Many teachers, centaurs, and Ministry workers had gathered from all over the school to hear what a certain teacher had to say about the upcoming events. Trelawney, still not dead after all those years, had 'seen' something terrible, and when that happens, a weird feeling fills the air and disturbs everything around it.
The sky was cloudy, threatening to rain on everyone, no one dared to speak out of turn, and two cats sat in the shade of a large Oak tree. The biggest one would be impossible to see if she had her eyes closed, and the second, pale gray tabby could just be spotted.
Ministry workers began to mutter to themselves as they heard Trelawny talk.
"Three boys and a girl is what I saw…" Trelawny rasped. "I only saw one, one that is still very young."
The jaguar's ears twitched and she looked up from the ground; McGonagall looked up from the ground, too, with her ears pointed instead of droopy.
"But the other three will be here soon- sometime within the next seven years."
Why McGonagall wasn't up there with her was a mystery to anyone; ever since Dumbledore died last year, everything had changed. McGonagall had been forced to become Head Master, new teachers joined, and many of the students went home; but there were two families that wanted their kids to go to Hogwarts. The Friya family was a Pure Blood family with only one Muggle born kid- he was ten at the moment, and in a month, when school started, he'd come to this school.
"And what do they have to do?" the Minister asked, speaking up. "Harry Potter knows his prophecy and what he probably has to do by now..."
"No one knows…." Trelawny said, letting her 'knows' drag on for what seemed like eternity in the slow paced area. "It will be known within ten years, that's for sure…"
Kiara, the huge black jaguar, padded out from behind the bush and shadows, not changing back to her original form. As she padded past the Minister and Trelawny, she began to growl deeply. McGonagall, back to her human self, followed Kiara through the crowd, not saying a word.
Everyone knew to be silent near Kiara; she was a new teacher, but her Animagus form terrified anyone; a dog they could deal with, but a carnivorous cat was a different story.
"Fortune telling and not even knowing what the hell you're telling," Kiara growled when she changed back to her human self. She had her wand in hand and her long black hair seemed darker then it usually was- if that was possible.
"I only read the signs…" Trelawny said quietly.
The centaurs shouted their battle cries as a sign they were leaving and many of the animals left after hearing what the Divination Teacher had to say. The Ministry Workers apparated out of school grounds- they were outside the protective charm- and the rest of the teachers looked at each other.
"I guess we'll just have to wait," said the new Charms teacher Riley.
Both, her and Kiara, had transferred over from their school in America to be at Hogwarts; even though Kiara was mean and cold-hearted and Riley was nervous and sarcastic, both thought that they should be at Hogwarts helping the students and protecting the school.
"I guess so," the Astronomy teacher muttered.
SEVEN YEARS LATER
"YEAH!" a silver haired kid shouted happily. "Finally get to go off to Hogwarts again!!"
"Oh give it a rest," his brown haired sister muttered. "You sound more excited then a first year."
"Yeah, that's because first years are to quiet," Mike, Honah's sister said. "I love Hogwarts- its better then your home, no offence, and it's just so awesome there! The Quittitch and the magic, and the everything!"
Honah smacked her forehead and looked over at a red-haired family standing next to a large platform. On the side it had a big '9' on it and on the other side, '10'. The red-heads ran through the wall, surprising the first year, and disappeared from sight.
"Wow," Honah muttered, completely awestruck. "That's so amazing!"
"Just wait," Mike said with a grin and walked over next to the rest of the Weasley family.
As the last member left and the parents left for their own house, Mike and Honah stopped and looked at the large wall that separated the platforms.
"We've still got half an hour," Mike said as he looked at his watch. "Shall we go?"
The cat inside the cage on his cart was meowing in his sleep, and the bat in Honah's cage was squeaking things every so often. In the years that Voldemort had died, the school decided to change what pets you could have; now you could have a bat, non-poisonous snake, parrot, mongoose (as long as you fed it) and all the others that were originally there. The school thought that bats would help with the delivery, but for mail and small, light items.
Jaki, the bat, and Bramble, the cat, hissed and screeched, terrified, when their masters ran through the wall. It was extremely scary to the small animals (Bramble was just a kitten- Mike got it after his last cat died of old age) and startled them.
"This is gonna be great!" Honah said happily, ignoring the sudden calls from Jaki.
"Yup," Mike said, also ignoring the calls and, almost, his sister. "I've gotta go. Just take your things onto the train and put them under your seat."
Honah nodded and Mike ran off, taking his cart with him. She slowly walked up to the train, admiring its bright red colors, hoping that, one day, she'd be able to meet someone great. There were still about twenty minutes before the train left, so she thought she'd get a compartment. To her dismay, almost all of them had at least two students. She didn't want to sit at the back, or front, and only one person'd let her sit with him.
"Are you sure?" Honah asked the nervous, black haired kid.
"Y-yes," Evan, the kid, said. "I d-don't think anyone…will want to sit with me…"
"Don't say that!" Honah said, startling her bat. "And why do you think that, hn?"
"M-most people who've talked to me said that I shouldn't be a w-wizard," Evan muttered and looked out his window.
Honah sighed and sat opposite of Evan. The kid had short black hair, well, short compared to her hair, and really dark green eyes; black was better then her hair, she thought. Her hair was messy, and dull, and brown and her eyes were a boring shade of golden-brown.
"You can't go around being all gloomy!" Honah said and set Jaki down on the seat next to her. "You're going to Hogwarts; you'll have lots of friends there!"
"Y-yeah right…" Evan muttered.
People outside looked into the compartment, snorted and said something, then left. Apparently no one liked Evan, or Honah; Honah had come from a Pure Blood family that didn't have a good reputation; everyone thought that they were like the Malfoys- mean, sarcastic- and no one really talked to her.
Evan was about to say something but the compartment door slid open and two huge Sixth Year students stood there, grinning evily and looking at them with looks of pure hatred.
"Out," the biggest one said. "Now."
"No!" Honah snapped. "This is our compartment!"
"W-we better leave," Evan whispered. "I-I've heard of these guys- they're really mea-"
He let out a scream of surprised as the shortest but still huge student grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him out. A few seconds later Honah was laying next to him, dazed after hitting her head on the wall between compartments, with Jaki next to her and Evan rubbing the back of his head. Their stuff came out with aloud thunks! and almost landed ontop of the two.
"Ahhh…" Evan groaned and sat up, still rubbing the back of his head. "T-those jerks!"
Jaki, a Giant Golden-crowned Flying-fox although it was still very small, looked at them. He did something that was like a purring sound and flew into the air. The two boys found their friends and took the compartment, leaving the two kids to sit there, dumbstruck and horrified.
"JERKS!!!" Honah shouted as loud as she could and pulled her-self up, grabbing Evan on the way.
"T-thanks," he muttered and shook dust bunnies out of his hair. "Looks like we'll h-have to find a-another compartment… I don't f-feal like messing with them…"
"Same here," Honah said and grabbed her trunk.
They began to drag their things down the hall. The train whistled and everyone scrambled to a compartment. The only ones left in the end were Honah, Evan, and a small blonde kid. Together the three, all strangers, walked down the halls and found an old, empty compartment. Inside it was dusty, there was writing on every wall, and cobwebs hung everywhere.
"Never thought to give this place a clean up?!" muttered the small boy.
"No," Evan snorted. "T-this is the 'h-haunted' compartment. N-no one e-ever comes into this one…."
"And how do you know?" Honah asked.
Evan quickly explained. "M-my parents were part of Hogwarts, and t-they told me a-about it…" he said.
"Wow," said Godric, the blonde. "Haunted things are soo cool!"
He pulled his stuff into the compartment and the two taller kids followed with Jaki crawling on the ceiling. The train began to move almost the second they sat down and soon they couldn't see the platform anymore. Evan had pulled out a book to keep himself from talking and Honah began to talk with Godric.
"So you're Honah Friya?" Godric asked.
"Yup!" Honah said happily. "Pure Blood- what about you?"
"I honestly don't know my family tree," muttered Godric. "The farthest I know is my parents- apparently everyone but them and my siblings are alive and no one will tell me about our family's past."
"Harsh," Honah scoffed. "What's your family name?"
"No clue!" Godric said with a laugh. "I'm just Godric, no middle or last name. It stinks honestly because I don't get how the Sorting Hat is going to know me."
"Maybe the Head Master will know who you are!" Honah said.
Godric shrugged. "Maybe. Oi! Hey, Evan, what's your last name?"
Evan looked up from his book. "N-nothing," he said and quickly went back to his book.
"Well that's encouraging," Godric hissed to himself.
"Eh, whatever," Honah said with a shrug. "I honestly don't care about last names. I think it's more fun to think about something else- like what we would do if we were to fight of Dementors…"
Evan acually looked up from his book, filled with curiosity. "T-those things are s-scary," he muttered.
"Nah," Godric said, "you just gotta use the Patronus spell!"
"Oh I've heard of those!" Honah said, then jumped when the compartment door slid open.
An old lady pushing a cart filled with all sorts of candy and other sweets appeared and asked them, "Anything from the cart?"
"Oh!" Godric shouted and raise his hand. "I want Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes!"
"Every Flavored Beans," Honah said, "and lots of licorice!"
They payed and soon the seat next to Godric was piled with everything they asked for, and a few more things.
"Want one?" Godric asked Evan and held out a Cauldron Cake.
"S-sure?" Evan asked.
"Yes I'm sure," Godric said with a laugh.
Evan nodded and put his book away. Soon all of them were enjoying sweets and talking about things.
"Hey," Honah said, "what's a Patronus anyway?"
"It's like a gaurdian against Dementors," Godric explained. "Everyone gets their own little animal protector. I think mine'd be a lion!"
"Ohhh! Sounds cool!" Honah exclaimed. "I think mine'd be a…um…"
"Ferret, I think," Godric mused. "They gt excited and are really friendly."
"S-sounds better then what m-my family said mine probably was," Evan muttered. "They said mine'd be a m-mongoose, but I don't understand why…."
"I know why!" Godric said. "Mongoose are extremely shy creatures."
"B-but their carnivorous and attack things a-a lot…"
"Eh, just because they eat meat doesn't mean their mean."
Both of the boys looked at Honah as she looked out the window. The train had finally got out of London and was on its way to Hogwarts; it passed huge fields of sheep and cows and trees and patches of corn.
"It's so pretty out here!" Honah muttered to herself, face pressed against the glass. "Better then where I live!"
"T-this place is a-always better," Evan said. "I l-live in one of the bigger wizard towns a-and it's always crowded…"
"Then you'll love it here," Godric said with a happy look.
They sat their and continued to talk untill it got very dark out. They had all switched to their school robes; all black, although they saw a few Gryffindors walking around with a Gryffindor patch where their heart would be. The First Years didn't get it yet; no one would tell them how they got their patch.
Finaly, as the Train stopped, everyone began to jump up. Jaki landed lightly on Evan's head, apparently very happy to be with more then one person, and startled him. After a few moments, Evan got used to it and the three friends walked down the long hall that separated the compartments.
A tall, skinny man with messy red, black streaked hair was holding up a lanturn and calling to the first years. A huge crowd of about 100 people gathered around and looked up at him; he wasn't part giant in any way at all but was still one of the tallest around even next to the Seventh Years that passed. He have very, very bright pale blue eyes, but at the moment they were glowing silver.
"Alright," Ken, the man, said with a slight growl. He looked very happy- maybe it was just force of habbit that made him growl. "We'll be going in the boats!"
The First Years cheered at the thought of going across the lake with the giant squid and eagerly waited for the time when they went. Godric and Evan were put into one boat, Honah and a girl named Liz was in another, and about fifty more boats were there. Ken was in the front, oblivious to everything, and led them up to the large castle.
There were no lights on except for one row of them, and as they got closer, the lights got brighter.
"Holy crap!" Godric gasped. "This place is huge! Much bigger then the pictures I see in the books! And it's been here forever!"
When they finished the ride through the lake, Ken led them through the huge doors that led into the huge entrance hall. At the top of the stairs there was a teacher who was asleep. A pointy witches hat fell over her eyes and her black, glitery robes shined in the candlelight.
"Oi!" shouted a kid. "Wake up!"
Ken sighed and smacked his forehead. "Not again!" he groaned and took a deep breath. "PROFESSOR KIARA!!!" he then shouted.
The teacher, apparently named Kiara, jumped in surprise and fell backards, turning her head too see what was happening. She muttered something like 'who turned out the lights?!' but realized that it was the hat and pulled it off. She jumped to her feet and brushed dirt of her back, oblivious to the First Years. "Hey, what do ya' wa- OH CRAP! I forgot about the First Years!"
The three friends sighed and slid to the back of the group. The First Years were yelling in protest, but Kiara quickly calmed them.
"So sorry, very, very sorry!" Kiara said sheepishly. "I spend way to much time around sleeping potions!"
It was silent.
"Fine, be that way!" Kiara grunted and stood up straight. "In a few moments you'll be sorted into your house. There's Gryffindor- very brave, Slytherin- cunning and fun- well all houses are fun, Ravenclaw- intelligent, and Hufflepuff- loyal and honest! Each time you do something good, your house will gain points. Every time you fail at something, you will loose points. Your house is like your family here at Hogwarts!"
And with that, she left the area and dissapeared into the room that stood behind her. There were a few coughs as Ken led them up the stairs, and the second they got up their, Kiara took lead.
"Get into two lines!" she instructed. "Now!"
Without hesitation, everyone separated into two lines. The doors opened once more, filling the entrance hall with bright candle light. They walked in and almost every First Year looked straight up at the ceiling. It was somewhat cloudy with movies clouds and bright twinkling stars.
"When I call your name get up here and sit on the stool! You'll be sorted into your house from there!"
The first one up was a girl whose last name began with 'A'. It went through the whole alphabet before it got to Honah. She hoped to be in the same house as her brother, Mike, but went up without another moments waiting. Oddly enough it was silent. You could probably hear a mouse running on the other side of the hall! She sat down on the stool and the wizard hat was place on her head.
"Ahhh…. Honah Friya, eh?" the hat asked.
"Yup! The one and only," Honah said so quietly that only the hat could hear.
"Heh, funny one," the hat muttered. "Well, let's put you in….SLYTHERIN!"
The Slytherin table cheered and clapped and suddenly the deadly silence was over. Honah sat down at the end of the table where there was a huge gap and waited.
Godric was next. He sat down on the stool, and the hat suddenly yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" too. Godric grinned, gave everyone a thumbs up and ran over to sit next to Honah.
Evan was one of the last ones. His last name, nor Godrics, had been called, so no one knew who heck they really were. He sat there for a while, the hall once again in silence, and nothing happened for at least five minutes. The hat was muttering things quietly to himself when suddenly, "SLYTHERIN!"
How the three friends made it into Slytherin was a mystery. Honah listened very intently. McGonagall, the Head Master, muttered things to Hagrid, the huge half-giant. She heard something like 'noh big s'prise for their kid' and looked around. Most people were already sorted, and about twenty five new people joined every table.
"Before the feast," McGonagall announced, "I must say something. Kiara and Riley may seem…odd at first, but don't judge a book by its cover! And don't go sneaking out of your dorms if you ever hear howling!"
-------
The two Slytherin Prefects had one hell of a time trying to get the threesome down to the dungeons. Jaki and Honah kept running off to places, Godric dragged Evan farther down the dungeons then they were supposed to go; apparently they heard howling and went to go cheak it out.
To Kiara's dismay, she was Head of Slytherin House and was sent off to find them. By the time they were found, there were eight hours till the classes were about to start!