Selena looked at her schedule with amusement. It seemed their head of house was easier on the first years than the others, because all of their classes on their first day were rather easy to find.
Herbology, Potions and Charms.
Everyone had been told that the Charms corridor was on the same floor as the library. Which made it rather easy to find, as all one had to do was follow a Ravenclaw to the library.
Once she walked to the greenhouses with Neville, who apparently had figured out that she wouldn't let anyone bully him, they waited for the other students to arrive.
Neville spent the time looking over the plants, and the two cheerfully debated what type of fertilizer the teacher had used, to the woman's amusement.
She immediately pegged them for the Advanced classes for third year, as well as marked them for the extra work she sometimes assigned her Puffs.
She was rather pleased that she had gotten the girl-who-lived. Though she found the reasoning for it rather odd, until the girl mentioned that the wolf she had noticed on the borders of the forest had come with her.
Snape walked into his first class of the year, and was pleased when he saw Selena next to the Longbottom heir. From the rumors he had heard, the boy would be next to useless in potions and would be an Herbology prodigy.
Green mages were experts in the field of plants, but couldn't make a potion worth a damn.
Those that practice the Wicca religion however, were experts in both plants and potions...the downside was that they had difficulty in Arithimancy and Divination.
Once he had the initial speech over with, he had them get to work on a simple boils solution.
Selena had clearly read ahead, because she was explaining to Neville in a clear voice what each ingredient did and what would happen when added at the wrong time. She even kept the boy from adding his quills in at the wrong time, thus preventing an explosion.
At the end of the lesson, they put their potions in a vial and put them on his desk. But Snape couldn't help his parting shot at the girl.
"Thirty points to Hufflepuff for preventing an explosion."
Seeing the shocked looks on the students faces made the entire thing worth it. Selena beamed at him, as she thought the trick was rather amusing too.
Charms was interesting, especially after Flitwick had called her name and promptly fell off the books he was standing on. Fortunately he had taken to heart what she had said before being sorted, because he called her Selena Potter and not Artemis...like practically every other teacher had except Snape and Sprout. Most of the lesson was going over exactly what Charms class was about, and it was over fairly quickly.
After that, Selena went down to the lake with Neville and Cedric. He was the official spokesperson of the Hufflepuff house, and Professor Sprout left it up to him to see whether the wolf she had seen was a threat or not.
Kiba was by the lake, snoring away.
So it was with no little amount of amusement that Cedric taught Selena the water charm. Kiba jumped up in a flash once the girl doused him with water from the lake.
"You little brat. I should bite you for that trick!"
But you won't because I was just playing a little prank on you. Come meet my housemates.
"Who's who?"
The little one with the nervous aura is Neville, and the older one is Cedric. Professor Sprout sent him to make sure you wouldn't harm the students.
Kiba allowed Cedric to pet him, though it was clear he was only comfortable with Selena doing it. Even though nervous Neville sat down, Kiba made no move to chase him. Cedric grinned at the girl.
"Well, I see no reason why he can't stay here, though you'll have to warn us if you want to bring him inside the castle during the winter. So long as he doesn't bite the students I doubt the teachers will care."
"Snape didn't mind when I brought him along shopping for school supplies. He seems to be a family familiar that belonged to my mother's side."
"Familiar is putting it mildly. I was your grandmother's protector, and I only went to sleep because your mother died and I couldn't find you."
Cedric looked at him sharply.
"Exactly how old are you wolf?"
"Age has never been a relevant factor for my kind. Once we hit maturity and pick a human form, time just...stops for us. But if you must know I'm physically around eighteen to nineteen in human years. And just to let you know, I have never shared a room with Selena alone. I'm not an idiot."
The glare Cedric gave the wolf dropped. He protected the first years from predators in the school.
It was rather refreshing to find out that Selena had a protector all her own that at least acknowledged the acceptable human rules. Particularly when it came to boundaries.
After the discussion, it wasn't unusual to find Kiba curled up next to the fireplace snoring loudly. Of course Selena was the only one who dared to wake him up.
Usually by having the house elves bring her a bucket of ice water to dump on him.
Fortunately Kiba took the water with good grace, provided no one commented on him stealing the prefects private bathroom when everyone was in class.
(Cedric, who was in line to become the next Hufflepuff Prefect, was given the password and he passed it on to Kiba. As far as anyone knew, Kiba was a sixth year Hufflepuff.)
It wasn't until Selena met the twins that Kiba regretted going to Hogwarts.
Fred and George Weasly were menaces. Unlike their foolish brother Ron, they recognized Selena on sight and made it their life's mission to prank the school with her help. Help she was all too willing to give in exchange for pranks that she could use on Ron.
Luckily for Kiba, the twins knew better than to antagonize a wolf who could and would sneak into their tower and steal their sheets in the middle of the cold night while leaving the window wide open.
(It had happened once, and the twins had sworn to never let it happen again.)
The days passed by peacefully...if one didn't count the surprisingly large amount of people giving Selena the darkest of all looks.
It wasn't until Cedric had noted the large amount of dark looks aimed at her that he finally asked the question her whole house wanted to know.
"Why is everyone in Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin giving you the look of doom?"
Selena looked him right in the eye and said bluntly "Because they have the worst poker faces I have ever seen."
It took Cedric a good ten seconds to realize what she was getting at.
"You...beat that many people at poker. Where and how?"
She had Kiba hand her a large scroll of paper. On it was a large list of names...and it was under the most binding magical contract Cedric had ever seen.
"Where did you get this?"
"You think this is the first school I've fleeced of their parent's cash? I had to earn my lunch money somehow, and poker was the most legal way to do it!"
"How bad is it?" asked one of the other prefects.
Kiba shifted, which by this time wasn't as surprising as it was originally, and stated flatly "I never allow her anywhere near the muggleborns...just the idiots who think they're better than everyone else because they're inbred morons. No offense Neville."
"None taken."
Neville had definitely taken a shine to Kiba, who was not only friendly to the boy, he was rather kind. Kiba had a thing for young children. Particularly when they had little to no self confidence to speak of.
Fortunately, once children got over the fact that he was really a wolf pretending to be human, they actually liked him.
They just had to skew their vision of normality a little.
"...Exactly how much money are we talking about here?" asked Susan Bones.
Selena had the most evil smirk as she did a quick figure in her head, and wrote it down for her. Susan's eyes widened comically.
"Is this real?"
Kiba looked, and said "I think you forgot three digits."
"Hmm...you could be right. Combined with what I won off of Flint, Nott and Chang, it should be about two to three thousand galleons higher."
Susan actually fainted from shock.
"Remind me never to play against you in poker," was all Cedric would say.
"I would never fleece my own housemates unless you deserve it," replied Selena tartly.
Her fellow housemates breathed a sigh of relief, particularly when someone read aloud how much she had fleeced the other houses in less than a month.
Selena was rather looking forward to flying lessons. So was Neville, thanks to the fact that Kiba had promised to at least slow his fall.
Neville found the fact that Kiba was going to be there rather pleasant, since the wolf clearly tolerated him more than he did others around his charge. The fact that he could definitely use magic only made his nerves go away.
It turned out to be a good thing Kiba was around, because halfway into the lesson, Neville broom acted up. If Kiba hadn't sent a whirlwind in his direction, he would have been in for a nasty fall.
Selena turned out to be a natural flyer, to her private surprise.
"Explain to me again why I have to eat copious amounts of sweets today?" she asked Hermione.
"It's Halloween. Traditionally children eat large amounts of sweets and caramel covered popcorn/apples and go Trick or treating," said Hermione.
Selena had rescued the girl after Ron claimed she had no friends. She was quick to retaliate and drag the girl far away from Ron.
Selena gave Hermione a look.
"Hermione, remember who you are talking to here. I do not practice Halloween. I have never once participated in this...trick or treating exercise," said Selena slowly.
Hermione thought about that, and realized her mistake.
"Christian and Catholics practice Halloween, and take children trick or treating to keep ghosts and other creatures of the night from bothering them?"
Selena nodded. Now she was talking her language.
Cedric grinned at Hermione.
"Forgot she was a Wiccan didn't you?"
Hermione nodded.
"Anyone else practice Samhain?"
"Mostly Slytherins, a few Ravenclaws and two Gryffindors. Selena is the only person who practices the old ways in Hufflepuff."
Hermione found that fact rather interesting.
Without warning, the one professor missing burst into the great hall, crying about some troll in the dungeon. He deliberately set the entire school in a state of panic.
Selena looked at Cedric and smirked.
"I told you."
Cedric grimaced.
"Alright, you proved your point," said Cedric annoyed.
"Wait, does this mean we won't be allowed outside?" asked Selena in concern.
"I'm sure once the grounds are secured they'll let you out before midnight," Cedric assured her.
"Chances are they'll have your wolf patrol the grounds just in case though. Talk about a sensitive nose!" grinned Susan.
Selena beamed at her. Kiba did indeed have a powerful nose, as he generally used it to warn the girls privately when their time of the month was about to start.
To the annoyance of the other houses, ever since Kiba showed up none of the Hufflepuff girls was ever taken by surprise by nature's bad joke. Plus it helped to warn them to stock up on cramp potions.
Thankfully none of the girls ever took offense to the heads up. Kiba just told them in a blunt, but highly refreshing manner.
It took two hours to get rid of the troll, and another hour after that before any of the students were allowed to leave the castle walls for the old rituals.
Rituals Dumbledore wanted very badly to be banned.
Fortunately, such things fell under Hogwarts religious tolerance rules, and there was nothing the old man could do to change them. To each their own, as it were.
Selena nodded to Daphne, who was one of the few female practitioners left. The other was a rather snooty Ravenclaw who Selena did not like. At all.
Much to the shock of the others, Selena came out with nothing but a thin shift on.
She walked out to the water, and began to dance under the moonlight. Only Daphne remained nearby. It wasn't until Selena began to sing that the girl realized something big was going on.
Selena was literally dancing on the water. She could see the girl's emerald eyes, and there was something odd about them. It took Daphne a moment to realize what was different.
Where the white of her eyes once were was now a pale teal color that complimented the emerald of her iris quite nicely. Her black hair seemed to shine until it was a gorgeous ebony/raven color.
Daphne realized with a start that even though she practiced the old ways, Selena Potter lived them.
Which made her a far more powerful witch than even she had believed.
This fact was only proven when Kiba appeared out of nowhere from the forest, and began to circle her as she danced. His snow white fur began to glow like liquid silver.
Selena looked up from her book when she realized someone was there. It was Daphne Greengrass from Slytherin.
"Yes?"
"Um...Selena, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Can you teach me about the Olde Ways?" she finally got out.
"Huh?"
"My mother has been trying to teach me about the olde ways for years, but nothing ever stuck. But the way you danced on Samhain... It truly looked like the Goddess herself had come down."
Selena looked at Daphne, hard. It must have been difficult for someone from Slytherin to ask a Hufflepuff for help.
She grinned. This might actually work to her benefit later.
"I'll show you. First, why don't you start by telling me how much you know about the Goddess, and we'll work from there?"
Daphne beamed at her, relieved. The worst she could have done was said no.
Remus looked up from his breakfast to see Yuki land neatly on the table. She was eying the bacon, which he handed over with a grin. As he read the letter, he went to get a pen and paper.
Kiba had told his pup all about him, and his curse. A curse which had been coming back with a vengeance since Lily died.
He didn't know what she had slipped in his food every time he ate at their house, but it seemed to have a calming effect on Moony. It had almost tasted like flower petals...and blood.
If there was one thing Remus was absolutely sure of, it was that Lily wasn't human. Not that James cared.
He actually couldn't wait for her to come. As long as Kiba was around, Moony would behave. Plus there was the fact that his werewolf side always acted like a normal wolf around Lily. Once, when they had forgotten about the time of month, they had Remus babysit. Kiba had lain next to the fire with Selena against him, sleeping like a rock.
Remus had considered leaving Peter to watch her, but the growl that Kiba had let off threatened violence if he did.
The next morning, James had apologized profusely for forgetting what phase of the moon it was. They had returned to the house to find Moony sound asleep beside Kiba, and Selena had no bites of any kind.
Only Lily knew why, and she never explained it to James. At least, not before they were killed.
He sent the letter back, telling her that he would be at the train station waiting for her and Kiba.
In the few months that the wolf had been at the school, he had gained the trust of the teachers not to harm the students. Though that was mostly because the centaurs vouched for him after he had rescued a wounded unicorn.
It was rather hard to dispute that kind of endorsement.