Chapter 2
I let out a sigh as I finished explaining my story to the boy sitting beside me. “Huh, he says. “that's an issue.”
“Duh, Sherlock”
“What’s-” he pauses, “Sherlock?”
“Ugh,” I say. “Your turn, tell me about this curse”
He laughs, “Are you sure you want to get into that? Because I can always get you more medication or something to keep up the conversation.”
“Unless you can get something so I can see straight, I don’t care”
“Yes ma’am,” He responds playfully.
I stare at his retreating figure. He seems so happy and playful but I can tell there’s something deeper than that. A sadness to him.
I’m so lost in thought I am startled when he returns. Unempathetic to how dazed I am, he plops down right on my legs.
“The nurse-lady gave me a cup of medicine,” he says. Still clutching my head, due to my pounding headache, I murmured thanks as he pressed the cold glass cup to my lips. A few drops spilled down my chin, and with his thumb, he reached down to catch them.
Startled by the sudden touch, I snatched his hand away from my neck, the touch lingering. My vision returned, I looked up to see a gorgeous young man about my age or a year older leaning into me. He had warm olive skin, dark brown hair, and deep burgundy eyes, like the rich wood in the core of a tree. He wore the school uniform, just without the tie or robe.
I felt all the blood rush to my cheeks, dropping his hand. “I can do it” I mutter, wiping the drops from the base of my neck and pulling up the top of my sweater. He rubs the back of his neck, “Do you need anything else?”
“I don’t think so” I murmur, unable to meet his eyes, “Why? Are you eager to go?” I attempted to sound playful, but a note of desperation leaked into my voice. “Do you want me to leave?” he asks. Embarrassed, I cover my face with my sleeves and shake my head.
“He-hey.” He grabbed my wrist when I didn’t look at him. I finally looked up and his rich eyes softened. “You want me to stay, I’m staying-”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence because, at that moment, Dumbledore strode into the hospital wing. Immediately, the boy’s face fills with disdain, as if he were disgusted by Dumblebore’s existence. “Good evening,” he says in his crisp accent. “I assume you feel better now?”
I nod.
“And I’ve taken that my friend here-” he patted the boy’s shoulder, he winced. “-has been keeping you company?” I nod again.
“Well then,” he says, “Let’s sort you into your house.”
“But where’s the hat?” I ask. He looked confused for a moment then laughed. The boy sitting at the end of the bed looked miserable. “So he hasn’t told you?” Dumbledore asks. Without wasting a second he whipped an object out of his deep pocket, a wand. He points it to the boy’s forehead. We made eye contact for a moment, deep red eyes pleading. Dumbledore spoke a command word “petasum!”
Right before my eyes, almost unbelieving, half horrified, I watched as the boy shrank and twisted into the simple hat that Dumbledore had held earlier.
I sat there, shocked, staring at the worn hat that was once the boy who had sat by my bedside. “What-” I stuttered. Dumbledore smiled kindly, “Yes, yes dear, I know. Even though I’m sure you’ve been exposed to magic before, surely this is shocking.”
“Wha- what happened to him?” I asked. Dumbledore shrugged, “I’m not sure of the exact details, but he goes along with this arrangement willingly, he enjoys helping sort the new students and helping me.”
Liar.
Anyone could tell how miserable the boy was. This man didn’t care. But. Dumbledore was in charge of this school. I couldn’t let him know what I thought about him. “Of course”, I say, praying that the boy couldn’t hear me, which was stupid. Why should I care what a person I just met thinks about me?
Jarring me out of my thoughts, Dumbledore strode towards me and placed the hat on my head. “You will be sorted into one of four houses,” He says, “Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw.” My anxiety spikes, I wasn’t supposed to be here, what if I wasn’t put into any of the houses? What if I was expelled, I hadn’t even started yet. Maybe that’s a good thing.
Shhhhh, says a voice inside my head. My thoughts fell to a screeching halt.
W-what?
It’s me. The voice said again, you know, the chap that got turned into the hat on your head?
Oh. I recognized his voice. Yeah… what the hell?
I know, he responds, I’ll explain if- next time I see you.
When, I ask, hoping I didn’t sound too desperate.
I’m not sure, now let me do my job.
Okay- wait, do you have a name?
Silence. I’m sure I did, but it hasn’t been used in such a long time that I’ve forgotten.
Oh.
Startling me, the hat said out loud, in a strangely raspy voice, “Ravenclaw!”
I blink and stare at Dumblebore- I mean Dumbledore, “What does that mean?” He lifted the hat off my head and stated, “Ravenclaw is the house of knowledge, they value intelligence.”
“Where’s the dorm?”
He frowns, “Since you’re transferring in the middle of the year, you’ll have your own room, it's a new addition though, so it’ll be distanced from the others of your house.”
This automatically relieves me, I didn’t want to share a dorm with a bunch of other people.
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Dumbledore led me to my room, it's on the side of one of the towers, up a huge winding staircase. Handing me a silver key, he says, “If you ever need anything don’t hesitate to ask me.”
He says it like he’s willing to help, but I can’t see him in the same light ever since he lied about the hat boy being happy. Instead of showing these concerns though, I just smile, “Of course,” I say. He leaves me to settle into my room. A small twin bed, stone walls, a desk, a tiny bathroom, and one window. Like a prison cell, only a bit nicer.
~to be continued~