Light + Dark = Magic (Solangelo Goes to Hogwarts)

Let's Eat!

As Professor McGonagall put away the hat and stool, a tall man with a long white beard (Professor Dumbledore) stood up and said, "I have only two words to say to you: Tuck in."

Loud cheers erupted all around the hall as me and Will sat there thinking What the heck is that supposed to mean?

I watched as the empty plates on the table suddenly filled with food. "Woah," I said with amazement clear in my voice. "That's so cool!"

Will and I started eating anything and everything on the table. But I specifically grabbed an apple and took a big bite. I looked at Will with my mouth still full and said, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

He swatted at me (which I dodged) and said, "Oh, shut up." But he was smiling and chuckling.

Then I noticed a blur of white pass in front of us, through the table. It stopped when it got in front of us and was floating an inch or two above the table.

When Will saw it he fell back off the bench with a scream. I looked at him with an eyebrow raised and chuckled. I looked back at the person, or should I say ghost, and said, "Hi, I'm Nico di Angelo, and that chicken over there is Will Solace. Who are you?"

As soon as the ghost heard my name it turned white. Well, whiter. It bowed and said, "I am sorry I didn't recognize you, my king."

My eyes went wide and I said with panic, "Not here! I'm just Nico."

Will got back on the bench and looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "'My king?' What does that mean?" He asked me.

"I'm the Ghost King, remember?" I whispered to him.

"Oh, yeah." He said.

"Anyway, who are you?" I asked turning back to the ghost.

"I am Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor. Welcome to the family, my ki— Nico."

"Did you just say nearly headless?" Will asked.

Nick grabbed his head and pulled it off, but not completely. There was still a bit of his neck attached to his shoulders.

Will and I weren't fazed. We had been in two wars, that wasn't very bad compared to what we had seen. But the other first years looked horrified. Some even looked whiter than Nearly Headless Nick.

Then the food on the plates disappeared, and it was replaced with plates piled high with dessert. We ate just as much, maybe even more. It was probably the most delicious thing I'd ever eaten.

"Mmm, this is so good," I heard Will's muffled voice say through a mouthful of food.

I nodded in agreement. I couldn't say anything because of how much I was stuffing my mouth.

Eventually, when the plates were suddenly left clean with no sign that there was ever food on them, Dumbledore got up and all of the chatter in the hall stopped.

"So!" He said. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

I looked over at Will and whispered, "What the heck even are those things?" He just shrugged in response.

"As ever," Dumbledore continued, "I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."