It wasn’t long at all before the students were all pleasantly full of a wonderful feast, and with a dismissal from the Headmaster, they made their way out. Isaac and his brother took a well worn shortcut to arrive at Gryffindor Tower quickly, meanwhile Ravenclaw students headed to a different tower, and both the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins made their way downstairs.

The beds were waiting for all, with freshly laundered sheets and nice toasty warming pans. Luggage had been brought to the beds of their respective owners, and the common rooms all had fires to warm their hearths. All thanks to the unseen House Elves. These luxuries were expected by some students, welcome retreats from poverty for others, and brand new and enticing to those lucky First Years who were arriving. And they ensured that all students were well and truly asleep by midnight.

It was some time in the early morning that it happened. A cry from a little girl in one of the dungeon dormitories of Slytherin House. After fitful shaking, and thready breathing she finally sat bolt upright with a gasp. Then, with that great lungful of air, she let out a shriek of pure terror, loud enough to wake up the dormitories beside her. In a moment, a candle was lit,, and in another, the first older students had begun to arrive. There was no evident threat, and the girl had stopped screaming, and so for the time being, no one was sure what to do or what to make of the event. Most were muttering now, the only one silent was pale and wide eyed Amelia Yaxley.

Avice settled nicely into her bed at Hogwarts. She didn't unpack or arrange any of her space, leaving it off for the morning. As soon as she saw the bed she gleefully slid under the covers and into a deep sleep. It was not that the bed was more comfortable, her bed at home was much larger and much softer. Though the dorm was full of other girls, not all of whom were sleeping nor even quiet, she found bedtime at Hogwarts to be very peaceful. She knew that she would be uninterrupted until it was time for breakfast, when, she would likely need to be pried out from under the bedsheets. There was no strict bedtime at home. Here at Howgwarts, even when she put off sleep, she could count on being uninterrupted by the authorities until morning...

She did not even realize that she had been sleeping until she heard the scream. Avice was awake immediately all senses heightened save for her sense of balance. She tumbled out of the bed while excuses for her behavior tumbled out of her mouth... "I'M SORRY! I won't do it again I-I-..."

She realized that she was still at Hogwarts. She wasn't at home where Sorin might be playing a trick on her or her father might be rousing the whole household with his temper... She was still in the Slytherin dorm, and she wasn't dreaming, everyone had heard and been woken by the scream.

Avice flushed red, hoping that no one had heard her babbling or seen her fall in the darkness. She followed the others to the bed of Amelia Yaxley, the source of all the fuss.

"OH! I know her!" Avice pushed through the gathering students and sat herself on Amelia's bed reaching for the girls cool pale hands. "Ameila! Do you remember me? I'm Avice Black! Our mothers are great friends. Did you have a nightmare? I can see how the castle might be a bit scary, but, you will get used to it in no time! What did you dream about?"

Lior's sleep on her first night back at Hogwarts was restful. It was a relief for her to be able to lay down and know that she would be able to concern herself with other things than physical farm work.

Later, from deep in her slumber, she woke with a start to the sound of a sharp cry of terror from one of the lower years' rooms. She squinted her eyes, unhappy to be waking but also curious as anyone would be. She was a little worried about a threat, but heard no thumping or other sounds of a fight. She saw others in her dormitory start to whisper and some slipped out to investigate, candles in hand. After consideration, Lior followed at a distance with her own fresh candle lit. She saw that everyone was bustled about a dorm, it was seeming to flood with girls checking in. Some didn't stay to see what was going on, but others slipped away after seeing there was no danger.

A few girls in her year were crowded up front, and one seemed to be addressing the terrified girl. Usually, she might slip out, seeing nothing of interest, but despite her sleep being disrupted, she felt no weariness in her eyes and hung back by the door to watch.

Amelia's hands were on her face now, trying to cover it in her embarrassment to be looked at by what seemed to be all of the females in her House.

She spoke to Avice through her fingers. "I was in a forest, and suddenly I couldn't move, something was grabbing me from behind and I couldn't move!"

"That does sound scary." Avice exaggerated a solemn nod that she hoped would accurately imitated empathy and understanding. "But, it was just a dream!. You'll only have to worry about forests in real life is if you get a detention! I've been on loads of detentions... Not because I did anything very wrong just some of the teachers are strict..." a white lie out from a Black tongue. "... Not that you will have to worry about that. I'll let you know who to keep wise around, that's all." Her tone took on a conspiratorial air. Slytherin students were known for being sly, after all. Avice widened her audience to the other first years who could start learning how to be sly and avoid detentions straight away.

"The one you have to worry about most is that Nothing teacher. Transfiguration. She is ruthless. She is envious of people like you and me." Yaxley and Black were pureblood both and professor Nothing had... No family name to speak of. "She will treat you unfairly. She favors her own kids. The ones she brings in from the muggle towns. She never gives them detention. She gives them as many tries as they like on spells and assignments and tests, but on tests she would fail me if I didn't get it right the first time!" Her face flushed angered by memories of her first year transfiguration. "She is tough, but she won't send you to the forest if you can show her what a Yaxley is made of! Right? Isn't that what the headmaster just said. 'Show them what it means to be a wizard.'" She misquoted. "He is to her prejudice now, she tried to fail me out of the class because she resented me and my family... But he didn't let her! He's going to keep an eye on her this year, she can't do you any harm. Still be careful." She nodded and peered around at the other older students inviting them to voice their own opinions about the various staff of Hogwarts.

"Who else do you think the first years should know about?"