FIRST DAY OF HOGWARTS!

Thank you for all of the support so far everyone, whether it's reviewing, or simply following the story. I'm super excited at how this story is progressing, and I'm so excited to continue.

So let's get on with the first day, shall we?

—0—

Merlot yawned as she rose from her bed in the Hufflepuff dorm rooms. The previous night had been a blur ever since the feast. The Hufflepuffs were definitely celebratory people. Once they got back to the dorms, the prefects had held a house meeting where they passed out bottles of butterbeer to everyone and sang a song of welcome.

The rest of the night had been all games and getting to know housemates. Merlot ended up collapsing in her room with Hannah Abbot, her new roommate.

"How did you sleep?" The girl asked, letting out a yawn.

Merlot smiled. "Comfortably. We have a free period to use at the start of the day, don't we?"

Hannah nodded. "Been a tradition in Hufflepuff started by the founder herself. Even written in the school charter. 'Hufflepuffs are to have a free block in the mornings for second breakfast.' Helga liked to take care of her students."

Merlot nodded. "I'm used to getting up early… are we late for breakfast? First breakfast, I mean."

The girl shook her head no. "I don't believe so. We're actually up early."

Merlot yawned again. "Sorry… last night was just… long."

"I know. I've never had so much fun." Hannah smiled. "You're Merlot, right?"

Merlot nodded. "And you're Hannah? It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. You seem really cool." Hannah smiled. "And your familiar too. He was sort of wild last night."

An image popped into Merlot's mind, of Despereaux swimming in a small bowl of butterbeer while a few older students cheered.

"Yeah… oh god, I'm going to need to give him a bath."

Hannah giggled as Merlot shot up, quickly opening her suitcase and rifling through its contents.

"You could use a cleaning charm." Hannah suggested.

Merlot shook her head. "I don't really like using magic on living things unless I really have to. Besides, bathing him regularly is nice for both of us. Hey! Despereaux, tubby time!"

"Wheeee!"

The rat slid down from his place on Merlot's bedside table with an excited squeal, causing Hannah to giggle even more. "Tubby time?"

"Despereaux likes his baths." Merlot said snootily. "He's a pampered king."

The mouse wiggled his nose as Merlot took out some soap and conjured a bit of water in a small bowl. With a delicate hand, she rubbed the soap into the fur of the rat, not noticing the awe in Hannah's eyes.

"You can conjure water?"

Merlot blinked. "Oh, right. Yeah, I learned it growing up. Hard to sustain, I can only temporarily get it before it vanishes, but it's enough for Despereaux's baths."

"That's still incredible?" Hannah blinked.

"You think so?" Merlot chuckled. "I'm sure anyone could do it if they put in the effort. It took me months to be able to get the water to stay for more than five minutes."

Hannah shook her head. "You're interesting."

Merlot chuckled as she scrubbed dried butterbeer from Despereaux's paws. "Thank you. Oh my god, how dirty can you get?"

The rat let out a squeak of his name, causing Hannah to giggle more. "You two are too cute. I'm going to get dressed, okay?"

Merlot nodded. "Feel free."

A few minutes later, Merlot dried Despereaux off with a washcloth and turned to see Hannah in her school robe. "Oh! You're already ready."

"It doesn't take me long to change clothes." The girl smiled. "Would you like me to keep an eye on your rat while you change?"

"That would be wonderful, thank you!" Merlot smiled, using a cleaning spell on the rats dirty bath water before watching as the water itself vanished.

Merlot put the bowl and the soap away, before rifling through her suitcase again and picking out one of her school robes.

Hannah watched as Merlot changed. She wasn't really attracted to girls, nor was she attracted to boys. At least not yet. She knew she was much too young for those things. The thing was, despite all the girls' oddities, Merlot was an incredibly beautiful individual. Hannah couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of how flawless her roommate was.

"Something the matter?" Merlot asked, making sure her hair was free of her shirt collar.

"No, I'm fine." Hannah smiled. "How about we head up to the great hall for breakfast?"

Merlot nodded and placed Despereaux upon her shoulder, before following Hannah out of the dormitories and into the common room. A few other house mates were there, checking over their school supplies and making sure that they had their wands.

The fifth year among them, who was a prefect, made sure that the group was all together before leading them up to the great hall. The Hufflepuff table only held a few students, early risers that had always been early to such things, while the rest of the house tables were filled by students preparing for their first classes.

"How do we know which classes we have, and when?" Merlot blinked.

"It's on your acceptance letter. Once you get sorted, the letter changes to become your schedule." Hannah answered, picking up a tray of breakfast biscuits. "You did keep your letter, right?"

Merlot scratched the back of her head. "I might have not gotten that memo…"

Hannah shook her head. "It's fine. We're first years, so we're going to have all of our classes together. We just have the basic courses until third year, when we get to choose our electives."

"So, I just have to stick by you day to day?" Merlot blinked.

"Is there a problem with that?" Hannah smiled. "I think it works well. It means we get to be friends. We can help each other with homework and such, it's even better because we're roommates."

Merlot nodded and stared at her plate. "I've never really had a friend before… other than Despereaux…"

"You haven't had a friend?" Hannah blinked. "Not even one, other than your rat?"

Merlot shook her head. "It's a long story… most people didn't want to be friends with a freak like me. I was better as a house servant."

"A freak?" Hannah gawked. "Who said that you were a freak? You're awfully nice and while you might have a few odd quirks, I think you're a good person."

Merlot sniffed. "You've only known me since yesterday."

"And you weren't dancing around naked or waggling your tongue at any of the other students, like some of the more rowdy Hufflepuffs last night." Hannah pointed out.

"I don't recall seeing any of our housemates-"

"One or two of the girls were giving lap dances to the sixth year prefect." Hannah smirked. "You had fallen asleep before it happened."

"Really?"

"Really. So I don't think you're a freak. Honestly the only freakish thing about you is how beautiful you are." She mumbled.

Merlot blinked. "Oh… thank you."

"Don't mention it." Hannah nodded. "Would you enjoy some gravy?"

Merlot nodded and spooned a helping of sausage gravy onto her breakfast biscuits, before beginning to eat. As she did so, she opened a book she had brought along.

"That looks interesting." Hannah leaned in.

Merlot nodded. "It's wand lore, everything about rare wand cores and woods."

Hannah gave a hum as she looked. "I heard that there were a lot of unique wands being sold lately. Mine's no different. Cherry and Manticore Nerve. An interesting combination, apparently."

Merlot nodded, flipping through the pages of her book. "Yeah, mine's pretty odd… I can't find anything in here on phoenix ashes."

"Phoenix ashes?" Hannah blinked. "There probably won't be any mention of them in there… The phoenix is a sacred creature. It's a taboo to use its ashes in a wand."

Merlot blinked. "It is? Ollivander said that the feather inside it burned away, turning itself to ash…"

"Interesting." Hannah shrugged. "You should check the library later in the week. I'm sure you'll find something."

Merlot nodded, taking a bite of her breakfast. "Perhaps…"

A few more Hufflepuffs joined the table as the Gryffindor table and the Slytherin table left the great hall. Cedric sat down in front of Merlot and Hannah, rubbing his eyes.

"What hit me…"

"You partied pretty hard last night." Hannah giggled.

"Not as hard as Caplan and Haywood!" Another student chimed into their conversation. "I heard they went really hard last night."

Merlot felt her cheeks flush as Cedric held his head in his hands. "None of you breathe a word of this to my dad. He'll kill me."

"Our lips are sealed, as long as one of you tells me who let my rat swim in butter beer." Merlot pointed.

Cedric shook his head. "I think that he just went for it to be honest… I'm going to have to speak to Caplan about spiking the first night drinks again…"

Merlot shook her head and finished her plate, before turning to look at the rest of the great hall.

"Everyone's gone."

Cedric nodded. "Second breakfast. Go on, help yourself."

The girl shrugged and prepared another plate, making sure that it was well balanced before digging in.

Hannah took out her schedule and handed it to Merlot as they were getting ready to leave the great hall. "Looks like we have Transfiguration with Slytherins first thing."

"That's the class that McGonagall teaches, isn't it?"

Hannah nodded. "She's a master of the art. There's even rumors that she completed the animagus ritual."

Merlot blinked. "Animagus?"

"She can change between a human and an animal at will." Hannah answered.

"Oh!" Merlot nodded. "That sounds brilliant."

"It is. There are only a handful of animagus in the world. The ritual is incredibly difficult, and has disasterous consequences if done improperly." Hannah gushed. "I'd love to be one someday…"

Merlot nodded as she set her dishes down and they disappeared. Hannah took her hand and nodded. "It's good to be punctual, best get going so we're early."

Merlot nodded and closed her book on wand lord, before running out of the great hall with Hannah.

A few minutes later, the two hufflepuffs had their books and wands, and were ready to enter the transfiguration classroom.

Professor McGonagall sat at her desk, her face stoic as she looked over the room. Still, her eyes betrayed a hint of annoyance, probably having to do with the boy who was the only one remaining in the room.

"Mr. Thomas, please do see fit to remember the virtues of punctuality in the future, otherwise I may transfigure you into a watch so that you are forced to do so! That is all for today, get on to Filius please, I have let him know that you will be late."

The boy quickly grabbed his book from his desk and ran from the room, a bit of shock still present upon his face.

"I see that some students are even further ahead than simply being punctual." McGonagall spoke, causing Merlot and Hannah to turn to her. "Your class doesn't start for another fifteen minutes, would you mind assisting me in preparing?"

Merlot and Hannah nodded, placing their books upon two desks at the left side of the room before walking over to the professor, who handed them small matchsticks.

"Place three at each desk. When you are done, open your books to page one hundred and seventeen. You may work on the spell until the whole class is here."

Hannah and Merlot nodded, quickly distributing the match sticks among the desks before sitting down and opening their books.

"A matchstick into a sewing needle?"

Hannah blinked. "I've heard that it's easier than people think. Both metal and wood have their own grain, so you just have to shift the material, and not the layout, like more difficult transfigurations."

"You're really good at this." Merlot grumbled, as Hannah delved into her work.

"I've always had a thing for transfiguration." The girl smiled, waving her wand at the first matchstick. The wood turned silver and thinned out into a beautiful needle. "My first bout of accidental magic ended up turning a pigeon into a lizard."

Merlot sighed. "My first bit of magic made a pane of glass disappear. My second caused a building to burn down."

"Woah." Hannah blinked. "Those are pretty dynamic achievements."

Merlot nodded. "Dynamic is one word for it."

Hannah picked up on the hint of sadness in Merlot's voice, and decided not to push into the topic further. The black haired girl quickly smiled and pulled out her wand. "Let's just focus on this for now! How did you manage it on your first try?"

Hannah nodded. "You sure bounce back quick. I just imagine the grains of the wood becoming cold and hard, becoming stronger and more compact, turning into a sharp needle."

Merlot nodded and pointed her wand at her first matchstick. "Akusignis."

The matchstick shuddered a bit, before smoothing out fluidly into a silver needle, although unlike Hannah's, Merlot's needle didn't have an eye to thread.

"You two work fast."

Hannah and Merlot looked up to see McGonagall in front of their desks. "I'm glad that at least two of my students are getting along so well. Leave it to Hufflepuffs to be so cooperative. Ten points to each of you, and fifteen points to you Miss Abbott, for giving good aid to another student."

Hannah smiled. "Thank you professor!"

"Of course. Since the two of you have virtually completed the lesson before class has even begun, would you like to try your hand at next week's topic?"

Hannah's eyes twinkled. "Can we?"

Merlot smiled at the girls excitement while McGonagall let out a mirthful chuckle. "I'm happy to see a student with excitement such as yours, Miss Abbott. You can find next week's lesson on page thirty six."

Hannah smiled and flipped the pages in her book before coming to the correct chapter. "Parchment into cloth?"

Merlot blinked and flipped to the same page in her own book. "This one seems quite interesting… Both are made of woven fibers."

McGonagall smiled. "The real question is, can you turn a roll of plant based parchment into a bit of tanned leather?"

Hannah's eyes lit up with excitement and she delved into her book. Merlot watched as McGonagall walked back to her desk, before leaping up and becoming a cat, which sat motionlessly, facing the door to the classroom.

Looking down, Merlot found that there was a bit of parchment tucked under the back of her textbook.

I know not why your name has changed

Nor why your body has turned

I will not tell any of your secret

And I will always be here to talk.

Merlot looked up at McGonagall's desk, where the cat gave a wink before becoming motionless once again. Merlot smiled and folded up the parchment, sticking it in the pocket of her robe before looking back at the lesson.

The art of transfiguration holds many difficult barriers that some find impossible to surpass. There are wizards and witches who find turning an inanimate object into an animate animal to be an insurmountable task. A good way to get a handle on the potential of a transfiguration student is by seeing how much creativity they are willing to put into their magic, take this spell. Pergamenum Pallium is a simple spell that is meant to turn parchment into cloth. The type of cloth is not specified, but is rather up to the wizards imagination.

Students who are able to think beyond the limits of simple silk and wool may find this transfiguration to be incredibly versatile. The show that their magic may put on while they use this spell can show how flexible they can truly be, however, it is important to note that as with all transfigurations, focus is key.

Creativity without focus can be mended

Focus without creativity cannot

Merlot blinked and looked at Hannah, who was pulling out a roll of parchment and preparing to try the spell.

"Should we focus on smaller pieces before working our way up?" Merlot suggested.

"Good idea. I'll tear a few pieces from this-"

"No, it's alright. Here." Merlot took the roll of parchment and laid a bit out on the desk. "Interficiam parva."

Hannah watched with interest as Merlot cut two small pieces of parchment from the roll, before handing it back to her. "What spell was that?"

"Something I picked up from a friend. I normally use it at halloween to carve pumpkins." Merlot smiled.

"You are going to need to teach me that one." Hannah smiled. "Alright then, parchment into cloth…"

"The book says to be creative."

"Isn't following the book somewhat more rigid than true creativity?" Hannah smiled.

"Perhaps." Merlot shrugged. "Nevertheless, how about a contest? Whoever can create the most beautiful cloth wins?"

"I like the sound of that… how about, instead of the most beautiful, the most unique?"

Merlot nodded. "Very well. Whenever you're ready, just say the word."

Hannah smiled, taking out her wand and pointing it at her bit of parchment. Merlot followed suit as several students began to enter, and they both began their work.

"Pergamenum Pallium."

—0—

A bit shorter than the last two chapters. I hope you liked it.

Next chapter will be potions and charms, followed by DADA. We'll get to do flying lessons soon as well, and perhaps even reserve quidditch team tryouts?

Also, please note that I am not starting any romantic relationships in the story yet. I will have a few characters acknowledge Merlot's looks, strictly because to any human, she is a beautiful girl. The magic of the Goblins ritual keeps her hair full and her skin fair. There will be a few notes on that around second and third year, when a lot of Merlot's classmates wonder why the hell she doesn't have acne.

Hannah is going to be the first friend. I think she's a character that gets glossed over quite a bit. I want to include the main characters from the books, but I also really want to expand on other characters that aren't touched. That's why I've made the story with Charlie, giving him more of a role to play, and why Scortwit ties into so many of the characters seen throughout this work, such as Madam Hooch and Madam Malkin. Will Hannah have a huge role to play? I don't know yet, although I think being Merlot's first, and best friend is a pretty large role in and of itself.

Anyways, as always, leave a review! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

On top of that, I am taking suggestions on what spells Hermione will invent for her first year, through the use of muggle physics. So if you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.

So until next time,

Adios!