Sophie Pendragon, Year One | Half-Vampire At Hogwarts

Chapter Nine: Sorting

           When we arrived at the Hogsmeade station, Harry introduced Ron and I to a large man holding a lantern. He was gathering all the first year students. His name is Rubeus Hagrid and Ron was impressed by his height. I was too. There were a lot of first year students this year and we were being led to boats that would ferry us across the Black Lake to the castle. I sat in a boat with Harry and Ron and we were absolutely in awe of the castle at night. The lights in the windows reflected on the surface of the lake and the night sky was so clear and beautiful. In the lake, I sensed a large creature beneath us and I saw it was a Giant Squid. No one else seemed to notice it in the dark.

          When we docked on the other side of the lake, we walked through the front doors and the castle was so gorgeous inside. I admired the architecture and stayed between Harry and Ron during the walk. Upstairs, a witch was waiting for us and her name was Minerva McGonagall. She informed us that we will be sorted into one of the four houses. The houses were named after the four founders; Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. She went into the Great Hall and left us in the antechamber momentarily. As soon as she left, a poltergeist started to drop pebbles on us. Trying to hide a smirk, I hid my hand in my sleeve to hide the glowing and used my powers to fling pebbles back at him. When he turned around, he was holding a toad. I used my powers to pull the toad from him and caught it.

          "Trevor!" a boy yelled and ran to me.

          "You must be Neville," I said and gave him his toad.

          "G-Gosh, thanks," he said, scared of my appearance.

          The poltergeist hung upside down in front of me, "Now, now. That's no fun!"

          I put my finger to my mouth as it glowed green and hooked my finger inwards. It pulled down his jester hat to cover his eyes. He was shocked and struggled to lift his hat. When he was able to, he started to laugh and mentioned telling the twins. Who were the twins? As he flew away, Professor McGonagall returned and said it was time. Before we walked into the Great Hall, I noticed Draco was on the other side of the stairs and smirked at me when we made eye contact. He was more excited than unhappy, just like the rest of the first years. It was a relief that people's unhappiness would take some time to set in.

          The Great Hall doors swung open to reveal a massive dining hall with all four houses at their respective tables. At the end of the Great Hall was another set of tables with adults. As Harry, Ron, and I walked together, we admired the ceiling as it was full of floating lit candles against a night sky. Ron tugged my sleeve and pointed to his brothers at the Gryffindor table. I saw two identical faces smiling and an older boy with them. They waved at us and we were stopped at the base of stairs that led up to the staff and faculty tables. In the center was Headmaster Dumbledore. He gave me a kind smile when he saw me.

           We were to be called in alphabetical order to be sorted into our houses. A few people were sorted into Hufflepuff and I made sure to remember their names; Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Ernie Macmillan. Draco was called and the sorting hat barely touched his head before he was sorted into Slytherin. He was very proud.

          "There isn't a wizard who didn't go bad who wasn't in Slytherin," Ron whispered.

          I glanced over at Draco and he was extremely happy. He looked over at me and I looked away quickly. He seemed amused and I could tell he kept looking at me. My chest throbbed and I grabbed my chest, making Harry notice.

           "Sophie? What's wrong?" he whispered and touched my shoulder, making Draco angry.

           I glanced at a man staring at us while he was talking to a man wearing a turban. Harry looked in that direction and he winced as he touched his scar. I couldn't tell which man was the source of misery but I thought it was the man staring at us. He had almost shaggy black hair and wore all black. His attention was drawn away from his conversation and he almost stopped breathing when he saw us. Ron noticed our tension.

           "Harry, what is it?" he asked.

           "Nothing, right?" Harry said and patted my back.

          "Right," I said softly and snuck another tablet to swallow.

          Thankfully, dad packed a lot more tablets for me. When my name was called, Ron and Harry both gave me a push. Sitting on the stool, I was facing all the students and I became extremely nervous. I was so different from everyone else and I could tell everyone was murmuring about me when my name was called. Some students were scared already. The sorting hat was set on my head and we exchanged thoughts about my mother. Shutting my eyes tight, I held my breath.

          "HUFFLEPUFF!" the sorting hat announced.

All of the Hufflepuff students stood up and cheered. I sighed a breath of relief and ran to my table. My braid bounced against my back and I sat next to Justin and Susan. I introduced myself to the other first years and they were all very warm and welcoming. When Harry's name was called, the Great Hall became quiet. I sensed annoyance from Draco and looked at him. He rolled his eyes from Harry to me, and was surprised that I was looking at him. Unsure what to do, I waved at him. He scoffed and eyed me.

          "GRYFFINDOR!" the sorting hat announced.

            We all looked at Harry and everyone in Gryffindor cheered and applauded loudly with whistles. I clapped for Harry too but he seemed a little disappointed. Towards the ending of the sorting ceremony, Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor with his brothers. They stood up and cheered for him and I could tell they were very loving towards him. I was a little envious. When the sorting ceremony was over, Headmaster Dumbledore stood up for his announcements.

          "I have a few start-of-term notices I wish to announce. The first years, please note that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Now, for those of you who may have heard, we do have a half vampire among the first years. I can assure you, she is no threat to anyone. Thank you and let the feast begin," he said and waved out both hands to flourish the tables with a magnificent meal.

           I looked back at Ron and Harry and noticed that Neville and Hermione were also sorted into Gryffindor. I was overcome with envy again that my two new friends weren't in the same house as me. Despite that, I was quick to make friends in Hufflepuff and the food was most delicious. As we ate, ghosts flew into the Great Hall and we met our house ghost, the Fat Friar. Ron had a good scare from their house ghost, Sir Nicholas. Naturally, everyone was curious about me and I stood out rather obviously. Susan and Hannah both admired my hair but I could already feel sinister intentions from the Slytherin house tables. Doing my best to ignore it, I noticed an older Hufflepuff student introducing himself to the first years. He seemed kind and was rather cute. When he got to my table with Hannah and Susan, they already liked him. I'll admit, he was really handsome.

          "I'm Cedric Diggory," he said and smiled sweetly.

          "Hannah Abbot," Hannah said, blushing.

          "Susan Bones," Susan said shyly and smiling.

          "Sophie Pendragon," I said sheepishly.

          He raised his eyebrow at me but continued to smile, "If you need anything, let me know."

          He walked away and I bit into a green apple. My fangs made it a challenge but green apples were my favorite. Soon, it was time for dessert and I loved everything. Seeing other students walk around gave me an idea. I stood up and went to sit with Harry and Ron.