Chapter Nine: And So the Dream Began
The feast was nearly one of the single best meals of my life. Prior to the feast, I had a feeling that listening to Professor Dumbledore would provide us with an extremely painful wait, but I was wrong. There was something about that man's voice that seemed to grab the talkative students immediately. It was as if no one dared speak while the older wizard was speaking.
In fact, it wasn't as though there was much of a speech to even sit through for all he did was stand up. His twinkling eyes were shining brightly as he lifted his goblet of water, tapped it gently on the side, the sound resonating before saying," Let the feast begin."
Immediately, food of all sorts appeared on the shining platters scattered all about the table. Hams, chicken, potatoes, not to mention all of the other sweets and meats. My eyes were nearly bulging from my head as I sat there for several minutes.
"Hey, someone might want to hit her," I heard a voice say. "It looks like she's gone into shock."
Before Benjamin could lay a finger on me, I turned and looked at him first. Then, my eyes shifted to the voice who said this. I noticed the boy's bright red hair and his resemblance to the other boy I had met: Percy. He simply had to be a relative. A smile came to his lips as he shot his hand across the table," Hello there, I'm Charlie Weasley."
I returned the smile before shaking his hand and saying," Pleasure. I'm Lana Stockholm."
"Nice to meet you, Lana," He returned whilst grabbing his napkin and putting it over his lap.
"Do you have a sibling-" I started to ask, but he instantly smirked and chuckled.
"Which one do you want to know about? I've six of them," The red-haired boy told me as he took a sip of his water. He sat it down before motioning over to Percy. "That's my younger brother, Percy."
A smile came to my lips before saying," That answers my question."
"But, if you've got time I can surely tell you about Bill, Fred and George, Ron-" Charlie started before another girl hit him lightly on the shoulder. Telling him that I had no interest in his family heritage. One of the reasons being that it would take him until next week. In response, he rolled his eyes and returned to his food.
This girl was tan skinned with brown hair, but strangely enough her eyes were bright green. She smiled wide at me before formally introducing herself as Erica Norton. I liked Erica greatly and found her to be rather compelling. She was a year younger than Charlie and claimed to be on the Quidditch team like him. The mention of "Quidditch" instigated a long conversation, which I didn't necessarily know I was prepared for. Charlie even re-entered the conversation at the mention of it, telling me all about how this was the year that Gryffindor was going to win it all. Erica explained to me what "winning it all" meant at this stage.
I found the two of them to be very interesting characters and all too soon the feast was coming to a close. The head boy and girl were introduced and Dumbledore requested that the prefects come forward. Some of the terminology was foreign to me, but when this was announced, Charlie sighed before smoothing out his cloaks. Erica mimicked his actions and stood up.
"Looks like that's me," He said, standing up. "It really was nice to talk with you, Lana. I wish you the best this year."
"Yes, Lana. Anytime you need anything, just ask one of us," She said kindly.
"Well, ask her," Charlie added. "Don't ask me."
With a roll of her eyes, Erica strolled away from him as he chuckled softly, following her coattails.
Already, I had a feeling that it was going to be a good year.
Arriving in the Gryfindor common room was just as exciting as entering the castle had been. There was a nice fire in the fireplace and many plush seats around it. All about the room there were desks and bookshelves with the ever prominent colors of maroon and gold, strategically weaved in the décor.
Charlie and Erica led the group of first years to the middle of the room before explaining the whereabouts of the dormitories.
"The girls dormitories are up these stairs, if you will follow me," Erica said, projecting her voice over the talkative bunch.
"And the boys are up here, please follow," Charlie said and it was at that moments that the group split by gender and followed their leader.
We couldn't seem to rush up the stairs any quicker and low and behold, the top of the stairs was all of our four poster beds and belongings, aligned in a circle. Many shrieks and squeals were emitted as we rushed to find our bed. I found mine on the opposite side of the circle with my trunk already at the end of the bed. Immediately, I plopped down onto the bed, which seemed to absorb my body. It was much nicer than my bed at home and at that moment, I could have fallen asleep, but there was much socializing to be done.
Sitting in front of the fire was a rather peaceful way to end the day. I sat on one of the loveseats while Benjamin, Percy, and an older girl (whose name I think to be Alice). We spoke of many different topics, but the main thing that we spoke of was Potions. It seemed to be the fear of most of the other first years I had spoken with.
"Potions isn't all that bad," Percy said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Don't lie to them!" Alice rebutted, shooting a glare at Percy, who was still looking rather innocent.
Benjamin and I shot each other a nervous look, we shared nearly all of our classes together with the exception of Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. We had them at separate hours, but Potions, we shared.
"Professor Snape is all talk and nothing more. Sure, he's slightly frightening, but-"
"Slightly?" Alice exclaimed. "I find him bloody terrifying!"
Percy released a sigh before groaning and saying," Well, that's exactly what we want to tell our uneasy companions."
"I'm only being honest," She said, defending herself as she crossed her arms. "Better you find out now rather than later."
It seemed that nearly all of the other students agreed with Alice's interpretation of the black-eyed, greasy haired man who appeared to be rather secretive. I didn't like to make an early assumption of him, since I had never even sat in his class before, but I couldn't help but gulp whenever he was mentioned.
"What of the other subjects?" Benjamin finally asked, interrupting Percy and Alice's argument over the eeriness of Snape.
"The other subjects are mostly a breeze," Percy told us and it took very little time for Alice to rebut this.
"Except for Flying. I think even you can agree with that, Perce," She said before shooting me a warning look.
"It all depends on whether or not you were born with the trait," Percy said matter-of-factly, acting as if it were no big deal at all.
Just about that time, Charlie came about from the stairs to the dormitories and happened to overhear our conversation," Trait you're born with, eh? Why don't you tell them about your ability to fly, Percy. I'm sure they'd love to hear about your 'trait of flying'."
Alice released a snort that grew into laughter," Well-"
Benjamin and I smirked as we noticed Percy's face changing beet-red.
Author's Note: Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season! Thank you to those who have reviewed so far and please let me know what you think of this chapter! I would love to know :D