"Hi guys!" Mason shouted, running toward them. "How are your classes going?"
"Okay," Jes said, trying to finish the conversation quickly. "Well, we're kind of in a hurry, so we'll have to talk to you later. Okay Mace?" Mason shrugged and walked away, muttering to himself. Kari started walking toward the piano room. Jes followed, not questioning where she was going. When they arrived, Jes finally understood. He immediately walked over and sat down in a chair by the fire. Soon Kari was playing. Listening and waiting patiently, Jes let her channel her emotions into the music. By the time she was finished, it was getting close to dinner.
As Kari, Jes, harry, Ron and Hermione walked down the stairs and into the Great Hall, Kari's mind began to wander. She was pushed back to reality when she bumped into something very hard.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. I guess I wasn't paying attention," a girl with long, brown hair said.
"Go on," Kari told the others. "I'll catch up with you." She bent down and helped the girl pick up her things once again. Her books were scattered all along the corridor because of the sudden impact.
Kari studied her for a moment. She noticed her emerald green eyes hidden behind glasses; the girl was medium height, maybe 5'6" or so. They headed off to dinner together, talking as they walked. The girl's name was Raven Browen and she was a Huffelpuff fifth year.
Kari agreed to meet her in the library after dinner so that she could meet her friends. The girls then separated and walked to their tables. Jes, reading Kari's face, could tell that she had gotten along with the girl fairly well. Kari's eyes turned hot pink as she sat down next to Neville.
After dinner, Kari walked to the library alone while Jes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed to Gryffindor Tower. She found a table and sat down, quietly waiting. Raven showed up about five minutes later with a group of very talkative girls trailing behind her. When they spotted Kari, they were immediately quiet. Their curious eyes flickered up to the scar on her forehead before looking her over; their eyes stopped quickly when they reached, her now, bright yellow eyes.
Raven introduced her friends in turn. First came Rylie Havelock, then Allison Zempel, and Melanie Lafferty. Rylie, who stood next to Raven nervously, was about 5'5". Her light brown hair hung limply on her shoulders and her blue eyes glinted in the torchlight. Allison's long, straight, blonde hair matched her blue eyes perfectly. She was shorter then Kari by about 3 inches; she was in Ravenclaw. She smiled lightly and excused herself from the conversation, saying that she had a lot of potion homework to do. Melanie, often-called Mel, had brown hair with suttle blonde highlights. Her ice blue-grayish eyes fixed Kari in a piercing stare. Then she too, walked out of the dull, dim, library. She walked quickly and glanced back over her shoulder at least three times before exiting.
Rylie glanced nervously over at Kari and Raven, attempting to break the ice, started a nonsense conversation that lasted until Madame Prince bustled them out of the library.
Not wanting to go back to the common room, Kari said goodbye to her new friends and headed for the piano room. She changed her mind halfway there and began walking the corridors. She didn't seem to notice anything around her, except for when she almost bumped into a Huffelpuff fifth year. For the second time that day, she apologized.
"Oh! I'm sorry."
"It's okay," the girl said. "No harm done. By the way, I'm Katie Stence." Kari looked her us and down. Her hair went to her shoulders and her bright green eyes smiled when she brushed the hair out of her face.
Katie, for one reason or another, was very short and very pale. They strolled down the corridor together. Kari learned that Katie, too, had a brother. His name is Michael. She has a white owl with gray eyes named Spook.
Kari then realized how late it was, so she bid Katie goodbye and walked back to Gryffindor Tower.
The two, over the next few weeks, became the very best of friends. Katie introduced Kari to another friend of hers named Hayleigh Hayden. Hayleigh has long, auburn hair and hazel eyes. She had a slight tan and quite a few freckles. Kari thought she was about normal height, beings that she was about two inches taller then Katie.
Hayleigh has two younger twin siblings. Their names are Abba and Abe. Abe, who is five minutes then his sister, Abba, is very humble. She owns a black rat with orange eyes named Duke and a gray owl named Duchess.
To Kari, Heyleigh seemed unaware that she was naturally intelligent. She was a smart aleck at times, but she was always very friendly. Hayleigh was a Slytherin, but it was apparent to everyone that she didn't want to be there. The weeks passed quickly and Kari barely noticed that Halloween was coming up soon.
She awoke early in the morning on Halloween when a strange owl started tapping on the window above her bed. Opening it, she let the owl inside. it dropped the letter it was holding and flew off once again. kari opened the letter, sat down on her bed, and began to read. it said.
Dear Kari,
Happy Halloween! Your father and I miss you very much. I hope your adjusting well and meeting…er…new people. We'll see you and your brother over Christmas.
Mom
Something didn't feel right about the letter. She and Jes had already agreed that they were going to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas to keep Harry company. They had already informed their parents about their decision, except for the part about Harry.
She shrugged off her questions and stuffed the letter in her trunk. While walking down the spiral staircase, she decided not to tell Jes about the letter.
Because it was Halloween, there were no classes. Kari walked over to a couch by the fire and sat down next to Harry. He smiled at her. Suddenly, without thinking, she stood up and headed toward the portrait hole.
"Where are you going?" Ron asked from across the room.
"I'll be back later," she replied. Jes shrugged and went back to his reading.
Kari walked down to the Entrance Hall, opened the doors, and stepped outside into the crisp, clean air. She needed time to mull things over in her mind. Pulling her cloak closer to her body, she sat down and leaned against a nearby tree.
Her attention was drawn to the ring on her finger. Lightly touching it with her finger, she though about her mother's letter. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She turned quickly to find Katie. Her eyes glinted as she smiled and sat down next to her. They talked for a long time about nonsense things. Kari then realized how dark it had gotten. Jumping up, her eyes searching around in the darkness, she ad the feeling she was being watched. A dark, non-humanlike shadow of something was standing about 100 feet away from them. At the sight of it, she screamed.
Was it a cat? she thought. Cold sweat was dripping down her face and she was shaking like mad. She was now aware of footsteps coming up behind her and Katie. They were running steps, with long strides.
"Kari!" Jes screamed. "Are you alright?" He stared at her back. She turned to face him, pale and weak. He knew something was wrong at that moment.
"Yes, I'm fine," Kari managed to stammer before she collapsed into the arms of her older brother. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Katie, and Jes helped Kari walk back to the castle. Once inside, Katie slipped away, silently. They went straight up to the common room, not bothering to go to dinner. Ron, went into the Great Hall to snatch something for Kari to eat.
They got up to the common room and Kari began to eat. The others watched nervously. Kari wanted to stay up for a while so that she could try to figure out what she had seen, but Harry and Jes bullied her into going to bed early.
She got into bed, but did not sleep. Kari had made a decision to use one of Jes's ears like a hidden microphone. That way, she could listen to their conversation without them knowing it. Concentrating hard, she began to hear voices as Jes would hear them.