I woke up to the sound of someone yelling and what I assumed was falling down. I jumped out of bed, not even thinking about the fact I was still in my pjs and opened the door to the dorm room. I looked down to see the stairs had turned into a slide and Danny at the bottom of them. He was still in his pjs too and his hair was sticking up at all angles. I couldn't help but laugh when I looked down at his shocked and confused face.
"Sorry, should have warned you about that. The stairs to the girls' dorms will turn into a slide if a boy tries to climb them," Rose said, pulling her robes on as she walked out of her room.
"But she's my cousin!" Danny said, pointing up at me.
"Yes, but the stairs don't know that!" Rose laughed, taking a step on to the slide which turned back to stairs under her feet.
"Don't just stand there laughing, help me up," Danny called out to me, making me laugh even more as I walked down to him.
"How about we meet in the common room from now on," I said, holding my hand out to help him up.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I think I bruised my butt."
"Okay, way too much information Danny! Go get dressed and I'll meet you back down here," I told him, walking back up to my room.
After having a quick shower in the bathrooms that were attached to the girls' dorms, I pulled my uniform on and grabbed my backpack that I had packed the night before. I had just about made it down to the bottom before I remembered that I had forgotten my robes. I turned around and started to run back up the stairs, unfortunately I wasn't looking where I was going and I walked right into Samantha, falling over when I did.
"Watch were you're going, freak," she snapped, walking over me with Leah close on her heels.
"Hey! It's not nice to talk to people like that," I said as I stood back up.
"Whatever, you're not worth the time of day," Samantha said, not even bothering to look at me as she walked out of the common room.
Oh no, do not go full Steve Rogers on me now Elsa! I don't want you getting in to an argument on the first day, Danny said through the bond, standing at the bottom of the stairs and watching what was going on.
"Just ignore her," Maggie said, walking out of the room and passing me my robe that I forgot.
"I'll try," I said to both Maggie and Danny, not that anyone else would know that I was replying to Danny as well.
"I don't know how she got into Hufflepuff," Cedric said, glaring at the door that Samantha had just walked out of.
"Come on guys, let's forget it and go get breakfast," I said linking my arms through Cedric's and Danny's when Henry finally walked downstairs.
"Good, I'm hungry," Henry said, already making his way over to the door with the rest of us following.
Luckily for us, the Hufflepuff common room as close to the great hall so we couldn't get lost. Even if we did, we only had to follow the rest of the students who were also heading up from breakfast.
The great hall looked just as amazing during the day as it did at night. The first thing I did when I walked in was look for Loki, who was sitting at the teachers table next to the same black-haired man from the night before. He looked completely boarded listening to whatever the man was saying and as soon as he saw me, he motioned for me to meet him outside.
I'm going to talk to Loki. Can you cover for me? I asked Danny, who slightly nodded to let me know that he had heard me.
"Guys, I forgot something back in my room. I'll be back really quickly," I told my friends before heading back out the doors.
I looked around the entrance hall for Loki, not knowing what form he would be in. I was about to give up when I saw an older student with black hair and Slytherin robes trying to get my attention. I knew straight away that it was Loki from the smirk on his face. I followed him down a deserted hallway and in to an empty classroom. The second I closed the door, the Slytherin student transformed back into Loki in front of my eyes.
"How are you, my little snøfnugg?*" he asked, hugging me.
"Good, missing Mum and Dad though."
"I know and I'm sure they're missing you as well. Now, tell me. Have you made any friends? Anyone that I need to hand out Jotun justice to?"
"Loki! Don't! I can take care of myself," I said to my uncle, not looking him in the eye.
"So, there is someone? Who is it? Don't tell me its Stark," Loki said, his hands glowing green with magic.
"No, it's not Cassy. It was nothing okay, just everyday school life. Now I'm going to get some breakfast before classes start," I told him, turning to leave the room.
"Elsa, you're forgetting something. Your cover story," he told me.
I turned to find him holding the Star Wars notebook that had a carton drawing of Yoda on it with the word 'Yoda one for me' written on it with silver sparkles.
"How did you get that out of my backpack?" I laughed, taking the notebook from him.
"Do you really need to ask?"
"No. Not really. Now I mean it, I'm going to get breakfast," I told him, walking out of the room and leaving the laughing Loki behind me.
I quickly ran made my way back to the great hall only to find out I still had plenty of time left for breakfast. Spotting Cedric in the crowd, thankful his height made him stand out, I walked over to my group of friends and sat down.
"So, what did you forget?" Henry asked as I put my bag down and grabbed a few of the pancakes off the table in front of me.
"My notebook," I said, holding up the book Loki got out of my backpack.
"Uh, what is that frog thing on the front of your book," Cedric asked, who was sitting next to me.
"It's Yoda. He's a character from Star Wars and he's not a frog. He's a Jedi, a great warrior," I told him, placing the notebook back into my bag.
"What's a Jedi? And a little toad can be a great warrior?" Henry asked, not believing what I had said.
"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my side, do you? Hmmm? And well you should not. For my ally is the force, and a powerful ally it is," Danny said, imitating Yoda making Maggie and me laugh.
"What was that?" Cedric asked, very confused about what Danny just said.
"It's a quote from Yoda. Danny was doing a very bad impression of him," I said, making Danny to act mock insulted.
"It wasn't that bad," Maggie said, still giggling.
"Yeah, Elsa. It wasn't that bad," Danny repeated.
I went to tell him it was one of the worst Yoda impressions I'd even seen, but got distracted by a short witch whose robes seemed to be covered in dirt walked over to us and the rest of the first-year students.
"Hello chaps! I'm Professor Sprout, head of Hufflepuff and the herbology teacher here at Hogwarts. I've got your first term time tables for you. Now I know that you don't know your away around just yet, so we have given you 15 minutes between each lesson to find your classroom. But as of next term, it's all back to normal. If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast and I'll see you in class tomorrow."
She handed out the time tables for us and then headed up to the teaches table. I quickly glanced over the timetable to see we had double potions first with Gryffindor followed by History of Magic after lunch and then flying lessons. It seemed like all the first year Hufflepuffs would be in the same class and only share a few with the other houses.
"Does anyone know who the potions Professor is," I asked, looking up at the teacher's table.
"It's Professor Snape, the one in the black robes and greasy black hair," one of the older students told me.
"Yeah, and it looks like you drew the unlucky straw and are sharing the class with Gryffindor. Everyone knows how much Professor Snape hates Gryffindor," another student added.
"Yay, that sounds fun," Danny muttered.
"Come on, Danny. It can't be that bad," I tell him.
Little did I know what the next hour would be like.
I sat next to Maggie and Cedric when we got into the classroom with Danny and Henry sitting on the other side of Cedric. We were the first people in the classroom, so I took my chance to have a look around. The room itself was in the dungeons, making the room cold, not that the cold bothered me anyway. Which wasn't helped by the fact the walls were made of stone. The walls were lined with different jars that held potion ingredients. I was looking at one of jars, hopping that it wasn't frogs' hearts like the label said when Fred and George came running into the room followed by a boy with dreadlocks.
"We're early Fred," George said, looking disappointed.
"We may be early, but our new superhero friend is here and she hasn't met Lee yet," Fred said, sitting down in front of me and turning his seat so that he was facing my friends and me.
"I'm not a superhero, that's my dad," I said, feeling myself start to blush.
"Now, don't get all embarrassed. We know it's your dad but we reckon you're going to be a superhero one day as well," George said, winking at me as he sat down next to his brother.
"Yeah, join the club. We're all taking bet on when she's going to join the Avengers," Danny laughed.
"Oh, shut up Danny!" I snapped at him as Cassy walked into the room with another girl.
"Yeah, shut up Danny," she mimicked, making me send her a quick glare.
"Hey! Cassy, don't be mean! We all grew up together," I snapped at her, but she didn't reply. Just flipped her hair and turned to keep talking to the girl she walked in with.
"Don't mind her," Fred said, glancing over at Cassy.
"Yeah, ever since some recognised her back in the dorms last night, she's been acting like she's someone famous," George finished for his brother.
"That's because she IS famous. Unlike my dad, Cassy's Dad didn't mind having her in the media with him. She grew up with her face in the news all the time. I hoped people not realising who she was would help her shake the 'Stark attitude' but I guess that's not gonna happen," I told them quietly, looking over Cassy who was laughing about something.
Part of me had hoped that being away from the world that we grew up in would let Cassy show her kinder and caring side but now it looked like that wasn't going to happen. She always had a wall up that was made of sarcasm and jokes that stopped her from getting close to anyone because of how she grew up. I was one of the few people that had broken through that wall, but when she acted like this, it was almost like I didn't know who she was at all.
When the whole class had arrived, Professor Snape came swooping into the room. His black robes flying out behind him as he made his way up to the front of the room.
"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations. I do not expect many of you sitting in this room to appreciate the science that is potion making. But for those very few who possess the...talent, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind, ensnare the senses, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."
That was dramatic, Danny said, making me hold back from laughing.
Stop it! Somehow, I don't think Professor Snape would appreciate us laughing in his class.
"Now, who can tell me the difference between monkshood and wolfbane?" Professor Snape asked, looking around the room before his eyes settled on Cedric. "Diggory! Care to explain the difference to the class."
"Umm, there the same thing, Sir," Cedric replied nervously.
"Correct Mr. Diggory. Now Odinson, care to tell me what the other name of wolfbane is?"
I looked over Danny who was shaking in fear. I knew he hadn't read any of the text books yet, but lucky for him, I had.
Danny, its Aconite.
"It's, uh, aconite, Professor Snape. Sir," Danny stuttered.
"How fortunate, you are correct."
When Snape turned to questions to another group of students, Danny breathed a sigh in relief. More than happy that the spotlight was off him.
"Stark! Since you feel like you know enough to not pay attention, would you like to tell me where you would find a bezoar and what it's use is," Snape snapped at Cassy who had been talking nonstop throughout the beginning of the lesson.
"Uh, a what?" Cassy asked, unfazed by the angry Professor glaring at her.
"A bezoar. It's a simple question, Stark."
"Well, it can't be that simple cause I don't know the answer and there is nothing that a Stark doesn't know."
I cringed at Cassy's words. She might be able to get away with that attitude at a normal school but here at Hogwarts, the name Stark doesn't mean a thing. She can't buy her way out of trouble at this school and I just hoped she realised that.
"DETENTION STARK! I will not have you talking back in that manner. Now, Rogers! Can you tell me the answer that Stark clearly doesn't know."
All the eyes in the room turned towards me, including Cassy who looked smugly sure that I wouldn't know the answer. But I did know the answer because I had spent the time before school reading all my textbooks, but I was scared of what Cassy's reaction would be if I said it. But the longer Snape looked at me, the more I knew I had to answer the question.
"It's found in the stomach of a goat and will work as an antidote to most poisons, Sir."
"Correct, and for all three Hufflepuff students answering correctly I'm awarding 5 points to each of you."
Cedric smiled at me and grabbed my hand under the desk, happy that we had just got the first points for our house. I smiled back at him, but cautiously looked over at Cassy who was glaring at me.
I was glad when potions was over, but happy that I had been paired up with Cedric as a partner for the rest of the year. Danny had been paired with Fred while Henry was paired with Lee. Cassy looked unimpressed that she had been paired with George, who had no interest in paying attention in class. By the time the class was paired up, Cassy was in full competitive Stark mode which meant she had to prove she was the best. No matter the cost.
After avoiding Cassy at lunch, I tried to find my way to history of magic and discovering the staircases actually moved, to sitting through the extremely boring class that was taught by an actual ghost, I was more than ready to head outside for flying lessons.
"So, have you ever flown before?" I asked Cedric as we headed out to the quidditch pitch.
"A few times, it's so much fun. I really want to try out for the Hufflepuff team next year. What about you?"
More than anything I wanted to tell him how I could use my powers to lift myself up in the air so that it felt like I was flying or about the times that Thor had taken me flying with him. But I knew I couldn't, I mean I could have but I was determined to keep the promise I had made to myself about not telling anyone. It hurt me to keep things from Cedric but I wouldn't put him in danger by knowing about my powers.
"Nope. Well, unless you count flying in a plane. Then, yes. Lots of times."
"I really don't think flying with Pa counts, Elsa. But I wish it did," Danny laughed.
"I dose count, kind of," Cedric laughed.
"No, Danny's right. It doesn't really count," I said as we walked on to the quidditch pitch.
There were brooms already set up for the 15 of us in two neat rows and the teacher standing at the end of the rows waiting for us. She was a serious looking woman with grey hair and what looked like yellow eyes that kinda resembled a hawks. We all put our bags down on the edge of the pitch and rushed over to the brooms, excited to start the lessons.
"Hello students, I'm Madam Hooch. I will be teaching you how to how to fly and if you end up playing quidditch, I will be the referee for the games. Now before we start, I want to warn you that you must take flying very seriously. If you don't, you could not only seriously injury yourself but your classmates as well. Anyone caught messing around will be made to sit out the lesson. With that over, everyone hold your hand over the broom and say 'up'."
Following Madam Hooch's instructions, we all put our hands over the brooms in front of us and said 'up'. The broom immediately flew straight in to my hand. Smiling, I looked over to see that the same thing had happened with Danny and Cedric. I looked around of the rest of the class to see the broom hitting Henry in the head as he tried to grab hold of it, making me giggle at the shocked look on his face. When the whole class finally had hold of their brooms, Madam Hooch instructed us what we needed to do next.
"Now, I want you to mount your brooms, kick up off the ground, hover for a few seconds and land back on the ground."
Once again, we all followed her instructions. Immediately after I kicked off from the ground, I started to over in the air. It was one of the most amazing feelings and by the end of the lesson I knew I was going to try out for the quidditch team next year. Even if I had no idea how to play.
*snowflake