The boats carried us to some kind of underground harbour where we got out onto a bunch of rocks and pebbles. Alicia, Jessica and I immediately rushed to one another, inspecting one another for injuries as if we were nurses.
"Do either of you know what's going on?" Jessica whispered to us as we watched the scene unfold. A gigantic hairy man who could only be Hagrid called out to Neville.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, as he inspected the boats.
"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. I looked at him fondly. What an adorable little kid.
We cautiously followed everyone as they followed Hagrids lamp up a passageway in the rock. Eventually, we came up to some smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. The three of us were shivering rather madly; our damp robes did not protect against the nights chill.
Eventually, we went up a flight of stone steps and lagged behind everyone as we crowded around a huge, oak front door. I could not be sure whether or not this was some sort of comatose dream. Perhaps that lightning strike had put me into a coma? But, I somehow knew that that was not the case.
"Do... do you think we died?" Alicia asked us quietly, blindly grasping Jessica's hand for some semblance of comfort, "Do you think this is some sort of afterlife?"
I found myself at a loss for words and settled for a simple, "I don't know."
Jessica pulled Alicia into a sidehug and comforted her. While Alicia may have been the cleverest one out of us three, she was also the more emotional one and both Jessica and I could see she was working herself into an anxiety riddled panic attack.
Suddenly Hagrids booming voice said, "Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" he asked Neville. Neville nodded and help up Trevor to show him.
Satisfied, Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door opened so quickly that I was slightly startled. I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see over everyone's heads.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid in his very loud voice. I looked over at him since I couldn't see into the doorway but Hagrids hulking form was very easy to see.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." a stern voice said. It was McGonagall, I was certain.
"At the very least, we'll be able to actually be sorted into a Hogwarts house. Despite everything that's happened, I think that's pretty cool." I said, a sort of a giddy energy building up. Alicia smiled weakly but Jessica looked enthused.
"Oh my gosh, yes!" she said cheerfully, squeezing Alicia into her side just a bit tighter.
We followed everyone into Hogwarts and my mouth dropped open as I took in just how large the entrance hall was. I mean, I wasn't overly impressed because I was in my second year of university and my university campus was quite large as well, but it was still very impressive. The ceiling was so high up, it was nearly impossible to see the detailing on it.
We followed Professor McGonagall and I felt my heart beat speed up a bit in nervousness as I began to hear the sound of hundreds of voices come in through the doorway. I wasn't a very shy person usually, I could be very outgoing but today has been an exceptionally strange day and so please forgive me for feeling just slightly out of my element. We were ushered into a tiny little room and the kids all stood closer to each other out of nerves.
Even Alicia, Jessica and I pressed closer to the other kids, despite us being just shy of our twentieth birthdays.
If I'm to be honest, I didn't know what I was feeling. It was all very overwhelming. I felt cold because I was still wet. I felt nervous because we were going to be paraded in front of the whole school. I was in shock because I had somehow teleported between dimensions and I had lost nearly 9 years of my life from my body. I was ecstatic because I was in Hogwarts and I simply would be ungrateful if I wasn't at the very least a tiny bit thankful for being here. Not to mention I must be a witch now, otherwise I wouldn't have been even able to see the castle.
So yes, I suppose all of this could be summed up with the general feeling of being very very overwhelmed. Jessica continued to cuddle Alicia and I found myself also wanting to seek some comfort so I put my head on Alicia's shoulder as we awaited for McGonagall to say something.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall began and we shifted a bit closer to the front of our little crowd to hear her clearly. I suppose I had a bit of water stuffing my hearing. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."
I felt very very giddy now. Most of my earlier emotions were overshadowed with pure, unadulterated excitement.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."
McGonagall, please please please cast a drying charm on me I found myself praying as she continued to speak. Please please, I don't want to be a soaking wet joke.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." McGonagall said, her eyes lingering on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Finally, she took in the three of us at the back and her eyes widened almost imperceptibly before she gingerly took out her wand and I felt myself becoming dry and warm. Alicia and Jessica were dry as well.
We thanked her and she frowned, "I hope you will all be on your best behaviour as you attend this school. Foolishness will be punished."
My cheeks felt hot in embarrassment as some of my apparently new classmates snickered. Hermione glared back at us, obviously still disapproving. I wondered where Harry was? But I wasn't much too worried. I'd see him soon enough.
"Great," Jessica muttered to me, "She already doesn't like us."
"Mm." I responded eloquently.
"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." she then left us. I was expecting everyone to immediately start talking again but everyone was quiet, except for Hermione who was bragging about the spells she learned to someone. I think it was Neville but I wasn't quite sure. I kinda wanted to meet Harry now.
"I'll be right back," I said to Jessica. She nodded distantly. She appeared to be thinking. Slipping through the tiny crowd, my eyes finally landed on a mop of black hair standing next to a ginger.
Ah, there he is!
"Hi," I greeted Ron politely, "I like your hair colour." Okay I might be being a little bit manipulative here. See, Harry doesn't like attention. And he just recently found out he was famous in the Wizarding World so if I greeted him first he would think I only did so because he is the Boy-Who-Lived.
I mean, he would be right but that doesn't mean he had to know, right? Plus, Ron was always jealous of Harry so acknowledging him instead of the famous wizard hero coupled with a sincerely given compliment should put me into his good books.
I promise I'm usually not this conniving.
The tips of Rons ears got a bit pink as he squinted at me, trying to figure out if I was making fun of him, "Thank you." he said quietly but he didn't seem very much up for more conversation. Harry was simply staring into space, a look of a man doomed to his death on his face, likely afraid of the sorting like in the books. I tried not to smile in amusement. I couldn't let the conversation go at just that though so I asked.
"How do you guys think we're going to be sorted then?"
"Well, my older brother Fred told me it was some kind of test," Ron mumbled, looking unsurely at me "He said it hurts a lot but he might have been joking."
"Ah, an older brother, huh? He might have been trying to scare you," I nodded sagely at him, discretely trying to comfort the two somber boys, "I only heard it was some kind of magic hat that reads your mind."
"That's barmy!" Ron said, holding back a laugh. He opened his mouth to say more when suddenly people began to scream. Harry visibly jolted and I turned around to see a bunch of ghosts.
"Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed us. Was this Nearly Headless Nick?
"Um, we're waiting to be sorted." I heard Alicia's voice peek out quietly. The ghost looked at her before nodding.
"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them, "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."
"Wicked!" Jessica's voice chimed in as she put her hand through the Fat Friar's ghostly form, "Whoa, you're so cold!" The Friar didn't know whether he should frown or laugh but luckily he didn't have to decide as that was when McGonagall reappeared.
"Move along now," she said and the ghosts also began to leave through the wall. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." McGonagall told us to form a line and I quickly deserted Harry and Ron to the wolves, giving them a quick nod, as I went back to Alicia and Jessica.
The Great Hall was amazing. There were no real words to describe it.
I heard Hermione whisper, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." and I looked up only to gape at how realistic it was. It really did look like there was no ceiling at all.
I looked around so furiously that I nearly fell over, inciting some quiet laughs from the students at the tables. My cheeks flushed. The rest of the time seemed to go by very quickly. The hat sang and I dutifully clapped, completely overwhelmed with nerves as I wondered what house I would be sorted into.
"Abbott, Hannah!" was sorted into Hufflepuff and so was "Bones, Susan!"
"Boot, Terry!" went to Ravenclaw, and so did "Brocklehurst, Mandy."
"Brown, Lavender!" went to Gryffindor and "Bulstrode, Millicent" went to Slytherin. But then came an unfamiliar name.
"Burke, Jessalin!" Jessica, and I froze and looked at each other. Was she supposed to be Jessalin? Jessica's mouth was open and she was given a sudden shove from Alicia.
"Go!" she hissed. Jessica, knowing better than to argue with the smartest one of us there, quickly hurried up to the hat. The hat seemed to take ages with Jessica, finally shouting out, "GRYFFINDOR!" I clapped and cheered as loud as I could.
Burke, huh? Why is that familiar? Who was Burke?
Jessica let out a breath of relief and hurried to her table. A few more familiar students were sorted when suddenly once again another unfamiliar name.
"Fawley, Alicia!"
Fawley... Fawley... I thought furiously as I tried to figure out just who my friends families were. Alicia marched up determinedly to the hat. It had barely touched her head when it shouted out, "RAVENCLAW!"
Disappointment flooded me that we weren't all going to be in the same house but I still cheered and clapped for my friend. Slowly, everyone had been sorted and there was only a small few of us left.
"Selwyn, Rachelle!" McGonagall called and dread filled me as I stuck my chin up in the air, trying to hide that I was shaking ever so slightly. All of my earlier excitement had vanished, replaced with just pure nerves. I took a seat on the stool and McGonagall placed the hat on my head.
Hmm... strong amount of loyalty but you're not very fond of hard work, nor do you have much patience or determination and you're quite a cheater... Though your furious loyalty overpowers those traits... You could do well in Hufflepuff. Ah, but that's not all you are, are you? Though you aren't very much creative or clever as well. Oh don't feel offended my dear! But, the Ravenclaw house is most definitely not for you...
You have a fair amount of bravery and you're very chivalrous as well. But I don't think Gryffindor is for you either. My, it is quite difficult to place you, my dear. But while you don't have very many ambitions, you can be quite cunning and resourceful. I suppose there's only one place for you, it's clear, you see?
"SLYTHERIN!"
I got up in a daze and I know it's all very serious much wow I got sorted into the house of all the Death Eaters and blood purists and my last name is Selwyn and am I possibly related to Dolores Umbridge and blah blah.
I understand that, I really do. I completely know I should be thinking about all of this right now but I'm not and I have a favour to ask of you.
Please don't get angry with me.
And now, for my actual first thought as the hat was removed from my head was and the Great Hall came back into view:
All we need is a Hufflepuff friend and we'll have collected the whole set!