After the sorting, the Slytherins showed me the common room. And, J.K. was right, by the way. It did emit a greenish glow.
I didn't really know many of the Slytherins. I spotted Pansy Parkinson, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. Of course, Draco Malfoy.
Walking up to the white-blonde boy with a new confidence that I wasn't quite used to, I introduced myself.
"Hello! I'm Alyssa," I greeted, extending my hand.
"Um, hi," he said, stalking off, and ignoring my hand. Whoa, buddy... This ain't happenin'!
"Hey! Well, that was rude!" I said in an authoritative tone.
"Your point?" he asked. Before I could say anything he jumped in, "Listen, I don't want to be seen with you, so why don't you go converse with Granger or one of your other Mudblood friends. Better yet, why don't you go home to your filthy Muggle parents?"
I gasped—a gasp of rage. Back when I was reading the books I had always rather liked Draco. I now know that I liked Tom Felton, not Draco.
So, I reacted instinctively.
I slapped him.
He stepped back, and muttered to himself, his hand over his now-red cheek, "Why are all of the Mudbloods always hitting me?"
I assumed he was referring to Hermione's punch to his face in Prisoner of Azkaban.
I ran out of the Slytherin common room, tears stinging my eyes, and clouding my vision.
How dare he! I was a brand new student here, and—as far as he was concerned—I had no clue what I was doing. Who did he think he was! Some big, and bad, man just because his father was fawning over a nose-less heathen!
"Miss?" I heard, from behind me as I stormed down the Hogwarts halls.
"Oh, I'm sorry Professor!" I cried, the tears flowing openly, out of my eyes. "It's-It's just D-Draco Mal-Malfoy, he upset me, a-and, oh! I'm so sorry, Professor... I just, I'm so confused, this feels like a dream, and all I could think about be-before, is how much f-fun I thought I would be having... And, I need—I need to see my friends." I sniffed, standing up straight and blinking my eyes hard to get the tears out. "Please," I added.
"Well, I was just about to go tell Severus, to gather you all, and to meet Albus in his office. Please come with me."
I smiled a watery smile at her. Her eyes became softer, as I whispered, "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
I followed her to Dumbledore's office, silently. She left me at the door, and offered me a smile, which I returned with a grin.
I had my fist an inch from the door, about to knock, when Dumbledore's voice startled me, "Come in, please."
I walked through the door as it opened by itself. Alaina and Athena were already seated. With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore pulled up a chair.
"Please take a seat."
As I sat, I tossed a look at Alaina, and Athena.
"Are you okay?" Athena mouthed, she could tell I'd been crying.
I nodded, and turned back to face Dumbledore.
"How are you girls enjoying the school so far?" he asked.
"Fun," I muttered.
Alaina was bouncing with excitement, "Oh, it's great! All of the Gryffindors are fabulous. Harry is amazing, and Ginny is like the funniest girl I've ever met! … Other than, Alyssa and Athena …" she trailed off.
"Hmph!"
"What about you Athena? You haven't said much." Dumbledore pointed out.
"Well... it was entertaining. Luna is... well, she's very interesting. She was telling me all about nargles, and the Quibbler."
"Well, that's nice. I'm glad you are enjoying yourselves."
I kept my remarks to myself. Stupid blonde boy.
"Have you noticed what's missing?" Dumbledore asked. "Have you noticed what vital part of being a witch you three are missing?"
We all nodded simultaneously. "Wands."
–
Dumbledore had given us very thorough instructions. Now, you would think that he would have sent someone to supervise, or help us, but we had... well, we had begged.
He gave us the supply list, and wished us good luck. He also gave us some wizarding coins, since we had nothing to buy our supplies with. We had tried to decline—or at least made it look like it—but, he insisted.
By this time, I had managed to forget Malfoy. I wouldn't be doing myself any good by crying over someone just hours ago, I had believed to be a fictional character.
"Hey, can we stop in Three Broomsticks so I can go to the bathroom?" I asked Athena, and Alaina.
They nodded following me through the door. I asked a man who could only be Tom, where I could find the bathroom. Once he showed me where it was I told Alaina, and Athena that I would be right back.
I opened the door to the bathroom and ran to the sink. I splashed my face with water, trying to wipe off the runny mascara, and eyeliner. I then used the bathroom, and exited.
When I got back Alaina, and Athena were sitting there sipping some drink talking animatedly.
"Hey, we got you some pumpkin juice," Athena said, gesturing to the extra glass.
By my face, I guess, they could tell that I was hesitant to try it. Pumpkin juice?
"Don't worry," Alaina comforted, "it's much better than it sounds."
Taking a sip, I nodded. It was much better than it sounded. We chatted for a few minutes before Alaina announced that we should get to shopping.
"Can we do wands first?" I asked. I knew what the answer would be.
"Yes!" they chorused, just as excited as I was. Olivander's was quite easy to find. It looked just as it had been described in the book.
Athena pushed open the door, and an older man stood there.
"Ah, yes. Just who I had been expecting." he said.
I smiled, "I'm Alyssa."
"Athena."
"Alaina."
Ollivander chuckled, then grabbed a box. He took the wand out of it, (Dirty thoughts. Ha ha.) and placed it in Athena's hand. (More dirty thoughts.) Athena knew to wave it around, but she seemed shocked.
"Well, give it a wave!" Ollivander urged.
She did as she was told. Nothing happened. "Ah, well. Didn't expect it to be the one on the first try!"
He took the wand and passed it to Alaina. She waved it, and again nothing happened. I was next.
Nothing new there. (And I mean that, absolutely nothing happened.)
And, so we went on like that. Taking a wand and passing it around. I had begun to ponder the thought that maybe we weren't anything special at all. Just regular old Muggles, and that this had all been just a horrible misunderstanding.
But, then Ollivander handed Athena yet another wand. She waved it with a bored look on her face, expecting nothing to happen.
Purple sparks emitted from the tip of the wand, causing Athena to jump. Her shocked face quickly turned to one of glee, "Yay!"
Ollivander laughed, then said, "That's oak; core is one single phoenix feather. 10 ¾ inches. Use it wisely."
"I will, thanks." she said, not looking up from admiring her newly acquired piece of magical equipment.
Several wands later we had found mine. A warm, and tingling sensation had shot through my arm, down to the rest of my body. I grinned as I watched the neon greens sparks fly out like fireworks.
"Ah, now that's blackthorn wood, and it's core is thestral hair. 9 ½ inches."
"Thestral hair?" I exclaimed, "How sweet is that!"
Alaina sarcastically said, "Oh, you're so cool." I childishly stuck my tongue out at her. This was a huge moment for me. It made me feel better to know that she only said that because she was frustrated that she hadn't found her wand yet.
But, little did she know that she would find her wand next. Orange sparks emerged from the end. She had a lazy, satisfied smile on her face.
"That's holly, unicorn hair, 10 ½ inches."
"Awesome!" she cried.
I laughed. After we purchased our wands, we walked out and went down to Flourish and Blott's.
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