I woke up early this morning. My mum and dad had been telling me all about it- my Hogwarts Letter. Every magical child gets one. It was the summer before my first year at Hogwarts, and as such, required easing into the magical world. Or so my father said. Technically, I would be a fifth year and would take classes with the fifth years, but as a foreign transfer, I'd have a bit of a problem, unless Beauxbatons was ahead of them.
"Mika. As a young wizard, you are expected to carry yourself rightly. You are not to expose magic to muggles, under any circumstance. You treat others with respect and open-mindedness about their ideals, even if they contradict yours."
That was right before I opened my letter. I was so excited, all I could do was say "Yes sir," and open my letter without a second of hesitation.
Dear Mr. Hollis,
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 1 September, 2020. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
I opened the list of materials and showed them to my father.
"We'll need to go to Diagon Alley, then, won't we?"
"Yes. But first, let me make breakfast for you and your beautiful mother. It's time for a small celebration!"
He pulled out his wand, and with multiple waves of his wand, began to move pots and pans and open flames and eggs until a meal of turkey bacon, eggs, and toast was preparing.
"Amon," My mother called from downstairs. "Is that you making breakfast?"
She came down and gave me a kiss. "Buenas tardes, Mika. ¿Recibío a su carta, verdad?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I got my letter a little while ago."
With all three of us in the kitchen, it seemed dangerous. Kitchen utensils were flying around, knives preparing our breakfast as if they had minds of their own. The kitchen, while rather large, was beginning to feel cramped with all of the craziness. So, I led my parents into the living room so we could talk without fear of getting decapitated.
"So when are we going into Diagon Alley?"
"Three days. You've only got until the 1st to be on the express. That's five days from now."
I was so excited, I practically sped through the next five days, until I was in a train car on the way to Hogwarts. I didn't know where to sit, so I sat in a car with a tall blonde boy, who was a fifth year as well. There was no one else in the car with him, so it was just us two. I sat across from him, and placed my luggage far enough to give him ample space for any objects he could have.
I smiled at him. "Hi! I'm Mika Hollis. What's your name?"
"I'm Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy."
"It's nice to meet you, Scorpius. How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks." He was awfully quiet. I wasn't really sure what to say to break the ice.
"So, uh," I said. "What house are you in? I'm expecting Ravenclaw or Slytherin."
"My whole family's been in Slytherin for generations, as am I." Scorpius said. "Pretty boring, really. But, oh well."
"Really? My family's been all over the place. My mum's family is from Spain, though. She came here because the magical economy of Spain is pretty bad. She was a Ravenclaw. My dad was from Egypt, and he was a Slytherin. He came to study magic outside of the Arab world. It wasn't exactly safe, even for wizards. I grew up in France, but visited family in Egypt and in Spain. My parents spoke to me in both languages, and living in France and attending Beauxbatons taught me French. I only started learning English when I was told we were coming to Britain. Is my English good?"
"Yeah, your English is great." Scorpius said. He smiled at me, showing off bright gray eyes. "So you could be in Slytherin with me."
"Yeah, but you never know.. I could be a Hufflepluff!" I laughed.
Scorpius's eyes widened. "Woah. Don't joke like that or it might actually happen!" He burst out laughing, as did I.
We continued talking for a while. We practiced spellwork, too. I showed him the water conjuring spell, aguamenti, and he demonstrated how to cast a patronus. His was a large and powerful looking serpent.
"You can conjure a Patronus!" I said. "Me too!" I demonstrated, and out burst a flying ibis.
It started to get dark, and the woman came around with the trolley selling sweets for the last time.
"Want anything while I'm up?" I asked Scorpius.
"A few Pumpkin Pasties," He said. He handed me 4 knuts and a sickle. "Use this to get them."
"'Kay," I said. I went up to her. "Three pumpkin pasties, three chocolate frogs, and a licorice wand?" I paid her and got back two knuts for Scorpius, and six for me as change.
"Here you are, young man. You have quite an appetite!"
"No ma'am," I said. "Some of this is for my friend as well."
"I see! Well, you take care, now."
"You too! Thank you." I smiled and turned back inside the car. I dumped all of the sweets next to him and sat down.
"Here's your Pumpkin Pasties," I said. I grabbed the chocolate frogs- hey, I like my chocolate- and set down the licorice wand.
"We can share the licorice wand," I said.
"Alright," he told me. I looked out the window, watching the scenery in the dark. It began to rain, at first a slow drizzle, but then, it began to storm heavily.
"I love the rain," I said. "It's so pleasant. It's really peaceful."
"Yeah, it is," Scorpius said. "I hope it doesn't effect the ride to Hogwarts, though."
How ironic. Right afterwards, the lights cut off, and the train screeched to a halt, flinging us to the opposite side of the car and falling in a tangled heap on the floor.
"That kinda hurt," I said.
"Yeah," Scorpius agreed. He stood up quickly. While laying down and looking up at him, I realized how tall he really was, about 5 and 10 inches. He helped me up, which was still difficult in the darkness. I pulled out my wand.
"Lumos," I whispered. A yellow light poured out of my wand, and it illuminated the car. We looked around for the seats, and sat back down.
"Nox," I said, darkening my wand.
"What do you think is going on?" I asked Scorpius.
"I'm not sure," he said.
"Let's check it out," I said. "Maybe something is going on out there." I stood up, before Scorpius grabbed my arm.
"I'll go first," he said. He slid open the door, and a black shape flew past him. I thought it was a cloak, but it went by too fast to tell. Scorpius stumbled back, landing on my lap and knocking us back onto the floor for the second time.
We hurriedly got up and scrambled to the end of the the car we were in. Scorpius drew his wand and closed the door from a distance. "We're not going back out there," he decided.
"Was that... A cloak?" I asked him.
"I don't know," he responded. "Let's sit back down and wait fo-"
The lights flickered back on, and the train activated, sputtering to life before achieving the speed it had originally.
"That was scary," I said. "But no matter.. We'll ask someone about it later, yeah? In the meantime, I guess we should just sit down, huh?"
"Yeah," Scorpius agreed. "So you're like... Super foreign," He laughed a little.
"So... What language do you think in?" He asked me.
"Honestly, I can think in Arabic, French, or Spanish equally as well, but I can think in English in a limited manner. It depends on who I'm around, and especially what language you're introduced to me in."
"So if we spoke in French right now, you'd be thinking in that, but if we spoke in Arabic, you'd think in that?"
"Yeah. It's a little confusing, but around English speakers I normally think in Spanish and Arabic in a mixture. It's sort of like my 'native' thought language."
"Like, do you mix vocabulary or.."
"Oh yeah, definitely! Like, the word for girl in Arabic is "Bintun," but the word for boy in French is "Garçon." However, for the word kids, I like "Niños," which is Spanish. They all have similar grammatical gender, so I'd say something like La Bintun or Les Niños."
"That's cool!" He said. Scorpius looked outside the window. "The rain is lightening up. Hopefully it stays rainy.."
"It doesn't matter, I think. We're almost there. Look," I told him, pointing to the Great Lake. I knew that was it due to seeing the giant octopus, which had surfaced for a moment.
"I see it, I think." He squinted out the window. "I can't see too well in the darkness. I've poor night vision." He smiled and laughed. Then, sudden realization of some fact dawned on his face, and his expression changed.
"Wait. If you're not going to be sorted until AFTER dinner, where will you sit? The tables are divided by house."
"I'll probably just sit with Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Honestly, I'd rather sit with you, but I bet you already have friends with whom you sit. I wouldn't want to intrude."
Scorpius shook his head. "I don't know, maybe. My fellow classmates aren't too welcoming of other friends. Last year they bullied a Ravenclaw girl to the extreme. I don't even know why I'm friends with them. But I don't really have much else, so I just deal with it."
"That sucks!" I said. "Maybe you should just change your friends around a bit. I dunno." I honestly didn't. I'd never had much problems with friends. Either I made them or I didn't, and if we didn't like each other or something, then we just dropped each other.
The train slowed to a stop, the rain coming down harder than ever. Scorpius stood up.
"We're here," he said. "If you want, we can either wait for the rest of the kids to get off before we get a carriage, or I can introduce you to some of my friends in Slytherin house."
"Let's meet your friends, yeah?" I said, a little excited. This would be my first group of friends here!
He nodded. "Hopefully you know a spell for handling irritation, because these kids might just make you use it."
I laughed at his joke. His face was serious, however.
"I wasn't joking. They're pains in the arse." I blinked hard, a little surprised.
"Oh. Cool," I said. "Well, let's go." He opened the train car's door, and stepped outside into the aisle, waiting for me.
I stepped after him. When I reached for my stuff, he stopped me.
"It's automatically brought to us in our rooms. You don't need to grab it. We're heading straight outside, to the carriages."
We shuffled along like the other students, save for first years, who walked towards a little harbor of boats. The magnificent wooden carriages were steedless, and most of them were already full. A few of them were inhabited by playful ghosts, who wished to talk to some students. The carriage we got in was inhabited by two other kids already. One was a Gryffindor girl with platinum blonde hair, with black streaks. She was very beautiful, and looked too old to be a student, but only a recent graduate. The second was a another Gryffindor boy, with messy black hair and bright green eyes. He was rather pale and slim, but he looked somewhat fit. They smiled at Scorpius when he got on.
"Hey," the messy-haired boy said.
"Hey," Scorpius replied. He turned to me. "Mika, this is Victoire Weasley, and her cousin, Albus Potter."
"Victoire?" I said. I looked at the girl. "Are you French?" I was a little excited. I'd be able to talk about people in another language with someone.
"Oui! Parles-tu français?" She smiled at me, her teeth a brilliant white. Her hair shimmered. I wondered if her beauty was magic.
"Oui! I'm actually from France. I also speak Arabic and Spanish." Scorpius was looking rather pleased with himself.
"They're cool," Scorpius said quietly to me. "But they weren't the ones I wanted to introduce you to. This is just where there was room on a carriage."
I tried with all of my being not to laugh. "Okay," I whispered back.
"Do you speak French too, Albus?" The messy-haired boy shook his head.
"Nope," he told me. "But I know some swear words."
I laughed, again. "Gryffindor is sounding quite nice, Scorpius!"
He looked stunned, like I'd punched him in the chest, then regained his cool composure. "If Gryffindor's what you're sorted into..." He muttered a little darkly. He let the sentence hang, and pulled out a licorice wand, smiling to kill the tension.
"I don't think you'll be sorted with the First Years," he said. He stuck his arm outside the carriage, soaking it. There was an Impervius Charm on the space around the carriage, so no water splashed on it.
"Probably not," Albus said. "I bet you might just be asked by them what house you want to be in."
"Maybe," I said. "I'd probably pick Slytherin." I gave Scorpius a wet fist bump as I continued. "I hear people don't really like it because it's got a bad history, but I don't mind. I'd like a challenge."
Scorpius looked happy. "It'd be cool to have some friends in Slytherin," he said, barely audible.
Albus and Victoire looked scandalized. "What are you talking about?" Victoire said, laughing and questioning at the same time. "The Slytherins sure seemed like your friends when they decided to harass Lindsay Turenne!"
"Lindsay's a muggle-born in Ravenclaw," Albus said to me. I nodded in realization.
Scorpius shifted uneasily at the questioning. Apparently, I was the only one who had noticed.
"Stop it," I said. "It's not a big deal." The carriage hit a particularly large bump, and we all bounced.
"I suppose not," Victoire muttered.
I decided a change of subject would be better.
"So d'you guys know what happened to the train when it broke down?"
"Didn't you hear?" Albus said. "A Lethifold came on the train."
"A Lethifold?" I said. "You mean the a monsters that pretend to be sheets and strangle people?"
"Yep."
I turned to Scorpius. "That explains why I thought it was a cloak! It was a Lethifold!"
"Okay," he said. "But why didn't it go and attack us?"
"A Lethifold can be repelled by a Patronus." I said. "We were casting them beforehand, so it didn't mess with us!"
"But," Victoire started. "They're only in tropical areas. You can't find one here."
"So.. How'd it get here?" I asked.
"Well, that's the problem, see?" Victoire said. "Someone put it there, which leaves us with a bit of a problem: who did? And why?"
"Have you been keeping up with the news?" Scorpius said. "If this is a magical terrorist act, then it was probably the Pureblood Vox."
"Pureblood Vox?" I asked. "Uh, the people who want to eliminate the Statute of Secrecy and dominate the Muggle World? Why would they attack Hogwarts?"
"They don't like that muggle-borns attend. They feel magic should be kept in magical families."
"So? They risk killing Purebloods too!" I said.
"Never said they were smart," Scorpius replied. "My dad sympathizes with them. Barking, I tell you."
"Our aunt's a muggle-born," said Victoire.
"Oh, you mean aunt Hermione?" Albus said. "She is?"
"Yeah," Victoire said. "Didn't you know?"
"Obviously not," he muttered under his breath.
"Anyway," Scorpius said, "The Pureblood Vox isn't liking Hogwarts right now.. Not after everything the Headmistress has been saying, denouncing the Vox."
"Yeah," Victoire agreed. "She's released about four statements!"
"She's getting a bit on, I hear this year, her and about three other teachers are retiring," Albus said.
"Who?" I asked. I hadn't even met any of them!
"Professors Flitwick, Slughorn, Vector, and McGonagall. I think Professor Sprout'll step up as headmistress, but keep teaching Herbology. That means we're getting four new teachers: Transfiguration, Potions, Arithmancy, and Charms."
I groaned mentally. "So what does that mean? Who teaches us this year?"
Scorpius spoke up, accidentally talking over Victoire. "Oh, sorry," he muttered, before continuing bravely, "My father says that the four teachers are actually coming this year. To sort of understudy the teachers."
"So we'll be getting twice the hell.." I made a grimace that was almost audible as the carriage pulled up to the Hogwarts Castle.
"Well," I said to Victoire and Albus. "It was nice to meet you," I said as we parted at the gate.
"You too," they responded in a chorus. They walked up to the castle as we did, following the crowd. I took sight of a tall man standing off to the side, easily eight feet at least, and more than likely just as wide, holding a sign with my name.
"Mika Hollis!" The gargantuan man shouted. "Come this way!"
In my effort to reach the giant man, Scorpius and I separated. I figured it would be fine, I'd just find him when I figured out what would happen with me.
"'Ey there, Mika! I'm Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures 'nstructor and your guide for today!"
The huge man, Hagrid, smiled warmly at me. I gave him a smaller one, but the most polite one I could muster.
"Right' then, Mika," Hagrid said. "Les' getcha' to Professor McGonagall. She's got the Sortin' Ha' for yer to put on." He walked up to the castle briskly, carving a large path around the students as he walked.
"Er, Sorting Hat?" I asked him.
"'S an old ha' tha' the stud'n's put on ter ge' sorted inter houses. Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, n' Gryffindor. Was a Gryffindor m'self, you'll be fine there..." He went off on a tangent, speaking about his years as a student. He was quite old, and looked like his memory was going a little fuzzy.
"'Nd tha' was way before yer time, Mika... Way b'fore you're e'en dreamed'f," He finished, as we turned at the Great Hall into another room.
"So where're we going?" I asked him.
"I haven' told you? Yer going ter pu' on the Sorting Ha'!"
"Yes, Hagrid," I said. "But WHERE?"
"To McGonagall!"
I mentally facepalmed. He was a little more than a bit old. "I mean, what room're we going to?"
"Oh!" He said airily, waving to a painting as we walked past. "T' the Headmistress's room."
Eventually, we reached a stone gargoyle statue, which Hagrid stopped at.
"Supercilious," he said to the gargoyle, much clearer than his normal voice. The gargoyle bowed, and revealed a spiral staircase, which he began to ascend. When he realized I wasn't following, but staring perplexed at the gargoyle which moved no longer, he spoke.
"Oi, Mika! C'mon, le's make this qui' so the Firs' Years can ge' sorted!"
I hurried up the stairs behind him, the gargoyle sliding back to close the stairs behind me. The shadows within the corridor shuddered as we walked up the torchlit staircase. When we reached the top, there was another door, somewhat ornate and wooden, although I couldn't tell with the dim lighting. Hagrid rapped smartly on the door, before speaking.
"I've got Mika Hollis 'ere with me, ter be sorted, Professor McGonagall."
A faint "Come in," sounded from the door, and Hagrid led me inside the Headmistress's office.
It was large and organized. If there was one word that characterized McGonagall's office, it was "immaculate." There were bookshelves that seemed to be organized alphabetically by subject, with a large, elevated area similar to a state in the back, partitioned by a stone-hewn fence with likewise stone stairs. In the center, a woman sat at in the center of a perfectly circular desk, with a hole in the middle where she wrote furiously.
"You are Mika Hollis?" She said as she looked at me with a penetrating stare, poring over my very being. I felt compelled to answer.
"Yes," I said immediately.
"I am Minerva McGonagall," She said. "I am the headmistress of this school. I do not tolerate rulebreaking. If you break rules, you will lose house points, while any good achievements will earn your house points. The four houses- Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin- each have a rich and unique history with various contributions to the school. The Sorting Hat," she gestured to a brown lump next to her, "Will decide your house when you place it upon your head."
I walked forward, and grabbed the Sorting Hat. "So... I just put it on?"
She fixed me with a hard look. "Yes, Mr. Hollis. You indeed do. Now please, put it upon your head so we may go down to the Great Hall!"
I jumped at the sudden change in her tone. I learned immediately it would be best not to question her. I grabbed the hat, and put it on. Almost immediately, I felt a little voice in my head, not unlike my own, but not similar, either.
"Ahh... This is a nice mind!" I heard in my head.
"You're the Sorting Hat!" I thought back to it.
"Yes, boy. Now, I see here, you're quite brave. Intelligent, too. Not too loyal though.. You look like you might save your own skin before someone else's..."
I felt insulted. "What? No! I wouldn't give my life up for a stranger, maybe, but if they were important to me, then I would!"
"That's love, boy, not loyalty. They'll inspire the same actions, but with very different motives." The Sorting Hat seemed to chide me in an effort to irritate me.
"Okay... Can you just sort me then? I'm not too good at thinking in English!" I thought to it.
"Alright, alright. You've got quite a few different noble traits in here. You're openly bisexual, are you? Quite brave. You threw a competition on purpose for someone? Quite nice! Oh, but here it says you stole someone's last quill because you thought you needed it more! How is that good, boy? Oh, whatever. I've thought about you long enough." A rip in the Sorting Hat opened like a mouth, and suddenly I heard it speak.
"Gryffindor!"
Wait-what? I was in Gryffindor? What about Scorpius?
"Oh my God, really?" I was a little excited, but at the same time I was distressed. Scorpius wouldn't be in the same House as me. Secondly, even though we had just met, he seemed excited to have me as his Housemate.
"Congratulations, Mr. Hollis," Professor McGonagall said, fixing me with a severe look, before smiling. The smile wasn't too reassuring, but it was good nonetheless.
"You are to sit with the Gryffindors at their table in the Grand Hall, where you will eat and watch the Sorting Ceremony of the First Years. They will be sorted just like you were."
"Thank you," I said to her. I stood there awkwardly.
"You may go," She said. "Hagrid and I will go with you as well."
The trip to the Great Hall was much faster than the trip to McGonagall's room. I couldn't tell if it was because of her fast paced walk, or because the distance was shorter, but it took less than three minutes of silent walking to get there.
I entered the Great Hall with the last of the older students, and walked to the Gryffindor table. I looked over at the Slytherin one, and saw immediately as Scorpius's face dimmed to severe disappointment. We could still be friends, right?
I found Albus and and a bunch of other kids who talked as though they all stayed in the same household. I took a seat next to Albus, to his clapping.
"Congrats on Gryffindor!" He said. I smiled.
"Yeah! Thanks. So.. Who are all these people? Gonna introduce me?"
He pointed at each one in turn, listing off his relatives first.
"That's Victoire, you met her. She's not a student anymore, but she's studying under Madam Pomfrey to become a Healer. And there's Louis, sixth year, and Dominique seventh, her siblings-yes, they all speak French- and then Molly, sixth year, and Lucy, second year, Fred, sixth year, and Roxanne, third year, Rose, fifth year with us, Hugo, third year, James my brother and sixth year, me, and Lily, third year. All cousins."
"Oh my god!" I said. "You all are related? But you guys look so different from each other!"
"Yeah, the only one's who look like the stereotypical Weasley anymore are Molly, Lucy, and Hugo."
"Okay, but you're all in such different age groups! How do you even stand each other?"
"Oh, I have no idea. Rose is a genius."
"And he loses a little bit of his soul every time our work is scored against each other!" A girl, presumably Rose, piped up from across the table.
"So who are the other people in our year?"
"Well, one of the people I'm friends with is Carter Baiyoumi, a kid who's dad came from Egypt, sorta like you. His mum's British, though. Another is Maria Wilkinson. Her grandparents came from a pureblood family in Spain. Then there's these two Indian kids, Sonia and Aakash Boban. They're cool too."
"Okay, so... Now what?"
"We wait for the First Years to get sorted.
"I watched as 'Abson, Sierra' was called up and sorted into Gryffindor immediately. Then, 'Bove, Sandra' was sorted into Ravenclaw. The sorting continued monotonously until 'Zackeru, Michaela' was sorted into Slytherin similarly to Sierra, the Sorting Hat barely grazing her head before making its cry.
Then, it burst into flames, morphing into a fiery skull, before speaking in a voice very different from the Sorting Hat's.
"THE PUREBLOOD VOX DEMANDS ALL MUDBLOODS LEAVE HOGWARTS BY THE END OF THE WEEK, OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES. WE ARE TIRED OF THE EDUCTION OF MUGGLES UNWORTHY OF MAGIC. WE SHALL STORM THE CASTLE, AND ALL MUDBLOODS WILL BE KILLED, AND ANYONE PROTECTING THEM.
HOGWARTS: YOU HAVE ONE WEEK."
The skull exploded, and the Sorting Hat was left, scorched. McGonagall and the faculty sitting at the head table were stunned, as though they had been slapped multiple times. Then, as if they were of one mind, they began running up to the student tables and directing students to line up. McGonagall and most of the faculty left the room, presumably to secure the castle, while four teachers remained. By the time I remembered to look for the new teachers, I realized I wouldn't even know who to look for. One teacher remaining was a short teacher in yellow robes, leading the Hufflepuffs.
"Hufflepuffs! You are to return to your dormitories immediately! Come NOW!"
"That's Professor Sprout," Albus whispered as we got up in a similar fashion, led by a man with stubble and straight teeth. He was somewhat attractive.
"Then this is Professor Longbottom. My parents are good friends with him, lets them know right away if I get a bad mark," he told me scathingly.
The Ravenclaws were lead by an extremely short man whom I learned was Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, and the Slytherins led by Professor Slughorn, the Potions Master.
"Wait," I said as we followed Professor Longbottom, "Where are we going?"
"Our common room! The Gryffindor common room is where we'll do our homework and relax. Sometimes, we have parties."
"Cool! Are all of the common rooms in towers?" I asked him.
"I dunno.. I've never seen or been in the other common rooms. Nor have most other people. They're meant to be secret to everyone who's not in the House."
"So.. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin could have their rooms anywhere?"
"Well, everyone knows the Slytherins have a common room in the Dungeons, and the Hufflepuffs have one somewhere by the Kitchens, but the Ravenclaws, I dunno. Maybe the Library or something."
We followed the Prefects and Professor Longbottom upstairs, to a painting of a very fat woman. Professor Longbottom turned to us and spoke.
"First Years! This is the entrance to your common room. Whenever you wish to enter, you need only tell the Portrait of the Fat Lady the password."
The painting spoke, angrily. "I'm not fat! I'm merrily plump!"
"Whatever," he said. "What's the password for this period?"
"Kneazle whisker," she responded angrily. She then swung open and said nothing.
"You'll find all of your things by your beds. Food will be brought to you since the feast could not occur tonight. Do NOT leave the common room until I come up to tell you to do so, even if I am not here by morning," Professor Longbottom said commandingly. "These are your schedule for the year." Papers flew to students, and I got one as well.
"What's going on?" I asked someone. It was a girl with pale ginger hair and light skin.
She turned around, and I realized it was Rose, Albus's cousin in our year.
"I'm not sure," she said in a light voice. "The castle has to be searched, then the faculty has to decide what to do with the muggle-borns.."
Albus grabbed my arm and pointed inside.
"Let's go," he said.
We walked inside the portrait to a large red-themed room. It was very orderly, but probably because it was only the first night people lived in it since it was cleaned. There was a bricked fireplace and couches, a radio on top, and multiple chairs with desks. A few bookshelves were along the walls, which had large windows.
"Whoa!" I said. "This is nothing like Beauxbatons.."
The students filed inside, and Albus, Rose, and I followed suit, pulling the chairs into a corner to talk, while eating food that had been magically summoned into the common room.
"So now what? A Lethifold, new teachers, and a command from the Vox to expel the muggle-borns, and it's only the first night!" I said. "Is Hogwarts always like this?"
Albus and Rose laughed. "I don't think so.." Albus said. "One time, though, everyone thought a girl had been kidnapped. She'd just been hiding in Honeyduke's cellar, trying to avoid schoolwork. She was gone for a week."
"And we have OWLs this year, too.." said Rose. "What classes are you taking, Mika?"
"Um.." I pulled out the paper that Professor Longbottom gave me. I read it aloud, as Rose began writing her own copy.
"Mondays, Wednesdays, and every other Friday:
Period 1: History of Magic
Period 2: Potions
Period 3: Arithmancy
Period 4: Defense Against the Dark Arts
Period 5: Transfiguration
Evenings: Astronomy
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and opposite Fridays:
Period 1: Charms
Period 2: Herbology
Period 3: Study of Ancient Runes
Period 4: Potions
Period 5: Transfiguration"
Albus's eyes widened. "You've got the same classes as us, but your electives aren't. I'm not sure what house you'll take those classes with, but it won't be the Gryffindors.."
"What electives do you two have?" I asked them.
"We mostly do Care of Magical Creatures and Divination," said Rose. "I think that Ravenclaws and Slytherins like Arithmancy, and Hufflepuffs and Slytherins do Ancient Runes."
"Really? Houses are that divided that they would rather take classes with their friends over what they really should take?"
"Yeah.. The Houses don't really like each other. Hufflepuffs're good with everyone but most Slytherins, mostly because they have a lot of muggle-borns," Rose told me.
"Ravenclaws are 'eh' with everyone. The real rivalry is between Slytherin and Gryffindor." Albus said.
"How fun.." I said. "I'm new, and I won't have any friends, except for Scorpius."
Albus grimaced slightly. "Yeah," he said. "I'd watch out for the Slytherins. All of them," he said, emphasizing the exact person I'd thought would be excluded from that remark.
"Even Scorpius? Why? I know they have a bad reputation, but-"
"Not only that, but they don't like anyone who isn't them. Even if you're Pureblood, they don't like blood traitors. They don't like the other houses. They don't even like each other! Just watch your step around them, yeah?" Rose said.
"Nothing but trouble," Albus muttered.
The animosity between the houses gave me unease. With the Pureblood Vox going after our muggle-borns, schoolwide solidarity should be the first thing on our minds, in my opinion.
"What do I know, though. I've only just came to the school," I said quietly, not realizing I spoke out loud.
"Huh?" Albus said.
"What was that?" Rose asked me.
My eyes widened for a moment, and then relaxed again. "Oh, it was nothing." I said.
"It's getting late. We should probably go to bed before the prefects start chewing us out, yeah?" Albus said.
"You're right," Rose said.
"Night, Rose," I said.
"See ya tomorrow, Mika. Oh, by the way: we walk together when we go to breakfast. You'll walk with us, won't you?"
I nodded. "Sure! Night."
Albus and I went up the right staircase, and Rose went up the left. A door stopped on a sign that said "Fifth years," which we entered.
"This is where we sleep. The other guys should be coming in soon. Our year's not too bad."
A tall, somewhat Arab-looking boy entered. He had short cut light brown hair and pale skin. After him, an Indian kid, the one named Aakash, entered. Third, a ghostly pale boy, with freckles, entered. Lastly, an extremely short and young-looking boy entered. He looked irritated, as if someone had attempted to curse him before getting mercilessly hexed themselves. Albus introduced me to them.
"Carter, Aakash, Sean, Brandon. This is the new kid from Beauxbatons. His name's Mika."
"Uh, hi." I said awkwardly. I ducked a curse from the short one named Brandon, a high five from Aakash, some random question in Arabic from Carter, and a nod of the head from Sean.
"Thanks for the curse, Brandon." I said scathingly. "I eat them for breakfast."
He grimaced and glowered and glared, but with all the mean looks in the world, he couldn't have topped what happened next. He pointed his wand at my bed, shouting "Duro!"
Instantly, it transfigured to stone. I pulled out my wand to fix it, until I was disarmed by Albus, thinking I would attack him.
"You know, Brandon," I started. "They let us use the unforgivable at Beauxbatons. I'd be thrilled to Crucio you, but I'm not in the mood to go to Azkaban."
I turned to Albus. "Can I have my wand, please?"
"Only if you promise not to Crucio Brandon."
Brandon had already changed and gone to bed in a huff, while Carter and Aakash were looking wide-eyed, on the verge of laughter.
"Yeah. Can I have it back now? Kneazle wands are expensive in France."
He handed it back to me, letting me turn my bed back into its proper form.
"Well, lights out, guys." Albus waved his wand, and the room went dark.
"You can all meet the new kid tomorrow."