Alright, so what if it's my first year here at Hogwarts? Let's see if I can actually make it through all the chaos and distractions I've received letters about from my good old friend. But yet at the same time, only in another part of one of her many letters, she warned me about the Sorting Hat. I had no idea what she meant, but I can probably guess by the way she described the process of being chosen to be sorted into a specific house that it wasn't as good as it seems; nor as easy. I've always wondered why she hardly ever mentioned any good things about this place. She probably wants me to find out for myself. Darn my curiosity!
I walked down the hallway which, as anyone could've guessed, is bustling with many other students and teachers keeping an eagle eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Of course I had my bottomless bag with me in my right hand, lugging it around like it wasn't even heavy. I couldn't possibly leave this little trinket at home and be left carrying a heap of bags. I strode onward, not making eye contact with any other beings, but stared straight ahead at a pair of large doors. I could just tell I was getting odd glances and dirty looks from everyone that walked on and hurried past me, trying to get to their first class.
It wasn't long until I came across the headmaster's domains. I let out an aired sigh of nervousness, then curled my hand into a fist and tapped lightly on the door.
"Come in, come in," I heard the voice, so I did as I was told.
Entering the room, I had no idea what size it was. But once I stepped in I literally had to force myself not to let my jaw drop in amazement.
There were shelves covered in books, and there were so many odds and ends everywhere it just gave me a welcoming feeling. It's like my mood was lifted out of its worried state and into a phase of excitement to get things started and have fun here.
The man looked up once I closed the door softly. His face, kind yet aged with wisdom, held a welcoming smile. Setting his quill pen down, he got up from his desk slowly but made it over to me a little faster than when he had gotten up.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, still smiling, and looked over my pale, freckled face.
"Hogwarts has been expecting you, Miss Dzierzanowski. I am Dumbledore, the headmaster here at this school."
"Thank you," I let out in a hushed tone, "It's very nice to be here."
He chuckled, "Yes, you will enjoy it here very much. Well, we mustn't be late to class now, correct? I shall have Miss Luna show you around and help you meet the other students."
He turned one-fourth to my right and called for the girl called Luna to come forth.
And here she came, bounding with pride and joy in every step she took towards the headmaster and I. Her wild, light blond hair bounced while she took a few more striding steps and stopped right in front of me, smiling and tilting her head at a small angle.
"Miss Dzierzanowski, this is Luna Lovegood," the man said with determination, "She will be your guide here at Hogwarts."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Luna," I said in a hushed voice, not sure what else to say or do.
"Delighted! Come, there is much to see here at Hogwarts!" her bright, cheery voice made me wonder if there was such a thing as sadness there in the little world she was wrapped around in that I'm pretty sure was full of beautiful things, butterflies, and glitter.
She took me by my left wrist and hurried me along down the long, almost empty hallways with a few other students scattered here and there.
"First thing on the list is to get you your room!" Luna led me up a large, twisting flight of stairs and finally we came up to a room to which she grabbed the handle and thrust the door open.
"Here you are!" she beamed with excitement, while I just stared at the room that was strayed out before me. A nice, rather comfortable looking bed with dark, evergreen-shaded sheets with a few black pillows perched at the head of the bed, the largest and widest one in the middle with two smaller ones out to the side. There was a fireplace to my right, but even if it wasn't burning now, I knew I'd be spending most of my time there either sketching or reading. There were two large oak bookshelves on both sides of the bed spaced out nicely with two nightstands sitting right in between the lush bed and the bookshelves.
"It's…wonderful..." I breathed, "Thank you, Luna. I should probably set my stuff down and grab some things out of it for my classes…"
Luna released my wrist and I walked on over to the bed, placing my bottomless pit of a bag on it, and opening it up I stuck my hand in. Grabbing my sketchbook and a few pens, I followed Luna out the doorway and closed the door behind me, heading down the same twisted stairwell that we had come up to get to my new room.
"Ah, Charms class!" Luna said very bubbly as we entered the room.
I ducked my head down, hiding it behind my long bangs that went off to the side unless my head was down. Then they would cover my face, which now was the perfect moment for that. My face hasn't earned its chance to be seen by the other students yet.
"Good morning, Professor Flitwick," Luna greeted the teacher of the Charms class.
"Good day, Luna," he replied back, then he noticed me by bursting out, "Ah, this must be our new student,"
I could feel my face burning hot like an untamed flame of heat. Why did he have to mention me? I wondered without looking up.
"Yes," Luna began, "This is Miss Dzierzanowski, but the headmaster didn't give me a chance to get to know her first name…" Her voice trailed off, and I nearly let out a sigh of relief, and then stopped myself.
"Ah, I see. Well then, do you know which house she has been sorted out into?"
"Well, I—" Luna stopped her sentence short. "No...She—she has yet to be sorted, and I'm just touring her…"
"Well then, shouldn't we sort her out first and then take her to her classes?" he asked, glancing at Luna.
"Yes, Sir," Luna replied hastily before grabbing my wrist and dragging me along, "I shall let the headmaster know right away,"
She hurried me along back to headmaster's domains and pounded on the door but not as hard as anyone else would have.
The door opened widely and there stood Dumbledore, the headmaster, with a small hint of confusion hiding in his eyes.
"Back so soon?" Dumbledore asked Luna, "Have we forgotten something?"
"The Sorting Hat," Luna whispered.
"Ah, yes, I'm terribly sorry, my dear," he walked on past me while patting my shoulder a little bit before Luna and I turned to follow.
Oh, curse the saint that brought me here, I thought to myself while I could feel the veins that flow throughout my body grow down to a sudden chill as I stood silently next to a small little stool downstage close to where the other students were seated at long, rectangular tables…watching me.
All noises and voices got silenced one I heard the headmaster begin to speak.
"Everyone," he started, silencing the shuffling of the uniforms the students wore, "We are all gathered here at this moment to behold a very special student. This is her first year at Hogwarts, so please, make her feel welcome."
"Would you have a seat, please," he said, then glanced at me and nodded for me to sit down on the stool. I did as I was told.
"Bring the Sorting Hat out," he called before turning to make sure all was good at hand and everything was being done that needed to be.
I found a focus spot on a single candle in the distance and stared that little burning flame down as if it would blink at any moment. Right as I was about to blink myself I felt a certain texture brush down on my head and was placed there. I had a pretty darn good hunch that what was on my head was the Sorting Hat my friend had told me about.
"Why, young lady," a voice spoke out above the heavy silence and I believe that voice belonged to the Sorting Hat. It then blurted, "your mind is…well, it's interesting…"
There were scattered snickers and giggles amongst the hoard of other people that were watching my every move.
I blinked several times before closing my eyes and lowering my head a tiny bit.
"There are so many things I could say about this young girl," it said loud and clear, "she's very brave when it comes the time that courage needs to be shown…"
What a lie, I thought, but I had no idea what the Sorting Hat had in reply to that single thought.
It made a small mumbling sound, then said,
"She doesn't have much social confidence," as the Sorting Hat said that, there was laughter, but when it spoke again all was quiet. "But she is a very deep-thinker…There are so many places you could be put into, girl, and if I could I'd sort you into all four..."
As my eyes opened wide with shock, I could see jaws drop, eyes glare at me, and people turning to whisper things to each other.
"Miss Cornea Dzierzanowski," the Sorting Hat abruptly demanded my attention, "behold…the house of Slytherin."
There were very few wild shouts and cheers but amongst the other three houses there were many "ugh" noises and frowns.
I created a major note to myself within my own personal mind that there weren't very many people that acknowledged me or even cared. Well, this is going to be interesting…