Revolutions
Chapter 5: What'll It Be?
By Seadragon
~
I sat on the stool and placed the hat on my head. In that moment, it was as if everything else had faded into the background. Everything was dark, and quiet. I felt another presence, but it wasn't worrying. I remember dimly wondering if everyone felt like this with the Sorting Hat on their head, like they could do anything, like they were the only one in the world.
Oh, I've been waiting for you.
"Who said that?!"
The voice chuckled grimly. I did.
If I hadn't been frightened, I might have rolled my eyes. As it was, I just sat there rigidly, waiting for it to speak again.
No need to be frightened James.
"I'm not frightened!"
Aren't you? You're afraid to know where I might put you. You're scared of what is going to happen. You're terrified of what your parents might tell you. Or at least you should be.
"Okay, so maybe I'm a little scared."
At least you can admit it. You have an interesting road ahead James, it will be fascinating to see how things turn out. You know, I remember the day I told your grandfather that. His name was James Potter, but you had never heard of him before this morning. It's a pity, he was a great man.
"What happened to him?"
That's not my story to tell. Ask your father, he will tell you in time. You can't blame them for keeping you in the dark James. They did what they thought would be best. It is up to you to decide if they were right.
"But where are you going to put me?"
Well, you have four choices, where do you want to go? Who do you want to be?
"I-I don't know."
I think the answer is pretty clear. You're just afraid to say it. Come on James. What'll it be?
"Alright. I want to be a-"
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat cried out, and I felt my return to the Great Hall, from where ever I had been.
The hall was silent for a moment, before loud and enthusiastic applause and cheering erupted from the Gryffindor table. The other tables followed suit politely.
"You're an annoying bastard, you know that right?" I told the hat.
The only answer was a grin inside my head. Shaking my head, I took the hat off, and placed it on the stool. Professor McGonagall grabbed both and moved them off to the side. I made my way to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Alex, who grinned.
"I knew you would be a Gryffindor! I knew it!"
Natalie just scowled, and I smiled.
As soon as Dumbledore stood up, the hall was silent again.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have been asked to remind everyone to stay away from the Forbidden Forest, and the Whomping Willow. As well, a Devil's Snare has been planted around the inside of the walls, so be careful not to venture too near to it! Also, Mr. Filch tells me that the list of banished items has grown immensely in the past few years. These items included anything from the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, as well as several others! This list can be found outside of Mr. Filch's office, should anyone want to check it. And with that said, dig in!"
He sat down again, and food appeared on all the dishes. My eyes widened as I saw all the different kinds of food. It seemed like there was enough to feed a small army! Beside me, Alex was reaching for some of everything, piling his plate high.
Natalie rolled her eyes. "You act like you haven't eaten in days!"
Alex smiled. "Oh come on Nat! It's the first day back! And besides, who says I have?"
Not quite sure how to react to that, Natalie just settled for filling her own plate. I followed suit, taking a little of everything. Soon, my plate was almost as full as Alex's, though not quite.
"So, James, you all set for a midnight trip to the library?" Alex asked me, looking up from his food for the first time.
"Keep your voice down!" Natalie scolded. "How do you expect to go if everyone hears you?"
"Chill Nat! You think anyone can hear me over this?"
He had a point, it was so loud in the Great Hall, you could barely hear yourself think. "So, what of it James?"
I nodded. "Sure, I'm in." It would be nice to figure out what everyone else already knew.
"What about you Nat? You coming?"
She sighed. "I guess, if I have to."
"Oh get over yourself! You love sneaking around." Alex said with a grin, before shoveling another forkful into his mouth.
"Is he always like this?" I whispered to Natalie, who was on my left.
"Unfortunately." We shared a grin, and it was then that I first became friends with Natalie Weasley, over a common sufferance. Well, namely, Alex.
"You know I can hear you, right?"
Natalie shook her head. "Just keep eating Alex, it would be nice to actually get to the common room sometime tonight."
Happily, he obliged.
When the food at last vanished from the plates, I thought Alex was going to cry. Luckily, before the water works could start running, Professor Dumbledore stood up to address us again.
"Please follow your prefects back to your Houses first years, and have a good night!"
Then the racket started. Everyone was standing up and trying to leave the hall at once. Alex and Natalie pulled me over to the side of the Entrance Hall, and we waited for the swarms of people to pass.
"Don't worry, we know the way off by heart, and my cousin told me the password. She's a Gryffindor prefect." Natalie said.
We walked down the hallways, and they pointed out different things that I might want to avoid. Things like the statue of Emnar the Violent, who always managed to drop his ax just as someone was walking by, and the portrait of Eda Mary Laura Bell of Natrina, who recited horrible poetry twenty-four hours a day.
Soon we were running down the halls, laughing like we had known each other forever. I had only met them this morning, and already I knew we would be good friends, if not great ones.
By the time we actually got to the Gryffindor Tower, it was nearly curfew. The portrait guarding the entrance was of four smiling teenagers. They were standing at the bottom of a large tree in front of a lake.
Underneath their picture, on the frame, was a gold plaque. It simply read "The Marauders".
"Snivellus."
The four were lounging comfortably under the tree, but when Nat said the password, they jumped to their feet and stared at us.
"Bloody hell James! He looks exactly like you!" One with longish black hair exclaimed.
"Minus the glasses and plus the green eyes of course." The boy with dirty blond hair said with a smile.
It was true though, the teenager with messy black hair and brown eyes did look exactly like me.
Before they had a chance to get really into it though, Nat repeated the password and the blond smiled sheepishly. "Oh right, sorry!" And the portrait swung open revealing a hole in the wall.
Tossing her long braid of red hair over her shoulder, Natalie climbed through the portrait hole with me and Alex close behind. The common room was impressive, but compared to the rest of the castle that I had seen so far, it was kind of commonplace, like the name suggested.
It was colored completely red and gold, with chairs, couches, and tables scattered everywhere. There was a large fireplace at the back of the room, and several people were crowded around it.
At one of the tables, a group of third years, at least, I think they're third years, were playing a game of cards. A couple of them looked slightly singed.
"Exploding snap." Alex said in explanation. "Its awesome fun, we'll have to play sometime."
"He still thinks that even though he loses every single time." Natalie said with a smile.
"I'm not bad!" Alex said defensively. "You're just better!"
I laughed. Alex and Nat grinned. "Meet you down here at midnight?" Natalie asked us.
We both nodded. "Midnight." Alex said, before grabbing my arm and pulling me over to a staircase to the right. Natalie gave me a sympathetic look before bounding up the staircase opposite our own.
I followed Alex reluctantly, and made it to a door that said Second Year Boys. Inside, there are five beds, one of which has my trunk at the end of it.
"Hey Alex, where there only four Gryffindor boys last year?" I asked him, going to open my trunk to see what was in it, seeing as I didn't pack it myself.
"Huh? Oh, yea, there were. Me, Hunter, Thomas, and Garrett." He replied absent mindedly, pulling stuff randomly from his trunk as well.
I found my football posters, but no tape, or sticky tack. Turning to Alex, who was unpacking rather messily, I asked him. "D'you have any tape or something to hold posters up?"
Without looking up, he tossed me a roll of tape. I caught it much the same way I had caught the chocolate frog earlier. I put four of the posters up now, and left the rest for later. I put the picture on my shelf, along with my wand, a flashlight, some pens, envelopes and a pad of paper.
"By the way James," Alex started. "Hunter is alright, but you might want be careful around Thomas and Garrett, they're kind of, uh, intense."
"Okay…" I said slowly. "What exactly do you mean?"
"Well, a lot of people were kind of pissed when Harry Potter disappeared. These are their kids. You know what they say, like father, like son."
I nodded and turned back to my trunk. "I'll be careful. Hey, what's this?" I pulled a round object out of my trunk.
"That's a sneak-o-scope. We learnt about them from Nat's mum in class. They tell when someone untrustworthy is around." Alex said after glancing at what I held in my hand. "Quite handy really."
"Alex, why is there a broom in my trunk?"
"Really?!" He leapt to his feet and scurried over to my trunk. He knelt down beside me and stared in awe. "That's like the best broom money can buy! It's so good that they haven't been able to improve on it in almost twenty years!"
Very gently, he reached in and pulled the broom from its resting place. He rested it on my bed and turned it carefully until we could both see the name on the handle. It was called a Firebolt.
"I bet this was your dad's! Nat told me that her mum and dad used to tell her stories about your dad and this broom. He was the youngest house player in over a century!" Alex said, barely able to keep the excitement out of his voice.
"Er, sorry?" I asked, feeling really out of place for the millionth time that night.
"Bloody hell, I have a lot to explain to you." He pulled me over to his own bed, where moving posters depicted seven men and women holding brooms, and a red ball. Three other balls kept flying around them and I winced in sympathy when a tall brunette got hit in the side of the head with one. "This, my friend, is Quidditch."
He spent quite a while telling me all about the game, and it seemed quite exciting, if a little dangerous, and frightening. But, then again, most things that were any fun were.
Alex told me stories of all sorts of famous Quidditch players, including my father. "Y'know, they reckoned he could have made it big, that's how good he was. But he became an Auror instead."
"Sorry, and Auror?" I thought Alex was going to whack his head against the wall, and since it was made of stone, it would do quite a lot of damage.
"Never mind." He said. "You'll find out soon enough, it's about time for us to go meet Nat."