Masters of Mischief

V. Hoppy and Peeves, the First Incident

Chapter 5

I took Ali's advice after we both left the kitchens and returned to my dorm for some good shut-eye. Stanley curled up while laying beside my pillow and I pet him until I lulled myself to sleep.

When I woke up, the sun was just breaking. I'm never an early riser, but waking up this early was actually kind of nice. I slipped out of bed with Stanley following as I grabbed my clothes for the day and my showering essentials. I slipped into the bathroom as Stanley whined at the door, but I needed to get going or else I was afraid the other girls would wake up and need the bathroom too. I showered, singing quietly as I went about it. I left my MP3 player at the estate so working this year would be hard. (Hogwarts, if you haven't noticed, is not up-to-date technology wise and still doesn't have outlets.) I slipped into my clothes, fixing my makeup while I still had the bathroom to myself. I perfected my light eye-shadow and liner, sweeping mascara across my lashes and a clear gloss across my lips. I wasn't much of a makeup person but I had at least mastered the basics for my own style. I cleaned up after myself and slid my robes on, smiling at myself in the mirror. It was everything I had imagined it would be...except for the house crest sewn on to the front of my robes. I frowned at myself, now pouting slightly. I shook it off quickly.

"You and Ali are going to get yourselves into Gryffindor. You'll be the queens of the house and Dad won't be disappointed." I spoke softly to the girl in the mirror. She frowned at me but I was grinning on the inside. I'd be fine. We'd be fine. I fixed my robes one last time, gathered my sleeping clothes and left the bathroom to find that the girls were all still sleeping. I rolled my eyes, neatly made my bed, and left to the common room with Stanley at my heels. I explored the room slightly, not trying to wake anyone else, and took in details I hadn't noticed in the dark of the night before.

Like, for instance, there's a bulletin board hanging on the wall adjacent to the entry door where all news and school events are posted for updates. Or how the chairs and couches are all extremely comfy and the plants in the room really help to make a calm environment. If I didn't know better, I would have guessed Neville Longbottom, the blonde boy in the train compartment, had designed the room himself.

I returned to the dorm after about an hour of exploring and hanging out with Stanley. I plopped on my bed, watching the girls scramble around the room to get ready. I patted the side of my bed and Stanley hopped up, letting me pet him.

"Okay, this has been bothering me since last night," Hannah started, seeming slightly peeved. "How come Stanley's name is so...human?"

I smirked. "In the muggle world, there's this really amazing American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher named Stan Lee--two separate names. I love him and his work so much that I named my cat after him." I shrugged a bit and Hannah nodded, accepting the response.

"Fair enough," she mentioned and went back to getting ready.

I waited a few more minutes but none of them were ready yet and I was getting hungry. I told Stanley to stay and he curled up on my pillow, falling back asleep. I left the dorms and nearly ran into Ernie (literally), and had to take a step back so we both didn't topple to the ground.

"Hey, I'm going to the Great Hall if you want to join." he shrugged.

I smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, that would be really great."

We got into the kitchen corridor, walking awkwardly toward breakfast.

"So," he started awkwardly. Man this kid was awkward. "How was your first night?"

I smiled. "It was good, actually. The dorms are a lot more homey than those at Ilvermorny."

"Oh?" Ernie asked, seeming to be proud that Hogwarts had another reason they beat out Ilvermorny.