Hogwarts, school of Wizardry and Witchcraft...

Harry poked at his breakfast with his fork. The bacon and eggs on his plate looked delicious, and he was starving. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to swallow. Something was prodding incessantly at the back of his brain, though he didn't know what. He frowned at his plate, and reached for his glass of pumpkin juice. Hermione looked at him.

"Harry, are you okay? You haven't eaten at all." the simple sentence jolted Harry back to his living senses.

"Humm? What? Oh, oh yeah, I'm all right," he gave Hermione a put on smile. Hermione didn't seem convinced in the least, but she didn't say anything.

Light flashed at the corner of Harry's eyes. He whirled around sharply, and to his suprise, several other people turned around also, staring around the Great Hall with a mixture of astonishment and flat shock.

"Did you see that?" came a voice from the Hufflepuff table.

"What happened? Did you see it too?"--random voices.

Harry just stared. In the center of the room, so it seemed, several little particles, in a deep red, a bright yellow, turquoise blue, and emerald green combined into four different glowing orbs, which floated around the room lazily for a second. Then they exploded.

Harry shielded his eyes and flinched in his seat, in case some sort of debris decided to try to hit him, but nothing happened. He cracked his eyes open, and they met four, very befuddled looking children.

The first was a girl, looking maybe a little younger than Harry himself, was dressed in a seemingly once fine yellow dress, that looked like all the finery had been hacked off inexpertly. She had wavy copper color hair, and light green eyes. She also looked terrified out of her wits, and she was breathing raggedly, and Harry couldn't see from his seat if she was crying or not.

The second was another girl, looking very alert and suspicious. She was darting her dark brown eyes around like she suspected everybody to pounce on her at the same moment. She was wearing what looked like a very tattered brownish T-shirt, with rips and dry blood on one side. She had on a pair of cutoff jeans. The girl also looked very greasy and dirty.

The third was a male, wearing a black shirt and jeans. His blue eyes looked around the room lazily, and he had a rather startling shock of red hair on his top. He also had an aura around him that made you think he was very studious, very intelligent. He scanned the room coolly, as if this was nothing new, he just appeared in strange places on a regular basis.

The last one was another girl, with shoulder-length very curly black hair, and steel gray eyes that looked about warily, like she was very tired and worn out. She was wearing a green top with black jeans, and held a book in her left hand, now being propped up against her leg, with her finger to mark her spot.

Nobody spoke. Then the first girl, with the brown eyes made a karate sound in her throat and started decking the other three children around her in a manic-like fashion. The girl in the yellow dress squealed and ran away, behind the Ravenclaw table. The boy just backed away, holding his hands in front of him, signaling that he didn't want a fight. The last girl, with the black hair, stood there a bit too long, and got one of the other girl's flailing fists in the middle of the face, making her reel backwards, clutching her nose. She fell on her behind near the Gryffindor table.

"Alright, girly," she growled under her breath menacingly, "you've asked for it. Nobody hits Sarah Slytherin and gets away with it, nobody!" Harry looked at the rest of his table, with his jaw dropped.

"What? What did she say her name was again?" The rest of the table, having quite the same expression on their faces, and shrugged. Sarah, if that was her real name, went over to the hysterical girl and kicked her in the stomach, making her keel over in suprise and lack of breath. Then Sarah pinned her down to the floor, using her knees and hands, and looked her squarely in the face.

"What is your problem?!?" she screamed at the other girl, who was flailing about under her grip, and not getting anywhere.

"You'll never take me alive!!" was the answer, and she opened angry brown eyes, that stared defiantly back into Sarah's gray ones.

"Take you alive where?!" Sarah yelled in her face. "I don't want to take you anywhere, because of your crappy attitude! Now calm down, or I will make you!"

Harry started. Crappy? Nobody that he knew used that word. Sarah's accent was also different than his was. More crude, more grating on the ears, louder. Was it possible, possible that Sarah wasn't English? Turning back to the spectacle on the floor, Harry noted that the girl under Sarah had stopped wriggling, and stared up in shock.

"You mean, you're, you're not with the British police squad? Not a constable? Not working for justice?" Sarah got off the girl, and was now in such a bad temper that she flung her book across the room before answering.

"Do I look like I'm a police officer! No, I'm not a constable! I've never even been to England! I've never been to Canada, even! I'm not English! I'm a pureblooded American, and damn proud of it!" she thumped her fist to her chest in a flare of patriotic pride. The other girl's eyes began to water.

"I'm sorry..." she covered her eyes with her hands and turned to her side. Sarah, still a bit aggravated, but not angry anymore, gave a stubborn sigh and dropped on her knees beside her.

"Sorry about hauling off on you like that. But getting hit isn't exactly a very nice wake up call." Sarah dug in her pocket and drew out a very squashed, folded, half-empty plastic container of Kleenex and offered one to the other girl, who took it. She sniffed.

"My name is Gabriel Gryffindor. What's yours?" Gabriel stuck out her hand, and Sarah took it.

"Sarah Slytherin. Put 'er there." She grabbed Gabriel's hand harder, and got up, pulling Gabriel up with her. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to go find my book that I hurled across the room a few minutes ago." Gabriel nodded and took a seat at the Gryffindor table, where people stared.

"Is your name really Gryffindor?" asked Ginny Weasley, looking suspicious. Gabriel shrugged, and gave her a corky smile.

"Last time I checked, little one." Ron cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted across the room to Sarah.

"You're name's not actually Sarah Slytherin, is it?" Sarah, who was by the Ravenclaw table at the time, cupped her hands and yelled back.

"As far 'z I know, sweetheart." Ron blushed at being addressed like this, but Sarah treated it as nothing. Instead she yelled again. "Has anyone seen my book? It's green, you know, small, shaped like a book? Anyone?"

"Is this it?" it was Malfoy. He held a very ragged, torn, and otherwise beaten to a pulp cover, that must have held a story inside of it. Sarah clapped her hands in delight.

"That's it! Thanks, hon." she snatched the book from his fingers, plopped on the floor, and started reading as if nothing unusual had just occurred. Dumbledore stood up.

"Will the four newcomers please come up here?" when nobody came, he took on a more urgent tone. "Now would be nice." The four came up rather reluctantly. "Names?" Dumbledore prodded.

"Gabriel Gryffindor," said the girl formerly at the Gryffindor table.

"Robert Ravenclaw," said the boy.

"Hayley Hufflepuff," said the girl in the yellow dress with a small sniff.

"For the last freaking time, Sarah Slytherin!" said Sarah irritably. Dumbledore nodded.

"Ahh, very well. Do you mind if we, run a few experiments on you four?" Dumbledore asked in a very airy voice. The first three shook their heads, and Sarah just grunted. "Very well then." Dumbledore tapped his wand against the table a few times, making it glow a dark shade of purplish-black, and handed it to Gabriel, who looked at it incredulously.

"What do you want me to do with it?" Dumbledore sighed impatiently and looked at her squarely.

"Wave it around. It's a magic tester. I know, I know..." he said when he saw the very confused look on Gabriel's face. "Just do it, and I'll answer questions later." Gabriel shrugged and took the wand in her right hand.

Red sparks emitted from the end of it, startling Gabriel to the point to where she almost dropped it. But she reclaimed her grip on it, and drug the sparks through the air, where they twisted and shaped into an image of a fiery red bird. The bird encircled its maker twice, before soaring off into the top of the Great Hall, where it dissipated into a little shower of molten red specks. Gabriel clapped her hands in delight.

"Wow! That was really neat!" The rest of the Great Hall, (primarily the Gryffindors) agreed with her. Dumbledore took the wand from her and handed it to Hayley, who flinched a bit before taking the wand from his fingers, gingerly. She gave it a slight shake.

A little whirlwind of gold and orangish sparks sprang out of the wand, landing on the floor, turning steadily into a small yellow tornado. It sprang into the air, and started dancing and wavering around Hayley to an unknown beat. Finally, it gave off a little explosion, which sent yellow streaks into the air, not unlike a barrage of shooting stars. Hayley squealed and reached out a hand to catch one of the yellow streamers.

"How was that?" she asked, giggling a bit as one streamer touched her cheek. Dumbledore smiled.

"Very good. Next, please." Hayley handed the wand down the line to Robert, who looked at it as if it would bite him at any second. He bit the feeling down, and wiggled the wand.

The tip of it glowed light neon blue. He pulled it through the air, and it left a squiggly trail behind it. When Robert finished drawing, the line turned itself into a long cornflower snake. It twisted its coils affectionately around its owner, lashing out a forked tongue of navy. Finally, it stopped, and dove into the tile floor, leaving behind a little dusting of blue powder/magic where it left. Robert smirked in pride, and looked at Dumbledore expectantly, who nodded.

"Very nice. Give it to Sarah now." Sarah took the wand from Robert, and sighed at it impatiently. Instead of wiggling the wand lightly, she wound her wand up, and gave it a hefty snap, not unlike one would do to a lasso.

Nothing happened for the first five seconds. Then, the tip of it started sending off little green sparks all over the place. Wherever they hit, grew a tiny purple flower, an african violet. Sarah stared at the wand until it stopped. Then she knelt down to the nearest flower and touched its petals gently. It was as real as any other flower she had touched, with the exception that she had never touched a flower the grew in tile before. She looked up at Dumbledore, who returned the look with one of a mixed confusion and impression.

"Hmm, yes, very interesting. Please return the wand, Miss Slytherin." Sarah returned the wand with a flick of her wrist. "It does seem that you all have magical capabilities. I wonder why nobody picked it up earlier," he put a hand to his chin in thought.

"Excuse me?" asked Hayley a bit timidly. Dumbledore looked down at her thoughtfully.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering..." she swallowed, as if she was taking a great liberty in just speaking to the man, "Where are we?" Before Dumbledore could answer, Robert spoke up.

"Yes, an explanation would be very nice about now," he said, a touch sourly. Dumbledore chuckled.

"You are at Hogwarts, School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. You, have just been accepted in, if you choose to attend," he looked down at the four. They gawked.

"What?" they chorused, in total shock and disbelief.

"Magic? That doesn't exist," said Robert, as if he was trying to talk sense into Dumbledore. Dumbledore just smiled.

"Actually, it does. And in this school, there are four houses. Guess what their names are," he said in an annoying, 'guess-who' tone. Sarah scowled.

"I don't give a damn-" she stopped and restarted the wording on the sentence when she saw the warning look on Dumbledore's face. "I don't give a darn what they're called. Stop playing with my mind!" Dumbledore looked quite amused.

"Oh, but you will. Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Those are the names of the houses. Each has their own history of outstanding witches and wizards, and you happen to share the names of the founders of this school." Robert frowned.

"I don't see any proof," he said, smacking his right hand with his left fist, looking straight at Dumbledore defiantly, almost.

"Maybe we should just take his word for it, I mean, we were transported here, right?" asked Hayley, in a meek voice. Gabriel and Sarah snorted at the same time.

"That's where you get off, trusting everybody too much," Gabriel said, unbraiding her hair listlessly as she shot a look at Hayley. Hayley looked at them, a bit abashed, so it seemed.

"What do you mean?" she asked, squeaking, green eyes flashing about the room, as if looking for a quick exit.

"We mean," Sarah said, speaking slowly, as if Hayley was not quite that bright, "If you go around trusting people with your whole heart, we don't care what you say, you're bound to end up getting screwed over anywhere you go." Gabriel nodded in agreement.

"Damn straight," she said, pulling fingers through her greasy hair. Dumbledore looked a bit interrupted, but continued.

"So, do you want to stay here?" The foursome shrugged in unison.

"Has to be better than what I left behind," Gabriel sighed. Sarah nodded in agreement. Hayley and Robert shrugged again and nodded.

"What about tuition and school supplies?" asked Robert sensibly. "And uniforms? And uh, wands and such?" Dumbledore looked up.

"Don't you have parents?" Harry noticed that while Robert and Hayley looked considering, Gabriel and Sarah went a bit red in the cheeks, but they snapped out of it quickly.

"No," Sarah said simply. "At least, they completely abandoned me at an orphanage last year and I haven't heard from them since. Personally, I hope they fell off the face of the earth," she finished flatly. Gabriel scuffed her foot on the floor.

"My parents all died two years ago in a plane crash," she kept it short, too much detail, and Gabriel was afraid she would cry. Hayley sighed.

"My parents are rich, but I doubt that they would give any expense towards this. They think I don't spend enough time being a proper young lady, and I don't think that learning magic goes along the lines of young lady training." Robert nodded to Hayley.

"I live with my aunt, but she's frugal, and I don't think she would believe me if I told her I needed money to go to a school for magical training. She'd probably think I had gone bonkers from studying too hard." He gave a short, cynical laugh. Dumbledore nodded sympathetically.

"Well, the school has all types of robes donated to us from older students, and there are several old copies of books just lying about the place...That still leaves that matter of the wands, though....I say, what's the matter?" Hayley was wrinkling her nose in disgust, and Robert looked positively sickened. Hayley cleared her throat.

"Pardon me, sir, but, wear someone else's cast-offs?" Robert looked a bit disgusted still.

"Old books? Wouldn't they have gone out of date, or do wizard book update themselves, or something like that?" Dumbledore looked at Gabriel and Sarah, who shrugged.

"I don't mind wearing someone else's 'cast-offs', as she says," Sarah stated gloomily. "Everything I get is second-hand either way I look at it. Even my free-time books," she held up her very bedraggled copy of Tom Sawyer. Gabriel nodded and motioned to her own clothes.

"Anything, 'cast-offs' or not, would be better than this," she pointed to the side of her body that had obviously been cut up by something. "And I haven't had any sort of books for awhile." Dumbledore looked at Hayley and Robert.

"Unless you can come up with the money to buy yourselves some new books and robes, you haven't much of a choice." Hayley and Robert agreed to this rather sullenly. Dumbledore turned back to the rest of the Hall, which had been watching with interest for the last few hours without moving.

"As it is almost....Wow. One in the afternoon, I declare the rest of today a day off. As for you four, come with me." Silence echoed itself in the Hall until the five left the room. Then complete chaos over what had just happened erupted.

***

The foursome followed Dumbledore down the hallway, none of then really listening as he rambled on about the school. Gabriel tilted her head towards the high ceiling.

For such an old man, he sure has long-winded lungs, she thought with a sigh as they plodded down yet another hallway.

"Here we are!" Dumbledore's cheery voice rang out into their heads, interrupting Gabriel's thoughts. The room was quite honestly, heaped full of black robes, slung over the door, piled around the walls, spilling out of crates, everywhere. Dumbledore chucked softly at the looks of repulsed amazement that must have been hanging all over their faces.

"These are Hogwarts robes. When people get jobs and leave, they need new robes to go along with the new jobs. So, most of them leave their robes here. I'll warn you, they're not cleaned, but, we can fix that up easily."

"So," Robert said, feeling overwhelmed by the number of clothes, "what do we do? Try them on until we find ones that fit?" Dumbledore chuckled again.

"Nope. We have an easier, faster way to do this," he rolled up his sleeves and flicked his wand. A pile of about seven different robes flew into Hayley's arms. "Those will fit you, Miss Hufflepuff," he continued flicking his wand and giving people piles of clothes, until all of them had a suitable wardrobe. He turned to them all. "Come with me, you four."

They walked down some more corridors and hallways until they came by four different doors in the woodwork. "These are the public washrooms, you may use these to freshen up a bit. If you'll give me the clothes, I'll have them washed for you," Dumbledore held out his hand, the children tossed him their robes, and they each walked into a bathroom. They were small, square, white and generic, but suited their needs perfectly. Hayley sighed and turned on the hot water.

Slipping out of her dress, Hayley felt a little pang when the yellow muslin hit the tiled floor. I wonder if my parents know I'm gone yet. I wonder if they even miss me. She stepped into the tub, and the hot water was pure heaven to her suddenly aching body.

Hayley sat in the warm, pleasant water for a few minutes, soaking in the bliss of it's entirety, before reaching for the vanilla-scented soap bar and washcloth.

She sighed as she rinsed out her hair and grabbed one of the fluffy white bathtowels that had appeared there. After drying off, magically, so it seemed, (well, thought Hayley with a slight grimace, it probably was magic) a black robe appeared on top of the toilet seat. Picking it up, she saw that it was one solid black garment, no buttons, no zippers, it probably slid over her head. She noticed that there were more things under the black robe. There was a white robe, and a small box, with a card. The card read:

Hayley-

These are some toiletries that you might find useful.

-Professor Dumbledore

P.S.--The white robe is the under robe, in case you were wondering.

Hayley looked at the white robe, and saw that some new underthings fell out of the robe --wrapped in plastic, so Hayley could be sure that they were new. Pulling on the three layers of clothes, she looked in her box. It contained a brush, a toothbrush, toothpaste and other things. Hayley smiled at them fondly. How kind. Five minutes later, Hayley emerged, freshened up and smelling like vanilla. The other three were waiting for her, each standing next to a pile of books.

"You sure took long enough, Hayley," it was Sarah, smelling freshly of a fruit salad, a smell that fitted her perfectly, Hayley thought. Sarah's eyes were twinkling at her sleepily. She had her black curls done up in a low ponytail, and leaned tiredly against her books.

"Those are your books," Robert had the aroma of of fresh air after the storm.

"I wonder why they gave us level five books, if we literally know nothing about magic," speculated Gabriel, yawning and smelling like chocolate. Dumbledore walked in on the halfway asleep children and smiled at them.

"Did you have a nice bath, you four?" They all nodded drowsily and mumbled yeses. "If you're too tired to go get wands today, I will more than understand..." all four snapped to attention at the same time.

"Tired?"

` "You must be joking." Dumbledore just smiled.

"Very well, then. Come with me. Your books will be transported to your rooms." A flick of his wand and the piles of books disappeared. Another careless flick, and all four of them were gone.

***

They appeared in front of a shop labeled Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC Gabriel looked about the street. It was crammed with all sorts of people, all in robes of any color of the rainbow. She was admiring a man in a smart looking maroon robe, when Sarah gripped her shoulders and gently steered her into the shop. The door shut behind them, and a bell tinkled somewhere in the shop. The air was very dusty, and it made Gabriel breath rather raggedly. This was not what she had expected from a wand shop. Sarah seemingly read her thoughts.

"I was expecting some big, regal place," came her clipped voice. "But this looks like some old warehouse, for God's sake! It needs to be dusted, if I say so myself." Sarah coughed irritably, as if to make her point clearer. The rest nodded.

"Professor Dumbledore?" came a voice. The children jumped and whirled around. Gabriel's heart gave an unpleasant jolt, until she saw the man.

He was a very un-handsome, skinny, almost sickly looking old man, with pale skin, and very unnerving pale eyes. This must be Mr. Ollivander, she thought as his almost-white eyes glanced over her.

"Four students? You must be Gabriel, Hayley, Sarah and Robert. Ahh yes. I have been expecting you for over a year. Well, we must get started. Step up, Gabriel." With some reluctance, Gabriel stepped forward. "Wand er, writing hand?" Gabriel looked down at her hands. It had been so long since she had actually written anything that she had nearly forgotten.

"Errm, I think I was right-handed, though I'm not entirely sure." Mr. Ollavander nodded and pulled down a box from a shelf. In it was a tape measure. He started measuring all sorts of joints and places on Gabriel's body, though Gabriel was too intent on looking around to notice.

"All right, try this one first, Miss Gryffindor. Ten inches, snappy. Yew. Unicorn tails along with eternal nightshade. Good for Transfigurations. Give it a wave." Gabriel looked at the man funny, and waved the wand, expecting the reddish bird to appear again, but nothing happened. Before Gabriel could try again, the man snatched the wood from her hands. He gave her another.

"Yes, yes, very well. Try this one. Eight inches, sticky. Cherry. Dragon eyelashes and heartstrings. Good for the brave at heart, which I believe you are, Miss Gryffindor."

Gabriel blushed a bit, and and gave the wand a sharp snap, like Sarah did back at the Great Hall. Nothing happened. Gabriel couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"How about this one? 13 inches, bendy. Redwood. Hair from a banshee, and fangs of a twenty-foot long python. Good for curses."

Gabriel hoped the other people didn't notice her moments flinch before reaching out to take the wand and giving it a weak waggle. To her relief, nothing happened, and Mr. Ollanvander took the wand from her again.

"Very well. Tough customer, I see. Try this. Fifteen inches, stocky. Pine. Dried nightengale spice, and a Bloodswirl rose stem. Good for the plant-lover....."

Three hours later, Gabriel's feet started to complain from standing up for so long. She heard an impatient grumble from Sarah, and the corner of her eye caught Robert switching his position on the floor. Hayley was swirling her finger in the collection of dust on the tile. Gabriel was sorry, but she wasn't sure what Mr. Ollavander wanted. He handed her another wand, and Gabriel took it, with a tired sigh.

"Last one. Twenty inches, whippy. Maple. Sap from a Chamblerston tree, needles from an Everlasting pine. Good for the woodsman."

Gabriel stared at the huge wand, but took it, and gave it a weak wiggle. Yet again, nothing happened. The pile of wands on the floor was at least as tall as Gabriel herself, and Gabriel plopped on the floor, sending up a cloud of dust.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ollavander, sir. But what are you looking for?! We've been at this for at least an hour, and nothing's happened!"

"Actually," interrupted Robert grumpily, "it's been three hours." Gabriel gave an impatient huff, and Robert shut up.

"Okay, fine. Three hours then! Maybe there was a mistake. Maybe I'm not magical, and Professor Dumbledore's wand is broken!" She pointed a hysterical finger at Dumbledore, cheeks burning with utter impatience. Hayley put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Gabriel, just calm down.." Gabriel wanted to push her away, but in reality, she was glad she was there, and her soothing personality soon brought Gabriel's temper down. Gabriel stood up, shaking out her robes.

"Sorry," she muttered, trying to wipe the dust off her robes. "I lost my temper," she groaned, and righted herself again. "Do you have any more wands for me to try out?" she couldn't help adding an exasperated sigh to the end of the sentence. Mr. Ollavander looked at her with his unblinking pale eyes, as if searching for something.

"Yes, Miss Gryffindor. I believe I have a wand for each of you to try out," heads pricked up. Dumbledore just smiled one of his annoying smiles again. "Wait here," he disappeared into the back of the store. Gabriel looked at the other four and shrugged. Sarah just yawned, and the other two shrugged back.

A few minutes later, Mr. Ollavander came back in with four boxes covered in a layer of dust as thick as felt. But Gabriel's sharp eyes could pick out that under all the dust, each box had a respective color; emerald green, sunshine yellow, dark turquoise, and a deep cherry crimson. He handed Sarah the green one, Hayley the yellow one, Robert the blue one and Gabriel herself got the red one.

"I'm sure you have heard of the founder of Hogwarts? Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?" The foursome nodded. "These are their wands." Gabriel nearly dropped the satin lined box. Robert spoke in a shocked voice.

"B-but that must mean that these are over a thousand years old!" he cried, incredulously. Mr. Ollavander nodded at him, which made Robert stagger with the box. "Shouldn't these be in a museum, or something?" Mr. Oleander sighed, as if he was repeating some information he had said over a million times.

"They were in a museum, up until a year ago, when a prediction was made by one of the oldest, most respected prophet of all time, Sybille Sandstone, she's over one hundred years old. In fact, I believe that you have a teacher named after her, don't you, Professor Dumbledore?" Gabriel jumped a bit. In all this, Dumbledore had been so quiet, Gabriel had all but forgotten that he was there. Dumbledore cleared his throat before speaking.

"Err, well, yes in fact, we do," he continued on, scratching the back of his head as he spoke. "But it is with a bit of regret that I say Miss Trelawny is not as--efficient--as Sandy herself is," Ollavander smiled a bit knowingly.

"I understand, Mr. Dumbledore, sir. Go on children, open the boxes." Gabriel took a deep breath and pulled off the top of the box. Inside, embedded in a fold of fabric that was carnation pink colored, was a very old looking wand, with a small golden lion's head on the top. The wand was a deep shade of brown, but when the light hit it just perfect, it gleamed reddish. Mr. Ollavander spoke slowly and quietly, as if almost afraid of stirring the silence in the room.

"That's a mahogany wand. Looks about ten inches, snappy," he picked up the wand and examined it thoroughly. "Phoenix tail feathers, oooh, two Phoenix feathers, and bark from a Shaven tree, lucky lucky, those are extinct from the plant world," he handed back the wand. "Good looking for fighting ferocious beasts. You have a very well-rounded wand there, Miss Gryffindor." Gabriel beamed, and waved it about a bit. Red sparks shot through the top, and a pleasant feeling washed over through her fingers. Mr Ollavander turned to Robert.

His wand was lying on a bed of sky blue silk. It was lighter than Gabriel's own wand, but was a medium shade of brown, but seemed to have almost blue specks when the light hit it. There was a miniscule slivery eagle perched on top of it. Mr. Ollavander spoke.

"That's a elm, eleven inches, whippy. Dragon wing scales, Phoenix flight feathers, and a single Platinum Raven wing feather. A flighty, strong, wise old wand. Very good for a smart, strong wise, flighty young man." He moved to Hayley.

Her wand was on a cushion of daffodil yellow. It was a very light honey color, yellow almost, with a bronze ribbon inlayed in it. Mr. Ollavander cleared his throat.

"Pine, nine inches, wavy. Let's see, a flaming-tailed Redwren tail feather, grain of a redwood tree from the magical forests in Albania, and some dried Poppy seed. Not the most powerful wand in the world, but very potent, Miss Hufflepuff. Be proud." He walked on to Sarah, who couldn't stand the suspense of it all, had already opened the box, and was staring at the wand in its pillow of creamy mint-colored fabric. Mr. Ollavander pulled it out.

It was a very dark, almost black shade of wood, with an interesting sheen of a greenish tint to it. There was a diamond snake wrapped around it, that reared up at the top, showing off its crystal-clear fangs.

"Ebony, dark Ebony at that. 12 inches, bendy. Fangs from each different member of the jewel-snare family of reptiles, and a small dried sprig of Thyme. Not a magical element, but when the founders of your school made their own symbolic wands, Mr. Slytherin had a love for plants," he looked at Sarah. "This wand is the most powerful, and also the most dangerous of all four of the wands you have seen here today. Use it carefully." He turned from Sarah, making her shiver.

"There will be no charge, Mr. Dumbledore, sir. Those wands wouldn't fit anybody else, or make any effort to. Good day," he walked into the back of the shop. The children stared, but Dumbledore just smiled.

"Shall we leave?" a flash, and they were gone.

***

It was dinnertime in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, and still the four newcomers and Dumbledore were not back.

"How long does it take to buy four wands? I was thinking it would take a couple of hours at the very most," said an irritable Ron, poking at his chicken potpie aimlessly. Harry sighed and was about to answer, before a red blur passed by his eyes, making the entire table swivel around in their seats. Suddenly, Gabriel Gryffindor appeared about four feet above their heads, and fell with a rather large flop on the table, making the glasses wobble and tip. There were three other large thuds too, and four befuddled children looked up at them tiredly.

"I swear to God," Sarah yawned. "If we get transported somewhere else today, I'm going to get-" she yawned again "-very pissed." Gabriel giggled slightly.

"You're losing your tough edge, bad ol' Slytherin," she teased innocently. Sarah gave her a tired smile and stuck out her tongue.

"It's been a long day, you," she held up her wand and looked at it with a tiny ironic smile. "And in the course of six hours, I've become a wizard and gotten a wand with a snake's head on it."

"How come she got a wand with a decoration on it?" asked Goyle, stupidly staring at it. "Mine's just plain." Sarah yawned and stretched out.

"'Course you didn't, silly. This here is Slytherin's wand himself," Sarah hopped off the table, and the entire table gawked after her.

"Slytherin's wand?" they all asked in unison. Sarah groaned and righted herself on the floor where she stood. She looked around at them

"Someone please show me to where I'm sleeping?" a girl got up and led her away. Before leaving, she shouted back to the rest of the Great Hall.

"'G-night, y'all!" Gabriel waved and yelled back.

"Sleep tight, snake girl!" Sarah wiggled her fingers and made a hissing noise at Gabriel before winking and striding away.

Author's note: Not the most exciting chapter, but I believe I have some misunderstandings here. These people are *descendants* of the original four founders, hence, the school has all ready been founded. And, I noticed after I put it up...The first part was almost a direct parody of Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic! Arrgh! And I was *trying* to make this original. Well, rest assured, that hopefully will be the *only* direct parody of Tamora Pierce's series! Besides my Celeste story, but that's a bit more watered down than my first chapter of this was.... Dang, I need to get my facts straight here....And another hobby. This is the *fourth* story in *four* days! I type too darn much! I need a life.....And please don't say that I don't include Hayley and Robert that much. (It's true, though.) I just don't know that much about Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff yet. I'm working on the plot; it'll come out all right....I hope.

~Moxie ^_^

Disclaimer: The only people I own in this entire story are Sarah, Robert, Gabriel, and Hayley and Robert. Ugh. And they are almost direct copies of Tamora Pierce's Tris, Sandry and Briar. I don't think Daja is very much like Robert, though....Also, the first part of this series is almost a copy of the first chapter of Circle of Magic, by Tamora Pierce. Read it, and see what I mean. I promise I'll try not to do that again! :::falls to knees:: Please, *please* *please* don't sue me. I have no money....~_^