A fourteen-year-old girl, soon to be fifteen, wiped the beads of sweat off of her forehead. She dove to block Quaffle from going through one of the hoops. Too late. It had slipped just past her hand.
Her coach, Jake Reynolds, glared at her. "Lupin, what are you doing? That's the fifth one you let go in!"
"Sorry sir," she answered dully.
The girl was a brunette by the name of Jennifer Lupin, known to most as Jenna. She was keeper on England's Youth National Quidditch team.
Her best pals, Alex Hunter and Krissy Jonson flew over to her. "It's alright Jenni," they both agreed.
Jennifer nodded dully as she returned to having both feet on the ground and walked into the locker room...
"Jenna? Jenna? Jennifer, WAKE UP!"She opened her eyes to see her father, Remus Lupin above her. He picked up a photo album that was on the ground and sighed heavily.
"You were looking at them again?" He asked looking at her twinkling eyes. Jenna blushed looking at the wedding pictures.
"Yeah, ... I guess I just really miss them."
"Jennifer?" He slowly asked her, "are you ready to go?"
Jenna nodded quickly and followed him down the stairs and stood by the fireplace. She was starting Hogwarts School in her fifth year.
Remus grabbed some Floo Powder out of a pot and yelled, "HOGWARTS!" Then he disappeared into green flames. Jenna slowly followed his procedure, making sure to say Hogwarts clearly, and found herself in a giant old castle.
A white-haired wizard with half-moon spectacles and a long white beard grinned at her. "Hello Remus and welcome Jennifer to Hogwarts."
Jenna looked up to meet his gentle face and saw two other people's silhouettes in the background.
"Ahh, yes. I am Professor Dumbledore and that is Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and the Gryffindor house teacher. Next to her is Professor Snape. He is the Potions teacher and the Slytherin house teacher." He said practically reading her mind. "Do you really wish to start Hogwarts in your fifth year?"
Jenna choked on her words a little bit. "Well, -Durmstrang-um, -expulsion- yes."
Remus jumped in to help her. "Why yes. Durmstrang was not really the best school for her."
Dumbledore looked at her. "Very well then. Minerva, please."
The witch with her hair in a tight bun, McGonagall, brought over a stool and a hat that was shabbier than her father's robes. "This is the Sorting Hat," she explained. "It will tell you what house you will be placed in due to your personal traits.
With that said, Jenna got on the stool and had the hat placed on her head. She could feel it searching her head... for answers. "A difficult choice," it said. "But I have seen harder. Well, not exactly bright enough for Ravenclaw..."
What a stupid hat! Thought Jenna madly. I'm obviously smarter than it thinks. Anyways, who trusts an old piece of fabric?
"Not nice enough for Hufflepuff. Now, do you belong in Gryffindor or Slytherin?" I don't know! Jenna thought. "You are very brave indeed, but I see more determination and disregard for rules. So it shall be... SLYTHERIN!"
Jenna quickly lashed the hat off of her head to see Snape, McGonagall and her father with wide-open mouths.
Remus looked at Dumbledore. "Can the hat ever make mistakes?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Don't worry Remus, I'm sure that the hat made the right choice. Jennifer, Professor Snape will be your house teacher." He motioned toward the greasy haired man who seemed to scowl at that.
"Jennifer, are you ready to go?" Remus asked. Jenna nodded. "Oh yes... Minerva," Remus continued. "Who will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
"A young man named Lewis Shankley. He graduated from Beauxbatons three years ago. A very bright and exciting boy." McGonagall answered. "He got outstanding on all of his O.W.L.s and excellent scores on his N.E.W.Ts. He definitely knows his defense against dark arts! He seems very friendly, and excited to teach!"
"Interesting...," he answered. "Anyways, see you later. We best be going."
"See you tomorrow Jennifer," Dumbledore grinned. Then she and her father walked over to the fireplace.
"Diagon Alley?" Remus asked Jenna. She nodded. They both went up in flames and found themselves on a cobblestone walkway.
"Gorgeous, eh Jenni?" Remus laughed when he saw Jenna looking at a Puddlemere United Quidditch robe at the Quidditch store.
Blushing, Jenna and her father walked on. Finally, she spoke up, remembering her father's look of surprise. "Dad? Is it bad that I got into Slytherin?"
Remus looked surprised. "Why Jennifer, of course not! I just wasn't expecting it."
Relieved, Jenna hugged her father.
"Umm, Jenni? Do you need any repairs on your wand?" Jenna shook her head and opened her mouth, but she was interrupted by a girl's voice yelling, "Professor Lupin, over here!"
Lupin turned around to face them. Jenna started to study them. One of them was Harry Potter of course. He stuck out like a sore thumb with his lightning bolt scar and messy black hair. With him was a red-haired boy and a girl.
"Why hello Harry, Ron and Hermione!" Lupin greeted. "How are you?"
Hermione looked at Jenna. "Umm... excuse me for being rude, but who are you?"
Jenna eyed her father. "I'm Jennifer Lupin. I'm starting Hogwarts in my fifth year and I'm in Slytherin."
"Oh." Harry said. "How'd you get...?"
Lupin interrupted him. "Sorry Harry, but Jenni, I have to leave. Your things for school and at the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione, Harry and Ron are staying there too." He hugged her. "Good luck honey." Then, Lupin walked away.
"So Jennifer," Hermione said. "What's your favorite subject in school?"
Jenna grinned. "First, you can call me Jenna or anything else you want. Second, I love Defense Against the Dark Arts. At Durmstrang, we had three of those classes a day. It was great."
"I like that subject too," Harry said in a nervous, quiet voice.
Ron looked at Harry's broken watch. "Well, I guess we should get to bed. It's getting kind of late. Jenna yawned slightly.
As they started to split up, she heard Ron whisper to Harry, "Mate, why do you get nervous around her?"
"I dunno, Ron."
"Do you like her?"
Harry remained silent and Jenna laughed as she walked into her room.