The weeks she had to wait flew by. She had read up in her school books and secretly tried out a few spells at home. Now it was finally the first of September.

She had finally found out what was so special about the Potter boy. He had fought the greatest dark wizard of all time, and no one knew how. His parents had been killed during the attack on him.

She had been sent a beautiful Trunk for her school things. She put everything in it.

A note from Dumbledore saying that a backpack with school robes in it would be handy.

So at 8am she was anxious and waiting. Although Avalon was a little sad to leave her mother behind for so long, Jolene had reassured her that Hogwarts was where she belonged and that she would have a great time. And Christmas was just around the corner anyway.

They were at the station near her at nine to go to Kings Cross, from where she would catch the train to Hogwarts. At least, if she managed to get to the platform. Her ticket said platform 9 3/4, wherever that was.

Her mother told her that she never went on the platform because she never went to Hogwarts. It was all a bit overwhelming.

when she set foot in Kings Cross. It was a bustle of people all rushing about. At irregular intervals, a speaker called out, "Ladies and gentlemen, the train to Wessex is 10 minutes late, thank you for your patience,"

and she walked with her mother to the point where platforms 9 and 10 met. But what should she do now? There were numbers on both sides of the wall, a 9 on one side and a 10 on the other. "So the platform is somewhere in between? When it was 10 to 11 and she was about to give up, she heard a familiar, sing-song voice behind her. "Are you confused, dear, did Nergels get you?" She looked around and saw the smiling face of Luna.

"Oh, it's you. Avalon was it? I am so pleased to see you again." Said Luna smiling "Oh hello Luna." Spoke Avalon. "Did the nergels get you? It seems you are confused?" Asked Luna again. "I am not sure, I have never met a nergel or I can not remember." Avalon replied, remembering the things Luna had said in Diagon Alley. "But I just do not know how to get to the platform and we do not have much time left." Added Avalon.

"Well, it's not that complicated. You just walk into the wall over there that separates platform 9 and 10." Luna said matter-of-factly. "Exactly. And what will stop me from flattening myself against this wall?" Avalon asked. "Magic, of course." Luna Anwsered.

Still unsure if she should dare, she looked at Luna. "Are you sure?" Avalon asked. "I can show you if you are scared, it's very simple." Avalon smiled, liking Luna more and more. "I'd like that." she said, "Follow me then." Luna said and walked quickly to the wall and when Avalon was sure that Luna would hit the wall, she did not and just disappeared into it.

Jolene and Avalon just stared at the wall for a second. "Well, I think you should go then. Father always said I was not getting anywhere because I am a Squib," Jolene said. "Are you sure you will be all right, Mom?" Avalon asked her.

"Of course I will. I will have time to visit my old friend Arabella Figg now. Her grandfather was a teacher at Hogwarts. He even saved the whole school and maybe even the wizarding world once, she always talks about that, even more than her cats." Jolene said with a smile.

"You should ask around Hogwarts to see if that's even true. Arabella likes to show off a little." Said Jolene. "Go before you miss the train." she added.

Avalon turned back to Wall and walked straight towards it. Just like Luna, she seemed to simply melt into the wall. A second later, she found herself on a platform like everyone else. She moved to the left, looking for a door to enter through, when 4 boys came through the wall at breakneck speed.

they all had flaming red hair, 2 of them were obviously twins. A few seconds later a girl with the same red hair and what appeared to be her parents came through the wall. "Now Ginny, let's find you a seat," the girl's mother said.

Avalon quickly followed them to find a door. "Where on earth are those boys!" the girl's mother said again. "HARRY, RON." she was yelling now. She was obviously very worried. "Arthur, can you look outside the barrier for the boys?"she asked, sounding worried. "Yes, Molly, dear." her husband replied, turning back to the wall, but when he tried to push through it, he could not get through.

"That's strange," the man said to himself. His wife escorted their sons and daughter onto the train. Avalon followed quickly, afraid of missing the train.

"Do not worry, Ginny," she said, "Ron and Harry are sure to turn up any minute. I am sure they are under the influence of Fred and George." she added.

"What have we done?" the twins said at the same time. "I am sure you have done something. You told them you were going to sneak until you had 2 minutes left and made them do it too or something," she said slightly annoyed.

"Mom, would we do that to your favorite child?" one of the twins asked. "I do not know what you mean by favorite child," she snapped at them. "Harry!" the twins said in unison and laughed out loud. "Oh you two." she began, as a whistle sounded.

"Oh dear, they really are going to be late. Get on, my dears, and have a good term i am sure we will find them," she said with a worried look.

A few seconds later, the train started moving. Avalon walked along the train to find a compartment. All the compartments were full, except for one. The only one sitting there was Luna. She did not look faced by it she was simply reading a magazine.

"Excuse me, may I join you?" Avalon asked. "Of course you can. How nice to have a travelling companion." she said with a smile. Avalon sat down.

"Is Hogwarts far away?" she asked. "Well, I do not know, I have never been there, but Dad always told me that he left at 11 of the clock and that he reached Hogwarts when it was already dark, so I guess so." Luna replied.

"What are you reading? Avalon asked her newfound companion. "The Quibler, my father is the publisher, would you like a copy, I have another." Luna smiled.

"I'd like one," said Avalon, who did not know what the Quibler even was. Luna handed her a copy and dis apeared behind her own.

It was a strange magazine with strange-sounding words and interviews about things that could not possibly happen. But it entertained her for at least an hour.

Not long after both girls had put the magazines away, the door opened again and the red-haired girl stood in the doorway. "May I join you, my brothers are driving me crazy," she said. "Yes, of course," Avalon replied. The girl smiled and sat down.

"I am Ginny, by the way, Ginny Weasley. The only girl in the Weasly clan," she introduced herself as

“Avalon Prince." Avalon did the same. "And you are?" Ginny asked Luna.

“Luna Lovegood. Are you really a Weasley? My father told me that you do not live far away," Luna replied.

“Yes, I am." Ginny said. "Then I am pleased to meet you Giny Weasley." Replied Luna. "It's just Ginny." she said and began to look out of the window.

For about an hour, the girls looked outside in silence.

"I heard your mom outside, did they find your brothers at the end?" Avalon asked. "Brothers? " she asked, looking confused. "Oh you mean Ron and Harry? They are not both my brothers, only Ron is one. " she replied. "But no, they didnt. I am a bit worried." she added.

"Do not be." Luna suddenly interjected. "If you think positively, everything will be fine, you will see," she added in her dreamy voice. "Thank you Luna." Ginny replied and smiled a little.

"So you have four brothers?" Avalon asked Ginny. "Oh no I have 6." Ginny replied. "6!?" Avalon asked in astonishment. "Yes, 6, Bill and Charlie have already graduated and Percy is in 6th year. The twins are in 4th and my idiot brother Ron, who's missing, is in 2nd and he's Harry Potter's best friend." Ginny blushed a little at the mention of Harry's name.

"Wow." was all Avalon knew to say. "I know." Ginny replied as if she actually knew exactly what Avalon meant.

"Do you have any siblings?" Ginny asked Avalon. "No, it's just me and my mom. She adopted me when I was a baby. And since she's a single mother, I do not have any siblings." Avalon replied.

"What about you Luna?" Luna smiled. "Oh no. Mom and dad wanted to, but mom wanted to wait until I could appreciate a sibling and when they thought I was ready, my mom died." Luna replied. Ginny and Avalon looked at each other a little sheepishly.

"That's awful Luna," Ginny finally managed to say. "Yes, it was. But at least I still have Dad." Luna turned to Ginny.

Luckily, the tension was quickly broken by the rattling of an iron cart and a grey-looking older witch opened the door. "anything off he trolley dears?" she asked. Ginny felt a little embarrassed at that moment and mumbled something that Avalon could not understand. Luna bought a few things from the cart. Avalon quickly remembered that her mother had given her some money for lunch in Wizzard money and stood up.

"Um, how much can I get for this?" she asked, showing the shopping cart witch her money.

"My dear, you can get 10 pumpkin pastries or 2 licorish wands 3 pastries." and she went on to describe what Avalon could buy. Finally, she decided on 10 pastries. She sat down and smiled at Ginny.

"You can not be the only one missing out." she said, holding out her hand with two Pumpking Pastries.

"Go on, take them," she added. Hesitantly, Ginny took the two pies. "Thank you," she said, blushing. Over The next few hours, they told each other about their lives and their hopes for school.

"Where do you think you will be sorted?" Ginny asked suddenly. "Sorted?" Avalon did not know what that meant.

"Yes, the school houses. You have Gryffindor, Huffelpuf, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Professor McGonagall will explain most of it to you, but it's like your school family. And it also determines whether you win the house cup or not. If you do well, you get points, but if you are like my brothers and Harry Potter and like to break rules, you lose points." she explained.

"How do you know which house you are going to?" Avalon asked. "I do not know that. My brothers will not tell me. George said that you have to endure one of the unforgivable curses While anwsering questions.Ginny said

”Ah, my reputation precedes me, I hear," sounded from the compartment door as it slid ferther open further to reveal the redheaded twins.

"Don't stop, on my behalf Ginny," one of them said. She made a grunting noise that sounded a bit like "Uhhh." "My goodness, Ginerva, is that the way you address your best brothers now?" one of the twins said, his voice sounding high-pitched, almost like a woman. "Fred could you behave yourself for five minutes?" Ginny uttered, annoyed.

"Well, we could do that, Ginny," one of the twins began. "But then our reputation would be in tatters," added the other. "And we can't have that now, can we?" the first twin concluded. Ginny blew air out of her nose.

"That's Fred and George." Said Ginny. "That's a girl, Ginerva." said one of the twins, patting Ginny on the head. "Yes Ginny, Mum would want you to be extra polite." said the other. "After all, you're mummy's little girl and all." Ginny turned as red as her hair and scowled at her brothers.

"Could you stop it?" she asked, almost angrily. "We could, but why would we?" the brothers said in unison. Then they quickly left the compartment and pushed the door shut. Ginny made the UHH noise again and raised her arms.

"I don't understand why everyone loves them so much." she said, slightly annoyed. "What do you mean?" Avalon asked. "They're always so obnoxious, but the whole school sees them as some sort of comic heroes." Explained Ginny.

"They were not really funny."Luna chimed in unexpectedly.

"They can be sometimes." Ginny replied, sounding slightly protective of her twin brothers. "Like last year, when I was sad that all my brothers were leaving and I had to stay behind, they cheered me up by saying they'd send me a toilet seet."

Luna burst out laughing very hard. The door slid open again, but this time it was not one of the red-haired twins. It was a smal, overweight, fair-skinned girl with a menacing appearance who wore her short, curly, golden-blonde hair in pigtails.small, dark brown eyes, a cleft chin and a narrow face.

"Can you be quiet?" the girl bit at her. Ginny stood up and made herself tall. "We were just having a laugh." she said, sounding defiant.

"Yeah, the whole train heard that," the girl replied rudely.

"My friends and I were just having a bit of fun. If you can not handle it, maybe you should find another part of the train." Ginny replied to the girl.

"I mean, who do you think you are anyway?" she added. "I happen to be Briget Rockwood, i have you know," the girl said, sticking her nose in the air as if her name explained everything. "Congratulations." Ginny said, not moving a muscle.

"My father happens to be friends with a lot of Ministry officials. And Lucius Malfoy." Said Briget, sounding hearty.

"As if that's something to be proud of." ginny muttered. "Excuse me?" Briget bit out. "You do not think being friends with the Malfoys makes you worth knowing do you" Ginny bit back.

"They are highly respected, not like the Weasleys, blood trators and all. I mean, their youngest son is even friends with a mudblood."

ginny then reached for her wand. It looked a little battered, as if it was second-hand. "Say something like that again, Rookwood, and I will curse you." Ginny said, sounding dangerous.

"You are not allowed to do magic outside of school." Said Briget, still trying to sound superior, but a hint of fear resonated in her voice.

"You just wach me, Rookwood. We are not in school yet." Ginny added, looking and sounding even more dangerous.

"I am not scared of you." Briget bit at Ginny and walked away with her nose up like she was superior to everyone. Ginny grunted angrily and dropped back into her seat.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Do you really think of us as friends already?" Luna asked. "Is that all you have heard?" Ginny still sounded a little angry.

"I am sorry."Ginny added, repeating her question a little more kindly. "No, of course not." Luna replied. "I heard every word, I just wanted to focus on the positive." Ginny looked at Luna for a second with a mixture of leftover anger and surprise before they all three burst out laughing.

"You never answered me though." Said Luna. "Yes I did, the answer is yes Luna, I consider you my friends." Ginny replied still laughing.

A few minutes later they were torn from their funny moment when a Ford Angelina flew past the window.

"Was that a car? Flying?" Avalon asked, keeping her face to the window. Ginny grunted again, "Great, that's my brother and Harry showing off," she said angrily. The car disappeared and reappeared seconds later.

"They're worse than Fred and George." Ginny added. Just a few seconds later, the car door seemed to open and a boy almost fell out.

"Oh my God, Harry!"ginny screamed and stared at the window.

Harry seemed to be holding on to the door handle of the car. The other boy in the car tried to pull him in, but Harry seemed to slip and fall back.

Ginny held her breath and looked very frightened. For a minute or three, the red-haired boy tried to pull Harry back into the car. Eventually he managed it, which seemed to take seconds, before he would have toppled over.

Ginny blew out the breath she was holding. "That should have been Ron almost falling out," she said and sat back down, sounding very relieved. A few seconds later, the twins were back in the compartment.

"Did you see that, Ginny?" Fred asked. "I mean the cheekiness of them." Added George. "They should have told us they were going to do that. " Fred intervened immediately. "We should have been in the car with them."the two boys finished their remarks, sounding both impressed and annoyed. As they sat down.

A moment later, the door slid open again and an older red-haired boy stood in the doorway, already in his school robes, which differed from Avalon's in that they had red accents and a gold pin with a P on it on his chest.

"Did you all just see that? " the boy asked with a slightly arrogant undertone.

"Yeah, we Sure did perce," said one of the twins. "How cheeky they are. I mean, they are going to get into so much trouble. It will reflect badly on Gryffindor, not to mention the family. None of you encouraged them, did you?" the boy asked.

"Percy, my man i am just as shocked as you are.” said George, standing up and putting an arm around his brother.

"Yes Perce, we are as apauled as you are, honestly." Added Fred. "We were just saying to these lovely ladies and Ginny how awful it was." George added, stil holding his arm around his brother. "Of course we did not encourage them, Percy, what do you take us for?" Fred said, sounding hurt. "No, because if we did, perce." Added George in the same hurt voice. "We would have been up there with them," said the twins simultaneously.

"And we thought icckle Ronniekins would be cool and tell us everything," George said with amusement. Percy seemed to get angrier with every word his twin brothers said.

"Nice role model for your little sister," he said angrily. "I thought that was your job, Mr Prefect," Fred said."Besides, we are showing Ginny that it's okay to be naughty once in a while, as long as you do not overdo it." Said George, when it was his turn.

"I mean, we are not encouraging her to fly in Dad's car and nearly kick Harry out, now are we?" Fred interjected, backing his brother up. Percy grunted and turned round before the door slammed shut, the five of them could hear him shouting

"They are not an inch better the lot of them." the twins sat back down grinning. "I am sorry, lovely ladies, that you had to see that." Fred said apologetically.

"Yeah, Percy's a prat. Forget about him," George added.

Avalon had the impression that the twins rarely did anything separately and always seemed to support each other. "We should go and see our mate Lee."Fred said as the twins got up and quickly left the compartment.

It was quickly getting dark outside. "We should get our robes on. I think we will be there soon." Ginny said. They got dressed in silence.

"Why is your brother wearing a cloak with red in it?" Asked Avalon. "Because he's already sorted into Grifyndor." Explained Ginny.

"Once you are sorted, your robes magically transform into your house collars. Red is for Grifyndor. Yellow is for Huffelpuf, blue for Ravenclaw and green for Slytherin."

Again, Avalon noticed that Ginny pronounced the last house as if it was something like a dog turd under her shoe. A few minutes later, the train slowed down and finally stopped. A speaker clicked on.

"Hogsmeade Station. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to school later, I wish you a good term." said the clear female voice on the intercom.

The girls got off the train. Then they heard a loud male voice. "First years over here.”

They looked round and saw a light in the distance, wobbling like a cork above the crowd of students. Not long after, a tall figure emerged from the vapour. He seemed too tall to be a real person. His brown mane and beard hid 80% of his face, but what was still visible looked very friendly.

"That's Hagrid." said Ginny. "The school gamekeeper." she added. They walked over to them and were soon joined by other students. Among them was Briget Rookwood.

"Oh, do not tell me they are still letting that oaf ferry us across the lake," she complained. If Hagrid had heard her, he chose to ignore her.

”Right, first years, gather round!" he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts, all of yeh. I will pear yeh all into groups of three and you are going to get into a boat. Ill be upfront leading yeh all to the castle," he said in a warm voice.

Ginny, Luna and Avalon quickly got into one of the first boats behind Hagrid. Soon they were travelling slowly across the glassy lake. In no time at all, they stopped at an underground harbour. Hagrid led them up 7 long spiral staircases. Exhausted and out of breath, the group of first years reached the top.

"Has everyone got their breath back?" Hagrid asked. After a few minutes, everyone nodded. He opened the door, which contained a low marble staircase. They climbed them and were greeted by a stern looking witch in emerald Robes.

"Good evening, may I introduce myself, I am Professor Mcgonagall. In a few minutes you will be taken to the Great Hall to be sorted before the Start of Term feast. I will return shortly to call you all in." She left the corridor. The children looked at each other. Each of them looked pale with nervousness. 5 minutes later the professor came back.

"We're ready," she said. "Please line up, two against two," the professor added.

Luna quickly got into line, followed by Ginny. Avalon was close behind a dark-skinned girl. Nervously, they all followed Professor Mcgonagall.She led them into a large room.

There were four tables, each with a different decoration. The table on the far right was decorated in red, the table next to it was decorated in blue, to the left of it was a yellow table and the last table on the far left was decorated in green. On the opposite side of the room was a podium with a big table with 12 subsidised chairs attached to it and a large, throne-like chair in the middle. Professor Dumbledore sat on it.

2 seats were empty. One was obviously Professor McGonagall's, but who was the other chair? Lockheart was sitting on Dumbledore's left. Avalon was not sure if she really liked him, he looked so smug.

But all the other girls seemed to have a crush on him. They all craned their necks to get a good look at him.

On the far right, Hagird sat next to a very short man. On the far left sat a black-haired witch. Next to her sat a witch with curly grey hair, wearing brown robes with a few dirt stains here and there. Next to her sat a witch with grey hair, also with curls, but she was wearing an old-fashioned nurse's uniform.

The last witch at the table was a short grey-haired woman with strange cat-like eyes, wearing black robes. They walked in a line of two to the front of the hall. On the podium, which looked like an old lectern, was a stool with a very old, frayed and very dirty hat.

Professor Mcgonnagal stood next to it. "When I call your name, you put the sorting hat on your head to be sorted into your house,"

she explained. She walked away for a moment and the new students all looked around, not knowing what to do. The other students seemed to look at the hat with anticepation.

"I am so going to kill George." Ginny said under her breath. " just putting on a hat," she added in a whisper.

Suddenly a rip near the brim of the hat opened like a moth and it began to sing.

I can cope with life like a teacher,

I am a smart kinda hat.

I like to play golf and watch football.

I like to think about where you belong.

Because it's just sad on your own.

So put me on and i will tell you exactly that.

You are so brave in Griffyndor.

But recklessness is a weakness

those brave old Griffyndors will walk through the doors of danger.

Wise old Ravenclaw is where your sharp mind,

learning and great wisdom will be there ashured.

But sharing is much caring, so bright minds work as one

now huffelpuff priced loyalty and friendship above all else

they keep their friends very close

green thumb is what set them appart

so plants come out to play.

Slytherin,s ambition is what they have.

Cunning folk is what they are

and it can go both ways.

So dont cross them is all I would say.

if that's a bit much for you,

but do not worry my friend,

I will decide it for you, now

so put me on your head.

The great hall burst into an aperitif.

As soon as the hat stopped singing, Professor Mcgonnagall returned, holding a scroll in her hand. She unrolled it and began calling out names.

"Aristo, Nicole," was the first name she called out. A pale, mousy, brown-haired girl stepped out of the line and sat down on the stool the hat had just been resting on.

Mcgonagall placed the hat on her head, which fell over her nose. After a minute or two, she called out, "Huffelpuff."

one by one, she called off the names. "Creevey Collin." She called out as she reached the C, the hat barely touching his head as he called out "Grifyndor"

Avalon noticed that the tables where the students were sorted would erupt in cheers when someone was sorted there.

As if in a flash, Mcgonnagall called out "Lovegood Luna" Luna skipped happily to the podium and sat down. The hat fell onto her moth. And she seemed to be having a conversation with it. After a minute, she fell silent. And another minute later, the hat called out, "Ravenclaw."

The Ravenclaw table erupted in cheers and applause as Luna skipped over to their table and sat down. There were only a handful of students left. Oggle Jimmy became a Huffelpuff.

"Prince Avalon." Mcgonnagall called out. With trembling knees, Avalon stepped up to the podium and sat down. The last thing she saw was the Great Hall awaiting her verdict.

"Ahh, a mind that seems familiar." she suddenly heard in her ears. "Yes, difficult. There's Courage. An adventurous spirit. Loyalty, definitely loyalty, but there's more. An eagerness to learn. And a lot of cleverness, yes I know. "Ravenclaw," the hat called out to the crowded Great Hall.

The Blue Table erupted in cheers again, and Luna seemed most pleased that Avalon was joining the Ravenclaws. Avalon stepped down and joined them she sat down next to Luna.

"Maybe we can be real friends now," she said. Sallow Alan was the first new Slytherin. Valour Robbie. Was a new Grifyndor.

"Weasly Ginerva." Said Mcgonagall. Ginny sat down nervously on the stool. the hat fell over her ears. But where with the others the hat said his resoning only to the person wearing it, with Ginny it spoke out loud.

"Oh, but there's another one. " said the hat. "I suppose you know what I am going to say next, eh?" he added. "Grifyndor!" the hat spoke loudly. The red table cheered and the twins seemed the happiest of all. They were chanting her name.

Luna seemed a little disappointed that her 2nd friend would not be joining her table.

Zinc Narsissa was the last,she became a Ravenclaw and sat opposite Avalon.

Dumbledore rose from his seat and walked to the Speakers' table.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. To our older students, I say welcome back. I have been asked to say a few words, so here they are. Jumper, Waffle and Nickebocker.”

Just after Dumbledore spoke, the blue Ford Angelina flew past the windows and seemed to crash near some trees. The whole Great Hall whispered to each other.

Dumbledore stood up again. And the Great Hall fell silent."do not worry about the flying car, we will sort it out. Please eat," he said and he and Mcgonnagall quickly disappeared from the table.

everyone in the Great Hall was talking loudly. When Avalon turned to the table, the plates in the centre of the table were filled with the most delicious dishes.

She spooned everything onto her own plate and ate and drank until she was almost bursting. When the main course was finished, the food evaporated and was immediately replaced by delicious desserts. Luna cheered loudly.

"PUDDING!" she shouted, helping herself to as much as she could fit on her plate.

Avalon did not know what she wanted for dessert, so she took a small amount of everything. After the plates had been cleared and everyone was looking rather sleepy, Dumbledore, who had apparently returned back to the feast, stood up again.

"now we have had our laibations i have a few more words to speek, Mr Filtch, our caretaker would like to remind you that the list of forbidden items is view able in his office," said Dumbledore.

Avalon saw a tall, dark-haired man in a black robe sit down in the last available seat.

"First years, the Forbidden Forest on the grounds is, as the name implies, Forbidden. It would be wise for some of the older students to realise this fact as well." Dumbledore added to his speech, looking at the Griffyndor table. The twins grinned broadly.

"And now to the changes in our faculty. I am pleased to announce that the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts has been filled by none other than Gilderoy Lockheart."the large hall erupted in applause and girlish squeals.

"I would also like to inform each and every one of you that young Mr Ronald Weasly and Mr Harry Potter have entered the school shaken but unharmed." Dumbeldore continued.

"And now as i look upon all of your faces, I can see that you are all very tired, and I am sure you will all want to be rested when classes begin tomorrow, so off to bed you all go. Sleep well." Dumbeldore finished his speech.

A deafening sound of scraping benches echoed through the Great Hall and a tall blonde girl called out. "First years, please come with me."

The group of 15 first years followed her. "I am Jullie Smith, your house prefect.She led them out of the great hall into the entrance of the school, where they continued straight ahead until they reached a large tower with a spiral staircase. It was magnificently decorated with hundreds of paintings that seemed to reach to the cealing.

But the staircase was so high that they could not see the top. As they passed the paintings, Avalon noticed that people were moving around in the paintings. Some of them even greeted the new students.

Julie took them higher and higher. It seemed like they were going straight up, but 2 rows down they stopped on a landing and she led them through double doors into a corridor. From there they went up another spiral staircase to the very top.

There they stood on a wooden landing, in front of them a short straight staircase and above it a wooden door with an eagle with outstretched wings.

Julie stepped up to the door and used the ring in the eagle's paws as a knocker.

A crisp female voice spoke to them. "What do you put in a bucket to make it lighter?" she asked. Julie smiled. "A hole, my lady." Julie anwsered.

"Astute," she said "The eagle closed its wings and the door opened.

"If you want to enter our common room, you will have to solve a riddle, if you answer incorrectly, you will have to wait outside for a housemate to solve the riddle correctly, that's how you learn, you understand?" the prefect explained.

They stepped through the door and it opened to a stone room with a beautiful raven carved in stone and more stairs. One of the students groaned.

"I know it looks like a lot of climbing, but you will get used to it." Julie anwsered.

At the top of the spiral staircase was a huge statue. Julie explained to them that it was the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the founders of the school.

From the stateu there was a cosy-looking, round room with baroque sofas in the colours white and blue, a huge, round carpet with blue and yellow accents, on which small and large white stars could be seen in circles. A round table on the left-hand side of the room with 5 blue and white chairs around it.

At the archway, which looked like a small corridor, there were 2 large bookcases from which books magically appeared when someone needed them. Floor lamps and a large chandelier provided a warm, cosy light.

A small wooden corridor led through the archway, with stairs leading up and down both sides. Behind it was another round room with the same baroque sofas in the same blue and white colour. But here, too, there were identical- looking chairs and, in the centre of the room, a magnificent round fireplace with a warm fire blazing on its grate.

On the wall behind it was another stone eagle, the sealing here was lower than in the previous room and had blue and gold-colouredconstalations painted on it, the windows were beautifully transparent stained glass.

"That's right, first years. This is the Ravenclaw common room area. You are very welcome. Your dormitories are on the left and all the way down for the boys and girls on the right and all the way down. I will leave you to settle in now. If you need me, because I sleep in the 5th years dormitories, which are on the right and down one flight of stairs. Do not hesitate to ask me anything," she said with a warm smile and then went down the right staircase herself.

Luna Avalon and 4 other girls descended the stairs to their dormitory.

On the left side of the corridor, they found a white door labelled " 1st years".They walked through a little nervously.

On the other side they found a cosy looking room with three large bunk beds in the walls, all next to one of those clear glass windows.

There was a blue round rug on the floor and next to the fifth window were small cupboards with brown baroque armchairs.

To the left of the bunk beds were wooden cupboards where Avalon could store her clothes.

The bottom bunk bed had 4 drawers with what appeared to be name plaqeus on them, which were still blanc at the moment.

On the right wall was a small desk that could be used for studying. And a few shelves with various books on them. It all looked very cosy.

"Come on Avalon, we'll take the beds against the wall, you take the top bed." Luna said and sat down on the bottom bed. Luna's name immediately appeared in golden letters on two of the nameplates on the drawers.

Avalon climbed up the small ladder next to the bed and sat on the top bunk. It felt surprisingly comfortable. "Come on, take your pillow and keep me company down here." Said Luna.

Luna had taken off her shoes and sat on her bed with her legs crossed, leaning her back against her pillow at the headboard. Avalon leaned her pillow against the wall and did the same.

"We can talk like this for hours." Luna blurted out enthusiastically. "It's just a shame Ginny's not here," she added. Blue curtains hung next to each bunk, providing privacy.

They were startled by a soft tapping on the window next to them as the clear class turned brown. Avalon quickly realised that they were shutters, closing to prevent the sun from waking them abruptly.

According to Avalon's watch, it was now 11 o'clock at night. She yawned, realising how tired she had been from the yourney to school.

"I am sorry Luna, I'd love to talk for hours, but I am just too tired today." Avalon said and yawned. Luna nodded and yawned as well.

"We will put a permanent sticking charm until we can then." Said Luna smiling. Avalon giggled, she loved the expression of the wizards.

"We will do that," she replied, getting off the bed and climbing onto her own. She lay down on her comfy bed, wondering what she would learn when classes started the next day, and then quickly fell asleep.