DISCLAIMER: The characters aren't mine. I'm borrowing them from the esteemed Joss Whedon and J.K. Rawling.
SPOILERS/BACKGROUND: Everything from BtVS Season 1 to Season 6, AtS Seasons 1 to 3, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
THANKS AGAIN to everyone who's reviewed! You guys make my day! And thanks for your patience; hopefully the action will start picking up after this chapter.
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CHAPTER 5:
THE SORTING CEREMONY
"Oh my … does 'wow' cut it?" Willow asked.
"I wasn't thinking of anything better," Buffy admitted.
Harry, who was sitting next to them in the boats crossing the Hogwarts Lake, grinned at them. "I don't think I could think of anything better the first time I saw it, either."
A magnificent castle had suddenly come into view on the far shore as though a dense fog had lifted around it. No, it was more than that, Willow decided. Magnificent didn't even come close. Buckingham Palace was magnificent. Neuschwanstein was magnificent. This was celestial. The towers rose as high above the lakeshore as many modern skyscrapers, and so many lights blazed within that Willow could half-close her eyes and see the castle as one large shape of fire. The castle itself covered an area of at least a few dozen city blocks, and the surrounding grounds, which she could barely make out to either side of the approaching edifice, had to be almost the size of Sunnydale. Even Hagrid, who was steering the lead boat in front of them, looked small and insignificant by comparison.
So that's my prison, Willow thought morosely. In the late evening light, with the clouds whirling above it and the countless torches looking out from within it, it actually did have a bit of the look of a prison. Of course, it was a castle.
The boats drew up to the wharf on the far side and the summer students disembarked. It was quite a crowd, particularly for summer, but Voldemort's return, finally admitted by the Ministry of Magic, had made many students eager to learn again, and had made many parents all too happy to keep their children within the safety of Hogwarts.
Buffy hopped off the boat first and gave Willow a hand up to the docks. Hagrid was already at the head of the pier. Harry, Ron, and the other older students stayed behind, and took a different stone staircase up to the castle.
"We'll see you in the Great Hall for Sorting!" Harry said as they departed. Willow nodded. Draco passed by a moment later, giving Buffy an unreadable expression, following up the same staircase that Harry and his friends had taken, keeping them at a safe distance.
"Firs' Years this way!" Hagrid was calling. "Oh yes, and Miss Summers and Miss Rosenberg, you too, 'long with the Firs' Years!"
"Where are they taking us? Day care?" Buffy whispered in Willow's ear as they followed the crowd of ten- and eleven-year-olds up a wider staircase toward a lower entrance to the castle. She noticed that several of the others were taking personal items out of their bags for comfort, though, often stuffed animals or keepsakes. She guessed that a lot of the younger kids were even more unnerved by the sudden sight of the castle than she was. On an impulse, she turned and brought her broom with her. One or two other kids, taller boys who had entered their growth spurts early, were carrying theirs.
Willow grinned. "Part of the punishment, I guess,"
"Ugh, I so did not sign up for this," Buffy said, rolling her eyes at the sky. "Pain and torture, yes, but preschoolers? Gyaah."
"Aw, you'll be such a mom someday," Willow answered. Buffy shot her a horrified look.
The crowd in front of them had stopped. They had reached the top of a wide stone staircase within the castle; in front of them was a wide hall, with stairs leading up out of it to either side and a pair of truly massive wooden doors in front of them. At the top of the stairs, next to Hagrid, stood a stern, imposing woman wearing a pointed hat and a thick floor-length dress.
"Good evening, first years!" the woman called. "And welcome to Hogwarts! My name is Professor McGonnagall, Head of Gryffindor House. My goodness, but there are a lot of you this summer! Anyway, through this door behind me is the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into your Houses before dinner. While you are here, your House will be like your family … you will attend classes together, live together, eat together, and everything you do will reflect on your House, for good or ill. You need not worry about your belongings, they will all be taken to your dormitories by the time you get there. All right then, I'm sure you're all hungry, and it looks like this summer's Sorting might take somewhat longer than usual, so I won't keep you any longer. Shall we?" With that, the woman turned and led the procession through the enormous doors behind her, which opened on their own just as she approached it.
Buffy and Willow's jaws dropped as they entered the Great Hall for the first time. The ceiling had been enchanted to look like the evening sky above, only whoever had done it had decided to shrink the moon to a slim silver crescent and add a dazzling meteor shower streaking across the artificial sky. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of candles floated in the air a few yards above the four long tables that ran the length of the hall, yet they seemed to give off no smoke and five times as much light as normal candles.
Professor McGonnagall led them all the way down the room towards the head of the hall, where a large table was set up on a raised podium, perpendicular to the others, at which the teachers were sitting. Most of the length of each of the long tables were empty; what students were here for the summer sat up closer to the teachers' table at the far end of the hall. A small chair sat at the lip of the dais. Something was lying on the chair. As they got closer, Buffy could see it was a hat. As they drew near the head of the House tables, the hat perked its point up and began to sing.
"Dark works, dark lords, dark times indeed,
For He's no longer dead.
You come to us for skills you need
To face what lies ahead.
But there are things that never change—
My Sorting, at the least—
So step on up, and I'll arrange
Your Houses ere we feast!
The song continued, and Buffy looked at Willow, who was already looking back at her. "Psst … Will … you are hearing a hat singing, aren't you?"
"Uh … yeah …"
"Good," Buffy breathed a sigh of relief.
"I was worried, too, for a moment."
"Me, too … eek!" Buffy said, cutting off when she noticed one of the professors, a dark-haired man with a penetrating gaze in a thick black coat, giving them a disapproving stare.
"Did you get in trouble already?" Willow asked.
"I hope not," Buffy answered, nodding as inconspicuously as she could towards the man with his eyes on her.
Willow followed Buffy's gaze, and shuddered. "Creepy," she whispered.
"Much," Buffy agreed.
Scattered applause brought their attention back to the hat, which had just finished its song.
"Torrence Appleby," McGonnagall called, standing next to the chair and reading from a scroll.
A slim, innocent-looking brunette stood forward from the crowd and nervously approached the chair. McGonnagall gave her a reassuring smile and motioned for her to have a seat. Torrence did as McGonnagall instructed, and put on a rather comical-looking brave face as the older woman set the hat on her head.
"Hmm, shy are we?" the hat said. "But there's something under there … yes, definitely, such a spark burning in there, if we can bring it to life … and I know just the thing for that … GRYFFINDOR!!"
McGonnagall removed the hat from Torrence's head and the girl went to sit at the table against the far right wall, greeted by applause from her new housemates.
"Doesn't look so bad," Willow ventured.
"I think I can handle it," Buffy agreed.
"Samantha Bones!" McGonnagall called.
"Hmm, yes, yes," the hat mused as it sat on Samantha's head. "Very much like your sister … indeed, so much so, I think you'll go in HUFFLEPUFF!"
Samantha hopped off the stage and went to sit with her new cheering House-mates at the table to Buffy's immediate left.
"Vincent Byron!" McGonnagall called. A solemn-looking boy quietly stepped out of the crowd and set himself on the chair.
"Interesting," the hat said. "Very interesting. SLYTHERIN!"
The boy got up as quietly as he had sat down, and moved over to the table by the far left wall. Buffy noted that the applause for the new Slytherin was much less enthusiastic, particularly from the three other tables, many of whom had clapped politely for the previous two. That annoyed her, for some reason. Even if a lot of the Slytherins eventually went bad, it was no reason to judge them all the moment they were sorted. The kid's only ten years old! she muttered silently. On an impulse, she clapped for Vincent, just to make a point.
"Getting into this, are we?" Willow asked.
"Just kinda feeling sorry for the kid. As if he knew where he'd be going, or asked for that stereotype."
Willow nodded morosely.
"Steven Campbell!" McGonnagall had continued as if nothing worth mentioning had happened.
The Sorting went on. There were more than fifty new students for the summer term, which Buffy heard several of them say was a record. Eventually, however, the R's came up. Jeremy Robbins was sorted into Hufflepuff, and then …
"Willow Rosenberg!"
"'Luck, Will." Buffy nudged her friend forward.
Willow approached the talking hat with no small measure of trepidation. The hat seemed to have some ability to look into people's characters, and also didn't seem to have any compunction against talking about it in front of people. She wasn't sure she wanted that hat on her head. On the other had, she was sure wasn't going to be getting out of this, so she screwed up her determination and sat down on the seat. On an impulse, she looked over at Harry just as McGonnagall set the hat down on her head, and he gave her a reassuring smile in return. Willow's breathing steadied, and she waited to hear what the hat thought of her.
"Well, I never!" the hat exclaimed. "What a mind! Bloody brilliant, this one … are you sure you're an American?"
"Hey!" she forgot her fear for a moment. I just got mocked by a Stetson.
"Oh, dear," the hat responded stuffily. For some reason, it sounded just like Wesley there, and Willow actually grinned, despite the fact that it had read her thoughts. "Well now, yes, where was I? … quite the inquiring mind this one has, but difficult, difficult … let's have a closer look … yes, ambition, and desire, passion even, a hunger for achievement … and something more … yes … yes, on second thought, you definitely belong in SLYTHERIN!!"
Willow swallowed uneasily. She had been afraid of that. She had been keeping her eye on Harry the whole time and saw a surprised, even disappointed look enter his eyes before she looked away from him. He even flinched, as though the hat's pronouncement had somehow stung him in the eye. She moved over to her new table to join her new House to scattered applause, casting a glance back at Buffy. Buffy was cheering for her as though she had just won an Olympic medal, at least. That would never change.
Willow did not have to wait long for what she was dreading. Danny Sullivan was quickly sorted into Ravenclaw, and then McGonnagall called, "Buffy Summers!"
Buffy was not about to let anything about this new world faze her, and strode confidently to the chair and parked herself there, her broom across her lap; in fact, she had begun moving before McGonnagall had even called her.
"Well, well, well! Quite a fighter we've got here … courage, yes, and honor, but there's something deeper there as well …" the hat's voice dropped so that only Buffy could hear. "… something darker …"
Buffy suddenly caught sight of Willow's eyes, and realized with a shock that she had been forgetting the whole reason she was here, to both protect and keep an eye on her friend. Come on, let me be with her … she thought, trying to think of what she could do to convince the hat to put her next to her friend. She immediately drew a blank, though. She had no experience talking to hats.
"So, you wish to be with your friend, do you?" the hat murmured, still softly.
You can hear my thoughts?
"I can feel your desires," the hat answered. "The specific thoughts aren't much use to me, if that's what you're wondering," the hat answered. For not being able to hear her thoughts, it seemed to have a pretty good idea.
"Please, I'll do whatever it takes," Buffy whispered.
"Whatever it takes, eh?" The hat was speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear again, though not shouting. "Will you then? Then you really didn't need to ask … you've definitely got power, girl, and with that kind of determination, you'll be right at home in SLYTHERIN!!"
Buffy received the same lukewarm reception that everyone else who had been called for Slytherin that day did, but she didn't care. Willow's eyes had lit up when Buffy had been called, and immediately moved down the table towards the rear of the hall, where there were more empty seats, so they could sit together. Buffy went over to her and wordlessly clasped her hand. She cast her eye down the table, memorizing the faces of her new House-mates, and her eyes stopped on one familiar one that she already recognized. Draco had said he was a Slytherin, but it had slipped her mind. She smiled at him, and he gave a half-smile in return. Apparently he didn't want to look too friendly in front of the other Slytherins, who, Buffy conceded, were a rather somber-looking lot.
There were only five more people left to be Sorted, and when that was done, Dumbledore stood up from his place at the middle of the teachers' table, and tapped his glass for silence.
"Thank you, thank you," he announced. "Only four announcements before we eat, which I'm sure you're all quite ready for after waiting so patiently—quite a number of new faces this summer! First, I need to announce that the highest three levels of the Keep, as well as all the dungeons below the first, are reserved for preparations for the war, and are off-limits to students without permission, exactly as the restricted section of the library. Second, I need to introduce our Defense Against the Dark Arts team this year."
Three other individuals stood up around the table, including the man in the black coat that Buffy and Willow had both agreed earlier was rather creepy. "We have greatly increased our Defense Against the Dark Arts staff this year, for understandable reasons. Some of these faces will be familiar to our older students here. I begin with Professor Remus Lupin, who will be teaching our younger students, as well as defense against dangerous and magical creatures at all levels." A rather ratty-looking man in a threadbare coat waved to the crowd, but if he was conscious of his appearance in any way, he didn't seem to know it; he had a relaxed posture and an easy smile. Buffy and Willow both liked him immediately.
"Older students will be under the care of Professors Severus Snape and Alastor Moody," Dumbledore continued, indicating two people to his right. Snape was the greasy-haired man in the black coat. Willow's eyes widened as she looked at the man Dumbledore had addressed as Moody.
"Buffy … look at his eye …"
"Kind of hard not to," Buffy agreed.
"They don't call him Mad-Eye Moody for nothing," a voice said from behind them. Buffy turned around just as Draco sat down next to her. She gave him a quick smile and was about to say something to him, but Dumbledore was continuing and she didn't want to miss what he was saying.
"And, as you all know, once a month, Remus Lupin will be unavailable to teach lessons. So once a month, I will be teaching your Defense Against the Dark Arts classes myself."
For some reason, that set up a thunderous round of applause from the other three tables; the Slytherins were a little less welcoming of the news, but Buffy and Willow clapped anyway. Willow in particular, having felt a hint of what the man was capable of back in Sunnydale, and at Gringott's.
"Thank you, thank you," Dumbledore said patiently, though he did not appear to be basking in the applause, merely trying to quiet the crowd down. "Now, for my last two announcements. I am always compelled to remind our students that the Dark Forest is off limits. For some reason, I seem to remember making this announcement quite frequently, but for some reason, I also seem to remember needing to."
Willow looked around, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the far table making sheepish faces at each other.
"And for my last announcement, the weather tomorrow will be partly cloudy with a high of seventeen."
"That's about sixty-five," Willow whispered in Buffy's ear.
Buffy actually laughed. "I should have known he'd throw in an announcement like that."
"He likes to keep in practice," Draco affirmed.
"Keep in practice?" Buffy asked.
"Being unpredictable," Draco clarified.
"Oh yes, how silly of me," Dumbledore said a moment later. He raised both hands. "Let the feast … begin," he said pleasantly.
A barrage of delicious aromas suddenly assaulted Buffy's nostrils, and she turned to see a smorgasbord of delicious food suddenly laid out on the table in front of her.
Willow's eyes widened. "Goddess …" she whispered.
"I like this place already," Buffy said with a grin as she reached for the nearest leg of a mouthwatering roast turkey.
Draco reached for the same piece at the same time. Their hands met on the leg, Buffy's actually wrapped around the drumstick and Draco's on top of hers.
Buffy turned to look in his eyes. "Got there first," she said with a grin.
Draco was clearly about to retort, but something somehow stopped him at the last moment. He turned the platter around and pulled off the other leg.
Buffy looked past Draco for a moment at the other Slytherins. They were all watching him with undisguised surprise. Buffy wondered what they were staring at, but shrugged it off a moment later, her attention diverted by an inviting bowl of egg salad.
"Thinking of flying back to the dorms?" Draco teased, noting that she had carried her broom with her to dinner.
Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. For some reason I just feel better with it. Plus, I didn't bring a teddy bear."
A dry grin split Draco's face. "I know the feeling. Of feeling better with a broom, not a … a 'teddy bear.'"
The rest of dinner passed fairly uneventfully, and eventually Dumbledore rose to his feet again and announced that it was time for the prefects to take the newcomers to their dormitories. Draco immediately became all business, rising to his feet and motioning for everyone else at their table to do likewise. Buffy noticed Willow looking at something across the room, and followed her eyes to where the boy, Harry, that they had met on the train was getting to his feet to lead the Gryffindors from the hall as well.
"Checking out a prefect?" Buffy whispered slyly.
"Aren't you?" Willow said with a nod backwards over her shoulder towards Draco.
Buffy flushed. Willow looked like her sixteen-year-old self again, but Buffy reminded herself that they were both a lot more experienced than they looked. Fortunately, Draco didn't seem to notice amid the shuffling of robes and chairs.
Grinning sheepishly at each other, Willow and Buffy followed Draco from the Great Hall.
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COMING SOON: Chapter 6, "On the Stairs." Buffy and Willow can't even get to their dorm room without excitement following them around like a second shadow.
SNEAK PREVIEW:
Buffy was not breathing any easier yet, however, and her mind was racing. There was a look of intense concentration on Willow's face.
"Buffy … I … can't … hold … it …" Willow grated, trying to hold on as long as possible.