Verus

twenty

Hogwarts Castle, Scottish Highlands.

The book Theo had gifted him ranged from the many families and their magical alliances- detailing who not to wrong and who to simply ignore- all the way to the many teachers that taught within the castle walls- noting those that favoured certain houses and ones which held prejudices.

Harry had poured over it during the long train ride, conversing with Theo here and there, asking questions and having his curiosities filled. The boy had done him a massive favour with it, there was no denying that, and the both of them knew it.

Harry had to stow the notebook away once the carriage had begun to slow, older students banging on doors to alert the rest of them that they were due to arrive soon. Theo had informed him that they should change into their school robes not long before the train pulled in and Harry had taken silent note of the silver scars which had lined the boys back as they did so.

By the time they'd made it to Hogsmeade though, the squeak of the train's wheels still echoing through the station, Harry was brimming with energy- just not the nervous kind.

The station didn't have much to offer in truth, not after Harry had seen King's Cross at its busiest, but he caught sight of the village just outside of the sloped walls and was looking forward to wandering through it soon.

Seeing the castle was a rather jarring experience for him once he'd caught sight of her on the walk up. She looked unchanged from a distance but the closer and closer they got, the more Harry noticed. Merlin had been right, so much of it had changed.

"What's with the massive tent towers?" Harry found himself asking, tilting his chin in the direction of the ugly oncoming structure. He was grateful that Theo had suggested that they linger more towards the back of the remaining students wandering their way up to the school when said boy laughed at his question.

"That's the Quidditch pitch." Theo informed him, smirking like the cat who'd caught the cream.

Harry gave him a sarky sort of smile in retort before he grimaced back at the so-called pitch. "More like an eyesore."

He was rewarded with a showy snort from Theo as the pair of them carried on. "What, do they not have Quidditch where you're from?" It was said mockingly, but Harry heard the light teasing lilt at the very end.

"We don't." He replied honestly, keeping his eyes trained ahead as opposed to glancing Theo's way and laughing at the surprise that currently cemented his face. "Prefer to fly through tentacled hoops for fun, actually."

The Nott Heir spluttered, well, only just. Seeing as it was Theo he was talking about, Harry had learned quite quickly that the boy didn't ever give much away. "Tentacled hoops?" He questioned.

Harry nodded once, "Yeah, over this big lake we had. And when it would freeze in Winter, we'd dance or skate across it instead." He heard Theo let go of a baited sigh and snorted. "What, do you not ice skate where you're from?"

Theo aimed a pointy elbow into his upper arm and Harry just about managed to dodge the second blow, still chuckling away to himself.

Whilst they continued on the rocky path, Harry's keen gaze tracking the length of the forest, Theo seemed to enjoy informing him of the things they passed by and the typical introduction that the First Year's got. Harry was only a little glum about the fact that he'd missed out on a boat ride across the Black Lake- because who wouldn't be?- by the time they'd managed to make it through the castle's gates.

Those were new, Harry acknowledged. The founders had drawn up plans for containing the grounds visibly, even with the wards in place, but he'd never gotten around to seeing them for himself.