Ha-HA! Okay, so this chapter…and I think the next one also, are more like a continuation of chapter one, but I split them up, 'cause otherwise it was like a 12 page word document, and since my other chapters are only about 4 pages long, I thought that'd be weird.
So, obviously I decided to keep posting. And thank you so much for the reviews! I hope you'll continue to review, 'cause it gives me motivation to write more. Compliments will get you everywhere with me -giggles- Well, on with the show!
-sits in a big comfy pouf and transfigures the room into an old rennesaince Proscenium stage with red velvet curtains- Wouldn't my dramatic arts professor be proud? Oh yeah, your incentive to review…um…I'll post chapter three a day early (which will be Sunday instead of Monday) if I get 10 reviews for this chapter. And don't review more than once. That's cheating! lol Just tell all your friends to read my story, or something like that! Yay! Lol Anywha…-lights dim and Act I scene 2 begins- lol
"Firs' years, this way! Over here, firs' years!"
A large man with more hair than should be allowed was walking down the platform carrying a bobbing lantern. He was at least a head and shoulders taller than even the seventh years that were jumping out of the train. Niger walked tentatively over to the man, as though he wasn't scared out of his wits. He made a pretty good show of it too, since Draco, at least, looked impressed. He, Draco, was practically shivering with fear as he followed Niger.
I am not intimidated. I am not intimidated. Niger kept chanting this to himself and it seemed to be working. Either that or, he realized, he really had no need to be intimidated.
"Do I know yeh?" the impossibly tall man asked, squinting down at Niger.
He swallowed once and answered in a steady voice. "I don't believe so. If I had ever met you, I'm sure I wouldn't have forgotten."
Draco sniggered, obviously thinking that Niger had meant to insult the man, who looked as though he thought the same as Draco. Niger glared at Draco before turning back to the man. "I'm sorry if that sounded offensive. It wasn't meant to be." The last was said with a pointed look at Draco, whose face reddened slightly.
"Ah, no harm done." Despite what he said, it was apparent that he had taken Draco's snigger to heart, and was very grateful that Niger had apologized. "I'm Hagrid, by the way. Who're yeh?"
"Niger Noctum, sir. It's very nice to meet you…er, Hagrid?"
"Yeh. Oh! I'm supposeda' be gettin' all the firs' years together." After saying this, he resumed his shouting, causing Niger to step back a bit from the sound. "Firs' years, over here!"
In what seemed like no time, Hagrid had gotten the group of first years together and led them toward a mass of little boats on the shore of a small body of water.
"Alrigh', there'll be room for abou' five to a boat. Go on now. They're charmed to stay afloat." Without fear, Niger lead the group of first years into the boats. To his chagrin, he was followed by Draco and the other two. There was still room for one more in their boat and there was one boy left on the shore. Niger stood and beckoned to the boy, after checking to see if any of the other boats had space left. They hadn't.
"It looks like you'll have to sit with us if you plan on getting across the lake," Niger said with a slight smile. The boy that walked towards them had a rather nervous look on his face and seemed very grateful for any sign of friendliness.
As the other boy got in, Niger heard Draco groan. Niger looked at him questionably. "He's a Weasley," Draco mouthed to him. Niger rolled his eyes, "Yes, and you're a Malfoy. What's the point?" Niger whispered back. Draco, however, wouldn't be swayed, so he leaned over and whispered, "Don't you know who his father is?" Niger nodded without looking at him.
"Draco here has just informed me that you're a Weasley. So, now that I know your last name, may I know your first?" The boy gave Draco a strange look before answering.
"Ron." Looking at Malfoy's sneering face, he seemed reluctant to give any more information.
"Well then, Ron Weasley, I'm Niger Noctum. This is Draco Malfoy – or do you know each other already? – and Crabbe and Goyle. I don't know their first names." The two boys started stammering over each other trying to tell him his name first, but Niger just brushed them aside. It's not as though he could understand their mutterings anyway.
Draco began to talk. "So, Weasley," and after a pointed look from Niger, "er…I mean, Ron…what house do you suspect you'll be put in?"
Ron shrugged. "Probably Gryffindor." He still didn't seem willing to go into further detail, but Niger wanted someone other than Draco to talk, so he prompted him, yet again.
"Why do you think that?"
Ron shrugged again. "Well, you probably know that everyone else in my family has been placed in Gryffindor, so it's pretty much set in stone, I guess."
"Why would I know what house your family has been in?" Niger feigned ignorance.
Ron looked at him in bewilderment until he realized what this comment meant. He smiled. "Oh, never mind. What about you?" Ron surprised Niger by asking.
"Probably Slytherin. My father was in Slytherin. He'd be very disappointed if I was placed anywhere else."
"That's an understatement," he thought he heard Draco mutter.
After Niger's pronouncement, Ron's face suddenly became guarded.
"Not a fan of Slytherin, I take it?"
Ron's face reddened a bit, but he was saved the agony of answering when they reached the shore and everyone hopped out of their boats.
Niger then got his first glimpse of Hogwarts. It took his breath away. The castle was nothing less than enormous. There were towers and tiers and what appeared to be rooms with twelve foot ceilings, if not higher. Niger had to admit, he was impressed.
Hagrid led them all to the castle and up a staircase where they were met by a stern looking witch with a tight bun and even tighter lips. It's a wonder she can talk with her lips pressed together so tightly. The witch led them to a room beside what was obviously the great hall before speaking to them.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I shall return when we are ready for you." She nodded to herself before walking out of the room and leaving them to wait.
Ah the waiting, Niger thought to himself with amusement as he watched the other first years fidget with nervousness. He wasn't nervous. This was going to be simple. There was no way he'd be placed anywhere other than Slytherin.
Before long, Professor McGonagall came back and led them to the Great Hall. It was fairly hushed and every head turned, following their movement towards the Head Table.
Looking ahead, Niger saw the man that must be Professor Dumbledore. His father had told him all about Dumbledore, and yet…he didn't look as cunning or ruthless as his father made him out to be. Niger mentally shrugged and brought his attention back as something peculiar began to happen. The hat that Professor McGonagall had placed on a stool had started singing.
Niger paid little attention to the singing, though. His father had told him all about it, naturally. He was just anxious to get up there and get this over with. After what seemed forever, the hat fell silent and Professor McGonagall began to call off names. It was slow going, and by the time they had gotten to "Granger, Hermione," whom Draco sneered at, ("she's a filthy little mudblood," Draco muttered in Niger's ear.) Niger was almost shaking with anticipation.
"Longbottom, Neville" came soon after, a short boy with a contagious smile, who was sorted into Gryffindor, as had been Hermione before him. Draco was called next and he sauntered up to the stool making Niger roll his eyes. As was expected, the hat had barely touched Draco's head when it yelled out "SLYTHERIN!"
"Noctum, Niger." Many from the Slytherin table started murmuring, Niger heard, but none of the other tables were at all affected. He did see a very odd look from the Headmaster, though. He didn't like that look. It was a bit too knowing.
He stepped onto the platform and sat down with confidence. No doubt it will take no longer to decide than it did for Malfoy.
He was wrong.
The hat was placed on his head and slipped down to below his ears. He didn't have to wait long before he heard: "What's this? Oh, my, my, my. Could it be Niger Noctum. Or should I call you Harry Potter. Oh, didn't you know boy? That's your real name. The son of James and Lily Potter. Great wizards, they were." Niger had started to get nervous at this point. Yes I know, but why are you talking about that? They are no longer a part of my life. Just place me in a house, already!
"No longer a part of your life, you say? Is that what you think? Well anyway, have some control boy. Now, let me see. There is quite a bit of courage I see, and plenty of loyalty and a good mind, too. I see also a need to prove yourself. H'mmmm…you are very difficult, but Gryffindor may be the house for you..."
Niger thought his heart had stopped. Gryffindor? His father would kill him. He couldn't be placed in Gryffindor!
"And why not, boy? Your parents were in Gryffindor, and you have as much, perhaps more courage then either of them had."
And what about my Slytherin qualities? What of those? My father – my new father – was a Slytherin. How can I not be?
"Oh, my boy, you are not your father. You are not your biological parents either. That's why you are so difficult. But, I suppose it had better be --"
The hat was suddenly taken from his head. He looked around, confused. The hall was even more hushed then it had been before and every eye was focused on him.
"What?" he asked Professor McGonagall quietly.
She looked a bit worried and aggravated that she was so.
"Was something wrong?"
"No," he lied. "It was about to announce what house I'm in when you took it off. Why?"
"You've been sitting here for a full 10 minutes already," she hissed anxiously.
Niger was shocked, but he kept his face impassive. "Really? Interesting. May I have the hat back so that it may place me?"
Looking ruffled, McGonagall handed the hat back to Niger who set it lightly on his head. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat yelled at last. Niger allowed himself a small sigh before he left the platform and went to join his new house. There was a smattering of applause, mostly from the Slytherins, and quite a few strange looks. Had it really taken ten minutes? It hadn't seemed that long.
Draco had saved him a seat and was beckoning Niger to sit with him. Niger relented grudgingly and sat quickly to watch the rest of the sorting.
"What was that all about?" Draco asked.
Niger looked up at the Head Table straight into Dumbledore's eyes. He was looking at him like that again. Niger couldn't handle that perceptive stare. He looked quickly away. "Nothing," he answered Draco without looking at him.
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PippinsMyHobbit: -hug- Thank you! I can't really tell you the other place that I've posted my story, because if I do you'll just go there to read the rest of it and I will be deprived of your reviews! Plus, it's more fun when I make you wait for the next chapter, right? Hehehe
Cmon: -hug- I hope this was soon enough. I plan on posting every four days, until I run out of chapters… -sheepish grins-
Relative1983: -hug then ponders- Well, I think I will continue to post -winks- Thank you!
Dr.Fraud: -hug- If my spelling and/or grammar ever get that bad, not only will I be tempted to beat myself to a pulp, I think my mother would disown me (she's an English teacher). Well there isn't any set number of chapters before "redemption" 'cause I kind of have little blurbs of redemption through the whole thing. Otherwise, that's dumb…nobody can go from completely evil to angelic-ly good in only a few chapters, it's a gradual thing smiles broadly
helen: -hug- H'mmmm…I never thought to bring Remus into the story. I wonder if that would even work with how I'm doing this. Well see.
Hermione HP: -hug- Well, gosh, I hope my other chapters are at least half as good as the last one…most of my chapters are twice the length of the last one if I remember correctly… hehehe I hope this was soon enough
sami1010220: -hug- H'mmm, well, I hope your okay with my selection of house for Niger…er, Harry. Really, in my way of thinking, he couldn't possibly have been put in Gryffindor; it wouldn't have worked out with the character that Niger is. –shrugs- I hope you'll enjoy the story anyway!
Spaced Out Space Cadet: -hug- Nice to hear from you again…after you stopped letting me beta your story –pouts- lol What's up with that? hehehe Think I can get chapter 12 written by the time I post chapter 11? Dum-dum-DUM! Lol
Oh, and a big "bwa-ha-haa" to Spaced Out Space Cadet, sami1010220, Hermione HP, and PippinsMyHobbit for all writing "Yay! I loved this chapter. Keep posting!" lol I knew somebody would do it…I just didn't think so many would do it. Heck, four people reviewing period is more than I usually get, but four people saying the same thing with other reviewers to boot…that's more than I could imagine! –winks-