Silens I Chapter 3
The boy was sitting beside what I figured was his brother- they were both identical, except that one of the boys had a small cut across his left eye. Well, his left, my right. He hadn't been the one that had spoken, it was the boy with a blank stare. He was obviously blind.
"Hi," I said slowly, and I sat down, trying not to disturb the blind kid. The one with the scar looked at me with distaste.
"Hello," he said roughly, "What is your name?"
"You needn't be so mean," I said, rolling my yellow eyes. Yes, they are yellow. Don't judge me, yellow is a brilliant color. Anyway.
"I'm Tom Malfoy," said the kid with the scar.
"I'm L-Lucas," said the blind kid. He was staring right through me, obviously focusing all his senses into listening to what I gonna say next.
"I'm Asia Abernathy, but I'm adopted, so my mother is Luna Lovegood," I said quickly, wringing my hands together. The nervousness was just setting in. The train had been moving for only about 15 minutes and I had already been hit with butterflies in my stomach.
"Y-you nervous?" asked Lucas.
"How can you tell?" I asked, hesitant. Lucas grinned a slight smile but did not answer. However, Tom began talking.
"When will the trolley lady be here? I want my Droobles gum," he said snappishly at me.
"Hey, don't blame me," I hissed back. "I don't control when the lunch lady comes and goes!"
Tom looked at me like no one had ever spoken to him like this before. He leaned forward, his face close to me and he said in a smooth voice, "What blood purity are you?" He said it like a threat. But maybe this was how he usually spoke to people, maybe he was on edge, maybe the nervousness was getting to him as it was to me. I'm not quick to judge, I try not to, at least.
"Pureblood," I spat. "What about you?"
There was no hesitancy in his answer as he leaned back in his seat. I was beginning to dislike him a little. "Pure," he said.
"Oh, really? Whose your mum?" I asked. I had only asked because I was growing increasingly annoyed at Tom.
Tom did not answer, but Lucas changed the subject. "What H-house are you hoping to get i-into to?"
"I... don't really care," I said quietly. "Just not Hufflepuff. What about you two?" I said, trying to redeem myself by acting friendly and not utterly annoyed at Tom. Lucas was fine with me so far, but Tom came across as cold, more or less.
"Sytherin," sad Tom promptly, but I did not hear Lucas's answer over the sound of the train shrieking on its track.
"What's happening?" I asked, bolting up.
"How am I supposed to know?" said Tom, right on cue.
I slid open the compartment door. A man was at the end of the train, a man who wasn't supposed to be there. I grabbed my wand, and snuck down the hall to see who it was. I could hear Tom say, 'Is she mental?!" as I inched closer to the figure, whose back was turned. People were screaming, and the conductor was shouting,
"Someone get a teacher! Anyone who can help, there's an intruder on the train!"
I inched out my wand from my Hogwarts robes. Bringing it up, I whispered,
"Perfectius totalus."
The man, who had been getting ready for a curse on a pair of 5th years in an otherwise empty compartment immediately froze. He fell forward with a thump. The 5th years stared at me. I knew what they were thinking: a first year? A first year saved us?
The man began to move. I looked down. My attempt must have been too weak. He began for his wand, and screamed at me,
"CRUCIO--"
But someone had pinned him down with a strain of black and green coils. Dark magic. I glanced around to see Tom with his wand up.
"Stop!" I said, and using my wand I whipped his magic off with my own dark magic, then twirled it around to bind Tom like a straightjacket. "If you do that, he'll only try to get you next! CONFUNDO!" I said, and the man was knocked out. Such an easy target. But why was he here? I usually would have knocked him out with a punch if he was a Muggle but this guy didn't look like the type who was weak enough for that. What was he hiding?
"I got him!" I yelled, the dark magic disappearing as the conductor raced down with some teachers who had decided to stay on the train to protect students.
"Abernathy-Lovegood?" said one. "Get away from that man this instant!" I did and the teacher stopped fussing.
"Everyone, you are safe, you may return to your compartments. The lunch lady will be around right after we get this man off of our train. Thank you for your patience and calmness." said the conductor over the P.A.
They took the man with them, and I went back to our compartment.
"Are you mental?!" Tom and I screamed at each other at the same time. "Using dark magic?!" I said. "Going after a man you don't know whose gonna hurt you?" Tom said. We were angry at each other, but I doubt it was because we cared about the other.
"D-don't do that a-again," Lucas whispered.
The rest of the ride passed in silence. Tom chewed gum for the rest of the time, and I silently munched on taffy that Luna had hidden in my trunk as a snack. As night approached, we got closer to Hogwarts until we pulled into the station.
"We're here!!!" shouted Tom.
I looked up. We were. Hogwarts, standing tall, waiting and welcoming.
""Everyone, off the train, first years with me!' shouted a voice.
Tom, Lucas, and I stood up. I noticed that Tom stared rushing out right away, unable to control his excitement, leaving Lucas behind. "You need help?" I asked Lucas a little hesitantly. He nodded, and he reached out his hand to me. I took it and slowly led him out of the train and onto the platform. "Be careful," I said quietly, his hand warm in mine as I tried as hard as I could to make sure no one would bump roughly into him. It was a crowded platform, after all.
"T-thank you," he said.
"Do you need help getting up to the castle?"
He nodded. 'I'll take all the help I-I can g-get right n-now." he said.
Hagrid, the super tall gamekeeper Mum had told me about, was standing there jovially. Excited, for a new generation of students. "Everyone follow me to the boats! You first years have to go on the lake."
We followed him. Tom was up ahead, grinning widely. He was a totally different person now. I pulled Lucas along slowly, we were hanging near the back of the first year crowd. We got in the boats, and I was surprised that Tom came to join us, as well as another kid I didn't know.
The lake was cold and only enhanced the chilly night air. I shivered, and pulled my robes about me to keep what little body heat I had inside me. Water occasionally sloshed into the boat, but at least it wasn't raining.
We reached the castle. Hagrid knocked.
"First years? Please wait here," said the headmistress, Prof. McGonagal. She led us into a warm chamber in the castle and left us to go to the Great Hall.
Lucas let go of my hand to try and warm up. Tom moved to the front of the crowd. I waited patiently. Suddenly, ghosts popped out and some kids screamed as they began talking and talking and talking about their respective houses.
I didn't see the Ravenclaw ghost.
"Hello, new students!" one said, coming over to me and patting my hair, which is cut in a black Japanese hime cut. The ghost's arm only made me cold. I said politely,
"Please do not touch me, I am cold enough."
The ghost grinned. He was the Fat Friar. "Okay. Are you a Hufflepuff? You seem nice enough to be one," he said.
I grinded my teeth. I really didn't want to be a Hufflepuff. Didn't want to be one at all. With my luck, though, it probably would.
The Bloody Baron was talking to Tom. I did not hear much of what they said, but it was about what makes a great Sytherin. Something like that anyway. No one was talking to Lucas.
Prof. McGonagal came back and the ghosts dispersed. "It's time!" she said, and marched us into the Great Hall. Lucas grabbed my hand and we walked into the Hall.
It had just occurred to me that I would be the first called up. I suddenly became more nervous.
"Abernathy-Lovegood, Asia!" shouted McGonagal, once the Sorting Hat had finished its song.
I gently let go of Lucas's hand and beckoned Tom over. As I passed Tom, I muttered, "You need to help Lucas, you know," but I had no idea if he heard me. I continued up the Sorting Hat. I sat on the stool and McGonagal dropped it on my head.
It covered my eyes. I could only see the inside, and my toes barely touched the floor.
"Asia..." said the Hat. "Obviously you know what House you belong to. You never have thought of any other House to be in, just this one, correct?" it asked.
"Yeah," I said inside my head.
"Okay. With this brain and heart, there's only one House you could never belong to. Just the one. Your unusual powers, however, could land you into another. But I will let you take a choice. Which one do you want to be in? Think carefully, now. There's no going back."
"Well...Ravenclaw is the only one I can imagine myself in, Mr. Sorting Hat," I thought. "But if you have a better solution..."
"There are no solutions, that's just the one House I can see you in. So..." the Hat stopped thinking, stopped talking to me inside my head, and shouted to the Hall at large, "RAVENCLAW!"
The Ravenclaw table applauded. I sat down at it and watched the others get sorted. The Hat sat on Lucas's head a long time, but finally shouted, "SYTHERIN", but it knew almost right away with Tom. Both went away to that table.
The feast began, and people started talking after McGonagal's speech.
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*Sorry if I misspelled any spells. I have listened to the audiobooks but I do not read the books very often cuz I'm sometimes busy! Also sorry if I got some facts wrong, though I doubt it. I am a big Potterhead. Also Knight, you can make up McGonagal's speech at the end of your chapter!
