A 'Mirrors' Story
Story 4
Part 2
Mary Graham's Narrative
As the station came into view, our compartment door slid open one last time.
"Hello," said a tall, gangly girl. She had blue eyes and strawberry blond hair. Her voice was very high, and she looked about average, if not a little over, weight.
"Hi," said another girl from behind her. This one had black hair and brown eyes. She was tall and thin, and she looked kind of Asian.
"My name is Kate Carey, and this is Betsy Wimberly," the Asian one said.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Claire Black," Claire said.
"I'm Mary Graham Lupin, and this," I said "is Jake Potter." I pointed to Jake, who was gaping at Kate. I was about to elbow him in the ribs, but Claire got their first.
"OW!" Jake yelped. Much to my surprise, and Jake's dismay, Kate laughed.
We didn't have any more time to talk, because just then the train pulled into the station. All the first years walked slowly, and nervously, off the train, while the second through seventh years jumped off giddily.
"I need all first years over here!" called a firm voice. I whirled around. There stood a woman with sleek black hair that was wrapped tightly in a bun, with blue eyes. She was tall, and she looked strict.
"I am Professor McGonagall. I am the headmistress here at Hogwarts."
"Professor McGonagall, ay?" Jake said in an undertone. I groaned.
"Jake! Don't make fun of the headmistress!" Betsy squealed in dismay. Betsy has always been such a goody-goody. Never lying, never insulting anyone (especially not teachers) and so on. All truth told, Betsy is actually kind of, well, strange. Oddly enough, we've been best friends for, like, an eternity. We've never kept secrets from each other, all though lately I've had the weirdest feeling, almost like Betsy's hiding something from me.
"Only four to a boat," McGonagall said. Jake shrugged and walked over to one of the other boats. Betsy, Mary Graham, Claire and I sat down in a boat.
"Now row!" McGonagall called. I thought she was talking to us, so I pulled hopelessly on the oars. I didn't make any progress, although I did realize with a start that the oars were rowing on their own. Betsy seemed absolutely infatuated by the self-rowing oars.
"Cool," she whispered. As we rounded a bend, Hogwarts Castle came into view. Many people gasped, me included. The castle was huge, not to mention beautiful. I didn't have much time to look at it, though, because we pulled into a cave underneath the castle only moments after rounding the bend.
"Follow me," McGonagall said. All of us hopped out of the boats and followed McGonagall into a huge corridor. We were inside of the castle, I supposed. She led us through the corridor and opened a door. There was a huge hall, where the rest of the school already was seated. I looked up at the ceiling, which seemed to go up forever. I was surprised to see stars twinkling up there. They looked identical to the ones in the night sky. I smiled. I love the stars, always have. My good friend, Krystal, is a centaur, and she taught me to interpret and understand them. I could even predict the future through the stars, although sometimes the things I saw weren't good. But the stars were pushed out of my head as something began to sing. I was shocked to see that that thing was an old, raggedy hat.
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see........." I listened intently to the hat. It sang about the four houses. I laughed at it's pathetic attempts to make the Slytherin House look good. After all that everyone had told me about Slytherin, I didn't believe it. Above all, I wanted to be put in Gryffindor House. It sounded by far the best.
"Acree, Mike!" McGonagall yelled. A short boy ran up to the stool and jammed the hat on.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat yelled suddenly. The boy ran over to the Hufflepuff table.
"Black, Claire!" Claire walked cautiously up to the hat. She eased it onto her head nervously. The hat bellowed "GRYFFINDOR!" almost immediately. She smiled and walked to the Gryffindor Table.
"Briley, Haley," went to Gryffindor as well. Now it was my turn.
"Carey, Kate!" I walked to the hat, and jammed it onto my head, praying for Gryffindor.
"Ah, Gryffindor? Is that really what you want?" My head was screaming yes.
"Yes, ay?" The hat must have been reading my mind.
"Well, why not? GRYFFINDOR it is." I grinned from ear to ear and joined Claire at the Gryffindor Table.
"You okay?" Jake whispered.
"Yes," I lied. Jake nodded.
"Lupin, Mary Graham!" Finally it was my turn.
"Where to put you? Ravenclaw, perhaps?"
NO, GRYFFINDOR!
The hat must have heard me, because the next thing it said was, "Ah, excellent choice. All right then, GRYFFINDOR!" I felt queasy as I joined Kate at the Gryffindor Table. I watched the rest of the Sorting patiently. It looked like Jake was about to puke, and Betsy was turning a shade of green. Finally Jake was called up to be sorted. After only a few seconds, the hat bellowed "GRYFFINDOR!" Jake looked incredibly relieved. We waited only a few more minutes before Betsy was called up. She was the last one to be called, right after David Weasley, who was also a Gryffindor. The hat bellowed "GRYFFINDOR!" one last time, and Betsy sat down. The color slowly retuned to her face. Professor McGonagall stood up and was about to speak when everything went black.
~~~
"She remembers, I presume?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Let it by. The time is not yet right. We must wait."
"Of course, my lord."
"Now we have a new obstacle."
"What ever do you mean, my lord?"
"The other girl. Why did you never tell me of her er...... talents."
"I never knew, my lord."
"Fine. Go. I shall be seeing you again soon."
"Oh yes, my lord. Very soon." The manic glint returned to the traitor's eyes. She grinned triumphantly and walked away.