Chapter 6: Touring Hogwarts

As they travelled down to the dungeons, they noticed how dark it seemed, there weren't many torches on the wall. Once they reached the potion classroom after a few minutes, they took in their surroundings, spotting many small bottles and vials on the shelves filled with different substances, as well as many different potion ingredients in jars. Sucy felt right at home, but she knew that potion making would be different, she was still excited nonetheless.

"Ah, Phoenix my boy, showing the new witches my classroom?"

"Sure am, girls, this is your potions teacher, Prof. Horace Slughorn. Horace, well, you know who they are."

Sucy looked at the man before her and thought he looked like someone who wouldn't spend time teaching, but rather...be retired.

"So, Prof. Slughorn, got any advice for these witches?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. If you plan on making potion-making your main focus, it's a good idea to keep a wound cleaning potion on hand in case something happens while experimenting. I speak from experience."

They took note of that, Sucy especially. Diana stepped forward curious about something,

"How long have you been teaching here?"

"Well, I've taught here for over 60 years, but I retired once I reached 50 years, someone else taught for a few years."

Diana stepped back, satisfied having her question answered.

"Alright, let's move on with the tour, we'll see you later Prof." They made their way back upstairs and toward the ground floor.

As they had made their way up the stairs and down the halls, they passed open windows and several students that were socializing or reading. They reach a room filled with desks in organized rows and different statues at the front of the room.

"This is the Transfiguration classroom, this is where you will learn how to transform items into animals and vice versa."

They looked at each other in slight disbelief, they knew there was some kind of magic like that at LN, but they knew it would work differently here but they still looked forward to it.

"And before you ask, I can't confirm if it's possible to transform yourself into animals, I didn't spend my entire time in Transfiguration, mostly DADA...and Potions...and a bit of Charms...yeah"

"I'll take what I can get." Akko said.

"There's also the Transfiguration Courtyard just outside, that's mostly used for larger Transfiguration spells."

They looked out and saw the courtyard and imagined what they might learn.

"So, who teaches this class?" Lotte asked.

Phoenix was about to answer when he realized that he actually didn't know, he remembered that McGonagall used to teach that class, but once she became Head of Hogwarts she probably gave up that post. "I'm not sure...you'll find out when classes start."

They then made their way to the Muggle Studies Classroom, Phoenix explained that it's mainly for people who didn't understand Muggles and wanted to know more about them.

After they looked around for a bit, they made their way up the stairs and toward the 1st floor, which took a bit more time due to the stairs moving around.

They noticed that there were more people on the 1st floor, and most were waiting in front of the DADA classroom.

"Uh...what's happening?" Chariot asked,

"Not sure." Phoenix stepped forward and placed his wand to his neck, "Excuse me."

Everyone jumped when he spoke, even the LN gang, they weren't expecting his voice to become so loud.

"Why are all of you standing outside my classroom? Classes aren't for a couple of days."

Everyone ran up to him and began asking tons of questions. "How did you get the post of DADA professor?" "How did you meet those LN witches?" "Do you know how a Raven is like a writing desk?"

Phoenix raised his hand and they all became silent almost instantly, "I'm not here to answer questions, and please don't bother the witches from Luna Nova, they are not here for your enjoyment. Now mind your own business and back away from my class."

They did so reluctantly, passing right by the girls.

"Now, let get into my new class before they realize who they just passed."

They all nodded and ran in, with Phoenix making sure the door was locked.

"So, this is the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, where I'll be teaching."

They looked around and noticed that there were a lot of tools and strange objects on the shelves.

"What will we learn in this class?" Sucy asked,

"Well, the dark arts, obviously, as well as how to properly use and defend against magic and magic creatures."

"Ah, now this class I might like, but didn't you say you were going to do that in the Room of Requirement?" Amanda said.

"Yes, but I will be teaching you the basics here and more advanced stuff in private lessons. I want to be absolutely sure that you know how to defend yourselves, you may have seen some dangerous beasts at LN, but there are more you may need to worry about here."

They understood his concern, but Constance was still curious about one thing, "Are there any creatures that are unaffected by magic?"

Phoenix turned to Constance and thought for a second, "There is one, Dementors, they can't be killed, only fended off, and only one charm can do it. I might teach you when we start our private lessons."

Phoenix peeked to see if the coast was clear and they quickly made their way to the next part of the tour, the History of Magic classroom. When they arrived, someone was already there, sorting through what looked like textbooks.

"Afternoon Prof. Binns, sorry to interrupt your book charming, but I wanted to show our students from LN the castle."

"Not to worry Prof. Kingston, I was just about done. Allow me to enlighten your friends on what this class is mainly for."

The girls entered and turned their attention to their soon to be History Professor.

"This class isn't like a normal history class, I teach the history of magic and how it's evolved over the centuries. As well as some ancient magic that isn't used as much today."

Most of the girls were intrigued,

"So, what were you doing to those textbooks?" Akko asked pointing at the stack of books,

"I was placing a special anti-cheating and vandal-proof charm on them."

Akko nodded in understanding.

"Ok, let's move on, still lots to see." As they left the classroom, Prof. Binns went back to his book charming, and they continued their tour.

After a couple of minutes of walking and going through the Tapestry Corridor, they reached what appeared to be some sort of Infirmary,

"This is the Hospital Wing, this is where you'll go if you end up getting seriously hurt, which I hope won't be often."

They looked around and noticed there was someone already in one of the beds and they had a visitor. They got closer and Sucy instantly recognized who the two were,

"Marcus? Summer?" Sucy said in surprise,

"Sucy, nice to see you again."

Sucy then turned her attention to Summer, who was out cold and had bandages on her arms,

"What happened?"

Marcus sighed, "She went into the dark forest and tried to befriend a creature, but she ran into a giant spider and it attacked her. Thankfully, I was following her to make sure she wasn't going to do anything crazy. But, the bite had knocked her out, Madam Pomfrey said she'll be fine"

"That's a relief," Phoenix said, "I'm aware of how Summer has been acting, thanks to a tip I got from a student in your house. All I can say is, you need to find something that will calm her nerves, or else it may get to a point where she will go to even greater lengths to...well, you know what I mean."

Marcus understood and hoped it would never get to that point. Sucy felt sorry for Marcus, he cared about his sister but he knows he won't be able to protect her forever.

After some time passed, they walked out of the Hospital Wing, all in a mix of sadness and worry.

"I hope Summer gets better, Marcus looked exhausted from watching over her." Lotte said looking back,

"She will, Marcus has faith and so do I." Sucy said with a bit of confidence.

"Only time will tell, let's continue, hopefully, we can bring the mood back up."

They made their way up to the third floor and passed the One-Eyed Witch Passage, they reached a classroom that was structured like a small auditorium. "This is the Charms classroom, Prof. Flitwick will be teaching you in this class, and please keep in mind, he is short, so please don't make any short jokes, Amanda."

Amanda flinched when she was singled out, "I promise I won't make any short jokes."

Phoenix nodded, satisfied with the answer given.

They continued down the hall, passing the clock tower, and stopped at some somewhat large doors.

"This is where we'll take a break, but before we enter, prepare for amazement," Phoenix said, the group nodding some of them looking both determined and excited.

Phoenix used his wand to open the doors, as the doors slowly opened, the girls could see the floors upon floors of bookshelves, some of the books were even flying on their own to different shelves, and books were either flying back to there place when students held them near their shelf or floating down to students' hands when they asked.

The girls were in awe, "Welcome to the Library, this is where you'll obviously be doing most of your studying and research. It closes at 8 PM and opens at 8 AM, so if you need to get any last-second books, get here fast, once the clock hits 8 the doors lock up instantly."

They stepped in and took a seat at one of the nearby tables. They all looked around and got some books to read, all were amazed by the size of the Library and the amount of magic that was used in it.

"This library is way bigger than the one at LN, I wonder if anyone gets lost in here." Lotte thought to herself.

Diana pulled down a book on the history of Herbology, Amanda got a book on Quidditch records and champions, and Constanze searched for a book on what kind of Wizard Tech exists.

The others decided to just sit and get some rest, Phoenix explained how getting books worked, and how to avoid the restricted section unless they're with a professor or once they get to year 4.

"The Restricted section is called that for a reason, there are a lot of books that most shouldn't see unless they are "Mature" enough."

They spent a good 2 or so hours in the library, reading books on subjects they were interested in, exploring the library so they could memorize its layout, or just relaxing and chatting.

After they put their books away and met back up at the front, they continued the tour.

Making their way up to the fifth floor, they got to see the Art and Music classrooms, where Phoenix explained, that they would be learning both Wizard and Muggle Art and Music.

They also ran into Divination Prof., Prof. Sybill Trelawney, who seemed a bit on edge.

"Prof. Trelawney, fancy meeting you out in the halls, I thought you'd be in your class setting up your crystal balls."

Trelawney looked up and spoke in a very fearful tone, "My boy, there is, dark magic in your future, as well as your friends. Dark magic that came from an ancient artifact."

Phoenix flinched when he heard that, an ancient artifact, what was she referring to? "We'll discuss this in detail at a later point, please try and calm yourself."

They continued forward toward the last part of the tour, up a set of stairs they reach the top of the tallest tower at Hogwarts, The Astronomy Tower.

"This is where our tour of the castle shall end, this is the Astronomy Tower, a place I usually go to either think or just watch the sunset."

When Akko heard that last part she was immediately reminded of her dream, the dream where she and Diana almost kissed. A noticeable blush appeared on Akko's face as she walked toward the railing surrounding the edge of the tower, she could see all of the Hogwarts Grounds, even spotting a small hut.

"Hey, Phoenix. What's that hut for?"

Phoenix looked to where Akko was pointing and answered without hesitation, "That's Hagrid's home, it's a nice little place. And that over there…" he said as he pointed toward the group of greenhouses, "are the Herbology Greenhouses, where you'll learn about different plants and how to either take care of them or get rid of them."

After spending some time enjoying the view for a while, Akko and Diana stepped to the side to watch the sunset together.

Phoenix noticed this and got the attention of others, "Ok, I wanna show you the telescope, it's pretty cool."

The others went down to the lower level and as Phoenix made his way down, he turned to Akko and Diana and winked,

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

They were a little confused as to how he would know, but they ignored him.

"The sunset really is beautiful from up here." Akko said, admiring the sunset,

"Yeah, it is. Is this like your dream?" Diana asked.

Akko looked at Diana and nodded, she then proceeded to bring her hand closer to Diana's, who did the same, prompting them to hold each other's hand. Akko rested her head on Diana's shoulder and Diana rested her head on Akko's, prompting both of them to start blushing like mad. They could hear each other's heartbeat, which was getting faster as time passed, both of them wanted the same thing. They turned their heads to face each other, looking into each other's eyes, they slowly closed their eyes and brought their lips closer. After what felt like an eternity, they locked lips and brought each other close. They kissed for a good 5 minutes before their lips separated,

"I love you, Diana Cavendish." Akko said softly,

"I love you too, Akko Kagari."

They felt huge weights being lifted off them, they felt free, now that they didn't have to hide their feelings from the person they loved.

"We're still going to need to keep this a secret from the others, who knows how they'll react."

"Right, Phoenix said he'd keep our secret to himself, and I trust him."

Diana nodded.

"Let's join the others, they're probably wondering where we are."

But before they could join them they felt a sudden chill down their spines, and a feeling that they were being...watched. They turned to find a large cloaked figure rising up, everything around it had frost forming on it,

"What is that?" Diana asked frightened.

But before she could even get a response from Akko, the figure lunged toward them. They braced for its attack but it was soon stopped by a bright light which scared it away.

They turned to find Phoenix, who had a look of both fear and confusion on his face.

"Are you two alright?"

Both girls nodded, "What was that thing?" Diana asked a bit shaken,

"That...was a dementor, the creature I mentioned. But I don't understand, why was it here...who or what brought it here?"

END OF CHAPTER