Pansy never would've thought to be offended by a hat one day.
As they follow John Bletchley and Amanda Turner, a sixth-year with a dollface and shiny curls, back into the Entrance Hall, Pansy wonders if a dazzling look is the precondition for becoming a Prefect.
To the left of the large marble staircase, they slowly walk down a stone spiral staircase. The half-burned candles on the walls give just enough light that they don't miss the steps. At the bottom it is much cooler. They first walk through a narrow corridor with two opposite doors.
"The Potions classroom," John says as he walks past, "and the office of our Head of house."
The corridor bends several times until they're facing a labyrinth-like tunnel entrance.
"From here on, you must keep to the right. Only right. Don't even think about exploring the other passageways! You wouldn't be the first to get lost, and we really have better things to do than spending hours searching for you, all right?"
The first-years nod silently and follow the Prefects until their way finally dead-ends in front of a stone wall.
"This," says John, knocking on the wall, "is the entrance to our common room. It's protected with a password that changes at irregular intervals and appears on the back of this wall, engraved in the stone. So always take a look at it before you're leaving. And finally, the most important thing: no one but us is supposed to be here, understand?"
Again, they nod obediently.
"Good. So always make sure that other students don't follow you here - you'd be surprised how often this has happened before. Amanda?"
"Onyx!" says his pretty companion in a bell-like voice, whereupon an door hidden in the wall slides open.
They walk through the opening and onto a low gallery, from where the entire room can be overlooked. Nothing here reminds of the cold, grey cellar vault behind them. Ornate lamps and candles bathe the room in a warm light, and oil paintings of famous wizards line the walls. On the left there is an open stone fireplace with a spacious seating area. The long table is covered with magazines, the current issue of the Daily Prophet and a pack of cards. Opposite, in a large alcove, steps lead down to both sides. Wing chairs are everywhere, and at the other end of the room there's an area with bookshelves and desks.
John waits until the excited murmurs stop, then says, "Pride, ambition, cunning, but also resourcefulness, traditionalism and fraternity. These are the qualities he appreciated about his students." He points at a portrait of a white-bearded man. "Salazar Slytherin, co-founder of Hogwarts and one of the greatest wizards of his time. The Sorting Hat saw the potential in each and every one of you to achieve great things, so don't underestimate yourself or the person next to you. It's important that we stick together, support and look after our own, as we're not particularly popular with the other houses. This is mainly because the House Cup has been ours for six years and the Quidditch Cup for five years."
Draco Malfoy whistles approvingly.
"Not bad, right? But nothing comes from nothing, so you should spare a minute or two to study. And when a teacher is around, behave yourself, be role models, smarm. Such a House Cup doesn't just … come to you."
With a smile, Amanda pulls out her wand. "That's my cue then, I guess. Accio timetables!"
From the back of the room, a pile of papers flutters to her. While handing them out to Pansy and the others, Amanda says, "A few words on the daily routine: there are three meals that you take in the Great Hall. Classes start at 9 o'clock. In the first week we will accompany you to the classrooms. It's not part of our job, but Hogwarts will seem like a maze to you, and delays cost us unnecessary house points. Curfew is from 10 PM to 6 AM, during this time you may leave the common room only with a teacher's permission or in case of an emergency - yes, please?"
Tracey, who looks at her timetable, lowers her hand. "What does POSH mean?"
"Prefects' Organisation of Supervised Homework. An organisation, that brings Slytherin thirty house points every year. Outside, next to the common room, there's a small hall, where we Prefects help you with your essays and practical exercises for the first two years. The offer is optional and takes place twice a week. And one more thing: our Head of house, Professor Snape, teaches Potions. He's a luminary in his field and expects obedience, discipline and perfect manners."
"You might think he doesn't like anyone," John adds, "but don't be deceived, he has a special place in his heart for his Slytherins."
"Just a pity you're never going to say that to his face."
"I'll think about it for ten thousand Galleons."
"For sure. Anyway, you can always turn to us with questions or problems." Amanda points to the alcove. "The boys' dormitories are left, the girls' right. That's it for now. Have sweet dreams!"
The first-years lose no time. Pansy and the girls rush down the steps to a hallway with seven black doors, the respective students' names written on them in golden letters.
Daphne claps her hands. "I love it when my name's written on something! So, where's our door?"
"Over here." Pansy stops at the last door on the left, which has not only their four names, but also Lady & Mabel written on it. Apparently one of the girls has a cat as well.
She turns the knob, pushes the door open - and they all gasp for air. But they have no eyes for the ornate four-poster beds made of dark teak or the antique wardrobe. And they care as little about the noble carpet as the chains of sparkling emerald adorning the chandelier. Instead, they're staring at the opposite wall with the huge window, which reveals an underwater landscape, like a life-size aquarium. The whole room shimmers in a cool green because of the water.
"Wow," Tracey says amazed.
Pansy seizes the moment and throws herself on the left bed closest to the window. "Mine!"
Her suitcase and Mabel's basket promptly appear on a wooden trunk at the foot of the bed.
Tracey and Daphne groan as Millicent quickly claims the opposite bed. In the basket that appears on her trunk, there is a cat with long, black hair and white paws. The beautiful animal doesn't match its inconspicuous owner at all.
"Lady is my best friend," Millicent explains.
"And what about me?" Daphne asks offended, flopping on the bed next to hers.
"Well, she's been with me since I was four, which is two years longer than I've known you."
Meanwhile, Mabel tries to greet her conspecific, but her nudge is met with a paw swipe.
"So," Pansy says, closing her pocket mirror, "when are we going to check out that corridor on the third floor?"
The girls look at each other.
"You mean the one with something deadly lurking inside?" Tracey asks. "How about never?"
"So you believe Dumbledore? I mean, he tells us about a super-dangerous and forbidden place and seriously expects everyone to stay away from there? I bet he wants to test us."
Tracey crosses her arms. "Yes, maybe he's testing our obedience and we're going to lose points if we defy his instructions."
"Then we mustn't get caught! I want to know what lies behind it - and anyone who doesn't come with me is a lame Squib."
Suddenly, Millicent gives a sharp scream and the cats scurry under her bed. She points to the window. "WHAT IS THAT?"
Outside in the water there's a creature that appears to be half human, half fish and stares in at them. It has a scaly green skin, yellow googly eyes and hair which is reminiscent of algae.
Daphne shrieks.
"Get off, you ugly thing!" Pansy shouts, throwing a pillow against the window.
Only Tracey approaches and even waves to the creature. "That's a Selkie!" she says excitedly. "I've never seen one up close. My grandparents live by a lake, where they come to the surface sometimes."
"It looks creepy," Daphne wails. "Tell it to go away!"
But in this second, the fish monster turns around lightning-fast and disappears in the thicket of seaweed.
"Too bad they're not mermaids," says Pansy, "those look pretty, at least."
Quite a while after the girls explored their bathroom containing two showers, toilet cabins and washbasins, and stored their clothes into the extension-charmed wardrobe, it has become quiet in the dormitory.
Pansy snuggles into the silk pillows next to Mabel and watches a shoal of small fish swim past the window. The haunting voice comes to her mind again: 'Disciplined, stubborn and clever, though not necessarily brilliant.' - Pansy never would've thought to be offended by a hat one day.
She puts on her sleep mask and still wonders about that corridor-story, when her thought is replaced by a dreamless sleep.
~.~.~
"Always watch your step," says Amanda on the way to their very first class: History of Magic with Professor Binns. "The staircases can change their direction or make single steps disappear. One staircase is even only there from 4 to 10 AM. The castle is always in motion; the suits of armour, the people in the portraits, even the walls try to trick you. The founders definitely had a strange sense of humour."
Suddenly, there is a high-pitched giggle above their heads. "Woohoo, are the ickle firsties going to class?"
Amanda rolls her eyes. "Bugger off, Peeves!"
A small, insidious grinning man in a brightly coloured suit is floating in the air and starts to empty a Gryffindor student's backpack over his head.
"Is this Hogwarts' famous poltergeist?" asks Draco Malfoy.
"Unfortunately, yes. But don't worry, if he gets on your nerves, just mention the Bloody Baron and he'll leave you alone. Oh, and speaking of annoying figures - don't get in the way of the caretaker! Filch is a choleric weirdo who constantly accuses students of violations and threatens them with torture or expulsion. No one understands how Dumbledore could hire someone like him. And his cat, Mrs Norris, is almost worse."
"Cats are cute!" Pansy replies.
"Not this one. She's a bloody sneak with her eyes everywhere and some kind of telepathic connection to Filch. She observes an alleged violation, and two seconds later that old creep shows up. So just try to avoid them both."
The corridors are long and as alike as two peas in a pod. Along the way, they run into the lost Hufflepuff first-years, who follow them with relief, because they have class together.
As they enter Professor Binns' classroom a few minutes later, they're confronted with a musty odour. There are long benches on both sides. The Slytherins sit on the left, the Hufflepuffs on the right.
The tables are full of scribblings. Just when Pansy is outraged by Slytherin sucks! J.P., Gregory Goyle jumps up from the bench, because a ghost with moustache and monocle is floating into the room through the blackboard on the wall.
"Are you going to get your knickers in a twist now whenever you see a ghost?" Malfoy asks irritably.
"I can't help it!" Goyle defends himself. "Why do they always have to sneak up like that?"
"Clever," says Theodore Nott, smiling. "Who could teach history better than someone who is history?"
Slowly and monotonously, as if he were very tired, the ghost says, "My name is Professor Binns. In this class we will delve into the colourful, fascinating History of Magic and all its eras." He sighs softly. "Please turn to page three in your textbook."
A moment later, Daphne pouts. "There aren't any pictures in there."
Binns starts the lesson with a lecture on the origins of wizardry. The bad thing is not the boring topic, but Binns' voice, which has the same effect as a sleeping potion. It doesn't take long until the first students can no longer suppress their yawns and feel their eyelids getting heavier and heavier.
Pansy decides to use her time wisely and write a letter to her parents. She unrolls a parchment and dips her quill into the inkwell.
Hello Dad, hello Mum,
I am fine.
Hogwarts is nice, but I don't like the uniform at all: grey slipovers with black pleated skirts - boooring! At least we're allowed to wear our own clothes on the weekends, because I have packed a lot, and it's barely six months until everything has gone out of style again.
How is your new collection coming along, Mum?
Blaise is in my class, too, but he prefers talking about Quidditch with the other boys.
Mabel is fine, too. She always tries to play with a roommate's cat, but she rather wants to sleep half the day. She is pretty fed up with her, I suppose.
P.S.: I have been chosen for Slytherin!
Pansy
Now half of the Hufflepuffs have dozed off and Millicent is plaiting Daphne's hair, but Binns is so absorbed in his narrative that he either doesn't notice or simply doesn't care.
"I know how Binns died," Tracey whispers. "He was bored to death with his own lessons."
The others giggle.
In the afternoon, after a Herbology double lesson with the plump Professor Sprout, Pansy and Padma have a chat by the greenhouses behind the castle. Unlike the Ravenclaws, who soaked up every boring information about herbs and mushrooms like a sponge, Pansy wouldn't even be able to name the green stuff they just planted. She didn't deign to dig in the dirt, so Millicent and Daphne kindly did this for her.
"How do you like Ravenclaw?"
"Our tower is beautiful," enthuses Padma. "From up there we can overlook the entire castle grounds, and we even have our own library! You absolutely need to visit me."
"Is that allowed?" asks Pansy, remembering John's no-visitors rule for Slytherin.
"Sure, why not? We could learn together."
Pansy bites her lip. "I'll take you up on that later. But tell me, what do you think of that forbidden corridor?"
Padma shrugs. "All I know is that the entrance is guarded by Prefects. We had lessons with Professor Flitwick today, just a few rooms further. By the way, he's our Head of house and really nice!"
"Do you think Dumbledore was telling the truth?"
"If anything, it's only half the story. Think about it, why should he ensure that a threat to the students is guarded instead of vanquished? There must be more to it."
Before Pansy can answer, someone calls Padma's name; Parvati is coming down the slope, accompanied by a girl who keeps her blonde curls out of her face with tacky butterfly-hairclips. She almost stumbles because she's absorbed in reading Witch Weekly, a gossip magazine.
"Who's that?" Pansy asks disparagingly.
Padma sighs. "Lavender Brown. In Charms class she applied so much lip gloss, I thought she was going to eat it. But to be honest, she and Parvati go well together."
Moments later, Parvati says to her sister, "I've been looking for you."
Pansy is a little upset about being ignored. "Parvati! How nice you're still here, even though you've got to share a dorm with Hermione. Say, is it as horrible as I imagine?"
Parvati doesn't answer, but Lavender lowers the magazine and pauses reading an interview with rock singer Myron Wagtail. Her eyes wander to Pansy's green-silver-striped tie.
"What did I tell you, Parvati? Slytherins are always looking for a fight."
Pansy's jaw almost drops. "Pardon me?"
Now Parvati looks at her for the first time. Almost reproachfully, she says, "You don't hear anything good about Slytherin. Didn't think you could belong with them."
Padma rolls her eyes. "Now don't start with that house rivalry nonsense as well!"
"You know, Parvati," says Pansy, looking at her pityingly, "I don't belong with Hermione, Toadboy and people with bad taste." She looks at Lavender's hairclips. "But you do, obviously, so have fun with them."
Lavender gasps indignantly, but Parvati, now blushed, remains silent.
"See you soon, Padma," says Pansy, making her way back to the castle, but then she turns to face Lavender one more time. "Oh, and given your dislike for my house, you're certainly not a Weird Sisters-fan, are you? Since Myron is a former Slytherin."
Irritated, Lavender looks down at her magazine. "How would you know what house Myron was in?"
Pansy taps her temple. "Well, let me think. How was that again? Do I know him personally, because my mother invites him to her Christmas party every year? Exactly, that's how I know."
With a smile, she leaves them standing. The Gryffindor girls start whispering in dismay. Pansy doesn't care about Parvati's opinion. Let her be happy with that stupid Lavender.
As she follows up the path, it's the first time she gets to see the castle in daylight. The way the low afternoon sun shines on the old walls and towers, Hogwarts looks even more beautiful than by night.