Thank you, Argus,” the man at the desk, whom I presumed was Albus Dumbledore, said. “You may leave now,”. Filch nodded and glared at us, then left the room. I heard him go back down the spiral staircase and down the corridor. “So, what brings you here?” Dumbledore asked. Me and Ivan looked at each other hesitantly. Could we trust this man? Eventually, I began to speak, filling him in on what had happened to us. Occasionally, Ivan would speak up, reminding me of certain parts that I missed out. He waited patiently for us to finish, and when we did, he stood up. “It seems like you are smart and kind children, so I shall offer you a place at my school,” Dumbledore declared. My heart leapt. Go to Hogwarts? Was this a dream? “Yes, of course!” I exclaimed, jumping up and down. Dumbledore smiled and turned his gaze to Ivan. “Well, if Bella’s game then I’m game,” he said.
“Well then, in that case you had better get to the sorting ceremony. It starts quit soon,” Dumbledore told us. “I myself must hurry there,”. Me and Ivan exchanged puzzled glances.
“But Professor, we can’t go to the sorting ceremony,” exclaimed Ivan.
“And why is that?” asked Dumbledore.
“Well, we would already be in our third or fourth year by now. The sorting ceremony is for first years,” I explained.
“First years are really just people who are new to the school, like you, so there is nothing wrong with attending the ceremony,” said Dumbledore. Just then, there was a tap at the window. We all turned to see a magnificent bird of fire hovering outside. Fawkes! I had almost forgotten about him in the excitment of the morning. I rushed to open the window and Fawkes swooped inside. He landed on one of the various book shelfs and squawked loudly, causing us all to have to cover our ears. “Shush, Fawkes, you’re ever so loud,” I scolded.
“We had better get going if we want to get to the sorting ceremony,” stated Ivan, looking at his watch. It was a strange contraption, with strange patterns and symbols engraved on it instead of numbers like a normal watch, but Ivan seemed to understand it all the same.
“You’re right!” I cried. “Thank you, Professor! Bye for now!” Then I grabbed Ivan’s hand and pulled him towards the great hall. Excitement bubbled in my stomach. It flowed through my veins and filled every bone in my body. Yet when we arrived at the large oak double doors, I hesitated. What if they don’t like me? I thought, my head spinning. What if they think I’m evil like my family? No, I wouldn’t let those negative feelings control me. I would power through and show people I wasn’t as bad as my family. I could do this. I took a deep breath and swung the doors open. Everyone stared at us as we walked into the room. We were unfashionably late, that I knew, but I didn’t let that discourage me. I was determined to escape my family’s dark past and prove to them that I could be trusted. Me and Ivan took our places beside the other first years who were huddled in the middle of the hall. We were much taller than the others and stood like elephants in a crowd of mice. A woman, who I would later discover was called Minerva McGonagall, although we were to address her as Professor McGonagall, stood at the front of the huddle calling out names. Each child would walk up to the front where Professor McGonagall would plonk an old, worn hat on their head. The hat would then call out which house you were in. Finally, after what seemed like all eternity, my name was called. “Black, Belladona,” called Professor McGonagall. Nervously, I made my way to the front of the room. Professor McGonagall lowered the hat over my head. It was far to big and drooped over my eyes so I couldn’t see anything. “Hufflepuff!” the sorting hat shouted almost immediately. I beamed as I walked over to the Hufflepuff table. I had always admired Helga Hufflepuff for her kindness and how hard working she was. Her ability to forgive inspired me to be like her. Being sorted into her house felt like a dream. Ivan was next. He strutted confidently up to Professor McGonagall and even waved at me from his place at the front of the room. I wish I had his kind of confidence. I was just a shy girl. The Sorting Hat hesitated before calling out “Ravenclaw”. He marched to the table for Ravenclaws and plonked himself down in his seat. I peered around at the people sitting at the table. There were lots of different people with lots of different personalities. Some were loud, others were quiet. Some were tall, others were short. I gawked at the diversity of it. At Durmstrang, everyone was the same. There, everyone was purebloods and had cold hearts, whereas here there people were so different. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun round in my chair to find a girl with fluttering blonde hair and baby blue eyes. “Hi,” she said, smiling at me. “I’m Selena. What’s your name?”.
“Oh, hey, I’m Belladona, but you can call me Bella,” I replied. “What house are you in?”
“Gryffindor,” she answered proudly.
“So why are you here on the Hufflepuff table?” I questioned.
“Well, I’m not supposed to be here, but I thought I’d come and introduce myself,” Selena explained. Just then, Professor Dumbledore, who had arrived shortly after us, stood up. “I should go now,” whispered Selena.
“Alright, bye,” I said as she skipped back to her table. After that, Professor Dumbledore made a short speech before saying “Now, let the feast begin!”. At his words, food appeared on our plates. There were pies, stews and chicken legs by the dozen. As I tucked in, I stole a glance at the Gryffindor table where Selena was happily munching on her food, and I smiled. I had never had a proper friend before, apart from Ivan whom I had only just met, and now I had the honour of meeting someone so kind and confident like Selena. I grinned again. This was going to be a great year.
Anaia loves books! 