Hogwarts: A Tale Told In Gray Episode 1: A Sluggish Feast It was September, 2005 The train had left the station 9 and 3 quarters. The first year students seemed excited. The food carriage was also emptied by one compartment. After some time, the train stopped at the station. The students were greeted by a noticeable man. "Hello! My name is Hagrid." He spoke in a weird accent but a cheery tone. "I will be leading you kids to Hogwarts." Some of kids were intimidated at first. But his charm won them over. The first and second years used boats while the others used carriages. The new students arrived at Hogwarts. They were waiting in front of the hall. They were being instructed by Neville Longbottom. He was the Professor of Herbology. As he was saying his last name, a student snickered. He showed a deadpanned face towards the student.
Neville: Welcome to Hogwarts. The most prestigious wizarding school in the world. Being a student here is considered an honor by many. In a little while, all of you will enter the halls and the sorting ceremony will begin.
The doors opened. Neville lead them through. The students felt a mixture between excitement and nervousness. The elder students cheered them on. The sorting ceremony began. A young girl was up first. But as soon as the hat was put on her head, she heard giggling. She took the hat off. But she heard nothing. Then she put in on again and the giggling continued. The professors were confused as to why the hat was not sorting her. Neville called upon another student. The same thing happened. Neville asked for the help of Slughorn. Slughorn then put on the hat. The hat awoke and started shouting, "Sluggy Slug Slug." The students started laughing. The hat then seemed fine enough to sort students. After the students were sorted. Gryffindor was for brave and courageous goody two shoes. Hufflepuff was for the kind and humble foodies. Ravenclaw was for the invisible smartasses. And Slytherin was for the pureblooded snobheads. But these were just stereotypes. In reality, the students all had different personalities to their own. Headmistress Minerva McGonagall began her speech. She spoke about the heads of each houses. Professor Flitwick and Slughorn were heads of Ravenclaw and Slytherin for some time. She introduced two new heads. Professor Neville was the head of Hufflepuff even though he was a student of Gryffindor. The new head of Gryffindor was Amelia Steinberg. She graduated from Ilvermorny and began teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts in Hogwarts three years ago. She was considered very pretty by the male students. The female students either idolized her or hated her for pure jealousy reasons.
McGonagall: "And now, let the feast begin."
Everyone began the feast. The new students started introducing themselves to their new houses. Friends reunited after holidays. The food spells created by Helga Hufflepuff were still used to this very day. During the feast, Professor Slughorn started coughing loudly. Professor Flitwick tried to help him get rid of the cough. Suddenly, he started coughing out slugs. At that moment, the first year students found slugs in their hairs. Everyone started panicking. Headmistress McGonagall tried to calm them down. But the students started running away. Among the students running, one was running with proficient speed. He ran with a huge grin on his face. He did not wear a robe like everyone else. Instead he had a long black coat. His entire outfit was black except for his shirt which was white. The students scattered across to different rooms. The one wearing a coat stopped at the staircase. His friends were present there.
Friend 1: Sean!
Sean: Holy shit! That was epic!
Friend 2: I know! How the hell did you do that?
Sean: Stealth, Spells and no sleep.
Friend 3: Of course.
Sean: Shut thy mouth Ray. Hey Tommy, don't you think McGonagall will call you to help since you're a prefect?
Tom: Oh shit! I gotta go then.
Friend 2: Hurry or else the other prefect will hop on another one.
Tom: Shut up Henry!
The boys began laughing at the staircase. Eventually the situation became calmer. The feast resumed. Luckily, the food remained untouched by the slugs which was a surprise for everyone. The Headmistress was furious that they could not find the culprit. She suspected it could be Sean. But she had no proof thus unable to punish. Sean was considered the most eccentric wizard in the school. He was skilled in every subject. Although he was not studious, he consumed knowledge. His curiosity was his main tool. He would break his own leg if it meant he could get an answer for an irrelevant question he had on his mind. After the feast, Sean and Henry were going back to their common room. A girl approached them.
Girl: Excuse me?
Sean: How may I assist you?
Girl: Can you tell me where the common room for Ravenclaw is?
Sean: Well since we are from Ravenclaw yourselves, we can lead you there yourselves.
Girl: Thanks.
Sean: No need.
Girl: I'm Diana.
Sean: The name is Sean.
Henry: I'm Henry.
Diana: Say Sean, why don't you wear a robe like others here?
Sean: A pretty reasonable question. Perhaps Henry can tell you.
Henry: He thinks that the robes here are ugly. So he used magic to turn his robe into a long coat.
Diana: How did you do it?
Henry: He made his own spell.
Diana: Really! That's pretty cool!
Sean: I had to tire out all my fingers for it.
They walked and talked their way to the common room. After that, they all went to sleep except Sean. He had developed insomnia in his 2nd year. Henry still doesn't know the reason. Sean, Henry, Tom, Ray and another friend of theirs named Matt started at the same year. Henry and Sean were Ravenclaw, Tom was Gryffindor, Ray was Slytherin while Matt became a Hufflepuff. Even though they were from different houses, they hung out all the time. They all became good friends. The next day, Diana suspected that Sean did the "Sluggish Feast" as everyone called it. She thought it was funny though little exaggerated. But the outrage that caused in the school made her mad. She decided to confront him. Diana: So how was the prank?
Sean: Pretty amusing if you ask me.
Diana: The outrage is still there. Many first year students are now scared of hats.
Sean: You could say so.
Diana: You sure like tormenting people.
Sean: It's a trait I gained from life.
Diana: Don't you feel a little bad for all the trouble you caused?
Sean: Nope.
Diana: Not even for Professor Slughorn?
Sean: Professor Slughorn coughing out slugs is something I always imagined.
Diana: You truly are the scum of the earth.
Sean: That is one of the nicest compliments I have ever received.
Diana became even more furious. After the Weasley twins, he took on the role of the prankster and comic. Nobody could outprank him. He never backed down a single challenge. In order to vent out her bitchyness towards him, she decided to prank him. During an outside session of Professor Amelia, she used 'Incendio' on his coat. It instantly lit on fire. She thought he would freak out, panic and run around the entire map of Hogwarts. The students started panicking. She was secretly giggling. But he looked calm. Henry was baffled.
Henry: Sean! You fucking..
Sean: What?
Henry: YOU'RE ON FUCKING FIRE!?
Sean pulled out his coat. They all thought he would put it out by kicking it on the ground like a normal person. Unfortunately, Sean was not a normal person. He swished the coat and the fire came alive. He began controlling the fire. The fire took in the shape of a dragon. The dragon was moving around all over the place. It soon chose Diana as a target. As the dragon came charging near her. She closed her eyes. The students were scared. Suddenly, they heard someone say 'Gunner Powen' out loud. The dragon exploded into glitter. The students were glad it was over. There were also amused and surprised by Sean's magic including Diana. Professor Amelia was not amused.
Amelia: What the earth was that?
Sean: I believe it is something called magic.
Amelia: Do you think this is funny Mr. Wittford?
Sean: I dunno. I was on fire. Henry groaned at his pun. Diana was saltier than the Pacific Ocean. Professor Amelia tried to say something but nothing came out of her mouth. After all the classes were over and the students were in their common rooms, Sean confronted Diana.
Sean: How's it going firewoman?
Diana: Don't act too cocky.
Sean: Woah! The criminal is acting real bitchy.
Diana: The spell was useful. The dragon was cool too.
Sean: These words seem foreign to your mouth.
Diana: What do you want me to do? Say, "Oh Sean! Thank you for saving my arse from that dragon which was made with the fire caused by me. You truly are my prince!"
Sean: Now the criminal has confessed.
Diana: Duh. Of course you knew it was me.
Henry: You gotta try something better than that. He avoids others pranks like its child support.
Sean: Actually tax evasion fits better.
Henry: He is pretty much a human prank machine made by the Weasley twins.
Sean: Well, one of them.
Henry & Diana: Seriously?
Sean: Ok that was insensitive. Sorry bout that.
Diana: So that's all?
Sean: I still require an apology.
Diana: Really? What do you need it for?
Sean: For humanitarian purposes.
Henry: Huh?
Sean: Ignore it. I require one right now.
Diana: Ok. I apologize for my actions.
Sean: My goodness! The woman apologizes! Earth has frozen.
Diana: Shut up!
Sean: Okay then. Now that all bickering is out of the way, wanna learn how to do real pranks.
Diana: Yeah sure.
Sean: Ah! My right hand man and left hand woman!
Henry: Stop it. This is mental torture.
Sean: That's the whole point.
The three students laughed. They had formed a trio. It was the beginning of a weird friendship among them. Although the pranks required complex spells, Sean was capable of much more. Diana asked Henry about it but even he had no clue. Sean kept the information private. But he knew that they were for later use. A use that could be beneficial for many.