Chapter 8 — The Head of House's First Address
"Ah, music! A true delight for the ears!"
Dumbledore gave a few appreciative claps, clearly having enjoyed the children's rendition of the Hogwarts school song.
"And now -- off to bed, all of you. Your studies begin tomorrow."
At these words everyone began to rise. I held Hermione back as she moved to follow the main stream of Ravenclaw students, while Tracy caught hold of Potter, and some five seconds later a clear, bright girl's voice rang out.
"First-year Ravenclaws! Everyone gather round us!"
We made our way over to an attractive blonde girl with several earrings in one ear, and an unremarkable-looking boy standing beside her.
"My name is Penelope Clearwater, Head Girl of Ravenclaw, and this is my partner Robert Hilliard. Please follow me -- we will show you the safest route to the Ravenclaw common room."
And so we followed the prefects as they led us towards the tower. In roughly ten minutes we arrived before the entrance to our House.
"Here it is -- the entrance to the Ravenclaw tower. Unlike the other Houses, we do not use a password. Instead, you must answer a question posed by our esteemed guardian."
Penelope nodded towards the eagle's head mounted on the door.
"First-years?"
The eagle tilted its head slightly to one side.
"Yes, guardian."
"Very well... here is my riddle. What is so impossibly fragile that even speaking its name will break it?"
We all went blank. I stood there for several minutes, genuinely stumped, until Daphne stepped forward.
"Silence."
"Correct."
The eagle's head gave a nod and the door swung open.
"Well done. First-years usually need considerably longer to answer the guardian's riddle."
Penelope gave Daphne an approving pat on the head.
"Inside, everyone."
A brisk command, and we all filed into the tower and soon found ourselves in the common room, which was not decorated in the House colours as one might have expected, but was simply furnished with great comfort. The only thing that immediately caught the eye was the sheer number of shelves and bookcases lining every wall.
"Sit down!"
Again the command came from Penelope, which told me that her partner was very much the quiet one in their pairing -- if such a thing could even be said of a prefect.
"Now then, I already introduced myself, but just to be sure..."
The girl looked around at everyone present.
"...my name is Penelope Clearwater, and this is my partner Robert Hilliard. We are the Ravenclaw prefects. Any questions that arise during your time here, bring to us first. In fact -- come to us first, always, and only if we cannot resolve the matter ourselves will we go together to our esteemed Head of House."
She broke off, as the door to the common room opened and a small, rather charming-looking man entered -- our Head of House.
"Speaking of whom -- this is Professor of Charms Filius Flitwick, who is also the Head of Ravenclaw. He would like to say a few words."
"Ahem..."
Flitwick cleared his throat.
"Very well. We, the House of Ravenclaw, are rightly regarded as the finest academic House at Hogwarts. We earn more points in every subject than any other House. As for Quidditch -- it is, by and large, a matter of indifference to us. I wish to be clear: this does not mean we play carelessly or without the will to win. However, we do not count on sporting points in the overall House competition. Nor do we chase first place in the House Cup for its own sake."
Flitwick paused and looked over all of us before continuing.
"I should also say that starting tomorrow, I will be holding additional evening sessions for Muggle-born and Muggle-raised students..."
On the last words the professor looked directly at Harry.
"...at these sessions I will cover matters of safety, as well as the rules of conduct in the wizarding world -- so that you do not, by word or deed, give offence to some ancient family and make your life considerably more difficult once you leave Hogwarts. And now..."
He clapped his hands together, and an explosion of multicoloured sparks appeared in the air around us. A simple spell -- but I was struck, once again, by the effortless ease with which it was performed. And this time he had not even used his wand. I could only marvel at what I had just seen.
"Now -- off to bed, all of you."
With those words Flitwick turned and departed the common room smartly, and we were led off to the dormitories, where we were settled two to a room. My bed turned out to be in the same room as Harry's.
"Er..."
Harry looked at me uncertainly once we were alone.
"To begin with: my name is Draco Black, of the ancient and noble House of Black. Within Hogwarts, however, I am perfectly happy to be addressed by my given name or my surname -- whichever suits you personally, Harry."
Potter nodded.
"Next: I should mention that I wake very early. Specifically, at five in the morning."
Harry's eyes went wide with shock.
"I will of course do my best not to make noise -- and the alarm charm will not be audible to anyone but me -- but I ask your forgiveness in advance, should my movements disturb your sleep at all."
"Er... why would you..."
Harry was thoroughly bewildered and could not quite finish the question.
"The early morning is essentially the only time I now have available for physical training. So I will be doing exercises and weapons practice."
"Weapons practice?"
"Well..."
I shrugged.
"...as a matter of fact, as a nobleman I am expected to be proficient with a sword or a rapier. But as a member of the House of Black, I also train with an axe."
"An axe?!"
Harry stared at me with an expression caught somewhere between shock and complete disbelief.
"Yes."
I gave a confirming nod. "Also, I would ask you, where possible, not to leave your belongings scattered about -- Daphne will be visiting our room fairly regularly."
"Er... I wasn't planning to..."
Harry looked flustered.
"Good..."
I closed my eyes for a moment.
"...I think that covers everything I wanted to say. Do you have any thoughts or requests regarding our living arrangements?"
"N-no..."
Harry shook his head, embarrassed.
"Well, if anything occurs to you, we can always talk it over. For now I suggest we change and get some sleep."
"All right..."
Harry was still somewhat lost, but he followed my lead, and we began changing into our pyjamas.
"Er..."
"Yes?"
I had pulled on the pyjama bottoms but not yet the top, and turned to find Harry staring at me with an almost dazed expression. I understood what had surprised him so much. Between the regular physical training, the magical exercises, and the various potions I had been taking in small measured doses, my body looked as though it were made of ropes of muscle.
"Harry..."
I clicked my fingers a couple of times in front of his face to bring him back to himself.
"...don't stare at other boys like that."
"I-- no! You've got it all wrong! I've just never seen that many muscles!"
I shrugged.
"Talk to the Healer first -- let her examine you -- and if she gives the go-ahead, you're welcome to join me. Though I should warn you, I am a dreadful trainer, so don't expect anything more from me than the basic rules for a safe and effective morning routine. That said, even with just that, you would develop quite decent muscle over a couple of years. Was there anything else?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"Er... no... well, actually -- what's that on your arm?"
Harry was looking at my arm with genuine curiosity.
"This?"
I raised the arm on which the holster sat.
"Yes."
He nodded quickly.
"A wand holster. One can hardly go about with a wand rattling loose in one's pocket..."
I shrugged, as if to say this was entirely obvious and he should be surprised anyone did otherwise.
"...there are also holsters for the belt, the calf, and if you want something unusual you can have one made to order. A holster like this is typically charmed against Summoning and Disarming spells. Someone at Dumbledore's level -- or even a Head of House -- could certainly break through it, but adult versions are considerably more sophisticated and secure."
"I see..."
After that we finally finished changing, and I lay down on the bed. Before sleep I drew a journal and a pen from the small bag I had set on the bedside table and quickly wrote out a letter to Mum Cissy and Mum Bella. Then I took out a second journal -- one linked to its twin in Daphne's possession -- wished her good night, tucked everything away, and with a flick of my wand drew the bed curtains closed.
Morning.
I woke at the chime of the alarm, rose quickly, made myself presentable, changed into my training clothes, picked up a bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm, and headed for the way out of the castle. The Quidditch pitch was what I was after. Fortunately I found the Great Hall from the tower without difficulty, and from there made my way towards the exit into the castle's courtyard.
"And who is wandering about at this hour?"
Filch materialised behind me without a sound.
"Mr Filch."
I gave him a nod.
"A first-year?"
"Yes."
"And what exactly are you doing out of your dormitory at this hour? Or do you consider the rules not to apply to you?"
"Well..."
I shrugged.
"...I am not wandering around the castle at night -- it is early morning. And I am not wandering aimlessly either. I am on my way to the Quidditch pitch to begin my training."
"Training?"
"Yes..."
I nodded.
"...since lessons now take up part of my day, I have had to move my exercises and weapons practice to this hour."
"Hmm... and do you know the way?"
"My mothers told me how to get to the pitch from the Great Hall."
"And your mothers would be..."
Filch was not the spiteful old man he had been made out to be in the films -- from what I could see, he was a perfectly reasonable individual, who had just crept up behind me in complete silence. That spoke to a very high level of training.
"Narcissa Black and Bellatrix Black."
"Ah..."
Filch smiled with a touch of nostalgia.
"...yes, I remember them well. Two very accomplished witches. When they did get up to mischief, they did it cleverly and left no traces behind them."
He gave a contemplative nod.
"Well then -- I'll walk you to the pitch, just to be safe, and take a look at how you train while I'm at it. Make sure you're not going to injure yourself."
"Thank you."
I gave a brief nod, and Filch and I set off through the corridors. Before long, his cat appeared at his side -- and a remarkably well-groomed creature she was.
Ten minutes later we reached the pitch, where I dropped my bag and got straight to work...
Two and a half hours later I had finished all my training. I gathered my things -- about an hour into the session Daphne had appeared on the pitch, apologising with a slight blush for having slept in. At the end, Daphne cast cleansing charms over both of us so we would not carry the smell of exertion with us, and then we went over to Filch.
"Not bad..."
He shook his head.
"...plenty of room still to grow, but for eleven years old -- genuinely not bad. One thing to keep in mind for the future, though..."
He looked me over carefully.
"...get written permission from your Head of House -- for both yourself and your attendant -- to be moving around the castle at this hour. Tell him exactly what happened: that you ran into me and I suggested getting it sorted officially. I do not think he will refuse."
"Thank you. I will certainly follow your advice."
We did not part from Filch there, however -- he also showed us a hidden passage that allowed us to move very quickly from the common room to the exit into the courtyard, and we thanked him warmly for it. We had very little time left to make ourselves presentable and get down to breakfast...