Chapter Eight

The Hall filled with movement as students rose from the tables at Dumbledore's dismissal. Chattering crowds flooding from the room.

Tregereth seized his arm to avoid losing him in the hustle.

'First-years follow me!' an older boy called out over the din, 'I'm Robert Hilliard, the fifth-year Prefect for Ravenclaw House, myself and Penelope Clearwater will guide you to your dormitories in Ravenclaw Tower.'

Leaving the Great Hall, and heading up the Grand Staircase, Anastase quickly became hopelessly lost as he tried to recall all the twists and turns, the many corridors Hilliard lead them along, and the uncountable lesser staircases they climbed. As they walked Anastase could hear the portraits whispering to each other about the new first-years as they passed.

He paused for a second before speaking to one of them, a young man with dark hair and pale eyes, 'Hello.'

The portrait blinked, 'Not very common for one of you lot to talk to us.'

'If by "you lot" you mean students I don't suppose it is very common', Anastase replied, 'I was wondering if you would be able to help myself and my friend, Tregereth, find our way around the castle for the next few weeks. It's very confusing you see, and I already feel lost!'

The young man smiled, 'Of course, I will be waiting for you and your friend tomorrow when you leave the tower.'

Anastase nodded, 'My name's Anastase, by the way, and I'd better hurry or I'll be left behind!'

'Very pleasant meeting you Anastase', the portrait responded, 'You may call me Velius.'

Anastase rushed after the rest of the students, grabbing Tregereth's arm as he caught up.

'Where were you?' Tregereth asked, 'One minute you were right next to me, the next you'd up and vanished!'

'I was acquiring us a castle guide for the next for weeks', Anastase explained, 'I'm already confused with all the corridors and stairs, so I thought asking one of the paintings for help might be a good idea.'

'Yes, that's brilliant', Tregereth exclaimed, 'I can't believe I didn't think of that.'

Anastase stared upwards as they entered one of the towers, a great spiral staircase rising into the gloom. They climbed in tight circles to dizzying heights, Anastase shuddered slightly as he looked down, tripping on these stairs could be fatal.

So plain and ordinary was the door to the common room, that Anastase hadn't even realised they'd reached it. It was a blank expanse of aged wood, with not even a keyhole or handle to mark it. Instead, there was a single bronze knocker, cast into the likeness of an eagle.

The female Prefect, Clearwater, reached out and tapped briskly.

The eagle's beak opened, and a musical voice spoke: 'What disappears as soon as you say its name?'

Hilliard grinned at them, 'This is how you get into the common room, rap on the door and the eagle will ask you a question, if you can answer it, you will be let in. Now, I know that some first-years can be scared by having to answer the eagle's questions, but don't worry. You'll learn quickly, and you'll soon enjoy the challenges the door sets. I must stress the fact that it's not unusual to find twenty-odd people standing outside the common room door, all trying to work out the answer to the day's question together, so don't be ashamed if you get stuck. This can be a great way to meet fellow Ravenclaws from other years, and to learn from them – although it is a bit annoying if you've forgotten a class book or something and need to get in and out in a hurry. So for that reason, I'd advise you to triple-check your bag for everything you need before leaving Ravenclaw Tower.'

'So now that Robert's had his spiel', Clearwater said dryly, 'Would anyone like to have a guess what the answer is?'

Silence for a minute, as if they all wanted someone else to speak first. Disappears when you say its name? Anastase mentally scratched his head as he tried to work it out.

Tregereth mouthed something to himself, before stepping forward, 'I think I know.'

'Go on', Clearwater encouraged.

'It's silence. If you say it, then you break it', Tregereth explained.

'Well-reasoned', the musical voice said.

The door swung open.

The Ravenclaw common room was a wide, airy, circular room. Large, graceful arched windows lined the walls, which were hung with blue and bronze silk. Anastase glanced up and saw that the ceiling was domed and decorated with stars, the night sky theme was continued by the midnight-blue colour of the carpets. There were tables, chairs and bookcases, everything Anastase could imagine for a good study area.

In a niche opposite the door stood a tall statue of white marble. The woman depicted by the stone was beautiful yet rather austere and intimidating looking, Anastase thought. He went over and looked at it, she almost seemed to smile at him quizzically. A delicate tiara rested on her head, there were words engraved into it.

'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure', Anastase quoted, 'Ravenclaw's lost diadem.'

'Excellent, so you know the myth then?' Hilliard asked.

'That it was stolen?' Anastase inquired, 'Yes, but there is no proof if it truly was.'

'Indeed, now before we usher you off to bed, I'm just going to say a few things', Hilliard had the air of someone about to begin a lecture, 'Ravenclaw has a reputation for being "the clever ones" which we all know can put a lot of pressure on people to feel that they have to get straight Os to be a proper Ravenclaw.

This is not true.

Some of us are like that but one of the best things about Ravenclaw is that we are the most individual house, some might even call certain members eccentrics. But geniuses are often out of step with everyone else and that's what makes them special. Unlike some other houses, we all think that you have the right to wear what you like, believe what you want, and say what you feel. We don't shun people who march to a different tune; on the contrary, we value them!

If you do have any problem Professor Flitwick, our Head of House, always has his office door open for us.

Ravenclaw house has an illustrious history that includes many great, and strange witches and wizards, such as Perpetua Fancourt, the inventor of the lunascope, Laverne de Montmorency, a great pioneer of love potions, and Ignatia Wildsmith, the inventor of Floo powder.

Famous Ravenclaw Ministers for Magic include Millicent Bagnold, who was in power on the night that Harry Potter survived the Dark Lord's curse, and defended the wizarding celebrations all over Britain with the words, 'I assert our inalienable right to party.

There was also Minister Lorcan McLaird, who was a quite brilliant wizard but preferred to communicate by puffing smoke out of the end of his wand and we are also the house that gave the wizarding world Uric the Oddball, who used a jellyfish for a hat.

From that list alone you can see the great variety of people who have passed through this house.

As for our relationship with the other three houses: well, my guess is if you're from a wizarding family you've already heard about the Slytherins. They're not all bad, but it does pay to be cautious until you know them well. They have a long house tradition of doing whatever it takes to win so it's best to keep an eye out especially in Quidditch matches and exams.

The Gryffindors are okay but they tend to be show-offs and they're much less tolerant of people who are different; in fact, they've been known to make jokes about Ravenclaws because they simply haven't got our intellectual curiosity.

As for the Hufflepuffs, well, nobody could say they're not nice people. In fact, they're some of the nicest people in the school. Let's just say you needn't worry too much about them when it comes to competition at exam time.

I think that's nearly everything. One final word is our house ghost: the Grey Lady. The rest of the school thinks she never speaks, but she does talk to Ravenclaws. She can be helpful if you've gotten lost, or if you've mislaid something.

Now, our dormitories are in turrets off the main tower.'

Anastase sagged with relief as Hilliard finally came to the end of his epic.

'Boys first floor, on the left. Girls, same to your right. Our four-poster beds are covered in sky blue silk eiderdowns and the sound of the wind whistling around the windows is very relaxing, or I find it so anyway. Goodnight!'

Anastase honestly didn't care if the beds were covered in silk or bin liners, he was that tired, Moşul could Hilliard talk!

As he hurried up the stairs along with his new housemates, he heard Clearwater speak, 'I think they registered about two words of that whole thing Robert, and that was "Good Night"! I told you not to talk their ears off', she groaned, 'You never know when to just shut up.'

As Anastase staggered into the dormitory he saw that Hilliard had spoken the truth, the beds were hung with blue silk, in fact, the room rather looked as if it were floating in the sky. Pulling on his pyjamas he vaguely realised that his trunk had already been brought up, most likely by the Hogwarts house-elves.

Too tired to speak, much less start yet another argument, the other boys quickly flopped into their beds.

Tregereth came over and sat on the edge of Anastase's duvet, 'By Merlin, I hope we don't have to listen to him again anytime soon. What a natterer!', he paused and turned more serious, 'Anastase, I know you're worried, I'm scared about your family, but you're not at home anymore. You're at Hogwarts, and while you're here, you're safe. Your brothers might not be, but they can't even contact you here so as long as their smart, they won't get in any trouble. It's not a crime to make friends, even if you could be putting them in danger. Just think on it, okay?'

Anastase licked his lips, 'I know, but that doesn't change the reality of the situation. Why you and Locryn haven't already run to the professors I don't even know! Can I really trust that someone else won't?', he shook his head, 'I don't deny it, letting criminals, family or not, run lose is pure blind foolishness. Except…'

'Except when it's not because catching the obvious wrongdoers leaves the most dangerous person free and puts three children under his control', Tregereth finished, 'No matter how smart you all are, you are still children. And I can't disagree with you, so maybe it is better to keep ourselves to ourselves. As for why I didn't tell on you? There's something about you, something that I trust. I have very good instincts, and Locryn knows that. If I haven't panicked, then he won't.'

Anastase lay back on the bed, 'Good to know', he rolled over onto his stomach, 'Sweet dreams, Tregereth. Noapte bună!'

Tregereth got off the bed and headed to his own, 'I don't know what that means, Anastase, but I'll guess it's goodnight.'

Anastase immediately fell into a deep slumber, strange dreams passing through his sleeping mind like drifting shadows. He thought he woke in the middle of the night, to pitch-black air and eerie moaning, but swiftly returned to his dreams, and by morning it was nothing more than a faded memory.

Clawing himself to wakefulness the next day could only be described as a chore. Anastase blinked bits of gritty sleep out of his eyes and yawned as he made his way to the bathroom. At least, he thought staring in amusement at the unmoving lumps that were his housemates, he wasn't the only one who found the early morning following the late night, and lethargy-inducing speech, difficult.

Anastase was already out of the bathroom and getting dressed before the rest of the boys started stirring.

'How are you awake?' Tregereth croaked bleary-eyed. His white hair was standing on end, making him look like he'd been hit with a strong shock spell.

'Do you always get up so late?' Anastase replied by way of answer, 'It's 7 o'clock! Classes start at 9, so we'd all better hurry if we want to have breakfast!'

He began packing his bag as Tregereth ran to have a shower. Anastase was ready to go before Tregereth was finished so he headed down to the common room to wait for him.

In the light of day, Anastase saw that the large windows gave a spectacular view of the school grounds, including the lake, Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch pitch, and Herbology gardens. He could see the sun rising from behind surrounding mountains.

'Wow', he muttered to himself, 'I didn't realise Hogwarts was so…picturesque.'

Now, that he was no longer drooping with tiredness Anastase took a good look at the place, there were a few portraits of famous Ravenclaws hung on the walls, among them were several of the people Hilliard had mentioned the night before; Ignatia Wildsmith, Millicent Bagnold, and Uric the Oddball. There was also a library just off the common room located in the niche behind Ravenclaw's statue, Anastase wondered what sort of books were in there, and if it meant that Ravenclaws didn't have to constantly hike between the tower and the library.

He was just contemplating going over to an older student to ask them about the small library when Tregereth hurtled down the stairs from the dorm.

'Be careful', Anastase half caught him, 'When I said to be quick, I didn't mean break your neck!'

'Umph, thanks Anastase', Tregereth said breathlessly, 'Now you wanted to get to breakfast if I recall correctly?'

Anastase lead the way down the spiral stairs with a pointed look at Tregereth, 'Good thing you didn't go head over heels down these isn't it?'

'No need to rub it in', his friend scowled.

When they reached the bottom they were greeted by a coolly polite voice, 'Good morning to you both.'

The pair spun around in surprise before Anastase registered the painting, 'Oh, hello Velius. Nice to see you again, you gave me a fright.'

'So I saw', the portrait responded, 'Now I believe you wanted me to serve as a guide? In any case, the Great Hall is this way.'

With those words, the young man turned and darted off through the paintings along the corridor.

Anastase and Tregereth shot each other an agreeing look before bolting after him.

'Would. You. Slow. Down?' Tregereth bawled at the painting's retreating back five minutes later.

Anastase running alongside him panted in concert. He was beginning to regret asking the portrait to help them now!

'Nonsense! We're almost there!' the overly cheerful reply made Anastase growl under his breath.

'We'd better be, or I'll find his painting and burn it!' Anastase spat venomously.

'I'd help you, and hide it from the professors', Tregereth agreed.

They then bowled straight into the Entrance Hall, tumbling from a dusty passageway.

'See, I told you', Velius informed them primly.

'Yes, that's us told isn't it?' Anastase snarled grumpily, 'Now go away. We won't need you until classes start.'

'I'm surprised you're not in Slytherin with a temper like that', Velius commented, 'Though I can see why you're not in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, too much of a grudge-holder.'

With this dramatic parting, the painting flounced off.

'If I could cast the Fire-Making charm', Anastase growled.

Tregereth steered him into the Hall with a grin. Sitting at the Ravenclaw table, Anastase saw Decebal and Locryn. They sat at opposite sides of the room at their respective house's table.

Following his gaze, Tregereth saw them, 'They look a bit lonely', he commented, 'Why don't we call them over? I don't remember there being any rule about not having other houses over.'

'Okay', Anastase shrugged, 'At any rate, if we do it now, nobody will think it odd later in the year, because, inevitably, we're going to have to talk to each other. Even if it's not about my family.'

Tregereth nodded, 'We're relatives too, I'm sure the professors won't stop us from talking to family!'

With that decided Anastase made his way over to the Gryffindor table and plonked down next to his cousin, 'Tregereth says you look lonely and wants you to join us at the Ravenclaw table. He's also gone to pester Locryn to come over as well. If you're worried about what the professors will say, then Tregereth and I can just say that you're family, and we wanted to know what to expect in our first day!'

Decebal blinked, 'Sure, that's fine. Though McGonagall's face will be priceless when she sees me sitting with a Slytherin!'

Anastase laughed, 'Snape's face will be a picture too I imagine', he said.

'Oh, yes', Decebal closed his eyes, 'Remind me to keep a lookout, because I would cherish that memory forever.'

'What would you cherish?' Locryn asked as they all sat down again.

'Decebal wants to see the looks on Professors' Snape and McGonagall's faces when they see students from the rival houses sitting together – on the Ravenclaw table no less!' Anastase explained.

Locryn doubled over wheezing, 'I would pay to see that. Keep an eye out for them, would you? This cannot be missed!'

The first years shared a deeply concerned look with each other, obviously, their older cousins had suffered some sort of mental breakdown over the whole Atarescu situation.

'Do you think we can handle them ourselves, or do we need to go to the hospital wing?' Tregereth asked.

'Don't know', Anastase whispered, 'Watch them, and if they go violent, I'll help you knock them out?'

'Got it', Tregereth finished.

Decebal stared, 'What are the pair of you on about?'

'No idea', Anastase said sarcastically, 'Just wondering why you two have gone mad.'

'Wha-?' Locryn looked confused, 'I still don't know what you're on about.'

'Well, it's not very like you to get so excited about seeing someone's expression', Tregereth pointed out, 'You are acting a bit…well, loony. Sorry.'

Realisation dawned, 'You don't know the total extent of how much Slytherins and Gryffindors utterly detest each other do you?' Decebal stated, 'Don't get me wrong, we've both probably mentioned it to you, but we've always been unsocial ourselves. It's mostly the more stereotypical people that you see it in but…'

Locryn picked up the conversation, 'The fights can be truly epic. Duels in the corridors, sabotaging potions, curses before class – the works. Prank wars are huge, mainly due to the Weasley twins.'

Decebal snorted, 'Don't remind me. We're in the same year and share a dorm. It was horrific the first year, waking up to frogspawn in my sheets for days!' he shuddered, 'They learned to back off from me after I hexed them both in second year. You might remember that Anastase because you were the one who looked it up for me.'

Anastase gasped, 'So that was what the Jelly-Fingers Curse was for! I did wonder at the time what you wanted to do with it.'

Locryn stifled a snicker, 'You made your ten-year-old cousin look up spells for you when you had the entire Hogwarts library to choose from?'

Decebal drew his dignity around himself like a cloak, 'I was never good at research whereas Anastase excels at it. Why would I not take advantage of that fact?'

'And now', Locryn said, 'You sound like a Slytherin. No joke.'

Speaking of jokes', Tregereth interrupted, 'McGonagall's just walked in.'

They turned as one to view the Gryffindor head's reaction. The woman glanced around the hall as she entered, surveying the students, she paused on the Gryffindor table for a moment before continuing. Anastase could tell when she saw them instantly, her face froze for a second before she hastily blanked it. A more obvious way of saying that she was inwardly gaping, Anastase couldn't imagine.

'It's strange that the professors stress that the houses are all equal when they clearly don't practice what they say. The bias between Gryffindor and Slytherin is so clear that I could use it as a mirror' Anastase scoffed.

'They were all students themselves here', Locryn said, 'And that's half the problem. How can they be unbiased when they grew up with the same prejudices firmly in place? The answer: they can't. It's really as simple as that. There will never be total equality amongst the professors unless the current ones were all fired, and replaced by teachers from another school.'

'Which isn't going to happen in our lifetime', Decebal deadpanned.

Anastase and Tregereth both laughed.

'Oh, look', Anastase said and pointed, 'Snape's just come in too.'

Locryn shot a quick glance at his house head, before ducking away, 'He's worse than McGonagall, with the prejudices. If he kills me, please find my body.'

'Don't be so dramatic', Tregereth whacked him on the back of the head with a roll, 'I'm sure he's not that bad!'

Looking at Snape's rapidly reddening face and furious glare, Anastase wouldn't bet it on. Maybe not quite a literally kill you as soon as look at you type, a la Camil Atarescu, but still no one Anastase would want to get on the wrong side of.

'I wouldn't be so sure', Anastase dropped in, 'He doesn't look very happy, anyway.'

'No he doesn't', Decebal groaned, 'It's a good thing you two aren't in Gryffindor or I'm pretty sure he'd dissect you for potions ingredients for this!'

'Just what I need', Anastase quipped, 'Somebody else who wants me dead.'

Decebal took a deep breath, 'Let's not get into that now, not here. We'll worry about it closer to when we have to go back.'

'Christmas', Anastase agreed, 'Then we need to work out something. Remember the twins and Simu are still looking, they might have all the evidence we need by then.'

'Let's hope that!' Locryn exclaimed, 'I'm not even involved, and I'm scared for you. Living with a man like that…I would be terrified.'

'Moving on', Decebal tried to regain the original thread of the conversation, 'McGonagall and Snape baiting aside, the professors aren't that bad, are they?'

Locryn nodded thoughtfully, 'I was exaggerating a bit. Mostly they're fine, but I wasn't kidding about Snape being biased, he's one the exceptions.'

'Ah, hem.'

They all jumped at the sudden throat clearing behind them.

Professor McGonagall stood there, looking highly unamused and holding a pile of timetables.

'Mr Grecueanu, I wasn't aware that students could change houses', her tone was icy.

'Sorry, Professor', Decebal looked at his hands, 'Anastase's my cousin you see, and I just wanted to speak to him. We had a…bit of a family situation over the summer. It wasn't very pleasant.'

'I see', McGonagall looked a lot more understanding now. Clearly, Anastase thought, she had a soft spot in her, she just hid it very well.

'Now, here's your timetable Grecueanu. As you can see some of your classes clashed, so you have some free periods, but you'll lose time in the evening', McGonagall showed him.

Decebal nodded, 'Yes Professor, I understand.'

Locryn rose from the table, 'If they've started handing out timetables, I'd better get back to Slytherin.'

Anastase peered around the Hall, 'Okay, I wonder where Professor Flitwick is. I hope he arrives soon, or we won't know where to go!'

Tregereth snickered as Locryn and Decebal left, 'Anastase, you do realise that it's not even 8 yet? We, our cousins, and maybe', he spun around to look, 'Twenty other students, are the only ones down yet. Aside from the teachers I mean, and even they're not all here.'

'I get your point', Anastase huffed, 'I like to be well prepared though. There's nothing wrong with that!'

'No there isn't', Tregereth placated, 'Now, I was reading through Magical Theory the other day, and I noticed that it said that it was impossible to turn an animal into a human, but after doing some more in-depth research I found a study which stated that it was physically possible but giving an animal human intelligence wasn't. This got me thinking about, what makes a human, human? Is it our physical body or is it our mind? Adalbert Waffling seems to think the later, but I personally believe the former which would make Waffling's statement incorrect. What about you?'

Anastase took a deep breath as he launched into his own explanation, 'There are valid arguments for both sides but consider the fact that when we turn an inanimate object, let's say a cup, into an animal. It takes on some of the behaviours of that animal, and vice versa. What sort of behaviour does an animal that has been transfigured into a human have?'

'I believe in the study, they used a dog. It said that it didn't behave like a dog once it was transfigured but it also didn't act like an adult human either. I think the "dog" was like a child, very playful, ate a lot, slept', Tregereth shrugged, 'Sounds very dog like I know, but apparently, there was a big difference.'

Anastase hummed, 'I think that physically it is possible, no ifs, ands, or buts. However, I wouldn't say that it was a full transfiguration, simply because of the behaviour aspect. As for what makes humans human? Like I said, I'm on the fence because of precedent, does that fact that a cup can act like a mouse make it a mouse, of course not. So depending on your personal feelings, both of you are right.'

Tregereth nodded enthusiastically, buzzing with the energy of a good debate.

He wasn't the only thing buzzing, Anastase noted, while they'd been talking the Great Hall had filled with chattering students.

'Because I'm a nice person I'll ask again, now that we're not all tired, do you two want to be friends with us?' Terry Boot had sat down next to them and was now staring expectantly.

Tregereth paused, 'No offence Boot, but…well', he stopped and started again, 'Anastase was rude, no other way to say it, and I apologise for him, he isn't very social. I would normally love to get to know you all better, but there are a few…things going on in life at the moment. And making a load of friends really isn't on my list of priorities. Maybe next year, but not now. Sorry.'

Tregereth looked mortifies, Anastase gave Boot a flat look, Boot looked sympathetic.

'No need to be sorry', Corner butted in, 'If your private life needs to be sorted out then, of course, that's more important! Atarescu, you're hardly the only person in the world who's a bit abrupt but maybe try to tone it down a little, okay?'

Anastase smiled sweetly, 'I'll do my best, Corner', Tregereth winced as Anastase finished with an under the breath mutter of, 'To pull your intestines out via your nostrils.'

Oops, getting Anastase to plot murder hadn't been on the cards, and Tregereth thumped his head into his hands as Corner walked off oblivious to the death threat.

'Please, just make sure you won't get caught if you do decide to kill him', he pleaded.

'Don't fuss', Anastase replied coldly, 'I grew up with Kronid and Liniște, I never get caught.'

As they spoke an extremally short old man walked over to them, staggering under a heap of timetables.

'Professor Flitwick', Tregereth grabbed part of the stack to stabilise him.

'Oh thank you Mr Trelawney', Flitwick puffed, 'Ah, now here we are. First years! Take one each, both of you, unlike the upper years, all first-year Ravenclaws have the same schedule.'

Picking up the sheet, Anastase began to read over it, 'We've got Herbology first class. We're in Green House 1.'

'Then Defence Against the Dark Arts', Tregereth added, 'I'm quite looking forward to that, but the teacher, Professor Quirrell, he seemed very twitchy at the feast last night.'

Anastase frowned, 'I hope he's not a total coward. DADA is one of the few areas of magic where being headstrong and reckless will help you! Though we have to cover all the theory too, so perhaps it's not that bad if he is a bit, err, shaky.'

'No, I suppose not', Tregereth suddenly shook his head and laughed.

'What is it?' Anastase inquired.

'I just realised', Tregereth chuckled, 'We got down here at a quarter past 7, and we still haven't eaten anything! We've been too busy talking to each other. And you were so concerned about not eating!'

'Well I am now', Anastase yelped, 'But for a totally justified reason this time!'

Anastase snatched up a plate and piled it high with toast, scrambled egg, sausages, and slices of bacon. Tregereth watched in slight admiration as he began shovelling it down so fast it barely touched the sides.

'Slow down', Tregereth said worried, 'You'll make yourself sick, like this!'

Anastase grunted in disagreement through a mouthful of food, 'No I won't', he swallowed hard, 'I'll be fine, you should see the twins some mornings! Now that is fast eating.'

'Right, I think I'll stick with my more sedate pace', Tregereth murmured, 'If it's all the same to you!'

Anastase slowed down a bit as Tregereth got his own food. They ate in silence now, intent on actually eating rather than going off on a long tangent.

When they'd finished they ran back up to Ravenclaw Tower to grab their protective gloves and the books for the first three class periods.

As they dashed back down the spiral staircase, Anastase turned to Tregereth, 'It's almost hard to believe we're really here. We're at Hogwarts. It was always a landmark of growth in my family, I looked forward to it so much. But now I'm here…it's all been overshadowed by Camil and Luminița. I've grown up, but the past lingers.'

Tregereth met his eyes seriously, 'Focus on the here and now. It's the only way to live.'