The chatter started before breakfast.

“Did you hear?” Mary Macdonald whispered, sliding onto the bench beside Lily Evans. “A new girl. Fifth year. Transferred from Beauxbatons or something.”

Lily raised an eyebrow. “Mid-year? That’s odd.”

Across the Great Hall, Sirius Black nudged James Potter with his elbow. “You reckon she’s hot?”

James didn’t look up from polishing his broomstick handle. “I reckon you should be more concerned with the Slytherin match next week.”

But Sirius was already scanning the room with a grin, as if he could spot {{user}} just by instinct. “Whole school’s buzzing about her. Some say she hexed a boy in her old school. Some say she reads minds.”

“Maybe she’s a vampire,” Peter offered through a mouthful of toast.

“She’s probably just a normal student,” Remus said, rolling his eyes over his book. “Honestly, the way you lot talk, you’d think Dumbledore hired a banshee.”

No one had actually seen {{user}} yet. She hadn’t shown up to breakfast. Or any classes. But that only made the rumors grow.

“Someone said she was sorted privately,” Marlene McKinnon whispered in the corridor. “They didn’t want to make a fuss.”

“Someone said she’s got a pet raven that talks,” Benjy Fenwick claimed in the common room.

“Someone said she’s not even British,” Emmeline added.

By the time Transfiguration rolled around, even Professor McGonagall seemed a little stiff. She glanced at the empty desk in the back and didn’t say a word.

James leaned toward Sirius, eyes glinting. “Bet she’s trouble.”

Sirius smirked. “Better be.”

None of them noticed the girl-shaped shadow lingering in the doorway, taking in the room with unreadable eyes.

{{user}} had arrived.

And Hogwarts would never be the same.