Chapter 4 ~ The First of Many
James grabbed his so-called 'gag bag' now also stuffed with the little left-over candy that there was, and the 4 friends trooped out of the train as fast as they could. "Come on! Let's go out this back emergency door!" When they stepped out, it was as if someone had turned the outdoor light switch to 'off'. They had never been in an area so dark because living in London, you're used to streets lights at night. Here, there was not a single flicker of light except for the stars. "Man alive! It's pitch black out here!!"
"REALLY Einstein?!?! There's no moon if you haven't noticed! Just hurry up! We've got to get there WAY before everyone else!" Lily whispered to James.
"Ok! Follow me and keep up! We have to run if we don't want to be seen!"
They started to run around the lake which was a really long distance. The darkness didn't help either because they were practically running blindly. This trip went without any major events except for an outbreak like this one once in a while:
"OUCH!"
"What?"
"He stood on my foot!"
"Well you haven't been too graceful either, Tinkerbell!"
"I have too!"
"OUCH! You did it again!"
"That wasn't me!"
"WILL YOU 2 SHUT UP!!!"
That was the normal conversation, but after a long, exhausting jog, they finally made it to the giant, oak doors, and luckily, everyone else was WAY behind. They probably had about 30 minutes.
"James! Get the glue while I try to make this spell work!" Lily took out her wand and muttered silently, "Exactus Duplicato Sorting Hat!" Sparks flew out of her wand and in the blink of an eye, James' grungy old hat now looked exactly like the sorting hat.
"Yes! You did it Lily!" Remus whispered happily.
"Yea! I did it! I did it!"
"SHH! Lily! We still have more to do! Sirius and Remus, you go and warn us if anyone is coming!" James directed.
In 5 minutes, James had covered the new hat's brim with the Zonko's glue and re-placed the real 1st year scroll on the head table with James' perfected one while Lily had placed a spell on the sorting hat so it wouldn't talk until the other hat was securly fastened to Glenn's head. "silencio!" This spell also worked and she put the quieted hat underneath the head table. They finished just in time.
"James! Lily! You better be almost done! The 2nd through 7th years are just about here! C'mon! We have to get outside before they get here and wait for the 1st years!" Sirius told them.
"Ok! We just finished!" James took one last look to make sure everything was set up correctly. "Let's go!"
They all ran out of the castle the way they came in, and sure enough, just as they found a large bush to hide behind, about 50 carriges arrived at the front doors. It took 15 minutes for all the students to unload and get into the enormous castle. Lily's leg started to cramp, but she forgot about the pain as she thought about what kind of people the other 1st years may be. "I really hope there will be some girls that I can be friends with," She thought longingly to herself. "It's not that I don't like James, Sirius, and Remus...in fact, Sirius is realyl cute and they're all nice. I really like them as my friends, but what would my dad think if all of my best friends were boys? Yes...I definently need some more good friends that are girls." Lily finsihed her conversation with herself just as the first year boats beached and she felt her cramp again, except it was now worse. "Ouch...."
A man of abnormally large size stepped out of the front boat. He looked to be in his twenties. (Yes, a young Hagrid. Can u imagine?) "Ok! Jus' let em' beach and then step out! Try not ter' git yerselves wet!"
The group assembled just outside the doors and Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus crept up behind them. Lily's cramp was pure torture when she stood up, but it went away soon after. "Ahh...much better!" They stood at the back as nonchalantly as possible. Everyone was talking excitedly, and Lily just about fainted as she saw 2 very familiar looking brunettes standing at the front.
"Oh my gosh! KRISTY!!! ASHLEY!!! BACK HERE!" She screamed and waved her arms wildly in the air and everyone looked at her oddly. They turned immediately around to face her. "LILY!!!" They screamed just as loud and pushed their way through the crowd as fast as they could towards her. The 3 girls were all engulfed in an unbreathable bear hug and they screeched a loud 'girly' earsplitting wail. All the boys plugged their ears and rolled their eyes muttering, 'girls...' James, Sirius, and Remus' reactions were by far the most bizarre. "Uh...guys? I think we should give them a little room..." James whispered to his friends.
"Yeah...like a little 10 yards of room sounds good!" Remus agreed and they started walking backwards towards the lake.
"Oh my gosh!" Lily repeated. "What are you two doing here?!?"
"Same as you!"
"I'm SO happy to see you1 I didn't think I'd see either of you until summer!"
"I know!" Kristy said joyously. "I about cried myself to sleep the night I realized I'd have to go a whole 9 months without either of you!"
"Tell me about it! I thought I'd have to hang out with those 3 dumbo's all year!" Lily gestured to James, Sirius, and Remus.
"Wow! You're friends with James now! Nice improvment Lil!" Kristy added, smiling mischeviously. She always thought Lily and James would be good for eachother (hint hint) and Lily knew exactly what she meant when she said this.
"No doubt! Lily...you'll have to introduce me to the 2 other boys. They're really cute!" Ashley whispered.
"Yes! Me too!"
Lily laughed. "Don't either of you ever think of anythin other than boys?"
"NOPE!"
Lily rolled her eyes thinking, 'Kristy and Ashley will never change!'
"Hey Lils! I didn't see you get on the boats! Where were you?"
"Umm...I...I'll tell you later!" She said quickly. She wasn't going to tell them with James eavesdropping behind her. He'd probably get mad if someone else found out about it and she wasn't going to let him spoil the best day of her life!
Lily, Ashley, and Kristy continued to chat gleefully about boys, Hogwarts, boys, what the 4 houses were, boys, how they were going to fix their hair for the first day of 'school', boys, classes, and of course, boys. The only part of this conversation that Lily enthusiastically participated in were the ones not about boys or hair since she, being a tomboy, wasn't too particular to those topics. So obviously, she was silent almost the whole time, rolling her eyes teasingly and laughing under her breath. Lily soon got a little bored with their talk, so she looked over to James, Sirius and Remus. Remus was strangely pointing to the sky. Lily thought he must be showing his friends the constellations or something. Her eyes wandered absent-mindedly from Remus, to Sirius, to James and to her surprise, she was instantly intrigued by James' features...
'Wow...' She daydreamed. 'He looks a lot different than all the other boys...He must work out...He's very muscular compared to Remus and Sirius...maybe has a 6-pack...and his hair is so messy, it's almost cute...' Lily awoke from her goggling to Kristy shaking her. "Lily! Are you ok? A professor is talking and you're just standing there, not blinking or listening!"
Lily shook her head violently to get rid of her thoughts. "Oh yeah! I'm fine!" She started to think again, completely oblivious to what the old, stern-looking witch was saying...Holy cow! That was weird! Talk about a freaky trance! Where did those scary thoughts come from??? Oh well...just forget about it Lily! No biggy...you'll be focusing on acing your tests tomorrow, not boys...'
She snapped out of this trance to see Ashley waving her hand in front of her face. "Lily!?! Earth to Lily! Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah! I'm good! I was just in deep thought."
"Whatever...I'm sure you missed McGonagall explaining the 4 houses to us."
"Oh! That's ok...James already told me." In fact, Lily could still hear his voice on the train: "Well Lily...Gryffindor is by far the best! It's for the brave, friendly, social, creative, brilliany people. So naturally...that's were Me, Sirius and Remus are going. Hufflepuff is for the wimpy, shy ones. Ravenclaw is for the brainy people with no social lives. People who are in Slytherin are ugly, stupid gits. That's where Glenn will go." It cracked Lily up remembering his descriptions.
"Ow! I'm coming!" She said a little too loudly. Kristy and Ashley were dragging her into the castle because she had been zoned out again.
Professor McGonagall led them through the castle, taking the same route that Lily and the boys had taken. "Now students. I will open these doors and we will enter the Great Hall where you will be sorted. Follow me!" As soon as she pulled open the doors, the Great Hall erupted with applause from almost 1000 students. "Wow!" Lily stared in awe at the magnificent room. Of course she had already been in there before, but she was too tense to notice the decorations and the breath-taking ceiling which was bewitched to look like the night sky when she was in there earlier. Plus, the hundreds of smiling faces created a much more friendly and welcoming atmostphere that when empty. She could see Dumbledore sitting at the front. He was wearing scarlet robes and was smiling radiently, his eyes twinkling with delightment.
McGonagall herded them at the front of the hall and picked up the roll of parchment from the head table. "Now when I call your name, you will come forth, I will place the sorting hat on your head, and it will choose which house is most suiting for you...GLENN DARKMOON!" Lily glanced over to James, Sirius, and Remus who were standing next to her. James' eyes were filled with obvious anticipation. Remus was just as excited. Sirius, Lily figured, was going to have a pretty flat foot soon because Remus kept stepping on it to keep Sirius from laughing. Lily s-n-i-g-g-e-r-e-d. "Revenge is sweet!" She mouthed to them as Glenn took a seat in the chair and McGonagall raised the hat above his head.
Glenn didn't seem the least bit nervous, but his fear instantly shot up 500% just as soon as the hat was placed on his head. Sirius couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing. "Oh my God! Look at your head!!" James must have REALLY lathered up on the glue, because sure enough, it started to ooze out from under the hat, all through his hair. "AHH! Get this hat off me!" Glenn screamed madly. He was gripping the brim trying to pull it off, but is was already securly fastened there.
The Great Hall instantly became an audience producing enormous amounts of thunderous laughter watching McGonagall try to pry that hat off. It was no use. Glenn was freaking out while Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus gave eachother high fives. No one noticed this because they were too absorbed with laughing. Lily was keeling over she was laughing so hard and had to lean on Kristy for support, wiping away the flow of tears that were streaming down her face which was as red as a ripe cherry. She had never laughed so hard in her life! Her ribs were about the break! Once the professor realized it was impossible to get the hat off there, a chubby lady wearing a nursing hat came in and took Glenn out of the hall.
Everyone was still laughing, the 4 pranksters barely breathing, when Dumbledore stood up. "SILENCE!!!" He didn't even look very angry! Au contrair...he seemed VERY amused for the twinkle was still flickering in his eyes. The hall was instantly quieted. "Now...I'm sure that no one is going to confess to this, so the teachers and I have decided to cancel the surprise ball we were going to have tonight! I'm sorry!" Everyone moaned, but Lily couldn't have been happier, despite what the consequences were. "Let's continue the sorting, shall we?"
"But where's the real hat?" A Ravenclaw girl shouted.
Everyone looked around and jumped straight out of their seats when a deep voice echoed a "Help me! I'm under here!" It was evident that it was coming from under the headtable, and when Dumbledore handed McGonagall the Sorting Hat, the whole hall stared at it with raised eye-brows. It was fiery with rage, trying to shake its way out of Professor McGonagall's grip and it took a while for her to get it to calm down. "Are you all set, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked her calmly. He thought that seeing her try to get the hat under control was quite a show. So did all of the students, but they didn't dare laugh at McGonagall.
"Yes Professor! I'll procede!" She opened the scroll once more. "James Potter!" A lot of the girls started to giggle and flutter their eyelashes. They all knew James since his father was minister so that made him automatically popular, plus the fact that he was good looking helped him out even more. Lily wasn't among those girls who were acting all girly, but Kristy and Ashley sure were! To say the least, they were probably the worst. In no time at all, the hat announced "GRYFFINDOR!" One of the long tables clapped very loudly and James walked confindently to take a seat. His best friends were next on the list since it was made by James himself. "Sirius Black!...GRYFFINDOR!! Remus Lupin!...GRYFFINDOR!! Tray Baker!...HUFFLEPUFF!! Bridget Maskleis!...RAVENCLAW!! Severus Snape!...SLYTHERIN!!" The sorting went on and on, Lily applauding for just about everyone, waiting for her turn. "Kristy Johnson!...GRYFFINDOR! Ashley Marcelo!...GRYFFINDOR!" By the time Lily had finished clapping for her best friends, her hands were stinging.
Finally, she was the only one left. Why in the world would he put my last on the list!?! She thought as her name was called. "Lily Evans!..."
"Hmm..." She could hear it's delicate voice inside her head. "Very difficult! I haven't had a challenge like you for quite some time! Hmmm...where to put you..." The hat talked to itself for a very long time when, "HA! I've got it! You were a task my dear, yes you were, but I've got it...SLYTHERIN!!"
Lily's eyes had been closed the whole time, praying, but they flew open as soon as she heard that dreaded word...The first thing she saw was James' jaw. It was close to hitting the floor! "Nooo...!" Sirius was looking at her longingly and Remus' eyes couldn't have gotten any bigger without popping right out. Kristy and Ashley felt the same as Lily: on the verge of tears. They all just stared at eachother with complete bewilderment as the Slytherin table welcomed her willingly with applause. What's wrong with me? She told herself as she walked noticibly gloomily to her house table. I just don't understand! There's simply no possible...
"LILY EVANS! Miss Evans!" The Sorting Hat interrupted her disturbing thoughts. "You must come back here at once! I entirely missed something! MISS EVANS!!" It was jumping up and down on the stool, flittering its brim when in the air, excitedly. The entire student body was silenced and the teachers looked on, questioningly. Lily's eyes were as big as Remus' were when she shot her head up. OH THANK GOD! She moved back to the front of the room quickly, trying not to make it too obvious that Slytherin was the last place that she wanted to be. Professor McGonagall shrugged and placed the hat back on her flaming red head. The excited voice entered her brain once more. "Oh my word! I did miss something! I almost made a terrible, terrible mistake! I was so fascinated with looking at the normal 11 year old qualities, which you have an exhuberent amount of by the way, that I completely overlooked a key element! How could I be so blind!?!?" Just get on with it! She urged it. "Oh yes! Of course! You, my dear, have the greatest amount of skill and bravery that I have ever seen since Godric himself! There is no doubt in my mind or yours that you belong in...GRYFFINDOR!!!"
The moment her house escaped the hat's mouth, Lily's 5 best friends started jumping in the air, wildly. She could hear Kristy and Ashley over all the noise screaming "Lily! Oh my gosh! Yea Lily!!!" as loud as their vocal cords would allow. Lily had never been so thankful to have such a heavy burden lifted off her chest. She thrust herself off the stool and ran as fast as lightning to her friends. The three girls were crying and hugging while James, Remus, and Sirius' smiles stretched clear across their faces. The joyous applause lasted forever until everyone got over the shock and Dumbledore stood up to make his 'before-the-feast' speech.
"Welcome first years and returning students! Well, I must say, that was the most interesting sorting ceremony that I have ever seen! Miss Lily Evans is very lucky to have this honor that has never before taken place in Hogwarts history. She is the first ever to be called back to be re-sorted! Congratulations! And now I have some general announcements...As always, the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students...and we have 3 new professors to join our staff this year! Professor Arabella Figg!!" A middle aged woman with golden hair, a chubby face, and cheerful eyes stood up. "She will be your Care of Magical Creatures teacher! Professor Alvin Loritz will be the professor of History of Magic!" A man with black hair and a smile that was contagious rose from his chair to greet the polite applause. "And last but certainly not least, Professor Odysseus Evans for Defense Againt the Dark Arts!"
Everyone's head turned sharply to Lily who looked just a befuddled as them. She hadn't noticed him before, but as she looked at him for a while, she remembered. "He's my uncle! I haven't seem him since I was little! I never knew he was a wizard! Why didn't my parents ever tell me??"
"WOW Lily! You thought u came from a complete muggle family and your uncle is a wizard who teaches defense against the dark arts! That's the coolest class there is!" James told her happily. "Cool!"
Dumbledore continued. "Now...I'm sure you're all starving..." Yeah right! Lily thought. I'm stuffed! We ate enough sugar on the Hogwarts Express to bake a cake for every person in here with! "So let's eat!" The tables were filled to capacity with every type of food imaginable! Lily ate a little, but mostly talked to Ashley and Kristy, watched James, Sirius, and Remus scarf down plate after plate, and wondered how it was humanly possible for them to eat another bite.
It was about 11PM, the long house tables' food had disappeared, and Dumbledore stood to make an announcement. "Your attention please! Prefects...please take the first years to the dormatories now so they can get situated before the rest of the school arrives! Thank you!" A prefect from each house stood and montioned for them to follow. The prefect was a carrot-top who seemed very happy to be there. He led them through endless corridors and hallways while Lily tried to memorize the way. It was close to impossible. None too soon, they all stopped in front of a portrait of a fat lady clad in pink frills. Lily jumped when it moved and began to talk. "Why hello again Arthur! Set the password please!"
"Yes maam!" He turned to all the first years and gave them orders. "You must all be very quiet! I'm going to set the password for this week! Don't talk!" Arthur went to face the portrait and told her, "The password will be treckle..."
Just as he said that, Sirius purposely stepped on Lily's foot, hard! "Ouch! You moron!"
"Thank you for the password!" The Fat Lady said seriously. That's what she really thought the password was meant to be.
Lily glared at Sirius murderously and jabbed him in the side. He was looking at the ceiling innocently.
"Thanks to you two, our password for this week is 'treckle ouch you moron'! 10 points from Gryffindor for not listening to directions!" Arthur grumpily led them into the beautiful, circular common room, told them where the boys and girls dormitories were, and went straight back out again.
As soon as he left, James and Sirius looked at eachother and yelled "PARTY!!!" They got out a bunch of candy, 'Great! More food!', turned on the music, and got everybody to dance. Lily, on the other hand, had other plans.
"Guys?" She yawned. "I'm wiped! I'm going to bed or else I won't be able to wake up in the morning..."
"But Lily!" James wined.
"You have to stay! You'll miss all the fun!" Remus begged.
"And all the food!" Sirius added.
"That's ok! I've had enough fun today to last me a lifetime. And the candy...well...I don't know how you guys can eat another piece without throwing it back up. Good night!"
"G'night..." They groaned.
She went straight upstairs and flopped down on the four-poster bed labeled 'Lilian Evans'.
"Wow! What a day! I'm really going to like it here! I'm in Gryffindor thank God, my best friends are here, and Glenn got the embarrassment of his life..." She daydreamed about the year to come, knowing that if she continued to hang out with James, Sirius, and Remus, this prank was only the first of many more to come!