Halley Wolffer

Chapter 5

Halley could feel the stare of hundreds of eyes upon her as she advanced towards the staff, the tall, mysterious woman of black hair would look down at Halley and the silence was so complete that every one of her steps caused a cold, eerie echoing that could be heard in every corner of the hall...

The colorful fireballs were glowing and flying close to the high vaulted ceiling, and then Halley arrived beside the Staff table and Albion hugged her with immense appreciation.

"We are delighted to finally have Halley Wolffer with us" Albion said, looking sideways at the staff and then at the gathered students- "And Halley, already proving how cool she is, has taken command of the First Year boats during a time of need- She literally saved the day, and if it had not been for her, not a single first year student would have made it to the island today."

The students clapped once again, the large, red-haired Scottish professor drinking from a bottle of Scotch that would refill itself over and over again-

"You see, all I wanted was to boss the midgets around!" Halley whispered into Albion's left ear, but nevertheless, the wise old Wizard went on to praise Halley:

"We all know the story about Halley and she-the-badass, you know, what happened sixteen years ago" Albion said, his sapphire glowing all of a sudden- "However, I will ask you to keep it cool for a week or so, and give Halley time to adjust to the Wizarding world... we have just rescued her from some abusive Mugalls last night, after all."

"Halley rules!" Isabella cheered from the crowd of the first years, her fellow students clapping after her.

"I thought it necessary to inform you that the Whacking Willow is on the loose again and whacking everyone up, so please watch yourselves while you perform outdoor activities" Albion said, laughing a little- "We also have something secret in the castle this year, please do not ask what is that intense white light coming from the Raven Tower..."

The students began to whisper to each other, because it was not often that some kind of secret magical artifact was being held at Raven Tower or anywhere else in Hog's Wart castle... Albion let it go on for awhile, and then he silenced everyone with a sudden flash of light from the sapphire of his staff.

"As always, Professor Snap Annek shall start the education of the first years" Albion explained, the eerie woman nodding mysteriously at the students- "I shall be a little too busy this year because of the war, but you can count on Professor Julian McGregor here to attend anything you need."

The red-haired man remained drinking Scotch from his neverending bottle, apparently not paying much attention to what the Headmaster was saying...

"And now... let's proceed with The Sorting!"

Halley was surprised to see that the first years suddenly screamed and hopped with excitement, to her it seemed that they had been waiting for this moment all their lives and then the fireballs came down from the heights of the hall, ready to fly and swirl between the students...

"You know what to do" Albion said with a cheerful note, and then, all of the older students backed off many steps to allow a great deal of space for the first years alone- "All ready? Start!"

"Mother, what...?"

What happened next was so twisted and unusual that it took Halley by surprise, and at first, she could not believe what was happening before her very eyes...

18-

The Sorting Fireballs

"That one's mine!" Isabella shrieked, pushing a brown-haired girl in her attempt to catch a glowing blue fireball- "You can forget about it, catch a yellow one!"