Max's POV
Okay, now we finally solved the mystery of the barrier. It was hiding the ginormous castle! But, now what do we do? Do we knock on the door?
"I think we should knock on the door." I say and start making my way over.
"You mean the entrance over there that's open?" Angel says and points to a stone passage way where people in cloaks were walking in and out of.
"Um, yeah. I guess that way we go." I said awkwardly and we all started walking in that direction,
"I think this is a school. All the thoughts seem to be thinking about class work." Angel said. A school? In this thing? Protected by a barrier? Angel nodded. Wow. We broke through a barrier to see a school that was a castle. Let's just hope they have food.
On our walk to the passage way thing, we spotted a tiny hut with a class being taught outside of it. Being taught by a HUGE man! Not huge as in fat, but huge as in big and tall. With a big beard and long hair. By the looks of it, they were being dismissed, since all the kids were walking toward the castle.
"Maybe we should ask him where we are." I said. The rest of the flock nodded, Nudge surprisingly not talking. I took in a deep breath and walked toward the big guy. He started walking toward the hut, so I started sprinting. The flock followed my lead.
He closed the door the second we were on the porch steps. I took in another deep breath and knocked on the door.
"Hello?" a deep voice responded. "Harry, is that you?" Harry? Who's Harry?
"No. We need help!" I said and the guy opened the door. I cringed at his height and Nudge backed up a couple of steps.
"Merlin's beard! Who are you and how did you get inside the barrier?" he said in absolute shock.
"I wanted to ask where we are! I'm Max. Who are you?" I asked, standing in front of my flock. Jeez, this guy looks like he could step on us judging by his height. And I thought we were tall!
"You come with me." he said and he barged out the door. We followed him, and we heard him mutter something that sounded like "How did muggles get in here?"
"Excuse, but what are muggles? Are they bombs or something?" I heard Iggy ask with a hint of excitement in his voice. I sighed. Him and his bombs.
The guy turned around us and said, "No, they are not bombs!" He then continued walking toward the castle.
I elbowed Iggy and said, "Nice one, Ig. You sure know how to get people ticked at us." Gazzy snickered, and let out one of his famous-and gut wrenching- farts he was named for.
"Ewww! Gross Gazzy! Can't you just stop letting those out when you please?" Nudge complained, coughing. We all plugged our noses in disgust while the Gasman and Iggy grinned.
"Nice one dude!" Iggy said and gave Gasman a high five.
"No, not nice! You let another one of those rip, we're going to have to lock you in an airtight bubble!" I complained. The big dude wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"What is that? A rotten egg or something?" he asked plugging his nose.
"Nope." I responded. "It was the Gasman over here." The guy gave us a weird look and then I added, "What can I say? He has a funky digestive track. We have to live with him." I swated my nose for emphasis. A harsh wind blew right at us, and we shivered.
Then I realized I was soaked in the freezing cold. Nice one, Max.
The guy started walking again, and he asked, "The Gasman, eh? Weird name. What are your names?" Might as well say them, 'cause we're a bunch of mutant freaks looking for food.
"I'm Max, that's Fang, he's Iggy, you already know the Gasman, she's Nudge, and this here is little Angel." I said, pointing to my flock as I said their names. I heard an "ahem" and added, "Oh yeah, and that's Total."
"Interesting names. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, but around here, I'm called Professor Hagrid." Hagrid introduced himself. He thinks we have weird names.
"Yeah, we named ourselves." I said. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I shouldn't be sharing personal flock info with some freakishly huge dude who lives inside a tiny hut next to a huge castle protected by a barrier. I'm not that trusting.
Hagrid seemed surprised. "Now, really? Why is that, you say." he said. I sighed. Now I've done it. Might as well spit out we're mutant freaks at the rate I'm going.
"Long story." I said, and continued following him. He walked into the castle, and I hesitated at the entrance. Hagrid turned around and looked at me in amusement.
"C'mon now. I'm not that scary, am I?" he joked and waved for us to continue to follow him.
I took a step forward and said, "Not nearly as scary as Fang watching Oprah." The flock burst into laughter except Fang who crossed his arms.
"That doesn't compete with how scary you are when you cook." Fang countered with a grin, and the flock, especially Iggy, burst into full out laughter. I slugged Fang's shoulder.
"My cooking isn't that bad." I said, offended.
"Yes it is!" the flock replied in unison in between laughs. Fang grinned. Hagrid frowned.
"What's Oprah?" Hagrid asked. We all stopped and stared at him dumbstruck. How does he not know who Oprah is?
"You're kidding, right?" Iggy asked him in shock. Hagrid looked confused, and shook his head. I looked at him in shock. Um, okay? What kind of school is this if someone doesn't know who Oprah is?
"Now, come along now." Hagrid said and started leading us deeper into the castle.
It was a weird place. All these kids kept looking at us funny as we walked through the corridors. They really know how to make a bird kid paranoid. The castle was huge. And the freakiest part? I cannot answer you my friend, because there was too many. There were the children in cloaks, the teachers with weird hats on, and how about this? The stairs freaking moved. Not like escalator moves, but the stairwells actually kept shifting themselves. And the pictures moved like they were actual people. They even gave us weird glances, as they moved from frame to frame. I swear this place can't get any weirder.
Actually, probably it can.
We were walking down the corridor, and we saw this really pale dude with white-blonde hair who looked stuck up, and we heard him say, "What are these filthy muggles doing in here?" Then I realized he meant us, so I tripped him. All the kids cheered, except for those with the snake emblem on their cloaks. Those kids glared at me. I smirked. That earned a few more cheers from the other kids.
"Here we are," Hagrid said. We stopped in front of a wall. A freaking wall. Then I noticed there were 2 stone statues perched up against the wall. Interesting.
"Professor Dumbledore! I'm coming in!" Hagrid announced to the wall. Um, is he wacko or something? It really seems like that to me. I saw him mutter something, and get this! The statue said "enter" and the wall moved to reveal a tiny, circular office. It was adorable!
"Why, hello Hagrid. What brings you here? My, my, who are these young lads?" someone said, and I looked around for a speaker. My eyes went wide when I saw him. Old doesn't cover it. He had waist length silver hair and beard, and had so many wrinkles, it wasn't even funny.
Max, Angel thought into my mind, I think this is a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I think it's called Hogwarts, Angel said. Great. We're in a freaking school called Hogwarts and they teach magic tricks. Lovely.
"Well you see, I found these 6 muggles outside my door. They were soaked and scratched up when they were at my doorstep." Hagrid explained. I walked up to the old guy.
"You would be to, if you nearly drowned in that super deep lake and had to drag up 5 kids and a dog to the surface." I retorted. The old guy looked at me in amusement.
"And you didn't drown? That would only me possible if you had gills or something!" he exclaimed, and I quickly took a step back blushing. I'm on a roll of getting us exposed.
"Apparently not, sir." I said. He seemed amused. It made me want to pinch his cheeks and see how soft his elderly skin was. Know what? Forget I said that.
"How did you get onto the grounds of this place? If I'm not mistaken, there is a barrier protecting this place." He asked me. I walked back, grabbed Angel, and brought her back up with me.
"Ask this little one right here how she found the barrier in the first place." I said, and Angel blushed. She was so freaking cute right now!
You look nice right now too, Max. Can you help me out now, Angel said, intertwining in my thoughts. I sighed. This is going to be impossible for us.
"You are interesting children. I cannot get inside your mind like I can do with everyone else." The old dude said.
"Really? Well, I can get inside your mind-
_" I covered Angel's mouth. Nice one, Angel. The old guy looked at us skeptically.
"You can read minds?" he asked, amused.
"And many other things she will not blabber!" I said, keeping a firm cover on her mouth.
"Hagrid, why don't you go prepare for your next lesson. I'll chat with our new friends here. While on your way, send down Minerva." The old dude told Hagrid. Hagrid nodded, and did as he was told. I folded my arms.
"Angel said that this is a Witchcraft and Wizardry school called Hogwarts. Is she correct?" I demanded of him. He looked down at Angel then back up at me.
"She is correct. I am headmaster Dumbledore. Now children, who are you?" he asked. I glared at him, annoyed that he called us children.
"We're Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. Oh, and this here is Total." I said giving our names and nothing else, while I held up Total. I heard him say "I feel so loved."
"Now, I will tell you a bit of Hogwarts. We teach young witches and wizards how to control magic through our classes. All the students are organized into 4 different houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. There are 7 years of Hogwarts to complete; first years to seventh years. First years are 11 years old, so that would be the minimum age to attend Hogwarts. All students have a wand that they bought at Diagon Alley, which is a wizard market. The currency of wizards are different from muggles (non-magical people.) We use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. So there's a little bit about our secret, and I would appreciate it if you would tell me about yours. You do not have to, of course, but I would be thrilled if you did." he said. He added the last part when I glared at him.
Max, I think we should tell him. He has kind intentions. He's willing to let us stay here for a while, to work on my mind reading and "other possible powers these young ones possess." Please Max, Angel begged. I looked behind me.
Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel looked willing. Iggy looked like he didn't give a care in the world. Fang shrugged. So much for leaving.
"Fine. I'm not going to speak a word at first, but I will show you." I said, slowly and cautiously taking off my coat.
"Thank you. I appreciate your willingness to share your secret with me." he said. More like the flock's willingness, I thought.
The second I snapped out my amazing brown and white wings, I heard the wall open behind me and someone say, "What is it, Albus?" Then I heard a loud gasp.
"Whoops." I muttered. Fang gave me a look that said, whoops is right.
I returned him with a look of, hey, you approved of this crap!
