Ah it feels good to write sometimes. Not much to say before this one. By the end of this chapter I will have 10,000 words. Finally. I was 123 words short last time. I hope that you liked the size of the last chapter and I hope that I can keep sizes like that. But NO promises, okay? If this chapter seems odd, I watched 10 hours of Love Hina on internet TV, so I'm a little out of it. Enough with the chat, I know most people haven't read this at all. Grumble…I should start giving out secrets in the beginning and end. Okay, I'll shut up.
Chapter 12
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there Hermione?" a very, very large man said over the group of assembling students. Hermione blushed when many eyes turned upon her and she shifted her gaze to her feet.
"Who's that Hermione?" Draco asked, a sly grin on his face. "Got yourself a boyfriend? You go for those older types do you?"
"Oh shut up you albino jerk," she hissed at him. "Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley this year."
Draco was silent after that but still had an infuriating grin on his face. Sal kept his cool during their bickering, but on the inside he was laughing. "C'mon, follow me—any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Hagrid continued. The large man led the small group of small people along a precipitous, constricted path. Sal didn't pay notice to his newfound friends and instead watched the forest on both sides of the trail.
"Sal? Sal, you there?" Hermione asked, waving her hand in front of his face. The young vampire jerked up and looked at her.
"Yes?" he asked, a bit peeved at her for breaking his concentration.
"You seemed to be over thinking something. Is it about Harry Potter's death or what happened after it?" she questioned, hitting it right on the dot. "You don't need to worry about it. You didn't have anything to do with it, so stop thinking about it."
"Trust me, it's easier to just agree with her, it will save you some pain," said Draco. She punched him lightly in the shoulder in return. "A very violent person, she is."
"It's nothing really, just some trains of thoughts that got connected," Sal said, putting the topic behind him, but not completely gone.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid yelled over his enormous shoulder, interrupting the conversation the trio was previously having. "Jus' round this bend here." The group gave a gasp as the luminous castle came into view. It shone with unearthly power, a power that could not be described by a thousand poets.
"Whoa," Draco mumbled.
"Just what I was thinking," Hermione agreed.
The group of first years stopped before a large lake with boats on the shore nearest to them. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid ordered the group. The three grabbed a boat when a dark brown haired girl walked up to them.
"Can I join?" she asked timidly.
"Sure," Hermione smiled. The girl smiled shyly and walked towards the boat. Her foot caught a rock on the way there. She fell into the boat face first with a loud 'thump'.
"Ow. Ow. Ow," she moaned, sitting up and rubbing her face. Draco could barely hide his smile while Hermione was torn between concern and humor.
"Are you alright?" Sal asked, helping her to a seat.
"Yes, this happens a lot, I'm really clumsy," she frowned. Once the boats hard started to move under Hagrid's command, she introduced herself. "I'm Blaise Zabini, sorry about my entrance."
"Sal Snape, it's all right, really," he smiled slightly. "Those two are Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy."
The conversations dried up as the boats floated under a cliff, through a curtain of ivy and into a sort of harbor underneath the school. The four climbed out (in which Blaise tripped on the edge of the boat and fell on her face again). The assembly of first years followed Hagrid to a large set of wooden doors. The large man knocked three times on the heavy doors before him.
The large door swung open, revealing a tall, ebony-haired witch wearing dark green robes. She had a very strict look about her, causing the students to cease all whispered conversations they were having. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said, handing the group over to the stern witch.
"Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here," she said before pulling the large doors open to let the first years come through. She led the cluster into the large entrance hall. Large wasn't a proper term for the hall. Gigantic, enormous, colossal maybe, but not just large. For Sal, a large room was the main hall of Snape Manor. The entrance hall could fit 5 main halls inside with room to spare. The hall was lit by blazing torches, leaving the height of the room to the students' imagination.
Off to the right, Sal could make out hundreds of voices easily. Obviously the rest or the school was already assembled and waiting for the first years to enter. Professor McGonagall directed to group into a chamber and she waited to address them.
Okay, sorry about this cut. I don't have time to make this chapter too much longer because I am heading out with my family tomorrow. Hopefully I can get a chapter in my notebook while I am doing this. It should be much, much longer (2000 I hope) and will finally get to the sorting. Hope for this to be up on Sunday. I am really sorry about this!
jeangab057- I hope you liked my revisions to the world. If you are voting for the house, I will be holding that until the next chapter is out. Where oh where should I place the trio? evil laugh
Anarane Anwamane- why thank you. I love ego boosters!
Kaaera- I did review that last chapter earlier, very good. DC is a bit hard to think right now. If I finish first year on this fic, I will finish off DC.
angiewolf- Why thank you! I haven't watched Forever Night, but I do watch other vampire things. I have watched Blade 1 and 2, Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, Otherworld, and some other random things. The anime Hellsing is also good for source material. If anyone would be interested, I am part of a vampire RPG board. Saerry Snape got me hooked on it. The URL is Other than that, I hoped that the timeline shifts were fluid and logical enough to fit. My thought process was that a weak liberal Minister failed to protect the savior, so a conservative Minister came in. Moody was the best and he hates Death Eaters with a passion. It sort of triggered on down the line.
Wolflady- Here is the next chapter and another will be out in two days I hope. Thank you very much. The Remus thing just sprang from nowhere and I just had to write it. In this, I assumed that Narcissa was good and Lucius was the evil one. Thanks for the review!
HecateDeMort- why thank you very much and here is the next.
Sakura Saisaka- Keep your eyes peeled for the next one!