Sydney Dadzie-Granger and the Philosopher's Stone

Chapter 6 - Hogwarts Classes

Sydney's POV:

I awoke to a loud rapping sound on the door, and groaned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I could hear the other girls also start moving.

"Come on girls," Hailey's voice was saying from the other side of the door. "It's 7:15 now. Get dressed in your robes - Matthew and I are going to bring you all to the Great Hall for breakfast."

"Thanks Hailey," I called, sitting up and reaching for my socks that were beside the bed.

Each of us got dressed in our robes fairly quickly, taking turns in the bathroom until we were all ready to go.

"Should we bring our book bags?" asked Meg.

"We technically don't know our classes yet," Susan reminded her. "We'll have time after we get our schedules to come back here and get them."

We all nodded in agreement, before heading to the door into the smaller common room. Hailey was already waiting there with another girl who had short red hair.

"This is Alyssa Reid," Hailey said, gesturing to her friend. Alyssa smiled and waved at us as we all left the dorm, with Hannah closing the dormitory door behind us.

Alyssa and Hailey helped Hannah and Meg straighten up their uniforms, nodding at Susan and I in approval, before we headed up the pathway into the main common room. There were a few Hufflepuffs sitting on the couches and talking quietly, but the common room was mostly deserted.

Less than a minute later, Matthew emerged, followed by a blond boy that was introduced as Brody. Each of the four first-year boys following behind him. He nodded to Hailey and Alyssa and smiled to each of us, before we all headed out of the common room and into the hallway.

"There are a hundred and forty-two staircases here at Hogwarts," Matthew informed us as he led us down the hall. "Sometimes the staircases like to move, and some have vanishing stairs. Hailey and I have been working on creating a map of Hogwarts that will show you staircases that are safe to use, and warn you about any tricks. I know I could have used a map as a first-year."

"Most people are really friendly," Alyssa stated. "Just be careful of the caretaker - Argus Filch, and his cat, Miss Norris. Filch knows the passageways of the school really well and lives to catch troublemakers."

"Stick together and you'll be fine," Brody assured us kindly.

Before long, we had made it to the Great Hall, and immediately headed to the Hufflepuff table together. Most of the first-years sat in a clump, and Alyssa, Brody, Matthew and Hailey sat nearby, but still giving us some space.

I immediately reached for the pancakes and began helping myself, before there was a sudden screech up ahead. Looking up, I was amazed to see about a hundred owls streaming into the Great Hall, circling the tables and dropping letters and packages to different students.

"Wow," breathed Meg, staring up at the ceiling.

"During one of our breaks, does anyone want to come with me to the Owlery?" invited Susan. "My auntie wanted me to send a letter to her after my first classes."

"I'd love to," I said with a grin. "My parents wanted me to send Athena back to them too."

We each helped ourselves to breakfast. Before long, Professor Sprout appeared and began passing out the schedules. I took a quick glance and saw that it was the exact same as the one she had showed us last night.

"Just History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts today," commented Ernie Macmillan. "That's not bad at all. I'm looking forward to Defense myself."