Chapter Two: Welcome To Hogwart's
Sammy held a map up to the light, turning it in every direction and clearly not understanding what she was looking at.
Reagan gave her an incredulous look.
"I thought we agreed you would get rid of your map collection. It only takes up room and it doesn't do you any good because you don't know how to read maps!"
"Yes I do! See? We're here at….Stonehenge." Sammy pointed to a spot on the map they could have sworn was random. "Nothin' to it!" She quickly put it away in her pocket before anyone could see it. "Now all we have to do is wait for Dumbledore."
Everyone paused for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
"What kind of name is Dumbledore, anyway?" Cora asked between chuckles.
"It's my name." A voice said from behind them.
Everyone turned around rather quickly and brushed the merry tears from their eyes. Before them stood Dumbledore, the only man Lord Voldemort had been afraid of.
Like all prototypical wizards, he was old with long, silver hair and a beard to match. He wore a pair of half-moon spectacles, behind which his eyes shone with impish youth, and he wore a long, flowing green robe.
Bridgit nudged Cora.
"Dude…check out his threads." She gave Dumbledore a sideways glance.
"Dude…Shut up!" Cora hissed.
Dumbledore ignored them.
"Erm…Hello, sir, we're the students from Canada." Sammy sheepishly introduced themselves. "I'm Sammy Hellstorm. This is Reagan Starsinger, Bridgit Firecatcher and Cora Willowstaff."
"Pleased to meet you." Reagan gave a little bow.
"Yo!" Cora grinned.
"Present!" Bridgit saluted.
"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance." Dumbledore smiled warmly. "Come, let us get to Hogwart's, where I'm sure you will meet others with colourful names."
Although they had been sure he was cross, he seemed quite merry…almost like Santa Clause. Everyone looked at each other and shrugged and Sammy hefted the heavy stuffed beaver under her other arm. Dumbledore picked up a stone from the Stonehenge.
"Hey! What are you doing? Isn't that stone part of one of your nation's national treasures!" Reagan looked in horror at the vandalism.
"It's quite all right." Dumbledore assured him. "The Stonehenge is a natural Portkey and the only reason it is vanishing is that some parts of it are still in use."
"We thought it was tourists."
"Oh, we blame everything on tourists." Dumbledore said reassuringly. "Okay, everyone, gather around and get ready."
They all put their hands on the portkey and felt themselves being pulled rapidly to somewhere else. Somewhere else was a large, stone room with scarlet and gold furnishings and banners all over the place. A large fireplace stood off to one side, crackling and casting light all over the room. This change in scenery also seemed to cause a change in mood.
"I must thank you all for agreeing to come and undertaking such a risk." Dumbledore began.
"Sure. No problem." Cora smiled.
"I have been told that Bridgit and Cora will be watching over Harry Potter and that Sammy and Reagan will maintain an increased watch over the school."
"Yes. That's what Trex told us…five minutes before we left." Sammy verified this.
"I expect that you shall need to be informed of our school system, so I will leave you to Professor Minnerva McGonagall, as I have to make preparations for the start of the year feast." He inclined his head in farewell and then left.
"Hello, children."
Everyone jumped at the voice, except for Bridgit who screamed and leapt into Cora's arms. Cora made a face and dropped her on the ground. A tall, mysterious old woman walked from the shadows, seemingly unfazed by their antics.
"This is spooky." Reagan whispered.
"I trust you are the students from Canada…otherwise YOU ARE BREAKING THE RULES! Ten points from Gryffindor! Twenty points from…Oh…I'm sorry. I got a little carried away."
The friends were beginning to doubt the woman's sanity.
"Ummm…yes, we are the students from Canada." Sammy said tensely.
"What's with the points thing?" Bridgit asked.
"And what's a Gryffindor?" Cora tilted her head to one side inquisitively.
"Why, you're standing in it!" The woman smiled in the way of most prim educators.
"Eeeeeeeeew!" Everyone screamed and simultaneously cast a levitating spell and hovered above the ground.
"I'm afraid you misunderstood me." The woman was beginning to doubt their sanity. "The school is divided into four houses that the students are sorted into at the start of their first year. This is the Gryffindor common room. The other houses are Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Your house is awarded points if you do something good, but points get subtracted if you do something bad. At the end of the year the house with the most points is awarded the house cup. Basically, it's an 'I'm better than you are' thing."
"Oh." Sammy said as they all floated down to the ground.
"I'm Professer McGonagall, head of the Gryffindor house. At the feast today, you will be sorted into houses as well. Bridgit and Cora, the sorting has been rigged so that you will be in Gryffindor, as that is the house that Harry is in and your job will undoubtedly be easier if you are in the same house." She explained. "While you're here, you will have to attend classes like everyone else so that you can maintain your cover. Bridgit and Cora, your schedules will be identical to Harry's so that you can keep watch over him."
"Joy." Bridgit and Cora muttered.
"Sammy and Reagan, we have given you the lightest credible course load possible so that you may perform your undercover duties. While you are all here at Hogwart's, you will be expected to attend classes regularly and be subject to the same rules and responsibilities, which will be explained at the feast. The teachers have been alerted to your arrival and have been informed of your different instructional methods. They shouldn't give you too much trouble…except for Professor Snape. I'm afraid he probably won't like you very much, but that's okay. He doesn't really like anyone very much." She warned.
"Hey, Sammy, sounds like your new best friend!" Cora teased her.
"Yeah? Well I don't have any classes with him." Sammy grinned.
"What?" Bridgit and Cora looked at their schedules. "It says we have him for double potions!" Cora groaned.
"I don't know what double means, but it sounds bad!" Bridgit whimpered, more than highlighting her poor education.
The magical creatures, feeling ignored, started sharpening their claws on the furniture except for Toucey, who started flying into a nearby mirror.
"Who's a pretty boy?" Toucey asked his reflection.
"Juust great." Reagan muttered. "I have a narcissistic toucan."
"STOP THAT AT ONCE!" Professer McGonagall's impressive and authoritative voice boomed throughout the common room.
The animals froze in terror and removed themselves from the plush chair they had been destroying.
"Do not think for one second that, just because you are not human, the rules do not apply to you as well. Having near-human intelligence, you will be expected to follow the human rules! And what in the world is that?" She pointed to the beaver tucked under Sammy's arm.
"Ummmm…it's a stuffed beaver, a symbol of Canada, which we have brought as a token of our goodwill….here you go!" She handed it to the professor.
"Oh! How nice. A dead animal. I will treasure it always." She held it up by its tail. "Anyway, I have to leave to attend the great hall pre-first year feast meeting. Blindie the house elf will show you to the Great Hall." She turned to leave, then paused and waited in the doorway.
A small elf with large tennis ball eyeglasses appeared from nowhere in a poof of smoke.
"Oh dear! Is something wrong with your eyes?" Reagan cried, upon noticing this.
"Blindie lost his sight in a horrible cooking accident…but Blindie doesn't like to talk about it. Luckily Dumbledore was kind enough to take him in after his master abandoned him duct taped to a box in the gutter during heavy rainfall to die." He squeaked in a high-pitched voice.
"That's awful!" Reagan cried.
"Well, not really. Blindie doesn't like to complain. Now I will show you to the Great Hall!" Blindie's voice suddenly raised a further octave. "Please excuse Blindie's voice! He did not know you were coming and got high on helium."
Professor McGonagall tsked the elf.
"Blindie is with a self-help elf group and he is a much better elf for it."
Blindie led them towards the door, but walked into the gray, stone wall.
"I was afraid of this. Perhaps Persnickety will lead you to the Great Hall." Professor McGonagall muttered. "Anyway, I really must be off to meet the first years."
A female elf appeared just as McGonangall left the room.
"Right this way sir and ma'ams." She said.
Bridgit could have sworn she heard the elf say "loser" as she passed Blindie, who was still trying to walk through the wall.
Persnickety lead them down winding stone passageways and down stairs that were continually moving and changing places.
"Uhhh…how are we going to find our way back?" Bridgit wondered aloud, gazing at a flight stairs moving with a screaming individual hanging off the end.
"You'll just know." Persnickety winked all-knowingly.
"Do you think we should help him?" Reagan asked, pointing at the person dangling from a large, large drop.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!" The person screamed as he fell.
"Too late." Cora mutterd.
"No wonder Trex told us to be careful! This place is a death trap." Sammy gave a low whistle as she surveyed the length of the drop.
"We should do something!" Reagan reprimanded them all.
"Right!" Sammy snapped into action. "Hey, you guys!" She turned back to the creatures, who had been uncharacteristically quiet after being told off by McGonagall and were sulking along behind, "Drifter, you go get help where you can find it. The rest of you, fly down to him and use your limited magical abilities to keep him from dying...if possible." She ordered them.
They all grumbled, but did as they were told.
"If you're quite finished, we need to be moving on, lest we be late." Persnickety snapped.
"Fine!" Cora glared at the pint-sized elf, raising her foot above its head.
"NO! Remember? Diplomacy." Sammy hissed while restraining her.
"No smash?" Cora whimpered.
"No." Sammy shook her head.
"Poo."
Persnickety, oblivious to this, continued on, ushering them down the hallway until they reached a room full of people sitting at tables. At the front of the room sat the head table, consisting of a motley crew of odd-looking witches and wizards. A few of the seats, however, were vacant.
"There you are!" A random professor exclaimed. "We've been looking for you for minutes! Go stand over there with the cluster of scared-looking people. You will be sorted last!" He then ran off to sit at the table.
The four shrugged and did as they were told.
"Wow! You're really tall for a first year!" A child, who despite the culture gap was unmistakably a geek, exclaimed.
"Uhhh…eat your spinach and you can grow as tall as me!" Sammy grinned in a very strained way and gave him the thumbs up.
"Wow!" A chorus of first years who had been listening cried.
"Yes… Let's get out of here!" She hissed to Bridgit, Cora and Reagan.
"Smooth move, Popeye." Reagan chided her as they slunk to the back of the crowd.
However, being taller than ninety percent of the students and dressed in street clothes made them stand out despite their endeavors to appear unassuming. In fact, many of the students at the tables were pointing at the four and whispering amongst themselves.
"They're whispering about us! Let's do something funny." Bridgit grinned wickedly.
"Ummm…how about no?" Sammy sighed, but was promptly ignored.
Bridgit reached into her back pocket and pulled out three balls, which were bewitched to change shape as they were tossed. She then proceeded to juggle. While she received some stern glances from the faculty, the other students watched her, enraptured, as she juggled the shape-changing balls. They changed from balls to mice, parakeets, oranges, sponges, meat and potato pies, torches and the grand finale…chainsaws! Bridgit suddenly seemed to fumble with one of the chainsaws and it crashed to the ground and turned back into a ball.
"Ahhhh! My arm!" She screamed, only an empty sleeve remaining.
Many of the watching students also screamed and several fainted.
"Just kidding!" She popped her arm back out of her sleeve.
This was met with scattered applause, except for the rapid applause of two red heads who appeared to look exactly the same.
Sammy smacked her upside the head.
"You idiot! You just ruined your reputation."
"I know…I just got caught up in the moment." Bridgit laughed sheepishly.
There was an increase of whispers and rustling as some new, not related to them event began to transpire. Professor McGonagall carried out a ratty looking hat that sat perched on a stool.
"I am the magic hat! Da da da da da! I am the magic hat! Tra la la la la! I was puked on by a cat. La la la la la la la! I hate you all." The hat sang. Hundreds of years of storage with only scant days of freedom from the mothball-filled hatbox had finally made it bitter.
"The sorting will now commence. Anderson, Aaron A." She read out the first name.
A wormy looking kid nervously walked up to the stool and sat down.
"Psst! You're supposed to put the hat on your head, dummy!" A ghost laughed loudly from the ceiling.
"PEEVES!" McGonagall yelled.
Filch pulled out a magic rifle and cocked it.
"Do you feel lucky? Do you? Peeves?" He snarled, baring ugly yellow teeth.
Peeves gulped and then vanished through the ceiling. Aaron A. Anderson then placed the hat on his head.
"Hufflepuff!" The hat cried after 0.2 milliseconds.
Aaron smiled weakly and then walked over dejectedly to the Hufflepuff table, which was cheering wildly just for the sake of appearances.
This continued on down the list until at last Zzargle Z. Zorenson had been sorted into Slytherin. As he was dragged kicking and screaming over to the exuberant table, Dumbledore stood up and a hush fell over the crowd.
"As you may have noticed, there are four remaining students. They are visiting for this school year from Canada to learn more about English culture. I expect you all to do your utmost to make them feel welcome and help them around the school if they are having difficulties."
They all smiled in embarrassment at being singled out. The Slytherins cracked their knuckles and grinned menacingly.
"Firecatcher, Bridgit C."
Bridgit walked up to the hat stool in an improvised wedding march. With a final step together, she reached the stool and sat down, placing the hat on her head.
"You know, this isn't the way we normally do things and I most certainly do not approve." The hat whispered into her ear. "This violates a tradition that has been ongoing for hundreds and hundreds of years. Long before you were ever born. If all the students could just pick whatever houses they wanted, I would lose my job and Hufflepuff would cease to exist. Don't you see? I help maintain the balance!"
"Boo hoo, Ragamuffin." Bridgit said darkly. "The situation is out of your hands…I mean…well…it's out of your control at any rate! So just say Gryffindor."
"No! I protest!" The hat declared. "Sly-"
Bridgit leapt from her seat and yanked the hat off her head, scrunching it into a ball so that it could no longer speak. The eyes of the entire room were on her.
"Heh heh…he said Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor table burst into hesitant applause while the rest of tables looked relieved.
"Hellstorm, Samantha G."
Sammy stalked up to the hat, now lying crumpled on the floor, in a much more serious dignified manner. She picked up the hat and straightened it out.
"No! I wanted to say Sly-"
Sammy crammed the hat onto her head and calmly sat on the stool.
"What are you doing boy? I was about to proclaim-"
"I'm here now. Sort me honestly…and I'm a girl." Sammy folded her arms.
"Oh right. I knew that…because I am the sorting hat! Ooooooo! Let's see…you have courage, but you're bossy, a tad grumpy and you try way too hard to be mature."
"Hey! Don't you have anything nice to say?" Sammy muttered.
"You don't have any lice!" The hat said happily.
"Thank you Dr. Hat."
"Gryffindor!" The hat yelled.
"WAHOOOOO! Go Sammy!" Bridgit screamed from the very end of the Gryffindor table, joined by several smitten girls who screamed wildly. Apparently the hat wasn't the only one who had mistaken Sammy for a boy.
The rest of the tables just cheered.
"Starsinger, Reagan J."
Reagan glided up to the stool and sat down gracefully. He placed the hat over his soft, shiny black hair and sat serenely as he listened to its counsel. As this occurred, many of the girls in the room watched him intently. Several more immature ones whistled, only to be smacked by their neighbours.
"Yesss…I see that you are kind and intelligent, also endowed with the common sense your companions lack. You would do especially well in Ravenclaw." The hat said.
Reagan looked at the table, where Bridgit and Sammy were arm wrestling. "I don't think I should leave them alone. There's no telling what they'd do."
"I see. Point taken." The hat conceded. "Gryffindor!"
He walked over to the table, amidst many cheers, and sat beside Sammy.
"Now whose image are you ruining?" He mocked her.
Sammy turned red in embarrassment and lost the match to Bridgit.
"Yay! I won!" She grinned.
"Willowstaff, Cora T."
Cora stomped up to the hat, frightening it in the process. She then gently lifted it and placed it gingerly upon her head.
"Uhh..you'd do very well in Slytherin." The hat offered.
"You're supposed to put me in Gyffindor! Remember what happened with Bridgit? I have a little secret for you…I'm even more violent than she is." Cora smiled unnervingly.
"G-GRYFFINDOR!" The terrified hat screamed.
The table cheered as she skipped over to sit by her friends.
"Ha ha! You got all of the barbarians!" A blond kid from Slytherin laughed.
"Hey! That's not nice!" Bridgit yelled, being more diplomatic than kicking that guy in the shins.
More jeering was interrupted by the doors slamming open as a boy rushed in to breathlessly sit beside Cora (because no one had saved him a seat). After him, an exhasperated-looking witch went to sit at the head table.
"Now, I must warn all first years that the Forbidden Forest is…forbidden. Please do not enter it, as it contains dangerous creatures. That said, let's eat!" Dumbledore concluded.
Upon this, food magically appeared on the tables.
"Whoa!" Bridgit marveled. "These people must want me to get fat."
Cora went straight for the deserts. "This makes it all worth it!"
Reagan poked a pie on a platter.
"Liver and treacle?" He asked, turning green.
"I'll eat that if you don't want it!" The boy offered as Reagan pushed the plate towards him without hesitating.
"Well, this one looks like blood pudding." Sammy looked at a strange pudding.
"It is!" The boy smiled.
"Oh."
"Where did this cuisine come from, Klingon?" Bridgit whined.
"I don't get it." The boy smiled.
"Mmmm…desert!" Cora cheered.
"So, uhh…my name's Reagan. What's yours?"
"My name's Neville. Neville Longbottom." The boy grinned and extended his hand, which Reagan shook.
"Oh! That's nice!" Reagan said, pretending to cough.
"Hahahahahahaaa! Oh! My pudding…uhh…has stuff in it! How cool!" Cora smiled, covering for her outburst.
Neville remained unaware that they were laughing at his name.
"Hey, Neville, why were you so late?" Bridgit asked, chugging some pumpkin juice she had found in order to wash down her case of the giggles.
"Oh! Well, I got lost on the way in and ended up dangling precariously from one of the staircases. Then I fell."
The four goggled at him.
"You're the guy we saw from before?" Sammy asked.
"Are you all right?" Reagan asked in concern.
"Yes! I'm fine. So then you must be the ones who sent those creatures to help me. Thanks! I owe you my life." Neville thanked them graciously.
They all looked at their plates in embarrassment since they hadn't really been overly concerned.
"Oh…it was nothing." Sammy muttered.
"Anyway, if you guys ever need anything from me, like help or something, just ask." He offered.
"Hey…thanks!" Bridgit smiled warmly.
"Just not with your homework." A student sitting across from them muttered.
"Oh, and as a word of warning, I'd look out for Professor Snape if I were you. He scares me." Neville cautioned them.
"Which one is he?" Cora asked, beginning to worry about her double potions block.
"Erm…he's…" Neville looked at the head table. "Actually, he isn't here. Hey! Maybe he isn't coming back this year! Oh happy day!" Neville cheered.
"Actually…I think he is." Bridgit said slowly, pointing at her crumpled timetable.
"Oh." His face fell.
Suddenly, a group of people sat down next to them.
"Go on, Rita, see what happens." A girl whispered hurriedly to her friend.
The other girl steeled herself and then pulled on Cora's hair.
"Ow! What the hell?" Cora demanded, getting her into an arm lock.
"Ah! I'm sorry, please let me go!" The girl pleaded.
"Not until you tell me why you did that." Cora was adamant.
"Well, I heard from one of my girlfriends that Canadians are all bald because it's so cold in Canada that your hair can't grow and so you all wear wigs." She sobbed.
"What?" Cora asked in puzzlement.
"Unhand her, savage wench!" The girl's scrawny boyfriend beat on Cora with his twig-like fists.
"Here, you can have her." Cora pushed her towards him, causing them both to fall over in a heap.
"Oh, Fitzwilliam, you saved me!" She swooned.
Cora ceased to pay attention to them.
"Where is she from that she thinks she can just go up and pull on someone's hair like that?" She seethed.
"Hufflepuff." Neville offered an explanation.
"How is that an explanation?" Sammy asked slowly.
"Well…um…"
"Hundreds of years ago," began a bushy-haired girl who appeared out of nowhere and pushed herself into the middle of the conversation, "the school of Hogwarts was formed by four great witches and wizards."
"I'm confused. Is that four witches and four wizards, bringing it to a total of eight, or four total?" Bridgit interrupted.
"Four." She pouted. "Anyway, they decided to form a great school where the witches and wizards of Britain could come to study magic. The four houses, which bear their surnames, take in students sorted by the sorting hat who have the same overall personality traits of the person who started the house. Helga Hufflepuff was extremely loyal, but not particularily bright or outstanding in any other regards. Roweena Ravenclaw was really smart, but incredibly vain and scrawny. Salazar Slytherin was slimy, creepy and he smelled bad. Also, he was incredibly cunning, racist and ambitious. Godric Gryffindor was brave and handsome and really, really buff. Thus, Gryffindor is, without a doubt, the best house to be in." She finished with a flourish.
"Takes one to know one!" Bridgit retorted. "Oh wait. I'm a Gryffindor too."
"Thanks…but I don't think we really asked you." Cora tried to politely point out the obvious.
"Oh, it's quite all right. Anything I can do to help. My name's Hermione Granger." She smiled brightly.
"Again, did we ask- ack!" Sammy fell silent as Reagan kicked her under the table…very, very hard.
"It's great to meet you." Reagan returned the smile. "My name's-"
"Reagan Jacinda Starsinger, Cora Tamarice Willowstaff, Bridgit Caden Firecatcher, and Samantha Ge-"
"DON'T SAY IT!" Sammy interrupted Hermione.
"How did you know our full names?" Bridgit asked. "It wasn't like they were announced or anything."
"Oh, I'm such a know-it-all that I had to know more about you before you got here. So, I went to visit Ron's dad, who works at the ministry of magic. All it took was some truth and anti-self will potion to get your personal records." She smiled brightly.
Cora leaned over to Bridgit.
"She's scaring me. Is she psychotic, or what?" She hissed.
Suddenly, an apple core hit Hermione in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Hermione looked affronted.
"Sorry!" Someone called from the Slytherin table. "We weren't aiming for you…this time!"
A half-eaten liver and kidney pie flew at Reagan's head. Sammy caught it in mid-air and rose to her full, very close to impressive height. She glared coldly at them and a hush fell over the room.
"I believe you may have lost this. Let me return it." She whipped it at the offending Slytherin and it exploded on contact.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Someone at the Hufflepuff table screamed.
The four of them ducked under the table for cover and snuck away as everyone began throwing food at each other, much to the annoyance of the staff. Especially Filch, who would have to clean it all up later.
"Okay, I'm thinking we should get out of here now before this is pinned on us." Sammy muttered.
"No problem-o!" Bridgit grinned.
"Here's the plan: we leave." Cora put her idea forth.
"With such great plans, why aren't you the study group leader?" Sammy asked sarcastically, tilting her head to the side.
"I've been asking Trex the same thing for the past eight years!"
"I know. I remember." Sammy sighed, remembering one birthday card message.
'Happy Birthday, Trex! On your special day, when we shout and yell hey, I would just like to say, WHY THE HELL AREN'T I THE LEADER? Love Cora.'
"Charge!" Bridgit yelled as they all snuck out of the room.
With Cora's acute memory, they were able to track their way back to the Gryffindor common room, or at least where it should have been.
"Where's the door?" Cora asked, looking around the edges of a portrait of a rather obese woman.
"Hee hee hee!" Came a spritely chuckle.
"Who's there?" Bridgit asked.
Their creatures had snuck up behind them and were giggling all-knowingly.
"Oh, hey…have you guys been waiting here all this time?" Reagan asked in surprise.
"Yes." Toucey sighed.
"Well, do you know what happened to the Gryffindor place? Does it move like the stairs?" Reagan tried to gently coax the information out of them.
"Nope! We saw someone go in behind the picture by saying 'I'm a monkey'!" Tigerscry chirped.
"That's stu-"
The portrait swung open and nailed Cora in the head before she could finish her snide remark. Behind the picture lurked…the Gryffindor common room!
"Awesome! So we don't have to worry about our rooms disappearing!" Bridgit sighed in relief.
She sat in a chair, which was rather bouncy and squishy. Excited by this, she started jumping on the furniture.
"Hey! Don't do that….without me!" Cora yelled and joined Bridgit jumping on the furniture.
"Uhh…guys? I don't think that's very sa-" Reagan began, but was interrupted by the two colliding in mid-air with a resounding 'smack'. "Oh…never mind."
"Hey! I think these are our rooms!" Sammy exclaimed as she charged a staircase.
Suddenly, a siren went off and flashing lights turned on.
"WARNING!" A mechanical voice boomed. "YOU ARE NOT MALE."
"Huh?" Sammy looked around in confusion.
"PREPARE TO BE EJECTED."
Sammy was suddenly sucked into a cannon and expelled with such force, that she flew across the common room and smacked into the wall.
"What kind of place is this?" Sammy whimpered.
"Obviously one without co-ed dorms." Reagan muttered.
"Oh."
"Well. I see they've upped the pervert detector." Hermione noted. "You'd be surprised how far the pregnancy rate fell after they finally put one at the boy's dormitory entrance, too."
"Hey!" Sammy growled.
"Where did you come from?" Cora asked in confusion.
"Well, if you must know, it was beginning to get a little too rowdy out there, so I came back here to study."
"Study! It's the first day of school!" Bridgit looked around frantically, concerned that she was somehow behind everyone else. She then picked up a dictionary and started reading it.
Welcome to Geekville. Population: that chick over there. Moonmist piped up from where he was preening himself upon the mantle.
"Ha ha…uhhh. Moonmist!" Cora snapped at her dragonette while stifling her own laughter.
Hey, you thought it was funny too.
"What part of 'make friends' do you not understand?" Cora muttered darkly.
All of it.
Before they could continue their bickering, Hermione figured out where the voice was coming from.
"Oh…a dragon." Her face was white and her voice somewhat strained.
"Look! I have one too!" Bridgit shoved Tigerscry into Hermione's face.
"I….have to go to the feast now!" Hermione shrieked, running from the room.
"Nice to know you guys are good for something!" Cora smiled.
"Why was she scared of Tigerscry? She's not that ugly!" Bridgit laughed.
"It could possibly be that there are only dragons here, which grow to be larger than a bus." Reagan offered.
"And because they're illegal as pets…seeing as how they destroy people and things…" Sammy's voice trailed off.
"I guess that makes sense." Bridgit looked ponderous… in her mind!
"Hey, as long as it gets rid of Hermione, it's all good to me." Cora grinned.
"Well, troops, off to the barracks." Reagan gave an awful salute as he headed up to his dorm.
"Well, girls, hopefully this staircase is ours." A frazzled Sammy cautiously led the way up the ominous stone staircase.
"Oh, man. I'm so worried about that security I feel like I should make sure I'm a female." Bridgit whined.
"You would." Cora muttered.
"Stop being mean!"
They walked up the stairs with little incident and made it to the room unharmed.
There, they paused to gaze in horror and delight respectively upon the sea of frilly bedding.
"My god! What the devil happened here?" Sammy exclaimed. "Did the ruffle patrol come through here with a white paint brush?"
"Yeah! They must be real wusses!" Cora exclaimed, secretly loving the room.
"But…but it's pretty and floofy!" Bridgit gazed longingly at the poofy comforts before her.
The girls looked at the three beds with reserved signs on them.
"I call closest to the window!" Sammy yelled.
"Dibs on second!" Cora waved her hand in the air.
"Oh. I never get the good spots." Bridgit muttered.
Drifter prowled impatiently, nails clicking on the stone floor.
"This place sucks." He hissed.
He began to say some other things, but Sammy had to use a spell to close his muzzle. The girls unpacked their things. Cora put a satin cushion on her nightstand and Moonmist curled up happily and began dozing on it. Tigerscry snorted at Moonmist.
"He calls me a sorry excuse for a dragon! He can't even go five days without his satin pillow!"
Moonimist threw Cora's pillow at Tigerscry, who nimbly flew out of the way.
"If you're going to throw things at Tigerscry, use your own stuff!" Cora muttered.
Moonmist fell asleep and ignored her. Tigerscry flew happily around the room.
"I'm an astronaut!" She cried.
Sammy listened to thundering footsteps, which sounded like they were charging up numerous staircases.
"It sounds like the other students will be here soon." She said.
All of a sudden, large chests appeared at the foot of the beds in the rooms.
"These people have it easy." Cora muttered. "We have to do things the normal way as much as possible. Trex said it was because it builds character."
"How lazy." Sammy snorted, secretly jealous because she always had to do the heavy lifting.
"I dunno…it seems kind of convenient…" Bridgit' voice trailed off.
"Well, why don't you just move to England and become a teabag?" Cora snapped.
"But I like tea!" Bridgit stamped her foot. "Just because it's different doesn't mean it's stupid."
"No. You're stupid." Cora muttered. "Interloper." She added.
At that moment, they heard voices coming from the common area and footsteps coming up the stairs. Moonmist rolled over in his sleep and camouflaged perfectly with his satin pillow. Tigerscry moaned in fear and turned herself invisible. Drifter ducked under Sammy's bed, not wanting to deal with an army of new people. A parade of girls came into the room. They were instantly curious about the three foreign exchange students.
"Who are you?" One girl asked. "I didn't see you at the sorting."
Bridgit, Sammy, and Cora looked at each other in confusion.
"Err, we were there...weren't we?" Cora said.
"I juggled!" Bridgit beamed.
"Those are the new girls! Weren't you listening to Dumbledore?" Hermione snapped.
"Listening is for losers." The other girl retorted and left to go do her nails.
Sammy, Bridgit, and Cora snickered quietly.
"My name is Hermione Granger." Hermione extended her hand.
"You all ready told us! And no one asked you!" Bridgit yelled in frustration.
"Yes, but last time we didn't do it properly." Hermione insisted, pulling out an etiquette book and pointing to a page.
"Well, we did it right this time!" Cora grumbled.
"No! You have to introduce yourselves back!" Hermione pressed them.
"Haven't you got an animal?" Interrupted a girl named Violet, steering the conversation to more interesting and relevant waters. "Most students here are allowed to keep pets."
"Yes, I do, but she's very shy." Bridgit said.
"Mine's sleeping and doesn't want to be bothered." Cora sighed.
Sammy smiled, "Mine's full of hate."
"Try antisocial." A muffled voice called from under Sammy's bed.
All the girls screamed, "EEK!"
"What do you have under there?" Hermione asked nervously, remembering her previous encounter with the dragonettes.
"Why don't you go look?" Sammy suggested.
Drifter sighed as Hermione stepped uncertainly forward. She lifted the bed skirt and Drifter streaked into the room in an ebony blur.
"Oooh! He's so cute!" Scarlet cooed.
"Ummm, right." Sammy muttered.
She had chosen Drifter because he was a vicious fighter.
Tigerscry was not about to risk being called a coward by Moonmist, so she appeared on Bridgit' shoulder."
"Ahhhhhhh! It's a dragon!" Someone screamed.
Everyone ran out of the dorm except for Hermione.
"You know, dragons are illegal." She said.
"These are dragonettes. They're native to Canada and aren't illegal because we have permits. They're not dangerous, either. They amplify our magic and other than that they're only good at hiding." Bridgit explained, using small words.
"Where's the other one?" Hermione wondered aloud.
Would you shut up? Moonmist grumbled.
"Moonmist! Be polite!" Cora snapped.
Moonmist appeared and bowed. Then he camouflaged again and went back to sleep.
"Smart-alec." Cora muttered.
"So, why exactly are you here?" Asked Hermione.
They looked at each other.
"Ummmm, the exchange program." Bridgit said.
"I feel culturally enlightened already." Hermione said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "But seriously, it makes no sense for an exchange. Canada's wizard population hasn't been on good terms with England's since the War of the Monster's Fall in 1878. Not that I don't want to see our peoples grow to become friends again and I certainly-"
"It's lights out." The girl, who was doing her nails, said.
She had remained, having believed that listening was for losers and had ignored everything that had gone on.
Everyone came reluctantly back into the room, after having Professor McGonagall explain everything, and climbed into bed. Several hours passed and everyone was asleep except for Sammy and Cora.
"I can't sleep on this bed. It's too comfortable and soft." Cora whined.
"Let's go outside." Sammy said. "I'll take first watch.
"Hey stupid!" Cora punched Bridgit awake, "We're going to sleep outside. C'mon."
"But I like it here." Bridgit whined, still half asleep.
"Get moving." Sammy shoved her out of bed.
Everyone grabbed their pillows and blankets and crept through the corridor to the portrait. They slid it aside and left the room. Cora cast an invisibility spell on all of them so they wouldn't be detected. Walking through the hallway, they encountered no one. Once outside, the spell was removed. Both of the dragonettes flew high to find a suitable place to sleep. Moonmist came back with Tigerscry in tow.
We found a very polite whomping willow. It's name is Wally and it offered to guard us until we left.
"How nice. It almost reminds me of Paul the Punching Pine." Cora sighed.
"Yeah, he was nice. I miss him." Bridgit agreed.
They took off at a light jog and reached the tree in only minutes. They set up under the tree and fell asleep almost instantly on the cold, uneven ground.
