Ravenstar: Chapter Three

[eaivalefay]

Chapter 3: First Night at Hogwarts

"This is it." Caran gripped Nalian’s shoulder tightly. "Just take your trunk onto the train and find a place to sit. Once you reach Hogwarts you’ll be instructed to see the Headmaster who will take care of getting you set up in Hogwarts. Remember no one knows who you are, especially not the Headmaster Dumbledore."

Nalian nodded. "I’ll send a letter for you to Derek after I get settled. Hurt Darian for me."

Caran grinned. "I’ll do my best to put Order in his bed."

Nalian laughed out loud, "you don’t even need to. She’s angry enough to bite him without him sitting on her." The train whistle blew. Nalian pulled his trunk to the train, not saying good-bye. After all he would see Caran in a year, or even in December.

Finding a seat on the train was a bit hard. Students were all over the place. He worked his way down the train, ignoring the suspicious eyes watching him and looking for an empty compartment. The closest to empty Nalian got was the second to last compartment where one boy about his age sat.

Nalian hesitated, "may I sit here?"

The boy looked up from his book and Nalian was greatly reminded of the elves, with his high cheekbones and silver hair that matched his silver eyes. There was definitely something not quite human about him. The boy frowned, "who are you? I don’t recognize you."

"Nalian Morthen. I’m a transfer student."

"I’m Draco Malfoy. You may sit here, if you wish." Draco studied him. "Where are you transferring from?"

He dropped into the seat across from Draco. "Salem Witches’ Institute."

"Isn’t that a girls-only school?"

Nalian shook his head, "it used to be, but that changed a century or so back."

Draco gave him an appraising look. "Have you been sorted yet?"

The confusion on Nalian’s face was evident. "Sorted?"

"The sorting hat." Draco explained. "It sorts you into one of the four houses where you’ll fit best. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. Haven’t you been told about Hogwarts?"

"Oh," Nalian smiled. "I don’t know much of anything about Hogwarts, to be truthful. The headmaster is Albus Dumbledore, and Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in Europe."

"Why are you transferring?"

Nalian arched an eyebrow, "what’s with the interrogation? My parents died, and I live with my uncle now. He lives in America, but believes Hogwarts will give me a better education than Salem."

Draco nodded and they both fell silent. Half an hour later Draco commented, "these are bad times in Britain. You certainly know of the Dark Lord?" When Nalian nodded, he continued, "you can’t trust anyone to be who they say they are. You seem all right though, for now. If you want, I can show you around Hogwarts; that is if you aren’t sorted into Gryffindor."

"I’d like that." Nalian said. "How does this sorting hat decide what house you’ll be put in?"

"It looks at your personality and decides where you’d best fit. Gryffindor is for the brave and chivalrous, stupidly so; Hufflepuffs are just and loyal and too trusting or patient at times; Ravenclaws have a strong love for knowledge and are generally rather clever; Slytherin is for those who are cunning and ambitious." Draco told him. "Any idea where you’ll be?"

Nalian thought for a moment. "Possibly Ravenclaw. I don’t think I’d end up in Gryffindor, but beyond that, I’m not sure. How can a hat make that decision when people have several of those traits?"

Draco shrugged, "it seems to do a good job."

When the train arrived in Hogsmeade Nalian hesitated. Was he supposed to go with the older students or the first years?

"Come on." Draco said. "You’re supposed to meet the headmaster? One of the professors will probably be waiting for you at the front doors." Nalian followed Draco into a carriage, where two students were already sitting. "This is Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass. This is Nalian Morthen, an exchange student from America."

They rode to the castle in silence, though Nalian could feel Blaise and Daphne’s eyes on him. The carriage pulled up to the castle and the four climbed out. Draco nodded towards the entrance. "That’s Professor Weasley, and he’s probably waiting there for you."

Nalian smiled, "thank you, Draco. I’ll talk to you later, if I’m not put in Gryffindor." He heard Blaise laugh as he went up to meet the professor.

The man was tall and fairly young, with long, bright red hair and a fang earring. "You must be Mr. Morthen. I’m Professor Bill Weasley, charms teacher. The headmaster asked me to bring you to his office." He said, leading the way into the castle.

They ended up at a stone gargoyle, where Professor Weasley said ‘peculiar paintings’ and the gargoyle moved aside. The headmaster’s office was a circular room with portraits filling up the walls and curious metal instruments whirring softly on tables around the room. Two instruments in particular caught Nalian’s attention; one was a silver sphere, looking for all the world merely like a peculiar decoration and the other was a black metal plate that seemed to have moving ripples of silver under the metal. Nalian gave a mental sigh, ‘how the hell am I supposed to get those from the headmaster of all people?’ He clearly remembered the many warnings from Caran about the brilliant headmaster. Albus Dumbledore wasn’t one Nalian wanted to even think about tangling with.

"Ah, Mr. Nalian Morthen! Please have a seat. Lemon drop?" Nalian jumped slightly. He had been so distracted by the elven objects that he hadn’t even heard Professor Weasley leave, or the Headmaster enter.

The headmaster of Hogwarts had twinkling blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles with a waist-length, white beard tucked into a purple belt and was wearing neon blue robes with dark purple stars. Nalian wondered if the odd look was from insanity or a very elaborate act of harmlessness.

"No thank you, Headmaster." Nalian declined politely, sitting in a chair in front of the enormous, claw-footed desk.

The headmaster popped a lemon drop into his mouth and pulled a ragged hat off the shelf behind his desk. "This is the Sorting Hat, which will sort you into one of the four Hogwarts houses. I’ll announce you after the first years are sorted, at which point you’ll come in from the antechamber and be sorted. Any questions? No? Why don’t we head down to the Great Hall then." His eyes twinkled. "I must get the hat downstairs before the first years arrive or it’ll never let me hear the end of it."

Nalian followed the headmaster out of the office and through Hogwarts a bit dazedly. He wondered if the headmaster was always so energetic.

The antechamber Nalian was left in was small room with a lit fireplace and moving portraits lining all the walls. He noted that the headmaster had left the door to the Great Hall open, perhaps for Nalian’s benefit. The Great Hall was a huge room with five long tables, four for the four houses and one raised on a platform that was obviously for the teachers. Four banners hung on the walls, each one a crest for one of the houses. Hundreds of candles hung over the tables. Of all of this, what was most attention grabbing was the ceiling, which was enchanted to show the sky outside. At the moment the stars glittered brightly with the occasional cloud drifting slowly by.

A stern, older woman led a line of first years towards a stool where the tattered sorting hat waited. The hat, much to Nalian’s amusement, opened a tear in its brim and sang. Everyone clapped when the hat finished it’s song before the woman started calling names.

"Boffel, Marcel."

A boy with dark hair shuffled up to the stool and placed the hat on his head. A few seconds later the hat cried out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Jesse Carman was put in Gryffindor after a few minutes, Therisa Montague ended up in Slytherin in seconds. The sorting went on this way, placing each new student in one of the houses.

"Potter, Katherine."

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat had barely touched the girl’s head.

"Zabini, Paige."

"RAVENCLAW!"

Nalian tuned out the rest of the sorting until he heard the last new student’s name called. ‘That must be Blaise Zabini’s sister.’ He thought absently, noting the girl’s short, black hair and similar bone structure.

The headmaster beamed as he stood up. "Welcome, welcome! Before westart this delicious feast, there is one more sorting. This year we have an exchange student from America who will be entering the seventh year. Mr. Nalian Morthen, would you please come out to be sorted?"

Nalian pulled himself out of the doorway and started the short trek around the teachers’ table to sit on the stool. On his way he noticed the familiar face of the man from the robes shop. So Mr. Snape was Professor Snape. The older man met his eyes with suspicion and irritation. ‘As if I were a diseased mosquito he wants to swat.’ Nalian dropped onto the stool with a resigned sigh as he put the hat on his head. It was going to be a long year.

‘Well, what do we have here? Hogwarts hasn’t had a late student in nearly five centuries!’ A voice sounded in Nalian’s head.

‘What do you mean "late"?’ Nalian thought back. ‘I’ve been schooled before this!’

‘Your name was written down for Hogwarts before you were even born.’ The hat responded. Nalian’s mind went blank. Was that possible? He knew he was technically human, but he was born in Britain? How could he be put down for Hogwarts before he was born? Were his parents magical?

‘Never mind that.’ The hat interrupted his thoughts. ‘Where to place you... Plenty of courage, no doubt about that! But you are not what you seem. And then you are always wanting to learn and willing to work hard for your goal. You have a strong desire to prove yourself. And very loyal, I see. No, you shouldn’t be in Gryffindor I think. Too willing to do whatever you need to do, even if the way is unethical. Ravenclaw is too studious for you. So will it be Hufflepuff the loyal and hardworking, or Slytherin the cunning and ambitious?’

Nalian thought for a moment. ‘Wherever you feel I should go.’

The hat paused before shouting aloud, "SLYTHERIN!"

‘I do hope we get the chance to converse later. I have a lot of questions for you.’ Nalian thought to the hat before pulling it off.

He headed towards his table and smiled when he saw Draco sitting at there. "So, I’m not in Gryffindor." He said casually. "This seat taken?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, but a smile tugged at his lips. "Have a seat. You remember Blaise," Draco nodded to the black-haired Slytherin. "This is Pansy Parkinson, and Gregory Goyle." Pansy was a short, attractive, brown-eyed blond and Gregory looked like a small mountain with brown hair.

Nalian smiled at them. "Nice to meet you." He looked up at the teachers already seated at the head table. "This may be a stupid question, Draco, but that man at the teacher’s table looks a lot like you-"

"He’s my father." Draco interrupted. "He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. The man next to him is my godfather, our Potions professor, Severus Snape."

"Oh." Potions were never his strong point. Like he needed another reason for the man to dislike him. "Who’s the big man at the end?"

"He’s Hagrid, the Groundskeeper of Hogwarts and he usually doesn’t eat here." Blaise said. "Professor McGonagall teaches Transfiguration, Professor Weasley is the Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"I thought Professor Weasley taught Charms?" Nalian said, looking up at the head table. There was another redheaded man who looked similar to the Weasley Nalian had met at the front doors, but with much shorter hair and a shorter, slightly more bulky build.

Draco smirked, "there are two professor Weasleys at Hogwarts. Bill teaches charms, Charlie teaches magical creatures. We’re supposed to call them by their first names so people don’t get confused, but the Slytherins only use their first names in classes."

"That’s rather antisocial, isn’t it?"

Blaise grinned, "the Weasley family is famous for producing Gryffindors. The Slytherin and Gryffindor houses don’t get along."

"People are biased against the Slytherin house, because everyone thinks all Dark wizards come from Slytherin." Draco explained. "This is a false impression, of course. Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor and he joined the Dark Lord; Only one of many from other houses."

Nalian frowned, "but Dark isn’t necessarily evil either, right? I know the Dark Lord is evil, but not all Dark wizards are. Light and Dark are two different things than Good and Evil."

Pansy smirked, "you’ll fit in nicely in Slytherin. We aren’t all evil, even if some of us are Dark."

"So is it bad that your sister was put in Ravenclaw, Blaise?"

Blaise frowned, "how’d you know Paige was my sister?"

Nalian raised an eyebrow, "she has your last name and similar features. I just assumed."

Blaise sighed, "I’d have preferred she was sorted here, so I could watch out for her, but most of the Ravenclaws are alright. You’ll meet some of them in class tomorrow."

"I’m not particularly hungry. I can start showing you around Hogwarts after the Headmaster makes his announcements if you don’t want to eat." Draco offered.

Nalian nodded as the headmaster rose to his feet.

"Now for a few short announcements before we eat: First, as most of you know, the Forbidden Forest is strictly forbidden. It is extremely dangerous for you to go wandering there, especially now with Voldemort’s forces in there. Second, there will be some extra classes added for those who wish to take them: Muggle Defense, where you’ll learn to protect yourself without magic, Ritual Magic, which usually involves long rituals, energy, and three or more witches, and Survival, where you’ll learn how to survive in several different situations. You may sign up for these classes or the other ones in your common room. Now, dig in!"

Draco rose and motioned for Nalian to join him as everyone started to eat. "We have several optional classes that were added over the years of the Dark Lord’s terror." Draco told him. "Some of them are Understanding the Dark Arts, Understanding the Enemy, Advanced Defense, Defense for Dummies, Elemental Magic, In the Battle, and Improvise: How To Use What You’ve Got. There’s a few others. We didn’t have nearly as many extra classes until Hogwarts started taking in refugees. While some work in the war, others teach the optional classes, and others take the classes with us."

Nalian stared at him, "there must be quite a few refugees here. Has the Dark Lord left no place to live?"

Draco snorted, "he’s left places to live, but no place safe, not even for those who follow him. There are many people who are still out there, while others have fled to other countries, and there’s nearly five hundred refugees here and even more in Hogsmeade, which is protected by Hogwarts’ magic. People feel Dumbledore and Hogwarts are the only hope left. Even the Ministry of Magic has practically disbanded. James Potter and his close friends keep the Aurors going and training new recruits."

"How does anyone hide this from the Muggles?" Nalian asked incredulously.

"No one does anymore." Draco shrugged and smirked, "Muggles don’t see what they don’t believe. We still try to keep things hidden, which is natural instinct by now, considering how long we’ve kept hidden from them, but the Dark Lord has destroyed several small Muggle towns, and they still haven’t a clue. Here is the library, and over there’s the restricted section. You can’t read and of the restricted books without written permission from a teacher."

"What’s in the restricted section?"

"Dark Arts books, Black books such as Necromancy, books containing spells Hogwarts students don’t have the training to perform, information the students shouldn’t or don’t need to know. There wasn’t much selection until the Ministry fell apart and their library and records were brought here."

"Shouldn’t you two be at dinner?" A voice asked behind them.

"Shouldn’t you be?" Draco asked evenly, turning around.

"I have something with me," she waved a bread roll in the air, "you on the other hand, do not."

Draco rolled his eyes, "This is Professor Potter, she teaches Muggle Studies. I was merely showing our newest house member the ropes, professor."

Bright green eyes that seemed eerily familiar looked Nalian up and down. "Nice to meet you, Mr...?"

"Morthen." He fidgeted. "Nalian Morthen, professor." There was something about those eyes.

"Well, Mr. Morthen, will you be taking Muggle Studies?"

"No," Nalian said. "I’ll be taking Ancient Runes and Arithmancy along with some of the informal classes."

Professor Potter smiled, "well, you should know all about the muggle way of life, after all the American wizarding society is much more mixed in with the muggle society."

Nalian just smiled, nodded, and prayed no one ever quizzed him on muggles.

"You two should head to your common room, I think dinner is nearly done."

Draco led him out of the library. "Professor Potter is well liked in Slytherin, even if she is a Gryffindor. She’s a close friend of Professor Snape’s. Our common room is in the dungeon, and if you ever get lost just find a Slytherin student." Draco stopped at a blank stone wall between a portrait of an old man sitting on a broken pillar and a rusty suit of armor, "the password is ‘Myrddin’."

The stone wall slid aside to reveal a low, long rectangular room lit by two fireplaces and dozens of candles floating near the ceiling. There were several large, plush green and black couches and a dozen large tables placed sporadically around the room.

Draco pointed out the seven hallways on the left wall of the room, "those lead to the dormitories; the last hallway is for the seventh years. Girls sleep in the room on the right, boys on the left, the middle door is a workroom for our year with extra copies of the books we need in classes. Need anything else?"

Nalian shook his head, "I’m fine. I think I’ll just get ready for bed. Night, Draco." He wandered into the dormitory. The room had four beds, with two on each side. He went to his trunk and dug out parchment and a quill to write Caran.

Caran,

I’ve arrived and things are going as well as can be expected.

Making friends in several places will be difficult. There are four school houses, which don’t all get along, and this creates a barrier for making friends outside of my house (Slytherin). I suppose I’ll deal with that when it comes to it.

I think I’ve already made a friend. His name is Draco Malfoy. I can tell he isn’t entirely human. I’m not sure he knows this though. His father, who is a professor here, is even less human than his son. I can’t quite place what it is, but when I do I shall tell you. It’s interesting, I didn’t realize wizards so closely associated with other magical species.

Do you remember that man we saw in the robes shop? He watched me for some reason? He is a professor here, and still seems suspicious of me. I don’t know why, haven’t a clue what I did. Perhaps it’s just in his nature. He and Draco are close apparently, meaning I may spend quite some time around him. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.

I am concerned about the fact that Headmaster Dumbledore has at least two artifacts in his office, and there are likely more. How can I retrieve those without raising suspicion?

Lastly, I know you told me of the Dark Lord Voldemort, and Draco has told me more. This, political... matter concerns me. I know I’m not to get involved. Please don’t tell me you knew of this man’s actions and couldn’t be bothered to tell me.

No, don’t write back unless it’s important. No point making discovery more likely. Do send innocent mail by owl or have Derek do so, so it seems I’m corresponding with family.

Give my greetings to Darian.

Nalian

Nalian sealed the letter and looked around the room carefully. When he was sure no one was there he murmured something under his breath and tossed the letter into the fireplace where it disappeared. He paused, looking as if he was listening for something. Satisfied no one had noticed his use of elven magic Nalian prepared for bed.

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