Chapter 1- The Meeting

Progreto. I was repelling the spells with difficulty, from bubble head charms to the basic shield charm I couldn’t launch a counter-attack. “Everyone!” Harry called the class. He had become more confident as a teacher and he own abilities since his first year and handled the group quite well. “We’re going to be using non-verbal spells on a Boggart. I don’t want you to get rid of it exactly but perform spells that will be funny and interesting. Does anyone have any questions?” No one raised their hands and after pausing for a moment after looking around Harry continued, “Okay, Ari and Sam, you two can start us off.”

Ari wasn’t really my name, it was Arora. I hated the name and didn’t use it if I could help it because it was nothing like me. Ari just sounded more...well natural. Sam and I stood facing the chest Harry was holding onto. “Are you two ready?” he asked us. I nodded while thinking of all the spells I knew. Sam just said, “Yeah, let a rip.” Harry undid the catch and pulled open the chest.
Out of it climbed a girl. It chose my fear. She had black hair with dark Emerald green highlights she wore black clothes, shorts and a t-shirt, trainers too they contrasted slightly with the girl’s pale skin. Oh it’s me. I thought. Although she-I seemed sort of different. Shadowy in a sense.

The Boggart raised its wand and I imagined the lunch lady at my muggle school – wearing the clothes I hated. Ridiculus. I thought and immediately a dumpy woman in a tight dress with uncomfortable shoes appeared. She looked horrified and there was a wart on the end of her nose. I burst out laughing as much of the class did and then as I looked up Sam shot the Boggart with a spell and she flew up in the air standing on a thin plank. She was so shocked that she hardly had time to find another person to concentrate on. I flipped her around and let her land on the plank then Sam pulled it from beneath her feet.

A shriek erupted from her as she fell and I decided she needed some help. I taped her mouth shut and conjured some ropes, as Sam commenced the puppet show while I ripped off the tape. She screamed as she rose and fell and then I cut the ropes- with her in the air and she landed right into the chest Harry held open. He quickly put his weight against it and did the latch. “Very nicely done guys,” he said. I grinned and extended a fist and Sam did the same. They met in a light punch and Sam grinned at me. “That was great guys!” Cendie said coming up behind me. “Thanks,” I said. Sam shrugged, “All in a days work,” he said and smiled. I punched him and Cendie shoved him causing him to lose balance completely that he fell backwards. Cendie almost tripped herself if I hadn’t grabbed her shoulder in time.

Sam sat up. “Thanks for the help guys,” he said getting to his feet and I felt my legs lock together I looked at Cendie she was too. “You’re so dead,” I said sending a full-body-bind at him but he ducked and I sent another in just the right area. Sam went rigid and I could see his eyes moving. He looked kind of disappointed but only for a second, and then they were pleading. I recited the counter curse for leg-locker to my self and felt freedom return to me; I looked over at Cendie who was searching frantically for her wand. Realising she had been standing in front of it she hopped forwards and around then picked up her wand, but then she fell forwards.

I laughed and repeated the counter curse for her so she could get to her feet. Then I went over to Sam and made to jump on him and his eyes went wide. I grinned and landed safely with a leg on either side of him. I moved over to his face and recited the counter curse for Full-body-bind and stood up. I gave him a hand up and looked at Cendie. She was stretching the stiffness out of her legs. “Ah that’s better,” she said when she saw me and grinned.

A hoard of laughter went up. We all looked around to see a bogeyman with bright teeth and rosy cheeks grow a wig of blond hair and blue eyes. “Oh, are we supposed to be watching?” I asked. “Yeah,” Cendie said and grabbed my arm. “Come on.” She dragged me up to the group and we looked on at the unique bogeyman make his changes.

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“Hmph,” escaped Arora’s lips as she caught the bludger and lay struggling on the ground with it. She managed to force the chain around it and the ball was restrained. Arora quickly made her way back from the Qudditch Pitch. She was steadily getting better and she wanted to try out for the Gryffindor quidditch team. Ari wasn’t the perfect build but she was wiry and strong and that was good on a windless day. Arora was pale and thin; she was tall for her age and had raven coloured hair.

The most unusual thing about her was the vivid streaks of green flowing through her straight black hair. She’d dyed it when she was much younger and it wasn’t likely to come off now. Also she’d been forbidden by her hair dresser to re-dye it. It would “destroy your beautiful locks, dear” and her mother had listened. So Ari had the strangest hair in her muggle school as well as at Hogwarts.

Arora hurried through the portrait hole which had served as the secret entrance to the Gryffindor common room for centuries. She spied Cendie in a corner finishing off some kind of work or another. She sat beside her but a little closer to the fire and pulled out a stack of books out of her bag. “Hey,” she said and went straight to work. Potions. Arora sighed and pulled the book towards her. She began making lengthy notes on the different kinds of Wargltof and the importance of it in a Cleansing potion. She had just about made it though her piles of hand written notes on the potions they had done in class when Cendie threw up her pen saying, “It’s hopeless.” “What is?” Arora asked hardly looking up from her work. She finished off her sentence with....and this side effect can be conquered by the scrapings of Morgle root.... and looked up at her friend.

Cendie was Jamaican and she had been blunt with Arora when she had first met her by declaring loudly, “Hey, I’m Jamaican in a school that teaches you magic. Any one got a problem with that?” Cendie had gotten square in her face and glowered at her and Arora had found her first friend at Hogwarts. Sitting in the large arm chair with her face turned upwards and her eyes closed Cendie looked quite comical. Arora burst out laughing. “What?” Cendie sat up and stared at her as though she was mad which made Arora laugh harder. “Ah come on....what’s so funny?” Cendie punched Arora in the gut and Arora clutched her stomach while the laughter subsided. “You...just....looked....weird....” Arora was unable to go on, tears starting form at the sides of her bright green eyes. “Ha-ha. Very funny.”

Cendie looked rather annoyed so Arora tried her best to stop laughing and then she managed to continue with her potions assignment. Arora’s pale unblemished skin contrasted with her striped green and black hair while her eyes shone out of her face like a breath of fresh air. While Arora was consumed in her work she wouldn’t notice anything much but a teacher, and this was a blessing for her. She seldom wore her hair up and usually let it flutter around her face and blow her shoulders, the layers blowing across her face in the wind. She had a bracelet she wore around her left wrist. It was sincerely important to her, that you could tell, but she wouldn’t say how-even to Cendie.

Arora leaned back and stretched. Potions homework was dull work, but she enjoyed the sense of achievement it gave her. She then started on the piles of notes she had on Herbology. This was slightly easier; she could put things down in point form and draw tables in stead of writing 3 foot long essays on a mundane ingredient in Professor Grelding’s store cupboard. She listed down the magical properties of several magical plants and set aside the bundle of parchment. “Accio quill,” she whispered to herself, under her breath and a quill flew into her hand. “Wingardium Leviosa.” It floated upwards. “Morblilius.” It flew across the room and settled beneath Cendie. “Well homework’s done,” she declared. “I’m going down for dinner. D’you want anything?” she asked and was answered by a shake of the head. “See you later then.” “Yeah, sure, whatever.” Cendie replied and Aurora left the room.

Chapter 2-Strange Nights

“Hey man I’m going to supper, you coming?” Sam asked his friend Rane. “Nah, I’m gonna cram for tomorrow.” Rane’s hazel eyes hardly left the parchment he was frantically scratching on. Sam smirked and left the Ravenclaw common room, it was so typical of the boy not to study until the night before and then just barely pass a test. Astronomy wasn’t Sam’s subject but he didn’t fail it that often, after all the studying he shouldn’t at all. The thirteen year old boy was blond and had grey eyes. He was a good build and quite muscular, but the most interesting thing about him was his smile. Or smirk rather.

Sam was Welsh. He had transferred to Hogwarts only a year previously and was quite at home now. He and Rane had been friends for that long and Sam enjoyed every moment of it. He and Aurora became friends in their History of Magic class and she introduced him to Cendie.

Sam walked down the flight of steps from the common room and whistled a little, it was a peaceful day to say the least. He stepped out on to the last flight of stairs and looked up. “Ari!” The girl looked down and grinned at him. “Where’s Rane?” She asked leaning on the banister. “He’s cramming for an Astronomy test!” Sam replied and walked down a few more steps. “Test?” “Yeah, I’m alright with it.” Sam said and his black sneakers stepped lightly on to the ground floor. Arora was speeding down the steps as she usually did and Sam met her as she made it to the ground.

“You sure?” Arora said grinning at him. Last time he’d failed. “Yeah, no prob I studied all week."Some how Arora’s eyes were disbelieving. “Yeah, sure,” “What? It’s true!” Arora laughed and her voice echoed around the space. Sam smiled faintly and led the way to the entrance hall, his hands in his pockets.

The Great Hall was bustling with activity, none of the students would bother staying in their seats and were mixing with the other houses, and the Slytherin tabled was the only table that was detached from the rest of the houses. Sam stepped into the Great Hall followed closely by Arora. “Well look who it is!” A simpering voice projected out into the crowd and Sam looked behind him. It was a Slytherin girl. She was tall and a red head.

“Arora and a boy?” Arora, that would surely get Ari angry. “Tina? Your boxers are on fire.” And they were. Arora’s eyes were glinting dangerously, no one had seen her pull out her wand and cast the spell but no one seemed to care. There was a small group of people forming around them and laughing as Tina frantically stamped on her flaming robes. “Help me you trolls!” she called out to her friends and they grimaced at her.

Finally after laughing for about a minute Arora out the smouldering robes with a little water and walked away leaving Tina holding up the burnt fabric in her hands. Sam smirked at her evilly and followed Aurora to the Gryffindor table. “Nicely done Ari.” He said still smirking. “Thanks, she had it coming to her,” Arora said piling food on to her plate. “That may be so but it wasn’t necessary.” Sam’s head snapped up. There was the Gryffindor head of house, Professor McGonagall frowning down on them.

“You will be serving detention tomorrow with Mr. Filch.” Arora’s face was blank and McGonagall left them on their own. “There goes a perfectly good Friday afternoon,” Arora said in an undertone while spearing a piece of chicken. “At least it’s not going to be with Snape.” Sam replied. He had served a detention with Snape after maliciously exploding a potion that spattered on the Professor’s face.

“Yeah but still.” Arora was eating slowly, thinking of what Filch had planned for her. “It can’t be too bad right?” Arora’s first detention. Sam knew it. “Your first ever detention?” he asked her tactfully. “No!” she said quickly and then realising that he knew, she continued, “Well yeah.” “It’s no big; they just make you clean up some muck.” “Great!” Arora replied sarcastically. “Hey! What’s up? I just finished the stupid potions!” Cendie asked standing close to Arora’s shoulder.

Oh, hi Cendie, Sam thought to him self. What a great way to but in! The Jamaican girl sat down next to Arora and said, “So what’s up?” “Ari’s just got herself a detention.” Sam replied grinning at the girl. He was a great actor. “How’d that happen?” Cendie asked her eyes wide. “Set Tina’s robes on fire.” Arora said a small smile appearing on her face. Nice. “I was wondering why she was so ticked.” Cendie said smiling hugely; there was nothing funnier than that, even though she’d missed it. “...with a boy?” Tina had said as thought they were announced to be married. Sam smiled slightly again while he hunched over his food.

“You enjoying yourself?” Cendie asked sarcastically and Sam smirked and replied, “That’s strange isn’t it?” and Arora snorted. Cendie laughed warmly and piled some food on her plate. Why’d she laugh? They talked about vague things for a while and when they were all ready to leave Sam and Arora heard Tina whisper, “My robes! They were new! I’ve got to buy more now!” and they burst out laughing. “What?” Cendie asked, oblivious and Sam explained to her quietly.

The plates were wiped clean and many benches screeched as they were pushed back. All the students that were left in the Great Hall walked away in different directions, a perfect display of no order. Sam was enjoying himself despite Cendie’s presence. She talked for them both. Sam and Arora hardly had to say anything to her and she talked on and on about mundane things that interested neither Sam nor Arora. Finally they made it to the hall in which Sam had to part from the other two. “Night!” he called to them as he climbed a flight of stairs and disappeared to callings of good night. Sam’s mind was full of nothing but Arora.

Her absolute difference from all the other girls attracted hi and he had no idea why. Maybe it’s puberty. Sam walked along a corridor in deep thought, unaware of anything that might be happening around him and managed to walk into a suit of armour. “Hey you! What d’you thing you’re doing? You better watch where you’re going from now on!” “Sorry man,” Sam said rubbing his head while sitting on the floor. “I’m a woman!” the suit shrieked at him. Sam hurried away from it and down the corridor.

Soon Sam got to the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room and whispered the password to the guard when a horrible scream echoed from outside. Sam hurried in as soon as the entrance was opened by a suit of amour and his eye’s widened at the scene he was before him. Sam gasped and climbed through the hole but his robes got caught on the side. They’ve really got to fix this! Sam thought while he freed himself and landed on his feet on the other side of the entrance. “Help me!” Sam tensed his muscles, ready for anything.

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I landed on my feet, cat-like and stood up. In front of me were a gaggle of guys grouped around a girl crying and shrieking on the floor. Rane stepped forwards and she screamed, “Get away you freak! Leave me alone!” and then the next second, “Help me!” The guys had no idea what to do and Rene looked especially abashed. He was standing a good five feet away from her now. I stepped forwards and she smiled at him for some reason.

“I’m glad you came,” she said. “These idiots have no idea what they’re doing.” What?!? I’d expected her to scream at me like all the others but she hadn’t, she’d been nice-sort of. I must have looked really funny because Rane burst out laughing. I ignored him and stepped forwards again. Nothing, okay cool. I managed to get within two feet of her without another out burst when one of the guys on the outside moved.

“Sam! Sam! He’s going to kill you! Sam!” I spun around and saw the kid; he had gone very white and looked very shocked. I smirked at him and he visibly relaxed. No one dared move after that, so I got out my wand and levitated her above my head. “Oh! This is so much fun!” she squealed and I levitated her out of the Ravenclaw common room. Where the heck should I take her? She was kicking and pretending to be swimming all the way and it was starting to get really annoying.

“Wheeeeeeeeeee!” I smirked. There wad definitely some thing wrong with that child. It just wasn’t normal to act like a five year old when you’re....eleven? Twelve? I had no idea but I knew she didn’t act like this normally. She would probably need to see Madam Pomfrey.

I levitated her down the halls and all the staircases until I got her to the hospital wing and she seemed a little drowsy now. “Madam Pomfrey! There’s a something wrong with her.” I said awkwardly. What was I supposed to tell her? “Well what is it?” the healer said impatiently when she’d come out of her office.

“Urm...she’s acting like a five year old. Not talking like one but like behaving weirdly.She sat on the floor in the Ravenclaw common room and didn’t let anyone help her, and she kept screaming at them like they were hurting or were going to hurt her.” I said. It sounded pretty stupid. There I was levitating a girl that was “acting like a five year old”. I tried to stop myself from laughing but it was kind of hard so I looked at the floor and then smirked.

“I’ve never heard of that happening before!” the healer exclaimed and looked at the girl. “Lay her on one of the beds dear.” I did as I was told and the healer went up to the girl, “How old are you dear?” “Eleven!” The kid giggled and curled up into a ball. “This is strange isn’t it?” I just managed to see her nod her head and put her thumb in her mouth. “Thank you....?” “Sam.” “Thank you Sam, she’ll be safe here.”

So I left and was pretty glad to tell you the truth. I was tired, like you wouldn’t believe and now I had a Qudditch practice tomorrow as well. I walked back up all the steps and down the corridors and made it passed the weird suit of armour that guarded the entrance.

“What was that all about?” Rane was still up. “Dunno.” I said to him. “Madam Pomfrey just took her in.” Rene asked a few questions and then he stopped for a bit. Maybe he wanted to keep talking but I don’t know, I was already asleep and loving it because I didn’t wake up when Rane tried to awaken me and then left because I didn’t react and all the different people that went through the room because the room was spotless when I woke up-just in time for class that was too.

Chapter 3-The Dream

Arora was asleep in the girls’ dorm, her head resting lightly on her pillow and her hair flowing over the pillow. The sheets were heavy on her skin, keeping it warm on a cold night. A tapping could be heard as the night’s breeze fluttered over her face through the window that was slightly ajar. Wait, how could the breeze come in? She had made sure the drapes were firmly shut last night! There wasn’t a gap in it and it wasn’t going to roll out, she was sure of it. Then everything changed. She was in a hotel room, the breeze fluttering in through the slightly ajar window, the shutters billowing. Arora’s toes were just peeking out of the end of the bed her long tanned legs perfectly straight and her arms pulled up beside her as she lay on her stomach.

She was in an exotic land, the air was hot and sticky and yet a cold but pleasant breeze filled the room now and again. Arora’s eye snapped open and she rolled over taking in a tinge of fruit in the air. Her hair was short now and no longer had the bright green strips of hair in her face but a shock of auburn hair that flowed in every direction. Arora pulled her legs up, they were surely longer that she had remembered and smoother too. Her arms were tanned and more muscular as well. Arora sat up; this must be in a different time and place obviously. Britain couldn’t be so warm; perhaps she was back in America? In Florida by the looks of it. Yet the air smelled different like it was really a very exotic place.

She ran her hand through her hair; it was wonderfully clean and shiny. Arora went to the mirror, she had really grown up. At a guess she looked at least nineteen or twenty. She was wearing shorts and a simple T-shirt; thankfully it didn’t look like she had become too girly. She looked quite muscular but not to much. That was definitely a good thing. Arora ran a brush through her hair and tied it up behind her. She looked out of the window a saw a palm filled beach, nothing in Florida would be that beautiful. Arora was lost in the beauty of the landscape when a pair of arms wrapped around her. She almost panicked when she turned around and her muscles relaxed.


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Arora woke with a start. There was sweat on her forehead and she was breathing heavily. She was back to normal, her old, pale self again. Who did I see? She had been having the dream for a fortnight.

It was almost a half dream, like she was half conscious the whole time. Arora was a little shaky as she ran a brush through her black and green streaked hair, this was the first time she had gotten this far into the dream and she remembered it all. There was no time to think of things like that now, her early wakening had forced her to struggle to get to sleep until it was almost 3AM and she had slept into the morning. It was Friday, the day of her detention with Filch and she knew she would be kept up late. It was also the day of quidditch practice, she and Sam had tried out together in their second year and this year as well; Cendie wasn’t one to play sport, she was more of a speaker, if that made any sense.

Arora wasn’t going to be able to have breakfast at this rate, she grabbed her tote bag that was bursting at the seams and hurried down the stairs and out of the portrait hole. Cendie had just been coming back to get her with a couple of slices of buttered toast when Arora had reached the end of the hall. “Oh! So you finally got up!” Cendie said handing her the toast. “Thanks! I was worried about food.” “Aren’t you always?” “Funny.” Arora replied sarcastically. The two of them scrambled off to the Transfiguration classroom for their first class. It was going to be with the Slytherins which most definitely wouldn’t be pleasant.

As it was expected they came face to face with their least favourite people, Trina and Dain, the two most annoying Slytherins. Dain was a boy but from what he looked like and his name you wouldn’t guess it was so. The pair were sneering as best as they could at the two girls as they approached the classroom and Tina decided to put in a scathing remark. “Did you just get up? Oh wait, your always that ugly, Arora!” Arora was about to do something along the lines of what she did in the Great Hall but Professor McGonagall appeared her face as stern as ever.

The students were ushered into the classroom to what was undoubtedly a very hard lesson. “Today we are going to be Transfiguring a rat into a cat,” Arora groaned audibly. Cendie giggled and Tina made a rude noise. The lines around Professor McGonagall’s mouth were getting even more taunt as she told them off. There was something bothering her and it wasn’t a trifle topic at all.

Chapter 4- The Hospital Wing

Sam was ready and pumped for quidditch practice. Not only was he going to be on a broom again but he would she Arora playing too. The two of them were chasers and they tried out together each year. This would be the only time one could see Arora with her hair up, she looked beautiful, not that she knew it and Sam wasn’t going to be the one to tell her. The practices were more like matches; two of the houses played each other for pure fun and in the process found out what the opposing team’s weaknesses were. Today it was a practice match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw and Sam got to play against his friend. Ironic isn’t it?

Sam walked down to the Quidditch pitch with changing into his robes and fetching his broom in mind. He entered the Ravenclaw changing room to a cheerful atmosphere. Their captain was very lax when it was off-season but not when it came to the real games. In those he could almost kill a player for one wrong move. “Hey Sammy!” That was one of the things he hated being called. “Sam!” he said, his voice slightly muffled because of a headlock that had been put on him. “Yeah sure,” his captain said to him finally letting go and Sam shook his head slightly. “Let’s go out there and kill them!” Sam’s captain said growling rather like the “wrestlers” Sam had heard about, muggles that fought for a living.

Sam had put on his robes and said to him, “Gees let me get my broom at least!” and walked out of the changing room, his bright blue robes a nice change from the usual black. He saw Arora walking along the pitch towards the Gryffindor changing room. Hmm...She looks just as good with her hair down as when it’s up. Must be the wind then. Sam wrenched his eyes away from the sight of his friend towards the broom closet that he had left his broom in at the start of the term. The door creaked open and Sam stepped inside, he found his broom when he heard a loud creaking behind him and he looked over his shoulder. There was nothing there. I’m losing my mind. Sam heard yet another rather ominous sound that grew louder and louder but didn’t seem to come from any direction when suddenly, Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

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Sam ran outside of the broom closet and found Arora gingerly getting up onto one foot. She was grimacing and cursing under her breath. “You okay?” Sam asked moving to her side. “Urm, no, not really.” Sam smirked and cast a levitating spell on the girl. As she floated up into the air the grimace tuned into a frown. “I can walk! Put me down!” So Sam gently floated Arora to the ground where she could get up. Arora started off towards the hospital wing wincing at every moment. “Okay well at least let me help you,” Sam said. She’d only made a few steps in the general direction of the castle. Arora knew that her case was lost already as she said, “Fine.”

Arora leaned her weight against Sam and he tried to move in unison with her. He was built well enough for Arora’s weight not to bother him at all and the two of them slowly made their way out into the open. “Mate? Are you coming to the game?” It was Sam’s captain. “Yep! Let me just help her to the hospital wing!” “Why don’t you just levitate her there?” “She didn’t want me too.” Sam’s captain smiled almost knowingly and let his chaser go; one of the reserves would get a chance to play at least. Arora was silent during this exchange, her already pale skin going slightly white. It must have been really hurting her, but she didn’t wail or gasp once.

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“Are you sure you don’t want me to levitate you there?” Sam asked getting a little worried about her. Arora shook her head. “No, It won’t be long before we get there,” she said her voice surprisingly steady. They were only a few steps away from the castle but they had to wander the hallways to get to the hospital wing and that would take some time. They walked through the large doors and passed the entrance hall using the many hallways to navigate the castle. “Hello there! What’s the matter?” It was the Hufflepuff ghost, the Fat Friar. “She sprained her ankle,” Sam explained. “Oh dear! Well good luck on getting to the Hospital Wing! I would help but I can’t!” The ghost flew of the other direction. Sam was getting tiered of this.