Disclaimer: I am not JKR and therefore do not own anything you recognise here.

Updated: 09 November 2014

Harry sat with a book in her arms, a magical book, with pictures that moved and words that spoke of the wonder of a different world. Harry had read most of the books she had gotten from Diagon Alley and those she hadn't she had at least skimmed through, but her favourite book the book she was now reading, for the sixth time, didn't come from Diagon Alley. The Tale of Three Brothers was given to her. As a Birthday present.

He hadn't signed the gift but the note which said simply 'Another test' in narrow loopy writing could only have come from the Headmaster.

Another test - those words had been on her mind since her birthday. It had to have something to do with the symbol that had been inked in at the top of the first page it was a triangle, with a circle inside it with a line running from the peak to the base of the triangle. Or as the words below it said; blade, oval, triangle. They were also written in the headmaster's loopy handwriting.

It didn't make much sense to her yet but she wasn't going to fail the test that the barmy old codger had set her, she just needed to find out what the test was first. Harry growled in frustration; she wasn't used to not figuring things out straight away. Harry had briefly wondered if that was the test itself, that he had set her an impossible test to see how well she would take the failure. Just giving her enough hints so that she would think it was real but not supplying an actual solution.

But Harry thought that it was more likely that she was being really stupid and the answer was right in front of her. Sighing again she conceded at least temporary defeat. She clearly didn't have all the clues - if there was really an answer - and trying to get information out of Hagrid had been useless, either he was much more intelligent and tight lipped than he seemed or he didn't know anything about the symbol.

"That some kinda rune?" the very large man had asked when he had come to pick her up.

"Not one that I can find in my book on runes." Harry sighed and began asking Hagrid about Hogwarts.

Hagrid, as it happens, was the groundskeeper or as he said "The Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." and he was clearly very happy with his job. Hagrid told her all about how beautiful the castle was and how she would get to see it from the boats they used to take the students across the lake and many of it's beautiful facts. Harry of course had already read much of what he said in Hogwarts: A History but it was still nice to hear it in greater, and highly biased, detail.

He had however needed to get back to Hogwarts and had left her on Platform Nine and Three Quarters at half past ten and so when she boarded the train it was almost empty. It was almost half an hour later, just before the train was about to set off when her compartment door slid open revealing a nervous looking red-head.

"Do you mind if I sit here, everywhere else is full?"

Harry looked up from The Standard Book of Spells: Grade One which she had started reading after giving up on the symbol. The girl had beautiful brown eyes and an almost pixie like face which was grinning rather like the Cheshire Cat - Harry didn't even know it was possible to stretch someone's mouth that wide.

"Sure thing, Ches." said Harry with a smirk. Confusion swept over the girl's face but the smile remained. "It's a character in a muggle book that you remind me of. You must have grown up around wizards?"

"Erm... Yes... My auntie. My name is Susan Bones." she said shyly. Harry was about to offer her name but Susan carried on "I am so excited to be going to Hogwarts! I have been waiting for this since I can remember. My auntie has told me so much about the world and magic and the Ministry and Hogwarts but I haven't had many friends because she rarely lets me out of her sight. She isn't mean or anything she just wants to protect me. And I'm rambling aren't I?"

"Yes you were." Harry said with a grin "But don't worry about it, I am sure you're not the only person that is nervous today"

It was nice for Harry talking to someone as an equal, Susan was funny, after she had gotten over nerves, and seemed genuinely friendly, somebody Harry could see herself liking. They talked about home life and Harry found out Susan lived with her auntie because her parents were killed in the war but she, unlike Harry, had someone to have tell stories about them and their life. Harry felt her eyes start to water and needless to say she changed the subject quickly.

Eventually the subject turned to their new home, Hogwarts. Both Harry and Susan were very excited about learning magic and talked in great deal about the lessons they would be taking.

"So which house do you think you will be in?" Susan asked.

"I don't really know to be honest. I keep trying to think about it logically to fit my personality but I think I could end up anywhere really. What about you?"

Susan blushed "Well my auntie said she thinks I will go to Hufflepuff but..."

"But..." said Harry, now honestly curious.

"Well isn't it... You know... The 'Rubbish House' that they put the left over people."

"What? No!" said Harry with a bit more force than she meant to "Hufflepuff is for the loyal and hardworking. Honestly if I end up there I wouldn't mind."

Susan looked a bit shocked at first but then smiled "Thanks for that," she blushed again "I've been worrying about it for ages." she admitted.

"Well next time just come talk to me and I will set you straight." Harry smirked.

"But what if we are in different houses?"Susan said looking worried again.

"If we are in separate houses it really won't make a difference. I will still be your friend." at this Susan brightened up considerably and she jumped in telling Harry everything her auntie told her about the old magical castle.

Not long after that a smiling, dimpled woman had gone past selling all kinds of strange sweets, the likes of which Harry had never seen before, buying some of everything so she could see what it tasted like she retreated into the carriage.

"Hungry?" asked Susan.

"Hmm? Oh not really, I just wanted to try it all out, I have never had magical sweets before." Harry had offered the sweets to Susan as well and they were soon clutching their sides in laughter. After all trying to guess the flavours of Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans was quite amusing.

During this the compartment door slid open again showing and a round-faced boy with blonde hair and blue eyes that were full of tears.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

"No, sorry." said Susan turning to Harry as if she might contradict her.

"I've lost him!" the boy wailed when Harry shook her head apologetically. "He keeps getting away from me!"

"I am sure you will find him." Harry said, "In fact, I read in a book over the summer that there is something called a summoning charm but it isn't taught till later on, why don't you try asking one of the higher years to perform it?"

The boy looked shocked and slightly hopeful "Do you think that will work?" he asked.

"I don't see why not" said Susan, "I have seen my auntie summon things before and it always worked for her, even if they were in a different room!" she finished excitedly.

Harry blinked she had thought that Susan had calmed down but clearly she had underestimated the girl's excitement for learning magic - then again she had been waiting to practice it all her life. The still unnamed boy mumbled his thanks and left.

After that the train ride was nearly completely uneventful. The only thing that happened of note was the boy who lost his toad, who this time introduced himself as Neville Longbottom, came back thanking Harry for telling him about the summoning spell. Harry told him her name when he asked it and only the twin gasps from the other occupants of the compartment did she remember she was famous and that she had never gotten around to telling Ches her name, she had told her about the orphanage yes but the only name she supplied was 'Harry'.

"Y-you're H-harriet P-potter." Neville stammered out staring at her hair that fell in front of her forehead, clearly checking for her scar.

"Yes but don't go on about it will you? I am just me and I'd rather you didn't treat me any different. Oh and don't tell anyone else either, I'd rather not be the centre of attention." said Harry to Neville not wanting really to turn around and face Susan until Neville had left.

"Oh Ok" said Neville he looked between the other two and then seemed to take Harry's question as a dismissal and left.

"Why didn't you tell me?" her voice was quiet and soft but there was underling pain there and Harry quickly tried to ward off any misunderstandings.

"Because I didn't want you to like me for my fame. I - just wanted to make a real friend..." she stared intently at the ginger girl, wanting her to understand.

"Oh... I-I am sorry! I never thought of it that way! Come here." and before she knew what was happening Harry was pulled into a soft, warm hug. Harry had never really been someone who hugged others and it felt rather awkward to her but she didn't want to pull away and give Susan the wrong idea again. And she really wasn't impressed when she felt what was obviously the beginnings Susan's breasts against her own flat chest. Why did she have to be born at the end of the year? Being one of the youngest, and therefore less developed, in the year was going to be annoying. Ches stepped back and looked Harry directly in the eyes "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." she said sitting on one of the seats. Much to her embarrassment, Ches chose to sit very close to her but she supposed that is what it was going to be like having friends, most of the girls in the orphanage were always hugging and snuggling each other. That was something that might take a while to get used to.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately." The voice sounded over what was probably a magical version of a speaker system and Harry's stomach lurched with nerves, Ches however looked like she was about to explode with excitement. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, 'arry?"

"Hagrid!"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads "Told yer I 'ad a job teh do. C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

They followed him down a very dark path nobody spoke until the path opened out onto a great black lake. There was a collective gasp for just beyond the lake, Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. It was a thing of beauty standing proud amongst the picturesque landscape.

"No more 'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ches followed a nervous looking Neville and an equally nervous looking blonde girl "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

They walked up the rock path, which lead to grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid asked looking around before he raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was huge. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on a boy with red hair who had a smudge on his nose before she walked back through the door.

"How do they sort us into houses?" asked Harry.

"I am not sure. My auntie said she couldn't tell me as 'Only those who have been through the sorting should know how it is done' something about if it is a secret then it makes the feeling of being sorted more exciting." Ches said. Harry couldn't see an argument to this logic, true not knowing made it scarier but Harry couldn't say she wasn't excited about it.

"Do you know where you are going to go?" asked Neville.

"Hufflepuff I think." said Ches with a smile.

"Ravenclaw, I think I like books too much to be put anywhere else" Harry half-joked "What about you Neville?"

He put his head down, "I don't know, I don't really have any defining characteristics, they will probably say they have made a mistake and send me home."

"I think your being too hard on yourself Neville," said Harry "You will see." he looked happier but the fear was still visible in his eyes. She wanted to say more but was slightly distracted by a bushy-haired girl whispering very fast about all the spells she had learned which confused Harry.

Harry recognised the spells from her books but how had the girl gotten away with casting them at home? Harry shook her head and thought about asking Dumbledore later, maybe only he told her she wasn't allowed to use magic outside school because she lived with muggles who still didn't know anything about the magical world.

Harry looked around and almost screamed. During her musing about twenty ghosts, ghosts, had wandered into the room. She had, of course, read about ghosts but seeing them in person was a little disturbing and seeing them casually talk to the students nearest them was even more so.

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." professor McGonagall had returned and one by one the ghosts vanished through a nearby wall. "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "And follow me."

Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Harry could almost feel the Headmaster's stare on the back of her head.

The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. She heard the busy-haired girl whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty but Harry couldn't help feel fond of it, like an old friend she never knew she had.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Harry heard someone whisper, "I'll kill Fred; he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry resisted the urge to roll her eyes, honestly? Wrestling a troll? Nobody in their right mind would make an eleven year old wrestle a troll... Then again, she didn't think Dumbledore was entirely sane so who knew what went on.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said, "Abbott, Hannah!"

The pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails, that sat in the same boat as Harry, stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause —

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"Good luck Ches." whispered Harry.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah after throwing Harry a smile.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy." went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender." became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see twin redheads catcalling. Harry chuckled quietly but when she noticed just how developed 'Lavender' was she stopped and scowled. Harry noticed Ches look at her with raised eyebrows but she just shook her head and gave the Hufflepuff a smile which was returned before she turned back to Hannah.

Harry started looking round the hall just soaking in the atmosphere and she was still doing this the next time she registered what Professor McGonagall was saying.

"Potter, Harriet!"

Whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harriet Potter?"

Harry steeled herself and took a step forward. The effect was immediate, every pair of eyes locked onto her. Harry just kept walking looking directly at the hat and ignoring everything else.

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at her.

Next second she was looking at the black inside of the hat. she waited.

"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. You can be as cunning as any in Slytherin yet you would never better yourself at the cost of another so the snake pit is unlikely. Loyal to a fault but that loyalty has to be earned so Hufflepuff isn't the best choice either. The lions are a possibility you have a strong, if a little strange, moral code which you wouldn't break for anyone. Ravenclaw is also possible; there is a thirst for knowledge and a love of reading, even if you would rather read a storybook than a textbook."

Harry felt weird; this strange hat had just summed up her entire personality in a couple of sentences.

"Did I?" asked the hat, "There is much more to you than what I have said. Things you don't know. Things you know but won't admit, even to yourself. No, no, no. There is much more to you than that Miss. Potter. But that is not important at the moment, no we need to sort you first, we can chat later if you wish, Albus wouldn't mind."

The phrase 'Barmy old codger.' Floated through Harry's head.

The hat chuckled quietly "Quite. But back to sorting you. Do you have any thoughts?" honestly Harry didn't care although she was a little annoyed that 'The Sorting Hat' was asking her where to put her. The sorting hat chuckled again "Well I can't say you are the first to think that but I do love it when people do. Anyway I have made my decision, good luck Miss Potter and have fun in GRIFFINDOR!" Harry could tell the last word was shouted out to everyone in the hall because everyone started cheering. Cheering much louder than anyone else Harry noticed. In fact the twins that were cat calling Lavender were now chanting "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Harry sat down near the bushy-haired girl but regretted it almost immediately as she looked at her with what could pass for hunger. Harry however turned away and watched the rest of the students get sorted but she wasn't listening instead she was wishing that the sorting was done in a place where nobody could see or hear, she hated being famous and now everybody knew who she was.

When the final person "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

As he sat back down Harry clapped and cheered along with the rest of the hall, she had actually expected him to say something like that, he was, after all, insane. Some of the other first years were clearly a little less certain though.

"Is he a bit mad?" asked the bushy-haired girl next to Harry.

"Mad?" said a red haired boy across the table "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes Hermione?"

Harry's jaw dropped open, the large golden plates that had been empty a second ago were now full of food. She had never seen so many things she liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs... Dumbledore, it was the only logical explanation. She started piling food onto her plate but before she could start eating Hermione, as her name seemed to be, started talking again.

"Hello, my name is Hermione Granger." she said "I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"I know," Harry said tonelessly, "I haven't read them though as Dumbledore told me all I need to and he said that the people who wrote the book had no idea how I survived and just made stuff up to sell their books."

Hermione for her part looked flabbergasted "But the books said they had done extensive research!"

"How?" Harry asked after swallowing some chicken "The only two people there were me and Voldemort." at this there was a gasp at the table but Harry ignored it, Dumbledore had already explained the idiocy of people not saying Voldemort's name "He hasn't been seen since and I haven't talked to any of the authors, not that I would have been much help as I was only one when it happened."

Hermione just looked confused before she turned to the food on her plate eating in silence. The redhead however clearly wasn't going to let Voldemort's name pass.

"You said his name! I thought you of all people..." But that's as far as he got as Harry cut him off.

"'Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.'" She quoted Dumbledore, "All Voldemort is, is a coward." all those that heard this were silent "I mean even his name means 'Flee from death' and if any real amount of people fought him he never would have gotten enough support to overtake the Isle Of Man let alone the rest of Brittan. True he was a very powerful wizard but he never beat Dumbledore in a fight did he? He was able to rule simply because most of the wizarding world is stupid." and it was, from what she could discover from reading the books she bought and the paper she subscribed to on Dumbledore's suggestion, people in the wizarding world seemed to just plod along like sheep.

The rest of the feast was silent for those around Harry as they digested what she had said. Harry was looking anywhere other than the teachers' table she knew Dumbledore would want to catch her eye but she didn't think it a good idea while she was still feeling frustrated at the wizarding world, she did not want to take it out on him.

After the deserts had disappeared, and Harry was feeling a lot less hostile, Professor Dumbledore stood up and Harry was impressed when she noted that everyone fell silent immediately without him having to do anything.

"Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the red-haired twins "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year; the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

A few people laughed - They clearly didn't know Dumbledore very well.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore obviously happy with this fact but Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. He gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Absolutely mental, there was now no longer any doubt.

They followed two prefects up stairs, down corridors, through secret passageways and at last they came to a stop at the very end of a long corridor where there was a portrait of a very fat woman in a horrible pink dress.

"Password?" she said.

"Caput Draconis," said the redhead Harry spoke to at the feast who had introduced himself as Percy, the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it — Neville needed a leg up — and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another.

At the top of a spiral staircase — they were obviously in one of the towers — they found their beds at last: six four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed.

Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because she had a very strange dream. She was wearing a purple turban, which kept talking to her, telling her she must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was her destiny. Harry told the turban that that didn't make any sense and that what house you were in didn't make any difference; it got heavier and heavier; she tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully — there was a burst of green light with a high cold laugh and Harry woke, sweating and shaking. She rolled over and fell asleep again, and when she woke next day, she didn't remember the dream at all.

-One Letter Different-

Susan was actually getting rather annoyed at the skinny blond boy with an upturned nose, Zacharias or something like that, he just wouldn't shut up.

"Come on you obviously know her with the amount of times she smiled at you, and you were talking before the sorting, so come on! tell us!"

"You want to know about her?" she asked but continued before he could answer "She hates being famous, being pointed at and stared at so just back off! Alright? How would you feel? To be famous because you didn't die the same day as your parents? She just wants to be treated like a normal person! And if I find out you have been harassing her I will hex you until you cant sit down without excruciating pain!" she finished screaming at the boy who was now a nice shade of white. And with that turned and stormed down the hallway the prefect had told her was the girls' dormitory leaving at least half of Hufflepuff house standing in the common room looking quite uneasy but it served them right, treating her like she is something to be fawned over...

She slammed the door, found the bed with her trunk next to it, got changed and jumped in pulling the yellow curtains around her all while completely ignoring the small voice in the back of her head which was telling her that if she hadn't of met Harry on the train she would have been just as curious as the rest of her house.

The last thing she thought before falling asleep was that Harry didn't deserve people like Zacharias Smith following her around and she promised herself that if she could help her in any way, she would.

Her dreams were full of magic, happiness and a beautiful black haired, green eyed girl calling her 'Ches' despite her anger and sadness while she was awake, Susan slept with a huge smile on her face.

I am not pushing Ron and Hermione out of Harry's life like you see in some fics, however Harry will not ONLY be friends with those two like in the books. JKR was writing for children, I am not.

Danni xxx