*＊✿❀Chapter three ❀✿＊* Nora pulled herself up into a Thestral carriage along with the Prefects. Unfortunately, the only spot left was next to Jeremy, the others also didn't want to sit next to him. Nora sat down and tried to completely ignore him, the carriage gave a jolt and was pulled up the trail by the invisible Thestral. Thankfully, Nora hadn't seen death so she wasn't able to see them, but Dakota had. When Dakota was only about four, You-know-who had invaded her house and Dakota was forced to watch him take her uncle, aunt, and two cousins lives, but Della hadn't seen it because she didn't want to visit her uncle and aunt's house that day. Nora shook off the thought, she hated it when Dakota had told her that story in their second year. She, Nora, watched as the first years sailed across the Black Lake with nostalgia. But this moment couldn't last for long, due to Jeremy interrupting her thoughts. "Who do you think will be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Everyone looked irritated, he always brought up these random questions and they always ended up in a dark ending. "Hopefully it'll be someone you actually will listen to." Nora said in a snappish tone. Everyone tried their best to hold in their laughter, except Percy Weasley, who couldn't be less interested in the conversation. Jeremy went slightly red in the face. "I listen, I just don't care." "Ah, so what's your excuse in Charms? Everyone knows you pride yourself in that. And yet, you still managed a D in it last year. Ironic, isn't it?" This really seemed to tick Jeremy off, and Nora thought he certainly needed some humbling. "You have no right to-" "To what? I have all passable grades, Professor Snape even gave me an O when we prepared for O.W.L scoring last year." And this was the breaking point. Jeremy stood up and raised his wand at her, it was only about an inch away from her nose. Even though she was panicking on the inside, Nora remained calm on the outside. "What are you going to do? Blast me to shreds? Let me assure you, if you do that you will be in a heap of trouble. I don't know if you've noticed, but there are many eyewitnesses," She said, gesturing to the other Prefects. "What a headline: 'Slytherin Prefect blasts other Slytherin Prefect and gets arrested and expelled.' Just trying to make the front page, are you?" She said in a bossy tone. Jeremy's face mixed with emotions then he sat back down and tucked his wand away, still fuming nonetheless. Nora felt relieved and satisfied, he had always been a more powerful wizard than she ever was a witch, but she had worked extra hard last year and she finally had consistently better grades than him. But then, all of a sudden, a sort of pang of guilt hit her hard. She didn't want to be known as a bully or the only person whom he feared. And, after all, the Selwyn's were on the dark side for as long as their name has been known, and Nora's father had too been a Death Eater. Was she too harsh on him? Was he really going to be out to get her now? But these thoughts were shaken out of her head when the carriage had come to a halt at the large castle of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Nora's mind was split, apologize or not? She blindly followed Jeremy in the castle and over to the Slytherin table, her mind too busy to pay attention to where she was going. Part of her wanted him to live with the thought she was right, but the other part felt horrible for talking to him the way she did. Her thoughts were finally interrupted by Professor McGonagall preparing the Sorting Ceremony. She then disappeared through the large oak doors and returned a moment later with a crowd of anxious-looking first years trailing behind her. Nora noticed a few of them; The round-faced boy that had bumped into her on the train was holding a toad, probably the one he lost, Nora thought. She also recognized the bushy brown-haired girl who was looking awed at the ceiling, "It's bewitched to look like the sky, I read about it in 'Hogwarts: A History'." Said the girl. And the one whom Nora had been excited to catch a glimpse of, the messy black-haired boy with brilliant green eyes behind his oddly round glasses. Nora stood up on the bench to get a better view, seeing as other students were just as interested in this first year as she was. "What is everyone looking at?" Jeremy said, oblivious. "It's him!" Nora replied, peering over the heads of the taller students. "Who?" "Harry Potter! The Boy Who Lived!" She exclaimed. Jeremy, already taller than most of the students, hardly had to raise out of his seat to see. His jaw dropped. But the buzzing and whispering was hushed up at once and every sat back down when professor McGonagall placed the battered and patched Sorting Hat on a small wooden stool. It sang its yearly song and everyone burst into applause when it finished. One by one, professor McGonagall called up students. "Boot, Terry!" "RAVENCLAW!" "Bones, Susan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Granger, Hermione!" This was the bushy brown-haired girl, though the hat did take a moment to decide. "GRYFFINDOR!" "Longbottom, Neville!" The round-faced boy, "GRYFFINDOR!" "Weasley, Ronald!" Nora assumed this was one of the many red-headed people in the family that surrounded The Boy Who Lived, seeing as his hair was flaming red. "GRYFFINDOR!" "Abbott, Hannah!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Wesston, Denver!" Nora watched, hoping he'd be in Slytherin. "RAVENCLAW!" The Hat bellowed, her shoulders fell slightly and she hung her head. "Malfoy, Draco!" A white-blond boy strutted up to the stool with a prideful look upon his pointed face, the hat had hardly touched his head before it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" Nora cheered with the rest of the Slytherins as he walked over. "Potter, Harry!" And at his name, the room began to fill with chatter once more. The boy who defeated Voldemort walked up to the stool and sat down, then professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. After about a minute and a half, Harry Potter mouthed something and the hat said, "Not Slytherin, eh?" and after a moment's consideration, it said. "Well then....Better be....GRYFFINDOR!" And the Gryffindor table went wild. Dumbledore stood up to give his speech, saying odd things Nora couldn't quite catch, but she was able to hear him say in a more serious and louder tone, "-The third floor corridor is off limits to all students if you do not wish to die a slow and painful death." Nora swallowed, but Harry Potter laughed. Did he really think it was a joke? Most people looked at him as though he was mad. "Tuck in!" Dumbledore said, returning to his usual jolly voice. After the meals, both dinner and dessert, Nora stood up right away and walked over next to the door, Jeremy rushed to get up when he realized they had Prefect duties. "First year Slytherins with me please!" But then Nora noticed that Jeremy was standing there too. "Follow us!" She said as they led the first years down to the dungeons. They spoke the password and led the students down the flight of stairs to the common room. "Girls to the right, and boys to the left." Nora said and the students left to their dorms until there were only a few older students left lingering. Making up her mind, Nora stopped Jeremy before he headed up to his dorm. "Listen, I'm so sorry that I spoke to you that way, especially in front of everyone. I wasn't thinking." Jeremy scoffed. "You certainly weren't." "And you wonder why I talked to you the way I did," She said, rolling her eyes, regretting this. After a long pause, he sighed. "I accept your apology. Now we don't have to talk to each other again, deal?" Nora raised her eyebrows, the nerve of him. "We're literally the Prefects for Slytherin-" "-I know that-" "Let me finish!" She said, raising her voice. "We will need to talk to each other, we have Prefect duties together, you moonmind." "Yeah, but-" "I'm going to bed. I want to get a head start on everything tomorrow." "Fine, but I was just-" "Goodnight!" She said as she headed up the stairs to her dorm, leaving him standing there in disbelief.
