Chapter Five
Moril winced as he bumped in to Naomi. She remained asleep. It was about an hour before dinner, and Moril had decided that he couldn't stay in the hospital wing for another long and boring night. Naomi snorted, and moved around in the uncomfortable chair.
"How can she sleep like that?" Moril jumped, and took a glance behind him. It was Nina, and Sidra, and they both had guilty looks on their faces.
"Sneaking out as well?" Moril asked, grinning as they nodded.
"Come on."
They tiptoed out of the hospital wing, and Sidra and Nina left to go get ready for dinner. Shaking his head in dismay, "Why do girls take so long to get ready?" Moril didn't notice the figure concealed in the shadows.
"Sneaking out of the hospital wing? Not exactly daring, but I didn't
expect much of you, anyway." Moril grimaced.
"Draco. What do you want?" Moril asked spitefully. Draco smoothed his immaculate hair with his hand, and leaned against the wall indifferently. Behind him an open archway led into a small enclosed courtyard; the moonlight from the garden shone down, placing a glowing halo on his head. But his words, as always, were far from angelic.
"I was trying to decide which you'd like better for a 'sorry' gift, a rose
scented note, or a big smooch... knowing you, both would render you
unconscious, for obvious reasons. Oh, and sorry about your mum." Moril
rolled his eyes, and leaned against the wall opposite Draco.
"You don't really care, do you? You don't have a compassionate bone in your body."
"I may not, but I really am sorry your mother died-how long did your father stay? Two days? One?" Moril shoved Draco. The blond boy laughed, but his grey eyes were bored with his usual malice.
"He stayed for two weeks, but I doubt YOUR father is faithful to your
mother." Moril accused bitingly. Draco shrugged.
"So what else is new? My father's an evil git, and my mother smothers me. That's my home life. Love and happy hugs all around."
"You haven't changed a bit since we were seven, have you, Malfoy?" Moril rolled his eyes. Draco smiled winningly.
"I'll have you know I peaked at seven... you can't beat your best."
Moril shook his head. He was used to Draco when the sarcastic boy wasn't insulting his mother.
"Rather than just exchanging insults, would you tell me why you're here?"
"Won't tell unless you say 'please.'" Draco whined. Moril rolled his eyes again.
"Fine. Please." He dragged out the last word. Draco sneered.
"Daddy dearest needs Potter. Just get him to me, he says, and I get to skip the ever-so-fun round of torture and dismemberment he has planned. Potter will have to suffer through it, which is fine with me." Moril glanced up at Draco.
"Don't you two Malfoys have lackeys to do that kind dirty work for you?" Moril asked. Draco shook his head.
"Crabbe and Goyle were left at Hogwarts. Besides, those two couldn't be counted upon to screw in a light bulb, even if the instructions were verbal. I need you to help me."
"Malfoy, the only reason I joined in on your little escapades before was because mother was your cousin, and she had a soft spot for your family. I'm not helping you on this one. I won't join in this time, Draco. I'm sick of your beliefs." Malfoy frowned suddenly, and said,
"You don't know my beliefs. And, sure, I would've welcomed your help, but I don't really need it." Moril shrugged, and began to walk away.
"You may not stand by our customs, Moril, but the blood running through your veins is purely Malfoy." Draco called after him, and added, in a whisper, "Just like mine."
***** Harry was sitting with his three friends, deep in thought. Would he be
safe here? More importantly, would Ron and Hermione be? Since the Tournament, Harry had been increasingly aware of how much danger his friends were in, and he wondered if Dumbledore had taken precautions. He was interrupted by Hermione tugging on his arm. He looked up in to her worried face. Her beautiful face, he thought to himself, and he smiled in spite of his gloom.
"Hermione, what is it?" Hermione grinned.
"Angela and Miriam are giving us a tour of the four houses. We only have an hour to see them all, so we better get moving." Hermione and Ron pulled Harry up, and followed the two girls. They stuck close to them, and were able to hear everything that they had to say, not like the rest of the
transfer students, who walked slowly behind them.
"This school is pretty old, almost as old as Hogwarts. But MBSS was always a college, just for students who wished to further their studies. It was
changed in to a boarding school in 1952, exactly 50 years ago, to give the
unexpected boom of children more room for their magical studies. Even
though it was changed 50 years ago, that doesn't mean that it was just a
boarding school, it still offered many college courses. So, even now, we
have some of the more . . . odd classes here. We get students from all over the world who want to learn here." Ron eyed the two girls suspiciously.
"You sound like professors." Miriam and Angela grinned.
"We got that from our headmistress, who forced us to memorize it." Angela assured him. "Now that that is out of the way, we can tell you more about the other side of the school. The houses are exactly the same as they are in Hogwarts, yet here they are placed in the towers. We usually have five students per room, so about ten students per year, per house. The college students have the topmost point of the tower, and they are allowed to use the towers for their advanced astronomy lessons. Here's Dovecote." Miriam walked up the stairs, and they saw a huge bookcase at the end of the hall.
"There used to be a picture here, but too many students forgot the
password. So now we only have to remember the colour and name of the book. It's usually placed in different places, so it's harder for the others to
find it." Angela pulled on a deep magenta book, and the book case moved
slowly backwards and to the left, revealing a large passage way.
"Most of the passageways are huge, so that our more unusual students can get in comfortably." Hermione looked around at the beautiful tapestries,
but Ron and Harry both made their way up the stairs to the dorms. The
tower was taller than the one at Hogwarts, but there was another
difference. Somehow, the rooms were much larger.
"Wow, we actually have space here." Ron commented. Harry nodded, and took a look out the window. He could see the back fields of the school, deep green in their summer splendour. But he also saw a woman, followed by two centaurs.
"Who's that?" Harry asked, pointing to the girl. Miriam came up behind him, and said,
"That's Olivia, our groundskeeper. In the tradition of the schools, the
groundskeeper is usually someone who cannot be taught at the school. I
think that was the case for your groundskeeper as well, right?" Harry
nodded, and George came up behind the two of them.
"She doesn't look part giant. Is she a midget giant?" He joked. Miriam rolled her eyes, and George grinned.
"You're not even going to school. Why're you here?" Miriam said,
shooing him away. "By the way, she's not a giant. She's a goblin." Ron and Harry both peered out the window, and at the girl.
"Aren't goblins supposed to be ugly, and-green?" Angela laughed, and nodded.
"Yes, they're supposed to be, but Olivia was born pretty, so was thrown out. Goblins are jealous people."
Hermione was done viewing the commons room, and had joined
them in the dorm.
"Where are all the people, aren't there any boarders from Dovecote here?" Angela shook her head.
"No, they're all boring."
"Angela!" her sister scolded, "They're not all boring! You're being judgemental! The little ones are really sweet, and you can always count on a Dovecote when you're in trouble. It's just -"
"-- That they're not exceptionally smart, they're usually the
people who don't really fit anywhere else..." Angela protested, "Not that I'm stereotyping or anything, but most of them are a real bore."
"That's one point of view." Miriam retorted curtly. Angela shrugged with a half smile and the girls went down the stairs, and walked down the hallway. They skipped up another flight of stairs, and came to a dead end.
"This is the entrance to Felixae." Angela pointed proudly to the window, and walked straight up to it. Hermione came up as well, and touched the window."
"The window seems to be normal...are you sure that this is an entrance?" Hermione asked sceptically. Angela nodded.
"Yes, but this is probably the coolest one." Angela drew back her fist,
and punched the glass. The window broke, but there was no sound. The
whole window fell to the ground, and they saw a passageway. There were
torches lighting the hall, leading the students to the dorms. They were astonished. The whole dorm was filled with amazing tapestries, and it stretched out, almost as large as the main hall at Hogwarts.
"Wow. Why do you have so much space?" Hermione asked, peering at the elaborate tapestries, particularly one portraying a blond woman and a short brunet man slaying someone in dark armour.
"We have this much space because Felixae is the art house. Most of us need this space for practising, and being creative. Most of our space is
actually built in to the mountain behind us. So, each of us get our own
rooms, unless we want to share with someone else. I'll show you our
rooms."
Angela and Miriam led Harry, Ron and Hermione up the stairs and in to a huge room. One half was decorated in rich, exotic shades of purple, red, and yellow, and the other in soft blues and yellows. Miriam quickly stuffed a worn pink bunny under a pillow, blushing wildly.
"We sing, so we need a sound proof room. Not that we're terrible singers or anything." Angela saw a piece of paper on her desk, and she
quickly read it.
"Miriam, we have to go down to the hospital wing. Again. That Moril has to take his concoction, and Madame can't find him. Again." Angela rolled her eyes, and Miriam groaned.
"I'm sorry, we have to leave you. Give this sheet to Sidra and Nina;
they'll direct you to the rest of the dorms. They're in the next rooms."
Angela and Miriam ran out of their room, leaving Ron, Harry, and Hermione all alone.
"Well, that was rather rude." Hermione tutted, and walked out of the room. Harry started to walk away, but Ron remained in the middle of the room.
"Ron, come on! We only have a half hour to see the rest of the houses." Ron looked at her.
"Hermione, I'm alone in a girl's room!" Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Its two girls, Ron, and anyway, you've been up to my room dozens of times." Hermione told Ron. He made a face.
"Hermione, they're pretty, and you're my friend. It's just not the same." Hermione frowned, and stomped out of the room.
"Come on, Ron, you know how she feels about that! Don't be stupid. You just as well called her ugly." Harry ran out after Hermione, leaving Ron alone.
"Does my conscience have to ruin everything that I want to do?" Ron said, walking out after his two friends.
"Hermione stood outside of the door to one of the rooms. She knew that it was either Sidra's or Nina's, but she didn't like barging in on people's
privacy. Harry came up behind her, and lightly tapped on her shoulder.
"Oh, Harry." She spun around, startled. "Hi. What is Ron's problem? I thought that he learned his lesson two years ago, but now this! I know he'll blow me off the first time a pretty girl walks along, but that doesn't make it any easier when he does." Hermione whispered angrily.
"I think that because we're all so close, you're not a 'girl' to him, Hermione," Harry reassured her, "you're a great friend. You know how Ron is, he usually is tongue tied when it comes to girls. He's himself around you, and that counts for something."
Hermione nodded, and looked up at Harry. She grinned, and reached
up to flatten his extremely unruly hair. Harry knocked on the door, but no
one answered. Ron came out of the room that they had left him in, and he
slowly walked towards them.
"Sorry." Ron said. Hermione just shrugged.
"Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about what?" Nina was standing in the doorway of her room, a walkman around her neck.
"Boys." Hermione told her with a sardonic smile. Nina nodded, understanding perfectly.
"So, what do you need?"
"Angela and Miriam left to go do something, and they told us to ask you to help us get acquainted with the other houses. We've been to Felixae
already." Nina nodded.
"Sure, I'll help. Can you go get Sidra, Ron? She's in Suzy's dorm, three doors down to the left. I need to talk to Hermione for a few minutes." Ron nodded, and he and Harry left to go find Sidra, wondering about the mysterious Suzy.
Hermione came in to Nina's room, and let out an appreciative sigh. Nina's room was bright white, and looked like something out of a fairy tale.
Hermione couldn't believe that it was in a mountain. There was even a huge
window on one wall, showing a beautiful sunny day.
"How did you do this?" Hermione asked in awe. Nina giggled, and sat on her bed.
"Every room has had hundreds of previous boarders, and each time a new boarder comes in, they add something to the room. We even have a special bookcase for each room, where each of the previous boarders put their diaries. They're pretty interesting."
"But isn't that looking at someone's private thoughts?" Hermione asked. But Nina shook her head.
"Sometimes. But usually these are more like public journals, offering gossip, advice, poetry, and yes, personal thoughts." Nina grinned. "A girl can go to school here, look up her mother's year, and find out what her mum was like as a sixteen year old." Her grin widened. "Most of the time, it's not exactly a pleasant surprise." She went over to the bookcase, staring at the rows of iridescent purple-blue-silver journals. "Some of the rooms have pretty neat history behind them, starting from year one of the school's opening. Only Felixae has these journals."
"So is Felixae made up of all girls?" Hermione asked, following Nina to the shelf. The light reflected off some of the books, and Hermione ran her finger along the spines.
"No. The boy's dormitory is in the tower across from us. But sometimes, it seems like there are some boys journals mixed in with the girls..." She picked up an old, dusty volume, "like this one, from the first year that the school started. I only started reading these, and they're so interesting. Some are happy, some are sad, some are especially designed to put you to sleep at night, and some are supposed to keep you up." Nina beamed wickedly. "Some are even said to tell the future."
"That's ridiculous," Hermione snorted, "Divining the future from the past? I don't have any patience with ordinary Divination, but this?" She lifted her eyebrows. Nina laughed outright.
"It's not as impossible as it might seem. You can borrow a few while you're here." Nina shrugged. "Who knows? They might just surprise you." Hermione grinned, and took a few of the older books.
"So, was this what you wanted to talk to me about?" Hermione asked sceptically.
"No. I didn't have to say anything, but you looked totally lost. I hope you come here for the first part of your stay." Hermione looked at Nina questioningly.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you know that you'll be living in each house during your stay,
that's why you're seeing all the houses now." Nina told her, as if this was the simplest thing in the world. Hermione looked shocked.
"What? We're not staying in just one? We do all go to one house at the same time, right?" Nina shook her head.
"Maybe, but I kind of doubt it. The revered school psychologists- "Nina rolled her eyes impatiently-"Think you'll meet more new people if you're not all together, huddled in your little 'comfort zones'." Nina checked her watch. "We better get going; we don't have time to show you the other houses before supper. You'll just have to cross that bridge when you get there." Hermione nodded, and they walked out of Nina's room. I like her already, Hermione thought with a smile.
Ron nervously knocked on Sidra's door, but no one answered. He tried the handle, and the door opened. The silver-haired girl sat at her desk. She glanced up at Ron.
"Oh, sorry - Ron, right? What can I do for you?" Sidra asked, smiling sweetly. But Ron wasn't listening.
"Uh...ga....ba...unghhh." Ron stared at the small, blonde, big-eyed girl sitting on the bed, wide-eyed, unable to voice a single comprehensive thought.
*****
Dinner was a chaotic affair.
Hermione had never noticed at Hogwarts how loud the Great Hall could be when several hundred students were eating. Or maybe it was just that the cafeteria of Mount Boucherie was so much louder. Whatever it was, her eardrums were near to bursting.
The students ate at round tables arranged around the room; a stage was erected at one end and the teachers ate at the back. There was one seat missing, but no one seemed to notice.
Ron and Harry were ignoring the noise; or most of it. Dinner was almost over and the three friends were lingering over slices of cherry cheesecake. Ron - having recovered his wits, however vague and temporary - looked at his dubiously, lifting it to survey the burnt bottom.
"Are these safe to eat?" He asked Hermione suspiciously.
"They're fresh from the cooking class," she said triumphantly, "Students made them. Fortunately, Canadians -being part of the civilized world-," Ron ducked to avoid a smoldering glare, "share my views about House Elves."
Ron rolled his eyes. Any further argument was diverted by the dimming of the lights and a wild roar that arose from the student population.
Ron glanced at Harry. Harry shrugged. Hermione raised her eyebrows at both of them.
The lights went up over a platform at the front of the room, where a guitar-laden woman was waiting.
"She's too old to be a student," Ron commented. Hermione shushed him.
The woman stepped into the light, casting a brilliant smile at the students and teachers.
"Hello, Hi and Howdy all!" she said.
"Hey, Tina!" The students replied.
"We've got three of my favourite students on stage tonight," she began.
"We're all your favourite students!" Someone shouted. Laughter rang out.
". for you Brits who won't know me, I am Professor Tina Sweetwater (call me Tina), I teach Guitar and Choral Music, plus Ballet-"
"Forget us being your favorites!" The same voice announced, "We all know Tina's favorite is Nina!" Tina glared in the direction of the voice, and waited for the laughter to quiet down again.
"I'm Head of Felixa House and right now I want you all to give it up for Tatterwings!"
A cacophony of shouts, screams, yells, and war-whoops sounded as Tina took a seat, cradling her guitar in her lap, and three girls came on stage single file, all wearing butterfly wings, fluttery dresses, and copious amounts of glitter.
The first, a reddish-brunette in green took center stage, a blonde in blue bearing a harp took a seat to her right, and a black-haired girl in pink stood on her left holding a violin. A glance from the first and they began.
The audience was captivated as music throbbed throughout the room. The vocalist crooned sweetly, aided by a Sonarus charm.
You've cast a spell on me, You've got me under your charms, But I like this love potion, So keep on holding me in your arms
Love potion, I'm under a spell, Love potion, And I feel just fine, Love potion, So hand me another glass 'Cause I can't get enough of your Poisoned wine
I know I'll feel bad in the morning, But I want to feel good tonight Give me some of that potion, baby Then turn off all of the lights. I don't want you to see me like this, I'm ashamed of myself, I want more of your potion, baby But more than that I think I want help.
Love potion, I'm under a spell Love potion I feel sort of shamed Love potion I'd smash the vial Love potion If only someone would take off my chains.
The last strum of a harp faded into the night, and the girls could only break into a heartbreakingly beautiful smile. All Ron could do was stare.
"That one with the harp," he said at last, breaking the incredible silence with his hoarse whisper, "I saw her in Sidra's room."
"Well, you either saw her or a veela," Hermione commented acidly, "That's what you acted like."
"Come on, Hermione!" Ron shouted as the room was filled with screams, shouts, and applause, "Didn't you see her? Don't you think she's - she's just so. . ." His voice trailed off. Hermione just looked at him. "Okay, okay," He said, "Sorry about treating you like 'one of the guys' there."
Any further argument, maiming, or possible dismemberment was interrupted by Tina retaking the stage and announcing that the talented trio could be met in the green room as soon as you were finished.
Immediately Ron began wolfing down his cheesecake, burnt bottom or no. Hermione snorted with disgust.
"Boys."
Moril winced as he bumped in to Naomi. She remained asleep. It was about an hour before dinner, and Moril had decided that he couldn't stay in the hospital wing for another long and boring night. Naomi snorted, and moved around in the uncomfortable chair.
"How can she sleep like that?" Moril jumped, and took a glance behind him. It was Nina, and Sidra, and they both had guilty looks on their faces.
"Sneaking out as well?" Moril asked, grinning as they nodded.
"Come on."
They tiptoed out of the hospital wing, and Sidra and Nina left to go get ready for dinner. Shaking his head in dismay, "Why do girls take so long to get ready?" Moril didn't notice the figure concealed in the shadows.
"Sneaking out of the hospital wing? Not exactly daring, but I didn't
expect much of you, anyway." Moril grimaced.
"Draco. What do you want?" Moril asked spitefully. Draco smoothed his immaculate hair with his hand, and leaned against the wall indifferently. Behind him an open archway led into a small enclosed courtyard; the moonlight from the garden shone down, placing a glowing halo on his head. But his words, as always, were far from angelic.
"I was trying to decide which you'd like better for a 'sorry' gift, a rose
scented note, or a big smooch... knowing you, both would render you
unconscious, for obvious reasons. Oh, and sorry about your mum." Moril
rolled his eyes, and leaned against the wall opposite Draco.
"You don't really care, do you? You don't have a compassionate bone in your body."
"I may not, but I really am sorry your mother died-how long did your father stay? Two days? One?" Moril shoved Draco. The blond boy laughed, but his grey eyes were bored with his usual malice.
"He stayed for two weeks, but I doubt YOUR father is faithful to your
mother." Moril accused bitingly. Draco shrugged.
"So what else is new? My father's an evil git, and my mother smothers me. That's my home life. Love and happy hugs all around."
"You haven't changed a bit since we were seven, have you, Malfoy?" Moril rolled his eyes. Draco smiled winningly.
"I'll have you know I peaked at seven... you can't beat your best."
Moril shook his head. He was used to Draco when the sarcastic boy wasn't insulting his mother.
"Rather than just exchanging insults, would you tell me why you're here?"
"Won't tell unless you say 'please.'" Draco whined. Moril rolled his eyes again.
"Fine. Please." He dragged out the last word. Draco sneered.
"Daddy dearest needs Potter. Just get him to me, he says, and I get to skip the ever-so-fun round of torture and dismemberment he has planned. Potter will have to suffer through it, which is fine with me." Moril glanced up at Draco.
"Don't you two Malfoys have lackeys to do that kind dirty work for you?" Moril asked. Draco shook his head.
"Crabbe and Goyle were left at Hogwarts. Besides, those two couldn't be counted upon to screw in a light bulb, even if the instructions were verbal. I need you to help me."
"Malfoy, the only reason I joined in on your little escapades before was because mother was your cousin, and she had a soft spot for your family. I'm not helping you on this one. I won't join in this time, Draco. I'm sick of your beliefs." Malfoy frowned suddenly, and said,
"You don't know my beliefs. And, sure, I would've welcomed your help, but I don't really need it." Moril shrugged, and began to walk away.
"You may not stand by our customs, Moril, but the blood running through your veins is purely Malfoy." Draco called after him, and added, in a whisper, "Just like mine."
***** Harry was sitting with his three friends, deep in thought. Would he be
safe here? More importantly, would Ron and Hermione be? Since the Tournament, Harry had been increasingly aware of how much danger his friends were in, and he wondered if Dumbledore had taken precautions. He was interrupted by Hermione tugging on his arm. He looked up in to her worried face. Her beautiful face, he thought to himself, and he smiled in spite of his gloom.
"Hermione, what is it?" Hermione grinned.
"Angela and Miriam are giving us a tour of the four houses. We only have an hour to see them all, so we better get moving." Hermione and Ron pulled Harry up, and followed the two girls. They stuck close to them, and were able to hear everything that they had to say, not like the rest of the
transfer students, who walked slowly behind them.
"This school is pretty old, almost as old as Hogwarts. But MBSS was always a college, just for students who wished to further their studies. It was
changed in to a boarding school in 1952, exactly 50 years ago, to give the
unexpected boom of children more room for their magical studies. Even
though it was changed 50 years ago, that doesn't mean that it was just a
boarding school, it still offered many college courses. So, even now, we
have some of the more . . . odd classes here. We get students from all over the world who want to learn here." Ron eyed the two girls suspiciously.
"You sound like professors." Miriam and Angela grinned.
"We got that from our headmistress, who forced us to memorize it." Angela assured him. "Now that that is out of the way, we can tell you more about the other side of the school. The houses are exactly the same as they are in Hogwarts, yet here they are placed in the towers. We usually have five students per room, so about ten students per year, per house. The college students have the topmost point of the tower, and they are allowed to use the towers for their advanced astronomy lessons. Here's Dovecote." Miriam walked up the stairs, and they saw a huge bookcase at the end of the hall.
"There used to be a picture here, but too many students forgot the
password. So now we only have to remember the colour and name of the book. It's usually placed in different places, so it's harder for the others to
find it." Angela pulled on a deep magenta book, and the book case moved
slowly backwards and to the left, revealing a large passage way.
"Most of the passageways are huge, so that our more unusual students can get in comfortably." Hermione looked around at the beautiful tapestries,
but Ron and Harry both made their way up the stairs to the dorms. The
tower was taller than the one at Hogwarts, but there was another
difference. Somehow, the rooms were much larger.
"Wow, we actually have space here." Ron commented. Harry nodded, and took a look out the window. He could see the back fields of the school, deep green in their summer splendour. But he also saw a woman, followed by two centaurs.
"Who's that?" Harry asked, pointing to the girl. Miriam came up behind him, and said,
"That's Olivia, our groundskeeper. In the tradition of the schools, the
groundskeeper is usually someone who cannot be taught at the school. I
think that was the case for your groundskeeper as well, right?" Harry
nodded, and George came up behind the two of them.
"She doesn't look part giant. Is she a midget giant?" He joked. Miriam rolled her eyes, and George grinned.
"You're not even going to school. Why're you here?" Miriam said,
shooing him away. "By the way, she's not a giant. She's a goblin." Ron and Harry both peered out the window, and at the girl.
"Aren't goblins supposed to be ugly, and-green?" Angela laughed, and nodded.
"Yes, they're supposed to be, but Olivia was born pretty, so was thrown out. Goblins are jealous people."
Hermione was done viewing the commons room, and had joined
them in the dorm.
"Where are all the people, aren't there any boarders from Dovecote here?" Angela shook her head.
"No, they're all boring."
"Angela!" her sister scolded, "They're not all boring! You're being judgemental! The little ones are really sweet, and you can always count on a Dovecote when you're in trouble. It's just -"
"-- That they're not exceptionally smart, they're usually the
people who don't really fit anywhere else..." Angela protested, "Not that I'm stereotyping or anything, but most of them are a real bore."
"That's one point of view." Miriam retorted curtly. Angela shrugged with a half smile and the girls went down the stairs, and walked down the hallway. They skipped up another flight of stairs, and came to a dead end.
"This is the entrance to Felixae." Angela pointed proudly to the window, and walked straight up to it. Hermione came up as well, and touched the window."
"The window seems to be normal...are you sure that this is an entrance?" Hermione asked sceptically. Angela nodded.
"Yes, but this is probably the coolest one." Angela drew back her fist,
and punched the glass. The window broke, but there was no sound. The
whole window fell to the ground, and they saw a passageway. There were
torches lighting the hall, leading the students to the dorms. They were astonished. The whole dorm was filled with amazing tapestries, and it stretched out, almost as large as the main hall at Hogwarts.
"Wow. Why do you have so much space?" Hermione asked, peering at the elaborate tapestries, particularly one portraying a blond woman and a short brunet man slaying someone in dark armour.
"We have this much space because Felixae is the art house. Most of us need this space for practising, and being creative. Most of our space is
actually built in to the mountain behind us. So, each of us get our own
rooms, unless we want to share with someone else. I'll show you our
rooms."
Angela and Miriam led Harry, Ron and Hermione up the stairs and in to a huge room. One half was decorated in rich, exotic shades of purple, red, and yellow, and the other in soft blues and yellows. Miriam quickly stuffed a worn pink bunny under a pillow, blushing wildly.
"We sing, so we need a sound proof room. Not that we're terrible singers or anything." Angela saw a piece of paper on her desk, and she
quickly read it.
"Miriam, we have to go down to the hospital wing. Again. That Moril has to take his concoction, and Madame can't find him. Again." Angela rolled her eyes, and Miriam groaned.
"I'm sorry, we have to leave you. Give this sheet to Sidra and Nina;
they'll direct you to the rest of the dorms. They're in the next rooms."
Angela and Miriam ran out of their room, leaving Ron, Harry, and Hermione all alone.
"Well, that was rather rude." Hermione tutted, and walked out of the room. Harry started to walk away, but Ron remained in the middle of the room.
"Ron, come on! We only have a half hour to see the rest of the houses." Ron looked at her.
"Hermione, I'm alone in a girl's room!" Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Its two girls, Ron, and anyway, you've been up to my room dozens of times." Hermione told Ron. He made a face.
"Hermione, they're pretty, and you're my friend. It's just not the same." Hermione frowned, and stomped out of the room.
"Come on, Ron, you know how she feels about that! Don't be stupid. You just as well called her ugly." Harry ran out after Hermione, leaving Ron alone.
"Does my conscience have to ruin everything that I want to do?" Ron said, walking out after his two friends.
"Hermione stood outside of the door to one of the rooms. She knew that it was either Sidra's or Nina's, but she didn't like barging in on people's
privacy. Harry came up behind her, and lightly tapped on her shoulder.
"Oh, Harry." She spun around, startled. "Hi. What is Ron's problem? I thought that he learned his lesson two years ago, but now this! I know he'll blow me off the first time a pretty girl walks along, but that doesn't make it any easier when he does." Hermione whispered angrily.
"I think that because we're all so close, you're not a 'girl' to him, Hermione," Harry reassured her, "you're a great friend. You know how Ron is, he usually is tongue tied when it comes to girls. He's himself around you, and that counts for something."
Hermione nodded, and looked up at Harry. She grinned, and reached
up to flatten his extremely unruly hair. Harry knocked on the door, but no
one answered. Ron came out of the room that they had left him in, and he
slowly walked towards them.
"Sorry." Ron said. Hermione just shrugged.
"Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about what?" Nina was standing in the doorway of her room, a walkman around her neck.
"Boys." Hermione told her with a sardonic smile. Nina nodded, understanding perfectly.
"So, what do you need?"
"Angela and Miriam left to go do something, and they told us to ask you to help us get acquainted with the other houses. We've been to Felixae
already." Nina nodded.
"Sure, I'll help. Can you go get Sidra, Ron? She's in Suzy's dorm, three doors down to the left. I need to talk to Hermione for a few minutes." Ron nodded, and he and Harry left to go find Sidra, wondering about the mysterious Suzy.
Hermione came in to Nina's room, and let out an appreciative sigh. Nina's room was bright white, and looked like something out of a fairy tale.
Hermione couldn't believe that it was in a mountain. There was even a huge
window on one wall, showing a beautiful sunny day.
"How did you do this?" Hermione asked in awe. Nina giggled, and sat on her bed.
"Every room has had hundreds of previous boarders, and each time a new boarder comes in, they add something to the room. We even have a special bookcase for each room, where each of the previous boarders put their diaries. They're pretty interesting."
"But isn't that looking at someone's private thoughts?" Hermione asked. But Nina shook her head.
"Sometimes. But usually these are more like public journals, offering gossip, advice, poetry, and yes, personal thoughts." Nina grinned. "A girl can go to school here, look up her mother's year, and find out what her mum was like as a sixteen year old." Her grin widened. "Most of the time, it's not exactly a pleasant surprise." She went over to the bookcase, staring at the rows of iridescent purple-blue-silver journals. "Some of the rooms have pretty neat history behind them, starting from year one of the school's opening. Only Felixae has these journals."
"So is Felixae made up of all girls?" Hermione asked, following Nina to the shelf. The light reflected off some of the books, and Hermione ran her finger along the spines.
"No. The boy's dormitory is in the tower across from us. But sometimes, it seems like there are some boys journals mixed in with the girls..." She picked up an old, dusty volume, "like this one, from the first year that the school started. I only started reading these, and they're so interesting. Some are happy, some are sad, some are especially designed to put you to sleep at night, and some are supposed to keep you up." Nina beamed wickedly. "Some are even said to tell the future."
"That's ridiculous," Hermione snorted, "Divining the future from the past? I don't have any patience with ordinary Divination, but this?" She lifted her eyebrows. Nina laughed outright.
"It's not as impossible as it might seem. You can borrow a few while you're here." Nina shrugged. "Who knows? They might just surprise you." Hermione grinned, and took a few of the older books.
"So, was this what you wanted to talk to me about?" Hermione asked sceptically.
"No. I didn't have to say anything, but you looked totally lost. I hope you come here for the first part of your stay." Hermione looked at Nina questioningly.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you know that you'll be living in each house during your stay,
that's why you're seeing all the houses now." Nina told her, as if this was the simplest thing in the world. Hermione looked shocked.
"What? We're not staying in just one? We do all go to one house at the same time, right?" Nina shook her head.
"Maybe, but I kind of doubt it. The revered school psychologists- "Nina rolled her eyes impatiently-"Think you'll meet more new people if you're not all together, huddled in your little 'comfort zones'." Nina checked her watch. "We better get going; we don't have time to show you the other houses before supper. You'll just have to cross that bridge when you get there." Hermione nodded, and they walked out of Nina's room. I like her already, Hermione thought with a smile.
Ron nervously knocked on Sidra's door, but no one answered. He tried the handle, and the door opened. The silver-haired girl sat at her desk. She glanced up at Ron.
"Oh, sorry - Ron, right? What can I do for you?" Sidra asked, smiling sweetly. But Ron wasn't listening.
"Uh...ga....ba...unghhh." Ron stared at the small, blonde, big-eyed girl sitting on the bed, wide-eyed, unable to voice a single comprehensive thought.
*****
Dinner was a chaotic affair.
Hermione had never noticed at Hogwarts how loud the Great Hall could be when several hundred students were eating. Or maybe it was just that the cafeteria of Mount Boucherie was so much louder. Whatever it was, her eardrums were near to bursting.
The students ate at round tables arranged around the room; a stage was erected at one end and the teachers ate at the back. There was one seat missing, but no one seemed to notice.
Ron and Harry were ignoring the noise; or most of it. Dinner was almost over and the three friends were lingering over slices of cherry cheesecake. Ron - having recovered his wits, however vague and temporary - looked at his dubiously, lifting it to survey the burnt bottom.
"Are these safe to eat?" He asked Hermione suspiciously.
"They're fresh from the cooking class," she said triumphantly, "Students made them. Fortunately, Canadians -being part of the civilized world-," Ron ducked to avoid a smoldering glare, "share my views about House Elves."
Ron rolled his eyes. Any further argument was diverted by the dimming of the lights and a wild roar that arose from the student population.
Ron glanced at Harry. Harry shrugged. Hermione raised her eyebrows at both of them.
The lights went up over a platform at the front of the room, where a guitar-laden woman was waiting.
"She's too old to be a student," Ron commented. Hermione shushed him.
The woman stepped into the light, casting a brilliant smile at the students and teachers.
"Hello, Hi and Howdy all!" she said.
"Hey, Tina!" The students replied.
"We've got three of my favourite students on stage tonight," she began.
"We're all your favourite students!" Someone shouted. Laughter rang out.
". for you Brits who won't know me, I am Professor Tina Sweetwater (call me Tina), I teach Guitar and Choral Music, plus Ballet-"
"Forget us being your favorites!" The same voice announced, "We all know Tina's favorite is Nina!" Tina glared in the direction of the voice, and waited for the laughter to quiet down again.
"I'm Head of Felixa House and right now I want you all to give it up for Tatterwings!"
A cacophony of shouts, screams, yells, and war-whoops sounded as Tina took a seat, cradling her guitar in her lap, and three girls came on stage single file, all wearing butterfly wings, fluttery dresses, and copious amounts of glitter.
The first, a reddish-brunette in green took center stage, a blonde in blue bearing a harp took a seat to her right, and a black-haired girl in pink stood on her left holding a violin. A glance from the first and they began.
The audience was captivated as music throbbed throughout the room. The vocalist crooned sweetly, aided by a Sonarus charm.
You've cast a spell on me, You've got me under your charms, But I like this love potion, So keep on holding me in your arms
Love potion, I'm under a spell, Love potion, And I feel just fine, Love potion, So hand me another glass 'Cause I can't get enough of your Poisoned wine
I know I'll feel bad in the morning, But I want to feel good tonight Give me some of that potion, baby Then turn off all of the lights. I don't want you to see me like this, I'm ashamed of myself, I want more of your potion, baby But more than that I think I want help.
Love potion, I'm under a spell Love potion I feel sort of shamed Love potion I'd smash the vial Love potion If only someone would take off my chains.
The last strum of a harp faded into the night, and the girls could only break into a heartbreakingly beautiful smile. All Ron could do was stare.
"That one with the harp," he said at last, breaking the incredible silence with his hoarse whisper, "I saw her in Sidra's room."
"Well, you either saw her or a veela," Hermione commented acidly, "That's what you acted like."
"Come on, Hermione!" Ron shouted as the room was filled with screams, shouts, and applause, "Didn't you see her? Don't you think she's - she's just so. . ." His voice trailed off. Hermione just looked at him. "Okay, okay," He said, "Sorry about treating you like 'one of the guys' there."
Any further argument, maiming, or possible dismemberment was interrupted by Tina retaking the stage and announcing that the talented trio could be met in the green room as soon as you were finished.
Immediately Ron began wolfing down his cheesecake, burnt bottom or no. Hermione snorted with disgust.
"Boys."
