Aftermath

The Common Room

Sitting at the long table with my newfound classmates, I awaited the welcome speech from Professor McGonagall. I willed my heartbeat to slow down as it continued to scream with excitement inside of me. The whole meeting was surreal to me; I never imagined I would be in a school like this one. My whole life I thought I was just a normal girl; that was until I received my letter. I shook the feeling as the professor’s words began to echo throughout the Great Hall.

“Now that you all have been placed into your respectable houses, we can begin the feast,” she announced. Soon after a mere wave of her hands, all sorts of food appeared on platters on the table in front of us.  I had never seen so many different types of food all in one place before in my life; growing up poor would do that to you. I noticed that several of the other students had the same shocked expression that I did.

Once Professor McGonagall took her seat, the students began to pile their plates full of food. I took a deep breath, wondering where I should begin. Before I could even decide, the dark-haired boy next to me reached across my plate to reach a platter of chicken.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he replied, as he dropped several chicken legs onto his plate.

I debated what I would say to him in my head for a few moments before deciding on, “It’s okay.” Sure, the action of reaching across my plate was terribly rude, or at least I had been taught that way, but he had apologized for it.

“Adam,” he stated, offering me his hand. He had a huge smile on his face; if nothing else, he was definitely trying his hardest to be friendly.

I took his hand, shaking it firmly. “Morgan,” I introduced myself. I released his hand, and began to follow suit in placing food on my plate. After filling my plate to the brim, I began to eat the only real meal I had eaten that day. It figured that Adam would speak again when I had my mouth filled with food.

“So, are you happy you’re in Gryffindor?” he asked, as he took a bite of his chicken.

Admittedly, I had never thought about that. Was I happy to be in Gryffindor? Would have I been happier in one of the other houses? I honestly had no idea what to answer him. Before I received my letter, I had no idea I was magical, let alone adopted. When my letter came, my parents finally told me that I was adopted when I was just a baby. As it turns out, my birth parents were magical, and both alive. Whatever their reasons, they put me up for adoption. The whole process of sorting, the different houses and their traits, and Hogwarts in general were completely foreign to me.

“I suppose so,” I finally muttered, not daring to look at him.

Adam was silent for a few moments before speaking again, “What do you mean you ‘suppose so?’ Gryffindor is the best! How could you not be glad to be here?”

I bit my tongue for a moment, unsure of what to say back to him. Unluckily for me, my silence gave someone else the chance to step in. “She’s obviously Muggleborn, Adam. Why else would she have such a hard time deciding whether or not she is in the house she desired?”

I shot the girl a glare, something that I normally didn’t do. “Actually, I’m not. I was raised by Muggles; I was adopted as an infant. My birth parents were magical.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Oh, well sorry.”

“Oh stop it Kaitlyn,” Adam scolded before turning to me. “Well that certainly is interesting. Do you have any idea who they were?”

I shook my head. I never knew who my birth parents were, and neither did my adoptive parents. I definitely wanted to know who they were, why they gave me up like they did. It was almost too hard for me to think about. Don’t get me wrong, my adoptive parents were amazing people, but I can’t help but to wonder what my life would’ve been like growing up with my own kind. I felt my eyes tear up slightly, but I forced myself to not let it show.

“Well that’s gotta suck,” Adam attempted to console.

The rest of the meal was eaten in possibly the most awkward silence I have ever experienced in my life. Luckily for me, Professor McGonagall broke the silence with what I deemed was her closing speech. The elderly woman approached the podium, looking out at all of the students.

“I certainly hope you all enjoyed your dinner, but it’s time for you all to retire for the night,” she began. “But before I ship you all off to your dormitories, I have a few things to inform you on first. As many of you know, this is the first year we have been open since the Battle of Hogwarts, meaning we are lacking second through fourth year students. Secondly, we are all hoping that each of you have a productive year here. And of course, as always, the Forbidden Forest is off limits. Now… off to bed. The prefects will lead you to your dormitories.” She clapped her hands once, causing what remained of the food to disappear from our plates and platters.

At the same time, all of the students rose from their seats and began to follow the older students to their respective dormitories. As it turned out, Gryffindor’s dormitories were in the one of the towers, on the seventh floor. The hallways and staircases needed to reach them made everything all the more confusing. Although I have an incredible memory, I was sure I was going to get lost through the hallways in this school on more than one occasion. We entered the Gryffindor common room after one of the prefects at the front of the line said some ridiculous password to the portrait in front of the door.

As I stepped inside the room behind a swarm of students, I got a good look at the room I would be calling home for the next few months, and the next several school years. The scarlet and gold house colors were prominent throughout the room. Admittedly they were not my favorite colors, but I suppose I had to get used to them. After all, they weren’t going to change the house colors just because one student didn’t like them.

I didn’t linger about the common room for long. It had been an extremely long day, and I wanted nothing more than to get some well-deserved rest. I couldn’t allow myself to be tired for my first day of classes in the morning, so I made my way up to the girls’ dormitories and before long, I found myself snuggled up in bed, drifting off into a deep sleep.