August 31st, 19 years after the fall of the Dark Lord; approximately 11:35 at night
Renn Ravenclaw stared at the stars on the ceiling of her room and worried. Her trunk was packed with books and potions ingredients, all her robes were folded and chosen, her other 2 triplets Rachel and Rain slept soundly in their beds next to her, and her owl Medusa sat in her cage after hunting. For the past 10 years and 361 days of her life, Renn waited and longed for the day that she would get on the Hogwarts express, unfortunately with Rain and Rachel, like her 5 sisters and brother before her, yet now that the day was so near at hand an anxious knot twisted into her stomach that despite Renn's best efforts would not dissipate.
Maybe I shouldn't have made that comment to Rachel and Rain about our upcoming sorting... Renn thought back to breakfast that morning with her family. As usual, Renn was up first aside from Robin, the 4th oldest out of the 8 Ravenclaw siblings. Robin was sitting down at the kitchen table and rocked in her chair until she caught sight of her little sister.
"The Princess awakens!" Robin leaped up from her chair and bowed to Renn with a mock flourish. "Doth thou need thy royal chair for thy royal rear?" She pulled out a chair at one end of the lengthy table and gestured for her little sister to sit down.
Renn raised her eyebrow at Robin and the two of them burst out laughing. Mrs. Ravenclaw chose that moment to enter the kitchen. Upon seeing her daughters goofing off, she gave a little cough to announce her presence. Renn and Robin immediately stopped laughing and started on their morning chores: Robin went to clean the stables, Renn started on the kitchen. Mrs. Ravenclaw was the head of the Ravenclaw house, and a force to be reckoned with. Normally, she loves all of her children (she is the one who wanted the big family after all), but she has always hated Renn. With a little smile of satisfaction at teaching her daughters the importance of staying on task, Mrs. Ravenclaw started cooking breakfast.
Just after Mrs. Ravenclaw finished cooking, Robert, the only male Ravenclaw, and the second oldest of the eight siblings, raced down the stairs. He grabbed a piece of toast and slice of bacon before apparating out of the kitchen. After Ollivander retired, Robert took over his business. He was Ollivander's apprentice, and now Ollivander's granddaughter is his. August 31st was always the busiest day of the year for last minute Hogwarts shopping and he was already running late.
A few minutes later, Rebecca came down the stairs followed by her boyfriend Greg who carried her suitcase in one hand. That morning, the two of them were heading back to their apartment and their jobs at the Ministry of Magic after taking a week off of work to visit Rebecca's family.
"I just missed Robert didn't I?" She asked her mother, who just nodded at her. "Figures, he can't even wait two seconds before rushing off to work to say goodbye to his twin," she gave Greg a very sad look causing him to put his arm around her. "Is anyone else up?"
"We are!" Rachel and Rain stuck their heads out of the hallway that led to their bedroom. "We wouldn't DARE miss the last day we get to see you!" Rachel chirped as she ran to her sister. "Especially not since the next time we see you, we'll be powerful wizards like you!" Rain continued for her sister as she tackled Rebecca a split second after Rachel, almost knocking Rebecca to the floor. Rain's comment caused Renn to try and cover a laugh unsuccessfully as she washed the dishes. The room fell silent and everyone turned to stare at her. Renn took her cue to shut up, do the dishes, and not to laugh at her silly sister.
"Renee Helena Ravenclaw, may I speak to you outside?" Mrs. Ravenclaw asked her in a deadly voice. Uh-oh... Renn thought to herself She used the middle name, not good. She did as her mother asked and followed her outside. As she left, the kitchen resumed its buzz of conversation. Suddenly Mrs. Ravenclaw stopped walking and turned Renn to face her.
"Do you not remember anything I have taught you for the last 10 years of your life?" Mrs. Ravenclaw spoke so quietly it sounded like a whisper. "Have your manners and respect gone out the window? You slander the name of our ancestors-"
Oh boy, the ancestor talk Renn thought exasperatedly to herself. Mrs. Ravenclaw loved to remind Renn and anyone else that would listen that they are related to Rowena Ravenclaw. Apparently, Helena had a twin sister Hyacinth (twins run in the family) that went on to marry after the death of her sister and mother; she is Renn's great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother. When she married, she insisted that she keep her name of Ravenclaw and that her descendants keep it as well. So it became a tradition in the Ravenclaw family that when the girls married, the husbands changed their names instead. Mr. Ravenclaw's name used to be Faust before he met Mrs. Ravenclaw in St. Mungo's visiting her brother.
"-a waste! You can at least show signs of your good upbringing! Do I make myself clear Renee?" Mrs. Ravenclaw asked her daughter, much louder than when she originally started speaking to her. But I do show signs of my good upbringing—or lack of it Renn thought to herself. "Do I make myself clear?" Mrs. Ravenclaw asked again.
"Crystal clear mother," Renn replied meekly.
"Good," Mrs. Ravenclaw's expression changed suddenly into a calm mask. "Now, go back into the kitchen and act like the civilized girl I raised." Mrs. Ravenclaw headed back to the kitchen muttering things like "Imagine if she acts like that at Hogwarts!" Renn started towards the kitchen again, but stopped when she saw Robin emerge from her hiding place behind a tree.
"I suppose you hear all that," she stated to her sister. Robin came up and gave her a hug. "Don't believe a word of what she says Renny, you've got more personality than anyone else in this house, besides me of course," Robin assured her, making Renn chuckle into her shoulder. "Now, we'll go in there together, kiss Rebecca goodbye, and go get your wand from Robert."
Smiling, the two sisters entered the kitchen. By this time, Mr. Ravenclaw, Ruth, and Rhiannon came downstairs and everyone was seated at the table eating. To Renn's dismay, the only seats open were next to Rain and Rachel. At least Robin will be on the other side of me, she tried to reassure herself as she sat next to her other triplets. Rain and Rachel gave her a wicked little smirk as she sat down giving Renn the sinking feeling that this was going to be one of those days.
"Renee doesn't deserve the Ravenclaw name" Rachel whispered to Rain just quietly enough that Renn could hear. "Maybe mother will disown her," Rain responded quietly. "Maybe you two need to get lives, or you'll wind up without a place in Ravenclaw's house on account of your bad manners," Renn replied with acid in her voice, causing Rachel and Rain to have horror stricken looks on their faces like the thought had never occurred to them before.
"Renee, do I need to speak with you again?" Mrs. Ravenclaw spoke from the other end of the table, causing everyone else in the household to turn and stare stoically at Renn. How the heck did she even hear me? Renn thought to herself. "No you don't mother, Renn was just telling Rain and Rachel how excited she is to go get her wand from Robert today," Robin jumped into the conversation. Rain and Rachel got their wands yesterday, but because of the crowds Renn couldn't get her wand that day.
"Actually, we should probably head out now so we can beat the crowds," Robin stood and turned to leave, Renn following close behind. "Thank you," Renn whispered to her once they were by the family's fireplace. "What are good sisters for?" Robin replied as she threw Floo Powder into the flames and whisked the pair of them off to Diagon Alley.
Just as Robin predicted, Diagon Alley was packed with people despite the early hour. The sisters slipped into Ollivanders just as Robert flipped the sign on the door to "Open". He saw his sisters walking up the path and held the door for them as they stepped inside.
"My two favorite sisters!" He smiled at them, but his expression turned serious as he faced Renn. "I apologize for not getting you a wand yesterday; mother would have been displeased if the aliens didn't get theirs the day she wanted them to. Plus, now I have an excuse to see you alone," Renn smiled at his use of the nickname the three of them made up for Rain and Rachel.
"Rebecca's cross at you for not sticking around to see her off," Robin crossed her arms at her brother. Robert sighed and shrugged at Robin. "I'll deal with her later; the best day of my life was the first day I was separated from her. But now there are more pressing matters at hand. Renn, it is time to get you a wand,"
Robert went to a shelf and removed a wand from a box and handed it to Renn only to pull it from her hand immediately. This process went on with several more wands until Robert paused momentarily. "I have an idea Renn, hold on one moment," he disappeared into the back room of the shop and emerged with 3 boxes. "This is a new idea of mine that I had while I was studying with Ollivander. Could you try this wand for me?" He pulled out a beautiful black wand and handed it gingerly to Renn. She held it for a moment, and waved it in a circle producing a jet of silver and blue sparks that filled the shop. Renn smiled and turned to her brother, who just stared at her with an amazed expression on his face.
"Wasn't that good?" Renn asked him getting worried that the wand disliked her.
"Oh it was better than good Renn, that was brilliant," Robert replied to his sister. "I'm just...surprised. Your wand is very unique and says lots about what you could accomplish. That wand is the first ever made with a dual core, and one of five in the entire world. I have sold two of the others, but these three are the only ones left. That one is 13 inch Holly with a phoenix feather and thestral hair core. From what Ollivander taught me, that wand is very powerful but is going to face and encounter death." Renn's expression turned frightened as she looked at the little wand in her hand. "The fact that this wand chose you, well your future shall be great but dangerous. Walk with caution Renn," Robert concluded sadly.
"Maybe you shouldn't mention to our parents the dual core of your wand," Robin suggested to Renn and she nodded emphatically. Mrs. Ravenclaw in particular despised death and felt it was a negative force, which would only lead her to dislike Renn even more than she already did. "Just tell her it had a phoenix feather core."
After saying their goodbyes to Robert, Renn and Robin solemnly headed back to the Ravenclaw's house. "Remember Renn, what happened here is strictly between the three of us," Robin reminded her unnecessarily before they entered the fire that would take them home. She needn't have worried; the two people who knew the nature of her wand were the only two family members of hers that she trusted.
September 1st, 8:13 AM
The tunnel was pitch black, but the darkness was banished by a sudden burst of flame behind Renn. All she could see were the flames in front of her illuminating the brick walls of the tunnel that seemed to stretch into eternity, and all she could hear were Robin's cries for help. As she dodged the flames, suddenly she saw a pair of giant skeletal wings floating racing down the tunnel above her head. Renn could now see Robin in the distance as the wings descended and attached themselves to her back. Robin reached out to Renn and called out her name as the wings carried her off into the darkness…
"ROBIN!" Renn yelled, bolting straight up in bed. Suddenly she realized the tunnel was nothing but a dream and Robin was probably sitting in her room or out at the stables saying goodbye to her horse Stella. Renn sighed in relief and put her head in her hands. When did I even fall asleep? she asked herself. So much had happened during the day before that she didn't even remember dozing off.
"Robin! Robin!" two high pitched mocking voices laughed in unison, revealing the presence of Rachel and Rain in the room. Renn lifted her head to scowl at her sisters. How am I even related to these two? Renn thought as she stared at them. Even though the three of them were triplets, the only things they all had in common were their black hair and their birthday. Rachel and Rain looked like mirror images of each other with black shoulder length hair, angular faces, and light blue eyes. The two of them shared a mind link and never had to speak out loud to know what the other was thinking. Renn on the other hand had green eyes and her black hair fell to her waist. She had a lighter skin tone than Rachel and Rain, and her face was heart shaped. Renn was also significantly taller than Rachel and Rain and stood like a slender willow at 5'3, while Rachel and Rain were both 4'8.
"If the baby doesn't hurry up, she'll miss the train," Rain sneered.
"How lovely!" Rachel commented, and the two of them raced out of the room.
The train! Renn sprang from her bed, grabbed her wand and suitcases (much to the annoyance of Medusa who was sleeping in her cage until now), and bolted out the door to the ministry car Rebecca got for them all to ride in. The rest of the family was already piled inside except for Robin who helped Renn get her bags in the car. Robin slid into the car first, carefully seating herself between Renn and the other 2 triplets.
As soon as the door shut behind them, the ministry car took off; 10 minutes later, they arrived at King's Cross Station, 15 minutes to 9. Renn stood in awe as she looked at the train, even though she saw the Hogwarts express every year for as long as she could remember. When they passed through the barrier, Robert was waiting for them at platform 9 and ¾ beside the train engine. After giving a hug to Mr. and Mrs. Ravenclaw, Robert motioned to Renn and Robin to talk with him away from the family. Mrs. Ravenclaw was too busy fussing over Rachel and Rain to notice them walk away.
As the three of them walked, Renn saw from the corner of her eye a family of 5. The dad had shaggy black hair, green eyes, and a scar on his forehead. Harry Potter! Renn thought to herself; she saw other students and parents staring just like she was. Robert stopped suddenly and Renn almost crashed into him after being so focused on the Potter family. Wish we were more like that, she thought enviously. The Potters clearly loved their 3 children.
"Renn, I have some bad news," Robert began. "Last night, Ollivander's was broken into." Here Renn and Robin cut him off with respective gasps of horror. "Every charm I placed was dismantled and only 2 wands were stolen-the two other dual core wands. I checked Cassie to see if she had told anyone what was guarding the shop and used veritaserum on her with her permission. Even under veritaserum, she could not remember a period of two hours of the day before you came in. There was a powerful memory charm placed on her mind; someone powerful is after dual core wands. I'm afraid for you Renn-your wand out of all the dual core wands I made is the most powerful because it was the first dual core wand, and the core substances are the most volatile to work with. If you want, we could go back to my shop and exchange your wand-"
"No," Renn cut him off. "This wand chose me for a reason. If the wand thinks I can handle the power and the responsibility, then I must be able to. Plus, you should be worrying about the other 2 dual core wands that you sold; shouldn't their owners be warned that someone is after our wands?"
"They have already been informed," Robert lowered his voice even more. "I'm more worried that one of them is the thief. The only people who knew the existence of the dual core wands are their owners, Robin, Cassie, and me. Since the wands were stolen the day you got yours, I think it was your wand they wanted, after all, your wand is the most powerful of the dual cores."
"I hate to say this Renn, but maybe Robert is right for once," Robin looked over at Robert, who socked her in the arm playfully. "This wand sounds like trouble. We don't know what it can do, we don't know anything about the people who are after it, and we don't know how much they know about the wand's holders."
"I think this is the first time I've heard you be cautious about anything," Renn chuckled at her sister. "But your caution is not unwarranted. I want to keep this wand, something about it feels right. None of the other wands in the shop were going to choose me when this one had its bid up. The wand chose me. It must think I'm ready for the task that's to come." She leaned over to give her siblings a hug and the whistle on the train echoed through the station, signaling the nearness of her departure. "Let me know if you find anything Robert. I'll tell you if something weird goes on with my wand, but now we've got to go. I love you and I'm glad you care about me enough to worry."
She gave Robert a quick kiss on the cheek, took Robin by the hand, and they raced on board the train. They leaned as far as they could out of the window, and waved to Robert, who now moved to stand with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Ravenclaw stood side by side, Mr. Ravenclaw waving animatedly with Robert, and Mrs. Ravenclaw staring stoically at Renn with almost an expression of relief on her face. Robin and Renn stayed leaning out the side until their forms faded away into the fog.
A girl with bright green hair waved at Robin, and beckoned to her to go further down the train. "I'm going to go sit with her Renn, you should go see what other first years you can find on the train," she gave Renn a hug, but kept a hold of her shoulders and bent down to whisper to her. "If anything weird happens with your wand, anything at all, come and find me—no matter what hour it is." With that she turned and raced off down further along the train.
Renn moved along down the train, but all the apartments she came across already had someone in them. The emptiest one she could find had two people in it, and she decided to take a chance. She knocked at the door,
"May I sit—"
She cut herself off at her surprise of being face to face with a boy the mirror image of Harry Potter. He turned towards her from the window, and his green eyes sparkled inquisitively at her from underneath the square frame of his glasses and a messy mop of jet black hair. A girl sat opposite him, and her short reddish brown hair caught the glint of the sunlight from the window, making it appear like her whole head was on fire.
"Sure, you can sit with us," she smiled at Renn shyly. "It seems silly for Albus and me to have this whole compartment to ourselves. I'm Rose. Rose Weasley." Rose extended a pale arm to Renn, which she took gingerly as she sat down; her arm was so thin Renn feared she would break it.
"Renn Ravenclaw,"
"You're a Ravenclaw?" Albus asked. "But why don't your robes have their badge and blue lining?"
"I'm a first year like you two," Renn explained. "My last name is Ravenclaw."
"You're related to Rowena Ravenclaw?" Rose asked with unbidden excitement written all over her face.
"Yeah," Renn replied, embarrassed at her enthusiasm. I hope she doesn't start doing what my mother does because of our last name, she worried. "She's a great-great-great-great-aunt give or take a couple dozen more 'great's."
"That would be so cool!" Rose looked up wistfully. "If I'm not a Gryffindor, I hope I'm a Ravenclaw. As long as I'm not a Slytherin." Her facial expression turned sour and her enthusiasm vanished. "But you'll be a Ravenclaw for sure! You don't have to worry about the sorting hat ceremony; I'm so nervous!"
"Not Slytherin…" Albus whispered from the corner, as he twiddled with a chocolate frog card in his hand.
"It looks like I'll wind up in Ravenclaw, all seven of my siblings were," Renn chuckled.
"You have seven siblings?" Rose looked at Renn in astonishment. "Wow, you need to meet my dad—you beat him for biggest family, he had six siblings. My mom was an only child though."
"And I thought two was bad," Albus laughed. "Then again, when you have a brother like James you get triple the trouble." Renn smiled at Albus, thinking that when he got used to you he was really quite nice.
Just then, the trolley door slipped open again, and a kindly lady looked in at them. "Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked them sweetly.
"Just a pumpkin pasty please," Renn handed her the appropriate funds, and turned back to her newfound friends. Albus cleaned out the cart when he ordered, and the three of them spent a considerable amount of time digging through chocolate frog cards, daring each other to eat the really suspicious looking Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and casting fake spells at each other with the licorice wands.
"Have either of you tried to do any magic yet?" Rose asked the two of them, who now looked quite sick from all of their sweets. "I know we aren't supposed to, but my mom said as long as she was watching I could practice some before going to school."
"I haven't dared try anything yet," Albus replied from under the mound of candy wrappers. "James was always watching and he would have told our parents in a heartbeat. How about you Renn? Tried any interesting incantations yet?"
"No," Renn pulled her wand out of her bag. "I guess I should try something; Rachel and Rain will know all the jinxes by the time we get off the train. What should I try first?"
Before Rose or Albus could reply, the compartment door slid open again, and a boy with platinum blonde hair stood in the entryway. He surveyed the contents of the compartment with distaste, and as soon as he spotted Albus, his face turned into a smirk.
"So, just because you're related to Harry Potter you think you can live more grandly than the rest of us?" He gestured to the candy wrappers around them. Rose's face started turning pink, but Albus just stared at the new boy with disinterest. When the boy turned around more and saw Renn, his look changed to one of surprise. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is there a Ravenclaw in my presence?"
"No, you haven't gone blind yet," Renn looked at him, unsure whether to be offended or flattered at his words. "And yet, just because you see my heritage doesn't mean you see me." The boy looked at her blankly for a moment, but a glint appeared in his eye and he winked.
"So which Ravenclaw do I have the pleasure of making my acquaintance?" He extended a hand to her, with Rose and Albus looking at her warily from behind him. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy."
Now it was Renn's turn to get wide-eyed. The name Malfoy was also familiar to her, but its history was a much darker one than those of Potter or Weasley. Malfoy was a name that parents told their kids at night in tales about Voldemort to make them behave. Squelching her nerves, she took his hand and looked him confidently in the eye, determined to not let him see the affect his upbringing had on her opinion of him. "Renn," she coolly introduced herself, not letting emotion show on her face.
The door to the compartment slid open for the fourth time that night, revealing a tall boy at least two years older than the four of them wearing Slytherin robes. When he saw Scorpius' hand in Renn's, he gave a disapproving look and Scorpius withdrew his hand so quickly, Renn wasn't even sure it was ever really there. With one quick sneer at Rose and Albus, and one unreadable look towards Renn, he followed the mystery figure out of the compartment.
"That was weird," Rose half whispered, unsure of who else was out in the hallway. "Talk about nerve! And then he saw you and his personality did a 360…but who was that guy?"
"I have no clue," Renn truthfully told them. "He seemed somehow familiar, but I couldn't place him."
"Huh," Albus pondered quietly. "Hey, weren't you going to try something with your wand before those two came in? I think you should try and make the chocolate frog card fly. You know the spell right?"
Wingardium Leviosa, she thought to herself and she nodded at Albus. Robert used this spell all the time to make Renn's books dance around her room when he came to visit. She lifted her wand, moved it in the swish and flick pattern as she proclaimed "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Suddenly, not only was the chocolate frog card floating, but everything in the room started levitating. Rose shrieked as she started to float higher and higher off her chair, and Albus desperately tried to reach out and grab his wand. The entire compartment looked like it entered zero-gravity, and Renn was the only thing not in the air.
"Get me down!" Rose flailed her arms wildly, and she bumped into the ceiling.
"I don't know how!" Renn panicked. She tried just moving her wand down slowly, but that solved nothing. Then she remembered an incantation Rebecca always used at the ministry to end an enchantment. It can't possibly get worse, so it's worth a shot, she tried to reassure herself.
"Finite Incantatem!" she shouted, moving her wand in an upward arc. It started glowing, and everything suddenly fell to the ground. Rose and Albus wound up sprawled on the ground in a heap and it looked like a tornado hit the room.
Rose stood and dusted herself off, giving Renn a wary look as she helped Albus up. Just then, the whistle blew, and the train rolled to a stop signaling their arrival at Hogwarts.
"That was so cool!" Albus jumped up excitedly. "I've always wondered what it would be like to fly; now I know!" Rose looked at Albus before looking back at Renn, and all three of them burst out laughing. They looked up when they realized everyone was getting off the train, and rushed around to grab their things.
Since they were the last ones to leave, most of the boats to take the first years up to the castle were already filled, and the three of them all clamored into the only boat with room. Unfortunately, the other occupant of the boat was Scorpius, who looked none too pleased to be sandwiched between Rose and Albus. Suddenly the boats began to move, and Rose fell over to the side to land on Renn, almost sending them both sprawling into the water. Scorpius and Albus both jumped up to pull them back into the boat, only somehow Renn and Rose had swapped seats, leaving Rose sitting to Renn's right, Scorpius on her left, and Albus across from her. Scorpius turned very stoically forward and didn't say a word to any of them the whole boat ride.
Albus, Renn, and Rose were chatting happily when they got their first glimpse of Hogwarts. It was everything Renn had ever dreamed of; even from this distance, there was something distinctly magical about the castle's outside illuminated by the floating candles guiding the boats across the lake. The forbidden forest was to the left, and there were a range of mountains behind the castle with small twinkling lights from Hogsmeade at their base. Hagrid's booming voice called out from the front of the fleet of boats, and even at this distance Renn could see the slight grey streak in his hair and his massive silhouette blocking out a corner of the castle. The first years in his boat only looked slightly terrified; Renn heard once a first year jumped into the lake in shock the first time they saw Hagrid.
"Alrigh' e'ryone outta the boats!" Hagrid gestured with his enormous lantern, as he disembarked from his boat as it pulled up to the edge of the lake. Albus calmly rose to his feet and jokingly offered Rose his arm to help her out of the boat. Grudgingly, she accepted the help and then shoved him to the side, as Albus laughed. Scorpius turned to Renn with a questioning expression on his face, but quickly turned away and climbed out of the boat, pushing Albus out of the way as he disappeared into the throng of first years, even though many gave him a wide berth. As he moved deeper into the crowd, Renn saw an expression of deep sorrow flash through his eyes before it was replaced by cool, steely indifference and she lost sight of him in the crowd.
Surprisingly for Renn, Albus, Rose, and she all received a wide berth too as they exited from their boat; unlike Scorpius though, the wide eyes and pointing were accompanied by smiles, not looks of horror. Albus looked calmly ahead and Rose turned to grab Renn's hand, promptly cutting off all her circulation. Holy Helena she's got a grip for such tiny arms! Renn winced to herself.
At the same time, she found herself searching the crowd for Scorpius, ignoring the misgivings of Albus and Rose. As she searched, her eyes lingered on a boy with wavy golden brown hair, sparkling green eyes, a rugged jaw line, and just muscular enough to be toned without having his muscles pop out of his body. He stood alone in the crowd, and even though girls were eying him on all sides, he seemed unconcerned and disconnected from all that. When he saw Renn looking at him without the slightly hypnotized look of all the other girls, he smiled at her, and made his way through the first years towards her. Rose had been talking non-stop to Renn the whole time she had looked around but shut up as soon as she saw the boy heading towards them; however, her grip on Renn's wrist tightened even more-a feat Renn had thought impossible.
"Hello there," he smiled charmingly. He extended a tan arm towards the two of them. "The name is Kyle. May I have the pleasure of knowing yours?"
Sensing that Rose was too stunned to do much but stare, Renn took his hand in hers first. "I'm Renn and this is Rose." Still stunned, Rose delayed another second before taking Kyle's hand and turning as red as her hair. After a quick deer-in-the-headlights glance at Renn, and an additional quick look at Kyle, she booked it back towards Albus and leeched herself onto his arm. "She's a bit nervous about the sorting," Renn covered for Rose's jitters. "I keep telling her she'll do fine but she's still worrying about living up to the name of whatever house she's put in. Where do you think you'll end up?"
"Gryffindor," Kyle shrugged. "I'm only a half-blood, but on the wizarding side of my family there hasn't been a single one of us that hasn't ended up in Gryffindor. If I'm correct in my assumptions, you are a Ravenclaw right?"
"By blood only so far, but yes you are correct," Renn stated, surprised that he picked out her heritage. Scorpius' prediction earlier had thrown her a bit too, but under the circumstances she didn't say anything about it at the time. "Do you have any siblings that already go here? Most people only make the Ravenclaw connection when they've met one of my siblings."
"I'm an only child, but I've seen all of your siblings," Kyle replied. "Both my parents teach here, so I live on the grounds and I see everyone at one point or another. Some people say Hogwarts is more their home than the one they leave to come here, in my case Hogwarts is both."
"Oh cool!" Renn's eyes lit up. "Wait, didn't you say only one of your parents was a wizard?"
"Yeah, my mom is," Kyle began to explain. "She's the transfiguration teacher after McGonagall became headmistress. My dad became the Muggle studies teacher after the last one…ran into Voldemort." Renn shuddered as she remembered the last Muggle studies teacher was tortured and then fed to Voldemort's snake Nagini.
Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall opened and all the first-years were quickly hustled into some semblance of two lines. Kyle wound up standing directly in front of Renn, and the procession into the Great Hall began. Renn's eyes grew to the size of saucers as she looked around—it was even larger and grander than she had dreamed. The first place she looked was up, and she wasn't disappointed at the view of the sky she received, a full lunar eclipse was scheduled to happen that day and it was just about to start, the moon was moving just into the ceiling's view now past the edge of the Hufflepuff banner on the far right edge of the wall. Gryffindor's banner was to her immediate right, and to her immediate left was the Ravenclaw banner followed by the Slytherin banner to the far left of the hall.
She looked down and saw rows upon rows of seats for students at the house tables, and along the Ravenclaw table her siblings faces all stared at the lines of first-years. Rhiannon actually smiled at her for half a second-surprising Renn almost as much as her inability to find Robin anywhere along the length of the table. Ruth looked at her antsily, like she had to stop at a really good part in her latest book which was now sitting beside her in order to watch the processional. Rachel and Rain were both further ahead of her in the line and just reached the headmaster's table before the columns of students turned into a glob. Renn and Kyle wound up standing next to Rose and Albus at the back of the group. A woman who appeared to be in her thirties stood erect at the head of the glob of first years with a list in her hand, and she opened her mouth to address the first years.
"When I call out your name, please come forward. I will place the sorting hat on your head, it will tell you your house, and you will go sit at your house table," she began to unroll the list, and the parchment just touched the floor which considering the woman's height at about 6'3" was quite the accomplishment. Though some women can't pull off height without looking like an overstretched llama, she looked nothing less than beautiful and her red hair was a dark crimson color that seemed unnatural but Renn's gut told her that this hair wasn't dyed or altered at all and that this woman was comfortable enough in her own body that she didn't need to even use makeup to make herself feel beautiful.
"That's my mother," Kyle whispered to Renn, and a look of brief surprise flashed on her face before noting some of the striking similarities between mother and son—they had the same nose, the same creamy brown eyes, even the way they held themselves was the same. "To keep from confusing her students with my fathers, she kept her maiden name so everyone calls my father Professor Helmsmith and my mother Professor Tylwyn."
"Aberforth, Charlotte!" Professor Tylwyn called out the first name, causing Renn and Kyle to stop whispering and draw their attention to a girl walking with her head held high to the stool that awaited her. Only the trembling of her hands betrayed her desire to hide her inner worry, and she sat herself down on the stool catching one last glimpse of the hall before Professor Tylwyn put the sorting hat over her head. The hat sat in silence for a minute or so before shouting to the hall "RAVENCLAW!" Polite applause came from all the tables and the people closest to the end of the Ravenclaw table stood to greet Charlotte. Now Renn could see Robin waiting at the edge of the table waiting to welcome her. When Robin saw her she shot a quick wink in her direction before turning her attention back to the sorting hat where "Arlington, Brett" had the hat proclaim him as a Hufflepuff.
This went on for a few more minutes with "Belmont, William" being made the first Slytherin and "Blair, Valerie" the first Gryffindor. When "Helmsmith, Kyle" was called, Kyle sent Renn a quick smile over his shoulder as he sat down on the stool. The hat had barely touched the top of his head when it screamed "GRYFFINDOR!" into the hall. Beaming, Kyle looked once briefly at his mom who was attempting to hide her smile behind the roll of names before racing down to the Gryffindor table where he was greeted by many hugs and pats on the back.
More names were called, and then "Malfoy, Scorpius!" The hall fell quiet as Scorpius walked calmly up to the stage. The hat was placed on his head and whispering went through the hall; Renn thought she could see Scorpius turn slightly red underneath the hat. Everyone sat in anticipation for a few minutes, waiting for the hat to make a decision but Scorpius didn't look nervous—he rather looked like he was having a battle with the hat. After what seemed like an eternity the hat sighed and shouted to the hall "SLYTHERIN!" And Scorpius went to go sit with the now whooping Slytherin table with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Potter, Albus!" was the next name that caught Renn's attention as the hall filled with more loud, excited whispers. Professor Tylwyn gave the students one stern look and the whispering abruptly stopped. Renn fought the urge to chuckle—she had a feeling she was going to like having Professor Tylwyn as a teacher. When Albus had the hat put on his head, the hat only waited for a few seconds before roaring "GRYFFINDOR!" The whole Gryffindor table did the wave as they stood to greet a relieved, but slightly embarrassed Albus to their table. Renn gave him a pat on the back as he walked down to join them.
"Ravenclaw, Rachel!" was the next name Professor Tylwyn called out, and Renn tensed automatically—two people left until she could finally begin her time at Hogwarts and not be solely identified by her inferiority to her siblings. The hall filled with whispers again and a couple of chuckles came from the Ravenclaw table. "RAVENCLAW!" the hat screamed out after being on Rachel's head for about thirty seconds. Rachel went over to the table and was greeted warmly by Rhiannon and Ruth, with a pat on the back from Robin.
Without waiting for Professor Tylwyn to call her name, Rain bounded up on stage and waited for the hat to be placed on her head. "Ravenclaw, Rain!" Professor Tylwyn announced to the hall anyways before placing the hat on her head. After a moments deliberation, the hat called "RAVENCLAW!" once again and Rain raced down to go be by Rachel again.
"Ravenclaw, Renee!" Professor Tylwyn called out. A nervous knot formed in Renn's stomach as she stepped up to the stage.
"Good luck!" Rose whispered to her. She smiled her thanks and walked up to the stool. One last time she scanned the hall, and every pair of eyes was on her. Albus and Kyle smiled at her from the Gryffindor table, Rose wrung her hands from the small group of unsorted first years, and her siblings all looked at her from the Ravenclaw table (although the only smile from any of them came from Robin). The last things she saw before Professor Tylwyn put the Sorting Hat over her head were Scorpius' eyes as he smiled at her from the Slytherin table.
"Now what have we here?" The Sorting Hat began to talk to itself in her head. "Another Ravenclaw! But the last, thank goodness. If your mother had any more children I would have fallen right off your head! Now, plenty of courage, strong desire to learn, phenomenal talent, but above all of that…"the hat paused and Renn felt her stomach clench in dread. "a desire to be recognized. The youngest of eight children, scorned by your mother and by the rest of your family as a result, and a nice healthy helping of vengeance. You want revenge on your other triplets and your mother as much as you want their love and acceptance. And power, power you don't even know of courses through your veins. I know where to put you now…"
And before Renn could think of anything to say to the hat that had seen the darkest part of herself that she wasn't even willing to admit existed, it did the unthinkable. The hat drew in breath and shouted to the hall:
"SLYTHERIN!"