Chapter 3: A Whole New World

A/N: Sorry I went Aladdin there. Thought it would be cute! By the way, this (\/.\/) means Melissa's thoughts.

Melissa could feel the stares of the rest of the student body as she sat of the wooden, three-legged stool, looking into the inside of the patched black hat.

"Hmm, my, oh, my, so many aspects for so many houses. Where shall I put you?" The Hat whispered into her ear. "You're brave and daring, oh yes, much like good old Godric Gryffindor himself. I also see loyalty and patience (though not much) in you, the mark of a true Hufflepuff. You're obviously smart with a ready mind, as is any Ravenclaw. Yet I detect a bit of Slytherin House in you, with your cunning, sneakiness, and high achievements. And also.something I haven't seen in several years.a strong thirst to prove yourself. Interesting, very interesting."

Melissa gripped the edges of the stool nervously, looking for support. \/Not Slytherin\/, she thought. \/Anything but Slytherin. \/

"Well, well, not Slytherin, eh? You could be great there, you know, very great indeed it's all here in your head," the Hat replied, giving a derisive little laugh afterward.

Melissa got the idea the Hat could hear what one was thinking. \/Anything but Slytherin. Anything\/, she said silently, putting emphasis on the last word.

"Alright if you're sure (though I'm not sure I am), better be.RA-no, wait, HUFF-oops, uh, GRY-oh, dear, HUFF-no, no, no, um, RA-oh, dear, no, oh, uh, GRYFFINDOR!" Melissa heard the Hat shout out everything after 'better be'. Dumbledore then approached the stool and spoke to the Hat.

"Is that your final answer?" he asked with an amused smile, repeating a line from a once-popular American quiz show. (A/N: Not anymore! Sorry, Regis.)

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat shouted again, the confidence in its voice rising steadily.

"Then Gryffindor it is. Go ahead, Ms. McKinnon," Dumbledore stated, taking the Hat off of and helping a shaky Melissa down from the stool. Melissa hurried down the steps to where the four tables stood, packed with students. She wound their way through the tangle of legs, arm, and bodies to the Gryffindor table, where Ron, Harry, and Hermione were sitting.

"Hey! Congratulations, Mel, but, are you okay? The Hat took an awfully long time on you," Harry asked worriedly, scooting over to make room for her. Melissa flashed him a quick, reassuring grin.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just another new experience since being told I'm coming here," Melissa replied wryly.

"Melissa! Ooh, congratulations!" Hermione squealed.

"Yeah, congratulations," Ron echoed. "But, why did the Hat take so long on you? The only other person I've seen it take that long on is Harry. What was it saying to you?"

"Well, it was weird," Melissa replied, shaking her head. "It was saying how I had so many aspects for all of the houses. Like, I was resembled Godric Gryffindor and I had the mark of a true Hufflepuff and I was just like any Ravenclaw and how it could detect a bit of Slytherin House on me. But, then, it said the strangest thing."

"What?" chorused the other three as the redhead paused.

"It said-it said I had a strong thirst to prove myself and that it was 'interesting, very interesting' because it hadn't seen that in several years. Are you okay?" Melissa asked, alarmed, as Harry made a choking gasp.

"Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Harry replied. "It's just-well, that Hat said the same thing to me when I first tried it on five years ago."

"Weird," Ron breathed after a moment. "Wait, you still remember that? I couldn't even remember the material that we learned for our O.W.L.s last year."

"Shut up, Ron. D'you guys think it symbolizes something?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Oh, I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Melissa reassured nervously, playing with a long strand of hair. Just then the Sorting ended with "Zorollini, Marco" being sorted into Slytherin. After Professor McGonagall took away the Sorting Hat and stool, she stopped to speak with Dumbledore, before he made his start-of-term banquet speech.

"Yeah but if it isn't, we can always go find and consult Professor Trelawney," Harry responded seriously, but with mischief twinkling in his emerald eyes. "She always knows the answers. Just ask Parvati and Lavender."

Ron, Hermione, and Melissa stared open-mouthed at him for a moment before he grinned and they burst out laughing; Harry, Ron, and Hermione had told Melissa about the "Divination fraud-I mean, teacher", as Ron had said, on the train. They had also told her how Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, two other Gryffindor girls, "respect Professor Trelawney so much they practically worship the ground she walks on, whether it's real or.clairvoyant," Hermione had said, making her voice go all breathy and full of awe and admiration at the end.

The pretty brunette had also explained about the absolutely horrid Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher last year, Dolores Umbridge, and how she just took over every aspect of normal Hogwarts life. She explained how Umbridge had fired Trelawney and also how, at the end of the year Dumbledore had rehired Trelawney after Umbridge had been expelled from the school. Melissa had signed up for Divination (along with the rest of the subjects Ron, Harry, and Hermione take) just to see this display of wonder and appreciation and also all of the death predictions the old bat makes up for Harry. Although they did not need to take it as all four of them wanted to be Aurors when they graduated, they were taking it to boost their grades so they received a passing grade.

Dumbledore nodded as he finished talking to McGonagall and turned to the chattering scholars.

"Students, welcome to a new year at Hogwarts," he said, beaming around at everyone. "A few reminders, though. No one is allowed in the Forbidden Forest, as is the same with Hogsmeade for all under third year. I'd also do good to advise you not to use the secret passages much. You never know who-or what-you may find there." At this announcement, his twinkling blue eyes flickered towards the Gryffindor table-or, more specifically, the fifth and sixth years who were close to the Weasleys. They all saw his glance and simultaneously broke out in identical evil grins.

"Now, I have two words for you all: Smooth out. Enjoy the feast!" Dumbledore, finished, smiling.

Magically, delicious-looking food appeared on the sparkling gold plates. After filling their plates with some of everything in sight, the four teens began to talk again.

"So, can you guys give me some background history on this place?" Melissa requested, pouring gravy over her roast turkey. (A/N: I love that food!!!)

" 'Er-my-knee?" Both Ron and Harry looked at the pretty brunette, mumbling through mouthfuls of chicken (Harry) and ham (Ron).

"What? Oh, for heaven's sake. Alright, let's see," she replied.

"Hermione's almost memorized 'Hogwarts, A History'," Ron explained to Melissa.

"Shut up, Ron. Okay, we might as well start at the beginning," said Hermione. She paused to take a bite of mashed potatoes before continuing. "It started over a thousand years ago. Four of the greatest witches and wizards of the age were Godric Gryffindor," ("Ohhh," Melissa remarked. "I was wondering who he was.") "Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin." ("He was the crazy, old loony," Ron broke in, twirling his finger in a circle beside his ear, making the 'insane' sign.) "Shut up, Ron. Anyway, they got together and decided to found a school. That school.was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"They each gave their name to one of the school houses" ("That's where we get Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin," Harry supplied.) "Exactly. And individually chose the students." For the next ten or twenty minutes, Hermione spoke of the events that had happened in the past one thousand years or so while they ate their dinners and desserts amongst the noise and clamor around them. Finally, Dumbledore stood up.

"Now that we have been fed and watered, we had better get to bed; we have a full day tomorrow. Prefects, please lead your houses to their dorms. Goodnight, everyone!" he called as everyone started talking again.

At this, Ron and Hermione stood up. As they started walking towards the door, Melissa rose from their stunned stupor and leapt out of their seats to catch up with their friends.

"Why didn't you tell me you were prefects?!" Melissa half-shouted once the two of them had reached Ron and Hermione.

"Well, we would have told you if you'd asked. You didn't ask," Hermione answered modestly.

"Congratulations, you guys," the redhead said, embracing them both as Malfoy reached them.

"Like I said on the train, goody. Another Gryffindor to torment. This year should be fun," he smirked. Melissa sighed and turned to face him along with an irritated Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"And like I said on the train, don't count on it. I'm not an easy person to torment. And what you said on the train was, 'Goody. Another Potter follower to torment. This year should be fun.' Now, bye-bye. Uh, buh- bye," she replied, waving. Shaking her head, she and the three other Gryffindors turned and walked away, laughing, leaving Malfoy standing there, shocked, that he had been insulted twice in one day by the same person, and a Gryffindor to boot.

"Okay, so, are we hiding anything else from Melissa, just to get it out in the open? Harry, you secretly, like, lusting after Melissa or something?" Ron continued.

"Oh, nasty! Ron, that's disgusting! That's just.don't even go there!" Melissa exclaimed, lightly shoving the tall boy.

"Well, it's not that unheard of," Harry said, slightly hurt. Melissa burst out laughing at this comment.

"Oh, Harry, please! I mean, like, no offense or anything, but you have no idea how unthinkable that is!" Melissa replied, still giggling.

"Mmm, okay, whatever," Harry murmured demurely.

Twenty minutes of laughing and joking later, the Gryffindors had reached a large portrait of and immensely fat woman in a pink silk dress. They stopped in front of it to wait for the rest of the house to catch up. To Melissa's surprise, after waiting a few moments, the portrait stirred to life and began to speak.

"Password, dears?"

"Pig snout," Hermione replied, addressing the portrait as well as the rest of the crowd behind them.

"Welcome back, everyone," the Fat Lady said, smiling and nodding. She swung slowly open to reveal a lushly decorated room with a warm, friendly fire crackling merrily in the fireplace and dozens of squishy armchairs and couches. Ron and Hermione entered first, beckoning for everyone else to follow. Melissa had never seen such opulence. She followed her friends in to the common room, her eyes looking all around to try and absorb everything all at once.

"People, welcome to Gryffindor Tower. Here and your classes are roughly where you'll spend the next year of you life," Ron said in a low voice, the firelight dancing over his face making him look almost menacing. "No sense of doom intended there," he added, a smile breaking out on his lips.

"Now, we really hate to be the bad guys, but there are certain rules. Rule number one: No dangerous magic. That goes without saying. Rule number two: No duels, whether they're physical, with fists, or magical, with wands," Hermione stated, counting the rules off on her fingers. "Rule number three: The only loud, raucous parties we'll be having will be on special occasions and after Quidditch matches, which we're sure to win thanks to someone special here and the rest of the fantabulous (A/N: My new word.) Gryffindor Quidditch team," she continued, putting an arm around Harry and pointing sideways at him, making him go a brilliant shade of red.

"Oh, come on, Hermione!" Ginny Weasley shouted. "Those parties-among several other things-are what Gryffindor House is known forouse if known Hou!" she added, smiling mischievously and making everyone in the room start laughing.

"Right, sleeping arrangements," Ron said, clapping his hands for attention, and then pointing behind him to the right. "The boys' dorms are this way. The girls' dorms are up the left staircase."

"Now, it's really easy to find the dorms for both girls and-Ginny, please stop laughing at me!" Ron exclaimed, blushing bright red.

"Sorry, Ron, but I can't help it," Ginny replied as another wave of giggles overtook her. She clutched at her stmach with one hand and pointed at her brother with the other. Ron looked absolutely helpless.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Uh, okay, right. Dorms," he continued, running his hands through his hair absentmindedly. "The first year dorms are first on the left, the second year dorms are first on the right, the third year dorms are second on the left, the fourth year dorms are second on the right, the fifth year dorms are third on the left, the sixth year dorms are third on the right, and the seventh year dorms are at the very end of the hallway. The doors on either side of the seventh year dorms are the bathrooms and showers."

"All right, we should probably get to bed, it's kind of late," Alys'n stated, starting for the stairs.

Hermione led the girls up to their dorms with while Ron showed the boys up to theirs. After everyone had found their rooms, Hermione showed Melissa the room she shared with Parvati and Lavender. Melissa fell asleep almost immediately, her last thought being, \/I'll have to tell Harry soon. I hope he doesn't freak out.\/

A/N: Hope you liked it! Chapter four's on the way! TTFN! R/R, pleez!!!!!!!! I'd love to hear your suggestions!!!!!!!!