Right well, this is my new story. I hope you likey.

It was 3 am, and Nila sat alone in her room chewing her pencil. The pencil already had teeth marks on it, showing it was a habit, and a rather unattractive one, at that. The thing was, Nila herself was not a very attractive person, and she reasoned that her habits should be no more charming than herself. Perhaps that was not the smartest way of dealing with these things, but, to Nila at least, it was far simpler than quitting the habit.

Now, she wasn't ugly, exactly. The word for it, I believe, is plain. Yes, Nila was plain. Unmemorable. She had brown hair that had neither gloss nor volume. It was clean, and neatly braided down her back, but without any special quality. Her face was also clean, but again-plain. Her eyes didn't twinkle with amusement, or shine with quiet intelligence. They were brown, and while they did show amusement, far more often they showed annoyance.

At the moment, she was puzzling over a letter. A letter which she hadn't opened. There really wasn't a reason for her to have not opened it, especially considering it had her name on it. In fact, she already knew what inside. She just wished there was someone who was there to be there with her when she opened it. It felt like a moment to share with someone else. Unfortunately, anyone she could have shared it with was long asleep. Her parents, her sister, even her cat was curled up, dead to the world until morning.

"Traitor." She whispered to him.

Finally making her decision, she got out of bed and walked over to her bookshelf. Lifting up the envelope, she smiled down at the bright green writing.

"Hogwarts." She murmured excitedly. "What do you think it's like, Oreo?"

The cat slept on, unaware of his owners question. Nila turned back to her letter, unable to stop grinning.

The same bubbly lady that had given her the letter would come tomorrow to get Nila her school things. Professor Ka-something. She taught Defence. At least that was what she had said. "Defense against what exactly?!" Nila had wanted to ask, but at the time her mouth and tongue hadn't seemed to be capable of working.

"I'll ask her tomorrow." She said to herself. Jumping back into her bed, she curled up inside the blankets, and closed her eyes, filling her mind with fantasies of her new school that had an approximate 2% chance of coming true.

When Nila woke up the next morning, it was to her sister shaking her. "Goway." She mumbled drowsily, turning over.

"Nila, that lady's here again!" Adalie shook her again. "Hurry up! Or I'll tell Mum, you aren't getting up!"

"I'm up!" Nila said, sitting up.

"Finally!" Adalie huffed, turning on her heels and flouncing out of the room. Nila groaned. Why was the Professor lady here so early?

"I haven't even had breakfast yet!" She complained, to Oreo. The cat turned and walked out in response.

After she had gotten ready, she left her room, to find that-yes, the blonde woman was back, and sitting at the kitchen table.

"Nila! I'm so glad to see your up. I'm sorry for coming so early, but we need to get an early start. Big day, y'know!"

Nila blinked. This woman, she decided, was like sunlight; nice, but very annoying in the morning. Shaking her head to get some of the sleepiness out, and also to confirm to herself that this was not a dream, she offered the blonde lady a smile, and sat down for her breakfast.

"Oh!" The Professor looked upset. "Do you think-I'm really very sorry for being so early- do you think you could eat on the way?" She did look very sorry, so Nila tried for another smile.

"It's alright, I don't mind." She lied, grabbing a piece of buttered toast. Shoving it her mouth, she pulled on her shoes and pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Are you sure? I am so sor- oh are you ready? Let's go then!" Nila barely had time to wave goodbye to her parents and sister, before the woman pulled her through the door and out into London.

Off they went, the Professor chattering the whole time. "It's really very lucky you live in London, we don't have far to go. Let's see, the train station is...this way? No, I'm wrong, sorry, it's that way. And then we take a left, or is it right? Hmm..? Oh you're right dear, it is left."

Nila soon collapsed into silence, letting her talk, only speaking up when the Professor went the wrong way. Only when they were on the train, did Nila remember her question.

"Erm..Professor?" She asked quietly.

"Yes?" The blonde replied.

"What do you teach at Hogwarts?"

"Defence." Came the prompt reply.

"Erm..Defence against what, Professor?" Nila asked, fidgeting slightly. If she had a pencil, she'd surely be biting it right now.

"Oh dear, I keep forgetting that you're muggle born. Defence against the Dark Arts, dear."

Nila puzzled over this for a second. What were the Dark Arts? Well, going by the name, it was dark magic. Did that mean wizards had criminals too? Of course they do! She scolded herself. Wizards are people too! Still, she was a bit disappointed. In her mind she had formed a vision of the wizarding world as a sort of utopia. She was still mulling this over when the Professor started talking again.

"A while back, there was a really evil wizard called Voldemort." The older woman gave a sort of shudder. "Horrible time."

"What happened to him?" Nila asked, curiosity overcoming her natural aversion to people.

"Oh, Harry Potter came along. He's a real looker. Of course he's married now, has three kids. The oldest one should be starting school too. Oooh, you'll be in the same year! Maybe you'll meet him." The lady kept up a steady stream of chatter, unaware that her listener had stopped paying attention after 'He's a real looker.'

When they got off, Professor-Nila had finally remembered her name!- Kalinth ushered her into a small, dirty, pub called The Leaky Cauldron.

"We'll get my things here?" Nila asked, wrinkling her nose.

The ancient looking barman glowered at her when she said that, and she blushed, realizing that came out a bit offensive.

Professor Kalinth didn't seem to notice. "Oh no, not here. We'll get them in Diagon Alley."

Nila opened her mouth again, then closed it. Better to go with it. She thought.

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