A/N: Hello again! Okay, I lied in Chapter 2 – they don't get on the train until now. So what? Well, I'd like to thank Damantaray and ThreatenedWriter (again)! You guys make up 6 of my 7 reviews! Yay!
Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Anything. Except my characters, whom I will hug now. And I don't evenown all of them; some of them are real people. But whatever. Now the lawyers can't sue me!
Lawyers: Yes we can! We will always find a way to sue you.
Me: No you won't! I will modify your memories and make you think that you are leprechauns. Hehehe. Now, let's get to reading Chapter 4.
Chapter 4 – The Sorting
Kyle stepped through the barrier, so bewildered that he didn't even chide Tessa for doing something that could attract unwanted attention from the muggles outside. He and Tessa were not the only ones looking bewildered. Several people who looked to be about their age (A/N: Did I tell you that they're 11? I thought it was a given… anyways, back to the story) were looking around with expressions of what could have been fear, awe, bewilderment or a mixture of the three emotions etched clearly on their faces. One boy in particular, a small, skinny boy with mouse-brown hair and wide brown eyes looked like he was going to faint.
The two friends were jerked sharply from their reverie by a loud piercing whistle from down the track. A bright red engine plowed its way forward, screeching to a halt at the platform. At the very front, the words Hogwarts Express glared out at them.
"All aboard!" A wave of students – short, tall, thin, fat, brown-haired, black-haired, red-haired and many more – seethed towards the train. As the crowd swept Tessa and Kyle forward, each clutching tightly to the other's hand, Tessa could remember wondering how so many people could fit onto a single train.
Hard-pressed to find an empty compartment to squeeze into, they found one where only three people were sitting (A/N: In my world, the compartments fit six people each. Meh.).
"D'you mind if we –" Kyle began, but a shortish girl with very curly brown hair stopped him.
"Sure, you can sit on down with us. Just don't take up all the space!" She said, grinning broadly.
Once everyone was comfortably seated, Tessa was able to get a better look at the people in their compartment. On one side of her sat Kyle, and on the other sat a boy who looked Mexican with his well-tanned skin, brown eyes and long dark hair, which looked as though he had tried and failed to cut it himself with a pair of blunt scissors.
The girl who had first ushered them in sat directly across from the Mexican boy. She looked as though she laughed a lot, and there was a mischievous glint in her hazel eyes. She looked like the kind of girl who got into trouble for the fun of it.
The last girl sat beside the first, her long blonde hair perfectly straight and seemingly caught in the compartment door. Tessa guessed that she was fairly independent, since she wasn't asking for help. Her blue eyes shone with mirth, even though she had her hair stuck in the door.
"Well," said the brown-haired girl, "I think that since we're all here, we should introduce ourselves. I'll go first. My name's Genelle – you can call me Nellie – and I live in Winnipeg… or I did before I came here."
"My name's Veronica, but you guys can call me Ronnie. By the way, could someone give me a hand here?" She gestured to the door. She had obviously given up getting it out herself. Kyle obliged by opening the door, and Veronica shook her head luxuriously. "Thanks, that much better. Come to think of it, I'm from Winnipeg too!"
The Mexican boy beside Tessa went next. "My name is Miguel. I was living in Mexico until last year, when we immigrated to Canada." He grinned, showing his pearly white teeth that stood out against his dark skin. "We moved to Winnipeg."
"My name's Tessa." Said Tessa. "I'm from… you guessed it, Winnipeg! Wow, what are the odds of having a compartment full of Winnipeggers?" Everybody had a good laugh at that.
"I'm Kyle," said Kyle. "I'm from… wow. Winnipeg. Kind of strange that we all live in the same city, but I've never seen you" he pointed at Nellie, "You," he pointed at Ronnie, "Or you," he pointed at Miguel, "at any point in my life before. Weird. But, One thing I know for sure is that I'm so getting into Gryffindor!"
Tessa looked blank. "Kyle, what's that?"
"Oh yeah, you don't know much about this yet." Kyle said, as though he had totally forgotten up until that point that I had never until about two weeks earlier known anything whatsoever about the wizarding world.
"What?" exclaimed Genelle. "You're saying that you're on the train to Hogwarts, and you don't even know what the sorting is?"
If such a thing was possible, Tessa looked even blanker (A/N: Blanker, more blank… so confusing!).
"Here, I'll explain." Offered Ronnie. "At Hogwarts School there are four houses. They're called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Gryffindor's for brave people, Ravenclaw's for smart people, Hufflepuff's for people who can work hard and Slytherin's for people who are… cunning." She ended lamely, and Tessa guessed that she was holding something back.
"You mean Slytherin's for evil people!" Nellie butted in.
Ronnie shook her head in amazement. "It always astonishes me how you can be such a nice person, but be so out of touch with other peoples' feelings."
The indignant look of Nellie's face spoke volumes.
Meanwhile, Tessa felt unconsciousness slipping further and further away with every movement of the train. The dark waves of sleep pulled her mind, already weakened by awe and TMI (A/N: Too Much Information), into their grasp…
Flight, wonderful flight. Flying above the treetops that spread every which way below her. She was looking for something, it called to her. She was so close…
"Tessa! Tessa, wake up! We're almost there." A voice she knew… Kyle! Kyle's voice cut into her half-consciousness like a knife.
"I almost had it…" Tessa mumbled, angry with Kyle. How dare he stop from achieving… what? What was it she needed so desperately? She racked her brain, but the dream was gone, dissipated like mist in the sun…
"Tessa? Get your robes on, we're practically there!" Nellie's voice this time. "Don't worry, the guys won't look while you change."
"Hm?" Tessa sat up slowly, yawning. "Sorry, must have dozed off…" She moved her hand, which she had been using as a pillow, from behind her head and yelped in pain. "Ow! I guess my hand fell asleep too… no worries," she said when the boys turned their backs to her. "I have my robes under my clothes." She pulled off her t-shirt and jeans, revealing long, black robes. Rain pattered against, the windows, making it impossible to see out of them.
The train lurched to a stop. It shook as something huge came on. "Firs' years! Firs' years, come wi' me."
Tessa, Kyle, Ronnie, Miguel and Nellie grabbed their stuff and clambered out of their compartment. A huge man with shaggy hair and a great big beard stood, waving cheerily, at the front of the train. Slack-jawed in wonder, the students didn't start moving until the big man turned around and gestured for them to follow.
"Oh, leave yer bags on the train, there's good kids. They'll 'ave yer bags in yer dorms once ye get there." The cluster of first-years followed the huge man to the edge of a sinister looking lake. "Oh, by the way, m'name's Hagrid. C'mon, everybody, four to a boat."
Tessa, Kyle, Nellie and Ronnie clambered into the nearest boat, while Miguel went off with three kids who didn't have a fourth person. The boats seemed to move by magic (A/N: Because they did), and the awe-filled students arrived at the castle within minutes. After a couple of minutes of having a fairly scary old lady tell them to be well-behaved and explain the four Houses, the first-years were ushered into the Great Hall by a group of teachers and ghosts. The five friends had managed to find each other again, and had been seated fairly close to the front of the crowd. Behind them, four long tables – one decked out in red and gold, another in blue and brown, yet another in yellow and black and the last in green and silver.
Their attention was brought to the front of the Great Hall, where and old, battered, pointed hat sat on a three-legged stool. When the room fell silent, a rip in the brim of the hat opened like a mouth, and it began to sing.
Okay, until next time, R&R!
Kyle: If you don't R&R we'll
Nellie: Throw you to the giant squid!
Me: And we'll tell him you're a lawyer.
Ronnie: You see, the squid doesn't like lawyers very much. evil grin
Sneak Preview of Chapter 5!
You will have to read my poor attempts at poetry! MWAHAHAHAHA!