Fate and Fatality

The hall seemed endless, but suddenly they were facing a great stone wall. Harry wondered why they were there for a moment. Then, Vivian called out something Harry didn't catch.

"What did she say?" he asked Ron.

"I think it was aprasi in gnome dee..."

A girl next to them giggled. Ron looked at her, annoyed.

"It's Aprasi in nome di Tharsis..." she said, not giggling any more under Ron's fierce look.

Before Ron could say anything rash, Harry smiled at the girl.

"Thanks!" He said, in a pointedly cheery.

He turned back to the wall to find that there was no wall there. People were flooding through the wide doorway. He followed the crowd in, and then up and around a narrow circular stairwell. They went up about two flights when they came to a large platform. The only thing to do now was go through a plain door directly ahead.

By now, most of the people were already through. Harry, Ron, and Hermione took a collective breath of anticipation and stepped through.

Harry's immediate reaction was relief, then joy. The common room was large and comfortable looking. There was a fireplace, one at each end of the circular room, surrounded by deep blue armchairs. Harry noticed that everything was in a shade of blue or an occasional blue-green or black accent piece. There was ample floor space, and some students were already sprawled around the floor, chatting happily. The first years and Hogwarts students waited around, unsure of what to do. Where were their rooms?

In answer to that, Morgan called out, "All new girls, come with me! All new boys, go with Rob!"

Harry and Ron joined the rest of the group of boys, which veered off to the left. Hermione and the other girls went right. Harry saw Ron roll his eyes as some girls squealed when they saw the baby Morgan was still holding. Morgan smiled tiredly and handed the baby to Vivian, who smiled and squeezed Morgan's hand before moving off to sit with some other students near the crackling fire in the fireplace. Harry moved through the door before he could see more. He found himself in a small foyer with three doors. Rob looked around to make sure everyone was in. As soon as they were, he began to speak.

"Welcome to Donovan. Alright, pay attention, or else you're gonna end up lost. Boys in grades 1-3, your rooms are downstairs, which is the door to the left. Boys in grades 4-5, you go straight through the middle door. Boys in grades 6-7, you go upstairs through the door on the right. Now, as you go down the hall, look at the doors, your last names will be on them. This is temporary, so remember the number on your doors! Oh, and, one other thing... We need to meet in the Common Room in an hour, at about nine. Alright, go find your rooms..."

Harry and Ron went downstairs. As they reached the hallway, someone let out a soft exclamation of "Wow..."

The hallway was long, almost as long as the first. Door lined each side, spaced enough apart for Harry to understand their rooms must be substantially large. Harry and Ron started down the hall. The small mob of boys diminished. About halfway down the hall, Harry saw Ron's last name on a door, under the number 642.

Ron disappeared through it with a quick goodbye. Harry continued. A few more paces brought him to his own door, number 661. Harry slowly opened the door, unsure of what to expect.

As he saw the room for the first time, he breathed a sigh of relief. To be sure, it was plain, but it was very spacious. A four poster bed stood in one corner next to a fireplace. Over the mantle hung a portrait in which Tharsis smiled down on him. On the other side of the room stood a wardrobe and a desk, over which were three bookshelves. His trunk was sitting before the wardrobe. He closed the door behind him. As he did, he heard a soft hooting. He looked up to see Hedwig sitting comfortably on a perch that extended from the wall, preening her feathers. Harry smiled. He turned away and walked slowly over to the window, glancing at the clock on the mantle piece as he did so. It was a little past eight. He needed to be in the common room at nine. That was plenty of time to unpack. He glanced out of the large bay window. It was too dark to see much. He sank onto the window seat for a moment.

Hedwig chose that moment to screech and swoop out of the open window, right past Harry's face, cuffing him. Although sure it was an accident, Harry made a face at her as she flew off.

"Don't get your feathers all in a bunch, daft bird. I haven't done anything to you!" he called after her.

Harry moved to his wardrobe where the trunk lay. Pulling it open, he first took all of his books and piled them messily on the desk. Next came his robes, which he hung in the wardrobe somewhat neatly. His socks went into one drawer. Everything else was jumbled into another. He laughed at the sight of the drawer. How was he ever going to find anything? With a sigh, he took it all back out and tried to sort it neatly. His sneakoscope, still wrapped in Uncle Vernon's old socks, went with the rest of his socks. Rolls of parchment went in a spacious drawer in the desk. Quills were stored in a smaller drawer, along with his ink bottles. Harry stood and glanced at the pile that looked very much diminished now. All that was left were a few odds and ends, such as his broomstick servicing kit and a small bag of owl treats.

Harry left the pile for later, and decided to start on his books. He pushed as many as he could onto the highest shelf, and the rest filled only half the lower shelf.

Harry had become so absorbed in his work that he was startled to hear the knock on the door. Ron's head appeared in the room.

"Harry, c'mon mate! It's five to nine, we've got to be upstairs."

Harry dropped his school bag and followed Ron out the door. As he went to close it behind him, he noticed that many others were filtering out of their rooms, too. A few seconds after his door clicked shut, his scar stung. It was only a flash of pain, but it was enough to make Harry clap his hand to his forehead.

"Ouch!"

Ron turned. "What's wrong? C'mon, we'd better get moving. Wouldn't want to be late, especially if that Morgan girl is in charge. Her expression reminds me of McGonagall's- without all the wrinkles, of course!"

Laughing, they continued to the common room. Most of the Hogwarts students were there. Harry sat as far from Malfoy as he could. Hermione joined them seconds later. With her was a girl Harry had never seen before. She was medium height like Hermione, and had waist length light brown hair. Her eyes were gray, but not like cold steel, there were warm and sparkling. She had a solid, rather curvy figure. She seemed friendly enough. Hermione cleared her throat.

"This is Mandy. She's a sixth year."

"Hi!" said Mandy, rather breathlessly.

"This is Ron, my boyfriend," Hermione said, pointing to him. "And this is Harry."

"Ron and Harry. I can remember that!" Mandy laughed. "I have the worst memory of anyone I know."

She should meet Neville Longbottom... Harry thought with a wry smile. Mandy caught his eyes. Her eyes flicked to his forehead predictably as she glimpsed his scar. Harry braced himself for an earful.

"So it's Harry Potter, is it?" she smiled, not speaking any louder. "Glad you're in my house! I'd hoped you were going to end up coming to America when I heard about some students transferring for the year. I feel simply awful for you! You must feel terrible about what's happened."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked at her sharply.

"What do you know about what's happened?"

Mandy looked shocked. "They haven't told you?"

"No." Ron said in disbelief. "But how do you know about it?"

"My mother works in the International Wizarding Cooperation Office. She heard it from someone on your end, I believe."

"Can you tell us about it?" Hermione asked in a low voice.

Mandy glanced at the front of the room. Robert was shuffling through some papers on a table, while Vivian glanced over his shoulder, occasionally making a remark that Harry couldn't hear because of the conversation all around him. Morgan was nowhere to be seen. Mandy turned back to them, speaking in a low voice as well.

"Alright, I'll tell you what I can before-"

But before she could say anything more, Robert apparently found what he was looking for and straightened up.

"Could I have everyone's attention, please?"

Mandy shut her mouth and was silent, but if the rest of the students were any quieter, Harry didn't see a difference.

"Everyone shut up!" a female voice called from the door to the girls' rooms. Morgan stood in front of it. Apparently she had just walked through. The voices died.

"Thank you." Robert continued, throwing Morgan a look between amused and exasperated. "We gathered you here because we need to discuss your schedules. Fifth year Donovans will have probably heard most of this before, but the Hogwarts students have not, so I need you to be quiet. Morgan-" he gestured to Morgan "-is going to talk to you about the different classes, and Viv-" he gestured to Vivian "will explain how your schedule will work. Before they start, I'm going to pass out papers. Read them over while you listen, and scribble notes if you need to."

The sounds of shuffling papers began. Morgan waited until it stopped, her eyebrows raised, her arms folded. When it was quiet again, she began to speak.

"Like Robert said, I'm going to talk to you about the different classes, and also about your majors for fifth years and up. At Hogwarts, after you have passed the O.W.L.s, you need not take a class if you don't need it, or don't want to. It works similarly here, except that we take exams similar to the O.W.L.s at the end of fourth year. They're called the F.E.A.T.s. That stands for Final Examinations and Accumulative Testing. After that, the students select their majors."

She glanced around. Some of the students looked confused. Morgan sighed and smiled tiredly, unfolding her arms from across her chest.

"I'm sure you are all just getting more confused listening to me." Some students laughed nervously. "There are two majors at Donovan, Wand Work and Natural Magic. I happen to major in Wand Work, which consists of Advanced Transfiguration, Advanced Charms, Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Advanced Magical Theory. Natural Magic consists of Advanced Astronomy, Advanced Potions, Advanced Herbology, and Advanced Care of Magical Creatures."

Harry felt slightly confused. This wasn't that much different from Hogwarts, but the topic of majors caught him off guard. Hermione looked over at him and smiled, correctly reading his worried expression.

"It'll be okay, Harry. You'll do fine, whatever you choose."

Harry just nodded. For once he was grateful for Hermione's ability to tell what he was thinking. He was dimly aware of Viv standing up.

"Now, there are those of you wishing to pursue a career which requires more classes then those mentioned in one major, or perhaps you want to take classes from both majors. Each student's schedule allows for two extra classes each term. Those classes will not be advanced in nature, but they will not be behind your year. Also, there is space for one to three electives, if you have free time on weekends and nights. What you need to do now is decided which major you will choose to pursue. Tomorrow the rest of the schedules will be filled out by yourselves."

He would have to go with Wand Work, then. He could probably use up an extra class with Care of Magical Creatures, which he had always liked. Then there was the choice of electives, which Harry hadn't even seen yet. He imagined Hermione taking more than she could handle, even if she thought she could. He remembered back to third year when she had needed a time turner to get to all her classes. Harry smiled. It had helped him get Sirius to safety at the end of the year, as well as saving Buckbeak, not to mention himself.

"Harry!"

A voice broke into his thoughts. He looked up to see Ron, his hand extended. Harry grasped it and stood. The students were crowded around two tables. Harry felt Hermione tap him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her.

"Are you going for Wand Work, or for Natural Magic?" she asked excitedly.

"Err- Wand Work, I suppose."

"Ooo! Me too Harry. Ron as well! Come on, we'd better get up there, or we'll be here all night!"

Harry realized what the tables must be. They were places to sign up for their majors. Harry and Ron followed Hermione to one table. To Harry's immense displeasure, Draco Malfoy was among the Wand Work crowd too. After a few moments of Hermione bouncing on her tiptoes to see, they were at the table. Harry took the quill and hastily signed his name under the long list of names already written. After Ron and Hermione had done the same, Ron kissed Hermione goodnight, much to Harry's displeasure, and then he and Ron headed off to their own rooms.