Hagrid met us at the station. It was pitch dark—not a single lantern on the platform. Descending to the pier, the four of us who had shared a compartment loaded into one boat. Oh! Such beauty exists in the world. Hogwarts, illuminated by a thousand lights, was beautiful. It resembles the castles of Neuschwanstein and Mont Saint-Michel combined. God, I knew I forgot something! My camera!
In the castle, Hagrid handed us over to McGonagall, and the excited children immediately fell silent under her stern gaze. We walked through enormous echoing halls and crowded into a small room. McGonagall gave a welcoming speech and suggested we tidy ourselves up while there was time.
The Great Hall was very beautiful; we were lucky that tonight the sky was starry. In cloudy weather, looking at such a ceiling probably isn't particularly interesting. Although during a heavy thunderstorm, it must also be impressive. After the Hat's song, the sorting began. I was closer to the beginning of the list, so very soon I heard:
"Granger, Hermione."
The Sorting Hat descended on my head, blocking my view.
"Unexpected," it sounded directly in my head.
"Tell me about it, esteemed hat," I mentally replied, "I'm still in shock myself."
"And where do you want to go?"
"Hufflepuff, the best house, where everyone finds friends!"
"You're not going there for friends. Perhaps for connections..."
"Connections are never superfluous," I agree, "but first and foremost, I simply want peace."
"Fine, you've convinced me. HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted the last word for the entire hall to hear.
Satisfied, I go to my table, sitting next to Hannah and Susan, who were sorted before me.
"Hi," I whisper to them.
"Hi," the girls smile back.
A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette—it's as if we were specifically selected.
Neville is being sorted. One, two, five minutes... The hall begins to whisper louder and louder. Under the hat, Neville alternates between turning pale and red, ultimately acquiring an even crimson color. And finally:
"HUFFLEPUFF!" Neville, from nervousness, almost walked to the table still wearing the hat, but McGonagall intercepted him.
"Neville, congratulations, great that you're with us!"
"Gran will kill me," he whispers quietly.
"Your grandmother is far away now; by the time you see each other, she'll definitely have calmed down," I try to comfort him a little, "meet Hannah and Susan."
Justin Finch-Fletchley and Zacharias Smith were also sorted into our house. A total of six first-years; Hufflepuff isn't a very popular house.
Harry and Ron, as expected, were sorted into Gryffindor.
"Welcome! Nitwit. Blubber. Oddment. Tweak!"—I think this is Dumbledore's best speech across all seven books. It's curious, though, what does it mean? Names of elves responsible for the tables, or a password? Or is Dumbledore just joking in his inimitable style? The tables are groaning with food; I wonder if the children ever feel sick from such abundance? Or are wizards immune to everything? While filling my plate, I waved my hand with the ring over the dishes. The ring detected no potions, that's a relief. Perhaps I'm searching for a hidden meaning for no reason, and in Rowling's world, everything really is without a catch. And the fact that Dumbledore's behavior is sometimes very suspicious and defies any logic—well, maybe wizards themselves are generally illogical. And Dumbledore too, while I suspect him of God knows what.
"...and actually, I was going to attend Eton, before I found out I was a wizard," I hear the end of Justin's story.
"Do you regret it?" I ask, "Eton is much cooler in my opinion," since the girls are sitting nearby, I don't voice "cooler than what."
"I haven't figured it out yet," Justin answers honestly, "magic and a magical castle are certainly very cool, but before McGonagall came to us, I was thinking of applying to the faculty of sociology and political science at Cambridge after Eton, like my father did in his time. And now I don't even know. It's strange that my father agreed to let me come here at all; he almost showed McGonagall the door and then suddenly changed his mind."
"It was the same with my father," I smirk, "he didn't try to show anyone the door, but he was asking too many questions. I stepped away for two minutes to bring McGonagall some water, and when I returned, I was faced with the fact that the professor and I were going shopping, and Hogwarts was a done deal."
"Are you saying McGonagall bewitched our parents?" Justin whispered loudly.
"She admitted it herself."
"What a bitch!" It seems those at the neighboring tables heard this too.
"Shh!" I hiss at him. Yes, I had the same reaction, but for God's sake, keep it down.
Justin gloomily stared at the teachers' table.
I need to distract him:
"Listen, even if you don't get into Eton, you don't have to cross Cambridge off your plans yet. After McGonagall's visit, my parents and I decided that I would continue studying at a regular school remotely. Every month I'll send them a pack of assignments by owl, and during the Christmas and summer holidays I'll take exams. Your father can probably enroll you in school with some delay so you don't lose a year."
"So we'll have to study twice as much?" Well yes, Justin is still a child, and few children feel enthusiasm about school.
"In any case, consult with your parents," I wrap up the topic. Who am I to insist?
"Yes... thanks for the advice," Justin went somewhere inside himself.
"Why do you need a second school?" Susan, who had been listening to our conversation for a while, asked in surprise.
"You see, wizards and Muggles teach fundamentally different subjects in schools. Muggles don't have Charms and Transfiguration, but Hogwarts doesn't have mathematics, physics, literature, foreign languages... And these are all very necessary subjects. Besides, if Justin and I want to return to the Muggle world after school, we'll need a Muggle certificate; our O.W.L.s will hardly be accepted by anyone."
"Why would you want to go to the Muggle world?" Hannah was stunned, "how is it better?"
"Probably not better, just different," I say evasively. "In the Muggle world, everyone is equal from birth," well, that's not entirely true, and sometimes not true at all, but let's not complicate things, "and in the wizarding world, many people have prejudices against people like Justin and me. In Diagon Alley, I heard people referring to us with a word that starts with the letter M."
"Yes!" Susan nodded energetically, her face flushed, "my family fought against You-Know-Who in the last war, but despite the fact that he disappeared ten years ago, many pure-blood wizards still hold their old views."
"What's physics?" Hannah picked out the unfamiliar word from the conversation.
"It's a science that explains how our world works. Well, wizards have laws of magic, and ordinary people have laws of physics."
Looking at the girls—it's clear they don't understand at all.
"For example, physics explains why the Moon orbits the Earth, without falling or flying away."
"And why?" Hannah, Ravenclaw is crying for you.
"Remember that thought. I'll need a pen and... uh, a quill and parchment to explain," of course, I have a big physics reference book with me, but I think it would hardly be useful for pure-blood wizards.
The food disappears from the plates, Dumbledore talks about the rules, including the horrible death in the third-floor corridor, and suggests singing the anthem. Finally, we're dismissed; my child's body makes itself known, I'm falling asleep on my feet. To get into the Hufflepuff common room, you need to tap the barrels in a specific rhythm. We gather by the fireplace, the boys are yawning, sleepy Susan is leaning against one side of me; whatever they tell us now will likely go in one ear and out the other. The prefect steps forward:
"Welcome to Hufflepuff House! Our colors are yellow and black, our symbol is the badger, an animal that is often underestimated, however, badgers know how to stand up for themselves. Hufflepuff is the most friendly house at Hogwarts; don't hesitate to ask for help in difficult situations. We don't chase after points and don't try to stand out, but don't believe anyone who says badgers are stupid. Outstanding individuals have studied in our house. For example, Artemisia Lufkin—the first woman to become Minister of Magic, and Newt Scamander—the most famous magizoologist. My name is Gabriel Truman, and I am your prefect. You can come to me with any questions. And now go to sleep, at eight in the morning I expect you in the common room to hand out schedules and escort you to breakfast. Good night."
The three of us climb up to a rather cozy bedroom designed for four. We have our own bathroom—great! The girls change into pajamas and lie down, while I quickly report on the paired parchment that I arrived normally, was sorted into Hufflepuff as I wanted, had dinner, and am going to bed because I'm falling asleep on my feet. Everything else—tomorrow. I quickly follow the example of my neighbors and instantly fall into sleep.