Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to J.K. Rowling. If I owned the story, I'd be making a shitload of money instead of writing fanfics to post on websites.

Chapter 1

It was 7:45 in the morning at Westchestershire High School, and the last empty bus was just pulling away from the entrance. Assorted groups of students were hanging out in the halls, classrooms, and courtyard. Many were groaning about the first day of school.

Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom sat on the stairs leading up to the double doors at the front of the school. Hermione flipped through her AP Calculus book, satisfied that she knew everything in it. Harry had borrowed Ginny's compact mirror and was busy arranging his hair to complement his eyes – or, at least, he was attempting to. Ron, Neville, and Luna were comparing schedules. Ginny was listening to her green iPod.

"Oh no!" cried Neville suddenly, leaping up from his seat. "I left my backpack on the bus! And it's pulling away! Drat!" He threw his backpack, which had been on his shoulders the whole time, down on the ground and took off after the bus.

Harry and Ron rolled their eyes. Luna hadn't seemed to notice that anything had happened; she was too engaged in comparing hers and Ron's schedules upside down, saying "It offers new insight into the year's possibilities."

"Load of rubbish," Hermione scoffed.

"Eh?" said Harry, momentarily pausing in his never-ending struggle with his hair. "D'you mean my hair? Man, I didn't think it looked that bad."

"No, you troll, I was talking about Luna's 'insights'."

"They're true! Father told me so, and Father knows best," Luna protested. "He is the editor of The Quibbler, you know."

"Luna! Didn't we already talk about this? No mention of m-a-g-i-c in this school," Hermione snapped. "You'll get us all sent to the loony bin, if you don't watch what you say."

"Yes, Hermione, I suppose I shall." It often seemed as if Luna paid no attention to anything that Hermione said, and this was one of those times. She sighed and began rereading her AP Physics II text.

It was now three years after Harry, Ron, and Hermione's graduation from Hogwarts. With Harry having defeated all of the Horcruxes, Voldemort was now a mortal man. As a result of this, many of his followers had deserted him and joined the Order's ranks, led now by Harry and Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic. Voldemort had gone deeper into hiding than ever before. His followers were so desperate for more Death Eaters that they'd taken to putting normal Muggle teenagers under the Imperius Curse and forcing them to do Voldemort's bidding. This new brand of Death Eaters was more deadly than ever.

Harry, Hermione, and even Ron had graduated from Auror school just over a year ago. After a six-month training period, they'd helped out on some missions. When the Order found out about Voldemort's new strategy, they'd immediately dispatched their three youngest Aurors – Harry, Ron, and Hermione - to pose as high school students, searching the student body in an attempt to locate the Muggles under the Imperius Curse.

Ginny Weasley had finished her Auror studies, and the mission at the high school was her training period. Neville had turned out to be a poison expert, specializing in plant-derived potions. He was there to check for traps, in case a follower of Voldemort happened to catch on to what they were doing. Luna was an expert on spell detection. She could tell whether someone was under the Imperius curse, in which case the Aurors would come in and disarm them. The six-member team had been nicknamed "Gryffinclaws", a combination of the members' houses. They'd been enrolled as eleventh graders at Westchestershire High School, one of the largest in England.

"What the hell kind of a name is Westchestershire?" Hermione mused, rather loudly. Several other students looked at her strangely.

"Never mind her, she's a transfer student," Harry announced. He glared at the high schoolers until they looked away. "Come on, Hermione. You've got to be less conspicuous. We don't want anyone to notice us; it'll blow the whole damn mission and it could get us fired."

Hermione looked to be on the verge of tears. Luna smirked behind her upside-down copy of The Quibbler, magicked so that it would look like a popular teen magazine to Muggles. But before any drama could erupt, the first bell rang. The masses of students quickly dispersed, smaller groups splitting up and racing to their classrooms. Harry and Hermione, accustomed to Muggle ways, began shoving all of their books into their backpacks.

"C'mon, you guys, that bell means that we have five minutes to get to first period," Hermione explained. "Ron, get up. Zip up your backpack, no, that's the wrong way. Zip it up. Close the backpack. Good. You and Harry are in English first period. You'd better hurry, it's on the third floor."

"Can't we just Apparate?" Ron grumbled, heaving his heavy bookbag onto his back.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We've been over this, Ron. No Apparition in school. You will climb the stairs just like everyone else. Now go! Follow Harry, he knows the way." She consulted Luna's schedule. "Oh, your first period is on the same floor as theirs. Hurry and follow Harry and Ron. Look for the door with the number 302 on it. Hurry! Go, now! And put that damn magazine away, you can't read while you're walking."

Ginny and Hermione were the only two students within sight by the time Harry, Ron, and Luna hurried off into the building. "Damn it, I bet we're going to be late," swore Hermione. As if on cue, Neville appeared beside them with a large crack. His face was strawberry-coloured and drops of sweat dripped down his cheeks.

"I chased…the mother…fucking…bus…for…a whole…block…" he panted, "and still…couldn't…find…my back…pack."

Hermione surveyed him with a half-amused, half-angry expression on her face. "That would be because it's been sitting right here the entire time. And no Apparating around the Muggles! Will you children ever understand?"

Neville grabbed his backpack, thanking Hermione, and sprinted off to his science class. Shaking her head, Hermione grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She and Ginny shoved open the doors and began briskly walking to their first period, art.

The tardy bell rang just as the two girls entered the electives hallway. Sprinting for their classroom, they managed to arrive just in time for the morning announcements.

"And you are?" inquired the teacher, a severe-looking, middle-aged woman who identified herself as Mrs. Nelson.

"Hermione Jane Granger."

"Last name only, please. How long have you been in this school? You ought to know that by now."

Hermione flushed. "Granger. G-R-A-N-G-E-R."

"My spelling abilities are quite intact, thank you, Ms. Granger. I would appreciate it if you would take a seat." She gestured to an empty desk situated between a lanky redheaded boy who reeked of tobacco and a small brunette girl whose neck, arms, ankles, and other available appendages were covered with jewelry.

"Weasley," Ginny stated matter-of-factly.

"Ginevra. Yes. Your seat is right there." Mrs. Nelson pointed to the last desk in the last row, behind a sleeping brunette boy. "Ms. Granger, Ms. Weasley, I will excuse your tardies this time, but I assure you, I do keep track and assign detentions accordingly. And that goes for all of you, including you too, Derrick." The brunette in front of Ginny started and lazily lifted his head up. "I see that you're back for another year. Perhaps you will manage to pass this time around." The class snickered. Derrick nodded and lifted his hand in a mock salute.

Meanwhile, two floors above, Harry and Ron were sleeping through their first English class.

"This year, I hope to get to know all of you. My goal is to improve your writing. With such an able-looking class as we have here, I am sure that we can work together to accomplish that," droned mousy Mr. Myers. "Now open your books to page three. We will begin today's lesson with an introduction to the short story…"

First period, with its sea of useless get-to-know-me activities and this-is-how-you-write-an-essay-in-my-class handouts, eventually passed. The school, along with its six magical students, progressed to second period. Here Harry found himself in Spanish II. Contrary to his protests that there was no way he could do well in Spanish II, the teacher refused to allow him to go to the office and change his schedule. At the same time, Ron drifted off in health class to the sound of the teacher's voice droning "I believe health is one of the most important classes you will ever take", which would proceed later in the day to put Neville, Ginny, and Harry to sleep as well; Hermione nervously bit her nails as her AP Physics II teacher announced that success was 15 aptitude and 85 attitude; Ginny doodled on her paper as her AP Precalculus teacher passed out various handouts; Neville flipped eagerly through his AP Environmental Science text; and Luna developed a reputation of loopy as she tried without success to tell her teacher that a Snogging Bowtruckle had inhabited the blackboard.

The rest of the trio's first day of school passed much like their first two periods – uneventful, except for a small fire incident that had happened during 8th period, which Ron, Harry, and Luna all had free together. This earned them a trip to the principal's office, which did not faze them in the slightest.

After school, although they all shared a magically enlarged apartment just a few blocks away from the school, the six students were not allowed to go home in a large group so as not to arouse suspicions. Luna decided to walk home. Ginny went into a bathroom stall after school and Apparated back to the apartment. Neville took the bus. Hermione walked a little ways, stepped into a phone booth and, after securing the door, Apparated with a large crack. Harry and Ron decided that they were going to hang out in the courtyard for a while after school before leaving.

They had barely bought drinks from the snack machines and sat down on a bench when two intimidating-looking, chunky seniors had come up to them.

"Hey, new kid. Gimme that," the blonde demanded, holding out a beefy hand for Harry's Mountain Dew. "And that." He gestured to Ron's Pepsi.

Harry frowned slightly at him. "No, thank you. I'm sure you can afford to buy your own."

"Give it to me," the blonde boy repeated. Harry was faintly reminded of Draco Malfoy. Reminding himself that Malfoy was securely locked up in Azkaban (albeit without the protection of the Dementors), Harry again shook his head.

"I'll show you…" muttered the blonde boy. He nodded to his redheaded companion, who quickly grabbed Ron and punched the side of his face.

Ohnoez! High school fights! Any tips to make it more realistic will be greatly appreciated; things like this don't usually happen at my school. Review honestly, please. I love honest reviews.