4th September, 1894 — On the staircases

A whole gaggle of first years were on their way to their Astronomy class at midnight, which was exciting in itself to many of them. (Like ducklings – or goslings, technically – they kept tending to fall into gaggles, to find their way to new classrooms every day.)

The castle was intensely quiet at night, after curfew. Although he still felt out of his depth at being able to find his way around, Connor was enjoying the emptiness of it now – there was no one else, older or taller or more obnoxious, around to push past them in the halls. So Connor had lagged towards the back of the group as they started up the grand staircases, floors and floors and gaining more first years as they went. One flight of stairs, and then another, and then –

The staircase lurched. Connor’s hand clenched more tightly on the banister; he glanced ahead, but the group had already turned the corner from this staircase onto the next, and now it was moving away from its landing, like a bridge breaking apart. Connor watched for a moment in slow-motion horror, before he locked eyes with the only other person who had been left behind, mid-staircase, with him.

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open to one other first year!

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   Desmond Shacklebolt

Des liked being tall, it was the best thing about him. Besides having hair that could stand up on its own, and being pretty good at riding a broom for his age. And then there was his smile, he wasn't even embarrassed when Mama said it lit up the room. The boy was only a little embarrassed when being tall meant having to fight with shirt sleeves and trouser legs that were never the right length, or having shoes that didn't want to stop tripping him.

Stairs were the worst, and Hogwarts was full of them. He didn't think much of them while coming back from the Great Hall on the first night, when the prefects were leading the way. The moving staircases were a delight that evening, and so much more fun than ordinary stairs. Desmond found them less of a delight the second time he'd tripped on them and his books for astronomy class went sprawling.

"Go go, I'll be right there," he told Gia then, and gathered his things as his twin scurried up ahead of him.

That's how Desmond wound up at the back of the group, and stuck back on the staircase that shifted at the very last moment. He wasn't alone, which helped a lot as he gripped the railing until it was done moving, wearing his patented grin over at the other boy. Trying to, anyway. The other boy looked even more scared as they locked eyes.

"Where do you think this one goes?" Des asked, trying to keep his voice light. He looked up the new pathway ahead of them, taking a few steps up in case the stairs below decided to shift again. Then he turned to offer a hand back, in case the other boy needed it. "Come on, don't just stand there."

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Courtesy of the lovely Lady!

They were in different houses, but Connor was already surprised to ever see these twins even a few feet apart. The Shacklebolts were both talkative, and always seemed to orbit each other in a way he had never seen anyone do. Maybe it was ordinary sibling behaviour? He wouldn’t know. (His adoptive sister had been disowned before he could remember, so Connor had always considered himself an only child.)

He figured this was probably why the other boy offered him a hand. Out of habit: what he would have done for his sister. Connor, on the other hand, felt decidedly uncomfortable with the prospect of taking his hand – but at least it propelled him into motion again. He shook his head and lurched up the couple of stairs to be on a level with the Gryffindor, peering up to the unknown corridor. “Not sure. Maybe it joins up with the other side of the hall along the hallway?” It wasn’t any worse an option than going downstairs and inevitably back on themselves, was it? Connor stepped onto firmer ground (the landing) and then considered the hallway. (Dark. Deserted. Winding.) “Astronomy’s at the top of a tower somewhere, right?”

How hard could that be to find? How many towers did the castle have, exactly?

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   Desmond Shacklebolt

Des grinned when the other boy joined him on the sturdier staircase, letting down his unused hand. It seemed like a good enough sign, neither of them were about to wallow in their circumstances, no matter how dire. Missing a single class probably wouldn't get him expelled, after all, and Gia would tell him everything that happened right down to the minute. After getting the same earful he might have gotten from mama or papa. Des was determined not to let it get there, and took the next few steps until he was standing on the nearest landing.

"There has to be a way..." he said, and the boy fully believed it. As little of the castle as he'd explored already —and Des fully meant to walk every corridor by the time the year was out— he couldn't imagine a castle that meant for its residents to get lost. "I did hear about one kid who got lost on his way to class...and he was never found again."

His face lit up with the cackling giggle that broke it apart. Des never could stay straight-faced for long enough to tell such a dark joke. "But I don't believe in ghost stories, do you?"

Back on track, Des surveyed their surroundings. He squinted through the darkness, trying to figure out which path was more likely to go up. They definitely needed to go up, their class was at the tower's crown. "Mhmm, way up at the tippy-top. Guess it's why they call it the Astronomy Tower, and not the Dragon Tower or something else."

Following his feet, which had picked a direction along the hallway that wound a bit around a dark corner, Des mused aloud to his companion, "That'd be way better, though, a whole tower for dragons. Think we'll ever see one for class?"

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Courtesy of the lovely Lady!