Lyra, coming from a family of Slytherins, had been slipped a few subtle warnings, some hints as to what the older students might try to pull. So she hadn't had as rough a time of it as some of the other first years. The favorite prank for this generation of Slytherins seemed to be convincing the younger students that at some point they might look out the dungeon windows and see the squid staring at them from within the lake.

Lyra already knew the giant squid never came that close to the castle.

"My new friend Heloise." Lyra's answer was prompt and wholehearted. "She's a Slytherin too and we met on the train before we'd even arrived at Hogwarts...we're in the same dorm, with Violette and Portia Parkinson, and she's my partner in nearly all my classes. We're the best of friends," Lyra announced, sitting up straighter as she lifted up her little shoulders, slight beneath her school robes, and put her hands in her lap. "We'll be the bestest of friends forever, for the rest of our lives, I mean. I just know it. And anyway, I want to get her a present for Christmas. I think that I should, don't you?"