"I'm not nervous."

Brushing her hair, Katrina recited that phrase to herself. "Are you trying to convince yourself or the mirror?"

A sympathetic Harry was leaning on the door frame with his trunk, a leather-covered book tucked under his arm. Crossing the room, she placed the brush in her suitcase, trying to mask her nerves. On the outside, she maintained a brave face but on the inside, a thousand invisible butterflies were fluttering in her stomach. Attending Hogwarts had been on the list of things she hoped to experience, even for a single day, in her life, wanting the escape from the walls of Kane's manor and to reunite with her brother. Though it was at the top of her list, hoping to attend the esteemed wizarding school and getting the chance were wildly different things.

Katrina feared that she would crumble under the pressure of being surrounded by hundreds of students on a daily basis. As much as she had warmed up to Harry and the others residing in Grimmauld Place, it was growing at a snail's pace, nowhere the level of comfort she felt around someone like Jace, which had taken several years. On top of her general anxiety of meeting complete strangers, she had the added responsibility of ensuring no one noted discrepancies in the kidnapping tale given to the Ministry. Telling her story in an enclosed space to a few strangers was not the same as being bombarded with questions by her peers at a random moment.

"It's all right to admit it. It's a big change," he said, sitting on her bed. "I won't lie that everyone at Hogwarts is going to be nice but you're not alone. If anyone bothers you, they'll deal with me and if they've been reading the Daily Prophet all summer, they won't want to mess with a deluded madman. I wanted to give you this."

Harry handed her the book, a photo album compiled by Hagrid at the end of his first year. It contained photographs of her parents throughout their years at Hogwarts and after, some taken months before their deaths. A pang of regret passed through Katrina at the photographs of her parents with an infant Harry. Part of her wished that they could have known the truth, even if it still meant leaving her with Kane. What would her life have been like if her parents were part of it for a short time?

"Sometimes, when I find myself thinking about them, I like to flip through this." Harry looked at their smiling parents sitting by a fountain. "I want you to have it so if you're ever feeling down and I can't help, maybe this will cheer you up."

The tender moment was ruined by the howling of Mrs. Black's portrait. Picking up her suitcase and cat carrier, she followed Harry out the door, listening to the screeches about blood traitors and 'creatures of dirt'. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Kane, and Remus were standing in the hall, surrounded by trunks, cages, and carriers, tuning out the portrait's rage. An exasperated Mrs. Weasley, healing a scrape on Ginny's elbow, instructed them to leave their luggage, Moody bringing them to the train station. Instead of traveling to the station together, they would travel in staggered groups, Katrina going with Fred, George, Ginny, and Lupin.

Catching a minute twitch of Kane's pinky, Katrina shuffled over to him by a portrait of a stately medieval man. His broad shoulders shielding most of her from view, he gave her a two-way mirror, a common method of communication among his task force. He never trusted owls or the floo network, believing both methods were susceptible to interception by enemies. Pretending to brush dust from his sleeve, he ordered her to message him daily at Hogwarts and if either of them did not respond, the other would assume the worst, meeting up at their secret spot.

"You'll keep up with your training," he muttered. "I don't want to see you slacking because of your hotheaded brother or other nonsense. Don't go tipping your wand too easily. You present yourself as meek and mild to those children but don't let them push you around. Keep your eyes open and if there's any trouble, you'll contact me and go straight to Dumbledore. What do I always tell you?"

"No hesitations, no distractions," she whispered, slipping the mirror into her coat pocket.

Mrs. Weasley shouted herself hoarse for Hermione and the rest of the Weasley children to meet them downstairs. A bearlike black dog, Sirius's animagus form, appeared next to Harry's leg, despite Mrs. Weasley's frustrated insistence for him to not leave the house. Wagging his tail, he scampered over to Katrina, who could not hide her amusement. Harry was the first to leave with Mrs. Weasley and after five minutes, Katrina headed out of the house with Remus. During the walk to the train station, Sirius chasing pigeons up ahead, Ginny fought off her brothers' attempts to sample their joke products while Katrina and Remus discussed Hogwarts.

"If Professor Snape's report is any indication, you'll do well in your lessons," he said, watching Tonks, disguised as an elderly woman, trip over a crack in the sidewalk. "He rarely gives out praise so that certainly means something. Students in the same year aren't at the same level. You'll find that some are a bit more advanced while others struggle so don't get discouraged if you don't get it right on the first try. You're welcome to write to me anytime, Katrina."

Winding through the crowd of muggles at King's Cross, keeping her hands in her coat to avoid accidental touching, she was confused when Remus stopped at a brick pillar, a plastic nine and ten hanging over either side. She swallowed hard, hearing him explain that it was a barrier to the Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The fact that it was constructed with magic gave her considerable pause, the drawing room incident fresh in her mind. What if she lost control of her abilities and absorbed its magic, attracting the attention of muggles?

"I'll be right beside you," assured Remus, as Fred, George, and Ginny vanished through the barrier. "Do as I do."

Mimicking him, she rested against the pillar and the next second, she fell through, ending up in a completely new train station, a scarlet red engine on the tracks. Her hands trembled in her pockets but thankfully, there was no tingling or warm sensation. The others were emptying Moody's luggage cart, Harry taking her suitcase out with his, and exchanged hugs and handshakes with the adults. Katrina stood alone, unable to join in with the heartfelt goodbyes.

Feeling a soft nip on her sleeve, she looked down at Sirius, his head brushing up against her coat. She appreciated the gesture, returning it by gently tapping his head with the back of her sleeve. The other adults found their own ways of saying goodbye to her at a distance, Tonks giving her an air high-five and Mrs. Weasley using the excuse of getting the hair out of her eyes. Like Kane, Moody warned her to keep her guard up though he was not opposed to her using her siphon abilities on a shifty student.

At the sound of a whistle, they climbed onto the train and waved at the Order members from the open window. The train began to move, a joyful Sirius bounding alongside it, and as it rounded the corner, he and the people on the platform turned into nothing more than blurs.

"Well," said Fred, clapping his hands together. "Can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later."

"You will remain in our thoughts, m'lady," George told Katrina. "If you wish to engage with those more of your caliber instead of these children, we will not be far."

The twins bowed towards her ("Idiots," mumbled Ginny), lifting their heads at Harry's grumble of disapproval. Staring at their backs retreating further down the corridor, her brother suggested finding a compartment, his mood souring at Hermione's mention of a prefect meeting.

"Katrina, would you like to come with us?" she asked, avoiding the arisen awkward tension. "It may be good for you to meet the other prefects."

She shook her head. "I'm sure I'll meet them another time."

Walking in opposite directions, Ginny led her and Harry down the corridor, searching for an empty compartment. Peering through the glass-paneled windows, they discovered that many of the compartments were full or occupied by people they despised, presumably Slytherins. The people inside stared back at her brother with interest and when they were spooked or wanted to direct their attention somewhere else, their eyes fell on Katrina, igniting a whole new set of questions. Whispers about her, or 'the dead Potter' as she was affectionately titled, followed her as they continued their search, Ginny encouraging her to ignore the gossip.

In the last carriage, she and Harry greeted a round-faced boy, his trunk in one hand and a struggling toad in the other. "Neville's with us in Gryffindor," said Ginny, smiling. "Neville, this is Katrina."

He looked at her like she sprouted wings. "S—sorry. I shouldn't—it's nice to know you're not—it's nice to meet you."

Ginny glanced over his shoulder. "There's room in this one. There's only Loony Lovegood in here…"

Stepping past a shy Neville, she slid the door open, revealing a girl with straggly, waist-length dirty blonde hair. Though Ginny called her Luna, Katrina assumed the 'Loony' nickname was due to her eccentric aura, exemplified by her necklace of butterbeer caps and the fact she was reading her issue of The Quibbler upside down. With Harry's help, she stowed her suitcase and carrier in the luggage rack, releasing Purrsephone from the the carrier. Luna stared at Harry as they sat opposite her, Katrina sitting near the window with her sketchpad on her lap.

Ginny introduced Luna, who was a fourth year Ravenclaw, to them. "You're Katrina Potter."

"That's me," she replied, kindly, never one to judge someone based on the opinions of others.

Harry did not share that view, clearly thinking that she was odd. "My father never believed the rumors. He said you know who employed fairies to switch you out of your crib," said Luna, dreamily. "They're well-known for those sorts of tricks. Hundreds of children around the world suffer a similar fate."

"I don't know if that's true," said Katrina, never hearing that theory. "I like your necklace."

"I could make you one," she offered. "It keeps the nargles away."

During the train ride, Katrina drew in her sketchpad, gazing out the window at the beautiful scenery of the open countryside. Purrsephone curled up in her lap, playing with a ball of pink yarn. Luna returned to her magazine while Harry, Ginny, and Neville conversed amongst themselves, Neville showing off a birthday present from his great-uncle. It was a Mimbulus Mimbletonia, a small gray cactus covered in boils. Katrina had seen one before, Kane experimenting with the stinksap it secreted for defensive purposes.

Neville excitedly dump his toad in Harry's lap. Seeing him prod the plant with the tip of his quill, Katrina quickly cast a shield charm and raised her sketchpad, just as liquid squirted from its boils. The entire compartment, including the top of Ginny's head, Luna's magazine, and most of Harry and Neville's faces, was dripping with thick, slimy, dark-green stinksap. As Neville apologized for the mess, the door slid open, a pretty girl with long, shiny black hair standing out in the corridor. A short, awkward chat occurred between her and an embarrassed Harry. The moment she left, Ginny cleaned the compartment with a scouring charm.

"Was she another friend?" asked Katrina, handing him a handkerchief to wipe away the remaining stinksap.

His cheeks reddened under the handkerchief. "She's um—we're fr—not friend friends. I mean, we've talked but not—we're not that close. That's um Cho Chang. She's a year above us and the Ravenclaw seeker. She's pretty—pretty good…at quidditch and stuff…"

Katrina had her own theories but kept them to herself. An hour later, a large pile of sweets was nestled between her and Harry, courtesy of the food trolley, and he, Neville, and Ginny were swapping chocolate frog cards. Harry attempted to get Katrina interested, showing off his collection. He heavily reminded her of Jace, who, when he was thirteen, made it his mission to find every single card, leading to him being cut off from his allowance for a couple weeks. Her nose buried in her sketchpad, she nibbled on a cauldron cake.

Hermione and Ron returned from their meeting, an exhausted Ron collapsing beside Harry. His eyes shut, he blindly grabbed a chocolate frog from the pile and bit off its head. Slightly disgruntled, Hermione sat in the empty space beside Ginny, telling them about the prefects in other houses. Hearing that Hannah was chosen as a Hufflepuff prefect, Katrina perked up, partly wishing she had worked up the courage to attend the meeting to see Jace's cousin.

She hid behind her sketchpad as the conversation shifted to the Slytherin prefects, Pansy Parkinson, who was 'thicker than a concussed troll' according to Hermione, and Draco Malfoy. After the fraught exchange between Jace and the Malfoys, she decided not to bring it up to Harry, well aware of the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. She assumed that Draco was one of the bullies at Hogwarts he had warned her about the night of her sorting, implying that Slytherins were all equally foul and nasty towards those deemed inferior. Jace had already chewed her ear off on the topic, due to their parents' believed association with Voldemort.

In discussing their duties as prefect, Ron found one upside to his new role: giving out punishments to misbehaving students. Katrina was the only one not to laugh at his impersonation of one of Draco's friends writing lines, Luna's loud laughter startling Purrsephone and Crookshanks. Amidst Ron looking to the others for an explanation, Harry picked up her fallen magazine, flipping to a specific article. Luna immediately stopped as Hermione chided the magazine as rubbish, informing her that her father was the editor and snatching it from Harry.

"You're really good, Katrina," said Ginny, hurriedly changing the subject. She indicated her finished drawing in her sketchpad. "Dean Thomas draws too. He's another Gryffindor. You could help him with the banners for the quidditch matches."

The door slid open for a third time. Draco was in the doorway, flanked by two large boys who resembled bodyguards.

"What?" snapped Harry.

His aggressive tone suggested their feud was personal, beyond a typical house rivalry. Everyone else in the compartment, besides a pensive Luna, looked at him and his friends with blatant loathing.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you detention," drawled Draco, smirking. "You see I, unlike you, have been made a prefect which means I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

"Yeah," said Harry, on the edge of hexing him. "But you, unlike me, are a git so get out and leave us alone."

Draco's lip curled at their laughter. "Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?"

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Hermione, sharply.

"I seem to have touched a nerve." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line."

As Hermione rose from her seat ("Get out!"), he spotted Katrina by the window. His smirk faltered but instead of continuing his taunts, he departed, Hermione slamming the door behind him.

"Foul git," muttered Ron, opening another chocolate frog.

Harry turned towards Katrina. "Stay away from Malfoy. If he insults you, you tell me right away and I'll hex him until he's a pile of goo. I don't care if it lands me in detention until graduation."

"Why is he so mean to you?" she asked, shocked by the open hostility.

"He's a dirty, rotten snake," said Ron, as if it settled the matter. "The whole lot of them in Slytherin are like him. He's been a thorn in our sides since first year. Shame he hasn't fallen off the Astronomy Tower yet."

Checking the time on Harry's watch, she picked up her bag. "Can you watch Purrsephone for me?" The small kitten pounced on a leaping chocolate frog on the floor. "I need to wash my hands so I'll change in there."

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked, his mouth full of pumpkin pasty.

"I think I can manage by myself," she said, opening the door.

Katrina walked along the corridor and shut herself in the bathroom. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a vial of golden powder, the same she had ingested in Grimmauld Place with her meals. She poured the powder into bottled water, swirling it around, then took a swig of the mixture, gagging at its bitterness. Like always, her palms emitted a reddish glow but to her confusion, the glow did not fade, spreading to her fingertips.

"I've got this," she whispered to herself. "I'm in control. I've got this."

As her hands returned to normal, she stowed the vial into her bag and changed into her uniform, checking that her gloves did not show too much exposed skin. Katrina gave herself another pep talk in the mirror. The train slowed down and outside the door, she heard the commotion of people moving around their compartments.

Katrina took a deep breath before stepping out of the bathroom. The last thing she expected was to nearly bump into someone, least of all Draco Malfoy. He had been lazily ordering people in the corridor back to their compartments, threatening to give a group of boys, no older than twelve, detention. Turning his head, his expression of sheer boredom fell into one of intrigue, his eyes passing over her and lingering unnecessarily long on her red and gold tie and the Gryffindor emblem on her robes.

"Surprised your brother wasn't guarding the door. He let you out on your own?" He raised a brow at her silence. "If you wanted to get away from those insufferable sods, I don't blame you. I'd rather sleep next to a troll than listen to Potter go on with his holier than thou attitude."

Unwilling to engage in his taunts, she started to walk past him, blocked by his arm stretching across the corridor. "Can you move, please?"

"Aren't you polite?" He kept his arm firmly in place. "Hogwarts is a big place. If you like, I could be your guide. Those gossiping vultures will swarm you the second you're alone and I'm a good friend to have, Katrina."

"You don't seem very friendly to me," she countered.

"Then maybe we should get to know each other better," he said, innocently. "I did help you find your cat so I can't be all bad, can I?"

"Malfoy!" A dark-haired boy stormed down the corridor, a Head Boy badge pinned to his robes above the Ravenclaw emblem. "You're supposed to be with Ernie at the front of the train. Can you at least pretend that you give a damn about being a prefect?"

Draco scowled. "Get your wand out of a knot, Davies. Macmillan's a big boy. He can handle the brats by himself. We're a little busy here."

"Get a move on or I'll be bringing you to Dumbledore," said Davies, glaring.

The blonde Slytherin sized up the older boy, choosing to sneer and walk away, purposely bumping against his shoulder. Rolling his eyes, the boy looked over at Katrina, who was wishing to blend into the wall. She did not need to be reprimanded, before even leaving the train, for someone else's actions. Not recognizing her, he smiled and introduced himself as Roger Davies. When she felt a warmth in her cheeks, she wondered if her siphon abilities were acting up.

"I—I'm Katrina," she replied.

His eyes widened at her name. "Oh, you're Harry's sister. That explains why Malfoy was giving you trouble. He likes to act like he's a big shot but he's all talk. I doubt he's doing what I asked so he's probably gathering his friends to bolster his numbers. Let me take you back to your compartment."

As she walked with Roger, keeping her eyes on the carpeted floor, the train halted to an abrupt stop. On both sides, of the corridor, people were removing their trunks from the luggage racks. In her compartment, she saw Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Luna gathering their belongings.

"I have to gather up the first years," said Roger, observing the younger students hurrying down the corridor. "Any questions you have, you can always ask me and don't let people like Malfoy get to you. With what you've been through, I bet this all might be scary but believe me, you'll make a lot of friends. I'll see you in the castle, Katrina."

Entering the compartment, she was given her suitcase and Purrsephone's cat carrier by Ginny. Hermione and Ron had left to supervise the students exiting the train with the other prefects. They joined the growing crowd in the corridors and stepped out onto the platform, horseless stagecoaches lining the dirt path. Harry was eyeing a woman calling out to the first years, a lantern in her hand.

In the massive crowd, the first years surrounding the woman and the other students heading to the carriages, they reunited with Ron and Hermione. Nearby, Draco, the two hulking boys he had been with before, and a girl with pin-straight ebony hair were shoving younger students, to secure a carriage for themselves. A few carriages down, Roger, who was with a group of his friends, waved at Katrina. Switching the cat carrier to her other hand, she shyly waved back but upon catching Draco's eye, she froze and climbed into a carriage with Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Neville. Harry was whispering to Luna, staring intently at the empty space between carriages.

"Harry?" asked Katrina, as Luna sat beside Neville.

Harry shook his head. "Sorry. I thought—I'm uh coming."

Ginny questioned the presence of the woman guiding the first years, pointing out that it was usually Hagrid's job. Hagrid was the groundskeeper and taught Care of Magical Creatures. Despite being half giant, Harry had assured Katrina that he would never hurt a fly, though he would benefit from baking tips. That admiration was not universal, Luna openly saying that the Ravenclaws considered him to be a substandard teacher. Halfway up the winding path, an enormous castle came into view. The drawings that Katrina had seen in her books did not do it justice, unable to capture its towering beauty. Seeing it in person made everything all the more real for Katrina, who never imagined she would be able to attend the school.

As the carriage jingled to a stop at the front of the castle, they jumped down one at a time, Harry once again lost in a daydream. Following Hermione through the giant oak doors, Katrina became distracted herself, stunned by the breathtaking sight of the entrance hall and the even more impressive Great Hall. Thousands of candles floated above four long tables, glittering with golden plates and goblets, ghosts hovered by the walls, and above their heads, the ceiling reflected the night sky. At the front of the Hall was another table where the professors were seated, Dumbledore in the middle.

Poked in the back by Harry, Katrina ambled over to one of the tables, mesmerized by the enchanted ceiling, sitting beside him. Her peaceful thoughts were cut by the carrying whispers from the tables.

"That's definitely her."

"Pity she's related to Potter."

"Wonder if she's mental too."
"She looks like she was raised in a barn."

"She looks normal."

"I don't want to sit by him. Come on, we can switch with the Creevey brothers."

Two girls sat across from her and Harry, looking like complete opposites. The tall blonde to her right resembled an overexcited puppy while the other girl, her chestnut brown hair styled in a layered bob, appeared to be mentally wishing to be anywhere else at the moment, focusing on her plate.

"Hi guys!" said the blonde, cheerfully. Harry's thin smile suggested they were not close friends. "Ooh, is this your secret sister, Harry? Sorry, not secret. Everyone…well, not everyone because why would people in the muggle world know about her? Hi…I'm…Sophie…"

Her speech was stilted, the girl possibly thinking Katrina did not know basic English. "Hello," said Katrina, throwing at an uncertain glance at her brother.

"Wow, you can talk," she said, amazed. Harry glared at her. "Oh, I didn't mean—people on the train were wondering if you could…since, you know—I'm sorry if that sounded offensive. I'm glad you're not dead. I was telling Fay—this is Fay. I was telling her that living like that must've been crazy. It's a good thing that auror found you."

"I think you should stop talking, Roper," hissed Harry.

"Agreed," mumbled Fay, more to save her friend from an uncomfortable situation than out of respect to him or Katrina.

Professor McGonagall, the rigid Transfiguration professor Katrina had met a couple times at Grimmauld Place during her lessons with Snape, entered the Great Hall, with a stool and the sorting hat, a line of terrified first years trailing behind her. As she placed the hat on the stool, its brim opened wide and it burst into a song about the founders of Hogwarts and unity. Katrina could not help smiling at Sophie, who was bouncing in her seat to the tune.

"That's Nearly Headless Nick but he prefers Sir Nicholas," Harry whispered to Katrina, pointing to a medieval ghost speaking to Hermione about the sorting hat's previous warnings through song.

One by the one, the first years were sorted, some announced the second the hat touched their heads and others waiting several minutes. When they were sorted into their new house, the corresponding table erupted in cheers and applause. As she clapped for a petite girl stumbling over to the Gryffindor table, she noticed Fay subtly eyeing her, one of many students who were far more interested in her than the sorting. Once the ceremony ended, McGonagall marched away with the stool and hat and Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"To our newcomers, welcome!" he said, in a ringing voice. "To our old hands—welcome back! There is a time for speech making but this is not it. Tuck in!"

A vast feast appeared across the four tables, from stews to lamb chops. Ron piled a mountain high stack of food onto his plate, shoveling a majority of it into his mouth. Reaching for a bowl of steamed carrots, Katrina overheard an argument between him, Hermione, and Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost offended by Ron suggesting he was afraid of the another ghost in the castle and an insensitive comment about his lack of blood. The affronted ghost, his head teetering on his severed neck, floated to the other end of the table.

"Nice one. You couldn't last a minute without putting your foot in the mouth," said Fay, pouring herself a glass of pumpkin juice. "That must be a new record."

He made a mocking face at the brunette. "Be nice," chided Sophie. "So Katrina, are you excited to be at Hogwarts? It's huge, isn't it? I've been here five years and I still get lost sometimes. Your gloves are so cute, by the way. Where'd you get them?"

"Um a shop in Wichita," she said, remembering Jace's story to the aurors. "I—it's where he found me. He got me clothes before bringing me to the Ministry. It's what teenage girls wear in America."

"Weren't you in a muggle neighborhood?" asked Fay. "No one around for miles. It's why they didn't find you until now, right?"

"Helping your father with an article, Dunbar?" growled Harry. The brunette pursed her lips. "I'd appreciate if you didn't interrogate my sister."

The rest of the feast was done in silence, Harry and Fay throwing each other dirty looks between bites of their food. Katrina secretly preferred it to being roped into a conversation with Sophie, appreciating that she showed no signs of treating her differently but unprepared for someone with such a bubbly personality. The silence was broken by Dumbledore addressing the students about general rules, like the aptly named Forbidden Forest being off limits to students, magic being prohibited in the corridors, and the caretaker Mr. Filch's list of banned items.

Referring to the new professors joining the staff, Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not join in with the applause for Professor Grubbly-Plank, more concerned with Hagrid's absence. Katrina recognized Professor Umbridge, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, from her her visit to the British Ministry. She was the toad-faced woman who had accompanied Fudge in his interrogation of her, never saying a word but still unsettling with how she observed Katrina like she was a duplicitous spy. Her fluffy pink cardigan gave her the appearance of a puffed up fwooper.

"Hem hem."

Dumbledore's speech on quidditch try outs was cut off by the tiny cough. Umbridge stood up, Dumbledore sitting down to allow her to make her own speech. The professors reacted less favorably, McGonagall's mouth a straight line and another professor's eyebrows disappearing into her flyaway hair. Throughout her lengthy speech, most of the students were barely listening, having side conversations or zoning out with glassy-eyed expressions. Her high-pitched, overly girlish tone slowly became more firm and business-like, fitting with her words of guarding magical knowledge and sticking to traditions. On the surface, it sounded like gibberish but Katrina suspected that the Ministry wanted to interfere at Hogwarts, molding its practices to their standards.

The professors were getting increasingly agitated with each sentence. Snape showed no visible irritation, his expression blank, but as he spotted Katrina, she thought there was a minute change, a softness. Quickly turning her head, her eyes fell on the Slytherin table where that ebony-haired girl curled her fingers around Draco's arm and whispered in his ear. The sound of clapping caught Katrina's attention, Umbridge finished with her speech. Dumbledore finished his notices then dismissed them to their common rooms.

Hermione jumped up, straightening her robes. "Ron, we're supposed to show the first years where to go!"

"Oh yeah," he said, vaguely. "Hey—hey you lot! Midgets!"

Harry hid his snort of laughter in his sleeve. "What are you staring at, Malfoy?" asked Fay loudly, as Hermione reprimanded Ron.

Draco looked momentarily flustered, hiding it with a sneer. "Nothing much, Dunbar. I'd rather gouge out my eyes than look at you for one second."

The girl beside him giggled at his retort. "Don't fight with him on the first night," Sophie pleaded to her friend. "He's not worth it. He's jus—hi Roger."

Katrina was surprised to see Roger behind her. "Hey. Sara, right?" Sophie nodded, lightly smacking Fay's arm. "Katrina, I thought you might want a tour of the castle. It's good to know your way around this place. Don't want you getting lost on your first day and seeing as I'm Head Boy, it wouldn't be responsible of me to not make sure you knew everything there is to know."

Her eyes darted from her disapproving brother, likely imagining Roger's head on fire, to the smitten Sophie and then the friendly Ravenclaw. "O—okay." Harry's face remained the same. "I'll see you in the common room."

Roger led her out of the Great Hall and down the left corridor. When his hand almost brushed against her robes, she stiffened, wrapping her sleeves over her hands.

"I'm sorry, Katrina," he said, her unease written all over her face. "I should've—I can imagine it's hard being around all these strangers, given your situation. I uh read it in the Daily Prophet. Anyone who went through that would have trouble with being close to someone. It must've been awful but I think it's really brave of you."

"Brave?" she asked, confused.

"Coming to Hogwarts, with everything going on with your brother and what's been written about you too…it's good that you're not letting it affect you," he explained. "My mother said you'd been holed up in some safe house for months but instead, you're here. You're just being normal."

"I don't feel normal," she confessed.

Grinning, he opened a side door. "It's part of being a teenager. Besides, you look pretty normal to me."

Roger had not been joking about giving her a tour. The castle was somehow bigger than she expected, all sorts of rooms and chambers hidden behind secret doors and portraits. He warned her about the trick steps, ones that randomly vanished or turned slippery, and the doors that concealed a bare wall or sent students through a confusing maze that ended in the same spot. As he showed her around the castle, going floor by floor and providing her tips on shortcuts, they got to know each other. Roger had much more to say, not being locked in a house for fifteen years, and never pushed her too far, happy to fill an uncomfortable silence with talk about quidditch.

"I could teach you how to fly," he offered, as they passed the quidditch pitch. "Better than having to learn with the first years."

"Maybe," she said, knowing it was a terrible idea. "What's in here?"

Katrina peered into an empty room. It was filled with exercise equipment, reminding her of a lesser version of the training room in Kane's manor. If he saw the room, he would dismiss it as a 'kiddie area'. According to Roger, it was mainly for the quidditch teams to keep fit throughout the school year but other students would use it as well for their personal fitness.

"Is it just for boys?" she asked, thinking it was the perfect spot for her training sessions.

"Hey, girls can play quidditch too," he teased. "It's for anyone who wants to pop in but fair warning, the Slytherins can get a bit rowdy. Best to steer clear when they're around. You'll know when they're there because they like to lock the door to keep the rest of us out…at least until McGonagall comes around and lectures them. Let's get you to your common room before curfew."

Taking one last glance at the room, she walked up to the seventh floor and over to a portrait of the Fat Lady. "The password changes each week. If you don't know it, you can ask one of the Gryffindor prefects. Right now, it's Mimbulus Mimbletonia."

"Correct," said the Fat Lady, swinging open.

"Have a good night, Katrina," said Roger.

"Good night," she replied.

Climbing through the circular archway, she was relieved to find the common room empty. The room looked rather cozy, with squashy armchairs, rickety tables, and a crackling fireplace. Hermione greeted her at the bottom of a winding mahogany staircase, having just finished guiding the first years with a less than enthusiastic Ron. She brought her up to the girls' dormitories at the top of the staircase and for a second, Katrina hesitated at the sound of shouting from the boys' side. The rooms were separated by year, its size depending on the number of students. Hermione mentioned that McGonagall had added an additional room, if Katrina felt more comfortable being alone.

"I don't want to stand out more than I already am," she whispered.

"Well, if you ever need it, it's there," said Hermione, gently. "The girls in our year are quite nice. We have our differences, as you saw with Sophie and Fay, but we haven't had many quarrels in the past."

The other girls were busy decorating their personal spaces, Fay sticking posters of the Tutshill Tornados, the players soaring around the field, over her bed and Sophie put up her own posters of musicals and singers that Katrina assumed to be from the muggle world since the figures were completely static. On the other side of the room were two more girls, their interests closely aligned based on their shared decorations of fashion pictures from Witch Weekly.

Their chattering ceased as they noticed Katrina. "You've met Sophie and Fay. Katrina, this is Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. Katrina is new, as I'm sure you can guess, and you've all probably read a snippet or two of Daily Prophet this summer so I hope you'll show her proper respect as she'll do with all of you. If I hear any improper questions asked of her, I will tell McGonagall."

"Relax, Hermione. We're not that horrible," said Sophie, nodding towards to Katrina's suitcase and Purrsephone's at the foot of the bed next to hers. "You're right here. Do you need help putting your stuff away?"

"Take it down a few notches, Sophie." Parvati moved from her bed with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Katrina. Your brother is the worst date I've had in my life but I won't hold that against you."

At the mention of her brother, Lavender shifted slightly, her back facing the door as she let down her curly blonde hair. "He's not very good around girls…or people, I've noticed," said Katrina, making Sophie and Parvati giggle.

"Do you believe him?" asked Lavender, directly. She shrugged at the warning look from Hermione. "What he's been saying about you know who, do you believe him? My parents say he's full of rubbish."

"I don't see why he'd lie," Katrina said, simply. "What does he get out of stirring up trouble?"

"Lavender, if you want to avoid McGonagall's office for the year, you'll keep your mouth shut about Harry and whatever's being reported in the Daily Prophet," said Hermione, her hands on her hips. "Katrina's been through enough and you don't need to give her any more stress."

Saying nothing, Lavender disappeared behind the hangings around her bed. As Katrina readied her bed, letting Purrsephone out of her carrier, her Charms book dropped to the floor. To her surprise, Fay picked it up, the only one not lying in her bed.

"Look, I don't have a problem with you. Your brother's always been a pain in the ass and my father's articles aren't exactly a mood booster," she whispered. "Just because he writes for the Daily Prophet, it doesn't mean I have to agree with him. Fudge could ask him to jump off a cliff and he'd do it in a heartbeat. Don't listen to Lavender. She was born with half a brain."

"It doesn't bother me," said Katrina, anticipating much worse.

"And it shouldn't. If I cared about what that ditz said to me, I wouldn't have finished my first year." Fay held out the book. "Let me impart some wisdom on you, newbie. Watch yourself around the Slytherins. Malfoy had his eye on you at dinner and that's never a good thing."

Her stomach twisted into knots. "I can handle myself."

"Yeah, I bet you're really dangerous," said Fay, holding back a laugh.

Putting away her things, Katrina laid down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling until she drifted off to sleep.