Fate and Fatality

The carriages rolled to a stop in a large flat area. As their carriage pulled up to the doors, Harry couldn't help but be a little awed by what he saw. The doors had to be twenty feet tall. The dark wood was polished and smooth. The wood was a rich chocolate colored brown. Harry's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten anything since this morning, and the door's color reminded him of food.

As their carriage halted in front of the large, blue-gray stone steps that swept in front of the doors, Ron and Hermione jumped out, their arms hooked together, running to get out of the downpour. Neville followed them, and finally, Harry jumped and ran, his already wet robes becoming immensely heavy. He put his arms over his head to protect him from the heavy water drops that plummeted from the sky.

Once they were up on the landing in front of the doors, an immense stone over hang sheltered them from the rain. Harry shook his head, and tried in vain to wipe his glasses off with his wet sleeve. Hermione smiled and shook her head.

"Trocken-outre de."

Harry's glasses were clean and dry again. He put them back on his face, beaming at Hermione. "Thanks 'Mione. These glasses are no good in rainy weather." Hermione smiled back.

A crowd of students had now gathered on the landing, shaking their robes out and wringing out their hems and their hair. A group of girls moaned as they wiped off black smears of mascara running down their faces. Harry caught sight of Parvati and Lavender in their midst, their faces somewhat less smeared than the others. Ron saw them too, and snickered into his hand.

"What is it with make-up, 'Mione? Must you girls wear it all the time?"

Hermione hit him softly in the shoulder, laughing as well.

"Who doesn't want to be gorgeous?" Harry noticed how her voice went soft when she said this. He turned to look at her, but her face was pensive, hiding any emotion that might have been in those words. But before he could ask, the doors began to slowly move apart, creaking slightly on their hinges from their great weight.

Harry couldn't' see inside, but a few Hogwarts students nearby could, and their faces were utter surprise and delight. Neville hopped about slightly from one foot to another, trying to get a good view. Suddenly, he let out a small gasp, his mouth perfectly round. Seconds later, the door swung past Harry, a sudden wind ruffling his hair.

Harry's eyes widened, and craning his neck, looked up and up and up. The ceiling was almost impossibly high, but he could see every detail in the carvings in the marble that he was surprised. The floor was an ivory colored stone. The walls were a deep crimson red, and covered with gold-framed pictures. Ivory colored marble arches, which matched the floor, swept the ceiling, and figures of all kinds stood out from them. Many of the carvings were either angels or gargoyles, but in the four corners of the huge room were something totally different.

A tapestry hung in each corner. Their colors were splendid, and seemed almost to glow. Each was different. In the far right corner from the door, was a weaving of a woman in a garden of flowers. In the background, magnificent trees could be seen. Her dress was an earthy greenish-brown, and in her dark hair were wreaths of flowers. She smiled sweetly down among the students, waving every so often, and smelling the flowers that grew in abundance around her.

In the near right corner, the tapestry showed a woman sitting among the clouds as a glowing sun rose behind her. Her dress was pure white, and seemed to be made of clouds themselves. Her silver hair flowed out behind her. Her face was haughty and knowing. She often flipped her long hair, as if to show off. But she also smiled every so often, changing her entire face.

As Harry turned to look in the near left hand corner, he had to squint for a moment, for the tapestry seemed immensely bright at first. After a few seconds he could look at it normally. There was no landscape in this tapestry, but fire consumed the empty space, the flames dancing and leaping. From the center of the fire, a woman with deep chestnut hair that curled wildly about her sat, smiling intriguingly at the students, idly twisting her hand through the flames that seemed to part for her, as if she ruled them. The woman's dress red, orange, and yellow dress moved about as if it was also a flame.

As Harry's gaze traveled to the last corner, he felt that he was seeing someone familiar as he gazed at the tapestry that hung there. In it was a calm ocean scene. The waves rolled and crashed ceaselessly. In the center, knee deep in water, stood a dark-haired woman. Her dress was blue and white. The moon that shone down on her from the tapestry sky made her dress and hair flash like water. As the waves rolled past her, they carried the hem of her dress with them so that the dress tugged at her knees, willing her to move forward, but she never did so. Though she never smiled, Harry felt that if she did, it would be beautiful.

Harry took this all in within moments. Ron and Hermione stood beside him, studying the ceiling and the tapestries as well. Harry caught Ron's eyes and nodded. They passed through the doors with the other students who were clearly eager to get to dinner. Harry suddenly saw how long the entrance hall was. He noticed the students flowing through doors on the right only slightly smaller than the front doors. They headed that way too. Harry waited impatiently to see what was beyond them.

As they approached, he craned his neck futilely. He couldn't see past the rush of students. Then suddenly, he stood inside a hall that looked so much like the Great Hall at Hogwarts that his jaw dropped. Four long tables ran the length of the room, but there were two tables up front. A long one Harry supposed was for the teachers, and a smaller one that would seat perhaps twelve people. Harry glanced at Hermione, who was looking in that direction as well. She shrugged.

"Perhaps it's for visiting guests or something..."

Harry looked away and continued to glance around. The ceiling didn't look like the sky outside as it did in Hogwarts, but looked like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, only the painted figures moved about, smiling at the people below them.

Harry now saw the students seating themselves at their appropriate tables. He suddenly felt out of place. How would they be sorted? Suddenly a panic rose in his mind. What if he, Hermione, and Ron were not placed together? He saw a teacher point her wand in the air. Golden lettering shot out of it and twisted into words high above them.

First years and Hogwarts students please go through the door on your left...

Harry looked left and saw a small door. He and a number of the students around him headed that way.

He hardly looked around the stone chamber as he walked in. It was bare except for tapestries and pictures, which hung on the wall. The people in them whispered to each other. Harry caught pieces here and there, and gathered that they hadn't been told about the Hogwarts students. But then, who told a painting anything?

The first years had grouped themselves in a nervous huddle in a corner, glancing at the Hogwarts students apprehensively. Their numbers were not very large. Perhaps a little over half the number of first years at Hogwarts. Harry remembered how small the school had looked from the outside. He smiled furtively. The two halls alone must have taken up a majority of the school. Nevertheless, he liked them. Somehow, they felt homey to him, even though they were gigantic.

Suddenly, the door through which they had come opened. Professor Crimshai walked through, smiling.

"Welcome to Donovan. I a moment, you will pass through these doors and be sorted into your houses. The houses are as follows: North House, South House, East House, and West House. Now, the way we sort you is quite simple. When your name is called, you will come forward and look into the Mirror. You will then be sorted as it deems appropriate."

Harry noticed a few of the first years looking confused. He reckoned they must be from muggle families. The Hogwarts students hadn't been fazed. This was a simple as being sorted by the sorting hat. Remembering with a smile, Harry recalled his first time at Hogwarts, right before the Sorting. He remembered standing on the stairs.

Suddenly, the memory of Draco extending the hand of friendship crossed his mind and he grimaced. He hadn't thought about it much until now. But he wondered. What would have happened if he had taken Draco's offer?

Speaking of Draco, where was he? Harry glanced around until he saw him in the corner with all his Slytherin friends, who kept throwing dirty glances his way. Harry shook his head. At least they were quiet. Usually they couldn't wait to make trouble for someone. He suddenly noticed Draco, sneering in his direction, as usual. Harry rolled his eyes.

"I'm lucky I said no to being friends with him..." was the immediate thought that came to mind.

The door to the Hall opened again. Professor Crimshai beckoned to them. One by one, they filed back into the Hall. Harry looked around at the tables of students. The small one at the front of the room was still empty, but now all the teachers sat in their places. All the students were quiet as they watched the newcomers with, for the most part, interested glances.

They came to a stop in front of the teachers' table and turned to face the hall. Professor Crimshai unrolled a long piece of parchment.

"We will be sorting the Hogwarts students first. Please come forward when I call your name. Aaline, Crystal."

A fourth year Slytherin came forward, tossing her hair as she glanced into the tall, gold-framed mirror. There was silence. Suddenly, the hall was filled with a chorus of whispers, overlapping and intermingling. The hushed voices spoke but two words.

"North House..."

A table on the far left stood and cheered as the eerie whispers did away. Crystal went to join them, her face expressionless. Harry looked about and saw that many of the Hogwarts students had also been a little creeped out at the sound of the ghostly whispers. Ron, however, was unfazed, and leaned over and whispered in Harry's ear.

"So I suppose North House is the one we don't want to be in?"

Harry could only shrug. How was he to know anything about the sorting process? Ron straightened up again as "Bulstrode, Millicent" was called. Hermione shuddered as she clomped past. Hermione had never really gotten over being turned into a cat by mistake in the second year.

The whispers sounded again.

"South House..."

The routine went on the normal pattern of Slytherin and Gryffindor broken, and the two student groups sorted into the same houses as the other. Many, Slytherins and Gryffindors alike, were clearly unhappy and ruffled. Finally, Professor Crimshai called out, "Hermione Granger..."