* * *

            RATTLING AND SWAYING, THE CARRIAGES MOVED IN CONVOY UP THE ROAD. when they passed between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars on either side of the gates to the school grounds, elara saw harry lean forward to try and see whether there were any lights on in hagrid's cabin by the forbidden forest, but the grounds were in complete darkness. hogwarts castle, however, loomed ever closer: a towering mass of turrets, jet-black against the dark sky, here and there a window blazing fiery bright above them. the carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors and harry got out of the carriage first.

            this time, elara turned to look for lit windows down by the forest, but there was definitely no sign of life within hagrid's cabin. disappointed, she focused on the, skeletal creatures standing quietly in the chill night air, their blank white eyes gleaming. elara could easily read harry. he was, after all, an open book. harry looked startled by the events that had just transpired. the group clambored out of the carriage but harry remained, unmoving.

            "are you coming or what?" said ron beside him.

            "oh . . . yeah," said harry quickly, and they joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.

            the entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the great hall and the start-of-term feast. the four long house tables in the great hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly to one another, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. again elara noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as they passed; it was not out of the ordinary for elara, but from the from on harry's face, he was still not used to and did not like the whispers.

            the moment they reached gryffindor's, ginny was hailed by some fellow fourth years and left to sit with them; elara, harry, ron, hermione, and neville found seats together about halfway down the table between nearly headless nick, the gryffindor house ghost, and parvati patil and lavender brown, the last two of whom gave harry airy, overly friendly greetings that made elara wonder if they had stopped talking about harry a split second before.

            "he's not there." harry stated worriedly as elara eyed the table.

            ron and hermione scanned the staff table too, though there was no real need; hagrid's size made him instantly obvious in any lineup.

            "he can't have left," said ron, sounding slightly anxious.

            "of course he hasn't," said harry firmly.

            "you don't think he's . . . hurt, or anything, do you?" elara asked, not entirely sure if she wanted to know the answer.

            "no," said harry at once.

            "but where is he, then?" said ron.

            there was a pause, then harry said very quietly, so that neville, parvati, and lavender could not hear, "maybe he's not back yet. you know — from his mission — the thing he was doing over the summer for dumbledore."

            "lara, wouldn't you know what he's doing? because you're in the order?" hermoine questioned quietly.

            "er -- i'm not exactly allowed to say anything..." elara did know exactly what he was doing, but dumbledore had made a strict order not to disclose the information to anyone else.

            "nevermind that, hagrid's safe, i'm sure," said ron, sounding reassured, but hermione bit her lip, looking up and down the staff table as though hoping for some conclusive explanation of hagrid's absence.

            "who's that?" she said sharply, pointing toward the middle of the staff table.

            elara's eyes followed hers. they lit first upon professor dumbledore, sitting in his high-backed golden chair at the center of the long staff table, wearing deep-purple robes scattered with silvery stars and a matching hat. he gave the girl a small nod as his head was inclined toward the woman sitting next to him, who was talking into his ear. she looked like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet and she saw a pallid, toad like face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes. elara narrowed her eyes. this was the big change that she had been expecting. a ministry woman at hogwarts. lupin had told elara that umbridge was the leading figure in banning werewolves from getting jobs.

            "it's that umbridge woman!" said harry.

            "who?" said hermione.

            "she was at my hearing, she works for fudge!"

            "nice cardigan," said ron, smirking.

            "she looks like a toad," elara said absentmindedly. this warranted a snort from ron.

            "she works for fudge?" hermione repeated, frowning. "what on earth's she doing here, then?"

            elara could visibly see the gears in hermione's head churning. this was something hermoine did often. if something didn't make sense to her, she'd shut down while she tried to figure it out. elara often wondered why she wasn't placed in ravenclaw.

            "dunno . . ."

            hermione scanned the staff table, her eyes narrowed. "no," she muttered, "no, surely not . . ."

            elara did understand what she was talking about but did not ask the girl what she thought; her attention had just been caught by professor grubbly-plank who had just appeared behind the staff table; she worked her way along to the very end and took the seat that ought to have been hagrid's. that meant that the first years must have crossed the lake and reached the castle, and sure enough, a few seconds later, the doors from the entrance hall opened. a long line of scared-looking first years entered, led by professor mcgonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizard's hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim. the buzz of talk in the great hall faded away.

            the first years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and professor mcgonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back. the first years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight. a small boy right in the middle of the row looked as though he was trembling. elara remembered how confident she had felt as she stood there, totally sure she was going to be placed into slytherin. that feeling sure didn't last long. the whole school waited with bated breath. then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the sorting hat burst into song:

in times of old when i was new 
and hogwarts barely started the
founders of our noble school

thought never to be parted: united by a common goal,

they had the self same yearning,to make the world's best magic schooland pass along their learning."together we will build and teach!"the four good friends decidedand never did they dream that theymight someday be divided,for were there such friends anywhereas slytherin and gryffindor?unless it was the second pairof hufflepuff and ravenclaw? so how could it have gone so wrong?how could such friendships fail?

why, i was there and so can tell

the whole sad, sorry tale. said slytherin, "
we'll teach just those whose ancestry is purest."
said ravenclaw, "we'll teach those whose
intelligence is surest."
said gryffindor, "we'll teach all those
with brave deeds to their name,"said hufflepuff,
"i'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."
these differences caused little strife
when first they came to light,
for each of the four founders had
a house in which they might
take only those they wanted, 
so, for instance, slytherin
took only pure-blood wizards
of great cunning, just like him,
and only those of sharpest mind
were taught by ravenclaw
while the bravest and the boldest
went to daring gryffindor.
good hufflepuff she took the rest,
and taught them all she knew,
thus the houses and their founders
retained friendships firm and true.
so hogwarts worked in harmony
for several happy years,
but then discord crept among us

feeding on our faults and fears. 

the houses that, like pillars four,
had once held up our school,
now turned upon each other and,
divided, sought to rule.
and for a while it seemed the school
must meet an early end,
what with dueling and with fighting
and the clash of friend on friend
and at last there came a morning
when old slytherin departed
and though the fighting then died out
he left us quite downhearted.
and never since the founders four
were whittled down to three
have the houses been united
as they once were meant to be.
and now the sorting hat is here
and you all know the score:
i sort you into houses
because that is what i'm for,
but this year i'll go further,
listen closely to my song:
though condemned i am to split you
still i worry that it's wrong,

though i must fulfill my duty

and must quarter every year
still i wonder whether sorting
may not bring the end i fear.
oh, know the perils, read the signs,
the warning history shows,
for our hogwarts is in danger
from external, deadly foes and
we must unite inside here or 
we'll crumble from within.
i have told you, i have warned you
. . .let the sorting now begin.

            the hat became motionless once more; applause broke out, though it was punctured, for the first time in elara's memory, with muttering and whispers. all across the great hall students were exchanging remarks with their neighbors and elara, clapping along with everyone else, knew exactly what they were talking about.

            "branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?" said ron, his eyebrows raised.

            "too right it has," said harry.

            the sorting hat usually confined itself to describing the different qualities looked for by each of the four hogwarts houses and its own role in sorting them; elara did not remember it ever trying to give the school advice before.

            "i wonder if it's ever given warnings before?" said hermione, sounding slightly anxious.

            "yes, indeed," said nearly headless nick knowledgeably, leaning across neville toward her. "the hat feels itself honor-bound to give the school due warning whenever it feels —"

            but professor mcgonagall, who was waiting to read out the list of first years' names, was giving the whispering students the sort of look that scorches. nearly headless nick placed a see-through finger to his lips and sat primly upright again as the muttering came to an abrupt end. with a last frowning look that swept the four house tables, professor mcgonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment and called out, "abercrombie, euan."

            the terrified-looking boy elara had noticed earlier stumbled forward and put the hat on his head; it was only prevented from falling right down to his shoulders by his very prominent ears. the hat considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

            elara clapped loudly with the rest of gryffindor house as euan abercrombie staggered to their table and sat down, looking as though he would like very much to sink through the floor and never be looked at again. elara remembered that that was the same way she felt after she had just been sorted. slowly the long line of first years thinned; in the pauses between the names and the sorting hat's decisions, elara could hear ron's stomach rumbling loudly. hermoine shushed him. finally, "zeller, rose" was sorted into hufflepuff, and professor mcgonagall picked up the hat and stool and marched them away as professor dumbledore rose to his feet.

            "to our newcomers," said dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! to our old hands — welcome back! there is a time for speech making, but this is not it. tuck in!"

            there was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate — for food had appeared out of nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, bread, sauces, and flagons of pumpkin juice.

            "excellent," said ron, with a kind of groan of longing, and he seized the nearest plate of chops and began piling them onto his plate, watched wistfully by nearly headless nick. elara laughed at ron and piled her own plate with food.

            "what were you saying before the sorting?" hermione asked the ghost. "about the hat giving warnings?"

            "oh yes," said nick, who seemed glad of a reason to turn away from ron, who was now eating roast potatoes with almost indecent enthusiasm. "yes, i have heard the hat give several warnings before, always at times when it detects periods of great danger for the school. and always, of course, its advice is the same: stand together, be strong from within."

            "ow kunnit nofe skusin danger ifzat?" said ron. 

            elara laughed, bits of roll coming out of her mouth.

            "i beg your pardon?" said nearly headless nick politely, while hermione looked revolted.

            ron gave an enormous swallow and said, "how can it know if the school's in danger if it's a hat?"

            "i have no idea," said nearly headless nick. "of course, it lives in dumbledore's office, so i daresay it picks things up there."

            "and it wants all the houses to be friends?" said harry, looking over at the slytherin table, where draco malfoy was holding court.

            "friends with parkinson? i'd rather step off the astronomy tower," elara chimed in, making harry next to her choke lightly on his pumpkin juice.

            "well, now, you shouldn't take that attitude," said nick reprovingly. "peaceful cooperation, that's the key. we ghosts, though we belong to separate houses, maintain links of friendship. in spite of the competitiveness between gryffindor and slytherin, i would never dream of seeking an argument with the bloody baron."

            "only because you're terrified of him," said ron. 

            hermoine looked horrified. nearly headless nick looked highly affronted.

            "terrified? i hope i, sir nicholas de mimsy-porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! the noble blood that runs in my veins —"

            "what blood?" asked ron. "surely you haven't still got — ?"

            "it's a figure of speech!" said nearly headless nick, now so annoyed his head was trembling ominously on his partially severed neck. "i assume i am still allowed to enjoy the use of whichever words i like, even if the pleasures of eating and drinking are denied me! but i am quite used to students poking fun at my death, i assure you!"

            "nick, he wasn't really laughing at you!" said hermione, throwing a furious look at ron.

            unfortunately, ron's mouth was packed to exploding point again and all he could manage was "node iddum eentup sechew," which nick did not seem to think constituted an adequate apology. rising into the air, he straightened his feathered hat and swept away from them to the other end of the table, coming to rest between the creevey brothers, colin and dennis.

            "well done, ron," snapped hermione.

            "what?" said ron indignantly, having managed, finally, to swallow his food. "i'm not allowed to ask a simple question?"

            "oh forget it," said hermione irritably, and the pair of them spent the rest of the meal in huffy silence.

            when all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the hall was starting to creep upward again, dumbledore got to his feet once more. talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster.

            "well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, i beg for a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said dumbledore. "first years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students — and a few of our older students ought to know by now too. mr. filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to mr. filch's office door. we have had two changes in staffing this year. we are very pleased to welcome back professor grubbly-plank, who will be taking care of magical creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce professor umbridge, our new defense against the dark arts teacher. "

            there was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause during which elara, harry, ron, and hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks. dumbledore continued, "tryouts for the house quidditch teams will take place on the —"

            "thank you, headmaster," professor umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and little-girlish. elara visibly cringed. she could already tell she was going to hate this woman with every fiber of her being.

            she gave another little throat clearing cough ("hem, hem") and continued: "well, it is lovely to be back at hogwarts, i must say!" she smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "and to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

            elara swiveled her head around. none of the faces she could see looked happy; on the contrary, they all looked rather taken aback at being addressed as though they were five years old. "i am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and i'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

            students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins. "i'll be her friend as long as i don't have to borrow that cardigan," parvati whispered to lavender, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles. elara held in a bark of laughter. professor umbridge cleared her throat again ("hem, hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. she sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

            "the ministry of magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. the rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. the ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. the treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

            professor umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back. professor mcgonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawk-like. elara had never wanted to throw up more in her life. umbridge gave another little "hem, hem" and went on with her speech.

            "every headmaster and headmistress of hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. there again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. a balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . ."

            elara lost interest. she knew what this speech was about. she had sat in the meetings and heard every nasty thing this woman had done. the quiet that always filled the hall when dumbledore was speaking was breaking up as students put their heads together, whispering and giggling. everyone in the hall, including the professors, had a look of distaste etched on their features. professor umbridge did not seem to notice the restlessness of her audience. elara had the impression that a full-scale riot could have broken out under umbridge's nose and she would have plowed on with her boring speech. the teachers, however, were still listening very attentively, and hermione seemed to be drinking in every word umbridge spoke, though judging by her expression, they were not at all to her taste.

            ". . . because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited." she sat down.

            dumbledore clapped. the staff followed his lead rather sporadicly. a few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, dumbledore had stood up again. "thank you very much, professor umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "now — as I was saying, quidditch tryouts will be held . . ."

            "yes, it certainly was illuminating," said hermione in a low voice.

            "you're not telling me you enjoyed it?" ron said quietly, turning a glazed face upon hermione. "that was about the dullest speech i've ever heard, and I grew up with percy."

            "i said illuminating, not enjoyable," said hermione.

            "it explained a lot," elara whispered.

             "did it?" said harry in surprise. "sounded like a load of waffle to me."

            "there was some important stuff hidden in the waffle," said hermione grimly.

            "was there?" said ron blankly.

            "how about 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'? how about 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited'?"

            "well, what does that mean?" said ron impatiently.

            "i'll tell you what it means," said elara ominously. "it means the ministry's interfering at hogwarts."

            "you knew?" harry stared at elara, who only shrugged.

            there was a great clattering and banging all around them; dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the hall. hermione jumped up, looking flustered.

            "ron, we're supposed to show the first years where to go!"

            "oh yeah," said ron, who had obviously forgotten. "hey — hey you lot! midgets!"

            elara had to laugh at the faces of the first-years as ron unintentionally towered over them.

            "ron!"

            "well, they are, they're titchy. . . ."

            "i know, but you can't call them midgets. . . . first years!" hermione called commandingly along the table. "this way, please!"

            a group of new students walked shyly up the gap between the gryffindor and hufflepuff tables, all of them trying hard not to lead the group. elara felt for them, she too had wished she would just melt into the floor when she first arrived. she grinned softly at them. a blond boy next to euan abercrombie widened his eyes at the sight of a pretty fifth-year acknowledging him, nudged euan, and whispered something in his ear. euan abercrombie looked equally taken aback and stole a long look at elara, who's smile widened as she noticed their faces had turned a bright scarlet.

            "see you later," harry said to elara, ron, and hermione and he made his way out of the great hall alone.

            elara sighed and weaved in and out of the crowd of students, apologizing profusely to a first year hufflepuff she almost knocked over.

            "harry, would you slow down?"

            harry kept his eyes fixed ahead as he wove his way through the crowd in the entrance hall, then he hurried up the marble staircase, took a couple of concealed shortcuts, and had soon left most of the crowds behind. elara groaned as she jogged after him. she finally caught up to him, catching the sleeve of his robe.

            "for the love of merlin, harry! what's got you so worked up?"

            "the first years looked at me like i'm some sort of monster..." he grumbled, looking at the floor.

            "harry, they're eleven. easily impressionable -- they'll believe what their parents believe."

[ edit on  03/13/21 - i hate to break the chapter up like this but i was talking about wizarding children who don't have much contact with the real world as they don't attend school until the age of 11! of course, your parents' beliefs do not dictate your own. for example, my dad is a trump supporter and my mom is a centrist - and here i am a communist! don't read too deeply into the small things! ]

            they had reached the end of the corridor to the gryffindor common room and had come to a halt in front of the portrait of the fat lady before both of them realized that they did not know the new password.

            "er . . ." harry said glumly, staring up at the fat lady, who smoothed the folds of her pink satin dress and looked sternly back at him.

            "no password, no entrance," she said loftily.

            "guys, i know it!" someone panted from behind them, and elara turned to see neville jogging toward the pair. "guess what it is? i'm actually going to be able to remember it for once —"

            he waved the stunted little cactus he had shown them on the train.

            "mimbulus mimbletonia!"

            "correct," said the fat lady, and her portrait swung open toward them like a door, revealing a circular hole in the wall behind, through which harry, elara, and neville now climbed.

            the gryffindor common room looked as welcoming as ever, a cozy circular tower room full of dilapidated squashy armchairs and rickety old tables. a fire was crackling merrily in the grate and a few people were warming their hands before going up to their dormitories; on the other side of the room fred, george, and aurora were pinning something up on the notice board. elara waved good night to them and headed straight for the door to the girls' dormitories.

            she only shared a dorm with her roommate, aspen lovelace. they got along quite well, but they'd never gotten to the point of becoming really good friends. for the first time in a long time, aspen eyes elara wearily as she entered through the door.

            "what's... up?" said elara.

            aspen sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed.

            "the whole you-know-who's back thing... is it really true?"

            "yes," said elara at once, fearing where this is going. "why d'you ask?"

            "seamus reckons its all a load of hogwash..." said aspen, looking at the floor. "but i don't know. it doesn't make sense to lie about something this big."

            elara sat on the bed next to aspen.

            "just... when you put everything together, it makes sense. the death eaters and the dark mark at the quidditch cup, harry's name coming out the goblet, cedric diggory's death, professor moody turning out to be a death eater, bertha jorkins' and crouch's disappearances, and then all this coming up about you-know-who being back? it all makes sense when you look at it."

            "you're quite right, pen," said elara, nudging her friend with her shoulder. "i'm glad you think so."

* * *

AUTHORS NOTE

-- awwe elara and aspen bonding!!!!

JANUARY 26, 2020