"I also wish to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dolores Umbridge. Now as Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you, magic is not allowed in the corridors, quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term for those interested please see Madame Hooch…"
A noise cut across the hall, a sort of polite cough that ground in Grace's ears, "hem, hem." The teacher in so much pink Grace though even the Aphrodite campers would agree that it was too much pink, stood up placing a pink handbag onto the table.
She walked to where Dumbledore stood and said, "thank you, headmaster, for those kind words of welcome. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say, and to see all your bright smiling faces looking up at me." Grace thought, "yeah you want us looking up to you we get it," she hadn't even met this woman properly, and already she disliked her.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I am sure we're all going to be very good friends." A snort of laughter came from Morgan as the Weasley twins exchanged matching mischievous grins saying in unison, "that's likely."
"The ministry has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. Although each headmaster has brought something new, to this historic school. Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged."
Morgan whispered to Ginny, saying, "she hits every syllable like it owes her money." This made the girl snicker as Umbridge continued speaking, "let us preserve what must be preserved. Perfect what can be perfected, and prune practices that ought to be prohibited." Morgan rolled her eyes gagging at the little laugh that the woman ended with before sitting down muttering to Grace in Ancient Greek, "she may be a problem."
Grace nodded, and as they left the hall, she said, "Harry said she was at his hearing, she works for the Minister. And the man who won't admit Voldemort has returned." Morgan gritted her teeth, anger rising, "something tells me what I would find if I did a soul reading on her." Grace nodded as they trailed along with the rest of the Gryffindors to a painting of a rather fat lady in a pink silk dress.
"What's the password this year, huh," Ron muttered, and Neville ran up with a massive smile on his face. "Guys, I know the password, and this year for once, I'm going to be able to remember it, Mimbulus mimbletonia."
He said the last two words to the painting, who smiled down at him, swinging open and saying, "right you are." They came into a round room with a roaring fireplace and lots of scarlet armchairs, Morgan took in the room with a smile and then asked, "do you know where we're staying?"
Hermione waved at them, saying, "McGonagall told me, you're staying in my dormitory," she led them up a winding staircase to a wooden door before pushing it open and gesturing to two of the five beds that had their suitcases on them. Two other girls sat talking on the other beds, and they came over smiling.
"Hello, I'm Pavarti Patil," one of them said Grace smiled back at the girl who had dark hair and skin. The other girl had wavy hair and seemed more like your stereotypical girl their age, she introduced herself as, "Lavender Brown." Grace waved she was already thinking about the first day of classes, and Morgan had somehow already changed out of her uniform and into a pair of black sweatpants and an orange tank top.
"It seems rather pointless to introduce ourselves, seeing as McGonagall had us tell the whole school our names," Morgan grinned and waved, dropping onto the bed and asking, "so who thinks this year's gonna be crazy?" Hermione gave the demigod a confused look before smiling and saying, "no, I think this year is going to be, interesting."
Even after a few weeks, mornings still seemed to come way too soon, especially when she had ended up next to the window and sunlight streamed through the curtains and her alarm on her new music player, thanks, Lee. There is no way she would have gotten up on time without it, blared into her ears, and she reached out, shutting it off and groaning softly. "Great."
Rolling off the bed, she straightened, first day of wizard school, "here goes nothing." Rifling through her suitcase she found a stupid uniform and began changing out her comfortable clothes for the button-up shirt and everything else that came with it. The ties had magically shifted to the red and yellow that was everything Gryffindor, but that still didn't mean she knew how to tie them.
Glancing over at the other girls inside the room, she strapped her knives under her shirt and robe, any bulges hidden by the loose garment, grabbing her new wand, she put it in her satchel. Which she only had because of purchasing it in Diagon Alley alongside one for Grace, guessing that her backpack wouldn't be acceptable.
Heading down to the Great Hall, which seemed to be the school's version of a cafeteria, she sat down for breakfast as McGonagall handed out schedules. The letters floated off the page, and Morgan nearly tore her schedule in half, her frustration mounting.
"How do they expect a dyslexic person to read this it's like friggin' Mandrin," Grace agreed as they both struggled to read the parchments they had been given. "Ugh, Binns, Trelawney, Snape, and the Umbridge woman in one day, I wonder if Fred and George have finished those skiving snack boxes yet."
Morgan nearly hugged him, so they had a History of Magic, Divination, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, ugh indeed. "Gods, could there be a worse first day," Morgan muttered, grabbing a couple of apples and stuffing them into her bag.
She vaguely listened to the chatter all around her but mostly just tried to tune it out, even as she followed the trio to their first lesson, she was focused on focusing, which was pretty hard in the chaos. So, when she saw a ghost enter the classroom and she met his eyes, the spirit immediately became flustered. "Lady Sabers, why, what are you doing here?"
Morgan cursed, bending the Mist as fast as she could to avoid the many questions that would come, "Cuthbert Binns, treat me as you would any other student, that is what I am. Understood?" The ghost nodded, and she quickly wrote herself a reminder to talk to the ghosts, as the last thing she needed was for one of them to blow her cover.
Looking over at Grace, she mouthed, "this is going to be a mess." Then she released the illusion, and she sank into the same stupor as the rest of the students while the ghost talked with less expression than some of the spirits she had met in the fields of Asphodel.
Gods, this class was dull, it was worse than when she had been beginning history lessons at camp when she was six and had had very little interest in anything of the sort. She was even used to listening to the ghosts, but this Binns spirit was as boring and dry as they come, so once the class was over, she got up and ate one of her apples while walking with Grace to the next class. This day sucked already.
Hey, if any of you are still here, I am so sorry for the lack of content over the last six months or so, I plan to upload a lot more content much more frequently now that I am done applying to college! Thank you so much for your patience, and yes, I am still alive and writing.