The Sorting Hat fell silent to bursts of applause from the students in the Great Hall. When the students had quieted down again, Professor McGonagall unrolled a long piece of parchment and began calling out names.
Harry was surprised that after the new Ravenclaw, Rachel Daffers, they went straight to Ryan Darren, who became a Slytherin. More students went up to the Sorting Hat, and when McGonagall reached "Tames, Alan", Harry heard Ron's stomach rumble annoyingly. Finally, there were only two people left: Kelly and another girl who looked like she was going to rip the Sorting Hat thread by thread if it put her in anything but Slytherin. Sure enough, when McGonagall called, "Wane, Jamie", the Sorting Hat was on her for only a moment before it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"
"Damen, Kelly," McGonagall said to the last person there. All the students' eyes were now on Kelly. McGonagall lifted up the Sorting Hat and set it on Kelly's head.
Kelly sat there for a very long time. Harry had feared when he was going to be sorted, several years ago, that the hat would not put him in a house at all, and that he would be sent back to the Dursley's. Kelly looked utterly petrified, but several times he saw her eyes narrow in anger at something the Sorting Hat said in her head. Harry looked at McGonagall after what must have been two minutes of the hat being on Kelly's head. She was staring at Dumbledore. Harry turned to look at Dumbledore, too, and it seemed he was staring, transfixed, at the hat and the back of Kelly. After another, eternal-long minute, the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
There was applause for Kelly, but it was rather muffled. No one, for as long as anyone could remember, had taken that long for the Sorting Hat to decide. Kelly walked toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione, sat down, and said nothing.
"Congratulations," Hermione said, smiling.
"Welcome to Gryffindor!" Nearly Headless Nick exclaimed, as he had just floated over.
Dumbledore stood up and silence entered the hall. "Welcome to our new students, and to our old, welcome back! Along with our first years this year, we have a transfer student! Kelly Damen, who is now a member of Gryffindor, was a student at Beauxbatons Academy, but has decided that she would like to spend her remaining two years in school at Hogwarts! And now that we know who our three-minute decision was, some questions have been answered and the feast may begin."
The plates filled themselves with food, and Ron couldn't have looked happier. "About time!" he said, piling his plate with food. Kelly was slowly putting food on her plate. She hadn't said a word since her sorting, and she looked like she was very deep in thought. Hermione was watching her, putting food on her plate, and she, too, looked like she was extremely deep in thought. Harry was just starting to eat his chicken when she jumped up so suddenly that Ron, who had just taken a sip of pumpkin juice, made his pumpkin juice come out through his nose.
"I need to go to the library," Hermione said.
"Hermione! It's the middle of the feast! Are you crazy?!?!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione did not answer. She exited the Great Hall, to very few people's notice. Harry and Ron stared after her, but Kelly, it seemed, had not made a single movement as to Hermione's sudden decision to go to the library.
"She's obsessed with the library," Ron explained to Kelly. "I'm surprised to doesn't live in there!"
Kelly merely nodded and continued eating quietly.
Harry made conversation with Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Ron and left Kelly to her thoughts. She didn't join in until late into the conversation, saying she was sorry not to have spoken to anyone, but she needed some time to think. Everyone nodded in understanding, quite unable to relate, but getting the general picture. The only question in their minds was what the Sorting Hat had taken up three minutes to say.
Hermione still wasn't there when Dumbledore stood up to make his normal announcements, which made Harry worry a bit, but when Dumbledore announced that the Quidditch season would be starting again a bit more swiftly than usual, his mind was taken off Hermione.
"…so who'll be our Chasers? Our Beaters really stink, so if we can find replacements for them, too, that'll be great…." Ron was saying as they exited the hall.
"Yes," Dean agreed. "And, I wonder, who's the new Quidditch—?"
"Weasley!" McGonagall's voice rang through the Entrance Hall.
Ron turned around, looking at McGonagall.
"Follow me," McGonagall said.
Ron followed the strict head of Gryffindor, looking worried. She led him into an empty nearby classroom and shut the door.
"Should we wait for him?" Harry asked the others.
"He'll be okay," Dean assured Harry.
"Yeah, let's go," Seamus said.
"I'll wait for Ron," Kelly said.
"Okay. I'll wait with you," said Harry.
Shrugging, Neville, Seamus, and Dean continued up the Great Staircase.
Kelly and Harry didn't speak while the crowd of students continued up the staircase and no sound was heard from the classroom in which Ron was located. When there were only a few students still climbing the stairs, Harry asked, "Why do you think McGonagall called Ron?"
Kelly looked at him and gave him a knowing smile. "She has her reasons."
Harry looked at her suspiciously. "Are you not telling me something?"
She grinned. "The amount of things I'm not telling you could fill several books, stealing the words from a wise friend."
"You wanna start sharing?" Harry asked.
"Not particularly," Kelly answered, staring at the doorway into the classroom, which had just opened. Ron came out, and Harry swore he was bouncing with delight. McGonagall followed him, looking quite pleased herself.
"Harry! Harry, guess what? Harry, I'm the new Quidditch Captain!" Ron exclaimed with the utmost delight.
Harry looked at him in amazement. "Congratulations!"
"I know! McGonagall took me into the classroom, right?" Ron asked as he, Harry, and Kelly started climbing the staircase. "And I'm thinking, 'She's gonna expel me for something' because the look on her face was serious. And she shuts the door and looks at me and then she smiles at me! And she says, 'Mr. Weasley, I have great pleasure in telling you that you are the new Quidditch Captain.' And it was so cool, Harry! But it's a lot of responsibility! I've got to arrange practices and stuff and book the field… oh, but Harry, it's so cool! I'm gonna go to the Owlery and write mum!"
And Ron raced off to the left towards the Owlery.
Kelly looked after him, her eyebrows raised and a smile on her face. "Fragrant Holly."
The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open to find about a dozen people left inside. The rest had gone to bed, and a drowsy silence lay among those that remained. Harry sat down on a couch to wait for Ron, but Kelly said she was going to go see if Hermione was in their dorm. Harry nodded and watched her go off, drowsiness falling over him.
Ron entered the Common Room about ten minutes after Kelly had come down to tell Harry that Hermione was up there. Harry and Ron left for their dorm, Ron babbling to use up his excess energy.
"Yes, and I bet mum'll be so pleased she'll get me something else! Maybe she'll get me a new cauldron, since Percy's is really bad. Percy's cauldron bottom report got in, and now cauldron's are 'so much better, that I'll be surprised if anyone needs to get two in their lives', as Percy says. Or maybe…" Ron trailed on.
Harry changed into his pajamas and slipped into his four-poster and under his blankets. He was so warm and comfortable, he even fell asleep with Ron still droning on about "new vials for Potions, because Fred and George's are really cracked. And she might…"
A/N:
Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in forever. My computer broke down a bazillion times, and then it took my mum ages to reinstall Microsoft Word (I originally write everything on Microsoft Works because I'm more familiar with it.) So forgive me, don't sue, and here's the 411:
Next chapter we've got the M.P.G. from Rita Skeeter, Transfiguration, and something very shady by Kelly, something that might have your mind going a bit.
Review! Make me smile!
Thankx all,
Riles