Chapter 2 - Home
Do You Believe In Magic? – The Lovin' Spoonful (1965)
Remus stared up in awe as they entered the hall and saw students to his left and right doing the same, for the ceiling appeared to be nothing but open sky. The places where rafters and tiles would be in a muggle building had been replaced by swirling cloud and inky blackness, although it was several degrees warmer than it had been on the other side of the door. He stumbled slightly, and apologised to a boy in front of him with shoulder length black hair that fell in somehow aristocratic looking waves, embarrassed but mollified to find that the boys grey eyes were too busy taking in the scene to meet his anyway as he accepted the apology. It was almost like some fantastical dream, and Remus looked around, panicked for a moment, only to meet the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore. He felt immediately calmed. How could he have imagined something as incredible as this?
Professor McGonagall had led them all the way to the furthest wall from the entrance and was now indicating to the front of the line that they should stop, centered before the long staff table behind which a huge array of extravagantly dressed witches and wizards watched their procession with varying degrees of interest. Remus watched in apprehension as she walked over to a tall stool upon which lay a pile of dark fabric which might have resembled a somewhat shapeless hat. He tried not to let too much of his nerves show, mostly for the benefit of Peter who was shuffling anxiously beside him and a glance around him showed that almost three quarters of those lined up looked as though they had no idea what was happening. The mutual confusion felt oddly unifying, although Remus noticed that the boy with the grey eyes seemed to be not only completely relaxed but almost bored. Remus felt slightly vindicated when even this boy jumped as the hat begun to sing;
Welcome all young students,
To this most historic school,
And I'm the smartest of the lot,
Although I sit upon this stool.
But do not doubt my judgement,
A hat like me is never wrong,
I'll have you figured in an instant
And I'll know where you belong.
Perhaps you are for Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
If you'd try your hand at glory
Then this is where you start.
The house of fair Hufflepuff,
Instead might serve you well,
If ethics in both work and love
Are where your spirits dwell?
Ravenclaw would better fit,
When insight inflames passion,
And knowledge new and vast is found,
By every hand and fashion;
Some find their way in Slytherin
Should they wish to reach their goals,
Through cunning means and clever schemes,
Amongst their kindred souls.
And thus, don me! The Sorting Hat!
My thoughts are seldom dull,
And if you wish to find your place,
Let's see what's inside your skull!
Remus couldn't help but be a little intimidated by a magical object that had just threatened to look inside his skull but he had to admit it had a lovely singing voice for a headpiece. The students burst into a flurry of applause and Dumbledore himself could be heard clapping at a resonant pace, looking over the stunned first years with a smile.
"Phillip Adrian."
McGonagall's voice seemed to have rooted the boy in question to the spot. She was forced to repeat herself more loudly before a boy with unfortunate ears, and a similarly unfortunate lack of coordination, stumbled up to the rickety stool. There were titters among the older students and their amusement seemed to settle some of the more anxious muggleborns in the waiting crowd; surely they wouldn't be laughing if anything too dangerous was about to happen. Adrian took his seat and Remus, Peter and Lily watched together in astonishment as McGonagall begun to lower a ragged looking hat over his head. The brim had just succeeded in slipping past Adrian's ears when the tear in the hat's cloth opened and announced; 'Ravenclaw!'
Soft applause broke out Adrian pushed the hat up from his eyes and returned it to McGonagall, before being directed over to the table beneath the royal blue banners and eagle emblem.
"Bertram Aubrey"
Bertram too joined Ravenclaw, although it seemed that his sorting took considerably longer than Adrian's. Sirius was putting far too much effort into trying to remain nonchalant to be really paying attention.
"What do you suppose the hat actually does?" Sirius hissed to James, "I mean, it's just an old scrap of leather. My father just said you try it on and it sends you to your 'rightful place'." He had a sudden image of clawed hands raking through his brain, though rationally he knew the hat had none.
"I bet it reads minds." Sirius scoffed at this but James persisted, "No, really. My dad told me you get sorted according to who you really are, so it must have some magical way of knowing, right?"
"I guess." Sirius replied moodily, glaring at the hat with suspicion. Mind reading sounded even more intense than he had imagined. It was had barely taken a second to sort Marcus Avery into Slytherin, who clapped slowly, as if they had already known Avery was one of theirs, and Sirius' time to ponder ran out.
"Sirius Black."
Sirius walked up to the stool with all the authority and gravitas of the heir of the house of Black, before plonking himself down and throwing a cocky grin with very little power behind it over to James. He begun to swing his legs between the stool's rungs, but stopped when McGonagall threw him a reproachful glance. She lowered the hat over his eyes and Sirius was suddenly subject to the strangest feeling – almost as if someone was rummaging through his mind like a drawer. 'Another Black? But what do we have here…' Sirius found himself glancing around in the darkness as if he might catch a glimpse of whomever had spoken. It didn't take too long for him to realise that the hat's voice was echoing only within his head. Good, he really didn't need his soul baring before a hall of nosey teenagers. 'You have it all you know; the cunning, the ambition, everything you'd need in Slytherin. But what to do about that heart, all that determined spirit? Quick too, but really there's only one place for you, yes, it'll have to be…' – "Gryffindor!"
Sirius squinted as the hat was pulled away from him and stumbled towards the Gryffindor table, heart seeming to both soar and sink simultaneously. It seemed that a good proportion of the student and indeed even staff body was too busy staring to applaud right away, but soon a tumultuous cheer was raised from the Gryffindor table. Sirius couldn't help but glow a little under the attention, let them stare, he thought, let them all see that I'm not like the others. He caught his Cousin Andromeda's eye from where she sat at the furthest table from him and returned her incredulous smile. He stumbled into a seat next to a pair of twins who reached out to shake his hands eagerly with an identical grin. The two of them leaning over to whisper a greeting to him without disturbing the sorting of Alexander Bones.
"Welcome to Gryffindor then, Black!"
"Thought we'd seen the last of your lot when darling Bella left."
"Not that we mind."
"Seeing as you seem to be a good bet for defying expectations."
"And you're a good deal better looking than she ever was."
"Hi." Sirius managed.
"How rude of us. I'm Fabian Prewett."
"And I'm Gideon."
"Although you'll never be able to tell if that was true or not."
"And that's the way they like it." A girl wearing a shining Gryffindor prefects badge interrupted them, "Now shut up! You wouldn't like it if a pair of overgrown infants had disturbed your sorting."
"I guess he got what he wanted then." Lily murmured, prompting confused glances from Peter and Remus and a vague 'hmm' from Severus. Lily knew him well enough to know that he was actually surprised by Black's outcome but was choosing not to comment on it. Greta trotted up to become the first Hufflepuff to more applause. The tension was building up inside Lily's chest now and she found herself grateful that her name would be called sooner than Sev's. It was irrational but just this once she wanted to learn this thing about herself before he could tell her something she hadn't known before she'd even considered it. There was only one 'D' – Davies, Hufflepuff - and the remaining band who had shared their first train ride in all gave her encouraging smiles as McGonagall called her name.
"Lily Evans."
Lily walked on trembling legs and sat. She felt a flutter of air as the hat begun to lower over her head, but before McGonagall had even let go of it, the tear in the fabric split for the hat to declare her a "Gryffindor!"
She turned back to the group waiting to be sorted as she trotted over to her new table. Perhaps Severus would be sorted into Gryffindor after all, and if not, Lily mused to herself, it wasn't as if they couldn't still be friends. She was somehow upset to have disappointed Sev, but after all it could have been worse; the hat might have refused to sort her at all. She felt a little overwhelmed, almost dizzy with relief that the entire ordeal had taken no less than a couple of seconds, even after all the hours she'd spent thinking getting here. Sirius shifted up to make room for her but Lily pointedly ignored him, turning back towards the staff table and folding her arms indignantly.
"Could've sworn she'd be a Weasley." She heard one of her new housemates mutter to another, who must have been his identical twin for they shared the same shock of deep red hair and striking features.
"Not all redheads are Weasleys or Prewetts you know," Sniggered the other, "But we are all Gryffindors."
"I reckon the hat knows we'd clash with yellow."
Lily fought between the urge to laugh and the stronger urge to point out to two perfect strangers that she could see a fair distribution of other red headed students on all of the other tables – including Hufflepuff. Deciding that either option was probably a little rude, she chose instead to return her attention to the sorting, clapping as Rosalind Gray from the train became the first girl to join Slytherin table. At least Severus would have met one member of his house.
Remus, Peter, Severus and Xeno watched as Mafalda Hopkirk followed Romesh Grover over to the Ravenclaw table. Another student stepped up to face the hall, but Remus couldn't concentrate on anything other than the few yards which separated them from a powerful magical object that was about to judge him, presumably on everything he was. He saw a green banner wave out of the corner of his eye and he shivered slightly. Xenophilius was sorted into Ravenclaw after only a few moments and quickly professor McGonagall had reclaimed the hat and consulted her list.
"Remus Lupin."
He managed to make it to the stool without his knees giving out, an achievement as far as he was concerned, and the hat was placed over his head. Hello. It seemed to say, and Remus felt compelled to try and reply, how did one have a conversation with the voice inside their own head anyway? No need for that, I already know everything I need to. Interesting really, a four way dilemma. Remus was tense, if the hat knew everything then it must know… Ah, yes. But really all I see is perhaps a little… natural affinity for a darker path, although I'd be surprised. The real question is do you want to blend in, or stand out? Hufflepuff might be full of faithful friends, but I think you'd do better in "Gryffindor!"
He positively flew from the stool and hurried down to the applauding table, finding a space next to Lily who beamed at him. They continued to watch, slowly shifting down the bench to make room for three new Gryffindor girls, quietly greeting Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadows and Mary MacDonald. Mulciber and Nott both joined Slytherin and then Peter was up.
As Peter stepped up to the hat he consoled himself with the knowledge that he would know at least one new student in whichever house he was sent to. His mother had been in Slytherin but before Peter had left she had told him that she would be astonished if he didn't end up in Hufflepuff. The hat slipped over his eyes and Peter was enveloped in darkness. Hmm. A voice said. What did that mean? There was a pause that went on for almost a minute and Peter could feel himself beginning to panic, finally the voice went on. Not Ravenclaw, that's fairly certain. But then… Another pause. Tricky, not Hufflepuff either, although it wouldn't do you any harm. There is a potential, though for what, I doubt you know. Another silence, this one even longer, there were coughs from a couple of students and Peter became aware that almost five minutes must have passed, by far the longest sorting so far. Yes, sometimes it's important to take a chance, be brave, but don't overreach yourself. I think you'll find the best influences in "Gryffindor!"
James Potter stood on the outskirts of the crowd of those remaining to be sorted. His head swam with the intensity of his joy at finally being at Hogwarts. He loved his parents, loved his home and the quiet existence of an affluent wizarding family. But he was so ready for this. Professor McGonagall announced his name and he practically flounced up to the stool, flashing her a bright grin and then turning to face the hall of older pupils. He tried to meet as many eyes as he could before the hat was placed onto his head, waiting for that inevitable moment when it would call out "Gryffindor!" McGonagall didn't know how lucky she was to have him in her house. He almost thought he heard the hat chuckle as it was removed from his head, which was undoubtedly absurd, before it was pulled from his head and he was sent to join his new house.
He took a seat next to Sirius and reached out to vigorously shake his hand.
"Blimey mate, wasn't sure you'd make it!" He joked.
"Neither was I." Sirius looked as though he really meant it.
There were only around a dozen students left now and the oddly dressed boy who'd first joined their compartment was stepping up.
"Not surprised Snivellus got Slytherin, are you?" He asked Sirius barely a moment late as Snape descended through the crowd with a lingering look in the direction of their table.
"Nah," Sirius replied, "Redhead's with us though."
"My name is Lily." Lily told them hotly, "And his name is Severus, I suggest you use it."
"Sure thing, Evans." James told him, "Welcome to Gryffindor." Lily scoffed and looked pointedly away again, annoyed that James had obviously been paying enough attention to learn her name.
James had given up paying attention to the sorting at this point as it seemed the later part of the alphabet seemed to favour other houses, only Emmeline Vance coming to join their table. He instead turned his hand to scrutinising his new roommates. Peter had been sorted just one student before he had, James remembered, because the sorting had taken forever. He looked a little shell-shocked, staring at the remainder of the sorting as if he didn't know where else to look, pudgy hands nervously twisting before him on the table. Contrarily the other boy, whose name James was almost certain had begun with an 'R', was devoting a second to every aspect of the hall, eyes flickering beneath unruly golden brown hair which might have been almost as messy as James' own, had it not got the advantage of being slightly longer and thus tamed a little by gravity. James ran a hand through his own locks to ensure that none of them were daring to point the same way. Sirius just looked happy, a sentiment that James would be eager to echo, as soon as the rest of the sorting was out of the way and the food would hurry up and arrive.
Menzies Wright joined Slytherin and Dorian Zeller Hufflepuff and then, at long last, the sorting hat was taken away and Albus Dumbledore stood to address the restless students.
"Welcome." He said, eyes shining and his soft voice full of warmth, "Welcome all of you to Hogwarts. I hope that all of you will find it to be the home of some of your finest years. Before we begin, I have a few announcements and formalities and rules, many of which are already known to those older students, though not always heeded." James saw a significant number of smirks from older students.
"Firstly it is my pleasure to announce that Professor Armstrong has given birth to her thirteenth son, but will therefore taking a year of absence. I hereby introduce you to your new professor for defence against the dark arts; Professor Wood. "
Professor Wood was a cheerful looking fellow with an impressive moustache and beard which seemed to blend seamlessly into his long dark hair which trailed down over his shoulders. He stood briefly to accept his vague smattering of applause and then resumed his seat.
"Secondly, I remind students the forbidden forest is out of bounds, as are the lower dungeons, and any part of the castle other than house common rooms after 10pm. Hogsmead visits are allowed only for students in or above their third years, and only with express parental permission. Further, there has been a new addition upon the grounds of Hogwarts, the whomping willow, a pet project of Professor Sprout's which ought to prove completely harmless to you all – provided you do not got near it. All first years should be aware that house points are earned through good behaviour and achievement, and that at the end of the year the house cup will be awarded to the house with the most points." He surveyed them all, "I can see that perhaps I am losing you… so I suppose I ought to let the feast begin."
And it did. Without warning the tables were suddenly laden with dishes and plates, full settings appeared before every student in what appeared to be solid gold. There were a few minutes where nobody spoke, simply choosing to tuck in to the sumptuous spread and begin to settle in. James chewed on a mouthful of various foods, most of which didn't belong together and managed an undignified grin at Sirius.
"Looks like this is it then." He managed, somewhat comprehensively.
"Aren't we sort of a small year?" Sirius asked, looking around, indeed there seemed to be more than four new boys in each other house, and at least as many girls.
"Kind of yeah." A new voice broke in and Sirius saw that it was either Fabian or Gideon Prewett, whispering as much to clue James in.
"But Ravenclaw 6th year's even smaller." Gideon or Fabian added.
"There were only three girls in that year."
"And one of them transferred to Beauxbatons last summer."
"I wouldn't mind transferring to Beauxbatons." The twins shared a wistful look.
"After all, you know what they say about the headmistress…"
But they never did hear what people said about the headmistress of Beauxbatons because at that moment a ghost erupted from a mashed potato sculpture next to Sirius' plate. Gasps were heard up and down the tables as more and more translucent figures swept in through the floor and walls, drifting about the hall and introducing themselves to the younger students.
James thrust his hand out to shake that of the ghost, cursing himself when he heard Evans and some of the other girls giggling at him, the ghost himself just laughed heartily, making as if to shake James' proffered hand, although the only result was a feeling as if his fingertips had been introduced to a bucket of iced water.
"Good evening, young Sir!" He enunciated in an aggrandised Victorian accent, "I introduce myself as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, ghost of Gryffindor tower!"
"But everybody calls him nearly-headless Nick." One of the prefects told them, causing Sir Nicholas to look slightly deflated. But he cheered considerably when Peter fell off the bench in shock as he demonstrated the nickname by grasping a handful of ghostly hair and tugging his head to one side so that it barely clung to his neck by a small amount of flesh. The sight would have been rather gruesome had Nick not been completely bloodless.
"That's far out!" Marlene gasped, "Can you take it all the way off?"
"I'd hardly be 'nearly-headless' if I could now, would I?" Nick floated off down the table to greet some returning seventh years and Marlene was left looking Sirius and James up and down.
"I'm Marlene."
"James."
"Sirius."
"Sirius Black right? That's a good one." She was grinning like she was in on a joke, "Can't believe there's a Black in Gryffindor."
"Old family?" Sirius asked carefully.
"Nope, both my parents are muggles, but Romilda's been telling me all about politics and wizard blood and stuff."
"All I said was I'd be surprised if he wasn't in Slytherin," Romilda had looked up at the mention of her name, "I'm glad you're not, though." She added hastily.
"So am I." said Sirius.
The four of them continued to chat, eventually dragging the other first years into the conversation until they had all been introduced to each other. By the time they had finished getting to know each other the food had vanished from their plates to be replaced with an array of puddings and desserts. The atmosphere could not have been lighter and despite still harbouring some frustration towards them Lily even allowed herself to be dragged into a short debate about the merits of coca cola over pumpkin juice with James and Sirius, despite Sirius having tried neither before today and thus providing very little contribution.
Finally the feast seemed to be ending
"I'm just going over to talk to Severus before it's time to go." Lily said, nodding to the Slytherin table.
"Not a good idea." Fabian told her mock sternly.
"Why not?"
"It's just not a good idea to be seen fraternising with the enemy on day one." James laughed at this.
"He's not the enemy. He's my friend."
"Well I'm sure you'll speak to your friend tomorrow, just leave it for tonight, OK?"
Lily seemed about to argue but backed down. Remus decided there was probably a correlation between this and McGonagall's forewarning about the importance of first impressions. Lily did not seem the type to back down from a fight. But she settled for a vague wave in Snape's direction when their eyes met and a moment later rose with the other students to head off to bed. There was a moment of confusion as everyone who knew where they were going made for the main doors and the first years and even a couple of clueless looking second years looked around helplessly.
"First years?" A voice called over the crowd of Gryffindors, "I'm Cameron and this is Cleo." He indicated the girl next to him. "We're head boy and girl this year so if you have any issues come and find one of us, there are a handful of prefects wandering around too, although I don't recommend asking Proudfoot for any help – he's spent too much time with the Prewetts so you're just as likely to wind up with directions to Flich's bathroom than wherever you wanted to go. Maybe find Kingsley Shacklebolt instead."
"We'll take you up to the common room now," Cleo continued, "Don't fall behind, the staircases move."
The crowd of first years followed them out of the hall and towards a grand staircase which seemed completely stationary and climbed, seeming to take more left turns than ought to have been possible. It was only when they reached what must have been the fourth floor when the group lurched as the stairs themselves swept from one direction to another, blending back seamlessly with the banisters to create a completely new path.
"Don't worry," Cameron told them as Emmeline leaped back from the edge with a yelp, "I've never seen anyone fall off."
There was a worryingly challenging glint in James' eyes when he righted himself and smirked at Sirius. They continued their climb until finally they stopped at the back of the rest of Gryffindor house who appeared to be crowded around a portrait of a large woman in a hideous lilac gown.
"This is the entrance to Gryffindor tower. That right there is the fat lady, she guards the entrance from other houses." Cleo looked at them all sternly, "If you forget the password it's your own fault and you won't be able to get in. Passwords change every Thursday and we'll post them up on the bulletin board from morning till lunch so don't miss it. It's 'Oompa Loompa' at the moment, remember it." With that she strode past the crowd and presumably used the password as a moment later the portrait swung inwards to reveal a doorway which people begun to climb through.
"Woah."
The common room was bright, red tapestries and upholstery in every corner and an abundance of low tables and comfortable looking chairs and sofas. There were golden awnings over two huge fireplaces, one in each corner of the room, and the walls were almost hidden in places by posters and notices tacked over each other on notice boards. It looked like home.
It didn't take long before the girls had found their way to their own dormitories and the boys were heading to their own via a spiralling staircase which felt as though it must be leading them to the very top of the tower. They entered the room marked for first years and saw four enormous four-poster beds each beside a large bedside table and chest, arranged so as their foot ends were all pointing inwards towards the center of the room. James immediately claimed the first bed he came to by flopping down on top of it and sighing deeply. Sirius chose the bed next to him, nearer to the window, noting with surprise that their trunks had appeared by the foot of their beds, Remus wandering to the one opposite Sirius after sharing a shrug with Peter who hopped up onto the last available spot. The four of them sat for a moment and it dawned upon Sirius that this was to be his new family. He found that he rather liked the idea as he looked around at them.
"So," James said, finally detangling himself from his new covers, "I think there's only one way we're going to get to know each other."
"Isn't it kind of late for games?" Remus asked quietly, and Sirius noted that he did look rather tired under the lamplight.
"What kind of games?" Peter asked eagerly, Sirius wouldn't be surprised if he stayed up all night given the amount of sugar he'd watched Peter ingest during pudding.
"Not a game," James clarified pompously, "An exercise."
The others managed to all pull the same face of distaste at that suggestion.
"Well not really an exercise – we're going to build a pillow fort!"
"A what?" Asked Remus.
And so it was that barely fifteen minutes later both Sirius and Peter's mattresses were pushed together on the floor, completely enclosed on either side by sheets strung from one bed to another and tied to the room's central chandelier, a rather acrobatic feat which had already earned Sirius a new bruise. It was dim in their little fortress, but both roomy and cosy at the same time.
"Right lads, you'd all better take this very seriously." James whispered, looking at each of them in turn.
"I'm always serious." Said Sirius.
"That'd better have been the first and last time you ever make that joke or the pact is off."
"What pact?" Peter murmured rapturously, entranced by James' authoritative tone.
"The one we're about to make. To be friends from now on." There was an oddly impressive silence.
"I… haven't really had friends before." Sirius admitted quietly.
"Me neither," Remus added, "not for a long to time." He glanced away suddenly as if he wished he could take his words back but James and Peter were both nodding too.
"Guess I've never actually hung around with anyone my own age before," James told them, "I might be a little difficult to live with but, well, we're gonna be friends so…"
"So friends stick together." Peter finished.
"So do we swear then?"
"Not in front of our mothers, I hope." Remus muttered.
"Hey! This is a very solemn promise, you have to take it seriously." James told him.
"Yeah," Remus looked a little shy, "I solemnly swear that we're going to be friends."
The others echoed the words back and Sirius felt as though his chest was aching.
They never did get to know any more about each other that night though, the busy day taking its toll as the four of them quickly dropped off to sleep in a haphazard pile in their fortress, still wearing their Hogwarts robes. Sirius just had time to observe, before his eyes dropped shut, that the hems of all their robes had turned deep ruby red, as if by magic.