The head boy was leading them up the staircases, of which one or two … or more, seemed to move, even while they ascended upon them…

After climbing some stairs, the head boy stopped in front of a large painting of a well dressed lady, who seemed to look every single one of them straight into the eye…

But that was impossible of course. Everyone stood in front of the painting, but in another angle, some stood far to the right, others more in the center, others far to the left, some were quite small in length, some were almost above eye to eye level with the lady. How could she look everyone straight into the eyes, when she wasn’t even moving? Or was she? For a brief moment The Wandelgek thought he saw her dress move when she corrected it with her hand. Nah that couldn’t be! Or could it? The head boy suddenly spoke and commanded: “Let us pass dear lady”. A bit an odd thing to say to a painting, The Wandelgek thought, but then he heard and saw the lady react:

The head boy answered “Open Sesame” and… and… and… and nothing at all happened. “Hmm” said one of his helpers, “I think that was last month’s password”. Try : “Mellon”, he suggested. The head boy raised his voice and tried again: “Mellon!” and… and… and… and nothing. The lady had grabbed a small round box from her purse and started to powder her nose. Some of the powder flew off into the staircase where they all stood and into someone’s eyes. He squeezed his eyes and started to cough because the powder had reached his nose cavities too. You “blundering baffoon”, he cried out to the lady. “Stop using so much of that powder!”. Everyone was waiting for the lady to counter his undignified words, but she just smiled and said: “See it wasn’t that difficult at all”. And the painting started to sway open like a door, behind which a corridor appeared. “Ah”, said the helper to the head boy, “I remember you changing the password last time when you were angry at her because she started to “sing”, although I wouldn’t have called that singing”. “In anger you changed it into Blundering baffoon” and laughing he entered the corridor, followed by the a bit stunned head boy and by the rest of the Gryffindor house members.

At the end of the corridor The Wandelgek entered the Gryffindor common room…

The walls were clad with large, mainly red colored, decorative carpets and some paintings…

…there was a large fireplace around which an assorted group of armchairs and a small two seater bench were placed rather randomly.

On cold winter nights when the storm wind is howling around the thick castle’s walls and turrets, this would be the place to be.

The headboy announced that there were dormitories above, seperated for girls and for boys and that the luggage had already been brought up.

The Wandelgek looked around and saw a stone spiral staircase winding up. He climbed the stairs towards the boys dormitory…

Several beds with red curtains, were grouped around a stove.

The thick castle walls were curved, like those of a tower or a turret and a single small window allowed the students to have a look outside. Underneath his bed was his trunk…,

…which had been carried up there, probably by a rather sour looking house elve, who’d been carrying up to 6 trunks on his shoulders, now and again dropping one or two, meanwhile muttering all sorts of muffled curses of which occasionally words like “mudblood bratts” or “pureblood traitors” were recognizable.

Once the luggage was all delivered, he apparated from the room and it seemed a veil of misogany was lifted from the moods of everyone in there…

Above was a ceiling with wooden beams crossing the space.

Knowing that tomorrow would be an early wake up call day, because of a full schedule of lessons, the bed looked really inviting and The Wandelgek quickly crept underneath the warm blanket for his 1st night in Hogwarts.