A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't gotten around to posting in like a week. I've been really busy. Anyway, I hope you like this part. I think this is my favorite so far. But tell me what you think…and if you're confused tell me so I can clear it up for ya!
The Gifted – Part 4
"Crap! Why won't you close?!", Terri was screaming at her trunk. Why was she always over packed? With all the new books she bought, her trunk was way too full.
It was September 1st and Terri had to battle nerves as well as find a way to Kings Cross Station. "I guess I could call a cab", she thought while hastily throwing books into her messenger bag, figuring that might be a better way to carry everything.
"There", she said, exasperated as she finally got her trunk closed. It looked like it was about to burst open any second, so Terri decided to move fast.
Tom was nice enough to call her a cab, and even helped her load the trunk of the car. Terri thanked him and he wished her luck at Hogwarts (quietly, of course, considering they were on a Muggle street). The driver gave Terri an odd look as she grabbed Salem's cage and placed it next to her on the seat. Luckily, the owl remained quiet. Terri assumed that he must be nervous like her.
The cab pulled up to Kings Cross at 10:30 and just when she was pulling her trunk out of the cab, Terri spotted Hermione.
"Hey! Hermione!", she yelled while waving furiously in her direction.
Hermione immediately spotted her and ran over to help Terri with her trunk.
"My God, Terri! What have you got in here?", she said while her and Terri both carried the trunk over to Mr. and Mrs. Granger.
"You know…dead bodies and stuff", said Terri smiling.
Terri was introduced to Hermione's parents. She could tell instantly they were Muggles - they dressed and acted like them. When wizards are exposed to the Muggle World, they somehow always look out of place. Mrs. Granger seemed to be holding what looked like a big ball of brown fur. Terri tried to get a closer look and was utterly surprised when she saw two big black eyes staring back at her.
"Oh! This is Crookshanks", Hermione said, beaming as she took the cat from her mother. "Isn't he beautiful?"
"Yea, just gorgeous", Terri said, trying to cover the sarcasm in her statement.
Hermione seemed to have already explained to her parents about Terri's situation, and they were very sweet to her. They had stopped between platforms 9 and 10, when Hermione said good-bye to her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Granger wished both girls good luck and told their daughter to write.
"Now what?", Terri asked, turning to Hermione.
"Well, it's very simple really", Hermione began. "Just walk through this barrier.:
"Walk through it?", Terri asked a little uncertainly.
"Yup", replied Hermione. "Don't worry about it, though. We'll do it together. And try to do it as casually as possible. We don't want to attract attention from Muggles."
"Yea, this'll look normal", mumbled Terri, as her and Hermione began to walk straight into the barrier. Hermione went faster and Terri tried to keep up with her. It was very hard dragging a 5 ton trunk behind you and trying to walk fast at the same time. When they were only about 3 feet from the barrier, Terri closed her eyes and before she knew it, the environment around her changed from a Muggle train station to Platform 9 3/4.
Terri looked around her and found the place bustling with wizard and non-wizard families - some laughing, some crying, some scared, others excited. The steam blew from a beautiful scarlet engine labeled the Hogwarts Express. As Terri and Hermione walked through the crowds, Terri tried to find Ron and Harry. She decided the best tactic for this was to look for a group of redheads.
And no matter how hard they looked, the girls seemed to find everyone but Harry and Ron. Hermione pointed out all the fellow Hogwarts students to Terri.
"See the boy with the blond hair? Right, the one getting yelled at by an old lady? Well, that's Neville Longbottom. Very forgetful boy. Seems to have left one of his spellbooks at home. Poor thing.
"And those two girls standing together, a few feet from Neville? That's Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown." Hermione stopped here to wave. Terri thought they looked nice, but couldn't help noticing that they seemed to be in a fit of giggles. Terri looked around. She didn't really notice anything funny.
"Just keep an eye out for Draco Malfoy", continued Hermione, who had begun to push her way towards the engine so they could find a good seat. "He's a Slytherin and NOT someone you would want to get acquainted with."
When the girls found a compartment and had their trunks loaded on the train, they returned back to the platform and tried to locate any sign of the Weasly's or Harry.
And then, in the mist of all the people, Terri caught a glimpse of a skinny little redhead walking through the crowds.
"Ginny!", Terri exclaimed. Ginny looked very distracted and seemed to break out of a trance when she heard her name being called.
'Hermione! Terri!", she yelled back, running towards them. "You haven't seen my family have you?"
"No, why?", asked a concerned Hermione. "You didn't get lost did you?"
"Oh, no. I left without them. My friend Julianne Jeters picked me up. The boys woke up late so they weren't ready."
"Well they better get here fast. The train is leaving in 10 minutes", said Terri, looking at her watch.
"Oh, they'll be here", said Hermione, who despite sounding so reassured, was looking frantically through the crowd.
At 5 minutes to 11, Terri and Hermione settled into their compartment. When the first whistle blew from the scarlet engine, as if on cue, Fred, George, Ron and Harry appeared on the platform and scurried onto the train. The girls breathed a sigh of relief as their two friends entered the compartment. Terri looked at her watch. It was 10:59.
"Where on earth have you been?", asked Hermione.
"We…had…a rough…morning", puffed Harry who was completely out of breath from sprinting onto the train.
"We?", Ron asked, looking very sweaty and red in the face.
"OK, so maybe I had a rough morning", said Harry.
"What happened?", Terri asked.
"Well, if you want the whole list…", began Harry.
"He fell out of bed and nearly broke his wrist", interrupted Ron. Harry nodded and pointed to the bandage wrapped around his wrist.
"And Mrs. Weasly had to bandage it up", continued Harry.
"Then he spilt his glass of orange juice…"
"Lost my shoe…"
"Knocked over one of the chairs into the fireplace, nearly setting the whole house on fire…"
"Accidentally set off Fred and George's Filibuster Fabulous, No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks when I knocked over Mrs. Weasly's favorite vase…"
"Wow, and Ginny only said you guys woke up late", said Terri, who was very amused.
"Yea, it was weird", began Harry. "I was never this clumsy. It was almost as if someone was controlling me."
"Right, Harry", said Ron. "Just admit it - you were a total klutz this morning."
"Well thank goodness you're here", said Hermione in her shrilly voice. "I thought this was going to be a repetition of our second year."
Harry and Ron sniggered. "Why? What happened then?", asked Terri.
"They missed the train and rode a flying car to Hogwarts," frowned Hermione. "To this day I still don't see how they were not expelled."
Terri laughed. "Very creative, guys. Lemme guess Harry, another rough morning?"
"Well, not quite…", began Harry and to Ron and Hermione's surprise he explained the whole story to Terri. For someone who wasn't to keen on spilling secrets, he was sure telling a lot.
"And then it turns out that Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort!", continued Harry.
"No way…", whispered Terri who had hung on Harry's every word since he began telling her their second year adventure.
Around lunchtime, an old witch brought around a food cart so Harry, Hermione, Ron and Terri bought as many pasties and candies their hearts would desire.
"Oh man! You don't have Deedle's Mood Changing Cookies!", said Terri looking very disappointed.
"Don't have what?", asked Ron. He seemed to be very busy examining a strange brown and green-speckled Every Flavor Bean.
"Don't tell me you haven't heard of Deedle's cookies!", she responded, and from the look on their faces she assumed they hadn't. "Well, anyway they're the coolest. It looks like a regular chocolate cookie with vanilla cream in the center, but when you bite into one, the cream changes color. Each color represents a different mood. I think red is angry, yellow is worried…"
"Well, well. Look what we've got here", said a cold voice. Terri turned around to find a white faced boy with blond hair and shrewd eyes, accompanied by two large boys. (Well, large might have been an understatement - the boys could barley fit in the doorway.) The scene reminded Terri of a snobby celebrity who needed to be protected by his body guards. "There's the orphan, the poverty-stricken, the Mudblood and if I'm not mistaken, I believe they're accompanied by a Yank!"
"Move if Malfoy", replied Ron whose ears had turned beat red.
"What did you just call me?", asked Terri, trying very hard not to laugh. If her ears hadn't failed her, she believed this Malfoy kid had just called her a Yank!
"A Yank", he replied. "You're American, aren't you?"
"Jesus, what century are you living in? That name was popular during, like, the Revolutionary War!"
Malfoy chose to ignore this statement and continued. "You better watch it new girl or, or, or….I'll have you squashed to a pulp!"
"Oooh! Watch me shake! And by the way, the name's Terri - not new girl." She was having a lot of fun pissing Malfoy off. "Well, you're obviously not welcome here, so why don't you take Dumb and Dumber over there" - she gestured towards Crabbe and Goyle - "and find someone else who actually cares about what you have to say."
Malfoy stood silent for a minute, staring at Terri. He then shot her a nasty look and proceeded out of the compartment.
"So that's what you guys have to put up with?", Terri asked.
"Every year", Ron responded.
"Are all the Slytherins like that?"
"Yea, pretty much", Harry said. "But, Malfoy's by far the worst."
Terri turned to look out of the window. They were passing a beautiful country landscape, now, and the sun had just begun to set. Soon, they would arrive at Hogwarts. And once there, she would be sorted…
Then a horrible thought entered her mind. "What if I'm Slytherin?", she thought aloud.
Harry, Ron and Hermione, who seemed to have been discussing the upcoming year, turned to look at Terri.
"You? No way", stated Hermione. "You just told off Malfoy and no true Slytherin would do that."
"Right", began Harry. "And don't worry. You'll probably be in Gryffindor with us."
"But how can you be so sure?", asked Terri. "I mean, I've got this awful feeling in my stomach…"
"That's just nerves", said Ron. "And even if you don't get into Gryffindor, you'll definitely be in either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."
"Well, which one of those is better?", Terri asked.
"I like Ravenclaw…", said Harry, his voice trailing off. His eyes got all starry eyed and he had a delirious expression on his face.
Hermione and Ron rolled their eyes, while Terri giggled. "Hmmm, Harry. Who's in Ravenclaw?", she asked, teasingly.
Harry broke off from his trance, and just smiled weakly as his face turned bright red.
The remainder of the journey was very pleasant and before they knew it, Hogwarts loomed in front of them. Terri exited the train and came to a sudden halt as the vision of the enormous castle took her breath away. She heard it was big, she heard it was mesmerizing, but who knew it looked anything like this? Her eyes traced the castle from its front entrance to its uppermost towers.
"Ok, ready Terri. You put one foot in front of the other…", Ron said.
"Oh, sorry", she apologized as her, Harry, Ron and Hermione advanced up the stone steps into the school. They entered a large hallway, but Terri barely had time to observe it when she was rushed away by a stern looking teacher. Terri looked at her friends who were all smiling at her.
"We'll see you soon!", Harry called.
Terri still couldn't see how they could be so certain that she'd be in Gryffindor with them, but she had little time to think of that now. The professor, who had black hair pulled tightly back into a bun and square rimmed glasses, had led her into a small room.
"Sorry for whisking you away so quickly, dear", the professor said. "But we needed you for the sorting. Surely you understand." Terri nodded. The professor went on, "I am Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher. And these will be your other professors."
Terri turned to face a group of wizards and one by one she was introduced to each of them. She already knew Professor Dirdel, of course, and tried to avoid him as much as possible.
"And this is Professor Snape, Potions teacher", McGonagall continued.
Terri remembered Harry, Hermione and Ron's warning and immediately understood their feelings about him. Snape looked extremely unpleasant, and greeted Terri with a low grunt.
"Minerva, why don't you take care of the first years? I'll explain to Terri what she has to do", said the headmaster. Terri like Dumbledore very much, but she couldn't help noticing that he wouldn't look directly into her eyes when he spoke to her. In fact, all the professors seemed to act a little strangely around her…
Professor McGonagall left, along with the rest of the teachers who had to take their place in the Great Hall.
"Now, Terri", Dumbledore began. "You've never had any experience with a Sorting Hat have you?"
"No", she responded. "At Larsendelle we have a crystal ball which sorts us. When each student holds it, the ball turns a different color - green, yellow, blue or red. I was blue and…"Terri paused. Dumbledore probably didn't want to hear about this. "Sorry", she continued. "But I start rambling when I get nervous…"
"No need to apologize, my dear", the headmaster said. "Actually, I found your explanation of the crystal ball sorting to be quite interesting. You'll have to tell my about your experiences in the Blue House sometime."
Terri smiled and felt a little calmer.
"All you have to do", continued Dumbledore, "is try on the hat and it will determine your house. It's just as simple as holding the crystal ball. Ready?"
Terri nodded and followed Dumbledore through a door which led to the back entrance of the Great Hall. She was quite taken aback at all the pairs of eyes that seemed to be following her. She looked through the sea of young wizards, trying to find Harry, Ron and Hermione and found them rather quickly, since they were waving furiously at her from the Gryffindor table along Fred, George and Ginny. Terri walked up the stairs onto the stage and stood next to Dumbledore as he began to speak to the students.
"Welcome to another wonderful year at Hogwarts!", he began. "I hope you will all enjoy this term as you have in your previous years. However, the same ruled apply. The Forbidden Forest is off limits" - Terri noticed Dumbledore staring straight at the Weasly twins, who were desperately trying to look innocent - "and roaming around the castle halls after hours is strictly prohibited. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior, considering we have an exchange student this year." He nodded at Terri. "Terri McNally is from America and previously attended Larsendelle. She has been transferred here, because her professors felt she was gifted, meaning she is very intelligent. I expect all of you will make Terri feel welcome here at Hogwarts. So, before we have the traditional sorting of our first years, Terri will try on the Sorting Hat. "
To her surprise, Terri watched as a shabby looking hat sprang up and broke into a song. She looked nervously over at the Gryffindor table, where Harry, Ron and Hermione watched silently with crossed fingers. With the song finished, Terri sat down on the stool and slowly fit the hat over her head. She almost jumped when she heard a little voice in her ear.
"Ok, let's see what we have here. Bravery, courage, and intelligence. Oh my, yes, intelligence. And it's perfectly clear where you belong".
Where? Where do I belong? As long as it's not Slytherin…"Not Slytherin, are you sure? You seem to fit perfectly there. And looking back at you past…Well, maybe not YOUR past, exactly…Oh, well. No matter. But it's still perfectly clear where you belong…" Do you always ramble on like this? Just tell me where to go! "Alright, alright. Hold your temper. It's very simple, my dear. Despite what you say, I have no choice. You belong in SLYTHERIN!"