions. He ignored Hermione after the first two questions she answered. He asked me about the ingredients to the Swelling Solution, I gave a succinct but complete summary of the section of notes we copied. He awarded me five points for "actually reading the notes" and asked a few more questions, awarding points every time a Slytherin answered whether the answer was correct or not.
He set us to brew a very simple Swelling Solution that was much less powerful than the ones I had read about. It was also much harder to mess up. I found it very easy and finished quickly. It was quite like making soup at home. Of course, I suppose it was meant to be easy as it was our first day and most of the class probably hadn't spent the break reading the textbooks. I turned in a vial of my potion and began to make notes in my textbook on the preparation of the potion and my observations from the brewing.
Professor Snape walked by and looked at me strangely for a minute when he saw what I was doing and I knew he was reading what I had written to make sure I wasn't defacing my textbook on the first day of class. When he realized I was taking notes, he stared at me, his face emotionless, but his eyes betrayed a hint of shock.
By the time I had finished my notes, the rest of the class were finishing their potions and beginning to clean up. I cleaned my cauldron and put away my ingredients with care and then returned to my seat. Professor Snape assigned an essay about the potion we just brewed and then barked at us to get out of his classroom.
I returned to the common room to begin my homework even though nothing was due until the next week. I was halfway through the outline for my potions essay, the first homework assignment that I had done, when an owl entered the common room and dropped a letter in my lap. It was from Professor Dumbledore.
Dear Miss Granger,
Professor Snape has informed me that you needed to speak with me. Please come to my office as soon as you are able so we can discuss these matters.
Albus Dumbledore
PS. I like sugar quills.
I put away my homework and took my book bag up to my dorm. I got all the way to the Entrance Hall before I realized that I didn't have a clue where I was going. I paced back and forth for a few minutes, and to my relief a prefect showed up. His tie was red and gold, but he approached me anyway.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where the Headmaster's office is?" I asked.
"In trouble already?" he said.
"No. I'm far too busy with school work to get in trouble on the first day of classes."
"I'm Percy Weasley, who are you?"
"Lillian Granger."
"Come on, I'll take you up," Percy said.
"Thanks!"
"Your sister is Hermione, right? And you're both Muggle-borns?"
I frowned.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just odd that you're in Slytherin," Percy continued.
"Hermione's my sister. And I don't know any more than anyone else as to why I'm in Slytherin. The only logical explanation is that maybe I'm not actually a Muggle-born," I said.
"That is a slim possibility. It would make a good research project in a few years once you settle in."
"I love things like that! Maybe I'll do some poking around at genealogy records in the library this weekend."
"If you need help, I'd be willing. But if you'd rather have someone from your own house, that's fine too."
"Are you kidding? They don't talk to me! I'd be honored if you wanted to help me, I mean; I'm only a first year. The help would be really appreciated. You have more potions experience then I do, and I can assume we'll need to brew some sort of blood test potions, and those types of things aren't in ordinary text books."
"You seem to have done your research well. Have you been to the library yet?"
"I haven't. I was planning to go this weekend. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History and it sounds amazing."
"Well then, I'll meet you in the library and we can look for some books that might point us in the right direction for your research project. Is one o'clock on Sunday good?"
"I haven't got any other plans," I said, laughing, "thank you so much!"
"Here's the Headmaster's office. The password is sugar quills. It was nice meeting you Lillian. I'm glad that some first years are still capable of showing intelligence and manners. See you on Sunday."
"Thanks, it was nice talking to you!" I said. Then I murmured the password to the gargoyle and climbed the stair case that was revealed. I hadn't even raised my hand to knock when Professor Dumbledore called for me to enter. I opened the huge door.
"Good afternoon, Miss Granger. Take a seat. Would you like a lemon drop?"
"Sure, thank you sir!" I said, sitting down and taking the proffered candy.
"How was your first day of classes?"
"It was great. I really liked transfiguration and potions," I said.
"Are you getting along with your housemates?" he asked.
I was sure my face fell. "They ignore me. But that's okay; I've always been sort of a loner. Do you know of any other Muggle-borns in Slytherin, Professor?"
"There haven't been many, Miss Granger, I can tell you that."
"The only logical explanation I could think of was that maybe I'm not actually a Muggle-born. I mean, I look nothing like Hermione. But I suppose in the magical world appearances can be changed."
"That is correct Miss Granger that is correct. Your theory is indeed a possibility, perhaps one you should look into in a few years."
"I was talking to Percy Weasley and he said he would help me research," I said.
"Ah, yes. A wonderful idea. Now, on to the less pleasant topics of conversation, business. Professor Snape told me about your interaction with him this morning. He has told me his side, so if you could tell me yours…"
"Well, sir, in my Muggle primary school, Hermione and I were always teased for being bookworms. She does nothing but study, and even though the teasing really bothered her, she did nothing about it. I tried to. I signed up for the school's cross country running team as I figured it would be the least embarrassing to attempt. I didn't really think I would like it, but once I started going to practices, I loved it."
"So naturally you want to continue."
"Yes. It's fun, and great exercise. Everyone asks me what's so fun about it, and really, I don't know, but I do know that it's going to save my life some day. My family has a rather close history with heart disease and other such problems, so at the very least, running will help prevent that. Of course there's also the possibility that just having the endurance to run will save my life. That's why I do it."
"That makes sense, Miss Granger. Can you explain the sport to me? I've never heard of it."
"It's pretty simple. The races are set up on a course on roads or in the woods or fields, and it's separated by age and girls run in a different race than the boys. Various schools around would run against each other. The first 5 runners on each team to finish each get points for their place, and the winning team is the one with the least number of points. The first person to finish gets one point, the second person gets two points and so on. Everyone who isn't in the top 5 just runs for the fun of it, and they try to improve their times."
"Fascinating. Since I have now heard your side of the story, I think it is perfectly acceptable that you continue running as long as you take your wand with you and stay near the castle at all times. Perhaps you could ask Mr. Weasley to teach you a few simple spells just in case."
"I will do that, thank you sir."
"Excellent. You may go."
Wow, I guess even Dumbledore doesn't know everything. I have a feeling I'm going to like this school. If something like this had happened in primary school the principal probably wouldn't have bothered to hear the other side of the story at all. Maybe wizards are more suspicious about this sort of thing.
(End of memory)