Just one more chapter for today. Have fun with this one. Continue
The Girl Who Lived
Chapter Six:
The Sorting Hat's Clue
By the time the first years got to the school, the rest of the students still hadn't arrived. A sharp looking Professor McGonagall had led them into a room and given a speech about Hogwarts, and told them to wait a few minutes before the feast, but it had been at least a half an hour. They all made themselves look as nice as possible, as they had quite a while to do so. To pass the time, they had been getting to know each other and Davey seemed to be quite taken with an Arabic girl across the room.
"Should I go talk to her?" Davey asked nervously.
"Go ahead," replied Daisy, "don't make such a big deal out of it."
"Okay," said Davey, taking a deep breath before heading towards the girl. Daisy watched him introduce himself and start a conversation. She noticed a pair of twin girls; they reminded Daisy that she, according to Sirius, had her own twin. She hadn't thought about her brother the whole train ride. He could be anywhere. He might not even be in the country. Sirius had made it sound like he was alive, but Daisy couldn't know for sure. She also wondered if her family was magic or Muggle. Or if Sirius was. Or her brother.
The moving pictures in her baby book hinted they were. Daisy had often gazed at the six pictures in the small book. She knew them all by heart now. The first one was of Daisy sleeping; the second was of her locket mother holding her and the boy from The Dream, who by now Daisy had suspected to be her brother. The others showed her father holding her up, Daisy playing with her brother, eating messily, and one of the whole family. They all looked very happy, and she wondered why anyone would want to destroy a family like that. Who could have murdered the parents of two babies? She knew that the only one she could get answers from was Sirius, and if he wasn't a wizard, it might be very hard to contact him.
"The others have arrived," said Professor McGonagall, finally back. It had been nearly an hour since they had seen her last. "There was a problem with the carriages, but now everyone is ready," she said. Her tone suggested that a preposterous ordeal had just been resolved. "Now everyone line up and follow me." They obliged right away, for they were very bored of standing around. Davey returned, and stood behind Daisy, a grin across his face.
They exited through a side door and found themselves in the immense Great Hall. Daisy looked around and saw that thousands of candles were floating in the air, giving light to the room (there was no electricity.) The ceiling looked like it was painted as a night sky, but Daisy noticed when it moved that it wasn't painted, but charmed to look like the real sky. There were four long tables full of students. Once again she could feel their eyes singling her out from the rest for her age. She heard whispers from some of them, but only a few of them knew who she was. At the end of the hall one table stood by itself, higher than the others. This is where the staff sat. Before the table, on a small stool, sat an old wizard's hat.
Professor McGonagall led them towards the hat and they waited silently, all watching it. Suddenly it began to rip apart. The rip formed a mouth shape and out of the blue it began singing:
"Slip me on your head to see, Not wonder anymore. Which house you do belong in, Of the Hogwarts four. In Gryffindor I will place The ones with courage, And stout brave face. Ravenclaw will hold the few With wisdom and knowledge; The quick witted crew. Hufflepuff house will find Loyal hard workers As the only kind. In Slytherin I shall include Ambitious ones; A tight-knit brood. Now I can see inside your head, See things that you cannot. I can read your memories Even those forgot. I will sort you to the house That fits just right for you. I'm never wrong, so put me on I know just what to do."
The entire hall broke into applause. Some of the other first years looked relieved. Daisy supposed this was because they were worried they'd have to do something more than put on a hat. She had heard them talking about it, and their antics humored her. She heard something about wrestling a troll and massive amounts of pain, but Daisy knew all along from reading about it in her Everything: Hogwarts Edition book.
Professor McGonagall rolled out a piece of parchment.
"When I call your name, please put on this hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She paused and then shouted, "Ali, Jasmine!"
Davey nudged Daisy as the Arabic girl strode out and put the hat over her silky black hair and below her eyes. A moment later the hat opened its brim again and yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"
"Darnit," said Davey under his breath. Jasmine dashed to the blue clothed table where the other Ravenclaws were cheering.
"Boot, Damon!" McGonagall exclaimed. Damon hurried to the stool.
"RAVENCLAW!" it yelled again. Damon joined the table as "Carson, Shelby!" became the first Gryffindor.
Next was Alana's friend, "Crabbe, Cassidy!" She became a Slytherin. After "Dobbs, Jordin!" was a Ravenclaw, "Finn, Scott! Garneau, Emily! and Goyle, Gina!" all became Slytherins.
Daisy was starting to feel impatient as Michael Kern became a Hufflepuff and David Madison, a Gryffindor.
"Malfoy, Alana!" McGonagall shouted. Alana strutted across the floor up to the hat.
She had barely lifted the hat and touched it to her white blond hair when it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" Alana, looking satisfied, went to join her companions at the green clothed Slytherin table.
"Nalty, Allison!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Oaks, David!" Davey got out of line, and gave a pale look back at Daisy. Daisy smiled encouragingly back at him and he went to the stool. It took a little longer than the others, but the hat finally bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Davey took off the hat, grinned broadly at Daisy and joined the Gryffindor table.
After "O'Keele, Luke!" and "Olson, John!" were sorted (Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff) Daisy started to get nervous. She knew she would be called soon.
"Patil, Paprika!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
Could be any time now.
"Patil, Sugar!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
She might be next.
"Pierce, Lane"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
They had skipped her! Daisy suddenly had the sinking feeling that she wasn't supposed to be there. She wasn't going to be sorted.
"Roman, Maddy!" joined the Hufflepuff table, "Simon, Sasha!" the Ravenclaw. Daisy was thinking of a way to escape without anyone noticing her leaving.
"Taylor, William!" was sorted into Gryffindor, and "Young, Tom!" to Slytherin, and still Daisy hadn't thought of anything.
"Zabeck, Paige!" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Daisy began to panic. Everyone in the hall was staring at her; she was the only one left. She wanted to run, but her feet were frozen to the spot. She looked up at Maggie for reassurance, but all she got in return was a confused glance.
The awkward silence was broken when McGonagall yelled out, "Peterson, Daisy!" Daisy, flooded with relief, stumbled to the stool and sat down, jamming the hat over her red face.
"Let's see," said a voice inside her head, it was the voice of the Sorting Hat. "Where to put you? Your loyalty wavers, as you have been hurt, but you have good mind. Plenty of bravery, when called upon. And your ambition, to learn about your family."
"My brother," Daisy thought.
"Oh yes, him. Then it seems your bravery will be tested. What with who he is."
"You know who he is?" Daisy thought.
"Yes, but alas I cannot tell you. But I will tell that he is here at Hogwarts."
"How do you know?" Daisy asked in her head.
"I can read memories, even those forgot," it said. "Then I'll make it."
"Wait!" thought Daisy, but it was too late.
"GRYFFINDOR!" it yelled, and it said nothing more. Daisy pulled off the hat droopily, and went to join Davey at the Gryffindor table.
She looked at every face, checking for her brother. After she was nearly through with the Gryffindors, she saw someone she knew.
"Lavender Brown!" was Daisy's opening line as a Gryffindor. Several heads rolled Daisy's way. Lavender's eyes had been lingering on Daisy already, like they had seen a ghost. But before Lavender could reply, Dumbledore stood up to speak.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" he said slowly. "I would like you to remember that you are completely safe here. No harm will come to you here if you stay within the rules and the grounds." His eyes lingered on the Gryffindor table, and a few people looked down. "None of us have forgotten the events of last year, and never will, but know that all that can be done to help is already being done. So we all must try to live with hearts as light as possible." He paused. Hibou had told Daisy that last year a student had been killed at the end of the Triwizard Tournament and Dumbledore believed that he had been murdered by a restored You-Know-Who.
"On a lighter note, let's eat!"
Platters and platters of food appeared before them on the table. Daisy's stomach lurched with hunger, but seeing Lavender pushed it aside.
"I'll be right back," she told Davey. She walked over to Lavender and took a seat.
"What are you doing here?" they both said at the same time. The blond girl that Lavender was sitting with gave the two of them a confused quizzical look.
"You!" Daisy said exasperatedly. "This is your boarding school?"
"Uhh," Lavender stuttered, "yes. How did you get here?"
"I was accepted," Daisy said bitterly, "I'm a student."
"That's not possible! You're too old," Lavender said, still not quite believing her eyes.
"I was supposed to come when you did, they just didn't know. I'm a witch, too."
"Well, wow," Lavender said. She shifted her eye contact to her friend uncomfortably.
"Well," Daisy said feeling a little cross, she had always been mad at Lavender for abandoning her. "I'm going to eat." Then she added, "With my friend." She got up to leave, turning her back on Lavender. She could hear whispering behind her:
"Who was that girl?"
Daisy ate her meal, trying not to let the sight of her backstabbing friend ruin her first day of school. Davey didn't mention Lavender, he sensed that Daisy didn't want to talk about it, but he did seem to carry on about Jasmine Ali.
"It's too bad she had to be in Ravenclaw, isn't it?" he asked for the third time.
"Yes," Daisy said slightly annoyed. Not that she liked Davey any less, but she wished she could talk to a girl, someone closer to her age. But, she thought, having a catfight with one of them probably didn't draw any of the others to her. She sighed, blocking out Davey's gushing, and picked at her apple pie.
Suddenly Maggie appeared by Daisy. She had a nasty habit of sneaking up on people, but Daisy was half used to it by now.
"Hi!" Daisy said, feeling good to see someone she trusted. "I haven't seen you all day!" Davey looked up, saw the professor, and wiped his irritated expression off his face.
"It's good to see you too, Daisy," she replied. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office when you're finished."
"I'm finished now," Daisy said.
"Oh, you," Maggie teased, laughing at Daisy enthusiasm. "Dumbledore isn't ready yet. When the feast is over come find me."
"Okay," Daisy said, "no later."
"Bye now," Maggie said.
"What does she teach?" Davey asked.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Daisy said, glad to know something Davey didn't and that they were on a different subject.
"That class sounds interesting, but I want to start charms most. All my life I've been waiting to do magic," Davey said.
"Must have been excruciating," Daisy said. "But I think I would have rather grown up knowing what I was."
"I can't even imagine it," Davey said. "Muggles take so much time to do things that would take seconds with a wand."
"It's not too bad, I mean we're. or they're used to it," she paused, thinking. "Don't you think it's weird that we do that?"
"Do what?" asked Davey.
"Make it us and them, Muggles and wizards."
"I guess," Davey said. He looked as though he'd never thought about it before. "Well, anyway," he said, "I'm not looking forward to potions; I've heard the professor is horrid."
Just then, Dumbledore stood again. "Before we all retire for the night, I have a few announcements.
"First, I want to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students.
"Next, Quidditch is back on this year!" A roar of approval rose from the crowd. "Anyone interested in trying out should see Madam Hooch next week when the new captains are selected.
"And finally we have a new addition to our staff. Professor McKinnon will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."
The crowd clapped politely.
"Now, all to bed, for it's late with our." he paused smirking, ".hold up. Prefects please lead the first years to your dormitories."
The girl with bushy brown hair that Daisy had seen on the train was shouting, "Follow me! I'm a prefect. This way." Daisy waved goodbye to Davey and went to find Maggie at the High Table.
"I'm ready," Daisy said when she had found her.
"We should get going then," Maggie said, yawning. She led her out of the Hall and through the twisting passageways to a hideous gargoyle.
"Fizzing Whizbee," she said clearly and the gargoyle jumped away, revealing a set of stairs moving upward like an escalator.
"You'll keep this between us, alright?" Maggie asked
"No problem," Daisy replied. They stepped onto the moving stairs, and rode to the top where the stairs stopped. They were facing a large oak door with a metal knocker shaped like a griffin.
Maggie took it and knocked three times. It opened momentarily, and Daisy found herself gazing at the headmaster's blue eyes.
"Come in, Daisy. Professor McKinnon" he said. "We have much to talk about."
A/N: A cliffhanger, sort of. . . dun dun dun!!! Thanks for reading, please review!!!
The Girl Who Lived
Chapter Six:
The Sorting Hat's Clue
By the time the first years got to the school, the rest of the students still hadn't arrived. A sharp looking Professor McGonagall had led them into a room and given a speech about Hogwarts, and told them to wait a few minutes before the feast, but it had been at least a half an hour. They all made themselves look as nice as possible, as they had quite a while to do so. To pass the time, they had been getting to know each other and Davey seemed to be quite taken with an Arabic girl across the room.
"Should I go talk to her?" Davey asked nervously.
"Go ahead," replied Daisy, "don't make such a big deal out of it."
"Okay," said Davey, taking a deep breath before heading towards the girl. Daisy watched him introduce himself and start a conversation. She noticed a pair of twin girls; they reminded Daisy that she, according to Sirius, had her own twin. She hadn't thought about her brother the whole train ride. He could be anywhere. He might not even be in the country. Sirius had made it sound like he was alive, but Daisy couldn't know for sure. She also wondered if her family was magic or Muggle. Or if Sirius was. Or her brother.
The moving pictures in her baby book hinted they were. Daisy had often gazed at the six pictures in the small book. She knew them all by heart now. The first one was of Daisy sleeping; the second was of her locket mother holding her and the boy from The Dream, who by now Daisy had suspected to be her brother. The others showed her father holding her up, Daisy playing with her brother, eating messily, and one of the whole family. They all looked very happy, and she wondered why anyone would want to destroy a family like that. Who could have murdered the parents of two babies? She knew that the only one she could get answers from was Sirius, and if he wasn't a wizard, it might be very hard to contact him.
"The others have arrived," said Professor McGonagall, finally back. It had been nearly an hour since they had seen her last. "There was a problem with the carriages, but now everyone is ready," she said. Her tone suggested that a preposterous ordeal had just been resolved. "Now everyone line up and follow me." They obliged right away, for they were very bored of standing around. Davey returned, and stood behind Daisy, a grin across his face.
They exited through a side door and found themselves in the immense Great Hall. Daisy looked around and saw that thousands of candles were floating in the air, giving light to the room (there was no electricity.) The ceiling looked like it was painted as a night sky, but Daisy noticed when it moved that it wasn't painted, but charmed to look like the real sky. There were four long tables full of students. Once again she could feel their eyes singling her out from the rest for her age. She heard whispers from some of them, but only a few of them knew who she was. At the end of the hall one table stood by itself, higher than the others. This is where the staff sat. Before the table, on a small stool, sat an old wizard's hat.
Professor McGonagall led them towards the hat and they waited silently, all watching it. Suddenly it began to rip apart. The rip formed a mouth shape and out of the blue it began singing:
"Slip me on your head to see, Not wonder anymore. Which house you do belong in, Of the Hogwarts four. In Gryffindor I will place The ones with courage, And stout brave face. Ravenclaw will hold the few With wisdom and knowledge; The quick witted crew. Hufflepuff house will find Loyal hard workers As the only kind. In Slytherin I shall include Ambitious ones; A tight-knit brood. Now I can see inside your head, See things that you cannot. I can read your memories Even those forgot. I will sort you to the house That fits just right for you. I'm never wrong, so put me on I know just what to do."
The entire hall broke into applause. Some of the other first years looked relieved. Daisy supposed this was because they were worried they'd have to do something more than put on a hat. She had heard them talking about it, and their antics humored her. She heard something about wrestling a troll and massive amounts of pain, but Daisy knew all along from reading about it in her Everything: Hogwarts Edition book.
Professor McGonagall rolled out a piece of parchment.
"When I call your name, please put on this hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She paused and then shouted, "Ali, Jasmine!"
Davey nudged Daisy as the Arabic girl strode out and put the hat over her silky black hair and below her eyes. A moment later the hat opened its brim again and yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"
"Darnit," said Davey under his breath. Jasmine dashed to the blue clothed table where the other Ravenclaws were cheering.
"Boot, Damon!" McGonagall exclaimed. Damon hurried to the stool.
"RAVENCLAW!" it yelled again. Damon joined the table as "Carson, Shelby!" became the first Gryffindor.
Next was Alana's friend, "Crabbe, Cassidy!" She became a Slytherin. After "Dobbs, Jordin!" was a Ravenclaw, "Finn, Scott! Garneau, Emily! and Goyle, Gina!" all became Slytherins.
Daisy was starting to feel impatient as Michael Kern became a Hufflepuff and David Madison, a Gryffindor.
"Malfoy, Alana!" McGonagall shouted. Alana strutted across the floor up to the hat.
She had barely lifted the hat and touched it to her white blond hair when it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" Alana, looking satisfied, went to join her companions at the green clothed Slytherin table.
"Nalty, Allison!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Oaks, David!" Davey got out of line, and gave a pale look back at Daisy. Daisy smiled encouragingly back at him and he went to the stool. It took a little longer than the others, but the hat finally bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Davey took off the hat, grinned broadly at Daisy and joined the Gryffindor table.
After "O'Keele, Luke!" and "Olson, John!" were sorted (Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff) Daisy started to get nervous. She knew she would be called soon.
"Patil, Paprika!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
Could be any time now.
"Patil, Sugar!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
She might be next.
"Pierce, Lane"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
They had skipped her! Daisy suddenly had the sinking feeling that she wasn't supposed to be there. She wasn't going to be sorted.
"Roman, Maddy!" joined the Hufflepuff table, "Simon, Sasha!" the Ravenclaw. Daisy was thinking of a way to escape without anyone noticing her leaving.
"Taylor, William!" was sorted into Gryffindor, and "Young, Tom!" to Slytherin, and still Daisy hadn't thought of anything.
"Zabeck, Paige!" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Daisy began to panic. Everyone in the hall was staring at her; she was the only one left. She wanted to run, but her feet were frozen to the spot. She looked up at Maggie for reassurance, but all she got in return was a confused glance.
The awkward silence was broken when McGonagall yelled out, "Peterson, Daisy!" Daisy, flooded with relief, stumbled to the stool and sat down, jamming the hat over her red face.
"Let's see," said a voice inside her head, it was the voice of the Sorting Hat. "Where to put you? Your loyalty wavers, as you have been hurt, but you have good mind. Plenty of bravery, when called upon. And your ambition, to learn about your family."
"My brother," Daisy thought.
"Oh yes, him. Then it seems your bravery will be tested. What with who he is."
"You know who he is?" Daisy thought.
"Yes, but alas I cannot tell you. But I will tell that he is here at Hogwarts."
"How do you know?" Daisy asked in her head.
"I can read memories, even those forgot," it said. "Then I'll make it."
"Wait!" thought Daisy, but it was too late.
"GRYFFINDOR!" it yelled, and it said nothing more. Daisy pulled off the hat droopily, and went to join Davey at the Gryffindor table.
She looked at every face, checking for her brother. After she was nearly through with the Gryffindors, she saw someone she knew.
"Lavender Brown!" was Daisy's opening line as a Gryffindor. Several heads rolled Daisy's way. Lavender's eyes had been lingering on Daisy already, like they had seen a ghost. But before Lavender could reply, Dumbledore stood up to speak.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" he said slowly. "I would like you to remember that you are completely safe here. No harm will come to you here if you stay within the rules and the grounds." His eyes lingered on the Gryffindor table, and a few people looked down. "None of us have forgotten the events of last year, and never will, but know that all that can be done to help is already being done. So we all must try to live with hearts as light as possible." He paused. Hibou had told Daisy that last year a student had been killed at the end of the Triwizard Tournament and Dumbledore believed that he had been murdered by a restored You-Know-Who.
"On a lighter note, let's eat!"
Platters and platters of food appeared before them on the table. Daisy's stomach lurched with hunger, but seeing Lavender pushed it aside.
"I'll be right back," she told Davey. She walked over to Lavender and took a seat.
"What are you doing here?" they both said at the same time. The blond girl that Lavender was sitting with gave the two of them a confused quizzical look.
"You!" Daisy said exasperatedly. "This is your boarding school?"
"Uhh," Lavender stuttered, "yes. How did you get here?"
"I was accepted," Daisy said bitterly, "I'm a student."
"That's not possible! You're too old," Lavender said, still not quite believing her eyes.
"I was supposed to come when you did, they just didn't know. I'm a witch, too."
"Well, wow," Lavender said. She shifted her eye contact to her friend uncomfortably.
"Well," Daisy said feeling a little cross, she had always been mad at Lavender for abandoning her. "I'm going to eat." Then she added, "With my friend." She got up to leave, turning her back on Lavender. She could hear whispering behind her:
"Who was that girl?"
Daisy ate her meal, trying not to let the sight of her backstabbing friend ruin her first day of school. Davey didn't mention Lavender, he sensed that Daisy didn't want to talk about it, but he did seem to carry on about Jasmine Ali.
"It's too bad she had to be in Ravenclaw, isn't it?" he asked for the third time.
"Yes," Daisy said slightly annoyed. Not that she liked Davey any less, but she wished she could talk to a girl, someone closer to her age. But, she thought, having a catfight with one of them probably didn't draw any of the others to her. She sighed, blocking out Davey's gushing, and picked at her apple pie.
Suddenly Maggie appeared by Daisy. She had a nasty habit of sneaking up on people, but Daisy was half used to it by now.
"Hi!" Daisy said, feeling good to see someone she trusted. "I haven't seen you all day!" Davey looked up, saw the professor, and wiped his irritated expression off his face.
"It's good to see you too, Daisy," she replied. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office when you're finished."
"I'm finished now," Daisy said.
"Oh, you," Maggie teased, laughing at Daisy enthusiasm. "Dumbledore isn't ready yet. When the feast is over come find me."
"Okay," Daisy said, "no later."
"Bye now," Maggie said.
"What does she teach?" Davey asked.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Daisy said, glad to know something Davey didn't and that they were on a different subject.
"That class sounds interesting, but I want to start charms most. All my life I've been waiting to do magic," Davey said.
"Must have been excruciating," Daisy said. "But I think I would have rather grown up knowing what I was."
"I can't even imagine it," Davey said. "Muggles take so much time to do things that would take seconds with a wand."
"It's not too bad, I mean we're. or they're used to it," she paused, thinking. "Don't you think it's weird that we do that?"
"Do what?" asked Davey.
"Make it us and them, Muggles and wizards."
"I guess," Davey said. He looked as though he'd never thought about it before. "Well, anyway," he said, "I'm not looking forward to potions; I've heard the professor is horrid."
Just then, Dumbledore stood again. "Before we all retire for the night, I have a few announcements.
"First, I want to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students.
"Next, Quidditch is back on this year!" A roar of approval rose from the crowd. "Anyone interested in trying out should see Madam Hooch next week when the new captains are selected.
"And finally we have a new addition to our staff. Professor McKinnon will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."
The crowd clapped politely.
"Now, all to bed, for it's late with our." he paused smirking, ".hold up. Prefects please lead the first years to your dormitories."
The girl with bushy brown hair that Daisy had seen on the train was shouting, "Follow me! I'm a prefect. This way." Daisy waved goodbye to Davey and went to find Maggie at the High Table.
"I'm ready," Daisy said when she had found her.
"We should get going then," Maggie said, yawning. She led her out of the Hall and through the twisting passageways to a hideous gargoyle.
"Fizzing Whizbee," she said clearly and the gargoyle jumped away, revealing a set of stairs moving upward like an escalator.
"You'll keep this between us, alright?" Maggie asked
"No problem," Daisy replied. They stepped onto the moving stairs, and rode to the top where the stairs stopped. They were facing a large oak door with a metal knocker shaped like a griffin.
Maggie took it and knocked three times. It opened momentarily, and Daisy found herself gazing at the headmaster's blue eyes.
"Come in, Daisy. Professor McKinnon" he said. "We have much to talk about."
A/N: A cliffhanger, sort of. . . dun dun dun!!! Thanks for reading, please review!!!
