There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts and just as many corridors. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The first years had decided to go to the Great Hall for breakfast together, and Rohini was surprised that she remembered which corridors to take; she and a short black boy named Zachariah leaded the way.

The Ravenclaws were the first to reach the Great Hall, followed by the Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and finally the Gryffindors. Harry and Ron where the last one to arrive, bearing quite the gloomy look. She waved at them but they didn't see her. Pouting, she reported her attention to the golden plates. Breakfast was just as diverse and copious as dinner; eggs, bacons, cereals, toasts, marmalade, lemon cakes… Neither Lisa nor Padma talked to her, but it was probably because none of them were morning person. Rohini didn't mind.

"Hoot!"

As the plates magically emptied, the Great Hall was suddenly filled with screeches and hooting from hundreds of owls that flew above them in a beautiful aerial dance. They all held parchments that they dropped in front of each student.

"That's our schedule!" Lisa said and Rohini hurried to unroll hers, curious. She heard someone groan, saying they had to stay up until midnight on Wednesday. "Seriously?" She said, and indeed, there had an Astronomy class on Wednesday, midnight. "Wow, we're going to be exhausted…"

Their schedule for the year went like this:

Monday: Transfiguration, Astronomy with the Hufflepuffs, morning break, Magic Theory with the Hufflepuff, History of Magic with the Gryffindors, Lunch time, Potions with the Hufflepuffs, Herbology and dinner.

Tuesday: Charm with the Gryffindors, Transfiguration with the Slytherins, morning break, Transfiguration again, Potions with the Hufflepuffs, Lunch time, Defence against Dark Art with the Gryffindors for two hours and dinner.

Wednesday: DADA with the Slytherins, Herbology, morning break, History of Magic with the Gryffindors, Charms with the Gryffindors, Lunch time, Magic Theory with the Hufflepuffs, Flying with the Hufflepuffs, Dinner and Astronomy with the Gryffindors.

Thursday: Potions with the Gryffindors for two hours, morning break, Herbology, History of Magic with Gryffindors, Lunch time, Transfiguration, Charms with the Gryffindors and dinner.

And finally, Friday:

Friday: Magic Theory with the Hufflepuffs, Astronomy with the Slytherins, morning break, Herbology, Charms with the Gryffindors, Lunch time, free time, DADA with the Gryffindors and dinner.

Rohini was satisfied with it and couldn't wait to have her first lessons; she had been waiting to use her wand for a month. She was also glad they'll share a few classes with the Gryffindors, but felt less enthusiastic about those shared with the Slytherins.

"They paired us a lot with the Hufflepuffs too." Padma said. "Hope we'll get along well. We should go now; I don't remember the prefect telling us where the classes are."

"They probably want us to find it by ourselves." Rohini said. "Being Ravenclaw and all. I'll see you both in class!" She said, waving at Padma and Lisa before joining Harry, Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"Hi Harry." One of the Weasley twin said with a wink and the other sighed dramatically.

"Really Fred, how can't you recognise Rohini? You're a shame to the twins community."

"Disappointing, really." Rohini said while shaking her head, smiling. "How was your first night? You seemed a bit gloomy earlier."

"We bumped into Filch." Ron said, nodding at the skinny man and his cat. "He found us lost in the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor."

"He didn't believe we were lost and said we did it on purpose. Wanted to give us detention" Harry continued. "We were rescued by Professor Quirrell."

"Yerk." Rohini grimaced. "How about your schedule?"

"Tiring." Ron groaned and Hermione rolled her eyes. Rohini wondered if being a Ravenclaw wouldn't have suit her better. "Yours?"

"Interesting! We begin with Transfiguration. I should probably go, I don't know where the class is yet…" Rohini said and the Weasley twins stood up with a large grin on their face.

"Don't worry, we'll show you the way. Follow us!"

"Don't get her lost." Ron said and Fred brought a hand to his chest, looking offended.

"Our own brother doesn't trust our good intention."

"Scandalous." George said, shaking his head. "Now, we should hurry; you don't want to upset McGonagall on your first day."

"Or upset her at all."

"See you during break time!" Rohini yelled at Harry as the twins pushed her towards the huge gates.

Xxx

Fred and George seemed to know Hogwarts like the back of their hand. If at first they joked around by ordering students to make place for "The Potter Twin.", they soon realised Rohini was quite uncomfortable when being the centre of attention and leaded her instead through empty corridors and secret doors that she tried to memorise.

"I have the feeling that nobody knows Hogwarts as well as you two." Rohini said.

"I'd say Filch isn't far behind." Fred said with a wink. They had reached the first floor where Rohini was welcomed by Padma and Lisa.

"Well, our mission is over." The twin said in unison before bowing. "See ya later, Rohini!"

"Thanks for the help!" Rohini said, waving at them.

"Are you planning to befriend every twin at Hogwarts?" Padma asked, amused and Rohini huffed. "Good thing we aren't that numerous." Before Rohini could say anything, the door opened to reveal McGonagall.

"Well, are you going to wait outside for the rest of the hour? Come in." She said and everybody rushed inside, feeling she wasn't a teacher to cross. The room was spacious with high windows that opened on the lake, four rows of three desks, many bookshelves, two chalkboards, and a desk for the teacher. Lisa said she wanted to sit in the back, but Rohini had to sit close to hear properly. Padma said she didn't mind, and Lisa sat with them, though she seemed to sulk a bit.

McGonagall closed the door and stood up in front of her desk, when the door opened again and two boys mumbled an apology before sitting at the last free table, faces red. The old witch looked at them all while calling their names before nodding; they were all here now.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Rohini gulped.

"In a few months, I will expect my students to be able to do this." She said, before changing the pile of books on her desk into a beautiful antique jar. Most of them gasped, impressed. "But first, you will need to learn something fundamental: the Alphabet."

A few bold students grumbled and groaned, but a single glance from McGonagall was enough to silence them. By the end of the lesson, Rohini had a whole page filled with complicated symbols and a few ink stains on her parchment. Using a feather instead of a pen wasn't an easy thing. Still, Rohini had found the class interesting; it felt like being the main character of a fantasy book that needed to learn how to speak elvish or another unreal language.

Astronomy lessons were spent learning the names of stars and the movements of planets. It took place in the top-most level of the Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower in Hogwarts Castle. Their professor, Aurora Sinistra, was a beautiful black lady dressed in bronze coloured robes and charmed more than one student. Rohini found her class neither boring nor interesting and spent half the hour listening to Lisa and Padma talking about their astrological signs. Practice on Wednesday's evening will probably interest her more.

Xxx

During break time, Rohini tried to find Harry but realised that Hogwarts was too big to find someone except by cheer luck. To her displeasure, she crossed Malfoy's path but they both ignored each other. She got lost and missed her Magical Theory class. She followed the portrait of a lady in a pink dress through different corridors to reach the History of Magic classroom.

"Harry!" She said when her brother arrived. "I couldn't find you during break time."

"We should figure out a place to meet." Harry suggested before glancing around. "Why are you alone?"

"I lost my way and couldn't find my class in time, so I skipped my previous lesson." Rohini explained and Hermione seemed scandalised at the idea of missing a single class. "How are you doing so far?"

"We had Herbology and Transfiguration. It was ok, but the alphabet seems a bit complicated." Ron said.

"They arrived late and McGonagall wasn't pleased." Hermione revealed her, shaking her head. Rohini didn't miss the look Ron gave Harry behind her back. "What about you?"

"I had Transfiguration, then Astronomy, minus the class I just miss." Rohini said. "It's pretty interesting so far! But writing with a feather is hard." Both Harry and Hermione nodded for Hermione was also from a muggle family.

Finally the Ravenclaw arrived, and Padma promised her to let her copy her notes after dinner. Then, the door opened to reveal a ghost that urged them to come inside and sit down. Professor Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates. At the end of his class, everybody agreed that it was probably the most boring lesson they ever had.

"If he's a ghost, does it means that once you're a teacher, you're here forever?" Rohini asked, horrified at this possibility.

"No, I think he just loved to teach too much to stop." Hermione said, though she didn't sound so certain for once. "It's lunch time now, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I think I have potions right after." Rohini said, checking her schedule. "Yep."

"Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them." Ron said and both Gryffindors and Ravenclaws sighed.

"Wish McGonagall favoured us," said Harry.

"I don't even know who the Head of our House is." Rohini said, turning to Padma and Lisa who only shrugged. The Great Hall was already crowded when they arrived, and Rohini didn't miss the few glances and whispered following each Potter twin as they sat at their respective table. She wondered if it would stop, one day. She was suddenly quite irritated, and the next hour wasn't going to cheer her up.

Xxx

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the organs and creatures floating in glass jars put on dusty shelves. There were steaming cauldrons already waiting on the desks and everybody took place with nervous glances all around. They were chattering when the door slammed open and Snape rushed in.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to enjoy the subtle science and exact art that is potion making." He said and Rohini thought he reminded her a bit of a bat, with his long black sleeves. "However, for those select few who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."

"Can we really do that?" Rohini asked to Padma. Snape glanced at her and Rohini wondered if she had been too loud again. It was hard to control her voice level sometimes because of her slight deafness.

"Ah, yes," he said with a disdainful smirk, "Rohini Potter. One of our two new celebrities." His black eyes were empty and cold but Rohini refused to look away. She wasn't sure why, but this teacher clearly had a grunge on Harry and her. "You will learn here that fame isn't everything."

Someone snorted on her left, but most students seemed uncomfortable with the tension in the air. Rohini was clenching her teeth so hard she feared she would break them. Snape stepped closer, crossing his arms as he asked her in a slow, dull voice:

"Tell me, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" He asked, obviously thinking she wouldn't know the answer.

"Probably in your cupboards, Sir." Rohini was unable to contain the sarcasm in her voice as she answered. Everybody held their breath, eyes wide opened as they glanced at Snape then Rohini. The Potions master had lose his smirk and seemed even paler if it was possible.

"Ten less points for Ravenclaw. Being famous will not excuse your behaviour, Miss Potter." He said before walking back to the chalkboard where he began to write furiously.

"He totally hates you." Lisa pointed out and Rohini barely nodded. Potions definitely wasn't her favourite class. Things didn't improve when Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils; Zachariah and Lisa, who had been paired together, blew up their cauldron and Snape took off twenty points to the Eagle House. Thankfully for Rohini, Padma and she were able to do a correct potion, which seemed to upset Snape as he silently passed behind them.

Then, they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. The class was quite interesting but it wasn't enough to cheer up Rohini who was still angry about Snape.

Even her appetite was gone and she barely touched her dinner. She hurried to find Harry before the Gryffindors left the Great Hall to warn him about Snape and tell him what happened to her.

"Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George."

"Still, that's pretty odd that he targeted her specifically, isn't it?" Hermione pointed out.

"Maybe he dreamed to be famous himself." Rohini suggested. "Instead, he ended up lurking in his bloody dungeon for all eternity, just like Professor Binns."

The thought made them laugh and Rohini felt slightly better when she joined Padma and Lisa to go back to the Ravenclaw Common Room, for she still needed to copy their notes from the class she had missed.

"You can see me in water, but I never get wet. What am I?" The eagle head asked them at the entrance.

"A reflection?" Rohini suggested and the door opened. "Wow, it's the first time I get it right on my first try."

"You're not good at riddles? I'm quite fond of them." Padma said and Rohini shrugged. "This one was simple."

The Common Room smelt like freshly cut grass and classical music had replaced the sound of falling rain. Rohini wasn't sure, but she thought the mosaics had shifted a bit, too. Padma's notes were clear, but the lesson itself was quite boring and Rohini was glad she had missed it.

They were the last ones to leave the Common Room, except from the ghost of a beautiful lady dressed in a fancy dress that stayed to read her book. Thranduil seemed to resent Rohini for leaving him alone the whole day, for he refused to lay with her for the night and instead stayed right next to the window, his eyes shining from the moon reflection. Exhausted, Rohini fell asleep pretty fast.

She had a weird dream that night; she was standing in the forbidden corridor, and a strange voice was telling her to open a huge door in front of her but it was locked, and Rohini knew no spell to open it.

When she woke up, she had no memory left of the dream.