When Kim awoke the next morning it took her a considerable length of time to realise where she was. She stared up at the top of her new four poster bed for nearly half an hour before she dared to glance anywhere else. To her left was a large yellow lump that was topped with a mass of auburn hair and was snoring rather loudly. To her right was a much smaller yellow bundle with light brown hair that was rhythmically rising and falling. There were two other beds in the room, one had long limbs covered in blue pyjamas hanging out from under the covers, and the other was a pile of restless yellow velvet.
The sun was just beginning to push its way across the room through the tall arched windows of the pentagonal room. It was only as she watched the light creep up the walls that it occurred to her that what she was seeing was impossible. After dinner in the Great Hall they had descended down several staircases and could not possibly still be above ground. She tossed off her covers and rushed across the room to the nearest window. She threw back the white curtains, and her jaw dropped at what she saw there.
Spreading out beneath the window was what could only be described as the Philippines in the rainy season. She felt as though she was looking out on her back garden back at home. There were beautifully coloured flowers scattered among huge, towering palm trees. She was in sheer awe. Opening the window, she was met with a crisp breeze, and she actually gasped.
“Amazing, isn't it?” came a voice from across the room.
Kim whipped around to see that the pile of restless yellow velvet had now developed into one of her new roommates, a tall girl with dark, auburn hair, which she was pulling into a ponytail.
The girl smiled. “The windows are charmed to show you where you want to be. Lex told me about it last night.”
“Lex?” Kim echoed.
The girl pointed at the blue limbed lump in the bed next to her. “That's Lex Taylor, and I'm Elysa Montfort.”
Kim gave her name, and then pointed out who the other sleeping lumps were. Kim and Elysa went about getting ready, sharing the moderately-sized bathroom with no problem. She found out that Elysa was a Muggleborn and knew no more than she did about their new magical world. On the other hand, Lex was Halfblood and had told Elysa a few things here and there the previous day. Elysa thought it was a bit strange that Kim's parents had never told her about her magical heritage, Kim shrugged but silently agreed.
Lex, or Alexis, turned out to be a blonde bundle of energy, and opinions, and an utter bathroom hog. However, she was the sort of person who, after just one friendly conversation, you probably would find it difficult to get angry with. At least that's what Kim thought. Though she wouldn't lie; she was a little annoyed at how long she would've had to wait to get ready that morning, had she not taken a turn before Lex took over the facilities.
Nat seemed a bit impatient, once she woke up, at Lex's exclusive use of the bathroom, but Marie used the time to continue sleeping after being the last one to drop off. Elysa and Lex went down to breakfast, and they'd invited Kim to come along, but she decided to wait for Natalie and Marie.
The last two to get up didn't take long getting ready, but even so, they were pressed for time to get down to breakfast and to their first class. As they opened the door to leave their room, they were greeted by Robin, the Prefect who'd guided them to the Hufflepuff housing the night before. She smiled at the three first years. “I was just about to come make sure you'd be down soon, we don't want to be late to your first class!” As they continued to the common room, they were greeted with the smells of a lovely breakfast. “Lucky for you, our new head of house, Professor Sprout, has brought the morning meal to us, so you won't have to worry about rushing to the Great Hall.”
Indeed, there was a large spread on a table off to the side of the cosy common room. Professor Sprout swooped down on the girls, congratulating them on their placement in Hufflepuff, handing them their timetables, and giving them directions to their first classes.
History of Magic and Potions were the classes they had that morning, neither of which really tested the new students and their magical abilities. During History of Magic, Marie whispered to the students around her that Professor Binns had apparently fallen asleep in the staff room, died right next to the fire, and, when it was time to teach his next class, gone on in his ghostly form to fulfil his duties. Natalie didn't seem as awed by the story as Kim, Elysa or Lex, but it probably had something to do with Marie's source of information “ her cousin James.
The first day of Potions consisted of the excessively rotund, walrus-moustached teacher, Professor Slughorn, dividing his lecture between some of the finer techniques they would learn for concocting potions, and the glory stories of his many famous former students.
Although they'd only been sitting through long speeches, the first years were thoroughly overwhelmed by all the new information, and were thankful for the lunch break. Natalie, Elysa, Lex, Marie and Kim all sat together halfway down the Hufflepuff table, pulling sandwiches, soups, and an assortment of casseroles toward them. They ate eagerly, interrupted by occasional spurts of conversation. They mostly just sat without saying anything. There was so much newness surrounding them, pressing in on every side, that they just needed to sit and eat quietly for a few minutes.
When they stood and left the Great Hall at last, they felt somewhat recharged and ready to face another new class. They clashed with a group of boys as they reached the magnificent arched exit of the hall.
“Marie!” one of them cried, tackling the girl to the ground. His three companions joined in the pair's laughter.
“Hello, James,” Mar managed through giggles. The other girls watched, hovering, as James stood, and the tall boy with dark hair offered Marie a hand up from where she was sprawled on the ground. Lex and Elysa giggled at the slight pink tinge that appeared on Marie's cheeks.
“You ought to be more careful, running into people like that,” Nat said boldly, taking a menacing step toward James.
James rounded on her, but one of his friends, a podgy boy with small, watery eyes, put a hand on his shoulder. “This is the cousin you told us about?” he asked, shifting the focus.
“Er, yes,” he shook his head. “Looks like you've got even more friends now.”
“Yes, they're all in my house. That's Elysa there, and Lex, and then you saw me with Kim and Natalie yesterday on the train,” Marie pointed to each girl in turn.
“I'm afraid James didn't properly introduce us yesterday,” the tall boy said. “I'm Sirius Black, and that's Peter Pettigrew, and,” he reached behind James to urge their other companion forward, “this is Remus Lupin.”
“Listen,” Marie said, noticing that Nat was still glaring daggers at her cousin, who was returning the gaze with equal animosity, “why don't you all go ahead to class, and I'll meet you there, yeah?”
“If you're sure,” Elysa said.
“Definitely,” Marie nodded.
“Good plan,” Kim chimed in, also very aware of the showdown that was quickly approaching if they stayed much longer.
“Bye, girls,” Sirius smiled. “Good to meet you.”
Lex and Elysa chuckled together as they followed Kim, who was pulling Natalie up the stairs. “You know, you're just going to have to control your temper,” she whispered to Nat.
Natalie glared at Kim, making the girl release her arm. Kim merely shrugged, and they chatted with Lex and Elysa the rest of the way to Defence Against the Dark Arts. They took a few wrong turns, but fortunately ran into Shannon, another of their Prefects, who kindly pointed them in the right direction.
The defence classroom was a large room, with sweeping windows that lit it brightly.
Unlike the previous classrooms that they had been in that morning, the desks were not arranged neatly, they were all over the room and in no particular pattern. There was a strange feeling in the place, and each student felt a chill down their spine as their eyes raced over all the new and interesting items in there. The students wandered around, a little afraid to sit down in the tingling environment.
“Fancy having this class with you!” piped a voice from their left. It was Patrick, the know-it-all from the train the day before. “Us Ravenclaws haven't had any classes with you Hufflepuffs before now,” he informed them, as if they hadn't already known that fact.
He hardly acknowledged the small hellos from Nat and Kim, but continued on. “I talked to my sister this morning “ she's one of the Ravenclaw Prefects “ and she says that Professor Hargrove is going to be a brilliant Defence teacher. She didn't teach here at Hogwarts last year, but my sister had her this morning. I am glad to be in Ravenclaw with my sister. Hopefully I'll be a prefect too, when I can.”
Natalie rolled her eyes, and shared a look with Kim, who tried to cover her laugh with a cough. Lex nearly said something but Elysa quickly stood on her foot and quickly quelled what had the look of something scathing. Before anything else could happen, a woman’s voice echoed throughout the room. “Welcome to your first Defence Against the Dark Arts class! Quickly, quickly, pick a desk and get yourself settled. We’ve got a lot to get through.”
A very short woman emerged from a door at the back of the classroom. Her long brown hair fell past her shoulders and had bright blue tips. She was wearing long, flowing robes of an impossibly pure shade of white. “How does she keep those clean?” whispered Elysa.
“She’s a witch,” Natalie replied with a slight shake of her head. “You can cast an Anti-Stain charm on them.” She sidled into a chair that was near her and Kim quickly followed. Lex and Elysa seated themselves just in front. Most people tried desperately to stay away from the front of the room. All except Patrick, who immediately rushed towards the desk nearest the teacher pulling a very unwilling victim with him.
Everyone was seated by the time Marie came bundling through the door at top speed. She came to a quick halt when she realised that everyone was looking at her and blushed a blazing shade of red. “I’m sorry, Professor, I was…”
“Not to worry, you haven’t missed anything yet. Find yourself a seat and we’ll get started,” the professor replied kindly. Unfortunately for Marie, the only seat left was next to a rather haughty looking Slytherin who was tucked away in a far corner of the room. She smiled at him in a friendly manner but he stared back rather blankly.
“I am Professor Hargrove, I will be teaching you Defence Against the Dark Arts,” their teacher began. “I don’t care much for fancy introductions, I only have three requests. One; that you attend my classes; I don’t care much for those who only come when it suits them. Two; that you bring your wand with you; you will always need it. Finally, do your homework. Contrary to popular belief, we teachers do not set homework to torture you; we do it to help you help yourself. If you do those three things then we will get along marvellously. If you don’t then stormy waters lie ahead. Now with that said, let’s dive right in!” she finished with a flourish.
An hour and a half later the first years emerged from the first floor classroom with a variety of war wounds. Kim had a golf-ball sized lump on her forehead, Marie had a scratch across her chin, Lex was hobbling awkwardly, Elysa’s robes were smouldering at the shoulders and Natalie had tissue stuffed up her nose. The inexperience of the class had had some interesting results.
“Did you see the blue tips in her hair?” Marie asked as she ran a tentative finger across her healing chin.
“What were they all about?” Lex winced.
“James and his mates had a lesson with her before lunch. They dared Peter to turn her hair blue; I don’t think that she managed to get it all out,” Marie grinned.
“Picks on teachers too, does he?” Natalie snapped. The effect was slightly lost in the muffling caused by her tissue filled nose.
"He's not the only person in the school who plays pranks!" Marie protested, she spun on her heel to face Nat. "I don't understand why you hate him so much. You'd think he'd insulted your mother!"
Natalie opened her mouth to say something. "He can't be all bad," Kim said quietly. Nat's jaws clamped firmly together, she gave Kim a small, almost hurt look, but said nothing. She turned, and headed down the stairs in the direction of their next class, taking defeat with surprising grace.