The Snake and the Lion

Chapter 4:

          How could I trust them?

            I wake up to the sound of my name being called, my head spinning and a pounding headache beating against my brain. My eyelids being incredibly heavy as I begin to blink away the aching feeling. Finally, my eyes adjust to the light in the room and I see Hermione kneeling over me, I'm guessing they had put me on the floor just to check for any injuries, I look over and see Ron and Harry talk to the Professor has now awoken from his slumber. Hermione looks at me, her hair falling around her face, and her brown eyes scanning over me "Are you okay Y/N?" I nod my head gently, letting my eyes close for a second before I even begin to speak. "What happened?" I try my best to prop myself up on my elbows but Hermione beats me to it. She puts her hand on my back, helping me sit up and making sure I don't fall backward. "The Professor says it was a rogue Dementor, it would've killed you if it wasn't for him." I chuckle slightly, "What a wild first day hm?" I say it with a light heart before worry quickly sets in, where's my cat? I look up at my seat and see Red wide awake her pupils cut into slits. I reach my hand into her cage. "It's okay girl, I'm here now," I say scratching underneath her chin as she gently rubs against my hand.

I look back to Hermione whose been looking at the affectionate interaction but she quickly looks away standing up to talk to the rest of the group. I boost myself up using the ground and stand on my wobbly feet before the Professor looks at me, "Eat this" He says it swiftly and reaches his hand out. "It's chocolate, it's gonna help. I've got to go talk to the driver," He says it exceptionally fast and hurries to the door "eat, it will make you feel better" before leaving all of us looking at each other. I quickly glance down at the chocolate bar before taking a bite. Harry, Ron, and Hermione start to explain what happened when I passed out, "Did you guys pass out as well?" They all shake their heads no before Ron speaks up, "No, but I felt like I would never be cheerful again." I sigh leaning back and taking a second to breathe before looking outside the window.

"You better change into your robes soon, they'll put you under the sorting hat in front of everyone so they know which house you belong to," said Hermione, I let out a long breath before digging into my trunk and pulling out my robe. I head out of the door telling the trio that I would be right back and soon enough I'm back in the cabin with my new robes on. "How do I look, guys?" I say gesturing to myself. "You look great!" Harry said with a smile. "Like a million bucks!" Said Ron while shaking his head repeatedly. "Yeah. You look good." Hermione mumbled out. I smiled past it and thanked them and before I knew it we were pulled up onto the platform, the train shielded from the rain as we all made our way out. "How are we even going to make it to the school with all this rain," I said as we waited for some sort of direction. Hermione chimed in as Ron and Harry nodded their heads in agreement with me. "It's a school for witchcraft and wizardry I think they'll find their way around the rain." She said in a matter of factly tone.

Both the boys and I gave each other a glance struggling to stifle a laugh. A few minutes had passed and workers from the school had arrived with carriages to carry us the rest of the way. They quickly shoveled the four of us into a dark sating looking carriage before setting us off. It stayed quiet as the four of us looked out the windows and listened to the gentle sound of rain hitting the roof. It had stayed like this for a couple of minutes, that was when I saw lights beginning to shine through the fog, and as we came closer and closer I watched the outline of a massive building form. My mouth was now against the floor as the carriages stopped and let us out. Someone has said something about our luggage being brought up our rooms but the words fell on deaf ears as I gawked at the beautiful piece of architecture that stood in front of me.

"Welcome to Hogwarts Y/N," said Harry, breaking the silence as we headed up the grand entrance stairs. Along the way up to the main dining hall, I couldn't help but stop and stare at every painting, every sculpture, as well as the roaming ghosts that hovered through the halls. At some point a Professor halted us, she told us about the sorting ceremony and gave us a run-through of things that I had already heard from the trio. "That's Professor McGonagall, she's a real nice lady just don't be late to class," said Ron as she concluded her speech, I nodded lightly before she lead us to the dining hall. I looked up in awe, the night sky was reflected on the ceiling being illuminated only by hovering candles. On all sides of me were tables filled to the brim with teachers and students, ranging from tall and rugged to short and formal.

It was stunning.. absolutely beautiful but the moment was sadly cut short as everyone separated and as sat down underneath their respective banners, Harry had given me a simple explanation of all four houses and the people in them, and from what I understood that the Gryffindor students, as well as the Slytherin students, had a slight feud while Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff watched on the sidelines, too passive or too friendly to interact with. I looked at both the Gryffindor table as well as the Slytherin table, one more brooding than the other. I had only hoped that I would be with my friends as Professor McGonagall called out names, one by one and I watched as the numbers dwindles and soon enough I was up next. I looked over at the Gryffindor table, Ron and Harry giving me a thumbs up while Hermione looked straight through my soul. Well if I wasn't already nervous I was now.

"Y/N Y/L/N" my head practically whipped around to the Professor who slightly nodded her head to the chair that many had sat before me. I gulp, taking my time making sure I don't trip over myself. Right. Left. Right. Left. and so on and so on, eventually making it to the chair. I sat myself down and tried to not rock myself back and forth as they placed the worn brim of the hat on my head. "Ah another one hm? Interesting, interesting, but you have the blood for only one group...Slytherin!"