I was rudely awoken one morning by nonstop hits with a fluffy pillow. "Wake. Up. Samantha! Ugh!" Hermione cried out. I tried to pull the pillow away from her but her grip was strong and along with the pillow, Hermione came tumbling onto my bed and sideways on me. I just rolled over and covered my head with my blanket. My warm cacoon was literally ripped away from me when Hermione pulled my blankets off of my bed, causing me to groan and Syrus to hiss. This had become the morning ritual for us.
"Sam wake up! There's breakfast in half an hour! We want to be on time so that we can be ready for our first class. So come! on!" She kept pulling on me until I gave in. "Fine! I'll get ready." I cry out. Hermione gives herself a victory cheer, making me roll my eyes. I went to the bathroom to take a shower, brush my teeth, and blow dry my hair. I let out another groan when I realized I hadn't brought a spare change of clothes with me so I headed to my wardrobe in just my towel but I jumped when I heard Hermione gasp. "Samantha! Why do you have a tattoo on your back?! You're only 11!" She cried out. I rolled my eyes and thanked whatever gods were listening that Lavender and Parvati weren't here. I was too tired to deal with this shit but I knew that being rude would just cause problems for the next 7 years, I explained how it wasn't a tattoo, but a family crest that all Montgomery children got once they were born. I had to think way back to remember how my mother explained it to me. That a ritual was performed as a way to introduce the newborn to the family ancestors and that certain things can lead to a new mark appearing. As I got dressed I continued to inform her how I actually didn't know any more or what the one on my ribs or arm even meant (this caused her to beg to see what the ones she hadn't seen yet looked like). I didn't add in the fact that the main reason I didn't know anything was due to the fact my parents, who were the only living Montgomerys alive, were killed thus leaving me with far more questions than answers. Before we left the room, I made her swear that she wouldn't tell a soul. After a few minutes of quiet, I finished my tying my tie and Hermione shouted, "That's it! It'll be just like extra credit!"
I looked at her weirdly. "What are you talking about?" I asked, confused at her sudden outburst. How does she have so much energy all of the time? "We'll go to our library during free time and see what we can find on your family! Maybe we can find something to help you understand what's going on better." I was shocked when she said that but smiled and gave her a hug, startling her. "Thank you, Hermione. That's very kind of you but I don't want to ask you to do that." She shook her head, "No it's decided." She said, determined. I grabbed my bag that held my supplies and held on to her upper arm. "Thank you, Mione. No one has ever offered me that before. You are the best." I told her genuinely. She just smiled, but I could already see the gears turning in her head.
As we walked down the stairs to the common room, I noticed Ron and Harry on the couch. Harry was staring into the fire while Ron was just asleep. I smirked at Hermione, holding a finger to my mouth, and quietly tiptoed up to the back of the couch and yelled, jumping over it and onto Ron. Harry let out a yelp and slipped off the couch while Ron screamed and was trying to push me off. I just laughed as I sat up looking at the two. "What are you two doing? Isn't breakfast going on?" I asked them. "Well we were being nice and waiting for you but now I regret it." Ron groaned. I ruffled his hair a little and sat up. "Okay, let's go then." I started to head to the portrait but paused and looked back at the three behind me. "Can someone else lead? I can't remember the way to the Great Hall..." I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. Without answering me, Hermione grabbed my hand and lead me out to the corridor with the boys following behind me. As we walked to the Great Hall, I noticed a lot of people would stare or point and whisper to each other about Harry, who had caught up and was walking next to me. I could tell he was bothered by it but was trying not to let it show. It made things more difficult since we still had to find around the castle to find our way to places and with all the moving stairs, and doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely or tickled them in the correct place, it was quite difficult. Adding a bunch of students trying to catch any glimpse of Harry they could, even if we were in a class, it was getting old quickly.
Something else that didn't help was the ghosts despite Sir Nicholas, who was always happy to help the new students, Peeves the Poltergeist was the exact opposite. If you were running late, he would make sure to lock doors and move staircases on you. He'd throw wastebaskets on kids' heads, pull rugs from under your feet, and while invisible come up to you and grab your nose shouting, "GOT YOUR CONK!" Which hurt more than you'd think. But Peeves somehow wasn't the worst. The one who held that spot was the school's caretaker, Argus Filch. Ron, Harry, and I got on his bad side the first day when he caught us trying to open a locked door which turned out to be the door to the forbidden corridor. He didn't believe us that it was an accident and that we were lost, he assumed we were trying to break into it on purpose and threatened to hang us by our toes in the dungeons until we were saved by Professor Quirrell, who had been passing by at that time. Filch wasn't alone, either. He owned a cat named Mrs. Norris, who looked just like him but as a cat, it was quite an odd sight. And although I normally wouldn't say a negative thing about a cat, she was ugly and god awful. If you happened to break a rule in front of her she'd be off getting Filch, who'd come back wheezing and trying to get air to yell at you. All of the students hated him and that damned cat. I even heard some express how much they just wanted to kick her, but I thought that was going too far.
Professor McGonagall had handed out our class schedules on the first day during breakfast. Hermione, Ron, and Harry had every class with me as well as Neville. I could still sense some hostility between Hermione and Ron but I just tried to ignore it. Frankly, neither of the boys really spoke with her and her them. I think they just kept the peace for my sake. Hermione and I decided that since we always seem to finish eating quickly, we'd always meet the boys in our Transfiguration class, which we shared with the Slytherins. And after that would be Potions... with the Slytherins. While some seemed nice and interesting to talk to, others were disgusting and rude.
One day, Hermione and I sat toward the front of the class where I saved two seats next to me for Ron and Harry but even after class began, the boys still haven't shown up. I kept looking at the cat, impressed that a human could transform into an animal. I need to learn that. I swore to myself. Hermione and I continued to write notes until the two burst into the class a few minutes late, causing some people (including me) to snicker, while Hermione just rolled her eyes at the two. While Ron was walking his way up, he let out a sigh of relief and spoke to Harry, "Whew, we made it! Can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late?" My jaw dropped and I stared at him with wide eyes, but he didn't seem to notice. Almost instantly, the grey and black cat that had been perched on the desk in front of us jumped off and in mid-air turned into Professor McGonagall. Both of them just stared at her with wide eyes, Ron more so knowing he fucked up but all he said was, "That was bloody brilliant." Causing a few people to quietly laugh.
"Well thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley. Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch? That way one of you might be on time." She suggested. This was when I realized this professor is not one to cross. "We got lost." Harry tried to explain. "Then perhaps a map? I trust you don't need one to find your seats? Miss Montgomery saved two for you." Both of them quickly walked toward me with their heads down, Ron sitting next to me and Harry beside him.
She continued on with her lesson now that everyone was present. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." She started off, "Anyone messing around in my class will not come back. You have been warned." She says as she changed a desk into a pig and back again, which made us extremely excited until she told us how we wouldn't be changing any furniture into animals anytime soon. We would start off at the basics, which made sense but come on. After taking our notes, we were tasked with changing a match into a needle. By the end of the lesson, Hermione and I were the only two who had managed to successfully transfigure the match into a needle. We even managed to get a rare smile from her, making me feel even more proud, but I tried not to show it as to not make Ron and Harry feel bad.
A class almost everyone was excited for was Defense Against the Dark Arts, or DATA. On paper and in theory, it sounded cool, but in reality, it was a bit of a joke. The entire room reeked of garlic that other students said was to ward off some vampires Professor Quirrell had met in Romania and was worried about them coming back to finish him off. He told us his turban was given to him by an African Prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, which I couldn't help but secretly question the truth in that. When he walked around we were able to smell something truly disgusting coming from his turban that made me start to dislike DATA. The twins believed that he stuffed his turban full of garlic as well, although I told them how I believed it smelt way worse than garlic. Their response was that their theory would change if I could come up with a better solution.
Friday was a very special day according to the boys. They had managed to get t the Great Hall without getting lost once without Hermione or me, although I still had trouble at times so that wasn't saying much. "What do we got today?" Harry asked us as he ate his porridge.
"Double Potions with the Slytherins." I started. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them. I guess we'll be able to see if it's true or not." Harry looked up at me and mumbled, "Wish McGonagall favored us." I couldn't tell if he truly didn't like her much or if it was the fact she gave us a ton of homework the day before, but I nodded nonetheless. "I'm excited honestly, Potions sounds like it could be an interesting class. Especially compared to History of Magic." I added. Everyone agreed due to the fact that Professor Binns, who had been the only Professor that was a ghost (having died in his sleep one night and when he woke the next morning to go to class he had left his body behind), would float into class, and readout dates and names in a constant monotone voice that would make almost everyone but Hermione to zone out or even fall asleep. It was a difficult task to stay awake and write down notes, but with Hermione's study guide, I was getting an E.
Down the table a ways, Seamus was chanting, "Eye of rabbit, harpstring hum, turn this water into rum. Eye of rabbit, harpstring hum, turn this water into rum!" over his goblet of water with a few others crowding around him. "What's Seamus trying to do with that glass of water?" I rolled my eyes at Harry's question, crankily thinking, this is why you weren't chosen for Ravenclaw, but I held my tongue. Instead, Ron politely answered, "Turn it into rum. Actually managed a weak tea yesterday, before..." Ron didn't get to finish his sentence when a loud explosion rang out and when I looked down at Seamus, his hair was a mess and soot was all over his face. He seemed shocked for a moment before he joined in with the others laughing about it.
"Hey, mails here!" Someone called out as tons of owls flew in to deliver packages and letters to students. Errol, our family owl, came flying in sloppily, dropping letters for both Ron and me and Harry even got his first letter, which turned out to be from Hagrid asking if Harry was available to join him this afternoon for tea. Harry quickly responded "Yes please, see you later." on the back of the letter and sent it back with Hedwig. I opened mine to see that it was from Ginny. I smiled as I read the letter, giggling at the fact my little sister was such a huge fan of Harry's and made a mental reminder to write her back tonight. I gave Errol part of my toast and told him to wait up in the owlery to rest up and I'll bring my letter to him later, causing him to let out a screech and fly away.
"Hey, look! Nevilles got a rememball!" A boy near Seamus called out, causing everyone to look at Neville. "I've read about those!" Hermione explained, "When the smoke turns red, it means that you've forgotten something." The smoke in fact did turn red, making Neville slump his shoulders. "The only problem is that I can't remember what I've forgotten." He told us. I giggled a little and informed him, "Your robes Neville!" He just sheepishly smiled back and thanked me. Before he could put his rememball away, Draco appeared out of nowhere and took it from his hand. Harry, Ron, and I all jumped to our feet getting ready for a fight when Professor McGonagall came up and asked us what was going on. "He's got my rememball, Professor!" Neville told her. She turned to look at the blonde, who dropped the ball back on the table and said, "Just looking" with a scowl on his face as he walked away. I was kind of bummed she had come so fast since he was starting to get on my last nerve, to be honest.
We sat in our next class, Potions, which took place in one of the classrooms in the dungeons, near where the Slytherin common room is said to be. As I noticed how most of our classes were with Slytherins, I couldn't help but think how for two Houses that are rumored to detest each other the most, the school combined almost all of our classes but I guess this is a good way to test us. We were all talking quietly amongst ourselves when the door slammed open and a pale man with long black hair, crooked nose, and dark beady eyes, came in, his long robes giving the illusion he was gliding with each step. He spoke low, but like McGonagall, his voice filled the room easily. "There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class." He walked right up to the front of the class next to a podium, inspecting us all, his eyes lingering on Harry and me. "As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making." Despite knowing I probably wouldn't like this teacher, I was extremely excited about this class. "However, for those select few..." He paused, looking at Draco with a small smirk. "Who possess the predisposition... I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death... Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention." He raised his voice, glaring at Harry who sat next to me taking down notes. I elbowed him a little and gestured to the teacher when he looked at me. He put away his quill.
"Mr. Potter. Our new celebrity. Tell me what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" He questioned. On the other side of me, Hermione quickly raised her hand and Harry looked at her before back at the teacher. "I don't know." He quietly muttered. "You don't know? Well, let's try again. Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" Once again, Hermione quickly thrust her hand into the air, going as far as to raise in her seat but I shoot my head slightly, knowing there was no way he was going to call on her. This is about humiliating Harry, not about the questions. Draco and his goons were snickering in the back of the room. "I don't know, sir," He says louder and more clear. "And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfbane?" Just to try and give Harry a little bit of a break, I raised my hand along with Hermione, although mine was a lot slower than hers, he paid us no mind. "I don't know, sir, but I think Hermione and Sam do. Why not ask them?" Harry questioned, causing a few people to laugh but I just continued to give the professor a hard stare, unamused at his mind games.
"Sit down." He ordered Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel, and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of the Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why arent you all writing this down?" He asks, looking around the room. Everyone began to quickly scribble down everything they remembered of what he said. "Also, a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter." I will warn you now, the lesson didn't improve any as time went on. We were all paired up, me unfortunately with Draco, and told to create a potion used to cure boils. We weighed the dried nettles and crushed the snake fangs but he still managed to criticize everyone but Draco, using his potion as an example we should all be aiming for. Neville managed to melt Seamus's cauldron with his poison and it started to spill into the floor and burn people's shoes. Everyone quickly jumped on their stools so that it wouldn't melt their own shoes and cause quite painful-looking boils that were all over Neville's face, arms, and legs. He moaned in pain as Snape snarled, "Idiot boy!" I wanted to stand up for him but I felt Draco putting his hand on my shoulder to try and keep me in place. I harshly shrugged it off. "I supposed you added the porcupine quill before taking the cauldron off the fire?" He questioned, but didn't wait for a response before ordering Seamus to take him to the hospital wing, and turned toward Harry.
"You- Potter. Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." Harry and I both went to open our mouths but Ron and Draco kicked our shins from under the table. "Don't push it. I hear Snape can get very nasty fast." He muttered, trying not to draw any attention towards him. I glared at Draco. "Will you not?" I asked. "Don't be a fool. You'll only make things worse for yourself and get more points taken from Gryffindor." I hated the fact that he was right.
As the three of us walked our ways out of the dungeons, Ron turned to face Harry, who seemed to be in a very down mood. "Cheer up," He started. "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can we come to visit Hagrid with you?" Harry nodded and at five to three, we went out on the grounds to a small shack that was nearby the Forbidden Forest, which was incredibly tempting to go into. Now I see why the twins always went in. A crossbow lay outside against the house.
When we knocked, he heard lots of barking and Hagrid commanding the dog, "Back, Fang! Back!" When he finally opened the door and let us in, I was pleasantly surprised to see a cute but large dark grey boarhound. Hagrid seemed to be struggling a little so we hurriedly closed the door and he sighed in relief as he was able to let go of the dog, who ran at Ron to lick his ears, which the ginger boy did NOTenjoy, fear clearly written on his face. Fang then laid on my lap once I sat down on the ground. I giggled at the large dog who seemed to be a lot less ferocious than he looked, but every ounce as heavy. "Make yerselves at home," he said. "Hello Harid, it's nice to see you again." I said smiling at the man and turning to the dog, "And it's lovely to meet you, Fang."
"I'm not sure if you remember, but this is Samantha and this is Ron." Harry introduced us. I was able to look around the one-room hut and while it wasn't much, it definitely had a feeling of warmth, reminding me of the Burrow. There was a firepit with a copper kettle being warmed over the fire and a quilted blanket on a large bed but unlike the Burrow though, there were hams and other forms of meat hanging from the ceiling. "Another Weasley, eh?" He asked, inspecting Ron. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest." Ron's face turned pink while I just laughed, "That doesn't surprise me a bit Hagrid. They are quite the troublemakers." He snorted, "You can say that again. And what did you say yer last name was? You look familiar." He asked, turning his attention to me. I straightened my poster, "Montgomery- Weasley. I'm Ron's adoptive sister." He nodded. "Kelsa's daughter, right? She was a kind woman. You look just like 'er." I just smiled at that, focusing on Fang, who was whining from lack of attention.
Hagrid poured out some tea for us into an unmatching tea set and put out some rock cakes that were quite lumpy and hard but we all pretended to enjoy them as the boys were telling Hagrid about how classes were going and Fang moved to drool all over Harry's knee but Harry didn't seem to mind too much. When we told him all about our experience with Filch, he called Filch an "old git" and how he disliked Mrs. Norris, explaining how whenever he comes up to the castle she would follow him around everywhere, he knows Filch puts her up to it. Though Hagrid didn't really believe Harry when he told the giant how much Snape hated him, even with Ron and I backing him up. Hagrid quickly changed the subject, something that didn't go unnoticed by the three of us, and asked Ron and me, "How's yer brother Charlie? I liked him a lot- great with animals." I told Hagrid how he was doing and about his work in Romania with dragons. "I'm quite jealous. I wish we had Care of Magical Creatures this year." Hagrid and I were able to easily talk all about a variety of animals while Harry picked up and was reading a cutting from the Daily Prophet. It was an update on Grongott's break-in.
"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed, "that Gringott's break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!" This time, it was extremely obvious that Hagrid rushed us out of the hut, sending us with a rock cake each, not taking no for an answer. I spoke with Ron about the homework we had been given while Harry, walking slowly on my other side, was deep in thought. I wanted to ask, but I knew that if he wanted to talk about something that was bothering him, he'd tell me. I bumped into him a little to make sure if he was okay and only went back to my conversation with Ron after he smiled at me, which I returned.
Any ideas of what's going to happen next? I hope you guys enjoyed the story and if you did, please take a quick second to like the chapter and leave a comment if you're up to it! Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon!
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