Thanks Dracowoman for letting me know there were weird technical issues on chapter 1 (there were strange HTML tags everywhere).
Chapter 2:
They arrived on a Saturday afternoon. The excited sixth and seventh years fumbled in the general direction of the Great Hall, being led by Headmaster Roberts. The Headmaster tried to quiet them down, but he was unsuccessful. There was no dampening their excitement. Students stared in awe at magnificent medieval castle that was so very different from their modern campus back in Providence. Hogwarts was an older institution of magic, over a thousand years old, filled with the riches of magical history.
This part thrilled Senna. A school this old must have vast amounts of knowledge and secrets hidden within its walls.
Scared yelps erupted from the Brownwell crowd. Senna peered above the tall seventh years to see what the commotion was about. In the shade of castle, the transparent figure of a woman glided across the stone floor. The woman stared back at the bewildered students with narrowed eyes. She probably thought they were being rude. Senna had read about the ghosts at Hogwarts. They are the imprints of dead witches and wizards left behind to roam the earth. Senna wasn't afraid, but intrigued. She tried to shuffle her way to the front of the crowd to get a better look. She had read about them, but had never seen one. Brownwell didn't have any ghosts.
The ghost woman tossed her transparent hair over her shoulder, stuck her nose in the air, and continued on her way. Students stared after her until Headmaster Roberts ushered them forward.
The dirty looking, short old man who had led Roberts and his students into the castle pushed open two large wooden doors. This took a lot of effort from him. He grunted and his arms shook, but slowly, the doors gave way to a large room. Students gasped in awe. The room was lit with the light of the shining afternoon sun, courtesy of the enchanted ceiling. Moving portraits lined the walls in disorganized rows. Students sat around four very long tables, which each bore a different colored table cloth, red, yellow, green, and blue. At the end of the Great Hall there was an additional table full of older witches and wizards who all held the air of power and wisdom that students lacked. This was the staff table.
Upon entering, the students and staff of Hogwarts looked up with welcoming smiles. The Hogwarts students exchanged glances with each other and chatted excitedly, pointing fingers in our direction.
The old wizard in the center of the staff table stood up in welcome. He looked very old, but his demeanor seemed that of a young man. He had long silver hair and an equally long beard. Shiny half-moon spectacles sat on his crooked nose. This must be their headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
"Welcome! Brownwell students, welcome to Hogwarts." He opened his arms in greeting, "As you all know, and I will repeat to you this evening, when our other guest arrive, that the delegations from Beauxbatons, Brownwell, and Durmstrang will be staying with us for the greater part of this year."
Brownwell had arrived early.
"We would be delighted for you all to join us for lunch. Afterwards please enjoy yourself and the company of our students, but please know the Forest in the grounds is out of bounds to all students." Dumbledore waved us forward. "Please, please, sit whereever you'd like. My dear friend Roberts, I have a seat for you." He gestured for Roberts to sit next to him.
A moment passed where the group of Brownwell students just stood there, unsure where to sit. There were four tables to choose from. One by one they ventured out, most chose the ones that are the closest to the entrance, yellow to the right, and the blue one to the left side of the hall.
Senna looked around the room, still unsure. She had to think fast if she didn't want to be the only one left standing. She noticed that the table decorated with the scarlet cloth looked the most boisterous. Children there threw food at each other and were telling animated stories with an unnecessary amount of volume and hand gestures. So she turned away, looking at the blue table. Students there were not as excitable. They seemed the most civilized with their noses in books, frantically writing notes in parchment, and discussing topics in serious whispers. But it made her nervous to imagine approaching the table, they all looked like they were very busy and would prefer to not be disturbed. The green table seemed intermediate. Some students there were jeering nosily at the other students, while others had their faces pressed up against parchment. What stood out the most was the table in yellow. They looked upon the visitors with warm and friendly smiles. This table seemed the safest.
Nervously, she sauntered forward, looking for a gap in the rows of sitting students. Upon spotting her, a girl with a plump face and short blonde hair stood up and welcomed her with a smile.
"Why don't you sit here, with us?" She said warmly.
Grateful, Senna took a seat next to her.
"I'm Hannah," she said. "Hannah Abbot." She extended a hand.
Senna took a deep breath. She knew that avoiding eye-contact with them would look suspicious and may hinder her attempt to make friends. She just had to pretend she couldn't hear thoughts. Resolved, she looked directly in Hannah's eyes, and shook her hand.
"I'm Senna."
Hannah opened her mouth to speak again, but before Senna heard what she said, she heard her thoughts.
'Poor girl, she seems nervous. She has nothing to worry about here', Hannah thought.
"Glad to have you!" Hannah beamed. "This is—" she pointed to the others behind her, "Ernie, Justin, and Susan." They waved, smiling at her just as warmly as Hannah had. Senna attempted to smile back, but it was hard. When was the last time she had smiled? Some of their thoughts flitted into her mind when their gazes met.
'Blimey, she's pretty.'
'She looks a little scared, hopefully she finds herself right at home here'
'Maybe we can get her to join our herbology club'
The thoughts rushed through her too quickly to know where each had come from, but they seemed friendly enough. She sighed in relief.
After a delicious lunch of salad and sandwiches, students began leaving the Great Hall.
Hannah stood to accompany Senna out of the great hall.
"We're going back to our common room. Would you like to join us? We could show you around." She offered.
Her stomach tightened as she fought with her desires. Yes she wanted to go with them. She was so very thankful that they even spoke to her. But her desire to discover the secrets of Hogwarts was burning just as strong as her desire to make friends.
"I don't think I'm allowed in there." She told them. "I'm not in hufflepuff." Senna had picked up some of the customs from listening to their lunchtime conversations.
Hannah considered this, thinking she may be right. She didn't know if the Brownwell students were allowed in their dormitories.
Senna took her silence as confirmation that she was not allowed in.
"I was thinking of checking out your library, actually." Senna said.
"Oh. Sure." Hannah pointed a finger. "It's that way. Turn left on the next corridor, and then make a right. But be careful, peeves likes to throw dung bombs from the corner by the statue."
"Peeves?"
"Yeah. He's the poltergeist that gives Filtch and the staff such a hard time."
Heeding her warning and passing cautiously by every statue, she headed to the library.
She entered the quiet space and took a deep breath. The smell of old paper and ink made her feel at home. The Hogwarts library was many times larger than Brownwell's library. Her heart leaped in excitement.
She spotted a table with a group of students that looked like they could be sixth years. Their blue ties told her they were ravenclaws. They were huddled around a book on advanced potion making. She had the urge to talk to them, to ask them what they were working on, and if they needed any help—Senna was great at potions.
But Senna stood, frozen. It was so much harder to approach them than she originally thought. She had given up on talking to people years ago, knowing it was no use. No matter how friendly she was, they scampered away in fear. But these kids didn't know her, they had nothing to judge. Even with that knowledge, her heart drummed loudly in her chest.
She stepped out from behind the bookshelf.
One of the ravenclaw boys looked up, curious.
Senna opened her mouth to speak, but as their eyes met, the boy's thoughts flooded into her mind.
'A brownwell girl. Holy merlin's beard, this one's hot! I wonder if I can get her to sleep with me.' Then made a mental image that repulsed her. It was her—naked with him.
She tore her eyes away before she could see anything else.
Heat trickled down her spine in anger. What an obnoxious thing to think. She took a deep breath, willing herself not to lose her temper. She promised herself that she would not judge people based on their thoughts, but it was difficult. But even as he gave her a friendly smile, she found that she did not want to talk to them after all.
She spun on her heels and walked away. When she reached the corridors, she began to sprint. She could not take pleasure in books right now, not when she was so angry.
She turned left and then—Wham!
She ran right into what felt like a wall, bounced off, and fell backwards with a gasp. Except it wasn't a wall, because it stumbled backwards too.
"Ye alright?" A woman's voice asked, somewhat dazed.
Senna pushed herself off the ground to face whoever it was she ran into. She had run into a woman. She looked far too young to be a teacher, but wasn't wearing the same attire as the students. She wore a tight white top that exposed a strip of a well-toned abdomen, black jeans, black leather boots, and a maroon robe on top of it all. But that wasn't the strangest thing yet. Her short spiked hair was bubble-gum pink, and her nails were painted blood red. She wore an assortment of brass bracelets and necklaces that jingled noisily as she stumbled.
Senna simply stared at the woman. Her appearance was shocking. This woman was very beautiful indeed, with a sculpted angular face, and warm hazel eyes. But the add-ons made her seem unruly and wild.
The surprise of seeing such a person knocked all the anger from her.
"Sorry. Yeah I'm alright, how about you?" Senna asked, wary of the strange woman.
"Fine. Fine." She waved a hand in the air. "I walk into things all the time."
"Actually, I think I ran into you." Senna corrected, embarrassed. "Sorry."
A strange look came across the woman's face. She looked… distracted.
"Blimey." She said, leaning towards Senna to study her face. "Are you part Veela?"
Heat crept into Senna's face. She leaned away, taken aback. Part Veela? Where on earth did that come from? She knew what they were. She had read about them. Veela are a different species. They resemble beautiful women with white-silver hair and fair skin. When enraged, Veela turn into vicious, ugly harpies.
When the shock wore off, Senna laughed. It was just so ridiculous.
The woman leaned back, eyeing her dubiously.
"No." Senna laughed. "At least I don't think so. Aren't Veela and part-Veela always blonde anyways?" Senna had black hair.
"That's true."
"Where did that question come from?" Senna asked.
"Uh." The woman hesitated. She did not want to admit that she found this young and dark haired student so beautiful that she couldn't possibly be human. "I dunno." Her hair turned a shade darker in embarrassment.
"What's your name?" Senna asked. She was still wary of her—she was acting strangely. And did her hair just change colors? What in the world was she?
"Nymphadora Tonks. You can call me Tonks." She held out a hand to Senna.
Senna took it. "I'm Senna."
"Great to meet you." She winked.
Senna could feel the heat returning to her cheeks. She assumed it was a playful wink, but it also seemed somehow… flirtatious.
"Your hair—" Senna could not help herself. It was just too bizarre.
"Oh yeah." Tonks laughed. "I can change it to whatever color I want."
Senna's eyes widened. She could not think of a spell or charm that would allow her to change hair color on demand—at least not without pointing a wand at her head.
Seeing the confusion in Senna's eyes, Tonks continued, "I'm a Metamorphmagus. I can change my appearance at will." She grinned at her. "Want to see?"
Before Senna said anything, Tonk's face began to change. The full pink lips became a duck's bill, and her nose flattened itself until it was gone. She now looked like a strange bird with pink hair.
Senna laughed. It looked so ridiculous. And when Tonks began making a show of opening and closing her new mouth, Senna laughed even harder. She doubled over, needing to use the wall for support.
Tonks' face returned to normal. She wore a huge grin.
"Cool, huh?"
Senna wiped the tears from her eyes, she couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard. Probably, never.
"Well." Tonks looked down at her watch. "I should be at the south end by now. I'm on patrol duty. See ya later, Senna." Tonks winked at her and smiled. Then she waved and proceeded down the corridor.
For some undiscovered reason, this made her blush again. It was a good thing that Tonks was no longer here to see it. Was it her breathtaking smile? Or the roguishness glint in her eyes?
She felt an inkling of disappointment watching her walk away. For a fleeting moment, she had felt light and happy. It felt so good to laugh like that. And her ray of happiness was disappearing down the corridor of Hogwarts.