All Eyes On Me
Katherine feels a tug at her heartstrings as she steps onto the train at platform 9 3/4, about to embark on her journey to Hogwarts. In the company of her cousin Anne, who is already in her third year at Hogwarts. As an only child, Katherine has always longed for a sibling figure, and Anne has filled that role perfectly, from playing tag with her to hogging up the bathroom.
Katherine's journey to Hogwarts has been fraught with challenges. Despite her high, noble pureblood family background, Katherine showed zero signs of magical ability until her 10th birthday. Her parents were worried that she might not be able to attend Hogwarts at all, and end up a squib. However, now that Katherine is finally on her way to Hogwarts, she can't help but feel a sense of relief. As the train begins to move, Katherine tries her best to stay in the moment, not wanting to miss a single moment of the magical journey that lies ahead. Suddenly, something bumps into her from behind, jolting her out of her trance.
“Move! You’re taking up the entire walkway! Some people have places to be!” A rather crabby person with dark brown hair and unsorted Hogwarts robes scolds her.
Katherine spins on her heel and mutters a quick apology, feeling embarrassed and flustered. She notices that her cousin Anne has drifted further back into the train, so she runs to catch up to her, struggling to carry all her luggage with her.
Finally, they slip into a compartment, putting their bags in the racks above them. Katherine takes a deep breath and tries to calm her nerves. She usually freaks out when it comes to things like this, although this freakout is not as bad as the one she had last night.
“Sooooo, Kit-Kat, are you excited?" Anne asks, grinning from ear to ear. "You have dreamed of this since like - forever! I still remember you as a kid stealing your dad's wand and trying to do magic."
Katherine can't help but giggle, Anne’s always been good at making her feel better. "I suppose..yet I’m just nervous," she says. "It's just that...there's so much to take in, you know? And I don't want to mess everything up."
“Well don’t be, you are the most likeable person I have literally ever met," Anne assures her. "Plus, you're going to be surrounded by people your age, and the same stature. You'll fit right in."
Katherine nods and turns to look out the window, watching the scenery go by. She sees fields of grass, trees and mountains in the distance, all passing in a blur. It's like the world outside is moving so fast, while she's stuck on this train, waiting to arrive at her destination.
She forgets that Anne tends to care about all that pureblood and muggle-blood stuff. Everyone in her family has always had strong opinions about those things. Personally, Katherine thought it to be all a bit silly, but she's also not about to go fight for muggle-born rights.
As the train chugs along, Katherine talks with Annie about school. They discuss what classes they're excited about and what kind of magic they want to learn. They also talk about boys, of course, they're forced to go to all sorts of balls and whatnot so might as well make the most of them.
-
As the sky begins to dim, they finally arrive at their destination. Katherine is forced to separate from Anne as the first years are separated from the rest of the students. She boards a small boat with Margaret and Eleanor Paston, a set of twins whom she has just met. They start to row across the lake, and Katherine can't help but feel a sense of excitement and anticipation as they get closer to Hogwarts.
And then she sees it - Hogwarts in all its glory. It is magnificent and much grander than the already gorgeous manor she and her parents lived in. She can hardly contain her awe and wonder as the boat approaches the castle.
“Don't fall behind!” the groundskeeper yells from a little ways away, snapping Katherine out of her trance. She and the other first years quickly make their way to the shore and follow the groundskeeper up a path leading to the school. As they walk, Katherine peers up at the castle, it was magnificent, it certainly lives up to the stories Anne told her as a little girl, when she couldn’t sleep.
As the first years enter the school, they are greeted by Professor Seymour, who welcomes them to Hogwarts and leads them to a rather large set of doors. She stops outside and introduces herself, telling the students about her time at Hogwarts and how excited she is to be teaching them. After a quick glance at all the first years, she asks them to follow her. They are led inside a big hall with all the other students, including her dear cousin Anne, who has her eyes pinned on Katherine as she walks. Katherine gives Anne a quick wave and smile to reassure her that she is fine and in fact did not fall into the lake as Anne had in her first year.
Once they reach the end of the hall, a woman stands up and starts giving an impromptu speech. The lady introduces herself as the headmaster and asks everyone to call her Professor Aragon. She states a few rules, including to treat others with respect and to avoid going into the forest, among other things. Professor Aragon also discusses the importance of learning and growing as individuals, and emphasizes the role that Hogwarts plays in shaping its students into responsible and successful witches and wizards.
After Professor Aragon finishes her speech, Professor Seymour takes back the focus to start the sorting ceremony. As Professor Seymour starts to call names, Katherine's breath starts to hitch up. She is nervous about which house she will be placed in, knowing that it will determine her family’s and more importantly Anne's view on her. She listens as each name is called, watching as students walk up one by one to the stool as the sorting hat is placed on their heads…
“Katherine Howard!”
Katherine's thoughts pause. She staggered over to the stool as the sorting hat is placed on her head.
“Ahh yes, a Howard. I can sense what you want, but is it what you need?” The hat's voice echoes in her head, causing her to panic. What if she doesn't get placed in Slytherin, what will Anne think of her?
“Calm down, child. You will be placed where you belong.”
She takes a deep breath and tries to relax, but her mind is racing. What if she doesn't belong in Slytherin at all? She needs to be placed into Slytherin her life depends on it.
“If Slytherin is what you say you need, then I will grant it to you.. We’ll see if you regret it”
As the hat said a moment later, it yells out Slytherin. The green table bursts into applause as Katherine sighs in relief. From the corner of her eye, she can see the grin appearing on Anne's face.
Katherine was feeling quite perplexed as she mulled over the sorting hat's words about which house she truly belonged in. She couldn't help but wonder if it was right and if it truly knew her better than she knew herself. Despite these thoughts, she quickly dismissed them, reasoning that it was just an old hat and who knew what it was on about anyway?
After standing from the stool and being sorted into Slytherin, Katherine slid onto the bench next to her two new friends, Margaret and Eleanor. The sorting ceremony concluded and all the dishes were brought out for everyone to eat. Katherine had always considered herself a very friendly and amicable girl who could make friends anywhere she went. She was surprised to see that everyone at the table wanted to talk to her except for one girl, it was the same girl who had displayed impatience with her on the train. So naturally, Katherine really wanted this girl to like her and was puzzled when every attempt she made to start a conversation was met with complete disinterest. The nerve of some people, she thought to herself. Who wouldn't want to talk to her?
Throughout the night, Katherine tried to initiate conversation with the girl who kept ignoring her, but to no avail. The girl remained cold and distant, almost as if she was trying to avoid Katherine. Eventually, Katherine reached the end of her tether. As the first-year Slytherins stood outside the Great Hall, Katherine approached the girl and asked her why she was being so rude. Looking back, Katherine knew it wasn't the best idea.
"Hey, why are you being so rude? I'm just trying to be friendly!" Katherine said, trying to keep her tone light.
The girl gave a sarcastic-sounding laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt your feelings?"
Katherine was taken aback a little. No one had ever talked to her like that before. Sure, she hadn't been around many kids her age growing up, but it was still a bit of a culture shock.
"Well, you don't have to be so rude about it," Katherine said defensively.
"Just leave me alone, Howard. The world doesn't revolve around you, you know. You have to leave some room for it to revolve around me," the girl spat out before spinning on her heel and following the head girl to the common room.
Katherine was left standing there, feeling a mix of emotions. She was hurt, but also a little sad.
How rude.
She thought as she followed the pack to the Slytherin common room in the dungeons.
-
Katherine settled into her dorm and got ready for bed as well as some mingling with her dormmates whom she met at the feast.
But as she finally laid down in bed Katherine couldn't help but wonder why the girl had been so rude towards her.
I didn’t even say anything to her! Oh well who cares, it’s just one girl.