I walk along the street filled with students and their guardians. Today was back-to-school shopping and I hate it. I don't necessary dislike shopping, I love that. But the part where I have to go into crowds in order to get the stuff crossed off on my list, that is where I can't stand it. During the summer holidays, Diagon Alley wasn't so busy and it was calmer, meaning you could take a deep breath and still have air to go around. But since September is just around the corner, one day in fact, it was mayhem. I know I should have done my school shopping earlier, but Traci wanted to go together this year and I haven't seen her all summer long. Traci is my best friend, we've been friends since our first year at Hogwarts together, and now being in fifth year we decided to skip the parents-tagging-along embarrassment and go by ourselves. At sixteen, you'd figure that we'd be buying everything we could get our hands on, but we promised our parents to purchase things only for the school year. Technically, we crossed off all of the supplies on our school list, so we could buy a few extra things for ourselves if wanted.

“Anastasia, come on! Weasley Wizard's Wheeze's is right around the corner!” Traci beckons for me to walk faster, as if I could with all these people around us, tightly squeezing between other families. “Alright, alright, I'm coming!” I squeeze my way through the crowd as fast as I can, trying to catch up with Traci. As I'm weaving my way through the crowd, I see a woman at a merchant stand, trying to strike a deal with the owner. “How much for the amulet?” The woman asks. “Oh, I don't have that kind of money. What do I look like, someone with money bags? I'll come back when I have it.” The woman stalks off, grumbling to herself. I look at the merchant's shack and see the beautiful silver amulet on a stand. What I'd kill for a necklace like that, I think to myself. I feel my arm being pulled and I turn around to see Traci staring at me, “We are never going to get in there if you just stand around all day. Come on!” I sigh in defeat and let her tug me into the joke shop.

Awhile later, we come out of the Weasley's shop with nothing but giggles. We didn't get to purchase anything, since by the time we had a few things in our hands, the cashier line was out the door and around the block. Instead, we just walked around the shop and looked at the new things on the shelves. “The love potions were totally meant for us. I mean, who wouldn't want to find love with a simple drop of that.” Traci says, giggling as we walked out of the shop. Once we were free from the crowd inside, we had to stop to think of what we should do next. I look over to the merchant's shack once more; the amulet still in its place. I walk up to the shack without a thought, Traci following behind me a few seconds later. “Is that necklace still available and how much?” I say, intrigued by the beautiful piece of silver. “Why this?” The owner takes the amulet off of the stand and hands it to me. “This is quite the necklace, isn't it miss? It's been bargained with many times, but no one seems to want to truly buy it. I'll tell you what, you can have it for a cheap price. That way, it'll be off of my hands for good.” I smile, “Thanks!” The owner packs it up with some wrapping paper and we exchange the set price. “Oh, by the way miss, this necklace isn't ordinary. If you seem to come into contact with a strong force of magic, the amulet will glow a bright green. Now, I must attend to another customer, I bid you good day.”

The next day, we were off to Hogwarts. Traci and I found an empty compartment as the Hogwarts Train moved closer and closer to the one place we'll be staying for the rest of the school year. We talk about this and that, mostly about the necklace I bought yesterday. I decided to wear it, wanting to display it around my neck proudly. Eventually I find myself walking around the train to find the Honey Dukes Express Trolley. I grab a few pastries and start heading back towards the compartment Traci and I are staying in. Suddenly, the train starts to jerk and I bump into someone. “Uh, sorry about that. This train likes to do this often.” I apologize in case this person thought it was my doing. I look up and see a brown-haired boy with blue eyes staring down at me, unamused at my comment. “Watch where you're going. If it was the train, I wouldn't have bumped into you.” As he says this, he stalks off, leaving me kind of pissed. I look down and notice that my amulet is glowing. What did the merchant say? Oh yeah, it will glow bright green when strong magic is near. That was probably the boy's energy coming off too strong, as he seems pretty furious. I take a deep breath, letting the recent conversation flow out of my mind as I walk back to the compartment with the snacks in my hands.

I shut the compartment door and walk through with Traci what happened between the boy and I. “He's probably pissed that he has to go back to school, don't worry about it.” Traci says as she rips open a pumpkin pastry. “Anyway, I've heard from a few fourth years about some drama with the popular sixth years.” Traci is a huge gossip, and when I mean huge, I mean that she's the person to go to when one desires to spread a rumour. Traci starts off, “Hannah Farri's Slytherin reputation and Harold Jenkin's Ravenclaw reputation is the talk of the train. Apparently, they broke up during summer vacation because Hannah supposedly cheated with a fifth year Hufflepuff named Hunter Clark.” Everyone around school loved the gossip. I never really got involved with gossip, since most times the rumours that went around were hardly the truth. Traci went on, “Some fourth years saw Hannah and Harold snogging at the train station though. They said that Hunter was staring at her from a distance.” A love triangle with the popular girl involved; shocker. “Let's just hope it doesn't get too complicated, or else things could get out of hand before school even starts.” I say to Traci.

Once I arrive at Hogwarts, I head up to Gryffindor Tower to change into my uniform along with the rest of the fifth years. I put on my red and golden striped v-neck sweater with the Gryffindor colored tie, as well as my black skirt and robe. With Traci by my side, I head downwards to the Great Hall and we both sit at the Gryffindor table. The big banners of Yellow are still in place from last year's winners; Hufflepuff. They have won for two years in a row now, and no doubt Ravenclaw will take their place this year. My hand automatically twirls around the amulet on my chest. “Anastasia, you are being way too obsessive with that thing. Plus, it's not proper school uniform. If a teacher sees that, it'll be confiscated until the end of the school year. Come to think of it, that might not be a bad idea.” Traci teases me sometimes, but I know it's all for fun and games. “Fine, I'll put it in my book bag until the feast is over. That way, I won't get in trouble and it'll keep you happy.” I tease her back as I take the necklace off and shove it in my book bag. “Hun, I think Ace is staring at you. Don't look now, but look now.” Traci moves her eyebrows towards the right of my shoulder and I slowly look behind me. There is a guy staring at me! I quickly turn back around to face Traci. “That's the guy that I bumped into on the train. Who is he?” I ask her, honestly curious. Traci goes on, “Ace Fitzgerald; a fifth year transfer student from Durmstrang, put in Slytherin.”

Durmstrang is just one of the famous wizarding schools in the world. Only the best of the best wizards go to that elite school. It's almost like a private school, one in which only certain blood statuses were able to attend. “How do you know all of that?” I say with my eyebrow raised a little. “I've got connections throughout the school. No biggie.” Traci shrugs her shoulders like it's nothing. The entire school quiets down and the sorting hat ceremony begins. As the first years are being sorted into their houses, I can't shake the feeling of being watched. The Gryffindor table bursts into cheer as a first year student gets sorted into my house. I shift myself so that I can turn around and low and behold, Ace is staring at me. He's wearing his Slytherin uniform and smirking right at me. Great, now he knows I know he's staring at me. I stare at him as he stares back at me for what seems like an eternity, the feeling of tension starts building up between us. All of a sudden, like a huge slap in the face, I snap out of the staring contest and quickly turn back around to face the Gryffindor table. Why? Why me? Just because I bumped into him on accident, doesn't mean that I should get a punishment of being stared at. I sigh, hoping that his little tamper tantrum would be over soon. For now, I'll just have to bear with it.