Caroline couldn't keep her eyes from wandering around. The very air were crackling with magic, and she felt excited butterflies burst in the pit of her stomach when a ghost flew over her head, causing a few of her soon-to-be classmates to scream. A smile grazed her lips and she studied the great, star-filled roof, which according to a boy named James, reflected the skies outside("I read it in 'Hogwarts, a History!', brilliant book!"). The giant room was filled with four huge tables, that were full of students in all ages. White candles floated in the air, casting an eerie glow over the white stone floors. The mighty animals portrayed on the four banners gave Caroline chills. Her attention went briefly to a pair of blue, twinkling eyes before they went to an ugly, old hat.
A deep voice rumbled gently, if that was possible, through her head.
"Good morning to you, young and old,
such a delightful meeting, our future's been told!
One day the snake will shed,
the raven will fly,
the lion will roar,
and the badger will dig!
The skies in the roof parted, and the new moon shone powerfully down on the new students. Caroline gasped as a single shooting star appeared in the skies, she didn't had the time to wish for anything!
As this year is short,
so is my song!
Don't comment, because it is quite strong!
All of my song has a meaning;
Quite soon enough, you'll be dreaming!"
Caroline shot a confused look around when the hat went silent, then she awkwardly began to clap for herself, drawing the other first-years with her. A girl next to her with short black hair sent her a grin and winked, clapping wildly. Caroline smiled back at her, noticing several redheaded people at the golden table was also smiling at her. A singing hat was wonderful! Such a great mascot for the school! Even though the last verse was kind of stupid..
The stern woman began calling names, last names first. It was such a formal thing to do, even in the '90s.. Caroline had much to get used to, waving around a wand and flying on a broom instead of watching TV and playing soccer with her friends...
"Pritchard, Caroline!" the woman called out, staring into the crowd of first years. Carolines eyes widened and she hurried up and sat on the tiny chair, before the old hat fell over her eyes. She let out a tiny squeak in shock, much to the rest of the room's amusement. Caroline blushed heavily and bit her lower lip.
"Oh, take no notice, child! They mean no harm!" a rough, yet delicate voice said to her.
"Who the devil are you?! Get out of my head! Brick wall, brick wall.. " Caroline thought, imaging a red brick wall in her mind.
"Please don't do that, Ms. Pritchard, the hat needs to read your mind in order to sort you into a house.." a voice drawled from behind her. It was probably a teacher.
"A hat reading my thoughts.." she muttered under her breath in disbelief, but tore down the mental brick wall.
"Thank you, dear.. Quite an mind you have here! Independent, sneaky and a lot of ambition! I guess there is no other house for you than-" "SLYTHERIN!" the hat called out, the rough voice loosing it's gentle touch. The green table exploded in applause, and Caroline hurried over to an empty seat. She was met with nods and questioning glances, but was distracted with a booming cry of "HUFFLEPUFF!". It was such a strange name she couldn't help but giggle a little. A tan boy a few seats down sent her a sarcastic smirk, and rolled his eyes toward the yellow table.
"Dunkinsson, Mary Bean!", "HUFFLEPUFF!".
"Eurgh, another bloodtraitor.." a girl grimaced horribly. Her friends nodded with digusted looks on their faces.
"What is an 'bloodtraitor'?" Caroline asked her quietly, getting the feeling it was something everyone knew.
She turned her light eyes towards her and sneered, "Purebloods who associate with filth!" she said, staring at Mary with the dark curls. After a seconds she snapped over to Caroline again, "What was your family name? I did not recognize it." she asked in a lighter tone, but still hateful.
She seemed to mad for some reason. Caroline didn't know that there were filth among wizards( and witches, of course)! "It's Pritchard, miss." she answered politely, as if to not make her madder.
A toughtful glance, before the girl leaned over to her neighbour and whispered something. The boy shook his head almost immediatly, making the girl frown before turning back to Caroline. "Pritchard.. Where do you come from?" the girl practically spat at her, brown hair falling into her grey eyes.
Caroline jumped a little, feeling nauseous. "I-I'm from Wales, miss!" she stuttered, feeling at least a dozen eyes on her. God almighty 'imself, make her stop asking questions..
"Your mothers maiden name?" came a smooth voice from the opposite direction of the brown-haired girl. A blonde boy with cold, grey eyes stared at her(Did every bloody slytherin have grey eyes?!).
Carolines eyes hardened and lost all warmth at the question. "My mothers maiden name? Why ever would you need to know that?" she asked coldly, straightening her posture in her chair.
The boy smirked lightly and turned his eyes to the girl next to Caroline, "Yes, Leslie, why ever would I need to know that?" he asked with a short laughter. He didn't think it was funny.
"If I'm not mistaken, your father is Rowan Pritchard." a voice said over her shoulder. Caroline turned and saw that a lot of the golden table had turned their chairs and was watching the exchange. One was a bushy haired girl who was staring at me with.. PITY in her eyes. Pity! I nodded with a sour look on my face.
"How would you know him, Mudblood?" crooned Leslie with a ugly smile.
'Mudblood' frowned, and threw me another look, as if she were asking for a signal from me to speak. "Rowan Pritchard is quite famous, I'm surprised you don't know about him, Malfoy." she said challenging him.
Malfoy looked like he didn't care about that, "Tch."
Leslie raised her eyebrows and grunted impatiently, waiting for the damn mudblood to reveal her knowledge.
"Rowan Pritchard is a satanistic, sosiopathic killer. He's been under locks since '86."
Caroline had ducked her head, but raised it to glare daggers at the girl. How could she know that! Only muggles knew that, and mostly didn't go 'round remembering the names! "And?" Caroline hissed at her, "Get your hearing checked, they were asking me about my mother, not my father!".
The girl rolled her eyes and turned her chair to her table. "I just think it's weird how a muggleborn got into Slytherin." she stated loudly, making all conversations amongst the Slytherin vanish.
Something heavy and cold replaced the energetic butterflies from mere minutes before. This was bad.
Malfoy and Leslie pushed their chairs away from Caroline and stared at her like she was a parasite. "You're a mudblood?!" cried a disgusted little boy on the opposite side of the table. The next thing Caroline knew, someone threw their goblet at her. Not just pouring the scalding hot tea they had in there over her head, but also making the heavy goblet hit her in the head, making her bleed. In a matter of milliseconds she felt the immense heat and pain spread with the water. A long, horrified scream of pain was let out of her mouth. A hundred chairs scarping, outraged yells and a booming voice of "SILENCE!" was the last thing her brain noticed before it went blank.
