Chapter 12: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

All the amazing feelings I had felt when I was a first year came rushing back to me. I felt tears in my eyes as I remembered the wonderful, wonderful memories I had experienced here.

We were led up a staircase and were told to wait. I looked at the blonde boy. Something about him didn't make me trust him. I leaned over to Mal-I mean, Astoria, and said, "Who's that bloke with the hair?"

"Draco Malfoy. Quite a snob, really. Barged into my carriage without asking." Astoria muttered.

"A Malfoy? You know I hate Malfoys!" I said, remembering a particularly terrible experience with them. But that's a story for later. Malfoy swaggered up to us. Astoria smiled, though I could see hate in her eyes. I didn't spare him a glance.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. And you are?" Malfoy said to me, extending his arm to me. I reluctantly shook it and said, "Ang-" Astoria stepped on my foot- "I mean, Daphne Greengrass."

Malfoy smiled and said, "Lovely name."

"Thanks." I muttered. Luckily, Professor McGonagall stopped us from having further conversations.

"May I have your attention, please?" she said, looking around at us. Her eyes lingered on me and Astoria for a small moment.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. As soon as these doors open, you will be sorted into your houses. There are four houses-Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff...and Slytherin."

I frowned a bit. She said 'Slytherin' with a tone I didn't appreciate. Nonetheless, I kept from bursting out.

"I hope I'm in Slytherin." Malfoy muttered next to me. He was making me have second thoughts about going into Slytherin.

After a while, the gates opened and we went in.

I can't possibly describe the amazing place that is the Great Hall. I can only try to describe its magnificence and beauty. The hall was enormous, with four tables for the four houses. The tables were lined with golden plates and cups. At the very front of the room was the table for the professors, and in the middle was Albus Dumbledore himself. Hundreds of beautiful floating candles illuminated the room, giving it a warm glow that I remembered and dearly love. As I looked up to the ceiling I saw the night sky, littered with stars. Of course, there was a ceiling, it was just enchanted to look that way. The Great Hall was, in my opinion, the most beautiful part of Hogwarts. It filled me with joy that I had a chance to see it all again.

We walked to the front of the room, where a tattered old hat sat on a stool. I smiled to myself as I remembered my nervousness and confusion at my own sorting. The muggleborns and some of the half-bloods shared confused glances, while most of the purebloods smiled knowingly.

The hat suddenly spoke in a booming voice,

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

I smiled and clapped along with the other students as I tried to remember the other poems the hat said, but before I could, the sorting already started. A girl I remember coming into Harry's compartment with bushy hair and large teeth got sorted into Gryffindor.

"She looks like a squirrel." Malfoy muttered. I had been thinking the same thing, but now that he had said it, she was starting to look attractive to me. More people got sorted and finally it was Astoria's turn. She went up to the hat and it was put on her head. She didn't break a sweat. She was so calm and collected. I stared and thought of how she was so calm, when the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!"

Astoria walked over to the Slytherin table, a smirk on her face. Next, it was my turn. I tried to remain calm and slowly climbed the steps. I sat down on the stool and the hat was put on my head. A small voice spoke in my ear.

"Ah, an old student I see. Came back for more, eh?"

I started to sweat. The hat knew.

"Well, Ms. Custos, as you and your friend were in Slytherin before, I see no wrong in putting you there again. SLYTHERIN!"

The hat shouted and I released my death grip on the stool. I walked over to the Slytherin table and sat next to Astoria, still shocked.

"The hat knew." I whispered. Astoria was perfectly calm as she applauded the next Slytherin to join us.

"Yep," she whispered back. The sorting went on, and McGonagall called out Malfoy's name. The hat didn't even touch his head before it yelled "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy swaggered over, a smug look on his face. I groaned and Astoria sighed in annoyance. We were going to have to spend many many classes with him.

But I didn't want to think about that guy right now. All I wanted was to enjoy the food and relish the uncomfortable look Malfoy had when the Bloody Baron sat practically on top of him.

Everything was as I had remembered it. Enough familiarity to be comfortable, yet enough new things to be thrilled about. The whole experience was exhilarating. By the end of the last course, I was stuffed. The food was the greatest I'd ever had, and having been fed nothing but owl food and rats for a month it was even better. I laughed and joked with Astoria, ate more than my fill, and was exhausted. When Dumbledore gave his final words, we all rose and followed the Head Boy and Girl to our common room.

We lazily made our way down to the dungeons, watching the portraits move and talk, clumsily shuffling down stairs until we made our way to the hallway where a large bear fur was hung. We were told the password and directed to our dormitories. I flopped onto the bed after changing, using the suitcase Astoria had packed for me as I couldn't pack myself. There were a few other girls in the room as well, Pansy Parkinson being among them. I couldn't tell if I liked her very much, she was pretty and pureblooded, but a comment she had made at dinner had put me off. Other than that, she was nice to us, probably presuming we were pureblooded as well.

Millicent Bulstrode was another girl. Though calling her a girl might have been a stretch. She was large and burly and looked fit for wrestling. She also had a cat, which she had informed no one was to touch without her permission. The cat was absurdly cute, and was named Destroyer iii. According to Millicent, he was the third in his lineage to bear the sacred name. I would have snickered if I wasn't so exhausted.

Tracey Davis was another member our our little club. She a shy half blood with eye's that zeroed in on everyone and everything, analyzing it to a speck of dust. Even in the haze of full stomachs and sleep, she was surveying everything.

Apart from that, we hardly talked at all, too drowsy to do more than rub our eyes and fluff our pillows. "Good night," mumbled Astoria. I whispered something back, but she was already fast, fast, asleep. A few milliseconds later, so was I.

I woke up next morning to Astoria slamming a pillow in my face.

"Wake up, you bum! We have classes to go to!" she said, pounding the pillow on my face once again. I groaned. The one thing I hated about Hogwarts; getting up early. But, there was breakfast to look forward to, at least. I go dressed and soon, Astoria and I were headed towards the Great Hall for a Great Breakfast. Lucky for us, someone very welcome joined us. Apparently, he didn't need an invitation to saddle beside us at the table and soon started to tell us about his father. It took a great deal of self control to not pour my glass of milk down his trousers.

"Did you know that the Minister of Magic himself has recognized my father 11 times since the past year? Of course, that's not a big thing in my family anymore," Malfoy said, winking at me, "My father-"

"You really admire your father, don't you, mate?" Astoria said, rolling her eyes. Malfoy puffed up his chest, smiled and said, "Well, he's a man to be admired."

I stopped myself from snickering as I remembered every joke I had exchanged with ANYONE about Lucius Malfoy. He was surely not a man to be admired.

After a very annoying but delicious breakfast, Astoria and I headed to Charms class. Malfoy tagged along. Luckily, the desks in Professor Flitwick's room allowed only two people to sit next to each other. Professor Flitwick took attendance, introduced himself and the class soon started.

The whole class consisted of Malfoy bragging, burnt feathers and an explosion caused by one of the Gryffindors.

Next up we had History of Magic.

"I hope they replaced that old bore Binns," Astoria muttered as we walked to the designated room. Astoria's wish was not fulfilled. Professor Binns was still perfectly fine, but then again, he was a ghost and would probably be teaching at Hogwarts forever.

We bared through History of Magic, then we had Herbology, which wasn't too bad. It was actually fun. Fun to watch Malfoy mess up severely, that is. The bushy haired girl from the sorting, her name was Hermione as I now payed attention, was the brightest of the whole class. She knew everything. More than me, and I'd already taken this class! She had really impressed me. But she was also earning too much points for Gryffindor, which bothered me. I tried to earn some points, but the few I got were nothing compared to the tally she had ranked up, all before lunch.

Speaking of which, I was starving. I had forgotten how exhausting school was. So I stuffed myself on delectable steak, until we got up to leave for our next class. As we were exiting the Great Hall, a 5th year glaring at me and Astoria suspiciously handed me a slip of sealed paper. I ripped it open and read: Hagrid has told me that he wishes to send Mr. Potter a letter inviting him to tea. Make sure to be at the Owlery sometime around early Friday morning. And remember, you are here to watch Mr. Potter. Don't have too much fun.

Signed,

M. McGonagall

P.S. Destroy this letter after viewing it.

I could almost see McGonagall's thin lipped half smile as she wrote it. But there was a serious note. We were here to make sure Harry didn't get into harm's way, and we couldn't forget about that.

"Alright, it's only the first day of school, no need to pounce on us," Astoria muttered.

"Was that a cat pun?" I said, looking at her incredulously.

"Yes, yes it was." Her smile was smug, and I scoffed at her.

"Smart arse. I'll make sure to throw that back at you sometime, miss Ginger furrball."

Astoria opened her mouth to shoot something back but a nasally voice from behind us said, "What's the witty banter about, ladies?" Draco Malfoy. I was half convinced he would put a hand on our shoulders but he didn't. Thank God.

"None of your concern, actually," I said, slipping the note away into my robes. Destroy this letter after viewing it. Incendio would take care of that. But not right now. Not in front of him.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we must be off, or we'll be late for our next class," Astoria said, and attempted to sidestep Malfoy. But he blocked our path. He knew less than half the magic we did yet he thought he could just step in front of us and act like he had any right? I think not.

"Malfoy," I said cooly. "Step out of the way." I narrowed my eyes and tried to put off an aura of power. "Now," I demanded, inflicting a sickly sweet tone into my voice. He glanced down but an heir to the Malfoy throne wasn't about to step down so easily, not to a girl like me, who probably wasn't even pure blooded. Who definitely wasn't pure blooded.

"Wait, we have the same class together. We can walk together," Malfoy offered.

"I think not." And with one sweeping movement, Astoria pushed her way forward, shutting him aside with her shoulder and striding down the path to our next class. She was having none of it.

I almost glanced apologetically at Malfoy as we left, because he did look pretty disappointed and embarrassed. But I didn't. He didn't need any kind looks from me. So I looked forward and followed Astoria, far away from the the young boy drilling a hole into our backs with his eyes.

Y'all. .. it's been forever. Sorry.