The Order of Mischief I

1.2

The gamekeeper, Hagrid, had gathered the students in front of the lake, waiting for the eleven-year-olds to quiet down so he could instruct them. But he made no effort to tell them to lower their voices as the floating boats had not yet reached the shore - it was all part of the magical introduction and experience that was meant to excite the first years. The wooden vehicles all carried glowing lanterns, small flames that were reflected against the dark surfaces of the lake.

"Gather around, children!" The large man loudly exclaimed, instructing the students to quiet down. They obeyed and stared at him, waiting for him to say more. Many wondered if their teachers were giant like him, even though he was clearly not as humongous as an actual giant, while a smaller number of them despised the man before them and hoped the other professors were nothing like him.

He began speaking again, "Climb aboard, in groups of four. Be careful as you do, and avoid making loud noises." The last part of his instructions earned faces of shock and fear from the children as they tried to understand what he meant, and what was at the bottom of the lake. Regardless, they obeyed and approached the anchored boats, slowly lining up in the dark. The professor stood by a slightly larger boat on the far edge, on his own, supervising the young ones as they fussed to climb aboard.

"This one," a small white-haired girl, with obviously silver eyes, exclaimed, pointing at an empty boat. She ran towards it and three other silver-eyed girls followed behind her. The gamekeeper watched them quietly as other students followed them. The small snowy-haired girl climbed into the boat and noticed strangers join her, she glared at them and threatened them quietly enough for the guardian to not hear her. She looked dangerously furious and her peers moved away from her, allowing her relatives to calmly walk towards her before climbing in. The staff wanted to get involved and tell the young girl off, but her classmates quickly found other boats and did not bother the girls.

The bulky man watched as the first few boats on the shore filled up, with students inside, a few more were empty a little distance from the shore. He set the next instructions, "The boats that are full will begin to move away from the shore, making space for the empty ones for the rest of you. I want you to stay quiet and stay seated as you go out into the lake, obey me and you will be safe."

Without further notice, the boats set off onto the lake, stopping in the middle as the empty ones took their positions on the sand. The strange teacher stood by the shore, diving his attention on the two groups of students, although he chose to pay more attention on the students who were moving, expecting the rest to obey him.

"What do you think is in the lake?" a red-haired girl asked, smiling as she glanced into the waters, trying hard to see anything through the darkness. The boats slowly floated away as the other students climbed aboard too.

James smugly spoke, "Perhaps sharks and crocodiles." His words triggered a domino of fear that was almost invisible, aside from the worried expressions and forceful stillness.

"I hear a squid lives inside," a dark-haired girl asked, her eyes glowing with a sense of certainty. Sirius was on the same boat as her and began creepily humming, scaring the other students and irritating the few who knew better than to believe them. The two boys, Sirius and James, began rocking the boats, causing ripples to spread across the lake. They were instilling fear in the hearts of the other children, causing a few to cling to one another, while they shared made-up horror stories of the underwater squid drowning young students.

The gamekeeper and the remaining students joined them soon and he was not pleased to see the other students all scared while two boys laughed at their own achievements. The guide was quietly glad that they sat on different boats, he feared the chaos they would not doubt cause when together. Hagrid grunted loudly to quieten the boys, before speaking with a smile, "Now that we are all here, let's get closer to Hogwarts."