Lee had started yelling at Chester about something or another. He smiled weakly and waved and apology. Finally the boats bumped onto the opposite shore and they all piled out. Hagrid led them up to a door and knocked heavily on it with a fist almost the size of Christine's head.
The door was opened by a stern but tired looking man. His hair was black and dusted with gray though he had few wrinkles. He came across as an old war veteran, though he couldn't be older than thirty-eight.
"'Ere are the firs' years for you, Professor Williamson." Hagrid said, waving a hand toward the crowd of young faces.
"Yes, thank you Rubeus." He said in a deep voice, "Follow me." They all squeezed through the doorway after Professor Williamson and into a small room. Christine stood nervously by Chester and Lee, her eyes flittering across the faces of her peers.
"How exactly do get sorted?" she asked, trying not to stutter.
"Well, I'm not sure 'cause my pops said he wanted it to be a surprise. I'm sure it won't hurt, I think anyway." Lee said, trailing off and leaving Christine with a pit in her stomach.
"Don't worry, if my Uncle Ron could get in you will for sure." Chester said with a smile. Christine smiled back still feeling unsure as she had no idea who Uncle Ron was.
A door on the other side of the room swung open and Professor Williamson led them out into a brightly lit hall, a stool and a hat in his hands.
The great hall was magnificent, the head table in front of four long house tables, all with floating candles hovering above. Christine looked up in awe at the ceiling that mimicked the night sky exactly. The room was filled with older students whose talk died down as the professor placed the stool and the hat down.
It began a song, singing about all the different houses and what they contributed to the world. It finished in a singsong voice:
Now all ye houses be wary,
Of forces dark and scary,
You all must unite into one,
For now the sorting has begun.
An eerie silence filled the hall, which was quickly replaced by hurried whispers. Christine looked up at the head table to the headmistress. She had long bushy hair capped with a large purple witches hat. Her face seemed to be confused at the sorting hats words. Christine was sure that Professor Granger had the same thought going through her mind as everyone else.
What forces could the hat be speaking of? Most danger was diminished when the famed Harry Potter had defeated Lord Voldemort so many years ago.
Harry Potter. She looked to Lee standing next to her and realized that she must be his daughter, but she hadn't said anything about it.
"Silence, Silence please!" Professor Granger's voice rang out. Instant silence flooded the hall, "Let the sorting begin please." She said.
"Right then," Professor Williamson looked the least effected as he unrolled a piece of parchment, "I will call your names one by one. You are to sit on the stool and place the hat onto your head. It will decide which house you are to be a part of.
"Alms, Katie!"
A smallish girl with mousy brown hair creepy nervously foreword and sat down on the stool. The old patched had slid onto her head and a few moments later it shouted,
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
She ran of to join the table of cheering Hufflepuffs. More names were called, each student rushing off to join the table that cheered for them.
"Malfoy, Alexander!"
The pale boy from before shuffled forward, the same nonchalant look on his face. Christine heard Chester mumble something about "Malfoy" and she turned to see both Lee and Chester Glaring hatefully at the boy.
The hat had barely touched his head when it shouted,
"SLYTHERIN!"
He walked over to the Slytherin table. They cheered but it didn't brighten his mood any.
"Go figure," Lee was whispering, "His whole family is the worst." Christine jumped when her name was called. She wasn't sure if she could make it to the stool or if her legs would just dissolve, but she made it body intact.
The hat slid over her head, blocking out all light.
"Well, well. What have we here?" a small voice spoke in her ear, "Hmm yes a good mind, not to rotten or full of fluff, but what to do with you? Well dear, there is a chain to be set in motion and I think I'll create the first link." She didn't know what it meant by that but before she could puzzle it out the hat was shouting,
"SLYTHERIN!"
Christine's blood went cold as ice. All of the color drained from her face as the hat was removed from her head. Her eyes found the faces of Lee and Chester who looked thoroughly shocked, but they couldn't be as shocked as she.
Her ears filled with a strange buzz as she sat down at the Slytherin table. People were cheering but she couldn't hear them. All she could do was stare at the golden plate in front of her.
Lee and Chester were both sorted into Gryffindor as they had presumed, but neither of them caught her eye or even took any notice of her once they sat down.
Once the sorting finished Professor Williamson took both the hat and stool away. Before talk could fill the hall though, Professor Granger stood up to address the students.
"I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all," she began, confident voice filling the room, "What a delight it is to see you all here amidst our walls!" people cheered and clapped, obviously just as happy to be here.
"I hope we have a splendid school year with as little mishap as possible," her eyes darted to a select few and light laughter rose, "Now without further ado, let the feast begin!" she sat back down and the golden plates on the table filled with food. It smelled delicious but Christine had lost her appetite. Grudgingly she pilled some mashed potatoes and a pork chop onto her plate.
"Well, it's good to see new faces here I have to say." An older girl next to her said. She had hair that was so blonde it was almost white and the same face as Alexander Malfoy.
"Slytherin is pretty much the only good house here, be grateful you made it in." She talked with airs; Christine felt a deep dislike of her rise in her stomach.
"Is that so." She replied coldly and without emotion. The girl took no notice.
"My name is Vittoria Malfoy, I'm a fifth year and a prefect. I'm the one to know if anyone - isn't that right Alex?" she said forcefully to the blonde boy next to her. He didn't say anything and simply poked his fork at his food.
Vittoria huffed and turned from him. "Doesn't want to be in Slytherin the ungrateful little slug. Doesn't know what a great honor it is to be accepted into the best-"
"Would you be kind enough to be quiet, I'm trying to eat but you're making me sick." Christine said sharply. Vittoria looked horribly offended and picked up her plate to move to a different part of the table.
Alex looked over at Christine. She gave him a small smile and said, "Well now at least I don't have the worlds most pompous blowfish in my face." He smiled back.
"Sorry about her, she's so full of herself." He took a bite of his food and swallowed it with effort.
"So you don't want to be here either. Maybe we should start a club." They both laughed hard at this.
"Why don't you want to be here?" He asked her.
"Well, I made friends with these two people, right. Lily Potter and Chester Weasley. They told me only bad lot comes from here and now I'm here they're off for a jolly good time a Gryffindor." She nibbled at her pork, noting how good it tasted, "What's your deal?" she asked him in turn.
"My whole family's been here, and I don't like any of them. I guess they're part of the bad lot. I just don't want to turn out like my father or grandfather is all." He looked sadly into his potatoes like they were telling him he was good for nothing.
"Well, this house doesn't dictate who you are just what people expect from you. You don't have to be like them."
"Yeah, yeah I guess you're right."
They enjoyed the rest of their dinner, a newfound hope in their future. When dinner was finished the plates cleared and were replaced by a large assortment of sweets. Christine tried a bit of chocolate cake only to find it warm and delicious.
As she ate she looked up at the teachers table. Professor Granger sat in the middle having a heated discussion with a small old man in a pointed hat. Next to him was a black man with a deep-set jaw and baldhead who was talking to a squat witch with curly gray hair. A few other teachers sat talking amongst themselves, including a pearly white ghost who ate nothing.
On the other side of the table was Professor Williamson. He was not talking but rather focusing on his food. Next to him a thin wizard with a round nose and long pointy beard. On one of his eyes rested a monocle. He was talking to a witch with short black hair and horn-rimmed glasses.
Finally desert cleared away and Professor Granger stood once again.
"Now that we have all eaten, I would like to remind you that the forbidden forest is off limits to all students. Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that he has a full list of restricted objects that are not to be used at anytime. I would like to say that in light of extremely recent events, students are not permitted to leave their house after seven o'clock pm. Any one found after that time will be severely punished," Her tone lightened slightly as she continued, "I hope this year you will take in plenty of knowledge and learning that will suffice you later in life. Now, off to bed."
Students filled out of the hall, buzzing in light of the curfew. Christine moved through the crowd to find Lee and Chester when she spotted Chester's flaming red hair and shoved through the crowd toward them.
"Lee, Chester!" she shouted out over the racket that the crowd was making. Lily didn't turn around, though Chester did. He dodged a nervous glance at her and reluctantly she waited.
When Christine had reached them she didn't give them time to say anything, "Look guys, just because I'm in Slytherin doesn't mean we can't still be friends. I'm still me and you're still you. Why should houses make a difference?"
Lee shuffled her feet nervously and Chester stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"Hey Christine, we need to follow a prefect to the common room." Alex shouted behind her. Lee spotted him and turned red.
"Already best buddies with a Malfoy?" She turned and stomped away, but Chester hung back.
"Look Christine, I'm sorry she's just really stubborn," he looked a little awkward, "I'll see you around all right?" he nodded his head to Alex and then moved out into the crowd after Lee.
Christine sighed and turned toward Alex. He looked crest fallen and stared down at his shoes.
"Hey don't worry, ok? They'll come around." She smiled reproachfully as they walked towards a group of Slytherin first years.
"What's the point I doubt things will ever change." Christine gave him a hard look with her unnerving eyes.
"Things can change if you try hard enough." They followed Vittoria down numerous flights of stairs until the warm lantern lit passageways gave way to the cold dark dungeons.
"Cheerful isn't it?" Christine commented. She earned a laugh from Alex and another girl with long black hair and hazel eyes. They glanced at her and she blushed profusely and looked away.
The group came to a halt at a barren stonewall. The first years looked around for what caused the sudden halt but only say an empty corridor.
"Everyone remember this password or you won't be getting into the common room." Vittoria said haughtily, "Euphrates." The wall slid back and revealed the Slytherin common room. It was a low and long room, lit by green lights and a warm fire. Green high backed plush chairs were scattered about, as were a few chaise lounges.
"Girls dormitories are through this door," she pointed to the door on the right, then to the left, "And boys are here. You are to go to the Great Hall for breakfast and schedules. Now I'm off to get some beauty sleep, not that I need it." She laughed heartily at her joke and whisked away towards the dorms.
Alex rolled his eyes and made his way to the boy's dorms. Christine walked with the other first year girls their dorms. There was a staircase leading up past several doors each with a number. At the very top was a door that read 1 and the five new girls clambered in.
Christine found her trunk by a four-poster bed and changed into her pajamas. Franklin was already asleep on her bed covers, purring softly. Before she could join him in long awaited sleep the black haired girl approached her.
"Hello," she said in a melodic voice, "My name is Kennedy Bowling." She spoke briskly, almost business like. She stuck out her hand and Christine reluctantly shook it.
"Um, nice to meet you. Christine Marster." She said in reply. Kennedy waved her hand to the other three girls.
"This is Daria Pun," she pointed to a girl with bright green hair and spiky bangs that fell into her eyes, "Velouria Gouge," a girl with lazy eyes and shoulder length brown hair waved, "and Caitlin King." She was a slightly overweight girl with wavy black hair.
"Nice to meet you all…" Christine said uncomfortably.
"We heard you stand up to Vittoria. She can be so bitchy at times." Kennedy spoke freely.
"Well I'm not sure I would go that far…" but Kennedy cut in again.
"I appreciate some one with initiative, you will be very useful to the Slytherin house." The other girls nodded in agreement, all smiles.
"Well, I'm not sure what you mean by that." Christine said warily.
"You will help Slytherin triumph, become the best house in Hogwarts, defeat Gryffindor!" She was getting all fired up, as if her life was devoted to house spirit.
"Yeah…I don't really work that way. Now I'm going to bed before I get dragged into some discriminatory executioner type group. Goodnight." She pulled her drapes closed, vanishing the shocked and confused face of Kennedy.