Amanda watched Harry be sorted into Gryffindor and clapped and cheered as he came to the table. She laughed at the twins yelling out, "We got Potter!", and silenced anyone with a glare if they said anything about her brother that she didn't like.
She watched as Ron was called up and saw him being put in Gryffindor as well. She laughed as Fred gave George two knuts, a bet they had made in the train. George had bet that Ron would be put in Gryffindor and Fred bet that he would be the first Weasley to be sorted into Hufflepuff.
"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley as he leaned across Amanda to shake Ron's hand.
While Amanda had already been sitting next to Fred, she kept the other seat next to her free for Harry, who gladly joined her. As Ron sat down opposite Harry, the Sorting finished and Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll, taking the Sorting Hat away.
Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.
"Is he - a bit mad?" he asked his sister uncertainly.
"Mad?" interrupted Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"
Amanda laughed as Harry looked at her, "Yes he is mad Harry. That's all you need to know."
"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak, with Amanda grinning wildly at his bewildered look beside him.
"Can't you-?"
"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."
"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you - you're Nearly Headless Nick!"
Amanda gasped and kicked him under the table, "Shh. Don't say that."
"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.
"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"
Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.
"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled, making his whole head swing off his neck and fall onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly.
Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So - new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost."
Amanda looked over at the Slytherin table and saw the horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained silver with blood.
"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.
"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.
When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from their plates, leaving them as sparkling clean as before. A moment later, the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O and rice pudding.
"I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."
The others laughed, Amanda included. She loved listening to the first years' stories each year.
"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.
"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me - he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned - but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced - all the way down the garden and onto the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here - they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."
Amanda looked up at the High Table. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. Severus Snape. He looked at Amanda and she could see the question in his eyes. She held up nine fingers and pointed to Dumbledore. He nodded.
"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.
"What's wrong?" Amanda asked worriedly.
"N-nothing."
"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked her.
"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape." She hated bad-mouthing him, but people had to believe she didn't like him.
At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet once more. The hall fell silent.
"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.
"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."
Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins and Amanda, making them chuckle.
"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
"He's not serious?" Harry muttered to Amanda.
"Must be," said Amanda, although she already knew what was happening. She was the only student to know exactly what was happening with Dumbledore, as part of their agreement. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that."
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Amanda noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.
Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.
"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins and Amanda were left, singing along to a very slow funeral march, making Harry and Ron laugh. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.
"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
Amanda watched as Harry and Ron trotted away, following Percy to the Gryffindor Common Room. Amanda and the twins raced ahead, but just behind Percy they stopped, and began mocking him behind his back, making the first years laugh.
Percy turned around, looking furious. Fred and George had already run in front and were waiting at the top of the stairs, watching to see what would happen as Percy opened his mouth to scold Amanda.
She cut him off before he could speak.
"Now you see me, now you-" Amanda started, ducking under Percy's arm and racing to up the stairs to her best mates, before turning around and calling, "don't!"
The three of them raced off, laughing, before they reached the common room to find Lee, shaking his head and muttering, "I knew they'd try something with Percy."
"It was funny." Amanda shrugged and let out a laugh.
The four of them climbed through the portrait hole and ran to the couches. Amanda jumped over the back of the sofa before landing safely, lying down so as to take up the entire sofa.
Fred lifted her legs and sat down. Her legs swung off the sofa, before she brought them back, kicking him in the shin, then straightening herself.
George and Lee laughed as Fred doubled over, clutching his leg and howling.
"Glad to be back?" Amanda smiled.
"You just wait-" Fred began, but she darted off. "Come back here!"
...
At 8:50 pm, Amanda snuck away from the common room, as the boys still hadn't gone to bed. She tried not to risk them falling out of the drowsy haze they were in.
She raced through the halls, towards Dumbledore's office.
She said the password to the gargoyle, (butterscotch) and raced up the stairs. She knocked on the door at exactly 9:00pm. She heard muttering inside before Professor Snape opened the door and greeted her with a small smile, one which no one else saw.
Amanda marched into the office and saw Professor Dumbledore sitting at his desk. He offered her a lemon drop, but she declined.
At the end of last year, Professor Dumbledore had asked to meet Amanda. She had gone to his office to speak with him and the Headmaster had told her all about Lord Voldemort's past, hoping that she could come to terms with her own past.
She remembered everything of that night. She was haunted by dreams and images of the night each year on Halloween. She hadn't told anyone her birthday, wishing to rather spend the day mourning her parents.
That night when she went to Professor Dumbledore's office after the Welcoming Feast, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape spoke to her about something that troubled her.
The two men told her of a prophecy that had been made about a year before she was born.
Professor Dumbledore said that the prophecy was made in the presence of Professor Snape, and he believed that the girl the prophecy was talking about was her.
Doubtfully, Amanda gave him a look, but Severus nodded gravely, telling her to watch out.
When she had made her way back to the dormitory, she lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling. It looked like her life would never be normal.