Chapter 1: Curious, A Hogwarts OC

Chapter 1

The alarm blared and Hannah's eyes sprang open she groaned and cursed herself. It was the middle of the holidays so why the hell had she not turned it off by now? She sloppily produced an arm from under the mountains of covers and hit around the alarm a few times before it stopped ringing. She sighed contently and progressed back down into her warm covers. It was very snug under her floral quilt. But, as fate regularly hated Hannah, just as she was settling down into a carefree dozed; a voice like velvet rang out.
"Hannah! Hannah? Are you up?"
"No, Mum!" she called back, bristled by the outright shouting at 8 o'clock in the morning. For God's sake, she thought, could she not have a minute's peace on a Saturday? A reply rang out, oblivious to her daughter's murderous thoughts.
"Hannah! Get up now! We've got to go in to town to get you some more delicates!" Her mother called up. Hannah was instantly awake and sat up with so much force that she momentarily felt ill. God, she was embarrassing. Her cheeks flared red with outrage.
"MUM! Shut up!"
"Alright! Alright, jeesh is that anyway to speak to your mother? Just hurry up."

Hannah got up from under her cocoon of sheets and proceeded to get dressed in dark jeans, a red and white striped t-shirt and added a black hoodie for warmth. She looked in the mirror. Not bad, she thought. Her hair was short and in a bob style, to short to be tied up and it was very thick.  Hannah hated her hair; she hated the thickness and how much it hurt her when brushed. She also hated the way her mother constantly wanted to touch it and stroke her hair when all she wanted to do was stuff it under a hood for fear of embarrassment. Also, it wasn't even a colour. Well, it was a kind of brown, Hannah mused. But it wasn't really; it was a dirty horrible dark colour. It wasn't a lovely chestnut or chocolate. No! Hannah had got mud hair. Plus, with it being short it meant less hassle and that was why she'd gone to the hair dressers and got it chopped off. That was a day, the holidays had just started and she had come home to screams from her dizzy mother who for some bizarre reason started to poke through it, as though the rest of her hair would appear suddenly.
Hannah smiled crookedly at her reflection with remembrance. Her eyes were cat's eyes; elliptical, innocent and a bright emerald green. She had a well worn crooked mouth with two big teeth in the middle which made her friends call her a rabbit and a petite nose that was round and sausage like.
Hannah ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times to work out the many knots and lugs, and went out side and down her hall way. Not even when she had taken ten steps, she smacked her face with her hand, widened her eyes and turned abruptly on her heel. All the while screaming "GLASSES!"
She span back into her bedroom scrambled at the bedside table to grasp them and plonked them on her face. She stood still for a second then smoothed down her hoodie and tried it again. She walked out of her room and down the hallway. She always forgot her glasses and it was such a regular occurrence it became almost like a ritual to forget them. She clambered downstairs and a warm, heavenly smell reached her nose. Mmmmm, she sighed as she opened the kitchen door to find her mother cooking…pancakes.
The sweet scent of hot, cooking batter was thick in the air and it was mixed with the angelic smell of melting chocolate sauce and golden syrup. She sat down at the dining table and her mother came over with a pile of 5 pancakes steaming on a plate and set it down in front of her. Hannah's mouth watered as she promptly drowned them in chocolate sauce and banana chunks.
Her mother, Tanya, was a willowy woman, older than most mums who had an 11 year old daughter. She had tight blond ringlets cascading downwards and as many worry lines as smile ones. She had a round face and was wearing a frilly apron and a pair of dusty jeans with a purple cardigan.
"You got some post dear." Hannah frowned, her face full of pancakes. She chewed slowly, her expectant mother's face looming over. Hannah gulped down the rest.    
"Where is it?" she asked.
"Oh, it's…err," Tanya, fidgeted around and stared turning over papers, searching. "Aha! Found it!" She bent down to get a yellow-ish envelope. Hannah took it in her hands and turned it over. A curious seal pressed down the envelope's flap. It was red and bared a coat of arms. Inside was a badger, lion, snake and an eagle. She ripped it open and two large rolls of similar yellow paper was inside. In black calligraphy were written the words:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Minerva McGonagall

Dear Miss Murphy,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Professor M McGonagall
Head Mistress


Hannah stared. Was this a joke? It must be. She wasn't a witch. This was a hoax, she was sure of it. Her mother craned over and read the letter from behind her. And then, quite suddenly, as they both reread the letter, their mouths simultaneously fell open. The doorbell rang and Hannah got up to see who on earth it was at this time in a morning. She opened the door and stared.
For waiting on her mother's decrepit welcome matt was a curious man. Curious indeed, for he was wearing flowing, brown robes with various strange stains, black loose jeans, a grey knitted sweater vest which displayed remarkable symbols and pictures as well as a stiff, pointed hat. The man's jaw spread in a wide, slightly lopsided grin as he gave a small wave. His two front teeth stuck out as much as his pink ears and he had slightly to long black hair which ruffled in the small breeze.   
"Hello, any chance of cuppa? Oh, erm, I am Professor Longbottom and I suppose the first thing to say is:  You're a witch, Hannah!'