Begotten

The Hogwarts Express was surprisingly not hard to find considering how cloaked it was. Of course, Moriah had directions on how to get to it. She was a little hesitant about running full force at a brick wall, but laughed when she came out the other side to see the beautiful scarlet steam engine

She pushed her trolley, looking around at all of the young witches and wizards and their parents, most of them dressed unnaturally, waving hysterically at the windows of the train.

Finding a place to board, she pulled her trunk behind her, looking into the different compartments and finding most of them full. A new realization hit her: she was entirely alone. She knew absolutely no one. It wasn’t a good feeling, but as she passed a group of older kids, a girl with two-toned hair stuck her head out of one of the doors.

“Hey, you look confused. Wanna sit with us?” She moved to the side and revealed three other girls, all of them looking about Moriah’s age.

“Yeah, thanks.”

The girl helped her with her trunk and cooed at Klaus, letting him out of his kennel.

“I’m Sheila, first year.”

“Moriah, same.”

The other girls also introduced themselves—one with a squashed looking face, Pansy, a blonde girl named Hannah, and a rather large, square girl named Millicent.

“So, it’s all of your first years?” They all nodded. “Have you all been practicing magic for a while?”

“Basically since birth,” Sheila laughed. “You?”

“I’m new to the magical world. Had no idea I was a witch.”

Pansy crossed one leg over the other in an attempt to look sophisticated. “You must have muggle parents.” She scrunched her nose up, and Moriah lifted an eyebrow.

“I don’t have any parents, thanks very much.” Pansy blushed and apologized. “What’s a muggle?”

“Just a name for non-magical people,” Sheila shrugged before sitting down next to Hannah.

The train began to move, and Moriah took her seat next to Pansy, not that she really wanted to.

“Do any of you actually know about this school, what it’s like?”

“Oh, Hogwarts is supposed to be great,” the blonde in the corner spoke up quietly. “My mum attended, so she’s told me stories. It’s a huge castle, and we have all these classes about magic—transfiguration, potions, even a class about seeing into the future.”

Moriah looked at her with wide eyes.

“Everyone gets divided into houses based on character traits and skills.”

“Houses?”

Pansy nodded and continued where Hannah left off. “There’s four of them. Gryffindor, a lot of brats, but apparently it’s the house of loyalty. The lot of them are blood-traitors.” The other girls looked uncomfortable. “Hufflepuff—I don’t know much about them except they’re good at finding things and relatively laid back. Ravenclaw is full of really smart kids, but some of them are really out there. Then there’s Slytherin. It’s mostly reserved for Pure-Blood witches and wizards—“she puffed her chest out at this. “Slytherins are smart and cunning. It’s the house I hope I’m sorted into.”
Moriah took in the information, wondering which one she would be in. Any of them seemed likely.

Then she thought back to the description of Gryffindor and asked, “What’s a blood-traitor?”

Hannah seemed to sink into her seat, but Pansy looked pleased. Sheila just rolled her eyes.

“Pure-Blood wizards who associate with half-bloods, muggle-borns, or actual muggles. Gross.”

“It’s really only looked down upon by the really rich Pure-Blood families,” Sheila added in an irritated tone.

“I don’t even know what I am, though. I know that my father was a wizard, but I’ve no idea about my mum. She died just after I was born.”

The brunette shrugged. “I’m sure Dumbledore can trace your lineage. He knows everything.”

“Dumbledore—he’s the headmaster, right?”

The pug-faced girl snorted while Sheila and Hannah nodded. “Brilliant, he is.”

The train ride was decent. A small witch came by with a trolley full of treats to eat, and Moriah bought a handful of Chocolate Frogs. The girls talked most of the time, though Moriah was busy skimming through some of her books just to get the gist of the subjects. Pansy did most of the talking, mostly going on about both of her parents being in Slytherin as well as her grandparents and so on. She was sure that she was going to excel in all of her subjects.

It began to grow dark outside, and after a girl came knocking on their compartment door asking about a missing toad, the four first years decided it was time to change into their robes.

Late into the evening, the train rumbled to a stop and all of the students filed out. A huge man with grizzly hair was yelling for first years. They all followed him, and Moriah couldn’t help but stare.

“He’s a giant,” Sheila explained, “but he’s smaller than most.”

“They get bigger than that?”

“Oh yeah, loads bigger.”

Charmed row boats took them over the lake, and shining beautifully in front of them was a huge castle.

“Cool, isn’t it?”

“It’s fantastic!”

Inside, the young witches and wizards were led through a large corridor, stopping in front of two grand doors. They could hear loud chatter from inside, but a tall witch dressed in emerald robes demanded all of their attention. She explained the sorting process. It was to be done in front of everyone, and after their house was announced, they were to sit at the corresponding table.

The Great Hall was monstrous. The ceiling looked transparent, showing a starry night, but Moriah heard someone mention that it was just bewitched to look like that. Candles floated close to the ceiling, suspended in mid-air by nothing more than magic. It was incredible. Four tables took up most of the hall, though the only thing that discerned one from the other were the colors that the students sitting at them wore.

At the head of the hall was a long table full of what Moriah could guess was the staff. All of the teachers looked intimidating in one way or another and the blonde hoped she wouldn’t incur any of their wrath. How did schools of magic even punish students?

In front of the staff table was a stool with a ratty old hat sitting on top of it.

“When I call your name, take a seat on the stool, and I will place the hat on top of your head.”

Susan Bones was placed in Hufflepuff. A ginger boy, Ron Weasley, was sorted into Gryffindor with the toad girl, Hermione Granger. Both Millicent and Sheila got Slytherin.

Then a name was called that made the entire hall for quiet.

“Harry Potter.”

A skinny boy with unruly black hair and round glasses stepped forward. His green eyes were wide as he took the seat. Dumbledore and the rest of the staff leaned forward in anticipation.

“Who is he?” Moriah asked Pansy, the only one left standing with her.

“Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived.”

“Lived through what?”

She cast Moriah a look that made the blonde want to punch her face. “Honestly, how do you not know this? Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who when he was just a baby. He’s the only person who’s ever survived the killing curse.”

Unfortunately, Moriah didn’t know who You-Know-Who was or what he had done, but she refused to ask the stuck up girl any more questions.

After a bit of deliberation on the Sorting Hat’s part, it finally yelled out, “Gryffindor,” and Harry Potter slid off of the stool with a smile on his face.

Several more names were called until Moriah was one of the last students standing at the front. Pansy had been sorted into Slytherin as she had wanted and was now sitting next to a blonde boy at the long table.

“Moriah Priel,” the severe looking witch called out.

With a deep breath, Moriah walked up to the stool and sat down. She felt the weight of the hat on her head and was surprised when it began talking.

“Hmm, this one has old blood, old dark blood. Independent and intelligent—a survivor with sharp wit. Hm, better make it Slytherin!”

The blonde showed a small smile and stood up to applause from the Slytherin table. She made her way over to it, sitting in between Sheila and the blond boy.

“Congratulations, Mori! Welcome to the snake house!” Sheila grinned happily, playfully hissing at her.