A/N: This chapter has a special dedication. "This chapter is written in honor of a very weird friend." She told me to write that! I'm not insulting her! But, yes. It's for her. She's very awesome. So there you go my weird friend!

Disclaimer: All the stuff that's not mine is JK Rowling's.

Hats, Witches, and Redheads, Oh My!

Chapter II- Down to Business

"Ow, ow, ow!" a shrill voice woke Addie the next morning.

"Hermione! Get your stupid cat off me! Ow, ow! He's clawing me to death!"

Addie pulled aside the bed curtains and saw a funny sight before her. A tall girl was dancing around trying to remove a ginger cat from her head while another girl, Indian looking, tried to help.

"Accio Crookshanks," Hermione ordered lazily from her bed, where she was sitting cross-legged, reading. Crookshanks flew across the dormitory towards her. Looking up as she grabbed her cat, Hermione said, "Addie! You're up! There was an owl really early this morning at the window with a letter for you. I didn't want to wake you…" She nodded in the general direction of some parchment on her bedside table

"Hermione! You really need to do something about that bloody cat of yours!" Lavender complained.

Ignoring the comment, Addie walked over by Hermione's bed and retrieved the letter. Odd method for delivering letters, she thought, but picked it up all the same. Back on the comfort of her bed, she tore it open.

Miss Addie Sennik,
Professor Dumbledore and I need to have a chat with you before you begin your classes today. Please meet me in front of the statue on the fifth floor at half past seven this morning.
-Professor M. McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress, Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House

"Her, Hermione," Addie said, turning her head to face the bickering girls. "Heads!" She threw the letter to the bushy-haired girl, who caught it.
Addie glanced at the base of her four-poster; an outfit was laid out for her. A white collared shirt, a red vest, a red and yellow tie, a black skirt, some white knee socks, black shoes, and a black cloak. She then clumsily got out of her maroon pajama pants and white T-shirt with the words The Leaky Cauldron on it, getting dressed.
As she finished, Hermione exclaimed, "Half past seven? Addie, that was five minutes ago!"

"You have got to be kidding me!" Addie cried. "Well, I'll catch you later!" She snatched Professor McGonagall's note from Hermione's grasp and raced down the spiral staircase.

Pavarti turned to her friend Lavender and asked, "What's with her?"

"Oh, mind your own business for once!" Hermione told them sternly.

Addie sprinted through the common room, empty, as it was so early. "Let's see… I'm on, what, the third floor?" she asked herself. "Staircase, staircase, must find a staircase…"

After a few minutes she finally arrived at a statue. There weren't any other students in sight, so it must have been the one. Aside from that fact, a woman Addie recognized as McGonagall was standing next to it, looking a little impatient.

Addie approached slowly. "Sorry, Professor, I just woke up and got the message."

The Professor turned and said, "Oh, that's quite all right. Come on now, we don't' want to take all morning." Whispering Lemon Drop, she led Addie up a winding staircase to the Headmaster's office for the second time since she'd arrived.

"Good morning, Addie."

"'Morning, Professor," Addie said. "Any particular reason you wanted to see me? Aside from the fact that I could have been sleeping at the moment."

The Transfiguration teacher let loose a slight grin. It was very rare for her to show amusement like that, but Addie hadn't a clue.

"As a matter of fact, Miss Sennik," she said, "There is. Actually, there are a few."
The old man motioned for them to sit down. "John didn't happen to bring you through Diagon Ally on the way, did he?"

He got his answer from the perplexed look he received.

"In that case, we need to get you a wand. I'll see if I can get Ollivander to floo over before we're done," Dumbledore said. "We've taken care of your books and such, as you may have noticed this morning."

They both went on to tell her of Hogwart's rules. Addie found the topic very boring, but tried to look attentive.

"Addie, we made the choice to place you in sixth year," the Headmaster began some time later. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Addie tried her hardest to remain serious and refrain from answering with 'It means you all could have gotten me here five years ago and saved me all this trouble!' "Well, I missed five whole years, I guess…"

"Very true, Miss Sennik," McGonagall said. "As much as we're sure you may hate this, you missed vital information…"

Trying to keep her comment to herself once again, but failing, Addie blurted out, "Oh, bloody hell," before realizing what she'd just said and clamping her hand over her mouth.

The Gryffindor sixth years were all standing outside their Transfiguration class. Everyone except Addie. When class had already been due to start for ten minutes, the two missing people came down the hall. Professor McGonagall waved her wand and the door swung open, allowing the students to ender.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione quietly waited for Addie before going inside. "So…?" Hermione questioned.

A disgruntled Addie said as they walked to the middle of the classroom, "I missed five whole damn years."

"Um… so? That was obvious." Ron attempted to sit down next to her, but she shoved him so hard he bumped into Harry, who was just taking his seat.

"Settle down, everyone," McGonagall said from the front of the room. I'm sorry I was slightly late, but we are still fitting in everything I had planned."

They all groaned. The school year had officially begun.

Once they had taken notes and rushed through a review of what they had covered at the end of the previous year, the Gryffindors began on their assignment: transfiguring an inanimate object into a plant.

"Addie, don't tell me their making you—"

"Yeah, Hermione," Addie answered the unfinished question. "Five years. Five stupid, bloody, worthless, and unbelievably damn long years."

Harry turned to them. "Hermione… Do you get this? I'm having, er, problems." His parchment had turned into a moth-eaten, dead leaf. And a small one at that.

"Hate to break it to you, mate," Ron said. "We're doomed." After working for a while on his piece of cloth he was supposed to be changing into a flower, he said, "Hang on. We've got Hermione. And her notes."

Hermione just rolled her eyes. Then class was finally over.

A/N: There you have it. To all my reviewers:

Thanks! And I hope this is getting close to enough for you to judge how it is, Flower Kid!