Cold

After we were placed on the boats, four in each, the vessels began to move and we were on our way. The three other students with me seemed utterly fascinated at the whole experience, yet I’d been commuting by a flying carriage to Beauxbatons. A magical boat that propelled itself was lackluster. All the same, I found joy in watching them gasp and ogle at everything, searching for the means in which the watercraft moved. I began to yearn for that naïve glamour once again, but I was a pureblood just shy of sixteen. I’d seen nothing but magic.

As if a divine being had heard my desires, gasps broke out on all the boats as the castle came into view. Maybe I wasn’t impressed by the means of transportation, but the sight was indeed breathtaking. My old school was aesthetically very beautiful, but it would be a crime to denote Hogwarts any less. Its dark structure was perched high atop a small peak, placing its spires coincidentally right in front of the moon. The sight was almost eerie, resembling all of the muggle storybooks about witches and wizards. Yet for the magical folk, it inspired a real sense of majesty, dusting the clouds as if, rather than at the top of a bluff, it was instead floating in the sky. The stars twinkled through like pixie dust and I was overcome with excitement. I’d been hesitant to change schools, but it occurred to me that Hogwarts was far from a step down.

When we finally docked, I yearned to jump out and run up so I could see how it looked inside as well. But of course, I had to stay with Hagrid. The trek up the hill seemed far too long and lackadaisical. By the time we reached the front doors, my legs were tired and longed to sit down. I hadn’t danced since the last school year and I felt a bit out of shape. I imagined I wouldn’t be able to keep up my physicality without the ballet and gymnastic courses that were offered at Beauxbatons. Not that I was much good at those anyways, that is.

The great doors opened with a creak, revealing an aged woman in all black and a classic pointed hat with a wide brim. She ushered us inside and we all watched as the enormous Hagrid waved to us with his endearing portly smile and entered through another set of large doors. Peeking after him, I saw it led to a dining area, already bustling with students. The woman, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, began to give our second lecture of the night after she’d led us to a side room. She explained the four houses and what it meant to be in them. Gryffindors were especially courageous, Hufflepuffs were patient and fair, Ravenclaws were intelligent and Slytherins valued cunning and ambition. After hearing this, I wasn’t too sure which I would fit best. She laid the basic rules of Hogwarts and explained to us the House Cup, in which was a competition between houses on the highest number of points awarded by the end of the year. She instructed us to wait in the room until she came to fetch us for the sorting ceremony.

After she’d left, the lot of kids burst into excitable conversations. It appeared that they’d all made company with each other on the train. Not particularly interested in befriending eleven-year-olds, I went and leaned myself against the ornate marble wall. Resting my head back, I began to trace the carved floral design with one long nail. I scanned the room, increasingly impatient as the clock on the wall seemed to tick slower than usual. It had truly only been ten minutes, but it seemed like something of a half hour before McGonagall came back.

It was well worth the wait. The Great Hall was utterly magnificent. The ceiling, or lack thereof as it seemed to anyone who didn’t know any better, appeared as a boundless night sky. Candles floated no more than two metres above us, well above me at least. Such was not the case for the many small kids with me. As we walked in, I could feel gazes directed to me as well as curious whispers. My understanding was that transfer students were particularly uncommon. I was lucky to be someone that wasn’t easily fazed by attention. And in any case, I didn’t anticipate much rudeness from my new peers. In most situations, the new student would actually be sought out like fresh bread at the bakery, for lack of a better way to put it. I certainly hoped it would be that easy. I reciprocated the warm grins I was given by several students.

We followed Professor McGonagall to the front and formed something of a semicircle to anticipate for our individual sortings. As I waited, absently listening to several kids names being called and respectively being placed in their houses, I turned to seek out Rooney and Gus at the Ravenclaw table. Due to Rooney’s fashionable topknot hairstyle, I found them easily and they both mouthed ‘Ravenclaw’ as a chant, lifting their hands with crossed fingers. I hushed my oncoming giggle by pressing my lips tightly together. I rolled my eyes; perhaps I did find good friends already. Just then, McGonagall called, “Victoire DeLavergne!”

I grinned as I stepped up, sitting down on the stool. I felt the hat descend upon my head. “Hmm. Tricky to tell with older students. Not Hufflepuff, no, too impatient. Dedicated, could be Gryffindor… And what about Ravenclaw?” I grinned at Rooney and Gus. “Ah, you have made friends in Ravenclaw! Perhaps that’s where you should be,” I bit my lip in anticipation, but my mind suddenly wandered to a certain pair of icy eyes. “Oh, but your curiosity sends you elsewhere doesn’t it? You already know exactly what it is you want and you’re willing do to whatever it takes to get it. Mhmm, I’ve no doubt at all. Slytherin!”

I was a bit disappointed, if I’m to be truthful. But not enough so that I wasn’t still anxious to go sit with my new house. After all, I had decided earlier that Slytherin was my first choice and that hat really did know best. I was sure I’d be able to see Rooney and Gus plenty of times despite the separation of houses, and certainly I’d make friends in Slytherin. And to be even more honest, I didn’t think I was brainy enough to be a Ravenclaw. I was a pretty accomplished witch, but I was not particularly book smart. I was very literally mediocre.

The sorting finished up eventually. The new students had a quite equal divide between houses, but Slytherin was the sparsest incidentally. The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, welcomed us to Hogwarts with a quick speech, introducing the other teachers. As if he could hear our hungry thoughts, he stated that he wouldn’t make us wait any longer, and lifted his hand to commence the feast. The tables were instantly covered with food, causing gasps from all the new students.

Almost immediately after, I felt a body scooch up next to mine. "You’ll want to sit with us."

I turned to see who was speaking to me and was met with a girl with a rather unusual face... a bit pug-like. Yet I still found her beautiful, as her nose was cute and she had pretty eyes. I felt that being attractive in an unconventional way was far better than being generic. I challenged her, "And why is that?"

The smug look on her face increased to a full on smirk, with one brow raised and all. She jerked her chin up in the slightest as if she approved of my snarkish reply. “Slytherin is the best house, of course, but there are still the misfits running about here and there. You’ll be best off finding the right crowd. ”

“And I am to presume the ‘right crowd’ is you?”

“In short, yes. Me and my friends over there.” I followed her pointed finger to find a group of five students watching me intently. By the looks of it, she had been commissioned to talk to me. “There’s a sixth, but he says he’s got business to attend to right now.”

I looked around us, considering my options. Being new, I couldn’t really pick out the misfits she spoke of. They all just seemed the same to me. I then focused on her friends. On one side of the table were two burly boys, each with a rather dumb look about them. They sat beside a much smaller golden blonde female with noticeably full lips and tanned skin. Across, a heavy-set girl with auburn hair inspected her nails. The fifth was a handsome boy with a long face and sad eyes. He smiled coyly at me before letting his eyes fall to his plate of food.

Attempting to extinguish my apprehension, she assured, “I’m a prefect. I wouldn’t lead you astray.”

I pursed my lips as if I was in thought, but I had already decided I’d go with her. It was nice to be accepted quickly. Plus that handsome boy was worth getting to know. “All right.”

Her grin was genuine. “Lovely. You’ll come along then,” she stood up and tucked her arm around mine, leading me to her group. “I’m Pansy Parkinson, by the way.”

“Victoire DeLavergne.”

“You’re going to love being in Slytherin, Victoire. There are many advantages to it and you’ll learn that rather quickly.” She directed me to sit beside the boy, to my delight, but before I did so she began to introduce me. “Those two brutes there are called Crabbe and Goyle and beside them is Daphne,” the blonde girl nodded her head with a wave. “Here’s Millicent, eating away as usual, and then Blaise. The albino should be here soon.”

I took my seat next to Blaise as I asked her, “The albino?”

“You’ll see. All he needs is red eyes and he’d look like a mouse.”

“That’s a stretch,” Daphne countered with a laugh. “He’s a bit too tall to be anything resembling a rodent.”

“Then a bloody albino giraffe, Daphne. Come off it!” Pansy tossed a grape across the table at her.

I chuckled and decided to turn my attention away. “So Blaise, is it? That’s an unusual name, very roguish,” I teased.

Blaise turned to look at me with a smirk, “Blaise Zabini, certified.”

“Zabini? You’d have to have some lovely heritage to get a name like that.” He shrugged playfully. I was outwardly flirting but he didn’t seem to mind at all. “Pansy says Slytherin has some serious advantages. What do you know about that?”

Before he could even make out a reply a voice from behind caught our attention. “Parkinson’s right but whatever answer he’s got for you is probably rubbish. Zabini is full of it.”

My gaze followed the sound and as soon as I saw the source my stomach dropped. Draco Malfoy. Surely he was the sixth member. I should’ve known they were referring to him as the “albino one”. He was indeed rather…white. He gave me that same oddly charming sneer as he had earlier. I noticed how it only took a quick wave of his finger to make Pansy scoot so he could seat himself on the other side of me.

“Shut it, Malfoy. That rubbish got me higher O.W.L.S. in Potions than you.”

His only response was a roll of his eyes. I could see that getting a lower score irritated him more than he’d like to admit. “So Slytherin, are we?”

I was a little surprised at simply hearing his voice. I’d been thinking about him on and off the entire day and it seemed somewhat surreal. “It appears so,” I nodded.

“The name is Draco Malfoy. I believe we met at the platform this morning,” Again, he spoke with that devilish simper plastered on his face.

Trying to play off my nerves, I replied, “Perhaps we did. I’m Victoire.”

“Beautiful name. What’s your status?”

At first I was a tad bit confused, but it hit me what he meant. Blood status. I didn’t often hear that term because my parents had never really emphasized an opinion on it. Nor had they really emphasized any opinions at all for that matter, I thought with a hint of scorn. “Pure-blood.”

“Good.” He pat my thigh matter-of-factly, allowing it to linger a moment.

I spent a few moments quietly listening to their conversations about their summers. I spoke when addressed, but I’d lost some of my prior extroversion when Draco had arrived. His presence was strong, as seen by his effect on his friends who joked with him but still maintained an oddly submissive demeanor against him. I found it entirely sexy, and this made me nervous. He made me nervous.

Yet whenever he spoke, I took it as my chance to look at him shamelessly. He was so close and I wanted to study him. He had a sharp face and slanted jaw-line with a pointed chin. Just above, his lips were small but full, his upper lip curved into a perfect heart shape at his Cupid's bow. When he went to speak, they curled into a sneer, giving his voice an almost nasal tinge. It didn’t sound particularly attractive by description, but it sure as hell did to my ears. I always did have a thing for the jerks. I never knew exactly why, because being a bully wasn’t appealing to me, but I somehow often found myself after them. And Draco was surely a bully. I had interest in him now, but it would certainly be only a matter of time until I found myself pining for him. . . Yet with the looks he’d given to me, perhaps I could get him pining too.

At that, I bit back a grin and focused intently on my potatoes.