The walls of the castle made it look more like a fortress as it stood, towering, over the vast dark lake. The brief flashes of light cast by the lightning from the overhanging storm clouds gave a sense of the ethereal to the whole scene.
Every year on this day at this exact hour, wizarding children from all over Europe begin their yearly studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
For the majority of the students, this was yet another year, for others, this was just the beginning.
Calliope Morden stood as the little boat came to a stop. Following the other children she gracefully hopped out. She was a dainty, little girl with wavy brown hair that almost reached her waist. Her face was pale, open and honest.
Hagrid, the game keeper, led Cilliope and the other first-year students up a dirt pathway and through the huge doors of Hogwarts.
The huge man told them to wait and he left the way they had just come in.
The entryway was massive and ornately decorated with plasterwork and tapestries and portraits that moved. Some of the other students thought this amazing, but Calliope was not surprised. In her family estate, half of the painting would never shut up.
Calliope heard a low whistle erupt from behind her. With a start, she whipped around to see a sickly-thin girl, who was a good five inches shorter than herself, with super-curly hair that stuck out at all angles and big green eyes staring at the ceiling.
The girl caught Calliope's gaze and blushed, covering her face with her hands. "Sorry," she said apologetically, "I forget myself sometimes."
Calliope smiled and was about to reply when another girl, trailed by a boy with very greasy hair, pushed her way to the other girl's side. "Wendy," she announced, "I found Severous."
"Hiya, Lily," said Wendy, lowering her hands.
The girl called Lily turned to Calliope, "I'm Lily Evans and this is Severous."
The boy with greasy hair nodded shyly.
"I-I-I'm C-Calliope M-M-Morden," stuttered Calliope.
Wendy gave a little start when Calliope said her last name, but covered up as if she had not heard anything out of the ordinary. Instantly, Calliope wondered just how much the other girl knew.
"What house do you think you'll be in?" The boy named Severous asked.
"I-I-I-I d-don't know," Calliope said, but it was far from the truth. The Mordens, like the infamous Black family, were a family of closet Dark Wizards and all of them had come from the House of Slytherin. Any member that was not sorted into Slytherin was disowned.
Inwardly, Calliope shuddered. Her father had never been very close to her since her mother had died. Ludovic Morden was stern - any action of his daughters that was even the slightest bit out of line was dealt with quickly and in a very distant manner.
"I really hope," Lily was saying, "that I get put in Gryffindor. And we all know that because Wendy is so smart and outgoing that she is going to be in Ravenclaw whether she wants to or not."
Wendy blushed, "Now, now. My parents were both brilliant people - very wise and knowledgeable - and my mother was in Hufflepuff and my dad was in Gryffindor. So," she turned to her greasy-haired friend, "no telling, right Severous?"
The greasy-haired boy looked very uncomfortable and Calliope did not blame him. She would not want to get stuck between Wendelin and Lily if they ever got into an argument. And, besides, Severous looked like he really did not want to offend either one of them.
Luckily for Severous, it was then that the first-years were led into the Great Hall.
There were four main tables closest the door and each of those were loaded with students. At the far end there was another table where all the teachers were seated.
Most of the students looked as if they could care less about the Sorting and were looking forward to a hearty dinner, which Calliope realized was actually what she wanted most right then. But, there were others who were craning their necks to catch sight of siblings or friends in the small mass of younger students.
The Sorting began.
The first-years were called upon alphabetically and were led up to a stool where an ugly, old hat was placed on their heads and called out the House in which that student would spend the rest of their time at Hogwarts.
Margret Abelard was the first name called followed by several 'A's. Then came the 'B's.
A good-looking boy with dark hair walked up to the stool and sat down. Before the hat went over his eyes, he sent Wendelin a huge smile. She replied with a scowl that Calliope hoped would never be aimed at her. But it did not seem to bother the boy.
Calliope knew the boy by the reputation of his last name only. The Black's were a family that even Ludovic Morden feared and respected. If he was anything at all like the rest of his family, Calliope knew that she would never like him.
Surprisingly, he was Sorted into Gryffindor. As he hopped off the stool and made his way to the cheering Gryffindor table, he sent Wendy another huge grin which was ignored by the sickly-thin girl.
Narcissa Black, cousin of Serious Black, was called and was Sorted into Sytherin.
Lily Evans was Sorted into Gryffindor.
A Remus Lupin was called and Sorted into Gryffindor. He smiled shyly at Wendy as he walked to the Gryffindor table and she gave him an energetic thumbs-up.
Then, Calliope Morden was called.
Shakily, Calliope walked the few steps to the stool and sat down. She could see that the Great Hall was much larger than she had orriginally thought and that there were many more people there than it had seemed. She felt faint, but then the hat was placed over her head.
The voice in her ear (which Calliope attributed to the hat) debated the pros and cons of putting her in specific Houses and spent a long while doing so.
Then the Sorting Hat decided.