Chapter Four

"Where's Holly?" Jack whispered to Ivy as they followed Fred, George, and Lee off the train.

Ivy shrugged. "She should be back by now. I don't know where she is."

Jack nodded and got into a carriage. "You guys sure have weird looking horses." He commented after looking long and hard at the skeletal horses pulling the carriage.

Fred laughed, "What horses?"

Jack was about to point to the horses, but Ivy nudged him hard.

"Those are Thestrals," she whispered harshly. "You can only see them if you've seen death and accepted it."

"So who've you seen die?" Jack asked.

Ivy glared at him. "Does it matter right now? I could ask you the same thing."

Jack thought about it. He didn't even know who he saw die. Did Sandy count? He shook his head.

Ivy nodded and climbed into the carriage. She was glad he didn't want to talk about it. Before she stepped in, she looked around again for Holly, worried that her twin was late. If the train left before she got back…Ivy shuddered. Holly would have to traverse the paths to Hogwarts by herself.

Inside the carriage, Fred, George, and Lee were explaining the House system to Jack.

"-So whichever House you get put into," Fred was saying. "is like your family for the next year."

"And if you mess up and get caught doing something wrong, or get on Snape's bad side, you get points deducted from your House," George added.

"But if you get an answer right, or do something amazing, your House gains points," Lee pointed out.

Jack nodded slowly. "Alright. So far, I understand. Just two questions: What are the four Houses? And who's Snape?"

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Snape's the Potions teacher here. We saw him when we were in Dumbledore's office over the summer. He's known for his extremely bad temper and morbidly greasy hair."

"Sounds about right," George chuckled. "Now, the four Houses are: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin."

"Slytherins are sneaky devils," Fred said seriously. "They're backstabbing, arrogant, selfish, rich, pureblooded gits. Don't befriend one if you value your values."

Lee laughed, "Ravenclaws are known for their brains. They used to be the smartest kids in the school before Hermione Granger showed up. They're alright if you can understand what they're saying."

"Hufflepuffs," Fred started, then paused. "Um…Hufflepuffs are loyal…and Cedric Diggory was a Puff…I guess they're nice…they're extremely easy to prank…but not as fun as the Slytherins…"

"And Gryffindors," Lee started. "Are noble, brave, great people to be around-"

"Humble," Ivy snickered.

"Extremely so," George agreed. "Very good looking, and fun."

"We're the best," Fred shrugged, almost looking apologetic. "Nothing more to it."

Jack laughed. "Okay, guys, I think I got it."

"Good," Ivy said, looking out the window. "We've just arrived."

As they walked through the doors, they were met by a tall, older looking lady.

"That's McGonagall," George whispered to Ivy and Jack. "She can be pretty strict, but I think she loves us all the same."

"Hello, Professor!" Lee called cheerfully. "We were just going in to the feast. Care to join us?"

"Go and join your classmates, you three," she replied tartly. "I need to speak to Ivy and Mister Frost."

George, Fred, and Lee shrugged apologetically and left Jack and Ivy standing with the deputy headmistress.

"Are we in trouble already?" Jack inquired, grinning at the older lady.

"Where is your sister?" McGonagall asked Ivy, ignoring Jack for the moment.

Ivy shrugged. "She said she had to grab some stuff from our house and that she'd be here soon. If she's not here, I don't know where she is."

McGonagall sighed. "I have to direct the first-year students into the Great Hall shortly. I need to know if you want to be Sorted after they've all been Sorted or if you'd like to be Sorted in the Headmaster's office after the feast."

Jack grinned, "Well, I think I already know which House I'm going to be in, so I don't mind being Sorted in front of everyone."

Ivy nodded, "Let's just get it over with."

"Follow me, then," McGonagall beckoned. "You'll come in with the first-years."

Ivy and Jack followed her to the doors of the Great Hall, where a mob of kids were waiting anxiously. They joined the shifting crowd and waited for something to happen.

"Are you sure that will work?" a boy in front of them whispered to the person next to him.

"Positive," a familiar voice affirmed. "After the Headmaster is done talking just raise your hand and ask. He'll give you the password."

"Holly?" Ivy asked incredulously.

"Oh," Holly straightened up, "hey Ivy, Jack. How's it going?"

"Where have you been?" Ivy exclaimed. "I was so worried! I thought you missed the train and were going to have to take a path here!"

Holly grinned. "I'll tell you later."

Ivy was about to protest, but just then, the doors to the Great Hall opened and the horde of eleven-year-olds surged forward.

Jack caught his breath as he looked up at the ceiling. He could see the Moon watching from behind a cloud and stars winking at him from the night sky.

"Home, sweet home," Ivy sighed.

"That was always my favorite relic," Holly smiled, nodding to the ceiling that Jack was still staring at. "I almost took on a whole legion of Roman soldiers to get this back."

"You guys lived here?" Jack asked in amazement.

"Yep!" Ivy nodded. "This used to be our home. That dais over there was where our family used to eat on feast days and other special occasions."

Holly giggled. "Remember that one time Aidan got everyone to try and hit the shield over the dais from the other side of the room? And one of the men's spears hit Dad's goblet and spilled cider all over his best tunic?"

"That wasn't just anyone's spear," Ivy protested. "That was mine!"

Holly guffawed, earning her looks from everyone in the room.

"Sorry!" she said, holding back a laugh. "Please, continue."

Once everyone had gone back to watching the sorting, she turned to Ivy.

"That couldn't have been you!" she whispered. "You were standing right next to me and that spear was from the other side of the room!"

Ivy wiggled her eyebrows. "What else is magic for?"

"Jack Frost," McGonagall's voice sliced through their conversation.

Jack walked slowly up to where the deputy headmistress was standing and sat on the stool beside her. Ivy and Holly watched silently as the hat was placed on his head and as it decided on the House to place him in. After a few minutes, the hat finally yelled out its choice.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Amid the applause, Jack looked to the girls, his chagrin clear on his pale face. Ivy shrugged, silently giggling. Holly gave him a thumbs up and pointed him toward the Hufflepuff table. He hurried to the table and quickly sat down at the end nearest the dais.

Ivy, not waiting for her name to be called, walked briskly up to the stool and sat down. The hat barely touched her head when it shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Ivy hopped off the stool and skipped to the Gryffindor table. Holly squared her shoulders and walked up to the stool and the hat. She sat down and closed her eyes.

"I thought Ivy was just a mistake" the unmistakable voice of the Sorting Hat growled. "Now you're here too. I thought you two had decided never to return."

Holly shrugged. "Stuff happened."

"Mmmhmm," the Sorting Hat agreed absentmindedly as he looked through her experiences. "Well, Ivy might not have changed, but you definitely have. You two are working with the Guardians, now?" He sounded mildly surprised, "I never thought you'd be willing to even see that Russian again…oooh, I see…"

Holly opened one of her eyes and saw Ivy holding up her arm and tapping her wrist. "I think you need to hurry. Ivy's tapping her wrist."

The Sorting Hat huffed. "Fine. I think you'd be best in…"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Holly stood and walked toward the Ravenclaw table. A cough behind her and quiet laughter around her helped her realize that she still had the Sorting Hat on her head. She slipped it off her head and quickly placed it in the deputy headmistress's outstretched hand. Cheeks burning, she carefully made her way back to her new table.

As she sat down, Dumbledore stood up. "There is a time for speechmaking," he started, looking around at all the students with a twinkle in his eye. "but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Holly hardly registered that food was magically appearing on the platters at the middle of the table as she studied the teachers at the head table. There was the tall strict lady, McGonagall, picking at the fish in front of her. And next to her was that one greasy-haired potions master…Severus something. Holly figured she'd ask Ivy later. Then there was a midget and a giant sitting right next to each other. And there was a lady whose steel-gray hair stuck out everywhere. And then there was a short, toad like lady. Holly wrinkled her nose. She looked like bad news.

Holly grabbed a pea and threw it at her sister's head. Ivy turned and gave her a questioning look. Holly pointed to the toad lady and stuck her tongue out. Ivy glanced over at her and then shuddered and nodded her agreement.

Just then the food disappeared and Dumbledore stood up again. Holly turned around and started playing with her fork. She figured she wouldn't worry about the rules, especially since she knew she and Ivy were going to break most of them pretty quickly. Then, the toad lady stood up and interrupted the Headmaster. Holly looked around to gauge everyone's reactions. The greasy-haired potions master was watching the toad lady with pure hatred in his eyes. Most of the other teachers had varying looks of disgust on their faces, though Dumbledore just looked mildly amused. Of the students, one boy at the Gryffindor table was looking at her with as much malice as the potions master. On the other side of the hall, at the Slytherin table, most of the students watched with something akin to adoration in their eyes. Holly shook her head. This lady was really trouble.

Finally, the toad lady ended her speech and Dumbledore stepped forward and finished his. As he was about to dismiss everyone, a small boy sitting near Jack bashfully raised his hand.

"Excuse me," he said timidly, "but I was wondering what the wifi password was."

Holly grinned as Dumbledore kindly said, "Sherbet lemon with a capital S and no spaces."

The first-year nodded and the Headmaster finished dismissing them.

This one's a bit shorter, I know. But I do need to end somewhere...and I do have school...and I may or may not have the books in an easily accessible place at the moment...

yep! That's about it!