*DISCLAIMER*: I do not own any of the original HP characters...I only own MY characters that I have made up!!!!

A/N: Please review...it means a lot to me! Please tell me what I am doing wrong with this fic, I won't get mad at you as long as you tell me some reasons! If you leave some witty comment that ticks me off, you better watch out! Tell me what you think of it so far... :D

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::: Exchange Students :::

---CHAPTER FOUR---

Alisha looked down at herself in disgust as purple pudding dripped slowly off of it. Mary did not stop screaming because she felt something furry go down her back. She realized it was a rat and screamed even louder and ran around the entire Great Hall trying to get it out. There were enormous amounts of laughter going on in the Hall as the students all pointed and laughed at the sight that was before them. The teachers at the front table had now gotten up and tried to restore order but failed terribly. Alisha was on the verge of tears and Mary was on the verge of fainting when they heard an ear-splitting CRACK! coming from the front of the Hall.

"PLEASE, STUDENTS, SETTLE. DOWN!" thundered an angry Professor Dumbledore, with his wand in his hand. His face was red with fury and at once the students were silent. They had never seen Dumbledore so mad before and were frightened. The old Professor swished his wand towards Mary and the furry little rat was gone. He muttered, "Evanesco" and the purple pudding that was on Alisha was gone, while she had tried to get it all off with a napkin in vain. Then she broke into tears and ran outside. A furious Mary grabbed her suitcase and stamped outside following Alisha and slammed the great door shut behind her. There was silence and a moment of tension as the students were all very startled.

"Head Boys and Head Girls, please lead your houses to the Common Rooms," Dumbledore said with authority. "NOW." he added when he saw that a few students were hesitant. Once again, the rustle and bustle of students getting up from their seats and whispering begain again, and Dumbledore met with Hagrid in a corner and were talking in low voices. Hagrid gave a nod and went outside to find Mary and Alisha.

"Never...in my LIFE...," Mary trembled with fury. "What HORRIBLE person could've DONE this to us?" Alisha said sobbing. "That was even more embarassing than the talking hat!" she continued, "Oh! I never thought I would say that sentence ever in my life...a TALKING HAT!!! What have we gotten ourselves into?" she continued, shivering with humiliation. Mary handed her a tissue. "I don't know who did it...but we're going to find out and that person is going to PAY," Mary said threateningly. They heard the door to the Great Hall open and the familiar giant approached.

"Ladies, I'm so terribly sorry for tha' scene back in the Grea' Hall. Don't worry, we'll get things straigh'ened out and punish whoe'er it was tha' did that ter you two. Actually, Dumbledore is on the case right now tryin ter figure out who it was. Good ol' Dumbledore, nothin slips past him and he'll sort this ou' in no time! Meanwhile, he's given me orders to take you two on a special trip ter Diagon Alley. Yer gonna like it there! C'mon, we'll have to travel by the time-turner." And without warning, Hagrid turned the gadget twice in his hand and the same strang time-warped feeling passed through Mary and Alisha. Finally, they came to a stop and found themselves in a crowded Alley, full of merry people and laughing and music.

They looked around and saw some amazing things they would never forget.

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes...?" Mary asked questioningly at Hagrid.

"OH! Tha's one of the finest stores in Diagon Alley! Recen'ly opened, ya know. Owned by the most famous twin brothers Hogwarts has ever seen! Brothers of Ron Weasley...he's in 6th year in your house, Alisha. Yup, those are an amazing pair those two...always coming up with funny ideas and clever tricks..."

The three of them walked into a shop called The Cage and found themselves in the midst of dozens and dozens of animals. Cats, owls, rats (Mary shivered), spiders, kneazles, lizards, and even some crups.

"Awww, look, Mary, it's so CUTE!" Alisha said petting a gray and white tabby with pink ears. Mary didn't have the same love for cats as Alisha did and nonchalantly petted a black cat with green eyes, when it started to lick her fingers, making it tickle. Mary giggled and picked up the cat and fell in love with it. "Oh, she's perfect! May I get him, Hagrid?" she asked.

"Why sure, Mary! Your pick...although I wouldn't mind having a couple o' these lizards here...." he said wandering off towards the lizards section.

"And I think I'll keep this little guy," Alisha said, holding the gray tabby in her arms. There was something about the two cats that was different than the cats they had in America, but they thought little of it.

"A'right then, off we go!" said Hagrid as Alisha and Mary stepped out of the shop with their newly-bought pets.

"Well, now that's an interesting pick you two have made!" Hagrid said smiling at the two happy girls.

"Why do you say that, Hagrid? They're just cute little ordinary cats...they're nice and cuddly and soooo cute!" Alisha said scratching her cat behind the ears.

At this Hagrid gave a chuckle which startled the two girls. "They are not cats," he said decisively, "they are trinkers!"

"Uh....trinkers?" Mary said.

"Yeh! trinkers! The most cleverest and sharpest felines out there in the wizarding world! They only grow to be about a kitten's size, but they do come in handy!"

"And why is that?" Alisha said even more confused than before.

"They can sense danger." Hagrid said.

"WHAT?!?!?!??!?!?!" the two girls said in unison.

"Yup. Any time they sense danger, their trinks go off. They're like little tiny bells attached to their ears that ring whenever danger is near or in the future. And what's more, they can ward off certain evil spirits of the dark wizarding world......but we shan' talk abou' tha' here...not with so many people around...." he said in a low voice looking around cautiously. "It hasn't been the greatest time for Hogwarts these days....or the luckiest either."

The two girls looked at their "trinkers" in amazement and then at Hagrid and said nothing until they got to the next shop. This time it was a robe shope fille with all kinds of wonderful looking robes. They bought 6 robes each and were happy again when they left that shop. Next, they went to Flourish and Blotts to pick up their pre-ordered textbooks they would need for school. Finally, when all their arms were full of items and bags they set off to Hogwarts again.

~*~

"Well, here we are again!" Hagrid said as they arrived at the door of the Great Hall. Everyone should be in their Common Rooms getting ready to sleep. The Head Girl of your house should give you your new clothes and show you your beds." he said as he led them up the enormous and grand staircase of Hogwarts.

"Alright then, good night! This would be the Gryffindor common room....for you, Alisha." Hagrid said in front of a portrait of a fat lady in pink. "Oh! and I almost forgot, the password is 'grondrupple'." As he said this word, the portrait swung open revealing a staircase that most likely led into the Common Room. "Mary, I'll show you to your Slytherin Common Room. I'm only sorry that you two didn't get into the same house!

Alisha sighed as she bid Hagrid and Mary good night and climbed up the steps into her new home taking her suitcase and shopping bags with her. Her gray tabby was following behind her curiously.

The Common Room was definitely not what she had expected. It was late at night and the she expected everyone to be in bed, but apparently it was not so. The whole common room seemed to be up and awake, enjoying a sort of party with talking and laughter everywhere. She scanned the cozy room and only saw people around her age awake. When she shut the door behind her, almost the whole room fell silent and all eyes were on the her. She dropped her suitcase and bags beside her and stood there.

Alisha forced a smile on her face but soon her face became red when she remembered what had happened to her that morning. Her trinker seemed to be aware of the tension because soon enough, the trinks started ringing in a quiet tone. Alisha picked her up and petted her, trying to calm her down. "I think I'll call you Trinkerbell..." Alisha whispered to her trinker. When the cat heard this, she let her trinks ring louder in a more cheerful tone. "Wow, you do that when you're happy too? You're amazing..."

"Hi! You must be Alisha," said a girl now standing in front of Alisha. "I'm Penelope Rombrick, the Gryffindor Head Girl," Penelope said holding out her hand. "I'll show you your bed an then we can ALL GO TO SLEEP..." she said eyeing the rest of the crowd. "All right people, part time's over!" she said with authority, clapping her hands. "Don't worry, we only do this sometimes," she added in a low voice to Alisha. Alisha smiled and said "Suuure..."

She was about to pick her belongings up and follow Penelope when somebody from the crowd came to her. "Hey, I'm Hermione Granger," said a girl with brown, bushy curly hair with a warm smile. "I was Prefect last year....anyway that doesn't matter.... I'm really truly sorry about what happened this morning. Draco has always been like that...giving new students a special, uh, 'treat' as a welcoming present..."

'Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy,' thought Alisha. 'So that must be the boy who put those dirty tricks on me and Mary! I'll get him back...'

"No, he's actually ill in the head you see," said a red-headed boy. "I'm Ron Weasley, it's nice to meet you." he said holding out his hand.

"Ron...Weasley? Do you happen to be related to the owner of--"

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? Yeh...it's sad, but it's true. My brothers are known for their witty pranks so they started their own business last year."

"Yeah, and don't think YOU don't participate in any of those 'witty pranks', Ron!" said Hermione reproachfully.

"Well at least I'm courageous enough to bend a few rules, Miss Perfect Granger!" he retorted.

"Courageous enough to bend a few rules?! Why, Ron, you don't ever do your homework so I wouldn't be so proud of that!" she said again.

"BREAK IT YOU TWO!" said a tall, dark haired boy. "Sorry about that, they always do that....oh, my name is Harry Potter. Here, let me carry your books for you," he said quickly, taking up Alisha's stuff for her.

"Oh, um...thanks...Harry, is it?"

"Yeh, Harry...," he said unsurely. He was so used to people knowing his 'famous name' that it was awkward reminding someone of his name. Somehow it made him feel good inside that finally a person could have a conversation without peering curiously at his infamous scar or gasping at his name.

"So where are you from again?" he said, walking up the steps with Alisha.

"I'm from America...and this is the last place I would ever expect to be!" she said in a tired tone. She was surprised at how much she had done. Just last week she was in her room, stressing out over her homework and here she was at a magical school in almost a whole other world...

"I hope you like it here then, it's a great place really, except it's been through some hard times lately. But you'll like it, don't worry. Good night." he said closing the door.

"Good night..." Alisha said almost immediately plopping down on her bed with her trinker following suit.

~*~

Mary and Hagrid walked through the dark corridors turning so many turns that Mary gave up on keeping count of them. She was also having a very hard time dragging her heavy suitcase up the steps. Hagrid did not notice this because of his unusual drowsiness.

"Here love, let me help you with that," said a voice. Mary turned around and screamed dropping her suitcase.

"It's...Hagrid, it's...a ghost.......!!!!!!!" Mary said terrified.

"Of course it's a ghost! That's the Bloody Baron, Slytherin's house ghost. He's actually quite friendly to his own house-mates. Mary stared blankly as the Bloody Baron picked up her things and floated down the corridors following the two.

"Of course it's a ghost...right...I forgot we were in a magical world now..." Mary said to herself.

Finally they arrived at the Slytherin Common Room where she underwent almost the same thing as Alisha had. There was a party going on and no one noticed her as she came in which was a relief. She slowly crept towards the stairs when she was stopped by a blonde boy which happened to be the same boy she thought was "gorgeous" that very morning.

"Why, if it isn't rat-pack from this morning!" the boy jeered at her. Mary's face turned red. "That was a great scene you put on it was. Got me rolling alright!" he said with a laugh.

"Break it, Malfoy," said a girl coldly. "Hey, sorry about him, he's a super idiotic git...my name is Swann Silvers and I'm the Head Girl. I'll show you to your bed--"

"Not so quickly, Swann! Why, we have to go through the traditional welcoming ceremony!" he said with an evil smirk.

Swann stepped up to Malfoy, towering over him. "No, Malfoy. Not again. You'll get the entire Slytherin House in trouble if you conjure up another dirty trick like what you did this morning!" she muttered to him menacingly.

"So YOU'RE the one who put the pudding on Alisha and that rat down my back!" Mary said disgustedly. "You're a horrible person, I hope you know that."

"And YOU'RE nothing but a filthy Mudblood." Draco said half-shouted.

The whole room fell silent. Mary's black trinker's bells were ringing threateningly by her feet.

"That's right. A filthy MUD. BLOOD. Not in 17 years has Slytherin House have a MUDBLOOD enter into its Common Room!" he raged, his face turning red.

Mary was very confused. "What the heck's a Mudblood?" she asked. "Gosh, I may vomit thinking that THAT idiot could've been 'gorgeous'...." she thought to herself.

"Nevermind that, Mary, I'll show you your bed," Swann said, almost having to pull her up the stairs. Mary kept a glare on Draco until she finally passed into the girls' Dormitory.

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