Story [Harry Potter] ~ Conversion? ~ Diary 2010, updated: 7/25 Chapter 5 : Your Heart's Desire - Part I

Conversion?



Chapter 1: Oh, ****!

Waking up and being eleven years old again is a pretty amazing experience. But if you remember everything that happened, you also know that you have another adolescence before you. It is sometimes said to be the best age of all, and from a certain, hormone-chocked point of view that might even be true. Since I had counted the ripe number of thirty and something years when I had gone to bed, waking up in a body formed like a plank, and after a search for pubic hair which came up with the amazing number of zero, I was really pissed. And so the first words I spoken in this story were:

"Oh, ****!" And I meant it. No, really, not only did I wake up in a place completely foreign to me, I was also not myself, not one bit. At least, not one bit that had not aged at least 15 years in the meantime. ****, indeed.

I stared at the wooden ceiling wondering where I was and why my body felt like that of a child until I patted myself down and realised it was the body of a child. Well, at least, I was still a girl. Thank heaven for little favours. I got up staring down a hopelessly old-fashioned floor-length sleeping gown made from linen. My bare feet connected with a rug and my eyes wandered around a small room. It looked like something from the Middle Ages. Oh God, don't let this be The Lord Of The Rings. Nazgul were a dream, but only if they stayed imaginary.

I went over to the mirror and found white porcelain basin and hot water in a jug before it. Not Lord of the Rings, with some luck. I stared at the face in the mirror which I had seen for the last time ages ago. And I had hoped never to see it again. I stuck the tongue out, because at that age, you are allowed to.

In front of the basin lay a letter. It was folded neatly, made of some yellowish paper and sealed with wax. Somebody was going through quite some trouble here. I hoped to pay back some of it in kind. I broke the seal to find a letter in a beautifully flowing script, telling me my worst nightmare had come true. Only in much nicer words:


Dear Mellanna,

We have been made aware of your deep disregard for the Harry Potter books. As a devoted Fanclub, this is something we wish to redeem. There are few fandoms better and more fun than this. And the best way to show you, is to let you experience the whole of it.

We have thus decided to insert you in the story. You may experience the characters first hand and realise your grave misjudgement of them. But since this would not be sufficient to capture your imagination, we have set you up with your own mysterious background to find out about.

We are sure that you will enjoy this favour. Help has been sent to make you feel at home. Do not worry.

Yours

- Devoted Fans


"Oh, ****!" Who did they think they were? And who did they think I was? And what kind of idiot would ever consider going through adolescence, no matter under what circumstances a second time would be fun?

I looked around and found an open suitcase. Clothes were poking out of it, and when I dared to look closer, they were the kind I knew; jeans, T-shirt, pullovers. Thank heaven. I put something on and wondered about the size. Darn, I had been slim. Or was that also a favour of Yours Sincerely?

Still grumbling I opened the door which led down a stair into a - pub. And I was too young to get a drink. Well, ****. I felt like I needed one, and strong. I became even more pissed when I calculated in my head how long I would have to wait for my next legal drink. The things you take for granted. Oh, bother.

The grey walls were covered with pictures and newspapers hung from it at some place. Fire from what night have been oil lamps lightened the room and a few patrons were scattered about. Behind the counter stood a man with a nose almost as knobby as that of Gerard Depardieu.

If memory served me right, he was the inn keeper. Though, truth be told his standing behind the bar alone would have led me to that conclusion. I didn't remember him from neither the books nor the films.

"Ah, Vianne, yo

 

Very interesting beginning

 

I stuck the tongue out, because at that age, you are allowed to.

Like being 26 ever stopped me.

May I be added to the PM list?

 

Glad you like it, NYCitygurl. Here's hoping it stays that interesting...

Of course, moose.
And being over thirty really didn't stop me either, but


Note: I'll do this weekly as long as my muse allows. Then I'll just switch to bi-weekly.

---

A young man stormed towards me. "What are you still doing here, Vianne. We have a very tight schedule, I don't have all day!"

"Um, hi," I got out. He reminded me of a very slick version of a young Keanu Reaves. I had never liked him and his clone's actions didn't improve on that.

"Just look at you," he went on. "Don't you have anything decent to wear?"

I looked down at the clothes. He was right, they were not even black. "Sorry. I'll just get my list and we can be off ...?"

He didn't get the question, just shooed me away. "Hurry, I have to be back at the ministry in three hours."

Whatever. I hurried up to my room again, found the list half buried in my suitcase, and took a second to make sure I didn't have anything bought already. No such luck. Instead I did find a purse that was conveniently filled with money already.

"Okay, ready to go," I shouted as I jumped down the last stairs with a huge leap. Being a child again did have advantages.

The young man glared at me, but I kept an innocent grin. If I was still able to do anything innocently. This body might be as innocent as fresh snow, but my head did remember a lot of things. "What's your name anyway?" I asked.

"Simon."

Well, that explained everything. "I am Vianne-"

"Snyder, yes I know," he interrupted me. "I am aware that all this is very new for you, but we don't have time. You can spend the rest of the day with small talk. Follow me."

He really didn't improve my view on Kenau Reaves any. I followed him into the yard that was empty except for a few trash cans. I looked at the wall expectantly. If I remembered correctly, it was about to open up in a most picturesque way. Obligingly, Simon tapped his wand against the correct brick three times. The opening up did look the way I remembered from the movie, and Diagon Alley was full of people running in all directions. I almost fell over a stack of kettles, trying to keep up with Simon.

"Clothes first," he ordered. "You can then collect them finished after we have everything else. The list?"

I put it into his outstretched hand as he shoved me into a shop that smelled of mothballs.

"Hello, my dear," a squat woman greeted me, smiling. "Hogwarts?"

"Yes, ma'am," I nodded. You didn't fool around with people who ended up wielding point bits in your very vicinity.

"I have everything right here," she gestured into a back room that looked even more stuffy than the front. I had to get upon a small pedestal and a set of robes flew over my head. At least, it was black.

"Three sets," I informed the witch. ?And if I could get a leaf-shaped fastening for the winter cloak?"

"Of course, my dear,? she replied absent-minded. ?Raise your arms."

I did so and the needles began their work all on their own. Very convenient. If I could sew like that, I might get my own costumes done after all. And there were kettles not far away that would make good Mando armour plates. By the time I had wondered what kind of spell you might need to turn kettles into armour, the stitching stopped.

"There you go, little Miss," the witch handed me a strip of paper. "You can collect the finished lot later."

"Thank you, Ma'am," I replied dutifully. Then I turned to Simon. "What next?"

"Your books," he returned my list. "I will get the other things in the meantime; I really don't have time for this."

"As you wish, Simon," I grinned up at him. Nothing new there, I had never grown very tall. "We can meet at the pet shop then, I want an animal." Were children allowed to bat their eyes at annoying adults? Did I care? Nope.

Simon huffed and was gone. Seemed the effect of eye batting from a child was very different from what I was used to as an adult. But, I was about to go shopping for books. There's nothing like buying books.

 

That was amazing! I can just imagine all that happening.

 

Just as charming the second time around!

Put me on the PM list Ms!!!

 

?And if I could get a leaf-shaped fastening for the winter cloak?"

Lord of the Rings, yes?

"Hello, Sir." I indicated a bow. "Pleased to meet you." Hell, I was, even if I was stuck in the body of a frigging eleven year old.


Poor Vianne.

(Note to self: even at eleven years old, never put ?Lucius Malfoy? and ?desirable? in one sentence.)



Wonderful.

 

Oh dear gawd!!! This is hilarious. Especially for a HP fanfic fanatic like me.

Keanu Reeves?!!!

And poor Lucius. Haha.

Brilliant!

 

You and me both, moose. Annoying Malfoys sounds like a great hobby.

Thank you, Ale. Just promise you won't become a HP fan now and leave the SW fandom.

Yep, Ce, Lord of the Rings. A girl needs to have some fun even aged eleven. Other fun will have to wait it seems. Whoever said teenage years were the best has probably been missing out on something.

Glad to hear that, Reva. I was ratehr scared to get lynched by HP fan for this.
Poor Lucius won't kow what hit him.

---

The next stop was the pet shop. Personally, I wondered if it was such a good idea to keep rats, cats and owls in one place, but I was not an expert. A middle aged witch was busy feeding the animals when I entered. She looked up and smiled.

I nodded and went to look at the cages. I am not sure I knew all the animals in them, in some case I was pretty sure I didn?t want to either. The amount of ear, noses and teeth an animal should have on average was a very set one in my mind.

?Can I help you?? the witch asked.

"I want a rat, a black one,? I replied. ?And preferably one that grows huge and vicious."

The woman seemed taken by surprise. "We do not sell vicious animals, they are supposed to-"

"Oh, well," I interrupted her. "In that case, I'll just take a black rat."

Visibly relieved, the clerk led me to a cage with young rats. "Which one would you like?"

I pointed to a black animal that was about to bite one of it's siblings into the tail.

The witch grabbed the rat and put it into a small cage. "What will you call her?" she asked amiably while she wrapped up and went back to the till.

"Bumblebee," I said.

"Oh?? she seemed surprised. "And why?"

"Because it can't transform into a VW Beetle." To my satisfaction this answer seemed to irritate her. I gave her the money and turned to leave. Just end up facing an annoyed Simon. I wondered if there he knew any other mood. Judging from his glare, not.

"You cannot have a rat," Simon told me.

"Why not?"

"You are a first year, you may bring," he shoved the list under my nose, "a cat, a toad or an owl."

I grabbed the list from his hand and studied it. Damned right, there it was. No rat. How did Ron get to bring one then? And when did he start? "Okay, I'll take an owl then. Black -"

"But you already bought a rat," the saleswoman spoke up.

"Oh, right, that." Well, couldn?t be helped now, you it? I looked hopefully at Simon.

?You?ll find a way to dispose of it,? he ordered. ?And hurry up with that owl, you will need a wand, too.?

I turned back to witch. ?One big black owl, please. With cage and all.?

She gave me a stern look but went over to the owls.

?Giant eagle owls are out of question, I guess?? I asked Simon.

Simon?s answer was a huff. I took it to mean yes. Too bad, though I didn?t even know if those came in black as well. But if not there was surely a spell for that. I paid for the owl, which didn?t even bother to blink, and the witch didn?t bother to ask me what I?d name it this time. Her bad luck, because I didn?t have a clue. Maybe I?d juts call it Uhu.

?Off to Ollivanders,? Simon shooed me out. ?I hope you have an idea what kind of wand would fit you??

?A black one,? I sulked. Though, I would probably feel better if I found a way to accidentally poke Simon in the eye with whatever I got handed. I replayed possible scenes before my inner eye, when Simon stopped me in my tracks.

?You don not plan to take all this,? he indicated my acquisitions so far, ?into Ollivanders!?

I looked down and shrugged. ?I can?t leave it standing around, can I??

?Impossible!? Simon pointed his wand at me. ?You act as if there was no magic.?

What could I say? As far as my reality was concerned there [i]was [/i]no magic. But how did you tell that to the figment of somebody?s imagination? ?I am just not used to magic,? I said simply. ?It didn?t exist in my world.?

?More?s the pity. Whatever those muggles thought when they kidnapped you. Drop that.? He pointed at my par

 

The bit in the pet shop was great! And she said they don't sell vicious pets, the one you bought seemed rather vicious tom me! I'm not sure I want to know how it'll be 'disposed' of.

And adopted? The plot thickens!

 

Bumblebee -- the transforming vicious black rat!

Someone should draw a picture of that. Quite entertaining.

Nice update. I liked that bit in the petshop. She likes black, doesn't she?

And Uhu, huh? I wonder which of your readers -- besides my humble self -- will get this bit.

 

"Bumblebee," I said.

"Oh?? she seemed surprised. "And why?"

"Because it can't transform into a VW Beetle."


First LotR, now, Transformers, careful not to overlap your fandoms!


And she is adopted?!?!?

I guess that is quite the drop of mysterious background info...




(and Ce, I for one don't get the reference. Someone needs to explain to those of us who would rather name our magic Owls Elmer )

 

I am not going to hurt, poor Bumblebee, moose. And she should be vivious enough to survive on her own... I hope.

Go ahead and draw it then, Ce. Maybe I'll get you some more templates for drawing then.
Yes, I do like black. Nothing new.

I will use whatever fandom I want, Ale. Nobody can stop me.
And Uhu = eagle owl in German.
Well, it's got to be mysterious somehow. i am scared what those HP fangirls are coming up with.
So maybe thwarting theit plans would be the best idea...

---

There was one more thing I had to do though; I intended to free Bumblebee. It was sad, I could not keep him; he was cuddly, cute and tried to gnaw through my wand. He even let me scratch him between the ears and only bit me when I tried to tickle his belly. I didn't like the idea of returning him into the shop and the backyard had looked like a nice place for a rat to live in.

The pub was still full of people, some of them smoking huge pipes. After the lawful smoking ban came into effect in Germany I had not seen so much smoke inside a building. I coughed, passing an old wizard, who comfortably rested his feet on a chair, reading a paper from behind which small puffs of smoke rose. A mix of languages reached my ears as I walked through the room. I was grateful for the cool and clean air in the yard.

Putting the cage down, I opened the door and picked Bee up a last time. "You take good care, hear me?" His nose twitched excitedly. "Don't get eaten by owl, not even Uhu and if you're still around next year, I'll come and collect you, okay?" He bit me in the nose, which I took for agreement.

I set him down and watched as he scuttled away. Just before vanishing behind the trash cans he turned around though, sniffing the air. So much for the first rat I owned. I placed the empty cage in a way that said 'take me along, I'm for free' and returned inside. The smoke still hung thick in the pub. Candles and oil lamps did nothing to improve on the quality of the air either. Neither did the crowds of people. I had nothing against people in general, okay, now I had a wand, but as long as I could not use it that didn't count. People were fine, as long as they were where I was not. Right now, this was not the case.

I fought my way to the counter. I could even look over it, barely. Almost resting my nose on the wooden surface (you really wouldn't want to do that, it was sticky) I tried to catch the attention of the barkeeper. For obvious reasons that was difficult.

"Do you need help, dear?" An elderly witch looked down at me.

"Yes, ma'am," I said. "I want to order tea."

She glanced around as if looking for something. "Are you not a bit young to be here on your own?" She finally asked.

"I am going to Hogwarts tomorrow," I replied as if that explained everything.

"Oh, your parents must be proud of you," she smiled and tapped her wand on the counter. The barkeeper appeared almost immediately. Pointing at me, she ordered tea plus biscuits I never mentioned but didn't mind.

I tried not to think of what my parents would say if they would see me here now. Probably not much, I had always been the odd and geeky one. Of course, being eleven again might upset them a bit. How would anybody explain that to the authorities? They wouldn't believe it, even when they saw it. And considering that I already had my A-levels and an MA in English it would be difficult to get me back into the public school system. Hogwarts might be a welcome alternative, really.

"Here, dear," the witch handed me a cup. "You are so silent."

"Oh," I tried to blush with moderate success. "I don't know who my real parents are. I was adopted." Sucking my lower lip under my teeth I looked into the cup, hoping to project sad embarrassment.

"Poor dear! What about your adopted parents?" She wanted to know. "Are they not proud?"

I had no answer for that. I didn't even know how my family was set up supposed to look like or if they even liked me. There should have been a letter detail

 

Chapter 2: Generally Annoying



"Hey, you! Wake up!"

My eyes snapped open and I looked around disoriented. Where was I? I focussed on the wooden ceiling above and it hit me with full force. Not the ceiling, the realisation where I was; though even the ceiling crushing down on me could not have had a worse impact. I was trapped in the Potterverse; being eleven. Uhu chose the exact moment to hoot. It was no use denying.

"Hey, you! Wake up!"

I looked around, but didn't see anybody. Was this some wizard alarm clock? Whatever it was, it was well hidden. I got up anyway, stumbling over to the basin with warm water. Halfway there I realised that I could actually see very well. That meant I had been wearing my contacts for how long without a break? They should be hurting like hell.

I poked around in my eyes, trying to find my contacts but in vain. Maybe I did not need any yet? Or was it poetic license so I would not resemble the hero of the story too much. Though, I did not sport any scars yet. Craning my neck I had to realise that my tattoo had also vanished. Oh ****!

"Hey, you! Wake up!"

Now this was becoming an annoyance. Still, I could not see anything. "I am awake," I grumbled loudly. A breakfast materialised on the table in my room. Okay, I really needed to get the hang of magic. But first ? I almost dribble water all over another letter propped up against the basin. Those fangirls were rather talkative. I wondered what they wanted.


Dear Mellanna,

as we can see you have adapted well to your new life already. We really like the background you have created for you adopted family. Things will be set up according to your statements. Detailed information and keepsakes will follow soon.

Yours sincerely

Devoted Fans


I stared at the parchment. They would what? Did they really think making everything I said about my background real would be a good idea? And what keepsakes? Pictures? Baubles? What kind of stuff would a child from such a family want to keep? Frustrated I sat down and began to eat.

Uhu fluttered in as I was half finished, dropping a small parcel beside my plate. I fed him the remainder of my scrambled eggs. He hooted happily, making a mess with them on the windowsill. I managed to ignore the parcel until I had finished eating. What if it held the threatened things already? Though, it did look a bit too small for that.

Finally, I opened it. It contained ? an envelope. Yeees, fine. At least there was a letter accompanying it. Lucky I decided to read that first. The item in the envelope was a portkey that would bring me to the station, my obliging turtles* told me. So I should take care to touch it only when I had everything ready because it was a one-way-ticket. Like the whole trip, huh? Well, bother.

I wondered if the room was already paid for and what would happen if not and I just portkeyed out of the place. In the end I decided against it. I didn't want my first, and probably only, letter here to be a demand note. It was most likely going to shout all over the dinner table. That did have its allure again, but no, it was not like me at all. Staring at my surroundings I decided to try and stay myself as well as I managed.

So I went down and Tom was still behind the counter - I swear the guy lives there ? just to find out that I paid in advance. Silly me, how could I forget. I went back up again, almost tripping over my own robe several times. That outfit might look mightily impressive, if you were impressed by people in black nightgowns that is, but it was very inconvenient. If there had not been trousers underneath, I would have flat out refused to wear it; too kinky even for me.

Uhu was sitting on the sill staring out intently. I wondered how you got one ******* big owl into a small cage without losing fingers. I could have used Bumblebee as bait, but it was too late for that. Or not, as I found out when I walked up to Uhu. The thing he was watching intently in the yard was a black rat that didn't seemed bothered at all. It obviously had the brains of ? well a rat.

"No, y

 

Wait, did I get a PM for the previous update???


I stared at the cup, my mouth open. Could I change the way of things? If only here? It might be an experiment worth trying; messing up the plans for the PT, forcing Lucas to take a different approach and story. My head swam with the possibilities. The Prequels. I could wipe them out. All of them. Or just change them and have pretty Tem-clones fight pretty ? uh Depp-clones for example. Owen would be Ben's brother again, and if anybody got the idea of NJO, a hit of the wand should see to the right amount of amnesia.




Apparently you're mixing fandoms if you're bringing in Mayfair witches.


That's quite an ambitious check list... you just threw away....

 

I would have sworn that last post was much more colorful the firt time I read it...





I say just run headfirst into the bloody thing, forget the luggage... although I assume you'd be able to carry atleast Yoohoo, or Uhu, or whatever it's name is...


And somehow I feel these "devoted fans" are going to have annoyed the **** out of me before chapter 5....

 

My eyes snapped open and I looked around disoriented. Where was I? I focussed on the wooden ceiling above and it hit me with full force.



If there had not been trousers underneath, I would have flat out refused to wear it; too kinky even for me.

I've never heard a Hogwart's uniform being described as 'kinky' before.

 

Ale - I think you did; except if the system ate all my messages.
Cross fandom confusion will be half the fun of this. I hope. And I am good at lsist, I can always make a new one...
Colourful? I am sure that's all in your head...
Uhu (pronounce oo-hoo). And I am not going to leave a trunk behind that contains books.


moose - Well, floor length robes and nothing under it? I would call that kinky. Though it does have potential for PWP stories...

---

The story was saved by the sudden appearing of a black woman with her son. He looked remarkably monochrome in his black robes. Nobody had informed me abut this, at least not that I could remember. 'Mine,' I decided on the spot. If I didn't know who he was, chances were good he wasn't mentioned much. Plus his mum displayed her wand as if she wanted to poke out some muggle eyes.

I struggled with my suitcase towards the wall, pausing to catch my breath just as the two wanted to pass. "Oh, sorry." I tugged at my bag, not moving it an inch. "It's rather heavy, I'll," huff puff, "get it out of the," huff some more, "way immediately." I sagged a bit before gripping the handle tightly again.

A short kick of magic sent my suitcase to the other side of the barrier. "Thank you, ma'am," I called after her, but she was already gone. However I always managed to pick the haughty ones. At least I was now in a place full of wizards and getting a hand with my trunk.

The train was indeed bright red, and a steam train. Wizards and witches were gathered in small groups taking leave of children of all ages. I felt lost among so much familial affection and tried to keep up with my new best friend. A friendly porter made that a lot easier by grabbing my trunk and heaving it into the train. I just left it, anybody was welcome to steal it, provided they could lug it away.

Most of the compartments were already occupied. I hoped my prey had not chosen a last free seat in one of the cabins. I was too lazy to set my sight on somebody else. Well, except Draco maybe. He might kick me out after five minutes, but it would be so worth it.

Well, he was not in a full compartment. I flopped down opposite of him grinning happily. "Hi."

He tried to raise a brow, but that needed some more work before it was any kind of impressive. "What do you want?"

"To know your name," I replied. "I am Vianne, you new best friend."

He snorted and I liked him immediately. "Says who?" he wanted to know.

"I do, though it would be easier if I knew your name."

"Fat chance," he said.

"Oh, no problem, I can live with calling you Klaus. Can you?"

"You are insufferable."

"Only as long as you don't know me," I assured him. "I can be really nice, if I want to."

"I doubt it."

He was a tough nut to crack. "Okay, wonderboy, how about a deal," I suggested. "You suffer me until we reach Hogwarts and if you still don't like me by then, I'll not bother you again."

He tried to raise a brow again.

"You need to work on that," I said pointing at his brow. "It's not nearly going high enough yet, and the other brow keeps twitching. The groundwork is very good, though." I wondered if I should tell him to take lessons from Draco.

"I'll find another compartment," he said getting up.

"Okay, okay," I raised my hands in defeat. "I'm leaving. Guess, I'll have to annoy Draco instead." I got up and went to the door. "I'd still like to know your name, though. You're nice."

He looked at me as if I had lost my mind. Which was close, but actually my mind was the only thing I still had. "Blaise Zabini."

"Nice to have met you, Blaise," I said and smiled. "Don't let me annoy you, it only makes me happy." Winking at him I left the compartment. Finding Draco should not be too difficult. It was only a train.

Draco was very obliging and sat only a few compartments down the aisle. There were two ugly boys sitting with him leaving exactly one seat free for me. How very considerate. I sat down grinning. "Hi there."

"That seat is taken,

 

Lanna, you are ful of surprises!



Please keep me on that up-date list of your´s!

 

"Most got wiped out during Third Reich." Eat that, editors of my background!






And my has your language cleaned up since the last post.

 

Of course, Azure.

Ale - my language has been cleaned up by remainders of Thrid Reich patrolling the text. Language-Nazis, so to speak. I found out that there is no canon evidence to contradict my assumptions, though.

---

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans did sound interesting, but I did not feel inclined to try them. Still I decided to get a box, just in case I did find anybody to share with. I was still wondering if Pumpkin Pasties were tasty and how many Cauldron cakes to take when Harry appeared. Good timing on my part; if only I had been able to think of something useful to say. I couldn?t so I decided to go with not useful. "Do you know pumpkin pie?"

"What?"

"These," I pointed at the pasties, "are Pumpkin Pasties. But I only know pumpkin in salty food so I wondered if you know knew any sweet pumpkin dishes."

"Sorry, no," he shook his head. "I don't know anything about magical sweets."

"You and me both," I replied. "I am Vianne, by the way, Vianne Snyder. Just got to know I would be a witch a few days ago when I got my letter from Hogwarts."

He seemed intrigued. "I am Harry," he said and after a small pause added, "Harry Potter."

"Nice to meet you, Harry," I offered my hand which he took and shook. "Guess, I'll have a few of the pasties anyway," I told the lady behind the cart. Then I packed everything up and grinned at Harry who seemed half confused and half relived. "Trying all of those will be quite an adventure. See you in school."

I left him to the cart and its contents. There was no real need to get involved in the main story. If my fangirls had wanted that, they would have forced it down my throat. They still might, though. Depending on whose secret love child I turned out to be. I really needed to contact best friend about this. Chewing on my lip I wondered if I could use my wand as a textmarker or if there was a spell to make it work as footnoterphone.

I was so deep in thought that I had almost stepped on a toad that had nothing better to do than sit in the middle of the aisle and go 'croak' at me. "Hello, Neville's Toad," I said and it went 'croak' again.

The good thing about running around in floor length black nightgowns was the sheer amount of space they could create for carrying things around. I gathered most of the front of the robe into a big pouch - thanking heaven for the skirt I wore underneath, even though it was an incredibly ugly excuse for a skirt ? and picked up the toad. It would be the easiest way to get rid of, by parking it at Ron's and Harry's. But first I needed to secure a place for my sweets.

Draco's compartment was out of question. In the vicinity of Crabbe and Goyle, who had to have first names floating around somewhere, the stuff would survive not quite as long as a snowflake in hell. I found Blaise still on his own on the compartment I had left him in.

"Hi again," I said waving the toad a bit helpless. "If it's okay for you, I'd like to stash some sweets here while I bring back the toad."

"Why do you bother to ask?" he wanted to know.

I shrugged. "Because I can?" Then I dropped the candy onto the seat opposite to his. "Take some if you want to. I'll be back"

So I was now leaving a trail of confusion instead of annoyance. I was not sure if that was much of an improvement, but right now I was not interested in being annoying for a while. My people skills were mainly just pushing random buttons and seeing what happened. Not a good approach if you came to think about it.

I burst right into a discussion about Quidditch, if you could call it that. Mostly Ron talked at Harry who tired to follow the explanations without having ever seen a Quidditch field. I think that was pretty difficult.

"Hi there, Harry," I said poking my head into the compartment. "Say did Hermione and Neville come by already?"

He nodded. "They were looking for his toad, Trevor. That is Ron," he added indicating the red haired boy.

"Hi Ron," I greeted. "I'm Vianne and I have the toad." My eyes roved over the chaos of opened packages and crumb

 

Voldy Mouldy...


So you've decided to leave poor ol' Harry alone for the time being??? Wonder how that will work out...

 

Absolutely hilarious. I love all the converging fandoms.

 

Ale - Somehow I get the feeling I cannot keep out of the main plot even if I'd like to. Fangirls do the most crazy stuff, you should know.

Thank you FelsGoddess. It is amazingly fun to lump everything together.

---

When I returned to my compartment, Blaise had already made short work of the Pumpkin Pasties. I held up an empty wrapping. "Well, I guess they're good then."

"Were," he corrected.

"I'll make a note to get some more next time, or secure one for myself then." I sat down and took one of the chocolate frogs. "You wouldn't by chance know if Cadbury is involved in those any?"

"Of course not, Muggle Studies is a subject you can only take from the third year onwards." He scrutinized a Liquorice Wand.

I unpacked the frog and it immediately jumped against the window. I watched it struggle and finally freeze before I plucked it off and bit off its leg. "Good enough," I finally judged and stuffed the rest of the frog into my mouth. Then I took a look at my card. It was Merlin and to my utter disappointment he didn't look like Sam Neill the least. "Bother."

"Dumbledore or Merlin, I guess," Blaise said. "They're on every other card, I tell you."

I looked at the generic old wizard on my card who took the chance to vanish. "Merlin, but he already left. Must be busy work, appearing on all those cards."

I got an introduction to the trading cards of the wizarding world for free. Feigning genuine interest helped, but it was actually just slightly interesting. I had never been into trading cards or collecting stickers. Come to think of it, the last stickers I had found had ended up on the Cookie Wheel of Fortune for the last Jedi-Con. Go figure.

I took the time to eat a few more chocolate frogs, got a card with Dumbledore, a Circe and a Uric the Oddball card. I liked Uric immediately, his hat proved his taste, and asked the few expected questions. I was just about to ask how you managed to get your own card when an announcement rang through the train.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Now that was great news. I had not been looking forward to lugging my trunk around again. I gathered up the remainder of the sweets, I was still stuck with a whole box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and tried so look out of the window. It was dark by now. All I could see where a few lights which I supposed to be Hogsmeade.

"Too bad we won't be coming here at the weekends for the next two years," I said. "I am not sure I'll like being locked up in a castle."

"You were getting around much before?" Blaise asked.

"I am used to do pretty much whatever I want," I answered. "Maybe I'll have to keep to the environs, though they consist of an awful lot of lake and Forbidden Forest."

"Practice your swimming, I'd say."

"Sure, want to come along?"

He looked me up and down. "We will see."

"Great!" I grinned at him. Then I raced out the door because the train had stopped. I almost bounced into a group of pupils already waiting to disembark. Most of them were taller and older than me. Especially the latter felt strange.

"Not going anywhere, huh?" Blaise poked his head out of the compartment.

"Can't blame a girl for trying." I felt the crowd starting to move. "I'll keep a seat free for you in a boat." Then I was carried away by the rushing pupils. I tried not to trip over robes and elbow others too much, but it was difficult since everybody seemed to be intent on being the first to arrive at Hogwarts. Amazing enthusiasm if you considered it was a school.

"Firs' years!" Hagrid called from one end of the station. "Firs' years over here!"

Even in the crowd of first years I was among the shortest. Oh didn't I love it when history repeated itself? We went down a steep path, unknown to all of us in almost complete darkness. I was expecting the NSPCC to jump out of the bush and stop the dangerous madness any second, but to my amazement they didn't. Maybe wizard's children were fair g

 

You really are intent on wreaking havoc on the HP universe, aren't you?

I hummed a theme of doom as we approached, but was drowned out by Hagrid's loud knocks on the doors.

I envisage lots of doom, with you in the very centre causing it all.