A/N: Before I continue with this story, i think i need to clear up something first...before the misunderstandings get outta hand...
regarding to totally shocked's review...
yes, i admit, this story is absurd...BUT BUT BUT you have forgotten that this story is an FAN FICTION, so all the happenings here DO NOT EXIST. IT IS ALL MADE UP. i don't understand why is it tt u guys can get so worked up over this...this story i admit is corny...i might stop posting this story after i posted abt 10 chapters [which is already finished and chapter 11 is already in the making]...but tt's subject to change...
the name Yap Ee Chian is NOT a made up name.... i repeat, this name is NOT a made up name...THIS PERSON EXISTS...he's one of our ex-sch governers [who's now dead] who made an tremendous contribution to the school...there's even an scholarship named after him...all...ALL the names of the staff in this story exists...the names are taken frm the school magazine...all of them are...
i think i'd better continue with the story...here you go...chapter 6...
Chapter 6: Getting around
When Janice woke up the next morning, she couldn't remember where she was. It took a few minutes to realise that she was in the school dormitory. Checking her watch, she realised that it was seven in the morning. She quickly got out of bed, and looked around the dormitory.
She had expected her dormitory to be something out of the Harry Potter books. But it was the total opposite. The dormitory was styled to the very latest furnishing. The dormitory had light yellow curtains with matching bed sheets with a delicate seashell design. What really amazed Janice was that there was a painting in their common room, which was showing a portrait of a group of women crowding around a table. The women inside the painting were waving towards her.
" Had a nice rest, dear?" One of the women inside the painting asked.
" Yes. I had a really good rest. Thanks." Janice replied.
" Well, dear, you better wake your roommates up. You guys have to eat your breakfast. Classes start at eight-thirty." Another women replied.
Nodding, she peeked inside each curtain separating the beds and checked where is Landy. When she found Landy, who was sleeping right beside her, she gently woke her up.
" Landy...Landy...wake up...we have to go down now." Janice whispered.
" What? Hey, why are you here? Am I dreaming? Must be." Landy replied groggily, before falling asleep again.
" No, Landy, you are not dreaming...you'll have to get up now.. I'll need your help to call the other girls up. I don't know their names!" Janice whispered urgently.
" What? Oh yeah.. You fell asleep the moment we stepped in here...okay then. I'll help you call them. gimme a minute." Landy replied, stretching herself.
" See this cubicle? The one just right in front of you? Well, that's Amelia. And the one in front of me is a girl by the name of Zoya. Now why don't you try to call them?" Landy replied.
" Okay...I'll try." Janice replied slowly. With that, she pulled open one of the curtains and peeked inside. A girl with blond hair was still sleeping. Janice presumed that she must be Zoya and gently shook her shoulders.
" Urm..Zoya? This is your roommate, Janice. You have to wake up now. We'll have to change from our pyjamas into our school robes. We need to be in the hall by eight-thirty." Janice whispered.
" Mm? Eight -thirty? " Zoya mumbled, her eyes fluttering open, revealing her astounding eye-colour, which was a sparkly aquamarine.
" Urm..yeah, eight-thirty." Janice mumbled...mesmerised by Zoya's eye colour.
" Thanks, urm..." Zoya replied, wondering who was this girl who had woke her up.
" Oh, my name's Janice." Janice replied, before going to the next cubicle to wake Amelia up.
Half an hour later, when all the girls had already changed into their school robes, they were now ready to set off for the hall. When they reached the common room, the boys were already at the common room, shooting sparks at each other.
" Hey Janice! Come and join in our mini duel, its really fun!" Chee Hao said, as he shot some red sparks towards Lawrence.
" What? A mini duel? No thanks." Janice replied quickly. She didn't feel like embarrassing herself in front of everybody. Besides, she didn't know any spells yet.
" Don't you guys want to have some breakfast? Classes start at eight." Janice questioned the boys.
" You didn't check the house notice board, did you? It says that there would no school for the first years today. Classes for us start tomorrow." Boon Kee said, as he ducked sparks shot by Lawrence.
Feeling confused, she walked towards the house notice board where there was a notice pinned up:
Attention to all first years
First Years please take note that there would be no classes in the 4th of January. In place will be talks about the school held by Professor Lim. Please assemble at eight-thirty in the hall.
" A talk? " Landy repeated.
" Yeah. Come on, let's go down for breakfast." Janice replied. With that, they climbed out of the potrait hole and walked towards the hall. Just as Janice was walking, she stopped dead in her tracks.
" What's wrong, Janice?" Landy asked.
" Urm...where's the hall?" Janice replied. She was so tired last night that she didn't realise where she was going.
" That's easy. Just follow me. I know where it is." Landy said brightly. With that, they started to walk again.
After walking through many staircases and and corridors, they finally reached the hall. Gratefully, Janice quickly found a place at the CuiHua table and looked at what's for breakfast. Again, there was a lot of food on display, fish porridge, chicken porridge, Scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, Nasi Lemak, Hash Browns, Toast, and all sorts of Jam you could think of.
As Janice helped herself to some chicken porridge, the boys came in, panting.
" Did you guys just do a hundred metres sprint?" Landy said in a syrupy voice.
Lawrence, however, was panting like a dog, Janice was somehow reminded of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather.
" The three of us stumbled onto the forbidden corridor just now...we saw...." Lawrence panted.
" What did you see?" Landy asked excitedly, accidentally spilling her glass of milk.
" I don't think you guys want to know it. Besides, it would give you nightmares to last a lifetime." Chee Hao finished.
" WE want to know what's in there." Landy replied firmly.
The three boys now stared at each other, not knowing what to say.
" Pass us the strawberry jam please, we're starving." Boon Kee said briskly.
Furious, Janice slammed the bottle of jam on the table to Boon Kee, causing bits of jam to fly onto the table and continued eating her porridge.
After eating their breakfast, as the first years were told to remain in the hall for the upcoming talk, some fourth year Mohammed students tried to pose as first years and stayed in the hall, so that they would'nt have to attend classes. However, Professor Chang managed to spot them, gave them detention and took off fifty points from Mohammed, causing protests from the first year Mohammed students. Professor Chang had to shut them up by threatening to take off another fifty points from Mohammed.
When all the commotion was over, Professor Lim took over the situation. Dressed in robes of silver, he looked very impressive for his age. With his almost silver hair and beard, Janice was strongly reminded of Fleur Delacour.
" Firstly, Pupils, welcome to Yap Ee Chian. As some you of might have known, the four greatest witches and wizards around South-East Asia exactly founded Yap Ee Chian four hundred and ninety four years ago. They are Isabella Ivanov, Tan CuiHua, Narayana Govindasamy and Mohammed Khairwan. These witches and wizards were chosen by their native community to participate in this tremendous task to establish a school for young wizards and wizards who showed signs of doing magic. With the help of the Department of Magical Education that was set up shortly after Yap Ee Chian was founded, enrolment has increased tremendously. The school is in fact named after Yap Ee Chian, who has made significant contributions to the school. To date, we have produced many outstanding wizards and witches of our time. Now, you will be given a map of the school. You are to keep this map with you at all times to help you find your classes easily. Now, with Professor Chang as the guide, we will now take you around the school." With that Professor Chang took over.
" Thank You Professor Lim. Now, we'll now take you around the school. Follow me outside the hall now. With that, she walked down from the teacher's table and walked towards the main entrance. The students then followed. Not wanting to be left alone in the hall, Janice and Landy followed them.
Outside the hall, Professor Chang took them around. First they visited the classroom block, where classes were held. They walked past the Transfiguration classroom, where they could see the Transfiguration teacher yelling at a student for changing his partner into a guinea pig. After much laughs, they proceeded to the Charms classrooms, where the Charms teacher was teaching the students how to do a summoning charm. Janice was pretty amazed that the incantations used in Yap Ee Chian was different from Hogwarts.The incantation used in Hogwarts was " Accio" but in Yap Ee Chian, the incantation used was " Seorang". Feeling confused about the incantations, Janice asked Professor Chang why was it that the incantations used were different from Hogwarts, she was told that due to the different cultures between the west and the east, the incantations were in Malay as the Malays had a lot of influence in the 16th and17th century in South-East Asia, thus the difference. After watching the charms lesson, they proceeded to the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom, which was one of Janice's favourite subjects. They were watching some second years how to tackle a Boggart, Janice could see the Boggart taking the form of a huge cockroach, causing a bit of panic among the students and the teacher, who shrieked and hid under the table. They quickly proceeded to the next classroom before shrieking with laughter.
" I can't believe that the teacher actually hid under the table because of the cockroach!" Landy said, in between the laughter.
" Me too, I mean, the teacher's supposed to take charge of the situation, not shrieking with fright." Janice replied, almost choking with laughter at the thought of it then suddenly, a thought came to Janice's mind.
" Hey landy, if we've already started to tackle Boggarts at the second year, that means that we'll only be staying here for six years." Janice reasoned.
" Hey...you have a point here.
why don't you ask Professor Chang?" Landy said. With that Janice asked Professor Chang.
" Urm...Professor? I was wondering, how many years do we have to spent in Yap Ee Chian?" Janice asked.
" Well, you'll be spending six years in here, so that means that you'll only be leaving here when you are nineteen." Professor Chang answered.
" Thanks." Janice replied. With that, she quickly returned to Landy's side.
" We'll be studying here for six years!" Janice whispered.
" What! That means that we'll be leaving here when we turn nineteen! Ohmigosh! Why can't we leave when we are seventeen?" Landy moaned.
" Because we started late, we'll only be turning thirteen this year, remember?" Janice replied. With that, they proceeded to the next classroom.
It turns out that now; they are in a Potions classroom. The Potions teacher was teaching the students how to make an invisibility potion. The process was very difficult, as the ingredients had to be added at different times and stirred constantly to get it mixed properly. Compared to Polyjuice potion, Polyjuice potion was just like Child's Play.
" Hey Janice! Look at the ingredients used! Unicorn Horn, Essence of Belladonna, Armadillo Bile, Scarab Beetles, Reindeer horns, Porcupine spikes.... and Dragon teeth ... and lots more..." Landy gasped, lost for words.
Janice could only stare dumbly at the list of Ingredients. If she has to memorise this list for her exam, she's dead. She got a feeling that Potions is not going to be one of her strongest subjects. They proceeded to the next classroom, which was Herbology. The lesson was held at the greenhouse, which was a very hot and stuffy place. The students inside the greenhouse were however, not complaining of the heat. They were planting something with huge purple leaves and flowers with teeth-like petals. The students were however complaining of the difficulty of planting this plant, as the plant would threaten to bite their fingers off if they touched it. They only to plant this, as the Professor lectured them, is to enforce an appeasement charm every fifteen minutes on the plant so as to appease the plant, as the plant is very sensitive to the human touch. After watching the students planting this monstrous plant, they made a hasty exit as the plant was now baring its teeth towards them, threatening to bite them.
When they emerged from the greenhouse, all sweaty and tired, it was almost twelve noon. Starving, they proceeded to the hall for lunch. Lawrence, in particular, sprinted towards the hall.
" He really is hungry, isn't he?" Landy replied, watching Lawrence sprint to the hall.
" Hungry? It's a bit of an understatement. You would have thought that someone actually starved him for a week." Janice replied.
When Janice saw what was served for Lunch, she was practically drooling all over the place. It turns out that for Lunch, it was Chicken Rice, Caesar Salad, Nachos, Tacos, Thosai, Nasi Bryani, Fish and Chips and Lamp Chop served with Herbal Tea.
" What's in the afternoon?" Janice asked thickly through a mouthful of Chicken Rice.
" Well. I think its still going around the school, you know, we might just visit the library, or even the Owlery!" Landy said, her eyes sparkling. Janice groaned. She knew that one of Landy's favourite haunts when they were in Primary School was going to the library. In fact, Janice reasoned, Landy must have patronised every known Muggle library in Singapore and even made friends with the Librarians there. In fact, the only time Janice had to go to the Library was when she had to do some dumb research on Flightless birds, and she had to pass the Project up in a few days time.
After Lunch, the tour of the school continued. Just as what Landy had predicted, they were going to the Library, which caused Landy to jump with joy. However, Janice groaned at the thought of going to the library. Slowly, she followed the group to the Library and cursing about going to a Library again.
The Library at Yap Ee Chian was a very huge place. In fact, the Library took up almost one section of the school, which were three storeys high. According to the Librarian, a small and frail looking women, told them that there are at least a million books in the library, so they would have no problem searching for the material they need. As they went about exploring the Library, Janice could'nt help feeling interested in some books. She found herself engrossed in a copy of 'Quidditch Developments in Singapore'. Landy practically had to drag Janice away from the book so that they could visit the Owlery.
" That's the first time I have seen you so engrossed in a book, I mean, the only books you seem to like are those Japanese Comics like Cardcaptor Sakura." Landy remarked as they stepped out of the Library.
" Well, that book was interesting. " Janice replied earnestly. She had to admit, that was the first time she got engrossed in the book. Straightening her robes, Janice quickly caught up with the group, who were walking towards the Owlery.
The Owlery was situated right at the top of the north tower. It was a pretty cramp and smelly place. It was just a small cellar with shelves for the Owls to rest and it had windows at the top for the Owls to fly through. The ground of the Owlery was littered with hay, and one could hear a crunching sound when walking through, which Janice presumed was the remains of dead mice. They were told that they are welcome to use the school owls to send letters to their family if they do not have a pet. As they could no longer stand the stench, they quickly dashed out of the Owlery, nearly puking over the stench.
" Well, that brings an end to our tour today. As for the rest of the day, it's a free day for you. Classes for you all would commence tomorow morning, eight-thirty in the morning sharp. You would receive your timetables tonight. And always carry the map along with you. You will not receive another copy if you lose this, so keep this copy carefully." Professor Chang said, with that, she dismissed the group and they were allowed to go back to their dormitories.
" Tired day, huh? " Landy said, still smiling over the Library visit.
" You bet." Janice replied, yawning. It really was a tired day; she's going to have a nice shower before going to the Owlery to send a letter to her parents.
" Hey Mudblood! Watch it you! " Someone sneered.
Looking up, she realised that she had bumped into Yang Yi and and Ivan, who were both sneering towards the two of them.
" Are you girls blind or something? Now a Mudblood has soiled my robes, I have to wash them all over again, thanks to Janice." Yang Yi sneered.
" What's the matter, YANG TOU? (Goat's head in Chinese.) Sorry I didn't see you. I can see that you are looking terribly stupid today." Landy remarked, her eyes shooting staples into the two boys.
The boys opened their mouth to say something, but they quickly closed it. Ivan sneered.
" Now where 's that Laundry and his Boat Quay? I can see that they are not around to protect his girls." He said sarcastically.
" Did I hear someone calling me Laundry and my friend Boat Quay?" A voice boomed behind Janice.
Turning back sharply, she saw Chee Hao, Boon Kee and Lawrence standing behind Janice, their wands pointing to Yang Yi. Janice had never felt so relieved before in her life to see them.
" Yes? Yang Yi, or should I say, Yang Tou, your newfound nick? I seemed to have heard my name somewhere, are you guys talking about me in front of these two girls about how good we are?" Lawrence said, stepping forward, his wand pointing towards Yang Yi.
Janice was very astonished to see Yang Yi's face turning into a brillant shade of Purple, making it look like a huge overripe grape. Ivan stepped forward and snarled towards Lawrence and Janice.
" How about this then. A wizard's duel. A proper one. Who's your second?" He sneered.
" Chee Hao will be my second." Lawrence said, patting on Chee Hao's shoulder.
" Landy will be mine second." Janice said quickly, not wanting to lose out.
" Good. Next Tuesday, twelve midnight at the Hall." Yang Yi smirked. With that, both of them walked off, laughing away.
" What's a second?" Landy asked, her eyes sparkling quizically.
" A second is a sort of a replacement of a wizard when the first wizard dies," Lawrence explained," and don't worry, what we would only do at most is just some simple spells because we're not full wizards yet." Lawrence said quickly, as he saw Landy panicked.
" Well, I guess we better go back to the common room now, you know, to look for some spells." Janice said.
" Well, I guess that you are right." Boon Kee said.
With that, the five of them walked back to the common room together, their arguement long forgotten.
When they had reached the common room, they promised each other to meet in the common room in an hour's time to do some research for the spells. Janice took this opportunity to have a long shower and do a bit of unpacking from her trunk. Later, she hastily took out a piece of parchment and a quill and began writing a letter to her parents.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Hi! How's everything back at home? How's Lily adjusting in Holy Innocents? I hope it's okay. I'm fine down here. It turns out that my primary school loggerhead, Lawrence, you know, the one with really messy hair and never gets his homework right? He's a wizard. In fact, his buddies, Boon Kee and Chee Hao, they are wizards too. It turns out that they are a wizarding family. Now, we are really good friends with each other. Hard to believe, huh? From loggerheads to friends. Well, I have to go now, Bye!!
Love from Janice
After checking her letter for mistakes, she rushed to the Owlery and hastily tied the letter on one of the owls. After the letter was tied, the owl set off, its wings swishing noisily in the wind. Janice watched it flew over some houses and flew out of sight. It was only when the Owl flew out of sight that she returned to the CuiHua common room.