TriNymphs - Chapter Nineteen - Gossip Queen Defeated (Disclaimer on my profile)
The train finally arrived at Hogwarts; the group piled into one carriage and spent the short ride to Hogwarts in silence. Each one was anticipating the welcoming feast. When they arrived they followed the crowd into the Great Hall. They said goodbye to Cho as she went to join her Ravenclaw friends at their table. The rest of the group went off to their respective tables. They showed no sign of knowing each other after that in the spirit of house rivalry.
The hat sang its song, about each of the houses and what they were known for, and how Hogwarts came to be a school. When Draco was sorted into Slytherin, as everyone knew he would be, Alex got up and cheered. She had ignored the other first years. Draco ran over to the table to join Crabbe and Goyle, the sons of deatheaters. Lucius and Narcissa had told him to befriend them, they were his new cronies.
The sorting went on, "Moon," was sorted into Ravenclaw. 'Nott,' went into Slytherin. 'Parkinson,' a pug faced girl, was sorted into Slytherin as well and skipped over to sit next to Draco and make eyes at him. 'Patil' and 'Patil' were a set of twins that got sorted into Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. 'Perks' was sorted into Hufflepuff. Then, as the name 'Potter, Harry' was called the hall broke into a million whispers.
A small first year boy with jet black hair and a lightening bolt shaped scar on his forehead walked forward and sat on the three-legged stool. Everyone subsided into silence as they waited to see which house he had been sorted into. It seemed like the hat was really thinking on this one, as the seconds ticked by the expression on the Potter kids face changed comically.
Fist surprise, presumably at the hat talking to him, then he calmed down and started to look anxious, as the hat was presumably pondering over his traits and which house they would best correspond with. At one point he looked alarmed, and then squeezed his eyes shut. Lyssa guessed the hat had just suggested a house for him and that he was dead set against going into.
The hat eventually shouted out, "Gryffindor!" and the Potter child walked over to his new table. The Gryffindors screamed their approval. He was getting the loudest cheer out of all the first years, Draco looked distinctly put out. Apparently being a Potter who had defeated an evil sorcerer at the age of one warranted a person more popularity then being a Malfoy did. Who would've guessed?
For those at the Slytherin table the rest of the sorting passed in general disinterest. Some kid was sorted into Ravenclaw. Then some of the Slytherins looked over when it was announced that yet another Weasley had come to Hogwarts.
"Honestly, they breed like rabbits," snickered a fifth year student just two places down the table from the group of second years. Alex and Holly laughed. Eve leaned over the table to get a view of the boy talking as the person next to her was rather tall and she could not see over his head.
"How many of them are there at Hogwarts?" Eve asked. She had to gather her information somewhere, after all.
The boy raised an eyebrow at her, then started to think, "Four." he stated slowly. "But he is the sixth of that family to go through here, two of them already graduated."
"That would be Bill the Head Boy and Charlie the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain right?" Eve asked, to general astonishment amongst her friends.
The conversation stopped as the table cheered for Blaise Zambini, who had just become the newest Slytherin. Then the sorting was over and many of the students stared down at their plates in hunger.
Dumbledore got to his feet. He was smiling, and his arms were stretched wide out, as if he were going to hug the entire hall sitting before him. "Welcome," he started his speech, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!' he said, and then sat down with a, "Thank you!"
The Slytherins promptly dug into their food as it appeared in front of them, not caring in the least about Dumbledore's oddities. Over at the Ravenclaw table Cho Chang and some friends of hers were wondering idly if the four words Dumbledore had just proclaimed were his, 'welcoming speech' had any meaning whatsoever. Or if they were just four random words.
The ghost of the grey lady was sitting next to them; she didn't talk much but stared at the food enviously. She in no way contributed to the conversation but just sat there looking depressing, every living person in the immediate vicinity found the situation to be awkward.
After the deserts disappeared Dumbledore stood to make his proper speech. He mentioned the forbidden forest being well... forbidden. He said this for the sake of letting the first years know, but his eyes went over to the Weasley twins.
"When did they ever sneak into the forest?" asked Alex.
Eve was about to go into some huge explanation, but Chelsea quickly put her hand over Eves mouth and whispered over to Alex, "She'll tell you later."
Next he mentioned the no magic between classes rule. There was some chuckling in the hall as people remembered that was a rule, and thought back on all the times it had been broken last year. Next Dumbledore (having ignored the laughter) announced that quidditch tryouts would be held in two weeks, and who people should contact to get their name on the list.
Then he announced a new rule. That the third floor corridor was now out of bounds to, "everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death." Everyone within sight of Eve looked over to her to see if she had heard of why they were no longer allowed on the corridor. She shrugged her shoulders, looking put out.
Next he announced that they would be singing the school song, and that everyone should pick their favourite tune. He flicked his wand and a long gold ribbon flew out and formed the words. Alex picked the tune of a techno song she liked.
After the Weasley twins had finished their funeral march paced song, everyone went to bed. The Slytherin password that year was Salazar.
They passed through the common room and went straight to the staircase leading down to the dorm rooms; theirs was at the bottom of the stairs. Before the Slytherin girls went to bed, Alex asked Eve about the Weasley twins going into the forest. She had been interested since Dumbledore's speech.
"Who cares," Eve said, grumpily. She had been in a bad mood since hadn't known why the third floor corridor was out of bounds. It wasn't often she didn't know what was going on.
"Who was that guy with the turban at the staff table?" asked Chelsea. He had been the only one of the teachers she hadn't recognised. Eve didn't answer, as she was busy being grumpy. Chelsea went up to her and got all up in her face. "C'mon, you want to tell us! Ya know ya do!" she coaxed.
Eventually Eve grinned, "OK! He was Professor Quirrell the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Last year he was travelling across Europe, to get first hand experience with like... Dark creatures and stuff. Apparently he ran into some vampires and a hag, now he's a nervous wreck. They say he stuffs his turban with garlic to ward off the vampire encase he comes after him again."
"Figures they make the vampire out to be the bad guy," Chelsea muttered, annoyed.
Just a note having to do with the not-all-that-relevant chapter tittle. The titles aren't named after the most important part of the chapter, they are named after parts that I liked or found funny. Because I have a hard enough time with chapter titles without trying to think of one for something I have already used up all my interest in.