Chapter 12: Andros

The car journey took about two hours. All the students fitted easily into the car, which had two front passenger seats. The girls, Lizzy and her friend Hannah Brittain, in the front, and the boys in the back. "How are the other students getting to the college?" asked Ron. "The older ones?"

"They come in other cars," said Professor Confessus. "Two of our other teachers will collect them at half-three and four o'clock."

Harry and Ron discussed Quidditch and music with Rudolf, who was a fan of heavy metal and had his own band. "Ve play a lot of songs," he told them. "And ve vrite our own."

"I only care about music," said Ron. "If it's one of the Chudley Cannons songs." He began to sing loudly and out of tune until Professor Confessus told him to "Please be quiet, or I'll set the budgie on you."

They then started to trade Chocolate Frog cards, Rudolf had a lot in German and Harry and Ron were eager to get a look at them. Hannah gave them a look that made them think that she thought they were being babyish. "Maybe we ought to stop?" said Ron in a low voice. "I mean, we're eighteen now."

"Look, Dumbledore!" exclaimed Rudolf. "I haven't got von of him in English yet."

Harry put his hand inside his robes and drew out the card that Ron had given him at the end of last year – himself. He scanned down to the bottom – "… his face disfigured by a lightning-bolt shaped scar." He traced the scar with his fingers. It hadn't hurt at all since he'd destroyed Voldemort, when the link that had been forged between them had hurt so much that he nearly died with the pain. In fact, if Dumbledore hadn't recovered from a deep charmed sleep that he had suffered since the end of Harry's sixth year and arrived back at Hogwarts just in time to save Harry, the young man would have died along with his enemy.

"You okay, Harry?" asked Ron.

"Yeah," said Harry. "I'm fine."

The car drove through two wrought-iron gates onto a gravel drive. They were in the countryside of the Midlands and had arrived at the college. A marble statue of a tall ancient Greek stood on a fountain in front of a modern-looking one-storey building. The car stopped with a screech and the doors magically flew open. The five students got out and removed their luggage from the boot. "Ready?" said Professor Confessus. "Good. Now, if you'd just like to follow me – Mr. Potter, please don't do that to your friend's broomstick. I'd like you to go into the entrance hall and along the corridor to your right. Your dormitories are the third room along for the ladies and the sixth for the men. Please feel free to explore the gardens. Stay out of the teachers' residence block on the right there and don't go into the spell-casting paddock behind the high fence or the offices off the entrance hall. The bell will call you all to dinner at six o'clock; the dining hall is next to the gymnasium off the entrance hall. Off you go." 

They dragged their trunks into the entrance hall, an L-shaped room lined with school photographs and trophies. "This is hard work," said Ron, his hands tightening around his trunk.

"Use your wand, then!" said Hannah, her trunk floating effortlessly behind her.

"Oh, yeah," said Ron. "Sorry." He flicked his wand and the trunk flew up, Harry and Rudolf did the same. They turned right into a corridor as instructed, it was painted blue and windows looked out onto the gardens. As instructed, Lizzy and Hannah entered the third room on the left and Harry, Ron and Rudolf carried onto the end where their dormitory was. Rudolf pushed opened the door and they looked into their dormitory for the first time.

It was a small room, with three small wooden beds crammed into in. There was a small table beside each one and a door at the back led into a shower room. A wizarding wireless and a magical typewriter sat on a desk beside the window.

"This is my bed," said Harry, sitting on the one nearest to it. Sheets were folded neatly on top of it. Rudolf and Ron scuffled for the bed opposite and Ron, the taller of the two, won.

Rudolf sat down resignedly on the other bed. "Shall ve unpack?"

"We might as well," replied Harry. The three of them opened their trunks and began taking out the multitude of books and equipment. Rudolf's looked somewhat better used. "Ve had some of dis stuff at Durmstrang," he explained.

Unpacking, making the beds and arranging their equipment took about a quarter of an hour. Neither of the three young men did it particularly tidily. "Shall ve go and look around now?" asked Rudolf when they had finished.

"All right," agreed Harry and Ron together.

The gardens were large, spacious and grassy and surrounded by a tall hedge. The main building was L-shaped like the hall, with a paddock for practising spells behind it. The paddock was surround on three sides by a tall fence of criss-crossed wires which glowed blue slightly; the fourth side was about half of the back wall, protected by metal plating. The six classrooms were behind the dormitories and shower rooms in the large East Wing. Off the Entrance Hall were changing rooms and offices. Behind them, in the east wing were the kitchens, a small common room, a gymnasium and the dining hall.

"Shall we see what's behind the paddock?" asked Harry. "I saw something there."

They walked out of the gate and into a large field. A small pavilion sat on one side and there was a stable on the other.

"It's a Quidditch pitch," said Ron. "But the goals aren't up."

"Dey're ofer der," gestured Rudolf, pointing a six long poles with hoops on the ends lying at the other side of the oval pitch. "Look – a running track!"

Sure enough, around the edges of the pitch was an eight-laned athletics track. "And Swifenhodge courts, and Battemarie, and – iss that a Quodpot pitch? I've nefer played it."

"This is a brilliant sports complex," said Ron. "It's nearly as good as the one at Exeter, and that's one of the best in the world. We should go there sometime, Harry."

"I vunder vot's in der stables," said Rudolf. "Shall ve go and see?"

They walked over to the handsome thatched redbrick stables to find Hannah and Lizzy already there, stroking and petting two dozen handsome winged horses in a huge variety of colours and breeds.

"Hi," said Lizzy to the wizards, whilst Hannah looked at them haughtily. "Look at the horses. They're beautiful."

They were indeed spectacular beasts, which flowing manes and tails and huge, feathered wings folded back gracefully. "I vunder if ve get to ride them?" asked Rudolf.

"Probably," said Ron. "Aurors need to be able to use all sorts of transport."

"It's five to six," Harry pointed out. "We'd better be going."

"Oh," said Hannah. "Do we have to?"

"We'd better," replied Ron. "You don't want to be late a second time."

Hannah looked at him, annoyed, but walked with the other trainee Aurors back to the dining hall.