Chapter 4

Once the sorting was over, Ron was now sat opposite Harry on the Gryffindor table, Professor McGonagall moved the hat and stool off the stage and then went to sit at the teachers table, next to the Headmaster. Professor Dumbledore waited until she was seated and then stood up, the students fell silent in respect.

"Welcome! 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!" He sat down and the students clapped and cheered. Eliza watched him curiously for a few more moments and when she turned back to the table food had appeared.

Eliza looked at it in awe, she had never seen so much food in her life, not even on the television. She glanced up at Harry and saw him gazing in amazement too. They started piling their plates, Harry's was very high but Eliza had a more dignified amount on her plate. There was no use, she thought, making herself sick on the first night.

"I can't wait for lessons to start, can you?" Said Hermione, who was sitting next to Eliza. Although Hermione had been with them for some of the journey it was possible that she thought that Eliza had simple been too nervous to talk before the sorting.

Eliza looked at her and then nudged Harry, sat on her other side, who swallowed a potato and then supplied the standard answer of;

"Eliza doesn't talk." Hermione looked intrigued and looked back to Eliza, as if she were a complicated maths sum.

"Are you a selective mute?" She asked, somewhat precociously.

The twins looked at her with a raised eyebrows so she continued.

"Oh, my cousin is one; he only talks to my aunt and not to anyone else. It's the term for someone who has the ability to talk but chooses not to." Eliza had no idea that there was a term for not talking when she could, her Aunt had made her think she was a freak but if there was a name for it then that couldn't be the case!

"I suppose so." Said Harry awkwardly, Eliza wished the conversation could take a different turn, thankfully it did.

"...dads a muggle, mam's a witch." Finished Seamus Finnigan, an Irish boy with sandy hair, from along the table, Hermione seemed to sense Eliza's discomfort and turned to join the other conversation.

"What about you, Neville?" Hermione asked.

"Well my gran bought me up and she's a witch." He said, blushing slightly and looking at them. The boy opposite Neville, Dean Thomas, explained that he had, like Hermione, been completely unaware of the magical world until he received his Hogwarts letter. As Eliza started eating her food she realised that it seemed like a lifetime ago since she had woken up this morning and bumped her head on the under-step. She rubbed her forehead and Harry noticed and leaned in to whisper to her.

"It's not too bad, just looks a bit red and blue. Nowhere near as bad at Easter." Eliza nodded, relieved. At Easter she had woken from a nightmare which such a start that she had almost knocked herself out. The bruise had taken two weeks to fade and even then she had a straight line across her forehead that took even longer to vanish. Dudley had laughed so much he had started crying.

The feast seemed to take a long time, or maybe Eliza was just very tired. After another, slightly more school-like and informative, speech Professor Dumbledore dismissed the students and the first years followed Ron's older brother, Percy who was a Gryffindor prefect, to the Gryffindor common room. It was quite a confusing walk; Eliza tried to remember the way but knew she would have trouble in the morning.

They were told the password and a portrait opened revealing a large room, decorated in scarlet and gold, with a roaring fire and filled with other Gryffindor students. Percy informed them of how to access their dormitories and then left them to settle in.

Harry and Eliza hugged each other goodnight and went their separate ways. Eliza followed Hermione and the other Gryffindor first year's girls.

There were four large four-poster beds and their luggage was waiting in the middle of the room.

"I'm Parvati Patil, nice to meet you." Said an Asian girl with long hair and a pretty face.

"Lavender Brown." A tall, blond haired girl added, with a small wave.

"I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said, they all turned to Eliza and she felt herself blush. Hermione seemed to shake herself.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. This is Eliza Potter, she doesn't like to talk." Parvati and Lavender looked confused but didn't comment.

Eliza chose the bed closest to the window as she had no natural light in her cupboard at the Dursley's. Privet Drive felt a million miles away as she pulled on her pyjamas and slid into the huge double bed. She had never slept in a proper bed before, she was so used to the shelves she slept on in Surrey that this soft mattress seemed to swallow her up. She stretched herself out into a star formation and she could still not reach the ends of the bed!

She heard the other girls bid her goodnight but obviously didn't reply. She pulled the curtains of her bed down, except the one that face the window, and pulled the duvet over her, gazing at the moon. A small meow had her leaning over the side of the bed and scooping up Biscuit. She placed her on the pillow above her head and hoped that she wouldn't squash the kitten in the middle of the night.

Her last thought as she snuggled into the bed was that maybe the hat was right, maybe she would find courage here. With that thought Eliza rolled over and went to sleep.

Eliza woke to the sounds of gentle conversation, when she sat up in the bed Lavender was just walking back into the room with a towel around her. The bed curtains had been lifted and Eliza wondered if it was a magical way in which the school woke the students, by flooding them with sunlight.

"The shower's free, Eliza." She said, smiling. Eliza nodded and climbed out of the bed. She opened her trunk and pulled out her uniform and soaps. Lavender and the other girls might feel comfortable changing in front of each other but Eliza certainly did not. She carried her things into the bathroom and locked the door.

There was a sink for each of them, two huge showers with curtains, and a bath which also had a curtain around it. Eliza placed her uniform in the cupboard under her sink so it would not get damp and then pulled off her night clothes and stepped into the shower.

At Privet Drive she was only allowed a two minute shower, with cold water, but now she had time to clean herself thoroughly. There were lots of different settings, with different soaps and temperatures and Eliza found one that suited her and had a short shower. She washed her hair and held it up in a towel and then dried herself and pulled on her uniform.

The tie, which had been black when she had bought it, was now in Gryffindor colours, the rest of her uniform also had nods to her new house. She examined herself carefully in the mirror before brushing her teeth and drying her hair with a special hair dryer than dried it instantly, and then brushed her hair back into a neat ponytail, and left the bathroom feeling ready to face the day.

Hermione and Eliza walked to the Great Hall together, as the other girls were taking a long time to get ready, and sat down next to Neville who looked delighted.

"Good morning, I found Trevor! He was in my trunk, I don't know how he managed it!" He said as they started putting food on their plates. Eliza poured herself a cup of tea, deciding instantly that it was definitely better than Aunt Petunia's tea that she had only had once before. Eliza had been nine and she had had a rotten cold, Aunt Petunia was trying to make her better quicker so that she could send her niece back to school and could host the book club cake morning without worrying about her friends hearing Eliza's sneezes.

Hermione and Neville spoke pleasantly and Neville didn't seem to mind that Eliza was lost in her own world. Before long Professor McGonagall walked down from the staff table. The first years were seated closest to the teachers, with the oldest students closer to the entrance hall.

"Right, Potter, Granger and Longbottom." She said ticking names on a piece of parchment and handing the children timetables.

Eliza looked at the parchment and examine it, she saw that she had only three lessons today; Charms, Transfiguration and Potions. She slipped the paper into her bag, a light brown satchel that she had bought from Diagon Alley, and began on her breakfast.

All the first year Gryffindors walked to Charms together, perhaps all too nervous about getting lost to stray from the pack. When they entered the classroom Harry sat next to Ron and Eliza was momentarily annoyed before Hermione waved her over to sit next to her at the front of the class. Professor Flitwick, the tiny Charms professor, entered and stood on top of a table so that he could view the class easily. He started with a register, with each student putting up their hand to indicate they were present. He got very excited when he read the Potter twin's names off the register. The lesson was quite complicated; it involved copying a lot of strange diagrams and writing many Latin words, they didn't even pick up their wands which Hermione was visibly disappointed about.

Transfiguration was next Harry redeemed himself in his sister's eyes by sitting next to her with an apologetic smile. Professor McGonagall entered and read out the class list so she could check that they had all found the classroom.

"Elizabeth Potter?" She called, looking up at Eliza, and clearly waiting for a response. Harry cleared his throat next to her and the teacher looked at him.

"Umm Professor McGonagall, my sister doesn't talk." Said Harry nervously, Eliza felt her face blush as McGonagall glanced between them. She looked taken aback but nodded nevertheless and continued with the register, the other students didn't comment and Eliza wondered if Harry had already informed the other boys about Eliza's silence.

The class passed quickly and Eliza did find the concept easier that Charms It was all about turning one thing into something else, it seemed to make more sense to her. When the bell rang at the end of the lesson, Professor McGonagall asked Eliza to stay behind, Harry lingered too but McGonagall hurried him on and he shut the door behind him.

Professor McGonagall indicated to Eliza to sit down, so she did, feeling incredibly intimidated.

"Miss Potter, is there any reason why you do not talk?" She asked, looking at Eliza over the top of her glasses.

Eliza shook her head and looked at the floor, some people talked and some people didn't, that was all.

"Do you talk to anyone?"

Eliza shook her head but glanced at the door which Harry had just walked through,

"Your brother?" Professor McGonagall suggested.

Eliza bit her lip and shrugged as, hoping to indicate that she sometimes spoke to him, in life-threatening situations, of which there were very few. She hadn't spoken to him for years, it wasn't like they found themselves in life-threatening situations often, they weren't those sort of children.

"Well, Miss Potter, as I am Head of Gryffindor house any pastoral issues regarding Gryffindor's are brought to me. I will inform your other teachers of your situation so that they are aware, we are not going to force you to talk, of course. You will probably find the spells much harder as you will not be saying the incantations aloud but we'll see how you get on." Eliza nodded and walked towards the door,

"Oh, and Miss Potter?" McGonagall called, Eliza turned back to look at her.

"I do hope you find your voice." Eliza felt tears in her eyes and was horrified by their presence. McGonagall looked away and Eliza turned and left the classroom.

She walked quickly to the nearest toilets and stayed for a few minutes to compose herself. She then grabbed her bag and left the room, when she reached the Great Hall Harry was waiting for her outside with Ron and Hermione.

"Eliza, are you ok?" He asked frantically, she nodded and smiled to reassure him and they had a short lunch before walking together to their final class of the day, double Potions.

They waited outside the classroom and were joined, to Harry and Ron's obvious annoyance, the Slytherin. Eliza guessed that some classes needed to be taught in larger groups and Potions was clearly one of them.

A man swept down the corridor and opened the door with a bang and told them to come in. Eliza walked in after her brother and they went to the back of the classroom. Eliza looked at the teacher, he had shoulder length greasy black hair and a sour expression.

The classroom was dark; it was in the dungeon, of course, so the darkness was understandable. It made Eliza feel nervous, she felt just like she had been locked in her cupboard again. She heard the door close and sat down nervously, it was cold she was finding it hard to catch her breath, she was back in her cupboard, she must be.

She could hear Harry talking to her but couldn't place what he was saying, she needed to get outside. She stood up and felt the world spinning; she could hear the Professor shouting at her, but his anger reminded her of Uncle Vernon and it didn't help. She felt pins and needles in her hands and suddenly the world went even darker.

"She'll be awake soon Mr Potter, no need to worry." The voice was kind but firm, Eliza didn't think she'd ever heard it before.

Her head hurt, a lot, like someone had hit it, then it all came back to her; the dungeon, the darkness, the shouting Professor. Her eyes flew open and she squinted against bright lights reflecting off white sheets and curtains.

"Eliza!" Harry cried as he threw his arms around her.

"See Mr Potter, no need to worry. How are you feeling, Miss Potter?" Eliza looked at the woman confused.

"Eliza doesn't talk." Said Harry, immediately. The woman's forehead creased but she continued without comment.

"My name is Madam Pomfrey, I'm the school nurse. You had a panic attack and fainted in Potions this afternoon so you were brought to the hospital wing to be checked over." She said, picking up a clipboard and looking at it.

Eliza nodded and Harry composed himself, trying to look like he wasn't too worried. It crumbled a moment later.

"You really scared me! Are you ok?" He asked holding her hand and perching on the edge of the bed.

She nodded and rubbed the back of her head, there was a small bump.

"I tried to catch you but you bumped your head on the table, sorry." He said regretfully. Eliza squeezed his hand in forgiveness.

"Now Miss Potter that is quite a bump on the head, two bumps actually, so I would like you to stay in overnight so I can keep an eye on you. Are you feeling dizzy?" Asked Madam Pomfrey, Eliza shook her head horrified at the idea of spending the night in the hospital wing.

"Good, now it's already gone dinner time so I'll fetch you some food." Eliza shook her head indicating that she wasn't hungry,

"Hospital wing rules Miss Potter, now Mr Potter off to bed with you!" She said shooing Harry out of the room.

"Night." He called, clearly disgruntled.

Eliza lay awake for hours, her head throbbing, and thinking about the day's developments. The morning had gone relatively well, the afternoon she didn't want to think about. Madam Pomfrey checked on her every so often and Eliza felt the headache fading as the night wore on.

Eliza was just thinking about the new people she had met, and the interesting lessons she had had when Biscuit meowed from the floor. Eliza jumped and smiled, wondering how the kitten had found her way to the hospital wing let along through the heavy door. Eliza leaned over and scooped her up and placed her on her stomach. She stroked the purring kitten and gradually they both drifted off to sleep.