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I wasn't able to sleep.
Honestly, it wasn't that much of a surprise. For the past month, I'd barely even slept; even when I did, it was only out of pure exhaustion. Still, I didn't sleep for long.
When I saw the sunrise, I got out of bed, put on a school robe, and brushed my teeth. I also had a shower and took a dump.
'Wait, do wizards brush their teeth?' I thought, looking around the restroom for any other toothbrushes. 'On one hand, the Knight Bus hands out toothbrushes, on the other hand, I don't think that they're many places to get them and wizards don't have dentists. At least I don't think they do.'
Once I'd finished in the restroom, I grabbed my wand and a few other items that may be helpful.
Seeing as we'd only been in the dorm for less than a day, it was rather clean, but I still swept, dusted, and sanitized parts of the room.
Then, I headed out of our dorm room to see a few older Slytherins hanging out in the common room.
"An early riser, are you?" asked a tall beefy Slytherin, their face neither in a sneer nor a smile.
"I believe it's only prudent that I wake up early today and figure out where all my classes are, so I don't have to be rushing around like a baboon tomorrow," I reply. Realizing that what I said could be considered an insult depending on who hears, I add, "I suppose that wouldn't reflect well on Slytherin."
A long powerful laugh erupts from the assumingly 3rd Year's throat. "I suppose it wouldn't." They stand up and with a flick of their wand, a map appears out of seemingly thin air.
"Let me introduce myself, I'm Avery Nio. "A male Fourth year Slytherin, although Cerilla seems to suggest otherwise," he says, muttering that last bit to himself.
'Fourth, not third year, got thrown off by his height.' I think to myself. "You're an interesting one," he says, smirking at me slightly.
I don't respond assuming that he was just talking to himself. After some rather uncomfortable silence, he speaks up again.
"Ah, yes, here's a map of Hogwarts, complementary to being a Slytherin. Usually, we don't hand them out this early but I think you'll be out for the rest of the day, and you've piqued my interest. This of this a freebee."
I nod my head, gratefully taking the rolled-up map of the castle.
'In other words, you are trying to earn my favor without really doing anything. I know for a fact that the map is mass-produced and there are some on the table right across from me. Although if I were an ignorant fool I suppose I would think that those were just something they were setting up for later seeing as it's early in the morning.' I think to myself, not so gratefully.
I walk out of the Slytherin common room, stuffing the map in my pocket. 'There must be a better method than this,' I think to myself, disliking the feel of the oversized map in my pockets. It took up far too much space for my liking.
'I don't suppose this school has backpacks and I don't favor carrying my trunk around like a long-haul trucker. But I'll need somewhere to keep my textbooks and potentially projects.' I think to myself.
Eventually, after walking down several wrong hallways I finally make it to the Great Hall. Only a few people were there, and barely any of them were alive. By that I mean the ghosts, or at least some of the ghosts, were gathered around in a circle of sorts.
I could barely contain the annoyed huff that threatened to leave my mouth. 'Either I walk in on the ghosts as they do what I assume is a meeting, and risk the ghosts killing me, (can ghosts can kill people?), then they find some way to make my castle life a living hell, although it can't be worse than the Dursleys, and many more things I just can't wait to imagine. But probably get food.
Or I could walk away and be hungry for the next hour or so. As much as my mind argued to leave and not get ripped to shreds by ghosts, my stomach was not having it, so against my better judgment I stepped forward bravely into the hall, ignoring the ghosts to the best of my abilities.
To my complete surprise, the ghosts did nothing to me, although they did stare rather intensely, making me extraordinarily uncomfortable. I couldn't even leave with the food, so I had to sit down at the Slytherin table and ignore the ghosts like the other living student in the hall.
Eventually, they just went back to their chatter, as if they had completely forgotten about me. Letting out a sigh of relief I take a look at the other student, a Hufflepuff student who I was sure I met earlier. 'Ah yes, the one on the boat.' I think to myself, taking a bite of my mashed potatoes.
Only a few bites into the food and I could barely keep myself from throwing up. My stomach churned as I withheld the desire to gag.
After around 10 bites I gave up, packaging the food so I could eat it later. I never did like wasting things. As I packed up the food I notice the girl inching closer and closer to me. I clicked my tongue, and the thick stench of her food assaulted my senses.
Eventually, she moves tables and sits right beside me, causing a vein to appear on my forehead. But I was determined to ignore her presence and ignore it I did.
Of course, she had other plans.
"Good morning!" she says, my voice particularly irritating. 'Maybe I just need a drink. God, I sound like Vernon.'
"Morning," I reply curtly, not knowing that she would take my response as permission to converse with me further.
"How is Hogwarts?!" She asks, her eyes staring into my soul.
My poor, poor, soul.
"Fine," I answer, CLEARLY not wanting to talk.
"I'm so excited to explore and learn new magic! My aunt is always talking about how fun of an experience Hogwarts was for her, and how..." she rambled on and on talking nonstop! Her energy was toxic to mine as she was like a leech seeping it out of me.
The longer she talked to more drained I became, and the more drained I became the more she talked! She was stealing my life energy with her mere words!
"My apologies I don't seem to have caught you're name," I say, cutting her off.
This seems to catch her off guard, as she finally stops talking. "We talked earlier, on the boat! I'm Susan Bones."
I nod, letting out a long breath before I introduced myself. "A pleasure to meet you Bones, my official name is Hadrian Peverell, and you may refer to me as Peverell," I say, setting down a clear boundary.
"You may call me Susan," she says, her enthusiasm mostly gone from her voice. I would have been fine with just that but to my annoyance, she seemed to be on the verge of tears.
'Why do these children tear up so easily?' I complain in my head, letting out an annoyed sigh. As much as I didn't want to deal with this interaction anymore I knew that it would not be good for me if I start off with a bad relationship with someone with who I will be in the same building for the next seven years.
In a much softer voice, or at least what I assume is a much softer voice, I speak again. "Yes, I remember you from the boat. You seem to be a good fit for Hufflepuff with how kind you've been. Although I doubt we'll talk much I do hope we can be acquaintances on at least slightly good terms." I say, surprising even myself with my words.
'Flattery, suggesting to be allies of sorts, making peace, I really have gotten better at manipulating children. Although I suppose that isn't a good thing.'
The girl sniffles slightly, her face turning bright red when I call her kind.
"S- so we're friends?" She asks shyly.
"Acquaintances." I correct, my uncomfortableness seeping into my voice.
She laughs lightly, most likely seeing my remark as humorous for no reason.
"Acquaintances."
If only I knew that she was from that moment on determined to become my friend. If only I knew.