> My Little Witches: Adventures in Hogwarts > by GingerSpice > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Hogwarts Express > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight had never been more excited about anything in her entire life. This was it, her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the very school that her B. B. B. F. F. had raved about ever since he came home during the Christmas holidays of his first year. The very school that had Celestia, her old teacher, as headmistress. The very school that Star Swirl the Bearded himself had attended. Sure, she already knew some simple charms, but what would she learn at this wonderful school of magic? More wonderful than anything else was the fact that Twilight would finally get to see her B. B. B. F. F., Shining Armor, year-round. Ever since he started his post as gamekeeper at Hogwarts, she only got to see him during the summer, Christmas, and Easter holidays. Today, she would finally set foot in the famous and prestigious magic school. Twilight took one last look in the mirror, made sure her new robes still looked perfect, grabbed her luggage, and clutched her parent’s hands as they all Apparated into a nearly invisible corner of King’s Cross Station. “Twilight, please don’t forget to write to us as often as possible,” said her mother. “You have Owlowicious for a reason. We don’t want to lose track of our favorite daughter.” As if on cue, the caged owl on top of Twilight’s bags gave a confirming “Hoot!”. Twilight smiled. “Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll remember. Besides, even if I do forget to write from time to time, you’ll probably still hear from Shining Armor. I’ll be fine. You’ll see.” Twilight’s father turned to his wife. “Don’t worry, she’ll be perfectly fine with her big brother there. He won’t let anything happen to her.” Her mother’s worried expression softened a little. “I guess you’re right, Nightlight. We shouldn’t worry too much. After all, Hogwarts one of the safest places a person can go,” She turned around to hug her daughter, and her husband did the same. “I hope you learn a lot at Hogwarts, honey,” Twilight’s parents gently pulled out of the hug. “Oh, and of course, don’t forget to have fun.” Twilight grinned with excitement. “I won’t let you down!” She grabbed her luggage and owl and dashed through Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Awaiting her was the Hogwarts Express itself. After pausing to get a good look at the train, she ran a car and climbed in with her luggage. Since she was fairly early boarding the train, most of the booths were empty. She chose an empty booth in the back of the car and sat down. She took Owlowicious’s cage and placed it on her lap. Thinking about all of the interesting classes she would take, Twilight began to stroke her owl and relax. She could get used to this. “HiI’mPinkiePieI’mnewherejustlikeyouwhat’syourname?!” Twilight shrieked and stared, jaw dropped, at the girl with curly—no, sproingy— pink hair who had just entered her quiet booth. What the heck had she just said? Why had she just screamed out a greeting to a complete stranger? She had almost scared the living daylights out of Twilight! The pink-haired girl realized how loudly she had spoken and how badly she had scared Twilight. “Oh, sorry. What I meant to say was, hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, I’m new to Hogwarts just like you! What’s your name?” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. This girl, Pinkie Pie, was just overly friendly. “Hi, there. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Go ahead, sit down, having someone else to talk to would be nice. So, have you heard anything about what Hogwarts is like?” Twilight was curious to know. Shining Armor talked about the school all the time, but it would be good to get another person’s input. Pinkie smiled and sat across from Twilight. “Oh, yeah! My sister Maud has already been there for a couple of years, and she loves it! Her favorite class is Transfiguration. She really likes turning other things into rocks, ooh, and turning rocks into different rocks! My sister is obsessed with—“ Pinkie was interrupted by loud and hurried footsteps running through the train and exhausted gasping. “I’m here!… I made it… Oh, man am I late? Please don’t tell me I’m late!”, said a raspy voice that was quickly approaching the girls’ booth. Finally, the voice’s owner arrived, putting her arms against the walls of the train car while she caught her breath. Her robes and rainbow-colored hair were sweaty, and she was gasping for air. Twilight’s calm expression quickly became one of surprise. “Oh my gosh! Are you all right?” Then, she became sort of confused. “How could you think you’re late? The train clearly hasn’t left yet.” The new girl turned to look at Twilight, then out the window. “Oh, right. I’m just late for a lot of stuff. Thank god I made it here before the train took off!” Another girl’s head came into view behind the rainbow-haired girl. She’d been so quiet, nobody else but her friend had noticed her. “Rainbow Dash, I told you that you’d just waste energy by running here. Anyway, who are you talking—” She turned to see Twilight and Pinkie sitting in the booth, both with rather surprised faces. Her own face turned pale as she quickly hid behind her light-pink hair. “Oh… um… Hello, there…” She began trailing off in a voice even smaller than the one she was already speaking with. “Come on, Fluttershy, you can’t hide from everybody but me!” The rainbow-haired girl, now known as Rainbow Dash, seemed to get this from her friend, Fluttershy, a lot. “They seem nice enough. In fact, why don’t we sit with them?” Rainbow plopped herself right next to Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy took a deep breath and parted her hair to reveal her face. Rainbow motioned for her to sit down, so she took a seat next to Twilight. “H-hello, girls. My name is Fluttershy.” “Yeah, we know. We heard Rainbow Dash call you by your name.” Pinkie would have continued, but Twilight was shushing her. “Sorry.” Fluttershy sighed, but gave a gentle smile. “I know. I’m sorry, I’m just… really shy.” Twilight smiled at her. “It’s okay,” She giggled. “We kind of guessed. Don’t worry, you’ll probably get over it eventually.” Fluttershy looked down to her feet. “Yeah… Eventually.” Twilight would have said more, but two more pairs of feet started running through the train car. A girl with a thick Southern accent happily sighed. “Yeah! I made it! And just in time, too!” As soon as she said those words, the train started speeding along the tracks, on its way to Hogwarts. A second girl, this one having a very strong European accent, caught up to the first girl. “I believe you mean, we made it.” The first girl, who had come into view as having blonde hair tied in a loose ponytail under a cowboy hat, turned to look at the second girl. “Seriously? I didn’t plan on coming over to this here train with you on my tail!” The second girl, now seen to have styled curly purple hair and blue eyeshadow, scoffed. “First of all, my name is Rarity. You might want to actually ask for somebody’s name when you meet them, thank you very much! Second of all, you wouldn’t even have made it here had I not provided you with directions to Platform Nine and Three Quarters!” “All you did was slow me down! See, now we’re both so late that every single booth in the whole darn train is full!” The bickering probably would have continued had Twilight not intervened “Stop! You can both sit in our booth. Just squeeze yourselves in.” The girl in the hat turned to look at Twilight, and the angry look on her face faded. “Well, that settles that. Come on, Rarity.” She said “Rarity” in a mocking tone. “Let’s just sit with these nice girls.” She sat down right next to Rainbow Dash, and Rarity squeezed in. “I’m Applejack, by the way. Nice to meet y’all.” One by one, everybody else in the booth introduced themselves. When they were finished, Twilight spoke up. “So… What has everybody here heard about Hogwarts?” Rainbow Dash was the first to answer. “Well, I know that they have a Quidditch team, and I love Quidditch! My dad and I play all the time!” She frowned and sighed. “Too bad first-years can’t try out for the team,” she said glumly. “Aw, don’t worry, Dash! You can always try out next year!”, Pinkie said, trying to cheer up her new friend. Dash smiled a little and thanked her. “Well, I heard that this fancy school we’re going to has great food!” Everyone in the booth gave Applejack a funny look. “Well, at least that’s what my big brother Big Macintosh says about the place.” “Interesting,” said Twilight. “Anything else?” Nobody answered. “Okay, why don’t we…” The girls continued to talk amongst themselves until they heard yet another smattering of feet running across the train. “Well, I think we’ve arrived,” said Twilight. “It was so nice meeting you all. See you in school!” Everybody said their goodbyes, and each one of them stepped off the train. “Hello, new students,” said Shining Armor. “Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” > The Sorting > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Shining Armor!” Twilight ran as fast as she could across the stone and tackled her big brother with a hug. He looked a little shocked, but still hugged her back. “Twily!” he exclaimed. “I missed you, kid!” “But it’s only been a couple of weeks since we’ve seen each other,” said Twilight. “Then why were you so quick to give me a hug?” Shining Armor replied. Twilight laughed. “Okay, okay, you win.” She pulled out of the hug with a smile on her face. Shining Armor addressed all of the students. “First-years, stay here. The rest of you, go that way.” He pointed towards a path to the right. “Entrance is over there.” While the other students cleared out, he spoke to the first-years, all of whom had stayed put. “It’s always been Hogwarts tradition for first-years to enter the castle by boat. If you ask me, it gives you kids a great view of the place.” He started down the left path. Noticing that the students weren’t following him, he shouted “Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!” Murmurs of excitement resounded from the first-years as they followed Shining Armor down the path. Twilight had to weave through the crowd like a stray fish in a school of anchovies in order to catch up to her brother. “So, how’s your position as gamekeeper coming along?” she asked him. “Glad you asked. It’s going great! I’ve got a cool little hut behing the castle, and I get to teach first-years how to fly a broom!” He smirked. “Don’t forget, I’m also Keeper of the Keys.” Twilight snorted. “Great, you get a job for a couple of years and suddenly I have a braggart for a brother.” “Well, you’re not going to have to live with this braggart for long. We’ve just arrived at the dock.” Twilight looked up from the conversation and gazed at the spectacular view of the castle and the lake. The reflection of the massive architectural marvel appeared rippling on the lake’s calm surface, creating would-be symmetry. “Come on, Twilight. You can ride with me,” Shining Armor said. Twilight snapped back to reality. “It’s okay. It would probably look like favoritism. I don’t want to start school with that image on me. Sorry, B.B.B.F.F.” She smiled at her big brother. “It’s okay, I made a few friends on the train. I won’t be alone.” “Okay, Twily. I hope you have fun on your first day.” “I’ll see you soon!” By now, most of the students had already been seated in a boat. The only one sitting alone was Rarity. Twilight took a seat next to her. “Hello, Rarity. Is it okay if I sit here?” Rarity smiled. “Oh, of course, darling! In fact, I was worried I would have to ride alone.” Shining Armor called to the students from his boat up front. “We’re off!” Twilight and Rarity had both been perfectly prepared to row the boat to the castle themselves, but every boat on the dock began to slowly flow across the water towards Hogwarts. As if the view of the gorgeous castle couldn’t get any better, from the moving boats, it was even more marvelous. “So, how are you feeling about your first day at Hogwarts? I don’t know about you, but I’m a weird combination of excited and nervous,” said Twilight. “I think you mean, nervouscited!” said a familiar high-pitched voice. Pinkie and Applejack’s boat had caught up to Twilight and Rarity’s. Twilight was quite surprised. “Oh, um, hi, Pinkie, I didn’t see you there.” “Is ‘nervouscited’ even a real word?” asked Rarity. “Of course it is!” said Pinkie. “I’m very nervouscited too! This is gonna be so fun!” “To tell you the truth, I’m just glad that Big Mac will be there,” said Applejack. “In a couple of years, my little sister Apple Bloom will be coming here too. And my Granny Smith is teaching Herbology! We’ll have the whole family there soon enough! And that’s not even counting all of my relatives who’re already here…” Applejack continued to ramble on about her family while the girls only half-listened. “Hey, guys!” Rainbow Dash said as she and Fluttershy had pulled up. “Sweet view, huh?” “It really is beautiful,” said Fluttershy. “So, girls, anyone else nervous about the House they’ll be sorted in? Shining Armor was in Gryffindor. However, I’m not sure that’s where I want to go,” said Twilight. “Easy. My dad was in Gryffindor, and so will I.” Rainbow Dash looked very smug. “Every person in my family has been Hufflepuff. At this point, I think the Sorting Hat isn’t even looking at us and just throwing us all in there,” said Applejack. “Ditto,” said Pinkie. Rarity looked a little fearful. “I have no clue where I’ll be placed. I just hope I belong there.” “What about you, Fluttershy? Where do you think you’ll be Sorted?” Before Fluttershy could speak, the boats arrived at the castle’s dock. A woman with long blue hair that seemed to be teeming with starlight was waiting for them in front of the doors. “Welcome, first-years. I am Professer Luna. Headmistress Celestia is my older sister. Please follow me into the hall.” Luna took her wand from her robes and opened the doors. She walked down the corridor with the students following her. They soon arrived in the Great Hall. The first-years gathered in front of the House tables, just before Celestia stepped up to the podium. “Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Before we begin, I would like to tell the first-years and remind our returning students that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students, especially those afraid of spiders.” Fearful whispers sounded from the first-years. Celestia giggled. “Oh, relax. I’m just pulling your legs. Just remember to stay out of the forest. “Before we begin the Sorting ceremony, I would like to say a few words. Magic. Darkness. Pumpkins. Let the Sorting commence!” Celestia handed Luna a very worn hat. Luna stationed herself behind a cushioned chair, hat in hand. She began to read names off of a list. “Amythest Star!” Amythest nervously walked up to the chair and sat under the Sorting Hat. “RAVENCLAW!” Applause sounded from the Ravenclaw table when Amythest sat with her new House. “Apple Brown Betty!” Applejack’s cousin eagerly skipped up to the chair and had the Sorting Hat lowered onto her head. It had been barely a second before the hat shouted “HUFFLEPUFF!” Cheers immediately resounded from the House table. “Told you,” Applejack said to Pinkie Pie. Betty happily stood up walked to the Hufflepuff table as she was welcomed by her new friends. “Apple Bumpkin!” Bumpkin leisurely strolled up to the chair, absolutely certain where she would be placed. And she was entirely correct. “HUFFLEPUFF!” “Apple Cider!” Almost every member of the Apple family was sorted before Luna finally got to “Applejack!” “Good luck, Applejack!” Pinkie called to her friend as she walked towards the chair and sat down. Of course, less than a second after the hat touched her head, it shouted “HUFFLEPUFF!” By now, the Hufflepuffs weren’t cheering when Applejack sat down at their table. “Berry Dreams!” “Gee, Applejack wasn’t kidding when she said everybody in her family was in Hufflepuff,” Rainbow Dash whispered to her friends. “GRYFFINDOR!” All of the Gryffindors cheered when they finally got a new member. “Berry Punch!” Fluttershy spoke up. “It must be horrible, being lumped in with a group of people, with people never even considering the possibility that–” Fluttershy was interrupted by a “HUFFLEPUFF!” “Eep!” The girls sat in watching silence until a “Fluttershy!” was heard. Fluttershy’s face immediately turned quite pale and wan. She was shaking as she slowly advanced toward the chair. Luna was gentle lowering the Sorting Hat onto her long pink locks. “HUFFLEPUFF!” Relieved to be placed with a friend, Fluttershy seated herself next to Applejack, who gave her an encouraging smile. “Don’t fret, sugar cube. I’m sure that Hufflepuff isn’t so bad.” Fluttershy gave her a shy smile. “Oh, it’s not Hufflepuff I’m worried about. I just doubt that Rainbow will be in here, too.” 
 “Why, is she your sister or something?” “Well, her dad adopted me when I was very young. He’s a very nice man. Rainbow and I may as well be sisters.” “Aw, well ain’t that the sweetest thing! Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll still see each other plenty, even if she isn’t sorted into Hufflepuff.” Just as Applejack finished that sentence, Pinkie Pie was called up. She joyfully bounced into the chair, and Luna placed the Sorting Hat on her head. After about ten second of sitting there, the Sorting Hat looked very confused. A few unintelligible murmurs were heard from it. Finally, it settled on “GRYFFINDOR!” Sorting Hat still on her head, Pinkie ran over to the roaring Gryffindor table. Luna and the rest of the students laughed as she walked over to retrieve it. Pinkie Pie sat next to a third-year with short and straight gray hair. Soon enough, Luna called “Rainbow Dash!” to be Sorted. Rainbow grinned and stepped up to the chair. When the hat was placed on her head, it soon yelled “GRYFFINDOR!” Rainbow pumped her fists in the air, looking very excited. She glanced over at Fluttershy, who looked a little saddened. Rainbow flashed her a thumbs-up and joined Pinkie in Gryffindor. “Hi, Dash!” Pinkie looked very happy to have one of her new friends in her new House. “This is my sister, Maud!” “Hello, Rainbow,” said Maud, still holding the same deadpan expression. “I believe you’ve met my sister.” She nodded at Pinkie, who was still smiling her head off. “Rarity!” called Luna. Rarity shakily walked to the chair and sat down. She winced when Luna placed the Sorting Hat on her head. She braced herself for the House name to come out of it’s mouth. “SLYTHERIN!” Rarity turned paler than she already was. She rose from the chair and, shuddering, stumbled over to the Slytherin table. She took a seat in a quiet corner of the table and shook. “Well, well, what do we have here? Looks like Little Miss Makeup has arrived.” The speaker, a second-year with oily pale-blue hair, smirked. Rarity shot her a glare. Slytherin. Why Slytherin? Of every House she could have been placed in, it was the villian House. Every bad witch or wizard in history had been placed here. Heck, she was probably sitting with a few future Dark witches and wizards at that very moment. She would have been fine with Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, even Gryffindor. It just had to be Slytherin. The only thing that could cheer her up now was food. She just adored pumpkin pasties. It was really too bad that they could only eat when the Sorting finished. Hopefully Twilight would be sorted there, too. At least she would have a friend. Oh, dear, why was she thinking like this? She couldn’t wish such awful things on a new friend! “Twilight Sparkle!” called Luna. Finally, she had been called! Twilight grinned with a smile almost as big as Pinkie Pie’s. She happily walked to the chair and sat under the Sorting Hat. Celestia flashed her a smile, which Twilight immediately returned. After a few seconds of searching, the hat shouted “RAVENCLAW!” The Ravenclaw table erupted with applause to welcome their new House member. Twilight quickly walked over to her new friends and took a seat. Ravenclaw! She’d guessed. This was the house of learners. The House with the common room that opened with the answer to a riddle. The house of blue and bronze. She realized that none of her friends from the train had been Sorted with her. Oh, well. She’d be able to see them in class. “This concludes our Sorting,” said Celestia. “Let the feast begin!” > The First Night > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight grinned, holding back the urge to shriek like a small girl, and placed some food onto her plate. Ravenclaw! Of course! The House of knowledge and learning. She’d hoped to be placed here. Twilight took a bite of some fried chicken wings. Wow! Applejack had been right about the food! Twilight had seen pictures of Ravenclaw’s common room. It looked like home. White, bronze, and royal blue. And best of all, a massive bookshelf covering an entire wall. There were at least enough books to last for months on end! Bright-eyed, Twilight took another bite of chicken, looked up at the starry ceiling, and tried to guess what riddle she’d have to answer to enter the room. Rainbow Dash looked across the table at Pinkie, who had completely skipped the main course and was going straight for the cakes, pastries, and other desserts. Did she eat like this all the time? How did she stay so thin? She may never know. Maud was picking at a salad while simultaneously placing chicken wings on a small rock that she’d apparently brought with her. Rainbow Dash liked being placed in Gryffindor, the House of heros. Her dad had warned her that many of the students placed there were very loud and rowdy. Good, those were her kind of people. Dash looked over again at Pinkie, whom had not only completely cleaned her packed plate, but was currently casually placing a large slice of pie in her mouth. God, this girl could eat! You couldn’t blame her, the desserts were delicious. Rainbow was having quite a few of them herself. All the while, Maud hadn’t gotten far on her salad, and was still attempting to feed an inanimate rock. “Hey, Pinkie, didn’t you say earlier that everybody in your family has been in Hufflepuff?” Dash asked. “Yup,” grunted Pinkie, with her mouth filled with cream puffs. “Well, Maud is here in Gryffindor with us,” Rainbow pointed out. Maud barely gave a glance at the sound of her name. Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah. I meant everyone in our family before me and my sisters. See, Limestone is over in Slytherin,” Pinkie pointed to a second-year at the Slytherin table with unkempt gray hair that had been cut short. “And Marble is in Hufflepuff, like my parents.” Dash looked over to see a quiet-looking girl with longer, clean-cut hair that had a hint of teal and green in it. “And of course, you’ve met Maud!” Maud looked up at rainbow with her stone-cold turquoise eyes. “Hi.” It was very difficult to believe that these two girls were even related at all. Fluttershy took a small bite of salad. Wow, Applejack had been right about the food here, even the salad. She turned to look at the girl sitting next to her, who had long teal hair and looked very much like her. She was very quiet, and didn’t have much on her plate. Could have been first-year jitters. Then Fluttershy realized that this girl was sitting here the whole time and hadn’t been called up for the Sorting. Was Hufflepuff really such an awful House that this girl whom had been here for at least a year already still wasn’t comfortable? First being seperated from her best friend, now being placed in a House she probably wouldn’t like. Hopefully she was being irrational, and the year would turn out well. At least, she hoped so… “Doing alright, sugar cube?” said Applejack, who seemed to be worried about her new friend. Fluttershy, slightly surprised, looked back at her, appreciating the gesture. “Oh, y-yes, I’m fine,” she lied through her teeth. Rarity sat in horrified silence, trying to understand why the Sorting Hat had placed her here. She glared over at that blue-haired girl. Why should she be judged for trying to make an effort to look good? She fished a compact out of a purse she’d brought and checked her reflection. It looked exactly the same as it did when she’d applied in the morning: smooth, soft, and the perfect color, just like the dresses she’d sewn as a hobby. Speaking of those dresses, she had brought a few of them with her, but how was she meant to work on them here? No doubt that she wouldn’t be able to get a mannequin, but she couldn’t possibly be seen doing such a refined feminine activity in a House full of these Slytherin barbarians. She’d just have to find a way. It wasn’t long before most of the food was gone, the feast was ended, and the prefects led everyone into their common rooms. The girls got a good look at the castle on the way. Fluttershy jumped in shock when a painting she passed greeted her, and Twilight attempted conversation with a portrait of Star-swirl the Bearded. Unfortunately, it was cut short, as she had to keep moving. The girls managed to get in a few words with each other, but soon had to part ways, each heading in the direction of their respective House. Upon arriving at the door to Ravenclaw Tower, the Ravenclaw first-years were surprised to hear the knocker speak, giving the leading prefect a riddle to solve in order to enter. “Tell me, Amber Waves… Which came first, the dragon or the egg?” The prefect, now known to be Amber Waves, quickly responded, “Easy. The egg, but the creature that laid it was not a dragon. You’re starting to repeat riddles, knocker.” The knocker, annoyed as it seemed to be, opened the door. “Fine. You may enter.” Twilight’s breath was taken away as soon as she stepped into the Ravenclaw common room. It looked even better than the pictures she’d seen, crisp white walls with a deep blue domed ceiling and floor. Most of the bronze furniture was clawed at the end, giving the room an air of class. Oh, and that bookshelf! A tiny little room within a room (Could a bookshelf be a room? Of course.) with another domed ceiling and a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw herself. Finishing all of the books could take two years, at least, the set ranging from historical nonfiction to fantasy novels. Twilight couldn’t wait to start reading, but she needed to go upstairs to the dorms and unpack. Oh, well. Twilight followed the rest of the students through a little wooden door behind the statue into the dorm rooms, then following the steady stream of girls that went through yet another door. It was a pleasant surprise to see that everyone’s bags had been delivered to a bed, the bed that would be theirs for the whole year. Owlowicious gave a happy “Hoot!” upon seeing Twilight, who then returned a smile to her owl and began to unpack. Applejack spread her old red-and-white plaid blanket over her new bed. It just didn’t feel like home without it. She tossed her hat onto a night-stand collapsed on the bed with a happy sigh. Finally, she had settled in. Fluttershy seemed to be doing okay as well. She’d told Applejack that the Hufflepuff common room, with its woodsy decór and plant life, already felt like home. Applejack couldn’t agree more. Most everybody who had been Sorted into Hufflepuff, despite the House’s rather unfair reputation, felt quite at home. Yippee! Pinkie had been sorted into Gryffindor with Maud, her favorite sister, and Rainbow Dash! She couldn’t wait to get started! She’d heard that Gryffindors liked to party– her kind of people! Maybe there would be a beginning-of-the-year party! She could help to plan it! Pinkie looked over to Rainbow Dash, who was on the bed next to her, clutching her stomach. “Oh, um, hey, Dash, you okay?” Rainbow looked back over at Pinkie. “Ugh… I don’t feel so great. My gut is acting up. I probably had too much pie.” She groaned, then looked a little annoyed. “Hey, wait a minute, you had at least three times the amount of food I did! How come you’re still fine?” All Pinkie could do was shrug. Rarity lay in her bed, still mulling over her misery. While she had at first been impressed by the rather nice Gothic style of the Slytherin common room, it still did not make up for the fact that it was a dungeon. A dungeon. Rarity wasn’t a prisoner, what in the name of Star Swirl the Bearded was she doing here?! And exactly why couldn’t these savages at least acquire some decent taste in decoration? While the Gothic style was quite fitting, that Oriental rug in the center completely clashed with the whole room. Oh, even Gryffindor, with their loud parties and brash persona, would have been better than this. Of course, living in a dungeon was just as disgusting as Rarity had imagined. There was mud. Everywhere. In the cracks of the bricks in the floor, dripping from the ceiling. Especially the ceiling, where it dripped down onto unsuspecting students. Drip, drip, it went. As a drop of mud dripped onto Rarity’s face with a plop, she gasped and turned a shade of green even sicklier than the light emitted by the lamps in the common room.