"And what will your new name be?" Hedwig said to Harry as they and the monitor walked towards the principal's office. Harry was distracted by the events that happened earlier that day (such as him discovering he was a girl and the confrontation with Cassidy) that he almost forgot about his new identity.699Please respect copyright.PENANAr3aa8CnR0e
Until now, that was.
"Why are you asking me this?" she said.
"Because you're a girl now," said Hedwig. "As such, you can't call yourself "Harry Potter" anymore."
Harry frowned, as she knew this would happen. She knew her life as Harry Potter was over the moment Cassidy had sent her to the strange village through the magic mirror.
Still, that didn't mean she couldn't fight against the inevitable.
"OK," she said with a strange look on her face. "So I have to come up with a girl's name. Big deal. But I'm no good with names, and I know I lack the kind of imagination Jacquel's notorious for having. What should I do?"
"Don't worry about it," said Hedwig, "It'll come to you in due time. All you should be concerned about is how you're going to tell the principal how you came to the school in the first place."
"How am I going to do that?" said Harry. "When last I checked, there's no such thing as magical mirrors that can transport you from one place to another."
"Forget about the mirror, what are you planning to do about Cassidy?" said Hedwig. "How will we squeeze past her?"
"I'm sure we'll figure it out some way or another," said Harry.
They reached the principal's office; the principal stared at the two new students standing before her. She said, "I normally don't let anyone enter the school after the school year begins, but I'll be willing to make an exception in your case, providing that you tell me your names and where you came from."
Harry froze; she knew there was no way she would tell anyone (let alone a school principal) that she was a wizard from Hogwarts, not when the principal had no idea about what Hogwarts was or what it look like.
"Now can I panic?" she said to Hedwig.
"Nope, that's not allowed," said Hedwig. "You must pick out a name for yourself and tell her where you came from."
"Really?" Harry snapped.
"You have three seconds, so you better think quickly," said Hedwig.
Harry paled, knowing what was up. She knew she couldn't call herself "Harriet Potter", as it was too close to "Harry Potter". She also couldn't call herself "Jamie" or "Lily" for the same reason.
But an idea struck her; she didn't know it yet, but she had a feeling that it just might work.
Just then, she blurted out, "I'm...Peyton Hanner, an exchange student from...Hogwarts, England, and this is my cousin Hedley Morgan."
"Indeed," said the principal. "My name is Chloe Rogers, I run things around here despite what you may have heard from Cassidy."
"So you know about Cassidy Newton," said Hedley.
"Indeed I do," said Chloe. "While her parents aren't wealthy nor are they famous, Cassidy spent two years climbing to the top, or at least attempting to climb to the top. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side if I were you."
"I knew it!" Peyton hissed to Hedley. "She's definitely up to no good!" Then to Chloe, she said, "May I know what classes I'm going to?"
"Of course," said Chloe. "I'll draw up the paperwork when you get to the counselor's office."
"Peyton Hanner?" Hedley said as they left the principal's office. "Are you kidding me?"
"Well, it just sort of...came to me," said Peyton. "What of it?"
"You're cutting it a little too close," said Hedley as Peyton glared at him. "Exchange student from Hogwarts? Seriously? Did you think she would buy that nonsense you conjured up?"
"Well, excuse me for almost cracking under the pressure," said Peyton, "but what was I supposed to do? Tell everybody that I'm actually a boy wizard from the wizarding world? That’s not going to happen any time soon."
"I was just saying," said Hedley, but then a student snooping around the principal's office saw the two new students in question. He went to inform everyone of their arrival. Little did Peyton and Hadley know that their arrival at Strawgoh High School was not so quiet after all.699Please respect copyright.PENANAC48wy7YGxg