Chapter 6: Know ThyselfChapter TextWithin a single fateful day, Skyla's life had been turned completely upside down and it took her quite some time to get used to the jarring sensation of the sudden evolution. She had never experienced true freedom before (or freedom of any kind) yet now she found herself with almost an entire month to spend while having no restrictions upon her as to where she could go, or when she could do it.
Thankfully money was not an issue for her in the slightest and she was able to sample all of the exciting things that Diagon Alley had to offer. Even if she did go slightly over budget during her lively exploration of the magical world (not that she had a budget in the first place), it wasn't a problem for her to go and withdraw more money as she needed. In fact, far from being a problem, it seemed to make Bleeding Eyes happy whenever she would visit, especially now that the vault had been cleaned out and properly organised.
"Woah," Skyla had commented with a rather impressed expression when she had visited to refill her coin purse, "this looks totally different."
Instead of the dragon's den of gold that her vault had been before, the coins had all been neatly organised into metal boxes of different sizes, based upon the quantity. Everything was stacked and labeled with an even numeric value, which ensured that deposits and withdrawals were much easier to track and that the vault could be physically navigated with ease. It was less visually impressive without the mountains of coins lying everywhere, however Skyla appreciated the tidy rows of perfectly organised shelves and boxes that ranged from ten galleons up to ten thousand per box. It certainly made withdrawals a lot easier as she could simply empty a box that suited how much she wanted to take out, rather than have to scoop up coins off the ground by the handful.
"Yes, makes managing your funds a lot easier," Bleeding Eyes commented as he looked around the vault with satisfaction, "it will make further organisation and recounts much easier and cheaper too. Speaking of which, here is your final count. Minus our fee, of course."
Skyla was not exactly a mathematician, but she knew enough about numbers to know that when you had as many digits on the end of a number as her vault had, you probably didn't need to worry about what you were spending in a retail store. Skyla could only laugh at the absurd amount of money once she had seen it in writing; she felt as though she needed to do something more with it than just spend it idly, but she had no idea what to do. For the moment she simply spent it as she went, though her spending happens didn't seem to make any sort of dent in her wealth. Admittedly, she didn't actually spend all that much of her gold throughout her stay, at least compared to what others may have done in her situation. She did visit Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and definitely spent far too much gold on creating strange, custom flavour combinations as it was extremely entertaining, but aside from that, she didn't have a whole lot else that she wanted to do, or needed to buy. She wasn't allowed a broom, even if she wanted one, and she had nowhere to keep a pet of any variety. Her parents had wanted her to enjoy her money and she did at first, however after a few days she had sampled everything that there was to do within the alley. After the initial excitement, she eventually settled in and ended up spending more of her time reading her school books than anything else. Sam kept her full to the brim as she read with excessively large breakfasts, lunches and dinners (despite her insistence that she didn't need all that food) and by the end of her stay she had read almost all of her books, twice.
The only other activity that Skyla had undertaken was to visit her secondary vault at Gringotts that housed her mother's unfinished experiments. A specialist that Bleeding Eyes had recommended inspected the vault thoroughly for two days, but found nothing out of the ordinary and deemed it entirely safe. He did comment that the existing spellwork on the items there was clearly highly advanced, but there was nothing nefarious about any of it.
"Most of it is simply muggle items," he had said with a small shrug, "and anything that is enchanted doesn't seem to change any properties. Strangely, it seems as though the items were being systematically stripped down through magic and rebuilt, but I don't know why anyone would do that, or for what purpose."
"It was all my mother's stuff," Skyla had said with a small smile, "I'm starting to get the impression that no-one really understood why she did a lot of things."
"Well I'll leave you to it," the man said as he flicked his shoulder-length orange hair out of his face, "if you find anything odd just let Krylk know."
Skyla had spent some time down with the items, carefully running her fingers over the various unassuming items, but she didn't find the comfort that she was looking for. The sight of the incomplete plans actually made her feel rather angry; something that she had never been prone to feeling. Anger required passion or a vested interest, and Skyla had found it far easier to drift off into apathy at the Orphanage during her recent years. This however, did make her angry as it represented two beautiful lives that had been cut down in their prime, and two people who would never live to see their dreams through. All because of some madman who decided, for whatever reason, that her family needed to be destroyed before it had even begun. What if her parents had survived? Skyla would have grown up in a wealthy, but loving, household where she would never have wanted for anything. She might even have a brother or sister that looked up to her, or that she helped with homework. But, she would never know, because of that madman who called himself Voldemort, and that made her feel quite angry.
While the vault didn't provide the family comfort she desired, her parents' letter provided at least a little of that warmth. She kept it on her bedside table and she read it every evening before she blew out the lights and went to sleep. Every time that she read it she would trace each letter, imagining what her mother might have looked like while she was writing it. Was she the type to sit and bite her lip while thinking of what to write? Or did she speedily zoom away at the page with eagerness, jotting down her thoughts in a excitable dash as if they were erupting from her mind like a volcano of feelings and ideas?
Whenever she thought of her parent's letter she felt a strange combination of pride, sorrow and confusion. Her parents, at least from what they had written and what people said about them, seemed like wonderful people and she was incredibly proud of them, which was quite an unusual feeling for Skyla who had never felt pride in anything before. The more she learned about them, the more painful their loss became and she felt as though she was only just starting to truly realise just how empty her life had actually been without them. The sense of confusion however, came from several references in the letter that she didn't understand. She understood the idea of what had happened with this 'rune', even if she didn't understand the actual magic behind it, yet she still had a lot of questions about the rest of the letter. They mentioned this, 'Sirius', several times and Skyla had no idea who that was, but apparently her parents had been very convinced that their friends would have looked after her. What happened to these friends? She supposed that after the death of her parents they may have drifted apart or simply not wanted to have anything to do with their dead friends' daughter. She knew that it wasn't particularly important in the grand scheme of things, but she still wondered about just who 'Sirius', 'Remus' and 'Peter' were, since her parents had seemed willing to trust them with Skyla's life. The same parents who were willing to imbed a dangerous rune into her hand to protect her, were also willing to trust these people with her life, yet when the time came they were nowhere to be found? Something about it didn't add up to Skyla, but it wasn't as though she was about to go and track them down on her own. She didn't even know their last names and, besides, did she really even have anything to say to them if she did happen to find them?
She eventually decided to forget about her parents' friends from over ten years ago and instead, she decided to enjoy the best month of her entire life to the fullest. She rapidly worked her way through the entirety of her school reading list and a made a start on a few other books. She practiced simple spells with her new wand over and over, delighting in the control that she felt from it, with a little assistant from Tom and Sam about how to control her magic and direct it properly. She practiced her own brand of magic in the evenings as she lay in the dark, bouncing her orb of light off the ceiling idly as she thought about her life.
The days began to blur together and Skyla hadn't even realised just how close she was to her first day of school until Tom pointed it out to her in the evening leading up to her departure. She had blissfully been enjoying life as it came, however as soon as she realised that she was on the eve of starting her new school adventure, stress and anxiety came crashing back into her mind. She was still excited, however the thought of having to leave this place now that she was settled was also rather nerve-wracking. She didn't know exactly what she was walking into as Tom had advised her to steer clear of any history books that might 'spoil' a few things for her. She trusted Tom and took his advice, although it was incredibly difficult to do and she started to regret not researching Hogwarts more as her departure became reality.
"One thing I will tell you," Tom said on the evening before she departed, "is how to actually get onto the platform. I remember a bunch of muggleborns showing up late when I was at school 'cause they couldn't figure out how to get to the train at all."
Fear struck Skyla at the thought of having to dramatically arrive on her own due to being late, so she paid extra close attention as Tom explained about the magical barrier between platforms nine and ten and how to pass through it.
She tossed and turned through the night with deep anxiety at the thought of her upcoming departure, however nothing would halt the marching of time and she eventually found herself standing in the bar, with all of her belongings shrunk down and packed neatly inside her bottomless bag. She actually managed to shrink most of the items that need it herself, although Tom and Sam both helped her out along the way with tips and pointers.
"Well, I don't really know what to say," she eventually said to the two men, "I guess just… thank you. For everything."
"You have a good year at school," Tom said with a smile, "and if you need anything, you know where we are."
"Make sure they feed you good up there," Sam added with a scowl.
"I will," Skyla smiled, "otherwise I'll just have to bring the best chef in the world to teach them a thing or two!"
Tom laughed, however Sam just nodded in agreement.
With a final wave, Skyla stepped out from The Leaky Cauldron with her backpack slung over her shoulders and she and began the reasonably short walk to King's Cross station. She had decided to wear her muggle clothes (a light blue T-shirt, simple black skirt and her white trainers) as she knew she would be walking through the muggle world and she didn't want to stand out by wearing brightly coloured robes (or plain black ones, which were almost more unsettling to the muggles).
It turned out that the station was quite easy to find, and she didn't even have any trouble locating platforms nine and ten. The only thing that bothered her was the fact that she seemed to be the only magical person there; and if there were others then they were doing an excellent job of hiding among the crowd of ordinary muggles.
She wasn't sure whether to go straight through or not, and she found her anxiety growing as she simply stood on platform nine, waiting for any kind of activity. Tom had explained about the barrier, however she was a little early; what if it wasn't open yet? Even worse, what if everyone was already in and it was now closed? Had she actually been too late in the end?
"-ull of muggles, as usual-"
A loud voice came carrying through the air behind her and Skyla perked up at the word, knowing that it meant someone magical had said it.
She looked over and the voice appeared to be coming from a rather plump woman who was hurrying along a smattering of orange haired children, who were almost all carrying large trunks and certainly seemed to be heading off for a long trip. Skyla was rather shocked by just how many there were in the family, yet they certainly seemed to be magical as they directly approached the magical barrier in front of Skyla.
"Are you going through, dear?" the woman asked kindly.
"Oh… yes, I just-"
"First time?" The woman said knowingly, "it can be a little daunting."
"Yes," Skyla admitted, "it is a bit scary to just… walk through a wall, even if I know that's how it is supposed to work."
"Well, we'll head on through then," the woman said with a smile, "and you can follow us through after once you've seen how it's done. Go on Fred, you first."
Two spectacularly identical twins moved forward with matching grins.
"I'm George," the boy who had been directed through commented, "honestly you would think our own mother would know our names by now."
"Oh, I'm sorry George," the woman said distractedly.
"Just kidding, I am Fred!"
The twins both set off at a run and disappeared through the magical barrier, one after the other (although Skyla still wasn't sure which one was which).
"Honestly…" the woman huffed in annoyance.
The rest of the family proceeded through the barrier one by one, leaving Skyla standing alone once again. She did feel much more inspired now that she had seen someone else do it, so she grit her teeth slightly and took off at a ran, heading directly for the wall.
She emerged immediately out to the other side and quickly came to a sliding stop, realising that there was now a bustling crowd directly in front of her. It was incredibly busy and she could see families all over the platform saying farewells to each other with hugs and waves. The railway was occupied by a very large steam train; it looked quite old fashioned compared to the muggles ones that she had noticed coming in and out of King's Cross and it had 'The Hogwarts Express' painted on the side in large, gold, cursive letters. The train had a dozen carriages and each carriage looked as though it was already starting to fill with children from her own age, right through to older teens who almost looked to be adults.
Skyla had never taken a train before, so she didn't know if there was anything she needed to do and she carefully watched the others around her for clues. After watching the other children for a moment, it seemed that most were simply randomly hopping onto any old carriage so after a moment of indecision, she decided to head for the front of the train, since it was the furthest away from the main entrance and she hoped that it might be quieter down that end.
She was right, and the very first carriage at the front had hardly anyone in it. She entered one of the completely empty compartments and shut the door behind herself, sighing with satisfaction as she sat down and put her backpack down on the floor between her feet. She didn't know how long it was going to be until they arrived at Hogwarts, but she had all of her things within her bag if she did need anything. Now that she was on the train and ready to go, she felt that she could finally relax slightly as she stared out the window, lost in thought.
It was bizarre to think that she was currently on her way to school. Not just any old school either, a school of magic! She was as equal parts excited as she was scared at the thought of everyone around her also being able to do magic and she wondered what kind of strange things she might see. She felt extremely underprepared for the world that she had no idea existed until recently and she hoped that she wouldn't stand out too much. She knew that it was going to be vastly different than the 'education' that she had received from Beatrice, although this time she wouldn't be learning material that was several years lower than her mental age, due to her advancing much quicker than the muggle children. She hoped that she wouldn't struggle with the content; a fear that had helped her to complete the reading of her school books well in advance.
It didn't take long for even her carriage at the front to start filling up and the closer it got to the eleven o'clock departure time, the busier it became as students scrambled to find a spot for the long trip. Even sitting in the furthest carriage didn't save her from the crowd for long and eventually, her compartment door slid open.
"Sorry, do you mind if I join you? Everywhere else is getting quite full."
Skyla looked up to see a girl hovering in the doorway. A girl with quite long, bushy brown hair and a slightly nervous demeanour. She had intense, brown eyes and she was almost hiding behind the door as if she was afraid that Skyla might dramatically reject her.
"Sure. I mean, no. That I don't mind, that is, so… yes," Skyla said, stumbling over her words slightly.
'Great,' she thought to herself, 'the first person I speak to and I'm already making myself look stupid.'
The girl just laughed slightly however, before dragging her trunk into the compartment and closing the door. She struggled a little to get it up to the overhead railings, so Skyla stood up to help her lift it.
"Oh, thanks," the girl replied with a smile.
"No problem."
Together they managed to hoist the surprisingly heavy trunk up into the storage area.
"I'm Hermione Granger," the girl said cheerfully as she sat down across from Skyla's seat, holding her hand out politely.
"Oh, Skyla Potter," Skyla replied, reaching out to shake hands. Before her hand could even reach Hermione's however, the girl had paused and was staring down at Skyla's hand, before flicking her eys up at Skyla's hair and her eyes.
"THE Skyla Potter?" Hermione exclaimed in surprise, "Oh! I've read all about you."
"Really?" Skyla asked hesitantly as she closed her fist and removed her hand uncomfortably.
"Oh yes," Hermione said eagerly, forgetting all about the handshake in her excitement, "I knew that you would be coming to Hogwarts this year, of course. It was quite obvious based on your age, but I didn't expect to share a compartment with you. I read up on anything that I thought might be important to know, and you're very famous in the magical world."
"So it would seem."
Hermione hardly even drew a breath as she excitedly continued.
"Of course you are most famous for the defeat of the Dark Lord, but even without that there were many people in history who had been wondering what the child of the Potters might be like, since they were both quite successful and influential, although they had their first child, well you, quite early on, especially give the war at the time. Of course it's all rumour and heresay, but the leading theory was that after their tragic passing, Professor Dumbledore had sheltered you away from the media and harassment to grow up in a normal life. Some thought you might not even be in Europe and might be in America!"
'This girl can really talk…" Skyla thought to herself as Hermione excitedly rambled on while Skyla sat quietly in front of her.
"Obviously you know your own life better than I do, I'm just saying that it's quite nice to meet someone that I have only read about. I haven't met anyone that I've read about before, aside from a few university lecturers that my parents know and they weren't particularly interesting in the end."
"Well it sounds like you know my life better than I do," Skyla laughed slightly, "I didn't know anything about Dumbledore or magic or anything until recently. I grew up in an orphange."
Hermione paused for a moment and she tilted her head questioningly. They both felt a sudden shift forward as the train began its journey and Skyla wondered if that might be enough to distract Hermione.
It wasn't.
"That's curious," Hermione said thoughtfully, "I was on-board with the theory that Dumbledore had hidden you, but then I suppose an orphanage is a clever place to hide someone really. No magical reporters are going to go looking there. He's such a brilliant wizard, I've read all about him too-"
"I think we've been reading very different books," Skyla said, "I know the school books inside and out but I didn't see any references to myself or Professor Dumbledore in them."
"Well you aren't in our prescribed readings or anything, but I love reading history books and biographies of important people," Hermione nodded enthusiastically, "I find it fascinating to read about the people who shaped our world. I felt so left out after discovering there was an entire magical world hidden from view, that I have not stopped reading since I got my books. I practically begged my parents to go and get my supplies as soon as I got my letter and I used all of my allowance to buy some extra background reading material too."
"I understand how you feel with that part," Skyla agreed, "I still feel very underprepared, even though I've read all the school books. I've mostly been reading and practicing what we're going to be doing at school for the last month."
"Oh? You've been practicing magic?" Hermione asked curiously, "my parents didn't think it was safe for me to try without supervision. let's see some!"
Skyla shrugged and slipped her wand out of her holster.
"Oh, that's really neat!" Hermione commented with approval of the handy accessory, "and your wand is so pretty!"
"Thanks," Skyla said happily as she looked down to her pastel pink and perfectly smooth wand, "I like it too."
She cleared her throat briefly, before flicking her wand into the air smoothly and saying, "Nixellius!"
Snow began to softly fall within the compartment, causing Hermione to let out a small noise of wonder as she held her hand out and caught a few falling snowflakes. Skyla let the spell continue on for a moment, until she eventually canceled it with a "nox".
"It's not really the most useful one," she said a little sheepishly as she tucked her wand away, "but it was an easy one to learn and the others I'm not confident enough to try in the train right now. Some of the others are quite difficult and take a lot of energy."
"Oh yes, I've read that it's really important to-"
"Woah, that's wicked!"
A voice came from the doorway and interrupted Hermione mid-sentence. Slightly startled, both girls looked around to see that there was a boy in the doorway; they didn't know when he had gotten there, but he had clearly been there long enough to witness the magic as he was still looking into the air with an impressed expression. He was quite distinctive with his bright orange hair and Skyla thought she recognised him as one of the family who had gone through the barrier before her, but she wasn't entirely sure. She was fairly confident however that there wouldn't be that many families here with hair that was a stunningly orange as that family however.
"Can I sit in here?" He asked, "my brothers kicked me out of their compartment, the scumbags. Wanted to be alone with their friends."
The girl's shrugged indifferently, with matching statements of "sure".
"I'm Ron, Ron Weasley," the boy said as he dragged his trunk into the compartment and hoisted it up onto the railings above.
"Hermione Granger," Hermione answered politely.
"Skyla Potter," Skyla added, following her lead.
Ron almost dropped his trunk entirely for a moment, however he managed to recover it and throw it back up onto the railings with abandon.
"THE Skyla Potter?" He gasped.
"Well, I'm sure there's more than one Skyla Potter out there," Skyla replied with a small, nervous laugh.
"It's not a particularly common name… do you… do you have the scar?" Ron asked conspiratorially as he looked down to her hand.
Skyla closed her fist and withdrew it uncomfortably, however Ron eagerly tried to get a look by moving his head around, eventually forcing Skyla to place her hands flat on her thighs.
"I think you're making her uncomfortable," Hermione said to Ron.
"It's okay," Skyla sighed and shook her head, "I should probably get used to this, right? Better to get it over with, I suppose."
With a small breath she extended her right hand and revealed her palm to the excited boy. She had never really thought much about her scar before her entry into the magical world; it had just been an unknown scar to her or if anything, some kind of mark of the devil or demonic symbol or the like as Beatrice had suggested frequently. Now however, knowing that it was the mark of her parents' rune (and that it had contained their very blood), it felt far more personal when she exposed it. The rune had (apparently) saved her life and she wondered whether the scar was only so large and distinctive due to the fact that it had been overpowered as a result of her parents' death. It wasn't a particularly cheerful thought and she was still working through exactly how she felt about it, as it was deeply personal and slightly troubling in its own way.
None of which was made any better by people gawking at her hand, like the boy in front of her.
"Wicked!" Ron grinned eagerly, "no wonder you can do magic like that already! I bet there's loads of cool stuff you can do!"
"Not really," Skyla admitted quietly, "I only know a few basic spells that we're all going to learn this year anyway, and I bet loads of people have already gotten a head start on their subjects, especially those who grew up with magic."
"That's true," Hermione sighed sadly, "my parents aren't magical and I feel so far behind already. I know the theory behind the spells, but since I haven't had a chance to do any I don't even know if they will work. It feels like an unfair advantage really."
"I grew up in a magical family," Ron said with a shrug, "and I don't really know any magic."
"Oh? Do you not learn magic when growing up in a magical household?" Hermione asked with interest, "I really thought you would have learned some along the way, at least."
"Well mum always tried to teach me, but, who has time for that?" Ron said with a laugh.
"Your mum wanted to teach you magic and you said no?" Hermione and Skyla both asked at the same time, with the same tone of longing in their voice (though for slightly different reasons).
"Yeah but I always though what's the point," Ron said airily, "isn't that why we come here? To learn that stiff?"
"Well if you have a magical household I bet it is quite easy to practice there," Skyla pointed out, "unlike me who had to do my practicing in The Leaky Cauldron and hope I didn't break anything I didn't own."
"The Leaky Cauldron? The pub at the entrance to Diagon Alley?" Hermione asked, "you were practicing in there?"
"I lived there for the last month," Skyla explained, "after Hagrid picked me up from the orphanage he organised for me to stay there instead of going back."
"Who is Hagrid?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, he's the groundskeeper at Hogwarts," Skyla explained, "he came to get me after I never wrote back to my letter. He's also something about… the keys, he said, but I can't remember now."
"What's an oraphenege?" Ron asked, "is that some muggle thing?"
"It's a place where children without parents or carers are sent," Hermione said with a small frown, "but I've heard it's very unpleasant to grow up in one and that they are removing them altogether and replacing them with proper care homes. I'm surprised you were even in one at all. It must have been a very nice one, at least."
Skyla laughed openly and loudly.
"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you," Skyla quickly explained, "it's just… well. I wouldn't even know where to start. Let's just say that those 'care homes' sound good on the poster, but there are many children who never get to see one."
She could only imagine what Beatrice would have said to Hermione about the topic, but thankfully, Skyla didn't expect the two to ever interact. She wondered briefly what Beatrice was doing, and how Beatrice reacted when Skyla didn't return.
She was probably over the moon about it; a thought that annoyed Skyla slightly.
"Muggles are strange," Ron commented, "very odd."
"I actually agree with you there," Skyla said.
"Well, I suppose both sides would always seem strange to each other," Hermione reasoned, "some cultural differences are bound to develop."
"Well, strange muggles aside," Ron suddenly said to Skyla, "tell us all about it!"
"About what?" she replied, confused.
"Your adventures!" He rolled his eyes as if it were obvious, "you know, the dragon riding and battle with… You-Know-Who and-"
"What?" Skyla laughed, "I haven't done anything like that."
"What do you mean?"
"What do YOU mean?"
"There are a lot of fables and stories about you," Hermione explained briefly, "after the fall of the Dark Lord, some people wrote that you were off growing up in goblin wars, riding dragons into battle, breaking up muggle wars or-"
"That's ridiculous," Skyla chuckled in amusement, "I hadn't even properly been outside until a month ago. Unless you count the old trips to the park and the midnight food trips, back when Sarah…"
She trailed off; that wound was still too painful for her to re-open any time soon. The two stared at her for a moment, but she simply stopped talking and said nothing more.
"What do you mean you hadn't been outside?" Hermione asked.
"I was always inside," Skyla said, "reading or when I couldn't read just… doing nothing, really."
"Sounds boring," Ron commented, "I spent most of my time flying on brooms with my brothers or tossing gnomes out of the garden or-"
"That definitely sounds like a lot more fun than I had," Skyla said with a slightly sad smile and a hint of envy in her voice. Hermione stared at her for a moment as though she wanted to ask something, but it seemed she thought better of it and changed the topic.
"Well, anyway… have either of you thought of which house you want to be in?" Hermione asked.
"Gryffindor," Ron replied immediately, "if I don't get into Gryffindor I'll be the laughing stock of my family. I have to be in there."
"I had a very brief look at the houses," Skyla shrugged, "but I don't really mind. It's not like I know anyone in them anyway."
"I think Ravenclaw sounds like a good house to be in from an educational standpoint," Hermione said with a slightly furrowed brow, "Gryffindor sounds quite… rowdy. Hufflepuff is certainly a nice house based on good moral values, but I don't feel as though it offers much more than that. I'm a muggleborn so there's no way I'll end up in Slytherin anyway even if I wanted to."
"Slytherin is evil," Ron said with a shake of his head, "anyone who ends up in there always turn bad. It is the house for the people who have nowhere better to go."
"Sounds like I'll end up there, then," Skyla laughed slightly, "maybe I'll actually fit in there for once."
"Yeah right," Ron scoffed, "Skyla Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, in Slytherin? That will be the day."
The three chatted idly for awhile, until eventually Skyla decided to pull out one of her textbooks and do some revision since it seemed that they were going to be on the train for quite some time.
"Oh, that's a good idea!" Hermione said approvingly, "we should definitely squeeze in what practice we can before we get there. We probably still have a couple of hours to go."
She stood up and began to retrieve her own book from her trunk above them.
"We'll be at school all year," Ron said with a frown, "why would you need to study right now?"
"Why not?" both girls replied.
"I… think I'll wait for later," Ron said, eyeing the thick textbooks with apprehension, "I might go check on my brothers and see what they're up to now…"
"Alright. See you later then."
Ron hastily departed the compartment while the girls simply looked at each other for a moment and shrugged.
They studied in a comfortable silence for awhile which was quite strange to Skyla. She thought it might be a weird to study alongside someone else like this, but it was rather nice to sit back and read her textbook while across from her, Hermione did the same. It was reassuring; it reminded her that they were both in the same situation and it helped her to lose some of her anxiety about being behind in class.
After half an hour had passed, someone slid the compartment door open and called out to them.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?"
The girls looked up to see an old, kind looking woman pushing a small trolley that was laden with colourful sweets and strange looking drinks.
"Oh, no thank you," Hermione said politely, "I'm sure it's all wonderful, but I already spent most of my allowance."
Skyla noticed that Hermione was looking rather curiously at some of the more magical items as she spoke, and she jumped slightly when a box of… something, suddenly rattled out of nowhere. Unlike Hermione, Skyla didn't have an allowance to manage and a thought popped into her head.
"If you have enough to spare," Skyla began hesitantly, "I'll take two of… well, everything? Only if you have enough that is."
Both Hermione and the woman looked at her rather incredulously, until Skyla pulled out her coin purse from her backpack and grabbed a handfuls of gold galleons.
"How much would that be?" Skyla asked, "I'll throw in a bit extra because I'm getting so much at once, to cover it…"
Hermione stared in shock at the amount of gold that Skyla was happily handing over (to an equally happy old woman). With a little teamwork, the three of them collectively dumped two of everything onto the seat beside Skyla, and thanked the old lady as she moved on; somehow with a trolley that still looked just as full as before Skyla had taken a giant armful of her stock.
"I didn't know that you had so much money," Hermione said, "things like that weren't exactly covered in the history books."
"I didn't know either," Skyla admitted, "not until I got to Diagon Alley and Hagrid took me to the bank. It turns out that my parents left me a lot of gold in a vault. They even left a letter in which they instructed me to have fun spending it."
"That was nice of them," Hermione said with a smile.
"I don't really care about the gold though," Skyla said, "I'd give it all away for a single conversation with them. I have so many questions I'd love to ask them, and none of those questions would be about the gold."
"Oh… Skyla…" Hermione said softly, "I'm so sorry. It must be awful having grown up without them. I couldn't imagine not having my parents."
Skyla just shrugged.
"Not much I can do about it now anyway, they're already dead," Skyla said with a rather forced laugh, "anyway… here."
Skyla split the stack of goodies in half and began to pass a surprised Hermione one of everything.
"You looked curious; you don't have to eat it all," Skyla explained, "there's no way I'll eat all of this either. I just thought it might be fun to try a bit of everything."
"I… I don't think I can accept all of this," Hermione said slowly, "that was a lot of money, Skyla…"
Skyla, who was currently pulling open what appeared to be a chocolate bar, looked up at her in surprise.
"Was it? Well… my parents told me to enjoy it. I thought it might be nice to try these things together."
"That… it does sound nice," Hermione said with a small smile forming on her face, "are you sure that it's okay though? I won't be able to pay this back for a very long time-"
Skyla just waved her off dismissively.
"Look at this," she said as she showed Hermione the chocolate bar, "I swear it just moved…"
The girls began to tear open the various snacks and sweets, inspecting the contents closely for any signs of magic or enchantments. Neither girl actually ate much of what was there, especially since Hermione explained that her parents were dentists and would have skinned her alive if they saw her with this much artificial sugar in her hands. Skyla simply didn't have much of a sweet tooth since she hadn't eaten much that was sweet while growing up, but they both had a lot of fun discovering what made each of the treats unique and interesting through the use of magic.
"Thank you for buying all of that," Hermione said after they had exhausted all of their snacks, "there was some really interesting magic involved in those. It makes you think about how much you can actually achieve with magic, doesn't it?"
"Definitely," Skyla agreed, "I've already learned that magic can do things that you would have never thought possible. I'm really excited to get in and start learning more, it feels like we just wont have enough time to learn everything, you know?"
"Exactly!" Hermione nodded, "we're going to have to be really diligent if we want to keep on top of things."
"Maybe we can help each other?" Skyla suggested, "I'm sure there will be things that we both don't understand and we might be able to do some study together and figure it out?"
"I would love that," Hermione said with a small smile, "I've never really had any friends before and the other children at my school were more interested in playing sports than studying."
"I've never had any friends either," Skyla admitted, "the other children at the orphanage were… well. Not very nice."
Hermione made a sympathetic noise of understanding as the two girls happily pulled their books back out.
"Did you get bullied?" Hermione asked after a moment.
"I suppose you would call it that," Skyla said with a shrug, "but I didn't really get hit very often or anything. Once I was in the cellar, I just didn't really seem them much after that. I don't even know if any of the old kids are still there."
"Cellar?"
"Oh yeah, my room was in the cellar," Skyla explained, "so that I wasn't around the other children and affecting them with my weirdness. Beatrice - that's the matron - locked the bars so that I couldn't get out. I used to teleport out for food but after an incident with the bakery, well… I was stuck with whatever scraps she scrounged up for me."
"That sounds… horrible," Hermione said with a frown. Skyla just shrugged.
"I mean, it was at first, but I had some running water in there and eventually I figured out how to make some light. It was mostly just boring after that, especially after I lost… some stuff."
"I guess I can't really complain about my school experience after that," Hermione said.
"It's not a competition," Skyla laughed slightly.
"Well, I hope that we both have better experiences here," Hermione said, biting her lip slightly, "I mean, we're all here to learn magic! I'm sure everyone is super excited and keen… right?"
"Ron didn't seem that enthusiastic," Skyla pointed out, "I guess to the magical children it's nothing special."
"Yeah, that's a shame… but I bet the others that are like us will be super excited," Hermione said hopefully.
"I hope so."
The two resumed their reading and sat mostly in silence, occasionally asking questions about the textbook they were reading or simply repeatedly commenting on how wonderful magic was in general.
***************
After a few hours had passed, an announcement was made that the train would be arriving at Hogwarts soon and the students were instructed to change into their school robes. Thankfully, Ron took a while returning to the compartment and the girls had finished changing in time. He, however, was still scrambling to put on his robes as they departed the train amidst the crowd of excitable students.
"It feels weird leaving our things on the train," Hermione said with concern as they stepped out onto the platform, "I know they told us to, but… how do they know which bag is going where? And what's to stop someone from getting on the train and stealing things?"
"Maybe it's magically protected?" Skyla suggested, "like, something that stops anyone from stealing what doesn't belong to them on there, and identifies which bag belongs to who?"
"Are there any spells that can do that much?" Hermione asked curiously.
Skyla just shrugged, although she considered her hand for a moment which was living proof of the fact that there was some seriously advanced and incredible magic out there. If there was something that protected her from outright death, then surely there was something that protected a few items from being stolen. She was positive that her parents would have known the answer to that and she felt a little sorrowful that she couldn't ask them-
She shook her head; she shouldn't think about things like that; not here, not now.
"First years, over here!"
A booming voice called out across the platform and Skyla spotted the large frame that could only be Hagrid, as he towered above the students and waved his handheld lantern around in the sky to attract the attention of the students.
"I guess that's us," Ron said as he finally stepped out behind them, though his robes seemed slightly ruffled and possibly inside out.
"I would imagine so yes, being first years," Hermione said rather dryly at his comment. He rolled his eyes slightly in annoyance, however he said nothing in response.
"Hagrid!" Skyla called out happily as she lightly jogged over to him, with Hermione and Ron in tow who were giving each other slight frowns, though Skyla didn't notice.
"Oh, hello there Skyla!" he said warmly as he peered down at her in the light of his lantern, "look at you! Sam been feeding you well, I see."
"You could say that. I don't think I've been hungry in the last month," Skyla laughed slightly. Hagrid chuckled with fondness at his friends, knowing that Tom and Sam would have taken excellent care of her.
"Alright," he said as he turned to address the entire group of students that was gathering around him, "we'll be going to the castle by boat. Make sure it's only four to a boat, or you might sink. This way…"
The small crowd of anxious first year students followed him down to the lake where a host of small, wooden boats rested on the edges of the muddy bank. Groups had already begun to form among the students as they split into fours and huddled around their chosen boats.
Skyla, Hermione and Ron picked out a boat at random and climbed in, with Skyla and Hermione occupying on side and Ron the other. After a moment of waiting, another boy approached their boat.
"Hello, do you mind if I…?" he asked hesitantly.
"Go ahead," the three collectively responded.
"Thanks," he said gratefully as he climbed in. He slipped on the edge and for a moment, Skyla thought that they were all about to go tumbling over onto the muddy bank, but thankfully the boat seemed to be kept in place by more than mere flotation.
"Sorry. I'm Neville," he said sheepishly, "Neville Longbottom."
The group made their introductions and to his credit, Neville only made a small expression of surprise at the mention of Skyla's name.
"I know right?" Ron said with a slight smirk, "THE Skyla Potter."
"Wow," Neville said, "well it's an honour to meet you. I grew up on the stories about you, I think we all did."
"Whatever you heard was probably untrue," Skyla said with a frown, thinking about Ron's bizarre impression of what her childhood had apparently been like.
"Probably," Neville shrugged, "but it's still a pleasure to meet you anyway."
"Thanks," Skyla smiled slightly, "it's nice to meet you too."
No more was said about it and Skyla was quite grateful to the boy for not making a fuss about her.
A distraction came when the boats eventually moved themselves off into the lake, powered only by a strange and clearly powerful magic. At first, it was quite eerie to be drifting silently through the smooth, black water, however as they rounded a small cliff face that had thus far obscured their view, the students collectively gasped at the sight before them.
The grand castle of Hogwarts came gliding into view and it was simply magnificent; it was much larger than Skyla expected it to be and had a multitude of tall towers and turrets that reached high into the sky. The dark night sky only enhanced the view as the many torches and lights within the castle were shining brightly and winking occasionally down at the students in what almost appeared to be a cheerful and welcoming manner.
"Oh, so pretty!" Hermione exclaimed in awe.
"It really is…" Skyla agreed in a hushed voice.
The chatter of the students in the boats faded away as most of the first years simply watched the impressive view silently while they drifted slowly and rather peacefully across the lake.
Eventually, they approached a small dock that appeared to connect to the castle via a set of old, wooden stairs and the boats formed a neat little row that guided themselves in, one at a time. The students dismounted and resumed their excited chatter among themselves while Hagrid funneled them into the castle through a side door.
"That's my part done," Hagrid said, slightly wistfully, "just wait here and someone will come grab you lot in a min' or two."
"Goodbye Hagrid," Skyla said to him as he passed and he gave her a smile smile.
"I'll see you later on," Hagrid said with a nod.
After Hagrid departed, the students loitered on the stairs as they waited for someone else to come and direct them where to go.
"I can't believe they let that giant work here," a familiar drawl rang out rather audibly, "surely that thing is a security risk."
"Giant? He's a giant?" Another student asked in concern.
"He must be," Draco, the blonde haired boy that Skyla remembered from Twilfitt and Tattings replied with a slight shrug as he stepped forward, "look at the size of him. That's not natural."
"Maybe he's just big boned," an Irish boy replied, though with obvious hesitance in his voice.
"He's a lovely person," Skyla said quietly, though loud enough for everyone to hear, "he's very kind and very thoughtful."
"Oh it's you," Draco said as he turned to Skyla in surprise, "his pet. Let you off your leash, did he?"
Two large boys guffawed from behind Draco, while he stared at Skyla with a slightly amused expression. Skyla said nothing and looked away awkwardly, not really sure what she should do.
"Oi, don't speak to her like that," Ron said, suddenly turning rather aggressive as he walked towards Draco.
"Oh look, a Weasley," Draco sneered as he looked Ron up and down, "didn't think your family could afford to put yet another child through school. Sell your house, did you? Might have covered the robes, at least."
The two boys behind Draco laughed again, pointing at Ron's hair and robes.
"At least I'm not as stupid as you, Malfoy," Ron said angrily; apparently he already knew the boy too, "you just insulted the saviour of the wizarding world."
"Saviour of the wizarding world?" Draco laughed, "did your mother drop you on your head or something? You're nothing."
"No not me you stupid git," Ron spat, "her. That's Skyla Potter."
Ron pointed to Skyla as a chorus of whispers and murmurs spread through the crowd.
"She happens to be a very good friend of mine and I won't let you talk about her that way."
"Do you happen to be a very good friend of his?" Hermione whispered quietly to Skyla with her hand over her mouth.
"This is news to me," Skyla whispered back. Hermione snickered slightly behind her hand.
"You're talking out your arse, Weasley," Draco said with a shake of her head.
"Show her the scar, Skyla," Ron turned and said to Skyla as everyone looked on with interest, "go on."
"I… I don't really want to," Skyla said as she closed her hand into a balled fist and withdrew it slightly into her sleeve. Everyone was staring directly at her and she had never felt more uncomfortable and awkward in her life. It was is if all of the students were suddenly accusing her of something that she hadn't done; all she had wanted to do was to point out that Hagrid was a very nice person and she hadn't foreseen herself getting dragged into some kind of confrontation over it.
"How about both of you just leave her alone," Hermione pitched in, "she clearly doesn't want any part of this. Besides, we've been here for all of five minutes, can't you at least wait until we have finished our entrance ceremony?"
"Keep your nose out of this, bushy," Draco sneered, "no-one asked."
Hermione huffed in annoyance, her face turning slightly red in anger and perhaps a little embarrassment, as she unconsciously ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to push it down slightly.
"Can you stop insulting people," Skyla said to Draco, "it's not very nice. I don't think you're very nice."
"I don't think you're very nice," Draco mocked in a slightly sing-song voice, "what are you, five years old? And Weasley thinks you are Skyla Potter? The Girl-Who-Lived? Don't make me laugh."
"She IS Skyla Potter!" Ron said angrily, "just show him the scar, Skyla!"
"Are you really THE Skyla Potter?" A boy suddenly asked Skyla.
"Well my name is Skyla," she replied hesitantly, "but-"
"That doesn't meant anything, I saw her wearing muggle clothes," Draco laughed, "she's nobody."
"That-" Skyla began.
"She knows good magic already!" Ron said angrily, "show him, go on!"
"I don't want t-"
"Show me your hand," someone demanded, "that will clear everything up straight away!"
"I… I don't like-"
"Leave her alone," Hermione demanded, "it doesn't matter whether she is or not."
"So you're saying she is?" the first boy rounded on Hermione, "you've seen it?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"She's got the scar and she's also got the green eyes and black hair, just like the stories," Ron pointed out.
The students began to squabble among themselves and Skyla felt her heart rate rising dramatically and a sense of panic beginning to overwhelm her. She wanted nothing more than to simply turn around and run away; bizarrely she almost wanted to run back to the Orphanage and bury herself into a dark, cold, corner of the cellar and never think about anything ever again. She took several steps back as her emotions began to run wild, although no-one had even noticed that she had backed away aside from Hermione, who stopped arguing with the others and looked over at her with concern.
Thankfully, a loud voice cut out across the students before Skyla could actually decide to turn and bolt.
"Attention!" A stern looking older witch called out to the first years, causing the group to fall silent, "I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
The students all looked at each other for a moment, before silently moving closer.
"In a moment you will proceed through these doors," she indicated to the large double doors behind her, "and you will be sorted into your houses. Each house has different traits or values that they prioritise, however no matter what house you are placed in, you will still be expected to follow the school rules and conduct yourself with dignity and respect."
"Now, follow me."
Ron and Draco glared at each other while Skyla awkwardly avoided the eyes of the many students that were glued to her, before the doors opened and the first years followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall.
"Ooh, look, the enchanted ceiling! I've read about it in Hogwarts: A History," Hermione said excitedly, immediately forgetting about the previous arguments as she gazed up at the magical ceiling that displayed the outside night sky as if it were missing its roof.
Something about Hermione's excited demeanour caused Skyla to relax slightly, somewhat ironically, and she let out a small shaky breath as she attempted to get her emotions under control. She had no idea what had even caused the overwhelming sensation, but she still felt as though she were running on pure adrenaline.
"Tom advised me against reading that book," Skyla said quietly as she peered up at the sky, "he said it would spoil the many neat surprises of the school."
"Oh, well I suppose that is a fair point," Hermione admitted, though it didn't seem to damper her spirits at all, "but, it's all far too exciting not to read about it!"
The group marched forward under the watchful eye of the many older students who were seated at the four long house tables within the Great Hall, until they reached a long staff table. In front of the staff table sat a single stool with an old, faded wizard's hat placed neatly on the center.
"When I call your name you will come forward, sit on the stool, and be placed into your house," McGonagall called out to the first years as she unrolled a scroll of parchment before her.
"Abbott, Hannah."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
And so it had begun, with students being called forth one by one to be sorted into their houses by the magical hat, which would shout out one of the houses after resting on the students head for a moment. The older students all clapped and cheered in support whenever a new student joined their house, and their school robes magically added a matching emblem that displayed the coat of arms for their house above their heart as soon as they were sorted.
Granger, Hermione."
Skyla watched on as a clearly nervous Hermione stepped forward and sat on the stool while Professor McGonagall placed the hat upon her head. Unlike some of the other students, it seemed to take the hat quite awhile to sort her, however eventually the hat cried out, "GRYFFINDOR!".
The table that was the furthest on the right clapped and cheered eagerly as Hermione hopped off the stool and gave the hat back to McGonagall. She flashed Skyla a brief smile, before she headed over to join her new house.
The hat progressed on as the crowd of waiting students got smaller and smaller.
"Longbottom, Neville."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Malfoy, Draco."
"SLYTHERIN!"
Ron mumbled angrily under his breath when Draco was immediately sorted into Slytherin. Skyla didn't quite catch what he said, but, Ron didn't seem to be terribly surprised at the sorting.
"Potter, Skyla."
The Great Hall fell silent at McGonagall's words for a brief second, which was immediately followed by a loud buzz of murmured conversation and several students even stood up to get a better look at her.
"Did she say Potter?"
"THE Skyla Potter? Here? Now?"
"Does she have the scar?"
Skyla gritted her teeth slightly as she uncomfortably made her way up to the stool and sat down upon it, with her right fist tightly closed. McGonagall placed the hat on her head and nothing happened for a moment, until bizarrely, a voice spoke within her head that she did not recognise.
"Ah… the daughter of Lily Evans and James Potter… how interesting…"
Skyla wasn't entirely sure how to interact with the hat, so she simply tried to 'think' back.
'This is getting ridiculous,' she thought, 'even you know me?'
"I know everything that you know," the hat said in a flat voice, "and a whole lot more. Your mother and father both sat in this spot, with me upon their head, while I sorted them into Gryffindor."
'And where will you put me?' Skyla thought nervously.
"A tricky question," the hat pondered, "with a complicated answer."
Skyla waited while the hat apparently thought deeply about her fate.
"Your love of reading and your interest in the arcane would be well served within Ravenclaw," the hat considered, "you would be among like-minded peers who seek academic success and development."
'But?' Skyla thought, sensing that there was a catch to his words.
"But, your life of isolation and your strong desire for companionship would leave you wanting within the house of the intellectual elite, who are often solitary creatures. You desire companionship more than outright academic success."
'So, not Ravenclaw then.'
"No… Hufflepuff would certainly see you among the loyal and the friendly, and you would no doubt make lifelong friends within that house which would satisfy your need for a family."
'But?' Skyla could already guess how this was going to go.
"But, you would not be challenged at all and would live a life of mediocrity. Some are satisfied with this and for some this is a blessing, but not you; not the daughter of Lily and James."
"Then there is Gryffindor," the hat contemplated, "Godric himself often said that he would rather die a glamorous death than live forever in a cage. A feeling that you are all too familiar with, no?"
'But?'
"But," the hat continued, "I suspect that the reckless and sometimes brash nature of the house will leave you feeling uncomfortable among your peers. You are certainly brave to have endured the life you have without breaking, yet you are also wiser than your peers and far less prone to simply throw yourself at a problem without analyising it first. You have bravery, but your courage is not your most defining trait."
"Then there is Slytherin," the hat finished with, "you have ambition, you have drive and you wish to achieve more in this life than simply exist. It is buried deep within your heart but the ambition is there, I can see it within you."
'... but…?'
"But," the hat said and Skyla almost thought it sounded as though it were rather amused, "you have far too much loyalty, love and compassion within you to comfortably thrive in that competitive and cut-throat environment. Many of us grow the most in a challenging environment and it can make us become better, however for some people, it can break them. I am not sure that you would do well in that house, I think it may be 'too' challenging for you."
"Thus, we come back to your first question," the hat concluded.
'Where will you put me?' Skyla asked once again.
"Nowhere, is the answer Miss Potter," the hat answered with amusement in his voice, "because it is not I who will place you. You will."
'Me?'
"Others have decided your fate for your entire life," the hat said blankly, "for once in your life; make up your own damn mind."
Skyla's eyes roamed the four tables briefly, however she came to rest upon her house of choice. She didn't even realise that she had made her choice, however the hat did.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Hermione clapped and cheered as Skyla sheepishly ran over to her, feeling very nervous about her placement but happy to be joining her first, and only, friend.
"I am glad that you are happy," the hat pointed out, "but I do still have a job to do, you know."
"Oops!"
The students laughed as Skyla quickly doubled back to hand the hat back to an unimpressed McGonagall, before returning to her house once again and sitting next to Hermione who shifted over to make her some space.
"Congratulations!" Hermione said excitedly, "I was so surprised when I got Gryffindor and I was really hoping that you would too!"
"Thanks," Skyla said with a smile, "did you talk to the hat too? It's… a bit weird, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it really… analysed me," Hermione said with a small shudder, as it was apparently a rather uncomfortable experience for her, "it wanted to put me in Ravenclaw at first, but it said that I wouldn't find the companionship that I was seeking there, yet I was too outspoken and bold to be in Hufflepuff, so it went with Gryffindor."
"It said something similar to me," Skyla said with a nod, "in fact it said that about every house, really. Sounded like I didn't really fit into any house."
"Curious that it chose Gryffindor then," Hermione said thoughtfully, "I wonder why that was?"
"Well…"
Skyla looked away and gazed up the ceiling.
"... I think it was because I just wanted to go to whatever house you ended up in. It… I think it was my decision, in the end, and I wanted to go with you."
Hermione's mouth fell slightly open in surprise, however she quickly closed it and a wide smile emerged instead.
"That's so sweet, Skyla," Hermione said as she wrapped her new friend in a hug, "I'm so glad. I'm really excited to share this experience with you!"
"Me too," Skyla said happily as she melted slightly into the hug. Hermione was soft, warm and smelled vaguely of mint, since that had been the only flavour of their snacks that she had actually been interested in.
Hermione made to pull back after a moment and Skyla, regretfully, pulled back too.
"Congratulations," Neville said from across the table with a smile, "welcome to Gryffindor."
"Thanks," Skyla said happily.
They turned their attention back to the sorting just in time to welcome their newest addition to the house, Ronald Weasley.
"YES!" Ron cried out happily as he high-fived his brothers on the way and sat down across from the two girls next to Neville, "I knew it! Too much courage in this boy to go anywhere but Gryffindor."
"Well, you're certainly one to take the initiative," Hermione said in a rather neutral voice.
"Exactly!" Ron agreed with a nod, "that's what it's all about in Gryffindor, you know. Glad to see you get it."
"Ickle Ronnikens," an older, orange haired boy who couldn't be anything other than Ron's brother said.
"You've been a Gryffindor for all of ten seconds," another older boy with orange hair said, who couldn't be anything other than Ron's brother's twin.
"Perhaps you shouldn't be telling other people about what Gryffindor values," the first twin said disapprovingly, "when you are yet to discover the full truth for yourself."
"Shut up," Ron said with his ears turning slightly red.
"Fred and George," the twins said as they introduced themselves to the girls, "the unfortunate brothers of this one here. Welcome to Gryffindor."
Skyla's reply was interrupted as an old man at the center of the staff table rose to his feet and tapped on his glass, gathering the attention of the students while McGonagall removed the stool and the Sorting Hat.
"I have only a few words to say," he began.
"Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!"
He sat down, leaving a surprised Skyla staring at him.
"What was that?" she asked.
"That, was Professor Dumbledore," Fred pointed out, "general madman and world's best wizard. And this, is the best food you've ever eaten, I promise you."
He indicated down to the table and Skyla looked back to see that there was suddenly a bountiful supply of overflowing food on the table. It put Sam's efforts to shame, and he certainly didn't hold back at all when it came to the volume of food. The students all began to converse loudly while the clinking and clanging of plates and cutlery suddenly flooded the Great Hall with noise.
Skyla looked back to the staff table, ignoring the food for the moment as she stared up at the old man who was stroking his long, grey beard in deep thought, apparently carefully deciding what to eat. It was almost as if he knew he was being watched however as he suddenly looked up and met Skyla's eyes. His pale blue collided with her emerald green and the two simply stared at each other for a moment; neither gave anything away from their expressions as they both appraised the other carefully.
After a moment, Dumbledore gave her a small smile and she hesitantly returned it weakly, before looking back down to the table and serving herself up a modest meal, lost in thought.
"What was that about?" Hermione asked, who had perceptively noticed the strange interaction between Skyla and the headmaster.
"Ah, don't worry about it," Skyla said with a shake of her head. It wasn't a topic that she was eager to get into on her first evening at Hogwarts.
"If you say so…"
"So how come you didn't want to back me up earlier?" Ron asked with a mouthful of food, "all you had to do was show your scar and then Malfoy would have been eating his words."
"The scar, it's… it's very personal to me," Skyla said quietly, "it's the only thing that really connects me to my parents. It just has a lot of meaning to me now that I guess it didn't have before, and I don't really feel like it's something that should be used to make a point…"
"That scar's practically a national icon though," Ron said in a muffled voice, "and it's just a scar on your hand, it's not like I'm asking you to show your-"
"No, I get it," Neville, surprisingly, interjected, "what might be rubbish to one person might be important memories to another. If it's important to her because it's to do with her parents, then we should leave it be. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable at any point, Skyla."
"No, not all Neville," Skyla said with a smile, "I… I didn't know if anyone would understand it, but that's nice to hear."
"I definitely do," Neville said with a serious nod, "there are some losses that others just wont understand until it happens to them."
Ron just shrugged, apparently not really understanding in the slightest but deciding that he no longer cared enough about it, at least not enough to pause his demolishing of the gigantic plate of chicken drumsticks he was working his way through. Hermione winced slightly at the caveman as he devoured his prey, but she said nothing of it.
"I'm looking forward to bed," Hermione admitted with a yawn, "I'm knackered."
"Yeah, same," Skyla agreed, "I hope we won't be here for much longer."
"There's still dessert!" Ron said indignantly, as if he couldn't believe what blasphemy he was hearing.
Hermione and Skyla didn't see to be the only ones eager to leave as already, a few of the older students had stood up and began to exit the Great Hall. Unfortunately, they had no idea where to go so they were forced to wait until eventually, after dessert had been served and cleared away by magic, McGonagall called out to the remaining students.
"First years, follow your prefects to your house dorms," she instructed, "your things will be waiting for you in your rooms."
"FIRST YEAR GRYFFINDORS THIS WAY!" Another boy with orange hair (how many were there in this school?) immediately began shouting loudly as he quickly jumped to his feet and inflated with importance.
"Oh, give it a rest, Percy," Fred said as he covered his ear with a pained grimace, "we're all sitting right here."
Percy, another Weasley and one of the Gryffindor prefects, guided the crowd of sleepy students all the way up to Gryffindor tower, coming to a stop before a life-sized portrait of a rather large noble lady in a silky pink dress, who was sitting elegantly on a golden chair with her gloved hands resting in her lap.
"Password?" the lady asked, startling some of the students who had not been expecting a painting to suddenly start moving and talking.
"Caput Draconis," Percy said confidently.
The lady made a sweeping motion with her hand and her portrait swung forward, revealing an empty archway that Percy stepped through. With a shrug, the students followed him through and into the Gryffindor common room.
"This is nice!" Hermione said happily, as she looked around at the cosy fire place and comfortable lounges.
"Looks really relaxing," Skyla agreed, "I'm looking forward to studying in front of the fire there."
"Ooh, yes, that sounds great!"
"Are you two STILL going on about that?" Ron laughed, "we haven't even started and you've already got your noses in the books."
"Just how you should be, Ronald," Percy interjected disapprovingly, "if you want to become a prefect in your fifth year too."
"Why would I want that?" Ron scoffed, "that's years away anyway."
Percy frowned, but said nothing more as he turned to the rest of the students.
"Boys dormitories are on the left, girls on the right," Percy explained, "your things will already be in your room and the rooms are labeled. Make sure you are in the Great Hall for breakfast by eight o'clock, as your schedules will be handed out then."
He adjusted his prefect badge slightly as he trotted back out of the common room with a slight air of superiority. The boys and the girls immediately split into two separate groups, heading up to their own rooms with interest.
"Here we are," Hermione pointed out, "look we're in this room with… Lavender Brown,"
"That's me!" A blonde girl spoke up from behind them happily.
"... and Parvati Patil."
"That would be me," a rather pretty girl of Indian descent said.
The girls passed polite introductions back and forth between each other as they entered their dorm. It wasn't a particularly extravagant room by any means; four single beds with curtain rails for privacy, a simple wooden chest of drawers for each student and a shared bathroom attached to the side, with a tall window that looked out over the castle grounds below (though they could not see much out of it in the darkness).
None of the girls cared too much about the room however, only the fact that it had four tempting looking beds and they each picked one out; Lavender and Parvati took the two on the left while Hermione and Skyla took the two on the right. Exhaustion began to set in for all of the girls after their exciting first day and they eagerly hit the shared bathroom to brush their teeth, change into their pajamas and prepare themselves for bed.
"What a day," Hermione sighed as she lay down under her covers.
"What a month," Skyla commented as she too lay in her own bed.
"What a school," Parvati added from across the room.
"What a joke," Lavender said grumpily, "eight o'clock… really… you'd think they'd let us sleep in for our very first day…"
The other girls laughed and joked around with each other for a few minutes, however it didn't take long for the tired girls to fall asleep, one by one letting their eyelids close and slip off into a peaceful slumber.
Skyla was the last to fall asleep as she lay awake for awhile and stared up at the ceiling, thinking deeply about how much her life had changed and wondering what tomorrow might bring. Eventually, she too felt the call of the void as fatigue dragged her down into the comfortable and warm bed, and come the morning, she didn't even remember falling asleep at all.