Seeing the Past, Present, and Future
Moonlit Warning
"Where is she?"
"I'm not sure, I can't see her."
"Is that her?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Oh! There she is, near the very back."
"You're right, I can see her. She really is short."
"Ron!"
The trio of friends abruptly stopped their conversation as the hat burst into song. They respectfully clapped afterwards and noticed that, once again, there was a warning in the hats song, though much more subtle than the previous year. The clapping faded away as Professor McGonnagall took out a long scroll and loudly stated the first name upon it.
"Asher, Gary!"
A boy, who was at least a head taller than all of the other first years, cautiously and slowly started walking towards the Sorting Hat. The first year's nervous face showed some relief when he was greeted with great applause by the Hufflepuff's table.
"Barclay, Valentine!" Professor McGonagall called after the Hufflepuff's applause had faded away.
A girl with her dark brown hair put up in a ponytail walked quickly towards the hat. The hat seemed to be debating which house to put her in, as it was a few moments before it shrieked to the hall: "RAVENCLAW!"
The table with a blue banner over it broke into applause and the girl was quickly welcomed to the table of fellow Ravenclaws.
More students were called and sorted in this matter, with each one receiving a warm welcome. Harry wasn't sure how many names had been called (or how much time had passed) when he heard their friend's name called.
She walked, as though in a rush, to the hat and didn't raise her eyes from the ground until the hat was put upon her head. As the hat slide over her eyes Harry noticed, for the first time, that her eyes were the exact same shade of brown as her hair. The patched hat was silent for what seemed like a very long time before it opened its "mouth" and told the entire hall which house the their young friend would be in.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The table around Harry broke into applause. He, Ron, and Hermione all looked dumbfounded, although Hermione quickly recovered and broke into applause, giving the newly-branded Gryffindor a seat next to her.
"How did she get into Gryffindor!" Ron exclaimed in a whisper to Harry, who was sitting besides him.
"I have no idea," Harry mouthed as the clapping died down and another student was called up to the hat.
How had she gotten in? After all, Gryffindor was supposed to be the courageous house, the brave house. At least from what Harry had seen so far, she certainly did not have this trait ascribed to the Gryffindors. The messy-haired boy tried to put aside this train of thought and comfort himself by thinking, "The hat's never been wrong before," although this did not help much. After all, there was a first time for anything.
Harry, being immersed in his thoughts, did not even notice when food appeared, until Ron prodded him and asked if anything was wrong. Harry absent-mindedly responded, "no" and proceeded to putting food on his plate.
After a very large dinner and many tasty desserts, the tables were cleared and Dumbledore stood up at the top of the faculty table. "Good evening students, both returning and new. I hope this is the start of a happy and productive year in which we shall all be a contribution to our house. I would also like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Douglas Sullivan."
This was met with applause from the hall as the man who had been sitting next to Snape stood up. The potions professor was looking at the new teacher with what seemed like suspicion, but a split second later it was just the usual loathing Snape regarded every new Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers with, leaving Harry to doubt whether he had seen anything at all. Professor Sullivan himself was a rather burly man of slightly less than average height, in what one could tell was obviously new robes. His glasses were very small and looked rather strange sitting upon his face, as though he had grabbed them from some random person, as opposed to owning them himself. The professor's light brown eyes were rather calculating, and they had a sort of sneakiness about them, glancing around the entry hall rapidly.
"To quickly move onward, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds for all students and only third-years and above can go to Hogsmeade. I won't hold you any longer as I am sure you are tired, so you are all now dismissed. Prefects, please show the first years the way to their respective common rooms." There was a great amount of noise as all of the students stood up. With a quick "excuse me" Hermione and Ron disappeared to the front of the Gryffindors to perform their prefectly duties. Harry let himself slip to the back of the crowd as they started the walk toward their common room.
"Hullo, Harry. Have a good summer?"
"It was…okay. Did you get a new wand, Neville?"
"Yeah, I really like it. Hey, have you seen Luna?"
"We sat with her on the train. If you want to talk to her you'll probably have to wait until tomorrow; I don't know where the Ravenclaw's rooms are."
"Aw, nah, I was just wondering. Is Ginny up ahead?"
"I assume so."
"Alright, I'm going to try and catch up with her. Bye, Harry!"
Harry silently waved goodbye before putting his hands back in his pockets. Already the air was starting to become colder, tinted with the feeling of Autumn. When Harry arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait it was already open and the Gryffindor's in front of him were climbing through. He'd have to find out the password from Ron or Hermione later. When he walked into the common room, it seemed everyone was heading up the stairs to their beds. Harry thought about following suit, but instead he decided to sit in front of the blazing fire. It radiated a warmth that seemed to demand one sit in front of it for at least a moment or two. But as he sat down in a soft chair he realized how incredibly tired he was. He knew he should go upstairs to sleep but his limbs were so tired…maybe it would be okay if he sat there just a bit longer…
When he woke up the only light that could be seen was the beams of moonlight that fell through the window. Things were rather blurry and he realized that his glasses had slipped off his face.
"You should go to bed, Harry." Harry looked around the room to try and pinpoint the voice but all he could see was a small, blurry figure of black and white lines and shadows. "And Harry?" The voice seemed to be retreating. "Be wary of the new teacher."
When Harry awoke the next morning in his Gryffindor bed, he wondered if it had simply been a surreal dream. Still though, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that the warning was real.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or his world.
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up. I should really try to update more often but I'm so incredibly busy. Well, anyway, please review.
Review Responses:Kuramakicksass: See? I included a description of a Sullivan! But I know, I should do more. Do you think you could help me with that sometime? Oh, and there's another chapter of The Tale of Tom up.