Closed How The Other Half Live

[Tadgh Devlin]

Tadgh had heard the stories, of course he had. He had known what to expect - Hogwarts was massive, Hogwarts was magnificent, Hogwarts was full of history and magic and decades of mysteries. But seeing it all was a whole different story. It felt like when he had been over to a friend's house as a kid for the first time and realised that he was poor. It was all Tadgh ever knew, his small apartment with his dad, the meager things they scraped together, meals of noodles and sandwiches and sometimes noodle sandwiches... as far as Tadgh had been concerned, that was life.

And then he had visited a friend in the suburb, whose family owned their own place - an entire house all to themselves. The bedrooms were bigger than his living room, and his friends seemed to have piles and piles of toys. It wasn't even a luxurious house, Tadgh realised looking back on the memory with more experience, but even an average middle class standard of living seemed... almost laughably luxurious to him, a small child in fourth hand clothes too big and small all at once, whose toys all fit in a single box under his bed and who couldn't remember the last time he had vegetables and meat in the same meal.

Hogwarts brought up all those same feelings, cobbled hallways buzzing with magic and lined with portraits that must cost thousands of galleons individually, and there... had to be hundreds of them. It sat bitter and angry somewhere in his chest, the knowledge that people could live like this without even thinking about it, and his own dad had to work three jobs just to keep them in their tiny little apartment. It gnawed at him, frustrated and furious, and without thinking about it Tadgh swung, grunting as he kicked out at the wall. "F*CK!" He cried out as his toes impacted the stone wall, painful even through his scuffed and worn school shoes, and he hopped on one leg out of frustration.

 

[Henry Collins]

So far, Henry was unsure about this place. Up until he sat on the stool and the sorting hat was placed on his head, he had thought that it had been some sort of elaborate prank in which his family had been involved, but now he guessed it was all true. Since his arrival and being sorted, everything just felt confusing. Henry was a little upset to leave his family behind, if he was being honest, especially his older sister, whom he was always worried about. He wondered what she had been up to at this moment. He did need to write to his family at some point, but the thought of waiting for letters had reminded him that he was too impatient for that. The magical world needed to be updated. That's for sure.

This entire place was overwhelming, and there was so much to remember, even though it had only been a few days. The moving portraits always startled him. He was still spooked to find out that they also spoke. The ever-changing stairs were frustrating. He's lost count of how many times he has gotten lost in this place. Henry had been hearing a lot of unfamiliar terms in this new world, too. He was overly confused and just overwhelmed with it all at this point.

Henry grew frustrated as he walked down the corridor. He was trying to make his way back to his common room when the stairs had moved yet again, and it had led him to a different path. How annoying. Henry continued to walk down the corridor when he saw a figure ahead of him. The new Hufflepuff was about to keep walking forward when he was startled by the sudden outburst of the boy. He tilted his head to the side. "Now what did that wall do to you?"