An American at Hogwarts

Deep Thoughts

After we met up with my mom and got me measured for my robes, we headed back to The Leaky Cauldron. It was around four in the afternoon by that point, and I was a bit hungry since I hadn't gotten to eat much that morning, just a cereal bar I'd bought back at JFK and hadn't eaten on the flight. Tom made us some nice sandwiches, which my mom said he was somewhat famous for, and we got to talking. Marie and I were over at a table talking with Stanley about classes.

"So wait." I said, my mouth half full of food. "There's a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher basically every year?"

Stanley nodded. "Yep. Just call it DADA or Defence, by the way. People say the job is cursed, but I'm not sure how much I believe that. Frankly I just think they can't find a good instructor."

Marie piped up. "Do you know who it'll be this year Stan?"

Stanley shook his head. "Nope. Sometimes you can get a hint from the books they ask you to get but I've got no clue. I heard one of the prefects near the end of last year talking about some author guy wanting to teach but apparently he got turned down."

I frowned. "Well I hope whoever it is is good. Seems like a rather important class."

Marie turned to me. "So what class are you most excited for?"

"Hm... well DADA sounds cool, but I've always been into history, so History of Magic seems interesting too."

Stanley groaned. "You'll prefer DADA, I promise. Professor Binns is horrible."

I frowned again. "What is he mean or something?"

Stanley laughed. "Nope, just horribly dull. He's a ghost, they say he just died one day and went on teaching. Maybe he was better when he was alive but by Merlin is he dull now. You'll find it hard to stay awake in his class."

I sighed. "Ugh. A ghost teacher sounds so cool though!"

Stanley nodded. "It would be, if he wasn't the most depressingly boring ghost in the entire castle. Trust me, Y/N, you'll see what I mean."

Suddenly, my mom jumped up out of her seat.

"Y/N. We completely forgot about your owl, didn't we?"

I turned to her. "I knew we were forgetting something!"

Mr. Yinsby stood up as well. "Well we've got to be going anyways, we have dinner plans tonight. We will see you again at the station I presume?"

My mom nodded. "Of course Henry! It was good to see you and Jessica again. And to meet your children, they are lovely!"

I gave Marie and Stanley a quick hug, and handed them a slip of paper. "Here's where I'm staying for now, write me sometime!"

They nodded and went off with their parents, waving to me as they left. Me and my mother walked back to Diagon Alley, talking as we went.

"Well that was nice, wasn't it! You've already met a friend and I got to see some old friends again!"

She was beaming from ear to ear. She wouldn't admit it, but I think she missed being over here. It's not that she disliked our home back in America, but it was just different. She had a ton of friends that she didn't get to see all too often because of the distance and it was good for her to get to see some of them again. When we made it to the pet shop, my eyes went wide. There were all kinds of animals in there, but I already knew I wanted an owl. It's not like I dislike the other options they had, but an owl is just so useful, and they are probably some of the smartest animals out there. I admire that about them. I walked over to where the owls were and my eyes were immediately drawn to one in the corner of the enclosure. It was relatively small, not tiny, but definitely smaller than average. It had a striking reddish brown hue to it, and bright green eyes. I pointed to it. "That one mom!"

We got the lady at the counter to retrieve the owl, who I learn was a girl.

"What do you want to name her?"

I stared down at her. She was standing on my arm, looking at me with a curious expression on her face, as if she was evaluating me.

"Hmm... Cinnabar maybe?"

She gave a happy chirp, signaling that she liked the name. I laughed and smiled at her, lightly ruffling the feathers on her head. "You like it, huh? Cinnabar it is then!"

We paid for Cinnabar and some supplies for her, food and treats and the like, as well as a cage, and left. By the time we left, the streets were getting a bit quieter. As I was walking down the street, I was bumped from the side by a girl around my age.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!"

I turned and smiled at her. She had curly, bushy brown hair and was a bit shorter than me.

"It's ok! You alright?"

She nodded. "Yes! Hermione, by the way! Hermione Granger!"

I shook her hand. "Y/N L/N! You a first year as well?"

She nodded. "Yep! My parents are muggles though, so this is all a bit new to me. Sorry for bumping into you, it's just still a bit overwhelming is all."

I smiled at her. "That's ok! I'm from America so things are different for me too. My mom went to Hogwarts though, so I'm probably a bit less overwhelmed than you are!"

She smiled at me. "Well I'd better be off. My parents are waiting for me I believe. I'll see you on the train I hope?"

I nodded, smiling. "Of course! Nice to meet you Hermione!"

She smiled and ran off, heaving a big bag of supplies with her. I was about to offer to help her, but she disappeared into a crowd of shoppers and I lost her.

My mom smiled down at me. "Another friend, eh? I'm proud of you, Y/N! She's muggleborn, so she might need a bit of help here and there adjusting, not to mention some people being a bit rude to her about it. Be there for her, ok?"

I smiled and nodded. "Of course mom! I'll be there for whatever she needs!"

My mom smiled and ruffled my hair. "That's my boy! Come on now, there's a nice restaurant nearby, your dad said he would meet us there!"

We walked out of Diagon Alley and back to normal London, going a couple blocks down before we found a rather expensive looking French place. As we walked in, I saw my father sitting over at a table. I ran up to him and gave him a big hug.

"Dad! Missed you today!"

He laughed and smiled at me. "Sorry about that buddy, you know how I get with flights."

I smiled back. "It's ok!"

He looked around, checking that nobody was listening too closely. "How'd the shopping go?"

"Pretty well! I met two new friends!"

He beamed at me. "That's great! It'll be hard the first week or so being away from us but I'm sure you'll be busy with classes and exploring, and your new friends will help you adjust!"

I smiled, but inside I was a bit worried. I'd never been away from my parents for very long before. I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't adjust well to it. I was excited for everything else though, so I decided to brush it off. If I had trouble I'd deal with it when it happened.

"Maybe, dad. Lets just eat now, I had a sandwich a bit ago but I'm still starving!"

As we ate, I thought more about all this. I'd met some friends today, so that was good, but I was still nervous. Would I be any good at magic? I'd never so much as tried a spell before, mainly as I wasn't allowed to. I could practice some simple ones now if I wanted to, but it was just the really basic stuff. I wouldn't know how good I was until I started my first term, I supposed.