The third generation of the famous wizard families continue on to the next legacy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, making a new home in Hogwarts and all its glory. However, the great new adventures through magic also bring haunting tidings from a forbidden enemy, long forgotten after the battles of the Deatheaters. How will three chosen friends battle not only the enemy, but themselves in the midst of the fight?
HbayAlay and I have worked hard on this, trying to bring you a whole new cast while retaining the magic and experience of the first and adored Harry Potter series. We chose the third generation because the second generation of the wizard families had no decided jobs, thus making the characters' backstories more malleable. Our partnership has been very enjoyable, and I look forward to further chapters just as much as I hope you do!
Chapter 1
Initiation
Orion looked out at the dusky morning, feeling his position being battered by the moving train. His cat, Artemis, sat beside him, where it was pleasantly warm. It was going to rain soon, he knew it. It would do nothing to improve his mood, all lonely in this car.
He was staring out the dirty old window, watching all the trees in the forest go rushing by. He sat there alone and wondered why he was so lonely on his trip. Harry had always told good stories about the train ride to Hogwarts. So why, oh why, was poor Orion alone? He was related to the great hero, Harry freakin' Potter, but he was not as well known. He sighed, and heard a sweeping noise, and turned to see somebody, no, two somebodies, and his eyes widened with excitement. When he met the eyes of the two, he realized that they were only his second cousins, here to keep him company. No real wizard would ever think to join such a weird child, even if he was a Potter.
"I'm all out of cash, if that's what you want," Orion growled.
"Aw, that's a shame," one of them said. The other swiftly struck him in his sternum.
"We didn't want any more of your money - you've already given us so much, cousin," this one said. Orion called them Oaf and Swindle. This was mainly because one was an idiot and the other was a sleazy silver-tongue. Either way, both of them were equally unlikeable, and it didn't help that they were always no more than five feet apart from each other. They've recently been leeching out of his pocket, trying to suck every penny from him into that damned candy trolley. Swindle's points were mainly reinforced by his mother's dooming words: "Take care of your cousins, Orion."
"Beat it," Orion snapped. Swindle frowned.
"Well, we were just going to give you company, but I guess you can do without." Swindle nabbed a chocolate frog from Oaf's pocket and tossed it to Orion. "Stop pouting, eat something."
Orion caught the candy half heartedly, and looked at his cousins. "Are you leaving, or not?" He sneered. Swindle winked at him and left with Oaf. Orion glumly returned to his place on the sill, staring back out at the grim trees. He considered opening up the chocolate frog after a while, and retrieved it from his side. He expected it to have melted because of the heat, but he did not prepare for the candy creature to leap onto his face.
"What the -?!" he exclaimed. It's sticky feet left a wet trail along his face. "Ugh!" He could NOT believe his luck right now. The commotion seemed to have woken up his cat, and now it was watching intently as its master fought a small frog off his face. In fact, he must have made quite the show, because now people were peering through his door to see what the heck was happening.
After tearing the vulgar creature off his face, he shot the onlookers a menacing glare, which only seemed to arouse laughter from them. It felt like a dementor had arrived just then in the train, sucking the life and hopes of happiness out of him.
"Hey, beat it, guys! I'll stick melted frogs on you and see how you feel after being laughed at." The voice was new to him. Then again, almost all were, but nobody had ever stood up for him before. All the laughter died down, and everyone slunk away, back to whatever hole they came from. Who remained was a lovely ginger girl that smiled at him through the glass.
Some irrational sexist hormone in his brain took her feminism as another insult to his dignity, but he corrected it almost immediately. Orion beckoned her inside and wiped his off face with a handkerchief. He carelessly threw the frog out the window. "Thanks," Orion said.
"No problem," the ginger girl said, "I'm Cecelia Weasley." She held out her hand. Shock went through Orion's body.
"Weasley?" he said. He took her hand, shaking it heartily. "I am Orion Potter!"
"Really?" Cecelia said with the same manner of excitement. "Perhaps it was fate that drew us together!"
That's not a bad fate, Orion thought to himself. He checked his mind. No, that seems absurd - a Potter and another Weasley?
Something moved in the corner of Orion's vision. "Hmm? Cecelia, it seems you have a shadow." Cecelia turned around.
"Oh, that's just my sister, Nashira." Nashira was out of sight as soon as her name was mentioned. Cecelia smiled at the spot she had been.
"She seems a tad young to start going to school here," Orion noted.
"Oh, no, she's not coming for that purpose." Cecelia turned around to Orion. "Nobody is around to look after her - and daycares are not exactly equipped for a witch child. She has to come with me so I can keep an eye on her." Nashira peered around the corner of the wall again, ogling the strange kid that was talking to her sister. "Oh, come on," she said, rolling her eyes, "Get in here!" Cecelia went out to fetch Nashira, leaving Orion temporarily alone. He drew the chocolate frog box from his pocket and found the special famous wizard card that always came with the box.
The card was Harry Potter.
Orion grimaced, doubting all of the luck and stories his grandfather had given him. Everything was downhill the minute he stepped into the magical community, and he owed it all to Harry Potter.
BANG
"Wanna say that again!? Say that to my bloody face!"
"I- I didn't mean it!"
BANG
"I AM NOT JUST A BLOODY BOTANIST, PUNK!"
BANG
Orion flung the card on his cat, intent on the happenings outside. He slipped out the door, searching for the scene of the uproar.
Some kid in steel-toed boots and a trench coat was aggressively staring down someone, holding a wand up to his throat. Everyone nearby watched in total astonishment. A black patch of carpet stood between the two of them, and the other kid's shoes were ruined to the point that his blackened toes were in sight. "If you DARE talk about my heritage again -!" the boy in the trench threatened.
"Hey, chill out," Cecelia said.
"What?" the boy hissed, affronted.
"I think you've made your point - there's no reason to make him any uglier than he already is." The victim was taken aback at the remark, which was followed shortly by a dirty look. Cecelia smiled at this. "And look at the carpet! Can you imagine what will happen when the conductor sees this?" The attacker contemplated her words for a moment, then withdrew his wand.
"Leave, scum," he snarled. The victim didn't need to be told twice. Orion was particularly surprised at how Cecelia handled the situation - she could deal with people so easily. . . Unlike him. The surrounding crowd broke up, muttering incoherently. Somebody suggested that they report this to an adult - but there was the point that the boy might blast the offender's head off if that happened. Orion did not doubt it.
"Come on, I think you can use some better company," Cecelia said, urging the boy to come with. Bewilderment met his eyes as soon as the words came out of her mouth. He scoffed and looked away.
"Trust me - you wouldn't want me in your car. Especially after what you witnessed."
"Well, I think it would be better if you were with us than someone like them." The boy looked back at the people who insulted him, or at least who was assumed to have insulted him.
"Fine," he said curtly, "Don't say I didn't tell you so." He brushed past Cecelia and into the car they had sat in, not even looking at Orion. Orion caught Cecelia's eye, but she simply smiled and followed him in. Orion came inside after Nashira filed in after her older sister. The boy that nearly killed someone over a remark sat silently in the corner of the car, staring out the window with his arms crossed. Orion carefully sat across from him, stroking Artemis.
"So. . . What's your name?" Cecelia asked.
"Longbottom." He offered no first name.
". . . Okay. I'm Cecelia Weasley, and this is Orion Potter." The Longbottom boy gazed at each of them in turn, but said nothing. Orion would have been excited to see another famous-blooded figure with him had he not found this guy so scary.
Cecelia, obviously the most social one, tried to break the awkward silence, "Wow, just like Grandma always said the first ride would be like! I'm already meeting new friends, and there has already been a fight, and a chocolate frog gone wrong. . .This is the coolest thing ever!" She seemed as though she could have gone on and on about the magic (no pun intended) on the train to Hogwarts, but by then, Nashira had slowly inched herself into the car. Cecelia smiled, and whispered something to her sister, probably reassuring her about the two strange boys that were also in the area. "Oh, and, uh, Longbottom, this here," Cecelia said after a moment, "this is Nashira. Say 'hi', Nashira!" The little red headed figure on Cecelia's lap made no effort to say a word, or even smile. All she did was stare menacingly at the boy.
Orion wasn't sure if he should ask why Nashira had come along. Most wizards looked forward to their first travel to Hogwarts, but Nashira looked almost too young to be able to remember it. He thought quietly to himself how bad that would be; to go on your way to school for the first time, meeting the most wonderful people, and then be too young to remember what was going on. As if reading his thought, Cecelia began speaking again.
"Nashira is little, see?" she said. "Mum can't look after her because she's teaching, and Dad works for the Ministry. She had to come with me. Look at her - she is in no shape to be staying home alone, now is she?" She was making faces as though she was talking gibberish to a baby.
"No," Longbottom said bluntly.
"Yeah. . ." Cecelia said, her voice drifting off. She was obviously keeping something from the other two. Orion didn't want to push her, but just continued to look out his window. The trees were endless; there were columns of green surrounding green, and there was more green around that. It was beautiful, and he lost himself in the perfect nature of it all. Artemis had fallen asleep again, right on top of his leg, but he didn't mind. He felt like he belonged, even if he didn't know these people. Cecelia was pretty; she had red hair, just like almost any Weasely, and a perfect smile. Her teeth were straight, and her eyes were the darkest shade of green that they almost seemed to be the hue in the trees they were passing. Her cheeks were angular and sharp looking, but they helped make her look older. Nashira looked very similar, but her smaller eyes were almost black, and her teeth were all but perfect. She was missing a couple in the front. Her face was round, still chubbed up with baby fat. She might be pretty someday, but those eyes were unnerving.
Without realizing it, Orion had gone from staring out the window to staring at the girls in the car. He had never actually looked at a girl. Not at her beauty. There was something inside of him telling him that looking at her was wrong, but he couldn't stop himself. He had never seen a girl so pretty before. He wrenched his eyes away, and looked back out the window, realizing why he felt weird inside. The two of them were practically cousins; it would be wrong to ever fall in love with her. Well, so he supposed - many wizard generations made away with pureblood only through inbreeding. . .
Orion then let his attention fall on Longbottom. To be honest, he was pretty sure he would lose all control over his bodily functions should the boy ever cast his wand in his direction. He had blond hair, cut short but allowed to lay flat on its own against his head on its own accord, which matched his rather pale appearance. Orion could faintly see some scars on his face, but he was too far to tell. He was not sure if he even wanted to tell, but they were there, regardless. The boy had large boots, steel-toed as Orion noted before, and looked military-issue. Matched with the trench coat, Orion had no idea what kind of family this kid came from. He noticed holes in the trench where knives would have been stored, but it seems as if those were stripped from him before he got on, and now all that was left in their place were lengths of stitches.
A chill went down Orion's spine. What use would wizard's have for knives? For cutlery, he could understand, but people didn't carry around knives for fun - especially the kitchen kind. Orion speculated that he might have pistols in his boots, but he disregarded his musings. Perhaps the boy was only paranoid - magic was not allowed in the muggle world, after all. From the looks of things, Longbottom must have come from a bad neighborhood, despite his bloodline.
Longbottom moved. "I'm going to get changed," he said, and left. Orion looked out the window, his cat still purring atop his knee, contentedly asleep. Nashira gazed after Longbottom. The dull trees shifted, opening up into a vast, open prairie. Orion looked on, slightly more relaxed, and tons less depressed.
"We're almost there," Cecelia noted.
"Yeah," Orion said. Cecelia gave him a peculiar look.
"Aren't you excited for Hogwarts?" Orion did not reply. Cecelia left Nashira's side and came beside Orion's. "Is there something wrong?"
"Yeah. . . My grandfather often told me about how great Hogwarts was, and all of its mysteries, with its magic and such. . . But people never held any great regard for me, no matter where I came from. And, you know, this is the first time I'm beginning to doubt everything my family has told me. . ." Orion sighed. "You are the first person to actually acknowledge my presence here, save for the jerks who laughed when that damned frog attacked my face. It's not a bad thing, but I don't foresee this school year being that great if I can't get along with new people." Cecelia look as if she were going to say something, but a hard knocking came at the glass door. Everyone's eyes turned to it to see Oaf and Swindle, making obscene tongue gestures at Orion in particular. Orion felt his face burn red, with either rage or longing he did not know, as his pride was once again wounded.
Fortunately, Longbottom came around to the door.
His shadow alerted the two, and they looked up at his glaring eyes. The color slowly drew out of their skin, and they backed away rather quickly. Longbottom came inside the car, no longer obstructed by further impudence, and took to his seat once again. He was rather skinny, especially with the custom fit robes, but he still kept on his military-grade boots. Cecelia raised a brow at this.
"You're going to get licked for that, you know," she said.
"Licked? For what?" Longbottom scoffed. He had a good point - Orion couldn't imagine an adult who could keep up against his malevolent force, even from only what he had seen in that brief of spurt of action. Cecelia looked pensively at Longbottom's boots, but pursued no further on the subject. She might as well be trying to tell a brick wall to put on trousers.
Knowing that she couldn't argue, Cecelia tried to say something else, "Aren't you excited to be on your way to Hogwarts? We are almost there, and I am just bursting with excitement!" As she spoke, Nashira bounced up and down in her lap. It must not have been a comfortable ride.
"I am just a bundle of joy, here," Longbottom said. "You can see the happiness glowing in my eyes. My mouth is widened in the biggest grin humanly possible on a face such as mine. My teeth are shining out of my mouth, as I cannot contain my smile. There is nothing about me that goes against the idea of going to my first year at a wizarding school."
Cecelia's smile faded again. Longbottom's words had shut her mouth. His dark sarcasm would drive her crazy sometime, but she did her best to stay composed. Even if there was tension in the car, Cecelia had her way of hiding it. She took her attention off of Longbottom, who was obviously not inclined to say anything more, and started playing with Nashira's hands. At some point Orion heard her saying, "Phalanges, phalanges, phalanges," whilst sticking her fingers in her sister's face. Nashira's eyes lit up, and she laughed, and smiled. Orion had been right about his thoughts earlier. She would be pretty some day.
Something about the way that Cecelia acted with her sister drew Orion to her. She was so loving with Nashira, like there was nothing in the world Cecelia wouldn't do for her. It was the type of love that only a family could share. He had no brothers, no sisters, no siblings whatsoever. His parents were hardly around at home, leaving him to be alone most days with his grandparents. He never had felt the love that a sister could have given him. He never felt the love that his parents could provide to him, if they were around long enough to see him. The only love he ever felt was the love he received from Harry and Ginny. The only love he had ever given to anybody was back to the same two people. He felt so alone, now. Nashira had a sister to look after her, and he was sure even the scary Longbottom had a brother or two. He missed his grandparents more than anything right now. Harry always had a story to tell about his days at Hogwarts, or Ginny always had some cookies baking for later. Here, there were no cookies. Here, there were no stories. Here, there were strangers. He didn't want strangers.
He just wanted to be at Hogwarts already, exploring what his grandparents already had. Orion pulled out the Marauder's Map from his pocket. It was worn out and slightly torn from use before - he could only imagine the trouble his parents could have gotten into with this. And now it was his. . . what's the sentence used to activate it again? Orion dug into the wrinkles of his mind, trying to conjure up the words his grandfather had used in his stories.
Orion gave up trying to remember, shoving the note back into his pockets. He was almost there, Cecelia had said so, and now he was excited. He felt like standing up, stretching his legs, but Artemis was still asleep on his leg. He contented himself instead with asking Cecelia a question. "What house do you want to be put into?"
Cecelia looked up at him shyly, as if she wasn't sure if he was really asking her something or not. "I'm a Weasley," she said, and her voice sounded as if it were far away for a moment. It cleared back up when she continued what she was saying, "I have to be put in Gryffindor. It will be a shame if I don't, and Mum and Pa would not be proud of me. They were both in Gryffindor, and so were Ron, and Hermione, Fred and George, and Percy. . . it would be terrible if I didn't end up there." She gave a half-hearted smile, as if unsure that was what she really wanted. "If I end up in Hufflepuff, I will just have to tell everybody that the hat is getting a bit too old for its job."
Orion chuckled lightly. "They haven't gotten a new hat since before Grandpa was put in gryffindor. I wouldn't be surprised if he started flubbing everything up," he said.
"Flub?" Longbottom said. "Of all the word you could say, you chose 'flub'. You are much worse company than I thought."
"Oh don't be a sour-puss," Cecelia said to the quieter one. "I bet you would've found a word much worse than flub."
"You bet I would," Longbottom said, glaring evilly at Cecelia. "I can come up with multiple words to use other than flub. Let me tell you, one of them starts with the letter 'f', and it rhymes with duck. And it ain't firetruck."
Cecelia opened her mouth as if to reply, but the train had started to slow, and Nashira had started freaking out about it. Longbottom smiled, well, it was more of a sneer, really, and he ducked out of the door. Orion and Cecelia readied themselves. "At least you got him to talk," Orion remarked. Orion took out his dolley of objects from under his seat, lugging it out after Cecelia as she pulled her own dolley out from one of the above compartments.
The rain was pounding outside, striking the ground until it was nothing but mud. Artemis hid between the layers of Orion's coat to stay warm, looking soaked just from moments of rain. He was purring against Orion's chest, happy to be warm. After Orion hopped into the mud, he turned to see Cecelia struggling with her dolley. He knew that this was his chance, maybe he could win her over with kindness. "Do you need help with that?"
Cecelia smiled half-heartedly in return, as if to say yes. Orion moved his dolley out of the way of the steps, and held out his arms. Cecelia lifted hers up as high as she could, and dropped it at gently as she could into his arms. It was heavy though, and Orion's knees buckled from the weight, almost making him fall. He stayed standing, but just barely, and Artemis yowled angrily from beneath his jacket. "Shut up, you stupid cat!" Orion hissed.
By then Cecelia had come down off the train and was brushing Nashira's coat like there were leaves covering it. She was completely unaware that Orion had been talking to his cat, and said, "What was that, Oreo?"
Oh great, Orion thought. She already has a nickname for me. "I was talking to Artemis." When Cecelia's face was blank after he said that, he continued to explain the best that he could, "My uh. . .cat. My cat. His name is Artemis."
"Oh," she said. Nashira was whimpering quietly, and Cecelia switched her attention to her sister. Orion set down the dolley, great big owl eyes staring back at him. "It's okay, Shira, it's okay. Look, they are good! They make the flowers pretty, see? They make the flowers grow big and pretty, just like you! Oh, please wipe up the tears, please? You have no need to cry, these are the tears of the sky, not your tears. Look over there, see? There was. . ."
Orion stopped listening. The rain was pattering angrily against his face, and his skin was beginning to burn from the sharpness of the droplets. His robes were soaked through already, and the only warmth was the little body of his cat against him. He was about to begin shivering, but he looked at Cecelia. It was as if she couldn't shiver. She was too focused on keeping her sister happy to have the thought to shiver. Orion shook his head, and tried his best to shake away the cold. He had to look strong. It would suck for a girl to act stronger than him.
Longbottom bumped into Orion, making him drop Cecelia's dolley. Longbottom rescued it successfully from the deep clutches of the mud, as if he was trying to impress Cecelia. Longbottom shot him a look, knowing everything from the start, and handed it to Cecelia. "Keep a sturdier grip, Potter," Longbottom said mockingly. Cecelia only nodded in thanks, unaware of the words that passed between the two.
Longbottom shoved past Orion, a smirk on his face. A new kind of hate had developed inside of him, and he stared after him in disdain. A crack of thunder whipped through the air, frightening more tears out of Nashira's eyes. Orion thought about showing Longbottom a thing or two, but a cold, steely presence sucked everything out of him. No, it wasn't the rain. . . It was much worse than that. He felt his very soul wither and dry to this, everything happy he ever remembered, lost. Despair. It seemed to devour him. . .
Cecelia backed up into him, snapping some sense of conscious into the boy. He rounded about himself, and cast his gaze in the direction Cecelia's was staring, and saw a hooded figure. The robe it wore was ratty and worn, as if it were stolen from a decayed man's body. It's face was masked by darkness, made even more so by the black that it emanated. It turned everything around it cold and blue, making the trees look as if they died right on the spot. Orion racked his brain to remember what this creature was; Harry would never stop talking about these things. They were. . .
"Dementors!" Cecelia breathed.
There hadn't been a dementor attack since Voldemort had been killed, at least not outside of Azkaban. Cecelia and Orion were both first year students, and had no training whatsoever for this sort of stuff. There was no way for them to protect themselves.
Nashira cried harder, evidently because of the beast in front of her. Everyone kept their distance, stepping away from the thing. It remained motionless, as if it were pondering ways to kill its victims. Longbottom thrust his wand in its path, lips moving to say something, but a gargantuan figure stepped in his way and cast the spell: "Expecto Patronum!"
A lion leaped out of the wand, blazing whiter than the full moon, and chased the dementor away. With a guttural murmur, it left back into the shadows. The lion swooped around the outskirts of the forest, scanning it for any more beasties, and returned to its rightful place. The children gathered around stared at the user in awe.
He was large - three times larger than a normal man, perhaps, with a ginger beard of equal size to boot. His eyes were beady, sunk back into generous amounts of beef and hair, but the height of which the kids looked at him probably had something to do with it as well. The wand he weld was as thick as a tree branch, which was grasped between meaty fingers bigger than that. It was unceremoniously stuck in the man's beard, and he unpleasantly scratched his bum.
"Well, now, that's enough excitement for today. You tykes are barely into school and you jus' had yerselves a magical encounter 'lready. Come on! We got d'stance ta cover." He had a strange accent - thick, like a pirate almost, but more civilized, if that made any sense. The man hefted his huge body into a boat, which racked itself violently as he got in, and seemed to sink two inches lower. Everyone just seemed to stare at him.
"Eh? Aren't ye going ta get in?" he said. Cecelia took Orion's unwilling arm and volunteered first, wordlessly throwing her stuff in and taking her hostage. Nashira silently came with, no longer sobbing. "That's better, now. We got room fer one more, if anybody's interested." The Longbottom boy raised his hand, and stepped out of the crowd. Orion felt shock go through Cecelia's body, but he was too busy feeling the hot anger boil in his own. If he had to be stuck with this freak again. . .
He could jeopardize everything. Orion shook his head, throwing aside any thought of that. So what if he knew Orion fancied Cecelia? At least he could enjoy being her hostage. . .
"All righty, then. Let's get goin', then, shall we?" The giant man pushed the boat away from the dock - with notable difficulty, as the bottom of the boat seemed to be scraping against the sandy floor. "Yeah, there be others for you! I'd quit mah job if it was jus' me!" the large man reassured, sweeping his oar across the water.
There were groans from the other first years, upset that they were stuck in the rain. It was kind of their fault for not hopping on when asked to, but they realized their mistake as soon as they remembered how cold it was. There were about 10 people who fit on the small boat, but, with the giant, only four could barely fit in.
"All righty, then," the big man said, his voice unnaturally loud. "Me name is Pippin Palmer Hagrid. I would have ye call me PP, but the name don' seem to agree with me. Anyhow, welcome to Hogwarts!" The gang just stared at the giant man. He pointed in the opposite direction. "The main sight's up there."
Orion turned around to see a huge wall looming over him, lined with forever-burning torches. Owls stormed the area, diving down across the water, majestically skimming the water's surface with the tips of their wings. Orion thought he could make out letters between their talons. He remembered this in his grandfather's stories - owls were the mailmen of the world. Or, in this case, mailbirds.
The boat continued moving, the full front of the Hogwarts castle unveiling before his eyes. Caged in a fence of iron, the enormous edifice burned bright against the night sky, pure magic resounding off of its ancient walls. Turrets and towers shot up into the air, scarring the sky with gorgeous long fingers. The boat hit a mound of sand, beaching itself too far from shore. "Ah, not again. No worries, lads, I'll fix it," Hagrid said. He hopped out of the boat, pushing the boat further in while Cecelia, Longbottom, and Orion were still busy gazing at the castle.
Orion felt the boat yield on shore, grinding the ground below it as it slowly came to a halt. Hagrid grunted, and forced the boat further ashore with one final push.
"All righty, then," Hagrid said. "Get off. We're here." Orion expected Longbottom to make a rude comment about Hagrid's excessive use of "All righty, then," but none came. Orion heaved his stuff out of the boat, volunteering to take out Cecelia's as well. Unfortunately, Longbottom grabbed his own and Cecelia's at the same time and simply walked out of the boat. A fresh rush of blood and anger came through Orion, but he kept his mouth shut.
More boats were landing, and other kids were dropping off. Hagrid wasn't the fastest rower, so that might have had something to do with it. Orion didn't even notice the other boats arrive on the other side, but there was no sense in worrying about that now. He was more worried with keeping Artemis from squirming in his robes, and dragging his stuff through the mud. Other people followed - some taller, more were even taller. He was pretty sure he would end up being the shortest kid in the school. Not that it mattered, but it was just another small, grim note to make his day a little worse.
Solid ground finally met his feet. He sighed, thankful to finally be on school grounds. . . Or at least the concrete kind. He shot a glance at Cecelia, just to make sure she was still there, and continued through the crowd. Nashira followed her closely, keeping small, pale hand attached to her sister's.
Hagrid drew a key from his beard, striding to the main gate, and stuck it in the keyhole. The latch clicked harshly, and the grinding metal opened up to let everyone in. The doors of the school opened, cracking open as light pierced their eyes. Without any aid, it swung inwards, casting candlelight over the students. There were jaws dropped all around; the magic and beauty of the school had never changed throughout the years. The school was exactly as Harry had described it - the magic in the room was evident, and ghosts lumbered around carelessly. A young witch smiled gently at the students, ushering them inside. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" she said in a light voice, "The Great Hall is only to the right. I'm sure you have all heard of the sorting that happens before the beginning of the year banquet, and that ceremony will happen shortly. If you are unaware, this important and historical ritual will break you up into four different houses - and every one is just as great as the other.
"After the sorting, I, Professor Allium will show you around the rest of the school. There are many sites to see, and after exploring, you will have the freedom to lounge in the commons of your house. First let's see the main corridor, and then we will go to the Great Hall for the renowned feast! Well come on now - don't just stand there, let's get going!"
The first hall they entered was cast with a yellowish glow, warming the wet students from the inside out. Hagrid broke off from there, beaming away at the new students to be accepted into Hogwarts. Oh, everybody was starry eyed, staring at the magic they would soon be a part of.
Ms. Allium led everyone into the Great Hall, where plenty of gasps emerged from the group of children. The dining hall was full of chatter and laughs. When the doors had opened, the students went silent, as if surprised by the newcomers. The new students tentatively walked in, looking around the huge expanse. The ceiling showed the dreadful sky above, pouring down from the stark, gray clouds. At the end of the cafeteria, a set of tables seating teachers resided. Someone set up a stool in the middle of the silence, and a hideous hat was placed atop it. Orion remembered this thing, but only barely. This thing was only mentioned once in the stories told by him years ago. . .
"That's called the sorting hat, Nashira," Cecelia whispered. The name rang a bell - no, a gong - in Orion's head. "Remember Grandma's stories? Don't worry - you won't have to wear it, not today."
The sorting hat was even more tattered than what Harry had recounted. At least that's what Orion thought. The battered tears ran across almost the entire body of the pointed cap, making it unable to sit upright alone. To keep it at least half-standing, it was kept up by the hands of the Headmaster, and even he could hardly keep the hat up. It sat motionless for a while, the only movement being the headmaster's hands wrestling it into a suitable position. Everybody seemed to be holding their breath, and then, suddenly, the hat burst into song:
"Nearly 100 years, a lifetime that brings me to joyful tears.
Another class begins, and um. . .they have their sins.
Yeah, that.
And now, we see, I will soon place thee,
Into the house, into the home,
Into the world of the wizarding. . .cone!
Welcome you kids, and uh. . .
Yeah."
Everyone gave bewildered stares at the hat's speech. Orion felt sort of disappointed - the hat sounded more stoned than wise. Harry was able to recite the very first poem word by word, thought that was only because of a little magic. Even now, the hat mumbled to itself a number of verses from its last years, but it surely wasn't worthy of singing it now. Now he looked forward to the year even less. Where was this cracked up old thing going to put him in, now?
"Good luck getting into Gryffindor," Longbottom hissed to Cecelia. The Weasley girl looked downcast, doubting her own chances and honor. Orion longed to put a comforting arm around her, but, alas. . .
"Now, let's get to it then!" the sorting hat shouted. Then it seemed to fall asleep for a moment, but it reawoke and blared, "Alscott, Kyle!"
A small black haired boy with bright blue eyes stepped shakily up to the hat. He seemed to be slumbering off, but the headmaster cleared his throat, waking him up again.
"Wha-" he started, as Kyle landed beneath his hem. "Oh, er. . . um. . . Ravenclaw?"
There was an explosion of noise as the students of Ravenclaw house gave a round of applause. Many of the others did not take his confused choice well. "Are you sure about your choice, Mr. Hat?" one of the prefects objected openly. The hat seem to make a face out of itself, as if it were never called by that name before. By the looks of things, it never looked like the thing was asked anything directly, let alone christened something.
"Of course!" it barked, "I'm not done for, yet! Have any of you found any of my judgements a failure?" It was a good question, and it rose quite a commotion, but it all was smothered by a wave of Professor Allium's hand.
The hat groaned to himself before barking out the name of the next student. "Aberforth, Daniel!" Another boy took his place beneath the hat, and was shaking within his bones he was so nervous. The hat made more grumbling noises before whispering, "Slytherin." When nobody burst out into cheering, he realize that Daniel was the only one who had heard him, and he repeated himself with a shout, "SLYTHERIN! Did you not hear me? I say-"
The Headmaster cleared his throat, making the hat fall silent. Daniel slowly walked to his new house, where he was welcomed by pats on the back. "All right, um. . . NEXT!" Nobody approached the hat, and he struggled with the next name. "Brogramiston, Kayleigh!"
A girl with boy short hair walked confidently up to the hat. The moment the hat was atop her head, it yowled a house that was barely able to be made out, "HUFFLYPUFFIN!" She slowly walked to the Hufflepuff table, all eyes on the girl. The headmaster leaned close to the hat and whispered something. The hat made a motion that could be described as a nod, and called out the next name.
By then, Orion had stopped paying attention, and started looking at Ceci. Ceci? He had already created a nickname for her? It must not have been that much of a surprise; she had already started calling him Oreo. Ceci? He was surprised by himself. Yet, the nickname came so easy, and - wait. . . he got that name from Nashira. Nashira must have had trouble saying Cecelia, and had called her Ceci. It wasn't a nickname of his own, and Orion was slightly disappointed in himself. She deserved more than one nickname; he needed one for just the two of them. He liked it when he said those words in his head, Just the two of them. He shook the thought away. She would never let that happen. It would never just be the two of them; there would always be a Nashira to look after, or a Longbottom getting in the way. Now that he thought of it, he recognized that name.
Harry had mentioned a Longbottom sometime in one of his stories, so why couldn't he remember which one? It was a famous bloodline, he knew that. He knew it from the train. But where, just where, had he heard this name before? He thought the name was something like Nelson, or Newson. . . No, it was something else? But what? Orion was pulled out of his thoughts by the words of the hat.
"Oreen Potthead!" he heard. He looked up, expecting laughter to roar around the hall. None came. In fact, in place of laughter, there came discreet muttering between the people inside the hall. The main words circulating around being, "Has it lost its mind?" The sorting hat scowled at everyone.
"Potter! Where is he?" he boomed. The voices died down, and Orion stood up. In complete silence, he strode up to the stool, and the headmaster sat the dirty old hat upon his crown, leaving him in darkness. Orion bluntly stared at the inside of the hat's fabric, aged and thin. "So, Potter, eh? Blood of the. . . The, umm. . ." the hat continued to mutter to itself. Orion could hear it clearly, distinguishing his thoughts. Or maybe it was its own. "Uhuh. . .that guy who killed that other guy. The Potter! I remember him! Yeah. . . the Potter. Which means you should be in. . ." All Orion could think was Not Slytherin, please, not Slytherin. The hat stood up, actually becoming straight on its own, screaming, "GRYFFINDOR," into the hall.
Orion breathed a sigh of relief, as he walked his way over to his table. For once, the table of Gryffindor roared into applause. He glanced at Cecelia, who seemed even more anxious than ever before. Orion contented himself with gazing into her face until the hat's voice bellowed a new name. He looked back at the stool, where the hat jovially announced "SLYTHERIN."
More applause came to, this time from everybody. For a moment, it seemed as though the hat regained its senses. The names continued for a while, the trend of applause becoming louder with each name. Shortly following Hilda Stross, the name, "Styxe, Sigma!" was thrown into the air.
Longbottom stood up.
Orion caught his breath. Sigma Styxe?! How does he claim to be of Longbottom hierarchy with a name like that? His steel-clad boots clashed against the tile floor, making those nearby wince with every step. Sigma glared at those around him, his slow ascent reaching maximum anticipation when he finally reached the stool. He chose to stand.
The headmaster placed the hat atop his head, concealing his placid face behind its faded cloth. The sorting hat took a lot of time contemplating Styxe, wriggling from side to side with indecision. Its speech patterns seemed to grow faster, and its motions became wilder. It seemed like it had really went out of its mind, but then it shouted with filibuster, "SLYTHERFFINDOR!"
An eerie silence took place. Sigma lifted the cap up. "Well?" he said. Suggestive claps came from both Gryffindor and Slytherin, but general confusion seemed aplenty between both. Professor Allium got to her feet, declaring, "Sigma here will belong to both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Let there not be any confusion, and may he be welcomed with open arms to both houses!" As far as Orion knew, there was nobody in the world who was admitted to two houses at once. He wondered what implications would follow this, which was replaced by I hope he stays in Slytherin.
Contrary to his thoughts, Sigma marched his way to the Gryffindor table, taking a lonely seat by the edge of the table. "Tallek, Alfred!" the hat continued. Orion resumed zoning out. There was probably people at his table trying to talk to him; other upperclassmen had already begun teasing him, and the other first years were trying to make conversation. But, again, he was too focused on looking at Cecelia to notice.
She was nervous, but she somehow found a way to keep calm, at least to the common eye. When her name was called, she visibly jumped. She grabbed Nashira's hand, and walked slowly up to the hat, who had slipped back into madness. Nashira stood beside her as the headmaster lifted the hat off the stool without a word, and the hat grumbled in annoyance. "I haven't got all day, Weasley!"
Cecelia squirmed under the hat, her vision taken over by the hat's inside as others had experienced before. The hat mulled over her thoughts for a bit, then finally came to a consensus with, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Cecelia breathed a sigh of relief, her hard grip on Nashira's hand loosening. She happily went over to the Gryffindor table, taking a seat next to Orion. People moved over to accommodate her and her sister. Orion was about to scoot an inch closer to Cecelia when she plopped Nashira down in between them. "I hope you don't mind her being there," Cecelia said. "I wouldn't trust having her sit next to somebody I don't know."
Orion nodded his head. "Of course," Orion said. "I understand."
"Thanks," Cecelia said. "For understanding."
Cecelia and Orion looked into each other's eyes before looking at the headmaster who had begun to speak. "Welcome, to a new year at Hogwarts! Now, before we begin our feast, I have some choice words to say: Cream cheese. Nugget. London." Orion remembered Harry saying something about Dumbledore saying random words to start off the evening, but he never thought they would be that random. "Let's eat!" The old teacher said with a clap of his hands. Foods of all sorts arrived on top of the tables, and people immediately scooped their hands into the food, and dug right in as if they hadn't eaten in weeks.
Orion looked at Cecelia to see her scooping a bit of mashed potatoes onto a plate for Nashira, who seemed to be very picky about what she was eating. Orion didn't think he would receive the look he had hoped to be returned, so he picked up his plate and began scooping some peas onto his plate. Soon, a plate of some roasted chicken came his way, and he grabbed a wing or two. Oaf came by and stole from his plate, snickering as he went away. Orion shot him a venomous look, but held his tongue for Cecelia's sake.
There was plenty of food to go around, anyway, so his temper quickly cooled down. He collected more of the food that went around, which made his plate a precarious tower of foodstuffs. He spotted some rolls, and reached for them.
Cecelia reached for a roll at the same time. Their hands met, and to Orion, the world seemed to stop, or go into slow motion. He saw her hand, and his, touching. Her hand was slender, and her fingers were long. Her hands had a beautiful pigment to them; not too tan, not too pale. Her nail were painted a beautiful maroon, as if she was preparing to be put into Gryffindor the entire time. They were perfect hands, perfect in every way, and his hand was touching hers. He pulled his hand away, embarrassed by his own thoughts. A hand was not something you thought of as something pretty, but yet, he found himself thinking as such. Cecelia slowly pulled her hands away as well, not even thinking to make eye contact with Orion. She decided to go for something else, no longer enticed by the rolls. She instead scooped herself a bit of creamed corn.
Orion found a way to push away his thoughts of the rolls and decided to take more casserole, despite the meal that still sat on his golden plate, but a head burst from the plate. He leaped backwards, falling off his chair and summoning a wave of laughter. The head elevated into the air, a body following as a finger waved at Orion. "Now, now, don't you think you ought to finish what you already have before doing that?" the ghost said. Orion paled. This was an actual ghost! Chiding him! His eyes grew wider. The roars of laughter followed in size.
Someone bowed down to help him up, Orion pointing a shaking finger at the poltergeist. "It's a gh- gh-" he stuttered stupidly.
The ghost bowed. "Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, at your service." The first years stared at his transparent form as the upperclassmen laughed and clapped.
"Aren't you Nearly Headless Nick?" Cecelia inquired. Nicholas frowned.
"I'd prefer something rather -"
"Your head looks pretty intact to me," she said. "You don't seem the slightest bit headless."
At that, Nick indignantly pulled on his hair, and his head was yanked to the side as well. There was just a teensy bit of tissue and skin holding the head in the neck to the rest of the body. Many of the first years groaned in disgust, the graphic sight disagreeing with their innocent minds. Nearly Headless Nick grew a satisfied smile, and returned his head to its rightful place. "Now, has Ms. Allium told you about the competition for the House Cup?"
Orion found his way back to his seat as several "No"s were said from the new comers. "Hmm. . . She hasn't been here very long, so I suppose she can be excused this time. At the end of the year, the House Cup will be awarded to the house with the most points. Gryffindor has been long standing in its victories, but it seems Ravenclaw has broken our streak, recently. It would behoove us all if you first years did something about this." Nick winked at everyone, and then disappeared back through the table. One of the prefects called attention to everyone at the table. He had remarkably red hair, and had some distinguishable features that were very similar to. . .
"Nearly Headless Nick brings a good point!" the prefect said, "We can't let Ravenclaw take the cup again! Let's not lose the pace - we got to step up the game!" Agreement came from around the table. Orion wasn't sure how these points were to be awarded, but he guessed he would soon find that out. Cecelia leaned over to her sister, pointing to the red-haired prefect.
"Look, Nashira, it's Gary! Isn't big brother so in charge?" Nashira nodded to her sister's words, a rare smile cracking on her face. So, she has a big brother. . . She's going to be an obsession soon, if you don't stop it, the voice in Orion's head hissed. Orion pulled away his interests, focusing on eating his food. Desserts had just begin to arrive, and he was barely through with his main courses. It all tasted delicious, of course, but he wasn't sure he could power through the rest of it.
"You don't have to eat all of it, if that's what you're thinking," the kid next to him said. He had a German accent, though he was careful to make use of every syllable and grammatical addition. Orion perked up. He was being spoken to? "You are a Potter, yes?" Orion turned to see this new face, who looked back at him with bright, curious eyes.
"Yes," he responded, "I am Orion Potter."
"Good," the German kid said with a smile. "I am Oscar Blant." He put out his hand. Orion shook it. "Pleased to meet you." Orion looked back at all of the sugary goods that landed on the table.
"So, um. . . What do I do with the food if I don't eat it?" Oscar took his plate, making sure Orion was watching, and tossed his food into the air.
The food disappeared.
"Easy," Oscar said punctually. Whoa. Harry never said anything about that.
Orion disposed of his food, letting it all vanish into thin air, and then greedily grabbed some cream puffs. "What do you like, Oscar?" Orion asked, trying to strike up a conversation as Cecelia would have.
"Me?" he said, surprised, "I always crave Pecan Pie. I am not sure why. . . Maybe it is the nuttiness. Yeah, I like nuts. . ." Orion gave him a look. Oscar realized what had just came out of his mouth. "No, no! I didn't mean it that way!" Laughter erupted from everyone within ears of the conversation, including him.
After much of the raucous had died down, the headmaster called attention. Everybody immediately quieted. When the headmaster was sure he had everybody's attention, he said, "The feast is now close to over. I hope you have shown all of your new house members respect and kindness. Coming from teenagers, I am not so hopeful, but I have my wishes. However, I bring grim tidings to the people of Hogwarts. It may sound like rumors today, but I have seen it with my own eyes." He looked seriously at his audience, anxiety burning the air inside the room. "The dementors have broken loose from Azkaban." A round of gasps went around the hall. Hagrid stood up.
"Aye! We saw one jus' as the newbies came out of the train. I fended it off, there, but I've no doubts we'll be hit again by 'em." Silence overtook the place, only the lonely pattering of rain breaking complete quiet. The headmaster took up the hole in the noise,
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" His happiness seemed utterly out of place. "Prefects - please show your first years around the place, and bring them to their commons!"
There were restless dings and clicks of the plates as people finished what they had left. Rustles came from around Orion, and he got up with everyone else. Gary took the forefront of the group and led them out of the dining hall. Pushed ahead by the crowd, he glanced back at Cecelia. She didn't take notice. His vision strayed and met Oscar's, and the German student hurried to his side. "Where are we going?" Orion asked.
"The commons," Oscar replied, "I think that's what he said." Oscar looked around blankly. "What do you think about all the dementors?"
Orion didn't respond at first, but then he realized Oscar asked him a question. He paused for a moment to rephrase his question in his head, then replied, "I don't honestly know. My grandfather talked a lot about the dementors, but I've never seen one in real life. . ."
"Until now," someone said. Orion and Oscar whirled to the new voice, almost tripping over themselves in their march to the dormitories. It was Longbottom. . . Or Sigma. "I didn't think I would see those bastards again. . ."
"Again?" Oscar queried. Sigma refused to speak any more of it. Oscar shot Orion a perplexed look that Orion sent right back. Why would he know how, or why, Sigma had seen a dementor? It was just as confusing to him as it was to Oscar. But he was about to do something when that dementor appeared, before Hagrid came and disposed of it. That has to mean something. . .
He bumped into someone, snapping him out of deep thought. The party had halted in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress. "Password?" she said.
"Gray monkey," Gary said. The portrait swung forward, revealing a hole in the wall. The prefect ushered everyone in, people climbing inside one by one. When it was Orion's turn, he creeped out into a cozy living room-like area, decorated with couches, batique, and a fireplace. A small library was built into a wall, and Orion came up to grab a book - however, Gary struck his hand. "As much as there is to explore in here, you will have to save it for later. Right now, it is important that you get to you rooms and ready yourselves for tomorrow. You'll find that the house elves have already taken your stuff up to their respective dormitories - I don't think they used any particular order, so be prepared to get stuck with somebody you don't know. All right! Girls on the left, and boys on the right!"
The first years sorely went to their respective rooms, forcing their excitement down for the next day. Oscar pulled Orion up the stairs to a room that was labelled with his name on it. Through closer inspection, Oscar found his own name on it, as well. "Looks like we're stuck together," Orion said mildly.
"Yeah," Oscar replied, going in first. The room wasn't overly huge - it was just enough to hold four teenage boys. Orion didn't have many belongings - the stuff that he had to buy for wizarding was the most he ever owned in his life. His cat wormed out of his shirt, startling Orion for a minute. He completely forgot Artemis was still with him throughout the entire meal. His cat ran up to the bundles of stuff wrapped up in a chest and sat there.
Orion didn't remember dropping it, nor did he really remember where he would have let go of it. Nonetheless, it was here, and he was rummaging through the numerous piles for some decent clothes to sleep in. A creepy hissing took place behind him, he glanced back to see Longbottom. Sigma, he told himself. He would have felt resent toil in his breast, but he noticed a new thing join the ranks.
Sigma finished doing something on the nightstand before him, and moved aside. There, wrapped around his lamp, was a snake!
He should have stayed in slytherin, Orion thought bitterly. Instead of saying what was on his mind, he tried to be nice, "What's the snake named?" Sigma gave him a look of daggers, though it seemed like it was something that was more natural than anything else.
"Good night, Potter," was all that Sigma said in response.
Disappointed, Orion grabbed at Artemis, and plopped down on his bed. He was tired. Almost too tired to deal with Sigma. "Goodnight, Styxe," he responded, almost coldly.
"It's Longbottom, Potter," Sigma said. He lay down on his own bed, and looked up at the ceiling. "I am Longbottom."
Orion rolled over on his bed, facing the opposite direction of Longbottom. He snuggled close to his cat, and thought of how much he missed being at home already.