In Moonlight's Shadow

Chapter 43: First Class

Dad did manage to finish the safe room by the time the weekend was over. However, he didn't finish my potions room. I was kind of disappointed since I hadn't brewed anything in over a week. But I wasn't really expecting him to finish it before he started work anyway. I knew his primary focus was on the safe room.

Everyone got up early on Monday, Dad's first day of work. Mum and Ellie cooked brekkie and we all sat down together like we do for dinner.

"Well, I'd better go," Dad said once we had finished.

"Good luck, Walt," Mum kissed him as he stood up.

"Thanks," Dad replied, "Bye Amy, Matt."

"Bye, Dad," I smiled, "Hope you like this job better.

"Bye, Dad," Matt gave him a hug.

"Thanks Amy," Dad said, "I hope this job is better, too."

"Good luck, Master," Ellie said.

"Thanks," Dad grabbed his briefcase off a chair, "See you later."

It was strange to not have Dad home during the day anymore. I had gotten so used to him being home all the time. The house seemed quiet and empty with one less person there. I also didn't know what to do with myself. My room was completely set up, Mum didn't have any chores for me to do (which was good), I obviously had no homework, I had sent a letter to Olivia a few days ago and she hadn't gotten back to me, and my potions room was not set up.

Eventually, I decided to go explore the bush that was behind the house. I had liked doing that in Australia, so I figured it might be fun in England, too. It was, I suppose, but it was odd. There were different plants and animals and it just seemed so odd.

I stayed in the bush for the entire morning. After lunch, I played a few rounds of Gobstones with Matt. He had wanted to go explore the bush with me, but Mum hadn't let him. His ankle was better, but she didn't want him walking very far on it. Then I found another book to read and read it while Matt played his DS.

"Do you like it here?" Matt asked suddenly.

"I dunno," I shrugged. It was kind of too soon to tell. "I like my room."

"I like the stars on your ceiling. But your light looks like the moon," Matt said.

"That's the point," I sighed, "So it'll look like the sky."

"I like it here," Matt continued, "I don't ever want to go back to Australia."

"Well, we're going to go back to see Richard and Cinda sometime," I told him.

"I don't want to," Matt said quietly.

"Let's just not talk about it now," I said.

"Good. When do you start school?"

"September." I heard the front door open and sat up. "I think Dad's home."

"Yay!" Matt shouted and ran out of the den.

I followed him and found Dad setting his briefcase down on the kitchen table. Mum and Ellie were in the process of cooking dinner. Matt and I sat down at the island.

"So how did it go?" Mum asked.

"Great," Dad smiled, "It's so different than what I did in Australia. I feel like I'm actually going to help people here."

"That's wonderful," Mum replied, "What did you do today?"

"Met everyone in the department and then jumped right into the actual work. Right now we're compiling a list of companies and businesses that are willing to hire werewolves. Then we'll help set up interviews with those companies."

"Now that sounds like something you'd enjoy doing," Mum said.

"It is, so far. And the best part is, nobody objects to the fact that I'm pro-werewolf rights. In fact, they expect it. Plus, the two people I work with don't care one bit that Matt is a werewolf. The head of the entire department doesn't care either."

"That is great, Walt," Mum grinned, "I can tell already that this is the start of something better."

"It is, Julie. It really is," Dad said as he put one arm around me and the other around Matt.

******

It was kind of odd to see Dad so happy after returning from a day's work. It had been nearly a year since I'd seen him happy when he came home from work. Even before that fateful day when I found out we were moving, he seemed stressed with his job. Now, he came home with a smile on his face and ready to actually talk about work. He never used to do that. He was also working more normal hours. He'd be home in time for dinner and didn't work weekends.

As the days passed, we seemed to be settling into life in England. Dad would leave for work and Mum would clean or re-organize the house or go shopping. Occasionally Matt or I or both of us would go with her, especially if she was going someplace new. The magical grocery store quickly got boring and Matt and I preferred to let her grocery shop alone or with Ellie. If the shopping trip included a trip to Gringotts, Matt and I would always decline to go. Neither of us wanted to ride in those carts again. But if Mum offered to take us to the Weasleys' joke shop in Diagon Alley, we would always go.

However, we still couldn't put life in Australia behind us. The second estate sale loomed ever nearer and with it came mixed feelings. I was by no means used to England and still missed Australia immensely, and because of this I was sort of excited about going and seeing our old house again. At the same time, I didn't want to. The house wasn't ours anymore; it was Clarence's. It was going to be very weird to go there and not stay.

The sale was scheduled to take place on Saturday the 20th, two days before the full moon. Dad and I were going to fly down to Australia for the sale and then I would stay at Richard and Cinda's while Dad flew back to England. Then, he was going to fly back and get me. I thought it was a lot of unnecessary flying, but my parents insisted that I not be home during the full moon.

"Amy!" Mum shouted up the stairs on Wednesday, the day before Dad and I were scheduled to fly to Australia, "Can you come down here?"

I left my room and headed down the stairs. Mum and Dad (who had just returned home from work) were sitting in the living room. I flopped down onto a chair and looked at them.

"There's been a change of plans," Dad began, "About this weekend."

"You mean I get to come back here with you, instead of staying with Richard and Cinda?" I asked hopefully.

"No," Dad said, "That's not going to change. Instead of me flying down to get you after the full moon, Richard and Cinda are going to fly with you back here."

I stared at him. "What?"

"Your grandparents have decided to visit us," Dad explained.

"They want to see the house," Mum elaborated, "And they want to spend some time with all of us."

Richard and Cinda? Coming here? For some reason, the thought of my grandparents visiting us in England never crossed my mind. "Wait, so I have to spend twenty hours on a plane with Richard and Cinda?"

Dad laughed. "Yes, but the good news is that they're flying first class and so will you."

First class? I had never even seen the first class section of a plane, let alone flown on it.

"You'll like it better, Amy," Mum assured me, "My parents have always flown first class. In fact, the first time I flew coach was after I was married."

Dad grinned. "Yep. You married a cheapskate."

"So when am I flying back here, then?" I asked before my parents started reminiscing about their younger years.

"Your flight is scheduled to leave at seven on Tuesday morning," Mum told me, "If all goes as scheduled, which it never does, you'll get here at five in the afternoon our time on Tuesday. I would have preferred you not get here until Wednesday, but those were the only tickets my parents could get."

I nodded and once it became clear that my parents had nothing else to say on the subject, I returned to my room. Flying first class with Richard and Cinda, now that was certainly going to be an experience.

******

The next day I was en route to Australia, sitting in between my dad and some lady who continually yakked away on the in-plane telephone. The flight had been delayed a couple hours and I was already bored by having to sit around in the airport terminal.

The flight seemed to drag on forever. Neither Dad or I talked much. I spent most of the time thinking about how this was going to be my last time seeing my house, and I think Dad was thinking the same thing. The flight seemed rather quiet without Mum and Matt there. I didn't have any private conversation between my parents to listen in on or Matt's irritating commentary about the flight.

After what seemed like forever, we finally landed in Australia. We went through airport security for what seemed like the ten thousandth time that year. I was tired and achy from the trip and had no idea what time it was.

We walked to a dark alley and Dad Apparated us to the house. I felt my stomach lurch when we appeared in the middle of the kitchen and it had nothing to do with the Apparition.

"Well," Dad said quietly, "It's past midnight, so we'd better get to sleep. The sale is starting at nine in the morning."

I nodded without saying anything.

"Oh, and here's a sleeping bag," Dad pulled out his wand and conjured two squashy blue sleeping bags.

I put the sleeping bag under my arm and started to leave the room. "Er, Dad? Where's Clarence?"

"I owled him a few weeks ago and told him to make himself scarce during the sale. He knows I own all the contents of the house, so he actually listened."

"Ok," I said, "Good night, Dad."

"'Night, Amy," Dad gave me a hug, "I love you."

"Love you, too."

I trudged tiredly up the stairs and to my empty room. I tossed the sleeping bag on the floor and sat down on it. I stared into space and tried not to think about the fact that it was my last night there. I felt empty, just like my room. I realized that it had been a mistake to come back, that I should have just stayed in England. But I hadn't even had that choice. I wished I could just sleep outside, but I knew Dad wouldn't want me to and I didn't feel like making him angry. I knew this was just as hard, if not harder, for him than it was for me.

Dad woke me up after what seemed like only a few minutes of sleep. He shouted that the sale was starting in fifteen minutes. I hurriedly changed my clothes and located something to eat for brekkie.

People started trickling into the house at nine o'clock on the dot. Dad and the person running the sale immediately began showing them around. I just wandered around like I had during the last sale.

In fact, this sale was progressing much like the first one had. A few people had shown up for the sole purpose of trying to find out 'the scoop' about my family, just like last time. And just like last time, they were thrown out.

After seeing quite a bit of our stuff sold, I got sick of it and decided to just go wander around the bush until it was over. I spent a few hours out there and went back to the house when I figured the sale would be over.

When I returned, I found Dad and the salesman talking quietly at the kitchen table. Dad looked up when he saw me come in, but then went back to talking. I left the kitchen and wandered around the entire house. It was practically empty. There were a few things that hadn't been sold, but most everything was gone.

I loitered in the corridor outside the kitchen until the salesman left. I walked slowly into the kitchen after. Dad was standing there and I walked straight towards him. He embraced me in a hug as tears started to roll down my cheeks. I hadn't even realized that I was going to cry; it just sort of happened. We stayed that way for a while, before Dad pulled away.

"We're going to have to go," he said quietly, "I have a six o'clock flight."

I nodded. "Ok."

"I'll just go collect the furniture that didn't sell."

Dad returned a few minutes later with shrunken furniture that had not been sold. "So, this is it," he said quietly.

"Yeah," I whispered, "We're never coming back."

"No, Amy, we're not," Dad replied, "This part of our lives is over. But we need to look forward, not back."

That was easier said than done. "Let's just go," I said.

Dad wrapped me in a hug and we Disapparated from our house for the last time.

******

Dad didn't linger at Richard and Cinda's. With the estate sale behind him, I knew that his mind was now focusing on the full moon and the fact that it would be Matt's first transformation in England. His transformations were always worse when anything was different, and this one was definitely going to be different.

Richard and Cinda seemed rather excited about traveling to England and they had endless questions about the country for me. I hardly knew any of the answers, but I tried my best to answer them.

The weekend dragged on forever and I was counting down the time until I'd get to go back to England. I couldn't really call it home yet, but it was where my family was and it was better than staying at Richard and Cinda's. I stayed up practically all night on Monday, worrying about my brother. I realized halfway through the night that with the time change, the full moon hadn't even happened yet in England. This didn't cause my worry to wane, though. It merely prolonged it into Tuesday morning. I had always worried about Matt during full moons, but since he nearly died a few months ago, my worrying seemed to increase tenfold.

Richard and Cinda hadn't slept much either on Monday night, but this was due to the fact that we were going to the airport at four in the morning on Tuesday. They either completely ignored my obvious worrying or didn't notice it.

We piled into the car and drove to the airport. Richard dropped Cinda and I off with the luggage and then went to park in the long-term parking lot. He met us inside and then we went through security and then to wait at the terminal. The flight was only delayed thirty minutes, which was surprising.

After an hour or so of sitting in the waiting area and watching boring programs on the television, they announced that our flight was boarding. I collected my carry-on bag and followed Richard and Cinda to the queue of people waiting to get on the plane.

Once we gave our tickets to the lady at the counter, I followed Richard and Cinda through the little passageway to the plane. Instead of heading to the coach section like I usually did, I followed them into what couldn't possibly have been an actual airplane.

I stopped short when we entered the first class section. My jaw dropped as I saw the huge, comfortable looking seats. They practically looked like armchairs instead of airplane seats. There were two seats in each row next to each window and three seats in each row in the middle. Richard quickly found our seats, which were in the middle.

I claimed one of the outside ones and stowed my carry-on bag in the compartment above my head. I looked at the seat and saw that there was a fluffy pillow, a pair of slippers, a sleep mask, and a couple bottles of water sitting on it. I picked them up and threw myself into the seat, only to realize how comfortable it was. I might actually not be stiff and achy after this flight.

Not only were the seats more comfortable, but the atmosphere was more peaceful. There wasn't a single little kid in first class. As a matter of fact, I appeared to be the youngest one there. Most of the people appeared to be businessmen and women, judging by the amount of laptops I had seen so far.

Flight attendants were already walking up and down the aisles, bringing people drinks. Richard and Cinda each ordered a cocktail and they ordered me a soda.

The flight certainly started out more peaceful than the past flights I'd taken. Take-off was still terrifying, but after that, I read one of the books I'd brought and talked with my grandparents. Neither of them had seemed bothered in the slightest by the bumpy take-off. I still had no idea where I got my fear of heights from. Nobody else in my family had it.

The food was only slightly better in first class. I still found it rather unappetizing, but picked at it because I was hungry.

As the flight wore on and we came upon some turbulence that happened to fall shortly after they served the meal, I discovered that first-class barf bags are no better than coach ones. However, I was offered multiple Muggle antacids by the flight attendants, which I declined.

I managed to fall asleep after that and only woke up when they served the next, only slightly less disgusting, meal. It was easier to sleep in first class than coach. I was able to recline my seat back and pretend it was an actual bed. I fell asleep again after I finished the second meal.

I didn't wake up again until the pilot announced that we'd be landing. I pulled my seat up, buckled my seat belt, and braced for the landing.

I wasn't nearly as achy after this flight, but I was groggy. It was odd that I was still tired after sleeping for so much of the flight, but I was.

The plane had landed an hour or so later than scheduled, so by the time we made it through security, it was already getting dark in London. I didn't have a clue as to what day it was there, let alone what time it was.

We found Dad leafing through one of the Muggle magazines in the waiting area. Mum and Matt weren't anywhere to be seen, so I assumed they had stayed home.

"Dad!" I shouted as we drew nearer to him.

Dad looked up and set down his magazine. He stood up and embraced me. "Amy! I missed you. How was your flight?"

"Long. But comfortable. I like those first class seats," I grinned.

Dad laughed, "Now you've spoiled her, Richard."

Richard shrugged, "It's good to be spoiled every once in a while. How are you, Walter?"

"Exhausted," Dad sighed, "Haven't slept in over a day. How about you?"

"Good," Richard replied, "Sorry you're so tired."

Dad shrugged, "I'm used to it. How about you, Cinda?"

"I'm fine, Walter. Although I am eager to see this new house of yours."

"Dad, what time is it?" I asked, "Er, and what day is it?"

"Tuesday, and it's around 7:30," Dad answered.

I nodded. So, really, the full moon had only been last night. I supposed it had risen while I was on the plane, although I must have slept through it.

"Er, how's Matt?" I asked quietly.

"I'll tell you once we're home," Dad said, "Right now, I just want to get home as soon as possible."

That wasn't really a good sign. But I did want to get back to the house soon as well.

We left the airport and walked to the nearest Apparition point. Since Dad was the only one who could actually Apparate, and he couldn't side-along Apparate three people, we had to go in shifts. Dad took me first, along with all the luggage, and we Disapparated with a loud crack.

We appeared in the middle of the backyard and hurried towards the house. Once I was inside, Dad turned around to go get my grandparents.

"Amy?" I heard Mum shout from the kitchen.

I left my suitcase and carry-on bag next to the door and ran into the kitchen. "Hi, Mum!"

"Amy," Mum smiled and gave me a hug, "How was your flight?"

"Long," I replied, "But I like first class."

"Well, I'm glad you're back," Mum said as she turned back to her cooking.

"Me, too," I said as I climbed onto one of the stools. It was odd that I was so happy to be back in England. I hadn't enjoyed that trip to Australia at all. It just hadn't seemed real somehow. The house had been empty and didn't seem like ours anymore.

"Are you hungry?" Mum asked, "We're going to eat as soon as Dad, Richard, and Cinda get here."

"Yeah, I didn't eat much on the plane."

"I figured."

"How's Matt?" I asked.

Mum stopped slicing bread and turned back to me. "He's ok," she sighed, "It was just a bad one because it was in a new place. Dad tried to make the room exactly like the old one, but the wolf knew it was different.

"I gave him potions for the pain and dreamless sleep and he's been sleeping most of the day. I think he'll be better tomorrow. We took him to Healer Sterling this afternoon for a check-up and he said Matt didn't really re-injure anything, so that's good. He just needs to sleep it off."

I nodded. It could have been much, much worse. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting, but it had been worse than what had actually happened. What I was surprised about was how quickly Mum had told me about the transformation. I was half expecting to have to pry it out of her like I usually did. Not to mention the fact that I was home and it was the day after a full moon. That never happened. I would have thought that Mum would make me stay in Australia longer. Richard and Cinda could have gotten tickets for much later in the week, but Mum actually wanted me home before then. Was she actually softening about me being home during the full moon? I was hesitant to believe it, but that did seem like where it was going.

Chapter 44: The Sorting

I heard the door open a minute or so later and Mum and I left the kitchen to see which one of my grandparents was arriving. I reached the door to find Cinda setting her bag down on a table and gazing around at the house.

"Mum," Mum greeted Cinda.

"Julie, darling," Cinda smiled and embraced her, "So, this is your new house."

"Yes," Mum nodded, "What do you think?"

Cinda paused. "Small," she said after a while, "And kind of quaint."

"I'll take that as a complement," Mum said wryly.

"It's just so different," Cinda went on, "Your old house was so much grander and fancier..." she trailed off.

"Yes, but honestly, we didn't need all that space, Mum," Mum explained, "We lived there because Walter inherited it and it was his childhood home. Otherwise, we would have stayed at our first house. Remember that one?"

Cinda nodded. "Yes, that one was even smaller than this."

"But we like it," Mum sighed.

"I know, I know," Cinda replied, "It'll just take some getting used to."

We wandered back to the kitchen and Mum continued cooking while Cinda set the table. Richard and Dad arrived a few minutes later and Richard told my parents how much he liked the house. We took them on the grand tour (which didn't take long) and showed them the entire place with the exception of the basement, which was still in partial disrepair.

When we finished showing my grandparents the house, Ellie announced that dinner was ready.

"I'll go see if Matt's up to eating dinner with us," Mum said as we entered the kitchen.

"Let me, Jule," Dad said, "I haven't seen him in a few hours."

I sat down at the table next to Mum, with Matt's empty seat on the other side. Ellie started serving the food, but no one started eating until Dad returned.

"He's sound asleep," Dad said as he sat down at the head of the table.

Mum nodded, "I figured he would be. He's been asleep ever since we got home from St. Mungo's."

"When will he be all recovered?" Richard asked quietly.

"Probably late tomorrow or early Thursday, he'll be feeling back to normal," Dad told him.

The rest of dinner was spent discussing England and what my parents liked and disliked about it. Richard and Cinda had dozens of questions about the house, Dad's job, and England in general.

After dinner, Dad enlarged a bed that had not sold at the estate sale (which actually happened to be the bed my grandparents usually slept in when they stayed at my house) and set it up in the library for them. Everyone went to bed a few hours later, but I stayed up and looked out of my telescope.

I woke up late the next morning. Very late. But I figured I needed to in order to adjust to the different time zone. I stumbled down the stairs and to the living room only to find that I was one of the first ones up. Only Mum and Dad got up before I did and were talking quietly to themselves.

Richard and Cinda woke up shortly after I had brekkie (or would lunch have been a more appropriate term?). It wound up being a very quiet day. Matt was in no shape to go anywhere. He spent the day lounging on the couch reading and playing his DS. Cinda gave Mum interior decorating advice about the house and the two of them wound up rearranging the kitchen yet again. Richard, after hearing about Dad's microwave incident, decided to teach Dad the finer points of cooking meals in a microwave. I thought this was rather funny since Richard was certainly not a cook. But, Richard and Dad seemed to enjoy it. They even went out and bought these Muggle things called 'microwave dinners', which are meals you stick in the microwave for a few minutes and then eat. We wound up having them for dinner.

I spent the day wandering from room to room, just looking at what my family members were doing. I realized how very odd it was to have my grandparents in England with us. What was even stranger was that at that moment, no one in my family was in Australia. Well, except for Clarence and his family, but I didn't really consider them family anymore. I played a few rounds of Exploding Snap and Gobstones with Matt, but then he got bored with it and we both read for a while.

Dad had to go back to work the next day, but Mum decided that we could go show Richard and Cinda Diagon Alley. That was fun, especially when we went to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Both Richard and Cinda were flabbergasted by the amount of magical pranking items they had. Dad met us for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron, which was nice.

Richard and Cinda left a few days later. Their visit had been surprisingly fun. They said they'd visit again soon, but didn't give an exact date.

******

The weeks went by quickly after that. The time before I would go to Hogwarts was quickly decreasing and once August arrived, I realized how close it was. I started thinking about it all the time and it was making me nervous. Sure, I was getting used to our new house and living in England, but school would be a different story. I was going to know absolutely no one, except for the headmaster.

Dad finished my potions room and I was very happy with it. It looked a lot like the one I had in Australia, except it had no windows. Dad put some sort of magical ventilation system in, though.

"Amy!" Mum shouted down the stairs one Thursday afternoon.

"What?" I shouted back as I increased the fire under my cauldron.

"You've got a letter!" Mum answered.

I turned off the flame and ran up the stairs. Maybe it was from Olivia. I had owled her the previous week, but she still hadn't gotten back to me.

Mum handed me the letter once I entered the living room. I turned it over and saw that it was from Hogwarts. I slit it open, pulled the letter out, and read it silently.

Dear Miss Eckerton,

Please note that the new term will begin
on September first. The Hogwarts Express
will leave from King's Cross Station,
Platform 9 3/4 at eleven o'clock in the
morning.

Also, since you are a new student this term,
you need to arrange to meet with the
headmaster prior to the start of term.
Please owl him with a time that will work,
the sooner the better.

Sincerely,
Professor Padma Patil
Deputy Headmistress

"What's that about?" Mum asked.

"Telling me when school starts," I mumbled, "September first. But I have to go see the headmaster soon, since I'm new there." I handed her the letter.

Mum's eyes moved along the page and then she set the letter down on the table. "I'll send an owl. I could take you tomorrow, after Matt's appointment with Norlam."

Matt's sessions with Norlam were going well. So well in fact, that Norlam announced the next day that he was going to start the relaxation techniques he had mentioned months ago. Norlam actually had Mum and I do them as well, which was kind of odd. He had us take deep breaths with our eyes closed while we imagined ourselves in relaxing places. I thought about walking through the bush in Australia.

It was actually really relaxing and the hour went by fast. Norlam talked briefly in private to Mum and then left.

"Ready to go?" Mum asked a few minutes later.

"Yeah," I replied.

Kendrick had said he was going to meet us at the Three Broomsticks, so Mum, Matt, and I Apparated to Hogsmeade and walked into the pub. That afternoon it happened to be filled with gossipy old witches and there were a few wizards discussing politics at the bar.

"Just give it a few years," one of them was saying, "And Percy Weasley will be Minister. I'd bet my Gringotts account on it."

"Naw," the other one was saying, "He's softened with age. He's just not Minister material anymore."

"Julie!" Professor Kendrick got up from the bar and greeted us. He had been sitting a few seats down from the politicking wizards.

"Professor Kendrick," Mum smiled and shook his hand.

"Please, call me Fabius."

"All right," Mum said.

"Well, let's go up to the castle," Kendrick replied.

I followed him out of the pub and into Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade in the summer was a lot different than Hogsmeade in the winter. People were congregating outside and talking about anything and everything. Little kids ran around chasing each other and older kids goofed off.

Eventually we made it to the school grounds and then into the castle. The castle was the opposite of Hogsmeade. It seemed completely deserted. In fact, I didn't see a single person on our way to Kendrick's study.

"Is Walter working?" Kendrick asked as we entered his study.

"Yes," Mum answered.

"How is he liking it?"

"Oh, he's enjoying it," Mum said.

"Good," Kendrick smiled and gestured for us to sit down.

I sat down in one of the two chairs in front of Kendrick's desk and Mum sat in the other. Matt sat down on her lap.

"All right," Kendrick folded his hands together, "As you know, the term starts on the first and you will arrive here by train. How did you get to school in Australia?"

"Train," I replied.

Kendrick nodded, "And I'm assuming the platform the train arrived at was hidden from Muggles?"

"Yeah," I said, "You had to run into the barrier separating two platforms."

"Ah, well, it's the same here. You will run through the barrier in between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross to get to Platform 9 3/4."

"Ok," I said.

"And now onto slightly more exciting matters. We need to figure out what classes you're taking. At Hogwarts, there is a core curriculum of classes that everyone must take until the end of fifth year, when the O.W.L. exams are taken. Then, you choose which classes to continue at the N.E.W.T. level for sixth and seventh years. At the end of seventh year, you take your N.E.W.T. exams in those classes."

I nodded. Classes and exams had been similar to that in Australia.

"Therefore, you have to take Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions, History of Magic, Charms, Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Besides those, you can take two or three electives. The choices for electives are Muggle Studies, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Divination, and Ancient Runes. Which would you like to take?"

"Well, I did Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes in Australia," I explained, "I guess I'll just take those."

Kendrick nodded and jotted something down on a piece of parchment. "Very good," he turned to Mum, "At Hogwarts, anyone in third year and above can visit Hogsmeade a couple of times during the year. If you'll let Amy participate, I'll need you to sign this form." He handed Mum a piece of parchment.

"Of course," Mum picked up a quill and quickly signed the parchment.

"Well," Kendrick took the permission slip, "All that remains now is to Sort you into your house, unless you want to be sorted with the first years."

My house. I had completely forgotten that I'd have to be sorted into a house at Hogwarts. "I'll do it now." No way was I going to be sorted in front of the entire school with a bunch of eleven-year-olds.

"All right," Kendrick stood up and then paused, "It's sort of been a tradition at Hogwarts for the first years not to know how the sorting is done." He turned to Matt, "Could I ask you not to mention anything about the sorting when you're on your first train ride to Hogwarts?"

Matt nodded but didn't say anything. I was now thoroughly curious about this sorting thing. Why was it so secretive? What was so special about it?

"All you'll have to do is sit there," Kendrick told me as he pulled a very old looking hat off a shelf near his desk. He held it up in front of him. "This is the Sorting Hat. It will tell you where you will go."

I stared at it. A hat? A hat was going to sort me? Even in the wizarding world, that was a little strange. "But it's a hat," I said.

"A wise hat," Kendrick smiled.

"And I will figure out where to put you," the hat's brim opened suddenly and began talking.

I gaped at it and then turned to Mum and Matt. Both of them were staring at it as well. Not only was it a hat, but it was a talking hat.

Kendrick walked over to me and put the hat on my head. Immediately, the hat's voice appeared in my head. I nearly jumped out of my seat from the shock of it.

'Hmm,' the hat began, 'you're older than most of the kids I sort.'

'Yeah, well, I moved here,' I thought.

'I see that,' the hat replied. I guess it knew everything about me.

'Hmm, you're loyal. Fiercely loyal. You'd do anything for your family,' the hat said more as a statement than a question, 'Good Hufflepuff material.'

'Loyal, that's good. I guess I'm loyal.'

'Very loyal. But that's not all. You've got courage. A rare courage that I don't see every year. The courage you need to remain loyal to your family, especially your brother, no matter what the circumstances are. Yes, indeed, very interesting combination. The loyalty of a Hufflepuff, but the courage of a Gryffindor...'

'Gryffindor! Someone told me that's the best house.'

'Everyone says that about their house. They all have their good qualities. And you happen to possess the qualities of two great houses. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. But which one. Which one indeed?'

I didn't really care which one. I didn't know anything about either house, except that Ted Lupin and George Weasley said that Gryffindor was the best.

"Gryffindor!" the hat finally shouted.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Kendrick took the hat off my head. It as over. I hadn't even realized how nervous I was about the sorting until after it was over.

"Congratulations," Kendrick said as he put the hat away, "Many great witches and wizards have been in Gryffindor."

"That's where Dumbledore was," Matt announced suddenly.

"Yes, he was," Kendrick replied and turned around to look at Dumbledore's portrait, but it was empty. "Well, I think that's it. Oh, here's a list of supplies you'll need before term starts," Kendrick handed me a piece of parchment, "Most should be the same as what you needed in Australia, but there are a bunch of books you'll need to get as well as robes. Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley sells Hogwarts robes."

"Thanks," I said.

Kendrick walked us back to the Three Broomsticks. He and Mum talked about Hogwarts the whole way there, but I didn't really pay attention. I just kept thinking about how in less than a month I would be a Hogwarts student. Well, I sort of already was. I had a house. Gryffindor. The house where the brave and courageous students went. The Sorting Hat had said I was courageous, but I didn't think I was. I couldn't think of anything courageous I'd ever done. Loyal, yes, I could see myself as loyal. But not courageous. What had the hat meant anyway? Courage to remain loyal to my family no matter what? Why would I need courage for that? I guess that hat knew more about myself than I did.

******

"Where do you want to go first?" Mum asked me the next day, as we walked down the steps of Gringotts. My parents had decided to take me shopping for my school stuff, and we had just finished another bumpy ride on a Gringotts cart. It had not been any better than the first one.

"The book store," I said immediately.

We set off to Flourish and Blotts and my stomach started to calm down. I had felt like I was going to chunder on that cart. Matt had actually sort of enjoyed it this time. I figured it was because he wasn't recovering from jet lag this time. Neither was I, but it still made me sick.

Flourish and Blotts was extremely crowded when we arrived. It didn't surprise me since it was a Saturday and only a few weeks before the start of term. Kids were running around and parents were shouting at them not to leave the shop. Mum immediately grabbed Matt's hand as we entered.

There were a few shop assistants scurrying around trying to locate books for people, but I decided to just find my own. I always liked looking around book shops and finding my own books. Dad helped me and it wasn't long before we had bought them all and found Mum and Matt in the children's book section. Mum was looking at a cookbook and Matt was reading a book about a bloke who had decided to fly his broom to the moon.

After we left Flourish and Blotts, we walked to Madam Malkin's, a store I had walked past numerous times but never actually entered. We walked into the cramped shop and started looking through a pile of robes.

"Hogwarts?" an old witch who was busy supervising measuring tapes on two different kids.

I looked up. "Yeah."

"Just give me a few minutes and I'll be right with you."

I nodded and continued to rifle through the pile of robes. I wasn't really interested in any of them, but there was nothing else to do.

"I'm bored," Matt announced after we'd waited two minutes.

"Why don't I take him to the joke shop?" Dad suggested, "Then you can finish up here and go to the Apothecary. We'll meet up with you after that."

"That's a good idea," Mum agreed and Dad and Matt left the shop.

Matt hated going to the Apothecary in Australia because all the smells of the various potions ingredients wafted together to make an almost unbearable scent. It made him feel sick every time he went into the shop. It didn't help that the place had Wolfsbane (the ingredient, not the actual potion) out in the open and that stuff is really dangerous for werewolves when it's undiluted. I figured the Apothecary in Diagon Alley would be no different.

A few minutes later the witch who I assumed was Madam Malkin called me forward to get measured for my robes.

"What house are you in?" she asked as her measuring tape magically measured me.

"Gryffindor," I told her. It was definitely odd saying that.

A little while later, Mum and I left the shop with three sets of Gryffindor robes. Apparently the Gryffindor mascot was a lion, as the crest depicted a lion standing on its hind legs.

The Apothecary was a few buildings down from Madam Malkin's. The Apothecary in Australia was always one of my favorite shops. I could spend hours browsing the different ingredients and cauldrons.

We stepped into the dark shop and sure enough I smelled the familiar sent of Wolfsbane. But I ignored it since Matt wasn't there and made a beeline for a display of solid gold cauldrons. Someday I would own one.

"Amy, you know you're not getting one of those," Mum said.

"I know," I replied, "But I can dream, right?"

Mum sighed, "Of course. Let's just find your ingredients."

"I've got a solid gold cauldron," a voice drawled from behind me.

I turned around and saw a tall and skinny bloke around my age walking towards me. His hair was a mousy brown and his face was plagued with a lot of acne.

"Er, ok," I said, "Is it nice?"

"'Course it's nice. It's solid gold," the boy laughed, "You don't look familiar. Do you go to Hogwarts?"

"Yes," I said.

"Huh," the boy muttered, "Like I said, I don't think I've seen you before. Is this your first year at Hogwarts?"

"Er, yeah," I said quietly.

"That's weird. You look too old to be a first year. What year are you in?"

"Fourth," I answered, "And to answer your next question, I just moved to England."

"From where?" the boy pressed, "And why?"

"Australia, and it's not really any of your business," I said as I tried to move away from him. He was quite nosy and seemed like the kind of person who bragged a lot.

"Well," he said as he followed me, "Hope for Slytherin. It's really the only good house."

"I'm already in Gryffindor, thanks," I said as I picked up a bag of dried beetles.

"Oh," he replied, "That's a shame."

"Not really," I said briskly. If this bloke was in Slytherin, I was glad I wasn't there.

"Maybe we'll share classes. I'm in fourth year, too. What's your name?"

"Amy Eckerton," I answered, figuring he'd find that out soon enough anyway, "And you?"

"Quinton Willinson."

I nodded. "I'd better go get the rest of my ingredients."

"All right. Good luck in Gryffindor," Quinton said snidely as he sauntered off towards the back of the shop.

I avoided him as I continued collecting my ingredients. I seriously hoped the people in Gryffindor weren't like him. In the ten minutes I'd talked to him, I realized that I really didn't want to talk to him again. I just didn't like the way he demanded to know why I moved to England. I hadn't quite worked out my answer to that yet and didn't want to elaborate on it with anyone.

Mum paid for my ingredients and then we left the shop, thankfully without seeing Quinton again. We meandered down Diagon Alley and found Dad and Matt loitering near the Magical Market. I noticed Mum give Dad a significant look and then the two of them smiled at me.

"Amy," Mum began, "We've got a surprise for you."

I looked at them quizzically. A surprise? For me and just me? Usually whenever they said they had a surprise, it was for both Matt and I.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"We've decided to get you an owl," Mum explained, "In order for you to keep in touch with Olivia better while you're in school."

"Really?" I grinned, "Thanks!"

I had wanted an owl when I first started school, but my parents said no since we had Jasper. I begged them for months and then gave up.

"Yes, really," Dad said, "There's a shop down the road, Eyelops Owl Emporium. We'll go right now."

I took off immediately for the shop. I couldn't believe I was actually getting an owl. It was the first good thing to happen since moving to England.

I arrived at Eyelops before my parents did and walked inside to find numerous owls hooting in various cages. I started with the first cage I saw, which housed a snowy owl. However, when I tried to get its attention, the owl completely ignored me. Ok, I thought, not that one.

My parents and Matt showed up when I was at the second owl cage. They began to look around and kept calling me to see different owls. I wanted to pick one, though.

I continued looking at all the owls until I came upon one that was black with white speckles. He was in a cage with a few other owls, but they all seemed to be ignoring him.

"Just got him in the other day," the shopkeeper gestured to the speckled owl, "But none of the other owls are accepting him. I think he's lonely."

Like me, I thought. True, I hadn't actually gone to Hogwarts yet so I didn't know what the other students would think of me. But they had been going to school together for years and I was the new kid.

I stuck my finger in the cage and the owl came over and nibbled at it as I petted him.

"I'll take him," I announced a few minutes later. The owl was exactly like me. An outsider in a new place.

The shopkeeper smiled and opened the cage. I found another cage and the shopkeeper put my new owl in it. Mum and Dad paid for him and I carried him out the door with a huge grin on my face. After nearly fifteen years, I finally had a pet. I never had childhood pets like most kids did. Only Jasper, and he was the family owl. I never had fish or rats or puffskeins.

"I want an owl," Matt whined as we walked towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"When you're older and are going to Hogwarts," Mum told him.

"But that's not fair," he muttered.

I smirked to myself. Finally I was getting something he wasn't. Mum and Dad were finally not giving into his whining. Most times, they gave him what he wanted as if it would somehow make up for the fact that he had to turn into a wolf once a month. Maybe they were finally realizing that it wasn't good to give him whatever he wanted.

Chapter 45: Tense Moon

I spent the next week and a half pouring over my new Potions and Astronomy books. After reading the first chapter of my Potions book, I brewed the first potion in it. It took a few tries, but I eventually got it right. My Astronomy book was quite different from previous year's. This one focused on the Northern Hemisphere and I realized that my knowledge of that hemisphere was limited.

The last thing I wanted was to go to Hogwarts without knowing the required Astronomy curriculum, so I found a few Astronomy books that Dad had put in the library and spent hours memorizing the stars of the Northern sky. I even named my new owl after one of the stars I discovered. Pollux. As soon as I read the name, I knew it fit my owl. I'm not sure why, but it did.

Mum and Dad were remaining mysteriously quiet about the upcoming full moon and their plans for it. Neither of them said anything about me flying to Richard and Cinda's, which gave me the feeling I wasn't going to. They would have had to book tickets ahead of time and I hadn't heard any mention of that. But at the same time, I doubted they'd actually let me stay home during the full moon. Sure, they were becoming a little more lax about keeping me away in the days following, but I had a feeling that was due to logistics more than anything else.

The day before the full moon Mum and Dad holed up in Dad's study, much like they had done when we were in Australia. Dad had gotten the day off, as well as the day of the actual full moon and the day after. Apparently when he asked for the days off, his boss didn't even ask why and let him have them without even thinking about it.

I was sitting in a chair in the den trying to memorize more of the Northern sky, but kept looking up at the door to see if Mum and Dad left Dad's study. I knew they were talking about the full moon, and me.

After what seemed like nearly an hour, I heard footsteps coming into the room and immediately closed my book and looked up.

Mum and Dad walked in and sat down on either side of Matt, who was laying on the couch, but was still awake. Mum gazed softly down at him and rubbed his back. Dad looked up at me.

"Amy, we've been talking about tomorrow," Dad said quietly.

"I figured," I said, "I'm guessing I'm not going to Richard and Cinda's?"

"No," Dad replied, "It's too complicated to fly you down there once a month. I don't want you flying alone, so one of us would have to go with you. That's two round-trip tickets once a month, which is too costly."

I nodded. That made sense. Although I was sort of afraid to hear their alternative plan.

"This is the last full moon before school and there isn't a full moon over your Christmas holiday this year. Once we get through this one, we won't have to think about it until next summer," Dad went on, "So we have a temporary plan just for tomorrow. I know you won't like it, but it's our only option. I'm asking you to just accept it, Amy."

I shrugged. "I suppose."

"You and your mother are going to spend the night in an inn," Dad explained, "One in Hogsmeade, that we've never been to. You can't go to the Leaky Cauldron or the Three Broomsticks since the owners know us now. They would find it incredibly odd that you would be spending a night there after already moving. The one you're staying at is called the Hog's Head."

My jaw dropped and I stared at him. Then I looked at Mum, who didn't look at all happy with this plan. Staying at an inn with Mum during the full moon hadn't even crossed my mind. Both of my parents had been with Matt on every full moon since he was bitten (well, not with him, but in the same house). I knew Mum wouldn't want to be away from him tomorrow night.

"How in the name of Merlin did you come up with that?" I asked.

Dad sighed, "The original plan was for Jack to come visit and he would stay at an inn with you, but he couldn't get time off work. He's used up all his holiday time for the year, between the estate sale and Matt's being in St. Mungo's. So, Mum will go with you."

"Er, ok, then," I muttered, still shocked at the lengths they would go to keep me out of the house once a month.

"Thanks, Amy," Dad sighed, "I really appreciate you not protesting this."

I shrugged. It wasn't that different than spending the night with Richard and Cinda, except I'd be with Mum instead.

******

I never was home the day of the full moon until a few months ago, shortly before the whole moving saga started. Mum and Dad always shuttled me out of the house at least the day before. I hadn't known what to expect that day in December, when I spent the morning of the full moon at home. That day seemed to have loosened my parents because after that, I spent a few more full moon mornings at home. But even then, I was still out of the house by early afternoon. This full moon was different.

Mum clearly wanted to stay at home with Matt. She barely left his side all day. I briefly wondered why she didn't stay home with him instead of Dad, but then figured it was because Dad had a more extensive knowledge of werewolves and spells that would overcome one, should that become necessary.

I made the mistake of suggesting that I just stay home, but that earned me a fifteen minute lecture from Mum, who was already short-tempered and tense. She only stopped yelling when Matt, who had been sleeping on the couch, woke up and pitifully told her to stop screaming so loud.

After that, I just decided to steer clear of her and spent the day in my room. I came out briefly to scrounge for something to eat, but then went back in. I didn't come out until Dad told me that the moon would be rising in an hour and it was time for me to leave.

I grabbed the bag I had packed and tentatively walked down the stairs. After my earlier interaction with Mum, I didn't really want to spend the night with her.

Mum and Dad were both sitting on the couch in the living room. Matt was shaking in Mum's arms. She looked up at me when I walked in and then turned back to Matt.

"Honey, I'm going to have to go," she whispered.

"N-no," Matt cried, "Mummy, don't go!"

"I have to, honey, but I'll be back in the morning. I promise I'll be there when you wake up," Mum soothed.

Mum and Dad both stood up and Dad took Matt out of Mum's arms. He was crying hysterically and I kind of stood awkwardly to the side. I had no idea what to say and figured it would probably be best not to say anything.

"C'mon, Matt, we're going to go down to the basement," Dad said quietly and then turned to Mum, "Bye, Jule. See you in the morning. I love you."

"Love you, too," Mum replied. She kissed Matt's head. "Bye, honey, I love you. I'll be there when you wake up."

"Bye, Amy. Love you," Dad said.

"Love you, too, Dad," I replied.

"Good luck," Mum said quietly.

"We'll be fine," Dad assured her.

Mum picked up her bag and walked wordlessly to the door. I followed her and shut the door behind us. We walked a short distance until we reached the end of the anti-Apparition wards and then Mum beckoned for me to Apparate with her.

We reappeared in Hogsmeade and no one gave us a second glance as we began to walk down the street. I had no idea where we were going, but Mum seemed to have a slight idea.

A short while later we found the pub called the Hog's Head. The building looked in dire need of repairs and I could've sworn I saw a few goats in the backyard.

I followed Mum inside and realized that this place was the complete opposite of the Three Broomsticks. It was dark and dusty inside and the air had a faint smell of what I could only describe as goat. There were a few patrons, but none of them seemed to be conversing with each other. Most of them were clad in layers of cloaks and shawls, despite the warm weather outside.

Mum and I walked up to the bar, where a very old man with ridiculously long and unkempt grey hair was absentmindedly rubbing a cloth along the counter. I gawked as I saw that there was another goat behind him. It was chewing on something and I didn't want to know what.

"I'd like a room for the night," Mum said once we got his attention.

The man grumbled and walked over to the other end of the bar. He returned and slammed a key down on the table. "Room two," he muttered.

"Thank you," Mum said as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a couple Galleons and tossed them on the bar. "Keep the change. We'll likely be gone before you open for the day."

"Mm-hmm," the man grunted, "'S fine."

We left the bar and located a staircase, which lead us up to a small corridor with about four rooms leading off of it. We stopped at the one labeled 'two' and Mum unlocked it.

The room was about as dirty as the pub below. The bedspread on the only bed looked to be older than the bloke who was running the place. It was patched and frayed and missing some chunks of fabric. There was no doubt in my mind that a goat had chewed on it. I was thoroughly surprised that Mum was actually willing to stay at this place. Of course, maybe now she'd be less likely to tell me that my room was messy. Compared to this place, my room was the neatest room around.

I tossed my bag down on the bed and a cloud of dust appeared around it. I then went over to the window and yanked the curtains open to try and get some light in the place. The sun had mostly set, but the moon hadn't quite risen. I went back to my bag and pulled out a book, fully prepared to read and not say a word to Mum the entire night. There was no way I'd actually sleep, even if that bed had been cleaned during the last century. Despite my dislike for the current arrangement, I was still worried about my brother.

Mum planted herself on the dusty bed, seemingly completely unaware of the dirtiness of it. I couldn't ever remember a time where Mum did not make a comment on the cleanliness of an obviously dirty room. It was a sure sign that she was distracted. She sat there, utterly devoid of movement for a full half an hour.

During that half hour, I alternated reading a few sentences from my book and gazing out at the sky. I was watching the moon rise. It was something I did during most full moons, but normally did alone. I certainly hadn't done it with Mum before, except before Matt had been bitten.

Of course, Mum was so quiet and still that I could have pretended that she wasn't even there. Part of me thought I should say something to comfort her or reassure her everything would be ok, but I sort of knew it would be pointless.

Mum made the first sound since her short conversation with the barman the moment the moon rose. It was a short intake of breath, that was just audible for me to hear. I turned around and saw that her moonlit face was etched with anguish.

The moon had risen. At that moment, my brother was turning into a wolf. Even though it had been happening for two and a half years, the idea of my tiny, quiet brother turning into a raging monster boggled my mind.

Although she had made some sort of noise, my mother still didn't move. She sat on the bed, staring out the window as I read in the rickety chair that was next to the bed.

I was just beginning to get used to the idea that Mum would sit on that bed for the entire night when she suddenly stood up. The bed creaked and I nearly dropped my book in surprise.

"Ellie!" Mum said suddenly.

There was a loud crack and Ellie appeared out of thin air. She was looking curiously at Mum, who looked determined. I could see why Ellie was so confused. We rarely ever called her like that. We didn't treat her like someone who would act on our every whim and desire and feed us peeled grapes poolside. She was a member of the family, and that was that.

"Is you needing something, Mistress?" Ellie asked.

"I'm sorry, Ellie," Mum croaked, "I know we don't normally call you to us like that. But I have to know. How is-" her voice cracked, "How is Matt?"

"Master Matt is in the basement," Ellie replied, "Ellie is not knowing anything else."

"C-could you ask Walter?" Mum said quietly.

"Of course, Mistress," Ellie disappeared with a crack.

Mum sighed and collapsed onto the bed again. She coughed as a cloud of dust erupted around her.

Ellie Apparated into the room a few minutes later. Mum looked up. "Well?" she asked.

"Master says nothing out of the ordinary is happening. Other than that, Master does not know. Matt is in the basement, like usual," Ellie told her.

"Thanks, Ellie," Mum whispered. Ellie nodded and then Disapparated.

Mum returned to her vigil on the bed after Ellie left. I resumed my reading and decided not to talk unless Mum asked me something. The tense look on her face told me the smallest thing would set her off.

As the night progressed, Mum continued to call Ellie every few hours. I wasn't sure what the point of it was. As long as the moon remained full, nobody was going to know what was going on in the basement. I did understand Mum's worry. I was worried. I was afraid of what was happening at that very moment. But I understood that there was nothing I could do. That was one difference between Mum and I. She couldn't accept that this was one thing she couldn't make easier for Matt. I was sure this had something to do with her motherly instincts, but as I wasn't a mother, I couldn't be sure. What I did know was that I couldn't do a thing to help Matt and I wasn't going to anguish over it.

"Ellie?" Mum said for what must have been the fifth time that night. It was just after two in the morning and I was beginning to become tired, but didn't want to succumb to the fatigue.

Ellie Apparated once again into the dank room we were spending the night in. She looked wearily at Mum. Mum stood up and opened her mouth to speak, but Ellie was faster.

"Nothing has changed since the last time you called Ellie," Ellie sighed, "And Ellie must tell you that she is needing to sleep."

Mum sank down onto the bed and put her face in her hands. "Oh, Merlin, you're right. I'm so sorry, Ellie. I didn't even think- I just- Oh, I don't know..." her voice trailed off.

"It's all right," Ellie assured her, "Everything will be ok. Ellie will see you in a few hours."

Mum nodded and Ellie Disapparated.

I glanced up from my book and saw that Mum still had her head in her hands. I could hear quiet sobs coming from her. I looked out at the moon once again and then just decided to get up and sit on the bed next to her.

I awkwardly got up and sat down next to Mum. The bed creaked and she looked at me, but said nothing. Something told me to put my arm around her, so I did. It was strange. I was the daughter and she was the mother, yet I was comforting her. That fact hit me like a Bludger to the stomach. Things were changing, faster than I would have thought or wanted.

******

I must have fallen asleep sometime after that, because the next thing I knew Mum was shaking me awake.

"Amy," she whispered, "Amy!" she shouted a little louder.

"Urgh," I muttered and sat up. The room was dark, but when I looked out the window, I saw that the moon had set and the first rays of morning sun were peeking their way over the horizon.

"Come on, Amy," Mum said urgently, "Get up! The moon's set. We're going home."

"Mmm-kay," I replied and sleepily sat up. I shoved my book back into the bag of pajamas that I had never changed into and followed Mum out the door.

The pub below was deserted save for a goat that was chewing on one of the tables. I still thought it was extremely bizarre that goats lived in the pub. I suppose if I hadn't been to the Three Broomsticks or the Leaky Cauldron, I would have thought that goats were a standard fixture in British wizarding pubs. But, I had, so goats in the Hog's Head was very odd indeed.

Mum left the key on the bar and we headed out to the street. Hogsmeade was quiet and empty. Not a soul was out that early. The only living thing I saw was a cat milling about a few trees.

Mum and I Disapparated once we'd walked a few meters. We reappeared in our backyard and Mum paused before continuing to the house.

"Amy, I want you to go to your room once we're inside. Your father and I have to heal Matt's injuries and start to get his strength back. I don't want you in the room for that. Please, don't argue with me. Just go to your room, get some sleep, and Dad or I will get you in a few hours."

I nodded, somehow not even wanting to argue with her. A few months ago I would have. But after the whole ordeal in Australia, I was beginning to see that there was no point to arguing. Plus, after seeing Mum that night, I actually didn't want to cause her anymore stress.

Neither Mum or Dad came to get me until late in the afternoon. I didn't really notice since I slept all day. I knew I would regret that once nighttime came, but I was knackered.

Dad woke me up shortly before dinner and told me that Matt was no worse than usual. He was sleeping, so I wasn't allowed to go see him. I ate a quiet dinner with Mum and Dad, who both still looked exhausted.

I laid awake for half the night since I wasn't tired. I realized that that was the last full moon before I'd go to school. It was strange to think about going back to school. I hadn't been in school for over six months. I had gotten used to being home with my family. We had been through so much since December and me going back to school was sort of like things were getting back to normal.

What was normal? I had no idea anymore. Normal used to be living in Australia, going to the Australian School of Sorcery, seeing Richard and Cinda all the time, and visiting with Kenzie and Olivia. None of that was going to be normal now. Now I lived in England, would go to Hogwarts, rarely see my grandparents, and I had no friends here. I guess that would soon be normal.

The next week flew by in a blur. Matt had a few more visits from Healer Norlam, who decided to decrease the visits to once a week now that Matt was making so much progress. Mum and Dad were thrilled by that.

I became increasingly nervous about Hogwarts as the week progressed. I couldn't go to a new school for fourth year. My parents were mental for making me do this. The only people in that entire school I would know were Teddy and the bloke from the Apothecary, and he was an arse. How in the name of Merlin was I going to fit into a group of kids who had been together since first year?

"We're going to miss you, Amy," Mum said at dinner the night before the first day of school.

I nodded as I picked at the food on my plate. Mum had made spaghetti, my favorite. It reminded me of my first day back from school, way back in December, before I had any idea that we were going to move.

"You are going to do fine at Hogwarts," Dad assured me, "It's a great school."

"I can't wait to go to Hogwarts!" Matt said excitedly, "You'll have to tell me everything about it."

"Yeah, sure," I muttered. He had enough enthusiasm for the both of us. I wished he could just go instead of me.

Mum smiled sympathetically. "You are going to be fine. You'll make new friends."

Easier said than done, I thought. "I'm not really that hungry. I think I'll just go to bed," I said quietly as I got up from the table.

"Ok, we'll see you in the morning. Good night," Mum got up and gave me a hug, "I love you."

"'Night, Amy," Dad said, "Love you."

"Love you too," I replied and left the room.

I ran up the stairs and into my room. The first thing I saw was my packed trunk. I sighed and collapsed onto my bed. This was so different than when I was eleven and first going to the Australian School of Sorcery.

I had been so excited then. From the moment I received my letter, I couldn't wait to go to school. The summer had seemed to drag on. Everything from shopping for my wand to packing my trunk had been exciting to me. I think I drove my parents mad with the amount of questions I asked them about school that summer.

Life had been so carefree back then. It was hard to believe that that had only been three and a half years ago. So much had changed. I really had nothing to worry about back then. Sure, I still had problems making friends, but as soon as I became friends with Olivia, I didn't worry about it.

So much had happened since then. Matt was bitten, Dad got promoted, Killigan denied Matt admission to school, Dad got fired, we moved. And now, here I was again entering a school for the first time. Only this time I wasn't filled with excitement. I was filled with dread. I didn't want to go.

I tossed and turned the entire night. I stared at the clock and watched as the numbers slowly ticked towards morning. Eventually, I gave up. I got up and read my new Potions text book. It couldn't hurt to get continue with the reading.

Chapter 46: Here Comes Goodbye

I woke up to Pollux nipping my hand. I groggily lifted my head off my book and groaned. This was it. September first. I fed Pollux and slowly changed into jeans and a t-shirt.

My parents and Matt were already eating brekkie when I went downstairs. Mum and Dad gave me half-hearted smiles as I sat down with a bowl of Fruit Loops. I doubted they'd have those at Hogwarts, but I was too nervous to eat very much.

"Are you all packed?" Mum asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I just have to shut Pollux in his cage."

"Good. We'll leave in an hour or so," Mum replied.

I nodded again and finished my cereal. Once I was done, I got up and went outside. It was a warm sunny day, but I really had no idea what the weather was supposed to be like in England in September. The weather seemed to be the opposite of my mood. It would have been more appropriate for it to be rainy and cold.

I wandered around the property, not really wanting to settle in one spot. I watched the farmer's cows chewing grass in the nearby field and watched a few birds fly around.

"Hi, Amy," someone said from behind me.

I turned around and saw Matt walking towards me. I sighed. I couldn't really believe it, but I was actually going to miss him. This whole thing was his fault, but I just couldn't be as angry with him as I used to be. Not after he went through so much in the last few months.

"Hi, Matt," I said quietly as I sat down on the low fence that surrounded the property. Matt started to climb up after me. "Be careful," I said as I helped him up. I put my arm around his back so he couldn't fall off.

"I will," he said, "I don't want you to go."

Neither do I, I thought. "I have to," I replied.

"I'm going to miss you," he said.

"Me, too," I swallowed hard. Why did this seem worse than when I went away to school in first year?

"It's going to be boring without you here," Matt announced.

I giggled. "It'll be like it was when I was at school in Australia."

"It was boring then, too. There's nothing to do when you're not here."

He really needed some friends. Mum and Dad should just let him go to Muggle school. That would never happen, though.

"I'll be back over Christmas," I told him, trying to reassure myself as much as him.

Matt nodded. "Yeah, but that's a long time away."

"I know it is," I said quietly.

"Amy! Matt! Are you out here?" Mum shouted from the window.

"Yeah!" I shouted back.

"It's time to go!" she told us.

I took a deep breath and jumped off the fence. I looked at Matt and his eyes were tearing up. Just seeing that made me want to cry. He really was going to miss me.

"Want me to carry you?" I asked.

He nodded and held out his arms. I lifted him up and we walked slowly back to the house, neither of us saying a word.

"Did he hurt himself again?" Mum asked as we entered the house.

"No," I whispered, "We were just...saying goodbye...and stuff."

Mum nodded as I set Matt down on the floor. I looked up and saw Dad standing a few yards away with my trunk propped up on its side. Pollux's cage was sitting on the table and he was hooting inside of it.

"Ready?" Dad asked.

I nodded as I grabbed Pollux. "I guess," I muttered.

Mum grabbed Matt's hand and I followed them out the door. Dad followed with my trunk. We walked silently until we reached the end of the anti-Apparition wards. Dad wrapped me in a one-armed hug and the four of us Disapparated.

We appeared in a back alley that I assumed was near the King's Cross station. We followed Dad down the street until we reached the station. Dad found a trolley and heaved my trunk onto it. I placed Pollux on top.

The station was crowded. Muggles were bustling everywhere. A few glanced at Pollux, but none of them really paid much attention. Matt stepped closer to Mum as a few men brushed past us.

"Nine and three-quarters, right?" Mum whispered to Dad.

"Right," Dad muttered.

I followed my parents through the crowded station until we got to the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. I figured we would have to run straight at the brick wall, since that's what we had to do in Australia, too.

"I'll go first with the trolley," Dad said. He glanced around to make sure no Muggles were paying attention and slipped through the wall.

Mum gestured for me to go next. I held my breath and closed my eyes even though I knew I wouldn't actually hit the wall. I opened my eyes a few seconds later and saw Platform 9 3/4.

Students and families alike were running around. Students were reuniting with each other and shrieking about what they did over the holiday. Parents were loading trunks onto the train. Owls were hooting, cats were meowing, little kids were shouting. I felt horribly out of place. Everyone knew each other. Everyone except the first years, that is. I felt like a first year as I stood with my parents and Matt.

Dad went to load my trunk and Pollux onto the train and returned a few minutes later. He grinned at me, but I didn't grin back.

"Well, this is it," he said, "This feels like your first year all over again."

"You have no idea," I muttered.

"You'll do fine, Amy," Mum assured me, "We've been through so much this past nine months. You can get through anything." She gave me a hug.

"I know, I know," I sighed and bit my lip.

"You're bound to make new friends," Mum said.

Yeah, friends I'd have to keep secrets from. I was dreading explaining to people why I transferred to Hogwarts for my fourth year.

We stood there not saying anything for a few more minutes. I watched as students said goodbye to their parents and ran onto the train. A few first years were sharing tearful goodbyes.

"I think you're going to have to get on the train," Dad said quietly.

I nodded. "Yeah. I love you guys."

"We love you, too," Dad squeezed me and kissed the top of my head.

"We'll miss you," Mum gave me another hug.

"I'll miss you, too," my voice cracked and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. What was wrong with me? I hardly cried when I left for my first year.

"We'll owl all the time," Dad said.

"Bye, Amy," Matt gave me a big hug.

I picked him up. "Bye, Matt. I love you. I'm going to miss you."

"Me, too," he sniffled.

I set him down as the train whistled. I wiped my eyes and waved as I ran towards the train. I jumped on just as it was starting to move. I stood in the doorway and waved as my eyes filled up with more tears. I kept waving until the train turned a corner and I could no longer see my family.

I wiped my eyes again and started down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment. The last thing I wanted was to meet anyone new right then. Eventually I found an empty one towards the back of the train. I ran right into it and shut the door behind me.

I sat down next to the window and watched the scenery fly by. It was kind of mesmerizing. I just let my eyes glaze over and everything blurred together. The time sort of flew by faster then. I wasn't even thinking about anything in particular.

I think I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, the compartment door creaked open. I jerked up and winced as my neck cracked. Falling asleep against a glass window wasn't the smartest of ideas.

"Oh, sorry. Were you sleeping?" a girl asked.

I looked up and saw two kids standing timidly in the doorway. The girl had a round face framed by messy long brown hair. She wore glasses and was already dressed in Hogwarts robes. A boy, who was a few inches taller, stood aside her. He was skinny with lighter brown hair and a few freckles on his pale face. They looked to be first or second years.

"Er, I was," I muttered.

"Can we sit here?" the boy asked, "There's no room anyplace else."

"Go ahead," I gestured to the empty seat across from me.

The two of them walked inside and the boy shut the door behind them. They both sat down on the bench across from me. The girl stared at me while the boy fidgeted next to her.

"I'm Jessie Briggs," the girl announced, "What's your name?"

"Amy Eckerton," I replied.

"And I'm Timothy Porter," the boy said.

I nodded. Well, now I knew a few Hogwarts students. Too bad they were probably closer to my brother's age than mine.

"What house are you in?" Jessie asked.

"Gryffindor," I told her, happier than ever that I had decided to be sorted over the summer.

"I want to be in Ravenclaw," Jessie said.

"Ravenclaw?" Timothy raised his eyebrows, "You must be smart. I don't want to be in Ravenclaw. All they do is study all the time."

They were definitely first years. Although, when I thought about it, sitting with first years was a good thing. Neither of them had any idea this was my first year at Hogwarts, too. They wouldn't ask me why I moved here.

"My mother was in Ravenclaw," Jessie huffed, "And she didn't study all the time."

"What about your dad?" Timothy asked.

"He's a Muggle," Jessie answered, "What about you? Where do you want to be?"

"Slytherin," Timothy smirked, "Where all the best wizards go."

"Slytherin?" Jessie looked taken aback, "Why would you want to be there?"

"It's where my parents were. All of my family has been in Slytherin. I'm not going to break that tradition," Timothy boasted.

Slytherin, I thought. That's where that Willinson bloke I had met in Diagon Alley was.

"And it's where all the evil wizards came from," Jessie told him, "Voldemort was in Slytherin."

"So was Severus Snape," Timothy countered.

I just sat there listening to them. I had no idea who Voldemort or Severus Snape were. The names sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place them. I assumed they were famous wizards from Britain. They don't teach World History of Magic until fourth year in Australia.

"True," Jessie nodded, "But no evil wizards came from Ravenclaw."

"None that you know of," Timothy said.

"I would know," Jessie replied, "I've been learning about magical history for years."

"Well, aren't you Miss Smarty Pants," Timothy muttered.

"Thank you," Jessie smirked.

Jessie and Timothy argued about the houses for the next half an hour or so. It was actually kind of interesting since I didn't know a thing about most of the houses. Apparently Slytherins had the reputation of being evil, Ravenclaws of being annoyingly smart, Hufflepuffs of being kind of dense, and Gryffindors of being brave to the point of stupidity. I had to stifle a laugh at the last one. I didn't think I was brave, let alone brave to the point of stupidity.

I got the idea that there was a lot of house rivalry going on at Hogwarts. From the sound of it, there was more there than in Australia. I was kind of grateful for everything I was learning from the two first years. I now knew to mainly stick with Gryffindors and definitely not mingle with too many Slytherins. Hopefully that would help me blend in better.

The compartment door opened once again and an old witch popped her head in. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

The two first years jumped up and ran out the door. I followed more slowly as I dug a few Galleons out of my pocket. There were a few people standing around the trolley buying various sweets.

"Amy?" someone shouted as I reached for a Cauldron Cake.

I looked up and saw none other than turquoise-haired Ted Lupin grinning at me. He actually remembered my name? I hadn't seen him in months.

"Hi, Ted," I replied.

"So, your family decided to move here?" he asked, "Excellent choice."

"Yeah," I said as I paid for my food.

"You been sorted yet?"

"Yup, Gryffindor," I smiled, remembering that he was a Gryffindor as well.

"Brilliant," he grinned, "Guess I'll see you at the feast."

I nodded. "Yeah, see you then."

I followed Jessie and Timothy (who both had armfuls of sweets) back into the compartment.

"So," Timothy began as he opened up a Chocolate Frog, "You just moved here?"

I groaned inwardly. He had heard what Ted said. Oh, well, I sighed. Might as well practice my story on a few first years before telling it to people I would actually spend a lot of time with.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Where from?" Jessie asked.

"And you've never been to Hogwarts before?" Timothy asked at the same time.

"Australia and I've visited Hogwarts," I answered.

"Whoa, Australia?" Jessie looked impressed, "Why'd you move here?"

"My dad's job," I told her.

"Where does he work?" she asked.

"How do you know you're in Gryffindor already?" Timothy asked.

"The Ministry. And I got sorted over the summer," I said as I opened my Cauldron Cake.

"I've never heard of anyone transferring to Hogwarts," Timothy announced.

"Yeah, well..." my voice trailed off, "Stuff happens."

"You sound Australian," Timothy mentioned.

"Duh," Jessie rolled her eyes, "She's from Australia."

"I was just saying..." he muttered.

"Well, I wouldn't say to you, 'You sound British,'" Jessie groaned, "It's just kind of a stupid thing to say."

"We can't all be Ravenclaws," Timothy sighed loudly.

"Even Slytherins have to have some brains," Jessie told him.

I breathed a sigh of relief as they resumed their bickering. That hadn't been too bad. Luckily they didn't ask for details about Dad's job. I just had to hope that no one else asked for details.

The rest of the train ride passed relatively quickly. I fell asleep again and didn't wake up until Jessie prodded me.

"We're almost there," she said, "You should change into your robes."

I yawned and got up. I rummaged around in my trunk and pulled out a pair of new robes. I hastily put them on over my clothes and waited for the train to stop.

I followed Jessie and Timothy into the corridor as the train began to slow. Once it stopped, I joined the sea of black-clad Hogwarts students onto the platform of Hogsmeade station. I actually recognized it from our trip to Hogwarts.

I soon lost track of Jessie and Timothy. I heard someone shouting 'First years, over here!', so they must have been going some place different anyway. I had no idea where I was going, so I just followed the rest of the students.

I ended up near a line of what appeared to be horseless carriages. I guessed they were just pulled by thestrals. Dad had mentioned that Hogwarts had a herd. Everyone was climbing into them, so I did the same.

My carriage was empty when I got inside, but I was soon joined by three girls who looked a tad bit older than Timothy and Jessie. One had long, brilliant red hair, the second had pale blonde hair that rivaled my own, except hers was quite curly, and the other had long, thick black hair.

"The carriages must be pulled by magic," the black-haired girl said.

"Yeah, I think they are," the red-haired girl agreed.

"They're pulled by thestrals," I told them.

"Told you," the blonde girl smirked, "Teddy said they were pulled by thestrals."

"Yeah, well, Teddy likes a joke, doesn't he?" the red head pointed out.

I wondered if they were talking about Ted Lupin. Maybe they were related or something.

The three girls quickly started talking about their summers and I let my attention wander. I did find out that the red head and the blonde were cousins and all three were second year Gryffindors.

The carriage lurched to a stop and I followed the younger students out into the warm air and into the castle. I had been in it before, but the size of it still amazed me. I looked around as people jostled me in their haste to get into the Great Hall.

I stopped in the doorway and realized that I had no idea where to sit. There were four long tables and then the staff table at the opposite end of the room. Were we supposed to sit with our houses? Or wherever we wanted? I glanced around the room and spotted Ted's hair at the table to the right. It couldn't hurt to sit at his table.

I made my way through the crowd and found an empty seat at the table. The golden plates were empty. Everyone around me was chatting happily. I leaned my head on my hand and stared down at my reflection in the shining plate. I felt so out of place.

A few minutes later, everyone quieted down. I looked up and saw a tall witch leading a group of kids into the room. I assumed they were the first years. They all crowded around each other near the staff table.

The witch reached around the staff table and came out with a three-legged stool and the Sorting Hat. She placed the stool on the ground and the hat on the stool.

The rim of the hat opened and it burst out in song. My eyes widened in shock, but nobody else seemed fazed. A few of the first years looked taken aback, but that was about it. I guessed this was a normal occurrence. I don't know why it surprised me since I knew the hat could talk, but singing was even stranger.

The hat sung about the different houses and everyone clapped once it finished.

"When I call your name, come sit on the stool and the hat will tell you which house you are in. Then go sit at the appropriate table," the witch announced.

I guess we were supposed to sit with our houses. I was glad I wound up sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Everyone was quiet during the sorting ceremony. I watched, but to be honest, I was kind of eager to just go to bed. I just wanted to be alone.

Jessie was one of the first kids to be sorted and she was sorted into Ravenclaw. She grinned as she ran towards the Ravenclaw table. I smiled as she sat down amongst the other Ravenclaws.

My attention wandered after that until I heard Timothy's name announced. I watched as he was sorted into Slytherin. I wondered if he and Jessie would ever really become friends, now that they were officially in different houses.

The Gryffindor table clapped loudly for every new Gryffindor, but two of the last students sorted got the loudest applause of all. They were two red-heads named Fred and Heather Weasley. I didn't know if they were brother and sister or cousins. I think they were related to the red-head and blonde girls I shared a carriage with, though. The two of them were roaring with excitement when Fred and Heather were sorted. There were a few other red-heads who stood up and roared along with them. I guessed they were all related somehow. They must have a huge family.

Professor Kendrick stood up once the sorting was finished. "I have a few announcements, but as usual, they can wait until after dinner." He waved his wand and huge amounts of food appeared on all the tables.

I served myself some chicken, potatoes, and carrots and began to pick at it. Everyone around me began talking again and I tried to remain inconspicuous. I had been hoping to just blend in with everyone else. I happened to be sitting near a few of the new Gryffindor first years, so nobody really paid much attention to me.

Desserts appeared once people stopped eating dinner. I wasn't that hungry, so I just waited for Kendrick to make the announcements he said he was going to make.

After what seemed like forever, the dessert vanished and the golden plates returned to their clean state. I looked up at the staff table and saw Kendrick rise to his feet.

"I hope everyone is feeling a bit better now that we've eaten," Kendrick smiled, "Please be aware that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, hence its name. Please stay away from the Whomping Willow as well."

I could feel my cheeks reddening at the name 'Whomping Willow'. I was probably the only student in the room who knew what that tree concealed.

"If you wish to try out for your house Quidditch team, please give your name to your head of house," Kendrick continued.

That wasn't something I'd be doing, I thought. Come to think of it, I didn't even know who my head of house was. I guess I'd figure it out soon enough.

"I suggest you all turn in early, as classes start tomorrow," Kendrick said, "Prefects, please lead the first years up to your common rooms. Everyone have a good night."

Common room. It would help if I knew where the Gryffindor common room was. I sighed and got up from the table. I decided to just follow the first years at a distance.

I couldn't help but gaze around as I followed the group of chattering first years to the common room. The walls were adorned with all sorts of portraits. There was hardly any wall space left. Every few feet there was a statue or suit of armor.

We walked up flight after flight of stairs (which liked to move, I soon discovered) until I didn't think we could get any higher. It was taking forever. The castle was even larger on the inside than it looked on the outside.

The group of first years finally stopped in front of a portrait of a very large woman.

"This is the Fat Lady," one of the Prefects announced, "The password is 'Niffler'."

The portrait swung open and I followed everyone into the common room. I stopped as soon as I got in. The room was round and decorated almost exclusively in scarlet and gold. Various arm chairs, couches, tables, and chairs were scattered about the room. A fire was crackling in the large fireplace. Two doors were side by side in the back of the room. Every few seconds, someone would go through one of them.

"Dormitories are through the doors," the prefect said, "Girls to the right, boys to the left."

I swallowed and walked slowly towards the doors. This was it. Time to meet my new roommate. I hoped the doors were labeled, since nobody had shown me where my new dormitory was.

The door to the girls' dormitories revealed a spiral staircase that I followed to the top. At the top of the staircase were seven doors. Only seven. How many roommates was I going to have?

I walked down the short corridor until I reached the door labeled 'Fourth Years'. That must be it, I thought. I took a deep breath and entered the room.

Chapter 47: First Day

Five girls were already inside. Three of them were hanging up posters and giggling with each other. The other two were whispering with each other on one of the beds. I stepped inside and a floorboard creaked beneath my feet. All five girls looked up at me.

"This would explain the sixth bed," a tall, skinny girl with waist-length dark brown hair said as she jumped off the bed she was standing on.

"So, you're new here?" one of the other giggling girls, with short black hair, said.

I nodded and walked over to the bed that had my trunk at the foot of it. I pulled back the curtains and sat down, not sure what to do. The other girls just stared at me. None of them went back to their conversations.

"I'm Seren Frazier," the tall girl announced as she walked towards me.

"Samantha Meyers," the girl with the short black hair said.

"Yeah, and don't call her Sam or Sammy," Seren laughed, "Or she'll kill you."

"No," Samantha smirked, "I'll just hex you."

"Alyssa Brown," the third giggling girl hopped off her bed and walked over to me with her curly light brown hair bouncing behind her.

"Victoire Weasley," one of the whispering girls, who had very long blonde hair and looked a lot like the blonde girl I shared a carriage with, smiled from her bed.

Weasley, I thought. She must be related to the two first years who practically got a standing ovation when they were sorted.

"Monica Kramer," the other whispering girl said. She had very curly dark brown hair and wore glasses.

I nodded. Six people in one dormitory. I seriously hoped none of them snored or I would never get to sleep.

"What's your name?" Seren asked.

"Amy Eckerton," I muttered.

"Why did you move here?" Samantha sat down on the bed next to mine and looked at me curiously, "I've never heard of anyone transferring schools for their fourth year."

"Yeah, and where did you live before?" Alyssa asked.

"When did you get sorted?" Monica asked.

I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them. Everyone was looking at me curiously. This was what I wasn't looking forward to. The demanding questions, curious stares. It was giving me a headache and I knew I'd have to do it all again tomorrow.

"I moved here from Australia," I answered, "My dad changed jobs. I was sorted over the summer."

I had decided earlier that I wouldn't tell anyone Dad got fired. That would raise more questions. People would ask why he was fired.

"Australia?" Seren looked impressed, "Wow, you came a long ways."

"What job does your dad have?" Samantha asked.

"He works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry," I replied.

"My dad works for the Ministry, too," Samantha said, "Muggle-Worthy Excuse Department."

"So, what do you know about Hogwarts?" Alyssa asked, "We'll tell you all about the professors."

"Yeah," Seren agreed, "You'll want to stay away from Washburn. He hates Gryffindors, but nobody knows why."

"Slughorn's nice, but don't get into his Slug Club," Alyssa shook her head, "Bloody hell, I'll never go to one of those again."

"They're not that bad," Victoire said.

"Well, you actually like Potions," Alyssa laughed.

"But I'm horrible at it," Victoire sighed.

"No, you're not," Monica groaned, "You've got the best grade out of all of us."

"So, do you play Quidditch?" Samantha asked eagerly.

"No," I shook my head, "I hate flying."

Samantha looked taken aback. "Oh, well, that's too bad. I'm a Chaser for Gryffindor."

"What do you like?" Seren asked.

"Er, Astronomy. And Potions," I said quietly.

"Those are my two least favorite classes," Alyssa laughed, "Well, those and History of Magic."

"Do you at least follow professional Quidditch?" Samantha asked, "What's your favorite team?"

"Australia, I guess," I said, "Look, I think I just want to go to bed."

The constant questions were driving me mad. I was already deprived of sleep and that wasn't helping my mood. I located my pajamas and headed into the bathroom. When I returned, the other girls had gone back to what they were doing before I entered the room. Seren and Samantha looked up at me as I walked back to my bed, but nobody said anything, which I was grateful for.

I climbed into my new bed and buried myself under the covers. I stared up at the scarlet colored ceiling and listened to the quiet voices of my new roommates. Despite the tight quarters, I felt more alone than ever before.

Eventually the chattering and giggling stopped and I heard beds creaking. Someone turned out the light. I turned over and stared at the bed hangings until my eyes adjusted to the dark.

There was a small amount of moonlight streaming in through the window next to my bed and it shown through the curtains around my bed. The moon was the one constant thing in my life. No matter where I was, the moon always shown through my bedroom window. My house in Australia, my dormitory in Australia, my room at Richard and Cinda's, Uncle Jack's house, my house in England, and now Hogwarts.

Despite my fatigue, I couldn't get to sleep. I kept thinking about classes the next day and I couldn't clear my mind. Then, somebody started snoring. I had no way of telling who it was, but it was so loud that even putting my pillow over my ears didn't help. I needed a muffling charm. I'd have to look one up in the library the next day. If I could find the library, that is.

I groaned and sat up in bed. This was hopeless. I'd never get to sleep in my dormitory. I quietly slipped out of bed and out the door.

The common room was cold and empty when I got there. It had already been cleaned, too. It must have been really late. I curled up on one of the scarlet couches and closed my eyes. The room was so quiet, just how I liked. Somehow it made me feel even more lonely, though. I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter and felt tears streaming down my cheeks.

******

"Hey, Aussie Eckerton," someone said.

I snapped my eyes open and quickly closed them again as I was blinded by sunlight. I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes.

Ted Lupin was standing next to the couch smirking to himself. There was another bloke next to him. He was a bit taller than Ted, with shaggy brown hair that my mum would say needed to be cut. Both of them were in their school robes and had bags over their shoulders.

"Er, hi," I muttered.

"Why are you sleeping down here?" Ted asked with an amused look on his face.

"Um, couldn't sleep," I replied.

"Oh, this is Landon Comer," Ted gestured to the other boy.

"Nice to meet you," I said as I got up from the couch.

"You too," Landon replied, "But since I'm a Prefect, I have to let you know that technically you're not supposed to sleep in the common room. Since you're new, I'll let it slide this once."

"Thanks," I blushed. Figures, I broke a rule my first night there.

"Classes start in fifteen minutes, Aussie," Ted told me.

I groaned inwardly and muttered goodbye to Ted and Landon. I ran back up the stairs and to my dormitory. None of the other girls were there, but that didn't surprise me. I threw on robes and crammed all of my books into my bag. I then realized I had no idea which classes I had that day.

I groaned out loud and ran back to the common room, hoping that Ted or Landon would still be there. They were just leaving as I entered.

"Ted!" I shouted.

Ted looked back at me. "What is it?"

"Um, how do I know where my classes are?" I asked as my cheeks reddened again.

"Longbottom, he's our head of house, has the schedules in the Great Hall. You'd better hurry, though."

"Thanks," I muttered as I rushed past them and out into the hallway.

I didn't really remember how to get to the Great Hall, but since it was on the first floor and Gryffindor Tower was on the top, I figured I should just run down all the flights of stairs I found. This method worked and I was soon in the deserted Great Hall.

A few of the professors were still milling about, but I had no idea which one was Longbottom. I grabbed a piece of toast from the Gryffindor table and hoped that someone would see me there and give me a schedule.

A man with blonde hair shaping his round face walked over to me. I hoped he was Longbottom.

"Hello. I'm Professor Longbottom. You must be Amy?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Welcome to Gryffindor," he smiled, "I'm your head of house and I teach Herbology. Here's your schedule."

"Thanks," I said as I took the piece of parchment he handed me.

"Well, I've got to get to class and you should, too. I'll see you soon," he said and then left the room.

I shoved the rest of the toast into my mouth and glanced down at my new schedule. Potions was first, in the dungeons. Well, that was pretty straight forward. Dungeons were obviously underground, so all I had to do was find another set of stairs.

I left the empty Great Hall and looked around for another staircase. I found a door that was labeled 'dungeons' and wrenched it open. I followed a dank staircase into an even danker stone corridor. Looked like dungeons to me.

I ran down the corridor until I found the classroom. The door was shut. Great, I thought, the class had already started. I opened the door as quietly as I could, but I knew there would be no way to slip in unnoticed.

"The directions are on the board-" the professor said and then turned to the door.

He was a short, round man with no hair on his head and a very prominent grey mustache.

"Are you Amy Eckerton?" he asked.

I nodded, but didn't move from the doorway. The entire class was staring at me. From the looks of it, the class consisted of Gryffindors and Slytherins. To my dismay, I recognized Quinton Willinson. He was sitting in the front row and for some odd reason was smiling wryly at me.

"Well, my name is Professor Slughorn and I will forgive your tardiness as this is your first day."

The whole class erupted in whispers at 'first day'.

"You can take a seat next to Mr. Willinson," Slughorn gestured to the vacant seat in the front row, "He can inform you about today's potion."

I nodded and reluctantly walked over to Willinson's table. Why did that have to be the only empty place in the room? I made a mental note to get to Potions earlier the next time. I really didn't want my favorite class spoiled by a creepy bloke.

"We're brewing Wit-Sharpening Potion," Willinson announced, "It's a very advanced potion for fourth years, not usually learned until later in the year, but Slughorn likes to give challenges on the first day. We're having a contest. Whoever brews the best potion gets chocolate. I usually win all the contests since I'm the best brewer in the fourth year."

I raised my eyebrow at him. He was even more arrogant than I had originally thought. I didn't think so much arrogance could be put in one sentence, but apparently it could. He was in for a surprise, though. I had taught myself how to brew Wit-Sharpening Potion months ago.

I set my cauldron down on the table and lit a fire underneath it. I avoided Willinson's gaze as I got up and joined the queue of students at what I assumed was the storage closet.

Willinson followed me and collected his own ingredients. I returned to the table and began to prepare mine.

"How do you like Gryffindor?" Willinson asked.

"It's fine," I muttered as I tossed a few beetles into my cauldron and raised the flame.

"You'd be happier in Slytherin," he drawled.

"I doubt that," I told him.

"You should chop those lacewing flies into smaller pieces," Willinson announced and pointed to his own, "Like mine."

I glared at him. "Mine are perfectly fine," I said shortly.

"Just thought you'd like some advice from a master potions brewer," he shrugged, "Australia might be behind Hogwarts in terms of potion brewing."

"No fourth year could be considered a 'master potions brewer,'" I smirked, "And Australia is not behind Hogwarts in potion brewing."

I stirred my lacewing flies into my cauldron and the potion turned the appropriate emerald green color. I glanced at Willinson's cauldron and saw that his potion was more of a forest green. I smirked and began to mince my anise.

"Ah, wonderful, Miss Eckerton!" Slughorn grinned as he peered into my cauldron, "Your potion is the exact shade of green it should be at this point. You might want to take note of what Miss Eckerton is doing, Mr. Willinson."

I grinned and turned to Willinson, who was turning a purplish color. He hastily added another few lacewing flies in an attempt to change the color, but his potion turned slightly yellow instead of emerald green.

"Looks like another for the Slug Club," I heard someone whisper from behind me.

If the Slug Club meant I was the best potion brewer in the class, I was fine with it.

"Told you my lacewing flies were the appropriate size," I told Willinson.

"But, but-" he stuttered, "Fine, your lacewing flies are the right size. But your anise is too finely chopped."

"It is not," I groaned, "And I prefer not to talk while I brew."

I ignored him from that moment on. I could feel his eyes on me, but figured he'd stop talking if I stopped responding.

Slughorn walked around the room and looked at everyone's potion near the end of the double period. Willinson was looking very smug as he stood next to his potion, but I personally thought his potion was too thick.

"Quinton, m'boy," Slughorn grinned and then peered into the cauldron, "Very nice. A bit too heavy on the anise. Put less in and your potion won't be so thick. It needs to be a tad thinner."

I smirked as Slughorn moved onto my own potion.

"Amy from Australia," Slughorn said as he looked in my cauldron, "Well, it seems that they do know their potions in the land down under! Excellent work. I believe you have won the chocolate."

Slughorn produced a very large bar of chocolate and gave it to me. I said thank you and pocketed it. So far, potions was a great class at Hogwarts. I got to brew and I got chocolate for it.

"So, you think you're better at Potions than me?" Willinson said as we left the room after cleaning up.

"I never said that," I snapped. He was really getting on my nerves. "I learned how to brew that potion months ago, if you must know."

"Don't bother," Victoire Weasley appeared next to me, "He's not worth arguing with."

"Victoire!" Willinson grinned, "Will you go to Hogsmeade with me this year?"

"Not a chance, Willinson," Victoire growled, "And give up already, I'm never going to."

Victoire sped up and walked ahead of us with Monica. I tried to get away from Willinson, but he kept following me. Why was it that the only person in the entire school who seemed to want to be friends with me was mental?

"What else do you know how to brew?" Willinson asked as we climbed the stairs to the Entrance Hall.

I rattled off a few potions that I had brewed recently. Quite a few of them were ones in the fourth year curriculum at Hogwarts.

"Oh, er, I can brew all of those as well," Willinson stuttered.

I kind of doubted that, but nodded anyway. "Well, that's good."

I managed to shake him when we got to the Great Hall and I went to the Gryffindor table and he went to the Slytherin table. I ate a quiet lunch and then glanced at my schedule and saw that I had History of Magic next.

I waited until I saw Seren, Samantha, and Alyssa get up from the table to get up myself. I had no idea where the History of Magic classroom was, so I figured it would be a good idea to just follow them.

I walked a few feet behind them and they didn't notice me. I sat down at one of the tables in the back and pulled out a roll of parchment, ink, and a quill. The classroom filled up quickly and two Gryffindor boys I didn't know sat down at my table. It looked like we shared that class with the Ravenclaws.

The two boys at my table were goofing around with each other and weren't acting like they were ready to sit through a class. I edged away and tried to keep a healthy distance in between them and myself.

A few moments later, a ghost floated through the blackboard. I gasped and nearly fell out of my chair. I looked around the room, but nobody else seemed at all surprised by this. The two boys at my table stopped messing around. I picked up my quill and continued to gawk at the well, ghostly, professor. All the professors at the Australian School of Sorcery were alive. I had never heard of a ghost professor before.

"This year we'll be moving onto modern history of magic in Britain," the professor said in a very monotone voice, "We'll start with the late nineteenth century. At this time, witches and wizards all over Britain were dealing with the beginnings of what is now known as the Gringotts Strike of 1892...."

I scrambled to write down everything he said. He didn't waver at all in the tone of his voice and he spoke at the same constant rate. He didn't pause at all for people to take notes, or even to breathe. Of course, he didn't really need to pause for breath. Nor did he write any of the notes on the board, but he probably couldn't pick up the chalk.

This was one of the classes I had been worried about. I knew absolutely nothing about British history of magic. Everyone else in the room had grown up in England and probably heard about this stuff before. I hadn't.

My hand was hurting before the class was even half over. I had already written a quarter of a roll of parchment, and the teacher had yet to take a break. I knew I was missing information and I probably wouldn't even be able to read my notes.

I shook out my hand and glanced around the room. Hardly anyone else was taking notes. A few Ravenclaws were, but none of the Gryffindors were. A few were whispering to each other and passing notes. A quarter of the class had their heads down on their tables.

"For three years, half the goblins at Gringotts refused to let people access their vaults resulting in a depression like state for hundreds of witches and wizards..." the ghost droned on.

I looked at the clock and groaned. The class was only half over. The teacher's voice was so monotone that I wasn't surprised people were falling asleep. I could feel my own eyes beginning to droop.

A half hour later I shoved my illegible notes into my bag and left the room as fast as I could. I knew it already. I was going to fail History of Magic. I bit my lip and sped up. It was hopeless. Potions had been the exception. It was the only class at Hogwarts I would do all right in. Everything else I was bound to be behind in, especially History of Magic.

How was I supposed to pass that class when I couldn't even take decent notes? How did everyone else manage it? Nobody took notes. Nobody even paid attention.

I pulled out my schedule again and saw that I had Herbology next. The last thing I felt like doing was finding the greenhouses and sitting through another class.

I walked down flights of stairs until I finally got to the Entrance Hall. I left the castle and gazed about the grounds. I hadn't seen them in the daylight in months. I saw a few buildings that looked like greenhouses in the distance and started down a path I hoped would lead to them.

I breathed a sigh of relief as they came into sight. Professor Longbottom was standing in front of the greenhouse on the right and waved to me.

"Hello, Amy," he smiled, "How's the first day going?"

I shrugged. "As expected."

"Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," he said, "You can go on inside and find a seat."

I nodded and walked into the greenhouse. It didn't look that different than the ones in Australia, although some of the plants were different. Of course, I thought, Britain probably had different magical plants. More stuff I'd be clueless about.

There were a few other students in the greenhouse. I found an empty seat and slumped down in it. The greenhouse slowly filled up and a short Hufflepuff sat down next to me. Her hair was dirty blonde with purple streaks in it. She had put a few small ponytails throughout it and it was kind of messy. Her robes were askew and they revealed a tie-dye t-shirt underneath.

"Hi!" she grinned at me, "I've never seen you before."

"Hi," I replied, "Erm, I just moved here."

"Really?" her eyes widened as she bounced in her seat, "That's brilliant! You'll love it here. Where did you move from?"

"Australia," I told her. She was possibly the most hyper person I had met at Hogwarts so far.

"I've always wanted to go there," she sighed, "Oh, I'm being rude. I'm Laney Hall."

"Amy Eckerton," I replied.

"Do you want to be my partner in class?" Laney asked excitedly, "We usually work in groups of two in Herbology, only there's an odd number of us so I usually work in a group of three. But since you're here now, there's an even number so you can work with me. Won't that be fun?"

I nodded, although I wasn't sure about the 'fun' part. Laney ignored my lack of enthusiasm and began to rattle off a bunch of information about Hogwarts that I only partially paid attention to. Longbottom walked in a few minutes later and she shut up.

By the end of the class I was feeling very happy that I had not wound up in Hufflepuff. Laney Hall was the most excitable person I had ever met and working with her for an hour was making me want to scream. She chattered on and on about anything and everything as we transplanted Flibbery Flowers from small single pots to large ones that housed five of the colorful plants.

Laney followed me back to the castle and continued talking about the importance of showing house spirit at Quidditch matches. I just nodded every once and a while, but didn't pay much attention. That's what I did the entire class as well. I breathed a sigh of relief when she bade me goodbye to go to the Hufflepuff common room while I continued up the stairs to Gryffindor tower.

Chapter 48: Strange Acquaintances

After dinner I returned to my dormitory and pulled the curtains around my bed. All of my roommates were in the common room, but I didn't feel like talking to them if they came up to the dormitory. I wanted to be alone.

I pulled out a roll of parchment and leaned up against my headboard. I found a quill and thought about what I should tell my family about my first day.

Dear Mum, Dad, Matt, and Ellie,

I just finished my first day and it was
kind of insane. It started off bad and
just went down hill.

Last night I couldn't sleep, so I went
down to the common room. I fell asleep
down there, but woke up late. A boy named
Ted Lupin (who has blue hair) woke me up
along with a prefect named Landon Comer.
He told me I can't sleep in the common room.

I was late to my first class, Potions. The
professor didn't mind, though. He seems
nice. He had a brewing contest for the first
day's lesson, which I won. The bloke I was
working next to was not happy. Apparently he
thinks he's the best potion brewer in the
school.

After lunch I had History of Magic, which I am
very behind in. The professor is a ghost and
he's so boring! Half the class was asleep! I
couldn't even take decent notes.

I had Herbology after that and I had to work with
a girl who is possibly the most hyper person in
the entire world. She was practically bouncing
up and down in her seat as she told me about
Hogwarts.

I'm just glad the day is over. It feels like it's
dragged on forever. I can't say that I like it
here. All my roommates are nice, but they all have
friends. Everyone already has friends. The only
person I've met who pays any attention to me and I
actually like is Ted Lupin.

I miss you guys. Write soon.

Love,
Amy

I shoved the letter into an envelope and then wrote similar ones to Olivia and Kenzie. Well, Kenzie's was pretty different since I had to make it sound like I was at a Muggle school.

I left the dormitory and squeezed my way through the crowded common room. All I had to do was find the owlery.

The corridor was much emptier than the common room. I set off for the owlery and only saw a few people on my way there. It took me a while to find it, but I didn't really mind since I had nothing better to do. It was kind of nice to walk the deserted corridors alone.

Once I'd mailed my letters, I returned to the dormitory and spent the remainder of the evening reading my History of Magic book. It only seemed to cover what we were going to learn in class, though. I needed to read about the history that the professor had been teaching the past three years. I'd have to go to the library for that.

I had the curtains pulled shut around my bed before my roommates came in for the night. I huddled under my blankets and listened to their whispered conversations as I tried to go to sleep. Hearing their late night conversations made me miss Olivia even more. I remembered all the nights we stayed up giggling with each other.

I had another very restless night of sleep. Someone was snoring again and I hadn't been able to research a good muffling charm yet. I wanted more than anything to just go sleep in the common room again, but I couldn't risk waking up late and getting yelled at by Landon Comer. I doubted he'd let me off a second time.

Despite the fact that I stayed in my dormitory, I still woke up late. I rushed to the Great Hall and grabbed a couple pieces of toast before attempting to find the Charms classroom. The worst thing about waking up late was that I couldn't follow any of my fellow classmates to the room.

I practically ran all over the entire castle before I finally found the correct room. The worst part was that I walked into a class of seventh years thinking it was the Charms classroom. It was actually the Arithmancy classroom. The professor told me where the Charms room was, but it was incredibly embarrassing.

The Charms professor was a short man with thinning black hair and very bushy eyebrows. He turned away from the class when I walked in five minutes late. He glared at me with such menace that I was taken aback.

"Who are you?" he barked.

"Erm, Amy Eckerton," I muttered, wanting nothing more than to run from the room and skip Charms all together.

"Oh, you're that new girl, right?" the professor glanced at his desk and then looked back at me. "Another Gryffindor. Brilliant," he said flatly, "Sit down. And five points from Gryffindor for being late."

I nodded, knowing not to argue with him. Perfect, I had managed to lose points on my second day at Hogwarts. The only seat left was in the front row. I groaned inwardly and sat down in it.

The professor, whose name I soon learned was Washburn, only got worse as the class progressed. He docked points for every little thing, including staring off into space and not addressing him as 'sir'. I no longer felt as bad about losing five points for being late. Gryffindor had lost nearly thirty points by the time the class was over. We shared that class with the Hufflepuffs and they had lost about twenty-five.

I was the first one out the door when the bell finally rang. I walked with the rest of the Gryffindors (who were all complaining loudly about Washburn) to our next class, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Defense has never been my strong suit. I'm rubbish at dueling and if I was ever in a fight, it would be better for me to just run than try and hex my attacker. I only hoped that Defense wasn't harder at Hogwarts than in Australia.

Much to my dismay, Defense class was with the Slytherins. I didn't mind Slytherins in general. Most of them didn't seem nearly as bad as they were made out to be, but Quinton Willinson drove me mad. I purposely chose a seat as far away from him as possible, even though it meant sitting in the front row.

A tall middle-aged man with rectangular shaped glasses walked in a few moments later. I was very happy to see that he was smiling. I could use with a nice teacher after having to sit through Washburn's class.

"Hello, everyone," he greeted the class, "I hope you all had a pleasant holiday. I'll just run through the attendance.

"All here," he said once he finished calling everyone's names. He had paused briefly on my name, but didn't say anything, "Now, as you all surely remember, last year's curriculum focused on dark creatures."

Last year's curriculum was dark creatures? In Australia, they teach about dark creatures in fourth year. Another thing for me to be behind on. I knew what I'd be doing this weekend. Catching up. At least I already knew a fair bit about dark creatures because of Dad's job, but there was probably some stuff I still needed to learn.

"I think it would be a good idea to review what you learned last year, so I have come up with a class project. I am going to split you up into five groups of four and each group will be assigned a creature we learned about last year. You will prepare a presentation and teach the class about your creature," the professor explained, "You will have today to prepare and the presentations will be on Thursday and next Tuesday if need be.

"I've already chosen the groups and I will not switch them, so don't bother asking. I've chosen the more advanced creatures we learned about towards the end of the year. How you choose to teach is up to you. You may use visual aids and hand-outs, if you like.

"The creatures I've chosen are the chimaera, lethifold, manticore, vampire, and werewolf."

I had been writing the instructions on a piece of parchment, but my head snapped up at the word 'werewolf'. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing that I missed the main instruction about werewolves. I wouldn't have been able to keep my mouth shut if the professor had mentioned anything bad about them. Of course, now I was going to have to listen to my classmates talk about them.

The professor began to read off the names of the groups, which resulted in a lot of groaning from the class.

"The following people will be in the werewolf group. Charisse Kebby, Monica Kramer, Quinton Willinson, and Amy Eckerton."

I stared at the professor. It hadn't even occurred to me that I could be in the werewolf group. The possibility hadn't even crossed my mind. Well, I did know more about werewolves than the other creatures, but it was still going to be very strange. I hoped my group members weren't people who disliked werewolves.

It was just my luck that Quinton Willinson was in my group. Now I was going to have to cooperate with him. But if he said anything that was anti-werewolf, I wouldn't hesitate to yell at him for it.

After the professor finished announcing the groups, everyone got up and sat with their group members. I got up and found Monica, who was sitting in the back. Quinton Willinson was near her and moved to the seat next to mine as soon as I sat down. A bored looking Slytherin girl slid into the chair next to Monica.

"Are you new here or something?" the girl, who I presumed was Charisse Kebby, asked, "I don't think I've seen you before."

"Very observant, Kebby," Monica rolled her eyes, "She moved here over the summer."

"From Australia," Willinson added.

That was odd. I didn't have to say a thing. Everyone else was telling my story for me. I wasn't sure if I liked that or not.

"Now can we just get on with it?" Monica asked impatiently as she pulled out a roll of parchment.

"Fine," Charisse muttered, "But you don't need to be so bossy."

"I don't know about you, but I want a decent grade," Monica replied icily, "So can we cut the small talk and get started?"

Bossy was certainly a good way of describing Monica. I got the feeling that she and Charisse hadn't gotten along very well in the past.

"Werewolves," Monica went on, "Do you two remember anything about them? And Amy, do you know anything about them?"

Did I know anything about werewolves? I could do the entire project myself and it would probably take less time than working together.

"Yeah," I nodded. Willinson and Charisse nodded as well.

"Good," Monica said, "Let's see, werewolves are classified as dangerous beasts by the Ministry of Magic because they pose a serious threat to witches and wizards. They thrive on biting people on every full moon in order to create more werewolves-"

"Wait, what?" I interrupted. I stared at her. Was that what the professor had taught them last year? What a load of dung. "Is that seriously what this professor taught you lot last year?"

"Well, not really," Monica replied, "But I've done a lot of research outside of class. Professor Torro doesn't really agree with all of the books I've read, though."

"What you've read is a load of dung," I said flatly.

Monica gaped at me. "Oh, really? Loads of books have been written about werewolves and a lot of them stress how dangerous werewolves are to wizards because they want to bite as many wizards as possible. Plenty of authors have written about how there needs to be tight restrictions on werewolves."

I let out a loud sigh. I was absolutely disgusted. This girl was like a miniature version of Professor Killigan. "Again, that's completely untrue. Werewolves are just wizards who happen to have a disease that turns them into a raging wolf once a month. It's a disease, just like any other disease."

Monica laughed. "A disease? Is that what they taught you down there? Maybe Australia is chummy with werewolves, but that's not how it works in Britain."

I had to try hard to stifle my laugh at that one. The irony of it! Australia being 'chummy' with werewolves? "Werewolves are treated worse than animals in Australia," I glared at her, "And that's not what they taught us. I've done my own research as well."

"So you think you're the resident werewolf expert?" Monica snapped.

I groaned. I was going to have to be careful or I'd spill Matt's secret before he even entered Hogwarts. "I never said that. All I'm saying is that werewolves aren't as bad as books make them out to be."

"How would you know?" Monica demanded.

"I just do!" I shouted.

"Will you two stop?" Charisse rolled her eyes, "I thought you wanted to do the project, Kramer, and here you are wasting time arguing with the new girl."

"Well, I would do the project except the new girl is arguing with everything I say!"

"Because what you're saying isn't true!" I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. This girl was mental.

"Look, let's just get the project done," Charisse said, "Can't you just compromise? I mean, come on, Kramer. Werewolves are only dangerous on the full moon."

"And isn't there a potion that makes them not dangerous on full moons?" Willinson asked.

"Wolfsbane," I said immediately.

"Right," Willinson said, "So if they take that, they're not as dangerous."

"Wolfsbane causes the person to no longer be dangerous to themselves or others," I explained, "But they still turn into a wolf. They're just a calm, not dangerous wolf."

"But they're still a werewolf!" Monica insisted, "And werewolves are dangerous! I am not going to do a presentation where we talk about how safe werewolves are!"

"And I am not going to do one where all we talk about is how dangerous they are, because they aren't," I folded my arms across my chest.

"Let's vote then," Monica glared at me, "Whoever agrees with me, raise your hand."

Not a single hand went into the air. I smirked at Monica. "Ha. We're doing one about how werewolves are not raging lunatics."

"Then I'm talking to Professor Torro," Monica huffed.

"He won't listen," Charisse said, "He won't switch your group."

"Then I'm doing a separate one," Monica replied.

"Who cares," Charisse muttered.

We spent the rest of the hour working on our project without Monica. I was surprised at how open Charisse and Willinson were to hearing what I had to say. Even Willinson was bearable, which truly shocked me. Both of them actually agreed that I should be the one to do most of the presenting on Thursday, which I was sort of nervous about. I was mostly nervous about what Monica was going to do. She was still in our group even though she refused to work with us, so she'd be presenting something at the same time we would be.

******

"It's just she comes in here thinking she knows everything!" someone said as they stomped loudly into the dormitory.

I had just returned from dinner and was looking through my Charms book for a good muffling charm. I was sitting on my bed with the curtains drawn. Judging by the loud obnoxious voice, Monica had just entered the room. I held my breath and listened to her rant, because I figured it was about me.

"She doesn't seem that bad," someone else with quieter footsteps said. She sounded like Victoire.

"She just totally took over my group!" Monica shouted, "Even Willinson agreed with her!"

"Willinson is a squirmy git and he's going to side with whoever he likes better," Victoire said, "I think he fancies Amy."

I shuddered at the very idea of that. Willinson did not like me that way. He was an irritating git who just happened to side with me instead of Monica.

"He fancies you, Victoire," Monica laughed.

"He can fancy me all he likes, but I'm not going out with the git," Victoire muttered.

"Back to the new girl," Monica groaned, "She just kept preaching to us about how lycanthropy is a disease. I mean, come on!"

"You know what I think about that, Mon," Victoire said in a warning tone, "I think we agreed to disagree about it. You're not going to convince me that werewolves are evil. I'm the wrong person to convince of that. You know about Teddy's dad. Hell, you know about my own dad!"

What did Victoire mean by that? My heart sped up and I strained my ears to hear Monica's response.

"Your dad is not a werewolf, Victoire," Monica sighed, "I have nothing against your dad."

"And what about Teddy's dad?" Victoire asked.

Was Teddy's dad a werewolf? Victoire was certainly hinting at that. Why else would Monica have anything against him?

"Teddy's dad is dead," Monica stated.

"I know that!" Victoire groaned, "But what if he wasn't?"

"Then I could be friends with Teddy without liking his dad," Monica muttered.

Ted's dad was a werewolf. He had to be. I leaned back against my headboard and stared at the curtains. Ted's dad, even though he was dead, had been a werewolf. Ted might actually understand my situation. He wouldn't run screaming if I told him about Matt. But I couldn't. I shook the thought from my head. There was no way I could tell anyone, even if that person's own father had been a werewolf.

Poor Ted, though. I wondered how his dad had died. Had it happened during a transformation? I couldn't imagine going through something like that. Well, I had come close twice, but Matt hadn't actually died.

"Look, I don't want to get into this again," Victoire sighed, "We agreed to disagree last year and I don't want to row about it again."

"I don't either," Monica said quietly, "But that new girl just drives me mad. She got both Willinson and Kebby to work with her instead of me."

"Well, Kebby's always hated you," Victoire pointed out, "But how are you going to do your presentation while they do theirs?"

"You'll find out," Monica said.

"Oh, Merlin," Victoire muttered.

"What?" Monica asked, "It won't be that bad."

"No, not that," Victoire sighed, "Amy's curtains are shut. She's always hanging out in here. I bet she's in there and heard everything you just said."

"I don't care," Monica said and I heard a bed creak.

I held my breath as I heard her footsteps coming over to my bed. The curtains were yanked open and I saw Monica smirking down at me. Victoire was a few feet behind her, looking a bit nervous.

"I'm sorry," Victoire said, "We didn't know you were here."

"I'm not sorry," Monica huffed.

"Good. I wouldn't accept your apology anyway," I glared at her, "And just to let you know, you drive me mad as well."

Monica shot me a dirty look and then stomped away from the bed. Victoire watched her leave and then looked back at me.

"Was Ted's dad a werewolf?" I asked quietly.

"Yes," Victoire told me, "But Ted isn't."

I nodded, even though I kind of figured that. Kendrick said there had only been one werewolf at Hogwarts and that was decades ago.

"Erm, how did he die?" I asked. I had to know if it was from a transformation. I knew there was always the possibility of a werewolf dying during a transformation, but I had only heard of it happening once or twice.

"He was killed in the Final Battle," Victoire told me, "Teddy was only a few months old."

"Final Battle?" I asked curiously. I hadn't ever heard of that before. I had to admit that I was kind of relieved he hadn't died during a transformation.

"You've never heard of the Final Battle?" Victoire looked shocked, "The war against Voldemort? Harry Potter?"

Voldemort and Harry Potter sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't remember where I'd heard them before. I shook my head. "Nope."

"Victoire!" Monica shouted from the doorway, "I thought you were going to help me with my Transfiguration homework! Come on!"

"I'll be right there!" Victoire shouted back and then turned to me, "Go to the library and get the book called 'The Rise and Fall of Lord Voldemort' by Minerva McGonagall. Look for the name Remus Lupin. That's Teddy's dad."

I nodded and Victoire turned and ran out of the room. I sat there completely still for a few minutes. In the span of two days I was pretty sure I had figured out who the other werewolf who had attended Hogwarts was, and I knew his son.

Not only that, but I already had one girl who hated me and I hated her. Then there was Laney Hall, who for some odd reason liked to talk to me constantly. Throw in Quinton Willinson and I had strange acquaintances at Hogwarts. But I hadn't made a single real friend yet.

******

I was extremely nervous by the time Defense class arrived on Thursday. I still had no idea what Monica was planning on doing, but she looked very smug when I walked into class, so I took that as a bad sign.

I barely paid attention during the presentations on vampires, manticores, and lethifolds that were before mine. From what I did get, there was nothing presented that I didn't already know.

"Now we will have the werewolf presentation by Amy Eckerton, Charisse Kebby, Monica Kramer, and Quinton Willinson," Torro announced after the lethifold group sat down.

I swallowed hard and wiped my sweaty palms on my robes as I stood up. I grabbed my notes and walked up to the front of the room. Willinson and Charisse stood on either side of me but Monica stood a few meters away.

"Um, hi," I began, "We're going to talk to you about lycanthropy. Werewolves are often portrayed as monsters, but in reality, they are just like us twenty-seven days out of twenty-eight-"

"But that one day, they are raging monsters who would turn on their best friend," Monica interrupted.

I stared at her and then shuffled through my notes. What was she doing? "Yes, that is true," I went on, "But they have no control over it. Most werewolves would choose not to transform if given the choice."

"But they're not given the choice," Monica said, "So whether they'd choose to or not is not relevant."

"Yes, it is," I said a little louder, "It proves that they are not monsters, but victims of a crippling disease. If they truly were monsters, they would enjoy attacking people."

"If they weren't monsters, we wouldn't study them in this class," Monica smirked. A few people giggled.

Suddenly it hit me. She was going to refute every single thing I said. Two people could play at that game, I thought. We could debate if she wanted.

"We study them because they have the potential to be dangerous when transformed and we need to be careful," I countered.

"Potential?" Monica gaped, "Potential? They've got more than just a potential!"

"The point is, is that they should not be treated like rubbish for what happens one night out of twenty-eight," I said, "They don't choose to become werewolves. They're victims of a disease. Of a curse. Nobody is going to put restrictions on a wizard with dragon pox just because they could transmit it to another wizard. Lycanthropy is the same principle."

Monica rolled her eyes. "Dragon pox is curable. Lycanthropy is not a disease. Lycanthropes are monsters."

I glared at her. "So they should suffer just because nobody's found a cure? It's a chronic disease that can be controlled." I turned to Charisse, who was supposed to explain about Wolfsbane.

"Wolfsbane is a potion that enables a werewolf to transform safely. A werewolf under the influence of Wolfsbane will transform into a calm wolf who will not attack anyone. It enables the person to keep their mind," Charisse explained.

"But you said it doesn't work on all werewolves," Monica pointed out.

I sighed. "Yes, that's true."

"So why don't we just put more restrictions on those werewolves?" Monica smirked.

I shot her a dirty look. I could feel my heart pounding harder in my chest. She was getting worse and worse. "That would be stupid," I seethed, "Werewolves whom Wolfsbane does not work for are suffering even more than other werewolves. They endure a painful, crippling transformation every single month. They get sick every month for a few days before the full moon. After it, it takes days for them to get their strength back up."

"Yeah, it's such a shame that they suffer when they inflict their horrible curse on other people every month," Monica laughed.

She laughed. She actually laughed. Although she didn't know it, she was indirectly laughing at what my brother had to go through every month. She reminded me of Lubar. It was awful.

"You," I seethed, "Are one of the most close minded people I have ever met in my life."

"All right!" Torro announced, "That's enough. Class dismissed. We'll continue with the next group at the beginning of next class. If the werewolf group could please see me before you leave."

I sent the dirtiest look I could muster at Monica as I stomped towards Torro's desk. Willinson and Charisse stood on either side of me. Monica stood a few feet to my left.

"I think you both made your points. That was certainly an unorthodox take on my assignment," Torro said, "However, you did miss the general point of my assignment. The purpose was to present the facts about werewolves. How to identify one, what happens during a transformation, and what the characteristics of an untransformed werewolf are, and perhaps a bit about the Wolfsbane potion. Nowhere in this assignment were you instructed to debate the ethics of how werewolves are to be treated in society.

"Therefore, I am assigning a two foot essay on the characteristics of werewolves to all of you. You will hand it in at the beginning of class on Tuesday. It is not a group essay, either. You should complete it alone. Now you'd best be getting to your next class."

"Thanks a lot, Eckerton," Monica muttered.

"You were just a part of this as she was, Miss Kramer," Torro replied.

I ignored her comment and stomped back to my desk. I threw my notes into my bag and stormed out of the room. I ran all the way to Gryffindor Tower. I didn't want lunch; I wasn't hungry.

I didn't even care that Torro had assigned us an extra essay. It had been worth it. There was no way I could have stood there and let Monica insult werewolves like that. Plus, I could probably write that essay in a half hour.

I climbed the stairs to my dormitory and pulled the curtains around my bed. I laid on my stomach and screamed into my pillow. There were very few people who had gotten me as angry as Monica had. Sure, a lot of people annoyed me and I'd be the first to admit it. Vivien's friends annoyed me. Cinda's rich friends annoyed me. The girls in my year at the Australian School of Sorcery (besides Olivia) annoyed me. Kenzie's sisters annoyed me.

Monica had gone beyond the state of annoyance. She angered me in ways I didn't think possible. The only people who had ever done that were Clarence, Lubar, and Killigan and they were adults, so I didn't really argue with them.

Monica just knew the exact ways to get to me. I doubted she knew it herself and she was definitely clueless as to why, but she seemed to push all of my buttons at once. The worst part was, was that she made me want to spill Matt's secret. I had been so close to just telling the class about him. I told them what went on during his transformations with such detail that everyone was bound to know why I knew so much. I was going to have to be more careful, that was for sure. No matter how hard it was to do, I was just going to have to ignore Monica.