The first years now all gathered in the main entranceway, Hagrid turned to speak.
"'Alright," he began, scanning the children and smiling down at them all. "Now yeh just wait here for Professor Longbottom to come getcha." And he left them to mingle alone. Rose turned to Sindra and Albus.
"I can't wait, Al!" Rose squealed with excitement, watching him nod enthusiastically. Sindra pulled at her fingers nervously.
"So how do you get sorted, exactly?" She asked. Rose looked surprised for a second, but then seemed to remember.
"Oh, well it's easy really, you just go up and the hat tell you where to go." Rose answered, as if it was normal for a hat to tell people things. Sindra stared at her blankly.
"...What?" She asked. But before Rose or Albus could say anything more, a friendly voice called out to them.
"Hello, First Years! I'm Professor Longbottom," Sindra looked up to see a tall man with dark brown hair and a very warm smile looking around at them all. He wasn't overly handsome, nor was he ugly, but he looked like the type of person you could trust with anything. He continued, "In just a few moments, I will bring you through these doors," he motioned toward the large doors behind him, "And we'll walk up the the front of the hall. When we get up there, I'll call your out your name, and when you're called, you'll take a seat and get sorted. Alright? Okay, let's go!" And before any of the students had time to object, he opened the doors.
Instantly the sound of talking burst from the room. As they began to walk in however, it died down, until it was so silent Sindra could hear her own footsteps. She looked down at her feet nervously, watching them go back and forth. It wasn't until she felt a warm hand touch hers until she turned with a start, locking eyes with Rose, who had grasped her hand.
"Look up, Sin." Rose whispered. Sindra did as she was told, and to her amazement, saw the night sky, filled with stars. There were candles floating all around above them, and large tapestries with embroidered with a giant golden "H"'s hanging from the sky, as if by magic. Which, Sindra reminded herself, probably was the case. The group came to a halt, and watched as Professor Longbottom walk up to a small wooden stool with an extremely old hat on top of it. With a flick of his wand, a list appeared before the professor, hovering in mid-air. He grabbed the hat with his right hand, holding it over the seat, and called the first name.
"Abbott, George." A small boy with mousy brown hair shuffled nervously to the chair. When he sat, Professor Longbottom placed the hat on his head. It immediately sprung to life, and Sindra watched as the hat seemed to gently toss the boy's head around side to side. And then, it spoke.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" Sindra was so surprised to hear the hat speak she jumped slightly in place. Rose squeezed her hand lightly, and Sindra looked over, having completely forgotten she and Rose were holding hands.
"Thanks, Rose…" She murmured.
"Don't mention it." Rose smiled back.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Albus, who stood in front of them, turned his head.
"What are you two talking about?" He asked, looking from one to the other. Rose merely stuck her tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes, going back to watching the sorting unfold.
"Bates, Sindra." Professor Longbottom said, searching out among the crowd. Sindra froze, squeezing Rose's hand so hard she felt the girl gasp in pain. Quickly she removed her hand, gave Rose an apologetic look, and began to walk as quickly as she could to the stool, not daring to look anywhere else but at her destination. She sat upon it, and looked out, feeling her body freeze up again as the whole school looked upon her. As soon as the hat touched her head, a voice boomed inside her head.
"Ahhh, a black, huh? Hmmm… I see some real potential in you. Yes, yes… Let's see… You could do well in Ravenclaw, but no, perhaps… Gryffindor would suit you, and yet… It must be-" "SLYTHERIN!" This time, the voice called from outside her head. Shaking, she removed the hat from her head and handed it the the professor, who smiled at her. She got down from the stool, and gave one last look at all the students. She thought she saw James looking crestfallen at her, but she supposed it could have been anyone.
Having been the first to be sorted into Slytherin, it was easy for her to find a seat. She sat down at the end table, and began to be patted on the back and have her hand shaken by random strangers, all looking very excited to have her be there. She didn't say anything, instead looking back at the wooden stool, who now sat Henrietta.
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat yelled, and Henrietta got down from the chair and walked to her table. Sindra noticed how her fellow Ravenclaws were attempting to make the same greeting the Slytherins had for her, but she merely nodded at them in mild appreciation. Confused, the Ravenclaws backed off from her, whispering among themselves. Sindra turned away from her to watch faithfully, waiting desperately for Rose or Albus to go up. She scorned herself for not asking what their last name was.
"SLYTHERIN!" Sindra straightened up in her seat, watching as a pale blonde boy got down from the stool and confidently walked directly towards her. As he got closer, she noted how he looked strangely familiar, supposing she must have seen him on platform 9 ¾. He came up directly to her, and held out his hand. She took it, and shook it lightly. Grinning, he turned to shake the hands off all the other Slytherins around them. He sat down beside her.
"Sindra, right?" he asked, still grinning ear to ear. She nodded. "I didn't quite catch your name…" she said, trying to listen to the blonde boy and the professor at the same time. It didn't quite work. "Scorpius Malfoy," he said, looking at her intently, seemingly expecting her to react to his name in some way. She didn't oblige him. It sounded like a weird enough name to her, though she had come to notice wizards tended to have strange names.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" Scorpius looked rather disappointed, but quickly covered it up with a new question.
"So you're-" Sindra shushed him, having seen Albus begin to walk up to the stool. "Rude," Scorpius laughed.
"Shh!" Sindra said again, swatting Scorpius. The hat seemed to be having a heated argument with Albus, who looked extremely determined. Sindra crossed her fingers, wishing wildly that Albus would come join her in Slytherin. And just as she had done it-
"SLYTHERIN!" Beyond herself with excitement, Sindra got to feet, clapping with the rest of her house has beckoning her friend towards her and Scorpius. Albus came up, his smile a little half-hearted. He sat across from the other two, subconsciously shaking the hands of everyone around him, including Scorpius.
"Al, I'm so happy we are in the same house!" Sindra grinned, but faltered when she saw a look of mild disappointment on Albus's face. "What is it?" She asked. Albus sighed.
"It's nothing really, I'm glad, but…" he sighed again and turned to look over to the Gryffindor table.
"James isn't gonna let me hear the end of it."
"Don't worry, I'm sure your brother will come around." Scorpius laughed.
"How'd you know James was his brother?" Sindra said, eying Scorpius with great interest. Scorpius looked at her incredulously.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Everybody knows they're brothers," he said loudly, his voice being drained out by loud cheering from the Gryffindor table. "They're famous!" Confused, Sindra looked from Scorpius to Albus, back to Scorpius.
"No they aren't." she said flatly. Both of them sniggered.
"Do your parents hide the papers from you or something?" Scorpius teased, enjoying watching her glare at them.
"No, my parents are Muggles." She said grumpily.
"Muggles? That's odd-" Scorpius started, but was quieted again by Sindra, this time joined by Albus. He didn't protest, and watched with them as Rose walked up to the stool. Professor Longbottom had barely placed the hat on her head when it yelled out,
"GRYFFINDOR!" Again, the Gryffindor table erupted into cheers, and Rose bounced off the seat and almost ran to the table, instantly being absorbed into the mass of people who all seemed to know and love her.
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Albus sighed. Scorpius looked sympathetically at Albus, who stared back. All of sudden, he seemed to remember something. "Wait, you're Scorpius, right?" Scorpius nodded. "Well i guess i'll introduce myself, even though you already know who I am." He held out his hand to Scorpius, who took it. "Albus Potter," Albus said smiling a genuine smile for the first time since he sat down at the Slytherin table.
"Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius replied.
"RAVENCLAW!"
"But seriously, they are famous. Albus's dad saved the wizarding world from an evil sorcerer!" Scorpius said, turning towards Sindra.
"Yeah, right! That sounds like a washed up story somebody wrote on a napkin." Sindra laughed. Scorpius stared over at her rather amused, but Albus looked slightly insulted.
"It's not a joke, Sindra. Loads of people died," He said, starting to look a little bit miserable. "My uncle..." He trailed off, leaving Sindra looking horrified.
"Al, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" She started, but was interrupted by a booming voice from the front of the great hall, where the sorting had taken place.
"Welcome, First years! And to everybody else, welcome back." The woman talking was rather old, but had a strong poised look to her. She wore emerald green robes embroidered with gold designs and trim, and a black hat on her head. "For those who don't know me, I am Professor McGonagall, your Headmistress here at Hogwarts. I have a few quick announcements if you don't all mind paying attention," Sindra could have sworn she was staring directly at James, who had been whispering to the boy sitting next to him. "Right," she continued, "As per usual, none may enter the Forbidden Forest, and doing so will end in severe consequences. We also have a new Ancient Runes teacher, Professor Addison, so I implore you all to give a good welcome to him as well. Without further ado, as i'm sure you are all hungry, let the feast begin!" And with a flick or the Headmistress's wand, food appeared at every table in abundance. Sindra gawked at everything before her.
"Wow!" She said, admiring in particular the silver plates with green trim on the edges. Scorpius chuckled.
"You gonna just stare at the plates all day, or are you gonna eat something?" He asked, ripping a leg from the turkey in front of him. Sindra looked from him to Albus, who was smiling again, stuffing his face full of things she couldn't identify. She grinning widely, taking bits of food from every plate that surrounded her.
"What is this, exactly?" She asked, pointing at a glass filled with silky orange liquid.
"Pumpkin juice!" Albus yelled over the mounds of food, "It's sweet stuff, go on, try it!" Sindra grabbed the glass, and with Albus and Scorpius egging her on, she downed the whole thing. She choked, causing her to cough and sputter violently.
"Auuughhh, that stuff's awful!" She said, still coughing. Albus and Scorpius started laughing, and Scorpius patted her on the back. Her coughing subsided, and she nodded at him gratefully.
"Oi, don't be so mean. It's a staple in the wizarding world!" Albus said, his grin wider than ever.
"It isn't my fault you guys invented such a disgusting drink," She said, smiling wildly, "It's like forcing me to drink prune juice! If there was a list of stuff you shouldn't make drinks out of-" But she was interrupted by Scorpius forcing his glass of pumpkin juice up to her mouth, and then tilting it upward. She gulped, but then smacked the glass from his hands, sending the remainder of the liquid flying behind them. The glass itself shattered on the floor, but nobody around them seemed to take notice. Scorpius looked at Sindra cautiously, as if worried he had gone too far.
"You know," She said, eyeing Albus's pumpkin juice across from her, "It's not so bad the second time." The three of them burst into laughter.
