Chapter Two – Gryffindor
Pretty soon the train stopped. I stood up and was about to reach for my trunk, but Haru, the Japanese boy, laid a hand on my arm and told me that they would be brought up for us.
I smiled in thanks and followed the rest of them out into the packed corridor. I stayed right behind Kellan, trying hard to blend in, but it didn't seem to be working as I got several long looks. The girls looked pretty bitchy.
"Have you already been sorted?" one of Kellan's friends nudged me. I blinked. I couldn't remember his name; I could only remember Haru and James. Oh well; I guess I would get to know them in time.
"Um, no," I said.
"Oh, well I'm sure –"
"Miss Clancy!"
I whipped around at the sound of my name. My eyes landed on a vibrantly redheaded woman pushing through the crowd towards me, calling out my name.
"Kylie Clancy, I presume?" the woman asked when she finally reached me.
"Uh, yes," I said.
"Come with me. You'll be sorted separately, as I'm sure you don't want to have to stand up there with all the first-years," she said.
"Okay. Yeah. Thank you," I said. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from Kellan and his friends.
"My name is Professor Bronson. I'm the deputy Headmistress here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and also the Transfiguration professor. You are taking my class, correct?"
"Yeah," I said.
"You will receive your timetable tomorrow morning at breakfast. Lessons presume at nine o'clock. If you should have any trouble finding your way around, please do not hesitate to ask me, another staff member or a student," she said. "I trust you have made some friends?"
"Ah, yeah, sort of. Well, all my cousin's friends," I said.
"Ah, yes, Kellan Daniels. Bright boy that one, but his talents go so wasted," she said wistfully. "His head is more on impressing girls and impressing his friends than it is on his schoolwork."
"Maybe he'll pull his head in this year," I said.
"Hopefully," she said.
We arrived at a wooden carriage. Professor Bronson opened the door and gestured for me to go first. I nodded and smiled in appreciation and stepped inside. It was a lot bigger inside the carriage than it looked outside.
Bronson stepped in behind me and closed the door. "I trust you are aware of the housing system?" she asked, as the carriage jolted into motion and we began moving.
"Ah, not really," I said. "We had houses at my old school, but I don't really know how anything works here."
"If you want to get to know Hogwarts a bit better I'd suggest you read the book Hogwarts: A History. It's quite famous, and would be quite a handy read for a new student."
"I'll look into it," I said, knowing that I was lying. I wasn't really into history books.
"Well, I will explain our houses to you. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
What ridiculous names, I thought.
"Usually, in their first year students are sorted by what we call the Sorting Hat, a hat charmed to look into your mind and sort you into the house it thinks you best suit. Gryffindor, Kellan's house, values bravery. Hufflepuff values loyalty. Ravenclaw values knowledge. And Slytherin values ambition," Bronson said. "Do you see yourself as having any four of those traits straight out?"
"Well, I think I'm pretty brave for travelling to the other side of the world to live with relatives I don't know to a school I've never heard of in my second last year of schooling," I said.
"I agree, Miss Clancy. That is very brave of you. But the Daniels are a good family, and you are in good hands here."
I simply nodded in reply.
The carriage came to a halt, and Bronson opened the door and stepped out. I followed.
Apparently Hogwarts was meant to be an amazing view at night, but we seemed to have come to a back door, so the view wasn't that spectacular from where I was. Bronson opened the door and showed me in.
She led me up two staircases before coming to a door with 'BRONSON' in big gold letters labelled on it.
"This is my office, and this is where you will be sorted," she said. She closed the door. "Sit on the stool."
I did as I was told, lowering myself onto the wooden three-legged stool in the middle of the office.
Bronson lifted an old, dusty hat from the shelf beside me. Huh?
She came over to me and placed the hat on my head. I gasped in surprise as I heard a little voice speaking in my ear.
Hmm, interesting, it said.
"Are you a talking hat?" I asked out loud.
"You don't need to speak aloud. It can hear your thoughts," Bronson explained.
This is so weird.
Quite an adjustment, Miss Clancy,the Hat whispered. Oh yes, you have quite a few secrets…doors that you don't want to be unlocked…
Shut up. My life is none of your business, I snapped.
I can see it all, Miss Clancy, I can't help it. I'm not judging you. I'm simply trying to decide…my, this is difficult. The last veela I had to sort was your cousin last year. Mighty hard to decide on, you veelas are.
I only just found out today what a veela actually was. Can we just get on with it?
Of course, Miss Clancy, of course. Now…let's see…you were in the house of community at your old school, hmm? Pity there's no community house here, you would fit right in. Now…you are quite clever, but not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed…Ravenclaw is not for you. Slytherin? Hufflepuff? No, Hufflepuff is too mild for you. You would get very bored.
I gripped the edges of the stool until my knuckles turned white. I didn't like this. I didn't like this one bit.
You are very defensive of those you love, and passionate, oh the passion…but then again that is very common in veelas, it said.
Stop calling me a veela.
Okay, Miss Clancy, as you wish. Now, Gryffindor or Slytherin…are you more ambitious, or are you more brave?
Put me in Kellan's house,I thought. All my cousins are in Gryffindor. James – James is in Gryffindor.
No point hiding my newly found crush from the Hat that can see to the very darkest depths of my mind.
You want to go into Gryffindor for a boy?The Hat questioned.
My family is in Gryffindor.
Are you sure you want to go into Gryffindor? Slytherin is looking very promising…
Well where do you think I am most suited?
You fit the mould for both houses, my dear. I am leaving the final choice up to you. I am just giving you many a chance to change your mind.
Put me with James.
Are you sure?
Yes, Hat, I'm sure.
Very well, Miss Clancy… "GRYFFINDOR!"
Bronson took the Hat off my head.
"Somehow I knew that that would be the case," she smiled.
I smiled weakly back. She picked up the stool in the hand that wasn't carrying the hat and told me to follow her.
We walked down the two staircases again but instead of going back out the door we came in, she led me to a different door. Behind it I could hear a dull babble of voices.
The door was slightly ajar, and she nudged it open and walked through before letting me through.
This must be the eating hall. Man, it was big. Back in Australia we'd had an outdoor eating area, with muggle as well as magical music blasting and soft grass as well as many tables to lounge around on to eat. The food had been served on a big buffet table underneath a veranda. When the weather was foul one of the teachers had cast a spell so there was sort of a bubble over the area, keeping warmth in and rain out.
But this, this was a different story; the hall was massive, with four long tables packed with students all lined up and another long table out the front near where I was standing with a big golden throne in the middle. That must be for the headmaster.
The ceiling looked as if there was no actual roof. It looked like the sky outside. Pretty damn amazing.
"You sit at that table," Bronson pointed to the table on the far right. "Your cousin seems to have spotted you."
I looked over at the table she had pointed to. Indeed, Kellan and all his mates were yelling and beckoning for me to come over to them.
Legs feeling like jelly, I walked over. James was sitting across from Kellan in between two very pretty girls. I felt a stab of jealousy. Stupid bitches.
"Kylie! You got Gryffindor?" Kellan asked as I reached him.
"Yeah," I said.
"Woo!" he and his mates cheered.
"Hell yeah! Cuzzy best friend! Sit down," Kellan said, moving over to make space for me. I sat down.
"Hey Kylie," the guy on my other side said.
"Um…hey," I said.
"Do you remember my name?" he asked.
"Ah…no, sorry," I said apologetically.
"I'm Tom," he laughed. "Welcome to Gryffindor!"
I smiled shyly. "Thanks."
"Hey, Kylie! Do I look alright now?"
My heart skipped a beat; James was speaking.
I turned away from Tom and looked over at James. He was grinning his toothy grin again, but all the blood had gone.
"Yeah. You look fine," I said.
"Better than fine!" he bellowed, fist-pumping the air. "I look gorgeous."
I couldn't agree more.
"You'll have to excuse him," one of the girls next to James, a blonde like me, leaned over the table to talk to me. "He's a bit…up himself."
I managed a small smile. "Aussies are worse."
"I'm Rosalie," she said. "Sixth year, like you. We'll be roommates." She smiled.
"Nice to meet you," I said, "I'm Kylie."
"So you're from Australia?" Rosalie said. "That's pretty cool, I've never been. What's it like? Do you actually ride kangaroos to school?"
I couldn't help but laugh.
"No, we don't. I went to a boarding school kind of similar to this, but it was more like a little beach village than a castle in the mountains," I said. "It's…a big change," I admitted.
Rosalie nodded understandingly. "Yes, it would be. I went on a holiday to America a few summers ago, bloody Merlin it was different! I couldn't imagine going to another country and living there permanently," she said.
I shrugged. "I have Kellan here so at least that's one person I know…"
"Oh yeah, you guys are cousins right?" she said.
I opened my mouth to say, yes, we are cousins, but at that moment the huge double doors opened and an absolutely huge man walked in the doors, leading a group of scared-looking eleven-year-olds into the hall.
"I see Lily!" James exclaimed. "Where's Hugo? There he is! There's my little man!"
I had no idea the kids he was talking about. They must be relatives of his. Siblings maybe.
The first-years reached the front of the hall.
"When I call your name," Bronson called out, "You will come forth, place the Sorting Hat on your head and wait to be sorted into your houses," she said. She cleared her throat. "Abbot, Tina."
A small brown-haired girl walked up to the stool, looking nervous as ever. My, I was glad Bronson had let me be sorted separately.
The hat only took a few seconds to decide. "GRYFFINDOR!" it yelled out.
My table erupted in cheers.
"On ya, Tina!" Tom whooped beside me.
"Do you know her?" I asked him.
"No," he laughed, "but she's the first one and she made Gryffindor. Something to be quite proud of."
"Okay."
I turned back to the sorting.
Pretty soon I tuned out. There were a million first-years to get through, and I was starving.
I was nearly falling asleep, when suddenly James's voice boomed above the cheering "YES LILY, YES! CONGRATULATIONS LITTLE SISTER!"
I looked up. James was making room for a small redheaded girl to sit beside him. She shyly took a seat, accepting high fives from everyone around her.
This was James's little sister? They looked nothing alike. James's hair was dark, and hers was flaming red. Her face was dotted with freckles and his was clear. But they did share the same almond-shaped dark brown eyes.
"I was afraid you'd go over to the dark side and join Al in Slytherin," James said. "Bloody disgrace, that boy is. He even befriended a Malfoy."
"James!" Lily hit James on the arm. "I like Al more than you."
"Ooh, burn!" Kellan crooned.
"Oh, I'm hurt," James said. "How could you Lil? How could you?"
Lily just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the sorting.
The next redhead that James was cheering was 'Weasley, Hugo'. Lily called for him to come and sit with her, but he didn't hear and sat down where the rest of the first-years were sitting. Cousins maybe? He and James looked nothing alike, but he and Lily could almost be twins.
Hugo Weasley was the last kid to be sorted, and the hall went silent as the black-haired man on the golden throne stood up.
"Welcome! To the first-years, welcome to Hogwarts, and to the rest of you, welcome back! I hope you all had an excellent summer," he said. "I know you are all hungry but I will get through this quickly. First-years, the Forbidden Forest is always off-limits unless otherwise specified and supervised by myself or another staff member. All products from the stores Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and Zonko's are strictly forbidden. Now, I think that's it. Let the feast begin!"
I looked back down at the table and all of a sudden an amazing array of food had appeared on the table.
"Woah," I said.
"Don't just look at it, Kylie. Eat it!" Kellan said.
I did so, filling my plate with potatoes, chicken, strawberries (my favourite) and filling my bowl on the side of my plate with a nice-looking chicken and vegetable soup.
For a little while I didn't talk, just ate. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast this morning, and I was starving.
The food was amazing. Almost better than the food back home. Almost.
"Like the food?" Rosalie asked.
"Yes, it's so good," I said. "Who makes it?"
"The house-elves," Rosalie answered. "They're pretty good cooks hey?"
I nodded. "Certainly are."
I didn't talk much during dinner, just listened to the conversations going on around me. Most of them were about Quidditch, and catching up on each other's summers. I'm glad people didn't talk to me. I wanted to eat, and then go straight to bed.
After the feast James disappeared, taking Lily with him. Kellan explained it was the prefects' job to show the first-years the common room.
"You can just come with us," Rosalie said, smiling. I liked Rosalie. She was friendly.
Rosalie led me up several staircases and past several old-looking moving paintings. Man, this school was so different. I liked it though. My old school had been beachy, open and chillaxed; this place was old, it was interesting.
We reached a very large portrait of a very large lady in a pink dress.
"Password?" the lady asked us.
"Godric," Rosalie said confidently. The lady smiled and the portrait swung open like a door, and Rosalie and I stepped through.
The room beyond was nice. Red and gold themed, it had more portraits on the walls, a big fireplace and comfy-looking red armchairs spread around tables and near the fire.
"This is the Gryffindor common room," Rosalie said. "Nice, isn't it?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Looks cosy."
"Our dorms are up this way," Rosalie said, leading me over to a stone staircase on the side of the room.
We walked up the staircase and past several doors until she stopped at one with 'sixth-years' engraved on it. She pushed the door open and revealed a nice, red and gold themed room with eight four-poster beds around the room.
"This one's yours," Rosalie said, leading me over to a bed at the far end of the room. "The rest of the girls should be in soon…"
As if on cue, the door opened again and four girls walked in; the other blonde that was sitting next to James at the feast, a redhead and two brunettes. They all smiled at Rosalie and I.
"Hey Rose," the redhead said cheerfully.
"Hey," Rosalie said. "Guys, this is Kylie, the transfer. Kylie, this is Lillian" she gestured to the redhead "Clara" the blonde "Lilac and Grace," the two brunettes.
"Hey, you're Kellan's cousin right?" one of the brunettes smiled at me. I had forgotten which one was which already.
"Yeah," I said.
"I'm his girlfriend," she smiled.
"He has a girlfriend?" I asked. "How long?"
"Three weeks and two days," she said.
"Oh okay," I said.
"Better hope you make it to a month, Kellan has never in his entire life been in a relationship longer than a month," Lillian the redhead laughed.
"Well, only five more days to go." The brunette flipped her hair over her shoulder.
I wasn't sure if I liked her. She seemed kind of…prissy.
"Which one's that?" I whispered to Rosalie.
"That's Grace," Rosalie whispered back.
"Why is she dating my cousin?"
"Because he's a man whore," Rosalie giggled. "Even I went out with him back in the day."
"Woah."
"Kellan is like, the hottest guy in sixth year…I wish I was part veela. You're so lucky," Rosalie said.
"I didn't even know what a veela was, or that I was one, until today, literally…veelas don't exist in Australia," I admitted.
"Really? That's so weird. They're actually pretty common in Europe but most of them are French."
"Maybe that's where they originate from," I guessed.
Rosalie shrugged. "Maybe," she said. "Anyway, I don't know where Bonnie and Paris are…I'm going to bed now. Night."
"Night," I said.
Maybe this won't be so bad, I thought.
Boy, was I wrong about that.