Holding a glass of lemonade, Anne and Hermione walked past the long table and into the foyer. The front door was wide open. As they stepped down the stone steps, the fairy lights twinkled in the rose garden. Low shrubs surrounded them, alongside winding, ornately decorated paths and massive stone statues. In the distance, they could hear the splashing of water, likely from a fountain, and occasionally caught glimpses of people sitting on carved benches.
They followed a meandering path through the blooming roses.
"Magic is truly incredible…" Anne said, watching the tiny fairies flit about with translucent, glowing wings.
"I know, right? I thought the same thing when I got my Hogwarts letter…" Hermione smiled. "My parents were convinced it was some sort of prank."
"Really? What happened next?" Anne asked with curiosity.
Hermione reminisced, "It was just a normal Monday morning. I was in my room reading when my mum knocked on the door and handed me a letter. I was surprised, no one ever sent me mail. I read it right away. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? I'd never even heard of it. My parents had already enrolled me in a secondary school in London…"
"They thought it was a joke and told me to ignore it… but I read it again. Then I followed the instructions and sent a reply. I figured, if it really was a prank, what could possibly happen by replying?"
"You got a visit from someone from the Ministry, right?" Anne guessed.
Hermione nodded. "A woman in rather… unusual clothing showed up at our door that very evening." She laughed, and Anne nodded knowingly at the mention of the odd attire.
"She gave my parents a brief explanation about the magical world and the history of Hogwarts, and then demonstrated a little magic. She used the Levitation Charm. My parents were completely stunned. But in the end, they let me decide. And of course, I wanted to go to Hogwarts!"
"The woman was pleased. Before she left, she cast a monitoring charm on our home to track any magic used in the house and reminded me that underage witches aren't allowed to use magic in the Muggle world… Then she promised to take us shopping the next day."
"Diagon Alley?" Anne asked with a smile.
"That's the one," Hermione said. "The first time I stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, I was honestly a bit scared. No Muggle had ever seemed to notice that tiny pub…"
Anne nodded to show she understood.
"And the people inside…" Hermione paused, thinking back. "They were all so strange, so mysterious… though I don't find them strange anymore," she added with a laugh.
"She took us straight to Gringotts. That was my first time seeing goblins. She explained to my parents that we could exchange Muggle money for wizarding currency. My mum was so nervous she pulled out all the cash she had on her."
Hermione chuckled. "We exchanged our money, the woman pointed out a few shops, and then she Disapparated."
"I spent the entire day wandering around Diagon Alley. We only went home once my parents couldn't carry any more shopping bags…"
"I remember carrying a whole crate of stuff on my first trip there," Anne said with nostalgia. "Oh! That was the time, right? The Modern Magical History book from Flourish and Blotts? That was your first visit?"
Hermione looked at Anne and smiled. "Yes, that was the day. The very last copy of Modern Magical History."
"That reminds me," Anne grinned, "I still remember the look on Harry's face when you rattled off all those books he was mentioned in on the train… It was priceless."
Hermione laughed at the memory of their first train ride.
After their laughter faded, Hermione turned to Anne, curiosity piqued. "What about you, Anne? What was it like when you got your Hogwarts letter?"
"Me? Oh… it was a complicated mix of feelings," Anne said thoughtfully. "But like you, I was full of curiosity about the magical world."
She giggled. "Do you know who the first person from the wizarding world I met was?"
"Your uncle?" Hermione guessed. "But the way you asked that... it wasn't someone from the Ministry, was it?"
"Bingo!" Anne nodded. She launched into the full story, how Aaron had convinced a friend to alter the Ministry's parchment and Apparated straight into her room that very night, taking her immediately to the Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley, and Gringotts.
As she finished, Anne pulled three coins from her pocket, a gold Galleon, a silver Sickle, and a bronze Knut. The edges were worn smooth from frequent handling.
"These were the three coins I got that day. My first souvenirs from the magical world." She twirled the coins between her fingers effortlessly. "Minted by Gringotts goblins, accepted everywhere in the wizarding world. To me, they're a good luck charm. That moment opened a whole new world for me… My life hasn't been the same since."
She gazed at the coins with a wistful smile and then turned to Hermione. "You know, meeting you was also something pretty magical."
Hermione's mind suddenly went blank. She took a huge gulp of her iced milk tea, hoping it would cool down her flushed cheeks.
Anne slipped the coins back into her pocket. Just then, something light and white drifted down onto her face. She felt a cold touch, and soon, more of the same began to fall all around them.
It was snowing.
She held out her hand, catching delicate flakes in her palm.
"Snowing?" Anne murmured, then glanced around the garden. "This place must be enchanted. It doesn't feel all that cold out here…"
But the snow still felt icy against her skin.
"Shall we head back to the Great Hall?" she asked.
Hermione nodded.
"I hope I won't get in trouble for stealing Krum's dance partner for so long…" Anne said just as a few snowflakes landed on her neck, making her shiver.
"Oh well," she continued playfully. "It's not like he knows it was me. And even if he did, what could he do?"
Hermione chuckled softly.
As they re-entered the foyer, Percy appeared in a flustered rush, rubbing his hands together as he hurried over.
"Hermione! There you are! Viktor Krum has been looking all over for you! You do realize the Triwizard Tournament is a major international event, organized with great effort by the Department of International Magical Cooperation and the Ministry of Magic. The whole point is to build friendships between the three schools. Cooperation is key and yet here you are, "
He stopped mid-rant, finally noticing Anne standing beside Hermione. Swallowing what he was about to say, he quickly switched to a more polite tone.
", out here chatting with a friend… not the most appropriate timing. Anyway, go find Viktor, he's by the drinks table in the hall."
Hermione looked at Anne.
"Go on," Anne said, winking. "I really don't want to be accused of sabotaging an 'important international cooperation event'."
"Anne, "
"Don't worry. I never planned to stay out past midnight anyway. I can't handle late nights."
"…Alright." Hermione nodded and turned to leave.
Anne didn't spare Percy a glance and walked right past him.
Back in the Great Hall, most people were dancing, while a few were resting with drinks or snacks. Anne made her way to the food table, grabbed an empty plate, and began helping herself. Halfway through filling her plate, Fanny slipped out of the dance floor and approached her.
"Hey Anne… I saw everything~" Fanny said with a knowing grin.
"Saw what?" Anne asked blankly.
"Oh, come on. You and Hermione were gone for quite a while…"
"Oh, that," Anne said casually. "She wanted to check out the rose garden outside the foyer, so I went with her. Then it started snowing, so we came back. Everyone knows we're friends. No big deal. A Slytherin and a Gryffindor hanging out, it's not the end of the world."
"That's all?" Fanny asked, puzzled.
"What else would it be?" Anne said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "You've been acting weird lately. Are you hiding something from me?"
From the dance floor, a tall, handsome boy, clearly from one of the Northern schools, was calling out to Fanny in heavily accented English.
Fanny glanced back, waved to Anne. "Nothing! I'm going back to the dance. What about you?"
Anne gestured with her plate. "I'll finish eating and then head back. I don't want to stay up too late."
Fanny nodded and returned to the dance.
After turning down a few boys who asked her to dance, Anne finished the last bite of food and yawned her way back to the Slytherin common room.
The morning after Christmas, Anne woke up to find that none of her four roommates had gotten out of bed yet. Even Fanny's bed curtains were drawn tightly shut.
"You girls sure know how to party…" Anne muttered to herself. She washed up quietly, gathered her assignments, and went to the common room.
The last few days of the Christmas holiday were filled with students frantically catching up on homework. In the common room, the dorms, and the library, Anne could occasionally hear people humming the Weird Sisters' latest song.
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