Ayla Lupin

Chapter 2: The White Tower

Saturday 7th September 1991

Ayla woke up the next day with a smile on her face. She was in the same dormitory as Amalia and two other girls. They were in the White Tower, which was the First and Second-years' tower. The Blue Tower was for the Third and Fourth-years, the Silver one for the Fifth and Sixth, and the Gold one for the Seventh-year students. The last tower of the castle was the observatory, for Astronomy lessons. Each tower except for the observatory had a common room and dormitories. The First-year students were assigned their dorms in alphabetical order, separating boys and girls. In the following years, you could ask to change dorms if you wanted to be with your friends, but not a lot of people were doing that. Ayla was pretty lucky to be in Amalia's dorm. The two other girls were nice too, Sophie was a little shy but Jade kept joking around during the feast the previous night.

Ayla got out of her bed, smiled at Sophie and went to the bathroom. The four girls got ready and went down to the Dinning Chamber. They all sat with the other First-years and started eating breakfast and chattering. Leo and three other boys entered the room and walked towards them.

"Hi girls!" exclaimed Leo. "This is Matteo, Alan and Remi, my roommates. Guys, this is Ayla and Amalia."

While speaking, Leo pointed at the three boys behind him. Matteo was the tallest, had curly black hair and dark eyes, but he had the most genuine smile. Alan had blond hair, green eyes and a few freckles on the nose. Remi had fluffy brown hair that he kept ruffling through and he sat down next to Ayla. Alan asked Amalia if he could sit besides her and she accepted with a smile. Matteo and Leo sat next to the two other boys. The girls presented Sophie and Jade to the others and continued their discussion.

"So, as I was saying, I'm going to take dance as an option here." Said Amalia, eating a toast with honey and butter.

"I heard the school organises a ballet at the end of each year and apparently it's beautiful" added Jade. "But I don't think I'm going to take any options; we'll have enough work during the year. What about you Sophie?"

"Well," she stopped for a second to swallow the piece of bread she was eating. "I heard they have an art class here, so I thought I could try that"

"You can draw?" asked Matteo.

"A bit yeah, but I prefer painting" she responded with a smile.

Ayla was listening to the conversation, without participating. Remi next to her was eating bacon and eggs, making so much noise Ayla wasn't hungry anymore. After they were all finished, they went back to the First-years' common room. Ayla walked to her dorm to pick up a quill and some parchment and ink. She went back with the others and sat on a couch next to Amalia. 

Ayla started writing a letter to her father, telling him about the school, and Amalia, and that everything was amazing. She tried not to imagine Remus all alone in the cottage. She already missed him and made sure to tell him in the letter. Next to her, Amalia was talking with Alan, Sophie and Matteo. Leo was vaguely listening to them, and Remi apparently told a bad joke to Jade because she had an awkward smile and was trying to change the subject.

Suddenly, a black kitten jumped on Leo's lap. He stroked him and looked up to meet the four girls' questioning faces.

"It's my new cat, Marco. Dad bought it for me." He answered to their silent question.

"He's adorable!" exclaimed Sophie.

Remi tried to pick up the tiny cat but he escaped and ran to Ayla. He curled up one her lap and slowly started purring. Leo had an impressed look on his face.

"Wow. Marco is usually afraid of others. You have a gift with animals Ayla."

"Thanks," she responded grinning, "I love animals and magical creatures."

Ayla finished writing her letter while listening to the others talk about the classes that were about to start. Everyone seemed pretty excited about doing actual magic. Matteo even tried to use Lumos as his brother Luca showed him, but then he couldn't remember the charm to unlight his wand, so he threw it on the couch next to Ayla, scaring the kitten away.

"I need to send this letter to my dad," said Ayla a few minutes after, "does anyone want to go to the owlery with me?"

"Sure!" responded Amalia.

"I'll go with you two" added Leo. "We said we would explore this place together."

Ayla thanked them and the trio exited the common room and the White Tower. After walking through a few corridors and halls, they finally got out of the castle. They passed the fountain near the entrance.

"I heard the statue represents people who financed the school" stated Amalia.

"It says this is Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel" continued Leo reading the little sign next to the fountain.

"Oh, I read about them" remembered Ayla. "Nicolas Flamel discovered the Philosopher's stone; it can turn any metal in gold and its elixir makes you basically immortal. They're like, super old."

"Matteo told me that the water of the fountain has beautifying properties, and that's why everyone in the school is pretty" added Leo.

"Thanks Merlin, I really thought I was the only one that wasn't a model in this school!" exclaimed Amalia.

"You should be though, you're really beautiful," said Ayla.

"You're adorable Ayla."

The girls giggled and continued walking towards the owlery that was a little deeper in the gardens. Leo followed them and the three of them were chatting and laughing, sometimes stopping to look at a plant or a creature. They entered the owlery and Ayla's little owl flew towards her.

"Her name is Vega" stated Ayla, tying her letter to the bird's foot.

"Like the star!" exclaimed Leo. "I like astronomy" he explained.

"Yeah, my dad likes star names."

They watched Vega fly away with Ayla's letter and exited the owlery. As they were walking through the gardens again, Ayla stopped to look at a curious plant. It had white flowers and black stems.

"It's a Moly" declared a voice behind the group.