Title: Lusitania (7)
Author name: siriuswhite
Author email: siriuswhite@schnoogle.com
Category: Romance
Sub Category: Mystery
Keywords: Artio Sperios Patrick Dolphin Lusitania
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA
Summary: Artio is a girl who goes to a magical school, like Hogwarts.
She is going for the first year and very strange things happen. Patrick is a
boy who people don't like. Why?
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury
Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is
being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author notes: Dedicated to Túlia, a great great friend. Thanks to
everyone who reviewed the previous chapter: Trinity Black, Wolf Of Solitude,
Kahlessk, ElfinKat, Nentari and Gemma!
Special Thanks to my beta-readers, Jo, Lizzy and Gemma.
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Lusitania
BY S I R I U S W H I T E
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SEVENTH CHAPTER
FRIENDS, HOUSES AND POINTS
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When they entered the castle, Hagrid turned to her and said in a strong voice, "Welcome to Hogwarts, Artio Sperios!" and talking to no one he said, "My mission is accomplished, I said what I was asked to, even if I don't like you. It's your entire fault! I hope you stay here for the least time. You are not welcome."
Artio was confused. What had she done? What was her fault? She didn't understand why the big man hated her, and couldn't say one word.
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"Hagrid!" Snape appeared near the wooden entrance, "Why did you do that? Obliviate!"
He performed a weak memory spell on Artio, so she didn't remember the past events. She didn't know how she came to be where she was, but she didn't ask anything, thinking she had been distracted by something on the road.
"Oh," Snape said, "How are you? And Archibald, is he alright?"
"Yes," she remembered how her father left her in the gate of the school but didn't remember how she got inside.
"I'm glad to see you here. I will take you to Professor McGonagall's office."
He turned and went up the stairs. Artio followed him, but not before looking at Hagrid who had a not-very-welcome expression on his face.
They walked through many corridors and up many stairs and finally stopped in front of a heavy wooden door with a bronzed nameplate reading written "Professor M. McGonagall".
Snape knocked at the door, opened it and said "Minerva, She is here." He looked outside and asked Artio to enter. Then he left, leaving the two alone.
"Um, hello Professor," she said nervously, a bit apprehensive at the prospect of a meeting with the Assistant Headmistress.
"Good evening, Miss Sperios," McGonagall replied, "I'm not sure if anyone has informed you of why you have arrived earlier than the others…
"No, my father didn't tell me anything," Artio remembered that morning in their apartment.
"I'll suppose I must explain. Because you are beginning your magical education at the age of fourteen, you are significantly behind the other students. Normally, fourteen-year-old students are beginning their fourth year, but you, however, must begin as a first year. Professor Dumbledore arranged a situation in which you will have one-on-one tutoring sessions with your professors and several of the top students at this school."
"Hum… but can you do that?" she asked, confused.
"That is none of your concern," snapped the stern professor, who continued her previous line of thought, "We wanted you to arrive earlier in order to avoid the obvious upheaval of an exchange student. You must be sorted into one of our houses: each has their own prestigious reputation. They are Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. We would like to sort you immediately as not to draw any undue attention."
Artio nodded silently, and watched in awe as a tattered, old hat on a marble pedestal opened its ancient brim and began to sing, slightly off-key.
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Cynthia woke up to a completely silent dormitory. The girls were all asleep; the first class did not begin until the afternoon.
That was good for her; she could help Captain Dolphin with the problem of Jeremy's spell. She dressed herself and went out of the bedroom, arriving in the Dolphin common room.
She tried to open the door to go outside but it wouldn't let her out, and she stood near it for a few moments, confused, before remembering that she had to write the password on the door with her wand. But she had one problem, she didn't know the password, the previous day she had been extraordinarily tired and hadn't pay attention to what the prefects had said… the only thing she could do was to wait until someone else woke up.
That would take quite a while, she had awoken too early and even the students who would have classes in the morning hadn't woken up yet…
Finally the second year girls' dormitory door opened and a girl came out. It was Anaras.
"Cynthia! Why are you up so early?" she asked, surprised.
"I was hungry and I wanted to go get something to eat but I don't know the password."
"Oh" Anaras said "The prefects didn't tell it to you?"
"They did but I was very tired last night, so I didn't really pay attentio to anything they said…"
"The password is Sunny day," Anaras informed.
"Thanks" said Cynthia, simultaneously writing it on the wooden door, which opened silently. Cynthia went out with Anaras, who was going to the fields, since she and Carldonne had decided to meet there.
Within just a few minutes they were in the Great Hall, Anaras went out saying, "See you around!"
Cynthia tried to find Captain Dolphin's office, but she had no idea where it was. She was, in fact, hungry, so she walked back to the Common Room, where a few students were eating breakfast.
She noticed Francesca Timpsy, a fourth year prefect, eating breakfast. Cynthia made her way to sit near the girl, at the Dolphin's table, and sat silently, a bit shy.
"Hello," said Francesca, "you're a first year, aren't you?"
"Yes," Cynthia replied, putting a piece of toast on her plate, "I'm Cynthia. Can you tell me where Captain Dolphin's office is?"
"Sure. It's on the fourth floor, near the Potions classroom; his name is written in the door – you can't miss. I've got to go now." Cynthia noticed she had finished her breakfast, "Professor Stormd'sky asked me to help her with sending some owls. See you later, at lunch." she said taking her bag and left the common room.
Cynthia continued eating her toast and started to observe the other students. There were the most students at the Whale table, mainly older ones who seemed to be fourth years. The Shark table had the least number of students, only four people; one boy and three girls. One of them was acting as though she was the Queen. Cynthia looked at the clock on the wall, it showed it was five to six. She grabbed her bag and walked to the fourth floor, where she would have to meet Captain Dolphin at six o'clock.
Francesca was right; it was easy to find his office.
She knocked at the door.
A man's voice answered, "Come in!"
She opened the door and entered, "Good morning, Captain Dolphin,"
"Good morning. Are you ready to help me?"
"Sure. What can I do?"
****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat announced loudly.
Artio removed the hat, looking to Professor McGonagall, silently asking what she should do next.
"You were sorted into Ravenclaw," McGonagall clarified," The Head of Ravenclaw is Professor Flitwick, the Charms professor. You need to go find him. He can tell you more about your house, classes, and so on."
"Where can I find him, Professor McGonagall?" Artio asked.
"I'll take you to his office. Follow me."
They exited McGonagall's office, and Artio followed Professor McGonagall, who was in front, walking rapid and silently.
She led them through many of the same hallways Snape and Artio had gone through, and finally arrived at a door, labeled "Professor F. Flitwick's Office." McGonagall knocked swiftly at the door and left again, dispatching Artio into the care of the anonymous Professor Flitwick. She saw McGonagall turning at the end of the corridor, as the door opened.
"Yes?" the tiny Professor squeaked.
"Um… Professor Flitwick?" Artio began.
"I am he. Can I help you?"
"I'm the girl who came from Lusitania Academy, I suppose you know, and I was sorted into Ravenclaw. Professor McGonagall brought me here, and said you needed to tell me some thing."
"You were sorted into Ravenclaw… hum… interesting, okay…" he obvious deep in thought.
Artio noticed, and asked "What is so interesting, Professor?"
"Oh, nothing, I just didn't expect you would be a Ravenclaw."
"Is it bad? Why didn't you expect that?"
"No, it's good," he said, and murmured, "at least it's not that bad…Aah, well, forget that. I simply didn't expect you'd be a Ravenclaw because you came from other place and… and I knew very little about you."
"Oh, I understand" she agreed, looking at a portrait in Flitwick's office. It was of a fairy; at least it seemed to be of a fairy. It had wings and a yellow dress and was flying through a cluster of trees. The only reason that it mightn't be a fairy was the fact that it was too big compared to the trees.
"Ms. Sperios, what's your first name?" Flitwick asked, interested.
"Artio" she replied, still gazing at the portrait.
"Well, Artio, you know you are a special student, don't you?"
She looked at him and stopped observing the portrait, "Yes, Professor McGonagall told me that a few minutes ago."
"You'll have extra classes in addition to the normal ones and do a large amount of individual study, supervised by some of the best Hogwarts students. In the evening, the other students will arrive and you'll meet your tutors. Now you can go to the Great Hall, the common room or to the Quidditch fields until they come. Enjoy Hogwarts!"
"Thank you, Professor Flitwick." She turned and was about to go outside but then she realized that she didn't know how to get to the Great Hall "Er, Professor…."
"Yes?" he replied.
"Oh, nothing, sorry, I'll be there in the evening." she went outside. She would find her way to the Great Hall without bothering anyone for directions, she decided, and began walking through the corridor, trying to remember where she had begun…
****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****
In Captain Dolphin's office, Cynthia was attentively listening what she was supposed to do...
"It is imperative that you cast the spell at the same time I do. This is a difficult spell and as you haven't learned any magic you'll have to be very careful to avoid errors. I shouldn't have gotten you into this. You are too young and this is a Dark Spell. Cynthia, remember that you must tell no one about this."
"I know, Captain," she said, "I'm sure I can do it. I'll do it, I'll do everything to help Artio."
"Good. The Spell must be cast at the night. He can't be allowed to see the sun-light."
"I know, you've already said that. I have no doubt in my mind that we can do this. I'll find him and I'll bring him here-"
"No. It can't be here in my office," he said, "We'll have to take him someplace else… he'll be asleep for some time after the spell is performed."
"For how long?" she asked seriously.
"More than two days..."
"Does it have to take that long?" she asked, incredulous, "He won't be able to attend classes and the Professors suspect..."
"No," the Captain said firmly, "I will tell them that he's at the mediwizard's with some sort of horrible illness that our nurse can't fix. They'll trust me.
"All right," she said, still unsure, "Now I've to go, I'll search for the book with the spell in it as you told me."
"Good. Remember that you mustn't tell anyone I'm involved in this, if someone discovers anything, then you were the one who did everything. I did nothing, I didn't even know about the books you requested, make sure you ask other Professors for permission to use them..."
"I will see you tonight, then, sir. I'll bring him here, then we'll figure out something." she stood up, stretched her legs, and walked to the door, "Thank you for letting me help with this, sir," she said.
"You're welcome." he said as she went outside.
Cynthia walked through the many corridors, reached the Great Hall, and went to the Common Room. It was eleven o'clock in the morning. She had passed all those hours in Captain Dolphin's office listening to him although it didn't seem that long, though...
That was the time of the break from the classes, many students were in the common room, others were in the fields, or simply in the corridors. All the students had a break then. There was much confusion and noise everywhere. Cynthia realized she didn't know most of the people there, only Ariane, Jeremy and Monica, that girl from Brazil...
Then She remembered that most of the people she knew be in the dormitories; they would only have their first classes during the afternoon. She went back to the Dolphin Common Room, on the third floor.
On the second floor there were a group of students, they seemed to be doing something that they shouldn't: they started singing when she passed and then she heard a great noise when she was on the stairs... arriving at the third floor, she realized that the door which she passed in the morning, the one to the Dolphin's Common room, wasn't there anymore, instead, in the corridor there was only two portraits and one door at the end of the hall, on which there was a sign with "Infirmary" on it. She was sure the door was there. The portraits were of a Knight and the other of a Woman, whose robes looked like they were from the times of King Arthur...
Cynthia stared at them. "Er... Can you please tell me where the Dolphin Common Room is, please?" she asked politely.
The first who replied was the Knight. "Rosan, this girl is trying to get into the Dolphin's Common Room, she could at least find another way to do it, does she think we are stupid?" The woman had moved to his portrait, and they were both staring at Cynthia. The woman, Rosan, replied, "Darling, we aren't like you, but we aren't stupid, right?"
Cynthia was sad; she didn't want to call them stupid as they thought she was doing. "I am a Dolphin student, I just don't remember where the door is, I don't see it but I'm sure it is here, I passed through it in the morning, you would have seen me, wouldn't you?"
"In the morning?" Rosan replied "Oh no, I was with Michael on the fifth floor,"
"What?" said the Knight "You were with him in the morning? That means you slept in his portrait? I can't believe this, you lied to me!" he disappeared from his portrait.
"No, it's not true, we were just talking." she tried to explain. She didn't go away, but looked Cynthia over and said, "Do you see what you did? Oh girl, don't try to break the spell of the Dolphin Common Room, how do I know you aren't a student from one of the other houses?"
Cynthia remembered one thing that she could show her to prove that she was, in fact, a Dolphin student.
"I can show you" she started.
"How?" replied Rosan, staring at her.
"The password is Sunny Day!"
"Oh, well, sorry. I won't forgive myself for being so mad with a Dolphin student!" she said with a sad expression on her face.
"Er, please, would you like to tell me where it is?"
"Oh, sure, it's between our two portraits".
Cynthia looked at the wall where she said the door was, and she didn't notice any strange thing in the wall. She took her wand and wrote in the wall Sunny Day. The wall transformed into a door and opened quickly. She passed through it and in the Common Room there were some students talking or just sitting in the chairs. One girl was writing on the table, it wouldn't have been homework, they didn't have any classes so far, at least the first years didn't, and that girl was a first year, Cynthia knew her, although she hadn't talked to her. Her name was Natasha Bizecuit, she was tall, and she had long brown hair and green eyes.
Cynthia entered her dormitory; there were three girls inside, Sarah Wolf, Amanda Finn and Monica Banana, the one from Brazil.
"Hi" Cynthia said. Monica replied, "Hello". They had had dinner the previous day, together. The others also said a nearly inaudible "Hello". They didn't like what Cynthia did the previous day, all the other girls stayed up talking for several hours in the night and she fell asleep as if she didn't want to make friends there.
Cynthia didn't really know why she came there, she just wanted to go to the dormitories to check who was there, and she had to go to the Library before lunchtime...
"How're you doing?" she continued, she wanted to know more things about the other girls so that she'd have more friends, and yet there wasn't much...
"Well, yesterday we were talking about ourselves and our families so that we know more about the others but you preferred to sleep," said Amanda.
"Manda, please don't be so hard with her, she was tired, she told us she was tired," Monica tried to calm the conversation.
"No, she's right," Cynthia said, "If I didn't talk with you it's my fault. I could have been talking with you and I preferred to sleep, I wasn't very friendly..."
"I don't call it friendly, I call it Mummy's girl..."
"Manda!" Monica didn't want to put Cynthia angry.
"Okay, you may think what you want, I know I was very tired and that's enough to know it's not my entire fault. Well I have to go to the Library, I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, see you then." Monica said.
Cynthia went out of the Common Room, looked at the portraits; neither of the people were there, only the sceneries in the background...
Cynthia walked to the Library, which was on the seventh floor. She noticed that there were stairs between the fourth and the sixth floors, the corridor to the fifth floor could be seen but couldn't be accessed apart from if someone jumped from the stairs, which wasn't a very good idea... Cynthia started thinking why they weren't allowed to go to the fifth floor, but she quickly continued walking, it was half past eleven and lunch would be at one o'clock p.m., and that wasn't much time to spend in one library... She loved to read; when she was younger she spent entire afternoons reading children's books. Perhaps she loved books because her grandfather was a writer, but he died several years ago, and as she started to be very sad when she thought about him, she tried to think about other people...
She entered the Library; it was a large room with thousands of books, both old and new, and of different shapes, sizes and colors.
The librarian was a woman, who was no more than 26 years old; she was sitting behind a desk, full of books. She used green glasses, shaped like butterfly wings, which made her beautiful blue eyes seem not as beautiful as they were...
"Hello," Cynthia said, "May I have access to the books?"
"Sure, have you won some points?" said the librarian.
"No, I had no classes so far, do I have to exchange them to borrow books?"
"No, it depends on what book you want to borrow, well enjoy our Library and if you want a book, tell me and I'll tell you if it's necessary to exchange points or not..."
"Okay, thanks."
Cynthia turned and went near a bookcase that was plenty of History books. Quickly she realized that the book Captain Dolphin asked her to borrow must be borrowed when she got some points because a Dark Spells book like that one was shouldn't be borrowed for free...
"Er... Could you please tell me where the "Dark spells of medium difficulty" are, please?"
"Sure, it's in the restricted section... what do you want it for?"
Good. She told her she had no classes so far, she couldn't say it'd be for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class... or maybe she could.
"Oh, it's because I heard that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor will talk about those spells in the first class, which is in two days, and I wanted to read it. Well, you will be sure I won't try to cast any spells from the book, I haven't even learnt how to cast a spell..."
"Okay, you're right but, well, it must be exchanged for some points won by you, and you haven't won any..."
"Oh," Cynthia said, "And how many points will I need to borrow it?"
"I'm not allowed to tell any student how many points you must have... sorry."
"Okay, no problem, I'll have to get enough points and, well, it must be in today's and tomorrow's classes..."
"I hope you can win them, remember also that it's a Dark Magic book... do you understand?"
Well, that was basically telling her that she needed a lot of points...
"I think so," Cynthia said, "I'll just start to get some." She winked her right eye, turned and sat down in a table where a first year girl she had seen studying in the common room, Natasha Bizecuit.
"Hi, Natasha," it seemed she knew her very well. She was doing that keeping in mind Captain Dolphin's statement "You may win points by helping other students in their homework..." the other looked at her.
"Hi, Cynthia." as she could see, Natasha also knew her name.
"May I help you?"
"Sure" Natasha said, pulling out a chair so Cynthia could sit.
Cynthia quickly looked at the librarian, who smiled, understanding what she meant when she said, "I'll just start to get some".
"What are you reading?" Cynthia asked.
"'Dragons Over Atlantic', it's a book about dragons, I want to know more about them as this year some of them must be moved to the Atlantic Islands, like this archipelago..."
"Well, I thought there weren't dragons right here and why must they move here?"
"Lately, some Muggles have seen them," Natasha replied sadly, "If we fail casting memory spells on them it will be the Chaos… "
"I see..." Cynthia said. After a while, she said, "And how can I help you?"
"I am searching for the habitat of the Peruvian Vipertooth, it's the breed that I think will come here, and I'm seeing if this is the proper habitat for them or not, and I don't think so..."
"Well, that's too bad..." Cynthia said, "I will check in another book, I'll be right back."
Cynthia took "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" from the bookcase. The librarian was staring at her, smiling.
Cynthia sat near Natasha; they were talking about dragons and their habitats for a while.
Finally they put the books back in the bookcases and prepared to go out of the Library.
The librarian called them.
"Yes?" Cynthia said. Natasha followed her near the librarian.
"Well, I saw that you helped her in her homework," she said.
"Oh, that's nothing." Cynthia smiled and it seemed she was telling the truth...
"Well, I'm thinking of giving you some points," the librarian told Cynthia.
"Oh, it's the first time I've won some points!"
"Yes," the librarian said, "Ten points to Dolphin!"
"Um, can you do that?" Natasha asked, she was much smarter than Cynthia and Cynthia had gotten some points before Natasha, she couldn't believe it...
"Well, as you did your homework here in the Library, who would give you the points? I'm here and I saw you worked for them..."
Natasha mumbled, Cynthia was thankful, and they went out of the Library...
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Artio walked through those corridors and stairs and couldn't find the way to go to the Great Hall; she simply walked and entered several rooms. When she realized that wouldn't get her anywhere, she simply went out.
Finally she found a bathroom. She went inside, and it was big…
When she turned the corner in the bathroom she screamed "AAHHH!!"
There was a creature right there who scared her, she didn't expect anyone inside the bathroom and there was a girl-ghost. She was crying.
"Um, hello" Artio said.
"Sniff, hi, I didn't want to scare you, sorry, sniff" she said.
"Well, it wasn't your fault, I just didn't expect anyone here and that's why I screamed..."
"Okay, next time you don't need to be scared, I'm here every day."
"What? Why are you crying? Do you live here?"
"Yes, I live here, well I simply don't live... I have no friends"
"Why?" Artio asked.
"I am a ghost, I'm not a real girl..."
"I am new here, I haven't got any friends either..."
"Oh, big deal, you'll find some soon," said the ghost.
"Well, we could be friends. I'm Artio Sperios."
"Everyone knows me as Moaning Myrtle... thanks for being sweet, but you'll forget me soon."
"I won't, we can be friends, if we try... I can tell you about me and my life, and you can tell me about yourself, Hogwarts..."
Artio quickly told her about everything except Gilbert Stormd'sky, even about Jeremy. Moaning Myrtle simply listened quietly, and at the end she opened her mouth.
"What a story," she was crying, "I'd like to be loved that way... I loved a boy, we had a relationship but then I died, and even though I was a ghost, he didn't want to see me again."
"Oh, I'm sorry for bringing it up." Artio said.
"No problem, he's dead now, too..."
"I also don't clearly remember how I came to the Great Hall, I just remember when I was near the gate and then Professor Snape was asking me about my father, with a big man, Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys..."
They were talking for a while and then Artio realized that lunchtime was some hours ago, it was afternoon, and she was hungry...
The Moaning Myrtle told her how to get to the Great Hall, which she did, wanting to get something to eat.
There was no one in the Common Room, except a house-elf who was cleaning the tables. He was scared when Artio entered the room.
"Ah!" he screamed, and ran out of the room.
"Sorry for scaring you," Artio said, "I didn't want to do it."
He wasn't there anymore, at least Artio couldn't see him, but she kept apologizing, "Come here, I won't hurt you, I won't bite you, I won't tell anyone I saw you."
But he didn't come. Instead, when Artio turned, there was a plate full of food. She was delighted with the food.
Some minutes later she was in the fields, and there were dark clouds in the sky. Artio walked to the Lake.
She sat in a shadow of a tree; there were many animals near and in the Lake.
She fell asleep and when she woke up, it was sundown, and the new students were arriving...
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Cynthia had lunch with some girls of her year, Natasha, who had been with her the entire morning, Monica, the Brazilian girl, Sarah and Amanda.
They weren't very sympathetic earlier but now they seemed to forget that...
They'd gotten to the Charms classroom, in the Dungeons, which were with Professor Josh Darkwater, the captain of the Shark house.
When they entered the room, Professor Darkwater was already inside. He said, "Welcome to your first class, Dolphins, and your second one, Whales!"
They'd have that class with Whale house first years, of which there were few.
"In this first class we'll talk about Charms history..." the professor began "Does anyone know where the name "Charms" comes from?"
"I do," Cynthia said, she was determined to win more points, "It is from the medieval age, isn't it?"
"No, Ms. Tropelt, no." said the Professor "What've you been doing all the morning? You should have read the first pages of the book, at least those if you didn't want to read it entirely, it's obvious, it's right there on the first paragraph, five points from Dolphin!"
Cynthia was sad, it wasn't her obligation to read the book before the classes! That wasn't fair, the points she'd won in the morning were lost in the afternoon: near the end of the class she opened one more time her mouth and professor Josh took more five points from Dolphin house...
When the class ended, Cynthia couldn't believe it, that was torture; she shouldn't have opened her mouth!
The rest of the afternoon she passed in the fields, the girls were watching the Dolphin's Quidditch team training. In their opinion there were some handsome boys on the team...
****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****
Artio woke up and went inside the castle, it was sunset and the students were arriving at Hogwarts.
The sky was very dark, like a stormy day... When Artio entered the Great Hall, Professor Flitwick asked her "Where were you? We've been searching for you since the afternoon! Go, go sit at the Ravenclaw Table."
She sat there, at the same time the door of the Common Room opened and several students entered. With the confusion, no one noticed she'd been there before they entered, nor that she didn't come on the Hogwarts Express...
The tables were full of students in a few minutes; she was sitting between a Chinese girl, older than Artio, and a boy who seemed to be a second year.
The others were talking to people Artio figured they knew, and finally the Chinese girl said "Hello! I'm Cho Chang, who are you?"
"Um, hi, I'm Artio Sperios..."
"Oh, are you new here? I don't remember you..."
"Yes, it's my first day here at Hogwarts, I came from Lusitania, a magical academy in Azores, Portugal... I was sorted in this morning, I entering the fourth year, and although I don't know how to do the easiest spell because in Lusitania first years are fourteen..."
"Oh, so you are the "special case" as they call it?"
"Special case?" Artio asked, "What do you mean, I don't know about anything..."
"Well, the Professors asked me to help you in classes, since I had good marks last year."
"So you'll help me? Good!"
Cho would have replied but the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore started talking, wishing everyone a good year and those normal things at the beginning of a new year...
It was thundering, the sky of the Great Hall had a spell on it, which made it look like the sky outside, although it didn't rain, or hail like the real sky did.
The sound was terrible and when there was a thunder the Great Hall was illuminated, which scared Artio.
Some minutes later, a new professor, who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts as Professor Dumbledore had said, entered the room. His name was Mad Eye Moody.
His face was full of scars and he had a brown normal eye while the other was blue and bigger, which was looking for other things the first didn't... He was scary!
Artio had a strange feeling, it seemed to her that Mad Eye Moody looked at her with his blue eye, and it seemed like he smiled at her.
"Er, Cho, I... I heard about Harry Potter, is he studying here? Can you tell me who he is?"
"Oh, the phenomenon, the boy who lived... yes, sure, he's that guy right there, at the Gryffindor Table."
Artio looked at him, a black haired boy who used glasses, the one who defeated the Dark Lord thirteen years ago, when he was just a baby... He was talking with a boy and a girl happily.
He looked up, in the direction of the Ravenclaw Table, to the place Artio was.
"He's looking at me," Cho said.
At that moment Artio saw the scar on the middle of his forehead, it was that scar what made him special, it was the proof of his battle with Voldemort.
At the same moment Artio felt a shock of pain in her left arm.
She looked at it to see what had happened, on her arm she could see an image of a snake. She hid the image beneath clothes, not even Cho saw it, and it disappeared when Harry looked away...
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In the next chapter: What was that snake on Artio's arm? Was it caused by Harry Potter looking at her or it was just coincidence? And Cynthia? Will she get enough points to borrow the dark magic book? Jeremy and Artio don't know anything about the spell, but will they find out? And who had cast the spell on them? And why? Discover these and other things in chapter eight.
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