Secret Descendants (Marauders) Moved Accounts

Chapter 5

"The sorting ceremony will start shortly in front of the rest of the school, so I suggest you smarten up while you wait." James began to attempt to flatten his hair but put his hand back down when he realised there was no chance of taming his unruly hair. Sirius straightened his tie and Remus fixed his shirt collar.

"I shall return when I am ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly," she added on her way out of the chamber.

Ophelia grimaced. "Whole school? I don't think I can do that..." Remus smiled encouragingly at her, "It will be fine, I'm before you I think, and Sirius should be straight after you. Unless you have any more secret relatives that you also don't know about?" He smirked.

"Merlin I hope not. No offence," he looked at Ophelia.

"How exactly are we sorted into houses?" She wondered.

"A hat," Remus frowned. "I think it is anyway, we'll find out soon enough."

Sirius glanced around, spotting a group of girls, each looking nervous. He suspected that one was a muggle-born, if not half-blood, and walked over to them.

"Nervous?" he asked kindly. The one with the vibrant red hair looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, I'm muggle-born, so I've been told, I had no idea any of this existed until last month. I don't want to be the odd one out," Sirius reassured her. "You'll be fine. You won't be the only muggle-born here I reckon. What house are you all wanting to be in?"

A short, brunette girl whispered, "Not Slytherin, I've heard stories about them, they're evil people apparently. "

He winced, Lily frowned slightly, and the girls seemed to notice. "Ah... You um... weren't planning on being Slytherin were you? I, er...sorry."

"No, no you are right... My whole family has been Slytherin so I think I will change and break the tradition." Sirius smiled warmly at the embarrassed girl. "Oh, my name is Sirius, by the way. Sirius Black."

The brunette smiled at him, "Hi, I'm Dorcas Meadowes."

"Marlene McKinnon," replied the tallest of the three. She wore her dirty blonde hair in a wavy ponytail.

"Mary Macdonald, also a pure-blood" She faintly smirked, her dark hair framing her face.

"I'm Lily Evans. I take it your whole family is magical then?" the redhead questioned, wanting to know more about magic. She found it all quite fascinating.

"Yep. My brother will be starting in a few years. I guarantee he'll be in Slytherin though. He always was my mother's favourite."

"Rough. I kind of wanted to be in Slytherin because my friend over there-" She pointed to a group of boys in the corner muttering under their breaths. "-says he wants to be. Plus he's the only person I really know here, he wanted us to stick together."

Sirius looked pained, concerning the other girls, but Mary seemed to be able to guess what he was going to say. "This is in no way meant to sound offensive, but Slytherin is the worst place you in particular could possibly go to. They barely accept half-bloods, let alone muggle-born." He paused when he saw her eyes narrow. "I'm not saying blood status means anything, it definitely doesn't to me, despite my family I have no problems with muggle-borns, but just consider it. Sadly not everyone in this world wants equality."

"He is right, you know. We're not saying your friend is bad or anything, we're not going to judge him before we meet him. It's just that those boys are bad news, and you want to stay clear of them, if they are anything like their families."

Her face relaxed slightly as she took in this knowledge. For two eleven year olds, they both seemed to have a lot of experience with the wizarding world, and apparently not for the best. "We'll wait and see. I think Professor McGonagall is coming back."

Sirius went back over to James, Ophelia and Remus, who each grinned at him. Out of nowhere, a scream echoed. Sirius identified it as Dorcas. A group of ghosts streamed through the wall to the side of them. Pearly white, slightly transparent people, gliding across the room, hardly glancing at the first-years. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves. One that looked like a noble man dressed in tunic and tights with a questionably wobbly head frowned at his comrades. "I have had quite enough with Peeves. Even Dumbledore barely tolerates him."

"Understandable. He was caught harassing two fifth-year Hufflepuffs earlier until I intervened."

"He gives all a bad name- I say! Who are all of you? You don't seem like familiar faces." The two ghosts turned around and stared into their eyes, finally noticing the large group of first-years.

"New students!" yelled a rather large ghost. "I suppose you are waiting to be sorted?"

A people jerked their heads.

"Hope to see you in Gryffindor, my old house, you know," said the ghost with the ruff.

"Move along now," returned the strict voice of McGonagall. One by one, the ghosts vanished, floating through the opposite wall. "Now form a line please" She said, "And follow me."

They left the chamber and approached the double doors leading to the Great Hall.

"Whatever happens, we stay friends, yeah?" Sirius whispered to them. They all hugged slightly and shuffled into a line.

Ophelia had never imagined such a spectacular place, sure she lived in a huge manor, but it was nothing compared to this. It was lit by thousands of candles, hovering over four stretched tables, each with their respective house flag above it. The tables were covered with golden plates, goblets and cutlery. At the front of the hall was a fifth table, where the professors sat.

Professor McGonagall led them through, coming to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the professors behind them. The hundreds of faces bore into them, flickering in the candlelight. Scattered between the many students, the ghosts rested, also staring at them, some grinning. Remus looked up and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all.

McGonagall gently placed a four legged stool in front of them. On top was a pointed wizard's hat, brown and patchy, the edges frayed. Noticing that everyone had switched their gaze to the hat, Remus stared at it too. The hall was in complete silence. It twitched, and a tear near the brim of it began to open like a mouth. Surprising all the new students began to sing.