Little Red |Sirius Black|

Death By Anxiety - Arianna

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Hagrid said dramatically as the tiny boat hit port.

"Yes, welcome." I mumbled, my nerves worse than ever.

After helping Mandy get off the boat, Vera and I followed the first years who were being herded towards the enormous castle by Hagrid, looking very much like goats being led to the butcher.

I shook my head reproachfully at my thoughts. Nervousness often triggered the macabre part of my imagination, that if not checked could make even a simple trip to the dentist feel like I was being taken to the city square to be burnt for being a witch. The girls think it's hilarious but honestly it's very annoying.

Just take a deep breath. Everything will be fine. I reminded myself, but Mandy had become decidedly unhelpful.

"What if we end up in different houses?" she asked, struggling to keep pace.

"Not going to happen. We're all shoo in for Slytherin." Vera said to her.
She suddenly stopped and giggled.

"We should get that on a t-shirt 'Shoo in for Slytherin' That'd make a great t-shirt quote don't you think?" Mandy rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored Vera's comment.

"But what if?" Mandy insisted.

"I think that by now our friendship is strong enough to survive something like that." I snapped at her,slightly annoyed.

"Okay, jeesh calm down!" Mandy said, showing her hands in surrender. It made me feel like a total jackass.

"Sorry, I'm just really tired and nervous." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"We all are, hon. No worries." Mandy said putting a hand on my shoulder and I smiled at her.

Mandy may be annoying sometimes but she was one of the truest friends anyone could have. She was gifted with the ability to put everything aside and help if she sensed something wrong with someone she considered a friend.

I took a deep breath as we entered the castle- and then it was knocked out of me again.

If the castle had looked impressive from the outside, it was damn near otherworldly in it's grandeur on the inside.

Every single aspect of the castle's interiors was so pure in it's abstinence from modern amenities that it was as if the occupants of the castle had decided to stay firmly in the fifteenth century while the world around them had moved on.

Earlier it had been damn near impossible for me to imagine living without modern technology. But now as I looked at the splendor of the castle, I couldn't imagine marring the castle's beauty with anything vaguely modern.

The corridors seemed endless, and the architecture buff in me couldn't wait to explore them and the secrets that lay beyond them. I shook my head amazed.

We had come to learn magic at one of the greatest wizarding schools in the world, but the real magic seemed to be the castle itself.

I was so engrossed in taking in every aspect of the castle that I accidentally bumped into Vera.

"Hey!" she protested as she barely managed to stop our fall.

"Just look around! Can you believe this?" I exclaimed, for once not even bothering to apologize. Vera sighed.

"Yes, it's all very pretty Ari, but you know that big ass castle's aren't really my thing." she said. I rolled my eyes. As I did so however, a veranda not very far from us caught my eye. I looked through it and smirked.

I tapped Vera on the shoulder and pointed at the view. "Is that your thing?" I asked her with fake innocence,even though I knew the answer.

Vera stepped towards the veranda to get a better look. She whistled appreciatively.

"Oh definitely. Now I may not be into big ass castles, but I'm definitely into big ass Quodpot fields." she said admiring the field that lay beyond the veranda.

As Vera was admiring the field, and I the architecture, Mandy finally caught up to us on her tiny little feet.

"Did you notice that they have torches instead of light bulbs here? Like actual sticks of wood lit on fire! Don't these people know that's a fire hazard?" she exclaimed.

"Mandy, this is a castle full of magical people that can conjure water with their wands if need be. Hell we can do that if need be! Fires are not that hazardous here." I reminded her. She smiled with a sheepish "Oh yeah."

Now I may have been acting all high and mighty about explaining this to her, but the truth was that when Professor Frost first told me about this, I had asked her the same question.

So I had basically just repeated to Mandy, what had been told to me. Well, at least she didn't have it said to her with an Oh she's such an adorably obtuse child expression.

"Don't wander off!" Hagrid called out when he saw that we had broken away from the herd.

We quickly fell back in with the kids and followed obediently for once, eager to to see more of this place.

We soon left the confusing corridors behind and were greeted by an enormous staircase with a stern looking witch standing at its foot.

"Good evening. I'm Professor McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts..." she said with a thick Scottish accent. She went on to explain the house and point systems which I had read about a dozen times now.

Once she had finished, Hagrid spoke up. "Right then you lot, this is where I leave ya." he said backing away. I waved goofily at him.

He smiled big and returned the wave enthusiastically. I grinned. I like him already.

"If you could all just follow me." Professor McGonagall said, ascending the staircase. Obedient little goat-herd that we were, we followed.

Another set of confusing corridors later, we were confronted by a humongous set of doors.

Professor McGonagall stopped in front of them and said, "The three Salem students shall wait here for their headmistress. The rest of you will follow me quietly through these doors."

Just as she finished her sentence, the doors opened and I caught a glimpse of the Great Hall for the first time.

Man, that's a lot of people. I thought to myself gulping, so nervous that I didn't even pay attention to the hall itself, whose beauty I had both read and heard so much about.

This should be fun. I thought to myself. If I don't die of anxiety first.

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