(𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 - 𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳, 𝘀𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁)

The Great Hall buzzed with that particular kind of chaos that only happened on the first day of term, laughter bouncing off the stone walls, quills scratching against parchment, ghosts swooping overhead in clumsy arcs. The enchanted ceiling mirrored the sky outside, soft gray clouds drifting lazily over the floating candles.

You sat at your table, half-listening, half somewhere else. The chatter of your housemates faded into background noise, drowned out by the quiet hum of the castle waking up for another year. Plates gleamed, goblets filled themselves, and for a brief second, you wondered if anything had really changed since last year — or if you had.

The doors creaked open, and new faces poured in. Some nervous, some cocky, all wearing that same expression, awe and disbelief at being here. You caught snippets of conversation — house gossip, summer rumors, stories that already sounded exaggerated.

At the front, the professors watched with their usual mix of amusement and exhaustion. Someone, probably Hagrid, let out a booming laugh that shook the silverware.

Dumbledore's voice finally cut through the noise, calm and commanding. “Welcome back to Hogwarts.”

And for a moment — with the firelight flickering, the ghosts gliding above the tables, and the scent of pumpkin pasties filling the air — it felt like the world outside these walls didn’t exist.