Author's Note: This Chapter is quite long, I apologize for that. I have the
bit following this written out on paper, I just have to type it up, which
may or may not take a while. I dunno it depends. I just had my tonsils out
and I got a week worth of homework in all my classes and I might wind up
writer's blocking myself until it gets done. So, please read and review,
I'd like 10 reviews before I post the next chapter. That shouldn't be too
hard to ask!! R&R!!! Please! ~ Frankie ~
Chapter 4: A Train ride, a Sorting and a Feast
The next day passed at an abysmal rate. Petunia found new poison to chuck at her and did it silently. "Daddy's girl, daddy's girl!" Petunia chanted softly as she walked by Lily's room that morning after he'd gone to work and Abigail was downstairs working on breakfast for her girls. It was then that Lily figured out what Petunia's problem was; the girl was jealous.
"What do you care Petunia? Mum loves you to death!" Lily retaliated for the first time in her life, found herself shocked at her daring. Must be James and Sirius' influence, she thought.
"I don't care you little pipsqueak! You're a freak; you and Dad are bloody freaks! You will always be freaks, horrible abominations to the name of humans," Petunia screeched angrily, not understanding why Lily's words actually hurt. She stormed away, leaving Lily in pain and ready to cry.
Lily went to her room and sat in front of her owl's cage which she had decided to name Niobe, which she found in A History of Magic. Niobe was the name of an interesting woman who began the crusade for muggle rights twenty years before hand and died for her troubles. "Niobe, why does Petunia torture me so?" Lily asked holding her hand up to the cage. Niobe hooted softly and moved closer to Lily's hand and nipped it affectionately as if to say, Don't worry about her, she's just jealous. Lily smiled and picked up One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and began to read where she left off.
The next morning came quickly after Lily went to bed and felt like she had hardly fallen asleep before having to be woken up again. Seamus woke her early and told her to go through everything to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything. Lily hadn't and was ready to go within an hour. She said good bye to Petunia and Abigail and said she'd see them in the summer.
The drive to King's Cross was relatively long. Lily passed out after a third of the journey was finished only to be awoken when Seamus has parked the car and was unloading her trunk and Niobe's cage. Lily, who hadn't been to King's Cross before asked, "What did the ticket say again Dad?" as she looked at all the numbers on the wall.
"It's Platform nine and three quarters and the train leaves at eleven, so you've got twenty minutes to get on the train and stow your trunk," Seamus said loading it on to a trolley and placing it on top of the trunk. They walked down the platform until they came to a space in the wall three quarters of the way down from platform nine. Seamus walked close to the barrier and motioned Lily close, "Now, all you've got to do is push the trolley into the wall, it will sort of dissolve and the platform will come into view. It's best to do at a bit of a run if your nervous, and I'll follow right after to make sure you get through all right," he said quietly gesturing at the wall.
Lily nodded and took hold of the trolley and started to jog towards the wall all the while thinking, I'm going to crash! She closed her eyes and waited for the crash and realizing she hadn't opened her eyes to find a shinny red steam engine on the tracks before her and a sign above the entrance to the platform that said, Hogwarts Express- 11 o'clock, and Seamus appeared directly below the sign seconds later grinning from ear to ear. He ruffled her hair gently and said, "C'mon lets get your things into the train," and directed the trolley towards the train.
"Oy! Lily! Over here!" Sirius's voice called from a compartment near the back of the train, his head sticking out the window waving at them. James' head appeared seconds later, he was waving too; it made for quite a comical scene as they tried to get unstuck to allow Lily into the compartment. Lily laughed and smiled at the two of them, stress about the trip easing.
"It's good to see the two of you," Lily said grateful to them being real, and that Petunia wouldn't be anywhere near her for 10 whole months. They watched as Seamus hefted the trunk into the compartment and placed Niobe on a seat near the window.
"Lily, now, be a good girl, or at least as good as these two blokes will let you be, have lots of fun, and come home with your head a bit fuller okay?" Seamus said and pulled her into a warm hug.
"I'll try Dad. I'm really going to miss you," Lily said, holding him tightly.
"I know, I'll miss you too. I will try to set Petunia straight this year, so maybe she'll be a bit nicer when you come home," Seamus said seriously which earned him questioning looks from James and Sirius. "O' course there are no guarantees, but I will try," he said again, and kissed her forehead. "Send owls every so often, tell me how school is going if you get the chance and if Snape's son does anything to you let me know and I'll come tear his head off," Seamus said the last bit furiously and gave her another squeeze.
"I imagine I can handle that slime ball," Lily said and smiled at the thought of teaching Serverus Snape a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.
"I love you Lily, have a good time," Seamus said as he stepped off the train, "See you when school ends as I imagine you'll want to stay for Christmas this year," he smiled at her in a gentle and loving way.
"I love you too Dad, what's happening at Christmas?" Lily asked sounding confused.
"Don't worry, Professor Dumbledore will explain everything when you get to school," Seamus said and walked away backwards waving to where Harold and Emily Potter stood with a short woman with dark hair and dark eyes that resembled Sirius.
"Is that your mum Sirius? Next to James' parents?" Lily asked looking back at the boy who was sitting across from James near the inner door.
Sirius leaned forward and looked out, "Yup, that's me mum. Crazy woman, you shoulda seen what she tried to get me for dress robes, oy, it was silly," he said shaking his head in disgust.
James laughed, "What was it pink and purple polka dots?" he asked smirking at Sirius.
"No, thank Merlin my mum's got more taste then that," Sirius said and visibly shuddered.
The train started to move and the three jumped up and waved to their parents from the window. Mrs. Black broke down into tears and instantly apparated back home. They all sat back down and James asked Lily, "What did your Dad mean by setting Petunia straight?"
Lily blushed and said, "Oh nothing, just she's my big sister and she's a little mean and stuff, it's nothing," he could tell she was uncomfortable and got the impression that Petunia was the one who was telling Lily that she wasn't pretty and such.
Sirius looked concerned for a fraction of a second before asking, "Do either of you want to play Exploding Snap?"
"What's that?" Lily asked looking interested.
"It's a card game that the cards explode eventually and it's really fun," Sirius said trying to convince them.
"Maybe a little later," Lily said, not quite sure about anything that exploded being fun.
A couple minutes later a boy their age stepped into the compartment and asked, "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full." He seemed really nervous and Lily felt for him.
"Sure, I'm Lily Evans, this is James Potter and Sirius Black," Lily said curling her legs underneath her.
"Remus Lupin," the boy said. He had short mouse brown hair, pale gray eyes, a pale face and he looked like he had recently been ill.
"Nice to meet you Remus," Lily smiled kindly at him, which seemed to cheer him a bit.
"And you as well," Remus smiled at them, waking his face up and making him look both cheerful and mischievous at the same time; looked like he was in need of a good laugh though.
"Play quidditch?" James asked, wondering whether the boy was from a wizard or muggle family.
"Oh yes! I love it. I was going to go to the Puddlemere and Ireland game a few days ago but I got sick and had to miss it," Remus said and looked deeply disappointed.
"Oh it was a good game. Lily and I saw it, had great seats, up near the Top Box thanks to her father," James boasted not really meaning to brag.
Lily blushed, "Oh hush you. I didn't even know what quidditch was until a month ago," she said trying to make James stop talking about seeing the game, unless he was planning to give Remus a play by play of the action.
Remus looked confused, "But if you're from muggle parents how did you see a game?"
"Oh, my dad's a wizard and my mum's not. She was quite shocked to find that my dad was a wizard. I met Sirius in Madam Malkin's shop and he talked consistently about quidditch and I asked my father about it and he said he'd try to take me to a game next summer but managed to get tickets and took me. It was a lot of fun," Lily explained and Remus nodded, slightly less confused.
"So your Dad didn't tell your mom that he's a wizard until a month ago?" Remus asked quietly, trying to get the details straight.
"No, she told her when he proposed but she thought that it was a joke and didn't believe him until my latter came," Lily explained to Remus who finally understood and nodded.
"I wouldn't go spouting your life story around like that Evans, someone might take advantage of it," said a pale, pointy faced by with a drawling voice and while blonde hair from the doorway of the compartment.
James and Sirius both jumped to their feet, their hands on their pockets where their wands were. James spoke first, looking as if he was trying to fight the urge to vomit, "What do you want Malfoy?" he asked.
"Nothing that concerns you Potter, Evans is the mudblood," Malfoy said while Serverus Snape stood just behind him. Lily knew that what the pale boy had said was decidedly nasty as even Remus pulled his wand from his pocket.
"You scum sucking slime ball, go back to where ever you came from, preferably hell," Lily said calmly as an older red headed boy with a small shiny silver badge pinned on his robes came into the area around their compartment.
"What is going on here? Why do you first years have your wands out?" the red haired boy asked looking distressed.
Malfoy turned to look at the boy and dismissed him off hand, "None of your business," he said shortly and turned back to the group.
"Hold it there boy. I'm a prefect, you have to listen to me," the boy said and Malfoy turned back around.
"Let me see," Malfoy said, "red hair, freckles and a hand me down robe, you be a Weasley. Get lost you're not needed here," Malfoy said.
"Now wait just a second, it seems to me that you are trying to get into trouble Mr. Malfoy. You'll be reported when we arrive at the school," the boy called Weasley said.
Malfoy's eyes flashed menacingly and he grabbed Snape by the shoulder, who had been staring at Lily again in the disgusting fashion he was taken to, and dragged him down the hallway to their own compartment. They watched as the two rude annoying boys walked back down the hallway before the Weasley boy turned to ask, "What exactly did Mr. Malfoy do?" as he could see that no one had been physically harmed. He watched everyone as tempers flickered in their faces, and James, Sirius and Remus seemed to be speechless with rage.
Lily was the one who spoke up. "He came into the compartment being awfully rude and then called me a name, 'mudblood', which means something, but I have no idea what, but it seemed rather nasty," she said looking up to see that the older boy looked just as furious as James, Sirius and Remus were.
"No wonder," the boy sighed, "Mudblood is a really foul name for someone who is muggle born. It basically says that the persons got dirty common blood when it's real nonsense because wizards had to marry muggles otherwise we would have died out," the boy said looking as if he wanted to chase Malfoy down. "I'm Arthur by the way, Gryffindor prefect. I look forward to seeing you in Gryffindor. I really should get back to the compartment, if you are all alright that is," Arthur said and when he received everyone's nod walked from the compartment saying, "See you then," and headed down the corridor.
As Arthur left the meaning of the term 'mudblood' sunk into Lily's brain. "Dirty, common blood," Arthur's voice echoed in her head. Remus noticed the look on Lily's face and said firmly, "Lily, don't even think twice about what that slimy git said. He's evil and vile like the rest of his family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin, everyone from that house has gone bad. The whole lot of 'em should get thrown out!" Remus though, could tell that Lily was letting her own thoughts which were infected not only by Malfoy's stupidity but also by someone else who shouldn't have said things similar to her, someone close to her but he didn't know who, but wanted to find out.
"Yeah Lil, don't even listen to what that moron says. You'll be just as good as any 'pureblood' kid, probably better," James said reassuringly and touched her shoulder gently and smiled at her in the charming fashion that he would become famous for at Hogwarts.
Lily gave the three boys a watery smile and said, "Don't worry about me, that Malfoy is an imbecile and will probably fail most of his classes for being a complete idiot and a stupid git," she then smiled again a happier smile and asked, "How about you guys teach me how to play Exploding Snap?" Sirius jumped up from his seat and opened his trunk to grab the cards.
They played for quite a while before a fairly young witch came along pushing a trolley stacked and piled with sweets and candies and she asked, "Anything from the trolley dears?" Lily found herself buying a little of everything while the four of them sat around and chatted about quidditch and life before getting their letters which fascinated Lily having grown up like a muggle. Sirius told them all about how he turned his cat into a pumpkin on Halloween when he was four and how it meowed until his mother came and undid the magic. His story caused them all to laugh. James and Sirius told similar stories and Lily listened attentively and sat watching while eating a cauldron cake.
It was starting to get dark outside the train when a witch about the same age as Arthur Weasley opened the door and said, "You should all get into your robes, the train will be arriving soon," she said cheerfully, and Lily noticed a silver badge similar to Arthur's pinned on her robes. "I'm Molly." a loud crash from down the hall interrupted her, "Be right there Arthur! See you if you're in Gryffindor!" the girl called and ran down the corridor to sort out Arthur and whatever that crash was. Lily laughed and closed the door to the compartment.
They all grabbed their robes from their trunks and put them on. Lily sat and watched Niobe while the boys changed and was coincidentally able to see James in the reflection on the window and she blushed, focusing again on Niobe who seemed to hoot with quiet laughter when the color started to creep up Lily's cheeks.
In what seemed like no time at all the train was slowing down and a voice came loudly into the compartments and corridor, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train it will be taken to the school separately."
Lily, James, Sirius and Remus exited the train onto the platform with the rest of the school and Lily heard a familiar voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" It was Hagrid's voice calling and he was a large looming shadow at the end of the platform using a lamp as a beacon. A group started to gather around him and he asked, "Every one here? Good, let's go," and he started down the path to the lake, "No more 'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called as they approached the shore. Hagrid had his boat to himself and he looked around making sure there were no stragglers and called for the boats to start forward.
Lily, James, Sirius and Remus shared a boat on the way across the lake, and together got their first look at Hogwarts Castle. The light shimmered in the windows and the many turrets and towers appeared as they came from behind an out cropping on the lake. There was a chorus of 'oohs and ahhs' from the students. "Wow, it's beautiful," Lily sighed. The forest could be seen off to one side looking ominous. Shadows of other features of the grounds could be seen around the castle. It was amazing as well as beautiful.
They got out of the boats and climbed up a stone staircase where Hagrid knocked on the wooden door at the top twice. The door opened to reveal a fairly old and wizened looking wizard. He looked sternly down at them and introduced himself. "I am Professor Fairweather, and Deputy Headmaster of this school. You are to wait here while we prepare for you to be sorted into your houses. They are; Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin. While you wait you'll probably want to smarten yourselves up a bit," he said and walked back through the door he'd come from while Hagrid had disappeared.
A riot of rumors started immediately. "My brothers told me we have to face trolls!" a girl screeched which caused chaos.
Lily sighed and fought the urge to laugh, "It's just a hat!" she said shaking her head at the noise the back of the group was creating.
"How do you know that?" a small boy with a pointed nose and beady dark eyes asked, visibly shaking.
"I read it in Hogwarts, A History," Lily said and the boy turned and started telling people around him, which caused Lily to sigh again and want to put her head on one of her friends shoulders and sleep.
"You okay Lil?" Remus asked her.
"Yeah, just tired, nervous, excited, all that," Lily said to him and the others as she rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep in them.
Just then the door opened again and Professor Fairweather said, "Please form two lines and follow me," and led them into the Great Hall. At the far end were the teacher's tables where the Headmaster, Hagrid and other teachers sat waiting for the first years to enter. Their were for other long tables in the hall, one for each house, which were full of other students.
The students walked down the aisle between the tables to where the teachers sat, Dumbledore caught James' eye and winked. Professor Fairweather held a scroll in his hands and a stool; on the stool he set a patched and frayed hat. The hat 'sat up' and a tear in the brim opened wide and it began to sing:
I might not be so pretty,
But looks they can deceive,
I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,
And I'm intelligent indeed.
'Twas Gryffindor who gave me life,
And had me to decide,
Whose house you'd belong in,
Once he lost his life.
I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,
And I'll tell you where you'll go,
For each of Hogwarts Founder's,
Had different qualities to show.
Gryffindor's were brave,
Prized for boldness and daring,
Their chivalry and nerve.
Hufflepuff valued those,
Who were just, true and loyal;
Those that worked the hardest,
And were unafraid of toil.
Ravenclaw sought those;
Of wise and ready mind,
The witty and the clever,
Who are a fairer find.
Slytherin wanted ones with great ambition;
Cunning folk who'd use any means
To achieve their power-hungry ends.
So just put me on top your heads
If you've got what they did seek,
I'll place you where you ought to be,
And not turn another cheek.
For I know better then you sense,
And what I say is true,
I can see inside the fence
That you've built up all around you!
(Author's Note: I know this is really bad and I can't rhyme at all. If you haven't read the books you're nuts to be reading this first! So, go back and read them and you'll see the master at Sorting Hat songs, J.K. Rowling. I am just a lowly fanfic author!!!)
The whole school burst into applause as the Hat fell silent. Professor Fairweather took the hat from the stool, unrolled the scroll in his hand and called out, "Abbott, Ryan." A short blonde boy with fear-filled grey eyes headed up to the front of the lines. He sat down on the stool and Professor Fairweather placed the hat upon his head. There was a moment of silence before the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the boy climbed down off the stool and went to join the clapping Hufflepuff table where a older girl of the same coloring clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Welcome to Hufflepuff brother!"
"Allen, David," became the first Ravenclaw and was welcomed in much the same fashion as "Abbott, Ryan" had been welcomed to Hufflepuff. "Ashley, Connor," followed "Allen, David," to Ravenclaw and "Avery, Alana," became the first Slytherin, and received boos from all the tables but Slytherin who clapped and cheered.
"Black, Sirius," was called and Lily, James and Remus watched him 'swagger' up to the stool, plop down, and before Professor Fairweather could place the hat on his head he called out, "BOO!" which caused a number of the group to burst into laughter, Fairweather to look at him disapprovingly, and Dumbledore to grin. Fairweather placed the hat on Sirius's head and it waited a second before saying, "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat was whipped off and Sirius went to join the loudest table by far who cheered and clapped extravagantly.
"Bones, Sheldon," went to Hufflepuff. "Brown, Heather," became the first girl to go to Gryffindor. "Cartwright, Alison," and "Clooney, Rosemary," went to the Hufflepuff table. "Crabbe, Henry," went to Slytherin, and "Driver, Sydney," went to Ravenclaw.
Fairweather waited until it was quiet and called, "Evans, Lily," and Lily stood up straight, walked down the aisle and Sirius called, "Don't trip now Lily!" which received laughter and Lily gave him a cool look. She sat down on the stool and listened as the Sorting Hat was put on her head. "Well, well, well, another Evans. I know where to put you," the hat whispered to her before shouting to the crowd, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily smiled broadly and took off the hat and went and joined the table opposite Sirius.
A "Felsham, Jane" followed Lily to Gryffindor, sat beside her and chatted a little. "Figg, Arabella," was called up and Sirius honored her with a whistle, which she ignored and became a Ravenclaw to Sirius's disappointment, though she sent him a smile after wards. "Finch, Kevin," went to Hufflepuff. "Grant, Minerva," and "Hall, Andrew" went to Ravenclaw.
"Lestrange, Leonard," and "Lestrange, Lisabeth," went to Slytherin, looking rather identical. "Lindsey, Lawrence," was called and a taller first year looked menacingly at him and looked tempted to trip him but didn't, though it looked close. He was put in Gryffindor, which seemed to anger the girl even more. Next was "Lupin, Remus," who almost tripped on Snape's out stretched foot, but saw it in time and was able to avoid it, went up the aisle and sat on the stool. The hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" and Sirius and Lily cheered particularly loud and Remus looked excited and went to join them.
"Malfoy, Lucious," was called and there was absolute silence, though Sirius looked like he was about to yell out something but Lily looked sternly at him saying clearly, "You've said enough tonight!" and he didn't say anything. The hat didn't even go all the way over Malfoy's head before it screamed "SLYTHERIN!" and he went to the table and Sirius could be heard, though barely, saying, "Scum sucker!" Lily laughed, at that, she had to, and it was what she'd called the vile boy. "Patil, Victoria," went to Hufflepuff next.
"Pettigrew, Peter," was next. He was a small boy, with beady eyes, brown hair and pointed rat like face. He tripped completely and landed on his face, turning bright red. He gathered himself and walked up to the stool and sat down, the hat over his head. The silence gathered, a minute passed and the hat hadn't said anything. Two minutes, at three the hall started whispering, "Maybe he got on the wrong train!" Malfoy said viciously, the whole hall hearing it in the quiet; Pettigrew's face getting redder beneath the shadow of the hat. When five minutes had passed the hat finally opened its mouth and said, though sounding thoroughly unconvinced, "GRYFFINDOR!" The boy sighed, took off the hat and went to the Gryffindor table to a much subdued cheering.
"Potter, James" was called, and James looked over at the Gryffindor table where his friends sat and walked up to the stool, sat down and placed the hat on his head. "Well, well. James Potter, wondered when Harold's son would be coming to Hogwarts. I see a lot of strength here, courage, yes, determination, and. ahh, interesting, very interesting." the hat trailed off. James thought at those words, What's interesting? Can't you just put me with my friends?! The hat seemed to laugh and he said, "Yes, it will happen... GRYFFINDOR!" it called the last word to the school and James took off the hat without a second thought and went to join his loudly cheering friends.
"Rickman, Brittany," joined the Ravenclaws and "Snape, Serverus," like Malfoy joined Slytherin, though he seemed to look over at Lily, again, in the fashion he was accustomed too before joining Lucious at the table. "Spears, Narcissa," joined the Slytherin's as well. She walked over to the table with a look of smug satisfaction on her face and sat near "Avery, Alana" and "Lestrange, Lisabeth." "Sutton, Tinker," went to the Hufflepuff's and lastly, "Tudor, Elizabeth" the girl who was angry about the "Lindsey, Lawrence," decision, joined Gryffindor as well and shot daggers at him from down the table.
(A/N: Yes, there are a lot of students! I named all the first years, any other students named are older!)
Professor Fairweather carried the Sorting Hat and the stool out of the Great Hall while Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the students. "Welcome to the start of another year at Hogwarts. I hope you all enjoyed your summers and are ready to fill back up those empty minds of yours. I have a few start of term notices to give out. Firstly, the forest on the grounds is strictly forbidden to all students due to the dangerous creatures contained within its boundaries, second, magic is not to be used in the hallways during passing periods, and third, our caretaker Mr. Apollyon Pringle has asked that dungbombs not be let off in the corridors, and are punishable with detention. Now, let the feast begin!" he said and sat down with those last words.
Lily looked down at the table to find that it was covered in all sorts of delicious looking foods. Chicken, ham, roasts of different kinds, puddings, etc. Everyone was grabbing off them and piling their plates with food. The hall was roaring with chatter, laughter and shouting. Everyone was excited and happy. Even Lily forgot about worrying about her father, mother and sister and ate, talking with Sirius, Remus, James, and Jane.
Slowly the plates cleared and desserts sprang up out of nowhere. Those were demolished with about the same efficiency as the other food had been. The students became sleepy and laden with lots of food. Sirius even started to pass out on Remus's shoulder while they waited for Dumbledore to finish eating. When he was done the plates cleared and he stood again, "Have a good night students," he called and there was a scramble for the doors to the entrance hall.
A familiar voice called out to them, "Gryffindor first years this way please!" and Arthur Weasley's smiling face greeted them. He lead them to the main stair and said, "This is the easiest way to Gryffindor Tower, be careful, the staircases like to change without warning." He led them though passages and warned them of trick stairs that fooled students into sinking into them; older students jumped usually these stairs out of habit. He finally led them to the end of a corridor where a large portrait of a large lady dressed in pink was hung. "This is the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, you can only get in with a password, and the past word at the moment is, 'Merlin's Beard.' Don't forget the password or you'll be locked out," he finished as the portrait swung forward to reveal a large opening in the wall. They followed him into the passage and listened to Arthur talk again. "This is the common room, where you'll probably spend most of your time out of classes studying and being with other Gryffindors. Do not let any other students into the portrait hole. Dormitories are up those stairs, you'll find that yours are marked first years, girls or boys, which ever you are. Any questions? Good, then good night!" Arthur Weasley said and walked over to where the Molly girl from the train said and mussed her hair affectionately, sitting across from her.
Lily yawned and decided it was time for her to get to bed; she walked over to Remus, Sirius and James and said, "Good night boys. I'll see you for breakfast in the morning," and she walked away leaving them to their own devices.
Most of the other Gryffindor's decided the same as Lily. They didn't really see the magnificent paintings on the walls, the potentially comfy chairs and couches, the warm fire, and the all around beautiful appearance of the common room. They climbed the stairs to their dormitories as if sleep walking, barely noticed the four-poster beds and the hangings to give them privacy from each other. They just found their belongings and changed into their pajamas and climbed into the warm beds and fell asleep.
Chapter 4: A Train ride, a Sorting and a Feast
The next day passed at an abysmal rate. Petunia found new poison to chuck at her and did it silently. "Daddy's girl, daddy's girl!" Petunia chanted softly as she walked by Lily's room that morning after he'd gone to work and Abigail was downstairs working on breakfast for her girls. It was then that Lily figured out what Petunia's problem was; the girl was jealous.
"What do you care Petunia? Mum loves you to death!" Lily retaliated for the first time in her life, found herself shocked at her daring. Must be James and Sirius' influence, she thought.
"I don't care you little pipsqueak! You're a freak; you and Dad are bloody freaks! You will always be freaks, horrible abominations to the name of humans," Petunia screeched angrily, not understanding why Lily's words actually hurt. She stormed away, leaving Lily in pain and ready to cry.
Lily went to her room and sat in front of her owl's cage which she had decided to name Niobe, which she found in A History of Magic. Niobe was the name of an interesting woman who began the crusade for muggle rights twenty years before hand and died for her troubles. "Niobe, why does Petunia torture me so?" Lily asked holding her hand up to the cage. Niobe hooted softly and moved closer to Lily's hand and nipped it affectionately as if to say, Don't worry about her, she's just jealous. Lily smiled and picked up One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and began to read where she left off.
The next morning came quickly after Lily went to bed and felt like she had hardly fallen asleep before having to be woken up again. Seamus woke her early and told her to go through everything to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything. Lily hadn't and was ready to go within an hour. She said good bye to Petunia and Abigail and said she'd see them in the summer.
The drive to King's Cross was relatively long. Lily passed out after a third of the journey was finished only to be awoken when Seamus has parked the car and was unloading her trunk and Niobe's cage. Lily, who hadn't been to King's Cross before asked, "What did the ticket say again Dad?" as she looked at all the numbers on the wall.
"It's Platform nine and three quarters and the train leaves at eleven, so you've got twenty minutes to get on the train and stow your trunk," Seamus said loading it on to a trolley and placing it on top of the trunk. They walked down the platform until they came to a space in the wall three quarters of the way down from platform nine. Seamus walked close to the barrier and motioned Lily close, "Now, all you've got to do is push the trolley into the wall, it will sort of dissolve and the platform will come into view. It's best to do at a bit of a run if your nervous, and I'll follow right after to make sure you get through all right," he said quietly gesturing at the wall.
Lily nodded and took hold of the trolley and started to jog towards the wall all the while thinking, I'm going to crash! She closed her eyes and waited for the crash and realizing she hadn't opened her eyes to find a shinny red steam engine on the tracks before her and a sign above the entrance to the platform that said, Hogwarts Express- 11 o'clock, and Seamus appeared directly below the sign seconds later grinning from ear to ear. He ruffled her hair gently and said, "C'mon lets get your things into the train," and directed the trolley towards the train.
"Oy! Lily! Over here!" Sirius's voice called from a compartment near the back of the train, his head sticking out the window waving at them. James' head appeared seconds later, he was waving too; it made for quite a comical scene as they tried to get unstuck to allow Lily into the compartment. Lily laughed and smiled at the two of them, stress about the trip easing.
"It's good to see the two of you," Lily said grateful to them being real, and that Petunia wouldn't be anywhere near her for 10 whole months. They watched as Seamus hefted the trunk into the compartment and placed Niobe on a seat near the window.
"Lily, now, be a good girl, or at least as good as these two blokes will let you be, have lots of fun, and come home with your head a bit fuller okay?" Seamus said and pulled her into a warm hug.
"I'll try Dad. I'm really going to miss you," Lily said, holding him tightly.
"I know, I'll miss you too. I will try to set Petunia straight this year, so maybe she'll be a bit nicer when you come home," Seamus said seriously which earned him questioning looks from James and Sirius. "O' course there are no guarantees, but I will try," he said again, and kissed her forehead. "Send owls every so often, tell me how school is going if you get the chance and if Snape's son does anything to you let me know and I'll come tear his head off," Seamus said the last bit furiously and gave her another squeeze.
"I imagine I can handle that slime ball," Lily said and smiled at the thought of teaching Serverus Snape a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.
"I love you Lily, have a good time," Seamus said as he stepped off the train, "See you when school ends as I imagine you'll want to stay for Christmas this year," he smiled at her in a gentle and loving way.
"I love you too Dad, what's happening at Christmas?" Lily asked sounding confused.
"Don't worry, Professor Dumbledore will explain everything when you get to school," Seamus said and walked away backwards waving to where Harold and Emily Potter stood with a short woman with dark hair and dark eyes that resembled Sirius.
"Is that your mum Sirius? Next to James' parents?" Lily asked looking back at the boy who was sitting across from James near the inner door.
Sirius leaned forward and looked out, "Yup, that's me mum. Crazy woman, you shoulda seen what she tried to get me for dress robes, oy, it was silly," he said shaking his head in disgust.
James laughed, "What was it pink and purple polka dots?" he asked smirking at Sirius.
"No, thank Merlin my mum's got more taste then that," Sirius said and visibly shuddered.
The train started to move and the three jumped up and waved to their parents from the window. Mrs. Black broke down into tears and instantly apparated back home. They all sat back down and James asked Lily, "What did your Dad mean by setting Petunia straight?"
Lily blushed and said, "Oh nothing, just she's my big sister and she's a little mean and stuff, it's nothing," he could tell she was uncomfortable and got the impression that Petunia was the one who was telling Lily that she wasn't pretty and such.
Sirius looked concerned for a fraction of a second before asking, "Do either of you want to play Exploding Snap?"
"What's that?" Lily asked looking interested.
"It's a card game that the cards explode eventually and it's really fun," Sirius said trying to convince them.
"Maybe a little later," Lily said, not quite sure about anything that exploded being fun.
A couple minutes later a boy their age stepped into the compartment and asked, "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full." He seemed really nervous and Lily felt for him.
"Sure, I'm Lily Evans, this is James Potter and Sirius Black," Lily said curling her legs underneath her.
"Remus Lupin," the boy said. He had short mouse brown hair, pale gray eyes, a pale face and he looked like he had recently been ill.
"Nice to meet you Remus," Lily smiled kindly at him, which seemed to cheer him a bit.
"And you as well," Remus smiled at them, waking his face up and making him look both cheerful and mischievous at the same time; looked like he was in need of a good laugh though.
"Play quidditch?" James asked, wondering whether the boy was from a wizard or muggle family.
"Oh yes! I love it. I was going to go to the Puddlemere and Ireland game a few days ago but I got sick and had to miss it," Remus said and looked deeply disappointed.
"Oh it was a good game. Lily and I saw it, had great seats, up near the Top Box thanks to her father," James boasted not really meaning to brag.
Lily blushed, "Oh hush you. I didn't even know what quidditch was until a month ago," she said trying to make James stop talking about seeing the game, unless he was planning to give Remus a play by play of the action.
Remus looked confused, "But if you're from muggle parents how did you see a game?"
"Oh, my dad's a wizard and my mum's not. She was quite shocked to find that my dad was a wizard. I met Sirius in Madam Malkin's shop and he talked consistently about quidditch and I asked my father about it and he said he'd try to take me to a game next summer but managed to get tickets and took me. It was a lot of fun," Lily explained and Remus nodded, slightly less confused.
"So your Dad didn't tell your mom that he's a wizard until a month ago?" Remus asked quietly, trying to get the details straight.
"No, she told her when he proposed but she thought that it was a joke and didn't believe him until my latter came," Lily explained to Remus who finally understood and nodded.
"I wouldn't go spouting your life story around like that Evans, someone might take advantage of it," said a pale, pointy faced by with a drawling voice and while blonde hair from the doorway of the compartment.
James and Sirius both jumped to their feet, their hands on their pockets where their wands were. James spoke first, looking as if he was trying to fight the urge to vomit, "What do you want Malfoy?" he asked.
"Nothing that concerns you Potter, Evans is the mudblood," Malfoy said while Serverus Snape stood just behind him. Lily knew that what the pale boy had said was decidedly nasty as even Remus pulled his wand from his pocket.
"You scum sucking slime ball, go back to where ever you came from, preferably hell," Lily said calmly as an older red headed boy with a small shiny silver badge pinned on his robes came into the area around their compartment.
"What is going on here? Why do you first years have your wands out?" the red haired boy asked looking distressed.
Malfoy turned to look at the boy and dismissed him off hand, "None of your business," he said shortly and turned back to the group.
"Hold it there boy. I'm a prefect, you have to listen to me," the boy said and Malfoy turned back around.
"Let me see," Malfoy said, "red hair, freckles and a hand me down robe, you be a Weasley. Get lost you're not needed here," Malfoy said.
"Now wait just a second, it seems to me that you are trying to get into trouble Mr. Malfoy. You'll be reported when we arrive at the school," the boy called Weasley said.
Malfoy's eyes flashed menacingly and he grabbed Snape by the shoulder, who had been staring at Lily again in the disgusting fashion he was taken to, and dragged him down the hallway to their own compartment. They watched as the two rude annoying boys walked back down the hallway before the Weasley boy turned to ask, "What exactly did Mr. Malfoy do?" as he could see that no one had been physically harmed. He watched everyone as tempers flickered in their faces, and James, Sirius and Remus seemed to be speechless with rage.
Lily was the one who spoke up. "He came into the compartment being awfully rude and then called me a name, 'mudblood', which means something, but I have no idea what, but it seemed rather nasty," she said looking up to see that the older boy looked just as furious as James, Sirius and Remus were.
"No wonder," the boy sighed, "Mudblood is a really foul name for someone who is muggle born. It basically says that the persons got dirty common blood when it's real nonsense because wizards had to marry muggles otherwise we would have died out," the boy said looking as if he wanted to chase Malfoy down. "I'm Arthur by the way, Gryffindor prefect. I look forward to seeing you in Gryffindor. I really should get back to the compartment, if you are all alright that is," Arthur said and when he received everyone's nod walked from the compartment saying, "See you then," and headed down the corridor.
As Arthur left the meaning of the term 'mudblood' sunk into Lily's brain. "Dirty, common blood," Arthur's voice echoed in her head. Remus noticed the look on Lily's face and said firmly, "Lily, don't even think twice about what that slimy git said. He's evil and vile like the rest of his family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin, everyone from that house has gone bad. The whole lot of 'em should get thrown out!" Remus though, could tell that Lily was letting her own thoughts which were infected not only by Malfoy's stupidity but also by someone else who shouldn't have said things similar to her, someone close to her but he didn't know who, but wanted to find out.
"Yeah Lil, don't even listen to what that moron says. You'll be just as good as any 'pureblood' kid, probably better," James said reassuringly and touched her shoulder gently and smiled at her in the charming fashion that he would become famous for at Hogwarts.
Lily gave the three boys a watery smile and said, "Don't worry about me, that Malfoy is an imbecile and will probably fail most of his classes for being a complete idiot and a stupid git," she then smiled again a happier smile and asked, "How about you guys teach me how to play Exploding Snap?" Sirius jumped up from his seat and opened his trunk to grab the cards.
They played for quite a while before a fairly young witch came along pushing a trolley stacked and piled with sweets and candies and she asked, "Anything from the trolley dears?" Lily found herself buying a little of everything while the four of them sat around and chatted about quidditch and life before getting their letters which fascinated Lily having grown up like a muggle. Sirius told them all about how he turned his cat into a pumpkin on Halloween when he was four and how it meowed until his mother came and undid the magic. His story caused them all to laugh. James and Sirius told similar stories and Lily listened attentively and sat watching while eating a cauldron cake.
It was starting to get dark outside the train when a witch about the same age as Arthur Weasley opened the door and said, "You should all get into your robes, the train will be arriving soon," she said cheerfully, and Lily noticed a silver badge similar to Arthur's pinned on her robes. "I'm Molly." a loud crash from down the hall interrupted her, "Be right there Arthur! See you if you're in Gryffindor!" the girl called and ran down the corridor to sort out Arthur and whatever that crash was. Lily laughed and closed the door to the compartment.
They all grabbed their robes from their trunks and put them on. Lily sat and watched Niobe while the boys changed and was coincidentally able to see James in the reflection on the window and she blushed, focusing again on Niobe who seemed to hoot with quiet laughter when the color started to creep up Lily's cheeks.
In what seemed like no time at all the train was slowing down and a voice came loudly into the compartments and corridor, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train it will be taken to the school separately."
Lily, James, Sirius and Remus exited the train onto the platform with the rest of the school and Lily heard a familiar voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" It was Hagrid's voice calling and he was a large looming shadow at the end of the platform using a lamp as a beacon. A group started to gather around him and he asked, "Every one here? Good, let's go," and he started down the path to the lake, "No more 'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called as they approached the shore. Hagrid had his boat to himself and he looked around making sure there were no stragglers and called for the boats to start forward.
Lily, James, Sirius and Remus shared a boat on the way across the lake, and together got their first look at Hogwarts Castle. The light shimmered in the windows and the many turrets and towers appeared as they came from behind an out cropping on the lake. There was a chorus of 'oohs and ahhs' from the students. "Wow, it's beautiful," Lily sighed. The forest could be seen off to one side looking ominous. Shadows of other features of the grounds could be seen around the castle. It was amazing as well as beautiful.
They got out of the boats and climbed up a stone staircase where Hagrid knocked on the wooden door at the top twice. The door opened to reveal a fairly old and wizened looking wizard. He looked sternly down at them and introduced himself. "I am Professor Fairweather, and Deputy Headmaster of this school. You are to wait here while we prepare for you to be sorted into your houses. They are; Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin. While you wait you'll probably want to smarten yourselves up a bit," he said and walked back through the door he'd come from while Hagrid had disappeared.
A riot of rumors started immediately. "My brothers told me we have to face trolls!" a girl screeched which caused chaos.
Lily sighed and fought the urge to laugh, "It's just a hat!" she said shaking her head at the noise the back of the group was creating.
"How do you know that?" a small boy with a pointed nose and beady dark eyes asked, visibly shaking.
"I read it in Hogwarts, A History," Lily said and the boy turned and started telling people around him, which caused Lily to sigh again and want to put her head on one of her friends shoulders and sleep.
"You okay Lil?" Remus asked her.
"Yeah, just tired, nervous, excited, all that," Lily said to him and the others as she rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep in them.
Just then the door opened again and Professor Fairweather said, "Please form two lines and follow me," and led them into the Great Hall. At the far end were the teacher's tables where the Headmaster, Hagrid and other teachers sat waiting for the first years to enter. Their were for other long tables in the hall, one for each house, which were full of other students.
The students walked down the aisle between the tables to where the teachers sat, Dumbledore caught James' eye and winked. Professor Fairweather held a scroll in his hands and a stool; on the stool he set a patched and frayed hat. The hat 'sat up' and a tear in the brim opened wide and it began to sing:
I might not be so pretty,
But looks they can deceive,
I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,
And I'm intelligent indeed.
'Twas Gryffindor who gave me life,
And had me to decide,
Whose house you'd belong in,
Once he lost his life.
I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,
And I'll tell you where you'll go,
For each of Hogwarts Founder's,
Had different qualities to show.
Gryffindor's were brave,
Prized for boldness and daring,
Their chivalry and nerve.
Hufflepuff valued those,
Who were just, true and loyal;
Those that worked the hardest,
And were unafraid of toil.
Ravenclaw sought those;
Of wise and ready mind,
The witty and the clever,
Who are a fairer find.
Slytherin wanted ones with great ambition;
Cunning folk who'd use any means
To achieve their power-hungry ends.
So just put me on top your heads
If you've got what they did seek,
I'll place you where you ought to be,
And not turn another cheek.
For I know better then you sense,
And what I say is true,
I can see inside the fence
That you've built up all around you!
(Author's Note: I know this is really bad and I can't rhyme at all. If you haven't read the books you're nuts to be reading this first! So, go back and read them and you'll see the master at Sorting Hat songs, J.K. Rowling. I am just a lowly fanfic author!!!)
The whole school burst into applause as the Hat fell silent. Professor Fairweather took the hat from the stool, unrolled the scroll in his hand and called out, "Abbott, Ryan." A short blonde boy with fear-filled grey eyes headed up to the front of the lines. He sat down on the stool and Professor Fairweather placed the hat upon his head. There was a moment of silence before the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the boy climbed down off the stool and went to join the clapping Hufflepuff table where a older girl of the same coloring clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Welcome to Hufflepuff brother!"
"Allen, David," became the first Ravenclaw and was welcomed in much the same fashion as "Abbott, Ryan" had been welcomed to Hufflepuff. "Ashley, Connor," followed "Allen, David," to Ravenclaw and "Avery, Alana," became the first Slytherin, and received boos from all the tables but Slytherin who clapped and cheered.
"Black, Sirius," was called and Lily, James and Remus watched him 'swagger' up to the stool, plop down, and before Professor Fairweather could place the hat on his head he called out, "BOO!" which caused a number of the group to burst into laughter, Fairweather to look at him disapprovingly, and Dumbledore to grin. Fairweather placed the hat on Sirius's head and it waited a second before saying, "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat was whipped off and Sirius went to join the loudest table by far who cheered and clapped extravagantly.
"Bones, Sheldon," went to Hufflepuff. "Brown, Heather," became the first girl to go to Gryffindor. "Cartwright, Alison," and "Clooney, Rosemary," went to the Hufflepuff table. "Crabbe, Henry," went to Slytherin, and "Driver, Sydney," went to Ravenclaw.
Fairweather waited until it was quiet and called, "Evans, Lily," and Lily stood up straight, walked down the aisle and Sirius called, "Don't trip now Lily!" which received laughter and Lily gave him a cool look. She sat down on the stool and listened as the Sorting Hat was put on her head. "Well, well, well, another Evans. I know where to put you," the hat whispered to her before shouting to the crowd, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily smiled broadly and took off the hat and went and joined the table opposite Sirius.
A "Felsham, Jane" followed Lily to Gryffindor, sat beside her and chatted a little. "Figg, Arabella," was called up and Sirius honored her with a whistle, which she ignored and became a Ravenclaw to Sirius's disappointment, though she sent him a smile after wards. "Finch, Kevin," went to Hufflepuff. "Grant, Minerva," and "Hall, Andrew" went to Ravenclaw.
"Lestrange, Leonard," and "Lestrange, Lisabeth," went to Slytherin, looking rather identical. "Lindsey, Lawrence," was called and a taller first year looked menacingly at him and looked tempted to trip him but didn't, though it looked close. He was put in Gryffindor, which seemed to anger the girl even more. Next was "Lupin, Remus," who almost tripped on Snape's out stretched foot, but saw it in time and was able to avoid it, went up the aisle and sat on the stool. The hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" and Sirius and Lily cheered particularly loud and Remus looked excited and went to join them.
"Malfoy, Lucious," was called and there was absolute silence, though Sirius looked like he was about to yell out something but Lily looked sternly at him saying clearly, "You've said enough tonight!" and he didn't say anything. The hat didn't even go all the way over Malfoy's head before it screamed "SLYTHERIN!" and he went to the table and Sirius could be heard, though barely, saying, "Scum sucker!" Lily laughed, at that, she had to, and it was what she'd called the vile boy. "Patil, Victoria," went to Hufflepuff next.
"Pettigrew, Peter," was next. He was a small boy, with beady eyes, brown hair and pointed rat like face. He tripped completely and landed on his face, turning bright red. He gathered himself and walked up to the stool and sat down, the hat over his head. The silence gathered, a minute passed and the hat hadn't said anything. Two minutes, at three the hall started whispering, "Maybe he got on the wrong train!" Malfoy said viciously, the whole hall hearing it in the quiet; Pettigrew's face getting redder beneath the shadow of the hat. When five minutes had passed the hat finally opened its mouth and said, though sounding thoroughly unconvinced, "GRYFFINDOR!" The boy sighed, took off the hat and went to the Gryffindor table to a much subdued cheering.
"Potter, James" was called, and James looked over at the Gryffindor table where his friends sat and walked up to the stool, sat down and placed the hat on his head. "Well, well. James Potter, wondered when Harold's son would be coming to Hogwarts. I see a lot of strength here, courage, yes, determination, and. ahh, interesting, very interesting." the hat trailed off. James thought at those words, What's interesting? Can't you just put me with my friends?! The hat seemed to laugh and he said, "Yes, it will happen... GRYFFINDOR!" it called the last word to the school and James took off the hat without a second thought and went to join his loudly cheering friends.
"Rickman, Brittany," joined the Ravenclaws and "Snape, Serverus," like Malfoy joined Slytherin, though he seemed to look over at Lily, again, in the fashion he was accustomed too before joining Lucious at the table. "Spears, Narcissa," joined the Slytherin's as well. She walked over to the table with a look of smug satisfaction on her face and sat near "Avery, Alana" and "Lestrange, Lisabeth." "Sutton, Tinker," went to the Hufflepuff's and lastly, "Tudor, Elizabeth" the girl who was angry about the "Lindsey, Lawrence," decision, joined Gryffindor as well and shot daggers at him from down the table.
(A/N: Yes, there are a lot of students! I named all the first years, any other students named are older!)
Professor Fairweather carried the Sorting Hat and the stool out of the Great Hall while Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the students. "Welcome to the start of another year at Hogwarts. I hope you all enjoyed your summers and are ready to fill back up those empty minds of yours. I have a few start of term notices to give out. Firstly, the forest on the grounds is strictly forbidden to all students due to the dangerous creatures contained within its boundaries, second, magic is not to be used in the hallways during passing periods, and third, our caretaker Mr. Apollyon Pringle has asked that dungbombs not be let off in the corridors, and are punishable with detention. Now, let the feast begin!" he said and sat down with those last words.
Lily looked down at the table to find that it was covered in all sorts of delicious looking foods. Chicken, ham, roasts of different kinds, puddings, etc. Everyone was grabbing off them and piling their plates with food. The hall was roaring with chatter, laughter and shouting. Everyone was excited and happy. Even Lily forgot about worrying about her father, mother and sister and ate, talking with Sirius, Remus, James, and Jane.
Slowly the plates cleared and desserts sprang up out of nowhere. Those were demolished with about the same efficiency as the other food had been. The students became sleepy and laden with lots of food. Sirius even started to pass out on Remus's shoulder while they waited for Dumbledore to finish eating. When he was done the plates cleared and he stood again, "Have a good night students," he called and there was a scramble for the doors to the entrance hall.
A familiar voice called out to them, "Gryffindor first years this way please!" and Arthur Weasley's smiling face greeted them. He lead them to the main stair and said, "This is the easiest way to Gryffindor Tower, be careful, the staircases like to change without warning." He led them though passages and warned them of trick stairs that fooled students into sinking into them; older students jumped usually these stairs out of habit. He finally led them to the end of a corridor where a large portrait of a large lady dressed in pink was hung. "This is the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, you can only get in with a password, and the past word at the moment is, 'Merlin's Beard.' Don't forget the password or you'll be locked out," he finished as the portrait swung forward to reveal a large opening in the wall. They followed him into the passage and listened to Arthur talk again. "This is the common room, where you'll probably spend most of your time out of classes studying and being with other Gryffindors. Do not let any other students into the portrait hole. Dormitories are up those stairs, you'll find that yours are marked first years, girls or boys, which ever you are. Any questions? Good, then good night!" Arthur Weasley said and walked over to where the Molly girl from the train said and mussed her hair affectionately, sitting across from her.
Lily yawned and decided it was time for her to get to bed; she walked over to Remus, Sirius and James and said, "Good night boys. I'll see you for breakfast in the morning," and she walked away leaving them to their own devices.
Most of the other Gryffindor's decided the same as Lily. They didn't really see the magnificent paintings on the walls, the potentially comfy chairs and couches, the warm fire, and the all around beautiful appearance of the common room. They climbed the stairs to their dormitories as if sleep walking, barely noticed the four-poster beds and the hangings to give them privacy from each other. They just found their belongings and changed into their pajamas and climbed into the warm beds and fell asleep.