Miss Quinn

3 ~ Fellow Gryffindors

For Emma, being in Gryffindor was brilliant. The people in her new house were generally very kind. Throughout the welcoming feast, Emma got to know her new house mates in the first year with her.

First there was Harry Potter, the boy who lived. Then Ron Weasley, a boy with five brothers and one sister, all with red hair. Hermione Granger, an abnormally smart muggle-born who had really bushy hair. Dean Thomas, who really liked the muggle sport football and was astounded many of his peers hadn't heard of it. Parvati Patil, a pretty Indian girl whose twin sister was a Ravenclaw. Seamus Finnigan, a boy who was rather rambunctious and talkative. Lavender Brown, a somewhat shy girl who really didn't share much, but was really giggly. Neville Longbottom, a pudgy boy with a toad for a pet that forgot things so much, he didn't think he'd pass the first year. Last but not least was Venus Tyler, a girl that seemed to have an unhappy past, but was overall very giddy and chatty.

For Emma, these people were the best because they were all so different, yet still all got along fine.

After dinner was over, Headmaster Dumbledore shared a welcoming speech, also reminding everyone to stay out of the forest and not to go to the west wing on the third floor.

Soon everyone was standing up and following their prefects to the common rooms.

Emma joined the crowd of Gryffindors heading up the staircases.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were walking right behind Emma. When they reached the staircases, Emma turned and saw the look of amazement on their faces.

The Gryffindors stopped at a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress. Percy Weasley, the boy prefect, said "Caput Draconis" and the portrait swung open.

The common room was large, it could easily fit everyone inside comfortably. There was a roaring fire and comfy-looking armchairs and sofas. There were also little tables for homework and two stairwells leading to other rooms. Percy Weasley explained that the boys' dormitories were up the stairs on the left and the girls' on the right. Emma and her first year house mates went up to their dormitories.

Their dorm was all the way on the top of the tower, but Emma didn't care.

Emma's trunk was sitting on the floor in front of a four-poster bed. Shadow's cage was on top of it.

There were four other four-posters, all with one girl's belongings next to them. The dormitory was circular, and there were five windows. Gryffindor scarves hung from each girl's bed posts and there were three Gryffindor banners hanging from the wall. Emma sat on her bed, it was comfy.

She started to unpack her trunk, clothes in the dresser drawers and school supplies on top. When she was done, she stored her trunk under the bed and sorted through her books and supplies. Venus Tyler had the bed next to Emma. She had finished unpacking way faster than Emma had, and was writing a letter. Her long, blonde hair kept falling in her face, and Venus kept brushing it away. When the girl was finished, Emma re-introduced herself. Venus did, too. They sat on their respective beds and chatted about their expectations for the school year.

The next day, Emma went down to breakfast with Venus and Hermione. Parvati and Lavender were starting to annoy her, all the giggling and gossiping was too much. During breakfast, the teachers passed out schedules. All the Gryffindor first years had the same classes. The Slytherins were in most of them, but not all. Emma just hoped she wouldn't have to sit by Pansy or Draco.

As the week went on, Emma felt more and more at home. Her classes kept her busy, but she had free time to spend with Venus and Hermione.

At their first flying lesson, Harry and Draco were the only people whose brooms flew right into their hands on the first try. Emma took five tries before the broom even moved, and ten more before it flew into her hands. Neville got hurt falling off his broom, so Madame Hooch took him to the Hospital Wing. Neville had dropped his Remembrall, a glass sphere that had smoke in it and when the smoke turned red it means you've forgotten something. Draco had flown off with it, and Harry went after him. Draco had thrown it, Harry caught it, and McGonagall came outside to take Harry. When he came back to the common room afterwards, he shared the news: he was on the Quidditch team. Seeker, he said, that was what he'd be playing. Ron, Venus, and Emma congratulated him and promised not to tell anyone.

The next day, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville had stumbled upon a three headed dog late at night. They were supposed to meet Draco in the trophy room for a wizards duel, but had been fooled and had to run for it. Emma received the whole story from Hermione after it happened. Apparently the dog had been standing on a trap door, and Hermione thought it was guarding something.

At the first Quidditch game -- Slytherin vs. Gryffindor -- Emma, Venus, Hermione and Ron watched Harry from the stands. Harry was a good seeker, but as he dove toward the snitch, his broom suddenly started jerking around. They figured out that one of the teachers -- Snape -- was jinxing the brrom. Hermione left their spot on the stands saying, "leave it to me."

A few minutes later, Harry was speeding towards the ground after the snitch. Harry then leveled out, his broom parallel to the ground and only a foot away from it. He stood up on his broom and stretched out his hand. Right as he was about to grab it, his broom pitched him forward and he landed on the ground. Emma thought he was going to lose his breakfast, but when a small golden ball came out of his mouth, Emma saw that he'd caught the snitch.

Lee Jordan announced that Harry caught the snitch and Gryffindor House cheered. The Slytherins on the other side of the pitch were 'boo'ing and yelling at their seeker.

In the midst of all that, Emma was smiling. She loved being magical.