We arrived at the front steps of the huge castle in only a couple minutes. Looking in a brightly lit window to the left, Ron glanced back at us. "I think the feast's already started... Hey! Harry... it's the sorting!"
Harry rushed over to look at what Ron what pointing at while I looked at Ginny with a confused expression.
The sorting?
I opened my mouth to ask Ginny what the sorting was, but she started speaking instead.
"Oh no! I didn't even think about that... how are we going to be sorted now if it's already started?" Ginny said in a panicked voice, her eyes frantically darting from the ground to the window.
Opening my mouth to again ask what the sorting was... Ron spoke instead.
"Don't worry, Ginny." he said with sincerity in his voice, "It'll be fine... we'll figure it out."
Her face turning bright red yet again, Ginny just nodded and looked away.
Okay... I guess I'll just remain completely oblivious...
"Hang on..." Harry muttered quietly, looking intently at the room. "There's an empty chair at the staff table... Where's Snape?"
"Maybe he's ill!" Ron said in a hopeful tone, his eyes lighting up at the idea.
"Or maybe he's left," said Harry hopefully, "because he missed out on the Defense Against the Dark Arts job again!"
I'm getting the feeling that Harry and Ron hate this professor...
"Or he might have been sacked!" Ron exclaimed enthusiastically.
As Ron finished his thought, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach... a feeling I knew too well but had no idea why I was feeling it at this moment. Looking behind me, I saw a man slowly walking towards us. Black greasy hair framed his sallow face and his nose was long and hooked.
...Snape I assume...
"Or maybe," the man said in a very cold tone, "he's waiting to hear why you four didn't arrive on the school train."
Harry, Ron, and Ginny all visibly jumped, spinning around to face the man who was now smiling coldly... in a way that told us we were in very deep trouble.
"Follow me..." Snape said, his voice whipping through the cool night air like a whip.
I glanced at Ginny for a second and tried to keep a straight face... but failed miserably.
What? This guy just snuck behind us, dramatically continued Harry and Ron's conversation, and did it all wearing greasy black robes... which I know is normal for this world, but it still looks completely ridiculous to me... So excuse me if I laugh at this very serious situation that could get me expelled from Hogwarts before I even start...
Ginny returned my look with one of complete fear and nervousness. Snape, as if he just sensed my reaction, whipped his head around and stared at me with cold, dark eyes.
"I do not tolerate insolence." he warned me, his voice low and extremely cold.
I fixed my expression quickly and he turned back around... and then I started silently laughing behind his back again. Ginny looked at me as if I were out of my mind, so I stopped and really fixed my face this time.
We walked up the steps and into a vast, echoing entrance hall lit with flaming torches. Snape led us away from that light and the fragrant smell of food from the hall Harry and Ron had been looking at. Walking down a narrow stone staircase that led to somewhere that looked partially close to dungeons, Snape turned back to us with his hard stare. "In." he said while opening a door and pointing.
Without any other words spoken, we filed into the cold room while shivering. I assumed this was Snape's office, for it contained a desk with a dimly lit fireplace. On the shelves all around me, there were slimy looking items and jars filled with various ingredients.
This looks straight out of a fantasy novel...
"So..." Snape said softly, "the train isn't good enough for the famous Harry Potter, his faithful sidekick Weasley, and an entourage of first years. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we?"
Harry quickly shook his head. "No, sir, it was the barrier at King's Cross, it-"
"Silence!" said Snape coldly. He opened his mouth to speak again but I beat him to it.
"Entourageof first years?" I asked while narrowing my eyes slightly. "You can't possibly think I'd... we'd just decided to follow the famous Harry Potter because we wanted to. I still barely understand anything about that!"
Erm... Why would I admit that I didn't understand anything... And why is that the question I asked myself instead of why I just said that to a professor...
Snape's cold eyes whipped to me as I spoke, his scowl growing deeper and his eyes narrowing further. "I said silence."
I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying anything back, but rolled my eyes as soon as he turned back towards Harry and Ron.
"What have you done with the car?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. I saw Ron visibly gulp as Snape unrolled a sort of newspaper. "You were seen," he hissed as he showed us the headline: Flying Ford Anglia Mystifies Muggles. He began to read out loud: "Two Muggles in London, convinced they saw an old car flying over the Post Office tower... at noon in Norfolk, Mrs Hetty Bayliss, while hanging her washing... Mr. Angus Fleet, of Peebles, reported to the police... Six or seven Muggles in all. I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?" he continued while looking at both Ron and Ginny while smiling all the more nastily. "Dear, dear... his own children..."
Ron's face was growing more and more red as Snape continued, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles were turning white.
"I also noticed that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow," Snape went on.
So that's what that tree's called...
"That tree did more damage to us the we did-" Ron blurted out but was quickly interrupted by Snape.
"Silence!" he snapped harshly. "It's most unfortunate you are not in my House and the decision to expel you does not lie with me. I shall go and fetch the people who do have that happy power... And as for you two." Snape said, turning back towards Ginny and I, "We'll have to see what House you're sorted into first... though you've made that incredibly difficult since you missed the sorting..."
He turned away from us, his long cloak twisting as he spun. He reached the doorway and looked back for a second, his cold eyes locking on each of us for a second. "You will wait here."
With that he strode from the room and slammed the door shut. Leaving us to stare at each other in silence as the crash echoed in our ears.
I can safely say that this is going great so far... And I still don't know what a sorting is...