My Tale {Book One in the Hermione Granger Series}

Chapter Nine

I looked up at the staff table to see an old man standing up, who I assumed was Headmaster Dumbledore, as he was situated in the middle of the table. He was beaming at us students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see us all here.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Wow, I thought, that definately was not like any speech I have heard before.

"Is he - a bit mad?" I heard Harry asking another red-haired boy.

"Mad?" the red-haired boy replied. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

After the boy said Harry, the tables in front of me were piled with food - roasts, and other meats of every type, potato, and other vegetables, gravy and tomato sauce, and for some srange reason that I didn't care about, Mint Humbugs. I filled my plate up with silverside, potato, carrots, beans, choko, cauliflower, all topped with white sauce, as well as a few mint Humbugs - I didn't eat many lollies, taking after both my parents on the matter.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak. "Can't you - ?" Harry started.

"I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you - you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy -" the ghost began stiffly, but I interrupted. "Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.

"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Oh my gosh, I thought, thats cruel and terrible! Looking pleased at the stunned looks on our faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So - new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the House Championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost."

I looked over at the Slytherin table, and so did some other first years, and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Draco.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked a sandy-haired boy,whose name I think was Seamus.

"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, rice pudding, mud cakes, crispy cream donuts...

As I helped himself to a chocolate éclair, the talk turned to our families. However, I decided to start a conversation about classes to the red-haired boy I saw Harry talking to earlier.

"Hello, my name is Hermione Granger. And yours is?"

"Percy. Percy Weasley" he replied. Mental note to self, the red-haired is called Percy Weasley - possibly the brother of Ron.