Chapter 3
"Then, my pa managed to zing that bear a good one and leave it runnin' towards the woods. Saving my mum and myself!"
"No way!"
"I don't believe you, there is no way that really happened!"
"Ye callin' me a liar?"
"No!"
"You don't have any proof!"
"It's not like I could have me da' come here to just show you his battle scars, it was hard enough to get me here!"
"Where did you day you were from?"
"Scotlan'"
"Wow!"
"How is that impressive? We are in Scotland!"
"Yeah, but have you seen a girl talk like she has? Authentic."
"There are a few Scottish people here!"
"People have come from afar to learn here…"
"But they obviously weren't pure Scottish like Merida is…"
"True, but then, where do you think all these red heads come from?"
"GIRLS!" The lass named Gertrude snapped at her sisters.
"What?" Gordon and Gerund said together.
"We're here." Gertrude pronounced, standing on the trail with the lantern to prove her point.
"All right!" I was the second one to leave the boat, launching myself carelessly into the water.
Stockings and the bottom of my robe wet, I waited on the grass for the triplets to leave the boat. Gordon, Gerund, and Gertrude were nearly identical to one another. The only hope you have to figure out who's who is their hair length. Gordon had the shortest hair, not even reaching her shoulders. Gerund had medium length, somewhere between her neck and shoulder blades. Gertrude's hair was long, brushing her lower back.
They were all sweet lassies, reminding me strongly of my three brothers back at home. I guess that's the only reason why I willing went on a boat with the three arguing about one thing or another.
"Would you look at the size of that man!" Gerund shouted, pointing at the rather large man with a face full of hair. The man was very big, making me picture him as a bear rather than any man I've faced.
"Gerund! Don't point! That is very rude, what would mother say?" Gordon scorned this time.
I couldn't help but mimic my mother's complaints, "Young lady, that is certainly not the way that I taught you to be! A true daughter of mine would not only hold her tongue but to also refrain from such outspoken gestures!" I said this while also standing perfectly strait, making sure to keep my head in an upturned angle.
Waiting in a few seconds of silence, all four of us burst out laughing.
"Oh, poor Merida! Is that what you have to live with?"
"And I thought Aunt Bessie was bad!"
"Was that why you chose to come to Hogwarts?"
Chuckling, I explained to them again that I never chose to come here. I would have much rather preferred the more traditional schooling closer to home. Hogwarts may claim to be the best there is, but I don't want to be the "best." Hogwarts seemed to be a much more polished school than most, and I was unfortunately correct. I didn't like the way that they also separated the students throughout their stay; it made no sense to me.
Why would you want to brand your children? Or better yet, why would you want to make a carbon fiber of yourself out of them? Shouldn't parents want their child to be above the rest, having special talents that no one else around them has? Shouldn't the kids want to be someplace where they don't have to be forced into a mold? Or does the school just have a sick pleasure at watching childhood kids being stripped apart, forced to loose their identities, and suddenly be enemies because an old hat told them they couldn't together?
"I agree with you 100%!"
"Me too."
"Did you know that's why we all have the letter 'G' in our names?"
"Our parents predicted us to be sorted in Gryffindor House, just like they were."
"The 'Triple G Lions' they wanted us to be called."
"It's bad enough that we're identical to one another-"
"-but it's embarrassing if we get assigned to different houses-"
"-or if we don't get assigned to the Gryffindor's-"
"-then our parent's life wish will be crushed!"
"What would we be called then? The Three Gs?"
"Just, the Triplets?"
"Or, heaven forbid, the Three Fates!"
At this, all three had a look of terror etched on their faces. This was another thing I didn't approve of, expectations. Parents who were students here would actually plan on their child to hold the "family tradition" of getting assigned into the same house as them. It's bad enough that your fate has already been assigned depending on what house you're placed in.
If you're a Slytherin, you doomed to become the worst of the worst. Being a spawn of the devil, and the next leader to rid the world of muggles and traitors. If you're a Gryffindor, you will be praised at being the best in the skies and on the battlefield. People would expect all to be able to beat the bad guys, the evil Slytherins. And how proud would your parents be at finding out that their little darlin' was a clever little Ravenclaw. Watching him/her rise to the top, inventing life-changing spells and counter spells that would save millions! And the utter, disappointment you would get if you're sorted into Hufflepuff. The nobodies, the kids without potential, the kids who will die young, the kids who are clueless to magic and the like. Pathetic.
I say that any Slytherin could be as heroic as the Gryffindors! Ravenclaws could have power of the mind and still be impressive flyers! Hufflepuffs could have just as much talent as any of the other houses! And Gryffindors don't have to be dare-devils or storybook heroes to be noted for greatness! Honestly, how they managed to have the school intact as long as it had been? Is it really such a surprise that there was another war between pass Slytherins and Gryffindors?!
Great, my good mood is ruined. Welcome to Hogwarts!
With the triplets going on about their worries, I lead them up the path to the cage disguised as a school.
I didn't pay much attention to the décor; I just wanted the day to be over. I couldn't help but wonder how my family was doing, and how happy mother is at the thought of me being here. I wish I was able to place some sort of jinx from here, it's her fault I'm in this mess!
All I did was ditch her classes in order to ride on Angus and practice my magic in peace, thank you very much! And so what if I did so for weeks on end during the summer? So what if I placed traps to hopefully slow her down, or give me a warning if she was in the area? It's not my fault that Hamish was found dangling upside down over a river of rapids! In fact, he rather enjoyed having the blood rushing to his head. But no, mother would not tolerate such behavior from me, telling me that it is high time I started to take my lessons seriously.
She is so unfair! I'm only eleven, what did she expect to come out of me? I was doing what every kid would do in the same situation. I wanted to play on my breaks, not to learn!
"Merida? Merida!" Gertrude helped snap me out of my rant.
"They just began the sorting, you missed the sorting song!"
"Like I care of what tha' piece of fabric says! I alread' kno' which house I'll be put on!"
Before a guessing game could start, a man switched places with a pretty looking woman to take over the podium. Taking out a long roll of parchment, she called out the named listed with a smooth, powerful voice. "Anderson, Penyetta"
Over the course of names, the girls made a game of the event. It mostly consisted of telling me or her sisters which boy was cuter.
"I saw a cute boy on a boat earlier."
"Newsflash, we were all on boats when coming here!"
"Wait, what kind of cute? Cute as in "hot for a boy this young," "a boy so childish you just want to pinch his cheeks," or "not the best looker out there but good enough to not be labeled as an eyesore?"
"Oh wait! Was this the boy you said look as if he was a walking fish?"
"NO! I was talking about the boy behind him!"
"Hello? What did you mean by cute? Are you deaf?"
"Never mind, and he was a defenseless kind of cute."
"Hey girls, do you see that boy there."
"Which one? We're in a sea of black here!"
"The one with the spiky hair, brunette, closer to the front. Now a little to the right…"
"Oh wow…"
"What! Where is he? I can't see him!"
"Isn't he gorgeous?"
" …oh wow…"
" Just look at the way his eyebrows quirk! And his smile!"
"…his smile…"
"WHERE IS HE!"
I watched all three of them continue this amusing spectator sport, my foul mood being lifted. Somehow, someway, I still managed to hear my name from the woman in front.
"DunBroch, Merida"
Turning back to say my farewells, I pushed my way to the front. Before accepting the hat, I turned to look at the offending object. "No matter what house ye put me, I won't turn out like the rest!" I sat down, waiting for my judgment.
I was able to see the crowd, thanks to my hair, and was able to spot the three girls halt their game to watch me. Giving them a wink, I closed my eyes waiting to hear what I know will come.
"SLYTHERIN!" announced the hat, just as I thought it would.
I took off the cap and threw it onto the stool, marching off to my new table. I made sure to avoid the eyes of the sisters.
When coming to said table, I ignored the head and found myself a nice seat in the middle. Shoving the lad in my way, I sat down continuing to ignore the jeers heading towards me. After some time, the lad I pushed attempted to threaten me to leave his seat.
"Why does it matter to ye? Find yourself a better seat and quit harassen' a lady, what would ye motha think? "
I only smiled as the boy started to splutter nonsense, and glared at the others laughing at his humiliation.
Weaklings they all were, following the status quo. But not me, I'll follow my own rules. I already knew from the start that I would be sorted into Slytherin, with my family history and all.
Both my mother and father were pure-bloods, even mingling with some of the neighboring heads to keep their lines pure and to keep peace. We've done so for generations, stretching back who knows how far. Not to mention our rather barbaric reputation. We take pride in our Scottish heritage, and took the liberty to practice in the old ways. Some of our bad reputation was spawned from rumors that we still teach transfiguration to children, in order to teach us the beginning in cursing a traitor.
While we do turn evil folk into mindless beast in order better off them, we don't teach them when they first start to hold the wand.
So with pure-blood relations and a bad reputation under my belt, I had no doubts.
Watching the rest of the ceremony, I only spotted a few that stood out from the crowd. One was a strange girl that had long hair that was sorted into Hufflepuff, her sorting took ages. Another was actually a whole group of Norsemen. They all had funny names, all looking very out of place in this type of setting. A third was the boy that Gerund was fawning over, the one with the same quirking eyebrows and smile. He was put into Gryffindor. Then I saw the three lassies being sorted into Gryffindor as well.
The tree sighed in unison as they took their seats, nearly crying with joy. I'm happy for them, they all managed to stay together. One girl noticed me smiling at them, and asked rather rudely why I was looking at trash.
I responded by socking the girl in the face, one so foul didn't deserve the nose she had. Pleased at the horror-stricken girl, I feasted until my stomach was filled to the brim.
When walking to the dorms, I realized that we were heading towards the lower regions of the castle. Hallway after hallway, the air steadily grew colder and damp. Surprisingly, we reached a dungeon and were ordered to continue walking until we reached the farthest wall. Our headmistress was a woman with dark brown hair and a sharp chin. Her eyes were stone gray staring down at us, matching the walls in the dungeon.
Once all were present, the headmistress addressed herself. "I am Professor Blakeslee, I will be you future Divination teacher. I am here in place of your prefect because I would be unlikely to properly meet any of you first years until later years." She then showed us the wall behind her. "This is the entrance to the Slytherin's common room; here you will mingle amongst yourselves and get to know one another. This is also where you may choose to do your studies and spent your free time. To enter, the password you must say is 'wood carver.'"
On her words, the wall then shifted. What once was a solid brick wall, changed into a door in a shimmering ripple; showing a dark tunnel once opened. The tunnel wasn't small, easily fitting five students in a row and still having enough room to avoid the torches hanging aligning the walls.
The path was cleaned, smooth even, with visible roots sprouting at random intervals. The air grew even more humid the farther we went down. The place had an elegant feel to it, with the help of the large space and well lit path. The torches were simple in design, tall and having two snakes intertwined along the shaft.
At the end of the short hike, we found ourselves at an arch entry showing off a cozy room with plump chairs and couches. The walls were a pale green, and faint patterns of snakes could be seen littering the place. Interestingly enough, not one snake looked like the other. There were the more common and recognized cobras and anacondas, but there was also others breeds that I've never even seem before. One was woven and enlarged into a rug with a forest floor pattern, having captivating shapes upon its scales.
"I'll be leaving you, lights out by ten. I expect you all to be able to take care of yourselves by now. Goodnight." Professor Blakeslee then turned around to walk up the path back to the dungeon.
I took another quick look around at the kids breaking off into groups before asking a prefect where the girl's dorm room was.
Entering the bedrooms, I hardly noticed the serpent theme continuing when changing into my night robes. Checking to make sure all my items were accounted for, I opened a cage with my horned owl inside, fed him, and threw myself into bed.
My final thoughts were of being in my woods, with Angus and my wand at my side.
How to Train Your Dragon and Rise of the Guardians belong to Dreamworks,
Brave and Tangled belong to Disney,
Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.