Athena Dumbledore (A Harry Potter Love Story)

The Arrival

ATHENA POV:

The wait seemed to be endless. I watched from the Divination tower for the boats to come while Professor Trelawney was mumbling to herself on the other side of the room. I only took occasional breaks to get lunch and to ask Uncle Albus what time they should be arriving because I keep forgetting. Pretty soon the sun started to disappear behind the mountain and Professor Trelawney left. I waited there alone until I saw it: The Hogwarts Express. I let out an excited squeal and literally ran down the stairs and towards the front gate to await the first years. I smoothed down my long, frizzy, red hair as much as possible and stood there while I watched the first years come over on the boats. The lake looked black from the lack of light and I couldn't make out the faces of any of my classmates. Once they got across I yelled: "First years! First years over here, please!" At first people were a little reluctant to listen to me because I'm only eleven, but they eventually came around. "Follow me! This way!" I yelled as they followed me into the hall. I took a deep breath and stood before them, nervous. "Okay guys, usually a Professor would be here to greet you," I started and people just looked at me with blank faces. "But they're all in the great hall waiting for us to come in for the sorting ceremony. As you know there's Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. The hat will be placed on your head and tell you which house you're to be in." A boy raises his hand. He has white hair, piercing blue eyes, and a malicious grin. Scary.  

"Aren't you, umm...a little young to be doing this introduction speech?" He asks and crosses his arms. Some of the others nod in agreement.  

"Well, I've been living here for a while now and know my way around pretty well. But if you'd rather look for the Great Hall yourself, be my guest." This time I cross my arms and the boy blushes, looking to the floor. "No? Okay then, now follow me!"

I walk beside the smug boy with the white hair and another boy with jet black hair and glasses. The boy with glasses seems kind of shy, and keeps giving me sideways glances. I finally let out a sigh and introduce myself to him and the red headed boy he's talking to.  

"I'm Athena, by the way. Nice to meet you!" I flash them both smiles.  

"Ron Weasley," the red head says.  

"Harry Potter," the one with glasses says and I gape at him.  

"Harry Potter?" He nods. "You know you're famous right?" He chuckles.  

"Yeah I figured that out..." We're interrupted when we all walk through the doors to the great hall. Professor McGonagall greets me warmly.  

"Thank you, Athena. This was of great help," she says and we all crowd around below the steps. On the top of the steps lies the sorting hat, and I recognize it from Uncle Albus's office. I jump along with the other first years as it breaks into song. It sings about all the Hogwarts houses and things like that. Once it's done everyone bursts into applause and I exchanged impressed glances with Harry and Ron. Professor McGonagall starts calling people's names by alphabetical order, and pretty soon, it's my turn.  

"Athena Dumbledore!" She calls and I hear whispers going around. Mostly they're like 'Dumbledore has a daughter?' or 'are they related?' or 'she's in Ravenclaw for sure!'. I sigh and take my seat on the stool. The hat is placed on my head and there's a moment of silence. Then it finally speaks.  

"Hmmmmm..." It says and I feel odd, like the hat is rummaging around in my brain. "Intelligent...brave...but, yes. Very wise you are, Ms. Dumbledore." He drones on and on. More than anything I want to be in Gryffindor, I want to be like both of my Uncles. "Gryffindor, eh? I don't know....you'd do excellent in Ravenclaw..." Please let me be Gryffindor. PLEASE. "Alright...if you're sure...you'd better be..." I hold my breath. "GRYFFINDOR!" It shouts and I let out a relieved breathe. I look over at Uncle Albus, who's smiling brightly at me. I wave at him and it makes the crowd go into another fit of gossip. I'm the first Gryffindor, so I sit with a big opened space in case a bunch more first years come into this house. By the end, at least eight people get sorted into Gryffindor. Me, along with Harry, Ron, a girl name Hermione, and a frail boy named Nevil. The all seem pretty nice considering I haven't hung out with anyone my age in a while now. We talk about normal things, mostly what's going on in the Ministry of Magic and such. Mostly, though, we talk about Quidditch.  

"Hey, Athena?" Harry asks.  

"Yeah?" I reply, swallowing a mouthful of food.  

"Are you and Professor Dumbledore related?" It was the question everyone wanted to know. I nod my head casually.  

"He's my uncle. I live with him," I announce and everyone gapes at me.  

"What about your parents?" Ron asks and Harry elbows him in the stomach. "Oww..." He says. I put down my fork and try to hide the fact that that comment threw me off guard. The whole table goes silent.  

"Ummmm...." Thankfully, dessert comes just as I'm about to speak, and I don't have to give an answer. We have more casual conversations and it seems I'm getting pretty close to Hermione and Harry. Ron is...well, Ron. I don't hate him, at least.

Once the feast is over, we're led up to our dormitories to sleep. The crazy thing is that I'd passed the entrance to the Gryffindor common room so many times without knowing it! It's hidden behind a portrait of a uportly woman. We learn the password and quickly file in to the massive common room. The colors of red and hold cloud my vision as I enter awestruck. The other first years seem to have the same expression while the older kids stand there laughing at us.  

"Blimey..." I hear Ron mutter and I snicker.  

"C'mon Hermione! Let's go see our room!" I squeal, linking arms with her while we rush up the staircase, waving goodbye to the others. Once we get there, I'm not as impressed. The walls are, of course, red and gold, while the beds are just plain colors. I find my luggage and see I'm seated in a bed next to Hermione. There's an awkward silence as Hermione and I unpack, awaiting our other roommates. Once I'm done unpacking, I flop down on the bed and pull out a book. I see Hermione approach me out of the corner of my eye.  

"That's a muggle book, isn't it?" She asks, the corners of her mouth pointing upwards.  

"Yeah. It's so weird, you know, how they imagine the wizard world. But their books are still bloody excellent!" I say and she nods, taking the book from my hand. We talk about the book for a while, and I'm glad I've found such a great friend. The others come in and introduce themselves as Lavender, Parvarti and Padma (the twins). They all seem really nice to me, but they don't connect with me as much as Hermione does.  

That night I go to bed with happy thoughts of tomorrow's classes in my brain.