Disclaimer: No part of this publication attempts to defraud any copyrights possessed by J.K. Rowling. That said, this is fanfiction. If you like it, take it. It'd be pretty hypocritical for me to demand that you not steal my premises, while I am busy doing just that myself.
Chapter IV – Never trust anything if you can't see where it keeps its brain.
(Cause that makes it devilishly hard to cut off its head in case of an emergency)
There was a pause. And another. Then the door swung open, revealing a tall, black haired witch in emerald-green robes, standing just inside the door. She had a very stern face, and from the looks of it, she wore the look often. It fit her.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," the giant said. The voice echoed in the large entrance hall.
"Thank you, Hagrid," The professor said. "I'll take them from here."
And she swung the door wide open. The entrance hall was so big, you could have dropped Number Four inside, with room to spare. Torches dotted the stone wall casting a flickering quality of light onto the walls and a magnificent marble staircase leading to the upper floors. The ceiling was simply too high to make out.
From the sounds of it, the whole school was behind one of the doorways to the right. The drone of hundreds of voices carried through the closed door; but Professor McGonagall led them across the flagged stone floor and into a small empty chamber off the hall. As they crowded in, she caught sight of the giant – Hagrid – slipping in through the door to the right. They crowded into the chamber, standing rather close together, so that she was leaning against the wall, and another girl against her.
Professor McGonagall looked over them, then spoke. "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 time in your house common room."
Kira hadn't quite realized all of that. The twins had talked about house Quidditch teams, and the history of magic had only touched on the founders for which the houses were named.
The professor, gave them all a long gaze, and continued. "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, and rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."
Kira ran a hand through her hair, and shrugged. There was no way she could fix it now, what in the middle of a packed corridor without a mirror or a brush. Hogwarts would just have to take Vernon's ultimate advice in life – "You'll take what you're given and you'll like it!"
"I shall return in a moment when we are ready. Please wait quietly." And with that, the professor disappeared out of the chamber.
Really, looking back over the speech, it seemed a little silly. The house cup was a great honor? How do you bestow a great honor on a quarter of the people at the school? It sounded like a silly way to encourage students into following the rules. She didn't break rules often, but these things always annoyed her. They expected people like her to rag on their friends to follow the rules. Peer pressure by competition into being orderly. Bah.
Fred, George and Lee's description had somehow knocked out her fear of the sorting. Really, battle a troll? She suspected something more benign. Nearby a kid with red hair – probably the twins' brother Ron – was muttering that Fred had told him it was some sort of test, and it hurt. Almost everyone looked apprehensive.
Apprehensive was the appropriate word to describe the jitters in her stomach. She was hoping for Gryffindor. Whatever happened, she would have to act brave. Unless there really was a troll, anyway.
"Move along now!" McGonagall's sharp voice cut across the murmuring first years. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."
"Now form a line." Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and – Who's toad is that?"
"Trevor!" The toadless boy from the train broke out of line and scooped up the toad. Everyone laughed, and some of the tension in the air dissipated, as the boy retreated to the line under McGonagall's fierce scowl.
"Follow me" McGonagall led them out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
If the entrance hall was impressive, then no words could describe such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. Kira's head snapped back after she caught sight of a ghost, pearly-white and slightly transparent, who was bobbing his head about and casually sitting one of the tables. The tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the professors behind them. The hundreds of students had all turned, staring at them. Uncomfortable with all the staring eyes, she looked down at her shoes and the floor. The stones were polished to a shine, and jointed together in a colorful variety in swirls and patterns galore.
Kira quickly looked up as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put an extremely old hat, which one could only imagine, had been around since the before the first stone of Hogwarts was placed. It was patched an frayed and rather dirty. What were they supposed to do with the stool? Tame a lion? Pull a rabbit out of the hat? But the hat twitched and began to sing.
The boy beside her sighted happily when he realized all they had to do was try on the hat. But she frowned. She wasn't sure she could talk it into doing what she wanted.
McGonagall had called one of the girls who had been in her boat across the lake. "Abbot, Hannah!"
The blond girl stumbled out of line, took up the hat and put it on. It fell over her eyes, and she had to find the stool with one hand to sit down. There was a moment's pause.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.
The table to the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Kira saw the a plump ghost sitting at the table waving merrily at her.
"Bones, Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!" Finally, someone she knew.
"RAVENCLAW!" The second table from the left clapped this time. Several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.
One after another, people disappeared from the line up front to the four tables. Hermione Granger became a Gryffindor, while Justin Finch-Fletchley became a Hufflepuff. The boy with the toad, Neville Longbottom took a long time for the hat to decide, before calling out "GRYFFINDOR!". A blond haired boy took the shortest time to decide, Draco Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin before the hat came to rest on his head.
The alphabet was running low now. "Nott", "Parkinson", "Patil", "Patil". Her hands trembled. Maybe she should just run for the door? What if the hat just didn't call her name? – "Perks, Sally-Anne" – What if the hat just sat on her head, until she was led off and sent back to the Dursleys.
"Potter, Kira!" She felt as if her legs had turned to lead. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a step forward. A wildfire of hisses broke out all over the Hall.
"Potter? Did she say Kira Potter?"
She reached the stool in a second, and dropped the hat over her head. The whole school seemed to be leaning from their seats to get a look, before it slipped over her eyes. She waited.
"Hmm" mused a small voice in her ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Loyal to a fault, I see. Not a bad mind either. Quite the curious one, aren't we? Ah, and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?"
She gripped her hands together and prayed for Gryffindor. Everyone she knew was there.
"Yes, yes. You wish to follow your friends." The small voice said. "But I could not place you there, no.
"No!" She thought hard at the stupid hat. "Gryffindor!"
"Your fear urges you to find the familiar; but this will pass. You seek to follow your newfound friends from loyalty. You'll work hard for your ends. I'd put you in Ravenclaw if you really liked? No great interest in Ravenclaw? Well, better be HUFFLEPUFF!"
The last word was a shout to the whole hall. Placing the hat back on the stool, she walked shakily toward the Hufflepuff table. She was too relieved to have it over, and too conflicted about being rejected by the hat to register she was getting the loudest cheer yet, with at least a half-dozen students beating a rhythm against the table with their fists. She hardly noticed the girl with the shiny prefect badge shaking her hand before she managed to find a seat next to Sally-Anne and the first girl to be sorted. She shook hands with a grinning Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones.
The high table of teachers was now visible. The boat man, Hagrid, was sitting at the nearest end. Professor Burbage sat on near the other end of the long table and was chatting with a ghost. In the middle of the long table was a large gold chair, which must hold the Headmaster. Albus Dumbledore, enigma of the wizarding world, looked politely down at the sorting of the next student. He had flowing silver hair, beard and mustache. Half moon glasses perched on a long crooked nose.
Kira looked down to applaud for Thomas Summerby, who joined them the table across from them. Almost next up, Dean Thomas got sorted into Gryffindor. She clapped loudly for him as well. Ron Weasley made it into Gryffindor as well. "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin before Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.
A boy leaned over and introduced himself as Ernie Macmillan. By the time she had returned the greeting and rightened herself in her seat the headmaster had begun to speak.
"Welcome! Welcome one and all, to a new year at Hogwarts! While we eat our fine feast, let us ponder an age old question. What is the true purpose of the pet rock?"
He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Kira laughed
"Ahh, sweet!" Summerby had noticed the large quantity of food that had appeared before them. Kira was left in awe. It truly was a feast. Roast beef, lamb chops, bacon, pudding, carrots, gravy, roast potatoes, boiled potatoes, fries, and roast chicken. There was even a bowl of what looked suspiciously like lemon drops.
It was all delicious. Not magically delicious, like the butterbeer the twins had procured for her. It was the flavor of muggle cooked food, but all of it was done to perfection. The Dursleys just might have complemented her for this.
Somehow the discussion went to Hogwarts letters and families. Justin spoke up. "We didn't think it was real, magic and all. So we ignored the first bunch of letters. Eventually, this flood of a hundred letters came flying through the window one Sunday, wrecked the whole living room."
The others laughed.
"How about you, Kira?" asked Susan.
"Well, I always sort knew about magic, even though my relatives were muggles. So I believed the letter when I got it." She paused. "The portkey was really cool, though. They sent me this slip of paper which sent me from my house to Diagon Alley in a second."
"I've never gotten to travel by portkey." Hannah said half enviously. "Don't know if I'd want to, it seems more dizzying than the Floo."
"The flu?" Kira asked.
"The floo! You know, you throw floo powder in a fireplace, jump in, yell out your destination…"
"You jump in a fireplace?" Justin asked skeptically.
"Sure! Floo powder cools the flames instantly." Susan said, with a giggle. "It turns the flames green so you can tell."
On Kira's other side, a couple of older students were discussing classes and teachers with Sally-Anne. "If you look two places down from Dumbledore, there's Professor Snape who teaches potions. Biggest git at the school. I'd warn you not to get on his bad side, but you already are, so no worries."
"Just great." Sally-Anne said sarcastically.
Laughing, the older student continued. "Next to him is Professor Quirrell. The guy with the turban. He was pretty good first year, but the rumors are he had some trouble with a hag in Albania. Anyway, he's been stuttering ever since. Hard to learn how to defend yourself from some guy who can't talk."
A sharp pain shot through her scar suddenly, and she rubbed her forehead through her bangs. Weird. The pain was gone as soon as it arrived. It was hard to shake off though. The hook nosed potions professor was glaring at her past Quirrell's turban.
The older student had moved on. "There's Professor Sprout. She's the head of Hufflepuff, for everything the prefects don't take care of. Mostly, the older students run things. Sprout's more likely to be trimming leaves off of a plant in greenhouse three than up and paying attention to what goes on in the common room. Unless there's a problem, we rarely see her outside class. She's nice enough though. Really good class, usually."
Kira had put her fork down as she peered off at the professors. Turning back to her plate, she noticed the food had vanished. She pouted, and tapped her now empty plate. One of the older students laughed.
"Wait a sec – Ah, there they are!" The deserts blinked into sight on the platters. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor, pies, tarts, chocolate éclairs, strawberries, cake; and if someone's favorite wasn't nearby, they would call down the table for it. Kira ventured a scoop of pumpkin-pie ice cream.
She listened in on Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot discussing first-year charms for a second before she heard herself being referenced by one of the older students. "You know, I'm kind of surprised that they would give a portkey to a first year."
"Oh come on, Gordon. People have been using portkeys for centuries. One stupid ministry of transportation report comes along – Bam! A knee-jerk reaction from the whole wizarding world."
Why this was, Kali would have to wait. Dumbledore had risen from his seat, and the hall fell silent.
"Ahem, well now that we have sat back and begun digesting our feast, a few start-of-term notices."
"First years should be aware that Hogwarts hosts large populations of various magical creatures in the forest on these grounds for your study. But all students would do well to remember that entering the forest is strictly forbidden.
"I have been asked to remind you all as well; no magic should be used in the corridors. A list of banned items is viewable in Mr. Filch's office.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to anyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
Curious. Why would that be? And now, she had the odd feeling she would be checking out this corridor.
"And now, before we all fall asleep on our plates, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. There were both groans and chuckles from the students, and the teacher's smiles had lost their humor. McGonagall managed to scowl with upturned lips.
Dumbledore, however, wore a cheery grin as he give his wand a little flick, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike into words.
"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"
Everyone began bellowing the words at once, at different pitches and different intervals. Feeling ridiculous, but deciding it was better to join the crowd, Kira began to sing to the tune of the eighteen-twelve overture. The song was fairly short, but everyone seemed to finish at different times. At long last, Fred and George, now standing arm in arm on the table, were left singing to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted the last few lines.
"Leeeeaaarrrrrrrrrrrrnn unnnnnnnnn'tilllll ouuuuuurrrrr brrrraiinss allll rooooooooooooo"
The twins kept holding the last note. They had very good lungs. Wait. Nobody's lungs were that good!
"ooooooooooooooooooooo - " A fizzle of light flew across the great hall, and the Weasley twins were suddenly silenced. Everyone laughed, which mingled with and then broke into applause. The twins waved their wands at each other, unsuccessfully trying to wordlessly end the spell.
"Ah, music!" Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
The Hufflepuff first years followed the prefect who had shaken her hand earlier, out of the great hall through the entrance hall stuffed full of milling students, to a door on the right of the main staircase, the down a staircase. Along a corridor which appeared to go right under the great hall was a still life painting of some oranges and a pitcher.
The prefect complimented the orange's color, and the portrait swung open to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it. For a second, Kira wondered it J.R.R. Tolkien was a Hufflepuff. They found themselves in the Hufflepuff common room, with comfortable looking armchairs dotted around the hardwood floor. It also looked like Kira had always imagined a hobbit hole. The ceiling and walls formed a large arch, and little round tunnels lead off to the dormitories, all of which had perfectly round doors, like barrel tops. Numerous yellow and black hangings were all about, and an elevated fire burned brightly in the middle of the room. There was no visible chimney, but the smoke moved straight up and into a hole in the ceiling.
The prefect pointed the boys off to one of the dormitories and the girls to another one. The five of them stumbled along a circular tunnel which followed a snaking path, turned a bend and ended abruptly with another door. Inside was a smaller sort of common room; oval shaped with the same sort of open fire burning in the middle. All around the edge of the room were pockets, each containing a bed lofted over a desk and a wardrobe.
Their trunks had been brought up, and placed by a bed. Susan bones switched spots with Megan Jones so that she and Hannah could have bunks next to each other, but the rest of them were too tired to talk much. They pulled on their pajamas and climbed into bed. Megan asked if they knew when they were supposed to be awake, nobody did. Kira thought briefly of pulling out the picture of her parents and tacking it to the ceiling; neh, tomorrow. Hannah and Susan were laughing about something, but Kira turned over and fell asleep at once.
AN: I do apologize for the large batch of similarities between this chapter and the original series. But I am trying to create as faithful a reproduction of cannon as possible. Only one thing has changed, and it is unlikely to affect the traditions of an institution which has been around for almost a millennia.
Thanks for reading.
Chapter IV.b – Troll Wrestling
It turned out, that Fred had been honest. So far the troll had bloodied nearly half of the entering Hogwarts class. A boy, Seamus Finnegan, had just been tossed onto the Gryffindor table. His spear lay in pieces on the floor. The judges quickly agreed with the troll's decision, and the red crest of Gryffindor appeared on the boy's robes. His shoulders sagged with obvious relief…
(hmm I smell a possible story here. Someday.)
More notes: Meeting the twins was a bit of a red herring. I tried to emphasize, or at least get across, that Kira's not the bravest. I can see guesses for Ravenclaw. But I was really trying to push everyone in the right direction. (So much for the anvil sized hints.)
Still more notes: As much as I love Hermione and Ron… they probably won't be key characters. I've used my power as writer to make Sally-Anne Perks, and Thomas Summerby first year 'puffs as well. I just needed more characters in first year Hufflepuff, and they were unlabeled in canon. So it shall be written, so it shall be done.