Eileen Potter -book 5-

|16| Hats new song

The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors and Harry got out of the carriage first. I turned again to look for lit windows down by the Forest, but there was definitely no sign of life within Hagrid's cabin. Unwillingly, because i had half-hoped they would have vanished, i turned my eyes instead upon the Thestrals  standing quietly in the chill night air, their blank white eyes gleaming.

I had once before had the experience of seeing something that Aria could not, but that had been a reflection in a mirror, something much more insubstantial than a hundred very solid-looking beasts strong enough to pull a fleet of carriages.

'Are you coming or what?' said Aria beside me

'Oh . . . yeah,' i said quickly and they joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.

The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.

The four long house tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again, I noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as i had passed; i gritted his teeth and tried to act as though i neither noticed nor cared.

We drifted away from them at the Slytherin table. The moment we reached our table, we joined Fergus who was saving our spots. We bot took our seats from across Fergus as the other Slytherins sat down, I had more important things to worry about, however: I was trying to look over the students' heads to the staff table that ran along the top wall of the Hall.
"Eileen who are you try to look for" asked Fergus looking towards the direction i was. "To see who our new dark Arts professor will be" I responded as aria rolled her eyes. "Of course"
'Who's that?' He said sharply, pointing towards the middle of the staff table.

My eyes followed his. They lit first upon Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his high-backed golden chair at the centre of the long staff table, wearing deep-purple robes scattered with silvery stars and a matching hat. Dumbledore's head was inclined towards the woman sitting next to him, who was talking into his ear. She looked, I thought, like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet and he saw, with a shock of recognition, a pallid, toadlike face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes.

"it's that Umbridge woman!"

'Who?' said Aria.

"She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!"

"Nice cardigan" said Fergus, smirking.

"She works for Fudge!" Aira repeated, frowning. "What on earth's she doing here, then?"

"I hope not for the dark art Position" i stated

Aria scanned the staff table, her eyes narrowed.

"No,"she muttered, "no, surely not . . . "

My attention had been caught by Professor Grubbly-Plank who had just appeared behind the staff table; she worked her way along to the very end and took the seat that ought to have been Hagrid's. That meant the first-years must have crossed the lake and reached the castle, and sure enough, a few seconds later, the doors from the Entrance Hall opened. A long line of scared-looking first-years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizards hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.