[A/N I mistakenly put two chapter sevens in when the last one should have
been chapter eight, so this one becomes chapter nine!]
CHAPTER NINE: A disgrace to the Malfoy name!
"God I'm stiff." Greg complained as all the Gryffindoors made their way downstairs for breakfast the next morning.
"Why? Did you sleep funny?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I spent three hours reading at the table last night without a break. Snape decided that he might just change the chapter we had to read to a different one, so we'd all have to go read the other chapter."
"Yeah," Francine said, hearing this. "He can be so mean sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Snorted Greg. "He's a mean git ALL the time. But I have an idea up my sleeve to play a little joke on him!" And here he grinned evilly.
"GREG!" Francine said. "Please don't. You know Snape is not exactly the sort of person you should mess with!"
"Relax." Greg assured her. "He won't have a clue who it is!"
"What kind of trick?" Martin asked eagerly, but Greg refused to tell.
We all sat down at our table for breakfast. I was thinking of a good old English breakfast with two helpings of everything! But before we could really begin the owls all swooped in with the post. I was dropped a letter, however before I could begin to read it something caught my eye. A bright red letter had been dropped on Alforth's place and he was staring at it, his face pale.
"A howler!" Greg said, noticing it. "Run Alforth." Howlers are an embarrassment at the best of times, but if you don't open it straight away it is always worse!
Alforth picked the letter up and raced from the room with it, but we heard it explode in the hallway outside. It was his Grandfather, Lucius Malfoy, and he was not happy with Alforth:
"A DISGRACE TO THE MALFOY NAME IS WHAT YOU ARE! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN PUT IN GRYFFINDOOR WHEN EVERY OTHER MALFOY FOR YEARS HAS BEEN PUT IN SLYTHERIN? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. I KNOW I WAS ASHAMED WHEN YOUR FATHER TOLD ME WHAT HAD HAPPENED. HOPEFULLY THIS MISUNDERSTANDING IS FIXED SOON ENOUGH, BUT I WON'T FORGET THIS. A DISGRACE I TELL YOU!"
We all looked at each other in shock, and then people all over the hall began to laugh. I looked over at the Slytherin table and noticed that most of them weren't laughing, especially Carlos who looked upset about the whole thing.
"A disgrace!" Snorted Martin. "I can't believe it!"
Alforth was slinking back into the room now, and he knew that most of the room were laughing at him. He sat down at his place and didn't look up at anyone.
"Like it's a disgrace to be put in Gryffindoor instead of being put in Slytherin!" Alex said, laughing.
Suddenly up at the teacher's table the headmistress was calling for our attention. The hall fell silent, as she looked out over us.
"I know that I don't normally make announcements at breakfast, but this is a very important one. I hope everyone is planning on attending dinner tonight, as something very important is going to happen. In fact it's a Hogwarts first." She said.
We all began to talk about what it could possibly be.
"Maybe we're going to have a Quidditch tournament or something?" Greg offered.
"No classes?" Alex asked.
"Snape leaving?" Martin suggested.
"Well whatever it was the headmistress wasn't too happy about it!" Jenny said to us.
I looked surprised. "She wasn't?"
"Didn't you see the look on her face?" Jenny asked. "She wasn't happy about it believe you me!"
Deciding not to bother with the conversation about what could be happening that night I opened my letter.
"Dear Sam, How have your first few days at Hogwarts been? I'm assuming by now that you've had your first lessons in everything. Ron was telling me the other day that he heard that one of our old teachers Professor Snape was back, and teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape's been after the DADA spot for years, so it wouldn't surprise me. But if this news is true, do me a favor Sam, and stay away from Snape. He didn't like me, and he won't like you simply because you are my son! And don't antagonise him- he's not a nice person! I'm sure the school is pretty much the same as when I was there, but McGonagall is probably a little stricter when it comes to discipline than Dumbledore ever was. I wonder whether any of my old teachers are there? I ran into Neville Longbottom yesterday at work, and he told me his son, Henry, is attending this year as well. Look after Henry please Sam-if he's anything like his father he'll need it! Well I better let your mother write now before I get to the end of the parchment and she hasn't written! Have fun. Love Dad.
Hello Sam, I hope your behaving yourself. I was speaking to Hermoine after you all got on the train and she seemed to think that Jenny could possibly be homesick. I know she's not your favorite person, but can you please try and make sure she's happy enough! Study hard and make me proud. But have fun at the same time. And I won't be surprised to hear of you making the house team soon! After all your own father played for England and was the youngest seeker on a house team in a century when he was there. And I wasn't too bad myself- I made my house team in my second year! We'll see you soon enough. Love Mum."
*****
Throughout the day the school were all talking about what could possibly be the Hogwarts first! In Transfiguration the headmistress got annoyed about the fact that nobody could concentrate on the lesson.
"Could anyone tell me what is so important you think you don't have to learn-and remember by heart-the moral code of Transfiguration?" She demanded eventually.
Jenny put her hand up. "It's what's going to happen tonight Professor." She explained. "Everyone's been trying to guess it."
The headmistress frowned thoughtfully.
"I don't suppose you could tell us, could you Professor?" asked one of the Ravenclaw first years.
"No Miss Johnson I couldn't. But I can tell you this: I don't think it's anything to get excited about. It's really rather boring." The headmistress said with a sigh. "Now, ten points to the student who can tell me what rule number five of Transfiguration is?"
Martin's twin sister, Michelle, put her hand up. I'd never seen her speak yet in the few days we'd been at Hogwarts. Martin had told me that she was very shy. But, I figured, with a brother like him, she didn't really need to speak, did she?
"Yes Miss Simms? The headmistress asked.
"Rule number five of the Moral Code states that we are never to attempt to transfigure any living person or creature without seeking their express permission."
The headmistress smiled. "Very good Miss Simms. Ten points to Gryffindoor."
As we were walking to Potions afterwards Jenny said to me "See? I told you that the headmistress wasn't too happy by what's going to happen!"
I nodded. "Yeah, she doesn't seem impressed. But she's the headmistress, why doesn't she decide what does, and doesn't happen here?"
In Potions despite the headmistress's words intended to dampen our enthusiasm talk continued about the Hogwarts first! Professor Selwyn was giving a lecture on how to make truth potions and he suddenly seemed to realise that none of his class were paying any attention!
"Is there something going on here that anyone would like to tell me?" He asked us, with a sigh.
"Do you know anything about the Hogwarts first happening tonight Professor?" Alana asked.
"I do, but I'm not telling. I've been sworn to secrecy. Of course had you all read the textbook before arriving here like it was suggested you might know how to make a truth potion and get me to tell you." The Professor said with a wry grin.
"Hey," Martin hissed to Jenny. "I bet you read the book. How do we make one?"
Jenny frowned for a moment, probably wondering whether he was picking on her for having read the text or not, and then shook her head. "You need some strange ingredients for it, one's we wouldn't know where to get. Anyway, I don't see what the big deal is-the headmistress told us it was nothing to get excited about, didn't she?"
"It didn't occur to you that maybe she said that just so we would concentrate on that boring code?" Martin replied.
Jenny rolled her eyes and said nothing.
*****
During the meal that night everyone was eagerly awaiting the Hogwarts first. Everyone, that is, except Alforth, who simply appeared his normal unhappy self. He kept glancing over at the Slytherin table with a strange look on his face. It wasn't really jealousy, it seemed more like anticipation, as strange as that sounded.
Finally the meal was over and the headmistress stood up. The hall fell silent, and everyone's eyes were on her. She sighed heavily before she began. "It's come to my attention throughout the day that there has- mistakenly I am afraid-been a great deal of excitement about what is going to happen tonight. I can tell you now that it is nothing of great excitement, however like I explained it is, a Hogwarts first. And I hope a Hogwarts last. I am sorry to disappoint all of you who thought perhaps it was a party, a tournament or some other such thing. Perhaps I should have been a little clearer this morning, but it's all in the past now!" She paused and turned to the caretaker, Jonas Filch (thirteen in a long line of caretakers according to rumor!), who hurried forward to place a stool on the platform in front of the room. And then on top of the stool he placed the battered sorting hat. The hall was abuzz now-we must be getting a new student!
"Come on up, let's get this over and done with." The headmistress said.
Alforth stood up. "I hope this is goodbye." He said to us. "God knows after all the complaints we had to put in to get this opportunity it better be, or else I'll be stuck here for life!"
We couldn't reply, simply because we were in shock!
Alforth sauntered to the front of the room, and the headmistress received him grimly. "Now school, like I told you this is a Hogwarts first. Never in the history of our school has a student had the chance to be "resorted". In my own opinion whilst I was shocked at the outcome, I didn't think that there would be this much fuss about the whole thing. For the sake of peace and quiet-and my sanity-Alforth Malfoy is going to be "resorted". Many people believe the sorting hat made a mistake, now I guess, we see whether or not it did."
Now everyone started to speak, shocked. "Most people are happy with the houses they are put in, and if they aren't it's a rare occasion, and they don't say anything!" Paul told us.
"I can't believe this. It must have been his family complaining. I didn't know they had that much influence." Francine said.
"I think the headmistress thinks that Alforth is in the wrong house anyway." I said. "Maybe that's why she agreed to try this."
The hall went quiet again as the headmistress placed the sorting hat on Alforth's head. It seemed to be silent forever, and I could tell by the look on Alforth's face it was talking to him. Maybe, I thought with a grin, it was ticking him off for having to do this all again!
"Come on!" Martin whispered. "Put him where he belongs-away from us!"
I grinned at that. I had to admit I thought Alforth belonged in Slytherin, not just because of his family, but because he was annoyingly unhappy in Gryffindoor with us!
Finally the hat spoke: "SLYTHERIN!" It pronounced, and Alforth jumped from the stool, his eyes lit up, and a triumphant smile on his face. At the Slytherin table everyone was cheering, and I noticed that Carlos looked extremely pleased about the whole thing. At our table all the first years were clapping as well, pleased to be rid of the sour Alforth!
"Well," Said the headmistress with a sigh. "Go join your house Alforth."
Alforth did so, and the meal wound up.
CHAPTER NINE: A disgrace to the Malfoy name!
"God I'm stiff." Greg complained as all the Gryffindoors made their way downstairs for breakfast the next morning.
"Why? Did you sleep funny?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I spent three hours reading at the table last night without a break. Snape decided that he might just change the chapter we had to read to a different one, so we'd all have to go read the other chapter."
"Yeah," Francine said, hearing this. "He can be so mean sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Snorted Greg. "He's a mean git ALL the time. But I have an idea up my sleeve to play a little joke on him!" And here he grinned evilly.
"GREG!" Francine said. "Please don't. You know Snape is not exactly the sort of person you should mess with!"
"Relax." Greg assured her. "He won't have a clue who it is!"
"What kind of trick?" Martin asked eagerly, but Greg refused to tell.
We all sat down at our table for breakfast. I was thinking of a good old English breakfast with two helpings of everything! But before we could really begin the owls all swooped in with the post. I was dropped a letter, however before I could begin to read it something caught my eye. A bright red letter had been dropped on Alforth's place and he was staring at it, his face pale.
"A howler!" Greg said, noticing it. "Run Alforth." Howlers are an embarrassment at the best of times, but if you don't open it straight away it is always worse!
Alforth picked the letter up and raced from the room with it, but we heard it explode in the hallway outside. It was his Grandfather, Lucius Malfoy, and he was not happy with Alforth:
"A DISGRACE TO THE MALFOY NAME IS WHAT YOU ARE! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN PUT IN GRYFFINDOOR WHEN EVERY OTHER MALFOY FOR YEARS HAS BEEN PUT IN SLYTHERIN? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. I KNOW I WAS ASHAMED WHEN YOUR FATHER TOLD ME WHAT HAD HAPPENED. HOPEFULLY THIS MISUNDERSTANDING IS FIXED SOON ENOUGH, BUT I WON'T FORGET THIS. A DISGRACE I TELL YOU!"
We all looked at each other in shock, and then people all over the hall began to laugh. I looked over at the Slytherin table and noticed that most of them weren't laughing, especially Carlos who looked upset about the whole thing.
"A disgrace!" Snorted Martin. "I can't believe it!"
Alforth was slinking back into the room now, and he knew that most of the room were laughing at him. He sat down at his place and didn't look up at anyone.
"Like it's a disgrace to be put in Gryffindoor instead of being put in Slytherin!" Alex said, laughing.
Suddenly up at the teacher's table the headmistress was calling for our attention. The hall fell silent, as she looked out over us.
"I know that I don't normally make announcements at breakfast, but this is a very important one. I hope everyone is planning on attending dinner tonight, as something very important is going to happen. In fact it's a Hogwarts first." She said.
We all began to talk about what it could possibly be.
"Maybe we're going to have a Quidditch tournament or something?" Greg offered.
"No classes?" Alex asked.
"Snape leaving?" Martin suggested.
"Well whatever it was the headmistress wasn't too happy about it!" Jenny said to us.
I looked surprised. "She wasn't?"
"Didn't you see the look on her face?" Jenny asked. "She wasn't happy about it believe you me!"
Deciding not to bother with the conversation about what could be happening that night I opened my letter.
"Dear Sam, How have your first few days at Hogwarts been? I'm assuming by now that you've had your first lessons in everything. Ron was telling me the other day that he heard that one of our old teachers Professor Snape was back, and teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape's been after the DADA spot for years, so it wouldn't surprise me. But if this news is true, do me a favor Sam, and stay away from Snape. He didn't like me, and he won't like you simply because you are my son! And don't antagonise him- he's not a nice person! I'm sure the school is pretty much the same as when I was there, but McGonagall is probably a little stricter when it comes to discipline than Dumbledore ever was. I wonder whether any of my old teachers are there? I ran into Neville Longbottom yesterday at work, and he told me his son, Henry, is attending this year as well. Look after Henry please Sam-if he's anything like his father he'll need it! Well I better let your mother write now before I get to the end of the parchment and she hasn't written! Have fun. Love Dad.
Hello Sam, I hope your behaving yourself. I was speaking to Hermoine after you all got on the train and she seemed to think that Jenny could possibly be homesick. I know she's not your favorite person, but can you please try and make sure she's happy enough! Study hard and make me proud. But have fun at the same time. And I won't be surprised to hear of you making the house team soon! After all your own father played for England and was the youngest seeker on a house team in a century when he was there. And I wasn't too bad myself- I made my house team in my second year! We'll see you soon enough. Love Mum."
*****
Throughout the day the school were all talking about what could possibly be the Hogwarts first! In Transfiguration the headmistress got annoyed about the fact that nobody could concentrate on the lesson.
"Could anyone tell me what is so important you think you don't have to learn-and remember by heart-the moral code of Transfiguration?" She demanded eventually.
Jenny put her hand up. "It's what's going to happen tonight Professor." She explained. "Everyone's been trying to guess it."
The headmistress frowned thoughtfully.
"I don't suppose you could tell us, could you Professor?" asked one of the Ravenclaw first years.
"No Miss Johnson I couldn't. But I can tell you this: I don't think it's anything to get excited about. It's really rather boring." The headmistress said with a sigh. "Now, ten points to the student who can tell me what rule number five of Transfiguration is?"
Martin's twin sister, Michelle, put her hand up. I'd never seen her speak yet in the few days we'd been at Hogwarts. Martin had told me that she was very shy. But, I figured, with a brother like him, she didn't really need to speak, did she?
"Yes Miss Simms? The headmistress asked.
"Rule number five of the Moral Code states that we are never to attempt to transfigure any living person or creature without seeking their express permission."
The headmistress smiled. "Very good Miss Simms. Ten points to Gryffindoor."
As we were walking to Potions afterwards Jenny said to me "See? I told you that the headmistress wasn't too happy by what's going to happen!"
I nodded. "Yeah, she doesn't seem impressed. But she's the headmistress, why doesn't she decide what does, and doesn't happen here?"
In Potions despite the headmistress's words intended to dampen our enthusiasm talk continued about the Hogwarts first! Professor Selwyn was giving a lecture on how to make truth potions and he suddenly seemed to realise that none of his class were paying any attention!
"Is there something going on here that anyone would like to tell me?" He asked us, with a sigh.
"Do you know anything about the Hogwarts first happening tonight Professor?" Alana asked.
"I do, but I'm not telling. I've been sworn to secrecy. Of course had you all read the textbook before arriving here like it was suggested you might know how to make a truth potion and get me to tell you." The Professor said with a wry grin.
"Hey," Martin hissed to Jenny. "I bet you read the book. How do we make one?"
Jenny frowned for a moment, probably wondering whether he was picking on her for having read the text or not, and then shook her head. "You need some strange ingredients for it, one's we wouldn't know where to get. Anyway, I don't see what the big deal is-the headmistress told us it was nothing to get excited about, didn't she?"
"It didn't occur to you that maybe she said that just so we would concentrate on that boring code?" Martin replied.
Jenny rolled her eyes and said nothing.
*****
During the meal that night everyone was eagerly awaiting the Hogwarts first. Everyone, that is, except Alforth, who simply appeared his normal unhappy self. He kept glancing over at the Slytherin table with a strange look on his face. It wasn't really jealousy, it seemed more like anticipation, as strange as that sounded.
Finally the meal was over and the headmistress stood up. The hall fell silent, and everyone's eyes were on her. She sighed heavily before she began. "It's come to my attention throughout the day that there has- mistakenly I am afraid-been a great deal of excitement about what is going to happen tonight. I can tell you now that it is nothing of great excitement, however like I explained it is, a Hogwarts first. And I hope a Hogwarts last. I am sorry to disappoint all of you who thought perhaps it was a party, a tournament or some other such thing. Perhaps I should have been a little clearer this morning, but it's all in the past now!" She paused and turned to the caretaker, Jonas Filch (thirteen in a long line of caretakers according to rumor!), who hurried forward to place a stool on the platform in front of the room. And then on top of the stool he placed the battered sorting hat. The hall was abuzz now-we must be getting a new student!
"Come on up, let's get this over and done with." The headmistress said.
Alforth stood up. "I hope this is goodbye." He said to us. "God knows after all the complaints we had to put in to get this opportunity it better be, or else I'll be stuck here for life!"
We couldn't reply, simply because we were in shock!
Alforth sauntered to the front of the room, and the headmistress received him grimly. "Now school, like I told you this is a Hogwarts first. Never in the history of our school has a student had the chance to be "resorted". In my own opinion whilst I was shocked at the outcome, I didn't think that there would be this much fuss about the whole thing. For the sake of peace and quiet-and my sanity-Alforth Malfoy is going to be "resorted". Many people believe the sorting hat made a mistake, now I guess, we see whether or not it did."
Now everyone started to speak, shocked. "Most people are happy with the houses they are put in, and if they aren't it's a rare occasion, and they don't say anything!" Paul told us.
"I can't believe this. It must have been his family complaining. I didn't know they had that much influence." Francine said.
"I think the headmistress thinks that Alforth is in the wrong house anyway." I said. "Maybe that's why she agreed to try this."
The hall went quiet again as the headmistress placed the sorting hat on Alforth's head. It seemed to be silent forever, and I could tell by the look on Alforth's face it was talking to him. Maybe, I thought with a grin, it was ticking him off for having to do this all again!
"Come on!" Martin whispered. "Put him where he belongs-away from us!"
I grinned at that. I had to admit I thought Alforth belonged in Slytherin, not just because of his family, but because he was annoyingly unhappy in Gryffindoor with us!
Finally the hat spoke: "SLYTHERIN!" It pronounced, and Alforth jumped from the stool, his eyes lit up, and a triumphant smile on his face. At the Slytherin table everyone was cheering, and I noticed that Carlos looked extremely pleased about the whole thing. At our table all the first years were clapping as well, pleased to be rid of the sour Alforth!
"Well," Said the headmistress with a sigh. "Go join your house Alforth."
Alforth did so, and the meal wound up.
