So It Begins

"Quickly now!" The Headmistress called out as she moved around in a hurry. Ever since that terrible battle she had hoped to see this school open one day and now that would finally happen. Professor McGonagall took her place in the middle of the large entrance hall facing it's main doors where soon enough their first students would come from. On her flanks were the various teachers that had assisted in the reopening and would continue to work at the school. Among them were a noticeable few such as Professor Longbottom who would teach Herbology, and Professor Seraph who had stayed to now teach Defense against the Dark Arts.

The latter of the two stood directly to the right of McGonogall with his eyes locked on the doors. In his head two names listed repeatedly; those of two children he'd be mentoring. With them constantly in mind so that he dare not forget them, he stood straight with his hands joined behind his back just as the doors opened to a crowd of students.

Domino's dark green eyes glanced around the ornate room, her face schooled into a very well practiced expression of boredom. She tightened her ponytail, blowing her black bangs out of her face before sighing and tucking them behind her ears. 

Under the surface she was buzzing with excitement, everything around her was magic. She could do magic. Mino's hand moved under her robes, slipping into a pocket that held her wand and the smallest of mischievous grins graced her face. Her eyes stopped on the Slytherin table. Het house table. Glancing at the other mass of students she slipped away, sitting more towards the end of her table alone. She preferred to sit alone on the edge, it was an old habit she had. It would provide the fastest escape route should she need one, another old habit of hers.

Zayn funneled into the hall with the crowd, following their collective gaze up to the architecture around them. A grand hall dotted with floating candles and beautiful stained glass windows like nothing he'd ever seen before. Slowly the mass of students began to disperse to their seperate tables and along with them Zayn followed to his own house; Ravenclaw. 

Taking a seat in the midst of the group and flashing each of them a minute smile, he eagerly awaited the Headmistress to speak.

Pointing her wand to her own throat, McGonagall whispered a singular word.
"Sonorus" 
After a small flicker of light came from her wand, she began speaking louder than humanly possible in order to address the whole hall.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" She began, waiting to ensure she had everyone's attention. "As you know it has been many years since we last opened our halls for teaching, but now finally we are able to. The past is behind us but we shall never forget it. We will certainly not forget the sacrifices made by those dearest to us. Instead we shall learn from them and move forward to a new generation of witches and wizards!"

A small break as she cleared her throat came, it was clear she was getting even older these days.
"Now due to the lack of numbers we have to start with there are some differences. You may notice you are all of varying ages yet hold the same grade. This is because our grades will be based off your performance practically and academically, not by time. If you pass your tests you will move to the next grade, but if you don't time won't fix that."

"Furthermore you will be assigned mentors to help you settle in, the names of which shall be given to you..." She paused again, bringing out her wand to perform a small flick. "Now." Wisps of light whirled gently from her wand, covering the room until they fell infront of each student and formed a piece of paper infront of them. 

Everyone quickly reached to see who they had gotten, whilst for Domino and Zayn it would read:
"Professor Seraph".

"Now please, find your mentor promptly so they can begin."

A slight frown formed on Mino's face, she did not particularly like having a mentor. From the way she was raised she was used to being independent and learning things on her own. But she supposed this couldn't be avoided, it's not like she hadn't pretended to be someone else before. It wouldn't be hard to play the role of the participating hard working student. 

Mino got up, toying with her hair again and looking around the room for a Professor Seraph. Once she spotted him she began to make her way over there,  holding the piece of paper in her hand. "Professor Seraph?" Despite the fact that for eleven years of her life Mino grew up in America, her voice still held a thick french accent when she spoke.

Zayn listened in wonder at McGonagall's speech, somewhat honored to be hearing her words welcome him to the school. He knew all about the war and her part in it, aswell as Professor Longbottom too. Part of him hoped one of them would be his mentor but he was not disappointed to read 'Professor Seraph' on his paper. Quickly he stood up to find him.

"Professor Seraph, it's an honor." Zayn greeted with a smile before turning to see his fellow student who seemed to also be assigned to Seraph. "Hey I'm Zayn, nice to meet you." His tone was ever welcoming, even extending a hand to offer her a shake.

"That's me." Peter replied to both of them, flashing a smile at how pleasant Zayn in particular seemed. Whether or not he was really that eager he didn't know, but he could put up with it. He didn't consider himself an eager wizard and never had done, in fact he seemed to be one of the most laid back of the teachers.

Once the two students had done their greetings Peter would beckon them to follow, moving down the edge of the hall towards the main corridors. 
"So I'll be your mentor for the foreseeable future. I don't know how much you know about how Hogwarts used to run, but things have changed alot mainly due to our smaller numbers." He glanced a look at the two of them as they walked. They seemed to be heading for the classroom section of the school.

"Tell me, what do you know already? Any spells you can do or knowledge you have. I need to know where to start if I'm going to get your first grading done." He asked whilst he eyes scanned the doors on either side of the corridor, seemingly searching for a certain room.

Mino hesitated before reaching out and shaking the boy's hand, "Oui, it is nice to meet you too..." Mino trailed off,looking him up and down and examining his house colors for a moment before the slightest of smiles tugged at her lips. "Garçon corbeau." 

She retracted her hand and followed after the Professor, her eyes looking around the rooms and halls. She couldn't disguise the wonder in them. She was so caught up in oogling the castle that it took her a moment to register that the professor had asked a question. "Next to nothing."

Zayn raised an eyebrow at the french words, himself only knowing English and Chinese. In turn he noticed her house colors as Slytherin, trying hard not to assume she was the stereotype he had heard of.

As they walked through the corridors he too was caught up examining the castle, but replied quicker to the Professor.
"The basics. I can move small objects and I know about some transfiguration, but haven't done any yet." He glanced at Mino as she answered, half-glad he was more experienced if only slightly.

"I see, alot to do then." Peter smiled as he came to a sudden stop and spun on his foot to face a door to his left. The inscription on it's sign read 'Practice Room'. With a wave of his hand the door opened and allowed them to step through. Inside it was spacious and bare, the only largely noticeable feature being the long wooden walkway raised in the center that acted as a dueling space. Around the edges of the room small objects such as books and plates sat, no doubt for practicing spells on.

"I've got to assess your starting ability, which in it's own way will teach you some basics." Finally he turned to face them properly, having not done so the whole walk. Now they could see his shadow of a beard and rugged appearance, supported by the rolled-up sleeved shirt and waistcoat. It was obvious he was one of the less serious teachers.

"Now I'm a practical person, I prefer using spells rather than reading about them. That being said you're free to learn in whichever way you'd like in your spare time. Right now though there's the first thing; your wands." His left hand beckoned for them to unsheathe them, while his right brought out his own for them to see. 

"Alder Wood with Dragon Heartstring, 11 inches. Only slightly flexible." His hands came together to bend the wand minutely. "Quite common materials I must say. Now what of yours?"

Mino pulled out her wand, it was a long sleek peice of dark would with feminine looking engravings carved into it. A very pretty looking wand. "Ebony wood with a thunder bird tail feather. The wand man said it was excellent for transfiguration and very loyal, but difficult to control." Mino looked at the professor with interest.

"What's transfiguration?" Then Mino tapped her chin with her wand while she thought. "Once without meaning to I turned one cop's hair green and the other one bald."

Zayn too pulled out his wand, a much lighter colored wood that seemed thinner to the eye. "Aspen Wood with Jackalope Antler." He explained, glancing to see Mino's wand aswell. His smile turned into a grin as he exhaled a small laugh at her. "Transfiguration is changing the shape or form of objects, maybe even people."

"I've never done any myself, but I heard it's a core subject here."

"Impressive," Peter gave a small nod to Mino's wand before looking to Zayn's. "Jackalope Antler, interesting. Both respectable wands for sure." His fingers flickered as he twirled his wand into a standard grip with his right hand.

"Right you are about Transfiguration, but for starters we're going to do Charms. Specifically the Levitation Charm. Watch." Hand shifting to the side and wand pointed at a small plate, the professor performed a small movement with the point clear enough for the students to see. As he did so he spoke two words:
"Wingardium Leviosa." 


The plate lifted up in unison with his wand, seemingly floating in the air parallel to wherever he pointed.
"A simple charm with extremely variable use. You can cook, write or fight with it. I wouldn't go launching objects at other students though lest I get reprimanded." He gave a smirk to the two of them before setting out two feathers on the surface of the wooden walkway. "Try levitating the feathers for starters."

The plate gently returned to the ground, allowing Peter to lower his wand and watch the students.

Normally Mino would have glared at the boy for laughing, but her excitement for transfiguration over ruled her annoyance. For most of her life Mino was playing the roles of many different people, for her father's cons of course. She had told herself she was going to give that life up, but transfiguration seemed too good to pass off. 

She frowned slightly, obviously wanting to hear more about transfiguration instead of levitating things but she shrugged off the disappointment in a moment. On the train ride here she had amused herself with a few books, one of which was the proper way to move a wand while doing a spell. Swish and flick. 

"Wingardium Leviosa." Mino swished and flicked her wand, but all the feather did was quiver. She frowned and was about to try again, but then she considered the fact that maybe her accent wasn't allowing her to pronounce it correctly. With a clearing of her throat she spoke in the American accent she had spent years practicing as she grew up in the America's. "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather levitated maybe an inch off the table.