Chapter 3

Adelina smiled as the hat was removed from her head and she went to sit down next to Hermione, never noticing the frown Dumbledore looked at her with.

She and Hermione were sitting by an older, blonde witch with a prefect badge on her chest that introduced herself as Penelope Clearwater. Adelina could have sworn she could smell something off about the girl, and her thoughts where confirmed when the prefect leaned down to whisper in her ear, "It is a pleasure to share my house with you Princess."

Adelina smiled slightly. "The pleasure is mine," she whispered back. Inwardly, she berated herself for not remembering what Charis, Xira, and Angelina had told her. There were five other lamia students at Hogwarts. There was Penelope, who was the only other lamia in Ravenclaw, as well as the oldest. The only other lamia of her age had gone into Hufflepuff, named Hannah Abbot. The other two lamia were both in Angelina's year, one in Gryffindor, named Emma Rose, and the other in Hufflepuff, named Victoria Gregorie.

Funnily enough, though the house's symbol was a serpent, there were no lamia in Slytherin.

She also remembered that, except for Hannah and Victoria, who naturally had golden blonde and fiery red hair respectively, the others had to either dye their hair, or claim they had altered it. Which explained the smell coming off of Penelope, who had no doubt bleached her hair blonde.

Adelina inwardly sighed. As their princess, each one of them would probably come up to greet her at some point, it was protocol to respect her and her mother, no matter how covertly it had to be done. And as Princess, she would need to be polite and courteous, a representative of Stheno's royal house.

It was one of the most difficult rules she had to follow as a princess. The only place she was allowed to be herself was in private, amongst family, close friends, and the ever present Royal Guards (at least back at the palace or when she left the palace with her mother.

The young lamia was drawn from her musings by Hermione asking Penelope, "What are classes like?"

The older lamia thought for a moment, no doubt trying to figure out how to word her answer. "You'll have at least two classes a day, but as first years, you won't have double classes until next year. You'll probably have two classes, one before lunch and one after, with different classes and a free period to do homework each day. Though Astronomy will typically be a night class. Each class is a bit different, but you'll share each class with at least one other house, we Ravenclaws usually share with Hufflepuff, but we have a couple classes with Gryffindor and Slytherin. Herbology is mostly practical work, though Sprout will usually go over a few application for various plants and harvest techniques beforehand. Transfiguration is about fifty/fifty, half theory and half practical. History is a class that is basically useless. All Binns does is read from the book, so it's better to read on your own, and use the period for extra work if you have the time. Charms is actually fun, despite how difficult it can seem. Flitwick is a good teacher, and tends to have fun ways of teaching. Potions is…difficult, especially for us non-Slytherins." She paused for a moment, as though trying to figure out what to say. "Snape heavily favors his own house, and the only teaching he does is to write the potion on the board and say get to work, before patrolling the classroom. He'll only intervene if you're about to make a mistake that could potentially blow up the classroom. I suggest researching some potion theory and brewing techniques in the library, as he won't go over them, and he's a harsh grader. Astronomy is easy, as long as you do what you told and don't sleep through the class. And I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about Defense though, we've had a new teacher every year I've been here, and each ones taught differently."

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The Ravenclaw dorms were located in one of the towers, and protected by a knocker that gave a riddle. One had to get the riddle correct to gain entry.

Personally, Adelina thought it wasn't a very effective security measure.

There were five other girls Adelina had to share a room with. Besides Hermione, there was Padma Patil, Su Li, Mandy Brocklehurst, and Lisa Turpin. They hadn't had time to really get to know each other beyond a few basic facts before curfew came.

Hermione had been homeschooled. Padma, and her sister, both purebloods, had also been homeschooled. Su Li, another pureblood, had gone to a private muggle academy for girls. Mandy, a muggleborn, had gone to public school. And Lisa, a half-blood, had private tutors.

But still, Adelina had had time before curfew to write a letter to her mother that she would send out tomorrow with Hedwig.

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Angelina sighed as she finished her preparations for bed. While she had wished he cousin had joined her in Gryffindor, she honestly wasn't surprised she went to Ravenclaw. Adelina, though stubborn as hell and fierce as Enyo when angered, tended to think before she acted. Whereas she, and most Gryffindors, where prone to split second decisions.

But, as she was being groomed to one day take over the Throne of Stheno and become Naga of all lamia, that kind of thinking was taught to Adelina from a young age.

She just hoped that she and her cousin would be able to spend some time together, they saw so little of each other normally, living in different countries and all. And Adelina was the closest thing she had to a sister.

Katie and Alicia didn't count, as she definitely didn't have sisterly feelings for her two best friends.

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The next day, at breakfast, Professor Flitwick, Ravenclaw's head of house, handed out their schedules. Today they had Herbology with Hufflepuff, then after lunch they had Defense and again with Hufflepuff

Adelina smiled as Hermione pulled out her Herbology book and began to read, trying to prepare herself for class. The bushy-haired witch (and Adelina could swear there was something funny about Hermione's hair, but couldn't figure out what), had admitted that aside from flying lessons, which much to Adelina's relief wouldn't be until next week, she was most worried about Herbology. Apparently, her father was quite the gardener and had tried to teach her how to work with plants.

Hermione claimed that the green thumb of her father had passed over her, as it seemed every plant she touched died. Her father had long since forbidden her from touching any of his precious plants.

So while her friend tried to figure out if she would be as dismal with magical plants as she was with normal ones, Adelina began a discussion with Padma. Adelina was surprised when Padma mentioned Naga (which was how the Indian's referred to her people), and the two got into a discussion on the difference in perception of lamia between Europe and India. Of course Adelina had known this already, but it was intriguing to hear much of these better opinions of her people from a non-lamia, one that wasn't married to one anyway. And while she, and most lamia, were annoyed that Indian mythology recorded that there were males of their race, it was still a pleasant conversation.

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The morning passed, relatively, quick. Professor Sprout had been a kind teacher. After an introduction to the class, where she explained her rules and expectations, she spent the rest of the class showing them how to properly use their equipment on some non-magical plants. After a quiet word with Neville, who seemed to be a natural with plants, Professor Sprout had him work with Hermione, who had managed to utterly mangle her small flower within five-minutes.

Adelina figured that Neville would often be paired with Hermione, if only to keep her from killing to many plants.

She gave them an easy homework assignment, which was to choose a magical plant and then list five uses for its various parts. She, Hermione, and Padma, who had joined the duo and was rapidly becoming a friend to both the lamia and muggle-born witch, had all finished the paper before lunch, spending their free period in the library working on it.

After lunch, was a different story.

Defense, Adelina thought it was a joke. It had to be. Quirrel stuttered so much he was barely understandable and he jumped at his own shadow.

The lamia decided it would be better to just study the subject in the library and practice in one of the unused classrooms, in fact she planned on approaching Flitwick about it after dinner. At least Quirrel hadn't assigned any homework. So she spent her free period adding to her letter home, before she went up to the owlry and sent it off with Hedwig.

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Charis was still at Xira and Brenda's house, the two sisters wanting to spend some time together before they parted for who knew how long again. So when a snowy white owl that the Naga recognized as her daughter's flew in with a letter for her, Charis wasn't surprised to have received it so soon.

Dear Mother,

I know it's only my first day, but I wanted to tell you what's happened. On the train I met a young girl named Hermione Granger. We discussed the origins of sirens in The Odyssey, before helping a boy named Neville Longbottom find his pet toad. Reaching Hogwarts, I was sorted into Ravenclaw, and so was Hermione. Neville was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Penelope Clearwater, who as I'm sure you know is also a lamia, introduced herself to me. She's the fifth year prefect for Ravenclaw.

After the feast, I spent some time getting to know my new dorm-mates. There are six of us in total, me, Hermione, an Indian girl named Padma Patil, a Chinese girl named Su Li, and two others, Lisa Turpin and Mandy Brocklehurst.

Curfew has just been called so I'll wrap up this letter and send it tomorrow. If I have time tomorrow I add more before I send it.

Love,

Adelina

It seems that I'll be able to tell you about my first day of classes. At breakfast this morning I met our head of house, Professor Flitwick, he's half-goblin. I also had a conversation with Padma, about the differences in opinion India has regarding our people (and no I haven't told her or anyone that wouldn't already know, who I am).

My first class was Herbology, which was actually rather pleasant. Professor Sprout is rather kind, and showed us how to use our equipment today. After class, Hermione, Padma, and I spent time in the library, working on a small homework assignment Sprout gave us. I can see the two of them becoming good friends given time.

After lunch though we had Defense Against the Dark Arts. Honestly, I don't think I'll learn anything in the class, at least not this year (Penelope claims there's a new teacher every year, I can only hope next years is more competent). We can barely understand Quirrel, and he jumps at everything. I've already decided to ask Flitwick if I can practice the course in one of the spare classrooms, in fact I'll be going to his office after I send this letter.

I hope you're well, and that your return to Stheno isn't full of headaches.

Love, Again,

Adelina.

Charis frowned.

"What's wrong?" Xira asked, noticing her sister's expression.

"The defense teacher," the Naga replied. "Apparently, Adelina doesn't expect the class to be very useful."

"Oh, is that all," Xira sighed in relief. "I thought something was seriously wrong for a moment."

Charis narrowed her eyes. "How can you be so blasé? That class is important, especially for our daughters."

It was Brenda who answered. "There's been a new defense teacher every year Charis, even when I was in school. There's a rumor that the post is jinxed. Some teachers are good, and others are bad. Frankly, I'm just glad Dumbledore found someone, as there aren't exactly a lot of people clamoring for the post. It's nothing to worry about."

Charis sighed. "If you say so."

"We do," Xira said. "Now come on, let's have one more glass of wine before we go to bed, you're leaving early tomorrow after all."

Charis smiled and followed her sister and sister-in-law to their kitchen.

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