Chapter 2
Sirius wound up his punching arm--all the girls gasped (a very pretty girl with crystal-blue eyes and curly blonde hair actually fainted)--he took a step forward, and SSSSSLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMM---
Sirius was thrown back against the wall by some invisible force as his hair started to sprout carrots. Everyone in the room burst out laughing except Lily --but in an instant Sirius had stood up, marched over to James, and punched him in the nose which instantly spurted out a messy trickle of blood.
"Now you know how REAL men fight," said Sirius with a snarl.
Everyone was silent.
"He's right you know," said Lily after an awkward few moments.
"How's that?" James muttered.
"A real man wouldn't have cursed someone if he knew he couldn't fight
back. You knew that Sirius is from a muggle family, so how would he have known the counter curse?"
"I guess my fighting tactics weren't entirely fair either," said Sirius, acting overly humble as he gnawed down on a carrot that had just sprouted out of his hair, "cause it's obvious James doesn't know squat about fist-fighting!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
"We'll SEE about that!" James yelled, putting up his fists and thrusting himself forward at Sirius.
"See about what?" came a stern female voice.
Everyone's head snapped in the direction of the voice. It was a very pretty, adult witch, wearing a purple robe. She had silky, raven-black locks and sparkling, violet eyes. Everyone sensed an aura of greatness around her and instantly felt terribly guilty for everything that had just happened.
"N-n-n-o-t-h-i-n-g......." said a very crimson James after staring goggle-eyed at the witch for a few moments.
"Why is your nose bleeding?" she asked firmly, and James was about to answer
her but she cought sight of Sirius and everyone watched with terror as her eyes grew to the size of plums, "WHY are there carrots popping out of that boy's hair?" she demanded, yet Lily could have sworn she saw the faintest glimmer of a humorous twinkle in the witch's eyes.
"H-h-he.............he......uh.....he.....has........a.....................a disability!" James studdered.
"I could be wrong," said the witch, "but it looks more like a Carroteritis hex than a disability. Of course, I could be mistaken.......Now why again is your nose bleeding?" she asked, pointing to James.
"Uh," started Sirius, "........the......um...........well you see...........he's got some problems with.......er.........PRESSURE, yeah, that's it, the....the pressure changes in this train a LOT, especially since we're in the back, and his nose can't take it. He has a VERY sensitive nose."
"Uh-huh. I think you boys need to both come with me right this instant. By the way, my name is Sophia Saphire, and I will be teaching your Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. I'm sorry we all had to meet this way," she said flashing a smile, and with that, she dragged both James and Sirius out by their ears.
"Isn't she WONDERFUL!" exclaimed Mackenzie.
"I thought she was kind of scary," admitted a tall, crumbly boy with a round face and a runny nose.
"Frank Longbottum, you think EVERYONE is scary," said Mackenzie
Frank turned redder than Lily's hair as he goggled at Mackenzie.
"Although I do confess," continued Mackenzie, heedless of the fact that a boy was frozen in place because of her, "Professer Saphire is a bit intimidating, but still, she's perfectly enchanting. I'm so glad we have her for Defense Against the Dark Arts, she's just the right person for the job. There's rumors that the Defense Against the Dark Arts job is jinxed, but I don't think anything could jinx a person like her. Did you guys feel that when she came in? Like she could have killed us all with a stare....."
"Mackenzie Dippet, do you ever shut up?" came a cold, oily voice.
Mackenzie glared at Severus.
"In any case, Professor Saphire isn't half of what she's cracked up to be," Severus said, "I'll admit, she does know a thing or two about the Dark Side, but from what my father and everyone else says, she never let's any of us experiment with it. If you ask me, she's plum scared. Of course, what would you expect? She's head of the Gryffindor House."
"So what?" Lily said softly, before she had a chance to stop herself.
Severus was about to come back with some type of sarcastic remark, but he looked into her eyes and instead turned a brilliant shade of crimson.
"I'll tell you what's wrong with it," said a tall, older boy in the back in a drawling voice, "the whole lot of Gryffindors are Slytherin-wannabees. Everyone knows it."
Mackenzie flashed Lily a warning look, but it was too late.
"How do you know THAT?" Lily said, hardly believing that she had
spoken so confidently.
"Because, little mudblood (only a mudblood would be as ignorant as YOU
are about all of this), that's just the way it is."
Suddenly there was a bunch of banging, clattering, and swearing as James, Sirius, Severus, and Mackenzie all tackled the boy who had called Lily a mudblood, and started beating him.
Suddenly the whole room went silent as the door swung open, revealing a VERY angry-looking Professer Saphire.
"You two," she said pointing her wand at James and Sirius who instantly stopped pounding Lucius and shrunk back against the wall, "Go outside the compartment and wait, I'll attend to you in a minute."
They obeyed immediately, too scared to protest.
"The Hogwarts Express will be pulling into Hogwarts in a few minutes, and the Sorting Ceremony will be taking place at once. Severus, Mackenzie, and Lucius, I am extremely disappointed in each of you. Do not let me catch you misbehaving again, or you will regret it."
With that she slammed the door shut, and the train came to a halt. Lily Lamont looked out of the window and saw for the first time, the gigantic, towering mansion with all it's gnarled and mysterious towers, the icey lake, the tall, twisted trees, the dark, foreboding edge of the Forbidden Forest, and all the other wonderful, terrifying sights that accompanied Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Sirius wound up his punching arm--all the girls gasped (a very pretty girl with crystal-blue eyes and curly blonde hair actually fainted)--he took a step forward, and SSSSSLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMM---
Sirius was thrown back against the wall by some invisible force as his hair started to sprout carrots. Everyone in the room burst out laughing except Lily --but in an instant Sirius had stood up, marched over to James, and punched him in the nose which instantly spurted out a messy trickle of blood.
"Now you know how REAL men fight," said Sirius with a snarl.
Everyone was silent.
"He's right you know," said Lily after an awkward few moments.
"How's that?" James muttered.
"A real man wouldn't have cursed someone if he knew he couldn't fight
back. You knew that Sirius is from a muggle family, so how would he have known the counter curse?"
"I guess my fighting tactics weren't entirely fair either," said Sirius, acting overly humble as he gnawed down on a carrot that had just sprouted out of his hair, "cause it's obvious James doesn't know squat about fist-fighting!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
"We'll SEE about that!" James yelled, putting up his fists and thrusting himself forward at Sirius.
"See about what?" came a stern female voice.
Everyone's head snapped in the direction of the voice. It was a very pretty, adult witch, wearing a purple robe. She had silky, raven-black locks and sparkling, violet eyes. Everyone sensed an aura of greatness around her and instantly felt terribly guilty for everything that had just happened.
"N-n-n-o-t-h-i-n-g......." said a very crimson James after staring goggle-eyed at the witch for a few moments.
"Why is your nose bleeding?" she asked firmly, and James was about to answer
her but she cought sight of Sirius and everyone watched with terror as her eyes grew to the size of plums, "WHY are there carrots popping out of that boy's hair?" she demanded, yet Lily could have sworn she saw the faintest glimmer of a humorous twinkle in the witch's eyes.
"H-h-he.............he......uh.....he.....has........a.....................a disability!" James studdered.
"I could be wrong," said the witch, "but it looks more like a Carroteritis hex than a disability. Of course, I could be mistaken.......Now why again is your nose bleeding?" she asked, pointing to James.
"Uh," started Sirius, "........the......um...........well you see...........he's got some problems with.......er.........PRESSURE, yeah, that's it, the....the pressure changes in this train a LOT, especially since we're in the back, and his nose can't take it. He has a VERY sensitive nose."
"Uh-huh. I think you boys need to both come with me right this instant. By the way, my name is Sophia Saphire, and I will be teaching your Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. I'm sorry we all had to meet this way," she said flashing a smile, and with that, she dragged both James and Sirius out by their ears.
"Isn't she WONDERFUL!" exclaimed Mackenzie.
"I thought she was kind of scary," admitted a tall, crumbly boy with a round face and a runny nose.
"Frank Longbottum, you think EVERYONE is scary," said Mackenzie
Frank turned redder than Lily's hair as he goggled at Mackenzie.
"Although I do confess," continued Mackenzie, heedless of the fact that a boy was frozen in place because of her, "Professer Saphire is a bit intimidating, but still, she's perfectly enchanting. I'm so glad we have her for Defense Against the Dark Arts, she's just the right person for the job. There's rumors that the Defense Against the Dark Arts job is jinxed, but I don't think anything could jinx a person like her. Did you guys feel that when she came in? Like she could have killed us all with a stare....."
"Mackenzie Dippet, do you ever shut up?" came a cold, oily voice.
Mackenzie glared at Severus.
"In any case, Professor Saphire isn't half of what she's cracked up to be," Severus said, "I'll admit, she does know a thing or two about the Dark Side, but from what my father and everyone else says, she never let's any of us experiment with it. If you ask me, she's plum scared. Of course, what would you expect? She's head of the Gryffindor House."
"So what?" Lily said softly, before she had a chance to stop herself.
Severus was about to come back with some type of sarcastic remark, but he looked into her eyes and instead turned a brilliant shade of crimson.
"I'll tell you what's wrong with it," said a tall, older boy in the back in a drawling voice, "the whole lot of Gryffindors are Slytherin-wannabees. Everyone knows it."
Mackenzie flashed Lily a warning look, but it was too late.
"How do you know THAT?" Lily said, hardly believing that she had
spoken so confidently.
"Because, little mudblood (only a mudblood would be as ignorant as YOU
are about all of this), that's just the way it is."
Suddenly there was a bunch of banging, clattering, and swearing as James, Sirius, Severus, and Mackenzie all tackled the boy who had called Lily a mudblood, and started beating him.
Suddenly the whole room went silent as the door swung open, revealing a VERY angry-looking Professer Saphire.
"You two," she said pointing her wand at James and Sirius who instantly stopped pounding Lucius and shrunk back against the wall, "Go outside the compartment and wait, I'll attend to you in a minute."
They obeyed immediately, too scared to protest.
"The Hogwarts Express will be pulling into Hogwarts in a few minutes, and the Sorting Ceremony will be taking place at once. Severus, Mackenzie, and Lucius, I am extremely disappointed in each of you. Do not let me catch you misbehaving again, or you will regret it."
With that she slammed the door shut, and the train came to a halt. Lily Lamont looked out of the window and saw for the first time, the gigantic, towering mansion with all it's gnarled and mysterious towers, the icey lake, the tall, twisted trees, the dark, foreboding edge of the Forbidden Forest, and all the other wonderful, terrifying sights that accompanied Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.