Title: Imogene

Subject: At least read the first chapter and you tell me what it's all about.

Disclaimer: Hogwart's and company are not mine. The idea for this came from a book I read by Alan F. Troop though I'm trying to put an originally spin on the whole idea.

Review: Yes Please.

Rating: PG

Anything else?



It was my first time away from my remote home in Romania. My letter for the school came just before my 12th birthday but my father refused to let me go. He did not like humans. My mother tried to teach me about them. She found them fascinating, my father thought them too loud. Mother wanted me to go to the wizard school, the gifts I had were so rare among our kind. Father was very untrusting of wizards who until very recently had hunted our distant cousin and sometimes by mistaken association us. Most of the time we stayed hidden in our human form, which as he grew older my father hated more and more, he found it degrading but I rather liked it and it was essential to our survival.

After two year of argument, of rationalizing that I needed to learn to be around human, that if I understood more about Wizard maybe we would be able to show ourselves, basically a lot of begging and bugging on the part of Mother and myself; father agreed I could go, saying I would regret it after two days and be running home. It was hard he said to pretend all the time that you were human. Now I wanted to do it if only to prove him wrong.

Mother started correspondence with the eight magic schools, the one who had sent us the letter stated it was to late fro me to attend, not being of pure blood they called it made it difficult for them to make exceptions. The second response was from the school in Scotland. That was further away from home then I expected to be. The headmaster there said he would be happy to have me at the school. Suddenly it was real; I would be leaving my home for the first time. In two weeks time I would be away from my mother and my father. This frightened me, but my Fathers words and my Mothers encouragement was enough to get be through. My family knew nothing of magic, one of our kind possessing magic in human form happened one in three million and there were never that many of us.

I was sent a list of things I would need. Money was not a problem, converting it to wizard money was relatively simple. I would need to go to Kaspers Lane though. Kasper's Lane was an area of Romania where the keepers of our cousins lived, all of which were wizards. My father turned his nose up on the whole trip but mother and I along with our human houseman Edwin explored the strange shops gathering robes, a cauldron, ink and quills, and books. My wand I would have to get in England before I met a train to take me to Hogwarts. I could hardly believe I was leaving. Kaspers Lane was strange enough I wondered what my new school would be like.

Father had our houseman pack everything for me. Edwin was on of the few humans allowed in our home and I was going to miss him. Edwin could not speak but his eyes showed he would miss me as well. He had been in our family from before I was born.

An airplane, I was going on an airplane. I had never been on one before but it would take me to England. Mother and Father hugged me. Mother telling me to be careful and to write; father calling me a fool with nothing but love in his eyes. His eyes are like mine, my mothers and all of our nature a sharp unnatural golden yellow that show all emotion. They lighten only in hunger and darken again after a hunt. They are sometimes hard to explain to humans who tend to stare at our eyes, a genetic trait, and abnormality perhaps and the humans ask no more questions. I was on my way to live with humans. I was on my way to become a wizard.

I wanted to run, get back on the plane and go home but no this was my challenge, my right and I would pass. I followed the schools instructions to Diagon Alley where I would buy my wand. I had enough gold converted into wizard money to last me two years, father expected me to go through it in a few months. He had little concept of money. He left most of our monetary affairs to Edwin and my mother. Edwin had been trained since he was my age to serve us and he knew our treasure better then we did, he was trusted completely with a treasure that a high king would envy.

Diagon alley was swamped with wizards of all ages. At the bank I met my first goblin and deposited most of the money my father gave me. The little pointed ear creature then pointed me in the direction of Ollivanders. First however there was the task of getting something to eat. I hadn't eaten since I left home and that was almost 12 hours ago now. Three Broomsticks had much on its menu but I only craved one thing, steak blood rare. The woman gave me a strange look but complied. The smell of raw meat is overpowering and I try to eat at a normal pace. Finding with the first bit I am hungrier then I thought, the entire steak is eaten quickly leaving behind a blood plate and the potatoes that came with the meal. I pay and leave arriving at Ollivanders very easily. It was a narrow shabby little shop whose walls were covered with boxes. The older man looked at me strangely and simple questioned "Hogwarts?" I nodded feeling very strange in this wizard shop without my mother and Edwin. He handed me a wand and when nothing happened he handed me another. Again nothing. Third was the charm though as a strange tingly feeling enveloped my entire body. This was my wand, eleven inches, willow bark and dragon scales. Dragon scales, how fitting, since I am a dragon.

My name is Imogene Cynara, daughter of Ekaterina and Niculaie Cyrana sister to my new baby brother Teodor and I am like my family, we are dragons. I am not an animagi. That would be too simple what I am a bit more complicated. Like an animagi I can change my shape at will, but unlike them I can also change just part of my body at a time although it takes energy and hurts sometimes. I not only take the shape but also the nature of a dragon because it is my nature. How can I explain? My dragon form is my natural state; the human body I resemble now is the illusion. In my natural state I am about double the length I am now, have large silver wings, and tough green scales like armor. Unlike my distant cousins I cannot breathe fire, I use my large talons to rip my prey apart and eat the meat raw, I cannot stomach anything else. The dragons that wizard are most familiar with are like to us what apes are to humans, so close in molecular composition with a few of the slightest changes. My people have kept the secret, only a few humans know we exist and they are either servants or food. The only analogy that comes close is that of a werewolf but even that falls short for they have no control over their shape and their natural state is still human.

And now I am going to school with humans. It can be seen why my Father was apprehensive of the whole arrangement. Following the rather odd directions I find myself on a platform surrounded by wizards boarding a train to the school that is even more hidden then my own home. Some of the students were dressed as I was in the black robes of the school. The black robes made my hair even whiter in appearance and I brushed it nervously from my face. Humans have never scared me but this was getting close. I played with the necklace I wore around my neck, a ruby taken from what my father called a mad man after he killed him. I always wore it, it was flawless and beautiful. My father called it absurdity; I called it good luck, although not for the last man who wore it. I however was wearing it when we found out mother was at last pregnant again and I was still wearing it when Teodor was brought into this world alive and healthy. Mother had given birth to one other child, and he with no name was still born. So I considered the stone around my neck good luck no matter the means of its possession.

I found a cab that was nearly empty the eight rows of seats in each cab could fit two or three people in each seat. The rows faced each other in twos. There were only three other students in this cab and I sat far away from them, wondering what I could say to these humans. My things had been sent before me and were now sitting at my feet. Many of the students had their animals with them; Mother wouldn't let me have a pet. More students entered the cab, taking seats and talking loudly. Father was right about that, humans were loud. A girl and two boys asked if they could sit in the arrangement of seat around me. I nodded moving over to the window as the girl sat next to me and the boys across. They introduced themselves and I tried to relax. Hermione Granger was the girl's name, Ronald Weasley who had hair like fire and Harry Potter whose eyes were green like emeralds.

"Imogene Cynara."

"Are you a first year?" The girl asked her accent biting to my ears.

"Yes I am."

"You look older."

"I am almost 14, I was unable to attend before now." The girl looked puzzled.

"That's a bit unusual."

"Is it?" I looked at her." My family spoke to the headmaster and he was adamant that I would be fine."

"I'm sure, it's just not to many people enter late."

"It couldn't be helped." Thank you father for making me an odd one right off the bat.

"Your accent, where are you from?" Harry asked.

"Romania." I like the green-eyed boy.

"My brother works there with the dragons." Ronald exclaimed.

I studied him for a moment, I had only been in the compound a few times, in natural form, to look at the humans, red hair, freckles, light eyes, oh yes.

"Charlie?"

"Yes how did you know?"

"Our estate is not far from the compound, my Father knows some of the handlers and I do believe he is one of the few red heads I have seen in Romania." I said smiling. (Ronald seemed to focus when I said the word estate).

"You have very unusual eyes." Harry blushed as I looked at him. I don't think he meant to say it out loud.

"So do you."

Changing the subject Hermione asked, "so you'll be sorted with the other first years?"

I nodded. "I'm not sure how that works though, I know very little about wizards, my k…family hasn't had a wizard in it for over two hundred years."

"Well we are in Gryffindor house, Ravenclaw are known to be very athletic and Hugglepuff are the smart ones although Hermione here is the exception she knows just about everything." Hermione blushed at Ronald's compliment as he continued. "Then of course there is Sytherin, they usually are not the nicest people."

I simply nodded. This would be an interesting school indeed.