Chapter 2

September 1st was of course a hectic day but we managed to arrive at the Kings Cross train station early I found Ali and his mom and we made our way to the barrier that would take us to Platform 9 & ¾.

We got through and put our luggage on the train and then said goodbye and made our way to a compartment. Once we were settled and were catching up with Neville and the others who were in our compartment the door slid open and for once Malfoy didn't insult us just greeted Ali and gave me a weird look and sneered at the rest and walked off.

"That was weird", said Harry while looking at me.

Apparently he hadn't missed the weird look I was given. I just shrugged and started reading my book. The train ride was uneventful after that and soon we had arrived at Hogwarts.

When we reached the carriages Harry was acting funny I went to touch his arm and when I did I saw what he was seeing, I didn't really understand what had happened but I tried not to touch him again.

We got to the castle and walked into the great hall and sat down. Ali was made to wait outside to be sorted after the first years.

As we were watching the sorting I felt like people were watching me when I looked around I really didn't understand why certain people were watching me I turned back around when I heard Ali's name called. The hat was put on his head and it seemed to take a while before we heard "Gryffindor".

I also realized that Ali was not the only exchange student that there were at least 5 others. The other thing that bothered me was the fact that my left shoulder blade felt like it was asleep which didn't make any sense at all.

When the feast appeared I ignored everything and decided to eat and catch up with my class mates and to talk to Ali some more.

When everyone had eaten Dumbledore stood and made his normal speech and then added,

"This year if you haven't already noticed we have 6 transfer students whom I hope you will help out since they are new to the school and also I would like to introduce your new Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Mysty Snape"

There were whispers all through out the hall and I noticed that Professor Severus Snape didn't look very happy at all and refused to even look at the new professor. This in turn made her smile fall just a bit. She looked familiar to me but I knew if she was a Snape there was no way that I would know her since I had never heard of her before. Soon we were dismissed and I showed Ali the way to our common room and then we both went to bed.

The next morning was a Saturday much to the relief to all the students since that meant we had 2 days to relax and get settled in before classes started. I went to breakfast as usual with Harry, Ron, Ginny and Ali and noticed that people were still giving me the same funny look that Draco had given me on the train and it was starting to royally get on my last nerves. When I had finished my breakfast the mail came and my owl landed in front of me with a letter and I wondered who it could be from since I knew my adoptive parents wouldn't be sending me anything.

I opened the letter and it was from Dumbledore asking if I would like to take part in a special potions class this semester that was to start Monday night after supper. If I agreed he would inform the book store so that I would have my book before then. I decided I would take it since it wasn't often I got asked to take part in a special class and I was glad for something else to make me forget about the 19th. I sent my reply to him and he sent me a smile that had a mischievous glint to it. I wondered if I had made the right decision.

Soon Monday morning came and Professor McGonagal handed out our time tables to us during breakfast First it was Double Defense (8-10am)with Slytherin, then double Potions(10:15-12:15pm) with Slytherin, then Lunch(12:15-12:45pm), then Double Transfiguration(1:00-3:00) with Slytherin, then Double Charms (3:15-5:15)with Slytherin, and then supper. It seemed that this year was not going to be fun on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. Then on Tuesday and Thursdays it would be Herbology (8:00- 9:30am) with Slytherin, Ancient runes (9:45-11:15am), Lunch, and Arithmancy (12:30- 2:00pm).

"Well at least 2 days a week we don't have to deal with Slytherins!"

"Unless they ended up in the other classes with us these have been combined because not many people are taking them."

"Oh well Me and Harry don't have Arithmancy or Ancient runes but we do have Care of Magical Creatures and I doubt any Slytherins will be taking that." said Ron.

"Yea your probably right but we should be heading to Defense so we can get good seats."

We made our way to the DADA class room and sat in the middle towards the front but not on the front rows just incase!

The Slytherins made their way into the room and were still giving me funny looks but I continued to ignore them. Our teacher walked in and the room went silent.

"This class will not only be teaching you spells to defend yourselves but it will also teach you how to protect yourself if you find yourself wandless. Mainly you will be using swords and staffs depending on how well you do we might add more things. But as of right now I will see how well you use your spells and also see how many you know and how advanced they are."

We started off by her showing us spells and then doing them ourselves. All in all it was a good class and we learned a lot.

Next was potions and we were all dreading it even some of the Slytherins looked worried. The door to the potions classroom opened and we walked in finding seats. We sat towards the back and strangely Draco and some of the other transfers sat across from us in the back.

Snape walked in and started writing notes on the board in the front of the classroom and we all began copying them at last he turned around and said,

"Today you will begin working on the Polyjuice potion it will take a month to brew but we will be able to do some other things wile it is brewing your partners are on the list on my desk. Now get to work and no mistakes."

With that he went to his desk and we got up checked who our partners were and moved and got to work. I ended up with Ali and Draco but surprisingly we all worked together quite nicely. We finished in good timing with that part and let it simmer. Draco was the one to ask the question we were all wondering.

"Sir, when our potion is simmering where are we going to keep it?"

"Right there on your desks this room will be only used for your classes so the potion will be fine there, and before you even think about it I placed a spell on your desks so that only those in your group can touch your potion. Oh and before I forget your partners for this potion will be your partners for the rest of the year so get used to them. If you are finished with your work for today begin listing the effects of the potion and what the different ingredients do to enhance the potion."

We set to work discussing what happens with the potion and writing it all down. Snape started making his rounds inspecting the potions and when he made it to our desk he slipped a note under my parchment along with Draco and Ali and actually said, "Nice Job" when he turned around They opened their notes so I decided to do the same.

Miss Granger,

You have been selected to participate in an Advanced Potion class which will start tonight at 7pm after supper. And I would like it if you didn't share this information with any other Gryffindors since none of them made my cut.

Sincerely,

Professor Severus Snape

I felt proud now that I knew Snape had selected the people and that I was one of those chosen. But I knew that it also meant that I would be the only Gryffindor Present, besides Ali, and more than likely it would be all Slytherins.

Ali looked at my note and nodded and showed me his. I was glad that he would be with me at least. Soon we were dismissed and we made our way to lunch and Draco took to walking with us talking to Ali. "It's been a while since I've seen you."

"Yea I know I'm glad that mom decided to move back to England I've missed it and id rather be at Hogwarts any ways."

"Yea I know what you mean. So how is your dad? I haven't heard anything about him in a while."

"I really wouldn't know I haven't had any contact with him in a while. What about your dad?"

"Same as always but he's getting weirder his letters from Azkaban are confusing, it's like he's trying to tell me something but cant. I think he's going crazy from the dementors."

"Probably."

Ali took my arm to mover me out of the path of Slytherins but when he touched my hand I saw something strange just in front of them. I pulled my hand away from him and looked at him and back to the Slytherins.

"Mione, what's wrong?" I saw Draco watching me to and I just said, "Nothing"

I went to my table and sat down and started to eat. Ali came and sat down beside me.

"What did you see?"

"I don't know what it was but I could only see it when you were touching me. I did the same thing with Harry when he stopped at the Carriages. What does that mean and why do I keep getting strange looks from the Slytherins and Transfer students?"

"I don't know why they are giving you weird looks but as for seeing what other people see when you touch it's a type of Empathy. When you are in contact with someone you see what they see it's like they bring you into their world."

"What I saw was a demon. Which to me is a warning that someone Evil was near by, you see Demons tend to follow Evil they are drawn to it. It wouldn't have hurt you to come in contact with it but it would have felt very weird probably just like you felt when you saw it."

"How come you could see it?"

"It was a curse my father placed on me. It causes me to see Demons and Angels; sometimes it's not bad because most demons aren't that scary like the one we just saw but some are. The best part of this curse is the fact that I get to see the Angels that walk the earth and the ones that are in disguise. I also see peoples Auras which helps me when I make friends because I know who is good and who is bad and who is just influenced badly."

"Is there any way to take the curse off of you?"

"Not that my mother and I have found but it's been on me for so long that I'd rather keep it because I like knowing where the things are now. And now I know not to touch you when demons are near."

"I didn't mind it's just I didn't really understand why I was seeing it. Does Malfoy know about your curse is that why he was watching me?"

"He knows because he has the same curse our fathers were friends and they aren't the most loving fathers in the world."

"Oh, well I know how you feel in a way. Are there any books on my type of Empathy?"

"Yes but probably not in the library but I can ask my mom to go to the bookstore and find you some. I'm sure she won't mind any excuse to go to the bookstore!"

"Ok."

We finished eating and made our way to Transfiguration where we just reviewed things from the past years. Charms was the same and soon it was time for supper. I was beginning to get nervous about the next class. Soon Ali and I Made excuses to go to our class and made our way to the Dungeons. As I predicted there were mostly Slytherins there but there were a couple of Ravenclaws also but all of the transfer students were in this class. Snape let us in and we took our seats.

"This class will be mostly advanced potions but it will also include some lessons in which you will not learn anywhere else. These lessons include how to break curses and also healing. You were selected because of your grades and also because of some of your backgrounds. Your books are here and I would like them to remain here in this classroom, you will be able to come here at any time to study and work on this class work".

" There is a small library through that door that has books on each of these subjects and many books on other subjects that are somewhat related or useful information on different things you might encounter. In this room there are no houses I will not have any bickering because for you to learn the things you will be learning you need to accept the other people in this room and learn more about them so that you can learn together. Outside of this class is another story."

"Now, for now I would like for you to get your books and start to read over them. We will be meeting every night at this same time now proceed into the library and get your books from your bookshelf and find a chair. Oh and also you do not have to wear your robes or uniform in this class just wear something comfortable for you."

We followed him into the library and after we collected our books Ali pulled me over to a couch with a coffee table in front of it and Draco joined us and we began reading. Ali got up after a while and got out a different book down off of the shelves and brought it back over and handed it to me.

"This might explain some things better than I can to you and apparently we will be studying Empathy and its different forms in this class."

He showed me the Syllabus and I saw that he was right, now I was very glad that I had agreed to take this class.