Nefarious Risings (Year I)
Chapter I - Platform 9 3/4
"So, you nervous, James?" A young Kaitlyn teased
her brother as she usually did.
"Not half, but since Sirius and Remus are coming, it'll
be really good, I'm sure."
"Hmm...Sirius and Remus? Introduce us, please, when you
have the time."
"Of course - you'd like Sirius, he's just as annoying
as you are." Kaitlyn hit her brother, playfully. They walked down Diagon
Alley together, towards the Leaky Cauldron.
"James!" A boy with black hair came running over to
them. Another boy, this one with light brown hair, followed him.
"Sirius! Please, for the love of god, slow down!"
The boy with black hair laughed. This must be Sirius, Kaitlyn thought. James
ran over to the two boys and started talking to them. Kaitlyn stood there,
tapping her foot and waiting to be introduced. After five minutes, she coughed
and said, in a bossy voice,
"Are you just going to gossip like a little girl all
day, James, or are you going to introduce us?" The other boys laughed, and
each stepped forward in turn.
"Sirius Black." Said the black haired boy, and
shook her hand.
"Remus Lupin." Said the other boy, and shook her
hand also.
"Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn, over here!" A voice came from a
table in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Lily!" Kaitlyn ran over to her friend, who was
sitting across the room. She sat in a chair, and Lily whispered to her,
"Who's the cute guy?"
"Who?"
"The one with black hair!"
"Which one?"
"The one on the right, silly!"
"Lily! That's my brother, for heavens sakes!"
"What? You have a brother?"
"Yes, Lily, remember? I have a twin brother!"
"Oh! Sorry..."
"That's okay. Personally, I think the one on the left's
cute..."
"Well, that's your opinion."
"Oi! Sirius! Remus! James! Over here!" Kaitlyn
yelled, and several people stared at her, disgusted. "Oops! Sorry 'bout
the noise!" Kaitlyn sank into her chair so as not to draw any more
attention to herself. The three came over and sat down. James sat next to Lily,
and Remus sat in the other empty chair, leaving Sirius standing up.
"So I don't get a seat, eh?" He looked, with an
expression of mock horror on his face.
"Oh, I don't know, Sirius." Said Remus. "Why
don't you share with Kaitlyn?" James sniggered, and so did Lily. Kaitlyn
shifted up on the seat and Sirius sat next to her. A tingle went up Kaitlyn's
spine as he pressed his side against hers. She couldn't help smiling a little,
and Lily winked at her. Kaitlyn sighed at her friend, then got up and picked up
a chair from another table.
"Right, now we've sorted that out," James began,
"I really hope I get put in Gryffindor, it sounds the best by far."
The others nodded.
"Although Ravenclaw doesn't sound too bad," put in
Remus. Lily shuddered. Kaitlyn tilted her head, questioning Lily's response.
"I was just thinking of what it would be like to be put
in Slytherin." The others said nothing; they all knew it would be horrible
to be sorted into Slytherin. The five got their things together and walked
towards the shops. Lily and Kaitlyn, having already bought school supplies,
went off to the Magical Menagerie. The boys went to purchase potions
supplies...or so they said.
"Meet you back here in an hour!" cried Sirius, as
the group split and made their way to their separate destinations.
When they
met after an hours shopping, laden with shopping bags, animals (cats and owls)
and thoroughly tired, the five collapsed outside the Leaky Cauldron, which was
now closed, and waited for their parents to arrive and pick them up. Lily, her
eyelids dancing softly over her brilliant green eyes, leant her head on a box
of Hogwarts books and began to drift off into sleep. Kaitlyn sat and stroked
her cat which she had purchased from the Magical Menagerie, James flicked
through a book on Transfiguration, even though he didn't understand a single
word, Remus watched the strains of people now left make their way back into
Muggle London, and Sirius was studying his wand, looking for any signs of
scratches that could apply blemishes into his magical powers. When their
parents finally came, James and Kaitlyn whispered goodbye to the other two so
as not to wake Lily, gathered their possessions and walked back to the car
which would take them to their house in the muggle town of Croydon, Surrey.
"Hey,
James! Kaitlyn!" James turned around and looked through the throng of
people to find Sirius waving madly and Remus shaking his head and sighing at
his friend's behavior. He looked at Kaitlyn and shrugged, which made her laugh.
They greeted the pair, and began to search the train for a compartment, which
was a) empty, and b) not near the Slytherin carriages. They found one, and
having collected Lily, who was saying a tearful goodbye to her parents, loaded
their trunks into the compartment and grabbed a seat each. The five crowded
round the window as the train began to move and waved goodbye to their families
(some more enthusiastically than others). Once they were off and away, they sat
down again, and began to talk excitedly about what would happen when they got
to Hogwarts, and what they had heard about it.
"Excuse me, is that seat free?" a timid voice came
from the door of the cabin, and a slightly rat-faced boy with a heavy trunk he
seemed to have trouble carrying entered. James indicated that yes, the seat was
free, and the boy sat down next to Remus.
"James Potter, what's your name?" James extended
his hand, which the boy shook, softly, and smiled as the boy began to smile as
well.
"Peter. Peter Pettigrew." the others introduced
themselves in turn, and then the group was six.
Halfway
through their journey, when the plump lady with the trolley came into the
compartment, Sirius finally let out all his energy, and dived for the trolley
carrying all the food, and successfully knocked it, himself and the lady over.
Having sorted them out, Sirius proceeded to pay for the food, clean up and
apologize all at once. Remus stood up, apologized on Sirius' behalf, clapped a
hand over his friend's mouth and paid the lady for her food. Once the trolley,
rescued food and all, made it through into the next compartment, Lily, James,
Peter and Kaitlyn let out a belt of laughter that had been building up for
sometime. Once they were all calmed down, Lily pointed out that the sun had
nearly set, and everyone peered out of the window at the pointed mountains and
swirling purple clouds dancing with the navy blue sky. It was once those clouds
could not be seen dancing anymore that the train began the long and drawn out
process of grinding to a halt. The six removed their jackets and pulled on
their long black robes. Kaitlyn's were slightly fitted, as were Lily's - their
mothers had insisted that the girls should 'at least have some sort of shape'.
The train slid silently to a halt and the students-to-be pushed for the door.
They stumbled out onto a cold grey platform, and followed a jolly bearded man,
who they found to be called Hagrid, and his bobbing yellow lamp down a steep
narrow path. It lead down, then round a bend. Once they turned the bend, the
group caught their first glimpse of Hogwarts. They 'oohed' and 'aahed' at the
towering turrets, the looming balconies and the acres of lawn, not to mention
the massive lake, which they realized they had to cross.
"No more than four to a boat!" bellowed Hagrid,
and James, Lily, Kaitlyn and Remus jumped into a boat, not trusting Sirius to
keep the boat upright. The fleet of little rowing boats pushed their way across
the smooth lake, the noses of the boats cutting into the icy cold water. They
ducked as they came to the thick curtain of ivy, which hid an opening in the
cliff at the bottom of the hill on which Hogwarts stood. They reached a kind of
underground harbor and stumbled out onto the rocks and pebbles, which littered
the ground. Another flight of steps, these made of stone, lead them up onto
that mass of lawn and thrust them before the looming wooden door of Hogwarts.
Hagrid stepped up and knocked on the door...once, twice, thrice...and the door
swung open, revealing a tall black haired witch in green robes.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall.
She led them into a side room, which was full of desks and chairs stacked up at
the walls. "Before you take your seats at the feast, you must be sorted.
The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
Each house has it's own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards.
While you are here at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you House points, while
rule breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the house with
the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honor. The sorting ceremony
will begin immediately, please follow me." Professor McGonagall went out
of the room again, and towards a large set of oak doors, equal to the size of
the front doors of Hogwarts itself. The doors flew open, revealing hundreds of
faces staring at them from huge tables positioned around the spacious hall. The
ceiling was charmed to look like the night sky, and was dotted with specks,
which Kaitlyn supposed must be stars. Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged
stool in front of the first years. On the stool she put an old and battered
wizards hat. Whispers of 'what attacked that' and 'who put acid with that in
the washing machine' flickered around the first years. Then a rip opened near
the brim and smiled. To the astonishment of all the first years, it began to
sing:
"Oh, you may think I'm quite ugly,
But by that you shouldn't judge me,
Despite all that I'm quite a hat
The cleverest you will see.
You can keep your French berets,
Your baseball caps and balls,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can top them all.
There's nothing lurking in your heads
That I won't be able to see,
So put me on and I'll tell you
In which house you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the strong in heart,
Their chivalry, nerve and daring nature
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And not afraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've got a sharp mind,
Where those of wit and learning
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your 'real' friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
So they achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a thinking cap!"
Applause thundered round the hall
as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the house tables and then
became still again. Professor McGonagall stood, holding a very long piece of
parchment, which trailed down to the floor, and began to call names. By pure
bad luck, Lily was first.
"Andrews, Lily!" Lily walked forward, sat on the
stool and placed the hat upon her head. It had barely touched her head when it
cried,
"GRYFFINDOR!" A cheer from the Gryffindor table
and Lily, beaming, went and sat at a spare seat. Through the As, onto the Bs...
"Black, Sirius!" Sirius walked forward, placed the
hat on his head. The hat took a moment's pause, in which it might have been
probing for information, and finally cried,
"GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius grinned, placed the hat back
onto the stool and walked over to sit with Lily. Some names (well, many names)
after them,
"Lupin, Remus!" A moment's pause again for the
hat, somewhat longer than Sirius' time on the stool, being stared at by the
hundreds of people in the hall.
"RAVENCLAW!" Kaitlyn clapped a hand to her mouth,
and Remus shot her a sad smile. That split part of the group already. No Ms in
the year, no Ns, no Os...
"Pettigrew, Peter!" the hat barely touched his
head again, and cried,
"GRYFFINDOR!" Peter went and joined the
accumulating group at the Gryffindor table.
"Potter, James!" James went and put on the hat. A
moment's pause...
"GRYFFINDOR!" again, a member of the group went
over to sit with the others at the Gryffindor table. Was Remus going to be the
only one on his own?
"Potter, Kaitlyn!" Kaitlyn took a deep breath, and
walked over to the stool. She picked up the hat by the brim, terrified that it
would fall apart, sat on the stool and placed it on her head.
'Hello...what's this? A devious streak in such a brave and
chivalrous mind...that puts Gryffindor out for sure...' Kaitlyn gasped. The hat was talking to
her...no, thinking to her...a long pause this time, was something going
wrong?
"SLYTHERIN!" cried the hat. Kaitlyn got up, took
the hat off her head, put it on the stool, and stared at it. She stared and
stared at it.
"Miss Potter, go to your table." no movement.
"I said go to your table!" Kaitlyn looked up at Professor McGonagall,
then flicked her eyes to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. She turned and
walked, head hung, to the Slytherin table where she sat next to a boy with long
greasy hair. Then it hit her. She was in Slytherin...
Mum and Dad were going to kill her.