***
The next morning brought matriculation, the ceremony to make new students official members of the university. All the freshers had to be up early and dressed in their sub fusc, which for Harriet meant a black skirt and stockings, a white shirt (tied at the neck with a black ribbon) and her gown again. Despite feeling somewhat the worse for wear from the bop, she looked rather healthier than some of her fellow students, who’d clearly overdone the cheap shots.
The new intake lined up to have their photograph taken as a group, then walked through town to the Sheldonian Theatre for the ceremony. Harriet laughed at the fact that so many tourists wanted to take pictures of her and her friends, but posed nonetheless, relishing the attention.
The ceremony itself only lasted for a few minutes. University officials dressed in even stranger outfits than the students read some lines in Latin and then they were free to go.
Harriet hugged her new friends, and they walked to the Turf pub together. She was finally a real Oxford student.
Chapter Four
Oxford Blood (The Cavaliers: Book One) Page 12
