A Brand New Life

[Sylvester Lombardi]

Vester had just been sorted the night previously. So much excitement for one night! It was nothing like anything he had ever experienced before. Through all of the action, he hadn't had much time to talk to get to know many of the other first years. He was too busy taking in the grand sights of the castle and all its wonder. The morning after the sorting he made his way down to the lakefront. He figured the castle was huge and he would be able to see more of the grounds in one day than he would see of the castle in months.

It was almost an hour to midday, and Vester had just finished eating in the Great Hall. The sun was out shining in a sky made of brilliant blue. It was a great day to be out on the grounds! As he approached the lake and sat near the edge he was amazed at the sheer size of it. Vester wondered if there were any magical creatures living in this lake. His mum had gone to the Hogwarts in Europe, and she said that lake contained many magical creatures, including Merpeople and a giant squid. He had hoped that this would have a giant squid as well! What an adventure that would be. He would have to write to his little sisters right away if he met something like that within the first few days of school. This thought brought his mind back home, where his family was. Sylvester had already started to miss his family, but he knew his place was to be here. He had to become a great wizard and make his parents and sisters proud! And hopefully one day his sisters would join him here. If there were here they would have all kinds of adventures together, and nothing would be able to stop them.

These happy thoughts busied Vester's attention as he gazed out into the lake on that beautiful, sunny day....

 

[Maddie Thompson]

Maddie skipped along in the bright sun. The weather perfectly matched her mood. She had been sorted into Ravenclaw the day previously, and was absolutely ecstatic. So many of the people were like her, always wanting to know more, how something worked, and it had made her entire week. Some had gotten annoyed with her peppiness but she didn't care. She was around people like her, and she was going to enjoy every single second of it.

Her grandmother had told her that her favorite place to visit was the lake, so Maddie had made her way down there after breakfast. It was a beautiful shimmering blue and sometimes she could swear that there were things swimming just below the surface. Of course she already knew this, it was her mother's favorite past time while she was at Hogwarts to go to the lake and communicate with the creatures that resided in its depths. There was nothing else her mother could do, simply because she was a Squib. Maddie was grateful every day that she had gotten her powers because she had seen how her mother had suffered.

Off in the distance, she saw a young boy, probably around her own age, staring out into the lake. Curious as to what another first year would be doing out here instead of with friends, she began to run towards him. She was there in no time, having taken Track at muggle school. She tapped him lightly on the shoulder and said with a big grin, "Hi, I'm Maddie. Who are you?"

 

[Sylvester Lombardi]

Vester was deep in thought as he looked out towards the lake. But, to his surprise, someone tapped on his shoulder. He jumped a little bit at the action, as he hadn't heard anyone coming up behind him. He turned around and saw a young girl, about his age. "Hi, I'm Maddie. Who are you? he heard her say.

Vester smiled at her and replied, "Hello! My name is Sylvester, it's nice to meet you! I'm a Gryffindor 1st Year, how about you? He stuck out his hand to shake hers, which was something that his mum had told him to always do when meeting someone new. It was polite, she always said, and politeness is something Sylvester should always have. He continued to smile as he waited for a response, being the happy, young eleven year old he was.

 

[Maddie Thompson]

Maddie felt a bit bad that she had surprised the boy, thinking it probably would have been wiser to give the boy some warning, but what was done was done. She couldn't change it, so she didn't dwell on it. When she heard his name, she said the first thing that came to her mind, which just happened to be, "Oh, like the cat? You know, from the cartoon show?" Maddie smiled big, trying to show him she was just joking. "I'm a first year Ravenclaw, pleased to meet you!" She took his hand and shook it firmly, showing the respect a fellow wizard deserved, as her grandmother told her. "What brings you here to this beautiful lake?"

 

[Sylvester Lombardi]

Vester's face turned a little red as he heard her mention the cartoon cat. A few kids, while growing up, teased him a little bit about it, but it was never too bad. He decided to get over it at this new school. This was a brand new life for him, and he wasn't going to let anything ruin it. Vester was going to be nice to everyone, and if he did that then he figured people would be nice back to him.

He nodded and held eye contact as he heard the girl speak. He saw her big smile and new she was only joking. Vester smiled again and was glad that someone friendly decided to talk to him. "Yeah, like the cartoon show haha," he said, laughing. "I just decided to come take a look at the grounds today. I figured that I would be able to see more of the grounds today than I will of the castle this whole year! That, and I just became a bit mesmerized by the lake. You're right, it is very beautiful." Vester said as he turned his gaze towards the giant lake.

He looked back at Maddie and said, "What about you? What're you doing out here all by yourself?"

 

[Maddie Thompson]

Maddie noticed Sylvester redden very slightly and she giggled a little bit. For some reason she had always thought it funny when people got embarassed, probably because she rarely ever was. Maddie tilted her head at his statement that he would probably see more of the grounds that entire day than the whole year. "Why do you think that? I thought our classes were all around the building..." she asked, slightly confused. The only reason she wasn't searching every nook and cranny of the building was because she thought she would have the whole year to find the secret passageways and rooms.

"I'm here because my grandma said that this was the most beautiful spot in all of Hogwarts, and by far the most fascinating. So far I've got to agree with her," she said with a little giggle. "What's your family like?" She asked, suddenly curious.

 

[Sylvester Lombardi]

"Well my mum went to the Hogwarts in Europe and said out of the 7 years she attended, she had still never seen all of the castle. I figure this one is just the same, so the grounds would be more fun to see first," Vester replied with a smile. He hoped he made some sense with that, and didn't seem like a lunatic. He didn't want people to think he was weird when he first met them. His mum told him first impressions were always important.

Vester listened to her talking about her grandma and her experience at the school. "Well that's cool," he said, "I would have to agree so far. The lake looks great today! I wonder how it will be when it freezes over during the winter. That should be fun!." Then he realized he was rambling a little bit. He often did this, and his sisters would point this out to him to tease him, but they always listened to what he had to say. They still liked to listen because they looked up to him so much.

When Maddie asked about his family he smiled at the thought of them. "My family is a bit crazy, but I love them very much. My mum and dad's names are Daniela and Carlo. We're from Italy in Europe. I moved to Australia when I was two though, so I don't remember any of it there. I also have two younger sisters, Sophia who is two years younger and Isabella who is three younger than me. We're all very close and I spent a lot of time looking after my sisters growing up," he explained, and as he talked about them he looked out to the lake and started to miss them some more. Trying to hard the smallest signs of sadness from missing his family, he looked backed at her with a big grin and asked, "What about you? What's your family like?

 

[Maddie Thompson]

Maddie was amazed. She never would have guessed that the castle was that large. It took her a minute to respond before finally saying, "That's incredible! I agree with you, it would be more fun to see first." She had visited other castles before and thought she had seen as big as castles could possibly get, but no, this was so much larger. A sense of wonder rested over her.

Maddie laughed at his comment of the lake freezing over. She could picture people ice skating on it, with the squid lying just underneath, trying to get at the people to play with them. "It would be so fun! Just think about it, skating over it with all sorts of creatures underneath. It would be amazing!" She giggled again and hopped up and down, getting majorly excited. Her mother would always tell her to calm down at this point but she rarely ever did.

Vester talked about his home life and she squealed in joy. "You're from Italy?! That's so cool! I always wanted to go to Italy. That's so awesome you and your family are close. Families usually aren't that close." She shut herself up as she realized that she was barely maintaining any silence. But she was so excited, it was hard to contain her excitement. When asked about her home life, she simply said, "My mom is a fortune teller in a circus, and actually gets quite a bit of money from it. My dad works from home, doing some trading thing, I don't know. I'm an only child, so I get pretty much whatever I want. I like it, but it gets kind of annoying sometimes." She danced around thinking about her parents, feeling better than ever. "Do you think that our family can come and see us?" She asked, curious.

 

[Sylvester Lombardi]

Vester laughed a little as he saw his new friend bounce up and down while giggling. She kind of reminded him of his little sisters, who would do this as well sometimes. Mainly it was when their parents told them they were going to a movie or something fun like that. He smiled again at the thought of his sisters. Vester knew he would get along with this girl very well.

Hearing her excitement about his home country, he replied "Yeah, I hope to visit their one day and learn more about the culture! Maybe sometime after I graduate from this school. But yeah, I love being so close with my family." Vester enjoyed how excited she was, it was nice to be making friends with someone so nice. He hoped everyone at Hogwarts was like this.

Maddie responded, talking about her own family. Vester was astounded at someone having such a different life. He knew their were tons of people in the world, and not everyone could have the same lifestyle, but he had never met anyone who had a parent in the circus. "Wow, that's awesome!" he exlaimed, "that's really cool Maddie! Have you ever done anything in the circus yourself? But I'm sure it's still nice to get things when you want them." Vester chuckled at her comment of it being annoying that she got watever she wanted. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your blood lineage?" he asked, wondering if she came from a life with the knowledege of magic before her letter or not.

Vester listened to her question and replied, "I'm sure that they will be able to! Maybe there will be a parents weekend or something? I'm not sure, but I would love if my family got to see this place." He smiled at the thought of him and his family spending time together at the castle. There would be so many cool things he would be able to show them. "Someday..." he thought to himself, "someday..."

Out of Character:

Sorry I took so long to respond, I had a big exam this week that took up more time than I was expecting >.<

 

[Maddie Thompson]

Maddie felt like she should sit down, but it was impossible. The sun had made her extra happy and having someone to talk to always made Maddie's day better. She hopped around a little longer before finally calming down enough to plop next to Vester. "That would be so cool if you could visit it one day! I've heard Italy is gorgeous! Most kids hate even being associated with their family, but you aren't. That's so cool!" Maddie thought that she herself would never shut up. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down enough to have a proper conversation without bouncing off the walls.

The young Ravenclaw had a big smile on her face when he asked if she was ever in the circus. "Of course! Before I got my letter I was on the trapeze. I loved it!" She noticed Vester chuckle at her and she laughed back. At his question the smile fell slightly but was back immediately. "I'm a half-blood. My mom was a Squib and my dad a muggle." Her mom didn't like to talk about magic, so everything Maddie knew was based off of what her grandmother had told her.

At the thought of maybe seeing her parents at Hogwarts Maddie leapt up and spun around. "I hope so! Going the entire school year without seeing family would suck." Facing away from the sun she collapsed back down on to her back and started staring at the clouds. "I wonder if the castle is protected from storms," she mused out loud.