Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER TWO
"I miss summer. This has been positively dreadful!" Odette mourned as she poured herself a cup of tea. The Dining Hall was loud around her, too loud for Odette, who was still half-asleep. She had woken up in the middle of the night and found it impossible to sleep. And with no studying to cram in yet, all she could do was stare at the ceiling and worry. Grouchy, she bit into her toast.
Her Hufflepuff uniform was styled with a gold ring and locket that her father had gifted to her for her thirteenth birthday. They had belonged to her mother. Her hair was French braided by Flora earlier in the morning and was tied at the end with a yellow ribbon (her Hufflepuff pride was clearly shown).
"We haven't even had our first class of the year," Flora reminded her, one elegant brow raised. "It's barely eight a.m. and we don't even have schedules yet."
"What's your point?"
As if cued by Flora's comment, heads turned as Professor McGonagall approached the Hufflepuff table and began passing out schedules.
Odette was pleased with her classes. Mostly. They would look fantastic on a resume, and McGonagall told Odette that they were excellent courses for her as she planned to be a healer.
However, she swore when she saw her first period class. "I have DADA first."
"That's exciting," Flora said positively. "At least you won't fall back asleep in History of Magic like Hugo last year. Every. Single. Day."
"It's not my fault! The class is so boring it could put even Peeves to sleep!" Protested Hugo. (Yet the tips of his ears were a bright, pinkish-scarlet.)
Two others plopped down with the trio of sixth years. Cherry Woods greeted everyone with a smile. She wore her statement pink accessory; today it was a pink headband that matched her nail polish. Morgan O'Connor, the polar opposite of her bubbly friend, scowled as she poured a steaming mug of coffee. She'd gotten her red hair cut shorter and it now rested at her shoulders. The two third years were welcomed by the older students.
"Are you really going to have that much caffeine? I mean, how old are you, twelve? Do you want to look like it forever?" Hugo teased.
"So I reckon you drank a lot of coffee when you were my age," retorted Morgan. Odette snorted loudly and was shameless as Hugo sent her a withering glare. Flora reached out and gave Morgan a high-five.
"Morgan, you can take as many of my Honeydukes sweets you want because you just said that," joked Odette. "Anyhow, I'm going to defense—I'm far too impatient to be stuck in hall traffic when my classroom is all the way across the building. See you lot later!"
