Trading Magic for Fact

She's alive but feels absolutely nothing. So is she?
When she was six she believed that the moon overhead followed her, by nine she had deciphered the illusion, trading magic for fact.

Part 1: Come As You Are

Come as you are, as you were,
As I want you to be,
As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy.

As the Hogwarts Express arrived at its destination, Harry Potter and his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley filed onto the train platform along with the rest of the students. They were returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their sixth year, and considering the excitement of the past five years, their remaining time at Hogwarts was bound to be just as eventful. Two years ago Voldemort had returned, and he would no doubt still be looking to cause trouble every chance he got. Since their last encounter Harry's scar hadn't hurt all too much, thankfully.

"Good to be back again, I suppose," said Ron. "Too bad classes just keep getting harder."

"I've already started studying," Hermione replied. "I spent the summer doing a good amount of reading."

"Figures."

Harry smiled at the two, same as always. He watched Hagrid gather the first years and noticed three students that seemed much older than the other eleven-year-olds. "Do they look old to you, too?" he asked his friends.

"I bet they're transfer students," said Hermione with a nod. "Wherever they're from, I can't wait to learn about their school."

"Learning really is all you think about." Ron motioned to the direction of the crowd. "C'mon then, let's get a carriage."

*~*~*~*

"Why do I feel like an outsider?"

"Because you are. We are. We're three Americans among all of these students. We speak differently, we act differently, we do magic differently. I really don't think this transfer thing was a good idea."

"Not like we had a choice in the matter."

The three outsiders walked into the Great Hall with the first years, the trio wanting to hide when all the other students turned to watch them.

Professor Dumbledore stood. "Returning students, I hope you've all had good summers, and to the new, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I would also like to welcome Professor Lupin who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts once again." He paused as the students clapped and Lupin stood. "Also, this year we've received some transfer students from the Salem Witches' Institute. I want everyone to understand that they are here to learn from you, and so you can learn from them. Very good, then, Professor McGonagall."

Professor McGonagall rose and moved forward, unrolling a parchment. "All students will be sorted into one of the four Houses, and you will treat your House as family. Sixth year transfers first, followed by the first years." She cleared her throat. "Alexander, Evangeline."

Evangeline moved forward, practically bouncing onto the stool. The Sorting Hat settled on her curly shoulder length black hair and sat there for awhile. "You're new," it told her. "No heritage in you…well, let's see…oh, I know. GRYFFINDOR!" Evangeline rushed to the Gryffindor table, wanting to be out of sight.

"Corin, Gabriel."

Gabriel was nearly six feet tall, and it took him just a few steps to get to the front of the Hall. The Hat perched on his spiked brown hair a moment before screaming, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Llewellyn, Diviana."

The third girl was petite, and her robes covered her feet entirely, making it impossible to see her take actual steps. As she sat on the stool, the Sorting Hat hmphed over what to do with her. "You're different…loyal as you are, and rather smart, but it's not so much booksmarts, is it? You have courage…perhaps Gryffindor then. But wait. What's this? You've got a strong will to succeed, lots of ambition in you. I know exactly where you should go… SLYTHERIN!"

Diviana stood and glided to the Slytherin table, sitting in an empty spot.

*~*~*~*

Hermione made room for the new students. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced herself. "This is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."

"I'm Gabe, and this is Vange. It's nice to meet you." Gabe smiled shyly. He was beginning to feel a little better about the new school.

"I've read that magic overseas is different," Hermione told them. "You have to tell me everything about it."

Vange shrugged. "It's just little things. They don't need explanation…I mean, you'll see soon enough."

"We don't know anything about what happens here though," Gabe said. "We feel a bit out of place and all. I want to know about Slytherin."

Ron groaned. "What's there to know? They're all a bunch of gits, headed by the greasiest git of them all, Snape." He motioned to the Potions Master sitting at the professors' table. "He teaches Potions, and he is just plain nasty."

"Creepy guy," muttered Vange. "He's their Head of House?"

"Yeah. He hates everyone, Harry especially, right?" Ron poked Harry to get his attention back. "Oy, you with us?"

"Sorry, just…the other girl that was sorted to Slytherin, she keeps staring right at us," he explained.

They all turned to look. Sure enough, she broke the gaze quickly, turning to Draco Malfoy.

"That's our friend Divia. We were hoping she'd be sorted with us, but she has different priorities and the such," Gabe told them quietly. "She's the reason I wanted to know about Slytherin."

"She's got priorities like a Slytherin, and you're friends with her?" Ron frowned. "That's crazy if you ask me."

Vange shot him a look. "At our school Houses don't typically define how you act. Divvy was in Sangrebane, and she's very nice once you get to know her."

"If you say so."

Hermione leaned forward, excited to hear anything of Salem. "What are the other Houses then?"

"Well, there aren't really equivalents to those here since we're sorted differently. I was in Zepheneph," she responded. "Gabe was in Penndraconus and then there's Aquemini and of course Sangrebane." Vange was amazed that Hermione was so interested. She would most definitely be excited to see them in action, and Vange wouldn't mind teaching her a thing or two.

*~*~*~*

Draco Malfoy quickly shoved Crabbe and Goyle down the table to make room for the new sixth year. "Congratulations on making Slytherin," he told her. "You're among the best here. I'm Draco Malfoy." She only smiled, red creeping into her cheeks as Draco gave her a once-over. "I bet you're nervous, being new and all. I'll show you around, and you can sit with me in classes. Diviana, is it? That's a beautiful name."

"Thank you, Divia's just fine though. I appreciate your offer, and I accept," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Can I ask you something?" She motioned across the Hall. "What can you tell me about Gryffindor House?"

Draco sneered. "They're too proud and full of themselves, especially Potter."

"The Boy Who Lived," she said, nearly on reflex.

"Don't tell me you're a member of the American fan club…"

She turned her stare from Harry to look Draco over. "The 'good boy' gimmick gets a little old after awhile…rather boring and unattractive. Don't you think?"

His sneer faded into a smile. "Most definitely."

*~*~*~*

Divia crept through the Slytherin common room, leaving through the blank stone wall that guarded it. Draco had mentioned that Snape prowled around at night, she'd have to watch out for him. She moved upstairs and kept going. As they had all rushed to leave the feast, Vange had managed to grab her arm and whisper, "Seventh floor behind the Fat Lady. Fire imps." She looked up to see the sets of stairs rearranging themselves. Seven floors, she thought. They'd better love me dearly after this.

Her hand passed smoothly over the green patch on her robes, turning the emblem into that of Gryffindor. She then began at her chin and moved her hands over face and through her hair. Reaching her destination, Divia grimaced at seeing the fat lady asleep. "Excuse me," she whispered. "Fire imps." The painting barely awoke and swung open, allowing her entry to Gryffindor Tower. Gabriel and Vange sat by the fire in the common room, waiting for her.

"Wow, good job getting by undetected," Gabe congratulated her. "You look just like the Prefect we met today."

"She's a Prefect? Even better, I can walk around and get into less trouble at night. What's her name?"

"Hermione Granger. She's an extremely good student, so watch what you do if you take her image." Gabe patted the cushion of the chair next to him. "Sit and tell us how you're doing."

Divia complied, relaxing against the high backed chair. "I'm exactly where I need to be, and that hat did what it was supposed to. I had to come up from the dungeons to see you, so be happy I made the eight flights alive…how exhausting."

"Did you find him?"

"Vange, he found me. This is going to be easier than I thought. You should've seen how quickly he started ignoring this girl, Pansy, once I sat down. I figure it'll be official by the Holiday Ball, and then I'll see what I can do with him."

"Remember we're here, and we'll do what we can to help you," Vange reassured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful though. We haven't heard such great things about Slytherin, and especially not about anyone named Malfoy."

"I already know Malfoys are bad, that's why we're here. As for the whole House, they're just like the jerks at home, with a really creepy Head of House. I'm going to see what I can find out about him as well." She paused. "You two are willing to take some falls for me, right?"

"As long as you're willing to keep us informed, Divvy. We know it'll look odd if you hang around us, since we're kind of friends with Harry Potter, so we should meet here once in a while if you can stand the extra Glamour spell."

"It's no problem. This is better than in public. Draco would never trust me if he saw me with you. Hopefully by next year we can just be regular students again. I can rest easy."

"We all will."

She nodded and stood, holding onto her disguise until she reached the dungeons. Classes started tomorrow.