A/N: Hi, I'm new around these parts, I've been a part of Wattpad for a long time and decided to see if I held a spot in such a wonderful place, for now, whoever is reading this, thank you. You don't have to call me anything in particular, but if you wish, you may call me Iris.
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Day one, year one, one and three quarters...
Behind a little boy with emerald eyes, a boy with fiery red hair and a girl forever carrying a book, was the girl with little to nothing to mention.
Sure, you could say she had brown oddly chopped hair with slanted bangs, or her skill to blend into the background, though she would just feel insulted if you were to say that, even though she's heard it all before. The only notable thing about her would be the colour of her eyes, they were a greyish blue, with a gold ring around her pupil, like a storm brewing. When people met her they tended to ask who she got her eyes from since they're nothing close to her parents, whose were green and brown, she'd just walk away muttering "I'm probably adopted...".
Now, a girl with such blunt thoughts had a name of course, Marien Clark, half-blood, a muggleborn mother and wizard father, both giving her nothing but their last name. She wasn't mistreated at all, no, rather, she was not treated at all, wasn't hurt or yelled at, nor noticed by her own parents who she could never tell actually cared about her anymore. She paid no mind to her home life, it just being as simple as the girl who wandered it's halls.
She kept her mind free from anything that would bring drama as she boarded the Hogwarts express, her family, Kate and Richard Clark had dropped her off at the station soundlessly giving her a ticket saying,
"Just go through the wall between platform nine and ten, goodbye and good luck."
she pushed the memory in a little shoebox in her mind as always, in a closet filled with shoeboxes. The young Clark finally found a lone compartment, She opened her book 'Fantastic Beasts and where to find them', which was gradually being filled with sticky notes, highlighter marks and scribbles about each creature, this very book, the book she's had since infancy was her world. Not too long during the ride as the sky began to dim, a boy rushes in sitting down, he was burly and well built, quidditch merchandise visible on his trunk, scarf, book and jersey says 'Gryffindor Captain and Keeper, O. Wood' it was clear that he had a very strong liking for the sport.
After catching his breath he finally takes notice that the compartment he was in was not uninhabited. He showed a tired smile and stuck a hand out.
"Aye, sorry 'bout my entrance, there were no more compartments left and ah thought this one was empty, the names Oliver Wood"
Marien looked at the hand for a good three seconds before reaching out for the Scottish boys hand and shaking it, she may as well be polite, especially with him being the first person to notice her...well, half notice her at least.
"...It's alright, people tend not to notice me to often...my names Marien Clark, It's nice to meet you Oliver..."
she said above a whisper as she placed her hands in her lap, spending time with creatures obviously did not prepare her for human interaction. Thankfully, he just smiled again, taking note of her shy demeanour.
"well lassie, it's a good thing ah'm here then, consider me a first friend, for your first year."
"yeah well, I don't know how to break it to you but I think you'll be my only friend...not that I'm complaining of course!"
She said frantically catching her brief mistake, he just waved her off, showing it was ok. she sighed in relief, in the movies she's seen big fights could happen over the littlest misunderstandings and she did not want to be a part in that.
"It's alright lassie, but don' be so hard on ye'self, even if that did happen ah can promise that you can find a friend in Gryffindor, so ye shouldn't worry."
She found comfort in the quidditch captain's words, yeah, she shouldn't be so pessimistic, her life was simple, what more could she want? Soon, a comfortable silence followed in their compartment, not complete silence of course, their was the occasional praises of the team Puddlemere United and how he wished to be keeper on such an amazing team one day, the girl listening could only nod, she was good at listening.
Their silence was interrupted by an obnoxious looking girl with bushy brown hair almost slamming the poor door open.
"I'm sorry for the interruption, but have either of you seen a Toad? a boy named Neville has lost his."
Both shook their heads, not sure what could come out of engaging in a conversation, looking at each other and then to her, the keeper speaking up.
"sorry, we 'aven't seen one ah'm afraid, we'll keep a lookout"
she just nodded annoyance at the lack of information but kept quiet as her strides along the train grew softer. The wallflower let out a deep sigh, forgetting the boy in front of her before straightening up at her carefree attitude, he just laughed at the final show of emotion as the train slowly came to a stop.
Oliver helped the girl grab her scattered collection of books and place them back in her brown leather satchel. He turned to her slightly bowing his head down in a playful manner.
"This is where we part lassie, temporarily o'course, I'll be seeing you around, if you need me, look for the Gryffindor students, they'll know, or just go to the quidditch pitch" he then pranced off into a carriage with other fourth years not knowing the Marien had actually chuckled lightly at his antics, a very big accomplishment.
She turned to a giant man with hair that could rival the obnoxious girl she had previously met shouting,
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years! over here! follow me!"
slipping and stumbling, She and her fellow first years followed the half-giant what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark that there should be some very thick tree's surrounding the eleven year olds. Marien was very annoyed with such an impractical way to reach the school, she heard a sniffle, god were kids crying because of this? she shook off the feeling that life in her new school was going to impractical until her graduating days.
"Yeh'll get yer first sight o'Hogwarts in a sec." The large man, who she found out was named Hagrid from a boy with glasses, called over his shoulder.
Over a loud chorus of 'Ooooooh!', they stood at the edge of a great black lake, viewing the vast castle with it's towers and sparkling windows from the night sky on top of a high mountain on the other side in all its glory. Marien had only ever seen sketches and descriptions in the old leather books in her parents small study, but it certainly was nothing compared to the real thing.
Hagrid had gotten the first years in little wooden boats, four in each, on his command, the miniature fleet moved all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass.
"Heads down!" yelled the half-giant as they reached a cliff. they went through a curtain of ivy which his a wide opening in the cliff face. They went through a dark tunnel, which was the underground harbour under the castle, as they clambered out to the rocks and pebbles, Marien was surprised she picked up any information from the book she read out of Boredom 'Hogwarts a history'.
A boy in the front yelled "Trevor!", she guessed he was the one looking for his toad earlier. She would never do that with her magnificent barn owl Zeus, the young Clark wasn't bragging about her Tyto alba, he was actually just that amazing, he was larger than other barn owls, with his sleek shiny feathers, black eyes like the darkest depths of a storm and his gold, brown and white plumage, it was like he was the embodiment of the God he was named after, the only other thing people find interesting besides her eyes.
As the first years stopped at a huge, oak front door before the large man knocked three times, it opened to reveal a tall, black haired witch in emerald-green robes, with a stern look on her face, grey and white hairs showing from her tilted black pointed hat.
"the firs'-years, professor McGonagall" said Hagrid.
"Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here." The girl in the back of the herd knew this was a woman not to cross, she admired the woman, this was someone she wished to be when she grew up. The inside of the castle was marvelous, with it's torches, tapestries and marble staircase, it was like being in a fairy tale castle.
They followed the professor across the flagged stone floor, you could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from the door to their right.
Everyone then crowded together in a small empty chamber nervously.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, the start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." She began to explain about their houses, but to the simple girl in the back with storm blue eyes saw it as factions, divisions, labels, it didn't matter what she thought thought, she was just a simple background character. But really 'family'?, you see, Marien had a code when it came to clubs, schools, institutes, organisations or just volunteer work, If it's a place, with at least thirty people, there's bound to be a hierarchy.
The transfiguration teacher then left the group of eleven year old's to 'smarten themselves up'. While everyone was talking, the young Clark engaged in a surprisingly comfortable conversation with a girl named Susan, now she had someone to talk to in the vast castle she had to call home for the next seven years, she was making some progress.
Then, out of nowhere, several people behind them screamed, making Marien flinch, she had never particularly been fond of loud noises. Everyone gasped.
''What the-?"
a boy with messy hair in the front exclaimed *My thoughts exactly* the girl who had flinched thought.
About twenty transparent, pearly white ghosts went through the wall, gliding and conversing with each other, not sparing the frightened kids a glance.
As a fat little monk looking ghost conversed with the other first years, something about being in Hufflepuff before he was, well dead, Marien just turned to a ghost with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes which seemed to be stained by blood. All the other children avoided him, frightened, The girl in front of him was shy, not scared, more like intimidated by his presence. She decided, for the first time for the eleven years she's been alive, to initiate a conversation.
"Hello there sir...my name is Marien...Marien Clark, it's nice to meet you..."
The Baron just floated there, blank eyes sparking with a look of surprise and curiosity. Marien observed the ghost before her, he wasn't some round, creepy looking Baron, he seemed younger, in his late prime, long, supposedly black hair, moustache, old renaissance noble clothing with jewellery such as rings but a eyes blank, like a snakes. He just bowed before replying,
"The Bloody Baron milady, at your service."
Before she could reply, a sharp voice was heard.
"Move along now, The sorting ceremony is about to start."
The young wizards and witches just formed a line, leaving the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors. Marien sucked in a breath as she scanned the enchanting place, there was golden plates and utensils, on four long tables with thousands of candles floating mid-air. At the front was another long table where teaches of all sizes sat.
Professor McGonagall led them up there so they were facing the students with the teachers behind them. The young Clark had never been in front of so many peeving eyes before, so she looked up to the ceiling, seeing stars, clouds and the milky way, she heard the obnoxious girl on the train whisper, 'It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: a History ', sigh, another girl Marien could never see herself as, sure, she was obnoxious but she was noticeable, intelligent, not afraid to speak her mind, everything she was not.
As her idol placed an old, worn hat on a stool, it started to sing, *Ah, the sorting hat.* the girl thought, she only remembered this because she was afraid of doing some practical test, she wasn't the most talented nor was she terrible, just simply average.
She looked around the room to met a pair of sparkling brown eyes, Oliver, he waved at her excitingly, causing people to look at her, she looked down at her feet, one hand waving slightly back.
The hat started shouting names, her somewhat friend, Susan Bones, getting into Hufflepuff, the process continued as Marien drowned out the noise, Zabini, Weasely, Malfoy and...POTTER? She and the entire school watched in silence as the boy, who Marien identified as the boy with black messy hair, much to her embarrassment for not noticing sooner, was being sorted.
Seconds, minutes passed until the Sorting hat finally shouted,
"better be...GRYFFINDOR!"
The scarlet and gold house roared in enjoyment as the other three houses wallowed in disappointment, until....
"CLARK, MARIEN!" McGonagall announced, fortunately, only about 1/5 of the students were watching her as the rest murmured about the young Potter boy, the others, hoping for redemption watched, a young keeper included. The hat was then placed on the girls, sweating head as she fiddled with her fingers.
"Hmm, I sense patience, a strong sense of justice hmmm, yes, not very bright but love for creatures and intelligence shown for herbology, I feel a big change may come from you, I may be wrong, but there must be something you want?"
Marien just cast her eyes down to her lap, mood turned sad but familiarity with the feeling.
"No Mr. Hat, I'm just a simple girl from simple upbringings, a background character, so I don't believe I have any right to be wanting something." She whispered.
"Do not think so low of yourself, you shall find your destiny as everyone else finds theirs young one, even if it isn't as dramatic" The storm eyed girl just sniffed in silence and smiled as a thank you.
"good, now, it better be...HUFFLEPUFF!"
The Hufflepuff table lightly clapped, it had taken her sorting only just over two minutes, so she must have had potential. She sat next to Susan who now decided to be her friend, and put her hands on her face, rubbing it, deep in thought before slightly smiling, turning to where the Sorting hat was being taken away,
"Well, all I really wanted was a break."