Chapter 2
The following morning Mia found Harry in the Common room and they both left to find the Great Hall. Arriving at the great hall to find it almost full, they seated themselves, served breakfast, and looked to find Liz at the Slytherin table sitting between an older girl and Draco Malfoy looking relaxed. Meeting her sister's eye she saw Liz get up and walk over to them. "Get back to the snake pit, slimy snake" Ronald Weasley sneered at Liz as she walked past to reach her sister but she paid him no mind as she sat next to her twin. "Hello baby sis, Harry, how was your night? "It was fine, I met a few of my roommates and just got some rest "Same for me, what about you Liz?” Harry asked sweetly "Mine was uneventful, just a bit of tension but nothing I can't handle, I even have a little bodyguard, Draco has been watching like a hawk" Liz giggled at Harry's and Mia's disbelieving faces. "Miss Clay, can I ask why you aren't with your housemates?" McGonagall's voice startled the trio as she handed out all student schedules to her Lions. "Sorry Professor, just wanted to check in on my lil sis, speak to you later guys" Liz waved as she moved back to her table to receive her schedule. "We don't start till Monday so we have the weekend to learn how to navigate the castle" Draco immediately stated before she even sat down.
Over the next few hours, the prefects led the first years through the castle, occasionally the girls crossed paths with each other but didn't get a chance to talk much but by lunch break, the Headmaster requested them to meet them at his office. Professor Snape and McGonagall escorted the girls. "Ah there you are Misses Clay, I have your Wands ready, it was a privilege to create such fine wands my dears" Ollivander was practically jumping on the spot as he handed the twins their wands. "Miss Amelia, 9 ½ inches of Applewood, unyielding with a combination of Basilisk Venom and Phoenix feather” "Beautiful, perfect for both Dark arts but also those with high ideals” Both Dumbledore and Ollivander looked stunned at the young girl's remarks. “Moving forward, Miss Elizabeth you have Aspen wood 12 ¾ supple with a dual-core of Horned Serpent and Phoenix feather” ”Perfect for martial magic, suited to Parselmouths and emits musical notes at signs of danger” Sparks like miniature fireworks flew from Liz’s wand as she heard her sister again talk about the wand. “Yes Miss Amelia, you are well informed of Wandlore, very impressive. I foresee great things for you girls, no charge for such interesting customers” Ollivander stated leaving no argument as he left just as quickly.
Albus Dumbledore was rarely stunned but at this moment he was utterly silent and feeling rather curious as to the power of these girls, they have to be protected no matter the cost. “Ladies, I must ask about how you feel about your situation, your family names could offer you more protection than myself as Headmaster could provide, are you willing to announce it to anyone” “Sir, Professor Snape suggested I do that last night and I did as such to a select number of students who can not only protect me but also my sister, who else could be trusted?” Liz stated, “Well for now just the faculty if that is what you would rather do or we could tell the students too, it may cause less tension?” Dumbledore suggested but Amelia stepped in “I’m sorry sir but for now please only tell our teachers and we will decide who among our classmates to tell” “I understand, very well I will inform the rest of the staff but will ensure they continue to address you as Misses Clay in public” Dumbledore relented but was unhappy with the decision as he dismissed the girls.
It was approaching dinner when the girls reached the Great Hall and they sat next to Harry who unfortunately looked like he’d been dealing with the annoying redhead next to him for a while. “Hey Harry, how's today been for you?” Liz asked as she had not got a chance to talk to him much today “It has been great, Hogwarts already feels like home, a proper one at that” Harry smiled brightly at the girls “Yeah we can understand that Harry, better than most probably, the Orphanage certainly didn't have such good food” Mia giggled at Liz’s statement “I may have blood family but I'm still an Orphan too, I hate that this is the first time I've felt at home, I would give anything to have my parents, I would give up this stupid Boy-Who-Lived title in a heartbeat” Harry spoke lowly at that but unfortunately, Weasley heard it and gaped at Harry “Harry mate why would you say that, your rich and famous, you have everything so don't pretend to be humble to impress them” Ronald pointed rudely at the girls making them bristle. “Shut your mouth Weasley, you know nothing so keep it to yourself” Mia snapped at the boy, she rarely ever showed her anger “Yeah Weasley, you have a family and we would trade anything for that so watch your words, you don't know a thing about it” Liz sneered, lashing out like a venomous snake and stood to leave with Harry and Mia when Ronald got into Harry's personal space “Harry come with me, you don't wanna be around a slimy snake or her phoney sister” Ron scoffed and tried to manhandle Harry away but as Harry flinched Liz’s temper finally snapped and stood between the boys. “Step back right now! Never and I mean ever touch someone without their consent. If I have to tell you twice you won't be able to eat properly for a week after I'm finished” Liz finished and stood at full height but looked more like a grumpy kitten standing at only the redhead's chin height.
A deep voice snapped the girl's attention away from Ron “Now what is going on over here…Potter are we already causing trouble?” Snape appeared and seemed to only look towards Harry “Sorry Professor Snape, Mr Weasley tried to touch Harry without his consent so he needed to be reminded of basic manners” Liz said sweetly at Snape, the words like melted sugar slipping from her mouth “Teacher's pet, running to the greasy dungeon bat for protection” Ron sniped under his breath but Snape heard everything and was about to give the brat a piece of his mind when an outraged voice perked up “I told you to watch your mouth, I couldn't care less about your insults and remarks but you will sespect your betters!” Mia stepped forward almost nose to chest to Weasley, she may be small but she could intimidate the biggest boys at the Orphanage easily. Snape watched in amusement at the rude boy getting ripped into by the tiny girl, reminded of a young lily defending him against the Marauders. “Miss Clay, I am perfectly capable of handling my battles, so please be quiet. Weasley, Detention tomorrow at 5 pm my office!” Snape swept away with his dramatic swirl of robes and Weasley stormed off.
Over the weekend the girls met up whenever they could to practice their magic and discuss the future, do they warn Dumbledore about the stone? They knew it was some kind of test for Harry that Dumbledore wanted him to show his heroics but is it worth it? Harry is only a child, it isn't fair to him. The girls agree to talk to Harry about the Inheritance test results by the end of the year, the girls will protect their brother no matter what, he deserves a happy future. In between their talks, the girls encouraged Harry to study ahead and gave Harry the confidence to do his best unlike at school with the Dursleys, they were occasionally joined by Hermione and Neville wanting to be prepared for their first set of lessons. The girls did their best to raise Neville's confidence while also trying to tone down Hermione but as of yet no luck.
Their first set of lessons came quickly and luckily the girls found most of Gryffindor's and Slytherin's lessons were together. Lizzie found herself partnering with Draco for most lessons whereas Harry stuck with Mia in his lessons, nobody had yet commented on how confident the girls seemed to be. They met Professor Sprout, a portly witch, Head of Hufflepuff house and their Herbology teacher, Professor Flitwick, resembling a goblin, Head of Ravenclaw and their Charms teacher. So far Mia seemed to excel in charms, always having questions and debates with the cheery Flitwick whereas Lizzie seemed to thrive in transfiguration, mastering their first spell within minutes and performing extra credit work which seemed to interest McGonagall.
Defence Against the Dark Arts was a joke of a lesson, the first time the girls walked into Quirrell's classroom they were set on edge knowing Voldy was hitching a ride on Quirrell's head but the fake stutter and how often their so-called professor seemed to jump out his skin just made the girls want to hit him. How can anyone believe this act? Now and again Lizzie would fake a sneeze as Quirrell was distracted just to watch him jump which soon had the whole class giggling and made the lesson at least bearable. As soon as the lesson was over, Mia looked for her sister and at her face said it all ‘he needs to go’. After that, they sat for lunch and Lizzie realised that Potions was next… oh god, Snape is going to be unbearable towards Harry, he's just going to see James sitting there, not innocent Harry. He already was glaring at him each chance he had and seemed to be ready to blame any disruption on poor Harry. She planned to change Snape's thoughts before he ruined any chance of being a competent teacher to Harry and with that followed Draco down to the dungeons.