Destination Unknown

Chapter 8

September 1^st, 2013

"Ready to go?" asked Draco. Hermione nodded. The three children thundered down the stairs as a car pulled up in front. The driver stepped out and opened the door for them to get in, while the House-elves loaded the trunks and the owl-cages. The car took off for King's cross when they were all seated.

"Aren't we early?" asked Harry.

"It's your first time. You'll have to get through the barrier," said Hermione.

"But Mum, we've been to the Muggle world before when we visited Granny and Grandpa," said Harry.

"You don't know much about the Muggle world yet, dear. There's more there than Granny and Grandpa," said Hermione.

"What does the barrier look like?" asked Cory.

"You'll see when you get there," chuckled Draco.

They reached the station all too soon. They stepped out of the car and walked up to the barrier carefully. Looking around, Draco casually leaned in, taking Ace with him.

"Where'd Dad go?" Cory asked apprehensively.

"Just pass through that barrier, dears. Run if you're scared," said Hermione. Harry and Cory broke into a run, pushing their trolleys, expecting to collide any minute. They closed their eyes and opened them when they didn't collide to see a scarlet engine and the grinning faces of their parents and sister.

"Whoa," said Harry.

"Cool," said Cory.

"Yeah," agreed Ace.

Hermione gave each of her sons a bear hug. Draco repeated the process. He was followed by Ace.

"Now, take care, both of you, ok? Write to us after the Sorting. Work hard. Don't give trouble to your teachers. And try not to get punished, ok?" said Hermione, her eyes brimming.

Harry and Cory looked rather alarmed.

"Come on, Herm," said Draco, "they must have a little fun. Show 'em who's the boss, boys!"

"Sure, Dad!" the boys cried.

Hermione smiled, but looked disapproving.

"Try to stay away from trouble, ok? And do write to us. We'll miss you terribly."

"Ok, Mum. We'll write everyday! Artemis and Perseus will be very busy!" said Harry.

"We'll study hard!" said Cory.

Ace threw her arms around her brothers and burst into tears.

"Aww, Ace, don't cry! We'll write lots of letters to you!" said Harry.

"And you'll grow up soon and join us at Hogwarts!" said Cory.

The seven-year-old sniffed.

"You're a good little witch, aren't you?" said Cory. Ace nodded.

"Good little witches don't cry. They say 'goodbye' to their brothers with a smile!" said Harry. He and Cory bent down on either side of her and whispered, "We need you to keep an eye on Mum and Dad and make sure that they keep sending us sweets regularly. You'll do it, won't you?"

Ace nodded fervently.

"That's our good little sister!"

Draco and Hermione smiled at this exchange. Hermione glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost time.

"Go on, boys," she said, "find yourself a nice compartment. Sylvia and Doug will be there with you. Make some nice friends!"

"And some nice enemies!" grinned Draco.

The boys boarded the train, dragging up their trunks. They found an empty compartment and leaned out.

"Bye, Mum! Bye Dad! Bye Ace! We'll miss you all!" they yelled and waved. Their family waved back until the train moved out of sight.

They settled down with a book each, which was in vain, because all they did was glancing out of the window and talking. Their compartment door opened suddenly and Sylvia and Doug walked in. They sat down.

"Which house do you reckon you'll be in?" asked Doug.

"Gryffindor," said Sylvia confidently, "all our family has been. You probably will be there, too, Doug. Aunt Ginny and Uncle Neville were both there."

"I hope so," said Doug.

"We hope we're not in Hufflepuff. Dad'll probably skin us if we got in there!" said Harry.

"Why?" asked Doug.

"He thinks only duffers go there," said Cory.

"I hope we're all in the same house," said Sylvia.

"Yeah," said Harry, "but in case we aren't, we can always remain friends, can't we?"

"Sure," said the other three.

"Have you two ever thought that you may be sorted to different houses?" asked Sylvia.

"They don't always put twins together, you know. Aunt Parvati and Padma were in different houses," said Doug.

"I hope it doesn't come to that," said Cory worriedly.

"Me, too," said Harry. He had never thought that he and his brother could be separated. They were a lot like each other.

"Slytherin and Gryffindor have been enemies since the time of the Founders, you know," said Sylvia.

The three boys nodded. They kept talking the rest of the way and were interrupted only twice - once when the round witch with the sweet trolley came in (they bought a humungous amount of sweets) and once when some of Doug and Sylvia's eldest cousins looked in. one of them, Damien, Uncle Bill's eldest son, was the Head Boy.

It was evening when they reached Hogwarts. Hagrid, whom they knew well, led all the first years to a lake. They sat on the boats and advanced towards Hogwarts. The four friends sat together. They gasped in delight when they had their first view of Hogwarts. They'd never seen anything so beautiful before.

They reached a huge gate where Hagrid knocked thrice. It opened and Professor McGonagall stood there. The four friends smiled at her, too. They knew her, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Longbottom, Hagrid and Professor Snape pretty well. She gave them a welcoming speech and led them to the Great Hall. The first years drew in a collective breath. It was magnificent!

Professor McGonagall placed an old hat on a three-legged stool. A wide mouth opened in the hat and it started singing. The students cheered and clapped. McGonagall held up a hand and announced, " I will read out the names of the first years. You will step up here and I will place the hat on your head. It will sort you."

The first years nodded nervously.

"Arnold, Maurice!"

A brown haired boy walked to the stool and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat on his head.

"HUFFELPUFF!"

The list went on till...

"Longbottom, Douglas!"

The hat barely touched his head when it screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Doug looked very relieved as the red table cheered and welcomed him. His father smiled at him from the teachers' table.

"Malfoy, Crinon!"

Cory walked up nervously. Was it his imagination or were Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape watching him apprehensively? The hat was placed on his head.

"Hmm...difficult...very difficult," said a small voice in his head, "quite a brain, there...quite brave, too...I think I've sorted you before...long ago..."

You're wrong, thought Cory.

"I'm never wrong!" said the hat indignantly, "I think you'll do well in Ravenclaw...let's see, now...what else is there in your head...you're quite talented...now, where shall I put you?"

Anywhere but Hufflepuff, thought Cory.

"You're not Hufflepuff material...you're diligent enough, but you're ambitious and reckless as well...ah, a Parseltongue! I know where to put you! SLYTHERIN!"

Cory rose shakily and went to the green table. The Slytherins welcomed him with cheers and applause. After all, his father had been the Prince of Slytherin.

"Malfoy, Heron!"

Harry swallowed and sat down on the stool, wondering why the hat had taken so long with Cory.

"Dear me," said an annoyed voice in his head, "not another one! You're as difficult as the previous one and I feel that I've sorted you before, too! Are you two related?"

We're twins, thought Harry.

"Hmm..." said the hat, "I see. Plenty of talent, oh my goodness, yes...and a nice thirst to prove yourself, too...and quite courageous as well...now, where shall I put you?"

With my brother, please?

"All right," said the hat, "I seem to remember placing you in Gryffindor long ago because you begged not to go to Slytherin...I know you'd do well there...I told you so...very well, then...SLYTHERIN!"

More cheers erupted from the green table. Cory was jumping up and down. Harry looked up at the Staff table, and saw Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape look at him and Cory strangely. He looked around and saw Doug. Doug gave them a sad smile from the Gryffindor table.

"Bad luck," Harry mouthed.

They waited eagerly for Sylvia to be sorted. She went to Gryffindor, too.

Professor Dumbledore stood up after the sorting was over.

"I will not withhold you from your dinner for long. Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. Let me remind you, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students. And some students would do well to remember that the giant squid in the lake does not like colouring charms," he looked at two pairs of twin daughters of Fred and George Weasley - Pansy and Poppy (Fred's) and Lily and Daisy (George's), "Mr. Filch has a list of forbidden items you can get from him. Now, tuck in!"

"I'm glad we're in the same house," said Harry to his brother.

"Me, too. Mum'll be disappointed, though."

"Don't worry. We'll cheer her up with our results!"

"Yeah. And we'll write to her when we get back to our dorms."

The three Malfoys in Malfoy Manor were pacing impatiently when Artemis arrived. Hermione held out a huge owl treat while Draco untied the letter.

Dear Mum, Dad and Ace,

We're in Slytherin! [Hermione made a disappointed noise while Draco jumped up and down with a loud 'Yeah!'] We're glad to be in the same house. The Hat took a long time deciding both of us. It said something strange to us, too. It said that it felt that it had sorted both of us before. We talked to the other boys in our dorm; the hat didn't say anything similar to any of them. Doug and Sylvia went to Gryffindor. We also thought that Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape were looking at us strangely, but we might have been wrong. [Draco and Hermione exchanged a worried look] We heard some Hufflepuffs saying that Slytherins were evil, but we laughed it off - we remember Mum's words. Rest is fine. Our roommates are Keith Crabbe and Nimrod Zabini. There are four girls in our house in our year - Florence Goyle, Hera Nott, Romina Avery and Sera Flint. We don't know why, but Crabbe, Goyle and Flint have decided to be our bodyguards! [Hermione smirked at a nettled Draco] They seem incredibly slow and stupid and large - well, Flint is better than the other two. The other three are normal enough. We are waiting to talk to Sylvia and Doug tomorrow. Hope you all are fine at home. Love to all three of you.

Harry and Cory.

P.S. Please send us some sweets with Artemis. We ate all we bought on the train.

Hermione immediately shrunk two huge boxes of chocolate frogs and gave them to Artemis. She also attached a letter telling them that Draco was very proud and that she was not disappointed, but they'd better get good results and that they shouldn't worry much about the hat; it had probably gotten confused. Ace added a few lines on her own and so did Draco. Artemis flew off with the attachments on her leg.