Hogwarts

 I had the random urge to make a hogwarts themed visual novel last year and wrote this as inspo for the project:

I looked up at the sky, filled with oranges, reds, and white puffy clouds.

“It’s not actually the sky. It’s simply charmed to look like it.” Okay, scratch that. I look up at the ceiling in what was apparently the Great Hall, mesmerized by how realistic it looked, the floating candles, the sheer amount of it all was beyond anything I could have imagined a few months ago. The girl who had spoken was walking behind me. She had frizzy brown hair— a shade or two lighter than mine— and was about my height, maybe an inch shorter. 

I slow down, letting the other children walk past me until I’m next to her and match my pace with hers. “How did you know that?”

“I read about it in Hogwarts, A History. There’s a lot of interesting facts about the school in there. I have a copy in my trunks, if you’d like to borrow it?” 

“Oh, are you sure you wouldn’t mind?” I ask worried. “No, not at all! I have an extra copy, you can take that one.” She says, grinning. 

“You brought two copies of the same book?” I tilt my head confused.

“Of course I did.” She responds matter-of-factly, “you never know what might happen. By the way, my name’s Hermione Granger, nice to meet you.”

I give a quick nod, “nice to meet you too, I’m Mab—“ I try to say before getting cut off by a woman who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall. While she explains to the hall full of students, new and old, that she will call out our names one by one and we will be sorted into our houses, Hermione explains in a hushed whisper what each house is most known for and how the overall housing system works— I assume she also read that in Hogwarts, A History. 

The group of new first years was slowly dwindling as they each got sorted into their house, Hermione was sorted into Gryffendor, so was some redhead who sat with a whole gaggle of other redheads that took up practically an entire end of the table. There was some kid named Harry that everyone seemed weirdly interested in, did I miss something? There was also a boy with platinum blonde hair who looked entirely too smug when the sorting hat announced “Slytherin!” before it even reached his head. Did I mention there’s a talking hat? Yeah, I am so out of my depth here. 

“Mable Manson!” Professor McGonagall calls. I tense up, taking a deep breath and stepping forward. I sit on the stool, glancing at the faces looking back at me before fixing my gaze on one of the lower hanging candles above their heads. 

I feel the hat placed on my head and suddenly, there’s a voice talking to me— the hat?— telepathically. 

“Ah, interesting. Seems you have a lot of natural talent for one born into a family with none, though you lack the knowledge to truly harness it. Not to worry, that will come with time.”

Despite the oddity of having a talking hat on my head I relax slightly. 

“I see you’re quite complex, yes, lots of conflict within you.” What does that mean? I say— think— to the hat. “It means you don’t fit easily into a single house. Hm. Yes, you are very loyal, but only when it’s someone or something precious. Very clever, but also reckless. Brave, but selfish at times. You want to be great, like your mother. Perhaps greater. Yes…”

“Slytherin!” The hat announces to the crowd. 

The hat is taken off my head as I slide off the stool and walk towards the table of Slytherins. I take a seat next to the blonde boy I saw earlier, nodding my head slightly in greeting as he stiffly nods back. 

The rest of the night goes by in a blur and soon enough I’m in my dorm.