Hogwarts
The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was the castle with many turrets and towers.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.
Draco guided Zi into a boat and soon two other boys joined them.
"I'm Blaise Zabini, " one of them introduced themselves. He was dark skinned and had a buzz cut.
"I'm Theodore Nott.'" The other boy shyly introduced himself. He had dirty blonde hair and green eyes.
"Draco Malfoy." Draco said, and looked to his cousin who was obviously anxious,”He’s Zi Lestrange-Slytherin,” he spoke proudly, causing the two boys eyes to widen
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then, FORWARD!" And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass.
Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which had a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them directly underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.
Within minutes, they were finally at the castle.
"First years,follow me." A woman came up and motioned for them to follow her at the doors leading to the castle.
"Now, " started the woman as they stopped in front of two big double doors. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall You will be sorted into your houses.The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room”
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours,”
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." The witch then opened the door a bit and went inside, closing it on them.
Suddenly, Zi felt a small pull on him but not a physical pull. It was as if a mystical presence was trying to lead him somewhere. Looking in the direction of the pull his eyes met the goldish brown eyes of a kid the same age as he. He was brunette, wore round glasses, and it was obvious he was high class in the wizarding world.
The other kid frowned slightly as he lifted his hand to his forehead but kept eye contact with Zi. There was a sort of tranquil quality to the exchange as both seemed to disassociate from the world around them before the brunette’s attention was averted by his redhead friend.
"It's true, then." Blaise announced to everyone,"Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts," He stated boredly, Draco’s eyes narrowing at ‘Harry’ as Zi tilted his head in confusion
“You stay far away from him, okay?” Draco told Zi softly yet sternly, his cousin nodding immediately at his words,”If he tries to speak with you, you come tell me. You understand?”
“Yes,” Zi answered, though he didn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to speak with this ‘Harry Potter’, he knew well what disobeying orders came with
The woman came back out and announced herself. "I'm Professor McGonagall, and this. ." she opened the doors, earning "ooh"s from the students, "is Hogwarts."
The first years walked to the front of the hall while looking around. The sky looked like a starry night as candles floated above them.
“Pretty, milo” Zi gasped, a bright smile upon his face as he looked up at the sky like ceiling
“Very pretty indeed, Zi” Milo replied to his master, slithering to his ear hiding in his hair
"Welcome, first years!" Headmaster Dumbledore stood up and opened his arms."Now,you will get sorted."
There was a stool in front. on top of the stool the Professor put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.
Professor Mcgonagall then stepped forward with a long roll of parchment,"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she told them,"Abbott, Hannah!"
A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat,which fell right down
over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause -
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.
The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.
"Bones, Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.
"Granger, Hermione! "
Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.
"Malfoy, Draco!"
Draco sighed before looking at his cousin who seemed nervous to be alone once more,”You’ll be fine I promise. I’ll save you a seat,” he whispered, winking at Zi causing the black haired boy to chuckle
Draco strutted to the stool and sat down. The hat didn't even fully touch his head before shouting
"Slytherin!”
"Nott, Theo!" He was also sorted into Slytherin.
"Potter, Harry!"
The room then began to fill with murmurs and whispers amongst the students, the brunette walked up and sat down. The hat was sat upon his head for a moment and it seemed as though it and the boy were conversing when suddenly it shouted,
“Gryffindor!”
The table cheered and clapped, all happy that the chosen one was in their house.
McGonagall's eyes then widened a bit as she read the next name silently, and she looked around the first years before her eyes landed on Zi
“Lestrange-slytherin, Zi!”
With that the room became scarily silent, not a sound was heard as everyone realized why the name seemed so familiar. This child, whoever they may be, was the son of the Dark Lord.
HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED
Fear pierced through them all, even some of the professors who looked around wildly at the first years searching for who the child may be. Though there was one man who’s eyes twinkled with slight delight at the sound of Zi’s name.
Taking a deep breath, Zi started to walk up the stairs before he sat down. With shaky hands the hat was placed onto his head and that’s when he heard a voice.
“Zi Lestrange-Slytherin,” The hat said, chuckling a little,”It's been so long since a slytherin passed through these halls. Though all the same, the dark magic you hold even at such a small age is impeccable. And to think you’ve been surrounded by muggles your whole life. You really are part of the prophecy,”
“No understand,” Zi mumbled, he was beyond confused at the hat’s words. He didn’t know of any prophecies or magic, it was all new to him and yet it seemed like everyone already had this knowledge of what and who he was
“I suppose you wouldn’t, and it seems you are exceptionally undeveloped…Hogwarts will be sure to change that,” The hat spoke,”You have great potential and kindness inside you. Loyalty from pain but no bravery from your torment..interesting. Your other half gained bravery in his and yet you fold in anxiety and woe. However, you hold great ambition inside of you that you yet to know. . . Heh, I take it all of this makes sense, you were destined to be in..”
“Slytherin!!”
It was silent for another small moment before the Slytherin table all stood and clapped, some even bowing at the boy as he walked towards the table. Many introduced themselves before he took his seat next to Draco, the boy having saved him a seat as promised.
“Expected nothing less,” Draco stated, nodding at his cousin with a proud smile
The dinner passed by in a blur. The Slytherins were escorted to the dungeons,where their common room was in.