Exploring The Grounds...

Jasmine woke early the next day and went out to explore the grounds of Hogwarts. She perused through the Herbology Greenhouses, peering through the glass to see the fascinating plants that they were sure to study soon, and made her way to the Great Lake.

Jasmine's eyes widened at the magintude of the lake. It surely wasn't this big last night in the boats? she thought, but decided that that was a very stupid thought; it could have been considered a Hufflepuff thought. Disgraceful.

She took a seat by the waters edge, enjoying the peace and quiet of being outdoors.

Alli went outside to get some fresh air. She was ready for her classes to start but she was being patient until they did. By the lake, she saw a familiar face. "Oi, no Kedavras yet," she said loudly to Jasmine, grinning widely as she approached.

She plopped down beside her. "Slytherin, very nice. I believe congratulations are in order," she put on a pompous sounding voice. "Did you see the crop that went into Hufflepuff? That lot is just sad. I swear the only thing that beats that are the Gryffindorks," Alli shook her head, feeling shame on behalf of the souls who were so dumb that they didn't even know that they were in the worst house.

"You know, I was walking down to the common room from the Great Hall this morning, and I swear that I heard one of them tell another plans to duel in the trophy room tonight. Bloody idiots don't even know to lower their voices."

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Jasmine heard a familiar voice and smiled when she saw Alli approach the place where she was sitting.

"Thank Merlin. I was serious about offing myself if I was a Puff, or a Gryff. How humiliating!" she said. In the rush of yesterday, she didn't even get to say congrats to Alli for making it into Slytherin with her. She ate so much, that all she can remember from the Sorting Feast is being sorted, eating a ton of food and tumbling into a bed a Prefect directed her to.

"I didn't really see who was sorted into Hufflepuff, to be honest, but I have no doubt that they're all useless."

Jasmine laughed, "We should tip off Peeves to go and harass them; stupid Gryffindors, really."

She looked at the Slytherin girl. "I am super glad you're in Slytherin with me. Who else can I talk to about the stupidity of others?"

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"Useless is an understatement," Alli said, rolling her eyes and laughing. "I'm glad you're in Slytherin too. I wasn't looking forward to having to off you if you were sorted into Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.

"I definitely agree with you on the laughing about the stupidity of others thing. I swear I've already heard one girl asking a professor about her grade. And classes haven't even started yet!"

Alli had known Jasmine for all of three days, but she already felt close to her. They seemed to have a lot of the same sensibilities and she really hoped that they would stay close friends.

Jasmine grinned at the girl that she knew would become her best friend. She had a sense about things like that. Jasmine definitely saw Alli and herself spending evenings chatting about their days, laughing off the stupidity of others and keeping each other sane.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't have to off me as well. I really didn't want to die, but I would have if that happened. That's for sure."

She leaned back against the grass, "It's just so tiring dealing with stupid people; I mean really. Sometimes, all I really want to do is slap them and say, grow some brains because obviously, yours are useless!"

"Sounds like a good plan to me, although I'd also be happy to borrow a Beater's Bat from the Quidditch pitch and beat them senseless with it," Alli said cheerfully. "I think that sounds positively delightful," she giggled."

She leaned back against the grass to look up at the sky, imagining her possible future encounter with one of the people who had been annoying her. "Do you think the flying professor would be willing to lend one to me?"

Jasmine let a giggle escape her. She rarely did giggle, but Alli was making her laugh so much.

"I don't think Professor Hunter would approve of you borrowing a beater's bat to knock someone's head it, but I certainly would let you have one if I was the flying Professor," she laughed again, at the image of Alli going after a stupid Gryffindor, wielding a beating bat, menacingly in her hand. That does sound positively delightful.

"Shame really. Imagine all the problems we could solve with just one quick blow to the head," Jasmine said, still smiling. She looked over at the girl. "Liking classes so far?" she asked her.

"Oh really?" Alli's voice was amused and joking. "Well in that case, how soon can you apply for the job, because I can think of a few people just off the top of my head who need to have a little chat with one of those bats."

Classes, the bane of school life. "I suppose they're not so bad although I have to say that I would prefer to lounge around and have the house elves bring me sweets all day, but..." she shrugged. "I think Potions is going to be the most interesting by far. Professor Hamilton isn't going to take any crap from those ninnies that run around the castle thinking they know everything. I can't wait to see some of them get detention," she finished gleefully. If it happened, she just might have to get detention with them just so she could watch them serve it.

Jasmine grinned, "Oh, as soon as I can actually fly a broomstick properly, I'll take the job right out from under Hunter." Jasmine wasn't a confident flyer, but did love the game of Quidditch and looked forward to the Flying class to begin.

"I don't take Potions, but now I kinda wish I did. I've heard that he's really blunt like that; he sounds awesome," she said.

"I can't stand Professors that can't control a class, and let students get away with anything and everything. I mean, if you're crafty enough to fool a Professor, than congrats for getting away with it, but the Professors that know students are misbehaving and let them get away with no punishment, I just shake my head at. Where did they get their teaching diploma? From a cereal packet? Honestly, I could teach a class better, and I'm not even 12 yet!"

Alli listened to Jasmine and thought about what she said. She understood, but at the same time, she didn't mind so much if a teacher let someone off for trouble-making unless they were just being "nice". "Anyone who can't talk themselves out of a detention might as well be a flobberworm," she said. She could think of a few people whom she had seen around who fit that description.

"I know what you mean though. It's annoying when people sit in the back of class and whisper the whole time about boys and hair and stupid stuff like that. It could work to our advantage though, once we know some curses and stuff. We'll know what to do and all they'll know is that Handsome McFancyman's hair looks good outside and by candle light," she rolled her eyes.

Jasmine nodded; she had been lying to get out of trouble for years now, and found it relatively easy, on her parents, that is. It may be more challenging on a Professor, but with Alli to convincingly back her up, she'd have no problems at all.

She laughed, "I know! It's darn right annoying hearing them go on and on about it. Makes me sick to my stomach." Jasmine laughed at the candle-light comment. Alli sure was funny.

"I plan to take the back seats in all my classes anyway, so I'll be able to better give death stares to people, and the professors won't notice me slacking off. Hope you'll join me?" she asked her. Jasmine liked the idea of having someone to laugh at stupid people in classes with.

"I would be positively honored to join you in the back row," Alli said in a mock-pretentious voice, like one of her mother's "special friends" accepting an invitation to one of her snooty dinner parties. Perhaps Alli would invite Jasmine around when it came to "party season". Then they could laugh at all the adults who took themselves too seriously and she'd have someone to hang out with.

"I expect Jude will probably join us. Have you met him yet?" she asked.

Jasmine smiled. Awesome.

She shook her head, "No, I haven't met him yet. Is he a Slytherin as well? If not, I don't really care to meet him," she said honestly. She wasn't all that interested in talking to boys unless they shared common interest with her. If this Jude boy was friends with Alli, than Jasmine supposed that he would be an alright person.

Alli sat up quickly and looked at Jasmine with a stern face. "What do you take me for? Of course he's a Slytherin. You don't see me going around making friends with Gryffindorks, do you?" she pretended to be insulted.

"He just might kill you for thinking he's not a Slyth," she snickered, laying back down against the grass, imagining how his face would probably turn a dark red color when she told him what Jasmine had said. "Not to worry though, I'll keep you both from killing each other."

Jasmine smirked, "You're right. I was silly to think otherwise. Well, I am happy to meet this Jude. Perhaps I'll see him around in the common room in any case."

She laughed, "Yes. Please don't tell him I said that. I don't particularly want to die for an unjust cause. All though..." she paused, scratching her chin as though she was pondering something profound, "I would probably kill someone if they thought I was a Gryffindork or a Puffy Puff." Jasmine said, adopting the term Alli invented.

"Same," Alli agreed. She couldn't really see anyone mistaking either of them for someone of a more inferior house though. She could practically feel the Slytherin-ness radiating from Jasmine, and she was sure the other girl could feel the same from her.

"If you'd asked me before school if I would have minded being in Ravenclaw, I would have said that it wouldn't be so bad, but I don't think I've ever been more wrong in my entire life," she said dramatically. She'd seen a few of the Ravenclaws around the castle, and she had to say that the qualities of a Ravenclaw must have changed, because there's no way that the girls she had seen were intelligent or witty. They were mostly just gossipy and stupid. How awful. "I have yet to find a single one of them who is actually worth talking to."

Jasmine nodded in agreement. "I know. I feel like I would lose IQ points just talking to them," she shook her head. Jasmine tried to stick to just her classes and the Slytherin common room to avoid having to involve herself in meaningless conversations with people she would rather not be associated with.

"I swear they've put all the brains in Slytherin instead," Jasmine said, not at all caring that she sounded awfully conceited. It was the truth. The other houses were full of stupid people. That wasn't debatable.

"And by that, you mean the two of us," Alli joked, although for all she knew, it could be true. She hadn't really talked to many of the other Slytherins. She knew Jude, and she'd met a few others briefly, but she hadn't talked to any of the others long enough to know if even they were worth including in the category of "intelligent". What was the world coming to when a girl couldn't even trust her own housemates to be smart?

"What classes are you taking again?" she asked. She couldn't remember what the girl was taking and she had to devise the best schedule she could so that she could sit by Jasmine in as many classes as possible. Merlin forbid she have to sit next to a Hufflepuff. Or worse, a Gryffindor.

Jasmine sniggered, "Naturally. Who else is there that could match our brains, seriously?" she laughed again. It was true. The rest of them were a bunch of no-brainers.

"I'm taking Ancient Runes, Flying, Divination and Transfiguration. I figure I might need to enhance my Inner Eye, or Third Eye, or whatever the hell it's called, so I can see stupid people coming and avoid them. I think it's a necessary branch of magic, for that sole reason, wouldn't you agree?"

Jasmine smirked, not at all thinking that Divination would be very good at all, in fact, she would probably end up head-desking by the end of the first lesson. The only reason she was taking it was that she needed a bludge class, and if there was ever a bludge class, it would be Divination.

Alli burst into laughter. She couldn't think of a worse subject to take than Divination. "It's not so difficult to see stupid people coming. All you have to do is look around. And to avoid them, we just need to lock ourselves in a room by ourselves and we'll be safe," she was extremely amused that Jasmine was taking Divination. What a laugh.

"At least if you get paired up with someone in there that you don't like, you can hurl a crystal ball at their head," she said cheerfully. "Imagine the irony of them not seeing that coming," she giggled.

"That is very true," Jasmine said, laughing because Alli was. She really regretted signing up for Divination now, especially since it seemed she wouldn't have any friends in that class.

"I think I'll probably resort to chucking a crystal ball at someone's head, but it won't be because I don't like them, because naturally I'll hate everyone in that class, but it'll be because someone did something idiotic; which is a given for that class and it's would-be students."

Jasmine stretched out her legs, enjoying the sunlight. She saw that other students were wandering around the lake, and was happy that it was Alli that came to talk to her, instead of all these losers. She wasn't looking forward to going back up to the castle, and risking having to talk to one of them.

"Quite right," Alli said, snickering.

She bounced up onto her feet and stretched her arms above her head. "Come on then, this is boring. Let's go do something more interesting, like, I don't know, go explore the secret passages or throw things at the Gryffindorks. Or both."

She left the spot and went back into the castle, hoping Jasmine would come. It would be terribly dull to explore/throw things on her own.

Jasmine looked at Alli as she jumped up. She nodded and took to her feet in much the same way the Slytherin girl did.

"Sounds good," Jasmine said, grinning. "If we're lucky we will actually hit one of them, and them blame it on a Hufflepuff. They're so stupid they'll actually believe they did it."

Jasmine ran to keep up with the fast paced Slytherin girl. "Wait for me!"