Chapter Text
Everything's gone wrong, and its all the stupid stairs fault. Currently, Jasmine Lily Potter is silently crying at the bottom of said stairs. The stairs were supposed to let her up into the girls dormitory, but instead had turned into a slide the second her shoe touched the 4th step, sending her and all the girls sliding down. It had made quite a ruckus. The Prefect called Percy had first blamed his brothers, Fred and George, but they were already in their dormitory. After about 15 minutes of falling down the stairs, Percy had figured out that Jasmine was the source of it. He had gone to get Professor McGonagall to figure out what to do with Jasmine. When he had gone to get her, he muttered something about someone named Charlie and having to write to his Mum, but he didn't seem angry.
Still, Jasmine was crying, scared that she would be expelled. She had only just come into this world, and she was terrified that she would have to leave. She nervously played with the bottom of her long, black braid, wishing that she could make it shorter. I wonder if there’s a spell for that, she thought not that it will matter, when I'm expelled. She wiped tears from her face. Maybe, they'll still let me be in the wizarding world. Even if I’m not magical enough for the stairs to let me up..... she thought to herself, allowing herself a small sliver of hope.
“Miss Potter?” Professor McGonagall called. Jasmine stood up quickly, wiping her face with her robe sleeve. “Come with me, please,” McGonagall said. Jasmine went quietly, looking down at her shoes as they walked to McGonagall’s office.
Soon, they reached her office. It was decently large, with a tall, rounded window standing behind a dark, mahogany desk. There was a fireplace on one wall, with the wall opposite of it was completely covered in bookshelves. There was a red rectangular rug laying on the floor. “Sit,” McGonagall instructed, gesturing to a chair in front of her own desk. “Have a biscuit, Miss Potter,” She held out a tin of biscuits, expectantly. Jasmine grabbed one, nibbling on it and waiting for her eventual expulsion.
“Professor?” Jasmine asked nervously, “Am….A-Am I being expelled?” Her voice was shakier than she hoped, and she silently cursed herself for the stutter. And then, the worst thing happened. The bespectacled Professor laughed! She laughed a loud genuine laugh, and Jasmine felt whatever small amount of hope she was harboring dissolve.
“Expelled?! Oh dear me, no, no, not at all,” Jasmine felt like she had been slapped, and a strange mix of relief and confusion washed over her.
“But…But the stairs didn’t let me up! It must mean I don’t have enough magic! Hogwarts itself doesn’t even want me here!” Jasmine exclaimed, confusion bubbling within her.
“Jasmine, dear, you are not the first caster to be denied access to one of the gendered dormitories, nor will you be the last,” McGonagall tried to reassure, putting a hand on top of Jasmine’s, but her words only left Jasmine more confused.
“I……I don’t understand..?” She looked at the older witch, her voice shaky.
“Dear, have you considered that the reason the girls stairs didn’t let you is not because your not magical enough, but because your not a girl?” The witch said looking at Jasmine over her glasses “Its really quite common, being mixed up. In fact, I was also mixed up at first,” She let out a small laugh “But, as you can tell, I’m all women,”
“I…I’m not a boy....” Jasmine said, unsure of herself.
“You don’t have to be. It is clear, though, that you are not a woman. Otherwise, the stairs would have let you up.” McGonagall said gently, pushing her glasses up her nose. “You are not the only one in this situation, Jasmine. In fact, Professor Flitwick has informed me of another first year like you, who is neither a man or a women. Luna Lovegood, their name is. I’m sure they would be happy to talk to you, if you ever wanted to talk to them,”
Suddenly, Jasmine found the design on the rug very interesting, and looked away from the professor. She was thinking about all of it, and trying to figure out how she-no, they, were not a women. It made sense, it really did, no matter how much Jasmine wanted it not to. All the times when they cried from being forced to wear a dress by Aunt Petunia, and when they cut all their hair off and got so scared that Aunt Petunia would be mad that they hoped it would all grow back so hard that it grew back longer than before they cut it. And all the times at school when they would be playing in the mud with the boys (not for long, though, as they would always push them away) instead of playing house with the girls (not like the girls wanted to play house with them anyways, but Jasmine didn’t want to play with them either).
“I think you might be right, Professor,” Jasmine said, running their fingers through their braid nervously “But I don’t know what I am, if not a girl,”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to figure it out all right now, and I wont force you to make a decision about anything. But, right now, we need to find you a place to sleep, for tonight at least,” The witch said. “The girls dorms are obviously not an option, and we can try the boys dorms if you want, of course,” She drummed her fingers on the table, before focusing her eyes on Jasmine. “Not many students know of this, but in every house there is a third dormitory. One for those who do not fit into either gendered dorms. We can put you there, if you would like?”
Jasmine nodded “I would like that, thank you! I don’t think I’m okay with the boys dorm just yet,” They ran their fingers through their braid, pushing their glasses up their nose.
“Fantastic, now before I forget, I can transfigure any of your clothes to fit your gender more properly, like making your skirts into pants, if you would like?” McGonagall asked.
“Oh, yes please! That would be amazing, thank you,’ The young caster nodded excitedly. McGonagall nodded, waving her wand and saying a quick incantation. Jasmines skirt shifted into pants. Although Jasmine had seen lots of magic that day, they were still excited by the quick display.
“Great, now I’m sure your exhausted and want to sleep, so follow me to your new dorm,” McGonagall said, getting up from her chair and walking out the door. Jasmine rushed behind her, feeling very light and happy. They walked up to a plain brick wall beside the fireplace in Gryffindor common room. McGonagall waved her wand, and the brick wall turned into a door, leading onto a large staircase. ”Here you are, Potter. I’ve already moved your trunk up there, so don’t worry.” McGonagall said. Jasmine nodded, walking up the staircase into their new dorm. The choose the closest bed to the door, and quickly changed.
They laid in their bed, pulling the thickest blanket they’ve ever used up to their chin. They signed happily, feeling perfectly content.