I'm so sorry I haven't been updating! I've had this chapter finished for a while, too. If anyone is ever wondering why there are random quotes (Doctor Who quotes, to be exact), those are my time skips. I like them. I hope you like my creativity with this aspect. And if anyone starts wondering which Weasley I'm talking about when Gemma is showing them around the school, its Charlie, not Percy.
Part 9
In short, Hogwarts was incredible. As Gemma led the first year Slytherins through the castle, Vanessa's eyes were everywhere. There were paintings all over the place. And they were alive. Thousands of moving beings trapped inside the frames. They weren't even staying in their own frames. They were moving around, talking with other painting-people and gallivanting about and just having what appeared to be the time of their painted lives.
"This is remarkable," Vanessa muttered as the little procession was led down a flight of spiral stone steps.
"It's just beginning to get remarkable. Wait 'till you start your classes." Gemma said.
As they progressed down the staircase, Gemma gave them a brief, simplified version of Hogwarts' history and Vanessa got the feeling that she was barely scratching the surface.
Eventually they reached a wall that was deep in the dungeons.
"M'kay, listen up, firsties. This wall is the wall that leads to the Slytherin common rooms. It requires a password that changes every fortnight. Right now the password is," Gemma turned back to the wall and said, "Salazar."
The stones started to tremble and a little bit of dust fell to the ground. The stones began shifting and moving until there was a doorway.
"Alright, in you go." Gemma ushered them in.
The Slytherin common rooms were extravagant. The walls were stone and the light fixtures emitted dark greenish glows. There were spacious black and green leather couches and chairs scattered around the place. It was a grand atmosphere but also a rather cold one.
"This is the main room. Over there," Gemma pointed to a staircase, "is the girls rooms. It's impossible for boys to get up those stairs so don't even bother trying. The boys' rooms are over there." She pointed to a staircase on the other side of the room. "You share rooms. The maximum is six to a room."
And, with that, the first years were ushered off to their dormitories.
~Don't Blink. Blink and you're dead~
The dormitories were spacious and there were six beds around the room. There were dark green curtains and windows that looked out into the lake they had travelled across only hours before. The beds had deep green warm-looking comforters with matching pillows and silver accents.
"Woah…"
"I get the bed by this window!" Leah cried as she all but flung herself onto said bed.
And, just like that, the girls jumped into action, calling out what bed they wanted as they rushed towards their chosen beds.
~"There's always something to look at if you open your eyes."~
Vanessa, Hanna, Leah, Siren, and Samantha were all piled onto Hanna's bed about thirty minutes later, eating the remaining candies. Magenta, who had taken the bed in a corner that was furthest from the windows, was on her own bed with a black leather bound book.
"These are good," Vanessa said. "What kind are these again?"
"Fizzing Whizzbees. Now try and stop floating." Samantha challenged.
The girls, Vanessa included, laughed as Vanessa struggled to land. (A/N: Fizzing Whizzbees cause the eater to float a few inches off the ground). Eventually, Vanessa managed to get herself back down-but not without several attempts.
"Well, now that that's all sorted out, what're we doing tomorrow? We don't start classes until the day after tomorrow, right?" Leah asked.
"Right." Siren said. "Tomorrow is when Gemma shows us where everything is."
"That ought to be fun." Hanna grumbled. "I don't know about you lot but I don't like her all that much. She seems a little...well, loonish."
Leah giggled. "Loonish? That's the best you got? How 'bout 'round the bend'?"
Hanna gave the girl a small smile. "I suppose. I just wish that someone else could show us around. Gemma most likely won't tell us anything cool. I want one of the professors to show us around."
"Speaking of professors," Samantha said, "did you see that one professor? The one with the funny glasses?"
"That was the Divination teacher, right?" Vanessa asked. "Professor something."
"I think that's Professor Trelawney." Siren supplied.
"Yeah, that's it. Anyways, Vanessa, did you see her? She kept looking at you." Samantha said.
"Really? Well, now that you say something, yeah, I noticed it a few times." Vanessa frowned. "I wonder why…"
"She probably saw something in your future." Siren said with a laugh as she wiggled her fingers at Vanessa.
"Oh, come off it, girls. The only thing she most likely predicted is that if Vanessa doesn't stop eating those candies, she's gonna be spending the night floating!" Leah said.
Sure enough, the black-haired girl was once more airborne.
~"It's not the time that matters, it's the person."~
The next morning, Gemma was leading them all down a portrait-filled corridor.
"As you can probably tell, Hogwarts has a lot of portraits dedicated to various people. It's rumored that there are portraits of the four founders hidden somewhere that were made when Hogwarts was originally founded." She was saying.
At that moment, the group of first year Slytherins walked by another group.
It was the Gryffindors and Vanessa spotted Fred and George amidst them.
"Mornin', Wheezerly." Gemma sneered at the tall redheaded Gryffindor.
Siren leaned over to Vanessa and whispered, "I know we're rivals and all, but I don't think I could be mean to Fred and George."
Vanessa nodded in agreement.
Indeed, it would be a shock if she could be mean to those who had never been mean to her. That was one thing about Slytherin that she didn't think she would ever accept.
AHHH! IT'S SO SHORT!
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