Harry Potter and the Chalice of the Enchanter
Chapter Four
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The large, mahogany door that led to Dumbledore's office was shrouded in spells. Rachel noted that some of them had been cast hundreds of years ago, while others were from this morning. She touched the door and felt a jolt. There were powerful charms on the door. There were also simple locking spells that he must use to keep students out.
Rachel must have been in a trance because Harry was shaking her shoulders and calling her name. She snapped back.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes filling with concern. He was so cute!
"Yes, thanks. I was just trying to figure out what spells are on Professor Dumbledore's door."
Harry opened the door and led Rachel into a comfortably furnished room. The walls were covered with deep burgundy, velvet wall hangings. A door was on one side of the room, no doubt it led to Dumbledore's office. There were bookshelves on almost every wall, holding not only books, but also assorted knick-knacks, and in one corner there was a magnificent bird, a phoenix. The Phoenix must be fairly young, his plumage was a vivid red and his eyes shone brightly.
"Hello, Fawkes." Harry cooed, walking over to the bird and stroking its beak. "Fawkes saved my life once." Harry said to Rachel, or himself. "It was in the Chamber of Secrets, two years ago."
"Morwenna Mage had a phoenix in her office. His name was Helios. Professor Mage was my old Headmaster. She also taught Transfiguration. That was my favorite subject."
Professor Dumbledore came out of his office and beckoned for Rachel to approach. "Potter, you can come too. This might concern you." Dumbledore led them through another mahogany door to his office. There was an oak desk with two comfortable-looking chairs in front of it. Harry sat in one and Rachel sat in the other. Dumbledore sat in the big chair behind the desk.
"So tell me," he said to Rachel, "how was your previous school?" Dumbledore had pulled a stack of papers from somewhere and was now leafing through them, looking for her school records.
"The curriculum was very challenging. But it seems that I know just as many spells as the students here know." Rachel had been a little surprised at this because the Phoenix School of Elementary Magic was supposed to be advanced.
Dumbledore frowned. "How did you come to this conclusion?"
"Well, I spoke with Hermione about the curriculum here, she explained everything she had learned. I had just learned the concepts she mentioned."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Hermione Granger is our most advanced fifth-year. She should, like you, be a sixth year, but she's too young. Miss Granger spends about two hours a day in the school library, reading about every magical creature and spell you could imagine." He paused, as if thinking of saying more about Hermione, but changing his mind. "If you are bored with your work this year, come to my office and we'll work something out. Now, on to the Sorting Hat!"
Dumbledore walked back into the waiting room and motioned for Harry and Rachel to follow. On a stool, in a corner, was a raggedy wizard hat. It was tattered, and Rachel could tell that it was based on a very powerful and ancient spell.
"Normally students are sorted in the Great Hall when they are first years, but you are not a first-year and it might be embarrassing for you. We have about ten minutes before I have to bring the hat downstairs, so you'll be sorted right now."
Rachel sat down on the stool and tried the hat on. She had heard about this ceremony from her aunt over the summer. Supposedly, the hat would talk to her.
"Of course I'd talk to you! I'm not just any old hat! It's me that decides what house you are put in. I spent all this last year writing a song about my job, but Dumbledore told me to wait and sing it in front of the whole school, so you'll hear it then."
Rachel was a little startled. She hadn't expected the hat to actually talk to her. She had a feeling that the voice was only in her head, because Dumbledore and Harry weren't even paying attention.
"So, since you haven't heard my song, I'll give you a brief overview of the houses. We have Ravenclaw, our most studious students are placed there. Then there's Hufflepuff. If you work hard, that's where you'll go. There's Slytherin, the shrewd are placed there. And finally, there's Gryffindor. Our most noble and brave students find there way to that house."
'Not Slytherin! Anywhere but Slytherin!' Rachel was thinking. Her aunt had told her that Slytherin was the worst house. Rachel certainly didn't want to be placed there.
"Not Slytherin?" the hat said. "I'm not surprised. You don't have that drive to achieve evil in you. That would be considered a good thing, deary. Hmm… let's see. You've got an excellent mind; you'd do well in Ravenclaw, but wait! You work very hard to achieve your goals. Hufflepuff would be a good place for you. Let's see here, aha! There's what I was looking for! You love adventure! Gryffindor would suit you well. Since you're so much of everything, I'll just have to place you in… GRYFFINDOR!" The last word was yelled out to Dumbledore's office. Both Professor Dumbledore and Harry looked pleased with her placement.
"Another Gryffindor!" Harry cried happily. "I'll show her around today." From this, Rachel guessed that Gryffindor was the house that Harry was in.
Professor Dumbledore took the hat from Rachel, as well as the stool, and started to head out the door. "If you don't hurry, you'll miss the ceremony, and the feast!" Dumbledore called to them as he headed down the hall.
This time it was Rachel who grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him down the hall after Dumbledore. She stopped abruptly, seeing a man step out of a room and start walking towards them.
"Snape. It figures." Harry muttered.
"Who?" whispered Rachel.
"Professor Snape, he teaches Potions, he hates almost every student. Except his precious Slytherins." Harry said bitterly "Snape will kill us for sure."
"Ah, the famous Mr. Potter. My favorite student." Snape said in an icy voice. "Fancy meeting you here when you're supposed to be in the Great Hall. I see you have a friend, please, enlighten me." Snape glared at Harry.
"This is Rachel Witt, she just graduated from the Phoenix School of Elementary Magic. She's going to be going to school here for the next three years. Her house is Gryffindor." Harry replied in an equally icy tone. Two could play at this game.
"Hello, its nice to meet you." Rachel said, sticking out her hand,
Snape looked at it disgustedly and glared at her. "Ten points from Gryffindor for wandering the halls." He stalked off towards the Great Hall.
Rachel turned to Harry. "What have I done? Why did he take away points?" Rachel had also learned about the points system from her aunt.
"You didn't do anything. Snape just enjoys taken points away from us. It's a hobby of his or something."
Harry and Rachel walked after Snape, keeping a safe distance between them, towards the Great Hall.
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The Great Hall was filled with students. Rachel and Harry were sitting next to Hermione and Ron at the Gryffindor table. They had missed Dumbledore's speech and the sorting. Rachel was disappointed about missing the sorting. She was anxious to see how it was done with the first-years. She also wanted to hear the song.
"I'm sure if you asked Dumbledore, he would let you come to his office and hear it." Hermione had suggested. Hermione had been excited that there was another girl in their clique. She had gotten tired of just having Ron and Harry. They were great friends, but sometimes it was hard to talk to them.
Dumbledore waved his wand and suddenly food appeared on the tables. There was an myriad of meats, breads, fruits, vegetables, and desserts. Rachel and the other Gryffindors piled their plates high with dishes of every type. Rachel chose fried chicken with rolls and mashed potatoes on the side. For dessert she had a slice of apple pie. "Now this is good food!" she exclaimed several times throughout the meal. Hermione started off slowly, asking everyone which dishes the House Elves had prepared. She finally gave in and piled her plate with steak, carrots, broccoli, bread, and for dessert, pumpkin pie. She had decided that S.P.E.W. could wait one night.
After the feast, each house was lead by a Prefect to their common room. The Gryffindor Prefect was a sixth-year named Veraldaine Numair. She was tall and had wavy brown hair that went past her knees, chocolate brown eyes, and olive skin.
"Hi Gryffindor!" She called cheerily when they were at the entrance. The only response she got was several sleepy 'hi's.' "Well, aren't we tired? My name is Veraldaine Numair, you may call me Daine, if it's easier. As you know, I'm a Prefect and I expect to be treated with respect. If you have any problems or you get locked out, just come to me. All right, this week's password is leaquila. Basically, it means Gryffindor in Latin. Your schedules are on the bulletin board in the common room. Please only take one. Good night everyone."
Daine stepped into the common room. There was a great deal of pushing to get inside after she had gone. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Rachel waited at the back of the line.
"I don't see what the rush to get in is." Rachel commented. "We're all going to get there, whether we push ten people out of our way, or not." Hermione nodded in agreement.
Finally, they made it into the common room. Rachel went straight to the bulletin board with Hermione. They were dying to know what their first class of the year was.
"I hope it's Transfiguration!" Rachel exclaimed.
"Yeah, me too. The worst thing that could happen to us is we get saddled with something like Potions." Hermione replied.
They finally found the right schedule and looked for their first class. They groaned simultaneously. Their first class was a double Potions, with the Slytherins.
