Sorting
Lily stood in line, waiting to be sorted. Her heart was beating nervously. She wished and hoped that she was in Gryffindor, but had reasoned that Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad.
Finally her name was called. She climbed up onto the stage, stumbling over her robes, and sat down on the rickety old stool. She had one glimpse of the school, and then the hat dropped down over her eyes.
The hat stank of mothballs and dust. She sat in the musty darkness for a second, and then a wheezy, nasal voice spoke in her ear.
'Ah, I see. Another Potter. We have had a lot of Potter coming through. They always seem to do something big. I will be interested to see what you become. But now, your house. Well, I can see you have cleverness inside you, and bravery. You have a tendency to break rules. Well, Hufflepuff is out of the question. Ravenclaw dislikes rules breakers. So that just leaves Slytherin and Gryffindor. Well, Slytherin would be good for you. It would make you great, you know.'
'NO!' Lily shouted in her mind.
'No? Very well then, it will have to be: GRYFFIDOR!'
The last word was shouted to the audience, and Lily shakily took off the hat, and went to sit down at the cheering Gryffindor table.
Lily was just congratulating Jessica for getting into Gryffindor, when a name was called which silenced the entire hall.
'Riddle, Isabella.'
A tall girl, with pale skin, long black hair and dark eyes stood up. She was exceptionally pretty, and moved with a strange grace. She walked up to the stool and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat over her head.
The hat took a long time, longer then with Lily. Finally it shouted to the school:
"GRYFFINDOR!"
James lent across the table, and whispered in Lily's ear:
'Hey sis, you know Voldemort's real name was Tom Riddle?'
'Of course I know that! It's common knowledge!' snapped Lily.
James shrugged and Albus winked from down the table.
Just a quick moment to describe Albus and James. Albus looks like the spitting image of Harry, their dad, right down to the glasses and untidy hair. James has the same eyes and untidy hair, but his hair is auburn, and the rest of his features were Ginny's. Lily looked exactly like Ginny, apart from the fact she (Lily) has green eyes.
McGonagall had finished sorting, and was rolling up the long scroll of parchment.
Instantly food appeared on the tables, I mean, one moment the tables are clear, and then they are groaning under the weight of food. There was every kind of food you can imagine. Lily helped herself to succulent roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots (which actually tasted delicious, instead of okay) and a number of other foods. For pudding she ate meringue, chocolate gateau, and ice-cream. By the end she was feeling distinctly full and sleepy.
McGonagall went through the 324 rules which ancient old Filch had stuffed into her hand, then a quick speech on the school, and other things. Lily lost track after the Forbidden Forest and Quidditch.
Finally the school was sent up to bed.
Lily shared a dormitory with Roxy and Jess, but also Isabella Riddle and a girl named Charlene Parker. The dormitories were in house colours, so the walls were golden – yellow, the carpet was red and the bed covers and curtains were red and gold. The beds were four posters, and the wood was carved in the shape of lions. Lions were embroidered into the pillows. Each bed had a bedside table and a wardrobe, again carved with lions.
There was a big bay window, with a seat where you could sit and read or look out on the grounds.
They were unpacking their night things, when Jess asked Isabella the question they all wanted to ask.
'Isabella, what's your father and mother like?'
Isabella paused, her back still turned to them.
'I – I don't know, they disappeared when I was small,' she replied, and then resumed packing. No one spoke of it again that night.
They all climbed into bed around eleven o'clock, but the boys had planned a dormitory raid, so they were disturbed around eleven thirty. Hugo and his friends ran in, shouting, and started hitting anyone in site with pillows. They refused to go, so the girls picked up their pillows and started hitting them back. They still wouldn't go, until there was a massive flash of light, and the boys were thrown out the door, landing in a heap in the corridor.
The light had come from Isabella, who was standing on her bed, her pyjamas covered in feathers.
'Wow, well done Isabella. How did you do that?' said Roxy, pulling feathers from her curly blond hair.
Isabella shrugged. With another flick of her wand, the door shut. Everyone climbed back into bed, and the lights turned off.
But it was a long time till Isabella went to sleep.
