Musty Dusty Screaming Hat
The door swung open and there stood McGonagall wearing emerald green robes, her hair up in its signature tight bun, and she clutched a scroll in one hand, and her wand in the other.
"The firs'-years Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said, gesturing around him with a respectful nod to the professor.
"Thank you, I will take them from here.''
She led them through the doors. The Entrance Hall was pretty wide and the walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceilings too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase led to the upper floors.
They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Iris could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right which made her incredibly nervous. They were crowded into a small side chamber, peering around in apprehension. Iris squeezed Harry's hand again when she saw him looking just as uncomfortable in the small space.
She got claustrophobia from being locked in a cupboard all the time by one of her foster mothers. She wondered why Harry didn't like small spaces.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said the Professor. ''The start of term banquet will start shortly, but before you take your seats in the great hall you will be sorted into your houses.''
Iris zoned out then, already knowing about them and the ceremony.
She was broken out of her thoughts by a scream and several gasps. Iris looked up to see about twenty ghosts streaming through the back wall. They were pearly white and slightly transparent, gliding across the room and talking to each other.
Iris jumped when one floated through her, but other than that, she wasn't as freaked out as her peers.
Because she had the rare ability to summon the ghosts of the dead, she was forced to spend a lot of time around them. She couldn't summon just any ghost though, they had to be spirits from the losing side of a battle as they owed Ares a debt.
Iris remembered the first time she did it, she had been playing capture the flag and had wished for help in guarding the flag. Lo and behold, nazi soldiers were offering their assistance. Iris had wanted them gone, but had no idea how to do that till Ares showed up and helped her. He was just as confused as everyone else and thought it was a fluke. How wrong he had been.
''Move along now,'' A sharp voice called. ''The sorting ceremony is about to start.''
Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one the ghost floated away.
''Now from a line,'' the teacher said. ''And follow me.''
Harry pulled Iris into the line behind a boy with sandy hair, Ron behind them, and Hermione behind him. They walked out of the chamber and into the great hall through a pair of double doors. The hall was lit by thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. At the top of the hall was another table in a U-shape where the teachers sat.
McGonagall led the first years up here so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.
Iris was holding Harry's hand and was trying to focus on that as she could feel herself dissociating a little. It didn't happen often, but she was getting a little overwhelmed with all the sounds and the lights and all the magic. When she heard Hermione whisper "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History," she looked up at the ceiling to see it.
She was rather interested in that idea. If it was supposed to look like the night sky, would that mean if there was a shooting star, would the people in the hall see it? What about if a dragon flew past? And if it rained? Would it rain in the hall? Or would you just see the clouds? It was an interesting concept and she would have to ask one of the teachers about it. Saying that, she would probably forget about it. Perks of ADHD. What about the candles? Did they ever drip onto the students? There was probably a spell for that though. But if there was a spell to keep candles from dripping then surely there was a spell to create light that would illuminate the hall without having to be as tacky as the candles.
She was startled out of her thoughts by the loud bout of applause coming from the hall. She jumped and squeaked earning the attention of most of the first years. Harry chuckled at her reaction but stopped when he noticed that she was genuinely embarrassed. He grabbed hold of her hand again which she had let go of.
"The hat sang a song, that's why everyone was clapping. I think it's going to sort us," Harry whispered.
''I'll kill Fred,'' Ron whispered. ''He was going on about wrestling a troll.''
Iris mumbled something from where she was stood, head bowed, avoiding the eyes she could feel staring at her, judging her. It didn't register to Iris that the eyes were probably non-existent. She was just too embarrassed to think logically.
She did hear Hermione scoff and turned to look at her. The girl was looking at Iris with a raised eyebrow. The redhead decided she didn't like her and stuck her tongue out. She heard a few people chuckle at Hermione's huff as Iris went back to hiding, extra embarrassed at the bushy-haired girl's reaction. The Stark girl was also angry that she felt embarrassed. She was muttering angry words that made Ron snort.
They probably all thought she was a freak.
Iris wanted to lift her head so she didn't look weird. But she also didn't want to see everyone staring so she stayed where she was. Instead, she stopped her sputtering and tried to calm down.
She had zoned out and was studying the fabric of Harry's robes when he started nudging her. Broken out of her stupor she looked up. The whole hall and Professor McGonagall were staring at her, the teacher holding a hat up. Iris looked on blankly having no idea what was going on. Harry nudged her again.
''It's your turn. Go up and sit down on the stool,'' he whispered.
Her turn for what?
Harry pushed her forward when she still hadn't moved, and she tumbled towards the stool before she sat down. There was a lot of whispering all around the Hall and everyone was looking.
''The Iris Potter?''
''Potter?''
She didn't get to see much before the hat was plonked on her head. She didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what happened next.
The hat screamed.
Very loudly.
Iris jumped about a foot in the air and knocked the stool back, dropping the hat as well. Professor McGonagall looked shocked, as did the rest of the Hall. Her heart was beating a mile a minute when she turned to look back at the teacher, who had picked up the hat and the stool. The hat was talking.
''Sorry, sorry that was my fault. Put me back, let me try again. That was my fault. Sorry.''
Iris was interested to see how it was talking as it, he? was facing McGonagall. She nodded and gestured at Iris to take a seat again. The young girl was hesitant to do so, but she saw Harry behind them smiling reassuringly at her, and she stepped forward again. Her dad would make a joke out of this whole thing. She missed him.
When the hat was placed on her head again, she heard a small voice in her ear.
''Sorry about that, haven't seen one of your kind in a very long time. Your difficult.''
Iris was still confused about what was going on.
Why did she need to wear the hat?
After listening to its mumblings about the different houses she concluded that it was sorting her.
She just hoped it would place her in Gryffindor.
''Yes, yes I am well aware that you need to be in the house of lions, Ares was very insistent on that point. And don't you worry, I will be putting you there, but I would like to see where else you could have gone, had the situations not been different,'' the hat said.
Iris nodded, concluding that was fair. She was just glad that in the end, she would be in Gryffindor.
''Well it's glaringly obvious that you have the courage to be in the house of the brave, but you also have the Witt to be in Ravenclaw. Maybe not the patience though. Not Hufflepuff, you're too much of a warrior to go there, little care for others, and you don't trust much either. Yes, not Hufflepuff. You are certainly cunning enough for Slytherin, but I think you would get bored of their pureblooded ways. And you would certainly stand out there, but not in a good way. Your lack of attention would get on many Slytherin's nerves.
Very well. GRYFFINDOR!'' The hat shouted at the end so all the hall could hear.
Iris got up off the stool when the hat was removed from her head and ran towards the cheering table. Percy Weasly got up and shook her hand and the Weasly twins were chanting, ''We got a Potter! We got a Potter!''
Iris laughed and sat down, looking back to watch Harry get sorted. It took some time before he too was sorted into the house of the lion and he received the same welcome.
There were three more people to be sorted, but Iris wasn't paying attention. She was looking at the high table at one of the teachers who was looking at her like he had seen a ghost.
Iris remembered him.
She didn't know his name but she did recognise his face, it was the man that came to the house the night Lily and James were murdered.
He had clearly cared for Lily as he had been crying when he saw her body. Then he was gone.
Iris had never expected to see him again, and certainly not at Hogwarts. It must have been a shock for him to see Iris when she looked like a copy of Lily.
She turned back to the table when Ron joined them and his brothers clapped for him. Albus Dumbledore got to his feet and opened his arms wide, beaming at the students.
''Welcome!' he said. 'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before I begin our banquet I would like to say a few words. And here they are. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
Thank you!''
He sat back down and everybody clapped and cheered. Iris just wanted food. Then the dishes in front of them were filled with it. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, and lamb chops, sausages and all sorts of other things.
Iris took Harry's plate and started dishing things up for him. She didn't like how small he was. He blushed before he started talking to the ghost, nearly headless Nick. Iris wasn't paying attention to their words, more focused on filling her own plate after she put Harry's down in front of him. She only looked up to look over at The Bloody Baron like everyone else. He was Slytherin's ghost.
When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the leftover food faded away and the puddings appeared. Iris beamed in glee having a horrible sweet tooth. Soon talk turned to everyone's families.
''I'm half and half,'' said a boy called Seamus. ''Me dads a Muggle. Mam didn't tell him she was a witch till after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him.''
The others laughed.
''What about you Neville?'' asked Ron.
''Well my gran brought me up and she's a witch,'' said Neville, ''but the family thought I was a squib for ages. My great-uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off guard and force some magic out of me. When I was eight he came round and hung me out of the upstairs window by my ankles when my great-aunt Enid scared him. He dropped me but I bounced all the way down. Everyone was so happy, even more so when I got my letter from here, they thought I wasn't magical enough to come you see.'
Iris chose then to join the conversation.
''I was adopted by a man named Tony Stark. He's a muggle who lives in America. It was a right shock for him to find out I was a witch but he was very interested in all this magic stuff. Bought a few books for himself in Diagon Ally and all. That's why I didn't start till now. They couldn't find me because I wasn't even in the country. I'm supposed to be in my second year.''
Iris continued talking for a bit before a sharp, hot pain shot threw her scar and she clamped a hand on her neck.
''Ouch!'' she and Harry said at the same time.
''What is it?'' Asked Percy.
''N-nothing,'' Iris answered. Harry gave her a side eye and she gave him a meaningful look that said shut up!
Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to Percy.
''Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?'' he asked.
''Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you?'' Iris didn't and turned to look at the teacher Harry motioned to. He was speaking to the Professor that Iris had recognised.
''That's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but everyone knows that he's after Quirrell's job.''
Snape, so that was his name.
At last, the puddings disappeared as well and Dumbledore stood up from his seat.
''Ahem - just a few start of term notices now that we are watered and fed. First years should know that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds for all students. Some of our older pupils had better remember that as well.'' He said, looking towards the Weasley twins.
''I have also been asked by Mr Filch, our head caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used in the hallways between lessons. It makes the cleaning crew's job much more difficult. Quidditch tryouts will be held during the second week of term.''
''And finally, I must tell you all that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to anyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.''
Harry laughed but he was one of the only few. Iris just had one thought.
What the fuck?!
''He's not serious?'' Harry muttered.
''Must be,'' said Percy frowning at Dumbledore.
''And now before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!'' cried Dumbledore.
Iris noticed that the other teacher's smile had become rather fixed and guessed this wasn't a fun activity. Instead of joining in on the singing she put her hands on her ears and waited for it to be done. She was already overwhelmed by everything that had happened so far, and she didn't need to risk a sensory overload as well. The Weasley twins were some of the last to finish and Dumbledore was one of the loudest to clap.
''Ah, music,'' He said, wiping his eyes. ''A magic beyond all we do here, and now bedtime. Off you trot!''
Iris grabbed hold of Harry as they followed Percy and the other Gryffindor prefect.
Iris didn't pay much attention to their surroundings but Harry oohed and awed at all the moving portraits and paintings. Percy led them up marble staircases and through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries.
They came across Peeves the Poltergeist at one point, who was making sticks float. Peeves ended up dropping the sticks on Nevill's head before he flew off.
''Here we are.''
At the very end of the corridor was a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
''Password?'' she said.
''Caput Draconis,'' said Percy.
Dragons head, a bit of a random password, Iris thought to herself.
The portrait swung forward to reveal a large hole that they all climbed through to reach the common room, a cosy place decked in red and squashy armchairs.
The female prefect led all the girls up a staircase towards the girl's dormitories. They were obviously in one of the towers. Iris was sharing a room with Hermione and two other girls, Lavender and Parvati. She was bummed that she had to share a room, especially since two of her roommates were clearly very chatty. She walked over to her four-poster bed with deep red velvet curtains which already had her trunk on it and sat down.
Today had been a long day for Iris and she was exhausted. She had a very hectic morning, topped off by a panic attack, and then the fight on the train. She made new friends, and some enemies, dealt with the hat fiasco, got sorted into her house and saw lots of magic. All the sights and sounds alone would be enough to tire her out, add in the experiences, and she was knackered. She might actually get some sleep for once.
The girls all got ready for bed and were fast asleep rather quickly.