I stepped out of the shop, new wand tucked away in a pocket, wondering if Dumbledore had sent a second form of transportation for me. No sooner than I had wondered, I was surrounded in a flash of red, and being dragged along by an arm on either side of me.

Kicking and screaming, I tried to fight off the two who were dragging me. One laughed as the other was kicked over.

"See, Fred," the one still holding my arm said. "I told you she wouldn't appreciate this."

The boy who had been kicked down had a shoe-print on his face. He rubbed it thoughtfully, and smiled. "I suppose not."

"We should introduce ourselves." The boy released my arm. "I'm George, and this is my brother, Fred," he said. "Dumbledore sent us to fetch you."

"We improvised the dragging you back kicking and screaming bit," Fred said. "Bad idea on my part."

I nodded emphatically. "Very bad idea."

George laughed. "I take it you don't recognize us, then," he asked. "We've only been down to the kitchens a few thousand times after dinner."

I thought for a moment. Had I ever seen students in the kitchens after dinner? Usually, I was tucked away in the corner at a sink, furiously washing dishes. Of course I wouldn't have noticed them. But obviously, they had seen me.

"I don't recall ever seeing you there," I said. "I might work in the kitchen, but I don't know everything that goes on there."

"Well put," Fred replied. "Now, shall we head back to the castle… Uh…"

I smiled. They hadn't asked the house-elves about me, obviously. "Carrie," I said.

"Got a last name there, Carrie," George asked, taking my arm again.

Shrugging, I responded. "Not really sure. I mean, I had a mother, and her last name was Philips," I said. "Never knew anything about my father."

The twins looked at each other for a moment. "So it's just Carrie then," George said. "Sounds good enough for me."

"Carrie's a nickname," I replied. "My first name is Phoenix. Phoenix Carina."

Fred mulled it over for a bit. "Like the constellations?"

I nodded.

"Wicked," the twins said in unison.

We talked about all sorts of things on our walk back to the castle. For a trip that students took every weekend, it seemed like quite a long walk. But anything's better than staying cooped up in the castle doing homework, I supposed.

Arriving at the front gates of Hogwarts, Fred wondered aloud, "I wonder what house she'll be put in."

"I hadn't really thought about that," I said. "Maybe I should go to Dumbledore and ask. Doesn't he assign the houses?"

The boys laughed. "You didn't get out of the kitchen much, did you," George asked.

"Houses are assigned by the Sorting Hat," Fred said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "First years have the hat put on their heads, and he reads their thoughts and personality. When he has a good idea of who they really are, he assigns them a house. Usually, it reflects who they'll end up being."

"For example," George continued. "Slytherins are the future Death Eaters or followers of the Dark Lord. Gryffindors are the heroes and adventurers. Ravenclaws will be the stuffy book authors and brilliant inventors. And nobody's quite sure what Hufflepuffs grow up to be. They're kinda just there."

I laughed. "Thank you for that fabulous description," I said. "Which one do you think I'll end up being?"

Both twins looked me over in turn, and seemed to hold a complete conversation consisting only of short looks and nods. They turned to me in unison and said, "Undecided."

"You've got Hufflepuff written all over you in the way you were a house-elf the past few years," Fred said.

"But you seem intelligent enough to be a Ravenclaw," George continued.

Fred sniffed as he said, "You haven't got a rude bone in your body, so Slytherin's definitely out."

And George finished off their analysis by saying, "You stood up to Dumbledore to be put into classes, so Gryffindor's a possibility."

"Therefore," the two said, "Undecided." They laughed. "Which means,"

"You'll either be a Gryffindor," Fred said.

George leaned over and whispered, "Which we hope you'll be."

"Or a Hufflepuff." Fred gave a grimace. "I'm pretty sure it'll be the latter."

The boys had to rush off, as they were being called to the Common Room for a Quidditch meeting with the team, but promised to show me around the castle when they were finished.

"We'll meet you outside Dumbledore's office, alright," George called as he ran off.

So, alone I made my way to the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts. I hoped that his Sorting Hat would make a good assessment of me. Wanting horribly to see more of those crazy twins, I hoped that I would be placed in the same house as them. Gryffindor, I supposed, by the way George looked when he whispered that he hoped I would be one.

Arriving at the doorway to the office, I was surprised to find just a statue of an eagle, wings outspread. How in the world was I supposed to find my way into his office now?

"Need to see the Headmaster," a voice called out.

I looked around, and found that the voice was coming from one of the school ghosts, the Grey Lady.

"I do, actually," I said. "Do you know how to get into his office?"

"We ghosts can just walk through the walls," she said, proudly. "But, since you are a mere witch, I suggest you try the password."

If look could re-kill a ghost, the Grey Lady would be dying all over again. "Can you tell me what that is, please," I asked, barely holding in the anger she had caused. "I'm not sure what it is."

"Well, how should I know," the Lady said as she floated off. "I'm just a ghost."

Left in the hallway, seething with rage, I waved my wand at the doorway a thousand different ways, muttering all kinds of crazy combinations of words.