Lost Again

[Thaddeus Miller]

Thaddeus Miller had been exploring the castle ever since he arrived at Hogwarts. It was something his brother told him to do if he ever wanted to know which way he needed to go for lessons and such. So far he had seen everything on the seventh floor where his common room was located, and half of the sixth floor corridor, however when the Gryffindor overheard another student talking about the kitchens, his curiosity immediately kicked in. Food was always welcome in his tummy so maybe going to the kitchen wouldn't be a such a bad idea. He could always continue his walk through the sixth floor later.

Teddy usually knew his way around new buildings but with Hogwarts it was different. For the third time that day the first year had been lost in a part of the castle he hadn't seen before, trying to find the kitchens. It was cold and dark and he was sure that if his brother were here right know he would've grabbed his little brother by the arm and drag him away from this part of Hogwarts. Apparently finding the kitchens was a lot harder than he thought it would be. Teddy walked further into the dark and cold, hoping that he would come across someone that could point him in the right direction.

 

[Anabelle Williams]

Sitting in the dim green room wasn't her favorite thing to do, Anabelle decided. She had found the place called the student lounge, and had so far decided that was her favorite place. There, she was surrounded by other people, which she craved the most. Ana found herself more able to read books; or draw pictures, design cool patterns that people could put on masks or whatever; much easier when there was noise. It didn't matter what noise it was - music, talking, rain, anything but silence. Silence to her, was deafening. Anabelle had been informed that there was a Halloween party the school had every year which immediately got her creative juices flowing. While doing formal make up was her favorite, she would love to do something scary as well. Anabelle made sure her plait was neat, and her uniform un-crinkled before she stepped out of her dorm room. Taking her sketch pad full of blank faces and pencil, Anabelle made her way out of the Common Room, clutching the pad to her chest. However, the blonde didn't get very far before she saw a young boy, maybe around her age, wandering the dungeons. He wasn't in a Slytherin uniform, and Anabelle remembered that the red meant Gryffindor, who Slytherins were supposedly supposed to have a feud with. Though, she didn't know why. Remembering her manners, and all her parents had taught her, Anabelle knew it was the right thing to do to greet the boy, no matter his house. She didn't even know him, he could be the kindest person. As she got closer, Ana sent him a smile. "Hi there," She said, her tone light and kind.

 

[Thaddeus Miller]

Teddy was about to turn around and walk out of the dungeons when a girl greeted him with a smile. ''Hey.'' the boy said, sending her a smile back out of courtesy. She was wearing green in her school uniform which meant that the weird-but-at-the-same-time-awesome Sorting Hat had sorted her into Slytherin House. Though he grew up in a family full of wizards and witches, Teddy didn't know much about the four Houses of Hogwarts except for their colours and animals. For a second the Gryffindor wondered if the Slytherin Common Room was anywhere nearby because the girl didn't look like she was lost at all. Teddy also wondered if the girl knew the way to the kitches and if he had been walking the complete opposite way. Since he didn't have a clue on whether the school allowed students be in the cold and dark dungeons, he wanted to be on his way as quickly as possible. ''Sorry if I am not suppose to be in here,'' the first year said smiling weakly at the girl. ''I was looking for the kitchens, but I think I got lost on my way there.'' Teddy really hoped that she would be able to help him out because the dungeons slowly started to creep him out.

 

[Anabelle Williams]

See! He was nice! The Slytherin and Gryffindor feud was stupid, as far as Anabelle thought, and anyone who judged someone by what color their robes were, were just as stupid - though Anabelle knew she shouldn't be thinking that about people. But this boy had smiled back at her, and he seemed incredibly kind and approachable so Ana stopped walking as he apologized for being in the dungeons. Anabelle shrugged her shoulders - she didn't think it was against the rules for him to be there, just as long as he didn't get into the Common Room, right? Besides, how would anyone get to their Potions class if they weren't allowed there. The blonde nodded her head as he stated what he was there for, the first few weeks, or months even, Anabelle was expecting herself and most other First Years to get lost. It was such a big castle, she half wished she was given a map, and made a mental note to herself to draw one. It would be exciting to map out the school. "I don't know exactly where the Kitchens are, but I can help you out of here if you like?" Anabelle offered with a smile. She unwrapped one of her arms that was holding the sketch pad and offered it to the boy. "I'm Anabelle."

 

[Thaddeus Miller]

Thaddeus smiled brighly when the girl offered to help him find the kitchens. He was glad she seemed to be nice because he could really use a friend who'd be able to help him out with things such as this since he would occasionally wind up getting lost - like this morning for instance! Teddy was exploring the castle looking for the Student Lounge only to end up in a bathroom on a completely different floor than he was told the Lounge was located. He felt so embarrassed when he asked a random student at which floor he was on and where he should go to eventually find the Student Lounge that the Gryffindor at one point thought about asking his parents to send one of their old cameras over so he could make pictures of the places he already located and put them into a scrapbook or something like that, just to remember where everything was. Teddy nodded his head, smiled and shook the girl's hand as she introduced herself as Anabelle. ''I'm Teddy.'' he said, ''I'm in Gryffindor but you probably already knew that.'' His cheeks turned red at his own comment. Of course she would know in which house he was in! He was wearing his Gryffindor robes for Merlin's sake..

 

[Anabelle Williams]

Anabelle wrapped her hand back around her scrap book once they had shook their hands, a smile still on her face. The boy introduced himself as well, and Ana giggled at his comment. "I'm in Slytherin." She replied, just to make the boy feel better. Anabelle made an awkward gesture towards behind the boy, "It's this way to get out, I think maybe the kitchens are this way too." The blonde replied, though she actually had no clue how to get to the kitchens. Ana assumed it had to be that way though, because it wasn't in the direction she was just at. Anabelle made to move past Teddy so that she could lead the way, though she felt awkward and as if she should make conversation. Small talk wasn't Anabelle's favorite thing to do, but it wasn't hard; it was something that her family had to do a lot, so the Slytherin girl was quite used to it. Ana just often wished she could dive into the deep conversations rather than what the weather is doing, or if they had heard what so and so said to whoever. "Is Teddy short for anything?" Anabelle asked politely, sure that it wasn't a first name a parent would give to a child.

 

[Thaddeus Miller]

Teddy smiled when the girl in front of him told him in which house she was sorted as well. ''Do you like being sorted into Slytherin?'' Teddy asked Anabelle wondering if there were many differences between the houses or if they were pretty similair to each other. Thaddeus realized that even though he lived in a wizarding community for a good portion of his life, didn't know very much about magic and the school other than the famous sport they played because he and his family all supported the same Quidditch team: the Chudley Cannons. He hoped that whilst he and the girl, who was being very nice and friendly to him, he would learn a thing or two about the whole wizarding world and another stuff related to it from the girl. As Anabelle began to walk the way the Gryffindor just came from, he quickly followed her and glanced around the Dungeons one more time, hoping to see a door that would lead them to the Kitchens. Teddy looked at Anabelle when she asked him a question and said, ''It is short for Thaddeus.'' with a smile on his face. ''My parents usually call me Teddy whenever they need me to do something so instead of Thaddeus I started using Teddy, too.''

 

[Anabelle Williams]

At Teddy's question, Anabelle thought about her house. She wasn't completely opposed to it, and after reading her sister's letter she felt better about being in Slytherin, but she wasn't fond of being in the dungeons. "I don't mind it. I didn't think I would be in Slytherin, but my sister wrote me and told me it was a great house to be in, and that she would have been in it as well, had she come here. It's not bad. I just don't like the dungeons." Anabelle replied with a small chuckle. "What about Gryffindor? What is it like?" She asked, curious about it. Gryffindor was up there with Ravenclaw on the house she knew she would definitely not get into. Ana thought she would have been like her eldest sister, Charlotte, a Hufflepuff, but the hat saw the things in her that Dove obviously did as well. Anabelle continued to walk through the dungeons, hoping she'd be able to point out the Kitchens, but she didn't even know what she was looking for, so it was hard to be confident about the direction she was leading him in. At least he wouldn't be lost in the dungeons anymore. Anabelle knew it wouldn't be a nice place to be lost in, especially if the Gryffindor boy had much thoughts about the supposed feud. Running into an angry Slytherin would not be fun. The young blonde smiled at Teddy as he explained his first name. She'd not heard one like it before, but she liked it. "Well, Teddy is a wonderful name." Anabelle replied, looking at him with a small smile. They were nearing the way out, and Anabelle still hadn't found him the Kitchens, which she frowned at. "I might have been wrong, I don't think the Kitchens are this way. I am sorry."

 

[Thaddeus Miller]

Teddy listened attentively as the girl besides him answered his question and smiled at the answer she gave him. ''I can see why you don't like the dungeons much.'' the Gryffindor said as he glanced around once again. Though the dungeons were lit up by torches Teddy could barely see where he was walking, hence the reason why he lost again. Luckily for him however, the corridor leading towards the Gryffindor common room wasn't dark and scary at all. When Anabelle returned his question Teddy had to think about it before answering it honestly. ''It's allright I quess, nothing really special I think.'' He said with a shrug. "I'm kind of new with the four houses, but I am slowly beginning to know them.'' Thaddeus smiled afterwards. ''Though I begin to wonder why the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor for I'm not really a brave person.'' He did not say much after that as he kept looking around for a door that might lead them towards the Kitches while trying to keep up with the Slytherin girl. ''Thanks!'' Thaddeus said after the complimented him on his nickname, smiling brightly towards his hopefully new friend. He laughed softly when Anabelle told him that they might've been walking in the wrong direction. ''Ahh, don't worry about it. At least I'm not walking alone in the Dungeons anymore.'' He told her. ''So thank you for that.'' Teddy honestly didn't mind that Anabelle didn't seem to know the way to the Kitchens either as long as she would keep him company.

 

[Anabelle Williams]

A smile grew on Ana's face in response to Teddy's comment about the dungeons. She didn't understand why it had to be so dark and gloomy, surely all they needed to do was put a few extra lanterns in. It was difficult getting accustomed to the stark change of light when exiting the dungeons, but Anabelle knew that she'd perhaps appreciate the dark after a hard days work, a pounding headache didn't do too well with bright lights, so a cool dark room would be welcome. Still, Ana didn't like them. She smiled again when Teddy said he was new with the Houses, and shook her head when he questioned the Sorting Hat. "I understand what you mean, I felt like that with Slytherin, but, from what I've read, there's more than just one quality in a House." Anabelle said gently. "Maybe you're chivalrous, or one to stand up for your friends? Or do you love adventures?" Anabelle queried, looking at her new friend. "You just need to believe in yourself." She said with a small smile.
When Teddy thanked her for accompanying him, Anabelle shrugged. "It's not a problem. I know what it's like to have no idea where you are." She said with a smile. "I recognize your accent Teddy. Are you from England as well?" She asked as they finally reached the steps out of the dungeons.

 

[Thaddeus Miller]

Thaddeus smiled brightly at her comment, happy to know that he wasn't the only one who was a bit uncertain with the Sorting Hat's decision. He listened attentively at what Anabelle was saying. The Gryffindor nodded his head in understanding. He certainly loved going on adventures, but was that really one of the reasons the Hat had placed him in Gryffindor House? If so why couldn't he sort himself into whichever House he thought spoke to him the most? Anyhow the girl was right. He just had to believe in himself. If the Hat placed him in Gryffindor for more than one quality then he really belonged there. ''If that is really true I guess the Sorting Hat placed me in the right House, right? What about you? Aren't Slytherins like mean? - At least that's what my brother said, but you don't strike me as a mean person.'' Teddy said with a small smile, hoping he wasn't offending Anabelle by suggesting that she could be a mean person. Teddy's smile grew wider when the girl told him she knew what it was like. He was really happy that she didn't mind leading him in the right way because otherwise he still would've been wandering around the Dungeons, trying to open every door in the hope that it would lead him to the Kitchens. The eleven year old nodded his head when she asked him if he was from England as well. ''Yes I am!'' Thaddeus said with a smile. ''I'm from Nottingham!''