Disclaimer: Obviously, most of these characters are JK Rowling's, not mine. Also, thank you to MinervaEvenstar, for letting me use her title.

I'm Not a Dessert!

Chapter Three: A Truly A-Maze-ing School.

"Down the staircase to the right of the main stairs and stop at the cellar door," a kindly looking old man with a long white beard explained. "Your password is 'Dragon's Breath'." Cornelius thanked the old man and hurried out of the room and toward the stairs. He found the door to the room with ease and spoke the password.

"Dragon's Breath," he stated, hardly daring to breathe himself as he hoped desperately that it would work. The door swung open and he exhaled with relief. He stepped carefully into the room and the door closed behind him.

"There you are, Corny," came a cheerful cry from across the room. Gordon stood up from the chess boards and made his way over to Cornelius. "Sorry we lost you out there. Didn't notice you were missing until we got here."

"That's alright, I got directions and found my way just fine," Cornelius reassured him.

Gordon grinned. "Well then, I'll fill you in on what you've missed. You know that I'm Gordon Rundquist. The girl I was playing chess with is Olivia White. We're the Hufflepuff prefects." The young boy followed as the elder made his way over to Olivia and sat in the chair he had been sitting in before. He gestured at a nearby chair, and Cornelius sank into it. He was surprised at how tired he was after sitting all day, but he supposed the stress and excitement were taking their toll. Gordon kept talking. "This is the common room. That door there," he pointed, "leads to the first year boys' dormitory. You'll sleep there." He grinned. "And that's about all you need to know for now."

"Thank you!" Cornelius was genuinely thankful for the help and hurried toward the room Gordon had pointed to. "Goodnight!"

He found five beds upon entering the room. At the foot of the bed on the far end he recognized his trunk, and he hurried to open it. Pulling out some parchment, a quill, and his Charms textbook for a hard surface, he laid down on his bed and started to write a letter.

Dear Pamela,

Hogwarts is a beautiful place. All the pictures I've seen and the stories I've heard do not begin to do it justice. Merlin, I wish you were here though. You would love it, with all the beauty and mystery and, well, if you were here, I'd have someone to talk to, too. I got placed in Hufflepuff, same as mum, and the people seem nice enough from what I've seen. But I miss you already, and I know it's going to take some getting used to. They call me Corny here. Apparently Cornelius is too long for them.

Anyway, how is life back home? Mum says that you've transferred to a muggle school now that you can't go to Hogwarts. How is that? Is it any different than Ciderdale?

SOS! (Send Owl Soon)

Your best friend,

Cornelius

Carefully blotting his letter and setting it aside, he rolled over onto his back and sighed. How he missed his childhood friend. If only she were here, they would be talking their heads off, eager to go explore their new surroundings.

He was suddenly struck with a fit of rage for Pamela's parents. Why did her father have to be a muggle? Why did her mother marry him? A muggle parent made the chances of a wizarding child much slimmer. It was his fault that Pamela wasn't a witch; it was his blood that made her muggle. Cornelius resolved then and there to marry a witch so his children could attend this beautiful school.

But then he remembered Pamela, whom he had always imagined growing up with and eventually marrying. Tears filled his eyes, and he buried his head in his pillow. His life had been turned upside down by that man who had the audacity to be Pamela's father.

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When Cornelius awoke the next morning, he found that he had fallen asleep in his robes with his Charms textbook clutched in his arms. He pulled himself off the bed and ventured toward the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he found that his eyes were slightly red and puffy from crying. He pulled on some clean robes and returned to the dorm to see if anyone else was awake.

He found four boys that had come in after he'd fallen asleep, and they were all sound asleep now by the looks of it. He sighed and decided to find the owlery on his own, to send his letter to Pamela. He pulled the map from his acceptance letter out of his trunk and took a good look at it. It would be a long walk, but it was early yet and Cornelius wanted to deliver the letter before breakfast.

As he opened the door to the common room, one of his sleeping roommates shifted in his bed. Cornelius stood silently, hoping he hadn't woken anyone. Much to his dismay, the boy in the middle bed sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Where am I?" he mumbled, not quite awake. Cornelius wandered over.

"Hogwarts," he reminded the boy. His eyes shot open, and he ran a hand through his ragged blonde hair.

"Right," he muttered as he reached for the pile of robes next to his bed.

"I was just going to try to find the owlery," Cornelius whispered. He didn't want to wake anyone else, but as long as this boy was up he'd be glad for some company. "Would you care to join me?"

The boy's eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, just give me a minute to get dressed," he cried softly and ran for the same bathroom Cornelius had just vacated. "My name's Martin Cox, by the way," he called in a carrying whisper.

"Corny Fudge."

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The trip didn't go nearly as smoothly as Cornelius had planned. Instead of ending up at the top of the West Tower, where the owlery was located, they'd ended up in some other tower on the west side. They knew they were lost when one of the portraits opened up and a girl with a horrible case of acne popped out dressed in Ravenclaw robes.

She nearly ran them right over, her attention clearly elsewhere. "Oh!" she cried upon seeing them. "Can I help you?"

"We were looking for the owlery," Martin explained softly when Cornelius didn't answer. He was too busy staring at the girl in awe. Aside from the acne and a rather thick pair of glasses, she was beautiful. Things felt as if they were clicking into place in his brain, and everything seemed right.

She laughed. "That's a rather ambitious destination for your first day," she pointed out. Cornelius nodded dumbly and Martin blushed slightly.

"It was his idea," he said, pointing at the silent boy. Cornelius turned red with embarrassment.

"I… C-can you help us f-find it?" he asked, stuttering. She smiled sweetly.

"Sure. I was just heading there myself," she said cheerily and draped an arm around each of their shoulders. Cornelius grew redder and Martin shot him a strange look.

"I'm Martin and this is Corny," Martin said, deciding to introduce Cornelius for him, since the poor boy looked incapable of speech at the moment.

"Myrtle," replied the girl. "Third Year."

A short walk later they'd arrived at the owlery, where Cornelius found his owl and tied his letter to her leg. "Pamela Dungits," he told the bird, and she flew off to make the delivery.

"Pamela Dungits, eh?" Martin asked with considerable volume to his teasing voice. "So you've got a girl back home?" The Myrtle girl glanced their way in interest, biting back an amused grin at the mortified expression on the boy's face.

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A/N: Thanks for reading yet another chapter. The next few might be a bit slower in coming, as I have quite a bit of summer homework to do over the next week. Be sure to review; both complements and criticism mean a lot to me!