Charles Chandler and the Staff of Fury

Chapter 4

"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" the booming voice repeated.

The day was getting rather near dusk, and it was becoming difficult to see. Charles, Stephen, and Helena moved towards the voice. As they approached, Charles saw the largest man he had ever seen in his life. He towered over even the oldest students.

The large man directed all of the new students to follow him. The whole lot of them began to move off down a narrow path. After a couple of minutes of walking the large man shouted, "Yeh'll be getting' yer firs' look at the castle in a bit. It's jus' around the bend."

As they came around a bend, they saw the castle. There was a general murmur of awe as they saw where they would be spending the next school year. Ahead of them, the man stopped. Charles looked to see why. In the excitement of getting a look at Hogwarts, he failed to notice the huge lake in front of it.

"Everyone in a boat, and no more than four to a boat!" the man boomed.

Charles climbed in one just to his left. Helena and Stephen followed suit. Then a small Asian girl climbed in with them. She looked just as nervous as Charles felt. Charles gave her a small smile. Then he started to wonder, why they had come this way, and the rest of the school had not? Charles wanted to ask the man guiding them, but he looked so wild and ferocious that he dared not.

The boats began to move under their own power. Charles assumed they were magically powered because he couldn't hear any engines at all. Charles looked behind the boats to see the wake, and he marveled at how smooth the ride was.

After a bit, the boats glided through some ivy. Charles was so absorbed with looking behind the boats that some of the ivy got tangled in his hat, and he had to reach for it before it got taken into the lake. Charles was readjusting his hat when the boats glided into an underground harbor of pebbles and gravel.

As soon as they got out, they hurried after the big man. He had started walking down a corridor. All of them had to hurry to catch up, but it wasn't that hard, they could just follow the lamplight. All of the students reached a large oak door. There the man was waiting.

"Everyone here?" he asked. "Alright, let's go!" He knocked on the door three times and it swung silently open.

The open doorway revealed a stern looking witch wearing dark green robes. She surveyed the students quietly.

"The Firs' Years, Professor McGonagall," the large man told the stern looking witch.

"Thank you, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall replied. She then turned to address the crowd of students as Hagrid walked past her and went through the door behind her. "I am Professor McGonagall, and I will be one of your teachers during your time here at Hogwarts. Soon you will pass through these doors into the Great Hall and be sorted into your Houses. The House you are sorted into will be like your family here at Hogwarts. You will eat, sleep, and learn together. There are four Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. In a few moments, I will lead you into the Great Hall. I suggest you use this time to straighten yourselves up. You," she said pointing at Charles, "put on your hat." She then turned and walked into the Great Hall.

Charles quickly pulled his hat on. He had taken it off when he entered the castle. He could see now that he was the only person to do that. His father had taught him to remove hats while inside of buildings. This was just one thing that they did differently here, Charles thought.

"What's all this about Sorting and Houses?" Charles whispered to Stephen.

"Well, the houses are kinda separated into different traits. The more studious people usually get sorted into Ravenclaw, while those with lots of bravery tend to go to Gryffindor. I'm not sure about the other two," Stephen replied. "My parents were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor while they were at Hogwarts. Though I can clearly remember my Mum talking about not liking the Slytherins too much..."

A little later, Professor McGonagall returned and led them into the Great Hall. Charles looked around nervously. All of the students in the hall were staring at them as if waiting for something to happen. To distract himself, Charles looked at the ceiling. This was good for distracting him, but it was kind of bad as well because he stumbled on the hem of his robes. It didn't look like there was a ceiling to the Hall. On it, Charles could see moving clouds as the ceiling apparently opened to the outside. After he thought about it, Charles decided that there was a roof; it was just that the ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky outside.

Soon, the first years had arrived at the head table, where what looked to be where the teachers were sitting. Charles saw the Potions Master, Snape. He was looking back with a frown on his face. The next thing Charles noticed was that they had stopped in front of a stool with an old, patched, very frayed-looking hat on it.

As soon as Charles looked at the hat, a tear near the brim opened up and it began to sing:

"The progress of a thousand years

Through which this school has grown

Has changed the world around me,

But not what I have known

So made me, did Brave Gryffindor,

That when the Founders passed,

I would continue sorting on

Each student to the last

The Founders prized certain traits

For students in their house

A theme that will continue on

Until my flame is doused

Each student is to put me on

I'll look inside his head

To ferret out the path he leads

And where he breaks his bread

The laborious work of Hufflepuffs

The just, the loyal, the true

Requires patience and proficiency

Learned through and through

When a brand new Gryffindor

Is chosen from the pack

He's daring, bold, and chivalrous,

And bravery will not lack

In the house of Ravenclaw

One seeks to grow in mind

More learning, wit, and intellect

You will never find

The Slytherins, a tight-knit crew

Who like to be victorious,

Will work to win by any means,

For this they are notorious."

The hat fell silent, and the whole hall broke into applause. Charles clapped as well, but he thought about what he had just heard. "I wouldn't mind being in Hufflepuff, I guess. They seem like a nice lot to be around, but...I dunno," he thought.

"Now when I call your name, I want you to approach, put on the Sorting Hat and sit down. After you are sorted, please go and join your House," Professor McGonagall explained.

"Archer, Sarah."

A tall brown-haired girl went up, sat down on the stool and placed the hat on her head. After a few moments, the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The table just to the right of the first years broke into applause. Sarah Archer took off the hat, hopped down off the stool and joined her new House.

"Chamberlin, Justin."

The boy Charles had quarreled with near the end of the trip stepped forward. When the hat was placed on his head, it slipped down below his nose. Justin sat there for about ten seconds before the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

Justin jumped down and headed to the left of the other first years. He gave a superior look to those still in line as he headed towards the applauding table. He sat down next to a tall curly haired girl and turned to watch the rest of the sorting.

"Chandler, Charles."

Charles swallowed hard. This would have been hard enough without the whole school staring at him. He approached the stool and sat down. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. The hat stopped just above his eyes. Apparently his head and ears were large enough to keep it from slipping down to his nose.

In his ear, he heard the hat speak to him. "Well, let's see what we have here. You're very loyal to your friends, not afraid to stand up to people. Oh my, a strong urge to seek knowledge...hmm...I have a pretty good idea where to put you," the hat said to Charles. "You're going to go to RAVENCLAW!"

The table where Justin had just sat down cheered loudly. Charles went to the table and tried to sit apart from Justin, who wasn't looking too thrilled about having to spend seven years with Charles. Charles avoided making eye contact with him, and waited to see where his new friends would go.

"Chang, Cho."

The small Asian girl who had joined Charles, Stephen, and Helena in the boat stepped up. She sat there for a second, and then the hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW!" Cho bounded down happily, and went and sat next to Justin. She smiled across at Charles, who waved back with a small smile.

"DeWitt, Arnold."

The vulture-like boy approached the stool and sat down with a surly look on his face. Although he was rather tall, the hat still managed to cover most of his face. It didn't stay there for long, though. The hat hesitated only slightly before yelling, "SLYTHERIN!"

Charles's eyes followed DeWitt as he went to the table on the far right side of the hall. When DeWitt sat down he scowled at Charles. Charles didn't think DeWitt could smile because if he did he face looked liked it would seize up.

Charles went back to watching the sorting. Despite getting three students early on, the Ravenclaws didn't pick up any more new students until:

"Howard, Helena."

Helena stepped forward like all of the students before her. She sat down and had the hat placed on her head. And she sat there...and sat there...and sat there. After five minutes of just sitting there, Helena began to start to turn red with embarrassment.

At long last the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" and Helena jumped and move towards the table. She sat next to Charles, and gave him a small smile.

Charles didn't have a chance to say anything, because he heard, "James, Stephen." Charles turned quickly to see Stephen walk forward calmly but briskly. He sat down, and almost as soon as the hat touched his head, it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

Stephen grinned faintly, and then headed down to the Ravenclaw table. He sat next to Helena and smiled at both of them.

Helena looked a little miffed. "Why did it take so long with me? You barely had to sit down," she said with a pout.

Stephen stopped smiling and looked thoughtful for a moment. After pondering for a minute, he smiled again.

"I think," he started, "that it might have something to do with the fact that you're Muggle-born, and I'm from a wizarding family." Stephen's eyes narrowed in thought. "But maybe it's more likely that I was definitely going to be in Ravenclaw, and you were very likely to have ended up in any of the houses...except Slytherin. I've heard they don't take too kindly to Muggle-borns," Stephen finished, with a frown.

Charles thought about this, and decided that it seemed plausible enough. He went back to watching the sorting. There were still quite a few people left standing there.

The Ravenclaw table acquired five more students by the end of the sorting. They were joined by Matthew and Colleen McCullough, a set of fraternal twins; William Walters, a very short boy with what looked like green hair sticking out from under his hat; Fiona O'Connor, a tall girl with long red hair; and Swahti Patel. Swahti stood out from the rest, but wasted no time in introducing herself.

As soon as Swahti finished introducing herself to Ravenclaw's last new student (William Walters), the old wizard sitting at the middle of the head table stood up. He waited for a moment as the hall gradually quieted.

"The beginning of another year," the wizard began. "I would like to welcome you to Hogwarts. Before we start the feast, I would like to pass along some notices to our new students. The forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all first and second year students. Now with that, let the feast begin!"

"Who is that?" Charles asked Stephen.

Stephen looked at Charles a little disbelievingly and began to explain. "That is Professor Albus Dumbledore. He's the headmaster here, and he is probably the greatest wizard of our time," Stephen explained. "Would you like some Yorkshire Pudding?"

Charles gasped as he noticed that all of the golden platters around him had filled with food. He sat stunned for a moment until Helena nudged him out of his trance by forcing a tureen into his hands.

"I hope you like tomato soup," she said, "because I don't think many people here want to be the first to try it."

"Tomatoes? Ick...but I do like soup...I'll give it a try," Charles responded. He began to spoon some into his bowl, and tasted it timidly. He was shocked to find out how good it tasted. This was the best use of tomatoes that he had ever tasted.

As dinner went on, Swahti managed to get everyone talking about themselves. Aside from Justin and Stephen, all of the first years had at least one Muggle parent. Charles thought that all wizard families would be more common.

The twins, it seemed, were not really keen on opening up, but after enough questions by Swahti, they started talking about their family. The twins had a knack for picking up where the other one left off.

"Dad met Mum when he was doing some work for Gringotts. Hid the fact that he was a wizard until after they were married. She was so interested in his world that they spent their entire honeymoon in Diagon Alley," the twins told them.

"What about you Charles? We haven't heard much form you today," Swahti said, looking at Charles.

Charles reddened slightly. He had never really talked much about his family with anyone. He took a deep breath and started.

"Well, I'm a half and half. My Dad's a Muggle. He's an American Muggle at that. Mum told Dad early on that she was a witch, and they moved over here a few years after I was born. My brothers were also pretty young..."

"Are we going to see any of your brothers at Hogwarts?" Fiona asked.

"Not my older brother, no. He's as much of a Muggle as my Dad. Renard, though...he's had so much odd stuff happening around him, I think he'll be here in about three years."

"Where did you move from?" Matthew asked. He and Colleen were looking at Charles with great interest.

"From Louisiana, I think. It was awfully hot and humid there all the time. Moving here was sort of a relief," Charles said. "Though I would have to say that the food there was really good. There were some really spicy foods over there. My Dad misses it sometimes, so he cooks as much as possible. He's not a big fan of how the food tastes around here."

"I know what you mean," Swahti said, "It seems like the people in this country are afraid to use spices."

Justin frowned at Swahti when she said this, but the amount of treacle tart that he had eaten forced him to keep his mouth shut. By the time he managed to swallow, the conversation had moved on to Fiona, who was talking about how green the area around Dublin was during the spring.

Soon the desserts faded off the plates, and the talking began to die down. At the head table, Dumbledore stood up and gestured for silence.

"Now that you have all been fed and watered, it is time for bed. Prefects, would you please guide your house to your dormitory," Dumbledore announced to the hall.

The prefect that stepped into the scuffle on the train stood up from the Ravenclaw table. Cecil gestured to the students to follow him and led them out of the Great Hall. He conducted them into the Entrance hall and headed up the stairs. Cecil moved swiftly, calling out "Keep up, please!" over his shoulder.

The new Ravenclaws hurried behind their prefect. Charles looked about, absorbing the route that they were taking. He figured this would be the fastest way to breakfast tomorrow, so he had better memorize it. Cecil moved quickly through the halls, occasionally pointing out areas of interest.

"Down that hall is the Charms classroom, and if you go through here, it will lead you to the library," Cecil said as he moved past.

A couple of minutes later, the group turned right into a square rooms that had three massive bookcases on the far wall. Cecil said to the bookcases, "Omelet du Fromage," and the middle bookcase lid down into the floor revealing a hidden passageway. Cecil stepped through the doorway and began directing the new students to their dormitories.

"Girls dormitories are up, boys dormitories are down," Cecil explained gesturing towards a set of staircases. "You will spend much of your free time either in here or in the library. Fortunately, the common room has a decent selection of books, so you won't always have to go to the library," Cecil gestured at the massive bookcases lining the walls.

"Alright, everyone? Time for bed, then," Cecil declared.

Charles walked in behind Matthew, and saw that there were five four-poster beds laid out in the room. Three were on the left side of the room, and two were on the right side. Charles saw Kieran lying with his head down on the middle bed on the left side.

"Well, I guess they've already picked the beds for us," Charles said with a slight smile.

His smile didn't last long. It turned out that Justin had the bed just to his left. On the other hand, Stephen would be on his right.

Charles changed into his pajamas, and climbed into bed. Kieran got up, wagged his tail happily, and then settled at the foot of the bed. Charles closed the curtains on his bed, and promptly fell asleep.