Ten Things I Hate About You {Regulus Black}

ii : back at hogwarts

Finally, the train came to a stop at Hogsmeade Station. Grabbing their belongings, Olivias and her friends walked to the nearest exit. She felt her body becoming colder as she stepped out of the warm, cozy train into the cool Autumn wind.

Knowing that their trunks were already on their way to the school, the girls made their way to the carriages which were pulled by what appeared to be nothing. Olivia knew that it was something, however. Thestrals always gain a bad reputation in the Wizarding World, which caused Olivia to feel an unusual amount of sympathy for the creatures. They were gentle creatures by nature, but Olivia believed it was the fact that most people couldn't see Thestrals which made them so untrusting toward them.

Cordelia, Marie, and Olivia carefully stood up into the black carriages, careful not to fall. Once each of them were seated comfortably, the Thestral began to pull the black carriage up to the Hogwarts castle. Even after experiencing this 5 times, it never failed to amaze Olivia. Every last detail of the castle was beautiful. The shimmering black lake which reflected the illuminating starlit sky, the eerily calm presence of the dark forest, which seemed like a great barrier which protected the castle from outside forces. Olivia felt a sense of warmness and comfort every time she looked at the masterpiece before her, knowing that Hogwarts would always be her favourite home.

"Have you heard about you-know-who gathering an army?" Cordelia asked, breaking the silence between them. Marie nodded solemnly.

"Yes. Mother told me he calls them De-" Olivia interrupted her.

"Death eaters" She finished, looking up at the girls. Each had fear in their eyes but desperately tried to hide it, failing miserably. Cordelia sighed heavily, looking out at the starry sky.

"I wish someone could just stop him. Someone that is more power than him. I don't want to live in fear for my whole life". Cordelia sighed.

"None of us do". Marie said, fear written all over her face. Olivia coughed, as she tried to think of another topic to lighten the mood.

"Anyway, enough of that. How were your OWL results?" Olivia asked looking around, trying her best to get rid of the obvious tension. "I got an E for Divination, an A for History of Magic and the rest Os" she said.

"I got basically the same as you, Olivia." Cordelia said, stroking her barn owls brown feathers. "But I completely messed up my Herbology exam! I feel like such an idiot!" Olivia smiled but Marie frowned.

"I got three Es and a P for Potions. I just can't get the hang of it". She sighed dramatically, pulling a packet of Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Bean from her pocket. Olivia was very curious as to where all this food came from, but she said nothing.

Their carriage came to a stop and the four girls eagerly grabbed their belongings and jumped out of the carriage. They stood in front of the beautifully built and impressively sized castle. Olivia, along with her friends, entered the Main Entrance and put their belonging down with a large pile of trunks. Olivia felt her stomach rumble, and started to get more and more excited for the feast to begin.

The three girls walked into The Great Hall, which always took Olivias breath away. Floating candles were lit around the room and the roof, if you could even call it that, was dark and starry with a few clouds scattered here and there. On the ground, stood four big, long tables. One had a daisy yellow and black banner, the next had scarlet red and gold, then there was a royal blue and bronze banner and finally, a deep green and silver one. 

They each made their way to the blue and bronze table, the Ravenclaw table, and sat down, waiting for Dumbledore to begin talking. While in the middle of a conversation with her friends, Olivia couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching her. She looked around for a minute, before she saw his ice-blue eyes watching her intensely. As most people do when they catch someone staring at them, Olivia looked away. However, she still felt his eyes burning into the side of her face, and she dared not look at him again. Instead, she tried to ignore it.

Suddenly, the doors to The Great Hall opened and in walked a large group of small children, all lead my Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House. She knew that it was a cliche to say, but she still couldn't believe that she was ever that small and scared. Especially at a place which felt like her second home. Thus began the most boring ceremony of the year.

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After what seemed like hours, the last student had finally been sorted and everyone was more than pleased. Marie had fallen asleep during the sorting, after she had finished complaining about how starving she was, of course. Professor Dumbledore had stood up to speak.

"I can see that you are all waiting to eat". His blue darted across to Marie how had woken up and was now clutching her stomach, her head laying upon the table. "So I shall not bore you any longer".

With a wave of his hands, each of the table was full with delicious, mouthwatering food. The sound of delight came from most of the students, as they each quickly began shovelling food onto their plates, Olivia included.

"Hey, Olivia. Did you have a nice summer?"A male voice asked next to her. She looked up and smiled at her dear friend, Paxton Riheart.

"Not the best but enjoyable enough. I read a total of 26 books". Olivia explained proudly and Paxton rolled his eyes while smiling cheekily.

"That sounds so lame. I spent mine visiting my brother in America". He said, a grin still on his face. "He's studying werewolves in Louisiana".

"You're lame! But, that sound so interesting. Please don't tell me anymore, I'm already jealous". Olivia joked. She talked to Paxton for the rest of feast before Dumbledore stood up again to give his famous 'beginning-of-term' speech. Olivia fell into another one of her daydreams for the entire duration of his speech. She wasn't sure about how much she had heard, and how much she had missed.

"Off to bed please. Classes start tomorrow. Goodnight all." Were the last words Dumbledore spoke before hundreds of students began to walk out of the Great Hall back to their common rooms for the night.

Olivias friends were all laughing loudly at the joke Paxton had just told, which granted them annoyed looks from other students passing by. As they finally came to a stop outside the Ravenclaw common room, the eagle knocker came to life, just as it always did.

"What goes in and around a house but does not touch it?"

"The sun" Olivia replied simply, the eagle nodded and opened the old door. The girls followed Olivia up to their dorm, still laughing at something that Marie had done, which involves stepping on a second year student.

When Olivia opened the door, the smell of pine and mint hit her like a ton of bricks. Olivia walked over to her usual bed, which was covered with a royal blue quilt with gold embroidery. After such an early morning and a long day, Olivia felt drowsy and dirty. She grabbed her towel, pyjamas and toiletries and headed to the nearest girls bathroom for a nice, warm shower.

After her shower, Olivia felt so much better. She opened the door to her dorm room, only to see that all of the girls were in bed. While Cordelia was asleep, while Marie was reading a book silently.

As Olivia sat down, she noticed that the window next to her bed was opened. The sound of owls calling, wind rustling through the leaves in the Forbidden Forest and the calls of many other magical creatures was comforting to Olivia, like the sound of rain when you're trying to fall asleep.

Olivia picked up the muggle book Marie had let her borrow, and began to read until her eyelids became so heavy that she couldn't bare to keep them open.