Beauty from the lake
Disclaimer: This stopped to be original looong ago...but it still needs to be done, so: I do not own Harry Potter!
Chapter 5 – The joy and worry of a student's life
Mariana woke up early in the morning next day. She looked around herself for a while, then realised where she was; that she was going to be a Hogwarts' student soon. That also meant that she needed to arrange a lot of things and she started to wonder whether she should get up. Then Madam Pomfrey entered the room and saw Mariana awake.
"Good morning, Miss Mariana." (A/N: she doesn't have a human surname yet, so Madam Pomfrey got to call her Miss Mariana :-) "I see you've already awaken. How do you feel?"
Mariana assured her that she was quite well, and Madam Pomfrey allowed her to get up.
"You can wear that school uniform that your friends brought you before," she told Mariana, poiting to the chair where a skirt, a blouse and sweater were (A/N: she is not sorted into a house yet, so she will get her tie and robes later).
Mariana put the clothes on and the the door opened and Hermione walked in.
"Hello Mariana, how are you today? I'm here to take you to the Professor Dumbledore. I suppose he wants to talk to you, he always does when new students arrive. And you also need to be sorted,"she said.
They set off for Professor Dumbledore's office and on the way Hermione explained Mariana about the houses. They reached the office and saw Professor McGonagall standing in front of the door.
"Professor Dumbledore is expecting you already," she said, and then added "Sorbet Lemon" (or whatever the password was). The gargoyles on both sides sprung aside and the door opened. Professor McGonagall lead the two girls by spiral staircase to the office. Professor Dumbledore welcomed them and told Mariana to sit in the chair. He took an old shabby hat from the top shelf and said it would sort Mariana into her house.
She nodded and he put the hat on her head. "Ah...A former mermaid, hm? I must admit, I've never met anyone like you," Mariana heard a voice in her head. It was quite a shock at first, then she realised it was the hat talking to her. "You have quite some talent for magic, and you are a quick learner, you'd do well in Rawenclaw. But I wonder..."
'Gryffindor, please, let it be Gryffindor,' Mariana thought. Hermione had told her before that they were there and she wanted to be with her friends.
"Also Gryffindor, hm? Yes, you would fit in there, you showed great amount of courage, leaving your old life like that just to make your dream come true," the hat seemed to agree with her. "GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted out loud. Mariana took it off her head and Hermione smiled. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were smiling also.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, then," Professor Dumbledore said kindly and Professor McGonagall added: "And welcome to my house, too."
'So she is head of Gryffindor house,' Mariana thought. 'That might be good, she seems strict, but also nice.' "Thank you," she said in a reply. Professor Dumbledore continued.
"However, there is another matter that needs to be taken care of. You need a surname, now when you are human. I wonder which one would suit you? Hm... Tell me, Mariana, which one is your favourite season?" He asked her kindly.
"Well, I like all of them, but when I have to choose... I think summer!" She said, secretly wondering what that had to do with her new surname.
"Then it is clear, your surname can be Summers. What do you think?" Now Mariana understood, and she quite liked it. So she agreed.
"That is nice."
"Good. Now you can go with Professor McGonagall and get your school books and robes. I wish you good luck in your studies," Dumbledore said with a smile.
Mariana thanked, and followed Professor McGonagall and Hermione. Professor McGonagall gave her Gryffindor robes and tie, and some textbooks. Mariana chose Divination, Care for Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies as optional subjects, because she really didn't know that much of Muggles. She also received her timetable.
Then Hermione took her to the Gryffindor common room, and told her the password. She lead Mariana in the dormitory, which was by chance also hers. Then they went back to the common room and sat there. That day was Sunday, so they didn't have school.
Mariana decided to examine her timetable, so she took it out. Just then she heard the portrait open and someone climbed through the hole inside. She heard familiar voices, looked up and saw Harry and Ron.
They saw Mariana and Hermione too and approached them. "Hello Hermione, Mariana! I see you got into Gryffindor too...that's cool!" Said Ron smiling widely.
Harry smiled also and asked: "So how do you like our common room?"
"Oh I like it, it's so cozy and nice," Mariana answered and smiled too (A/N: ooh soo much smiling, all of them must be in right cheerful mood today :-). Then they looked at Mariana's timetable and commented her lessons and the teachers (they have the same and she don't know them yet).
Suddenly Ron said: "Mariana, you haven't seen the whole school yet, have you?!"
"No, I haven't."
"Well, if you'd like, I can show you around," he offered.
Mariana felt a little bit surprised by his offer, but thought it was kind, so she accepted: "That would be great, Ron, thank you."
He smiled even wider: "So let's go." He opened the hole and let her climb first (such a gentleman). 'Hmm... I'm really curious what the school is like,' Mariana wondered as she followed Ron on a tour along the school.
A/N: Just a little warning in the end – next chapter might not come very soon, so please be patient with me. I have my high school graduating exams this year and I have to learn a looot. A whole lot. sigh By the way – I do not want to complain, but if you are reading this, you could also review...please!! Bye :-)