Madelyn Jones was very unhappy.
Her parents had decided that she needed to go to a college, but they couldn't send her to just any old school. Oh, no. She had to go to one of the best.
That's how she ended up standing in the long, highly decorated dining hall of the infamous Hogwarts.
Madelyn didn't mind school. In fact, she loved learning! Her current predicament wasn't anything related to that.
No, her problem was the loud, annoying, and quite rude boys who currently stood directly in front of her.
A redhead with freckles, the dark-haired boy beside him, the short kid with a booming voice, and the kid with the Irish accent who laughed at anything and everything they said.
She heard the Headmaster - Dumbledore, she believed his name was - clear his throat, and immediately, the hall quieted.
Naturally, the boys in front of her took longer to notice and shut up like they were supposed to.
The Headmaster made a brief speech about having a great year and other useless information. She caught that apparently the third-floor corridor was off-limits and couldn't help but wonder the reason why.
After what seemed like a lifetime but in reality was just a couple of minutes, another teacher stepped forward and began calling names.
"Altman, William!"
A short, wiry boy with blonde hair and glasses made his way through the crowd. Twenty seconds later, "Hufflepuff!"
The ceremony went on like this for some time before she heard her name, "Jones, Madelyn!"
She tried to act confident, but, to be honest, she didn't have a clue where she wanted to end up. Bravery, wisdom, cunning, and kindness were all valued traits.
She sat down and felt the hat being put on her head.
What do we have here?
She nearly bolted out of the seat. The hat talked while it sorted you? Now, she realized guiltily that she probably should've actually read Hogwarts: A History, rather than just staring at it.
If anything, it seemed like the hat laughed, and she nearly found herself on the floor. Well, well. You certainly seem quite easily spooked. Maybe you should be a Hufflepuff.
She wasn't sure what it meant, but it sounded like an insult the way it was… said? I just didn't realize. I'm not scared.
Sure, you aren't. You value intellect, that is quite clear. However, you also value kindness and bravery. I'm sure that you would fit into any house.
Well, hurry up and pick one. She snapped at the hat in her mind. She was starting to get really nervous, although she wasn't sure why.
Okay, okay. I believe you'll do well in…
"Gryffindor!"
She heard the students - well, some of the students - cheering, and went to sit at her table, a smile on her face.
The only thing that quelled her newfound happiness was the boy she sat beside. A loud redhead who kept making stupid jokes that caused almost everyone to laugh or smile.
The only one who seemed to share her opinion about the boy was a bushy-haired girl that sat a couple of seats down.
The last person was finally called. "Zacharias, Tyler!"
Madelyn looked up, expecting to see a boy, but instead, she saw an expressionless girl with short, black hair. She seemed to know what the hat would say already.
Sure enough, "Slytherin!" the hat called almost as soon as it was placed on her head, and she heard a table across the hall start cheering.
There was a muted clapping from her table, and Madelyn saw that they weren't very pleased. There must be some rivalry or something.
The rest of the meal went by without incident, and she was slowly getting used to the boisterous students' chatter.
She finished her meal, and quickly found herself following a Gryffindor prefect through campus. The prefect seemed really friendly, but also like she would rather be doing anything else.
"This is where flying lessons will take place," the girl said, pointing to a dimly lit courtyard. Madelyn noticed a rack filled with old brooms placed on the side of the area. Clearly, buying your own broom would be a good idea.
There was excited chatter between the students as they continued walking. Quidditch was apparently popular in this house, judging by the amount of times she heard someone ask about tryouts.
She wasn't interested by any means, but she still kept in mind that you couldn't join the team until your sophomore year.
She absentmindedly listened to the prefect talk about classroom and hallway rules. Really, why not just say "don't be stupid" and get it over with?
Madelyn was finally getting used to the four boys who had been in her bad sights since she got here. They were actually somewhat funny. Although, they resorted to putting other people down too often.
She felt really guilty about almost laughing when the redhead made a not-so-nice comment about the bushy-haired girl's teeth. Her name was Hermione, as Madelyn had discovered.
"Alright! That's it, everyone!" the prefect announced when they finally got to the dorms, "Now, are there any questions?"
Immediately, there were raised hands, and Madelyn would later swear that every single question asked was about food or was Quidditch-related.
She was also finding out just how deeply the house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin was. Upon being sorted in Gryffindor, it's like everyone, besides her, was forced to express every negative opinion about the snakes.
Cookie Dough? That was the password? They really must be running out of original ideas.
Also, why could girls go into the boy's dorms, but boys couldn't go into the girl's? That's assuming a lot about people based on gender.
These were the things that Madelyn was wondering about as she pulled off her shoes to go to sleep.
However, as she drifted off into a dream, the only thing on her mind was a certain dark-haired Slytherin whose parents had probably thought she was going to be a boy.