Chapter
four:
Gwen
fidgeted with the hem of her robes as the immense scarlet steam engine slowed
and then finally stopped. She looked out the window and saw that they had stopped
in front of a tiny station; Hogsmeade Station, a sign told her.
"What's
up with these people and pigs?" Gwen wondered.
She
stepped out of the train. There were dozens of carriages, apparently drawn by
invisible horses, lined up near the station. Gwen started to follow Draco in
their direction, when a loud, scratchy voice called out, "Firs' years!
Over here. All Firs' years and new students over here! Oy there Harry! All
righ'?"
An
enormous man, three times the size of normal people, was standing next to a
rocky path holding a dimly glowing lantern in his trash-can-lid sized hand.
"Well,
I suppose that's me." Gwen said to Draco.
"I'd
wish you good luck, but Malfoy's don't believe in luck. Besides, you don't need
it. You're a shoe-in for Slytherin." Draco answered. "I'll see you in
the Great Hall."
Gwen
watched him walk away with his carefully careless step towards a carriage that
held a rather unpleasant-looking bunch of people, and then she turned to where
the giant-man stood.
Gwen
followed the group of shivering first years along a long, twisting path, which
emerged on the pebbly shore of the moonlit lake with a row of small boats along
it.
"No
more'n four to a boat!" the giant man yelled out. Gwen climbed into an empty boat near her.
Most of the others were already in, so she ended up with only one other person;
a strawberry-blonde haired boy, who was so nervous he squeaked every time Gwen
looked at him.
At the
man's command, "Forward!" the boats moved towards the opposite side
of the lake, a cliff on top of which stood Hogwarts castle.
Gwen thought the enormous castle looked like
something out of a horror movie, looming there on top of the cliff, but the
many windows were lit up, and the castle, oddly enough, looked both forbidding
and welcoming at the same time.
The
small fleet of boats containing Hagrid, Gwen, and the cowering first-years next
went inside a concealed opening in the face of the cliff, and then stopped on a
rocky shore inside that had been set up as a kind of docking area. The crowd of
first years and Gwen clambered out of the boats, and then followed the giant's
lamp up a passageway in the rock until they emerged onto the damp lawn in the
shadow of the massive castle.
Up the
flight of stone steps the group went, and stopped in front of an enormous oak
door, intricately carved with creatures the likes of which Gwen had never
seen. The giant held up an enormous
fist and banged three times on the door to the castle.
The
door was opened by a severe looking witch. Her black hair was pulled back in a
tight bun and her lips were pursed in an almost permanent-looking expression of
disapproval, but then she smiled, and said, "Welcome to Hogwarts. I am
Professor McGonnagal. Follow me, if you
will."
The
group moved into a cavernous entrance hall, and Gwen rolled her eyes at the
first years excited attempts to look at everything at once. A sweeping marble
staircase was off to the right, and facing the group was a pair of oak doors,
out of which the buzz of a thousand voices floated to their ears. McGonnagal
stopped the group in front of this door.
"Normally,
you would be taken into a separate chamber for a moment to tidy yourselves up,
but the train was running late today, and you will go directly into the Great
Hall for the Sorting Ceremony." And with that, she led them in.
***
"Gradigh,
Gwendolynne"
A small
murmur of interest swept through the throng of hungry, and formerly
uninterested students as they wondered who this girl was. She obviously
couldn't be eleven years old. Her body wasn't that of a child, and her
confident half-smirk in the general direction of the other students was very
different from the way the younger children stared at the enchanted ceiling to
avoid looking at the crowd.
She sat
on the three-legged stool, placed the filthy hat on her head gingerly, and
fiddled with her locket as she waited for something to happen.
"Well,
well, well. You're a complicated one, aren't you? A past much clouded... Let's see, first thing I notice: you've
got smarts. But you don't much fancy applying yourself to school work, eh? So
the raven's not your place, nor is the badger..." the voice in her ear was
like metal, tinny, but not unpleasant to the ears. She waited for it to speak
again. This is taking too long. She tapped her foot on the rung of the stool.
"well?"
She thought at the voice.
"Not
a patient one, are you? Well, we don't want to go putting you in the wrong
place, do we? Hmm... at first glance you seem a Slytherin type, but I can see
that deep inside you, you have the makings of a GRYFFINDOR!"
The
last word echoed through the enormous Great Hall as Gwen pulled the hat off and
stepped down to the cheers of the table on the left. Two identical red-heads
cat-called as she slipped into a seat. Gwen now had a chance to look over the
Great Hall from her seat with the Gryffindors. There were three other house
tables, packed with students under the millions of floating candles that lit
the large stone chamber. A longer table ran perpendicular to the four house
tables, at which the staff was seated. In the middle was, unmistakably Professor
Dumbledore, as his chair was taller than the others and edged in gold gilt,
unlike the others which were edged in silver.
As the
sorting ceremony went on, Gwen realized how hungry she was, and groaned when
she saw how long the line of first years still was.
"Sorting
Ceremony's a bloody pain, eh?" a voice from beside her said with a bit of
an Irish touch to it. Gwen turned, and saw a sandy-haired guy, a little younger
than herself. She nodded, and he smiled at her with laughing green eyes.
"Seamus Finnigan." He said.
"Gwen
Gradigh." She answered, smiling back cautiously.
Gwen
turned away from Seamus and scanned the table, wondering if she'd be put in
classes with the first years, or with people her own age.
Not
likely they'll let me go with people who've been here so much longer than I
have, but they can't seriously stick me with a bunch of babies.
The
line of first years dwindled slowly down, and finally, as "Zari,
Jacob" was sorted into Gryffindor, mounds of food appeared on the
glittering gold plates and the goblets filled with drinks. Gwen took a bit of
ham and put it on a roll with mustard and ate it until most of the others were
finished. A satisfied hush fell over the students, like a cool sheet on a hot
summer night. The headmaster stood and waited until the few students that were
talking quietly stopped, and then he spoke.
"Welcome!
Welcome everyone to a new year at Hogwarts!" as he said this, Dumbledore
spread his arms wide as if to embrace them as one. "Though last year ended
in a tragic incident, and we should all keep the memory of Mr. Diggory close to
our hearts; we hope to move on as normal this year and continue to strive
toward our goal of education. There
will, however be a few new rules in place. As always, I would like to reiterate the fact that the appropriately
named Forbidden Forrest is indeed forbidden. Mr.'s Weasley, I know with this
being your final year at Hogwarts, (With this, the faces at the staff table all
showed various degrees of relief) it may be difficult to adhere to this, but I
urge you to try."
The two
red-headed cat-callers grinned at the headmaster and gave him the thumbs up.
"The
additional regulations are put in place this year to insure your safety at
Hogwarts from the additional threats that have come up. The grounds are
off-limits to all students after dark, and a teacher will escort classes to and
from Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Also, there should be a chaperone
present at all quidditch practices. Well, those are all the announcements I
have, and I bid you goodnight with these parting words: Nothing is better than
perfect happiness, A ham sandwich is better than nothing, therefore A ham
sandwich is better than perfect happiness." As the students began to leave
the Great Hall, Dumbledore sighed happily, and looked down at the remains of
his dinner fondly before they faded away with the rest of the food. "So
simple. So simple and yet so true."
Gwen
followed the Gryffindors out, and was about to start up the sweeping marble
staircase, when a hand tapped her on the back.
"Please,
You are Miss Gwendolynne? Miss must come and see Professor Dumbledore. Fiona
will show Miss where to find him."
Gwen
turned to see who was speaking to her, but found herself wondering not who, but
what it was. The creature had a nose that looked like a squashed tomato and
bulging yellow eyes that resembled tennis balls. Gwen shrugged, and started to
follow obediently. The creature led her
through the castle quickly, around twists and turns, through hidden passages in
drapes, through paintings, and behind statues, until she finally stopped in
front of a stone Gargoyle.
"Jaw
Breaker." The little creature said in its high-pitched voice. The gargoyle
immediately came to life and stepped aside, staring at Gwen as Fiona pointed
her up a set of moving spiral stairs, saying, "Sir is waiting for you,
Miss Gwendolynne, in his office at the top."
Gwen
stepped onto the stairs, and made her way to the large dark wooden door at the
top. She knocked, and it opened right away.
"Come
in." a voice said, so she did.
Gwen
found herself in a circular room, with dozens of silver whirring things on
shelves around it. A glass case with a sword inside stood in one corner of the
room. Imbedded in the hilt were enormous rubies glinting in the cheerful light
of the office. On a perch next to this was a bird the size of a swan but ten
times as graceful, with glimmering scarlet and gold plumage. It watched
languorously from amber eyes as Gwen stepped over to the desk that stood in the
middle of the room. Behind this desk sat an extraordinary person, though Gwen
couldn't know this right away. Albus Dumbledore smiled his knowing smile at Gwen and invited her to sit down.
"Well,
Gwendolynne-"
"Just
Gwen, if it's all right with you, Sir."
"Of
course, Gwen. I asked you to come here because I am, of course, curious to see
why we didn't pick up on your magical abilities before. Do you mind if I ask
you a few questions, just to try and get to the root of this?"
Gwen
shrugged. "It's okay with me." The headmaster nodded.
"Do you
often find that odd things happen when you are angry or nervous?" The
headmaster's twinkly blue eyes looked into hers from behind his half-moon
glasses.
Gwen thought
hard… there were a few things, but usually they had been slight things that she
could easily explain away… her father's green nose, for example. She told
Dumbledore about it, not really including the circumstances, though.
"But I
don't know that I did that, it might have happened because of
anything." Gwen said as she finished telling Dumbledore.
"Well,"
the headmaster said, "A wizards' magic usually reflects their personality in
some way. I'd be willing to wager that you have a somewhat sly, subtle sense of
humor, unlike some people who would say the funniest thing they've ever seen is
that episode where Joey got his head stuck in the turkey. It all depends on the
wizard. You were playing a joke on your father unconsciously."
Gwen
nodded. She looked up at him, wondering
if they were done yet.
"You
have very unique eyes, Miss Gradigh." He said suddenly, quite out of the
blue. He had a thoughtful look on his
aged face. Gwen had been told this often; one of her eyes was an odd grey/blue
color, and the other was hazel, so it varied in shades of green to brown. She
didn't know quite what to say to this, so she didn't say anything, just fiddled
with her locket. Dumbledore's eyes opened wide, and he suddenly got up from his
chair.
"You
may go to your common room now, I'm not sure why you were missed, but as long
as we found you, I think we can leave it at that." He said, but Gwen thought
there was something he wasn't telling her. He had an odd look on his face, and Gwen wanted to question him, but
didn't think she should. He was, after all, the headmaster. Not good to get on
his list the first day, so Gwen just nodded.
"But I
don't know where my common room is, Sir." Gwen said, hoping it wasn't far.
"Oh, of
course. I had almost forgotten." He walked over to the perch where the
beautiful bird stood. The bird moved
onto his outstretched arm, and he walked back to where Gwen stood by the door.
"Follow
Fawkes. He will lead you there. The
portrait guard will let you in if you're with him, but make sure you find out
the password in the morning."
Gwen
nodded again. Fawkes whooshed past her ear, and hovered in the doorway. Gwen
followed him down the stairs and around the castle until finally the bird
stopped in front of a portrait of a rather large lady in a pink frilly dress.
She was brushing her teeth, and didn't stop when she saw Gwen, just opened up
to let her in. Fawkes he came in behind
her and led her up another spiral staircase, past six doors, all the way to the
top of the tower and hovered in front of a door with a sign on it that said,
"Sixth year girls." Only when she put her hand on the doorknob did Fawkes fly
off down the stairs and out the portrait hole.
Gwen
sighed with relief. She wasn't going to be put with a bunch of
eleven-year-olds. She opened the door and crept in. It was late and all the
lights were out, but it wasn't so dark she couldn't see. Gwen looked for the
bed with her trunk next to it, quickly changed into her pajamas, and slipped
into the empty four-poster.
I'm
finally here.