Soothslayer: Year One

Trove of treats are now spread out on the space beside (Name). The girl takes some of her favourites from the trove. "Thanks Harry."

Ron looks at the girl in confusion. "Excuse me but, you're a De Winter, right? Don't you have money?"

"We just appear like that." (Name) shrugs and pops her favorite candy in her mouth. Only few people know of her parents' trouble and someone hearing probably means trouble for her, not that she cares.

"Oh."

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Harry asks in curiosity as he marvels at the wondrous treats. It's clear that he never seen anything like the treats.

"They mean every flavor. There's chocolate, peppermint... but you can also get liver or spinach or tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavored one once."

"These aren't real frogs, are they?"

Harry holds up a pack of chocolate frog and notices that something is wriggling under the foil--then sees that Ron already has a very realistic leg squirreling out the corner of his mouth.

"That's just a spell, Harry." (Name) informs him as she also eats one. She wonders what the frog lovers might think of this chocolate.

"Yeah. Each pack's got a Famous Witch or Wizard. Got about 500 myself. Watch it!"

(Name) never gets the point of collecting the cards but she still does it cause she likes to horde things that may seen useless to others.

As Harry breaks the foil on his pack, the frog springs into the air and out the open train window. He looks to where it went, surprised.

"That's rotten luck. They've only got one good jump in them to begin with."

Harry glances at the card in his hand. On it, there's a man with a crooked nose, long silver beard, and half-moon glasses. Underneath is a name: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE.

"I've got Dumbledore!"

"I've about six of him." Ron boasts. "Trade you Scabbers though, if you get Agrippa or Ptolemy."

"How great would it be if you get your own card." (Name) says. She really wants to be added in there too for some reason.

Harry reads the writing on the back. "Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for his discovery of the 12 uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Approximately One hundred and fifty years old, Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music, tenpin bowling and..." He looks up. "One hundred and fifty years old?"

"Thought he'd be older, did you?"

"No... I... Hey, he' s gone." Harry holds up the card- now blank to the others on the compartment.

(Name) tells the boy. "He's a busy man. He's got other places to be."

"It's just, in the Muggle world, people stay put in photos."

"Really? They don't move at all? Weird!" Ron says and Just then, Scabbers snorts and falls back asleep. He looks at his pet in disappointment. "Pathetic, isn't it? Fred gave me a spell that's to turn him yellow. Want to see?"

Harry nods, eager to see some magic and (Name) turns her attention to him to see this 'spell' he's talking about.

Ron pulls out a battered wand just as the compartment door opens and a girl with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth looks in. Looks like she's already wearing her school robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one." The girl asks then sees Ron's wand. "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see then." She sits down without hesitation.

Ron looks a bit taken aback, but clears his throat nonetheless and poises his wand over Scabbers. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

Scabbers snorts, but otherwise remains fat, grey, and asleep. Ron looks on with embarrassment because the spell didn't do anything at all.

"Nice try, Ron." (Name) sincerely says. She knows what if feels like to fail and have someone laugh at you even if you're still a beginner.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? I've only tried a few simple ones myself but they've all worked for me. For example."

To Harry's surprise, the girl takes out her wand, points it directly over his brow, then stops.

"Goodness. You're Harry Potter, aren't you? I know all about you, of course. I was doing a little recreational reading and you're in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the 20th Century."

"Am I?"

"Didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me." Hermione raises her wand. "Anyway ... Oculus Reparo."

Instantly, the cracked bridge of Harry's glasses is mended.

"There. That's better, isn't it? I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. And you are...?"

"(Name) de Winter."

Ron still staring at the glasses, feeling a bit outdone, finally snaps out of it when (Name) pokes his shoulder. "Um... Ron Weasley."

"Pleasure to meet you both. You three know what House you'll be in? I'm hoping for Gryffindor-- I hear Dumbledore himself was in it-- but I think I might just die if they put me in Slytherin. That was You-Know-Who's House. Anyway, you three had better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon. You've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Hermione leaves the compartment after that.

"What a nice girl, smart too." (Name) smiles, watching the girl leave.

Ron looks at (Name). "Nice?"