The Elementals by Namacub95 (best book club books for discussion .txt) 📕

even Alice couldn't help but join in.

They spent the rest of the train ride catching up and having fun. The landscape soon became dark and the girls left to change into their school robes. The train came to an abrupt stop at Hogsmead Station and the five friends climbed off and were met with the familiar sight of Hagrid calling for all the first years.

"Firs' years over here!" called the giant of a man. The five friends smiled and waved at him as they all followed the rest of the students to the carriages.

Chapter 3: Air

The carriage ride to the school was uneventful and all five friends sat together in the carriage still chatting and joking with each other.

"Look! We're back!" Rose cried as the carriages pulled up to Hogwarts School and the feeling of warmth and familiarity washed over Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Keith and Alice. They felt like it was a second home to them full of good memories and fun times.

They passed through the giant doors of the castle with the rest of the schools population of students, minus the first years who at this moment were crossing the lake with Hagrid. Chatter buzzed in their ears as they waited patiently in the Entrance Hall before filing into their separate house tables when the doors to the Great Hall had opened. Albus and Scorpius went to the Slytherin table, Rose and Keith to the Gryffindor and Alice to the Ravenclaw. The teachers sat at the high table talking to one and other or watching the students as the house tables began to fill up.

Albus and Scorpius began to chat with Andrew Poole the Slytherin prefect and soon enough Ellesheil Darrow joined them. Her light brown hair was pulled into a ponytail which made her violet eyes stand out more than usual. Albus couldn't help but watch her out of the corner of his eye, she still seemed like Ellesheil the friendly and confident girl and not Ellesheil the merciless and maniacal murderer of his dream. She caught him staring at her and looked at him quizzically.

"Is there something wrong Albus?" she asked her violet eyes full of confusion.

"No, I just missed you that's all." Albus said trying to sound cheerful. Ellesheil beamed when she heard this and gave Albus a quick peck on the cheek.

"How was your summer Ellesheil?" Andrew asked ignoring the obvious scene of affection.

"It was alright. It was kinda weird as well, people in my town are disappearing and the Aurors can't find any trace of them. It's always magical people never muggles." She said sounding quite puzzled yet intrigued at the same time.

"That's odd…have they any leads?" Scorpius piped in.

"No, they haven't got a clue what's going on." She answered.

At that moment the door swung open and the chatter ceased. Professor Neville Longbottom led the new students between the tables to the rickety stool with the Sorting Hat sitting on top of it. Most of the first years looked terrified with some looking bewildered at the Sorting Hat and the rare few looking somewhat confident. The first years assembled themselves before the stool and to the shock of some of them the hat began to sing.

With my patches and my tears,
I must be quite a sight,
But when it comes to sorting students
No hat could be more bright!
Our founders sought to teach the young
Good magical technique,
But though they shared a common goal,
Their values were unique.
In the past our four good founders
Taught their favourites with good grace,
And now I am in charge to find
Each student's proper place.

Perhaps you'll go to Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave and daring;
Or make your way in Hufflepuff,
Hardworking, just and caring;
You might be fit for Slytherin,
Where cunning is admired;
Or find your home in Ravenclaw,
Where wisdom is inspired.

The feast begins as always,
With the sorting and good cheer,
Yet our memories are heavy
From the darkness of yesteryears.
It is time for celebration,
Hogwarts has endured;
And though I still shall sort each year,
I may rest assured:
Our beloved school was tested,
But in that fateful hour,
We stood as one to triumph
Against that threatening power.
But I digress, and now too long
I've held you in suspense,
So step right up! It's time now for
The sorting to commence!

When the hat had finished the Hall broke into a deafening applause. Professor Longbottom unrolled a large piece of parchment and the Hall feel silent once again.

"Andrews, Rachael." He called. A small black haired girl stepped up and sat upon the stool. The sorting hat was placed upon her head and she looked ready to run.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat called after a minute and Rachael bounded down to the cheering table of Hufflepuffs.

"Bridgewater, Caden." Professor Longbottom read off. The tallest boy of the year sat upon the stool and the hat was then placed on his head.

"Gryffindor!" it yelled as soon as it had touched the boys head and he sat down at the Gryffindor table three seats down from Keith and Rose.

"Byers, Matthew." A small boy stumbled out from the crowd and sat like the others upon the stool. He kept glancing around nervously as the whole student body watched him in eager anticipation.

"Slytherin!" the called after considering for several minutes. The boy joined the Slytherin table and Andrew patted him on the back.

The sorting became slightly boring as two girls were sent to Ravenclaw and another boy to Gryffindor. Most of the students seemed to be going to either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw with three more going to Hufflepuff and a boy and girl to Slytherin. Finally when the sorting had finished Professor McGonagall stood up.

"Welcome back one and all to another year at Hogwarts and to our new students I express a warm welcome and well wishes. I would like to make some start of term announcements. Firstly I would like to remind all students that The Forbidden is out of bounds to all students." McGonagall's steely eyes lingered on the Gryffindor table where James, Fred and Nicky were all looking quite smug. "Mr Filtch would like me to remind you that magic in the corridors is prohibited and all students must be in their Common Rooms by 10pm sharp. That is all now let us eat."

As soon as she had spoken these words the tables filled with a huge feast. Scorpius and Albus all but dived on the food leaving Andrew and Ellesheil rolling their eyes at them. When the dinner was finished it was replaced with deserts of all kinds. They ate until they thought they would burst if anyone mentioned the word food.

"All Slytherins follow me!" Called Andrew when the feast had ended. He was standing beside Terra Farren the female Prefect who was smiling at the first years. The first years seemed to cluster around them like they were safe places in a game of tag with the elder students just behind them. Scorpius and Albus joined the throng of Slytherin students as they made their way down to the dungeons.

The students walked through the maze like tunnels of the dungeons with the first years sticking as close as possible to Andrew and Terra as they explained all about life at Hogwarts and some basic rules. Finally they arrived at a blank stretch of wall and Albus grinned

"This is the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room." Terra said placing her hand on the wall.

"But that's a wall…where's the door?" One of the new boys asked, apparently he must be a muggle-born.

"You just have to say the password and the wall will open. New passwords will be posted on the notice board as soon as they are added so don't forget to check." Explained Terra to the confused first year. "The password is Salazar."

As soon as Terra had said this, the wall like she had said opened and the Slytherins filed in.

Albus and Scorpius smiled at the familiar Common Room, it looked the same as ever. Its walls and floor was made of stone with an emerald rug in the middle of the room, which made it look quite old fashioned and there was an eerie yet beautiful green glow. The armchairs were made of leather and the fire which was roaring in the hearth had emerald flames.

"Okay!" Andrew called once everyone had entered the Common Room and the wall had closed behind them "The boys' dormitories are up and to the left, Girls it's the same on your right. All your luggage has already been brought up. If you have any more questions just come to me or Terra."

Albus and Scorpius dropped into two armchairs near the fire and chatted with each other while the other students filed upstairs to the dormitories.

"Night guys!" called Andrew as he himself went upstairs, he had long gotten used to the bizarre tradition of the two friends to sit in the Common Room on the first night. Albus and Scorpius patiently waited until every Slytherin student had gone to bed and then with a grin at to each other they made their way as silently as possible to the dormitory labelled Fifth Years in large letters.

They opened the door just a crack to see if all the occupants were asleep, which they were before sneaking into the room themselves. They walked over to their trunks and opened them yet instead of pulling out pyjamas they pulled out their broomsticks.

"You got a Nimbus Galaxy Scorpius?" Albus whispered as he pulled out his Firebolt 2.0 "Those things cost a fortune!" Scorpius nodded

"My parents got me it for my birthday." He replied in a barely audible whisper as both snuck back out of the dormitory and closed the door behind them. They both tiptoed back down the stairs and then walked through the wall and back out into the dungeons. After making sure that they were completely and utterly alone and not being followed both sprinted to the Entrance Hall.

"Where have you two been? We've been waiting here for ages!" Keith Downes exclaimed once Albus and Scorpius arrived in the Entrance Hall quite out of breath. Keith who was clutching his Comet 500 broom and he was accompanied by Alice with her Comet 500 and Rose who was the only member of the group not to have a broom with her.

"We've only been waiting five minutes!" Rose said rolling her eyes.

"Five minutes that we could have been caught in!" Retorted Keith. Alice rolled her eyes at her brother

"Can we please just go now? I can't stand waiting any longer." She pleaded.

"Let's go then." Albus said now that he had gotten his breath back.

The five friends walked to the Quidditch pitch a tradition of theirs from second year onwards, to go to flying on the first night back at Hogwarts. It had all started when Albus was so eager to try out his Firebolt 2.0 that he had snuck out on the first night followed by Scorpius, Keith and Alice who like him wanted to try out their new brooms as well. Rose was not a fan of flying and had only accompanied them so

"You won't be killed or worse expelled!" as she had put it.

They managed to sneak onto the pitch with Rose taking her place in the stands to watch them. All four mounted their brooms near one of the huge goalposts.

"Race around the pitch! Two