Chapter 94: Newfound Relatives
"Let's do it."
"A little too last minutes."
"Twelve hours isn't that short."
"Alright, alright."
"Make it quick."
"It will be great."
"It's always good."
I'm neither a girl nor a boy,
I'm just a hat, black and coy.
I may not look friendly,
I may not be sunny.
But I am definitely brainy,
More than all you know.
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,
Created by our four founders.
Gryffindor, whose bravery was known,
For all his actions shown.
Ravenclaw, where the wise belong,
Knew all about the weak and strong.
Hufflepuff, the most loyal of all,
Whose patience never fall.
Slytherins, where the ambitious gather,
Birds of feathers flock together.
Just put me on,
And you're on the way,
To find the house where you belong.
Everyone in the Great Hall applauded loudly and cheered at the Sorting Hat. Professor McGonagall stood up and about to make her speech but the Sorting Hat continued on.
Sorry to disappoint you,
But I'm not done with my speech yet.
This following was by request,
From four Hogwarts legends.
James Potter, the mastermind among them,
Lead the Marauders far beyond eating ham.
Sirius Black, whose charm is dazzling,
Attracts everyone till downpour become drizzling.
Remus Lupin, rational and calm,
Cool outlook made him feel like the palms.
Peter Pettigrew, out of the nutshell,
Into the world of seashells.
The Marauders form the legend of prankster,
Spread far beyond Hogwarts history.
For when the four come together,
There's no peace altogether.
The applause got even louder this time, with 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the crowd, cheering the Marauders on. The four guys stood up on their seats and bowed wildly.
"Thank you for the poem." Professor McGonagall announced after making sure the Sorting Hat had finished its speech. The cheers and applause died down and silence filled the hall. "Now, we can proceed on with the sorting."
"That's a pretty good speech." Lily praised. All the students had returned and once again, it was the Sorting Ceremony.
"To be frank, only part two was created by us." James admitted. "Ouch." Sirius nudged him a little.
"That's our secret. Everyone will believe the entire speech was our creation."
"Okay, okay." James raised his hands to defend himself.
"Black, Andromeda"
"Is that first year your relative??" Remus asked the twins who turned around when they heard the surname, Black, being announced.
"Erm.. I don't remember." Sirius looked rather confused at the girl who was sitting on the stool.
"GRYFFINDOR!!" The Sorting Hat yelled and all of them cheered. She was the first to be sorted to Gryffindor among the first years.
"I think she's our cousin or something." Stefanie suggested. They barely had any contact with their own family members.
"We can ask her later or tomorrow." The group of six looked at the pretty brown-haired girl sitting at the front end of the Gryffindor table talking to some second years.
"Potter, Kate."
"Don't tell me that's your cousin too." Sirius suggested.
"Kate, hmm, where did I hear that name before??" James tried to remember if he had any cousins by the name of Kate. "I don't quite remember actually."
"GRYFFINDOR!!" The black-haired girl bounced down and joined the Gryffindor table. She waved at the group when she caught sight of them before joining the other first year.
"I think she knows you." Peter suggested.
"Looks like it. People don't wave at you for no reason." James said.
"You two sure have a large family to miss knowing your relatives." Remus joked.
"Tongs, Ted."
The Sorting Ceremony continued while the group was discussing the possible identities of the young Black and Potter. Apparently many others in the Hall were thinking along the same line.
"Weasley, Alex."
"Looks like this is going to be an interesting year." James grinned. The last two guys who were sorted into Gryffindor were having some sort of secret discussion at the end of the table.
"Why did you say that??" Lily asked.
"That two guys there have the mischievous look." Remus guessed and the girls laughed at his absurd observation.
"I can't see them looking mischievous." Stefanie raised her brows. "More like they seems fascinated by Hogwarts." The food just appeared on the table after Dumbledore's speech and 'wows' could be heard from the first years who found that fascinating.
"They have the look that we used to have when we're up to something." Sirius said before digging into his dinner feast.
"The Head Boy and Girl will have a tough time this year." Stefanie gave James and Lily a look. The rest laughed along, with their mouth full.
"What makes you think we'll be the Head Boy and Girl??" James asked in between mouthfuls.
"I didn't say that."
"This year our Head Boy and Girl will be James Potter and Lily Evans." Dumbledore announced. James and Lily exchanged a confused look before being shoved up by the students beside them. Nearly everyone applauded after the announcement, besides the Slytherins, for obvious reasons.
"Stef, how did you know??" Lily asked her friend when she regained her sitting position while Dumbledore continued with his post-dinner speech.
"I guessed that." Stefanie grinned and exchanged a wink with Remus.
"I saw that." James placed his arm around Remus' shoulders.
"So now the Prefects will lead the students back to the respective Towers." Everyone stood up and ready to return to their new dormitories after Dumbledore's announcement.
"Uncle James." A girl called out among the crowd.
"This way." James raised his right hand to gather the attention of the younger Gryffindor students. The house prefects kept order before the group moved out of the Hall and headed towards the Gryffindor tower.
"Uncle James Potter." The girl called out again. Some of the students giggled and laughed at the joke.
"James, I think someone is calling you." Lily tried very hard not to burst out laughing.
"I heard that. But I'm not responding because I'm not an uncle." James ignored and continued walking with the fellow Gryffindors behind. Sirius, Remus, Stefanie and Peter were behind all the students chatting among themselves and apparently laughing at something funny.
"Hey uncle." The girl came forward and pat James' arm.
"Don't call me uncle." James told the girl. "I'm not that old."
"You're my uncle." The girl insisted.
"Who are you??" James asked, frowning a little.
"Kate Potter." The girl replied, she tried to keep up her pace with James.
"Kate Potter??" Now James was really mystified about his newfound relative.
"Your niece." Kate pouted a little. "My father is your cousin. Your father and my father are brothers." She explained a little.
"Huh??" James was still puzzled.
"Never mind. Basically I'm your niece."
"Ok, so I'm your uncle, huh??"
"That's right." The girl replied. "The last time I saw you was during the family gathering many years ago. But my parents told me that I've an uncle named James Potter studying in Hogwarts. I can recognize you because you've that trademark Potter look and I've seen your picture last week." James and Kate did have some slight resemblance. James hair was much more messier than Kate, but both had black hair.
"You saw my picture??"
"Yeah, your mum sent some pictures of you over. In case I can't recognize you or something."
"That's interesting." James finally seemed to see the light a little. "But please don't call me uncle. Just James will do."
"Alright Uncle – oops, James."
"James." James insisted.
"James." Kate repeated, grinning.
"Guess when James and Lily will get together." Sirius suggested. The group of Gryffindors was returning to their tower. Lily and James, being Head Boy and Girl and house prefects, were leading in front. The four of them walked slowly behind, talking among themselves.
"This year." Stefanie said confidently.
"I'm with Stef for that guess." Remus added.
"Who's that first year who's talking to James??"
"No idea. His cousin or something."
"That reminds me. Where's Andromeda??" Stefanie scanned the shorter crowd for a shoulder length brown-haired girl with the surname Black.
"There." Sirius pointed.
"I ask her." Stefanie moved forward to catch up with the girl who was walking alone. "Hello."
"Hello." The girl named Andromeda Black replied shyly.
"I'm Stefanie Black." Stefanie told her.
"Huh?? We're related??" Andromeda was surprised too.
"I was pretty surprised when I heard your surname too. And that guy over there, Sirius, is my twin brother." Stefanie pointed out the tall hunky guy who was walking behind them to the first year.
"Wow, I didn't know I've such gorgeous cousins."
"I don't know if we're cousins either." Stefanie admitted.
"Actually, Narcissa is my sister. She's in Slytherin, seventh-year."
"Well, Narcissa is our, as in my and Sirius, cousin." Stefanie frowned a little. "She isn't exactly nice to put in mildly."
"I know what you mean." Andromeda looked down. "She's pretty mean to me too. Narcissa and Bellatrix are the ideal daughters my parents dote on."
"Ooh." Stefanie did not know how to respond.
"Narcissa and Bellatrix are my older sisters. Bellatrix went to another institute elsewhere." Andromeda told her. "My parents dote on them very much. Not like they hate me or anything, but somehow they don't love me as much as them."
"I'm so sorry to hear that." Stefanie placed her arm around Andromeda.
"They were happy when I was admitted to Hogwarts. But I guess I'll get scolded or something or not getting into Slytherins. And the worst thing is I got into Gryffindor."
"It's ok. You've got Sirius and me over here."
"Thanks. I thought the entire Black family are all meanies."
"I guess my father was the exception, that's why he was kicked out of the family."
"Yeah, guess so. That's why I don't remember seeing your name." Andromeda was more comfortable with Stefanie now. "I think I saw Sirius somewhere before on the tapestry."
"Well, that's a long story actually." Stefanie changed the unhappy topic. "But I'm really glad to acknowledge a cousin that I've never seen before."
"Me too. I can feel that this is turning out to be better than I expected." Andromeda had a happy smile on her face.
"First year stay behind at the common room for a short briefing." James announced. "The Marauders Rules is our password."
"What a password." A fifth-year prefect said jokingly.
"We'll change it when the first year get familiarize with us." James replied in a joking manner.
"First-years this way." Lily raised her hand. The second-years to the seventh-years went up to their respective dormitories directly. "This is our common room." They looked around at the red and gold-colored cozy circular room full of squashy armchairs.
"This staircase leads to the boys dormitory." James pointed at the spiral staircase on his left. "And this leads to the girls." He pointed at the staircase on his right. "Boys are not allowed to be in the girls' dormitory, at all."
"Breakfast at eight tomorrow morning. Lessons will start at nine." Lily told the ten new students.
"Don't be late. That's all." James told them. "Good night."
"Have a good rest." Lily added. The five boys and five girls dispersed and went to their respective dormitories.
"Good night James, and don't be late." Lily laughed and went up the stairs after the first-years.
"Good night Lils." James shook his head a little and laughed at Lily's joke.
"Woah!!"
"Why is it so misty??"
"What's going on??"
"Ooah!! Since when is there a mist in Hogwarts??" Lily asked her roommates. The four girls were about to head to the Great Hall for breakfast when the mist filled up their rooms the moment they opened their door.
"No idea. I can't see a thing." Stefanie put her hand in front of her to check for the visibility.
"It's going to be tough to make it to the Great Hall in this case." Samantha walked forward not knowing the direction.
"Ouch. You stepped on my feet." Joey said. "What's the anti-mist charm??"
"I can't remember." Lily said. "We never has the need to use it, until now, that is."
"What's that??" Peter asked stupidly. Sirius had just opened their dormitory door and a mist gushed in and filled up their room.
"A mist." Remus said suggestively.
"A very thick mist indeed." James blinked and could not see a thing beyond the grayish clouds of mist.
"What's the anti-mist charm??" Sirius asked.
"I don't know."
"Ahh, then we've to go to the Hall like blind mice."
"Is that sarcasm??"
"Oops, sorry Wormtail."
Bbbblammmmm!!
"Ouch!!"
"Moony, try to remember the anti-mist charm!!" Sirius had tripped over James and fell flat forward.