Chapter 4 - The Arrival

"Hermione. I was about to say." Harry added sarcastically.

"Where did he go?" Mandi asked.

"She." Ron corrected her blushing.

"Oh. Heh, sorry!" Mandi said laughing it off sitting down.

They sat and introduced themselfs to eachother and ate some snacks. It only felt like 5 minutes that they've been talking, when the train came to a stop and Mandi went flying across the compartment. Harry tried really hard not to laugh. Ron helped her up, and she burst out laughing herself.

"Oh, that was priceless." Mandi giggled.

Ron raised an eye brow. "Priceless? Hey! Then that means I can buy it!"

"Buy what?" Mandi asked getting out of the train.

He turned a bit more red then before. "Nevermind."

***

They walked though the Great Hall. It was very "gold" this year. The candles floated above everyones heads and the sorting hat sat lowly on the stool infront of the teachers table.

"You better go get sorted with the First Years." Harry said seeing Hermione walk infront of them. "Hermione!"

She looked their way and caught up with them. "I've been looking for you."

Ron "pffted" at the sound of that. "Ya, ok, Miss. I-walk-out-of-the- compartment-and-don't-come-back."

Hermione looked down. "Oh, sorry. I, err, went to change into my, err, robes."

Harry shook his head. "Uh, you already had your Hogwarts Robes on Hermione!"

Mandi whispered something in her ear, "Busted."

***

Mandi eventually did go get sorted with the first years and ended up in, nothing else but, Gryffindor. Albus Dumbledore - Hogwart's best Headmaster ever - told her to go first. Since she was supposed to be in the Fifth Year.

There was one weird thing about Mandi though. She never spoke any french at all. Since she came from Beauxbatons. Nothing but "Bonjour" for that matter.

The 4 of them (yes Hermione too) sat by some 6th Year Gryffindor students. Ron ate up a storm, and Hermione hardly touched any of her food.

"Ron, the Dursley's where acting so strangly this summer." Harry poked up after a big meal. "They gave me so much food, and they called me "dearest and sweetums!"

Ron's eyes widen and he got closer to Harry. "No!" He said in a funny dark way.

"Yah ha! Weird, huh?"

"Whos "The Dursley's"?" Mandi asked.

"Their my Muggle aunt and uncle...oh ya, and my fat cousin whos butt hangs off the chair!"

Ron and Mandi laughed. Hermione still stayed silent.

***

The Common-Room was excatly the same as before. Well, except maybe the new faces that roamed around, but hey, you know what I mean! Harry, Ron and Hermione showed Mandi around the common-room. She was amazed on how beautiful it was. Hermione had taken her up to her dorm room too, being as how they had to share a room.

After the tour, they took a break before the school year started and played some Wizard Chess, blew up some Wizard Crackers, and even played a game of hide-n-go-seek in the dark. But, it had gotten quite late, and they thought it should be time for bed.

The next morning was wonderfully lit with the bright sun-light pouring into the school. They had gotton their timetables and owls first thing this morning - except for Mandi.

Their first class was Potions ("Of course." Ron said sarcastically.) with the evil Snape, the Potions teacher - who longed for a time to be the D.A.D.A. (Defence Agasit the Dark Arts) teacher.

"He's really freaky looking." Mandi said sitting at the back of the room with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"How do you think we feel about having him for a teacher for 4 years." Hermione said. Everyone was guessing that she was feeling better now.

"Pretty bad I suppose."

"Awful morning brats. I suppose we're all ready for a reveiw from last year? Take out your quills and start writing a 5000 word essay on what you learned lasy year. No wait, make that 50,000." Snape smirked.

Mandi raised her hand quickly. "Excuse me sir, but, err," Mandi was looking at his gross yellow teeth and smelly greasy black hair.

"What do you want girl?"

"I wasn't here last year."

"Ahhh," Snape said nodding. "Your that exchanged student I suppose?"

Mandi nodded. "Yes sir."

"Ahh, well then, you can write a 100,000 word essay on Potions then."

Mandi's jaw dropped - but one thing that didn't, was her anger. "Hello?! Did you even hear a WORD I said?! I said I wasn't here last year to learn the stuff that you taught! How am I supposed to write an 100,000 word essay on Potions, If I don't know what you taught?!"

Snape rose from his desk. "Excu-"

"No! You EXCUSE ME! Excuse me from this assigment, and give me another one thats suitable for me! I bet you, that If I did a 100,000 word essay on the Potion I knew, you'd probably give me an "F" and say "Thats not what we learned last year!" Well, I have something to say to you, and keep it in mind: I'm not your average student!" Mandi took a breath and sat down. "Ok, I feel better now."

Ron's eyes opened and finally started to breathe - just like everyone else. "N-no ones EVER stood up to Snape like that before."

"Well, someone had to." There was a pause. "I think." Mandi looked infront of her and there stood Snape.

"Finally someone had the courage to stick up to me." He said slowly. "Surprising. Very surprising. Which now gives me all the right for you to clean the trophy case tonight." He smirked.

"No." Mandi said with no expression. "Theres no way I'm going to let someone as smelly, ugly, and gross like you to boss me around."

Snape's lip trembled a bit and put his face in his robes. He, started to cry! "Class," he sniffed, "Dismissed! No assignment today!"

Mandi's eyes grew large but then she smiled, kind of evily too.