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After listening to the mountain of a man's instructions about the boat, Rowan followed the other first years to the boats, staying quietly at the back of the group. Hesitantly, she looked at around, and ran to an empty boat after hearing Hagrid's bellow of "No more'n three to a boat!"
Carefully holding onto the sides of the boat, the girl eyed the water distrustfully, glaring at the ripples on the surface. Feeling the craft rock slightly, Rowan turned around and came face-to-face with the same boy from before.
He sighed, shaking his head. "Darn. I did it again, huh?"
She laughed slightly, nodding. "Looks like it." She looked around, and spotted a red-headed girl with a dark haired boy. "Is that her, over there?" The two had already joined another pair of students in a boat.
He glared in the direction of the other boy. "Hn. Yeah. Oh well, maybe we'll be in the same house!" He got a goofy smile on his face as he looked at the lake with a dreamy expression.
Rowan looked at the boy, eyebrows raised. "Right, well, alright then." Turning back around, she noticed that they had slowly started moving forward across the lake, and gripped the boat tightly.
"Not a fan of boats?" The boy behind her asked.
Not turning around, she answered, "Not a fan of water bigger than a swimming pool—specifically ones that have creatures living in them."
The boy laughed, shaking his head at her. "You know, I doubt there's anything really terrible down there."
Glaring over her shoulder, Rowan replied, "Not according to my aunt. Apparently the lake houses a giant squid. If he's anything like the squids I've seen, I want nothing to do with him." That earned her another laugh from the boy, but he didn't comment again, choosing instead to talk to the boys sitting behind him.
The students were awed as they received their first look of the castle, all the windows lit up with candles. Hogwarts oozed magic, enticing all the students to be on their best behavior as they made their way up to the enormous doors for the first time. As they were escorted into an empty antechamber by Hagrid, they looked around at the stones, taking in the new sight. A short while after, a woman came into the room, a very no-nonsense look on her face, and she looked at them until they all fell silent.
Rowan gave a small smile to her aunt, and caught the thinnest of smiles in return before her aunt addressed them in her Scottish brogue. "Hello, and welcome to your first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name is Professor McGonagall; I am the deputy headmistress and the professor for transfiguration. In a few moments we will be joining the other students in the Great Hall, where you all will be sorted into one of the four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin are the houses here, and the house you are sorted into is the house you will remain in until your time here is complete. Also, you should think of them as your family. You all will work together in an attempt to win the house cup. Good behavior and class participation earns house points, whereas breaking rules or misbehaving will cause you to lose points. Whoever has the most house points at the end of the school year will be awarded the house cup. Are there any questions?"
Perhaps it was the stern look on her face, or everyone was more concerned with the sorting ceremony, but nobody asked a single question. Nodding her head at them, the woman motioned for them to follow her, instructing them as they walked toward the entrance to the room. "Very well, it's time to begin." They walked between two of the four long tables running the length of the hall, before Professor McGonagall motioned for them to stop at the foot of the stairs, at the top of which sat a stool with an old hat upon it. Walking up the steps and standing behind the stool, the professor placed a gentle hand against the hat, and cleared her throat slightly. Amazingly, two slits opened up on the hat as eyes, and a third opened beneath them as the mouth, and the hat began to sing.
Listening half-heartedly, Rowan glanced around the hall, looking upon the sites her aunt had always described to her for the first time. It's nothing like what I imagined…It's even better! Looking at each of the tables carefully, Rowan gave a half-wave to Frank, who was sitting next to a tan, black-haired boy. Smiling when he waved back, Rowan moved her gaze up to the head table, where her uncle beamed down at her from. Giving him a tentative smile, Rowan looked back at the hat, noticing that it was almost finished with its song. Perhaps I should have listened…I hope it wasn't anything important! Shaking her thoughts away, Rowan looked at her aunt as she stepped forward once again.
"I will now call your names and you will be sorted into your new home."
Allen, Regina. A pretty girl with blonde hair walked up to the stool and sat down. The hat was placed on her head, his eyes squinting and opening about before he shouted, Hufflepuff!
Black, Sirius. Sauntering up to the stool, he sat down, fists clenched as his lips moved. After a few moments, a shout of Gryffindor ripped out of the mouth of the hat, causing gasps to be heard from the Slytherin table. An older girl at the Ravenclaw table cheered along with the Gryffindors as the boy took his seat among them.
Rowan looked at the two who had been sorted, vaguely listening to the names of the other students (Bones—Boone—Cadwell—Dempsey), seeing them in conversation with their new housemates. Well, it doesn't look too terribly frightening. They seem nice. Shaking herself out of her musings, Rowan looked back up to the stool as 'Evans, Lily' was called up. Automatically, she recognized her for the girl she had been mistaken for. The hat took nearly five minutes before finally yelling out, Gryffindor, and Lily ran to join the group of cheering students, taking a seat next to the boy who had just been sorted there.
Two more students were sorted before, finally, 'Gallagher, Rowan' was called. Smiling to her aunt as she walked up and took a seat, Rowan fidgeted nervously, sighing deeply as the hat covered her eyes.
Hello there, Ms Gallagher. The hat whispered to her. You don't need to worry; no others will be able to hear our conversation.
Hello…Mr. Hat? She thought, confusedly.
A laughed echoed through her mind. Ah, but you remind me of a young man I once knew! Unlike him, however, the only place for you is Gryffindor! The hat roared the last word to the hall, and as it was removed from her head, Rowan saw Frank and his friend cheering and went over to join them.
Sitting down with the boys, Frank immediately started introductions. "Rowan, I'd like you to meet my best mate, Riyyan Patil! Riyyan, this is Rowan Gallagher, the first year I was telling you about!"
Putting out his hand, Riyyan greeted her warmly. "It's nice to meet you, Rowan. Welcome to Gryffindor! We learned pretty quickly that it's a bit crazy here, but it's great, you'll see soon enough!"
Rowan smiled back at him, nodding in greeting, before turning to face the rest of the sorting. As 'Lupin, Remus' was sorted into Gryffindor, she caught a glance of the boy who she had run into before. More students were called to be sorted (Marrin—McKinnon—Nyx—O'Keefe—Parkinson—Parkinson) and as Rowan looked away a 'Pettigrew, Peter' was being called up to the stool. Turning to look at the table, the girl noticed a few of the students trading some cards. A yell of Slytherin brought her attention back to the front of the hall, and the boy she had run into, 'Potter, James' took to the stool, the hat immediately yelling out Gryffindor. Four more students were called to the stool, and finally, a fifth, 'Wallace, Abigail' received a great cheer as she was sorted into Ravenclaw, and the sorting ceremony had ended.
Minerva McGonagall moved the stool and the hat off to the side of the hall as a white haired, white bearded, eccentric looking man stood before them. "Welcome, and welcome back, students! For those of you who do not know, I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. If I remember from my own days here, you all will be quite hungry right about now, so we will save the pleasantries until after the meal. As for now, enjoy!" And with that, a grand meal sprung up on each of the tables, and the previously silent hall was filled with voices and laughter.
"So, Rowan, where are you from?" Riyyan asked, as he piled heaps of food upon his plate. Next to her, Rowan saw two of the other new Gryffindors, Lily Evans and Alice Fawley, listening.
"Um…Frank didn't tell you?" Rowan avoided Riyyan's eyes as she filled her cup with pumpkin juice before putting a bit of food on her plate.
"Nope, he never mentioned it. So, where?" Riyyan looked at her, his eyebrows raised in good humor.
"Caithness. You know, in Scotland?" Taking a few small bites, she turned her attention to Frank, raising an eyebrow at him, and shaking her head when he simply gave an innocent shrug. "And you?"
"Well, my family moved to London from India about fifteen years ago, so I'm from London." The boy shot a look at Frank, trying to follow his silent conversation with the girl, but Frank just shook his head.
Turning to the two girls, Rowan tried to bring them into the conversation. "What about you two, where are you from?"
The red-head answered excitedly. "I'm from Cokeworth, in England! My name is Lily, by the way."
The brown-haired Alice quickly introduced herself, before answering the question. "I'm from Pagford. My family has lived there for generations, apparently."
Rowan nodded, chewing thoughtfully. "Do you have a large family, then?"
Alice shrugged. "Not especially. I'm an only child but I've got lots of aunts and uncles. Our family just goes back a ways, you know?"
Not completely understanding, Rowan nodded her head, as Lily piped up. "You're an only child?"
Alice nodded. "Yeah, but I've got a ton of cousins, so it was never lonely growing up. Barely could get any peace and quiet, really. What about you?"
As Lily began to tell Alice about her sister, Rowan ate and thought about her own little family—her aunt, her uncle, and herself. Truthfully, they weren't much of a family in the true sense of the word. Her aunt was more her mother, while her uncle was a doting uncle who, although he cared for her very much, couldn't always be around because of his teaching job and his potions research. Lost in thought, Rowan didn't notice Lily's question until Frank gently elbowed her. "I'm sorry, what was that? I zoned out."
Lily smiled warmly at her, and repeated the question. "I was wondering about you. Do you have siblings, or are you an only child?"
Shifting slightly, Rowan avoided the girls' eyes as she answered. "I'm an only child, no siblings or cousins to speak of."
Alice smiled encouragingly. "Well, that's not bad at all! You would have had all your parents' attention then, right?"
Rowan shrugged, non-committed. "I guess, yeah." She went back to eating, frowning at her plate.
"You guess?" Alice tilted her head at the other girl, a confused look on her face, as Lily worried her lip with her teeth.
Taking a deep breath, Rowan looked at the other girls. "Well, yeah. I live with my adoptive aunt, so most of the time it was just me and her, and sometimes my adoptive uncle would come visit. But they both have full time jobs and I had lessons at the tutor, so…yeah." Turning back to Frank, she ignored the looks of surprise on Alice, Lily, and Riyyan's faces, asking the boy to pass the pumpkin juice. The rest of the dinner conversation was carefully angled away from family-life after that.
After all the students finished eating, Professor Dumbledore stood up again and updated the students on new rules put into place by the caretaker, an older man named Giles Maximus. Soon after, the prefects escorted the first years up to common room, reminding them to remember the password—Nautilus—before instructing them on how they could get into their own dormitories. Yawning sleepily, Rowan followed the other girls to their room, happily settling into her bed after changing into her pajamas, and falling asleep in a castle for the first time.
