The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 3: Welcome to Hogwarts

Thankfully the twins were the very last thing on her mind as she woke up early in the morning, she and her new dorm mates spent most of the night getting to know each other. The morning was busy, they all scurried to get dressed in their new green robes as Ana brushed through her long silver hair. It wasn't how she imagined her first day would go, but having the two girls laughing the moment they woke up made her excited for her day to start. Ana's medicine was left on her nightstand, a note attached to the vial.

            As per your mother's request. –S.S.

            Ana downed the small vial as the girls rushed her out of the room, skipping breakfast and running to the Herbology greenhouses. The large glass structure of the greenhouse reminded her of the one her mother kept up at the Manor. Since she was little, Ana would sit outside and play in the dirt and mud while her mother tended to the plants. Most of them were used for Ana's medicine, so Ana liked to sit outside and listen to her mother hum as she would snip at their leaves or mend broken limbs. Draco typically stayed inside; he didn't like getting dirty all that much. He was like their father in that way.

            The professor was a short, plump woman with the rosiest cheeks that just peaked from underneath her large hat. The material the woman would talk about reminded her of her mother and Ana's nerves from running through the castle grounds to get to class disappeared the longer the class went on. Calista and Alex were sitting together, mumbling to themselves, while Ana sat next to a Ravenclaw boy. He didn't make any effort to speak to Ana, preferring to keep his head locked towards the teacher.

            "Can anyone tell me the purpose of the Dittany plant?" Professor Sprout asked.

            Ana looked at her classmates, all of them seemingly clueless and diverting their attention from the teacher hoping they wouldn't be called. She didn't want to answer, but when the Professor's smile began to dwindle Ana shot her hand up in the air.

            "Ms. Malfoy, yes."

            Ana gulped suddenly feeling many eyes on her, the Ravenclaw next to her began to pay attention to her for the first time. "The Dittany plant is a restorative herb. If someone were to get hit and had a cut, eating the plant would help heal it faster."

            The woman's smile returned, "Very good, Ms. Malfoy. Ten points to Slytherin!" With a renewed skip in her step Professor Sprout went on to talk about the properties of the Dittany plant.

            The Ravenclaws around her didn't react all too pleased with the fact that Slytherin gained a few points, but her fellow Slytherins looked at her happily, and Ana felt better for saying something. Most of the class continued similarly; Ana would answer whatever question Professor Sprout had. She allowed the other students a chance to respond, but no one ever raised their hand. The other students might as well not been there, the whole class felt like a one-on-one session. Ana didn't mind and from the smile on her teacher's face, it seemed that she didn't mind either.

            After the hour had passed, everyone got ready to head to their next class, but the sound of the professor calling for her stopped her in her tracks. Calista and Alex stayed back for a moment until Ana ushered them to go on without her.

            "Yes, Professor?"

            "You know quite a bit about herbology from the looks of it," the woman gazed down at the girl. "Where did you learn so much?"

            Ana smiled, rocking back and forth on her heels, "My mother has a greenhouse in our garden and she talks to me about what she's doing. I guess I remembered some of the things she has told me," she tapped her head.