Chapter 6
The First Day
Andy woke up bright and early, taking a shower. She towel dryed her hair, figuring it didn't
matter whether or not she dried it because it would be curly anyway, besides, electronics did not
work here, so she hadn't brought her blow dryer. She did not know any magic yet, so it did not
make a difference whether or not she wanted to dry her hair. She sat down on her bed, stroking
a sleeping Merlin.
There was a box of kitty litter in one corner along with a scratching post, niether of which
had been there the night before. Andy shrugged, pleased with the new addition to their room.
She picked Merlin up, placing him on her extra sheets next to the scratching post. She had made
him up a bed last night, but he had joined her in the big bed anyway. She pulled her sheets up,
straitening her comforter, and grabbed her bag with all her books and quills in it. What else will
I need? Quills, ink, books...I'm forgetting something. Oh, duh! Of course! My wand!
Andy brought the box in which she had packed her wand out of her trunk, opening it and
looking at the wand. It was beautiful, black as night, just like Merlin, save for the one silver
streak. Andy picked it up and shoved it in one side of her bag, all ready for classes.
It was 7:00 now, and a bell was ringing, signaling that it was time to wake up. Andy sensed
motion coming from the other beds as the girls began to stir. Decideding to go upstairs, she
grabbed her bag and went up to the common room to wait for breakfast to start. Breakfast
started at 7:30, and at 8:15 the first classes started. Andy spread her legs out on the couch and
leaned her head back to doze off for a while.
"Good morning, aren't you the girl who came into our dorm last night?" Said a laughing
voice. Andy's head snapped up, and her eyes opened. It was not the hot guy, it was a different
guy, although he was pretty cute too. "My name is Daniel Andrews, by the way."
"Nice meeting you, I'm Andromeda Black, but everyone calls me Andy."
"Cool, so why did you come to our dorm last night?"
"I got lost, I thought it was my dorm. I went down the wrong staircase. Are you by any
chance related to Brittni Andrews?"
"Yeah, she's my twin." He replied. He was tall, really really long hair that stood on end. He
looked a lot like his sister, excepts taller.
"That's cool. So why aren't you two in the same house?" Asked Andy.
"Guess the hat didn't think we belonged together." He said, sounding slightly disinterested.
"Does that happen often? I would have thought families were in the same houses, especially
twins." Andy asked, regardless of his disinterest, he was curious.
"Actually it doesn't happen as often as you might think. She might be my twin but we are
very different." He said, leaning back into the chair he was sitting in. They continued talking for a
while, turned out Daniel was a pure blood as well, although Andy had already known that from
Brittni but did nt want to offend him by saying so, and he had always known that he would be
coming to Hogwarts. Both his parents had been in Slytherin, Brittni was the only one in his family
who had ever been in a house other than Slytherin except for his great uncle. They talked until
7:30, at which point another bell sounded, telling them that Breakfast was starting.
They walked down the stairs to the breakfast hall together and sat down, still talking about
what classes they were most excited about. Andy peppered him with questions about wizarding
government and music, having never been exposed to it herself. She found out all of the obscure
rules of Quiddich, and by the end of breakfast she was a huge fan of the English team, just
though Daniels praise of them. He was very funny, and nice. He was not as cute as Draco, but at
least he wasn't a jerk.
Halfway through breakfast owls begn streaming into the breakfast hall. Andy thew her arms
over her head and began screaming when she saw them.
"What's the matter? This is just the daily post!" He exclaimed, laughing at her.
"You send mail with owls?" She asked curiously.
"Of course. Don't tell me you didn't know that! Jeez, you know nothing at all! Not Quiddch,
not music, you didn't even know about the Ministry of Magic!"
"She didn't know who Dumbledore was either, until yesterday." Chirrped Daphne as she
and Rachel approached them, taking seats next to Andy. "Here you are, we were looking for
you this morning. You missed a glorious row, Emily was on Patty's case about how she was
leaving dirty clothes and towels everywhere and had no respect for any of us. This was after
Patty spent a half hour in the bathroom primping of course, and so Patty started yelling and going
on about her sister. She seems to think we owe her respect of something, just because she's a
pure blood she thinks she's better, so anyway, they were yelling at eachother. We left before
they finished, I think they might still be at it. I'm Rachel by the way, and this is Daphne." She
said, the last part adressed to Daniel.
"I'm Daniel, so, what I want to know is what do you have against pure bloods?"
"Nothing, er, I, er, no. You misunderstood. I don't dislike all pure bloods, just Patty."
Rachel was blushing.
"I was kidding. Good to know though." He said, laughing. He laughed a lot. "Did you really
not know who Dumbledore was?" He said to Andy. "I thought everyone knew Dumbledore!"
He sounded shocked. Andy was saved the embarassment of answering by the arrival of the
schedules. Daniel stood up and walked to the pile of first year Slytherin schedules, picking up
four. He brought them back to where Andy, Daphne, and Rachel were sitting and passed them
out.
Monday-
8:15am- Charms
9:45am- Double History of Magic with Gryfindor
12:45pm- Lunch
2:15pm- Study Hall
Tuesday-
8:15am- Transfiguration
9:45am- Double Potions with Gryfindor
12:45pm- Lunch
2:15pm- Astronomy
Wednesday-
8:15am- Herbology
9:45am- Double Defense Against the Dark Arts with Gryfindor
12:45pm- Lunch
2:15pm- Study Hall
11:45pm- Astronomy
Thursday-
8:15am- Double Transfiguration with Gryfindor
11:15am- Charms
12:45pm- Lunch
2:15pm- Charms
Friday-
8:15am- History of Magic
9:45am- Double Herbology with Gryfindor
11:15am- Defense Against the Dark Arts
12:45pm- Lunch
2:15pm- Potions
"Okay, so who knows anything about Charms?" Asked Andy to the three others. No one
did. Moments later the 8:15 bell rang, signaling that it was time to get to class. The four walked
together to the charms classroom, following the other first years in their house. Andy made a
mental note of which direction the classroom was in and opened the door. She took a seat in the
middle, not wanting to sit in the front, but not wanting to give the impression of being a slacker
on the first day.
Their Charms teacher introduced himself as Professor Flitwick, he was a little man and had
to stand on a pile of 12 books in order to see over his desk. He took role, looking up to meet
everyones eyes as he said their names. He then charmed his desk to fly around the room. Eager
to do the same, all of the students got out their wands. It was not for another few moments that
they realized they woul not be doing anything as complicated as this for quite sme time. Instead,
they were all given feathers, an incantation, and a hand motion and told to try to levitate the
feather.
Andy was so excited, this would be the first spell she ever used. She swished her wand and
flicked it towards the feather "Wingardium Leviosa!" She said, flicking her wand again. The
feather rose easily into the air, no sweat. This was easy. She swished and flicked her wand
again, pointing it at the feather, but forgetting the incantation. A beam of red light flew from the
tip and shot the feather, causing it to burst into flames.
"Ms. Black!" Professor Flitwick said, exagerating the s in Ms. so that it sounded like a long
z, "please, the assignment was to levitate the feather, which you did quite nicely, kindly do not
blow anything else up! If you do that again it will be 10 points from Gryfindor, I would hate to
have to deduct points in the first class of the first day."
"What are points?" She whispered to Daniel as he turned his back to get her another
feather.
"You don't know what house points are? Goodness, you really are clueless aren't you?"
"Yes, so what are they?"
"Well see, there are these hourglasses filled with emeralds, yellow diamonds, saphires, and
rubies, depending on the house color. When you do good things, teachers reward you points
and stones fall into the hourglass, when you do bad things they come out of the hour glass. At
the end of the year, the house with the most points gets awarded the house cup. It's a great
honor."
"Quiet Mr. Andrews, I notice you haven't managed to levitate your feather yet." Said
professor Flitwick, coming to their desks with another feather for Andy.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Said Andy, swishing and flicking her wand, but accidentally pointing
it at the retreating back of professor Flitwick, he levitated off the ground and hung in the air.
"Oh, ooo, get me down from here!" he yelled, giggling slightly.
"I'm dreadfully sorry professor! Oh, my goodess, how do I reverse the spell?"
"Don't do anything! Let me do it. You will kindly stay after class Ms. Black." He said,
pointing his own wand at himself and muttering the counter spell. And hour later, the bell rand
signaling the end of class. "Ms. Black, you are not in trouble, don't worry. Everyone makes
mistakes and today was your first day. I was surprised, frankly, that you were capable of
preforming such a charm, I would like to give you a few private lessons and see if you can
master the other spells as quickly, if this is the case, I will be moving you up to a more advanced
level."
Andy thanked him and ran out of the classroom to catch up with Rachel. She would never
be able to find History of Magic without help. Luckily, Rachel, Daphne, and Daniel had not gone
far, so she told them about the possibility of being moved up on the way to History of Magic.
This class was so boring that Andy thoguht she would die. It was taught by a ghost named
professor Binns, rather than a person, who droned on and on without pausing for a full three full
hours, as this was a double period. Half the class dozed off while the other half either passed
notes, or threw paper balls through Professor Binns.
Some of the roudier boys made up a game, the purpose of which was to throw as many spit
balls through the professor as possible without getting caught. This game proved to be
remarkably easy, as he never noticed it, so by the end of class there was a large pile of spit balls
behind professor Binns.
Andy herself was not in either group, she continued writing her letter to Shelli, detailing
Daniel, her meeting with Draco and Pansy, her intrusion of the boys dorms, and how boring her
class had been. As well as sthe fact that she might be moving up in one of her classes. She did
not, however, mention that said class was charms, she still managed not to mention that she was
a witch partially for fear that Shelli would turn on her, partially out of fear that Shelli would tell,
or use her for her magic, disbelieve her, or ignore her. She just said that she might be moving up
in one of her classes, without mentioning the fire, or the levitating of her teacher. Lunch came
next, and Andy, Daniel, Rachel, and Daphne all sat together again.
"So, Daniel, how is it that you choose our company over that of your male friends?" Daphne
asked him over her pot roast.
"Well," he swallowed his mouthful of scalding soup, "I don't really have any friends yet,
besides you guys of course. We are friends right?" He asked, looking at the three. Daphne and
Rachel were both silent, but Andy assured him that she, for one, was certainly his friend.
"Why can't girls and boys be friends without it becoming sexual?" She asked of Rachel
later, deffending her statement earlier. "Daniel is really nice, he is my friend, just as much as you
are. Well, slightly less."
"And, you don't want to be more than friends with him?" She asked in a conspiritoial
whisper, leaning closer to Andy totally seriously.
"You really want to know?" Andy asked, leaning in herself and acting as if it were the most
serious confession in the world. "He's only a friend!" She said, acting as if she had just told a
huge secret.
Study hall proved to be massivly boring, they went to the library, which was huge and filled
with every book anyone could ever possibly need, and every book no one would ever want.
They sat six to a round table, Andy, Daphne, Emily, Rachel, Daniel, and another girl named
Denise with curly, dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. Why are so many of the girls here so
petite? Is it like a magical law that you have to be skinny and short in order to preform
magic?!
The six shared sources and notes from professor Binns's class as they wrote their essay.
The topic was the lack of werewolf rights, they were to have two rolls of parchement on the
laws and circumtances leading up to the persecution and abstention of warewolves. The only
problem was, no one had paid attention during his class, so they had no notes.
They spent at least half an hour gathering research, and Andy had only written one and a half rolls of parchement when study hall ended. Fortunately it was the last period of the day, so
she stayed in the library, as did most of the class, to finish her paper.
At 4:00 she returned to the common room, a little tired, and slightly flustered, but pleased
with her first day. She had to write an essay for charms about the invention and usage of the
levitation charm, so she got out her schedule to see when it would be due. Good, no charms
until thursday, so I don't have to write it tonight. I get to slack off!
She looked at tomarrows schedule, transfiguration, that was supposed to be difficult from
what she had heard, and the teacher was the stern looking woman from the night before. Andy
was a little scared for that class.
Then was potions. Apparently, that was a breeze, as the teacher was head of Slytherin and
favored his own students a lot. That class was going to be with the Gryfindors, and according to
what she had heard, being in a class with the potions instructor and anyone from Gryfindor was
always memorable to say the least.
Astronomy was tomarrow night, that subject Andy was pretty sure she could handle.
Muggle school offered astronomy too, and she had taken it as an elective a few semesters ago.
This teacher probabally had nothing to tell her that she hadn't already heard.
"So, firstie, how was your first day?" Asked the snide voice of Draco Malfoy, grabbing her
schedule out of her hands. Why does he keep coming to talk to me? Doesn't he worry about
what it will do to his reputation, I thought he was so concerned about that on the
platform. Andy tried to retrieve her schedule, but he was much taller and faster than herself. He
lept over the back of the couch sitting down.
"Oh, you have potions with Gryfindor tomarrow? Lucky you, professor Snape is the best
teacher here." Andy, not wanting to sound stupid again, made a mental note that the potions
teacher who played favorites was named Snape.
"So I've heard. May I please have my schedule back now?" She asked sweetly, as soon as
he had looked up at her she grabbed it, walking away in the direction of her dorm. Daphne
joined her on the stairs, a bit out of breathe.
"How could you have walked away from Draco Malfoy?" Daphne asked, looking slightly
awestruck.
"What do you mean?" Andy asked, he was hott, but he was not a god or anything.
"From what I've heard, he's the hottest, most popular, richest person in Slytherin."
"I'm sure he is, he seems to be the most at a lot of things." In response to Daphnes puzzled
stare, she continued, "he's also the most stuck up, self centered, inconsiderate person, character
traits which I personally do not respect, admire, or seek out." Andy replied, continuing to walk
down the stairs.
"He's not that bad, besides, he sought you out, he obviously likes you." Andy snorted at
this. This was obviouslty a girl from rural England, in which holding hands qualifies as going to
second, and eye contact mans potential marriage. Andy knew differently, the only way you
knew for sure if a guy liked you was if he said so, kissing was not proof, he can kiss whoever he
wanted and it didn't mean he was tied down, and hearing from his friends did not count. The
bases did not go crush, hand holding, goodnight kiss on the cheek, peck on the lips. Draco
Malfoy taking her schedule and telling her that professor Snape was a good teacher did not
mean he liked her, and if that was his way of saying that he liked her, then he was way too
kindergarten for her taste anyway.
Andy wasn't even looking for a boyfriend right now. Andy spent the evening organizing
belongings and getting situated. Merlin was enjoying his scratching post, but as soon as she
entered the room he came over and lept on her, climbing up her with his claws. It hurt a little, but
Andy did not mind, it was nice to be appreciated.
"So, Daphne, what about you? Seen any guys that spark your interest yet?" Asked Andy,
midway through folding her towel.
"Not really, Daniel seems really nice. And hes cute. He's smart too." She said, plopping
down on the window seat next to Andy's bed and curling her legs up underneathe herself.
"Sounds to me like you might be interested. Come on, admit it. Not even the tiniest bit?"
"Well, maybe a little, but I think Rachel is too, so don't say anything." Daphne said quickly,
looking around the room as if it were a big deal to (a). like a guy, and (b). like the same guy as
your friend. Andy rolled her eyes, turning her back.
"When's your birthday Daphne?" Andy asked, curious.
"In a week and five days. September 14. I turn 13 then. When's yours?"
"April 1, I turn 14 then."
"So you're like, er," Daphne counted on her fingures, "six months older than me."
"Isn't it seven?"
"Are you counting April? Because I'm not." Daphne said, saving herself quickly.
"What are you kids talking about?" Rachel asked, walking into the room.
"Our birthdays, when's yours?" Daphne said.
"November 20. You?" Rachel replied, flicking her hair.
"I'm September 14, Andy's April 1." Daphne told her.
"Oh, so yours is coming soon. What do you want us to get you?" Rachel asked Daphne.
"I dunno, I'll have to think about it." Daphne said, thinking hard.
"Okay, well I'm out, I think I'm going to go explore the grounds, anyone want to come?"
Andy declared.
"No thanks, I want to get started on Flitwicks essay." Rachel said, flopping onto her bed,
messing up the made up covers, and opening her bag to start her essay. Andy left the room,
walking upstairs and out of the portrait hole.
Poor Merlin, he should get some fresh air, he was cooped up all day, maybe
tomarrow I'll let him out into the common room, I wonder if anyone is allergic to cats?
Andy walked up the stone staircases to the main entrance hall where she exited the large doors,
going outside. She walked over to the lake, this must be where we paddled up last night, it
looks so much nicer and more friendly in daylight.
There was a nice tree over by one corner of the lake with long bows that leaned so far
down that they touched the surface of the lake, rupturing the glassy smoothness. Andy lay down
in the shade, the leaves were beginning to change colors, and the light through the leaves played
across the green grass. Lying down on the lush, soft grass she felt the suns rays carressing her
face. She was so tired, and the sun was so warm. Merlin lept across her lap, frolicing in the late
afternoon sunlight. She must have dozed off for quite some time, because the shadows had
moved entirely and it was no longer quite as hot.
Andy sat up, maybe she was still tired, because she thought she saw a giant tentacle
stretching across the lake towards where she was lying. She rubbed her eyes, she was not
dreaming, there was a tentacle on the lake, and it was growing closer by the second.
"EEK!!!" Shreiked Andy, leaping up and grabbing Merlin in her arms, and retreating closer
to the trunk of the tree. The tentacle cleared the edge of the pond and started to inch towards
Andy. "AHHH. HELP, HELP, SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!" Andy grew desparate, there was
nowhere for her to run, she was backed up to the tree trunk, Merlin in her arms with the giant
tentacle looming ever larger.
The giant man who had led her and the other first years across the lake the preceding night
came running across the grounds to help the child who was screaming. He saw a small girl with
dark brown wavy hair cornered against the trunk of a large tree, being attacked by a giant
tentacle of a giant squid. She was holding a cat in her arms, and there was something vaguley
familiar about her.
He started to go to her rescue, but just as he was about to reach her she pulled her wand
out of her robes. The girl had a wand the whole time and she just stood there? The bloody
fool, she had me worried to death. She did not say a spell that Hagrid heard, but just pointed
her wand at the creatures tentacle. A blast of red light burst out of her wand tip, scorching the
side of the tentacle. She pointed again, and again until the tentacle retreated back into the water.
Hagrid returned to his hut, shaken.
Never in all of his time at Hogwarts had he seen the squid attack a student, and never
before had her seen the squid hurt. This first year girl, for he had remembered her from the night
before, had burned it's tentacle so severely that it had withdrawn from a fight, in past years, if
provoked of maimed, the squid would defend itself, and never before had it been hurt or scared
enough to cause it to retreat.
Andy ran back up to the castle, afraid that the beast, whatever it was, would attack again.
She made her way to the Slytherin common room and collapsed onto the overstuffed sofa, still
gasping for breathe.
"Whats wrong with you?" Asked a familiar voice.
"Why is it that you are always here? Don't you have anything better to do with your time
than sit on the sofa waiting for me?" Andy demanded impatiently.
"No. Oh, while I have you here, I just wanted to clarify that Pansy is by no means my
girlfriend." Draco said.
"Lucky for her. What, did you stay up all night coming up with that one?" Andy was in a
bad mood, and although he had done nothing to her as of yet, she was on guard just in case.
"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong, or just sit there sulking?" He asked, perfectly,
infuriatingly, calmly.
"Sit here and sulk, maybe you should leave, wouldn't want to bore you." She said in a
perfect imitation of Pansy from the night before. Draco just laughed and got up, shaking his head
as he walked away. Well, is he frustrating, or is he frustrating? Maybe I was a little harsh
though. Andy leaned back, closing her eyes and running her hands through her hair, masaging
her temple. Merlin scratched her leg, wanting to be petted.
"So, what is wrong?" It was no longer Draco, nor any other voice she had heard as of yet.
She opened one eye. Excellent, it was the hot guy who she had walked in on changing, just what
she wanted.
"Nothin is wrong, except that you are here, so why don't you leave?" She said snippily.
"No, not until you tell me what is wrong. Was that guy bothering you? He's a real jerk,
Draco Malfoy, right?" Why was this guy trying to make convorsation with her? And why didn't
he get all offended when she snipped at him like all the other drama queens she had
encountered.
"What's your name?" She asked, opening her eyes and scooping Merlin onto her lap.
"Joshua Cummings, but everyone calls me Josh." Said the guy.
"Good for them. My name is Andy." She said shortly.
"So, Andy, why are you so irritable?" He asked.
"Because I was just attacked by a giant tentacle when I was out by the pond." Josh burst
out laughing, but stopped when he saw that she was not kidding.
"You're serious? Wierd. What was it?"
"If I knew, do you think I would have described it as a giant tentacle?"
"Well, maybe?" He did not have anything to say to her, he was no match for her when it
came to exchanging wit. He was a waste of her time.
"I'm tired." Andy said, standing up and taking Merlin down the correct staircase to her
bedroom. She collapsed with exhaustion after her first day at Hogarts, maybe this whole magic
thing was going to be harder than she had thought.
Authors Note: Okay, that was a really long one, so I expect lots of gloriously long reviews, or just lots. Heehee. Okay, sorry it took me such a long time to update, I am suffering from a severe case of writers block...same deal with my other story, except that for that one I have 4 new chapies in my doc manager that I am not posting to torment you...bwahahaha (okay, so it needs a little work) Okay, that was long enough..press the little review button!