Chapter One

I was snaking through the hallowed halls of Hogwarts with my peers, trying my utmost best to not step on somebody else’s robes. It was another day at my favorite school and home, where the pictures would make friendly conversation with you and you needed to watch out every so often so a ghost didn’t pass through your body.

“To begin, we must first master the wave technique of wand movements,” McGonagall said, staring down intently at her students. “Does anyone know what I am referring to?”

My hand shot up, but I put it down as I remembered that no one could see it.

I’d been living in Hogwarts, one of the best schools for magic in the world, for basically my whole life. I know what it looks like during the summer, when the halls are empty and I’m free to waltz around alone like a crazy woman, enjoying those three wonderful months of freedom before I have to worry about people seeing my face again. I know more of its ins and outs than I can count (you’d think, after over three years of wandering around, I’d have found all its mysterious rooms and corridors, but no: I find new places to go and new ways to get there, every single day. And that’s why I love the place.) I’ve read all the books in the library’s Defense Against The Dark Arts section—in a few weeks’ time, I’ll be done with the Transfiguration section. 

And, I know how to dodge people better than anyone else. Why? Oh, it’s a useful trait to have, if you’re me. Gramps never thought it was wise for me to show myself and interfere with the students’ lives—technically, I was 10, younger than anyone in the building, except for those Pygmy Puffs that I witnessed Fred and George Weasley playing with in the Owlery every so often. I watched the students of Hogwarts banter every day—it was much more fun than the kids that Gramps brings me to see occasionally. They were my age, but they always acted like they were ten years older than me. “Rather interesting, isn’t it?” this and “Quite fitting!” that. Technically, I was the granddaughter of the most powerful wizard in the world, but with them I felt like a peasant.

Gramps always told me it was for my own safety, and Gramps always knows everything—I remember he stood in front of my bedroom door on the first day that I dared to defy his order to “Stay in my office!” and asked me what classes I’d eavesdropped in. My stomach mounted a Nimbus 3000 and flew to the Afterlife at that moment. But I’d gotten used to it. I couldn’t ever lie to him. Don’t ask me how, but he always, always knows. 

Luckily, he supported my passion for learning the things that I wished I could learn as a Hogwarts student. For my birthday a few years ago, he even passed me a schedule directing me towards the classes I wanted to go, and every evening when he didn’t have some prior appointment with the Minister of Magic or the International Confederation of Wizards, he’d ask me to demonstrate what I’ve learned and gives me tips and praise. It was three years ago that I found the Invisibility Cloak in Gramps’ old closet and gathered the nerve to walk into Professor Flitwick’s first-year Charms class; now, I was doing full-fledged third-year Freezing Spells, and I even knew some pretty advanced hexes. 

Plus, I was learning how to turn objects into dragons. Wicked.

From the back of the classroom, I observed the students around me as they turned their small teapots green and scaly but failed to successfully accomplish the spell. “Draconifors!” I whispered underneath my cloak, attempting to turn the teapot I grabbed from Dumbledore’s office pantry into a dragon. It was about as big as a blanket, so I wouldn’t have to worry about parts of my body becoming visible under me, but it was a huge pain when trying to discreetly scurry through the halls in time for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Good thing I got Gramps to teach me the levitation spell a long time ago. 

On my first try, I screwed up. Gramps’s old wand produced nothing, and my teapot retained its glassy white porcelain form. 

The second time, I mega screwed up. My teapot turned into a dragon, alright. But it was much, much bigger than McGonagall said it would be. I watched in horror and fascination as my tiny teapot grew from a small fire-breathing reptile into a full-sized Hungarian Horntail that outgrew my Invisibility Cloak in three seconds and was about as large as the length of the whole aisle in the middle of the room.

Oops.

“Who produced that?” McGonagall demanded, as the Horntail whipped its gigantic tail around and she was forced to duck under her desk. I heard the loud crashing of windows breaking as the dragon stumbled about. My feet felt as if they’ve been hit with the Leg-Locker Curse; the only thing I could do was crawl backwards in disbelief, as if I’d forgotten how to walk out the door. The dragon roared with a most impressive volume, and her poor students were screaming and panicking as McGonagall, dazed, got back up from under her desk and performed the counter-spell, turning the titanic dragon back into a harmless teapot. The porcelain clattered on the floor, and everyone froze.

Credit: Monster Legacy

After a few awkward seconds, the threat having been vanquished, McGonagall took in a deep breath, dusting off her clothes. “Class dismissed. Please practice this spell in your own rooms as homework.”

As the stunned students filed out of the room in awe and fear, McGonagall added one more warning: “And CONTROL YOURSELVES, please!”

Gramps is not going to be happy about this. 

***

I was right.

When I heard the staircase at the front of Gramps’ office shift and elevate, meaning that he’d arrived from consorting with the celebrities and famous Aurors that he usually spent his evenings talking to, I was in bed pretending to sleep, hoping it would allow me to postpone his angry lecture to at least the next morning.

“Carina. Come out of your bedroom, please.”

I gulped. Time seemed to slow down as I slowly push the covers off of myself and got out of bed, sauntering through the doorway and into the main office as if I were walking through molasses. 

“Sit down.” He said calmly but sternly. 

I obeyed silently.

“Professor McGonagall told me of a Hungarian Horntail that had suddenly appeared in her room while she was teaching Transfiguration today. She also informed me that none of her students had succeeded in the Draconifors spell that early on.”

I said nothing, my eyes glued to the floor. How many ways can the greatest wizard in the world kill an unarmed, disobedient child?

“Look at me, Carina. I am not a Gorgon.”

I slowly looked up into his disappointed eyes. For some reason, my fear dissipated, replaced only by sadness. 

“It’s too dangerous for me to continue hiding you here—” he started. 

“No!” I yelped in terror, anticipating what he was about to say. “Please don’t send me somewhere else. I-I love it here. You don’t understand—”

Gramps put his hand up to silence me. I did so immediately.  I took in a deep breath: this was no time to disobey his orders. 

“You’re not leaving Hogwarts, Carina. On the contrary, I think it’s time you became a formal student here.”

My eyes widened. “You can’t be serious.”

He smiled in reply. He was 100% serious.

“I thought I was going to be punished. I mean, I’ve—I’ve just—”

“I’d rather you Transfigure giant Horntails as a student here than a phantom,” Gramps said. “And I’m sure Professor McGonagall would be overjoyed to have you in her classroom.”

***

The next few weeks must have been the happiest days of my life. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep, and at the crack of dawn the next morning, I went down to Hagrid’s hut while all of Hogwarts was taking their dreaded final exams. I needed to tell him the good news. 

I pounded at the door. “Hagrid! Hagrid!”

I heard a loud grunt from inside the hut as the half-giant I’d come to know and love slowly came to his front door.

“Blimey, Carina! What’s got ye so excited?” Hagrid said, yawning. “I haven’t been gettin’ no sleep for the pas’ week, this better be good.”

“I’m going to be a student at Hogwarts at the end of the summer!” I exclaimed. 

Hagrid’s eyes widened, and then he gave a hearty laugh, like I knew Hagrid would. “That’s—that’s absolutely smashin’, that is! You know, I always told your old man ye’d be better off as a student. No use keeping a mind like yers ‘oled up in those quarters.”

He wasn’t wrong—with the approach of the summer, the sun seemed awfully bright these days—so I went inside his hut for shade.

“That sounds amazing!” I said. No longer would I have to be the invisible ghost of Hogwarts. I’d be able to make actual friends. I imagined doing all the cool things I watched the students do, from the sad view through my isolated bedroom window. Ice skating on the Black Lake. Moaning about failing Professor Snape’s tests (his class, Potions, was the one I attended once and never returned to because he scared me—I was slightly anxious when it dawned on me that once I became a formal student I would no longer have the ability to just walk out of class.)

“How’s Fluffy?” I asked. Fluffy was the three-headed dog that Hagrid has been raising for a few years now; I was lucky enough to fall into the vicious creature’s good graces.

“Couldn’t be better,” he said. He poured a pitcher of cold water with magical never-melting ice cubes into a glass for me. “Wan’ ter get spend some time with him before you go today? He misses ya.” 

“Sure,” I said, taking a sip of water. I noticed that a large barn owl flew into Hagrid’s window, cooing for his attention. In its beak was a small envelope with an official-looking red seal that appeared similar to the one that Gramps always used in his letters.

“Oop! Thas’ a letter,” said the big man, getting up with a heave. The owl dropped the curious-looking paper into Hagrid’s hand, and he placed it on his counter to read for later. He led me to his enormous backyard, where the monstrously big dog was napping. As soon as Hagrid opened the door, though, one of Fluffy’s heads snapped awake, causing the other two to promptly start licking me all over in excitement. Imagine three tongues almost the size of me, attacking me all at once in smelly, slimy dog saliva goodness. 

“Fluffy! I told yer to take it easy. She’s small,” Hagrid scolded, and instantly Fluffy pulled back, whining a little as if to apologize for the over-eagerness. 

“Aw, Fluffy, it’s alright. I know you were just really happy to see me,” I said, kneeling down to run my hand on (one of) his noses, fingers dripping with spit. How could anyone ever be mad at the boy? “You’ve gotten so much bigger!”

“These dogs grow like giants,” Hagrid replied, tossing Fluffy a few treats and giving him a good-natured pat on the leg. “Few more months an’ he’ll be off!”

“Off?” I asked in disbelief, turning to Hagrid. His face had turned white, as if he’d let something slip that he shouldn’t have. “Is Fluffy leaving?”

“Shouldn’t have said that,” Hagrid muttered under his breath. “News is, Carina, he’ll be off somewhere. Can’t tell yer where, but he’ll be close. And he’ll be doing some very impor’ant work.”

“You won’t tell me where he’s going?”

“That’s a secret, that!” Hagrid’s voice rose like I’d never heard it before. “Hogwarts business. Off you go, now, Carina.”

“Oh, so someone in Hogwarts knows where he is?”

“Don’ you have some classes to sneak inter?”

“There are no classes left! It’s finals!” Despite my protests, Hagrid still corralled me to the door, clearly frazzled. 

I was heading back towards the castle—it was right after final exams for the day (third-year Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, and History of Magic, to be specific, and I knew that because I studied the Hogwarts year-end exam timetable so as not to get caught in the halls.) Of course, my painstaking preparations and timing were interrupted by none other than the Weasley twins.

I first encountered Fred Weasley a little over a year ago on the rare occasion when he was alone, without his brother; he was up late in the library, reclining on a lonely couch while muttering to himself about Bezoars and gillyweed. I was struck by how good-looking he was, and as embarrassing as this sounds, I remember that I sat, concealed by my Invisibility Cloak, for almost an hour at a nearby study table watching him. If I had a friend with me there, I surely would have whispered to her about how beautiful I thought he was.

Credit: Wizarding World

When he got up, I got up too; I silently trailed him as the clock struck eight, signaling the start of curfew, and he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room. On his way there, he chatted with some fellow Gryffindors who were probably also going back to their dorms. 

“...Busy studying for your OWLs?” he asked. “How do those work?”

“They’re graded exams at the end of the year, and I really need to get an ‘Exceeds Expectations’ or higher this year so I can take NEWT-level Charms,” explained one of the Gryffindors. 

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be golden,” said Fred. “As long as you show up, you’re already exceeding expectations!” 

The group laughed good-naturedly, and I had to hold back a chuckle as I watched them go up the stairs to their common room, which I couldn’t enter (I’d already breached Fred’s privacy enough.) Well, the rest is history. I’d follow them around between periods, sit close to them in classes whenever I could—without getting caught, of course. Over the months, I learned how to tell the twins apart; Fred’s a bit shorter than George, and he’s got a straight upper lip while George has a downward curve on his. Fred’s the leader, more impulsive and daring, while George is usually the first one who expresses doubt about their hilarious pranks. They were everything I wished I could have from Hogwarts: funny, popular friends who’d light fireworks in the Great Hall for you if you told them you were feeling down.

(I admire them both, but Fred was the one I had been crushing on for a few months.)

The pair was holding a large yellow parchment that looked like a map. They were approaching me as I walked through a hall in the Courtyard, gazing intently at the paper. There was no one else in the corridor.

“Show yourself, Carina Aberforth!” said Fred out loud. They both had their wands out as they slowly approached the end of the corridor where I stood. Was I visible?

I stopped dead in my tracks. It was just my luck that I’d taken a wrong turn into a dead end. I was cornered, and I stayed completely silent. How could they have known I was there? I had a flush of embarrassment and, at the same time, exhilaration when I realized that Fred actually knew my name, somehow.

“Fred, I really think the Map is just—” George started.

“Wrong? It never is,” Fred retorted. “Remember when we saw Snape on the map even when he used a Disguising Spell to hide himself from whatever he was doing?”

So they had somehow gotten their hands on a map that gave away my location, even though I was invisible? I considered my options. Being a ten-year-old, I was pretty small. I could probably slip past the two without them noticing, even though the corridor was a bit narrow. 

With the complete quiet of a cat’s footsteps, I brushed past Fred as I tried to make my escape. But he felt the rustle of my Invisibility Cloak as I slipped past, and he was too quick. He grabbed the fabric of the cloak with a tight hold, and in a panic I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t. There was no way one tiny little girl could escape the grasp of two second-years.

“Gotcha!” said Fred, with all that annoyingly endearing determination. 

“What’re you holding, Fred?” George questioned. 

“It feels like some sort of fabric,” Fred said.

“Ugh, fine!” I threw the cloak off of myself. What other option did I have? “You guys have got me.”

“Whoa!” Fred said, looking down at the Cloak, which was now just a regular garment, and up at me. 

“An Invisibility Cloak,” George gawked. 

“Cooooool,” they both said in unison.

“The Map’s shown us that you’ve been following us on multiple occasions,” Fred said, his finger pointing right at my face and his other hand clutching the Cloak. He was dangerously close to me, and I felt my cheeks go pink. “And we’ve never seen you around before.”

“I—I think you guys are cool,” I blubbered. I felt my command of the English language slip away as I realized this comically unfortunate turn of events. 

“D’you hear that, George?” Fred’s face softened. 

“She thinks we’re cool!” George laughed. My cheeks burned even brighter with embarrassment. 

“I—I’m sorry,” I muttered, looking down at the floor. They were laughing at me. “I won’t do it again.”

“It’s okay,” said Fred. “I’m Fred, by the way.” As if I didn’t already know! He outstretched his hand to give me a handshake. I shook it, even though my face felt it had risen a hundred degrees. 

“I’m George,” George said, and even though I was already familiar with him, too, I pretended that I wasn’t for the sake of preventing awkwardness. I shook his hand. “And don’t worry about it. We didn’t see you in our dorm or anything, so it’s not that bad.” 

“Every celebrity’s got his paparazzi!” Fred turned to me, winking. I must’ve given myself a fever, blushing that much. 

“Why don’t you come eat with us?” George asked. “There’s barely anyone in the Great Hall.”

“You won’t need to hide any longer,” Fred said nonchalantly, folding up the Cloak and giving it back to me. 

“Um…” I hesitated. The past decade of living as a shadow in the Hogwarts castle had really imprinted onto me, but I wouldn’t need to worry anymore. I was going to be a student in the fall. “Okay, sure, why not?”

***

As the hours flew by, I found that I was getting more and more comfortable with Fred and George Weasley. I quivered with excitement at the thought of being able to talk to them every day in the Great Hall once I entered Hogwarts. Still, I noticed that Fred kept his weird effect on me (the one that makes my muscles tense up and my heart pound and my throat suddenly feels drier than the Sahara Desert.) 

“You’ve been living in Hogwarts for all your life? And you’re only ten?” Fred asked incredulously. 

“How is that possible?” George added. They did that a lot, complete each other’s thoughts.

“Gramps—I mean, Dumbledore, he doesn’t like me talking about it, so you have to promise not to tell,” I said. We all exchanged pinky-promises. “He never told me everything, but he adopted me, I think. My parents weren’t really around, and Dumbledore says they were bad people. So he just kept me in his office at Hogwarts. I’ve been going around classes and learning stuff using this handy thing.” I patted my trusty Cloak.

“Wait, are you the one who released the Horntail in McGonagall’s classroom a few days ago?” Fred inquired. 

I nodded shyly.

“That was magnificent.” He nodded approvingly. I blushed. 

“Golden, I tell ya!” George agreed. “McGonagall thought it was one of our pranks, but she knew we don’t pay enough attention in Transfiguration to pull that off.”

“Why don’t you show us a spell?” Fred asked. 

I whirled around, making sure that no one else would be around to see me (I’m technically not a student here, and even I know it’s against the rules to use magic outside of class. But of course, Fred and George never gave a hoot about the rules.) “Aqua Verto!” I whispered, tapping my cup. 

The orange juice in the golden goblet turned into clear water. 

“Whoaaaaaa,” said the twins in unison.

“I’ve been learning magic since I was seven,” I said smugly. 

“Seven! Dumbledore lets you do that?” George said in disbelief.

“Our mum never lets us do magic at home,” Fred explained.

“Last time we did it, we turned our little brother Ron’s stuffed rabbit into a real rabbit,” George continued. “It was flying around everywhere like a madman! It was a bugger to catch. Ron was crying the whole time, and we got the whooping of our lives.”

“It was funny though.” They said together, and laughed.

It was the first time I’d had food from the Great Hall. No wonder every first year stuffs themselves to the absolute brim each year! Maybe it was the novelty of the dish, but the roast chicken I was munching on beat anything Gramps gave me in the past five years. 

Munching on a chicken leg, I said, “That’s mental. Gramps loves when I show him the spells I’ve learned.”

“Imagine living with the dude.” Fred shook his head in disbelief. 

“I bet he’s always going places with the Minister of Magic or something,” George concurred.

Paranoia welled up inside me again. “Just don’t tell anyone, okay? He’d kill me if he finds out I told someone.”

“You got it, Carina,” they said in unison.