Percy had told them all that Professor McGonagall was the head of Gryffindor house, but Christina didn't actually meet her until the next morning when she came wading through a sea of students, owls, and breakfast platters to hand out course schedules. Christina hadn't been expecting the morning mail delivery and gasped in shock when hundreds of owls fluttered into the great hall. Sprinkles didn't have anything for her, but Christina sent her off with a quick note to her mum saying she'd arrived at Hogwarts safely and was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Come here, first years!" McGonagall called. "I have your course schedules here. Yours are being handed out first, giving you ample time to make it to your first class. You are expected to be on time."

Christina took her schedule and saw that her first class, her first ever one at Hogwarts, was transfiguration. She had no idea where the transfiguration classroom was, and there was no map of the school included.

"Do you think Sam knows where transfiguration room is?" Christina asked Abigail. "She seems to know everything."

"Let's ask. Hey Sam, you know where transfiguration is?"

Sam shook her head. "Come on, guys. I can tell you about the wizarding world but I'm a first-year too. I say we ask an older student."

"Hey Potter!" A loud voice echoed across the great hall. Heads whipped around to see a blond third-year heckling Harry Potter from the Slytherin table. "The dementors too much for you? Should Madame Pomfrey follow you around with a fainting couch in case you pass out again? Wooh look, I think one's coming now!"

"Shut up Malfoy!" Ron bellowed.

"Harry Potter passed out too?" Said Christina.

"Yeah didn't you hear about it?" Said Sam. "All of Ravenclaw was talking about it last night. He was lucky he was in the same compartment as Professor Lupin. Lupin sent him straight to Madame Pomfrey when we arrived."

"That's weird. I wonder why he passed out?"

"Don't go asking him." Said Sam. "I think he's heard enough about it already. We should get to transfiguration."

The diversion in the great hall with Malfoy had cost them valuable time, and they found themselves running through the halls to get to class on time. Even then, the only reason they made it was because of a few helpful directions from Nearly Headless Nick. They ran into the classroom and dropped into their seats just as Professor McGonagall strode in.

"Hello students and welcome to your first class at Hogwarts." The room fell silent. "In this class, you will learn to transform one object into another, starting small and working all the way to transfiguration of large items, animals, and even humans. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn here, and messing around in this class, in addition to being unacceptable, is also highly dangerous." She paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Now, it is time to get started."

Christina reached into her bag and took out her wand, excited to finally use it. So far the only thing she'd done was get it shoot sparks. Sam had been messing around on the train and accidentally changed Derrick's socks from green to blue, but no one could figure out how she'd done it, least of all Sam herself.

Professor McGonagall was coming around and handing out ordinary kitchen matches. "We're going to start small, turning matches into needles. For those of you who don't know, matches are commonly used by muggles to start fires. Set fire to anything," she added, "And you'll have landed yourself in detention on your very first day."

Professor McGonagall had them openem A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration/em and learn the wand movement and incantation. Feeling rather stupid, Christina waved her wand and recited the incantation. Nothing happened. Was she a failure already?

"Don't worry if nothing happens." Professor McGonagall called out to the class. "It is only your first day, after all."

Christina sighed and waved her wand again. Magic had to get more exciting at some point, right? She looked to her left and saw Abigail struggling just as much, and on her right side Sam was poking her match out of frustration. Christina waved her wand again and thought she saw something change. She picked up her match and, sure enough, a faint blush of silver had appeared on the wooden stick.

Professor McGonagall guided Sam's arm though the wand movement and her match turned silver too, then moved to check on Christina and Abigail. "Any luck, Evans, Cramer?"

Christina picked up her match and showed McGonagall where the match had changed color.

"Excellent. Wonderful job, Miss Evans." The words seemed to catch in her throat as she said them.

After transfiguration they had Defense Against the Dark Arts. Christina thought Professor Lupin might turn out to be boring, but he conducted himself in a manner completely different from McGonagall.

"Welcome to class, first years!" He said. Rather than standing behind his desk, he stood in front of it, casually leaning against it. Behind the desk a large curtain had been drawn across the front of the room, hiding whether he had a chalkboard full of notes or something else entirely. "We're going to start your education in defense with something practical. No note-taking or reading today. Instead, we're working with creatures you may encounter in the real world."

The class looked at each other, some excitedly, some apprehensively, as they took out their wands.

"For my older students I have to undo the damage caused by last year's defense professor, a bumbling fool called Lockhart. But for you lot, we can start fresh! Stand back now!" He waved his wand and the curtain drew away, revealing several clothing racks hung with things that looked a little bit like extra large pink pipe cleaners. He waved his wand again and the racks moved to form two rows, with a narrow walkway between.

"We'll start with learning to identify what is dangerous and what isn't. What we have here are Argentinian Poison-Puffers. They have a mild toxin that will paralyze you for about twelve hours unless you get immediate medical treatment. However, the dead ones do not carry the toxin. There are both live and dead ones on these racks. It will be your task to identify which are safe to touch and which are toxic. If you guess wrong I'll take you down to the hospital wing."

"The hospital wing?" A Hufflepuff squeaked.

"Where our very own Madame Pomfrey will sort you out in a jiffy. Believe me, she's dealt with much worse than poison-puffers. Now, who wants to go first?"

Paolo, a Gryffindor boy, eagerly raised his hand and jumped into the walkway.

"Now be careful, Paolo." Said Lupin. "You don't need to know any spells for this, you just need to look carefully and not let them poke you."

"This one's dead." Said Paolo. "I can tell because its plumage is droopy. Oh, and this one's alive!"

"Good, good. Now don't touch it."

"This is easy!" Paolo took his wand and began poking the poison-puffers, dodging as they swung on the racks and calling out whether they were alive or dead. He turned to face one side of the rack and began poking a dead one, forgetting about the other rack behind him. One reached out and poked the back of his neck, and Paolo crumpled to the floor.

"Lesson number one." Said Lupin. "Don't turn your back on a known opponent. Mr. Sommers, would you please take Paolo down to the hospital wing?"

Andy, Paolo's friend, took Paolo by the ankles and dragged him out of the room.

"He'll be fine." Said Lupin. "There's a fast-working antidote that'll reverse the effects of the poison. Now, who wants to try next?"

Next was a boy from Hufflepuff who managed to get through without being poisoned, and after him Sam took a turn and successfully walked through.

"Who's next?" Lupin asked.

Christina shrugged, then took a step forward and began the course. She noticed how the live poison-puffers would swing a little on the racks, and that their pink plumage was thick and fluffy. By contrast, the dead ones hung limp, and their plumage was a little darker and a little less fluffy. All you had to do was look carefully to spot the live ones, then dodge them. Christina swung left and right, dodging each swing of a poison-puffer. She dipped low to avoid a particularly big one and emerged on the other side of the course, grinning.

"Wonderful, Evans!" Professor Lupin beamed. "Another student who won't need the hospital wing!" He looked up to congratulate her and their eyes met, but he tore his away quickly. Christina shrugged and moved away to stand next to Andy and Paolo, who had just returned from the hospital wing. Derrick was about to go next, and Christina wanted to see how he did.

After the energetic first years had left, Professor Lupin gathered up the racks of poison-puffers to return to Hagrid. So many bright young students had braved the poison-puffers, but he couldn't get little Miss Evans out of his mind. She'd seemed fairly ordinary until she stepped out of the poison-puffer course and he saw her eyes. He knew those eyes. He'd seen them a thousand times before, brimming with laughter and mischief, on one of his best friends. But that couldn't be. He'd been there when Dumbledore confirmed three deaths at the Potter house. And besides, lots of people had hazel eyes. But if he hadn't known better, he'd say those eyes belonged to James Potter's daughter.