You can have doubts, that’s just a natural part of being human, you can feel weak. But the only thing that you must engrave deeply in your heart, is that you’ll never stop, brace your heart for what’s ahead, you can take your time, you can take a rest, but never stop, never give up.
Let your light continue shining, illuminating the road that you have crossed, leave a blazing trace for those that follow you. Don’t stop, tomorrow will be better.
The Sorting Ceremony continued without a hitch, well Harry Potter sure took his time choosing his House. When he sat on the stool, the entire hall came to a screeching halt, every single person present in the hall went silent and had their eyes set on him. Everyone waited patiently till the sorting hat gave his verdict.
He was guilty of all charges and will be serving a seven-year sentence in Gryffindor, he wasn’t given an opportunity to appeal his sentence, the entire courtroom sighed with relief that today, we had witnessed justice, the recluses in Gryffindor went mad with joy, screaming “fresh meat” at the top of their lungs. “We got Potter” was their chant.
Well it didn’t go exactly like that, but it certainly looked like that, Gryffindor’s enthusiasm for the savior was something else.
A little while later, the sorting ceremony came to an end, I would lie if I said that I didn’t feel sad that Hermione and Neville went to Gryffindor, I never thought of them to be the adventurous kind. I thought I was going to spend the next seven years with Neville in Hufflepuff, but if you think about it, his parents were brave Aurors, he had to carry their will, Mrs. Longbottom raised no coward. As for Hermione, of all the houses she could go to, I never thought that she would’ve ended up in Gryffindor, I felt a more Ravenclaw vibe from her. But she couldn’t have gone to Slytherin, and Hufflepuff was to cozy for a nervous little witch like her. So I assumed she was a Ravenclaw through and through. You truly never know someone, well I just met her today.
I looked around the Hufflepuff long table, but the only one I recognized was Hannah Abbot, we took the same boat to Hogwarts. She was beaming with joy, her pigtails shook from side to side, he was chin-wagging with her new roommates. Maybe I should socialize a little. I can’t get stuck in the past, nor I can continue deceiving myself with the possible outcomes, there’s no use crying over spilled milk.
The principal stood up and began his speech.
“May I have your attention please.”
“First of all, I would like welcome you back to Hogwarts, I hope you left enough space for new knowledge after a long summer vacation.”
“I would like to give the warmest of welcomes to the new little faces that will accompany us from now on and bide a farewell to all of those that are no longer with us, when is your turn to leave, I would like to tell you that Hogwarts will always be your home.”
“I would also like to welcome Professor Quirrell, that will be helping us with the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, let’s give him a warm applause.”
***
“Knowing that you’re about to faint from hunger, I would like to finish with a few words: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”
“Enjoy the feast, our little helpers at the kitchen worked hard for today’s feast.”
With his last words, rows and rows of food appeared in the tables, everyone started to eat and enjoy their favorite food, there was a little of everything, so that the pickiest eater didn’t have anything to complain about, I wasn’t a picky eater to begin with.
So, I ended up stuffing my face with all the food my hands could reach, there was roast beef, roasted bangers, roasted chicken, well you get it, there were many roasted meats. But not only meat, colourful salads decorated the tables, they were accompanied by an extensive selection of dressings. I ate like there was no tomorrow, the food healed my still afflicted heart, I ate some shepherd’s pie, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, bangers and mash, and a little bit of cottage pie. At some point I didn’t have anything within reach, and magically new plates appeared in front of me, what could I do, I couldn’t waste food.
When I finished the last chip in my plate. Everything just disappeared, maybe the table could read my mind, just like the sorting hat. If so, Mr. Table, I would like to say what scrummy supper you had served me. Maybe it could really read my mind, because the empty table was filled with many puddings and desserts. By the end of supper I was completely chuffed. Earlier I made a scene? Who cares, tomorrow will be another day,
When the last little wizard put down his spoon and fork, the table was emptied once again, Headmaster Dumbledore, got up and rang his cup with a spoon.
“Having all enjoyed such magnific feast, I would like to say some more words before we all go back to our comfy beds.”
Finally, this whole trip had me knackered.
“First of all, I would like to remind you that our caretaker Mr. Argus Filch, reminded me to remind you that it is strictly prohibited to cast spells at the corridors.”
Noted, no spellcasting in the corridors, yes in classrooms, dormitories, the loo, the Great Hall, and outside the castle. Got it.
“Second, I would like to remind all the new and returning students, that the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits, and that you will get deducted points and put in confinement if found out.”
If you’re not caught, you’re free to go, it’s important to know these things.
“Third, the list of all banned and contraband objects will be actualized and posted at Mr. Filch’s office”
Noted, the joke store catalog will be located at Mr. Filch’s office.
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
Why would he emphasize that last part that’s just telling all the students at Hogwarts, come look at me.
The elderly headmaster was really confused, there’s no better announcement that no announcement.
“And before you all go to rest, let’s show the new little wizards, our beautiful school song.”
I could feel all the returning students tense up when the headmaster said that. Don’t they like the school song? If it was in any way similar to Ilvermony’s song, it should be good right? Right?
“Sing it to your favorite tune, come one…”
The principal took out his wand and a series of ribbons appeared in the sky, forming words, I should learn that.
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
Everyone just sang perfunctorily. Maybe only a pair of red head at Gryffindor’s long table enjoyed it, well the headmaster also directed joyfully directed their funeral march.
The lyrics aren’t that bad, but with everyone singing at their own tune, it becomes a cacophony, a joyful one at that. Maybe next year, I should sang it at the star wars theme tune.
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After that the Hufflepuff prefect approached us and indicated that we should follow him, his name is David Boorman, he told us that Hufflepuff’s dormitory wasn’t that far, and he was right, a short walk from the Great Hall, Long enough to help us digest our supper, but short enough to not get any more tired than we already were.
Amidst a series of barrels, he showed us how to properly identify the correct entrance. After that he showed us the correct rhythm at which we should tap the barrel to open the entrance. Then one little witch named Susan Bones, asked what would happen if we tapped the wrong barrel, or we tapped at the incorrect rhythm, he patiently asked us to stand a little further back, and took one for the team. He was sprayed with vinegar, the poor man was drenched in salad dressing, that’s commitment. If I was in his place, I should have let the little witch that asked that to try it.
Then he took his wand and cleaned up himself, but I think he should take a good shower after this.
After he finished cleaning, he took us into the correct entrance and led us into the Hufflepuff basement. It was a warm place, with earthy and comforting decorations, you could see many potted plants scattered around the common room, giving a touch of life to the place. There were many badger related decorations and carvings, it was really lively.
After that, the female prefect took the girls to their dormitories, and David took the rest of us to our dormitory, I shared a room with three other boys a curly haired boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley, a stout looking blondish boy named Ernest Macmillan, everyone called him Ernie, and a timid looking skinny guy named Wayne Hopkins. They had introduced themselves at the great hall.
“So, we are going to be roommates from now on eh?”
Justin looked at me brimming with joy “Yeah mate, I still can’t believe that magic exists, you know before this, my mother was nagging me about going to Eton. Even when she left me at King’s Cross Station, she continued talking about a friend of hers that could make some exceptions and accept my late registration, I legged it. Who wants to go to such a boring school? I’m tired mate.” He slowly dissolved into his bed as he talked.
Meanwhile Wayne was going through his luggage, “My also nagged me about school before I left, but at least I didn’t go to Gryffindor like my brother.” The boy was yelling don’t bully me, I have an older brother plastered all over his face.
“What’s Eton? Is it a good muggle school?” What had caught Ernie’s attention wasn’t Wayne’s older brother or the magic Hogwarts, but Eton, a muggle college. He had a snobbish vibe going on.
“Eton, that’s a muggle boarding school, it is one of the most prestigious colleges in the United Kingdom, my father went there, so did his father, and his father’s father. It has a very long history.” Replied Justin, maybe he didn’t notice it himself, but he was slightly proud when he talked about his father.
“It can’t be as long as Hogwarts history, it has a thousand years of history, all my family has done his studies in Hogwarts.” Said Ernie, he clearly had lost interest in Eton.
I certainly felt a little alienated from them, well I hadn’t introduced myself during the start-of-term feast. So I had to do something, I didn’t want to have a bad relationship with my roommates for the next seven years.
“Sorry for not introducing myself, I’m James Acrux Solé Black, you can call me James, J, Jas, Jabs or Solé, whatever you feel like. I hope we can be friend for the coming years.” I introduced myself before they could continue chin-wagging.
“Nice to meet you J, you can call me Justin” the talkative boy sat in his bed and looked at me.
“Wayne, you can call me Wayne, Ehm… James” that was Wayne, the boy still wasn’t super comfortable with me, or with everyone else to be honest.
“It is my pleasure Solé, may I ask why did you acted so strange during the sorting ceremony, I just heard professor McGonagall call your name several times before you reacted, after that I didn’t hear anything else, what did Professor McGonagall said to you?” So the only fool around is me, Professor McGonagall muted what I said to her, and I was blaming her.
“Well, it’s nothing, it’s just that before I knew I was a wizard, I’ve never met my father, and really didn’t know that I was surnamed Black. Just imagine, one day someone comes to your door and tells you, Mr. Ernest Macmillan, we are pleased to inform you that your surname isn’t Macmillan but Fleetwood, how would you take that?”
“That certainly would be awful, how could I accept not being a Macmillan, I would immediately hex the person that played such a joke.” Ernie was serious.
“You can give it a try; he’s in the headmaster’s office”
“Ah… well, why would I hex Principal Dumbledore?” Ernie was clearly flustered.
- “You’re right J, I would be upset if someone told me that.”
“Right, so I wrote to the school, asking them to not change my surname willy-nilly, and I thought that I had made myself clear, so I wasn’t expecting to be the second one during the Sorting Ceremony”
- “There must be a misunderstanding there, my brother says that Professor McGonagall is a very strict and principled witch.”
“So I was asked to go to her office tomorrow afternoon.”
“Do you want us to accompany you?” Ernie was clearly a very loyal friend, I just had to exchange a few words with him, and he was willing to brace whatever professor McGonagall had prepared for me, together.
“No, I’ll just go and apologize to her, she must have worked very hard to get the sorting ceremony ready, and I almost blew it. Mom said that we should own our mistakes, that’s how we grow.”
“Let’s not talk about that, how about we all share something about ourselves, you already know that I was going to be sent to Eton, what about you?” Justin tried to lighten the mood, I should thank him, I seriously don’t want to think about what happened in the sorting ceremony.
“You’re right Justin, how about I start?”
- “Alright” | ”It’s okay” | ”I don’t have a problem with that”
“Well, I don’t remember where I was born, but me and my mother lived in many places, not more than a year in each place, but I have been to the United States, Spain, Germany, France and other countries, but I don’t have many clear memories about those places, just their food, and the music that my mother listened to.”
- “Woah, I went to France with my parents, but I haven’t been to the other places you mentioned.”
- “The farthest place I had been before coming to Hogwarts, was London, and we just went to drop my brother to King’s Cross Station”
- “Well, I have an uncle in the Catalonian dragon reservation, and a distant cousin in the German Ministry of Magic, but I haven’t been to those places”
“Yeah, went to those places, but I don’t remember too much about them, it was just me and my mother. After that we came here to the United Kingdom, bought a House in Tottenham Court Road, and settled there, I started going to a muggle school, made muggle friends, and played muggle sports, but soon my mother got ill, the muggle doctors couldn’t help her, and she left me…”
I had killed the mood once again, I took out the J-max and my Rad-ant’s, to lighten the mood, a started Rumours from Fleetwood Mac.
“But that’s in the past, she told me that we’ll meet again, I just had to live my life in my own way, so I continued attending that muggle school, I won the science fair, I took my team to the finals on numerous occasions and was happy. I thought that I just needed to go on like this, and maybe someday I would inherit my grandfather’s record store, but I got an owl about one month ago, and everything changed, now I am here, these are gifts from my mother, I can listen to music with them. Is there something that you would like to listen?”
- “Do you have the Weird Sister’s ?Do the Hippogriff? I love that song; my father told me he’ll take to their next concert”
“Well I haven’t bought their record.”
- “My mom doesn’t like them, she prefers Celestina Warbeck’s music, she always turns off the Wireless when their music is playing.”
“The same, I’ll buy them this Christmas, so we can all listen to them”
- “My mother prefers Opera, but my father liked David Bowie.”
“I have all his records; do you want to hear a particular song?”
- “No, the ones you played are good.”
- “I don’t mind either”
- “I haven’t heard muggle music before”
So we continued listening to Fleetwood Mac.
“My turn, as you know my parents are muggles, my mother didn’t like the idea of me attending a magic school, she insisted that I had to go to Eton, just like my father once did, my father passed away some time ago, we have a Newspaper, and a TV factory, my father was going to buy a broadcasting company just for cartoons, but he passed away shortly after, so I don’t know how is that going on, I didn’t like any particular sport, my mother insisted that if I practiced a sport I had to be the best, and that drained the fun out of it.”
It must be hard for his mother, having lost her life partner, taking charge of his business and raising a boy to meet the expectations your social circle has for you.
“You should take your mother to Gringotts, they can help her, you can talk to Mr. Ragnok, maybe that way she will get to see a more positive side of the wizarding world”
- “Do you trust the goblins?”
- “They’re scary, my mother took me to exchange pounds, but they were pretty rude.”
“Why would I go to the goblins?” Justin just looked at me puzzledly.
“Well, they’re pretty good with money and business, I have a contract with them, they help me running my record store, you know my grandfather retired and closed the shop, but Mr. Ragnok helped me contact a reliable storekeeper and they take charge of the finances and all the legal stuff, they’re pretty reliable, the money gets deposited in my account every month.”
- “You’re right, they’re pretty reliable with money, I hadn’t thought about relying on them for business, but my family wouldn’t let me do that, the majority of the wizards don’t trust the goblins that much, you can store your stuff with them, but don’t let them touch your business, that’s what my grandpa always told me.”
“Well, I haven’t had any unpleasant interaction with them, you should try Justin, that way your mother can relax.”
- “I’ll take her this Christmas”
Ernie didn’t seem too convinced, but didn’t say anything else related to the topic. “It’s my turn, both my parents are wizards. Well, almost my entire family has been wizards for ages, we have a pretty long history, my name is Ernest, but I prefer it if you call me Ernie; Ernest is my father. I don’t have much to say, I like Quidditch, my father sometimes lets me fly around with his broom, my mother wanted to send me to a charms school, but my father disagreed with her, they’re just a scam.”
- “My brother attended one this summer”
“I’m sorry, maybe not all of them are scams” Ernie looked a little embarrassed, but he knew how to apologize.
- “It must be cool to fly around in a broom”
- “My brother got a broom this year, but he isn’t very good with it, my father spent days trying to figure out how it floated.”
“That’s cool, personally I haven’t tried flying in a broom, my grandpa offered to buy me one, but I’m very happy hear on the ground.”
We all turned our eyes to Wayne.
“My Mother is a Witch, my father is just a regular office worker, I have an older brother in Gryffindor, my mother didn’t let me ride a broom, and every year my mother takes us to Hogsmeade through the Floo Network. I don’t really like doing that, read that someone once disappeared for year because it didn’t work properly”
- “What, someone disappeared, is magic transportation that dangerous”
- “Don’t worry, that Witch didn’t dissapear, she just left her abusive husband.”
“I haven’t tried the Floo Network, but the Knight Bus isn’t for those weak of heart.”
As night went out, we continued talking, until we fell asleep, the J-max slowly turned off by itself, and I slept. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
As I fell asleep, I felt someone watching me, but maybe it was just my imagination.