New Term

Guendolen smiled as she ran through the wall to Platform 9 3/4. Back to Hogwarts, she thought cheerfully. She couldn't wait to see all her friends and use magic again. As the train barreled into the platform, Talia gave Guendolen a big hug.

"See you at Christmas," she said into her hair.

"Bye Mom," Guendolen replied. Talia kissed Guendolen's forehead, then she jumped on the train. She walked through the different cars, finally finding a seat next to Aileen. Guendolen waved to her mom through the window. The train blew its shrill whistle, and they were off.

"Hello, friend," Aileen said, grinning. Guendolen smiled and returned the greeting. Suddenly the door slid open. A brown haired, brown eyed girl stuck her head in.

"There you are!" she said, coming in all the way and sitting down. "I've searched the whole train for you!"

"Hi, Kimberly," Guendolen and Aileen said in unison to the third member of their trio.

"How's your sister?" Guendolen asked. She was referring to the owl Kimberly had recently sent her, saying her younger sister had a strange disease. Kimberly rolled her eyes.

"You won't believe it; she was faking it! She ordered a potion out of some prankmaster catalog or something to get out of the family reunion!" Kimberly smiled wickedly. "Of course, the potion lasted a little longer and was a little more intense than inteded." Guendolen and Aileen laughed at their friend's 'evil' side. She thought her younger sister (who's a First Year) was a huge pain, but Guen and Aileen thought she was adorable. The door slid open again with a slight creak. A boy stepped in.

"Do you mind if I sit in here? All the other seats are taken," he said.

"Sure!" Aileen said cheerfully.

"We don't mind," Kimberly said, gesturing towards one of the empty seats. The boy smiled.

"Thanks." Guendolen didn't say anything as he chose the seat across from her, but she stared at him the whole time.

"My name's Avery, by the way," he said as he sat down. He brushed his shaggy sand-colored hair out of his face, revealing emerald green eyes. Guendolen felt a dreamy smile creep across her face.

"Hey, I know you!" Kimberly said suddenly. "You're in my house!"

"You're a Gryffindor, too?" Avery grinned.

"Yup! We all are. Isn't that right, Guen?" Guendolen didn't reply.

"Gueeeen? Guendolen!" Kimberly snapped her fingers in front of Guendolen's face. She snapped out of her dream world.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she said, having no idea what she was talking about. She quickly returned to her daydreams, and got a weird expression on her face again. Aileen giggle and Kimberly rolled her eyes. Avery leaned over towards Aileen (who he was sitting next to).

"Is your friend all right?" he asked, shooting Guendolen a strange look. Aileen giggled again.

"Yeah," she whispered back. "Guendolen always daydreams like that." Avery shrugged and turned towards the window.

A few hours later, the Hogwarts Express pulled into its station. The students piled out, and soon everyone was sitting at their tables in the Great Hall. The little First Years were lined up at the front of the huge room. A lot of them looked terrified, and it reminded Guendolen of when she had been Sorted. She had heard many rumors about Slytherin, so she wished with all her might that she wouldn't be placed there. Thankfully it put her in Gryffindor.

Professor McGonagall, now slightly silver-haired, carried out the stool as usual. She set the Sorting Hat down on it, and it began to sing its yearly song.

Usually Guendolen was fascinated by the ever-changin song, paying close attention, but this year she had other things on her mind. She glanced down the table in Avery's direction. How had she never noticed his handsomeness? It didn't seem possible. The dreamy smile appeared on her face again.

"He's not good enough for you," a man's voice whispered in her ear. She jumped about a foot in the air, disturbing the surrounding people.

"Sorry," she whispered to them. She bowed her head, pretending to be fascinated with her shoes.

"Dog, what are you doing here?" she said as quietly as she could.

"Talking to you, of course," the invisible man replied.

"But you're only there at night!"

"No, I only talk to you at night. I'm always with you, though," Dog replied.

"That's just creepy." Dog chuckled.

"Well, I guess that's a good thing, since that's my job." Guendolen smiled at the quirky ghost. "Now, back to that boy..."

"What about him?" Guendolen asked, looking in Avery's direction again.

"Like I said, he's not good enough for you. No boy's good enough for Wanderer." Guendolen rolled her eyes. She tuned Dog out as the song ended and the Sorting began.

It wasn't long before Professor McGonagall reached Kimberly's sister. The nervous miniature image of Kimberly climbed up on the stool and sat down.

"She'll be in Gryffindor, of course," Kimberly whispered to Guendolen and Aileen. "Just like the rest of the family." The other two nodded. The Hat was silent for a minute. Finally it screamed its decision.

"Hufflepuff!" Kimberly's mouth fell open.

(Note: I think I mispelled McGonagall's name...if I did, please let me know! Thanks for all the great reviews!)