First Year, The Sorting
It had almost gotten completely dark already when the Hogwarts Express pulled up into the little train station. It had started drizzling, a slow and cold downpour of rain. Lily put the hood of her robes up to protect herself from getting wet, she shivered, in contrast to the warm interior of the train carriage, it was dire cold outside.
The platform was overflowing with students, all huddling close together to shield themselves from the rain as much as possible. It was clear which of the students were first years, besides being by far the smallest of the bunch they looked around themselves with looks of utter terror and shock. At least most of them, some of them looked oddly self-assured. Close to them stood a little group of boys, Lily recognized Remus between them, the boy she had met on the train, as well as the boy with glasses and his blond friend, whom she and Severus had bumped into on the train corridor. The boy Lily had seen being scolded by his mom at King`s Cross was also among them. He had long black hair, but not like Severus` which was always hanging limp, this boys hair was full despite of the rain. The boys cheekbones were prominent and he was pulling ugly faces at two older girls with the same bone structure and masses of black curls. They must be related to eachother Lily thought, the girls shot scornful looks at the younger boy.
Mary and Marlene, the girls she had shared the train carriage with, were standing next to her, both shivering in their thin school uniforms. They looked fervently about themselves, all waiting for someone to tell them what they were supposed to do. Lily spotted Severus standing to the side of the train, she waved at him, thinking she maybe should invite him over, but he only gave her a nod and proceeded to look disdainfully at her companions.
`Oh no!` Mary suddenly called out, looking back at the closed train door. `My suitcase is still on the train!`
Lily eyes widened with shock as she realized she hadn`t seen her belongings since she had handed them off at Platform 9 ¾ .
However, Marlene shook her head reassuringly. `They transport those for us to the castle.` she said. `Don`t worry.`
Lily let out a sigh of relieve and scanned the platform if she could see her suitcase being carried out.
Then there was a sudden shift of attention in the group of students as a ruddy voice behind them boomed, `First years! First years over here!`
Lily spun around to see an enormously tall man, supporting a full bush of brown hair with matching beard, clad in a long brown coat and carrying an oil lamp, illuminating the students. If he hadn`t had such gently eyes, Lily certainly would have been terrified by him, now she was only ever so slightly afraid. She could see Mary and Marlene next to her gazing up at the man, eyes big and mouths somewhat ajar.
`Name`s Rubeus Hagrid.` the man rumbled in a low baritone voice. `Keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts.`
Mary let out a soft giggle and Lily couldn`t help but join in, the whole situation felt surreal. Marlene still had a straight face, but Lily gave her a minute or so before she would join in.
`If you all would follow me to the boats.` Hagrid said, turning around and walking away, still holding the oil lamp high above his head, like a lighthouse in a storm.
`The boats?` Mary whispered confused.
`Yeah, Danny told me about it.` Marlene answered softly. `First years go in little boats over the lake to see the castle for the first time.`
`There is a lake?!` Mary answered, looking utterly flabbergasted.
Lily nodded, Severus had told her everything he knew about Hogwarts, taking great pride in the fact how much of the magical community he already knew. Sometimes it felt like he was showing off how imbedded he was in the world Lily still knew so little about.
The group of first year, led by Hagrid, plodded on through the forest towards the lake. Sometimes Lily had to spring aside as not to step accidently into a puddle or trip over a meandering root. Finally, the lake loomed up in front of them, its placid black surface reflecting the place light of the moon. Behind it, on top of a large formation of rocks, an enormous castle rose up. Countless towers and brightly lit windows, Lily`s mouth fell open and she could hear gasps arising from either side of her. Late at night, when she had tried to get to sleep, she had attempted to imagine what Hogwarts would look like, but in none of her fantasies had it looked this utterly and overwhelmingly beautiful. Lily felt heat flare up in her chest with the knowledge that for the coming years she was allowed to call this her home.
Hagrid was assigning boats to the first years. `Four a boat. Four a boat.` he called out.
Marlene, Mary and Lily slowly moved forwards in the line and huddled close together. Lily hoped they would be placed in the same boat.
`I heard there`s a giant squid in the lake who eats people.` someone behind her whispered.
Lily tensed and Mary next to her whimpered. `That better just be a rumour.`
`Move along. Quickly, you wouldn`t want to get soaked.` Hagrid called. `Right, you three come here. We need a forth.` he looked around. `You!`
When Lily turned around she saw the bearded man was pointing at Severus, whom was cowering behind them, soaking wet and scowling. Hagrid kept urging Severus to step forward and after a lot of shuffling his feet he approached the three girls.
Marlene clambered in first, followed by Lily and then Severus. Mary needed some coaxing from Hagrid before she dared to set foot in the little wooden boat.
It wobbled precariously as Mary gingerly stepped into the boat and she whimpered.
`It`ll be fine.` Lily assured her, putting a gentle hand on Mary`s arm. `Just look at the stunning view and we`ll be over in no time!`
Severus rolled his eyes and sat sulkily in a corner of the boat, not even looking around him. The boat in front of them carried the four boys Lily had seen on the platform and one of them stood up to wobble the boat back and forth. The blond boy huddled his head between his knees and Remus looked positively queasy for as far as Lily could tell in the dark.
While they glided towards the castle over the smooth surface of the lake, Lily wondered in what house she would be placed. Severus had been raving about Slytherin for as long as she could remember, but on the train Marlene had told her that Slytherin was notorious for producing dark wizards and often looked down on people of lesser blood, as they called it. Lily felt conflicted, was she supposed to believe Severus, whom she had knew for over two years, or this girl, whom she only had just met?
***
It seemed like the climb up towards the castle was never-ending, Marlene heard Mary and Lily panting heavily next to her as they mounted the countless stone steps. She herself was also a little out of breath, even though she thought herself to have rather good stamina.
With a lot of manoeuvring all the first years were able to cram themselves into the entry hall. The stone walls rose up high and Marlene gazed up at them with awe.
`Welcome to Hogwarts!` a voice called and Marlene looked up to see a stern looking witch standing at the top of the wide staircase. She was wearing dark emerald green robes and her greying hair was tied back in a tight bun. Danny had told her about her, she was Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house and transfiguration teacher.
Professor McGonagall waited before the murmuring in the hall had settled down before she spoke again. `In a few moment you will enter into the Great Hall to join your fellow class mates.` She had a severe Scottish accent and while she talked she looked over the top of her glasses, peering down at them. Marlene couldn`t help but feel more than slightly intimidated by her.
`Before you sit down,` she continued. `You will be sorted into you houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin.`
Marlene could feel her heart hammer in her chest and she felt the general atmosphere in the entry hall tense up. She wasn`t worrying that much about in which house she would be placed, either one of them would be fine, she would like not to be placed in Slytherin though, but that had more to do with its reputation than anything else. A nervous chatter rose up between the students, but it subsided just as quickly, seeing as the emerald robed witch didn`t seem like she was done talking.
`I want you to follow eachother in a straight line while waiting to be sorted and I expect of all of you,` she looked around, brow furrowed. `To be able to wait patiently for your turn and not to disrupt the ceremony.`
`Ceremony?` Mary mouthed at her. Marlene put a finger in front of her lips.
The doors to the Great Hall opened and Marlene followed the stream of students sauntering up the stairs, Mary and Lily next to her. When they entered through the gigantic doors, a chorus of amazed exclamations rose up from between the students. Mary and Lily`s mouths hung open as they stared up at the ceiling and even Marlene, who was used to a certain degree of magic had a hard time to keep her admiration to herself. It was one thing to hear about Hogwarts, it was a whole other thing to suddenly be surrounded by it.
The Great Hall was a cathedrallike stone hall, the tables were lit with thousands of floating candles. The ceiling was a reflection of the night sky, littered with glittering stars, as if there was no ceiling at all, thick thunderous clouds hanging above their heads as if waiting to erupt into lightning.
Professor McGonagall had ascended onto some sort of podium and was now standing next to a wooden stool, holding a beaten brown hat in her hand; the sorting head. This was the moment, Marlene thought and she started nervously fidgeting at the hem of her skirt again. Lily and Marlene were still staring at the ceiling.
`Arnold, Simon!` McGonagall called, she had a very peculiar way of pronouncing each syllable and Marlene wanted to giggle.
She knew for sure that Professor McGonagall would make an excellent person to impersonate. Marlene loved to do impressions of other people and even if she said so herself, she thought she was quite good at it. Her impressions always made her parents burst into fits of laughter and one time Danny had peed himself at her impression of the barman of the Leaky Cauldron.
`Black, Sirius!`
There rose a murmur of voices up in the hall and some people from the Slytherin table started hooting as the black haired boy clambered onto the chair. Marlene had heard about the Black family, they were one of those ancient families who praised themselves on being entirely pure blood, she was sure that this boy Sirius would be sorted into Slytherin as well.
However her mouth fell open as the mangy old hat called out, `Gryffindor!`
Evidently Marlene wasn`t the only one being surprised as the clapping was proceeded by a deadly silence in which Sirius looked downright shocked around himself. Two girls, who Marlene recognised as also being part of the Black family, called scornfully out to the boy as he took a seat at the Gryffindor table.
Finally it was Lily`s turn to be sorted and she shot an anxious look at Marlene and Mary before staggering up towards the stool. It didn`t take long for her to be sorted into Gryffindor and Marlene clapped loudly as the redheaded girl made her way to her house table. A scrawny boy with a shaven head called Remus Lupin, was also sorted into Gryffindor.
They were now in the M`s and the sorting hat called out: `MacDonald, Mary!` Marlene gave Mary a soft pat on her shoulder as she sent her off to be sorted. Mary`s eyes were big and afraid and Marlene`s heart was almost beating out of her chest with the knowledge she would be next.
She felt weirdly vulnerable standing there between the other students without her two newfound friends. Even though she only had known Lily and Mary for a couple of hours know, she had the feeling she knew them for much longer. Mary was also sorted into Gryffindor and Marlene grinned as she saw Lily scoot aside to make room for her.
`McKinnon, Marlene!` McGonagall called, reading her name off the parchment roll.
Stumbling Marlene walked up to the podium, swallowing she sat down on the stool and let the hat be placed on top of her head.
`Hmmm.` the hat murmured in her ear and Marlene had a hard time trying not to flinch. `I see. I see.` the hat whispered.
`I see a great deal of care in there. You are a gentle, loyal, loving friend. Hufflepuff would be a good home for you. But, oh, I see there is a great deal of courage in you too. A great deal.`
`Yeah right.` Marlene huffed, she felt everything but courageous. She felt as tame and cowardly as a person could feel.
`Yes, you may be more courageous than you may realize. Best place you in- GRYFFINDOR.` the hat boomed in her ear and before she knew it the hat was being pulled off her head and she was stumbling off the steps towards her house table.
It was over, it was done, she was sorted. The moment she had been dreading for so many years was behind her and she was now sitting down with her fellow housemates. Mary and Lily grinned widely at her.
`Who would have thought!` Lily chimed excitedly. `All three of us in the same house!`
Marlene saw a boy with greasy black hair and a gaunt face glare at Lily from the Slytherin table, she wondered who he was and what he had to do with Lily.
`Does this mean we`ll be dormmates?` Mary asked, looking between the two of them.
`I think so.` Marlene said, grinning, still not really processing what had just happened.
Next to them, Sirius had laid his head down on the table and kept groaning and mumbling to himself, `My father`s going to kill me. My father`s going to kill me. My father`s going to kill me.`
Lily shot a confused look at Marlene and she shrugged her shoulders. A boy with a mop of curly hair and glasses was trying to console Sirius, patting him cautiously on his back.
While they waited for everyone to be sorted Marlene kept quiet, she felt overwhelmed and wasn`t quite sure what to say. They still needed to start the feast and she was already absolutely knackered from everything. She stared as Professor McGonagall approached their table and spoke in slow and hushed voices with the boy with the shorn head, Remus.
Marlene was ready to lay her head down on her arms, when suddenly the food appeared on their table. Crispy roast potatoes, dark gravy, carrots of which wafted steam, gleaming buttered peas, golden roasted poultry. Now her nervousness had worn off, Marlene could feel her stomach rumble and she felt grateful for the mountains of food being served to them.
`Holy Christ.` Mary gasped, staring at the previously empty spot in front of her. `How-`
`Don`t worry about it.` a second year sitting next to Mary said as he gave her a wink.
`Let the feast commence!` the loud voice of Dumbledore boomed out over the Great Hall, magically amplified. He didn`t have to say it twice, for the room burst into a frenzy of clattering cutlery and dishes.
***
Don`t worry about it, the boy next to her had said during the feast in the Great Hall, don`t worry about it.
Well, worrying seemed to be the only thing Mary felt capable of doing. She had hid herself away in the fourposter bed, the velvet red curtains drawn shut. On the other side of the drapes she could hear the hushed voices of her new dormmates, Marlene and Lily, the same girls she had sat with in the train and on the little boat. Oh, that awful boat, she had thought she would drown getting over that horrible lake. It had been cold, it had been wet and while everybody else had seemed to be enjoying the view, the only thing Mary had been able to think about was the supposed giant squid floating underneath the impermeable surface of the water, ready to jump up and eat them all. She just couldn`t grasp why a school would want to put its students in a dangerous situation like that, and all before they had even actually started.
Her breathing was high in her chest, Mary hid herself even deeper underneath the covers. The duvet was soft and the bed was large, huge even, she could house multiple of her siblings in this bed. She wasn`t used to this much space, this much room that was just her own. All she wanted in that moment was to be squashed in her tiny bed at home with all her siblings. A dozen clowns stuffed into a Volkswagen, that`s how little space she wanted.
After dinner, a prefect called Frank Longbottom had led all the Gryffindor fist years to their common room in one of the towers. To get there they had had to following him halfway across the castle. Mary had tried her hardest to remember the route, but still she was sure she would get lost a million times before she was able to get it right. There were so many corridors, rooms and odd winding staircases and just when she had thought she was getting the hang of it, to her utter horror, one of the staircases had moved and Frank had said, `Oh yeah they do that sometimes.` Like it was the most normal thing in the world.
It had been a relief when they had finally entered the common room. Mary hadn`t been exactly sure what she had been supposed to expect by a common room, but it certainly hadn`t been what they had stepped into.
The Gryffindor common room was a warmly lit room filled with overstuffed armchairs, squashy couches in front of a large blazing fire. The floor was littered with soft rugs and in every corner seemed to be a staircase leading up to a bedroom.
Mary had been relieved to hear that she was supposed to share a room with Marlene and Lily, she already knew them slightly and they seemed nice enough from what she noticed of them until now.
Their suitcases and trunks had already been standing in the room when they had entered the it, another mystery that absolutely puzzled Mary. Who was doing all this work and why wasn`t she seeing them? How had all that food been able to appear so seamlessly on the long wooden tables in the Great Hall and why was everybody so calm about it? Why was nobody else panicking?
As Marlene and Lily had started to unpack their belongings, Mary had quietly climbed into her bed and silently drawn the drapes shut. There in the dark, she had hugged her knees to her body and started crying. She pondered if this had been a mistake, if she just should have stayed at home, ignored her supposed magic and never gone to this bloody school.
Everything overwhelmed her, she missed her parents and the comfort of her own home. She missed her siblings and their insistent ramblings, the clattering of pots and pans in the kitchen, the familiar scent of her mother`s food. The food at the feast had been good, but it had been, well what could she say more than: British? Bland?
The thing that irked her the most was the fact that wizards and witches didn`t seem to be any less racist than non-magical people. If anything, they were more racist, not only differentiating in skin colour, but also in blood purity, whatever that may be. When she had gotten her letter she had been so excited to be whisked away towards this magical world, away from reality. But the moment she had stepped foot onto that platform, reality had come crushing down on her again and she had realized that people who could do magic apparently weren`t any less biased that everybody else.
She sobbed into her freshly laundered sheets as she worried that she would never be able to escape the box that society had created for her. Tomorrow morning she would go to that McGonagall woman and ask her to sent her back home. She didn`t belong here any more than she did at home and there she at least had her family with her.
`Mary?` a soft voice said on the other side of her bedcurtain.
`Yes.` Mary said, sitting up and quickly wiping her face.
A small pale hand open up the drapes and Lily clambered in, followed by Marlene.
`We heard you crying.` Lily said, sitting herself down on the pillowy duvet and crossing her legs.
Mary felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment at the fact that her dormmates had already heard her cry and it hadn`t even been a day yet since they had met.
`Are you okay?` Marlene asked, her brow furrowed and her face full of concern.
`I-` Mary started, swallowing back her tears that were starting up again.
`It`s a lot isn`t it?` Lily asked, twisting the ends of her fiery red hair.
Mary nodded slowly, hugging her knees close to her chest. She didn`t know if she wanted the other two girls to go away and leave her alone, or if she wanted them to stay with her.
`It`s just-` Mary faltered. `It`s just all so scary.` she said. She sighed, annoyed at her own lack of words.
Lily nodded vigorously. `Professor McGonagall is downright terrifying. And those stairs! I`m afraid I won`t make it out alive of our first lesson!`
Mary laughed pained, twisting the bracelet on her wrist, it had belonged to her mother and she had gifted it to her before she had boarded the train. Mary had promised herself to cherish it forever.
`Oh Merlin,` Marlene said. `Danny had told me about Professor McGonagall. But never in a thousand years had I expected her to be so severe.`
`Tell me about it.` Lily said.
Marlene sprung up and stood on the matrass, holding her back very straight as she said in a perfect impression of McGonagall, `Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few moments you will enter the Great Hall to be sorted into your houses.`
Lily burst out in a fit of giggles and Mary snorted despite of her tears.
`Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.` Marlene went on in the characteristic Scottish lilt.
By now Lily was rolling around on Mary`s bed and Mary couldn`t help it any longer and started bursting with laughter.
`Oh, oh say something else!` Lily yelped, clutching her stomach.
`Erm-` Marlene stammered, pacing up and down on the bed, her head almost grazing the top of the velvet bedcurtains. `You will be quiet and wait patiently. I expect you all to be capable of that!` she said, biting off every syllable.
Mary was heaving with laughter, tears rolling down her cheeks as she kept bumping into Lily.
`Detention!` Marlene spat, face still surprisingly serious. `For both of you! You naughty girls!` she pointed a stern finger at the two squirming girls.
When Mary was finally able to catch her breath again she felt better than she had before. Maybe it wasn`t so bad after all, maybe she could try it, just for another day.
///