I woke up the next morning to Sorcha licking my face. I smiled and gently picked her up and took her downstairs with me. Harry met me on the stairs and asked me if I slept well. I decided to be truthful. "Not really." I said. He gave me a sympathetic smile
"Don't worry about Malfoy. Even if he does report to Voldemort, you heard Dumbledore. We're stronger when we're together. We've got a chance of defeating him." I nodded and continued downstairs with Sorcha. Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly at me when I walked into the kitchen.
"Remember to have all your things packed for Hogwarts by next week, dear." she said kindly.
"I will, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks." I replied. Well, it turned out that the following week went by rather uneventfully. Ginny had some screaming matches with Ron, Hermione had some screaming matches with Ron (popular guy, eh!), and Sorcha and Crookshanks tried to kill each other every time they crossed paths. Finally it was time to go to Hogwarts. I wasn't quite sure what Hogwarts was, but I had gathered that it was some sort of school that taught magic, and apparantly, I was invited to attend there. The night before our departure, Dumbledore came to visit me at the Burrow.
"Well, Ashleigh. How has your stay with the Weasley's been?"
"Freaky." I replied. He chuckled and sucked on a Sherbert Lemon. When he was finished, he continued.
"Well, since you're starting your magical education extremely late, we're going to have to take unusual measures to ensure you are caught up with the rest of the children your age." I really hoped he wasn't talking about putting me in the first year. From what I've heard, first year is for the eleven year olds and technically I was supposed to be in the seventh grade, my last year. Dumbledore seemed to read my mind.
"We are not putting you in first year, as that probably wouldn't be very enjoyable to you, but you are going to be required to take extra tutoring lessons in your spare time at Hogwarts." I breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good. Who's going to teach me?" At that moment, Hermione stepped into the living room where we were sitting.
"Why, Miss Hermione Granger will be your teacher." Dumbledore smiled. I wasn't worried. From what I had come to know of her, she was a total genious with absolutely everything except Quidditch (whatever that was). I smiled at her and she smiled back.
"We've got a lot of catching up to do." she said. "Six years of catching up, in fact." I nodded, a little overwhelmed at all the work I would be doing at Hogwarts. Before he sent Hermione and I up to bed, Dumbledore leaned forwards slightly and whispered something in my ear.
"It would be best if you didn't reveal to anyone that Miss Granger is teaching you. The Ministry could get wind of it, and the Minister for Magic will throw a fit if he finds out I am allowing a student to take on the job of fully-qualified witches and wizards with teaching licenses." I promised I wouldn't and Hermione promised she would keep her mouth shut, too. Well, since I had to go to Hogwarts the next day, I decided to go to bed early, so that I wouldn't be the last one out the door tomorrow. I fell asleep almost instantly, and didn't even hear Ginny and Hermione come in to sleep, later on.