The train and the sorting
Platform 9 and 3/4th
"Remember kids, don't cause trouble. Or if you do then don't get caught." Sirius said as he heaved the last of our luggage onto the train.
I just took my trunk and went to look for an empty compartment, while Harry and Draco was still saying their goodbyes. I wanted to be alone for a few hours for now. Oh, don't misunderstand, I love those two, but I need my alone time sometimes.
Soon I found an empty one and swiftly put my trunk above the seats, closed the doors and put an amulet onto the handle. With that done I plopped onto a seat and decided to do nothing just stare into space for a while and think about nothing. It is a surprisingly good technique to help you relax.
From the corner of my eye I saw others looking for compartments with empty seats, but none of them even looked at mine. Well, the amulet that I hung on the handle has very strong notice-me-not, privacy and disillusionment charms imbued into it, so its not that surprising.
My thoughtless state was distrupted when Caedes told me he is hungry. So I opened up me trunk, took his food and fed him. Which is always a fascinating affair, seeing how he is eating nothing but whole blue-fin tunas.
Yes, those over a hundred kg fishes. With innards, bones, skin, head and all. Where does he put that much food? I don't know. I only know that he grew twice as big as he was before I got him. Makes you think about how little they have fed him if he grew more in a month, than in the half a year he was there.
As for why tuna? I tried to feed him different kinds of meats and he liked the tuna and the leviathan best. Said leviathan meat came from the leviathan steak that is traditionally made on birthdays in the family. Otherwise too problematic to get, mainly because leviathan meat is imported from a fae realm and only in limited quantities.
Anyway. Once he finished eating and I cleaned up the remains of said activity, I started to read a book about lithomancy. Although it is somewhat dry, it does a good job explaining the nuances of said practice and most commons signs you can come across. Alongside what shape should you cut which gemstone and what runes to carve into them.
As I was reading the last pages of my book I noticed that the sky way darkening which I took a sign to change into my school robes. And not even half an hour later the train came to a halt in Hogsmeade. Putting away my book and picking Caedes up, who then proceeded to curl around my neck like a scarf, I left my compartment, after putting my amulet into my pocket.
On the station a huge man was shouting for us to gather around him. He must be Hagrid. Siri said he is a nice guy, if a little loose mouthed. Anyway, that's not important. What important is to fing Harry and Draco. Soon I spotted Draco's shiny blond hair, and walked up to them.
But we only had time for a quick greeting as the half-giant started leading us away. We started talking not long later and that's how I learned that Neville Longbottom has lost his toad on the train. And that there is a Weasley in our year.
Great. Not only do we have to learn alongside a blood-traitor, but also one of Dublydumb's cronies. And before you start, the Weasleys weren't branded blood-traitors for loving muggles. It was for something much worse.
Doesn't matter, he will be in gryffindor and we in slytherin. Outside of classes we will never see them, hopefully. Although this issue was thrown out of my mind quickly as we got our first glimpse of the castle.
It was as beautiful as the others said it would be, but at this point in time I just wanted to be inside as it was fairly chilly. And while I was thinking so we reached the lake and were told to board the boats. Me, Draco, Harry and Crabbe took a boat for ourselves, which left Goyle feeling betrayed. Which he loudly declared to us, alas the boat was for four person only.
Once the boat ride was over we were led into the hall of the castle where Hagrid handed us over to McGonagall. Siri and Remi sung praises of the woman and about her fairness. We will see if it extands to us snakes too.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." said Professor McGonagall." 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.
The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each 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 you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on a boys’s cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Weasley’s smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair too, even if it wasn't that bad.
"I shall return when we are ready for you." said Professor McGonagall."Please wait quietly."
She left and then the ghosts came. I just tuned them out as according to the others they always say the same things.
"Move along now."said a sharp voice."The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line." Professor McGonagall told us."And follow me."
The Great Hall looked nice, especially with that night sky enchantment. Not as nice as the constellation room in the Black Ancestral Manor, but still very beautiful. While we were looking around McGonagall placed a dirty looking hat onto a stool, that started to sing not long later.
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
We politely clapped and when that died down McGonagall started reading out names from a piece of parchment. And as someone with the Black surname I was called on fairly quickly. I was the second to be called in fact.
"Black, Helia." McGonagall said with a blank face.
I just walked up to her, sat down and she put the hat onto my head. I honestly thought it would just scream 'Slytherin!' right away and be done with it, but no. It wanted to chat.
"Hmmm, a Heir. Curious. Say lass. Are you like your father?" It asked with curiosity.
"A deranged madmen, you mean? Then no." I told it calmly.
"HA! Good one. Well, I can place you into Slytherin if you want me to. But you can also go to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor if you want to." It said after it stopped laughing.
"Why not hufflepuff?"
"You would smother them in their sleep. Anyway. Snake, lion or raven." It asked impatiently.
"Before I answer that. Could you tell me if Dumbledore gave you instructions regarding Harry?" I asked it, just to make sure.
"Sorry lass. Can't tell." Which was enough for me.
"It was an order." I told it, as icily as I could in my mind.
"I live to serve the Founding Four. He wants me to place Harry with the lions. Why? I don't know. But I do know that he would find a lot of friends in there. So long as he not an unlikeable prick." It answered.
And I smiled at that. If Dublydumb thinks that Harry will side with him, just because he is with the lions then he has another thing coming. Harry is as much a snake as everyone else in the family. Including Sirius. But precautions have to be taken.
"You will evaluate him fairly and will never follow the old bastards orders ever again." I instructed the hat."And Slytherin, by the way."
"Your wish is my command." Which it then followed by a loud."SLYTHERIN!!"
And then I took off the hat and walked to my table, amidst their muted congratulations. Well, muted compared to the other three houses. Then the sorting continued as McGonagall went through her list one by one.
Although I had to refrain from laughing loudly when Hermione Granger's name was called. And I saw the boys and Dora having the same issue. It has to be known that Bella had the name Hermione Granger tattoed onto her right thigh, said name which was surrounded by ink stains and quills.
She was not that tall, with bushy and untameable looking brown hair. And her magic looked like it wanted to reach out and touch and observe everything it could, but it held back. That must have come from her self control. She was sorted into gryffindor.
Let's hope she won't end up being brainwashed about purebloods. History is written by the winners after all. And the last century was written by Dumbledore personally.
Soon it was Draco's turn and the hat sent him to slytherin right away. He then sat beside me and then we began talking about nothing in particular. Mainly about what we think dinner would be.
When Harry went up the whole place became quite, which had us roll our eyes. It's not as if Harry is that different from us. If nothing else, I can vouch for that. Then he was sent to gryffindor. Not unexpected. Even if the hat didn't receive Dublydumbs instructions there was a good chance of him ending up there.
Then the headmaster gave an inane speech and we could finally begin to eat. The food was good, but Kreacher's is better. When we finished with the food the headmaster gave another speech. This one much more informative, although besides the third floor bit Siri already told us the same things.
Then we were led to our dormitories with ours being in the dungeons. The common room was very nice with it's emerald and silver wallpaper, wooden furniture and bookshelves lining the walls. Then there were the fire places that kept the room warm, and last but not least the overhead window that let us look dircetly into the lake.
Then the prefects gave us a run-down of the dormitory and house rules. They could be summed up as the followings:
- No wandering after curfew.
- No fighting in the common rooms or the dorm rooms. Only in the abandoned classroom on the right of the entrance and with one of the upper years present.
- If you cause trouble then don't get caught.
- Work hard in your studies and try and help to amass enough points to win the House Cup.
There were others too, but those were unimportant. Well, not really, but I just couldn't be bothered to care about them. Like, why the hell can't we talk to gryffindors? And who the fuck are they to decide that?
Fortunately we were soon released and free to go and take a bath and sleep. Which was exactly what I did. And I was very thankful for Salazar for planning his dormitory as he did. For we all had single room, each with their own shower and closet. They were rather large too, the same size as my room back at home.
Salazar obviously knew the importance of comfortable housing in a boarding school. Not like Gryffindor. I heard they make five people share a room. I hated, and still do, sharing it even with just Harry, when he had a nightmare. I just can't comprehend how could anyone think that sharing a room with four strangers, if you are unlucky, is a good idea.
Shaking my head at my wandering thoughts I fed Caedes and took out my two-way diary. Fleur gave it to me on my ninth birthday, because we could meet so rarely. Basically, what I write down inside it will appear in her diary and vice versa.
We then talked about our day with its help and after I bade her goodbye I went to sleep.