(Jess, I updated this just for you, because no one else seems to be reading this….L )
***
Later on the train….
Adel sighed as she dragged her feet towards the back of the train. It seemed that at every compartment she stopped at she was met with apologetic smiles and the news that they were full.
Reaching the very back of the train, Adel realized that there was only one compartment left. Crossing her fingers, she slid open the door and was pleased to find that the compartment was completely deserted. Well, no, she wasn't pleased. How could she be? She was on her way to her first day in a new school, located in a strange country to learn magic, no less, and she didn't know a single person, save for the handful of professors she had been previously introduced to. It seemed that she'd already made an enemy, and now, to top it all off, she had to sit by herself in a dusty compartment at the very back of the train. Slumping down in her seat, Adel let the tears she had been holding in for the past month finally come.
They weren't just tears for her dead parents, they were tears for herself. For what her live used to be. For who SHE used to be. In the course of a summer, Adel was not only orphaned, she also learned that everything she had ever believed in, everything she'd ever held true, was all just a lie. Not only were her parents dead, they weren't her parents. Her name wasn't really even her name and she wasn't who she thought she was. She wasn't Adelaide Cabbot, daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth, heiress to a fortune, and lover of small animals. She was a witch, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get past that. Nothing else mattered anymore, nothing else seemed important enough than that. It was her identity now; it was all she could ever be. Sure, she still had her money and her clothes, her fancy clothes and her house in France. But they weren't part of her anymore. They were….nothing….just like her.
When Professor McGonagall appeared in her living room one sunny day in the beginning of August, Adel had thought it was a joke, or at the very least the work of some over-zealous tabloid columnist, ready to do anything short of spitting flames to get a story. Any excuse would have done, all Adel wanted was something, anything, as long as it wasn't what it was. At first she didn't want to believe, she COULDN'T believe it…but there was something about the way the woman in the dark green cloak spoke…something that was so strange, yet so…. familiar…
3 Weeks Earlier…..
"God Dam it!" Adel exclaimed for about the fiftieth time that day as she heard the distinct sound of breaking glass whilst descending the front stairs.
"Probably another damn reporter trying to break in" She thought out loud. It wouldn't have been the first time either. In the week following her parents death, her life had become one great big giant media frenzy…it was like no part of her personal life was safe…it was, in a word, utter and complete hell.
Then, as Adel reached the bottom landing, she realized something. If a window had indeed been broken, then the alarm system would have most certainly gone off. Too curious to be frightened, she boldly set off to find whatever had made the aforementioned sound. Her search soon led her to her father's office, where she found that instead of being locked, the heavy oak door was slightly ajar. Now Adel was worried. She had no idea who, or what, for that matter, she might find inside the room. She realized that she should have gone for help when she first heard the noise. She had let go most of the staff in the days following the accident, but as she was only seventeen, she still had needed some sort of guardian. Since Adel had no other close relatives, her parents had left her father's bodyguard, Davis to watch over her until she was nineteen.
God how Adel wished he hadn't gone to the movies as she stood outside the office door, to scared to do anything. In all fairness, she had pretty much told him to go, claiming that she needed to be by herself for a while…. it wasn't that she didn't like Davis, in fact, she adored him, but she really did need to be alone. And look where that got her…
Finally Adel got a grip on herself and decided that she had to take action. If there was an intruder in her house, then she needed to find out, one way or the other. Taking a deep breath, and trying not to think about the fact that she didn't have a weapon, or any clue if the person on the other side of the door had one, she swung open the door and came face to face with…nothing. The room was empty.
"Oh my dear god, I'm such a fucking idiot!" Adel exclaimed, laughing at her stupidity.
"Watch your language, young woman!" Adel's laughter was abruptly cut off by a shrill, distinctly British voice.
Every inch of Adel's body shook as she whirled around only to find an older woman standing about two feet away from her, in front of a big over-sized leather armchair. The women looked normal enough, if you didn't take into account her clothing. She was wearing a long black dress and over that a dark green cloak of some sorts, that looked like it was made of wool, and definitely too hot for the balmy August New York City was currently experiencing.
As Adel stared, she vaguely wondered why the woman hadn't pulled a knife or some other sort of blunt object on her yet. Wasn't she her to kidnap her? Or did she just want to rob her? After all, why else would she be here?
"My dear it is very good to see you again, I can see you've grown into quite a beautiful young woman, but you'll have to learn to watch your mouth or you'll be losing points for yourself right and left."
"What the hell is she talking about?" Adel wondered to herself. Did she know this woman? Was she some sort of friend of her parents? And what did she mean about losing points? Maybe she was some sort of crazed stalker woman…
Seeing the confused look on Adel's face, the woman explained. "I'm sorry, you won't recognize me, and you were very young the last time we meant." Seeing that Adel still looked puzzled, she continued, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmaster of the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was a friend of your parents."
That was it, Adel's mind was made up; this one was batty. The Hoagies School of what? "Uh…right" Adel replied uncertainly, as she backed up towards the door "That's nice…. you just make yourself right at home and I'm going to go….do something….be right back!" she yelled, as she turned and started to run in the opposite direction. She was seriously freaked out now. However, she only made it as far as the front door, where the same woman blocked her path!
"bbbb…bbbut …that's impossible!" Adel stammered looking back in forth, from the woman to behind her.
"That's called apparating dear; you'll learn about that soon enough." The woman told her, smiling. Adel wasn't sure why, but there was something about the woman that seemed almost familiar…something that made her trust the woman, though she had no idea why.
"Who did you say you were?"
***
That was three weeks ago. In the course of that afternoon, Professor McGonagall had explained quite a few things to Adel. As hard as it was to process, and consequently believe, Adel learned that she had been adopted by the people she had only ever known as her parents when she was one. At first she didn't believe it, but the woman had the papers. Her real parents, so it seemed, had been a young witch and wizard, which explained what Professor McGonagall had meant when she had said she knew Adel's parents. Though the Professor wouldn't tell Adel their names, for security reasons, she claimed, she did learn that they had been killed, along with countless other good, innocent people, by a dark wizard, named Voldemort. Of course, she wasn't actually supposed to say "Voldemort" , for some stupid reason she didn't quite understand, but that was another story all together. In fact, Adel didn't quite understand a lot of this whole deal. Witches and wizards? They were characters from fairytales or parts in b-movies, they weren't reality…but apparently…they were. They were real, live, living, breathing people and they were everywhere. Not only that, but she was one of them. And so, the last three weeks of Adelaide Cabbot's summer vacation had not been spent hanging out with friends and vacationing in the south of France as originally planned. Rather, they had been spent learning anything and everything she humanly could about the wizarding world. It had been determined that because Adel was seventeen, and due to the fact that she had received such good marks in high school, she would enter Hogwarts in her seventh year. Of course, this also meant that she had six years of material to catch up on in a little less than three weeks. Needless to say, a time turner had also came in quite useful during this time.
***
"Anything off the trolley dear?" A kindly old woman in a black and white striped dress asked Adel as she passed by her compartment.
Curious, Adel examined the woman's cart with interest. It held some of the most bizarre things she had ever heard of. Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans? What exactly did they mean by "every" flavour. If Adel learned one thing in the past three weeks, it was not to take anything for granted when it came to magic.
"Uh….how about some M&M's?" Adel asked, looking at the woman nervously
"Pardon dear? What are you talking about? " she asked her, raising one gray eyebrow in puzzlement. Then a look of realization came over her wrinkled features "Oh I know, that muggle musician that all the young girls are after! Sorry dear, were all sold out of that flavour….we do have a couple of Britney Spears holographic suckers left though, how about one of those instead?"
"Oh never mind " Adel sighed "I'm not very hungry right now anyway."
After the woman had continued on her way, Adel let her mind drift again, but before she
Before Adel could continue her musings the door to her compartment slid open. The girl from the platform whom that boy Draco had called "Mudblood Granger" poked her head in a little cautiously and smiled at her, her bushy brown hair sticking every which way.
"Hullo, I'm Hermione Granger, you must be new here. You look lonely, why don't you come sit with us?" the girl offered, all in the same breath, and so ridiculously fast that it took Adel a moment to fully process what she was saying.
"That would be great!" Adel exclaimed happily as she got up and collected her things, immensely relieved that she wouldn't have to be by herself the whole train ride.
" You'll just love Hogwarts!" the girl exclaimed "The library is almost always open, and they've got every book you could ever want! All the classes are wonderful! Well…almost all of them….Divination leaves something to be desired….and potions isn't exactly a vacation in the sun, but arithmancy is simply splendid and transfiguration is positively awe-inspiring!"
Adel could barely get a word in edge-wise as the girl talked, except to utter a simple "yeah" or "Cool!" when appropriate. She couldn't say that she minded. Even if Hermione was a 'little' over-zealous when it came to school, she seemed like a nice enough person, and Adel had the feeling they would become good friends.
As the walked, the bumped into a tall, Irish boy with green eyes and a killer smile, whom Hermione seemed to know quite well.
"Seamus! How are you!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing her arms around the boy "I heard you got expelled for blowing up the west dungeons last year?"
"Nah, they didn' use that part of the dungeon anyways, so dumbledore said I could stay" Seamus told her, grinning impishly as he winked behind Hermione's shoulder at Adel, making her blush a little.
"Oh where are my manners! Seamus, this is…I'm sorry! I forgot to ask your name!" Hermione apologized profusely
"Adel Cabbott, pleased to meet you" Adel addressed them both good-naturedly.
"Nice to meet you to!" Seamus exclaimed as he stared at her, obviously checking her out.
"Well, he's quite the player!" Adel thought, amused as she observed him
"Oh Seamus, you're such a boy!" Hermione exclaimed in mock exasperation.
"Well, duh 'Mione! Anyways, I should be getting back to my compartment. I'm sure Dean's started cheating by now!" Seamus said, before continuing along his way. "Nice meeting you Adel!" He called over his shoulder as he sauntered away.
Before she knew it, Hermione was sliding open the door to her compartment and introducing Adel to her friends. On the left was a boy named Ron, whom Adel could tell obviously had a thing for Hermione, just by watching him stare at her so longingly as she spoke. Another thing she noticed about Ron was that his hair was as red as she'd ever seen on anyone, and that he had dozens of freckles to match. On the other side of the compartment were a girl and boy holding hands and looking at each other affectionately. The girl, she learned, was Ron's younger sister Ginny, which wasn't hard to see considering that she had the same fiery locks as her brother. Next to Ginny was a 'very' good looking boy with rather messy black hair, forest green eyes, and a jagged scar tracing his forehead, barely visible under his untidy hair. Adel didn't know why, but when Adel was introduced to this boy, who went by the name of Harry Potter, she felt something. She wasn't sure what is was….just something….something she'd never felt before….