TWO
The next day, Harry awoke to find that he was alone in the dormitory but for Neville, who was still asleep. Dressing quickly, he sprinted down the stairs to the common room and found most of the Gryffindors awake and crowded around Mary Sue Smith, hurling questions at her from all directions.
"Where in America did you live?"
"Was it cool?"
"Is England better?"
"I'll bet you were top of your class!"
"Have you always known about magic?"
"Do you play Quidditch?"
"What year are you?"
Mary Sue sat in a large armchair near the fire, smiling and patiently responding to all of the questions. Harry saw Ron and Hermione, sitting near to her, and hurried over to them.
"What's going on?" he muttered.
Hermione laughed. "It's obvious!" she said. "Everyone's curious about her. After all, she's from Abroad."
"Mm," said Harry. Suddenly Mary Sue looked up from her eager questioners and saw Harry.
"Harry!" she cried. "Good morning!" She smiled again, her sky-blue eyes shining.
Harry blushed and looked at his feet. "Yeah," he muttered.
At that moment, Percy Weasley strode down the stairs and into the Common Room. "What are you doing?" he asked incredulously of no one in particular. "Everyone, go down to breakfast!" He opened his mouth to continue his irritable tirade, but stopped as he saw Mary Sue.
"Oh," he said, deflating. "Good morning. Are you enjoying Hogwarts?"
Mary Sue shot him a smile and nodded, her blonde hair swishing slightly. "It's lovely," she said with a laugh. "Not one bit like Benel's."
"Benel's?" Harry whispered quizzically to Ron, who answered without taking his eyes off of Mary Sue's face.
"Her school in America."
"Oh," said Harry.
"Well then," Percy was saying a bit distractedly, "Let's all go down to breakfast, shall we?"
Immediately, Mary Sue rose and followed Percy out of the portrait hole. Not waiting to see whether Ron and Hermione were coming, Harry pushed through the students and exited the Common Room as well, hurrying down the hall. He was not alone – it seemed that most of the Gryffindor students had had the same idea.
They entered the Great Hall as a body, and sat down at the Gryffindor table. To his intense delight, Mary Sue chose a seat near Harry again. "I should sit by someone I know," she laughed. "This place is so big, I'll never find my way around!"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out," Percy said airily from across the table. He seemed to have recovered from the incident in the Common Room and was dishing himself some porridge. "It's not so hard, really, once you understand it." He took a handful of robe and polished his Prefect badge conspicuously.
"I hope so," said Mary Sue, her eyes very round and sincere.
"Just watch out for the staircases," said Harry, eager to be a part of the conversation.
Mary Sue's bell-like laugh pealed through the Great Hall. "The staircases?" she asked, smiling.
"Yeah," said Harry, blushing. "They – er – they move."
Mary Sue smiled at him and turned back to her juice. "I'll be careful," she said.
"Er – what year are you?" Harry asked after a moment, realizing he didn't know.
"Third," Mary Sue replied.
"Great!" said Harry excitedly. "So are we – I mean, so am I."
"Good," said Mary Sue with another laugh. "Maybe I won't get so lost after all!"
"Yeah," said Harry. "Um – er – feel free to, uh, ask for help."
Mary Sue laughed yet again. "I'm sure I'll need it!"
"I don't know about that," Harry replied sincerely.
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In double Charms (with Ravenclaw), the first class of the day, Mary Sue took a seat in front of Harry. Ron quickly scrambled for the next desk over, while Hermione took the seat behind him. The class settled noisily into their desks and then waited for the lesson to begin.
Tiny Professor Flitwick cleared his throat before beginning his lecture on Curing Charms. A quarter of an hour later, he said that they were ready to test their expertise, and asked for a few volunteers. Harry and Ron – along with most of the boys in the class – raised their hands quickly.
"I only need six of you," said Flitwick, a little dazed by the reaction. When no hands went down, he selected Ron, Harry, Seamus Finnigan, and three boys from Ravenclaw Harry didn't know. They proceeded to try the Curing Charm on Flitwick ("I have been possessed of a head cold," he told them) for the next half of class. Harry's and Ron's went tolerably well (though Harry's spell left the Professor with a twitch over one eye), as did the rest. The class was then given leave to try the spell on each other ("Although", said Flitwick, "It will be difficult, as not everyone is ill.") until it was time for their next class.
"That was fascinating," said Mary Sue enthusiastically as they exited the room. "Much more interesting than what they teach at home."
"Yeah," said Harry, suddenly developing a fondness for Curing Charms.
Double Herbology with Hufflepuff was next, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione led Mary Sue over the frigid grounds toward Greenhouse Four. The lesson was more complicated than it was wont to be – they were obliged to pull the Venemous Hilengars into small, tailor-made jackets to keep them from catching cold. Though the Hilengars were sluggish in the winter, it was still a trick to watch out for their spiny tentacles, and the entire class was thoroughly worn out by the end of the class. Only Mary Sue seemed as buoyant as ever, and asked Hermione excitedly what was next.
"Potions," Hermione said in disgust, reading off her course schedule. "Brace yourself."
Mary Sue giggled and followed the others as they trooped back into the Entrance Hall, removing cloaks and scarves and stamping snow from their shoes.
"So, Mary Sue," Hermione asked as they made their way to Snape's dungeon. "What's school like in America?"
"It's very different," said Mary Sue with a smile. "In America, we have many schools of magic across the country, but they are all much smaller than this. Benel's is a Private Academy in New York. It's really exclusive."
Her tone was matter-of-fact, without the faintest hint of pride.
"Hogwarts is pretty exclusive too," said Ron helpfully from behind them. "I mean, not all wizards and witches get letters."
Mary Sue laughed. "Oh, I know," she said. "I'm incredibly lucky to be here!"
"I didn't mean that," Ron muttered, his ears turning scarlet.
"Oh, but I am," said Mary Sue, looking over her shoulder at Ron. Her eyes were very round. "It was a strictly one-student exchange."
"Yeah, but with your grades…" Harry stopped, not sure what he meant to say.
"Oh yes," said Mary Sue seriously, "But it's still amazing to me that I'm here at all!"
They walked into Snape's dungeon and sat down at a table together. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas hurried over to the next table, scrambling to sit the nearest to Mary Sue.
A moment after Snape had instructed the class to open their books to page one thousand seventy-three, Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle slid into the dungeon. Without looking around, they took a table at the opposite end of the room from Harry, among the Slytherins.
"Settle down," Snape said mildly, and continued with his instructions. Five minutes later, they were told to begin concocting a Deafening Draught – "But do not let any of it spill!" Snape told them fiercely.
Harry set to work at a cauldron with Ron, but before Hermione and Mary Sue could begin their own Deafening Draught Neville Longbottom rushed into the dungeon, very pale. "S-sorry I'm l-late, Professor," he stuttered, and sank into a misplaced chair at Harry's table.
Snape moved menacingly toward the frightened Neville. "You're late, Longbottom," he hissed. "Twelve points from Gryffindor. And that table has too many people," he added, staring at Harry accusingly. "Potter, go sit over there." He motioned toward the table where Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sat sniggering.
"But Professor, I've already started my potion," Harry said, gesturing toward the cheerfully bubbling cauldron.
"I'll go, Professor," said another voice. Mary Sue stood up, collecting her textbook. "I mean, really, it's not very much trouble. I've not started my potion yet."
"Mary Sue!" Hermione whispered. "You don't want to do that, trust me…"
Snape looked at Mary Sue for a long moment, and then nodded, his face inscrutable. He spun swiftly on his heel and resumed his position at the front of the dungeon.
Making as if to pick up her bag, Mary Sue leaned down and whispered to Hermione, "You help Neville. He needs it." Throwing a compassionate glance at Neville, who sat pale-faced and trembling in the extra chair, she straightened and made her way across the dungeon to Malfoy's table.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm by no means making any kind of hint that Mary Sue is going to go pair off with Malfoy. This is just a way to show her compassionate nature and her willingness to give everyone a chance. I mean hey, she's perfect, okay? ;-) Next chapter coming soon.
