Hi! Sorry if it's been a while, I was on vacation. I'm not the kind of person who skips through a bunch of stuff, so I'm starting where we left off, at the feast. And I realized that in the last chapter, I used bits of the third book, and this fic is taking place in the fourth. Sorry if that confused you, I apologize. I'm not going to add Professor Lupin to the story. Oh, and since Will was sorted in to Gryffindor, she'll probably be shown the most to add a lot of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Sorry! When Harry shows Will the kitchens, it's a big part of the story that's only in the books, so sorry if you get confused. And I feel kind of bad of doing this, because House-Elves are people too, but Will's power of animals reacting to the same mood she's in is gonna apply to the elves. Here you go!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately for W.I.T.C.H., Professor Dumbledore started out his annual speech by saying, "There are five new students at Hogwarts this term, though they aren't in their first year. Please treat these new pupils as normal as you would treat anyone else, and do not ask them questions."
Will sighed. 'Oh, yeah. Telling people not to ask questions definitely isn't going to provoke anyone to ask us about our personal life.' The other five Guardians were thinking the exact same thing.
The headmaster proceeded to tell the students to stay away from the forbidden forest, and the cemetery. Harry and Hermione exchanged a confused look at that. "And now," he concluded, "We feast!" Suddenly, all of the trays in front of Will filled up with food, all of it looking delicious. Not wanting to seem like a pig, slob, or rude, Will and the others only took a few pieces of food at first, but soon began to take more. Will and her fellow Gryffindors chatted a bit while they ate, careful no to ask too many questions.
------------
Cornelia was sitting at the very end of her table, avoiding any contact with other Slytherins. But, of course, the boy from the bookstore called Draco Malfoy decided to sit next to Cornelia.
"Hello, do you remember me?" he started, and Cornelia was already disgusted.
"Unfortunately, yes I do remember you," replied Cornelia in a cold voice, "And now so that I can stop remembering you, would you so kindly leave?"
"Don't be so harsh!" Draco chided, "We barely even know each other!"
"And I'd like to keep it that way," Cornelia swiftly turned her head away from Malfoy and took a quick bite of salad.
Hearing Malfoy sneer, Cornelia moved to glare daggers at him. Surprised, Malfoy jumped up and went back to his cronies.
Shaking her head Cornelia thought, 'I hope that that boy doesn't plan to be friends with me'.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the feast, everyone in the Great Hall was stuffed with chicken, mashed potatoes, steak, tarts, and assorted puddings. Dumbledore decided to make one last 'important' announcement, "I would like to inform you that the list of forbidden objects inside the castle now includes Fanged-Frisbees, Ever-Bashing Boomerangs, and Screaming Yo-Yos. You can view the full list in Mr.Filch's office."
"And now that that announcement has been made," Dumbledore said, "I bid you all a great night's sleep!"
Everyone in the Great Hall got up and made their way to the giant doors in the center of the room. Just as the first people were about to leave, the doors shot open with a resounding bang.
A man stepped through, if you could really call him that. He was scarred on every inch of his face, hands, and lower arms. He had a peg leg that clonk, clonk, clonked on every second step he took. But it was when he surveyed the crowd gathered around the exit that Taranee saw the scariest part of the mysterious man's face. His eyes. One was a deep brown, small and beady. But the other was a startling blue, round, and big. It was rolling around in his head, with no apparent need to blink. He observed the students with both eyes, the brown one sweeping around in large circles while his lazy eye darted around carelessly.
A few people gasped, Taranee included, and all others just gaped in semi-horror. She looked to her right and saw Irma standing there, holding back a chuckle. 'How is this man funny?' Taranee thought, 'If anything, he's creepy.'
The stranger then walked forward, where all students parted for him immediately. Dumbledore's voice rang out through the hall, "Ah! My friend, I was wondering what was holding my students up. Everyone, I would like to introduce you to our new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody."
This time, there were many other audible gasps, and nearly everyone was whispering to each other. 'Who's Moody?' Taranee asked her fellow Guardians, 'He seems to be pretty popular around here.'
'Oh! Didn't Ron say something about his Dad and that Moody guy on the train?' Hay Lin bubbled excitedly in their heads.
Suddenly, the headmaster's voice interrupted their 'conversation', "Please go to your rooms now, and get a nice sleep. Good night!"
-------------
W.I.T.C.H. walked out of the dining hall together, and was about to say goodnight, when a heartless voice filled the space behind them. "Would you like me to take you to the common room, Cornelia?"
Only her friends saw the look of extreme anger on Cornelia's face. Turning around, she hissed, "I can find my room on my own, thank you very much!"
She walked away briskly. "Goodnight!" she called over her shoulder to her friends.
"That was...interesting," Taranee stated.
"And to think, I thought that Corny could only get that mad at us!" Irma joked, and her friends chuckled.
"Hey, Will!" a voice called out. She turned to see Harry waving at her.
"I guess I'm going, guys. Good luck tomorrow. Night!"
"Bye!" her three remaining friends chorused. "See ya' guys, I'm going to try to find my common room. Luckily, I overheard a prefect say the password. Good luck!"
Hay Lin and Irma suddenly realized that they had no clue where to go. Looking around, Hay Lin recognized a face from her Huflepuff table. "Hey!" she called, "Hi, um, Justin..?"
"Yeah?" the boy said, turning around.
"Oh, hi! We're new here, and we don't know where our common room is. I think I saw you at the Hufflepuff table."
"Yeah! I'll show you where our rooms are."
"Cool, cause I'm exhausted" Irma butted in.
"Aren't you always, Irma? Aren't you always..."
--------------
Will followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione into the common room. The password to get through the fat lady turned out to be 'balderdash', an interesting password to Will, but Harry told her that they'd had much crazier.
Parting ways with the boys, Hermione showed Will the way to the dorm that she shared with Hermione, Pavarti, and Lavender.
Will was amazed at the niceness of the rooms. You'd think that a castle this big would have rooms that weren't so...fancy. Not that Will was complaining, though!
After unpacking a few of her outfits and other necessities, Will followed Hermione in to the common room, where Harry and Ron were waiting. The girls sat down in some armchairs by the fire, and Harry said, "I'm so happy to be here again. It was unbearable at Uncle Vernon's this summer. They won't even let me watch the news anymore without getting suspicious."
"Uncle Vernon?" Will asked, clearly confused.
"Oh, I live with my Aunt and Uncle."
"Why not with your..."
"Um..."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"No, it's okay," Harry said, "I was just wondering...I'm pretty sure that you've heard of," he looked around, then whispered, "Voldemort?"
Will shook her head no. If Harry was whispering, then something must be important.
"He's the darkest wizard there's ever been," Harry explained, his voice still just slightly above a whisper, "He was extremely evil. Voldemort killed thousands, building up an evil army of people called Death Eaters." Suddenly sorrow filled Harry's voice, and his face fell. "O-one night, Voldemort came to my families cottage. I was only two and a half. When my parents refused to join Voldemort, he killed them both. They died trying to protect me. Voldemort tried to kill me after my parents, but when he cursed me, his spell bounced back, and went in to himself. That's where I got this scar." Harry lifted up the hair covering his forehead and showed Will a lightning-bolt scar.
"Wow!"
"Yeah, it's...different."
Will looked sad because of the story, but also curious. "So, why did you live through the curse? Um...why didn't you die?"
"I don't know. Nobody really does. But most people are too afraid to say his name. It's like they think he'll just suddenly appear. So most everyone calls him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or the Dark Lord." Harry replied to her inquiry.
Suddenly Hermione and Ron came over to where Will and Harry were sitting. "Hey, I think we should get to bed it's pretty late now, and classes start tomorrow."
Sure enough, when Will looked at the grandfather clock, it read 11:43. Will was surprised. Their chat had lasted all that time?
Standing, Harry extended his hand to Will and helped her up. Will watched Ron and Harry walk up the steps to their room. "Harry certainly has a very...interesting story."
"Yeah, but we've gotten used to the differences of our pasts. We don't really pity him all of the time or anything. You learn to think about what's happening now, not what went wrong then."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irma woke Hay Lin up by splashing the water from a nearby vase onto her head. "Ah! Irma!"
Irma snickered, then made the water disperse.
"Oh, thanks Irma, cause I'm sure that my alarm wouldn't have succeeded in getting me up.
---------------------
Taranee woke to the sound of chatting. Putting her glasses on, she saw that her fellow Ravenclaws were all getting dressed. Lisa Turpin, the only person Taranee had really talked to last night, smiled at her.
"I was going to go wake you up."
Taranee smiled, "Thanks. So, how are the first days usually?"
--------------------
Cornelia was woken up by a few hard shakes. Opening her eyes, she saw Pansy Parkinson standing over her.
"Oh, hi," Cornelia said, "Is it time to get up?"
"Yes," Pansy replied, "We need to go to breakfast in five minutes."
"Uhhh," Cornelia groaned. She was so not ready for the first day of school.
--------------------
"Will...Will..."
Will looked like she was having a fitful sleep, when she shot up in bed.
Surprised, Hermione jumped back. "Will? You should get up now, breakfasts in a half hour."
"Oh, thanks Hermione."
"What was that whole suddenly sitting up in bed thing about?" Hermione asked, curious.
"Oh..." Will turned her head away, "Bad dream." She had seen what Voldemort did to Harry close-up. Will felt like crying.
------------------
Hermione and Will met Harry and Ron at the couches in the common room. As usual, the boys were late. While waiting, Hermione asked Will if she'd ever done any magic before.
"Um, not like this."
Confused, Hermione was about to ask more questions when Ron ran down the stairs.
"Sorry! Our stupid alarm wasn't working..."
Soon, Harry rushed down the stair after Ron. He smiled sheepishly in response to Hermione's glare.
------------------
The four of them were making their way to the dining hall, Harry and Will's elbows linked, laughing, when they all heard Malfoy's cruel voice.
"I heard that you and your girlfriend fainted on the train, Potty."
Harry immediately un-hooked Will and his arms.
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron defended.
"Oh, don't worry Weasley, I just wanted to see if Potty's date Wilma was okay."
"I'm fine thanks," Will said with venom in her voice, "Oh, and Cornelia wanted me to tell you, she's not interested."
Malfoy's voice reddened, "How dare you say that, stupid mudblood." His comment made Hermione glare.
"Don't call her that!" Harry warned.
"Protecting your girlfriend, eh?"
He lifted up his wand, pointed it at Will, and was about to say a curse, when Professor McGonnagal walked by and said, "Wand down, Mr. Malfoy. No magic in the corridors."
The Slytherin boy lowered his wand and walked up to Will. "Next time you won't be so lucky mudblood," Malfoy whispered, "Not nearly as lucky."
-----------------------------------
During breakfast, Will asked the others what a mudblood was.
"Well, it's a witch or wizard who's parents are muggles. It's kind of like a curse word for dirty blood. It's really horrible," Ron explained.
"Oh," Will looked down. She hadn't realized that she could be so unliked just because her parents weren't magical too.
"Don't worry, Will. Malfoy's called me that loads of times. And he's really the only one who says it," Hermione reassured the down-hearted girl.
Will smiled. "So, what classes do we have today?"
"Not sure yet. We're waiting for McGonagall to give us our schedules," Harry replied to Will's question.
As if on cue, Professor McGonagall dropped four pieces of paper onto their table.
"Your schedules," she said, then turned to Will, "I gave you the same classes as Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, Vandom."
Will smiled at her teacher, "Thanks."
----------------------
Irma and Hay Lin's first class was Herbology. They were happy to see that it was with Will.
On their way to Greenhouse three, Irma saw the Keeper of the Heart laughing with three Gyffindors. She seemed to be looking at a boy with dark hair and round glasses a lot. And, for once in her life, Irma didn't comment about the boy because she didn't want to be rude. Irma was wondering if she herself was feeling okay.
When Will looked over and saw her fellow Guardians, she ran over to Hay Lin and Irma. "Hey!" she called, "How's everything been so far?"
"It's been fine," Hay Lin said, "I'm just glad that Irma and I are in the same house."
"Yeah, I wish Taranee and I were in the same house. We don't even have a class together! But, I guess you can't really choose these things."
---------------------
Will, Irma, and Hay Lin expected to be planting trees or flowers in Herbology, but they were definitely wrong.
After entering the greenhouse, they saw the most revolting plant they had ever seen. "What is that?" Irma asked, "Some kind of mutated plant-slug?"
"Bubotubers," Professor Sprout told them, "You squeeze them to get their pus out of the swellings on their body. And wear your dragon-hide gloves. It's horrible, what the pus does to bare skin."
Will, Irma, and Hay Lin looked at each other. Dragon-hide gloves? That hadn't been on their list of supplies.
Everyone had already gotten to work, and the girls didn't want to touch the pus. "Um, Professor Sprout?" Hay Lin asked tentatively, "Our school list didn't tell us to bring any gloves..."
Their Herbology teacher looked at them for a moment. "Very well, then. Lucky for you three, I have a couple of extra pairs in my supply closet."
Those three Guardians smiled gratefully, then took seats in the middle of the room.
While Hay Lin found mild joy in squeezing the pus of the Bubotubers, Will and Irma were thoroughly disgusted. The thick goo oozed over their gloves, and the unprepared students were extremely grateful for the gloves.
---------------------
When Herbology was finally over, Will pulled her gloves off and stretched her fingers. Nothing like Bubotuber pus to make you want to barf. While carrying her jar of goo to Professor Sprout, Will spotted Harry and Hermione in front of her in line, and after gladly handing over her pus, she walked over to them.
"Hey!" she said, and her three friends smiled at her.
"Hey, Will. Those Bubotubers were disgusting. I don't see why we have to squeeze them like that," Hermione commented on her earlier lesson.
All three of Hermione's companions chorused, "Agreed"
--------------------
Will asked Harry where to go for Care of Magical Creatures, and he replied, "Oh, we meet at Hagrid's hut."
"Why there?"
"Oh! Because Hagrid's the teacher, of course. His ways are different, but I guess they're effective. You certainly do learn a lot about Magical Creatures," Hermione responded.
"He just doesn't seem much like the teacher type," Will commented.
"No, because he really isn't," Harry said.
-------------------
When they reached the cabin, Hagrid smiled at his favorite pupils. "Ello Harry, Ron, Hermione, Will. How's the first day?"
"We had to collect pus in Herbology. Not exactly my favorite thing to do," Hermione told the half-giant.
"Oh, well today is going to be great! Just take a look at what I got in these crates." In the boxes were what looked like five hundred black, mutated lobsters without any shells. Every once in a while, sparks would come out of one, and it would move forward a few inches.
"Ew!" Lavender Brown cried out.
Will thought of that to be about right. She couldn't find a head on any one of the creatures, and they smelled horrible.
"Uh, Hagrid... What are these things?" Ron asked.
"Why, they're blast-ended skrewts!" he said with great enthusiasm, "They just hatched, and you'll be able to keep them as your own personal pets!"
"And just why would we want to do that?" a voice said from behind them.
Turning around, Will saw Draco Malfoy standing there with a look of disgust on his face.
Hagrid looked as though he couldn't believe that someone would have to ask that. Hagrid's question would be why wouldn't you want to raise a blast-ended skrewt?
"What do those slime balls do? What are they useful for?" Malfoy continued his interrogation.
Hagrid paused for a moment, as if to think, then gruffly answered, "That's what you're goin' to learn later. Today we're just feedin' them. Now, I don't really know what they eat, so I've brought out some food samples for you to try."
Everyone dreaded putting food in to the crates, for no one knew when the animals would blast off. Ten minutes into class, Dean Thomas got his hand burned. After that incident, everyone was extremely careful.
------------------
When class was half-way through, and the students had yet to find what the blast-ended skrewts ate, Will decided that it was time to use her Guardian power of talking to animals.
Moving away from the group, she leaned over a crate and whispered, "Hi! I'm Will. My class is wondering what your species like to eat."
In her head, Will heard a reply, "My family and I love crabgrass, chicken, and fish."
Will smiled appreciatively, "Thanks!"
Standing up, Will saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron looking at her curiously.
"Uh, Will? Were you just talking to that skrewt?"
Looking down at the creature, she answered, "Um, no! I was just... trying to find it's mouth! Uh huh...yeah."
Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.
Going over to the pile of random foods, Will picked up some chicken. Going over to the same skrewt that she had talked to earlier, the Keeper of the Heart lowered the roasted food into the crate.
Suddenly, a little tongue popped out of a side of it's body and gobbled the food down with a slurping noise.
"Professor Hagrid!" Will called, "This blast-ended skrewt ate some chicken."
"Really Will? That's great! Everyone, get some chicken out of this pile here, and try an' feed it to the skrewts. Oh, an' great job, Will! Thirty points to Gryffindor!"
Will beamed, happy to be of help to the blast-ended skrewt species.
---------------
After Care of Magical Creatures, Will was happy to go to lunch.
"That was great when the skrewts ate chicken like you said, Will!" Harry complimented, "How'd you know what they'd like?"
Will's eyes widened. "Um..just a lucky guess?"
Harry looked like he was trying to stop himself from raising his eyebrows. "Right."
"What? I just randomly chose from the pile of food..."
"Of course you did Will. Of course you did..."
----------------
When lunch was over, Will observed the fact that Harry and Ron seemed to be in a sour mood.
"And why are you two so mad right now?" Will asked.
"We have double divination next. I'll bet the old bat planned our classes like this," Ron complained.
"What's divination?"
"Only the most boring subject ever taught by the most boring old fake ever," Harry told her, but continued when Will raised an eyebrow, as if asking for more information, "You learn to 'tell the future' with crystal balls, tea leaves, and the planets and stars. But the teacher is a total fraud. She keeps predicting my death. And I'm still alive now!"
"It really sounds like you don't like this..," Will looked down at her schedule, "Professor Trelawney much."
Harry just rolled his eyes in response.
They kept walking upstairs, and Will considered asking how far up the steps went, when the trio reached a ladder. Will went up the rings first, then Harry, and last came Ron.
When Will entered the room, sweet perfumes that seemed to be coming from the fire made her gag and cough. A reddish light emitted through closed curtains and lamps stood on every circular table.
"Hello," said a misty voice from right beside Will, making her jump. Looking to the right, Will saw a woman with a sad face, and huge glasses that made her eyes look huge and frightening. She wore large beads, chains, and bracelets that glittered in the firelight. "You're a special witch with extraordinary powers. But, unfortunately, your death will be tragic, and possibly sooner then you expect," the old lady cooed.
"Hey, look Harry!" Ron joked, "She predicted another person's 'horrible death'!"
It was probably this comment that helped Professor Trelawney decide to ban Harry and Ron from sitting together. So, thanks to the new rule, Will and Harry sat together at one of the small circular tables.
"We will start our lessons for the year with some reviews, my dear students. First off, I will pour all of you some tea, and I would like you to finish and read each other's true horoscopes," the misty and mysterious teacher instructed.
Taking a kettle off of the perfumed fire, Trelawney instructed Ron to pass around tea cups and saucers, the head grumbling through the whole process. She poured sizable amounts of sweet-smelling liquid into each mug, then told her students to, "Drink up!"
Will took a tentative sip, then gagged from the sweet flavor of the hot drink. "Uh!" she cried, and Harry looked at her curiously, "Don't you think the yea is too sweet?"
"Well, kinda, but maybe I've just gotten used to the taste," Harry answered, then added, "I've also learned to just down it in a few sips."
Following his advice, Will gulped down about half of the tea, her eyes bulging out with the flavor. Eyeing the remaining drink dreadingly, she finished it off in three sips. Sticking out her tongue, Will traded her cup with her partner, Harry.
Putting her head over the glass, Will was once again amazed that she knew how to tell what the symbol of a duck meant. "Let's see Harry, you have a duck in you leaves, which means that you have money coming your way, a man named Bill, or ducks in a row," Will held back a giggle, "You certainly have a very interesting future ahead of you."
Harry smiled at the fortune, laughing along with Will, mostly because he thought that her giggle was contagious, and couldn't help but chuckle at her words. Glancing into her cup, Harry saw half-moon shape with lines running through it. Flipping through his book, Harry identified the symbol to be a harp. "You have a harp, Will, which means creational harmonics, love, or harmony. Seems that your future will be just lovely," he said, smiling.
Will smiled back, thinking of one person and one person only when she heard her fortune, and wondering whether he was thinking anything like she. In truth, he was, and hid a slight blush by coughing into his hand.
The two were just smiling at each when a misty voice interrupted their reverie, "I trust that you all had your fortunes read, yes?" striding over to Will and Harry's table, she picked up her glass.
The Professor's eyes widened and looked at Will with wonder. Frowning, Will asked, "What? Isn't there a harp?"
Trelawney shook her head gloomily and predicted, "I see knife, or a broken friendship. Possibly and old acquaintance? This friend of yours is possibly a backstabber, becoming a hidden enemy."
With her giant glasses, the fortune teller blinked at Will. She couldn't think of any close friends who would or could turn their backs on Will. "I'm sorry Professor, but all of my friendships are close and true."
"Oh! Denial is always a sad state!" the mysterious professor announced.
Blushing, Will glared at her Professor's back angrily. She was not in denial, and her friends certainly weren't backstabbers. The Keeper of the Heart decided that she shared Ron and Harry's hatred for the lady.
"Alright class, we will wrap this sessions up with our crystal balls." Ron sniggered, and Professor Trelawney told the class their homework early, "You need to read pages 139 through 172 in your Divination of the Days fourth year books."
Handing out one crystal ball per group, Trelawney set a ball on Ron's table and narrowed her eyes at the boy.
Looking into the orb, Will saw nothing but a gray fog. Looking around, she realized that everyone was staring at the balls intently. "Uh, Harry? I only see a wispy fog," she whispered.
"Don't worry, only Lavender and Pavarti have 'seen' anything, and they were probably just faking. Just look interested and confused and she won't bother you."
Shrugging, Will looked down and nearly jumped out of her seat when she saw a misshapen figure through the clouds. Looking closer, she realized that it was a silver aura in the middle of the mistiness.
"What do you see, dear?" a scratchy voice said from right next to Will's ear.
Jumping, she replied, "I thought that I saw silver, but I think that I'm wrong."
"Oh, no! First-time predictions are often the most accurate. I believe that silver stands for troublesome times ahead, with on and off goodness later."
Forcing down the urge to roll her eyes, Will nodded softly at the teacher. Turning to Harry, though, she rolled her eyes deep into her head. Muffling a laugh with his hand, Harry fake-coughed.
About to make another announcement, Professor Trelawney was surprised to find that class would be over in a minute. "Don't forget your homework, class! Finish by Wednesday!" she called as everyone picked up their belongings. Heading towards the trapdoor, Will was surprised when bony fingers wrapped around her shoulder. Looking around, she realized that Harry was trapped too.
"Both of you please watch out. There is danger right in front of you!" the old fortuneteller predicted with graveness in her voice.
Will was surprised when she saw Harry pull out of Trelawney's grasp and say, "I don't need your predictions Professor. Thanks anyways."
She watched him climb down the ladder, when she was jerked back to face her teacher. "Will you please listen to my warning then, miss Vandom?"
Not wanting to make a horrible impression with her teacher on her first day, Will bit her lip and replied, "I'll watch out."
Will then shook her teacher's hand off and made her way to the door. Going down the rungs, she stuck her tongue out and though to herself, 'I'll listen to her when the world ends.'
As the Keeper dropped down the last ring, she was surprised when she heard Harry's voice, "So, what load of dung did she feed you after I left?"
"Oh! She pretty much just told me to 'watch out or else'," Will replied, "Oh, and thanks for waiting for me."
Harry blushed just slightly, "No problem. It's the least I could do since she trapped us both up there."
Will smiled at him and they walked a few feet in silence.
"So... what did you see in the crystal ball?" Harry asked, curiosity evident in his voice.
"Oh...," Will stammered, not wanting them to think that she believed in Divination because she didn't, "I- I didn't see anything, just wanted to give her a show, maybe get on her good side."
Harry snorted, "There's no way to get on her good side unless she predicts your death. Which, she already did, so welcome to Professor Trelawney's good side!"
Will chuckled at Harry's sarcastic remark as they reached the bottom of the winding stairs. "So, we don't have any more classes for today, do we?" Will asked, eager to meet up with the rest of W.I.T.C.H.
"Not that I know of," Harry smirked, both of them idly walking towards the common room, "Why do you ask?"
"Oh I really want to meet up...with...my friends," Will slowed talking as she saw Harry's face fall, "Why? Did you want to do something?"
"Um, well kind of. But if you're busy...," Harry dabbled in the subject.
"What do you want to do? Cause if you really want to, then I could always talk to my friends another time..."
The two fell into an awkward silence, their steps rythmatic, Harry debating with himself whether or not to interrupt Will's plans, and Will wishing that Harry would say what he wanted.
"Er, you don't have to, but I was wondering if you wanted to go to the library and study with me- er, me, Hermione, and Ron, that is- and then maybe go to the Kitchens? You see, Hermione has this big thing going about house elf rights and, and...," Harry sighed and blushed immensely, "Do you wanna go?"
Will bit her lip but then thought, 'Eh, what the heck? I could certainly use help on the homework, and it would be nice to meet Harry more. Besides, my friends won't mind, they'll probably be happy that I found some people to hang out with...' Will smiled, "Sure, Harry! I would love to study with you guys!"
"Great! Um, do you want to meet me, er, us, at the library at 3:30, then?" Harry concluded, looking happy.
"Sure!" Will walked a few steps towards the common room, then decided to try to get a quick word in with her friends.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked, question filling his voice.
"Well I need to talk to my fri-," Will noticed him frown slightly at her words, "-Other friends before we work."
"Okay, just remember, 3:30!" he tapped his wrist as if a watch was there and a laugh escaped Will's mouth. Smiling, she rushed down the corridor.
-------------
Will was happy to finally remember where she was supposed to meet her friends at three. Looking at one of the nearby wall-clocks, Will nearly tripped to realize that it was already 3:07.
Running towards the great hall, she skidded to a stop, to find the others glaring at her in a friendly but menacing way.
Out of breath, Will ran up and apologized, "I'm so sorry I'm late, guys! The Divination Professor held us back, then I was talking to Harry and he asked me-."
"Oooh," Irma taunted, wiggling her eyebrows, "And just who is this Harry person?" she said, and elbowed Will playfully, then added, "And what did he ask you that made you seven minutes late for our meeting?"
The interrogated girl blushed a deep red and looked away from her fellow Guardians. Mumbling, she replied in a low voice, "He just wanted me to study with him and his friends, then go to the kitchens. No big deal."
"Well it sure seems like a deal with the way you're talking and blushing," Cornelia taunted, "It's only the first day and you already have a boy after you, Will. I couldn't do better myself."
"It's not a date, and Harry's not 'after me'. He just needed help studying, that's all."
"Oh, really?" Taranee questioned, "Hermione seemed to be really smart on the train. I don't think that he would need help studying with her around."
"I think that Will's boyfriend might be our topic of conversation for the rest of the day!" Hay Lin bubbled excitedly, smiling the whole time.
Will's face flushed again, but with anger instead of embarrassment, "Harry and I are not going on a date! We're just studying!" Everyone near the Great Hall turned their heads while walking, and looked at the red-headed girl.
"Okay, we get that Will, but I don't think that everyone in the hall needed to know," Irma said quietly, trying to hold back a smirk.
Their leader glared at her friends, "Now look what happened! Everyone's gonna think that Harry and I are going out!"
"But it really seems like you are Will! You're blushing, and denying it, and-" Hay Lin listed.
"Okay, okay," Will interrupted, "I know it seems like we like each other, but," Will slowed down and said in an almost questioning manner, "we're just friends?"
Cornelia squealed, excited, "Oh! I knew it! We have to get you ready for you're date, Will! I want you to look pretty!"
The girl's eyes widened. "No. It's not a date, and...No! Please you guys," Will laced her hands together in a begging fashion, "I don't want anyone to think that Harry and I are dating. And we really aren't, so please stop bugging me about it," then glancing at the clock, Will sighed, because she knew what her friends were going to say, "But, I kinda have to go now, because I don't want to be late..."
"Aha!" Irma joked, smiling, "You don't want to be late because you'll see Harry!"
Will actually smiled. "Okay, I'll talk to you later guys, and please, just let it go?"
"Okay, we will," Taranee surrendered, but while Will was walking away, she smirked and called out, "For now!"
----------------
Will quickly walked towards the general direction of where she thought that the library was- she was still getting used to the layout of the school- and tried to get rid of the blush that was still apparent on her face. Groaning, she suddenly realized that she was completely lost. 'Uh. Why does this school have to be so big? How are we supposed to know where anything is?'
Will spun around slowly, biting her lip as she tried to find her way out of the maze of halls. She randomly headed in the east direction, but instantly regretted it when she heard Malfoy's stiff voice complaining about the Charm's teacher.
Turning on her heel, Will hoped that the blonde boy hadn't seen her, when his taunting voice called out, "Ah, Vandom. Looking for something? Or did Potty send you off?"
"No, Draco. I'm just headed to the library," Will explained, avoiding her enemies eyes.
"Then why are you going this way, Vandom? The library's over there!" him and his cronies laughed.
Turning away, Will bit her lip. Why couldn't she just remember where the stupid library was? She briskly headed back in the direction of which she came, when Malfoy said, "Or is it this way? I can't seem to remember."
The red-head squeezed her eyes shut, wishing that the bullies would leave. She continued west, when suddenly she met a dead-end. Frustrated, she thought, 'When did this stupid wall get here? Ah! I can't stand this. And I thought that my first day at Sheffield was hard.'
Clenching her fists, Will went back to where the blonde and his followers were stationed, and cringed when she heard them laugh. "So the library really is over here? I'm so sorry that I led you in the wrong direction."
The Keeper just rolled her eyes and went through the intersection, when suddenly Crabbe and Goyle blocked her way. Sighing, she asked them, "Would you just move? I don't have anything for you to take."
The two large boys started moving towards her and Will said, "Oh, come on! Just let me leave!"
Jumping down from a high bench, Malfoy started walking in Will's direction, then threatened, "Remember when I said that you wouldn't be so lucky the next time we meet, Wilma? I think that now's that time." He kept coming forward menacingly, and pulled out a wand. He pushed her, and Will fell to the ground, but quickly got up for an advantage if the small fight ended up in a duel.
Will knew that if Malfoy shot a curse at her, she could hopefully block it off with her Guardian powers by creating a shield. But then people would question how she defended herself. 'My wand!' she thought, If I wave it, then it'll seem like I just used defensive spell.'
Suddenly Malfoy raised his wand, and spit out the hex, "Fernunculus!"
Will's eyes widened and she moved her arms up to create a shield. She felt the spell bounce back, and when she opened her eyes, Malfoy was shocked and spitting out swear words because a rash of unrelenting boils was spreading slowly across his skin.
Just before he left for the Hospital Wing, Malfoy made one last threat, "You'll pay for this, mudblood. My father will have you expelled!"
As Crabbe and Goyle walked Malfoy to the hospital, Will gulped. Expelled? She couldn't really leave just for defending herself, could she? Suddenly a voice cut through her reverie, "Will! There you are! When you didn't come to the library, I decided to come look for you," Harry said, then noticed how pale and disheveled Will looked, "Are you okay? What happened?"
Straightening out her hair and clothes, Will answered, "It was Malfoy. He shot a hex at me but I blocked it, and it bounced back and him. He had some really bad warts all over his body."
Will was surprised when she saw Harry with his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. She was about to ask what was wrong when he spat, "I hate Malfoy! He attacks and insults you just because you're my friend. He's so shallow!"
"It's okay, he didn't hurt me or anyth-"
Harry interrupted, "But what if he had hurt you? Then you would have ugly warts all over!"
Will put her arm on his shoulder, "M-maybe we should head back to the library, before Hermione starts to worry about us..."
Harry's face fell, "I-I'm sorry you saw me so angry. It's just that he's so horrible!"
Trying to put some humor onto the situation, Will quipped, "Well, I think that you might laugh tomorrow, because those boils looked like they might leave a few scars!"
Harry did chuckle then, and Will smiled. The two started towards the library, and Harry asked, "So, why are you over here anyways? Weren't you going to the library?"
Will just laughed and said, "This is a really big school, it's easy to get lost."
-----------
When Harry and Will arrived at the library and the boy showed the girl their usual table, Ron asked, "Where the bloody hell where you? Hermione wanted to send out a search party."
Will was about to answer when Harry cut her off, "Malfoy tried to curse Will, but she said she blocked it, and it landed on him instead."
"Oh, Will! Are you okay? Maybe we should go to the Hospital Wing just to be sure-"
"Hermione, it's fine! I'm okay, I barely had to do anything, it was an easy curse to block. Don't worry."
Hermione looked like she was trying to decide which path to take at a fork in the road when she finally gave in and said, "Fine, but if you start itching or getting a headache or hurting at all, we're going to Madame Pomfrey."
Will just nodded her head for an answer and fought back the urge to roll her eyes, then asked Hermione, "So, what homework are you two working on?"
"Well, Ron and I started working on our Care of Magical Creatures homework, but Ronald here decided to start complaining about the skrewts, so now we're working on Herbology. Want to join?" Hermione said.
"Sure! I do know some magic and stuff, but I'm sure that you guys know way more than me."
The three smiled at Will, and showed her their work so far. They worked sufficiently for an hour when Harry looked up at the clock and realized that it was already 4:45. "Oh!" he gasped, "Will, we have to go if we want to get back before dinner starts getting prepared!"
Will looked up at him, confused for a fleeting moment, when she remembered about where Harry was planning to take her. "Oh, yeah! Should we put our stuff in the dorms, or-"
"Sorry to interrupt, but just where are you going that you need to get to so quickly?" Hermione asked.
"I'm going to show Will the kitchens, I was thinking that she might want to join S.P.E.W."
Hermione beamed, "Really? Well, then I should go with you to point out everything about the house-elves, and what they need."
"Er- I think that I know enough about the elves rights to show Will myself, and, you know, we don't want to get in the way of the house-elves with a large group, you know..."
For a moment, Hermione looked like she didn't get Harry, when realization hit her like a pound of bricks. "Right! Okay, that's great! Yeah, the house-elves wouldn't want to be disturbed by a lot of people."
Harry gathered his things into his bag and indicated for Will to do the same. While packing, Will said to Hermione and Ron, "Thanks a ton for your help in Herbology! It would've taken me so much longer on my own," she saw Harry wave at his friends, and she finished, "I guess I'll see you at dinner, bye!" Her and Harry dashed out of the library headed downstairs.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked the ever understanding Hermione.
She had an almost dazed look on her face. "Ron, I think that Harry likes Will!"
----------------
Harry led Will down endless corridors and across moving stairs until they reached a full-length painting of fruit. The girl raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything.
"Now, I know that this is going to be weird," Harry warned, "But don't laugh or offend anyone in the kitchens."
Hesitantly, Harry reached up and tickled the pear in the painted-bowl, and it sounded as if the portrait was wheezing with laughter. The fruit painting suddenly popped open like the Fat Lady, and Harry stepped through the opening. He saw that many of the 'animals' were trudging around the kitchen, and some seemed mad to have visitors, but as soon as Will stepped into the kitchen, they all seemed to brighten.
Will stepped through the opening in the wall that seemed to lead to the kitchens, and her eyes widened. All around her strange little creatures with giant ears and ragged clothing were cleaning and stirring pots or cooking chicken.
Suddenly, a flying mass of colors flew into Harry, nearly knocking him off his feet. "Dobby!" he exclaimed clearly surprised, "When did you get here?"
"Dobby got here a week ago, Harry Potter. Dobby is so happy to see mister Harry Potter, sir. Dobby has wanted to see mister Harry Potter this whole time!"
The giant-ears creature looked up at Harry with tears in his large eyes, long extremities laced together, and they both got see Dobby's outrageous apparel. He was wearing a tea doily as a headpiece with many badges and pins stuck into the folds, a tie with horseshoes and the word 'lucky' written all over it, some soccer shorts rolled over many times, and two different socks, one black and one striped in pink and orange, reminding Will of her Guardian Outfit tights with different colors.
"Why are you here?" Harry threw another question at the overjoyed house-elf.
"Dobby comes to work at Hogwarts, Harry Potter, sir. Dumbledore give Dobby and Winky jobs here, sir!"
"Winky?" Harry questioned, as confused as Will.
"Yes, sir, yes! Dobby found Winky and they both come to Hogwarts, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby seized Harry's hand and the latter grabbed Will's as they made a chain of people headed through the kitchen. Will noticed that there were tables lined up in the same pattern as the Great Hall, seemingly sent up through the ceiling. Over a hundred house-elves were now standing around their work-place, staring at the couple of humans that came through the door, bowing and curtsying as they went past.
Dobby stopped short, making Will crash into Harry as they stood around a small stool placed near the fire where a small female house-elf sat. Releasing Harry, Dobby went to his companion and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. "Winky, Dobby has brought Harry Potter and friend." When the little girl turned around, Will saw that she had a skirt, top, and hat on that were matching, though not as clean as Dobby's clothes.
"Hello, Winky," Harry said.
Winky looked up and her bottom lip quivered. Then tears rushed out of her green eyes, and she balled her fists in front of her face. It was then that Will looked down and realized that Harry hadn't let go of her hand, and she blushed.
"Winky, don't cry! Dobby promises that everything will be fine! Don't cr-"
But the male elf was interrupted by another loud chorus of sobs, and once again Dobby moved to comfort her.
Seemingly oblivious to Winky, another elf came u to Harry and asked, "Would Harry Potter, sir and friend like tea?"
Surprised, the boy with glasses replied, "Um, yeah, okay."
At once half a dozen house elves walked over to them carrying a large platter with two large cups of tea, a pot, sugar, milk, and small biscuits sitting on top.
"Thank you!" Harry and Will both said at once, and the workers bowed and left quickly.
Then Dobby just left Winky -who was now pounding her fist against the stone floor and crying uncontrollably- and asked Harry Potter how his studies had been so far.
Angered by Dobby abandoning Winky, Will rushed over and placed a soothing and on the females back, and said, "It's okay, Winky. You have a home now. People love you!"
Almost instantly the crying subsided and the Winky looked up at Will hopefully. "Really?" she said, amazed at the sureness in Will's voice, "People love useless old Winky?"
"Of course!" Will replied, "I wouldn't be comforting you if you were useless or old."
Will helped the house-elf up and now held her hand instead of Harry's. "Now, why are you crying?"
"Because Winky is free like Dobby. Winky is a disgrace to Winky's family!"
"Why are you a disgrace? You are getting paid, aren't you?"
"Noooo!" wailed Winky, "Winky would never stoop as low as Dobby to get money for her actions! Never!"
"But- but-," Will stuttered, "But you cook and clean for Hogwarts! You should get paid, and have vacations, and-"
"Never!" Winky cried, and burst into a new round of tears.
Suddenly Will looked up at Harry sharply, "Did you know that they weren't getting paid for their work?"
"Well, that's what Hermione's working on. She thinks that the house-elves should get money and sick leave and everything, but the elves don't want it."
Will's eyes narrowed, "But they need money and sick-leave! What's Hermione doing to stop this?"
"She's trying to get people to join the cause, and made badges."
Getting on one knee, the red-head gave her new elf friend a hug, which made her calm once again. "I'm gonna visit you every week, Winky. And I'll make sure that you get fair wages!"
Standing up, Will led Harry to the door, and called out "Goodbye, Winky!" before stepping outside the kitchens. Looking down at herself, Will laughed, "Look at us! We have flour all over us!" During their time there, the house-elves had been making bread and tarts for the dinner later that night, and had accidentally gotten white powder on their robes.
Harry laughed. "We better go change before dinner, or McGonagall will shoo us out."
They made it up to the dorms a lot faster than it had taken to get down to the kitchens, and the pair went their separate ways.
Coming down, Will had brushed her hair and changed her robes, as had Harry, the two's ahir looked just as disheveled as before.
Making their way down to the Great Hall, the two joined their elbows and realized that they had came from the kitchens right on time and followed the group down with the rest of their classmates.
Nearing the hall, Will heard Irma call, "Will! Hey Will!"
Turning her head, the said girl saw the water Guardian pushing pat people to come towards her with Hay Lin following right behind. "Hey you guys!"
Finally reaching their leader, Irma said, "Hi Will, hi Harry!"
Harry smiled back warmly, "Hello! How were you're classes today?"
Hay Lin answered, "They were great! We can't wait for tomorrow!"
Then, Irma looked down and saw her companions linked elbows. She raised her eyebrows at this and, looking panicked for a moment, Will mouthed, 'Not Now'.
The group reached the tables and said goodbye to each other, and Irma said, "We're gonna talk later, Will!"
When Harry and Will reached the Gryffindor table, the latter didn't event give anyone the time to say hello. "You're totally right Hermione!" she pointed out, the said girl confused at first, then smirked, and the red-head continued, "About house-elf rights, I mean. It's not right, they need wages and vacations!"
Hermione literally beamed, "Oh! I'm so glad you think so! At least someone actually believes in those poor elves rights," she then stuck her tongue out at Ron.
"What?" he said, mouth stuffed with food, "You forced me an' Harry to join!"
Will looked up from her mashed potatoes, shocked. "You mean you don't really believe in elf rights?" she asked Harry.
"Oh! Erm- Um- Well, I kinda do, but it's just that they seem to like working and are ashamed to get paid..."
"Well how would you feel if you worked all day and never got any reward for it?" Will asked, obviously angry that Harry didn't agree like she thought he did.
"I would feel unappreciated," he said sulkily, since Will had actually made a point.
"Aha! You really should try and help S.P.E.W, Harry, that would be great," Will pleaded, opening her brown eyes wide.
Harry sighed in defeat, "Okay, fine, I'll help a little bit."
"Wha'? Harry, you can't give up so easily!" Ron said, aghast.
The Keeper smiled wide, happy that more people believed in the elf cause.
----------------
When dinner was finished, the four friends went up to the common room to chat for a while before retiring.
"So, Will what did you mean when you said that you'd never done magic like this before?" Hermione, looking like she had been fretting over the answer all day.
"Oh, um, I mean that... I'd been a sort of magician, since I didn't know about Hogwarts or real magic before this."
The bushy brown haired girl looked skeptical, but didn't protest.
Yawning, Will got up. "I think I'm gonna go change into my pajamas, but I'll come back down after."
Standing, Harry said, "I will too."
The two went up separate sets of stairs to change their attire. As Will changed into her red striped pajamas, she thought about her exhilarating first day, 'Classes today were so fun, but weird. I can't wait for lessons tomorrow. I wonder what the teachers are like'.
While walking down the stairs, Will heard Hermione and Ron talking, "I told you Ron. I'm so right about everything."
Hesitating, Will stopped on the steps. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but Will had a feeling that their conversation downstairs would stop if she entered the room. Pressing her back against the wall, Will heard Ron reply, "Not necessarily. Will just made a good point about working."
"Come one, Ron! We need to help! If we don't, they might never-"
"So now we just move in and interrupt their natural re-" Ron suddenly stopped, and Will heard Harry greet:
"Hey guys!"
"Oh, hi, Harry! I didn't see you there!" Hermione said, and Will imagined her glaring at Ron.
Will took that as her cue to go down, and she smiled, "Hi!"
Three already seated smiled at the bright-haired girl. "Actually, I was just going to head in to go to sleep!" Hermione said as she scratched her head, "Isn't that right, Ron? We both were, really."
"Huh? Oh, yeah! I'm really tired..."
The constantly bickering two stood and headed to their respected dorms. They heard the doors close, and an awkward silence ensued.
"Well, that was weird, wasn't it? Those two almost never get along." Harry said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head in a nervous fashion.
"Yeah, from what I've seen, they both are pretty temperamental," Will replied.
The only other people left in the common room were three second years who were pouring over what looked like a magical fashion magazine. Will yawned and got up out of her chair, walking towards the steps. Harry followed, and an awkward silence filled the air as the second years gathered their things.
"Well, erm, goodnight," Harry said, just to fill the air.
"Yeah, night Harry, see you tomorrow," she gave him a one-armed hug and headed up to her dorm biting her lip.
Will went to her dorm and found her bed, and said, "Night, Hermione."
She heard a muffled reply, as Hermione was under the covers, "G'night."
-------------------
Will found her self in a vast gray land. All around her there was nothing but a cloudy haze. Suddenly, two red slits broke through the mist, and a whole body formed in front of Will. It had a large black cloak wrapped around it's body, and glared at her with small red eyes.
"Hello, Wilma Vandom. Do you know who I am?" the figure drawled in a menacing voice.
Will's eyes widened and she stuttered, "V-V-Voldemort?"
Voldemort took off the hood on his cloak and smiled, revealing a set of yellowed teeth, and two slits in place of a nose. Will gasped in shock and tried to back away, but found that she was held in place by a full body-bind spell. "You're correct, Wilma Vandom. It seems you know only as much about me as my name and what I've done, but I know everything about you." He laughed and Will flinched at the sound.
She decided to ask a question, "Wh-what do you mean?"
"I think you know what I mean, Wilma. I know that you're father left you and your mother, Susan Vandom, when you were only three. I know that your so-called friends talked about you behind your back as a child. I know that you moved from Fadden Hills when you were twelve. I know that you're the Keeper of the Heart of Candracar. I know you lead a magical world saving group called W.I.T.C.H. And I know that you like Harry Potter."
The gray collapsed, and Will heard Voldemort chuckle as he faded away. She found herself falling, and landed hard onto her bed. Her night progressed dreamless, not waking from her slumber for a while.
-----------------
Seemingly waking up, Harry looked around and only saw clouds. He sat up, and tried to stand, but couldn't lift his feet and hands from the gray muck.
He saw the eyes first, then the rest of Voldemort's body appeared.
Harry glared through his glasses and spat, "What are you doing here?"
Voldemort looked as though he would raise an eyebrow if he could, and answered, "Temper, temper Harry. Lose control and you may find yourself in some sticky situations."
"I asked you a question!" Harry shouted.
"Well, I just came by to tell you that I've been watching you a lot today, and learned some pretty interesting stuff. Like, now I know you're schedule, what you are doing in classes, and that house-elves are extremely underappreciated," Voldermort smiled maliciously, "Oh, and I realized that you've become quite fond of a miss Wilma Vandom, have you not?"
Harry's eyes widened, "No! Don't hurt her!"
"Ahhh, my dear boy. Unfortunately for you, I plan to hurt her very, very much."
Voldemort flicked his wand, and an image of Will sleeping in her bed appeared. He pointed his weapon at her, and the wizard yelled, "CRUCIO!"
Harry heard Voldemort laugh, and his gray world darkened to black.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow. That was extremely long. Wow, that took a while to write, and for that I'm sorry. So, did you like their first day? Can you believe that I was actually going to do that whole week before? Oh my gosh that would be long. Was everyone in character? I thought that they were, but that's just me. And I'm really sorry that I pretty much only showed Will, but I want to show Harry, Hermione, and Ron a lot, and Gryffindor is the only schedule and stuff that I know. I'm going to make the story in some relevance to the Goblet of Fire, like there is gonna be a competition, but not between three schools and stuff. And there is going to be a Yule Ball. How could I resist something like that? Yay! Well, okay, please review and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible! Thanks for reading!
StroodleDoodledFuhn