Okay, a few things that I forgot to mention: Book five WILL NOT happen. This idea started bugging me LONG before that (before even the fourth book), and OotP will not fit. Besides, I like Sirius.
Also, this may start to look very typical, but I promise that there are surprises in store.
Also, I would like to give personal thanks to kraeg001 and moonypadfoot! My very first reviews! I'm so happy! And it hasn't even been up for a day! sniff Thank you!
And to moonypadfoot: I know that he probably wouldn't have been that polite. That was bothering me, but I didn't know how else to put it.
Onward!!!
Overture
Harry looked out of the compartment window, thinking. The summer had been bizarrely normal. No Dark Marks, no escaped murderers, not even a house elf. He wondered if this was a bad sign.
Oh, well. I wonder what's going to happen now. Voldemort's back; what is he going to do?
The compartment door opened and Hermione stepped in. "We should be leaving soon."
Harry nodded his thanks, while Ron didn't even look up from his comic.
Ah, well, whatever happens, I'm going back to Hogwarts.
ยงยงยง
Several hours into the journey, the compartment door slid open. Expecting Malfoy, the Gryffindor Trio immediately tensed. But what they saw wasn't quite what they had expected.
A fifteen-year-old girl with long, blond hair and large blue eyes stood there. She was scowling.
"Damn, not here, either. Oh, well, I'm sorry to have bothered you." She started to close the door before Ron stopped her.
"Wait a second, just who are you? And why did you say, 'not here?'"
The girl flushed. "Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name is Rhianna Amamiya, I'm a transfer student this year."
Harry took a closer look at her. He realized that she wasn't really blond, as he had thought. Her hair was the slivery-white color that he usually associated with old people. Her skin was almost snow-white, and her eyes were the color of an evening sky. What confused him was that her eyebrows and eyelashes were midnight-black.
Hermione looked up. "Who are you looking for?"
"I got separated from the other new students, and now I can't find them." She looked very embarrassed and seemed to be trying to make a polite getaway.
"Well-"
"Rhia, there you are," A boy with shoulder-length black hair and tanned skin stood in the hallway behind her. "We thought that you had gotten lost."
Rhianna smiled at him. "I did, but I was trying to find you."
"Come on, I think that the Japanese kid and the Italian are about to start a war."
"Oh. Well, it was nice meeting you. We'll probably run into each other again at school." She gave them a last smile, and left.
"We have a transfer program?" Ron and Harry looked at each other, then simultaneously turned to Hermione. Well?"
"It's been in the works for several years. I never really thought that it would go through, but I guess that wonders never will cease."
"They sent them here? Now? With Voldemort out there?" Harry was appalled. "What are their ministries thinking? They're sending these kids into Ground Zero!"
"Harry, Fudge didn't believe us. No one else knows that he's back." Hermione said, trying to calm him down.
"But aren't there rumors? The Triwizard Tournament was very public, and someone died, for no apparent reason!"
"Harry, stop worrying. If they were picked out of all of the kids in their schools, then they probably know how to defend themselves." Ron pointed out.
"Yes, Harry, Ron's right. I know that it's hard for you to accept, but the world doesn't believe that You-Know-Who is back."
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Well, that's it for now. Review, please!