I don’t know if you have ever spent the night in a trunk, but I can tell you that it is most uncomfortable. Even for a hat. I can also tell you that I didn’t get a bit of rest. Those boys stayed up all night talking and laughing. Malfoy even opened up the trunk and rummaged around it for some candy, moving me all over the place. The nerve! I don’t know how he expects to get away with holding me hostage. Doesn’t he realize that everyone is going to notice if I’m not where Snape left me?

Just as I was having these thoughts, the top of the trunk was yanked open and light came streaming in. This only served to increase my terrible mood. I’m sure you know that when you’re sleeping, it is quite unpleasant if someone turns on the lights or pulls up your curtains. And it doesn’t help when someone picks you up and begins moving very quickly. I could feel a pounding headache coming on, which was going to put a damper on my whole day.

By now, I had realized that Malfoy was the one carrying me. Typical. We were moving out of his dormitory, where I briefly caught a flash of the other boys, who were all fast asleep. Potter had even fallen asleep with his glasses on, crooked upon his nose. I chuckled internally, thinking that those boys were going to have a rough time staying awake in class today. Except for Draco Malfoy, it seemed. He was somehow able to wake up at the crack of dawn to harass me.

We exited the dormitory and went down a set of stairs, Draco’s steps light upon the stone. At least he could keep quiet when he needed to. He crept silently across the common room, then slid into one of the armchairs near the fireplace. Setting me down on a table in front of him, he softly cleared his throat.

“Er..hi,” he whispered. He paused, staring at me. As if staring at me like that was going to make me talk to him.

“I’m not sure how to talk to you…I mean I’ve never talked to a hat before,” he continued, a little half-grin on his face. When I still didn’t answer, he spoke again. “Sorry about keeping you in my trunk. That probably wasn’t the best idea.”

You can say that again.

“I just wanted to make sure no one else would try and take you. I mean, you’re kind of a big deal right about now.”

Again with that stupid grin.

“Everything’s really crazy right now. But I wanted to thank you. I mean, I was really nervous about the sorting before this happened. I didn’t really know if I would get into Slytherin. And if I didn’t….”

He trailed off, apparently lost in his thoughts.

“It just probably would’ve been bad for me,” he said after a few minutes, his voice even quieter than before. He cleared his throat, then began speaking again. “And another thing I wanted to say…” he stopped, giving a slight laugh. “I don’t even know if you can understand me. I could be talking to myself. Oh well,” he said, resuming our one-sided conversation.

“I’m worried about Harry,” he said softly, staring at me once more. “I think he thinks this whole thing is his fault. And he seems really nervous about everyone hating him and blaming him. So if you could…er…have a word with him about that? It seems like you won’t talk to me, but I think you owe him that much.”

Silence. The boy was done talking. He kicked out a footstool from an armchair and pushed it over near the fireplace as he had done last night.  Standing onto it, he carefully placed me back on the mantle. Then he dropped back down, put the stool in place, and left.

The Malfoy boy had given me a lot to think about. He was certainly right about me having to talk to Harry; I knew that for sure. It was upsetting to think that Harry thought he was to blame for this whole thing.

I was mulling over these thoughts for longer than I thought, because before I knew it the portrait had swung open and in came Snape. He threw a quick glance up at me, then strode away toward the dormitories. I could hear his sharp voice ordering his students to wake up and the sounds of groggy students starting to move around.

A few minutes later, Snape was back in the common room. He stood in the center of the room, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for his new students to arrive. Personally, I thought this was a bit intimidating. But apparently Snape wasn’t overly concerned with making a friendly first impression.

The students slowly began to drift down the staircases, arriving in groups of two’s or three’s. All the first year boys came down together, and, except for Malfoy, they wore identical expressions of exhaustion. I observed with amusement how Harry’s hair seemed to be sticking up in every direction, and that his glasses were still crooked.

“Today is the first day of classes,” began Snape, his voice barely raised. “I will call your name, and you will come get your schedule. I suggest you all behave yourselves,” he said, his gaze lingering on the small group of first year boys. “Any misbehavior on your part will reflect on me, and we do not wish that to happen.”

I thought this was overdoing it a bit; Harry looked absolutely terrified. Even Draco looked a bit uneasy.

“After I hand out schedules, you will go down to breakfast. Classes start promptly after breakfast. After dinner, I will return to go over our house…or dormitory…rules.”

He began calling the names out alphabetically. Once everyone had received their schedules, they began comparing them with each other’s. I saw Malfoy nudge Harry and grin, pointing to something on their schedules. Harry gave him a tentative smile in return.

Snape cleared his throat, and the babble of voices died down. “You will not be having classes with only your dormitory mates. They will be mixed up with all the students in your year. Also, I have been informed that you are welcome to sit at any table you want for breakfast, with any students you want.”

The older students smiled at this news, glad that they would not be separated from their old house friends. Most of the first years looked nervous, especially Harry.

“That is all. You may make your way to the Great Hall now.”

The older students began rushing out, schedules in hand to compare with other friends. The first years stayed put, however.

“Do you remember how to get back to the Great Hall?” another blonde boy asked Malfoy. I could see the first year girls were having a similar conversation.

“Er…not exactly,” answered Malfoy.

Snape, who had been watching the students exit, turned his attention toward the first year. He watched them for a few minutes then said, “Follow me.” With a swish of his cloak, he had stepped through the portrait hole and was gesturing for the first years to follow him. The first years looked at each with surprise, but then quickly scrambled through the portrait hole. It swung shut after the last first year with a dull thunk.

Finally some peace and quiet. I’ll take this time to get some of that missed rest from the night before.