Spells in Silence

Chapter 40: Against the Grain

Saturday dawned just like every other day, but when the other students streamed into the common room they were filled with a sense of excitement that Hazel had yet to observe within Hufflepuff house. The middle years all had wild imaginings running through their heads while many of the older students' thoughts were filled with thoughts of romance. In fact, the only upper year girl who seemed uninterested in the idea of romantic dates and stolen kisses was Sidonia Smith, but then again that might be because her own imagination was far more lurid and explicit when she was preoccupied writing in the common room.

A thump next to her on the couch, and Hazel glanced over to watch Sally-Anne wipe sleep out of her eyes. "How is she always so awake? And she always gets up before anyone else, too. Is it just me, or did everyone get up really"—her question was interrupted by a long yawn—"early?"

'I keep hearing people talking about some Hogsmeade place,' she wrote out. The name was vaguely familiar, and she was sure it had been mentioned in one of the chapters of the history of magic textbook. That was the downside of skimming through the whole thing so quickly, she knew; sometimes the little details did not quite stick.

"I remember when I was confused about that same subject," she heard coming from behind them, and she craned her neck to find a dark-haired boy walking over with a small smile. It took her a moment to place him as one of the boys who had explained all the weird stuff that happened in Hogwarts on a yearly basis. "Hogsmeade is a little village just a short distance away from the school. Once you reach third year, you can go out on certain weekends through the year to visit. It's nice to get out of the castle and stretch your legs a little."

Sally-Anne looked glum at hearing that news, but Hazel was more surprised that other students also seemed to feel trapped within the stone walls all around them. "That doesn't seem fair. Why can't we go too?"

The boy – Cedric, that was his name! – shrugged his shoulders at Sally-Anne's question. "I don't really know. Maybe the teachers don't think most parents would go for signing the permission forms when you're eleven but are more open to it when you hit thirteen? Or it's a reward you get once you start taking extra classes beyond just the core seven? Can't really help you there."

When the house as a whole left for breakfast, a sight that was quite unusual on most days and happened today solely because so many people had gotten up early, it became obvious that the Hogsmeade fervor was not limited to Hufflepuff. Most of the students were planning their day spent in the village, either with small groups of friends or their significant others or just in their own heads. Few of their fellow first-years seemed to understand the reason for why the rest of the school was so upbeat, but as the meal went on it was explained to most everyone, sometimes with more detail and other times with minimal effort.

As the clocktower that Hazel still did not know the location of bonged out the hour, all the students who were going to the village stood and started streaming out of the Great Hall. Not all the eligible students were going, though, which Hazel thought was interesting; several of the Ravenclaw students who were in the years when they had to take their big exams hung behind, as well as a handful of students whose mental grumblings revealed that their permissions had actually been revoked by teachers for rule-breaking that required punishment beyond points and detentions.

A silent whine caught her attention, and she glanced over to find Sally-Anne staring after the departing students with a disappointed pout. "This is so not fair. I want to see this Hogsmeade place too."