The Amazing Thing About: Friendship. Chapter two.

Author's note:

Welcome to the second chapter. Here we have Eliza's sorting and introduction of a few more OCs. After this chapter, I'll be posting updates regularly as I've already completed all of the chapters for this installation of the series. I'm currently working on the next part in the series.

...

Upon exiting the train students were guided to carriages. This was a touch fancier than what she was used to but the oddity of it all was that there was nothing pulling them. It made her pause and she wondered just how different things were here than back home. Home. She had to stop thinking about home. She wasn't there. She was here and she had to get used to it. Adapt. Overcome. Move on.

"Move it!" Someone knocked into her shoulder as they passed, jolting her from her thoughts and she climbed into the nearest carriage. She greeted the students already inside but for the most part, she kept quiet. From there it was a small journey and she watched as the school came into sight. Eliza took a deep shaky breath while those in the carriage talked about the last year and all that had taken place. She caught the name 'Harry' a few times. While it was commonly known in her school that Harry Potter attended Hogwarts she hadn't given it much mind until she heard his name.

There were also whispers of Sirius Black. While Eliza had heard about his escape from Azkaban she hadn't really concerned herself with it. That was her parent's area of expertise. She was sure that if they'd learned of the escape before the school year was to start they would have insisted on her staying home. With everything they were trying to get away from knowing there was a dangerous criminal on the loose wasn't helping things any. She tried not to think about it and turned her thoughts back to Harry Potter.

She wondered what he was like. With his fame, she was curious if he was nice or arrogant. She didn't have anything to work off of but she also didn't want to jump to conclusions. If she met him at all she'd be a little starstruck but if she was lucky she'd have a nice quiet school year. All she had to do was make sure she did well on her exams. Everything else could take a back seat.

The school was definitely different than what she was used to. Just stepping into the grand hall made her feel tiny and insignificant. Her eyes darted along the ceiling and the tables lined with students. The houses were separated with their banners hung with pride. The students already seated were all talking and catching up with each other and the number of voices all together was so loud she could barely think.

Thankfully it was all reduced to whispers as one of the most famous wizards in the world stood and welcomed the returning students and the new ones. Talk about being star-struck. When she stumbled to line up with the first years to be sorted, it was incredibly strange. Luckily she wasn't very tall so she blended but she couldn't help but feel out of place.

Names were called. Students were sorted. Eliza watched as an old weathered hat was placed upon each of their heads and decided where they belonged. It was nothing like the sorting she'd experienced. As the line moved forward she felt Rikki fidgeting around. She looked down to see him slip out of her pocket and bound off towards one of the tables. 'Not again.' She moved to chase after him but one of the familiar faces from earlier picked Rikki up and held him. One of the twins. He gave her a thumbs-up as if to tell her he'd take care of him while she was busy and she mouthed a 'thank you' to him. At least Rikki was making friends.

"Eliza Montgomery." Her name made her jump and she moved towards the front. She tried to appear confident and unbothered but her anxiety was bouncing around inside of her. She sat on the stool and took a deep breath before the hat was placed on her head.

"Hello, there." The hat spoke and Eliza felt her stomach curl. If she threw up in front of all the students and faculty, she would never be able to live it down. "Ah, we have a serpent." It said quietly. "You're probably thinking Ravenclaw is where you belong."

Wouldn't that be obvious? Horned Serpent and Ravenclaw were both wise choices for those who sought knowledge. "You'd do well in Ravenclaw. But what else is there? Another house wanted you." It sounded curious. So? That was normal. Ninety percent of students had at least two mascots react to them. That didn't make her special or odd.

"Such a sharp mind. Endless possibilities. But not everything can be learned through books. You know that. There is great suffering in you. That takes a strong heart. Bravery. Courage." What could this hat see? Eliza suddenly felt very vulnerable. Exposed. As she listened to what it had to say, she lost all idea of what she had originally thought. "No. Ravenclaw isn't for you." The hat said and Eliza sucked in a breath. Okay. So where did that leave her? Her head spun as she tried to remember all of the attributes of each house but being on the spot had her grasping at straws.

"You're wrong." The words tumbled out of her mouth and the hat barked a laugh. "If that's what you truly want." It replied before shouting "RAVENCLAW!"

The corresponding clapping from the table had her hopping off the stool and ripping the hat off her head before it could be done for her. It gave her the willies to have that thing probing around in her head and mumbling to her. She quickly strode to where the twins were playing with Rikki. "Shame you didn't make our house." One said while the other handed her the ferret.

She smiled and shrugged as she held Rikki to her chest. "It doesn't matter. We can still be friends." She offered. She'd paid attention to where Tasha and Cas had been sorted. Tasha had been assigned to Gryffindor and Cas to Hufflepuff. So far no one she'd met had been in her house. That made her options slim.

"You say that until they brainwash you into believing you're better than the rest of us." One of them laughed. Eliza rolled her eyes and made her way to the Ravenclaw table. What was that supposed to mean? Was there some sort of house hierarchy? Either way, she didn't think she was better than anyone. In fact, she was more than aware of her flaws. Things she was determined to work on this year. There were a few smiles thrown her way and a couple of introductions but most of the students seemed to ignore her. Oh well. No biggie.

Following the rest of the sorting ceremony, the headmaster gave stood to speak. Dumbledore's speech had her at rapt attention in awe. Even in her school students would talk about what it must be like to attend this school, jealously and it was amazing to be seeing him in person. There were so many rumors in America but to be in his school was something else entirely. She felt privileged. That was until he said the school was being guarded by dementors.

Dementors? What kind of school was this? Had she missed something? Was it because of Sirius Black? The way Dumbledore spoke about them sounded flippant. Sure, he spoke about the dangers they posed but to expose them to students? That wasn't something she'd ever heard of. It was like telling them all there was a bomb on the grounds but they didn't know when it would go off. Was this school so 'dedicated' to the safety of its students that they were willing to put them in harm's way?

She had very little appetite to begin with but the speech ruined it completely. Rikki, however, was more than delighted by the feast. She fed him chicken and filled a small bowl with water for him. Her fellow Ravenclaws watched her with a few raised eyebrows but other than exchanged pleasantries there wasn't much talk. They all seemed to know each other from prior years and they spent most of the time catching up with what they'd done over break. It was really only the first years who spoke to her.

When the feast was over they all filed out to head towards their dormitories. As she walked along with her house she caught sight of two redheads in the crowd. They were guiding some other students with wide smiles. Excitement was in the air. The first night back to school was always that way. To see one's friends and make plans to hang out. She envied the other students but had to remind herself that just because she'd transferred schools didn't mean she didn't have friends.

It was a long trek to Ravenclaw tower. It felt separate from everything else and Eliza wished she had been given a different house just to save her the trip. She'd have to make sure to wake up extra early just to make sure she wouldn't be late for morning classes. There were instructions on how to enter the common room and dorm room numbers announced but Eliza let a lot of it drown out aside from the important stuff. She just wanted to get to bed. It was a long journey and all she wanted to do was sleep.

At least that's what she thought she wanted. The common room was luxurious and beautiful. It made her stop and look around, mouth agape. She wondered if the rest of the houses had such spiffy duds. In the room she was given there were four other girls, all fifth years. They were all hugging and talking about what they were excited to start this year and if they had met anyone over break.

Eliza felt awkward as she shifted to the bed that had her things packed at the foot of it. She began putting her things away when one of the girls made her way over with an extended hand.

"Hey. You're new right? I'm Kelly."

Eliza set her pajamas on the bed and took her hand. "Yeah. Transferred here from America. Eliza. Nice to meet you." She noticed the other girls paying attention and a couple of them joined the first girl in introductions. Kelly was tall, thin, and graceful with long platinum hair. Hannah, who introduced herself next, was petite and round-faced with a stunning smile and thick curls that gave her a youthful appearance.

All of the girls were quite pretty and it tugged at Eliza's insecurities. She tried to push that from her mind though as the girls asked her what she liked to do in her spare time. They also told her that if she needed anything she could ask them. It gave her a sense of relief that she wasn't being treated like an outcast. Things were looking up.

Joined to their room was a bathroom with a few shower stalls and Eliza excused herself so she could change and brush her teeth. The other girls told her they'd be in the common room catching up with others from their house and left her alone. When they departed, Eliza took Rikki out and placed him on the bed. He immediately began sniffing around the sheets and rolling all over them. She knew he'd want to explore the room so she left him to it while she took a long hot shower which felt like a true blessing.

By the time she left the bathroom and changed into her pajamas, Rikki was curled up on her pillow already snoozing. None of the other girls had come back yet so she used the time to acclimate herself. She moved Rikki so she could lay down and he burrowed himself under the blanket to nestle at her side. She patted him absently as her eyes wandered around the room. This was where she'd call home for the rest of her academic career. At least it was nice and the bed was so comfortable that it wasn't long before she was dozing off.

'So far so good.' Was her last thought before drifting to sleep.