Hermione gave Harry an odd look but turned around to see that Kagome was making her way over to her and Ginny. She and Ginny both stood up to hug and congratulate the raven-haired witch.

"We're so glad to have you in our house, Kagome," Hermione tells her.

"Thank you so much, I'm really happy to be here."

They all sat down with Kagome sitting down in between the two girls. Everyone at the table started congratulating her and welcoming her to Gryffindor. They were about to start asking her questions when Professor Dumbledore clapped his hands and the feast appeared in front of them. Kagome smiled at the variety of food that was laid out in front of her and began to serve herself some food. And while they ate. The Gryffindors began to ask her questions. She answered as many as she could as long as they weren't too personal. After a while Hermione told them to let poor Kagome eat in peace, Kagome gave Hermione a grateful look. They all settled down and began to have conversations amongst themselves.

While they ate, Kagome took that time to take in her surroundings. She was very impressed by the enchanted ceiling and she liked the look of the Great Hall in general though she still thought it was odd that there was no electricity. Kagome then looked up at the head table to observe the staff. She saw Professor Dumbledore talking to her Head of House Professor McGonagall. Her eyes wandered down the line of Professors slowly sizing them up. Kagome's eyes narrowed when they fell upon Professor Snape. As if sensing that someone was staring at him, Snape looked up right into the grey eyes of Kagome Black. She raised an eyebrow at him and he immediately looked away.

Kagome continues scanning the rest of the staff. They're pretty well harmless. She can tell right off the bat that the Divinations Professor is a fraud. what a disappointment, she'll have to drop that class. But when her eyes land on the Professor in the pink outfit, Kagome shutters. She can sense the evil aura coming from this woman and wonders what class this woman teaches and whether or not Kagome can avoid her.

When they finished dessert Professor Dumbledore stood up and walked back to the podium. Everyone quieted down to hear him speak.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students-and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too."

Kagome looked around and noticed the Weasely twins, Harry, Ron, Hermione all smirked.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks; Dumbledore had not said for how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching. Kagome wondered what that look was all about. She could tell that she was a nice enough woman.

Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the-"

He broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, 'Hem, hem,' and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."

Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish and, again, Harry felt a powerful rush of dislike that he could not explain to himself; all he knew was that he loathed everything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan. She gave another little throat-clearing cough ('hem, hem') and continued.

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . ."

". . . because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held . . ."

Kagome couldn't believe what she had just heard. Progress for progress's sake must be discouraged? Pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited? What kind of nonsense was that? As if confirming her fears she heard Hermione tell Ron.

"It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."

Kagome runs her fingers through her hair, maybe she should reconsider returning to Mahoutokoro after all. But the thought of leaving her father and Remus made her heart hurt.

'Wait, what? Remus, why should it bother me to leave Remus?' She thought.

But the more she thought about it the clearer the image of Remus' beautiful green eyes became in her mind, Kagome let out a sigh. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Kagome are you alright," Ginny asked.

"Huh, what?"

"I asked if you were alright, you suddenly got this dreamy look on your face and your eyes glazed over."

"Oh, it's nothing I was just thinking of home, that's all."

"Oh, okay. Well, we better get going the others have already left for Gryffindor tower."

Kagome looked around and noticed that all the Gryffindors had indeed left the Great Hall, she blushed and followed after Ginny. When they got to the portrait, Ginny gave the password and she led the way through the portrait hole into Gryffindor common room. The common room is a circular room where Gryffindor students can relax after a long day of studying. It is full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. can be posted. The common room is decorated in several shades of red, which is associated with the house. There are many windows that look out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominates one wall. The mantle of the fireplace is adorned with a portrait of a lion ( )

Kagome smiled, she really liked the look of the common room, it made her feel right at home, "This is very nice, Ginny, I like it."

"I'm glad Kagome, it's important that you feel comfortable here. Come on I'll show you to the girl's dormitories."

Ginny and Kagome climbed the stairs. Ginny paused at the top of the staircase, "The staircase is enchanted so the boys can't come up."

"Very smart."

Ginny shows Kagome to the 7th year dormitory, she thanks Ginny and walks in. Inside Kagome notices that the four-poster beds are covered in red eiderdowns with red curtains, a nightstand next to it and their school trunks at the foot of their bed. A yellow banner that says Gryffindor with their house mascot is hung on top of their bed. A wooden chair and dresser are near the bed. A lamp is placed on their dresser and on their wooden board. A wooden board is situated on either side of their bed for students to decorate. The dorm has stone walls and wooden floors. The windows have red curtains. There is also a white pillow on the floor, a perch on their dresser, and a snuffbox on top of their trunk for their pets. She immediately sees Yasei's cage, the owl has a disgruntled look on his face and hoots in indignation the minute he sees her.

"Sorry, boy, I'll let you out right now."

"I tried to let him out earlier, but he tried to bite me. Hi, I'm Angelina Johnson."

Kagome turns around and smiles at the pretty girl, "Hello, I'm Kagome Black, and this is Yasei."

Angelina walks up to Kagome and shakes her hand, Yasei hoots again expressing his annoyance, and Kagome lets him out. He flies over to Kagome and nips her ear hard.

"Ouch, you rotten bird."

Angelina laughs, "He's a feisty one, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is, but I can't blame him, he's been cooped up in that cage all day."

"Well, why don't you open the window so he can let him go up then he can go to the owlery."

"Good idea," Kagome opens the window and Yasei nips Kagome's ear one more time, a little gentler this time, then flies out."

"What kind of owl is he."

"A Northern Hawk Owl."

"He's very pretty and kind of creepy."

"Who's kind of creepy, Angelina?" Alicia asks when she walks into the room.

"Kagome's owl," Angelina says.

"Right, he is. Hi, I'm Alicia Spinnet, it's nice to meet you, Kagome."

"It's nice to meet you too, Alicia."

"Oh and the one already asleep is Patricia Stimpson. Though I don't know why she's asleep since tomorrow's Saturday."

Without even opening her eyes, Patricia answers, "It was a long train ride."

She sits up and introduces herself to Kagome then lies down and goes back to sleep, Kagome giggles.

"Why don't you come downstairs and get to know everyone? Like I said there's no school tomorrow so we can stay up as late as we want."

"That's a great idea, Angelina, let's go."

Angelina and Alicia take Kagome by the arms and lead her back downstairs so that she can officially meet everyone.

A/N THE SPEECH GIVEN BY DUMBLEDORE AND UMBRIDGE ARE TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE BOOK.

ALSO, I MADE A FEW CHANGES TO THE TIMELINE. KAGOME WAS CONCEIVED VALENTINES DAY 1977 BORN NOVEMBER 3, 1977.