The Dreamer's Curse

The Troll

[Chapter 12]

Dear Alice,

Hogwarts is wonderful! The sun is currently sinking over the horizon, and I’ve got the best view of it from my dormitory.

I hope you won’t be disappointed to hear that I’ve been sorted into Ravenclaw. The Sorting Hat urged me to trust his decision, but I wonder if I’ve been sorted here because I lacked the muchness to be put in Gryffindor. Both Ron and Harry had been sorted into Gryffindor. I can’t help but feel a little inadequate.

In any case, the feast was wonderful! I sat next to a fellow first year named Terry Boot and a second year named Cho Chang. Quite a few of my housemates have been made aware of our family, and they aren’t entirely convinced that I haven’t been inducted as a bigoted pure-blood just yet, but they were all perfectly nice. Oh, but don’t you worry, I would be just as happy on my own if it comes to that.

After I’ve eaten more apple crumble than is good for me, Professor Dumbledore got us all to sing the Hogwarts school anthem before we were lead to our common rooms. It sounded un-song-like for we all sang it in our own little tunes. I do believe mine was very Celtic — I’m staying true to the family, so there.

A prefect by the name of Robert Hilliard lead us up a winding stairwell, to a tall door with a bronze eagle knocker. He had to answer a riddle before the eagle let us in — I suppose I’ll be doing that often as well.

The common room is just stellar. It’s a wide circular room with a midnight blue carpet and many arched windows decked with blue and bronze silk. The ceiling is enchanted with stars. (I do think it’ll be helpful when studying for Astronomy.) We’ve got an excellent view of the school grounds from here — we can see the Quidditch pitch, the Black Lake, the Forbidden Forest and even the surrounding mountains — and the common room is fully furnished with plush chairs, tables and bookcases. It’s a great place to study and read, but most of the older students just retreated to their dormitories after the feast. 

I’ve got lovely people in my year. I’m sharing a dorm with Hestia and Flora Carrow, a perfectly nice pair. (Ravenclaw hasn’t got much first years, you see — actually, there are only fifty-eight first years in total. Hufflepuff has got the most number of people, with Gryffindor close after. Ravenclaw comes next with fourteen of us, and Slytherin with only ten first years. And the girls are even less than the boys — only six — so the girls were roomed in threes.) The two girls are rather tall for our age. They’ve got thin brown hair that falls to their shoulders and their thin lips and high foreheads give them a permanent bored expression. They tend to talk in hushed tones, but I don’t mind. I suppose we’ll get along better as the term progresses.

Did you know that Ravenclaws have to take an extra subject on Fridays? The more advanced subjects aren’t offered to first years, so I think I’ll be signing up for music.

I wasn’t supposed to post this until the morning, but the Grey Lady — she’s our house ghost — and I got to talking, and she’s offered to help me sneak into the owlery where Cato is. It isn’t a long way from the Ravenclaw Tower, so I suppose I’ll be there and back in no time.

I miss you.

Yours,

Jane

The sun crept into our dormitory quite early. My bed was nearest to the window, for Hestia and Flora wished to have their beds next to each other. I glanced over at their still sleeping figures, hoping that we would all become friends in no time. Our windows were open, letting the soft winds of Autumn whisper in my ears, and making the sky blue silk eiderdowns flutter round the edges.