Chapter 5
Harry had slept for most of the plane ride. He had awoken quite suddenly, bumping his head on something hard that was hanging down from the ceiling. He blinked his eyes a few times, and then looked down at his watch. It told him that it was 4:00. 4:00 his time that is. The boy next to Harry must have seen him glance at his watch because he said in a thick American accent, "The plane's due to land 1:00 their time. It's about 12:00 right now."
"Thanks." Harry said, getting up to stretch his legs. He walked to the back of the plane and then back to his seat twice, trying to get back some of the feeling in his legs. When he sat down again, a stewardess asked him if he would like lunch. He declined, even though he was ravenous, because he had remembered seeing something about food poisoning and airplane food on the muggle news. He glanced at the boy next to him sizing him up. He was small and scrawny, though Harry wasn't one to talk, with red hair and brown eyes and tons of freckles all over his nose. Harry had the strangest feeling he'd seen him before.
"Excuse me, do I know you?" Harry questioned.
"I don't think so." The boy answered.
Then the realization dawned on Harry.
"Are you related to the Weasly's?" Harry asked.
"How'd you know?" the boy asked shocked.
"My best friend is Ron Weasly." Harry told him.
"He's my cousin," the red-head declared, "I was supposed to visit him in England but then I found out he was on vacation and I had to come right back home. I live in the US."
"He went to Jamaica right?" Harry said.
"Yea but... wait if you're Ron's best friend than wouldn't that make you..." His eyes did the familiar flick up to Harry's forehead.
"Gosh! You're Harry Potter!" He nearly shouted.
"Shhhhhh!" Harry said embarrassedly as the entire plane stared at them.
"I'm Gregory, Greg Weasly. Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed.
"Why are you coming to America?"
Harry relayed to Greg the story of why he was on the plane to America. When he got to the part about Voldemort being after him, Greg gasped louder than Harry though possible. He told him about Knockridde Academy and discovered that Greg went there too but was only in his second year.
By the time Harry had finished, the pilot had come over the loudspeaker once more, "Please buckle your seatbelts and put you chairs in the upright position. We will be landing in less than two minutes." Harry felt the plane slowly descend downwards and land smoothly. Now he was in America thousands of miles away from Ron, Hermione, and Hogwarts. His feeling of depression regained control of him. He said goodbye to Greg and went to go find his baggage.
After what seemed like hours, his trunk and small suitcase finally came around. Harry grabbed them and dragged them into the center of the airport. Now he was looking for a man dressed all in red. Harry spotted him almost immediately. After all, a man dressed in all red wasn't too hard to find.
He walked nervously up to the tall man with dark hair and said.
"Are you Mr. ... er, Mr..."
"Mr. Wigglebot." The man finished for him.
"That would be me." The man said, "And I take it you must be Mr. Harry Potter."
"Yea I'm him. I mean that's me." Harry answered.
"Well a pleasure to meet you, Harry." The man declared.
"You too." Harry answered.
"Shall we be off then?" This man also had an American accent, Harry figured he would have to get used to. Harry didn't get a chance to answer. Mr. Wigglebot had already carried Harry's trunk through the airport doors. Harry quickly followed.
Mr. Wigglebot loaded Harry's things into the trunk of his car and climbed in, signaling for Harry to do the same.
They drove in silence for a while. Harry was amused at how strange Mr. Wigglebot found things like toll booths and traffic lights. After about an hour and a half, they came to a bridge that led onto an island. Harry read a sign that said "Welcome to Ocean City New Jersey!" in big letters as they crossed the bridge. Once on the island, Mr. Wigglebot drove down a street called 11th street and at the end was a wooden fence dividing the street and the beach. Instead of stopping, as Harry had assumed Mr. Wigglebot would do, he kept on driving right towards the wooden fence. Harry closed his eyes tight wondering if he had gotten into the car with a madman. He was waiting for the impact of car against wood but it never came. He opened his eyes slowly. First one, then the other. They were driving on a small road in the middle of a beach. But it was not the beach Harry had glanced at earlier on 11th street this beach was completely clean. No soda cans or candy wrappers anywhere. The ocean seemed clearer than the other one, less murky and more sparkling. Harry didn't know how he could tell this as he'd never been to a beach before but he could anyway. There were lots of clouds overhead, signaling that it would soon rain. The wind was blowing sand everywhere, but not at their car. Harry supposed this was a beach only for witches and wizards. That the fence they had driven through was something much like Platform nine and three-quarters.
After about fifteen minutes of driving. They began to drive in a spiral up a very large, steep mountain of rocks. Harry supposed this was some sort of Beach Mountain or something. They approached the top and Harry got his first glance of Knockridde. It was a huge school, almost exactly the size of Hogwarts, and it was made of thousands of crystals. The sight was almost enough to take Harry's breath away. It and they were at the top of the mountain and for miles out on three sides all you could see was the ocean. On the fourth side was a small town, Harry supposed, was much like an American Hogsmeade. Mr. Wigglebot stopped the car.
"Here we are." He declared.
"Yeah." Harry acknowledged still shocked at the appearance of the school. He hadn't expected a dump or anything, but he certainly hadn't expected this.
A gust of wind met them as they climbed out of the car, blowing Harry's hair out of his eyes. Mr. Wigglebot lifted Harry's things out of the trunk and beckoned Harry to follow him. They walked halfway around the school, about a half a mile more or less, and came to the front doors.
The front doors also made of crystal were larger than two of Hagrid standing on top of each other Harry though. Mr. Wigglebot knocked on the door four times. His knocking made a tinkling sound that echoed for miles around. The handle turned and the door slowly opened.
To Harry's great surprise, the witch that met him on the other side was very tiny. She wore emerald green robes that were much too long for her. She smiled, and little wrinkles formed next to her blue eyes reminding Harry much of Dumbledore. She seemed just delighted to have Harry there.
"Hello, Harry!" she exclaimed. She had a merry voice that made Harry feel very welcome.
"Hello." Harry replied.
"Come in, Come in! It's so nice to finally meet you! I'm Professor Knowell, Headmistress at Knockridde, and you've already met Professor Wigglebot. He's deputy headmaster here. He teaches Charms." She then told Professor Wigglebot, " Would you be so kind as to take Harry's things up to the hospital wing where he'll be staying tonight." Mr., er Professor Wigglebot disappeared with Harry's things.
"Nice to meet you too." Harry said, stepping through the enormous crystal doors.
The inside of the school was just as impressive, and large as the outside. Harry stepped into a huge entrance hall, which had a large elaborate chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a long red throw rug leading to two more crystal doors. These were not as large as the first. Harry and Professor Knowell proceeded through these doors and entered a huge dining Hall. The walls and floor were all translucent crystal, as were the five long dining tables and chairs. Four of the tables each had a long tablecloth on top, each with a different color. There was White, Red, Violet, and Green. He looked up instinctively but what he found was not the familiar Hogwarts ceiling, but a ceiling that showed him Ron, Hermione, and Hogwarts. Professor Knowell must have noticed Harry jump because she said, "The ceiling shows you whatever you want to see as long as it's a thing, or a person who isn't dead. Don't worry, only you can see your thoughts, as I can only see mine. Try thinking of something else and see what happens." Harry though of his broomstick, buried deep in his trunk and suddenly, to his surprise a huge vision of him on flying around on his broomstick appeared on the ceiling.
"Wow!" Harry said dumbfounded.
There were three more huge doors leading out of the dining hall. One Harry discovered led to the kitchens. The other two both led out of the dining hall.
Harry found that the floor plan to this school was very similar to that of Hogwarts except the common rooms for the four houses were not in the same spots. At least I'll be able to find my way around, he thought. All of the classrooms were crystal, as were the common rooms. The common rooms Harry learned had charms on them so that you could see outside from inside the common room but not into the common room from outside.
" Tonight you'll be staying in the hospital wing because we aren't sure which house you're in yet. Tomorrow you will be sorted after the new first years."
Oh Boy, even more attention drawn to him. Now, He had to be sorted in front of the entire school, probably making a fool of himself. He hoped the sorting here was similar to that of Hogwarts. He prayed that it was.
Professor Knowell showed him to the hospital wing where he would be staying, and magicked up a small feast for Harry's dinner. "You must stay in here tonight. I am still preparing a few things for when the students arrive." This comment made Harry very suspicious. "I'll leave you now. Tomorrow you can explore the school."
She left Harry alone in the hospital wing to eat. Harry finished his food extremely quickly as he had skipped lunch. As soon as he had eaten his fill, the goblet and plate disappeared Harry suspected, to the kitchens. He looked around the hospital wing, a large room with at least fifteen beds lined up against one wall with fifteen night tables next to them. There was a small door at the end of the room, probably where the bandages and medicines were kept, and another small door at the other end of the room, which, Harry figured was the nurse's office. The hospital wing was also of course made of crystal, but, it was bewitched so no one could see in or out. Harry walked up and down the room and finally chose a bed. He picked the one in the very middle. He wondered if he should put on his invisibility cloak and go see what Professor Knowell was up to. Telling him he must stay in the hospital wing had made him very suspicious. He decided against it. A large clock located on the wall above his bed told him it was exactly 8:30. Harry, feeling very sleepy from the jet lag pulled on his pajamas and climbed into the welcoming looking bed. He fell asleep almost immediately and slept through the night having not one dream.
Harry awoke the next morning feeling very refreshed as one does after a good night's sleep. He rolled over, trying to remember where he was. He then remembered the previous day's events and remembered where he was. The clock chimed 11:00. This was later than Harry had ever slept his entire life, even at Hogwarts on weekends. He climbed out of bed and dressed himself in jeans a green t-shirt and his new sapphire blue school robes leaving the his strange, pointy hat in his trunk.
Professor Knowell burst into the hospital wing moments after Harry had finished tying his shoelaces.
"Good, Good you're up finally!" She exclaimed. Today she was wearing light lavender robes that were also too long for her. Her frizzy gray-black hair was which was tied up off her face the day before was now falling carelessly down her back.
"Oh dear me you haven't eaten yet have you. Here you are then." She swished her wand and the plate and goblet returned this time bearing a stack of pancakes smothered in syrup and a goblet full of orange juice. Harry ate carefully not completely finishing his meal before it had disappeared.
"Now then, today the other teachers and I must prepare the dining hall for the Back to School feast. You are free to go wherever you like and explore the school but please meet me in the entrance hall at 4:30. The rest of the school will arrive at 4:45 and you will be sorted then. The feast will begin at 5:00."
"Ok thanks." Harry said.
The first place Harry wanted to go was the dining hall with the magical ceiling. He wanted to see what Ron and Hermione were doing right now, but, if all the teachers were going to be there, he didn't want to go. Harry kept himself content wandering around the school. He chatted with a few pictures and even a ghost or two. At around 2:00 he stumbled into the kitchens somehow and the elves there piled him up with food. He passed a giant picture of a ship sailing across a green-blue sea. Pirates were moving about on the deck. Harry suspected this might be the entrance to one common room.
At promptly 4:30 he met Professor Knowell in the enterance hall.
"Hello Harry. Did you have a good day? I hope so."
"Yes I did." Harry replied.
"The students will be arriving shortly. I figured I better tell you about the houses you could be sorted into. Each house is named after a gemstone. Emerald is equivalent to Gryffindor. Their color is green as you might suspect. That is the house you'll most likely be sorted into as you were in Gryffindor at Hogwarts. I myself was a Gryffindor... anyway Ruby is equal to Hufflepuff. Their color is red, of course. Amethyst is equal to Ravenclaw. Their color is violet and lastly Diamond is equal to Slytherin."
"Ok got it. Harry then repeated what she had just told him back to her."
"Splendid. Now then, I'm going to go take my place at the staff table. You will wait in here until one of the Professors comes to get you. When you enter the dining hall, Professor Wigglebot will call your name, year, and previous school."
"Ok." Harry replied nervously as Professor Knowell left the hall.
As Harry was waiting a thought occurred to him. She had never told him how he was going to be sorted. *****What if the sorting was a lot different than Hogwarts? What if he did something wrong, and embarrassed himself in front of the entire school? He was probably the only person over eleven getting sorted. The though never occurred to Harry that there might just be other foreign exchange students than he coming to this school for whatever reason.
Everything was very quiet for a while and then, Harry heard a burst of noise as the older students, above 1st year entered the dining Hall through another door. Everything quieted down and Harry figured the first years were about to be sorted. For about 20 minutes Harry heard no noise except for Professor Wigglebot calling out a house name every few seconds. Harry counted. Ruby, Ruby, Amethyst Emerald, Diamond, Ruby, Amethyst, Emerald, Amethyst, Ruby, Diamond, Diamond, Emerald, Diamond, Amethyst, Amethyst, the list went on but Harry got board of counting and went back to his state of nervousness.
Suddenly, Professor Wigglebot came through the door. Professor Knowell was talking to the students. Harry could hear her speech.
"Welcome! Welcome, back students to another year at Knockridde. Most likely all of you have forgotten everything you've learned over the summer. Not to worry though! We'll have that fixed by the end of this year. Then you can go back and forget everything again. Isn't that splendid!" Now more than ever she reminded Harry of Dumbledore. " However, I do have a few new announcements to make. First of all, no student is permitted in the ocean this year unless accompanied by a teacher. A few muggle animals called sharks have been found in the ocean and they will most likely rip you to pieces. Next, we have a few students from other wizarding schools who will be joining us this year, six to be exact. They will be coming in now to be sorted."
Professor Wigglebot told Harry he should go into the Dining Hall now. A wave of relief came over Harry. He wasn't the only new student above first year! Harry proceeded into the dining hall. He saw five other people about his age entering the hall also looking as nervous as he seemed to be. Professor Wigglebot pulled a list from his pocket.
"Harry Potter, Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Year five." The hall became deathly quiet. Harry could feel a hundred eyes on him. Then the whispering started. "Harry Potter?" "No." "Yes it is look at his scar!" "The Harry Potter?" Harry careful to keep his eyes straight ahead, not looking at anyone. He felt extremely embarrassed. He walked up to a small table located at the front of the hall. On the table was a small stone. Professor Knowell gestured for him to pick up the stone. Harry picked up the stone and suddenly felt a warmness shoot through his body. The stone vibrated in his hand continuing to grow hotter and hotter as light surrounded his body. Then, very suddenly, the stone became cold. It glowed an emerald green color. Professor Wigglebot yelled "Emerald." The table with the green tablecloth stood up and cheered so loudly, Harry though his ears would pop. He walked up to the table and took a seat at the very end.
"Lizzie Candence. Marowell School for talented Witches and Wizards. Year five."
Lizzie, an extremley tall girl with shoulder length blonde hair and greenish-brownish ( A/N I suppose that would be hazel) eyes ( More A/N sorry guys!!!) who Harry though, was very pretty walked up the table and gripped the stone. After a minute, it glowed green just as Harry's had done.
"Emerald."
The Emerald table stood and cheered again. Harry joined them. Lizzie hurriedly walked over to the table and took the seat next to Harry. She smiled at him and Harry smiled back. He then took his eyes off Lizzie and turned his attention back to the sorting.
The next boy, a third year was sorted into Diamond and then a fourth year girl went to Ruby.
Next up, another fifth year boy with brown hair and blue eyes. He became an Emerald too. Their table applauded once more. The boy took the seat on Harry's other side hesitantly as though he were not worthy to sit next to the Harry Potter. Harry smiled at him and said a cheerful "Hello!"
"Hi!" he replied just as cheerfully.
The last boy went to Amethyst.
"Now that that's done, the feast can begin!" just as Professor Knowell said those word food began appearing on the table. The food was a bit different than Harry was used to. Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs, Ice cream ect. "Classic American food." Lizzie explained. She was from Pennsylvania, USA. Harry, Lizzie, the brown haired boy, whose name was Ryan, and another girl who came to Knockridde last year from Canada with red hair and blue eyes started talking about their old schools. My new friends. Harry though in realization. He didn't want to replace Ron or Hermione, but he couldn't go through a whole year with no one to talk to or have jokes with. As dessert came on Ryan asked Harry, "What about your school?" "My school?" Harry replied. "No, the invisible person sitting next to you's school!" Lizzie stated sarcastically. Harry blushed a deep red. He then told Lizzie, Ryan, and Megan, the girl with red hair, all about Hogwarts. When he got to the part about Hogwart's ceiling, charmed to look like the outside sky everyone looked up at Knockridde's ceiling and gasped. Harry then told them what Professor Knowell had told him about this ceiling. Dinner had finished and everyone began to get up from the table, sleepy and full. There were two representatives for each house, who Harry discovered where much like prefects. They led Harry, Lizzie, Ryan, Megan and the rest of Emerald through a maze of stairs, secret passages, and walls that really weren't walls at all, but passages charmed to look like the crystal walls to the picture of the ship with pirates Harry had seen earlier that day. "Now everyone! Said one of the house reps. The password is fuzzy sweater." At these words, the pirate ship popped out of the painting and showed a large ship-shaped hole. Everyone climbed through the hole into the common room. The common room was painted emerald green and had many emerald green la-z-boy recliners (that's what Lizzie called them) beanbag chairs, a few tables and a fireplace. There was also a window cut into the crystal that made the left wall. The boy house rep. Led the Harry, Ryan and the other boys up a spiraling flight of stairs toward the right while Lizzie, Megan, and the girls were led up stairs on the left.
Harry collapsed into bed, not even bothering to change into his pajamas. He was exhausted. He though to himself, tomorrow I can start on the plan for defeating Voldemort maybe Ryan, Megan and Lizzie will help me too. Tonight I need sleep. He heard Ryan say something like "That was some feast huh?" just before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
A/N Whew! That was a long chapter. Well long by my standards. This story is getting more fun to write. The next chapter will be out soon. Very soon. In case you're wondering (you probably aren't but) the character Lizzie is based on me. Disclaimer: The people who you have heard of belong to JK. The people you haven't heard of belong to me. There that was easy enough. Again (I know I always say this but) PLEASE REVIEW. Reviews make me happy. When I'm happy, I write better stories. Oh and Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review in the past.
~Katie
Harry had slept for most of the plane ride. He had awoken quite suddenly, bumping his head on something hard that was hanging down from the ceiling. He blinked his eyes a few times, and then looked down at his watch. It told him that it was 4:00. 4:00 his time that is. The boy next to Harry must have seen him glance at his watch because he said in a thick American accent, "The plane's due to land 1:00 their time. It's about 12:00 right now."
"Thanks." Harry said, getting up to stretch his legs. He walked to the back of the plane and then back to his seat twice, trying to get back some of the feeling in his legs. When he sat down again, a stewardess asked him if he would like lunch. He declined, even though he was ravenous, because he had remembered seeing something about food poisoning and airplane food on the muggle news. He glanced at the boy next to him sizing him up. He was small and scrawny, though Harry wasn't one to talk, with red hair and brown eyes and tons of freckles all over his nose. Harry had the strangest feeling he'd seen him before.
"Excuse me, do I know you?" Harry questioned.
"I don't think so." The boy answered.
Then the realization dawned on Harry.
"Are you related to the Weasly's?" Harry asked.
"How'd you know?" the boy asked shocked.
"My best friend is Ron Weasly." Harry told him.
"He's my cousin," the red-head declared, "I was supposed to visit him in England but then I found out he was on vacation and I had to come right back home. I live in the US."
"He went to Jamaica right?" Harry said.
"Yea but... wait if you're Ron's best friend than wouldn't that make you..." His eyes did the familiar flick up to Harry's forehead.
"Gosh! You're Harry Potter!" He nearly shouted.
"Shhhhhh!" Harry said embarrassedly as the entire plane stared at them.
"I'm Gregory, Greg Weasly. Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed.
"Why are you coming to America?"
Harry relayed to Greg the story of why he was on the plane to America. When he got to the part about Voldemort being after him, Greg gasped louder than Harry though possible. He told him about Knockridde Academy and discovered that Greg went there too but was only in his second year.
By the time Harry had finished, the pilot had come over the loudspeaker once more, "Please buckle your seatbelts and put you chairs in the upright position. We will be landing in less than two minutes." Harry felt the plane slowly descend downwards and land smoothly. Now he was in America thousands of miles away from Ron, Hermione, and Hogwarts. His feeling of depression regained control of him. He said goodbye to Greg and went to go find his baggage.
After what seemed like hours, his trunk and small suitcase finally came around. Harry grabbed them and dragged them into the center of the airport. Now he was looking for a man dressed all in red. Harry spotted him almost immediately. After all, a man dressed in all red wasn't too hard to find.
He walked nervously up to the tall man with dark hair and said.
"Are you Mr. ... er, Mr..."
"Mr. Wigglebot." The man finished for him.
"That would be me." The man said, "And I take it you must be Mr. Harry Potter."
"Yea I'm him. I mean that's me." Harry answered.
"Well a pleasure to meet you, Harry." The man declared.
"You too." Harry answered.
"Shall we be off then?" This man also had an American accent, Harry figured he would have to get used to. Harry didn't get a chance to answer. Mr. Wigglebot had already carried Harry's trunk through the airport doors. Harry quickly followed.
Mr. Wigglebot loaded Harry's things into the trunk of his car and climbed in, signaling for Harry to do the same.
They drove in silence for a while. Harry was amused at how strange Mr. Wigglebot found things like toll booths and traffic lights. After about an hour and a half, they came to a bridge that led onto an island. Harry read a sign that said "Welcome to Ocean City New Jersey!" in big letters as they crossed the bridge. Once on the island, Mr. Wigglebot drove down a street called 11th street and at the end was a wooden fence dividing the street and the beach. Instead of stopping, as Harry had assumed Mr. Wigglebot would do, he kept on driving right towards the wooden fence. Harry closed his eyes tight wondering if he had gotten into the car with a madman. He was waiting for the impact of car against wood but it never came. He opened his eyes slowly. First one, then the other. They were driving on a small road in the middle of a beach. But it was not the beach Harry had glanced at earlier on 11th street this beach was completely clean. No soda cans or candy wrappers anywhere. The ocean seemed clearer than the other one, less murky and more sparkling. Harry didn't know how he could tell this as he'd never been to a beach before but he could anyway. There were lots of clouds overhead, signaling that it would soon rain. The wind was blowing sand everywhere, but not at their car. Harry supposed this was a beach only for witches and wizards. That the fence they had driven through was something much like Platform nine and three-quarters.
After about fifteen minutes of driving. They began to drive in a spiral up a very large, steep mountain of rocks. Harry supposed this was some sort of Beach Mountain or something. They approached the top and Harry got his first glance of Knockridde. It was a huge school, almost exactly the size of Hogwarts, and it was made of thousands of crystals. The sight was almost enough to take Harry's breath away. It and they were at the top of the mountain and for miles out on three sides all you could see was the ocean. On the fourth side was a small town, Harry supposed, was much like an American Hogsmeade. Mr. Wigglebot stopped the car.
"Here we are." He declared.
"Yeah." Harry acknowledged still shocked at the appearance of the school. He hadn't expected a dump or anything, but he certainly hadn't expected this.
A gust of wind met them as they climbed out of the car, blowing Harry's hair out of his eyes. Mr. Wigglebot lifted Harry's things out of the trunk and beckoned Harry to follow him. They walked halfway around the school, about a half a mile more or less, and came to the front doors.
The front doors also made of crystal were larger than two of Hagrid standing on top of each other Harry though. Mr. Wigglebot knocked on the door four times. His knocking made a tinkling sound that echoed for miles around. The handle turned and the door slowly opened.
To Harry's great surprise, the witch that met him on the other side was very tiny. She wore emerald green robes that were much too long for her. She smiled, and little wrinkles formed next to her blue eyes reminding Harry much of Dumbledore. She seemed just delighted to have Harry there.
"Hello, Harry!" she exclaimed. She had a merry voice that made Harry feel very welcome.
"Hello." Harry replied.
"Come in, Come in! It's so nice to finally meet you! I'm Professor Knowell, Headmistress at Knockridde, and you've already met Professor Wigglebot. He's deputy headmaster here. He teaches Charms." She then told Professor Wigglebot, " Would you be so kind as to take Harry's things up to the hospital wing where he'll be staying tonight." Mr., er Professor Wigglebot disappeared with Harry's things.
"Nice to meet you too." Harry said, stepping through the enormous crystal doors.
The inside of the school was just as impressive, and large as the outside. Harry stepped into a huge entrance hall, which had a large elaborate chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a long red throw rug leading to two more crystal doors. These were not as large as the first. Harry and Professor Knowell proceeded through these doors and entered a huge dining Hall. The walls and floor were all translucent crystal, as were the five long dining tables and chairs. Four of the tables each had a long tablecloth on top, each with a different color. There was White, Red, Violet, and Green. He looked up instinctively but what he found was not the familiar Hogwarts ceiling, but a ceiling that showed him Ron, Hermione, and Hogwarts. Professor Knowell must have noticed Harry jump because she said, "The ceiling shows you whatever you want to see as long as it's a thing, or a person who isn't dead. Don't worry, only you can see your thoughts, as I can only see mine. Try thinking of something else and see what happens." Harry though of his broomstick, buried deep in his trunk and suddenly, to his surprise a huge vision of him on flying around on his broomstick appeared on the ceiling.
"Wow!" Harry said dumbfounded.
There were three more huge doors leading out of the dining hall. One Harry discovered led to the kitchens. The other two both led out of the dining hall.
Harry found that the floor plan to this school was very similar to that of Hogwarts except the common rooms for the four houses were not in the same spots. At least I'll be able to find my way around, he thought. All of the classrooms were crystal, as were the common rooms. The common rooms Harry learned had charms on them so that you could see outside from inside the common room but not into the common room from outside.
" Tonight you'll be staying in the hospital wing because we aren't sure which house you're in yet. Tomorrow you will be sorted after the new first years."
Oh Boy, even more attention drawn to him. Now, He had to be sorted in front of the entire school, probably making a fool of himself. He hoped the sorting here was similar to that of Hogwarts. He prayed that it was.
Professor Knowell showed him to the hospital wing where he would be staying, and magicked up a small feast for Harry's dinner. "You must stay in here tonight. I am still preparing a few things for when the students arrive." This comment made Harry very suspicious. "I'll leave you now. Tomorrow you can explore the school."
She left Harry alone in the hospital wing to eat. Harry finished his food extremely quickly as he had skipped lunch. As soon as he had eaten his fill, the goblet and plate disappeared Harry suspected, to the kitchens. He looked around the hospital wing, a large room with at least fifteen beds lined up against one wall with fifteen night tables next to them. There was a small door at the end of the room, probably where the bandages and medicines were kept, and another small door at the other end of the room, which, Harry figured was the nurse's office. The hospital wing was also of course made of crystal, but, it was bewitched so no one could see in or out. Harry walked up and down the room and finally chose a bed. He picked the one in the very middle. He wondered if he should put on his invisibility cloak and go see what Professor Knowell was up to. Telling him he must stay in the hospital wing had made him very suspicious. He decided against it. A large clock located on the wall above his bed told him it was exactly 8:30. Harry, feeling very sleepy from the jet lag pulled on his pajamas and climbed into the welcoming looking bed. He fell asleep almost immediately and slept through the night having not one dream.
Harry awoke the next morning feeling very refreshed as one does after a good night's sleep. He rolled over, trying to remember where he was. He then remembered the previous day's events and remembered where he was. The clock chimed 11:00. This was later than Harry had ever slept his entire life, even at Hogwarts on weekends. He climbed out of bed and dressed himself in jeans a green t-shirt and his new sapphire blue school robes leaving the his strange, pointy hat in his trunk.
Professor Knowell burst into the hospital wing moments after Harry had finished tying his shoelaces.
"Good, Good you're up finally!" She exclaimed. Today she was wearing light lavender robes that were also too long for her. Her frizzy gray-black hair was which was tied up off her face the day before was now falling carelessly down her back.
"Oh dear me you haven't eaten yet have you. Here you are then." She swished her wand and the plate and goblet returned this time bearing a stack of pancakes smothered in syrup and a goblet full of orange juice. Harry ate carefully not completely finishing his meal before it had disappeared.
"Now then, today the other teachers and I must prepare the dining hall for the Back to School feast. You are free to go wherever you like and explore the school but please meet me in the entrance hall at 4:30. The rest of the school will arrive at 4:45 and you will be sorted then. The feast will begin at 5:00."
"Ok thanks." Harry said.
The first place Harry wanted to go was the dining hall with the magical ceiling. He wanted to see what Ron and Hermione were doing right now, but, if all the teachers were going to be there, he didn't want to go. Harry kept himself content wandering around the school. He chatted with a few pictures and even a ghost or two. At around 2:00 he stumbled into the kitchens somehow and the elves there piled him up with food. He passed a giant picture of a ship sailing across a green-blue sea. Pirates were moving about on the deck. Harry suspected this might be the entrance to one common room.
At promptly 4:30 he met Professor Knowell in the enterance hall.
"Hello Harry. Did you have a good day? I hope so."
"Yes I did." Harry replied.
"The students will be arriving shortly. I figured I better tell you about the houses you could be sorted into. Each house is named after a gemstone. Emerald is equivalent to Gryffindor. Their color is green as you might suspect. That is the house you'll most likely be sorted into as you were in Gryffindor at Hogwarts. I myself was a Gryffindor... anyway Ruby is equal to Hufflepuff. Their color is red, of course. Amethyst is equal to Ravenclaw. Their color is violet and lastly Diamond is equal to Slytherin."
"Ok got it. Harry then repeated what she had just told him back to her."
"Splendid. Now then, I'm going to go take my place at the staff table. You will wait in here until one of the Professors comes to get you. When you enter the dining hall, Professor Wigglebot will call your name, year, and previous school."
"Ok." Harry replied nervously as Professor Knowell left the hall.
As Harry was waiting a thought occurred to him. She had never told him how he was going to be sorted. *****What if the sorting was a lot different than Hogwarts? What if he did something wrong, and embarrassed himself in front of the entire school? He was probably the only person over eleven getting sorted. The though never occurred to Harry that there might just be other foreign exchange students than he coming to this school for whatever reason.
Everything was very quiet for a while and then, Harry heard a burst of noise as the older students, above 1st year entered the dining Hall through another door. Everything quieted down and Harry figured the first years were about to be sorted. For about 20 minutes Harry heard no noise except for Professor Wigglebot calling out a house name every few seconds. Harry counted. Ruby, Ruby, Amethyst Emerald, Diamond, Ruby, Amethyst, Emerald, Amethyst, Ruby, Diamond, Diamond, Emerald, Diamond, Amethyst, Amethyst, the list went on but Harry got board of counting and went back to his state of nervousness.
Suddenly, Professor Wigglebot came through the door. Professor Knowell was talking to the students. Harry could hear her speech.
"Welcome! Welcome, back students to another year at Knockridde. Most likely all of you have forgotten everything you've learned over the summer. Not to worry though! We'll have that fixed by the end of this year. Then you can go back and forget everything again. Isn't that splendid!" Now more than ever she reminded Harry of Dumbledore. " However, I do have a few new announcements to make. First of all, no student is permitted in the ocean this year unless accompanied by a teacher. A few muggle animals called sharks have been found in the ocean and they will most likely rip you to pieces. Next, we have a few students from other wizarding schools who will be joining us this year, six to be exact. They will be coming in now to be sorted."
Professor Wigglebot told Harry he should go into the Dining Hall now. A wave of relief came over Harry. He wasn't the only new student above first year! Harry proceeded into the dining hall. He saw five other people about his age entering the hall also looking as nervous as he seemed to be. Professor Wigglebot pulled a list from his pocket.
"Harry Potter, Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Year five." The hall became deathly quiet. Harry could feel a hundred eyes on him. Then the whispering started. "Harry Potter?" "No." "Yes it is look at his scar!" "The Harry Potter?" Harry careful to keep his eyes straight ahead, not looking at anyone. He felt extremely embarrassed. He walked up to a small table located at the front of the hall. On the table was a small stone. Professor Knowell gestured for him to pick up the stone. Harry picked up the stone and suddenly felt a warmness shoot through his body. The stone vibrated in his hand continuing to grow hotter and hotter as light surrounded his body. Then, very suddenly, the stone became cold. It glowed an emerald green color. Professor Wigglebot yelled "Emerald." The table with the green tablecloth stood up and cheered so loudly, Harry though his ears would pop. He walked up to the table and took a seat at the very end.
"Lizzie Candence. Marowell School for talented Witches and Wizards. Year five."
Lizzie, an extremley tall girl with shoulder length blonde hair and greenish-brownish ( A/N I suppose that would be hazel) eyes ( More A/N sorry guys!!!) who Harry though, was very pretty walked up the table and gripped the stone. After a minute, it glowed green just as Harry's had done.
"Emerald."
The Emerald table stood and cheered again. Harry joined them. Lizzie hurriedly walked over to the table and took the seat next to Harry. She smiled at him and Harry smiled back. He then took his eyes off Lizzie and turned his attention back to the sorting.
The next boy, a third year was sorted into Diamond and then a fourth year girl went to Ruby.
Next up, another fifth year boy with brown hair and blue eyes. He became an Emerald too. Their table applauded once more. The boy took the seat on Harry's other side hesitantly as though he were not worthy to sit next to the Harry Potter. Harry smiled at him and said a cheerful "Hello!"
"Hi!" he replied just as cheerfully.
The last boy went to Amethyst.
"Now that that's done, the feast can begin!" just as Professor Knowell said those word food began appearing on the table. The food was a bit different than Harry was used to. Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs, Ice cream ect. "Classic American food." Lizzie explained. She was from Pennsylvania, USA. Harry, Lizzie, the brown haired boy, whose name was Ryan, and another girl who came to Knockridde last year from Canada with red hair and blue eyes started talking about their old schools. My new friends. Harry though in realization. He didn't want to replace Ron or Hermione, but he couldn't go through a whole year with no one to talk to or have jokes with. As dessert came on Ryan asked Harry, "What about your school?" "My school?" Harry replied. "No, the invisible person sitting next to you's school!" Lizzie stated sarcastically. Harry blushed a deep red. He then told Lizzie, Ryan, and Megan, the girl with red hair, all about Hogwarts. When he got to the part about Hogwart's ceiling, charmed to look like the outside sky everyone looked up at Knockridde's ceiling and gasped. Harry then told them what Professor Knowell had told him about this ceiling. Dinner had finished and everyone began to get up from the table, sleepy and full. There were two representatives for each house, who Harry discovered where much like prefects. They led Harry, Lizzie, Ryan, Megan and the rest of Emerald through a maze of stairs, secret passages, and walls that really weren't walls at all, but passages charmed to look like the crystal walls to the picture of the ship with pirates Harry had seen earlier that day. "Now everyone! Said one of the house reps. The password is fuzzy sweater." At these words, the pirate ship popped out of the painting and showed a large ship-shaped hole. Everyone climbed through the hole into the common room. The common room was painted emerald green and had many emerald green la-z-boy recliners (that's what Lizzie called them) beanbag chairs, a few tables and a fireplace. There was also a window cut into the crystal that made the left wall. The boy house rep. Led the Harry, Ryan and the other boys up a spiraling flight of stairs toward the right while Lizzie, Megan, and the girls were led up stairs on the left.
Harry collapsed into bed, not even bothering to change into his pajamas. He was exhausted. He though to himself, tomorrow I can start on the plan for defeating Voldemort maybe Ryan, Megan and Lizzie will help me too. Tonight I need sleep. He heard Ryan say something like "That was some feast huh?" just before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
A/N Whew! That was a long chapter. Well long by my standards. This story is getting more fun to write. The next chapter will be out soon. Very soon. In case you're wondering (you probably aren't but) the character Lizzie is based on me. Disclaimer: The people who you have heard of belong to JK. The people you haven't heard of belong to me. There that was easy enough. Again (I know I always say this but) PLEASE REVIEW. Reviews make me happy. When I'm happy, I write better stories. Oh and Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review in the past.
~Katie
