Chapter:22 Next Morning

As the song came to a halt, Victoire felt as if she had just violated something sacred. She felt as though she no longer deserved to be a Veela. A feeling only strengthened by the fact that the Weasley Twins next to her continued singing well after everyone had finished.

The only silver lining in this misfortune was that she saw an extremely uncomfortable Snape singing loudly after being pinched by McGonagall for only mouthing the words before. 

Even Professor Thistlewood looked quite uncomfortable as she muttered the lyrics and was often egged on by another dark-skinned professor, who Victoire later learned was Professor Sinistra.

The song finally came to a halt when Fred and George, who were somehow still singing, finished their funeral march. At the teacher's table, Dumbledore whipped a perfunctory tear off of his eyes and motioned for assembly dismissal.

"First Year! Gryffindor First Years! Follow Me!"

The female Prefect, who was eating mashed potatoes with ketchup, called for the first years to follow her and led the way out of the Great Hall before the crowd of senior students managed to block the entrance.

She led them up a flight of staircase situated on the far right-hand of the corridor in front of the Great Hall, then through a door hidden behind a sliding panel, then another flight of staircase, and then through another hidden door behind a tapestry of the Hogwarts coat of arm and into an empty corridor. 

This floor was somehow flooded with sparkling sand and the Prefect cursed under her breath before hastily muttering a 'scourging' charm. 

At once the glitter began to sparkle dangerously before erupting like a volcano and dousing the entire corridor, and the students standing in it, with a variety of gold, red, green, silver, and pink glitter. All but the twins and Victoire, the twins because they had enough sense to withdraw at once when the sparkly sand started to shimmer, and Victoire since her protective charmed bracelet registered the glitter as a weak 'level 1' spell and created a shield around her. 

"Peeeeeevvveeesss!"

Screamed the Prefect and a cloud of glitter wafted off of her face as she did so.

A translucent ghostly, and yet somewhat colorful compared to the others, floated out of a portrait, startling its occupants as he did so. 

"Ooh, What do we have here?"

The poltergeist cackled evilly as it swooped in front of a first-year who screamed in terror,

"Nasty little first years? What fun!"

The prefect once again attempted to clean off the glitter with a cleaning spell only for it to multiply, the sparkly dust at her feat nearly covered her shoes as more and more of it gathered.

"Peeves! Do you want me to call The Bloody Baron?"

The spirit chortled at this but still left the first years alone and instead swooped up a bucket full of the glittering sand and carried it off down the stairs.

"Bloody Hell! Filch's gonna kill me."

Moaned the prefect before turning to the first years behind her,

"That was Peeves, Hogwarts' resident poltergeist. You better watch out for him or he will get you in a lot of trouble."

She warned and waddled across the glitter-covered floor toward a portrait sporting an extraordinarily fat lady. 

"That's Gryffindor's lounge's entrance. As you can see, the Fat Lady is the one guarding it and only those with the correct password can get past her."

She walked up to the portrait and the woman inside it said in a lazy voice.

"Cor Fortis"

Said the Prefect in a clear tone,

"And may you possess it forever."

Blessed the Fat Lady before her portrait swung open revealing a round hole in the wall. They all entered one by one, the door was too narrow for more than one of them to fit through and yet just wide enough to allow a fully grown adult to walk out of it.

A boy named Lee Jordan, the future quidditch commentator and a long-time friend of Fred and George, banged his head against the ceiling from bouncing too hard.

Once through the hole, the first years found themselves in a large, cozy, round room full of armchairs, sofas, and other cushions all over the place. There was also a large mantelpiece where a tender fire was being kindled.

The Prefect, Charlotte Grey, directed the boys to the top right door which was the entrance to their dorm,

"It was Sam's duty to direct you to your dorms but he somehow managed to get stuck with a bad case of rib fracture back at the station and is now in the infirmary."

The first years gulped in horror,

"Oh well, your dorm rooms would have your name written on the door. Six of you are to share one room and please don't set the curtains on fire during your first night here. Thank you."

Charlotte said as the boys started to walk up the stairs one by one, covering the floor with the glittering sand that still hung on their uniforms.

"The showers at the end of the corridor."

She shouted after the boys.

"Now let's get you all settled."

She turned to look at the girls who were huddled together save for Victoire who was admiring a piece of finely crafted tapestry showcasing the list of all the Gryffindor students still at Hogwarts.

"This way."

Pointed the prefect as she walked through the door on the left of the stairs and through a spiral staircase to another pair of doors with four names written on each,

"Four girls got to share a room, better than the six the boys have to do."

She said in an amused tone before climbing down the stairs,

"Each room of yours got a double shower and a double lavatory. Breakfast is at 8 and tomorrow and the day after are free."

She called as she opened one of the doors down the spiral and slammed the door behind her.

"Blimey, she doesn't stop talking does she." 

Exclaimed Angelina as she rushed to her trunk and took out a pair of pajamas before deciding to wear the one with cauldrons printed all over it instead of the one with wands. 

Alicia was doing the same thing while Victoire was looking around the dorm room. There were four beds, four wardrobes, four bedside tables, four large trunks, and four hangers. It was quite apparent that the place was designed to accommodate four students and yet there were only three of them there, not much of a shock considering that there were only seven girls in their batch along with nine boys. 

Sixteen first-year Gryffindors, better than the Ravenclaws who only had seven, or the Slytherins who had eleven. Hufflepuff this year had a total of eighteen students, making their table quite crowded.

While they were talking, Isabella Bishop, the sixth-year prefect, and Charlie's girlfriend had said this was the largest number they had seen since her year which had fifty-five students. 

The first "British" wizarding war had quite an impact on the population, the witches and wizards were too busy fleeing for their lives or hiding out to make babies. Except for the Weasleys of course, they made children no matter the circumstances. 

Her amusing thoughts were cut short as a screeching sound came from her window. She turned to look and saw that Emily was trying to sit on the window sill and failing miserably due to her size. 

Victoire leaped forward and opened the window, with a swoosh the eagle owl fluttered and soared through the room before settling down on her shoulder.

There was a letter attached to her leg, Victoire undid the knot and opened the folded paper. At once she recognized the sharp, clear handwriting of Lyriel and hastily read through the letter,

How did the sorting fare? Knowing you, you must have been sorted into the Raventoe house, or whatever it's called. I've just learned that only third-years are allowed into the town, so it's a pity I won't see you until Christmas. There are plenty of shops here, and mine is the one right in front of the 'Three Broomsticks' inn.

Anyway, I wanted to apologize for leaving you alone on the train. In my defense, Amelia is quite awful at Apparition, especially when she's dragging us along. She splinched her left eye, and we had to return to the Bones Manor to retrieve it. Thankfully, all is well now – she's got her eyes back. If you're reading this letter, then I assume you're fine as well.

Good luck with your studies, and good night.

With Love,

Lyriel

P.S. I had cast a couple of protection and Notice-Me-Not charms around your compartment. They would have only been dispelled when you woke up or reached the Hogsmeade station.

'This Bitch'

Victoire cursed under her breath before crumpling the paper into a ball and stuffing it in one of the drawers of her bedside table. 

Angelina and Alicia returned shortly afterward and Victoire took her time in the shower before slumping into her bed and falling asleep. 

***

The next morning came with a drizzle, the rain from last night still hadn't let up and the raindrops continuously hammered on the windows.

Victoire woke up as Emily, her owl, had taken it upon herself to act as an alarm clock. Something she bitterly regretted having taught the owl colony to act as. Emily swooped down from her perch and landed with full force on Victoire's stomach who shot up in surprise. 

She looked outside the window and saw a dark sky covered in thunderclouds and a dark forest covered by tall, dark trees. Shooting the owl an annoyed look, she quickly showered and changed into her uniform. 

"Coifortis!"

She cast a spell learned from one of Veela's gifts, the book on makeup. And at once her comb started to weave through her hair.

Yep, this spell was for combing one's hair on a busy morning or simply when one was feeling too lazy.

This year, she decided to go with a 'Long hair' hairstyle, one of the hundreds mentioned in the makeup book.

Several minutes later the comb was done with its work and attempted to reach out to the sleeping Angelina and Victoire managed to stop it just before it lodged itself into the poor girl's hair.

"Revertio Capilli!"

And the comb came to a rest on the floor. 

Sighing, Victoire picked it up and placed it back into her drawer before gently opening the dorm door and walking down the spiral staircase into the Gryffindor common room.

The place was nearly deserted except for a couple, whom she recognized to be Charlie and Isabella, sitting near the fireplace. Their arms intertwined and the girl slowly snoozed off on the boy's chest.

Charlie noticed Victoire walk into the common room and sent an apologetic look before returning to tend to his girlfriend. Victoire smirked and tiptoed past the couple and out of the hole behind the portrait.

The Fat Lady was somehow wearing a nightgown instead of her usual silk dress, she sleepily watched Victoire climb out from behind her and muttered something barely audible beneath the continuous patter of the rain.

"Quite early aren't you? Well, excitement is to be expected. Good morning, dear."

She smiled before giving the portrait a soft bow,

"And a good morning to you too lady."

Before walking down the deserted corridor towards the Great Hall.

As she was descending the moving stairs, she noticed a rather rowdy-looking Filch walking down a flight of stairs before turning to look at her and scowling. She would have scowled back had it not been for the fact that the Gryffindor ghost, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, floating down the ceiling. 

"Ah, a little Gryffindor, you are doing up so early."

"Good morning to you too, Sir Nicholas. Mind telling me ze way to ze Great Hall."

The ghost nodded his head,

"Very well, come along now."

The ghost fell down the stairs, to the ground below, leaving Victoire with a twitching eyebrow and in an annoyed mood.

Well, what did she expect? Asking directions from a ghost.

On her own, she wandered down one floor after the other and somehow ended up in front of Snape's office.

'Well, shit.'

And she ran for it, not running but speed walking up the flight of stairs she just descended. The sound of a door being opened came from behind her but she didn't wait to find out. 

She was too busy 'getting the hell out of there'.

Finally, after an hour of constant roaming, she found the entrance to the Great Hall and entered to see that it too was deserted save for two teachers, Professor Flitwick and Professor Septima Vector. The two professors were chatting amongst themselves and were quite surprised to see a student out of bed so early. 

Victoire noticed that It was nearly a quarter past seven and yet no one was there in the hall,

'Hogwarts' teaching schedule sure is lax, huh?'

And yet again she underestimated the laxness of the schedule.

Once she sat down, several plates and cups appeared in front of her. There were toast, eggs, bacon, mashed potatoes, and a whole lot of other breakfast material along with at least five choices in beverage, black tea, green tea, coffee, some sort of herbal tea, and a cup of cream-colored hot liquid she never had before.

Almost immediately a label appeared beneath it marking it as 'Milk Tea', she tried a sip. The bland, hot taste nearly scalded her tongue, added a cube of sugar, and the taste degraded to sweetened milk.

'Might as well stick to coffee.'

Forcefully finishing the cup, she poured some hot coffee, with a plate full of a 'lot' of eggs and toasts, and shifted to the very end of the table, away from the teachers. 

As time passed, students from different houses started to trickle in and the Great Hall was once again bustling like last night.

Angelina, followed by Alicia and two other Gryffindor girls, sat down next to her and began chatting on and on about their first-year classes. Most of them were excited about their first flying lessons, some couldn't wait for charms or potions, though the latter came as a bitter surprise when the senior year students informed them of the deep prejudice that their potion professor held towards their house. 

Exactly at nine o'clock, Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall and handed out their timetables to different students. Well, she only handed a single sheet to any one of the third year and above and told them to use what she taught them, the duplication charm.

As for the first and second years, she made a small demonstration of her subject and made duplicates of the sheet for them.

Victoire received one and she was quite surprised after seeing it,

06:30 a.m. - 08:30 a.m.: Breakfast In The Great Hall

09:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: Classes

12:00 p.m. - 01:00 p.m.: Lunch In The Great Hall

01:00 p.m. - 04:00 p.m.: Classes

06:00 p.m. - 08:00 p.m.: Dinner In The Great Hall

09:00 p.m. - 06:00 a.m.: Curfew

Six hours of classes in a boarding school?

Isn't that a bit too flimsy?

Unfortunately, her sentiment was not shared by many, or any, of her fellow first years. Instead, most of them groaned or moaned about it being too busy. 

But the shock was yet to come,

Monday:

Herbology (8:30 to 9:30): Greenhouse One

D.A.D.A. (9:45 to 10:45): Second Floor 31

Transfiguration (11 to 12 p.m.): Ground floor 1B

LUNCH (12 to 1 p.m.): Great Hall

Charms (1:15 to 2:15): Third Floor 2E

History (2:30 to 3:30): First Floor 4F

Tuesday:

Charms (8:30 to 9:30): Third Floor 2E

Herbology (9:45 to 10:45): Greenhouse One

D.A.D.A. (11 to 12 p.m.): Second Floor 31

LUNCH (12 to 1 p.m.): Great Hall

Potions (1:15 to 2:15): Dungeon Five

History (2:30 to 3:30): First Floor 4F

Wednesday:

Transfiguration (8:30 to 9:30): Ground floor 1B

Charms (9:45 to 10:45): Third Floor 2E

Herbology (11 to 12 p.m.): Greenhouse One

LUNCH (12 to 1 p.m.): Great Hall

D.A.D.A. (1:15 to 2:15): Second Floor 31

Potions (2:30 to 3:30): Dungeon Five

Thursday:

Charms (8:30 to 9:30): Third Floor 2E

Double Transfiguration (9:45 to 11:45): Ground floor 1B

Lunch (12 to 1 p.m.): Great Hall

D.A.D.A. (1:15 to 2:15 p.m.): Second Floor 31

Double Flying (2:30 to 4:30): School Ground

Friday:

Double Potions (8:30 to 10:30): Dungeon Five

D.A.D.A. (11 to 12 p.m.): Second Floor 31

Lunch (12 to 1 p.m.): Great Hall

Charms (1:15 to 2:15): Third Floor 2E

Astrology (2:30 to 3:30): Seventh Floor 7B

Astrology (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.): Astronomy Tower

Now she was not so sure.

There was a commotion among the first-years as they discussed the class they were looking forward to the most. However, it appears that the Professor was not yet finished with them.

"As first years, the students are expected to adhere to the allotted timetable. Tardiness will not be accepted and points will be deducted in case of such blatant disregard to the school laws."

Her eyes sharpened as she gave the Weasley twins a sharp look,

"Also, first-year students may take extracurricular classes such as art and music in their free time."

And with that, she marched back to the teacher's table. 

"Spill, what did you two morons do to make McGonagall mad on the first day."

Asked Charlie once the Professor was out of earshot.

Not only he, but most of the students sitting around had the same question in their minds as they turned to look at the Twins. 

"We did..."

"...nothing"

The duo raised their hands in surrender but the mischievous smirks on their faces told an entirely different story. 

Suddenly, something heavy hit the table and the students jumped at the sound. Craning their necks, they saw Charlotte, the fifth-year prefect, slump face-first onto the table. Her hairs were messed up beyond recognition and a suspiciously sparkly goo trickled down onto the table.