Hogwarts Castle

If there had been any hope whatsoever that Charlus Potter might have learned his lesson based on the Sorting Hat's chiding, the thought of it was dispelled quickly when, after the sorting had been completed, his voice carried across the Great Hall:

"Florean! Oi! Florean!"

The red haired, freckle-faced boy turned in his seat to look between the wall of Ravenclaw students in their blue-silk lined robes - including Filius Flitwick - to peer at his Gryffindor mate. "What is it, Potter?" he called out.

"Florrrrrean!" Charlus chortled, "Don't you find all of this just spiffing?"

Florean Fortescue had rolled his eyes and turned back to his table without answering.

Alastor snickered and returned the smirk and high-five Charlus offered him and they eagerly turned back around to find Minerva staring at them with a raised brow. Charlus's smirk melted ever so slightly. "Aw c'mon, Min - it's all in good sport."

Minnie snuffed her disapproval.

But none of them had long to dwell on Charlus's teasing, nor Minnie's disapproval, for it was at that moment that Headmaster Dippet stood and, clearing his throat, clapped his hands to send a chill air that circled the room, bringing silence amongst the students, and calling their attention to him at the front. Beside Minnie, a young girl with blonde hair and a round nose shivered and rubbed her arms against the cold.

"Welcome everyone to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said Armando Dippet. He held up his arms, which were covered in thick blue robes with large cuffs on the sleeves of a golden material hemmed with zig-zag patterns. He wore a large, sparkling sapphire ring that glinted in the flickering of the candle light as he moved, rotating slightly to look at each of the long rows of students that filled the hall.

"Blimey he's old," murmured the other first year boy, Something-Bell Minnie tried to remember his name, who sat next to Elphinstone Urquart, the prefect. The boy's eyes were wide as he stared up at Professor Dippet's pepper-grey beard and long, curling locks.

Elphinstone leaned forward, "Born in 1637," he whispered.

"1637!" Minnie exclaimed, turning about, "But - that would make him --"

"Nearly 300 years old," nodded Elphinstone Uquart.

"Bloody hell," whispered the Bell boy.

"That isn't all that impressive," Alastor Moody said in a grumbling voice, "There's members of my family over six-hundred years old! Fer instance, me grand-da's nearly ---"

"Bologna!" hissed Charlus Potter, interrupting, "You're full of lard."

"M'not," Alastor insisted. "Me grand-da's --"

Charlus's whisper was a sing-song, "Full of it!"

"Shh!" Minnie hissed, pointing at Armando Dippet, and they boys all turned their attentions back to the Headmaster, who didn't seem to have noticed that the first year Gryffindors weren't paying him mind. However, the deputy headmaster - the man they called Albus Dumbledore - had his eyes trained upon the table and he had obviously spotted them whispering. "Pay attention, will yeh? Before ye be gettin' in'ter trouble on your first night in the castle!"

"He looks more amused than anythin'," mumbled the Bell boy, for although Dumbledore was giving them The Look, there was a slight quirk of amusement to his lips.

"Shhh!" Minnie insisted, and, grumbling, the boys turned to face forward and listen to the Headmaster then.
Armando Dippett rambled on and on and, despite herself, Minerva found her mind wandering so that she only caught glimpses of the things that the headmaster was trying to say - something about the dungeons and another thing about the astronomy tower, and there was some bit about the grounds after dark, but his voice was just so old and wobbly that she found it quite easy to ignore him and instead watch as Charlus Potter poked Alastor Moody in the side with his wand and Al turned about and did it back and the boys played at gently sword fighting with their wands as inconspicuously as possible until Elphinstone Urquart flicked his own wand silently and collected both of theirs. Charlus and Al looked up at him with surprise and offense as Elphie's fist closed around the wands and he nodded up at the front of the room.

But by that time, Headmaster Dippett was quite finished with his speech and announced, "And now, we eat."

With those words, there was a sweeping rush of air, a bit like a wind, and it stirred the hair and brushed the faces of those in the Great Hall and with a series of little pops and poofs, there was suddenly before them a feast.

"Oh my," Minnie said, looking over all of the options for sup that had appeared. Goose and turkey and roast and thick potatoes - mashed or as jackets, a big bowl of peas, plates of carrots and asparagus, boats of gravy, and stacks of warm rolls. She'd never seen a thing like it. On the Reverend's salary at the manse in Faere Dhu, they'd never gone hungry but nor had they ever feasted quite like this, either! And Minerva couldn't believe it! And how it had all just appeared on the table! Nobody had carried the platters out to set them down before them, but it had simply come - out of thin air! By magic. Magic, Minnie realized, would take a good deal of getting used to seeing on a daily basis, and she sat, marvelling at the meal before her.

Charlus Potter didn't hesitate even a second before he'd snatched up a handful of the rolls of bread and begun smearing butter inside them with the back of his spoon with one hand while grabbing piles of roast onto his plate. He looked up at her as he poured gobs of gravy over the potatoes. "Aren't you going to eat, then?" he asked her as she sat gawking at the serving plates before them.

"Aye, I'm going to eat, don't you be worrying about it!" Minnie replied, and she reached her fork for the thick slices of turkey.

A smirk played over Charlus Potter's face as he watched Minnie filling her platter up eagerly and he lowered the gravy boat with an air of amusement. "S'matter, ain't you never seen a feast before?" Charlus asked.

"Not like this one!" Minnie answered.

"Me mam cooks better'n this," said Alastor Moody, who was lazily spooning mushy peas onto his plate. He put the serving fork back into the bowl and handed the plate to another girl who had been sorted to Gryffindor after Minnie had been. "This ain't nothin' compared to me mam's."

Charlus rolled his eyes, "Well - my mother is dreadful at cooking, so I'm bloody well glad to have this roast here. I love roast, I do, but not mum's!" He shook his head, shuddering, "Bloody hell, no one should do to a roast the things that woman does. Burnt on the outside yet still a'mooin' in the middle... Even with magic she can't cook. Bloody hell." He took an extra slab of the roast beast then, as though he needed to make up for lost time in roast eating.

"My mother makes brilliant roast," said the Bell boy, though nobody had asked him.

The food was delicious, Minnie thought, easily the best meal she'd ever eaten in her life, and she wondered if food always tasted this good and it was only Isobel's cooking that made flavors seem bland in comparison or if the chefs of the Hogwarts kitchens were bewitching their turkey to taste as flavorful as all this.

When the dinner was gone, the plates were instantly cleared with more poofs and pops and in their places were trays of sweets of all flavors - lemon and chocolate and butterbeer and rum raisin. She happily took a little rum raisin cake and nibbled at it while Charlus, Al, and the Bell boy were shoving little chocolate and buttercream ones into their pockets for later, as well as stuffing their faces full now so that their cheeks puffed out like chipmunks and frosting clung to their lips and they giggled as the boys jostled and roughhoused across the bench.

After the feast and the desserts, Armando Dippet announced it was time for sleep and the ceiling seemed to dim as though announcing the end of the evening and students got up and the benches creaked and groaned and Charlus Potter shoved one of the chocolate cakes from his pocket into his mouth with glee.

"Follow after me now, Gryffindors," announced Elphie, standing up, "And I'll show you to your dormitories." Minnie scrambled as the first years clustered around Elphinstone Urquart and he gave a quick count of them, seemed satisfied, then waved for them all to follow along after him as he led the way out of the Great Hall and into the castle.

If Minnie had marvelled at the boats and the outside of the castle and the dinner and everything, it was nothing at all compared to how she marvelled now as they moved through the wide halls, following after Elphie. Even Charlus Potter couldn't help but stare around himself in wide-eyed fascination as they climbed a staircase that swung and moved in a tall, narrow tower of a space that spanned up and up and up and up for what seemed an infinite amount of levels. The walls were lined with thousands of paintings, all crammed together so tight that their frames touched or even overlapped. All of the pictures were moving. Painted people peered over their frames and adjusted glasses or lowered books to stare at them and animals ran about from frame to frame, their colors and painting styles all different types. A realistically painted giraffe ran around, her neck spanning through several frame, as though looking through four or five windows and seeing a bit of her in each one. Minnie had never dreamed such a thing was even possible.

"Whoa," the Bell boy breathed as they rounded a corner coming off the stairs after climbing for eight or nine levels. The corridor was lined with burgundy and gold tapestries with lions and there were large suits of armor whose helmets creaked as they turned to look at the new arrivals.

Suddenly, one of the helmets opened his mouth wide-wide-wide and a loud, ringing belch echoed from within the armor, rattling the chainmail that hung over the coat's chest.

"Fresh blood, new brood - which of you's gonna be rooood?"

A singing, playful voice came echoing from inside the suit of armor and Alastor, surprised by the unexpected song, nearly tripped over himself in surprise because it had been from the suit nearest him and given him quite a fright, which made Charlus Potter guffaw loudly, clutching his sides and he laughed. "Scared you, did it, Al?" he wheezed.

Alastor frowned deeply and dusted himself off.

"Peeves! Out of there!" Elphinstone Urquart demanded importantly, rapping his knuckles against the armor's chest plate smartly, causing a hollow echo to resound throughout the suit.

Minnie's eyes widened as, from the open maw of the armor, came a shimmering form of a young boy in a funny sort of school uniform, with messy hair and an obnoxious sort of playfulness about his features. The boy - a ghost, she realized - spun 'round and 'round, head over heels, until he was dangling upside down just before Elphinstone. He stuck out his tongue and let out a long, low raspberry that made his lips shiver and ghostly saliva, turning to solid ectoplasma as it landed, dotted Ephinstone's glasses.

"Elphin-stone, Elphin-stone," sang the ghost, "See him coming, makes you groan!" He spun again.

Elphinstone put his hands on his hips, "Off you go, Peeves, or I'll call the Bloody Baron to come and take care of ya!"

Minnie didn't know who the Bloody Baron was - was Elphinestone swearing or was the Baron truly covered in blood? - but, whoever he was, this Peeves was very fearful of him for the ghost stopped his singing instantly, turned over and zipped away down the hall so quickly that several of the helmets turned with the velocity of his passing.

Elphinstone shook his head, though he appeared more amused than truly aggravated.

"Was he really a ghost?" Minnie asked, in awe.

"A poltergeist," Elphinstone corrected her.

"What's the difference?" asked the Bell boy.

"A ghost was once a living person," answered Charlus knowledgeably, "A poltergeist is just a spook." He smirked at Alastor, "Gave you the spooks at least, yeah, Al?"

Alastor still looked quite unamused.

Elphinstone grinned, "Very good. Five points to Gryffindor for knowing the answer, Potter." Charlus grinned annoyingly. He waved his arm, "Come along then, the lot of you. We've got to get up to the tower before it's time to come back down!" He chuckled. "I reckon you'll want some time to yerselves to be enjoying your dormitories." And he started off down the hallway, headed for the stairwell.

Charlus nudged Alastor, "Go on then, Al," he said, smirking, "Unless you're afraid?"

Alastor snuffed haughtily and stomped off ahead of them, though he kept a constant eye on the suits of armor. Charlus's eyes danced with humor as he trotted along behind. He turned to Minnie, then, as the pair of them slowly fell behind the others and he asked, "Finding Hogwarts interesting so far?" Minnie raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him and he chortled with amusement.