Welcome back. I just wanted to say that I'm dedicating this story to my friends in Box. You know who you are. You guys are great and I hope you love your wizarding selves
Laurie was going to get her bag but was stopped by Holly. "Just leave it. Your things will be waiting for you in your dormitory when you arrive."
Laurie nodded and followed the girls out of the train. She was quickly shoved down the corridor and landed on the platform with a graceful stumble. Amber and Holly walked on either side of her as they were ushered toward horseless carriages. The rain had started to pour down and most of the students ran for the cover of the carriages.
The ride to the Hogwarts grounds was fast and Laurie saw the winged boars that flanked the entrance to the school. Her own school had stone dragons on either side that sometimes breathed fire if it was cold or whenever they felt like it.
They trundled down the drive and had to wait for their carriage to pull up to the giant double doors. Hogwarts was truly a breathtaking sight. She had seen pictures of it, but to see it in person was a different matter entirely.
"You don't have to put the Sorting Hat on with the first years, do you?" Nancy asked when they darted up the step into the main hall. It was lit with candles in wall sconces and the pictures inside were talking animatedly with each other, excited for another school year to begin.
"No, Dumbledore said that I would be in Gryffindor since I only have the one year here, though if I like it, I'm going to try and talk my mom into letting me come next year. He said that by the house I was in at my school I would be going to Gryffindor anyway."
"Really? Brilliant." Holly said.
The group of girls made their way to the Gryffindor table on the far side of the great hall. It was much different than the Academy's dining hall. While Hogwarts had four long tables and a teacher's table at the end, the Academy had many circular tables filling the hall where anyone could sit down. There weren't assigned tables to different houses and the students sat with anyone they wanted to, even if they were from a different house. The teachers had a long table at the front of the dining hall but it wasn't raised on a platform like in this great hall, it was the same level as the other tables.
The other thing Laurie noticed was the bewitched ceiling. Dark clouds hung over the tables with rain pouring out of them, but not hitting a single person. The rain faded into nothing just above the hundreds of floating candles. It was really quite beautiful.
Lily ushered the girls into their seats and Laurie followed, sitting herself next to Lily and Amber. The room quickly filled with students and the incessant hum of voices soon rose in volume. Laurie was introduced to students in Gryffindor as they passed or sat nearby. Of course, she already lost most of the names told to her, but she would hopefully remember them when it was important.
It was about ten minutes or so before a woman with a plaid placed a stool in the front of the great hall and set a battered hat onto it.
"Is that the Sorting Hat?" Laurie asked Lily who was listening to the hat start to sing.
"Yes. It's been around since the founders." She replied, clearly wanting to listen to what the hat sung about.
Laurie turned to Amber and whispered. "How does it sort people?"
"You place it on your head and it sort of reads you thoughts and feelings. It can tell your personality traits."
"Just from sitting on your head."
"Yeah. If you're loyal or brave or daring you go to Gryffindor. If you're really smart and quick you go to Ravenclaw. If you're sly and cunning you go to Slytherin and the rest go into Hufflepuff. Slytherin's turned out more bad wizards than the other three houses combined."
Laurie looked over to the table across the hall where Amber indicated the Slytherins sat. They looked like a rotten bunch indeed.
The hat abruptly stopped singing and the witch, who Laurie found out was Professor McGonagall, called the new first years up to sit on the stool and be sorted. The Sorting Ceremony lasted twenty minutes and the stool was put away until the next batch of students arrived the following year.
A tall silver haired wizard stood up and addressed the students after McGonagall resumed her seat.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Two words: tuck in!"
And with that, the plates in front of the students filled with delicious smelling food. There were strange dishes that Laurie had never had but decided to try all of them if she could. The cuisine in England was much different than what she had back in Florida. She was looking forward to the different food.
Laurie looked down the table to see the students place giant helpings of food on their plates. It seemed like some hadn't eaten in years with the way they were going on. She was eating something she had no idea what it consisted of but was actually really good. Her gaze floated from the house tables to the staff table where Professor Dumbledore was speaking with a rotund middle aged man. Her eyes flitted to Hagrid and when she caught his eye she waved at him which made him return the gesture.
"So, what do you think our chances are of winning the House Cup this year?" Nancy asked.
"Pretty good since we've won it for quite a number of years now. What about the Quidditch Cup?" Lily asked.
"We've lost a beater and a seeker so we need to hold tryouts to fill the spots but I'd say we have a good chance. We've won that ever since our first year, so I would think that we could make it until our last year." Holly said. She turned to Laurie. "I'm beater for Gryffindor and Casey, who you need to meet, is Keeper. Potter, the one Lily hates, is Chaser."
"I've never played Quidditch for my house. I was always a spectator. When I was little and my sister pushed me off my mom's broom. I don't think I ever got over that incident."
The girls laughed. "Well, most of us are spectators so you'll be welcome in our stands," Lily said as she finished her meal. "But I thought that you brought a broom with you?"
"I did, but I won't play Quidditch on it. I just like to fly, not dodge possessed balls and players."
The girls talked about Quidditch for a while longer and moved on to other vague subjects. Soon the plates cleared themselves and the students' attention was drawn once again to the Headmaster.
"Now that we are all fed and watered I welcome you again to another school year. Some reminders for the term: the forest on school grounds is strictly forbidden to all students. Mr. Pringle, the caretaker has asked that you all read the list of some 174 items that are forbidden in the corridors that is hanging in his office." Dumbledore smirked a bit. "And I have two more announcements before we retire for this evening. The first being that we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Wickley." Students clapped for the new teacher who was sitting at the end of the table looking somewhat embarrassed by all of the attention. He looked knowledgeable but shy. "And secondly, we have a foreign exchange student from the American Southeastern Academy of Sorcery in our midst. Miss Thomas will be residing in Gryffindor Tower for the length of her stay and shall be treated as one of our own. For leaving everything she knows and arriving in a strange place is brave indeed."
Laurie felt all eyes try and find her. She heard the rustling of robes and the creaking of tables and benches as people tried to get a glimpse of her. She didn't see what was so exciting about herself, but she said nothing and tried to sink under the table.
"And so with that it's off to bed with the lot of you."
There was a great rustling of robes now and the sound of hundreds of feet exiting the great hall. Laurie hung back with Lily, Amber, Holly and Nancy as the rest of the group surged forward.
"Miss Thomas, may I have a word?"
Laurie stopped and turned in the direction from whence she came. Professor McGonagall was striding between the rows of tables and stopped in front of her.
"Of course, Professor."
McGonagall nodded and turned to the rest of the group. "You may all go up to the common room. Miss Grant you may wait for your friend on the stairs."
The girls did as they were told, and Laurie was standing alone with the professor.
"I'm sure you know my name by now, but I'm Professor McGonagall. I'm your Head of House and the Transfiguration teacher. Your last professor at the Academy, Jaggerly, said that you were top in your class, moving on to harder transfigurations. I expect to have you well learned in the subject. As your Head of House, you may come to me with any problem or question you may have. As you are a fifth year and your mother signed the form, you are allowed to go to Hogsmeade with the rest of the students on the weekends assigned. Do you have any questions?"
"One, Professor. My pet. He's not exactly one to stay with the owls at the moment. I was wondering if it were possible to keep him in my room for a while, as long as the other girls don't mind that is."
McGonagall thought for a moment. "No, it won't be a problem. As long as the other girls do not care I will allow it."
"Thank you, Professor."
"You best go catch Miss Grant up."
Laurie nodded her thanks and walked quickly to the entrance hall where Amber was pacing.
"What did she want?" her friend asked as they started up the stairway.
"Just telling me if I have any questions that I should come to her. You don't mind if Darcy stays in our room right? He's not on friendly terms with owls at the moment."
"No, I'm good with it. The others should be as well," Amber said. "Why isn't he on friendly terms with owls?"
"My cousin decided it would be a perfect prank and decided to sic his owl on Darcy during a message run. 'Course, Darcy beat his owl to a pulp, but he doesn't forgive and forget easily."
Amber nodded as they reached the portrait of a large woman in a pink dress. She was talking excitedly to a woman who had just entered the picture.
"…and she's staying in my house. My house, Violet. This will be so fun."
Amber cleared her throat. The Fat Lady turned to look at the two girls.
"Nitwit."
The portrait swung open as Violet said something about manners. The common room was a comfortable looking place with worn couches and chairs placed about the room as well as tables to do homework on. The atmosphere was excited as the crowd eagerly caught each other up on their summer vacations. Amber and Laurie made their way over to where Lily and Nancy were talking to a couple girls that Laurie had yet to meet.
"What did McGonagall want, Laurie?" Lily asked as the two went to stand by a window.
"She just told me that I would go to her if I have an problems or questions. You guys don't mind if I keep Darcy in the dorm do you?"
Lily shook her head. "No, the more the merrier."
The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.
"Oh, this is Cynthia Orman," she indicated a girl with glasses who sat next to her. "And this is Casey Mitchell." A girl with short brown hair smiled and nodded toward Laurie who nodded a greeting as well.
"You're the girl from the Academy over in America?" Cynthia asked.
"Yeah, I am."
"Pleasure to meet you."
"And you."
After a few vague conversations on class schedules and what they hoped to get, they all dispersed and went to their dormitory. Laurie found the bed that would be hers for a year and enjoyed the scarlet curtains that hung from it. Her trunk was laying at the end of her bed and Darcy looked less than pleased that he was still caged.
"Sorry Darce," she said and opened the door of the cage. Darcy flew and landed on her shoulder as she opened her trunk and pulled out her pajamas. She also dug out a collapsible perch for Darcy and set it up near the window. He quickly made his way over to it and sat proudly, watching the girls move about their room, getting ready for bed. "Do you want to fly for a bit? You do love the rain."
Laurie opened the window and watched him spread his wings and fly out into the storm. At least he wouldn't be singing the entire night, as that's what he did when it rained. At least he didn't burn up in flames and start again since he was only half Augurey.
The girls quickly changed and collapsed on their beds. A few of the girls talked in the darkness but most fell asleep quickly, ready to start another year at school.
It's slightly longer, but I won't be able to post for a while as I have to write a paper and actually finish reading OOTP and HBP before Deathly Hallows comes out. ;)
Ever yours.