Chapter Two: Arrival at Hogwarts
Moments after Harry, Riley, and Tony paid for the snacks, they, along with Ron, began snacking down on them. Ron was helping himself to some licorice wands, Tony was eating a pumpkin pasty, and Riley was examining a pentagon-shaped box with the words "Chocolate Frogs" on the front, while Harry was now starting on a box of jellybean-like candies.
"'Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans'?" he read.
"They mean every flavor." Ron explained to his friends. "There's chocolate, and peppermint,...and there's also..."
As he tried to remember some of the flavors, Harry decided to try one out.
"Spinach,...liver, and tripe." finished Ron.
Harry's face twisted in disgust, and passed the box to Riley, who handed him the boxes of chocolate frogs in exchange.
"George swore he got a bogey-flavored one once." Ron told them.
While Harry was taking the bean he was eating out of his mouth to put in a discarded wrapper, Riley decided to try his luck, and took out a bean.
"Well, here goes." he muttered.
He tossed the bean into his mouth and began chewing. Slowly, his expression turned into a look of disgust even greater than Harry's. He swallowed the bean, and quickly took a drink of the bottled water he brought with him.
"When they said 'every flavor', they meant it." said Riley. "I need to send some of these to my little brother."
"What flavor did you get?" asked Ron.
"I don't know. But it was seriously gross."
Ron stared for a moment, then started on a licorice wand. Harry then examined one of the box Riley had given him.
"These aren't real frogs, are they?" he asked.
"It's just a spell." answered Ron. "Besides it's the cards you want. Each pack's got a famous Witch or Wizard. I've got about 500 meself."
Harry then decided to try it out and opened the box. To his surprise, as well as Riley and Tony's, the frog inside croaked and began to move. To make sure he wasn't hallucinating, Tony smacked himself as hard as he could once. Riley's jaw dropped as the frog now leapt onto the window, sticking to the side.
"Watch it!" yelped Ron.
The four boys watched as the frog climbed up the window, then jumped out the window out of sight.
"Well, I've just about seen everything now." Tony commented, shaking his head.
"Rotten luck," said Ron. "They've only got one good jump to begin with."
Harry then turned his attention to the card that came with the frog. The name read "Albus Dumbledore", and the picture showed an elderly man with a long beard, wearing scarlet robes and a pointed hat. Harry then looked up at Ron, grinning.
"I've got Dumbledore." he announced.
"I've got about six of him." Ron told him, nonchalantly.
Looking back down, he saw that the man in the picture had vanished without a trace.
"Hey, he's gone!" he gasped.
"That's not possible." scoffed Tony. "People in pictures can't just disappear all of a sudden."
"Actually they can," explained Ron. "You guys can't expect people to hang around in pictures all day, can you?"
Harry then noticed that there was a rat on Ron's lap, with it's head in the now empty box of Bertie Bott's. It looked very old and dirty, but acted quite youthful and energetic.
"This is Scabbers, by the way," Ron told him. "Pathetic, isn't he?"
"Just a little." Harry admitted, with a shrug.
"How old is it?" asked Riley.
Ron paused to look at his rat, and looked at Riley.
"I forget, I'll have to ask mum." he answered. "I've had him for a little over five years. He was my brother's."
Riley glanced down at the rat, looking very interested.
"Amazing." he mused, curiously. "Must be one healthy rat."
"Fred gave me a spell to turn him yellow, you guys want to see?" asked Ron.
The other three boys agreed, and watched eagerly as Ron took out his wand. Clearing his throat once, he pointed the wand at Scabbers. As he did this, a girl dressed in her school robes walked over to their compartment door. She looked about their age, and had long, bushy brown hair, and her light brown eyes darted at the floor, as if looking for something. After a moment of searching, she looked up at the four occupants.
"Has anyone seen a toad?" she asked. "A boy named Neville's lost one."
"No." replied Ron.
"Sorry, ma'am," Riley apologized, politely. "Only animals I've seen on the train were our pets, and if you're counting chocolate frogs, the one that jumped out the window."
"Okay." the girl said.
Her eyes then fell on the wand in Ron's hand, and her expression brightened.
"Oh, are you doing magic?" she asked. "Let's see then."
All eyes were then back on Ron, who cleared his throat again.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,..." he began, a thoughtful look on his face.
The others watched as his wand tapped at the air above Scabbers, their gazes intense, and all holding their breaths.
"...turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." finished Ron.
The box Scabbers' head was in lit up, and the rodent quickly backed out, squeaking panickedly. Ron then looked up at each of his friends, confused, and all four of them shrugged.
"I think you got played, boyo." Tony pointed out.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" the girl standing in the door asked. "Well, it's not really good, is it?"
As she continued on, Ron turned to glance at Harry, Riley, and Tony, in disbelief at the nerve of the girl. Harry seemed to agree with him, while Tony looked back up at the girl, pretending to listen, and Riley was paying sincere attention to what she was saying.
"Of course, I tried a few simple ones myself, but they've all worked for me." the girl finished explaining.
She walked inside, and looked at Riley.
"Mind if I sit there for a moment?" she asked.
Riley nodded, and rose to his feet to give her his seat, and sat on Tony's opposite side. The girl sat down in Riley's former seat, and took out her wand, pointing it at Harry's face.
"For example,..." she started.
Harry stared at the wand, both dreading and curious to know what spell she would cast. Tony and Riley watched also, while Ron resumed eating the sweets.
"Oculus Reparo." she spoke, calmly.
The tape on the bridge of Harry's glasses suddenly unraveled and disappeared in a tiny puff of smoke. Ron casted a brief glance to Harry to see the result of the spell the newcomer had cast, and stared in surprise. Harry took off his glasses to examine them, and the girl smiled proudly.
"That's better, isn't it?" she asked.
While Harry was looking at his friends in amazement at what they had witnessed, the girl's expression suddenly turned into amazement as her eyes narrowed at Harry's forehead.
"Holy crickets!" she gasped. "You're Harry Potter!"
While Harry put back on his glasses, the girl immediately introduced herself.
"I'm Hermione Granger." she greeted.
"Riley Cross." Riley spoke up, shaking her hand.
"Anthony Gabriel," Tony threw in. "Call me 'Tony' though, everybody does."
Hermione nodded, and shook his hand after she was done shaking Riley's. Then her attention turned to Ron.
"And you are...?" she asked.
Ron, who was still finishing up the chocolate frogs, introduced himself next.
"I'm Ron Weasley." he said.
Hermione smiled weakly at him.
"Pleasure." she responded. "You should switch into your robes, I expect we'll be arriving soon."
"We should keep lookout." said Tony. "We've already changed."
Riley nodded in agreement, and picked up his comics, while Hermione exited the compartment first. After Riley and Tony left, Hermione poked her head back inside to look at Ron.
"You've got dirt on your nose by the way," she alerted him. "Did you know?"
She tapped the side of her nose to indicate where it was.
"Just there." she said.
Ron watched as Hermione walked away, and scrubbed furiously at his nose to clean it. While he did this, Riley pointed at the pasties.
"I'll trade you my frogs for your pasties." he offered.
"Deal." agreed Ron.
A little while later, during night time, the train had finally arrived at the school's station. The four boys, after having been fully dressed in their school robes, cleaned up their mess, and waited to exit the train. Harry was the first to exit the train, with Ron, Tony, and Riley following behind him, and they began following after the other students.
"Man, where do you suppose we are?" asked Riley.
"This is Hogsmeade." answered Hermione.
Riley turned his head to see her standing behind him.
"It's a village nearby the school." Hermione continued to explain. "This is where the older students get to hang out."
"Lucky." said Riley. "This place looks amazing."
"Wait until you get to see the school."
Hermione watched as Riley continued to look around, and then pulled him along to catch up to the others.
"Are you from another country?" Hermione asked, in a low voice. "No offense, but you don't sound from here."
"Uh, that's sort of complicated." Riley replied with a chuckle. "I'll explain later."
A loud voice then called for the first year students, and they walked forward until they caught up with Harry, Ron, and Tony. Standing nearby was a very large man with long, black tangled hair and a long beard wearing a heavy brown coat, a red shirt, and dark pants and boots. In his hand was a lantern, which was emitting a very bright light. The man looked down at them, and smiled.
"Hello, Harry!" he greeted.
Harry smiled back at him, and returned the greeting. Ron, Tony, Riley, and Hermione were among several other first years who stared up at him in awe. Then the large man instructed the first year students to follow him to the boats, then began leading them to the lake. Harry and Ron climbed into one boat with two other boys already in it, Hermione, Riley, and Tony took another boat with a boy and a girl already seated in it. Soon enough the boats were driving themselves across the lake, and taking the passengers to their destination. Hermione looked beside her to see Riley fidgeting in his seat, looking anxious.
"Calm down, Riley," she told him, laughing. "You'll see it."
"You'll have to excuse him," Tony quipped, smirking. "My friend here had too much sugar in his hot chocolate this morning."
The others laughed, while Riley turned to scowl at his friend.
"Funny, Tony." he grumbled. "Very funny."
Within moments, they finally were close enough to see a castle coming into view. Hermione nudged Riley and nodded at the castle.
"That's it." she told him.
Riley looked at her for a moment, then back up at the castle.
"That's the school?" he asked. "It's incredible!"
The castle looked massive, and it had many towers and bridges here and there. There were even forests surrounding the place. Riley looked over at the boat which Harry and Ron were seated in, and saw that they were in awe at the magnificent sight as well. Once the boats reached the shore, the giant, who Harry told his friends was named "Hagrid", led the first year students up the path to the castle doors. He stopped and turned to the students.
"Alright, you just head up through these doors, and Prof. McGonagall will be up the stairs waiting for you." Hagrid instructed them. "See you inside."
They entered and headed up the stairs, until they finally reached an elderly woman dressed in dark emerald green robes, wearing a pointed witch's hat with feathers sticking out of the side. She wore a pair of glasses on her face, and wore her long, brown hair in a tight bun. The students could only guess that this woman was Prof. McGonagall. Once the students stopped on the staircase, the woman began to speak.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." she greeted. "Now in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your Houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
Prof. McGonagall paused in her speech for a moment to see if any of the students were listening, then continued.
"Now while you're here, your House will be like your family." she explained. "Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule-breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup."
"Trevor!" a boy suddenly shouted.
Riley and Hermione watched as a boy with dark hair dashed forward to retrieve a toad from the concrete floor the woman was standing on. A few of the students laughed at him, and the boy slowly looked up to see the woman towering over him staring down at him, an unamused look on her face. The boy slowly retreated back into the group of students, and apologized quickly.
"The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily." Prof. McGonagall told the students.
The students watched as she walked through the large doors, and disappeared into the room.
"Huh, a 'Sorting Ceremony', is that all?" Riley asked, nervously. "I thought we'd have to take a test or something."
Hermione patted him on the shoulder in a comforting manner, then suddenly a new voice spoke up.
"It's true then. What they're saying on the train." it said, loudly.
The students looked to the left to see a boy with short blond hair, slicked back over his head, glancing at Harry.
"Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." he announced.
While the students were whispering amongst themselves, the boy nodded at the pair of larger boys standing beside him. Both had short dark brown hair, and near vacant expressions.
"This is Crabbe, and Goyle," the blond-haired boy told Harry. "And I'm Malfoy."
He walked forward until he was in front of Harry, and faced him, smirking.
"Draco Malfoy." he finished.
Ron and Tony snorted, trying to suppress their laughter, but then Draco turned his attention towards them.
"Think my name's funny, do you?" he asked, sneeringly. "No need to ask for yours."
He was looking at Ron as he spoke.
"Red hair, and a hand-me-down robe,..." Draco observed, nastily. "...You must be a Weasley."
While Ron glared back at him, Draco then turned to look at Tony.
"And you, what's your name?" he asked.
"Tony Gabriel." replied Tony.
"And you think my name's funny? Your name isn't anymore odd than mine is."
Tony just shrugged his words off. Draco then noticed the dirty look Riley was shooting him.
"What are you staring at?" he snapped. "Got something to say?"
"Yeah, are you done yet?" asked Riley.
Draco scowled at him for a moment, then returned his attention to Harry.
"You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter." he warned him. "You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort."
The blond-haired boy paused to glare at Ron, Tony, then finally Riley. Then his gaze returned to Harry.
"I can help you there." declared Draco.
Harry looked down to see that he was offering a handshake. He didn't need another moment to consider, and looked back up at the boy.
"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." he responded.
Draco scowled at Harry, looking as if he had more to say, but then felt a tap at his shoulder. Looking up at who tapped him, he saw Prof. McGonagall had returned. Casting a brief parting glance at Harry, he quickly returned to where he was before. The female professor then looked at each of the students.
"We're ready for you now." she announced. "Follow me."
She opened the doors and led the students into a large room with four long tables filling up most of the room, and students sitting at them. Riley then looked up to see several candles floating into the air, and sky in place of the ceiling.
"How...?" he started.
"It's not real, the ceiling," Hermione explained, casually. "It's just bewitched to look like the night sky."
Riley looked back at her, amazed.
"I read about it in 'Hogwarts, a History'." Hermione told him.
Meanwhile, Tony nudged Harry and Ron, and nodded at the hat on the stool.
"What do you suppose that's for?" he asked.
"I don't know." replied Harry.
Little did they know, Tony's question was about to be answered. Once they passed the tables, Prof. McGonagall walked up the wooden steps and stood next to the stool, then turned back to the students.
"Would you wait along here, please?" she instructed the students.
The students pressed forward until they stopped in front of the steps.
"Now, before we begin, Prof. Dumbledore would like to say a few words." the elderly woman told them.
Prof. Dumbledore, who was dressed in a similar set of robes to the ones he was wearing in the picture on Harry's chocolate frog card, rose to his feet as his fellow staff member spoke.
"I have a few start-of-term notices I wish to announce." he spoke, in a soft voice. "The first years please note that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch,-"
He paused to gesture to a man standing in the doorway that the first year students just passed through. Mr. Filch was a gruff old man with balding, long brown hair which seemed to be graying with age, and he wore an worn old brown coat over a brown shirt, with dark pants and boots. At his feet was a very fluffy Maine Coon cat, with bright red eyes. They seemed to be surveying the area, much like a police officer on patrol.
"-has asked me remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death." Prof. Dumbledore concluded. "Thank you."
As he sat down, the students took in his words, and thought about what he said. Then Prof. McGonagall unrolled her scroll, and briefly looked at it, before returning her gaze to the students.
"Now, when I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you'll be sorted into your Houses." she explained, as she picked up the hat.
The students watched as Prof. McGonagall glanced at the scroll again, then scanned the crowd of first years.
"'Riland Cross'?" she called.
The students looked around, and Hermione glanced at Riley, who had frozen up in terror.
"Riland Cross, please step forward." Prof. McGonagall called once again.
Hermione nudged Riley, and nodded at the stool.
"Go on." she whispered.
"You both are off your rocker, I am not going up there!" Riley hissed, panicked. "Let someone else go first!"
Hermione rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. Behind him, Ron was also getting impatient.
"Get up there, you big chicken!" he whispered.
Riley felt something kick him in the butt, and he was knocked forward onto the ground. He pushed himself up, and saw that Prof. McGonagall was looking down at him, scowling.
"Evening, ma'am." Riley greeted, weakly.
After getting back up to his feet, he saw that the woman standing before him was getting more and more impatient.
"The stool. Right. Sorry." Riley said, moving forward to sit down on the stool.
Prof. McGonagall placed the hat on his head, and Riley chuckled again.
"Yep." he said, nervously. "Good fit, this is."
"Not from around here, are you, kid?" a new voice spoke.
Riley's smile faded slowly, and he realized in horror that the hat was the one who talked. With a frightened scream, he shot off of the stool in a millisecond, while most of the other kids behind him roared with laughter.
"The hat spoke to me!" Riley shrieked, pointing at the fallen hat. "It spoke!"
"Yeah, that's right, and I can sing, too." the hat responded, chuckling at it's joke. "But enough about me, lad, let's talk about you, and what House you go into."
Riley sat back onto the stool, and put the hat back on top of his head.
"Let me see, what do we have in this ol' noodle of yours?" the hat mused. "So, other than that little surprise attack you just had, you're quite the chivalrous youngster, and when the time calls for it, you're ready to stand up for what's right. I know exactly where you belong."
Riley shut his eyes tightly for a moment, mentally praying that he wouldn't end up in the wrong House.
"Gryffindor!" the hat yelled.
The students suddenly burst into an applause, and Riley felt the hat being removed from his head, and he was excused to take his seat to the Gryffindor table.
"Good luck." he mouthed to his friends, as he passed.
Prof. McGonagall glanced at the parchment again, and called for the next student.
"'Hermione Granger'." she called.
Hermione froze up a little and began walking forward.
"Oh, no." she whispered to herself. "Okay. Relax."
Behind her, Ron nudged Harry, getting his and Tony's attention.
"Mental, that one." he muttered. "I'm telling you."
Harry nodded in agreement, while Tony gave a quick smirk. Hermione sat down on top of the stool, taking a deep breath to calm herself, then felt the Sorting Hat being placed on top of her head. The hat came to life again, and began to think.
"Ah, right then,...mmm,...right..." the hat muttered.
After a moment of thinking, it finally decided.
"Okay,...Gryffindor!" the hat announced.
The students broke out into applause once again, and Hermione leapt out of her seat to join Riley at the Gryffindor table. Prof. McGonagall looked at the parchment and then called for the next one.
"'Anthony Gabriel'." she said.
Tony gulped, and looked at his friends. Harry and Ron nodded at him to go, and Tony did. He walked up the steps towards the stool and sat down, facing the other students. The hat was seated on his head, and Tony felt it move a little.
"Hmm, now you're an interesting case." the hat told Tony. "This could go either way. You'd be great for all four Houses, but which to put you in?...Yes,...Slytherin!"
Tony shrugged as the crowd broke out into cheers, and got up as the hat was removed, then headed to the Slytherin table. Harry looked at Ron, who seemed a little disappointed.
"Too bad, I thought he was cool." Ron whispered, sadly.
Harry stared at him, confused, while Prof. McGonagall called for the next student.
"'Draco Malfoy'." she called.
The blond-haired boy who was trying to recruit Harry stepped forward, and sat down on the stool. Prof. McGonagall lowered the hat onto his head, but the hat had already decided before it was fully seated on the boy's head.
"Slytherin!" the hat spoke.
Draco smirked, and got up to join the other Slytherins at the table. Harry looked at Ron, who began talking to him.
"There's not a witch or wizard who wasn't bad who wasn't in Slytherin." the latter explained.
"But Tony's not bad." argued Harry. "You've met him, he's nice."
"Until they've turned him into one of them."
Prof. McGonagall called for a "Susan Bones" next, and a girl with long red hair walked forward to be sorted. Harry's eyes wandered through across the teacher's table until his gaze locked with a man with medium length black hair dressed in black robes. The man looked back at him, his hand dropping down slightly, as if recognizing him. Harry broke his gaze as he began to feel a sharp pain in his forehead, and touched the place where his scar was, letting out a gasp of pain. Ron quickly looked at him, concerned.
"Harry, what is it?" he asked.
"Nothing." replied Harry. "Nothing, I'm fine."
He looked back at the man he had been staring at who was beginning to avert his own gaze. Meanwhile, the hat had decided to put Susan Bones in Hufflepuff, which caused the crowd to erupt into cheers once again. Then Prof. McGonagall looked at the parchment to read the name of the next student.
"'Ronald Weasley'." she called.
Ron's jaw dropped, and he looked at Harry for a moment. Harry nodded at him to go, and watched as his friend walked up the steps and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on Ron's head and it spoke, making it's wearer jump out of nervousness.
"Ah, another Weasley," the hat laughed. "I know just what to do with you! Gryffindor!"
The crowd broke into applause once again, and a relieved Ron made his way to the Gryffindor table. Prof. McGonagall paused to look at the scroll, and then at the crowd of first years.
"'Harry Potter'." she announced.
Behind her, Prof. Dumbledore leaned forward, interested, as did the other teachers. Hagrid seemed to be holding his breath. Harry slowly made his way through the whispering crowd, and up the steps. Back at the Gryffindor table, Ron had taken his seat opposite of Hermione and Riley, and the three of them looked up at the front of the hall, waiting to hear what House Harry would be sorted into. The hat was placed onto Harry's head, and it began to think.
"Hmm, difficult. Very difficult." the hat mused. "Plenty of courage, I see, not a bad mind either. There's talent,...oh, yes,..and a thirst to prove yourself,...but where to put you?"
Harry shut his eyes tightly, and muttered a quiet prayer.
"Not Slytherin." he prayed, quietly. "Not Slytherin."
"'Not Slytherin', eh?" repeated the hat. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know. It's all here in your head, and Slytherin could help you on your way to greatness, there's no doubt about that. No?"
Harry continued to whisper his prayers to not be put in Slytherin, and then the hat had finally made it's choice where to put Harry.
"Better be...Gryffindor!" it shouted.
Harry smiled, and the Gryffindor House's applause rang out higher than any other House's. Harry got up and joined his fellow Gryffindors at the table, and shook hands with his other housemates. Looking back at the front of the hall, he saw Prof. Dumbledore lifting his goblet up a little in acknowledgement.
A little while after the Sorting, Prof. McGonagall had returned to her seat at the teacher's table, and tapped her spoon against the glass goblet seated in front of her a few times.
"Your attention, please." she called.
Prof. Dumbledore stood up, waiting for the students to quiet down, and looked across the hall.
"Let the feast...begin." he announced, raising his hands.
To the surprise of most of the students, the dishes on the tables suddenly became full of food, and their goblets became filled with their drinks. The students began to dig into their dinner, and started conversing with one another.
"I'm half and half," one student, a boy named Seamus Finnegan, stated. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mam's a witch. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out."
Hermione then turned to look at Riley, who was starting on some fries.
"What about you?" she asked.
"Oh, I'm all Muggle." replied Riley. "Same with my parents and brothers."
"Same with me and my parents, no siblings though."
"Really? Well, now you've got me and Tony as brothers."
Hermione smiled at him in appreciation.
"So, are you the only wizard in your family?" she asked.
"No, Deran was the first one out of us who was able to do magic. We expect Evan's next."
Next to them, Harry was talking to Ron's older brother, Percy, the Gryffindor prefect.
"Say, Percy, who's that talking to Prof. Quirrell?" he asked.
Percy looked up at the teachers talking at the far end, and then back at Harry.
"Oh, that's Prof. Snape, the Head of Slytherin House." he answered.
"What's he teach?" asked Harry.
"Potions. Everyone knows that it's the Dark Arts he fancies, he's been after Quirrell's job for years."
Harry nodded, and watched as both Riley and Ron reached for a piece of chicken, but then the two yelled when a ghostly head popped up out of the plate. The head belonged to a man with dark fluffy hair.
"Hello!" it greeted, kindly. "How are you?"
Ron stared down at the ghost, trying to find the words to talk back to it.
"Welcome to Gryffindor." the ghost said, cheerfully.
Soon enough, more ghosts began flying into the Great Hall. One was a woman who soared down from the wall by the Ravenclaws, followed by a man dressed in Musketeer-like wear. Next, ghostly friar appeared from the ground in between two of the tables, and finally a male aristrocrat soared over the Slytherin table.
"Look, it's the Bloody Baron!" one student shouted.
Harry and the others watched as the more and more ghosts flew all around the room, and Percy addressed the ghost that had spooked his brother.
"Hello, Sir Nicholas, have a nice summer?" he asked, politely.
Sir Nicholas levitated onto the table, looking very disappointed all of a sudden.
"Dismal." he replied. "Once again, my request to join the Headless Hunt has been denied."
He turned to fly away, then Ron shouted at him.
"I know you!" he gasped. "You're Nearly-Headless Nick!"
Offended, the ghostly man turned to rectify him.
"I prefer 'Sir Nicholas', if you don't mind." he told him.
Riley grinned, fighting back a chuckle, and resumed eating.
"'Nearly-Headless'?" Hermione repeated, confused. "How can you be 'Nearly-Headless'?"
Sir Nicholas was quick to answer this one.
"Like this." he replied, nonchalantly.
He grabbed the top of his head, and pulled it to the side, showing that he had been almost beheaded. Ron stared at the ghost in shock, and yelped, while Hermione and Harry appeared grossed out. They watched as Sir Nicholas flew away, and Ron looked back at Riley, who was still eating.
"Didn't you see it?" he asked, surprised. "How could you still eat after seeing that?"
"When you've seen old decaying corpses and the like in a tomb, nothing scares or grosses you out as much anymore." Riley replied, shrugging. "Someone mind passing a couple rolls?"
I know, a Muggle-born in Slytherin? Well, why not? So, everyone's been sorted, and new people have been introduced, with new friendships budding. Next up, the Gryffindors are introduced to their dormitories, and attend class the next day (in-chapter, of course).
Disclaimer: I own the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics or books that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys,...okay, you guys get the picture.