A/N: Wow guys sorry about that typo in my summary. I fixed it and I want you to know her name is Liz Delamour, not Delacour. No relation to Fleur whatsoever. Sorry. I knew I would get that wrong at least once when I picked it, but it fit so nicely. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Review please. I don't know if anyone likes it if people don't review. Shout out to my very first reviewer of all time, AirStarShine. You are amazing! Sorry this took so long, I got into the Hunger Games. Spectacular, really. I just finished the first book and it was amazing. Kind of sad now though. And then I got to start school early as of early-July, and I'm taking German, so please forgive me. Well, anyways, here's the next chapter.
Review, if you don't mind!
I do not own anything, obviously.
As we exit the train and step onto the stone foundation of Hogsmeade Station, we are surrounded by a mass of other kids around our height. I am taken aback by the number. There must be more than sixty kids, easy, lining up in front of a very large man. He has a large, bushy black beard that obscures everything on his face except his nose, upper cheeks, and warm black eyes. He is surely half-giant, easily around eight feet tall.
"First 'ears this way. Cur'mon, hurry now. We ain't to be running late. Got a schedule to keep, ain't we?" he says in a deep voice, chuckling good-naturedly at the end. I fall back a bit and, well, for lack of a tame word, cower behind Al' and peek over his right shoulder. He tenses, but doesn't comment on it.
"Liz, are you really- he's a good bloke, really. You're a coward." he says, baiting me. It works. I straighten and stomp my foot.
"Am not!" I protest, face a bit hot. Rose sniggers, and I shoot her a death glare. She fails to contain her giggles, and earns a few sideways looks.
"Albus! Rosie! There yer are!" the half-giant man booms. I squeak, hiding behind Rose this time.
"Hello Hagrid! Met Liz?" Rose greets cheerfully, bringing me upfront and center.
"Oh why of carse not, Rosie. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys, Groundskeeper, and Professor of Magical Creatures. Pleased." he greets and I swallow my stupid fear. Curse Rose.
"Liz Delamour, just." I greet nervously, and Al grins encouragingly, but it seems more as an amused grin. Curse him too, git.
"Well, it ain't be no time for reunions. Time to get yer to sortin'." he grins, and Al starts to gets nervous again. Rose pats his arm, comforting him.
"Four to a boat! Four to a boat!" Hagrid booms and each kid beelines for a boat. I follow Al and Rose to an empty boat off to the side. Of course, I trip over a rock that is more like a pebble, and take a rough trip down into the boat.
"Heh heh. Oops." I say, abashed, my cheeks feeling a bit hot. Al and Rose, Al a bit nervously and his cheeks a bit red, snicker shortly, and clamber into the tiny boat. No sooner than after Rose and Al get settle into the boat, Sadie rushes over.
"Sorry guys, is there a seat here? There's only a spot left with those menacing looking guys over there." she points, but I can't see through Hagrid.
"No problem." Al says warmly, but his voice cracks. He looks so nervous; it makes me want to hug him. Of course, I don't. That'd be weird.
"Thanks." she says gratefully, her shoulders lowering as if a large weight had just lifted off her shoulders. She clambers in, shuffling around, eventually settling next to me.
No sooner than she sits down, the boats start to drift quickly across the pitch black water. I become overly nervous as it starts to get excessively cold.
"S-sure is cold. Merlin, freezing my butt off." Al breathes, arms tucked into his robes. I nod quickly, the cold creeping up my legs and down my arms.
"Can't wait for the feast! I'm starving." I exclaim, shrugging off the fact I couldn't feel my right buttock. Then again, I don't know if you could normally feel a buttock... hmm.
"Look! The castle!" Sadie whispers excitedly, pointing animatedly. I follow it and catch sight of the most amazing castle I've ever seen. I ignore the fact I've never seen a castle before.
Its stone structure is brilliant, and I could point out at least four or five towers from where we are. The water below it shimmers with the light leaking out from the lit windows, giving the impression it is sparkling. Excited and fascinated whispers erupt. The castle grows ever larger as we reach the gates.
...
"Bloody long walk." Al grumbles, apparently unhappy. I frown, poking him in the arm to shut him up.
"Hush up you. Want to get sorted or not?" I reply sternly, freezing as well. At least I didn't complain.
"Ah, Hagrid. Thanks for getting them here. You may take you seat at the table." a medium-height woman with spunky copper brown hair, green eyes like lily pads and a very freckled face says with a light Irish accent. Her short cinnamon brown robes has no train like a regular one would, and her eyes meet mine shortly before she hastily looks away hastily. I wonder why, but my thoughts are cut short.
"This way please." she calls, directing us into a side room off the main entrance to what I concluded to be the Great Hall.
"I am Professor Coralle, deputy headmistress and Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. When you enter the Hall, you shall be called upon one by one in alphabetical order by your surname. You will put on the Sorting hat and it will judge you. You will be sorted into one of three Houses. Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff. Gryffindor. And Slytherin. Your house will be like your family. You will study in your common room, sleep in your dormitories, and eat in the Great Hall with your house. If you volunteer yourself or submit assignments in due time, you earn House points. If you behave badly, you will lose house points. The house with the most house points at the end of the school year is awarded the House Cup. A great honor. The ceremony will begin in just a moment. Clean yourselves up as best you can, I'll be back." she says brightly, walking into the hall. Whispers and conversations erupt at her leave.
"Merlin I'm excited!" Sadie exclaims, eyes like saucers. I grinned, but inside I felt all anxious.
"Merlin was probably in Ravenclaw." Al moans, in full on freak-out mode now. Rose pouts and butts in.
"Uh, Al. Merlin was in Slytherin. History of Magic, page 7. Did you even open the book?"
"Of course I did." he retorts haughtily. Rose smirks smugly, as if certain of something. Al waits patiently, red as a beet.
"Who wrote it?" she inquires sharply. Al opens his mouth and puts up a finger, as if to proclaim something, but stops dead, mouth still hanging open like a moron. "Rwanda Trislanta. Pathetic." she states, apparently unimpressed. Al reddens even deeper, which makes him look ridiculous.
"At least he knows who Merlin is, that's a good start." I state optimistically, trying to make Al look less stupid. Lost cause, apparently.
"He was a wizard, right?" he asks stupidly. Mental facepalm here. Sadie is dying of oxygen deprivation from silent giggles.
"No, he was an eggplant salesman." I mutter, shaking my head in dismay. Al shrugs, turning his attention elsewhere. Professor Coralle returns with a small smile upon her lips as if she heard our little banter. But there's no chance she could have. Right?
"In." the spunky witch orders, waving her hand in.
The hall is marvelous, four mahogany tables seating hundreds, possibly a thousand, school-aged kids. One long table at the far back of the spacious hall seats a variety of adults. One is empty, and I immediately assume it is the Professor's who is leading us to the table.
When we reach the end of the space in-between the two middle tables, I see a stool with a ragged, worn old hat sat on it. I feel intimidated some why, like the hat is some old relic or powerful item. Suddenly, a rip in the fabric widens and the hat begins to sing.
"When I call your name, you come up and place the topper on your head. Easy enough, right?" she inquires brightly. She takes out a scroll, a long one at that, and starts to read.
"Aderly, William." she recites, grinning. A boy with smooth mahogany locks, fair skin, and dark brown eyes walks up to the stool.
This takes less than a minute, surprisingly.
"Slytherin!" the first table off the right bursts into cheers. William walks to that table, seating himself there.
"Anders, Annabeth!" a girl with fine, straight blonde hair approaches the stool.
A moment passes.
"Gryffindor!" cheers as loud as before erupt. Her grey eyes shine with merriment as she walks to her new housemates with pride.
"Awerthy, Caitlyn."
A girl with shockingly, bushy, ginger red hair that fell to her waist and wickedly bright emerald eyes approaches the hat cautiously. Not ten seconds passes before the hat shouts,
"Hufflepuff!" and she smiles knowingly, prancing to the table, practically bursting with happiness.
"Berethy, Reyna!" a girl with short ebony hair and shockingly blue eyes steps slowly to the stool.
Less than a moment passes. Thirty seconds at the most.
"Ravenclaw!" the table to the left of the Gryffindor table breaks out in loud claps and whistles.
Quite a few names pass before the dreaded occurs.
"Delamour, Elizabeth." Professor Coralle says with a sly smile. My blood goes cold, but I manage to inch towards the hat.
When I place the hat on my head, the material is made of numerous materials but the feel is soft, as a coy voice erupts in my head and I'm taken aback.
"Ah! A unique one we have here, eh? Hmm…Loyal but cunning. Smart, too..."
"This coming from a hat." I mutter. He chuckles quietly before continuing.
"-witty as well." it adds. "Hint of daring and a sense to protect one's pride. I know just where to put you my dear. How about..."
"Gryffindor!" it shouts, and a ripple of relief washes through me.
I take off the hat eagerly, gives me the creeps that thing, and practically run to sit next to the Annabeth girl. She grins at me warmly, as if glad for a friend.
The names go on and on, and I notice a few familiars.
"Finnigan, Lucas." a boy with sandy blonde hair walks up to the stool confidently. I remember his name from one of the stories Dad often tells about his coworkers. Mr. Finnigan works in the Auror department, and Dad tells many stories about him. I always got the gist they were good friends.
"Gryffindor." the hat yells. He grins happily and joins us quickly, greeting Annabeth with a slight tint in his cheeks.
"Longbottom, Alice!" a girl with curly, satiny blonde hair and baby blue eyes hops up to the stool and places the hat down upon her head.
Two minutes pass for her. But the hat finally shouts,
"Ravenclaw!" and the entire table of juveniles explodes into one, large ear-shattering cheer. Alice gets up and prances down next to a girl with flaming ginger hair.
"Jordan, Sadie!" she casts us a nervous smile, walks nervously up to the stool, and places the hat on top of her dark locks.
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouts after not five seconds. She grins brilliantly, takes off the hat, and scampers to the table.
"Thomas, Isabella!" the girl is dark skinned, and her mahogany locks fall just to her shoulders. I think I've heard of the last name before, it rings a tiny bell in my head. Dad must've mentioned her Dad once or twice; otherwise I wouldn't have remembered it.
Not thirty seconds passes.
"Hufflepuff!" the hat booms and the entire table whoops and whistles loudly.
I wait patiently for Al and Rose to approach the stool. It takes a while, to be honest.
"Malfoy, Scorpious!" the name breaks me out of my daze, ringing an obscure bell.
This literally takes no where to lie almost three minutes. During, I recognize this name, more like the surname, from an old newspaper clipping. His father, grandfather and grandmother had been death eaters. They were all in Slytherin, and I had a pretty educated guess on where this one here was going.
There is a dizzying silence, in which you could probably hear a pin drop. Then the hat booms very clearly, as if for everyone to hear very clearly,
"Gryffindor!"
The silence is thick with disbelief. A Slytherin-destined pureblood sorted in Gryffindor? Completely unheard of.
"Ah, well. Scorpious why don't you join your new housemates. Sure they're shaking in their cloaks to welcome you." the bubbly professor said kindly. Scorpious, apparently numb with either shock or fear, walks to the table of gaping students. One yells,
"Impossible!" loudly. I turned to see it is James.
"Shut it." I scold him, successfully shutting him up.
After a short pause, the professor regains complete control of her composure and starts up again.
Five or six names pass, I think I blanked out a few times, before Al's name is called.
"Potter, Albus!" the professor says with the widest of grins. Al looks about, as if searching for help among the scarce number of students left, but only receives a reassuring squeeze from Rose. He takes a deep breath, and approaches the hat slowly. He sets it upon his head.
The full two minutes are agonizing, and I'm impatient when the hat finally booms,
"GRYFFINDOR!" and the entire hall goes silent for a full half a second. Then the Gryffindor table erupts into truly ear-shattering cheers and whoops.
"That's my brother!" James yells, clapping with all the pride in the world.
Al's face literally lights up with pure happiness and relief. I stand up and cheer, relieved to have another friend in my house. He runs to the table, receiving a hearty clap on the back from James and Fred and the rest of his family.
My stomach is roaring by the time Rose clambers up to the stool. The hat sits snugly on her lush, fiery locks of ginger. She doesn't look as conflicted as Al had, but she looks a bit bothered for a couple of seconds during. I count about thirty-five seconds pass until the hat finally voices its decision.
"Gryffindor!" The hat blares. She smiles, but only just. She gets up, takes off the hat, and hands it back to the Professor, who blinks at her in astonishment as she calmly walks to our table to sit next to Al.
The rest of the Sorting passes quickly, and I'm glad. Because I'm starving.
Heyo cheerios. Was it sucky? I'm sorry I didn't describe the feast, but if anyone wants me to I will. It seemed a bit of an unnecessary add-on and let's face it, I just don't know how and I'm too lazy to try.
Okay, now, you see I don't have a Sorting Hat song. That's because I'm no song-writer, and I didn't know where to look for one. If anyone has any, please PM me and I'll insert it as soon as possible.
Also, let me know if there's anyone you think I missed in the familiars, and I'll take it into consideration! Also, sorry if you expected Alice L. to be in Gryffindor. In the first write, it seemed like there were too many Gryffindors in a row, and I just had to change some.
Tell me how it was, because I dearly treasure (good-hearted, please) constructive criticism. Hope it was up to par and I really hope you enjoyed it.
Again, sorry for taking so long. I try to type faster this time ;)
~Zellarest
