Hi everybody!
I'm so sorry I didn't/couldn't update sooner- I've just been through a seriously hectic exam period, and haven't had the time between assignments and revision to look at this AT ALL.
Thank you so much to everybody who reviewed! So, as promised: FINALLY, it's a longer chapter! Thank Oz I finally finished it!
I would like to make special mention of my amazing friend and editor Twilighterjf4eva, without whom I would never be able to get this up here! Thankyou so much for helping me with this!
So… it's finally up, so enjoy, and oh, yeah; I don't own Wicked or Harry Potter. Chances are, neither do you.
Bye for now,
~Latte
Elphaba
A long train ride, one book and oh, about fifteen or twenty chocolate frogs later, an enormous man (presumably half-giant) escorted us from the Hogwarts Express to a fleet of small wooden boats, which were to be our transport across Great Lake - and up to the school.
Nessie had a fair bit of trouble climbing into our boat, what with her chair being too heavy for me to lift with her in it, but in the end a nice Munchkin boy, Boq, lifted Nessa out of the chair while I lifted Nessa's wheelchair easily and placed it in the boat behind her.
One more thing- it may sound mad, but I'd swear I saw Nessa blushing when Boq placed her gently down in the boat and smiled at her.
The boats slipped smoothly across the glassy lake and sailed into a hole in the cliff below the school, the former being cleverly hidden by a curtain of ivy. We clambered out of the wooden boats onto a pebbly beach under the school (Boq helped Nessa again, and now I'm sure I saw her blush, although I don't think Boq noticed). A quick look around and I decided that there must be about eighty or ninety of us first years, maybe more. Some girls I recognised from the school I went to back home, in Munchkinland- the Munchkinland School for Privileged Girls- where the daughters of high-up officers' daughters and Noble Ladies went for their education. I hoped they didn't see Nessarose and me; I didn't want them to give Nessie a hard time. Or me, for that matter.
At that moment, a tall witch in elaborate midnight blue robes walked through a door I hadn't noticed up until now, and started reading a list of names from a long roll of parchment. The assembled first-years quickly caught on, and put their hand in the air and said "Here!"
I zoned out, listening for my name but not paying attention to the names being called. Here and there was a name I recognised from the Munchkinland School, but far from smiling or greeting my former classmates, I frowned and ducked my head, hoping nobody recognised me.
"Potter, Harry?" An underfed, dark haired boy answered, and simultaneously there was an outbreak of whispering amongst the soon-to-be students, especially from the blonde girl and her companions from the train.
"Scott, Pfanee?" One of the (still heavily giggling) girls who had gawked at Nessa and I answered.
"Thropp, Elphaba?" the tall witch asked.
"Here," I answered, crouching lower in the hope that no-one was looking around for me.
"Thropp, Nessarose?" The tall witch asked, and at this point people started to whisper again, creating almost as much chattering noise as for the famous Harry Potter.
"Here," Nessa replied, cool as a cucumber despite the attention, or merely oblivious to the people whispering about her.
"Tiggular, Fiyero?" No response.
"Tiggular, Fiyero?" the witch repeated, slightly louder. "Fiyero Tiggular, are you present?"
Still no response and the tall witch moved on, making a mark against his name with a long quill.
"Upland, Glinda?"
"It's GA-linda, with a 'Ga'." The blonde girl from the train bounced around on the balls of her feet, no doubt trying to catch a glimpse of Famous Harry Potter, or the apparently absent Tiggular boy.
"Weasley, Ronald?" Madam Tall Witch asked, rolling up her parchment when a hand went up, oh, about five or six feet to my right, a tall blonde boy gave a scornful snort.
"What's your problem? D'you think my name is funny?" Asked a gangly, red-haired boy, whom I decided must be Ronald.
"Nothing…" the blonde boy said, "it's just… I would have thought the Ministry would have taken away your family's licence to breed by now… but evidently not." He smirked, and turned his back on the –now furiously blushing- boy.
With all the students accounted for (except the absent Tiggular boy), the tall witch introduced herself as Deputy Headmistress Madam Morrible, and led us into the Great Hall. I barely noted the gasps of surprise at the hundreds of ghosts floating above the tables; I was looking around, trying to take in every detail of the magnificent room. I looked up, at the magicked roof, spotting constellation after constellation, and wow- was that a meteorite shooting over the staff table?
Something pulled me from my staring- the slight, wavy-haired girl standing next to me, who was saying, "It's not really the sky; it's just magicked to mimic the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts; a History," to anybody and everybody who would listen. I smiled, remembering how Nessa had said that I would be the only one to actually read her school textbooks cover to cover before first term even began- apparently she was wrong.
Madam Morrible lined us up in alphabetical order down the central aisle and the other students finally got a good look at us. The general student body wasted no time in critiquing us, chatting loudly together; squealing with delight and excitement when they saw Harry Potter, which changed to looks and whispers of pity when they saw Nessarose in her chair, which changed again when they saw me- to squeals of terror, shouts of laughter and cruel whispers.
It hurt, but like I expected anything else.
Morrible walked to the side of the hall, coming back with a battered and patched old hat, balanced on a polished wooden stool. She called the first name of the roll, and a frightened boy named "Aden, Michael" walked forward, put the hat on his head, and sat for nearly a minute, while the hat muttered to itself.
Then: "RAVENCLAW!" The hat yelled out the house for all the students to hear, the boy took off the hat and ran to join his cheering new housemates.
The sorting continued in this way for some time, the pattern only broken when "Longbottom, Neville" forgot to take the hat off when he ran to join Gryffindor, and had to jog back, blushing like a radish.
There was a colossal and collective indrawn breath as "Potter, Harry" walked up and sat on the stool. For nearly five minutes he appeared to have a conversation with the hat, until it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" and Harry went to join Neville and the other Gryffindors, including the wavy-haired girl, Hermione, the one who had whispered to her companions about the magicked ceiling.
At long last I was called, and out of the corner of my eye I saw people whispering, and one or two waifish girls faint out of shock. Ha! They'll get used to having a green girl around.
I sat on the stool, pulled the hat onto my head and waited…
How do you think it was? Good? Bad? Indifferent?
Anyway, I would love to hear all your feedback, so please review.
See you next time!
~Latte
