A helping hand -- Fall 1993

This was already seeming to be a rough start to my first year at Alma Aleron.  I swore... if I got lost one more time while there, I would lose it.  I finally found the right class and quietly entered, looking down at the ground so that I was not seeing the stares that I felt.  At the end of class, I looked at the girl who was sitting next to me.  "Hey... do you think that we could go to our next class together?  I feel like I've been getting so lost all day today," I said, hoping that she would let me.  I mean, all of us first year Intellects had the same schedule, so it would be rather rude if she said no to me.

I was slightly started by the girl speaking to me, but I smiled.  "Oh yeah," I said.  "My name is Fiona -- or you can call me Fi... but most people just stick to my full name."  I felt like I was just rambling so I sotpped, feeling a bit embarrassed.

I smiled at Fiona and shrugged.  "Nice to meet you Fiona," I said to him kindly.  "I'm Madelyn -- but please, just call me Lyn.  How are you liking school thus far?" I asked her as we started to pack up our things for our next class.

I smiled at Lyn.  "It's really great, don't you think?  I'm Muggle-born... so this is all still really new to me.  What about yourself?" I inquired as we walked out of hte classroom.

I followed Fiona out of the classroom.  "I'm from a Wizarding family," I said.  "So I at least have a little bit of an idea of what's going on.  Though it's really not like I have a huge advantage or anything... you can't do magic outside of school, so it's not like I could practice."

I nodded while I listened.  "Oh, yeah... I remember them saying something about that at the opening feast," I said, thinking to only a couple of days ago.  I could not believe that so much has happenedin such little time!  "Would you be willing to help me out if I get lost and confused in any of the subjects?" It would be nice to make sure that I had some backup with understanding the lingo of the wizarding world.

I grinned at her.  "I'd lvoe to help you out," I said to her.  "But... if you get better marks in a subject than me, you better help me out."

I was kind of surprised that Lyn thought I might do better in something than her.  I chuckled and nodded.  "Of course," I assured her.  "But we'll see how this whole helping each other out works in the future... we may end up needing to find a third party if we both suck at a subject."

I laughed.  "Right," I said, agreeing on that front.  We would end up both failling the same subject and be doomed.  I loved how it was easy to get along with Fiona.  I wondered if it would be this easy wtih everyone... or if it was just the way she behaved.  "How are you liking things so far though?  Isn't it... just... overwhelming?" I asked her.

I looked over at Madelyn.  If she had a magical family and she was using the word overwhelming, what word should I use?  I chuckled and nodded. " That's probably the best way to put it," I agreed with her.  "But it's super exciting at the same time, too, don't you think?  To finally be able to learn to control what you do?  Rather than it coming out when you're excited or angry or something like that."

I chuckled and nodded.  "Definitely!" I said.  "When I first did magic... my dad was the victim of me making all my painting supplies explode.  I think he had purple in his hair for weeks."  I giggled, just remembering what had happened.  "What about yourself?"

I laughed at that.  "Oh wow!  Did he get angry with you or anything?" I asked her, rather curious.  "And, well, it was nothing quite like that.  But I had a very bad incident with a haircut... and within an hour, my hair regrew to it's long length.  I just did a lot of weird things like that."

I chuckled and shook my head.  "No, my dad is the best.  He just laughed with me and hugged me.  My mum had to take a picture of it, though," I said, smiling at Fiona.  I nodded ,thinking it was probably best if she did not have an incident like mine being in a Muggle family.  "I understand that.  At least nothing bad happened or anything."

I grinned.  "I bet she uses the picture as blackmail sometimes, doesn't she?" I asked, knowing how things would go in my family.

I smirked at Fiona, nodding.  I loved how easy it was to talk to her... I thought I might have a hard time making friends at school because Dad taught me to be a little secretive.  I never really understood why, but he said that there was no way that we could really contact anyone in England -- he said we would get hurt if we did.  "Definitely," I answered.  "And so do I."