Chapter 23

September 5th, 1991-The Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Somewhere in Scotland

After soundly beating Pucey at three games of Exploding Snap, Patricia felt a lot more able to face the rest of the school. She got a few stares in Arithmancy, which stopped once they got down to the difficult class work, and then at lunch half the Hall was whispering about her and glancing over at the Ravenclaw table fervently.

The other half was talking about Harry Potter.

"Did you see him?"

"There, next to the new Weasley."

"I heard he lives with Muggles."

"I heard Sirius Black is his godfather."

"I heard that he's Gryffindor's heir!"

It was more than a little annoying.

After taking all of Wednesday to make absolutely sure that she was caught up on all her schoolwork, Patricia followed Fred, George and Lee to Gryffindor Tower after dinner on Thursday. The three boys surrounded Patricia as they approached the entrance which in addition to the stack of books Patricia was carrying hid her face from the portrait guarding the entrance.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Caput draconis," Fred told her. "And may I say you are looking particularly lovely this evening?"

The Fat Lady giggled into her hand as her canvas swung aside to open the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Lee helped Patricia through the portrait hole and they scrambled past the painting while the Fat Lady had her eyes closed.

"Thank you, Mister Weasley. Have a good night!"

"Same to you!" Fred called as the door swung shut.

Patricia placed the stack of books on the one table in the common room (did no Gryffindors study?). Fred, George and Lee immediately pounced on them.

No, they were not doing homework. They were doing research for their first big prank of the school year.

The other Gryffindors gave them a wide berth, as was right and proper and the only smart thing to do under the circumstances.

"I have one thing I have to do first," Patricia reminded the boys when they gave her weird looks after she didn't sit down with them right away.

She went over to the couch in front of the fire where Harry and Ron were sitting and sat down next to them. Harry and Ron were staring at her with the rest of the first years that were in the common room.

"Hello," she said cheerfully.

Ron blinked and blurted, "You're a Ravenclaw!"

"Yes."

"How'd you get into our common room?"

Patricia pointed towards the portrait hole.

"But—"

"It doesn't matter, Ron," Harry interrupted.

He looked at Patricia with a wide grin. "Sirius wrote to me this morning! He wants to come over for a weekend to meet me."

And bother Professor Sinistra more, no doubt.

Patricia joined Harry in grinning. "That's great. I wrote to him yesterday telling him that you're here, and that you're in Gryffindor. It'll probably take a few days for him to arrange to come here. Uncle Remus might be able to come too, depending."

The full moon was on the twenty-third, and with his "plans" Dumbledore would try to drag out getting Sirius to Hogwarts for as long as possible, trust me.

Patricia tilted her head. "How've classes been? Is Professor Snape giving you trouble?"

"We haven't had him yet," Harry said slowly, "but he was glaring at me through most of the feast."

"That's unfortunate," Patricia said. "Read ahead a bit before class tomorrow, Potions is tomorrow, right?"

Harry and Ron nodded. Patricia grimaced.

"Good luck. I'm sure you've already been told he hates Gryffindors."

"Yup," Harry and Ron said glumly.

"Cauldrons don't usually blow up during the first class," Patricia assured them. "Usually."

Fred and George had managed it while they were experimenting but Lee said Warrington threw something in their cauldron. They were being unusually carful and methodical for first year Gryffindors. Snape would have given them detention for the rest of the year, but the fumes of the destroyed potion had caused a bout of amnesia in about half the people in the classroom and Snape was one of them.

Madam Pomfrey had not been happy.

"So, how much have you gotten lost so far?" Patricia asked.

Harry and Ron grimaced.

"Too much," Ron groaned. "I wish there was a map of this place."

Patricia tried not to smile.

"Filch caught us trying to get into the forbidden corridor," Harry added. "He wouldn't believe it was an accident."

Patricia blinked. "Forbidden corridor?"

She hadn't heard about that. It sounded like a warm up prank Fred and George might pull, but they could never in a million years get Filch working with them.

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed, realizing that Patricia hadn't heard the announcement. "The third-floor corridor on the right, it's blocked off. Headmaster Dumbledore told us after the Sorting."

"He said not to go into it unless we wanted to experience an extremely painful death or something like that," Ron added.

Patricia was aghast. Her esteem of their headmaster dropped several points.

"He does know that this is a school?!"

A/n: Short, I know. This felt like the right place to stop. Fingers crossed I'll be able to post a new chapter for at least one of my stories every week.

Have a good break, for everyone on vacation now.

-Cynder2013