Meet Me in the Undercroft

Chapter I - A Proper Hogwarts Greeting

𝒮𝒾𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓇

The castle was larger than any place Silver had seen in her entire life. Although, she hadn't seen much of anything outside her rundown orphanage in Bristol.

Professor Fig — whom she spent most of the summer studying under — lead the way into the bright candlelight of the entry hall then the Great Hall.

She knew she was still behind even though Professor Fig taught her a few spells this summer.'I'm going to be shown up by 1st years,' Silver worried internally.

As the large wooden doors opened to reveal a mass of students in black robes matching hers, Silver's worry was quickly replaced with amazement at the armada of floating candles flecked against the invisible ceiling showcasing the stars perfectly.

"Ah, Miss Burbank, is it." Headmaster Black bellowed across the massive dining hall filling the girl with irritation. Clearly, he's going to be a problem this year. "If you wish to succeed at this school you need to improve your punctuality. I assume I will allow you to be sorted despite your tardiness.

Although a small part of Silver felt the need to apologize to the authority figure and run to the Sorting Hat as he implied, a much larger part screamed at her to slow her walk to nearly a crawl and meet his rude welcome with a deadpan of her own. Seeing as she had just gotten through fighting at least ten living statues with no experience, the girl was going to give herself the respect that Black had refused her.

As she reached the red hair woman holding the grubby old hat, she said sweetly to the new student, "Don't mind him, he is much too big for his britches."
Silver's smile flashed widely at the statement. She looked into the black sea that was her peers and sat on the bench. A quarter of them were watching intently, the rest much too focused on the feast in front of them.

The professor with the fiery hair lowered the hat to her head. The moment it touched her head she jumped a little when it began to speak. It asked her a single question before loudly declaring, "GRYFFINDOR!" to the room.

"I'm Professor Weasley, by the way," the woman explained as she transfigured Silver's robes into her new house colors. "Welcome to Gryffindor."

The girl now adorned in black and red robes made her way to the loudly cheering table and sat down next to a group of students who appeared to be around her age. They introduced themselves as Nellie Oggspire, Natsai Onai, Garreth Weasley, and Leander Prewett. Leander was certainly fit for his house with his lack of shame when saying whatever was on his mind. Everyone else surrounding Silver was much more polite. Their conversation could barely get past small talk when Black ended the feast more out of spite than the need for students to go to bed.

As she stood from the table, Garreth made sure to personally lead the way to the common room. When the pair reached the entrance hall, Silver heard the redhead begin to speak in his steady, self-assured manner, "I believe you have Potions with Professor Sharp with me tomorrow. If you wish, you are more than welcome to sit with me. We have an empty station."

Silver almost immediately agreed. She had not had time yet to make friends here, a seat by Garreth and his friends could be a good opportunity to get herself out there. "Yes, that sounds great. Thank you, Garreth," she replied.

After a day of fighting sentient statues, surviving dragon attacks, and attempting to build connections, the warm homey comfort of the common room made her eyes immediately go heavy. She made her way to the magically soft four-poster bed waiting for her upstairs and fell asleep the second her head touched the pillow.

The bright early autumn sun poured through the windows of her dormitory. This awakening was much more pleasant than Mrs. French from the orphanage slamming her door open and dropping the required items for her chores for the day. She changed quickly into her school-appointed uniform and a tan scarf she found hiding near her bed.