The line of new students became thin, only two could stand side by side when walking through the middle of the hall. Four long tables spanned the length of the massive room with hundreds of students seated. Holly swallowed again, everyone would surely get to see her make a fool of herself. Even all the teachers who sat facing the students at the far end of the hall would see. The new students grouped together not far from their table, looking a wooden stool. Upon which sat a dusty old hat.
A moment later a slit opened above the brim of said hat and a voice rang out. Holly stared at it with her mouth slightly open when the object began to sing. The hat proved to be gifted with rhyme and rhythm as it sang about the school and all it's houses. When it finished a minute or two later, the students burst into applause.
"Now when I call you name, come forward and I will place the sorting hat on your head. Then you will be sorted into your house," Professor McGonagall said, unrolling a scroll of parchment. "Abbott, Hannah," read the first name.
A girl with blonde hair arranged like pigtails walked forward. She sat one the stool to face the rest of the hall before the hat sank deep into her head.
"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat a few moments later. The students in the hall cheered, the table of students with yellow on their robes sounding the loudest.
Holly felt a bit of relief as this appeared to be the only test. It didn't seem possible that she could embarrass herself. Unless the hat couldn't sort her, then she would have to be sent back to the Dursleys.
"Black, Lyra," McGonagall called the next name out.
Lyra looked slightly nervous when she walked forward. The sounds in the hall changed a bit, the low whispers of many conversations in the hall spread about like wildfire. The hat sat upon her head longer than the last girl, at last shouting out, "Gryffindor!"
The cheering in the hall this time is nearly non-existant when Lyra moved from the stool. Professor McGonagall pointed her towards the right table before calling the next name.
"Boot, Terry," now a dark skinned boy came forward. "Ravenclaw!" shouted the hat a few seconds later and the hall cheered.
"Brown, Lavender," another blonde haired girl went to sit. "Hufflepuff!" and again most of the hall applauded.
"Bulstrode, Millicent," a large girl who resembled Dudley came next. "Slytherin!" the table that did not cheer much now resounded with applause while the rest of the hall made little noise.
Holly looked over to the right to see Lyra sitting at the end of the table. The other students with red on their robes didn't look pleased she sat there. Holly had seen looks like that enough to know. Lyra looked up to make eye contact, then gave Holly an encouraging smile, though it was short lived.
"Dunbar, Fay," a girl in front of Holly went up, drawing her attention back to the sorting. "Gryffindor!" the girl with long sandy blonde hair looked relieved when she bounded from the stool.
On down the list many more names were called and sorted. The bushy haired girl she met earlier named Hermione went to Gryffindor. The arrogant sounding boy whose name is Draco Malfoy sorted into Slytherin as he obviousy desired. The crowd around Holly gradually thinning to a handful by the time the letter P is reached.
"Parkinson, Pansy," a girl with a distainful scowl went to Slytherin.
"Patil, Padma," one of the twin sisters came next, going to Ravenclaw. Her sister didn't follow her there, instead sorted into Hufflepuff house. The hat could somehow see the difference between them that many others couldn't.
"Potter, Holly," she froze, her legs went stiff, refusing to move forward.
The whispers in the hall grew loud in their abundance. After taking a deep breath, she willed herself to walk slowly towards the stool. Turning to sit down she could see all the students peering at her. Many stood up or leaned a little closer to get a better look. The hat dropped on her head, falling over her eyes a bit so she didn't have to see them.
"Interesting, very interesting," the voice of the hat echoed in her mind. "You've got potential, plenty of it. Aye, good instincts but cannot be sure of yourself?"
Holly felt an unsual sensation, as if her brain is being prodded and examined. The hat continued to talk while some of her memories flashed behind her eyes. Holly didn't have very many good memories.
"You would do well in Slytherin," murmured the hat. "The other houses too, difficult, very difficult..."
The memories of earlier that day flashed last, showing Lyra sitting across from her on the train.
"Ah friends already I see, well, it makes sense. Have it be...Gryffindor!" proclaimed the hat.
The hall filled with deafening cheers when the hat lifted from her head. She looked up to see Minerva give her a small smile, one she surely didn't imagine this time. The older witch pointed her in the right direction and she slid off the stool.
It took nearly a full minute for the hall to quiet enough for the last few students to go and be sorted. The majority of the tremendous noise came from the Gryffindor table as she went towards it. A number of older students came up to congratulate her before she had a chance to take a seat. Many hands struck out for her to shake, many large smiles of people who seemed genuinely happy to see her. All of it felt more like a dream to Holly, these people all caring about her felt overwhelming. She turned to see Lyra smiling widely at her too and moved to sit beside her since both seats next to her were unfilled.
Holly watched the last few students go up and be sorted. Two more students were sorted into Gryffindor, both boys. Each time she clapped alongside everyone else. Both boys came to shake her hand and say something nice. But both of them ignored Lyra, the second one with red hair acted worse than the first. He cast Lyra a foul look, similar to how her aunt and uncle would.
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" a new voice rang out. "Now that our newest students have been sorted the feast will begin after a few words. They are Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you," spoke an old man with long silver hair and beard.
His hands clasped together and all along four tables a massive amount of food appeared. Holly gasped at the seemingly endless amount of food, perhaps the only one to do so. Even as the students around her filled their plates, she couldn't help but stare in disbelief and shock at the whole sight.
"Something wrong?" Lyra asked from her side.
"No...it's just...so much food," Holly said slowly, she tried to get a hold of herself.
"The mash is really good and the meat pie," Lyra told her, a few bites in.
Holly reached for one of her own and set it upon her plate. She looked around again at everyone eating and looked back at the pie a few times.
"You mean..." she spoke lowly to Lyra, nearly whispering. "We can eat all we want?"
The black haired girl raised an eyebrow, Holly's hands trembled slightly, her green eyes still wide.
"Yea of course, nobody is going to stop you if want to eat yourself sick," said Lyra, then adding. "Try not to do that though."
Holly took hold of her fork, gripping onto something lessened the shake of her fingers. There weren't any Dursleys here to stop her from having anything she wanted. Slowly she broke the crust of the pie and took a bite. It tasted so good that she chewed each bite much slower than usual. By the time she ate half the pie, most were on their second plate.
Many different conversations took place around her. Most of them were introducing themselves or they spoke of things Holly had no clue about. She looked up to the long table of professors that faced the students.
"Is that Headmaster Dumbledore?" she asked Lyra, pointing out the old man in the center.
"Yea, he's the most powerful wizard of this age. Mum says he's brilliant," Lyra replied.
Holly slowly scanned the faces of rest of the staff. McGonagall sat directly to the Headmaster's right while the giant man who led them to castle sat on the far left end. Those were the only ones she could recognize yet still she peered curiously at all of them. She could not help but notice a man dressed in solid black with matching greasy black hair falling down his face. Holly set her eyes on him for no longer than a second before he looked right back at her. His gaze did not seem at all pleasant. She looked away quickly, wincing in pain and surprise at her scar hurting.
"Are you ok?" the girl who sat to her left asked.
"Yea, it's my scar, I think," Holly said, rubbing the spot on her forehead though it didn't seem to help.
"Are scars supposed to hurt?" she asked.
"I suppose, once in a while mine will," Holly answered, looking at her fully now.
She is also a first year student, but Holly didn't remember her name from the sorting. Her hair is long, with a dark sandy blonde tint. Hazel eyes with a slight bit of color that matched her hair within them. She looked back at Holly with similar curiosity.
"My name is Fay Dunbar," she said, smiling and appearing rather friendly.
"Holly," she did her best to smile back, all of this quite new to her.
"Potter," Fay said before she could. "Everyone knows who you are."
Holly groaned a little, "Right, I almost forgot."
"Where you raised in the muggle world?" Fay asked.
Holly nodded, "I didn't know about magic until a few weeks ago."
"Wow really?" Fay exclaimed, drawing in the attention of others around them.
Holly nodded again, squirming a bit under the gaze of several classmates. Their attention was taken back to the table when the dishes vanished. Then reappearing a moment later as a myriad of desserts. Her meat pie still sat on her plate, she took the last few bites to finish it before observing the long line of sweets. All of them looked far different from any desserts she had seen before.
"What is that?" she asked Lyra after she took hold of two oblong pastries from a nearby dish.
"It's a chocolate eclair, they're amazing!" she answered enthusiastically. "Have one, or two."
Holly followed her guidance and grabbed one of the few that remained. She had no idea the dessert is filled with vanilla cream until taking her first bite. Again she ate very slowly, savoring the taste of the sweet dessert. She felt her stomach become full soon after, though she did not eat near as much as the other students around her.
Then the food again disappeared on every table in the hall, ending the feast. The old headmaster stood and all went quiet. Everyone's eyes fixated on him when he cleared his throat and began speaking.
"A few start of term notices before we depart. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students. Also, I have been asked by our caretaker, Mr. Filch, that magic should not be used in the corridors between classes. Quidditch trails will be held on the second week of term. Those interested in trying out for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. Lastly, I must say that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to all those who do not wish to die a most painful death."
Holly's eyes widened in surprise in learning that some places within the school could kill.
"Now, have a good night's sleep, off you go," finished Dumbledore.
The hall began to quickly empty, leaving only the first year students with no idea where to go.
"First year Gryffindors, follow after me," a tall older student with a shining badge called out.
The four girls and four boys that just became Gryffindors walked behind him. Out of the great hall and up many flights of marble stairs. Hanging on the walls as far as she could see were moving portraits. Holly stared with fascination, only to become more perplexed when she heard them talking as well.
"Come on Holly," Lyra turned back to see that she nearly stopped in the corridor. "It's normal."
"It is?" Holly squeaked.
"Yea, all magical portraits do that," said Lyra.
Together they had to walk faster to catch up with the rest of the group. Up many more stairs they went until at last stopping before a portrait at the end of a corridor. A large woman in a pink dress lazily waved a fan towards her face. Holly wondered if the painting is able to feel the breeze.
"Password?" asked the portrait.
"Caput Draconis," the tall prefect answered smoothly before turning back to the new students. "This is the current password to enter Gryffindor tower. Remember it and do not share with anyone outside of this house. My name is Percy Weasley, any problems or questions can be directed towards me or any other prefects."
The round hole behind the portrait could fit only one student at a time. The boys were nice enough to allow the girls to pass through first. Holly followed behind Fay, crouching low for a few meters before entering through the other side.