Surviving Times

The first years at Hogwarts were awed by the sight of the magical castle rising up from the inky waters of the lake. It was a stunning sight. Indeed. But not enough for Mia and her friends to gawk their mouths like some country bumpkins. They had gained immunity from exploring the enchanted forest and many other things which would take a whole night to list out.

"Neat move." Mia said, her voice a little softer.

"Indeed. If I hadn't seen all those places from our trips, I would've fallen for the trick." Daphne sighed. Feeling a tad bit impressed.

"But seriously, they really had to do this, huh? Why intimidate the rookie first years?" Draco was exasperated. The boy despised anything done with ulterior motives.

"It might also be to give us a mighty impression of the school we're entering to be a great one." Theo mock defended.

"Exactly, mate. Intimidating." Draco rolled his eyes. His friend really liked playing the innocent bunny these days.

"I want to swim." Mia said tiredly. She rode for an entire day, and she didn't feel better. Being a dragon slayer was so difficult…

"Hold on for a while longer Mia, we are almost there." Daphne tried comforting her.

"Is it bad?" Theo asked the girl, who looked a bit pale.

"A little." Mia murmured. Theo sighed and moved a little closer to her and cast a healing spell on her. She felt a lot better. She could've done this herself, but she was too stubborn at strange matters. Like how she'd rather swim than to heal herself.

"Thanks, Theo." Mia said. She really didn't want to swim. And she was already very resistant to all the little recovery spells she could cast on herself…

"Anytime, Mia." The dark-haired boy replied with a friendly smile.

The boats hit the land after they passed the cliffs and Mia was glad. She really loved the land. It was nice. It was always moving but didn't make her sick. She could feel her life coming back to her. The three sighed in relief. They were glad. While it was enjoyable to watch the impossible witch suffer a little, the worry overwhelmed the amus.e.m.e.nt.

All the first-year students walked behind the half-giant and reached the passageway. At the end of it stood a huge, oak front door. The keykeeper knocked the castle door thrice, and it swung open. They were welcomed by a tall, black-haired witch in emerald robes. She looked quite stern and not someone you would want to cross paths with.

But the quartet had a different opinion. They met many, many people before they set foot into the school. Enough to read right through many of them. Daphne smiled and shared her thoughts. 'She's the typical tough on the outside and soft inside. This is going to be interesting.'

Her friends chuckled. 'You can't get it anymore right, Daph.' Mia was humored. They got it quite right. The stern witch escorted the first years through a staircase and stopped at the empty off chamber of the great hall. Hundreds of voices echoed.

The witch, Minerva McGonagall turned back and looked at nervous (most of them were.) students.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, on Ron's smudged nose on Mia's hair which was messy beyond redemption. The rest tried to better themselves.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left, and the quartet heard many audible sighs, nervous gulps, etc. They felt amused by it. They keep forgetting that the rest of the students were not battle-hardened, experienced psychoanalysts who ran a huge enterprise. The rest were the good old 11-year olds.

"What do you think the test would be?" Theo said. If they didn't know better, they would've thought he was Ravenclaw because of his curiosity. Daphne and Draco shook their heads. They didn't know anything about it either. Mia chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it. And try not to feel stupid by the sheer dumbness of the test."

"Do you know something?" Draco asked looking at his friend. "That's what my mum said." Mia replied honestly. Aurora did say that to her, and Mia couldn't help but laugh when she said it. Her three friends still looked suspicious. They knew Mrs. Morgan attended Beauxbatons. But let it slide as the Professor McGonagall returned. As for the ghosts, they just ignored them. They've met many and exorcised just as many.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me. "

They did and entered the great hall. The hall was indeed magical. After they admired the scene, they looked at the teachers. All of them, Mia knew. But this year, there was new addition to the chairs. And the man sitting on it greatly surprised the four friends. None of the hushed whispers mattered. They had to look normal at all costs.

Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing, but the four didn't bother. Though the three of them really did feel a bit stupid… honestly, what were they expecting?

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. The quartet reluctantly clapped their hands. They continued to release sighs while managing to not look odd for a 11-year old.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause later -

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

Like that, many were sorted into the four houses. Bones, Boot, Brocklehurst, Brown, Bl.u.s.trode, Crabbe, Davis, Finch-Fletchley, Finnigan, Granger…

Finally, McGonagall called, "Greengrass, Daphne."

All of them looked at the girl who stepped forward. As she went, the boys looked a little bright as they saw her. She was, after all, beautiful. Incredibly. Maybe because of all the extensive training, the girl was little taller than the rest. The blonde was a literal eye candy.

Daphne looked calm. She knew she was next. She sat on the stool. She tried hiding her dislike. She really didn't appreciate a dusty hat on her head. The hat stayed silent for a while before shouting "SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherins cheered. The boys all the more. While the girls looked a bit sullen due to the attention, she received. Next Goyle, Longbottom were sorted.

"Malfoy, Draco." The Scottish witch called. Draco stepped forward. Now it was the girls' turn to be delighted. They boy looked like impeccable. His poise and indifferent demeanor screamed Prince Charming. And boy he really was a prince with his family background and all.

He too, was sorted into Slytherin after a while. The boy walked and sat beside Daphne, who cheered.

Next, Mia was called. The purebloods paused for a second when they heard Morgan. But everyone was simply charmed when they saw her. The girl was, charming beyond common sense after all.

The sorting hat lay on top of her head. It started speaking to her.

"Ah, not again. What's with the kids these days? Why do you all need such high Occlumency shields?"

Mia understood the reason why her two friends took so long to be sorted. She replied to the hat. "Just put me together with them."

"Alright, SLYTHERIN!"

Her friends cheered as she joined them. Harry's eyes trailed the girl. She was the one who helped him. Soon, another name was called. It was "Nott, Theodore."

The boy was also quite attractive and tall for his age. He appeared poised and amicable. He too was sorted into Slytherin and oh dear, other houses looked sullen.

The sorting went on, the famous Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor and they cheered the loudest. By the end, the Slytherin house got few more snakes.

The four didn't care. They just looked at the man in the teacher's high table secretly. The four of them, though young, had this, 'touch-me-not' aura about them. They acquired it after a lot of practicing. And thanks to that, no one disturbed them in the table.

Albus Dumbledore, whose hair was shinier than the ghosts, spoke. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. The man's a bit of a crazed genius. The four thought. They looked at their plates. The empty golden platter was filled with food. It looked good but lacking to their tastes. The four simply ate the fruit.

Daphne was fine, since the strawberries were okay. But on the other hand, Theo was incensed. There was no coffee. Mia and Draco were simply glad the fruits were good. A pity, there were no salads…

"I feel like a supermodel." Draco said, as he ate his slice of apple.

"Me too, mate." Theo replied sullenly. He was under caffeine and it was bad.

"Be glad there's some fruit." Daphne chided.

"They call this a banquet when there's no wine. How funny." Mia sighed. The 'man' on the high table was speechless as he listened. But then again, the food was… okay. The wine was okay, too.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."

"Also, we have Mr. Gresil von Edolas this year with us. He would be the Guidance Counselor."

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

The quartet just scoffed. That cat is showing his true colors.