I See You

I was soaked. Literally.

When we’d gotten off the train at the station, it had been pouring with rain. And then we’d had to wait for carriages drawn by these gruesome-looking horses, if that’s what they were. I hadn’t gotten a close-up look, but I’d seen their scaly wings. That was enough for me.

I was standing with the rest of the shivering 1st Years outside a massive dining hall, and I was starting to feel so nervous it hurt. What if there was some mistake? What if it turned out I couldn’t do magic at all, and they sent me back to the asylum? Hectic thoughts flew like lightning through my head, each one shocking and frightening me with its possibilities.

Breathe, Mona. Just breathe I thought, closing my eyes and willing my emotions away. It was while I was doing this that somebody bumped into me, almost sending me into the wall. I whirled around and found myself glaring up at the blonde-haired boy from the platform.

For a second, I was unwillingly taken aback by his looks. The lamplight shone brilliantly on his golden wet hair, giving him an undeserved halo. His wide gray eyes darted around my face. He smirked.

“That was payback.” I rolled my eyes and backed up to see him better; I’d been right about the height difference. My eyes were level with his chin. I turned away from him, but glanced back when he spoke. “Which house do you think you’ll be in?” It was an honest enough question, but something about him irritated me. And I had no idea what he was talking about. Houses?

“As long as I don’t share one with you, I’ll be happy.” I knew it was harsh, but I was on edge, and after all, I didn’t even know this boy’s name. All I had was an image in a dream vision that might or might not come true. For the barest of seconds, he actually seemed hurt, but I decided I’d imagined it when his haughty look came back mere nanoseconds later.

“Well good luck to you. I’m sure you’ll make a fabulous Hufflepuff,” he sneered. I childishly stuck my tongue out at him and gave him my back.

At that moment, a young raven-haired woman wearing glittering black robes called us to order and explained that we were to line up and be ‘sorted’ when our names were called. I concentrated on not hyperventilating as we entered a massive hall filled with hundreds of students.

“Wow,” I breathed, looking up at the night sky through which I could see the rafters; thousands of candles hovered twenty feet above the ground, bobbing occasionally. I narrowly avoided collision with the person in front of me as we stopped walking. I stood on my tiptoes to try to see what everybody was looking at, but I wasn’t tall enough.

I wasn’t left in mystery for long; soon enough, a voice I recognised as Professor McGonagall’s rang out,

“One by one, I shall call you up, and place the Sorting Hat upon your head. Once you have been sorted you will be able to take your seats at your House tables. Emily Allgood!” The line soon began to dwindle as people were called to the front, and took their seats at one of the four student tables in the hall. As names were called, I noted that each table had a different banner hanging above it, and that the students wore coordinating colours. These, I realised, were the Houses. With a small smile, I noticed Hufflepuff just to the right of me.

“Malfoy, Scorpius!” The line was much smaller now, and I watched as the blonde boy strode smoothly up to a patched, frayed hat and placed it on his head. Nothing happened for a moment – apart from him looking a bit silly – but then the hat moved and shouted, “Slytherin!” I watched with eyebrows raised as he walked off to the far right of the hall, joining the table of green and silver.

I turned back to the sorting. And then I had an awful thought.

I didn’t have a last name. And they hadn’t called me out yet. I started to feel nauseous as I looked out at the sea of students surrounding me, all of them looking our way. I’d never felt nervous in front of crowds before, because I’d never been in front of a crowd before. I started to get a headache. Too many voices, too many futures I could sense here.

Soon, I was alone. I tried not to meet anybody’s eye in the few seconds of silence that followed the last boy’s name.

Professor McGonagall looked up at me.

“...Mona.”

Whispers filled the hall; that caught people’s attention. I was literally the only student that hadn’t had her surname called. Even I knew this was not normal.

No time to dwell on it now. With stiff legs, I climbed the few steps and sat down on the three-legged stool there. She dropped the hat onto my head and it thankfully sank down to cover my eyes so that I wouldn’t have to see any more.

And then a voice spoke inside my head, and I jumped a little, startled. It was the hat.

Ahh. I know who you are. It informed me in an ageless voice. I was too taken aback to ask it to tell me – it probably knew more than I did. ...Seer. Yes, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen so potent a Second Sight. You have much skill for one so young. And such a strong will, I see. Very strong. Intelligent, cunning – you’re a survivor. I thought you were surely a Ravenclaw at first, but I see now; that’s not quite right. No. I know just where to put you, where you'll flourish.

"SLYTHERIN!”