Chapter 2: The Sorting Hat
Loud grunts and squeals signified their arrival at Hogwarts. Uric wolfed down his last chocolate frog (obtained from the snack bar in the back of the coach) and grabbed Simon's cage. He was one of the first out the door, since he was sitting so close.
The other coaches were nowhere to be seen. Their coach was stopped right beside a large lake. Tiny boats bobbed at its edge, tended to by a muscular woman. Her redish- grey hair was pulled back in a bushy braid that hung nearly to her ankles. Professor Baker was talking to her.
"Where's the other coaches?" a kid behind Uric asked loudly. Professor Baker looked over from her conversation with the braid woman.
"It is tradition for first years to travel to Hogwarts by the lake. This is Dasha." She indicated the woman beside her. "She will be taking you across." And with that, she walked determinedly towards the coach, ignoring all other questions. She pulled herself up beside the driver and motioned impatiently for the coach to depart. With a few snorts of flame they were off, leaving behind a crowd of bewildered first-years. As one, they all turned to look at Dasha. Her pale blue eyes seemed to be looking through the crowd at the forest beyond. After a few moments, she finally noticed them. She made a face.
"Alright. Four to a boat. Don't stick your hands in the water or the giant squid may tear them off." She got in to one of the boats and the first-years reluctantly followed, doing their level best to avoid the water.
Uric got in a boat with three other boys who didn't seem inclined to introduce themselves. As soon as they were all in, the boats began moving by themselves, sending up startled cries from some of the students. Uric tried one more time to catch the eye of one of his boat mates, then gave up and leaned over the side to stare at his reflection.
He was probably the only one to notice Mena, in the boat next to his, put her hand in the water and trail it along defiantly. Suddenly, a tentacle broke the surface, ruining Uric's reflection. Mena quickly put her hand back inside, and kept it in.
Soon, they could see Hogwarts. It was a grand old castle, much larger than the Beaufolle family home. Towers rose at strange angles to conjoin with buttresses leading to nowhere. Lights were flickering on to counter the growing twilight and Uric could see tiny shapes flitting in front of the windows. He had actually been here once before with his father, but that had been by floo powder. The sight of the castle from the outside was rather overwhelming.
He was so busy looking up that the boat's abrupt docking threw him forward into one of the other boys. Dark eyes glared back angrily at him.
"Sorry," said Uric. Luckily, the anger seemed to fade quickly away and the boy sighed.
"It's okay. I'm just a little jumpy." He gazed out over the lake and lowered his voice. "I don't like water."
"Really? I don't like pudding. I have dreams about how it's going to eat me. Once my mum left me alone in the dining room with some pudding, and it moved at least a foot trying to get at me. Come to think of it, pudding probably doesn't like me either," said Uric seriously. The boy chuckled as if Uric as said something funny, though Uric couldn't imagine what, and offered Uric a hand as they stepped out of the boat.
"I'm Louis Iliescu," he said.
"Uric Beaufolle." They began walking towards the castle.
"I've heard of your father."
"Everyone has," said Uric proudly.
"So what house does he want you to be in?" asked Louis.
"House?" Uric was confused.
"You know. The four founders of Hogwarts. Each has a house named after him or her."
"Oh. Father didn't say anything," said Uric. Louis seemed depressed by this statement. He looked even more forlorn than he had out on the lake.
"Lucky you," he said bitterly. Louis took on a mocking tone. "My father didn't technically say anything either. 'Here's your uncle who was in Slytherin and both your parents and, of course, your grandfather…' The list was endless. Then he repainted my room in the Slytherin colors. Talk about a hint." Uric was intrigued.
"So what will he do if you don't get into Slytherin?" he asked. Louis appeared to consider this as they walked through the Great Doors and into the Entrance Hall.
"Probably stake me in the heart," he answered. "He could just disown me if he's feeling charitable…No. He'll stake me." Uric looked around the Entrance Hall and the group of first-years curiously. The Great Doors had closed behind the last of the stragglers.
"First-years," said a quiet, yet imposing voice. Everyone looked around for its source. It was dark in the hall and Dasha was nowhere to be seen. The Great Doors settled on their hinges with a loud boom, causing a few of the students to jump.
A figure stepped out of the darkness and a girl close to Uric yelped in surprise. He was tall with dark hair and an aristocratic face. Two crossed wands were embroidered above his heart. The white wings gracing his temples lent him a dignified air, despite the bulge in his robes that indicated too much good eating. This worried Uric, but only because the man was standing on his toes.
"First-years," the man said again. Uric tried surreptitiously easing his foot out from under the man's. The man didn't seem to notice. "I am the Assistant Headmaster, Professor Stewart. I am also the Head of Ravenclaw and your professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts. I expect the utmost respect out of you at all times, especially during the ceremony you are about to partake in."
Uric could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Professor Stewart's foot would not move. He tugged on Stewart's robes.
"Excuse me," he said. Stewart looked down at him.
"Yes?" His tone was icy.
"Can I have my foot back? I wouldn't mind normally, only my toes are starting to get offended." Uric's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "If I offend them too much, they might run off and then how would I walk?" Professor Stewart regarded him with a look usually reserved for extremely rare pathogens and moved his foot off of Uric's. Louis, who had heard everything, was doing his level best not to snicker uncontrollably. Sparing a glance at Louis, Professor Stewart seemed to recover his earlier poise.
"Don't interrupt me again," he said in a cold tone, then continued his speech. "You will line up alphabetically according to your last names, than proceed in single file into the main hall. Stand in front of the teacher's table. Do not sit down, slouch or fidget. Once the hat is done singing, your names will be called and you will be sorted. Any questions?" He made to line them up, but a blond boy in the middle of the crowd spoke up.
"If my sister and I have the same last name, which of us lines up first?" Professor Stewart looked annoyed with the golden haired boy, though Uric didn't know why, since he had asked for questions.
"What are your names?"
"Alexander and Alexis Lupin sir."
"Since your name is first alphabetically, you line up first. Next time, try thinking logically before you speak." Alexander's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. "Now everyone line up!" This was accomplished with much pushing, chatter and general mayhem. Professor Stewart looked angrier as each second ticked away and Uric was reminded of his father. Finally, they were all in a line and quiet, so Professor Stewart opened the inner doors wide and led them through.
The hall was huge, with four main tables already crowded with students. At the top of the hall was the teacher's table, where Professor Stewart said they were to line up. Uric followed dutifully along with the rest of the first years and found himself out in front of the school much sooner than he thought. The eyes of the whole school were upon them, making the hairs on the back of Uric's neck stand up. He had never been the focus of so much attention in his life. He wondered if you could burst in to flames from too much attention focused on yourself. This would certainly be a good test of his theory.
Professor Stewart stood in front of the first-years and addressed the teachers behind them. "May I present the first-years of 1680," he said. Uric wanted to look behind him, but remembering Professor Stewart's instructions, stared straight ahead. This lasted all of twelve seconds but at least he had tried.
"Thank you Professor Stewart. You may sort them now," said a woman's voice somewhere near the middle. Uric risked a quick look, and saw a thin woman with blazing, short red hair and a thin smile on her lips. She seemed to be taking great pride in the proceedings.
Professor Stewart fetched a stool and placed it in front of the line. He then took an old wizards hat and sat it down on top of the stool. Uric ignored this, distracted by the fantastic sunset that was taking place on the ceiling above. The hat began to sing, but Uric wasn't paying attention. After all, every proper hat should be able to sing if nothing else. When the song was finished, Professor Stewart unrolled a scroll and began to speak.
"When your name is read, you will sit on the stool and place the hat on your head. Understand?" All the first years nodded, except Uric who was now trying to figure out what the tapestries on the walls depicted.
"Abascu, Ian!" The first boy in line walked up to the stool and even Uric found himself watching to see what would happen. No sooner had the hat touched Ian's head than it shouted out.
"RAVENCLAW!" Ian walked happily towards the table that was cheering on the left and sat down.
"Baker, Milford!" The short boy next to Uric headed nervously up to the stool. The hat spent a few seconds on his head before calling out.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Milford seemed surprised but walked happily towards the left-most table.
"Beaufolle, Uric!" called the deputy headmaster. Uric wandered up to the stool, taking a slight detour to get down on his hands and knees to peer at a spider making its determined way across the floor.
"Uric!" barked Stewart. Uric glanced up at the red-faced professor and went to sit on the stool. There he sat for nearly a minute before Professor Stewart came up and angrily slammed the hat down on his head.
It was dark and stuffy inside. The hat smelled moldy too…
"That is because Headmistress Kurze doesn't believe in cleaning me. If she had her way, I'd be burned and she'd chose the student's houses for them." Uric was taken aback by the anger in the hat's voice. He decided to change the subject.
Do you like birds?
The hat seemed amused. "I'm the one who is supposed to ask the questions here Uric. Now let me get a look inside that head of yours…" The hat trailed off into an uncomfortable silence. Uric began to fidget impatiently. What if there is a world where all our fingernail clippings go and live in peace, in a land where no nail file may ever roam? The hat's voice surprised him.
"Uric. Do you have any idea just how unique you are? I doubt I'll ever meet a mind like yours again, not that that isn't a bad thing…" The hat's sigh seemed to echo through Uric's brain. "These houses weren't made for you Uric, but I do see within you loyalty and love. That's not going to combat the fact that your either a genius or insane, but at least they'll be tolerant of you in HUFFLEPUFF!"
Uric had time to think a polite thank you at the sorting hat before it was snatched off his head by an irate Professor Stewart.
"Hufflepuff's that way Uric," he said and pointed to the right, middle table. The table was still cheering as he made his way over and sat down. A couple of them patted him on the back, though Uric really wasn't sure why. He hadn't done anything special.
The fat ghost across from him greeted him jovially and introduced himself as the Fat Friar. Uric nodded politely. There was a ghost in the Beaufolle house known as the Mistress of Cups, due to the fact that she had poisoned herself over 500 years previously. Uric had spent an entire day once following her silently around the house, until finally she told him to go away because he was making her nervous. Uric just wanted to know why she could walk through walls and he couldn't.
There was cheering again and Uric realized with a shock that nearly a third of the sorting was done. The line was a lot shorter and he could see some of the teachers clearly now.
"Harklenon, Justine!" called Professor Stewart. A pretty brown haired girl walked up to the hat and was promptly sorted into Hufflepuff. Uric was nearly deafened by the cheering.
"Iliescu, Louis!" Uric watched as Louis walked nervously up to the hat. His hair was plastered to his forehead by sweat. The hat covered his head and they waited for almost a minute before a shaking Louis came out from under it.
"SLYTHERIN!" bellowed the hat. Louis gave him a sickly smile as he passed, his face pale. Uric was happy Louis had gotten into the house his father wanted him to be in. He didn't want Louis to be staked.
"Jabber, Icarus!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Kally, Meriweather!" The brown-haired girl was also sorted into Ravenclaw. "Kullman, Jasper!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Alexander Lupin!" The blond haired boy walked quickly up to the stool in an attempt to remain calm in front of the whole school. He sat for a very long time.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table cheered, though Alexander looked stunned. He quickly looked back at his sister for support, but she was staring at her feet.
"Alexis Lupin!" Alexis was taller than her brother. While his hair was a dark blonde, hers was a silvery colour making it look almost white in the lights of the Great Hall. She surveyed the hall with a smirk on her face before gently placing the hat on her own head. It took less than a second.
"SLYTHERIN!" Alexis walked easily over to her chosen table without even sparing a glance towards her brother.
"That one's going to be trouble," said an older boy next to him. Uric turned to look at the boy. He had a square face and a nose that looked like it had been broken many times. His eyes were grey and twinkled with some inner amusement.
"Why?" Uric asked. The boy surveyed him with those twinkling eyes.
"Let's just say that I know who will be ruling the first-years in Slytherin house." Uric didn't get it. The boy just shook his head at seeing the puzzlement on Uric's face. "Never mind, Uric was it?" The boy stuck out his hand. "I'm Eustace Hebrides. Fifth year and newly made prefect." He indicated the silver P pinned on his robes. "If you need anything let me know." Uric nodded just as the table started cheering for another new Hufflepuff. He glanced over at the line and saw that there were only eight first years remaining to be sorted.
"Smith, Mena!" The dirty, blond haired girl walked confidently up to the hat and jammed it on her head. It took a long time to decide.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" Mena jerked the hat off her head and stared about in bewilderment and growing dismay. Professor Stewart had to tell her twice to go to her table. She stalked over and rudely pushed Uric into Eustace so she could sit on the end. Mena buried her face in her arms and didn't look up for a long time.
"Welcome to Hufflepuff," said the Fat Friar politely to her. Uric was the only one who heard her muffled reply.
"Yeah. Welcome to Hufflepuff, Mena. Welcome to hell."
*****
Next Chapter: Uric gets a crash course on the teachers at Hogwarts and a taste of life in Hufflepuff.
Review! My next part may be awhile in coming. If you're bored, (yes, I know I'm shamelessly plugging:) check out my story 'Uric the Oddballs Fantastic Adventures' for some of the weird things the adult Uric gets into.