To say that Hogwarts was a large castle was an understatement.

The opening ceremony had ended and the first year Ravenclaws were being ushered towards the stairs by one of the Ravenclaw prefects, Robert Hilliard. The Ravenclaw common room was probably the most difficult out of the four to get to. Although Gryffindor was also in one of the tallest towers in the school, Ravenclaw's had to make the journey up, what I was hearing, to be the most narrow spiral stairway you'll ever climb. I certainly wasn't excited to climb those stairs with such a large group.

Robert was discussing the moving stairways as we climbed upwards. He seemed a bit annoyed by their movements, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Most objects at Hogwarts had a mind of their own and the stairs were no different.

I walked beside Sophie, taking in each and every word that Robert said. The last thing that I wanted was to be caught off guard by something that I could have easily avoided by listening. As much as I wanted to let my eyes explore everything around me, I knew I would have time to see it all over the next seven years. Although, my focus was broken when Sophie poked my shoulder. "Uh.. You know that guy you live with? I think he's trying to get your attention." She spoke, gesturing behind us.

When I turned my gaze, I saw Hayden and his friends barreling up the stairs. "Finally!" Hayden let out a heavy breath. "Man, Hilliard is a fast walker. He's got you guys zooming through here." He placed his hands on his waist and took in another breath. "I need to work out.."

I blinked in confusion. "Uhm.. Fair. But what do you need? I don't want to miss anything Robert says so could you be quick?" I stated, continuing to follow my fellow first years, now with the third year Gryffindor's following close behind.

"Oh trust me, nothing prefects say on the first day matters." Lee laughed. "All you need to know is where you sleep at night and you're good."

"Alright.. Doesn't answer my question though."

Fred grinned, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "Well you see, Pens," he began, causing my eye to twitch at what he had called me. "Hayden over here was quite worried about you. Wanted to make sure you were going to be okay in Ravenclaw."

"He was really hoping you would be in Gryffindor so he could look out for you, so you could say he's a bit bummed." George added, and slung his arm around Hayden's shoulders like his brother had done with me.

Hayden's face went red. "N-No! That's not it at all!" He groaned, trying to pull himself away from George. "I just wanted to congratulate you is all. Though, it didn't really matter what house you got in, being in Ravenclaw is pretty cool."

"Yeah! Maybe that means you're smart enough to help us with our homework." Fred gave my shoulders a squeeze.

I let out a sigh. "I'm not going to help with your homework. Even if I wanted to, you guys are two years ahead of me." My lips curled up into the smallest smirk. "So do your own work."

The twins and Lee seemed to be deflated by my statement. Clearly Ravenclaw's had quite the reputation of being the smart kids at school so of course they would be excited to have someone close to them be from that house. A little help with homework would be nice, but they weren't going to get it from me.

"Lupin, Knight, hurry it up back there!" I glanced back towards the front of the group to find Robert had gotten much farther ahead while we had been chatting.

Sophie frowned. "Oh! Sorry!" She reached over and grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of Fred's grasp. "Come on, I wanna make sure I get the first pick of beds." She dragged me forward, leaving me to simply just wave towards the boys.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." I smiled softly before properly walking beside Sophie without her dragging me. Part of me wishes I could be following them back to their own common room, but I certainly wasn't broken hearted by any means. I would be able to get more independent experiences being in a different house than Hayden and I was excited for it. Besides, if I had been in Gryffindor, I would most likely be distracted from my goals of finding out more about my family.

"I call the one on the right!"

Sophie ran forward into the first year girl's dorm, quickly heading for the bed of her choice before any of the rest of the girls could question her. It certainly didn't look like it mattered who had what bed. There were only four beds in the round room, each with a desk and window seat beside them. In the middle of the room was a fireplace with its chimney going straight up to the ceiling. Of course, it wasn't lit since it wasn't cold outside yet, but I was looking forward to having the additional heat in the winter.

My blonde friend came over and dragged me over to the bed beside her own. "We gotta be right next to each other so we can chat easier at night."

I blinked, glancing over to Clara and Mandy who were exploring our new home. "Is that okay with you two? I really don't mind what bed I have."

Clara nodded, pulling her trunk over to the bed on the far left as Mandy took the remaining bed beside my own. "It's no problem. Each bed really is the same."

"As long as I have a place to pass out at the end of the day, I don't quite care." Mandy chuckled, positioning her trunk at the end of her bed so she could open it. "There's so much unpacking to do.. There's no way I'll get this done tonight."

Clara smiled, taking her wand out of her pocket. "Don't worry, it'll be done in a flash." She popped open her trunk and pointed her wand at its contents. "Wingardium Leviosa." Each article of clothing began to float towards her closet. As they entered the closet, they hung themselves upon the hangers inside. Once the clothes were set, Clara spoke the same spell and her books and other materials were neatly placed on her desk as well as her blankets and pillows being set on her bed. Once she was satisfied, she closed her trunk and kicked it underneath her bed. "There! Easy!"

Sophie watched the whole scene unfold with wide eyes. "Woah.. You already know some spells? That's so cool!"

Sheepishly, Clara rubbed the back of her neck. "Well.. It's kind of expected of me. I am a pureblood after all." She sighed, tucking her wand back in her pocket and beginning to make her bed. "I was actually expected to be put into Slytherin, but we all see how that turned out."

My heart went out for her in that moment. Despite the pride that Clara was executing, it was clear she was still disappointed in herself for not being in Slytherin. From what I had heard from Hayden, the people in Slytherin were anything but kind. Full of people who simply cared about their blood status and nothing more. As far as I could see from Clara, she was nothing like that at all. And if she was, it wasn't a big part of her personality. As I reached down to open my trunk and begin unpacking, I glanced over at the girl with a smile. "Well, I'm glad you're here. I'm sure we could learn a lot from you."

Clara's shoulder's seemed to let out a bit of tension when her gaze met mine. "Thanks."

Mandy was following my actions of unpacking, already finished with putting her books away before beginning to tackle her clothes. "Blood status doesn't matter, honestly. Pureblood, muggle born, who cares? At this point, if you're a pureblood, then what do you want? A trophy?" She spoke, her voice clearly not caring that Clara could possibly take those words to offence.

"It's nice to hear where everyone comes from." I muttered, placing my blanket on my bed, neatly tucking my pillow underneath it at the head of the bed. "Blood status may not need to mean much, but it tells a story for each person." I glanced around the room, gesturing to Sophie. "Being a muggle born means there can be magic no matter where you look." I nodded towards Clara. "Pureblood reflects that statement as well. If you get offended by blood status, then you're simply a part of the problem."

As much as my words were trying to defuse the tension, the true meaning of my words were a bit different. Each person around me knew where they came from. Whether blood status mattered or not, it still meant a person knew their family. Although my parents had been wizards, I didn't know anything else. I was jealous of these girls. At least they remembered their parents' faces, their names, I'd give anything for just a little bit of information.

"That's all I was trying to say.." Mandy muttered, closing her closet door after finishing unpacking.

Sophie plopped down on her freshly made bed with a grin. "I can already tell this group is gonna be best friends." She threw her hands behind her head and let out a content sigh. "Already talking so openingly with each other. This is great!"

I let out a small chuckle. Of course Sophie was too oblivious to see the underlying tension from our words. Mainly the tension came from how Mandy saw Clara, whether it was based on her blood status or the fact she used magic to unpack while the rest of us did it without. Whatever it was, I was sure the tension couldn't last forever. It was only day one. The two would simply need to get to know each other better before forming proper opinions of the other person. I hadn't had a ton of experience with blood status issues, but I was certain in a couple of days, even if this sort of issue continued, Sophie's positive attitude would knock them into liking each other.

Clara held a hand up to her mouth as she let out a yawn. "The first day of school is always the hardest. After sleeping in a brand new bed no less."

The girls and I had just finished our second class of the day, Transfiguration. Just before that, we had gone through Charms and at the moment, I was over the moon. All the new information I was learning was exciting me. I was finally starting to see what the wizarding world was like and I couldn't be more happy about it. There were times that Mariah used magic around the house, but it wasn't very often. She always expressed that she enjoyed having magic, but doing things like muggles felt more rewarding. I didn't blame her for thinking like that, but seeing how magic was used certainly did open my eyes to a whole other world.

"It's all worth it, I'd say." I smiled softly as we entered the Great Hall for lunch. "Everything we're learning is so amazing. I know it's basics right now, but.. I can't help but love it all."

Mandy heaved a sigh, tightening her grip around her books. "I just wish we didn't have to go to potions after lunch. I heard Snape is the worst. Favors Slytherins more than he should which makes the rest of us go through hell in his class."

We all began to sit down at the table and I took notice the first year boys weren't there quite yet. I didn't think much of it as Clara spoke. "My sister says he's not that bad." She began. "She's a fifth year in Slytherin. Apparently he's given out quite a few detentions even to Slytherin students."

"That totally doesn't mean he favors Slytherin." Mandy rolled her eyes, plopping her chin in her hand. "Come on, of course she would say he's fair. She's a Slytherin. You've got a lot to learn, Mellot."

Clara frowned. "Hey, that's not very-"

Before she could finish her statement, the boys approached and sat down beside us. Finnley slammed his head down against the table with a groan. "I think I'm going to die if I go to one more class today. How do they expect us to do all of this on the first day?"

I shot him a sympathetic smile. "It's much easier to get used to classes by being thrown right into it. It's so much more fun to be thrown into the thick of it right away."

Finnley raised an eyebrow and sat up, his expression clearly uninterested. "You're insane. They haven't given us any time to make friends or anything. One free day at the start is all I ask."

"I'm with Finn!" Sophie joined in. "I want to meet people from other houses. Those guys from Gryffindor seem cool," she gestured towards the third year Gryffindors. "I wonder what the other Gryffindors are like."

Anthony turned around to look in the direction Sophie was. "You know those guys?" When Sophie nodded in confirmation, he continued. "Those redheads tried to sell me some weird candy earlier. Horribly expensive, but kind of tempting. They said that the candy would get me out of class, though.. They wouldn't tell me how."

With a smirk, Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out three candies. "Oh I totally bought a few. They had me pretty curious. Might buy some more if they work as well as those twins were saying."

Mandy rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot. Didn't your parents ever teach you to never take candy from strangers?"

"Wait, shut up, their coming over here!" Sophie reached over and shook Mandy's arm, only causing the brunette to push the blonde away.

I turned my head and saw the twins waltzing over to our table. As I saw them getting closer, I quickly leaned forwards so each of my fellow first years could hear me. "My friend told me not to buy any of their candies. Don't spend a single sickle."

The looks on their faces were all confused besides Mandy, who clearly didn't care about what I had said. She had said pretty much the same thing before. Each of her reactions made it pretty clear that she wasn't quite fond of us. Throughout the morning, she had barely said a word to any of us unless directly spoken to. Even then, her responses sounded annoyed. Sophie wanted to think that each of us would become friends quite quickly, but it was clear friendships weren't meant to come easy.

"Good day, Ravenclaws." Fred spoke as him and his brother approached the end of the table. "I do hope you're handling your classes well."

"Though the first day can be quite stressful, we have just the thing for it." George grinned, resting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Although I had a small amused smile on my face, I still shook my head. "We don't want any, thank you."

Fred pouted, leaning down so his face was right next to my own. "Come on now, you sure you don't want a couple of these?" He held a hand out to show each person at the table small gummy candies in the palm of his hand. "Don't have a name for these bad boys yet, but they're meant to alleviate stress. You first years sure could use them."

Before any of us could say anything, Michael was already reaching into his pocket. "How much? I'll take five."

Mandy narrowed her eyes and reached over to smack the boy's arm. "Idiot! Don't you dare give them anymore money. There is no.. candy that alleviates stress so get over yourself."

George frowned. "You wound us! You Ravenclaws get more ickle by the year don't you?" He reached over and smacked Michael on the shoulder. "We'll talk later, aye?"

Fred gave my shoulder a squeeze. "And one day, when Hayden isn't paying attention, you'll be free to try anything you'd like. First time is free for friend's sisters." The two boys gave a bow before heading off to the Hufflepuff table, looking to try and sell their product to their first years as well.

As they walked away, Clara raised an eyebrow at me. "You have a brother?"

I bit the inside of my cheek at her question. "I.." Before I could formulate an answer, today's lunch appeared in front of us. I gave her a small smile. "We should eat up. We have double potions after this." I reached across the table and pulled a sandwich from one of the many plates and took a bite. It wasn't like the question was difficult to answer, however, I wasn't quite sure I was anywhere close to explaining my situation to these people. We had only known each other less than a day. It would take more time than that to open up.

Following lunch, we had our double potions class with the Hufflepuffs. We were finally going to have the opportunity to meet the infamous Professor Snape. Sophie had been talking Mandy's ear off so I ended up walking in and sitting beside Clara. Clara sat on my left side while on my right, Finnley plopped down, not even a single book with him. I looked to him with a furrowed brow. "Where's your book? Don't you need it?"

He rested his head down on the table, meeting my gaze. "Probably do. I don't care much, I can just share with you."

"I'm not against sharing or anything.." I trailed off, rubbing the back of my neck, slightly uncomfortable. "But maybe try to remember to bring yours next time?"

Finnley simply shrugged. "I didn't forget this time. Like I said. I just couldn't care less."

A sigh escaped my lips. I hadn't had a chance to speak to Finnley much since the Sorting Ceremony and I wasn't quite sure he was the kind of person I would get along with. I had never been in a real school setting, but I knew that having your materials was one of the most important things. The professors would most likely be upset if he didn't show care for his classes. It astonished me that he was placed into Ravenclaw of all houses. What did the Sorting Hat see in him?

"Open your books to page fourteen." A tired male voice and when I peaked over my shoulder to see who spoke, I saw Professor Snape walking into the room. He was wearing, what I could've sworn, was the same dark cloak he had worn the day before. Yesterday I had simply seen him from afar, but today, I was able to see just how gloomy he really looked. Underneath his eyes, it looked as if he had permanent dark circles as if he hadn't slept in weeks. His hair was certainly no better. Dark, tired, gloomy. That was Professor Snape.

Turning my attention to my book, I opened to the specified page and found a list of basics of making potions. Beside me, Finnley nudged my arm and I glanced over to see him trying to lean over and see the book. Reluctantly, I pushed the book closer to him so it was resting in between us. Though, as I started to move it, a hand came down and stopped it from going much further than a couple inches. "Is there a reason you must share a book?"

I tensed and looked up to find Snape looking down at me with displeasure. A polite smile crossed my lips as I spoke up to answer him. "I'm sorry, Finnley forgot his book, professor."

"Interesting.." Snape narrowed his eyes at me. "And by you sharing your book, you're only influencing his irresponsible behavior."

"I did ask him to bring his book next-"

"You are Penelope Lupin, correct?" He cut me off before I could finish. I simply nodded my head in response, seeing that he didn't particularly care about what I had to say. "That explains quite a lot."

My brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm.. Not quite sure what that means sir." If he was trying to make a point here, it was going way over my head.

He stared me down for an uncomfortable amount of time before lifting his hand away from our table and moving towards the chalkboard. "Ten points from Ravenclaw for Mister Rayburn's irresponsibility. Another ten for Miss Lupin's poor influence."

"What?" Sophie spoke up from behind us, showing frustration for the first time since I met her. "Sir, Penny was just trying to be nice."

"Do you want to risk more points being taken away Miss Knight?"

Sophie opened her mouth to speak only to have Mandy elbow her in the side. "We're sorry. There will be no more interruptions." She spoke for the blonde girl, in hopes that the situation wouldn't go any further. The term had only just begun, the last thing any of us wanted to do was have negative points on day one. Our upperclassmen would never let us live it down.

"I'm glad someone in Ravenclaw this year will have some sense." Snape spoke, raising his wand, beginning to write some basics on the board.

As Snape began to go over what he was writing, I quickly began to scribble some notes down, trying to make sure that I didn't miss anything. Every now and again, I would see Snape look in my direction, his expression anything but kind. Each time he did this, I shrunk back in my seat. I wasn't quite sure what Snape meant by his earlier words and I'd be lying if a part of me was curious. Was he claiming to know me and if so, how? As much as I wanted to focus on what was being said, I couldn't shake my curiosity.

By the time I was able to calm my thoughts, I had missed quite a lot of what had been said. When I glanced down at my parchment, I saw I had barely written anything down. I took in a deep breath. If I couldn't even get the basics down, then I was destined to struggle with this class.

In the middle of my anxious thoughts, I felt someone nudge my side. When I looked over, I saw Finnley gesturing to his parchment. He had written down quite a lot and it looked as if he wanted me to copy his words. I raised an eyebrow only to have him smile over at me. "Saw you spacing out, figured I should give you a hand since you tried to help me." He spoke in a hushed tone in hopes to not have Snape notice.

I blinked. Finnley, who had made the decision not to bring his book to class, was taking intensive notes. I would be lying if I said I wasn't shocked by this. "You didn't have to do that, thank you."

"We're all going to be stuck together for the next seven years, might as well try and be friends." He patted my arm before going back to his notes.

For a few moments, I watched him write down as many notes as he could. Just a few minutes ago, I was judging him quite harshly. Now, he was being more attentive than I was. I had judged him far too quickly. I glanced back towards Snape, a faint smile crossing my lips. It was certainly a mistake I wouldn't make again.