Pearl hadn't slept much the night before, but she still got up early to avoid the other students and to get down to the kitchens. Ever since Rose became headmaster she put an end to house-elves being used as free labor in the kitchens (unless of course they wanted to stay), and quite a few left. The ministry threatened to stop paying for the students' education; however, when Rose began to do such disagreeable things like that, as well as admitting non-human pupils. Rose decided to make Hogwarts a private school; however, and students whose parents could not afford tuition where offered scholarships for academic performance, and for working in the kitchens and such. Pearl could rely on Rose to pay for her personally, but she wanted to help out anyway, so she went down to sign up. For the time being, the staff was preparing meals.
When Pearl finally found her way to the kitchens (after getting lost several times due to the changing layout of the castle), she saw that Garnet was also there to sign up for kitchen duty. Pearl averted her gaze in embarrassment, just knowing Garnet thought the less of her for being sorted where she was. Garnet walked over to speak to Pearl and the elf prepared herself for the worst, but Garnet actually apologized for not doing what Amethyst had done last night.
"I should have noticed you were upset and didn't want to sit with those jerks." She said sheepishly. "I was having a good time and it was thoughtless of me. I can't tell you the last time people treated me like I was a normal person. The hufflepuffs are really cool."
"Oh. Thanks Garnet. I was worried you wouldn't want to be friends anymore. You don't think I'm a bad person?"
"Of course not! You've never given me a reason to believe that." Garnet reassured her, and Pearl felt much more hopeful; She hadn't lost her friends at all.
"I'm glad we're still ok" Pearl expressed, "and I'm sorry people act weird about the third eye thing." Garnet looked a bit confused by this but the girls' conversation was cut short as they were hurried out of the kitchens by the staff so they wouldn't miss breakfast.
"Hey, you can sit with us today if you want." Garnet offered, and Pearl quickly agreed. Pearl also expressed to her friend that she was worried Rose was disappointed in her because of her sorting, though her fear of any real rejection had been alleviated by her friends' actions.
"I think she knows you're different" Garnet said, "but you should go talk to her if you're upset about it. I'll even go with you." Pearl smiled thankfully at the three-eyed girl, and as they sat down, asked her about why she did look like that anyway.
"Hey, if you don't mind my asking, why do you have three eyes, and why are you so tall?"
"Oh, well… My mom was half cyclops and could see the future like most of them can. I suppose that's where the extra eye comes from. I have the gift too, but my visions aren't always right. As for my height, my Dad was on the short side himself, and so are my uncles, but they have some giant blood in them way back. The trait seems to skip generations though, so I guess I happened to get the gene." Pearl nodded and thought that Garnet was possibly the strangest and most interesting person she had ever met.
The girls compared schedules at the table as they ate and found that they had several classes together. Their first class was actually learning to fly on a broomstick, and Pearl couldn't wait to go. Pearl loved flying, but never had done it on a broomstick. Garnet had played quidditch all growing up, so it was old news for her, but looked forward to seeing Pearl give it a go.
"Hey, are you going to introduce us, or what? Breakfast is almost over!" Pearl looked up to see a hufflepuff boy smiling at her and Garnet. "Hi, I'm Danny!" The green- haired boy shook Pearl's hand gently after a quick introduction from Garnet. The hufflepuffs seemed to be a big band of misfits, but they were some of the coolest and nicest people you could hope to be around. Pearl smiled and thought that maybe everything would be alright for her after all.