A/N: Hi. Y'all can probably guess that I'm not doing this for money, and that I'm drawing on Rowling's world etc etc, and I horked some dialogue obviously. I just figured with all the fanfiction I've read and enjoyed, I should probably try writing some and see how that flies. Let me know what you think, please, I'm more interested in constructive criticism than unequivocal praise. Not that I'll turn the latter down, but still...
"Mind if I sit in here?" Daniel asked the two occupants of the compartment. They were a sandy-haired, long-faced boy and a dainty little blonde girl with her hair in a long ponytail.
"Sure," the boy said, and the girl nodded enthusiastically.
"What's your wand?" the girl asked as soon as Daniel sat down. "Mine's birch, with a unicorn's hair inside! Can you believe, an actual unicorn helped make my wand!"
"Girls," the boy with her scoffed. She just rolled her eyes.
"Don't mind Seamus," she said. "He's just miffed because his is willow, and I know that willow belongs to the White Lady, because I looked it up before."
"Core's dragon heartstring," Seamus muttered resentfully in a thick Irish accent.
"Heartstring?" Daniel queried. "They kill dragons for wands?"
Seamus shrugged.
"They're probably already dead," the girl said. "Like how they take elephants' tusks, you know."
Daniel bit back his answer to that. "My name's Daniel," he said. "Pleased to meet you, and your wand."
She smiled. She had a very pretty smile, and shining brown eyes. "So what's your wand?"
Daniel took it out, still not able to do so without a tingling of awe. "Blackthorn," he said. "Ollivander said that it was - " he noticed her jiggling, obviously knowing the answer herself, and stopped to let her show off.
She cut in as soon as was polite. "Fate! You're going to be a great hero, it means! And what's the core?"
"Kelpie hair."
"Ooooo," she said. "Yours is the best yet. I hope we can be friends."
"Yeah, ditch Seamus," Daniel said, grinning at the other boy. "Who'd be friends with a willow wand?"
Seamus glowered, and the girl looked at him, dismayed. "I don't —"
"I'm kidding," Daniel said, smiling at her. "All this is really cool."
"Yeah," she said. "It's really interesting how all the stuff that I thought was made-up is real, but it's kind of different, too. Like I heard that the Loch Ness Monster is a kelpie, and I thought that was a kind of dog! And Seamus told me that Merlin was a real wizard, but that King Arthur wasn't even King of anything at all."
"Really?" Daniel asked, glad she'd finally managed to include the glum-looking boy in the conversation. "What about Morgaine?"
Lisa looked Seamus, who shrugged. "I dunno, I've never heard of him."
"Morgan le Fay," Daniel said. "You know, the sorceress?"
"Oh, Morgana," Seamus said. "Of course she was real."
Well, la-di-dah. Daniel drew himself up to say something sarcastic, but before he could think of something the compartment door slid open again, and a nervous-looking black boy in ripped jeans and a purple t-shirt peered in. He looked relieved to see them the same age as him. "Can I sit here?" he asked, edging in.
"Sure," Seamus said quickly. "Come on in. We're all first-years too."
The new boy exhaled gratefully and sat down opposite Daniel. "I'm Dean Thomas," he said. Daniel managed not to laugh, but Cockneys were just funny. Probably something to do with EastEnders.
"Seamus Finnigan," Seamus said. "This is Lisa Turpin, and Daniel - "
"Livingstone," Daniel supplied.
"Cool," Dean said.
"What's your wand?" Lisa asked him.
"Huh?" Dean asked, before his face cleared in comprehension. "Oh, what's it made of?" He pulled it out, and Daniel guessed from the look on his face he was Muggle-raised too. "Willow," he said. "The man in the shop said because it was so long, I'd be good at subtle magic, and the, uh, demiguise hair was good for, um, Transfiguration." He said the words like they were in a foreign language.
"Cool!" Lisa said politely, nowhere near as excited as she had been for Daniel's. "I have a unicorn hair in mine."
Dean nodded awkwardly. "You tried to use it yet?" he asked to the compartment in general.
There was a nervous pause.
"I got sparks out of mine in the shop," Lisa said.
"I've cast some stuff," Seamus said, abashed. "My mum's a witch, so she helped me out."
"Go on, then," Daniel said, curious.
Seamus pulled out his wand and gripped it lightly. "Lumos," he said, and the tip glowed a pale white.
Daniel's hand itched for him to try it, but he didn't want his first go at a spell to be in front of anyone else. Lisa and Dean didn't seem all that eager to try just then either.
"Cool," Daniel said to fill the silence. "Is that something we'll be learning soon?"
"Ma said we'd probably learn it this year," Seamus replied. "She says it's important for safety and easy to practise."
The door opened again, and a girl with buck teeth and long brown hair stuck her head in. "Has anyone in here seen a toad?"
They all looked at each other.
"Nope," Seamus said. "Someone's lost familiar?"
"Yes," the girl said. "A boy called Neville Longbottom." She glanced down, and her brown eyes lit up. "Ooooh," she said. "Magic?"
"Yeah," Seamus said, going slightly red. "Just Lumos."
"That's great!" the girl said. "Another new boy was trying a spell a couple of compartments down, but he wasn't much good at it. I like Lumos, though. It took me a few goes for it to work properly for me, but then I got the hang of it. I'm Hermione Granger."
"Seamus Finnigan," Seamus said.
"Well I have to go keep looking," she said, just as Lisa had opened her mouth to introduce herself. "I'll see you all at Hogwarts!" She closed the door firmly and was gone.
"Nox," Seamus said, and the light on his wand went out. "Took me weeks to get that one right, and it's still pretty feeble. A few goes." His voice was thick with resentment.
"Well I've never done a spell in my whole life," Dean said. "So you're well ahead of me."
"And me," Daniel said, together with Lisa.
Seamus couldn't help a smile at that, and he put his wand away. "Probably still end up in Hufflepuff, though," he said with good-natured gloom.
"What's Hufflepuff?" Dean asked, and Daniel put a curious look on his face. He'd have to get used to having people explain all this stuff to him, no matter how often he'd heard it already.
"One of the houses," Seamus said, sounding surprised to be asked. "No one told you?"
Dean shook his head. "My parents weren't all that happy about the whole magic thing," he said. "They're letting me come, but I hardly got to talk to anyone about anything because they just decided at the last minute."
"Hufflepuff's the dud house," Seamus told him. "For the people who don't fit in anywhere else."
Dean's face fell, and Lisa bit her lip anxiously.
"It even sounds stupid," Seamus continued. "Like a pygmy puff."
"I heard Hufflepuffs are the best friends to have," Daniel said, forgetting his plan to keep his knowledge to himself.
"Yeah, who told you that?" Seamus asked skeptically.
"A Slytherin," Daniel replied, not able to help himself.
Seamus's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. "Really?"
"Professor McGonagall said Hufflepuff House was for people who are loyal and dedicated," Lisa provided helpfully.
"Well sure they say that," Seamus said, apparently determined to be miserable. "Name me one Hufflepuff who's ever done anything cool."
The compartment was silent.
"I'm Muggleborn," Dean said defensively. "I don't know anything cool. I'll probably be there in Hufflepuff with you."
"You two are crazy," Lisa said, shaking her head in disbelief. "We're on a train going to Hogwarts, to learn magic, and we're all friends, and we'll have a great time wherever we end up."
"She's talking sense," Daniel said. Lisa smiled at him a little, but Seamus scowled.
"How many other houses are there?" Dean asked. "What are the chances any of us will even be together?"
"There's only four," Lisa said. "Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."
"What do the names mean?"
"Founders of Hogwarts," she said. "They put a spell on Gryffindor's hat and you put it on and it tells you which house you're in."
"It reads your mind?" Daniel asked, dismayed.
"Yeah," Seamus said. "It talks to you a bit, tells you what it sees, then it shouts out the house. Pretty painless."
"So if it sees loyal thoughts, it says Hufflepuff?" Dean asked.
"Well yeah, if you're not brave, smart or a dark wizard that's where you end up," Seamus said.
Daniel was getting sick of the way Seamus was talking like he knew everything there was to know. "That's not how it works," he said.
"Yeah?" Seamus said. "Well you're Muggleborn. You just know what you were told by McGonagall."
"You just know what you've been told too," Daniel retorted. "You've just been told by different people."
Seamus was glaring at him. "You can't learn the things that matter from one conversation, you know. I've grown up with it, I know what I'm talking about."
"So you're pretty sure half of the students on this train aren't worth your time because they're in the wrong house?"
"I didn't say that!" Seamus protested, face darkening quickly.
"You pretty much did," Daniel said.
"I don't think all Slytherins are dark wizards," Lisa said firmly. "Some might be, but a quarter of wizards in the world can't be evil. It wouldn't make sense."
"Why don't you ask Daniel and his Slytherin friend," Seamus snapped at her. "I'd rather be in Hufflepuff than in Slytherin any day."
"There's no need to get snippy," she said, frowning.
"From the sound of it you're not going to be in either," Daniel told Seamus, still ticked off. His parents had been in Slytherin, which showed what Seamus knew. "Doesn't sound like you have the right qualities."
Seamus stood suddenly. "Well if I'm not good enough for you, you don't have to stay!"
Daniel forced himself not to stand. "You've said worse things than I have," he said. "I'm sure it's terrifying for you to think that you might not be braver than you are ambitious, or smarter than you are loyal, but you don't have to blow your top. I don't have anything against you. You know, unless you keep insulting me."
Seamus sat. "Sorry," he said grudgingly. "It's just Mum's a Gryffindor, and … she doesn't think much of Hufflepuff."
"There's no one better to prove her wrong, then," Lisa chipped in.
"Hey," Dean said suddenly, then stopped abruptly when everyone looked at him. He bit his lip and raised an eyebrow. "Does anyone else have an issue with the … robes?"
Seamus snorted, and the tension eased. "My dad refuses to go anywhere with mum where he'd have to dress like a wizard," he said. "Muggles are weird that way."
"It is weird," Daniel said to Dean. "I know I'm never telling anyone from back home what the uniform is."
"Why, what's wrong with it?" Lisa asked.
"It's practically a dress," Dean said face scrunched up. "We have to wear dresses every day."
"Nah, you'll get used to it," Seamus said dismissively.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Daniel said, and he and Dean shared a grin.
Lisa giggled. "I'm sure you'll look very handsome," she said, grinning impishly. Dean slumped forward, head in hands.
They spent the rest of the morning mostly talking about what to expect at Hogwarts, and being the authority on the matter cheered Seamus up no end. When the lady came around with the lunch trolley, he took it on himself to instruct them all what to buy. Dean had brought his own lunch, though, as had Lisa, so they only bought a few sweets, leaving Daniel to wade through Seamus's advice on his own.
He ended up with some kind of pie with an unfamiliar, spicy flavour, and three dark red muffins. "The muffins are great," Seamus said, his mouth already full of pasty. "What they do, is when you hold them they can tell what you ate last, and then they taste like something that goes with it. Mum makes them all the time, but hers aren't anywhere near as good as these."
Daniel saw Lisa looking at it longingly, and offered one to her and one to Dean. Lisa took one, but Dean hesitated. "You paid for it," he said reluctantly.
"Give me your crisps, then," Daniel said. "I get the feeling I won't be eating many of those at Hogwarts."
Dean grinned, and they swapped. Daniel's muffin was hot and crispy on the outside, and tasted just like hot chips and ketchup. "These things are genius," he said, surprised at such a familiar taste, one he hadn't realised he'd been craving. "I should have bought the lot of them."
Seamus grinned. "Wait 'til you try these," he said, holding up a bag of jelly beans. "Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. You never know what you're going to get."
Daniel was enjoying his muffin too much to risk spoiling it with a surprise taste. "No thanks," he said. "I'm good."
"Coward," Seamus taunted.
"Bully," Daniel returned, and stuck his tongue out.
"Chuck one over," Dean said, holding out his hand. Seamus gave him a little off-white bean, and watched him eagerly as he put it in his mouth.
"Eurgh!" Dean said, forcing himself to swallow. He covered his mouth with his hands, then ran them briefly through his short black hair. "I thought it'd be some magic taste, but it's just garlic!"
Seamus snickered, and Lisa looked at Dean's face with dread.
"Go on, unicorn girl," Seamus said, holding out the bag for her. She clenched her jaw and reached in, putting the bean in her mouth as quickly as she could.
When her face relaxed and she chewed it happily, Dean groaned. "Luckyyy," he said.
"Banana," Lisa said gleefully.
"Ew!" Dean said, apparently involuntarily.
"What?" she said. "I love banana!"
"I can't know you," he muttered.
"You next, Seamus," Lisa said.
Seamus casually put one in his mouth, chewed it carefully, and swallowed, a thoughtful frown on his face.
"What?" Dean asked, edging forward on his seat.
"I think it was water," Seamus said. "Never had one of those before. Weird."
He held the bag out triumphantly to Daniel, who said a final goodbye to the warm potato taste in his mouth and reached his hand in for a bean. He put it in his mouth before he could tell what colour it was. "Tastes like grass," he said, relieved. "At least, it tastes like grass smells."
Dean and Lisa looked happy for him, but Seamus didn't bother to hide his disappointment.
The rest of the train ride passed in much the same way: Seamus playfully trying to trip Daniel up both literally and otherwise, Dean slowly relaxing more and displaying a dry sense of humour Daniel liked, and Lisa bubbling over with enthusiasm about anything even slightly magical or unusual.
"Should we be getting changed?" Dean asked eventually. "We have to wear uniform for the Sorting, right?"
Dread edged in around the edges of Daniel's mind, but he consoled himself with the fact that all the others looked even more nervous than he was. And anyway, his parents had said they'd be proud of him no matter where he ended up. So it really didn't matter.
"Yeah," Seamus said. "Go on Lisa, give us five."
Lisa's cheeks went slightly pink, and she got up and went out into the corridor. Daniel quickly ditched his shorts and t-shirt for the long pants and robes in his trunk, but refused to put on the hat until it was absolutely necessary. Seamus looked more comfortable in his robes than he had in the slacks and shirt he had worn earlier, but Dean was hopelessly self-conscious. He had looked much better in his Muggle clothes, pretty cool actually, but he wore the robes like they were a dress, and they didn't flatter him.
"You're a wizard, Dean," Seamus told him reassuringly. "The robes are because of the magic, and the magic is more important than something stupid like feeling like a girl."
"We're all wearing it," Daniel chipped in glumly. "If you act normal, no one will even notice you in them."
Dean shrugged and stood up. They went out, finding Lisa in the corridor. "Very handsome," she said, smiling at Dean before slipping into the compartment herself. Dean rolled his eyes, but stood more easily as they waited for her. She took much longer than they had, and when she came out to let them back in she had let her hair out of its ponytail and put it into two braids. It made her look a lot younger, somehow. Maybe it was the robes.
When they had all sat down again, no one seemed to have anything left to say. The silence was broken by a voice over the PA: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately.
"If we're in different houses," Dean said eventually. "Let's still be friends, okay?"
"Of course!" Lisa said. "I'm sure we'll still have classes together and everything."
"Right," Seamus said weakly.
"Well, here goes nothing," Daniel said as the train shuddered to a halt and they heard people moving through the train.
"Can't we just stay here?" Lisa asked hopefully, which made Dean laugh.
"Come on," he said, pulling her to her feet. "We'll go be doomed together."
They all looked at each other, took deep breaths and walked out into the corridor and out of the train.
"First years!" boomed a voice from somewhere above them.
"That's Hagrid," Seamus shouted. "He's the gamekeeper, we have to follow him." He pointed to a great hulking figure holding a lantern above the heads of the throng.
"All right there, Harry?" the voice said roughly. "First years, over here!"
Like everyone who heard the big man, Daniel whirled to try and get a look at Harry Potter. It was impossible without being as tall as Hagrid, so he gave up and focussed on getting through the crowd. Once they had left the rest of the students, Daniel could see that there were less than fifty first-years, all following Hagrid down a dark path, down to a solid darkness. "The lake," Seamus whispered in his ear. "We go across in boats."
"You'll get your first sight of Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid announced. "Just round this bend, here."
They got down to the shore of the lake and, just as Hagrid said, got their first look at their new school. It was a castle, on the side of a rocky mountain, looking just like the cover of one of the books Rick always got sent in the mail.
"No more than four to a boat," Hagrid said, pointing.
Daniel looked around, and Seamus gestured for him to get in one. Lisa followed him in quickly, and Seamus tugged Dean in behind him.
"Everyone in?" Hagrid asked from a boat of his own. When nobody answered, he nodded and said, "Right then. Forward!"
The boats shot forward smoothly and drifted silently across the vast expanse of water. Lisa was absently trailing her hand in the water, but Seamus snatched her hand up as soon as he noticed. "Don't," was all he said before looking back up at the castle, coming slowly closer.
They went through a gap in the cliff and continued through a dark cavern. Daniel heard a soft sobbing sound from another boat, but couldn't see well enough to find out who it was. Eventually the boats came to a halt, and they all got out, clambering up across rocks until they finally reached what seemed to be a real floor, which flattened out and they found themselves on grass, in front of a huge wooden door. Hagrid knocked, and it swung open straight away.
McGonagall was there surveying them all sternly.
"The first years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid announced.
"Thank you, Hagrid," she said. "I will take them from here."
She led them through an enormous entrance chamber and into a small room at the far right end. Daniel heard the rumbling of the rest of the students through the wall and steeled his nerves. His parents had told him he wouldn't be able to control where he ended up, but he still felt like he had to do right by them. Rick and Penny were his parents where it mattered, but when it came to magic it was his birth parents who had guided him up to this point.
Daniel realised McGonagall was talking, but it sounded pretty much like her speech from when he first met her, so he wasn't too fussed about missing it. She left soon, telling them she would be back when they were ready, leaving them all to stand in terrified silence. Hermione Granger was talking very quickly and quietly, but Daniel didn't want to hear anything like how it had only taken her a few tries to cast the Hat-convincing spell that would send her where she wanted to be.
He glanced around at his new classmates, seeing if he could spot up Potter. Then he realised that he had no idea what the boy looked like. He'd just have to be distantly friendly to everyone he met, but not get too friendly. He'd been warned off getting close to Potter, and for good reason.
When the ghosts floated through the wall, talking about someone called Peeves a few people gasped, but Daniel stared at the faint silvery beings curiously. When McGonagall came back to tell them to enter the hall, Daniel kept his parents' words in his head and stepped forward, second in the line after a tiny girl with a long dark braid down her back.
The hall was huge, and apparently without a roof. There were four long tables in the middle, packed with black-robed students, and one going along the wall near where they had come out, where the teachers were seated. There were candles floating above the tables, making the golden plates and cups glow deeply. McGonagall set a stool out in front of the teachers' table and set the hat on it.
The hall was silent as everyone stared at the dull, ragged hat. Then, to Daniel's shock, a patch lifted, and it started to sing a song.
Oh you may not think me pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin,
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!
Most of the first-years relaxed visibly afterwards and the hall rang with applause. As the applause died down, McGonagall stepped forward and lifted a long piece of thick paper. The first few students were sorted, including the girl in front of Daniel, Susan Bones, into Hufflepuff. When Seamus was called he walked up to the stool as though it was the electric chair, dropped the hat on his head and sat down, looking resigned.
The hat took a long time, longer than it had for anyone else so far. Maybe Seamus was trying to convince it not to put him in Hufflepuff. After almost a minute, the hat opened and shouted, "Gryffindor!"
Seamus's eyes widened in shock, and he ripped the hat off and put it back on the stool, giving it no chance to change its mind. He looked across at Lisa, Dean and Daniel, grinning at them before walking quickly to the table on the far left, where he was greeted with handshakes and back slaps enough to last him the rest of his life. Hermione Granger was sorted into Gryffindor straight after him, and Daniel wondered if he was quite as happy with the hat's choice now.
Daniel's name was called after a pretty, dark-haired girl called Daphne Greengrass, and all the nerves he had somehow kept at bay came at him in a rush. Feeling like his head was detached from his body, he walked up to the stool, picked up the hat, sat down, and put the hat on.
Not much to think about here, he heard, in the same way he heard his parents' voices from his necklace. It's a choice between a few, but I don't think it's a choice needs much thinking over.You'll do best in SLYTHERIN!
On the last word, the voice in his head was doubled by the voice coming out of the hat. More pleased than he thought he'd be, Daniel took off the hat, placed it carefully back on the stool and walked over to the only table clapping with any real feeling, the one second from the right. There were already four first-years there, two boys and two girls. The boys were apparently saving the seat between them, as they glowered at Daniel when he went towards them. He sat instead next to Daphne Greengrass on the other side.
"Hi," she said in a gentle Scots accent, smiling. "Daphne Greengrass."
"Daniel Livingstone," Daniel said, smiling back.
"Yes, I was wondering about that," she said curiously. "I haven't heard — "
She was interrupted by the next student to be sorted into Slytherin, a pale-faced blond boy called Draco Malfoy who dropped easily in to the space the other boys had saved, looking remarkably self-satisfied. He was followed quickly by Theodore Nott, a tall, skinny boy with dark blond hair, and Pansy Parkinson, whose face was round and kind of flat, framed by short dark hair. Pansy went to sit on Draco's side, and Theodore sat next to Daniel. He looked unhappy about something, but managed to smile weakly at his new housemates.
The hall fell into a dead silence when McGonagall called Harry Potter up. He was tiny, easily the smallest of the first years, with a shock of dark hair falling down over his eyes. Daniel's parents had told him Potter would probably go to Gryffindor, like his parents. Sure enough, after a while the hat called, "Gryffindor!" The room erupted in cheers and applause. Most of the people on the Slytherin table looked completely unimpressed, though, and many were shooting the little dark-haired boy poisonous glances as he made his way quickly over to the Gryffindor table.
Daniel was honestly more interested in Dean's and Lisa's sorting, as they stood among the four remaining, along with a tall red-headed boy and one with shiny black skin and high cheekbones. Dean was called first, and it didn't take long for the hat to declare him a Gryffindor. He stumbled over his robes a little as he got off the stool, but Daniel could see his relief. He tried to feel happy for Dean and Seamus both. But honestly, he'd have preferred them to be all split up than to be left on his own while they all got to stay together.
There was still hope though, and his heart was in his mouth when Lisa bounced up onto the stool, her nervousness from earlier apparently dissipated. "Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted, so Daniel clapped for her and resigned himself to starting again. The redhead, Ronald Weasley, was sorted into Gryffindor, probably to become best mates with Seamus and Dean and Harry Potter, and the boy with the exotic looks, Blaise Zabini, joined them in Slytherin.
When the room went quiet again Daniel wasn't sure why, until he saw a skinny old man with pure white hair and long beard standing with his arms wide and a daft smile on his face. This must be Dumbledore.
"Welcome!" he said warmly. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are! Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
That complete and utter waste of time was apparently what passed for the gift of the gab around here, because the room burst into more cheering and applause. Looking across the staff table, Daniel was relieved to see a few teachers who didn't look particularly impressed. McGonagall was clapping, but only politely, a curvaceous blonde woman was looking sidelong at the Headmaster like he might leap at her and yell, "BOO!" any second, and a sallow, big-nosed man with long black hair was clapping along looking like he'd eaten ten of Dean's garlic beans and had his mouth taped shut.
When Daniel looked away from the staff table, it was to see the Slytherin table covered in roast meat and vegetables and the students helping themselves.
"I don't think I've heard of the Livingstones," Daphne said from beside him. "You are British, right?"
"Yeah," Daniel said, wishing he had a little more time before having to delve into the blood issues his parents had painstakingly prepared him for. "I don't know my actual parents, Livingstone is my adopted parents' name."
That caught the attention of all the first-years.
"You don't know your lineage?" Blaise asked, slanted eyes calculating.
Daniel shook his head. "I live with Muggles."
Eyes around him widened in horror.
"You must be a pureblood though," Draco Malfoy said, leaning forwards. "Otherwise you couldn't be in Slytherin."
"How could magical parents leave their child to be brought up by Muggles?" Blaise countered.
"There aren't any Mudbloods in Slytherin, Blaise," Draco said.
"There have been," Blaise said darkly.
"Oh well," said Theodore Nott from Daniel's left. "Nothing to be done about it now."
Draco was not put off by that at all. "What are they like?" he asked, grey eyes fixed earnestly on Daniel's face.
Daniel shrugged. "They're my parents," he said, letting them take whatever meaning they liked from that. Whatever his parents had told him, he wasn't going to back down from Rick and Penny. He'd sooner quit magic altogether.
Draco's eyes softened, which was the exact opposite of what Daniel had expected to happen. Blaise snorted, and turned away from the conversation. The boys on either side of Draco were eating steadily, almost business-like. They were both big and dark-haired, and absolutely silent. Daphne was looking at Blaise thoughtfully, but he was now talking to Pansy, and Theodore was tapping his middle finger against the table anxiously.
Daniel forced himself not to turn around and try to see his friends from the train. Instead, he took some roast potatoes and slathered them with gravy. Draco had stopped looking at him, and was eating in a thoughtful silence.
"So this is all new to you, then?" Theodore asked him softly.
Daniel nodded.
"Poor you," he said. "This is the worst house for you to have found yourself in, raised by Muggles."
"I know some stuff," Daniel said quickly. "I'm okay here."
Theodore sighed. "I'm 'okay' too," he said. "I'm just saying, if there's trouble … "
"Okay," Daniel said, wondering why the show of support surprised him. "Thanks."
"Call me Theo, by the way," the boy said, turning back to his meal. "Everyone does."