A/N: Sorry it took longer than promised, but here is chapter 5! I very much enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you enjoy reading it! Please review!
~Maya
Anomaly
Chapter 5
After two long weeks of hard work and strain, Melanie now sported a total of fifteen burns on her body, had worn eleven different colors of hair, had six bites from about twelve different kinds of plants, and had made one thing float, turned a pin into half a needle, and learned to spell the name of one ancient goblin.
"I'm never gonna be a fifth year," she groaned to Mr. Evengle after trying and almost succeeding to levitate the pin she couldn't transfigure.
"I doubt it, yes," he said, and she glared at him. "Well, Melanie, fifth years have to take preparatory exams to enter a new level of education. You would have to have been a complete miracle to be of fifth year level, and even if you were I doubt Professor McGonagall would allow you to study in that year. Chances are, you'll be in fourth year."
"Ugh," she groaned. "Fine." And she continued her studies.
Her favorite subject by far was Potions; something about the way her hands seemed to know exactly what they were doing with the ingredients made the subject incredibly fascinating. Although she had expected her least favorite subject to be History of Magic (she had always hated history at her old school), Melanie found that it was actually Astronomy. Right away she knew that this was the class she'd drop when she had the chance. After the professors rushed her through magical theory, she found herself absolutely loving practical magic. The ability to simply wave a wand and have one's will done was exhilarating—if only she could actually do it. Sometimes she felt actual sweat dripping down her forehead while she jabbed her wand, with which she now had an ambivalent love-hate relationship, at a piece of glass.
In the precious little spare time she had, she explored the castle by herself. Hogwarts, though large, was actually quite cozy. At first, the portraits were odd and overly blunt in their comments, but Melanie slowly grew fond of them and even learned a few of their names. Once she had learned the illumination spell (and could sort of successfully perform it) she took to roaming the halls at night when her mother was asleep and she had much more time to herself. On one occasion, Melanie came upon a large door with a bronze, eagle-shaped knocker. Unable to contain herself, she knocked, and then jumped as the eagle asked her, "If a tree falls in the middle of the forest, but no one is around to hear, does it make a sound?" at which she felt extreme irritation and walked away without even bothering to think about it at all. Pretentious questions bothered her.
She looked forward to meals the most, and then her Potions lessons. She looked forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons as well, but they were beginning to scare her. What she most looked forward to, however, was the start of term. Hogwarts was large, warm, cozy, and lonely. And she was bored out of her mind.
It was the second time she stood in Professor McGonagall's office, and this time Melanie truly grasped the wonder it contained. So full of mystery and antiquity, it seemed to speak in its own voice. There was no way for even Professor McGonagall to know it in all its depth.
"Miss Daniels," began Professor McGonagall (she had taken to calling Melanie by this more "proper" name), "term will begin tomorrow, and we have no more time for tutoring. I've decided to place you in fourth year, which is extremely advanced for your current level. I congratulate you for achieving so much in so little time. However, I'm going to require you to take two hours every week of remedial studies for each of your subjects for at least the first term. There are definitely still some things you need to improve on, and the extra help is necessary."
Melanie nodded, slightly disappointed. They would all think she was the dumb kid, the one who needed the most extra tutoring. Hogwarts students probably already knew how to do all the things she couldn't.
"Oh, I almost forgot," said the witch. Melanie raised her eyebrows inquisitively. "You only need half an hour a week of extra tutoring for Potions," explained Professor McGonagall. "Professor Ollen insisted, otherwise I would have required two hours of that as well."
Her heart leapt at the news. There was something she was good at. Something to be proud of.
"All right, well, that's all," said Professor McGonagall, but the man with the twinkly eyes in the portrait behind her coughed. The Headmistress shut her eyes for a moment. "Good luck, Melanie. I believe you'll do very well in your classes with your peers. If you ever need anything, feel free to come to me."
Slightly bemused by Professor McGonagall's out-of-character compassion, Melanie nodded again and left the office without another word. As the heavy door closed behind her, she swore she heard Professor McGonagall say, "I am headmistress now, Albus. Your ways are going to be the death of me."
After a night of restless tossing and turning, Melanie sat on the edge of her bed, anxiously twirling her wand in between her fingers. The clock read eleven o'clock. At that very moment, the students she would soon attend class with would pile up into a giant train and begin the drive to Hogwarts. Melanie had no clue what to expect. It wasn't something she talked to any of her teachers about, and Mr. Evengle didn't know either. She felt vulnerable, like a classic "new kid." The excitement that had been building up as the day approached now deflated like a pathetic, wimpy balloon.
Mrs. Daniels plodded out of the bathroom, rubbing her head with a towel, humming a light tune absently. She stopped abruptly when she saw Melanie's face, smiled, and sat down next to her.
"Melanie, I'm sure the kids will be wonderful," she said warmly.
"You're my mother. You're supposed to say that." Her expression remained obstinately terrified. "I just wish I had an idea," she sighed. "I have no clue who might be nice and who are the people to avoid. What if the people in my House are no good? What if they hate me because I'm a…I don't know what!"
Mrs. Daniels let out a short laugh. "Calm down. You're acting like a child going to school for the first time."
"But I am," whined Melanie, leaning on her mother's shoulder. "I'm a child in this world, and I'm going to school for the first time."
"You have a point there."
"Mum! Can we go back to the 'comforting me' thing?"
"I'm just trying to relax you a little," she laughed. "And I'm leaving in about an hour, so this is how I'm choosing to spend it with you. Be grateful." Her eyes were sparkling with amusement. Melanie's face softened.
"Summer was good with you," she said quietly, not wanting to bring up explicitly what had happened before the summer. "I wish you didn't have to go. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
With a slight nod, Mrs. Daniels replied, "I'm sure I will be. Mr. Evengle will stay with me for a while in the Wizarding hotels, or whatever they call them. He says he might have found a few cottages nearby. You can come see me on the weekends you get to go to the village, Hogsheard. Or was it Hogshord?"
"I don't bloody remember," mumbled Melanie. "I just wanna get through tonight."
"You will," her mother encouraged, squeezing her hand.
They spent some time together, until Mr. Evengle came to take her mother, and Melanie was left to idle the time away and try to untangle the knots in her stomach. She failed.
She watched from two floors up and hoped no one would see her. Hogwarts was relatively small; about three hundred bodies robed in black clamored up the stairs and passed the doors to the Great Hall. Though she was unable to tell the four Houses apart, Melanie recognized the cliques quite easily. There was a little group in the back that she couldn't quite place, all wearing the same disgusted expression. Shunted to the side of the crowd was a group of geeks, all slightly out of place, stumbling, and wearing too-big robes. Far on the other side were what could only be the rebels, wearing their ties loose and cuffs undone, glaring at the ground. Smack in the middle were the Miss Prisses, with the classic model bodies and made-up, vapid faces. Their smiles could be posted on billboards, if wizards had them, and they laughed and flipped their hair like they owned the school. But, as she looked towards the front of the crowd, Melanie saw that they clearly didn't.
The obvious ruler of the school was the largest group of them all, leading the entire assembly. Like the disgusted group, they couldn't quite be named with an exact stereotype. They walked as one, with an air of warm familiarity, yet they gave off a vibe that told Melanie that it took more than just a "hello" to be accepted into this group. From the glances that everyone else gave them, Melanie derived that they were extremely respected, even revered, and also a little hated. Trying to stay as invisible as possible, she joined them just as they all sat down in their House benches. To her surprise, the royal group split up and its members went in different directions. She had expected such a united group to be from one House.
After seating herself, Melanie watched as the first years came in, looking almost as frightened as she was. Unfortunately, in her desire to blend in with the crowd as much as possible, Melanie had moved into the middle of the group, and found herself sitting next to three of the Miss Prisses.
"You're new," one of the blonde ones commented.
Melanie set her jaw. "Yeah."
"What's your name?" asked one of the short ones, chewing gum loudly between words.
"Melanie." If she was as unrelenting as possible, they'd leave her alone.
"Year?" asked the first blonde girl.
"Why do you get to ask all the questions?" Melanie retorted. Keeping terse had never worked for her.
The short one shrugged. "We're the popular ones, innit?"
"Yeah," agreed the blonde one. "But you're right, I suppose. Don't you think?" She turned to the other two girls, who nodded like drones. "I'm Marla. That's Alex," she said, gesturing to the short one, who popped her gum, "and that's Dani," She pointed to the one who hadn't said anything.
Melanie nodded. "I'm a fourth year," she said hesitantly, and held her breath, hoping and praying that they wouldn't be in her year.
"So am I!" squealed Alex. Damn.
"Yeah, she's a newbie to our little group. I'm a sixth year, and so is Dani. Most of us are fifth years though." She shrugged flippantly. "We'd be happy to let you in. Where are you from?"
She opened her mouth to answer, and then stopped. "Why do you think I'd want to be 'in'?"
Marla looked shocked. "Because, like Alex already told you, we're the popular ones. Why would you not want to be in?"
Unable to control herself, Melanie scoffed. "No," she said.
"No?" Marla raised her eyebrows, blue eyes burning dangerously.
"No," Melanie repeated. "You're not the popular ones." She nodded towards the parts of the giant group that had come to the Gryffindor table. "They are."
As she looked over, Marla's pretty smile curled into a vindictive sneer. "Oh," she spat. "Them. Fine. If you want to go join them, good luck. You'll probably die and rot for a million years before they even consider it. They think they're royalty, they do."
"Marla," Alex said in a sickeningly soothing voice. "Don't get worked up over them. You know those boys want us."
At this, Marla looked somewhat calmed, and turned back to the Sorting Ceremony without even glancing at Melanie.
After dinner, Melanie trudged up the stairs with the crowd, wallowing in her misery that she'd have to share a dorm with Alex, the Prisses' stooge. She tried to separate herself from them, but the mass of Gryffindors made it nearly impossible to move. A large, boisterous boy pushed past her; she recognized him as one of the older members of the royal group.
"Hey, Ashley!" he called.
A blonde, older Miss Priss looked over her shoulder and pursed her lips. "What?"
He offered her a crooked smile. "You know what," he replied coaxingly.
She sighed, and finally smiled. "Noah, you already know that we're all going to be at the Welcome Back Party."
"Ashley," he repeated, grinning more broadly. "You know that I'm asking you if you'll come and er, spend some time with me after the party. Have some good fun, you know."
Ashley scoffed, rolled her eyes, and followed the Ravenclaws back up the stairs.
"You're new," said someone next to Melanie.
Melanie sighed deeply. "Yeah, I am." She looked at the boy who had spoken to her, and found herself staring into the greenest eyes she had ever seen. "Whoa," she said.
He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Sorry." She shook her head rapidly. "Just never seen green eyes that bright before." She took a better look at him, and realized she had seen him amongst the royal group as well.
The boy laughed, and said, "I'm Albus Potter."
Reaching forward to shake his hand, Melanie racked her brains. "Where have I heard that name before," she wondered aloud.
"He was the old headmaster," said Albus, with an odd look on his face. "I get that you're new here and all, but Albus Dumbledore is a pretty famous name. He pretty much led the Second War."
"Oh, right!" cried Melanie.
"Yeah, I knew you knew him," said Albus, smiling.
"Oh, no, I don't know that. I heard Professor McGonagall say that name in her office," she explained.
"Er…okay. You really don't know who he was though?" Albus asked.
Hesitantly, Melanie shook her head. Here it was, the moment she would be shunned by the Wizarding world. Reading up on recent magical history would have probably been a good idea, she realized.
"Albus," scolded a girl behind him. "Of course she doesn't know. She's probably that girl."
That girl? They were already shunning her before they even met her. How far away were those giant doors? Could she make a run for it?
"Oh!" exclaimed Albus excitedly. "You're that girl!"
"Erm," said Melanie. "That's me?"
"Sorry, I don't remember what your name is," he said.
"Melanie. Melanie Daniels. I don't mean to be rude, but how the bloody hell do you know me?"
The girl behind Albus chuckled. "I'm Rose Weasley," she said, putting her hand to her chest. "Our dads work at the Ministry of Magic, and they heard talk about a Muggle girl who got a blood transfusion and is now part of our world. My dad told me she—sorry, you—were going to Hogwarts. I'm really glad to meet you."
Slightly nervous that she'd been a topic of conversation in the Ministry of Magic, but extremely relieved that not everyone at Hogwarts would be like Princess Priss Marla, Melanie smiled. "It's good to meet you, too. What year are you?"
"I'm a Gryffindor fourth year. You?"
"Me too!" she cried. "I already met someone we stay with. She's called Alex?"
"Oh." Rose rolled her eyes. "One of them. Yeah, she's not too bad when she's not with the rest of her gang, but I try to steer clear. Al is a fourth year, too."
He nodded, grinning. "So if it's your first time at Hogwarts, I bet you've heard about the Welcome Back Party already."
Melanie grinned back. "I heard some guy talking about it just now, yeah. What is it? I mean I know what it is, obviously, but what's so special about it?"
"Oh, no," said Rose, rolling her eyes again, but with a wide smile. "They throw it at the beginning of every year. Details go out the day before the party. It's always in a different place, and everyone fourth year and older is invited."
"It's our first year. We've only heard stories," said Al, eyes glinting with relish.
"We'd love to take you," said Rose. "You won't feel so new with us, because we'll be totally new to it, too."
She felt in place already. "It's a plan, then," she said, smiling widely at her two new friends.
A/N: I tried to create a little classic clique conflict, because I want this story to be light and fun. I hope everyone likes it, please review! Leave your ideas and suggestions for me to look at! Chapter 6 is on its way!
~Maya
