For little Harriet Potter, her world turned topsy turvy when she received a certain letter two months ago. The wild events that followed as her Uncle tried to keep her from reading the letters and her meeting with Hagrid, were some of the best moments in her life. Not only did she learn about what she was and who her parents really were, she also learned she had a twin sister.

But, during the month of August, after her excitement and glee died down, when she really thought about what it all meant. She cried herself to sleep. Her parents had been killed and her sister was adopted into a magical family and she was dumped on the front porch of the worst humans in the world. For her entire life she was called a freak and forced to do an unfair amount of work for scraps of food, she hated her life and wished she could join her parents in the afterlife. And now she knew what she really was, a Witch and her sister was a hero being raised in a magical world that abandoned her to the real world.

Back when Harriet was stewing in her hatred, the scar on her chest, over her heart started to ache, she had never thought about it but now wondered if it was magical in nature. When the pain faded, she was left feeling immensely lonely, she didn't know what to do about it. After the letters started to appear, she was given a room and now she was allowed to be left alone and the house. Not only that, her workload was significantly reduced and she had more free time to do anything she wanted. Harriet had bonded with her pet Owl, Hedwig, so when she felt lonely she would talk to her, but at that moment she didn't want to think about Magic.

It was a sunny day outside and she didn't have to tend to the garden, but she still found herself out there, she had taken pride in the flowers, her flowers. She had planted them, watered them and trimmed them, she was the one growing them. She was going to have to say goodbye to them, she was going to a boarding school, and wouldn't see them anymore, as she whispered farewell, she heard a voice come from beneath them. And learned she could talk to snakes.

On the Hogwarts Express, Harriet searched for and found an empty cabin she could relax in, as she sat down, she hissed beneath her breath. "I've found a seat, Scales." A small garden snake slithering out her collar, and looked around.

"Wake me up when there's sunlight I could bask in." It hissed back and slither back into the stitched pocket that it called home.

"Okay, sleep tight." Harriet hissed to her pet, and started imagining what meeting her sister would be like, none of the scenarios she pictured were positive. She was going to make this magical world pay with blood for everything she never had. While she was caught up in her mind, the door to her cabin slammed open and made her jump, her eyes darted to the person who opened the door. She glared at a smiling boy with swept over golden hair and soft silver eyes that gleamed with energy.

"Greetings! Greetings, fellow schoolmate!" He bowed dramatically and hopped into the cabin. "I am Gray Matthews! A first generation Wizard, and it is my greatest pleasure to meet you." He announced and zipped over to sit in the seat across from Harriet.

His odd introduction reminded Harriet of the game show host she heard from her closet. The way he stared into her eyes made her uncomfortable, and Harriet realized she had never held a conversation with anyone her age who wasn't trying to bully her. She suddenly felt very nervous, she wanted to be left alone, but she could tell the boy waiting for a response, and she didn't want him to become aggressive. "I-I'm H-harriet P-potter, n-nice tomeetyou." She mumbled the end of her sentence and curled in on herself. Her heart sped up when she realized she might have to answer questions about the last name she shared.

"Slept in late, did you?" Gray questioned her with a light tone.

Harriet glanced his way in confusion, until she saw him looking at her messy hair, she looked at his brushed hair before it clicked. "Y-yeah." She lied, her hair was always a mess, for most of her life she was only allowed to bathe with soap. Her hair was always made fun of by other schoolgirls who took care of their hair, and tugged on by bullies, she only kept it long to cover her eyes from the world. After she was given a room, she was also given her own toiletries, including hair care products, but there were too many instructions on how to use them in the correct order, so she didn't bother.

Gray snapped his fingers and jumped out his seat, he brought up his other hand holding a brush. "You wouldn't mind if I were to help you out, correct, Miss Harriet?" He asked as he tossed his brush to the hand that he snapped with, and started to twirl it at a high speed.

Harriet wanted to say that she was fine, but she couldn't refuse his offer, he had a brush in the pockets of his robes, and was handling it with skill, she was sure he took hairstyles seriously. If she refused for no reason she might be making an enemy, a normal girl would want her hair to be presentable, only a freak like her didn't care about their hair. "Go ahead." She sighed internally and was determined to power through whatever he threw at her, it couldn't be worse than being dragged up the stairs by her hair only.

Gray stopped spinning his brush and smiled. "Petrificus Totalus!" He casted.

Harriet's legs were pulled together, her arms smashed against her sides, and her jaw slammed shut. Then she couldn't move a muscle, her entire body was locked in place. Panic rose in her body but couldn't escape out her mouth, her frozen eyes took in the full body of the boy who froze her. Harriet could see his Wand in the hand that brought up and tossed the brush, she could see his composed face a she stared into her eyes.

"Oh, don't fret, that was just the Full Body-Bind Curse, it's a curse that temporarily paralyzes those hit with it. Now let's get started on your ravens nest." Gray said calmly. "Scourgify!" He casted.

A wave of magic washed over her body, it left her feeling like she scrubbed herself raw.

"Human Transfiguration is finicky, it could wear off on its own or be cancelled out, it's honestly best to use muggle methods to fix this up." He said as he pulled out a small silver bottle held between his fingers. He pointed his wand at it. "Engorgio." He casted and in a flash of light, it grew in size and he placed it one the seat next to Harriet

From the corner of her sight, she could see him wave his wand over the soup pot sized bottle. Her heart was still beating in her ears and she was thinking that this had to be the worst first haircut not performed by her Aunt.

"Locomotor: Soapy Water!" Gray casted, and slowly dragged his wand to point her.

Harriet could see floating white foam, moments before her hair was drenched in warm soapy water. Through frozen eyes, she could see Gray wave his wand around in a pattern, and she could feel the water mimic the pattern. Eventually, her panic started to fade, especially with the relaxing sensation of the water massage. Gray stopped and returned the water to the pot, he casted something else, but she wasn't paying attention.

Gray pocketed the small bottle and pulled out his brush and a comb, he got close to Harriet, and smiled at her. She closed her eyes, and felt him start at the top and carefully went down her hair. The sound of snipping scissors scared her, but she didn't open her eye, she relaxed as he only trimmed her tips. For a moment, she couldn't feel anything touching her hair, then she felt something wrap around most of her head, a towel. After a few more combs through her hair, she heard Gray speak. "That looks absolutely lovely, what do you think?"

Harriet opened her eyes and saw a handheld mirror in front of her face, she could see her hair in the reflection, she grabbed the mirror. Her style hadn't changed, but it looked nicer. It lacked the knots, stray strands and uneven ends, she ran her fingers through her soft and silky hair in disbelief. She felt a sense of pride, this was her hair, she suddenly recalled her flowers, and realized that those girls felt the same about their hair, but she didn't do this. "Thank you." She told Gray, that was the limit in how she knew how to express gratitude.

As Harriet lowered the mirror and thanked Gray, she found herself in front of a wooden table. Her eyes roamed the table, in front of her was a steaming cup of tea in a saucer with a teaspoon and a plate with some kind of pastry and a fork. In the center of the table was a teapot, a coffee pot, and a milk pitcher, next to them was a small bowl filled with sugar cubes, and off center was a big plate with a slab of some kind of pastry.

As Harriet took a moment, she realized she could move, the train was moving, her glasses were repaired and cleaned, and there were four other sets of tea and pastries. On her side of the table were three sets, and across from her were two more sets, then she realized that Gray was gone. She woke up her pet snake and watched it slither over the table and onto a ledge on the window. Since it was set in front of her, she sipped from the teacup, then added some milk and sugar. She hadn't ever had tea like this before, so she indulged herself, and added a lot of sugar, she even enjoyed a piece of the pastry in front of her. It was pumpkin flavored.

The door slid open hesitantly, and Harriet expected Gray, but a mop of red hair popped in. "Hey do- Bloody Hell!" They exclaimed. "What is all this!? Why couldn't I have found this room!?" They whined as they stared at the table.

Harriet stared over the person who was drooling, they were a redheaded girl with freckles dotted across her face, she was around her age and wore robes a size too big. Harriet didn't know why this table was here, and there was five servings, so she couldn't see a reason she shouldn't allow her to have a seat. "Take a seat." She told the redhead and gestured to the open seats.

"Really?" The redhead's eyes darted over to Harriet with hunger as she asked.

"Really."

"Thanks, mate." And she slid into the seat next to her. "Names Rose Weasley." Rose said as she grabbed the pastry off the plate in front of her and stuffed her mouth. "I was kicked out of my brother's cabin and everywhere else was full." She spoke with her mouth full.

"Harriet Potter." She said as she ate another piece of the pumpkin pastry.

Rose choked and broke down into a coughing fit, she gulped down tea before looking at Harriet with shocked confusion. "Potter?" She managed to ask.

Harriet decided to go with the barest truth. "My sister is Holly, but I was raised by Muggles, who didn't tell me about Magic."

"Wild." Rose said with her mouth full.

Harriet and Rose continued to talk, conversation just flowed between them.

Not before long, Gray returned to the cabin. "Oh, you made friend Miss Potter, care to introduce us?" He asked as he slid into his seat across from Harriet. He started at her with unwavering eyes.

Now that Harriet had met Rose, she felt confident that she now could say no to Gray, but not only did he do her hair, there also was no reason to say no, unless she wanted to be petty or rude. "Rose, this is Gray Matthews, he's a little off of it." She whispered the second half to Rose. "Gray, this is Rose Weasley, she likes to eat and play wizard chess."

"Hmmm, well the signs are all there." He said while looking at the near empty off-center pastry plate.

"Hey!" Rose huffed, and pointed at the plate. "I left one!" She spoke with a manner-of-fact tone.

"That you did, and if you truly hunger for pastries." He said in a low tone while pulling out his wand.

Harriet jumped and pushed Rose down to the seat as Gray opened his mouth. "Engorgio!" He casted.

As the seconds passed and Harriet stared down that the confused looking face of Rose, she remembered that Gray had said that before and caused a small bottle to grow. She glanced at him, and saw him sipping from a teacup. She let Rose up and returned to her seat, refusing to look at Rose.

"Merlin! You're a real Wizard aren't you!" Rose shouted, and Harriet recognized the sound of her face being stuffed.

Harriet glanced over and saw that the serving plate was refilled with a pastry that was taller than before.

The cabin door slid open, again. "Has anyone seen- is that a table? What is going on here?" A girl with bushy brown hair and buck teeth asked.

"Trevor!" A pudgy boy behind the girl exclaimed and pointed into the cabin.

Following his finger, Harriet saw Gray holding a toad in his hand. "Do you recognize this young fellow?" He asked the toad, and then turned to the people by the door. "Join us while we sort this out." He waved the duo in.

They looked at each other, than the girl shrugged, and they stepped in. The girl sat next to Rose, and the boy sat next to Gray. Almost immediately, Gray handed the toad to the boy and clapped his hands. "Welcome to my tea party! There are no limits on refills and the price for attending is to let me fix your hair, for questions of my service, look to your left!"

Three sets of confused eyes shifted to Harriet, who looked out the window and thought. "I'm pleased with the outcome." She spoke with an flat tone. The eyes returned to Gray.

"Let us start with introductions. I am the Great: Gray Matthews! A first generation Wizard, and it is my greatest pleasure to meet all of you." He did a little bow with his head and used his hands to add flair, then he glanced at the boy.

"N-neville Longbottom." He stared at the table while answering

The new girl went next. "Hermione Granger, and when you say 'first generation wizard' do you mean you're a Muggleborn?" She asked.

"If you wish to strip me of my amazing introduction, then absolutely." Gray grumbled with a smile.

"Rose Weasley." She said between bites.

Harriet sighed and swallowed her nerves. "I'm Harriet Potter." She said, then rushed to add. "But I'm completely Muggle raised and never knew of anything magical, including my sister!" She huffed.

Gray broke the silence that filled the cabin. "I too am completely Muggle raised, and I feel as if most of my life was for nothing."

Hermione perked up. "I know exactly what you mean, my entire school schedule is completely useless now, and I could have been using that time learning more about this magical world."

Gray nodded. "It feels like I've wasted so much time, I've been keeping my eye on the geopolitical relations between the United States, Russia, and Iran. I paid so much attention to all the revolutions and coup d'etats that happened and I thought for sure the Irish Republican Army was up to something. And don't even get me started on the hours, maybe even days, I spent stalking people I suspected of being spies or time travelers. If only I spent my time studying magic instead of trying to draw the attention of extraterrestrials! Gah! How could I be so foolish! Of course it was magic! Curses! Curses, I say!" He ranted and then downed a cup of tea.

The rest of the cabin talked for the rest the ride, and when it came to a stop, Gray clapped his hands. "And that concludes our tea party, I hope everyone had a pleasant time." Then he pulled out his wand, and with a wave, the table and everything on it, wobbled. Another wave and wood and ceramic melted. Everything flowed to Gray and the table bent to get out of his way as he stood. "Reducio!" He casted, and in a flash, everything on the table and the table itself shrunk, and with another wave, became wooden blocks and metal vials. Gray snatched them up and opened the door. "Let's do this once again, at a later date. I shall take my payment at a later date, farewell for now."

Stunned silence replaced Gray when he left. Harriet noticed that Rose and Neville were as amazed as her at the display of wizardry, but Hermione was shocked and confused.

Hermione exploded out her seat and tore the door open, but before she couldn't chase down Gray, she met a wall of moving passengers.

Harriet continued to wonder about Gray, and had to put up with Hermione questions about him, at least until she saw the castle of Hogwarts. The giant majestic castle made her heart warm, until it suddenly felt very cold, the castle seemed to loom over her, making her feel so very small. All this magic, the pub, Diagon Alley, the secret platform, and this gigantic castle. All of that, and she grew up in a closet under the stairs.

A cold breeze whipped past Harriet, and she could vividly recall shivering in that small room as she tried and failed to fall asleep. Her tiny hands clenched into small fists and she remembered what she wanted to do to this twisted magical world that let her suffer. Then something fell on her leg, she took a moment to recognize it, and swiped it off her robes when she realized that it was a clump of chewed up pastries.

Turning to her side, she used her hand to close the gaping mouth belonging to Rose Weasley. After getting a small apology from Rose, Harriet glanced around the wooden boat she was in, and at the other people she was riding with. Hermione and Neville. All of them had spent most of the train ride together, and talked with each other, about their past and the future they wanted or expected. She had grown closer with them, and although she didn't expect to hang out with Hermione in the library or to seek out Neville, she knew she was going to stick with Rose. They were the closest thing she ever had to friends. The thought of facing this world with friends warmed her heart, and made her scar itch.

After the boats docked, a group of kid formed and were led up big sets of stairs. When they came to a stop in front of a big set of doors, Harriet was behind everyone else in the group of first years, as an old lady with gray hair started talking to them. Harriet was looking through the small crowd, for a girl with similar features as her, and although she found a few heads of black hair, she couldn't see their eyes.

The doors opened up to a room with four vertically long tables filled with teens of various ages, another table the end of the room, but that one was horizontal and filled with adults. Candles floated above the tables, and the ceiling was a shifting night sky. While Harriet was drinking in the room, a dusty hat started to sing about the four houses. On the train, Hermione had reported about what she read in a book, then Rose and Neville gave Harriet a wizard's perspective. Gryffindor for the Brave, Ravenclaw for the Smart, Slytherin for the Evil, and Hufflepuff for the Rest.

One by one, those in the group of first years were read off a list and would go forth, they sat on a stool and wore the hat, after a moment the hat would shout a house name. Hermione was the first name that Harriet recognized, she was sorted into Gryffindor, so was Neville. The list went on, and after a girl named Draco was sorted into Slytherin, Gray was called up, and also sorted into Slytherin. The group had thinned considerably, Harriet hid between Rose and a kid she didn't know. She was pretty sure she knew who her sister was.

"Potter,-" The entire room held their breath, and the girl Harriet was watching started to move. "-Harriet." The room froze, and then erupted into hushed chatter. The unsorted students looked amongst themselves in confusion. The girl she was watching had locked into place.

Wanting the moment to end, Harriet stepped forward. Countless eyes followed her and the whispers died down as she reached the hat. She felt her stomach twist and turn, but she was able to manage it when she saw her friends. A smile broke onto her face as the hat started speaking to her.