Petrified {Book #2}

Hogwarts School Life

Mione and I made our way to the Great Hall, where everyone was already seated. I scanned the room, looking for Ron and Harry. Where were they?

Suddenly, I saw the doors to the Great Hall come open and Ron and Harry were rushing in. They sat down nowhere near us and a moment later I completely understood why.

I looked up.

Innumerable candles were hovering in midair over four long, crowded tables, making the golden plates and goblets sparkle. Overhead, the bewitched ceiling, which always mirrored the sky outside, sparkled with stars.

Through the forest of pointed black Hogwarts hats, the first years were coming through the doors. Ginny was among them, easily visible because of her vivid Weasley hair. Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall, a bespectacled witch with her hair in a tight bun, was placing the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat on a stool before the newcomers.

Every year, this aged old hat, patched, frayed, and dirty, sorted new students into the four Hogwarts houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin). I well remembered putting it on, exactly one year ago, and waiting, petrified, for its decision as it muttered aloud in my ear. I had ended up in Gryffindor, along with Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys. Last term, we had helped Gryffindor win the House Championship, beating Slytherin for the first time in seven years.

A very small, mousy-haired boy had been called forward to place the hat on his head. my eyes wandered past him to where Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, sat watching the Sorting from the staff table, his long silver beard and half-moon glasses shining brightly in the candlelight. Several seats along, I saw Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in robes of aquamarine. And there at the end was Hagrid, huge and hairy, drinking deeply from his goblet.

I sighed at Lockhart. How could one person be so handsome? I never understood how even Ron and Harry didn't find him attractive.

***

After the feast, Hermione and I couldn't find Harry and Ron, so we decided to go looking for them.

We looked in the corridors for a while, when I finally saw them.

I ran to them and they turned to see me and Hermione running towards them.

"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors - someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car" Hermione said, exasperated.

"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry assured us.

"You're not telling me you did fly here?!" I said, excited.　

"That is not the tone you should use with them" Hermione said to me sharply.

"Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently, "and tell us the new password."

"It's 'wattlebird,"' said Hermione impatiently, "but that's not the point - "　

Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady swung open and there was a sudden storm of clapping. It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Harry and Ron inside, leaving Hermione and me to scramble in after them.

Once Hermione and I got in, I saw many things.

Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly,probably from all the attention he was getting, but I could see one person who didn't look happy at all.

Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling them off.

"Got to get upstairs - bit tired," he said, and the two of them started pushing their way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.