Witch Way
Name suggested by Cateagle
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the recognizable characters, though I wish I did. They are all property of J.K. Rowling and her business associates, except for Lillian and the other characters I invented.
Chapter 2: Sorting
"Firs' year over here!" boomed Hagrid's voice.
Andrew, Lilly and Dianna walked with the other first-year students towards the huge man. Hagrid noticed them "Hi, Andrew! Nice to see you here, Lilly! You look wonderful in these robes. Who is your friend?"
"Hi, Hagrid, this is Dianna De-Poitier. She grew in France and is now joining us at Hogwarts."
"Nice to meet you, Miss De-Poitier," Hagrid said, before raising his head again and calling out loud "Firs' year over here!"
A few minutes later they were seated in the small boats, heading over the lake towards the castle. Lillian, having visited Hogwarts many times before, thought she would not be excited when she saw it. She was quite surprised when the illuminated silhouette of the castle came into view. It looked more magnificent than she could imagine it and she felt proud to be spending the next seven years in such a wonderful place. Andrew was even more impressed. She had to elbow him and remind him of his camera before he started snapping. Dianna sat silently. Lillian could sense her tensing up. Dianna was worried about the sorting and about her relations with her mother. It would be the first time they would have to see each other daily, and Dianna was unsure about how that would go.
The boats reached their landing. The children got out of the boats and followed Hagrid to a large wooden door. Hagrid knocked three times. The door was opened by a small man. He looked even smaller compared to Hagrid.
"Professor Flitwick, these are the firs' year."
"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them in," the small man said. He then turned to the children who were about his height: "Follow me. The sorting will start as soon as we are there."
Lillian could sense the children becoming more frightened and tense as they approached the Great Hall. They were led into a room adjacent to the great hall. "Please wait here. You may straighten your clothes and make yourself comfortable for the sorting. Don't be afraid – it will not harm you and won't require you to do anything unusual. Just relax, please. I'll be back in a moment to lead you in." Professor Flitwick sounded very nice and caring.
As soon as the door closed, Lillian heard a scream. The house ghosts were floating in through the walls and some of the children got frightened. She noticed Dianna turn white.
"Don't worry, they are friendly and they wouldn't harm anybody," she told her friend. "Hi, Sir Nicholas!" she added as the ghost flew near her.
"Hi, Lilly. You've grown so fast! Already first year, I see."
"Yes! I hope to be in your house."
"I'll be glad if you do," replied the ghost and vanished through the wall towards the great hall.
"You know them?" asked Dianna.
"I've seen them all, but I only know Sir Nicholas – Nearly Headless Nick – as they call him fondly."
"Oh…" Dianna seemed to want to ask some more, but Professor Flitwick was already at the door, calling them to come out.
They lined up in front of the four house tables. The small professor explained what they were going to do and then started reading the names. Each child whose name was called stepped to the stool, put the sorting head on his head and waited for his house to be announced.
"Abrahms, John," – a moment later the hat cried "Hufflepuff".
"Boot, Hannah," – it took a few seconds before "RAVENCLAW!" was heard.
"Creevey, Andrew" – it took less than a second for the hat to cry out "Gryffindor!"
"Davidoff, Ivan," – A small stocky boy sat on the stool, looking very nervous. It only took a second and then – "Gryffindor!"
"De-Poitier, Dianna" – A long silence followed and then "Ravenclaw!"
Other children followed, each sorted to his relevant house.
"MacDougal, Cyntia" – "Slytherin!" The girl seemed to be pleased with her sorting. A few names later it was Lilly's turn.
"Potter, Lillian" – she walked swiftly to the stool. Despite her previous bravado she was quite scared.
'Oh, a young Potter… and Granger… I should have expected this! Where shall I put you? Brilliant mind… More talent than is fair for one person… Very loyal… Very brave… Multianimagus – that's really rare… Metamorphmagus – just as rare… A lot of power – that may be a mixed blessing, though… empath – that's really nice… and Parseltongue! Even your father was not as difficult to sort!'
Lillian was keeping thinking 'Not Slytherin'. She didn't like going there even before, but after hearing Dianna she was convinced it wasn't right for her no matter what.
'Not Slytherin? You could be great there, with your power and talent… But well, I can't risk making you angry at me – you're just too powerful. So should it be Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? Your mind can surely make you top student in Ravenclaw, but it looks like you will feel better in…'
"Gryffindor!" – The hat shouted.
A few children were sorted next.
"Weasley, Brenda" was the last name on the list. The small redhead had hardly managed to put the hat on when it shouted "Gryffindor!" and the girl's face lightened with a broad smile as she walked to the table and sat across from Lillian.
"I thought I knew all the Weasleys, but I've never seen you!" Lillian said to her.
"There are so many that I don't know them all either. Whom do you know?"
"Well, I know Arthur and Molly and all their children."
"My father is Arthur's youngest brother, but we live near Nottingham, so we don't meet them very often."
Their conversation was cut short as the headmistress stood up to speak to the students.
"Let us all welcome the new students who have just joined us as well as the ones returning after the summer vacation."
She clapped her hands, and the other teachers joined her, followed by most of the students. A minute later she stopped and the others stopped as well. "I'm sure you are all hungry, so – let the feast begin!" She waved her hand and the tables were filled with all kinds of food and beverage.
Lillian, who didn't feel hungry until that moment, suddenly felt she was almost starving, despite the lunch she had eaten on the train. She filled her plate with what whet her appetite most and ate her fill. She noticed that the redhead was eating much more than her and much faster, yet she managed to speak with the other students with her mouth clear. 'Is that also a kind of magic?' she wondered.
Once the last piece of food was eaten, the last drop of juice drank and the last napkin put aside, the tables were magically cleared and the headmistress stood up, ready for the new year announcements.
"I welcome you all once again. This year will bring us many changes, some of which you will already witness tomorrow morning and others will be introduced during the following months."
She looked at her students and her eyes shone with pride.
"Starting tomorrow morning we shall no longer use the long house-tables except during welcome feast at the beginning of the year and the farewell feast at its end. There will be small tables, suitable for small groups and I strongly advice you to make friends in other houses and not only your own. It will help you gain more friends and strengthen our social structure for years to come."
She had to pause as the great hall was filled with the noise of students talking excitedly about the change. She waited patiently for a short while and then cleared her throat to silence the hall again.
"I must remind you that the forbidden forest is still forbidden to all students. We are making efforts to clear it of all dangerous creatures, but it will take at least another year before this task is finished."
Only a few students expressed their disappointment at this announcement.
"Now – off to bed! The prefects will lead the first year students to their appropriate dormitories. Sleep well and come fresh to your first lessons tomorrow. Goodnight!"
A few minutes later, Lillian was already in her dormitory. She admired the four-poster bed with its dark-red curtains. The mattress was just right: springy and smooth, but not too soft. She wondered if the mattress was enchanted to fit itself to the sleeper. She then recalled her promise to write to her parents. Sighing, she took out a piece of parchment. 'Why can't they use normal paper?' she thought. She wrote quickly, telling of her train ride, of making a new friend – not going into details – and of the sorting. She let the ink dry and then swept her arm over the parchment, producing an exact duplicate, after making sure nobody was looking. She added some words to each copy and then folded the parchments.
"I'm going to the owlery to send my letters," she announced.
"Don't stay too long – curfew is in half an hour," Brenda advised her.
"Don't worry, I won't" said Lillian. She went out towards the owlery, but once she was sure she was out of sight she turned herself invisible and apparated to the Granger house.
Lillian was standing in Helen's room. The girl was already in her bed, lying on her belly and reading a book.
"Hi, Lilly," she said without even looking at that direction. "I thought you would come a little earlier."
Lilly turned visible. "I had to write these letters to my parents and yours first. I can't stay long as I'm supposed to be sending them now."
Helen turned her book over, to keep it open where she was reading, and then turned to face her niece. "Then you really shouldn't stay too long," she said in a serious tone, betrayed by the smile on her face.
"Of course not, Aunt Helen," answered Lilly and they both started laughing.
"Helen, dear – did you say anything?" Jane's voice came from the living room.
"No, Mum, I was only reading something funny," responded Helen, raising her voice. "We should have silenced this room first," she whispered to Lilly.
"Done!" Lilly informed her a moment later, after waving her hand towards the door and the walls. She sat on the bed, besides Helen and told her all about her day, skipping nothing.
Twenty minutes later she straightened up. "I must leave now. I'll leave the letter for your parents here. You may tell them the owl brought it – I addressed it to you along with them. Just open the window a bit before that."
The girls hugged and Lilly disappeared with a soft "pop" only to reappear near Potter house. She put the parchment she was carrying on the ground and turned herself into a small bird. She put her leg through the knot on the parchment, using her beak to position it correctly. She then turned herself into a brown owl of the kind commonly found at Hogwarts. She checked that the parchment was well tied to her leg and then took flight, landing on the window sill of the kitchen. The window was closed. She tapped her beak to it a few times. Hermione came into the kitchen.
"Oh, it looks like Lilly has kept to her word," she called to the living room, opening the window. Lillian flew into the kitchen, raising her foot to her mother to let her take the letter. She than nipped at an owl treat offered to her and flew away at once.
She landed a few blocks further on a deserted street, returned to her human form, turned herself invisible and apparated to Hogwarts, just a few paces away from the fat lady. She looked around, making sure she was alone and then turned visible again.
"Oh, my eyes," the fat lady complained.
"What is it? Can I help you?" asked Lillian, quite alarmed.
"No, dear, I've just had a weird experience. I thought you appeared out of thin air. I was probably just dreaming."
"Yes, probably," Lillian agreed. She gave the password and entered the tower, returning to her dormitory a minute before curfew.
"What took you so long?" Brenda asked her.
"I got lost at first and went the long way around. I'll have to remember it better next time."
They were soon all in their beds, exhausted mainly by the excitement of the day more than anything else. 'I'll have to check the library tomorrow,' Lillian thought before closing her eyes and falling asleep.