Some Witches are Insane by Lily of the US
Chapter Notes: I hope the title will start to make sense now...
Oh, you are a difficult one… but I think it had better be…
GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouted. The whole Gryffindor table burst into applause, and Ria felt the hat lifted off her head. She sighed, feeling intense relief as she stood up. She would be with Punita! Beaming at Professor Weasley, the students, and even the ghosts spread out across the hall, she practically ran to sit next to Punita.
“Congratulations,” Punita whispered. “Professor Granger herself was in Gryffindor. So was Professor McGonagall, the headmistress.” As an afterthought, she added, “And Harry Potter.”
Him again! Ria sighed. It seemed that Harry Potter was all these people ever talked about. He must have been really important, though. What had Punita said earlier? “Voldemort was the darkest wizard of all time. When Harry was a baby, Voldemort sent a Killing Curse at him. Harry was the only person to ever survive that curse. Then, when he was seventeen (after many battles in between) he defeated him for good.” What had she meant by a Killing Curse? Ria would have to ask later… the last of the students ('Way, Jade') had been sorted now, and Professor McGonagall had stood up to speak.
“Before we begin the feast, I would just like to say welcome back to our older students, and to the first years, welcome to Hogwarts! And now, let the feast begin!”
Ria’s mouth dropped as the empty, golden plates before her filled with more food than she had ever seen in her life. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork and lamb chops, sausages, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and so many other things she couldn’t name them all.
Punita grinned and said, “Surprised?” When Ria nodded, still gazing open-mouthed at the steaming plates, she said, “You’ll get used to it. But, by the way- look up.” Punita laughed, loading her plate as she watched Ria’s eyes widen even more in shook at the bewitched ceiling which she had been too nervous to notice before. The ceiling- if there really was a ceiling at all- was dark and starry, as if it were made of glass, or the Great Hall simply opened up into the heavens.
A boy sitting next to Ria nudged her. He looked to be about sixteen years old, with dark brown hair that was rather long and reached almost to his shoulders. “Eat up,” he said. “You don’t want to miss any of this; we don’t have feasts every night.”
She grinned at him. “I don’t think I could handle it if there was food like this every night!” This said, she began to load her plate with everything within reach.
Ria wouldn’t have looked up if she didn’t feel the sudden sensation of her left arm being plunged into a bucket of ice. She raised her head and gasped- there was a ghost sitting next to her. He was wearing old fiashioned clothes with a very large ruff on his neck.
“Welcome to Gryffindor!” the ghost exclaimed. I’m Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington.”
“Umm, pleased to meet you, Sir Nicholas de… de who?”
“It’s Nearly Headless Nick!” exclaimed Punita.
“How-?” began Ria, but Punita interrupted her.
“Don’t ask,” she said. Then she continued, “Sir Nicholas, this is Ria Venetia. I’m Punita Kaur.”
“Pleased to meet you,” said the ghost, then turned and began to talk to the dark-haired boy that had been sitting next to Ria.
Ria raised her eyebrows at Punita, waiting for an explanation about the title of “Nearly Headless” Nick.
“I’ll tell you later,” said Punita through a mouthful of potatoes.
Ria shrugged and turned back to her food. Punita would tell her sooner or later, but who knew how long they would have to finish the feast?
When most people were finished eating and the desserts had appeared on the tables and been eaten as well, Professor McGonagall stood up, and the hall went silent.
“Welcome, once again, to all of you,” she began. “Before you are dismissed to your common rooms, I have a few start-of-term notices for you all. First years, please note that the forest on the grounds is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to remind you that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes.” She nodded at an old man who was sitting at the teachers’ table. He was wearing a filthy coat and his eyes were bloodshot and menacing.
He must be the caretaker, thought Ria. The caretaker nodded back to Professor McGonagall, and she continued.
“Quidditch trials will be held sometime within the next few weeks. If you are interested, contact Madam Hooch.” She paused and looked at the other teachers. “If there are no further announcements… you are dismissed to your common rooms.”
Every student in the Great Hall stood up and began to talk loudly as they made their way to their common rooms. The noise that surrounded them made it almost impossible to hear a female voice calling, “Gryffindor first years this way!” Ria and Punita glanced at each other, then pushed their way towards the source of the voice. The speaker turned out to be a rather short girl of about fifteen with straight brown hair and large brown eyes. “I’m Katie, one of the Gryffindor prefects,” she shouted over the din. “Follow me to the common room.” Punita, Ria, and eight other children did as she said and made their way through the Great Hall.
As they walked along the hall to the common room, Ria couldn’t take in everything fast enough. All around her were ghosts that walked and chatted with the students, pictures that moved and often said, “hello,” and staircases that would change direction every once in a while. She gasped each time a portrait waved at her, as did several of the other first years. They must be Muggleborn too, she thought.
When they reached the common rooms, Kate directed the girls up a flight of stairs on their right and the boys up one on their left. The five girls reached their dormitory to find a four-poster bed for each of them with a trunk at the foot of each. Ria found her trunk by the bed farthest from the door, by the window on the side of Gryffindor Tower. Punita was next to her, thankfully. On Punita’s other side was a short, slim girl with red hair who introduced herself as Eleanor, or Ellie. Next to her was another tall girl with long blonde hair named Maddison. The girl who had the bed closest to the door was named Jacqueline. She said the other girls could call her Jackie, and she was a bit chubby and had brown hair and bright blue eyes. Ria was extremely tired, and had no doubt that she would forget all of their names by morning.
After finding her pajamas in her trunk, Ria climbed into bed, exhausted. Her last thought before falling asleep was, Wow.
There was a muffled thump as someone landed on top of her. Ria squealed in pain and sat up. In the dim moonlight shining through the window, she saw that it was Ellie that was now squishing her stomach.
“Ellie!” she yelled. She was promptly shushed by four other girls. “What time is it?” she asked in a much quieter voice.
“Three A.M.,” replied Ellie, jumping up off of Ria’s bed, picking up a pillow that had landed on the floor. She immediately laid a torrent of blows on Punita, who defended herself as best as she could. Ellie was small and quick, and skillful with her weapon.
“How long have you been at this?” wondered Ria.
“About half an hour,” replied Punita, ducking one of Ellie’s blows.
“Are you planning on stopping anytime soon so we can get some sleep? We have lessons tomorrow,” complained Jackie, who was awake and watching the fight with mixed amusement and annoyance.
Ellie jumped back out of Punita’s reach as Punita swung a pillow at her wildly. Running behind Ria’s bed, she ducked out of sight and pretended to think about Jackie’s question. She popped up and said, “No!” shaking her head and grinning widely. Then she vaulted over Ria’ s bed and began another attack on Punita.
Ria sighed. It didn’t look as if she was going to get any sleep for the rest of the night, and Punita was desperately in need of help. “You’re all insane,” she groaned, then climbed out of bed and joined Punita in her losing battle against Ellie. Alone, Punita was practically helpless, but together, she and Ria were more than a match for their new friend.
Before long, Maddison was out of bed and fighting on Ellie’s side. “I couldn’t let you have all the fun!” she exclaimed. Last to join the fight was Jackie, and, with an odd number of girls, it somehow became a war based on the principle of “every girl for herself.” They fought for what felt like ages. When they finally collapsed, one by one, onto Punita’s bed, the clock read 4 A.M. They fell asleep on top of each other, five girls and five pillows on one bed.