Penny had lived in an orphanage since she was an infant….so long that no one knew her real name, not even herself. The head-mistress had called her penny for the sixpence her parents left with her…or whomever had left her upon the doorstep of the orphanage those many years ago.

Headmistress Miquela Oryan was a tall woman, though somewhat slouched by time. She was no longer young, though she held much of the younger energy her wards had simply by their presence. She was a kind woman, and cared deeply for each child in her care.

Penny had been given eight years of general teachings thus far...in language arts, history, geography, and mathematics. Excelling in each, the head-mistress had been eager to pass her on to a school that would eagerly pay for her tutoring, and perhaps send her back to teach and take over here.

The day the letter came was the day that Penny decided to absent herself from the hall during mail call. She’d gone on a walk, for the first time in her life doing something on her own without the other orphans, and without the permission of the headmistress. Wandering down the road to the river near the orphanage she hiked the river bank, seeking a place to sit and think in silence without the screaming and whining of the other children.

It was then, as back at the orphanage her name was called to retrieve her mail, that the house elf appeared to her.

She could not help but laugh. Light brown eyes nearly the color of hazelnut cappuccino sparkled with an interest she’d never felt before. “I’m sitting, creature...what are you, and what do you here?” she asked, with a very formal air about her. This was the beginning of an adventure, and she could feel it deep inside.

“I’m a House Elf, Miss Penny. Annnndd….I’m visiting you Miss Penny...‘cause My Master sented me to visit you Miss Penny.”

She tipped her head to the side “Does your master know that slavery is not allowed any more?” She paused, and thought for a moment, her face reflecting wonder as her mind raced to make this confrontation logical. It didn’t seem to be possible. “A House elf?….like….one of the fairy folk?”

“Yes Miss Penny..likes one of the fairy folkses…I come to deliver you this letter from my master..Miss Penny.” The house elf held it out to her in a curious manner, standing so that his feet were firmly planted against a rock, and he was forced to lean his short body over it, reaching his arm across the distance with the letter firmly grasped in his hand.

“Just call me Penny. No "Miss" please?.” she took the letter the elf proffered, still looking curiously upon the creature's face. Sitting back softly against one of the rocks she was touching, she unfolded the enveloped that contained the letter. Looking at the letter inside, the envelope having been un-addressed and unsigned, she frowned, before unfolding the parchment.

She stared agape at the letter, then slowly started moving her gaze from the letter to the elf, who looked from her to the river...Watching the water’s flowing rapids as if they were a dragon eagerly awaiting a chance to swallow the child whole. “lets please move away from the water miss Penny...pleases?”

She followed him incoherently away from the river bank, and settled back down on a stump less than ten feet away from where she’d first encountered the creature. “An Essay?…Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and wizardry?…what’s that?”

The House elf looked at her wide eyed “It is the school of magicks..surely you’ve heard of it?”

Penny shook her head as she thought, there was a faint shadow of recognition of the name of the school, but so faint was it that she could not tell if it was something she had actually heard of before, or something she may have dreamt in one of her many fictitious dreams., ‘No Dobby, I haven’t heard of it. Or...if I have, I don’t recall.” She stood and started pacing slowly back and forth across the pathway. “An essay?…how do I write a magick essay? Do I use some sort of wand, a special stone tablet or something?”

Dobby laughed, looking up at her curiously. His freedom had ceased to have such a powerful effect on him and he had nearly returned to his normal Dobby self. “No silly, just write an essay like you does for your school.”

Dobby disappeared, and she wondered then that if she called to him, he’d reappear…but she had an essay to write, and a need to return to the house, for if the Headmistress had noticed she was missing, she’d be in a ton of trouble.

Penny returned to the orphanage less than ten minutes later, the letter tucked into her pocket in a way that none should notice it. The Headmistress stood in the doorway, both hands folded on her hips, and glaring at Penny as she approached, “And where have you been Penny?…don’t you know that we were worried about you? I’ve searched this house high and low, the grounds, there was no note, no nothing for us to know where you’d gone!”

Penny bit her lip and looked down at the ground “I’m sorry Headmistress”

This didn’t seem to satiate the woman’s apparent desire to be angry. “That’s no excuse Penny, now you go on up to your room, there will be no supper for you tonight.”

Looking sideways Penny saw the shadow of the house elf, then looked back cautiously. “Yes Ma’am” she started toward the hall and the stairs which would take her to her room, when she heard the Headmistress clear her throat behind her. She stopped and turned to look at her “Yes Ma’am?”

The older woman looked affectionately at the young girl. “There is a letter for you on the desk in the bedroom. Take care that you guard it carefully, that none of the other  children read it.”

Penny frowned, then nodded, and for the third time gave the acquiescing line of “Yes, Ma’am.” before turning to go up the stairs.

As she reached the bedchamber she’d been assigned to for three years, she looked around to see who was present. Neither of the two other girls who shared the room with her were there. Alison and Josephina were both what the headmistress called “Permanent Temporaries” which meant that they were only supposed to be there as long as it took their parents to recover from whatever ailment they suffered from, or until a family member was able to take them in.

Alison was short, of medium sturdy build with brown hair and brown eyes, almost African in appearance, both of her parents were from Egypt. Jo was tall and skinny, a perfect opposite from Alison, and the two in Penny’s opinion were perfect for each other. They had quickly grown to like each other, and left Penny out of the equation.

Penny didn’t mind being the oddball at all. She enjoyed, as she had this afternoon at the river, the silence that came from being left out.

She took up the letter she found on her desk and eyed the envelope. This one was identical to the last, and she wondered why she’d been sent two copies. She shrugged, letting it fall onto the desktop again. She pulled some paper out of the box in her desk, and picked up her ink-pen. Writing seemed to come slowly to her, and it was not until Dobby reappeared with her dinner that she had an idea of what her favorite past-time might be.

“Dobby brings you food Miss Penny..”

Penny smiled and looked up from her paper “I thank you Dobby...but you didn’t have to. I’m not supposed to have dinner tonight.”

“Dobby knows Miss. Dobby couldn’t sit by and watch a young girl go hungry Miss.” he said, and was rewarded with a small laugh.

“Thank you Dobby” she reached over to take the food and started to eat. On the plate were foods she knew the house did not have. “Dobby where did you get these things?” she asked, “The kitchen doesn’t have these things in stock..”

Dobby looked shyly away “Dobby got it from the School Miss Penny.”

Penny tipped her head to the side and looked at the food on the plate “Oh…” was all she could say. She didn’t know what to think, or what to do about it.

It was upon finishing the essay, and sending it back to the Headmaster of Hogwarts with Dobby, that the finality of all of the day’s events crossed her mind. She would be leaving the orphanage. One of the hardest things to remember had come so easily to her mind as she had put them onto paper. It was as if things were beginning to happen, as if life was renewing it's potential for her.

Penny spent the rest of her summer tending her duties of looking after the younger children for the headmistress eagerly. A month and a week passed slowly for her, as she prepared a small carrying bag with her few personal belongings. She had only her clothing and the few shells and feathers she'd picked up from the river bank.

On her last day at the orphanage, she woke and rose to fetch the milk from the back door of the kitchen. Pulling the door open she spied a small box set out by the road that looked like it had been hit repeatedly by passing cars. She frowned, thinking that a box was an odd thing to see out here, being so far from other houses as the orphanage was, and so few vehicles passed that would have lost such an item. She stepped barefoot off the stairs and started walking across the back lawn and playground. Slowly she started to hear mewing, and her eyes widened as she approached the box.

Lifting the side lids up over the upper sides of the battered box, she peeked in, to see two kittens, one black and cream, seemed too still to be living. With a gasp, she reached into the box to see if it would move if she touched it. It stirred faintly, appearing tired it yawned and lay it's head back down. She saw a bit of blood on it's side and thought it must've been hurt when the box was left there, hit by a car or whatever the case was.

She looked to the other kitten who was mewing, and scratching at the sides of the box frantically. She lifted it into her arms, and the mewing stopped immediately. She looked into the creature's eyes and the kitten leaned forward to lick her nose. "Awww...you poor things" she said, setting the kitten back into the box and lifting it into her arms.

She carried the lot back to the doorway where there had appeared two of the other children and the headmistress. "What have you got there? Where did that box come from?"

"Kittens ma'am. Two of them, but one of 'em looks like it's hurt bad." she responded, looking up at the woman sadly.

"Well, bring them in, we'll see what we can do." Mistress Oryan's usually strict voice was motherly. It was obvious the woman loved kittens by the softening features of her face.

Penny carried the box into the common room with a trail of children following behind her, and the headmistress not far behind. The lot of them arrived in the larger room and Mistress Oryan walked forward passed the children, telling them all to go get cleaned up for breakfast, and she knelt beside the box. "Penny, lift the perky one out of there... Hold him up for me to look at."

The older woman proceeded to examine the kitten closely for any signs of illness or injury. She repeated the process, though more delicately, with the other kitten. Both proved relatively healthy, but for the darker one's wound. A small cut on it's leg. Nothing that would not heal.

Penny was in a dreamy state of hoping she could have one of the kittens when Oryan's voice saying her name penetrated her mind. "Yes ma'am?" she responded quickly, though belatedly.

"Didn't the note from the school say you could have one pet?"

"Yes ma'am!" she said excitedly.

"Well then, what will you name him?"

"You mean I can keep him?!" asked Penny. She was shocked.

She thought about it though, and finally decided on "Farewell" as the kitten's name. "Yes, Farewell will be your name"

Her arrival at the train station on the first of September was made a bit confusing by the platform number on the ticket that Professor Dumbledore had sent Dobby back to her with. The car that the headmistress of the orphanage had sent her in had been one of the best cars she'd ever ridden in, yet it was nothing fancy. Headmistress Oryan had spent what little extra money she'd saved to bring the girl safely to the train station, knowing that Penny had some potential, how much, she was only hopeful. Once there, Penny was on her own.

Penny walked down the platforms slowly, gazing at each number carefully. The numbers increased in whole numbers. As she walked along she passed number three, number four, five, and so on, until she came to number eight. The number on her ticket said 9 and 3/4. She looked at number eight, then nine, and walked a little further until she was between platforms nine and ten. With a frown, she saw that there was no nine and three quarters. Was she at the right station? She looked over the ticket, and sure enough the name on the ticket was the same as the bold lettering that was plastered all over the station. She was at the right spot.

So, how was she to get onto the platform for the school train? She turned around and saw approaching the spot where she stood a family of redheads pushing multiple trolleys. She blinked...yes, trolleys bearing owl cages, and trunks much like the one she'd had to buy. She sighed happily.. She was sure that they could help her.. She looked over the group as they approached, and among them was one boy who looked different. He had black hair that was very messy, and big round glasses.

Just as they stopped, another person pushing a trolley bumped into her, and she started, looking up at them as she nearly fell, having to grasp the trunk on her pushcart to keep herself from falling over "Excuse me" she said quietly, and saw with relief that the person who had bumped into her was a chocolaty haired girl of approximately the same age. She looked just like any other person, but the cart she pushed contained those contents similar to those on the trolleys of the larger group she'd bumped into.

The girl turned to look at her with an "Oh my goodness!" surprised look, and sized her up silently before speaking "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" she asked, with a snotty sound to her voice. Penny decided right away that she didn't like her, but she had to get onto the Hogwarts' train. "I'm Penny, just Penny" she replied, "um, can I ask you, how do I get onto Platform 9 and 3/4? I cant' seem to find it" she bit her lip, and waited glancing at the other group, who were now watching her and Hermione.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, as if the request was the last thing she had expected. "Oh, going to Hogwarts are you? Well, what you do is you see that column there, you walk right through it. You should run if you are nervous.." she said, looking slightly different, as if her attitude had changed in just a few seconds.

Not really wanting to be late, as she was sure she was getting close to being, she followed Hermione's instructions, and ran toward the brick-stone column. As she felt like she should hit it, she saw the trolley fade into the stone, quickly enveloping her along with it. As she felt the stone close around her, she went through into what appeared to be another train station, and above her on a large hanging sign was painted "Platform 9 and 3/4.

New Friends and New Enemies

Stepping forward she looked around and started to wheel the trolley toward the train. Once she was on the train she started walking the length of it, trying to find a room to sit in that wasn't already taken. When she finally found one, it had only one space left, and it contained two of the red haired group, the dark haired boy, another boy who looked a bit chubbier than the first and didn't wear glasses, and Hermione.

She peaked in, and the conversation within the car stopped as Hermione and the others looked up at her. "Hello" she said softly, blushing as all eyes were on her. "Any chance I can join you here? All the other cars are full." she said, her last sentence said a bit matter- of-factly made her blush, hoping that they didn't think she thought she was a know-it-all.

Her tone of voice didn't seem to bother any of the others as the dark haired boy said "Sure" and motioned her in. She entered and sat in the last remaining seat, and tried to occupy herself with her book Hogwarts, A History which seemed to have put a smile on Hermione's face...she wasn't sure if it was meant to be a smirk or a real smile.

The red haired boy and the dark haired boy had definitely smirked and returned to their wobbly game of chess with a shake of their heads. It appeared that each of the figures would beat on each other as a piece was taken.

She read silently for a few minutes, then looked up with surprise as she noticed one piece attacking another for the first time "What kind of chess is that?" she asked, and received an alarmed look from the red haired boy.

He opened his eyes wide, the freckles on his cheeks seeming to stretch as his forehead wrinkled "you don't know what wizard's chess is?" he asked in surprise. It was as if it was unheard of for someone not to know. The dark haired boy looked from her, with surprise, to the other with a smirk. "Well now, Ron, when I first came to Hogwarts, I didn't either now did I?"

Ron blinked, and tipped his head to the side "Well, no, I guess not."

The dark haired boy turned back to her, and smiled "I'm Harry, this here's Ron. That girl there is Hermione, and that one is Ginny, Ron's little sister. This is Neville" he said, pointing at last to the other dark haired boy in the car.

For a moment, she remained silent. Finally she opened her mouth to tell them her name, when behind her she heard a snicker, and a snobby sounding voice saying "Oh, look, Potter's found a new friend" he nudged her shoulder as he stepping into the car, and Harry looked at him from his seat with a great amount of distaste.

When Harry responded to Malfoy, Hermione and Ron seemed to be waiting for what he had to say "Malfoy, get lost" was all he finally said. Penny turned to Malfoy, who had his wand out of his pocket and seemed to be debating if he wanted to cause trouble. When he turned to face Penny he said "So, what are you?" and she frowned.

"What am I? What do you mean?" she asked. Her question was followed by a handful of laughs from the boys behind Malfoy, and a cough from Hermione.

"Well, are you a witch or a mudblood?" he asked, and she noticed that his nose turned up as he said "mudblood" and Hermione rose to her feet. "Malfoy, if you've got nothing better to do, you need to get a life" she said, and Malfoy raised his wand. "Why should I listen to you filthy Mudblood?" he asked, and though she didn't know what the term meant, she reached her arm up and punched him hard in the shoulder. He dropped his wand, and cried out in sudden pain as her muscular arm left an instant bruise on his.

Suddenly he looked as if he wanted nothing better than to cry "Mommy!" but she didn't give him a chance. She picked up his wand, and pushed him into his friends "Get him out of here" she said, throwing his wand out the door and slamming it as the three of them stumbled out of the room.

Behind her, the entire group had grown silent. Hermione was blushing but her face showed a furious anger as her eyes had not yet left the door. Harry and Ron were very obviously cheering her on, and Ginny and Neville were both silently gaping.

"You've just made a bad enemy, miss" said Harry, and before he could go any further, Penny spoke again.

"Penny, if you don't mind." She looked at the door, and growled under her breath. "I don't like the looks of him. I hope I don't see much of him this year" she said, and turned back to the still silent room.

"Oh, you will" said Hermione, and motioned her to sit back down. "Malfoy believes that anyone who's not pureblood wizard aught never to have been born. Unfortunately for him, there are a lot of us" she said with a smile that said she could not have been happier to make him squirm. "That's a good left hook you've got there." she smirked, and grew silent, waiting for some sort of a response from Penny.

When Penny spoke, her voice was quiet, and shaking "I'm not going to get into trouble for that am I?" she asked, and it was obvious from her voice that she was afraid that she might be expelled before she even got to school. "I wouldn't have done it, but I knew that he was insulting you, Hermione, and he deserved it. I was sure he did."

Hermione laughed, and nodded "Don't worry about it. If you're anything like us, you'll get out of any trouble. What year are you?" Hermione's tone suddenly changed, from slightly angry to suddenly curious.

Penny smiled "First year, you?"

When Hermione answered "Sixth year" suddenly her hopes fell. Penny thought to herself for a few moments after a soft "Oh" issued from her lips. That meant to her that she wouldn't be spending much time with her new-found friends.

Someone spoke, and she blinked, looking around "Hunh?" she asked, and Ron smiled "welcome to Hogwarts then." She grinned. They didn't seem to care that she was so much younger.

"Thanks" she said, as Hermione started, looking at the watch on her wrist. "Well, we'd all best get into our robes, we're almost there" Hermione said, and started pulling her robe out of a bag on the floor by her feet.

Penny lifted the robe from her own carry one bag, and slipped it on over her uniform. The others in the car followed suit in silence.

When the train finally came to a stop, and she had grabbed her small bag of carry on stuff, she was separated from her newfound friends. They were all above first year, and so were led into carriages, while she had to ride across the lake to the castle. Fortunately, no major mishaps occured while they crossed the glassy surface, and they were all herded into the entrance hall of the palace not long after they'd left the train.

They stood in the entrance, and waited for instructions. A soft buzz went around the crowd as they stood there, until an older looking woman who wore a peaked black hat, and long dark blue robes walked out of the entrance hall. "Welcome Firstyears, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall, and head of Gryffindor House. Now, in just a moment, I'll be asking all of you to enter the great hall. Please wait while everything is prepared." she disappeared back behind the door, and the students who had grown silent at her appearance, came to life again, as a loud buzz of conversation whirled through the group.

Only a short time later, McGonagall opened the huge doors again, and motioned for them to enter after her. As they all walked neatly along the isles between the tables, a hush fell over the already seated older students.

Ahead of them, at the opposite end of the room from where they'd entered, was a large table that ran the length of the room but for gaps on either end where those seated there might rise and walk among the groups of students.

At one end was the large half-giant who had ridden with them across the lake, who seemed very frightening at first glance, but who seemed to be a little less intimidating when he was seated at the table among the other witches and wizards there. His name was Hagrid, or so it said on the small tag by his seat. Beside him, was a small pudgy woman who had plants tucked into her hair, and a wart on her cheek. This was professor Sprout, she was sure, the witch who would be teaching her Herbology.

Along the line were various other people whose faces did not yet gain her attention, but there were a few on the other end of the table who caught her gaze. One dark looking wizard looked at Harry Potter with such a look of hatred that Penny could not help but suppress the anger at him that she felt. He had no right to show such enmity against a student, especially in such an important school.

As she stood, Professor McGonagall had collected a stool, and a hat, which appeared to have been worn a few too many times, which she placed upon the seat of the stool, and waited in silence, hands folded in front of her.

Penny gasped as the Sorting Hat began it's song.

A thousand years or more ago,

When I was newly made

there lived four magic men

whose names are often said

Bold Gryffindoor from wild moor

Fair Ravenclaw from glen

sweet hufflepuff from valley broad

shrewd slytherin from fen.

They all sought to teach the youth

the things that they all knew

to educate young sorcerers

So they knew what to do

Now each of these four founders

formed their own house, for each

did value different virtues

in the ones they had to teach

Courageous were the Gryffindors

who settled in the school

and Ravenclaws the cleverest

would always follow rules

The Slytherins were full of lust

for power they might gain

and Hufflepuffs would always work

to reach their goals again

While still alive they did divide

their favorites from the croud

yet how to pick the worthy ones,

when they were not around?

'Twas Gryffindor who found the way

he pulled me off his top

the founders put some brains in me

so I could choose the lot

now slip me snug about your head

I've never placed amiss

I'll have a look inside your skull

and put you where you fit!

Penny could not help but look dumbfounded, along with half of the other first years standing there waiting for instructions. Professor McGonagall silenced the round of applause that erupted from the older students at their various tables, with her orders.

"Now, each of your names will be called off. As you hear your name, you are to step forward and sit on the stool, placing the Sorting Hat upon your head. It will then sort you into your house, where you will spend the rest of your time here at Hogwarts."

With another small round of applause from the other students, the names began being called. Penny didn't listen. She was so occupied by the grandness of the great hall that when she heard her name called it sounded like it was from the other side of a wall of fog. She snapped out of her dreamy exploration of the hall and moved forward to the stool. She lifted the hat and took a seat silently.

Once she placed the Sorting Hat on her head, she felt it tighten over her scalp. It was an odd sensation and she felt the hair on her neck rise as it started to speak to her.

"Mmm...well well, miss Phoenix!" Penny frowned "Phoenix?" she thought, and the sorting hat's response surprised her "Too pure of heart for Slytherin, too clever still for hufflepuff, fair ravenclaw might be your home, yet bravery's your stuff. Which family will you then call yours? Might as well be Gryffindor!"

The last word was all that was spoken outside of her mind, the only word the rest of the school heard, but as she removed the hat from her head, the words rang through her mind. Phoenix? Was that her true name? She did not know, to her knowledge she'd never heard her true name spoken but she'd always been called Penny at the orphanage.

To a loud round of applause from Gryffindor she joined the rest of the house under the red and gold banners, and took her seat before a golden plate and goblet, waiting for the rest of the ceremony to finish as Ron congratulated her on her sorting, and Ginny giggled while holding Neville's hand under the table but tried to do it under the pretext of welcoming her.

At last the ceremony came to an end, and the elderly wizard sitting at the center of the large staff table rose to his feet, his long silver gray beard reaching below the tabletop. His voice was whispery, almost as if very little force could be behind it, but his words were heard throughout the hall as everyone grew silent. "I have only a few words to you all. "Firstly, I would like to welcome each of you to your houses. Secondly, the forest surrounding the castle are out of bounds for ALL of Hogwarts students, there will be no exceptions. And lastly, I hope you all enjoy your feast!"

With a wave of his hands food seemed to appear on their plates, various sorts of food that all seemed to be exactly what everyone wanted. Before here was a confusion of various foods, as it had been apparent that she had only had gruel for two days, and eagerly sought a real meal, any real food was welcomed.

All of the students had left the great hall for the chambers, the first years led in groups by the prefects to their respected houses. Once she was settled in in the girl's dormitory upstairs in the Gryffindor tower, Penny slipped under the covers of her bed, and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning she had more time to pay attention to what was going on around her, as she went from the dormitory to the hall for breakfast, still dressed in her pajamas. She didn't care when a few of the other first years snickered at the shape they were in, because she knew that the reason they were so was because she'd had them for years. Coming from an orphanage she'd grown up proud to be an orphan, and the oldest there, currently.

After breakfast, she bumped into Harry on her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, and blushed faintly, though without understanding why. She knew Harry saw her blush, but she didn't have time to stop and chat, she mumbled a hello as she quickly moved on toward her class.

As she stepped into the dark dungeon room, she grimaced. It stunk of something decaying down here, and that frightened her. She'd read bits and pieces of "Cursed Through the Ages, an Anthropology of Frequently Used Curses of the Century" a title which she'd had a hard time swallowing. As much as she loved to read, she didn't like text books at all, but it was necessary to plow through them, she knew.

Her first class was with the Hufflepuff students. As she moved in, she sat at a bench by herself, but was quickly joined by another student named Remus Moody. He grinned at her as he slid into the seat, but she turned to face the professor, who turned out to be the dark and greasy looking man from the Staff table last night.

Her great dislike for him seemed to be growing. Perhaps, she thought to herself, if he hadn't been teaching Dark Arts, she'd like him a bit better, but any man who could carry as much hatred in him as he had looked upon Harry with was dangerous. She waited for class to start as a few more first year students filed into the room and Snape lifted his roster into his arms.

"Class, today we will be studying Werewolves. I want each of you to turn to page 213 in your books, and take out parchment. Take Notes." he said, his beady eyes looking around the room at students, as if trying to pick out the trouble makers, and the star pupils. It seemed he was disappointed, as he grouchily asked them "What is the temporary cure to the werewolf curse? Does anyone know what it is called?"

When he received no answer, he raised an eyebrow, his sneering voice raising in slight pitch "oh, really? Does anyone know when the werewolf curse takes effect?" when all he received in response to his questions were silence, Snape rolled his eyes. "Well then,you can go back to your classes and read your books, and grumble because professor Snape has given you 4 feet of parchment on an essay about the history of werewolves and the cure. Spend the rest of class-time today taking notes for your essay. I'll be leaving the room shortly, but I want you all to stay until the end of class. Is that clear?" he asked, before walking down the isle, he paused at the desk where Penny sat, and raised an eye at her. By the time he'd reached her desk, all of the other students had begun copying down notes, but she had watched him walk through the class to her seat. "Yes, miss?"

She smiled softly as she looked up at him, "just as the moon reaches full, sir, and the cure is a potion that not many like to brew...but it holds off the effects of the curse for a short time." She looked back at her parchment, and waited for some sort of response. Why had she not answered when he asked, she wondered, but she herself didn't know the answer.

"Very good, may I ask what your name is and which house you are from then?" Snape's voice seemed to have changed. She almost thought she heard pride there.

"Penny, sir, from Gryffindor." she answered. He grimaced. "Oh, pity. You should have been in Slytherin." he said, then turned to the door and continued out into the corridor. Penny blinked. He had had to know that she wasn't in Slytherin, because the class consisted only of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, so why had he bothered to ask if that had been his reply?

Twenty minutes later she'd left the room for her next class, and found herself out in the courtyard with Madame Hooch for flying lessons. Lying on the ground were two rows of broomsticks, and the group of Gryffindors were instructed to stand at the foot of the broom, spaced evenly apart.

She walked down the isle between the two rows, and stood at the head of the group. "When I say go, I want you to raise your hand over your broom, and say "UP!" Once your broom rises, mount it, and rise three feet in the air, hover, then ground yourself again."

Much of the class followed her instruction, but at first few seemed to have the hang of it. Penny was among the last to get the broom into her hands, but after mounting it, was one of the first into the air. She hovered for a little longer, perhaps, then she was supposed to but the feeling of being up in the air, supported only by a magic broom as so powerful for her, she felt like she would burst with happiness.

She had never dreamt in all of her time at the orphanage that she could fly, nor, she realised, that she would ever be going to a magical school.