"Whitby, Kevin," called Professor McGonagall. A small first year anxiously walked up and took position on the stool that sat in the middle of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat and placed it upon the boy's head. The hat mused for a while before shouting, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Claps could be heard from all around the hall, most notably from the Hufflepuff's table. Once the clapping had receded, Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, cleared his throat and began speaking to the student body.
"We have several exciting events happening this year. First, as some of you may have noticed, there remains one student who has yet to be sorted into a house." At this time, many students did, upon closer observation, notice the young blond haired, blue-eyed boy behind Professor McGonagall. He seemed to be trying his hardest to make himself as small as possible. The elderly headmaster continued, "I would like to introduce Jacob Matrin. He is from the United States and is the first exchange student in Hogwarts history. Now, from my understanding of the American wizarding education system, they teach things a bit differently than we do. Normally, a student of Jacob's age would be a second year; however, because of his excellent scores on his placement tests upon arrival at Hogwarts, you may find him in some of the fourth year classes." Dumbledore paused before continuing. He waited for some of the excited muttering and whispers to die down. Once they receded to a satisfactory level, he continued with a smile, "No matter what house young Mr. Matrin is sorted into, I ask that you all treat him with respect and help him find his way around the castle if he looks a bit turned around. And now, for his sorting!"
By this time, Jacob was looking extremely uncomfortable with all of the attention and stares he was receiving. At this point, he wanted nothing more than to crawl into whatever bed he was assigned and hide away for the rest of the night. Or the week. Jacob wouldn't mind sleeping for the whole week. As he mused over his thoughts, he found himself moving towards the stool, and the hat, that would determine his fate, be it good or bad. As he sat down, he noticed that the whole Great Hall had gone silent, waiting to hear the old hat's final decision. He closed his eyes as he felt McGonagall place the ancient hat on his head.
"Ah, an American. I've never sorted one of your lot before," came a voice from inside his head. If Jacob hadn't been told what to expect, he might've been startled. "Let's see hear… You have guts, boy. No doubt about that. Gryffindor might suit you fairly well, but let's explore a bit more, shall we? A thirst for knowledge as well, and a desire to use that knowledge. Those are both characteristics admired by both the Ravenclaw and Slytherin houses. You're a tricky one, aren't you?" The Sorting Hat continued to muse inside of his head.
To any nonobservant viewer, Jacob seemed to be at complete ease with having a talking, sentient hat place on his head. Closer inspection, however, revealed that beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. This, coupled with slight squeezing of his eyes gave the impression that the sorting was either taking an immense amount of effort or causing the boy pain. All the while, the sorting continued inside of said boy's head.
"Oh. Oh my," chuckled the hat. "I haven't seen this in nearly a millennium. Interesting… I've only seen this once. Once, but not without precedence. Better stick to it then. Yes, you'll do fine in… SLYTHERIN!"
At hearing his newly appointed house, Jacob stood up and made his way over to the table covered in green and silver banners. He noticed that a decent number of claps could be heard from all tables, all except for the one adorned in red and gold. The complete lack of claps from that area of the Great Hall When he spared a glance towards the silent table, he was met with a wave of glares and frowns. He caught the eyes of one girl with a neutral expression on her face, but the dirty look he was receiving from the redhead sitting next to her had him averting his gaze as quickly as possible.
'Great,' Jacob thought to himself. 'I've only just been introduced to the other students, and I already have people who hate my guts.' He sighed and resigned himself to another terrible school year.
Almost two months later…
Jacob Matrin was in the library, trying his hardest to find out more about this Triwizard Tournament. This was the first time since the start of the term that he had the free time to do some self-appointed reading. He had worked extra hard on his last assignments, even going so far to work ahead, just so he could have some breathing room to read up on the competition, or whatever else fit his fancy. Professor Dumbledore had explained that Hogwarts was going to be hosting the events, but other than that, seldom little information had been given. Not knowing more about it was driving him nuts. It also gave him an excuse to avoid the Slytherin common room and its unpleasant occupants. Despite being sorted into the snake house, Jacob couldn't find anything in common with the majority of its occupants. Not for the first time, he couldn't help but wonder if the Sorting Hat had made a mistake.
He paused in his thoughts to pull a book entitled The Triwizard Tournament: a Thorough History. He figured that book, as well as Compiled Statistics of the Triwizard Tournament and Revealing the Goblet of Fire gave him a pretty decent chance at satisfying his curiosity. He took his small pile of books and, weaving his way through the towering bookshelves, found a vacant table and began reading.
Several hours later, as he was finishing the introduction of his last book, a single finger tapped him three times on the shoulder. Jacob turned around and found himself staring up at a Gryffindor girl. He recognized her from some most of his classes, but for the life of him, he couldn't recall her name. She had slightly bushy brown hair and deep brown eyes that were studying him as if he was one of her textbooks. The feeling of being under a microscope was nothing new to him, but he still preferred to avoid any and all stares. He averted his eyes from hers as she began speaking.
"Hello," she said with a nervous smile. "I was wondering if I could borrow some of those books that you have?"
His eyes found their way back to her face. He watched her with calculating eyes before responding.
"No, but you can sit here and read them with me if you'd like. I'm planning on checking these out later," he explained apologetically still avoiding his her eyes. Her face briefly fell, before perking up again. By way of answering his invitation, she sat down in the chair across the table from him. She slid the book on the Goblet of Fire towards her and began reading. Before she could become too entranced in the pages, Jacob spoke up.
"I'm Jacob Matrin." He stretched his hand across the table. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, hoping that she couldn't hear his heart thudding in his chest. He was sure she could. Everyone he had introduced himself to had either ignored him or been openly hostile, the latter most prevalent from members of either Gryffindor or Slytherin houses. Hermione Granger (he remembered her name) was the first person to approach him and stick around longer than thirty seconds. If he could make a friend, even one friend, then he would already have had a better time here at Hogwarts than he had in America.
"I'm Hermione Granger," the girl replied with a small, but genuine, smile. She reached over the table and shook his hand.
Jacob nodded his head, inwardly smiling. 'Might as well go for broke,' he thought to himself.
He cleared his throat and forced himself to make eye contact with her.
"I assume you know all about me?"
She once again gave that small smile and shrugged. "I know about as much as anyone else," she admitted.
"And what would that consist of?"
"Just that you're thought to be a brilliant student. I've heard that you've completed your American school's curriculum in only one year! Of course, most of that is surely rumors, but I am curious as to why you came to Hogwarts. If you don't mind me asking, that is." She finished her small ramble with a sharp intake of breath.
Jacob waited until she regained her breath before answering, "I don't mind. I like to think that I'm a brilliant student," he said with a shrug. "As for completing my school's curriculum in a single year, that's completely false… I completed it in half a year." He watched her jaw drop, nearly hitting the floor before his straight face crumbled. He began laughing, and once Hermione realized he was joking, she joined in.
They spent the next few hours talking. The books that they had both been interested in were completely forgotten. Topics such as differences in both wizarding and muggle cultures of their home countries, favorite subjects, class schedules, interests, and the like. Jacob learned that both of her parents were muggle dentists and were thrilled to learn that their only child was a witch. Her favorite subjects were Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Charms. She in turn discovered that his favorite subjects were Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, and Transfiguration. As a matter of fact, he excelled in Care of Magical Creatures so much he was taking it with the sixth years. Hermione looked incredibly impressed with this, earning a small blush from Jacob. She was good friends with Harry Potter, the unexpected fourth Triwizard Champion, and explained that her research on the tournament was for his benefit.
Time flew by and before either of them knew it, Madam Pince was ushering them out of the library doors. Ten minutes until curfew had both of them scrambling for their respective common rooms, with promises to meet up in the library at the same time tomorrow evening.
