Chapter Eighteen
Trouble Sorted
Leu sat near the lake as the sun was setting, watching as the light began to dim.
"It shouldn't be long now," Noah said beside him. "It's going to be great to see everyone again."
"Yes, it will," Leu agreed. "But I've enjoyed spending summer here this year."
"I'm glad you did too, because normally it's very boring here in the summer," Noah agreed. "I hope we have a lot of classes that are the same this year."
"Yes, me too," Leu agreed. "Listen. Do you hear something?"
The two of them paused, straining to hear the sound of the train. Noah nudged him.
"Look over there, Leu," Noah said. Leu squinted so that he could make out line of coaches in the distance and Sagittari looking them over. "It must be getting close if he's hitching them up."
"All of the boats are lining the shore now too," Leu agreed.
"And the lights are coming on in the castle," Noah added. "Shall we go in?"
"Not quite yet," Leu said, and the two of them grew quiet again. He thought he heard a hollow puffing sound in the distance. Or did he imagine that? He had been listening so carefully to try and discern if it was the train that when the whistle finally blew, he jumped from how loud it was. Noah laughed at him.
"I guess it is coming now," Leu said. Realizing that he wasn't likely to notice the smoke in such dim light, so he got up. "Let's go in."
"Well, I don't think I'll have trouble securing the end seat this year," Noah said cheerfully as they got up and walked towards the castle.
"Nobody makes the mistake of sitting beside you anymore," Leu replied with a chuckle.
Noah opened the doors to the Great Hall just wide enough that Leu could slip in, the two of them taking their places. John wandered through, glancing at the two of them.
"You're a wee bit early, the two of you," John informed them. "It'll take half an hour just to get them onto the boats and carriages, not even countin' the time it'll take to cross over to the school."
"That's all right. We were getting anxious to see our friends," Noah explained.
"I understand. I'll be glad to start the year myself," John agreed with a smile. He walked over to set out the stool for the Sorting and to check over the Great Hall one last time, counting chairs carefully before adding a couple of them to the Professor's table and rearranging them.
Despite how early they had arrived, it was not long before some of the staff began wandering in, standing around in groups rather than sitting down right away. Hermione came in carrying the Sorting Hat and a scroll, putting it near her place at the table before leaving again.
Sagittari, Arcadia, and Madame Potter came in with Professor Sinistra and Professor Ravenclaw. Both of the centaurs were currently wearing standard Hogwarts robes and in human form.
"I guess that explains why Mr. Carnegie added more chairs," Noah decided.
"He seems to be walking much better now," Leu commented. Noah grinned.
"Yes, he is, but it was still pretty funny watching him learn," Noah said.
They watched as Professor Tangent and Professor Boulderdash came in and took a seat, apparently in the middle of a conversation. The room brightened as more candles were added to the ones already there, and a moment later, Head Elf Francie appeared in her seat at the auxiliary table, greeting Mrs. Tinker and Quintin, who sat down next to her. Not long after, Severus arrived, glancing over at the two Ravenclaws the moment he came in to make sure that Leu was there. Then he turned his attention to the rest of the staff, taking out a piece of parchment and a quill and setting it at his place.
Laura and Andrew came in, standing behind their chairs, and Madame Brittle and Professor Scribe was not long behind them. Pretty soon everyone was standing behind their chairs with the only two open being the ones on either side of the headmaster.
Students began to arrive, and pretty soon Leu found himself surrounded by his friends as Dasher sat down across from them, followed by Edward Douglas and Patrick Morris who sat next to him.
As the rest of the students began to wander in, Anna Black strode in from the side door to take her place beside Severus.
"Professor Black, I take it everything went smoothly," Severus said.
"No incidents to report," Anna replied.
"Did you finally give in and get your full teacher's license?" Sally asked with interest.
"I had a lot of free time this summer," Anna said dryly. "At least, more than I am used to."
"I know the feeling. I finished my tests with the Psychology Board and have a full license now myself," Severus replied.
"Congratulations to both of you, then," Sally said with amusement.
"Did you remember to check the new barriers on the Dark Forest?" Severus asked Anna.
"Yes, and they looked like they're holding alright, but I kept getting the feeling I was being watched when I was near the barn area," Anna admitted quietly. "I wish that could have been as easy to move back as the hut had been."
"So do I, but watch your language," Severus said, Anna rolling her eyes at that. "However, I don't like that they're still watching it. I believe I'll change the entrance so that it opens on the opposite side from the forest and see if John can move the water system further away."
"I think that'd be a good idea," Anna agreed. "Is there anyone you're interested in today? I notice you have some paper out."
"This is for Jennifer's benefit, actually. I'm going to send her a list of the new Ravenclaw students so that she'll have a heads-up for next year," Severus explained. "Although I will admit that I am interested in how things go with the two sets of twins that will be Sorted this year."
"Considering Joey and Jack will be here next year, I'm interested in that too," Anna agreed. Severus nodded at that.
Hermione stepped in from the double doors and looked at him questioningly. Severus glanced around to make certain everyone was in place before nodding to Hermione, who then opened the doors and led the first years in, grabbing the list and putting the Sorting Hat on the stool. Part of the first years gazed at the Sorting Hat with anticipation; the others with skepticism. It was easy to tell which ones were the twins. A pair of red-haired boys hung near the back of the pack, reminding Severus of George and Fred, despite the fact they were obviously not identical. Closer to the front was a girl with brown hair almost as dark as Mari's and a similar face, standing next to a boy with very short light brown hair and sharp features that made him look a great deal like Worley. The two looked so much like Mari, in fact, that Severus found himself wondering if Eben might take more after his mother's side of the family, since he really didn't look lie the rest of them much at all. Severus turned his attention to the stool as the Sorting Hat finally spoke.
Welcome students from far and near,
Who come to study at Hogwarts, our school most dear,
To learn the arts of witchcraft and wizardry,
And to become productive members of all society.
No matter what talents and what you choose to pursue,
No matter which house that I Sort you into,
Your futures are determined by your own actions and deeds,
So do your best, and learn your lessons well if you want to succeed.
Severus nodded at that, glad that the Sorting Hat had decided to keep the rhyme conservative for a change. He tapped the Dictation Quill and it and began watching with interest as Hermione began calling out names. As usual, he recognized a great many of the names straight away and could have predicted that Deborah Balmweed was going to Ravenclaw and Felicity Bulstrode was going to Slytherin without giving it much thought. His attention was often drawn to the ones he suspected were first generation, being harder to predict at times, while his staff as always was more interested in the ones that had last names of students they had taught in the past. It was subdued this year, so he decided not to call them out about it, although he found himself missing Jennifer's persistent whispers through the entire ceremony, her excitement often infecting the rest of the staff. Anna, in contrast, was also interested but content to smile thinly when she heard a name she was interested in. It was very much like his own reactions, he realized, and he noticed that it was not long before Hermione got to the L's.
"Baldrick Lamp," she called out, and an unkempt blonde who reminded Severus of a taller version of Corey took the stool.
"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat declared.
"William Lamprey," she went on, the thin, lanky dark-haired boy sitting down.
"Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat said, taking no more time than he had the last boy.
"Cadha Maxen," Hermione said, her eyes going directly over to the girl before she had even moved from the pack. She smiled thinly and took her place, and Hermione put the Sorting Hat on her head.
"Very well, put me on the other Maxen," the Sorting Hat said. Hermione blinked and frowned at that, glancing at Severus, who gestured for her to do what it had said.
"Culver Maxen," Hermione said, and Culver stepped up, taking his sister's place on the stool.
"And the other one!" the Sorting Hat said again, and Hermione moved it to Cadha once more. "Slytherin!" he said at last, getting a round of applause from the Slytherin table as Cadha walked over.
Disappointed but resigned, Culver waited for the Sorting Hat to be placed on his head once more.
"Ravenclaw!" the Sorting Hat said. The Ravenclaw students clapped, but some of them were glancing at each other unsurely.
"I bet Jennifer's going to love that," Anna murmured under her breath. Severus gave her a disapproving frown, despite the fact that he had been thinking the exact same thing. He glanced back over as Patrick's little sister was sorted into Hufflepuff.
After O'Brian went to Gryffindor and O'Toole to Ravenclaw, the freckled little brother of Kai Ramsay went to Hufflepuff, and a Scott and a Smith both went predictably to Gryffindor. After Rodion Ulster was Sorted into Slytherin, they were finally to the two Weasley twins, who stepped up after finding out the last name behind them was a girl named Taika Young.
"Hector Weasley," Hermione said, and the boy impishly grinned at his great aunt, sitting on the stool.
"Very well! Put me on the other one!" the Sorting Hat said.
"Lionel?" Hermione said, picking up the Sorting Hat and putting it on his head.
"Oh, this set is easier," Hermione heard the Hat say quietly, before calling out "Gryffindor!"
Then, only a moment after getting back on Hector's head, it called out, "Hufflepuff!"
"Taika Young," Hermione called out, barely even looking at her sheet as the last girl came forward and hopped on the stool confidently.
"Ravenclaw!" the Sorting Hat said. It seemed neither out of breath nor out of sorts this year as Hermione sat it on the table between her spot and the headmaster, taking her place as the first years got settled.
"So you decided to look at both of their heads first?" Severus asked the Hat as Hermione was getting to her seat.
"You want me to break them up, Severus. It would not be fair if I did not test them both first, else the first one might always go to the dominant house, even when they might be better suited for the secondary house when both are considered," the Sorting Hat explained.
"Fair enough," Severus said, pondering its reasoning. Then again, just how was it that the Sorting Hat was capable of that sort of high level reasoning? Still, considering his orders, it was simply responding to his wishes and its primary function... brushing it off, Severus realized that everyone was waiting for him and stood up.
"Good evening, everyone, and welcome," Severus said. "First, I'd like for everyone to welcome Doctor Arcadia from Whitebridge Academy, who will be teaching Potions and Dabblers this year," he said, pausing for some applause as Arcadia waved from where she sat on the other side of Sinistra near the end by the auxiliary table. "Doctor Arcadia will also be teaching an advanced Healing Potions class as well as an Anatomy class; if you are a sixth or seventh year going into a healing profession, feel free to ask your advisors about those classes.
"I know quite a number of you are probably wondering by now where Professor Craw is," Severus continued. "Just as Doctor Arcadia is guest teaching here, Professor Craw is teaching Items at Whitebridge this year," he explained. "Because of this, of course, some of her duties will be handled by other members of staff. Professor Andrew will be teaching Items and will be the Sparring Master this year," he said, glancing at Andrew. "Professor Black will be Head of Security, and will also assist Professor Weasley with the Journalism Club, and Professor Ravenclaw will be the temporary head of Ravenclaw House.
"I have two other announcements to get out of the way tonight, the first being that it is imperative that all students respect the school's current borders and do not trespass in the Dark Forest for any reason. By order of the Ministry, no witch or wizard is allowed anywhere within it, as it has been claimed by the Dark Forest Constellation of Centaurs. This means, then, if you are caught trespassing, you not only have to deal with school discipline from me, but will also have to answer to the Ministry and therefore will likely only get yourselves banned from attending any magic school. So do us both a favor and don't even try it.
"And for my last announcement, due to an important event that will be taking place on Halloween this year that will be pulling a majority of the staff away from the castle, there will be no Spectral Ball. Instead, following the Halloween Feast, there will be activities held within your house rooms. Now would be a good time to offer suggestions for your house activities so that they can be approved, but as in all years, seances will not be allowed, so don't even bother suggesting it. Thank you, enjoy the feast and get some rest, because first bell classes will be here before you know it," Severus said, the feast appearing the moment he sat down.
Severus frowned at his plate, because for some reason, none of it really looked all that appetizing. He pushed it aside and began writing a note on the bottom of the list that the Dictation Quill made of the students and what houses they were Sorted into.
"Not even going to try to fake it, Severus?" Anna asked him quietly.
"It isn't as if I'm going anywhere. I am simply not hungry at the moment and I'd prefer to get this done instead," Severus said, glancing at the blue color of his ring before going back to the note. Anna glanced over at Hermione, who simply met her gaze with a knowing smile before going back to her meal.
"It'll be interesting to see how things go with those twin Sortings, won't it?" Icarus commented, gazing down the row at Culver thoughtfully.
"Yes, it will. Do you know I think that's the first Weasley I've ever had?" Sally replied with amusement.
"Well, you're getting a real strong Quidditch player out of the deal," Hermione informed her.
"Am I? That's even better," Sally decided with amusement.
"I think it's interesting that each of the four ended up in a different house too," Danny pointed out, then glanced over at the Ravenclaw table. "Although I admit, I can't help but wonder if Culver is going to be okay over there."
"Don't worry, Danny. It won't be like last time, we'll make certain of that," Severus reassured her, not looking up from his not.
"How though?" Danny asked.
"Make an appointment with me tomorrow and we'll discuss it," Severus said, rolling up the scroll and tying it. "Does anyone else have any immediate concerns that need to be addressed?" he asked calmly, looking around.
"Not really," Hermione replied for the rest of them. Severus nodded.
"Then I think I'm going to go ahead and take care of this. Andrew, would you mind bringing your brother up to the nursery when the two of you are done?" Severus asked.
"Sure," Andrew said, and he along with the rest of the Professor's table watched as Severus got up and strode out of the room without touching either his dinner or his cup. "I can't blame him," Andrew said with a sigh. "I know it's completely different circumstances, but this reminds me a lot of the day I was Sorted and nobody had a clue where my mother was."
"That was a horrible year," Hermione agreed. "Minerva and I had our hands full keeping him going through all of that."
"Sirius helped out too. He decided someone needed to stay here and keep an eye on him that wasn't going to tiptoe around him," Anna recalled thoughtfully. "And yes, these are much different circumstances, and they're never out of contact. But I have to say, it wasn't lost on me that it took four faculty members to take on all of Jennifer's responsibilities in this castle."
"Yes, I was thinking the same thing," Hermione said.
"You know, Hermione, I've always been completely amazed with how much you do in this castle between teaching, the paperwork, budgets, and all of that," Sally said. "You make it look so easy, and because of that, I feel that a lot of people take it for granted. But now I see that I've taken what Jennifer's responsibilities were for granted as well... she not only made it look easy, she always managed to leave herself plenty of time to dig into things!"
"And also to nose into other people's business on top of it," Andrew added. Danny chuckled at that.
"Of course! Jennifer is the heart and soul of this place; she has been for years," Danny said with a grin. "And I don't think that has changed in the slightest, even if she is across the pond at the moment. It will be true as long as there's a single family member left to represent her, and looking between the faculty table and the student tables, I don't see that changing anytime soon," Danny decided with certainty.
"I should think not," Rose agreed from the other side of her. Andrew nodded thoughtfully at that, eating quickly.
"I'd better go get my brother upstairs," Andrew said to Laura. "See you later on."
"Okay," Laura said. Andrew got up and worked his way over to where Quintin was sitting.
"So... are you two... friends now? Or what?" Danny asked curiously. Laura glanced over at her, then noticed that Rose was looking at her too.
"Um. Something like that," Laura replied. "I think I'm going to... get ready for tomorrow," she decided quickly, finishing up and hurrying out the back door.
Danny and Rose then watched her go, then Danny turned to Rose.
"You know, I just figured out one of Jennifer's responsibilities that wasn't covered yet," Danny said.
"What's that?" Rose asked.
"The nosing in bit," Danny explained, Rose grinning at that. "Want to help?"
"Sure, why not?" Rose replied mischievously.
"Great! We'll write her a report," Danny said with an impish grin, and Rose chuckled, knowing perfectly well that Danny was very likely to do just that.