The Unexpected Task [H.P.]

Chapter 3 - Scourgify

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The hat had just sung a song. The freaking hat. It opened its mouth and sang. The first years behind me seemed to be the only people in the entire hall who seemed at all perturbed by this- I glanced at the table nearest to me, overflowing with students wearing red-trimmed robes and ties, all watching the hat curiously. The hat held everyone's rapt attention across the entire room, it seemed, as only a handful of green-robed students at the far end of the room sat whispering together, ignoring this specific piece of strange magic entirely.

The last few bars of the Hat's song warbled around the room in echoes, and the crowd of students responded with varying levels of applause, some finally realizing that there was a rather tall looking first year among them. I tried to shrink down some as I felt a few hundred eyes on me and focused on Professor McGonagall as she swept forward, extracting a large scroll from the pockets of her robes and began to unroll it.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she addressed the first years and I, her eyes thin over her spectacles. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table. Now, Barnes, Emorie!"

I gulped, trying to ignore the whispering as I stepped forward to walk down the aisle.

"She can't be a first year...." "Since when have we taken transfers?" I couldn't help stifling a laugh as she passed a blue robed student whispering furiously... "...there isn't a single first year with a surname starting with A? Unbelievable."

I paused before McGonagall, who motioned towards the stool. I turned to take a seat, balking as I took in the amount of eyes in the hall focused entirely on me. I didn't have long to survey the room from this angle before McGonagall placed the grimy hat on my head. The world goes black, and I hear a voice.

"A late bloomer, eh? Stars, you've got ambition, it's clear to see."

My hands involuntarily grabbed the hem of my skirt, and I felt incredibly clammy.

"Ah- But you're shy...no then. Difficult, yes, very difficult. Did you have trouble finding a wand?"

My mind flashes to the hour it took combing through Ollivander's shelves almost two weeks ago, as what felt like hundreds of wands passed through my hand before a Chestnut wand nearly caught my skirt on fire- and somehow, the wizened old man declared it a perfect fit. I fidgeted in my seat before the hat continued.

"I see. Yes, very tricky. I can see great things in your future, perhaps any house will do. No objections?"

I didn't know what to say. Ravenclaw had been my Grandmother's house long, long ago. But I hardly knew the difference, nor did I really care. My father's words rang in my head- Be brave. Be brave.

"Oh, yes...I know what to do with you, then. You must be- GRYFFINDOR!"

I knew the hat had shouted the last part because part of the hall had erupted in a cheer. Professor McGonagall lifted the hat from my head, and for a moment, the light in the hall was nearly blinding. I stood on shaky legs and looked for the source of the noise- students from the red-suited table waved me over. I walked down the steps and sat at the nearest seat, next to a freckled-covered boy with rather large front teeth. He grinned shiftily at me and turned away, proceeding to chat with another boy with lighter-brown hair. Across from me, some younger students watched as a visibly nervous Ackerley, Stewart took a seat on the stool.