Chapter Two
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted. A relieved little girl walked off to the Hufflepuff table, greeted with a roar of applause and many handshakes. Sorting had turned out to be surprisingly boring. At first, I thought it might be fun and exciting; seeing your peers be tested and placed into their proper houses. Then we all found out what sorting really was: putting on a talking hat and waiting for its decision. After the long wait (Professor McGonagall had made me go to the back of the line), it was my turn to be sorted. I could hear whispering as the teacher who proclaimed herself as Professor McGonagall called my name.
"Kerrison, Hazel!" I boldly stepped up to the stool on which the tattered hat lay. Seating myself gracefully on the stool, I gently placed the hat on my head. As I waited patiently, I heard a raspy voice inside my head that I took to be that hat's voice, inspecting my mind, deciphering which house I belonged to.
"Hmmm, interesting, very interesting," the hat murmured. "A Vampire? Never before, never before. . ."
"I'm only half Vampire," I thought back to the hat. However, that hat ignored me, and continued searching through my mind. Finally, it spoke back.
"Ah, well then, considering your morals and other such factors, there are only two houses left for you to go to. That would be Slytherin — a perfect fit for you, I must say — and Gryffindor — maybe not as good as a choice," the hat told me.
"Please, place me in the Gryffindor House," I desperately thought to the hat. "I already have friends there, and I'm afraid that I might not be able to make new friends if I get placed in Slytherin — considering what I am."
I waited nervously as the hat thought about which House I was to be placed in. Finally, it yelled out a name, a name that would forever change the course of my year at Hogwarts.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted to the Great Hall, much to my relief. I happily plucked the hat off of my head and walked off to the Gryffindor table, where I was immediately greeted by Ron, Harry, and Hermione, who all beamed at me.
"Hazel! We're so glad you became a Gryffindor!" Hermione whispered as the teachers began to murmur softly to the long-bearded Professor who sat in the middle of the table up front — no doubt talking about me.
"Yeah, I almost got placed in — what was it called?" I told them. "Oh, yes. The hat almost placed me in the Slytherin House." Silence met my words.
"What?" I asked my three friends, who were staring at me, horrified.
"Slytherin is the worst house to be placed in," Ron whispered to me, his eyes wide in shock. "You know that bloke who came into our compartment on the train? The one with blonde hair?"
"Unfortunately, yes," I replied.
"Well, he is from Slytherin," Ron continued. "I'm telling you, you should stand clear of those Slytherins." Before I could reply, the old, withered man with a long, sparkling beard stood up before us, claiming silence. He looked around at us all, serene and calm, holding his arms apart, as though beckoning us.
"Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts!" he exclaimed, his voice thunderous and powerful despite his old age. "First, I would like to welcome our newest teacher, Professor Umbridge, who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year," the man said. All of the students applauded rather warmly, though it was clear that all they had on their minds was food.
"There is not much more to say on a night so fine as this," the man continued once the lukewarm applause died down, "So let me hold you back no longer. Let the feast begin!"
As soon as the man uttered those last words, the plates in front of us filled up with every kind of food imaginable. Everybody grabbed at the food, laughing, talking, and eating. I eyed Ron with slight disgust, as he was ferociously tearing at his steak with the voracity of a starving lion.
Averting my eyes from this nasty sight, I put only a few items on my plate; a small piece of bread, a card-sized piece of steak, and a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Ron stared at me as I began to eat my meal.
"Is that all you're eating?" he exclaimed, clearly shocked. When I nodded my head, he looked away, disbelief etched onto his face, and continued to wolf down his food. Within minutes, I was done with my meal. Hermione looked over at me and frowned.
"You know, you can take more food," she said.
"I know," I replied, "I'm just not that hungry." The truth was, it was the night of a new moon. Although it might not have seemed like much to anybody else, it meant a lot to me. Since I was a half-Vampire, I only needed blood once a month — on the night of the new moon. So, once a month, I would sneak off into the forest surrounding our manor and hunt for some form of wounded animal. I only drunk the blood of animals (about one pint, to be exact) for I never, ever fed upon the blood of humans. As long as I had at least one pint of blood each month, I could keep my blood cravings under control, preventing me from accidentally attacking a human.
After what seemed like hours, the food in front of us disappeared. I excitedly looked around, hoping that we would be able to leave, but at that moment, the plates re-filled themselves with every type of dessert imaginable.
Hermione laughed at the disappointed look on my face.
"It'll be another half hour, at least," she told me, putting some sort of delicious looking chocolate pudding on her plate. I shrugged, unable to resist the chocolaty temptation, and did the same.
At last, all of the dessert disappeared from the plates. Restless despite the scrumptious pudding, I looked up to see that the old man had stood up once again. The room suddenly became silent, almost as though somebody had pressed pillows against everybody's faces, preventing them from making a noise.
The old man looked around at us all, studying each of our faces, his electric blue eyes rested on my hazel ones. With a slightly worried expression on his face, he looked up and saw the new moon. Apparently knowing what that meant, he quickly excused all of us from the Great Hall with a few odd words.
I leapt up along with the other students, eager to leave the Great Hall and find some fresh blood for me to drink, but at that moment, somebody tapped me lightly on the shoulder. Turning around, I saw Professor McGonagall standing behind me with a slightly apprehensive look printed upon her face, students swarming around her to go to their Common Rooms.
"Professor Dumbledore would like a word with you," she said, leading me over to the old man. I looked at him and realized that he must be Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school. The hall was soon empty.
"I assume that you need blood tonight?" Professor Dumbledore asked me, peering down at me with his half-moon glasses. I was immediately intimidated; his voice reverberated powerfully around the hall, and his piercing eyes gave the impression that he could read minds. I paused before answering; did he hate Vampires too?
"Yes, but if you would allow me to go within the forest that borders this school, I will be able to prey upon a wounded animal," I said. My father had instructed me on what to tell Professor Dumbledore, and he had obviously told the Professor that I was a half Vampire.
"Then I take it you don't drink human blood?" the Professor asked, becoming slightly tense, almost dreading my answer. I shook my head vigorously and allowed authentic repulsion to creep into my facial expression.
"No, I find it revolting — no offense," I quickly added. "Also, my father strongly believes that we should never take the life of a mortal just for our own needs. Instead, we prey upon the wounded animals that we find in the forest that rests on our property." That was only a summary of our true feelings towards taking human lives, but it would have to do. Professor Dumbledore nodded, seeming pleased.
"Go, then," he urged. "I give you permission to go into the Forbidden Forest, but only so that you can fulfill your thirst for blood." I nodded my head and thanked the headmaster before I turned and walked out of the Great Hall, out of the heavy metal doors, and onto the hazy grounds of Hogwarts, headed for the dark forest looming up ahead of me. My fangs protruded slightly over my lower lip as I allowed myself to give into the instinct of Vampires, hunting for the scent of fresh blood.