Author's Notes: Ok, so here's Tem's sorting. Thanks to those who actually took the time to submit a request (while I had the poll open) as to which house Tem should be in. Not very many of you did. In fact, more of you replied to the poll long after I had written and posted this part!! People are weird. That's why I prefer to sit at my computer and write about them instead of interacting with them. Oh, well. So anyway, on with the sorting! PLEASE REVIEW!
PS- ** indicate thoughts
Summary: Tem gets sorted; he gains a little insight to what Harry's life must be like.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Really. Just leave me alone, ok? Go pick on somebody with some money, and leave me be. I promise to return J.K.'s characters (for they are hers, not mine) virtually unscathed and where I found them. But please leave me with MY four meager characters: Tem, Alan, Alyssa, and Fay (for they are MINE and NOT HERS!)
And now… (For real this time)…
Harry's Neighbor-Part
4
The Sorting
Tem
was shuffled and shoved into the back of a boat. Three other people climbed in after him, and off they went. He could still hear the cries of the giant
shepherding the last of the students into boats over the wind that whistled in
his ears.
At first, when he realized that
they were moving, Tem clamped his eyes shut, fearing the onslaught of another
bout of motion sickness. This, however,
was nothing like the rough jolts of the train, or the wild ups-and-downs of the
Gringotts cart. This was smooth
sailing. Tem opened his eyes,
tentatively at first, and found himself enjoying the rush of the cool night air
under a crystal clear sky.
Finally, he turned his attention to
his boat mates, and found that he had been jostled into the same boat as Alan
and his two friends. They were staring
at him expectantly.
"So?" the redhead, Alyssa,
whispered, "Did you talk to him?"
Tem sighed in defeat. He always hated admitting he was wrong, but
was not above it. "Yeah, I talked to
him," he looked around at his companions, stopping on Alan. "And I'm really sorry I called you a
liar. I don't usually overreact like
that; you just took me by surprise. I
mean, you think you know someone, ya know? And then all of the sudden they're like, 'Oh, by the way, I'm a
superhero. Just thought I'd tell you
that after you made a jackass of yourself in front of a bunch of
wizards.'"
Tem's bitter mockery of Harry surprised
even himself. But when he really
thought about it, Harry did kind of betray him. How was he supposed to help Tem adjust to
life in the wizarding world when he kept leaving out key facts, like how he
saved the world from the Dark Lord?! But Tem really needed to have a longer chat with Harry before he could
truly be angry with him. He still
depended on his guidance and looked up to him like a big brother. His mind was in turmoil, trying to decide
between anger and acceptance.
Tem's three boat companions watched
all these thoughts and emotions flicker across his face before Alan finally
spoke up. "Hey, it's ok. I mean, I've heard that Harry's a very
modest guy. Maybe he just wanted
someone to look up to him for a different reason than his good reputation. But it still wasn't right for him to keep
you in the dark like that." He looked
like he wanted to continue, but stopped when he realized that they had reached
their destination. Tem looked up in awe
at the immense turrets and towers that loomed over them. Even Alan, Alyssa, and Fay, who had seemed
very confident thus far, cowered slightly under the castle's massive gaze.
When all of the first years had
reached the shore, the giant, (from Harry's descriptions, Tem assumed that this
was Hagrid) led them up the marble steps to the large double doors of the
castle. They opened slowly and silently
inward, apparently all by themselves, to reveal a very stern-looking
woman. She was short, but had a very
tall aura. She seemed to tower over you
with the slightest glance. Everything about her was hard, even her hair was
pinned into an almost rock-solid bun in the back of her head. Tem wondered if it ever came down, or if it
was just molded there.
"Welcome, first years," she said
with a small grimace that Tem decided was supposed to be a smile. "My name is Professor McGonagall. I am the Deputy HeadMistress here at
Hogwarts. If you will please follow me,
I will take you into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your houses
before the feast begins." With a sharp
turn on her heel, she strode off quickly into the entranceway. The first years hurried behind her to catch
up.
The professor stopped them again
outside another set of double doors, behind which they could hear all sorts of
murmurs, scattered talking, and laughter. Tem guessed that that was where all of the other students were waiting
for them. "Now," Professor McGonagall
declared crisply as soon as they had all caught up. "If you will wait here for just a moment, I will get ready for
the sorting. Now is your last chance to
neaten up your appearance before we go in." With that, she walked off, the combination of her heels and short,
powerful strides making loud staccato clicks as she walked across the
polished floor.
Taking her advice, Tem tried to do
something with his wind-swept brown hair and straightened his robes a bit
before going in. As he did so, he
smiled to hear other kids, including Alan, fearfully talking in hushed voices about
the test required to sort the kids into their houses. As Harry had already told him about the Sorting Hat, he chuckled
silently as he listened to the wild stories that they had heard. (Incidentally, these were mostly from older
siblings who had already gone through it.)
Fay, who was standing to his right,
looked like she was about to wet herself. Tem looked over as she clutched onto his shoulder and whispered in his
ear, "I heard that we have to face a troll. Is that true?" She looked at him
with pleading in her eyes, on the verge of tears.
Tem, being the immature 11-year-old
boy that he is, couldn't resist saying, "No, it's a dragon. Definitely. Lots of fire." The look of
relief that had momentarily swept her face disintegrated into sheer
terror.
"Y-y-you're kidding, right?! Please tell me you're joking!!" she cried,
one of the tears escaping and falling down her pale cheek.
Tem smiled. "Yeah, I am. All we really have to do is try on a hat. But don't tell anyone, I'm really enjoying
this." She hit him playfully on the arm
and smiled for the first time since he had met her. And for the first time since he met her, he noticed how pretty
she was. Her long brown hair flowed
down her back, so straight it looked like an iron had pressed it. When she smiled, her nose wrinkled slightly
and tiny dimples formed at the corners of her mouth. Tem could see that her parents had chosen a fitting name for
her. She looked like a fairy.
Suddenly, Fay grabbed his arm. "It's time," she whispered
dramatically. Sure enough, Professor
McGonagall had returned while he had been admiring her. Without saying a word, the teacher marched
into the Great Hall (aptly named, Tem noted) and beckoned the students to
follow her. She led them up to the
front of the immense Hall, in which sat four great tables with the house
banners over them. Here he noticed for
the first time the enchanted ceiling, where the walls seemed to stretch on
forever into the darkened sky. It was beautiful.
Over at the Gryffindor table, Harry
managed to catch Tem's eye. He gave a
little wave, looking slightly sheepish. "I'm sorry," he mouthed across the room to Tem.
Tem shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry about it," he mouthed
back. "I'll talk to you later." Harry nodded, seeming happy that Tem wasn't
mad at him.
Several of the first years noticed
Tem talking to somebody, and swiveled their heads to see what the commotion was
about. Suddenly, one of them let out a
high-pitched shriek and yelled, "That's him!! That's Harry Potter!!!"
All over the first years looked around at this and started
whispering and pointing at Harry. It
was then that Tem decided that Alan was right. Harry, who was not used to any attention at all from the Muggles he
lived with, had been thrust into the spotlight. It must have been like looking into the sun after living in
darkness forever. He couldn't enjoy the
attention, and only wanted someone to be his friend for him, not for who he was
known as.
The noise in the hall died down as an
old man with flowing silver hair and a very crooked nose stood up and called
for quiet. He stretched his arms in
front of him as if trying to take the whole of the student body into a giant
hug. "Good evening," he began. "My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore. I am the Headmaster here at Hogwarts, and I
wish to bid a warm welcome to the first years, and a happy return to those who
are, well, returning. As we start the
sorting, I wish you all good luck in your new houses. And now… Let it begin!" As he said this, he threw up his arms,
and the thousands of candles that were floating over the tables gave a great
whistle and shot off fireworks. Everybody in the room collectively gasped in delight, or screamed with
fright. To Tem's great pleasure, he found
that Fay had clutched onto his arm again.
Professor McGonagall walked to the
front and placed an old battered hat on a stool. Suddenly, a tear seemed to spread across the seam where the brim
and hat joined. Tem was afraid that it
was so old it was done for. And then it
burst into song. It described the
origin of the four houses and the properties of each.
When it was finished, the entire
hall burst into applause. Professor
McGonagall stood up again and proclaimed, "As I read your name aloud, please
come to the front and try on the hat," Everything she said seemed like an
order. Tem cringed to think about what
that wonderful welcoming speech would have been like if she had given it
instead of Professor Dumbledore.
One by one, students were called up
to the front. Sometimes it took the hat
a long time to place a kid, but others it picked up right away. Tem noticed that almost all of the
Slytherins were placed as soon as the hat touched their heads. *I guess it's easy to tell the difference
between slime and bravery, intelligence, or loyalty,* he thought.
The list seemed to drag on
forever. Tem watched as Alan and Alyssa
were placed in Ravenclaw. Just a few
more until his turn. He felt himself
growing antsier by the second, shifting from foot to foot. He barely noticed as Thomas O'Leary was
placed in Hufflepuff and Emma Orson was thrown into Slytherin. Finally,
"Patterson, Templeton" McGonagall
called. As Tem walked up, his legs felt
like jelly. All eyes were on him. What if he put on the hat and it just
started laughing at him? This whole
time he hadn't really felt like a wizard, maybe he wasn't. Maybe it was a mistake…
The world went dark as the hat slid
over his eyes. Tem jumped as a voice
spoke to him. "Well, well, well. Aren't we the creative one? I can feel lots of energy coming from that
little brain of yours. Oh, but there's
lots of bravery here, too."
*But I'm not brave. I get sick off the side of bank carts. How can you call that brave?* Tem thought.
The hat seemed to hear this. "Oh, but you are brave. Gringotts isn't a test of bravery,
dear. Believe me, you haven't been
tested yet. But when you are, I think
you will be very surprised. But your mind
dear, that is what truly impresses me more than anything. I believe the only house for you is
RAVENCLAW!" The last word was shouted
so that the rest of the hall could hear.
As Tem walked to the Ravenclaw
table, he looked regretfully back at Harry, who waved at him sadly. Maybe he should have acted brave to the hat
so that it would have placed them together. Or maybe this is where he belonged. He took a seat next to Alan and Alyssa, and was cheered up a little when
Fay joined them, too. Maybe this
wouldn't be so bad. And then the feast
began.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\ That's it!! Tem's a Ravenclaw! Sorry
to those of you who voted him into Gryffindor, (which was, incidentally, almost
all of you who voted) I just thought that Tem should get out on his own. Don't worry, I'll keep Harry & Co. in
the story. It wouldn't be HP fanfic if
he weren't! Anyway, aside from my
possibly poor judgment call, let me know what you think. I really don't hate McGonagall as much as I
sound like I do. I just didn't know how
to write her, and I think she came off a little more militant than I meant for
her to. What do you think? (hint hint REVIEW) Oh, well. Sorry again this took so long to come out. I'll try harder next time. Keep watching for my regularly scheduled
Wednesday post. (I swear, my author's
notes are longer than the actual story)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\