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Chapter 2
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville reached the Hogwarts castle and soon students were climbing out of their carriages and heading towards the castle. They together entered the castle then went to the Great Hall were they found their seats amongst the other fellow Gryffindors. Professor McGonagall was leading the First Years into the Hall for the Sorting Ceremony just as Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Ron. He pointed towards the table where the teachers occupied.
" No one new there," he said quite disappointedly, then he brightened. "Hey, Snape's not there! Woohooo!"
"Shhh!" Hermione said. "The Sorting's about to start."
Harry watched quietly as Professor Mcgonagall made the First Years form a line, took out a long piece of parchment from her pocket and called out names.
"Androse, Gail"
Harry wondered why Snape was absent, could it be that he was finally fired or that he quit after missing the Defense Against Dark Arts position for four consecutive years? His head whirled with the thought.
A miracle! At last, Hogwarts without Snape! His head was then filled with great ideas on what to do with his newfound freedom:, sneak into Hogsmead every night;
go exploring in the Forbidden Forest whenever he wished to;
he wouldn't lose about a fifty house points everyday;
no one to side with Draco Malfoy………
His thoughts was suddenly interrupted when Professor Mcgonagall called out a name that made him respond automatically.
"Chang, Naru"
Professor Mcgonagall had already reached the 'Cs'and a couple of First Years had already seated in their new house tables.
"Chang? As in Cho Chang?" Harry asked Ron hurriedly.
"Guess so," Ron shrugged. "Must be her younger sister I think." And Harry glanced quickly at the Ravenclaw table and saw Cho Chang looking at the Sorting Ceremony as if she was waiting for someone. Naru Chang must be her sister and Harry turned his head back to the Sorting Ceremony quite reluctantly.
It must have been a very hard year for Cho, he thought, thinking about what happened last year. Cedric, who was murdered by Lord Voldemort last year (and Harry knew about that very much, maybe way too much) had been Cho's partner during the Yule Ball. I hope Cho's sister will get sorted in Ravenclaw too, so that she might be able to help her sister cope with that incident, Harry thought solemly.
He spotted a girl walking towards the battered Sorting Hat and was shocked at what he saw.
For being Cho's sibling, the young girl looked nothing like her older sister at all. In fact, she didn't look like she was eleven at all. She had two ear piercings on each ear and two black studs were on them. She wore a red band on her forehead, there was a Chinese character written in black at the middle. Harry wondered what it meant. Because of her accessories, she looked older than her age, more mature and serious but still she was very pretty. Yes, she had silky black hair like her sister, thick and shiny like a raven's wing. She looked Asian too but what disturbed Harry was her facial expression as she walked up to the Sorting Hat. She didn't have the bright, warming smile of Cho, the one that Harry learned to love and was expecting but instead she was scowling, looking irritated as if she didn't want to be there and was just forced to be there. She had higher cheekbones than Cho, Harry noted. A more pointed nose and the creamiest complexion Harry had ever seen, Harry's eyes traveled up her face then stopped abruptly. She had looked into his own green eyes sharply and he suddenly felt as if he were paralyzed. He was staring at deep black eyes just like Cho's but they were bitter, so frosty, no warmth at all. Those eyes gave Harry an uneasy feeling, he never ever seen such frighteningly cold eyes on a young girl in his whole life and he was forced to look away from them. He glanced at Ron to see what his friend's reaction was. Ron's mouth was hanging open, his eyes also fixed on Naru as she sat on the three- legged stool and put on the Sorting Hat. Hermione was speechless too, in fact most people were. None could believe that she was actually Cho's younger sister. She probably sat on the stool for 1 and a half minute before the Sorting Hat finally screamed: "Slytherin!"
Harry let a loud gasp. He quickly covered his mouth and glanced around but no one had noticed anyway. They were all still staring at Naru. She had gotten off the stool, rolling her eyes as if she didn't give a damn that she was just sorted into the house where a lot of bad wizards had come from, in fact, she acted that she didn't give a damn about anything at all. She walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down beside Malfoy.
Harry saw Malfoy say hi but she ignored him, putting her elbows on the table and placed her chin on her palms, looking really bored. Draco scowled and turned his back on her, muttering "Snob!" under his breath. His chair gave way suddenly and he landed on the floor with a loud THUMP! Naru snickered while Draco picked himself up from the floor looking around sheepishly, half of the students were staring at him, most of them also giggling, it wasn't everyday you saw braggy Draco Malfoy fall. Professor Mcgonagall shot him a stern look as he had interrupted her. Naru sneered as Draco climbed back to his seat, he looked at her warily.
"McKinnie, Aust". Professor Mcgonagall continued and the boy was sorted into Ravenclaw.
Harry was still staring at Naru, wondering how such a pretty girl could look so angry and so mean, she gave him the impression that she was of the rebellious sort, those people who go around looking for trouble or deliberately causing them.
"Schweitzer, Cy" Professor Mcgonagall said and a girl with several red streaks on her dark brown hair walked forwards. She was sorted into Slytherine and Naru gave a loud whoop from wear she sat.
"Oh yeah! Finally, a decent person in boring old Slytherine!" she cheered, punching her fist into the air as Cy joined her table.
Everyone stared at her loud outburst, Professor Mcgonagall's jaw dropped open, it was obvious that she never encountered a First Year act like that in her entire stay in Hogwarts.
She cleared her throat: "Miss Chang, we do not cheer or make any sort of noise during the ceremony, First Years especially as they would want to make a good first impression to their teachers."
"Yeah, but isn't that just being plastic?," Naru replied loudly and a few people gasped, they didn't expect a First Year to answer back a teacher, especially after being told off. She continued in a matter-of-fact tone: "Plastic or- well, fake, you know people who act like what they actually aren't, just to please other people. I don't care if I make a good impression or not, all that matters is that I act like myself and I'm sorry that you didn't like what I just did but this is the way I am. This is me."
A few people nodded their heads in agreement and Harry found himself nodding with them too. She had actually made sense and he admired her for standing up for herself regardless of the consequences. He had known Professor Mcgonagall for a long time and judging by her reaction at Naru's statement, (she had gone still like a statue, her mouth still hanging open), she would probably take a round of 100 points from Slytherine. And if that wasn't enough, other teachers probably agreed with her, Naru could possibly be expelled.
'She didn't even last a day in Hogwarts' Harry thought.
Cy clapped her hands, the sound echoing throughout the Great Hall which was silent after Naru's little speech. Naru grinned at her. "And most of all, isn't the school suppose to let the students express them-"
"Shut up!" Draco hissed at her. "Just shut up or you'll get us all in trouble!" A few Slytherines shot her dirty looks.
"Well, exccccuuuuuuse me!" Naru exclaimed, shooting a haughty look back at them, most of it was directed to Draco. "Pardon me for exercising my freedom of speech!"
Cy leaned over and whispered something in her ear, then they both giggled and smirked at him.
This time it was Draco who rolled his eyes, together with some other Slytherines.
"Scull, Thisbe" Professor Mcgonagall had recovered and she chose to ignore what had just happened and continue with the again interrupted Sorting. Most students were whispering among themselves, obviously still discussing about Naru. Hermione herself leaned forward. "Talk about having a real attitude! Who knew Cho's sister could be such a tough cookie."
"Looks Cho's not too happy about it and I don't blame her," Ron gestured towards the Ravenclaw table. Sure enough, Cho looked both embarrassed and angry with her sister's behavior. She had a tint of pink on her cheeks and she looked like she wanted to strangle Naru too. Naru was acting casually, as if talking back to a teacher was something normal, she was now having a gabfest with Cy, snickering and whispering.
'At last,' Harry thought. 'Normal 11 year old girl behavior'
"Weintraub , Monique" Professor Mcgonagall called out and rolled up her parchment. A girl with strawberry blond hair tied in pigtails walked up, she was then sorted into Hufflepuff. The Sorting was finally done and Dumbledore stood up to talk. The Hall went automatically quiet, except for two certain persons. Naru and Cy were still talking. Professor Mcgonagall glared at them and both became reluctantly silent.
"Welcome to yet another year in Hogwarts!" Dumbledore announced cheerfully. We haven't even started with the Feast but I have already seen some prominent personalities that will make this year, well, interesting." Everyone knew that he was talking about Naru and Cy but his tone was neither mad nor accusing, he glanced at the two girls and a twinkle shone in his eyes as though he was just amused at what just happened earlier. "You may think that the Sorting is over but it is actually not," he said.
"Huh? What's he talking about? Of coarse the Sorting's finished!" Ron exclaimed
"Shhh! Let him finish!" Hermione told him. He was not the only one who reacted though, the Hall was filled with small whispers.
"Yes, I repeat, the Sorting is not done yet," Dumbledore addressed the crowd. "Our very special guest hasn't been Sorted yet, our guest is someone who will be joining us this year so I ask each one of you, students, staff and ghosts, please make her stay pleasurable." And with that, he nodded to Professor Mcgonagall who nodded back. She left, using the door located at the back of the Hall.
"She is a very special child, you see, she had suffered greatly in her past and encountered many difficulties but nevertheless, she was able to overcome them all bravely," Dumbledore continued. "She may surprise you all with her personality so please accept her hospitably and avoid from giving her feelings of indifference."
Harry simply nodded, curious about the new guest while Hermione and Ron spoke out at the same time:
"Ooooh, I wonder who could the special guest be, I really hope she's nice!"
"I didn't understand a word he just said,"
Hermione gave Ron one of her Looks.
"What?" Ron said with fake innocence.
Hermione opened her mouth, about to tell Ron something when the back door opened and Professor McGonagall stepped out. She nodded to Dumbledore again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me introduce to you our new member of our Hogwarts family," Dumbledore told the crowd in a very formal voice. "Let us all welcome…" He paused dramatically for a second, "Iris Ingebrigtsen!"
And a raven-haired girl stepped out from the back door. Several people craned their necks in order to have a good look at her. She shook Professor McGonagall's hand then went directly to Dumbledore. Harry hadn't seen her face yet since her back was turned as she shook the Headmaster's hands but judging by the students who were facing her, they were all looking amazed, some boys looking dreamy, Harry had the idea that she was awfully pretty and couldn't wait to see her face.
"Awwwww, I can't see her face!" Ron craned his neck even more
"Be patient, I'm sure she'll turn around," Hermione assured him.
Dumbledore was still talking with her, a warm and welcoming smile on his face while the Gryffindor boys waited in suspense for her to turn around.
"Hey, where's Neville?" Hermione asked suddenly.
That was when Harry noticed that their friend was missing from the table.
"Wasn't he here awhile ago?"
Ron shrugged, still staring at Iris.
"Oh looking for Neville?" Dean Thomas spoke up, sitting beside Ron. "He went to the hospital wing just a few minutes ago, said he wasn't feeling well. He looked really pale if you ask me,"
"He went by himself?! Maybe we have to go and see if he's ok…." Hermione started but the Sorting Hat interrupted her.
"Gryffindor!" it screamed.
"Hey Harry, she's heading this way!" Hermione told her friend who was still talking with Dean about Neville's sudden sickness.
"I swear he looked fine when we all came inside…."
"Harry, Harry! She's heading to our table! Look she's coming now…" Ron said excitedly.
"Who's coming Ron?" Harry asked, still facing Dean.
"Iris! She's been sorted to our house and she's coming to join us!" Hermione replied, beaming just as Ron spoke: "Wait a sec, are her eyes really like that?"
Harry heard footsteps behind him a he spun around and let a inaudible gasp. He found himself staring into bright lavender eyes. Iris's eyes were eerily pale and so light that it was almost white, it made her looked like she had no pupils at all.
She held out her hand to Harry and shook it, "Pleased to meet you, I'm Iris Ingebrigtsen. I hope I'll have a good time here in Hogwarts."
She had a warm and friendly smile and a gentle grasp, though her haunting eyes unnerved Harry a bit. Harry felt those eyes were staring right through him. He was about to say hello when Ron cried out:
"B-b-but you're blind!!!!!"
Chapter 2
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville reached the Hogwarts castle and soon students were climbing out of their carriages and heading towards the castle. They together entered the castle then went to the Great Hall were they found their seats amongst the other fellow Gryffindors. Professor McGonagall was leading the First Years into the Hall for the Sorting Ceremony just as Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Ron. He pointed towards the table where the teachers occupied.
" No one new there," he said quite disappointedly, then he brightened. "Hey, Snape's not there! Woohooo!"
"Shhh!" Hermione said. "The Sorting's about to start."
Harry watched quietly as Professor Mcgonagall made the First Years form a line, took out a long piece of parchment from her pocket and called out names.
"Androse, Gail"
Harry wondered why Snape was absent, could it be that he was finally fired or that he quit after missing the Defense Against Dark Arts position for four consecutive years? His head whirled with the thought.
A miracle! At last, Hogwarts without Snape! His head was then filled with great ideas on what to do with his newfound freedom:, sneak into Hogsmead every night;
go exploring in the Forbidden Forest whenever he wished to;
he wouldn't lose about a fifty house points everyday;
no one to side with Draco Malfoy………
His thoughts was suddenly interrupted when Professor Mcgonagall called out a name that made him respond automatically.
"Chang, Naru"
Professor Mcgonagall had already reached the 'Cs'and a couple of First Years had already seated in their new house tables.
"Chang? As in Cho Chang?" Harry asked Ron hurriedly.
"Guess so," Ron shrugged. "Must be her younger sister I think." And Harry glanced quickly at the Ravenclaw table and saw Cho Chang looking at the Sorting Ceremony as if she was waiting for someone. Naru Chang must be her sister and Harry turned his head back to the Sorting Ceremony quite reluctantly.
It must have been a very hard year for Cho, he thought, thinking about what happened last year. Cedric, who was murdered by Lord Voldemort last year (and Harry knew about that very much, maybe way too much) had been Cho's partner during the Yule Ball. I hope Cho's sister will get sorted in Ravenclaw too, so that she might be able to help her sister cope with that incident, Harry thought solemly.
He spotted a girl walking towards the battered Sorting Hat and was shocked at what he saw.
For being Cho's sibling, the young girl looked nothing like her older sister at all. In fact, she didn't look like she was eleven at all. She had two ear piercings on each ear and two black studs were on them. She wore a red band on her forehead, there was a Chinese character written in black at the middle. Harry wondered what it meant. Because of her accessories, she looked older than her age, more mature and serious but still she was very pretty. Yes, she had silky black hair like her sister, thick and shiny like a raven's wing. She looked Asian too but what disturbed Harry was her facial expression as she walked up to the Sorting Hat. She didn't have the bright, warming smile of Cho, the one that Harry learned to love and was expecting but instead she was scowling, looking irritated as if she didn't want to be there and was just forced to be there. She had higher cheekbones than Cho, Harry noted. A more pointed nose and the creamiest complexion Harry had ever seen, Harry's eyes traveled up her face then stopped abruptly. She had looked into his own green eyes sharply and he suddenly felt as if he were paralyzed. He was staring at deep black eyes just like Cho's but they were bitter, so frosty, no warmth at all. Those eyes gave Harry an uneasy feeling, he never ever seen such frighteningly cold eyes on a young girl in his whole life and he was forced to look away from them. He glanced at Ron to see what his friend's reaction was. Ron's mouth was hanging open, his eyes also fixed on Naru as she sat on the three- legged stool and put on the Sorting Hat. Hermione was speechless too, in fact most people were. None could believe that she was actually Cho's younger sister. She probably sat on the stool for 1 and a half minute before the Sorting Hat finally screamed: "Slytherin!"
Harry let a loud gasp. He quickly covered his mouth and glanced around but no one had noticed anyway. They were all still staring at Naru. She had gotten off the stool, rolling her eyes as if she didn't give a damn that she was just sorted into the house where a lot of bad wizards had come from, in fact, she acted that she didn't give a damn about anything at all. She walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down beside Malfoy.
Harry saw Malfoy say hi but she ignored him, putting her elbows on the table and placed her chin on her palms, looking really bored. Draco scowled and turned his back on her, muttering "Snob!" under his breath. His chair gave way suddenly and he landed on the floor with a loud THUMP! Naru snickered while Draco picked himself up from the floor looking around sheepishly, half of the students were staring at him, most of them also giggling, it wasn't everyday you saw braggy Draco Malfoy fall. Professor Mcgonagall shot him a stern look as he had interrupted her. Naru sneered as Draco climbed back to his seat, he looked at her warily.
"McKinnie, Aust". Professor Mcgonagall continued and the boy was sorted into Ravenclaw.
Harry was still staring at Naru, wondering how such a pretty girl could look so angry and so mean, she gave him the impression that she was of the rebellious sort, those people who go around looking for trouble or deliberately causing them.
"Schweitzer, Cy" Professor Mcgonagall said and a girl with several red streaks on her dark brown hair walked forwards. She was sorted into Slytherine and Naru gave a loud whoop from wear she sat.
"Oh yeah! Finally, a decent person in boring old Slytherine!" she cheered, punching her fist into the air as Cy joined her table.
Everyone stared at her loud outburst, Professor Mcgonagall's jaw dropped open, it was obvious that she never encountered a First Year act like that in her entire stay in Hogwarts.
She cleared her throat: "Miss Chang, we do not cheer or make any sort of noise during the ceremony, First Years especially as they would want to make a good first impression to their teachers."
"Yeah, but isn't that just being plastic?," Naru replied loudly and a few people gasped, they didn't expect a First Year to answer back a teacher, especially after being told off. She continued in a matter-of-fact tone: "Plastic or- well, fake, you know people who act like what they actually aren't, just to please other people. I don't care if I make a good impression or not, all that matters is that I act like myself and I'm sorry that you didn't like what I just did but this is the way I am. This is me."
A few people nodded their heads in agreement and Harry found himself nodding with them too. She had actually made sense and he admired her for standing up for herself regardless of the consequences. He had known Professor Mcgonagall for a long time and judging by her reaction at Naru's statement, (she had gone still like a statue, her mouth still hanging open), she would probably take a round of 100 points from Slytherine. And if that wasn't enough, other teachers probably agreed with her, Naru could possibly be expelled.
'She didn't even last a day in Hogwarts' Harry thought.
Cy clapped her hands, the sound echoing throughout the Great Hall which was silent after Naru's little speech. Naru grinned at her. "And most of all, isn't the school suppose to let the students express them-"
"Shut up!" Draco hissed at her. "Just shut up or you'll get us all in trouble!" A few Slytherines shot her dirty looks.
"Well, exccccuuuuuuse me!" Naru exclaimed, shooting a haughty look back at them, most of it was directed to Draco. "Pardon me for exercising my freedom of speech!"
Cy leaned over and whispered something in her ear, then they both giggled and smirked at him.
This time it was Draco who rolled his eyes, together with some other Slytherines.
"Scull, Thisbe" Professor Mcgonagall had recovered and she chose to ignore what had just happened and continue with the again interrupted Sorting. Most students were whispering among themselves, obviously still discussing about Naru. Hermione herself leaned forward. "Talk about having a real attitude! Who knew Cho's sister could be such a tough cookie."
"Looks Cho's not too happy about it and I don't blame her," Ron gestured towards the Ravenclaw table. Sure enough, Cho looked both embarrassed and angry with her sister's behavior. She had a tint of pink on her cheeks and she looked like she wanted to strangle Naru too. Naru was acting casually, as if talking back to a teacher was something normal, she was now having a gabfest with Cy, snickering and whispering.
'At last,' Harry thought. 'Normal 11 year old girl behavior'
"Weintraub , Monique" Professor Mcgonagall called out and rolled up her parchment. A girl with strawberry blond hair tied in pigtails walked up, she was then sorted into Hufflepuff. The Sorting was finally done and Dumbledore stood up to talk. The Hall went automatically quiet, except for two certain persons. Naru and Cy were still talking. Professor Mcgonagall glared at them and both became reluctantly silent.
"Welcome to yet another year in Hogwarts!" Dumbledore announced cheerfully. We haven't even started with the Feast but I have already seen some prominent personalities that will make this year, well, interesting." Everyone knew that he was talking about Naru and Cy but his tone was neither mad nor accusing, he glanced at the two girls and a twinkle shone in his eyes as though he was just amused at what just happened earlier. "You may think that the Sorting is over but it is actually not," he said.
"Huh? What's he talking about? Of coarse the Sorting's finished!" Ron exclaimed
"Shhh! Let him finish!" Hermione told him. He was not the only one who reacted though, the Hall was filled with small whispers.
"Yes, I repeat, the Sorting is not done yet," Dumbledore addressed the crowd. "Our very special guest hasn't been Sorted yet, our guest is someone who will be joining us this year so I ask each one of you, students, staff and ghosts, please make her stay pleasurable." And with that, he nodded to Professor Mcgonagall who nodded back. She left, using the door located at the back of the Hall.
"She is a very special child, you see, she had suffered greatly in her past and encountered many difficulties but nevertheless, she was able to overcome them all bravely," Dumbledore continued. "She may surprise you all with her personality so please accept her hospitably and avoid from giving her feelings of indifference."
Harry simply nodded, curious about the new guest while Hermione and Ron spoke out at the same time:
"Ooooh, I wonder who could the special guest be, I really hope she's nice!"
"I didn't understand a word he just said,"
Hermione gave Ron one of her Looks.
"What?" Ron said with fake innocence.
Hermione opened her mouth, about to tell Ron something when the back door opened and Professor McGonagall stepped out. She nodded to Dumbledore again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me introduce to you our new member of our Hogwarts family," Dumbledore told the crowd in a very formal voice. "Let us all welcome…" He paused dramatically for a second, "Iris Ingebrigtsen!"
And a raven-haired girl stepped out from the back door. Several people craned their necks in order to have a good look at her. She shook Professor McGonagall's hand then went directly to Dumbledore. Harry hadn't seen her face yet since her back was turned as she shook the Headmaster's hands but judging by the students who were facing her, they were all looking amazed, some boys looking dreamy, Harry had the idea that she was awfully pretty and couldn't wait to see her face.
"Awwwww, I can't see her face!" Ron craned his neck even more
"Be patient, I'm sure she'll turn around," Hermione assured him.
Dumbledore was still talking with her, a warm and welcoming smile on his face while the Gryffindor boys waited in suspense for her to turn around.
"Hey, where's Neville?" Hermione asked suddenly.
That was when Harry noticed that their friend was missing from the table.
"Wasn't he here awhile ago?"
Ron shrugged, still staring at Iris.
"Oh looking for Neville?" Dean Thomas spoke up, sitting beside Ron. "He went to the hospital wing just a few minutes ago, said he wasn't feeling well. He looked really pale if you ask me,"
"He went by himself?! Maybe we have to go and see if he's ok…." Hermione started but the Sorting Hat interrupted her.
"Gryffindor!" it screamed.
"Hey Harry, she's heading this way!" Hermione told her friend who was still talking with Dean about Neville's sudden sickness.
"I swear he looked fine when we all came inside…."
"Harry, Harry! She's heading to our table! Look she's coming now…" Ron said excitedly.
"Who's coming Ron?" Harry asked, still facing Dean.
"Iris! She's been sorted to our house and she's coming to join us!" Hermione replied, beaming just as Ron spoke: "Wait a sec, are her eyes really like that?"
Harry heard footsteps behind him a he spun around and let a inaudible gasp. He found himself staring into bright lavender eyes. Iris's eyes were eerily pale and so light that it was almost white, it made her looked like she had no pupils at all.
She held out her hand to Harry and shook it, "Pleased to meet you, I'm Iris Ingebrigtsen. I hope I'll have a good time here in Hogwarts."
She had a warm and friendly smile and a gentle grasp, though her haunting eyes unnerved Harry a bit. Harry felt those eyes were staring right through him. He was about to say hello when Ron cried out:
"B-b-but you're blind!!!!!"