A/N: Sorry for not updating, but my old computer got a virus and completely ate my files and we had no internet access. Anyone know what a WindSoc file is? Well, if it's corrupted, no internet for you!
Also: All reviews are encouraged and appreciated. Constructive criticism not ONLY de-crappifies my work, but also gives you the chance to voice your opinion and GIVE ME IDEAS. *hint...* Forgive me if this chapter isn't so fantabulous. I had a bit of writers block...
Anyway, on with the show! Enjoy!
Chapter 14: Restless
"Charlotte! Stop bouncing on that bed, you prat!" hollered Katherine in the girls' dormitory. "You're going to fall off!"
"So?" Charlotte called back, continuing to jump on the mattress. "When am I ever going to get another chance to do this? My bed at home isn't like this one!"
"You can't do that! And besides, I thought you wanted to know about Harry Potter..." Katherine said sarcastically. After all, how else was she going to get Charlotte to stop acting so moronic?
"Alright, alright!" sighed Charlotte, sitting down at the foot of her four-poster. All throughout the banquet, Katherine and Kitt had both been talking enthusiastically about Harry. What bothered Charlotte was that she didn't even know the first thing about him! After they had been sorted, she asked Katherine why he was so important to everyone. What was so special about him, when he seemed just like everyone else?
"Well," Katherine began, clearing her throat, "Harry plays a really big role in the wizarding world. But the biggest part of that is the fact that he didn't even mean to do anything!"
"Yeah, but you still haven't told me what he did yet!" groaned Charlotte, getting impatient.
"I was getting to it!"
"Okay, okay!"
"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted," started Katherine, winking, "There used to be a dark wizard. He was the baddest of bad, and I mean it! He had been destroyed, though, but the strangest thing about it was that a baby not even a year old did the deed!"
"And?" prompted Charlotte.
"Don't you see what I'm getting at?"
Charlotte blushed. "No, not exactly. Are you trying to tell me that the baby was Harry?!"
"Of course I am! No one really knows how he did it, though. And you've seen the scar... that's the only thing he got out of it! He could've been killed, but he only got a mark on his forehead!" sighed Katherine. "But the sad thing is that his parents were both killed by the dark lord."
"That's... awful! You mean he hasn't got any parents at all?" exclaimed Charlotte, feeling new sympathy for Harry.
"Well, yeah..."
"So he's famous for something he never meant to do... only he lost something precious along with it..." breathed Charlotte, amazed.
"It's a lot for someone to go through, y'know? He's been living with his aunt and uncle in a muggle town since that terrible night," Katherine added.
"You could call that the understatement of the year. But who did it? What was the dark lord's name?"
Katherine stared at Charlotte with a startled look on her face. "Charlotte, I can't say that..."
"And why not?" demanded Charlotte.
"Most of us just call him You-Know-Who. Some people are uncomfortable saying his name," said a bushy-haired girl in the next bed.
"Is that so? Well, I don't even know who he is; why should I have to be afraid of him?" Charlotte asked her.
"You really don't know? Wow... I thought everyone understood the reason," she responded.
"Hermione, not everyone is as smart as you, just so you know," interrupted Kitt. "Charlotte, his name's Voldemort, okay?"
A girl named Lavender flinched. Katherine's face went white. "What the heck did you say his name for?" she demanded.
"Why, do you think he's gonna creep up behind you and hex you for saying his name? Katherine, he's dead! Dead, dead, dead!" Kitt repeated, emphasizing her point. "Come on, everyone, being afraid to say something as stupid as a name only makes you more scared of what you're talking about!" she continued, clearly annoyed.
"Yeah, I really don't see the point in cowering over someone's name..." Charlotte muttered. Though, a lot of things made less sense since she had recieved her acceptance letter. She laughed at the thought. Things were so different after that.
"But... that was Mom and Dad's fault, wasn't it?" a voice inside her head interrogated. She wondered if that voice was really her own. Charlotte brushed off those words quickly, not wanting them to develop into a grudge against her parents. She didn't know what she would do without either of them in her life.
"Just go to sleep, won't you? You're louder than you think, you know!" called another girl in the dorm. Charlotte recognized her as one of the twins from the train earlier that day. Hoping the girl wouldn't remember her, Charlotte obeyed instantly. The last thing she wanted was to be laughed at again for getting lost.
"Yeah, whatever..." chorused the others in the dormitory. The girl was right; they did have their first classes tomorrow. It would be in everyone's best interest that they get to bed at a decent hour.
As everyone said their good-nights, Charlotte sunk into her mattress. The room soon became silent, and she was only left with the quiet snores of the other girls in the dorm. Everyone seemed to fall asleep easily. Charlotte wished she could do the same, but even the slightest noise forced her eyes open.
She groaned and got up from her bed. This was normal; Charlotte always tended to have sleeping problems. It ran in her family, she believed. As she opened the door and descended down the spiral staircase from the girls' dormitories, the steps creaked, making her jump.
"Maybe a glass of water would help..." she thought. Without any further delay, she walked into the bathroom and retrieved herself a cup of water. She then strode over to one of the long scarlett couches and sat down. As she sipped the water, her eyes began to close. Soon enough, she had fallen asleep.
***
"Charlotte, what are you doing down here?" someone asked.
It seemed really early. As Charlotte fluttered her eyes open, she realized that the cup was still in her hand, only its contents had spilled onto the floor. Her vision was still blurry; she wondered who was trying to talk to her.
"Who is that?" she mumbled, "And what time is it?"
"I'm not sure if you remember me, but it's Harry," the boy said. "Harry Potter. We met at Gringotts; Hagrid and I were just leaving when you came."
Charlotte rubbed her eyes a few times; it seemed to help her eyesight in the morning. Fumbling around the area, she wondered where she had placed her glasses. She sighed, figuring they were still upstairs. "Oh," she said, "I remember you! My dad went nuts trying to shake your hand when he saw you. Sorry about that, by the way; he's a little bit odd."
"No problem," Harry responded. "Oh, and it's just about four-thirty in the morning. Pretty early, huh?"
"You bet," groaned Charlotte, pulling herself up from the couch. "Wait, why are you down here at this hour?"
"Err... Ron was snoring louder than you can imagine, and so I thought I'd come down here for a bit."
"Oh, alright.... Who's Ron?"
Harry laughed. "He's the really tall one with red hair and freckles. His last name is Weasley, if that helps you any more."
"Well, not really, but at least I'll know who you're talking about some other time," chuckled Charlotte.
"Mind if I sit down?"
"Sure; go ahead."
He sat down opposite of her, showing a tired smile. Charlotte couldn't help but grin in return. Classes wouldn't start for hours, but she knew they both needed to make sure they wouldn't have sleeping problems often. She ran her fingers through her hair and yawned. Just then, she came up with an idea to pass the time.
"Hey, Harry; do you want to play cards?" Charlotte asked, hopeful.
"Sure, but only for a little while. We've still got to get to bed; breakfast is in a couple of hours," he said through yawns.
"I brought a deck with me; it's in my trunk. I'll be right back, okay?"
"Alright."
Charlotte got up from the couch and walked over to the staircase. She came up the stairs slowly, trying not to make the steps creak like they had before. When she found herself at the door, she walked in, leaving it slightly ajar. Creeping over to her trunk, she saw that Katherine was still sleeping.
Charlotte tried to be as silent as she could, as not to wake up the other girls. Once she had gotten the deck of cards, she clicked the trunk shut with a snap and exited the same way she came.
When she came back over to the couch again, she noticed that Harry had fallen asleep while she was away.
"Lucky boy," she thought. She wished sleep came that easily to her. Wondering whether he would wake up soon or not, she started to play a game of Solitaire. The time went by slowly until she, too, fell asleep, right on the floor on which she was playing.
***
Charlotte woke to the sounds of several pairs of feet coming down the staircases. Looking over at the couch, she saw that Harry had gone, and that a blanket was draped over her shoulders. She got up from the floor and brushed herself off, wondering where everyone was going. Just as she gathered up all of the cards, she saw Katherine and Kitt coming down the stairs of the girls' dormitories.
"So that's where you were all night? Down here?" Kitt said, spotting her. There was exasperation in her voice.
"We were wondering where you had been! Where did you sleep, on an armchair?" asked Katherine, clearly just as shocked.
"No... the couch. And the floor for a little bit..." answered Charlotte, mumbling.
"For the whole night?" Kitt and Katherine questioned in unison.
"I guess so," responded Charlotte, rubbing her shoulders. Sleeping on the floor wasn't exactly the smartest thing she could have done.
"Well, you'd better get dressed! Breakfast is in ten minutes!" rushed Katherine.
"Sure..." muttered Charlotte. Still rubbing her shoulders unconsciously, she laggered up the stairs to the girls' dorm, leaving Kitt and Katherine to go eat.
***
A/N: AGH!!! Writers block is awful. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, but that's hard when I can't think of anything to write. I hope you liked this last installment of "A Whole New World." Wishing that I'll get the fifteenth chapter up soon.
Also: All reviews are encouraged and appreciated. Constructive criticism not ONLY de-crappifies my work, but also gives you the chance to voice your opinion and GIVE ME IDEAS. *hint...* Forgive me if this chapter isn't so fantabulous. I had a bit of writers block...
Anyway, on with the show! Enjoy!
Chapter 14: Restless
"Charlotte! Stop bouncing on that bed, you prat!" hollered Katherine in the girls' dormitory. "You're going to fall off!"
"So?" Charlotte called back, continuing to jump on the mattress. "When am I ever going to get another chance to do this? My bed at home isn't like this one!"
"You can't do that! And besides, I thought you wanted to know about Harry Potter..." Katherine said sarcastically. After all, how else was she going to get Charlotte to stop acting so moronic?
"Alright, alright!" sighed Charlotte, sitting down at the foot of her four-poster. All throughout the banquet, Katherine and Kitt had both been talking enthusiastically about Harry. What bothered Charlotte was that she didn't even know the first thing about him! After they had been sorted, she asked Katherine why he was so important to everyone. What was so special about him, when he seemed just like everyone else?
"Well," Katherine began, clearing her throat, "Harry plays a really big role in the wizarding world. But the biggest part of that is the fact that he didn't even mean to do anything!"
"Yeah, but you still haven't told me what he did yet!" groaned Charlotte, getting impatient.
"I was getting to it!"
"Okay, okay!"
"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted," started Katherine, winking, "There used to be a dark wizard. He was the baddest of bad, and I mean it! He had been destroyed, though, but the strangest thing about it was that a baby not even a year old did the deed!"
"And?" prompted Charlotte.
"Don't you see what I'm getting at?"
Charlotte blushed. "No, not exactly. Are you trying to tell me that the baby was Harry?!"
"Of course I am! No one really knows how he did it, though. And you've seen the scar... that's the only thing he got out of it! He could've been killed, but he only got a mark on his forehead!" sighed Katherine. "But the sad thing is that his parents were both killed by the dark lord."
"That's... awful! You mean he hasn't got any parents at all?" exclaimed Charlotte, feeling new sympathy for Harry.
"Well, yeah..."
"So he's famous for something he never meant to do... only he lost something precious along with it..." breathed Charlotte, amazed.
"It's a lot for someone to go through, y'know? He's been living with his aunt and uncle in a muggle town since that terrible night," Katherine added.
"You could call that the understatement of the year. But who did it? What was the dark lord's name?"
Katherine stared at Charlotte with a startled look on her face. "Charlotte, I can't say that..."
"And why not?" demanded Charlotte.
"Most of us just call him You-Know-Who. Some people are uncomfortable saying his name," said a bushy-haired girl in the next bed.
"Is that so? Well, I don't even know who he is; why should I have to be afraid of him?" Charlotte asked her.
"You really don't know? Wow... I thought everyone understood the reason," she responded.
"Hermione, not everyone is as smart as you, just so you know," interrupted Kitt. "Charlotte, his name's Voldemort, okay?"
A girl named Lavender flinched. Katherine's face went white. "What the heck did you say his name for?" she demanded.
"Why, do you think he's gonna creep up behind you and hex you for saying his name? Katherine, he's dead! Dead, dead, dead!" Kitt repeated, emphasizing her point. "Come on, everyone, being afraid to say something as stupid as a name only makes you more scared of what you're talking about!" she continued, clearly annoyed.
"Yeah, I really don't see the point in cowering over someone's name..." Charlotte muttered. Though, a lot of things made less sense since she had recieved her acceptance letter. She laughed at the thought. Things were so different after that.
"But... that was Mom and Dad's fault, wasn't it?" a voice inside her head interrogated. She wondered if that voice was really her own. Charlotte brushed off those words quickly, not wanting them to develop into a grudge against her parents. She didn't know what she would do without either of them in her life.
"Just go to sleep, won't you? You're louder than you think, you know!" called another girl in the dorm. Charlotte recognized her as one of the twins from the train earlier that day. Hoping the girl wouldn't remember her, Charlotte obeyed instantly. The last thing she wanted was to be laughed at again for getting lost.
"Yeah, whatever..." chorused the others in the dormitory. The girl was right; they did have their first classes tomorrow. It would be in everyone's best interest that they get to bed at a decent hour.
As everyone said their good-nights, Charlotte sunk into her mattress. The room soon became silent, and she was only left with the quiet snores of the other girls in the dorm. Everyone seemed to fall asleep easily. Charlotte wished she could do the same, but even the slightest noise forced her eyes open.
She groaned and got up from her bed. This was normal; Charlotte always tended to have sleeping problems. It ran in her family, she believed. As she opened the door and descended down the spiral staircase from the girls' dormitories, the steps creaked, making her jump.
"Maybe a glass of water would help..." she thought. Without any further delay, she walked into the bathroom and retrieved herself a cup of water. She then strode over to one of the long scarlett couches and sat down. As she sipped the water, her eyes began to close. Soon enough, she had fallen asleep.
***
"Charlotte, what are you doing down here?" someone asked.
It seemed really early. As Charlotte fluttered her eyes open, she realized that the cup was still in her hand, only its contents had spilled onto the floor. Her vision was still blurry; she wondered who was trying to talk to her.
"Who is that?" she mumbled, "And what time is it?"
"I'm not sure if you remember me, but it's Harry," the boy said. "Harry Potter. We met at Gringotts; Hagrid and I were just leaving when you came."
Charlotte rubbed her eyes a few times; it seemed to help her eyesight in the morning. Fumbling around the area, she wondered where she had placed her glasses. She sighed, figuring they were still upstairs. "Oh," she said, "I remember you! My dad went nuts trying to shake your hand when he saw you. Sorry about that, by the way; he's a little bit odd."
"No problem," Harry responded. "Oh, and it's just about four-thirty in the morning. Pretty early, huh?"
"You bet," groaned Charlotte, pulling herself up from the couch. "Wait, why are you down here at this hour?"
"Err... Ron was snoring louder than you can imagine, and so I thought I'd come down here for a bit."
"Oh, alright.... Who's Ron?"
Harry laughed. "He's the really tall one with red hair and freckles. His last name is Weasley, if that helps you any more."
"Well, not really, but at least I'll know who you're talking about some other time," chuckled Charlotte.
"Mind if I sit down?"
"Sure; go ahead."
He sat down opposite of her, showing a tired smile. Charlotte couldn't help but grin in return. Classes wouldn't start for hours, but she knew they both needed to make sure they wouldn't have sleeping problems often. She ran her fingers through her hair and yawned. Just then, she came up with an idea to pass the time.
"Hey, Harry; do you want to play cards?" Charlotte asked, hopeful.
"Sure, but only for a little while. We've still got to get to bed; breakfast is in a couple of hours," he said through yawns.
"I brought a deck with me; it's in my trunk. I'll be right back, okay?"
"Alright."
Charlotte got up from the couch and walked over to the staircase. She came up the stairs slowly, trying not to make the steps creak like they had before. When she found herself at the door, she walked in, leaving it slightly ajar. Creeping over to her trunk, she saw that Katherine was still sleeping.
Charlotte tried to be as silent as she could, as not to wake up the other girls. Once she had gotten the deck of cards, she clicked the trunk shut with a snap and exited the same way she came.
When she came back over to the couch again, she noticed that Harry had fallen asleep while she was away.
"Lucky boy," she thought. She wished sleep came that easily to her. Wondering whether he would wake up soon or not, she started to play a game of Solitaire. The time went by slowly until she, too, fell asleep, right on the floor on which she was playing.
***
Charlotte woke to the sounds of several pairs of feet coming down the staircases. Looking over at the couch, she saw that Harry had gone, and that a blanket was draped over her shoulders. She got up from the floor and brushed herself off, wondering where everyone was going. Just as she gathered up all of the cards, she saw Katherine and Kitt coming down the stairs of the girls' dormitories.
"So that's where you were all night? Down here?" Kitt said, spotting her. There was exasperation in her voice.
"We were wondering where you had been! Where did you sleep, on an armchair?" asked Katherine, clearly just as shocked.
"No... the couch. And the floor for a little bit..." answered Charlotte, mumbling.
"For the whole night?" Kitt and Katherine questioned in unison.
"I guess so," responded Charlotte, rubbing her shoulders. Sleeping on the floor wasn't exactly the smartest thing she could have done.
"Well, you'd better get dressed! Breakfast is in ten minutes!" rushed Katherine.
"Sure..." muttered Charlotte. Still rubbing her shoulders unconsciously, she laggered up the stairs to the girls' dorm, leaving Kitt and Katherine to go eat.
***
A/N: AGH!!! Writers block is awful. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, but that's hard when I can't think of anything to write. I hope you liked this last installment of "A Whole New World." Wishing that I'll get the fifteenth chapter up soon.
