The New Scar

Chapter One:

Letters. They seem so harmless. After all, they're just pieces of paper right? It's not as if they can hurt you right? Well, in my opinion, whoever said that couldn't be farther from the truth. I got a letter that gave me more pain than I could withstand.

Dear Ms. McGerald,

We are delighted to inform you that you have been carefully chosen to be part of our student exchange program. The heads of Shawmain School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have spoken with the heads of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in London. You will be arriving at King's Cross Station at 10:30 am on the first of September. As you are entering your fifth year, you may be behind on a few studies, but we have every confidence that you will succeed.

Best Regards,

Professor Matheison

Professor Matheison

I received this letter two weeks before September first. I read and reread it. I kept checking the name, just to make sure that it was mine. I couldn't believe it. They were taking me away from the one thing that made my life worth living! Every year after I left Shawmain School, I went to live with muggles. They weren't mean. They fed and clothed me after my parents died. But I couldn't stand them. They just didn't understand anything about anything in the wizarding world. I missed talking to my friends about the next Quidditch match. (I'm a keeper.) I missed waving my wand, reading about unicorns, dragons, and other magical creatures. My world was alive when I was at Shawmain. Now, I had to go to London?!

I showed the letter to the muggles. (Ann and John). They understood the words, "exchange", and "London."

"Well," John said while scratching his head. "Are we supposed to take you to London?"

"I guess so." I answered. "You could probably just drop me off at King's Cross Station and I'll find out how to get there."

Ann looked at me and smiled. Her older sister was a witch, but Ann was out of the loop entirely when it came to magic. But she wanted me to succeed in the wizarding world. That's what I love about Ann. She wants me to be happy.

"Better go pack," she said.

I smiled and walked out of the room.

As I got to the front hallway, I noticed a piece of paper on the floor. I picked it up and it had a coat of arms on it. It had an "H" in the center so I figured that it must be from Hogwarts. It was folded in thirds. I unfolded it and a square of paper that looked like a train ticket fell out. I caught it before it hit the floor. It said "Platform 9 ¾".

I looked to the piece of paper and it was a list of items that I needed as a fifth year at Hogwarts. I had already gotten the items for my fifth year, so I disregarded it.

I walked up to my room and picked up my wand. Unicorn hair, mahogany, 8 inches. I loved my wand. It had gotten me out of so many scrapes at school. I just hoped that it would be just as good at Hogwarts.

Across my room sat my owl, Arella. She was probably my best friend, even compared to my friends at Shawmain. She was a snowy owl. I could always depend on her to carry my mail wherever. I didn't use muggle-mail because I didn't know anyone in the muggle world. Arella hooted lovingly and looked at me with her blue eyes.

I set down my wand and walked over to her cage. I always kept her cage open. I felt that she should have the freedom to come and go as she pleases. I could trust that if she left in the middle of the night, she would come back to me. I could tell that she loved me.

I sat down in my desk chair and watched as Arella fluttered out of her cage. I fed her some frozen mice that I had gotten at the pet store. She hooted after she was finished as if to say that she was done.

I chuckled under my breath and stroked her back.

"You can forget about seeing Olympus. We're not going to Shawmain this year."

At the name Olympus her eyes narrowed. Believe it or not, Arella was in love. It was with Olympus, my friend Henry's owl. He was a young barn owl. He and Arella always picked perches next to each other in the school owlry. I hated to break her heart, but it seemed that I had no choice.

She walked back into her cage and put her head under her wing. If she could cry, I knew that she would.

I walked back over to my trunk. I sat down by it. When I looked in, I saw my Shawmain robes. They were dark purple and made out of a velvet material. They had a huge red "S" on the left breast. I lifted them out and set them on my bed. I wouldn't need them this year.

After I had set my robes on my bed two owls flew in through my window. They both landed on my bed. One was carrying a parcel, and one was carrying an envelope. I reached for the parcel first, but the owl carrying it nipped at my finger. I tried again, but it hooted loudly, making me recoil. The noise must have gotten the attention of John and Ann. They ran up the stairs and appeared in my doorway.

"I've got mail," I said to them and shrugged.

They stepped cautiously into my room. Ann was guiding John at his backside. She knew about owl post, but John was still a little repellent to it. The last time I had an owl come to the house, it regurgitated its lunch all on the living room floor. John cleaned it up as Ann and I read the letter.

I again tried to reach for the parcel, but the owl almost bit my finger off.

"He wants water for his journey back," Ann said. She went over to Arella's cage and lifted out her water bowl. (Arella didn't mind. She was still "crying").

Ann put the bowl in front of the owl. He slowly stepped off of the parcel, eyeing all of us and finally dipped his head down. The other owl also released its burden and put its beak in the water.

I picked up the parcel and placed it in my lap. As I opened it, a letter fell out. Ann picked it up as I opened it the rest of the way. It was a Hogwarts uniform the robes had a coat of arms on the left breast. It was folded neatly. I pulled it out and laid it out on my bed. They were a little different than my Shawmain robes. They were black and there was a cloak to them that looked very comfortable. And, to my surprise, a skirt. I wasn't used to dresses or things like that. At Shawmain, everyone, even the girls wore jeans, a white shirt and the velvet robes. Boy was I going to have to get used to new things.

Ann told me that the letter was from a Minerva McGonagall saying that this was the uniform that I had to wear, and saying that she was looking forward to seeing me at Hogwarts.

My attention quickly turned to the other letter. Nothing was written on the envelope, but I noticed that there was something else in it other than a letter. It looked like a book, but it was about an inch big, much too small for a book.

I opened it. And I looked in. Sure enough, there was a book. It was so small though. I unfolded the letter and read it.

Cassie McGerald,

I can't wait for you to come to Hogwarts. I have always interested in America and Americans. Yes I will miss Parvati, that's the girl who is being transferred to your school. But I can't wait to meet you. You'll be in Gryffindor with me. Professor McGonagall told me that I should be the one to tell you.

By the way, here's a book for you. It's called Hogwarts: A History. I've already read it loads of times. It'll help you to understand Hogwarts better. I've got to run. Please send an owl back to me with the one that gave you the letter.

Sincerely,

Hermione Granger

P.S. the spell to make the book bigger is...

And then there was a word that looked a lot like Latin. I picked up my wand and pointed it at the book. I said the word and the book grew really fast. It was slightly large, about 3 or 4 inches wide. I love to read, I'd probably get it done in a few days.

"Who's it from Cassie?" Ann asked me.

"A girl named Hermione Granger. Apparently she knows what house I'm going to be in." Gryffindor must be a house at Hogwarts.

I hurried over to my desk and wrote a reply:

Hermione,

Thanks for the book. I'll probably have it done with by the time that I see you at Hogwarts. You sound really nice.

By the way, do you have a Quidditch team at Hogwarts? I'm going to need something to do to keep my mind off of home. Is the keeper position open? I don't mean to boast, but I'm a pretty good keeper.

See you at Hogwarts,

Cassie McGerald

I folded the paper and put it into an envelope. I gave it to her owl and he took off without another hoot.

As for the other owl, he had taken off while I was writing my letter. John had been standing over in the corner of my room.

Finally, he spoke up. "So, what'd I miss out on?"

I looked at him and smiled. "I've got a friend already."

<*>

The next two weeks were sort of blended together. John bought Ann and I plane tickets to get to London. He said that he would be out of the way if he stayed at home. Ann made me try on my uniform to see if it would fit. (We both knew that it would.) And I read Hogwarts: A History. I think that I read it twice.

On the day that we left on the plane for London, I felt sick to my stomach. It felt like there was a basilisk cruising my small intestine. Ugh.

As Ann and I sat down on the plane, people kept staring at my right arm. I looked at it and saw my scar. It wasn't a big deal. It was just really strangely shaped. It was thin and stretched up to my inner elbow. A lot of people say that it resembles a lightning bolt. I guess that it does, sort of. I usually wore long-sleeved shirts so that people wouldn't ask me about it. I hated explaining that I didn't know how it got there. But today, it was particularly hot, and I wore a short-sleeved shirt.

I looked out the window and couldn't wait until we passed over the ocean. I looked over at Ann. She was so excited. She was almost bouncing up and down in her seat, she was so happy.

"Isn't this exciting?" she asked me.

"Well," I said. "I'm just going to school."

Ann looked at me and smiled so big that it looked like it hurt. "Hogwarts is a great school. My sister visited there for a while when she was young. It's amazing! You are so lucky to be going there."

I gave her a weak smile and looked back out the window. Then I felt a pain in my arm. I thought that my scar was acting up again, but it was Ann's hand.

She looked at me with what looked like sympathy. "You really don't know who is there do you?"

"Should I?" I asked. But then I said, "You know what? I don't really care who goes there. I just want this year to be over as quickly as possible."

Ann released my arm and sat back in her seat. I looked back out the window. I heard Ann mutter something.

Then she said, "Harry Potter goes there."

"Who the hell is Harry Potter?" I asked. But before I found out my answer, the Atlantic Ocean spread out under the plane.

<*>

I realized that I had fallen asleep when Ann woke me up. We were half an hour from landing. Ann insisted on doing something with my hair. I could tell that she was bored out of her mind. I agreed and pulled out Quidditch Through the Ages and started to read it for the 7^th time. After Ann started on my hair I realized that she was putting it into two French braids. That was okay. Just as long as she didn't experiment with my shoulder-length hair. I couldn't stand when she did that. It was always obvious when she didn't know what she was doing. She knew that with just a flick of my wand, I could braid it just as quickly. But I didn't say anything. She enjoyed herself when she was doing something with her hands. It was always kind of funny when she and John quarreled. She usually went to the sink and vigorously scrubbed the pots and pans. (Even if they didn't have anything on them to clean off.)

Almost immediately after she was done, the pilot told us to fasten our seatbelts. Ann and I did, and the plane touched down.

We got off of the plane, and went out into London, England. It felt very strange coming from El Paso, Illinois, to Britain.

Ann waved a cab over. The cabbie helped me load my things into the trunk of the cab. Arella objected to being shoved into the trunk. So, I took her from the cabby's hands and placed her in the backseat.

"King's Cross Station please," Ann said to the cabbie.

We pulled out into the busy street. I checked my watch. It said 10:15. I had 15 minutes before...before... I didn't even know what was going to happen at 10:30. Was I going to meet someone?

After we got to the station, I unloaded my belongings onto a cart.

"You sure that you don't want me to see you off?" Ann said as she took my hands.

"Positive." I said. I pulled her into a hug and then let go. "See you in May."

Ann looked shocked. "You're not coming home for Christmas?"

"You said that I should give the place a chance." I hugged her again and watched her leave in the cab.

I walked into the station and strolled around for a while. While I walked, I thought. If getting onto the platform for the train to Hogwarts was anything like getting onto the train to Shawmain, I knew what to do. But if it wasn't, I don't know how stupid I would look if I walked straight into a wall.

I looked for platforms 9 and 10. When I found them, I stood in front of the wall. I looked at it for a while, deciding what to do, when I heard a boy laugh at my left side.

"Well, you're not going to get onto the platform by just looking at it!" he said.

I looked at him. He looked about 16. His hair was really red. Behind him, a boy who looked exactly like him walked up.

"Who's your new friend Fred?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm not his friend," I said. "I was just about to get onto the platform."

"Well, go on then," came a slightly annoyed voice behind the twins.

I turned my attention back to the wall. I took a deep breath and pushed the cart and myself forward at a jog. I closed my eyes and felt myself come out the other end. I opened my eyes and saw a scarlet train. Hogwarts Express was on the front. I quickly moved out of the way of the entrance so that others coming through wouldn't trample me.

I walked over to a door on the train. I opened it and went in. I walked down the hallway and found an empty compartment. I put my trunk under the seat and realized that I didn't know what to do with Arella. I brought her out off the train and wandered around wondering what to do with her. In looking around, I didn't watch were I was going. I ran into a boy. He was carrying a cage also.

"Sorry!" I said. "I really should have been watching were I was going." His cage, which also contained a snowy owl, had rolled in my direction. His owl was hooting and clicking irritably. I picked up the cage and he picked up mine. We exchanged them.

"That's o.k. It happens," he said. He looked at me and smiled. He had a great smile.

"Um...where do we take our owls?" I asked, avoiding becoming tongue-tied.

"Over there," he said, pointing to a large car on the train. "I was just taking Hedwig there myself. Come on."

We walked together to the car. A man helped us put them onto shelves.

As we both got into the train, he said, "I'm Harry by the way," and he put out his hand.

"Cassie McGerald," I said, shaking his hand. We both walked down the same hallway. I wondered if he was following me. "Does Harry have a last name?" I asked.

"Potter," he said.

"Hmm," I said. "I think that my guardian has mentioned you once."

Harry smiled. "Are you American?"

"Yes," I said. "My lack of accent give it away?"

"Sort of." We both entered the same compartment.

"Oh, are you in here?" I asked him.

"Um...yeah. Me, Ron and Hermione," he said, scratching the nape of his neck.

I raised my eyebrows, "Hermione? I know her."

He looked at me in surprise. "You know her?"

"Well, I don't know her from meting her in person. But she sent me an owl a few weeks ago."

Harry nodded and said, "Well, I'm sure that 4 will fit comfortably in a compartment.

Over the next few minutes, I had met Ron Weasley. As soon as I saw his hair, I knew that he was a brother to the boys that I had met outside. He Harry and I were talking about Quidditch. Ron was telling me that there was a keeper position open, when he grabbed my arm.

"Whoa! Where'd you get that scar?" He gently pulled on my arm to look at it closer.

"Oh...well, I don't know." I slid my arm out of Ron's grasp.

We all felt the train begin to move forward.

"It's looks like a blown-up version of Harry's scar," Ron said.

I looked at Harry. "You have a scar like this Harry?"

Harry looked at Ron like he shouldn't have said that. "Yeah..." he said.

His hand moved up to his messy hair and pulled his bangs off of his forehead. There was a thin, lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. I couldn't believe it. "How'd you get that Harry?"

In 5 minutes, I had fully regretted asking that question. I learned all about Lord Voldemort. I was caught up on 4 years of Hogwarts in another 5 minutes.

I looked at my scar in astonishment. Could a dark wizard really have cursed me and I blocked it as a baby? I shook off the thought. It was impossible. Then, I learned that Voldemort had risen just last year.

Then, a thought struck me; this is kind of an odd time for students to transfer. But I thought nothing of it when I learned that the Dark Lord feared the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.

Then I looked from my scar to Harry's. They looked a lot alike. One hundred thoughts buzzed through my head at the same time.

But I forgot them when Hermione stepped into the compartment. We greeted each other like old friends. Then I remembered the book.

I reached into my trunk and pulled it out. "Here's your book back Hermione. I read it twice."

Hermione gave Ron an "I told you so" look.

"Great," Ron muttered. "Now we've got two walking encyclopedias on our hands Harry."

Harry just smiled.