Year Six: The Prophecy
Chapter Two:
Draco and Harry step out of the carriage. Dusk follows and would have hopped the two or so feet to the ground, but Draco extended his hand. Somewhat hesitantly, she accepts it, and he helps her down.
Harry extends his own hand for Jade, but she jumps down before realizing that he was offering to help her. Dusk turns to Jade and flashes her huge smile.
"We are so lucky!" she whispers.
Jade simply smiles. She was a little less trusting than it appeared that Dusk was. She turns to Harry and asks, "Where do we go from here?"
"To Dumbledore's office to get you two sorted," Harry replies with a smile.
"What are the houses?" asks Dusk, curious to learn everything that she can about Hogwarts.
"There are four houses," answers Draco. "Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff."
"Ah," says Dusk. Then, somewhat embarrassedly, "What's the difference?" Suddenly she wishes she had picked up her own copy of Hogwarts: A History.
"Gryffindor has the symbol of a lion," Harry says. "Supposedly, that house hosts the bravest of all."
"Yes, well, you would know, wouldn't you, Potter?" snaps Draco.
Dusk and Jade throw him some questioning looks, but Harry ignores the comment and continues on.
"Slytherin holds the most cunning and sly and has the symbol of a snake. The Hufflepuff house hosts the shyest of people, and their symbol is a badger, and Ravenclaw house holds the smartest and most clever of all, and has the symbol of a raven."
The girls nod, taking this in.
Harry chuckles slightly.
"What is it?" asks Jade, suddenly afraid he is laughing at their ignorance of Hogwarts ways.
"Nothing…" he answers. "I was just thinking…well, the smartest students are supposed to be in Ravenclaw, which means my friend Hermionie Granger is most definitely in the wrong house!"
Jade smiles. "She's smart, is she?"
Harry nods. "God, you have no idea…"
The procession of students moves on until everyone has entered the building. Most of the students move along into a large room, no doubt the Great Hall, while Harry, Draco, Dusk, and Jade head up the stairs. They walk along a while, greeted by several talkative paintings as they continue up the stairs.
"Wow," says Jade, looking around wide-eyed. "This place is amazing…"
"Yeah," agrees Dusk. "It sure beats Salem by a mile!"
The four young students continue on their way when suddenly the stair case they are making their way up lurches off to one side. Dusk cries out. Jade reaches quickly for the railing.
Both Harry and Draco laugh whole-heartedly.
"That's not funny," Jade protests, though she herself is laughing as well.
Dusk, however, is not laughing. She glares at them for a moment, and then asks, "Is there anyway around them?"
The boys shake their heads. "Nope," says Draco. "If you want to get upstairs, this is the only way."
The color drains slightly from Dusk's face as she forces her legs to carry her up the stairs, which, fortunately, stop moving.
"They don't change every time," Draco reassures her once she's made her way to the landing. "Only sometimes…"
"Well, I'm not used to stairs that change at all," she replies rather shakily. "And I'm sorry, but heights scare me!"
"It's okay," Jade comforts her. "We'll know what's happening next time, and I'm sure you won't be as scared."
Dusk nods without really believing Jade's words.
"It's okay," Harry tells them, heading up the next flight of stairs. "There's only a little ways left."
Reluctantly, the girls follow him, and Draco brings up the rear.
"Anyway," Jade says, resuming the conversation. "This place is absolutely nothing like Dublin! Hogwarts is so much bigger!"
"Yeah, Salem was pretty small, too," Dusk agrees, hurrying up the stairs.
"Did you have houses in Salem?" asks Draco from behind.
"Yeah," Dusk says. "We were sorted out sort of like your houses here. The Rosemanda house was like Hufflepuff, and Angelus is like Slytherin. The Harboress house was like a combination of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor."
"What house were you in?" asks Jade as they near the stairs to Professor Dumbledore's office.
"I was sorted into Harboress," replies Dusk. "They went round and round on where to put me. I almost ended up in Angelus."
"Well," says Harry, stopping in front of a statue. "This is it."
Dusk and Jade glance at one another, trying to pretend that they understand what he is talking about.
Finally, Jade asks, "This is what?"
"Oh," says Harry, chuckling lightly. "Sorry. This is the entrance to Dumbledore's office. I have to say the password, which will be changed as soon as we leave, just so you know."
The girls nod, having no intention of remembering the password and breaking into the headmaster's office. Their thoughts are on their sorting. Jade wrings her hands nervously, while Dusk teeters back and forth on her feet.
"Beeswax," Harry says clearly.
"What?" asks Dusk, giving him a confused look.
"That was the password," explains Draco.
The statue in front of them slowly begins turning. It revolves upwards, revealing a moving staircase. The two boys got on, and the girls followed suit. When they reached the top, they were greeted by a large, closed door. Harry knocks on it.
"Come in, come in," comes an old, gentle voice.
Harry opens the door for the girls and then allows Draco to let himself in. They look around the large, beautiful office. Magic seems to stir in every corner of the room, and Jade and Dusk attempt to take it all in.
"Welcome, Miss McGillan, and Miss Hammons," says the old man who had let them in. He peers at them over the tops of half moon glasses and smiles beneath his thick, long white beard. "I am Albus Dumbledore, as I'm sure you had concluded." His blue eyes seemed to sparkle as he spoke. "I trust you would like to join your classmates as soon as possible, and I would like to return to the feast, so shall we begin with your sorting?"
Jade and Dusk look at one another anxiously.
"Who would like to go first? No particular order is necessary in this case," Dumbledore explains.
Reluctantly, and boldly, Jade steps forward. "I suppose I shall…" she says.
Dumbledore gestures for her to sit down in a small four legged stool in front of him, and she does so. Dumbledore places a heavy, old and musty hat on top of her head.
Inside Jade's mind, she can hear the musings of the old hat as it shuffles through her thoughts, discerning her qualities. Ah…interesting…righteous, yes…and yet, not quite sure of yourself…smart, courageous and brave…only one place to put you!
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat cries out, startling everyone but Professor Dumbledore.
He removes the hat from Jade's head of golden red waves, and she gets off the stool.
"That's my house," Harry whispers as she joins him in front of the stool.
Jade smiles contentedly. Academics had always been a priority in her life and she had expected to be placed in the no doubt nerdy Ravenclaw House, with all the other brains, so this was somewhat of a surprise. For a moment, she doubted her intelligence, but the hat had even said that she was smart.
Dusk steps forward and takes her seat on the stool. Dumbledore places the hat on her head, as he had Jade's, and Dusk's mind is suddenly filled with the opinions and observations of the Sorting Hat. Cunning, yes, and brave as well…sly…hmmm…where to put you? Hmmm…I suppose…
"GRYFFINDOR!" the house cries out once again.
Dusk gets off the stool quickly, not wishing to have her character analyzed by the hat any longer than necessary. She breaths a sigh of relief as she walks over to Jade and the boys. She can't help but notice that Draco looks somewhat deflated at the hat's decision. Jade, however, is positively beaming with happiness that the only friend she knows is in the same house as she is. Harry also looks pleased.
Dumbledore's speaks once again. "Welcome, young ladies, to Hogwarts, and congratulations on being new additions to a fine house. I, personally, am off to the feast. However, as you took your time getting here-" he winks at Dusk "-your fellow students will most likely be dispersing soon. Therefore, if you wish, you may go to the kitchens and get some food. Harry knows the password." He nods in Harry's direction.
"Thank you, Professor," the girls say simultaneously. Then they leave the room, followed closely by Harry and Draco.