Chapter Four-Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
"Difficult, very difficult." The Sorting Hat says….."And you have courage I see. Lots of courage. And there's talent I see….and a thirst to prove yourself. But WHERE to put you?"
"Not Slytherin, not Slytherin" Harry says to himself in his head with his eyes shut tightly."
"Not Slytherin eh?" The Sorting Hat says…. "Are you sure? You could be great you know? It's all here, in your head….and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness! There's no doubt about that! Well, then, no….if you're sure….better be…GRYFFINDOR!" The Sorting Hat declares.
Harry's eyes open wide and he smiles a wide excited smile.
Everyone starts cheering and applauding for Harry, including Hermione, Harvey and Hagrid. Even grand, old Dumbledore lifts his cup as if to as to salute Harry which makes him feel good.
Harry is especially glad that he, Hermione and Harvey will be together in the same house. Harvey and Hermione seem joyful as well. It seems in their short time together, they have already formed a quick bond. Harry is glad about this, because it makes this experience a bit less scary since he will be going through it with friends. Harry does notice however, that Harvey has to deal with some verbal badgering from his brother now that the ceremony has concluded.
"I cannot believe you made it into Gryffindor brother. I thought we would be together in Slytherin but it looks like the odds did not land in your favor." Denton declares.
"Oh, I could say the same to you brother! I thought we would be together in Gryffindor but looks like you will be getting to know Draco a bit better now! Plus, this is not a random coin toss Denton. Something about you made the hat put you in Slytherin." Harvey replies.
"Everything in life is a random coin toss Harvey! Perhaps one day soon you will learn that!" Denton contends.
"Can you two ever stop arguing!?" Hermione chimes in. "This is probably the most important day of our lives and here you are still bloody arguing. It's bad enough you argued on the entire train ride and then at breakfast this morning you had to argue over who was the better band, The Beatles or The Stones."
"The Stones are obviously better! The Beatles never did anything as rocking and dark as "Paint It Black" or "Sympathy For the Devil." Denton says.
"Are you bloody mad?" Harvey declares. What about "Helter Skelter" or anything else from the "White Album" for that matter? Plus, I think they may have been wizards….think about it…."Magical Mystery Tour". Plus, if you play "Revolution 9" backwards, it actually describes the platform 9 ¾ and describes how to get to Hogwarts."
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Hermione screams." If the two of you do not stop arguing, I will have my cat scratch your precious records with her claws! Or perhaps I should try out the new melting spell that I've been working on?" Hermione demands.
"Ok, ok….I know when I'm bested!" Harvey says. Harvey thinks Hermione is rather pretty and he doesn't want her to think he is a jerk.
"Of course, you get bossed around by a girl!" Denton chimes in.
"Oh, and boys….everyone knows that Pink Floyd is the best band."
"Bloody Hell!" Harvey and Denton both say, equally enfuriated.
Just then Harry walks up…..isn't this wonderful!? We will all be together in Gryffindor! I mean almost all of us." Harry looks at Denton.
"Oh, it's fine….I think it's time to go get better acquainted with my new mates at Slytherin." Denton adds before walking over to the Slytherin table.
As Denton walks up, Draco Napier welcomes him. As Draco shakes Denton's hand, he sends an evil glare and a grin over to Harry. The look is as if to once again say, "Harry, think about the future!"
Everyone takes their place at the large tables and gets quiet. Dumbledore stands up and everyone listens as he begins to give his speech….
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" Dumbledore declares happily.
Harry looks at the wall and sees what appears to be the famous Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. First, he wonders if it the real Mona Lisa painting, but he is then in further disbelief as the painting begins to smile and clap at Dumbledore's speech. Then, the Mona Lisa stops clapping and gets a rather serious look back on her face and he swears that her eyes are looking directly at him.
"Strange indeed!" Harry thinks.
Just then a banquet of food magically appears before everyone, apparently from out of nowhere.
Harry sees every type of food he could imagine and more! When his parents were alive, back at Wayne Manor, no expense was spared when it came to extravagant and delicious meals. Ever since he started living with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, it was completely the opposite. They ate well, nothing extravagant like this but they made sure their bellies were plenty full. And of course, they made sure Dudley got every type of food and snack that his heart desired, which of course showed in his portly disposition. Just then, Harry realized that he had not thought about Dudley ever since he was transformed into a penguin by Hagrid at the zoo. He laughed to himself for a moment and wondered if Dudley was still squawking around as a penguin and if so, how were Uncle Vernon and Aunt Dot managing to take care of him. He almost wished he could see it for himself….ALMOST.
Now, all Harry wants to do is partake in the wonderful banquet that lies before him. Harry then indulges in roast beef and roast chicken, roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, pumpkin pastries, treacle tarts and everything else imaginable.
Just as Harry is about to take a bite out of a delicious elderberry muffin, a face appears in his plate! It is the face of a ghost no less!
"Beware Harry Wayne!" The Ghost says in a spooky voice.
"Bloody Hell!" Harry says. "If it pleases you, I'd rather not have your face popping out from my pastries! Also, how do you know my name?" Harry asks.
"How do we know his name eh?" comes the voice of another ghost, this one female. "We know all about you Harry Wayne!"
"Right-O!" says the male ghost. "We may be one sugar lump short of a proper cup o' tea but we know about Harry Wayne…and OTHER things too might ya!"
"Other things…like what?" Harry asks.
"We want to tell you." Says the female ghost. "But…..HE'LL hurt us. He'll hurt us badly."
"Who…who will hurt you?" Asks Harry.
"And….he will hurt….
"That will be enough of that!" Dumbledore says as he waves his wand at the ghosts making them disappear instantly.
"What were they talking about? Harry asks. "Who were they? And how did they know me?"
"Do not fret over that young Mr. Wayne. You are FAMOUS, remember!? EVERYONE knows who you are….even those no longer with us! They probably just got lost and stopped to say hello." Dumbledore says.
"Sure….i'm sure that's it. Of course." Harry says, obviously still shaken up.
Just then, Harry happens to notice that over at the teacher's table, there seems to be a rather serious discussion taking place between Professor Jervis Quirrell and someone else. Harry notices a sharp pain in the bat-shaped scar on his forehead. He shakes off the pain and asks who the other man is. He finds out he is Professor Severus Crane, the potions master.
"Interesting" Harry thinks to himself.
Harry had met Professor Quirrell previously at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry had stopped at the Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid on their way to Diagon Alley. He could still hear Hagrid saying, "This is it Harry-The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place!" The owner of the place greeted Hagrid like he was an old friend. Her name was Fish Mooney. She was very beautiful and Harry was sure that if he noticed how beautiful she was that Hagrid surely did as well. Harry wondered if it was the food and drinks or Ms. Mooney that kept Hagrid coming back.
While Harry was at the Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid, there were all sorts of interesting characters that they encountered and that Harry was introduced to; one of them being Jervis Quirrell. Professor Quirrell seemed to be a rather nervous fellow. He also seemed to take great interest in Harry and said that he was very pleased to meet him. Harry noticed something that stood out in regards to Professor Quirrell and that was the rather enormous hat that he wore. Harry sees that even now, here at the banquet that Quirrell is still wearing that enormous hat. Although, Harry did indeed previously make the acquaintance of Quirrell, he has not yet met Professor Severus Crane. Harry doesn't know what Crane is saying to Quirrell but it looks to be rather intense. Harry isn't sure what, but there seems to be something rather "scary" and unnerving about Professor Crane.
This evening seemed to be a bit more eventful than Harry planned. He thought that the most interesting part of the evening would be indulging in some wonderful foods; but there has indeed been a lot more things of interest for him to think about.
Dumbledore then concludes the evening with another speech. He tells the students that no one is allowed on the grounds, that they should not use magic in the halls and that they can try out for the Quidditch team during week two.
"Quidditch team?" Harry says, "That sounds interesting!"
That night Harry fell asleep thinking about all that had transpired. He soon found himself dreaming about Professor Quirrell and Professor Crane. This time however in the middle of their conversation, they turned and looked directly at Harry. Professor Quirrell's eyes grew large and entrancing and a sphere-shaped object on the front of his hat started to spin and spin. Between Quirrell's eyes and the hat, Harry was totally hypnotized.
"Join Slytherin," Quirrell seemed to be commanding. "It is where you belong Harry Wayne!"
"Yessss….join Slytherin Harry Wayne!" comes another voice from the shadows. It is the voice of Professor Crane but as he appears it does not look like him but more like some type of evil demon. "You are not afraid are you Mr. Wayne? After all, there is nothing to FEAR but FEAR itself!"
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Harry screams as he wakes up from his nightmare.
To be continued…