"There's a mermaid in our year!""What?" Philo was pressed into an antechamber set before the Great Hall with the other unsorted first years, lots of people he did or didn't know. A few boys were in conversation around him, the kinds where you cold talk with people you didn't know without exchanging names. Philo was slightly thankful for that. They all at least had coming to Hogwarts in common.
"Bull! Where?"A hand was pointed to the corner of the room where there was a great wiggling pile of lavender towels. A hand came out from the mountain, a hand at the end of a damp school robe. A grey hand.
"That can't be a mermaid.""Oh yeah? Knut says it is."Philo couldn't help it but he was lulled into the excited expectations as the boys waited for the thing to emerge from the towels. Another arm came through and layers of towels fell off the shoulders of what was a seemingly ordinary girl, if not for the dampness, dull skin, and the yellow hair with an edge turning green that became visible.
"Mermaids don't have legs!""Then explain how she swam across the whole lake.""She's the one who fell in? I thought it was that Antelope-olos girl."[1]"Gillyweed," Philo said, as if in answer of a pop quiz.
"Gilla-what?" Faces turned to look at him.
"Gillyweed. It's a plant that lets someone breathe underwater after consumption."
"How'd you know so much?"Philo shrugged. "It's what the murderer used in
Patty Morgana: The Case of the Sneezing Teapot to make the aurors think the victim was drowned by a Hippocampus."
There were snorts of
"Egghead," "Bound for Ravenclaw," and
"That's a chick series," all of which embarrassed Philo and turned the tips of his ears red. His sister Felicia, who had just graduated, owned a couple of the books and that's how he'd gotten interested in mystery fiction before his dad told him about the muggle stuff.
Obderedria was nervous. And she had eaten all of her sweets off the trolly during the train ride so she had nothing to do but hold her fingers to her lips. She wasn't chewing her nails. It looked like she might be trying to whistle through her fingers but she had never figured out how to do that.
She wished she could have some writing utensil and some paper out of her trunk, but she'd been told to leave her trunk before they crossed the lake.
This was the magic school, wasn't it? She hadn't seen all that much magic since she had found out she was a witch. Well, not magic from other people. Except the bricks moving at the entrance to Diagonally. And the strange plants and creatures the shoppers were carrying down the street. And her wand giving a flash of something. And that firecracker someone had set off that spelled rude words in a trail of sparks. And the passage to Platform 9 3/4s. And the boats going across the lake by themselves.
And the imposing form of Hogwarts castle suggested that, yes, this was a magical castle.
So maybe she had seen more magic than she thought. Still, the magical world didn't appear all that different.
Maybe, after the eon had passed to when she found out where she would sleep, she might try writing a letter to her pen pal. She already had the first lines ready.
Dear Beverly,
Mum said I was a witch after my hair did the strange things. I havent seen any other witch with spotted green hair yet...
"So we are agreed: she's some kind of frog thing.""A marshwiggle?""What the bleedin' heck is a marshwiggle?""Language!" said a girl to the arguing boys. Philo had long ago, in these minutes that stretched forever as they waited to be sorted, formed his own conclusions about what the girl was. She must still be affected by some long lasting Gillyweed. Although that did't explain how she wasn't 'gasping for water' right about now.
He started to pace the antechamber, finding absences of people conversing in their groups, trying not to bump into anybody.
And that's when he saw her again. Only before during the bustle of the train being boarded, several hours previous, did he note the unusual pile of hair on a girl. An almost reddish brown and green splotches on her hair. It must be some optical illusion. When Philo noted her hair shift he saw how each spot was made of green sections of hair so a splotch would change size and shape as it moved.
But now he could see the girl in full. She had a round face, looked a little roly-poly, and a white hairband over her forehead. She blinked rapidly and held her hand to her mouth in what must be a nervous tick.
There was a lump in Philo's throat as if he should be gasping for water.
Obderedria found she couldn't look people in the eye. She could see them looking back at her and giggling. Not all of them did but enough for her to notice.
If there were butterflies in her tummy they had invited the moths too. The impact of where she was, who she was, didn't register with her up until this point where she and her new class of peers were waiting to be Sorted. How does one grow up without knowing they are a secret witch? Well, they wouldn't be able to know so it could be a 'secret witch.' But a small part of her still doubted. These witches weren't green skinned or had bald heads, claws, and square feet without toes. They didn't travel in sparkly bubbles, or maybe that's how the older students got to the castle.
Witches looked like ordinary kids. Ordinary kids without hair that looked like a bad dye job.
Obderedria was taking small steps. Not traveling anywhere, just shuffling her feet in time whenever another nervous pang came from her tummy. Then it grumbled. Oh no, had anyone heard that?
She bumped into someone. "I'm sorry!" Obderedria said much too loudly and quickly to the dark haired boy she had bumped into.
When had he walked up to her? Philo couldn't remember. He was trying to think of an introduction. It should be easy, shouldn't it? The spotted haired girl looked to be the most nervous out of anybody in the room, more nervous than he felt. If he could talk to her to make her less nervous...but how to get her attention?
And then she stepped on his foot and bumped into him.
"I'm sorry!""No, I should be sorry. Um. Sorry." Brilliant, Falkin, left very little there for introductions. Maybe speaking quickly would get this all behind them. "I'm Philo, Philo Fal--"
"Everyone line up and stand to attention, we are on a schedule..."[2]
Before the boy could finish introducing himself, the high voice of authority ordered them to line up. Obderedria lost sight of Philo as she scrambled to find her place in line. Alphabetically. P, P, where were the P's?
And they had to stand at attention, too. Like soldiers? Did they have to march? How did soldiers march, chest out and back straight and stomach in? Obderedria didn't think she could hold her breath for that long.
The Headmistress continued ordering.
"You there," she said to a lumpy boy trying to climb the banister,
"you are a student at one of the most prestigious magical schools in the world, not a monkey, get down and get in line." Obderedria saw him roll off and get into line. And she blinked. There was another student on the banister, a girl, but she was hanging like a sloth out of sight of the headmistress.
"We are about to enter the sorting feast. You will all stay in line, two by two, be quiet and stick together. When your name is called, you will come to the stage to be sorted and then go to the house that the hat chooses. Green for Slytherin, Red for Gryffindor, Yellow for Hufflepuff and Blue for Ravenclaw. Is this understood? Good, let us go in"They were off. They were about to be sorted into Gryffinpuff and Ravendoor and Slytherclaw. Wait, that wasn't right. Obderedria couldn't remember the names of the houses. And a hat choose? Were all of their names drawn out of a hat? Obderedria was thinking so much she had missed hearing one of her favorite words, feast.
She could only walk forwards, her stomach twisting into further knots, as she approached the stairs where the Headmistress was leading them away. Her eyes fell to the sloth girl dangling from the rungs of the banister. What about her, were they just going to leave her and she would never be sorted into Hufflin or whatever the house was called?
"Psst! LeJean! L's start right here!" a girl said as she passed the sloth girl on the stairs. And Obderedria watched her climb up (SHE HAD GREENISH HAIR TOO!!) and take her place in line as they continued onwards.
Philo felt dizzy with all the commotion to get into line. He hurriedly glanced around to see where the spotted haired girl went, seeing her several people back in the other line. He'd have to watch for her Sorting to catch her name. Although Philo felt he wouldn't miss her with that hair.
"You're going to have to tell me what girl you like at school the most, squirt," Philo's brother had told him before he had left for school. His brother, Foster, was a professional quidditch player and had a big magazine collection with pinups organized by Favorite Redheads, Favorite Blondes, Favorite Brunettes, and so forth.
Favorite Chestnut haired with Green Spots wasn't going to be that big of a category.
Well, Philo would be having chances to see her in class, which relieved him a little. He stared ahead to focus on their progression into the Great Hall. It was just like his parents and older siblings had told him. The Sorting Song even sounded like a few lines Felicia remembered from her Sorting.
Obderedria looked up. And up. And nearly fell backwards from how far she had craned her neck.
Her mouth hadn't closed since she caught sight of the Great Hall. Four long tables packed with students. A fifth one at the far end where the adults, the teachers sat. Fireplaces and torchlights. Banners in the house colors.
Candles floating about and not dripping wax on anybody!! And past the candles was the ceiling, where the supporting beams seemed to disappear so it looked like the Great Hall had no roof, it just opened to the night sky. But it was still perfectly warm. She had looked at the castle during the boat crossing, someone had pointed out the Great Hall from the outside and it had a roof, so rain and snow shouldn't be falling on people as they ate breakfast.
After that sight, a singing hat was perfectly believable.
Philo grew worried as he waited to be sorted. He now realized that he was about to be Sorted. Sorted into a house for all his school years.
"Hufflepuff, no doubts," his family had said. His parents had been in Hufflepuff, his brother and older sister had been in there too. A very cozy spot they said, down in the basement. Like a little taste of home in some respects.
But Philo...
He wasn't sure he wanted to be in Hufflepuff. But he didn't know where he should be. Slytherin was still a scary house and he didn't think he had the snuff for Gryffindor.
"Antonopoulos, Eirene..." Philo snapped back into the moment. That must be the girl they said fell out of the boat, if it wasn't the froggy girl named Leggin. Legion. LeJean, he had heard. Eirene was ultimately skipped and they soon came to the F's.
"Falkin, Philo."Philo gulped, and took his seat on the stool as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. His father Frederick had been going on and on about the Sorting Hat to make Philo excited about it. Being Sorted was the hat having a conversation right in your ear but nobody else could hear what the Hat said to you.
"Hmm," the Hat began.
"Another Falkin. I know just what to do with you..."Please not Hufflepuff!"Not interested in Hufflepuff? Your whole family has been there. Hufflepuff is a fine house, where the friendly and hard working flourish. And you are not a lazy lad, are you?"No, not at all. I just...everyone, Mom, Dad, Foster, Felicia, they all say I'm going to be in Hufflepuff like it's written in stone! As if I will have no choice. I guess I have no choice because a hat decides...no offense."I'll give you something to puzzle over, Mr. Falkin, from my song. My job is to place you each into the house you best fit in, be it Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Who picks where you go?"Uh, don't you? But then why the puzzle?"Yes boy, I know you are cleverer than that. I look for that house you will best fit in. You pick."I pick? But I thought..."I pick where you will best fit, lad. You are the only one to tell me where that is. It is not your father under the hat, nor your mother or a sibling. They have all passed under my brim and I have placed them where they best fit. You, clearly, belong somewhere else."But I don't know what to pick!"And that is where I come in. There is a spot just for you but you are over-thinking it. You are eager and curious for school but don't wish to be lumped with just one group of people. So the house that will best fit you is...""RAVENCLAW!"
Obderedria watched all the others get sorted in front of her. Pienas was at the other end of the alphabet. The line inched forward as names were called and students went to one of the tables. She noticed that the tables had their house colors along the trimming of their robes. And their house tie. Not that she could remember what any of the houses were. In fact, when students came gone to sit at their tables the color of their robes changed. Their tie and part of the trim.
Obderedria looked down to her uniform, all in black and grey. Pity there wasn't an orange house, she would have liked that. One house had red and yellow for colors, that made orange. She wasn't going to end up in the green house because of her hair, was she?
Hopefully dinner would be soon. All the worrying was making her hungry but even though she was hungry she wasn't sure if she would be able to eat yet.
She saw the boy from earlier get sorted. Philo Falkin was his full name. Ravenclaw, and he went to the blue table. When they got to the G's a Prefect and the girl who was skipped came in. There was some sort of hullabaloo going on in front of the house tables and Obderedria couldn't follow any of it, being too overwhelmed with her first experiences of life at Hogwarts.
Then, in the middle of a batch of kids where most had gone to Gryffindor, a name she had heard from before was called.
"LeJean, Heliotrope." And the sloth girl with hair so dirty in some parts it looked green, who wasn't as damp as the girl rescued from the lake, took the stool, where her face disappeared under the that.
Obderedria wondered what actually happened when you were sorted.
"Let me see here..."........."...I have never known a child to be so calm during their Sorting. Everyone that passes under my brim usually has conflicting thoughts, requests, or the surprise of being Sorted by a Sorting Hat."You are a talking hat......."HUFFLEPUFF!"
When Philo took a seat at the Ravenclaw table his heart was beating very fast. There were tremors under his skin. But he was smiling.
Ravenclaw! His very own house! Not that he wouldn't be able to make friends, or that he would solely identify with Ravenclaws, or that he didn't appreciate his family. But the Sorting Hat had been right, he had been over-thinking things, seeing no where else to be but Hufflepuff.
He was a Ravenclaw!
And the sky really felt like the limit, at that moment. Ravenclaw dorm was in one of the towers. The house that soared towards the heavens.
Philo exhaled so much air through his lips it came out in a low whistle. As he got used to sitting at Ravenclaw table he watched the other sortings. The frog/Gillyweed/marshwiggle/whatever she was girl was called before the one with the spotted hair. After a few seconds she was sorted into Hufflepuff.
Philo felt a slight anticipation growing inside him. They were getting close to the end of the alphabet. The girl with the spotted hair would have to be called soon. Possibly, just possibly, might she be sorted into the same house as him? That would make talking to her easier, wouldn't it? Excuse me, we both happen to be Ravenclaws.
He counted how many were left to be sorted before her. The number dropped to three. Then two. One.
His ears strained so he could dedicate her name to memory.
"Pienas, Obderedria."
Obderedria walked to the stool in a daze. She was happy that her name wasn't being mangled in its pronunciation, like it had happened numerous times before in primary school.
Awkwardly, she perched herself on the stool, feeling a little off balance. It wasn't the most comfortable seat. The Great Hall disappeared from her sight.
"Ah, right then..."Obderedria's stomach grumbled very loudly.
I'm sorry!! Did everyone hear that?? What if they can look up my skirt?? I don't want to be noticed, I can't help my hair or, or, or, or,,,"You say you don't want to be noticed. Is that altogether correct? It seems to me you're rather kind, thoughtful, creative. You also don't like to see unjust things go unpunished."Unpunished? I couldn't punish anybody, oh no no no..."You are braver than you think. Hmm. But you do want to feel as though you belong. There are but two houses that would best suit you..."What if I don't fit in anywhere at all, I always stick out. What if I'm not that much of a secret witch?"That shall do it, your house will be..."Obderedria suddenly realized that her nose and mouth were covered by a hat. What if she couldn't breathe through it?? Trying to comfort herself she clutched her belly. Her nervous stomach gave a whine. What if she fainted??
"HUFFLEPUFF!"The hat was whisked off her head. The Great Hall was too bright after being under the hat. Her eyes squinted, she couldn't barely see anything. Had one of her contact lenses slipped?
But she heard something. Applause and cheering. Her vision cleared and she could make out the hall in detail. There was polite clapping from a scattering of students at the tables, clapping she could hear from the Staff Table behind her. But the heartiest clapping and cheering, nearly everyone at the table, was from the students with robes trimmed with yellow. Hufflepuff.
It was applause for her. Obderedria had been clapping throughout the Sorting as the students were placed, as she gathered it was the polite thing to do. But this was applause specifically for her, because she had been picked for this house and all of the occupants where clapping for her.
Or maybe they were happy with her?
As she walked down to the table she used her sleeve to dab the water out of her eyes. She found a seat on the bench feeling warm and very cosy, warmth from the fires and torches and candles, warmth from the light gleaming off of the golden plates and tableware. A few warm smiles she spied on the faces of older students before her eyes slipped downwards.
A cozy warmth. Even if a stench like stagnant pond scum emanated from a girl a few seats away.
And when Obderedria looked down she saw that her tie was striped with yellow and black like a bumblebee.
Obderedria Pienas. Philo committed to memory how exactly to pronounce it. A very unusual name. But nothing about Obderedria seemed 'usual.' And Philo had no harsh intent behind that phrasing.
The other thing most talked about before Philo went to Hogwarts, besides that he was bound for Hufflepuff, was that his brother Foster expected him to turn into a heartbreaker. That just sounded silly. But even if he didn't, school day crushes were unavoidable. There would always be that one student, that one girl. Maybe a higher grade, maybe lower, maybe even a teacher, but that special someone you noticed that you hoped noticed you back.
Sometimes a full romance was built from that. Mom and Dad talked about being almost smitten with each other when they were in the same house, and they had five kids.
There was the chance you met your special someone in your House at Hogwarts.
So Philo was rather anticipatory when Obderedria went under the hat. From what he had observed from her earlier she was still very nervous, more nervous than Philo had been.
His breath was held.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"Philo did remember to clap but his clapping wasn't very energetic. He watched Obderedria take her seat, her spotted green hair easy to pick out from any distance. The Sorting Hat said it sorted people where they best fit and Obderedria was deemed fit for Hufflepuff.
Did Ravenclaw house hold the same attraction as it had the moment he had been sorted?
Philo glumly repositioned his silverware. Well, they would be sharing classes together. Then he remembered something his dad had told him, one of the few things that didn't contain any word pertaining to Hufflepuff. This is what his dad told him.
The Sorting Hat does not make mistakes.
[August 30 2008] Additional Sortings