Chapter 2
Chapter 2:
~” Siri slow down!” giggled a little girl; her chestnut brown hair tied up in two little pigtails. Her dress that her mother put on her was a royal blue with white ruffles at the ends of the hems. Her black heeled shoes clicked with every step she took.
“Yeah Siri, wait for us!” chanted another small girl; her inky black hair done up in a simple bun, any hair tucked away with perfection. Her dress was a simple one, nothing too much for the evening. The dress was a light green with black ruffles at the end; a snake stitched onto the back. Her shoes were long forgotten by the tree in the yard they played in.
“Well maybe you guys should run faster!” taunted a little bit older girl; hair similar to the girl with the green dress. They were sisters and you could tell from first glance that they were related. She was wearing trousers instead of the simple dark green dress that still laid on her bed. Her mother wasn’t pleased, but when the Lipovsky family came by it was too late to argue. The girl's shoes were also forgotten by the tree right next to her little sister.
The game was a simple ‘You’re it’, something that Anna, the girl with chestnut hair, learned about from her mother. The older one was to run around the yard while being chased by two younger girls; slowing down when they were near just to let them win.
Anna, seeing her chance, rushed up to Siri and tackled her to the ground; giggles erupting from both girls. Reggie smiles while still standing up, watching her sister and best friend roll around on the dirty grass. Mother wasn’t going to be happy about Siri having grass stains. But no one could be upset when Anna was laughing so pretty. ~
Down a long dirt path, covered by trees that block out the morning sun, a carriage was being pulled by two black Thestrals; wings tucked into their sides. From inside the carriage lay a family; a father whose gray hair made him look older than what he really was. His suit, a simple attire, a pressed white buttoned up shirt, smoothed stain free gray jacket laid on top of his shoulders, and trousers being a clean-cut black. His shoes were shined that morning with oil made from scratch. A cane laid by his stand; the family crest ornated the top.
A lady of young looks sat next to the man, her husband of 16 years; a flowing light emerald, green dress dropping to her ankles. A simple row of pearls spread across her neck, earrings being pearls as well. Her hands were littered with many different rings, none clashing with the others. Her dark brown hair was braided in a traditional Russian style; many small and big braids intertwine with each other. Lilac flowers and tiny pearls littered her hair, some even making a design.
Across from the husband and wife was a girl, their child, who was closing her eyes and humming a familiar tune, childhood giggles ringing in her mind. The girl was wearing a school uniform; a white blouse that ruffle at the end of the sleeves, a simple back skirt that went to the knees, a pair of clean white thigh highs and a simple pair of black school shoes. A flowing robed laid over top the uniform altogether, hiding away the marks of ink that girl owned. Her jewelry choices were limited, seeing as she was going to school in a few minutes. The only jewelry she dared wear is a tiny chain that hung around her waist; her face only holding two piercings that she has recently gotten. Her hair wasn’t put up like her mothers’; she liked her hair to be simple to maintain.
The carriage was snug, seeing as it was meant for only students to ride in; a trunk laid underneath the girls' seat, filled with necessities like parchment paper, bottles of simple ink, many different quilts, and books with Russian translated inside. Her wand was tucked away in the waist of her skirt, the thin chain keeping it place. A hat that when looked at would remind anyone of Muggles description of witches; the girl hoped that, if possible, she could just lie her way out of wearing at all.
"You are to behave yourself, Anna. Dumbledore is putting himself at risk for letting you come to Hogwarts. Remember our family is known to be Death Eaters, everyone will know who you are once your name is called.” The first sentence to be spoken since the departure this morning, the father being the one to say it. He knew the risk that was being taken, he knew that if his family found out a Lipovsky girl was going to school there would be hell to pay.
“Yes, papa I know.” The girl could see the fear in her parents' eyes; muddy brown looking back on icy blue.
With a sudden halt, the carriage stopped moving. Standing outside the window stood a castle with its many towers and giant walls surrounding it; a school in its glory. There was a lake next to it black as night, the water could be seen moving in weird ways. The forest that the carriage came out of was shielding the castle the outside world, almost like protecting it from danger.
Standing just outside the metal gates that locked everyone in, stood a large man who stood at least 7 feet tall. His beard was unruly with something lodged inside, and his coat which looked to be made out of fur barely covered his shoulder. His hair was a little long in the back, but his smile was the biggest feature; if smiles could cure diseases his could. Standing by the giant man was a lady with wire-framed glass, her robes consisting of greens and red. She had on the pointy hat that was required for everyone to wear at Hogwarts; a rolled-up parchment was being held in her hands.
The small family gently got out of the carriage, the lady and girl being the first. The girl remembering the rules put on the pointy hat before getting out; a tiny nod from the lady with the wireframes was answer enough.
"Welcome to Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry! I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House. Being that you're new to any wizardry school from what I've been told I'll explain the houses to you. 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 here at Hogwarts you will earn your House point for any good deed you do and lose points for any rule breaking. Being that you are starting in the middle term you shouldn't lose your House too many points. At the end of the year, we have a banquet for whatever House has the most points. You'll be sorted into your House when we go into Headmaster Dumbledore's office, he asked to see you before I show you around"
With a small motion of her hand, Professor McGonagall led everyone to the entrance of the school; turning around to catch what surrounded her, the girl saw the giant man unloading the carriage.
The girl kept turning her head in every direction; never having thought of attending Hogwarts, she didn’t want to miss a thing. There were a few groups of students when they entered, most of them looking at the family with curiosity. The students that the girl caught glimpse of wore ties with different colors on them, red and gold, green and white, yellow and black, blue and white.
Stopping at a stone wall that had two stone- faced lions standing by it, there was no reason for the small group to stop. Professor McGonagall with small head movement made sure that any students nearby were not actively listening in when she recited the spell that made a door pop up, the wood shiny with polish. With a turn of the golden handle, the small group walked up a staircase leading up with paintings of moving people talking to each other. The girl couldn’t help herself; but to wave back; at home the paintings were old family members, and she would see and talk to them for hours sometimes.
The landing was guarded by pillars of ivory stone, beyond the landing stood two gigantic doors that were closed from any wandering eyes. Professor McGonagall informed the family to stay on the landing so that she could tell the headmaster of our arrival. What might have been 3 minutes felt like decades for the girl. She was so excited to explore the castle and see the surrounding property that would be her home for the next 4 months.
With a loud creak, the left door opened up for the family to come through; more paintings of wizards lined the walls, a staircase leading up into the roof looked to be used for grading the many books that made up the walls. A man was standing by a pine wood desk, papers were scattered across the surface. His beard was long and wiry white, glasses rested on his slightly pointy nose; the glasses being moon crescent shaped. His attire consists of a little baby blue robe with some white pleats hanging around. His hat wasn’t pointy like it was supposed to be but draped along down his back.
The man with the moon glasses wasn’t the only one in the room when the small family entered; standing side by side were 8 students, 4 boys and 4 girls. All of them were wearing the school issued uniform and all with different color ties.
“Hello Lipovsky family, I see that you have arrived safely. I’m Headmaster Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” introduced the man with moon glasses with a smile on his face. His cheeks were pronounced when he smiled or when he spoke.
“Hello Mr. Dumbledore, I’m Dmitry Lipovsky VI and this is my wife Irina Lipovsky and my child Ana Lipovsky. Thank you for letting our Anna come to Hogwarts under such short notice.” Dmitry made sure his speech was clean and clear to understand and made sure to show great appreciation to the headmaster.
“I have a question.” a quiet voice asked. The girl with their chestnut hair had their hand raised slightly to get the attention from the headmaster.
“Yes Anna, what is your question?” it wasn’t the headmaster that spoke, but Professor McGonagall; her head tilted slightly to the right.
“Why are there other students here?” Anna knew that question wasn’t nice, but having no idea what was happening they thought it was appropriate.
"Oh yes, I forgot, my apologies. These are our Prefects from every House. 2 for each House, one girl and one boy. For the Slytherins there is Regulus Black and Dorcas Meadowes, for Gryffindor there is Lily Evans and Remus Lupin, for Ravenclaw there is Pandora Rosier and Gideon Prewett, and lastly for Hufflepuff, there is Alice Florence and Frank Longbottom."
“Regulus Black?” Anna knew of all the Blacks; seeing as they themselves spent a couple of years playing with a few. As far as Anna knew the Blacks haven’t a heir to their name.
With a small wave, a boy with curly inky black hair pinned up with an ornate hair clip, smiled at the family. His hands were decorated with silver rings, and he had on silver earrings that glittered in the sunlight.
“Hi Annie. Hi Mrs. Lipovsky and Mr. Lipovsky, it’s nice to see you again.” Polite as always was Reggie. Even when he was little, he was the polite sibling and understood that their life was controlled, and no disrespect would be tolerated.
Anna couldn’t understand what was going on; they knew the sisters called themselves boy-ish names when they were younger and away from any adults; playing princess and knights needed boys so the sister would change, but here Reggie was known as Regulus and not Rigelia.
“I don’t….” Anna didn’t get to finish her sentence; an echoing clap interrupted the thought. Everyone turned their attention to the headmaster who had an apologetic look on his face.
“I do apologize for the interruption, but we have lunch in an hour and a sorting to hold. You can catch up after the ceremony I promise.” Headmaster Dumbledore promised with a wink in his eye.
With a gesture of his hand, he moved Anna over to a stool that sat by the side of the desk. A hat with the pointed top flipped over sat on the desk; when it got there Anna didn’t know. All they did know was that the hat was ruggedly old-looking, some edges were wearing off and looked to have not been dusted in a few centuries.
Eyeing the hat, Anna watched as Dumbledore picked up the hat and dusted it for a few seconds. Turning around to face Anna, Dumbledore winked at her before moving to her side, holding the hat over her head. The last thing Anna saw was her parents standing before her; their mother's hands were held up to her chest and their father's arm was around his wife to give her comfort.
The hat on top of Anna's head, the inside only holding darkness from all angles. Suddenly a loud voice echoed in the hat startled Anna prompting them to look around for the source of the voice.
"Oooo I got a good one today, I see—one Lipovsky from the Lipovsky family, a wizardry family from many generations. Your powers are strong but also dark on the edges but light in the middle. This one is going to be hard for me to choose. I must say both Slytherin and Gryffindor!" With a tug from outside the hat, Anna squinted her eyes for a few seconds, the sunlight blinding after being inside darkness for a while. Looking around at her surroundings, Anna could only see shock faces on the other people in the room. The only one not shocked was the headmaster with a happy smile stretched across his wrinkling face.
“What’s wrong?”