Harry Potter walked through the doors to the Great Hall and gazed at
what had been his dining room for the past six years. It was his final year
at Hogwarts, his final year at home.
With his two best friends by his side, Harry headed towards the middle of
the Gryffindor table. Sitting down across from his same friends Hermione
Granger and Ron Weasley, Harry patiently watched the sorting hat perform
his song and then the new first years stumble into a house. After all that
traditional ceremony had passed, Professor Dumbledore stood up to give his
yearly speech. The hall had fallen deathly silent.
"Another year begins!" The esteemed Professor's voice boomed out across the hall. "I would just like to welcome you all to a brand new year here at Hogwarts and I would also like all of you to know that our Muggle Studies teacher, Professor Fanghorn, has decided to retire after seventy- five years of dedicated service. Although she will be greatly missed, I have found a more than suitable replacement. I would like you all to welcome Professor Dalian to our school." Mild applause sprang up around the room as the new teacher stood. "So Hog warts welcomes you back..." but Harry found he wasn't much interested in listening to Dumbledore anymore. Instead his attention, along with at least half the boys in the room, was focused on the new professor. She was beautiful at five-foot-nine-inches tall with long hair, dark as chocolate and creamy, fair skin. Harry was so lost that he didn't even see that Dumbledore had given the signal to start eating.
"Ron? Harry? ...HARRY?" The annoyed tone in Hermione's voice brought Harry quickly back to reality. "Stare much?" Hermione commented icily.
"Sorry Hermione." Harry replied sheepishly.
"We just can't help but stare Hermione," Ron started. "That new professor is damn sexy." Hermione glared at him.
"Ron Weasley, you're such an unfeeling prat!"
"Sorry 'Mione. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just telling you the truth, something you're so very fond of—"His words were cut off by Hermione's screams as his tricky fingers snuck around and grabbed at her ticklish sides.
"Stop! STOP!" Hermione gasped out and eventually Ron obeyed and had soon engaged Harry in a rousing quidditch conversation. Hermione, not at all interested in quidditch, returned to her food.
"Can you pass the pudding please?" She asked a mysterious girl sitting next to Harry. "Sure." The girl replied and handed Hermione the pudding. Hermione eyed her curiously. The new girl looked about her age, yet Hermione had never seen her before which was odd seeing as how she had gone to school with the same people for six years. "Have we met?" Hermione asked and Ron and Harry quickly turned away from their conversation to see who she was talking to. "I don't think so. I'm new this year. My name's Katy Dalian." She replied sweetly and with a foreign accent. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said, holding out her hand which Katy shook. "Are you related to the new professor?" "Yeah. She's my sister." The three could see the striking resemblance. Katy was just as beautiful, if not more so, but a little shorter with golden blond hair and twinkling blue eyes. She turned and looked at Ron and Harry. "I'm sorry but I didn't catch your names." "Oh! I'm Ron Weasley." Ron introduced. Katy nodded her head and looked expectantly at Harry. "My name's Harry Potter." Harry replied dully, fully expecting her eyes to widen in recognition and then dart quickly to his scar. It was the routine Harry was used to upon meeting someone new. "It's nice to meet you both." Her eyes didn't even flicker and that left Harry feeling surprised and somewhat disappointed at the same time. "Not to be blunt or anything," Ron started. "But where are from? Your accent sounds American." "It is." "Really? Then why are you here?" Hermione looked at him in outraged surprise. "Ron! Could you be more rude?" "No, it's okay. I don't mind the questions. It's just kind of nice having someone my age talking to me." They all smiled. "I used to live in England but I had to go to America when I was eleven, right after I got my Hogwarts letter." "Why?" Harry asked and the three of them stared at Katy curiously, waiting for an answer. "Why? Wow, that's not a question I really know how to answer. Um...it's kind of a long story." Katy finally got out. "Maybe I can tell you later." "Sounds good to me." Hermione commented happily. "So...what kind of subjects are you interested in?" The rest of dinner was devoted to talk of school for Hermione and Katy and they stopped only to hear Dumbledore's last words for the evening. Once Dumbledore had declared the feast finished, everyone stood and started heading for their common rooms. As Katy started to leave, her sister called her back so Hermione, Ron and Harry waited for her out in the entry way. Katy walked out of the giant doors a few minutes later and just as she was about to join the other three, she was approached by a tall, rather muscular boy with slicked back, platinum blond hair. "Hello," he said smoothly. "My name is Draco Malfoy." "Hi." Katy replied politely yet a little apprehensively. Harry saw Malfoy talking to Katy and he quickly went over to Katy's side, followed closely be Ron and Hermione. "Malfoy," Harry greeted coldly. "I see you've met our friend Katy." Hermione said. "Ah...Potter, Weasley, Granger." Malfoy spoke their names with disgust. "Yes, I was just being friendly to this beautiful new girl." He flashed her a smile. "Nothing wrong with that." "There is if you want to keep your face in the condition it's in now." Ron said threateningly, taking a step forward. Katy held out her arm to stop him. "Now Ron. It's not like beating his face into a bloody pulp would do much. His face is already in such a sad state you wouldn't be able to tell the difference." Katy replied coolly. She smiled sweetly as she brushed past him, a surprised trio quickly following. As they walked back to the common room, Malfoy was the only topic of conversation. "Ugh. Who was that guy?" Katy asked, shuddering slightly as a disgusted look spread across her features. "His name's Draco Malfoy. His father, Lucius Malfoy, used to be a school governor and their family is one of the wealthiest wizarding families in all of Britain." Hermione grudgingly regurgitated the facts. "Useless gits." Ron muttered resentfully while a look of recognition appeared on Katy's face. "Did you say Lucius Malfoy?" She asked with extreme curiosity. "Yeah, do you now him?" "Huh? Oh...no but my parents did. Well, as far as I can tell, the son is as slimy as the father." "You picked up on that quick." Harry said. "It wasn't that hard." Katy replied with laughter as they continued walking towards the common room.
"So are you going to tell us?" Harry questioned Katy. The four Gryffindors had just spent three hours by the common room fire talking about anything that came to mind.
"Tell you what?" Katy replied in confusion.
"Tell us why you haven't been going to school with us for the past six years."
"Oh. That. Okay, I guess now is as good a time as any." Katy started her story. "Well, I guess I have to start with my parents. They died when I was about eighteen months old. My sister was eleven and just in Hogwarts. After they died, we were sent to live with my grandmother and aunt in Bath and I lived with them until the summer I received my letter. Just a few days after I had sent a return owl saying I would be attending, my grandmother died and my aunt disappeared. "At the time, my sister, then around twenty-one, had been working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the Ministry of Magic. About a week after all this had happened, she was offered a job in America at the Washington state branch of the Ministry. Gwen—that's my sister—wanted to get away from all the tragedy and I had to go with her because she was my only family. "So, since I couldn't attend Hogwarts like everyone else, Dumbledore set up a program—kind of like home-schooling if you will—where the teachers here would send me the required work at the beginning of the week and I would then complete it all and send it back a week later. My sister would help every night and weekend, making sure I learned everything. In order to keep myself occupied during the day while my sister was at work, I attended a muggle school that was nearby." "You attended a muggle school?" Hermione asked, her eyes alight with interest. "What was it like?" "It was different but not that bad. I kind of enjoyed it to tell you the truth." Katy said, smiling weakly. "Of course I enjoyed learning magic a lot more but the muggle school wasn't a bad way to pass the time. Plus, I learned a lot." "I kind of always dreaded going to school before I found out I was a witch." "You did?" Ron and Harry both exclaimed in surprise. "You love school so much, I never would've guessed." Ron continued, only half-teasing. "Oh shut up." "You're muggle-born, Hermione?" Katy asked with great interest. "Yes," Hermione answered somewhat apprehensively. "Cool." Hermione beamed at Katy's delighted approval. "Wait," Harry started. "You never finished the story. How did you end up here this year?" He was entranced by the mysteriousness of this new girl in their lives. "Right! Sorry, I didn't mean to get sidetracked. Well, it was really lucky actually. This past summer, Dumbledore sent us a letter saying that the Muggle Studies teacher was retiring and that my sister was being offered the job. He did it so that I could come back for my last year. See, it had always been my dream to attend—I mean truly attend—Hogwarts and he made it happen for me. I am very grateful to him." Katy looked over at Harry and caught him staring at her, interest dancing in his eyes. "What?" She asked with a small, self-conscious smile. "You're life just seems so, I don't know...complex, I guess," Harry finished lamely. Katy's smile widened. "It's not like your life is less complex than mine. In fact, your life is probably ten times as complicated as mine. The constant pressure of fame, the thought that you are being loathed everyday and that many wizards and witches wish you were dead. I don't know if I could live like that. But you do and with grace I might add." Katy expressed her sentiments with total admiration for the boy in front of her. "I didn't realize you knew who I was." "Of course I know who you are. Don't be so self-involved." She reprimanded, chuckling slightly. "You're Harry Potter, the only person to ever experience one of Voldemort's murderous rampages and live to tell about it. You survived with nothing but a small scar." Katy reached out and traced the jagged line affectionately. As her fingers moved, tiny shivers coursed through Harry's body and when her hand dropped back to her side, he looked deep into her eyes. He was searching, hunting, for any type of clue into who Katy was and he could tell she was doing the same. "Well..." Katy whispered even though there was no one in the common room left to disturb except for Ron and Hermione. "I think I'll go off to bed now. I'm dead tired." With that said she gave everyone a small smile and headed up the stairs to her dormitory, Hermione saying that she'd be along soon. Harry was still staring at the spot where she had just been sitting reliving all that had passed between them in such a short space of time. He could still feel the pleasant prickling of his scar that her touch had left. It was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. She was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. Harry wasn't sure if he liked that or not. There was nothing left for him to do but wait and see.
"Another year begins!" The esteemed Professor's voice boomed out across the hall. "I would just like to welcome you all to a brand new year here at Hogwarts and I would also like all of you to know that our Muggle Studies teacher, Professor Fanghorn, has decided to retire after seventy- five years of dedicated service. Although she will be greatly missed, I have found a more than suitable replacement. I would like you all to welcome Professor Dalian to our school." Mild applause sprang up around the room as the new teacher stood. "So Hog warts welcomes you back..." but Harry found he wasn't much interested in listening to Dumbledore anymore. Instead his attention, along with at least half the boys in the room, was focused on the new professor. She was beautiful at five-foot-nine-inches tall with long hair, dark as chocolate and creamy, fair skin. Harry was so lost that he didn't even see that Dumbledore had given the signal to start eating.
"Ron? Harry? ...HARRY?" The annoyed tone in Hermione's voice brought Harry quickly back to reality. "Stare much?" Hermione commented icily.
"Sorry Hermione." Harry replied sheepishly.
"We just can't help but stare Hermione," Ron started. "That new professor is damn sexy." Hermione glared at him.
"Ron Weasley, you're such an unfeeling prat!"
"Sorry 'Mione. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just telling you the truth, something you're so very fond of—"His words were cut off by Hermione's screams as his tricky fingers snuck around and grabbed at her ticklish sides.
"Stop! STOP!" Hermione gasped out and eventually Ron obeyed and had soon engaged Harry in a rousing quidditch conversation. Hermione, not at all interested in quidditch, returned to her food.
"Can you pass the pudding please?" She asked a mysterious girl sitting next to Harry. "Sure." The girl replied and handed Hermione the pudding. Hermione eyed her curiously. The new girl looked about her age, yet Hermione had never seen her before which was odd seeing as how she had gone to school with the same people for six years. "Have we met?" Hermione asked and Ron and Harry quickly turned away from their conversation to see who she was talking to. "I don't think so. I'm new this year. My name's Katy Dalian." She replied sweetly and with a foreign accent. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said, holding out her hand which Katy shook. "Are you related to the new professor?" "Yeah. She's my sister." The three could see the striking resemblance. Katy was just as beautiful, if not more so, but a little shorter with golden blond hair and twinkling blue eyes. She turned and looked at Ron and Harry. "I'm sorry but I didn't catch your names." "Oh! I'm Ron Weasley." Ron introduced. Katy nodded her head and looked expectantly at Harry. "My name's Harry Potter." Harry replied dully, fully expecting her eyes to widen in recognition and then dart quickly to his scar. It was the routine Harry was used to upon meeting someone new. "It's nice to meet you both." Her eyes didn't even flicker and that left Harry feeling surprised and somewhat disappointed at the same time. "Not to be blunt or anything," Ron started. "But where are from? Your accent sounds American." "It is." "Really? Then why are you here?" Hermione looked at him in outraged surprise. "Ron! Could you be more rude?" "No, it's okay. I don't mind the questions. It's just kind of nice having someone my age talking to me." They all smiled. "I used to live in England but I had to go to America when I was eleven, right after I got my Hogwarts letter." "Why?" Harry asked and the three of them stared at Katy curiously, waiting for an answer. "Why? Wow, that's not a question I really know how to answer. Um...it's kind of a long story." Katy finally got out. "Maybe I can tell you later." "Sounds good to me." Hermione commented happily. "So...what kind of subjects are you interested in?" The rest of dinner was devoted to talk of school for Hermione and Katy and they stopped only to hear Dumbledore's last words for the evening. Once Dumbledore had declared the feast finished, everyone stood and started heading for their common rooms. As Katy started to leave, her sister called her back so Hermione, Ron and Harry waited for her out in the entry way. Katy walked out of the giant doors a few minutes later and just as she was about to join the other three, she was approached by a tall, rather muscular boy with slicked back, platinum blond hair. "Hello," he said smoothly. "My name is Draco Malfoy." "Hi." Katy replied politely yet a little apprehensively. Harry saw Malfoy talking to Katy and he quickly went over to Katy's side, followed closely be Ron and Hermione. "Malfoy," Harry greeted coldly. "I see you've met our friend Katy." Hermione said. "Ah...Potter, Weasley, Granger." Malfoy spoke their names with disgust. "Yes, I was just being friendly to this beautiful new girl." He flashed her a smile. "Nothing wrong with that." "There is if you want to keep your face in the condition it's in now." Ron said threateningly, taking a step forward. Katy held out her arm to stop him. "Now Ron. It's not like beating his face into a bloody pulp would do much. His face is already in such a sad state you wouldn't be able to tell the difference." Katy replied coolly. She smiled sweetly as she brushed past him, a surprised trio quickly following. As they walked back to the common room, Malfoy was the only topic of conversation. "Ugh. Who was that guy?" Katy asked, shuddering slightly as a disgusted look spread across her features. "His name's Draco Malfoy. His father, Lucius Malfoy, used to be a school governor and their family is one of the wealthiest wizarding families in all of Britain." Hermione grudgingly regurgitated the facts. "Useless gits." Ron muttered resentfully while a look of recognition appeared on Katy's face. "Did you say Lucius Malfoy?" She asked with extreme curiosity. "Yeah, do you now him?" "Huh? Oh...no but my parents did. Well, as far as I can tell, the son is as slimy as the father." "You picked up on that quick." Harry said. "It wasn't that hard." Katy replied with laughter as they continued walking towards the common room.
"So are you going to tell us?" Harry questioned Katy. The four Gryffindors had just spent three hours by the common room fire talking about anything that came to mind.
"Tell you what?" Katy replied in confusion.
"Tell us why you haven't been going to school with us for the past six years."
"Oh. That. Okay, I guess now is as good a time as any." Katy started her story. "Well, I guess I have to start with my parents. They died when I was about eighteen months old. My sister was eleven and just in Hogwarts. After they died, we were sent to live with my grandmother and aunt in Bath and I lived with them until the summer I received my letter. Just a few days after I had sent a return owl saying I would be attending, my grandmother died and my aunt disappeared. "At the time, my sister, then around twenty-one, had been working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the Ministry of Magic. About a week after all this had happened, she was offered a job in America at the Washington state branch of the Ministry. Gwen—that's my sister—wanted to get away from all the tragedy and I had to go with her because she was my only family. "So, since I couldn't attend Hogwarts like everyone else, Dumbledore set up a program—kind of like home-schooling if you will—where the teachers here would send me the required work at the beginning of the week and I would then complete it all and send it back a week later. My sister would help every night and weekend, making sure I learned everything. In order to keep myself occupied during the day while my sister was at work, I attended a muggle school that was nearby." "You attended a muggle school?" Hermione asked, her eyes alight with interest. "What was it like?" "It was different but not that bad. I kind of enjoyed it to tell you the truth." Katy said, smiling weakly. "Of course I enjoyed learning magic a lot more but the muggle school wasn't a bad way to pass the time. Plus, I learned a lot." "I kind of always dreaded going to school before I found out I was a witch." "You did?" Ron and Harry both exclaimed in surprise. "You love school so much, I never would've guessed." Ron continued, only half-teasing. "Oh shut up." "You're muggle-born, Hermione?" Katy asked with great interest. "Yes," Hermione answered somewhat apprehensively. "Cool." Hermione beamed at Katy's delighted approval. "Wait," Harry started. "You never finished the story. How did you end up here this year?" He was entranced by the mysteriousness of this new girl in their lives. "Right! Sorry, I didn't mean to get sidetracked. Well, it was really lucky actually. This past summer, Dumbledore sent us a letter saying that the Muggle Studies teacher was retiring and that my sister was being offered the job. He did it so that I could come back for my last year. See, it had always been my dream to attend—I mean truly attend—Hogwarts and he made it happen for me. I am very grateful to him." Katy looked over at Harry and caught him staring at her, interest dancing in his eyes. "What?" She asked with a small, self-conscious smile. "You're life just seems so, I don't know...complex, I guess," Harry finished lamely. Katy's smile widened. "It's not like your life is less complex than mine. In fact, your life is probably ten times as complicated as mine. The constant pressure of fame, the thought that you are being loathed everyday and that many wizards and witches wish you were dead. I don't know if I could live like that. But you do and with grace I might add." Katy expressed her sentiments with total admiration for the boy in front of her. "I didn't realize you knew who I was." "Of course I know who you are. Don't be so self-involved." She reprimanded, chuckling slightly. "You're Harry Potter, the only person to ever experience one of Voldemort's murderous rampages and live to tell about it. You survived with nothing but a small scar." Katy reached out and traced the jagged line affectionately. As her fingers moved, tiny shivers coursed through Harry's body and when her hand dropped back to her side, he looked deep into her eyes. He was searching, hunting, for any type of clue into who Katy was and he could tell she was doing the same. "Well..." Katy whispered even though there was no one in the common room left to disturb except for Ron and Hermione. "I think I'll go off to bed now. I'm dead tired." With that said she gave everyone a small smile and headed up the stairs to her dormitory, Hermione saying that she'd be along soon. Harry was still staring at the spot where she had just been sitting reliving all that had passed between them in such a short space of time. He could still feel the pleasant prickling of his scar that her touch had left. It was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. She was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. Harry wasn't sure if he liked that or not. There was nothing left for him to do but wait and see.