learning about Hogwarts life
Miss Potter led them to their new common room. Through archways and moving stairs. Always telling them to keep close at all times. They even passed a ghost with his head that kept falling off.
"Good day to you Sir Nick".
"Oh, it is good to see you back Miss Potter".
James and Dareth where amazed and scared that the paintings where eyeing them up, even moving into other frames. The two boys loved it.
Miss Potter Finally came to an old looking gargoyle at the end of a well-lit hallway that lay in the dungeons.
"Good day Mr. Meckles". A that the gargoyle transformed from an ugly, concrete monstrosity to a living breathing being, wearing reading glasses. His Green skin shinned in the light of the two torches that sat either side of the entrance to their new home, His teeth were pearl white and his feet were the size of the children's head.
"Hello their, may I ask your name"? He had a very polite, well-formed accent that no one there could trace.
"I am Miss Potter, Dean for the Balythior house".
"Oh I do say…" The almost comical beast stop in his tracks, almost jumping from his perch to allow them to pass. "Wait...I need a password from you, other wise I will have rip you and your tiny companions into bite size chunks. I am terribly sorry… I am new to this job".
Miss Potter spoke clearing so everyone around her could hear. "Today I can dance".
"Oh well done Miss Potter, now as the children file pass I would like them to introduce themselves".
With that the children entered the common room introducing themselves to Mr. Meckles, saying who they where, wear they came from and who their parents were. James and Dareth found out that they were two out of seven that came from the world the others called it the Muggle world. The rest lived in the Wizarding world.
Once through the door they headed down a spiral stair case that led down. At the bottom a massive wooden door stood a jar. Inside there was an open fireplace (that wasn't going), four large couches, huge with Blue and gold lining on them (it was hard to tell the actual colour because so much dust and cob webs filled the room), A few book shelves (that also had an inch of dust), Carpet that looked older that Dareth's Grandma and an old chandelier that hang in the middle of the room.
"Well, I did think that they would have cleaned for you before you got here…" She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts "Okay here lies your first lesson at Hogwarts. Everyone get out you wands and point them at something. Good, now repeat after me 'Clean and shine, save me some time' at that one of the couches had no dust, no cob webs and looked like it had been re-upholstered. The students did as she said and in minutes the common room was looking beautiful.
"Hey what about me" The children looked around as one child looked very afraid, he stepped away from the door. "Can someone clean me too"? Dareth and James who had loved cleaning for the first time in their lives, raced each other "Clean and shine, save me sometime" In an instant the door seemed as though it had been stripped down and re-varnished, it's hinges were sparkling in the light of the chandelier.
"Right the boy's bedrooms are to the right upstairs or down. And the girl's bedrooms are to the left up stairs or down… Oh and clean on your way".
Dareth, James and the other boys ran to their door, all racing to get the top bunks. The front two got jammed in the doorway until James, being a lot bigger than the other boys, apart from Dareth, ran full pace at the two sending them flying, both falling down the stairs. James accompanied by Dareth ran over the two boys in a race full of laughter. They two on the floor were trying to stand up, but their laughter mixed with the occasional shove from the others kept them glued to the wooden floor. James tried the doors on the left but found all but one locked. Dareth tried the three doors on the right but also only found one that was unlocked, the same one that James had. Not thinking at all the boys flung into the dorm heaving their large trunks away and jumping on the top bunks. Ten beds in all, so five top bunks, when this came apparent the slower or less boystris boys took off upstairs.
Dareth and James now looked at their new roommates. The first took the bed opposite from James. He was a short boy with long blond hair that bounced of his shoulders when he ran. He introduced himself as T, short for Terrirryil. James and Dareth along with the others agreed that T was better after five minutes of trying to get it right. The boy opposite Dareth was about the same height as James but not as thick or round. His glasses made him look like one of the biggest geeks in the world, they made his big brown eyes three times the size they ought to be. His curly brown hair also looked beautifully groomed, you could tell that his mother brushed it before he left. This young lad introduced him self as Boktoby, when the others tried to shorten it he got mad and refused to let them.
The last was a very scrubby looking young man, his cloths were dirty and ripped and his jet-black hair was in dead locks, so it looked cool, but was a complete mess. He introduced himself as Frederick the tenth.
"The tenth you have got to be kidding me"!
"Yes well our master won't let as change our name, the only reason he let me come so that I could learn cleaning magic and be aloud to used it".
"Your master, are you a slave"?
"No! My great great great great great grandfather, give or take a few greats, probably give, and another man set off on a journey to find a mythical library that contained the secrets of an excellent explorer. It is said that his library is and always will be the biggest and best. But my grandfathers life ran out and his did not. But on his deathbed my grandfather pledged that his family would help his partner until they found it. So some of us look and some clean, then it changes over".
"Wow where have you been"?
"Only to Hogwarts… Can we please not talk about me any more".
Dareth agreed, he could see Frederick getting sad and or board. "Let's explore".
At that three more boys came towards their room. faces looking only at the ground. Frederick guessed they had run out of beds upstairs and came to join them.As the boys left they cleaned their room. Walking up the stairs and up to the large door that gave a little extra protection. As they neared it, T reached out to open it, but the door was locked.
"Who locked they door"?
"I did… silly boy to get out you need to use the magic word".
"But there's so many". At this comment Dareth and James roared with laughter, they sat down and watched the others try to get the door to open, using every opening spell they could think of, not sure if they were doing it right.
"What's so funny you too". A petite girl stood above them.
"They need to say the Magic word to get through". James tried to get out the rest of his sentence but couldn't.
"Do you know it"?
"Yes" that was all Dareth could conjure before tears began to roll down his face.
Soon enough the rest of the of their house joined them, most of them scratching their heads, tossing ideas around while seven of them born and raised in the Muggle world buckled with laughter.
"What's going on"? Miss Potter walked in the room from the girl's dorms.
"Miss we can't open the door, we need to know the magic word". With that comment it flew the seven into even harder laughter. Miss Granger had a giggle "Say 'Please' that is all".
Looking confused T said please.
"Please what".
With even more confusion, tears almost rolling down his face in frustration "Please may you open the Door, Sir".
"Excellent, well done, hopefully next time it won't take as long"
At this the first years plodded up the stairs. James, Dareth and their roommates were last to leave.
Fredrick noticed the cobwebs on the stairs and began to clean using his newfound gift. The others joined in making a game of it. They went about their part of the castle where they now could home, polishing and dusting every surface they could find.