Waking up Knowing Things
Freya woke up to the train whistle. She had no idea why she was on the train or why she knew she was on a train before opening her eyes. She’d never ridden a train, had she? Finally opening her eyes, she found herself in an empty compartment. As soon as she saw it, she realized it was familiar. The thought entered her mind: ‘Hogwarts Express’. But, how could that be? She frowned and tried to remember what had happened before now, muttering to herself, “My name is Freya Gardner. I am eleven years old, and will be starting school this year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Hogwarts Express is about to depart. I have my wand: Cherry Wood with… I don’t remember the core…”
Freya took a peek out of her window. The platform had a few families dropping off their students last minute. One particular family stuck out: a bunch of redheads, including the mother, an older student, a pair of twins, a young boy, and an even younger girl. The girl was the only one of the children who did not seem to be a student yet. Ginny seemed very excited by whatever the twins had just told them. The Weasleys. Freya blinked. Why did she know the names of the whole family? She muttered again, “Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny.”
A realization dawned on her, “Harry Potter is on the train!”
She peeked out the window again to see that the last students were running to get on the train as it whistled again. She leaned back in her seat and started thinking again, this time trying to not say anything out loud. This year, the Philosopher’s Stone is at Hogwarts. The stone will be behind several layers of protection, including Fluffy, a cerberus; Devil’s Snare; flying keys; chess against McGonagall; a troll; a laughably simple logic puzzle; and the Mirror of Erised. Professor Quirrell is being possessed by Voldemort, and will make several attempts throughout the year…
These thoughts continued for a bit, until Freya determined that she knew almost every major event that would be happening this year. She even knew, to a degree, what had happened to Harry Potter at the hands of his relatives for the last ten years. Why do I know these things? Every time she tried to think about why she knew what she apparently knew, her thoughts seemed to just slip off of the topic. The train started to move, and the platform slipped from view.
Fine, then. I know things, but what do I do now? Rather than slipping off the topic, she found that she just drew a blank. I guess I can try to make a plan?
She was startled out of her thoughts by a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. The Weasleys had just passed her compartment. She stood and opened the door, stepping out to see where the brothers were headed. They stopped at a compartment and Ron separated from the brothers, joining the occupant Freya knew was inside. She glanced back toward her compartment, but found it closed and full of students. Obviously, Hogwarts does not hold the monopoly on weird rooms that only sometimes exist…
A few moments later, Freya arrived at the door to the compartment and knocked gently.
The reply came a second later, “Hello?”
Freya opened the door a little, “Um, hello, I’m sorry, this train is rather overfull of students. May I join you?”
Harry and Ron exchanged a quick glance. They both shrugged. Freya stepped in and closed the door, “Thank you, I’m Freya Gardner, by the way. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Ron Weasley.”
“Hello, Freya, I’m, er…”
“It’s okay, Harry, I won’t bite your head off or ask a million personal questions. I also don’t care in the slightest about whatever fame you have. I’m just another kid starting Hogwarts just like you two.”
Freya seated herself on the same bench as Harry, though gave him plenty of space.
“Oh, er, thanks.” Harry’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
“Of course, Harry, or would you prefer ‘Potter’?”
“Just Harry, please.”
“And you, Ron? I assume you don’t just want to be called Weasley, right?”
Ron looked shocked by Freya’s directness, “Er - yeah. Jus’ Ron, thanks.”
Freya nodded and smiled, “Just Freya for me, then. I hope we can be good friends.”
Ron glanced back and forth between his two fellow first years, “Er - right. So I was jus’ telling Harry here about having five older brothers. Everyone expects me to do as well as them, but even if I do, it’s no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I’ve got Bill’s old robes, Charlie’s old wand, and Percy’s old rat.”
Ron reached inside his jacket and produced a sleeping fat grey rat. Freya hated it.
Harry seemed to notice her flinch away, “You okay, Freya?”
“Um, I’ll be fine. Just don’t like rodents in general much, sorry.”
Ron looked ashamed, “Oh, sorry.”
“It’s alright, Ron. He does seem mostly harmless. Maybe just keep him over there with you, please.”
Ron put the rat back into his pocket. “Er - anyway. His name’s Scabbers and he’s useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl for being made prefect, but they couldn’t aff - I mean, I got Scabbers instead.”
Harry jumped to Ron’s defense, explaining that he didn’t see anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl, and telling them about some of his experiences with past birthdays.
“... and until Hagrid told me, I didn’t know anything about being a wizard or my parents or Voldemort -”
Ron gasped.
“What?”
“You said You-Know-Who’s name!”
Freya decided to butt in at this point, “Voldemort is simply a name, Ron. There’s no sense fearing a name.”
Ron looked horrified, “Blimey, you’re both barmy!”
Harry spoke next, “I’m not trying to be brave or anything. I just grew up not knowing about it. I’ve got loads to learn, I bet. I bet I’m the worst in class.”
“You won’t be. There’s loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough,” Ron tried to comfort him.
They settled into silence. Freya pulled out her wand and twiddled it in her hands. At about noon, she realized that she hadn’t tried to do any magic yet.
Lumos. As she thought the spell and flicked her wand slightly, the wand seemed to remain unlit. Guess nonverbal casting was too much to hope for…
“Lumos,” spoken aloud, the spell worked, and the tip of her wand lit up. She smiled at the feeling of the magic moving through her wand to feed the light.
“Woah!” Harry and Ron looked at her display.
“Oh, sorry, just thought I’d practice a bit. Nox.” The light disappeared.
“Blimey, where’d you learn that one?”
Freya smiled, “Standard Book of Spells, one of the first spells in it. And we are allowed to use magic on the train anyway as long as it’s not harming anyone, of course.”
The snack trolley came by and Harry bought a little of everything. He insisted on sharing with Ron and Freya.
“Thank you, Harry. I appreciate it. May I try a Chocolate Frog?”
Harry slid it over to her, and pulled open his own after a brief explanation that they were not, in fact, real frogs. Harry got Dumbledore. Freya got Circe. Harry read the back of Dumbledore’s card. When he got to the end, Freya piped in.
“Oh, Flamel! Does he have a card? He’s a famous alchemist, you know.”
Ron frowned, “I don’t think so. What’s he famous for?”
“Creating the Philosopher’s Stone. With the Elixir of Life from the stone, he’s currently about 665 years old.”
Both boys seemed stunned by this revelation.
“Blimey, I’d like one of them.”
Freya smirked and let them get back to their treats. Freya abstained from the Beans. As they laughed about the terrible flavors they were experiencing, a bushy-haired young witch came to the door.
“Has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost one.” Neville was just visible in the corridor behind her.
The boys shook their heads. Freya rolled her eyes and stood, “I’ll help you look. I’m Freya Gardner, by the way. This is Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter.”
Neville and Hermione’s eyes widened at the last name. Hermione’s eyes snapped to look at Harry, “Are you really? Oh, I’m Hermione Granger. by the way. I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books for background reading, and you’re in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.”
“Am I?” Harry looked dazed.
“Um, Hermione, It’s probably best to take those accounts with a grain of salt. Harry had no idea about his fame until recently, and nobody else was there to give a perfect account of what happened.”
Hermione frowned, “Oh. I suppose that’s true. Sorry. It’s just that I would have found out everything I could if it was me. Do any of you know what house you’ll be in? I’ve been asking around, and I hope I’m in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn’t be too bad… Anyway, we’d better go look for Neville’s toad. You two,” Hermione looked at the boys, “had better change. I expect we’ll be arriving soon.”
Freya joined Hermione and Neville in looking for Trevor, but didn’t find him. Soon, as Hermione predicted, the train slowed and finally stopped in Hogsmeade shortly.
“Don’t worry, Neville. I’m sure he’ll turn up.” Freya patted the boy on the back.
The first years followed Hagrid to the boats, where Hagrid found and returned Trevor to Neville. Hagrid handed over the students to Professor McGonagall, who explained that the students would be sorted shortly. All the other first years stood quietly terrified of what might happen for the Sorting, except Hermione, who was rattling off all the spells she had already read about. Freya just stood at the side and listened. The ghosts made a brief appearance, startling most of the students.
Finally, Professor McGonagall returned and brought them into the Great Hall. Everyone lined up and went through the Sorting. Freya’s name came up before the three she knew would be going to Gryffindor.
“Gardner, Freya.”
Freya stepped up to the stool and sat. As McGonagall set the hat over her eyes, she heard the voice in her head.
“Oh. That is interesting. A mind like yours is rare indeed. The layers are truly a masterpiece.”
Okay, hat, any idea where to put me? I have two definite ‘no’s, obviously.
“Well, what stands out most to me is your obvious love of learning and a desire for truth, so better be RAVENCLAW!”
Freya quickly joined the Ravenclaw table and Hermione was called next. Everyone else went to the same houses as expected and Dumbledore made his speeches. The feast was over and Freya followed the Ravenclaw prefects with her fellow first years. The prefects explained the riddle system on the door and Professor Flitwick introduced himself. The Ravenclaw Common Room was dominated by the library, of course.
Freya and the other first year girls, Mandy Brocklehurst, Sue Li, Morag MacDougal, Padma Patil, and Lisa Turpin, got themselves settled into the new dorm. They all seemed nice enough, but there was overwhelming agreement that they should get to bed early to be ready for classes to start the next day.
The classes were, for the most part, engaging. Ravenclaw first years had DADA, Potions, and of course Flying with Hufflepuff. They shared History, Herbology, and Astronomy with Slytherin, and finally Charms and Transfiguration with Gryffindor. Freya kept mostly to herself for most of her classes, though she greeted Hermione, Harry, and Ron in their shared classes and tried to sit near Hermione during those classes. Sitting near Hermione often meant she was at the front of class, and because both witches were fairly studious, they each got a decent amount of positive attention from Professors Flitwick and McGonagall.
Professor Snape, of course, was not particularly nice to either Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs during Potions. Freya partnered with Mandy Brocklehurst during those classes, though she tried to make sure to sit somewhat closer to the Hufflepuff students as well. She also read ahead for Potions more than any other class, allowing her to at least mostly keep her head down and avoid Snape’s ire.
She treated the DADA class as a self study, not being particularly interested in what Voldemort’s host had to teach.
History and Astronomy with the Slytherins was pretty dull. They mostly ignored each other during Astronomy and almost everyone got into the habit of sleeping through History. Herbology was more practical, and therefore more annoying.
Freya found that her favorite times were her entirely free Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. The first chance she got, she headed to the library and quietly asked Madam Pince for a catalog of the books she had access to along with a basic explanation of the organization system. She was completely unsurprised to discover Hermione in the library at least as often as she was. After finishing her homework, Freya picked out a few books on subjects that interested her and sat at the same table as Hermione to read.
After a few weeks of this pattern, Freya decided to change things up.
“Did you know Cerberi like music?” Freya quietly asked. Not looking up from her book on advanced magical creatures.
Hermione dropped her book, “What did you say?”
Freya looked up and raised her eyebrows, “Hmm, what’s that Hermione?”
Hermione looked around suspiciously, “You said something about Cerberi liking music.”
Freya pretended to be surprised, “Do they? I suppose the myth of Orpheus involved the use of a harp to get past the Cerberus guarding the Underworld, so it makes sense.”
Hermione blinked a little, “But… you… er…”
Freya smiled and leaned in closer, “Have you met a Cerberus recently, Hermione?”
Hermione looked around again before leaning in herself, “How do you know?”
Freya leaned back and resumed reading, “His name’s Fluffy. Hagrid’s giant puppy.”
Hermione sat stunned for a moment before slowly leaning back to chew on this new information. Freya found what she was looking for and jotted down ‘overpowered Bludgeoning Hex’ on the parchment next to her, followed by the basic details of the spell. She closed her book and got up to return it and leave the library.
“See you in Transfiguration tomorrow, Hermione.”
Hermione returned a wave absently.
Freya spent significantly less time in the library over the next couple weeks.
Soon, it was Halloween. Freya sat with Mandy Brocklehurst this time, and performed her Levitation Charm quietly, keeping the feather low as she listened to Hermione and Ron get into their argument. The class left the room and she watched Ron insult Hermione and Hermione rush off to the bathroom. Freya followed Hermione at a distance and verified which bathroom she entered. There were still classes before dinner, but Freya was distracted, so she didn’t pay as much attention. During lunch, she pocketed whatever she could that wouldn’t be gross to carry around and immediately after classes were dismissed before dinner, she headed to the bathroom where Hermione was.
She entered the bathroom after Parvati Patil left. Hermione could be heard sobbing.
“Hermione? It’s Freya.”
“Go away, Freya! You don’t need to tell me that you’re not my friend either. I get it.”
“I’m sorry you don’t think I’m your friend, Hermione. I would like to be your friend if you let me. I know I haven’t been in the library recently. I just had a lot of other projects to work on. I’m sorry.”
Hermione didn’t respond.
“If it’s alright with you, I’ll just sit out here. I brought some things from lunch, in case you’re hungry.”
Freya pulled out a slightly stale roll and ate it while holding her wand in the other hand.
Finally, Hermione unlocked the stall and slowly walked out. “You really want to be my friend?”
Freya beamed at her, “Of course, Hermione! Who else can compete with me for ‘most studious’?”
Hermione snorted. The girls stood quietly for a moment.
“So,” Freya pulled another roll out of her pocket, “Want something to eat? Then maybe wash up and we can head back to the Great Hall or I can drop you off at Gryffindor Tower?”
Hermione smiled a little and began to reach for the roll, but stopped, sniffing. A terrible odor started to fill the bathroom.
“Ugh, smells like a troll. Hide for a second, Hermione.” Freya waved her hand toward the stall Hermione had just left and backed in after Hermione entered.
The smell got stronger and the ground began shaking with the sound of heavy footsteps. Hermione and Freya peeked around the outside of the stall as the troll entered the room. Hermione let out a gasp as Freya moved her now open hand to cover the girl’s mouth. She held her wand over her lips in a shushing motion and waited.
A few seconds later, the door to the bathroom slammed shut and Freya dropped her hand. Hermione let out a shriek as Freya focused all her attention and will on the spell she had been practicing in her free time for the last week.
“Labefactum!”
The door flew open behind the troll as the spell collided with the side of its head, leaving a sizable dent. The troll stumbled around a bit, dropping its club. Freya held her arm across Hermione, making sure she didn’t move near the troll and kept her wand focused on the creature. The troll finally fell over and Freya released the breath she’d been holding.
Everything sort of faded out and turned sideways. Someone was screaming again.