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The Great Hall is flanked by two large, thick, wooden doors that often make a BANG! sound when flung open by dramatic students and/or staff. There are large, beautiful glass windows at the end of the Hall above the staff dais, the usual enchanted ceiling over everyone, and the four regular house tables lined up neatly in the middle.
Whether you make an entrance or choose to simply enter the Great Hall, you'll still be wowed by its size and architecture every time. You might also be pleased to notice the general upgrade in cleanliness, and perhaps a light, pleasantly clean scent from the candles floating above all the tables. Isn't it nice, what money can do for a school?
With her arms crossed against her chest and an amused smirk planted on her face, Layla watched as her cousin finally noticed that absolutely no one was paying attention to him. It seemed like there was some sort of over-dramatic conflict going on in one carriage and an awful lot of excited younger years with their eyes fixated on the castle. Layla was seemingly disinterested, despite the fact she was here she quite simply did not want to be.
An un-ladylike snort escaped as he almost pouted at being ignored. The fifteen year-old was mature and world-wisely. Quite frankly boys were the complete opposite. "I ain't always right."she shrugged. "I'm observant. And I ain't stupid." She used her eyes.
She looked disinterested as he showed her his old camera and explained where he got it from. "Yeah. Sammy, it's just a camera to me." Give her the one on her smartphone any day. He continued to explain how it worked and she yawned both because she quite frankly didn't care and because that journey in carriages full of bloomin' excited girls had taken it out of her. "Cool." She had her eyes focused on the lake next to the castle. In the darkness it looked almost black and inviting. And Scotland was COLD.
"Do I look like the sort of girl who wants to live in a castle?" she turned to look at him. "I live in a semi in the middle of London. I'm a CITY girl, not a country lass!" This castle in the middle of nowhere was her worst nightmare.
So where Layla had spent her summer reading up on everything she needed to know by her fifth year at Hogwarts, Sammy had obviously been procrastinating like the boy he was. "Yeah. They're like skeleton horse things. Kinda creepy" She wasn't sure she wanted to see one. "If you dare touch me I will personally see you suffer a horrific ordeal at the hands of those Thestrals" she warned.
And then they came to a stop. They were finally at the school. Layla hopped off and headed towards the castle.
So the journey here was ridiculously long and considering Sammy's hometown was only a couple of hours away on the train, it seemed a little unnecessary.. but he got to see.. or not to see.. the invisible horses which made it all worth it.
Layla.. she was observant, yep... and most definitely smart this one. Nature had given her the brains and left her brother destined to become a fitness instructor. Clearly Layla was bored by Sam's enthusiasm over his camera. Just a camera? This was a genuine antique I'll have you know!
Invisible skeleton horses. You couldn't make this stuff up. “Question.” He said conversationally, ignoring the threat to his wellbeing, as he hopped out the carriage and started towards the magical castle. “Is their dung invisible? Am I gonna be walkin' along mindin' me own business when splat.. I find mesel' ankle deep in their business?" And he was completely serious. He had other questions too.. but Layla was probably was clueless as he was.
He entered the Great Hall and took a look around. Posh. Scented candles. You never got those in a state school. More photographs were taken and... LOOK AT THE CEILING! More snaps. He looked down at Layla. She really didn't want to be here, did she? “You coulda said no and sent the owl right back, Lay.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder trying to be all comforting and gave her a quick squeeze before releasing her.
Now what were they doing. Waiting to be sorted?
The sorting sounded equally as bizarre as invisible skeleton horses.
HeadGirlMC | Treddie & Trixiver <3 | Copy Girl | Katie's Ickle Minion | I love YOU more
The castle looked even larger as they approached the doors after hopping off the carriage. In fact, the size of the school was a little intimidating. Layla was used to a lot of students being about but her school was modern and not set in a giant castle surrounded by lakes and mountains. It was in the middle of a bustling city where she could step outside the gates and wander down to the shop. She could even walk home if she wanted to. The blonde didn’t often get homesick but she knew she would miss being able to just go out when she wanted and still be able to return home to her family every night.
She stopped to look at him when he asked her a question knowing that she very unlikely had the answer to it. “You are disgustin'.” She stated turning back around to walk towards the doors of the hall. “Unfortunately for you I ain't got a PhD in winged horse excrement to answer that question for you” she replied sarcastically. Honestly, if he really wanted to know why couldn’t he just pick up a book and look at it himself?
“Though I hope that does happen.” A smirk crossed her face.
“Ma wouldn’t let me.” She shrugged as Sammy gave her a slight squeeze of the shoulders. “She says it’s a great opportunity for me. She ain’t gonna let me drop out like Bradley did.” Honestly, even if she didn’t want to be here Layla knew that she could potentially excel here if she let herself. The question was whether she would be brave enough to do so. “I’ll give it a go but..” she trailed off not sure how she was going to finish her sentence.
And there they were at the doors to the hall, stood next to a grand staircase that seemed to move every so often. She really didn’t understand how the magical folk worked. They were a strange species.
Disgustin'? “It's a legitimate question.” He said scratching the tip of his nose. And he was a curious soul. He laughed at her sarcastic statement. Layla was genuinely funny sometimes. “Hint taken. I'll read up on it.” Probably. Probably not. Shame they didn't have the internet here. Google was his friend when it came to mind bogglin' weird questions like this. Internet browsing history be damned.
His head snapped back to Layla at that afterthought. “Gross. You wouldn't know where to clean.” You'd have to commit murder to know for sure you'd got it all off your boots..
Ah, yeah.. the parents. Samson had been given a choice but really.. “Fair doos. Passin' up on gannin' to magic school would be completely mental.” That's was the general train of thought in the Blake household anyway. “I don't understand why Brad quit. Even if you're the worst wizard on the planet, bein' able to do any sorta magic must be well cool.” Good lass.. she'd give it a go.
He watched the sorting with interest, letting out a laugh at the talking hat. “You canny believe it.” He murmured to Layla. “Like, pinch me am I dreamin'?”
HeadGirlMC | Treddie & Trixiver <3 | Copy Girl | Katie's Ickle Minion | I love YOU more
Yes Sammy, that was really making your situation better. “Then your thoughts are more disgustin’ than I previously thought” she pushed his arm playfully. “I don’t wanna know what other weird thoughts are goin’ through your brain then.” Boys truly were a completely different species. “Open a book Samsonella, it might shock ya” she teased. He knew she was joking. The cousins acted far more like siblings sometimes, they were much closer in age than she was to her older brother after all.
Layla smirked at his comment. It was his thoughts after all. “Exactly. You’d be freakin’ out tryin’ to find where the smell is. Would be hilarious!” she cackled.
“I thought my accent was strong but sometimes I canny understand yeeeeee” she imitated him with a malicious grin.
“I s’pose so” she stated nonchalantly. She still wasn’t one hundred percent certain with the whole magical school situation but she was here now and there was no going back. “He didn’t like it. He knew what he wanted to do an’ he went with it.” He was doing pretty well for himself now even with his menagerie of sons and one hugely hectic house. “I get why he did it but I ain’t gonna copy him. I’m gonna continue with this..” Even if she wasn’t particularly happy.
Pinch him? That was an invitation right? She pinched him lightly and shook his shoulders. “You ain’t asleep Sammy boy, you’re most definitely awake.” She straightened out her skirt and adjusted the sleeves of her robe. “I hate this thing though, wish the uniform were a dream” Or a nightmare.
Rob had eaten his fill and wondered how some of the other students could manage to eat so much. As he had no idea where the Hufflepuff common room was or anything he decided that he'd go back to the entrance for a look round. He figured he'd see if he could walk off some of his fulness then go back for a bit of something sweet.