Chapter 4: The Sorting Hat
AN: This was probably one of Erin's favorite scenes to write. Hope you enjoy it!
The castle, when they arrived, was just as amazing as Erin and Lexine had pictured from the books. There was a large lake they had to cross to actually reach the school grounds and nine boats sat ready. Kay stood gazing around as the students piled out of their carriages. Her eyes landed on a rather enormous fellow with a HUGE beard and a tangle mass of hair on his head. Harry ran towards the figure crying out "Hagrid!" Lexine, Erin and Kay decided to stick with Harry and Ron but bumped into Hermione on the way. 'Hullo," Hermione greeted. "It's fascinating, isn't it?"
Lexine nodded. "It's awesome. We take these boats across, right?"
Hermione nodded.
"Hehe...boats." Kay grinned as she climbed into one with Erin, Lexine, Hermione and a few other new girls. "Yooooo—wuzzup?" asked Kay as she blinked when the boats began to move. Suddenly an evil grin formed on her face and she began to rock the boat from side to side singing "Rock the boat, rock the boat, rock the boat, rock the boat..."
Lexine and Erin screamed "Stop, Kay, stop!"
Kay stopped in mid-sentence when she caught sight of Malfoy's boat. Her evil grin became even wider and she aimed a finger at his boat and ZAP There was a loud "ARGHHHH!" and a Splush...the boat turned over and Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and the others with them in the boat tipped out into the water. Hermione screamed at what happened a moment later—long, slimy tentacles rose from the deep and wrapped around Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Kay was laughing from her boats as the three boys were screaming bloody murder. She aimed a finger at the enormous fresh water creature and zapped it. About three dozen white, fluffy bunnies appeared. "ARGH!" Splush Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle ended up in the water again until Hagrid rescued them. The half-giant rowed towards Kay's boat and THUMP "Ow!" Kay cried, and glared up at him. "Watch it, fuzzy!" THUMP
"Ow! God doh friggen piece of shnigit!"
Hagrid raised an eyebrow before turning the boat to head towards the school.
Once they reached the castle, they were greeted by a very stern-looking witch. Her graying hair was tied up in a tight bun and she had an emerald green cloak and pointy hat. She did not smile when she thanked Hagrid and then she led the students inside the castle. Kay walked behind Harry and Ron who were gazing around at the sight in awe. Before they entered the Great Hall, the witch stopped to talk to them. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "I am Professor Minverva McGonagall (a snigger from Kay which Professor McGonagall ignored). A few things you need to know before we enter the Great Hall. The school is divided up into four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced many great witches and wizards. In a few moments all of you will be sorted and once you are placed into your house, your housemates will become your family." She explained about the points that each house collected throughout the year and what happened to the winner. Before they knew it, all of them were inside the Great Hall and saw a stool sitting on a platform with a large, VERY old and ragged witch's hat on top. Lexine leaned towards Kay and whispered, "Should we leave for a bit? We don't need to be sorted—we aren't students."
Kay sniggered. "THEY don't know that, do they?"
Suddenly the hat opened it's mouth and began to sing:
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty
But don't judge on what you see
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The sorting hat can't see
So put me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be."
Everyone jumped at Kay's sudden burst of hysterical laughter when the song ended. Professor McGonagall looked at her. "Do you have a problem?" she asked. Kay took a deep breath before singing "Off-tone hat, off-tone hat, off-tone hat..." The Hogwarts headmistress shook her head and opened a long roll of parchment. "Abbot, Susan!" She began calling the students up to the stool one by one. She would place the sorting hat on their head and the hat would shout "GRYFFINROR! HUFFLEPUFF!" etc. When Professor McGonagall called "Potter, Harry!" It seemed as though the entire Great Hall turned silent. Poor Harry slinked up to the stool. The last thing he saw before the hat covered his eyes was Kay, grinning evilly and taping her finger against the side of her nose. Lexine held her breath from where she stood and sighed when the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" An eruption of cheers exploded from the Gryffindor table and Harry made his way over there to sit down. Kay suddenly looked over to the staff table and sniggered when she saw the headmaster Albus Dumbledore. She nudged Lexine who raised an eyebrow but then understood. Kay motioned for her two friends to follow her into the hallway and when they reached it, all three of them started laughing.
"Albus, Albus, Albus," Kay said between gasps of air. She leaned against the stone wall as her laughter continued to build.
"Ooh! Food!" said Erin, and the girls became suddenly aware of the delicious smells wafting towards them from the Great Hall. Kay nodded at the other two and her forehead crinkled in concentration.
Hermione sat across from Harry and Ron, working through her plate of pork chops, mashed potatoes and carrots. She listened half-heartedly to the chatter of the other students around her. Suddenly a flash of light filed the space causing everyone to gasp. Kay, Lexine and Erin stood on the tabletop in a row. Kay opened her eyes and laughed. "Hit it, Lex-chan!"
Lexine channeled her hands to the 'Macarena' and Kay began singing in Spanish as she performed the dance. Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the girls found out later, climbed up onto the table to join the girls and began dancing with them. Soon the entire table was clapping and the elder boys were whistling at them. Lexine pretended to rope a lasso and circled her body around. The teachers were too shocked and horrified to stop the ruckus and even the students at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables joined in. The Slytherin table however, was just sitting quietly giving them looks of disgust. Malfoy glared at the shorthaired psi- mage. Kay turned to face him, never stopping the dance, raised her hands above her head, did a spin and pointed at the boy. Malfoy choked—the mage looked right at him. Kay smiled, a cocky, smug smile, and then turned away. Draco could have sworn he had heard her speak into his mind saying "Watch yourself, plastic hair." He was afraid.
Meanwhile, Kay had pulled Percy Weasley, Gryffindor's Prefect, up onto the table and began dancing with him. "Whooo hooo!" Kay hooted. Eventually Dumbledore stood and set off a bout of fireworks in the midst of shouting "SILENCE!" The dancing immediately ceased. Kay slowly turned to him, cocking an eyebrow.
"Helllllloooo." She blinked. Dumbledore motioned for the three girls on the table with his index finger and the music shut off as they slowly made their way down from the table. Hermione watched them, panting from dancing so much. The two mages and Erin the witch headed towards the staff table where they were met by the angry glares of the teachers. "I would like to see you in my office IMMEDIATELY." Dumbledore ordered. He looked at Professor McGonagall. "Will you usher everyone to their dormitories, Minerva? I will be busy."
Professor McGonagall nodded as he led the trio out into the Great Hall and down the long corridor. They reached a set of stone steps and they walked up them until Dumbledore reached a wooden door. "Lemondrop." He said and magically the door swung open. The headmaster looked behind him at the girls. "Follow me." They did and a moment later they found themselves standing in a large office. Dumbledore took a seat at his desk and looked at each of them seriously. "Now. Do you have an explanation for the ruckus you have caused?"
Kay looked at Lexine who stared at her feet, and then turned back to Dumbledore. "Um—no reason, really."
"You are not students, ARE you?" he asked frowning. All three girls shook their heads.
"I see."
Kay leaned towards Dumbledore and took hold of his beard. She pulled twice on it and said "But your name's ALBUS."
Dumbledore stood as Kay started to scamper off, and grabbed the back of her hooded sweatshirt, yanking her backwards. "You are a mage, aren't you?"
Kay grinned evilly at him and poked him in the stomach.
"That I am, ALBUS. I'm Kay, this is Lexine who is also a mage but a wild mage...I am a psi-mage, and this is Erin—she's a witch."
Dumbledore shook his head at Erin. "I would have expected better from a Witch." He looked at Kay. "I see. And may I ask HOW you got here? You were not sent an acceptance letter."
Kay shrugged. "That, ALBUS, is none of your beeswax." Erin sighed, rubbing her forehead. Kay always went too far with her jokes, but then it made Erin feel better that Kay often got payback in the long run. 'I'm a great friend, aren't I?' Erin thought.
Dumbledore looked at them. "I will tell you what. Until you find a way to get back to your own world, I will allow you to stay at Hogwarts. You may stay in Gryffindor since you already seemed to have won those students over tonight. But I will ask you KINDLY to behave yourselves. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?"
The girls nodded and Lexine spoke. "Could we attend the classes too? Just to check them out?"
Dumbledore nodded. "As long as the three of you stay out of trouble." He gave Kay a warning look.
"What?" she asked innocently.
Dumbledore pointed at her. "I have my eye on you." He eventually shooed them out with the directions to the Gryffindor tower.
As the trio left Dumbledore's office, they began laughing. Kay turned around, nearly falling sideways grasping onto Erin's arm. "Oooh my--that was SO awesome!" Erin nodded. "I'll never forget that...that's for sure." she laughed. They made their way to the staircases that branched off to the different houses. Kay noted that every now and then one of the stair cases would shift and she felt Lexine nudge her arm. "They move," the wildmage pointed out. "They like to confuse people."
Kay aimed her hands at the stairs and ZAP they stopped moving altogether. "There!" Kay said with a nod. She allowed Erin to go fist and they made their way to the tower. When they reached the portrait of the fat lady in a fluffy pink dress, Lexine stopped. "Uh oh." she began. Kay slowly turned around to look at her.
"What do you mean UH oh?"
"You--you need a password to get into the tower and... I'm not quite sure I remember what...oh yeah!" Lexine whacked herself in the forehead. "Caput Draconis." the door to the Gryffindor tower opened and the three girls climbed in. They climbed through a long, tube-like tunnel until they reached the common room. "This reminds me of a hobbit hole," Kay sniggered, looking around. "Cool!" said Erin as they entered the room. It was just as she and Lexine remembered from the books. Kay let out a "Wheeee!" and went to go and hop onto one of the cushioned armchairs by the fireplace which was lit. "Ahhhhh." she pulled off her hiking boots and wiggled her toes. Erin and Lexine found seats and fell into them, sighing heavily. "I never thought I'd get to see this place for real," Lex broke in. "We have to go and explore EVERYTHING." she was suddenly aware of Kay who was grinning evilly at her. Lexine blinked. "What?" she asked. Kay let out a "Mwahahahahahaha." and all three jumped as the door to the common room opened again. Oliver Wood entered dancing the Macarena and laughing with Angelina Johnson, another new Gryffindor. "Owww!" Wood screeched when he noticed Erin, Kay and Lex. "You rock, baby! People'll be talking about that one for years!" Kay nodded at the Quidditch captain proudly as he headed up to bed. Lexine watched him with a dreamy look on her face. "Earth to Lex. Earth to Lex," said Kay, waving a hand in front of her friend. Kay reached on either side of Lexine and POKE Lexine let out a scream as Kay scampered away.
AN: This was probably one of Erin's favorite scenes to write. Hope you enjoy it!
The castle, when they arrived, was just as amazing as Erin and Lexine had pictured from the books. There was a large lake they had to cross to actually reach the school grounds and nine boats sat ready. Kay stood gazing around as the students piled out of their carriages. Her eyes landed on a rather enormous fellow with a HUGE beard and a tangle mass of hair on his head. Harry ran towards the figure crying out "Hagrid!" Lexine, Erin and Kay decided to stick with Harry and Ron but bumped into Hermione on the way. 'Hullo," Hermione greeted. "It's fascinating, isn't it?"
Lexine nodded. "It's awesome. We take these boats across, right?"
Hermione nodded.
"Hehe...boats." Kay grinned as she climbed into one with Erin, Lexine, Hermione and a few other new girls. "Yooooo—wuzzup?" asked Kay as she blinked when the boats began to move. Suddenly an evil grin formed on her face and she began to rock the boat from side to side singing "Rock the boat, rock the boat, rock the boat, rock the boat..."
Lexine and Erin screamed "Stop, Kay, stop!"
Kay stopped in mid-sentence when she caught sight of Malfoy's boat. Her evil grin became even wider and she aimed a finger at his boat and ZAP There was a loud "ARGHHHH!" and a Splush...the boat turned over and Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and the others with them in the boat tipped out into the water. Hermione screamed at what happened a moment later—long, slimy tentacles rose from the deep and wrapped around Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Kay was laughing from her boats as the three boys were screaming bloody murder. She aimed a finger at the enormous fresh water creature and zapped it. About three dozen white, fluffy bunnies appeared. "ARGH!" Splush Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle ended up in the water again until Hagrid rescued them. The half-giant rowed towards Kay's boat and THUMP "Ow!" Kay cried, and glared up at him. "Watch it, fuzzy!" THUMP
"Ow! God doh friggen piece of shnigit!"
Hagrid raised an eyebrow before turning the boat to head towards the school.
Once they reached the castle, they were greeted by a very stern-looking witch. Her graying hair was tied up in a tight bun and she had an emerald green cloak and pointy hat. She did not smile when she thanked Hagrid and then she led the students inside the castle. Kay walked behind Harry and Ron who were gazing around at the sight in awe. Before they entered the Great Hall, the witch stopped to talk to them. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "I am Professor Minverva McGonagall (a snigger from Kay which Professor McGonagall ignored). A few things you need to know before we enter the Great Hall. The school is divided up into four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced many great witches and wizards. In a few moments all of you will be sorted and once you are placed into your house, your housemates will become your family." She explained about the points that each house collected throughout the year and what happened to the winner. Before they knew it, all of them were inside the Great Hall and saw a stool sitting on a platform with a large, VERY old and ragged witch's hat on top. Lexine leaned towards Kay and whispered, "Should we leave for a bit? We don't need to be sorted—we aren't students."
Kay sniggered. "THEY don't know that, do they?"
Suddenly the hat opened it's mouth and began to sing:
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty
But don't judge on what you see
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The sorting hat can't see
So put me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be."
Everyone jumped at Kay's sudden burst of hysterical laughter when the song ended. Professor McGonagall looked at her. "Do you have a problem?" she asked. Kay took a deep breath before singing "Off-tone hat, off-tone hat, off-tone hat..." The Hogwarts headmistress shook her head and opened a long roll of parchment. "Abbot, Susan!" She began calling the students up to the stool one by one. She would place the sorting hat on their head and the hat would shout "GRYFFINROR! HUFFLEPUFF!" etc. When Professor McGonagall called "Potter, Harry!" It seemed as though the entire Great Hall turned silent. Poor Harry slinked up to the stool. The last thing he saw before the hat covered his eyes was Kay, grinning evilly and taping her finger against the side of her nose. Lexine held her breath from where she stood and sighed when the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" An eruption of cheers exploded from the Gryffindor table and Harry made his way over there to sit down. Kay suddenly looked over to the staff table and sniggered when she saw the headmaster Albus Dumbledore. She nudged Lexine who raised an eyebrow but then understood. Kay motioned for her two friends to follow her into the hallway and when they reached it, all three of them started laughing.
"Albus, Albus, Albus," Kay said between gasps of air. She leaned against the stone wall as her laughter continued to build.
"Ooh! Food!" said Erin, and the girls became suddenly aware of the delicious smells wafting towards them from the Great Hall. Kay nodded at the other two and her forehead crinkled in concentration.
Hermione sat across from Harry and Ron, working through her plate of pork chops, mashed potatoes and carrots. She listened half-heartedly to the chatter of the other students around her. Suddenly a flash of light filed the space causing everyone to gasp. Kay, Lexine and Erin stood on the tabletop in a row. Kay opened her eyes and laughed. "Hit it, Lex-chan!"
Lexine channeled her hands to the 'Macarena' and Kay began singing in Spanish as she performed the dance. Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the girls found out later, climbed up onto the table to join the girls and began dancing with them. Soon the entire table was clapping and the elder boys were whistling at them. Lexine pretended to rope a lasso and circled her body around. The teachers were too shocked and horrified to stop the ruckus and even the students at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables joined in. The Slytherin table however, was just sitting quietly giving them looks of disgust. Malfoy glared at the shorthaired psi- mage. Kay turned to face him, never stopping the dance, raised her hands above her head, did a spin and pointed at the boy. Malfoy choked—the mage looked right at him. Kay smiled, a cocky, smug smile, and then turned away. Draco could have sworn he had heard her speak into his mind saying "Watch yourself, plastic hair." He was afraid.
Meanwhile, Kay had pulled Percy Weasley, Gryffindor's Prefect, up onto the table and began dancing with him. "Whooo hooo!" Kay hooted. Eventually Dumbledore stood and set off a bout of fireworks in the midst of shouting "SILENCE!" The dancing immediately ceased. Kay slowly turned to him, cocking an eyebrow.
"Helllllloooo." She blinked. Dumbledore motioned for the three girls on the table with his index finger and the music shut off as they slowly made their way down from the table. Hermione watched them, panting from dancing so much. The two mages and Erin the witch headed towards the staff table where they were met by the angry glares of the teachers. "I would like to see you in my office IMMEDIATELY." Dumbledore ordered. He looked at Professor McGonagall. "Will you usher everyone to their dormitories, Minerva? I will be busy."
Professor McGonagall nodded as he led the trio out into the Great Hall and down the long corridor. They reached a set of stone steps and they walked up them until Dumbledore reached a wooden door. "Lemondrop." He said and magically the door swung open. The headmaster looked behind him at the girls. "Follow me." They did and a moment later they found themselves standing in a large office. Dumbledore took a seat at his desk and looked at each of them seriously. "Now. Do you have an explanation for the ruckus you have caused?"
Kay looked at Lexine who stared at her feet, and then turned back to Dumbledore. "Um—no reason, really."
"You are not students, ARE you?" he asked frowning. All three girls shook their heads.
"I see."
Kay leaned towards Dumbledore and took hold of his beard. She pulled twice on it and said "But your name's ALBUS."
Dumbledore stood as Kay started to scamper off, and grabbed the back of her hooded sweatshirt, yanking her backwards. "You are a mage, aren't you?"
Kay grinned evilly at him and poked him in the stomach.
"That I am, ALBUS. I'm Kay, this is Lexine who is also a mage but a wild mage...I am a psi-mage, and this is Erin—she's a witch."
Dumbledore shook his head at Erin. "I would have expected better from a Witch." He looked at Kay. "I see. And may I ask HOW you got here? You were not sent an acceptance letter."
Kay shrugged. "That, ALBUS, is none of your beeswax." Erin sighed, rubbing her forehead. Kay always went too far with her jokes, but then it made Erin feel better that Kay often got payback in the long run. 'I'm a great friend, aren't I?' Erin thought.
Dumbledore looked at them. "I will tell you what. Until you find a way to get back to your own world, I will allow you to stay at Hogwarts. You may stay in Gryffindor since you already seemed to have won those students over tonight. But I will ask you KINDLY to behave yourselves. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?"
The girls nodded and Lexine spoke. "Could we attend the classes too? Just to check them out?"
Dumbledore nodded. "As long as the three of you stay out of trouble." He gave Kay a warning look.
"What?" she asked innocently.
Dumbledore pointed at her. "I have my eye on you." He eventually shooed them out with the directions to the Gryffindor tower.
As the trio left Dumbledore's office, they began laughing. Kay turned around, nearly falling sideways grasping onto Erin's arm. "Oooh my--that was SO awesome!" Erin nodded. "I'll never forget that...that's for sure." she laughed. They made their way to the staircases that branched off to the different houses. Kay noted that every now and then one of the stair cases would shift and she felt Lexine nudge her arm. "They move," the wildmage pointed out. "They like to confuse people."
Kay aimed her hands at the stairs and ZAP they stopped moving altogether. "There!" Kay said with a nod. She allowed Erin to go fist and they made their way to the tower. When they reached the portrait of the fat lady in a fluffy pink dress, Lexine stopped. "Uh oh." she began. Kay slowly turned around to look at her.
"What do you mean UH oh?"
"You--you need a password to get into the tower and... I'm not quite sure I remember what...oh yeah!" Lexine whacked herself in the forehead. "Caput Draconis." the door to the Gryffindor tower opened and the three girls climbed in. They climbed through a long, tube-like tunnel until they reached the common room. "This reminds me of a hobbit hole," Kay sniggered, looking around. "Cool!" said Erin as they entered the room. It was just as she and Lexine remembered from the books. Kay let out a "Wheeee!" and went to go and hop onto one of the cushioned armchairs by the fireplace which was lit. "Ahhhhh." she pulled off her hiking boots and wiggled her toes. Erin and Lexine found seats and fell into them, sighing heavily. "I never thought I'd get to see this place for real," Lex broke in. "We have to go and explore EVERYTHING." she was suddenly aware of Kay who was grinning evilly at her. Lexine blinked. "What?" she asked. Kay let out a "Mwahahahahahaha." and all three jumped as the door to the common room opened again. Oliver Wood entered dancing the Macarena and laughing with Angelina Johnson, another new Gryffindor. "Owww!" Wood screeched when he noticed Erin, Kay and Lex. "You rock, baby! People'll be talking about that one for years!" Kay nodded at the Quidditch captain proudly as he headed up to bed. Lexine watched him with a dreamy look on her face. "Earth to Lex. Earth to Lex," said Kay, waving a hand in front of her friend. Kay reached on either side of Lexine and POKE Lexine let out a scream as Kay scampered away.