Chapter 26: New Professor, and Prediction Party (1/2)
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Quinn walked into the Great Hall, once again taking in the grandness of the hall, and made his way to Ravenclaw bench. He looked at the long bench of Hogwarts robes customized to contain Ravenclaw colors. Robes had blue linings, a Ravenclaw symbol on the left chest, and a blue tie with white and silver stripes. Quinn, too, was wearing the same robes; last year, the house-elves had customized Quinn's robes on his first night at Hogwarts. Quinn had taken a liking to the Ravenclaw blue after wearing it every day.
Quinn searched for his roommates and found them. Eddie Carmichael and Marcus Belby, Ravenclaws from the same year as Quinn. He made a beeline towards them and smiled when he saw their seating arrangement. As usual, Eddie was sitting opposite Marcus, prepared to stay away from his terrible eating habits. Quinn also made the same decision and walked to Eddie's side. He patted Eddie on his back as he sat beside him. ”Good to see you again, guys. How are you two?” said Quinn in greeting.
”Hey, Quinn, where were you? I didn't see you on the train,” asked Eddie from his side. ”Oh, I got early and sat down before the Potters got to the platform,” answered Quinn.
”You could have come to see me,” complained Eddie. Quinn shrugged and responded, ”I forgot, I had some interesting company. And, you could have done the same; I didn't see you coming to me.” Both the boys looked at each other before smiling and dapping in greeting.
”Oh, I got a little late at the platform. Believe me when I say that for a second, I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it aboard the train. The crowd to see the Potters was crazy,” Marcus shared his experience of the morning at the platform.
Eddie leaned towards Marcus and asked, ”So, did you see the Potters? I wasn't able to see them. I did go to their compartment, but they had drawn the curtains.”
Marcus shook his head, and Quinn spoke, ”Hey, I saw Ivy Potter, Boy-Who-Lived's twin sister. She came to my compartment looking for a toad.”
Eddie, Marcus, and other Ravenclaw near them leaned towards Quinn for more details. ”A toad?” asked Marcus.
Quinn told nodded and told them about her, that she had red hair and green eyes and that the train announcement was his idea, but nothing of the interaction that she and Daphne had; that stuff was personal.
As time passed, Quinn also greeted other Ravenclaw as they arrived in the Great Hall.
”Chang and Edgecombe, how are you two girls doing? Did anything fun in the break?” Quinn made small talk with Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe, who stopped by for saying hi.
”I went to Italy with my family. How about you?” chatted Cho.
”Oh! Italy, beautiful country, isn't it? Did you go to the Vatican?” asked Quinn and shrugged in response, ”Na, I didn't go anywhere this year. My family was busy this summer. But I did have a lot of fun. Did a lot of reading. ”
He also congratulated Penelope Clearwater when he saw her. ”Clearwater is that a prefect badge I see. Congratulation, you deserve it.”
Penelope smiled and replied, ”Thank you, Quinn. I hope I won't be seeing you out after curfew.” Quinn put on an innocent expression and said, ”What? I am always in the common room after curfew. You know I love to follow the rules.”
She swatted his shoulder and shoulder, ”Stop with that look. You are always the last one to enter the common room. Most of the time, you come back in is after curfew. So, please don't let me catch you, or I would have to give you a detention.”
Quinn shrugged and proudly said, ”Oh, come on. I start my day early and end it late. You should look at with positivity, recognize my hard work that would make a Hufflepuff proud.”
She shook his head and commented, ”Or, a silver tongue that would make a Slytherin proud.” Quinn winked and smiled, ”Prefect Clearwater, you are giving me a poor reputation; I call it smooth-talking and not a silver tongue. It is one of my good points.”
She sighed and relented, ”Only you, West. Only you.” She left but not before saying, ”But, I will still give you a detention if I see you.”
After a little while, Quinn was looking around when he saw someone enter the hall, and Quinn wasn't sure what to make of it. He truly wasn't expecting this person to be here. Quinn watched as Lily Potter entered the Great Hall and walked to the staff's High Table. The student body murmured, seeing Lily Potter, and whispered among themselves.
After wrapping his head around seeing Lily Potter at Hogwarts, most definitely as a new teacher, Quinn laughed... hard.
Eddie looked at Quinn and asked, ”Why are you laughing?” Quinn shook his head and chuckled to himself, ”It's nothing. This is all so amusing to me. Right, amusing. We were already getting two Potter. One more isn't nothing to worry about.” Quinn looked at Dumbledore chatting with Lily and thought, 'Oh, Dumbledore, you clever old goat.'
In Quinn's mind, Lily Potter being here was an obvious attempt from Dumbledore to keep the Potters close. He wanted to have maximum influence over the Potters, and what better way than to allow Lily Potter to stay close to her children. Potters already held Dumbledore in high regards, and with this, he had done them another substantial favor.
Quinn also glanced at Quirinus Quirrell. He was wearing a turban and fidgeted in his chair. Quinn looked at the turban and could imagine Voldemort's face on the back of Quirrell's head. The canon was afoot, and Quinn was here at ground zero.
- (Scene Break) -
When all the students, second-year and above, settled down in their house long-tables, McGonagall came to the Great Hall and announced, ”The new first-years are ready and waiting in the Antechamber, so please behave and support them as they get sorted.”
And then McGonagall led the new students into the Great Hall. With McGonagall in the lead, the new first-years walked in a line, taking in the grand sight of the Great Hall, forgetting their nervousness for just a moment.
When the students reached the front of the hall, they gathered just below the steps that led to the High Table. Seeing them look all nervous made Quinn's heart swell.
”Look at their expressions; they all look so nervous,” said Quinn as he smiled. Marcus looked at him with doubt and asked, ”And that makes you happy?” Quinn nodded and smiled widely, ”Yeah!”
The sorting hat sang its introductory song, but Quinn didn't join the rest of the school in applause as he associated the hat with bad memories, and last year on that stool made him feel exposed.
The sorting finally started, and Eddie looked at Marcus and Quinn, ”Remember your bets. The first student of this year will go to which house. I choose Ravenclaw, Marcus choose Gryffindor, and Quinn chose Hufflepuff. The winner gets five sickles from the other two. Put the money on the table.” Quinn had proposed a bet among his roommates, and they had enthusiastically agreed to it. The surrounding people also heard them and began betting with each other. Soon the entire student body was betting.
McGonagall unrolled a roll of parchment and spoke the first name, ”Abbot, Hannah.” A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line. McGonagall put the hat on her, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. After a pause, the hat shouted, ”HUFFLEPUFF!”
Quinn smiled and collected the money on the table, ”Payday~.” Then he looked at his two friends and purposed another wager, ”How about this, If I guess thirty students' houses correctly, you two will give me half-galleon, but if I get even one less than thirty, I will give you both a galleon each. How about it, deal?” He placed two galleons on the table.
The two looked at each other and nodded. Both pulled eight sickles and fifteen knuts out of their pockets and placed them on the table. Eddie looked at Quinn and repeated, ”Thirty and no less.”
Quinn smiled and said, ”Get ready boys, you are about to see something truly magical. Also, the first girl that went Hufflepuff is included.”
Quinn rubbed his hands. He saw Susan Bones go up the steps and said, ”Hufflepuff.” The next moment the hat yelled, ”HUFFLEPUFF.” Then Quinn advantage of his knowledge and nailed the houses of every character he recognized.
”Ravenclaw.” ”Boot, Terry.” ”RAVENCLAW!”
”Ravenclaw.” ”Brocklehurst, Mandy.” ”RAVENCLAW!”
”Gryffindor.” ”Brown, Lavender.” ”GRYFFINDOR!”
”Slytherin. ”Bulstrode, Millicent.” ”SLYTHERIN!”
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”Oh, I am not sure about this one but, Slytherin.” ”Davis, Tracey.” ”SLYTHERIN!”
”Another Badger, Hufflepuff.” ”Finch-Fletchley, Justin.” ”HUFFLEPUFF!”
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”Gryffindor.” ”Finnigan, Seamus.” ”GRYFFINDOR!”
”Definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent sure, Gryffindor.” ”Granger, Hermione.” ”GRYFFINDOR!”
”Ah, she is the classic Slytherin material and the better kind!” ”Greengrass, Daphne.” ”SLYTHERIN!”
”Sigh, the big guy is going to Slytherin.” ”Goyle, Gregory.” ”SLYTHERIN!”
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