Chapter Four : Sephy

Persephone followed Sam into the Great Hall. They were directed to the side of the hall to a table that she later found out was for the unsorted students. Behind them, four more tables (much bigger of course) filled the hall, one for each of the houses: Rolion, Weffle, Hawking, and Ravencroft.

Persephone purposely took the seat across from Sam; she wanted to know more about this interesting creature. Accidentally-on purpose, Persephone kicked his shoe. "Oh! I'm sorry," she lied.

"Are you following me?" he asked, loading a pile of mashed potatoes on his plate.

"Me? Oh no. I didn't even notice you there," she lied again. Sam shrugged and proceeded to eat.

Halfway through dinner Sam pushed his plate away. "This food is disgusting."

Persephone, who had actually enjoyed the feast, looked up at him, shocked. "You're a liar. This food is delicious. You're just a stubborn prat and don't like change."

Sam glared at her. "You don't even know me."

"And?"

"So how do you know that I'm stubborn and don't like change?" Sam asked, slightly leaning over the table. "How do you know that maybe I just don't like they way they cook here?"

Persephone picked up her drink. "You're right. I guess I am wrong."

Their conversation was interrupted by the headmaster announcing the sorting would begin, followed by desert.

One by one, the students were called up alphabetically to the front of the Hall. There, the headmaster held his wand over the student's head for a while, and then he pointed his wand to the ceiling. A color would shoot out of the wand. The color announced what house the student belonged in. Red for Hawking, orange for Weffle, green for Rolion, and blue for Ravencroft.

A girl with red hair that stuck out in all directions (Persephone missed the name) was sorted into Weffle, Steven Keyes went to Hawking, and Kathy Luxenburg also went to Hawking. Soon, it was Sam's turn. He was quickly sorted into Rolion. Persephone wondered if she would be sorted there too.

"Stone, Persephone," the headmaster called. Shakily, her eleven year old legs brought her up to the front of the hall to the headmaster. When he held his wand over her head, she felt a weird tingling in her head that made her want to scrunch her nose and shake her head, but she was afraid to do anything.

Then the feeling stopped. She looked up above her as orange sparks were emitted from the headmaster's wand. The table to the far left cheered; it was her table now. The Weffle table. Persephone smiled as she walked to it. These people would be her new family. This place would be her new home. This would be her new life. A happy life. Without her parents. Persephone's smile turned to a huge grin when chocolate pudding appeared on the plate in front her. It was her favorite.

---

After desert, an older male student led the first years out of the hall and up a set of stairs. A lot of stairs. A boy with dirty blonde hair who was climbing the stairs behind her attempted to count them all, but stopped as he reached 500. Persephone wondered if he couldn't count any higher than that. But soon the stairs ended and then were led down a hall, then another, then another, until finally the older student stopped at a painting of a spiral staircase.

"Cornish Pixies!" he said loudly so everyone could hear. The painting swung inward and revealed a spiral staircase. The boy motioned for them to follow. Some, including the boy behind me, groaned at the sight of more stairs.

When they reached the top, they found themselves standing in the middle of a circular, orange room.The staircase was surrounded by a beautifully crafted iron railing in place so careless students didn't accidentally fall down the random hole in the middle of the floor.

The older student led the first years further into a room with various comfortable-looking chairs placed randomly around it, over to the fireplace. Opposite the fireplace was an area filled with tables for doing homework, writing a letter to mum...or anything else that involved a table. Along another part of the long circular wall was a notice board that curved nicely with the wall. It already sported a few advertisements for student activities, class schedules, and sign-ups. Next to that was a replica of the house points system. At the moment, all the houses were at an even tie of zero. On the other side of the room, there were more stairs that Persephone later discovered led to the dormitories.

---

Soon the rest of the Weffle house arrived along with the head of the house, Professor Veldock. He explained some additional rules and informed the 1st years what life at Gorton would be like. When he finished, he said goodbye and made his way down the spiral staircase. The room stayed quiet as everyone craned their necks to listen to the professor's receding footsteps until they disappeared out of the portrait hole.

A group of boys jumped up on a piece of furniture, catching everyone's attention. One yelled, raising his wand, "Let another year begin, as the rest have, with a party!" Suddenly, an assortment of drinks and snacks appeared around the common room. Cheers erupted from the Weffle house.

Persephone, however, wasn't in much of a partying mood. She wanted to see the rest of Weffles' secret area. She passed by a table of snacks, grabbing an interesting-looking cookie before casually heading up the stairs to the dormitories.

The staircase led to seven levels, one for each year. As a first year, her dorm was on the first level to the left of the landing. The boys' dorms were to the right. Persephone walked down the girl's side of the hall, reading the names on the doors, looking for her own. She found her name halfway around the tower on the last girl's dorm (so the last boy's dorm was right next to hers).

Annabel Freer

Persephone Stone

Josephine Kennedy

Persephone pushed the door open and stepped inside, not bothering to close the door behind her. The beds were lined up against the left hall with bed side tables separating them. On the opposite wall across from each bed, there was a desk and wardrobe closet for each girl. Directly across from the main door from where she stood was another door that she later found out led to their bathroom.

"Hey there!"

Persephone jumped at the sudden sound. The frizzy-haired red head she saw get sorted into Weffle had just walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm Josie Kennedy," she said.

Persephone smiled. Josie sounded like a nice girl. "I'm Persephone."

"Why are you talking funny?" Josie asked.

Persephone pondered this for a moment. "Oh! You mean my accent? I'm from England. My family moved here not too long ago, because my daddy got a job in the ministry here.

Josie nodded. "Oh, well... there's another kid here who talks just like you," she said, finally stepping out of the bathroom entrance. She walked over the bed closest to the window and plopped herself on it. "They said he's new this year. He didn't come here last year, but he just seated himself right at the Ravencroft table like he owned the place!"

"Who's 'they'?"

Josie crossed her legs Indian style and lean forwards a bit as if to keep her balance. "My brother and his friends. You know…the ones who started the party down in the common room. They're fourth years."

Persephone nodded and sat down in the middle of the nearest bed, imitating the sitting position Josie was in. "Well, I'll have to find this mysterious boy. I'd be nice to meet someone from back home."

"Oh, Sephy, I'd be careful if I were you," Josie warned, her eyes growing big. "My brother said that he could be a spy from another school or something. Peter is really smart about these things, so he could be right."

"A spy? Why would he want to spy on this school?"

Josie shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe for Quidditch or something? I'll ask Susan tomorrow...she's my sister in Ravencroft and Peter's twin. But if you do talk to him Sephy, be careful until I find out more about this kid."

"What did you call me?" Persephone asked.

"Sephy. Do you not want me to or something, cause I won't..."

"No, no. It's just no one's called me that in a long time."

Their conversation pretty much ended there as they both started to unpack their trunks, which had been magically sorted into everyone's rooms after they were sorted. Josie took the bed farthest from the door and under the window. Persephone took the one right next to her in the middle. The girls were about halfway through un-packing when Sephy looked up and saw someone standing over her. It was the snobbiest, rudest, and most annoying girl she would ever meet. Annabel Freer.

It wasn't until she put name and face together that Sephy realized who exactly Annabel Freer really was. Annabel and Sephy had met many times before. Sephy's and Annabel's fathers were running for the same position in the American Ministry. When Sephy's father got the position, Mr. Freer got the position below. This angered Annabel, so she took it upon herself to ruin Sephy's life. At a ministry gathering, the Freers sat behind the Stones. Halfway through the Minister's speech, Sephy felt something moving about in her hair. Annabel had stuck her gum into Sephy's hair! With magic it would have been easy to pull the gum out, but the rotten girl had to use Drouble's Ultra Sticky Chewing Gum! It took Eleanor hours of trying to get the gunk out… but in the end, Eleanor had to cut Sephy's hair.

"Hello Persephone," she spat, stepping further into the room. Annabel was tall for an eleven year old. Her long blonde wavy hair hung below her elbows and, like always, was held away from her face by a baby blue ribbon hair band. And of course, behind her were a group of five or six girls wearing makeup and holding purses just like Annabel. Everywhere she went she had girls following her, doing whatever she asked them to do. If she told them to go bald, they would.

"Annabel." Sephy stood from bending over her trunk.

Annabel put on a fake smile and looked around the room. "Well, isn't this pleasant- looking." One thing Sephy learned the very first time she met Annabel was to never believe a thing she said. "Girls, unpack my things. I'll take that bed over there by the window." Annabel's squad hurried over to the window wardrobe and emptied Josie's things from it.

"HEY!" Josie stormed out of the bathroom and saw her things being flung all over the room. Sephy's vision darkened when one of Josie's skirts landed on her head. She quickly pulled it off. "That's my stuff. What do you think you're doing? I was here first!"

Annabel stepped forwards. "And? Your point?"

---

When the 'A Squad' finished un-packing Annabel's things and hanging her posters, they quickly left, leaving Persephone and Josie to clean up and re-organize Josie's things into the last bed set left.

"How could a girl like her get sorted here!" Josie groaned.