The Boy who died - Ready for Anything

The first morning at Hogwarts

POV of Parvati Patil

My alarm was set for 6:30 so that we would all have enough time to be downstairs in the Great Hall for breakfast by 7:30, but of course, I woke up earlier again. A glance at my wristwatch told me it was twenty to six.

Since I wouldn't be able to sleep any longer, I got up, sat on the windowsill, and looked outside. I was feeling nervous about my first regular day at Hogwarts. As I thought about yesterday, I looked around the room. The others were all sleeping so peacefully. But my gaze lingered on Veatrix's empty bed.

After a while, I was pulled out of my thoughts as the door to the dormitory opened and a tired-looking Veatrix entered. When she noticed my reproachful look, she avoided it and disappeared directly into the bathroom. I didn't know whether to be angry with her or worried that she was apparently having a really hard time. Since I knew that Hermione was very strict about rules and their enforcement, I decided to keep it to myself for now, as I was a bit worried she would immediately tell a teacher. Because it was probably clear to all of us that Veatrix had definitely broken school rules last night. When she came out of the bathroom again, I considered whether to speak to her, but she didn't give me the chance as she quickly grabbed her school bag and left the dormitory.

It was now just after six, so I decided I might as well take a shower. I didn't usually like to shower in the morning because my long hair always took so long to dry. However, it had been so late yesterday that I had only changed and brushed my teeth.

I was already dressed and was just braiding my still damp hair when there was a knock on the bathroom door. I quickly opened the door and Hermione came in. She looked at me with a concerned expression.

"Where is Veatrix?" she asked me. "She got up just before me and is probably already in the common room or something," I only told her half the truth. She continued to look at me skeptically. To distract from the topic, I asked her if she knew a spell to dry hair faster. My hair was now braided into a loose plait that fell over my left shoulder. And Hermione wouldn't be Hermione if the answer wasn't yes. I would definitely remember that spell! I thought that we would all benefit a lot from her knowledge in the future. I went back to the dormitory and sat on my bed, so that Hermione could have the bathroom for herself.

Although I had grown up in the magical world, I was quite amazed by Hogwarts. The Gryffindor crest had been sewn onto my robe, and on my nightstand, I now noticed a red and golden tie. I wondered how many house-elves worked at Hogwarts. We had one at home too. Her name was Wanda. She was not only responsible for the household but also often looked after Padma and me when our parents were away again. When I was younger, I was struggling with the fact that no one but Wanda was really there for us, but I got kind of used to it over the years. I pushed the thought of home aside and chatted a bit with Ariana, while Lavender impatiently paced in front of the bathroom door. Ariana was still very sleepy and told me how hungry she was. I was also looking forward to breakfast. We would receive our schedules there and maybe we would run into Bella and Ginn.

By a quarter past seven, we were finally all dressed and decided to head to the Great Hall. When we entered, we met Cat-Lee, who wished us a good morning. She told us she had been sorted into Ravenclaw but followed us to sit with us at the Gryffindor table. I grabbed a bowl, filled it with chocolate cereal, and drank tea with it. After I had already finished eating and was just pouring my second cup of tea, I saw Bella and Ginn entering the hall. Both still looked quite sleepy. It was just after eight, and some students were already leaving. I waved to them, and they also sat down with us at the table. Professor McGonagall had just started handing out schedules and looked slightly confused at the three non-Gryffindors but said nothing and also gave them their schedules.

I looked at my schedule and saw that we would have Potions with the Slytherins in the first two periods.

"Hey, we'll have class together right away," I said to Bella, who only nodded in response as she had just started eating. Hermione, who was sitting to my right, seemed very excited that our first class would be Potions. She had already told me the night before that she was particularly curious about what to expect since she hadn't been able to brew any potions at home.

"We'll have to go back to the dormitory first," I noted. "My cauldron and the ingredients we were supposed to bring are still in my trunk." So Hermione, Ariana, and I said goodbye to the others and went upstairs.

As we were just packing our cauldrons into our bags, Lavender and Veatrix came into the dormitory one after the other and wordlessly grabbed their things as well. On the way to the dungeons, where the Potions class was supposed to take place according to the schedule, Ariana and I listened to Hermione enthusiastically telling us what she had already learned about the subject. It was really hard to believe; Hermione had apparently read all the schoolbooks! And I had thought she was exaggerating.