Under a chandelier of glimmering silver autumn stars, glittering orange lights flicker in every window of the tall turrets and majestic walls of the castle. They are reflected on the velvety black lake like the beacons of light of lost ships on a calm night sea. Slightly surreal, but incredibly beautiful.
This was my first impression of Hogwarts.
"Abbott, Thomas." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Ashlyn, Gemma." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Avery, Hunter." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Baker, Alice." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Black, Sirius." I watched with expectant eyes as he clambered up onto the stool, his eyes disappearing under the large hat. For a long minute, there was absolute silence in the Great Hall.
Finally- "GRYFFINDOR!"
There seemed to be a shocked silence and then cheers and claps broke out- though they didn't sound all that enthusiastic. I wasn't too sure why.
"Blue, Ivy." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Bones, George." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Carrow, Alecto." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Carrow, Amycus." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Chang, Sam." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Cross, Athena." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Darcy, William." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Diggory, Amos." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Evans, Lily." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Faith, Amanda." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Finnigan, Zayne." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Jane, Madison." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Jordan, Jesse." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
By the time "Kingsley, Raylynx" finally rolled around, I felt so terribly nervous that I nearly tipped the stool over when I finally got to it.
"And… what have we here?" The Sorting Hat's voice spoke to me, "A perpetual fear of being judged by others, slightly dramatic and rebellious though in a slightly pathetic way, a love of knowledge for knowledge's sake but a lack of application and analytic skill… Hm… Where to put you? Upon your personality, Hufflepuff would be best… Upon your passions, Ravenclaw would suit you better… Upon your wishes, Slytherin would be perfect… Well, perhaps Hufflepuff would be best, but hm… hm… you're not stupid, you know, Ravenclaw would give you the Enlightment that would give you a certain type of happiness and sense of self-achievement beyond any happiness that you know, and you do want to achieve, I see that quite, quite clearly. You care of others' opinions, you suffer from your relationship with your siblings, you want to be yourself…you would do anything for it, Slytherin… but ah! Yes, that's it, isn't it? It's not that you want knowledge, kindness, or ambition…. It's that you want to be yourself. Very well, then. Very well… I place a fair amount of trust in you in doing this. But I suppose, well… I suppose above all, the one thing that you do have to recommend you is that you possess the determination and courage to overcome all your shortcomings… So be it. GRYFFINDOR!"
I shakily removed the hat from my head and barely registering the clapping, I sat at the nearest seat I could find on the Gryffindor table so that my knees wouldn't give out.
"Lovegood, Xenophilius." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Lupin, Remus." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Meadowes, Dorcas." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"McKinnon, Marlene." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Nott, Theodore." "SLYTHERIN!"
"O'Leary, Jacob." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Pettigrew, Peter." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Potter, James." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Rookwood, Augustus." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Rosier, Evans." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Salinger, Jay." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Snape, Severus." "SLYETHRIN!"
"Smith, Riley." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Taylor, Callie!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Travers, Adam!" "SLYTHERIN!"
"Yaxley, Daniel!" "SLYTHERIN!"
"Zena, Audrey!" "SLYTHERIN!"
And so we were sorted, like every other graduating class at Hogwarts. But the legacies our generation would leave, no one could comprehend. Least of all me.
"Jump over that staircase, go through this tapestry, wait for this staircase to move…"
"I'm never going to remember this," I murmured hopelessly, slightly dejected. "I'm going to get lost every day."
"Me too," a petite girl with short brown hair, a heart-shaped face, and large black glasses whispered shyly to me.
"Well, if we get lost, how about we get lost together?" I suggested. Normally, I find it difficult to attach myself to people right away, but something about this girl made me regard her as a fast friend.
And I was right. She didn't fake a smile at me and she didn't hyperactively agree to be my best friend. She just hesitantly took my hand and squeezed it very gently, silently promising she'd be there for me.
When we finally made it to Gryffindor tower where the password was "Bluebells", as designated by the Fat Lady.
We made it all the way up the staircase to the First Year dorms, where I met my dorm mates: (the girl I'd just made friends with) Alice Baker, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, and Lily Evans.
Sure enough, not only did Alice and I get lost together on our way down to the Great Hall the next morning, but we were also accompanied by Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas.
"Jamie," I whined to my older brother at breakfast. "Why is it so hard to find your way around here?"
Jamie smiled his beautiful, kind, older-brother smile and reassured me, "Pretty soon you won't even have to think about it, I promise."
As it turned out, pretty soon was definitely not this morning. Don't ask me how but we ended up at the Gameskeeper's hut on our way to Transfiguration. The sixth year we asked had probably found it amusing to trick us, but the positive was that I met Hagrid, the Gameskeeper, who seemed genuinely kind-hearted and gave us the proper directions to class.
Later that evening, in my dorm room, I twirled the Dogwood mixed Aspen wand between my fingers. I knew I had to get this wand to Sirius Black immediately.
But for some reason, I didn't want him to know it was me… Maybe he would feel embarrassed at the idea that I'd bought it for him when his own mother hadn't. Or the fact that I'd been there when he'd been slapped and dragged out of the shop by his own mother. I guess I didn't want him to think that I pitied him in any way… But getting this wand to him without him knowing seemed impossible.
Luckily, the perfect opportunity presented itself when a seventh year Gryffindor decided to play a prank on the school by having confetti erupt over Professor McGonagall whenever her behind touched her chair at the breakfast table.
Though Professor McGonagall was quick as lightning in countering the prank, it gave me enough time to slip Sirius Black his wand into his bag- right on top of his books.
Hands shaking, I barely had his bag zipped up again when he turned back around. Lily, Alice, and Dorcas hadn't noticed either. On the other hand, Marlene lifted an eyebrow at me but luckily, she chose not to question me.
"Rather lame, don't you think?" a boy with hair that stuck up in the back and glasses commented lazily. "I bet we could do better, Sirius."
Sirius grinned- a cocky, arrogant grin that reeked of conceit as he replied, "Yeah, we're only first years and we could do much, much better."
I felt slightly insulted because I knew who the prankster was- a seventh year Gryffindor, my brother, Jamie, whose favorite teacher who he thought should "let her hair down once in a while and learn to laugh" was Minerva McGonagall.
"Please turn to page eight and pull out your wands, class," the very short, but infinitely brilliant Professor Flitwick instructed. It was our very first class.
As I pulled out my Charms book, I watched out of the corner of my eye as Sirius slowly sighed and put his head down on his arms.
"Something wrong, Sirius?" a frail-looking boy named Remus Lupin asked him quietly.
Sirius shook his head, but a moment later, began to confess, "I haven't got a-"
"Mr. Black, if you would please join the rest of the class in opening your textbook?" Flitwick said pointedly.
Sirius looked as though he was going to retort to Flitwick's request, but instead reached down and opened his bag to grab his book to avoid disrespecting Flitwick.
A moment later, he stared down into his bag, befuddled and completely startled. He picked up the wand in his hand and grasped it. Slowly, a smile stretched across his face, brightening his usually morose and aristocratic features in a genuinely happy way.
It was a welcoming sight to behold and I barely managed to hide a smile of my own.
My second class, Transfiguration, was with Professor McGonagall, who seated me next to a good-looking first-year boy from Hufflepuff. He greeted me with a shy smile and a slight wave. From the corner of his parchment, I realized his name with Zayne Finnigan.
"I must admit, I'm terrible at Transfiguration" were the first words out of his mouth.
"I'm probably rubbish as well," I replied, feeling slightly nervous and excited at the prospect of making a friend.
"Would you like to be my partner? I promise not to turn you into something disgusting."
I smiled shyly and nodded, "Yeah, let's be partners."
We gripped hands, a truce between terrible Transfiguration students happily made.
The truce was only reinforced by laughter when I turned my match into a small figurine of an elephant, instead of a sharp silver needle, which, was quite… unexpected. Hilarity and companionship was further confirmed when Zayne set his match on fire, which burst in a miniature explosion that left his eyebrows singed.
Professor McGonagall was not pleased.
