Servants of Wizards

Disclaimer:I own only original characters and situations... but nothing else...

Makes me sad :(

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Authors Note: Huzzah second chapter! It took me a bit longer to update than I expected, the weather recently has been too hot (40 degrees Celsius for the loss) but today it is much cooler! And it rained! (On my washing... for the loss) Good Old Australian Summer!

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Chapter Two: Sorting and Settling.

Albus looked around the entrance hall feeling slightly awed. In front of them there was a massive set of stairs, to the right there was a series of corridors, and to their left was another large set of double doors. From behind these doors came a cacophony of sound, somehow it seemed even worse than the noise that had been on the Platform that morning, if that was even possible. The first years were huddled closely together in small groups, no doubt with friends and students which they had met on the train. The sounds of nearly forty small children whispering to each other, speculating the sorting and houses and classes in a terrified way, echoed around the large ominous entrance hall. Suddenly the door to their left opened, letting out a blast of sound and a patient, almost motherly looking woman, she shut the door behind her, muffling the sound and smiled out at them all. After a moment of conferring with the man who had bought them up to the castle, he went into the room, and she gestured them closer. There was a moment of hesitation, until finally the group moved over to her as one mass.

"Well then, here you all are! My name is Professor Maison and I will be your charms teacher. There a few rules you need to know before we move on." She looked over them, making sure they were listening before continuing on.

"As you no doubt all know you are each about to be sorted into a house, of which there are four; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Your house will come to be a family to you, and as long as you are in this school, everything you do will be reflected on your house. When you do well in your classes and other school activities, you will be rewarded with points for your house, and when you do wrong, points shall be removed. At the end of the year, the house with the most points, will win the House Cup and a feast will be held in honour of the house which has one." She waited for the excited whispers to die down before continuing.

"You are expected to; attend your classes on time, complete any homework you are given, be kind and considerate to all the other students and teachers, and to each try your best at all you do here. If you do not do to this you will be punished." At this she gave each of them a warning look. Some of the first years looked incredibly apprehensive about any form of punishment, Artimus and Albus included, they traded an uneasy glance. Just what kind of punishment did they give here?

"Alright then, well I think that is enough information for now, you will get plenty more before the night is out. If you could all line up in alphabetical order by your surnames we'll go inside."

There was general confusion and a lot of noise and shoving while the students tried to arrange themselves as ordered, then when they were finally settled into line, Professor Maison turned and opened the doors leading them into the suddenly silent great hall.

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Albus couldn't help but stare as he entered the great hall. It was quite possibly the biggest room he had ever been in. Right in front of them were four massive, long tables students seated either side, all of which were watching the fearful first years with wide grins, occasionally some would wave to a family member. Above the tables hung large banners, some with the house name and symbol on them, others with the whole school crest. As Albus looked up at the banners, he found his attention drawn much higher, the high ceiling was showing the sky outside, clouds moving lazily across it, stars winking down at them. Albus could hear the sounds of several students bumping into each other as they stared at the roof above, he himself nearly tripped over the girl walking in front of him. Albus managed to drag his attention away from the ceiling to look at the far end on the room, directly in front of him. Another long table was set up there, facing the house tables. This was where teachers sat, on the biggest chair, directly in the middle sat the headmaster, a man who appeared to be in his middle ages. He watched them all with an unreadable expression on his face, his long black hair speckled with grey, his eyes dark and impassive. Albus had a feeling that he wouldn't want to cross this seemingly cold man, something about him seemed stern and menacing. Albus shifted his attention onto the other teachers, there appeared to be more men than woman seated, all of them watching the first year's approach with varying levels of interest. Albus shifted his attention to the space in front of the teachers table, where a small three legged stool sat, a slightly battered and worn hat resting on top of it. Albus began to feel insanely curious about the purpose of this, some of his more irrational worries and fears about the sorting ebbing away, there was something calming about the homey looking object, leaving Albus feeling himself relax slightly.

Professor Maison had come to a stop, and there was general bumping into each other as those first years that had still been focussed on the ceiling walking into those who had stopped in front of them. Professor Maison pulled a scroll of parchment out of her robe and turned to face the new students.

"I will call out each of your names and you will come and sit and the sorting hat will be placed on your head, it will decide on the best house for you and shout it to the audience. You will then remove the hat and join your new house-mates."

She looked down at the list, checking the names, and then began to read them out. Each time she called a name, the student would scurry forward and sit carefully on the rickety looking stool, they then had the hat placed on their head my Professor Maison, and there was a long silence while the hat, somehow, considered where the student belonged, then a rip near it's brim opened and the house was shouted to the audience. The students would stumble to their feet and make their way to the house table, generally the one making the most noise. Finally 'Dumbledore, Albus' was called and Albus walked forwards, trying hard not to let his fear and nervousness show. He sat on the stool and after a moment, the hat descended onto his head and over his eyes, meeting him with blackness. There was a moment of silence and then... a deep rumble which sounded not in his ears, but his mind.

"Well, Albus Dumbledore, where to put you." The hat muttered to itself in Albus' mind.

"There's talent and a hunger for information, on top of all the knowledge you already have, unusual in one so young. Yes you will go a long way, longer than many I would say. And yet despite this, you still seem ill-suited to Ravenclaw for some reason. Hrm... Well, it's about time I gave the bold some brains; they're due for some about now I think. Let's make it, Gryffindor!" The hat shouted the last part to the hall, and there was cheering and clapping from the houses, though it seemed the Slytherin house was quite fond of booing softly when a student was sorted into a house other than theirs. Albus took off the hat, and made his way to the loudest house with the red and gold lion banners. He grinned as Artimus as he went past, mouthing 'good-luck' to him. Once he reached the Gryffindor table he was introduced to several students, none of whom he would remember the names of in the morning and sat down. His heart was racing in his chest, he was here! He had done it! He was in Gryffindor! (Not that the house mattered to him too much) He stifled a snicker as he though about what the hat had said about Gryffindor being due for some brains, especially as he looked closer at some of the occupants of the table. He alternated his attention between the houses, the sorting and the teachers, with an occasional glance at the sky-ceiling for intermission, though his attention shifted entirely to the sorting when 'Stonefalcon, Artimus' was called out.

He watched his new friend make his way up to stool, looking pale and nervous. Seeing him standing up around other students his age, made Albus realise just how short he really was, he snickered softly, a snicker which turned into a chuckle once the hat was placed on Artimus' head. He looked like a bit of an idiot like that. Other students were chuckling too, Albus not being the only one who noticed this. Though judging by the scowl he could just make out under the rim of the hat, Artimus knew this too. There was a long silence, broken only by a few sniggers, Albus watched as Artimus seemed to wince and visibly sigh, no doubt about something the hat had pointed out. Finally the rip opened

"Gryffindor!"

Albus grinned as his friend came nervously over, eyeing the multitude of cheering students, he took a seat on Albus' left and gave him a weak smile. Albus raised an eyebrow in question, while he was happy that his friend was in the same house as him, it didn't seem quite like where he should be. Artimus correctly interpreted his look,

"Don't look at me, I have no idea why I'm here either" he stated flatly. There were some chuckles from nearby students.

"Well, welcome anyway" Stated a red-haired boy who Albus remembered had introduced himself as a Weasley. Weasley's were hard to forget.

The sorting continued for a while longer before finally all the first years were in their designated house and the hat and stool were removed by Professor Maison. When she returned and took her seat, the Headmaster stood up. He was silent for a moment, the sound in the hall dropping like a cold-hard stone as every conversation stopped mid-word. Albus reaffirmed his decision to make sure he didn't cross this man... ever.

"Welcome to Hogwarts" The man started, his voice was firm and carried across the massive hall easily. "You all know the rules, and those who don't will learn quickly or they will regret it." The unspoken threat made many students pale in fear. "Here you are expected to behave, or suffer the consequences for your actions. You are also here to learn and if you do not agree with this, then you can leave. I will not tolerate bad or disruptive behaviour, rule breaking, or sheer idiocy, if you insist on acting in those manners, then you shall face my ire. After dinner first years will be taken to your house common rooms and dormitories by their house prefects, pay attention, you will only be shown once." After these grave announcements, the Headmaster sat down, and food suddenly appeared on the tables. The sheer volume of food and the manner in which it appeared may have been more impressive and awe-inspiring to the first years if they hadn't been scared witless by the Headmaster, as it was the first years sat frozen for a while before their stomachs overcame their nerves.

After filling his plate and eating for the first time since breakfast Artimus looked over at the Weasley who had welcomed Artimus earlier.

"Does the Headmaster teach anything?" He asked, feeling slightly apprehensive.

"No, thank goodness" Weasley replied. He glanced over at the teachers table and shuddered. "Don't mess with him if you can help it" he advised, raising his voice enough so all the first years could hear.

"He's a great headmaster, no doubt about that. But he's... well... not the nicest person around"

"I hadn't noticed" Artimus muttered dryly into his chicken, getting some snickers.

"I'm going to die" he continued miserably, Albus rolled his eyes.

"Trouble maker?" Someone questioned with a chuckle,

"No just not very good at anything"

Albus poked Artimus in the side,

"Stop whingeing, you're just looking for attention" He accused

Artimus fixed him in place with a Glare of Death. Albus felt himself freeze up and fancied he could actually feel a year drop off the end of his life span for every second he met Artimus' eyes. Finally Artimus 'released him'.

"You're good at that" Albus managed to choke out. Artimus ignored him and continued to stare mournfully into his dinner.

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After the feast they were called over to the prefects, who clustered them all together and lead them out of the Great Hall and up the main stairs, Albus felt his brain begin to fizz as they lead them up stairs and down corridors, and through doors and behind tapestries. Paintings moved, suits of armour saluted and ghosts appeared suddenly out of walls and floors to say hello, must to the shock of many of the first years. Albus knew that there were no chances of him remembering any of this tomorrow. He hoped dearly that there would be enough nice, older students who knew their way around willing to help... though he couldn't imagine ever learning just where to go in this place. Artimus was idly looking around as they walked, not seeming to take anything in either.

Finally they came to a halt at a painting of a large woman in a pink dress, who raised an eyebrow at them.

"Password?" She asked.

"Draconias" came the reply from the prefect.

They all stumbled inside after the prefects, Albus stepping easily into the portrait then reaching back out and helping Artimus in, helping being grabbing the back of his robe and half-dragging, half-lifting him in, then ignoring the smaller boys protests and insults. Once everyone was inside the portrait swung shut, and they stood before the prefects in the empty common room.

"First thing is to remember that password" The female stated flatly, "Without it, you cannot get in. You cannot tell it to anyone who is not inside of our house, no matter who they are, just as you are not to expect anyone from another house to tell you theirs, understand?" There was a series of nods.

"This is the common room" the boy continued, "This is where you come when you are not in class and at nights and on weekends. The boy's dormitories are on the left" he pointed to a staircase in the left wall, "and the girl's dormitories are on the right" The prefects then went on to discuss a few common room rules, and other important things to remember. Once that was done, they dismissed them.

Albus and Artimus waited for the general bustle of first years moving to their dorms before moving themselves, taking in the room. The room was large, with desks and chairs in groups and singles on once side of the rooms, and comfortable looking couches and armchairs on the other. A large fireplace was set into the far wall, and already it was lit, crackling merrily and increasing the light in the room. Above it a large Gryffindor banner hung. The colours used in all the furnishing was in shades of red and gold, giving it a bright and open feel. Paintings which lined the walls were of notable Gryffindors, the most impressive being the painting of a large, tawny haired man with a sword belted on one side and his wand in his right hand. A plaque underneath labelled it as Godric Gryffindor himself, who nodded regally at them as they drew closer. Albus gave him a salute and Artimus wiggled his fingers in a little wave. Finally they finished their short examination of the room, making their way up the stairs and finding the door with Boys: First Year written on it. The made their way inside, greeting the other three boys that was there.

There were general introductions where the other three were introduced as Ashley Carter, John Michaels and Mathew Bones. Conversation was minimal as the group each found the bed which their trunk was at the base of prepared for bed, each of them exhausted after a long, exciting and nerve wracking day.

Albus looked at Artimus,

"Some day, huh?" he said softly.

Artimus nodded,

"And think, it's only going to get even worse"

Albus chuckled and shook his head in dismay at his slightly morbid friend, but as he got into bed, drawing the curtains around himself and lying back to stare at the canopy roof, he had a feeling that Artimus was right. This first week was going to be a nightmare.

But boy was it going to be fun.

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End Note: Huzzah Another longer than usual chapter!

Eh gad... I think I'm sick... Why is this happening to me??? I don't write long chapters!

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