Chapter Four:
The Sorting Ceremony
Wednesday, September 1st, 1993,
United Kingdom, England, London, King's Cross Station,
Kali Kalakaua Lupin Morrigan Black,
The platform swarmed with hundreds of people. Rushed conversations buzzed in the air as parents gave their children last words of advices and embraces. You couldn't walk anywhere without bumping into someone, and the smell and noise was overwhelming. But despite the chaos Kali couldn't help but grin, it was just as she'd imagined it.
The red paint of the steam engine was pristine, with only the slightest bit of rust at the edges. The smell was a blend between the rising smoke of the train, caffeine, sweat, perfume, and animal droppings. Some of the people around her wore Muggle clothes, but most wore robes.
Kali had noticed when she's visited wizarding London a few weeks ago that British witches and wizards much preferred robes to ordinary clothes. During her trip to Diagon Alley it had surprised her that so many still wore robes and she'd found herself comparing it to what it was like back at home. North American witches and wizards hardly ever wore robes and she knew that that had a lot to do with the influence of history and the oppression of magic that was very present on the whole continent for several centuries. To see so many witches and wizards blatantly showing off what set them apart from the Muggles was very odd indeed, though not entirely terrible, Kali thought, it was nice to see that British wizards and witches were comfortable with – and even proud of – their magical background in a way that few witches and wizards from North America ever truly were, especially the older generations that endured the height of the repression.
Pan was perched on her shoulder as a pine marten taking in as much as possible. The other schools they'd attended hadn't allowed pets and he wasn't used to seeing this many animals in one place, and he wasn't particularly keen on the change of situation.
"It isn't too late to go back you know," he said, his voice crystal clear in Kali's mind.
"We've been over this," Kali thought back. "We're staying here until we find a way to help Dad."
"But that could take ages," whined Pan. "And that eagle owl is looking at me like I'm his next meal."
"Then change into something bigger," thought Kali.
Pan scoffed. "And have to leave the safety of your shoulder and get trampled underfoot? No thank you."
"Quit complaining. You might find that you like it better here than you did at any of the other places."
"Doubt it," Pan grumbled. "I found Remus."
Kali let her mind meld with Pan's until she saw what he did. He was looking at a tall man standing at the front of the steam engine, deep in conversation with a train guard. The tall man looked tired and sickly and seemed older than he actually was due to premature lines on his face and strands of grey in his light brown hair. He had scars cutting across his pale skin and his robes were shabby and patched. Despite this dismal outward appearance, Kali smiled fondly and even Pan forgot that he didn't want to be here.
Kali walked nimbly toward Remus, lithely dodging people and trolleys alike. Remus looked over at her as she approached and smiled. He finished his conversation with the guard and walked over to join his god-daughter.
"Did you find a compartment?" he asked her.
"Yes, but I still don't see why I can't just sit with you," she said.
Remus sighed, they'd gone over this before. "Because the minute we get on that train I become your teacher."
"You know, I could've sworn that you've been my teacher for years now, what with the homework, and the lessons, and the lectures…. Or was that another Professor Lupin?"
"You don't need to sit with me, Kali," he said.
"It isn't a question of need, it's about wanting to sit with you," she said.
"You should sit with your new classmates," Remus sighed. "This isn't San Francisco, or Ilvermorny or Hawaii, sweetheart, no one knows you here, you should try making some friends on the train."
"You think I'm going to have trouble making friends?" Kali smirked. "Please, I'm adorable and surrounded by an air of mystery from being the new student, who wouldn't want to be my friend?"
Under normal circumstances, Remus would have laughed, but he was far too stressed out of late. "Kali, people know who your father is here, especially now," Remus said, wearing that same pained expression he always wore when he talked about Kali's dad. "They might hold it against you."
"Because he's an escaped convict?" Kali asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why would I want to be friends with people who'd judge me over something I have no control over? I have standards, you know?"
"I still think you should use your mother's surname while you're here, or Nahele's, or mine, just not his," he said.
"I'm not going to do that," she said.
He sighed. "Kali -"
"They're going to find out one way or the other," she said. "At least this way it doesn't look like it's something I'm ashamed of."
The whistle blew and parents finished saying goodbye to their kids.
"I'll see you later, okay?" Remus said, giving Kali a quick hug. "Good luck with the Sorting."
And then he was gone, his long strides carrying him away until he disappeared in the crowd.
"On a scale of one to ten, how stressed are you?" Pan asked her gently.
"It's just a Sorting, it's not like I haven't been through one before," she thought, stepping back onto the train.
"You didn't answer the question," he said, nuzzling her neck affectionately.
"It feels different this time," Kali thought. "Like there's more hanging on it or something."
"Do you know which House you want to be Sorted into?" Pan asked, jumping down from her shoulder as she sat down in the empty compartment at the front of the train she'd put her trunk in earlier.
"I'm not sure," she thought. "Gryffindor would be the easy choice."
"Why easy?" Pan asked. His reddish-gold fur rippled, skin melting away and rearranging itself until in the blink of an eye he'd changed forms and now stretched out on the seat beside her as an oncilla.
There were a lot of names for what Pan was, varying according to different cultures, Kali had learnt the term daemon first and that was the one that had stuck. Pan could turn into any animal he desired, so long as he'd met a living version of said animal beforehand. He couldn't replicate magical animals, though. He'd tried once and it had been a painful and unsuccessful experience, to say the least. Neither could he take on human form. Instead, daemons had the ability to bind themselves to the human of their choosing, joining both their lives together forever. That's what Pan was to Kali, a constant companion with whom she shared a telepathic link, so that he knew her every thought as well as she knew his.
"Because Gryffindor's reputation is outwardly pristine," she answered. "If you get Sorted into that House you can assume you'll be respected and trusted by the rest of the wizarding community."
"Okay, so what's wrong with easy?" Pan asked slowly, reluctantly. He already knew the answer.
"Easy is boring," Kali supplied anyway, her eyes twinkling at Pan's deep mental sigh.
"Of course it is," he all but sniggered. "And what would the challenging choice be?"
"Slytherin," she thought without missing a beat.
"Really?" he asked, exasperated. "You want to be Sorted into the Death Eater House?"
"It isn't the Death Eater House," thought Kali, feeling just as exasperated as Pan sounded.
"Tell that to all the Slytherin Death Eaters," he snorted.
"Aunt Andromeda was in Slytherin," she thought.
"Law of probability," said Pan. "Even the worst of places is bound to produce a few good people from time to time."
"Slytherin House values ambition and resourcefulness," thought Kali. "There is nothing inherently evil about that."
"No, but seeking power by any and all means necessary can be pretty terrible," he said derisively.
"What about proving people wrong?" she asked.
"About Slytherin House? Kali even the House's founder was evil," said Pan.
"The founder whom I happen to be related to," she said.
"Doesn't mean you're anything like him," Pan said defensively.
"But I do value the traits he did," she argued.
"You value bravery too," said Pan. "and intelligence, and kindness."
"I can't be Sorted into all four Houses, Pan," she said. "A choice will have to be made somewhere along the line."
"I don't don't like how the Sorting system works here," he said grumpily, curling in on himself in a tight little ball of spotted fur. "It doesn't make sense. People's values change all the time and this school wants to define the next seven years of a bunch of eleven-year-olds' lives based on them?"
"I get the feeling you're overthinking this," Kali said soothingly, stroking the northern tiger cat's soft fur.
"But it's important," he said anxiously. "Your House becomes your family, isn't that what Remus said? What if we don't like them?"
"You were never worried about this back at Ilvermorny," she said, unsettled by Pan's reticence. He never hid his feelings from her, but this had clearly been bothering him for awhile now and she hadn't had a clue.
"Back at Ilvermorny I knew you'd be Sorted into a House where you'd be with people you had things in common with. That isn't a given here," he said shakily.
Kali pulled the small feline onto her lap, holding him close to her. "What does it matter if I have things in common with them or not?"
"Remus says you need friends," he said quietly.
"I have you," she said.
"I think he's hoping for someone who's the same species as you," he grumbled.
"Overrated," Kali said, laughing softly.
"That's what I thought," said Pan, still rather moodily. "But he sounded adamant, and I know you like having human friends. I want you to be happy."
"You sound like Remus," said Kali, scratching Pan behind his ear.
"If only you listened to me like you listen to him," Pan snorted.
"I do listen to you," she said, glad his mood had finally improved. "Whether I do as you tell me to, though, is another matter."
"Just imagine how much less trouble you'd get into if you actually did do as I say," he said, flopping dramatically on her lap.
"Just imagine how much less fun that would be," she teased.
"You say that now, but if this school's Sorting system is any indication, we're on our way to being trapped in a castle filled with people who obsessively value a single set of traits and disregard all others," said Pan before asking curiously, "Is there a word for people like that?"
"Monomaniacs," she said, after a moment's thought. "People with an overwhelming interest or zeal confined to a single thing, idea, subject, or the like."
"And people say learning a dictionary off by heart isn't worth it," he sniggered.
"I didn't learn it off by heart," she said. "I just read it."
"Same thing with you," he said cocking his head to the side. "Incoming."
Kali heard it too, approaching footsteps and a loud conversation… or maybe it was a monologue, there only seemed to be one participant in said conversation.
"… Father of course was very pleased," an oddly familiar voice drawled. "He got me a new owl as a congratulation gift. Not that my success was all that surprising."
"Whoa, Draco," a simpering voice said. Not a monologue then. "That's really impressive."
"This is the last compartment," Draco said right outside the compartment in which Kali and Pan sat. Draco… it explained why the voice had sounded familiar.
The door was pushed open and there stood Kali's cousin – second cousin really, but the distinction was superfluous. He'd changed quite a bit since she'd last seen him, but as that was eight years ago it wasn't all that surprising. His hair was still the same shade of white-blond, his eyes were still frosty grey, and his complexion was still pale and bloodless, but his features were now sharper and more pointed, having finally lost the baby fat. He possessed the haughty good looks that ran in the family and the smug countenance of someone who thought he was above everyone else. At that precise moment the smugness was lost, however, as he gaped openly at Kali.
"Hello, Draco," said Kali. He was blocking the compartment, so she couldn't see who he'd been talking to
"If he pulls my tail again, I'm biting him," said Pan, eyeing the blond balefully.
"He was five, I'm sure he knows better now," Kali thought back, but Pan tucked his tail beneath him just in case.
"Kali," said Draco, finally pulling himself out of his stupor. "What are you doing here?"
"I transferred from San Francisco," said Kali. "I'll be attending Hogwarts this year."
"You will?" It seemed as though his brain was still in the middle of processing, but he threw on a confident smile all the same as he sauntered into the compartment, and sat opposite her. His friends filtered in after him. "That's wonderful. Of course, Hogwarts isn't the best school in the world, but it's all about who you meet while you're here."
"I see," said Kali, before saying telepathically. "What the hell is he going on about?"
"I have no idea," said Pan. "Do you think it would be rude if we slipped out? That big one other there smells like mould."
Kali glanced over, there were two big guys, and one big girl. The girl was black-haired, and had a heavy, jutting jaw, and next to no chin, her chubby cheeks gave her a round face, and made her eyes look very small and squinty. Of the two boys, one was very fat, with a thick neck, a flat nose, and an unfortunate pudding bowl-style haircut; the other looked to be made mostly of muscle, his small eyes were dull, and his short, bristly hair grew low on his forehead. The smell of mould came from the latter.
"What are you wearing?" asked one of the remaining three of Draco's entourage. She would have been pretty if it weren't for the scowl and the way her nose wrinkled as though she'd smelled something foul as she looked over Kali's outfit.
Kali felt certain the look of disgust wasn't warranted. She wore a green, cotton jacket, over a simple grey shirt, black jeans, and Chuck Taylors. It wasn't high fashion, but it was hardly hideous.
"They don't wear robes in America," said Draco, with a wave of his hand, and a voice that made it clear that he was flaunting his knowledge around to make himself seem smart. "Unless it's a special occasion."
"You're American?" the third girl asked. This one was definitely pretty, despite the cool, calculating look she was throwing at Kali, as though sussing out whether Kali was friend or foe, follower or competition.
"I am," said Kali. It was easier than explaining that her mother had been Israeli, her step-father Hawaiian, her godfather was Welsh, her grandmother was Norwegian, her great-grandmother was English, and that she had a bunch of family in Argentina and Australia as well. It was simpler than getting into the fact that she had grown up moving around all the time, and that by experiencing so many cultures and living in so many countries, she didn't have a place that was hers. She didn't belong to anywhere.
"I don't like any of these people, we should definitely leave," said Pan. He was trying to distract her, he understood perhaps even better than she did her need to belong, and he knew that this line of thought did not lead to happy places.
"What happened to wanting me to make friends?" she asked.
"There are some requirements on quality that none of these humans seem to fit," he grumbled. "None of them have said how cute I am yet."
"They're waiting to decide if they like me before complimenting anything about me," she said. "Including the adorable animal on my lap."
"They're Purebloods?" he asked.
"Not all of them." She got the feeling the pretty girl with the golden skin wasn't, and she wasn't sure what to make of the good-looking, dark-skinned boy who sat at the corner opposite from her yet.
"I always wandered why my father hated America," said the girl who'd questioned Kali's choice of clothing, looking down her squashed, upturned nose at Kali. "It must be because of their terrible sense of fashion."
"Oh she did not," Pan hissed. "Want me to give her a fright?"
"She's establishing territory," said Kali, keeping Pan from turning into a Komodo dragon there and then, and making the girl scream. "She's Queen Bee, and she wants me to know it. It's a dominance play."
"She's playing with the wrong person," he growled. "You show her who's boss."
"I wouldn't say it's terrible," said Kali out loud, smiling at the snotty girl. "Not as a whole, anyway, there are always some exceptions. But overall, I'd say that the sense of style over there, trumps that of wizarding Britain."
The girl's eyes narrowed, and her jaw clenched.
"She was hoping you'd roll over, and submit," cackled Pan.
"She doesn't know me at all," snorted Kali.
"What makes you think that?" asked the dark-skinned boy.
"I don't like wizarding robes," Kali explained. "They're very bland, they lack diversity, they're unbecoming of anyone's figure, and any attempt at individuality with the garment is gaudy and garish."
Kali glanced pointedly at the pig-nosed girl's green robes and its bright pink patterns, and the girl's face turned bright red, clashing horribly with her showy outfit.
"Well," said the dark-skinned boy, looking arrogantly amused by the whole conversation. "Now that Pansy's attempted to insult her, are you going to introduce us, Draco?"
"Of course," said Draco. "Kali, this is Blaise Zabini." He gestured to the dark-skinned boy. "Pansy Parkinson." Pig-nosed girl. "Tracey Davis." Pretty girl. "Millicent Bulstrode." Big girl. "Vincent Crabbe." Bowl-cut boy. "And Gregory Goyle." Mould boy. Draco did a sweeping gesture so that he was pointing at Kali. "And this, is Kali Black."
"He didn't even introduce me, how rude," said Pan, snorting at Draco's theatrics.
"Black?" Pansy repeated, sitting to attention, and preening. "Are you a Pureblood?"
"No," said Kali.
"Oh," said Pansy, rapidly deflating, and dropping her shoulders.
"Black is the name of one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Pureblood families of Great Britain," said Tracey.
"I know," said Kali. "They should really change it to the Sacred Twenty-Seven, but I guess it doesn't have as nice a ring to it."
"Your father is Sirius Black," said Blaise. "The Sirius Black. The mass murderer who escaped from Azkaban."
"I didn't know he had a daughter," said Tracey. "But there's definitely a resemblance, you look just like him."
"He should get a medal for what he did, killing all those Muggles," said Millicent, speaking up for the first time, and Kali's jaw very nearly dropped.
"Quite right," said Draco, smugly. "Frankly, I think what he did was penance for the fact he was a blood traitor. Finally renouncing the Gryffindor ways and showing that he really was a descendant of the Black line after all. Pity he got caught."
"They can't be serious," she thought, as the two big guys and Pansy started agreeing profusely with Draco.
"They look pretty serious, Kali," said Pan, uneasily.
"What kind of people are dumb enough and cruel enough to think that killing innocent people is something warranting praise?" she asked.
"Purebloods," said Pan, the word dripping with disgust in his mind.
"I like Muggles," said Kali, and the compartment went deadly quiet.,
"We are outnumbered by pro-Pureblood elitists, you really want to start picking a fight about this now?" he asked, as the six teenagers around her stared at her.
"What better time to do it?" she asked.
"How about when we're not surrounded?" he muttered.
"Come again?" said Draco, looking mildly horrified, not by his own discriminative words, but by the implication of hers.
"I like Muggles," she said again. "I find them fascinating."
"You're – you're a -" Draco stammered.
"I'm a what? Come on, Draco, spit it out," said Kali with a smile that was more a baring of teeth than a show of good-humour.
"A blood traitor," sneered Pansy, with a triumphant look in her eyes.
"That term still confuses me," said Kali, and Pansy snickered, clearly seeing this as further proof that Kali's intelligence was substandard. "Surely a blood traitor is someone who makes a decision, or who believes in ideals which affect the magical potency of their offsprings' blood in a de-valorizing manner."
"That's exactly what it means," said Blaise, still looking highly amused by this whole conversation.
"In which case surely it should apply to Pureblood inbreeders," said Kali. "After all it's Purebloods who have produced the largest number of squibs and stillborns in the past century, and there's not much magical potency there."
Pansy opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, much like an over-sized fish. Millicent came to her rescue. "You can't prove any of that."
"Actually, there have been multiple research papers written on the matter," said Kali, "and all those with valid sources have found that inbreeding increases the chances of offspring being affected by recessive or deleterious traits, leading to a decreased biological fitness, and as such affecting its ability to survive and reproduce. I can write down a few references if you'd like."
The compartment went quiet, Gregory and Vincent's mouths were hanging open and their eyes had a dull, confused look to them. Millicent was glaring a her, and Kali half expected her to start cracking her knuckles. Blaise had raised his eyebrows and was studying her more seriously now, but the amused twinkle remained in his gaze – maybe it was a permanent fixture. Tracy's expression was blank, but she kept casting glances over at Pansy waiting to see how the other girl would react. Pansy was in far too much shock to lead by example, though, her eyes appeared to have doubled in size, and her mouth opened and closed, still gaping like a fish out of water. As for Draco, he looked so horrified his facial expression was almost comedic.
Kali thought she'd been rather civilized in making her point. She could, after all, have been far more graphic with some of the side effects of inbreeding which could be quite gruesome. In fact, Pan was trying to get her to tell them about Cryptorchidism in the hope that they'd get so uncomfortable they'd leave.
"How do you know all this?" asked Blaise, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"I read," she said, and realizing she was sounding a bit condescending, she kept talking, figuring she might as well go all out. "The notion of blood purity exists only in Great Britain, and in some of the countries it colonized, every other wizarding community views it as quite a backward way of thinking, really. It makes it easier to be properly informed when you're not being fed propaganda infused information."
Pansy huffed and tilted her head back further so that her nose must surely be almost completely blocking her view of Kali. "It's just because you're foreign, you'd understand otherwise."
"I'd understand the systematic discrimination of the majority of magical citizens based solely on their parentage?" Kali asked, tilting her head to the side and pursing her lips in feigned bewilderment. "You must have me confused with someone more bigoted."
It was then that Millicent chose to lunge – not for her wand, but directly at Kali – which worked in Kali's favour for she'd yet to get into the habit of carrying her wand with her wherever she went, but years of martial arts and self-defence training meant that despite the confined space and the fact that Millicent had about 100 pounds on her, she quickly had the other girl down on her knees with her arms twisted behind her back.
Vincent and Gregory had scrambled to their feet, but kept looking uncertainly between Kali and Millicent and Draco, waiting for the latter to tell them what to do.
"First bloody day, and you're already getting into fights. We haven't even gotten to school yet," Pan scolded. He'd leapt out of the way when Kali had jumped from her seat, but he'd misjudged it and landed badly on his paw. Kali felt ghost pains shoot up her own left arm from where Pan was hurting, but he hadn't broken or sprained it.
"She attacked me, remember?" she said, keeping a firm grip as Millicent struggled.
"I told you we should have left, you didn't listen," he said, gingerly licking his paw.
"I will not run from a fight that I can win," she said, then to Millicent, "Keep struggling and you're going to dislocate a shoulder."
"You bitch!" Millicent screeched, still fighting Kali's hold.
Kali tightened her grip and hitched Millicent's arms further up her back to the point where any movement on Millicent's part was impossible.
"I don't appreciate being attacked and insulted, Millicent. I would suggest you not to it again," said Kali coolly, using the tone she'd mastered from her grandmother.
She released her hold on the other girl, and Millicent sprawled onto the compartment floor, her face flushed bright red, and a wet sheen in her eyes.
"I apologize for hurting you," said Kali, feeling her gut wrench at the sight of the tears.
"Why are you apologizing?" Pan hissed. "She started it."
"Remember what Uncle Oke said about use of excessive force?"
"She's two times your size. There's nothing excessive about self-defence."
"I'm trained, she isn't. It's an unfair fight."
"She's a bully."
"If I lower myself to her level then I'm no better."
Pan grumbled on about how annoying he found Kali's morality, but she ignored him. It was generally easier on everyone to just let him rant in peace.
"How did you do that?" asked Draco, shaking himself out of his stupor. "Did you use a spell?"
"No," she answered, keeping a wary eye on Millicent, Vincent, and Gregory in case they decided to try anything. "I've been taking hand-to-hand combat classes since I was five."
"Muggle fighting?" sneered Pansy.
"Yes, it's good exercise, and, on occasion, it's a useful skill to have," said Kali, relaxing her stance when she realized that the two boys wouldn't do anything without Draco's say-so, and that Millicent seemed to have learned her lesson.
"You're more Muggle than you are witch," Pansy said, her face twisting in disgust.
"I'm plenty of both, actually," said Kali. "I can show off my spellwork, if you'd like?"
Pansy recoiled at the implied threat, she even reached inside her robes for her wand, but she didn't take it out. She was at least smart enough not to get into a fight with an unknown adversary.
"Perhaps you should leave," suggested Draco, barely managing to look at Kali as he said it.
Kali scoffed and sat back down in her seat. "I was here first, I'm not leaving. But if I'm making you uncomfortable then by all means get out."
Draco deigned to glance up at her, his eyes angry, but uncertain. He wasn't used to being spoken to like this, and he didn't like it, but despite having only spent a small amount of time with Kali when they were much younger, he knew her well enough not to push her.
Sensing Draco's indecision, Pansy spoke up, "Lets go find Theo. Hopefully he's found better company to sit with."
They trailed out one by one, until only Draco and Blaise were left in the compartment with Kali and Pan.
Draco stood, and followed his friends, but stopped short at the door, "You want to be careful who you make enemies of here, Kali," he warned. "You might regret making the wrong ones."
With that he flounced out, and the door slid shut behind him.
"Now that is a dire prediction," Pan snickered. "What were you thinking making such scary people your enemies, Kali?"
"I think he may have meant it more along the lines of 'If you continue being mean to me, I'm going to tell my father, and then you'll be in trouble,'" she said, copying her cousin's snotty drawl.
"Draco does like his theatrics," mused Blaise, still sitting calmly in his corner.
"This is nothing compared to what he was like when we were younger," she said.
"Oh, I can imagine."
He stretched his legs out in front of him, and watched her. When the silence started to get a bit creepy, she spoke up.
"You may have noticed all your friends have left."
"They're more acquaintances than friends," he said smoothly, not at all thrown off by her clear invitation for him to leave also. "You'll find that Hogwarts doesn't offer up an awful lot of choice in way of friends, and they're what I am stuck with. But you seem far more interesting."
"Flattering as that may be, if you want to stay, you're going to have to stop staring. It's rather off-putting."
"Surely you're used to it. You're beautiful." He didn't say it like it was a compliment, just a statement of fact, an emotionless appraisal of physical charm.
"I know, but that doesn't make it any less unwelcome."
"You know?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"What? You think I've never looked in a mirror?"
"Fair point."
The compartment door slid open, and a girl with very fine, strawberry blonde hair and very pale and blemished skin popped her head in. She seemed to retreat in on herself when she saw that the compartment wasn't empty.
"Can we help you with something, Daphne?" asked Blaise.
The girl, Daphne, shook her head, "We were looking for somewhere to sit," she said almost too quietly to hear.
"There's plenty of room in here if you don't mind the company," said Kali.
Daphne debated the idea. Surreptitiously glancing up and down the train, probably wondering whether there might be an empty compartment somewhere, but she eventually nodded and slipped into the seat closest to the door. Another girl came in after her, a couple of years younger than Daphne, probably a first year, she was very skinny and promised to be tall. Her hair was that peculiar shade of light brown that turned blond in the sun and got darker during the winter time, and her eyes were big and dark brown like a doe's.
"Kali, this is Daphne Greengrass," said Blaise with a wave of his hand toward the older girl. "A Slytherin third year like myself."
"Hi, I'm Kali Black," she said, extending her hand.
Daphne shook her hand shyly, giving her a small smile. "That's my sister, Astoria."
"Hello," said Astoria, with a much larger smile, she shook Kali's hand enthusiastically, and her eyes dropped to Pan who was curled up in her lap again, and her grin grew. "He's lovely, is he yours?"
"Oh, I like her, she's far more acceptable company," purred Pan, unfurling himself and joining Astoria on the opposite bench.
"You're so easily bought," Kali teased. "He's a daemon."
"What's that?" asked Blaise, paying more careful attention to Pan now as though only just noticing him.
"Well, he's supposed to be a spirit guide, but he's bloody useless at it."
"Only because you never listen," he hissed, jumping to his feet and giving her a reproachful look.
"He can understand you?" Astoria asked excitedly, watching the interaction.
"He can understand you, too, and that's not even his most impressive trick."
"What am I? A performing monkey?" he scoffed.
"Just think how impressed they'll all be if they see you do it."
Pan huffed, but it was too tempting to resist. He shimmered like hot air over asphalt, and transformed into a golden retriever.
Astoria shrieked delightedly, and Blaise dropped his mask of mild amusement. Even Daphne sat up a little straighter, and Pan basked in the attention.
"You don't see that everyday," said Blaise, trying to regain his composure.
"Do you think Mother and Father will get me one for Christmas if I ask nicely?" Astoria asked her sister.
"That's not quite how it works," said Kali. "Daemons are rare, and unless they're bonded, they don't live near people."
"Then how come you have one?" asked Blaise.
"It was a fluke. I was wandering where I was not meant to wander, and he'd gotten himself caught in a hunter's trap. I saved his life, and he decided to stick with me after that."
"My hero," he grumbled. "I would have gotten out of that trap eventually."
"Before or after the hawks, eagles, and owls got to you?"
"You're so lucky," said Astoria, vigorously rubbing Pan's tummy. "What else can he turn into?"
"Any non-magical creature you can think of," Kali answered, as Pan demonstrated by turning into a squirrel, then tortoise, then a falcon, then back into an oncilla.
Astoria was enthralled by Pan, and he never grew tired of her surprised gasps and excited cheers when he took on a new form. Kali left him to entertain the compartment's youngest occupant, as Blaise changed his line of questioning to Kali herself.
"What year are you in?" he asked.
"Third," she said, which put her in the same year as Blaise, Daphne, Draco, and probably the rest of his gang, too.
"Do you know what electives you want to take?"
"Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, and Study of Ancient Runes."
"No Muggle Studies?" Blaise smirked. "I thought you were a big fan of all things Muggle."
"Not all things," she corrected. "The nuclear bomb, for instance, really sucks. I'm not interested in the Muggle Studies class because I prefer to learn about them by interacting with them."
"You interact with Muggles?" asked Daphne, eyes wide with shock.
"Of course I do, they're fun. Their ingenuity more than makes up for their lack of magic, and honestly a lot of them live better than we do."
"But they're Muggles," said Daphne uncertainly.
"Have you ever met one? Actually sat down and had a conversation with one?" Daphne shook her head. "I recommend it, it's eye-opening. What about you two, what subjects are you taking?"
"Divination is supposedly an easy class, and if you're there perhaps Study of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy won't be as dull as they sound," Blaise drawled.
Kali rolled her eyes at him, which only seemed to make his smirk grow, and she turned her attention to Daphne who was tugging the sleeves of her robe over her hands. "Daphne?"
Daphne looked a little startled at being addressed directly, and her skin took on a pink tinge, making her blemishes look less pronounced.
"Study of Ancient Runes and Divination," she said, she really did have a very small voice.
"What are the core subjects like?" Kali asked, she'd been curious about this ever since she'd found out that Transfiguration and Charms were taught separately at Hogwarts, unlike at all the other schools she'd attended which taught anything requiring spells and wand work in just one class.
Blaise filled her in on the inner workings of a Hogwarts education, with Daphne only occasionally adding a few details. Kali learned that History of Magic was taught by a ghost, which sounded fascinating, until they informed her that said ghost was really very boring, and that most people fell asleep during his class. They told her about how the Charms' professor was a very, very small man who had to stand on a stack of books to see over his desk, Daphne liked that class, but Blaise only spared it a non-committal shrug – Kali got the feeling that enthusiasm wasn't really his thing. The Potions' teacher favoured Slytherins. Herbology was becoming more and more hands on. The Transfiguration's professor was really strict – but Kali had already gathered that from her previous encounter with Professor McGonagall.
The stream of information kept coming until around midday when a great clattering outside in the corridor had them all looking up. A smiling, dimpled lady slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"
The four of them scrambled into the corridor, crowding around the food trolley. Astoria picked out a couple of packs of licorice wands before going back to play with Pan. Daphne and Blaise also took very little time to decide what they wanted, but Kali had never seen most of what the lady was selling, and couldn't decide what looked best. She finally decided on a box of Bertie Botts's Every Flavour Beans, some Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, and a couple of different flavours of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum.
"So tell us about yourself," said Blaise, tearing into his Pumpkin Pasty.
"What do you want to know?" asked Kali.
"Draco said you're American, whereabouts are you from?"
"Hawaii mainly, but I've also lived in Boston, New York City, and San Francisco."
"Why do you move around so much?"
She shrugged. "My guardian is a researcher, he studies mainly dangerous creatures and he does a lot of conferences and sometimes takes on a teaching position. We go where the job takes him."
"He's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" asked Daphne. "What's he like?"
"Brilliant, best teacher I've ever had, and I have had loads. He used to go to school at Hogwarts."
"If he's that good, I hope he lasts longer than the others we've had," said Blaise. "Quirrell was useless, and Lockhart was a joke, we haven't been taught how to defend ourselves against a Puffskein let alone against anything capable of hurting us."
"You'll learn fast. He likes the more hands-on approach to teaching."
"How hands-on?" asked Daphne a little nervously.
"When he can, he brings the creatures we study into the classroom and lets us practice defending ourselves against them," Kali explained, but Daphne didn't look terribly enthused by it all. "There's no real danger."
Daphne smiled shyly at her. "You must be really good at Defence, huh?"
Kali told stories about the creatures she'd encountered over the years to put Daphne at ease: the Horned Serpents and Snallygasters in North America, the Sphinxes in Egypt, and the Occamies in India. Carefully glossing over those scarier and more dangerous adventures she'd found herself in completely by accident: her encounter with a full grown Manticore while exploring ancient ruins in the Negev desert; that time she'd stumbled upon a Nundu and her cubs in Uganda; her run in with two Hidebehinds when she was at Ilvermorny…
The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north. The heavy cloud cover blocked out the sun and lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks to disperse the growing darkness. The train started to slow down.
"Finally," said Pan, stretching on Astoria's lap. "I'm starving."
Kali was starting to get hungry too and the sweets just weren't cutting it anymore, she wanted something warm and cooked.
"We can't be there yet," said Daphne, checking her watch.
Kali checked her own watch, it was only 7pm, the train would need at least another half hour to get to Hogsmeade. But they were definitely slowing down; the noise of the pistons and the rattling of the train gradually falling away, making the hammering of the rain and the roaring of the wind sound louder than ever against the windows.
The train came to a sudden stop with a violent jolt, and distant thuds and bangs sounded up and down the carriage from luggage falling out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.
Kali tensed. She did not like dark enclosed spaces.
"What's going on?" asked Astoria, sounding small and frightened.
Kali took in a deep steadying breath and let her eyes adapt to the obscurity. It wasn't easy with almost zero source of light, but her connection with Pan was good for a lot more than cute parlor tricks and his constant nagging. Even so she could only make out shapes with very little detail. She flexed her left wrist, letting her magic flow down into it, and cast a spell Remus had taught her years ago. There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment as flames danced up from her open palm.
It was easier for them to relax now that they could see.
"Perhaps we've broken down," said Blaise very calmly, although Kali could still hear his rapidly beating heart.
"There's something moving out there," Astoria said, peering outside. "I think people are coming aboard..."
Kali got to her feet, carefully holding the flames aloft, but before she could look out the window, the compartment door slid slowly open. Kali whipped around, almost dousing the flames as her concentration wavered, and Daphne and Blaise who were sat closest to the door scampered further along the bench, huddling next to the window with Astoria and Pan.
Kali stood her ground, even as every instinct she had told her to back away, run, and hide. She couldn't back away any further without hitting a wall, the only exit was blocked, there was nowhere to hide, and she would not cower down and hope for the best.
She held out her handful of fire further in front of her and glared balefully at the thing in the doorway.
Illuminated by the shivering flames in her hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood and its dark cloak concealed the rest of its body from view. Her stomach contracted as she realized what it was. She knew that beneath the cloth the thing's skin would look like it belonged to something dead that had decayed in water: glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed. The dementor drew a long, slow, rattling breath, trying to suck all the happiness from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all and Kali felt her breath catch in her chest, she couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Images flashed through her mind. The cold went deeper than her skin. It was inside her, eating away at her….
"He isn't here." She had to force the words out past the ball in her throat, and still they sounded distant and weak. The rumbling in her ears was deafening, but she set her jaw firmly as she tried again. "He isn't here."
The dementor didn't move. She clenched her right fist and Pan gave a warning growl:
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"Making it leave," she said. "It's corporeal, that means it can feel pain."
"Don't you dare punch it in the face," he admonished.
"Got a better idea?" She wasn't keen on this plan herself, but she wasn't seeing any other options.
He grumbled unhappily, but before she could do more than work up her nerve, he'd leapt in front her, transforming in mid-air into a Siberian tiger. He wasn't very big, not yet fully grown, but those claws and teeth could still inflict no small amount of damage and his roar was impressive.
There was a moment of stillness, then the dementor turned around and glided away.
Kali could breathe properly again and she gulped down air greedily. She was shaking and the flames in her hand wavering, dying down then flaring back up uncertainly.
"What was that thing?" Daphne gasped. She'd been holding her breath.
"A dementor," said Kali.
"What is it doing here?" asked Astoria. She was shivering worse than the rest of them and Pan came to rest his head on her knees.
It wasn't difficult to deduce why an Azkaban guard would be searching the Hogwarts Express. The lights came back on and the train started moving again as though nothing had happened.
"I'll be right back," said Kali, stepping out of the compartment and sliding the door shut behind her. The corridor was crowded with panicked student. It looked like the dementors had visited every carriage on the train in their search for Sirius Black.
She didn't have to wait long for Remus to find her. He strode up to her, and, not caring that they were surrounded by students, hugged her tightly. She returned it.
"I saw Mum and Nahele," she said, trying to forget those terrible images and memories that had consumed her mind. She didn't want to cry, not on her first day, not in front of so many people.
Remus stroked her hair, whispering reassurances, but his heart was beating madly against his chest and she could hear how strained his voice sounded.
"They shouldn't have been allowed on the train," she said, pulling away from him. He looked terrible, the full moon was getting closer by the hour, and he did not need this added stress.
"I don't think they were," he said. "Dumbledore would never have allowed it. That's probably why they stopped the train before we got to Hogsmeade. I'm going to see the driver now, but it shouldn't be long before we get to the school. Remember that you're taking the boats with the first years?"
"I remember." She wasn't looking forward to it in this weather.
"Good." He kissed her forehead and handed her a bar of chocolate. "Here, it'll help you feel better."
He nudged her back into her compartment. Daphne, Blaise, and Astoria all sat quietly, staring vacantly off into space. Kali sat and broke off parts of the chocolate bar, sharing it between the four of them.
"Of course Remus had chocolate on him," said Pan, curling up next to her.
"Doesn't he always?" She took a bite and felt warmth spread suddenly to the tips of her fingers and toes.
They sat in silence for the rest of the journey until a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
They barely had time to pull off their jackets or travelling cloaks and slip on their school robes over their normal clothes before the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Pan turned into a small field mouse and scurried into Kali's pocket.
It was freezing on the tiny platform, and very wet, rain was driving down in icy sheets.
"Firs' years this way!" called a booming voice. Kali turned. On the other side of the platform stood a gigantic figure, at least eleven feet tall and three times the size of a regular person. The huge man was beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.
Astoria clutched Kali's hand and together they pushed through the mass of people around them that kept trying to shunt them in the opposite direction. They were out of breath by the time they made it to the man and the crowd of first years that surrounded him. Kali was a good four inches taller than the rest of them. The man had a mane of shaggy black hair and a beard that covered most of his face. He looked wild, but he beamed down at them.
"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
Slipping and stumbling, they followed the man down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. The rain had turned the ground to mud and it was nearly impossible to stay upright, Kali nearly fell face first into the dirt when a little boy lost his footing and skidded into her, but she caught herself on one of the trees that lined the path, and helped the boy upright.
"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
The narrow path turned sharply, and as one, Kali and the first years gasped. A large, glassy black lake stretched out before them, a fleet of small boats perched atop its inky surface. Each boat had a thin wooden pole at its front with a lantern, the warm, orange lights swaying slightly in the breeze. But the lake and the boats, as impressive as they were, were nothing, a mere afterthought, because there, in the distance, stood Hogwarts, perched high upon a mountain of rock, a vast castle with many turrets and towers. Lights twinkled from the castle windows like little stars, welcoming them home.
"No more'n four to a boat!" the man called, and the students began claiming their boats, their feverish excitement thick in the night air.
Kali and Astoria slipped into a boat with two other girls, one of whom was looking rather green.
"Everyone in?" shouted the man, who had a boat to himself. "Right then – FORWARD!"
The boat jolted beneath them and everyone reflexively grabbed hold of the side of the boat as it begun to move. The fleet of boats glided smoothly across the dark surface of the lake with the big man at the lead, guided by some unseen magic. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock. Following the man silently, slipping on damp rocks and loose pebbles, and coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.
Hagrid led them to the immense front doors and knocked three times, each reverberating thud like a small earthquake in Kali's chest. The doors swung open and there, standing in the sudden pool of light from within, was a tiny little wizard with a shock of white hair.
"The firs' years, Professor Flitwick," said the giant.
"Thank you, Hagrid," said the Professor in a squeaky voice. The size difference between him and Hagrid was exceptional. "I'll take them from here."
With a flick of his wand the doors were pulled open wide. The entrance hall was large, its stone walls lit with flaming torches, and its ceiling too high to make out. A magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.
They followed Professor Flitwick across the flagged stone floor, the drone of hundreds of voices could be heard from a doorway to the right: the Great Hall. But the little Professor showed them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, and craning their necks to see Professor Flitwick who was perched atop a big wooden chest as he welcomed them to Hogwarts and explained the Sorting, the different Houses, and the Point system
"Ready?" Professor Flitwick asked jovially when he finished his speech. "Follow me."
Silence descended over them as they followed the Professor across the entrance hall and up to a pair of large double doors. Flitwick paused just outside the door. They held their breath. Muffled noise could be heard from the other side of the doors, hundreds of students talking and laughing. Flitwick's eyes swept over them. One side of his lips tilted up. Another flick of his wand and he threw the large doors open.
Noise and warmth flooded out of the Great Hall, engulfing them. Several first years gasped. It was like stepping into another world. Four long tables stretched out before them, packed full of students and gleaming tableware. Candles floated above their heads and above that was the night sky, black and star dusted above the cloud cover. At the front of the room, on a raised platform, sat the professors. At their centre, in a bright golden chair, sat Headmaster Dumbledore. Professor Flitwick led them up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight.
Professor Flitwick silently placed a three-legged stool in front of them, on top of which she put a pointed wizard's hat that was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.
"Would it kill them to clean that thing?" asked Pan. He was still comfortably tucked away in her pocket but he was using her eyes to see.
"Maybe they did once and it disliked it so much that it threatened to quit," she said as the hat twitched and a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and it began to sing. Kali found herself too nervous to listen properly and, before she knew it, it was over. The Sorting had begun.
"When your name is called, you will sit on the stool and put on the Sorting Hat," Professor Flitwick squeaked into the silence that followed the Sorting Hat's song. "But before we start on the First Years, we welcome this year at Hogwarts a transfer student from the San Francisco Institute of Magic." Excited whispering filled the Hall. "Miss Kali Black will be joining our Third Years." The whispering faded just as quickly as it had begun. Astoria's hand tightened around hers in a vice grip, but Kali met the looks of disbelief and distrust head on.
Professor Flitwick levitated the hat off of the stool and Kali gently pulled away from Astoria's hold as whispers once again broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.
"Black, did she say?"
"Not like Sirius Black, Black?"
"That must be his daughter."
"He has a daughter?"
Kali took a deep breath and casually walked to the stool ignoring the already fast spreading rumours. She spotted Remus sat at the teacher's table and he smiled at her as she sat on the stool. The hat was placed on her head, it was a bit big but not so much as to fall down to her nose, she could still see the Hall full of people craning to get a good look at her. She waited.
"Hmm… now you are a tricky one," said a small voice in her ear. "Lets see… Plenty of courage… yes, there's a lot of that. No shortage of confidence either. A strong moral centre, and a strength of will that is unparalleled… such passion. Oh, but look at your mind, such intelligence… witty and fast-thinking and creative… so much knowledge… and an unquenchable first to learn more… inquisitive and perceptive and independent…. Overwhelmingly loyal and so kind and tolerant… patient and dedicated… honest and selfless…. Nasty temper, though. Oh a very nasty temper indeed… the things you could do… the things you have done.… More talent and skill and power than I've ever felt before… with the cunning and determination to always achieve your goals… resourceful, yes… a born leader, fierce and intimidating, with a touch of disarming charm… so clever when it comes to manipulation…. This has never happened before, seldom do students' fit into more than one of the Houses so perfectly, let alone all four…. So where to put you with all of these options? Hmm… perhaps Gryffindor, you're certainly fearless enough, thriving through endless adventures… but there's ambition too… ambition as far as the eye can see. You have things to prove…. Slytherin or Gryffindor? The choice is yours."
It only took her a second to decide, less really.
"Interesting, very interesting…. As you wish…." And the hat shouted for the entire Hall to hear: "SLYTHERIN!"