PLEASE READ...
It is time for the Sorting Ceremony. Which house will the girls be in?
I do not own or take credit for anything Harry Potter related. It belongs to J. K. Rowling.
I would really like to know what everyone is thinking about the story, so please review.
Chapter Three
We were so into looking at the castle that none of us realized we were going under it, not until the only thing we could see were the lights from the lamps on our boats. I had been so hypnotized by the beauty of the castle that the sudden darkness took me by surprise. I immediately feel my heart racing and get short of breath.
I feel someone grab my hand and I turn around to see Jenny looking at me "Remember what dad always says. Darkness is like closing your eyes. It can't hurt you as long as you stay calm."
"What does that mean?" Hermione asks.
"You see how she's reacting now and how she was with the spider?" Hermione nods. "Well her fears get to her sometimes without realizing it, so he's telling her that keeping calm won't give her a panic attack."
There is finally a light at the end not to long after where it turned into a staircase. Everyone got out and followed Hagrid up it. When we got to the end there was an older lady with emerald robes waiting there.
"Thank you Hagrid. I will take it from here." She says.
Hagrid walks through the big doors behind her and disappears.
We all have scared looks on our faces as she says "Welcome to Hogwarts, my name is Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House. In a few moments I will be bringing you all through these doors to enter The Great Hall. This is where you will be served your meals, but before the feast we will be sorting you into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin."
As we listened a loud voice comes from the front of the group "Trevor!" everyone's attention is to Neville hunching over and picking up Trevor the toad. Burst of laughter fills the hall as he stands up seeing Professor McGonagall staring at him. "Sorry." Is all he can get out as he turns red and gets back in line.
She looks back at us and continues "These houses will be like your family. You will gain and lose points based on behavior and at the end of the year which ever house has the most will be awarded the house cup. Now if you will all wait here till the sorting begins please." She then turns and walks through the doors.
At first everyone was quiet not sure what to do with ourselves. We see ghosts pass by having a conversation when they notice us "What are you all doing out here?" one of them says.
"Ah, first years I see." Says another when he sees our scared faces.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." They say and float over through The Great Hall doors.
As we got back into our own conversation everything suddenly went quiet again a few minutes later as we heard. "So it's true...the famous Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."
Everyone was now looking at Harry and a boy with sleek blonde haired, two larger boys were standing next to him and the girl from our boat close behind. "This is Crabbe and Goyle." He stops to step forward "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
A snort comes from Ron which has Malfoy on edge. "Think my names funny do you? May I ask you yours...red hair and hand me down robes. You must be a Weasley." Turning back to Harry he says "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to be running around with the wrong sorts. I can help you there." He holds out his hand for a shake.
Harry looks at it then looks back at him and says "I think I can figure out the wrong sort for myself thanks."
He is giving Harry a mean look when The Great Hall doors open and Professor McGonagall walks out. She looks down "Uh hum."
Malfoy looks up at her a bit embarrassed. As he turns around he gives Harry another dirty look then gets back in line.
"We are ready for you now." She says. "Stay in a single filled line and follow me please."
Everyone jumping in line as quickly as possible I end up behind Jenny, while Hermione was in front of her. The doors open and the first thing we see are all the students turning their heads. I immediately feel myself turn red and grab Jenny's hand, she doesn't let go. What seemed like a long walk to the head table (where all the teachers were sitting) we admired the scenery. Looking up to what should have been the ceiling to see the sky.
"It's not really the sky you know, it's enchanted to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts A History." We hear Hermione telling the girl in front of her.
Continuing to walk all eyes are on us the entire time. Trying not to pay attention to them I look at the wall behind the teachers to see banners of the four houses mascots. Gryffindor a Lion, Ravenclaw an Eagle, Hufflepuff a Badger and Slytherin had a Snake.
Still trying to rap my mind around being here I feel Jenny squeeze my hand. "Look there's Jill." I turn my head towards the Gryffindor table to see her waving at us "Oh and there's Lory!" She's pointing to the Ravenclaw table this time. I couldn't help but smile at the excitement both of them had as they saw us pass by.
Finally we had arrived at the head table. Doing as Professor McGonagall asked and filled in the space in front of the table as much as possible we see a chair and on top of it was an old looking hat. I was still holding Jenny's hand, too scared to let go when we notice everyone looking at the hat. Not hesitating to wonder why we did the same. Just as I thought this was getting pointless the hat starts to sing. Looking over to Jenny I see she has the same shocked look on her face as I did. When it finished everyone clapped and Professor McGonagall looked at the first years. All of us had terrified faces as she looked down her list.
"When I call your name, sit on the chair and put the hat on." She says as she looks down at her list again and calls the first name.
I'm one of the first called. "Campos, Breanna" I looked at Jenny, she smiles giving me a nod and lets go of my hand. I walked up trying not to look scared, sat down and put on the sorting hat.
"Hello there." is the first thing I hear when I put it on, the hat was talking inside my head. "Mixed emotions I see." I was completely speechless not able to believe what was going on so I just listened. "You fear being put into Hufflepuff and yet you think you belong there. Why is that?"
It took me a while to collect my thoughts when I finally answered "I...uh. Well, I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor. Even though my family has been there for years, it just seems like it skipped over me. I'm not smart enough to be in Ravenclaw and prefer not to be in Slytherin so...my only option is Hufflepuff but..."
"But you're afraid your family will be upset." The sorting hat interrupts.
I was about to answer when I hear the voice leave my thoughts and vibrating outside the hat "GRYFFINDOR" cheers following as the hat is pulled from my head. I am stunned as I see the Gryffindor table exploding with excitement and Professor McGonagall pointing to walk over.
As I pass through the first years I hear some congratulations and ran into Jenny who gives me a hug. I smile and continue over to the table and sat in an open seat next to a brown hair boy. All the surrounding people in Gryffindor were leaning over to give me a handshake.
"Congratulations Breanna." The boy I was sitting next to says with a smile, he shakes my hand then says "I'm Oliver Wood, 5th year and captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team."
"That's awesome." I pause for a minute "What position?" I ask.
"Keeper. Uh, I don't mean to be rude but...are you from around here?"
I half smile and shake my head "No, I'm American actually."
"Brilliant, I can finally say I have an American acquaintance." He laughs.
Laughing myself but feeling a little out of place I look around to see if I can find Jill, instead I saw the red headed twin boys from earlier. They have big smiles "Hi, I'm Fred Weasley and this is George." They both shake my hand. "You seem nervous." I nod turning red.
"Well if you need anything." George says.
"Anything at all..." Fred continues.
"Just give us a holler eh?" George finishes.
I smile "T-Thanks." I start blushing. "Hey, you're Ron's brothers?" they nod. "I saw you guys earlier. You helped Harry get his trunk onto the train."
They both smile 'Yes that's us..." Fred starts.
"Helpful lads we are." George finishes. I laugh then we all look back to the head table to see the rest of the sorting.
Throughout the sorting I noticed there were quite a few students I knew from school. When it was finally Jenny's turn I was just as surprised as she was when the hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR" not too long after the hat was on her head.
She runs over and sits next to me "Can you believe this, we actually did it. We are in the same house!" I smile at her as she turns away to be greeted by the other Gryffindor's.
When they finally leave her alone I lean over "Did you know Manny Perry, Danny Blaine and Ashley Stan were wizards?"
She looks at me and shakes her head "I had no idea and to think, Ashley was basically the main reason people started picked on you when weird things would happen around you. She just wanted someone to blame it on, wait till I get to her."
"No. Just forget it. I don't want her starting with me again..." I say trying to keep my voice from sounding scared.
"You do know that once a bully always a bully right? She may start with you whether I say something or not." She says clearly being mad.
"Well if she does then I give you permission to do something." I say half smiling. "Looks like Slytherin is the best place for her then." I look over at the Slytherin table, she was with Pansy Parkinson (girl from our boat).
When Draco Malfoy was called it was no surprise when the sorting hat yelled "SLYTHERIN!" He was with his friends Crabbe and Goyle. Pansy and Ashley seemed to become very friendly with him at once.
Ron was one of the last people to get sorted. When he did he was put into Gryffindor with me, Jenny, Harry, Hermione, and Neville. Not knowing it till he sat down that he didn't just have the twins at this school but another brother, who was in Gryffindor as well. He also had two older brothers (no longer in the school) and a younger sister who hadn't started yet.
On the other hand Steph and Sandy had been put into Ravenclaw with Danny, Manny and the Roberts (the cousins we met earlier). We were upset that Steph and Sandy weren't with us, just as they were upset that we weren't with them, so we made the best of the separation by interacting during dinner. We happened to be behind each other because our house tables were side by side.
When the sorting is finished Professor Dumbledore (Headmaster of the school) says a few words. Finishing his speech he has us sing the Hogwarts song, when we are done he says "Let the feats begin." At that moment food just appears out of thin are into the bowls that were empty just a second ago.
Grabbing some food I say "Did the sorting hat take long to put you guys into a house?" Neville and Hermione nod.
"He couldn't decide between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw for me." Hermione says.
Everyone else except for Harry who was talking to Ron's brothers shook their heads. I looked at my food then said "He couldn't decide where to put me either. I was almost in Hufflepuff."
"Me too." Neville admits "But that's where I tried to get the hat to put me, as you see he disagreed."
Knowing I was trying as well to be put in Hufflepuff I didn't share that information. In reality I had mixed emotions on whether I should have been put in anything other than Hufflepuff, especially Gryffindor of all houses. I felt unworthy of being put in the category of "brave" because that was the least thing I felt I would ever be.
"Well Hufflepuff wouldn't have been a bad place to be put in Bree. You are a loyal person, that's your personality. Don't be upset if you would have been there." Jenny tells me.
"Which you weren't, so lighten up!" Steph says as she pats me on the back. I just smiled and continued to eat and enjoyed the rest of the feast.
When dinner was over the first years were told to follow Ron's brother Percy, who was the Gryffindor prefect. "Follow me first years. I will be taking you to Gryffindor Tower to be settled into your dormitories. Stay close when we get to the staircase, they tend to change."
All of us looked at each other wondering what that could possibly mean. Sure enough when we got there we knew exactly what he meant. The stairs were literally moving back and forth. Completely stunned at the thought of walking up stairs that constantly moved I was also curious at the same time. I walked a head of the line and looked up at all the stairs. Feeling someone tap my shoulder I turn to see Neville and a sandy haired boy.
I continue to look at him till he finally speaks "Sorry. You just look scared. Wanted to make sure you were alright. I'm Seamus Finnigan."
I half smile and say "Oh, yea the idea of stairs moving while you're trying to walk up them doesn't seem like a fun time, especially climbing up that high." I look up at the stairs again "But thank you for being concerned. I'm Breanna Campos...and yes, I have an accent cause I'm American." I add knowing he would ask.
He starts laughing "I'm guessing you've been getting asked that a lot today." I nod "I know how you feel, I'm Irish. I'm sure you noticed the difference as well." He looks over his shoulder to see the line moving. "Come on." He holds out a hand and says "I'm a bit scared of heights meself. We can walk up together."
I look at Jenny who was behind me with Hermione. By her face I could clearly tell she heard the conversation when she gave me the thumbs up. I looked back at him, smiled and grabbed his hand as we walked up to Gryffindor Tower (located on the seventh floor). We kept ourselves in conversation so we wouldn't notice that we were getting higher and higher. In the end we found out that we were both half-bloods and very accident prone.
Finally reaching the top we let go of each other's hand and smiled. Percy in front leads us through the hallway that eventually led to a portrait with a fat lady that asked "Password?" when we got in front of her. In reply to her question Percy says "Caput Draconis" having the picture swing open. A round hole is seen, we walk through it leading us into the Gryffindor Common Room.
It was a circular room full of soft armchairs, tables and a bulletin board where school announcements, ads, etc. can be posted. A window looks out onto the grounds of the school and a large fireplace takes over one wall. The walls are decorated with red tapestries of witches and wizards but also different types of animals.
We are so stunned by the room that we weren't listening to what Percy was saying till he got our attention. He goes on to tell us where our bedrooms would be and which door to go through. When he's done everyone turns to leave.
"Thanks for the support Seamus. I really appreciate it." I say.
"It was my pleasure. See you tomorrow?" he says with a smile.
"Yea, for sure." I smile and walk away. When I turned around he was walking through the boy's door with Neville.
Meeting Jenny, Jill, Hermione and Jill's cousin Julie who were sitting on one of the couches were looking at me with smiles.
"Oh don't start." I say blushing and sit down.
"Bree you've been talking to guys without trying all day. Well with the exception of that Jacob kid you almost knocked over." Jenny laughs "But besides that you managed not to scare any of them away."
"That's a first." Jill says.
I start blushing even more "Shut up..."
They all laugh and for awhile we sit there talking. Finally thinking it was a good idea to go to bed, we get up and walk through the door to find a spiral staircase. Going up the stairs there's another door, we walk through to see a hallway. Every other space on the wall was a door and next to each were plaques with names and the year on them. About halfway down the hall started turning to the right. Jill and Julie decided to help us look for our rooms.
"There are usually 2 restrooms and 2 shower rooms in the beginning and end of the hall, depending on how many dorms there are that particular year others may be added." Jill points to the first doors on the right and left side of the hall, one was labeled Toilets and the other Showers.
Julie continues "Ten people the most in each room. Now when it's full the plaque that says the room name will change from green to red. Simple right?" we all nod "Now when it comes to the dorms there are 5 people per room. There's no particular order of the rooms so you'll get the same one every year, they just change the number on the plaques. Anyway, after the bathroom on the left I'm the second door."
"And I'm the first door on the right after the bathroom." Jill tells us.
"Um..." Everyone looks at me "Do you think we'll be in the same room?" Hermione and Jenny looked at them in agreement.
"Well, not always. It is possible but it's rare to happen." Julie says.
"Yea...just let us know when you find your name." Jill finishes.
We started walking wondering where our room would be, after a bit of time we finally heard "Ah here we are." Jill says seeing my name and points to a door on the right side. We all look at the door as Jill reads the plaque "Okay. Wow looks like you guys are together." She looks over and smiles. "Including Hermione."
Hermione walks over to see that her name was in fact there and smiles "Thank goodness." She sees two more names. "Does anyone remember who Lavender Brown or Parvati Patil is?" We all shake our heads.
"So which sets of bathrooms do you think is closer to us?" I ask looking up and down both ways, we had already passed the curve being a few doors down. It looked like we were close to the end of the hallway, which seemed to curve again but we were too far to see.
Julie looks at me then down both ends "Actually I'm not completely sure, I think you guys are in the middle of the hall but that's up to you to decide which ones are closer to your room."
"Which you will figure out in the morning." Jill says yawning. "It's time for bed. I don't know about you but I'm exhausted." She gives us a hug looks at Hermione and smiles "Well goodnight. If you need anything just pass by our rooms. See you guys in the morning." She turns around and walks off with Julie behind her.
"They're in the same grade?" Hermione asks.
"No, Julie is in her 5th year and Jill is in her 2nd. They are cousins." I yawn and say "Come on. Lets get some sleep."
We open the door to see a round room with 5 four poster beds filling in the space. "Wow." We all say at the same time. Our trunks were at the end of our beds. Mine was directly in the middle of the room between the other four beds, Jenny's was to the left of mine (when you're looking in the view from the door) and Hermione was next to hers. Each bed is in between two windows, all the windows except for the one in between mine and the bed to the right had a nightstand. The nightstands have three drawers to store our belongings. The empty window had a water jug in case we got thirsty during the night and in the middle of the room was a circular stove to heat up the room. We walk over to get changed into our pajamas when we hear a noise.
"What was that?" Jenny says as we all jump looking towards the noise.
"I think the other two girls are here. They must be asleep." Hermione says. We all nod in agreement to keep our voices down and go to our trunks.
Before I get into bed I see Billy awake in his cage. When he sees me he starts making noise. "Shh Billy be quiet. It's time for bed." I whisper.
"Maybe you should let him out. Lory told me that the owls usually sleep in the Owlery. That's where the Hogwarts owls are and you can send letters from there. If you let him out now you'll most likely find him there in the morning, if he doesn't knock on the window to be let in during the night." Jenny tells me. I nod opening the cage and window. When he leaves I close back the window then jump into bed.
When everyone is in bed we turn off the lamps that were on the nightstands, it was cloudy tonight so not much light was coming through the windows. Just as quickly as they were off they were turned back on "Uh, yea it's too dark for you right?" Hermione asks looking over at me. I hadn't closed my curtain so I could see her from my bed.
"Uh..." is all I could say feeling my face turning red.
"No problem Breanna. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Hold on I got an idea." She gets up conjuring a glass jar, says a simple spell and the next thing I know there's a small blue flame inside the jar. Mine and Jenny's mouth fell open. She smiles "Figured out a few spells on the train. Not too hard to learn so thought I'd give them a try...here." She puts the jar on the nightstand next to my bed.
"When did you learn spells?" Jenny asks. "I mean we were in the same booth as you. We would have noticed you practicing spells."
She smiles "Well I had gotten to the train early. My parents didn't want to be late. So they helped me find a compartment and we sat there reading some spells for a little. I learned a few pretty quickly and showed them. Then while with you guys I was studying the books, which you saw." We both nodded in agreement.
She went back to her bed and we all turned off our lamps again. This time we didn't see darkness, just the blue fire lighting up mine and Jenny's part of the room. I looked over to see her smiling. I turned around and close the curtain that was on my left so I couldn't see the dark from there. When I looked back Jenny closed her curtain. She left it open enough to still get some light into her bed. She was also afraid of the dark but never admitted this, wanting to be brave for me. I decided to close the other one as well but left it opened enough to see the girl's beds. I then closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
