Hogwarts, A Story

Halley - Defence Against the Dark Arts

Halley woke to the sound of hushed giggles and rustling paper. She stared up at the midnight blue canopy above her, brain feeling groggy and sluggish. Where am I? Her mind struggled to process her surroundings. With a jolt, she remembered. She was at Hogwarts, but that meant that her first lesson was soon. She shot out of bed, wondering if she was late.
"Morning, sleeping beauty!" Tina called cheerily. Of course Tina was a morning person.
"What's the time?" Halley glanced around, searching for a clock anxiously.
"Oh, don't worry, we've got half an hour until breakfast, and besides, Amelia and Violet aren't even up yet." Tina replied.
"I'm getting up, just five more minutes." Violet's voice was muffled by her pillow.
"Yeah, yeah, you've been saying that for the last quarter of an hour."
Halley stifled a laugh as she headed into the bathroom to prepare herself for the day ahead.

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Half an hour later, the five girls plopped down at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. They were fairly early, so the hall wasn't that crowded yet and the only noises were the quiet hum of conversations and the occasional clink of cutlery. The tables were laden with any breakfast food imaginable; the sheer amount of it was a little overwhelming. Halley heaped her plate with bacon and eggs, while Amelia went straight for the coffee pot. They were all poring over their new timetables in relative silence, save for the odd comment about a teacher or a subject.
"We have defence against the dark arts first," Yvonne pointed out, "Followed by charms and then a hour break for lunch."
"Thank goodness we have Yvonne to read out the timetable for all us illiterates!" Halley remarked, eliciting a laugh from the others.
"What's this I hear of illiterates?" Halley looked up to see Jonathan slide into a seat beside her, dragging a pained looking boy behind him.
She grinned at him and made introductions ("This is Jonathan Cortland, his face scared me so much I fell out of my seat,") and in turn was introduced to Dominic Yen, a roommate of Jonathan's. By this time, the Great Hall was filling up quickly, and Halley saw Glyn enter out of the corner of her eye. She moved to wave at him, but he had disappeared into the crowd again. It didn't matter; she'd see him in defence against the dark arts with the Hufflepuffs anyway.
"Wait guys, I forgot to feed my cat." Violet looked alarmed suddenly.
"Um, it's ok, we have twenty minutes or so until lessons start I think?" Yvonne squinted at her watch. Tina muttered something about being a neglectful mother to a tiny kitten.
"Alright, I'll head back and feed him now, but I've got one question. Does anyone know where the defence against the dark arts classroom is?"
Silence.
"Ah."

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Halley stumbled around the corner next to the classroom with three minutes to spare, dragging four panting roommates, one exhausted Dominic and one unnaturally perky Jonathan behind her.
"That was fun" he chirped, taking a half eaten slice of toast from his bag and starting to munch on it. They all took a moment to survey the practically empty corridor. No one else had arrived, save for two Hufflepuff girls standing opposite them. Halley didn't recognise the dark haired girl, but she remembered the blonde one from the sorting yesterday. She struggled to remember her name. Was it Lilah? No, that didn't seem right. Definitely something beginning with L...
A thought suddenly occurred to her, interrupting her mental name search.
"Do you think we've got the right classroom?"
The blonde Hufflepuff girl spoke then. "Are you here for defence against the dark arts?"
Oh, thank god.
"Yeah, we are." Halley replied.
"In that case, I think you're in the right place." A slight pause. "I'm Lyra Emerson."
Lyra! That was it. She'd been fairly close when she'd said Lilah. "Oh hi, how are you, I'm Halley." She kicked herself mentally. That's not how you're supposed to introduce yourself!
"Lyra like the constellation?" Jonathan piped up. Lyra looked about to reply when Tina suddenly let out a yell.
"I forgot my quill! I need to go back. Oh, I am so dead." she groaned loudly. Yvonne suggested that they sprint for it and cross their fingers, and with that, Tina, Yvonne, Violet, Amelia and Dominic took off, leaving Halley and Jonathan with the two Hufflepuffs. Jonathan snorted at Dominic's retreating figure.
"Someone's got a crush on Tina," he laughed. He looked round at the Hufflepuffs again, and then out of nowhere he smacked his forehead, leaving both Halley and Lyra looking intensely confused.
"I forgot to introduce myself entirely!" he exclaimed. He sauntered over to them and held out his hand.
"Jonathan Cortland. And you are?" he stopped to address the darker girl, who now flicked her hair over her shoulder in a glamourous motion Halley was sure she'd never achieve.
"I'm Sofia Santiago." She spoke with a slight Latina accent, although it wasn't hugely noticeable.
A moment later, thundering feet could be heard in the distance.
"About time too," Halley muttered, "they're five minutes late."
Now a large group of students, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs alike, came parading down the corridor, with a tall woman at the front. "Alright first years, my name is Professor Wrayburn and I will be your defence against the dark arts teacher. Sorry it took me so long to find the classroom; I'm new here too." She spoke in a clear, firm voice. "Ok, into the classroom please."