Second Chances

As they walked into the Great Hall, Erin was definitely not in a good mood. She sat down at the Gryffindor table with Janey. A boy, about seventeen, handed them both schedules. Then he looked closer at them. "Hey, weren't you two Slytherins last night?"

"We were," snapped Erin, "but the hat said it made a mistake and put us here instead."

"Whoa, touchy," said a second boy, completely identical to the first. Turning to Janey, he added, "What's got into her?"

"She had a crush on one of the Slytherins," said Janey. "And I think he likes her back."

Erin sighed dramatically as she picked up her schedule. "What's today again?"

"Sunday," said yet another boy. This boy looked as though he could have been the first two's brother.

"Well, we have nothing today," said Erin. "C'mon, let's go up to the common room."

The two girls went into their new dormitories, where their things had been transferred. Erin flopped onto her bed with a sigh and flicked open the book she was reading. It was one that a friend at her old school had given her; a book called The Good Earth. She was only on chapter three, and already she could see why her friend had wanted so desperately to get rid of it. She was interrupted when four other girls came in.

"Hi!" said the first. "Let's have a get-to-know-each other party. I brought six of the biggest chocolate chip brownies from downstairs, so let's start getting to know each other!"

The other five girls sat on Erin's bed. Laughing, Erin said, "I'm Erin. Erin Sullivan."

"My God! Erin! It is you!" cried one girl, pushing forward a little. "I'm Ashley Soblotne--remember me?"

"Ash! How could I forget you?" cried Erin. To the other girls she added, "We were friends at our old school."

The first girl nodded. "Well, I'm Alexis. Alexis Finnigan."

"You're older brother goes here, doesn't he?" asked Janey, who had been getting to know some of the older boys.

Alexis nodded. "His name's Seamus."

Janey winked a little at Erin. "I'm Margaret Thatcher."

"You're joking," said one of the girls shakily.

"Yup," giggled Janey. "Man, you guys are good. My name is Mary Jane Sanders. Please call me Janey."

"Okay, Miss Wise Guy," said another girl. "I'm Princess Victoria Kawekiu Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Kaiulani Cleghorn, but you can call me Tory. Or Kaiulani, which I like better."

"Very funny, I get the picture," said Janey.

"No, that's actually my name," insisted Kaiulani.

"Ooookay," said the only girl left. "Now I feel left out. You guys all have cool, exotic names, and what do I get stuck with? Juliana Elisabeth Swystun, or Julie for short."

"You call that dull and boring?" said Erin incredulously.

The next morning, Kaiulani woke all the girls early. The night before, she had asked Alexis's older brother Seamus for directions to the hall, and they didn't want to be late for breakfast. Erin got up and joined the girls to walk down to the hall. She marvelled at how fast she'd become used to being a Gryffindor. She realised that she'd never really felt right as a Slytherin, but she still loved Draco.

An hour and three miles later, they rose yet another staircase, turned yet another corner, and found themselves on an unfamiliar landing. Ashley pushed her bangs out of the way and peered at the piece of paper. "Alexis, how do you read your brother's handwriting?" she asked. She had a way of saying her R's, more like W's than R's. "It's sloppier than mine."

"Please tell me you weren't holding them upside down," begged Kaiulani.

"No, I'm not," said Julie, offended. "I just can't read this next line."

The other five girls bent over the instructions and looked where Julie was pointing. It was Erin who finally puzzled it out. "Go up the flight of stairs beside the painting of a stretch of grass that may or may not have a fat pony, possibly with a knight, in it," she read.

"There it is!" said Alexis, pointing. Sure enough, a stretch of grass lay nearby, and a fat pony was grazing on it. Relieved, the six girls ran up the tightly spiralling steps. Finally, they emerged onto a landing at the very top. Only one thing was up there-a trapdoor.

"Is that where the Great Hall is?" queried Janey.

Erin shook her head. "It says, 'Sibyl Trelawny, Divination Teacher."

"Remind me to choke my brother," said Alexis.

The instructions ended there, so they went back down. Now there was more in the picture than just a pony and grass. A knight was there, who had obviously just fallen off the pony. It saw them, and swung his sword at them, shouting frantically. In his enthusiasm, he fell over. He used the sword to push himself up, but it became embedded in the ground. After giving the sword several fruitless tugs, he sat down.

Janey had a sudden inspiration. "Hey, do you know the way to the Great Hall?"

"A quest!" The knight seemed excited. "This way, if you please!"

When they couldn't see him, they followed the sound of his clanking armour. He led them on for what seemed like five miles but was probably only two, and then stopped in one painting and pointed. There were the golden doors they knew to be the Great Hall.

"Farewell, my comrades-in-arms!" cried the knight. "If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call on Sir Cadogen!"

"Yeah, we'll call you," said Ashley, shaking her head as the knight clanked away, "if we ever need someone mental."

"Come on," said Erin. "Let's go get breakfast. After that long hike, I'm starving."

As she said this, the doors of the hall burst open. "Cool!" exclaimed Alexis and Janey in unison.

"Not cool!" exclaimed the other four as they flattened against the wall