The next few weeks spent in the Weasley household were a blast. Lauren, who had taken to wearing gloves every moment of every day, even got to practice a few spells, but didn't really succeed in too much.
"Don't worry, it'll be much easier at school," Samantha told her one day when she looked very discouraged.
"I hope," Lauren replied, sighing.
They made arrangements that Lauren and Samantha would go with Max's family, because the Weasley's Ford Anglia would be too cramped to hold all of them and their stuff, even with the enchantments Mr. Weasley told Samantha he had put on the car in private.
Samantha and Lauren slept over that night, and the Langberts were out the door extremely early, making it to the station fifty minutes before the train was set to leave. Samantha and Max got a compartment for them and Leslie to share where more of their friends could join later, and the one next to it for Lauren, Sarah and Ginny to share. They then got off the train to wait for all of their friends.
The Weasleys were very late to arrive, and had just barely made it onto the train before it began its journey. After Ponting Ginny to where Sarah and Lauren sat, Samantha and Leslie ran into Fred and George, who were walking down the train looking for their friend Lee Jordan, while trying to find Harry.
"Where's Harry?" Samantha asked the twins.
"He and Ron were coming last, they should be near the door," George answered.
Samantha walked down there with Leslie, but Ron and Harry were not there. Instead, they saw a cheerful Hermione holding her copy of Travels with Trolls.
"Oh, Samantha, Leslie, it's good to see you!" Hermione greeted the girls happily. "Where are Harry and Ron?" she asked.
"I don't know," Samantha answered. "You haven't seen them?"
"No, didn't they come with you?" Hermione asked, looking around.
"No, Lauren and I came with Max, Harry came with the Weasleys," Samantha told her.
"Where could they have gone?" Hermione asked, knitting her eyebrows together. "You don't think they missed the train, do you?"
"I hope not," Samantha said.
"What would they even do?" Leslie asked, looking very concerned.
"I don't know," Hermione replied. "Let's keep searching," she suggested.
Samantha had her hopes up, but after searching the whole train with the help of Leslie, Hermione, and any friends they happened to run into, she was forced to conclude that Harry and Ron had never made it onto the train.
"What do you think happened? Do you think they're on the Platform and the train left before they could get on?" Lauren asked, looking scared and concerned. She, Sarah, and Ginny had helped in the search when the original three had passed by their compartment.
"Who knows?" Samantha replied. "If they're not at Hogwarts when we get there, we'll send them a letter as soon as possible," she said, looking at Lauren, who nodded.
"Alright," Lauren said, taking a deep breath.
The train ride there was the worst of the two Samantha had previously experienced. She was worried about where Harry was, and the Weasleys were worried about Ron. To distract herself from that, she was reading the copy of Hogwarts: A History she had picked up when she had been in Diagon Alley. Meanwhile, Lauren, who was worried both about her brother and about starting Hogwarts, was bombarding her with even more questions about the school.
"Are you sure you can't tell me how you're sorted?" she asked for what felt like the hundredth time.
"I'm sure," Samantha replied, sighing. "Now stop asking."
"What if I'm not in Gryffindor? How will I make friends?" Lauren asked her sister frantically.
"You don't have to be friends with people only in your house," Samantha said.
"It's easier though, right?"
"I guess," Samantha said, trying to read Hogwarts: A History. "But I'm friends with Bella, Riley, Ellie, and Hudson, and none of them are in Gryffindor."
"But you're closest with Max and Leslie, and they're in Gryffindor," Lauren pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but we have the most similar personalities, so that's why," Samantha said. "You can be best friends with Sarah and Ginny and be in different houses."
"What if I can't do magic?" Lauren asked a few minutes later. Samantha took a deep breath to steady herself and marked her page before shutting Hogwarts: A History, giving up on ever reading more than a page at a time.
"You can."
"But what if I can't?"
"You wouldn't have gotten a letter if you couldn't," Samantha told her. When Lauren looked unconvinced, she added, "Look, our parents were top of classes, and so am I. Harry's not bad either, so based on your family, you'll be top of at least one class," Samantha said.
"What if I'm not, though?" Lauren asked.
"Stop with the what ifs," Samantha told her, and picked up her book again.
They got to Hogwarts a few hours later, and Lauren went off on the boats the first years always took with Ginny and Sarah while Samantha got in a carriage with her friends.
"Can you still not see the horse things?" Samantha asked Leslie.
"There's no horses, Samantha, I don't know what you're seeing," Leslie said.
Samantha sighed and sunk into a corner. She wished she knew what they were called. She decided she would ask Hagrid when she saw him.
"I've got to tell a teacher about Harry," Samantha said as they walked into the Great Hall.
She saw Professor Flitwick walking up to the table where the teachers always sat and rushed up to him.
"Miss Potter, how can I help you?" he squeaked.
"My brother never made it onto the train," she said urgently.
"Ah..." Flitwick said, glancing uneasily towards the staff table. "Yes, we are aware, Miss Potter, and it will be dealt with," he said.
"O- okay?" Samantha said, and Flitwick walked away.
"What happened?" Leslie asked when Samantha sat down next to her and Max.
"He said they're aware and it will be dealt with," Samantha replied.
"What does that mean?" Max asked.
Samantha sighed. "No idea. We'll find out later, I guess," she said, settling into her seat.
After a few minutes, the first years came in to get Sorted. Samantha and Max began competing to see if they could guess which house each nervous-looking first year would be sorted into, something Leslie and Hermione were greatly annoyed by.
She looked around the room while waiting for the Sorting Hat to decide on a small boy's house and spotted something out the window.
She elbowed Leslie. "What?" Leslie whispered. "Are you going to change your guess?"
Samantha pointed to the window, where Harry and Ron were standing and peering in. Leslie gasped. Out of the corner of her eye, Samantha saw the swish of a black cloak as someone walked out of the Great Hall.
"Someone just left," she whispered to Leslie.
"Snape," Leslie said, eyes wide, looking up at the staff table.
"Oh no," Samantha said softly, not caring that Max had just gotten the boy's house right. If Snape was going to get Harry and Ron, they would be in big trouble no matter what they did.
Just on time, she saw Lauren walk up to the stool and gave her an encouraging smile before the hat was dropped over her head. A little while of tense waiting, longer than Samantha remembered it being for either her or Harry, and...
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.
Smiling widely, Lauren took off the hat and scampered down to sit next to Sarah. A few minutes later, Ginny joined them. But still, no sign of Ron or Harry.
Ron and Harry didn't come for the feast, neither did they make it to Dumbledore's usual welcome speech and rule reminder.
"We're going into the forest this year," Samantha whispered to Max.
"Of course," Max agreed.
"Don't even think about it," Leslie said warningly.
"Wouldn't dream not to," said Samantha, smiling.
"What?" Leslie said as she worked it out. "Oh, you little-"
Samantha had to pinch herself to keep from laughing in the middle of Dumbledore telling them not to do magic in the corridors.
"And finally, I would like you all to meet your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart," Dumbledore said.
There was a loud round of applause, especially from the older girls and the first years. Lockhart gave his signature wide, blinding smile and waved to the students.
"He's so stupid," Samantha whispered to Max and Leslie.
"Give him a chance," Leslie whispered back.
"I did," Samantha said.
"Were you not there in Flourish and Blotts?" Max asked.
"There was... a lot of press that day," replied Leslie, blushing.
"You're unbelievable," Samantha told her, sighing.
"And with that, it is bed time! Off to your Common Rooms!" Dumbledore said cheerily.
"Where could they have gone?" Samantha asked Leslie as they walked the familiar route to the Gryffindor Tower.
"No clue," Leslie replied.
"I hope we can find them soon," Samantha said. "I'm starting to get really worried."
"Let's wait here until they come," Max suggested. The thirteen of them all sat down on various couches and chairs, but before they had any time to settle in, the portrait hole swung open and Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed out.
"Harry, where were you?" Samantha cried, jumping up and running to her brother, where she embraced him in a tight hug.
"Calm down, Sam," said Harry. "It's... a long story."
"We've got time," Samantha replied, shrugging. She looked behind her and everyone else nodded.
So, Harry and Ron told them the story. How the entrance wouldn't let them in, how they flew the car to school, and how they had now both gotten a detention.
"Nice work talking McGonagall out of taking points, though," Max said. "I admire the quick thinking."
"I can't believe you flew a car here and didn't invite me," Samantha said, crossing her arms and pouting.
"You were on the train, we couldn't get to you!" Harry said. "Plus, you'd have a detention."
Samantha shrugged. "Who cares? I get them all the time, it's no big deal," she said.
"That's not the attitude you want to have towards detention, Sam," Hermione said.
"But it is, and no one can change that," Samantha told her.
Hermione huffed. "Well, I can't believe you're not more concerned about their behavior!" she said.
"Why would I be? it doesn't affect me," Samantha said.
"Does no one here care how irresponsible that was?" Hermione asked, looking around at the group of Damon, Elias, Connor, Max, Samantha, Lauren, Fred, George, Ginny, Leslie, Percy, and Sarah.
"I mean, it wasn't the best decision, but you aren't their parents," Leslie said carefully.
"I, for one, think it was very irresponsible of you, Ron! This could ruin any chance you had of ever becoming a Prefect!" Percy said.
Hermione sighed. "Thank you, Percy!" she said. She looked around as if waiting for someone else to say Harry and Ron were irresponsible, and when no one did, she said, "I'm going to bed," and stormed off to the girls' dormitories.
"Maybe we should head to sleep too..." Leslie said unsurely.
Samantha was about to protest when the portrait hole opened and McGonagall climbed in.
"Ah, Samantha, you're still awake, good," McGonagall said. "Come with me, I need to talk to you."
"Oh, alright," Samantha said. She shot a confused place back at everyone before following McGonagall out of the portrait hole.
She was led to McGonagall's office, and McGonagall shut the door before she said anything.
"Now, Samantha, as I understand, you'll be taking all possible additional subjects this year. Is that correct?" McGonagall asked.
"Yes, professor," Samantha replied, nodding.
"Now, you don't really have the time in the week to complete all of those classes," McGonagall said.
"I don't?" Samantha asked. She had really wanted to get twelve O.W.L.s.
"No. Normally, if someone has a class that overlaps another, we'll just move their schedule around and put them in the other class for that year. However, when students choose to take all of the electives, special accommodations must be made, seeing as they will not have the time to move classes around," McGonagall explained.
"Okay..." Samantha said, unsure of where she was going.
"In order to complete all of these classes, you'd have to have more time," McGonagall said, taking a small box off of her desk. She opened it to reveal a small hourglass charm on a long, thin chain.
"I'm not sure I follow," Samantha said, staring at the necklace.
McGonagall took it out of the box and handed it to Samantha. "This device gives you just that," she said.
"How?" Samantha asked.
"If you turn it, time will go back," McGonagall said.
"Whoa," Samantha breathed.
"Now, there are very strict rules on this. Time is not to be meddled with," McGonagall instructed sharply. "You are to only use this for your studies, and nothing else. One turn per hour you want to go back. You cannot be seen by your past self. Wizards have been known to go crazy or even kill themselves if this happens. Don't go back more than five hours. Within this limit, everything exists in a loop. Whatever you do in that time period has already happened and you will already feel its effects. However, any more than five hours, and nothing you do has already happened. Wizards and witches who have done this have caused catastrophes, some as big as erasing themselves because they wouldn't have been born, just because of one simple thing," McGonagall told her.
Samantha nodded. She would be very careful with this.
"You are not to tell anyone of this. Absolutely no one. That includes your friends and siblings," McGonagall told her. "Do your best to hide the existence of this. Do you understand?"
"Yes, professor. Of course," Samantha said. She slipped the chain over her neck and put it down the front of her shirt, where it was well hidden.
"Good," Professor McGonagall said. "Few students want to take so many classes. We've rarely had to provide a time turner. You're the first in a few years to get one," she said.
"Who was the last person to take so many?" Samantha asked.
"Bill Weasley. He got all twelve O.W.L.s. Every few years, a student comes along wanting to take them all. Very rarely do they overlap. Although, I believe they soon will," McGonagall said, smiling slightly.
"Who do you think will also take them all?" Samantha asked.
"Your friend Miss Granger, I believe, will want to take all of the courses," McGonagall said.
"That sounds like her," Samantha agreed, smiling.
There was silence for a moment.
"You know, your parents would be so proud of you," Professor McGonagall said finally.
Samantha grinned. "You think?" she asked.
"Absolutely, Miss Potter," McGonagall said. "Now, off to bed, classes start tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Professor," Samantha said as she left.
"Goodnight, Samantha," said McGonagall.