Startled, Alpha looked up. "Oh hi, Sarah! How was your summer? I had a great summer, but of course the weather in the Netherlands sucks, rain and thunderstorms, but otherwise I enjoyed being free. You must see this book, by the way, it's quite fascinating!"

Miss Eezy, as always, was very friendly, seeing Sarah again said: "Mreauuuuw". Alpha smiled and said: "She wants you to pick her up. she must like you, she doesn't do that with a lot of people."

Sarah knew that despite Alpha's sorting to Slytherin that she adored books and often assisted Madame Pince in the library in her spare time.

"Our weather was brilliant. High up in the Rocky mountains - well it's its own little world. Then you can come down to the other sorts of terrain. Thick forests - wide open plans. Miles and miles and miles without any people. Great for flying practice."

Sarah picked up Miss Eezy - animals usually liked Sarah and she liked animals very much. Hence her high marks in CoMC. It was her best subject.

"That does look interesting!" she said looking at the Alpha's book, "Celtic huh? I don't know that much about Celtic stuff but I wanted to get a Celtic tattoo and it might be a good idea to know what I'm getting before I get it."

She gazed around the bookshop, "Hey you see that Luis guy about? The one we met on the steps during exam week? He was hoping to come back into Slytherin. Slytherin does have the best blokes doesn't it?"

Alpha grinned. "You know our House-song, don't you?" She said with a wink. "But I didn't see Luis, but I was a bit occupied in this book. I think I buy it, it can be very useful, maybe for the new classes?"

"Are you taking these new classes? I am allowed to, but I'll have to study harder because I have to take my O.W.L.s this year"

"Oh, yes I did. Sang it last term on a dare to much acclaim." she grinned but then shuddered at the idea of OWLs. Not that Sarah had to worry about academics that much. She knew what she would be when she grew up.

"That's cool that you get to take some. Will that be with us then?" Alpha had become quite close to the Third Years (now Fourths) even if she was a couple of years older than they were.

"Yes, I'm thinking about taking them, and it's allowed, so why not?" Alpha said. "Maybe I can't work as much in the library this year, but I think Madam Pince wouldn't mind. I really don't know if I'm taking the classes with your classmates, but I will hear that in school".

She mumbled another bit: "Maybe I'll have to take some English lessons again in Hogsmeade" and she blushed.

"Well, it would be nice if you did take some classes with us." said Sarah, "Your English is pretty good to my ear."

********

Now laden down with herbs, and a couple of pre-mixed potions that had taken his fancy, Piotr wandered almost idly down Diagon Alley. He had arrived in London yesterday and had been measured for robes in Madam Malkin's, where he now headed to pick the up. He surveyed them critically. They were standard robes, but he'd paid the extra to get the more luxurious materials.

His father had, grudgingly, opened his son a private account at Gringotts and, between constant pressuring from Piotr and his wife, had made sure the boy was well cared for financially, something that Piotr had always naturally taken for granted. But then...he felt his father owed him *something*.

He took the parcel from Madam Malkin's and tucked it under his arm. All that was left for him to do now was to buy the books necessary for his first year at a school.

His nose wrinkled in distaste. Socialising. Other People. Neither were things that Piotr took to very kindly.

As he walked, he passed the Owl Emporium and had to stop himself from taking a detour. He did not want a familiar. He loathed animals. And birds. Especially birds, yes. They were so...stupid.

Piotr didn't *like* stupidity.

He pushed open the door of Flourish and Blotts and strolled in.

Sarah noted that Nimue, Kat and Marvo had left leaving Andy standing on his own. At the same time spotted Piotr enter. *Interesting*

"Alpha, have you met Piotr Rachinov or Andy Warden? I guess we could try to get their attention as they are on their own. See how their shopping is going."

******

The boy stepped out of Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions with a vaguely dazed expression on his face, a carrycase in his hand, a cat padding at his heels and an uncomfortable wand tucked into an inside pocket of the dark indigo robes he had newly acquired.

The robes were the puzzling part - or at least, the latest puzzling part in a life that had suddenly turned into a gigantic logic puzzle with several of the major clues conspicuous by their absence. Why, Nathaniel thought idly, did wizards have to wear something that so closely resembled (to his mind anyhow) a dress? His young mind had come up with several rather odd reasons - helped along their reasoning process by watching too much of the daily news, especially in London - and none of them had reassured him one little bit.

Eventually he'd chosen robes that more resembled a long swirling overcoat type thing, and some suitably black trousers and shirt to wear underneath. It had taken him some time to convince the suspiciously smiling woman (his mind refused to supply the word 'witch') in mauve robes that he didn't want them with silver spangles around the cuffs, but eventually he was more or less content. The rest of his wardrobe had been found in the second-hand robe shop, since there wasn't much point (in his mind) in spending vast amounts of money buying everything new when second-hand did just as well for the majority of the time.

Nathaniel was, however, quite happy with his boots. They were black leather and to the knee, like rider's boots, but with a good tread on the sole. They were smooth and fitted the contours of his legs like they'd been made for him. Nathaniel approved of the boots, though his mother would have had a fit. She'd have had a fit at the way he'd let his black hair grow almost to collar length, as well, but he didn't care about that any longer.

The cat was a sore point. His mother had (as well as fits) many cats. Each and every one of them hated Nathaniel. Not for any real reason, as far as Nathaniel could tell, since he'd never indulged in tormenting any of them in even the slightest way. But just in general. They were mean creatures, that spat and hissed and scratched and jumped down on him from shelves and piddled on his bedcovers and coughed up hairballs in his slippers. Only his mother loved the cats, and they in turn adored her. That feline adoration extended no further than the small plump woman, though.

He'd have preferred a raven. Or an owl. Hells, he'd have preferred a toad to a cat. But like a great many other things in this very strange alley, Nathaniel didn't always get to do all the choosing. Sometimes the things he wanted to choose actually chose him instead. Hence the cat traipsing at his heels with dainty paws. The cat wasn't even a proper black one, he considered, once he moved past the initial consideration of its basic 'catness'. It was Mostly black, in so far as it was a decent hue and not an odd tabby thing. But it had a smudge of white on its chest, and a few white hairs on one ear.

And the wand. The wand in his inside pocket (currently digging into his ribs) was made of black cherry wood, and it gleamed with a subtle dark hue. He liked that part of it. If he had to have one, at least a decent looking one had chosen him. But it was precisely nine inches and an eighth in length. 'And an eighth' bothered him.

Actually, now that he stopped to consider it in detail, everything about this whole place bothered him. The thing that bothered him most was his presence here.

Nathaniel was - or had been up until recently - an average teenager. Somewhere between fifteen and sixteen in age, somewhere between five and six feet in height. Now suddenly he knew things that he didn't really want to. Like his parents were 'Muggles'. What an odd word, he thought unhappily, 'Muggles'. And 'Muggles' weren't alone in the world because there were the kind of people that made Diagon Alley real and not just a weird offshoot of Carnaby Street a little way away in Soho. Magical people.

The letter from Hogwarts had turned his average world upside down and round about and topsy-turvy with never so much as a by-your-leave to Nathaniel. He was still smarting from that sting, and from the fact that his parents suddenly wanted so little to do with him. Not that they'd ever been effusive in their parental love anyhow.

Nathaniel knew deep down inside that the letter from Hogwarts was just an administrative error. He wasn't quite sure what he was expected to do with the wand in his pocket, but he knew he'd fail at it.

He was fifteen and hadn't known a world like this existed until now. And he knew he was being dumped into a Fourth Year (whatever that was) and a Ravenclaw House (which sounded a bit like something out of Tom Browns Schooldays) but none of that really bothered him. What he knew would happen was this: he would be the newbie. The Noob. The one on whom all the really interesting tricks were played on first. The one to get blamed for stuff. The one not told rules and then laughed at when he broke that which he didn't know existed. Nathaniel knew all about being the New Boy at school, and not even the comfy boots or the dark gleam of the wand could lift the sullen expression from his face.

Nathaniel had returned to the Leaky Cauldron where his shopping trip had started. He looked about for a minute, the kitten at his heels sitting down and regarding the world with a typical smug cat look.

There were other people who looked like they too had been shopping to start the year off, and some of them looked his age. His eye was caught by a girl who seemed suddenly impatient to get away from the group she was in.

He didn't want to do it, but if he didn't, he was going to end up in far more confusion. He was going to have to try and introduce himself. He walked towards the group with quick, long strides, shaking his long black hair away from his face.

"Uh... excuse me...?" he hazarded. "I don't suppose anyone here is Fourth year Ravenclaw? Or could tell me who is?"

Jon turned his attention to Nathaniel. "Yes certainly." he said with his usual confidence. "I'm Jonathan Sinclair - A Prefect in Gryffindor Sixth Year. I am afraid there are no Ravenclaws here - well we don't yet know how Mr. Hupi will be 'sorted' as he is just new to Hogwarts himself." It was obvious he was referring to the boy in saffron robes.

"There are a number of Ravenclaw students in Diagon Alley - mostly around Flourish and Blotts where you'd expect." He had also noted on his way in here that Nimue Hawkwood, Kat Black and Ward were exiting the bookshop and heading across the street. "Oh and Kathryn Black, the Fourth Year Prefect I think is with a couple of Gryffindors Fourth Years looking at owls."

He turned to his companions; this was a perfect way to ditch Luis, as he'd hardly want to trail around with newbies! Wasn't the cool Slytherin thing to so!

"We are heading into the Alley in a couple of minutes ourselves. You are very welcome to join us and I can point out a couple of Ravenclaws to you and you can take it from there." He then realised he didn't know the other boy's name.

"Uh.. .great. Thanks, Jonathan." Nathaniel managed a brief smile at the group, before the usual sullen lines of his standard expression reasserted themselves. "Um... yeah."

Silence fell for a few seconds. Nathaniel realised that something was expected of him, but it took a few seconds to realise just what. "Oh. Yeah. I'm Nathaniel Greenleigh. Nice to meet you all." he nodded politely around the group. At least he wasn't the only Newbie this year. Please God, this might not be as bad as he thought on a social level.

On the scholastic level, he knew he was going to fail. And badly. The kitten at his feet looked off into the distance as though it was ashamed to be seen with him.

"Actually, I need to go to Flourish and Blotts." Nathaniel might not be the worlds greatest socialist but he was aware on an instinctual level that he had interrupted something. "I'll .. uh.. .meet you in the alley then. Thanks, Jonathan."

A quick turn on his heel and went back the way he came. A minute or so later he was striding into the bookshop, hoping that his departure wouldn't be construed as rude. The last thing he wanted was to get involved in inter-house difficulties, especially before it was even his first day at school...

Behind him the black kitten with the white smudge of fur on its chest lifted its eyes to the heavens as if in mute appeal, and hurried after the young man in the swirling indigo overrobe.

Inside the bookstore, it was... pleasant. Nathaniel relaxed a little, and the wand in his pocket jabbed him in the ribs again. The cat dodged inside the swinging door and sat down near his boot. Nathaniel liked bookstores, and started to browse with an eye out for those listed for educational means.

*********

Sarah had continued looking at the book that Alpha was contemplating buying though paying more attention to petting the vocal Miss Eezy.

"Must be nice to have a pet that can talk to you even if just in meows. I wish I could speak 'snake' and know what the Baz was thinking. I guess it's an inherited thing though but I mean someone must have taught old Salazar Slytherin how to do it in the first place."

She fussed the cat a little more.

"You know." she said certainly loud enough for Nathaniel to hear, "I do like the idea of separate Houses at school because its an identity thing - the lions, badgers (*giggle*), serpents and eagles. I guess it is a prejudice thing that even though Ravenclaw House was founded by someone with that name that our House symbol is an eagle."

"I don't," said Alpha. "It maybe good to get your identity, but I think it can bring you to prejudices. I mean, I'm in Slytherin and you're in Ravenclaw, so technically we are not allowed to see, let alone talk to each other."

She looked a bit troubled as she said this. She did not like being in Slytherin, but the hat must have seen something of Slytherin in her.

"That's true." said Sarah, "though everyone knows that I was sorted to Slytherin so I have kind of honorary status with some of you."

She shrugged, "Plus, there are quite a few Slytherins, even ones from 'full blood' backgrounds, who do talk to Ravenclaws and Gryffs. So it has lightened up a bit since the days when relations were very hostile between the Houses. I think Dumbledrawers likes the whole co-operative thing, which is typical of a Gryffindor. That big speech he gave at the award ceremony in January about how the school couldn't have been saved from the Briar Rose spell without all the Houses working together."

Sarah had slept through 'the great adventure' like most of the school. She had heard that the Four Founders themselves had been called into manifestation to protect the school and break the spell which had held the castle and its inhabitants in a sleep that could have lasted a 100 years.

She turned her attention back to the subject of options. "My Potions grade was not good enough to do Alchemy and I am definitely dumping Arithmancy and keeping CoMC, Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies. How in the world do they expect us to lug all these books to the station!"

**********

Mahou strolled through the streets of Diagon Alley, her arms laden with parcels. She had already gotten her robes, making sure to get the Gryffindor Lion on there, too, and was carrying her wand in the inside pocket of the robes she was wearing.

The half-elfin girl had spent her summer in Ireland, catching up on some things she would have to know in Hogwarts, catching up on her step dancing, and various other things. She celebrated the Solstices and the other various holidays of the Wheel of the Year, and was happy to be shopping for Hogwarts things.

But there was one problem.. she didn't know how many optional classes she needed, nor which ones to take. She definitely wanted Care of Magical Creatures, and had already bought the book over the summer, having read the thing from cover to cover in about a week. But she needed advice about all the other classes.. having taken Ritual Design at Cerrydwin's..

As of now, Mahou was wearing her old pine-green Cerrydwin's robes, with the crest on the left side, over the heart, and a cute hat pulled low over her ears. Her mother had made her wear the hat, but Mahou knew that it could fly off with the slightest breeze. She was afraid it would happen...

Standing in the middle of the street, Mahou was at a loss as to where to go next. She looked around with her vivid, lime-green eyes trying to find someone she knew.. someone who could help her.

Walking into Flourish and Blotts, Mahou decided that there would definitely be some Hogwarts students here. And lo and behold.. she was right.

Walking up to Sarah and Alpha, Mahou cleared her throat, her very pale face reddening a little bit, her strange, lime-green eyes glittering. She tugged the hat down lower over her ears and shuffled her feet, the red fox at her ankles yipped a little and skittered out of the way.

"Pardon me," she said timidly, "but I was wond'rin' if ye were students at Hogwarts?" Her Irish accent flared as she spoke, her slanted eyes moving from one person to the other, her hands clenching around her bags. She knew she must look strange in her Cerrydwin's School for Gifted Girls uniform. "I donnae ken wha' classes ta choose, not wha' books ta buy, nor how many optional classes I need ta take.." She felt very stupid as she rambled, hoping the other students didn't think so.

"Oh," she said, blushing a little more, "I be Mahou Amberstone.. I be knew ta Hogwarts, though I tested inta th' fourth year." She smiled awkwardly.

Sarah looked at the girl in her green robes and hat. She then recalled seeing Mahou at the school when her parents had brought her to visit but she hadn't actually talked to her.

"Hi. I'm Sarah Taverner and I am also a Fourth Year. This is Alpha Rich who is in the Fifth Year. There is a bunch of other students in here - sometimes hard to spot as they look so different in ordinary clothes and robes instead of school uniforms." she smiled, "I saw you last term when you visited the school. You've been sorted to Gryffindor haven't you? Oh, I like those robes I wonder why we have to be so boring and wear black robes as uniforms!"

Sarah was dressed head to foot in black mind you but that was different to her mind. What she was wearing was 'cool', school uniforms were drab and horrid.

Mahou blinked and looked at the raven robes in her arms. She had been sure to get them well-made by Madam Malkin, and she hoped that they would last for a while. "I donnae think tha' th' robes be all tha' bad," she said turning them over. She kind of liked the black fabric, though green was her colour.

"Aye, I ha'e been sorted inta Gryffindor. Me Ma was in tha' House when she came here. She was happy when I had been sorted inta Gryffindor."

Mahou looked from Sarah to Alpha, then down to her own green robes, the crest over her heart seeming like a brand to her. "These robes be from Cerrydwin's School for Gifted Girls in Blackwater, Ireland," Mahou rattled off.

She grabbed the badge and held it up away from her, to show it to the two. "This be th' cauldron tha' Cerrydwin Herself stirs," she explained. "She be a Goddess in Celtic legend, thus they named th' school after her. But in Hogwarts they donnae teach Ritual Design or Wand Making. I made me own wand."

She dug into her inside pocket and produced her willow wand. It was 10 inches long, rather thin, and almost perfectly straight. It seemed to be formed rather than cut. "This took me two weeks ta do," Mahou said frowning a little. "It shouldna ha'e taken more than one week..."

Sarah smiled at Mahou, "I think we are all in the same position re options. I think it best to take stuff you really enjoy. You have to take five out of eleven possible but there are some exclusions due to scheduling conflicts."

Sarah then screwed up her face in concentration then rambled them off counting off on her fingers: "Alchemy, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Duelling, Hidden Talents - which is a new class, Magical Languages and Myth, Folklore and Magic - ditto new classes; and finally Muggle Studies. Alchemy you need good grades in Potions for - thus I am not taking it; Astronomy and it clash, Divination and Hidden Talents clash and Myth and Folklore and Muggle Studies clash. Plus Magical Languages has to be taken in conjunction with Ancient Runes."

"Ah," Mahou breathed, scratching her head under her hat, then quickly pulling it back down. "Tha' be a lot o' choices.." She frowned, placing her left index finger to her lips. "I love potions, but I havena taken potions here b'fore, so I donnae think I can take th' class of Alchemy yet, though I really really want ta... Care o' Magical Creatures is a must, so there be one. Divination be a definite, I excelled in tha' at Cerrydwin's." She counted off two.

"Do ye think tha' Dumbledore might let me take Alchemy if he saw me scores in potions at Cerrydwin's?" She asked. She really hoped so. "So I guess Magical Languages an' Ancient Runes.. an' then one more class.. I need ta write ta Master Dumbledore t'nigh' an' ask him abou' Alchemy.."

She pulled out a notebook and mini-quill and jotted down the classes she wanted as well as the note to write to Dumbledore. "Do ye think tha' it would be alrigh' if I bought th' book fer Alchemy even if I didna take it?" she asked. "In Cerrydwin's we were only allowed ta buy books fer classes we were takin', so I wanted ta make sure.." She stuffed the notebook away.

"I like to take some new subjects, but it's a bit more than is allowed" Alpha said. I'll have to ask Professor McGonagall is it's possible that I take Magical languages and Myth, Folk, Law and magic and to drop Muggle studies, I really would like to take Hidden Talents as well, but I don't know if that's possible, otherwise I have to drop Astronomy and I'm not that good at that subject but my parents insist that I have to take that."

She sighed. "They make such a big deal about it when I said that I wanted to drop that, I really must keep that now." She shuddered. "I really hate staring into the sky at night!"

Alpha gave a friendly nod to the girl in green. "Nice hat, she said. "I really like hats, sometimes I just have to try on some. Too bad green isn't my colour, otherwise I would have asked if I could have tried yours." She smiled.

Mahou immediately started to panic. She didn't show it outwardly, but inside she was shivering like a unicorn in a hailstorm. "Um.. well.." she stammered, her hands tightening about her wand and her bags, "I like hats, too, an' I be sure tha' green looks wonderful on ye."

She hoped that she wouldn't ask for her hat.. but if she did.. Mahou would have to relent and allow her to try it on.. regardless of the consequences. One rule at Cerrydwin's.. no matter what, always try to be as nice as you can. Mahou wanted to ignore the rule, but having it bashed into her for so long.. she couldn't.. Blackfoot, the red fox, sniffed at the cat, her black ear flattening on her head, curious about the fluffball called a Siamese cat.

"Cerridywn's sounds very interesting which is probably why they do things like ritual design and wand making. Hogwarts is all spells and formulas and academics." Sarah sighed. "I think some of these new classes sound pretty 'innovating' like Hidden Talents. I'd like to find out what my hidden talents are - I am sure I have some in here somewhere." She crossed her eyes in a silly way to indicate she was trying to have a look inside herself.

Mahou smiled, her eerie eyes glittering as she did so. "Cerrydwin's be.. well.. alright.." she said slowly, raising a brow in contemplation. "It be VERY strict, though. An' it be all girls, so I guess there be no distractions, either."

She smiled. "Hidden Talents does sound wonderful, but I want ta take Divination. That be one o' me best subjects. Potions was me best, though.. I got top ranking marks in Cerrydwin's. A perfect score, too. Me teacher had been very pleased wi' me."

Mahou beamed, showing the small potions bottle underneath the Cerrydwin's crest. "Tha' shows wha' classes ye got a top mark in. Potions be th' only one tha' I e'er did perfect in, though. I would star after class day after day learnin' th' potions an' perfectin' them. I could make a cheering potion so potent, tha' ye could be happy fer a week and a half before it wore off." She smiled.

Sarah smiled, "Well I know from Nimue that Alchemy has a lot of library work on the history and symbolism of the Art and all. I don't think there is a practical aspect to it. Not right away. Anyway, it will probably be Professor Snape who decides if your Potions grades are good enough as he teaches the option even though Professor Dumbledore is an alchemist."

"Luckily," Mahou began, "I love libraries. So I guess I should write letters ta Master Dumbledore an' Master Snape?" She furrowed her brows. "I guess I could ask Ma if she could make a duplicate fer me. Since yer nae allowed ta use magic outside o' school here in England. YE could in Ireland, though." She smiled a little.

Sarah had peered at the potions bottle on Mahou's crest. "Neat. I doubt you'll do quite as well here. Snape is too mean to give full marks. He will *always* find fault."

"Then I guess I'll hafta try me hardest ta make him see tha' sometimes, there be nothin' wrong wi' a potion," the girl proclaimed. She hoped at least once she could get a perfect score on something. "Wha' House is he the head o'? And who be Gryffindor's?"

Sarah suddenly realised that Mahou seemed to be talking about writing Snape and Dumbledore from home. "Emmm, you do realise that the Hogwarts Express will be leaving later this morning don't you? I mean you'll be there in person by tonight!"

"Oh.. well.. I guess I should buy th' books fer Alchemy an' another class," she mused. "I guess..." She looked around, thinking...

Sarah was quite pleased that Miss Eezy was taking an interest in Mahou and the fox cub. She glanced at Alpha to see if she should hand Miss Eezy back to her.

**************

At this point Nathaniel who had been hovering on the edge of the group spoke up.

Nathaniel looked at the fox, and at the mostly-black kitten, and back to the fox; and sighed a little. Anything but a cat would have been a blessing. The kitten looked at him and then seemed to almost shrug at him as if to say 'tough, mate, we're stuck with each other'.

"Um... excuse me?" Nathaniel said, rearranging the heap of books in his arms and trying to shake his long black hair out of his green eyes. More introductions. "Er... sorry to interrupt. I'm Nathaniel Greenleigh and .. yeah... I'm supposed to be Fourth Year Ravenclaw. Is.. uh... alchemy like... you know .. .chemistry? And if this isn't a stupid question... what are Muggle Studies?"