The common room was packed. Every soul was talking. There were stories going around about a boy transferring to Hogwarts, who is related to the stable boy in the Cabrini College story. Everyone was talking about this, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were talking about Beaver College, now Arcadia University, in a corner near the fire.
"I still can't figure out who that ghost was. The first one we met." Harry said.
It had only been a few days since they came back from the adventure and it was still fresh in their minds.
"I want to know what makes a ghost retain a spell directed through it." Hermione said.
Ron was still very stunned at the fact that he had come face to face with Lord Voldemort and couldn't think of anything to say. Hermione pulled out a book form her bag entitled: Arcadia University, A Guide to the Legends. She had recently gotten Professor McGonagal to buy it from a Muggle shop in London. McGonagal only agreed because other wise the three of them would be bombarding her with questions about the whole affair. Harry looked over her shoulder. She was on a page about the different ghosts that haunt the castle.
"Maybe he was that one." Harry said pointing at the name James, the stable boy. "It's a possibility." Hermione replied.
Ron sat there deep in thought. Girls had given him more attention when they had come back. They all wanted to know how he survived the Killing Curse. It started out with the truth then with every story, it went farther from the truth.
"I think Voldemort's going to be coming again to finish you off." Ron said.
He now said Voldemort's name instead of You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, because he realized that fear of a name created more fear of the thing itself. Harry nodded agreeing with Ron's statement. He would have to watch out for himself. All the teachers even Snape have been trying to keep an extra eye on him at the time, making sure he was safe.
"I think it might help to understand Voldemort's movements though that way we might know where he'll try to strike next." Hermione said thoughtfully.
They had been trying to understand how Voldemort got the book into school and made it so Hermione was the one to touch it. They were also trying to figure out where he might take them next. During this part of the conversation a group of girls came over, including Sam a fourth year, Emily a fifth year, and Brianna another fifth year.
"Did you guys hear, about the boy who will be transferring to Hogwarts?" Sam asked.
The three simply nodded their heads because that was all anyone was talking about.
"You even heard the entire tale?" Asked Emily hopefully so she might be able to tell it all over again.
Harry and Hermione had heard it at least twenty times, but Ron on the other hand had pushed everyone away because he didn't feel like hearing the story.
Now, Ron's eyes widened and said, "I didn't hear the story." Emily's face lit up with excitement. Sam seemed pleased and Brianna clapped. Harry thought the girls were a little too eager to tell a simple ghost story. Brianna was the one to start the story.
"Legend has it that in the late eighteen hundreds, there was a very well-known family living in Cabrini College. They had everything because they were so rich. They had all the horses and acres and acres of land." She paused for a moment. Then Emily picked it up.
"Because they had many horses, they had a large stable. To take care of the horses they hired a young man to be the stable boy. This boy was about nineteen the same age as their only daughter." Emily stopped and Sam continued.
"One sunny day, the daughter went out to the stable to get her horse and ride her around the land. When she saw the stable boy, she fell in love at first sight."
Emily started again. "The daughter would sneak out of the house at night to see the stable boy. They did this for about a month. Then one night her father was taking a night-time stroll and he saw her rushing to the stable."
She paused and there was an eerie silence in the common room as if everyone was listening to the story. A boy named Billy who was in his fifth year at Hogwarts walked up behind Emily and spoke.
"Once her father found out why she was sneaking out, he fired the stable boy and banished him from the town. He could do that because he had the right connections. His daughter pleaded with him to let the stable boy stay, but he said he would have him beheaded instead of banished if she didn't stop. She stopped arguing with her father and the stable boy left town for good. Every night her father would walk up to her room hoping to talk to her, but he would never go in because he head her crying and muttering the boy's name."
He took a dramatic pause.
"Then one day she had a child. The father was furious with her, because it was the son of the stable boy. He had the child killed. The daughter was even more depressed. She couldn't stand seeing her father anymore. She tried running away, but he always caught her. Then one day she took a kitchen knife out to the stable and stood where she and the stable boy had always met." He raised his voice slightly. "She cried his name one last time. Then stabbed herself right in the heart."
There was dead silence. Everyone in the common room was looking at Billy. Harry's heart was pounding. He thought it wouldn't do that considering he heard it so many times, but he guessed it was because Billy told it with such emotion and made it so striking. He turned and looked at Ron, whose eyes had become wider than Harry had ever seen them before. Billy sighed and added more on.
"Students at the college say they can hear the daughter at night looking for her baby. It has also been told that the stable boy was married after he heard about his lover's death and he had two children. That is the tale of Cabrini College."
He stopped nodded at Ron, Harry and Hermione and turned and went up to his dormitory. Ron was stunned. Hermione even had an amazed look on her face. The three girls left them to themselves and the chatter started up again.
Ron started talking again. "Did the father really do that?" He asked them.
Harry nodded his head.
"It was so she wouldn't demote the family, I'm guessing." Hermione said. Ron nodded.
"But why would you kill an innocent child, just to keep your status up?" Harry asked slightly bewildered.
"Probably, to hide evidence that his daughter was seeing the stable boy." Ron suggested.
This was the way their conversation went for a while. During it two boys, Ryan and Justin, joined them. They were both in their fourth year. Justin brought up the fact that there had to be a curse or something on the stable, because it was told that that was where the baby was killed and the mother and also when the stable boy was on his deathbed he asked to be brought to the same spot.
Hermione wasn't enjoying the thought of all the different deaths so she grabbed a book and went into her own little world. Ryan said that he thought that the stable boy wanted to be there when he died so that he could feel his old girlfriend's presence and that he wanted to kind of be with his other child again. Harry and Ron got absorbed into this conversation. Neville, Dean, and Seamus joined in too. They were so involved they didn't notice Professor McGonagal crawl through the portrait hole. She had to whistle to gain everyone's attention. They all became silent at once.
"A new student will be joining us today. He has been sorted into Gryffindor by the sorting hat and is in the fifth year. I know you all will make him feel welcome." She gazed at all the Gryffindors.
She paused and turned to the open portrait hole. She beckoned the boy in. He came in slowly looking at all the students staring at him. He wore new Hogwarts robes. He had jet-black hair and kind of reminded Harry of Tom Riddle. He seemed like the shy type. McGonagal crawled back out into the corridor and the talking started up again. Hermione looked at Harry and Ron.
"You two should talk to him. No one else is." She said pointing at the boy.
Harry and Ron were hesitant at first, but then because of Hermione's persistence they walked up to him hoping to start a conversation.
"Hullo." Ron said.
The boy looked up startled. He then looked around to see if they were talking to someone behind him. He pointed at himself in question.
"Yeah, we're talking to you." Harry said.
The boy squeaked.
"I'm Ron." Ron said putting out his hand.
The boy shook it and nodded.
"Harry, Harry Potter." Harry said and stuck out his hand.
The boy jumped back as if afraid of Harry, then shook his hand.
"So, where did you go before here?" Harry asked.
"Stonewall." The boy squeaked. He sounded much like Wormtail.
"My Aunt and Uncle were going to send me there before I found out about Hogwarts." Harry said trying to strike up a conversation.
Ron was clueless about the school so he just stood there. The boy didn't say anything else. Ron tried to strike a conversation.
"You like the Cannons, the quidditch team?" Ron asked.
"Do I ever!" The boy replied.
Ron and the boy talked on and on about the team. Harry, who was just introduced to the magical world a few years ago, didn't know that much so he just stood there and listened. After a while he got bored with the conversation and sat down with Hermione. The common room was emptier than before as it was getting late and students started heading up to bed.
"Why aren't you over there?" Hermione asked as he took a seat in front of the fire.
"They're talking about the Chudley Cannons." Harry replied.
Hermione nodded knowing Harry didn't know much about the different teams as Ron did. She put down her book not to be rude.
"I thought he would be fascinated with you, Harry Potter." She said jokingly.
Harry had to laugh because he was amazed himself that the boy found Ron more interesting, but he didn't mind. Hermione and Harry talked about different things and eventually they headed up to bed. They tried to say goodnight to Ron, but the boy and he were engaged in a busy conversation.
Harry walked up to the dormitory and lay on his bed. He thought how oddly the new boy was acting. With these thoughts he fell to sleep.