Disclaimer 1: Draco, his parents and teachers all belong to JKR. (As if you didn't all know that.)

Disclaimer 2: Severus Snape owning a raven belongs to J.L. Matthews. (Go read her story everybody. It's great.)

Disclaimer 3: The gang name Sharks is borrowed from the musical West Side Story of course. I don't remember where I found the name Rakers, but I know I read it somewhere.

Disclaimer 4: The idea for Snape having a family comes from Al's fic Time of Trial.

Disclaimer 5: The Glizzard family and Gringolf Glizzard belong to my friend PegaPony and so do all of Gringolf's songs. Thanks for letting me borrow them!

Disclaimer 6: My friend Edmund owns himself and his horse Apollo.

Disclaimer 7: Old Joe and Tess' Joe belong to Zebee.

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A/N: Well, at least I figured out where all my reviews went. It's not your fault people! My provider uses a spam blocking service and even though I've informed them that I'd rather get the spam than have my friends told that I consider them spammers without me even being informed, they claim that it cannot be changed. This time it's that was declared the spammer. In an attempt to still get the alerts (Hey, that's what I pay support services for! I don't need any of the other functions.) I changed my account to another e-mail address which I got for my spam blocked friends (Not that they're using it. They simply don't talk to me anymore.) And indeed, I now get my alerts again. The only downside is that 's loggin procedure now declares both addresses invalid. I've mailed for help (Well, what do you know, can't file a support ticket, if you can't logg in ...), but I have no idea when I'll be able to get into my account and update again.

On a happier note: I found and answered the missing reviews and nfiction is back up allowing me to still post at two sites!

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Chapter 12: Dear Parents

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Dear Mum and Dad

How are you doing? Is everything okay at home?

I'm fine. In fact, I couldn't be better. Hogwarts is wonderful. Classes are mostly interesting and my classmates are almost all very nice. Only Gangolf worries me a bit. He always keeps to himself and wants to become a ballet dancer. (I assure you my other friends are all perfectly normal, though!)

Guess what: I'm playing Soccer. We had big tryouts today and my friend Billy suggested to try. Despite a lot of competition I really made it onto the team. I'm only a reserve player right now, but I might make the main team next year.

Tomorrow we also have our first Sports class, which is said to be a lot of fun. Both for Sports and Soccer I am supposed to wear Muggle clothes, though. Could you please send me some? A pair of shorts and a t-shirt appear to be the usual apparel for Soccer an will do nicely for Sports as well.

Please write back soon. I miss you both.

Love

Pank

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Dearest Mummy

I hope your cold is better by now.

Hogwarts is terrible, even though I am the top student in all my classes, except for Flying which I thoroughly dislike. The food is much too fat, but don't worry as I am taking care to eat mostly salad so I won't get fat. My classmates are okay, but very strange. They are messy and don't care about their looks at all. Instead they love to stay up late to play exploding snap or other wild games. They also love a strange and dangerous sport called Soccer, especially Billy, who appears to be a very wild and aggressive boy. He hasn't hurt me, yet, but I am doing my best to keep my distance from him and an equally aggressive girl called Danny (What a name for a girl!).

The Gryffindors are the worst of them all, though. They waylay unsuspecting students in the corridors and the only way to stay safe is to always stay in a group when outside of our common room. The first time I innocently wandered away from my classmates I was jumped upon by their entire third year in a bathroom. I managed to fight them off heroically, but the experience has left me more cautious.

Third years seem to be particularly dangerous altogether. Only yesterday I got hurt after being attacked by our own Slytherin group. Do not worry, if the school writes home about that. My injury was minor and my opponents ended up looking much worse than me.

In more happy news I have signed up for ballet lessons. Could you please send me some proper clothes for that and for Sports class? I think pink should go well with my hair.

Please give my regards to Dad, if he should call.

A thousand hugs and kisses

Gangolf

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Hi Mum and Dad

I'm glad to hear that you are all well. Please do not worry about my being sorted into Slytherin. The house isn't nearly as bad as you remember it. All my classmates are wonderful and we have already formed a tight group of friends. Even Colleen, who seemed so icy at first has come around. It seems I just met her on a bad day. She's still very stiff, but I now know that she was taught to 'behave like a lady' by her grandmother who seems to be terribly old fashioned. Colleen never got out much before starting Hogwarts and is still slightly overwhelmed by the sudden change. In a smaller and more quiet circle she can be quite fun to talk to and she has already apologised for the things she said that first day. She really wants to be our friend.

Anny is the most wonderful friend I've ever had. I got quite upset when I wasn't accepted into the school's Soccer team, but Anny consoled me and I'm fine with it now. I have decided to take Gymnastics together with Danny instead. (Anny made the team and is also joining the Acting club and Professor Snape said not to take more than two additional classes.)

Of course I won't forget Hermy, Corinna and Lauri. We often have classes with Hufflepuff and I can always catch them at meals, if we don't. All three seem to be very happy in Hufflepuff house and have made some very nice friends. One of them is named Chorche (at least that's what it sounds like. I don't know how to spell it.) and is from Spain. He doesn't speak much English, but is really the nicest person you could imagine. We all love him dearly.

Please give my best wishes to Uncle Marvin and Aunt Allissa. I wish I could be there for their anniversary.

Say hi to Mandy, Pat, Samuel, Tita, Jerry and everybody else for me.

All my love

Dinah

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Dear Mum

You were right, I really do like Hogwarts much better than my old school. Nobody here knows about Dad's little mishap and I am making lots of friends. The only downside is that I am so very far away from you.

I'm doing fine and classes are okay as well.

Can you please send me some Muggle style sports clothes? A t-shirt and trousers or shorts will do fine. It doesn't have to be anything special. I only need something comfortable to wear in Sports class.

Love

Rupert

PS. And please tell Dad to stay sober for me. Or at least not to apparate when drunk.

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Esteemed Mother and Father,

Cher Grandmere

I sincerely hope that you are all well and that this letter doesn't take too much of your time. I am however urgently in need of decent clothes for Sports class. We are required to wear trousers for that. Perhaps Grandmother knows of a kind of trousers a young lady can wear without being too forward?

I also hope that my French is correct. Please correct me, if I'm wrong, as I have decided to learn French to further my education.

Please disregard my earlier complaints about my classmates. They are still hopelessly common, but not altogether bad. I think I am well on the way to making friends with Dinah Laxter. The Laxters are traditionally a middle class Hufflepuff family, but Dinah seems to have the necessary ambition to do well in life and is the only other pureblooded witch in my year and house.

Regards

Colleen L. Nocturne

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Hi Mum and Dad

Just writing to tell you that everything's fine and I'm taking Gymnastics and Volleyball as additional classes. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Anyhow, all my friends are writing home today, so I thought I should, too.

Hugs

Danny

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Dear Mum and Dad

I hope you're doing well and don't miss me too much. I miss you terribly sometimes.

You wouldn't believe all the exciting things that are happening here, though. I wouldn't want to miss it for the world!

Today we had Soccer tryouts and when two of the boys didn't have any suitable clothes Professor Snape told a house elf to transfigure their robes into Soccer dresses. She simply snipped her fingers and they were suddenly wearing shorts and t-shirts!

The day was so exciting that I almost didn't find time for my daily visit with Salazar!

I am officially friends with Colleen now, though Dinah was a little upset about it. But everything is okay now and the three of us shared the chocolate you gave me when we said goodbye. Can you imagine that Colleen had never seen an ordinary piece of chocolate before? She's only ever eaten chocolate frogs!

Oh yes, I almost forgot to tell you I made the Soccer team. Eight of us tried out, but only Billy, Pank and I made it.

All my love from

your little witch Anny

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Dear Mum

I know I just wrote you yesterday, but something important has come up. Can you please get me some Muggle clothes for Sports class? Professor Snape says my robes would get in the way and might make me trip. Billy says I need shorts, or jeans and something called a tea shirt. That's a strange bit of upper clothing that has neither ribbons nor buttons. You pull it over your head and stick your arms through little holes on the side. I know that sounds strange, but it is actually very comfortable when running. I already wore one for the Soccer tryouts today. Unfortunately I wasn't good enough, though, and didn't get on the team.

Hope to hear from you soon

Aterus

Ps: Regards to Father as usual

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(translated from Mermish:)

Dear Mum and Dad

How are you? And how's everybody in the lake? Who's the new underwater polo champion? (Yes, I know I already asked you the same things yesterday, but I feel so terribly alone and cut off from the world here. I simply need to know.)

I also urgently need a pair of shorts for Sports class and the Volleyball club. Volleyball is a ball game like underwater polo, but played on land. According to Billy you have to push the ball over a net without dropping it. Neither Danny nor I know any more about it than that, but she absolutely wanted to be on some ball team and we didn't make the Soccer team.

Please write back as soon as possible. I am starving for some news from home.

Hugs and kisses

Tullia

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Pank took the letters to the owlery early the next morning. Both Aterus and Colleen owned owls, but the rest of the mail had to go out via school owls. Almost all the assignments turned out to be problematic.

The only noteworthy exception was Aterus' owl who recognised Pank from his visits at breakfast and obediently held out his leg when he saw his master's letter in the boy's hand.

Colleen's dark feathered eagle owl on the other hand seemed to be in a bad mood this morning. She screeched and slashed at Pank until a tall Hufflepuff took pity and temporarily stunned her until Pank had attached the letter.

"Quite a beast you've got there." the boy commented after getting bitten for reviving the owl and letting it go.

"She's not mine, thankfully." Pank shook his head looking after the rapidly shrinking form of the owl. "She belongs to ... one of my friends. I suppose she just doesn't recognise me, yet."

The rest of the job wasn't nearly as dangerous, but still not as easy as Pank had expected it to be. There were over a hundred owls in the owlery, most belonging to students Pank didn't even know. How to tell them apart from the school owls he was looking for?

After staring around helplessly for a moment he decided that he could probably exclude all those fancy birds like snowy owls and special breeds like black eagle owls. Those were good looking, but more expensive than a common owl. A school bird's function was to provide a service, not to look flashy.

Pank decided to look for barn owls. They were common, not particularly impressive, but reliable and reasonably fast.

Still, not all students would own special breeds. There was nothing wrong with owning a good old barn owl after all. Pank took one look at a well groomed owl with a nice golden ring around her leg and crossed her off his mental list of possible candidates. No owls wearing ornaments.

Then he noticed the bird that had delivered his Hogwarts letter and beamed.

He walked up to the owl and asked him: "Hey, are you a school owl?"

"Hoot!" the bird perked up fluffing his feathers.

Pank decided to take that as a 'Yes, and proud of it.' "Excellent. Could you deliver this for me?"

He held out one of the letters and the owl visibly deflated and hunched down on his perch.

"What's wrong?" Pank asked confused.

"Hoot." the owl stated miserably.

The friendly Hufflepuff stepped in once again. "Let me see?"

Pank handed him the letter.

"Ah, of course." The Hufflepuff smiled. "You'll need an eagle owl for this one. Barn owls don't fly to Ireland. It's too hard for them to cross the ocean."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Pank apologised to the owl and put Rupert's letter at the bottom of his stack. "How about if I give you something else." Pank glanced at the next address. "Would you like to go to Leeds, perhaps?"

"Hoot!" Anny's letter met with a lot more enthusiasm.

The next two barn owls Pank approached were school owls as well and Tullia's and Gangolf's letters were quite welcome to them.

Then the Hufflepuff called out to Pank from the other end of the owlery. "Hey kid, I found an eagle owl for you."

The bird was a little grumpy, but didn't refuse Rupert's letter entirely.

After that Pank's luck ran out, though. The next three owls were private and some tiny ball of owl-fluff scratched him rather badly when he tried to force Dinah's letter on it in despair.

Once again his Hufflepuff helper rescued him. This time by capturing the owl in an expert grip and giving it a rough shake.

"You have to be cautious with this one." he explained. "He's a notorious hooligan."

Pank regarded the deep scratch in his hand for a moment. "Stupid dwarf. He probably wouldn't have been up to the journey anyway. Have you seen any more decent school owls?"

"The small female in the back." the Hufflepuff recommended right away. "She might not look like much, but she's a fast flyer. And the brown one to your right. He's slower, but very reliable and can deliver heavy packages."

That left Pank with only his own letter to mail, but now they were both out of ideas.

"One more bird," Pank sighed. "I need only one more."

"Hoot?" an old owl landed right in front of him offering her leg.

Pank looked towards the Hufflepuff questioningly.

He shrugged. "If she's offering, I suppose she must be sure she can handle the delivery."

"Alright owl." Pank decided. "Here you go."

He fixed the letter to her leg and watched her take off. She seemed to fly well enough, if a little more slowly than the younger birds.

"Thanks for your help." Pank turned to the Hufflepuff. "If there's anything I can do for you in return don't hesitate to ask."

"Ah, don't mention it."

"No really, you never know when you might need someone to do you a little favour." Pank insisted. "When you do just ask for me. My name's Pank. Slytherin first year."

"Elton, Hufflepuff fourth year." Elton held out his hand.

Well, Hufflepuffs tended to be a little weird, Pank had noticed. Here he was offering the boy a dept and was offered friendship in return. He smiled and took the hand wondering how it came that they kept finding new friends in Hufflepuff. What was it about that house?

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The notice boards looked very empty when they walked past them that morning. All the lists had disappeared and there was only a small note saying that the club schedule would be up by lunch time and some clubs would already meet today.

"Oh, I can't wait." Colleen declared. "I'm so excited about starting to learn French."

"We've got to get through History and Herbology first, though." Rupert reminded them in an attempt to fill Pank's role in his absence.

"Great," Aterus moaned. "I'm not even fully awake, yet, and we have to sit through Binns' class first."

"I'll give you a kick, if you nod off." Billy promised. "It's not like he ever says anything that isn't in the book anyway."

"Are you sure?" Tullia asked him. "Just because he didn't in the first two lessons doesn't mean he never does."

"I'm sure." Billy confirmed. "Dad told me. He had him, too, you know."

"Where's Pank?" Anny asked suddenly. "And Gangolf?"

"Pank's already left for the owlery." Rupert declared. "As for Gangolf ... Last time I asked he was just starting to apply his hair gel. I don't feel like waiting for Mr. Mirror all day, you know. I like to start the day with some food in my stomach."

Indeed, every time they'd waited until Gangolf emerged from the bathroom in the morning they'd ended up going to class hungry. How the boy managed to survive despite missing the most important meal of the day at least every second day was a mystery to them.

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History of Magic was just as boring as it had been the first week. With the Gryffindors in the class it wasn't even possible to talk much, at least not abut private things. After all you never knew how a Gryffindor might abuse overheard information.

The Slytherins' energy returned quite suddenly when they stepped out of the castle on their way to Herbology and met their Hufflepuff classmates. By the time they reached the glass houses they were chatting animatedly, the clubs being the main topic of course.

"I Music Club." Jorge announced moving his fingers up and down in front of his mouth and mimicking blowing.

"Jorge plays the flute." Jon translated proudly. "He learned in school in Spain."

"Really?" Colleen was obviously trying to be nice. "I'm joining the Choir."

"Choir Club?" Jorge asked.

"Colleen sings." Anny translated. "You know: Do – re – mi!"

"Ah, speak music." Jorge nodded.

"Singing." Colleen corrected. "Singing."

"Singing." For a moment Colleen almost smiled when Jorge repeated the new word.

"Billy, Anny and Pank made the Soccer club." Dinah was telling her friends eagerly. "And Danny and I chose Gymnastics."

"Please class, settle down!" Professor Sprout had to call out twice before the students acknowledged her presence at all. "I'm really happy to see how well you all get along, but we do need to get some work done as well, I'm afraid."

In fact Professor Sprout loved teaching this class. It was rare that a group of students worked together so easily. So far only two of the Slytherins had shown any signs of possibly becoming problematic and the girl was doing much better today. Maybe she was just a little homesick last week and would be fine once she recovered.

Young Mr. Bartering's problem didn't seem to be of the social kind which she so often saw in Slytherins, either. He hadn't given any indication of looking down on her Hufflepuffs at all and was willing enough to work with them, but he appeared to be afraid of getting dirty.

That was a reaction she quite often saw in Slytherin girls, so it didn't surprise her that Ms Nocturne held her gardening tools rather awkwardly. In a boy it was unusual, though. Normally they enjoyed the chance to get out and do some physical work. Well, she'd just have to handle Mr. Bartering the way she did the girls.

"Don't be afraid of getting earth on your robes, children. I can perform a cleaning charm for you after the lesson." she assured the entire class not addressing anyone in particular.

A sudden clattering sound and a shriek from behind her. Sprout shot around.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a worm on my shovel!" Ms Nocturne shrieked.

"Ah, let me see."

The girl pointed at the shovel which she had dropped into the flower bed she'd been working in.

Professor Sprout walked over and picked it up. "Ah, I see. That's just an earthworm, dear, nothing to be afraid off." She gently picked the worm up to prove her statement. "They are completely harmless. All they do is wriggle around in the ground loosening the earth to make room for your plants' roots. Without them the earth would be much too hard and the plants can't grow, you see. Earthworms are our friends."

"They're icky." the girl insisted. "Pink and naked and wriggly.", but it was Mr. Bartering who went pale and stared at her hand in horror.

Sprout gently set the worm back onto the earth. "You don't have to touch them, if you don't like them." she assured the students. "I just want you to know that there's no harm, if you do. Earthworms can't even bite."

"C ... can I use my dragon hide gloves next time, please?" Ms Nocturne begged.

Professor Sprout smiled and pulled out her box of gardening gloves. "You can borrow a pair of these, if it'll make you feel more comfortable. That goes for all of you, of course."

Several students took her up on that offer, but most returned the gloves after a short time noticing that it was easier to work without them. Ms Nocturne became more daring once her hands were safely covered, which Sprout decided was a good start. Now the only real problem in this class seemed to be Mr Bartering's worm-phobia. He too had put on a pair of gloves, but still wasn't working.

Despite that the Hufflepuff-Slytherin first year class was making much better progress than the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw one. As often with their house none of the Gryffindors had a particular interest in plants and they lacked the patience to plant them with the proper care as well as the theoretical knowledge.

The Ravenclaws on the other hand had apparently all read ahead and were bored with the Gryffindors' slow theoretical progress, while at the same time many of them abhorred dirt or were at least very clumsy with the tools. Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw was therefore usually the best combination for Herbology, but it also meant that the other class would be Slytherin-Gryffindor, which was the worst combination ever. Not only were those classes unlikely to pay attention and accident prone, they never got along to top it off.

Gryffindor-Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw-Slytherin was how she'd arrange all her classes, if it were up to her. Neither combination was perfect, but they were rarely problematic. This year Slytherin-Hufflepuff was fine, though.

Sprout smiled happily to herself.

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The moment Professor Sprout let them out of the glass house the students took off for the common room at a run. At the great doors of the castle Pank cast a quick look back over his shoulder and noticed that Gangolf had fallen behind again and was clutching his side, but he was too excited to wait and Jorge and Jon were already heading back for him anyway.

Colleen and Dinah were lagging a little behind the rest as well, but not far enough to worry him. They'd catch up once the faster runners had to slow down.

Despite the delicious smells coming out of the great hall they dashed right past it and down into the dungeons. Mrs Norris mewed a complaint as they thundered past Filch's office, but the Caretaker was nowhere in sight. Most likely he was already at lunch.

The entrance to the Slytherin common room stood open when they arrived and there was a lot of pushing and shoving as the students who were only just arriving tried to get in, while those who'd already checked the notice board were trying to get back out and to the great hall.

Danny as usual was the first to plunge into the crowd and the others tried their best to follow in her wake, but were soon separated in the pushing masses.

By the time Pank stumbled into the common room Billy, Aterus and Danny were already standing in front of the notice board looking thoroughly disappointed.

"Duelling, Music and Poetry club members have their first meetings today." Danny reported. "Volleyball isn't until tomorrow."

"What about Soccer?" Pank gasped still trying to regain his breath.

"Thursday." answered Billy.

"But the Chess Club starts tomorrow." Aterus perked up a little.

"And the Riddles Club?" Pank asked hopefully.

"Friday." declared Danny.

"When do we have Soccer training?" Anny didn't sound nearly as out of breath as Pank felt, but at least he'd arrived faster.

"Thursday and your first Acting class is on Wednesday." Danny answered.

Anny regarded the list. "Colleen will be happy. Her first French lesson's tomorrow already."

They had to wait a little until the girl finally arrived, though. Colleen wasn't one to fling herself into a big shoving pile of students and waited for it to thin out a little before finally rejoining the rest of the group.

Gangolf still was nowhere to be seen by the time she reached the others.

"Oh, I hope he didn't end up in the hospital wing again." Pank sighed.

"Nonsense." Danny snapped at him. "I'm sure Mirrorboy just lost us and went straight to the great hall. He's probably already enjoying his pudding while we're all going hungry waiting for him."

Pank considered that for a moment then nodded. "Alright, lets go to lunch. If we don't find Gangolf there we can at least ask the Hufflepuffs what happened to him."

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The next big event of the day for the Slytherins was their first Sports class and they soon noticed that time was a little short for that.

Right after Latin they hurried down into the dungeons to dump their bags and grab their Sports clothes, or whatever they were using in place of Sports clothes for the moment. They had only a minute left until the start of their class by the time they arrived in Filch's office.

Several other students were already there and Colleen thought she'd seen some of them in the Slytherin common room before. Judging from their size they had to be second or third years.

Filch grumpily demanded their names and checked them off on some list.

"Ms Allendale and Ms Samson?" he demanded suddenly, glaring at the older students.

A tall blonde shrugged at him haughtily. "Who cares?"

Filch's look darkened even more and Colleen tried to unobtrusively step behind Anny and Dinah.

"It's okay." Dinah whispered to her. "He's just annoyed because she's so impolite. As long as you mind your manners he's not so bad, just a little grumpy."

"We all care, Ms Courtier." Filch declared. "Because until they arrive we cannot leave and you will be late for your class. We cannot take the portkey until everybody is here."

"Freya went up to the hospital wing, I think." one of the boys said. "Something about suddenly bleeding. I didn't see any wounds on her, though."

Huh? What was that about? Why was Filch blushing and Anny and Danny giggling all of a sudden.

"Well, I suppose Ms Allendale can be forgiven then, but where is Ms Samson? Madam Pomfrey should be quite capable to treat ... that wound ... without assistance."

As if on cue two girls burst though the door.

"Sorry, Mr. Filch. Female problems." one of them burst out all red in the face.

"And here I thought second years were too young for that." Filch mumbled to himself.

"I'm thirteen." the other girl frowned at him. "What? So I started school a year late. My mother thought it best."

Filch waved her off. "Whatever. Everybody get a good hold on this rope."

The rope looked rather old and worn and normally Colleen would have thought twice about touching the probably filthy thing, but she'd travelled by portkey often enough to understand the importance of holding on tightly. She definitely didn't want to be left behind.

There was a surprised yell from Anny as the portkey activated and the moment they arrived Anny tumbled into her.

Together Colleen and Dinah managed to steady their Muggle born friend, but the boys weren't that lucky. Gangolf somehow took both Billy and Rupert down with him as he fell.

A stranger in blue jeans and a green shirt looked down at the boys with an amused smile. "First time with a portkey? Well, you'll get used to it in time." he commented, then turned to Mr. Filch. "Hello again, Argus. You're a little late this time. Problems?"

"Oh, no no, one of the girls just had to make a little detour to the hospital wing that delayed us. Nothing to worry about." Filch returned. "Now children, this is my old friend Mr. Smith the caretaker of West Hogsmeade Wizarding School. If you give him any problems, I've got some thumbscrews back in my office that are in bad need of a workout. Understand?"

"I'm supposed to take orders from a filthy Muggle?" the blonde girl asked scandalised.

Colleen felt for her, though she was too clever to show it. If she'd learned anything at Hogwarts so far, it was that one did not tell people that they wee icky to their face. She'd just avoid Smith as much as possible.

"Muggles are often more decent people than some wizards." Mr Smith declared while Filch glowered as never before.

"Muggle?" Filch finally yelled. "Muggle? Mr Smith happens to be one of only two Hogwarts graduates at this school. In fact he was a Slytherin just like yourself. You dare call him a Muggle?"

"I'm quite fine with being mistaken for a Muggle, Argus." Mr. Smith put a hand on Mr. Filch's shoulder to calm him.

Colleen had to admire Smith's courage. Maybe she wouldn't avoid him after all.

"Well, you just tell me, if any of the little brats give you any more lip." Filch grumbled. "And keep an eye on that Courtier girl. She's the bad apple in this group from what I've seen. Typical pureblood."

"Hey!" Dinah, Pank and Aterus complained and Colleen dared to look at Filch accusingly as well.

Filch actually smiled a little at that. "Well, some purebloods, anyway."

Smith laughed. "Come on then." he waved at them to follow him out of the room, which was probably his office, Colleen decided.

West Hogsmeade Wizarding school was strangely light and its walls seemed very straight and barren except for lines of small metallic cupboards in the hallway.

"Mr. Filch doesn't really mean it, you know." Smith informed them once he had closed the door behind him. "He's just teasing." He patted Colleen on the shoulder making her start. "No need to be afraid."

She nodded and smiled up at him slightly.

"A bit of a shy girl, are you?" Smith smiled back at her. "But that's okay. We aren't in Gryffindor after all."

"Who'd want to be?" one of the older boys commented.

"Draco!" a sudden yell from Billy interrupted the beginning conversation.

Colleen turned around to where the boys had been walking along behind them and saw Billy plunging into the open arms of a tall blond wizard in Muggle clothes. That was his brother?

"I suppose Billy's mother must be blonde." Danny commented after a moment.

"Sarah Snape?" Mr. Smith laughed. "Oh no. Draco's adopted. They say he's the biological son of a cousin of one of the Snapes whose parents died when he was still a teen. So the Snapes took him in and adopted him. That's just a rumour, though. Draco himself won't say and I won't bother him about it. Around here bloodline doesn't mean as much as at Hogwarts. It's more important who you live with."

"But aren't the people you live with the ones you share blood with?" Colleen asked confused.

"Unless you're adopted, or your parents divorce and remarry." Smith suggested. "A lot of children have stepparents here."

Divorce! Colleen shuddered. Her father had threatened her mother with that a few times when she'd been smaller, but since her brother had been born it had apparently stopped. Still divorce was a serious danger. Colleen definitely didn't want a stepmother.

Meanwhile the brothers had embraced and kissed and now Billy was dragging Draco over by one hand.

"Oh Billy, I really need to get to my next class." Draco laughed, but followed anyway.

It had to be wonderful to have a big loving brother like that.

"Just a moment." Billy pleaded. "You just have to meet Aterus. And that's Pank and Rupert and Anny and Danny, Dinah, Colleen .... Oh, and that one's called Gangolf. He's a bit weird. Aterus is really cool, though. He lives in a big manor. Honest, it must be huge. Everybody in his family has their own bedroom and there are still some left for guests."

Draco laughed at that. "That's probably just an ordinary manor, Billy. Lots of rich families have them."

Didn't the Snapes have a manor? Well, maybe not. Considering that Professor Snape worked at Hogwarts and Draco here in Hogsmeade, they probably found a townhouse in Hogsmeade more practical.

"Listen Billy," Draco interrupted Billy's chaotic non-stop introduction. "I really have to work now, but we can talk after your Chemistry lesson on Wednesday, okay?"

Billy nodded sadly. "I miss you." he said hugging Draco one last time.

"I miss you, too, but I'll see you in two days. That's not so long, is it?" Draco ruffled Billy's hair then headed back towards the stairs.

The group started walking once again.

"Draco! I made the Soccer team!" Billy remembered suddenly. "I'm an attacker!"

If Draco had heard his brother, Colleen didn't hear his answer, but then she was distracted by the two doors between which Mr. Smith stopped. One was marked with a drawing of a Muggle girl and the other with one of a Muggle boy.

"Okay, here we are." Mr. Smith announced. "These are the changing rooms. You're already late so I suggest that you change fast. Boys in here, girls over there."

Colleen suddenly felt very nervous again as she followed Anny though the door with the girl-drawing. This was the moment she'd dreaded all day. Now she'd have to change into the clothes Anny and Dinah had picked out for her to use until her proper Sports clothes arrived.

"Are you sure that I should wear this?" she held the trousers under Anny's nose one last time. "It's my winter underwear."

"They're perfectly fine leggings." Anny hissed back. "Lots of girls wear those in Sports class. Nobody has to know. And there are only girls here, anyway. No wizards will see them."

Colleen was sure that she blushed anyway.

The other girls already there were indeed all wearing either shorts like Anny's or things that looked just like Colleen's winter underpants. Maybe this was really okay, but did she have to undress in front of these people?

She took another insecure look at the strangers. Had she seen some of them before?

"Do some of them seem familiar to you?" she asked Anny who had already slipped out of her school robe.

Anny blinked at her uncomprehendingly, but Dinah nodded eagerly.

"Of course, Maggie, Angie and Ilsa are in our Flying class." she confirmed. "Only three of them are really strangers."

"And the four that came with us." Colleen reminded her. "Slytherins, or not, I don't know them."

"A week ago you didn't know us either." Anny slipped into her shorts and grabbed for her t-shirt. "They'll introduce themselves soon enough."

Colleen looked towards the older Hogwarts girls again. The girl called Freya was pulling on her trousers while still wearing her robe to preserve modesty. What a brilliant solution!

Colleen decided to imitate that.

This at least spared her from showing too much of her legs and afterwards she turned towards the wall, so nobody except for the two girls beside her could see her breasts. Those two happened to be Anny and Tullia, who she supposed were trustworthy enough. The room was terribly small for that many girls, so they were close enough to cover her from the others' view.

"Finished?" a witch's voice asked behind her.

Colleen quickly pulled Anny's t-shirt down to cover herself, then turned around. A small witch with short red hair was standing in the second door of the room smiling at them. She too was wearing long underpants and a very form fitting t-shirt like thing.

"Then come on in." she waved at the room behind her invitingly, but when the blonde girl started to walk past her, she held out her arm. "Stop! No shoes in the gym. Either put on special sports shoes, or go barefoot. Don't walk in stockings either. You'd slip. And where are your Sports clothes?"

"I don't have any." the girl sneered at the teacher and Colleen was suddenly very glad to have at least come up with something to wear."

"They weren't on our equipment list." one of the other girls explained. "We had to owl our parents to send them, but some of us come from quite far away. It will take some time until the clothes get here."

The teacher's eyes swept over the room checking out the clothes of each of the girls.

"Most of your fellow Hogwarts students were able to come up with something suitable to wear, though." she commented. "I guess it will have to do for today, but I will not accept robes or a skirt again next week. Now take off your shoes and form a line in there. Smallest to tallest."

"Er ... do you have any idea what she means?" Colleen asked Anny.

"She means to line up sorted by size. The smallest on one end, the tallest on the other." Anny nodded.

Colleen blinked at her, then at the strange room they found behind the door. "How do I know how tall I am?"

The teacher smiled. "Just stand where you think you fit in and I'll sort you out."

They line ended up obviously wrong. Anny who insisted on being much too small for her age and hence the smallest took one end with Colleen and Dinah next to her. Then followed Tullia and Danny, who claimed to be the tallest. After her came the older Slytherins, with thirteen year old Freya at the end and standing next to much smaller Ilsa. Next there was an even smaller girl Colleen had never seen before, then Maggie and Angie and finally the last two strangers.

"Oh dear." the teacher laughed. "Hogwarts really didn't understand why we said to put the smallest second years with the tallest first years, did they? They completely forgot. Well, lets see what we can do. You one, two, three, four, five," she counted off starting with Freya down to Danny. "Move over to Catty's end for a start."

"Er ... who's Catty?" Freya asked.

"Me!" waved the girl down at the other end. "Over here."

"See, I told you I'm tallest." Danny declared as they walked off.

"You, with the red curls." the teacher pointed.

"I'm Maggie, Professor."

The teacher nodded. "To this end of the line Maggie. No, not quite. One position to the left. Yes, that's better."

Colleen didn't feel better at all with Maggie between her and Anny.

"And you, pretty pony tail ..."

"What me?" Colleen gasped. Nobody had ever called her pretty before!

"Yes, you." the teacher confirmed. "Switch places with black hair."

"Dinah." Dinah corrected.

The teacher picked up a piece of parchment from the floor. "Alright, Dinah. And we had Maggie right before. I already know Catty and Mai-Lin. And pretty pony tail's name is?"

"Colleen."

"Colleen." the teacher confirmed checking her off on her list. "The tiny blonde at the end?"

"Anny." Anny answered apparently unbothered by being called tiny.

"Anny ... Anny ..." the teacher scanned through her list twice. "Short for Mary Anne perhaps?"

Anny nodded.

"Ah, there you are, then." the teacher declared happily. "And long black curls would be?"

"Tullia." Tullia stated.

"Then short brown hair must be Daniella."

"No, I'm Ilsa!" the girl who had ended up next to Tullia shrieked.

"Oh, sorry Ilsa. Could you step between Colleen and Tullia, please? No, not quite. Between Colleen and Dinah. Next? Are you Daniella, perhaps?"

"I'm Dolly." the stranger insisted.

"Okay, you should fit nicely between Tullia and Colleen, Dolly. Yes, perfect. Then Mai-Lin next to Tullia and you would be?"

"Angie."

"Angie and the girl with the bun."

"I'm Stephanie Dour." the girl who always stood next to Ms Courtier said.

"That hairstyle is rather impractical for Sports." the teacher recommended. "A simple pony tail would be much better next time. Angie and Stephanie, then you with the short red hair..."

Danny pouted and glared at the teacher.

"That's Daniella." Colleen heard herself say.

"Danny!" Danny insisted.

"Danny." the teacher confirmed. "Then Catty, freckles ..."

"My name is Serpentia, not Freckles! Serpentia Samson!"

"Well, that is quite an unusual name." the teacher returned unperturbed by the outburst. "Then you with the robes must be either Freya or Jolanda."

"Miss Courtier to you."

Colleen shook her head at this. Didn't this girl realise what she was doing to herself?"

"You know something, Nocturne," Tullia said suddenly. "You're not the worst after all. This one is worse."

Was that meant to be an insult or a compliment?

"Miss Arrogance and Freya, then." the teacher stated calmly. "Please remember your neighbours. We will need to sort you by size quite often."

Colleen took a good look at Ilsa and Dolly hoping that she'd recognise both of them again. Today she hadn't been able to name any of the girls from Flying class.

"Now since not all of you are dressed properly, we'll start with a simple game of Catch. You should all be able to run in the clothes you're ..." the teacher started, but broke off her sentence when the door opened behind her.

"Hi, I'm Gangolf Bartering."

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Sorry to all those of you whose reviews I missed last chapter and here are your responses:

Iremione – Quopot, according to Quidditch through the ages, is a wizarding sport that is played in both North and South America instead of Quidditch. Don't ask me any more about it, though. I only read through that booklet once during a sleepless night. I'm not really interested in either sport. ... Whether Gangolf is a coward depends on your definition. He's definitely afraid of physical harm, but not so worried about his social standing (yet). That's because he has much better self esteem than Aterus right now and does have some social skills. That will change a lot as they grow up, though. ... Colleen may be the most frightened girl in class (there are a lot of students we haven't met in the school), but I wouldn't call her a coward. She may be afraid, but she's not running away. She's decided on a way to combat her fear and she'll go through with it. At the moment she's probably the one growing up the fastest (much faster than I expected her to). ... Of course Sevi understands what it means for her to wear a Muggle hair band, but he's also trying to communicate his own message: What he thinks of using Muggle items and being friends with Muggle borns. ( It's a completely normal thing to do, not worthy of any special attention.) It's a subtle hint towards a lesson she wouldn't accept, if he simply told her. ... For now, Colleen is taking French and the Choir. I wouldn't have picked those subjects for myself either, but they suit her background and personality and the Choir, though she's unaware of that, is a good choice to help her with her socialising. It's the largest class at Hogwarts and she'll be forced to work with the others there. ... No, they don't have classes on Sunday. Sevi just Threatened to make an exception. They do have classes on Saturday thanks to the problems with the Hogwarts schedule, though. ... Gangolf is in Slytherin, because people keep insisting that Lockhart must have been a Slytherin. I'm trying to demonstrate what a good fit that would have been and the logical results. (Maybe he asked the hat to put him there, because it was his mother's house.) ... So you confirm, that if Jorge is a sports fan he'll either be into Quidditch (as a European wizard) or Soccer (as a Spanish boy)? That's what I thought. I'm not sure he's into sports at all, though. I think he's more into meeting and helping people and not competing. ... I like Jorge. I think that's contagious. ... Yes, Aterus has some growing up to do, but it won't go as fast as for Colleen. He has missed eleven years of developing social skills and that will probably keep him behind his peers in that respect well into adulthood. He will start gaining some ground over the course of the year, though and will be able to state his own opinion in front of his friends without fear by the time he leaves Hogwarts. ... No, naming's not easy, but I'm much more confident about it now than I was when I started MNS. I actually enjoy naming a whole year of students now. ... Dita's grades didn't count, because that was what was decided when she was inscribed into an Austrian school. At that point nobody, probably not even herself, could foresee how well she would adapt. (I doubt she'd ever started out in a school not knowing the language before.) Had it taken her longer to learn German, she might have failed due to lack of understanding, if her grades had counted. With them not counting she would have passed either way. By the way: There were three other girls in that class whose grades didn't count either and when you talked with them, you couldn't even hear that German wasn't their first language. (Dita sure shamed them. ... At least one of them was taking evening classes in her own language, though, where her grades did count. She probably just didn't want the stress of having to pass two schools at the same time.) ... I know that, but I just don't see Sevi as very willing to make friends with a Gryffindor. He's too busy befriending his own house (where that can be a matter of life and death ... or at least free life and death eater). ... Actually, even the Lockhart type fancying will have to wait at least a year. I just don't see a normal eleven year old as having that sort of interests, yet. She'd have to at least be starting puberty (and, no, Colleen is not at all likely to fancy Sevi in that way. I could see her trying to catch the attention of a well mannered seventh year at thirteen, though.) ... Actually, Caligula has a rash temper, but he's not generally one to bully younger members of his own house. Gangolf just drives him insane with his strange behaviour.

Weasleylover1 – And now I almost missed your review! (Why do I pay for review alert, if it doesn't work? Grumble!) ... Colleen is acting very formal towards Sevi, so he has decided to be formal with her as that seems to be what she's used to from adults. In this strange new world that should provide her with a bit of familiar ground, which will make her more comfortable in dealing with him. He wants her to come to him with her problems after all. Can't afford scaring her away with too much unfamiliar familiarity. He will approach her much more slowly than he did the happy, friendly kids. ... No, I'm afraid we most likely won't see Draco teach next chapter. None of our first years have Potions at West Hogsmeade, after all. We might see him teach when we start with the clubs, but I doubt chapter 12 will take us that far.

midnight tiger – Excellent guess about Caligula! Yes, he is short tempered, but not insane, or even particularly mean. He's a Lestrange, but from a more moderate line than the one Bellatrix married into. He doesn't like having anything to do with Muggles, but is willing to accept Muggle borns (as long as they're well adapted to wizarding lifestyle or at least trying to adapt) and to befriend commoners (He considers himself very generous and open minded for doing that.).

Colibi – Draco will marry sometime around Easter. Right now it's still September and getting cold. Draco wants to invite both schools to the wedding and he can't afford to rent the town hall for the day. In order to be able to fit all those people he'll have to celebrate outside in the park, so he's waiting for warmer weather.

Lilian-is-fickle – Sorry for postponing Draco. He'll be there next time, I promise!

ERMonkey - Ups ... sorry! Next time, I promise!

Mystical Witch – And I'm quite doubtful whether Gangolf really will become a professional ballet dancer someday. I think that's just a passing fancy. We'll see how well he likes ballet class for now. (After all he's already proven to be a bit clumsy at physical exercises.)

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And now for the reviews for last chapter:

Iremione – Sorry! Yes, I was terribly busy. Among other things with figuring out why I'm not getting any alerts from (They are the only reason I pay support services and get set to deactivated without any sort of notice or explanation! And then when I turn them back on, they simply don't do anything anyway!!!) ... Well, Albus promised there'd be real games and half blood children as well as children with one or two Muggle born parents are often familiar with the game. (Like Danny, who went to a Muggle primary school, for example.) ... Pit was so delighted to have found an actually team work oriented player, he was horrified at the thought of putting him in the least team work demanding position on the team. Unlike Draco at the beginning Billy has pretty good aim when kicking the ball and ... well, remember how and why Jack lost to Draco despite having all the good players? Pit is specifically looking for players to form an attack team which can confuse their opponents with fast passes. For that they need to be willing to pass and let another player score, and so far Billy is the only one who has shown that attitude. It's not that Pit doesn't think he'd make a good keeper, he just thinks there are enough good candidates for that position and he needs a good attacker more at the moment. ... Remember that the girls are only 11. They're not that capable of reading other people's feelings, yet. (Except for Danny, who has a slight mean streak.) Tullia is actually a bit too reserved around 'land-people' to make the first step towards Colleen, and Colleen is slightly uneasy about someone who has gills. Also remember that it's been only one week since they first met. It will take time to truly establish their relationships and Colleen, who isn't used to socialising much might find it easier to make friends one at a time. (I didn't even expect her to get that close to anyone this fast. She and Anny have really managed to surprise me.) ... Well, I have actually played Volleyball in a skirt once and ... You get rather hot when doing physical exercises fully clothed, it's distracting to have it flapping around your legs all the time and there are the warm up and stretching exercises before the actual game. Depending on just how wide Tullia's skirt is, it will get more or less in the way whenever she has to run. ... Yes, damn alert's not working even though it tells me it's turned on again! It's not just review alert either! I'm not getting my author alerts!!! Who knows how many updates of my favourite fics I've already missed! (Sniff! Sniff! Sniffle!)

kassio – That's okay, it's not a problem of people not reviewing after all. I just didn't think to check the reviews on the site itself before posting the last chapter. There were several reviews there that simply weren't passed on via alert. ... Anny just felt right. I had a different plan at first, but Anny and Colleen just decided to get an early start. That other scene will probably still come in later, but won't be as big a turning point for Colleen. ... As for Rupert, he's still holding on to his secret and hasn't even been in any situation in which he would consider telling it. There's a hint somewhere in this chapter though, if you'd like to guess. ... Draco and Sevi are only supporting characters in this, but I'll try to get them to walk through the story from time to time.

Colibi – Exactly. There are some bad influences in Colleen's life, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be any good ones allowed. Else what chance would she have to ever choose her own path?

Wirretine – Thanks.

Pam Briggs – Okay, long (maybe unnecessarily long) explanation ahead: From what I've seen in the books Hogwarts' school system is a lot more like the Austrian one, than the USA's and since I am also much more familiar with the Austrian one that's usually where I pick up elements from, that I want to add, or seem unclear in canon. Now in the Austrian system there are four types of subjects in school:

1. "Pflichtfächer", verbatim: duty subjects, means: compulsory subjects, These are the largest part of subjects in any Austrian school and all students in the same class are of the same year. They are decided upon by the Ministry of education and can vary from school type to school type. The school itself has very little say in how many lessons of each of them a student has each week. The student has no say at all beyond picking a school type. If you fail one of these, you cannot pass into the next year in ANY of your subjects. (The USA has a course system in high school where each student has a different schedule. In Austria however the whole class – up to 31 students – has almost exactly the same schedule with every hour planned out. Therefore you can't have one student attending one subject with one year and the rest with another. He'd have two classes to be in at the same time.) At Hogwarts these are: Transfigurations, Potions, Charms, Herbology, History of Magic, Astronomy and in this fic Flying.

2. "Wahlpflichtfächer", verbatim: choice-duty subjects, means: electives, Again all students in the same class are of the same year. They were actually introduced by that name after I left school, but we had a similar choice three times during our school days (each time between only two subjects, though). They are decided upon by the Ministry of education and determined by what teachers are available and whether there is enough interest by the students. The students are given the choice between two ore more subjects, from which they are obliged to pick. For example when I started secondary school at age ten, I had to learn one foreign language by decision of the Ministry. The school I chose offered me to make that either English or French, at twelve I could then choose between Latin and the one I didn't pick before and at fourteen, I would have had another choice, if my school had had a teacher for a fourth foreign language. Once you pick such an elective, it becomes a compulsory subject for all following years. (Hermione was allowed to drop Divination and Muggle studies, but she'd also chosen at least five electives. I'm assuming that every student at Hogwarts has to pick two.) Once again if you fail one of these, you cannot pass into the next year in ANY of your subjects. At Hogwarts these are: Divination, Muggle Studies, Care for Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes and I have added Conjuring, Math and French as additional offers for this fic.

3. "Freifächer", verbatim: free subjects, I call these clubs for lack of a better idea. Here there are students from all years and the subject is set out of the usual school hours so the students won't have another class at the same time. They are offered by the school based on what teachers are available and whether there is enough interest by the students. The students can choose to take as many of these as they like, or none at all. Freifächer are graded just like compulsory subjects, but if you fail one of them, it has no effect on your other subjects. Subjects like that in this fic are: The French club Colleen chose, Chemistry, Physics, Arithmancy ...

4. "Unverbindliche Übungen", verbatim: non-binding exercises, I call these clubs for lack of a better idea as well. There are students from all years and the subject is set out of the usual school hours so the students won't have another class at the same time. They are offered by the school based on what teachers are available and whether there is enough interest by the students. The students are can choose to take as many of these as they like, or none at all. Unferbindliche Übungen are NOT GRADED, so you can't fail them, but you get the remark 'participated in ...' on your grade document. Subjects like that in this fic are: Quidditch, Soccer, Gymnastics Volleyball, Basket Weaving, Chess, the Choir ... (All those which are meant mostly to be fun and where a grade doesn't make much sense.)

All four types are run by teachers, though. If students want to set anything up, that's a spare time activity (like the DA) and has no (doesn't require) official sanctioning from the school.

... Pit is the West Hogsmeade Sports teacher for boys. Draco already had him in Runaway Dragon, but his name was only mentioned once (and he still lacks a last name). ... Nike is just any random senior member of the Soccer club. He might be the senior team's keeper, but i don't think I'll ever have to decide on that. I just needed a random name for someone assisting Pit. (Actually, I named him after Nike Quinto from Perry Rhodan. ... Well, I like the name, though I wonder whether Kurt Mahr realised he'd named his character after a Greek goddess.)

JerseyPike – Sorry, not your fault at all! Apparently has deactivated all it's alerts. (And I can't seem to find a way to get them back, even though I'm paying for them.) ... By the way, the only thing it might make me stop writing is this one fic, and that's not even likely. (Hey, I'm still writing Both or Neither? even though some of its chapters didn't get any reviews at all.)

Mystical Witch – The Weasley twins are long out of school, though, so they wouldn't do that. (And the players probably would get mad.)

Kyzara – Thanks.

Finn the Cat – Aber sicher doch. Colleen hat noch einiges vor sich. ... Dracos Hochzeit wird in irgendeiner Form den Abschluss des Fics bilden. (Danach dann nur noch ein Auftritt für Harry im Epilog.) ... Ich wollte nur eigentlich längst mit The Catar beginnen, aber das muss wohl warten.

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A/N: What is Gangolf doing in the girls' gym? What is Rupert's secret? And will they get their Sports clothes in time for their next Sports class?

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In the next chapter: We find out what happened to the boys while the girls were lining up, Colleen goes to French class and Gangolf is feeling embarrassed.