Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, including its characters, setting or anything else.
AN: Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile. To be honest, lost interest a bit in writing along with focusing on school. Back and ready to continue. Read and review :)
What is this place?!
Iz followed Dest onto the shore with Hermione and Neville, looking around at the surroundings as sailed toward the looming castle. The dense forest hid the trail that supposedly led to the school, where all of the older students had gone. They had arrived at a place called Hogsmeade Station, and an enormous man had motioned the first years over off to the side. Izzy was still amazed at the gigantic castle painted onto the canvas of bright blue sky. The towers with their turrets, the large glass windows, and the overall size of the structure astonished her.
Dest nudged her side as she glanced out to see a boat drifting by itself with the huge man inside it. Everyone else had already gotten in boats, so Iz scrambled to get in with the other three so they could take off. Just sitting, she was startled when it tugged itself through the lake, now shocked at how smooth the water was, like glass. The scenery was even better from the middle of the lake! But as Iz's boat passed another, she overheard a girl telling one of the others about a supposed gigantic squid. Dest heard too and rolled her eyes but kept them on the water as if looking for it. The boats slowed as they pulled themselves onto the shore, the giant man looking around as if someone may have fallen into the lake by accident.
"Wait- where's Trevor-!?" Neville began to panic as he checked the boat to see where his pet toad had gone.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" The giant man held out his hand, holding the dark green toad as it croaked. Neville let out a sigh of relief as he nodded and quietly took the amphibian."Ever' one account'd for?" No one answered him, and so he turned and knocked on the enormous castle door.
As if the tall, stern-looking witch had been guarding that door, she swung it open to let the new students in. She glanced at each and every one of them, as if analyzing them and picking the trouble makers right out from the group. Once everyone was inside, they all crowded together in one group, as if worried that something unexpected would happen.
"Firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid nodded in the tall woman's direction, smiling amicably.
"Hagrid, the feast is about to begin," the professor nodded the large man toward the doors. He nodded, smiled to a boy with black, messy hair before disappearing through the huge doors.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and your new home for the next few months. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before that begins you must all be sorted into your Houses. All four houses have equally produced powerful and outstanding witches and wizards. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. These houses will be your family while here, each with a professor in charge for that house as well as student prefects. I hope each of you will become a credit to whichever House you are assigned to. When I return, we shall proceed in." She left them alone for a moment as she walked down another hallway.
"Wait! How are we going to be sorted?!" Destiny turned wide-eyed to Izzy, who smiled and shared a look with Hermione.
"It said in Hogwarts, A History that you have to take this test in front of all the students, physical running and-" Iz began, trying not to laugh.
"No! I know you're lying, you're laughing! Hermione-?" As Hermione began to explain the Sorting Hat to Dest, Iz overheard an argument. Turning around she spotted Jett, the girl she had run into, and Draco arguing with the black haired boy the giant had smiled at earlier. Yet, before she could really hear anything McGonagall had returned and quieted them all.
"Now, form two lines and follow me," as she began walking toward the entranceway. Iz saw Jett and Draco but specifically steered clear of them, still uncomfortable with the look the blond boy had given her. The doors opened and the line marched in, clumping in front of what Izzy presumed the professor's table. Once everyone was there, with all the older students staring at them, Professor McGonagall brought out a stool and set an old hat on top of it. Iz watched as it opened its mouth and began to sing a song. Iz listened to the descriptions of all the different houses, trying to think all the while what house she would best belong to. As the hat finished, the whole hall burst into a thunderous applause. Professor McGonagall stood and began calling off names.
"Abbott, Hannah!" A girl with blond pig tails began cautiously up the stairs, nervous-looking. She sat and faced all of the students as the hat fell over her eyes. Within a few seconds the mouth of the hat opened and cried, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The girl smiled and walked quickly over to the table, students and ghosts welcoming her with cheers.
"Black, Jett!" The blond-haired girl she had run into at the platform nervously went up from her cousin's side and sat, biting her lip. The hat took a bit longer with this girl, and the hall waited in silence when it called, "GRYFFINDOR!" Iz glanced at Draco, who looked surprised before he frowned, watching as his cousin walked nervously over to the Gryffindor table. No one applauded her, but a few prefects welcomed her in a friendly manner, as if everyone was in shock. Professor McGonagall kept the list moving. Iz watched as Dest was called up and joined Jett at the Gryffindor table, smiling as the Gryffindor students clapped her in welcome. She watched as Hermione went to join Destiny at the Gryffindor table, and clapped as Neville joined them as well. She braced herself, knowing she was next as Professor McGonagall called out,
"Lupin, Isabelle!" Iz glanced around, blushing by instinct at being singled out and gingerly approached the stool with the hat. She wiped her black wavy hair out of her eyes, staring at the back wall to avoid eye contact and felt the hat settle onto her head.
She jumped involuntarily as a small voice whispered into her ear, "Isabelle Lupin. Recently adopted by Remus Lupin, interesting… Yet, you do not know of your parentage, I see."
Am I allowed to make requests? Or ask questions? Iz asked involuntarily, curious. You know who my parents are? Can you tell me? Were they magic, too?
"Alas, my dear, I am not able to give out that information. Heed this advice: many people have more than one side to them, even if from your point of view you only see one side. Now, as to a House… Dedicated to friends, intelligent but so many talents…so many possibilities for the future…"
All my new friends are in Gryffindor, Mr. Hat, sir, and they seemed to be a good fit for me-
"That may be so, but you are self-motivated, you will feel you have a lot to prove as time continues…cunning, intelligent… I believe you would be best in- SLYTHERIN!" Professor McGonagall pulled off the hat and Iz immediately glanced over at Destiny and Hermione and Neville, but progressed to her new House. It didn't seem right to her, she didn't understand his words that she felt she would have a lot to prove. She sat at the long table that clapped her welcome, smiled to them and turned back to the chair. Still befuddled by the Sorting Hat's decision, she missed the almost immediate decision of Draco Malfoy being sorted into Slytherin house.
Draco walked over to the table like he owned it, sitting between two large boys that had been sorted before him. He made no means of acknowledging her existence and she rolled her eyes. The sorting ended as Blaise Zabini joined the Slytherin table and the hat was taken away. Once again Iz glanced over to the other side of the hall at her newly made friends sitting without her. She looked up as the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, rose to give her the four words she would never forget at the opening speech: "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" Everyone laughed and cheered. As he sat down, plates of a variety of foods appeared in front of her.
Iz ate quietly, listening to others conversations, the natural eavesdropper she was, but also looked for a group of people she could converse with. Everyone, even the first years, seemed to already know each other and have their groups. She glanced at the girl sitting next to her, gossiping about a wizard magazine or something. To her left, the older students were talking about classes and school subjects as she noticed the badges on their robes. Across the table from her sat a group of boys obviously led by none other than Draco Malfoy.
He leaned comfortably back, all of the boys facing him as he talked, yet looking uncomfortable as a ghost flew to sit next to him. The ghost was a ghastly image, with blank eyes and covered in blood. She blinked in surprise before quickly looking down at her food, hoping he hadn't noticed her staring. Once again her ears picked up on Draco's conversation about his summer vacation. Iz glanced to her right only to catch the eye of the girl sitting there. The girl straightened and gave Iz a once-over, as if sizing her up for something, but Iz couldn't think of what.
"Hi! I'm Isabelle, and you are?" Iz said with a friendly smile, holding out her hand to shake the girl's. She took it gingerly, still sizing her up as the other girls went on to their own conversations.
"Pansy Parkinson," the girl wrinkled her nose as if something bothered her. Quickly she turned back but the other girls introduced themselves as Daphne Greengrass and Millicent Bullstrode. Iz smiled to each, Daphne's greeting the warmest. She was about to begin a conversation when Pansy took their attention again back on to the magazine. Iz turned away to glance at Draco, listening to his conversation, noticing his volume had lowered. He was obviously talking about something important with the boys that sat next to him.
"Mother is going to be so displeased, and Father… Oh, I don't know what Father will do. She was sorted into Gryffindor! Maybe we can get them to change it, have her re-sorted… And then here we are, letting Mudbloods into Slytherin! This is ridiculous; do you see her second-hand clothes? It's disgusting, and I bet she'll lose us plenty of points-" Draco glanced up, not realizing Iz had heard the entire thing. They caught each other's gaze and stared before Draco scowled and looked away.
"What do you want?" Draco asked in an annoyed tone, but cautious as if unsure she had heard anything.
"Were you talking about your cousin? Why can't she be in Gryffindor?" Iz asked, confused by why he was getting so upset over this fact, trying to ignore the statements he had said, not allowing herself to quell on the thought that he was probably talking about her.
"I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you-" Draco began but the boy to his left interrupted.
"Yeah, we don't have to explain ourselves. But Gryffindors are idiots, they think they are better than us, and they're Mudbloods-" Draco nudged him hard as if to silence him, giving him a sharp look. He turned back and gave Iz a cold stare, trying to get her to drop the subject.
"What's a Mudblood?" Iz asked, completely confused but acting confident, beginning to understand the mind games he played. He smirked at this and waited a few second before answering with a sneer.
"Well, a Mudblood-"
"Malfoy! What did I tell you about your attitude? I will dock points if necessary," the boy next to Iz scowled at Draco. Draco gave the older boy a cold stare as well, but scowled and ignored Iz the rest of the dinner. After finishing, she was about to turn back and begin a conversation with Daphne when the Headmaster rose. Everyone quieted immediately, looking up at the long-bearded man standing before them.
"A few announcements before we head off to the dorms…" Iz tuned out as she eavesdropped on Malfoy's whispering again but was unable to determine what he said. Suddenly everyone began singing different tunes with lyrics to what must have been the school song, and Iz tried to keep from laughing. She glanced over as red-haired twins at the Gryffindor table sang the last few words slowly by themselves before everyone clapped. The plates and food had disappeared from the tables and the first years clumped together in their own kind-of cliques as prefects directed them out of the hall, Iz just following Pansy, Daphne and Millicent.
Iz glanced around looking to wave goodnight to Destiny at least, yearning to talk with her like they used to. Sighing, she followed the Slytherins as they turned down a hallway that seemed to slope down and the doors of the Great Hall disappeared.
"Are we going underground-? Wait! The dorms for Slytherin are underground, aren't they?" Iz turned to Daphne who nodded but Pansy pulled her over to her other side, as if to keep her from talking to Iz. She sighed, watching as they walked a bit deeper and passed bars that looked like those on cages. She almost ran into Pansy as they stopped suddenly, at a doorway that had somehow appeared. The prefect in front announced the password to get in and watched as the door magically swung open. Iz walked cautiously into the room to find it well-decorated with very expensive décor. She wasn't the only one looking around, but in the corner of her eye she watched Draco smirk that smirk again and plop down into a chair as if he owned the whole room.
"First years, up to bed! The prefects will come around to be sure everyone is up nice and early for breakfast in the morning. Boys dorms over there, girls through there." Iz glanced at the boy who had been defending her all day lead the first years into their dorms before following the other girls into the staircase that led down. The light turned greener than it had been in the common room. They were motioned in to an empty room to find all of their trunks on beds around the room. Iz easily found hers, older looking than all the rest and the spot right in the back of the room. She smiled, glad they had put her here, hoping she'd be able to sit in her bed and read and do homework without anyone bothering her. As she was about to start unpacking, Pansy came over and plopped down on the fresh covers.
"Thanks for getting your stuff off my bed," she smiled up at Iz as if she were queen of the universe. Iz set her trunk down and glanced back up.
"What?"
"This is my bed, clearly, so I thanked you for getting your stuff off of it. Now, you're probably exhausted so you should go and unpack-"
"Pansy, her stuff was already there-" Daphne came over, beginning to defend Iz but backed off at Pansy's stare. Pansy then glanced back up with that bitter-sweet smile at Iz, who now frowned but didn't know what to do. She had always given in to the girls at the orphanage, but this was HER bed.
"My stuff was here, I think we should stay-" Iz began quietly, afraid to speak.
"But my stuff is here now, so…I suppose it's my bed!" Pansy motioned her over to a bed across the room, no different from her own except for location.
"But-" Iz began again but Pansy just smiled at her and Iz grew defensive. "My stuff was here first. I was here first. This is my bed and I would kindly appreciate it if you would move."
Pansy frowned suddenly and stood, obviously not used to being stood up to. "Now listen here, I run this dorm, this room, everything, and if you get in my way-"
"Lights out in ten minutes!" The older prefect girl who had shown them the room entered before taking in the situation. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes-"
"No, nothing, just getting to know each other. Ten minutes until lights out? We'd better hurry!" Pansy smiled sickly sweet at the girl again as Iz turned to watch her go, not being fooled at all. Iz turned back to Pansy smoothing out the bed sheets. She stood up and as the door closed her face turned furious, "Now listen here, freak. A Mudblood like you has no place in Slytherin house, and no place to be in my way! So stay out of my stuff, out of my way, and don't talk to any of us. Night," she said, turning away and whipping her short hair out as she walked back with her trunk to the other bed. Iz realized she had never meant to really take the bed, just hassle her.
Iz sighed and glanced at the other girls, none of whom seemed to have been caring about the situation. That is until Iz caught Daphne's eye at one point and she rolled her eyes and smiled a small friendly smile. Iz smiled a bit more as she unpacked and undressed, happy to know she had at least one other person in her dorm that wasn't controlled fully by Pansy.
The one-minute warning was called for lights-out and Iz pulled the covers back to climb into her bed when she felt something wet and slimy glide over her hand and screamed, jumping back. A garden snack slithered off her bed onto the floor as a prefect rushed in. Seeing the snake, she sighed and made it disappear, glanced around the room as if looking for the culprit before closing the door. Pansy, with the hangings already closed around her bed, called as the lights went out, "Goodnight!" Iz could almost see the triumphant smirk on Pansy's face as she climbed into her bed, ready to sleep off her eventful day.
How are you enjoying it so far? It should be picking up now, action wise. I'm still an amateur writer and any comments about writing or grammar, as well as constructive criticism, is welcome! Review please!