My stylus once drew the windows of this castle. They felt wrong, somehow. Now you see only a blank facade and a sky empty of stars, and although you see the lights reflected in the water, the castle shows no sign of them. Perhaps this is Hogwarts as Harry sees it now – but as for the Hogwarts that an eleven-year-old saw, not knowing what was to come, you will not see it until the very end.
Approximate readability: 6.68 (304 characters, 78 words, 4 sentences, 3.90 characters per word, 19.50 words per sentence)We see a large image of Hogwarts Castle in relative darkness. It has many towers, but is not adorned or colorful.
At the top is a banner which reads DRACO DORMIENS TITILLARE COACTUS SUM
, which is Latin for I am compelled to tickle a sleeping dragon
. (The motto of Hogwarts in the original series is Draco dormiens titillandus numquam
, which means Never tickle a sleeping dragon
.) The Latin verb titillo
can also mean provoke
or sexually stimulate
.
An huge image of Voldemort hovers over the castle, holding puppet strings which attach to the towers, as if the entire castle is Voldemort's puppet.
Hermione Granger is flying on a broomstick over the castle, with zir wand out, shooting some kind of magic in Voldemort's general direction.
Rubeus Hagrid – a huge person, but very small next to the castle – is standing in front of the castle's main doors, awaiting the arrival of the first-years. In front of Hagrid is a large lake. A boat approaches across the lake, propelled by pure blue magic. In the boat are the even smaller figures of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, facing away from each other.
TITLE: Chapter Two
TITLE: Castle of Gloss and Fear
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