Gee, Officer Krupke. None of it's mine.
-
Chapter Two: Settling
The Sorting ceremony was suprisingly short; there were only about 100 new students. At the end of it, Dumbledore stood up again and reported that Skeiving Snackboxes, Chuckling Carrots, and Batwing Bombers had been added to Filch's list of forbidden items.
"I believe," Dumbledore added, his eyes sparkling, "that with those additions, we safely hold the title for Most Items Forbidden at a School of Magic. The total comes close to something like 2,498 charmed items. I'm sure that, if asked, Filch will hand out autographed copies."
Several students snickered at this, and Argus Filch's face could be seen scowling at them, daring to even think about asking him for such a thing.
The feast was, of course, abundant in it's wonderful food. Hermione looked only slightly dismayed at the amount of work that it must have been for the house elves, and murmured a small 'Thank you' towards the food, as if the elves could hear her from that. Ron saw her and shook his head.
"'At's just not normal, 'ermione! 'eir just fine the way 'ey are, 'ow many times do we have to tell 'ou?" he forced out amicably, his mouth full of shrimp, mashed potatoes, and halibut.
"That is disgusting, Ronald." Ginny wrinkled her nose. Hermione couldn't tell if she was referring to Ron's food combination, or talking with his mouth full. Probably both. Ron hastily swallowed.
"SO sorry, Virginia. I thought you liked seafood..." with that, he tried to toss his roll at her. Ginny pulled Harry infront of her, though, and Harry's glasses got considerably more buttery.
"You are dead, mate," Harry decreed dramatically, wiping his glasses off on his robe. "So very dead. Just wait for tonight."
Ron chuckled and made a huge show of shivering. Hermione just shook her head and finished her potato soup, raising her eyebrows at a small first-year that was staring in a definate worshipping manner at Harry.
-
But the feast couldn't last forever, and soon it was over. She looked longingly over her shoulder at her three friends, while they laughed and motioned for her to join her two fellow Senior Prefects (Malfoy was missing) that were standing (albeit impatiently) and the left door. With a sigh, she straightened her posture and hair while walking composedly over to them.
"Let's go, shall we?" she inquired.
"WE have been ready to go for..." Ernie checked his watch. "Four minutes and twenty-seven seconds."
Padma just jingled her gold braclets in a way that suggested something along the lines of, 'Will you two stop TALKING so we could go, please?'
Draco haughtily shouldered his way passed Hermione.
"You waited for me? How sweet," said Malfoy sarcastically to her.
"No," said Padma with as much sweetness as she could muster under the current situation. "Dumbledore asked us to all go together the first time. Tradition, or something."
"Well," said Draco, changing his tone for the exquisite Ravenclaw. "I won't delay you any longer, then."
With that, he offered Padma his arm and sauntered down the hall.
In the wrong direction.
Hermione cleared her throat, stopping Padma in mid-giggle.
"Yes, Mudblood?" Malfoy inquired, eyes flashing.
"Well, Mafloy, I was just going to point out you're going in the completely wrong direction. But, since you're going to continue with the High and Mighty Pureblood routine, carry on. I believe you are headed in the right direction for the Experemental Potions class, where they're testing a mighty strong Deformity Draught. By all means, don't let me keep you." Hermione flipped her hair and turned on her heel, following Ernie to the correct staircase.
Padma smiled slightly at Draco, gently unattaching her arm from his and walked quickly in the right direction. Draco growled slightly under his breath and briskly headed after the others, muttering to himself about humiliation, Mudbloods, and rank..
-
When they got to their portrait, the four stopped and looked up and down the hall for another strange-looking portrait.
Any other strange-looking portrait.
"I knew the old man was off his rocker... I didn't know he'd fallen all the way across the bleeding country from it," Malfoy muttered. Hermione glared at him, but almost agreed when she saw what she'd have to be dealing with all year.
Their portrait was of an extremely depressed-looking mattress. It was drooped over on one side of the painting, sitting on a sparse basement floor.
"I heard that, you know," it adressed them morosely. "Just because I am who I am doesn't mean I can't hear."
They looked at each other, at the painting, and then at each other again. What was Dumbledore thinking?
"And... just who are you, exactly?" Padma asked tentatively.
"I am a mattress," it sighed. "I belonged to a girl named Myrtle."
"Moaning Myrtle?" groaned Hermione.
"Perhaps," the mattress sniffed. "She did moan an awful lot. About when Norman Blakeffe left her for Mandy Peter, about how she was going to fail Potions... most unfortunate. When she off and killed herself, I was very happy to be someone else's mattress. But no, the one friend she did have happened to be an over-zealous art student that painted me before I could be used by someone happier. No respect. None at all."
Hermione was about to reproach the rather rude portrait when it, in a choked voice, asked them to give it the password and get on with it. Ernie blustered it out and they all got in through the door rather hastily. Hermione was the last one in, and heard:
"Springs! No respect, none.... I don't even HAVE springs, do I? No, I don't. I'm completely stuffed. No respe-"
She shut the door very, very quickly.
"Dumbledore is daft." Draco stated simply.
"Shut up, ferret..." Hermione ordered, only half paying attention. the room she was in was definately familiar... but it was probably redone from the last time she saw it. It was a very lovely room, coloured with neutrals. There were large cherry bookcases around the edges of the room, with large bay windows facing the lake. There were four desks and several other features that hinted this was a room for studying and meetings, athough at the far end there was a balcony.
In the very centre, there was a hole. It had a white spiral staircase that led down to another room that was smaller and cozier, it let into yet another room. This final room had a white and black checked floor, and all it had as far as furnishings was a chess set and two chairs in the centre of the room. There were five doors: two on the left and the right that were bedrooms, with the occupant's name etched into the door, and one at the far wall that was most likely a bathroom.
It was the chessboard that triggered Hermione's memory: this was the once-forbidden right corridor on the third floor. This was the room where, only a few years prior, there had been the dramatic chess game that Ron got House points for. She looked intently at the spot where Ron had layed, unconcious, for such a long time...
"Still there, Mudblood? Oh, pity... I was hoping your soul would have just up and left your body, or something..." Draco sniggered past her.
The comment didn't seem to offend her as much as Malfoy was hoping. He stormed into his room and shut the door loudly. Padma and Ernie followed suit, if not in a more quiet fashion.
Hermione decided that her less-than-friendly roommates were okay. Knowing what she had gone through here already gave her confidence, and she walked gracefully and smiling into the room she was going to have for the next year.
-
And that's chapter two. Thank you to Cliche'Brat and Dracos Princess1 for pointing out that it was Padma and not Paravati in
Ravenclaw... I can't believe I missed that.
Oh well, thanks again! :)
-
Chapter Two: Settling
The Sorting ceremony was suprisingly short; there were only about 100 new students. At the end of it, Dumbledore stood up again and reported that Skeiving Snackboxes, Chuckling Carrots, and Batwing Bombers had been added to Filch's list of forbidden items.
"I believe," Dumbledore added, his eyes sparkling, "that with those additions, we safely hold the title for Most Items Forbidden at a School of Magic. The total comes close to something like 2,498 charmed items. I'm sure that, if asked, Filch will hand out autographed copies."
Several students snickered at this, and Argus Filch's face could be seen scowling at them, daring to even think about asking him for such a thing.
The feast was, of course, abundant in it's wonderful food. Hermione looked only slightly dismayed at the amount of work that it must have been for the house elves, and murmured a small 'Thank you' towards the food, as if the elves could hear her from that. Ron saw her and shook his head.
"'At's just not normal, 'ermione! 'eir just fine the way 'ey are, 'ow many times do we have to tell 'ou?" he forced out amicably, his mouth full of shrimp, mashed potatoes, and halibut.
"That is disgusting, Ronald." Ginny wrinkled her nose. Hermione couldn't tell if she was referring to Ron's food combination, or talking with his mouth full. Probably both. Ron hastily swallowed.
"SO sorry, Virginia. I thought you liked seafood..." with that, he tried to toss his roll at her. Ginny pulled Harry infront of her, though, and Harry's glasses got considerably more buttery.
"You are dead, mate," Harry decreed dramatically, wiping his glasses off on his robe. "So very dead. Just wait for tonight."
Ron chuckled and made a huge show of shivering. Hermione just shook her head and finished her potato soup, raising her eyebrows at a small first-year that was staring in a definate worshipping manner at Harry.
-
But the feast couldn't last forever, and soon it was over. She looked longingly over her shoulder at her three friends, while they laughed and motioned for her to join her two fellow Senior Prefects (Malfoy was missing) that were standing (albeit impatiently) and the left door. With a sigh, she straightened her posture and hair while walking composedly over to them.
"Let's go, shall we?" she inquired.
"WE have been ready to go for..." Ernie checked his watch. "Four minutes and twenty-seven seconds."
Padma just jingled her gold braclets in a way that suggested something along the lines of, 'Will you two stop TALKING so we could go, please?'
Draco haughtily shouldered his way passed Hermione.
"You waited for me? How sweet," said Malfoy sarcastically to her.
"No," said Padma with as much sweetness as she could muster under the current situation. "Dumbledore asked us to all go together the first time. Tradition, or something."
"Well," said Draco, changing his tone for the exquisite Ravenclaw. "I won't delay you any longer, then."
With that, he offered Padma his arm and sauntered down the hall.
In the wrong direction.
Hermione cleared her throat, stopping Padma in mid-giggle.
"Yes, Mudblood?" Malfoy inquired, eyes flashing.
"Well, Mafloy, I was just going to point out you're going in the completely wrong direction. But, since you're going to continue with the High and Mighty Pureblood routine, carry on. I believe you are headed in the right direction for the Experemental Potions class, where they're testing a mighty strong Deformity Draught. By all means, don't let me keep you." Hermione flipped her hair and turned on her heel, following Ernie to the correct staircase.
Padma smiled slightly at Draco, gently unattaching her arm from his and walked quickly in the right direction. Draco growled slightly under his breath and briskly headed after the others, muttering to himself about humiliation, Mudbloods, and rank..
-
When they got to their portrait, the four stopped and looked up and down the hall for another strange-looking portrait.
Any other strange-looking portrait.
"I knew the old man was off his rocker... I didn't know he'd fallen all the way across the bleeding country from it," Malfoy muttered. Hermione glared at him, but almost agreed when she saw what she'd have to be dealing with all year.
Their portrait was of an extremely depressed-looking mattress. It was drooped over on one side of the painting, sitting on a sparse basement floor.
"I heard that, you know," it adressed them morosely. "Just because I am who I am doesn't mean I can't hear."
They looked at each other, at the painting, and then at each other again. What was Dumbledore thinking?
"And... just who are you, exactly?" Padma asked tentatively.
"I am a mattress," it sighed. "I belonged to a girl named Myrtle."
"Moaning Myrtle?" groaned Hermione.
"Perhaps," the mattress sniffed. "She did moan an awful lot. About when Norman Blakeffe left her for Mandy Peter, about how she was going to fail Potions... most unfortunate. When she off and killed herself, I was very happy to be someone else's mattress. But no, the one friend she did have happened to be an over-zealous art student that painted me before I could be used by someone happier. No respect. None at all."
Hermione was about to reproach the rather rude portrait when it, in a choked voice, asked them to give it the password and get on with it. Ernie blustered it out and they all got in through the door rather hastily. Hermione was the last one in, and heard:
"Springs! No respect, none.... I don't even HAVE springs, do I? No, I don't. I'm completely stuffed. No respe-"
She shut the door very, very quickly.
"Dumbledore is daft." Draco stated simply.
"Shut up, ferret..." Hermione ordered, only half paying attention. the room she was in was definately familiar... but it was probably redone from the last time she saw it. It was a very lovely room, coloured with neutrals. There were large cherry bookcases around the edges of the room, with large bay windows facing the lake. There were four desks and several other features that hinted this was a room for studying and meetings, athough at the far end there was a balcony.
In the very centre, there was a hole. It had a white spiral staircase that led down to another room that was smaller and cozier, it let into yet another room. This final room had a white and black checked floor, and all it had as far as furnishings was a chess set and two chairs in the centre of the room. There were five doors: two on the left and the right that were bedrooms, with the occupant's name etched into the door, and one at the far wall that was most likely a bathroom.
It was the chessboard that triggered Hermione's memory: this was the once-forbidden right corridor on the third floor. This was the room where, only a few years prior, there had been the dramatic chess game that Ron got House points for. She looked intently at the spot where Ron had layed, unconcious, for such a long time...
"Still there, Mudblood? Oh, pity... I was hoping your soul would have just up and left your body, or something..." Draco sniggered past her.
The comment didn't seem to offend her as much as Malfoy was hoping. He stormed into his room and shut the door loudly. Padma and Ernie followed suit, if not in a more quiet fashion.
Hermione decided that her less-than-friendly roommates were okay. Knowing what she had gone through here already gave her confidence, and she walked gracefully and smiling into the room she was going to have for the next year.
-
And that's chapter two. Thank you to Cliche'Brat and Dracos Princess1 for pointing out that it was Padma and not Paravati in
Ravenclaw... I can't believe I missed that.
Oh well, thanks again! :)