chapter two
Somewhen close to their arrival at Hogsmeade station, Malfoy and his two goons came barging into the compartment, they were demanding to have some of their sweets, well the two big and ugly ones were, Malfoy was more focused on talking to Harry, “So what they say is true, Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts, This is Crabbe and Goyle, I’m Malfoy, Draco Malfoy”
Ron and Harry just gave weak nods in Malfoy’s direction, Harry said, “Nice to meet you Draco. Wanna sit with us?”
“I won’t sit with a blood traitor like Weasley”, Malfoy spat out the name Weasley as if it was something vile and disgusting.
“Well, then you won’t get to sit with me either I guess”
“How dare you”, Malfoy hissed, before turning and leaving with his two goons in tow.
Harry gave Ron a questioning look. Ron just shrugged and went back to reading in his Standard book of spells grade one.
“Oh- this one looks cool”, Ron said, reading about a color changing charm, “Wanna see it?” he asked Harry.
“Yeah, show me”
Ron pointed his wand at one of the packs of bertie botts beans, and spoke, loud and clear, “Colovaria”
Immediately, the box turned into a deep blue color, another casting saw it change to red and then another to green. Casting spells was as easy as breathing to him, truly Dumbledore potential was no joke. He got the spell first try and it worked flawlessly each and every time.
Harry tried to cast the same spell on a nearby curtain but it didn’t work, he tried again and again, consulting the book on proper wand movement and pronunciation. After a dozen or so attempts, he got his first bit of success, the curtains changed slightly, into a different shade of brown. It took him another two or three dozen attempts before he managed to turn the entire curtain from brown to red and it took many more attempts before he managed to turn them back into the brown it was before, “It looked so easy when you did it”, Harry pouted.
“No need to worry, some spells just come more easily to different people, I just got lucky, that I’m so good at that spell”, not entirely true but also not entirely false. Some spells DID come easier to some people than to others but that wasn’t the reason why Ron got the spell down so easily, no, it was because he had Tom Riddle/Dumbledore-esque potential. It truly was a cheat and one he was fully ready to exploit.
Before Harry could respond, the train screeched to a halt and it was time for them to get out to meet Hagrid. Ron quickly stuffed his book back into the trunk and made his way outside the train.
Hagrid, the half-giant of a man, was standing there, waving all the first years to come to him. He was hard to miss, being twice as tall as even the biggest seventh years. We followed the half-giant to the lake, where boats were waiting for us already, “No more than four in a boat”, Hagrid told us. He himself had an entire boat to himself and he made that boat seem so tiny, compared to his body.
Slowly, the boats drifted above the black lake. You could see the tentacles of the giant squid brushing against the surface of the water.
The view was amazing, Hogwarts was so grand in its design, way bigger than it was in the movies, with winding towers and entire floors more than what was shown. It was truly a sight to behold. The moon shone brightly behind one of the many towers, illuminating the castle in cool blue light which clashed with the fiery orange of the lights burning within the castle, in torches and chimney fires.
Ron was sitting in a boat together with Harry, Neville and Hermione. Hermione was rambling on and on about the school, what she had read about it and so on and so forth. It was more than a bit distracting but he tried to tone her out. It was hard but manageable.
Soon, they arrived at the boat house, from where they climbed the stairs up to the great hall, or rather the room right before it. There, McGonagall stood, looking as stern as ever. She was way younger than in the films, with black hair neatly pulled into a strict bun and sharp, angular features. She almost reminded him of a vulture, though it also looked quite feline from the right angle. She gave them a speech about the houses and that they would soon be sorted into them. After a few moments of stunned silence, McGonagall showed them the way into the great hall, where candles floated in the sky, illuminating the big hall with flickering light.
The sorting hat was sitting on a stool, motionless, till McGonagall hoisted it into the air and it began singing
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!”
The song ended after that and the sorting began. Everything was going according to plan, Hermione and Harry made it into Gryffindor, Malfoy and his goons made it into Slytherin and, near the end of the sorting, I finally went up to the sorting hat.
“Quite the mind for a child… and another life eh? How interesting… yes… you definitely belong in…”
“RAVENCLAW”