Prologue:

September 1st, 2017


"Don't worry about it, honey. Who cares if the way you talk is different from everyone else? They can still understand you." My mom was trying to coax my python like grip off of her so that I could get myself on the steaming red train before it departed for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft of Wizardry. I however, would have none of it. 

"Mom...please. I don't want to go! They're all going to think I'm a stupid American. You know how Europeans think that all Americans are stupid and fat." I wailed, tears streaming down  my face like waterfalls. I was probably making a scene and my mom was probably getting more and more embarrassed, as well as overwhelmed by the second...but I just didn't care. I would not subject my eleven year old self to ridicule at a freaking British boarding school. 

"Honey..." My mom's voice was getting more and more strained by the second. I could tell that she was really starting to panic as the warning whistle went up, signaling three minutes until departure. Her hand was attempting to pry my arms away but again...I refused to cooperate as I dug my face harder into her shoulder. 

"You know that's not all true. Not all Europeans hate Americans." Her voice was shaking and struggling to maintain its patient undertone. 

"Remember when we were in France? When we asked that damn bastard where the freaking bathroom was?" I asked, my voice growing more and more hysterical.

"Elaquay! What did I tell you about language! And...that was just one person, sweetie. Just please give it a chance. The train is about to leave!!" Her voice was a bit hysterical. She was desperately trying to pull away from me, but I wasn't done yet. Hell no...I wasn't done at all. 

"Why'd we have to move here? Why couldn't I stay in Oregon where I actually belong and go to the wizarding school there?" I asked, hopelessness and anger leaking out of my voice. As I said this, a wave of homesickness crashed over me. I missed Oregon...all of the tall oak and fir trees, the pleasant summers, the rainy springs, the cold and brittle coasts, Crater Lake, the country fair every July, and of course all of my muggle friends I've made in elementary school. 

"Because, Jared got a promotion in his job and it required a move to London. You know this already. Plus, Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in the whole world. You should be thankful, Elaquay! so stop your whining and moaning and get on the train!" She was angry now, and if I fired her up anymore....her hair would turn into snakes...I swear, but I had a temper that could give her a run for her money anyday. 

At that moment, I felt a hatred for my stepfather I never had before. I let go of my mother roughly and stared up at her angry face...not caring that my face was blotchy and red...and definitely unattractive...especially with tears streaming down my face. 

"I HATE YOU!" I screamed. "I HATE JARED!! I HATE LONDON, I HATE HOGWARTS....AND I HATE THAT DAD HAD TO DIE!!! THAN WE WOULDN'T BE HERE!!!"  

Of course, being Elaquay Smithson, I let my mouth run before I let my brain have any say in the matter. I barely had time to see the hurt look on my mother's face before I spun around, grabbed my carriage and roughly pushed it toward the train, causing my owl Misty to start twittering madly. 

"Oh shut your asshole, Misty. I'm not in the mood." I growled at it. Many people stared at me as I charged toward the train. Most of the students were already aboard the train and were sticking their heads out of the windows, preparing to wave goodbye to the crying and proud parents when the train took off. 

I violently pushed my carriage up the jagged steps of the train, not caring that I looked like a complete idiot. Once I reached the top, a man in a uniform mumbled something about taking care of the owl and the carriage in a British accent. I sneered and handed it to him roughly and shoved past him, toward the compartments. 

As I walked the aisle, I noticed first of all...how different and far more fancy European trains are. You normally don't get your own compartments in American trains...and secondly...ever single damn compartment was full. 

Not one single empty one. All of the students were sitting and chatting animatedly with one another, or were playing some strange wizard game. Some even had the tact to actually look up and acknowledge my presence...not that it was great or anything. They were probably studying my all American attire...jeans and a NYC sweater. How appealing. 

I hurriedly wiped my eyes from the rest of the tears that were threatening to spill out. To make matters worse, the train gave a lurch, which signified the beginning of a journey and I fell forward....my face hitting the floor...rather hard, may I add. 

I sat up, and rubbed my forehead, which seemed to be swelling up under my touch. I cursed a mother load of profanities. Yes, I was eleven years old and I knew more words than I should know if you haven't already noticed. 

To my horror, I heard raucous laughter followed by a drawling voice that made me cringe. To make matters worse, it had a British accent. 

"How many of you bloodtraitors are there? I honestly don't think that this school can handle another Weasley. Are you one of the spawn of the Potty-Weasel hybrids?" More laughter. Laughter that rung in my ears and throughout my small body.

I don't know what the hell he is talking about, but it sounded pretty damn insulting to me. 


I stood up to face my bully and yelled in his face, "Excuse me? Who are you calling a hybrid?" 

The boy had a pale face and a long pointed chin. His blonde hair was sleeked back and his eyes were cold and had a slimy undertone. He had a disgusting smile spread across his face and he wouldn't look a quarter as tough if it weren't for his three huge cronies...who I swear could be part troll.

"My mistake, then. You're not one of the hybrids. You're..." He eyed me up and down.

"an American." He said it with such venom that I flinched. He threw his greasy head back and started laughing. His cronies were guffawing with him.

"An American and a mudblood, no doubt. Why aren't you a fat bimbo? Already got gastric bypass surgery?" He spat at me. 

"Me? I think the only ones in need of gastric bypass surgery are your fat-ass troll friends there." I snapped at him. That sobered them up. I gave a satisfied smile as their smiles slipped off of their faces. 

The boy pulled out his wand and pointed it at me. "You better watch yourself, mudblood. My father knows ways to handle people I am not pleased with that would make even your mutant mum shed her fat rolls." 

I eyed the wand wearily, completely aware that I had no knowledge how to use my wand whatsoever...but I wasn't about to back down without a fight. 

I walked toward him, the wand jabbing against my chest and once I was nose to nose with him, I said, "Let's see it then. Go on. Show me what you plan to do with that small tiny thing of yours." 

I grinned as the boy understood what I implied, even if it took him a while. His face went red with rage and his eyes flashed dangerously. His cronies cracked their knuckles threateningly. 

Then another a voice. Another British voice of course...but this one was much more warm...friendly...and female.

"Having fun, Malfoy? Of course I wouldn't have expected anything less of you. Mum and dad however did mention how much of a twitchy little ferret your father was." 


I spun around to see a girl standing there, about my height...maybe an inch or so taller. She had long curly fiery red hair, about the same shade as mine, a very pretty and determined face, and big mischievous blue eyes that twinkled. 

Malfoy's eye twitched. I slowly backed away from his wand while he was distracted. 

"Anything to say to that Malfoy? Oh I know....why don't you start calling me all of the typical Malfoy insults? Blood traitor...spawn of a mudblood and a blood traitor....disgrace to the wizarding world....go on then. Let's hear it." The girl said, a sly smile creeping on her lips. 

Malfoy glared venomously at her and spat, "Useless little hybrid...." 

"Of course. I knew it." The girl said fluently and smoothly, still smiling. "Why don't you beat it and come up with something a bit more original. Then you can come and have a chat with me."

Malfoy looked murderous, but he motioned for his cronies to follow him and then walked down the compartment.

I glared after him, realizing that I made a new enemy. 

"Sorry about that. Malfoy's a tosser. Usually, it's best to ignore people like that, but you can have a swipe at him once and while." Her voice was nice and proper...but had a slight mischievous edge to it, like her eyes.

I faced her, and knew that I should be thankful that someone else was being nice to me, but I felt an irrational anger. I wanted to fight my own battles. I hated when people defended me.

"Next time....let me handle it myself. I was doing just fine." I remarked coldly. 

I started to turn around and walk towards the opposite end.

"Hey...wait. What's your name? If you don't have a place to sit...you can sit with me and my cousins in our compartment." She said. 

I turned around, and stared at her, contemplating if she was being genuine or not. She seemed genuine enough.

"Fine." I said, defeated. 

I followed her toward the other end, stepping into another train cart.

"My name is Rose Weasley by the way." She said, smiling at me, her eyes twinkling. She reached out a hand. 

I took it and dared myself to smile back. "Elaquay Smithson." I answered. 

Now I see why Malfoy had mistaken me for a Weasley. She and I had the exact same hair color and stature. I guess most of her family must look like that. 

"Say, are you from somewhere else? Your accent is different." She asked, curiously. I cringed, but she didn't sound judgmental or demeaning. 

"Yeah. I'm from America." I said, rather flatly. I suddenly felt even more self conscious than I already was, standing here...my red hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, my grey NYC sweater hanging limply to my small body and my jeans ripped and dirty. 

Rose Weasley was there, the perfect British girl with curly red hair nicely clipped back in a pin, a white blouse and a skirt, and nice shiny shoes. Yup, I felt sloppy. 

"That's so cool. I don't think Hogwarts has ever had permanent American students before. I read in Hogwarts, A History that in recent developments...foreign interactions were supposed to be more stressed though..."

"Um...what?" I asked, feeling absolutely stupid. 

She laughed it off. "Oh nothing. You'll learn soon enough. You probably don't want to hear me rambling about stuff no one cares about anyways. Ahh...here we are." 

She stopped at a compartment and opened it. I gazed inside to see two other people in there, all boys. 

"Elaquay, let me introduce you to my cousins. This is Albus Potter, he's a first year like me...and I'm assuming you as well." Albus had jet black hair that went all over the place. He also had round glasses and emerald green eyes. He looked excited, but a bit scared as he waved to me. 

"That is..." She started...pointing to the other boy, but he cut her off.

"Hey Rosie...you know I'm fully capable of introducing myself to the young lady." 

I gazed at him. He had hair similar to Albus's, in that it was messy and shaggy, but it was a shade lighter. His skin was also a bit tanner and he had a splash of freckles across his nose. His eyes were a warm brown color and he had the most mischievous smile I have ever seen in my life, even beating Rose's.

"My name is James Sirius Potter, Order of Merlin Third Class, Second year, and brother to this git...Albus, and cousin to this lovely redhead, Rose Weasley." He gave a mock bow and I rose an eyebrow, feeling a smile creep up on my lips. 

Albus shot him a look and Rose rolled her eyes. She took a seat next to Albus and motioned for me to sit across from her. 

"We have a lot of other cousins, but they decided to be gits and not join us in here. Such as Dom and Victoire....but she's probably off snogging Teddy..." She said, a twinkle in her eye. 

"Hey...wait a minute. She didn't go bonkers." Albus pointed out, his green eyes wide. 

"Excuse me?" I asked, my voice sounding a bit offended. 

"Sorry...what I meant is that...she doesn't know?" He asked, astounded and a bit red from embarassment.

Rose rolled her eyes and said, "Not everyone knows, Albus...even you barely know much about it. They said to wait until we're older until they tell us more." 

"Yeah...we could just get the whole story out of Ted. He knows all about it." James said, the twinkle in his eye increasing. I couldn't help but smile when he spoke. It was contagious. 

"Wait...hold up one damn second." I yelled. They all froze and stared at me.

"What the hell are you all talking about?" I said.

"Ahh...so my suspicions are correct. She is American." James said slyly, giving a friendly laugh.

"Yes, I so happen to be that. Now would you all please stop your chit chat and tell me what you guys are talking about?" I asked, my voice forceful. 

They looked surprised for a second. But Rose continued, "Have you ever heard the story about Harry Potter?" 

"Harry...who?" I asked rather stupidly. 

James sighed playfully and looked at me in the eye. At the time I didn't know any better or realize anything, but my stomach did a back flip. 

"We're not sure if we want to tarnish her uncorrupted ears. It's a rather scary story, especially for a young lady like her." He winked at me.

I grinned back and said in my best imitation of a British voice that I could, causing much laughter, "Bring it on, you wanker." 

This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.