A Magical Quandary

Chapter One

Anna Vaughn scowled at the piece of parchment she was clutching and shot a glare at the door of her room.  She was extremely angry and irritated.  Completely prepared to go on to college at the age of eleven, the child prodigy was understandably upset that her parents were forcing her to attend a boarding school in Scotland.  For magic.

            She snorted contemptuously.  From her parents' impromptu demonstrations, she was forced to admit that magic did indeed exist.  Her parents, it seemed, had given up a life of magic in pursuit of science.  They had also mentioned something about a dark wizard, but they were very cagey on the subject.  It appeared they did not wish to discuss the subject with their daughter.

            Snarling, she threw the paper down on her desk and continued to glare at it.  A casual observer would be able to make out the Hogwarts emblem on the top of the letter…

1 September

King's Cross Station

Anna stared around her in a mixture of haughtiness and wonder.  For all that she was still seething that she wasn't to be attending MIT in the fall, she was fascinated by the magical world.   

            Already, she had purchased every book on magical physics she could get her hands on.  Her neat, orderly world had received a shock when magic had proven to be real.  So far the books hadn't proved extremely helpful, they were written to help a person understand how to cast a spell.  Anna wanted to know how magic related to the laws of physics.  She was certain magic was still bound by the laws that governed the universe.  She was slowly developing a hypothesis about where magic came from, where it went, and so on.

            It was her greatest hope that she would be able to acquire different DNA samples from students at her new school and possibly determine what enabled a person to use magic.  Some gene variation perhaps…

            Looking around the station, she let a small, satisfied smile to creep onto her face.  Her parents would not be attending the school.  Since Hogwarts was a private boarding school, there would be no need to worry about reporters and public image.  She would no longer have to stifle her passion for life and knowledge to look respectable.

            Glancing at the clock, she bid her parents a reserved farewell, they were so worried about appearances!, and boarded the train.  She looked around the train at the various compartments and their inhabitants.  She avoided one with an arrogant looking young man and his two goon-like companions.  She also avoided the earnest looking group of girls and boys talking about something called Quidditch.

            She finally chose to sit in a compartment with two nervous looking girls.  One was a small, petite redhead who smiled shyly at Anna.  The other girl, however, was pacing and muttering to herself.  Anna raised an eyebrow at the redhead, who smiled.  

            "Don't mind Hermione.  She's just worried about my brother Ron and his friend Harry.  But I'm sure they'll turn up."  This last was directed at the brown-haired girl.  The redhead extended a small hand.  "Ginny Weasley.  Nice to meet you."

            After introducing herself to Hermione and Ginny, Anna sat and made polite conversation for a while.  However, once Ginny found that she had no clue of who Harry Potter was, she began to talk in earnest, her face aglow.  Anna suppressed a groan.  A lovestruck girl with a crush on her brother's best mate…

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—Grounds

            Night had fallen by the time the students reached their destination.  Makes sense after all.  Travelling from London to somewhere unknown in Scotland and whatnot.  Hermione had taken off, looking for Harry and Ron no doubt.  Ginny was standing near her, looking anxious and excited.  Looking about, Anna heard a man yelling, "Firs' years!  Firs' years this way!"

            Ginny smiled when she saw Hagrid.  Ron had come home full of tales about the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.  She saw her new friend start and mutter something about 'genes' under her breath.  Ginny shrugged and headed towards Hagrid. 

Great Hall

As Professor McGonagall shepherded the first years towards the front of the room, Anna craned her head about, gaping at the ceiling.  It had been bewitched to resemble the night sky.  She wasn't too surprised at this; it was simply the stunning accuracy of the spell that gave her pause.  She was identifying various constellations when the Professor's voice cut into her thoughts.

            "When I call your name, you will come forward.  I will place the Hat upon your head, and you will be Sorted into your Houses."  Now that she thought about it, she remembered McGonagall saying something about your House being your surrogate family and so on.  She had been too busy mulling through ideas about energy flows and gravity fields to notice. 

            She returned to her developing hypotheses and completely tuned out the rest of the world until she heard the formidable old lady call her name.  Without hesitation, she walked confidently up to the Hat, sat down, and listened.

            Hmm….

            She did not show her surprise, although the muscles in her jaw tightened.  The Hat could think telepathically could it?  Unbidden, images of arguments for and against mutants in the States came to mind.  She could believe that…she guessed.

            A most distressing decision!  Where to put you?  You have more than ample intelligence to be classed among the greatest Ravenclaws, but yet you seem to have a hidden passion inside that conflicts with their reputation…no, Ravenclaw would not be the wisest course…

            You want the world, and your parents no doubt, to recognize your achievements.  You want to be famous, powerful.  Perhaps Slytherin?  …no, no, I think not.  No, your ethics are too strong, and your upbringing too un-magical.

            Certainly not Hufflepuff!  Why, you'd go crazy inside five minutes!  No, there's no help for it.  Have to be… "GRYFFINDOR!"

            Anna got up, slightly unsteady from the Hat's chattering in her mind, and walked towards the table full of cheering people.  She observed that Hermione and three redheads who resembled Ginny were among them.  A few moments later, her beliefs were confirmed when the three redheads stood up and clapped as Ginny was proclaimed a Gryffindor as well. 

            Starting in shock as the food magically appeared in front of her, Anna smiled again.  No more preconceptions.  No more expectations.  These people don't know you, don't care if you're a brain or not.  Taking a drink of her pumpkin juice her thoughts continued down the same path.  Here's to a new beginning.  A whole new world…  She snickered as the song from Disney's Aladdin paraded through her mind and refused to leave.

Do press the nice little button below, there's a good child…

Not a clue about the formatting…tried the HTML tags too, damned site.  Won't cooperate.  I'm not an imbecile; I know the one paragraph is horrid.  Terribly sorry.