"Next stop Sorting," Terra said, a wide smile spread across her face.
Chapter Two: Welcome to the Wizarding World
James, Michael, and Danaë were chatting at the Gryffindor table as the students flowed into the Great Hall. Danaë watched as James glanced over his shoulder every once and a while. "Looking for your brother James?" she asked with a smirk on her face.
"Uh…no, no…" James shook his head. "Just, looking around…What were we talking about?" he asked. Michael laughed.
"You two were discussing something about Quidditch…" he said. He looked at his plate, longing for food to magically appear. "I don't know, it confuses the hell out of me…" Just then a young, blonde Ravenclaw showed up. "He…Hey Victorie," Michael heard James snort beside him.
"Hey Michael," Victorie said. "Hey James, Danaë," she greeted the other two. "Did you see Rosie and Al on the train?" they nodded.
"So Miss Head-Girl…" James started with a smirk growing on his face.
"No, I'm not getting you out of detention James…" Victorie put her hands on her hips. "And make sure my little cousins know the same thing…" she said laughing as James deflated a little. "And just for your knowledge, I'm Ravenclaw's Quidditch captain this year," the seventh year smiled proudly. "And don't think we aren't working our asses off this year for the cup."
"Vicky, I love you like you're family…"
"I am family you twit," Vic laughed at James, but the boy didn't skip a beat.
"…but I have to tell you, Gryffindor is getting the cup this year," James smiled. Michael just shook his head and Danaë was trying to hold back from laughing too loud.
"We'll see about that cousin," Victorie said as she began to turn away.
"Say hi to Teddy for us!" James called after Victorie. The Ravenclaw blushed, smiled, and walked to her respective table. The fourth years then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Talk about competition," Danaë said as her laughter subsided. "But she is right James, we'll have to watch out for Ravenclaw this year, especially with Vic in charge, they'll be practicing everyday…"
"Yea…" James said thoughtfully. "Remind me to talk to 'Lissa bout that later." He said and then smiled. "'course, we could always send Michael to follow Vic and spy for us," he laughed. "He…Hey Victorie," James mocked Michael. Michael hit James on the arm as he shook his head.
"It's not my fault mate," Michael said. "The girl is part Veela for Christ's sake!"
"She's an eighth Veela, that's no excuse, you'd have to be really desperate…"
"Oh look! The first years are here," Danaë interrupted, pointing to the back door. A crowd of eleven year olds, looking tall only in comparison to Professor Flitwick who was leading the way, walked cautiously toward the front of the hall. James caught Al's eye and winked at him, smiling as he remembered his first year and how he was sure they were never that small.
"Now, when I call your name," Professor Flitwick squeaked. "Come on up and place the hat on your head," he then unraveled a scroll of parchment that reached the floor and then rolled across the podium and down the stairs. He coughed before saying the first name: "Anderson, Mikael." A meek, brown-haired boy stepped forward walking up the stairs and closing his eyes as the hat got placed on his head. Everyone watched in silence for a few moments before the brim of the hat ripped open and shouted to the crowd of people: "GRYFFINDOR!" A loud round of cheers came from the Gryffindor table as Mikael took off the hat and grinned as he made his way to sit with his now-housemates.
And the sorting began.
Names were called and people were sorted one by one. "Burton, Jonathon" was sorted into Hufflepuff and "Collins, Leanne," was sorted into Ravenclaw. Al shifted uncomfortably as "Lockhaven, Trevor," was sorted into Slytherin after a particularly long while. Suddenly, Terra took a sharp intake of breath.
"What?" Al asked her, but the blonde girl shook her head. Soon enough, Professor spoke out the next name. "Longbottom, Terra," Terra took a deep breath and then smiled confidently as she walked up to the stool. She spotted her dad at the Staff table and winked at him, beaming before the brim of the hat covered her eyes.
"Where to place you... Where to place you…" the hat mumbled in Terra's head. She sat patiently, hoping that, whatever house she was sorted into, her dad would be happy with her. "Well if that's what you want…GRYFFINDOR!" Terra jumped up and handed the hat to Flitwick before running to join the other Gryffindors. As she passed Al, Rose, and Scorpius she whispered "good luck" before taking her seat.
Again, they waited. Rose silently cursed her father for having a last name toward the end of the alphabet. Next was Scorpius' turn. He walked slowly to the stool, staring at it so hard it could have burned a hole into it. He heard the whispers as his last name was announced to the hall. Was his fate already set?
"A Malfoy eh?" the hat asked as it covered Scorpius' head. "I would say I knew exactly what to do with you but…" The hat went silent, searching through Scorpius. "I never thought I'd see the day…GRYFFINDOR!" A mixture of gasps and applause erupted and Scorpius sighed with relief as he made his way to sit next to Terra. His hands were shaking. He wondered how his parents would react to this.
Al looked to his left and winked at his nervous cousin, squeezing her hand for reassurance. They waited more. "Oliver, Gage," joined the Gryffindor table. Next was "Oppious, Jessica."
"Move," Jessica said, pushing Al into Rose as she walked confidently to the sorting hat. She sat and looked at the crowd, seemingly basking in all the attention she was getting. The sorting hat hardly touched her sleek black hair before announcing "SLYTHERIN!"
"Figures," Al whispered to Rose as Jessica walked the same way to the Slytherin table. "Patterson, Ashley," was called and she too, though not as poised as Jessica, was sorted to Slytherin.
Flitwick fumbled with the scroll for a moment before reading the next name. "Potter, Albus," Al froze at the sound of his name. Rose gave him a nudge and Al tripped up the stairs and stumbled to the stool. "Not Slytherin," Al mumbled the second the hat touched his head. "Please, anything but Slytherin…"
"Haven't I sorted you before? What do you mean 'not Slytherin'? This is a no-brainer…well if you're sure: GRYFFINDOR!" Al smiled wider than ever as he was sorted into Gryffindor. "Good luck Rosie," Al said as he ran to sit with the other Gryffindors. He looked down the table and beamed at James, Michael, and Danaë. Then he turned and waited for Rose.
"Rowling, Joanne," Was called. A sweet-looking girl not too far from Rose walked up to the hat and Professor Flitwick set the hat on her head. "RAVENCLAW!" Joanne smiled in relief and ran past Rose, stumbling over her feet as she was welcomed to the Ravenclaw table. More and more of the students were sorted. Rose decided that the first thing she was doing at Hogwarts was going to the Owlery and writing her dad about considering changing their last name for when Hugo started at Hogwarts.
Finally, there was a handful of people left, and "Weasley, Rose," was called loudly. She took deep breaths. "Okay, don't panic, keep calm…" she whispered as she walked to the stool, her hands shaking. The hat covered her eyes and Rose felt a prickling on her neck as all eyes were on her. Suddenly the hat called out: "GRYFFINDOR!" Rose was so excited she ran to the table before taking the sorting hat off. A few people laughed as she quickly brought it back to Flitwick, blushing. When she sat down, she was next to Scorpius and another first year with dark red hair.
"Can you believe we all made it?" Rose asked breathlessly.
"It's fate," Scorpius said.
"It's a set up," Al said.
"It's the Snoblore Hornbacks!" Terra announced. Everyone around her looked at her curiously. "Sorry, channeled my mother there for a moment…" Everyone laughed.
"First years!" a fifth year girl called out as the Hall was dismissed for bed. "Gryffindor fifth years, over here!" she called out. The new Gryffindors crowed around her and another boy. "Great, you're all here quick," she said. "I'm Melissa Wood and this is Jamie Miller," she pointed to the boy beside her. "We're Gryffindor's fifth year prefects," she said proudly.
"We're going to show you how to get to the common room and give you the password, so pay attention and stay close," Jamie said. "Ask us questions if you need help, Melissa and I are happy to help out," Al looked at Terra and smiled; they looked nice enough.
Jamie and Melissa began to lead the way, up and up the flights of stairs. While waiting for one of the flights to change to where they wanted it, a portrait on the wall smiled at them. "Welcome to Hogwarts," the portrait said. A girl with short, black hair and teal streaks screamed and jumped back into Al.
"Oh, sorry…" she said. "Do ALL the pictures here move," Al nodded. "Bugger…"
"Are you muggle born?" Al asked.
"What?" the girl replied.
"Non-magical parentage," he added. She nodded and looked away. "Cool," Al held out his hand. "Albus Potter, call me Al though," he introduced himself. The girl smiled.
"Rebecca Caldwell, but call me Bek, everyone except my mum does," she shook Al's hand.
"Albus, Rebecca!" Jamie called, the stairs had finished changing. "Keep up now!" Al laughed and the two ran up the stairs.
The Gryffindor common room was on the 7th floor, all the way up to the top. "Is there some sort of short cut?" Mikael asked, bending over and placing his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"'Fraid not," Jamie said, an apologetic look on his face, "But you'll get used to the stairs, honestly." Then the Prefect Boy turned to a portrait on the wall. "Hello Fat Lady," Jamie said, the rather short boy next to Scorpius snickered. The woman in the painting though, didn't seem perturbed.
"Mr. Miller how was your holiday," the painting asked politely. Al heard Bek mutter next to him. "I'm never going to get used to this…"
"Just fine," Jamie smiled. "Melissa, you know the password right?"
"Of course you forgot already," Melissa laughed and stepped next to Jamie. "Dragon Pox," she said. The portrait swung forward, nearly hitting Rose, who jumped back into Al. "Welcome to the Gryffindor common room you lot," Melissa said, leading them inside. "Boys, Jamie will lead you to your dormitory. Girls, I'll take you to yours," she said before heading up the tower staircase. Sadly for the eight First Years, their dorms were at the very top of the stairwell.
"You've got to be kidding me," the pretty girl with the red-hair said once they reached the top. The boys and girls then separated boys to their left and girls to their right.
"Good night girls!" Melissa said after showing the four girls around their dormitory. "See you at breakfast." And then she left, leaving four girls to stand in the dormitory awkwardly. Bek looked around the room, finding her things already set up for her around the four-poster bed by the window.
"Sweet," she said, jumping onto her bed and putting her hands behind her head. Then she sat up quickly and held out her hand, a bold smile on her face. "I'm Bek," she said. "Rebecca Caldwell actually, but just Bek is fine," she smiled.
"Rose," Rose said automatically, her bed ended up being on the other side of the window. "Rose Weasley," she said. She tugged nervously on her auburn hair, walking over to her bed and sitting on her trunk in front of it.
"Wait, Weasley?" the other red-head said. "Are you related to Ginny Weasley?" Rose laughed.
"Yeah, she goes by Potter now though…" Rose said. "She's my auntie…" she was interrupted by a huge squeal.
"Oh my Godric!" she said. "Your aunt played on the Holyhead Harpies!" The girl was bouncing up and down. "I'm Lizzy Torrance." She said. "Closet Quidditch Fanatic."
Rose was laughing. Luckily she was used to people fawning over her various relatives. "I'll get you an autograph," she said.
"How are you a "closet Quidditch fanatic?" Terra asked.
"Oh, my mum hates it. Everything that has to do with it," Lizzy said. "So I had to hide my…obsession," Lizzy laughed.
"You don't really strike me as 'Quidditch obsessed…'" Terra started, but was interrupted.
"What's Quidditch?" Bek asked. The other three looked at each other before facing Bek. "Why do I feel like I'm about to regret that."
"Well, my dear," Terra sat next to Bek and slung her arm around the black and teal haired girl. "Let me start with my name is Terra Longbottom," the other girls were giggling. "And welcome to the wizarding world."
"Right, see you lot in the morning at breakfast," Jamie said, leaving the boys to their dormitory. Al recognized the first boy who was called up as Mikael, so he looked to the other boy that he didn't know.
So did the other two.
The smallest of the boys took a step back, widening his eyes. "Um…Ga…Gage, Gage Oliver," he said nervously.
"Where are you from?" Scorpius said, commenting on Gage's accent.
"California," Gage said. "My family moved here last year." The others nodded and found their respective beds. Scorpius plopped himself onto his bed, between the bathroom and the window. The other side of the window was Gage who was across from Al and Mikael. "So what's your name," Gage asked the blonde boy.
"Uh…" Scorpius stuttered. Al began to laugh.
"He's got a dumb name," Al said teasingly. Scorpius raised an eyebrow.
"You should talk," Scorpius said. "I'm Scorpius, that's Albus," he grinned.
"Cool," Mikael said sitting on his bed. "Mikael Anderson," he said. He was looking at his books that had been piled up on his night-side table curiously. Al watched as his roommate was studding his school things with a sort-of confused look on his face.
"You're muggle born, aren't you?" Al asked. Mikael jumped slightly.
"Huh?" he asked. "Muggle? Um, yes….yes I am." He nodded remembering reading about muggles back in a book in Diagon Ally. "That's okay, right?" he said.
"Yea, don't worry about it." Al said, noticing the boy's nervousness.
"Yea, hardly anyone has a problem with muggleborns these days," Scorpius added.
"But I'll be so far behind…" Mikael sighed, picking up his charms book and flipping through it. "I'm sure you three can already do half these spells."
"I doubt it," Gage said. "We know no more magic than you do." He grinned. "Don't worry 'bout it," Gage said. He walked over to Mikael and slung an arm around him. "In a week's time, you'll be knocking the sock off of us," Mikael laughed.
"Yea Mikael," Al added. "I'm sure you'll be great." Al went in his bag and grabbed a chocolate frog, handing it to Mikael who jumped back as the treat hopped out of his hands onto the side table.
"Welcome to the wizarding world," Scorpius laughed.
.
-X-
Pronunciation Key:
Mikael (Mik-kay-ll)
Snoblore Hornbacks (snow-blur horn-backs): Small dusts like creatures that help fate happen.
Thanks to my reviews! Avanell was the lucky first reviewer! Your prize is: a cameo in a chapter of Single Red Roses. Just PM me with any details you'd like *wink*
Okay, now that you've read, time to review! I hope to post at least one chapter every weekend.
Thanks!
Ace 3
