Hogwarts was simply breathtaking. Liv stared at the enormous castle in unabashed awe. She was a 5th year, according to their system, but she knew to all of her classmates she looked like a 1st year. And she kind of was. This was her first time ever entering Hogwarts, and she would have to be sorted along with 1st years, but she wasn't bothered. Liv had heard of the greatness of Hogwarts all the way in America. Apparantly, the wizard who defeated Voldemort came from Hogwarts.
Liv looked into the sky and gasped. She was able to see every star in the sky as if they were in the middle of Death Valley. She could only assume the magic of the castle was what caused there to be no light pollution, seeing as the entire castle seemed to glow like a beacon.
A beacon that felt like home.
She was in a carriage, seemingly being pulled on its own, and she shifted slightly in discomfort. Those she was sharing the carriage with hadn't stopped staring at her. She cleared her throat. "Can I help you with something?"
"Is that an American accent?" One asked the other, intrigued and not looking away. Liv frowned slightly, finding the whole "let's ask about her right in front of her" thing a bit rude. "I think so, but do we even get transfer students?" The other girl replied. "No, she probably did something to get kicked out of her old school or something."
"Excuse me, but I'm right here?" Liv said, irritation ringing in her tone. The girls leaned back, intimidated. Before the three could say anymore, however, the carriage came to a halt and the girls shot for the door, eager to leave the tense atmosphere. Liv sighed, realizing that probably wasn't the best first impression she could have given.
She exited as well and followed the pack of returning students into what she assumed to be the Great Hall. Before entering, a middle aged woman grabbed her arm. "You're Olivia Matten?" The teacher asked.
"It's actually 'Livia', but call me Liv please." She replied politely.
"I apologize," The... teacher? promptly answered, "I am Professor Pavarti, here to tell you how this is going to work." So she was a teacher. Okay. Liv followed the professor's finger to the line of children. "That is the sorting line, it's going to be alphabetical, but seeing as you are a special case, you will be last."
Liv nodded, this all made sense. She didn't much like the idea of having to sit in front of the school like a 1st year, though. It would be very... intimidating. Professor Pavarti led her to the back of the line, said good luck and went to sit where all the other teachers sat at the head table.
Liv silently observed everything. So far no one really seemed to notice an older girl in line amongst the youngsters except the youngsters themselves, but they were nervously chatting about who would get into what house. They had a similar system back in the United States, but it wasn't that big of a deal. It seemed like one here. In fact, it seemed almost... tense from house to house.
An old woman rose from her big chair in the middle of the head table and cleared her throat delicately. All clamor stopped almost at once. "Good evening, everyone, and welcome back." She turned to the line briefly and nodded, "And to new students, welcome to Hogwarts. For those of you who do not know, I am Headmistress Mcgonagall. We will begin this first evening with the Sorting into the houses. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You will be placed into the houses due to your aptitudes and personalities. I wish you all good luck."
She sat down, and a tall man that Liv hadn't noticed before started calling names. He seemed very pleasant, and she assumed he was a teacher. Each table representing the houses cheered each time they received a new member, which seemed nice. Soon, Liv was at the start of the line and the man looked at her curiously and announced. "Finally, we have a transfer student. Matten, Livia."
She hesitantly sat down on the stool and the man placed the wrinkled hat atop her head. Every eye was on her, and it was slightly disconcerting.
"How interesting." A voice as old as the hat whispered through her head. "Older. You seem to have much. Intelligence, courage... Loyalty, too, although you are hesitant to trust people as of late. And cunning? Why, this is a difficult choice."
"Sorry." She said, unsure of the entire monologue.
"You would do well in any house, but where to place you?" The voice continued. "Such untapped potential. Perhaps Ravenclaw? Hmm."
People were starting to titter a bit. This was the longest sorting of the night, and Liv was getting very uncomfortable. "Not to be rude or anything, but could you hurry up a bit?" She whispered quickly.
The voice chuckled. "Ah, yes. Very well then, Slytherin!" It yelled the last part out loud. The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, and all the other tables, she noticed, looked put out. The man swiftly removed the Sorting Hat and as soon as Liv found an empty spot at her table, the Headmistress rose and said, "You have all been placed in the houses you will remain in until graduation. Congratulations, and let the feast begin!"
The empty plates in front of all the students were not empty anymore, filled to the brim with every dish imaginable. Liv grinned and dug in, happy that this aspect of Hogwarts wasn't that different than her old school.
"You're odd." The white-haired boy seated next to her stated conversationally as he too filled his plate.
"Thanks." She said, a bit sarcastically. Liv really did not want her first night there to be this much of an event.
He grinned. "Name's Scorpius. Olivia, right?"
Liv sighed, Is everyone going to make that mistake? "Livia. Call me Liv. Nice to meet you."
"So you're American? And you're, what, 15?" He questioned, talking around a rather big mouthful of mashed potatoes.
"Yep." She replied. "According to your system I'm a 5th year student."
"So am I. You'll like it here, Slytherin's easily the greatest house." Scorpius said, a glint in his grey eyes.
She appraised him silently for a moment. "Okay, then." Liv was starting to believe her observation about the inter-house tension was spot on. She was willing to bet each house thought they were better than the others.
Scorpius and she talked continued their conversation and was very interested in hearing all about her life in America. Feeling happy that she had made a friend, she told him a bunch of things, and he seemed shocked that there wasn't a big emphasis put on houses.
"But houses are extremely important. It literally effects the rest of your life." Scorpius exclaimed in disbelief. She raised an eyebrow and he continued on passionately. "Take for example a job application. They are more likely to hire a Ravenclaw than a Hufflepuff."
"Why?" She asked, slightly outraged.
"Well," he replied a bit slowly, "There are discrimination laws against that kind of thing. But anyway, it's because Hufflepuffs are basically useless." This comment caused those seated around them to laugh and nod in agreement.
She said nothing and took a mouthful of peas. Liv kept her mouth shut, not wanting to say the wrong thing, even if she found that whole idea bullshit. Thereafter came an "Abuse Hufflepuffs Verbally" discussion that Liv took no part in, but silently observed. Honestly, she was really starting to wish a bit, that she was placed in a different house.
"Hey, Scorpius?" She interjected politely. He turned back to her, eyebrows raised. "What has everyone in Slytherin got in common then?"
"Oh that's easy," Scorpius gestured to their fellow housemates. "We're all incredibly talented, good-looking, and there aren't any muggle-borns." He winked at her and shoved a heaping spoonful into his mouth. They had moved on to dessert.
Ahhh, it was starting to piece together for Liv. Each house had a specific characteristic that separated it from the others. Slytherin's was that every wizard and witch was a pure-blood or half-blood. And they all seemed to be a bit... darker in atmosphere than the rest. Every so often, though, Liv caught a person from another table shooting nasty looks to them. So maybe the "darkness" could be explained by that.
Now that Liv thought about it a bit more, Voldemort had come from Slytherin back in the day, hadn't he? Was that seriously why there was such a mutual hatred between the rest of the houses and hers? Ridiculous.
"What's got your knickers in a twist, then?" Scorpius slung an arm over her shoulder, and he looked incredulous.
She smiled, hopefully she looked convincing. "Nothing, just getting used to this all." She laughed a bit.
Scorpius opened his mouth to reply but the Headmistress interrupted him. "Another excellent meal to start an excellent year. Now off to your dorms, classes start bright and early tomorrow morning."
Everyone stood, and Scorpius grabbed a hold of her sleeve. "Just follow me to the dorms. In case you didn't know, we're in the dungeons."
"The dungeons?" She asked, sounding concerned. She had not been informed of this at all.
He laughed at her expression. "Calm down, the bars and all that were removed ages ago."
She still was feeling unsure, but continued following him anyway. Indeed they made their way down the many passageways and moving staircases, and soon found themselves in front of a fork. "Right is the girls' dorms, and before that is the common room, where we eat breakfast. Left is the lads." Scorpius explained. Just then a group of guys surrounded him, clapping his back in greeting. "I've gotta go, see you in the morning."
Liv smiled at him, apprehensive, and walked through the common room (it was very fancy, in her opinion) and into the girls' dorm, finding her surname at the end of the first bed in the third room. There were five other beds besides hers, and they had no names. Liv knew this was because they weren't unfamiliar with everything like she was.
Beside her bed was her trunk full of clothes and supplies, and atop it lie her new school uniforms. She felt the grey wool skirt and the silk green and silver embroidery, and she sat on her bed. Liv felt suddenly exhausted and was relieved she was near her bed. She changed into pajamas and went to bed.