"Honestly Father, the fact that you invited that filthy Half-Blood into our house for the summer was too far, now you're making me escort them to the train?"
When Magnolia and Nicole walked down the stairs the morning that they were to go to Hogwarts, they overheard Draco and his father arguing like they had been all summer. Magnolia knew the statement was about her but had learned to live with Draco's constant criticism of her Blood Status. She also knew that her best friend, Nicole, had a bit of a soft spot for Draco and could not understand why. Sure, he was a cute boy but he was also cruel and mean to them the entire two weeks that the witches had stayed at Malfoy Manor. Magnolia tried to give Draco the benefit of the doubt but she could not for the life of her understand why Nicole liked him so much.
A few hours had passed and the girls, along with Draco, set off for the Hogwarts Express. The witches were ecstatic when they received a letter from Hermione, telling them that they could sit with her on the train. Magnolia had secretly hoped that her good friend, Neville, would also be in the same train cart as them. Draco, in a rather annoyed fashion, ended up helping the girls with their trunks and helped them find a seat. After the girls had settled in a cart Draco hurried off towards his normal gang of Slytherins that were far away from where he seated the girls.
As Magnolia and Nicole put their luggage in the compartment above them, they heard a familiar voice along with a tap on the glass door.
"Mione! We're so happy to see you!" Nicole squealed, basically jumping out of her seat to embrace Hermione in a hug.
"I missed you girls too! Your letters were the most interesting thing about my summer!"
Slowly, the rest of the gang came onto the train and met up with the girls. Ron was obviously clueless as to why the girls were there but he was happy nonetheless. Harry had entered the train cart last and he looked at the girls with a slight smile. When he finished putting away his luggage, he pulled Nicole aside and apologized for his behavior at the Ministry of Magic. Nicole accepted his apology but Magnolia felt a siren in her head go off, telling her that Harry was still not fully over the fact that they had stayed at Malfoy Manor.
"So Harry, how was your trial?" Magnolia asked, trying to gauge his emotions.
"Well, it went okay, I won it but it was still a weird situation. I had to use magic to protect myself but the circumstances were definitely strange."
The group continued their chat the entire ride back to Hogwarts but Magnolia could not stop wondering about Neville. She knew that she shouldn't get her hopes up because she had been disappointed by guys in the past but she thought that maybe he was unlike the rest.
**Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry**
The train came to a complete stop and the girls looked up at the familiar castle before them. A flood of emotions came crawling back to them as they reminisced on the year they spent their prior. The group of Fifth Year students were escorted by Hagrid into the castle. They walked up a grand staircase that led to the Great Hall when Professor McGonagall pulled the girls to the side.
"I am very glad to see that you two exceptional witches are joining us back for this term." She said, giving them a reassuring smile. "You girls are in a peculiar situation however, you will have to be sorted along with the First Years."
She then led the girls to the unexpectedly large group of First Year students who were excitedly waiting to be put into their houses.
"This is a little embarrassing," Nicole whispered to Magnolia.
"Oh, it'll be alright, a minute of embarrassment for years of fun!"
"I guess that's a good way to look at it..."
The giant doors that the girls had stood in front of hundreds of times before, suddenly swung open. Because they were the oldest, the girls were announced to be sorted first. They still, however, had to follow the usual rules and go in alphabetical order. Therefore, Nicole was the first student sorted that day.
"Hello to all, this year is going to be unlike any yet," Dumbledore explained to the entirety of the Great Hall. "Some of our students from last year have decided to transfer their studies from Ilvermorny to Hogwarts. Please join me in giving them a warm welcome."
The Great Hall erupted with applause when the girls reached the top where the Hogwarts Headmaster was standing. After his speech, Dumbledore explained the sorting to the new students and instructed Nicole to sit on the stool and the Sorting Hat would be placed on her head, revealing her Hogwarts House.
Nicole did as she was told and slowly made her way to the manky old stool. She sat down and Professor McGonagall came over to her with the hat. McGonagall started to place the hat over Nicole's head when it started speaking to her and everyone else in the Hall.
"Well, well, well, this one is truly different. Much older than the usual lot. I can see a great deal of Slytherin in your family, but I'm afraid that won't mix well at all. Now we have Ravenclaw... you are a smart one aren't you? You don't like learning though, you just like learning new ways to protect those you care for. Paired with the bravery you showed last year, I think the descion is clear ... GRYFFIDOR!"
The Gryffindor table was ecstatic at this news, especially the tall ginger twins she had befriended last year who was staring up at her.
Magnolia was next to the stool. The hat commented on how she constantly puts her friends above all else and quickly shouts, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Magnolia was happy with this result but also a little upset by the fact that she and Nicole would be separated. They had never been without each other before and it would be a hard thing for her to get used to.
When the students in the Hall had returned to their feast, Dumbledore, once again, went up to his podium to make a final announcement.
"This year we also wish to welcome our new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dolores Umbridge and I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing the Professor good luck. As usual, our caretaker, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you-"
A small cough could be heard from the back of the Professor's table from a woman wearing an all-pink pantsuit. The woman slowly stood up and walked over to Dumbledore's podium.
"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome. And how lovely to see all your bright, happy faces smiling up at me. I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends. The Ministry Of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. Although each Headmaster has brought something new to this historic school, progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected, and prune practices that ought to be prohibited!"
The room gave the Professor a small clap and went back to their meals.
"I know her, she was at my hearing. She works for Fudge." Harry stated to the group of Gryffindors.
"That can only mean on thing, "Hermione stated glumly, "The Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts."
** Gryffindor Common Room**
"It sucks that me and Mags didn't get sorted into the same house, but at least I have all of you guys," Nicole beamed to the trio. Hermione walked Nicole up to the girl's side of the common room and made sure that she got a bed next to her. They had a long conversation while they unpacked about their favorite books, which took Nicole's mind off of Magnolia for a moment, but little did she know that Magnolia was thinking about her too.
"I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!" Hermione abruptly stated while running to grab a book from her shelf. "Magnolia had told me in one of her letters that she was interested in Animagi! That could help her sneak into the common room!"
"Hermione, you're a genius!" Nicole cheered while the two girls started skimming the book on steps to becoming an Animagus.
**The Next Day In The Great Hall**
Nicole could not wait to see her best friend the next day to tell her about the night before. Her and Hermione stayed up all night researching a specific spell that could help someone turn into an Animagus. When Nicole reached the Hufflepuff table, she was taken aback by the fact that the usual cheery Magnolia was sitting all by herself.
"Mags! You'll never guess what me and Mione found out last night!"
Magnolia looked up from her food and put on a small smile in front of her friend. "What is it, Niki?"
"We found a spell that could help you turn into an Animagus! If it works, we could sneak you into the Gryffindor Common Room!"
"That's great, but how did you know I was interested in Animagi?" Magnolia questioned.
"Oh Mione told me, but don't worry about that, we need to start working on this spell!"
Nicole explained to Magnolia what was needed to be able to turn into an Animagus so when their breakfast at the Great Hall was over, they snuck outside to the greenhouses to get a Mandrake leaf.
When the girls reached the greenhouses, Magnolia's face flushed with red. Standing in front of them was Neville. He had written to her the whole summer but he had not talked to her once since she had officially transferred to Hogwarts. She tried not to be embarrassed but asked Nicole to go into the greenhouse for her to grab the leaf. Nicole said that she needed to do this herself to get the full effect, so wearily, Magnolia entered the greenhouse.
She tried to be as quiet as she could when entering the giant room made of glass but as soon as she shut the door, Neville turned around to face her. He had gotten taller over the summer and had to look down at her to fully be able to talk to Magnolia. She continued on her mission of getting the Mandrake leaf, but Neville decided to break the awkward silence by speaking up.
"Hi Mags," He stated, smiling at her.
"Hi, Neville,"
"I see you got sorted into Hufflepuff, that's really cool. Sometimes I think I should have been sorted into that house instead of Gryffindor." He joked.
"Oh that's right, you're in Gryffindor too... Well anyways I'll just be taking this and getting out of your way-"
Magnolia, clumsily tripped over a vine that was on the ground of the greenhouse, causing her to fall to the ground in front of Neville. Embarrassed, she quickly hopped off of the ground, scooped up the Mandrake leaf, and ran out of the greenhouse.
"You got it! Way to go Mags! Now remember, you have to have it under your tongue for a whole full moon cycle, so it will take a while. Can you remember to do that?" Nicole asked.
"Yes Niki, I can remember that, I'm not dumb! I've gotta get back to my common room." Magnolia ran away from the scene, leaving Nicole wondering what was wrong with her friend. She knew that she better get to the bottom of what was wrong before classes started the next week.