The next day, Liv and Ginny traversed to the Great Hall for breakfast with Hermione who explained to the girls that there are a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending.
When they all sat down for breakfast, they were soon joined by Seamus and his friend, Dean. Hermione was telling Ginny about the classes while Dean and Seamus gave Liv some pointers for surviving the first week.
The four long House tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the enchanted ceiling (today, a dull, cloudy gray).
Harry and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione. There was a slight stiffness in the way she said "Morning," to the boys.
Neville Longbottom, on the other hand, greeted them cheerfully. "Mail's due any minute — I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot." Liv looked at Neville and giggled into her eggs. Neville had forgotten his robes.
Seamus leaned over to whisper into her ear. "He forgets everything." Not a minute later, sure enough, there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd.
A big, lumpy package bounced off Neville's head and, a second later, something large and gray fell into Hermione's jug, spraying them all with milk and feathers.
"Errol!" said Ron, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol slumped, unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak.
"Oh, no —" Ron gasped.
"It's all right, he's still alive," said Hermione, prodding Errol gently with the tip of her finger.
"It's not that — it's that." Ron explained looking scared stiff. Liv looked at Ginny and she looked like she was torn between being scared and laughing. Seamus laughed a little under his breath. Ron was pointing at the red envelope. It looked quite ordinary to Liv, but Ron and Neville were both looking at it as though they expected it to explode.
"What's the matter?" Asked Harry.
"She's — she's sent me a Howler," said Ron faintly.
"You'd better open it, Ron," said Neville in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and" — he gulped — "it was horrible."
Liv looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope. "What's a Howler?" Harry asked. But Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners.
"Open it," Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes —"
Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak, and slit it open. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split second later, Liv knew why.
She thought for a moment it had exploded; a roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling. "— STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —"
Mrs. Weasley's yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen.
"— LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED — ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."
A ringing silence fell. The red envelope, which had dropped from Ron's hand, burst into flames and curled into ashes. Harry and Ron sat stunned, as though a tidal wave had just passed over them. A few people laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again.
Hermione closed Voyages with Vampires and looked down at the top of Ron's head. "Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you —"
"Don't tell me I deserved it," snapped Ron.
Liv noticed that her owl Rhino flying towards her. She held out her hand and he landed and held out a letter. Liv turned it over to see that Hagrid had invited her and friends to his hut out on the grounds on Friday afternoon. "Do you want to go to Hagrid's hut on Friday with me?" Liv asked Ginny and she nodded.
"Yeah, he seemed nice." Liv fed Rhino a piece of bread and some fruit.
Professor McGonagall was moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out course schedules. Liv took hers and saw that they had Charms first. "Hey, Dean and Seamus, could you guys show us how to get to Charms?" Seamus nodded.
"Sure." Liv and Ginny followed the boys to the charms classroom. Seamus told them to watch out for the caretaker, Argus Filch. Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick. Seamus left them at the charms classroom.
When they got to the classroom and sat down, a small mousey haired boy sat beside her. "You're Harry Potter's sister, right? I'm Colin Creevey. Can I get your picture?" He showed her his camera.
"A picture?" She asked him, not sure why she'd want a picture of her. "Sorry Colin, but I've just met you and I'd rather you not take a picture of me."
"Ok, maybe another time." Colin put the camera away, "maybe I can ask you about your brother."
Olivia shrugged, not seeing the harm in some questions.
"How did Harry destroy You-Know-Who? Does Harry think he will come back? What's Harry's favorite color?" Colin started, but luckily Professor Flitwick called for order to start the class.
There was a lot more to magic, as Liv quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words. They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets.
Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for. Liv found that interesting, but not exciting.
Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.
Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk.
Professor McGonagall was again different. Liv had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time.
After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle.
By the end of the lesson, Liv and another boy, Demetri, two places over from her, had made any difference to their matches; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Liv and Demetri a rare smile. Liv felt elated, she had never done something so perfectly in school before and just felt thrilled to have gotten a smile from her head of house.
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Lockhart's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. The first class he gave them a quiz on himself, with stupid questions like
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?
Finally, Friday came around and Ginny and Liv descended down the stairs to the potions room.
"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Liv. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. Harry says he always favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true, and Harry also told me that Snape hates him, your brother, and Hermione."
Liv had been dreading this class for the whole week, but unlike her brother, she had taken a look at the book and had a couple potions and ingredients that still stuck out to her. Liv and Ginny picked a desk in the front row, far from Snape's desk though. It was close to the board to read instructions, but far enough away from Snape's desk. Fred and George had given them guidance on where to sit because they sat there because Snape never walks over there apparently. Liv sat down and waited for Snape to walk in. There was a boy behind them who was shaking so badly it looked like he was going to fall out of his chair.
Liv turned around and gave him a small smile. He was dressed in Slytherin robes and had long brown hair that looked like wisps of brown cotton candy. "Hi, I'm Liv." She introduced herself to him. "I hope Professor Snape isn't to terribly scary. Or maybe he'll be sick and won't show up."
The boy smiled back at her. "Oh man, I hope so! He's my Head of House and he scares me a lot. " His voice changed to a whisper. "I heard that Snape can move without making any noise and can appear at any point in time." Liv and Ginny looked at each other worriedly.
"He sure sounds scary." Ginny said with a shiver.
There was a cool breeze of air as Snape opened the classroom door and Liv shivered as he swept into the classroom. Snape took roll call, but took a short break upon reaching Liv's name.
"Miss Potter... Not nearly as much of a celebrity as your brother so I do hope you shall be much less of a problem than he is, however, I have my doubts of that." He continued with the names and Liv felt quite embarrassed by that for a while. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
There was complete silence after this, and Liv could see Ginny shaking in a bit of fear and nervousness as Snape's intense glaze moved around the classroom.
Snape put all of the class into pairs to mix a potion to cure boils. As they worked Snape swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing everyone. Liv and Ginny however, had few things Snape could criticize, other than they should stir with a bit more force. After class Liv was feeling pretty good. Snape had barely picked on her and Ginny, so it seemed to be a pretty good class.
Ginny reminded Olivia that Hagrid had invited them to lunch and suggested that they head over there. Liv nodded enthusiastically and the two girls a wandered around the grounds, looking for his hut.
Finally, Ginny pointed and when Liv looked, she saw a very tall hut.
"Hey, I think that the hut is Hagrid's house. Maybe Harry and Ron are visiting, too." Ginny looked hopeful and Liv nodded.
Liv knocked on the door, and the girls heard several booming barks and scrambling from inside. "Back Fang." Hagrid opened the door, holding a large black boarhound. "Hi girls! Com' on in."
They walked into the hut there is only one room inside with hams and pheasants hanging from the ceiling and a massive bed in the corner. Ginny looks around and looks disappointed for a moment.
"Hello Hagrid, thank you for inviting us to lunch!" Olivia smiled at Hagrid.
"Ahh well thoug't I'd like to hear abou' yer first week here an' how you like it here." Hagrid bustles around the kitchen and puts some sandwiches on the table for the girls, then plops down in a chair and motions for the girls to sit as well.
The three chat about their first days here. Liv told Hagrid how she seemed to have a gift for transfiguration, how Colin Creevey is always trying to talk to Liv about Harry, Snape doesn't seem to be as bad as Harry told her. Ginny told Hagrid that she can't wait for her first flying lesson, she thinks that she is good at charms, and Ginny let's slip that she was hoping to see Harry today in Hagrid's hut. "HAHAHA, well I'm sure he'll be arou' sooner or later." Hagrid chuckles.
Soon the girls decide that it's time to head back to the castle and they say goodbye to Hagrid. Upon reaching the castle, Colin Creevey spots Liv from the corridor and he rushes over. She groans. Colin had been bombarding Liv with questions about Harry every chance that he got. Thankfully, she was usually able to get away from him, however at this point he would see her distinctly avoiding him and she would rather put an end to all this nonsense.
"So, Olivia, what's it like living with the most famous wizard ever?" Colin asked right off the bat.
"I dunno Colin, I don't live with Dumbledore." Liv smirks and walks past Colin. Then, feeling a little bad she stopped and turned around. "Listen Colin, I don't mind that you want to know about my brother, but maybe you should talk to him. He's really nice if you're nice to him." Liv smiles at Colin who gives her a big thumbs up and runs away.
Soon two weeks had passed, and Liv and Ginny had gotten a routine. Liv and Ginny hung out during the day when they had classes, but Ginny liked to go somewhere quiet and study, so Liv found different ways to entertain herself. She became better friends with the Gryffindor girls; Emma, Brittaney, Jennifer, she studied in this quiet hall that she found, sat with Seamus and Dean at dinner, and Ginny at breakfast and lunch.
Olivia also found a really cool hobby. She had found out that she could paint pictures and then enchant them to move. She would spend hours in the art room learning about and making enchanted art.
Today was Ginny and Liv's fourth flying lesson. They once again walked over the grounds to the Quidditch field. Today there were two older boys sitting in the stands.
The Gryffindors and Slytherins stood by their brooms and Madam Hooch ordered them to then get on their brooms. Liv got on and then all the students kicked off from the ground.
"Today, Mr. Wood and Mr. Flint are going to have some of you do some drills and play some games while others will do the same with me." Liv and Ginny and some of the other more capable flyers from Gryffindor went with Wood.
"Well, let's see what you can do." Wood had us flying everywhere, doing all sorts of drills. After the lesson they were walking towards the castle when Liv heard Wood. "Potter! Weasley!" Ginny and Olivia turn around. "You both fly exceptionally well. How would you like to train with me for the next few years and then you can try out for the team with excellent ski-..."
Liv nodded. "I'm in."
Oliver looked at Ginny. "I'll think about it... Maybe next year when I can actually have a chance to play." He nodded.
"Fair enough. It would be much easier to train one of you. Liv, would you like to train with me Friday nights? Maybe more through the week if I can arrange it?" Oliver asked Liv and she smiled wide.
"Yes! I would love to!"
"Alright it's settled. Ginny you are more than welcome to come as well whenever you would like." Oliver extends his hands and shakes both girls' hands. "See you Friday night Olivia. Oh, and don't tell anyone."
Liv smiles. "Man Ginny, I had no idea how fantastic Hogwarts would be. Every day is amazing. I keep getting amazing opportunities and meeting fantastic people too. Like you. I'm so glad that we met and we're friends." Liv chats and Ginny nods, her head a million miles away. Olivia doesn't notice Ginny's lack of focus nor her lack of interest in this conversation, but just chatters the whole way to the great hall.