The Beginning of the End

PETER

Peter was not satisfied with how his day was going so far. It was so typical that he was the one who forgot he had given his brand new wand to his mother for safe-keeping. Leave it to him to have no option but to run back to the platform and just hope his parents hadn’t Disapparated away yet. Who else would it be but Peter to fall into a trap of the Prewett twins and spend a good fifteen minutes trying to dive headfirst into a brick wall at the wrong platform? And now, it was just so typical that he was the one sitting in a boat, his socks wet. Because his side of the boat seemed to be slowly leaking even though no one else seemed to notice. None of this would ever happen to James Potter, the epitome of good luck and charm. No, James was sitting perfectly comfortable on the other side with the Black boy. They were already laughing at some private joke Peter knew he would never be a part of. When did they become so close anyway? 

Peter had returned to the compartment alongside James who was kind enough to go fetch him. Then he had noticed they were no longer alone. Two new boys were already sitting there waiting to report back about fellow students the boys had befriended. Although, Peter thought, judging by their stories it sounded like Sirius had made more enemies than friends. Especially, the encounter with someone described as “a little, scrawny bat with a greasy wig” did not sound particularly pleasant.

However, the train ride was somewhat tolerable. Of course, Peter had not expected to have to share his best friend but making some new ones couldn’t hurt. Besides, this gave him a better chance to be sorted into the same house as someone he already knew. Peter did not want to end up all alone and friendless. While sharing chocolate frogs, cauldron cakes and what-not the boys had discussed what houses they expected to be sorted in. James of course declared he was a Gryffindor as if it was already decided the moment he was born. Peter was relieved to find out the rest of the boys were unsure, like him. Sirius wanted to avoid the topic altogether. It was a known fact that all Blacks ended up in Slytherin. He did not seem so happy about it. The other boy, Remus, seemed like he had not given this that much of a thought.. Peter himself had been panicking about the whole Sorting even before he received the Hogwarts letter. Both of his parents were proud Hufflepuffs. Peter didn’t think of himself as a very patient or hardworking person. On the other hand, he didn’t think he was brave, smart or cunning either. Could the professors send him back home if he wasn’t accepted to any house? He didn’t want to go back home all alone. Peter wondered if the headmaster would let him stay as his errand boy if he asked nicely.

These devastating thoughts almost caused him to miss his first glimpse of Hogwarts. Remus, who was sitting next to him, had to nudge him to snap him out of his thoughts. Peter was glad he did. The view was breath-taking. The majestic castle stood grand above them. The castle lights painted a yellow hue on the black lake. Everything felt eerie and a humming excitement filled the first-years.

“Firs'-years, this way! C’mon, now. Follow me. Don' yeh push each other!”, the Hogwarts groundskeeper shouted in a voice that made the 11-year-olds shake. Peter had almost cracked his neck to even see the man properly.  

They had arrived at the school grounds. Peter was grateful to have land under his feet again. They followed the groundskeeper, introduced as Rubeus Hagrid, to the entrance of the castle. It was dark and impossible to see properly. Peter made sure to not lose sight of the back of James’ head. At the enormous front doors was a figure waiting for the first-years. 

“Evenin', professor!”, Hagrid greeted the figure who turned out to be a tall and rather severe-looking woman in an emerald green robe. Her hair was up in a tight bun and she had a tense smile.

“Good evening, Hagrid. Thank you very much. I will take it from here.”, the woman gave the groundskeeper a nod.

Hagrid offered the professor a big smile and waved goodbye to the children before heading in. Suddenly the mood changed. The wave of alertness passed the crowd of first-years. Even those who were yawning a second ago were now standing more straight. The professor observed them carefully. Peter had this sudden need to confess all his wrong-doings to her. It was nerve-racking.

“Welcome to Hogwarts. I am professor McGonagall. You will know me as the Deputy Headmistress but also your Transfiguration teacher. The next step in your school life is a very important one, the Sorting. There are four houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Your house will play the role of your family during your studies. Your achievements will bring your house points, and your house will be punished for your rule-breaking. End of the year, the House Cup goes to the house with the most points. Do not disappoint your house”. Professor McGonagall ended her speech with a stern look.

The silence fell amongst them like a rock. Nobody dared to breathe too loud, let alone talk. As if a cat had gotten their tongues.

“Now, follow me. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in the Great Hall.”

Everyone seemed to have gained back their ability to talk. A quiet whispering followed them as they entered the Great Hall. The ceiling, or the lack of one, was the first thing that caught Peter’s eye. His jaw dropped a little as he stared up at the starry night sky. The hall was lit by thousands of floating candles. There were four long tables which were occupied by older students now watching the first-years with interest. In the end, there was a smaller table facing them filled with presumably teachers and staff. Peter had to concentrate all his energy on walking to not turn around and run away. 

He glanced at the boys next to him. Sirius was looking straight forward and avoided eye contact with everyone. James had a confident look and walked with determined steps.  Sure, if you are James Potter you have nothing to fear. Peter couldn’t help but remember what his mother had once said. Anyone would be proud to have a son like him. It hurt but it was true. It was hard not to admire James and his natural charm. Be as it may, it was not an easy job to grow up in the shadow of his best friend’s flame. Remus, on the other hand, kept his head down with a bit nauseous look on his face. This resonated more with what Peter was feeling himself.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, they reached the front of the hall. There was a stool placed there with a pointed wizard’s hat on top. Only now, Peter realised he had spent all his time worrying about the Sorting results but forgot to worry about how the Sorting happened. McGonagall seemed to sense the panic, since she began to explain the procedure. Put the hat on and let it decide. Simple enough.  Peter had a thought that this might be a very important turning point in his life. Even if he was not the lovable dream son or an heir to a wealthy family, at that moment Peter Pettigrew was set on playing an important role in life, thank you very much.

~*~

NADIA

“Rosier, Nadia”

Nadia held her head up as she walked to the stool and sat down facing the rest of the hall. She looked down at her fellow first-years and was pleased to notice many of them looked more nervous than Nadia herself was. This calmed her. She even managed to smile a bit to the Prewett twins who were winking at her before professor McGonagall placed the Sorting hat on her head. 

She wasn’t worried at all. The truth was, out of the four options, one was more than likely. If that was her faith, why to fight it, Nadia thought. And if one of the less probable options presented itself? It was a wild card but one with a complimentary ticket out of a fore-chosen destiny. Call it blind stubbornness but Nadia was determined she could handle whatever was thrown at her, just like she had handled so far.

“Well, that is a rather nonchalant way of thinking”, a lazy voice said inside Nadia’s head. She almost jumped. The girl didn’t really care for strange voices in her head. 

“Now that’s a bit rude, I am a perfectly pleasant guest”, the voice, the hat Nadia realised, scolded. “Let me see, let me see. Ooh, interesting. You really don’t seem to give two hoots about this. Well, if that’s the way you have chosen to play…”

“SLYTHERIN”

She opened her eyes. The table on the left wall was cheering. Nadia tried her best not to look at the twins at the right side table. Gideon was holding his heart dramatically, while Fabian leaned his head on his brother’s shoulder, pretending to cry. Slowly, she walked to the table with green and silver decorations. She sat down as the prefect girl with long platinum hair gave her an approving smile. 

The Sorting was almost finished. The next person to join the Slytherin table was a lean boy with long black hair. He seemed annoyed at everyone before he was even introduced as Severus Snape. Behind the boy’s shoulder, Nadia could see a red-head at the Gryffindor table staring desperately at Snape’s back. The girl met Nadia’s eye and immediately turned away. This was not the only interesting incident at the red and golden table. Curiosity won over her self-control and Nadia couldn’t help but look at the certain Black heir. Sirius Black was a Gryffindor. Nadia smiled as she watched the boy’s distraught expression. She had to admit, Sirius masked it well into a smug grin as if this was his plan all along. But his eyes told a different story. 

Next to him was the boy from the train. The duo had added two new members to their ranks, apparently. A round-faced boy who looked like sitting at the Gryffindor table was his personal high score in life. Opposite Sirius sat a boy who mirrored Black’s smug look. The boy seemed to like attention as he made a point to proudly shake hands with every single Gryffindor house member. Maybe Black had finally met his match in self-love. 

“Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts”, the headmaster smiled to mark the end of the Sorting ceremony. Using the word old to describe him would be disrespectful to the word itself. The man looked like he not only knew about the beginning of the time but was there to witness it himself. He had a long beard and a burgundy velvet cloak but the most distinct thing about him was his half-moon glasses. “There is no need to hex me yet”, he gave a look to the Gryffindor twins, “I will not keep you from the feast. Enjoy!”

The empty dishes were no longer empty. There was every sort of food one could imagine and then some. Everyone around Nadia started helping themselves. Her own eyes were fixed on the treacle tart in front of her. Pudding first? There was no one to say no. Nadia placed a slice of the tart on her plate. She worked up enough courage to take the first bite. The second one was a bit easier. By the third one, she could focus on her surroundings better. 

Severus Snape was providing a detailed report on all the Slytherins on his mother’s side of the family. 

“What about your father”, a girl named Prudentia Parkinson asked. Snape offered her a disgusted look before changing the subject.  However, family seemed to be the recurring topic. It was either talk about whose father was heir to which family or whose mother worked what position at the Ministry. Blythe Zabini was the star of the evening. When the table found out his father was the head of the Department of Mysteries, even the older students came to introduce themselves to him. 

Nadia was not sure if she was more amused or disdained by all this. Her gut told her to keep her mouth shut. That tended to be the first rule of survival. Something told Nadia only the fittest would make it at this table.

~*~

PETER

Maybe this day was not so bad after all. He had made it in Gryffindor. Him, Gryffindor! With James and the rest of the boys! He still couldn’t believe it as they were headed up to their common room. They were following the Gryffindor prefects, Frank Longbottom and Alice Fortesque. The mention of the latter’s last name made sleepy Peter blurt out: “Fortesque, like the ice cream shop?”. This made everyone around him chuckle, Alice too. However, Peter did not get an answer to what had been a serious question.

After what felt like a hundred staircases the prefects stopped them in front of a painting of a lady in a pink silk dress. “Password?”, the woman yawned. 

“Animagus”, Frank said out loud. 

The painting swung open and revealed a hole in the wall. They went through it one by one. Peter found himself in a round, heavily red room filled with sofas, cushions and mahogany desks. The giant fireplace was lit. All of a sudden, Peter realised how tired he was. Frank led the boys up a spiral staircase to their dormitory. The four first-year Gryffindor boys were left alone there. It was this moment when the idea popped up in their heads quite simultaneously; for the first time in their lives, they were under no supervision or strict bedtime. 

Sirius gave them all a look with a brow raised. This was followed by a moment of total chaos of four boys running around, jumping on beds and fighting with pillows. In the end, Peter fell backwards on one of the beds and decided he might as well stay there. The rest of the boys were out of energy too. Laying on their beds they fell into a content silence.

“Why were you at the wrong platform by the way?” James asked out of nowhere.

It took Peter a second to realise he was the one being addressed. “Oh, it was stupid”, he was glad it was dark so no one could see him blushing.

“What platform?” Sirius asked, yawning.

“7 ⅝ “, Peter admitted awkwardly.

“What?” Remus chimed in, raising his head from the pillows to see Peter better. Peter couldn’t help but smile.

“Ah, it was the Prewetts”, he started.

“You met the Prewett twins?” James cut him off. “I heard they’ve got more detentions than anyone before at Hogwarts”

“Not for long if I can help it”, Sirius whispered half-asleep from the other side of the room.

“Anyway, I heard them telling someone the platform had changed so I decided to play it safe”, Peter continued turning to his side.

There was a moment of silence. “So, you just decided to abandon the rest of us at 9 ¾? Even me?” James said after a while.

“Huh, no. It sounds bad when you say it like that.”

“Bloody hell, Pettigrew. We better watch out or you might sell us all out”, Sirius laughed.

“Bugger off”, Peter said and used the last of his energy to throw a pillow in Sirius’ direction. The boy threw it back with force. Before they knew it the pillow fight was back on. 

“You know what, Peter? Don’t worry, we will get them back. When we’re done, they will know us as the best pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen”, James said in a voice that could convince anyone.

All four nodded to themselves in the dark. It was one of those moments you already know you are going to miss while they are happening.