The Memory [A Harry Potter Fanfiction]

Arriving at Hogwarts

Night began to set outside the compartment windows, eventually we finished our game if Exploding Snap, and changed into our Hogwarts robes. Vienna set down her book.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" She asked. I opened my mouth to ask what 'houses' were, but she cut me off, exasperated. "Explain what houses are to the Mudblood, will you?"

"Don't call her that!" Izzie snapped at Vienna. I didn't know what a Mudblood was, but according to Isobel's expression, it was in the high end of impolite. Vienna rolled her eyes in an I-don't-care fashion. Izzie glared at her. Then, she sighed, calming her anger. "Anyway," she said, directing her attention back to me, "first years get sorted into houses based on their personalities. Gryffindor, for the brave and chivalrous, Ravenclaw, for the clever and intelligent, Hufflepuff, for the hard-working and loyal, and Slytherin, for the cunning and ambitious."

"Okay," I nodded. "Thanks. So, what house do you think you'll be in?"

"I hope either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," Isobel said.

Vienna scoffed again. "I know I'll be a Slytherin."

Izzie ignored her, apparently still angry at her for calling me 'Mudblood'. She mouthed in my direction, "I wouldn't be surprised." The train slowed, and we were told to leave our luggage in the compartments, and that they'd be brought to our dormitories for us. I still dug my wand out if my trunk and pocketed it. Once off the train, an extremely giant, man was calling,

"Firs' years! Firs' years! This way! Firs' years, please, hurry up now!" He had dark brown hair flecked with grey. His beetle black eyes twinkled. Izzie and I approached him. Vienna left, probably not wanting to be seen with a 'Mudblood'.

"Izzie, what's a Mudblood?" I said, glancing at Vienna.

"It's a really awful thing to call someone. Probably the worst thing she could come up with. I should've hexed her," Izzie fumed. "It means 'dirty blood'. It's a really foul name. She said it because your a muggle-born. Some people, like her, presumably, pride themselves with being all magic, or pure-bloods. Magic people would've died out if we hadn't married muggles. Being muggle-born doesn't change anything. Many muggle-borns are the most successful witches and wizard out there. It's unjustified prejudice." I nodded, but didn't say anything. I felt slightly belittled to matter what Izzie said. Vienna was kinda right. I didn't know what more than half the magical things were they had mentioned. I would have to learn.

We came to a lake, and Hagrid summoned little row boats to take us to the castle. We sat three to a boat, and I had just begun wondering how we would reach the castle, because there we no ores, when Hagrid whistled, and the boats took off.

"You'll get yer firs' glimpse o' the castle 'round that bend," He informed us, pointing out the bend in the lake. A few seconds later, I was surrounded by 'ooh's and 'ahh's, while my fellow students gazed up at Hogwarts. My jaw fell open.

"Wow... That's amazing!" The boy next to us exclaimed, gazing up at the castle. I nodded, though he probably couldn't see in the near pitch-blackness. Hogwarts was magnificent. We got out of the boats, and approached two huge wooden doors. Hagrid knocked. A stern-looking woman opened it, her mouth merely a line, and her grey hair in a tight bun.

"Hello, Hagrid. Thank you. I will take them from here," she said, motioning us inside.

"O' course Professor McGonagall!" Hagrid left. All the first years, including myself, followed McGonagall into an empty, seemingly unused classroom.

"Soon, you will enter the Great Hall and be sorted into your houses. While your here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, and any rule-breaking will loose you points. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The Sorting Ceremony will being momentarily." McGonagall told us, and left. I turned to Izzie.

"That's not nerve-racking at all," I said, sarcastically.

"Well, it's not that bad, really. My brothers were sorted a couple years ago, but they said it wasn't that bad," Izzie said, thoughtfully.

"You have brothers?" I asked her. "Well, obviously, you just said that. What house are they in?"

"Gryffindor," she told me, grinning. "My mum and dad were, too, but they don't mind what house I am in." I nodded, and was about to reply, what a mischievous cackle sounded from the other side of the room.

"Haha! Ickle firsties! What fun!" A funnily-dressed man was floating in the air in front of the blackboard, which he appeared to have just come through.

"That's Peeves," Izzie whispered to me. "He's a poltergeist." I nodded. "He likes to cause trouble." She added, though quite unnecessarily, for Peeves had just started pelting some first years with pieces of chalk. No one did anything to stop him, for most of us didn't even have our wands, let alone know magic. Someone cleared their throat in the front of the room, unheard by Peeves, who was now spilling ink on some unfortunate students near the teacher's desk.

"Peeves!" A sharp voice rang out. "Stop that at once, of I shall notify the Bloody Baron!" Professor McGonagall's words seemed to have had the desired effect. Peeves dumped the rest on the ink of the boy we had been sitting by Izzie and I in the boats, and zoomed out backwards through the wall, blowing a raspberry. McGonagall motioned us into the Entrance Hall. "Follow me, please."

~~~~

Hi,

I know that this part didn't really have much to do with the dream, but the next chapters will address it more, I promise. And I don't want this book to be just about the memory Victoria received, because I do want to develop the characters, and, also, I feel like at this point, Tori is thinking it was just an odd dream. I hope that doesn't make this story unenjoyable.

Thank you so much for reading, it really is just amazing that people actually read this! :)

-Ginny