Chapter 2
The boat ride up to the castle passes in a blur. Hermoine, Neville and I all gape up at the great castle overhead, towering over us as we sail nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stands. We reach a kind of underground harbour and clamber out onto the rocks and pebbles. A loud voice startles me.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?", the large man who introduced himself as Hagrid says, holding a toad out to Neville.
"Trevor!", Neville cries blissfully as he holds out his hand. I chuckle, and wonder if perhaps the toad is trying to get away on purpose or if Neville truly is that forgetful. Hermione just shakes her head, a small smile on her lips. Neville comes up to us, tightly grasping his toad, and embarrassed flush in his cheeks.
"I'm sorry", he mumbles. I give him a pat on the shoulder.
"What are you apologizing to us for? That toad seems to be a sneaky one. Wouldn't be surprised if Trevor got sorted into Slytherin."
"They'll sort him too?", Neville asks with wide eyes, his voice almost panicky.
"Of course not, don't be silly", Hermione answers. "Lisha was just making a joke."
"Oh, ok."
Watching the blush on Nevilles cheeks deepen I sigh and wonder if my attempt to make him smile may have just embarrassed him further.
"Everyone here?", Hagrid calls making me jump again. I don't like loud noises. He looks at Neville and adds. *You there, still got yer toad?"
Neville just nods and Hagrid turns around, knocking three times on the castle door.
The door opens at once revealing a tall, black-haired woman in emerald-green robes. I look at her and am once again confronted with a feeling of familiarity, despite the fact that I have never seen this woman before. But I know her name. I don't know why, but I know that the woman standing in front of me is Minerva McConagall, has the animagus form of a cat and is a force to be reckoned with. That last part isn't too hard to figure out, her face is so stern that it leaves little doubt that she is not someone to be crossed.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall", Hagrid says and she nods
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
She pulls the door wide and we get our first glance at the entrance hall. It is ginormous! Big enough to my room five times, maybe even more. But as I enter the castle for the first time I can't help but feel as if I've been here before. The other first years look around in awe, taking the high ceiling and the magnificent marble staircase leading to the upper floors and I try to be impressed as well. It is impressive, I know that, but I feel like I've seen it all before, often.
We follow Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor and I can hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, indicating that the rest of the school is already here. I expect us to go through that door but instead we are lead into an empty chamber. Here we all crowd in standing closer together than I am comfortable with. I shift from foot to foot, trying to ignore that my shoulder is touching that of a boy I don't know. At least Neville is on left, I don't mind being so close to him. I look up as Professor McConagall starts speaking.
"Welcome to Hogwarts 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."
She goes on to explain the four Houses, their names and history and how the house points work. I already know all of this from my mother of course, so I don't really pay attention.
"I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.", she finishes and I wonder what exactly she means by that. Are we supposed to have a last second make over? The boy next to me tries to flatten his messy hair with very little success. I don't know why he bothers, it looks fine to me. Then I notice the scar on his forehead and realize who it is. I'm standing shoulder to shoulder with Harry Potter. Hermione was right. He does look just like a normal eleven-year old boy. Actually he's a bit short for his age. He notices me staring and I blush giving him a quick smile before I turn away. He must think I'm so rude!
"I shall return when we are ready for you", Professor McGonagall says. "Please wait quietly."
Then she leaves the chamber.
"How exactly do they sort us into Houses?" I hear Harry ask one of the other boys and I turn around, curious to hear the answer.
"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."
I turn away, trying to hide my smirk. My mom has of course told me about the ceremony and that we just have to wear a hat, but she also mentioned that she was terrified before her sorting ceremony because her older sister had told her she needed to battle a griffin. As I turn towards Neville to tell him as much I see that he's gone all pale and looks about ready to pass out. I am about to tell him that it's nothing dangerous when people behind me start screaming.
I spin around, my mind suddenly cold and calm, ready to face whatever is coming, and relax when I see about twenty ghosts streaming through the back wall. They are pearly-white and transparent as the glide across the room talking to one another, not even glancing at us.
"Aren't you going to join your friends?", a voice behind me snarls and I blush as I turn around.
It's the blonde boy from the train, standing in between two troll-like boys that were in the compartment with him. Before I have to change to tell him to stuff it where the sun doesn't shine, McGonagall returns and tells us to follow her into the Great Hall.
I hear and see the other around me expressing their awe as they enter the hall, which is lit by thousands and thousands of candles floating in midair over four long tables, where the other students are sitting, but I, once again, cannot help but feel as if this is nothing new, as if I've been here countless times before. I feel a pang of disappointment. I wish I were as awed as all the others. Hermione leans towards me and whispers, "The ceiling is bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."
I just nod, not sure what else to do, but she seems to be satisfied with my response. I look to the front just as Professor McGonagall places a stool with a pointed wizard's hat in front of us. The hat is patched and frayed and extremely dirty and I wrinkle my nose at the thought of having that thing on my head. I really hope none of the kids here have head lice. The hat twitches and a rip near the rim opens wide like a mouth, then it begins to sing. The hat sings about the four different houses and adds in a little bit of self-flattery. Once it's done the whole hall bursts into applause and the hat bows to each of the four tables.
"So we've just got to try on the hat! I'll kill Fred, he was going n about wrestling a troll!", the boy to Harry's right, the one with the red hair, whispers in a fairly loud voice. I chuckle again and he looks over at me, his face blushing as red as his hair.
"My mom thought she'd have to battle a griffin", I whisper back and he gives me a shy smile.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted" Professor McGonagall says, holding a long roll of parchment in her hands. And so the sorting begins and I can't get over the feeling that I've been through this all before. As the names are slowly read and the students are sorted one by one I keep wondering where I'll go. Despite what I may have said on the train I already have a pretty good idea where the hat will put me. I clap as both Hermione and Neville are placed in Gryffindor, just as I thought they would be and then, finally, it's my turn.
"Morgan, Alicia!" Professor McGonagall shouts and I feel my feet move towards the stool. I turn around, facing the crowd watching and sit down. Then the hat is upon my head and I wait.
"Hmm", a voice says in my ear and I jump a little bit. "Worried about lice are we? I can promise you you're safe where that is concerned. But sorting you on the other hand. Well… that seems to be a challenge as you seem to have been sorted before."
"I've been sorted before?" I ask in surprise, wondering whatever the hat could mean. I've just turned elven so how can I have been sorted before. Still…the words don't seem wrong.
"That's because they aren't. You have been sorted before, but that was a different you, wasn't it? Difficult indeed."
A different me?
"Ah yes. You don't know, of course. And I must say how could you. By all means it is impossible. But where to put you…. Slytherin… well there are reasons for it, but I don't think that option suits you any longer. Not this time. Hufflepuff… well you have compassion to spare and you are loyal. Loyal to a fault, but you long for more. You are ambitious, want to change the world and truly believe you can…. That would be another point for Slytherin."
I am getting worried now. My two options seem to be between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, both not my first choices and not what I expected.
"I'm not done little one! Both those houses would be fine choices, but they are not your only ones. You have a wisdom beyond your physical years, and a thirst for knowledge, which means that Ravenclaw could be a great home to you… Ah! I see… well this is fascinating! "
"What? What is fascinating?", I think as loudly as I can, but the hat ignores me.
"Yes I suppose it must be this way."
I am growing frustrated. The hat hasn't said anything conclusive yet and I feel like I've been sitting here for hours.
"GRYFFINDOR!", it shouts loudly and the hat is lifted from my head. I get up stiffly, feeling utterly confused and oddly uncomfortable as I head towards the Gryffindor table, all of them clapping enthusiastically as I join them. I slide onto the bench in between Hermione and Neville who both congratulate me, but I can barely hear them. My thoughts are still lingering on the conversation I had with the hat when Harry Potter's name is called and the hall is suddenly completely silent. I look up, pulled from my thoughts and look to the chair. The hat seems to be taking a long time and I wonder if it took this long with me. Finally the hat shouts that Harry is a Gryffindor and our entire table bursts into applause as the relieved looking boy heads over and sits down across from me. Our eyes meet and for the tiniest of moments I feel like I'm remembering something, something important, then he turns back to the front and the moment is gone.
The rest of the evening passes in a blur as the rest of the first years are sorted and the feast officially begins. Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster gives a few words of caution which I barely hear. My mind is on the sorting and the boy sitting across from me. I don't know why, but as I look at him I get the odd feeling that he shouldn't be here and that things aren't happening as they once did. I try to get rid of the thought but for the rest of the night I can't shake the uneasy feeling that something is terribly wrong.
