❛ chapter three ⎜ the sorting ❜

"𝐈'𝐌 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐑 𝐆𝐑𝐔𝐁𝐁𝐋𝐘-𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑," Kiera sighed once the ludicrous conversation about the possible new DADA teacher had halted.

"Yeah," I said. "She'll stop Monica from jumping into the lake."

Sylvia nearly choked. "What?"

I felt the corners of my mouth lift. "So, this morning in the car, I was telling the twins about what was going to happen once they got to Hogwarts. 'So you cross the lake on these little wooden boats,' I started, and Monica interrupts me. 'A lake? There's a lake? Can I jump in it?' and I say, 'no, the lake isn't important.' But being Monica, she ignores me and says, 'I'm gonna jump in the lake!' 'No jumping in the lake!' says my mom. 'Charlie, if I jump in will you jump in with me?' 'No one is jumping in the lake!' And then I added, 'the giant squid might eat you if you do!' I thought it would stop her, but her eyes grew wide and she said, 'there's a giant squid? I'm totally jumping in!' And so my mom gets really mad - her face is turning pink - she says, 'Monica Kylie Devereaux. If you so much as think about jumping in the Black Lake, I swear to Merlin I will pull you out of Hogwarts faster than you can say "squid". You will be homeschool and shut inside the house for the rest of your life.' Seriously. She was pissed. So Monica dropped it, but I could see her planning something."

"She's a crazy one," Sylvia sighed. "I feel sorry for the prefects and teachers that have to deal with her."

"We all do," I added absentmindedly as the castle finally came into view.

Hogwarts is both a terrifying and inspiring place. If it's light and sunny, it can be magnificent and breathtaking. Right now, it looked frightening. The fortress loomed out of the darkness with turrets and towers everywhere. It looked jet black against the stormy sky, the brightly lit windows the only homey part. The large stone pillars with stone boars adorned upon them that guarded the gates were thrown into the light as we passed them, harsh and angular. The carriage lurched to a halt beside the stone steps that lead up to the giant oak doors.

As soon as we had halted completely, I threw open the door and climbed out, squeezing my eyes just for a second and then peeking out. Yup. The bat-dragon-horses were still there. Awesome!  And Harry Potter was still staring at them too, right in front of them.

"I had hoped they would have disappeared," I said in a low voice, walking up to him. He startled, his wand half drawn before he realized who it was.

"Me too," he sighed, tucking it back away. "Maybe Hermione can find something in the library about them." I nodded, thinking the same thing. Maybe I could join her...

"Elise, right?" Harry asked. I nodded absentmindedly, looking at him.
"What? Yeah. That's my name."

He motioned to the great doors, which were opening. "Shall we?"

"You go ahead," I said. "I'll wait for my friends." He hesitated but then nodded.

"Yeah, yeah." He turned his back and hurried over to his carriage, peeking back over his shoulder as his friends joined him. I ignored the glances.

"What was that about?" Sylvia asked as she jumped out of the carriage where she had obviously been eavesdropping.

"Sylvia," I reprimanded. She rolled her eyes.

"Elise. Harry Potter just asked you to walk into the castle with him! What are you doing?"

"That's not what it was. Stop making things up Sylvia. And we were just talking about the bat-dragon-horses. They're still there."

"Don't try to change the subject," Sylvia sighed. "What was that all about?"

"Stop asking. It was normal conversing." Yet a small part of me was wondering the same thing. What was that about? Ah nevermind that. It's probably just politeness.

"Kiera, please tell Sylvia she's making things up!" I said as my friend climbed out of the carriage with her cat and my owl cage in her hands.

"Sylvia you're making things up," Kiera said promptly, handing me my owl. "What are we talking about again?"

"Something's going on with Harry and Elise!"

"No," I corrected, "nothing is."

Kiera sighed. "No comment."

"Sylvia, drop it," I commanded. She opened her mouth.

"But-"

"Now." Hearing the tone of my voice, she stopped.

"Let's get inside," I said, rubbing my forehead. I'll bet that in the next week, Sylvia will bring this up again.

I half expected the stone steps to be slippery as we walked up them into the entrance hall, but they were as dry as ever. The dark was so thick that you would probably barely be able to see one foot in front of the other. Thank goodness for the candles.

The entrance hall was blazing with light and echoing with footsteps and chattering. Ciena, my tawny owl, hooted loudly as a shout echoed 'round and 'round.

"Shh," I whispered to her. I stopped walking and reached a hand through the bars of her cage to stroke her downy feathers. Sometimes it was nice to have a quiet companion. Sylvia could be loud sometimes. And annoying.

"Elise!" Sylvia called from a few feet away, not bothering to keep her voice down. "Come on!"

"Coming!" I half-muttered, half-sighed, placing Ciena with the rest of the trunks and cages by the side of the entrance and jogging across the flagstone to where my friends had stopped. "Jeez. Impatient much?"

Sylvia rolled her eyes. "Why'd you stop?"

"Why do you care?" I replied. She raised her eyebrows.

"Okay then."

"Please stop fighting," Kiera sighed.

"We're not!" I argued as we walked through the big double doors to the right, leading into the Great Hall. The four House tables were filling up with students, and the Hall was filled with the buzz of conversation.

"You two bicker all the time."

"Sylvia starts it," I mumbled to myself. Neither of them were listening anymore.

I glanced up at the ceiling of the Hall. It was black and starless, only illuminated by the hundreds of candles that hung in mid air, suspended by magic. Very reassuring.

"Ugh, is that the new DADA teacher?" Sylvia muttered in revulsion as we sat down.

"Where?" I asked, looking around at the staff table. "Oh Merlin's underpants. You've got to be kidding me."

To the right of Dumbledore sat a woman that I - unfortunately - recognized. She was short, squat, and ugly. Her face was toad-like with pouchy eyes and a pallid complexion. She had short, curly, mousy brown hair with a horrid pink bow upon it. A horrific pink cardigan was worn over her robes. Seriously, she had no fashion sense - something that probably annoyed Sylvia the most.

"What? Elise? Do you know her?" Kiera asked, her dark eyes narrowed and keen.

"Unfortunately," I muttered. "Looks like Fudge wants to have an eye on Dumbledore."

"What?" Sylvia perked up, her eyes wide and interested.

"Dolores Umbridge. She's senior undersecretary to the Minister. Dad's seen her. He says she's a horrid woman, and he's always nice about everyone."

"She looks the part," Sylvia said scrunching up her nose. She stole another glance at Umbridge. "I mean, just look at that cardigan! She looks like a pink toad."

"I'm not disagreeing," I muttered. I scanned the hall. No first years yet...

"Hey," Kiera interrupted, as if reading my thoughts, "hear that?"

I turned my head, cocking it, as the door to the Great Hall burst open, the first years entering in a scraggly line with Professor McGonagall in the lead, carrying a ripped and frayed old wizard's hat. The Sorting Hat. The sight of it filled me with shivers.

We were about to find out where Monica and Charlie belonged. The Professor placed the hat on the stool.

I scanned the line, trying to find the twins. With a sigh of relief, I noted Monica's dry robes and awed expression. Good. She hadn't jumped. Charlie looked like he was going to die from excitement. A giant grin adorned his face, and he was spinning in circles trying to see everything. Monica kept poking him, but he ignored her.

The hall fell silent, and a rip near the brim opened and the first years jumped sky high as the hat began to sing:

In times of old, when I was new
And Hogwarts barely started,
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted.

United by a common goal,
They had the selfsame yearning
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach"
The four good friends decided.
And never did they dream that they
Might someday be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there, so I can tell
The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
Whose ancestry's purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name."
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot
And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light.
For each of the four founders had
A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning just like him.

And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest
and taught them all she knew,
Thus, the houses and their founders
Maintained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony
For several happy years,
But then discord crept among us
Feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four
Had once held up our school
Now turned upon each other and
Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school
Must meet an early end.
What with duelling and with fighting
And the clash of friend on friend.

And at last there came a morning
When old Slytherin departed
And though the fighting then died out
He left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four
Were whittled down to three
Have the Houses been united
As they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here
And you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
Because that is what I'm for.

But this year I'll go further,
Listen closely to my song:
Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfil my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether sorting
May not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes.

And we must unite inside her
Or we'll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you...
Let the Sorting now begin...

"What was that?" Sylvia muttered, like many others and a scattered applause echoed through the air.

"It sounded like a warning," Kiera responded, still staring at the hat.

"I think-" Sylvia started.

"We'll talk about it later," I interrupted as Professor McGonagall gave us all a scorching look in an effort to make us shut up. It worked, and the muttering hall fell silent once again.

She started reading the list, and as she whittled away through the last names that ended with A, and then B, and then C, my nerves began to rise.

"Devereaux, Charlie!" Professor McGonagall called and my heart began to race.

I could feel the glances of Kiera and Sylvia on my tense face, but I ignored them as Charlie's small figure stumbled over to the stool and placed the Hat on his head.

His lips began to move soundlessly and his eyes scrunched close. I shifted nervously.
It may seem strange that I was so worried about my siblings being sorted, but they were like an extension of myself. They were, in a way, my triplets. Many people don't get along with their siblings. I'm not an exception. The fights I have with Monica... anyways, I was still protective of them. We were still related.

After what seemed like an eternity, the mouth of the Hat opened.

I leaned forward, watching as it moved to form a single word.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The rest of my table exploded in cheers and clapping as Charlie stumbled down to join us, a ginormous smile on his face.

I clapped along with them, grinning for the first time in a while but my mind was whirling. Charlie? A Gryffindor? It just doesn't seem like him. He's sweet and loyal and works harder than anyone. If that isn't Hufflepuff, what is? I suppose Gryffindor is close to Hufflepuff. After all, both houses are known for their loyalty. Still, why had Charlie been a Gryffindor? Why had the Hat not chosen the right House for him?

"Devereaux, Monica!" Professor McGonagall cried, and my heart thudded. Three siblings in Gryffindor? What were we, the Weasleys? Mum was a Ravenclaw and Dad would have been a Hufflepuff if, but he went to Beauxbatons, so why were their kids all going to be in Gryffindor?

Monica walked up to the Hat, her head held high and not the slightest hint of terror on her face. She placed the worn garment on her head, and sat on the stool. The seconds ticked past, the students growing a bit restless. After what seemed like hours, the Sorting Hat opened its mouth and cried:

"RAVENCLAW!"

I swear my heart stopped. Monica? Ravenclaw? Why was the Sorting Hat messing up my family? First it put me, an obvious Ravenclaw, in Gryffindor; then it put Charlie, an obvious Hufflepuff, in Gryffindor; and then Monica, an obvious Gryffindor, in Ravenclaw! That Hat had it out for my family.

I watched as Monica walked down to the Ravenclaw table. There was no surprise on her face, something that startled me. Had she expected this unexpected turn?

"Hey, what's going on?" Sylvia muttered. I shook my head.

"The Sorting Hat's going screwy."

My ears seemed to be broken for the rest of the Banquet. I watched as the rest of the students were sorted, yet I couldn't really hear their Houses. I ate my food, listening to Kiera and Sylvia talk. I watched as Unbridge interrupted Dumbledore, and as she gave her speech. But the words slid over my head.

All I could think about was how, once again, the Sorting Hat had messed up my life. Permanently.

𝔸𝕌𝕋ℍ𝕆ℝ𝕊 ℕ𝕆𝕋𝔼

See that gif? I "attempted" to make a story gif. I failed awfully. I also tried making a few more graphics, which I posted in the Graphic Gallery, and they all failed. I like to pretend I can make them :).

Anyways. Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter! It was really fun to write. I also planned out the next 5 chapters! Yay!

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter!