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Chapter 3

        As we entered the room, silence fell. While Dumbledore made his way up to his seat, I stopped about half way down the aisle. I shifted nervously, waiting to see if I should sit down or wait for Dumbledore to announce what would happen. As Dumbledore took his place, but remained standing, all the dessert disappeared.

"Ahem -- just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. Miss Blake will be staying with the Gryffindor's until further notice. She will be treated as any other first year."

        The whole Gryffindor table began muttering among themselves as I then made my way to the Gryffindor not looking anyone in the eye. I sat next to Harry, because honestly, who wouldn't given the chance. I looked up once gave my most dazzling smile and then kind of let it drop off my face and stared at the table in front of me. I know, right? I'm quite the people person.

           "I now have a few start-of-term notices to give you," Dumbeldore continued. "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

　　Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

　　"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

　　"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

　　"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

　　Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.

　　"He's not serious?" I heard him mutter to Percy.

　　"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere -- the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least." Little did they know that I knew why it was off limits.

　　"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.

　　Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

　　"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

　　"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

　　Teach us something please,

　　Whether we be old and bald

　　Or young with scabby knees,

　　Our heads could do with filling

　　With some interesting stuff,

　　For now they're bare and full of air,

　　Dead flies and bits of fluff,

　　So teach us things worth knowing,

　　Bring back what we've forgot,

　　Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

　　And learn until our brains all rot."

　　Everybody finished the song at different times. I sang really quietly, almost under my breath, to the tune of "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. It was the first song to come to mind. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

　　"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

　　The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. I was kind of being ignore by everyone. It seemed no one wanted to be the first to talk to me. Oh well, I was never the most popular so I was used to being ignored. I could hear my stomach growling because I still hadn't eaten yet. I think I was the only first year to not be surprised by all the different things we passed. We climbed more staircases, everyone but me yawning and dragging their feet.

　　A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

　　"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves -- show yourself"

　　A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

　　"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

　　There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross- legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

　　"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

　　He swooped suddenly at them. We all ducked.

　　"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

　　Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.

　　"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

　　At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

　　"Password?" she said. "Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. We all scrambled through it -- Neville needed a leg up -- and found ourselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

　　Percy directed us girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase -- they were obviously in one of the towers --we found our beds at last: six four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Our trunks had already been brought up. No one was much up to talking as we were all tired. I immediately went to my bed and pulled the curtain around my bed. I pulled my trunk up onto my bed to see what had been magically packed.

        I found all my "muggle" clothes had magically shrunk so they could fit my 11-year old body instead of my previous 13-year old body. In the very bottom, I found my black bear stuffed animal that I'd gotten from Yellowstone. I'm not ashamed to say I was really excited about that. Her name is Cinny, because some black bears are more of a cinnamon color. Get it? Cinny is short for Cinnamon. And yes, I still sleep with stuffed animals. Deal with it.

        Next to her were seven books. I opened up the smallest one with dread building in me. My guess was correct. These were the seven Harry Potter books. Luckily the covers had been wiped so anyone looking at it would see me reading a red book with no cover. I was getting ready to panic. What if someone found these and read them. I quickly shifted some of my stuff to hide it in my trunk. I'll have to deal with that later.

        As I shifted my stuff to hide the books, I found a key. The strange thing was I recognized this key. I had gotten when I was eight years old. My grandma got it for me for my eighth birthday. I had always wondered why she gave me some randome key. I'd smiled and said thank you, of course, but I never thought much of it. I studied it, rolling it over in my hands. It was exactly how I remembered it. I didn't know how it got in my trunk since I'd lost it about a week after I got it. I didn't know why I had it, but I put it on my bedside because I figured it must be important.

        I felt something cold around my neck suddenly. I don't know how I didn't realize it before, but I was wearing a necklace around my neck. I recognized it, but I hadn't been wearing it when I sunk through my bed. It was a golden chain with a pendant on the end. The pendant was a thin oval that was about the length of my thumb. It was white on one side and gold on the other. The white side had a golden torch printed on it. I decided to keep it on, because it gave me comfort to have something from home constantly with me.

        I then put everything back in except my pajamas and my stuffed bear. I changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed. Suddenly, a voice squeaked from outside the curtain quite enough so only I could hear them.

"Mistress Kendra's dinner has arrived!"

I pulled back the curtain to see a house elf with roast chicken, roast beef, roast potatoes, and ketchup. It all looked mouthwatering delicious.

"Thank you." I said to the house elf, smiling as I took my plate. I closed the curtain and began eating. I finished it all in about ten minutes. It was absolutely delectable. I peeked out of my curtain to see the house elf still standing there. I handed the tray back to them.

"Thank you, it was delicious," I told the house elf.

"Mistress is most welcome," the house elf assured. She then quickly left the dormitory.

I settled into my bed, hugging Cinny tight to my chest. "This is going to be interesting," I thought to myself, thinking of the days to come.

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        I woke up in the morning with a start. I tried to remember what my dream had been about to make me wake up so suddenly, but I couldn't remember. I looked around, puzzled about where I was. All of a sudden, it all came flooding back to me. I remembered waking up at Hogwarts and meeting with Dumbledore. Oh, and did I mention that I get to go to Diagon Alley today.

        I looked through my trunk to decide what to wear. I decided on a pink shirt that was striped with two shades of pink and some denim shorts. I debated whether to put the key in my pocket and in the end I slipped it into my front pocket. I finished getting ready and then began to head down to breakfast. All around me people were heading down to breakfast, but nobody was talking to me. I heard mutters of "the American" coming from every which way, but I just kept looking straight forward and tried to follow other people to breakfast. I was surprised when all of a sudden I was standing in front of the Great Hall. I hadn't gotten lost. That was a surprise.

        I went and sat at the Gryffindor table, kind of away from everyone. No one came to sit next to me. I ate most of my breakfast quickly, and then nibbled on a piece of toast while I waited for Hagrid to finish and come get me.

        I saw him finish and start walking towards me. I put my toast down and got up as he reached me.

"Ready ter go?" Hagrid asked.

"Yep."

        We made our way out of the hall, getting strange looks all the way out. As we left and made our way towards a portkey Dumbledore had set up just for us, I couldn't help thinking if I would ever be accepted here.