Chapter Four: The Ivory Table
Still beaming, Maelioric led the students up a wide staircase, speaking as he went. “Before you may join your fellow students in the welcome feast, you must be Sorted.” A few students whispered to each other in confusion. Maelioric turned around and spoke more gently. “A few of you might have learned about how Hogwarts used to Sort their students as well.” Lottie suddenly felt extremely ignorant of the world she was entering. She didn’t know what Maelioric meant by Sorting or Hogwarts. Maybe they were being divided on how much magic they had.
“This Sorting, however, will be nothing like theirs.” Maelioric paused. “You see, while they Sorted based on personality, we Sort based on ability.” Lottie’s stomach dropped. “There is not one House better than the other,” he began, slowly. Lottie could tell that House rivalry must have been a problem. “There are three Houses, run by my two co-heads Professor Palmyitor, Professor Clynalmoy, and myself.
“Each House is focused on one necessary role in the war. The members of Professor Clynalmoy’s House will be trained in strategy and war planning. The members of my House learn the skills of battle skills and dueling. And--” his face darkened, “--the members of Professor Palmyitor’s House are spies.”
A shiver ran up Lottie’s spine. “Must be a bit like that Slytherin House, eh?” Ally whispered. Having absolutely no idea what Ally was talking about, Lottie shrugged. It didn’t sound like a good thing though…
Maelioric turned back around and led them towards a large door. “So when we go through this door, wait at the end of the hall until your name is called.” With a wave of his wand, the door opened.
The room they entered was vast and triangular. The first years stood at one of the points of the triangle. Two long tables stretched across two walls and one sat in between them. Another table was along the last edge of the triangle, with adults sitting at it, instead of students.
In the middle of the triangle, there was what looked like a large square table made out of white stone, covered in tiny carvings. Lottie couldn’t make out what any of the carvings were, but she noticed a light purple glow flickering through them.
As Maelioric took his seat at the head table, another man stood up. He looked just as important, with his hands on his hips. “Welcome, students,” he said. The room was silent. Lottie strained her ears to hear the man’s quiet voice. “For those of you who don’t know, I am Professor Clynalmoy. Before we make the start-of-term announcements, we must begin the Sorting.” Lottie’s stomach turned over. Clynalmoy turned to the first years. “All you have to do is place your hands on the stretch of blank ivory when you are called, and we will choose your House.” He turned to a strict looking woman who Lottie assumed was Professor Palmyitor.
“Acker, Travis,” the woman said, reading from a sheet of parchment.
A boy with thick, curly red hair stumbled up to the front near the Table. Lottie could see his hands shaking as he placed them on the ivory. Right as he did, his nervous expression was washed off of his face, and one of horror or pain -- Lottie couldn’t tell which -- replaced it. Her stomach twisted more tightly into a knot, and from Ally’s shaking next to her, she guessed that hers had also.
The engravings on the Table flamed bright orange for a moment before it died down. The heads all stood up and walked to the Table, inspecting it. Lottie could only spot a few of the small pictures glowing odd colors. She couldn’t make out what the carvings were, but the heads seemed to take that detail into account very specifically. They continued blazing for nearly a minute, until the color finally vanished from them and Travis Acker wrenched his hand from the Table. The three heads mumbled to each other softly for a moment, before turning back to the students. Joyfully, Maelioric said, “Welcome to Maelioric.”
The table in the center started cheering loudly. Lottie guessed that they were the Maeliorics. Directed by the heads, Travis sat down with his new House-mates, looking relieved.
Lottie waited nervously as she watched all of the students get sorted. Sophie Coghlan was Sorted into Palmyitor and didn’t look very happy about it. Most of the first years were being Sorted into Maelioric. It did look as though that table was much longer than the other two. Lottie turned to Ally to point this out, but Ally had turned rather white. “Orman, Victor” had just been Sorted into Maelioric.
“Overton, Alison.”
“Good luck,” Lottie whispered. Ally grimaced back at her as she walked to the Table. The heads didn’t take nearly as long deciding which House she would join. The table on the far right cheered when Maelioric announced that she would be joining Clynalmoy.
Lottie decided that she would be best fit for Clynalmoy as well. She had always been quite clever, she thought. Yes, she would definitely be a Clynalmoy. “Ross, Robert” took his seat at the Maelioric table, and Palmyitor shouted, “Rowe, Charlotte!”
Suddenly quite aware of her ragged clothing, Lottie shuffled to the center of the room. She wished that she was wearing her new uniform like the older students. With a glance at Maelioric, she placed both hands on the blank stretch of ivory.
An itch traveled from the base of her toes up to her fingertips. Her head was throbbing as she involuntarily relived moments of her life she had tried to forget. It wasn’t exactly pain, though. She longed to pry her hands off of the stone, but was stuck to it. She could feel everybody’s eyes burning into the back of her head, so to distract herself, she stared down at the Table.
In front of her a carving of an ox shined a deep scarlet and what looked like a snake was glittering green. Lottie was sure that she saw a trail of ants, a bow and a sail of a ship all glowing a deep blue. Her pulling finally paid off when the Table’s magical pull was broken and she went stumbling backwards. She steadied herself, making sure not to put her hands on the Table and watched the heads mutter to each other.
Clynalmoy, it had to be Clynalmoy. Why were they taking so long to decide? They seemed to be arguing. The other students seemed to be getting impatient. Lottie silently urged the heads to hurry up.
“Welcome to Palmyitor.”
The words stung Lottie. She could feel all eyes upon her. She had to move quickly or else be embarrassed in front of anybody, but Palmyitor? They must have been kidding. Trying to ignore the tingling in her fingertips, she sat down on long bench at the Palmyitor table. She turned around to the Clynalmoy table. Ally was watching the Sorting, apparently not concerned that her first friend was just Sorted into a different House.
“Scrivener, Colm!” The boy who had been wearing fine robes, instead of tattered clothes like everybody else walked up to the Table. Lottie picked her head up to watch the Sorting. Maybe it would take her mind off of the fact that she was going to spend the next seven years in a House where she didn’t belong.
Colm’s Sorting didn’t take nearly as long as Lottie’s, ending with Maelioric shouting “Welcome to Maelioric!” The boy marched to the center table and sat down with a confident laugh. Lottie glared at him, but didn’t get a response.
The Sorting continued. Lottie couldn’t bring herself to focus. Why was she in Palmyitor? She could never spy. She was never able to lie to anybody. It wasn’t fair that her only friend was in a different House. The heads must have been testing her. They would switch her once they realized how much more of a Clynalmoy they were than a Palmyitor.
“Woolbright, Andrea!” The bug-eyed girl placed her hands on the Table.
Oh please don’t let her be with me, Lottie pleaded. Being placed in the wrong House was bad enough, but having a girl she utterly despised in the same one was too much.
“Palmyitor!”
Lottie felt her heart sink. She wanted to stand up and shout that it wasn’t fair, and that either she had to be transferred or that Woolbright girl had to. Before she could protest, “Yoxall, Camilla” was Sorted into Clynalmoy, and the three heads waved their wands. Promptly, the Table vanished, leaving Lottie to wonder where it had gone.
“I hope,” Professor Palmyitor said, as she stood in front of the students, her arms locked behind her back, “that those students who are unhappy with their Houses will not come crying to us.” Her eyes didn’t sparkle like Maelioric’s did. “You are there for a reason, and it will be prosperous to both yourself and the war effort.” She cleared her throat. “In any case, if the older students have forgotten, you are not to leave the grounds at any time unless accompanied by a professor. You are only to be outside when either going to a class or when a professor is feeling quite generous and is willing to supervise all activities.”
Lottie watched Palmyitor intently. She was not the sort of woman that Lottie wanted to spend the next seven years of her life with. “But judging by these hungry faces,” Maelioric cut in, “it would be much more prosperous--” while Palmyitor wasn’t looking, he made a face at all of the students, “--for the feast to begin!”
More food than Lottie had ever seen suddenly filled the plates around her. She was afraid to try it. How could anybody have so much food when there were thousands of people dying of starvation in the Muggle Camps? “You might want to eat something before it’s all gone,” an older boy said, giving Lottie a nudge on the shoulder.
With a nod, she reached out and grabbed a giant turkey leg. In her time in the Camp, she often saw Death Eaters drunkenly parading about with turkey legs in their hands. Shaking with excitement, she took a bite.
It was the most wonderful thing she had ever tasted. She crammed more and more of the meat into her mouth enthusiastically. “Now, don’t forget to chew,” laughed the same boy sitting next to her.
When the turkey leg was merely a bone resting on her plate, Lottie had to restrain herself from taking another one. There were so many more new flavors to be tasted. The vegetables were fresher than she ever knew vegetables could be. Lottie ended up trying everything except for the bread, which she had eaten quite enough of in the last eleven years.
“And on such a happy note,” Clynalmoy said, standing up. Lottie rubbed her stomach, now feeling as though she had been filled with sand. “We will end our feast and get all students to bed, so tomorrow we won’t need to talk to students who fell asleep in the back of the class.” With a smile he said, “Sleep well!”
The food vanished, and Lottie forced herself to stand up. Professor Palmyitor quickly pushed her way to the front of the Palmyitor table. “First years, follow me to the common rooms,” she said sharply.
Not making eye contact with any of the other students, Lottie shuffled along behind her. Palmyitor led them down a long winding staircase, until one of the boys panted and clutched a stitch at his side. It was cold in the dungeons and Lottie couldn’t wait to get into her new sweaters. They turned a corner and stood in front of a huge grandfather clock. It was taller than Lottie, but if she stood on her tip toes she would be able to reach the face.
“This is the entrance to your common rooms and dormitories,” Palmyitor said. “In order for the clock to let you in, you must set it to a specified time. For a few weeks, the time will be eleven fifty eight.” Lottie watched her move the hands to read the time. There was a click, and the door on the trunk opened. Instead of a pendulum, Lottie could see light flickering through it. The hands of the clock spun back to the correct time. “A prefect will be inside waiting inside for you.” Without another word, Palmyitor spun around and left the first years standing in front of the clock.
“Well are you coming in, or not?” a voice called from within the clock.
“Do you suppose we should go in, then?” a girl with extremely long hair asked. Nobody answered. Tentatively, the girl squeezed through the door of the clock. Lottie heard a gasp from inside, and the girl poked her head back out. “Come on!” she shouted.
Lottie followed with all of the other first years and gasped just like the girl with the long hair did when she entered the common room. The floors were made of a polished wood and the walls were made of large stones. Armchairs and couches surrounded small tables all around the circular room. Directly across the room was an elegant fire place.
“Right.” The same boy who had talked to Lottie at the feast was standing in front of them. He wore a uniform similar to the one Lottie had gotten earlier that day, except he wore a red vest. “So I’m your prefect,” he said dully. “My name’s Stanley Barlow.” I don’t really do much except what I’m doing now and some other business that you first years don’t need to know anything about until you’re quite older.
“My job is to explain the basics of the school for tonight,” he continued. “You’ll find that your duffel bag has been placed in front of a bed in your dormitory. That will be your bed for the next seven years, so I hope you like your spot.” He laughed. Some of the older students who had opted to spend a few hours in the common room instead of going to bed were watching the prefect with amused expressions.
“On your bed, you’ll also find a pile of several books, some parchment and quills, and a schedule. You’ll have most of your classes with each other, but you will have a few with the other Houses too.” Some of the older students snickered. “Shut up, you,” the prefect said with a laugh. “Anyways, you’ll also get a towel and some toiletries. Don’t lose that towel, because you won’t get another one. That soap has to last you until February, so don’t use it all up right away.”
“Listen to him!” one of the older students shouted from the back. “You’ll regret not having soap for a month!”
“So,” the prefect muttered, “that’s ‘bout it. Oh! See those stairs?” He pointed to a long staircase far off to the right. “Boys go up and girls go down to the dormitories. You’ll know which one is yours. So, g’night then.”
Lottie wanted to stay down in the common room and try to make new friends, but found that she was suddenly overcome with tiredness. She followed two other girls down the stairs to the dormitory. A sign on the first door read “Seventh years.” They kept walking down a long corridor until they found the sign that read “First years.”
The girl with the long hair gasped again when they entered. The room was about the size of Lottie’s old apartment. Four grey four-poster beds took up most of the space, with two against a wall, and the other two across from them. Lottie’s bed ended up being farthest from the door, right under the window.
Just as the prefect had said, she found her new clothes, a pile of books, a bag with soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste and shampoo, and some parchment and quills. There was a note on the top of her books.
Please don’t forget to bring your books, wand, parchment and quills to class tomorrow. You may use your duffel bag as a book bag. An alarm will wake you in the morning with enough time to take a shower, change into your new uniform and make it downstairs to breakfast. You may write a note to your family with your new parchment and quills. If you leave it on your bed in the morning, it will be delivered to them.
Have a good night,
Professor Palmyitor
Lottie smiled. At least she would be able to contact her family. She pushed her books off of the side of her four-poster, opened her duffel, and found a pair of grey pajamas on the top. She changed behind the curtains of her four-poster. Once she opened the curtains, and sat down on her bed to find the girl with the long blonde hair staring at her.
“You know there’s a bathroom across the hall.” She was wearing her grey pajamas also.
“Oh.” Lottie shrugged. “Well that’s good to know I guess.”
“I’m Julianne,” the girl said.
“I’m Lottie.” The girl stared at her. “Well, I think I’m going to go to sleep,” Lottie continued, uncomfortable with the girl’s wild stare.
“Alright. Goodnight, then.”
“Goodnight.”
Lottie shut the curtains, and sat back on her pillow. The bed was much more comfortable than her old mattress. The grey curtains offered a wonderful privacy from her other dorm-mates, though they made it very dark and difficult to see. Squinting, Lottie picked up one of her new quills and rolls of parchment. She carefully dipped the quill into the metallic blue ink and began to write, making sure not to spill any ink on the sheets.
Dear mum and dad,
School is great. I just got here tonight. We took a trip to a place called Odin Alley. It was just an old alley that sold lots of magical things. We got new uniforms and clothes. They also took us to a hospital. One girl needed glasses, but I didn’t, which is good because they looked pretty stupid on that girl. There was a feast tonight. This place has more food than I’ve ever seen. You’d love it. I just had one of those huge turkey legs like the Death Eaters. Maybe I’ll be able to bring home some food this summer.
I love you and I promise I’ll write often,
Lottie
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: I don't know how many times I can thank Deanine and TheBird, but I guess we'll find out when I finish the story, eh?