8 Chapter 8 - Animagus

As the feast ended the prefects gathered the first years in their houses and told them to follow them to their house dorms. The group followed the Ravenclaw prefect Penelope Clearwater who explained that the staircases like to change direction randomly. They came to a stop at the fifth floor where they were greeted with a bronze knocker in the shape of an Eagle. Penelope explained that unlike other common rooms, they don't have a password to get into the common room instead they have to answer a riddle. The knocker spoke and said "No matter how little or how much you use me, you change me every month. What am I?"

Penelope: "Any volunteers?"

There was an awkward silence surrounding the group. The tension was palpable as the group clearly wanted to prove themselves, but at the same time, they don't want to be that person who embarrasses themselves in front of their new peers. Arya could only giggle at everyone putting up a front.

Arya: "I will give it a go, a calendar?"

The eagle knocker replied "correct" and swung open for them. Penelope said "well done Arya" as she passed her and led the group into the common room.

Penelope: "So the way things work here is slightly different to the other houses. As you are all aware, we Ravenclaws are driven by a thirst for knowledge and this is reflected in how we conduct ourselves while we are here at Hogwarts. One part of this is our school rankings as students, here in Ravenclaw we have a magical list that keeps track of the grades of every student in Ravenclaw. At the end of the year whoever, the top student is in each year will win the prize of the best dorm room for the following year. Trust me when I say it's a perk that is well worth earning. Anyway, that is all for now, girls dorms to the left and boys dorms to the right. You will receive your class schedule tomorrow morning at breakfast in the great hall. Go ahead and get settled into your dorms. See you all tomorrow."

The students headed off to their dorms, in Ravenclaw, it was four to a room with higher grades larger rooms for the best students. Arya lucked out as she and Hermione would be sharing a dorm room, 'doesn't this guarantee me and Hermione the best room every year as the top student will either be her or me?' They shared the room with two other girls who were not part of the main canon that Arya can remember their names were Lisa Howe and Alexis Crane.

Hermione: " I can.t believe we are sharing the same room this couldn't be more perfect now all we have to do is get the best grades, we can even help each other study this is amazing"

Arya: "Calm down Mione, yes we can help each other study but we also have to put that into practice, trust me there is far more to magic than the theory side of it. You have to be able to put what you learned into practice especially in high-pressure situations. For someone like you who is muggle-born, that means that while the trace is active you can't do magic outside of school so you need to put extra work into the practical side while you are here, whereas someone like me who lives with a witch and wizard keeps me protected from getting in trouble as when surrounded by other wizards the ministry can't tell who used the magic. In that way, pureblooded families have an innate advantage when it comes to initially learning magic. The trace won't be removed until you come of age at 17. Do you understand how important it is for you to focus on the practical side for now?"

Hermione seemed to freeze as she looked at Arya in awe, "how do you know all this and why are you so concerned about me? We literally met today and why are you assuming that I won't focus on the practical side?" Hermione let out a giggle "It feels like you can read my mind, fine I will take your advice, it makes sense but I hope you can help me along the way?"

Arya: Don't be silly Mione, of course, I will help you along the way but I will need your help too, I was always better at the practical side of magic Daph used to help me when I got confused going over theory. So that is all on you now, but no pressure ok?"

Arya and Hermione both broke out into laughter, Arya felt content with the on the start of her Hogwarts journey and was looking forward to seeing what would come next despite the impending danger that Arya was all too familiar with from her past life. The two girls talked on a bit longer before the excitement wore down and they passed out in their beds with smiles on their faces and a small grey cat perched on the windowsill watching them.

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The next morning came and both Hermione and Arya rushed downstairs to the common room full of excitement ready for their first day at Hogwarts. They made their way towards the great hall and sat down at the Ravenclaw table. The hall started to fill up and Professor Flitwick was running up and down giving out everones class schedule for the year. It turns out first class will be Transfiguration with Gryffindor, Arya was delighted her favorite subject was Transfiguration and she would finally get to see what it was like to study it here in Hogwarts, although Arya knew she would be far ahead of her classmates progress she was excited for the opportunity to learn from Professor McGonagall while she can. Hermione laughed as she could see the eagerness on Arya's face to start her Transfiguration class, from their conversations about class Hermione knew for a fact that this class was Arya's passion and she couldn't wait to see her work in class.

The two girls made their way to the class. When they got there Arya saw Harry, Theo and Daphne already there, Daphne laughed and ran over to give Arya a hug.

Daphne: "Ary I missed you so much, are you ok? Did you go to sleep early enough? Did you eat breakfast? Damn I knew I should have sat at your table this morning,,,"

Arya grabs Daphne's shoulders and looks directly into her eyes. "You need to calm down Daph, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and you know that you self righteous git chill out"

Daphne blushes and looks away from Arya "I know I just worry, you get all caught up in whatever you are doing that you forget to take care of yourself and you know that I am right, who is going to make sure you don't go crazy now that we are in different houses?"

Hermione nervously joins in the conversation "ahhhh we are roommates in the dorm and we have become friends…. So I don't mind looking out for her if that is any help"

Arya and Daphne looked at each other in surprise and laughed causing Hermione to go even redder in the face. Before they wrap her in a group hug "Thank you, Mione, please take care of us" they chorused together. They saw the class was about to start so they all made their seats Daphne joined Hermione and Arya at one table while Harry sat with Theo and Dean at another table. As they sat there waiting a large cat sat at McGonagall's desk as they all awaited her arrival. That's when Arya remembered when she was researching how to become an animagus, that there were only 7 registered animagus in Britain. Minerva Mcgonagall is one of them. Arya smirks at the cat and sits back to see if any others in the class would be able to tell. A couple of minutes later the cat transfigured into a tall stern looking lady who gazed around the classroom.

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