FIC: Hogwarts: All Sales Final - 11/34
Start of the story, including summary, full ratings, warnings, pairings etc. Here
Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise. J K Rowling retains all copyright.
Chapter 11
“Quick, hide it!” Salazar ordered as Rowena hurriedly shifted her position so that her robes covered the box between their feet.
Displaying as innocent a face as possible she turned to smile at Helga as she navigated her way up the stands towards them.
“I’ve been looking all over for you Rowena,” she said as she took a seat beside her. “I didn’t think you had any interest in Quidditch?”
“I can’t say I do,” Rowena replied. “But why miss an opportunity to watch Godric and Wilbur make complete twits of themselves?” She pointed a hand towards the pitch where Godric and Wilbur were hovering on brooms as they attempted to get the newly arrived goal posts into the correct positions.
“Are they supposed to be at different heights?” Helga asked as she frowned in confusion. “And do they really need three of them?”
“Six.” Salazar pointed out the other three still lying flat on the ground at the far end of the pitch.
“But they’ve been out here for four hours!” Helga exclaimed.
“I know,” said Salazar, sounding rather disappointed. “I wish they’d take a break for lunch, I’m starving.”
“So go and get something to eat.” Helga rolled her eyes, shook her head and sighed.
“We can’t leave until they do,” Rowena said, nodding towards the men on brooms. “We’re counting how many times Godric falls from his broom. I’ve bet five sickles on him falling more than a dozen times. Salazar’s bet the same that he falls more than twenty.”
“You’re actually betting on…” Helga’s voice trailed off and she shook her head again. Suddenly Rowena and Salazar leaned forward in eager anticipation. Helga turned to look back towards the goal posts and saw that Godric was hanging by one arm from his broom.
“That’s eight,” Rowena said as she scored a mark on the parchment resting in her lap.
“Nine,” Salazar said as he pointed to Godric with a roar of laughter. “Look he’s gone again!”
Helga felt the twitch of a smile starting to escape as they watched Godric struggle back onto his broom again. “So is it too late for me to have a little wager?” she asked.
-o-xXx-o-
Godric had just slipped from his broom for the sixteenth time - much to the delight of Helga who had bet him falling more than fifteen times - when they finally decided to return to the ground.
“You could have come to help us, you know!” Wilbur suggested as they joined the others in the stands.
“Not ruddy likely,” Salazar retorted with a noticeable shudder.
“Anyway,” Helga interrupted. “Since you’re down on the ground now I needed a word with you Godric, and you too Rowena, about the passwords to your quarters.”
“I’ve set mine up already,” Rowena replied. “I decided that my students will answer questions in order to gain access, it’ll help the learning process.”
“Mine’s set up as well,” Godric confirmed. “Did it yesterday morning. It’s all sorted and the doorway is hidden behind one of the new paintings.”
“Yes, I noticed that, there’s just one problem. The painting is of a lion.” Helga waited for a moment as Godric stood there looking confused. “A normal regular old lion basking in the hot son.”
“So? What’s wrong with that. The Gryffindor crest has always had a lion on it?”
“So the lion can’t talk to ask for the password, nor can it understand when the password is given. I tested it this morning and the animal just sat there looking at me before it wandered off out of the picture and into that painting of a tavern scene where the roast deer was hanging over the fireplace.”
“Well the old lion probably knew you weren’t in Gryffindor and that was why it refused you entry.”
“Rubbish!” Helga snorted. “All staff need to be able to access all the quarters in case of an emergency. Just go switch the painting for one of those with a spark of human intelligence before the students arrive.”
Godric grumbled a little but confirmed he’d do so whilst Rowena and Salazar snickered.
“And I don’t know what you’re laughing about.” Helga rounded on Rowena with a stern glare. “I don’t mind the passwords being questions, it’s a good idea though I still say that you run the risk of some of the more intelligent students from other houses sneaking in there. But the questions need to be ones the students can answer. I doubt any one of them will know when your birthday is.”
“Oh, I’ll tell them when it is on their first day,” Rowena confirmed with a nod. “Then by the time it comes round in October they’ll all know.”
“You’re using the password to Ravenclaw Tower to remind the students of your birthday?” Salazar asked with a laugh. “Wish I’d thought of that.”
“Don’t you encourage her,” Helga reprimanded him. “I still don’t trust that you won’t one day change your password to something that needs to be spoken in parseltongue.”
“Oooh, I never thought of that,” Salazar teased.
“Hey, is that Zeus?” Rowena said, shielding her eyes from the sun as she tried to recognise the owl that was heading towards them. Zeus like the rest of the owls had been making frequent flights around the country as they prepared for the imminent opening of the school. His latest trip had been to an apothecary in France in order to enquire about some of the rarer potions ingredients.
“Looks like it,” Salazar replied. “Here let me have a bit of that parchment.” He didn’t wait for her response as he tore off a piece of parchment and snatched the quill from her hand.
“What are you doing?” Rowena asked as he scribbled a short note onto the parchment and attached it to Zeus’s leg.
“Ordering lunch,” Salazar replied.
“You can’t do that!” Helga exclaimed. “It’s hardly a great effort to walk inside to eat.”
“Too late, it’s already gone,” Salazar replied. “Besides, the sooner we eat, the sooner Godric and Wilbur can get back to entertaining us.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?” Godric asked. “It’s hardly what I’d call exciting to watch a couple of men erecting some goal posts.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Salazar smirked. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
Godric frowned in confusion, clearly missing the joke, as Salazar and the women half-heartedly tried to restrain their giggles.
The jolly atmosphere continued throughout lunch - delivered by a grovelling and bowing house elf by the name of Clover - and soon Godric and Wilbur were back on their brooms.
“Do you think it’s wise to be flying quite so soon after eating?” Helga asked, whilst the others watched in amusement as Godric turned an unflattering shade of green.
“It’s not like we’re soaring about at high speeds,” Wilbur pointed out. “Just hovering around the goal posts while we put them into place. We just can’t seem to get them all level.”
“Leave them as they are,” Rowena suggested. “It’s not like anyone’s going to notice. Say you did it on purpose.”
“Besides,” Helga added. “With the time it’s taken you so far you’ll still be trying to get them level when the students arrive.”
“You know, it might be more interesting to have them at different levels,” Godric suggested “More of a challenge for your keepers.”
Wilbur shrugged before finally agreeing and they set off towards the far end of the pitch to start on the final three goal posts.
Thirty minutes later Salazar let out a whoop as Godric tumbled from his broom for the twenty first time, winning him the wager.
A few minutes later Godric was back on his broom and Salazar discreetly nudged Rowena in the side.
Cautious of Helga at the other side of her she shook her head slightly. Salazar raised an eyebrow and discreetly nodded back. Rowena shook her head, more forcefully this time.
Unfortunately whilst Salazar was perfectly adept at subtlety and sneakiness, Rowena was about as discreet as stripper at a school feast.
“For crying out loud,” Helga finally exclaimed. “If you two want to slip off somewhere, for goodness sake go and cease the poor attempts at discretion.”
“One track mind much,” snorted Salazar.
“Then what are you two messing about at?” Helga asked. Rowena’s eyes flickered guiltily down to the wooden floor and Helga caught sight of the metal container partially hidden by her robes. “That isn’t what I think it is, is it?” she asked suspicion heavy in her voice as she glared at the guilty parties.
“Well Wilbur did say he wanted to make sure they were thoroughly tested before we opened,” Salazar pointed out. He pulled the box containing the two bludgers up onto his lap. It seemed to strain and struggle in his grasp, the contents eager to escape and wreak havoc. “We thought we’d help them out.”
“You can’t just release those things here, they’re flying about on brooms, they’re not ready for them! What if they get knocked off their brooms?”
“I rather thought that was the whole point of them,” Rowena replied. “Besides we’ve got a healer now so they should be all right.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Helga retorted. “How much use do you think a healer who faints at the sight of blood is going to be exactly?”
“She just needs a bit of time to get used to things.” Rowena had been telling herself this ever since she’d seen Madam Gudgeon pass out stone cold after Augustus had gone to see her with a nasty gash down his arm following a minor accident in the stables. Unfortunately it didn’t sound any more believable when said aloud than it did in her head.
“Where did you find her anyway?” Helga asked Salazar, who looked as though he was about to release the bludgers any moment.
“She’s a friend of my mother,” he replied. “She recently lost her husband and his estate has gone to his younger brother. She needed somewhere to live and an income. She’s a perfectly capable witch.”
“Except for the fact that she faints at the sight of blood,” Helga pointed out again.
“She just needs a bit of practice,” Salazar suggested with a wicked grin. “I think we should give her some.”
And with that he opened the box containing the bludgers and watched as they soared through to air to where Godric and Wilbur were trying to ascertain whether the last of the goal posts was correctly placed.
“You raving lunatic,” Godric screamed as he flew past the stands at speed, a bludger hot on his tail.
Salazar roared with laughter and Rowena fell off the bench as she clutched at her sides. Even Helga was fighting back giggles as the two bludgers chased the two berks round and round the pitch.
-o-xXx-o-
“Whose idea was it for the students to travel here by boat?” Helga asked as the four founders hurried down towards the lake in the early evening light of the first day of September.
“I thought it’d be a nice view for them,” Rowena said. “The castle looks all romantic in the moonlight.”
“I don’t think they’re really appreciating that right now,” Helga replied as a third boat capsized in the water.
“Well how was I to know they’d try to bring the horses by row boat?” Rowena snapped. “It’s hardly practical.”
They reached the side of the lake as the first of the horses made its way onto dry land.
“I’ve lost Herbert!” a young boy wailed as he struggled to climb back into one of the boats, capsizing it again in the process.
A yowl sounded amidst the screams of the children as Rowena accidentally trod on the tail of a cat that had just reached the shore.
“Stupid animal,” she muttered. “Why isn’t it in a basket or something?”
“Pye’s not stupid,” an offended young girl replied as she clambered out of the first boat to arrive. She glared at Rowena who silently hoped that the girl wasn’t one that she’d sorted into her own house.
“This way!” Godric called to Augustus who hopped out of the same boat as Pye’s owner.
“I can’t find Herbert!” the drenched boy yelled as the boat he’d now managed to climb into continued to make its way towards land.
“Is Herbert a student?” Salazar asked Helga, the only one of them who seemed to be able to remember the names of each and every one of the children who’d applied to the school.
“I don’t think so,” replied Helga after a moment of consideration.
“Well whoever it is, I hope he finds him soon, because he’s giving me a headache with all that yelling,” Rowena muttered.
“Miss!” Rowena turned around and looked down to see a young boy tugging frantically at her robes. She was just wondering if the child was even eleven years old when the reason he wanted her attention became apparent and he vomited all over her shoes.
“Aaaargh!” a scream of terror came from one of the boats that was still making its way across the lake.
Rowena passed the sick boy off to Helga as she waded into the lake to see what the problem was.
A girl was standing up on one of the seats of the boat, screaming at the top of her lungs. Rowena watched as she tumbled back off the bow of the boat and into the lake.
She pushed her way through the water and grabbed the girl as she came spluttering to the surface. “A snake,” the girl cried, still half hysterical. “There’s a snake in the boat.”
Rowena groaned quietly as they made their way back to the shore. Since no one had asked to bring a pet snake to the school it sounded as though one of her students already needed to be disciplined. She wondered what the chances were of palming the brat off to Salazar after all.
-o-xXx-o-
It was nearly another hour before everyone had made their way up to the castle.
Herbert, who turned out to be the pet toad of Reginald Williams, was found and reunited with his owner. All those students who had suffered a dunking in the lake were dried off and Rowena had handed out her first detention of the term to the snake boy who she could already see was going to be a troublemaker.
The seats at the four long banquet tables of the Great Hall were now filled for the very first time with students eager to learn all they could about the world of magic.
Rowena looked with pride at the Ravenclaw table and turned to Helga who was looking equally pleased as she gazed at her own students.
“It all starts here…today, doesn’t it?” Helga whispered.
“There’s no turning back now,” Rowena whispered back with an excited nod.
Helga looked like she was going to say something else but Godric had turned to glare at them from his place at the podium where he was making his speech. A few students snickered as they picked up on the interactions between the three teachers. Rowena sat up primly in her seat and tried to look attentive. She wasn’t very successful, she suspected the water weeds still in her hair might have been somewhat detrimental to the appearance she wanted to give.
Still, at least she was paying marginally more attention than Salazar who may actually have fallen asleep.
Finally Godric finished his speech and the feast began. The two cooks and the house elves they’d brought with them had outdone themselves for the first meal of the term. Helga murmured to Rowena that she hoped they hadn’t spent the entire food budget on this one banquet.
The chatter of the students filled the room and brought smiles to the faces of all the staff.
“They can certainly put away their food, can’t they?” Salazar whispered with a not quite hidden grin towards the students. The main course dishes vanished below to the kitchen and the dessert trays appeared in their place. The occupants of the four tables dove in with relish.
It was nearly midnight by the time all the students were safely delivered to their quarters for the night.
Rowena walked into the Entrance Hall with a satisfied smile on her face. Godric and Helga were looking at the hourglasses intently and she went across to see what they were looking at.
“Looks like someone’s got a little carried away awarding house points,” Godric said as he pointed to the Slytherin hourglass. Sure enough that one, unlike the others which were still unchanged, had a fair number of green feathers in the bottom half.
“He’s really determined to win this, isn’t he?” Helga smiled and shook her head at the juvenility of the whole thing.
“Are my ears burning?” Salazar asked as he came up from the dungeons.
“Just don’t get too complacent,” Godric advised. “We’ve plenty of time to catch up before the end of the year. The Gryffindor students seem a bright bunch. We’ll soon catch up.”
“You may catch up, but the Ravenclaws will beat you both,” Rowena warned.
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” said Salazar in a highly disbelieving tone. “Now about that other problem. Rowena what did you come up with to get around Godric’s worries about any night time emergency?”
“Celibacy,” Rowena replied with a rueful grin. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before turning towards her own quarters.
“That’s not a solution!” Salazar called after her.
The last thing she heard before the voices faded from her hearing was the sound of Salazar asking Godric if he really needed anyone to teach History of Magic and Potions or whether the school might manage without those particular subjects.
Chapter 12
Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise. J K Rowling retains all copyright.
Chapter 11
“Quick, hide it!” Salazar ordered as Rowena hurriedly shifted her position so that her robes covered the box between their feet.
Displaying as innocent a face as possible she turned to smile at Helga as she navigated her way up the stands towards them.
“I’ve been looking all over for you Rowena,” she said as she took a seat beside her. “I didn’t think you had any interest in Quidditch?”
“I can’t say I do,” Rowena replied. “But why miss an opportunity to watch Godric and Wilbur make complete twits of themselves?” She pointed a hand towards the pitch where Godric and Wilbur were hovering on brooms as they attempted to get the newly arrived goal posts into the correct positions.
“Are they supposed to be at different heights?” Helga asked as she frowned in confusion. “And do they really need three of them?”
“Six.” Salazar pointed out the other three still lying flat on the ground at the far end of the pitch.
“But they’ve been out here for four hours!” Helga exclaimed.
“I know,” said Salazar, sounding rather disappointed. “I wish they’d take a break for lunch, I’m starving.”
“So go and get something to eat.” Helga rolled her eyes, shook her head and sighed.
“We can’t leave until they do,” Rowena said, nodding towards the men on brooms. “We’re counting how many times Godric falls from his broom. I’ve bet five sickles on him falling more than a dozen times. Salazar’s bet the same that he falls more than twenty.”
“You’re actually betting on…” Helga’s voice trailed off and she shook her head again. Suddenly Rowena and Salazar leaned forward in eager anticipation. Helga turned to look back towards the goal posts and saw that Godric was hanging by one arm from his broom.
“That’s eight,” Rowena said as she scored a mark on the parchment resting in her lap.
“Nine,” Salazar said as he pointed to Godric with a roar of laughter. “Look he’s gone again!”
Helga felt the twitch of a smile starting to escape as they watched Godric struggle back onto his broom again. “So is it too late for me to have a little wager?” she asked.
-o-xXx-o-
Godric had just slipped from his broom for the sixteenth time - much to the delight of Helga who had bet him falling more than fifteen times - when they finally decided to return to the ground.
“You could have come to help us, you know!” Wilbur suggested as they joined the others in the stands.
“Not ruddy likely,” Salazar retorted with a noticeable shudder.
“Anyway,” Helga interrupted. “Since you’re down on the ground now I needed a word with you Godric, and you too Rowena, about the passwords to your quarters.”
“I’ve set mine up already,” Rowena replied. “I decided that my students will answer questions in order to gain access, it’ll help the learning process.”
“Mine’s set up as well,” Godric confirmed. “Did it yesterday morning. It’s all sorted and the doorway is hidden behind one of the new paintings.”
“Yes, I noticed that, there’s just one problem. The painting is of a lion.” Helga waited for a moment as Godric stood there looking confused. “A normal regular old lion basking in the hot son.”
“So? What’s wrong with that. The Gryffindor crest has always had a lion on it?”
“So the lion can’t talk to ask for the password, nor can it understand when the password is given. I tested it this morning and the animal just sat there looking at me before it wandered off out of the picture and into that painting of a tavern scene where the roast deer was hanging over the fireplace.”
“Well the old lion probably knew you weren’t in Gryffindor and that was why it refused you entry.”
“Rubbish!” Helga snorted. “All staff need to be able to access all the quarters in case of an emergency. Just go switch the painting for one of those with a spark of human intelligence before the students arrive.”
Godric grumbled a little but confirmed he’d do so whilst Rowena and Salazar snickered.
“And I don’t know what you’re laughing about.” Helga rounded on Rowena with a stern glare. “I don’t mind the passwords being questions, it’s a good idea though I still say that you run the risk of some of the more intelligent students from other houses sneaking in there. But the questions need to be ones the students can answer. I doubt any one of them will know when your birthday is.”
“Oh, I’ll tell them when it is on their first day,” Rowena confirmed with a nod. “Then by the time it comes round in October they’ll all know.”
“You’re using the password to Ravenclaw Tower to remind the students of your birthday?” Salazar asked with a laugh. “Wish I’d thought of that.”
“Don’t you encourage her,” Helga reprimanded him. “I still don’t trust that you won’t one day change your password to something that needs to be spoken in parseltongue.”
“Oooh, I never thought of that,” Salazar teased.
“Hey, is that Zeus?” Rowena said, shielding her eyes from the sun as she tried to recognise the owl that was heading towards them. Zeus like the rest of the owls had been making frequent flights around the country as they prepared for the imminent opening of the school. His latest trip had been to an apothecary in France in order to enquire about some of the rarer potions ingredients.
“Looks like it,” Salazar replied. “Here let me have a bit of that parchment.” He didn’t wait for her response as he tore off a piece of parchment and snatched the quill from her hand.
“What are you doing?” Rowena asked as he scribbled a short note onto the parchment and attached it to Zeus’s leg.
“Ordering lunch,” Salazar replied.
“You can’t do that!” Helga exclaimed. “It’s hardly a great effort to walk inside to eat.”
“Too late, it’s already gone,” Salazar replied. “Besides, the sooner we eat, the sooner Godric and Wilbur can get back to entertaining us.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?” Godric asked. “It’s hardly what I’d call exciting to watch a couple of men erecting some goal posts.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Salazar smirked. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
Godric frowned in confusion, clearly missing the joke, as Salazar and the women half-heartedly tried to restrain their giggles.
The jolly atmosphere continued throughout lunch - delivered by a grovelling and bowing house elf by the name of Clover - and soon Godric and Wilbur were back on their brooms.
“Do you think it’s wise to be flying quite so soon after eating?” Helga asked, whilst the others watched in amusement as Godric turned an unflattering shade of green.
“It’s not like we’re soaring about at high speeds,” Wilbur pointed out. “Just hovering around the goal posts while we put them into place. We just can’t seem to get them all level.”
“Leave them as they are,” Rowena suggested. “It’s not like anyone’s going to notice. Say you did it on purpose.”
“Besides,” Helga added. “With the time it’s taken you so far you’ll still be trying to get them level when the students arrive.”
“You know, it might be more interesting to have them at different levels,” Godric suggested “More of a challenge for your keepers.”
Wilbur shrugged before finally agreeing and they set off towards the far end of the pitch to start on the final three goal posts.
Thirty minutes later Salazar let out a whoop as Godric tumbled from his broom for the twenty first time, winning him the wager.
A few minutes later Godric was back on his broom and Salazar discreetly nudged Rowena in the side.
Cautious of Helga at the other side of her she shook her head slightly. Salazar raised an eyebrow and discreetly nodded back. Rowena shook her head, more forcefully this time.
Unfortunately whilst Salazar was perfectly adept at subtlety and sneakiness, Rowena was about as discreet as stripper at a school feast.
“For crying out loud,” Helga finally exclaimed. “If you two want to slip off somewhere, for goodness sake go and cease the poor attempts at discretion.”
“One track mind much,” snorted Salazar.
“Then what are you two messing about at?” Helga asked. Rowena’s eyes flickered guiltily down to the wooden floor and Helga caught sight of the metal container partially hidden by her robes. “That isn’t what I think it is, is it?” she asked suspicion heavy in her voice as she glared at the guilty parties.
“Well Wilbur did say he wanted to make sure they were thoroughly tested before we opened,” Salazar pointed out. He pulled the box containing the two bludgers up onto his lap. It seemed to strain and struggle in his grasp, the contents eager to escape and wreak havoc. “We thought we’d help them out.”
“You can’t just release those things here, they’re flying about on brooms, they’re not ready for them! What if they get knocked off their brooms?”
“I rather thought that was the whole point of them,” Rowena replied. “Besides we’ve got a healer now so they should be all right.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Helga retorted. “How much use do you think a healer who faints at the sight of blood is going to be exactly?”
“She just needs a bit of time to get used to things.” Rowena had been telling herself this ever since she’d seen Madam Gudgeon pass out stone cold after Augustus had gone to see her with a nasty gash down his arm following a minor accident in the stables. Unfortunately it didn’t sound any more believable when said aloud than it did in her head.
“Where did you find her anyway?” Helga asked Salazar, who looked as though he was about to release the bludgers any moment.
“She’s a friend of my mother,” he replied. “She recently lost her husband and his estate has gone to his younger brother. She needed somewhere to live and an income. She’s a perfectly capable witch.”
“Except for the fact that she faints at the sight of blood,” Helga pointed out again.
“She just needs a bit of practice,” Salazar suggested with a wicked grin. “I think we should give her some.”
And with that he opened the box containing the bludgers and watched as they soared through to air to where Godric and Wilbur were trying to ascertain whether the last of the goal posts was correctly placed.
“You raving lunatic,” Godric screamed as he flew past the stands at speed, a bludger hot on his tail.
Salazar roared with laughter and Rowena fell off the bench as she clutched at her sides. Even Helga was fighting back giggles as the two bludgers chased the two berks round and round the pitch.
-o-xXx-o-
“Whose idea was it for the students to travel here by boat?” Helga asked as the four founders hurried down towards the lake in the early evening light of the first day of September.
“I thought it’d be a nice view for them,” Rowena said. “The castle looks all romantic in the moonlight.”
“I don’t think they’re really appreciating that right now,” Helga replied as a third boat capsized in the water.
“Well how was I to know they’d try to bring the horses by row boat?” Rowena snapped. “It’s hardly practical.”
They reached the side of the lake as the first of the horses made its way onto dry land.
“I’ve lost Herbert!” a young boy wailed as he struggled to climb back into one of the boats, capsizing it again in the process.
A yowl sounded amidst the screams of the children as Rowena accidentally trod on the tail of a cat that had just reached the shore.
“Stupid animal,” she muttered. “Why isn’t it in a basket or something?”
“Pye’s not stupid,” an offended young girl replied as she clambered out of the first boat to arrive. She glared at Rowena who silently hoped that the girl wasn’t one that she’d sorted into her own house.
“This way!” Godric called to Augustus who hopped out of the same boat as Pye’s owner.
“I can’t find Herbert!” the drenched boy yelled as the boat he’d now managed to climb into continued to make its way towards land.
“Is Herbert a student?” Salazar asked Helga, the only one of them who seemed to be able to remember the names of each and every one of the children who’d applied to the school.
“I don’t think so,” replied Helga after a moment of consideration.
“Well whoever it is, I hope he finds him soon, because he’s giving me a headache with all that yelling,” Rowena muttered.
“Miss!” Rowena turned around and looked down to see a young boy tugging frantically at her robes. She was just wondering if the child was even eleven years old when the reason he wanted her attention became apparent and he vomited all over her shoes.
“Aaaargh!” a scream of terror came from one of the boats that was still making its way across the lake.
Rowena passed the sick boy off to Helga as she waded into the lake to see what the problem was.
A girl was standing up on one of the seats of the boat, screaming at the top of her lungs. Rowena watched as she tumbled back off the bow of the boat and into the lake.
She pushed her way through the water and grabbed the girl as she came spluttering to the surface. “A snake,” the girl cried, still half hysterical. “There’s a snake in the boat.”
Rowena groaned quietly as they made their way back to the shore. Since no one had asked to bring a pet snake to the school it sounded as though one of her students already needed to be disciplined. She wondered what the chances were of palming the brat off to Salazar after all.
-o-xXx-o-
It was nearly another hour before everyone had made their way up to the castle.
Herbert, who turned out to be the pet toad of Reginald Williams, was found and reunited with his owner. All those students who had suffered a dunking in the lake were dried off and Rowena had handed out her first detention of the term to the snake boy who she could already see was going to be a troublemaker.
The seats at the four long banquet tables of the Great Hall were now filled for the very first time with students eager to learn all they could about the world of magic.
Rowena looked with pride at the Ravenclaw table and turned to Helga who was looking equally pleased as she gazed at her own students.
“It all starts here…today, doesn’t it?” Helga whispered.
“There’s no turning back now,” Rowena whispered back with an excited nod.
Helga looked like she was going to say something else but Godric had turned to glare at them from his place at the podium where he was making his speech. A few students snickered as they picked up on the interactions between the three teachers. Rowena sat up primly in her seat and tried to look attentive. She wasn’t very successful, she suspected the water weeds still in her hair might have been somewhat detrimental to the appearance she wanted to give.
Still, at least she was paying marginally more attention than Salazar who may actually have fallen asleep.
Finally Godric finished his speech and the feast began. The two cooks and the house elves they’d brought with them had outdone themselves for the first meal of the term. Helga murmured to Rowena that she hoped they hadn’t spent the entire food budget on this one banquet.
The chatter of the students filled the room and brought smiles to the faces of all the staff.
“They can certainly put away their food, can’t they?” Salazar whispered with a not quite hidden grin towards the students. The main course dishes vanished below to the kitchen and the dessert trays appeared in their place. The occupants of the four tables dove in with relish.
It was nearly midnight by the time all the students were safely delivered to their quarters for the night.
Rowena walked into the Entrance Hall with a satisfied smile on her face. Godric and Helga were looking at the hourglasses intently and she went across to see what they were looking at.
“Looks like someone’s got a little carried away awarding house points,” Godric said as he pointed to the Slytherin hourglass. Sure enough that one, unlike the others which were still unchanged, had a fair number of green feathers in the bottom half.
“He’s really determined to win this, isn’t he?” Helga smiled and shook her head at the juvenility of the whole thing.
“Are my ears burning?” Salazar asked as he came up from the dungeons.
“Just don’t get too complacent,” Godric advised. “We’ve plenty of time to catch up before the end of the year. The Gryffindor students seem a bright bunch. We’ll soon catch up.”
“You may catch up, but the Ravenclaws will beat you both,” Rowena warned.
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” said Salazar in a highly disbelieving tone. “Now about that other problem. Rowena what did you come up with to get around Godric’s worries about any night time emergency?”
“Celibacy,” Rowena replied with a rueful grin. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before turning towards her own quarters.
“That’s not a solution!” Salazar called after her.
The last thing she heard before the voices faded from her hearing was the sound of Salazar asking Godric if he really needed anyone to teach History of Magic and Potions or whether the school might manage without those particular subjects.
Chapter 12