Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any material contained herein, save the plot.

2. The Hall

Smeltings was a magnificent place. The stone courtyard sported many large trees and shrubberies. The building itself was also stone, the entrance was a massive archway and Dudley was somewhat overwhelmed by the size of it. It seemed like a foreboding place, but then Dudley supposed all new schools do, to some degree.

Dudley stood in the courtyard with a large trunk in each hand, a bag on his back and a funny looking boater on his head, looking quite lost. He was looking around at all the people when he felt a SMACK on his behind.

Dudley whipped around to see his assailant.

"Hullo Dudley!" said Piers, "have a good holiday?"

"Good enough," Dudley said, carefully not mentioning the - tail - incident.

"Is that runty cousin of yours around? I want to try out this Smeltings stick!"

"Ha! He come to Smeltings? My dad would chain him to a railway track first! Nah, he's gone to some… other school."

"Really? What one?"

Dudley shifted, not wanting to think about Harry. "Like I know! Now, um, where do I put my stuff?"

"Here," said Piers, "I'll show you."

And show him he did, and by that time the bell had rung and an ocean of maroon tailcoats and orange knickerbockers walked through the Smeltings archway and into the hall.

The hall was incredible. Made up from large stone bricks it was resplendent in orange banners that hung from the ceiling and over a raised platform at the far end. There were seats on the platform, and Dudley supposed this was where the teachers sat. Facing the platform were 50 long wooden benches, one placed in front of the other.

Seven of the rows closest to the platform were reserved for the first years, shown by a large brown "1" written on a banner which hung above them. Dudley and Piers walked down to one of the benches in the middle of the designated section. Piers sat next to a strange little blonde boy with some kind of respiratory issue that meant he breathed in a heavy, bubbly, snuffling way that made Dudley both disgusted and aggravated. He would have happily hit him over the head with the Smeltings stick, but Piers was in the way. Piers himself seemed to be having similar thoughts, his hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists in suppressed rage.

Just after a thick, choked cough escaped from the sickly blonde boy, Dudley felt someone sit next to him. He looked quickly around to make sure it wasn't another heavy breather and found himself face to face with a boy with well-combed dark brown hair, brown eyes and a big smile.

"Hello!" the boy said cheerfully. " My name's Malcom, what's yours?"

"Dudley," said Dudley.

"What a name!" said Malcom. "I reckon you need a nickname. How's about Dud? Can I call you Dud?"

"Sure," said Dudley slowly. He wasn't too sure about this Malcom. He looked like a good enough person to befriend, and certainly the wrong sort of person to be on the wrong side of. Malcom was quite thick-set and strong-looking. His eyes looked both intelligent and witty, but Dudley had little doubt that they could turn hard when he was angry. Malcom looked down at his wrist watch, and Dudley noticed simultaneously that the watch was top-of-the-market and that his hands were large and powerful, looking as if they'd wrapped around not a few scrawny necks. Yes, this was just the kind of friend to make if he didn't want to be beaten up at this school.

Dudley suddenly made up his mind and stuck out his right hand. "Hello Malcom! Nice to meet you."

Malcom appraised the hand, then shook it firmly, smiling. "Right back at you! Oh, look – they're getting underway."

He was right. A long line of teachers filed in from the right and took their seats on the platform, each wearing expressions with various degrees of sterness. The one sitting on the far left looked the meanest of all, peering over his glasses with thin, brown hair slicked back and a brown tweed suit. He was wearing the most foreboding scowl that Dudley found himself shivering involuntarily.

"I say! Look at that man on the left! Nasty looking fellow, isn't he?" Malcom whispered to Dudley.

"Wouldn't want to cross him," Dudley agreed.

"Oh, I don't know," said Piers from Dudley's other side, "I dare say it would be fun!" Piers was always the troublemaker.

With the teachers all sitting, a final man stepped out from the right. He was wearing a black expensive-looking suit and held out a book in his left hand. A hush descended across the hall and the man stepped up to a podium and stood facing the students.

He coughed quietly, then spoke in a firm voice. "Good afternoon all, and welcome to Smeltings. I am your headmaster Mr. Marrum. First of all we need to sort you all out and get you settled into your dormitories. So will first years please follow Mr. Richards into the third courtyard? Thank you Mr. Richards."

Mr. Richards stood up and directed the first years through a door near the front and out a corridor into a large open space which was apparently the third courtyard.

"Now," said Mr. Richards in a nervous voice, "are you all here? Right. I am Mr. Richards, and I will be your form leader for this year. Right." He wrung his hands and ran them through his greying hair. "Right. We have dormitories of four boys each, so, all arrange yourselves into groups of four!"

This seemed an odd way of working things, as nobody knew each other yet, but they eventually worked it out. Dudley stood in a small group with Piers and Malcom, and a boy who had joined them at the last moment. He had dusty blonde hair and large shoulders, and introduced himself as Gordon. They had thankfully shaken off the annoying boy with the breathing problem. He was standing in a group of snivelling boys to their right.

"All in groups? Good, good. Right. Now, we have four houses in this school, and everyone belongs to one of them. All the boys in a dormitory together are in the same house. The houses are Gold, Silver, Ruby and Sapphire. So, all the people in this area – you're Gold, this area –" he marked out the area with his arms, "Silver, you lot are Ruby and the rest are Sapphire. Right, now, follow me!"

Dudley was shocked to find himself in Ruby. He much rather be in Gold, not that he supposed it mattered much.

Mr. Richards led the students up to the Dormitory area. There was a building for each year, containing several floors. The first floor was the common room, the second was Gold, third was Silver, fourth Ruby and the last was Sapphire. The students all separated at Mr. Richards request into the floor set out for them.

The Ruby floor opened up from the stairs as a long corridor covered in dark red carpet and lined with doors. Dudley and his roommates took the last one on the left, labelled R14 – Ruby First Years Number Four.

A/N. Well, that's chapter two. I don't know if I like the last bit, it's a bit too factual and not enough with characters. Just trying to get the building set-up out of the way, so the setting is clear for the rest of the story. Let me know if you have any ideas about what the school and the teachers should be like, especially school-life, seeing as I do not go to a British Boarding School, I'm kind of just making it up. Keep reading, I hope you're enjoying it so far, and please review! Thanks guys.