Freaks: Year Two

We Were Never Friends

A quidditch tournament? Alabaster wondered.

The first years were following their prefects to the Slytherin common room. They went downstairs, following the Hufflepuffs (one boy explaining quite excitedly to one girl and one boy who must have been muggleborns about what he already knew about the school), but they separated halfway. Alabaster kept on wondering what the tournament would be like as this did not seem like a normal Hogwarts occurrence with the amount of excitement and chatter it had caused.

Alabaster hoped the quidditch tournament with the Americans would be a good experience as the amount of noise the announcement had caused just made him feel the exact opposite of excited. He had gotten that familiar feeling from Diagon Alley, but thankfully the Headmaster had quieted everyone down, and now, going down the common room, Alabaster was wondering what the Americans would be like.

Oliver was a ball of excitement about this Ilvermorny news, not really because of the Americans, but because of the quidditch.

"I can't believe the Americans are coming to Hogwarts for a quidditch tournament!!" he exclaimed. "It is so exciting!" He turned to Alabaster who looked a bit confused. "You alright?"

Alabaster nodded. "Yes, but why did Professor Dumbledore say 'friends across the pond'?" He had not really understood when the Headmaster had said that in his speech. "They don't live across the pond."

Oliver stared at him. "It's an expression mate, they don't actually live across the pond."

"That's what I thought," said Alabaster as they entered the common room, one of the prefects just opening the door.

The Slytherin common room was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and dark green chairs with a dark wooden table in the middle of it. The common room was under the lake, giving the light in the room a greenish tinge to it. Even the fireplace had a green fire instead of the usual yellow. Alabaster thought the green and silver house colours fit with the room. The common room had lots of low-backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas, skulls, and dark wood cupboards. It was quite cold, and...minty?

Alabaster was looking around with wide eyes, most of the older students heading straight up to their respective dorms. "This is so cool." He hopped on one of the chairs closest to the tanked wall and watched as the sea creatures swam in front of him as that immediately caught his eye.

One of the Slytherin first year boys went up the staircase to the dorms, and all of a sudden the stairs turned flat into a slide, making the boy fall back down to the common room.

"Wrong dorm," the boy prefect informed the first year, not even caring that the boy had crashed into one of the chairs. "Boys can't go up to the girls' dorm. That's basic knowledge."

The first year boy stood up, crossing his arms indignantly. "It isn't like I knew which dorm was which, that's your job to tell us!"

"Well, now you know!" the prefect exclaimed, pushing past the first year. "You learned your first lesson the hard way, now scram."

Fiona watched this interaction nervously. She looked at the girl's staircase, and back to the Slytherin first year boy who was grumbling about how that rule was stupid.

"Are you going up or not?" asked a first year girl getting impatient.

Fiona looked at the staircase in front of her and slowly stepped on the first step. She made each of her steps with caution, and then she was at the top. She looked down the stairs as if waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, she smiled, the smile seeming to light up the whole room even if no one did notice. "Yes!" she whispered to herself, and she went to the door where the first year girls would be staying.