It was something out of a dream. The Hogwarts castle loomed above them, growing larger and larger as they approached. The sky was black and dotted with gleaming stars that seemed impossibly bright. The castle's turrets illuminated the castle's huge outline, along with the green grounds surrounding. Sam stared out of the carriage window in utter awe; he couldn't believe such a place could actually be a school. Sure, the supernatural horses pulling them left him with an uneasy feeling in his gut, but little else could spoil the moment.
He watched kids his age call to each other from all around as they jumped from their carriages and hurried through the great wooden doors that lead inside. Sam stared at them all eagerly; children really did take for granted the simple things in life. For so long, he'd been the new kid at school. For so long he'd been considered an abnormality- the class freak. For so long he'd wanted to feel accepted by his peers at school, and suddenly, along with a swooping feeling in his heart, came the realization that because of this hunt, he was finally getting his chance. He beamed excitedly, and Dean looked over at him, eyebrows raised.
"Keep your pants on, Sammy…" the older Winchester whispered deviously.
Sam shoved him, and avoided a half-hearted punch thrown back at him by Dean.
He looked up at Ginny who made immediate eye contact with him, her smile curving the corners of her full lips upwards. Her pretty freckled face made him blush, and she sat across from him, so his long legs caused his knees tap against hers as the carriage jostled along the path. He did not want to look away, but felt it'd be weird to stare at a girl he barely knew for much longer, so he quickly resumed looking out the window over Harry's shoulder, attempting to eliminate any further eye-contact with the curvaceous red-head.
Trying to occupy his thoughts on something other than Ginny's lips or her legs or the hand she ran through her long hair, Sam watched as Harry, who sat beside him, fidgeted nervously, leaning sideways every once in awhile in order to catch a glimpse of the strange skeletal horses shouldering the carriages. He seemed perturbed by them, and Sam knew that he should have been as well, but he somehow knew that the beasts were not dangerous. Maybe it was his hunter's instinct, or maybe it was something anyone could feel. Luna seemed perfectly comfortable with their presence.
He shook his head slightly, and found himself looking at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's robes. He noticed that they all had a red emblem emblazoned with a lion and a 'G' on them, while Luna's had a raven, with a blue 'R'.
"Do your robes represent what house you're in?" Sam asked Hermione. He knew private schools, especially European private schools, had class houses in order to maintain order and create scholarly rivalry.
"Oh? Yes, yes they do." Hermione immediately went into an in-depth explanation about the Hogwarts houses, supplying more information than Sam probably ever needed to know.
"So lemme get this straight," Dean began, after Hermione's elaboration. "There are four houses you guys are sorted into? Does that mean me and Sam are gonna have to be sorted too?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't see why not. I mean- you are going to be students."
Dean frowned. "Just as long as I'm not in Slytherpuff." he said, completely serious, causing the entire carriage to erupt in laughter, eliciting a new explanation on the pronunciation of 'Gryffindor', 'Hufflepuff', 'Ravenclaw', and 'Slytherin'.
Sam hadn't felt nervous since he'd sat down on the train. But as they exited the carriage, made their way up the massive stone steps and went through the behemoth wooden doors, Sam felt his insides squirming sickly. He felt slightly ashamed admitting to himself that he wasn't nervous because of the demon hunt, but rather about another first day of school.
Sam glanced over at Dean, who looked perfectly at ease, though slightly out of place in the magnificent castle. He stuck out like a sore thumb in his brown leather jacket, ripped jeans, and worker boots while in a sea of black robes and black hats. He was certainly attracting a lot of attention, mostly from the female population, and Sam was pretty sure that none of it was negative attention. Sam suddenly felt awkward in his dress pants and button down shirt.
I should have listened to Dean, he thought, fumbling with his attire.
Ron shook his head. "You blokes have been inside for five seconds and you've already gotten more attention from girls than I've gotten my entire life." he moaned, which garnered a scandalized expression from Hermione, though Ron did not notice.
"Very true, mate," Harry admitted, thumping his friend on the back. "But I'd rather get no attention than be looked at like that…" Harry pointed to a group of younger students, who were staring at Harry like he was pointing an AK-47 at them; fear and accusation was written all over their faces. When they noticed Harry had seen them, they quickly darted into the crowd.
Dean looked to Harry, expectantly. "What the hell was that about? Why were those midgets giving you the old 'evil eye'?"
Harry chuckled darkly, and pushed his dark hair over his lightning-bolt-shaped scar, attempting to hide it. "That's a story for another day…" he admitted, and Dean, for once, didn't press the subject.
"So, you guys live in a big ass castle?" Dean observed instead, staring up, seemingly to Sam, only mildly impressed by the vaulted ceilings, the gleaming silver suits of armor, and the elaborate paintings, that, like back at Grimmuald Place, were animated. "What's in there?" he asked, pointing to huge room where all the students and teachers were assimilating.
"That's the Great Hall," Ginny said, then turned away for a moment to briefly hug a group of giggling girls.
"It's where we eat all of our meals and is pretty much the busiest section of the school." Ron added rolling his eyes as Ginny's friends made eyes at Dean.
"Food? That's where I'll be spending the majority of my time then!"
Harry and Ron laughed. "You and I both, mate…"
Sam didn't want to spend his time in the Great Hall, however. He was itching to explore, his natural curiosity nipped at his feet to wander and see all he could. He was still marveling at the sheer size of Hogwarts; he couldn't believe he'd actually be living in such a place. He'd gone day to day for his entire life from living in shady motel rooms, sleeping in the cramped backseat of the Impala, and squatting in abandoned buildings, and suddenly, here he was, staying in a colossal ancient castle, fit for a king.
"So, since it's a castle, does that mean we get servants?" Dean questioned, though his tone was unreadable, and Sam wasn't sure if he was entirely serious.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, when a hand touched her shoulder. Sam looked to see a tall, straight-backed, elderly woman, with graying hair pulled up in a tight and bun. She wore emerald robes, and reminded Sam faintly of a drill instructor- he could tell she was strict just by looking at her.
"How was your holiday, Ms. Granger?" she asked Hermione, but she stared at Sam and Dean from behind her spectacles.
"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione gasped, excitedly. "It was fine thank you. And yours?"
"Lovely," the Professor added absently, observing Dean's attire with an almost palpable distaste. "I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the two of you are Dean and Samuel Winchester?"
"Yahtzee," his brother stated, scratching the back of his neck, and smirking openly.
Ron and Harry glanced to each other and Hermione's mouth popped open.
McGonagall raised one of her thin eyebrows and Sam went instinctively into damage control, fearing that Dean had already made a bad first impression. "I'm Sam and he's Dean," Sam explained, giving her a shy smile that never seemed to fail on authority figures. "Sorry about my brother," he added to her in an undertone. "He gets like this when he's hungry…"
The stern teacher's expression was no longer hard, but she did not answer kindly. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer for supper, Mr. Winchester," she informed them. "The Headmaster would like to speak with you, right away."
Harry perked up. "Dumbledore? Can I speak with him as well, Professor?" he asked, eagerly.
Sam noticed that McGonagall seemed to have a slight soft spot for Harry. The crease between her eyes softened a miniscule amount when she looked at his hopeful face. "I'm sorry, Potter. The Headmaster would like to see Mr. and Mr. Winchester in private."
"But I'm supposed to stay with them," Harry argued. "How are Sam and Dean supposed to look out for-?"
"Potter!" McGonagall warned. "We will not discuss such matters here."
It seemed that what McGonagall ordered was law. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and a sulking Harry, uttered good-byes to Sam and Dean before entering the now crowded Great Hall which left Sam and Dean to face McGonagall and Dumbledore, on their own.
************************************************************************
It felt like the millions of other times during his old school days when Dean would be escorted to the principal's office for some sort of misbehavior. Like the tons of times he'd beaten up snobby little 'Mama's-boy's', or the times he'd laughed in a teachers face, deliberately disobeying them, or like the time back in the fifth grade when he'd told Molly Ringer that the monster under her bed sounded pretty serious, and that Dean's dad would be more than willing to blow it's head off with his shotgun.
Dean had to keep reminding himself that, although he looked younger, he was still the nineteen year old man deep down inside; not a sixteen year old high school student. And he definitely wasn't in trouble at the moment.
Or so he thought.
*********************************
Author's Note: Ooops. Sorry I had to end it there. The next part is way too long to fit easily into this chapter, so you'll have to suffer. :) Heehee just kidding. Thank you all so much for the reviews!!! This story almost has 100 in all!!! That's amazing- thank you again, and check back soon!
RayeB