Minerva's Song

Chapter Two.

That morning, Minerva could barely eat her porridge. She was so excited and nervous that she didn't feel the least bit hungry, but still she made a valiant effort and managed to finish most of it, because she knew it was good for her. Jessel, as usual, was making most of the conversation.

'What House do you think you'll be in, Min? Are you nervous about being Sorted? Would you rather be in Slytherin or Hufflepuff?'

'She'll be a Gryffindor,' said Domnall shortly, not looking up from his Daily Prophet.

'Well, that would be nice, but we'll be very proud, whichever House you end up in,' Sarah said.

'Ravenclaw sounds like a nice House, and it's for the clever people, so you could end up there!' suggested Jessel, busily pouring extra sugar on her porridge.

'Gryffindor,' Domnall repeated sternly. 'I'll not see a daughter of mine in Ravenclaw. Too much thinking, not enough doing, that lot.'

Minerva put her spoon down then, unable to eat another bite.

After breakfast, Minerva put the kitten into his travelling basket, and checked her trunk again to make sure she wouldn't leave anything behind.

'Aren't you forgetting something?' Sarah asked, as she came into the hallway to see Minerva locking her trunk for the seventh time that morning.

'I don't think so...' Minerva said, frowning, 'I'm sure I checked everything...'

Sarah reached behind her and brought out the violin in its case, and a thick wad of sheet music.

'You'll be needing this,' she said.

Minerva's heart leapt into her throat. Surely that wasn't for her?

'But Mam, that's your violin! Won't you miss it if I take it?'

'Oh, I hardly play it these days anyway. You're much better than I am. Go on, Min, take it.'

Minerva took the case by the handle and hugged her mother tightly.

'Thank you, Mam! You're so good to me!' she said.

Soon after, they were on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, watching Minerva's luggage being loaded onto the Hogwarts Express.

'Well, take care of yourself, write to me lots, and tell me if there's anything you need,' said Sarah, hugging her daughter once more.

'Yes, good luck, Minerva,' said her father stiffly, extending his hand for her to shake. There were no hugs where her father was concerned.

Minerva turned to Jessel, whose eyes were brimming with tears.

'Don't go!' she wailed, wrapping her arms round Minerva and clinging tightly. 'I changed my mind; I don't want you to go to Hogwarts! I want you to stay with me! Min, don't go!'

Minerva hugged her sister back, trying not to cry herself.

'I'll write to you all the time!' she promised, 'and I'll be back at Christmas, darling, it's no time at all!'

Minerva kissed her sister and pulled away. She climbed onto the train and found an empty compartment, set the cat basket down and went to the window to wave goodbye to her family. Jessel was still crying. The guard blew his whistle and the train began to pull out of the station. Minerva and Jessel both waved frantically. Minerva didn't stop waving until the station itself was nothing but a dot. Then she stopped, sat down, and let the kitten out of the basket to sit on her lap.

A few moments later, the door of the compartment swung open and a boy stood there, looking in at her with a wide grin.

'Mind if I sit here?' he asked.

She smiled and shrugged, but didn't say anything. He sat opposite her. He was a rather tall, thin boy, with green eyes and curly brown hair. He was still grinning, and one of his teeth was chipped.

'I'm Cerrig ap Caradog,' he told her, 'third year, Gryffindor. You a first year?'

'Yes.'

'And your name is...'

'Minerva McGonagall,' she said in a small voice.

'Nice to meet you, Minerva.'

She stared at him a little nervously. She didn't really know any boys. She and Jessel had never gone to school; Sarah had taught them, and Minerva didn't play with the other children in the village much. Was talking to boys different than talking to girls? Since she had no idea what to say, and it was rude to stare, Minerva turned her attention back to the kitten, bobbing a button on a piece of string for him to catch.

'What's his name?' Cerrig asked after a few moments of watching her play with the cat.

'Kosey,' she said.

'That's a good name, where did you find it?'

'In a book. It's Egyptian. It means lion.'

Ah, the ancient Egyptians worshipped cats, didn't they?'

'Yes, that's why I chose that name.'

'That's pretty clever. And you know, the symbol of Gryffindor house is the lion. Best house of all, it is. Do you have any idea which House you're headed for? Which do you think is the best?'

'Slytherin!' called a loud voice from the corridor, and the door was flung open to reveal a girl. She was about Minerva's height, and black, with hair in little knots all over her head. She came into the compartment and sat down, stretching out luxuriously on the seat.

'I'm sorry, I couldn't help overhearing your conversation,' she said, 'and I think that Slytherin is most definitely the place to be!'

'Oh, really?' said Cerrig, 'and why is that?'

'Well, I love snakes, and I look ever so good in green and silver,' she said. 'But mostly it's because Slytherin is the House for really ambitious witches and wizards, and I just know I'm destined to be famous and important! I can't wait to be Sorted!'

At the word 'Sorted', she gestured expansively, then fell back onto the seat, looking up at the ceiling.

'Can't argue with that, I suppose,' said Cerrig with a shrug. 'I'm Cerrig, this is Minerva. She's a first year too.'

'I'm Jamaica,' said the girl, 'Jamaica Jordan. Isn't this exciting? I can hardly wait to stay away from home; I almost never left London before now. Minerva, what House did you say you wanted to be in?'

'Gryffindor, I expect,' said Minerva. 'My father was in Gryffindor.'

'Ah, fiddlesticks, everyone wants to be in Gryffindor!' said Jamaica. 'Never mind, I won't hold it against you. Want a chocolate frog?'

The journey passed quite companionably, and Minerva was surprised to discover that conversation with boys was rather like conversation with anyone else, and Jamaica made it easier because she talked so very much. Minerva didn't say a great deal, but then she never did at home; she was content to listen and find things out. It turned out that Cerrig was Welsh, but he said Scotland was nearly as good as Wales, so that was alright. He had a lizard, but she was in her travelling cage, with the rest of his luggage. His favourite subject was Charms. He liked sherbet lemons. He had chipped his tooth playing a game called Quidditch, which Minerva had read about but never seen played, because her father said that brooms were an undignified way to get about and Quidditch was a waste of time. Afterward, Cerrig had decided that he liked the chip, and decided to keep it that way.

As for Jamaica, it turned out that she had four brothers, lived in London and had a Muggle mother and Wizard father, just like Minerva. She had gone to a Muggle school. What she wanted most of all was to be famous, but she hadn't decided for what.

It was getting dark, and they had been travelling for several hours by the time Cerrig said:

'But Minerva, you've hardly told us anything about you! We're almost there, and we've barely let you get a word in edgeways!'

'We'll have to watch out for her; she knows all sorts of things about us now,' said Jamaica, with a smirk.

'Well, there isn't much to tell,' said Minerva, taking a bite from her chocolate frog, 'just that my father is a Wizard, my mother is a Muggle, and I have a sister called Jessel. And I like... knowing things. And music. I play the violin.'

'Really? That's so romantic!' said Jamaica. 'I wish I could play a musical instrument, but all I can play is football. That's what happens when you have four brothers and there's no room in the back yard for Quidditch.'

'I tried to learn to play the harp, but I wasn't very good,' Cerrig added. 'No ear for a tune, me. My father despairs of me - all the men of our family for generations have been singers, then along I came, completely tone-deaf!'

Just then, the train, which had been slowing, came to a halt. Doors began to bang up and down the train. Minerva bundled Kosey back into his travel basket, and she, Cerrig and Jamaica followed the others onto the dark platform.

'First years! First years, to me, please!' called a woman's voice.

Minerva and Jamaica headed towards the voice, gripping the cat basket between them so as not to be separated by the heaving crowd. They waved goodbye to Cerrig as he headed in the opposite direction.

'See you at the Gryffindor table, Minerva!' he called just as the crowd swallowed him up. Minerva smiled, feeling a little more confident.

They reached the woman who was shouting. She was a tall, rather stout woman wearing a deerstalker hat and a very long, green scarf.

'Is that all of you?' she asked. 'Come along then! First years, follow me, this way!'

Minerva and Jamaica stayed close to the woman, and were the first to climb into the boats she led them to. They could see the castle on the other side of the lake, brightly lit with torches.

The boat ride, was brief, but cold, and Minerva was glad when they reached the shore of the lake, then followed the woman up into the castle itself. They all gasped and stared at the many paintings and ornaments as they walked through to an antechamber, where a thin, bored-looking man waited with a wad of paper.

'First-years, I am Professor Cook, head of Ravenclaw House and Deputy Headmaster,' he announced. 'Follow me to be Sorted, please. No talking.'

They followed him through the door, in silence except for a few giggles and whispers, which stopped entirely as they entered the Great Hall.

Minerva gazed at the room they had found themselves in. It was huge, hung with banners showing the colours of the four Houses, and the ceiling was covered in stars. There were four long tables, one for each House, and right now everyone, from every House, was looking at the first years about to be Sorted. The first years watched as Professor Cook brought out a stool and set a battered old hat down on it.

Minerva gasped as a tear on the brim of the hat opened itself and began to sing!

'Welcome all to Hogwarts

Where you'll learn the magic arts,

I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat -

I see what's in your hearts;

And so I choose where you will stay

Of the great houses four,

One for each founder of the school

Who lived in days of yore.

For Hufflepuff the youngsters who

Worked hardest were preferred,

The loyal and the honest,

The most kind in deed and word.

Now Ravenclaw selected just

The wise and clever sort,

Those who gave each thing they saw

Deep and considered thought.

Gryffindor, though, favoured

Students who were unafraid,

Those who would protect the weak

And give the helpless aid.

The things that Slytherin admired

Were cunning and ambition,

Determined folk who planned for life

With shrewdness and precision.

So now you can discover

Where it is that you belong,

Just put me on your head - you'll see!

And this concludes my song!

Professor Cook drummed his fingers on his paper and looked at his watch as the hat sang its song. Once it had finished, he consulted his list and cleared his throat loudly.

'Abbot, Julian,' he said.

A very small boy, with hair combed precisely down the middle, approached the stool with some trepidation.

'Well, sit down and put it on, boy, we haven't got all night,' snapped Cook.

Julian did as he was told and jammed the hat firmly onto his head. The first years held their breath.

'HUFFLEPUFF!' yelled the hat.

Julian took it off and scrambled down from the stool, then ran over to the Hufflepuff table, where everyone was cheering madly. Next was Joseph Biggins, who was Sorted into Ravenclaw, and was accepted with as much cheering as Julian had been. Minerva counted her fellow first-years, trying to estimate how long it would be before it was her turn.

'Jordan, Jamaica,' announced Professor Cook.

Minerva squeezed Jamaica's hand to wish her luck, and the girl went to sit on the stool.

'SLYTHERIN!' the hat called, and Jamaica emerged beaming with pride, striding confidently over to the welcome of her fellow Slytherins.

Shortly, it was Minerva's turn, and she tried to seem confident as she went to sit on the stool, and lowered the hat onto her head.

It was dark and musty inside the hat, and she could hear it musing.

'Hmm...hardworking, I see, and plenty of brains...determined and driven too...I expect you would excel in any of the Houses...'

Minerva's heart thudded against her ribcage. She had to get into Gryffindor! What would her father say otherwise?

The hat fell silent, and was quiet for what seemed like an eternity before it finally shouted:

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Minerva let out a sigh of relief and took off the hat, hurrying on wobbly legs over to the Gryffindor table. The cheering was deafening, and everyone was smiling at her. She smiled back. She was about to take a seat at the end of the table, but Cerrig waved her over and so she went to sit with him instead.

Minerva was so relieved that she barely noticed that a feast had suddenly appeared before them, but as soon as she began to eat she realised how hungry she was and attacked the food with enthusiasm. In between mouthfuls, Cerrig introduced her to some of the other Gryffindors in his year, including two boys called Toby Weasley and Bedevere McKinnon, and a girl called Persis Andrews. She liked them all, but they seemed so much older and wiser than her that she was a little intimidated.

Once the pudding arrived, she felt brave enough to move down the table to sit with the other newly Sorted Gryffindors.

'Hello,' she said, shuffling onto the end of the bench with a nervous smile,' 'I'm Minerva McGonagall. Um... do you mind if I sit here?'

'Not at all!' said the blond girl she sat next to, 'I'm Mildred Bowman, this is Alison Prewett, Helena Swann, Bevan Winter and Tully Fenwick. We don't know what those others are called, they didn't sit with us,' she gestured to the other small group of first-years, who had ended up on the other end of the table.

'Say, how do you know those older pupils already?' asked Tully. 'We were awfully impressed!'

'I just happened to be in the same compartment as Cerrig on the train,' explained Minerva, 'See, that's him there with the curly hair. He said we could ask him if we needed any help with anything.'

'Isn't that kind?' said Helena. 'I hope I won't need any help, but I'm sure I will - I don't know how I'll ever get used to this place, it all seems so big! And is it true the staircases move? How are we ever going to find our way? And do you think we'll ever learn proper magic? I'm so afraid that I just won't understand anything!'

Minerva was a little concerned about the same things, but for the moment she was too happy to let it bother her. Once the feast was over, they followed the other Gryffindors up the stairs. Minerva looked only briefly at the big, round Common Room before heading up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, waving goodbye to Cerrig, Bevan and Tully who were about to ascend the other steps. She, Helena, Mildred and Alison chose four beds close to one another and changed quickly. Minerva took Kosey's travel basket and let the kitten out to sleep at the foot of her bed. She climbed under the covers just as the other two girls entered. Minerva was awake just long enough to learn that their names were Gail Turberry and Lucy Marley before the excitement of the day caught up with her and she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.