September 1, 1991
After nightfall
Gryffindor Common Room
Hermione followed Percy Weasley the Prefect through the entrance to the common room, muttering the password quietly to herself in order to memorize it. She was looking down at her feet as she entered, but as soon as she looked up the whisper of 'Caput Draconis' died on her lips. People-sounds-tapestries-conversations-welcome to Gryffindor-red-gold-was that an armadillo?-girls dorms on the right-these staircases don't move-fire crackling-more conversations – a girl whose name Hermione thought was Lavender Brown snapped her fingers in front of Hermione's face. She jumped slightly, blinking rapidly.
"Are you alright?" Lavender asked, looking concerned.
"Yes, yes I'm fine. I just- I'm a bit overwhelmed, with the new environment and all. I've never been in a room quite like this before. It sometimes takes me a few seconds to absorb new places is all." Hermione replied with a smile.
"Oh. Well, we're supposed to go up to our dormitories now. Percy says we're having a big day tomorrow, so we need to sleep. Although how anybody could sleep on a night like this – I mean, this is our first night in Hogwarts! – I can't even imagine…"
The girl continued to prattle on about nothing in particular, and Hermione found herself tuning Lavender's chatter out in favor of revising her memories of the transfiguration texts. When they reached the dorm labeled 'First Years', Lavender and the other girls immediately ran to claim beds. Parvati Patil managed to get the bed closest to the bathrooms, and Lavender claimed the bed next to her. Fay went to the bed nearest the entrance, so Hermione was left with the bed between Fay and Lavender. She didn't mind – the bed was next to a window, and she couldn't be bothered to care that much about sleeping arrangements. She changed into her nightclothes and lay in her bed, zoning out the other girls' giggly conversations.
Goodnight, Draco and Dudley, she thought, I hope you like your houses as much as I hope to like mine. It doesn't seem too bad so far; the people seem nice enough. But I already miss having you right down the hall. Not that I would ever say that to either of your faces – you would tease me about it to no end. Well, since you can't hear me anyway, there's no point in 'talking' to you, so goodnight.
Hermione went back to revising in her head, this time listing potions ingredients and their properties in alphabetical order until she finally fell asleep.
~G~
September 1, 1991
After nightfall
Great Hall to the Hufflepuff Common Room
The Hufflepuff prefect, Gabriel Truman, led Dudley and his group of first years down a set of stairs from the Great Hall and into a corridor that held a large portrait of fruit and, in a nook to the right of the portrait, a stack of barrels.
Gabriel pointed at the portrait of fruit and said "That is the entrance to Hogwarts' kitchens. The house elves are always willing to give you a bit of a treat if you ask, but don't let me catch you out of bed getting a midnight snack." He winked at them as he continued, "If you accidentally oversleep and don't have time for breakfast in the Great Hall, just pop in there and they'll give you a bit of something. The other upper years and I do a headcount every day, though, so don't make a habit of missing meals. We'll know. Also, be kind to the house elves. They cook for us, clean up the common rooms, keep the fires lit and the beds warm – the least you can do is show them respect. We've asked them not to clean in the dormitories, because that's your responsibility. Sprout does surprise room checks every so often, so make sure your dormitory is clean. Don't groan at me; you have to learn to mind your space sometime, and 'sometime' is now," he said in response to the groans that had erupted from the group of first years. "So! The common room. The entrance is right over here – behind these barrels. Now, you have to be careful to pay attention and tap the right barrel in the right rhythm –" he tapped out the rhythm on his leg "—or you'll get a face full of vinegar. Two from the bottom, middle of the second row. Got that? Good. Let's go in."
He tapped the barrel and the lid popped open, revealing a passageway. Gabriel gestured at the first years to go through it and they did. As Dudley went, ducking slightly so that he wouldn't hit his head, he noticed the faint scent of vinegar and smiled. Draco and 'Mione would love this – I wonder what defenses their common rooms have? 'Mione is probably asking all sorts of questions abou- Wow! He had made it to the common room, which was a cozy round room decorated in earthy tones, yellow, and black. Light seemed to come from the ceiling, like the sun was shining down, but Dudley could see no specific source of light. Windows set in the wall showed views of grass and dandelions rippling in the wind. The room was filled with plants, some of which had students gathered around them. A bookcase full of picture frames stood on the right side of the room, in between two round doors that reminded Dudley of entrances to a hobbit hole. As the rest of the first years came out of the short tunnel that led in, Gabriel began speaking again.
"The boys dormitories are on the right, girls on the left. The plants in here are from the greenhouses; Professor Sprout brings the really interesting ones here. Most of them are pleasant and some can even talk to you – hold a conversation, give advice – but watch out for the fanged geranium. It bites. I think that should be it, but if you have any questions feel free to ask anyone. We were all first years once, too, so we know what it's like to be new here. Tomorrow a few other upper years and I will lead you around to each of your classes so that you don't get lost. I think you should be able to find your way back to the Great Hall from here – the route never changes, unlike the route from the other houses. Off to bed with you now, it's a busy day tomorrow."
The group of first years split and headed to their respective dormitories. Dudley was starting to feel a bit lethargic from the feast, so the order to go to bed didn't elicit any arguments from him. The first-year boy's dormitory was even cozier than the common room, if that was possible. The beds, each of which had a patchwork quilt on it, were lit with burnished copper lamps and had copper bed-warmers hanging next to them. The five boys quickly got ready for bed while talking about what classes they were looking forward to the most. Ernie Macmillan couldn't wait for transfiguration, while Justin Finch-Fletchley and Wayne Hopkins were more excited for charms. Oliver wanted to learn about defense against the dark arts, as he thought that dueling and danger would be the most fun to learn about. Dudley was looking forward to herbology the most, but thought that all of the classes sounded interesting enough. If he hadn't heard such bad things about Professor Binns, he would have been looking forward to history class.
The five of them chatted for about a half hour before finally drifting off to sleep. The last thoughts Dudley had before going to bed were Goodnight, Draco and 'Mione. Hufflepuff house is great, you guys would love it. I'll see you both in the morning – not that you can hear me or anything. G'night.
~G~
September 1, 1991
After nightfall
Great Hall to the Slytherin Common Room
"Ok, first years, gather round. We'll be going down to the dungeons in a minute, I just need a headcount first. I wouldn't want any of you wandering off and getting lost down there your first night. And I don't care how many of you think you know the dungeons like the back of your hand because of stories your parents told you, none of you are to wander off. It may not be as obvious as the moving staircases the upper floors have, but Hogwarts likes to shift the placement of the corridors down below just as often. So let's see..." The female prefect counted the gaggle of first years quickly. "Nine. Alright, follow me. And don't wander off."
She turned on her heel and strode out of the Great Hall, not looking back to ensure they were following. It seemed that, to her, anyone stupid enough not to follow deserved to be left behind. Draco was shunted to the edge of the pack, as all the other first year Slytherins knew each other and had bunched up to talk to each other. Theodore Nott stayed near to the edge as well, but he was more integrated with the rest of the group than Draco. The prefect led them to a stretch of wall and suddenly stopped.
"The paths between the hall, the common room, and the potions room stay relatively the same, so you only really have to worry about getting lost if you decide to explore. If you get lost upstairs, ask a portrait which way to go. Don't get lost down here. Understand? Good. Now, look closely here - look at the stonework near the ceiling. See that brick with a snake etched into it? That's what marks our common room. The password right now is Astus. Got that?" The section of wall directly below the snake-stone had slid open to reveal the common room entrance when the password was spoken. "Great. Go on in, one at a time through the doorway."
She counted them off as they walked inside the common room and followed them in once her count reached nine. The door silently slid shut behind them as the first years got their first glance of the Slytherin common room.
It was beautiful, in a cold sort of way. The fire in the far wall, rather than warming the greens and grays of the room, consumed the light around it. Torches on the walls gave off flickering light, but the room was dimmer than the fluorescent muggle lighting Draco was used to. It had the feel of an underground cave - pleasantly cool and slightly damp.
"Go on then, off to your dorms. Girls are down the corridor to your right, boys are to the left. Oh - one last thing - stay out of the upper years' way. They know some good hexes if you bother them." With that, she turned on her heel and went to sit by the fireplace. The first years obediently shuffled off to their dormitories; none of them were stupid enough to anger the prefect on the first night.
Draco was the last to enter the dormitory, right behind Theodore. Blaize Zabini led the pack, with Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe in the middle. Zabini sat on the bed on the far side of the dorm - closest to the bathroom - claiming it as his own. Crabbe took the bed two down from him, and Goyle took the bed second from the door. Theodore surveyed the arrangement before walking over to Crabbe.
"Vincent, go down there," He nodded his head at the bed by the door. "This bed is taken."
Crabbe nodded dumbly and went to go sit on the other bed. Draco watched, somewhat confused: the bed hadn't been taken; Theodore was now sitting on the bed next to Zabini's. Unless…
"Granger, get over here," Theodore called. Ah. So he was getting the bed for me. But why? I would have been fine by the door, Draco thought. Nevertheless, he went over to his bed. Zabini was giving Theodore a scathing look, but Theodore either ignored it or didn't notice.
"Thank you," Draco said to Theodore, and opened his trunk to unpack a few of his things.
"You're welcome," responded the other boy, and then they descended into silence. None of the boys spoke to each other while getting ready for bed, and the only sounds that came from any mouths for the rest of the night were two quietly muttered 'goodnights' between Crabbe and Goyle.
Goodnight, Dudley, 'Mione, Draco thought in the moments before sleep, I hope you both like your houses. Mine seems a bit odd, but it might just be because I don't know anyone yet. It's weird having someone who isn't you in the bed next to mine, Dud, and knowing you aren't just down the hall, 'Mione. It'll take some getting used to. See you both in the morning, I guess, if you aren't both too busy with your new housemates. What am I thinking? You won't be too busy. I'm being silly. Goodnight.
~G~
September 7, 1991
Mid-morning
Hufflepuff Common Room
The past week had gone quite well, Dudley thought. Classes at Hogwarts were far more interesting than the ones he had back at Beckford Primary, barring History of Magic. The first class had started off well, with Professor Binns floating through the chalkboard, but it was all downhill from there. As soon as the ghost opened his mouth to speak, the entire class all but fell asleep. In fact, he thought he had spotted one of the Slytherin boys - Goyle, he thought, or maybe it was Crabbe - actually sleeping.
The only other truly bad class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Quirrell could have been an expert on all things dark, for all Dudley knew, but the man was obviously not fit to teach the subject no matter how much he knew. Quirrell's stutter had rendered him nearly unintelligible during roll call alone, and it had only gotten worse when he tried to teach. Dudley had asked Hermione at dinner that night, and her class had been the same way.
Fortunately, Dudley's other classes had been far better than history and defense. They had already started on practical work in Transfiguration - nothing as exciting as turning furniture to pigs, as McGonagall had done in their first class, but matches to needles was more than Dudley had ever imagined doing - and in Charms Professor Flitwick made even dry theory seem interesting. Herbology had been less exciting, as they were only going over safety information now, but Dudley couldn't wait to meet some of the more dangerous plants. For the time being, though, he was happy playing with the plants Professor Sprout had brought into the common room.
Oliver watched Dudley as he played with the fanged geranium, chuckling as Dudley struggled to get his hand back from the biting plant. "Hey, Dud, let's do something fun. Biting plants are cool and all, but…" He trailed off.
"Yeah, sure. Could you help me with this first? It doesn't want to let go."
Oliver jumped up from his spot on the couch to help Dudley free his hand. That done, the strawberry-blond tugged Dudley towards the door.
"Where are we going, then?" Dudley asked, bemused at Oliver's enthusiasm.
"No clue," replied Oliver, "It'll be an adventure! Come on!"
~G~
"The stairs look like they're going down. When we walk on them, we step down each step. So why have we gone up three floors walking down this staircase?" Dudley asked.
They boys had gotten themselves quite lost in their exploring. They had decided to head back to the common room after a few hours, but an hour after that decision they were still nowhere near the ground floor. Oliver peered over the railing or the small platform they had stopped on, looking at how high up they were.
"Do you think I would break something if I tried jumping?"
Dudley just stared at him.
"Right, I probably would. So, what do you think, back up the nonsensical staircase, or keep going down in the hopes that it'll start making sense?"
"I think we should take a break. We've been wandering around for ages."
Dudley sat down against the wall and leaned back. Instead of the solid backrest he was expecting, he continued to fall back and tumbled down a steep passageway. After a few painful backflips his back hit a softer surface that gave way into a hallway. He stared up at the ceiling, still half under the tapestry he had burst through, and groaned.
"Dudley?" he heard Oliver's worried voice echoing through the passageway, "Are you ok?
"Yeah," he replied after a brief pause. "I think I'm fine. A bit bruised, but the fall wasn't that long. Give me a minute to move out of the way and then come down after me. I think this floor is further down than the one you're on."
Dudley slowly sat up, wincing as he moved his banged-up arms, and slid himself the rest of the way out from under the tapestry before standing up. "Alright, come on down!" he called up to Oliver, and stepped to the side. He heard a muffled thump a few seconds later as Oliver hit the tapestry, and then his friend joined him in the hall.
"Where are we?" Oliver whispered, looking around.
"No clue," Dudley replied, his voice likewise quiet. He wasn't sure why they were whispering, but it felt right. The corridor they were in was dark; the torches lining the walls were unlit and the only windows were up near the ceiling. The statues and tapestries were dusty - more so than the other places they had found earlier - and cobwebs stretched between corners and statues. There were no portraits lining the walls like there were in more populated parts of the castle, not even frames left empty while their contents visited friends. Overall, the whole place gave off an air of disuse, and Dudley got the foreboding sense that they should not be there.
"...Maybe we should try to find a staircase." He said after a moment.
"Yeah," Oliver agreed. The two boys cautiously walked to the left, eyes straining in the darkness to see anything they might trip over or run into. Each time they came upon a door, they tried it to see if it would lead them away from the corridor, but each one was locked. Ten tried doors and what seemed like an eternity later, the two Hufflepuffs came upon the end of the corridor. A large, imposing door sat in the short wall, looming over the boys like some sort of monster in the darkness. Oliver, being the more foolhardy of the duo, was the first to creep over and try the door. When the handle wouldn't turn, he sat down heavily on the floor and groaned.
"Are all the doors here locked? We're never getting out of this hallway, are we?"
"We'll have to try the other direction. Unless you know some way of unlocking the doors."
"No. Mum always used an unlocking charm if she forgot her key, but I don't remember the incantation. Allo-something? I dunno."
"Wait, that sounds familiar. Hermione was saying something about an unlocking charm when she was going on and on about classes. Allo-more?"
"Allo-more, allo-more, allo-more… wait! Alohomora?"
"Yeah, that sounds right! Try it!"
Oliver cast the spell, and the two boys heard a loud click as the lock turned. They grinned at each other, giddy in their success, and Dudley pulled open the door with a strong tug.
When they saw what lay behind the door, their delight turned to shock. Rather than a staircase or another corridor, the door opened into a large room. It was nearly empty, save the huge, brown, dog chained to the wall.
"Um, Dudley?"
"Yeah Oliver?"
"Do you see three heads on that dog, too?"
"Uh-huh."
"Just checking."
The middle head rose up, looking at the two boys. Oliver slowly backed away, while Dudley edged closer. The head growled, a low rumbling that Dudley could feel in his bones.
"Dudley!" Oliver half-whispered, half-shouted. "What are you doing?!"
"Hey buddy," Dudley said to the dog, ignoring Oliver. "What are you doing all cooped up in here? I bet a big thing like you needs a nice, wide open space to romp in. Not this tiny place."
The dog growled again, this time baring its teeth. Dudley continued to edge closer, speaking in a calm voice, but the dog only grew more agitated the closer he got. Oliver darted forward and dragged his friend back out the door just as the left head lunged forward to snap at Dudley. He slammed the door shut with a loud bang, then stared at Dudley with wide eyes.
"Are you insane?! That cerberus could have killed you!"
"That what?"
"Cerberus. Greek mythology, guarded the underworld? Giant three headed dog? That's not important. Why on earth did you keep going closer?"
"It's just a dog. It was lonely and cooped up, it probably wanted to play."
"It wanted to eat you! Cerberuses are vicious, especially when they're guarding something. It nearly bit your head off!"
"It wasn't guarding anything."
"Yes it was, didn't you notice the trapdoor it was standing on?"
"No, I was looking at its heads. I wonder what it's guarding."
"I have no idea, and I don't care. Let's agree to never come back here ever again."
"Where is here, anyway? We still need to find our way out."
"Right. Let's go back that way, far away from this room."
Oliver started off down the hallway, Dudley giving the door one last glance before following his friend. After a few minutes of walking they finally found an unlocked door at the other end of the hallway which opened into the main stairwell area - at least Dudley called it that. It was really just the area where most of the staircases, none of which were connected to each other, were located. The column of staircase-crossed air seemed to go up forever. It was upon exiting the dark corridor they had fallen into that they realized exactly which floor they had been on: the third floor. Specifically, the third floor corridor on the left hand side. The same corridor that Headmaster Dumbledore had warned students unless they wanted to "die a very painful death."
"I guess we know why we aren't supposed to go there now," quipped Oliver, who had recovered from the near-death experience within a minute of leaving the door behind them. He had decided this whole thing had been a very successful adventure, and he couldn't wait for the next one to come along. Dudley, on the other hand, had lost all color in his face the moment he noticed what floor the had been on.
"Oliver, whatever you do, do not let Hermione hear that I was in the forbidden corridor."
HIs friend looked over at him, bemused. "Alright, Dud, whatever you say."
"No, you don't understand. Hermione is terrifying when she gets upset. And the only thing that makes her more upset than not studying is when my brother or I break the rules or put ourselves in danger. And this falls under both of those categories. I do not want to deal with her wrath over this, and trust me, neither do you. It was bad enough when she only had muggle techniques to terrorize us with; now she has a wand, too."
"Come on, really? We are talking about the same Hermione, right? Teacher's pet, does-no-wrong nerdy bookworm? Besides, we've only been here a week. It's not as though she would know any good spells."
"My sister's memory is perfect, and she's been reading any book on magic she could get her hands on since July. I would be surprised if she didn't know how to cast advanced spells. But she doesn't need to - that's why she's scary when she's mad. 'Mione is creative."
Oliver still looked skeptical, so Dudley gave up trying to convince him. "Nevermind, just don't tell her, ok?"
"Sure thing."
~G~
September 7, 1991
Mid-afternoon
Slytherin Common Room
Draco shut his transfiguration book and put it away with a sigh. He had been trying to do his essay in the common room, but it was hard to concentrate when he could feel the eyes of his housemates on him. They were discreet about it, of course; he never caught them watching, but he could still feel it. It had been driving him mad.
I don't get what the big deal is, he thought. So what if I'm muggleborn? Blood oughtn't to matter. And that was the crux of it. Blood purity. None of his housemates had said anything outright, they were too politic for that, but he had mentioned how everyone was acting to Hermione and she had explained the basics of the blood hierarchy most purebloods believed in. They thought he was less than them, that he could never be as good of a wizard just because his ancestors weren't magical. And so they stared, and wondered what a muggleborn was doing in Slytherin, house of the pure.
He slung his bookbag over his shoulder and walked out the door, grimacing at the stares he could still feel on his back. If he couldn't work in the common room, he would make do without that space. The library was open to all students. Maybe I can carve out a little nook for myself there. He was just turning the corner to get to the stairs when he nearly ran into a familiar figure.
"Dudley? Oh, hey Oliver. How've you guys been?"
"Well, today was… eventful," Dudley replied, sounding less than enthusiastic about the fact.
"That's one way of putting it." scoffed Oliver. "It was awesome! You'll never guess what we found on the third floor corridor."
"Don't tell Hermione."
~G~
A/N: Hey guys! Look, I'm alive! I'm really sorry this took so long; it was being ridiculously frustrating for the longest time and I was busy with school. Luckily, I was able to write this as a creative writing project for class. Anyway, standard disclaimer: I own none of these characters or settings that you recognize.
Fun fact of the chapter: In total, the Rosetta probe (of the first comet landing ever) spent a decade traversing about 4 billion miles (6.4 billion km) to make its historic rendezvous with Comet 67P/C-G on August 6, 2014.