Adrienne looked skeptically out over the dock as she stood with her mother beside her; both were silent as the cold fog lifted from Lake Champlain. It made her homesick for Hogwarts, seeing the lake in front of her. They were early; they valued punctuality, after all. Soon, a trickle of students came in. All of them looked to be from sixteen to eighteen, near Adrienne's own age. She was slightly relieved; at least she had something in common with the arriving students.
Smiling faces greeted her. Seeing the fathers wishing their children good luck on a new school year brought tears to her eyes, but she didn't cry; she had more pride than to weep. Soon, the Lake Queen arrived and all the students began to board.
"Good luck, sweetheart," Adrienne's mother bid her farewell as she hugged her daughter fiercely. Adrienne returned the embrace, lingering; not afraid to leave, but not quite wanting to go.
"Thanks, Mom," was all she could think to say. "I'll write as soon as I get there."
"You'd better," her mother smiled.
After another, shorter, hug, Adrienne filed into the slow trickle of students and followed them on board.
It was a magnificent ship, to be sure: pearl white, with golden accents and red bunting hanging from the rails, and seeming to be every bit as comfortable as the Hogwarts Express. As the ride was expected to be rather short (it was only half an hour to get to the approximate center of the lake, after all) she opted to stay on deck rather than enjoy the wondrous view spacious rooms below deck. She was enjoying the solitude that was afforded by the deck, and began to become lost in thought, as she started leaning on the railing that separated her from the lake below. She began thinking of England, Hogwarts, her old friends, her old life. Her father. That horrible night at the Ministry…
"Hi! You know, it's really kind of cold and damp out here."
Adrienne turned to see a lovely red-haired girl next to her. She had her hair pulled back into a braided ponytail, and was wearing a dark blue coat, with a skirt and thick purple leggings. Her eyes were bright emerald and looked at Adrienne with suppressed excitement at meeting someone new.
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Adrienne replied a bit sarcastically with a short laugh. "Good morning to you too."
"Whoa! You're English? Are you our new exchange student? The one who fought against Death Eaters? I mean, not that there have been rumors or anything going around. Well, there have been but not bad rumors! Just rumors that you're transferring here, and that you fought against Death Eaters with Harry freaking Potter, and that your father was - "
"Kat! Maybe it's best to talk about something else, huh?"
The voice belonged to a boy the same age. He was wearing a worn out brown leather coat, with white fur lining the inside of it. He had brown short hair that matched the color of his coat, under which was an orange collared shirt peeking out of a black sweater. He was wearing black cowboy boots as well. As he cut off the red-haired girl's sentence, he put his hand on her shoulder in a protective manner.
"It's quite alright," Adrienne replied, a bit overwhelmed by the redhead's - Kat's? - incessant blather. "Yes, that's me, although I'm a bit surprised that I have a preceding reputation."
"HA! See, Walt, I told you it was true - "
"But," Adrienne managed to cut her off this time, "your friend is right. I've had enough people ask me about my little adventure with Mr. Potter and friends to last me a lifetime. Perhaps later."
"Of course. Sorry about Kat here. Did she even introduce herself?" He cast a mockingly accusing glance down at the redhead who quickly darted her eyes in the other direction.
"I was getting to that part," she said plaintively. "My name is Katrina Wysocki, from Chicago." After saying her name she abruptly hugged Adrienne, who was both shocked and slightly warmed by the random display of kindness.
"Howdy," the boy said while sticking his hand out to shake Adrienne's. Adrienne almost laughed when he said "howdy"; she had only ever seen the word in books. "My name is Walter Bondurant; I'm from Knoxville, Tennessee." He had a faint Southern accent that only came out in a few words that he spoke. It was enough to make her giggle slightly, which relaxed her.
"Adrienne White," she returned the two greetings in kind. "And since we're including location as well, I'm from York, England. Not that you probably hadn't already guessed that much at least. It's nice to meet you both - it's relieving to know that everyone seems so..." She searched for the right combination of words to describe Katrina's almost immediately displayed affection. "...friendly, here." she finally settled on.
"Yeah. Well, it was nice meeting you, but Kat and I have to go meet with our houses. The upperclassmen are supposed to be at the front of the column and get everyone organized," he explained to Adrienne.
"I'm afraid I haven't been sorted yet," she replied.
"Well, that's alright. You can go with Kat here. She'll show you where to go, but we've got to hurry up and get going because I can see the island now."
"Good idea! C'mon, follow us!"
Adrienne yelped a bit in surprise as Katrina took her by the wrist and began tugging her along with her as she practically skipped ahead to the bow of the ship. Small clusters of students, mainly older, seemed to have anticipated the eventual grouping by house and were already gathered and chatting excitedly. The younger students, who looked to be pre-teens or younger teenagers, had to either be reminded or herded into the three distinct groups that were slowly taking shape. A fourth, the youngest of the students and much smaller than the other three, formed off to the side and was headed by a male professor, obviously older than the oldest of the students but still quite young-looking.
"This is my house," Katrina pointed to the group closest to them, "Carthach! It'd be awesome if you ended up here, we could see each other all the time and - ELENA! Quit flirting with your boyfriend and get in line!"
"He's not my boyfriend!" a girl with very short pale brown hair sporting a dark blue scarf shouted back in protest from near the back of the conflagration.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night! That means you too, Lucas!"
"Aw, come on," the black-haired and darker-skinned boy standing beside Elena called back teasingly, "love waits for no one, Katrina! You should know that better than anyone!" A knowing smirk spread across his face.
A mild blush spread across her face for a moment, but she immediately recovered and snapped back into action. "Seriously, Lucas, I don't feel like dealing with you today! Back to your own house, please!"
"Okay, okay!" Lucas raised his hands as if in surrender, but his smirk never dropped. He and Elena said goodbye and returned to their respective houses.
Adrienne inquired, "Why exactly should you know that 'love waits for no one'?"
"Don't bother with Lucas. He's always talking and never shuts up, even when what he is saying is nonsense." She looked at Adrienne expectantly before continuing. "Can you imagine talking to someone like that?"
Adrienne wondered if Katrina appreciated the unintended irony of her question, but before she could respond, excited shouts from the younger students drew her attention away from the other girl and toward the rapidly approaching shoreline.
"That was faster than I expected," she commented, as the boat pulled in along the dock. She was herded along with Katrina's house, on her way to what Katrina called the Sanctum. They passed a cozy looking sea shack that was along the beach on their way uphill toward a towering post-Colonial mansion. It was practically the size of Hogwarts Castle itself; she shouldn't have been surprised, but hadn't known what to expect.
"Do I need to go with the first-years once we get inside?" Adrienne asked, dreading the answer, as they made their way down the path leading to the main doors of the mansion. "You know, for the Sorting?"
"Not unless you want to!" Katrina laughed. "Special cases like exchange students are usually sorted first, just to keep everything in order. You can stay with Carthach until you're sorted."
"How does the sorting work here?" Adrienne asked. "Does this school use a sorting hat like Hogwarts does?"
Katrina looked bewildered and suppressed a giggle, "What's a sorting hat?"
"You know, an old pointy black hat that reads your mind when you wear it and puts you in what house it thinks is best for you?"
Katrina could no longer suppress her laughter and giggled a few high pitched notes before continuing.
"Does this hat of your sing songs, too? No, you'll go into a room where the three founders of the school will be waiting for you. They'll decide if they want you or not, depending on what they look for in students. If more than one wants you, then you get to pick!"
"What if none of them want me?" Adrienne asked with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"Oh! Yeah, that's happened before, but it's really rare. I wouldn't worry about it, though!"
"Okay...but what if it does happen?"
"Then you have to convince one of them to take you, and if that doesn't work, well, there's always homeschooling!"
"Thanks," Adrienne sighed miserably. "That's definitely comforting."
"Oh, no problem!" Katrina replied cheerfully. Adrienne began to draw attention to what she thought was her obvious sarcasm, but quickly decided against it.
At last, the slew of students reached the double doors of the school mansion. The professor at the head of the line of first-years stepped forward and flung them open, then turned about to face the students. "Alright, if everyone could listen to me carefully, please! All first-year students, continue to follow me once we reach the main hall. All returning students, go on and proceed to your house tables - I know you're anxious to see everyone again and get settled in, but no wandering about the hallways, please! Now then, follow me to the inner Sanctuary, and we will begin with breakfast, the Sorting, and the announcements by the Dean!"
Adrienne was a bit mesmerized by the interior of the school building. It certainly was not any less grand than Hogwarts, but was less of an elaborate palace and more of an elegant Victorian mansion, with high ceilings and more angular in its architecture than the winding curves of Hogwarts Castle. Rather than dark stone, chestnut-colored wood made up the majority of the floors and accents of the building. Overall, it reminded Adrienne more of her former home in England than it did her former school. The great hall - Adrienne supposed she'd have to get used to calling it the "inner sanctum", a bit overdramatic for her tastes - seemed to be in roughly the same central location as the same room was in Hogwarts, which relieved her. There was one room that she wouldn't have to go floundering about the unfamiliar building looking for.
Once inside the hall - she was again relieved to find it was nearly the same size and shape as its Hogwarts counterpart, another speck of familiarity in the unknown - she followed Katrina's group to their designated House table, of which there were three, along with a smaller one perpendicular to the others in the back that she deducted was for the first years, pre-sorting. She ended up sitting between Katrina, who wouldn't have let her run off even if she had wanted to, and Elena, who didn't seem to be interested in speaking much. Although the tables had already been laden with various breakfast foods when they had entered the hall, Adrienne found herself unable to eat very much at all.
She was nibbling at a biscuit, or an what Americans called a biscuit, when the Dean stood to deliver the opening announcements. She was a middle aged woman, with dark skin and a stern face and world weary grey eyes to match her hair. As she stood, Katrina whispered to Adrienne, "That's Dean Barba, she runs the school."
She stood with perfect posture at the podium, and welcomed everyone to a new year at Whispering Hollow. The announcements were nothing special, talk of extra curricular activities and any awards that the faculty had received recently. Soon, her mood took a darker turn though.
"As most of you well know, there has been news developing in Europe. Yes, You Know Who has come back. For now, we have nothing to worry about, as it is clear that his targets are in England. However," she said, "we will be vigilant, and make sure that you are all safe in any case of emergency. If you or any of your friends see anything that could be problematic, let me or a member of the faculty know immediately. Now then," her disposition became a little brighter, "it is time for the Sorting of new students, and we have a special exchanged student here to go first! Everyone wish her luck in her interview!"
As Adrienne got up, she could feel all of the eyes in this giant room upon her. The cheering and clapping did little to soothe her, but the "good luck" screamed across the hall by Katrina did make her smile. She was lead to a separate room which was about the size of a spacious closet. Before she was left alone, she was told by an older student, "Don't worry, no one can hear a thing from this room, it's completely private. When you decide on your house, a fire burning in the middle of the Inner Sanctum will flash the color of your new house. Then you come out and have a seat with your new family! Easy as pie."
With that, she was left alone in a dim room completely by herself. Soon however, a voice broke through the darkness.
"Why, hello there, child," came a lilting Irish voice that reminded her of a melody. She looked to where the voice was coming from and on a wall in front of her was a painting. Surrounded by an elaborately carved frame of pale wood was the image of a slender woman; black hair hung over her pale shoulders in waves, and her dark blue eyes almost seemed to glow with the motherly wisdom behind them. She wore an empire-waisted gown almost the same color of her eyes, which gave her image a simple but elegant aura. She was seated at a wooden desk, with countless books, pieces of scrawled-on parchment, drawings, and pieces of sheet music spread across its surface. Next to her painting were two flags in blue and purple with an otter swimming playfully across each.
"My name is Saoirse Carthach, head of Carthach house, but you probably already guessed that, eh, dearie? Hm...to be perfectly blunt, there's not much of me that I see in you though. My house stands for playfulness, creativity, divergent thinking, and the finer things in the world. Are you to be in my house dearie? I'm just not feeling much creativity in you. You're set in your ways, so logical."
Well, I was in Ravenclaw. She's right, Adrienne thought. That's one down, two to go.
"Ja, but she does have some fight in her though, doesn't she, Saoirse?" came a booming voice to the left of the first painting. Once illuminated, it showed a man in an orange coat smoking a clay pipe. He spoke with a Dutch accent, and had thick red hair with a Van Dyke beard. On either side of his painting was a black flag with orange highlights with hounds hunting for their prey on them.
"You have grit, and you have seen combat before I see. Oh, how rude of me, I am sorry. My name is Hendrick Hondjaeger. My house stands for grit, determination, justice, honor, fairness, and power. That is what I look for in my students. You are determined alright, but you don't seem to have the power necessary to do what you want, eh? That is okay, power is merely a means, not an end. Hm, I could have use of this one, my friends."
"Please, you would send her to your house that stands as a monument to brutality and simplicity? The girl has a mind! Let her use it!"
The voice came from a tall and intimidating dark skinned man, whose painting hung to the right of Saoirse. He leaned against a bookend table, which contained several gems and a skull. On either side of him hung a banner of snowy white and grey, with silver lynxes ready to pounce on them.
"My name is Callidus Mensah," he said with a royal tone, "and you are clever, and resourceful, all things that I require of my students. If you come to my house, then you will never regret it. We are the greatest minds in this school."
"Yeah, but that's the problem with you lot, Callidus," spoke Hendrick. "You're constantly stepping on the heads of your own kind to get ahead in class or in life. Not with me, Adrienne, not in my house. Once you're part of the pack, you always have a family."
"Please! Just because we do not coddle our underachieving students does not make us heartless. Besides, it is her choice."
"Yes," came the Irish brogue of Saoirse again. "Though I find you interesting, I'm afraid you're just not right for my house. But choose how you will; you will find success with either Hondjaeger or Mensah, I'm sure."
Well, I won't be in Carthach house. Katrina will be heartbroken, thought Adrienne. It didn't take her long to choose, however; Mensah was so close to Ravenclaw, she would feel right at home, surely. When she spoke the name, a bright silver light flashed outside the room. Cheers came up for her as she exited the room, leaving Hondjaeger and Mensah arguing while Carthac tried to broach a peace. She was hugged and greeted with enthusiasm from her new house as she sat with them, each saying what an honor it was to have a girl who had fought side by side with Harry Potter with them. She would do them proud, they said. This was her reputation, then, a do-gooding heroine fighting against evil with the famous Harry Potter?
She wondered how quickly she would let them down.