Hi everyone! hey i know it has been forever and a day since I last updated but I want you to know this story has not been abandonned and my schedual has freed up and I have felt a desire to write so you may be seeing more chapters soon. I used this chapter to enter some of the thoughts of James and Sirius and I hope you enjoy it!
Hogwarts
Regrettably for Sirius he didn't have much time to ponder about seeing the giant squid for three other students had filled his dinghy and they had begun drifting across the lake. A quick inspection of this fellows showed that these students were most likely mudbloods as he had never seen any of them at the mandatory pureblood receptions that he had been previously been forced to attend. Turning his attention away he gave inspection to the landscape that surrounded the lake he could but only see tree covered hills on one side with the leaves showing the first signs of changing colors and on the other three sides he was enclosed in a fog. So much so that he could only see for about forty feet in any of those directions. Sirius began then to pay attention to how fast they were moving and noticed that he couldn't see where they took off from. An unreasoning terror that they would get lost on the lake made him sit stiffer on the boat than he had before. He had seen the maps of the grounds and knew that this lake was deep. If he fell overboard who would help him?
From up ahead in the fog came a muffled voice proclaiming that they would soon be getting their first glance at Hogwarts castle. Sirius merely shivered not sure how this person could find their way in all the fog. Pulling his cloak tighter around himself he looked up from his internal contemplations hearing a collective intake of breath from the people on his boat. Turning to glare at them he saw that they took no notice all staring somewhere in front of themselves and past him. Bristling at their sight he too looked to where they were staring. What he saw took his breath away from him as if he had been punched in the gut. Hogwarts stood tall in front of him breaking through the mist. It looked pure and ancient. Like a castle in the clouds. Sirius thought dumbstruck. His jaw had dropped at the sight of the looming turrets and the multiple towers that made up this magnificent stone edifice. The one good thing his parents had taught him was to appreciate beauty and just now after all his home studies he finally realized what beauty was and it was right in front of him.
So enraptured was Sirius by the castle that he hardly noticed that they had docked besides the slight jolt he felt as the little boats hit the pier. He stumbled a bit as he climbed out onto the wooden docks but no one noticed as they were all talking to their newfound friends. He scowled a bit at this thought for he had not had the chance to make any new friends during the train ride since he had been cooped up with Malfoy and his cronies. The train ride had been nearly hell for him and he, just for a moment, allowed himself to feel a surge of self pity for the fact that he had no friends at this school. He guessed that he had Severus, but then blanched at the thought of calling that greasy haired boy anything close to the term friend. He shrugged internally storing those thoughts for later. Anyway he was a Black he didn't need friends because he was above friends and friendships. He thought back to some advice his father once gave him and took it to heart Acquaintances are fine his fathers voice echoed through his thoughts but friends are altogether unnecessary and tend to beg from you and waste time and money. You will be better off not having any friends Sirius; just acquaintances for they don't require anything at all.
Sirius vaguely noticed that he had followed the crowd of students off of the boats and into a large entrance hall that he figured could hold maybe two hundred students while he had been wrapped in his own thoughts. The hall was made completely with marble and there was a giant stair well that swept to the floor gracefully. Looking up he could see stairwells extending as far as he could see. To his astonishment and absolute delight he noticed that some of the staircases were moving! An honest smile worked its way onto his face and for a moment he looked like the young eleven year old boy that he was supposed to be instead of the mature young man he was trained to portray. His smile made his eyes shine and for the first time he could have been just any new boy to Hogwarts with unruly short black hair and knobby knees. Amazed at how light and airy this place seemed compared to the fortress that it appeared to be from the outside, he was startled out of his reverie to find a stern looking which in a long green velvet robe with a gold brooch lecturing them.
"…and upon entering you will stand quietly until your name is called. You will then come forth toward me to be sorted." The lady looked sternly over her spectacles at the students making sure they all understood what she wanted. "Am I understood?"
A murmur of consent floated through their small crowd though most all of these new students looked positively terrified at the idea of entering the hall and then waiting to be sorted into a house. Sirius' bowels clenched at the thought of this upcoming test. He wondered briefly if the rest of his family had ever felt this way before entering the Great Hall and if any of them wished they did not have to be sorted into a premandated house. He had to get into Slytherin if only so that his parents wouldn't throw a fit. He was not one to stand up to his parents just for defiance's sake. It would only turn out badly if he did.
These thoughts passed through his head in seconds and he filed into the great hall with everyone else to be sorted into the house that would be his home for the next seven years.
He was pulled out of his reverie by someone singing a song. Sirius subtly shook his head and told himself that he had to pay closer attention to what was happening instead of daydreaming like he had been before. Looking to the dais he was startled to note that the ratty hat on the stool was the one singing. Sirius heard enough to figure that the hat was praising the different Hogwarts houses; the bravery of the Griffindors, the cleverness of the Ravenclaws, the steadfastness of the Hufflepuffs, and the cunning of the Slytherins. In a moment of introspection Sirius felt that no house could really hold him. He was not brave or loyal or smart. And the only reason he would want to be in Slytherin would be to please his parents which made him weak in the eyes of that house. There was an awkward silence at the end of the song before the hall began a weak and sporadic round of applause. When everything was quiet again the lady who had been in the entrance hall began calling the names of the first years to be sorted.
James Potter was thrilled to be sailing across the lake with his new friends. He turned around wildly from his position at the bow of the boat to look at his friends causing the boat to sway wildly and peter to become greener in the face. Who would have guessed that the poor portly boy would become sea sick on such a calm ride across the lake? Peter merely leaned over the side of the boat as if he was about to loose all of the snacks that he had eaten on the train. Remus looked fine at the ride though he was staring distractedly out at the mists that surrounded them as if contemplating some vastly important question that could alter the way the world turned. James decided to leave Remus to his thoughts and Peter to his sickness and contented himself with looking for a sign of Hogwarts in the fog. His father and mother described for him their time in Hogwarts and while many of their tales were highly fanciful he still imagined the castle as something out of a story book or children's tale.
"You will be soon getting your first view of Hogwarts" reached James' ear though the fog and James strained his eyes for his first sight of the magical school. His parent's descriptions did not disappoint at all. James felt almost humbled at the serene beauty and mysticism that radiated from the castle as light does from a halo. The spires rising from the mists wisping across the grounds and lake created and ethereal feeling and suddenly James was struck with a strong sense of foreboding and an itch between his shoulders and he know in his gut that evil things would happen here. He had had these feelings before but usually they told him if someone would be a good friend or if something would happen immediately. This feeling had less of a sense of urgency for it seemed vastly distant as though it would be a long time before any of this came to pass. Still the feeling persisted and James found himself clambering out of his bout feeling distinctly ill at ease.
He trudged with the other students up to the school joking with Peter about still looking green. Remus just walked along beside them contemplating his life. James was going to say something but then decided that he would talk with Remus later and find out what his problem was then as they had just reached the front of the school.
James gazed in wonder at the inside of the castle of Hogwarts. The marble interior of the building was clean and bright and the banister on the grand stair case made him itch to slide down it it was so smooth looking. The sheer size of the building had him gazing with wide eyes at his surroundings. Suddenly self-conscious he realized that he was staring like a bumpkin he glanced around to make sure no one else noticed. He smirked to himself seeing the wonder clearly on every other face in the hall. He started when he notice that generalization extended to even that boy his father had pointed out to him. James struggled to call a name to mind it was an odd name Serious or some other pure blood nonsense. Honestly who gave their children such awful names? All of a sudden a bright smile lit the boys face up and James could not help but smile in response. If his father had not told him that that by was no good James probably would have gone and befriended him right then and there just because of that smile. He began to move toward the boy even so when the boy turned away. It was then that James realized what caught the boy's attention a resigned looking woman was talking to them in front of a large set of double doors.
"…and upon entering you will stand quietly until your name is called. You will then come forth toward me to be sorted." The lady looked sternly over her spectacles at the students making sure they all understood what she wanted. "Am I understood?"
James murmured his consent with the rest of the crowd and wondered just how they would be sorted. Was there a test of some sort inside that he would have to pass with magic because he hadn't practiced any magic over the summer. All too soon he felt the students around him surge forward as the great double doors opened them to the rest of the school. They filed into a disorderly line terror apparent on most of their faces. They came to a halt and James almost ran into the poor kid standing in front of him. He waited for what had seemed like forever while all of the seated students gazed expectantly up at the front of the room where an old sorcerer's hat was seated upon an ornate stool. A rip opened in the hat and in a rusty voice the hat the hat began to sing. James was absolutely enraptured by this song that reawakened that sensation between his shoulder blades.
"If ever if ever need shall arise
These words will someday be seen as a prize.
As the dark days near and darkness persists
Thoughts of working together top the lists.
Gryffindor the strong must remember now
That working alone to be brave is how,
Failure and evil can fester till done,
Working together makes us strong and one.
Ravenclaw is where the smart are received,
Intelligence is easily deceived.
Logic is not fool proof, remember then
Humanity is better than the pen.
Hufflepuff the loyal to you it lies
To be steadfast in all until you die
Your camaraderie shall save wizard kind
And strengthens those around you in a bind
Slytherin the sly with your cunning tricks
Your help will aid those in need if you pick
the side of light instead of the darkness
Your empathy will make this tempest less
To work together is to see success
Evil rises difficult to repress
No storm is ever impossible to sail
Your combined strengths will never let you fail"
A tangible silence filled the hall as the hat fell silent and everyone was too surprised by the song to even discuss the message of the Sorting hat. James resisted the urge to itch his back as the words of the song stuck a chord with his earlier premonitions. People in the hall began to applaud though it was awkward and quickly did especially as the woman who first met the first years in the hall way stood up to begin calling names to be sorted into their houses.
How was that? I am very proud of my sorting house song and I will explain this new power of James's in later chapter. There are also some very small details that may later become important. See if you can find the important item or if you are seeing only red herings. thanks for reading and sticking with me!