(Arcane Tinker) Chapter 12: Housing Trouble

Chapter 12: Housing Trouble

1st September 1991, London

Finally, the train stopped, and they stepped down, leaving their trunks in their compartment. Before he could even wander where they were supposed to go, he heard a loud voice, "Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" He turned and saw a giant man holding a lantern, and Dean smiled to himself. It was time for his magical adventure to truly begin.

The man had an enormous beard and was far bigger than any normal person could possibly be, obviously showing that his size was of magical origin. Dean figured right away that this had to be the infamous Rubeus Hagrid. The stories didn’t even come close to capturing just how huge he really was. He towered over everyone, at least twice as tall as your average adult, with hands so massive they could probably hurl a watermelon like it was a tennis ball. Dean couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated by the sheer size of the guy and the thought of how strong he probably was. Honestly, anyone with at least half a brain would’ve been a little scared, too.

The man kept calling them out to follow him in a gruff accent, but it was still understandable enough. Slipping and stumbling, the first years followed the giant man down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path, until they found themselves in front of a lake and small boats, arranged neatly into a line, “Into the boat you go! No more than four a boat, unless you fancy a swim in this weather that is,” the man answered.

After making sure that they were all present, Hagrid sat in one of the boats by himself, which then started moving on its own. Everyone was silent, and Dean couldn’t blame them. It was hard to explain just how tense the atmosphere was. They were essentially in complete pitch black, riding some small boats on an eerily calm lake.

The other first years huddled close together in their boats, their faces pale and eyes wide, all clearly feeling the same mix of excitement and unease. The giant man at the front, who could only be Hagrid, sat calmly as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world.

Casually, the giant man bellowed, “You'll get your firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec. jus' round this bend here!”

Dean heard the other students, at the start of the line, gasp in awe. He didn’t have enough time to question it since he took his first look at the castle. He understood their amazement immediately. It was massive, with its stone walls glowing softly in the light of what had to be hundreds of torches. The towers and turrets rose high into the night sky, giving the place an air of both grandeur and warmth. The large windows shimmered with reflections from the lake, making the whole scene feel almost unreal.

Off to the side, there was a huge stadium, with tall stands that he guessed had to be for Quidditch matches. And perched on a hill was a lone tower that looked a bit isolated from the rest of the castle, with hundreds of small birds flying around it. It was probably the school owlery.

“Now, that’s a magic castle.”

He must have said that out loud since Lisa hit him in the shoulder and snickered, “Duh!”

Harry and Sally-Anne stopped staring silently at the castle and looked at him instead. Dean pretended to be enraged, “How dare you strike my person?”

Sally-Anne giggled, “Stop sounding like a prick.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Fine. It looks amazing, though.”

Harry seemed to agree with him, “Yeah. My parents told me stories about this place. They never mentioned the view.”

Lisa, though, had another idea, “Do you know who that guy’s name is? The big one who’s taking us through the boat.”

“His name is Hagrid. I think he’s the school’s gamekeeper. Mum and Dad said that he’s pretty nice.”

“Do you think he’s a Changer?” Sally-Anne replied.

Harry simply shrugged, and Dean shuffled nervously. In the stories, Hagrid was a half-giant, not that he knew for sure, since a lot of things were just different. In a way, magic was fundamentally different from what he expected.

Still, he didn’t want to say something bad and just shrugged, “No clue. I’m guessing he’s pretty strong and resilient in this form. He could have learned to keep it on all the time. I would have if it kept me safe.”

Lisa didn’t seem all that convinced. “Maybe, but there are almost always side effects from being in a changed state all the time.”

“We could just ask him later,” Harry awkwardly answered, probably wanting to end the conversation.

Lisa tried to say something, but she heard a bellow from the large man in question, “Heads down!”

They all ducked as the boats were magically steered into a small tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge Oak front door.

"Everyone here?" the giant asked loudly.

Seeing that no one said anything, he raised his gigantic fists and knocked three times on the castle door.

The sound of Hagrid's knocks echoed through the night, and the huge oak doors creaked open slowly. Standing in the doorway was a tall, stern-looking woman with sharp eyes and a no-nonsense expression. She wore emerald-green robes that seemed to shimmer slightly in the torchlight, and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun under a pointed hat. The way she stood, straight-backed and with an air of authority, left no doubt that she was someone important.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said in a clear, crisp voice that carried over the group of nervous first years. "I’ll take them from here."

Hagrid nodded, giving the students one last encouraging smile before he turned and disappeared back down the steps. The woman turned her attention to the group, her gaze sweeping over them as if she were sizing them up.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she began, her tone businesslike but not unkind. "I am Minerva McGonagall, the deputy headmistress of this illustrious institution and the head transfiguration professor. In a few moments, you will be walking into the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into your houses. As most of you already know, the student body is split into four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Being a member of your house is not just a right, but also a responsibility... There are many competitions and events between houses, but the main ones are the Duelling Tournaments, the Quidditch Tournament, and the House Cup.

“If you can make a petition to add certain events and get a tenured professor to sponsor it, you would be able to also add events of your own, but I’ll advise you to wait until next year to arrange for that. Now, while the Duelling and Quidditch tournaments are in their names, the House Cup is not. It’s an academic competition between the schoolhouses, where students receive points based on their academic performance, as well as lose points for their discipline. These points are tallied for each house, and the house with the highest number of points at any given moment will enjoy certain perks, such as priority in the library waiting list and priority for booking the Quidditch field or duelling arena. The house with the highest number of points at the end of the school year will have vouchers for various shops in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley as well as opportunities for internships during the summer.”

She took a deep breath and continued, “The points are also tallied personally, allowing you to buy certain things personally. You can use your points to see certain books in the restricted section of the library, to use the school owls, to request a personalised meal from the kitchen, or even a supervised trip to Hogsmeade. Depending on the professor, you can even request personal tutoring sessions. You can transfer points between yourselves, and all of this using your Hogwarts cards. Keep in mind that if you ever end up in the negatives, you will have to work overtime to make up for the points, and those points will not carry over to the next school year. But that’s enough of that; your prefects will explain the rest.

“Now, onto your sorting. You will be waiting in line and walking into the Great Hall behind me. You’ll stay silent until your name is called, after which you will be sorted and then walk to your assigned table. Does anyone have any questions?”

It looked like more than a few people looked confused, but no one dared to ask the woman anything. She was just so intimidating.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said the professor, "Please wait quietly." And with that said, she just left the chamber.

The house point system was far more complicated than Dean expected. It was like some kind of implicit currency in the school. Dozens of questions raced through his head. Was it possible to trick someone into giving away their points? What kind of perks could they buy? Could someone technically be bullied into giving up their points?

For some reason, the rest of the students were more interested in how they were sorted, at least according to the faint murmuring he heard the moment the professor left the chamber. To be completely fair, Dean did technically know how they were being sorted. He wondered if the sorting hat was also a thing, or if they were sorted some other way.

He tried not to show that he knew anything, but he couldn’t help but snort when he heard a redheaded boy say that his brother claimed that they would need to get past a troll. His action was noticeable enough for the redhead to snarl and walk up to him, “So, do you think you know any better?”

“No,” he simply stated.

“I don’t believe you,” he yelled.

“Alright, then.”

“Stop being a prick and look at me,” the redhead yelled.

Dean slowly met the boy’s eyes. His hair was smoking for some reason: “Your hair is smoking.”

“It’s my magic! The name is Ron Weasley, and you better remember it.”

“You are loud,” Dean commented.

A blond boy at the back of the line loudly burst into laughter, “He’s a Weasley, what do you expect from him? He certainly has to make up for his family’s financial situation in some other way.”

The redhead was slowly getting redder by the minute, and his hair practically burst into flames, but he was calmed down when a pudgy brown-haired boy stopped him, “Don’t let him get to you. He’s just trying to get you into trouble.”

“Yeah, Longbottom,” the blond commented, “Why don’t you keep your dog on a leash? That’s all he’ll amount to anyway.”

Huh, so that was Neville Longbottom. He looked like a normal boy his age, to be perfectly honest. He had a round face, brown hair, and a scar on his forehead. It wasn’t a neat scar, really, more like how he imagined a real bolt of lightning going. It faintly spread down under his eye and into his cheek. Still, all he had gotten was a glance, as the rest of the room whispered as they realised who the boy was.

The boy who lived gave the blond a glare, “Shove off, Malfoy.”

Dean had to admit that he was surprised about the antagonism between Malfoy and Longbottom, or even the obvious friendship between Weasley and Longbottom, although they could have just met on the train. Then again, he only interfered when Malfoy insulted the redhead. He’d have to ask Harry about it later. He had to know more than most, at least.

Their families were enemies. At least, they were in the books, and there didn’t seem to be any difference on that front, at least. Dean didn’t know for sure; he didn’t exactly get news about the politics of Magical Britain in the orphanage, and if he was honest, he didn’t exactly care.

He decided then and there that he wanted nothing to do with either Longbottom or Malfoy. That looked like a good way to be sucked into their rivalry, and Dean already had enough on his mind. He didn’t seem to be the only one, as the rest of the first-years also looked a bit uncomfortable, as Malfoy and Longbottom kept glaring at each other, probably fearing that they would get into fights before that.

The tension, thankfully, was dissipated when McGonagall entered the chamber, “What is this ruckus? I hope you’re not making trouble on your first day. And you’re not even in a line!” She took a deep breath. “Alright, follow me now.”

They all shuffled into a neat line and prepared to walk up to the Great Hall to be sorted. Dean was somewhat ready, but couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. What could it have possibly been?

He tried to remember the story Nathan read. It was just so long ago. It took him embarrassingly long to finally realise what was missing. Where the fuck were the ghosts?

Dean didn’t have time to voice his question as the door opened loudly, and they all walked into the Great Hall. He would have to look up for his answer later. Or ask an older student. Yeah, that was probably the easier route to take. For now, he had to get sorted.

AN: Like the other AT chapters so far, this isn’t part of the weekly schedule. Tomorrow will be an EM chapter, like you guys chose in the last poll. I was a bit hesitant to upload this. It’s not exactly thrilling, and there’s a lot of information in it about Hogwarts that I wanted to get through, especially about the point system. Anyway, since the sorting will be in the next chapter (which I’m not planning on dragging on; It shouldn’t take more than half of the chapter at the most), I wanted to ask your opinion about which house you’d like to see Dean in. As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions. I’ll see you all tomorrow with the EM chapter.