Enchanted by freckles - short stories

Story 16 - Trio

Ominis point of view (1st grade):

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the talking hat as soon as it was near my head. Of course, how could I, a descendant of Slytherin, not get into his house either.

I used my wand to navigate my way around, trying to find my table. I hadn't had my wand very long and everything in the castle was new to me. Accordingly, it was difficult to keep my orientation without my eyesight.

"Shall I escort you to your table, Mr Gaunt?" asked the friendly witch who had just put the hat on my head. "Yes, please," I said, a little desperate and ashamed.

She put her hand on my shoulder and guided me to the Slytherin table. I wondered if there were any other blind children at this school.

I sat at the Slytherin table and waited. I heard more and more students sit down, but no one spoke to me. I was rather reserved anyway, but I had hopes, now, of making some good friends here at Hogwarts. My family, apart from my beloved Aunt Noctua, was not very social, so I had never really had any contact with other children.

I was terribly excited.

"Hello.", I unexpectedly heard a soft girl's voice say. I didn't react because I didn't assume she was talking to me. Suddenly I felt someone tap me. "Hello?" she asked again.

"Hello.", I replied quietly. "Are you sightless?" she asked me directly. I just nodded. "And what's your name?" "Ominis Gaunt." "Hello Ominis, I'm Anne Sallow. It's nice to meet you. If you need any assistance, you're welcome to ask me."

I think I smiled a bit as I nodded. She seemed very friendly and she smelled wonderful. Kind of like freshly cut grass. Really very pleasant.

A moment later I heard her happily shouting "Yessss!", and a moment later she said, "Oh Merlin, Sebastian, you can't scare me like that!". Ah, apparently she had already found a friend.

"Ominis?", I heard Anne say, "This is my twin brother, Sebastian. Seb, this is Ominis Gaunt." "Gaunt? I've read that name before," said a unfamiliar voice. Probably from Anne's brother. I noticed his smell too. Also very pleasant. Reminded me a bit of forest. Probably the two of them lived in a small hamlet.

"But first, hello Ominis, I'm Sebastian. We'll probably sleep in a dormitory together," he said and I could hear him smiling a little. I'm sure he was also happy to have met someone already.

"Whoa Anne, there's a gorgeous girl sitting with the Gryffindors!" he whispered to his sister. I had to grin. Somehow I was looking forward to spending more time with them. They both seemed like we could become good friends.

After dinner, we were all supposed to go to our common rooms. We got up and Anne linked arms with me. "Anne, since when are you such a big fan of physical contact?", I heard Sebastian ask. "He's blind and I offered to help him until he finds his way inside the castle," she answered him. "Ahh, I understand!", Sebastian sounded surprised and suddenly I felt someone taking my other arm. "That way no one can bump into you.", he said.

They were both so kind. I have never met such friendly people in my life.

Professor Sharp, our Head of House, took us to the Slytherin common room. In the dormitory, I heard him telling us where our beds were. As he left the room, I felt Sebastian pull me further into the room. "Here's your bed. Mine is right next to yours." he said, tapping my right arm. I nodded.

The two other boys from our room, left the room quite quickly, but I sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. The worst was already done, wasn't it?

Suddenly I was jolted out of my thoughts as my bed moved. I noticed the smell of the forest. It was Sebastian. I didn't know if he had gone outside with the others, but obviously not.