Death Is Our Gift

VIII

"Sorting It Out"

The train arrived at Hogsmeade station. The five new friends left the train and piled onto the station.

"Firs' years," shouted a tall burly man, "o'er here!"

All the first years moved to the man, while the other students left the platform and walked out of site behind the station. As they were all gathered around him, he began to speak again.

"My name is Mister Wood. I'm the Flying instruction and Quidditch expert. I'll be leading ya to the boats and to the castle. Follow me, please."

The students followed Mister Wood through an archway, down a small dirt path, and around a corner to their first view of Hogwarts across the dark lake. Liam had seen the picture in his book, but nothing could prepare him for the sight he saw. It was huge on a scale that he could barely comprehend. Nothing he had seen before or since could be compared to it.

The students boarded the small boats and magically, the left the shore, taking them to Hogwarts. They slowly crossed the lake, ripples spreading out behind them in black water. Every face was illuminated by a single lantern in their boat, which Liam saw reflecting his own sense of awe.

They reached a small dock after a few minutes and disembarked. Wood led them up a flight of stairs and to a large wooden door. He waited for them all to have reached the door and then knocked on it. His knock must have been amplified, because the booming rattled everything.

The door opened and before them stood a stern witch with grey hair and deep blue robes.

"Professor McGonagall," said Wood, "the firs' years."

"Thank you Mister Wood," said Professor McGonagall. Wood pushed past her and walked inside the castle. McGonagall pushed the door open wider and motioned to everyone. "Please," she said, "this way." She entered the giant entrance hall and began to walk across to another door. She opened this and motioned everyone to enter.

The chamber was barely big enough to fit all the students in and Professor McGonagall. But as everyone was inside, the door closed and Professor McGonagall began to speak.

"I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and the Transfiguration instructor. I would like to welcome you all to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The start-of-term feast will begin shortly, however before that we will have the Sorting Ceremony.

"The Sorting Ceremony will determine which of the four houses you will be in, while here at Hogwarts. Your house will be like your extended family. You will live with them, take classes with them, and eat with them. Your successes will earn your house points and your failures will result in deductions. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.

"I will return for you shortly." She turned and walked out of the room. The murmur of excited voices began immediately.

"What House will you be in?" asked one boy.

"Me Mum was a Ravenclaw, but me Pops was a Slytherin," said a girl with horrid blonde hair.

"I'll be in Slytherin for sure," said a pale girl with jet-black hair.

"Course you will," said Joshua under his breath. But the girl apparently heard him.

"What's to say you won't be there too," replied the pale girl.

"Sod off Malfoy," said Sarah.

"Be careful Weasley," said the girl, "or your Daddy and his Mudblood wife will get to join-"

Sarah rushed towards the girl, withdrawing her wand, but was grabbed by Joshua. Before anyone could say anything else, Professor McGonagall came back into the room. She looked around at the stand off and said, "Is there something going on here I should know about?"

No one said anything. "Very well," she said, not convinced, "follow me please."

They all walked across the entrance hall to the Great Hall, named for its sheer size and grandeur. All the students were either looking up at the enchanted ceiling, at the long tables with the older students, or at the head table with the teachers at it. They all marched to the front of the hall, before the head table. Before them was a stool with an old wizard's hat on it, frayed and patched over the years.

The Sorting Hat began to move, opening a rip near the base to use as a mouth and began to sing about the virtues of each house. Liam was, however, focusing on one of the professors glaring at him. He had long greasy black hair, a large nose, and dressed completely in black. Liam glared back, trying to place his face.

The hall erupting in applause broke Liam's concentration. Professor McGonagall took the hat from the stool and said, "When I call your name, please come forward and I will place the hat on your head. You will then go to your house's table."

"Bulsara, Fredrick." A short boy with an overbite came forward was the first. McGonagall placed the hat on his head. After a moment, it shouted out, "Gryffindor!" The boy jumped down and ran to the Gryffindor table.

A few more names were called and McGonagall called out, "Evans, Alexandria." Lex mumbled under her breath as she went up and sat on the stool. The hat was lowered onto her head. It took half a minute to decide, but finally shouted, "Gryffindor!" She ran from the stool as "Forrest, Amanda" was called to the stand to become a Slytherin.

"Malfoy, Bianca." The pale girl who Joshua had been arguing with came forwards.

"Relative?" asked Liam to Joshua.

"Don't remind me," he replied as the Hat quickly shouted "Slytherin."

"Malfoy, Joshua." Joshua went forward and the Hat was sat on his head. Everyone was staring patiently at the hat. Liam noticed that Joshua was mumbling something, but he couldn't hear what was being said. Then the Hat shouted "Gryffindor!"

Other students were called up to the stool, each being placed in various houses. Soon, Professor McGonagall said, "Summers, Liam."

Liam walked to the stool as the Hat was placed on his head.

"Well, well," said a tiny voice in his ear, "I haven't sat upon a head like yours in centuries. Very interesting things you have in here."

"Glad you like them," Liam said whispering. "Anything special."

"Oh my yes," said the Hat. "Where I to go with my first impression of what you are, you should go into Slytherin. I place all your kind in there."

"So, Slytherin?" Liam loathed the idea.

"Oh no," said the Hat, "after I saw your mother in you, there is only one place to put you...

"Gryffindor!" Liam felt Professor McGonagall pull the hat off his head. He ran to the Gryffindor table. He shook hands with a few of the students as he arrived. He looked back at the table to "Stevens, Hawthorne" placed into Ravenclaw.

Soon it was Sarah's turn. She strolled up and the hat was placed on her head. A blink of the eye later, the Hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" She ran to the table, sticking her tongue out at the Ravenclaw table, especially the three Weasleys sitting there. She sat next to Liam. "Bloody twit," she said, "expecting me to be anywhere but Gryffindor."

More names were called, and then came, "Williams, Ashton." Ash went to the stool and the hat was placed on his head. Everyone waited for the hat to say, but it just waited. Liam could see Malcolm speaking under the wide brim of the hat, but couldn't make out what he was saying.

Seconds turned into almost a half a minute. Professor McGonagall began to look worried and turned her attention to Professor Dumbledore, who simply smiled and raised a hand in a 'just wait' gesture. A few seconds later the Hat shouted "Gryffindor!" This resulted in the loudest applause so far, even if it was relief applause. There was so much so that the sorting of "Williams, Robert" into Gryffindor was not acknowledge by many.

Everyone in their new houses began to chatter away for a few moments before Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat. The sound of which seemed to echo in everyone's ears. The hall became quiet.

"Before we begin," said Dumbledore, "I have a few start of term announcements that tradition dictates I make.

"As Gryffindor house has been graced again with another pair of Weasleys," which caused the hall to look at Sarah and Joshua who tried to hide their faces, "I must again state that the Forbidden Forest is off limits, hence why we call it "forbidden"." The hall chuckled at that comment.

"Also, due to the continued and rather persistent requests by Mister Wood and the lack of injuries from last years experiment, Quidditch tryouts will again be open to first years." This causes a lot of talking amongst the students, especially the first years. "If you wish to try out, please see your head of house or Mister Wood."

"As to the new faces on our staff, I would like to introduce Miss Willow Rosenberg, who will be taking over as our new Librarian." Willow stood, as people clapped for her, especially from a certain section of the Gryffindor table. "She has vast experience with research and magical studies. Also, if bribed sufficiently, she might be able to tell you a few stories about Professor Giles... or perhaps the Slayer."

The hall murmured at mention of the Slayer. Ash looked confused. "Who's the Slayer?" he asked. But before he could be answered, Dumbledore continued.

"Additionally, Professor Grubby-Plank, our Care of Magical Creatures instructor, has been called away for a long term assignment by the Ministry of Magic. So, as a replacement is a long time student of Magical Creatures and an expert on dragons, Professor Charlie Weasley." With that, the door to the right of the staff table opened and in walked Charlie. He had long orange hair, which seemed to redefine the color 'orange'. The side of his face was covered in a large burn mark, and he seemed to walk a little slower with a bit of wincing in his step. The Gryffindor table again shouted louder than the other tables, with the possible exception of an older red headed child, who must have been Malcolm. Liam understood what it meant to have a relative as a teacher type person. Charlie took one of the two empty chairs near the end.

"Also, Professor Murphy, our Muggle Studies expert will be leaving at the Christmas break for the subsequent delivery of her twin boys." Everyone looked at the very pregnant witch, who tried to get up, but instead opted for just a simple wave. "She will be gone for the remainder of the year, but I have secured a replacement who is familiar with the subject and will continue Professor Murphy's lessons.

"Finally, I would like to announce our new Defense Against the Dark Art professor." The entire hall scanned the staff table, seeing the remaining empty chair near the end. "It has become an annual Hogwart's Tradition to unveil the professor who has decided against, what would appear to be better judgment, to take this position." All the older students laughed, leaving the first years a bit confused. "So, I would like to introduce him now-" Dumbledore made a large gesture with his hands, but nothing happened.

"As I said, I would like to, but as he will not be arriving until tomorrow morning it would be pointless. So you mustn't skip breakfast tomorrow. And now, tuck in!"

Magically the plates in front of them filled with food. Everyone began to 'tuck in', filling their plates. Liam put a little of everything, just amazed at the sheer amount of food.

"Okay, so which of you magic people want to answer my question?" asked Ash.

Joshua mumbled something with a mouth full of ham that sounded like "What question?"

"Who's the Slayer?" Lex looked at Liam, who did nothing but eat on a ear of corn.

"The Slayer," said Sarah after clearing her mouth with some pumpkin juice, "is thought to be a legend. She is this one girl every generation, usually seventeen or so, who fights vampires and other evil forces."

"Like Harry Potter?" asked Ash.

"Yes, but Harry's real," said Sarah. "He's my uncle."

Ash and Liam were both surprised. "Your Uncle?" asked Ash.

"Well, he's not really my uncle, but we call him that because he's practically adopted by Grandmum and Granddad."

"The Slayer is real too," said Joshua. "Uncle Ron said he knew her."

Liam perked up at this. "Your Uncle Ron met... the Slayer?"

"Yep. He told me a story of him and Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione working with her to kill off this wizard who was trying to take over the world."

"Uncle Ron told you lots of things," began Sarah, trying to put Joshua down, but instead sounding hurt. "So why didn't he tell me those stories?"

"Because he liked me and not you," said Joshua.

Before it could turn into another Weasley/Malfoy argument, Liam interrupted. "So, what else did you Uncle say about the Slayer?"

"Not much," said Joshua. "Didn't like to talk about it too much. Said that most of it was too much for my young ears."

"What about now?" asked Liam. "Could you ask him about it now?"

Joshua didn't say anything. Sarah, in the first nice gesture all day, placed her hand on Joshua's shoulder. "Uncle Ron died four years ago," she said.

"Oh," said Liam. "I'm sorry."

Joshua shrugged his shoulders. "S'okay. We were just really close, that's all. He and Aunt Hermione didn't have any kids, and my Mum and Dad were always doing stuff for the Ministry, so I stayed with them a lot."

"If I may ask," said Ash, "how did he die?"

Before Joshua could speak, Sarah spoke. "He and Aunt Hermione were kidnapped by some of Voldemort's followers, the ones who were still on the loose. They wanted to lay a trap for Uncle Harry using them as bait. Uncle Harry couldn't be in two places at once, so he had to chose who to save."

"And he chose your aunt," finished Liam. Joshua and Sarah nodded.

"Whoa, that's heavy," said Liam.

Joshua grabbed a spoon full of potatoes and put them on his plate. "Look, let's not talk about this. I'm hungry and I hate it when people get between me and food."

"Quite right," said Lex. "And besides, we can talk about the Slayer another time." She looked at Liam, who this time tried not to glare at her, failing miserably.

"Liam seems to be enjoying himself," said Willow, looking at the Gryffindor table.

"Yes," said Giles. "My niece seems to be quite fond of him."

Willow looked over at Giles. "Why haven't you mentioned your family before?"

Giles continued eating. "There are reasons, which have no affect on our relationship or on anything else. Sufficed to say that I have long standing issues with my family that will not be resolved by you or anyone else." Giles never missed a beat.

"Sheesh," said Willow, "what crawled up your butt?"

"My butt is fine," said Giles. "But I do not like to discuss family matters. They have nothing to do with me; I have nothing to do with them. End of discussion."

"Fine," said Willow, "Professor Cranky-Pants".

"I do hope I'm not interrupting something," came a voice from behind them. The owner of the voice, a tall man with greasy hair, black robes, and a large nose, glared down at the seated pair.

"Ah, Severus," said Giles. "I was wanting to introduce you-"

"Miss Rosenberg has been introduced before the entire school, Professor," Snape said with his icy voice. "To introduce her again would be superfluous."

Willow reached out with her hand to shake. Snape did not respond. "Well, thanks for welcoming me," said Willow, trying to pull her hand back without feeling like a total moron. She was failing miserably too.

"I came," said Snape, "to tell you to be in Dungeon 3 tomorrow evening for you Potions review."

Willow looked at Giles, then back to Snape. "But Giles said-"

"While Professor Giles may be responsible for the education of students in the area of History of Magic, he is not responsible for potions. That is why I am referred to as 'The Potions Master'. I will decide when and where I will give a competency review. I wish to get this out of the way, and tomorrow evening should give you plenty of time to be familiar with the basics of potion making."

"Severus, perhaps you are-" began Giles, but Snape's hand cut off the rest of his diatribe.

"Rupert, I am perfectly capable of judging my behaviour in front of staff. I will see Miss Rosenberg tomorrow evening after her duties in the library are complete." With that, Snape turned on one heel and walked from the hall.

"I must say," said Professor Flitwick, who was listening to the conversation, "that he is rather fond of you, Miss Rosenberg."

"That's him being fond?" asked a shocked Willow.

"Oh yeah," said Mister Wood next to Professor Flitwick, "typically, he jus' glares at ya for a few years, then he ignores ya."

"However Oliver," said Professor Flitwick, "he still sees you as a student. That was an example of him being, dare I say 'chipper'. Wouldn't you say so, Rupert?"

"Well," Giles said, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose, "considering his reaction to Buffy, one would think he was in love." Willow didn't get that, and would have to investigate the claim a lot further.

The feast let out and all the students moved from the Great Hall and into the corridors. A Gryffindor prefect lead the first years up to the tower, where he gave the password ('flobberworm') to the Fat Lady, the portrait that guarded the entrance to their common room.

Once inside, one prefect took the boys to their dorms and the girls to their dorms. Liam, Ash, Joshua, Robbie, and Fred all stood in awe of the beds in their room. It was a large circular room with five large four-poster beds, each of their trunks placed at the foot of the bed that they would have wanted anyway.

They each changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. Liam was almost too excited to sleep, but he closed his eyes and saw his mom standing over him, tucking him into bed and kissing him on the forehead. And with that, he slept soundly.