After the Sorting Ceremony, an old man with a really long white beard stood up. The Hall that had been buzzing with chatter immediately grew silent. He seems to be the Headmaster. Oh wait, he is the Headmaster. Every single person present in the Hall was looking up to the Headmaster. 

"Welcome back my friends to another wonderfully exciting year at Hogwarts. I, Albus Dumbledore, welcome heartily all those who have just joined and also the rest of the students who have come back from their well deserved vacations. I won't keep you waiting for long as most of us are using a lot of self control to prevent themselves from digging right into the feast but there are a few things that need to be cleared for the new students and to be reminded to the old ones. The Forbidden Forest is strictly off limits and any student found wandering off there shall be responsible for the consequences. And for students above 2nd year; out of you only those students will be permitted to visit Hogsmeade who have submitted the school form signed by their parent or guardian. I see you've been waiting  for the speech to end, so let's dig in. Enjoy the feast!" 

He took his seat on the Grand Table and everyone sent a huge round of applause. And then the feast magically appeared in the golden dishes. There was everything you could ask for from roasted beef and baked potatoes to veggie fillets and saucy spaghetti. The golden goblets were filled with an orange colored liquid which Fred had told me was pumpkin juice. All of us dug in. It was delicious, trust me. 

After the feast, the Headmaster stood up again, "now you may all proceed towards your respective common rooms. Prefects lead the way. I wish you luck for the year ahead. Study well and prove yourself worthy." 

Percy stood up immediately, "first years, follow me." 

The first years lined up behind him and the rest if us shifted in after them. It was quite impressive; the way all the houses were moving towards their respective common rooms without making a fuss. 

Fred spoke, "remember George in our first year when we were young and new and innocent..." 

I had raised an eyebrow at the word innocent so George added, "he means that much more innocent than we are now." 

Then Fred continued, "yeah, whatever, and we accidentally slipped into the Slytherin common room?" 

George laughed, "yeah I can still recall the furious prefect who roared down on us when he found out that we weren't Slytherins and almost chased us down the whole school." 

Trust them for breaking rules. I wonder they might have been pranking since age one. 

"You're not setting a good example, Fred," Percy's voice drifted towards us. He sure has a keen set of ears. 

"Well we aren't because you alone are sufficient enough for all the example setting role modelling sort of thing," George remarked. 

"And luckily enough we don't happen to be stuck up Head Boys either," Fred added, "trust me Perce you're missing out all the fun in life." 

He turned around and huffed, "if this is what you call fun... I'd rather stay out of it." 

But he was too busy telling them off that he didn't notice the suit of armor in his path and bumped right into it. A few seconds after his collision with the armor, he straightened immediately and resumed walking with his head held high as if nothing had happened despite the fact that his face had turned the shade of beetroot red. Poor dear Perce. 

We climbed numerous flights of stairs and at last found ourselves standing in front of a portrait of a huge (I mean fat just excuse my exaggerations, thank you very much) woman who was seated in a flamboyant chair. She was wearing an elaborate puffy gown and seemed to be someone who might have had great importance in the past. 

"Ah first years," she spoke as soon as she saw us. I guess getting used to talking portraits will take some time since these portraits seemed to freak me out most of the time. "Password?" she asked eyeing us like a hawk analyzing her nest. 

"This is the Fat Lady," the twins explained, "she guards the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. She loves to sing and there are a few unlucky people who she won't let inside the common room unless they listen to her never ending songs. And, yes, giving her praise is necessary or else she gets offended." 

Okay... 

"Wattlebird," Percy spoke. That must have been the password. 

"Of course my dear, but you know I had just been reminded of a sonnet a poet had composed in the time when I was young and radiant. A fresh flower, I used to be, a fresh fresh flower," she rambled.

Hermione who was standing next to me slapped her hand on her forehead in frustration, "oh no not again." 

Percy spoke, "the sonnet must be completely marvellous, Ma'am. And you truly were an exactly wonderful blooming flower. Now if you please..." 

But she cut him off, "you know the Whistling Banshee knows how to sing Opera? And I love it. So I asked her to teach me and she kindly agreed. Allow me to sing a few couplets." 

Fred groaned, "we climbed the whole goddamn tower to listen to the Whistling Banshee's Opera? Seriously?" 

George whispered in my ear, "friendly advice; shut your ears before she starts singing." 

And sure enough, an ear splitting scream ensued from the portrait soon after we had covered our ears. She went on like that for goodness knows how long such that in the end I was banging my head on George or perhaps Fred's shoulder. 

"What are you doing?" the twins asked. I replied, "probably trying to send myself to a coma. Not working anyway." 

They might have laughed. When finally the screaming stopped we dropped our hands from our ears. 

"Wattlebird. Wattlebird. Wattlebird," Percy impatiently repeated the password again and again. 

"Indeed," she replied and the portrait swung to the side revealing and entrance. We all stepped through the hole into what seemed like a huge room. 

The walls, the chairs and basically everything had a color scheme of scarlet and gold and a big banner displaying a golden lion hanging on the main wall. A cozy fire was blazing in the fireplace. It instantly felt like home. 

Listening to the Fat Lady's Opera talent certainly didn't seem too bad now. Well I just hope that we don't have to listen to her concerts on a daily basis.

***