Author's Note: I forgot to mention this last chapter, this fic will contain material from both the books and the movies. Mainly because there are some scenes in the books I absolutely love and would have loved to see in the movies and vice versa.

Anywho...

Onward!

It took Tula a few moments after she woke up to remember where she was. The memory of last night came to her in waves; her and her father apparating from America, being sorted into Hufflepuff, meeting Cedric, reuniting with the Weasley Clan, meeting the apparently shy Harry Potter, and having a staring contest with the boy with platinum blonde hair.

Maybe I'll actually meet him today.

After putting her uniform and robes on and grabbing her school bag, the teal haired teen walked out to the common room with her new schedule in hand only to see Cedric waiting for her, to whom she smiled at. "You know you didn't have to wait for me, right?"

The older boy smiled as they made their way to the Great Hall. "What kind of student guide would I be if I left you to wander by yourself?"

They chatted about whatever came to mind until they made it to the Great Hall, and the older Hufflepuff let his eyes wander away from her. "So, do you plan on repeating last night's events?"

Tula looked at Cedric before playfully shoving him away. "Quiet you."

He grinned as they sat down at the Hufflepuff table before nodding towards the Slytherin table. "I'm just saying, it looks like he's waiting for you to acknowledge him."

The thirteen-year-old's gaze instantly went to the Slytherin table to see the boy in question sitting among the other Slytherins like a king presiding over his court. Despite his fellow students vying for his attention, his silver-blue eyes were already on her. Unlike last night he looked her up and down, taking his damn sweet time as he did before the same smirk from the evening slowly spread across his lips. Tula raised an eyebrow but didn't look away from the silvery irises.

Yeah, I'm here, what are you gonna do about it?

After a while, Malfoy turned back to his fellow Slytherins while the teal haired teen turned and looked back at Cedric. The older boy had clearly been watching the entire silent exchange...

And looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh.

Tula rolled her eyes. "Oh hush."

Cedric chortled and held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't say anything."

She shook her head before grabbing a plate and piling food on it. But just before she could dig in, her father's barn owl, Athena, landed next to her with a package that had a note attached to between her talons. Tula smiled and stroked the bird's head "Hey girl, missed me?" She took the note and opened it to see her father's familiar handwriting.

Your Aunt sent this, saying that if you need help you know where to look.

-Dad

The half mermaid raised an eyebrow before turning her attention to the package and unwrapping it. Her mother's mirror, the one they used to talk to their merfolk family, the very same one that was supposed to be hanging in the kitchen in their house in America.

Cedric raised an eyebrow at the object. "Interesting thing to send to school."

Tula shrugged as she carefully rewrapped the mirror before placing it in the package before putting both items in her bag. "Guess Dad didn't want me to get too homesick."

Accepting her answer, Cedric turned back to his plate and began eating. Doing the same, she looked around the hall as she did. And something that she noticed was that there were some students from different houses sitting together, but it was only a mixture of the three houses excluding Slytherin.

Raising an eyebrow at this, Tula turned to the 6th year sitting next to her. "So what's the deal with Slytherin? Why do they seem isolated?"

Cedric looked at said house's table before looking back at the teal haired teen. "Slytherin has a habit of being filled with kids who hold blood status at a very high level. So high that they let it dictate their views and actions."

The thirteen year old's eyebrows furrowed. "My dad was in Slytherin and he turned out just fine."

"I'm not saying that Slytherin is bad Tula, ambition and cunning is a good thing to have. I'm saying that most of the kids are misguided by their parents' views of purebloods being superior to any other witch or wizard that isn't a pureblood."

Tula was shocked as she looked back at Slytherin table. "I think I'm finally understanding why my mom wanted me to go to Ilvermorny instead of Hogwarts."

Cedric nudged her shoulder with his. "Hey, like you said, not all Slytherins turn out bad. Merlin himself was a Slytherin, and look at him! And like I said, they're just misguided, that's all."

Casting one more look at the emerald and silver table, the half-mermaid went back to eating her breakfast and letting her eyes wander all around the hall. When both the sixteen year old and the thirteen year old were done, Cedric stood up from the table and stretched. "Come on then, your first class in Divination right?"

Tula raised an eyebrow as she stood up, grabbing her bag as she did. "Yeah, you don't have to walk me though, I don't want you to be late."

The older Hufflepuff shook his head. "I have a free period first thing, I'll be fine."

With a shrug of her shoulders, the teal haired teen followed him away from the table and out the Great Hall, noticing Malfoy watching them leave out of the corner of her eye.

As the pair walked through the halls, Tula couldn't help but let her eyes wander around even more. A lot of things were different from her old school, but she could certainly see why her dad loved it here during his time as a student.

"Here we are, North Tower."

The half mermaid grimaced as she looked up. "That's a lot of stairs."

Cedric laughed. "You'll be fine then?"

Tula nodded. "I'm good."

The older boy smiled before squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "I'll see you for Lunch then."

She smiled back. "See ya then."

The thirteen year old turned and took a deep breath before starting the trek up the stairs. During the trip, Tula could feel the stares of other students poking at her back while students in front of her took quick glances over their shoulder at her. She wanted to say that she wasn't particularly bothered by them, at Ilvermorny, her fellow students were used to her teal locks, sure some first years stared at her, but even they got over it after a while. But here... she couldn't help but feel like an animal in a zoo.

"You'd think that their mothers would have taught them that it's rude to stare."

She turned to see two Ravenclaws, a boy with brown hair and brown eyes and a girl with raven black hair and brown eyes, watching her with matching semi-amused, semi-annoyed looks on their faces. The girl smiled reassuringly before offering Tula her hand. "I'm Raven Lupin, and this my twin brother, Milo. Lovely to meet you."

She took the offered hand with a smile. And then her mind caught up to what the raven haired girl said. "Lupin? As in-"

Milo smiled as he shook the half mermaid's hand. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Yeah, he's our father. And don't worry about the other students, they'll back off after a while, especially if the Weasleys have anything to say about it."

The teal-haired thirteen-year-old smiled. "You saw that last night huh?"

Raven raised an amused eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure the entire school saw it, Dearie."

Tula cackled as the Lupin Twins flanked her before the three of them continued to make their ways up the stairs. Looking between them, she noticed that unlike her brother, Raven showed very few features of her father. Must have taken after her mother.

"Ven! Lo!"

The three turned around to see a girl around the same age racing up the stairs towards them. She had a spark of mischief in her dark brown eyes, and that same mischief could be seen in the grin that was spread across her face. The Lupin Twins looked at the girl with fondness before looking at the teal haired teen. "Tula this is our best friend, Dinah Black."

The girl stepped towards Tula with a slightly wider grin and an offered hand. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Tula shook the other girl's hand, and the four of them continued up the steps to the Divination Tower. "I'm-"

If it was possible, Dinah's grin widened. "Tula M'rin, the transfer student from America. Most of the school knows who you are."

The half mermaid sighed before grinning awkwardy. "What gave me away? The American accent or the teal hair?"

"Well that, and The Weasleys tell me everything."

Raven and Milo chuckled before the four of them continued their way up the stairs. Eventually the seemingly never ending stairs gave away to a long hallway, at which a classroom sat. Tula let her hopefully three new friends lead her to a table, which just so happened to be the table that was right next to Ron, Harry, and a girl with a head of curly hair.

Ron grinned when he saw her, and the half-mermaid quickly snagged the chair that was closest to him at the neighboring table. The moment she sat down, her pseudo-cousin immediately turned to her. "How'd it go last night?"

Tula grinned. "The common room is really cool! Everything was overstuffed, so cozy, and my roommates were really sweet too."

Ron nodded approvingly before frowning. "Still wish you ended up in Gryffindor though."

The half-mermaid patted his shoulder. "I know you do, but let's be honest golden and red would clash really weirdly with my hair."

Her pseudo-cousin raised an eyebrow. "More so than yellow and black does?"

Tula gasped dramatically before swatting at the redhead's shoulder, causing Ron to laugh and duck away from her harsh advances. The half-mermaid paused before managing to land a hit on his shoulder. She grinned when Ron stuck his tongue out at her before turning to his own tablemates. "Harry you've already met Tula; Tullie this is the other friend I've told you about, Hermione Granger."

The teal-haired teen looked at the bushy-haired girl that was sitting with Ron and Harry before grinning. "So you're the Hermione I've been hearing about, it's nice to finally meet you!"

Hermione smiled back. "Likewise Tula, and on behalf of our classmates I apologize for everyone's rudeness."

Tula waved away the apology with a wave of her hand. "Ah don't worry about it. With hair like mine, it's probably better to get used to the staring."

The bushy-haired girl huffed. "That doesn't take away the fact that it's completely rude."

Tula shrugged. "True but I could care less what people think about me."

Ron snorted. "She really doesn't, trust me."

The teal-haired teen smiled at Hermione before turning to look at the boy she hasn't said hello to yet. "Hi Harry."

Harry perked up before his cheeks turned pink, a tiny smile on his face. "H-Hi Tula."

Tula let her head tilt to the side as she considered the boy sitting not far from her. Ron and Ginny had spent a lot of time with her telling her about the great Harry Potter and his braveness, but the boy in front of her looked like he couldn't hurt a fly without apologizing profusely.

The Lupin Twins must have noticed something as well because identical smirks spread across their lips. "Harry there seems to be something on your face."

Said boy's blush got worse as he looked at Raven and Milo dryly. "Haha very funny."

Dinah rested her chin on her folded hands, a conniving little grin decorating her face. "No no really, you have something on your cheeks."

Harry pointedly looked away from all of them. "Truly, you're all hilarious."

At Tula's confused expression, Milo turned towards her. "Harry, Dinah, my sister, myself, and our friend Sue, hopefully you'll be able to meet her later, were raised together. Our parents were best friends when they attended school here."

"Gotch ya."

Shortly after everyone sat down, the lesson began, and for the first time since entering the room, the half mermaid noticed a woman wearing glasses that seemed to make her eyes bigger and with hair almost as bushy as Hermione's sitting in a red armchair.

So that must be Professor Trelawney.

The professor stood up. "Welcome my children. In this room, you will explore the noble art of Divination! In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight!"

Professor Trelawney bumped into the table that was in front of her armchair, causing giggles and snickers to ripple across the room. Out of the corner of her eye, Tula noticed the Lupin Twins and Dinah sharing a look, but not one of amusement. Raven and Dinah were raising an eyebrow at Milo, and Milo was shaking his head before holding his hands up in surrender, as if to say 'what other options do I have?'

Turning away from the private/silent conversation, the half-mermaid returned her focus back to Professor Trelawney just as said woman began to speak. "I am Professor Trelawney, and together we shall cast ourselves into the future!"

Welp, at least I've seen more eccentric professors than this.

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet able to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. It is a Gift granted to few."

The professor's larger than life eyes suddenly snapped to an extremely nervous looking boy who almost toppled out of his chair. "You, boy. Is your grandmother well?"

Said boy now looked even more nervous. "I think so..."

"I wouldn't be so sure dear. We will be covering basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry."

Once again, Professor Trelawney's big eyes snapped to an unsuspecting student. "By the way my dear, beware a red-haired man."

Tula covered her mouth to smother the giggles as the girl quickly shot her gaze to Ron before shuffling her chair away. Ron looked at her dryly before lightly kicking at her chair, to which she stuck her tongue out at him mockingly.

"In the second term, we shall progress to the crystal ball... If we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our numbers will leave us forever."

A very tense silence followed this pronouncement. One that the professor seemed unaware of. "I wonder dear, if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?"

The Gryffindor girl looked relieved as she stood up and took an enormous teapot from the shelf before placing it down on the table in front of Professor Trelawney.

"Thank you my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading... It will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October."

The poor girl started trembling. Tula raised an eyebrow in the teacher's direction. I get the whole randomly seeing things... But come on, you're making everyone paranoid.

"Now I want you to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of Unfogging the Future. I shall move among you, helping and instructing."

As the Lupin Twins immediately turned towards each other, Dinah turned towards Tula with her usual grin. "Shall we?"

The half mermaid smiled back. "We shall."

The two girls followed the instructions Trelawney gave them. And when the tea in their individual cups were drained, Tula handed her cup to Dinah, and vice versa.

Both girls kept switching between squinting into the tea cups and looking at their textbooks.

"I'm pretty sure that's a sun; so that means happiness-"

"Oh goody."

The half mermaid wrinkled her nose in her partner's direction before looking back into the cup. "But right next to it is a crescent moon, meaning new beginnings and dreams becoming a reality. So... Happiness comes with new beginnings and dreams coming true?"

"You forgot the symbol underneath the two my dear."

Tula looked over her shoulder to see Professor Trelawney looking into Dinah's teacup.

"A falcon... You have a deadly enemy my dear."

The half mermaid looked at Dinah with furrowed eyebrows. Great enemy? From what I can tell she's too much of a sweetheart to have any 'great enemies'.

Professor Trelawney's huge eyes drifted down to the cup in Dinah's hand. "And what does your partner's future hold?"

The latter looked down at the teacup, and tried looking at it from different angles, her face scrunching at the effort. "I think that's a cross."

The professor instantly shot her gaze at Tula. "Indeed it is. There is to be trials and suffering in your future my dear... I am so sorry."

When she heard 'trials and suffering', she thought back to her mother's death. Was it a trial to get through? Yeah. Did she suffer those first few months and even a little bit now? Absolutely. And being a half-breed, especially now attending a school where some students seem to favor blood status above all else, definitely wasn't going to be easy either.

Both girls watched Professor Trelawney walk away to a different table after viewing Raven and Milo's progress before turning to said twins. "So what does the future hold for the Lupin twins?"

The female twin pursed her lips before holding up her teacup. "We both had a skull, at least we're pretty sure they're skulls."

The male twin sighed before looking into his. "I also had a cross in mine. So... yay?"

Before anyone from their table could say anything else, loud screeches drew everyone's attention to Hermione, Ron, and Harry's table as Professor Trelawney frantically backed away.

What the hell happened?

"M-my dear... you have... the grim."

Murmurs immediately broke out through the room.

"Grin? What's the grin?"

"Grim you idiot. Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen of death."

More murmurs broke around the room. When Tula looked at her table mates, she saw two different reactions. The twins looked like they were contemplating something very hard, and Dinah had an almost haunted look in her eyes.

"Dinah?"

She immediately snapped out of her trance and spread her grin from earlier across her lips. But this time, it looked forced. "I'm fine."

No one was really focused for the remainder of the class. And when they were finally released from the North Tower, almost everyone was all too eager to leave. As they made their ways down the stairs, Raven and Milo argued with each other.

"I told you it would be a waste of time!"

Milo looked at his sister tiredly. "I'm not talking to you about this again."

The boy looked over his shoulder. "Or with you Dinah."

She held her hands up in surrender. "I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it."

Tula wanted to ask, but decided it was none of her business. When the four of them plus the Gryffindor Three reached the bottom of the stairs, the Lupin Twins turned towards her with a smile. "What's your next lesson?"

The teal haired teen quickly pulled out her schedule and quickly scanned it. "Erm... Care of Magical Creatures."

Dinah grinned. "Sweet, you're with us!"

As she threw her arm around the half mermaid's shoulders, Raven and Milo shook their heads fondly before once again smiling. "It was nice meeting you Tula. If you need anything, just ask."

Tula returned the smiles with one of her own. "I'll keep that in mind, see you guys later."

The Lupin Twins turned away and headed in the opposite direction as Dinah and the others began leading her in the opposite directions towards the grounds, rattling off stories about previous adventures in the castle as they went. When they were outside and walking down the stairs towards a small hut perched on the edge of the forest, Tula turned towards her pseudo-cousin.b"Last night Professor Dumbledore said Professor Hagrid was taking over the Care of Magical Creatures position, what was he before?"

Ron looked at the hut before looking at her. "He was the groundskeeper. Don't let his size be intimidating, he's one of the best people you'll ever meet."

Tula nodded in consideration. "Dully noted."

By the time the five of them made it to the hut, a large group of students had already gathered around with Professor Hagrid directing them. "That's it, come on now. Come closer, a little less talking if you don't mind. I gotta a real treat for you today, a great lesson. Follow me."

The large group of students followed the professor into the forest, and the teal haired teen was hit with nostalgia as the forest looked similar to the one that surrounded her beloved Ivermorny.

"Ugh, great. Malfoy and his trolls are in this class."

Tula looked around and almost immediately spotted the platinum blonde surrounded by two large boys. As if he could sense her looking at him, Malfoy turned his head and his silver blue eyes met her dark ones. Instantly, a flirty grin spread across his features and he began to saunter towards them. They all saw it, and Harry and Ron immediately placed themselves between the girls and their apparent rival. When the latter went as far as wrapping a protective arm around his pseudo cousin's shoulder, Malfoy immediately halted in his pursuit and narrowed his eyes in their direction assessingly.

Hermione gave the Slytherin a warning look before looking at the half-mermaid. "Tula, Ron told us you were going to Ilvermorny before, correct?"

The teal haired teen turned towards Hermione, still a little confused about what just happened. "Yeah, I was in the Pukwudgie house."

Dinah snickered at the name, causing Tula to shove her playfully. Meanwhile, Hermione instantly perked up. "I read about the houses, Pukwudgie is practically the Hufflepuff of Ilvermorny isn't it?"

"Based on the description the hat gave it, yeah."

For a second time, Dinah threw her arm around the half mermaid's shoulders. "Aww, looks like you're meant to be a kindhearted sweetheart."

The thirteen year old giggled as Ron snorted. "Just wait until you get to know her before calling her a 'kindhearted sweetheart'."

Tula scoffed and shoved him away playfully as the group of students entered a clearing and Professor Hagrid started talking. "Right you lot, less chattering. Form a group over there, and open your books to page forty-nine."

"Exactly how do we do that?"

Tula looked up just in time to see the professor turn around. "Just stroke the spine of course."

The teal haired teen did just that, and grinned when the book purred and allowed her to open the buckle that kept it shut. She winced when some poor boy missed the message and his book immediately began snapping violently at him. "Poor kid."

Ron sighed. "Yeah, Neville and bad luck are old friends."

Hermione set her bag down on a rock. "I think they're funny."

"Oh yeah, terribly funny."

The four of them turned to see Malfoy staring at them. "God this place has gone to the dogs. Wait until I tell my father that Dumbledore has this oaf teaching classes."

As one of his minions snickered, Harry cast his book bag to the side and stalked forward. "Shut your mouth, Malfoy."

The platinum blond and his cronies jeered at Harry's response. Handing his bag to minion #2, Draco slowly strutted forward. And just as Harry copied his actions, Tula rolled her eyes before clapping sarcastically, drawing everyone's attention to her as she began walking forward.

"Wow, just wow. Best male posturing competition I've seen in awhile."

She stopped when she was standing in between both boys and looked at them sharply before either could say anything. "Honestly, you're both third years. You should be setting an example for the younger kids, not measuring the appendage between your legs!"

As Dinah cackled wildly in the background, the half mermaid took a moment to savor the shades of red everyone's faces turned as well as the squawks and yelps of shock that were scattered throughout the crowd, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Ron facepalming with his shaking shoulders giving away his amusement. But before anyone could say anything else, a squawking noise that was very much not human made caused everyone to look and see Professor Hagrid leading a large, feathery creature into the clearing.

"Isn't he beautiful? Say hello to Buckbeak!"

Ron stared at the creature in shock. "Hagrid... exactly what is that?!"

"That, Ron, is a Hippogriff."

Tula stared in absolute wonder at the feathered creature. She's heard about them, but she never thought she'd actually see one this close.

"First thing you want to know about Hippogriffs is that they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended. You do not want to insult a Hippogriff, it may be the last thing you ever do. Now, who would like to say hello?"

Tula surged forward while everyone else quickly shuffled backwards.

"Well done Harry and Tula, well done."

She looked to her right to see that Harry didn't follow the crowd backwards. Although based on the look on his face, it wasn't on purpose. Shrugging, she began to walk forward, noticing Ron push his friend forward in order to get him to move.

"Now, you have to let him make the first move, it's only polite. So step up, give him a nice bow, then you wait, and see if he bows back. If he does, you can touch him. If not... well we'll get to that later."

Tula looked at Harry. "Did you want to go first?"

The raven haired boy looked at her before quickly looking away. "I-I can go first if you'd prefer."

She raised an eyebrow at his flustered behavior before shrugging. "Whatever floats your boat."

Harry took a deep breath before taking a few steps forward.

"Make your bow, nice and low now."

The Gryffindor boy did as he was told. Buckbeak squawked loudly and began flapping his wings, which apparently wasn't a good sign.

Professor Hagrid waved him back. "Back off Harry, back off!"

Harry took one step backwards and stepped on a twig. Behind them, Tula heard what sounded like Hermione gasp. And for a moment, the entire clearing was still. And then after what seemed like eternity, Buckbeak bowed to the Gryffindor. Hagrid praised both before throwing the Hippogriff a dead ferret. And just as Harry began to relax, the half giant spoke again. "Right, I think you can go and pat him now."

The half mermaid couldn't help but silently chuckle to herself at the nervous expression on the raven haired boy's face.

"Go on, don't be shy."

Harry held out his hand before edging forward, apparently a little too quickly because Buckbeack snapped at his hand.

"Nice and slow now."

He edged forward just a tad bit more before the Hippogriff started moving.

"Now let him come to you."

Once again the clearing seemed to be completely still as the Hippogriff began to walk towards Harry. And the moment Buckbeak nudged the Gryffindor's hand with his beak, it seemed that the entire clearing took a deep breath in relief, with the few exceptions of groans of disappointment.

Professor Hagrid clapped a large hand on Harry's shoulder before looking at her. "Alright Tula, your turn."

When the teal haired teen turned to look at Buckbeak, she was slightly startled to see him already looking at her, head tilted to the side in a confused manner.

You know I'm half mermaid don't you? Or at least you can tell I'm not entirely human.

Taking a deep breath, the half mermaid bowed to the hippogriff. After a few confused squawks, Tula lifted her eyes upwards to see Buckbeak bowing back to her. Smiling inwardly, the teal haired teen slowly straightened.

"Just like Harry now, nice and slow."

She did as she was told and took small, slow steps towards the Hippogriff. Holding her hand out, she patiently waited for Buckbeak to come to her. Moments later, she wasn't disappointed when the Hippogriff rubbed his beak against her hand. It didn't stop there though, because the large winged creature began to affectionately nip at her braids, causing Tula to giggle.

"Stop that tickles!"

Professor Hagrid and all the students present watched in amazement. "He really likes you, well done Tula!"

Tula grinned triumphantly as Harry rejoined her in petting the Hippogriff. She looked at the raven haired boy before smiling, and said boy blushed lightly before shyly smiling back.

"I think he may let the two of you ride him now."

The two thirteen year old's heads whipped towards the Professor... Harry in shock. "What?!"

And Tula in absolute glee. "Hell yeah!"

Professor Hagrid heaved the two of them up onto Buckbeak's back, Tula first, then Harry.

"Don't pull out any of his feathers, he won't thank you for that!"

Tula made sure her grip was tight enough without the risk of accidentally tearing out a few feathers just as Hagrid slapped Buckbeak's flank, sending them off. Harry's arms had wound themselves around her waist as soon as they took off. And once they were up in the air, the half mermaid turned to look at the boy only to see him completely at ease... as if he was at home high up in the air.

"You look comfortable."

Harry looked at her and blushed. "I-I'm on the Quidditch team."

The teal haired teen raised an eyebrow, noticing a look in his eye. Like he had a secret that he wasn't sharing. She should know, she's had that look in her eyes several times before. "So how does this compare to riding a broomstick?"

At this, the Gryffindor boy became a little more confident in speaking. "Well for one, a broomstick isn't a breathing feathery creature that can decide if it doesn't like us and throw us off."

Tula shrugged. "I'll concede to the breathing and feathery part, but Buckbeak won't throw us off, will ya boy?"

The Hippogriff squawked cheerfully in response. The teal haired teen smiled before briefly looking at Harry over her shoulder. "So, tell the new transfer student about the grounds!"

At this point, they were flying above the Castle. The Gryffindor boy's eyes quickly scanned the ground below them. "Well, there's the courtyard, Astronomy Tower, Gryffindor Tower, the Quidditch Pitch, and we're coming up to the Black Lake now."

Buckbeak had indeed been flying towards said lake, and soon they were gliding across the gleaming silver surface. Just the mere sight and smell of the water caused an ecstatic smile to bloom across the half mermaid's face, and without a second thought she confidentiality let go of Buckbeak's feathers and held her arms aloft. Much to Harry's shock as his arms tightened instinctively around her waist.

"What are you doing?!"

Tula looked over her shoulder at him with an ecstatic grin. "I trust him!"

The Gryffindor looked at her before hesitantly following her lead. Moments later, both teens whooped with joy as they soared across the lake.

Words to describe the feeling?

Complete and absolute freedom.

The moment the two thirteen-year-olds' felt a shift in Buckbeak's wings, Tula's fingers instantly wove themselves back into the Hippogriff's feathers, and Harry wound his arms around the former's waist. When the half mermaid turned and looked at the Gryffindor boy over her shoulder again, giggles bubbling in her throat and succeeding in escaping her lips, the excited gleam combined with the amount of warmth and kindness he found in her dark eyes caused his heart to stutter. For the umpteenth time since laying eyes on the teal haired girl, the boy's cheeks heated up as he shyly smiled back.

All too soon, Buckbeak started to fly back to the clearing, and they heard a whistle flagging them down. Tula tightened her fingers around Buckbeak's feathers and Harry's arms tightened around her waist as they made their descent back towards Professor Hagrid and their peers. As soon as Buckbeak's talons and hooves touched the ground, praise from both their classmates and their professor greeted them.

"Well done Harry and Tula! And well done Buckbeak!"

After helping them down, Professor Hagrid leaned towards them. "How'm I doin' me first day?"

Harry grinned. "Brilliant, Professor!"

Tula's grin was just as wide as the Gryffindor's. "You're killin' it man!"

While the professor blushed, none of them noticed the platinum blonde Slytherin stalk forward until they heard him speak.

"Yeah you're not dangerous at all are you? Great ugly brute..."

Harry quickly threw an arm in front of Tula as Buckbeak reared up and brought his talon down on Malfoy's arm. The two quickly backed themselves against the tree as Professor Hagrid waved his arms to get the Hippogriff's attention away from his offender, finally resolving to throw a dead ferret in the opposite direction.

"Oi ya silly creature."

Tula pushed past Harry and ran towards where Malfoy laid sprawled on the ground cradling his arm. "It's killed me, it's killed me!"

The half mermaid rolled her eyes. "Oh knock it off, you were the one to provoke him."

Hermione surged forward from the crowd of students. "Hagrid! He has to be taken to the hospital wing!"

Tula looked up from the Slytherin. "I'll take him."

Professor Hagrid shook his head. "I'm the teacher, I should do it."

The teal haired teen shook her head back. "The other students need to know why they can't do what Blondie here just did."

After contemplating over what Tula said, the professor nodded. With no further prompting, the thirteen year old grabbed the neck of Malfoy's uniform before hauling him up. "Let's go Malfoy, he scratched your arm not your leg."

As she dragged the Slytherin out of the clearing, she looked over her shoulder to see Harry watching them leave, and the way he looked at the platinum blonde in her grip was nothing short of disdain. But when Tula smiled at him, his attention was torn away, and he smiled back. She looked and saw Dinah and Ron also glaring at Malfoy as they walked past them, to whom she winked at before turning and walking out of the meadow.

The Hufflepuff and Slytherin were silent as they made their ways up the stairs towards the castle, with Malfoy occasionally breaking the silence with groans of pain. And after groan number six, the half mermaid's patience ran out. "You do realize that this is your own fault, right?"

The platinum blonde silver blue eyes instantly snapped towards her. "How is this my fault?!"

Tula raised an eyebrow. "Were you not listening when Professor Hagrid said 'You do not want to insult a Hippogriff, it may be the last thing you ever do'?"

The Slytherin scoffed. "That idiot shouldn't be teaching classes in the first place!"

The Hufflepuff rolled her eyes. "Oh like you can do a better job?"

"Merlin no. I have far better things to do then be near those disgusting animals."

Tula stopped and crossed her arms. "And what's that? Being an asshole all damn day?"

She kept talking before Malfoy could get another word in. "And when you think about it, those 'disgusting animals' probably think the same thing about you."

The Slytherin opened his mouth to retort, but when he found no words on his tongue, closed it. Tula smirked triumphantly before uncrossing her arms and continuing up the stairs. The pair was silent once again as they entered the castle and walked through the halls. After a while, the half mermaid noticed out of the corner of her eye that the platinum blond was looking at her.

"You and Potter seemed cozy."

Tula raised an eyebrow in Malfoy's direction. "If you're talking about when we were on Buckbeak, we kind of had to be unless Harry wanted to fall to a certain death... Although something tells me you probably would have preferred if that happened."

The Slytherin boy snorted. "Trust me, if you knew Potter from my point of view, you would have preferred it too."

"Well in that case, I'm glad we don't share the same points of view... What do you have against him anyways?"

He held his scratched arm closer to him. "Several things. His self-righteous nature-"

"Pot, Kettle. Have you met?"

Tula was given dark look, but was otherwise ignored. "The way he sticks his nose in everyone's business, the company he fraternizes with-"

Tula froze and slowly turned to face the platinum blonde. "I really hope you're not talking about Ron and the others. Seriously, why do you have to be such an ass towards them?"

Malfoy sneered. "Oh of course, Saint Potter, Weasel, and the mudblood can do no wrong."

Tula stopped dead in her tracks at the offensive term before staring at Malfoy. "Are you fuckin' kidding me?!"

As the Slytherin sputtered in shock, she pursed her lips angrily. "A hundred and twenty eight years ago, America was fighting over whether or not black people like me should be kept as slaves for five years. And ninety-three years after that black people were harassed and hanged just because of the color of their skin or just fighting for their rights as human beings! Twenty-five years later and there's still problems of racial discrimination happening! So I don't want to hear it about discriminating against people just because of how far back the magic in their family goes!" She stalked closer until they were almost nose-to-nose. "And I grew up with the Weasleys, they're my family in everything but blood! If I hear you talking bad about any of them I will bitch slap you so hard your ancestors will feel it!"

By the time the half mermaid finished speaking, her chest was heaving and her hands were shaking in anger. And as the platinum blond boy stared at her with his silver blue eyes wide in shock, she took a deep breath to calm herself down before taking a few steps back, not looking at him. "Let's go."

The two once again walked in silence as they continued walking to the hospital wing. And only when it's doors came into sight did she look at Malfoy again. "How bad does it hurt?"

The platinum blond looked at her cautiously before looking away and mumbling. "It doesn't hurt that much."

Tula raised an eyebrow, remembering his reaction in the clearing, but decided to chalk it up as him being a drama queen and left it alone.

As the hospital wing's door's opened, words flew from her mouth before she could stop them. "You know, it's kind of sad. You have so much potential, but you can't even see it."

Malfoy looked at her with surprise. But before he could say anything back, Madam Pomfrey had noticed them and immediately bustled over. "Goodness gracious! What happened?!"

The half mermaid kept her eyes on the Slytherin's face for one more split second before looking at the mediwitch. "An accident in Care of Magical Creatures. Blondie over here didn't listen to instructions."

Madam Pomfrey huffed. "Honestly Mr. Malfoy."

As the much older witch led the platinum blonde to a bed, Tula rocked back and forth on her heels. "Can I go? I left my stuff with the class."

The mediwitch looked at the teal haired teen. "You may, and thank you for bringing him to me when you did."

Smiling in response, the thirteen-year-old gave Malfoy one last fleeting glance before turning on her heel and making her way towards the doors. "See ya around Blondie."

If he responded, Tula didn't hear it as the hospital wing doors swung shut.

Author's Note:

Sofia Carson as Raven Lupin

Tom Holland as Milo Lupin

Storm Reid as Dinah Black

Coming Up Next; Tula learns some startling information about one of her new friends, bursts the bubble of the platinum blonde Slytherin crybaby...

...and learns just how intense a boggart can be.

One more thing before the chapter ends; it may be too early to start this, but who should find out about Tula's mermaid heritage first? Besides Hermione because let's face it that's kind of a given. Or who should she tell first? Tell me what you think, and if it's too early, you can hold your opinion until a couple more chapters in.

See you next time!