Safe inside her single train compartment, Lyra watched Platform 9 ¾ slowly roll away into the distance. Her parents hopeful smiles and waves goodbye vanished from view as the Hogwarts Express departed for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Turning away from the window, she fished her bag for her potions book to read during the trip.
She had ignored her sister's crude remarks of her being an "over achiever" and had taken the liberty to read all of her school books throughout the summer holidays. Because what Nymphadora didn't know was how very nervous her sister was for the year that awaited her. Never had Lyra so much as sneezed something magical. The only indications of her being a witch at all were shape-shifting abilities and her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. She had heard her parents hushed concerns the night before. Who knew if Lyra was even capable of performing magic? Chills went down her spine at the very thought of her parents learning their daughter was a squib. Therefore, Lyra vowed she would prepare herself for the coming term.
Potions, however fascinating, posed many questions. Lyra hardly believed it was magic at all. How could it be when one followed a recipe and brewed ingredients? Honestly, a muggle could do it. What Lyra wanted to know was: how exactly did one know what ingredients did what? It marveled her that by simply mixing a handful of items that something amazing could be produced. Flipping the textbook open to a dog-eared page, Lyra began searching for her answers.
Completely absorbed by her work, Lyra failed to notice a knock on the compartment door. After a few unanswered moments the door slid open. Surprised by the intruder, she peered over the top of her book. Three children, about her age, marched into the compartment and sat themselves down on the empty seat. They were carrying on with a very noisy conversation that they did not notice they were not alone. Lyra suddenly felt a mixture between amusement and uneasiness. Children meant the prospect of friendship, but she did not know what to say. Lyra had not had a chance to speak with kids her own age before, so she waited for a break in their conversation. Surely they would stop and see her any moment.
"Oh! Hello, there," a loud girl giggled as she toppled out of her seat in a bout of laughter. "We thought this compartment was empty." The girl looked up at Lyra from the compartment floor. She had a head of wildly curly, blonde hair. Her big toothy grin was as sickening sweet as her voice. "Seeing as we're already oh so comfortable, we'll be joining you?"
"I don't mind," Lyra said more quietly than she had intended.
"Good," said the girl placing herself back between her two companions, "because the rest of the train is full. I'm Jane Collins, by the way. This is my cousin Albert." She indicated to the rather plump boy to her left. He stared vacantly at Lyra. "He's very dull indeed, he doesn't like to say or do much. And this is-"
"I can introduce myself, thank you," said the girl with dark skin to Jane's right. "I'm Angelina Johnson." She seemed very confident as she continued her introduction. "The three of us are first years… Are you as well?" Lyra shut her book and placed it beside her. She inhaled deeply as she gathered the courage to face her guests. She found the two girls a bit intimidating, Jane especially, who was giving her a look over.
"It's very nice to meet you all," Lyra said in a much bigger voice than before. "Yes, I am a first year as well." She gave a weak smile, but could not meet the students' eyes. She kept her eyes fixed on the wall behind them.
"I thought so. You're rather small aren't you?" indicated Jane boldly. Lyra took a sharp breath in and looked at her fiddling hands. It had never occurred to her that she had a tiny body. Perhaps she was a bit thin…
"What she means is that you looked about our age," Angelina corrected. She gave Lyra a reassuring smile. "So, what house are you hoping to get into?"
"Hufflepuff," replied Lyra immediately. She was answered with three sets of raised eyebrows when she looked at them. "My father and sister both are Hufflepuffs. I want to carry on the family tradition."
"Oh I see. Albert wants to be a Hufflepuff as well only for a slightly different reason. You see Hufflepuff, at least in our family," Jane said in a highly over exaggerated voice, "is considered to be a little well- You know, where everyone else goes." Lyra sat up a bit straighter in her seat at the insult. Jane must have noticed because she began to explain further, "No offense, but usually ones with courage go to Gryffindor, brains to Ravenclaw, lunatics to Slytherin, and well, Hufflepuff just takes the rest. So, as I was saying Albert here wants to be in Hufflepuff because he doesn't have much going for him." Lyra sat opened mouth at the remarks. What a very unpleasant girl Jane was. "He didn't exactly inherit our family's intelligence like myself, so he won't be joining me in Ravenclaw I'm afraid." Jane finished with a satisfactory smile. Albert, to Lyra's concern, seemed completely unbothered by the slams at his intelligence. He sat beside his cousin, now gazing blankly out the window.
"I'm hoping to be in Gryffindor. It's got the second best Quidditch team at Hogwarts." Angelina interjected.
"Second best?" Lyra inquired. "Second, best to who?"
"Slytherin. I love Quidditch, but there's no way I want to win badly enough to play for them," Angelina said in disgust. Jane placed a hand to her forehead in distress.
"I could never associate myself with a Slytherin! They're a bad lot." Jane said in a painfully terrible moan. "Everyone knows You-Know-Who and all his supporters came from that house!"
All of the children winced at the reference to You-Know-Who. Lyra had read and heard many stories about the infamous villain. The thought of him ever returning sent ice down her spine. There were rumors his supporters still existed and their children filled the dreaded house. Lyra's mom had been lucky to be put in Slytherin in such a different time. If Lyra were to be sorted there she'd certainly be tortured or led astray by malicious students.
The groups' mutual distain for Slytherin provided them with conversation for the remainder of the train ride. They took turns telling stories of witches and wizards going crazy and their terrible deeds. Lyra blew her new friends away when told them the tale of Bellatrix Lestrange. It almost made poor Albert faint. However, Lyra left out the minor detail of her relation to Lestrange…
When they neared Hogwarts Lyra and her friends changed into their black school robes. A loud voice throughout the train instructed the students to leave their luggage behind. Then, there was a great noise as the train compartment doors opened and unleashed the students into the crowded aisles. Quickly, Lyra grabbed her wand from her bag. The Hogwarts Expressed lurched to a halt tossing Lyra into unfamiliar faces on the platform. She looked around trying to find her friends when a flash of lavender hair caught her eye.
"Nymphadora will know where to go," Lyra thought to herself as she made a bolt to her sister. "Wait Nympahd- Oomph!"
In Lyra's haste she had toppled over a passing student knocking both of them onto the hard ground.
"Do you know how dangerous it is to be running on an active train platform?!" chastised a disgruntled red hair and freckled boy.
Lyra froze at his remarkable resemblance to the boys she had seen in Gambol in Japes. She held her breath hoping he didn't recognize her. "Well, no I-" she stammered.
"Of you don't! Now, don't just stand there! Help me up before I'm trampled on!" he said with a voice full of authority. Lyra rejoiced at it. There's no way he could be one of the boys she met, he was far too bossy. Without further delay she extended her hand and together they pulled each other to their feet. She frantically searched over the heads of the other students in for her sister. Nymphadora was nowhere in sight, but everyone seemed to be heading in one direction.
"I'm very sorry for knocking you down, but if you'll excuse me, I'm a first year and I need to find my sister…" Lyra started to move toward the flow of traffic, but the boy stopped her in her path.
"A first year? Oh, you're horribly mistaken. Didn't you hear Hagrid calling? First year pupils travel to Hogwarts separately than the returning ones because of the Sorting Ceremony," the boy indicated. He turned her around and pointed in the opposite course. "You need to be going that way." A few straggling students were scurrying to a dark path in the trees. "You may want to hurry."
Lyra thanked him and sped off to meet the other students, ignoring the faint reminder to not run.
With clumsy steps Lyra maneuvered through the dim and narrow trail. When she had caught up to the rest of the first years she was greeted with a collective awe of amazement. There, bathed in the light of his lantern, was a humongous man with a tangle of beard on his face and draped in assorted animal pelts. Although he was quite the marvel himself, the students were far more amazed at what the giant was indicating with his lantern. On the other side of the enormous black lake was a giant with many towers and turrets nestled into the steep surrounding mountains. Lyra too let out a gasp of astonishment.
"Welcome ter Horwarts," the giant's voice boomed with pride. "Come on then!" A few children shrieked and ducked to safety as he swung this large tree limb of an arm in the direction of the boasts before them on the shore. "No more'n four to a boat!"
Silently and with caution the children stepped wearily into the boats. Lyra smiled at the giant man as he helped her climb into a boat.
"Thank you, er? I'm sorry, what is your name?" Lyra asked him politely.
"Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid. 'N don't mention it," He said happily as he made his way to his own boat which lurched violently as he entered it. "Everyone in?" He searched for any further straggles. "Good. FORWARD!"
At once the boats set forth across the dark lake. Lyra gazed longingly at the ever nearing castle. He mind roared with anticipation and anxiety. New and terrifying things she could not even imagined were ahead for her. Had she made a mistake not finishing her second reading of her potions book?
The boats passed through a cave in the cliff face and lead them through a dim tunnel that brought them to an underground harbor. Lyra and the other students clambered out of their boats and across the pebbly shore to follow Hagrid. His large steps left the students bounding at his heels. In a matter of moments the large throng of students had arrived in front of the castle's towering oak doors. Hagrid checked a final time to that all of the first years were still with him and with his giant fist knocked on the doors three times.
Immediately the doors swung open to reveal a tall, black-haired witch in amethyst robes. Lyra took a step back into the crowd. It wasn't the stern look the witch wore; it was the thought of crossing the castle's threshold. She could hear the drone of many voiced coming from behind a nearby doorway. The other students had already arrived. Was she prepared for what was ever to come? Would her Hufflepuff house accept her?
Lyra didn't have time to think, Hagrid had disappeared and the crowd was now filing in to the school. A procession of students had formed behind the witch and took them to an empty chamber down the hall. Lyra looked about nervously. She could no longer hear the sounds of voices. Everyone was quiet and fidgeted insecurely as they waited for further instructions.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," the witch broke the tension. "I am Professor McGonagall. The start-of-term banquet will begin momentarily, but before you seat yourselves in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is quite important because, while you are here, your house will be something like family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend your free time in your house common room.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin…"
Lyra's thoughts wandered elsewhere. She couldn't wait to be seated next to her sister and make new friends with her Hufflepuff classmates. The idea of actually hanging out with other students, laughing, just like she did on the train ride, seemed so close. Lyra made her way through the crowd when Professor McGonagall had left to find Jane, Albert, and Angelina when a loud hiss and the eruption of sparks came from somewhere in the corridor. Squeals of delight and fear echoed as children ran for cover. Lyra's heart leapt when when she saw the Professor come barreling back towards them all, wand at the ready. She whipped out her wand and put an end to the firework display.
"Who is responsible for this?" Professor McGonagall questioned the heard of wide-eyed children. For fear of blame falling upon themselves students pointed directly to the culprits. Fully exposed by the parted crowd, were the two red haired and freckled twins Lyra had encountered at the joke shop. So, that had been their purchase…
Professor McGonagall marked right up to the twins and demanded them for an explanation or they would be expelled that instant. Together they threw from their pockets the remainder of their wet lighting fireworks. Apparently, they had stumbled into the lake and the water had got to them. Waving the explosives away with her wand, Professor McGonagall made it very clear to all of the students that such things were not permitted on castle grounds and if found there would be dire consequences.
"Now, move along," Professor McGonagall said sharply. "Forma a single file line and follow me. The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."
Obediently, Lyra fell into line. One after the other, she and the other first years walked back across the hall and through the double doors into the Great Hall. Lyra stumbled at the sight of thousands of floating candles illuminating hundreds of students sitting at four long tables.
"Lyra," Nymphadora whispered to Lyra's left. Lyra waved sheepishly as she passed her sister and made her way up to a long head table where the teachers sat. The professors and gazed down at them curiously as the students came to a halt before them. Lyra couldn't bring herself to look out at the black hatted upper classmen and what appeared to be a few ghosts in front of her, so she stared straight above her. Instead of a cavernous ceiling the night sky shone cloudless and wonderful.
A clunk of something being placed on the ground drew her attention back and in front of them all was now a stool and an old, worn-out pointed hat. A rip near the brim of the hat twitched and, to all of the new students' surprise, it began to sing.
Its tune revealed that there was to be no examination. Students would merely on the Sorting Hat and it would tell them where to sit. However, the idea of the Sorting Hat invading Lyra's mind made her far more uneasy than before. It would see everything in her mind! Her past condition would be viewed! The reality that she was a freak to the wizarding world would put her to shame! No, no, no, she must do something! Lyra tired her hardest to think of the castle sky again. She looked at in once more and even as Professor McGonagall began reading off names to be sorted she continued to watch the sky. With all of her might she fought to forget the years in St. Mungo's, to lock every memory away.
"Tonk, Lyra!" Professor McGonagall called, waking Lyra from her concentration. Timidly, Lyra walked to the stool. She could feel the eyes boaring into her. Everyone in the room was silent as the Sorting Hat was dropped onto her head. It slid over eyes and sat precariously upon the bridge of her nose. All was still and dark. Lyra could hear the fast pounding of her heart beat hard against her ear drums. She thought of Hufflepuff, nothing else but her burning desire to join her sister.
"Hufflepuff, eh?" a soft voice said into her ear. "No, that won't do… You're much too clever for Hufflepuff. I can see you're trying to keep me from looking into your mind. Very cunning indeed, but it is my job to sort you. I can't be deterred so easily."
Lyra braced herself for the searching of her thoughts, but it was so difficult to keep her fear away. Her strength failed her. The Sorting Hat poured over her memories. Everything she thought he could now see. Lyra's hands covered her face in embarrassment.
"Oh? Very talented yes," the voice finally spoke again. Had the Sorting Hat said talented? What talent did she possess? "You have potential and a desire to make yourself known… Yes, I know just where to put you- SLYTHERIN!"
That was taken off her head. Lyra sat frozen. Clapping echoed around her and Professor McGonagall ushered her from the stool, but she couldn't move. There must be some mistake. She wasn't Slytherin material. She was supposed to be a Hufflepuff. Lyra sought desperately for her friends' and sister's comfort. When she spotted her friends they turned their faces in shame. Lyra knew what they were thinking. She was no better than Bellatrix Lestrange to them. Albert, Jane, and Angelina would never talk to her again.
Lyra began to panic. Anguish welled within her. The dreams she had clinging to for years had been hopelessly destroyed.
"No… No, no, no no!" Lyra muttered incoherently. A rip of self-pity flooded through her and spread to every part of her body. The Great Hall sounded in shock as long, tangled, black hair jetted from her scalp, its color matching the feelings of despair Lyra writhed with. She couldn't move. Her would was collapsing.
"Lyra, come on," Nymphadora said in a calm voice as she pulled her sister toward the Slytherin table. Lyra stopped her.
"You don't understand! There must be a mistake!" Lyra's voice cracked. Tears began to spill down her cheeks.
"The Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes," Nymphadora said. "but if mom made it through Slytherin, you can too." Lyra didn't want her sister's reassurance. She wanted to wake up from the nightmare. She wanted to be a Hufflepuff! "Things will work out okay, I promise."
As Lyra took her seat at the Slytherin table she couldn't help feeling that her sister was very, very wrong.