Touched

Tale of Corvus and Anne - Chapter Three

Corvus POV

"What's your name?" said an annoyingly whiny voice. Corvus turned his head from where he was looking out the train window and laid eyes on a small boy with bright orange hair.

"My name is Anne," Anne chirped from across the compartment they were sat in on the train. Corvus suppressed an eye roll.

The boy sat next to Anne and held out a freckled hand to her. She took it and he smiled at her. Corvus wondered if he was going to be a menace. He could sense some sort of mischievous glint behind the boys eyes.

"My name is Frederick Weasley. But you can call me Freddie." He puffed up his chest when he spoke. "What houses are you going to be in?"

Corvus still refused to speak. He watched the boy closely. He was full of energy, Corvus could see it in the way he carried himself. He couldn't sit still, full to the brim with excitement to be near the castle, probably planning pranks no doubt.

"We want to be in Slytherin," Anne replied.

"We're going to be in Slytherin," Corvus corrected her, and she didn't look offended, instead nodded and looked towards the Weasley boy again. "Are you?"

"Merlin, no," said the small boy. "I'm going to be a Gryffindor, like my dad."

"That's wonderful," Anne beamed at him, and they dissolved into a conversation about their lives back home. Corvus continued to stare out the window. Anxiety swirled in his gut for so many different reasons. He wished they'd hurry and get to the castle so that he could be Sorted and stop worrying about everything.

"Corvie!" Anne flicked Corvus' attention back to the conversation and he cringed at the nickname in front of this strange boy. "This boy is Poppy's son!"

"Poppy?"

"She used to babysit me when I was born," Anne smiled. "It's been a few years. Poppy Sweeting, right?"

"Her last name is the same as mine now, because she married my dad," Freddie explained. "But I think so. She's a zoo lady."

"A magizoologist," Corvus corrected quietly. His hands twitched nervously in his lap. He thought he could see the top of the school. Was that the very tip of Hogwarts?

"She also teaches at Hogwarts," Freddie went on. "She's the Professor for third and fourth year Care of Magical Creatures."

"Do you have many pets at home?" Anne asked enthusiastically. She leaned towards him. They lead the conversation while Corvus watched his reflection in the window. His black hair was slicked back just like his fathers, and he ruffled the front of it up a bit. He took in the sharp green of his eyes and wondered if they only looked unnatural to him. He wished they were perhaps a bit more pale.

That should've been the least of his worries. However, when Corvus tended to worry about something, it started with one thing and lead to one hundred. His mother told him growing up that he'd gotten that from his father.

He'd gotten many things from him. Sharp eyes, should his not be cloudy - a sharp face. Terrible anxiety. Corvus thought of him. When he was a young boy, Ominis would teach Corvus the piano. Corvus was talented on the piano now, but because his father was blind, he only knew the keys by the sound of them and not the placement of the note. That's how he was taught. He wondered if the skill would be useful at school.

He missed home already. He worried. But there it was, the castle.

Hogwarts.

—————

"Are you ready?" Anne shook Corvus' arm. Corvus offered her a small smile and nodded. They took their seats in the Great Hall, which was the most fascinating building Corvus had ever had the pleasure to step foot in. Why, the ceiling was fantastic! It reflected whatever the weather was outside. At the moment, it was frosty, with no clouds in the sky. They could see the stars dotted along the beams of the high ceiling.

Candles with white wax hung from the ceiling without dripping, without actual suspension. Corvus wondered how such magic worked. He vaguely wondered what his parents thought when they first entered the Hall. He wondered what it would be like if he couldn't see it, if he could only hear what was going on. It lost a lot of its magic that way, a lot of its splendour. Anne and Freddie were beside themselves, they were sitting next to each other ranting and raving about everything around them. Students sat everywhere, many ready to be sorted.

The Headmaster was a tall man, a strict looking one at that. Quite old. And beside him stood an even older lady, with bright white hair and half moon glasses. Corvus wondered why she was still working when she looked that old. He hoped he was long out of work by that age. Anne clutched his arm.

He had a sudden surge of excitement when they called the first name. Corvus shouldn't be too far down the list of names. Anne and Freddie however, wouldn't have to wait. A few to Gryffindor, one to Slytherin. Five to Hufflepuff already. Three to Ravenclaw. By the time it got to Corvus, he was shivering in anticipation.

"Corvus Gaunt!"

There was a gasp around the Hall, and Corvus himself let out a noise of surprise. He'd never heard himself referred to as that.

Anne gave him a final uncertain squeeze of his hand and he stood up and walked to the front of the hall where the older lady stood with the hat.

"My name is Corvus Reyes," he said when he got to the Professor with the hat. She looked down at her list and then again at the boy.

"The surname here is Gaunt, dear."

"That's my dads last name."

"And that is who's you take."

"I was named Reyes," Corvus argued. "My mum's last name."

"I'll look into getting it changed. The hat will want to know you're a Gaunt, anyhow. Leave it with me, dear."

Corvus raised his eyebrows in an expression of surprise. How stupid. The hat needed to know? Well now everyone in the school knew he was a Gaunt. Sure, his eyes gave it away. Of course Ominis' hadn't looked like this - but everyone was involved in Marvolo's attack back in his family's seventh year. He knew about it. As much as they tried to hide it from him. And so did everyone else. He shook his head and sat on the chair, his stomach swirling with nerves.

It was placed onto his head, and it didn't even have to think. Corvus barely had time to worry.

Slytherin!!!

The Slytherin table clapped and wooped, and Corvus frantically looked to see Anne's expression, but he couldn't find her face in the crowd.

"Anne Sallow!"

The Professor's face held an expression of shock as she read the name. Her eyes softened as she watched the small girl leave her seat.

When Anne's name was called, she looked two times smaller than she actually was. She walked up to the chair and lifted herself onto it, looked up at the hat as it was put onto her chestnut hair.

"Hmmm," said the hat, almost growling. "Where to put you? Oh - I see.. the last Sallow I put in Slytherin, oh my. Not good things, not at all. Where did he end up, child? I can't have the same thing for you."

Corvus cringed slightly. Hurry up.

"You could do well in Slytherin," the hat muttered. "But it doesn't feel right."

Sure it does! Slytherin is perfect!!

"You're a smart girl, aren't you?" The hat was certain in its assumption. "I can see how badly you yearn to learn here. I know where to put you."

It was too late now, Corvus thought to himself. They'd be split apart, for the whole seven years. He'd be alone.

"It better be Ravenclaw!"