'Gather round Hufflepuffs' ushered the witch. The closer Nalia was to her, the stronger the smell of earth and plants got. She was wearing gloves that were made of a thick, scaly material. Nalia was sure they were dragon hide, which she recognised from the list she had received with her acceptance letter. 'Morning first years! Look lively now, no need to look so nervous boy. I am your head of house, Professor Sprout. I am here to help you with any concerns you may have and provide general support throughout your time here. I am always contactable by owl should you need me. During my breaks and until dinner, I am often in my office by the greenhouses. For the first part of your induction we will be touring key areas of the castle and grounds. Then, we will all gather back in here to go over some more rules and more information on how those given the privilege of attending the tournament at Draíocht will be selected. I expect no lolligaging or laziness, I have a venomous tentacula in greenhouse five that cannot be left unattended for long, and I don't want Professor Longbottom dealing with alone should it get out of control, it's definitely a two man plant'. Nalia held a lot of admiration for Professor Sprout, she liked her straight forward, no nonsense manner, but she was clearly also a witch you could depend on to help you and look after you. She probably just didn't suffer foolishness lightly. 'Well come on then! What are you waiting for? Line up quickly!'. As Professor Sprout gave this instruction, the first years formed some sort of line in front of her, and she lead the way through the Round entrance of the common room.
The tour was uneventful, they had already seen the great hall, the common room and their dormitories,so Sprout showed them the hospital wing first. They were met there by Madam Pomfrey, who had become known as the unsung hero of the school after the Battle of Hogwarts. Nalia knew that Albus, in particular, held her in very high regard.
Then they were shown their classrooms, with Sprout muttering something about someone called 'Peeves' when they got to a corridor near the Astronomy tower, where the door signs seemed to be in a strange order. Next stop was the grounds to see the greenhouses, quidditch pitch, training grounds and care of magical creatures area. At the care of magical creatures area, Hagrid was taking care of what Nalia and Tilda assumed must be the Erumpents. His long, bushy, wild hair had grey streaks, and his beard, which hid much of his face, had a white stripe down the middle, reminding Nalia of a badger. 'A'right Professor Sprout, A'right firs'years! Hope you're all enjoyin' yerselves' Hagrid said as the first years approached. The smaller of the two Erumpents then nuzzled it's great glowing horn up against the top of Hagrid's head, which was quite amusing as it was twice the size of Hagrid. At this, Hagrid teared up and said 'Look Professor Sprout, she knows her mummy, ain't she beautiful?'. It was quite strange to see such a giant of a man welling up.'Mm yes, quite, anyway, moving on' Professor Sprout said dubiously, guiding them on. Even after this occurrence, the Erumpents seemed very intimidating, so as friendly as Hagrid seemed, the first years were all glad they would not be studying care of magical creatures this year.
The last stop on the tour, before gathering back in the common room, was the Owlery. This was where the owls belonging to students could sleep if they didn't want to be in the dormitories. But mainly it was where the school owls were kept, for teachers post and for students who didn't have owls to use. The owlery was a separate tower in the castle grounds, with a stone spiral staircase surrounding the outside,that had a platform at each of the six levels. There were many arch shaped windows for the birds to come and go as they pleased. 'How do you think people know which floor their owl is on?' Nalia asked Tilda as they trudged up the spiral stairs, apparently headed to the top. 'Well, I guess you just get to know where your owl likes to be I guess? Or you go to any floor and call them?' Tilda suggested. Nalia supposed that would work, provided the floors all had hatches the owls could fly through, which it just so happened, they did.
They reached the top floor of the owlery and entered through a heavy wooden door, that although had a lock, was not kept locked. After all, Nalia thought, why would you need to lock it? It had clearly recently been cleaned out as there was clean sawdust sprinkled on the floor, and very few feathers or owl mess. There must have been at least thirty owls on this one level , and Nalia marvelled at the beauty of all of the owls of different shapes and sizes. From regal Great Grey Owls, to adorable, tiny elf owls, the owlery must have held at least one of every species. Nalia and Tilda were at the back of the group, only just in the door, and suddenly, as Sprout was explaining use of the school owls, from the left hand side, Tilda heard a slight flapping and feint hoot coming from the floor. She looked down and there on the floor, clearly not well, was the most adorable, tiny black and white Pygmy owl. Nalia scooped it up in hands and shouted 'Excuse me, Professor Sprout! I'm sorry too…' 'Yes, yes what is it?' Asked Sprout. Nalia made her way to the front and showed Professor Sprout the owl. 'Poor little thing looks injured. It's not one of the schools, or pupils by the looks. Hmm, you'd better take it to Hagrid, you remember where he is, don't you..Dursley wasn't it? You can catch up with us in the common room, or owl me with any questions if you are too late. I'm sure one of your classmates can fill you in.' 'Yes Professor, May I take Tilda, I mean… Bathilda Bones with me? Only I don't want to get lost.' Nalia asked tentatively, 'Yes, yes alright go on then…', as Professor Sprout finished her sentence, Nalia headed back through the crowd to Tilda. As they were leaving the owlery, Professor Sprout added 'Oh, and Dursley, ten points to Hufflepuff for your kindness and compassion. Bones, 10 points for being so willing and ready to help.' At this, the rest of the first years clapped, Nalia blushed and Tilda half smiled. They thanked Professor Sprout and made their way to the care of Magical Creatures area, which Hagrid's hut was next to.
Hagrid was sat on the steps outside his hut, whittling away at something when the girls arrived. They had wrapped the owl in Nalia's scarf to keep it warm, and they asked Hagrid if he had a minute to help them. 'Well o' course I 'ave! What can I do for ye?'. Nalia filled him in on the situation with the owl, whilst Tilda stood by timidly. 'Aright, come on in and let's take a look at the little fella', said Hagrid as he led them into his hut. His hut was crowded, but in a cosy way. The one room was all Hagrid lived in, so it contained everything from his bed, to his kitchen, with a huge table and chairs right in the middle. Cages of all shapes and sizes hung from the ceiling, but they were all empty. In a corner, lay a dog bed. It was enormous, way to big for the puppy lay in it. The puppy was white, with black patches, it raised its head, wagging its tail as they all came through the door. There was a large collar hanging on a nail above, engraved with the name Fang. Hagrid noticed the girls looking at it. 'Ye that's me old boys collar tha' is, beautiful 'e was, absolutely beautiful' and he welled up again. It struck Nalia that Hagrid thought all animals were beautiful. 'But I got this little'un now' Hagrid said, wiping his nose on his sleeve. The puppy came bounding over to Hagrid. 'E'll grow into his bed, be a big boy 'e will, 'Es only 10 weeks old. Anyway let's take a look at this 'ere owl. On yer bed Cerebus!' and with that, the puppy slunk back to his bed and curled up. He really was huge, he looked to Nalia like a Great Dane.
Nalia placed the owl, still wrapped in her Hufflepuff scarf on the table. Hagrid unwrapped the owl, surprisingly gently given the size of his enormous hands. Hagrid meticulously examined the owl and declared 'Ye 'ell be aliri'. I reckon it was that mangy cat 'o filches. Only animal I've never been able to take to tha' thing…rock cake?'. Tilda and Hagrid then began an interesting discussion about magic creatures, something they were both clearly passionate about, but Nalia wasn't really listening. She was busy thinking how interesting it was that Hagrid should say that about Filch's Cat, given the strange events involving Mr Gibbous that Albus and Scorpius had described at breakfast. 'Anyway, it's nearly lunchtime, you two 'ad better be on yer way so yer can have a proper meal before afternoon lessons. Before yer go though, I don't suppose you'd be able ter look after the little feller would yer?', said Hagrid referring to the owl. 'only, I 'Avn't really got the time or space fer 'I'm, and 'e seems to have taken a shine to you' he continued, talking to Nalia. 'I can give yer a cage,sawdust, bowls and some owl food to get yer started, 'e should be okay, with lots o' fuss. Trus' me, there's nothing more rewardin' than looking after an animal''. Nalia considered it, but in the end couldn't say no. Especially when Lucky jumped out of her pocket, waddled up to the owl, who was wrapped back in the Scarf,nuzzled it, started almost purring and turned Orange. Nalia had come to understand that orange meant happy.
So, it came to pass that the two girls headed up to the castle, carrying a large bird cage, the little owl and all its supplies. They also had an open invitation to come back for tea and biscuits any time, and they were welcome to bring some friends. They both thought the rest of the gang would really like Hagrid, so promised to bring them down one day. They set the owl up in his new cage, between Nalia and Tilda's beds, with water and food. he was so happy wrapped in the scarf that Nalia couldn't bring herself to take it off him, so he went in the cage still wrapped in it. He hooted with contentment, nuzzled down, and fell asleep, with Lucky deciding to join him. They locked the cage and headed down to the great hall for lunch. On the way there, they decided to name the owl Ozzy,
which Nalia thought suited him very much. They were the first of the gang to arrive in the great hall, but were shortly met by Rose, who joined them at the Hufflepuff table. A little while later, Albus and Scorpius came strolling in and joined them. Scorpius chose to sit next to Nalia, which gave her butterflies.
Albus was glad to see Nalia seemed happy on her first day, and she seemed to have made a lovely friend in Tilda. He was very interested to hear about the story of Ozzy the owl, and Hagrid's uncharacteristic dislike of Mr Gibbous. He spent the rest of the day, until the end of lessons thinking. Something about Mr Gibbous was just not sitting well.