Not Alone
Disclaimer: You already know it.
The Sorting
The train jerked as it halted, rocking Grace and Tom back and forth. Gracie excitedly exclaimed, "Tom! We're there. We're at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" A disembodied voice rang through the train instructing them; "ALL BELONGINGS ARE TO BE LEFT ON THE TRAIN AND TRANSPORTED TO THE CASTLE SEPERATELY. FIRST YEARS ARE TO WAIT ON THE PLATFORM FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTION. ALL OTHER YEARS ARE TO PROCEED TO THE CARRIAGES WHICH WILL DELIVER YOU TO THE CASTLE!" The notice repeated itself steadily as they scrambled out into the corridors which were a seething mass of black robes and shouting. They were carried along by the mass until they were roughly shoved aside by a larger boy as he jumped off the train, running to meet a friend, shouting "Weasley! Hey! WEASLEY! Wait up!" Tom glared after the boy, angered at being shoved aside so carelessly, but Gracie had hold of his wrist and was talking to him.
"Tom, this way, I can hear us being called." Sure enough, there was a husky voice shouting "FIRS' YEARS! FIRS' YEARS THIS WEH! OI! YEH LOT FIRS' YEARS? THIS WEH PLEASE!!!" Tom allowed himself to be pulled along by Gracie, not wishing to be lost as the older students pushed past them. Gracie led Tom to the end of a platform where a tall man with ruddy skin and a scrubby light brown beard stood with a lamp. He was shouting in a thick Geordie accent, scanning the platform for anymore first years with alarmingly blue eyes from beneath a pronounced forehead with bushy eyebrows. A small crowd of scared eleven year olds surrounded them and the man towered over them, peering at them and then nodding, satisfied that he had them all. "Righ' yeh'll be the all the firs' years then. Me neem's Ogg. Ah'm the groundskeeper 'ere at 'Ogwarts. Ah'll be teekin' yeh lot acruuss the leek to the castle, alrigh'?" Many of the first years looked up at the man terrified and confused. His thick accent made him difficult to understand and his yellowed teeth, scrubby appearance and height of six and a half feet made him an imposing figure.
Tom looked at him disdainfully, but Gracie stared up at him giggling. He reminded her of her uncle and his booming Scottish accent rambling on about the "proddy bastards". Tom cocked his eyebrow at her questioningly and she giggled and shrugged at him. Tom shook his head at her, again thinking what an odd girl she was. "Righ' then, this weh, now. Tha's righ', inteh the boats. We're goin' acruuss the leek," Ogg's voice instructed them as they clambered into the boats that lined the shore of a massive lake. Tom and Grace clambered into a boat with a pale blonde boy who had steely grey eyes and a pointed face and a girl with mousey brown hair to her shoulders and oversized glasses. The boats began to move across the water slowly, as if some great creature in the lake pulled them. Ogg's boat was out in front, his lamp creating a small globe of light which their boats all seemed to be following.
The boats came up to a landing where they all clambered out of the boats, taking great care not to slip and fall into the chilly water and together they moved quickly up to the castle, anxious to leave the cold. Ogg left them at a set of stairs and winked at them, "Righ' then, Ah'll be ooff now, yeh beheeve yehselves. A professor will be 'ere shahtly to teek yeh in." and he walked through the gargantuan doors. The groups silence broke as small groups began to chat amongst themselves. Tom and Gracie turned to each other, shrugged and joined the nearest group, which was nearly all boys. Tom introduced himself and went to introduce Gracie, realising he didn't know her full name. "Grace Emily McDermott" she chimed in as he faltered after her first name. The boys around the circle smiled politely and the pale blonde boy who had been in their boat introduced them, "I'm Abraxus Malfoy, and this is Frederick Avery, Antonin Dolohov, Angus Rosier, Rolandan Lestrange, Jonathon Nott and Damien Mulciber. She's Franny Parkinson and that's Gertrude Bulstrode over there", he pointed across the circle to two girls, one who was quite pretty, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, the other had dark red frizz and dull brown eyes and a square jaw which jutted out and made strongly resemble a bulldog. Just as Abraxus had finished his introductions the doors swung open and a teacher in long deep purple robes stood in the doorway. He had half moon spectacles which highlighted his twinkling light blue eyes and his hair cascaded down his back. His beard, which was equally as long as his hair, was tucked into his belt and, like his hair, was a deep auburn. His eyes swept over the crowd of first years and he smiled at them. His eyes lingered on Tom a second longer than on most. "Welcome first years! I am Professor Albus Dumbledore and I am the Transfiguration teacher here and Hogwarts. In a moment I shall take you into the Great Hall where you shall be sorted into one of the four houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Your house will be like your family at Hogwarts. You will live with them and have lessons with them. Each house produces fine witches and wizards and you are sorted according to your personal qualities. Now, if you would kindly all follow me. Single file, please."
Dumbledore led them into an entrance hall and they passed four gigantic hour glasses filled with different coloured gems. Gracie turned to Tom and mouthed "wow", he grinned and they continued to follow Dumbledore. As they entered the Great Hall they saw a sea of black school robes and people craned their necks to see the new students. Dumbledore led them up to the front of the hall, in front of the teacher's table, where a stool with an old hat on it stood. Dumbledore turned to the teacher in the centre of the teacher's table and nodded. He stood and said "Welcome to all of you! To the new students, I am Professor Dippet, the Headmaster. Now, as we are all hungry, without further ado, let the Sorting Ceremony begin!" There was a round of applause from the hall and then all went quiet, staring at the shabby old hat. Suddenly the hat's brim tore open and burst into song!
Oh many, many years ago,
Before all of you were born,
There lived four great wizards,
Who are all still well known.
Their names are immortalised,
Within these very walls,
For each of the houses,
Is named for one and Hogwarts named for all.
Now each house has different values,
For each values different virtues,
So listen well, and I will tell
Where it is you should dwell!
Those who dwell in Gryffindor,
Must be brave beyond the rest,
For Gryffindor himself,
Was the boldest of the best!
As for those in Ravenclaw,
Brains is what you've got!
The cleverest of everyone,
Your wit will beat the lot!
Now all those in Hufflepuff,
They work hard and true,
Everyone who is in there
Will work till their faces are blue!
And now we go to Slytherin,
Where ambition will win out,
He loves those who want more
And use cunning to deal their clout!
So where is it that you belong?
In Gryffindor, where hearts are true?
In Hufflepuff, with faces blue?
In Ravenclaw, your wit amazing,
Or Slytherin, ambition blazing?
To find out where it is that you do truly dwell,
Try me on! I will look into your mind and tell!
Gracie and Tom stared with amazement at the hat and glanced at each other. Gracie mouthed "Where do you think you'll go?" Tom thought for only a second before mouthing back "Slytherin". Gracie nodded. She didn't know where she would end up. She was very brainy, so maybe Ravenclaw? She knew she wouldn't get into Hufflepuff; she tended to be lazy. Gryffindor also sounded out of the question – she was scared of spiders, clowns, needles, too many things to be considered "brave beyond the rest". Slytherin was definitely an option. She had always wanted to do well. Be the best at something. Her sisters and brothers all had something they were brilliant at but she always wanted to be slightly better. Grace knew she wanted to be with Tom. He was the only person she knew here and she liked him. If he was going to Slytherin, she was too.
Katherine Abbott was called up first and the hat sent her to Hufflepuff, where she was greeted by cheering and clapping. Frederick Avery was up next and he was the first sent to Slytherin to raucous applause and whooping. Abraxus whispered to Grace, who was next to him, that Avery's whole family was in Slytherin, just like his. The line dwindled as the hat sent frightened first years to various houses, shouting, "HUFFLEPUFF! RAVENCLAW! RAVENCLAW! SLYTHERIN! GRYFFINDOR! HUFFLEPUFF! GRYFFINDOR!" Abraxus was called up and the hat barely touched his head before screaming "SLYTHERIN!", after which Abraxus strutted to the Slytherin table, as though he always knew he would, although he did look rather relieved. Tom was further back in the line than Grace but she turned to him and he mouthed "Good luck," she smiled and mouthed back "Thank you" as Dumbledore called "McDermott, Grace" and she walked towards the hat, her heart hammering. As she sat down and Dumbledore placed the hat on her head, which, without her wild hair loose to hold it up slid down past her chin, she prayed silently that she would go to Slytherin and so would Tom. Grace jumped as a voice in her mind whispered "Aaaah, nice brain you've got. Yes, you're very quick, Ravenclaw perhaps?", Grace's heart skipped a beat and she froze with terror, but the hat continued, "got a nice bit of ambition here though, yes…want to go far don't you? You want to prove yourself. You've definitely got the mind to do it, yes I think I know what house will help you along…SLYTHERIN!" the hat screamed into the hall. Gracie jumped off the stool excitedly as the hat was pulled off her head and skipped to the Slytherin table where they were cheering for her. She looked back at Tom and saw that he was happy and mouthed to her "Well done!" and she beamed, giving him a thumbs up as a reply.
Tom stood in line waiting for his turn; he was glad that Grace had got into Slytherin. Despite himself, he liked her. She made him laugh. So far everyone from their group on the stairs had gone into Slytherin. He stood impatiently. He knew he would be in Slytherin, the qualities definitely fit him the best, but he didn't like waiting. It made him nervous and he wanted to know now. Finally the girl in front of him (Reesely, Jane) was sorted into Gryffindor and Dumbledore called his name, "Riddle, Tom". Tom walked quickly to the hat, eagerly awaiting its touch as it slid down his head to his ears. "Easy choice," the hat's voice said in his ear, "SLYTHERIN!" Tom's face broke into a smile and he walked towards the Slytherin's cheers. He sat between Grace and Damien Mulciber, ecstatic at the hat's choice.
As the Sorting ended the hat and stool were carried away by Dumbledore into a side chamber and Professor Dippet stood once more. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Before the feast can begin, let me deliver a few messages. Firstly, the Forest on grounds is forbidden to all students! It contains several dangerous animals and it is ill advisable for any of you to be wandering. A reminder that there is to be no leaving common rooms after hours. I would also like to introduce our new caretaker, Mr Apollyon Pringle," Dippet gestured to the back of the hall where a young man with blonde hair and a cheery smile stood, "and now that all messages are complete, dig in to the feast!" At Dippet's last words the plates in front of them filled with food of all types. Roasts, soups, lasagnes, casseroles, frittatas – any possible food was present. The older students didn't seem to find this odd at all so the first years followed their lead and began to eat. Grace turned to Tom and beamed, "I'm so glad we're together!" Tom smiled at her.
"I am too. It's nice to have a friend," Tom said quietly. Grace smiled and blushed. She was slightly overwhelmed that he considered her a friend. He didn't seem the type to have many friends. Tom was surprised by his words too, but not entirely unhappy that he had said them. Around them the Slytherin first years were conversing happily. Apart from the group from earlier there was one other new Slytherin, a beautiful, dark skinned girl named Marcella Zabini who sat across from Grace. Franny was talking animatedly to her about hair styling products while Gertrude sat on Franny's other side looking bored and sullen. Nott, Avery, Malfoy and Lestrange were discussing family histories together and it became apparent that their whole families were magical and that they had grown up together. Dolohov, Rosier and Mulciber were all talking about lessons and what they were most looking forward to. Grace and Tom sat quietly listening to the others in amazement, occasionally making quiet remarks about something one of the others had said. As the main course ended and dessert appeared Marcella and Franny engaged Gracie in their discussion of hair styling products, asking how she got her hair so thick and voluminous. Tom stifled laughter as he listened to their laments about their own limp, lifeless hair and Grace nodded politely, not sure how to answer their questions.
At the end of the feast, Dippet stood again and bade them all goodnight. The remains of dessert disappeared from the plates leaving them spotless. Tom stood and pulled Gracie up with him, gesturing to a tall, brown haired boy with pimples spattered across his forehead. The boy was calling, "First year Slytherins? First year Slytherins this way please!" They followed him out of the Great Hall and off to the other side of the entrance hall, into a passage that sloped downwards, as if heading underground. Lining the walls were moving paintings that wished them a good night, or congratulated them on being in Slytherin. The tall boy paused at a blank stretch of wall between two ugly stone gargoyles and said "serpent". The bricks of the wall behind the boy parted and rolled back, revealing a doorway between the two gargoyles. The boy lead them into a large room filled with couches and chairs, several desks and decorated in green, black and silver. A fire crackled happily in the grate and on each side of the fireplace was a passageway. "Welcome to the Slytherin common room," said the pimply-faced boy, "I am Augustus Rookwood and one of the Slytherin prefects. This is our common room, and, as you saw, the password is serpent. Do not reveal the password to anyone who is not a Slytherin. The passages either side of me lead to the dormitories. Your belongings are already there. On my left is the boy's dormitory, on my right, the girl's. Boys and girls are not allowed in each other's dormitories. If you have any questions, ask a teacher or any of the Slytherin prefects. The Slytherin Head of House is Professor Slughorn, who teaches potions. Goodnight." Rookwood turned and walked down the passageway to the boy's dormitories. The first years sleepily bade each other goodnight and left for their dormitories. Grace smiled at Tom and said "Well, our friendship survived the sorting." Tom smiled and stifled a yawn.
"See you tomorrow, we'll see if it lasts the week," he grinned and waved to her as he traipsed off behind the other boys to his dormitory. Grace quickly followed the girl's into theirs and got into her nightdress, crawling into her large, four-poster bed, admiring the green drapes and covers. Unbeknownst to her, Tom was doing the same, lying in his bed staring at the drapes, marvelling at his luck. He knew he didn't have to be jealous of Grace anymore, "I have a home," he whispered to himself, closing his eyes sleepily, "Hogwarts is my home."
Second chapter. Particularly proud of my Sorting Song. :D REVIEW!!!
