It Was Probably Green

Jude was sitting at the shabby kitchen table with textbooks spread out around her. It was the last day of the summer holidays, and Jude was trying to cram nearly a solid week of work into the remaining hours.

Most of her two-month break had been spent sitting for the two-year-old wizard whose parents lived in a flat just downstairs. Although the Jude didn't really care for children, she was happy about the new Galleons she had earned and had used the babysitting money (as well as all of her birthday and Christmas money from the last two years) to buy a new wand. Still, six hours a days with a toddler usually left Jude with little energy to do anything but read old paperbacks in a warm bath, so she had only worked sporadically on her holiday assignments. Hence the last minute push to finish her homework.

"Hey Jude, you got a letter!" Laura called out as she came into the flat. "Who knows how long it's been sitting in the Muggle mailbox downstairs.

"Gol' Jude," Laura said shaking her head as she closed the door and sat down at the table, "you haven't moved since I left this morning."

"Don't I know! This awful Transfiguration assignment is taking ages. Just because a couple of stupid Gryffindors tried to turn all the toilets in the school into badgers, that stupid McGonagall woman gave the whole school extra work for the summer holidays."

"Good thing you left it for the last day then," Laura said laughing. "What is the assignment anyway?"

"We have to write a research paper on the various properties of inanimate objects that are capable of being transfigured into animals. McGonnagall wants us to explain why you can transfigure a mouse into a snuffbox, but why you can't turn other random animals into whatever object you please."

"So how's it going?"

"Well," Jude said, with no small amount of pride, "I just finished a section on why toilet seats can't be transfigured into animals, though I can't quite figure out how those stupid Gryffindors managed to make the toilet seats grow fur."

"Eww, that is so disgusting!" Laura said.

Jude laughed, "Yeah -- but it was pretty funny to hear the horrible screams that morning when Pansy Parkinson went to use the lavatory."

Laura smiled in appreciation, but couldn't help saying, "As long as it wasn't you, it seems funny."

Ignoring her sister's reprimand, Jude's eyes flickered to the envelope Laura had laid down on the table when she came in. Laura looked like she was flipping through Jude's Transfiguration textbook, but Jude knew that she was waiting to see what the letter said. They both knew that the letter was from their father, since he was the only person who ever sent them letters through the Muggle post. It had been quite a while since he had sent either of them a letter, so Jude wasn't surprised that Laura was curious what it said.

Jude tore open the envelope and scowled at its contents. It was a brightly colored birthday card addressed to her -- but Jude's birthday wasn't until mid-November.

Laura looked up from across the table and saw the angry look on her sister's face. "Jude," she said slowly, "I'm sure that he was just trying to be thoughtful."

"Well, I don't think I would ever use the word 'thoughtful' to describe someone who can't remember your birthday," Jude grumbled and started to rummage through the fridge.

With her back to Laura, Jude sighed and tried to control her angry thoughts. Her parents had divorced more than three years ago, but Jude still hadn't forgiven their father for moving away after the split. Laura tried to make excuses for him, saying that since he was from America anyway, it made sense for him to want to move back there. But now that he had a new wife and a new baby, even Laura had to admit that he did seem to be forgetting about them.

Getting a birthday card three months early was almost as bad as not getting a card at all. Even worse was the message inside. The preprinted message said: "Hope you have a happy special day!" Her father had just scrawled the words "Love, Dad" underneath. He didn't ask about school, her summer holidays, or even Laura. Plus there was the fact that he didn't seem to remember which was her "special day".

As furious as she was with her father for sending her a birthday card months before her actual birthday, Jude didn't want to upset Laura. Since Laura was a telepath, this was more difficult than just trying to put a brave face on the situation. Jude pulled a soda from the fridge, pushed her anger deep down inside and turned to face her sister.

"I'm really sorry, Jude," Laura said. "I know that this really hurt your feelings -"

"Nah, I'm just a little snappish from spending all day on my school work." Jude concentrated on feeling harried about her homework and tried not to think about her father.

"Ah, okay," Laura said skeptically. Then she slipped into her peacemaker role: "Look, Jude, let's not tell Mum about this. It'll just make her upset."

"Fine. But she's gonna be upset anyway if she comes home to find no dinner and you not finished packing."

"Fair enough," Laura said, searching through the cupboards for something to make for dinner. Jude felt guilty that she wasn't helping with dinner -- after all Laura had to help their mother with so much with the housework when Jude was away at school. Unlike a lot of the other students Jude knew at school, she and Laura didn't have house elves to help with cooking and other chores. Laura and Jude couldn't even use any cleaning charms to speed up the work, since they were underage.

Their mother could have used a spell or a charm to cook up a quick dinner when she got home, but she had been getting home so late recently -- especially since the Quidditch World Cup -- that Jude and Laura didn't want to add to her worries. Instead, Laura and Jude had taken turns making dinner.

By the time their mother, Cassandra Madley, came home, Laura had pasta and a salad on the table. Jude quickly stifled the thought pasta, again?, but judging from the happy look on Laura's face, Jude didn't think she had noticed.

The three of them had a pleasant meal, which was punctuated by Laura asking Cassandra to tell her more stories about Hogwarts. By the end of the meal, Laura's excitement about starting at Hogwarts the next day had removed some of the tired look from their mother's face.

"So how do they decide which house you belong in?" Laura wanted to know.

"Well," Cassandra said, "you put this hat on your head, it's called the Sorting Hat. It sort of looks inside of your head to see which house would suit you best."

"Wow, I wonder which house I'll be in."

"Hufflepuff, I'm sure," Cassandra said with not a small amount of pride. "That's my old house. Children are often put in the same house as their parents."

"But Jude isn't in Hufflepuff, right?" Laura asked. "What's the name of your house again, Jude?"

"Er, I'm in Slytherin," Jude said, and pretended not to notice the embarrassed look on her mother's face.

"Oh," Cassandra said quickly, "I mean that children are sometimes put in the same house that their parents were in. You know Mandy Carbunkle? I was in Hufflepuff with both of her parents, but when Mandy went to Hogwarts last year, she was sorted into Ravenclaw. I wasn't surprised that she was put in to Ravenclaw, she's a very bright young girl. And you remember Scott Daggersworth didn't get sorted into Gryffindor, even though his family has been in that house for generations. Um, let's see . . . there was -"

"So why would someone be put into Ravenclaw instead of Hufflepuff?" Laura interrupted to ask.

As Cassandra started to describe the differences between the four houses, Jude was silently thankful that Laura was able to sense their mother's discomfort and change the topic.

That Jude had been sorted into Slytherin three years ago was still an uncomfortable subject between mother and daughter. Jude had been so nervous to send her first owl home after arriving at Hogwarts her first year. She knew that her mother was going to be disappointed that she hadn't been sorted into Hufflepuff like her mother and her grandmother. True, her grandfather (who died before Jude was born) had been in Ravenclaw, but Jude could tell that her mother had her heart set on having her oldest daughter follow in her footsteps.

Jude herself sometimes wondered why she had been sorted in to Slytherin. Not that she thought she would have felt more at home in one of the other houses, but she had never felt very comfortable with the Slytherins . . .

Cassandra was finishing her description of the different houses. ". . . and people who are sorted into Slytherin are usually very -"

"-ambitious." Jude interrupted to say and tried to look like she was not upset by the conversation.

Cassandra looked a little surprised at Jude's description of Slytherin, but smiled quickly and said: "Yes, some very successful wizards have come out of Slytherin."

Avoiding Jude's eyes for a moment, Cassandra looked at the clock and said, "Oh, it certainly is late. Laura, you'd best go to bed now. Tomorrow is going to be a very exciting day."

"But Mum," Laura complained, "it won't take us that long to get to the station tomorrow."

"Bed!" Cassandra ordered.

When Laura finally went into the bedroom, Cassandra turned to Jude with a concerned look on her face. "Judith, you don't sound very excited about returning to school tomorrow. Don't you like Hogwarts?"

"Er, no Mum. It's fine."

"You know," Cassandra said with a small smile, "I may not be a telepath like your sister, but I am your mother and I can tell when you're not telling the truth."

"Well," Jude said slowly, "I am a little nervous about my new classes. I don't think that I'll be very good at Divination."

"Now there's something I can help with," said Cassandra, who worked as a Seer for the Ministry of Magic. She and several other witches who had the gift of Sight, spent their days cramped in tiny cubicles writing reports on the likely success of various proposed Ministry projects.

"You'll probably start with something simple, like tea leaves or palm reading," she continued. "Hmmm. . . Or maybe you'll do some simple astrology."

Jude watched her mother settle back in her chair. She had cut her hair recently, which made her look years younger. It was clear that some part of her liked working at the Ministry, but her hours were really long, and her work wasn't considered very prestigious. Half the women Cassandra worked with were closer to Cassandra's daughter's age than her own, because the job was generally considered a stopping off point for women who planned to marry and stop working.

Jude couldn't understand why her mother didn't try for a promotion. A promotion would certainly pay more, and their little flat was rather shabby. Jude knew the extra money would really help - especially since her father had stopped sending those checks. . .

Her mother kept talking to her about astrology. "As a Scorpio, you have a quiet exterior, but it conceals a very powerful personality. You may not always let people know how you feel, but you eventually get your own way," Cassandra smiled at her daughter. "We can do some palm reading if you want."

"No thanks, Mum." Jude watched Cassandra's smile falter and started to worry that she had hurt her feelings. "But, ah, can I send you an owl if I have any questions?" she stammered lamely.

"Of course, dear." Cassandra sighed. "Now why don't you run along to bed."

Later that night, listening to Laura, who was obviously too excited to sleep, toss and turn, Jude thought about her first night at Hogwarts. Her mother had given her the same sort of vague description of the Sorting Hat that she had just given to Laura before she left, making it sound as though the Hat acted as little more than a litmus test. Jude had been so shocked when the Hat started speaking to her that she almost fell off the stool.

Let's see, it had whispered let's see where you belong. Hmmm . . . I'm not really sure where to put you.

Just thinking back to that day made Jude sick to her stomach. She lay in bed, trying to think about something else, but the same doubting thoughts came back to her: What would things be like, she wondered, if the Hat had made a different decision? If Jude had convinced it to put her somewhere else?

* * *

Cassandra had remained sitting at the table after the girls had gone to bed.

It was clear that Jude didn't like school, but she refused to admit that she was having any problems. Cassandra knew that Jude had taken all of the money she had saved to Diagon Alley to buy herself a new wand. She couldn't help but feel guilty that she wasn't able to buy her daughters new things -- that she had to send them off to school with second-hand wands and robes.

She worried more about Jude than she did for Laura. Cassandra knew that there were plenty of students in some of the other houses whose families didn't have money, but the Slytherin students all seemed to come from much more affluent backgrounds.

She's probably just going through a rough patch, Cassandra tried to tell herself. After all, thirteen is such an awkward age.

And tempted as Cassandra was to use her Gift to assuage her concerns about her daughter, Cassandra had a personal policy not to "view" her daughters' futures. She had made only exception. During Jude's first year, Cassandra had deviated from her otherwise firm policy after hearing that Hogwarts children were being paralyzed. Eventually, Cassandra had taken a quick Look and determined that Jude was in no immediate danger, but she had resisted any long-term visions.

Last week's story in the Daily Prophet about the World Quidditch Cup also had Cassandra worried. The Ministry had her department working overtime since Death Eaters and the Dark Mark had been seen at the sporting event. Everyone wanted to know if there would there be more sightings. At least everyone knows that Hogwarts will be safe Cassandra thought. The presence of Professor Dumbledore and Mad Eye Moody at Hogwarts guaranteed the students' safety, so she couldn't imagine that Jude was worried about that.

She's probably just upset about regular school stuff, Cassandra concluded, standing up from the table. Too bad she didn't end up in Hufflepuff -- it was such a pleasant House. Cassandra sighed again and went to bed.

* * *

She was walking down a spiral stone staircase. She could barely see a meter in front of her face and she heard low chanting coming from somewhere below.

At the bottom of the stairs she stepped into a large vaulted chamber, which was lit only by the moonlight shining down the staircase behind her. When her eyesight adjusted, she could see the walls were lined with figures in dark, hooded robes. As she stepped into the room, they turned and bowed to her, making her feel welcome. She had never felt this accepted by her schoolmates or even her family.

The tallest figure detached himself from the rest and took hold of her arm. He pressed his wand to the skin above her wrist. She closed her eyes, but she could still smell the flesh burning. She just wanted to concentrated on the murmuring of the other figures around her - they were all so happy that she was there - but the pain as the mark was burned onto her skin was too much. . .

* * *

Jude didn't remember the strange dream when she set her satchel on the train platform and glanced around at all of the students saying goodbye to their parents the next morning. Even though she and her sister lived only a short underground ride from King's Cross station, they had arrived only minutes before the train was supposed to leave for Hogwarts.

The morning had been a hurried mess, as Cassandra couldn't find her wand. Jude got stuck braiding Laura's hair, which had taken forever, while their mother stalked around the apartment muttering to herself about the lost wand. Jude finally asked why she didn't perform a summoning charm to locate it, only to have her mother point out in a barely civil tone that she needed her wand to perform the charm. Jude shrugged her shoulders and used her own wand to perform the charm. Then, instead of thanking her, Cassandra lost her temper and asked (rather rudely) why Jude hadn't mentioned that she already knew how to perform a summoning charm.

Now on the train platform, Cassandra was fussing over Laura, and removing the awful lumps in her braids with her wand. When the satchels were transformed back into trunks, Jude barely had time to give her mother a quick peck on the cheek before the whistle sounded and she had to hurry onto the train.

"Isn't this just so exciting?" Laura gushed as she rushed off to speak to several other first years that she knew from primary school.

Jude was relieved that Laura's preoccupation meant she wouldn't have to force herself to feel enthusiastic. But she also felt a small twinge of jealousy as she saw her sister chatting with her friends. When Jude had first gone to Hogwarts, she had come straight from a non-magical school.

While her parents were married, they had raised Jude and Laura in the non-magical world (even now, the word "Muggle" made Jude wince). They knew that their mother was a witch, but somehow, like the fact that their father was an American, it just didn't affect their lives. But once Jude's father decided he wanted a divorce and moved back to America, Cassandra turned to her old Hogwarts friends for support. When Jude's Hogwarts acceptance letter arrived two months after her father left, Cassandra was so excited, Jude didn't even think to ask if she could go to the local public school. That same fall, Cassandra put Laura into a wizard primary school.

Jude settled herself into a carriage seat and opened a book she had been reading over the holidays: The Eager Wizard's Career Guide. She'd borrowed the book from the Hogwarts Library thinking that she could spend the holidays evaluating different wizarding careers, but the book had proven to be a disappointment. None of the careers mentioned in the book seemed particularly interesting. The Goblins had a stranglehold on the financial industry. Careers in business were limited: consumption was incredibly low because magic allowed wizards to create or at least indefinitely repair most consumer items.

Jude thought that she might have been interested in a government career, but her mother's job had shown her that the government was largely an inept bureaucracy where perfect fools could rise to positions of power. Cassandra and the other Seers reported to some silly bureaucrat named Pratt, who did not even have the gift of Sight. Pratt routinely rewrote their predictions to lend support projects he himself favored, often completely obscuring the meaning of his staff's visions in the process.

Why are some people such utter fools? Jude wondered, flipping through the pages of her book.

Wishing that she could have brought her Walkman with her, Jude watched the students who passed though the compartment looking for seats. With the light reflecting off her spectacle lenses, Jude hoped that her sister and her friends would assume that she was reading and not bother her.

Jude watched Laura chat animatedly with her friends. I bet her first year will be much different than mine, she thought to herself. Thank goodness for that!

When Jude was only a first year, a huge snake had roamed the school, trying to kill children of non-magical parents. At the time, everyone thought that Harry Potter, a Gryffindor, was controlling the snake. Jude had been so terrified that he would find out about her father that she had threatened Mandy Carbunkle, the only child of Cassandra's friends who was Hogwarts. She told Mandy that if she mentioned anything to anyone about Jude's father, Jude would let the entire school know that Mandy's parents had to bring her to a healer - at the age of ten - to stop her bed-wetting.

Mandy kept her promise and never told anyone that Jude's father was a Muggle, but Mandy also never forgave Jude for threatening her. Even after three years, Mandy still went out of her way to be rude to Jude.

Well, who cares about her? Jude thought spitefully. She's an insufferably boring little goody-goody anyway!

Jude noticed that Laura was looking at her oddly, so she immediately started to wonder, with unnatural intensity, which House was going to win the Quidditch Cup this year.

Later, when the snack cart came through and Laura's friends were busy buying sweets, Laura leaned over to Jude and whispered: "I don't really care for Mandy Carbunkle either."

Jude giggled and Laura started whispering a rambling story to Jude, the point of which seemed to be that Mandy's thoughts were just as boring as her outward personality. Laura soon got distracted by her friend Eleanor, who had just eaten a salted-herring flavored Bott's Every Flavor Bean.

"Honestly," Eleanor was complaining, "it looked just like the coconut one I had on Tuesday."

As the younger students ate sweets and swapped Famous Witches and Wizard cards (Jude checked, no one got the Dalai Lama -- sodding ethnocentric candy companies, she thought), Jude wondered how much of her first year memories Laura had heard.

Jude always wondered about the extent of Laura's gift. She knew that it was more difficult for her to "hear" people in large groups, or when they were more than just a few meters away. But Jude wondered what exactly Laura heard. Jude felt that most of the time that her own thoughts weren't all that articulate, so Laura clearly couldn't read them as she would, say, read a book. When Jude tried to ask Laura these questions, Laura just said that it was hard to explain.

Well at least that is an improvement over Mum, Jude thought. When I ask about her Sight, she acts as though I've asked her what she does in the toilet.

After the Famous Wizard Card trading was over, and Cornelius Fudge had been passed around countless times (who didn't have at least seven of those insipid cards - rotten Ministry propaganda!), Laura and her friends starting asking Jude questions about Hogwarts.

"Were you very scared last year when that convict escaped and was lurking around the school?" Eleanor asked.

Wanting to sound brave, Jude pretended that she hadn't spent the better part of last year trying to learn protection spells and answered "Not really."

"I heard that he escaped again after they finally caught him. Do you reckon he'll come back?" asked a pale-faced girl named Orla.

"Well," Jude said trying to act very nonchalant, "he did break into Gryffindor tower that one time. But I think that he was after Harry Potter. Or maybe it was one of those Weasley boys. Either way, I figured I am perfectly safe."

"Oooo. Do you know Harry Potter? What is he like?"

Jude paused a minute before answering. Having grown up outside of the magical world, Jude hadn't known anything about Harry Potter until she got to Hogwarts. When someone pointed him out to her in the Great Hall and told her the story about him and his parents, Jude hadn't thought much of it. That is, she thought it was a great story, but Harry wasn't exactly hero material. Twice Jude had seen him trip and fall over his own shoe laces, making her think that defeating You-Know-Who might have involved more than just a little luck.

"He seems pretty normal to me," Jude said, but the girls looked very disappointed. "A little messy, maybe." Jude added.

Orla and Eleanor seemed scandalized by this description of the Boy Who Lived. They practically shouting over each other's voices, trying to disagree with Jude.

"What do you mean, normal -- ?"

"Isn't he the best Quidditch player at school -- ?"

"Hasn't he saved other students from death?"

"Well, uh -- I mean, yes." Being a Slytherin, Jude wasn't used to hearing people saying flattering things about Harry Potter. Of course, the Gryffindors idolized him, but she just assumed that respect was motivated largely by irrational house pride.

Catching a strained look from Laura, Jude tried to defuse the situation. "I didn't mean that he hasn't done those things. I just meant that -- er -- he acts like a regular wizard."

"That's right," Laura chimed in. "Doesn't everyone think he acts like a regular wizard. In fact, didn't Teen Witch Weekly talk about his boy-next-door charm in the "Holiday Hogwarts Hotties" issue?"

The two girls had looked skeptical while Jude was talking, but Laura's comment made the two of them start nodding and Orla reach for her satchel.

"Oooo you're right. I have that issue right here. Have you seen the picture of Oliver Wood? I think it had been raining just before they took the picture, because you can see his clothes sticking to him and even see the outline of his --"

Before Orla could actually fish the magazine out of her bag, a prefect came into the car.

"You should really change into your robes. We'll be arriving soon," she said importantly and then continued into the next car.

Thank goodness, Jude thought. I am just going to pretend that the last word in Orla's sentence was going to be "chest"!

The girls rummaged through their trunks and started pulling on their robes, chatting all the while about the "Hogwarts Hotties" article. The issue had been published almost nine months ago, but young witches everywhere still loved to discuss it. Orla and Eleanor eventually changed the subject (slightly) and started talking about some cute boy from their primary school who was starting Hogwarts with them.

Aren't they a little young to be so obsessed with boys? Jude wondered to herself. Not that Jude hadn't noticed Draco Malfoy, another Slytherin who was a year ahead of her, when she had started at Hogwarts. But she certainly hadn't told anyone else that she thought he was good looking.

The rain that had only been a drizzle when Jude woke up that morning had turned into an absolute downpour by early evening. Jude pulled her cloak out of the trunk and wished she'd packed an umbrella.

Jude squeezed Laura's hand as the train slowed down. "Remember," she whispered, "all you have to do is put the hat on your head and it will make sure to put you with people that will be your friends."

Jude had to leave Laura when Hagrid started calling for the first year students. She gave Laura's hand one more squeeze and hoped that she had been reassuring. Then Jude lost sight of her in the crowd.

Fifteen minutes later Jude was fighting her way into the Great Hall, soaked to the skin. Having narrowly avoided the water balloons that Peeves hurled at several students, Jude considered herself lucky as she wrung her cloak out on the floor and took a seat at the Slytherin table.

She saw the Weasley twins across the Hall, throwing food at one another. She couldn't understand why no one seemed to be angry with them. Their stupid toilet prank had given every student hours of additional homework, but people were still very friendly to the two practical jokers.

"Incorrigible gits," Jude muttered under her breath.

"Good to see you, too," said Fama Loquacis as she slid into the seat next to Jude.

"Hallo, Fama. How were your holidays?" Jude asked.

"Oh they were uneventful. Spent with relatives in Italy, just like last summer, and the summer before that, and so on."

"Well, at least you got a nice tan out of the deal."

"Thanks," Fama smiled at Jude and then leaned over to whisper: "Have you heard about the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher? Dumbledore has brought in old Mad Eye Moody. They say he is ab-so-lute-ly barking mad!"

Fama waited to see how Jude reacted to her latest news. Jude found Fama's constant chatter a little annoying sometimes, but she didn't want to antagonize her. Fama was Jude's only friend at school, and even though she was a little shallow Fama could be fun sometimes, so Jude just let her gossip.

"Who?" Jude asked, giving Fama an opening to tell her all about Mad Eye Moody: his famous career as an Auror, and the latest incident with his dustbins. Jude knew all of this already, since Cassandra often related the Ministry rumors at dinner, but it made Fama happy when she was the first to spread good gossip.

Before Fama had a chance to finish her litany of Moody stories, the first years entered the Great Hall and the sorting began. The second student sorted, Malcolm Baddock, ended up in Slytherin. As her table cheered, Jude could hear the awful Weasley twins hissing.

Why does anyone like those asses? She thought to herself. That poor boy has only been at school for five minutes, and those nitwits are already hissing at him. He's done nothing to deserve that.

The next student called was Laura's friend Eleanor Branstone. She was placed in Hufflepuff. Jude tried to catch a glimpse of Laura, but couldn't see her.

Finally the hat got to the middle of the alphabet. "Madley, Laura" was announced.

Laura walked up to the to the stool and sat down. The hat was silent for one moment, then another. Finally it called out "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff table cheered and Laura walked toward it and sat down quickly. Jude ran over to the table to congratulate her. In the background she could hear Orla being sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Laura," Jude said trying to get her attention. When she finally got close enough, Jude caught her younger sister by the shoulders and gave her a hug. "Mum will be so proud," she gushed. "You have to send her an owl right away!"

Laura was staring at the floor.

"Laura, what's wrong?"

Finally she looked up, and Jude saw that there were tears in her eyes. "Oh, Jude. I wanted to be in Slytherin with you, but the Hat told me no. It kept saying that I wasn't suited for that house. It said someone with my heart should be in Hufflepuff."

"Oh, well," Jude said, her voice scratching the back of her throat, "the Hat knows that you have a very kind heart, so it thought you should be in Hufflepuff. Don't worry. You'll like it there. Remember all the stories that Mum told us about her friends? And we'll still see each other all the time. I promise."

"But you have a kind heart, and you aren't in Hufflepuff. It doesn't make sense."

"Look Laura," Jude said, trying to act the big sister part, "don't worry about that silly hat. You'll be happy no matter where you are. Okay? Besides, Eleanor is in Hufflepuff, too, and you two are friends..."

When Jude was finally convinced that Laura was going to be all right, she walked back over to the Slytherin table. I wonder if I do have a kind heart, she thought to herself, relieved that the large number of people in the room hid her thoughts from Laura.

Jude remembered the feeling of the Hat's brim falling over her face as if it had just happened. If only I had been thinking about something else when I put that silly hat on my head. I wonder if things would have been different . . . .

Jude ate her supper, preoccupied with that question, all the while pretending that Fama's gossip was very interesting. Luckily, Fama never expected more than a well-placed "hmm" when she was talking, so Jude was, as usual, free to pursue her own thoughts.

After the food was gone, Dumbledore stood up to speak. He was making some announcement about Quidditch, when the door burst open and the most frightening wizard Jude had ever seen came into the room.

"That's Moody," Fama hissed.

Jude felt as though she were staring at an auto accident. His eye, his leg. . . it was all so horrible, yet she couldn't look away. Jude didn't even listen to Dumbledore's announcement about the upcoming tournament. While everyone else in the Great Hall the other students were all buzzing about the Triwizard Tournament, but Jude was still thinking about Moody. Jude had heard stories from her mum about Moody, including the rumor about how he had a magical eye. She squinted at Moody, wondering if the crazy, rolling eye was the magical one. Or was it the one that looked normal? Suddenly both eyes focused on Jude. Jude quickly looked away.

"Er -- so did you meet any cute guys on holiday," Jude asked Fama.

Her friend's eyes lit up. "As a matter of fact, there was this one wizard, Fabio."

Jude knew how much Fama liked to talk about boys. Hoping to keep the conversation going and avoid having her eyes drawn back to Moody's horrible appearance, Jude asked a question she knew could keep Fama chatting for hours: "So tell me all about him."

"Well, he ab-so-lute-ly gorgeous . . ."

As Fama related the story of her first kiss with Fabio, Jude snuck a quick look at Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin Fourth Year. Although Draco wasn't necessarily the best looking wizard at Hogwarts (she could easily imagine Oliver Wood beating him in a wet t-shirt contest -- and then smiled quickly at the thought), there was something about Draco that Jude found very attractive.

As if he sensed her eyes on him, Draco looked up and gave Jude a smug smile.

Well, whatever he has going for him, I know it isn't his personality that I like, she thought angrily.

Assuming that she would be stuck listening to stories about the Fabulous Fabio for the better part of the term, Jude lagged behind Fama on the way to the Slytherin beginning of term party. Walking to the Slytherin common room, located deep in the bowels of the castle, Jude was behind two older students who were chatting in low voices. She just assumed that they were talking about the Triwizard Tournament until Goyle, a Fourth year, caught up to them and said: "So Macnair, guess your Dad had a good time at the Quidditch World Cup."

"Keep your voice down," one of the older students instructed him. Jude thought she recognized him as a Seventh Year. "As if your father was sitting home playing Canasta."

Jude had seen the newspaper accounts of the Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup. Could that be what these students were talking about?

Unfortunately, Goyle seemed to have listened to MacNair's warning and had lowered his voice. Jude couldn't hear anything else they were saying. She considered trying to sneak closer to hear more of their conversation, but they were walking right behind Draco Malfoy. Jude didn't feel like having to weather another superior look from him tonight. A lot of girls looked at Draco, and she didn't want him to think that she was part of his admiring horde -- whether it was true or not!

By then, the group arrived at the unremarkable patch of stone wall that concealed the secret door to the Slytherin common room.

"Gryffindor Sucks," the Slytherin prefect called out and the door opened.

Wow, I forget what an unimaginative lot this is, Jude thought to herself. For a house full of ambitious wizards we sure are insecure!

Jude walked through the common room and down the stairs to her dormitory, resigned to spending another year sleeping below ground.