Love Grows ☆ Cedric Diggory

9. The Great Hall

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Amelia didn't really know where they were going. She never had older siblings to tell her about Hogwarts and her mother avoided the subject until she only had a minute really to even tell Amelia anything about Hogwarts. If Amelia could turn back time she would have asked her mother as many questions as she could about Hogwarts.

Amelia had been staring at the ground for a while and while Gabriella didn't want to disturb her train of thought, she was getting worried. They would be close to the boats in only a couple more minutes and she wanted to talk to Amelia on the boat and not sit in silence. "Say, Gabby, is it okay if I call you that?" Amelia said out of know where, which startled Gabriella. Gabriella laughed slightly as her previous worries slipped of her shoulders. "Of course it is, but only if I can call you Millie." Amelia laughed lightly along with Gabriella. 'So, Gabby, do you know where we are headed? My mom did tell me much about Hogwarts." Amelia asked Gabriella. "Oh yeah, we are headed to the boats. The first years take them to Hogwarts across the Black Lake, so don't fall in." Gabriella exaggerated her last few words in a dark and spooky tone. Or as dark and spooky as she was able to get her squeaky eleven year old voice.

Amelia got a little nervous at Gabriella's answer. She was never big on boating. "What about after that." Amelia asked. "After the boats?" Gabriella asked back to Amelia. "Yeah, after the boats." Amelia responded. "Well after we get there we get sorted into our different houses." Gabriella answered Amelia question but Amelia was even more confused. "Houses, like dorming houses, or sorority houses? My mom said she was in a sorority in college. Is it like that?" Amelia questioned back at Gabriella which made her laugh out loud, and very loudly, gathering the attention of many of the other first years. "Not like that silly, a little like dorm houses, but Hogwarts has four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. My brothers in Hufflepuff so I hope to get sorted into Hufflepuff as well." Gabriella explained.

The two went on and on, Amelia asking questions about the houses and Gabriella happily and energetically answering them.

They had to have walked a mile and a half to get to the boats and Amelia was tired out already. She couldn't even imagine if they had been row boats. Amelia and Gabriella filed into a boat with two other students. Two girls, one named Cho Chang and the other named Katie Bell. The three girls talked about their summers, while Amelia was too busy leaning over the boat and looking into the water. As she dragged her finger tips along the top of the water and laid her head on the side of the boat.

The boats slowly made their way across the lake and into a tunnel. The tunnels entrance was covered in ivy and the tunnel itself was dark. Soon after they entered the tunnel the boats stopped and Gabriella had to put her hand on Amelia's shoulder for her to realize they were leaving the boats. They loaded off the boats onto a shore made of pebbles. The group followed Hagrid through a passage way in the rock, finally coming out on a patch of green grass. They walked up some stone steps till they reached a door and everyone stopped. Amelia and Gabriella saw the huge door that stood in front of them. Hagrid, the man leading the group of first years, stopped and knocked three times on the door. Quickly it opened and by the voice Amelia immediately knew it was Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall led the group of first years through the door into an entrance hall. To the side of the group a pair of extremely large doors. They could hear loud voices from beyond the doors. Amelia looked over at Gabriella, "Where does that lead?" Amelia whispered to Gabriella. "The great hall." Gabriella said, the excitement in her voice was evident. Although Amelia had no clue what a "great hall" was she also became excited to see it.

Professor McGonagall led the first years into a smaller room where they stood crowded together. Professor McGonagall began to speak, ""Welcome to Hogwarts. 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." Amelia's mother was in Gryffindor, so that was the house she wished for. "Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards." Professor McGonagall went on. "While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking 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."

Gabriella took Amelia's arm in hers. "What house are you hoping to get into?" She questioned. "Any, but my mom was in Gryffindor so, maybe not Gryffindor. It might remind me of home too much." Although Amelia originally thought that she wanted to get into Gryffindor, maybe constantly being surrounded by her mothers school life would hurt her too much.

"Well I hope to get into Hufflepuff, thats the house my brothers in." Gabriella looked at Amelia with big eyes. "And I'm going to beat him in everything, so I hope we get into the same house Millie. We'll beat him together!" Amelia smiled brightly at Gabriella. "You bet we will."

Professor McGonagall re-entered the room, "Come now, the sorting ceremony will start soon." Professor McGonagall said sharply, "Form a line and follow me." She told the first years.

They walked in the room and where led to the front of the room. All eyes where on them. It had to be thousands of eyes, Amelia's stomach dropped and she felt a little nauseous. But distracted, Amelia looked around the great hall in amusement. Lit candles floated around the room and the ceiling was painted like the sky. Or at least she hoped it was paint and not real, she didn't want to get drenched while eating breakfast. "It is a spell to make it look like the sky outside of Hogwarts." Gabriella mentioned to Amelia, who was now a little afraid of rainy days. The tables ran all the way down the room, four of them and each long table had students with different colored robes. Yellow, crimson, blue and green.

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A/N
Sorry this chapter is so late, my sleep was worse during my holiday break and still is. I have been having trouble getting a grove for writing but am starting to get it back.
I hope to get to chapter twenty by the end of February. And start part two of this book before April.
Sorry again from your terribly late author. Please consider voting or commenting, you reading this means the whole world to me already. Thank you all.