The Assignment ceremony
As I took my suitcase with the levitation spell from the carriage, a somewhat short man came in my direction. I realized that the little man with the dark hair was not coming alone, but with Madame Emery. I smiled at both of them as I placed my suitcase on the floor. "I'll take it from here, Miss Swan," the little man said and took over my suitcase with a levitation spell at the right way to the entrance. "Oh," I said, watching the little man walk past me. "Miss Swan, nice to see you again," said Madame Emery as she passed the little man. "The pleasure is mine too," I finally said with a small smile. I still had my mind somewhat distracted by the fact that the fact that I had already been able to meet my new Headmaster was there. "I hope you had a pleasant ride here?" she finally asked me as we slowly made our way to the entrance. "It was a very exciting ride," and I cleared my throat a little as I didn't want to say much. "Glad to hear it and sorry I couldn't catch you straight from the station." She paused for a moment, but drove forward. "i wanted to get in touch with the Headmaster first, unfortunately they told me too late that he would be arriving just before the ceremony." She sounded slightly annoyed, but she didn't let it show. "I see," I told her, trying to process the information.
The two magic schools must have had some communication problems, it seemed. And you wondered whether the Headmaster might have caused the whole mess with his secretive nature. But then you thought about how he had put his hand out for you and you were not sure about your judgment. Still, everything has gone well so far, you thought to yourself and didn't want to dwell on it too much. "From the looks of it, I need to have a word with the Headmaster," she said between sighs. And you turned to her and couldn't really understand the situation. She recognized my lack of planning and spoke up again. "The ceremony will take place in about 30 minutes and I'm afraid it's too close for a conversation beforehand," she finally said. "Oh, ok, but why is this conversation necessary?" I asked, seeing no problem with the whole situation. "It's more of a formality that we meet in person with the Headmaster......" She paused for a moment, "Head to Mr. Snape, it's more of an etiquette we're expressing," she said as we stopped together in front of the large gate. I paused for a moment, but eventually spoke up. "I've already had the honor of meeting Headmaster Snape," I told her, watching her puzzled features. "So you've already faced Mr. Snape?" She scoffed with raised eyebrows and a slight smile at the corner of her mouth. "Yes, we shared both a compartment on the Hogwarts Express and a carriage to here, both of which were purely coincidental." I told her, shrugging my shoulders slightly. "Oh," she scoffed briefly. "Then perhaps another conversation won't be necessary, but I will have to introduce myself to him again on behalf of the French Ministry of Magic." She held a hand forward to tell me non-verbally that we should move on.
As we moved further into the castle, I realized the true beauty of the building's interior architecture. It had an old majesty about it. It reminded me slightly of an ancient cathedral. As I continued to look around, Madame Emery led you up a grand stone carved staircase. Where a lady already intercepts you. Madame Emery gave a short bow to you and bowed very elegantly to the lady, who was wearing a striking witch's cap. "Madame McGonagall, thank you for your courtesy," Emery finally said and elegantly made her way back up. Madame McGonagall's eyes widened slightly and she smirked a little. "No need to be so formal," she said briefly, bobbing up and down. "You're the student who has yet to be sorted into a house in 6th year then," she eyed me briefly and motioned for me to walk past her. "Yes, my name is Miss Viviane Swan," and I nodded my head briefly at her. She looked briefly at Mrs. Emery again and gave her a non-verbal signal before turning back to me. "You may call me Professor McGonagall, but I would be the first to welcome you if you would accompany me to the Great Hall, Miss Swan," she said, her voice seeming slightly shaky. I did as I was told and eagerly followed the ladies.
The great hall was probably the main meeting place for all the students and teachers, which I could clearly see. There were a total of five tables in the great hall, which probably indicated each house, and the fifth was the teachers' table. I was blown away by the enchanted ceiling, which probably also showed the current weather conditions outside. The tables were covered with cutlery and a house flag hung above each table. Professor McGonagall explained to me as we walked that there were four houses in total: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. And that I would be staying in a house during the Sorting Ceremony. And depending on where you stay, you are said to have different attributes:
Gryffindor - courage, bravery,determination
Hufflepuff - willingness, loyalty, faithfulness
Ravenclaw - high intelligence, creativity, individuality
Slytherin - cunning, ambitious, proud
And that the sorting is done by a talking magic hat. I took another deep breath as we made our way to the front towards the teacher's desk. The hall was already full before the sorting and I found myself looking over the heads of a few students. I hadn't imagined the sorting thing to be so sociable and public and I felt a slight tinge of my suppressed nervousness returning. As we stood just before the teacher's table, Professor McGonagall led me to a small chair slightly away from the teacher's table. So that I couldn't be seen in front of the teacher's desk. I sat down quietly, with Madame Emery standing proudly next to me. I was quite relieved that I wasn't alone, but I could see the first reactions of some students. Especially the older students, for whom I must have been an attraction. I tried desperately not to bite my lips as I didn't know how else to deal with a slight nervousness. So I looked around the teacher's desk, where I saw several individual faces. Including the smallish man who was looking after my suitcase earlier. I started to tug on my uniform a little when I noticed that my skirt was possibly a little shorter than the other girl students.
Although I stuck to the dress rule, my outfit was a little more eye-catching than the others. I wore a high-waisted skirt with a pleated cut and a slight slit on the side. The slit didn't expose any skin as it was covered in black lace. Over my white shirt that was buttoned up to the top, I wore a dark gray sweater, that only went up to my waist. And of course I also wore a magic coat, but it had a slightly longer slit at the back because I really often flew with my broom. And I don't like having to sit on my own coat. So I wore simple black, almost opaque tights and shoes with small heels. But on the whole, I was very happy with my outfit, as I always thought that clothes make the man. And I always felt a bit older than I actually was.
Meanwhile, it suddenly became quieter in the hall and you returned your full attention to the teacher's desk. You saw a door open behind the teacher's desk and watched as Headmaster Snape himself entered the hall. He moved more slowly than when you saw him enter the castle. He looked slightly threatening, apart from how quiet it suddenly became in the hall. There is suddenly a dead silence and you swallow slightly. All eyes were on him as he slowly made his way to the lectern. He jutted his chin a little higher, it all screamed authority, but his expression remained unreadable. His hands were briefly jerked backwards a little by him, very dramatically slowly pointing them forwards again. His fingers twitched slightly on his black clothing, which reached slightly over his wrist. Finally, he reached the lectern and looked around slightly. As he did, he saw you and you had the feeling that his eyes lingered on you a little longer. His eyes scanned you from top to bottom, but his face didn't change.
You had pressed your hands together on your skirt, which he noticed and started talking without taking his eyes off you. "Before we begin, I would like to say a few important words to you." He turned his attention back to the entire student body, his gaze only sneaking away from mine. "I have some important announcements to make about the start of the school year." The first graders take sincere note that our forest ...may not be entered by any student without a teacher, no exceptions... "again emphasizing the syllables greatly. Furthermore, Mr. Flich, our housemaster, asked me to remind you: "The corridor on the third floor is off-limits to everyone, as are all other floors that have nothing to do with lessons." He looked very first into the crowd. His hands were lightly attached to the lectern during his speech. I couldn't help but catch myself absorbing every detail of his fluid movement. I felt slightly... intimidated. I actually did, but it wasn't uncomfortable and I suddenly felt so much respect for this man. He finally finished his speech and when he turned around, his eyes lingered briefly on me. I gave him a small smile and raised my eyebrows slightly. But he took the gesture from me rather bored and hurried to his seat at the teacher's desk.
Suddenly he could be faster again. I sighed and tried to keep my thoughts still as usual. I thought to myself that I would have plenty of time to think about things later. But if I was going to be in front of everyone, I should keep my thoughts as low and empty as possible. Professor McGonagall finally stepped forward with a parchment in his hand. The small statured man placed a small chair in the center in front of the step with an old brown hat resting on it. "Now, before I call on the new first graders." "May I take pleasure in announcing that this is the first time we have had a change of school at Hogwarts." She directed an elegant hand gesture towards me and immediately took the small gesture as an invitation to burst in.
I tried to move as elegantly as possible as I walked over to Professor McGonagall. My gaze also wandered to the teacher's desk, where I tried to give everyone a friendly smile. When my gaze was finally directed at the principal, he was involved in a conversation with another professor. His conversation partner also gave me a brief smile, but he didn't interrupt the conversation. But Snape wasn't distracted by this and didn't look at me. I finally came to the small chair and waited for Professor McGonagall to pick up the hat. "Miss Viviane Swan, from the French Beauxbatons school of magic," she announced loudly. I bit my lip slightly as I slowly sat down and finally the volume of the entire student body returned. I put my hands together and waited to see what would come next. The professor finally placed the talking magic hat on my head. I flinched slightly when I realized the hat was finally moving.
"WHAT IS THAT?" it cried out. And several students and teachers laughed. You moved your head slightly back and forth, not sure if it was really your movements. "Well, I haven't had anything this delicious for several centuries," he finally said and continued. "You come from France, that's why you have so much existing knowledge, I understand" Whereby I also see something else ...." He paused for a moment and it seemed as if he was thinking for a moment. "It's difficult, I have to admit... I see a lot of passion and ambition ......yes... Then so be it." He said briefly before crying out, "SLYTHERIN." The Slytherin students cheered and whistled. You stood up as your hat was taken away and were about to rush to the Slytherin table. When you suddenly sensed an intrusion into your thoughts, you couldn't locate who it was coming from. But the force that was violently trying to enter you was so overwhelming. So that you could no longer maintain your consciousness and the next thing you saw was that it went black around you.