John made his way towards the Gryffindor, extremely relieved that the tense moments during the sorting hat's interrogation were over. It had been a close call between going into the Hufflepuff house or the Gryffindor house, but he was pleased with the result. He was slightly remiss that he hadn't gone into the same house as Sherlock, but he knew he wasn't smart enough and honestly the boy was a bit rude. He sat next to the other first years, including his friends Mike Stamford and Bill Murray, whom he had met on the boat trip to the castle.

He couldn't believe it. He was in Hogwarts, and he was a wizard, and now he was in Gryffindor house where the bravest witches and wizards went into. He stared above him at the flickering candles that hovered below an open night sky, the stars clearly visible. A few months ago he would have never imagined something like this happening.

From the center of the head table the Headmaster himself stood up from his throne-like chair. He raised his hands into the air to silence the students. "I would just like to make a few announcements before the feast begins," he stated in his gravelly voice as the hall quieted, his eyes peering through his half-moon spectacles at the students below him. His long white beard was so long that it could be tucked into the belt of his robes that were made of a grey and silver material.

"First, I would like to give a warm welcome to the new students, and an equally warm welcome to the ones returning. I would introduce myself and my fellow professors—I'm certain that the first years are anxious to learn who their new teachers will be and what is in store for them, but I have the feeling that they are even more anxious for the feast to begin."

A chuckle spread throughout the great hall at that comment as the Headmaster grinned before continuing.

"Secondly, I must make it clear that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, and should any of you have the misfortune of travelling where you have been strictly forbidden a most terrible fate will be in store for you."

John wrinkled his nose, wondering how close the Forbidden Forest was to the school and why its proximity would be so near to such a large amount of students. That certainly didn't sound safe.

He suddenly got the urge to glance over towards Sherlock Holmes, his rude friend he had the fortune (or misfortune, he wasn't quite sure yet) of spending the afternoon with. The Ravenclaw table was right beside the Gryffindor table, and from his vantage point he had a direct line of sight of the tall and deathly pale boy. Sherlock was seated by a pretty blonde girl, whom John had noticed talking with Sherlock throughout the sorting. When he saw Sherlock's expression John's stomach clenched.

It was the face. The same face his sister Harry would make when she was about to go out and do something stupid; when she got into arguments or when she snuck out (John had caught her a few times sneaking out her window.) Sherlock was making the same face now; his eyes flashing, a small coloring spreading along his high cheekbones, his nostrils slightly flared as his jaw clenched. John knew that look; Sherlock was planning on doing something stupid like breaking the very first rule that the Headmaster stated.

The Headmaster continued to speak, but John was oblivious to his speech as he watched Sherlock. He's planning on heading into the Forbidden Forest as soon as he can, John determined. It was an incredibly stupid, foolhardy thing to do, resulting in a "most terrible fate," but as John watched he knew that Sherlock was planning a way of sneaking out of the castle in order to roam through the forest. He hoped he wouldn't be dumb enough to try it tonight, as a quick glance upwards showed that it was completely dark outside, the stars offering meager lighting. He determined that he would keep an eye on him, just in case.

John only partially paid attention to what the Headmaster said through the rest of the speech, his thoughts circling around the fact that Sherlock was most likely going to sneak out into the forest as soon as he got the chance. He was taken aback, however, when the headmaster suddenly clapped his hands together and the once bare table suddenly became covered with a wide array of overflowing, absolutely delicious looking food. His stomach growling from the sumptuous flavors wafting into his nose and his lips pulling into a wide smile to match the expressions of the students around him, John heartily dug into the food surrounding his plate.

The dinner passed by like a blur as John chatted amiably with his new friends, swapping stories as he filled up on the best tasting food he had ever experienced. Bill Murray turned out to be a rather gregarious fellow, constantly talking with a raised voice as he shouted with his mouth full to those sitting next to him, and if it weren't for John's close proximity to the spit splattering on him he would have found it a lot more humorous. Mike was a lot quieter, not contributing much to their conversation but was willing to laugh at all of the jokes that so seamlessly fell from John's mouth. John actually had quite a witty humor, which his new friends seemed to enjoy quite a lot.

He couldn't help but to compare his new friends to the boy he had shared the train ride with. Sherlock was different; intelligent, strange, and belligerently rude. Still, he was the first person John had met while entering this new world of magic. John stole a glance over to the Ravenclaw table, innately curious as to what the pale boy was up to.

Dark curls fell into Sherlock's eyes as he stared down at his plate, pushing a meager amount of food around with a fork, seemingly disinterested with the act of eating. To the right of him was the pretty blonde girl, her plate full of a salad that she was nibbling on, much like a rabbit as she held a leaf to her mouth. She was looking at Sherlock, saying something. Sherlock replied, saying something that made her burst into a wide smile.

John was glad that Sherlock had made a friend, he had doubted that the boy would make many friends the way he acted; all superior and a know-it-all. As he watched he couldn't help but to get the feeling that Sherlock was going to do something extremely stupid as he continued to fidget in his seat and glance all around himself with searching eyes as if to hide his intentions.

Bill spilled his goblet full of juice all over the table and John was distracted as his friends pushed and shoved each other to get out of the way of the liquid. He joined in and scooted over to the side, laughing along with them to tease Bill's clumsiness. The next time he glanced up to look at the Ravenclaw table, Sherlock was gone.

John looked all around him, searching for the tall, pale boy, but he was nowhere in sight. The blonde girl was still there, eating her salad and talking animatedly with the other students near her. He knew instantly what had happened. It was the perfect time for Sherlock to head into the Forbidden forest as everyone in the school was at the feast. John stood up and excused himself from his friends, telling them that he had to go to the bathroom. Mike teased him by making water noises with his mouth and patted the wet puddle of juice as an attempt to make his bladder more uneasy. John laughed and then quickly headed away down the long table of students, receiving a few glances but for the most part he was ignored.

He stepped out into the abandoned hallway and looked around him, but no one was in sight. He made his way to the front doors of the castle where he first entered; seeing no one he began to worry that maybe Sherlock really did just go to the bathroom, and he was just over rationalizing. Sherlock wasn't stupid, that much was true. But the look on his face when he heard about the forest...

John slowly pulled open the heavy door and peeked his head out. He saw movement far across the grass lawn. He slipped into the night air and shut the door behind him, straining his eyes towards the movement. He recognized the shape. It was Sherlock. John started running after him.