Welcome to Hogwarts
A month drags on as Harry eagerly anticipates the arrival of the American Quidditch players and as his friendship with Ron dissolves even further. Their feud hasn't cost their house anymore points but it is distancing them from Hermione and Ginny, who want nothing to do with the fight They've even taken to hanging out with Parvati and Lavender, sharing grimaces as the girls burst into fits of giggles over their new "readings" from their own tea leaves.
Harry sits on the end of the couch, looking through his Divination book while Ron does the same thing on the other end. They both look over at each other as their fellow Divination classmates laugh even harder. Unable to control themselves, they both start laughing as well. Everyone looks at them in shock as they roll over, laughing hysterically.
Lavender and Parvati look very offended and they storm out of the common room. Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, and Dean Thomas, their dorm mates, look grateful. The silence had been a terrible strain on all of them.
Ron and Harry hug tightly. "This has been so stupid. I'm really sorry, Harry!" Ron says, on the verge of tears.
"Don't mention it, Ron!" Harry is too happy to have his friend back that he doesn't care about the reasons for the fight anymore.
Just then, the doors burst open and Professor McGonagall bustles a group of seven teens into the Gryffindor common room. They're dressed in robes identical to the robes that the English Gryffindors are wearing. Harry and Ginny stand forward, being the first to greet the Americans. "Ginny, go upstairs and get Katie, Alicia, and Angelina. Harry, go get Fred and George. It's time to meet the American Gryffindors!"
"Hang on a minute," a tall, fair skinned blond boy says. He looks hard at Harry. "You're Harry Potter!" he uses his wand to push the bangs away from Harry's forehead, revealing the lightning bolt shaped scar. "I'm Daniel Harper, the captain and Seeker of the American Gryffindors!" he holds out an eager hand.
"How uncouth!" they hear Hermione say. She hurries up the stairs to her dorm, not bothering to meet the new team.
"What's her deal?" a big girl with short light brown hair and glasses covered green eyes asks. She has a thick Midwestern accent. "You'd think she'd never properly introduced herself to anyone."
Professor McGonagall sighs. She doesn't understand Hermione's behavior, either. Harry turns to go get his team's Beaters when he sees Ron already leading them down. Ginny is heading down with the three Chasers. Angelina walks toward Daniel eagerly. "Welcome to Hogwarts! I'm Angelina Johnson, captain and Chaser of the English."
Daniel makes his introductions. "I'm Daniel Harper. And these are my teammates: Cynthia Radcliff, Mark Sanders, and Denise Davis; all Chasers. Joann Parker and Matthew Wilson, they're the Beaters. Colby MacGuiness here is the Keeper."
Angelina introduces her team. They all shake hands cordially. Joann, the Midwestern Beater, smiles very warmly at Ginny when she gets that far down the row. "Folks call me Johnny. I ain't exactly built like a Joann, huh?"
Ginny shakes her head, blushing furiously. She is relieved when there's no more attention being paid to her when the group surrounds Harry again. "You're really Harry Potter! You've got the scar and everything!" Colby says a bit slowly. His face is a bit mangled, showing that he's had his share of beatings with Bludgers and Quaffles in his time. But his brown eyes twinkle with a friendliness that is plenty welcome by the English.
"So, where are we staying?" Denise asks suddenly. She is very up kept girl that looks as though she'd be sooner caught naked than without makeup. "I want to touch up before the feast tonight."
"Your room assignments should be on your bags," Professor McGonagall replies. As she says it, forms of paper appear pinned to each of the students' bags. They read them and look toward their new roommates.
"Put your things away and come back down here," Professor McGonagall says. "I'm going to have a word with Miss Granger."
Harry, Ron, and Ginny exchange glances. Hermione's never really been in trouble before. And her attitude toward the Americans was a little strange. She's always been very polite and proper to everyone until given a reason not to be. Ginny sees Johnny waiting patiently by the stairs alone. "Uh, you're rooming with me?"
"That's right, unless you have any objections. I can easily bunk down here in the common room. It's cozy enough," Johnny says pleasantly.
"No, that's all right. Come on up. Harry, I think Colby is waiting for you," Ginny says. She reaches down to help Johnny with her bags but Johnny easily lifts each of her trunks under her arms. "Don't you want some help?"
Johnny shakes her head. "Nah. I'm used to lugging my own gear. Didn't even like handing these over to the house elves earlier. Friendly fellas but a bit over eager. One of the little ones threw a fit when I said to leave it alone."
Ginny looks sad as she leads Johnny up to her room. "Winky must have been transferred to luggage. Maybe she'll be happier there."
"Winky?" Johnny asks. "You know those things?"
"They're not things! They're sentient beings just like you and me," Ginny says crossly. "And Winky's had a tougher time than most. Her master freed her and she's been a mess ever since."
"Whoa. Sorry," Johnny says quietly. She puts her trunks down at the foot of Ginny's bed. She immediately starts to assemble her travel bed.
Ginny watches her for a few minutes. The girl doesn't even move toward the wand she has stuffed into her back pocket. Finally, she just has to ask. "Why don't you just use magic?"
Johnny straightens up after setting everything up. "That's cheating. If you can't do something without the aid of magic, what good are you without a wand? Magic should be a tool, not a way of life."
"You're Muggle born?" Ginny asks.
Johnny hesitates a second. "I guess so. Well, we'd better get down to the common area, shouldn't we?"
Harry helps Colby work out the travel bed. Ron stands a few feet away to watch eagerly. "So, how long have you been playing Quidditch?"
Colby pauses. He looks down at his hands and counts slowly on his fingers. "Four years."
Ron and Harry glance at each other, stifling laughter. "What year are you?"
Colby thinks again. "Sixth. Been Keeper for four years."
"Are you all right?" Ron asks suddenly.
Colby looks a bit embarrassed. "I think kind of slowly. I can stop Quaffles fine but they hit my head a lot."
"Well, that's all right, as long as you stop them good, right?" Harry gives Ron a warning glance.
Colby grins. "That's right. So, when do we eat?" the three boys head downstairs.
"Look, they're just a bunch of barbarians. No wonder they were practically non existent to the magic world till recently," Hermione says angrily. "Did you see how rude they were to Harry? Just touching at his face and whatnot? It's uncalled for."
"They're our guests for the rest of the school year, Hermione. You're going to have to get used to them. Besides, just because most of the wizards here are used to Harry's fame, doesn't mean we all haven't been a bit star struck by him, don't you agree?" Professor McGonagall says.
Hermione sighs. "I suppose."
"Come on downstairs. I don't expect you to apologize but I do expect you to give them a chance," Professor McGonagall says. "Ginny is roommates with one of the Beaters and Harry's with their Keeper so you're going to be seeing quite a bit of them."
The feast is a wonderful ceremony. Dumbledore stands before they eat and remarks on how wonderful it is to have the schools getting along so well already. The only animosity generated is the general one between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins. Having two schools' worth is a bit difficult but the evening goes along very well.
After the feast, Draco, followed by the American Slytherin team, approaches Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Johnny, and Colby. Colby and Johnny just stare hard at the American Slytherins but don't say anything.
"What's the matter, guys, aren't you going to introduce yourselves to the English Seeker?" Kyle Martin, a Slytherin Chaser says. He grins at Colby. "You know what hello is, don't you? Or did you forget that one during your last practice?"
Colby clenches his fist but stays quiet. Liana Jones, the Slytherin Keeper and captain looks at Johnny. "What's the matter, Joann? Your manners flew out the window during the plane ride here?"
"You took a plane?" Ron starts to ask but Hermione nudges him in the side.
"At least I didn't spend the trip sobbing in the bathroom," Johnny says bitterly.
Liana steps forward but Draco puts a hand on her shoulder as Filch, the caretaker of the school, walks by. He gives them all menacing stares as he passes through the door. His cat, Mrs. Norris, walks after him. "This is the gleesome threesome, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and Harry Potter… followed by their pet, Ginny Weasley."
Ron is about to move toward Draco to defend his sister but Johnny moves faster. She grabs Draco by his collar and lifts him up, slamming him against the wall. She doesn't care that people are stopping to stare. "You might want to mind your manners, Draco Malfoy. I might be inclined to pummel a bit of respect out of you."
Simon Baker, the American Slytherin Beater, pulls Draco out of Johnny's grip. "You're going to have to mind Johnny, Draco. You see, she uses her fists when a simple spell would do nicely. But, what would you expect from a Mudblood?"
Colby grabs Johnny as she moves to hit Simon. "Not here, Johnny!"
"Let's go back to the tower," Hermione says quickly. She leads the group back and they pause at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Dormiens."
"Okay, have a good night!" the Fat Lady replies easily, swinging open to let the group inside.
When they're all inside, Daniel turns to glare at Johnny. "What do you think you were doing? Do you realize that if you get into any fights while we're here, we have to leave? You know that! What's it going to look like if we let Slytherin win this thing without even having a fighting chance?"
"She was fighting," Colby says quietly. Daniel just looks at him hopelessly.
"Sorry. That Malfoy punk had better watch his back, though. I won't tolerate his attitude when we're on the Pitch," Johnny says angrily.
Daniel shakes his head. "Fine. Mess him up when we're out there. But when we're in class or on campus, leave him alone."
"How do you know Draco, anyway?" Hermione asks. "No one introduced you."
"Malfoy's a popular character where we're from," Cynthia Radcliff says from her seat on the couch. "Well, his dad is, anyway. Always showing up, trying to tell headmaster Winslow that we shouldn't let any students who aren't pureblood attend. Winslow usually just ships him off again but he comes back every year to do the same song and dance."
"I didn't realize the Malfoys were interested in the States," Ron says.
"Doesn't surprise me any," Harry replies. "After all, the Americans are basically the new kids in town. Who better than the Malfoys to corrupt them while they're young," he shakes his head.
"Good call," Mark Sanders says. "But, regardless of his motives, he doesn't sit well with anyone but the Slytherins at our school. We all hate him. But we always see him talking to the Slytherins, enticing them to the Dark Arts, no doubt. Going on and on about how proud the Dark Lord would be with his new younger followers."
Hermione's mouth drops open. "He's soliciting Voldemort to the school?"
Most of the Americans grimace at the mention of his name. "Yup. Nothing we can do about it, really. Not our place to say anything. When Winslow catches him, as he always does, he leaves and things return to normal. A few anti-Mudblood banners go up but they're always knocked down by the rest of us," Daniel says.
"That kind of behavior isn't even tolerated here," Hermione says proudly.
"Well, good for you," Johnny says bitterly, glaring at Hermione. "I'll bet when the Slytherins hold up their wands here, flowers grow out the ends, too."
"Knock it off, Johnny," Daniel has a warning tone in his voice.
Johnny gets up. "I'm turning in. See you all in the morning," she heads up to the girls' dorm quickly, not looking at anyone.
When Johnny's left the room, Ron sits down in her place. "What's her problem, anyway? She's got an attitude worse than a Slytherin."
Denise shakes her head in disappointment. "She wasn't always like that. When she first got into Hogwarts, our Hogwarts, five years ago, she was fine. She got along well with everyone and even was nice to the Slytherins. But, as her first school year went on, it was obvious that she isn't very proficient in magic. Just can't get used to having it do things for her. She's very hands-on, you see. So, of course, the Slytherins decided that this was the funniest thing they'd ever heard of and started to really harass her for it."
"That's awful,' Ginny says, remembering that Johnny had been very upset when Ginny had suggested using magic to put the bed together. "She must be Muggle born, then."
"No one knows for sure," Matthews says. "She doesn't know who her real parents are. The people who adopted her are, though, so the Slytherins see her as worse than Muggle born. She lives on some ranch in New Mexico so she's really used to manual labor. She just doesn't like magic, it seems."
"So why study it?" Hermione asks.
Daniel shrugs. "It's hard to hide a talent if you don't know how it works or how to control it. She's probably going to do real Muggle work when she graduates but for right now, she needs to know how to hide that she's a witch."
"She's a damn good Quidditch player, though," Colby says suddenly. "Best Beater our school's seen in a long, long time."
"Really?" Harry and Ron ask.
Cynthia nods vehemently. "Definitely. Very strong and very fast. She loves to ride. She says it comes from riding horses all her life, though I'm not sure how that would make her fly a broom well."
"She's a great girl to have at your back when you're in the air," Daniel replies. "But she's going to get us all into a lot of trouble if she doesn't control that temper of hers!
