| Banshee
Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 50,232
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Abraham Orlando Botros
Gryffindor Third Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Aurelio Kolya Kaiser
Slytherin Seventh Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Alexei Dragomirov Petrov
Slytherin Fifth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Typhon Ulysses Prince
Slytherin Seventh Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Achilles Alexander Zacharias
Ravenclaw Seventh Year  x12  x12
|  Lovely™ | Captain Hurted | Ariana's Bane | Resident Antagonist | Unparalleled Delight
"Botros, Abraham."
There were multiple reasons why Abey didn't immediately respond to his name being called. Firstly, actually, he was so busy actually fretting over the impending Sorting, and so wrapped up in his thoughts about it, that he almost forgot he was actually there waiting for it to happen. Secondly, when he wasn't worrying about the sorting, he was instead worrying about Feo, all safely hidden in his trunk-that-hopefully-had-enough-breathing-holes, and thinking about Junia's plan to keep him.
But then, also, the fact that they had said Abraham, instead of Abey, and also, because they hadn't said the 'Jr.' part, that was confusing too actually. Abey always considered Abraham Botros to be his grandfather anyways. AND ALSO, it was confusing when they said it all backwards like that. Lots of confusion.
After a few moments had passed, in which he stared intently up at the Hat with his mind entirely somewhere else, Abey suddenly felt a prod in his back, nudging him forwards. Only then did he truly actually process what was actually happening.
And then the panic started to really set in.
Abey hurriedly stepped forward to the stool, stumbling slightly in his nerves, and feeling his heart hammering so so so so so hard against the inside of a chest it was a wonder it didn't BREAK something actually. He felt something in his throat, a big lump that he couldn't swallow down. Maybe he would just throw up instead. Would they be mad if he was sick into the millions-of-years-old traditional Hat?
Probably. So maybe he wouldn't do that actually.
His breathing getting even faster with his nerves, Abey took up the place on the stool. His heart had started going faster too so that soon Abey wondered whether it might exPLODE.
All these years of waiting, it all came down to this. IT ALL CAME DOWN TO THISSSSSSSS.
Abey squeezed his eyes shut and crossed ALL his fingers, and tried very hard to cross his toes, too, but they were all in his socks and shoes so that was a little more difficult actually. As the Hat was lowered onto his head, he thought at it, as hard as he could, 'Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff, HUFFLEPUFF, HUFFLEPUFF, PLEASE HUFFLEPUFF I'LL DO ANYTHIIIIIIING.
He needed to be Sorted into Hufflepuff, you see.
"Hmmmm..."
... What?
"Interesting..."
Um.
"Let me see..."
Wrong, wrong, wrONG THAT WAS WRONG. He had to be an INSTA-Hufflepuff, okay?
"Hufflepuff, please," Abey whispered to the Hat, still with his eyes squeezed shut and his fingers crossed in front of him. "Please, actually, Hufflepuff. Now, please."
The Hat was silent. Which was wrong. It needed to be screaming 'Hufflepuff!' to the Great Hall actually and then he could be going over there JUST like he was supposed to. The idea that he might not had Abey's anxiety rising. His breathing got faster still.
Oh no. Would he cry? Probably. Merlin. HUFFLEPUFF PLEASE, ACTUALLY.
"You really ought to think about expanding your horizons."
This was not good. Abey wasn't sure this was going the way he wanted it to. He resorted to pleading with the Hat as he sat there on the stool, switching back to thinking at it rather than talking, in case anyone nearby could hear him. This all felt very... private. Nobody could hear what the Hat was saying, right? Abey hadn't heard what it had said to anyone else...
'Yes, but no, but actually, please, Mr. Hat. I have to be a Hufflepuff because all the boys are. It's TRADITION, I have to. All the boys in my family. You know because you Sorted them. And I'm not smart enough to be a Ravenclaw and I'm not brave enough to be a Gryffindor and I'm not like a Slytherin at all and that's what the girls are anyway actually so I have to be a Hufflepuff anyway so pleeeEEEEAAAAASE.'
"Hmmm..." No. No. No 'Hmmm'ing. Why was it 'Hmmm'ing? That was not good. "It is not unknown for me to take choice into account... And you certainly would not be out of place in Hufflepuff..." Abey's heart suddenly LEAPT. "But..." Never mind. "I can see it, here in your mind; I can see another house would do you good, would help you grow."
I don't want to grow. I want to be in Hufflepuff.
It was around this time that Abey squeezed his crossed fingers and closed eyes all the tighter, and started whispering a mantra of "HufflepuffHufflepuffHufflepuffHufflepuff..." under his breath in an attempt to sidetrack the Hat, to make it SEE that ABEY KNEW WHERE HE NEEDED TO GO.
But, actually, even though Abey was asking and begging and pleading and demanding, the Hat started going on about Slytherin and, of all houses, Gryffindor. Stuff about determination and ambition and a need to prove himself, and then something else about a hidden bravery, and strength in the face of adversity, whatever that meant. On and on it went weighing up the two houses and saying things about Abey that he didn't even understand, and most of the time, didn't actually AGREE with, actually.
If Abey had any real sense, if he was thinking straight at all, he would have tried to hint at Slytherin instead, so that he could be with his cousins, so he wouldn't stray so greatly from the TRADITION. But no. That would have been too simple, and Abey was FIERCELY DETERMINED to talk it into putting him in Hufflepuff. He WOULD be there, just like Jaddi. He couldn't just waste the name 'Abraham Botros'. He was named after his grandfather, that meant he had to be a Hufflepuff like him, too. It was the only thing that made sense.
"Mind you, Ravenclaw wouldn't be a bad fit either..."
...
Now the Hat was just being mean. Considering every house OTHER than the one Abey had asked for. This Hat was mean, and clearly didn't like Abey at ALL. This was all wrong, all wrong wrong wrong, it was horrible awful wrong bad wrong actually bad bad wrong. A disaster. Abey sniffled, just as the Hat chuckled.
"You'll thank me one day, boy. Just you wait."
It was over. Abey could tell. He had FAILED, and everything was TERRIBLE. He opened his eyes and felt his lower lip tremble, just as the hat made its final decision, exactly five minutes into his Sorting.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
That did it. At once, Abey burst into tears. Sobbing, he wrenched the Hat from his head and threw it away from him, and ran away from the dais. But he did not run towards the Gryffindor table, full of thunderous applause. He did not even head for the Hufflepuff table, which he could identify even through his tears. Instead, Abey made a beeline for the Slytherin table, which he had noted earlier, and began looking for Rula and Junia. They were the only people he wanted to see.
He had failed. |