Book 1 || Chapter 6
Selina
Albus Dumbledore, regardless of his age, is not a frail-looking man and it is easy to see why he is such a highly revered wizard. He stands tall and commands the attention of the room without having so much as said a word.
"Welcome," he says, "to another year at Hogwarts. Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
"Thank you."
As revered as he may be, he was certainly odd. The students around us clap eagerly as if they had been hooked by every word.
"Mad isn't he," Alice says watching the front table. She sits beside me and Hermione, who'd also become a Gryffindor.
"Mad?" says Percy Weasley airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"
Harry sits across from me and his mouth falls agape as he seems to notice the food for the first time. There was quite a lot of food, maybe too much. I take my pickings sparingly, reminding myself of my mother's warnings. Last time I dared not heed her words I had gotten myself sick the entire night.
A scream at the far end of the table causes me to jump in surprise.
"Sorry, do excuse me." I turn, fast enough to give me whiplash. In front of me, a translucent head bobs above the table. "My, this does look good," the ghosts says mournfully.
"Good Evening Sir Nicholas," Percy says.
"I know who you are! My brothers told me about you-you're Nearly Headless Nick!" Ronald says, his eyes sparkling with intrigue.
"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas," the ghost says, with a cold glare.
"Nearly headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Hermione inquires.
"Like this," he says irritably. He seizes his left ear and pulls. His whole head swings off his neck and falls onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge.
My stomach churns violently and suddenly I'm not so hungry. I push my plate away from me with a grimace. Sir Nicholas seems pleased with the stunned stares of the other Gryffindors and flips his head back onto his neck.
"So -- new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable -- he's the Slytherin ghost."
Sitting beside Draco Malfoy is a serious looking ghost with a blank stare and silver blood stains his robes. I've read about of him, briefly, but somehow he looked far worse in person. It was as though at any moment he would jump back to life with a devilish, evil looking, grin. A picture I'd rather not think about.
"How come he's covered in blood?" Seamus Finnigan, a sandy-haired Gryffindor, asks.
"I've never asked," Sir Nicholas says delicately.
"I take it he's not very close with anyone," I say thoughtfully.
"No, I suppose not. Although our deaths are not events we like to-" Sir Nicholas pauses, thinking. "for lack of a better word- relive."
The ghost floats away to talk to some of the other Gryffindors and dinner continues. I eat slowly, still not having quite recovered from the quite graphic and obscene stunt Sir Nicholas had pulled. Once everyone seems to have finished, the remains of our food disappear and deserts replace them.
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A New Reign
FanfictionPreviously known as - Royal: Book 1 Harry Potter Fanfiction: Years 1-8 Hogwarts had always been a strange and wonderful place. A place full of mystery and delight. However, no one had expected that it was to be a place of danger unlike any other tha...
