Chapter Eight: Hogwarts, At Last
The rest of the train ride all seemed rather uneventful compared to the event that happened minutes later.
It was the moment that we were to cross the lake to Hogwarts.
Arriving at the Hogsmead train station was nearly unbearable and I could hardly stand the wait, standing next to my new found friend Anna and Benjamin close by, who seemed to be chatting with Anna. The three of us made our way through the station before moving onward to follow a giant man, unlike any I had seen before yelling:
"This way to th' boats!" He bellowed, but I could see through the thick beard and thick, thick layers of clothes that he couldn't be all that malicious, despite his size. He looked rather friendly. Had he been normal sized, I would have found nothing intimidating about him.
Standing at the docks, boarding onto a boat that I feared would tip over at any moment, and taking in the view that seemed to be more of a dream than anything else. Moments based before finally we were on our way, rowing across the lake to the castle that sat on the rocky bluff straight ahead.
Words were literally pointless to try to describe the towers, the bricks, the whole structure of Hogwarts. I knew that Benjamin and Anna were probably speaking to me, but once again I found myself oblivious to nearly anything around me. There was only one thing in my sight and it was the castle that had been the core subject of all of my dreams since nearly birth.
As cliché as it sounded, it was as if magic was surrounding the castle, sitting proudly upon the castle, as if announcing to the world that it was a place only for witches and wizards.
The boat ride couldn't have been any longer.
"Lana, what do you reckon we will do once we arrive?" I faintly heard Anna ask as I zoned in on the castle, still amazed.
"Lana?" She tried again. "Lana!"
Benjamin sighed before informing Anna," She does this sometimes, just wait a moment or two. I'm used to this by now."
Just as my friend predicted, the questions finally registered in my head as I turned to Anna, to finally answer her question.
"I reckon we will be on our way to the beginning of the term feast, along with the sorting of course," I answered with a smirk on my face, hardly able to contain the excitement.
Benjamin rolled his eyes, but all in good humor," We've only been waiting for this day for…our entire lives."
Anna chuckled at this before chipping in," Is that why Lana seems to be in a complete and total daze?"
"Partially," I answered, laughing softly before sneaking another glance over to the castle, which we had nearly reached.
"That's how she is most of the time," He teased, a smirk growing on his face as my mouth dropped open and I leaned over to hit him in the arm, resulting in a violent jerk of the boat.
At the same moment, all three of us paused as the boat tilted back and forth, nearly dumping us into the black waters below. Anna and I even let out a small shriek before realizing that the boat was not going to capsize. After releasing a collective sigh of relief, the only other option was to burst into laughter. Which was exactly what we did.
I'm sure that as they came to tie up our boat to the dock, they must have thought that they were dealing with a three complete and utter lunatics.
The inside of the castle was just as marvelous as the outside had been. Entering in amongst the other first-years contained an excitement like none other I had experienced in my life. Or at least, in a very long while.
The stone on the inside of the castle was covered with all sorts of portraits with characters moving in and out, but most of them seemed to be in a rather pleasant mood and waving at us with such enthusiasm. A soft chatter was traveling about the class of students as we migrated passed the moving staircases that my father had forewarned me of.
Just before entering what I presumed to be the Great Hall, the crowd stopped. A woman clad in dark green, velvet robes stood in front of us, wearing a hat signature to that of a witch. She appeared to be an older woman and very structured, but a smile was on her lips as we came to a halt in front of her.
A couple minutes later and I knew this to be Professor McGonagall. She gave us a set of instructions before we were to enter into the Hall. Typically, they were a list that most should have found to be self-evident, but the school must protect themselves from any dim-witted fool who chose to ruin the feast for everyone by putting the obvious into writing.
Finally, after her greeting was over. The doors to the hall were opened and the splendor of the hall revealed itself.
All of our eyes seemed to be hardly able to choose where to look, the tables, filled with older students who all seemed to be happily waiting our arrival, the ceiling which appeared to be no ceiling at all, or perhaps the teachers who were lined up at the front of the hall, at a long table, side-by-side.
I must have stopped walking at one point because I felt Benjamin grab my arm and pull me along beside him before we once again came to a halt at the front of the hall.
It appeared as though each table in the hall represented a house of the school. All of the green lined robes were sitting together, I presumed this to be Slytherin. The yellow lined robes and red lined robes were Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, respectively. While, the blue lined were Ravenclaw.
The sorting hat sat upon a lone stool at the front of the room and I couldn't help but feel an instant lump in my throat at the sight.
I hadn't been particularly nervous at all about being sorted. In fact, prior to that moment, I had been excited. Any of the houses would have been fine, Slytherin would have been the least preferred, but for some reason I couldn't help but feel a tinge of anxiety.
It was also at this moment; however, that I saw whom I presumed to be Albus Dumbledore. A man that my father had always spoke very highly of. Fittingly, he was sitting in the middle of the staff with the largest, most bold chair of them all. He was Headmaster after all.
Professor McGonagall informed us once more of what was to happen before finally pulling out the list of incoming students and beginning the sorting ceremony.
It was a little humorous to watch the hat sing its song before choosing a house, or sometimes simply calling out a house before even sitting on the students head. I found the hat to be rather spunky, or at least, as spunky as hats could be, I guess, but he had quite the attitude.
Names and names passed, unfamiliar names for the most part, until…
"Benjamin Flockton!" She cried and I looked over to my dark haired friend, gave him a small reassuring smile as he traveled up to the front of the hall. I knew that he never particularly liked large groups of people.
Thankfully, all he had to do was walk up and sit on the stool as the hat deliberated.
"Ah, what is it we have here? A Flockton, eh?" The brown hat stated in deliberation. "Well, you've quite the brain to be in Ravenclaw. But, if I remember correctly, both mum and dad were in Gryfindor…hmmm. Where to put you…where to put you…." The hat continued on going back and forth for several minutes, taking far longer than it had with any other student.
By the minute, I noticed that Benjamin's face was losing its color. He couldn't stand large crowds. It appeared as though the public display was getting to him. After several more minutes, Professor McGonagall finally had to step in.
"Won't you make a decision?" She cried irritably. "The poor boy looks as though he's going to be sick up there!"
"Oh, calm down. I' m only being thorough, Minerva," The hat spat back at her before chuckling to himself, as if taking pleasure from Benjamin's humiliation. "I'm only having fun old boy, it's GRYFFINDOR!"
A look of complete relief filled Benjamin's face as the professor lifted the hat from his head and he was able to scurry over the table filled with clapping students, happy to embrace him into the house.
Many more names passed, a Hufflepuff here, a Ravenclaw here, even a Slytherin or two, but I noticed that as my name came closer not many Gryffindors had been picked. I found this strange, but I hardly had time to ponder it for the professor had called my name.
"Lana Stockholm!"
Her voice seemed to echo through the entire hall as not a soul spoke. All eyes seemed to set on me as I climbed to the steps to the stool before having the hat placed atop of my head. Instantly, the hat let out a groan as my heart seemingly skipped a beat.
"Hmm, you don't make this easy for me do you?" He grumbled before spitting out a few other meaningless observations. "You've traits from all of the houses, but I will have to stick with lineage. GRYFFINDOR!"
I couldn't help but feel relief flood through me as the hat was lifted from my head and I was able to go greet my new house members once and for all. At least, I knew Benjamin. At least, we were in the same house and could go through this whole process together. It was nice to join a table so friendly and welcoming.
Looking through the crowd, I spotted a familiar girl from the crowd, Nymphadora Tonks, who smiled before winking at me from the Hufflepuff table.
I smiled at this, but my attention was drawn away at the sound of the next name.
"Anna Uftring!" The professor cried out over the crowd.
Our new friend strolled casually up to the stool. If only she would get sorted into Gryffindor, then it would be complete. We could have a trio and another friend for this new experience.
However, nearly as soon as the hat was placed on her head, the hat declared, " RAVENCLAW!"
Author's Note: It's Christmas Break! Finally! I actually have time to write now. This is so exciting that I hardly know what to do with myself, but on a different note, reviews would be greatly appreciated.
I should be updating much more frequently now and I have also published another story, so check it out. It's a Sherlock Holmes story that I'm excited about J
Thanks guys!