The Heart of Black - A Harry Potter Story

Chapter 2 - The Sorting Ceremony

Sirius and Skylar were still looking for the cat thirty minutes later. They were having no luck, Sirius even began to crawl along the train looking under everything he could get to, he didn't find anything though. Then Sky turned to him.

"Perhaps you should get into your robes, we'll be there soon and I don't you getting into any trouble." she smiled up at him. Sirius nodded and turned on his heel back down the train. He chanced a glance behind him and saw that Shy was still looking at him. He felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach but he knew what it was, he really liked this girl.

Sirius got back to James and Remus sooner than he thought, probably because his mind was still at the other end of the train with Sky. He opened the door and stopped. James and Remus now sat with another boy. He had short sandy coloured hair and was rather plump. Sirius eyed him suspiciously.

"This is Peter Pettigrew, he arrived just as you left." said James, gesturing to the boy. Then he added "Don't worry, he's not going to replace you.". Sirius smiled weakly at Pettigrew, then reached up and grabbed his robes. He told the boys where he was going then headed off to find an empty compartment.

Eventually he found one. He slid the door shut behind him and pulled down the blind. He pulled his robes on and then left the compartment. Sirius stood there thinking for a bit. He was wondering if he should go and find Skylar and check that she had found her cat or if he should go straight back to the boys. After a few minutes rooted to the spot he decided to find Skylar. He turned and headed towards where he had last seen her, peering into all the compartments as he went.

He was nearly at the end of the train when he finally found her. When she saw him she grinned and made her way over. She clutching a jet black cat to her chest. It had brilliant green eyes that stood out against his furry black face.

"I see you found your cat then!" he called to her.

"Yeah, turns out he hadn't gone far." she was stroking the cat as she spoke, it purred very loudly.

"What's his name?" asked Sirius after a while. He had just realised that he had never found out.

"Basset. He's named after Bertie Basset, the mascot for liquorice all sorts." and then, at the confused look on Sirius' face, added "It's a Muggle sweet.". She giggled at the look on Sirius's face. He was very confused about why someone would name a cat after a sweet. Just as he was about to ask the train came to an abrupt halt.

"Oh, looks like we're here!" exclaimed Skylar excitedly "See you later." she turned on her heel and made her way towards the nearest door. Thinking that it would be better if the boys knew where he was before they left the train, Sirius made his way back down the train still trying to figure out why Skylar had named her cat Basset.

Sirius could see Hogsmeade station through the windows of the train, it was already packed but he couldn't see James, Remus or Peter. He reached the compartment, it was empty. Panicking slightly, Sirius began to look around for his friends. Then a shout rang through the train.

"Sirius, over here!" it was James. He and the others were stood just outside the door of the train, apparently waiting for him. Sirius ran over to them and they all joined the large crowd.

Prefects were dotted around the station, directing scared first years in the right direction. Sirius, James, Remus and Peter (who was struggling to keep up because of his short legs) followed another large gang of first year boys over to the bank of a lake. Floating on the surface were numerous small wooden boats. A large wooden pole stuck out of the front, on these a single lantern was hung to light the way. Sirius felt a small shove from behind. He turned to see it was a prefect urging him onto the nearest boat. Hiding his annoyance a the Prefect, Sirius clambered in, closely followed by his friends. As he sat looking up a the crowd he spotted Skylar. She had left Basset in the train with the other pets and was being pushed towards the boats. He caught her eye and grinned. Just as Sirius was about to shout out to her, to tell her there was a spare seat in his boat, she was swallowed by the crowd and pushed into another boat. When all the first years were on board the boats se sail.