Disclaimer: Please refer to the disclaimer on the first chapter of this story. Thank you.
Chapter Summary: Time for the Hogwarts Express, the sorting, and more!
A/N: This was a fun chapter to write, I guess, but it was kind of tedious to do the Sorting, which took three Microsoft Word pages phew. I have a bit of writer's block, and I've never even gotten this far into a story before, so it's kind of hard to write quickly and make everything interesting. Therefore, sorry for the delay!
PLEASE NOTE: I don't have the Harry Potter books in my possession, at least not all of them. So please excuse me if I get some facts wrong here and there; I don't have much to check them with.
Please review! Don't flame please, but constructive criticism is welcome. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 3
Welcome to Hogwarts
James had never been so excited in his life. Or so he told his dad, who disagreed. "I think you were more excited the first time I let you fly," Chris had said. James had stuck out his tongue.
That had been before. Now, he was standing between Platforms 9 and 10 at Kings Cross Station. He was jumpy and was positive that his father was annoyed at him. Extremely annoyed.
"Dad," he whined. "For the thirty-fourth time ever since we've left home," Chris thought. They had taken the Knight Bus to the station. "Yes, James?" he asked kindly through clenched teeth.
"When do I get to be at Hogwarts?"
Chris sighed. "For the last time, James, you won't be there until after you've finished your…ride…on the Hogwarts Express."
James nodded excitedly. Chris sighed in relief as he spotted other familiar wizarding families entering the station. He knew that at least now, James would behave more maturely. He would probably calm down. "Good that it's not Sirius here at the moment," a voice inside him said. He knew full well that if Sirius came with his family, anyhow, that they would not allow him near James. He was now sure that Sirius wasn't anything like the rest of his family, but he had been skeptical at first.
"Look, it's Lily," James pointed. Chris knew his son was right; the bright red hair could be spotted from far away. It was a unique color.
Chris frowned. "Why is she dragging her trunk and owl along alone? Come on, James, we're going to go help her."
They approached Lily. "Want some help?" Chris offered. Lily smiled gratefully. "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks."
She looked at James, who was chewing on his lip, frowning. "What?" she demanded.
"Why are you carrying your trunk alone? Where are your parents?" he asked.
"Oh, they left. Petunia refused to leave the car, and threw a tantrum when mum and dad asked her to stay there. She can be a pain sometimes, and there was nothing they could do," Lily said, pretending to not care yet failing miserably. As much as she tried to hide it, even James could hear the hurt in her voice.
"Well, we were just about to cross the barrier, so why don't you come with us?" Chris suggested. Lily smacked her forehead.
"That reminds me. Where's Platform 9 and ¾?" she asked uncertainly, looking at her ticket."I know for a fact that the platform doesn't exist. At least, not in Muggle world," she said, eyeing James and his father suspiciously.
Chris laughed. "Oh, you see that brick wall?" he said, lowering his voice. "Just walk through that when no one's looking. That's a barrier, it'll bring you to Platform 9 and ¾."
Lily looked skeptical. "Are you trying to embarass me?"
"The guard's there to make sure nothing bad happens," Chris said reassuringly. "James, why don't you go first to show Lily?"
James scowled, but complied. He ran towards the brick wall. Lily closed her eyes andcovered her ears for thecrash on impact, but it never came. She slowly opened her eyes, to find that James was no longer there.
Chris was smiling at her. "Come on. Give it a try," he encouraged. Lily took her trunk and went towards the brick wall, still throwing it skeptical looks. When no one was looking, she walked into the brick wall.
Except she never hit it. She opened her eyes, and gasped.
Lily blinked several times. The image before her eyes was still there.
A scarlet train engine stood before her, with a seemingly endless row of red carriages behind it. There was a sign above her. She lifted her head to read it.
Platform 9 and ¾. It was real.
Along the side of the train was a label. 'The Hogwarts Express', it said.
"Want help?" a voice said beside her. Chris was next to her; she hadn't heard him come through the barrier. She realized that she had been standing there for nearly ten minutes. She glanced up at the clock and was startled to see that in a few seconds or so, the train would probably leave without her. She nodded hurriedly, and scrambled onto the train with Chris helping her with her luggage.
"Thanks," she said breathlessly as the Hogwarts Express pulled away.
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Lily Evans walked through the compartments of the train. They all seemed to be full. She passed Sirius and James in one, but was reluctant to sit with them through an entire train ride. Remus had been with them as well.
She pushed past more people and entered a compartment with several witches and wizards clad in robes accented with silver and green. They smirked at her, and Lily immediately got the impression that she was not wanted.
"I saw her talking to Black in Diagon Alley," Lucius hissed into Narcissa's ear. Lily didn't fail to hear this comment, and quickly walked through the rest of the compartments after Narcissa glared at her. She was glad when she found Naomi and Adrienne in a compartment near the end of the train with another girl.
"Hey guys," Lily said as she collapsed into a seat across from Adrienne, tired from dragging her trunk around.
"Hey," Naomi said, acknowledging her with a curt nod. Lily was still intimidated by her rather curt manner and stony exterior, but didn't show it.
Adrienne was more welcoming. "Hey Lily. Nice to see you," she said cheerfully. "This is Aislynn." Adrienne pointed to the girl sitting next to her. Her hair was dark brown and she looked like a sweet person.
"Never judge a book by its cover," a voice in Lily's head said darkly. She had more than enough experience to know that.
"Hey. You're Lily?" Aislynn asked, offering a hand. Lily took it.
"Yes," she confirmed. "Nice to meet you."
Aislynn turned back to the other two girls. "So what house do you think you guys will be in?"
Naomi shrugged. "Knowing me, probably Slytherin," she smirked. Adrienne rolled her eyes. Naomi would never be in Slytherin. She seemed to have an icy demeanor to others, but Adrienne knew her heart was good.
"What are houses?" Lily inquired.
Aislynn and Adrienne turned to her. "Oh, are you a Muggle-born?" Aislynn asked. Lily nodded.
"That's cool. We're pure-bloods—that means both our parents are of the magical kind—and Naomi is Muggle-born, but she found out that I was a witch by accident a few years ago, so she knows a lot about the wizarding world anyway," Adrienne said in one breath. "We live close to each other. It was exciting when we found out she was accepted to Hogwarts too."
Lily nodded, although she wasn't certain what she was nodding to. Aislynn spoke.
"Hogwarts has four houses, which you are sorted into by some impartial figure. I'm not sure what it is though," Aislynn said. "The houses are Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff."
"Ravenclaw's for the brains," Adrienne piped up. "Gryffindor's for the brave people, Hufflepuff is for just the sweet and nice people, and Slytherin's a load of crap. They're evil."
"Not all of them, they're not," Naomi countered. "I'll testify that those two we passed on our way down here are, though. Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black, I think."
Lily heard the name Black and was startled. "I passed them on my way down here too. The girl was a Black?"
Naomi nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"All Blacks go bad," Adrienne added.
"Have you guys met—" Lily started to say but was interrupted by a girl barging into their compartment. She had long, straight light brown hair and had a very sprightly vibe about her. She was out of breath. "Can we sit here?" she said quickly, motioning to a girl behind her. "Everywhere else is full, or they don't want me there."
"Like the Slytherins," Lily thought. "Sure, you can sit here. I'm Lily, and this is Naomi, Adrienne, and Aislynn."
The girl nodded, absorbing the information. "I'm a second-year, Leah. I'm in Gryffindor, and my friends' compartment is full." Leah made a face. "My sister Cayenne is a first-year though."
"Hey," said Cayenne. "Are you guys first-years?" The four of them nodded, and Cayenne brightened. "Excellent." The dirty-blonde seemed to have inherited her sister's liveliness.
"So, Lily, what were you saying?" Ayslinn asked. Lily pondered for a moment, then snapped her fingers.
"Oh yeah. Have either of you met Sirius Black? Now that I think of it, I could swear that I saw that girl glaring at Sirius from afar when I was at Diagon Alley. Are they related? He doesn't seem like a bad person."
Naomi shrugged. "Oh, that boy who was being stupid with the guy with messy hair?" Lily nodded. "Yeah, you could put it that way."
"Well, I'll be damned. He's gonna go bad, I expect," Naomi scowled.
"I'm not sure," Lily said uncertainly. She didn't particularly like Naomi, and hoped that she would be sorted into a different house than her.
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Before long, the Hogwarts Express began to slow down. The six girls decided to change into their robes. When the train came to a full stop, they stepped out with their trunks, and in Lily's case, and owl, to join a huge crowd. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" a huge figure said. Lily stared in disbelief.
"That's Hagrid," Leah said hurriedly to the girls with her. "He'll lead you to Hogwarts. Follow him," she said before running off to join her friends.
Still speechless, Lily turned to the others, who also had apprehensive looks on their faces at encountering a person so large. Only Cayenne seemed unshaken.
"Firs' years follow me!"
Lily, Cayenne, Aislynn, Adrienne, and Naomi pushed their way towards the huge man Leah had called Hagrid. "We're gonna take boats to Hogwarts?" Naomi said skeptically as they spied a few boats near Hagrid.
"Looks like it," Aislynn said.
"Four to a boat!" a voice cried behind them.
"Yep, looks like we're taking the boats. Who's gonna split up?"
Naomi and Adrienne looked at each other and shrugged. "We'll go on another boat. You guys go ahead," Adrienne said. The girls agreed. "Alright. We'll see you there."
Lily, Aislynn, and Cayenne climbed into a boat and were followed by a girl who had a surly look on her face. "I can't believe I lost my cat already," she grumbled.
"Er…hi," Lily said in greeting. The girl looked up in surprise. She had sharp features, but her face softened when she saw that no one was looking at her with contempt.
"Hi," the girl said, looking down at her feet.
"I'm Aislynn, what's your name?"
The girl looked up. She was obviously rather shy, but now that the scowl was removed from her face, she looked like a kind girl. "I'm Sophie," she said.
"Nice to meet you Sophie. I'm Lily."
"And I'm Cayenne."
Sophie smiled at them shyly, but didn't say anything. They looked nice and they seemed to want to be friends with her, but she had gone through too many friendship problems to be able to easily befriend others.
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"Come on," Aislynn said as they finished crossing the lake. "Bye, Sophie," she called out as she saw Sophie going in a different direction.
Aislynn frowned. "Was she really quiet or did she just not like us?"
Lily shrugged. "I think she was shy. Now hurry up, lets follow…Hagrid."
The three girls trudged up to Hogwarts. The sight of it took Lily's breath away. "It's amazing," she said in wonder, looking up at the enormous castle. The two other girls nodded their agreement as they entered the castle.
A lady who looked very strict met the new students at the door of the castle. "I'll take them from here, Hagrid," she said in a voice that matched her looks. Lily looked uneasily at the teacher.
"I am Professor McGonagall, and you will address me as so unless I tell you otherwise, which I assure you I will not," the teacher said. "Now, follow me."
The first-years walked in silence, a few with fear and a few with arrogance. They stopped outside a large door.
"Stay here," Professor McGonagall said. She slipped through the doors. The first-years remained silent, and Lily could see Lucius smirking at those who had fear in their eyes.
When Professor McGonagall came out a few minutes later, not many people had moved. She motioned for them to enter.
"Welcome to the Great Hall."
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Lily stared up at the ceiling in awe. "It looks like the night sky," she said softly. Aislynn turned to her. "It's enchanted to look like that." Lily still thought it was amazing.
"How do we get sorted?" she asked Cayenne, who shrugged.
"My sister never told me. She said it didn't hurt, though," Cayenne said. "Then again, she could be lying."
Lily smiled. "That didn't help."
Cayenne laughed. "I know."
Suddenly, a voice boomed out from the teacher's table which was at the head of the room. Lily noticed that there were four tables, with streamers above each one which seemed to depict the house's colors.
"Please welcome our new first-years," a silver-haired man said. His hair was long. "Who's that?" Lily whispered.
"Professor Albus Dumbledore," Cayenne said in response. "The smartest and most powerful wizard of all time."
"Please place the Sorting Hat, which is currently seated on this stool, on your head. It will sort you into whatever house it feels you belong in."
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. She had been extremely worried. She was still scared that she wouldn't be sorted, but she fought her fear and kept a calm composure.
"Hey Lily," a voice behind her said. She turned around to see none other than Sirius Black.
"Black," she said, less of an insult that a comment. She glared at him, hoping that he might leave her alone. If what Adrienne had said was correct, he would be a bad person. Sirius looked slightly shocked but hid it and turned away.
Suddenly the Great Hall burst into applause. Professor Dumbledore had finished speaking, and was now pointing at the hat on the stool in front of the teachers' table. The rim of the hat opened, and to Lily's surprise, it burst into song.
I may be patched and old
But I have gone through lots of wear
And if you take a closer look
You won't find one tear
So listen to me, young ones
I can see inside your mind
I'll place you in a house
According to what I'll find
There were once four close friends with a dream
Named Helga, Rowena, Salazar, and Godric
Together they founded the walls of this castle
And decided which students they would pick
Gryffindor chose those who were courageous
Those who were brave and strong
If you don't contain these qualities
You won't last in there for long
Hufflepuff chose to take them all
Especially those kind at heart
If you're looking for a helping hand
This is where to start
Ravenclaw chose the most intelligent
Those who, like her, had a sharp mind
She wanted to take the quick-witted ones
And that is what here you'll find
Slytherin chose the ones with pure blood
Half-bloods he refused to teach
He wanted those who were sly and clever
And this goal he has worked hard to reach
My job here tonight is to sort you out
And place you in the house that is best for you
Now the Sorting is about to begin
Let's see how you lot will do.
Everyone applauded, with the exception of a few Slytherins who were scowling at many of the first-years. Lily felt her heart in her throat; she was nervous for the Sorting. She didn't feel like she belonged in any of the houses at the moment.
"Minerva, please call the first-years up here one by one," Professor Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. Professor McGonagall nodded, and took a scroll from her pocket. She unrolled it, and began reading.
"Adams, Sylvie!"
A petite girl walked up to the stool nervously and put the hat on her head. Within thirty seconds, the hat cried out its decision.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
A table on the left, clad in yellow, burst into applause.
"Ashford, Nelson!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" More applause.
"Black, Narcissa!"
The girl who Lily had seen on the train with Lucius went up to the stool with a smug look on her face. It didn't take long for the hat to yell out its decision.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Narcissa walked proudly over to the applauding table.
"Black, Sirius!"
Lily watched with narrowed eyes as Sirius, who looked different from his relative, walked up to the stool with confidence. The hat took a long time in making its decision, but Lily was surprised with the house it called out.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The Gryffindor table, near the far wall and clad in red and gold, clapped enthusiastically. Sirius walked over to the table looking half-excited but half-worried. Lily was surprised; she had been sure from what she had heard that Sirius would have been a Slytherin.
"Brooks, Spencer!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
The Slytherin table, clad in green and silver, clapped for their second new addition.
"Burlock, Sophie!"
Lily, Aislynn, and Cayenne watched as the shy girl they had encountered on their boat ran up to the stool and placed the hat carefully on her head. She took a fairly long time, but the hat finally made its decision.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Lily watched with mild interest as other children got sorted into houses. 'Carmen, Elizabeth' became the first Ravenclaw. The blue-clad table applauded. A few more children went before Lily recognized anyone.
"Coleman, Naomi!"
Naomi walked up to the stool and rammed the hat on her head. A moment later, the hat cried out its decision.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily sighed. She had thought about it, and was positive she was going to be in either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Perhaps she had brains she didn't know of yet, but she didn't think she was smart enough for Ravenclaw. She jolted herself out of her daydreaming just in time to hear her friend's name called out.
"Davis, Cayenne!"
"Wish me luck," Cayenne mouthed to Lily, then ran up to the stool. She jammed the hat onto her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. Now all she could do was cross her fingers and hope to be sorted into Gryffindor as well.
She started becoming more and more nervous as the last names proceeded alphabetically towards hers. After 'Eton, Ashleigh' became sorted into Slytherin, she heard her name.
"Evans, Lily!"
She took a deep breath and proceeded towards the stool. She stole a quick glance at the Gryffindor table, and Cayenne smiled encouragingly at her. Her confidence regained, she quickly sat down and placed the hat on her head.
Ah, Lily Evans, a voice in her head said. Lily almost jumped.
Nervous, are you? The hat chuckled. Lily got over her initial shock and didn't answer.
I sense kindness…maybe Hufflepuff would do? But there is courage…perhaps Gryffindor. You are clever, my dear…Ravenclaw or Slytherin would do you well also. Hmmm? Tough one, my little girl…
Lily gripped the sides of the stool. "Gryffindor, please let me be in Gryffindor…" she thought.
You want to be in Gryffindor, eh? A voice said. Lily almost scowled. Of course this hat would be able to read her mind.
Well, it's your choice, dear, the voice said. Very hypocritical, Lily thought, considering that it was the hat that decided in the end. If you're sure, which you seem to be…welcome to Gryffindor!
Lily heard the hat yell the last word out to the entire school. She removed the hat from her head, perhaps with more force than usual, and happily walked over to an applauding crowd. Cayenne motioned for Lily to sit down next to her, and she did.
A few more first-years had been sorted by this time, and she turned her attention to the next girl being sorted.
"Harvey, Candace!"
A blonde girl walked up to the stool and put the hat on her head reluctantly. A moment later, she was placed into Ravenclaw.
"Guess the blonde stereotype isn't true," Cayenne whispered to Lily, who rolled her eyes. A few more first-years got sorted before anyone caught her attention.
"Jermaine, Lakeisha!"
A serene-looking black girl was walking up to the stool, but it was her name that had caught Lily's attention. It wasn't a name Lily had ever heard before. Lakeisha Jermaine.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Lily made a mental note in her head to become friends with some of the people in other houses. Lakeisha, Elizabeth, Candace, Sophie…the list went on.
She found herself drifting off again and shook the drowsy feeling off. Only one guy had been sorted into Gryffindor so far, and she wanted to see who else would be sorted into her house. Apart from James Potter, because she was positive that he would be sorted with Sirius.
"Lupin, Remus!"
Lily's ears perked up as she heard his name. Maybe he would be in her house as well. She wasn't disappointed.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily clapped and cheered hard with the rest of the Gryffindors.
"Malfoy, Lucius!"
The hat barely touched his head before it yelled a decision.
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Figures," mumbled Sirius, thinking no one could hear him.
"Marcus, Adrienne!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily clapped hard for her friend, who sat herself down next to Naomi.
"Pellyn, Daryl!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Pettigrew, Peter!"
A short, scrawny boy who looked Lily thought had many mouse-like features ran up to the stool.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily was surprised, but applauded with the rest of her table. The boy, Peter, nervously sat down.
"Potter, James!"
Lily didn't even bother to look up.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
James sauntered to the Gryffindor table with a confident grin. He sat down next to Sirius, who gave him a thumbs up and a high five. Lily raised an eyebrow, but only James noticed. He gave her a quick smile then turned back to the sorting. Lily did as well.
The crowd of first years had considerably thinned. 'Thompson, Louis' was sorted into Hufflepuff, and not long afterwards 'Strauss, Edaline' was sorted into Ravenclaw. There was only one more person whose sorting Lily was looking forward to. It came before long.
"Weller, Aislynn!"
She put the Sorting Hat on her head. Lily held her breath, but it wasn't long before the Hat announced its decision.
"RAVENCLAW!"
Lily and Aislynn looked at each other and shrugged. They were both disappointed, but they knew that being in different houses wouldn't prevent them from being friends. However, Lily still felt less spirited than she had moments before. There were five more people yet to be sorted, and Lily attentively watched. She wanted to know if there would be another Gryffindor.
"Westcott, Genevieve!"
A tall, brown-haired girl walked up to the stool.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Yager, Makani!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
The Slytherin table erupted into applause once again as the strawberry blonde girl walked over.
"York, Marvin!"
A boy with dark brown hair walked up to the stool. It seemed to Lily that he was extremely nervous.
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Zale, Brian!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
The dirty-blonde haired boy walked over to the cheering Slytherin table. There was one more person yet to be sorted.
"Zuckerman, Scarlett!"
Everyone in the Great Hall was silent as they waited to see which house this last girl would be sorted into.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The entire Gryffindor table stood up and cheered as the girl with auburn hair sat down nervously next to Lily, who gave her a smile in greeting.
Dumbledore stood up and gave a speech of welcome. Lily didn't listen, she was restless in her seat. Never before had she ever seen such a large room, and the ceiling still intrigued her to no ends.
Her daydreaming ended when food appeared on the table in front of her in endless amounts. Someone nearby yelped, and Lily saw an older girl grinning at Sirius and giving him a thumbs up. She helped herself to some mashed potatoes, and although she wasn't hungry, began to eat.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Cayenne declared, looking around the Hall in awe. Lily nodded in agreement; she wished Petunia was here to enjoy it all with her.
At the thought of Petunia, Lily's spirits dwindled. She had a sinking feeling in her heart that her older sister was capable of holding a grudge, even as she was trying to convince herself that Petunia would grow accustomed to it eventually.
She shook off these thoughts and glanced up. She gasped and gaped at the sight before her, and many other first-years were also staring. Ghosts—or at least, that's what she thought those silvery, transparent people were supposed to be—were appearing from the walls, chatting amongst themselves.
"Look, Nick, it's the new first-years!" a kindly looking ghost said in a cheerful tone. "How are you?"
The ghost he was talking to came over to the Gryffindor table. "Are you guys going to help us win the house cup this year? I'm tired of losing to the Bloody Baron," he said, pointing to a ghost down by the Slytherin table, who was covered in silvery blood.
All the first-years nodded their heads warily, intimidated by the presence of the dead. All, that is, except James and Sirius, who looked excited when the ghost sat near them.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to them before long," a voice whispered near Lily. She turned around to see a tall, black girl whispering to Cayenne. She noticed Lily looking, and introduced herself to them both.
"I'm Elaine," she said. "Elaine Jacobs. I'm a Gryffindor prefect."
Lily and Cayenne nodded.
"I'm Cayenne."
"And I'm Lily."
Elaine nodded enthusiastically. "I hope you guys will help us do better in the house cup than last year," she said, her expression darkening slightly. "It was embarrassing last year, it was. At least it was Ravenclaw that won, not Slytherin. They still wouldn't let us live that down, though."
She lowered her voice. "And learn Defense Against the Dark Arts well, will you? There are rumors going around that some guy is trying to form a band against Muggleborns and the like. He's for the purebloods and all. He might be another Dark Lord if we don't watch out, you know? Just prepare yourselves well. I hear he graduated from Hogwarts; Professor Weller is good with Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Lily and Cayenne nodded their heads, thinking about this. Cayenne had heard the exact rumors that Elaine had talked about, and Lily was surprised. In her excitement of being magical, she had never once thought about the horrible things that witches, wizards and other magical creatures could do.
"Dark Lord?" she whispered to Cayenne, almost terrified.
"Yeah," said Cayenne. "The last one was Grindelwald, but Dumbledore defeated him. Look, take this Chocolate Frog card. Dumbledore has got to be the greatest wizard ever."
Lily looked at the moving picture of Dumbledore (she still was startled to seemoving pictures—she just wasn't used to it) and read the caption beneath.
"So will he be able to defeat this one if he rises?" Lily questioned.
"Well, that's for us to see, isn't it," Cayenne replied.
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Scarlett sat on the other side of Lily, her palms sweating. She was rather nervous; she was pureblood but had never been an extrovert. When she could, she kept silent and rarely ever spoke. Everyone around her was talking excitedly, and she could see Lily and Cayenne whispering to each other. Even Adrienne, the girl sitting across from her, had struck up a conversation with the two girls.
Naomi, the last Gryffindor first-year girl, was talking to the guys. Scarlett's first assumption was that she was a flirt—a boy-obsessed girl. But on second look she realized that Naomi was almost speaking rudely to some of the two boys, James and Sirius, and looked nothing like a boy-crazy girl. Naomi was obviously a bit on the tomboyish side, but to Scarlett, it didn't matter. She was a tomboy as well.
She excused herself silently from the Gryffindor table to go to the bathroom. Almost no one noticed her, but Naomi arched her eyebrows slightly as Scarlett left the table. She hurried out of the Great Hall.
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Naomi thought that Scarlett was too quiet for her own good. The girl looked nice, but her lack of talking was almost strange. Naomi had never met anyone so quiet, so she kept attention on the girl from the corner of her eye. Therefore, she was the only one who noticed when the skinny girl stood up from the table silently and proceeded to leave the Great Hall.
There was nothing suspicious about this girl, but Naomi had to fight the urge to follow her. She was too quiet, too quiet…something could happen to her, or she could be hiding something. Even in the Wizarding world, Naomi's paranoia that prevented her from trusting anyone existed. She shook her head quickly to remove the thoughts from her head, then turned back to the guys' conversation.
James and Sirius were still arguing about who was better.
"You guys, shut up," Naomi said grumpily. "You both stink. Get over it."
The two boys looked at her angrily.
"You're joking, right?" Sirius asked accusingly, pointing a finger at her.
"No, but forget it," Naomi said, rolling her eyes. Remus caught her eye and the two of them turned away quickly to prevent themselves from laughing. Even Peter was looking at the two boys as though they were crazy.
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Scarlett turned towards the girls' bathroom. She had just barely walked through the door when she felt herself stumble, and then everything went black.
She regained consciousness less than five minutes later, and her mind seemed to guide her back to the Great Hall. She never did use the toilet.
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Naomi saw Scarlett return to the Great Hall, but her face looked…blank, almost. She had been quiet before, but her face had shown emotion then. Fright, nervousness, those emotions. Now her face was just blank, as though she wasn't thinking of anything.
Scarlett seemed fine, though; she sat down silently at the table and Naomi was sure that she was staring at her feet.
If she's not going to talk to us, then I'm not going to talk to her, Naomi thought decisively. She wasn't going to talk to anyone who didn't want to talk in the first place. Maybe she stuck her nose in other peoples' business, but she never shared what she found with everyone. Whatever was going on with Scarlett, she would find out herself. Eventually.
Naomi sighed as she stuffed some more food into her mouth. This was going to be a long year, she knew it.
Suddenly Albus Dumbledore stood up from the head of the teachers' table. He clapped his hands together to get the students' attention, and the noise in the Great Hall slowly reduced. He was standing tall, his long robes only seemed to make him appear greater. Adrienne had babbled on and on about how Dumbledore was a great wizard, and Naomi could see what made everything think so.
Dumbledore's eyes sparkled incessantly. Naomi found this intriguing; never had she met anyone with eyes so bright. But while it seemed to soothe everyone around her, the warmth of his eyes didn't seem to calm her. It made her restless. She found the continuous sparkling quite irritating.
When the entire Hall was silent, Dumbledore spoke. His voice had a tone to match his eyes, and sounded strong. Naomi was surprised—the Headmaster seemed quite old, although it must have been his graying hair. It was nearly white, but quite a few brown hairs were still visible. His beard wasn't too long, but it was growing.
"I hope the first-years are enjoying the feast. I'm sorry to interrupt what must be a very satisfying meal, but I have another announcement to make."
A couple of heads jerked towards Dumbledore's direction at this point. Sirius saw Lucius Malfoy looking lazily down at his plate, ignoring every word the Headmaster said, and scowled. Dumbledore's eyes flickered over to his direction for a fraction of a second. He didn't say anything for awhile, as though trying to absorb the silence that had taken over the Great Hall.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as though he didn't like what he was just about to say.
"There will be something happening at Hogwarts this year which I do not think any of you have suspected beforehand."
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Alright, no one be mad if some characters' personalities are different than what J.K. make them! I did it on purpose. You'll see.
Cayenne, Aislynn, Leah, Adrienne, and Naomi belong to me. And everyone else who was sorted.
Cayenne: k-eye-YENN
Aislynn: AIZE-linn
The rest should be easy to pronounce.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review.