8 Chapter-8: Classes and Castle

"What did he mean by that?" Ronan asked his friends when the bloodied ghost floated away. All of them shared blank looks on their face.

Then Blaise spoke, "Dont know. We were just shocked that you were able to do wandless magic, you know it is considered a very difficult thing to do?"

He was surprised by the information, "Really? I didnt know that. I was able to levitate things in the air since long as I can remember."

Pancy then asked, "Didnt someone tell you that this was a very unusual thing?" he shook his head, "No. I was raised in a muggle orphanage. None of the kids were able to do this, so I never showed this to anyone. I thought that every wizard or witch could pull this off."

It is then Draco, who was little along the line of Daphne asked, "Wait, did you just say that you were raised in a muggle orphanage?"

He nodded, then Draco smirked, "So that is why you were so sitting with the blood traitor and that mutt." Ronan realized that this was the time that he could ask the question that he had been itching to ask Malfoy. From their conversation back on the train, he realized that Malfoy knew something about his surname, now was the chance to ask him about it.

He looked him straight in the eyes, and asked, "Draco, do you know something about me? Do you know my parents?"

Daphne then asked, "You are telling me that you dont know who your parents are?" He shook his head, "I was told by Professor Sprout that ministry could not find my relatives or my parents."

"You are in for a surprise then," Blaise spoke as he tore into his lamb chops.

"What do you mean by that?" And then Blaise told him about his parents, more specifically about his father. 

As it turns out, Ronan's father is a death eater, currently in Azkaban. This came as a big surprise for him because this meant that he would have to work a lot harder than before to get into the good books of the good guys. This also meant that he wouldn't have to work too hard to blend in his own house, which was a good thing as well.

This information also brought one another advantage, it meant that he wouldn't be targeted by the snake that Harry had to fight in his first year at Hogwarts…

After Blaise told him about his parents, there was an awkward tension in his group. While he stayed silent during the dinner trying to adjust his plans, everyone started chatting like usual. When dinner vanished from their table, and dessert was served, he took some ice cream and glanced at the teacher's table. He wanted to have a good look at the con professor who would start teaching this year, only to realize that there was something amiss there. He could not find anyone that matched the description of the Lockheart.

There was a professor with a cruel face, clad in dark robes, which he realized was Snape. And just beside him a was man who had a purple turban on his head, which he recognized. He doesn't remember that professor's name from the movies, but he does remember a guy who wore a purple turban, under which Voldemort's face appears in the movie's climax.

Does this mean, that Cannon has changed a lot? Or does it mean that I dont remember the plot of the movies

At last, the puddings too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent. "Ahem… Just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."

He then continued, "First-years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."

With a breather, Dumbledore spoke again, "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

This made Ronan turn towards Blaise and ask, "He is kidding right," 

Without looking at him, Blaise shook his head. But then realization hit him, cannon was following the third movie. And it was highly likely that he had forgotten about the plot of the movies. Which also made sense as he had seen the movies a very very long time ago. 

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. The old man gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

___________

'Hogwarts, Hogwarts,

Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.'

_______________

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand, and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped the loudest. "Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

With that all the Slytherins started following the prefect of their house, when exiting the hall, Ronan looked at Harry and Ron who were also looking at him. He passed them a smile, while they had a blank expressions on their face…

Slytherin's common room was located in the dungeons, in one of the isolated parts of Hogwarts. But from what he saw, this common room was way better than he imagined it to be. When he got into the dungeon, he noticed that there was a snake engraved on the floor, which looked very impressive. Then the prefect came to a wall and said the password, "Everyone please remember this month's password.. Blood Purity"

The snake on the floor started moving, it moved from the floor to the wall, revealing a rather large green door. The prefect pushed the door open and they were greeted with a bunch of stairs, when they made it downstairs, he was greeted with a very very large room.

There was a huge fireplace on one side of the room, with comfy-looking sofas all around the fireplace. There were several tapestries all around this area as well, depicting the might of wizards. The other side of the room had three rather large window panels, which were emitting green light all around the place. Upon close inspection he realized, that the green light was because of the water, one could see the black lake through their window.

"Can I get your attention please?" said the prefect, a fifth-year blond girl.

"Welcome to Slytherin common room. This is where you will most of the time in the castle. You are free to do whatever you want in the room, to gain access to this room one would need a password. It changes every month, there is a notice board just beside the fireplace which would have the password for the month. Before getting out, please note down the password."

She took a breather, and then said, "Maintain decorum of the house and do not run the house names through the mud.. Your rooms will be on the right, every Slytherin gets their own room. Your name would be etched on the doors, it will open on your touch. Your luggage is already there. Have a good night."

And then everyone was off, Ronan wanted to explore a little more, and he was not even tired at the moment. But he figured he should go to sleep, for now, tomorrow is going to be his first day of school. He wanted to be in top condition, also, there were a lot of things that he needed to do tomorrow…

***

The movies didnt do any justice to the Hogwarts castle. Although Harry Potter movies were magical, they had the allure to them which he still remembers to this day. But, the real thing was on a very different level. Witnessing the marvel of this place firsthand, Ronan was happy that he transmigrated to this place.

There were over a hundred staircases at Hogwarts, and there were very types of stairs here, there were wide ones, sweeping ones, narrow ones, and rickety ones as well. There were some stairs that led somewhere different on a Friday, while some had vanishing steps halfway up, and you would have to remember when to jump when coming from them.

There were doors in the castle that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, for some doors one has to tickle them in one specific place in order to open them. Hell, there were some walls that acted like they were doors, he did spend one fine morning trying to open the thing when a Seventh-year Ravenclaw told him the truth. He was infuriated that a wall made a fool out of him.

As the place was so big, it was very hard to navigate around the castle without getting lost. Most of the walls of the school were covered with moving pictures and tapestries, but the people in them weren't of any help. Most of the time the people in pictures would move from one frame to another in order to meet their friends. Some portraits did help, while most of them would send the children in the wrong direction, pranking them.

As Ronan was a Slytherin student, no ghosts helped him or his fellow housemates. Slytherins had this reputation about them that no other house liked to talk to them. Which did make his life a little easier. But when the classes started, things started becoming more interesting for him…