Chapter 1 - Weasley

Florian woke up in the dormitory earlier than usual, for the first time since arriving he was going to work with the Norwegian Ridgebacks. When he saw his schedule earlier that week it took every bit of constraint to not start to yell and dance through the hall. Wednesday 09:00-12:00: Florian Hela & Charlie Weasley. Norwegian Ridgeback. Task: Counting and visual check up. Florian knew every word of the schedule. The clock on the dorm wall told him that it was still three hours before he needed to meet. He looked around at the other beds, people were still sleeping. The different dormitory contained four beds, these were used for the students during the first year. If they wanted to stay after that they could move into more private rooms. Florian was looking forward to that.

He tried wasting time in the bathroom. Making sure his uniform was in great condition, it was made of dragon leather and enchanted, but it needed care to keep the ability. Florian's uniform was only a month old, but better safe than sorry. The uniform was fitted for each of the students, the colour easily symbolising how long or what each student or worker had been there. His main body was a pale yellow colour, as a new student it was easily seen from a distance. The uniform also included gloves, boots and trousers with a specialised pocket for their wands.

He also used time combing white hair away from his face. Florian had a rounder face than the rest of his father's side that carried sharp features, Pureblood features, as people at his old school always said. This comment always made Florian snort as his mother was as much a pureblood as his father, both family trees dating back centuries. His last name was from his mothers, as he was the first child in her and her sisters' part of the family branch. She had told him when he was younger that she almost divorced his father on the spot when he had tried to argue. She always told that story with a joking and warm smile. In that regard Florian’s expression was more like his father's. Finishing up in the bathroom he went back to the dorm on his way to breakfast.

At breakfast Florian looked around, people had started waking up and arrived from the different dorms, many still in their pyjamas. The mess hall was made up of around thirty tables, usually only half of them filled up. The roof was made out of glass which made the room fill with natural light from the morning sun. Florian saw his own dorm mates sitting down at a different table. Roux, Campbell and Horvat. Roux and Horvat were muggleborn which Florian had noted the first day when they had placed some unmoving photos of family and friends on the wall. He had also asked which seemed to have been the wrong thing to do as they had acted cold towards him after. Right now Florian did not care about them, he was looking for Charlie Weasley. He knew they started at around the same time, but as they were in different dorms he had not spoken to him much other than a Hello. As they were going to be working together he was hoping to get a word with him during breakfast.

When he entered Florian gave him a wave, Charlie Weasley stood out from the crowd with his ginger hair and freckled face, Florian also noted as Weasley came towards him that he looked as excited as he felt. He took small skip steps as he closed in with a broad smile on his face.

“Good morning!,” Weasley said as he sat down. “I dont think I have properly introduced myself: the name is Charlie Weasley. Nice to be working with you.” He stretched out a hand which Florian shook. Weasley had a strong grip which he held for a second before letting go.

“Good morning. I am Florian Hela.” Florian had so much he wanted to say and ask, but the breakfast had magically appeared in front of them so he shifted his focus to that instead.

“You look about the same age as me, but you did not go to Hogwarts right?” Weasley had just continued while filling his plate. “Which school did you go to?”

Florian looked up from the cheese he was serving himself. “I went to Durmstrang Institute.” He answered, before the thought hit him that he probably should continue the conversation if he wanted to ask Weasley about the dragons. “What school did you go to?”

“Hogwarts.” Weasley answered after quickly swallowing the first bite of his sandwich. “My whole family went there. My youngest brother, Ron, is starting this year, and my sister, Ginny, is starting next year.”

During the breakfast Florian did not ask about dragons. Instead he learned about both the Weasley family and Hogwarts. The fact that the sorting hat thought that Charlie could fit into Hufflepuff, but ended up in Gryffindor as the rest of his family. Florian did know alot about Hogwarts, but he knew that the school had four houses which the students were sorted into. What the difference between a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor was he did not know. Florian also learned that Weasley had six siblings, the youngest a girl and the rest of them boys. He just nodded to the conversation and silently ate his breakfast as he paid attention to Weasley’s words. At the end of the breakfast when the both had eaten their fill Weasley’s ears became a redder tone.

“I seemed to have just been babbling along. My mom always says that… Well, it does not matter. I’m sorry.” Florian noted that this was the first time Weasley had been sitting still. The whole time while he had been talking Weasley had moved his hands and body engaged in the story he told.

Florian shook his head. “It is fine. Your family and Hogwarts seems nice.” He looked towards the clock on the wall, surprised at how quickly the time had moved. He remembered that he had a question wanted to ask Weasley before they left. “We have about half an hour before we need to leave, but before we leave have you worked with the kamrygg, I mean, ridgebacks earlier?”

This time it was Weasleys time to shake his head. “No, but I am really looking forward to it. I asked one of the lecturers yesterday and this herd was one of the last wild ones in Norway.” Weasley said more, but Florian did not pay attention. He could hear the roars, the flapping of wings. He looked down at his now empty plate. Could it be them?