Remember I update by the year but it has multiple parts, so be checking what chapter you're on so you don't lose your place. Please, please , please drop a comment on what you think. Thanks guys!

I smelled bacon in the morning and hissed as the brightness of the white tent started encroaching on my peace. I heard similar stirrings around me and opened my eyes to see Amber likewise squinting in the bunk across from me. I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, slapping the bottom of the bunk above me to wake Keeli up.

"Morning sleepy heads." Cad came into the room "You'll want to get dressed soon, Damian's parents are taking us into town."

"Really?" Amber screamed.

The next thirty minutes were a flurry of us throwing on our clothes and bundling up in coats in time to meet Damian's parents by the Apparition pad next to the South Korean campsite. I felt almost naked having to leave my wand in the tent, as minors weren't allowed to have their wands in Russia particularly among Muggles, and I had the constant feeling I'd forgotten something the whole time.

"Alright now you girls are coming with me, and you boys with Daniel. We'll meet you in the city, sweetheart." Damian's Mom ushered us aside before Damian's Dad led the boys into the roped off area and disappeared with a loud crack a few seconds later.

The Ministry officials waved us on once they were gone and we likewise gathered around Mrs. Grey. She waved her wand and we likewise felt the squeezing sensation of Apparition. The second our feet landed in the Russian Ministry Keeli promptly bent over and threw up all our roasted goodness from last night.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. I forgot you're Muggleborn. Here, come here and sit." Mrs. Grey Vanished the mess before leading Keeli over to a bench next to the Apparition center.

I rubbed her back while Molly ran to get her some water. Her head was between her legs and she groaned. "I hate wizard traveling."

"You like the train, don't you?" I asked.

"Because a Muggle made it. Jesus, first fireplaces and now being squeezed through time and space? I thought brooms were dangerous."

"What? Brooms are the best!" Amber beamed. "Don't worry, you get used to it after a while."

"I don't think I want to." Keeli groaned.

"You girls alright?" the others came around the corner clearly having grown tired of waiting for us.

"We're fine, Keeli just had a bit of a snaggle with the Apparition. I didn't know she'd never Apparated before." Mrs. Grey looked guiltily at her husband.

"Are you okay?" the boys clustered around her.

She finally sat up and though she looked a little pale a smile was back on her face. "I'm fine, just needed a minute."

"If you're sure you're alright, sweetie. We don't mind waiting." Mrs. Grey smoothed some of her hair into place.

"I'm fine." she stood up, but as soon as the adults turned away she gripped my hand with her own clammy one. As we headed out of the Ministry building which was disguised as a Russian military building I leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm just a little light headed, but I don't want anyone to worry, okay?"

We walked outside of the Ministry and met up with the cab the Greys had ordered for us, climbing in to the magically enlarged backseat that fit all ten of us. We sat in the back and chatted excitedly about what we all wanted to do during the ride, finally pulling to a stop in front of what was unmistakably the Kremlin.

It was a hulking building in a dusty red shade that had beautiful domed towers in vibrant colors. I could have stared at the outside all day but the adults ushered us into the foyer where we got tickets for the tour that was starting in an hour. While we were waiting Mr. and Mrs. Grey led us to the Red Square and into a little cafe that served a variety of traditional Russian breakfast foods. We sat down and Damian's Dad ordered from the waiter in Russian.

A few minutes later we were served small bowls of what looked like either porridge or oatmeal, a couple smoked sausages, and sunny side up eggs. Mr. Grey explained Russians didn't have a lot of breakfast options and we were lucky this place was a little Westernized or otherwise porridge would have been our only option. The black tea served with it was delicious and we ate the food quickly so as to make our tour schedule. We were right on time back at the Kremlin and started the tour.

The tour guide was full of facts about the different buildings and towers of the Kremlin I was sure only I cared about, but there was plenty to look at without listening to the dates and authoritarian leaders. There were twenty towers in total which all had their own history and appearance, as well as the three cathedrals and two churches that were on the grounds. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower was next, said to be in the exact center of Russia, then the oldest home of the royal family the Terem Palace which was later replaced by the Palace of Facets and the Grand Kremlin Palace as time wore on. Last on the tour were the Arsenal and the Armoury building which had the fantastic Diamond Fund in it. The Diamond Fund were basically the crown jewels of Russia and had some truly gigantic precious gems. Many of the gems were bigger than my fist and in marvelous colors, as well as the Imperial Crown of Russia and beautifully jeweled eggs. We could only stay in the Diamond Fund for a short while before our tour came to an end, once again landing us in a cab headed to someplace called Flakon.

It had been an old glassware factory turned a sort of shopping area and we ran between the shops looking at the fancy clothes and souvenirs on display. We then walked a little ways to meet up with a Russian food tour guide who took us to a fancy restaurant that made me glad I'd worn a skirt. Everyone inside was in fancy clothes and we were seated at a long table that fit all of us with plenty of room to spare.

We started the meal with Blini which was a sort of pancake thing served with caviar or sour cream. I didn't much like caviar but they were pretty good to start off with. Next was small bowls of beet soup called Borscht which had bits of ham and onion and was also topped with sour cream. Then were dumplings called Pelmeni, dishes of beef Stroganoff over rice, then a small mountain of something called Olivier Salad which was a disgusting mixture of ham and veggies all glued together with mayonnaise I couldn't bring myself to finish. More pleasing was the final savory dish of king crab legs then finally dessert which was a blissful experience of honeyed layer cake called Medovik. The dishes had all been appetizer sized, but once we were done I could barely move. We were ushered out of the place all the same to travel to a local park to walk off some of the weight we'd gained.

Damian's parents sat on a bench and talked while the rest of us ran around looking at anything and everything. There were a couple of mean squirrels the boys teased before we went around walking on some of the paths to ease the pressure on our bellies. After an hour his parents finally said it was time to head back to the campgrounds. We stopped at a local bakery to grab some food for dinner before walking back into the Ministry to Apparate to the Cup grounds.

Keeli did much better this time around but still chose to stay in the tent with me while the others grabbed their brooms to try and get a couple games in before dark fell. We sat by the fire and read peacefully while Matt banged away in the kitchen to try out some of the recipes we'd had today.

As night fell the adults came around and wished us goodnight again, and we fell asleep on the floor again having talked late into the night about everything we'd seen over the day. The next day was mostly staying inside since the brunt of fans were arriving today and it was just too chaotic. We kept ourselves busy, mostly reading or games, and enjoyed being back together again. Being cooped up in a small space wasn't without its faults as the usual arguments arose. Cad and Louk bickered over nothing, Molly and Matt bickered over everything. It was an odd mix of soothing chaos that had us all at each other's throats by the end of the night. As we heard the Egyptian campsite start celebrating the tension dissipated into excited anxiousness for the Cup the following day.

They celebrated late into the night which made it hard to get any sleep but regardless of this Cad came bounding into our room bright and early to wake us up for the 'Big Day'. The entire morning was a flurry of getting the camp ready for everyone else, as we had a few new guests coming in the hours before the match. The first one was so early Cad and I had to bundle up like polar bears because the sun wasn't even up. We stood bouncing on our feet by the Apparition pad as close to a quarter past four as we could get. A girl Portkeyed in and tossed her crumpled water bottle aside as soon as she landed, hurling towards us with hair flying.

Tempy tackled her brother in a hug, somehow taking me down along with them. "I missed you!"

"We missed you too." I giggled, not quite sure who she was talking to.

"You haven't been having too much fun without me, have you?" she asked sternly.

"Never." he ruffled her hair as we stood up.

She walked back to the tent with us and we introduced her as everyone ate breakfast and readied for the game. At ten the twins went to greet their parents who sat in the adults tent with the others, and at one Amber went to meet her own parents and escort them back. They rounded our party out and we all crammed into the adults' tent for lunch where mostly the talk was of the two teams. The game wasn't until nightfall but come four in the afternoon we started jockeying into place at the gate of the pitch. Russian Ministry officials were waving Dark Detectors over every inch of the place and we had to step through large things that looked like doorways Mr. Apertice told us was to detect contraband such as fireworks or Cursed objects. It took nearly an hour just to jostle through the line but in no time we were heading to the private box Louk's Dad had reserved for us all. We were right above the President's box by a few meters and the price must have been astronomical, but even I had to admit the view was spectacular.

The stadium made Hogwarts look like a bath toy, it was so large. The others were decked out in the gear they had bought for their respective teams and it was a trend, mostly sitting in clusters together around the stadium seats. Huge banners were hung everywhere supporting one team or another and little dots I presumed were people were flitting back and forth across the grass of the pitch doing whatever it was International Department of Magical Games and Sports officials did before these things. Once it was good and dark, around six or seven, we heard a booming voice beneath us that could only be the Presidents calling everyone to stand.

The very first thing was a playing of the Russian national anthem coming from a place I couldn't see, and I heard scattered voices singing along around the stadium. After that the President mostly spoke on how he was honored to host the event and other nonsense that was spelled out in the middle of the field by floating characters that depicted half a dozen languages. After he was done the teams were finally allowed to come on and I experienced the noise possibilities of the raucous crowd. First was Brazil's seven players who zoomed around the edges of the stands while their mascots danced around the field.

I'd read about Curupira in books but they were equally as strange in real life. They looked like dwarfs and therefore were vaguely human, but their feet were turned the wrong way around and their head was a shade of red not natural to man. They danced around the field and the crowd went nuts until the President called everyone to attention again to introduce the Egyptians. Their players likewise circled the field to thunderous applause while no fewer than three large Sphinxes were led onto the field. That sat primly on their haunches and regarded the crowd like it was a mere fly in their bowl of lamb's blood. After that was the introduction of the head referee, more pandering about the honor of Russia, and finally the team took to the air. They hovered in the center of the field at nearly our eye level, the two Captains on either side of the referee. She tossed the Quaffle into the air and it was dead silent as everyone held their breath to see who would win the edge.

Brazil had the quicker hand and shot towards the Egyptian goal to try and make some early points, but the Egyptians foiled his plans pretty quickly. It went like this for nearly two hours before anyone scored a single goal. The Brazilians put the first points on the board and all the green clad individuals in the crowd went crazy with applause and cheering. The Curupira danced around the field and green fireworks shot into the air as the game continued.

I lost interest somewhere around the two hour mark and reclined in my seat instead of standing like the others were. At hour three I started up a conversation with Tempy about her summer and what classes she was taking when term started. On hour five the adults sent us to the snack booth to get everyone food which consisted of Russian hand pies and more black tea.

It was now one in the morning and the score was tied fourty to forty with me barely being able to keep my eyes open. Vendors were walking around the stands with Wide Eye Potions for sale to keep everyone else awake. Tempy had long since slouched asleep against my shoulder, and Keeli had been buried in a book for the past two hours.

Finally Mrs. Grey said she was going to sleep in the tent and invited any of us that wanted to leave to go with her. Keeli, Tempy, Matt, myself, and the twins' parents all left together, the two adults going to the Apparition pad to go home. Tempy climbed into Amber's empty bunk and we all fell asleep in about four seconds, only waking up when Mrs. Grey came back at about six in the morning to ask if we wanted to go back. I made sure to put plenty of books in my bag before making sure Tempy was well wrapped in her coat. Before we went to the stadium we stopped at one of the food vendors and got hot hand pies that were stuffed with sausage, eggs, and cheese as well as a dozen cups of coffee. We climbed back up to our box to see the others still glued to the game. We passed out the food and I settled into one of the seats for both Cad and Louk to loudly update me on what had happened. The score was sixty to one hundred and ten with Brazil in the lead. The substitutes had been called in so the players could get some sleep and four fouls had taken place one of which had put the Egyptian Keeper on a stretcher for an hour unconscious. There had almost been a riot in the stands over that and I was surprised I'd slept through it all.

"Have you all gotten any sleep?" I asked.

"Sleep? It's the World Cup! I'll sleep when it's over." Cad beamed.

"How many of those potions have you had?" Keeli raised her eyebrow at the hyperactive Gryffindor.

"A few." he waved her off.

"You're only supposed to take one of those every twenty four hours." I reminded him.

"It's the World Cup, Aims." Louk rolled his eyes like I was a whiny child.

I was about to speak up when Mrs. Celeste did it for me, telling her daughter she had to go get some sleep which led to all the adults telling the ones who had stayed up to go back to the tent at least for a few hours. Some of the adults left as well but both the Greys stayed with us so we wouldn't be alone.

It was pretty peaceful with them gone and I settled down to the final book in a series I had been trying to finish all weekend. Brazil scored once more, then Egypt scored twice in rapid succession that made the Egyptian fans lose their minds because it had been a while since they'd had something to cheer about. At noon the others came back, this time with food for us, and a little energy was shot back into the crowd as others had done some similar sleep shifts and now everyone was back in the stands. It seemed to rub off on the players and the pace of the game picked up once more.

Brazil scored three times to be met with Egypt scoring once, bringing the score to one hundred and fifty to ninety in favor of Brazil. The Brazilians were pretty excited as soon they would be able to win even if the Egyptians got the Snitch.

The Brazilian Beater 'overshot' a swing at a Bludger near the Egyptian Seeker that ended in a broken nose. A foul was called and the Egyptians were given a free throw but they missed, causing uproar in the stands. Fights nearly broke out and even the players looked on edge. All of the starters were back in now, having slept long enough to be able to be put back in. With the first string players back in the quality of moves increased and caused Brazil to score twice more, bringing their score up to one hundred and seventy.

Then it happened in the blink of an eye. All the Brazilian Chasers were streaking over to the enemy's side to go for another goal, which they made, but lost in the movement was the Egyptian Seeker who had finally seen the Snitch. He held it aloft in his hand as he took a victory lap around the ring, blood still streaked down his robes from the foul. The Russian President's voice boomed through the stadium, confirming the Egyptians the victors of the World Cup two hundred and forty to one hundred and eighty.

The crowd went wild as all the Egyptians lined up to do a route of the stadium, before landing on the grass to shake hands with the Brazilian team. The President's voice could barely be heard over the shouts of the fans, and people streamed for the exits to start celebrating. Mr. Apertice led us back to the tents with specific instructions not to leave before he and the adults went to the campgrounds next door to celebrate with the Egyptians. The rule lasted the twelve seconds it took for them to walk out of sight before the boys left to go buy drinks for us. Amber turned Quidditch on the radio and intently listened to the play by play recap of the match like she hadn't been there. Tempy was excited just because we were, so we jumped around the room with the others to celebrate the win.

The boys came back and divided the drinks amongst us. Cad initially wanted to tell Tempy she was too young but we both gave him our best puppy dog stares and he caved like warm butter. Before too long we were all eating and drinking and singing late into the night. Cad had somehow managed to get ahold of a few fireworks, and the beautiful Catherine Wheels whizzed around the tent at lightning speed. The sounds of the Egyptians' revelry floated in to the windows and the radio station kept going on about how good the match had been. Finally once midnight rolled around again we were all passed out in a huddle on the floor.

Early in the morning I heard an owl peck on a window and I turned over to ignore it. Then the last night came flooding back at me and I jerked up to see a line of owls along the window in the kitchen. I was surprised to see them as the Russian officials had banned owls from the campgrounds, saying the mountains were too dangerous for owls to go through. I shouted and the others jumped up like I'd screamed 'fire!' but I was too busy letting the owls in and looking for my name on their legs.

Mine was standing in the middle and I ripped the letter from it with little ceremony. I tossed aside the list of things I would need for the next year to look at my exam results, letting out a swear as I read.

"What's wrong? Did you fail?" Cad leaned over my shoulder.

"No, I got all O's except for damn Transfiguration." I swore again. "It's always something."

"You're honestly mad about getting all O's and one E?" Cad rolled his eyes. "You Ravenclaws."

"Hey don't lump me with her. I only got two O's but I'll take what I can get." Keeli defended.

"Let me guess. Transfiguration and...DADA." I raised an eyebrow.

"Ha, another fail, it was Transfiguration and Herbology." she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Damn." I muttered again. "What about you Louk?"

"All O's. Read 'em and weep." he brandished his paper at me.

"Bollocks." It was indeed true.

"Damn, guess you don't owe me those ten Galleons then." Damian and Amber were bent over their own papers.

"How did you guys do?" I asked her.

"Well Damian got three O's, three E's, and an A. I got one O, two E's, three A's, and a P. Bloody History of Magic will be the death of me."

Matt groaned. "Damn, Molly got one more O than me."

"You're damn right I did." she beamed. "Four O's and three E's. Not too bad."

"Cad?" I leaned over his shoulder to see the...less than stellar results.

"Three E's, three A's, and a P. Guess it's something in that Gryffindor water, eh, Amber?"

"Who cares about History anyway? It's all gone." she tossed her paper onto the floor. "Come on, we should get packing."

Us girls all filed into our room to shove our clothes in our bags when a thought occurred to me. "Are we still going to Diagon Alley this Friday? Since we got our lists?"

"I don't see why not." Amber had to sit on her suitcase to close it. "We'll have to go eventually and I'd rather go with you guys over anything else."

"I'm going wherever you do I suppose." Keeli shrugged.

"We'll figure it out. Come on, I don't want Mr. Apertice to collapse the tent on us." Molly hefted her broom in one hand and led the way out of the room.

We helped Matt clean the last of the food out of the fridge before finally snapping the tent flap closed so it could be packed away. We had only five minutes to spare before our Port Key was due to leave at five short of noon and the officials rushed to get us out of the way for the long line of people that were likewise waiting to go home.

The familiar rush came around us and we landed heavily on the grass outside of the Grey Estate. The adults helped us move our things into the sitting room while they warmed up the fireplace. Amber and her parents were first, then the twins, Cad and his sister, then finally it was our turn. I hugged Louk and Damian goodbye and gave Keeli a reassuring nod as I stepped into the green flames.

My sisters practically rushed me as I stepped onto our living room rug but my Mom told them to give me some space. Keeli came through a few seconds after me and we sat down to answer all my sisters' questions. They talked over each other as they asked about the game and the players and everything else they could think of but luckily a few hours in my Mom asked us to help her with dinner. It was nice being back in the kitchen just chopping vegetables for my Mom while Keeli gushed about all the magical things she'd seen.

My Mom told Keeli her parents had written back and agreed she could stay for the rest of break since it was only a couple weeks which we both squealed at. We likewise shared our grades and my Mom said she was proud of both of us. After dinner we didn't spare a second before pulling out our new list of equipment for the next year and trying to imagine what the classes would be like.

"Are you sure you want to take Divination? You could take Ancient Runes with me and Cad."

"I don't hate myself that much, but thanks." she smirked. "It'll be fun. Matt and I shouldn't have any problem."

"I bet Care of Magical Creatures is going to be so much fun."

"I think it's one of the classes I'll like the most. I've always been curious to see some of the creatures Muggles don't have."

"We'll see plenty of those I'm sure, especially if Cad ever convinces us to go into the Forbidden Forest."

She shuddered. "I doubt it, not with all that talk of spiders."

"And Dementors and all that other stuff Professor Potter was talking about." I glanced down at the equipment list. "Doesn't look like we have too many supplies. Just a few more books and another pair of safety gloves. I guess that's for Care of Magical Creatures."

"I could use another pair for Herbology anyways. The Bowtruckle did a number on it last year."

"Their little claws are sharp." I yawned. "I'm headed to bed. You coming?"

"Yeah."

In the morning we went into town with my Dad, but couldn't talk to Cad too much as his family was rushing around the shop that was full of people. Instead we walked down to the bookstore and worked through the fiction section for a while. Most of my money would have to be put towards my books for this year as my parents had given me my summer allowance early for the Cup, but it was nice to browse. We window shopped a little at a fancy robe place that had the latest fashions then a new store called Sickle Spectaculorum where every item cost Sickle. It had a lot of odd and end things but we did each pick out new sugar quills. At the cafe we finally settled down to get some homework done and enjoy the sunshine.

We didn't go back into town until Friday when we were to meet up with the rest of the group. My second youngest sister was going to Hogwarts this year but luckily I didn't get stuck with having to guide her around Diagon Alley and got to leave as soon as we arrived for Ollivander's.

"Good morning, girls." Mrs. Mervin smiled. "They already left to get breakfast down at the cafe. They'll probably still be there."

"Thank you." we waved as we rushed out of the store.

I was tackled in a hug from Amber as we walked in, taking a seat to eat a quick breakfast before getting on with our day. We had our lists clutched in our hands as we headed down the sidewalk. We first dragged the boys into another new store, Reed's Redolence, that sold specialty perfumes and soaps. I got a bottle of Jazzin' Razz that was said to wake you up as much as four cups of coffee and a bottle of Hocus Pocus Focus that was supposed to heighten attention and brain function. I had already made my purchases and was just waiting on Amber to finish up when I held a bottle of shampoo up to smell it, falling in love at once.

"Woah, Keeli smell this." I held it up to her.

"That's nice. What is it? Something floral?"

"It says white anemone." I read the label that was printed above a pretty white flower with a dark blue stamen.

"I've never heard of it, but it sounds nice."

"I'm gonna get it." I decided. "I'm almost out anyway. Remind me to look for anemones at the apothecary later. Maybe they have some I can compare the scent to."

The boys drew the line at half an hour in the place claiming it was giving them a headache. Next was the fan favorite of Sugarplum's Sweet Shop where we stocked up on our favorites as well as the new Ginger candies that turned your hair scarlet as long as you were sucking on them. We all popped one in for a laugh before going to the next store. After the more boring but necessary stops for quills and parchment, was the even more laborious Quality Quidditch Supplies. They spent nearly an hour looking through the items and telling any passersby that would listen about the Cup. I finally dragged Louk out by the ear so we could get on with our day. Our stomachs were rumbling at this point so after a quick lunch at the Leaky Cauldron was the Apothecary where we all restocked on the essentials. Louk likewise drug me out when I wanted to buy a display of fairy wings saying I didn't need them.

The longest stop was easily Flourish and Blotts for all of our new books. Since we all needed slightly different ones we had to split up but it was easier said than done since about a hundred other kids needed the exact same books. Over an hour later we met up at the entrance to finally move on, arms weighed down with half a dozen heavy tomes. Owl supplies, Weasley's joke shop, new dragon hide gloves, and a few odd and end things rounded out our trip. We had half an hour to spare before parting ways which was the perfect amount of time to get a quick ice cream cone with the very last of our pocket change.

Finally five came around and we had to say goodbye to rush off to the Transportation Station where my sisters were likewise laden with their purchases. At home we tossed our stuff on my bed before helping my Mom, then sorting through everything so we could have a hope of fitting it in our trunks.

The very next day we were back in Diagon Alley but with my Mom this time to make our appointments at Madam Malkin's for new robes. She took us out for lunch in Muggle London after that as a treat for doing well in our exams before bringing us home. We packed our new robes carefully in our trunks and closed them, rounding out everything we would need.

It seemed no time at all before August thirty-first came around and my sisters woke us up before the sun. We got dressed, put our robes in our satchels, and hauled our trunks down to the living room. My Mom was in a fuss as she tried to make sure the four of us were ready as well as fending off my other two sisters who asked to go with us to the station every six seconds.

We finally got underway and before long were passing through the barrier to platform nine and three quarters. We saw Cad saying goodbye to his family and rushed over after giving my Mom a kiss on the cheek goodbye and promises we would write.

We tackled him in a hug which he dramatically tried to play off as us attempting to throw him down on the tracks in front of the train, then us actually trying to do that since he wouldn't drop it. Our usual compartment on the train housed the rest of our friends who quickly delved into talking about the last few weeks of their summer. The trolley went by and Amber bought some Chocolate Frogs so we'd have something to do besides listen to Matt and Molly argue over the ten thousandth thing in the last hour or stare out the window. It seemed to go faster than usual and before we knew it we were shoving our robes on with one hand and wrestling through the hallways to get to the carriages. As usual we all somehow squeezed into one which made it a cramped but cozy ride.

The Hall was beautiful as always as I followed Keeli to a bench beside Eunice and Dorothy. They jabbered about their summer and luckily the conversation stayed away from the Cup for the most part. Eunice's Mom was a magizoologist and she'd spent the summer in the Amazon rainforest researching Demiguises. She told us all about how their fur was often poached for Invisibility Cloaks and they'd been working on a reserve that tried to protect the species.

Headmistress McGonagall stood up and clapped her hands sharply which brought the room to attention in the span of a breath. Professor Potter walked in with the first years, leading them up to the stool with the Sorting Hat on it. He unrolled the parchment and started sorting all the students. My sister was sorted into Huffelpuff and I clapped for her along with her housemates. She gave me a quick wave before walking off to join them.

Finally it was over and the Headmistress stood from her seat. "Good evenings students. Welcome to those of you joining us for the first time, and welcome back to the rest of you. We will have announcements but first, let's eat." she clapped her hands again and the food appeared on the tables.

We continued talking while we dug into the delicious spread. Headmistress McGonagall gave us some parting words but I could barely hear a peep through the sleepy haze that had descended upon me. We marched up the hundreds of steps with our classmates, someone in the front answering the riddle to let the rest of us in. More steps led up to the third floor girl's dormitory and I didn't even change out of my robes before collapsing on top of my blanket in a blissful sleep.