The Academy

Well well well, I didn’t think I’d actually get five reviews so fast, I thought I would have more time to write up a new chapter but you guys are just too quick for me. I’m pleased to see there are at least a few people with some sort of relative interest in the story so far, I hope I don’t disappoint you guys. So anyways, some really good news here: I got a brand new laptop! Know what this means? More frequent updating! Yay! Okay, enough of my gabbing.
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Harry slouched back in the chair, desperately wishing he had something to read or stare at. He had, for a few minutes, entertained himself by bouncing his feet on the ground, his shoes making a dull thud, at least until the shrew of a secretary gave him a nasty look, her fingers pounding on her keyboard a bit harder than before. He had decided that the less noise he made, the better off he was.

‘I wouldn’t even be stuck in here alone if it wasn’t for Hermione and her perfect attendance obsession, the girl is completely obsessed with her end of year awards.’ Harry grudgingly thought. He shifted a bit in his seat, the hard plastic having made his entire lower half numb within a few minutes of sitting. He had been there for almost thirty minutes, with nothing but his mind for company.

A loud, highly unnecessary sigh came from the secretary as she fixed him with a glare and went back to her violent typing. ‘Probably talking on msn...the grouch.’ Harry thought to himself, his fidgeting stopping. He look at the Headmaster’s door, willing it to open on its own so he could get everything sorted and head to class.

He heard the main door to the office open, the small squeak the hinges made drowned out by the bang of the metal frame hitting the cement wall behind it, the large panes of glass in the door rattling.

The secretary jumped out of her seat, bustling around her ridiculously large desk as if she was going to attack the one who dared disturb the peace in her office. “Professor Hagrid! I will warn you yet again that slamming a door worth more than your entire wardrobe is entirely unacceptable! I won’t have you causing such a ruckus in my office!”

“M’sorry Minerva, uh, I mean er Professor McGonagall, I wasn’t ‘bout causin’ no trouble for ye. Its jus’ that I’m late ‘anding in m’attendence sheet, din wanna have you callin’ down in me class ‘gain.” The man quickly explained in rather poor English.

Harry watched the secretary who he now knew was Minerva, puff up her chest and let out a huff of air. “Well I certainly hope you did it properly this time! I honestly don’t know how the old secretary put up with your atrocious handwriting! Its bad enough I have to sit here and do all this paperwork, on top of my own marking, but I also have to deal with running Gryffindor Dorms. I assure you that I do not need to try and translate your handwriting as well!”

“M’sorry Professor, uh, I best be off to my classes, them kids get right upset when i’m showin’ up late.” Hagrid quickly handed a rather wrinkled paper to McGonagall and ducked through the doorway again, slamming the door accidentally as he made a rather hasty retreat.

Harry found himself gawking at the spot where the impossibly large man had been standing. ‘That guy was a teacher?’ He had a hard time imagining the man, who stood at nearly seven feet tall, writing on a chalk board in front of a class. Judging by the way the man spoke he highly doubted the man had done so well in school himself. ‘He must teach math...’

“Harry Potter?” McGonagall called out suddenly, once again behind her desk. Harry jumped, startled and look at her. “Um, yes professor?”

“The headmaster will see you now.” She motioned to a door off to the side. She nodded at him as he walked by her desk and lightly tapped on the hard oak door, unsure if he should just go in or not.

“Come in my boy.” Came the response from the other side of the door, prompting Harry to push it open and lightly step inside before shutting the door behind him. When he turned around he found his vision bombarded with colour. The entire office was lined with shelves, some of which were reserved for books, but most were completely covered in neon coloured trinkets. Little jars of various jewels, a bottle that looked like it had fire flies buzzing around inside, and stained glass windows made it seem like some sort of religious pawn shop as opposed to an office.

Sitting behind a large desk in the center of the room was an old man with a long white beard, the twinkle in his blue eyes rivaling that of the rainbow paperweights that lined the whole top of the desk.
“Feel free to sit, or stand, if you are more comfortable. Lemon drop?” the old man held out a small dish of tart candies, a kind smile on his face.

Harry smiled and gave his head a small shake “No thank you, I’m not one for sweets.” He sat down in a huge chair in front of the desk, curiously wondering if it was used to interrogate traitors in another era.

“Well Harry, I suppose I should begin by welcoming you to Hogwarts Academy, you have no doubt worked very hard to get here, and I can certainly respect that. My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I have been headmaster here for over fifty years. Do you have any general questions you would like to ask before I begin my regular speech and instructions for new students?”

“Well there are a few things I am kind of wondering. My friend Hermione goes here, and she was sort of rushing to tell me about the structure of the school and all of that as we were walking to the office. She mentioned something about different houses or something like that, but didn’t really explain much...”

“Ah yes, Miss Granger. She is a very inquisitive girl, very dedicated to her studies and as I’m sure you’ve already realized, her attendance. To answer your question, we do indeed have different houses, or dorms that each student is sorted into. There are four of them, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. All four houses are known for rather different traits or characteristics, based on those the four founders of the school themselves had.”

“So how do you know which house each student belongs in, and what is the purpose of them? Why don’t you all have one large student body?”

“Well everyone that wishes to attend Hogwarts writes a sort of post-admissions test, which I’m sure you remember doing. It asked questions of a more personal nature, as opposed to academic which you completed previously. This test is reviewed by the professors at the school, as well as myself, and we all put an anonymous vote as to which of the houses we think you’d be best suited for.”

“Gryffindor is a house for the brave and noble, those looking to prove themselves to the world in terms of valour. Hufflepuff is a rather neutral house, loyal and obedient they are sure to give good advice. Ravenclaw is home to those with a particular academic edge, those who wish to learn above all else. Slytherin house is for those who are sly and cunning with the ability to get what they want no matter what.”

“As you can see, all of these houses are vastly different from one another. The overall purpose and effect of separating the student body up into these four different groups is first of all, it makes things easier for both the staff and students, since you will be having classes with the same people throughout all of your education here at Hogwarts. If you are a gryffindor, your whole schedule will be the same as every other gryffindor in your year. Also, partner it up with the fact that you all most likely share some similar traits and interests it helps form bonds between students that would have been neglected otherwise.”

“Wait a minute,” Harry interrupted “,You’re saying that separating the students can help form bonds within their own house, but what about their relations with the other houses? I mean, you describe Gryffindor as the brave and noble, and yet Slytherin seems to be the exact opposite. Surely there is some animosity between the two houses? Doesn’t that complicate things even more?”

“Very observant Mr. Potter, it is clear that Miss Granger has had a profound influence on you indeed. She asked me that very same question on her first day. To answer your question, yes, it does in fact create some tension. But it is nothing that cannot be handled, after all, most people find that the house rivalry actually encourages students to do their best. Competition tends to bring out the best of our students.”

“Yeah, I guess so. It just seems weird.”

“Well this isn’t your average school Mr. Potter. You’ve no doubt been enrolled in simple public schools up until this point, so it is understandable why you would find this to be a strange situation. You will adjust, as many of our students do.” Dumbledore smiled kindly, and stood. “Well we have discussed the foremost basic of the school, so now it is time to for me to assign you a guide to show you around the grounds. Give me just a second and I will be back with them. Feel free to help yourself to a few lemon drops should a sweet tooth arise.”

Harry nodded and watched the old man walk out, noticing that he adorned a pair of bright purple crocs on his feet. ‘strange guy...nice, but a little odd.’ He leaned back in the chair and observed the room once more, looking at the intricate items in more detail.

He suddenly heard a shrill squawk and his emerald orbs focused on the corner of the room. A large orange parrot sat on its perch there. “...What the hell...how did I miss you when I first looked around?” he stood slowly as not to startle the creature, and moved towards it. When he was within reaching distance of the bird he lifted his hand and held it out to the bird. “Hello there.” He said softly.

The parrot stared at Harry curiously, before hopping right up onto his hand and chewing on the hem of his shirt.
“Ah, well it seems that Fawkes has taken quite the liking to you Harry.” Dumbledore’s voice sounded cheerfully from across the room. “He usually tries to bite the fingers of students.”

Harry went a bit pale, and eyed the bird warily before lowering his arm so it was level to the parrot’s perch, he wasted no time in snatching his hand close to his body once it climbed back onto it’s roost. “Sorry, I was just surprised to see him there and wanted to go see him-”

“No need to apologize, poor old Fawkes could use some company other than myself. He is rather grouchy and tends to not get many visitors.” Dumbledore smiled. “Oh, and I have arranged that Miss Granger will show you around the school since it seemed most appropriate. As for today, you will not be attending any classes. Instead you will be given some necessary items such as your school uniform, which must be worn at all times after today. You will also find out which house you have been sorted into in just a few minutes. There are a few other first time students I need to see after yourself, and then we will proceed to the great hall.”

“So what should I do until then?” Harry inquired.

“Well, we have a superb library, a full scale gymnasium, stables around back, a greenhouse, or there is a mall just one bus away. Just be back here in an hour or so and we can get everything sorted out and you will be ready to start classes tomorrow.” He stood up, leading Harry to the door.

“Just take this time to find your way around the school, Professor McGonagall will give you a map and your uniform at the front desk and then you are free to do as you wish for an hour or so.” Dumbledore followed Harry out of the office and went to speak to McGonagall for a second before returning to his office, giving Harry a smile and a wink as he went.

“Mr. Potter, I need to know what size uniform you will be taking.” McGonagall’s voice could be heard, she sounded less tense than before, perhaps she had finally managed to read some of Hagrid’s writing.

“Oh, I guess I would be a small or extra small...” Harry admitted, pink staining his cheeks. He had always been slightly embarrassed of his slight frame, especially when he hung around guys like Ron who were built far more solidly. His diet had obviously taken a toll on his body.

“We don’t have any extra small in the males uniforms, unless you want to be wearing a skirt. We do have a small here I believe...” she began digging through a large cabinet behind the desks, and came back only a moment later. “Yes, small will have to do for now Mr. Potter.” She handed it to him.

“Thank you.” Harry took the uniform and glanced at it.

“This uniform is a temporary one by the way, when you are sorted into your house you will get a more specific one with the house crest behind the Hogwarts one. However, those uniforms are all special orders, so you will have to wait a couple of days to get it. For now, the plain black one will suffice. Oh, and here is a map of the grounds.” She pulled out a long sheet of paper and handed it to him. “It is colour coded so you can see which areas are restricted to whom. Red is gryffidor, yellow is hufflepuff, blue is ravenclaw and green is slytherin. Anything that is not shaded however, you can go.” She nodded at him and went to sit back behind her desk.

Harry studied the map for a moment, before saying “thank you” and leaving the office, careful not to slam the door. He first located the guest bathrooms and changed into his plain uniform. It was a black button down shirt with a plain black blazer over top of it. The Hogwarts crest was stitched onto the blazer, clearly identifying him as an accepted guest. The black slacks fit him nicely and he found the uniform overall to be rather comfortable, despite it being more formal than what he was used to.

Looking at himself in the mirror, then glancing at his watch, he decided to take a stroll around the grounds, just to get an idea of where his classes may be, though he really didn’t know what they would consist of.

With his nose buried in his map, he walked out of the bathroom, not noticing the tall black clad figure in front of him until they collided.
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Well, that is all for now. A slow chapter, I know, but information about the school had to be introduced at some point, right? Anyways, I’ll be updating this whenever I can and hope you guys will be patient with me. I intend on making this a bit of a challenge by asking for at least 15 reviews before I update again. Think you can do it?