"Oi, Di! Wake up!"
"Di, Di! The train stopped, we're in Hogwarts!"
Diamante's eyes fluttered open when the twins took turns shaking Diamante awake - while also trying to push their arms through their robes.
"C'mon, mate! We're at Hogwarts, put on your robe and let's go!"
Diamante catapulted right up from his seat, grabbing the robe half-stuffed into the corner of the seat and wrapping it around himself. By the sounds of the footsteps in the corridors of the scarlet engine, he didn't have enough time to wear it properly.
"What about our trunks?" Diamante asked as Fred slid the door open, showcasing the flow of students just outside.
"They told us to leave them on the train. Said that they'll be taken to school separately."
The three rushed out of the room, mixing in with the crowd as they unloaded off the carts and onto the small dark platform. Diamante felt a cold breeze blow past the night sky, grazing the students. Some shivered at the sensation of the chilly night air. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and a booming voice echoed.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon, follow me - any more fir's years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
A giant beard looked down on the sea of heads. Soon, the new students waddled behind the giant like a mother duck and her ducklings. Slipping and stumbling down a narrow, steep path that was so dark on either side that there had to be thick trees acting as a black wall. Either that, or complete nothing.
All Diamante saw was the Twin's grinning faces on both sides of him, freckled face and red hair floating in the darkness, no thanks to the black robes enveloping everything else.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec." Hagrid called out, looking behind his shoulder as he walked. "Jus' round this bend here."
The narrow path opened to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the opposite side was a vast castle with turrets and towers just as many. Windows glowed brightly, almost enough to mistake them for fellow stars in the night sky.
Several "Oooooh!" were heard from the kids, and Diamante's gold eyes sparkled bright enough to reflect the beauty of this old and prestigious school.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid shouted, pointing to the little wooden vehicles on the lake's edges.
Diamante immediately felt two hands grab his shoulders. He immediately knew who they were.
"Come on then, pal!" George happily called.
"You're with us!" Fred followed as the twins started to drag the Half-Italiano.
3 were in one boat, but they couldn't leave yet. Not until a 4th passenger arrived.
Only when the girl Diamante saw alone in her own compartment they arrived to sit in the last seat, and they were ready to go.
"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted in his own boat. "Right then - FORWARD!"
Diamante barely had time to sit before the boats jolted into motion like they were given a life of their own. The fleets of the little ships were off, moving all at once. Sliding and gliding across the lake so smoothly that it looked like sleds on black ice.
Most of the boats were quiet.
And then there were Diamante's crews.
"Blimey, mate! Check out the castle!"
"Oi, Di! You just slept, mate! What are you nodding off again for?"
Diamante rubbed his face with his palm. He couldn't help it - he was abruptly woken up, and it was so dark out here that he could barely look further than a metre out in front of him.
All he saw in his tired eyes was the girl on the other end of the boat, knees brought up and into herself as she quietly looked down into the waters.
The surface itself was so smooth that it reflected the light from Hogwarts back like a mirror.
The great castle now loomed over the children, its vast size even bigger in their eyes, towering over them like a grand guardian.
"Head's down!" Hagrid yelled as the first boats reached the cliff; Fred George and the Girl lowered their head. But Diamante didn't hear the half-giant and only realised what the groundskeeper said when his instincts told him that something was coming closer to his head.
He bent down, feeling the ivy from the cliff brushing across his neck and hair as the boats carried them through a wide opening hidden in the ivies and into the tunnels.
They were right underneath the castle, stopping when the boats met the harbour.
Diamante clambered out of the boat and onto the rocks and pebbles first, turning around to give the twins his hands.
"Cheers, mate." The twins spoke in unison. Diamante just shrugged his shoulders and titled his head sideways. Yet he still had his left hand outstretched towards the girl. Who was trying to balance herself by standing up and walking across the boat.
One of the kids from the other boat lost their balance and fell into the cold water. Much to the laughter of many. The girl watched the kid's misfortune, too, and by the fear in her eyes, she didn't want to be the next person to fall in and meet the same fate.
She grabbed Diamante's hand. It made it much easier for her to climb out of the boat and onto solid ground.
"…Thank you." She muttered quietly as she let go of Diamante's hand and continued walking. Diamante just looked at her and gave an eyebrow shrug in acknowledgement as they all clambered up a passageway in the rock, Hagrid at the front with his lamp.
Rock met grass and handed the children over to the lush, damp field in the castle's shadow. They walked up a flight of stone steps and huddled around the massive oak front door.
"Everyone here? You there, still feeling cold?"
The kid drenched in lake water nodded her head as Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times.
Both doors swung open at once. A tall witch stood there in emerald-green robes and a stern face.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," announced Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
The other door pulled open wide to let the sea of children into the entrance hall. Diamante could hear the muffled voices of thousands around his age. Stone walls are lit with flaming torches to give off the Gothic archaic atmosphere known by traditional architects. Ceilings were tall, as if the castle was built to house giants, and marble staircases that rose to the upper floors were thick, tall, and wide.
They all followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floors of various pebbles and gravels embedded in their layers. The professor stopped when in front of the hallway doors, the crowd also stopped in their tracks and looked up to Professor McGonagall, blinking with their wide eyes sparkling from the red and orange fire. Accentuate their nervous, intimidated, yet excited mood.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall announced. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room."
Diamante grimaced at the information. He had already read the books he would tackle throughout the first year. The best-case scenario was that he got along well with the people he was forced into the dormitory with. Worst case scenario was when they hated each other's guts. The fact that he was not allowed to handle the civil way of changing rooms made him more nervous about where he would be placed and who he would be placed with.
"The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours. The sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as possible while waiting."
McGonagall's eyes found the Weasley twins snickering and whispering to each other about how the school looked, while Diamante, in the middle, stared at everything around him, his wide, unblinking golden eyes searching the surrounding like a frightened owl.
"I shall return when we are ready for you." Professor McGonagall said. "Please wait quietly."
"I wonder how we're gonna get sorted into our houses?" Fred whispered next to Diamante's right shoulder.
"Probably something short and quick as… oh, I don't know- what the History of Hogwarts book described as 'the sorting hat'. They do this every year in front of all the other students, have them sit in the middle and place a hat on them that shouts who's in which House. Doubt it would take longer than tonight." Diamante answered back, still caught up in looking at the ceilings and the moving paintings.
"Bah, that's too boring. I bet we'll be doing some sort of test!" George shouted.
"Could hurt a lot." Fred added in.
"Even if not, we could tell Ginny and Ron that it did!" George quipped.
"Ron and Ginny?" Diamante repeated with a curious tone.
"Our younger siblings!"
"Ginny's the youngest."
"Though she's probably smarter than Ron."
"Everyone in our family is smarter than Ron."
The twins looked at Diamante.
"Ron's still our brother,"
"So don't tell him we said that."
Diamante looked at the two on either side of him.
"Doubt I'll ever meet him."
"But if you do…"
"My lips are sealed."
The twins grinned.
"Frieeend," they chorused.
"Move along now", the sharp voice of Professor McGonagall returned to the front of the doors. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start. Now, form a line and follow me."
Both twins were now behind Diamante, the first years all walking through the double doors into a room filled with a crowd of students wearing robes with one of the four colours as highlights.
Floating candles were high above the four large tables, and the entire night sky was held within the ceiling as if the roof was nothing more than a canvas to portray Van Gogh's nocturne. He already found the Big Dipper and Polaris, which are small but clearly there. Diamante read about it in the books he was meant to buy for the first-year study.
But reading and knowing wasn't enough - he wanted to understand it. What magic made the starry night sky pool like this into the top of the halls? How did the magic function? How was the ceiling bewitched to look like the sky outside? The magic was still a mystery for him for something just a glass roof with extra, complicated steps.
He wanted to learn. Dissect the magic into smaller sections and workings if he had to. He might have to ask the professors how it was made.
The first years all stopped in front of the long table for the staff, surrounded by faces of curiosity and anticipation.
In the middle was a four-legged stool resting a pointy witch hat made of leather from some beast, wrinkled to resemble a caricature of an old human face.
The Hat started to twitch, and the rip near the brims started to open. Yet Diamante didn't pay attention to whatever words the Hat was beginning to spout.
He was more enamoured by the lore of the Hat. The very fact that it contained a piece of each of the four founder's brains.
Which sounded… almost too dangerous and reckless to be true. Grey matter and synapses were very sensitive. In fact, even a small mass change can significantly affect the brain. If they needed to each share enough part of themselves to create something as high-functioning as a sentient hat, it would be more than just a small mass.\
This begged the question: how did they remove a part of their brain and be alive and conscious enough to place it into the Hat and complete the creation?
Did they even stay alive and conscious enough after removing something as important as a piece of their brain?
It was quite a terrifying thought for little Diamante if they didn't, and the creation of the Hat was their final act.
Diamante was jolted awake from his thoughts when the crowd erupted in applause, darting his head around before joining in. He suspected that something the Hat said was worthy of a thousand claps.
Professor McGonagall took centre stage, holding a long roll of parchment that she soon opened.
"When I call your name, you will put on the Hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Alton, Pamela!"
A confident-looking girl excitedly walked to the seat with an excited grin. She soon had the Hat lowered down on her head, and after a moment's pause-
"RAVENCLAW!" The Hat shouted.
The second table on the left clapped, and some of the students even stood up with a smile. Something that Pamela enthusiastically returned as she dashed to the Ravenclaw table the moment the Hat was lifted off by Professor McGonagall.
"Amorinus, Philip!"
A young boy stomped up to the seat, his heart clearly reaching his throat.
The Hat took a shorter moment than Pamela.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Philip breathed out sharply as if he had just passed an important exam, and the table on the right cheered and clapped. Philip smiled as he walked over, receiving pats on his back as he sat down with his newest peers and seniors.
"Beaumont, Buckley!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
The proud smile on Buckley's told him that going into the House of the Emerald Snake was of the highest honour, as the other Slytherins, in turn, proudly grinned and clapped as he strode over.
Eileen Birch also went to Slytherin, and Bilbo Bobbin went to Hufflepuff. Baxter Broadmoor was the first of Diamante's years to go into Gryffindor - something the red House was clearly ecstatic about.
Every once or twice, the kids that held the Hat would take more than a minute before it decided which House to send the brat to. Sometimes it happened the very moment it touched the tip of their hair.
"Carter, Henry!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Cooper, Isaac!"
"…. HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Corvus, Diamante!"
Diamante's head twisted to Professor McGonagall, and soon felt two hands pat his shoulders.
"Good luck out there, pal!"
"We'll still be friends - but try not to get into Slytherin."
Diamante silently scoffed at the twins remark, but soon flashed them a smirk as he walked up towards the Hat. He looked up the ceiling one last time before the Hat was placed gently down on his head by Professor McGonagall. The Position of Dubhe and Merak relative to Polaris had told him that roughly 15 minutes had gone by before it was his turn.
"…hmm…. Hmm…." Diamante heard - no, more like felt - the voice of the Hat ringing in his head, and in his head only. "Peculiar, aren't you? Difficult… You're loyal, you're brave… you're also very sly… but the very basis of such traits seems to be your curiosity and hunger for knowledge and comprehension. A Ravenclaw, maybe? Or a Slytherin… You'd fit nicely in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff with your diligence. But… yes… perhaps Slytherin may be best for you. You'd certainly prove to be above your peers in Slytherin, I'd say. Your thirst, your hunger for excellency and answers go well beyond the average. Almost boarding on sheer ambition. But… hmm… would you truly thrive in your fullest potential in Slytherin? A common child of ambition would, but you are… I can certainly say you are a unique one. Never had someone who acts like you, talks like you, thinks… like you. Where should I put you?"
Diamante started to hear the crowd whisper around him, staring at him like he was some ancient artefact. Or a peculiar Zoo animal found only here tonight.
Some of the words he caught was a so called 'Hatstall'. Diamante looked at the sky in the ceiling. If the books were true - that the night sky shown was accurate to what was outside - then he could tell, based on the position of the North Star and the Big Dipper, how long it had been since he sat on the chair.
It had been almost 7 minutes. Nearing 10, the more the students whispered to each other. They were excited at the Sorting Hat taking his sweet time with Diamante's placement.
"You are a very difficult one. And you don't have a specific house in mind, do you?"
"No, I don't, really. It's not like I get anything special or unique depending on the Houses, now do I? More of a… social event. Equal opportunities."
"Well, bugger all, usually, the kids have a house in mind for me to use as a tiebreaker. Then how about a riddle! Yes, a riddle would be great to break this tie! Answer me this, boy!
There is a vault in front of you. The door is shut and locked, but everything inside is yours if you manage to open it. How are you going to open the door?"
Diamante's ears perked up at the offer of a verbal puzzle. Yet he didn't answer right away. Now, it was his turn to think.
And he decided to ask more.
"What's exactly inside the vault?"
"Everything! Anything you can think of!"
"And would I get in trouble for doing anything to open the door?"
"No, you will not. Free of consequences."
"Where exactly is this vault?"
"Anywhere you can think of! A castle, a bank, it could even be in a remote forest!"
Right, right…
"And I will not get in trouble for taking whatever is in the vault, you said?"
"I did indeed. So long as you get to open the door and get inside the vault."
Diamante nodded as he tapped his chin with his finger. Before he snapped them.
"Oh, ok. I open the door."
"How do you open the door?"
"With the key."
"Oh? And where is this key? Where did you find this key?"
"In my pocket."
"In your pocket?"
"Yes, you heard me right. In my pocket."
"Now, why would the key be in your pocket, boy?"
"Because it's my vault?"
"Your vault?!"
Diamante heard the Sorting Hat's voice turn surprised.
"Well, based on what you told me - of course, it's my vault! If I own the vault, no matter where it is, I wouldn't get in trouble for trying to open it! Nor would I be under any repercussions of taking the vault's content once I get it opened! Then it's clear that whatever I can think of that's inside the vault - I already own it, and the only reason I can't take it out is because the bloody door is locked! Therefore, unless you tell me I have lost the key - it should be comfortably in my pocket when I reach the vault. Therefore, I use the key in my pocket to open the vault."
There was silence from the Hat, before he let out a quiet chuckle.
"You are a very creative child, aren't you? Imaginative. That's an answer I never heard of from the other children. I've got it! I can certainly see you'll be chasing excellence and the height of your potential in - RAVENCLAW!"
The last part of the Hat's speech boomed out through the hall. Something that caused the House of Sapphire Eagles to erupt into cheers and claps with more energy than the previous recruits.
Diamante felt the Hat lifted off his head as he stumbled towards the Ravenclaw table - his legs had fallen asleep during the 9 minutes of Placement. Diamante looked to the rest of the first years yet to be placed, finding the Weasley twins waving at him and giving him a thumbs up - something that he returned with a celebratory wave of his own.
He also saw the brown-haired girl on the train and boat. Now fully seeing her face underneath the bright lights, seeing the stern and sharp look on her pale and freckled face.
Her green eyes were staring at him as he walked.
Diamante sat down at the Ravenclaw table, receiving handshakes from seniors and fellow first-years around him, introducing themselves. And soon watched the rest of the ceremony.
"Davies, Roger!"
"RAVENCALW!"
"Diggory, Cedric!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Rosethorne, Moira!" Professor McGonagall shouted. And that very girl with the brown pixie-cut hair walked forward.
She too, took a while. Almost a minute, before she was announced to be "SLYTHERIN!" She swaggered over to the Slytherin table, her face did not look happy nor excited. No, it was as if she knew that this was the house she would be placed in. No matter what.
Nothing to celebrate about.
Few more names went by, Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson went to Gryffindor. Adrian Pucey and Cassius Warrington went to Slytherin.
"Weasley, Fred!" McGonagall announced - and soon the twins took a step forward in unison.
"What are you going up for, I'm Fred!"
"Don't do this now, George! You know I'm Fred!"
A mock argument between the two. Something Professor McGonagall was clearly not having.
Percy Weasley from the Gryffindor Table groaned in embarassment and frustration, while Charlie Weasley chuckled at his younger brother's antics.
"Well, one of you can stand up and take the hat! With how you two act, I'm sure the Hat will choose the same House for the two of you!" McGonagall sternly said. Causing George to take a step back with his lips pursed into a stifled grin.
It only took the hat to go anywhere near Fred's head to announce him as a 'Gryffindor'.
And George was sent off to the Red Lions with his brother.
"Hey, I'm Lenny Pindlebrook! I'll be your one of your prefects!" A Ravenclaw fifth year told the first years, each saying how back with a smile.
Then the Headmaster stood up, something that was so simple in motion yet powerful enough for all inside the hall to suddenly fall silent.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate the first years. A long journey is in front of you, of friendship, adventure, knowledge- and perhaps even love of various forms. However at the same time I would advise you caution for the exact reason. And we'd like to also formally announce our new Defence against the Dart Arts Professor - as unfortunately, Professor Rakepick will no longer be teaching Defence against the Dark Arts. In her place, we will have Professor Iceberg. Please, everyone give a round of applause."
A young Asian man with sunglasses stood up from his seat, tightening his greyish blue suit that looked clearly distinct from the wizard robes around him. Smiling nervously. His sharp jaw and clean shaven face was enough to have some of the girls whisper with each other.
Diamante was one of the few who was slightly unsettled by him. Less of his appearance, and more because of what he felt from him. Training with his father made him sensitive to magic, enough to know that holding a wand felt like magic was being pulled out of him like dipping a hand in a running river.
Right now, he could feel what could be equated to a cold air blow from Professor Iceberg. Something that no other wizards have done.
But that was soon broken by the additional words from Professor Dumbledore.
"And because of additional news regarding a Dark Wizard in a white robe escaping Auror custody near Hogwarts, students will be forbidden from leaving Hogwarts grounds. As such - until they have found the man, this year the Hogsmeade trip will be cancelled for all years."
Several groans and protests erupted from the crowd - mainly from the seniors third year and above. First and second years stayed silent, either in indifference or in confusion.
That was the final announcement from the Headmaster - soon, food apparated onto the tables. Something that made many eyes to widen. First time the first years had seen this trick, and it was still a fresh sight for some of the second years.
"Some Potatoes - Diamante, was it?" One of the first years, Roger Davies, offered a bowl to Diamante. Diamante smiled as he took the bowl and scooped up a spoonful of buttered baked potatoes.
"Thank you, Davies."
"Please, call me Roger. We're both in the same year."
Diamante grabbed a pork roast seasoned with herbs and salt and filled the rest of his plate with peas and carrots, coated in gravy for the finale.
He had the largest food on his plate. Some of his seniors and peers thought he was being overtly greedy.
But then they saw how fast he finished the food - going for a second serving of a different meal of nothing but savouries. Tulip Karasu's jaw dropped before it slowly crept up into a smirk.
In Diamante's defence - he can't help it. The amount of rigid training from his father, almost bordering on harsh and cruel if it wasn't for the clear progress it was making in Diamante's prowess had left him with a bigger gut than most. The boulder he almost constantly wore during his training explained everything.
If anything, the amount of energy he exerted had meant that while his stomach was certainly fat, the rest of his body was far from chubby.
A few more plates emptied and refilled, and Diamante soon found the Students slowly rising up in unison, forming groups based on houses.
"Ravenclaws, to us!" One of the prefects shouted before they started to lead the students out of the halls and into their dorm - the high towers. The bronze eagle knocker spoke the moment the prefects took a few step closer to the doors. Diamante already felt the food coma kick in, rubbing his eyes and slowly drifting away while still standing on his two feet. One of the 4th years on his left immediately took notice, and placed a hand on his shoulder in an effort to keep him from falling down and hurting himself.
"What is darker than darkness?" The eagle announced. Something the Prefects and even some of the 7th year to gather and quickly piece together a worthy answer.
"The void. Where it is devoid of darkness," Diamante announced from the crowd, rubbing his eyes as he felt his head swoon back, forth, and to the sides. "because that is when it's also brighter than light, for the absence of darkness means the absence of light as there is no longer anything that it can be distinguished and distinct from. And darkness is defined by the relativity of illumination." He yawned as the older Ravenclaws stared at him, and then to the eagle knockers.
"An excellent answer." The Eagle announced, the door swinging wide open.
"… I'll escort the fella to his dorm room." The fourth year holding Diamante up quietly announced as the crowd walked into their common room - and separated between the girls and boys into their dorm room.
Even when Diamante was drowsy, the fourth year was surprised to know that he still had enough strength to be as equally dragging the senior along as the senior was guiding the sleepy young boy to his new room. Three four-poster beds were arranged radially in the room, with the Ravenclaw emblem carpet on the floor. Diamante fell face first into his bed, seeing through the sides of his sleepy eyes that his luggages were neatly arranged on the side of his bed. Waiting to be unpacked.
Well, he can do that tomorrow.
"Alright, this is your dorm, I'd say that you guys have a good long rest. Classes will start 3 days later, so I suggest use your time wisely to get familiar with the school, and to unpack your belongings." The fourth year announced to the other two first-year Ravenclaws, One of them being Roger Davies.
The fourth year smiled.
"Well, any questions you have- feel free to ask them! The seniors are always happy to help. And if they don't? Well, at the very least you'll have me hanging around the common room whenever I'm available. Good night, fellas!"
That was all Diamante heard before he felt gravity pull him further into the mattress - he didn't even bother to pull the blanket out from under him and over himself when he drifted off into the darkness.