Chapter five
Elle awoke just as the sun was rising on September second. She smiled to herself as she sat up, surrounded by the rich blues of her bed curtains. She was still at Hogwarts. It hadn't been a dream. She could hardly believe her luck.
Elle was the first of her dorm to get up, and after she dressed for the day (she chose the blue plaid skirt, long grey socks, and white button up shirt from the pile of new uniform clothes at the end of her bed) she curled up in a seat by the window, Hogwarts: A History resting on her lap and Cat purring at her feet. Her mind kept wandering to the day ahead however, and after rereading the same paragraph on moving staircases for the third time she gave up entirely. She kept thinking back to the feast yesterday, and the look on Albus' face when he sat at the Slytherin table.
The sun had fully risen at this point, and the other members of Elle's dorm had started to stir. Evelyn Zhang and Clementine Kettleburn seemed to know each other from before Hogwarts, because they had squealed in excitement to see each other's names on the same dorm door last night. Faye Jenkins had sat next to Clementine at the feast, and they had made fast friends. The three girls headed off to the bathrooms together this morning, gossiping about teachers they knew about from older siblings. They hadn't even noticed Elle sitting on the windowsill.
The only other girl in the dorm was Ruth Feng, who hadn't spoken a word to any of them last night. While brushing her teeth before bed, Elle had overheard Faye whisper to Evelyn "Did you see Ruth Feng in our dorm? My dad says her grandfather was half vampire. She definitely looks the part" before giggling.Elle couldn't deny that Ruth was rather pale, with great big brown eyes so dark they looked black in most lighting. It didn't help that most of her face was often obscured by curtains of long black hair. Still, quiet as Ruth was, Elle didn't think she was actually a vampire. She was also the only girl left in the room, and Elle really didn't want to walk to the great hall alone.
"Do you want to come to breakfast with me" she asked Ruth tentatively. Ruth looked up from where she was tying the laces of her shoes and smiled. "Sure" she replied, so softly Elle could barely hear. "Cheers" Elle replied, grinning. The two made their way down Ravenclaw tower. In the common room, they overheard an older student cursing to another. "Merlin, I can't believe these muggle ties don't tie themselves." The two had to stifle their laughter as they watched one of the fourth-year boys unsuccessfully attempt a knotting spell on the other that resulted in the tie forming a large bow atop of his head.
"I hope he keeps that" Elle giggled when they were finally out of earshot. "I think he looks rather pretty". Ruth just smiled and shook her head, her black hair shimmering in silent peals of laughter. A few minutes later they entered the great hall, which was bustling with activity. Elle scanned all of the tables quickly, finally spotting Albus sitting alone in the far corner. She gestured Ruth to come along with her, and Elle grabbed a spot next to the lonely boy with the messy black hair.
Albus looked up at Elle as she sat and offered a weak smile. "I like the green" she said firmly, referring to the crest embroidered on his cardigan. "It brings out your eyes." Before Albus could reply however, they were interrupted by a "G'mrning" from across the table. Sam has somehow managed to simultaneously take a seat and stuff half a croissant into his mouth, which Elle found strangely impressive. "Good morning Sam" Elle replied "This is Ruth by the way, she's in my dorm as well" she added to both boys as way of introduction.
"Did you know your dormmates are part of your cohort?" Rose asked, catching the last of Elle's comment as she squeezed between Sam and an older Hufflepuff to take her place at the table. "Cohort?" Elle asked curiously. "Yeah, I was up with one of my prefects for ages last night going over what school will look like on Monday" she replied. This prompted Albus to look up from his porridge, one eyebrow raised. "She didn't mind, honest" Rose replied defensively to the unsaid jibe. "Since all the first years take the same beginner classes we're put into cohorts. Four dorms of girls and four of boys are paired together and we have all our classes with them. I can't wait to get started. I can't believe we have to wait all weekend" she sighed.
"How do we find out who else is in our cohorts?" Sam asked. Almost as if answering his question, at that exact moment hundreds of paper aeroplanes flew up in the air from the staff table. "That'll be our schedules now I reckon" Rose said, rather unnecessarily. Elle's paper aeroplane found her quickly, and nearly poked out her eye in an attempt to get her attention, as she had been too busy staring at the planes whizzing across the pale blue sky of the great hall ceiling to notice it. Quickly unfolding the parchment, she said aloud "First class on Monday is history of magic with Professor Binns." "Same here", Rose said excitedly, rubbing the spot on her forehead where her own paper plane had made a crash landing. "Same here" Said Albus, smiling broadly for the first time since Elle had met him. "Brilliant. Looks like we're all in the same cohort then" Sam said a minute later, after fishing his own schedule out of where it had landed in his left ear.
The rest of breakfast passed quickly as everyone poured over their schedules, identifying which subject's they were most excited for, and which they were dreading. Even Ruth participated, saying softly that she couldn't wait for the first astronomy lesson. When Sam had finally finished his third helping of bacon they headed out of the hall. "So er… what next?" Sam asked uncertainly. Rose and Albus looked at each other, before grinning and saying "Hagrid's" in unison. "The giant from the boats?" Sam asked confusedly. "He's a family friend" Rose elaborated. "and only half giant" Albus added. "I reckon he'll want us to pop in for some tea, and he'll love if we bring friends, especially if you'll ask him questions about magical creatures." Rose said, heading towards the front doors.
The five first years headed off on the castle ground. Hagrid's hut was tucked away near the edge of a giant forest, which Elle looked upon in awe. Having grown up in the city, she had never seen a forest like this in her life. The trees towered over the hut; the smallest of their trunks were as wide as Elle's waist. The foliage was dense, and the closer they approached, the quieter it became, as if the sound was being sucked in and silenced by the old growth. "It's beautiful" Elle whispered, craning her neck to gaze up at the treetops. "I think it's creepy" Sam replied, shivering. "And it's called the forbidden forest for a reason. There are all kinds of dangerous creatures living in it. Don't trust Hagrid when he says they won't hurt you. That's what my dad always says" Rose added, walking up the steps to Hagrid's little cottage and knocking firmly on the door.
Elle was still taken aback by the towering figure who stood before her, even after meeting him once the night before. You would be hard pressed to find him intimidating however, since he opened the door wearing a flowery apron and lace-lined oven mitts. Whatever trace of intimidation that could be left was shattered by his warm welcome of the rag-tag group of first years before him. Inside his home the fire was crackling warmly, and he served them tea and biscuits. Sam found out the hard way the latter were pretty much inedible, when he tried to take a bite and only succeeded in losing a tooth. "It was loose anyway" Sam replied to Hagrid's apology, rubbing his cheek.
Elle listened intently to all that Hagrid would tell her about the mysterious forest that he cared for. She was shocked and intrigued to find out that many of the magical animals from her childhood storybooks were real. She could have listened to him talk for hours. Too soon however, the tea was drunk, and the rock-like biscuits politely hidden away in pockets, and the five friends were saying their goodbyes. "So glad you popped in to say hello so soon" Hagrid said, beaming. "It took young James almost three weeks to remember to pay me a visit." "Pretty typical of him to be so thoughtless" Albus muttered under his breath, only Elle being close enough to hear.
As the group made their way back to the castle, they took a detour to the shores of the great lake. Many of the older students were wading about, the tentacles of a giant squid surfacing every once in a while to give them a splash. "Mental" Sam murmured, in a defeatist tone that said 'nothing can surprise me at this point'. From the shade of a nearby tree, a blonde boy looked up from his book and gave Albus a cheery wave. Albus raised his hand in response, only for it to be forcefully pulled down again by Rose.
"What are you doing" Rose hissed, "don't you know that's Scorpius Malfoy." "Er… yeah, I do" Albus said "he shares a dorm with me". Elle looked curiously to the blonde boy, wondering why his name mattered so much. Having clearly seen Rose's reaction to his wave, he was staring steadfastly back at the pages of his book, his face appearing stony and impassive. Elle's heart gave a lurch however, when she noticed the quiver in his upper lip. "What's the big deal?" Elle asked. "He looks nice enough to me."
"His whole family were deatheaters" Rose replied in a serious tone, ushering them all farther up the path towards the castle. "My dad warned me to stay away." "Deatheaters?" Sam asked quizzically. Rose shifted uncomfortably, clearly not knowing how to explain. Sam looked in turn to Albus, who looked equally as unwilling to speak. Elle's mind went back to her conversation with Louis last night, and the sinking feeling returned to her chest. "Would this have something to do with the word pureblood?" Elle asked Rose and Albus, neither meeting her questioning gaze.
To everyone's surprise, it was Ruth who finally spoke up, after a few moments of tense silence. "There was a war." She started softly, everyone turning to face her. "Voldemort was a dark wizard. He thought that magic should be kept within wizard-only families. He called those families purebloods, and all of his supporters called themselves deatheaters. It was one of the darkest times in Wizarding history. My family went into hiding. My dad married a muggle. That was a death sentence back then. But there was a fight. People stood up to Voldemort and fought for the rights of muggles and muggle-born wizards and witches. There was a big battle here at Hogwarts, and many people died, including my dad's little sister. She was only sixteen. We come lay a wreath for her at the memorial every year. Albus's dad killed Voldemort in the end, and all the deatheaters went to Azkaban." Ruth finished her speech, and the silence stretched out before the small group.
"Your dad killed Voldemort." Elle stated. "My parents helped." Rose piped in. "They're kind of famous now." "Yeah" Albus said, sheepishly. "It's not really a big deal." Elle silently disagreed, could tell it was a subject that Albus didn't like to talk about.
"Do people… still think Elle and I shouldn't be allowed to do magic?" Sam asked quietly after more long seconds of uncharacteristic silence. "No! Of course not!" Rose replied quickly. "The good side won the war." "Some people do." Albus said, shooting a pointed look at Rose. "But most don't. The ones who do at least have the good sense to keep it to themselves most of the time. But dark magic still exists. My dad's an auror. He fights it every day."
"So that Scorpius kid's family is full of deatheaters?" Sam asked, his normally cheery face turned down to a scowl. "Yes." Said Rose simply. "That's why we should stay away." "I like Scorpius" Albus said angrily. "Just because his family sucked, doesn't mean he does. He's the only Slytherin who's been nice to me." "He's still a Slytherin." Rose said darkly "And you know what that means." "What?" Albus asked incredulously. "What does it mean Rose?" he whirled around to face her from the front steps they'd just been climbing, tapping the crest on his black cardigan. Rose gasped, holding her hand to her face. "Oh my God Albus I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'd forgotten."
"You didn't mean it, or you forgot your best mate was in Slytherin? Pick an excuse" Albus said darkly. Rose stuttered, trying to apologize, before finally spitting out "You know that most death eaters came from Slytherin! But you're not like that obviously, Al. You're not like the rest of them." Albus's face contorted in anger. "The sorting hat disagrees." He said, turning and thrusting open the front doors, and stalking off in silent rage.
Rose stood there in shocked silence for a few moments, Sam, Elle, and Ruth looking at her questioningly. "I can't believe I said that." She finally said, pale as a ghost.
It was some time after the group had awkwardly dissolved to go to their respective common rooms that Elle found Albus. He was sitting atop a windowsill in the deserted staircase to the astronomy tower. Albus looked up at Elle as she approached, before crossing his arms and turning away. "What do you want" he asked cagily. Elle didn't speak at first, choosing to simply sit across from him on the sill, and look out to admire the view of the Hogwarts grounds. Politely, she pretended not to notice his red-rimmed eyes.
After she'd had her fill of the view she began. "Do you know what a hatstall is?" She asked. Albus shook his head no. "I didn't either, until Louis mentioned it last night. Before I went to bed, I looked it up in Hogwarts: A History. It's an old term for when the sorting hat takes longer than five minutes to decide on your house. It's because he thinks you suit more than one house equally." Albus shrugged. "So?" He asked. "I don't think you noticed last night, but it took over seven minutes for me to be sorted." Albus looked at her curiously. He definitely hadn't known that. "The hat was stuck between Ravenclaw… and Slytherin" Elle finished.
Albus was quiet for a minute. "You don't think I'm a deatheater then?" He asked. "If you are, then so am I" Elle said in response. "Which would probably make me the bigger git, since I'm muggle-born myself." Albus didn't laugh at her joke but did manage a weak smile. "I heard there's a library somewhere in this castle" Elle said. "Want to try and help me find it?" Albus smiled wider. "Sure" he said, and the two set off down the winding spiral staircase.
p.s. thank you to everyone who has left a review. I love you all