Author's Note: Hello, all! Here is Chapter Four! I am dreadfully sorry that it took so long to install. But, seriously, let me tell you a bit about the last few weeks I have had. I graduated from Nursing School, then I went to Disney World, and now I have been waiting two weeks just for the state to clear me so I can take my licensing exam and if I don't get to take it soon, I think I might commit some sort of felony. I do not like to play games under any circumstances. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 4
I could not find Harry in the sea of faces that formed in the middle of the Great Hall. It seemed much more overcrowded and cramped in the group of first years now as I looked on from the outside. I remained grateful that I was no longer in that crowd, waiting to be sorted, my fate lying with some mangy, old hat. I craned my head over to the other side of the room again, toward the Slytherin table, boring my eyes into the back of the girl's sleek, black head.
Could I possibly have just been imagining it? I was feeling a bit light-headed when I sat down after being sorted, along with feeling nauseated and having to pee very badly. Maybe those feelings of illness had messed with my brain a little bit, made me hallucinate. After all, how much could this mystery girl really look like me with a head of hair as silky and shiny as that. There was simply no comparison, I convinced myself. I decided to turn my gaze from her and watch the remainder of the sorting.
"Malfoy, Draco!" McGonagall called loudly. A boy strolled through the crowd and sat on the stool with an air of nonchalance and something close to arrogance. His hair was so blonde it looked silver beneath the dim light of the candles floating in midair above us. It was shiny, too, and slicked back so finely that the reflection of the stars from the bewitched ceiling twinkled dully off of his head. The sorting hat merely hovered over him before calling out "SLYTHERIN!" and he hopped toward the opposite end of the room and sat down beside the mirage of myself. He smiled at her sweetly, a smile that barely peaked through that arrogant shell, barely even skimming the surface. Had I not seen that tiny glimmer for that fraction of a second, I might have thought that this newly sorted Slytherin, Draco Malfoy, was a cold, dull snake.
Harry plopped down beside me at the Gryffindor table after he had been sorted. The giddy, careless expression on his face as he took his seat told me that he did not make the connection that I had made just a few minutes ago. So it seemed likely to me that I had, indeed, been mistaken about the girl who had my face, and I decided to let it go. Once the remainder of the group was sorted (the last being placed in Slytherin house), Dumbledore stood up and raised a hand to the Great Hall, which quickly fell under silence.
"The very best of evenings to you all!" Dumbledore began. "To our new students, welcome, and to our returning students, welcome back. As your Headmaster, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to Hogwarts, and it is my duty to make sure you are in an environment that is safe. Having said that, the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits to students unaccompanied by an adult, except for those students who wish to die an untimely, painful, and possibly bizarre and unexplainable death." I furrowed my brow. That sounded almost comical, but I did not laugh as I looked around and no one else around me smirked. "Secondly, the trophy room on the third-floor will remain inaccessible for a while, as it has become infested with uncharacteristically ferocious nifflers. So, if you value your fingers and earlobes, I strongly suggest that you steer clear until we have the situation under control. Lastly," he said, clearing his throat, "I just want you all to be cautious as you roam the halls and grounds of Hogwarts. Furtiveness is a virtue that none of us should be quick to forget. Now, for just a few more words. Taradiddle! Earwig! Widdershins! Plimp!" He nodded and turned to head back to his chair behind the front table. I decided that Dumbledore was a very interesting man.
Before I even noticed the gurgling noises rising up from my stomach, a vast amount of food materialized in front of me. Meat pies, breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, scalloped potatoes, candied pork, cakes and sweets of all kinds. I had to catch a string of drool as it dripped from the side of my mouth. I hoped that nobody had seen, and I was reassured when everyone was just as excited and perplexed as I was at the sight of the feast that was now sitting in front of us.
"What do you think Dumbledore meant about that whole 'being cautious' bit? Surely it is not dangerous at Hogwarts," I said to Harry, trying to say it so only he could hear, but more of yelling it instead because of the noise all around us from the chatter of the students. Harry shrugged as he spooned a pile of potatoes into his mouth.
"He probably means the centaurs," said a squirrelly voice from beside me. I turned to see the bushy brown-haired girl who sat beside me, Hermione. I gave her a puzzled look. "I read that the Forbidden Forest has an entire herd of them living in there. Dumbledore has a treaty with them that they can stay there as long as they don't make themselves known to us. They are very intelligent creatures, centaurs, but I hear they can be somewhat moody, especially with the changing positions of the moon." She seemed to love to hear herself talk. It did not bother me though. I enjoyed listening to other people's knowledge. She continued to talk to me, but somehow my eyes drifted away, past her bushy hair. I was sure the two of us looked one in the same. Someone with bad eyesight may have mistaken us for a bramble bush sitting in the middle of the Great Hall. "What about you?" She said. What had she just asked me about? I jerked my gaze away. I had apparently been staring at the back of the blonde boy's head at the opposite side of the room.
"What about me?" I said innocently. I honestly had not meant to tune her out. Hermione just giggled.
"I'm muggle-born. My parents are dentists. They have no idea about this whole magic thing. What about you?" She smiled and I noticed her front teeth were somewhat large.
"Pure-blood. Not the Slytherin kind, though."
"Your last name is Black?" She asked. I nodded and her eyes widened. "Oh, goodness! So you might as well be famous! I mean, your parents are. I read about them and how they defeated You-Know-Who." For a muggle-born, I was very surprised at all the things Hermione knew about, but I could not help but roll my eyes. I hoped she had not seen. I did not want to be known as the daughter of the Blacks. I wanted to be known as Carina.
"I suppose you do a lot of reading then?" I asked, trying my hardest not to sound irritated. She nodded excitedly as she nibbled on a biscuit.
"I have already read all of our required text for the term!" She said. I think she realized that perhaps she sounded a bit too eager then, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.
"That's bloody awesome!" I said. "Perhaps we could study together, since you already know everything for the whole year!" I said with genuine interest. She smiled at me and returned to her plate of food. I turned to Harry in hopes of starting a conversation, but I could tell that he was in no condition for talking, as he shoveled heaps of food into his mouth. I found it a miracle that he was able to even chew.
The clicking of heels carried to my ears over the noise of the crowd and I was tapped on the shoulder by a piece of rolled parchment. I turned around to see a thin witch dressed in green, Professor McGonagall, peering over me as I sat. The cold expression on her face melted as she gave a small, toothless smile.
"Good evening, Professor," I said meekly, mildly intimidated by her stature as it towered over me.
"Good evening, Miss Black. I wish to relay a message from the Headmaster. He has requested you meet him after the feast in the trophy room." My eyes widened as I grabbed my earlobes. Professor McGonagall tittered. "Not the trophy room on the third-floor. That one," she said as she pointed her scroll to the back of the Great Hall where a doorway was carved into the stone wall. Before I could accept, she was already headed back up to the front table. I wondered what Dumbledore could possibly want, but then I allowed myself to stare off again, my eyes once more resting on the back of Draco Malfoy's perfectly combed head.
Author's Note: It's a tad bit short, I know. It is more of a filler, I guess. The next one will be even better and more exciting! I promise. I hopefully it won't take me a month to post it. So, you know the deal! Review, review, review! We are trying to make this go big, so please help a sister out. Love you all!
