The Unknown

Chapter 16: Hogwarts

Being back at Hogwarts didn't feel the same to Dahlia, it didn't feel like home. Enemies lurked at every corner, especially the Slytherins who Dahlia knew were being recruited. It wasn't the death of Cedric or the return of Voldemort that made her look at Hogwarts differently, it was her time in Niflheim. Being in a place where there was peace, where no one wanted to harm her, where she and her sister could be together, that was home. If you had told her when she was 11 that she would eventually look to the realm of the dead as home, she would have laughed in your face and recommended to go to St Mungos, but times had changed; discoveries and truths had been revealed. She loved Hogwarts, it was where she met her friends, it was the beginning of the life away from the Dursleys, a connection to her mother, but with every passing day knowing of the dangers, of the secrets hidden from her by a man she trusted, people in the Order she trusted, it only made the longing to leave more. Familiarity was there though, even in the form of the Thestrals that pulled the carriages to the castle. At first, Dahlia was surprised to see them but then remembered that her sister told her that there was a Hogwarts herd. It did, however, make her think of Eclipse and how Dahlia had to leave her. It made her worry that Eclipse would feel she was abandoned by her rider and mistress, as Thestrals only have one. Dahlia prayed that someone would manage to get Eclipse to ride outside the city, or else she wouldn't have much room to run.

At the start of term feast, the Sorting Hay sung a new song like always but this time the song made Dahlia nervous. It was as if the Hat was trying to warn them about friends being divided and being united by a common goal, could have meant both light and dark.

"In times of old, when I was new,

And Hogwarts barely started,

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted.

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning

To make the world's best magic school

And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach"

The four good friends decided.

And never did they dream that they

Might some day be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere

As Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why, I was there, so I can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those

Whose ancestry's purest."

Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name."

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot

And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife

When first they came to light.

For each of the four founders had

A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,