Chapter 7
The Sorting.
Lily clutched her stomach.
"God, I'm soo hungry." She moaned. Alyssa gave her an odd look.
"You're hungry? Aren't you nervous?" She asked. Lily nodded.
"Yup, that's why I'm hungry." She thought for a moment, "Mind you, I'm almost always hungry. Mum says I've got hollow legs."
"Well there's certainly alot to be hollow." Alyssa said, looking admiringly at Lily's long legs.
"Ya, I know. Do you know how we get sorted?"
"I heard you have to fight a dragon." Black said, his eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Really? Cool." A girl said. She had short copper hair that was slashed at chin length, and grey eyes. Her skin was the colour of honey, and she was quite short. She had a tough look about her, and was sporting a rather large burn on one arm. Her voice was heavily accented, making it sound like she said 'Reeeahlay? Keeewwl.'
"Huh?" Black looked confused.
"My mum and dad do work with dragons in Australia, I think they rock."
"You do?" Potter asked.
"Yeah. My name's Melody Blaze. What's yours?"
"My name's James Potter, and these are my friends, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin."
"Not you, silly, the girls beside you. Why would I want to talk to people who are obviously lying about the Sorting? All you have to do is put on a hat. I should know." Melody said, giving Potter a scornful look, which said she'd been having him on. Lily stifled a laugh at the look on Potter's face.
"My name's Lily Evans, and this is Alyssa Potter." Melody gave them both a once over, and decided that the two girls, both with their hair in practical ponytails, met her standards.
"So you're related to the dumbass? I feel your pain, my older brother goes here." Alyssa laughed, but there was something hard about her warm brown eyes. I guess it's different when someone's calling your brother names. Lily thought. After all, I may hate Petty, but I don't like it when anyone calls her names, and even though I did express my sympathy to Alyssa at her being related to Potter, I didn't call him any names. I wonder what school Alyssa went to. I'm sure I never saw her at Godric Primary.
"Hey Alyssa?"
"Hmm?" Alyssa's eyes softened the minute she looked at Lily.
"What Primary School did you go to?"
"I went to Godric Primary, but I was in a different class from James, that's why I never met you, and you never met me." Lily smiled, glad that she hadn't been noticed either. It made her feel less guilty.
"Oh, ok." She turned to Melody, she quite liked her, there was something really exciting and foreign about the girl, "It's very nice to meet you, Melody."
"Nice to meet you too. And you Alyssa. I'm sorry if I offended you a moment ago," She continued, as they walked into the Great Hall, (they hadn't paid any attention to McGonagall's speech), "I didn't mean to. I was jabbing at him, for frightening the others, not you. The looks on some of their faces were heart-breaking." Alyssa smiled, forgiving Melody immediately.
"That's ok. I quite understand." Melody grinned.
"Gosh, it's cold in here, I wish they'd hurry up and get on with the Sorting, I'm starved."
"Me too." Lily agreed.
"Me three." Black said from behind them. He grinned good-naturedly at Lily when she turned around to look at him in astonishment. "Look, we're in high school now, and I think that this stupid feud has gone on long enough. I think we could be really good friends if we wanted to be. Wanna try it?" Lily nodded, astonished that the fun-loving Sirius Black could actually be serious. (No pun intended.) Lupin and Potter looked equally amazed, but both nodded their heads too.
"But don't expect to be able to hang around us." Potter said, spoiling the moment. Lily snorted,
"Who says I want to, Potter? I'm quite happy with my own friends." She turned to McGonagall, who had just started to call out the names of the people who were to be sorted.
"Abercromby, Bartholomew" A blond boy walked over to the Hat.
"SLYTHERIN!" He ran over to the Slytherin table.
"Abercromby, Madeline." A blonde girl bounced over to the Hat, and stuffed it on her head eagerly.
"RAVENCLAW!" She skipped over to the Ravenclaw table, dimpling.
"Bark, Jasmine" An African girl, with big dark eyes and purple stones flashing in her ears walked calmly over to the hat. It had hardly been set on her head, before it called,
"GRYFFINDOR!" She walked down to the Gryffindor Table among the cheers.
"Black, Sirius." Sirius sauntered over to the Hat confidently, and put it jauntily on his head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat sounded almost bored.
"Blaze, Melody." Melody strolled over to the Hat, also looking bored. It sat on her head. Lily waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally Professor McGonagall noticed. "What is taking that Hat so long, Miss Blaze." She snapped. Melody looked at her with dancing eyes.
"Oh, we were just discussing the merits of good stitching, Professor McGonagall. The Hat was telling me the most amusing story..."
"What? Hat, sort her." Professor McGonagall looked murderous.
"But Professor, it really is quite interesting." Melody protested. Professor McGonagall went purple.
"Sort her NOW!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" Melody giggled, and went over to the Gryffindor table, where she was clapped on the back repeatedly by Sirius.
"Brilliant, simply brilliant." Lily heard him say.
"Bones, John" A brown haired boy walked nervously over to the Hat, and put it on his head.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" He smiled in relief, and ran down to the Hufflepuff table. I wonder what house I'm going to be in. Lily thought. Oh I hope I'm not in Slytherin. Hufflepuff looks boring, but it'd be nice to be thought patient and loyal. Ravenclaw sounds kind of hard, I don't think I'm the studious type, wait, I know I'm not the studious type, and although I've always gotten good grades, the fact that I don't pay attention in class has always told teachers I'm not interested. And I'm not. I'd much rather be playing sport, or reading, rather than stuck in some stupid classroom, learning what 'y' equals. Gryffindor sounds by far the best, and the most interesting. I don't think I'm very brave though. Oh well, I guess I'll know soon enough. Lily was pulled out of her musings by her name being called. She'd been so busy thinking, she'd not heard the other children who had gone before her. She looked at Alyssa, who gave her a small shove.
"Go on, Lily." She walked over to the Hat, and put it on her head.
"Ah, I see we have a muggle-born. Lily Evans. Hello."
"Hi" Lily's palms were sweating.
"A bit nervous? Don't worry. I'll put you in the right place. You can trust me. I told you that in my song, although it looks like you weren't listening." The Hat sounded amused.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."
"No, don't worry about it. Now, I should start sorting you. Hmm, a good brain, but, no, I don't think Ravenclaw would suit you. You'd stir things up a bit too much, with your love of sports, and disregard for schoolwork. Your sport is the reason you wouldn't really do well in Hufflepuff either, and your temperament. You'd find it extremely dull in Hufflepuff; you're not the most patient girl in the world. Hmm, a large thirst to prove yourself good enough, I see. But with your muggle heritage, Slytherin wouldn't be the right place for you, not right at all. No, the best place for YOU is undoubtedly GRYFFINDOR!"
He yelled the last bit aloud, and Lily jumped up, and ran down to the Gryffindor table. She was so elated, she didn't hear the next few names called, and only settled down in time for,
"Lupin, Remus." Lupin ran over to the hat, and sat down. The minute the Hat touched his head it yelled out
"GRYFFINDOR!" So Lupin went and sat down next to Black. Melody moved down a seat, so she was sitting on Lily's right side. There was a space on Lily's left, which she wanted to save for Alyssa.
"Malfoy, Lucius." A pale blond boy with a pointed face sat down, and was made SLYTHERIN! Almost immediately. She rested her head on her hand, bored.
"Nixon, Rochelle."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Nool, Brittany."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Opy, Roberto."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Owl, Hydra." Lily blinked at the odd name. A girl with shimmery white blond hair, purply eyes and straight white teeth walked gracefully over to the stool and sat down.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" She snorted in disgust, and walked over to the Hufflepuff table, edging away from everyone. Finally, after Pettigrew, Peter was made a GRYFFINDOR! It was Alyssa's turn.
"Potter, Alyssa."
"GRYFFINDOR!" Lily clapped hard. The Hat took no time in deciding where she belonged. Lily thought delightedly.
"Potter, James." James was made Gryffindor too, much to Lily's disappointment. Her stomach was growling very loudly now, and she was glad when Weasley, Marc, her friend, was made a Gryffindor, and sat down across from her. She looked eagerly at her plate. Alyssa nudged her,
"Dumbledore makes a speech first." She whispered, and Lily turned to Dumbledore. Hurry, please. She begged. He smiled at them all.
"Welcome to another school year. As I am sure you are all hungry enough to eat the table-cloths, I will let you eat with these words, To be, or not to be, that is the muffin." Lily laughed, looking at her new headmaster uncertainly.
"Is he a little... mad?" She asked Marc.
"Oh yes, definitely. Quite brilliant, but quite mad. Potatoes?" She accepted the potatoes absently; too tired to notice they had appeared by magic. Brittany Nool, a pretty blond girl with blue eyes, turned to Lily, and flashed a blinding white grin. Lily tried not to wince Ugh, a Barbie doll. Too bad Petty isn't here.
"Hi!" She said chirpily. "My name's Brittany, but everyone calls me Brit. You're Lily Evans. Do you mind if I call you Lil? Of course you don't. So, how did you come to know the Potters?"
"They went to my school." Lily murmured, feeling a bit disorientated.
"Oh, like wow! You lucky thing. I'd just like die if the great James Potter went to my school. He's just soo like cute!"
"Uh huh." Lily said, "I never noticed."
"You didn't?" 'Brit' opened her blue eyes very wide, and Lily suppressed the urge to tell her she looked like a goldfish. "Like, how?!"
"We weren't the best of friends."
"Oh my god, how could you not be friends with him? He's rich! And cute!" She sighed. Lily rolled her eyes. What a total girl. She thought in disgust. She turned to Melody, Help me. She pleaded with her eyes. She didn't know too many people yet, and didn't want to risk alienating herself. But that was selfish. How could she expect Melody to do something she couldn't. She turned back to 'Brit'
"Look, Brittany," She began, emphasising Brittany's name, "I'm not really interested in any of that stuff, ok?"
"Fine." She said huffily, and turned to the second year girl beside her, who was heavily made up, and more than happy to squeal with her over James Potter. Lily sighed, God I hate that type. Before finishing her dinner.
When all the plates had become glistening again, and dessert was over, Professor Dumbledore walked back up to the front of the stage.
"Now that we are all stuffed to the point of bursting, I have a few announcements. Hogsmeade is open to all witches and wizards third year and up. The first Hogsmeade weekend is this Saturday. The carriages will leave at 9:30. The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds. Anyone daring to venture in there will either meet a painful death, or detention and a loss of points from their house. Some of you may have noticed that we have a Whomping Willow on the grounds this year. It is very violent, and I warn all of you who like your limbs to stay clear of it. There is, believe it or not, a reason for its appearance, but I will not be divulging this. There is a lunar eclipse happening later in the term, causing there to be no full moon. Everyone who would like to witness this rare event, Professor Sinistra is the person to see. There will be more information about that later. We have a new caretaker, Argus Filch. He and his cat, Mrs. Norris will be patrolling the halls to make sure you all stay safe. And now, without further ado, the school song!" He flicked his wand, and some golden words came out. They arranged themselves in the air. "Choose your favourite tune, and sing along!"
"Hogwarts Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
Finally, only Lily, Melody and Alyssa were left, singing in a round. James, Sirius and Remus had tried to compete, singing as the were, to a slow funeral march, but the three girls, singing to an even slower wedding march, in a round, managed to last longer. Professor Dumbledore conducted the last few lines with his wand, and when they were finished, clapped harder than anyone else.
"Ah, music." He said, wiping his eyes, "A far greater magic than anything we teach here. Not, it's time for bed, off you trot! Follow your prefects, they know the way!"
~*AN: That's all for now. Ashlie: I remembered the whole Hogwarts School Song without looking at the book once! Kassi: That isn't anything to be proud of, you know. It just means you've read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone waaayyy too many times. Ashlie: *blushes* Shuddup.*~