Chapter 5

Jasmin's hands kept shaking, she was not sure if it was because she was nervous about being at Hogwarts or the incident with Malfoy. She really hated conflicts, she was used to them always being blamed on her no matter what, the few times she argued back with Dudley ended up with her Aunt and Uncle punishing her, if something happened at school it was always her fault, even when accidental magic was not involved. Dudley had always convinced their classmates that she was a freak and always wrong, nobody dared to stand up for her, not more than once in any case, Dudley thick as he was still had a knack to get people on his side, even the teachers somehow believed him.

Would this small argument with Malfoy end up with trouble for her, she had a feeling it very well might, he had given her a bad feeling from their first meeting but if he never had come into the compartments he could have easily been ignored.

Jasmin looked at Ron, he seemed nice enough, he got three older brothers in school, if he wanted to be her friend then maybe everything would be all right, with older siblings to look out for him, maybe this Ron would not be bullied away from her. She had not realized she was staring at him until he spoke.

"Something wrong? Is there something on my face?" He asked?

"Ehm.. yeah you got a black mark on your nose." she poked on the place at her own nose.

"Oh that.." he sighed and wiped with his sleeve. "Is it gone?"

"Yeah" Jasmin said and tried to smile, the train stopped. "Shall we go?"

It was cold when Jasmin got out of the train, she shivered and rubbed her hands together, she was not a fan of the cold, not one bit. A familiar voice boomed out and she forgot everything about being cold, she looked in the direction and saw a bobbing lamp over the heads of the students.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Jasmin?" said Hagrid.

"Hi Hagrid!" Jasmin said grinning.

Hagrid yelled out for the first years a few more times and then lead them all away from the platform, the way was slippery and Jasmin saw that she wasn't the only one having trouble with the path, it did not help that it was so dark.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There it was, mirrored on the great black lake Hogwarts castle on top of a high cliff edge, towers reaching up poking the sky, lights gleaming in the windows, just looking at this castle Jasmin believed that magic was real, well she already knew it was real but this cemented it.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called

There were a bunch of small boats, Jasmin followed to one, and they were soon sharing the boat with Hermione and the boy with the missing toad Neville, Ron did not look super excited about the former of the two.

The ride was magical, quite literally as the boats were moving by themselves, seeing the castle coming closer and closer, it was incredible. Jasmin wished it was warmer, out on the lake the winds flew freely chilling her to the bone.

They soon enough ended up in an underground harbor where they climbed out of the boats, Hagrid suddenly yelled out about a toad and Neville came up to him "Trevor!"

As they made their way up some stairs Jasmin walked up to Neville.

"Didn't we say you would find him?" Jasmin said smiling.

"Ye..Yeah!" Neville said back

They stopped in front of a great castle door, Hagrid knocked 3 times and the door swung open.

A tall black-haired witch in emerald robes stood there, she looked like a very stern teacher, Jasmin made a mental note to not get in trouble with her.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She open the door wider and Jasmin looked into a giant entrance hall, she was sure the Dursley's house would fit inside. The room was lit with flaming torches, it gave a much different feeling than electrical lights

They followed the Professor and soon Jasmin could hear the faint sound of voices, they were close to the rest of the students, instead of going there directly the professor took them to a smaller side room, Jasmin could see the same nervousness on the faces on almost all the other students as she had.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Professor McGonagall told them to wait and said they would soon be let in.

Now the nervusment on some people looked more like fear, she saw how some fidgeted with their hair or robes.

"Ron.. how do they sort us into the houses?" Jasmin asked.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Ron replied

A test? How was Jasmin supposed to do a test, she knew almost nothing about magic, what happens if she failed, in front of the whole school? She didn't do great under this sort of pressure, her vision was blurring slightly. She could hear Hermione talk about all the spells she learned, wondering what she would need, this did not help Jasmin one bit, if a Muggleborn knew all this already... she was doomed. She wanted to run, better flee now instead of making a fool of herself in front of the whole school.

Suddenly there were some screams and she turned around, a bunch of ghosts were coming from one of the walls and were gliding towards them, they seemed to be in conversation and stopped in abrupt as they laid their eyes on the first years.

"I say, what are you all doing here?" one of the ghosts asked when nobody asked another one looking like a fat Friar answered

"New students. About to be Sorted, I suppose?!"

There were some silent nodding

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now. The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." came the stern voice of Professor McGonagall

"Now, form a line, and follow me."

Jasmin did she was told, almost surprised that her legs were working for a moment they felt cemented to the floor. The room they entered was something else, thousands of candles were floating in mid-air over 4 long tables, she could now see the rest of the students from the school, and further in, there was another long table where all the teachers sat. The room was splendid but there was a small stool in the middle in front of the teacher's table with an old battered hat, it looked a bit out of place. Not wanting to meet the eyes of all the students staring Jasmin looked up and gasped at the ceiling, or was there no ceiling, she could see the night sky, and she soon got her answer when Hermione explained it to someone.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

Jasmin looked at the hat once again, were they supposed to do something with it?

Suddenly a seam in the hat opened like a mouth and it began to... sing?

It sang a bit about itself and then about the different houses, explaining what they stood for. Jasmin did not know if she belonged in any of these houses.

After the hat finished there were big applauds from the students and teachers alike

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Jasmin. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

The idea of a hat choosing seemed less scary but how did it choose and what if it didn't? Jasmin shivered at the thought.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,"

Then the sorting started with Abbott Hannah.

Something Jasmin noticed was that the hat sometimes yelled the house the second a that touched the head and sometimes took its time.

When it came to Granger Hermione it took a while before the hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" much to Ron's displeasure.

Malfoy got his wish and was sorted to Slytherin, Jasmin was not sure if the hat had even touched his head.

Jasmin got more and more scared the longer it took, when they got to surnames on P she was completely terrified, what if she didn't get sorted at all and got kicked back to the Dursleys.

When it came to two identical twins Jasmin was surprised to see that they were sorted into two different houses one for Gryffindor and the other for Ravenclaw.

Then it was her turn. "Jasmin Potter" she could hear students whisper her name, and she saw that everyone looked more intently at her than they had at anyone else, some were even standing up to see her better.

She was glad she didn't need to use the loo, she was worried about what would have happened if she did, she vent up and sat on the chair and the hat was placed on her head. She heard the voice of the hat, but it was not coming from outside, she heard it in her head.

"Hmm, difficult very difficult, not a bad mind not at all, I sense talent and will to prove yourself, a burning to belong and a need for loyalty, maybe a Hufflepuff would fit you?" As if it had read her thoughts, truly it must have

"Not Slytherin? When I think of it, you would do great there. You sure? Hmm. I know what to do with you, you are scared witless but I sense an inner strength, waiting to roar like a lion. Be brave Potter."

"GRYFFINDOR" The hat yelled and the sound that came from the Gryffindor table was the loudest yet. She walked towards the table seeing all the happy faces, Ron's twin brothers were dancing in a circle chanting "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

She ended up next to Ron's other brother, Percy the Prefect who welcomed her and shook her hand vigorously not noticing how she tensed up. One of the ghosts glided forward and patted her arm, it was not a pleasant feeling if it felt like ice-cold water.

She was now a Gryffindor, relieved that she was not kicked out, relief became real happiness when Ron joined her, also a Gryffindor.

"We did it!" Jasmin said to Ron

"I knew we would" Ron answered, Jasmin was not convinced looking at how pale Ron looked

She looked at the teacher's table, she caught Hagrid's eye and he was beaming giving her thumbs up, she found the Headmaster Dumbledore, looking just like the card. Her eyes landed on Quirrel, he had donned a very odd-looking turban and was talking to a mean-looking teacher with long black hair, their eyes meet and she got the feeling that he disliked her, it was not very different from her aunt and uncle, the more terrifying part was that when their eyes meet her scar hurt terribly like it was on fire, she put her hand to her face and let out a moan.

"You okay?" Percy asked her.

"Ye.. yeah, got some headache, I... I didn't sleep well last night."

"Ah, that is normal, just try to sleep better tonight, classes start tomorrow."

Dumbledore stood up and the hall went silent.

"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!

Jasmin giggled softly at this and asked Percy what that meant.

"Oh, he is brilliant Dumbledore, but he is slightly mad."

Jasmin tried to figure out if a mad powerful wizard headmaster was a great or a terrible thing, after some deliberation she came to the conclusion that time would have to tell.

Food materialized on the table and Jasmin could not help gasping, it was so much and almost everything looked great, Aunt Petunia was not a bad cook but never let her have any of the better stuff, Jasmin's own cooking wasn't half bad either even tho she got almost nothing of it to eat herself, it looked like it was enough to feed 50 Dudleys if not more.

Still not feeling super comfortable taking loads of food she took some potatoes and sausages and ate, it did taste great. She could see Ron already piling on a second serving of food, she wondered if he always ate like that, if so, why didn't he look like Dudley. Jasmin slowly picked at her food, Ron looked at her and spoke with a mouthful.

"Augh youhg noght gognan eagt more?"

"Ron, please swallow first" Jasmin said and Ron did.

"Are you not gonna eat more? You barely took anything."

"I am not that hungry, might have had too many sweets on the train."

Ron thought for a while and then spoke. "You didn't have that many sweets on the train did you?"

"I am just not very hungry, it was good."

Not being used to eating a lot and sometimes going longer times than she cared to admit with little to no food she didn't have the biggest of appetites, she also had her rule about not eating or drinking too much if she would get in trouble and be locked in her cupboard, last time she broke that rule had almost ended in disaster. There was most likely no risk of her being locked in a cupboard here but she just did not think she could eat much more in any case.

She listened to some of the conversations, a lot of the talk was about if they had magical parents, an Irish boy told the story about his father didn't know his wife was a witch until after they married, quite the shook. The toad boy.. no Neville's family thought he didn't have any magical ability, he didn't say it but Jasmin got the feeling that hearing that had been bad for his self-confidence.

After a while, all the food and plates disappeared and were replaced by deserts, it looked really good and after some prodding from Ron she tried a few things, the Treacle tart was her favorite. She was wondering if Ron could taste the different things he took as he ate them fast like he had been starving for days, his brother Percy did not look pleased with him. Percy seemed to be a bit uptight but Jasmin has to agree here, Ron didn't have great table manners.

Jasmin had eaten more than she could ever remember, especially if she added the desert, she felt full and very tired. She had a hard time listening to the Headmaster's speech, it was about a forbidden corridor and a forbidden forest, anyone who went there would encounter a terrible death... wait a second? Just how dangerous was this school?

After it was time for the school song, it was a silly song but when Jasmin thought about what the school was actually named, it fits in very well.

After the song the feast was over, Jasmin and the rest of the Gryffindors first years were told to follow Percy and they did.

The trip to the Gryffindor common room was nothing if not eventful, Jasmin could see how the portraits pointed and waved to the students and she could hear them whisper, wondering if they were alive. There were a lot of stairs and some secret passways they took, she had a sinking feeling it would take a lot of time to learn how to navigate the castle. Jasmin could see a bunch of walking sticks floating in the air but did not think too much of it, there were many strange things going on until they threw themselves at Percy.

Percy said something about a 'Peeves the Poltergeist' and something that looked like a little man with wicked eyes and an equally wicked smile.

"Go away, Peeves or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!"

Apparently, this was enough to get the poltergeist to disappear but not before pelting the students with more sticks, most of them at poor Neville. Percy warned everyone to keep clear of Peeves, that sounded like a great idea Jasmin thought.

They got to a portrait of a fat woman in a silk dress, she looked at them and asked "Password?"

"Caput Draconis"

Great a strange password that Jasmin had a feeling could be hard to remember. The portrait swung open and the students climbed into the hole behind it. The common room looked very cozy, with squishy armchairs, and a fireplace and it looked like there was a great view from the windows. She was directed up one of the stairs to the girl's dormitories and soon found a door labeled "First Years". She went in and found that it had Four 4 poster beds, they were basically the size of her old cupboard, she had never shared a bedroom with other people, never been allowed or invited to sleepovers or class trips. She liked that there were blinds on the beds so she could get privacy if she needed it. She took one of the beds and laid down on it, she could feel no lumps, just a soft nice bed. Her three roommates came in and took a bed each.

"Looks like we are going to be roommates," Said a brown-haired girl. "I am Lavender Brown nice to meet you all"

"I guess I go next, I am Parvati Patil" said an Indian-looking girl, Jasmin recognized her as one of the twins that got split up.

"I am Hermione Granger" said Hermione

"And I am Jasmin Potte..."

"We all know who you are" Lavender giggled, Jasmin could feel her face heating up, right she was famous.

"Right.." Jasmin muttered.

"How does it feel coming to Hogwarts, being a hero and all" Parvati asked

This was not going well, they were not mean in any way but was she going to be the famous Girl Who Lived everywhere she goes, will people expect miracles of her because she somehow stopped the dark lord at the age of 1.

"I.. don't know, I grew up with Muggles, I thought I was a Muggle until a month ago when I got my letter... I did not know I was famous... or anything that happened."

Both Lavender and Parvati looked confused by this, Hermione did not look as confused, she had already hard part of it and she had also grown up a Muggle

"How could you not know?" Parvati asked.

"I was never told, I was always told that my parents died in an accident."

"Well, if you grew up with Muggles it isn't strange that you didn't know, they would not know, would they? They probably were told that your parents died in an accident because of the statute of secrecy. " Hermione said. A very logical explanation that was very plausible except that her aunt and uncle knew were well.

"They knew.." Jasmin muttered darkly before she could stop herself.

Sensing the tension the girls changed to different topics, Jasmin found that her trunk was at the foot of her bed and she wondered how it had gotten there, Jasmin left the room to find the loo so she could make herself ready for bed. A while later she came back after brushing her teeth and relieving herself, Lavender and Pavati were still talking and Hermione was looking for something in her trunk. Jasmin took out her pajamas from her trunk, closed the blinds around her bed, and changed, she open the blinds to put her robes on top of her trunk.

"What are those?" Levander asked looking at Jasmin, like everything that wasn't her new school clothes her pajamas were way too big for her and looked more in style what an 8-year-old boy would wear not an 11-year-old girl, Jasmin could once again feel her cheeks go hot.

"They are.. way too big for you," Pavati said "Is that what muggle pajamas are like? "

They looked towards Hermione who had also changed and her pajamas look much less ridiculous.

"It is hand-me-downs from my cousin.. " Jasmin did not meet anyone's eyes.

"Oh" she could hear from the pair.

"Well.. it is only us here, your school clothes look perfect, so don't worry no one will tease you." Parvati said.

"Of course not, I was just wondering" Lavender piped in.

"Thanks." Jasmin told them earnestly. The ones that had not been turned against her in school by Dudley had teased her for her clothes, having them telling her that they would not give her a hard time because of her clothes was warming.

"Classes start tomorrow so we should all get some sleep, you don't want to be tired on your first day at school do you?" Hermione said from her bed, she was apparently ready for bed. she closed the blinders and said "Goodnight."

Jasmin could see the other girls rolling their eyes but they were soon also in bed.

When she closed her blinders she almost got the feeling she was back in the cupboard but, it was still different, the bed was comfortable like really comfortable, and the blinders did not feel calustofobic but just.. safe.

It took Jasmin some time before she fell asleep, she was both nervous and excited about her first day. She could hear how the other breathing had slowed down, they had fallen asleep, and soon after she joined them.

A/N

I keep failing at my one-week per update.

Next time there will be some classes.

Hope you enjoy it, I soon hope to get to a place where I can change things up a bit.