Disclaimer: I know I do not own anything Harry Potter or anything that has to do with Hogwarts. I did make up my own characters and the storyline is also made by me. A couple of these character's names I liked from the sorting in the fourth book so they are placed in here as characters of which I own personality but not the name.
A/N: I want to thank Penny P for her review! I hope that my story is interesting to you guys : ) This chapter is going to be very, very long so I hope you've got plenty of time!
Chapter Five: Sorting Everything Out
Lena began to pack up her things in one of her large bags that she had used on the plane flight. She was very excited. At last it was August thirty first and tomorrow was the day she went to Platform nine and three quarters and left for Hogwarts. Lena had waited one whole month for this day to come and it was finally here. She tossed her three cloaks into her bag along with her wand case and her books. Opal hooted and tapped at her lock on the cage. Lena went over to her nightstand and poked her finger inside the bars of the cage and petted Opal. Below Opal was a small shelf that held all of the things Lena needed to take care of her owl. Lena reached down onto the shelf and pulled up an owl treat. She unlocked the cage and opened it up enough to fit the treat inside. Opal took the treat in her beak gratefully.
Lena looked over to the small clock on the nightstand next to Opal's cage. Its hands were pointed to eleven twenty at night. Lena couldn't sleep a wink. She had been preparing herself for September first ever since she went to Diagon Alley. She could not imagine something that could be greater than that day. What does the school look like? Lena tried to picture something in her head. She couldn't picture it at all. She kept thinking of her old school with brick walls and old, written on desks from who-knows-when. Lena turned and fell onto her bed. She was too excited to do anything else but get ready for the next day. So, Lena got up and went to her closet to find what she would wear the next day.
"Lena! You have one hour to get down here and be ready to go!" Mrs. Rose shouted up the stairs. Then she turned back to walk to the kitchen where she found all of Lena's bags piled up next to the door and Lena sitting at the table trying to eat waffles. She was far too excited to just sit and eat so she took a bite of her waffle and then got up to see her mother who was still in her pajamas.
"Hewwow muber!" Lena said trying to eat her waffle piece and talk at the same time. It wasn't working out too well. Mrs. Rose looked around the kitchen and back to Lena who was back at the table shoveling more waffle into her mouth.
"Wha-?" Mrs. Rose began but was cut off as soon as Lena swallowed.
"You best be getting ready, mom 'cause I'm almost ready to go! You've got one hour!" Lena was taking over her parent's role. She went back over to her mother who was now joined by her father and dragged them back to their room and opened a random drawer revealing clothes. Then she turned and walked back out of the room closing the door behind her leaving her very dazed parents behind. Lena sat back down and began to eat again. She kept glancing over to the door to see if her parents were ready. They finally came out after what seemed like hours but was only about five minutes and rushed into the bathroom. Lena glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It read nine fifty four. Apparently, they were leaving to catch the train for eleven. I hope they make it! Lena thought in her own mind. She began to think of what would happen if she did miss the bus. She dropped her fork and swallowed the last piece of waffle. Then she got up and put her dish into the sink and went to the bathroom door.
When she got there, the door flew open almost whacking her in the face. Her parents rushed out and began to raid the fridge. Lena looked back to the clock. Why are they rushing? It's only ten oh five! Should I tell them? Lena watched as her parents rushed around the table and sat down and began to eat. They were definitely nervous. Nah!
Fifteen minutes later, they were all ready and heading down the street. They were trying not to drive fast but nerves were taking over. Mr. Rose found himself well above the speed limit many times. They raced down one road and onto the next. Lena didn't understand why they were going to quickly. So she decided to pipe up and ask.
"Well honey, the Quirkes told us that the train leaves at exactly eleven o' clock. If we don't get you there before then, you'll miss it! Also, we're meeting them there at around ten forty five."
Lena nodded and turned to look out the window. Everything was zooming by much unlike when they were going to Diagon Alley. They seemed to reach Kings Cross Station (with directions from the Quirkes) in no time at all.
Lena was absolutely amazed by the station. She had never ridden a train before and had never been to a train station. She pushed her 'trolley' (as the British call it) onwards with her parents walking together right behind her. She was looking up at the signs of the platform numbers when she reached nine and then came to ten. Well, where is it? Lena asked herself beginning to panic. She looked around and found a clock that displayed the time as ten forty five. She looked back to platform nine and saw the Quirke family standing around there. They saw her and waved. Lena pushed the trolley around and pushed it back to platform nine with her parents scuttling behind.
"Oh! I am so glad you've made it!" Mrs. Quirke smiled and turned to Lena. "OK we better get going with this or we'll miss it now won't we?" Mrs. Quirke turned to her oldest daughter, "Alright Orla, you first to show them how it's done." Orla had obviously done this many times before. She tucked her violently blonde hair behind her ear and pushed her trolley straight into the brick barrier between platforms nine and ten. "Alright now you darling," Mrs. Rose turned to her only other child, Owen. He looked a bit frightened but pushed his own trolley into the barrier and disappeared behind it. Lena glanced quickly at the clock; she had six minutes left. Mrs. Quirke gave her the right away to go and Lena pushed her Trolley as hard as she could and ran straight for the barrier. She closed her eyes right before she went into it. She didn't realize when she made it through until she smashed her trolley into Owen. He was pushed over and his things went spilling everywhere on the floor. Lena apologized many, many times as she helped him pick everything back up and put it onto his trolley.
The Quirkes and the Roses came through the barrier themselves right after Lena and saw that their children were alright. They all said their goodbyes and Lena saw a tear trickle down her father's cheek. She hugged him extra tight before she left and heard the train whistle. She ran with Owen and Orla to the train and yelled goodbye one last time.
The three of them got onto the train and found an empty compartment where they could sit. They threw all of their things in the empty space on the seats. The owls were kept close and were given many treats. Orla did not have a pet. Lena decided to ask why.
"Well, I don't like animals all too much. Not to mention I'm not too good at taking care of them either." Orla laughed at herself and Lena smiled. Owen sat quietly next to his sister. A few minutes went by where nothing was said. A boy walked by who looked about Orla's age. He turned to look into their compartment and smiled really big.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Quirke the Jerk." The boy leaned against the doorway and Orla stood up. The two stared at each other with what looked like anger. Then the two of them burst out laughing. Lena couldn't help but crack a smile herself. Orla introduced Stewart Ackerley to Owen and Lena. Then they both left the compartment completely and wandered off down the isle of the train.
"Orla fancies him." Owen looked up at Lena. He actually said something! Lena said in joy. She stared again into his blue eyes. Owen looked out the window. They were sitting opposite each other both in the window seats. "She can't stop talking about him. Maybe she'll stop now that she's actually with him." Lena giggled a little.
"Hey there!" said a familiar voice. Lena looked to the doorway to see April there with a few of her friends. She asked if they could join her. The two of them sitting alone in silence was quite sad to look at. April sat next to Lena and asked who Owen was. Lena told her and Owen gave a small wave.
"Quite the chatterbox this one, eh?" April whispered to Lena who couldn't help but laugh. April turned to her three friends that were now sitting with them and introduced them too. "This here is Natalie McDonald," April pointed to a girl with very dark eyes and hair waved to the two of them. "And that over there is Lindsay Griggs," a girl with dirty blonde hair and green eyes smiled at them, "And last, and certainly most least is Trevor Ferguson." A skinny boy with brown hair and brown eyes looked at them and stuck out his tongue to April. "Yeah, yeah," was April's response to Trevor. Lena laughed and looked back over to Owen who seemed to be enjoying himself as well.
Screams were heard from somewhere down the hall. "It's a dung bomb in the next section over!" Was heard from all different sides of the train. Lena looked around frantically. She didn't know what to do or if this was anything really bad or just some prank.
"Idiots!" April said pretending to rip out her hair. She got up and so did her friends. "Let's go put it out and tell those filthy no-goods who's the boss." The three of them pulled out their wands and were about to leave when Lena stood up. She tugged on April's shirt and she turned around.
"Can I go with you guys?" She asked in her small, shy voice.
"Of course! The more the merrier, I always say!" To Lena she seemed like a nice girl in the beginning, but now Lena could see that she was full of adventure and sort of reminded Lena of a pirate. Lena went back to her seat to grab her wand. She turned to Owen.
"Coming?"
"Er…I guess so." Owen looked like he needed a little excitement, so he grabbed his wand and followed Lena and the others out of the doorway and down the isle to the next section over. The six of them cautiously opened the door to the next section and a horrible smell engulfed them. Through all of the screaming and the coughing, Lena could not hear what it was that April said as she swished her wand around. The smoke began to fade quickly and the smell was gone almost instantly.
"Now we get to find the nasty little blighters that set 'em off! This is my favorite part!" Trevor looked very excited as he led the gang down the isle to the place where the dung bomb was laying. They stopped at the compartment next to it in which five girls were sitting with their noses in their shirts. "Hello," He said to himself and cleared his throat. April sighed and rolled her eyes. "Excuse me ladies," Trevor said in a very charming voice. "The dung bomb has been extinguished and we're looking for the idiots who set it off. Have you seen where they ran off to by any chance?" The first of the girls to pull her nose out from her shirt pointed in the direction they were heading. "Thank you, my dear!" The rest of the gang headed in that direction while Trevor stayed behind for a moment. "Now don't you girls stop being gorgeous," He winked, smiled and ran off leaving the girls giggling.
"Such a womanizer. I don't understand how girls actually enjoy that sort of thing." Lindsay was telling Owen and Lena. They entered the next section and saw three boys about to drop another dung bomb. Owen pushed his way to the front of the gang, pointed his wand at the one holding the dung bomb and shouted, "PERTRIFICUS TOTALLUS!" The boy's arms and legs snapped together and he fell to the floor before he had the chance to set off the bomb. Lena's mouth dropped. Natalie and Lindsay got the other two with the same spell. The boys fell to the floor as well and the gang walked over to them. Trevor caught up and came running towards the boys as well.
"This ought to teach you not to mess around on this train as long as we're around." Trevor leaned up against the nearest compartment divider and looked at his nails, and rubbed them on his shirt to polish them. Lena giggled. He may be a womanizer but he's really funny.
"And don't even get your hopes up about us leaving the school 'cause we've got little helpers here that are learning our ways!" Natalie pointed to Owen and Lena. "This little guy was the first to strike you with that curse." She ruffled Owen's hair. Owen had a proud smile on his face. April muttered the counter curse for the spell they cast on the boys and they all scrambled up and ran off. The six celebrated by going back to their compartment and each getting a Chocolate Frog and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Lena was glad that she made new friends already and that soon she could join them in casting spells and stopping the bad guys.
The train got to Hogwarts at last and all of the students put on their robes. It was quite dark outside but there were lamps on the sides of carriages and held by some of the older students. Lena could see Hagrid as she got off of the train with her new friends. April and the others said goodbye as they hopped into a carriage and told them both to go see Hagrid.
"Firs' years over here!" Hagrid yelled. Owen and Lena looked at each other and walked over to see Hagrid. There were many other first year students gathered up around Hagrid. They were all led to the side of a large lake to small canoes that could fit about three people in one. There were no oars and one of every three students in a boat was to hold a lantern. Owen and Lena got into one boat with a small boy who looked very snooty. Once all of the students were in a boat, they began to glide swiftly across the water. Lena could make out an enormous figure in the distance. It was a grand castle! Lena was so excited that could have jumped up, but didn't want to risk falling in the water. As they moved closer, the castle seemed more beautiful than it had only seconds before.
All of the boats pulled up to the school and all of the students got out and walked up to the doors where an old woman was standing. She had thin eyes and looked very superior. She led them all inside the big oak front doors and up a staircase to two more large oak doors.
"Once you are inside of these doors, you will follow me to the front? Did everyone hear me? Good." The woman pushed open the large oak doors and led the students to the front of the hall. There were four rather long tables with a different flag above each. They were the animals Lena had seen on her letter. Once they reached the top of the hall, they all stopped and faced the woman who placed a three-legged stool in front of them. She then placed an old tattered hat on top of the stool and there was silence. Then the hat sat there for a moment and then opened at a tear near the brim and began to sing:
When I am placed upon your head
It is then that I will see
The qualities that you possess
The decision is up to me
To find a house out of four
That would fit you the best
The rest of my song
As you will hear
Is in the Hogwarts crest
Hufflepuffs work hard and do well in school
Gryffindors are brave especially when they duel
Ravenclaws are clever, the smartest house of all
Slytherins are determined and won't stop if they fall
So let me look into your mind
Then I'll see what I can find
To help determine where you belong
Let's start sorting, end of song
The entire room was filled with clapping and loud cheers. Lena was very surprised that a hat could speak at all. What's next? Lena asked herself, Pants and shits that pick themselves off he floor? The cheering died down and the large dining room became silent once more. The old woman who had escorted them inside this room spoke up once more with a rather large scroll in her hand.
"When I call out your name, you will sit on the stool and I will place the hat on your head. When the hat announces your house, you will sit at the appropriate table.
"Andrews, Penelope!"
A small girl with brown curly hair and freckles stepped up to the stool and sat down. She seemed rather confident for a first year. The old woman placed the hat on her head. The hat was silent as was the rest of the room for a moment or two when the hat opened its tear again.
"Hufflepuff!" The hat shouted. The girl smiled broadly and skipped over to the table at which everyone was cheering. Lena looked around at the other tables while a few more names were called. When she looked to the Gryffindor table, she could see all of her friends. She smiled and wished that she too would be at that table.
"Dodger, Gregory"
This list was taking what seemed like forever. Finally, the list was at 'Q' and Owen was called forward. He looked nervous and quiet as always as he slowly walked to the stool and sat down. His sister was a Ravenclaw and was extremely excited to see her little brother being sorted.
"Gryffindor!" The hat yelled out. Orla began to clap when she realized that her brother was sent to Gryffindor. Then a very confused look came over her face as her brother walked over to the cheering Gryffindor table and waved at her. Orla began to frantically whisper to Stewart Ackerley who was sitting next to her. The next name was an 'R' name. Lena was beginning to get very nervous as "Randal, Frederick" was sorted to Slytherin. She looked over to the very…er…'charming' looking Slytherins who were clapping loudly as Frederick walked over to their table. That was not the place that Lena wanted to go at all. At last, her name was called and she made her way to the stool. She sat down at the stool and the hat was placed on her head.
Hmm…Well Ms. Rose, you should not be placed in Hufflepuff…you seem very…laid back. A voice was telling her inside her head. She knew it was the Sorting Hat. She remembered it singing about looking inside your mind.
"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted out to the whole room. Lena wanted to jump all the way to the Gryffindor table where all of her friends were cheering madly for her. She ran over to the table and sat between April and Trevor. Owen was across the table from her with Natalie and Lindsay.
"Congratulations, kid-o!" Trevor patted her on the back. Lena thanked him and smiled at Owen who smiled back. The hall was silent again and Lena mouthed the words "Good job!" to Owen who mouthed back "Thanks!" Lena could not be any happier than she was at that moment. She was sitting with her new friends in a new school where she was going to do spells and make magical things happen. For the first time in her life, Lena couldn't wait for the first day of school to roll around.
The sorting was finished and Lena was extremely hungry. There was a long table at the head of the room at which all of the teachers were sitting. The man in the center of the table was very old but jolly looking. He stood up and tapped his goblet with a fork to get the attention of the students. He then put his fork back onto his napkin and said clearly to the entire hall, "Tuck in, and let the feast begin!" As soon as those words were spoken every table in the room was full of scrumptious looking food. There were mashed potatoes and chicken and- "Oh!" Lena yelled as a man's foggy head popped up through the chicken.
"Why hello there, April! Having a good time?"
"Of course I am, Nick!" April turned to Lena who was quite frightened as the man flew up revealing his entire body. He then flew away down the table greeting other Gryffindors. "He's out house ghost, each house has one." She took a large bite out of her chicken.
"Ghosts?" Lena asked still a bit frightened. April laughed after she had swallowed and turned to Lena again.
"They're not harmful in any way!" She laughed once more, "You muggles get really into those horror movies, huh?" Lena laughed this time and began to realize that she was really in a different place. She looked around before grabbing mashed potatoes and took a deep breath. There were definitely more surprises on the way. She then grabbed some drink of- "What is this?" Lena asked Trevor who was drinking some himself. He put down his goblet.
"It's pumpkin juice, little lady. You better get used to it too 'cause that's what's usually served here!" Lena shrugged and poured some into her own goblet. There were gold and red jewels on her goblet as was everyone else's in Gryffindor. Every house had its own colors. She lifted her goblet and took a sip. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be but it wasn't her favorite drink. Trevor laughed at the look on Lena's face. She looked at him with fake anger and began to laugh too. There was no real reason to be angry.
After everyone ate, the old man stood once more. "I would like to say one more thing, now that we are all fed. The forest on the grounds is strictly out of bounds as is the village of Hogsmeade to any student below third year. With that said, you will need to be alert for your first classes of the year tomorrow. Bedtime everyone!"
One of the oldest boys and the oldest girls in Gryffindor directed the Gryffindor first years to their common room. Lena had no idea what they were talking about. She was not familiar with the term 'common room'. They were led to a very tall tower that was basically made up of staircases and pictures. Lena looked around her as they walked up the first staircase. The pictures waved and bowed as they walked by. Some even said 'Hello!' Lena looked to Owen who was looking up.
"What are you looking at?" Lena said tapping Owen on the shoulder.
"The staircases…they're moving." He did not look at Lena the entire time he said this. She looked up as well trying to walk and look at the same time. The staircases were flying to different floors! They were moving up and down and back and forth to all different places. Lena was shocked to see them just, moving around like they had wings and could fly. She felt a tug on her shirt and looked back to Owen. He was pulling her onto a floor where the rest of the Gryffindors were going. It was a wide 'L' shaped hallway and at the very end, there was a large portrait with a large woman on it.
"What's the password?" The woman asked. The boy in charge turned to look at the first years.
"Remember this password so you can get inside, otherwise you will be left out here until someone who does know it, comes and opens it for you." The boy turned back to the portrait with the woman on it. "Horklump" The portrait swung open to reveal a doorway where the students walked trough and walked into a large living room. There were also bookshelves on the walls and chairs on the sides of small tables. The furniture was all red and there was a large couch in front of a roaring fire. There were two large red chairs on either side of the fireplace facing each other.
"The girl's dormitories are up the staircase on the right, the staircase on the left is for boys." The girl in charge said. Everyone was sent to his or her dormitories at that time and Lena said goodbye to Owen. She walked up the spiraling staircase to her dormitory. She opened the door and saw four, four-poster beds each with a trunk at the end…except for hers. She could tell that the deep blue, zipper bag she used for the plane trip was sitting at the end of her bed. She walked over to it and fell onto her bed. She was extremely happy to be there, she didn't miss home at all.
Three more girls walked in chatting and giggling. They were all about to sit on one bed when they realized that Lena was there. Lena sat up quickly and looked over to the girls sitting on the bed next to hers. They looked at her silently until one with blonde hair and brown eyes spoke up.
"Hi, I'm Isabella and this is Francis," Another blonde girl waved flashing her green eyes. "And this is Lynn." A girl with light brown hair looked over to Lena and smiled.
"Nice to meet you all." Lena said to them. They all looked at one another strangely. "I'm Lena Rose." They asked her about her accent. She explained her trip to them and they smiled once more.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you as well, Lena! I hope we all have fun this year." Lynn said looking around the room. She walked over to her bed and said that she was going to bed. Francis walked to her bed and Isabella was already sitting on hers. They all said goodnight to each other and turned off their lamps. Lena had a bit of trouble with hers because she was used to electricity. Isabella helped her turn the small switch on her lamp and went back to her own bed. Len got up and took off her cloak, which still held her wand in it. She thought back through the day's events and smiled to herself. Then she placed her cloak insider her bag and went to sleep. None of the girls bothered to change because they were all so tired. Lena was asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow.
A/N: This was a long one, huh? Well it'll probably all be really long from now on. Sorry about the wait for this chapter, I was really busy (I went to the American Idols concert last night! GO CLAY!) Anyway, I was busy and I didn't have time to really write this and post it up. Tell me what you think of this chapter! Review, review, review!
