The soft candlelight fell across her face as she stepped slowly into
the Great Hall, casting shadows in every groove of her lovely face. They
had just finished the small tour of Hogwarts. She stood in the doorway
staring into the massive room as the first years filed past her nervously.
She waited till the last kid had entered the room before she finally
stepped in. She glanced about the room wondering about all the people.
Would she be accepted in this strange yet merry school? The eyes of the
students seated at the tables followed the line of first years as they
walked slowly to the other side of the room. They seemed to be transfixed
to the end of the line..where Anju happened to be. There were those strange
looks again....She bowed her head and stared at her feet as they walked
awkwardly behind the person in front of her, a slight crimson rising in her
cheeks.
Maybe they had never seen a 15 year old girl in a line of first years before. She was easily spotted being 5'5..while the first years were 5 foot at the most. She boldly lifted her head and looked at the table to the left of her. As she did she saw a hand wave towards her, belonging to Draco. She raised an eyebrow and waved back. He turned around in his seat and whispered something to the guys hovering around him. They all stared at her then gave each other a grin.
She was starting to get used to the stares when the line stopped. She peered ahead to the front of the line and saw Professor McGonagall bring out an old, dusty, moth-eaten hat. When it was set down upon a stool it sang a cute, little song about the houses. Then McGonagall pulled out a parchment and began reading names off of a list.
"Adams, Rebekah!"
A sweet little girl stepped out nervously from the line and sat on the stool. A soon as McGonagall placed the hat upon her head it yelled out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
She smiled, hopped off the stool, and ran to the Hufflepuff table where she was welcomed warmly with several cheers.
"Bagget....Begley....Borris...."
She started sweating...she was reaching her name..
"Braddington...Burt..."
Wait...had she skipped her?
"...Cantrell....Carter.."
She couldn't believe it...was she going to be sorted? She glanced over at the Gryffindor table and caught a reassuring smile from Harry. This must have supposed to happen...
After the last name had been called....Anju was standing alone beside the hat. She was now staring at the floor; blushing from the many stares...this was embarrassing.
"And now....Anju Brookshire....our new exchange student from America. She will be starting with the fifth years. Now Anju..." She picked up the hat and motioned to the stool. Anju swallowed and sat down carefully on the stool and closed her eyes as the hat was slipped over her head. She could hear a tiny voice in her head muttering several things..which she guessed to be the hat.
Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione were sitting at the edge of their seats waiting for the decision.
"I hope she's in Gryffindor," said Harry, glancing at Hermione. "She has to...she seems so much like a Gryffindor. I know, though, that she won't be in Slytherin...she's way too nice."
Hermione just shrugged, secretly hoping Anju wouldn't be in Gryffindor. "Yeah...."
The whole room was at a buzz as the time slowly went by. After 3 minutes Anju shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The hat seemed to be having some trouble deciding. The kids were whispering excitedly..hoping that she would be in their house. Most people thought she would be in Gryffindor though. Draco was chatting quietly with his few friends.
"Which house do you think she will be in? I'm not sure....,"he said.
They looked at her for a moment. A blonde-haired 6th year said, "I think she will be in Gryffindor.....too bad though..."
Marcus glanced over at Draco. "Maybe......She might be in Slytherin..but most likely not. She's too good for Hufflepuff, though. I can guarantee that she will not be in there..."
Draco studied her for a second and spoke. "She has a certain look about her....she definitely could be in Slytherin. The thing is, though, i think she's already made friends with..eh..Harry and that little mudblood. Now there's a possibility she could be in Gryffindor..."
Then the hat suddenly shouted out making every jump in their seats.
"SLYTHERIN!"
She took off the hat with a very surprised look on her face. The whole school was staring at her with their eyes and mouths wide open. An unusually enormous and cheerful shout erupted from the Slytherin table startling her. The Gryffindors were giving dirty looks to the Slytherins and cursing under their breath.
Anju didn't know what to think so she just scooted timidly over to the Slytherin table and searched up and down the rows for a seat. Draco shoved Goyle out of his seat and waved at her.
"There's a seat over here!" he yelled out grinning. Anju gave a slight grin at his eagerness and slowly sat down beside him. She smiled shyly at the guys surrounding her and realized she was the only girl sitting in this area. Not really caring she turned in her seat and spoke to Draco.
"Well...here I am. So what happens now?"
"Watch..," he motioned to the table. As soon as he spoke the table filled with so much food she grew slightly dizzy. As soon as it appeared everyone started piling food on their plates and eating. She suddenly realized how hungry she was, having not eaten since breakfast. Soon she was eating along with everyone. The room was filled with the laughter and excitement of eager kids starting a new year of school.
She watched her fellow classmates with interest. Glancing at the Gryffindor table she noticed two boys that were obviously twins. Their fiery red hair shone brightly, attracting her attention. They were whispering something quietly with each other; every now and then one would interrupt with a snicker. Having a feeling they were about to do something, she watched them intently. The one on the right turned around in his seat and slipped his hand under his robe, pulling out his wand slowly, as to not let anyone see it. He whispered something and pointed his wand at a goblet. She watched closely and saw a small toad fall into the goblet. Blinking, she moved her eyes over to where the owner of the goblet was sitting. A girl about a year or two younger than her sat there, talking to her friends and not noticing her spoiled drink.
Anju examined her and noticed that she had the same fiery red hair as the twins; she bore some resemblance. Most likely she was their sister. Anju saw the girl's hand reach for the goblet. She bit her lip to try to keep herself from exploding with laughter. The girl grasped the goblet and brought it to her face. As it came to her lips they parted into a shrill scream. The goblet flew from her hand and onto the table, splashing punch all over a group of first years. The twins were overwhelmed with laughter by now.
The entire room was at an uproar in a matter of seconds, and minutes later she saw the first piece of food fly across the air. Oh great...food fight. She had been in way to many of these situations to be inexperienced in this field. She blinked and watched the entire school turn into a battlefield. Their protection: tables and each other...their ammo : food. On instinct she filled her plate with as much food as possible and ducked under the table. Blocking her hearing from the loud shouts and screams she crawled carefully along the floor under the table, dodging the kicking feet.
She already knew her role in this massacre: she was to find willing people to join her legion. She made it to the end of the table, then stealthily crawled along the wall, dodging food here and there, and made it to another table.
"Ah!" she cried in victory as she saw her first group of followers hovering underneath the end of the table. A strong-looking group of first- second years.... She crawled up to them and spoke in a steady voice. "Hello...I'm Anju...your new leader. I will help you through this war if you join my legion." Not knowing what to do they consented..leaving her with a triumphant grin.
She dipped her fingers into some chocolate pudding and streaked it across her face...the standard war markings. She put matching marks on her small army consisting of 6 kids. Each one was given a name and a job. "Your main job is to get new recruits..now go!" she cried. They scattered into the midst of the screaming kids and started working. In a matter of minutes she had over 50 people in her legion. She rounded them up and gave them ammo. "Now remember..your job now is to wipe out the enemy."
By now other people were catching on to what she was doing. 10 minutes later the hall was split into 2 groups. "Yes!!!" Anju cried. "My legion is ready!" With this she jumped onto the table and extended her finger to the enemy..the other half of the student body. "Attack!"
The two sides clashed and soon the entire place was covered in food. Pretty soon someone had introduced the idea of using their wands...so now it was pure chaos. She had not anticipated this. Ducking down, she made her way to the doors and escaped out of the Great Hall. The halls were empty; safe. A sigh escaped from her lips as she sunk down to the floor... filled with the unfriendly foe named exhaustion. She placed her forehead in her hands and sat there for a while wondering where her plan went wrong.
Suddenly the shouts grew louder and the doors burst open...pouring out many food-covered students, still fighting. The whole area was filled and she was completely trapped against the wall. She closed her eyes and waited for the first blow, but didn't feel it. Instead a steady hand grabbed hers and pulled her up to her feet. Standing in a circle around her was Draco, Marcus, and two other guys. She recognized the brown-haired one as Ryan Harris, the other she didn't know.
Each one had a determined look on his face, to save the "damsel in distress". Each one grabbed her and carried her through the crowd, and down the stairs to safety. The look on Anju's eyes couldn't have been mistaken for anything but gratitude.
"Well, looks like you got yourself into a real mess," Draco stated.
"Heh..I kinda got carried away back there..."Anju replied while wiping the pudding streaks off her face.
"We'd best be in our dorms by the time the fight gets controlled by the teachers. They will be looking for the people that started it. They will be looking for witnesses," Ryan said. The group nodded and walked quickly to the entrance of the Slytherin common room. Draco stated the password and the wall in front of them swung to the side. They entered with Anju following closely behind.
When she stepped in the door shut quickly behind her. She blinked and glanced about the room, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light. There was a small fire going in the hearth, lighting only a small section of the room. In the rest of the room amidst the dark shadows, other Slytherins lurked, stirring in their own thoughts. She shifted her weight and looked at Draco expectantly.
"Right...well this is the slytherin common room, "explained Draco. "This is pretty much where we...er...live. Heh."
She yawned and glanced around again.
He then pointed towards a dark corridor. "Take a left into the girls dorm and right into the guys. Of course we're not supposed to go into the other gender's dorm, but we can make exceptions. He grinned at this last remark.
She chuckled a bit and smiled at everyone. "Well I guess I'll go unpack and go to sleep now." After saying goodbye she retreated up to her room and fell into a deep sleep.
Maybe they had never seen a 15 year old girl in a line of first years before. She was easily spotted being 5'5..while the first years were 5 foot at the most. She boldly lifted her head and looked at the table to the left of her. As she did she saw a hand wave towards her, belonging to Draco. She raised an eyebrow and waved back. He turned around in his seat and whispered something to the guys hovering around him. They all stared at her then gave each other a grin.
She was starting to get used to the stares when the line stopped. She peered ahead to the front of the line and saw Professor McGonagall bring out an old, dusty, moth-eaten hat. When it was set down upon a stool it sang a cute, little song about the houses. Then McGonagall pulled out a parchment and began reading names off of a list.
"Adams, Rebekah!"
A sweet little girl stepped out nervously from the line and sat on the stool. A soon as McGonagall placed the hat upon her head it yelled out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
She smiled, hopped off the stool, and ran to the Hufflepuff table where she was welcomed warmly with several cheers.
"Bagget....Begley....Borris...."
She started sweating...she was reaching her name..
"Braddington...Burt..."
Wait...had she skipped her?
"...Cantrell....Carter.."
She couldn't believe it...was she going to be sorted? She glanced over at the Gryffindor table and caught a reassuring smile from Harry. This must have supposed to happen...
After the last name had been called....Anju was standing alone beside the hat. She was now staring at the floor; blushing from the many stares...this was embarrassing.
"And now....Anju Brookshire....our new exchange student from America. She will be starting with the fifth years. Now Anju..." She picked up the hat and motioned to the stool. Anju swallowed and sat down carefully on the stool and closed her eyes as the hat was slipped over her head. She could hear a tiny voice in her head muttering several things..which she guessed to be the hat.
Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione were sitting at the edge of their seats waiting for the decision.
"I hope she's in Gryffindor," said Harry, glancing at Hermione. "She has to...she seems so much like a Gryffindor. I know, though, that she won't be in Slytherin...she's way too nice."
Hermione just shrugged, secretly hoping Anju wouldn't be in Gryffindor. "Yeah...."
The whole room was at a buzz as the time slowly went by. After 3 minutes Anju shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The hat seemed to be having some trouble deciding. The kids were whispering excitedly..hoping that she would be in their house. Most people thought she would be in Gryffindor though. Draco was chatting quietly with his few friends.
"Which house do you think she will be in? I'm not sure....,"he said.
They looked at her for a moment. A blonde-haired 6th year said, "I think she will be in Gryffindor.....too bad though..."
Marcus glanced over at Draco. "Maybe......She might be in Slytherin..but most likely not. She's too good for Hufflepuff, though. I can guarantee that she will not be in there..."
Draco studied her for a second and spoke. "She has a certain look about her....she definitely could be in Slytherin. The thing is, though, i think she's already made friends with..eh..Harry and that little mudblood. Now there's a possibility she could be in Gryffindor..."
Then the hat suddenly shouted out making every jump in their seats.
"SLYTHERIN!"
She took off the hat with a very surprised look on her face. The whole school was staring at her with their eyes and mouths wide open. An unusually enormous and cheerful shout erupted from the Slytherin table startling her. The Gryffindors were giving dirty looks to the Slytherins and cursing under their breath.
Anju didn't know what to think so she just scooted timidly over to the Slytherin table and searched up and down the rows for a seat. Draco shoved Goyle out of his seat and waved at her.
"There's a seat over here!" he yelled out grinning. Anju gave a slight grin at his eagerness and slowly sat down beside him. She smiled shyly at the guys surrounding her and realized she was the only girl sitting in this area. Not really caring she turned in her seat and spoke to Draco.
"Well...here I am. So what happens now?"
"Watch..," he motioned to the table. As soon as he spoke the table filled with so much food she grew slightly dizzy. As soon as it appeared everyone started piling food on their plates and eating. She suddenly realized how hungry she was, having not eaten since breakfast. Soon she was eating along with everyone. The room was filled with the laughter and excitement of eager kids starting a new year of school.
She watched her fellow classmates with interest. Glancing at the Gryffindor table she noticed two boys that were obviously twins. Their fiery red hair shone brightly, attracting her attention. They were whispering something quietly with each other; every now and then one would interrupt with a snicker. Having a feeling they were about to do something, she watched them intently. The one on the right turned around in his seat and slipped his hand under his robe, pulling out his wand slowly, as to not let anyone see it. He whispered something and pointed his wand at a goblet. She watched closely and saw a small toad fall into the goblet. Blinking, she moved her eyes over to where the owner of the goblet was sitting. A girl about a year or two younger than her sat there, talking to her friends and not noticing her spoiled drink.
Anju examined her and noticed that she had the same fiery red hair as the twins; she bore some resemblance. Most likely she was their sister. Anju saw the girl's hand reach for the goblet. She bit her lip to try to keep herself from exploding with laughter. The girl grasped the goblet and brought it to her face. As it came to her lips they parted into a shrill scream. The goblet flew from her hand and onto the table, splashing punch all over a group of first years. The twins were overwhelmed with laughter by now.
The entire room was at an uproar in a matter of seconds, and minutes later she saw the first piece of food fly across the air. Oh great...food fight. She had been in way to many of these situations to be inexperienced in this field. She blinked and watched the entire school turn into a battlefield. Their protection: tables and each other...their ammo : food. On instinct she filled her plate with as much food as possible and ducked under the table. Blocking her hearing from the loud shouts and screams she crawled carefully along the floor under the table, dodging the kicking feet.
She already knew her role in this massacre: she was to find willing people to join her legion. She made it to the end of the table, then stealthily crawled along the wall, dodging food here and there, and made it to another table.
"Ah!" she cried in victory as she saw her first group of followers hovering underneath the end of the table. A strong-looking group of first- second years.... She crawled up to them and spoke in a steady voice. "Hello...I'm Anju...your new leader. I will help you through this war if you join my legion." Not knowing what to do they consented..leaving her with a triumphant grin.
She dipped her fingers into some chocolate pudding and streaked it across her face...the standard war markings. She put matching marks on her small army consisting of 6 kids. Each one was given a name and a job. "Your main job is to get new recruits..now go!" she cried. They scattered into the midst of the screaming kids and started working. In a matter of minutes she had over 50 people in her legion. She rounded them up and gave them ammo. "Now remember..your job now is to wipe out the enemy."
By now other people were catching on to what she was doing. 10 minutes later the hall was split into 2 groups. "Yes!!!" Anju cried. "My legion is ready!" With this she jumped onto the table and extended her finger to the enemy..the other half of the student body. "Attack!"
The two sides clashed and soon the entire place was covered in food. Pretty soon someone had introduced the idea of using their wands...so now it was pure chaos. She had not anticipated this. Ducking down, she made her way to the doors and escaped out of the Great Hall. The halls were empty; safe. A sigh escaped from her lips as she sunk down to the floor... filled with the unfriendly foe named exhaustion. She placed her forehead in her hands and sat there for a while wondering where her plan went wrong.
Suddenly the shouts grew louder and the doors burst open...pouring out many food-covered students, still fighting. The whole area was filled and she was completely trapped against the wall. She closed her eyes and waited for the first blow, but didn't feel it. Instead a steady hand grabbed hers and pulled her up to her feet. Standing in a circle around her was Draco, Marcus, and two other guys. She recognized the brown-haired one as Ryan Harris, the other she didn't know.
Each one had a determined look on his face, to save the "damsel in distress". Each one grabbed her and carried her through the crowd, and down the stairs to safety. The look on Anju's eyes couldn't have been mistaken for anything but gratitude.
"Well, looks like you got yourself into a real mess," Draco stated.
"Heh..I kinda got carried away back there..."Anju replied while wiping the pudding streaks off her face.
"We'd best be in our dorms by the time the fight gets controlled by the teachers. They will be looking for the people that started it. They will be looking for witnesses," Ryan said. The group nodded and walked quickly to the entrance of the Slytherin common room. Draco stated the password and the wall in front of them swung to the side. They entered with Anju following closely behind.
When she stepped in the door shut quickly behind her. She blinked and glanced about the room, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light. There was a small fire going in the hearth, lighting only a small section of the room. In the rest of the room amidst the dark shadows, other Slytherins lurked, stirring in their own thoughts. She shifted her weight and looked at Draco expectantly.
"Right...well this is the slytherin common room, "explained Draco. "This is pretty much where we...er...live. Heh."
She yawned and glanced around again.
He then pointed towards a dark corridor. "Take a left into the girls dorm and right into the guys. Of course we're not supposed to go into the other gender's dorm, but we can make exceptions. He grinned at this last remark.
She chuckled a bit and smiled at everyone. "Well I guess I'll go unpack and go to sleep now." After saying goodbye she retreated up to her room and fell into a deep sleep.