Her alarm woke her up at 6:30.
She picked up her schedule from the table.
| |Monday |Tuesday |Wednesday |Thursday |Friday | |8:30 |Transfigurat|D.A.D.A. |Charms |Potions |Prediction| |AM-11:30 |ion |Lupin |Flitwick |Snape | | |AM |McGonagall | | | |Trewlawney| |12:30 |Wizard |Herbology |Creatures |Flying |Arithmancy| |PM-3:30 |History |Sprout |Hagrid |Hooch | | |PM |Binns | | | |Vector |
Breakfast started at 7:30. She went into her private bathroom and showered then braided her hair. She put on a light green shirt and a pair of black pants, over which the black robe went. She grabbed her gray satchel which had her wand, Transfiguration book, History book, parchment, and pens.
She slid down the stairs, her braid flying behind her and was thoroughly awake when she landed at the bottom. She walked to the dining hall, where students were beginning to trickle in. Dumbledore and McGonagall were there already, talking. The rest of the teachers had not made it yet.
"Oh, good to see you this morning. As soon as we're done with breakfast we can walk to my classroom together," McGonagall smiled at Velvet.
"How are you adjusting to the time change?" Dumbledore asked merrily as Velvet sat down.
"Well, I think I'll be right at home soon."
"Even though you are having trouble sleeping?" A soft, dangerous voice came from behind. Snape glided into his chair.
Before Velvet could reply, Remus joined them. "Good morning, professors," he said broadly. "Looking forward to the first day of school?" He grinned. McGonagall gave him a weak smile, and Dumbledore laughed jollily. Snape raised an eyebrow in disdain. "And, of course, good morning to you, Miss Velvet as this is your first day as well." She smiled at him. He went to his seat.
Soon, breakfast appeared, and then a flutter of wings distracted them from their meal. Velvet looked up at the hundreds of owls delivering mail to the students. It was incredible. McGonagall said, "Mail call for the students. Teachers usually get their mail in their offices. And of course, Dumbledore told me that you'd be getting mail through a Muggle machine-electronic mail?"
"Yes, its usually just called e-mail. It's a very fast way of sending letters; its almost instant."
"Really? It's so amazing what Muggles have managed to do without magic."
"It would be really amazing what people could do if the Wizard and Muggle worlds worked together."
McGonagall nodded sagely. Dumbledore turned and looked knowingly at Velvet. She didn't notice this, but Snape did. He frowned.
The rest of breakfast went smoothly. Afterwards, Velvet followed McGonagall to her room which was painfully neat.
"Transfiguration," she began, "is a very important part of wizardring. I trust you've looked at your books and that you know what it is." Velvet nodded. McGonagall continued, "Good, we will begin."
For the next three hours, Velvet began and exhausting study in Transfiguration. She learned wand techniques and magic words and then tried to put it to practical use. She actually managed to turn a turtle into a jewelry box, although the box did have a distinct turtle shell pattern. McGonagall was impressed.
"If you continue at this pace, we may have an animangus on our hands before the year is out."
"Thank you, but what is an animangus."
"It is a wizard who can turn into an animal form." She turned into a cat and then back into a human.
"That was bloody brilliant!"
"Thank you for that assessment," she said rather dourly. But McGonagall was quite happy with her new pupil.
During lunch, McGonagall was much more effusive towards Velvet. When she finally turned to talk to Dumbldore, Snape said, "I see you have won her over. Impressive, most impressive." Velvet struggled not choke on the tea she'd just drunk.
"Thank you," she finally managed. He just looked at her severely.
After lunch, she found her way to Professor Binns' room. She was a little shocked to find that he was a ghost, but managed to be polite just the same.
"History is a fascinating subject," he began drearily. "However, since the goal is to teach you as much history as quickly as possible, I am going to give you a copy of the first year exam. I want you to study it and learn as much as possible. When you feel ready, you can come and take the test and if you pass you can have the next exam. And so on and so forth."
"That's fine. I guess I'll just come by when you aren't busy to take the exam."
"Good, now I will continue with my lesson plans if you will excuse me."
"Of course."
Alright, no afternoon class on Monday. She looked at her watch. It was 12:30 and she had all afternoon off. She decided to do a little exploring.
She managed to find the entrances to all of the houses with a little investigative work. There were some students coming and going from the entrances to Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. She was about to give up on finding Gryffindor when a voice stopped her.
"How did you get out?"
She turned to find a portrait of a rather large lady talking to her. "Excuse me?"
"I've seen you in a painting. How did you get out?" She seemed very interested.
"You must have me confused with someone. I'm Velvet, and I am new here."
"Oh, I guess you just look like a portrait I've seen. My friends told me about you-Dumbledore brought you here. But, don't you have classes now?"
"I managed to get the afternoon off. I decided to explore. I don't suppose you know where the entrance to Gryffindor is?"
The fat lady pulled herself up proudly, "I am the entrance, and I am afraid you can't come in without the password."
"Oh, of course not. I just wanted to know where to find it, just in case." They said goodbye, and Velvet continued her self-guided tour. Suddenly, there were students everywhere for a few minutes, and then they disappeared again. She glanced at her watch, she'd been exploring for an hour. She decided to go and see if she could get something to drink in the dining hall.
There were some drinks laid out and some snacks beside them. She grabbed some water and an apple and was going to continue exploring when she caught sight of an elf-like creature putting out some more snacks.
"Hi! I'm Velvet."
The elf blushed and said, "I'm Sable, I'm a house elf. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Well, I was just exploring. I don't suppose you know anything interesting about the castle that I could go see?"
"Well, I know where the kitchens are, if you want to see."
"That would be great!" The little elf nearly burst with excitement.
Sable led her down to a large painting of fruit. After tickling the pear, the portrait opened to show a large room full of elves working busily on what appeared to be dinner. Most of them stopped working to come and see Velvet.
"Hello. Miss Velvet, can we help you?" said a hundred little voices.
"Oh, no. I just wanted to see the kitchen. Its quite nice down here, and I see you've got a lovely sitting area by the fireplace. Perhaps I'll come visit you again. Thank you for showing me this Sable." Sable nearly fell over with excitement. "If you think of anything else exciting to show me, don't hesitate to come see me."
Velvet quickly excited the kitchen and was headed back to her room when she came upon Snape; or rather Snape came upon her.
"Got out of your history lesson?" he said derisively.
"Yes, I see you don't have class right now either," she said between bites of the apple.
"No," he said shortly, and then stormed off frustrated.
Velvet laughed as she walked up the long staircase.
She picked up her schedule from the table.
| |Monday |Tuesday |Wednesday |Thursday |Friday | |8:30 |Transfigurat|D.A.D.A. |Charms |Potions |Prediction| |AM-11:30 |ion |Lupin |Flitwick |Snape | | |AM |McGonagall | | | |Trewlawney| |12:30 |Wizard |Herbology |Creatures |Flying |Arithmancy| |PM-3:30 |History |Sprout |Hagrid |Hooch | | |PM |Binns | | | |Vector |
Breakfast started at 7:30. She went into her private bathroom and showered then braided her hair. She put on a light green shirt and a pair of black pants, over which the black robe went. She grabbed her gray satchel which had her wand, Transfiguration book, History book, parchment, and pens.
She slid down the stairs, her braid flying behind her and was thoroughly awake when she landed at the bottom. She walked to the dining hall, where students were beginning to trickle in. Dumbledore and McGonagall were there already, talking. The rest of the teachers had not made it yet.
"Oh, good to see you this morning. As soon as we're done with breakfast we can walk to my classroom together," McGonagall smiled at Velvet.
"How are you adjusting to the time change?" Dumbledore asked merrily as Velvet sat down.
"Well, I think I'll be right at home soon."
"Even though you are having trouble sleeping?" A soft, dangerous voice came from behind. Snape glided into his chair.
Before Velvet could reply, Remus joined them. "Good morning, professors," he said broadly. "Looking forward to the first day of school?" He grinned. McGonagall gave him a weak smile, and Dumbledore laughed jollily. Snape raised an eyebrow in disdain. "And, of course, good morning to you, Miss Velvet as this is your first day as well." She smiled at him. He went to his seat.
Soon, breakfast appeared, and then a flutter of wings distracted them from their meal. Velvet looked up at the hundreds of owls delivering mail to the students. It was incredible. McGonagall said, "Mail call for the students. Teachers usually get their mail in their offices. And of course, Dumbledore told me that you'd be getting mail through a Muggle machine-electronic mail?"
"Yes, its usually just called e-mail. It's a very fast way of sending letters; its almost instant."
"Really? It's so amazing what Muggles have managed to do without magic."
"It would be really amazing what people could do if the Wizard and Muggle worlds worked together."
McGonagall nodded sagely. Dumbledore turned and looked knowingly at Velvet. She didn't notice this, but Snape did. He frowned.
The rest of breakfast went smoothly. Afterwards, Velvet followed McGonagall to her room which was painfully neat.
"Transfiguration," she began, "is a very important part of wizardring. I trust you've looked at your books and that you know what it is." Velvet nodded. McGonagall continued, "Good, we will begin."
For the next three hours, Velvet began and exhausting study in Transfiguration. She learned wand techniques and magic words and then tried to put it to practical use. She actually managed to turn a turtle into a jewelry box, although the box did have a distinct turtle shell pattern. McGonagall was impressed.
"If you continue at this pace, we may have an animangus on our hands before the year is out."
"Thank you, but what is an animangus."
"It is a wizard who can turn into an animal form." She turned into a cat and then back into a human.
"That was bloody brilliant!"
"Thank you for that assessment," she said rather dourly. But McGonagall was quite happy with her new pupil.
During lunch, McGonagall was much more effusive towards Velvet. When she finally turned to talk to Dumbldore, Snape said, "I see you have won her over. Impressive, most impressive." Velvet struggled not choke on the tea she'd just drunk.
"Thank you," she finally managed. He just looked at her severely.
After lunch, she found her way to Professor Binns' room. She was a little shocked to find that he was a ghost, but managed to be polite just the same.
"History is a fascinating subject," he began drearily. "However, since the goal is to teach you as much history as quickly as possible, I am going to give you a copy of the first year exam. I want you to study it and learn as much as possible. When you feel ready, you can come and take the test and if you pass you can have the next exam. And so on and so forth."
"That's fine. I guess I'll just come by when you aren't busy to take the exam."
"Good, now I will continue with my lesson plans if you will excuse me."
"Of course."
Alright, no afternoon class on Monday. She looked at her watch. It was 12:30 and she had all afternoon off. She decided to do a little exploring.
She managed to find the entrances to all of the houses with a little investigative work. There were some students coming and going from the entrances to Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. She was about to give up on finding Gryffindor when a voice stopped her.
"How did you get out?"
She turned to find a portrait of a rather large lady talking to her. "Excuse me?"
"I've seen you in a painting. How did you get out?" She seemed very interested.
"You must have me confused with someone. I'm Velvet, and I am new here."
"Oh, I guess you just look like a portrait I've seen. My friends told me about you-Dumbledore brought you here. But, don't you have classes now?"
"I managed to get the afternoon off. I decided to explore. I don't suppose you know where the entrance to Gryffindor is?"
The fat lady pulled herself up proudly, "I am the entrance, and I am afraid you can't come in without the password."
"Oh, of course not. I just wanted to know where to find it, just in case." They said goodbye, and Velvet continued her self-guided tour. Suddenly, there were students everywhere for a few minutes, and then they disappeared again. She glanced at her watch, she'd been exploring for an hour. She decided to go and see if she could get something to drink in the dining hall.
There were some drinks laid out and some snacks beside them. She grabbed some water and an apple and was going to continue exploring when she caught sight of an elf-like creature putting out some more snacks.
"Hi! I'm Velvet."
The elf blushed and said, "I'm Sable, I'm a house elf. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Well, I was just exploring. I don't suppose you know anything interesting about the castle that I could go see?"
"Well, I know where the kitchens are, if you want to see."
"That would be great!" The little elf nearly burst with excitement.
Sable led her down to a large painting of fruit. After tickling the pear, the portrait opened to show a large room full of elves working busily on what appeared to be dinner. Most of them stopped working to come and see Velvet.
"Hello. Miss Velvet, can we help you?" said a hundred little voices.
"Oh, no. I just wanted to see the kitchen. Its quite nice down here, and I see you've got a lovely sitting area by the fireplace. Perhaps I'll come visit you again. Thank you for showing me this Sable." Sable nearly fell over with excitement. "If you think of anything else exciting to show me, don't hesitate to come see me."
Velvet quickly excited the kitchen and was headed back to her room when she came upon Snape; or rather Snape came upon her.
"Got out of your history lesson?" he said derisively.
"Yes, I see you don't have class right now either," she said between bites of the apple.
"No," he said shortly, and then stormed off frustrated.
Velvet laughed as she walked up the long staircase.