The castle remained the same. Not a single thing had changed in the one hundred years since I had been here last. Now as a withered old lady I enjoyed coming back to reflect on all that I had learned here.
The lake… Crystal clear as always. The shimmering surface only occasionally disturbed by a tentacle. Or two. The sun still rose over the hills every morning and delightfully cast it's radiance through the windows, causing shadows to fall upon the floors. The children still woke every morning at the same time and followed the same routine that I had. So many years ago it seems now…
4th July 1037
It was my last day at Hogwarts. I was one of the lucky ones who had been accepted into the first class of this prestigious school. And now, tomorrow morning, I would be leaving. As I paced the now slightly worn stone hallways of the castle I yearned to be allowed to stay. The freedom, the leisure here in the castle was nothing like I'd ever experienced before. I never wanted to leave. I guess you could say I was scared. Back then, no-body knew what a young witch or wizard did after leaving school except step into the murky unknown. I didn't know what was expected. Would I rise up too high and fall? Life used to be so un-complicated, if I hadn't got my letter, right now I figured that I would be happily married to a loving and hard-working husband. I had fantasised about my wedding for many hours a day when I was a child. I had thought about all the wonderful decorations I would put up - Who I would invite, even what music I would play. But then I blinked and the vision disappeared. Sighing, I walked back up to my common room alone. It was no surprise to see my dormitory room deserted - All the other girls would be down in the Great Hall having supper.
I sat down lightly on the red hand-knitted quilt on the edge of my four-poster bed. I pulled my light-brown, now battered Hogwarts trunk out from underneath it and opened the clasp. I pulled nearly everything out to reveal, at the bottom my "muggle" clothes. Mainly dresses with petticoats and corsets - Lace sewn around the edges of cuffs and hems, creases etched into the dusty fabric because they had not been worn for so long. This was what I was going home to, no-more robes and wands. Just simple everyday life. Cooking, cleaning and doing what I was told. My parents, Lucinda and Gideon Everest Jr, did not like magic in any degree. But such was the law when I was younger that all young witches and wizards had to attend a magical school - To train the next generation, or watch it die out. I was told this the very first day that I sat down it the overly amazing Great Hall.
And that was where I went to when I stood up a while later. Dinner was inevitable, with a gloom and pessimistic mood setting in around me I thought of it as my last dinner. I walked down silently, my footsteps on the cold floor only barely loud enough to be heard. The ceiling in the Great Hall was a dark blue tonight as the clouds finally came in to cover what had been a glorious sunny day. The enchantments that gave the impression that the Hall opened to the heavens had been here since the day I had first come here. Even now it still took my breath away. I wondered to my seat at the Hufflepuff table and sat down while reaching for a chicken drumstick to put on my shiny gold-rimmed plate. But no sooner than I'd extended my arm in front of me the food changed to desert. I instead grabbed a spoon that was immersed in a deep red raspberry jelly and helped myself to that.
With the candles on the tables dying and my stomach sufficiently filled I stood and wandered out into the grounds to watch the sunset. The clouds were creeping over the blood red trail that the sun had left behind. The wind blew sharply and my teeth rattled, it was too cold for me to stay here long so I retreated backwards and shut the great oak doors to outside behind me.
Well, that was my last day at Hogwarts. You might be interested to know that I went on to become a teacher at another wizarding school. I also got married. Fantasy and all. But now as I sit on the roof of the North Tower I really think that life couldn't have been better despite what I thought at the tender age of seventeen