Ford Anglia
Group: Fantastic Ferret
Posts: 43
Joined: 10-May 04
Member No.: 100
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Chapter Three
"Strangers are just friends waiting to happen." -Anonymous
Walking down the train aisle, Harry peered into the different compartments; looking for an empty one. Aurelio and Ari followed him, the latter rubbing her forehead franticly where her father had kissed her goodbye.
“How about this one?” Aurelio asked, pointing to a compartment with but one occupant; a freckly redhead staring determinedly out the window.
Harry shrugged. The occupant was unmistakably one of the Weasley boys—a son of the current Minister of Magic; a boy Harry knew fairly well.
Aurelio reached forward to knock on the door, but Ari shoved his hand away. “Lets surprise him!”
Harry crossed his arms. “Absolutely not, Ari.”
"And why not? Are you scared of him?"
Harry shot her a warning look. "Well first off, he is the Minister's son. Second, he knows more defensive curses and jinxes than you'll ever know. And third, he has been trained to use them. The Weasley boys can be a bit-edgy."
Ari’s eyes glinted mischievously.
“All the more fun.”
Before either boy could stop her, she whipped out her wand and threw open the door.
“Stupify!” The red head stood, towering over Ari’s limp figure. Looking to the doorway, he crossed his arms; a grim look on his face.
“Pettigrew? Potter?”
Harry nodded curtly, as did Aurelio next to him.
“Pateo!” When nothing happened, the boy broke into a smile, and grabbed Aurelio’s hand.
“Aurelio! Harry! We haven’t spoken in years!” The boy said, walking over to where Ari lay.
“Eneverate!” the red head crouched over and shook Ari’s shoulder gently. Her eyes fluttered open, and then quickly jammed shut at the sight of the Weasley boy.
“We warned you Ari,” Aurelio sniggered. Harry leaned over and offered his hand to help Ari to her feet, which she grabbed.
“Ariel, isn’t it?” the beaming freckled boy asked in mock seriousness.
“No, it’s Ari and you know it, Ronald.” Grinning despite herself, Ari crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue.
“The food trolley is here!” Ron bounded out of the compartment, with Aurelio and Harry at his heels.
“I’ll get them,” Ron said, pulling out a handful of coins from his pocket, and setting them down on the counter. The three boys loaded their arms with sweets, and waddled back into their compartment.
Just as they had sat down, a knock came at the door. Ron raised his wand warily, as a boy and girl stumbled in.
"Oh, put that away Ron," the boy said, brushing the brown hair from his
eyes. "It's Neville, or did you not you recognize me with all those sweets stuffed in your face?"
Ron grinned as he realized Neville was only joking, then nodded to the girl by Neville's side. "And who's she?"
“Hermione Granger, muggleborn.”
“Thanks Ron,” Harry said, reaching for a Pumpkin Pastie and ignoring the conversation. Ron slapped his hand away, his eyes alight with suspicion.
Raising his wand, he muttered something under his breath, and dragged his wand over the sweets. Finally, as he reached the last one, Ron sighed.
“Nothing wrong here; let's eat.”
Ari rolled her eyes and helped herself to a chocolate frog, watching Hermione’s face as she read the label.
“Real frogs?” she asked weakly.
“Nah,” Ari grabbed one. “They just jump a bit. Anyway, it is the card that you want.”
Hermione opened her Frog slowly, and winced as the chocolate jumped away from her.
“Lets see who you’ve got,” Harry grabbed the card from Hermione’s hand. Upon seeing it, he bowed he head.
“He’s been dead for years,” at these words, all but Hermione lowered their eyes. They all knew who was on the card; the great wizard Albus Dumbledore who had died in the battle of Agros.
The hero.
Ari broke the silence with a snigger. Within moments, the compartment was shaking with uncontrollable laughter.
“Who is he?” Hermione asked, taking back her card and surveying it with interest.
“The hero of our world, Hermione. He saved a hundred Aurors from dying on the day that Voldemort invaded Base Argos, the Auror base. There weren’t enough of them to fight off the legions of Death Easters, so Dumbledore sacrificed himself.”
“Dad always said that he shouldn’t have. Now all that is left is McGonagall. She’s brilliant too, but not the same as Dumbledore. Some even say,” here Ari leaned closer to Hermione, “that had it not been for him, hundreds of children wouldn’t be alive.”
Staring pointedly at Harry and Neville, she grinned.
In no time, they arrived at Hogwarts. Shyly stepping off the train, the six friends headed toward the cry, “First years over here!
They met Hagrid, a part giant, or so Aurelio claimed, who took them across the beautiful lake, and up to the great oak doors. Giving one loud knock, he stepped back, and they were opened by a tall, greasy haired professor.
“Snape,” Harry breathed, “my parents told me all about him.”
Ari stuffed her fist in her mouth to prevent a snicker from escaping. However, despite her noble actions, Snape noticed and glared in their direction evilly.
“Come this way,” he said finally, opening the doors wide enough for the children to walk through.
Harry looked around, supremely unconcerned, and watched Ari study the teachers (probably looking for a weak spot), Aurelio tap his foot (from nerves), Neville talk with Ron, who kept brushing his hair out of his face (trying to make a good impression, as usual), and Hermione mutter spells under her breath like mad. He tried to comfort the girl, but she just ignored him and continued muttering.
Suddenly, all was quiet. Every eye in the Great Hall was affixed on a stool that the greasy haired professor had just moved to the center of the room. Harry subconsciously leaned forward as a tear on the brim opened wide and the hat began to sing.
I'm here to tell the story,
Of the great founders four.
To tell you how they came to be,
And why they are no more.
It started with a simple plan,
A goal to be precise.
To teach a school of magic,
For the outcome would be nice.
Hogwarts started out,
In harmony and in grace,
With friends in every house,
And a smile on every face.
Ravenclaw would teach,
The students who were smart.
For if she had her way,
Mind would rule over heart.
Gryffindor was opposite,
he chose the brave and bold.
For they would always be the ones,
To go for the gold.
Hufflepuff, she chose,
Not by width or height,
Nor bravery or cunning,
For that would not be right.
She took the ones who were left out,
And taught them all she knew,
You would be surprised,
How much better they do.
And Slytherin, unlike the rest,
Did not want to be cheated,
He only took the ones,
Who he thought were not defeated.
Their blood was purest,
Their ancestory the best,
They were true wizards,
And would always pass the test.
But soon the houses and their leaders,
could not see eye to eye.
They separated and began,
To steal, cheat, and lie.
Slytherin, he left the school,
The first founder to go.
And soon the fighting stopped,
Though spirits were still low.
So now the founders three,
Decided they would find,
Someone to decide,
Where to put their kind.
They soon figured out,
That I could sort the lot,
And now I stand before you,
Singing while your brains all rot.
So that is the story,
The whole sorry tale,
But there is more
And I'll go into detail.
A war is upon us,
But this cannot mean the end
Though I sort you into houses
We all should strive to mend
The hole that's been created
By splitting up our kind
For I fear if we do not unite
The worst we shall come to find.
Just like years before
As the battles were brewing
When Argos came to be
And they all knew their wrongdoing.
I fear the same will happen
Something no law can prevent
Where authority will rule no more
And all will have lament.
And just as hope is dwindling,
Don't think like a fool
four will save the day again,
as four built up the school.
Students heed my warning,
Remeber What I said
As this year progresses
When more lives are shed.
Now put me on your head,
And I will do my part.
I will sort you into houses,
Let the ceremony start!
Students looked at each other stunned.
“What did it mean by, ‘the war is upon us, this cannot mean the end’?” Aurelio whispered.
“Or ‘four will save the day again, as four built up the school?” Ari added, leaning ever closer to Harry and Aurelio.
“Silence,” Snape’s oily voice, though quiet, had the desired affect. “Now, let us begin with Abbot, Hannah!”
A girl with blond pigtails dashed up to the stool, and slid the hat over her head. Falling down to cover her eyes, it sat there for a moment-
“HUFFLEPUFF!” the hat shouted, as the table on the right cheered loudly.
Tuning out the next few students [Bones, Susan, Boot Terry, and others], Harry leaned over to Ron and tugged on his sleeve.
“Granger, Hermione!”
Still muttering, Hermione walked up to the stool and put the hat on her head. After a moment or two is shouted GRYFFINDOR.
“Hey mate!” he cried in indignation, “I just smoothed that out!”
“Ron, there is something more important than your image right now,” Ari snapped, her usual briskness slowly creeping back into her voice. “Didn’t you hear what the Sorting Hat said?”
“Longbottom, Neville!”
All four of the children gave Neville a good luck wave, and grinned as the hat, after staying on his head for a split second, chose Gryffindor.
“Obviously not,” Harry cut in, annoyed. “Ron, didn’t you hear it? It was talking about the Ministry, and the Aurors. Meaning our parents!”
Ron continued smoothing his front until the impact of the words truly hit him. “Dad!” he gasped unbelievingly, “But no one can hurt the Ministry-”
“Pettigrew, Ariel!”
Ari’s face hardened, and, giving Aurelio’s hand a squeeze, walked gravely down to the stool. She pulled on the cap, and shut her eyes tightly as it slid over them.
After a long spell, during which both Harry and Aurelio had their fingers tightly crossed-
“GRYFFINDOR!”
Sighing with relief, Aurelio started as his name was called. Screwing up his courage, he ran to the stool and jammed the hat on his head. Once again, the hat took its time, finally choosing-
“GRYFFINDOR!”
Now, it was his turn. Harry’s stomach lurched unpleasantly, and a picture of being rejected was firmly entrenched in his mind.
“Potter, Harry!”
Walking forward determinedly, Harry slipped on the hat, and watched as the great hall disappeared from view. All he could see was a black interior, and-
“Another Potter. Dare I say that you belong, as the rest, in GRYFFINDOR!”
Yanking the hat off his head, Harry jogged over to where his friends sat, and gave them all a thumbs up signal.
When Ron was made a Gryffindor, he joined the group, grinning foolishly.
“Mum will be proud,” he mumbled to no one in particular, “very proud.”
Food appeared out of nowhere , and piled up on their plates. Grabbing some of everything, he loaded up his plate and began munching away happitly. Hermione was still muttering spells under her breath, seemingly taking no notice of the fact that the Sorting had come and gone. Ari and Aurelio were bickering, and Ron was seeing how many potatoes he could shove in his mouth while still preserving his image. Neville, on the other hand, seemed to be lost in thought.
After dinner, and many helpings of treacle tart, the Gryffindor first years sleepily made their way to up their dormitory. Lead by Percy, another Weasley, but a prefect, they met the Fat Lady and gave her the password [Caput Draconis] and trudged up to their dormitories.
Dropping into his bed leadenly, Harry drifted off pleasantly, forgetting the Sorting Hat’s song for the time being.
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Waiting for the End, By:Born2Mugglz, Ginny, and Merman
Jun 1 2004, 06:33 AM
