Disclaimer: Do Not Own Castle or Harry Potter…you know the drill.

Chapter 9 (First day: Part 1)

The sun came streaming through the high window of the dormitory that first morning of classes. Rick squinted, trying to block the sun from his eyes. He could still hear the snoring from two of his dorm mates and took a moment to look around him and take in the gravity of where he was and what he was doing there. He was at Hogwarts because a few weeks ago he had found out he is a wizard and he was there to learn magic.

After a long groggy sigh, letting it all sink in, he sat up and trudged over to the bathroom for a shower.

When he emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later fully dressed, teeth brushed, and hair still a little damp, his dorm mates were all awake and seemed to have the same idea he had.

"Mates, maybe it would be a good idea to set up some kind of schedule for the bathroom in the mornings," said Ernie.

"Not a bad idea," agreed Esposito.

"Well, it's a little late for that this morning, mates. Come on let's get some breakfast," said Justin.

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Rick said, grabbing his bag that he had loaded up with quills, parchment and a few of his school books.

Rick fidgeted with his yellow and black striped tie as he and Javier walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. Esposito tapped him lightly and Rick stopped fidgeting. "Dude, what's your problem? Are you nervous or something?"

"Oh, nothing I was just thinking."

"Thinking? About what?"

Just then Rick saw Kate wave at him from the Ravenclaw table.

"Oh, just…about what classes we have today. I didn't get a schedule, did you?"

"No."

It was then that they noticed the plump, bubbly woman with mousy, flyaway hair walking up and down the Hufflepuff table handing out sheets of parchment to students at the table who were trying to eat their breakfast. Rick and Esposito took their seats about midway up the table. Ernie and Justin had split off from them to join some second years they seemed know. The two of them started to dig into plates of eggs and toast when the older woman came by them.

"Excuse me boys. I have your class schedules here. Names?"

"Castle."

"Esposito."

"Well here you are Mr. Castle and Mr. Esposito. I'm Professor Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff. Pleasure to have you two in my house and I look forward to seeing you in Herbology later this week." Sprout gave them a warm smile and continued on her way down the table.

Rick glanced down to study his schedule. "Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, History of Magic, Herbology? Well it's certainly different from the kind of classes I would be taking at our Muggle schools back in New York."

"You got that right bro." Epsosito said in agreement. "But, hey, look we have a flying lesson mid-week. That should be fun. I certainly never thought I would actually ever learn to fly a broom stick."

"Well, I have the feeling this year is going to be full of firsts for us."

Rick's first class of the day was Transfiguration. This class was taught by the authoritative woman from yesterday, Professor McGonagall. Rick had been looking forward to this class since Mrs. Beckett had told him about it. It had been one of her favorite classes.

"Hey you." Kate came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Rick jumped, slightly surprised. Kate just smiled at this and looked Rick square in the eye.

"Hey back."

"You have this class now too?"

"It looks that way." Rick suggested, looking down at his schedule.

"Well then maybe you could find a seat."

"Huh?"

"We're blocking the doorway."

"OH! Sorry."

Kate rolled her eyes slightly at him as they and the other students made their way into the room to find their seats. Rick looked around to see Esposito seated about half-way up the row, waving him towards the desk next to him. It was on the outside of the isle, next to wall.

Rick glanced back and forth between Kate and Espo for a moment, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings. Kate could see the struggle in his face.

"Hello," she said stepping up to Javier, "I'm Kate." Javier took her extended hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, Kate. My name's Esposito."

"You got a first name, cowboy." Kate smirked; playing on the fifth American accent she had heard here at Hogwarts . Espo stared for a moment, considering this. Rick wondered whether he was going to let her call him Javier.

"It's Javier."

"Well, nice to meet you Javier. Rick, why don't you sit here with our new friend? Lanie is calling me over there anyway." She gestured to a table across the room. "See you guys after class."

"Later." Esposito called, turning to grin at Castle.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Our friend? So was that your girlfriend Castle?"

"Kate? No, no, no, no she and I are just friends. I'm allowed to have a friend who just happens to be a girl. Aren't I?"

"Dude, chill. I'm just playing."

Rick sighed outwardly.

It wasn't long after that that McGonagall showed up and started class. They were instructed to attempt a spell used to turn matchsticks into needles…only after McGonagall had given them an introduction into transfiguration. The lecture had included tedious note-taking. Rick had trouble mastering the use of the quill. 'Why can't we just use pencils and pens like normal people?' The thought actually made him laugh very quietly to himself when he remembered where he was. McGonagall caught his barely audible chuckle and gave him a stern look.

The last part of class included turning their books and taking careful notes on the first chapter about the basic essentials of transfiguration. Almost no one noticed when Prof. McGonagall silently stood from her chair and shrunk to the ground into her cat form. Rick had never seen anything like that before, except in the movies, but he was now seeing it right in front of his eyes. His eyes went wide. When cat McGonagall glared at him, he turned his head back down to his notes and tried to focus but couldn't. Just before he looked back at the page he was studying he could have sworn the cat smirked slightly at him, as if amused. 'That was awesome!'

When they were dismissed the class gathered their things and filed out of the room. As promised, Kate waited outside the classroom for the boys. Not only was she there but so was the girl she called Lanie earlier, a fellow Ravenclaw.

"Boys, I'd like you to meet my friend, Lanie Parish. She's a fellow New Yorker just like us Rick. Lanie, this is Rick Castle and Javier Esposito. Sorry, Javier I never did ask where you were from. "

"The Bronx, NYC."

"No kidding," Lanie said, intrigued; a smile forming on her shy face. "Staten Island."

Espo smiled and sent her a nod while Rick just waved slightly and said "hey".

Lanie gave Rick a once-over and said "hello" before turning back to Kate and whispering something to her that made both of them giggle.

Rick felt so lost, like he was missing something. 'Must be a girl thing.' Javier gave Castle a look identical to the one that the latter was sporting, both boys a little confused. Finally Rick gave an interrupting cough in the girls' direction. Kate and Lanie both contained their laughter long enough to inquire as to what classes the boys had next.

"Well," said Rick examining the peace of parchment resting on top of his books, "we are actually due for a free period then lunch. After lunch we've got Potions and then Charms."

"Guess we'll be seeing you in Potions then. We've got History of Magic after that." Lanie stated.

"Well, we have to go. We've got charms next. Don't want to be late. Come on, Lanie." Kate implored suddenly in a hurry.

"See ya later."Rick said, "Nice to meet you Lanie."

"You too, Castle." Lanie said, "Javier, see you later."

"Sure, whatever." Esposito looked a little taken aback. Then the girls were off the opposite direction.

"Dude, what was that about?"

"No idea." Rick said, coyly. "Maybe she likes you." Rick smiled cheekily at his friend's dumbfounded look.

"Relax, man. That's just payback for earlier.

"Oh, you're dead." Esposito tried tackling Castle but he escaped swiftly, dashing through the crowded corridor as fast as he could in a random direction, away from Espo. Soon he was just going whichever way his legs would take him, not particularly caring where exactly that was. He soon found himself at a large set of wooden doors and felt compelled to open them; not sure of what was behind them. Rick put his hand on the large, ornate door knob and pushed inward.

Yay! It has been far too long since I have even touched this story. I missed it. As I'm sure some of you did too. Anyway, that's it for this chapter. Thank you to those of you who have been ever so patient with me. Let me know what you think. All input is appreciated. BTW, I felt a bit more compelled to finish this chapter after getting another follower to this story so thank you to Jayie of Akali for motivating me this time around. See you all again next time. 3