Leo Perry and the Scrolls of the Druid

- CHAPTER SEVEN -

Arrival, Exploration and Embarrassment

Leo stood on the front lawn, in the rain beside Henry, Deirdre, Jessica, Jamie and Chris.

'Wow! This is it?' Leo asked in excitement.

'This . . . is it?' Chris asked skeptically, 'I thought it would be bigger.' Leo looked at Henry who shrugged his shoulders.

'First years!' called a voice, 'First years, this way!' Leo looked over to see a wizard standing out on the walkway to the castle, calling them over to him. He was skinny and wasn't that tall, with short black hair (with grey spots) mostly hidden under a tall pointed hat. Once he had all of the newest students surrounding him, he began to speak.

'Welcome to Eggswax Notorious School of Sorcery. I am Professor Wigelstrom, the deputy Headmaster,' he said in a very businesslike way, 'Over the next two semesters you will learn all you need to know about the wizarding world to get you started on your way to becoming fully trained witches and wizards. After I am finished speaking, you may head to the castle. You may leave your luggage in the main foyer. It will be taken to your dormitories at dinner. For the rest of the afternoon you may explore the inside of the castle. You may go anywhere as long as there is nothing stopping you, such as signs saying 'Do Not Enter' or something like that, or locks. Even, if invited you may not enter a clan's living quarters. When you hear me call you, you must report to the main foyer where you will be given instructions to proceed to your sorting and then the feast. You will then be told all of the rules and regulations and your term will start tomorrow.'

'There's more rules?' asked Henry, 'I thought that after talking about what we can and can't do for a half hour, he would've put himself to sleep if he'd continued any further.'

'Yeah,' Leo agreed.

'You may not explore outside the castle,' continued Professor Wigelstrom, 'There are too many rules. After hearing them this evening, you will be able to go exploring. Well, not tonight, or any night this week for that matter, what with new lessons and homework and all. Possibly this weekend you may explore. You may . . . go.'

Leo ran toward the castle, through the rain, with Henry. The castle was growing larger and larger as they neared it. They came to some steps just below a large pair of doors. They followed some other first year students through and came to a huge room. The door closed behind them.

'Wow!' said Henry. Leo completely agreed. The room was huge with large doorways leading off of it. There was a large opening on the furthest wall, through which he could see a large staircase. Above the door that he just came through, Leo could see large stained glass windows. The other first years were setting their trunks and bags down in an empty corner of the room. This was the main foyer.

Leo and Henry set their things in the corner like everyone else. Leo sat down Casper's carrier and opened the door so that he could go and explore too. They looked around.

'Where are the others?' asked Leo. He couldn't see Deirdre, Jessica, Jamie or even Chris.

'I don't know,' said Henry, 'I guess they got here before us.'

'Oh well,' said Leo, 'C'mon let's check this place out.' They headed for the stairs in the next room.

The rest of the afternoon was very uneventful. They walked around everywhere they could. They saw a few older students, but most seemed to stay in their living quarters. They looked at paintings they walked down hallways and learned which classes would be on which floors and then they headed back to the main foyer. They still hadn't seen any of their friends.

'Let's go in there,' said Henry. He was pointing to a door of to the side of the foyer. They had already seen a few students go through there.

They passed through the doors and just as they did when they first saw the castle that morning, they looked in awe. There before them was the largest room they had seen yet. The ceiling was extremely high and the room was very long. Near the top of the pointed ceiling were large windows that let lots of light in. On the floor sat nine very long tables. The tables were placed so that there were four closest to where Leo and Henry stood and then another four on the other side of them and then another long table sat perpendicular to these tables at the front of the room.

'This must be the dining hall,' Leo thought out loud.

'You think?' Henry said sarcastically.

'Hey there's Deirdre,' Leo pointed at a brown haired girl sitting with her head down at one of the tables. She was sitting all alone and seemed to be reading something. They walked over to the table.

'Hey Deirdre,' said Henry.

'Oh, hi,' she said.

'What happened to you guys? We were looking for you when we got into the school,' Leo asked.

'Well, Chris and Jessica thought it would be funny if we ditched you guys. I got pulled along, but they were acting like idiots, so I left and came back here to read.'

'You did you see parts of the castle?' Leo asked.

'Yeah but it was boring.'

'What are you reading?' Henry asked.

'Oh, it's just some book about the school. My dad picked it up with my school stuff. He thought it would come in handy for when I got here. Not to mention he wrote it,' she said.

'Your dad wrote that book?' Leo asked looking at the thick volume.

'Yeah it's not much more exciting than walking around the castle though.'

'Your dad's Geoffrey Killen? D'you mind if I read it for a bit?' asked Henry.

'Be my guest. You'd probably be the second reader of all time. My dad's books don't sell very well,' she said. The three sat together for the rest of the afternoon. They talked and in Henry's case, read. Then they heard a magically magnified voice calling them to the main foyer. They recognized the voice as Professor Wigelstrom's.

'Will all first year students, please report to the main foyer. Thank you.'

'Guess we better go then,' said Leo.

'Yeah,' the others agreed. Deirdre took her book from Henry and carried it to her things once they entered the main foyer. They then made their way over to a crowd of first years standing next to Professor Wigelstrom.

Leo looked out the window and noticed that it was getting dark out. He saw Jessica, Chris and Jamie walk up to the crowd. When everyone had got there, which took a while as there were quite a few first years, Professor Wigelstrom started speaking.

'The sorting ceremony will take place in a half hour. You are to go through these doors,' he pointed at a set of doors leading off of the main foyer, 'Inside you will find two doors. The one on the left is for the boys and the one on the right is for the girls. Once inside you will get unchanged and wait until you hear your name called. Then you leave through the door on the other side of the changing room and walk down the hallway where you will be sorted.'

'We're going to be sorted naked?' asked Henry. Leo looked around to see many red faces.

'As long as we don't have to see him naked,' said a blonde girl standing next to Leo. Leo didn't know what was going on. He didn't want to stand naked in front of the whole school. He would have to follow orders though.

'You may go now,' said Professor Wigelstrom. Leo followed the crowd through the doors with Henry and Deirdre. They heard, from outside Professor Wigelstrom's magnified voice again.

'All students, who are not in first year, please report to the dining hall. The sorting ceremony will take place in twenty-five minutes.'

Leo and Henry parted with Deirdre and they went through their separate doors. The boys entered the next room. It was empty except for a few cubicles off to the sides. There were nowhere near enough cubicles for them all to share though. Henry ran for one. His face was still red from earlier. Leo began to get unchanged and soon there was a room full of boys standing in their underwear and undershirts. Henry's face was still bright red as many faces in the room were.

'How can you look so calm?' Henry asked Leo.

'What?' Leo said.

'Well, we're all sitting here embarrassed out of our minds, but you, you're just standing there like "So I'm naked, so what?"'

'I don't think so,' said Leo, 'I'm just as nervous as you. I guess I just hide it better.'

'How can you hide it?' Henry asked, 'We have to stand in front of the school half naked!'

'Don't remind me,' said Leo, 'Besides they never said we would. You're just assuming.'

'No,' said a voice, ''fraid not. My older brother told me, so I know. We have to stand there like this in front of the school. That's why I wore something half descent. By the way, nice tighty whities, Henry.' It was Chris. Leo rolled his eyes.

'I think your brother just told you that and you believed him because you're so gullible,'said Leo, 'They can't make us stand out there like this!'

'Funny you should mention gullible,' said Chris, 'Who told you to wear those?' He was pointing to Leo's orange boxer shorts. Another boy stood next to Chris and laughed. He was tall and he had hair that stood up everywhere.

'Oh shut up,' said Henry, 'Don't you ever have anything nice to say?'

'Don't worry about it Henry,' Leo said, 'He's just mad because we're too smart and we know not to waste our time on people like him.'

Chris was about to speak, when suddenly they all heard Professor Wigelstrom's magnified voice again. 'The sorting will begin now. When your name is called walk through the door and proceed down the hallway.' There was a pause and then, 'Sean Avery!' A boy with sandy hair walked through the door and disappeared. The boys were quiet and listened and then they heard Professor Wigelstrom again, 'PUMOGAR!'

'So what's that mean?' Leo turned to Henry ignoring Chris.

'That's his clan. He's in Pumogar. There's also, Raserpen, Godrocerf, Aguilor, Baross, Zoropard, Loberon and Cabolom.' Many more names were called both boys and girls. Leo heard students get sorted into all the clans.

'GODROCERF!'

'RASERPEN!' There was a pause.

'Chris Haveroth!' Leo watched Chris walk out the room and looked at Henry with a very large smile on his face. 'AGUILOR!' called Professor Wigelstrom's voice.

A few more names were called and then another one that Leo recognized was called.

'Deirdre Killen!' Leo looked at Henry. He felt sorry for Deirdre then, but then he remembered that he would have to do the same thing.

'LOBERON!' Leo listened hard and heard some faint cheering and he wondered what exactly was going on. Did they actually have to stand in front of the school naked? Professor Wigelstrom continued on with the names, 'Elizabeth Leclair!'

Leo listened as more and more people were called. In reality it was only about five minutes but it felt like forever. Professor Wiglestrom started calling names that began with 'P'. Leo waited a second.

'Leo Perry!' called the teacher's voice. He looked at Henry.

'Wish me luck!' he said.

'Good luck,' said Henry. Leo passed through the door. He was in a short hallway. He turned the corner at the end and he was face with a fork in the hallway. He would have to choose which way he would go. He chose the left path and continued on. He turned two more corners and he came to a wall. He could turn to the left or the right. He chose to turn to the right. He turned another corner and came to another fork. He chose the right path this time. He could hear the sound of the dining hall now and they were growing louder as he walked. He turned yet another corner and found a wall with two doors. He would have to choose which door to go through. He stepped forward, ready to decide and then he remembered. He was standing in his underwear ready to face a whole school of wizards. He should be running the other way, but he knew he had to go forward.

He used a rhyme to decide which door to go through. He grabbed the knob of the door on the right. He turned and he pushed it open.

He was at the front of the dining hall. All eyes were on him. Suddenly the furthest table to the left erupted in cheers while everyone else clapped. He looked over the tables. The one right in front of him was where the teachers sat. The other tables were all filled with students. At one table the students wore, white robes, at the next they were wearing green robes. Leo saw that there were also students wearing, red, black, yellow, orange, and purple robes. The table at the back, the ones who cheered for him and who were waving him to them now, wore blue robes. Leo felt his face go red as he had opened the door. He looked down and was relieved to see blue robes.

'LOBERON!' called Professor Wiglestrom and Leo walked to the table in the back. He spotted Deirdre and sat down beside her. The room went silent as Professor Wigelstrom called the next name.

'That was nerve racking,' said Leo to Deirdre.

'Yeah,' she said.

'Hey,' said the girl sitting next to Deirdre. It was the same girl who had stood next to Leo in the main foyer earlier, 'What do you think? Does blue suit me?'

'What?' Leo asked.

'Blue, like our robes. Do you think I look good in it? Deirdre told me I looked OK but I want a guy's opinion. Oh, by the way, I'm Lizz Leclair.' she said all this very fast.

'I think you look fine,' said Leo, 'I'm Leo Perry.'

'I know,' she said, 'I just saw you get sorted remember? So fine? That's it?'

'You look very pretty,' Leo corrected himself quickly. This girl would need getting used to.

Leo watched as more people came out of the door behind the teacher's table. There was only one so it seemed that no matter which one he had picked he would end up in the same room. He had had a wild second of thinking that if he had picked the wrong one they would send him home. It seemed that the only difference was that if you went through one door you would have one colour of robes and if you went through another you would have another colour of robes.

He watched as person after person came through the door with red, embarrassed faces. He was received to see that the robes automatically covered them as they came through the door and no one ever saw anyone in their underwear. Some people were too nervous to notice their new robes and some saw the crowd and slammed the door shut with fright. Professor Wigelstrom would have to go through the door and get them when this happened.

Leo looked around the dining hall. He spotted Josh at one of the front tables, in green robes. He waved and Josh gave him a nod of acknowledgment.

'Henry Walsh!' called Professor Wigelstrom and Leo waited to see his friend come through the door. Before no time the door opened to reveal Henry in blue robes. Leo clapped loudly with the rest of the Loberon clan. It seemed like he took longer than Henry to be sorted but he supposed that was just nerves. Henry joined them as the last few names were called.

'Wasn't that pleasant?' Leo said to Henry.

'Yes, hah hah,' Henry said with his usual sarcasm.

'Well, at least we were put into the same clan,' said Leo.

'Yeah. Well actually we chose where we go,' he said, 'I read it in Deirdre's dad's book. It said that in the sorting ceremony, students choose their clan.'

'What? You knew what would happen?' Leo said.

'No. I just knew that we chose somehow. It's like a brain teaser. How we think influences the outcome,' he said.

'You're way to smart to be so uncaring,' Leo laughed.

'Attention!' called Professor Wigelstrom, 'Please give a round of applause to the new students!'

Everyone in the hall clapped. He continued when everyone was silent.

'We are sure that you will be happy in your new clans. I would like to introduce to you, if you do not already know him, your headmaster, Professor Samuel Olorin.' With that Professor Wigelstrom walked over to the teacher's table and sat down in an empty seat.

Out of an elaborately decorated chair in the middle of the teacher's table, rose an older man. He was skinny and he wore long sweeping robes. He was balding with a rim of snow white hair on his head. He had a short beard that was the same colour.

'Welcome to you next year at Eggswax! I'm sure that you will learn many new things and have lots of fun during the next year. As long as you keep out of trouble, we support everything you do. Please remember, when you leave the dining hall this evening to get your timetables from Professor Wigelstrom and his assistants. After the feast we will go over the rules, but for now, let the shoveling of food, commence.'

The plates in front of Leo filled with food. He tried almost everything, except for some soup that looked like mushed grass. He ate more of the fajitas than anything else, but he thought it all tasted wonderful.

'This is great!' said Leo.

'I know!' agreed Henry.

'Ew,' Leo looked at Deirdre. She had tried the 'grass soup' and was now pushing it away.

'Your brave!' Leo said in amazement, 'I wouldn't go anywhere near that!'

'Remind me,' she said, 'And I won't ever again! Yuck.'

'That's why I just stick to what I know,' said Lizz. Leo saw that the only thing she had on her plate was a tiny helping of spaghetti.

'That's all you know of?' he asked her.

'No, I just don't like anything else,' she replied with a smile. Leo turned to the boy sitting next to him. He was another first year.

'Hi I'm Leo,' he said.

'Tyler,' the boy shook Leo's hand. He was skinny and had brown hair. The boy sitting across from Tyler looked at Leo. He was a larger boy. He had dark blonde hair and a smile on his round face.

'I'm Ryan,' he said through bites of his chicken leg.

'Hi,' Leo turned back to Henry who was talking to an older student with very dark, brown hair that he was sitting beside.

'So we go by a semester system then?' Henry was asking.

'Yeah. We have four subjects a semester.' Henry saw Leo watching them.

'Leo, this is Tom he's a fifth year,' said Henry.

'Hi,' said Leo.

'So what else happens during the year?' Henry asked.

'I don't know,' said Tom.

'He does so,' said a red-haired girl beside him, 'He's been full to bursting today. He's been dying to talk about quidditch. He wants to try out for the team. He hasn't made it the last four years. He's getting very hopeful and determined now, though. He's been practicing and he thinks there's no way he can't make it now. Oh, I'm Beth.'

'Leo,' said Leo.

'I'm Henry,' he said.

'Beth!' said Tom, 'Don't! You know I'm not supposed to talk about it all day!' Beth turned to the others.

'He bet one of his friends that he could not talk about quidditch for a whole day,' she explained, 'I don't think he can do it though.'

'Did I hear you guys talking about quidditch over there?' called a blonde boy sitting a bit down the table.

'No!' said Tom defensively, 'It was Beth! She was the one talking about quidditch!'

Beth began to laugh and Tom clapped his hand to his mouth.

'Pay up!' laughed the boy from down the table. Tom got up, walked down the table and gave him a handful of silver and bronze coins.

'He always loses bets,' said Beth, 'That's why people make them with him so much.' Leo looked at Henry and they both laughed. The feast ended soon after, when all of the food, even the desserts, disappeared. Professor Olorin stood up.

'Well,' he said, 'I hope that now you are all full and ready to sleep, so that you are well rested for lessons tomorrow.' There were groans from the crowd, 'Now for the rules. Professor Wigelstrom, if you please.'

'Thank you,' Professor Wigelstrom stood up as the headmaster sat down, 'You may not go anywhere where you are told not to. This means if there is a sign telling you not to or a barricade, do not go wherever it is you are planning to go. You may not leave the borders of the school yard. Do not enter the arctic. Do not go near the mountains. The caves are strictly forbidden. You may not enter the forest on the southern border. You may not go into any attics or basements that you are not prohibited to do so. This means if there is not a class or a living room and dormitory in the attic or basement, do not go there. Stay on the main hallways at all times. Do not use secret pathways through the castle unless absolutely necessary. No students should be out later than ten at night. Peer tutors should be in their dormitories by eleven. Breakfast is at seven-thirty. Lunch is at twelve and dinner is at six. You may not be able to get snacks in between so come at meal times. First years should not be on broomsticks until after their first flying instruction. To hear the rest of the rules, do something wrong and see if you're punished!' Leo looked at Henry, not sure if he should laugh.

'Please get your timetables as you leave, and meet your peer tutors out in the main foyer,' said Professor Olorin. Leo got up and walked to the door with Henry. They were given their timetables by Professor Wigelstrom and then they went to the main foyer. They followed the rest of the students dressed in blue. They gathered around the peer tutors. A seventh year boy and girl were standing in front of them all.

'I'm John and this is Cyndi,' said the boy, 'We are your peer tutors this year. First years stay here. The rest of you can be on your way.'

'Go straight to the dormitories!' Cyndi called after them. John continued talking to the first years.

'We will go up to the dormitories in a moment. They are on the sixth floor. There is a dormitory on every floor for every clan up 'til the eighth floor. Eight clans eight floors, get it?'

'You can't go into any other clan's dormitory or living room,' said Cyndi.

'Right,' said John, 'When we go upstairs, we will enter the living room. Off of that will be doors to the dormitories. There is a girl's dormitory and a boy's dormitory.'

'Let's go then,' said Cyndi and they set off for the staircase. They climbed up and up and up. Leo saw other clans go off to different floors and then finally they walked down a hallway. They stopped at a coat of armor.

'Now, all you have to do,' said John, 'Is shake this guy's hand.' He did so and the coat of armor jumped out of the way and the wall behind it opened up. Leo walked through this new opening to find a room full of tables, chairs and couches. Leo didn't look very hard, he was more interested in getting to bed, he was tired. 'Boys,' said John 'Follow me.'

'Girls, this way!' said Cyndi.

Leo and Henry followed John through the door to the left in the living room. They entered a very long room full of four poster beds. John stopped at the closest one to the door.

'This is my bed,' he said, 'Just in case you need me. Your beds are at the very end. Goodnight.'

Leo walked along longing to sleep. Tyler, Ryan, Henry and a few other boys walked along with him. They walked by many beds. Some had closed curtains and some had open curtains so you could see sleeping, or close to sleeping boys.

They came to the end of the room. There were nine empty beds with trunks at the bottom of them. Leo looked for his trunk. His bed was the one at the very end of the room. Fortunately, Henry's was right beside his.

'Goodnight, Leo,' said Henry.

'Goodnight,' said Leo. He got in bed and thought about his day. He had been sorted into Loberon and met so many people. He didn't know how he would remember all of their names. Dinner was so good though. He remembered his fajitas. Casper jumped up on his bed just then.

'Had a fun day, bud?' Leo asked him. The cat curled up and fell asleep at Leo's feet, as he fell asleep as well.