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As the prefect wrapped up her short, punchy speech, applause broke out right on cue.
A moment later, she smiled and waved her hands to quiet everyone down.
"Alright, off to bed, everyone. Don't crowd the common room. Have you all got your schedule sheets? Your dorm room numbers are written on the back."
Just then, a voice called out through the chatter.
"Charlie Wonka? Wonka! Hey, found you."
A boy with short blond hair pushed his way through the crowd. "Wonka, right? Pretty sure I've got that right—you're the one with the rabbit.
"I'm Anthony Goldstein. We're in the same dorm."
Behind Anthony, another boy with dark hair stepped forward.
"I'm Hector Williams. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you both. Are we all sharing the same room?" Charlie shook their hands.
"Yep, let's go." Anthony was clearly the outgoing type, already acting like they were old mates.
Hector, trailing quietly behind him, was obviously much more introverted.
He simply nodded and followed Anthony up the stairs.
Following the numbers on the doors, they found their room. Charlie pushed the door open first.
The first things that caught his eye were three tall windows. Pushed up against the wall right beneath them were three beds placed side-by-side.
"Looks like if we leave the curtains open, the sun's going to be our alarm clock every morning," Anthony said, looking pleasantly surprised by the layout.
Everyone's trunks had already been placed at the foot of their beds. The pillows and sheets were fully made up with brand-new bedding in Ravenclaw's signature bright blue and white. It looked incredibly sharp and comfortable.
"You guys unpack. I'm going to check out the room next door." After a quick glance at his trunk, the restless Anthony excused himself and slipped out into the hallway.
On the other side of the room, Hector finished organizing his things, stacked his books neatly on his desk, and, looking a bit bored, turned to Charlie.
"So, Mr. Wonka, what's your family like?"
"Just Charlie is fine. My family? You mean, are my parents wizards? I honestly have no idea." Charlie answered casually while feeding Alice a few pellets.
He briefly wondered if Alice would have been happier if he'd been sorted into Hufflepuff.
Not that Ravenclaw wasn't brilliant, of course.
"You don't know? What... what do you mean?" Hector looked completely lost.
Being the anxious type, his mind instantly jumped to the worst conclusion—that he'd crossed a line. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it, just pretend I never asked."
"It's not that I don't want to answer. I'm an orphan. I genuinely don't know if my parents were magical or not. It's really that simple, mate."
Hearing that, Hector gasped softly. He sat in stunned silence for a long moment before finally whispering, "I'm so sorry..."
Charlie turned to look at the guilt-ridden boy.
"Which means I get to go to sleep whenever I damn well please, and nobody can tell me otherwise. Pretty brilliant, right?"
Hector blinked, caught off guard, then nodded in slow agreement. "I suppose it is."
"Glad you understand. Just don't be too jealous." Charlie flashed a grin, instantly clearing the heavy, awkward air in the room.
The dorm door swung open and Anthony marched back in. "Boys, we hit the jackpot. The room next door is packed with four people, and they've got bunk beds. We definitely got the best layout."
Watching Anthony, Charlie was suddenly reminded of the insanely extroverted social butterflies from his university days in his past life.
"Plus, there's a bloke next door who is—wow—almost as good-looking as me."
"You mean Michael Corner?" Hector guessed uncertainly.
"You noticed him too? Obviously, he's still a slight downgrade from our room," Anthony quipped.
Hearing the name, Charlie vaguely recalled something from the original story.
Michael Corner. Supposedly a rival to Harry Potter in the romance department later on, and Ravenclaw's resident ladies' man.
Not that it had anything to do with him, of course.
The three of them spent a little while unpacking and chatting.
Half an hour later, exhaustion finally overpowered the adrenaline. They all climbed into bed and were fast asleep in minutes.
Charlie lay in bed, staring out the window at the moon. Suddenly, something soft and warm wriggled its way up next to his pillow. It was Alice.
He didn't say a word, just watched the little rabbit close her eyes beside him before finally closing his own and drifting off to sleep.
---
The next morning, Charlie was the first one up. He headed to the washroom to freshen up, cheekily used Alice's fur to dry his hands, and started fixing his hair.
Once he was ready, he looked down at the rabbit. "You stay here and play in the dorm today."
The next second, Alice leaped up and delivered a vicious little kick right to Charlie's kneecap.
Squeak!
Rabbits usually don't make a sound.
Unless they are incredibly ticked off.
"Mate, you're not a rat. I seriously can't carry you around everywhere," Charlie sighed helplessly.
Squeak!
Alice jumped up and kicked him again. Then, with a mid-air twist, she transformed into a fedora and drifted slowly to the floor.
"I'm not wearing a hat all day either. Behave." He picked her up gently and placed her back on the bed.
With another spin, Alice turned back into a rabbit. She hopped over to the window, her ears drooping pathetically all the way to the floor. She looked absolutely devastated.
"See? This is why you get an owl. Zero drama," Anthony whispered in Charlie's ear.
"Shush. If she hears you, she's going to sneak onto your face tonight and leave you some special little 'chocolate chips' to eat," Charlie deadpanned.
Anthony shuddered. He glanced over at Alice—only to find her glaring daggers straight at him.
"You know what, actually, rabbits are great. Super cute. Owls? Never liked 'em," Anthony quickly backpedaled.
"Enough messing around, let's go. First class this morning is... Charms. I've heard the stairs and corridors here are an absolute nightmare, so we better get moving."
Hogwarts' staircases weren't quite as difficult to navigate as Charlie had imagined. Or at least, they were manageable if you actually bothered to ask the portraits for directions.
Barely ten minutes later, they arrived at the Great Hall right in the middle of breakfast.
Countless owls were swooping in through the high windows, clutching newspapers, letters, and the odd parcel in their talons.
Tiny feathers drifted down from the canopy of wings. But strangely, whenever a feather fell within two meters of the dining tables, a subtle, invisible crossbreeze caught it, blowing it harmlessly to the edge of the hall.
"I was just worrying about one of those landing in my soup," Hector said, pulling a protective book off the top of his bowl.
"I had the exact same thought," Charlie agreed with an understanding nod.
After polishing off their breakfast, the group headed toward the Charms classroom.
"Professor Flitwick is our Head of House. Do you think he'll give us any special treatment?" Hector asked curiously.
Anthony shook his head. "Not a chance. I did some digging last night. None of the professors play favorites. Except for the Head of Slytherin... the one who teaches... teaches..."
"Potions," Charlie filled in.
"Right. Except for the Potions bloke."
An absolute social butterfly. He had already gathered all the school gossip in a single night. Charlie shot Anthony an impressed look.
The information wasn't exactly news to Charlie, of course.
But if any fresh drama kicked off in the future, he knew for a fact he could rely on Anthony for first-hand intel.
"Mate, if you hear any good gossip around here, you make sure I'm the first to know," Charlie said, clapping Anthony on the shoulder.
"Huh?" Anthony just looked confused.