A Tour Before

It was really just a struck of luck for Nick really. His father, polite and eloquent man that he was, who managed to sweet talk the idea of his son visiting Hogwarts just a tad before his first year. 'It will be just an experience, so you can truly feel what is like to live in a such a place.' He had said, completely convinced that this was the right move in order to make his, rather awkward, son to get out of his shell.

He had only a couple of hours, not nearly enough time to visit the nooks and crannies of such a massive and beautiful castle, but it was enough to see the Courtyard perhaps.

The very first thing that Nick noticed, was how grant and elaborate every single detail of the castle was, the walls completely filled with beautiful moving paintings, some even waved at him as he passed by, walls with the more intricate details carved in dark wood, even the doors looked so grand he almost didn't dare to touch them and push past.

He found himself in the Courtyard, a monitor so politely pointing him the way towards who he assumed would be his guide.

Nick barely opened his mouth to say his first words when the older boy spoke first, he gave him a awkward smile and a excuse for not being the best guide there is, not that Nick ever had another experience to compare to.

"Hmm- Nick! Just... Just Nick." He replied politely, big bright and young green eyes staring at Mikey with a bit of a unsettling glim, mostly a staring problem. "I don't mind! It's nice to meet you though, wasn't sure if anyone would agree to do the tour.."

Mikey stuck close to the boy as they began to move slowly along the courtyard walkway, the tread of their feet soft on the flagstones. He got a quick glimpse at Nick, Just Nick, noticing the way his eyes seemed to drink everything around them up like a sponge. That wide-eyed expression Mikey recalled from his own first weeks. That feeling of walking within a storybook brought to life, except more so.

Mikey answered, tone relaxed as he shoved his hands back into his pockets, "I didn't have the foggiest what Hogwarts was about until the day my letter arrived. Figured it was a prank. One of the really good ones you know. Like with cameras hidden away and some person yelling, 'Got you!' and jumping out at you." He smiled at the memory, kicking a small pebble along the path as they strolled. "Turns out, nope. Just magic.".

He looked towards the edge of the fountain and took a few steps away, observing a bird fly low over the courtyard's ground before it disappeared into the archway. "Well, whatever, I guess I think it's neat that you get to explore the place before hand. That's a smart idea, actually. Might make the first day a little easier, maybe."

He walked back toward Nick again, though this time he really did look at him, not in a questioning way but more like one was turning the page on a new novel they'd just opened. Mikey had a tendency to do that. Trying to read individuals, even when they had no clue they were being read.

“You strike me as someone who notices things,” he said after a moment. “Like, not just the obvious stuff. The small details. Most people walk through this place the first time and only see how big it all is. But you’ve got that kind of look that says you’re already mapping it in your head.”

He didn't ask him anything. Not yet. There was something simpler in just conversing like this, where Nick could acclimate on his own terms. Mikey didn't want to pry. He remembered what it had been like to be new and introverted and uncertain whether you were to be impressed or self-assured or both at once.

He smiled once more, as if the burden of having to "be a guide" had at last been lifted from his back. He tried to think up a better ice breaker and came up with, “So What house do you think you will be sorted into?”

Nick listened to every single word Mikey said with curiosity, the boy spoke of things that Nick himself had never heard of before, which was to be expected, he was slightly older, so Nick assumed he would have more knowledge to share.

"My mom was a Hufflepuff, and my dad was a Ravenclaw like you! They said I am a little bit of both, whatever that must mean. They are always competing to see who is right when it comes to me, I suppose I believe I should be a Hufflepuff! Or even a combination of the two, Lika a Ravenpuff or a Huffleclaw!" He chuckled at that simple thought, perhaps he fit more with a Hufflepuff himself, a brain a bit too close to the clouds, not enough to truly be considered a soon-to-be wise young wizard. "Also… What's a camera?"

He followed the bird when it flew past, turning his head around so he could follow its movements until it left his sight completely. Perhaps that was a crow? It seemed like a crow, perhaps a raven, rather fitting for the presence of a Ravenclaw.

Nick's eyes were everywhere, even towards the little bricks that created the pathway they stepped on this very moment, thousands of bricks perhaps, he couldn't count them all just now, he would try so when he was finally settled here.

"I think I notice things... Can't be really sure about that... me mom always says I should stop staring, says is not really polite." Although every movement he took was one of observation, seeing each slightly dusty window panel like it was another piece of art to admire. "

Mikey smiled faintly at the mention of a “Ravenpuff,” and gave a quiet laugh that echoed gently in the open courtyard. “Well, you’ve got the name for Ravenclaw already,” he said, casting a sideways glance at Nick. “Nicholas Lazarus sounds like someone destined to invent seven spells and write a book on magical ethics by the time he’s twelve.” He said it jokingly, but there was an honest note under it.

He took them down in silence, passing by a high hedge that was just starting to have tiny white flowers. Mikey rubbed one of the low-hanging branches with his knuckles as they walked by, allowing the leaves to flow over his fingers.

He stepped down onto the path that led towards the broad stone entrance which was the start of the castle interior proper, and then moved over a bit so he could continue to back up but still watch Nick. "Also, a camera's this Muggle device. Boxed bit of kit with a glass eye. You press a button and it records what it sees. He said hastily, waving a hand vaguely toward the castle, "I grew up muggle and I forget that not everyone here knows what I’m talking about.".

He shrugged and turned away again before he stumbled over something. "I suppose it's the things you grow up with. You hear about children wizards playing magic games, and I was playing football on the pavement outside a bakery in Liverpool. Whole different world."

Mikey fell silent for an instant. And then he leaned his head slightly towards the boy and said, "Your mum is likely right about staring. But sometimes it's the people who stare the longest who notice the things no one else does."

He grinned once more and tapped on the stone wall as they passed through the arch. This path to the entrance hall. We'll be going in shortly, but first come over here." He stepped over to a worn bench against the courtyard wall inside. "I have something I wish to show you. You notice that tower there?" He nodded up, to one of the upper spires which rose high above the western front of the castle. That one's got a little ledge you can see if you catch the sun on it just so. That's where the crows nest in the rain. Not owls. Crows. I like to think it’s like the ravens at the tower of London."

He grinned. "Don't ask me why. Maybe they've got a club there. Or maybe they just enjoy the view." He leaned back against the bench and cocked his head, eyes sparkling with the sort of mischief that didn't require a punchline.". "Anyway," he said, "next time you come back… you'll already have one to tell yeah."

Nick never really thought about his name that way before, of course, he was used to the nickname more than the full name. Nick was simple, it was charming, but Nicholas sounded fancy, it did fit the pureblood stereotype his family had stepped away from somehow. "I can't say I know many spells just yet!" He joked, shaking his head. "But... I really like potions. I've read all about ingredients, me dad writes all about those, and once in a while he would just hand me one of those and tell me to read it for a bit."

But he did stop for a moment longer when they reached the white flowers, he stared at those for quite a few seconds. He loved flowers, and those, despite being quite small looked a lot like the primroses his mother had in her garden, the ones she decorated the entire manor with every chance she got.

Nick wondered if his mother had ever seen those when she was a student, if those were the inspiration for her own love for the white flowers, if she enjoyed sitting beneath them in that same spot many years ago.

His head snapped back to Mikey only when he spoke again, talking about the so interesting 'camera' object that he had never heard of before. "It sounds like muggles have their own kind of magic... They can make glass remember things." he picked up the pace right as he started speaking, so he wouldn't be too far behind the older boy and miss his words by accident. He looked up as they passed the arch, looking at each brick and he was almost sure he had seen some bug there as well.

Nick leaned forward, squinting his eyes as he looked at the tower, it was a big tower, bricks and a little bit of moss, he could barely see the dusty windows from there. "Do you think the crows are there to watch the students? Crows are really smart... Maybe they really like the school and want their little baby crows to learn about it too!" He giggled, quite liking the idea of the birds having a secret club right there, watching over the many little heads bobbing below. "I want to join their club! They probably have so many secrets to tell!"

Mikey's grin relaxed when Nick laughed at the crow club. That sort of wonder was the sort that Hogwarts would accept with open arms. Perhaps the castle did overhear the sort of conversation like this one. Perhaps the crows did, too. "I think they'd let you in," he said, glancing back up at the tower. "You've got the air of someone who'd ask the right questions… and listen to the answers."

He sat silently for a minute or so, simply observing the courtyard around them. Sunlight was beginning to shift, edges of gold where it struck stone. Their time was slipping away from them you could always sense it. Mikey pushed the toe of his shoe against a pebble and cleared his throat, just enough to shatter the silence.

“Well,” he said, turning slightly toward Nick. “That’s about all the time I’ve got for one day.” He smiled. “You’ll see the rest soon enough. The ghosts, the stairs, the weird smells in the dungeons. It’s all waiting. “He hesitated before he added, more gently now, “You’ll do alright here. Better than alright, probably. You’ve already got the kind of mind this place likes.”

He pushed his hand into his pocket to pull out something to write on but just to allow his hands to go somewhere. He pulled out an old piece of parchment and scribbled on it. “Here is my name in case you forget.”

"If you ever need someone to take you the wrong way to breakfast or have questions about the muggle world" he said laughing softly, "you can find me." He gave a final wave and exited the courtyard. The archway towered above him now, full somehow in the waning light. Mikey strode beneath it and looked back once. "See you soon, Nick." Then he disappeared.

Nick kept the smile, although a bit calmer now than before, still watching that one spot as if, if he stared hard enough, the crows would look back at him. "I hope you're right..."

He sighed softly when he was told his time was ticking away, he wanted to explore a little longer, he wanted to see more things and not have to wait a few more weeks to do it alongside countless other's wide eyed little kids his age. "awe... I wish I could stay a little more.."

But alas, he couldn't really fight it, he did have fun today, seeing just that tiny bit of the castle, it was all so incredibly beautiful and so peaceful in a way he couldn't get at home. "I can't wait to be a student here, I know i'm going to have so much fun here!" He chuckled.

"Thank you Mikey! I hope we see each other when I get in! And maybe i'll be a ravenclaw like you! Won't that be nice?" Nick waved, watching as the older boy started leaving, one of the monitors already stepping closer to the corridor to guide Nick back out. "see you soon!" Then he rushed away, still so excited to explore his future school again soon.