Hell at Hogwarts
Chapter 1: First Meeting
It was a sunny, cool, breezy, airy, calm and peaceful morning. "STOP YOU LITTLE BRAT! GET BACK HERE!" Ok, so it is not as calm and peaceful. But it was a sunny, cool, breezy and airy morning at Diagon Alley.
The old, cranky and wrinkly shopkeeper of Knockturn Alley looked around. He could not see the shoplifter anywhere. So he gave a low growl and headed back to his workroom. Once he was gone, a girl around 17 jumped down from the roof of the shop. She had raven black hair and dark brown eyes. She looked at the bag she was carrying and smirked. Then she stepped back into Diagon Alley and back to her suite at the Leaky Cauldron.
She had two friends, Rachel Rivers and Milady Evans. Rachel was reading a book—as usual, and Milady was writing fanfiction—as usual. Ri barged into the room, emptied out her bag of stolen goods, took out her laptop and started surfing the Net while fiddling with her new "toys" – as usual.
It was going to be their final year at Hogwarts. Milady caught sight of one of Ri's goods, set down her quill onto her parchment, and asked, "So what did you get today?" Ri looked back at the things thoughtfully, "Hmm... let's see. From the Dark Arts shop I got a switchblade for locking and unlocking doors, and a remembrall from the magical sphere shop. Oh I also nicked some illusion smoke bombs from cranky old Mr Bitter!" she chirped.
Rachel stared at the clock and said, "Um guys, we've really got to go now—the train leaves in 15 minutes."
"So, Ri, you'll go first, then Milady, second, and I'll go last. Set?" Rachel asked. Ri and Milady nodded in agreement. They were at King's Cross station, all ready to dash through the barrier into Platform 9¾ when suddenly, someone bustled past. "Platform 9¾? Where's Platform 9¾? Excuse me, can you tell me where Pl—"
"Platform 9¾ is." the trio finished. "Hogwarts? Right here, recently transferred?" Ri asked. "Mmm." The dark-haired stranger nodded. "Follow after her." Milady said to the girl, pointing to Ri.
Trees whizzed past. Ri shifted her gaze to the girl. "Hi, I'm Ri Chang. This is Milady Evans," she indicated Milady, who was dozing off before waking up, "and Rachel Rivers." she said, pointing to the latter of her friends. "And you're...?"
"Matilda Kayson, but you can call me Mat." Matilda said in a light cheery voice. The trio couldn't help but grin at her open friendliness. "Hey people, I think we'd better change into our robes now." Rachel said, gesturing to the window. "Okay," they said in unison, and collecting their belongings, they left for separate compartments to change.
"Get off the train!" Hagrid shouted. "First years! First years, follow me!" "The old time buzz," Milady stated. They got into a horse-less carriage and when they arrived at Hogwarts, the trio was immediately surrounded by chatter and friends.
"Milady, where on earth were you this holiday?! I owled you at the manor twice a day, and my owl came back with the letter I originally wrote!" Milady grinned good-naturedly. She never took teasing to heart. "But of course... I managed to Disapparate to from home two days after school let out—forget the charms Father put on the walls—and find Ri and Rach in the Leaky Cauldron." she replied Angela, the girl she was talking to. Then she headed back to Ri and Rachel, who were talking to some fellow Slytherins, and tugged on the sleeves of their robes.
"Come on, let's get moving—the feast's starting!"
Rachel rested her forehead onto the cold surface of the table. She whined, "I'm so starved I can drop dead now if the feast doesn't start soon."
Ri turned her head to look at her friend. "If it makes you feel any better, McGonagall's bringing the first years in already." Rachel tilted her head sideways slightly to look up at Ri. "Oh brother. Don't you think it gets a bit old after 7 years worth of songs from the Sorting Hat?" she sniggered derisively, then resumed moaning, earning herself a hard kick and a poke in the ribs from Milady and Ri respectively. "Ow."
Her other two friends shook their heads and stared at the old battered school Sorting Hat, which was what everyone—including Rachel—was doing. There was a moment's silence, then the rip at the brim opened, and then Hat broke into a song:
"In times of old when I was new And Hogwarts barely started..."
At this Rachel gave a yawn, just loud enough for Milady and Ri to hear. "Here we go again," then pretended to take a nap. Milady said, "Aww... don't act so mean, Rach, where else would we see Dumbledore bobbing his head and looking like a regular maniac?" she jerked her partially-dyed head at the Headmaster to prove her point.
Ri snorted. She obviously was less softer than Milady. "Mil's right, Rach. Be nice," she snapped acidly.
When the Sorting was over, ("finally!") and the feast had started, the trio started ladling food onto their plates. (Or in Rachel's case, poured the stew directly from the pot itself.)
"You know, Sorting always reminded me when we ourselves got sorted," said Ri all of a sudden. Milady and Rachel just looked at each other and shrugged.
:: Flashback ::
"Chang, Ri!"
The 11-year-old girl made her way up to the stool and sat down, wondering idly whether she would be in Gryffindor or Slytherin. Her father was a Slytherin but her mother was a Gryffindor. A little voice buzzed at the back of her head. "Let's take a look. A trace of the dark and part of the light—interesting combination... Let's weigh the factors. Something in you is tipping the scale so-"
"SLYTHERIN!"
Ri smirked, bounced off the stool and sauntered to the table at the left. A few more first years were sorted then...
"Evans, Milady!"
Milady cocked her head to the side a little. If it's sorted by parentage and inheritance, then it's Slytherin. If it looks at the futuristic side, then it's Gryffindor, she thought to herself. When the frayed hat was placed over her head, covering her blackish-grey eyes, she heard the same voice as her friend had heard earlier. "Ah, finally. Another Evans. I haven't sorted an Evans for some time already... but you don't seem to want to follow your ancestors do you? But all should be fair in Sorting, so though I hate to say it to you-"
"SLYTHERIN!"
She took off the Hat and placed it gently back on the stool, then walking to the Slytherin table, glad to be with her friend and not get a howler from her parents saying that she was a total disgrace from being sorted into Gryffindor.
"Rivers, Rachel!"
Ri and Milady gave their friend a encouraging smile. Rachel caught it and grinned, doing everything the pupils before her had done. "Hmm... you seem to be one of those which are particularly hard to place. Parentage says you should be in Slytherin but instincts say Gryffindor... oh never mind, you can do well even in Slytherin so-"
"SLYTHERIN!"
:: End flashback ::
"Yeah I still remember it as though it were yesterday," Milady said, stirring her pumpkin juice dreamily while staring at the cloudless black sky at the ceiling. "I wouldn't care less about that dumb Sorting Hat. If it didn't save Milady from two howlers and deafness, I couldn't care less every year." said Ri.
When dessert was finished and the tables had been cleared, everyone prepared to go back to their dormitories, an occasional yawn sounding somewhere. Ri wanted to sleep early and voiced it out, and Rachel didn't even need words to show that a great birthday present right now was a mattress, but Milady reminded Rachel of her prefect status, jabbing her shiny badge on her chest painfully. They still needed to lead the first years to their bedrooms. "Whatever. Ri, you can go back to the dormitory first. We'll be back by 11 pm."