Chapter 4
Classes and Friendships

Anna woke to the sound of people around her moving about. She sat up, got out of bed, and rushed through her morning routine. Her cauldron had been packed last night; she grabbed it and headed to the common room, thoughts about her backpack not far from her mind. The common room was illuminated with the same green light she had seen before, although less crowded. She saw some other students with their cauldrons and books heading out of the commons, and she followed them to the great hall.

Mercius was the only one she saw.

"Merce!"

"Anna!" Mercius pulled her into one of the hallways. "It's good to see you. …How is everything going in Slytherin?"

"Okay. Nobody will talk to me, but okay. I'm in the right house, I know it. You?"

"I'm doing okay. Everyone in Hufflepuff is great. I think my father will get over me not being in Slytherin. Eventually. I am glad I'm in Hufflepuff though. Have you seen Rose or Albus?"

"No, not yet. I'm hoping they're in some of my classes. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have a map to this place, would you?"

"No, Sorry. There are no maps of Hogwarts. Well, except for one the Marauder's Map, but that's just a legend. Would you happen to know where Hagrid is? Or where his classroom is?"

"No."

The two sighed. "We need to talk to Albus and Rose. I say we meet here tomorrow, and if we see the others we tell them to meet us here. Then we can decide on a better place than a hallway."

Mercius nodded. "…Okay. We should head to breakfast before we miss it."

"Kay. See you soon, I hope."

The pair departed and headed towards their tables.

Hogwarts had one hundred and forty two stair cases, wide, narrow, sweeping, rickety. Some moved in random patterns, others were predictable except on certain days, and none were always in the same place at the same time. There were doors that wouldn't open or close unless you asked, pleaded, cajoled, or begged. Some doors weren't even doors at all, but walls who were just pretending. The same went for every other piece of architecture in Hogwarts.

Windows would move, sometimes to walls that didn't go to the outside. The people in the paintings moved. The statues walked from place to place when people weren't looking. Any way to orient yourself was gone.

Ghosts could occasionally be counted on to point you in the right direction, and the same went if you stumbled on the right painting with the right person inside. Only Peeves would be known to cause trouble for the students, and the Bloody Baron was rarely around to control him.

Anna loved a challenge. Getting to classes on time would be her first test to prove herself to Slytherin.

She was pleased to discover that her first class of the day, Charms, was shared with Rose, who arrived late like most of the students. Hogwarts was a tricky place to get around. Professor Flitwick, who Rose informed her was Ravenclaw's Head of House, was a small man with a squeaky voice. He seemed to be a good teacher none the less. He allowed the students to talk and get acquainted most of the class, as long as they did it while reviewing their spell books.

Magic, he informed the class, wouldn't be happening for a few days. He did, however, demonstrate some of the magic they would be using.

Anna loved every moment, and she could tell Rose did too, but for some reason Rose was worried. She first noticed it when they opened up their spell books. Anna was sure of it now; she had seen the same expression cross Rose's face when she was placed into Ravenclaw.

When class ended, Anna pulled Rose into one of the alcoves so they could have a bit of privacy. "Anna, it's good to see you again! It sucks that we're in different houses, right?"

"Yeah. The four of us need to get together, I already talked to Merce. We're meeting in the north hallway into the great hall before breakfast. Tell Al if you see him, would you?"

"Sure." She grinned, big and wide, but it faltered, ever so slightly. "I…I haven't made any friends yet, in my house."

"Me neither. Rose, is everything okay?"

"W-what do you mean? Of course it is!"

"You looked worried when you were sorted into Ravenclaw, and-"

"I wasn't worried, Anna!"

"And you looked worried when we started going over spells."

"Anna. I have to go to class. Please, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You have enough on your hands, I bet, dealing with being in Slytherin."

"I'm fine. Slytherin is a good house, I belong there."

"We both know fine, means exactly the opposite."

Rose left at a run towards her next class. Anna did the same, headed in the opposite direction.

Something was up with Rose, but Anna decided not to push. Rose would tell her when the time was right, and she could be patient. There were other things to focus on right now, so she filed it into the back of her head and headed down to potions.

In Potions they dove right into their studies, clearly showing that the tall, brown haired Professor Goshawk was rather different than Professor Flitwick. Anna was a step behind all of the other students; they had grown up in the wizarding world and knew some of the potion-making materials. Anna got the distinct impression that potion making was not for her. Some of her classmates took to it like moths to a fire, though.

She would have to work hard to catch up to the others.

Transfiguration with Albus and Professor Hans, the Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Shepply, Herbology with Mercius and Professor Longbottom, and History of Magic with Professor Binns, who happened to be a ghost. Professor Binns, Anna soon discovered, was the most boring teacher who ever lived, or, in his case, died. Only sheer willpower kept her awake while other students drifted off.

Dinner came and went, and Anna was quite exhausted by the end of the day. She went to the library after a lengthy journey trying to find it, and checked out several volumes. There was no homework, but when she got back to her dorm, Anna decided to stay up a while reading her schoolbooks and looking up general knowledge the students who had grown up in the wizarding world would have. Anna needed the edge. She was going to win.

Was this even a competition?

"Of course it is, Anna." Anna whispered to herself. "This is a competition, to be the best. The best student in Slytherin, the best of the first years, the best of Hogwarts. I'll prove it. I don't know how yet, but I will."

Perhaps she would become a Prefect. That would be some proof, but it would be a few years. No, she'd find another way. She could win the house cup. Get the most points out of all of Slytherin.

Anna would win. She was sure of it.

Hello, Frost here.

Don'tkillLacy, I want to thank you for being my first reviewer :) It's so great that you like the story! I'm glad you're okay with them being in different houses, it's going to be very important. Unless something big and crazy happens, I'm not going to stop writing. I've never finished a story before, and this is going to be the first. Not only is this going to be book length, hopefully, it's going to be the first of eight, two for each character and from their POV. I have so many things planned!

Slytherin is a house I enjoy and I wish J.K. Rowling had developed it a bit more. I'm definitely going into the workings of Slytherin house. Being in Slytherin doesn't make you evil; it just means you're a determined, ambitious, and somewhat sneaky person.

I happen to be a girl, though I'm not Cis. (Cisgender- the gender you're assigned at birth, usually male, female.) I'm Demisexual.

Thank you so much! Your reviews made me so happy!

(Your spelling was perfect, btw)

:)