harry potter, rise from dust

chapter 3

Chapter 3.
Whispers and murmurs filled the room, centered entirely on the Boy Who Lived. It seemed everyone knew he was to commence his magical learning at Hogwarts with the rest of the first years. Considering the front page of the Daily Prophet stated this, it was no surprise at all that each student knew. Harry yawned tiredly, his face resting on his left hand. He disregarded the blatant stares he was receiving from the females at the Ravenclaw table.
"Still sleeping, Harry? I would have thought you'd received adequate rest by now." Callista was seated next to him, clad in Ravenclaw robes, identical to his own. "You're okay, right?"
"Just a bit tired, that's all. I guess sleeping on the train wasn't enough for me," Harry yawned, discounting the squealing girls as he did so.
"Don't mind him, Callista. Potter is just lazy, he always has been. Why don't you just forget about him? He's no good to anyone." The haughty voice was from Roger Davies, who sat across from them. Each girl nearby glanced crossly at Roger.

Callista scowled irritably. "Mind your own business, Davies. Why do you have to butt in our conversations every time? And you know what, I never recall giving you permission to call me by my first name."
Hanging around with Daphne had converted Callista into an intimidating witch. Daphne continuously implored Callista into exploiting her temper, unleashing her fury as opposed to her gentle disposition. Also, Callista didn't care for Roger at all. Roger had always been envious of Harry, constantly referring to him as his nemesis and growing overly competitive in Quidditch tryouts, although he'd never made the team. But, Harry had never seen Roger as his competitor.
"Ignore him. He doesn't bother me at all." Harry situated his hand on Callista's own, squeezing it gently under the table.
Callista smiled, gently countering his squeeze. The reaction she got was another yawn and how callously her friend could reject her gestures. This irritated her more than anything and an angry vein popped in her forehead. Callista compressed Harry's hand between both of hers and squeezed very tightly. Harry snatched his hand back, rubbing it profusely.
"Bloody hell, woman! What the hell was that for?" The pain triggered Harry's memory, reminding him of Sheila's crushing hugs that so often left him gasping for air. Do all girls pack such strength?

"Well, now you're wide awake, aren't you?" Callista huffed. "Serves you right. And, mind your language, Harry, it's inappropriate."
"Geez... can't I ever get a break?"
Roger sent an irate glare to Harry, whose casual air bugged Roger considerably. He detested the fact that Harry Potter always ignored him. Not desiring to make a scene during the sorting ceremony, he did what anyone would, he moved to the end of the table, far away from Potter. And yet, Harry remained unaware of his departure. The grand door of the Great Hall opened, seizing everyone's attention, and Professor McGonagall led the first years in. Seeing the Scottish woman wordlessly place a four-legged stool in front of the first years, Harry drifted off to space, bored out of his mind.
His mind reverted to reality, a burst of applause erupted around him. He looked up to see patched, frayed and extremely dirty hat bowing to each of the four tables. Oh, that's the reason Harry had zoned off. Every year, without fail, the sorting hat's song bored Harry to death. As the transfiguration professor unrolled the scroll, Harry examined the first years idly. He caught sight of his little brother talking animatedly with the youngest male Weasley. The sorting commenced when Hannah Abbot's name was announced. As McGonagall positioned the hat on the girl's name, she was sorted into Hufflepuff. This process went on for several minutes and Harry sighed in boredom.

"Stop sighing at every person who gets sorted, Potter. Just shut up and clap your hands like everyone else." This emanated from Xi Li, Callista's friend and roommate. Like Daphne, her figure was slim and short, her eyes were dark as midnight, and her short, cropped navy hair was messy.
"Oh, have I irritated the infamous Li temper?"
Callista exhaled her breath noisily at her two house members, opting to pay them no heed and concentrate more on the sorting ceremony. It was just like Harry to deliberately infuriate Xi without any reason other than his own amusement.
Xi glowered at Harry. "Maybe Davies was right. You aren't any good to anyone."
Harry wasn't deterred by her glare. Daphne was much more of frightening figure when she was livid. A smirk graced Harry's lips once he spotted a young girl who looked eerily similar to Li in appearance. Pointing his finger, he asked Xi, "Is that your sister, Li? She looks a lot like you. She's starting this year, eh?"
"What of it, Potter?"
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." Xi narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Xi admitted to herself that Harry did look more handsome than in previous years, and she was stunned at the muscles peeking out of his shirt. Shaking her head, she felt her cheeks slightly hot. She focused her attention back to the ceremony once more, reproaching herself for such thoughts. Her careless act did not go unobserved by a pair of emerald eyes.
"Li, Su," McGonagall called, and to her sister's happiness, the young girl was sorted into Ravenclaw. Su eagerly rushed to her sister, timidly smiling at all the clapping. The timid smile died down as soon as Harry introduced himself to her with his best alluring smile. Su blushed heavily and looked down to her lap. Xi's enraged glare developed into a flush of embarrassment once he directed his smile to her. Here Harry thought the bad-tempered girl was familiar with his smile.
Harry ditched his game when a blond boy seized his interest. Harry recognized that boy from somewhere. He was the sole offspring of the Malfoy's. The Greengrass family was never fond of them on account of the first war. The head of the Malfoy family put an effort to turn them into servants of the Dark Lord, claiming that it was their duty as a pureblood family of great wealth. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat announced after barely touching the boy's head. Malfoy arrogantly swaggered over to the table to join his two friends, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
Instead of sighing, Harry snorted, setting his eyes back to the front. Typical for a Malfoy to be in Slytherin, they're more likely to sully the house than restoring it to its former glory. Daphne wasn't thrilled with this latest development. She couldn't easily forgive the Malfoy's for what they had done in the first war. The Malfoy's had caused the other families to be wary of the Greengrass. The sorting continued, and there weren't many kids left. "Moon," "Nott," "Parkinson," followed by a pair of twins, "Patil," and "Patil," then "Perks, Sally-Anne," and last, "Potter, Daniel!"