Beginning the second chapter... this is going to be interesting!
Chapter Two
Daemont stepped off the train, his thoughts bouncing about in his mind, going back to what took place a few seconds ago.
"What happened?" He asked, as he looked at the red lip marks on her forehead, "did you get kissed by a girl?"
Lora put a hand to her forehead, brought it down to eye level, gave it a glance, and told him, "I-it's really none of your business what happened. Honestly, if you'd stop-OH GOSH, you're right, this IS lipstick!" Then, contrary to what she had earlier suggested, she told him all about the Hufflepuff prefect, about his overall appearance and his mannerisms. About the kiss.
"Ew, gross! That guy totally has a thing for you!" Daemont exploded in a fit of laughter while Lora looked at him in annoyance.
"Shut up, Daemont! Shush!"
They both ended up leaving the train walking in separate directions after the brief exchange in dialogue, each having different things on their mind. Apparently they had done so because because she could no longer stand his immaturity, but it soon became clear that this was not the case.
"DAEMONT!"
Daemont spun around, only to see that the rest of the first-year students were heading towards a large, longhaired, bearded man holding a lamp on his right hand while he , in comparison, heading... err, nowhere.
He spun around and started to sprint towards the large man and ran... into a pole.
Face first, too.
As he rubbed his head, Lora rolled her eyes, and the large man rushed over to him to check if he was okay.
It was soon after that the group walked into a forest and downwards toward many oar-less boats. As he'd gotten on one of them with Lora, having finally caught up to her with a lamp of his own, soon realized that the wooden boats moved towards Hogwarts Castle by themselves.
His bewildered expression made Lora giggle, as she focused her attention from him to the looming presence of Hogwarts Castle. The wind sang its song in her ears as her hair flowed along with the wind.
"Hey Lora," said Daemont, "would you happen to remember that fat guy's name?" Lora gave him a hopeless look, "Daemont, really? D'you not have a speech filter? His name is Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper of the school." Daemont scratched his head, "Really? Well in that case, I certainly wouldn't want to be anywhere near his vicinity if he ever gets angry!" Lora rolled her eyes.
Two boats forward and one boat to the right sat Bruno, chuckling to the fellow Gryffindor girl prefect that pulled on his ear a while ago. Lora also told him about them and Bruno's distasteful dispositions.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA," Bruno chuckled slowly to her as he whispered something in her ear-which Daemont caught, "did you see the lipstick that I put on Andrew while he was snoozing? I'm looking forward to the moment when he finally notices that I have given him quite the feminine touch." She sighed, and elbowed him on the arm.
Daemont laughed as he saw this from a distance along with Lora. That explained lots.
The group was nearing the castle, the moonlight reflecting in the otherwise still water. Hagrid whistled and sang, which, to many kids, were a disturbance to the otherwise peaceful atmosphere.
A shooting star appeared above them, Daemont following it with his body until he nearly tipped over the edge, prompting Lora to grab hold of his arm to keep him on board.
He then proceeded to open his small luggage bag. In it was beef jerky and a bag of cat food.
"Hungry?" Daemont pointed his eyes to the contents of the luggage bag, then to her.
"No, thank you," she replied, wondering why the snake Daemont earlier possessed hadn't made its presence known yet.
Her question was soon answered from Daemont with, "The snake that I used to crush the legs of that suicidal murderer wanted out. So I dumped him out the window. He was fine with it, though, being a snake and all."
Hogwarts, noticed Daemont, was a large place. The group proceeded out of their respective boats and walked up the steps leading to the castle itself. One first-year student fell down about thirty steps and cracked his skull on the cold, hard, concrete. The scene was rather bloody, and Hagrid had to carry him all the way to the top. He proceeded to, as he had told the students, the school infirmary.
Other than that brief moment of unpleasantry, the walk was just fine, with every single student shaking with excitement. They had been halted by Professor McGonagall, who looked at each student's face sternly. Lora tensed.
Lead by the professor, the group had finally reached the Great Hall, where thousands of candles were stationed just below the star-covered ceiling, and rows upon rows of students sitting at large tables each with their respective colours and on them gold plates and goblets. There was a table placed horizontally at the very end of the hall, with elder wizards sitting at it overlooking the students.
"Lora," Daemont asked, "why are they all wearing different colours and grouped together?" Lora looked at him, confused, "You mean you don't already know? Hogwarts has a house system, each house representing a system of values. Depending on what system of values you'd best relate to, you would be spending the rest of your Hogwarts life with that said house." Daemont asked, "So what houses are there?" Lora paused for a moment to think, then decided to continue on with her explanation of the four houses.
"Each house has a specific set of values. Gryffindor is guided by daring, and brave folk who often like to act recklessly and get themselves into trouble. I personally cannot stand their behaviour. You may be a Gryffindor for the way that you had charged recklessly at the murderer in a self-righteous manner." She winked at him as she said this, "you could've gotten yourself hurt real bad had that constrictor of yours not come to your rescue."
Daemont glared at her, "I was not rescued! I summoned him to do my bidding!" "Same difference. You were too weak to actually fight him yourself, so you used something else to capture him." Daemont turned his gaze back to the front of the group, and asked for more explanation from Lora regarding the Hogwarts houses while grimacing.
"Alright, then," she said, "there is also Ravenclaw, which values intellect, wit, and individuality. I think they're pretty cool people, but a wee bit on the nerdy side. Following that, there are the Hufflepuffs, who value hard work, loyalty, patience, and fairness above all. They're apparently the friendliest house."
Daemont laughed at the last one, "Why do people value fairness? It is an abstract concept shoved down people's throats from people who refuse to acknowledge their own incompetence and their own stupidity." He thought for a moment, "but then, hard work and loyalty do sound like really nice concepts. Being the friendliest house means nothing though if they've got no talent." The Headmaster signalled for everybody for silence.
The two were lined up with the rest of the first-year students, with Lora beginning the explanation of Slytherin when something was thrown at the back of her head from another direction; turned out it was an apple. "Ouch!" She looked behind her, and eyed Bruno signalling for her to be quiet.
She then proceeded to whisper to Daemont, "As I was saying, the Slytherin house values cunning, ambition, resourcefulness, and cleverness. Cleverness is a trait also, I believe, to be associated with Ravenclaw. Personally, I sort of find Slytherins to be ruthless, often cutting, and downright terrifying."
Just as she had finished her explanation, the Headmaster noticed her whispering, and declared, "now I am well aware of the fact that you are all tired and full of questions, but," he glanced in her direction, "please listen for as to what I have to say."
Lora blushed, and stood to attention. Unfortunately for the Headmaster, Daemont had quickly fallen asleep, his head on Lora's shoulder. "I would like to first begin this speech with the reminder to the students that-ahem!" The Headmaster glared at Daemont, his patience finally starting to run out.
"BOY!"
Daemont awoke with a start. "Wha-oh, hey, ain't cha too young to be our Headmaster? You look about twenty years of age or somethin', an' you look kinda inexperienced," said Daemont.
The Headmaster seethed with anger, as he chose to ignore the rash comments of Daemont.
The other first-years looked at Daemont with bewilderment, for nobody was to insult the Headmaster and get away from it unscathed. "Thanks to the intervention of this boy, my normally well-orchestrated thirty-second speech that has been done by previous Headmasters of Hogwarts have done for centuries will now have to be canceled," the Headmaster said through gritted teeth.
"We shall now begin to perform the sorting process, after which you first-years may take a seat at your designated tables."
The Sorting Hat sung its annual song, unintentionally coughing at the very end of it. "Altor Meindelstrene!" called an elderly woman, whom had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall.
A boy with jet black, sleek hair and white skin walked up to the Sorting Hat, and put it on, being sorted into Slytherin within ten seconds. He smiled on his walk back to a cheering crowd.
A brown-haired girl with pigtails was sorted next, belonging to Hufflepuff. As she walked down the steps to her table, she fell flat onto her face. All of the houses besides Hufflepuff were roaring with laughter.
Once the hall was silenced once again, the sorting continued.
Lora shivered, as a thought popped into her head. What sort of house would Daemont qualify for? She looked at him with apprehension. Could he be a Hufflepuff? She took a breath, No he couldn't be. Hufflepuffs tended to be much more caring about others than the actual Houses, and Daemont's ruthless simply does not fit into that profile. A Gryffindor would be more like it... except for the fact that Daemont's personality does not appear to reflect that personality type.
She took yet another breath, Daemont's personality as of now fits the profile of a Ravenclaw student. Lora scratched her head. Now that I think about it, Daemont's ferocity is nearly unmatched by any Ravenclaw I know to date, and his ability to talk with snakes further suggests that he is a model Slytherin student. Lora tensed. I hope to God that his heart is not geared towards Slytherin, for if it is, I will have made an acquaintance out of a future murderer. I hope that he gets into Ravenclaw, like me.
Professor McGonagall called out Lora's name to be sorted. Lora strutted upwards nervously, and put on the hat. Hmmm, muttered the hat, a bright mind with plenty of intellect. Plenty of admiration for the arts and the humanities. Also very interested in the learning of the maths and magic. What's more to say, eh? Oh yes, and an adventurous side to you as well. You are fiercely independent and secretive, yet you care much more for those around you than you care to tell. All in all, you appear to be an ideal candidate for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw- "I choose the latter!" Lora paused. "DEFINITELY the latter." Well, then. Ravenclaw it is!
A massive eruption of blue occurred, as Lora trodded down the steps, slowly but eagerly.
"Daemont Woodlock!" called McGonagall.
"Yes, sir-I mean, ma'am?" he asked, as he shifted his attention to the professor from one of the many candles burning above him.
Professor McGonagall puffed up, "YOU are being SORTED!"
Lora face-palmed.
"Oh." Daemont replied, as he strode up the steps hurriedly. "By the way, how do the candles manage to still be lit without dripping wax?"
The professor gave him a cold stare.
"Okay, okay, not the time for questions, ha ha..."
As he yanked the hat from the seat, and put it onto his head, people from all around the hall were giggling at him.
Hmmm. You have well-practiced observational skills grouped with nothing short of a well-tuned, chivalrous attitude towards women. You possess an eccentric personality, accented by your ability and preference to converse with snakes over ordinary human beings. Despite that, however, you remain lonely not just externally, but internally. You... have locked deep within you a chilling ambition, to end the existence of-I am uncertain as to which-an individual or a select few people. You have a traumatic past, further pronounced by the persistent bullying at the hands of said individual or individuals and the loss of somebody dear to your heart. declared the Sorting Hat. You also possess a much darker side of you that is best kept hidden in the duration of your stay at Hogwarts.
The Sorting Hat took a breath, even though it probably didn't need one.
While you exhibit many qualities excluding most qualities from Hufflepuff, it is because of your seething ambition that overshadows all of your thoughts during your waking moments, it will have to be SLYTHERIN!
Daemont proceeded down to his table, fist pumping as the crowd of Slytherins cheered. But as he glanced at Lora who met his eyes momentarily before focusing them up at the front, Daemont smiled with his lips but not with his eyes.