Okay, so I lied. This chapter won't be from James's point of view. There most certainly will be chapters from his point of view, but this isn't it. Okay, so…enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, unfortunately.
Chapter Three
I dressed into my school robes quickly, as I could see Hogwarts in the distance. I was excited, but nervous, too. I mean, what if people took that ridiculous lie seriously? Eventually, the train slowed to a stop, and I realized I had no idea what to do next.
After seeing everybody go towards a clearing with carriages in it but no horses, I decided the best move would be to follow them. After all, if everyone was going here, they couldn't be tricking me, could they?
I climbed into one of the empty vehicles. Honestly, I didn't want to see anybody at the moment, despite my craving for friends- all I wanted was to be left alone.
For a whole ten minutes, I got my wish. Not one single person came over to ride in my carriage…until dear Potter and his friends came along.
First, I heard whispering from outside the door.
"No, this is the only carriage with room enough for all of us," one voice proclaimed.
"Fine, come on, let's sit here. I wonder who's sitting alone."
The door creaked open, and Sirius Black poked his head in. When he saw my face, Sirius grinned.
"Hey Prongs," I heard him call. Prongs? Who the hell was that? "You better check out who's sitting in the carriage, I think you'll be mighty interested." He smirked at me, and I stuck out my tongue childishly.
James replied, "Okay, but if it's that Petunia girl again, I swear I'm going to…" when he realized it was me in the carriage, he put on an arrogant, cocky sort of smile.
"Well, hello there, Evans," he greeted me. Then, he turned to the rest of the guys and yelled, "Come on, we're defiantly," he winked at me, "sitting in here." I rolled my eyes. Honestly, hormonal guys were charming sometimes, but other times they were just plain flat out damn annoying.
James made sure to put the entire carry-on luggage on our seat, and then made Sirius sit with us, so I was sandwiched between James and the side of the carriage. I knew it looked like an innocent move, but I knew he did it so that he could touch me. Perv.
After we'd all gotten settled, the carriage started to go forwards. I wasn't really surprised they did, even though there were no horses- there was probably a spell or something that was put on them.
When we started moving, James began to pepper me with questions, some that I wasn't entirely comfortable about.
For example, he asked me how life was at home. I had to lie through my teeth and say that my father was great and I loved my sister, but I knew he didn't really believe me. I'd always been a shitty liar.
Eventually, James and Sirius started to talk about Quidditch again. I didn't really know all of what they were saying, but it sounded interesting, and I wanted to learn about it.
"What's Quidditch?" I asked, cutting Sirius off while he was talking about a beater, whatever that was. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all gaped at me.
"You don't know what Quidditch is?" James asked, his mouth open in disbelief. I just shrugged.
"Well, kind of. I know that there are four balls and seven players and that you do it on broomsticks, but yeah, that's about it."
"My dear," Potter said in a solemn voice, "you have been deprived of one of the greatest things known to wizardkind." Then, he, along with Sirius, and Remus bumping in occasionally, went into a full-out explanation of what the balls were, what position each player occupied, and the general concept of the game of Quidditch.
After they were done, my mind was working. It sounded like so much fun, and if I was good…maybe people would forget about that lie that was most likely told by Petunia.
"By the way, tryouts are in a week and a half." James stole a furtive look over at me. "If you want, I could help you play- if you want to. And maybe you could go out for the team. I'm captain."
I sat there, my mind racing. If I had talent, I probably wouldn't need too much of Potter's help, so my ego wouldn't be wounded too badly. Also, I wouldn't learn how to play any other way…
"Fine. But it's not a date. You're just teaching me how to play," I finally said in reply. James exchanged a glance and a smirk with Sirius, then told me, "Of course, my wonderful flower, I wouldn't dream of-"
"SHUT UP!" I yelled. The rest of the carriage snickered, while Potter feigned looking affronted.
"Evans, my dear, it is not very ladylike to scream impolite things to others, especially to mature, respectable men like us." I rolled my eyes. "By the way," he added, "want to go out with me?"
"No," I said flatly, turning to the window. James, once again, didn't seem crushed at all by the rejection.
The ride carried on, and Potter somehow managed to ask me out a total of fifteen times, and every time I said no, his leer and his humungous ego that I learned he had seemed to enlarge considerably.
When we finally got there, I jumped out of the carriage, hoping to avoid being asked out again and to find Professor McGonagall so I could be sorted into one of the Houses. I knew that Petunia was in Slytherin; it kind of fit, as Slytherins were normally snobby, unkind students.
I found McGonagall where she said she'll be- right in the front entrance, wearing a pointed witch hat and sweeping, very dark green robes. When she saw me coming towards her, she pushed the crowd away and met me halfway.
"Ah, Miss Evans, so glad you could come to Hogwarts," she said crisply. "Follow me to Professor Dumbledore's office- you'll be sorted there."
I just nodded and followed her. We wove through the students, down passageways, up stairs, and finally, to a stone gargoyle, where Professor stopped. I started in surprise. Where was his office?
"Lemon Drop," Professor McGonagall said to the gargoyle. I just stared at her like she was going senile. Why the hell was she talking to a statue?
My inquiries were solved, however, as the gargoyle moved, saying 'right you are', and showed a gap in the wall that led to stairs, which obviously went to his office.
"Follow me, please, Miss Evans," McGonagall told me, then started up the stairs. Again, I did as she asked and wound up the staircase with her, which eventually led to an oak, wooden door, which she opened and ushered me in.
My first impression on the office was that it was very unusual- active portraits went about their business, chatting with each other, there was a squashy armchair right in front of Dumbledore's desk, which was surrounded by silver, spindly machines. A handsome bird sat on a perch and right by it on a table sat a patched, rather ancient looking hat. Once you got over the shock, though, the effect was quite pleasant.
Behind the desk was an old, thin, twinkly-eyed man, who was also wearing a hat like Professor McGonagall's. He gestured for me to sit down and for the other woman to leave, who nodded at him and exited the room.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor Dumbledore told me, spreading his arms as if to embrace me. I smiled uncertainly, which he returned full out.
"You are Miss Evans, then?" He waited for me to nod. "Then you're here so you can be sorted." I nodded again.
Dumbledore flashed his teeth at me again, went to the back of the room, and got the old hat, then went back and handed it to me. I looked questioningly first at the hat, then at him.
"Put it on," Dumbledore told me gently.
"Oh," I said quietly, jamming the hat onto my head to cover my embarrassment.
As soon as the faded fabric touched my hair, I felt another…presence in my mind. It seemed like it was rifling through my thoughts, from the first time that I had ever used magic, to my last crush on a neighborhood Muggle boy.
Hey, I said indignantly in my head, that's private. The rifling stopped immediately, and was replaced by laughter.
I thought you might say that, something said in the same tone as the chuckling was in. I knew it was the hat- the voice matched the appearance, kind of softish, but with an underlying rough tone to it.
You're smart, it mused, very smart…and you use it for the right reasons…so maybe Ravenclaw? But I see loyalty in there, too, so Hufflepuff would also serve you well…but bravery as well, so Gryffindor is also an option…hmmm, you're a hard one. The hat stayed silent for another full minute, then it started up again, saying, Yes, yes, I think I've made the right choice…well, it'd better be-
"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled the hat from a flap at the top, opening like a mouth. Dumbledore beamed.
"Excellent, excellent, yes, I thought you might be in there, too. Well, off to the great hall now, I'm going too, so I'll accompany you, come on."
The entire way there, Dumbledore mostly just explained all the rules and asked if I had any questions.
"No, sir," I replied respectfully. Dumbledore smiled in a way that proved that he was satisfied.
"And here we are!" he proclaimed, raising one of his arms to highlight the great hall, where hundreds and hundreds of students were talking excitedly, obviously catching up with each other from the summer holidays. With a pang, I realized how much I really wanted a friend right now. Well, I had Potter, but he didn't count, because he asked me out every two seconds.
"The Gryffindor table is over there," Dumbledore said in my ear, nudging me lightly towards the far right end of the room.
"See you later, sir," I told him, then ran off to the table. Maybe I'd even make some friends.
When I got there, though, I saw that making friends probably wasn't an immediate option. Most people who saw me just turned away with wide eyes, but some stole furtive glances and others just openly stared.
"Evans! Evans! Over here!" I heard Potter's voice calling me, and I turned beet red as the entire female population of Hogwarts turned to glare at me. Apparently, James was the type of boy that everybody dreamed to be with, not that I was surprised; he had the looks, the confident demeanor, the personality…
Anyways, I hurried over to where Potter was waving his hands, with Black mimicking him.
"What? You're making everybody look," I hissed. James smirked.
"Evans, darling, if you hang out with young Padfoot and I, you're going to have to get used to it," he snickered. Sirius did the same.
"Padfoot? Who the hell is Padfoot?" I asked, confused.
"That would be me," Black replied smugly. "I'm Padfoot, James is Prongs, Remus is Moony, and Peter is Wormtail. We," he said, gesturing to all four of them, "are the Marauders." I kind of wondered why they were called the Marauders and was about to ask, when Professor McGonagall went up to a chair right in front of the teacher's table, put the old Sorting Hat on it, and began to call names. Instantly, the room was silent.
"Hey," I whispered to James, "that's the hat that sorted me into Gryffindor!"
"Yeah," he whispered back. "That's the Sorting Hat- it sees all your qualities and traits and stuff and Sorts you into the House you fit into best."
So that's why I heard the voice in my head that went through my thoughts- it must have been trying to see what kind of a person I was. I wondered if it did that with everyone else, but I didn't want to ask. Whatever, I thought, and turned my attention back to the Sorting.
It went by kind of slowly- kids went up to the hat, put it on their head, and then just waited until it called a House, who's students would clap enthusiastically for the new addition to their population.
After Zinnia, Isabella got sorted into Ravenclaw, Dumbledore stood up.
"Welcome, and welcome back, all of you. Now, I'm only going to say a few words, as I'm sure you're all very hungry. First off, no going into the Forbidden Forest unless you're in detention with Hagrid. Next, there is a blanket ban on Fanged Frisbees, Dungbombs, and many other objects, which can be checked on the list outside of our caretaker's door, in the corridors. Finally, our previous caretaker, known to all our students as Ugg, is not remaining at Hogwarts any longer, so welcome our new one, Argus Filch!" There was some applause as a shy-looking brown haired adult waved, a young cat sitting at his feet.
"Excellent," I heard Sirius whisper to James, "we're going to have a ball breaking this one in." I could only expect this meant they were the troublemakers, the prankers, of the school. Figures.
"Now, dig in!" he announced, and magically, platters of food and jugs of drinks appeared on the table. I gaped. How did Hogwarts get this much nourishment?
As I ate daintily, I couldn't help but feel that my start at Hogwarts wasn't exactly going as planned.
I know, I know, it's not a very good chapter, but it's necessary! I promise, the next one is fifty times better. Anyways, I made a little scale sort of thing…
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