Chapter 6—Hearing the News
"Follow me!" said the prefect, Clearwater. She led them down the staircase, under an arch carved with some sort of bird of prey, and into a large, spacious room. It had wooden flooring, and paintings (whose predominant color seemed to be blue) lined the walls. The subjects of the paintings waved cheerily inside their frames. There was a large fireplace, with over-stuffed blue plushy armchairs. To the left, there was one staircase. To the right, there were several tables and chairs, and another staircase.
"Awesome. Slytherin can't hope to top this," whispered Ben. Escaping that house essentially made his day, it seemed.
"Can everybody hear me? See me? Excellent. Welcome to Ravenclaw! My name is Penelope Clearwater, and I'm your prefect this year! Boys, your dormitory is to the right, girls, you're to the left. If you have any—" At that moment, she was cut off by someone bursting into the common room.
"Penny, Penny, everyone's saying it! Harry Potter's in trouble! He flew a car to Hogwarts, and now he's going to be expelled!" In an instant, all the picture frames were empty, as the subjects ran off to tell someone, anyone who would listen. Penelope dragged the messenger in front of the fireplace.
"Anyone who wants to listen, sit down!" There was an immediate rush as everyone scrambled for an armchair. Ryan was squeezed in between Ben and the blonde boy that had pushed Melina, whose name was Finnian McKey. When everyone was seated, Penelope turned to the speaker.
"First years, this is Ruby Steinbauer. If you ever need to know what's going on in Hogwarts, this is the person to ask. Okay, Ruby, have at it." Ruby was evidently the school drama queen, as well.
"So this is how it went. I was leaving the Great Hall—I don't suppose any of you noticed that Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore were gone for part of the feast?—well, I was going to find out where they went. One of my sources said that Potter and his friend flew a car to school and hit the Whomping Willow and are getting expelled!" People giggled or looked disbelieving. Ruby, evidently reveling in the attention, continued. "Allowing for a slight margin of error, I say that Potter and his friend hit a regular tree, not the Willow. And there's no way Dumbledore will expel Potter, he's what keeps us safe against You-Know-Who! They'll probably just get a detention." Excited babble broke out among the older students in the common room. Ryan, however, remained silent. Was she unsafe here at school?
"Ben," she whispered, prodding his arm, "what did Ruby mean when she said 'he's what keeps us safe'?" Ben shrugged.
"Well…he defeated You-Know-Who, didn't he? Everyone reckons Hogwarts is safe because of two people: Dumbledore, and Potter. Dumbledore was the biggest fighter against You-Know-Who, everyone knows that."
"Everyone except me, apparently," she muttered, but she couldn't shake a feeling of uncertainty. It must have showed on her face, because Ben patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"Oh, calm down, Ryan. Nothing's going to happen. As if anything could!" Ben's words made sense, as little as she knew about the magical world. Besides, Ben's book said that…the man…was vanquished. That meant killed, right? And she remembered the boat ride, the large lake, the huge, impenetrable doors. Nothing could possibly get them here. And yet…
"G'night, Ben. I'm going to bed." He just nodded, his eyes locked on Cho, who was discussing the nights events animatedly with Ruby and another girl, a pretty Indian girl named Padma Patil. She grinned, despite her mood. Cho and Ben! What an unlikely pair! Then she went up the girl's dormitory, to the room marked "First Years."
If she had been worrying about not knowing what bed to choose, she had been wasting her time. Tabby was reclining on a canopy bed with blue hangings, and her trunk was there, neatly arranged. There were new items, as well. Ties, scarves, even one headband, all striped blue and bronze, the Ravenclaw colors. There was only one other girl currently in there, though there were several other trunks in evidence. The girl nodded towards Tabitha.
"That's your cat, then?" Ryan nodded proudly and gave Tabby a belly rub.
"Yes. This is Tabitha." The girl gave a bored sort of sniff.
"Muggle-born, right? No, don't even bother to answer. Only a Muggle-born would bring a cat." Ryan was too tired to rise to the bait.
"No doubt you're right. Good night, then." She shut the hangings and began to change into her pajamas. The girl probably wouldn't be too happy about that, but hey, you couldn't please everyone.
Later, as she lay in bed, unable to sleep, her mind wandered. She was still worried that she would wake up and find that it was all a dream, this Hogwarts, with witches and wizards and wands. What was a Whomping Willow, any how? And how did one fly a car? Flying cars, she supposed, would be fun. There was so much to mull over. That strange sport, Quidditch, for one. And feathered hairpins! What would Jon say? Perhaps she should send it to him, as a souvenir. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, along with the rest of the first-year girls, she was awoken by Penelope Clearwater.
"First day of classes! Wake up, now, you've got enough time to get dressed and find the Great Hall. Don't forget to wear your uniforms!" As Ryan dressed, she eyed her year-mates. Almost all of them had to be wizard-born. This was evident in small ways: Odd toys lying around, moving pictures of family members. Once she sloppily put on her necktie, she ran down the stairs and into the common room. Ben was already there, looking impatient.
"Come on, I'm hungry! What on earth did you do to that tie? Come here," he untied it, then went about re-tying it. "There, that's better, did you see how I did that? No? Doesn't matter. Come on, breakfast!" Easier said than done, unfortunately. They managed to follow a group of older Hufflepuffs, but not before they got stuck in a fake stair, and both were threatened by an over-zealous knight in a picture. When they finally reached the Great Hall, though, there was still plenty of time to eat. They pulled up chairs and Penelope handed them schedules.
"Congratulations! You made it. Some of the first-years try to come here and we never see them again!" Ryan wasn't quite sure if she was joking or not. "Okay, your first class is Transfiguration, with the Hufflepuffs. McGonagall's room is in the west wing. If you're facing the lake, you're going east. The Forbidden forest, north. Think you can remember all that?"
"Forest, north. Lake, east. McGonagall, west," recited Ben.
"Good, you'll do fine! Oh, more bold adventurers return! Good luck, you two!" She skipped off to another group of haggard-looking first-years who had just arrived. Ryan examined her schedule as she buttered toast. Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, lots of different subjects. Excitement was beginning to brim in her once more.