My Hogwarts

D. G.Ruparel College, Matunga Road

We were Potter fans since Class VIII; we just loved the Wizard World. We even bribed the AV room in-charge saying, "We all will listen to lectures with pin drop silence for two hours provided we get to watch Harry Potter for thirty minutes". This routine went on till Class X. Little did I know I would actually reach My Hogwarts then. Yes my Junior college (D. G. Ruparel) is My Hogwarts. Getting admission in this college was like getting a Hogwarts letter. Only three of us from school-mates: I (Science), Snehal Ulman (Arts) and Vaishali Ghogare (Commerce) got selected here.

I met Netra Khedekar in college and our Pottermania started. We always connected whatever was going on to Harry Potter. First of all, the wall design resembled somewhat to Hogwarts walls. There were many ways to go from here to there. We found every possible way; in case we decided to bunk lectures it would be helpful, we did not have the invisibility cloak* right! We were Harry and Ron who even searched for the Chamber of Secrets* at the Girls washroom which was at the end of Chemistry building. We were disappointed on one aspect that the college was two-storey building. So the plan of meeting fluffy* on the third floor could not be thought of. Like Hogwarts had a big dining hall, we had a big Reading room with high ceiling. The library on first floor was a restricted area. Only law students were allowed there. Anyway we were not going to search for a book on Nicholas Flamel* there.

The Admin office resembled the Gringotts bank*. All dutiful goblins, though nosy, worked here. Most of them will talk only to the point; not a word less not a word more. If you ask them a question and you get a reply, "See the clock!" You need to understand for yourself that office hours are over, come tomorrow. But there were a few good ones also. And what to say about the doorkeepers; they just would not let us in without the I-Cards. Filch’s* cat used to wander here and there. There was a shop outside college. You can call it a mix of Flourish & Blotts* and other shops in Diagon Alley* where you get anything from books to test tube holder. And our Hogwarts Express* was Dadar Local at platform no. 5. It was here I met my friend Neha Borkar. Only boys had hostel facility. But we girls had the Ladies Common Room which had canteen, washroom, writing tables and long benches, lockers, big mirrors, music, etc.

Our Vice Principal (Mrs. Toke) was look-alike of Minerva McGonagall and our Principal (Mr. Sule) was Dumbledore; he didn’t had a long beard though. It was always fun making slides during Botany practical taken by Prof. Sprout (Mrs. Pradhan). But our Zoology practical sessions were always stretched, credit to Prof. Pomfrey (Mrs. Gohil). She started with skull bones and then went on and on. We were then thinking why there are 206 bones in human body. Then we had Prof. Gilderoy Lockhart (Mr. Kelkar). Thank God, he taught us Botany. If it was Zoology then we would have got assignment of catching the little bats. There was a Prof. Trelawney (Mrs. Dahad) who spoke so slowly. We used to wait patiently for her sentence to complete. Mr. Deore, who taught us Mathematics; always said the same lines, “If you have any doubts, you can ask!”. We had Prof. Dolores Umbridge look-alike Mrs. Lobo, but she was not cunning like Umbridge but was very very sweet. I still remember the way she said, “Limit x tends to zeeerrrrooo”. There was Prof. Snape (Mr. Tikekar), our Chemistry teacher, very strict and we were in a soup most of the times. We had Prof. Lupin (Mr. Shirsaath) who demonstrated the experiments so well during Physics practical, that many concepts got cleared then and there. There was no need to go read theory again.

So these were two years of Pottermania. This Blogger has become a Pensieve* for me. “I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind.” So, I have decided to put them in this Pensieve. I can have a glance at them during leisure times.

* google these words, in case you don't know the meaning.