Wolves • George Weasley

Chapter Three; Too Many Weasleys

At the end of the Welcoming Feast, Marvella had hoped to run into Arnou, but to no avail. The appointed Ravenclaw had vanished in the crowd of blue-tied students and apparently gone the complete opposite way from the Gryffindors. Marvella scowled as she realized her own formerly grey tie had magically turned scarlet and gold to mimic the colors of her apparent house.

As she let herself be swept along the group of Gryffindors (this was her only choice, as she had no idea where anything was, and nobody seemed to be eager to help her), the Battle Spirit realized just how many red-heads there were in this house. Like the girl at the table in the Great Hall, they all sported bright orange hair and worn-looking robes. There appeared to be four of them at first, but Marvella spotted another one snobbishly leading the crowd of Gryffindors. With annoyance, the girl also realized just how much like a first-year she was here.

New, lost and clueless. Marvella hated being clueless.

After a while, they seemed to halt abruptly at a looming wall, similar to every other ancient wall in the castle. Marvella sighed inwardly, already regretting her decision to attend Hogwarts.

So they're crazy wizards who listen to talking hats and have a mentally deficient headmaster whilst stopping to admire a plain old portrait on the wa-

The 'plain old portrait' had swung open at an incantation from the red-headed boy with glasses at the front of the group. Taking a closer look, Marvella noticed that all the portraits were moving and talking, saying things like "good luck new students!" and "ah, so and so nice to see you again!" Marvella hesitantly stepped through the gap behind the painting (of which was a rather large lady in white robes holding an empty wine glass, staring fondly at the students walking through). After a last curious glance behind her, the girl swivelled her head to face forward again and was shocked at what she saw.

She was standing in a large room, decorated with plenty of scarlet-red furnishings. There was a comfortable-looking couch, a large fireplace occupied with crackling flames, maroon banisters with the same golden lion on each of them, and a few dusty bookshelves against the walls. It was dim, as the heavy curtains seemed to have fallen loose to conceal the night sky outside. Marvella's heart was racing. She wasn't sure why.

"Alright everybody, the boys' dormitories are up those stairs and to the left, the girls on the right. I advise not trying to break into the girls' dorms, boys, if you know what's good for you," the entitled-looking ginger boy instructed strictly, giving a pointed look to two snickering boys just off to the left of Marvella. The girl noted their same red hair, although she had taken a double-take. The two boys looked exactly the same.

Marvella glanced away quickly, as one of them had caught her staring.

The group of Gryffindors was quickly dispersing, some hanging comfortably around the large room by the fire or the bulletin board on the far wall, others retreating to their dormitories right away. Marvella decided not to linger in the common room, which she assumed it was, and headed up the stairs.

"Hello."

Marvella halted, turning her face. The red haired boy who had directed the students up to the Gryffindor common room was standing near her. She raised an eyebrow. "Uh, hi?"

"Percy Weasley, Head Boy," he said, holding out his hand. "And you must be Marvella Elwood?"

Marvella nodded her head slowly, hesitantly shaking his hand. It was sweaty. Somehow, that didn't surprise her.

"Let me know if you have any questions about getting to know Hogwarts or anything," Percy said with an authoritative tone. Marvella snorted inwardly. As if.