𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍 | 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺

Chapter 10 - The eye-opening Sorting Ceremony

"Brown, Lavander" was the first Gryffindor to be sorted.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Betelgeuse observed George greet a first-year named Seamus Finnigan with a rather charming Irish accent as he set opposite from her.

"Granger, Hermione" was sorted into Gryffindor as well.

The ill-mannered first-year from the train.

"Longbottom, Neville" was called next. Betelgeuse straightened, she wanted to see the Longbottom boy. Poor soul. He was sorted into Gryffindor. Like his parents.

"Malfoy, Draco."

Betelgeuse followed with interest a slender boy with sleek white-blond hair walk up the steps and sit on the stool. He had cold grey eyes, a pale complexion and rather sharp, pointed features, with a general haughty noble face. 

"SLYTHERIN!"

Betelgeuse scoffed. The twins sent her questioning looks. "That was my cousin," she explained plainly.

"The Malfoy boy?" George asked. Betelgeuse nodded, watching the said boy make his way to the Slytherin table. 

"He is my second cousin, to be precise," she clarified. "As all the Malfoys before him, he is a Slytherin. How unique," Betelgeuse drawled.

"Nott, Theodore."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Betelgeuse snorted again.

"Another relative of yours?" Fred asked in a teasing voice.

"No, not that I know of. But Theodore Nott comes from a long line of blood supremacists and his family housed some vicious Death Eaters. Well, put that way, mine too!" Betelgeuse added with mirth. "The Pureblood families are all interrelated, Fred. If you are only going to let your sons and daughters wed Purebloods, the choice is limited. Your mother Molly and I are second cousins by marriage, and your father is something like my third cousin once removed," Betelgeuse finished, shocking the boy.

"WHAT!?" He yelled, making fall upon himself the look of censure of Professor McGonagall. Betelgeuse rolled her eyes.

A couple of other students went up until "Potter, Harry" was called. Whispers filled the Great Hall, and George started to brag that they had already met him. The Hat set on his head for a minute or two.

A hat-stall.

"Better be— GRYFFINDOR!"

The table jumped up with cheers and screams as some students shook hands with Harry. The twins began chanting, "We've got Potter! We've got Potter!" over and over again.

They all set down, Betelgeuse noticed Harry Potter seated next to her, with his eyes fixed on the older girl. "Hello, Potter," Betelgeuse greeted the boy with a vague tone. The smile that appeared on the boy's face illuminated his bright green eyes.

She proceeded to watch a sickly pale Ron sit upon the stool with the Hat on his head. It only took a few seconds for the Hat to shout, "GRYFFINDOR!" Ron looked relieved and ran off to sit next to Harry.

"Very well done, Ronald," Percy announced, patting his brother on the back.

Betelgeuse smiled to Ron as Dumbledore approached his stand.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down as everyone clapped.

"Is he— a bit mad?" She overheard Harry ask Percy. Betelgeuse smiled as she remembered herself ask Charlie nearly the same thing.

The feast had begun; Nearly Headless-Nick had observed the students sorrowfully, expressing how he did miss eating.

"Ron, mind saving some chicken for the rest of the table?"

Ron smiled, blushing, as Betelgeuse passed the chicken-filled plate to a ravenous George. She began discussing Quidditch with the twins and Angelina. They needed a new seeker, and fast.

She reached for a lone toast set on a nearly empty plait when her hand collided with another. She diverted her gaze from the toast, catching the eyes of Fred. They were the colour of tea when the first drop of milk hits it; the colour of an old oak tree. 

Why on Phineas Nigellus's name am I noticing this now?!

"Here, have it," he began, handing Betelgeuse the toast. "I can have some of George's over here."

"Oi!" George protested, "I did not agree to that!"

Fred ruffled up George's hair, before swiping the remaining toast off the plate.

"Fine, I'll get some from the Hufflepuff table!" George grumbled while Lee roared with laughter.

Once the feast ended, Dumbledore rose again, "Ahem— just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices for you."

"First-years should note that the forest on the ground is forbidden to pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," he paused, eyeing the trio of troublemakers. "I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used in the corridors."

Betelgeuse rolled her eyes, Fred and George snorted softly, capturing the attention of Harry.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Betelgeuse furrowed her eyebrows softly.

"Now before we leave, the Hogwarts song!" Dumbledore pulled out his wand. "Sing at whatever tune you'd like. One, Two, Three!"

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts," Betelgeuse followed the words as they emerged, choosing an allegro tune. She had finished quite early, but the Weasley twins concluded their funeral march version last, as they did the year prior. This time with Dumbledore conducting their last notes.

"Ah, lovely music for my old ears!" Dumbledore said as he dismissed the students.

Betelgeuse managed to catch up with the twins, as they manoeuvred their way to the Gryffindor Tower. As they climbed through the numerous sets of stairs, Betelgeuse saw George whisper something in Fred's ear as Lee snickered loudly. Rather than responding, Fred snatched the black pointed hat from Lee's head and threw it hard on George's face. It hit George straight in the face, and he over dramatised his reaction leaning lightly to the handrail of the stairs. He clutched his head in mock pain.

"Betrayal!" He yelled out, attracting the attention of some students nearby.

"Merlin's beard!" Lee said loudly, bouncing up and down on his feet. "You do like Be—," but he could not finish, because a now red-eared Fred slapped his hand on Lee's mouth.

Betelgeuse continued to observe the scene with morbid fascination.

And they say I live with a loony loon at home. What about them?!

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