As we chatted amongst ourselves, I learnt more about Crystal and Tyler.
Crystal was raised in a small village and is a muggle-born. She appeared shy to engage in a conversation at first but she slowly gained confidence. She and Tyler were childhood friends, seeing as their parents are very close. I suspected Crystal has a teeny tiny crush on Tyler. Crystal seemed like the sweet, quiet and shy type but once she gets to know you, you see her smart, friendly and fun type.
Tyler on the other hand seemed totally opposite to Crystal. He was more of the bad-boy prankster type. He was out-going and easy to talk to. Though he contributed some perverted jokes here and there, he was very comfortable to chat to. He was a pureblood, though he and his family preferred the "Muggle side of life". His father died from Tuberculosis only 2 months after his sister was born so he was very protective of his mother and his 10 yr old sister, who might be coming to Hogwarts next year. He seemed totally oblivious to Crystal's affection toward him.
Crystal was telling me all about Hogwarts with Tyler adding something amusing from time to time but what surprised me was that Tyler and Crystal were both in Gryffindor, the house of bravery, the house Father and Mother were in. By the time we arrived at our destination, we had fast become close friends.
I gasped as I saw the ancient castle. My old school was no where near as big as Hogwarts! The castle was beautiful and more so tonight because an infinite amount of bright stars swimming among the darkness of the sky, contrasting perfectly with the mysterious shadow-grey castle.
Crystal and Tyler had to drag me to the carriages that were lead by…well, nothing, though Tyler insists there are strange dark creatures pulling them.
When we arrived, I was distracted once again by the beauty of this mysterious dark castle. There were moving portraits hung on the walls and talking ghosts floating around the place.
Crystal pulled me out of my trance-like state by telling me I have to be sorted with the 1st Years. Tyler took me to the swarm of nervous First Years and bid me luck before he parted.
And here I was, waiting for a professor whilst being surrounded by tiny kids whispering to their new-found friends about how nervous they are. One of the First Years, a girl with platinum blonde hair tied up neatly with two high ponytails and brilliant green eyes was shaking in the corner by herself. I pitied the child, so I went up to the cute girl and tried to calm her a bit.
"Hi, I'm Serenity," I introduced myself.
"I-I-I'm F-Faith," She stuttered. She must be terrified at the prospect of coming to a completely foreign place without her parents for the first time.
"You seem scared, am I right?" I said gently as slowly kneeled before her so we could be level with each other.
"Y-Yes. I d-don't want t-to be so-sorted i-in front o-of all those b-big p-people..." She stuttered out whilst staring at me with those brilliant lime green orbs.
"It's okay to be frightened once in a while. Even I'm scared too," I admitted.
"B-But you're a big girl," She pointed out, "Big girls don't get scared".
She seemed to be stuttering less, "Everyone gets scared Faith," I whispered in a soothing voice, "Big girls or not, every one gets scared. And besides, I can't wait to make new friends and explore this humongous castle, can you?"
She seemed to be excited, "I guess…," She looked at me, "Thank you Serenity. You're my first friend," She smiled.
I hugged her, and as if on cue a completely stoic Professor entered the corridor where we were standing and smile… in a stoic way. Faith slipped her hand into mine and squeezed it tight. I squeezed back in a comforting manner.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall the headmistress of this school. When you enter the Great Hall, you will each be sorted into either Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Oh, Miss Potter, you will be the last to get sorted since you are the eldest. I bid you all the best of luck. Follow me," After she was finished with her speech, she briefly led us down the corridor and into the Great Hall.
Everyone in the Great Hall immediately seized the chattering and averted their attention to the new students. While we were walking the extremely long path upto the front where a single stool and an old shabby-looking hat stood before the Professors' table, I could feel the anxiety radiating from the 1st Years. Faith squeezed my hand once again and walked closer to me almost as if to hide inside me. I could feel most of the stares on me, seeing as how I was the eldest and it was probably rare to find any transferred student beginning their 6th Year in this school.
The sorting ceremony began as each of the students' names was being called out. I quickly scanned the place for any signs of Tyler or Crystal. When I found them, they grinned and gave me thumbs up signs. I returned their grins with a nervous smile of my own.
Now it was me squeezing Faith's hand. I also felt a cold, hard stare directed toward me. I turned my head to the table draped with dark green and silver decorations and nearly stumbled as I gasped. There sat an extremely handsome boy, who looked about my age, with jet black hair falling gracefully over his ice blue eyes. He was glaring at me for some reason but I tried to ignore him. Though it was pretty difficult, I managed.
A period of time passed and most of the 1st Years got sorted and I think it was another familiar squeeze of the hand that brought me back to reality. Faith's name must've been called because she squeezed my hand one last time before timidly walking up to the stool. She was staring at me with those bright green eyes of hers before the hat was draped over her head. I saw her rosy pink lips moving, almost as if she were talking to the hat… and then-