Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews everyone and keep them coming! I can't respond to them right now, because it's late and the parental units say that I have to get off right now…
ENJOY!!!!
Chapter 4: A Feint Sorting
~*~ Harry Potter Era ~*~
"When someone dies, the gods will sort them into one of three categories: Soul enslaved, Soul leisured, and Soul Reincarnated. Only the most pure and honest souls will be given the right to live again."
~Luna's Diaries~
The entire hall was silent. No one dared to whisper or turn their heads away incase they missed any movement or sound from the scene in front of them. A pin being dropped would echo throughout the room and seem as loud as a rock-concert with millions of screaming fans; though no one would probably notice. Like everyone else, Harry's eyes were set on Violet, Professor Lupin and Snape, with deep interest. All three of them seemed transfixed with one-another, though the two teachers didn't move an inch. Violet however, started to tremble slightly as she took a few, slow steps back, away from the them, her head shifting to look at one professor to the next and back again.
"R-Rem…N-no. I-I'm not L-luna. I-I'm… I'm…" She stalled and swayed dangerously on the spot, her face paling to a chalky-white, "…O-oh dear…" eyes rolling back, she collapsed onto the cold, hard-stone floor in a dead faint.
It took a few moments for everyone to realize what had just happened. A few second year girls gave a small shriek at the sight of Violet's spread-eagled body, but stopped suddenly when Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"There is no need to panic. Remus, would you please take Ms. Moonglade to the infirmary? I believe she'll need some tending to from Poppy."
Professor Lupin, who had already hurried to her side, picked her up and nodded. Still too speechless to say anything, he quickly walked out the Great Hall towards the hospital wing. Snape eyed him closely and then shifted his piercing gaze at Harry. Narrowing his eyes at him, he swiftly strode back towards his chair at the staff table.
"Calm down everyone. I'm sure she'll be fine," Dumbledore's worried expression turned into a cheerful smile when Professor McGonagall walked into the Great Hall, "I see the first years have arrived." Sure enough, a small group of wide-eyed ten and eleven-year-olds scuttled in after her. Harry surprisingly recognized one of them. He had definitely seen him before in his cousin's clutches, being terrified by Dudley and his gang. Mark Evans was staring around the room, as if he couldn't really believe that he was there. Spotting Harry, his eyes widened and he gasped.
"Who's that?" Ron asked, looking at the small boy with slightly reddish hair. But before Harry could answer, Hermione interrupted him… angrily.
"What do you mean 'who's that'? Aren't you at all shocked at what just happened?"
"What?" Ron seemed to realize that this was the wrong answer the second he said it, and grimaced.
"What? WHAT!!! Violet just fainted and you're just sitting there, asking stupid questions, not even looking like you're worried about her!" Hermione yet again gave him another threatening glare, which made him turn a bit red.
He just shrugged though, and said rather carelessly, "Well, she'll be alright. I mean… Madame Pomfrey has cured people who've had worse things happen to them."
Harry would have bet his Firebolt that Hermione was going to strangle him, but seeing that the Sorting Hat was already placed upon it's stool, waiting for silence, she seemed to have resided to muttering to herself and refusing to speak to Ron. Harry was used to this and was thankful that he didn't have to listening to her nagging and angry shrieking.
The hall quieted again, and the usual rip near the brim of the old hat opened up to begin its song:
"For many years I've been here,
For many years I've seen,
Just place me up atop your head,
And I'll tell you where you ought to be.
Are you daring, are you brave,
A worthy Gryffindor,
Should I place you into the house,
Of the founder way from moor?
If you're loyal and rather kind,
And you don't believe in fraud,
Perhaps a Hufflepuff you shall be,
In the house of the founder from valley-broad.
The witty and intelligent,
Describes the founder way from glen,
And his house of Ravenclaw,
Where knowledge is what you yen,
And lastly, you may be Slytherin,
The house of friendship and of cunning,
This founder from fen was always known,
For his excellence at shunning,
These four founders all shared the dream,
To start a magic school,
But since they argued on whom to teach,
They created me and my sorting stool,
Eventually this argument,
Became a big disaster,
For one of our four founders left,
Leaving only three of the headmasters,
Soon enough, the last three,
With sorrow on their minds,
Eventually they parted too,
Leaving only me behind,
My chore, my job, and my dream,
Is to sort young wizards and witches,
Into houses that will teach all,
And give experiences that enriches,
Ever since Sytherin departed,
The houses, four pillars tall,
Have crumbled into sep'rate piles,
And unity doesn't exist at all,
We need this skill, more now than ever,
Since danger lurks quite close,
All of us need to work together,
Wizards, witches, and ghosts,
Now pick me up and wait your turn,
To sit down and put me on,
I'll now place you into the rightful house,
Since I'm done my sorting song."
With that, the Sorting Hat became quiet and everyone clapped loudly, though –just like the year before – there was a hesitance lurking deep in many minds and thoughts. The soon to be first years looked slightly confused, because of the warning, but there was a sense of relief floating around them. They probably thought that they had to go through some sort of dangerous test to be sorted, Harry thought, remembering the thoughts that had gone through his own head six years ago.
Professor McGonagall walked quickly forward holding a list in front of her. She seemed a bit tense, but she always has been. The students stopped clapping and focused their attention towards her.
"When I call your name, please step forward to be sorted. After you are placed into the correct house, please join the table suited for you," she stated blankly. "Belle, Anna!" A rather skinny girl nervously stepped forward, towards the hat. When she put it on, it fell over her eyes so that you could only see her freckled nose. Her cherry-red curls seemed to protest to being forced straight by the hat and almost popped it off her head. It was only seconds after she tugged it down again over her face, that the hat decided to place her in Gryffindor. Harry's table cheered, while laughing at the incident. Who would think that hair could be so… bouncy.
"Brightslin, Lara."
"Hmm…" Hermione caught Harry's attention, as she looked at the magnificent doors, wondering aloud.
"What are you looking for? A few house elves to ruin their lives by setting them free?" Ron whispered loudly. Hermione seemed to have caught his attention as well, though Ron still turned away to watch as Lara was sorted into Ravenclaw.
"No!" She snapped. Cheers were heard from the table near them. "I was just wondering why professor Lupin hasn't returned by now. It doesn't take that long to walk to the Hospital Wing, even if he was carrying Violet."
"Well, he did know her mother," Harry pointed out. "Maybe he's just making sure she's all right." The hall clapped excitably again, as Sean Chansé was sorted into Hufflepuff.
Ron looked at the relieved boy boredly, and then turned to Harry and Hermione, "Yah. That's probably right."
"Cole, Raven!"
"Slytherin!"
"Evans, Mark!" This caught Harry's attention. The way McGonagall said it, stirred some distant memory. Evans…Evans… Besides Mark, he had heard that name before. Somewhere… He watched as the small and lightly redheaded boy walked up to the stool, and place the hat on his head. It took only a few seconds for the hat to call…
"Gryffindor!" Mark grinned, as he ran to his table and sat down next to his fellow Gryffindors, who were cheering and clapping loudly for him. Harry only stared for a second, trying to remember who else had sported that boy's name, before pushing his thoughts aside and returning his gaze to the sorting hat.
"Hunter, Lyra!"
"Gryffindor!"
"Lynnarsus, Mya!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Maslen, Jack!"
"Slytherin!"
"Meadowlark, Nicole!" A pretty girl with straight, golden-blonde hair skipped towards the stool and swiftly sat down. Twiddling her thumbs impatiently, she waited for the hat to call out her house.
"Gryffindor!" Harry watched as she joined his table, and started to chatter happily with Anna and Lyra.
"Nani, Willow!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Quannue, Han!"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Ramsay, Ignatius!" The boy who responded to this call, seemed to be a bit embarrassed about his name. Ron snickered quietly to himself. Harry didn't have to ask to find out what he thought was funny, and admitted that he too thought that the boy's name was a bit strange.
"Gryffindor!"
"Sharke, Spirit!" This girl had raven, silky-black hair that reminded Harry annoyingly of Cho Chang. He felt a grumble erupt at the thought of her… or was that just his empty stomached?
"Slytherin!" Harry felt slightly relieved that Spirit wasn't in Gryffindor, but he couldn't pinpoint the reason why. Maybe it was the dark aura that surrounded her, or the fact that she wore black lipstick. His stomache growled again, hungrily.
"Shin, Pato!"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Yank, Andrew!" Finally, that last person. Unfortunately though, the longest to be sorted. Harry sighed impatiently and Hermione gave him a sharp kick underneath the table. Someone was still in a foul mood.
"Slytherin!" Ron perked up. He seemed to notice that the sorting was over, and cheered happily with the Slytherins. A few Gryffindor girls shifted suspiciously away from him, and ended up pushing a short, little second year girl off the bench. She didn't seem to mind, as she just stood up and sat somewhere else, giggling.
Dumbledore rose to his feet again, and all eyes turned to face him, "I am pleased to announce the beginning of another new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, and I welcome the many new faces and the old that I see. As well as new first years, we also have a new student who will be joining the sixth years, and I am sure you all remember her form earlier, regarding the incident with professor Snape," Harry was positive he saw the old man's eyes twinkle in amusement as he gestured towards the scowling professor. A couple of students laughed as they recalled the memory. "I also have an announcement about our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and am pleased to say that Mr.Lupin has returned to Hogwarts," Everyone who had been taught by the professor clapped and cheered as loud as possible. Some people even stood up as if to give him a standing ovation, but Dumbledore made an arm movement to tell them to be seated and continued. "Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, also wanted me to remind you that Hair Ripping Gum and Bumble-Stings are now added to the long list of forbidden items. This list can be viewed from outside his office if needed to be so. In further adieu, the Forbidden Forest is still as forbidden as always, and Quidditch tryouts will be held in a few weeks time. Notices on the subject will be posted in the four houses' Common Rooms in a few days. Now, I believe we are all hungry," He paused again with a smile, " so let the feast begin!" With a sweep of his arms, food filled the golden platters. But not just any food that you would see at any ordinary muggle table, but the most delicious and juiciest and well-cooked meals ever prepared. There was freshly baked bread, vegetables and fruits, perfectly cooked steaks and chicken, mashed potatoes, fish, and any other food you could imagine. Harry and Ron instantly started piling whatever meat, carbohydrate, vegetable, and dairy item closest to them onto their plates and gobbling it all up as quickly as possible, only pausing for a minute to take a gulp of pumpkin juice to wash the remains all down and then start eating again. Hermione gave them a disgusted look and slowly took a few bites of her chicken sandwich, almost as if trying to show them how to really eat a meal. The girls who had shifted away from Ron earlier stared at both boys in shock and a bit of amusement, though with a few minutes of registering what was beside them, they slowly moved away and another 'thump' was heard as another girl fell off the bench.
~*~
"That was the best meal I've ever tasted!" Ron said, rubbing his stomach happily and adding, "And we get to eat like that every single day for the next school year!"
"Well if you do continue eating like that, then you won't be fast enough on your broom to save any Quaffles, and I doubt that you'd be able to get off the ground." Hermione was still in a foul mood. Ron turned red again as Harry laughed at the thought of Ron being so overweight that his broom wouldn't lift him.
"Aren't you two supposed to be helping the first years with knowing how to get to our common room?" Harry asked them.
They both looked at him as if he were clueless, "No. That's for the fifth year prefects."
"Oh." He felt very stupid at times like this, but how was he supposed to know stuff like that; he wasn't a prefect.
Thankful that they were finally at the portrait hole, Harry watched as Hermione quickly said the password (Jewilly-fish) and The Fat Lady let them enter. The first thing they noticed, was that Violet was sitting in one of the large, scarlet armchairs, looking in what seemed to be a photo album.
Hermione sighed in relief and ran over to her, "Violet, shouldn't you be in the hospital wing?"
Violet looked up and smiled, "No, I'm perfectly fine. Professor Lupin just took me to his office and let me rest. I woke up pretty quickly, so no need to worry. A house-elf was sent to get some food and he gave me some chocolate," she grinned and pointed at the book she was holding. "Look. It's a picture from when my mother was in school. The professor gave me this yearbook from the library."
"So, he didn't take you to see Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione looked really worried.
She laughed, "Well, she came to visit and after a thorough inspection, she complimented Professor Lupin on his healing skills," Violet looked at Hermione with concern, "I'm perfectly all right, Hermione. Don't worry about me."
"But-"
"Violet! There you are. I've been looking all over for you." Mark Evans suddenly appeared by her side, throwing Harry, Ron and Hermione completely off guard, "You left some of your books at my house, during the summer, so… here they are." He dropped five thick and extremely heavy looking books onto the table, beside her armchair, and started to rub his arms. Obviously from the pain of having to carry them.
"Thanks Mark! I've been looking all over for these," her smile disappeared from her face when she looked at the books. "You haven't read them have you? They are very dangerous. Some of the spells in these books are irreversible"
He looked at bit worried and then stared at his arms, as if checking if to make sure that they hadn't sprouted leaves and branches, "N-no. I just brought them back; like my mother said."
Violet seemed happy with this statement and grinned, "Good! Oh, and speaking of your mother, come take a look at these pictures, both of your parents are in them. Yours too Harry!" Harry quickly looked down at the book and Ron and Hermione followed suit. The picture on this page was labeled, "The Mischief Makers Take a Break" and showed a group of teenagers who looked about his age- maybe even a year younger- standing in front of a Christmas tree in what looked like this very room. Indeed, both of his parents were there: his mother smiling joyously to the camera and his father glancing happily around the room. Every so often he would glance at Lily and then up at the mistletoe hanging above the group. Harry couldn't help chuckling at this. "See? That's Lily and James. Peter and Sirius are next to the buffet table and that's my mother with Remus." Harry didn't have to be told twice. A girl who could of passed as Violet's twin was standing next to his favorite professor with her head resting on his shoulder. They were both grinning at Harry and waving at the viewers. As well as the Marauders, there was also another boy with hair just as red as Lily, who Violet said was named Mark. It seemed that Mark Evans was named after his father and inherited his hair colour. "Oh yah! And that's Jamie or your mother if you're Mark. She seems to be hiding something behind her back, and of course there's Siria whispering in her ear and smiling innocently at the camera, but I think we all know better," Jamie had brown hair that was pulled into a low ponytail and wore glasses covering her blue eyes, while Siria had uncontrollably frizzy and curly blonde hair, and was a bit short; but the shortest of all was a chubby girl with long black hair – also in a ponytail- who was also standing near the buffet table and every so often grabbing a treacle tart or some random sweet. "That's Patty," Violet stated following Harry's gaze, "My mom said she was obsessed with food and I don't doubt it by the looks of this picture," They all laughed and after a large yawn, Violet closed the book. "Anyways, today really tired me, so I'm going to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow, I guess," She stood up and walked up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. Everyone just stood around the empty armchair for a moment gazing at the stairs, in which Violet had climbed and disappeared from view. Her books had floated after her, which everyone stared at as well, until they too decided to go to their own dorm rooms.
After looking out the window, changing and climbing into bed, Harry thought about his first day back at Hogwarts and found that he had enjoyed it and meeting Violet Moonglade. The last thing he remembered that night, was the sound of an owl hooting outside and his own thoughts repeating: Evans…Evans…
Hope you liked it! I know I haven't updated in a loooong time, but I did have a bit of writer's block (This is NOT an excuse Siria, so don't tease me about it!) and I hope that you don't mention the loooong wait for the update in your reviews. By the way, I'm not going to update the next chapter until I get at least 15 reviews. I know I might be asking a bit much, but I need to catch up to one of my friends. Anyway, until next time… ~Luna~
