CHAPTER TWO

The black-haired witch peered at her over the top of her glasses as Regina nervously cleared a way through the students around her. She felt every eye in the Hall fixed on her as she shuffled closer to the stool. Professor McGonagall gestured for her to sit down. As she did so, for a moment she could see the familiar faces of Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, looking at her expectantly. She also caught a glimpse of Malfoy, his light hair and pale skin forming a strong contrast with the two Indian girls he was standing next to. Then the professor placed the Hat on her head. Just as it had been for most students before her, the Hat was too big for Regina and all she could now see was its rim. Regina started when she heard the voice, because although she knew it would come, the deep, scraping sound scared her for a moment. She screwed her eyes shut tightly and anxiously waited for the Hat to make a decision.

"Hm… Well, well. What do we have here? Ah yes, a shrewd mind, no doubt, with a keen eye for details. Let's see… Ah, you wish to prove your worth to your family, hm? Quite ambitious, this one… Yes, you could do great things, little girl. Great things, indeed."

Regina shifted on the stool and bit her lower lip nervously. 'Great things'? She had no idea what that was supposed to mean. It was probably just something the Hat said to all students, she figured. And hoped.

The Sorting Hat was silent for the briefest of moments before shouting out loudly so that the entire Hall could hear it: "SLYTHERIN!"

As the Slytherin table burst out into applause and professor McGonagall lifted the Hat from her head, Regina slid off the stool with a baffled look on her face. She set a few dilatory steps in the direction of the cheering, but halfway she turned her head slowly to give the Sorting Hat a last stunned glance. She furrowed her brow in a non understanding manner, but turned on her heel and moved on. In the corner of her eye she could see Harry and Ron following her with their gazes; Harry with disbelief in his eyes, Ron with a look of sheer horror on his face. The two exchanged looks and Regina imagined she could positively hear his thoughts as she saw Ron whispering to Harry. 'Can you believe we just made friends with a snake?!' She quickly shook off these images and hurried to the Slytherin table. She felt she needed to have a sit down.

'Bullstrode, Millicent', 'Davis, Tracey' and 'Crabbe, Vincent' were already sat at the Slytherin table. The first sat up proudly, occasionally stroking a lock of pitch-black hair out of her face; the second, a blonde girl with a rather large olfactory organ, grinned in such a manner an outsider could easily be led to believe she had just won the lottery. The two girls sat opposite to each other while Crabbe was slumped next to Davis.

Many questions raged through Regina's mind as she sat herself down next to Bullstrode and thus opposite to Crabbe (although leaving a few seats open and thus avoiding the gorilla-like boy had looked far more appealing, Regina figured it might be considered rude), but the one that throbbed her skull most viciously was both simple and complicated: 'Why?' She hadn't been quite so preoccupied with her own thoughts to have missed the Sorting Hat's song. Fair enough; she had never really had an opportunity to find out whether she was 'brave at heart', so why Gryffindor had been out of the question, she could grasp, if necessary. 'Those patient Hufflepuffs are true', though, had come somewhat closer to her vision of herself. But, what had seemed almost perfect was when the Hat had sung: 'Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind,where those of wit and learning,will always find their kind.' She had always been eager to learn, even as a small child. The more stories her grandfather had told her over the years, the more she had delighted at the prospect of exploring the wizarding world and absorbing all the knowledge that awaited her there. So why not sort her into Ravenclaw?

'Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends...'

Any means.

Regina's pondering was disturbed by the loud outburst of cheering at the arrival of 'Goyle, Gregory'. He sat himself down next to Crabbe and they sniggered stupidly at each other. Regina raised an eyebrow as she remembered from the train they seemed to do that a lot. Next came 'Greengrass, Daphne', a brunette with a haughty expression apparently glued permanently to her face.

The next person to join their table was Draco Malfoy. It had seemed to Regina that the Sorting Hat hadn't even touched his head when it loudly exclaimed: "Slytherin!" Adopting the most presumptuous expression Regina had seen him wear thus far, Malfoy paced towards the Slytherin table and took the seat next to Goyle. The silvery-haired boy raised his chin proudly and exchanged grins with his two comrades. Regina's lip curled up all by itself as she stared at him in revulsion and annoyance. Honestly, how stuck-up could you possibly get?

The remaining seats at their table were subsequently taken by 'Nott, Theodore', 'Parkinson, Pansy' and 'Zabini, Blaise'. Parkinson, a girl with a face like a pug, settled herself next to Malfoy, meanwhile making no attempt whatsoever to hide her admiration for his lank, silky hair. Regina was wise enough to disguise her chuckle as a cough.

Once the sorting ceremony was over and all first year students found themselves greeted by their new 'families' (Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had both been sorted into Gryffindor, Regina noted, slightly envious), the feast began. First silver plates and cutlery appeared out of nowhere, followed by large plates with various meats piled onto them. Deep bowls filled with all sorts of green vegetables, shiny tankards of gravy, and silver goblets with pale green snake-shaped adornment showed up next, accompanied by huge jugs of pumpkin juice. It wasn't until Regina saw the abundance of food stalled out in front of her that she realised she was quite hungry. She filled her plate with delicacies of many kinds, and when dessert appeared later on, she only had room left to squeeze in a small slice of cake. All the while during the meal, most of her fellow Slytherins chatted amiably to each other. Regina had shook hands and exchanged names and greetings, but had made no effort to join their conversation. She was now happily munching her cake in silence, glad to be left alone with her own thoughts.

She still couldn't get her head round it. She seemed to be nothing like her housemates. When she overheard parts of their conversations, many were reciting their bloodline or boasting about their parents' esteemed profession. Regina sensibly kept her thoughts to herself. After all, being a half-blood, she didn't want to draw their attention to her lineage.

Another thing she didn't share with most of the new Slytherins either, was their obvious pride and satisfaction about having been sorted into the House of the Snake. Regina frowned and sipped her juice thoughtfully. She had dubious thoughts about this house, and dreaded to think what her mother would have to say when she found out the only piece of himself her husband had left her was now what he would have considered a rival in his own days.

Yanked from her reverie, she saw the silvery, hovering shape before she heard the shriek. The Slytherin house ghost had just floated through Pansy Parkinson, and the girl's robes were stained with spilled juice. She still had the goblet in her hand, her knuckles white from her firm grip, her face the picture of horror. Regina joined the others in their laughter – be it not as exuberantly. The pug-faced girl glared at them and tried to get the spots out as best she could. An older student explained to them that while the Bloody Baron usually just hung about looking stern, he would on occasion entertain himself by scaring the living daylights out of unsuspecting boys or girls. Regina made a mental note to always be on her guard.

When it was clear everyone had finished their meals, students of all houses were asked to follow their respective Prefects to the dormitories. Regina couldn't have come up with a better idea herself; she was drowsy from the satisfying meal after a long and peculiar day. They stood and followed the two tall fifth-years that were their Prefects out of the Great Hall. Their way was separated from those of the other houses when they turned down a corridor and descended an endless flight of stairs. Once down, they found themselves in what seemed to be an underground labyrinth of passages. 'The dungeons', Regina thought as the Prefects raised their wands and murmured 'Lumos!'. The glow their wands emitted lit the passages and guided the students on their track. They trotted alongside the damp stone walls and made so many turns Regina had trouble trying to remember the way. 'Left, straight ahead, left again, straight ahead, right, right, left… or was it one more right then? No, no, it was left. Definitely left. Again: left, straight ahead, left again…' she mentally repeated to herself until the group stopped moving suddenly. She peered over the heads of the students in front of her, but could see nothing special about the particular wall they were facing. It looked just like the others had done: bare, cold and clammy.

"Pure-blood!" the male Prefect exclaimed. A concealed door slid open instantly, forming a large crack in the wall. "Remember this password well. Without it you won't get through," he added. "You will be notified when the passwords change, which will be at random intervals." With that, he led the new Slytherins into their common room.

Regina had to admit it was quite something. Rough stone walls and ceiling formed a low, long room lit only by green lamps hung from the ceiling with heavy chains. Indeed green seemed to be the dominant colour, and also returned in the carved chairs that were spread across the room. The large fireplace right across the entrance was not lit.

Boys and girls were separated and Regina and the other girls were shown to their dormitory by the Prefect of the same sex. This was on an even lower level, down winding stairs with rough-hewn steps. The dorm looked similar to the common room, done in greens. Four-poster beds, elaborately carved with graciously slithering snakes and provided with dark green velvet drapes, dominated the room; three on either side of it. The girls found their luggage had already been brought down here. Regina's trunk was put at the foot of the bed in the far right corner, Oddball's cage placed on top of it. Upon hearing the cat's frustrated meows, she hurried to let the poor thing out of his cage. He leapt onto her lap as soon as she had sat down on her bed to admire the woodwork. The bodies of the many snakes were intertwined and coloured a flickering silver. It contrasted beautifully with the dark wood and drapes.

She lifted Oddball onto the pale green bed linen and scratched his head until he purred. The other girls were either unpacking or bickering about wanting to switch beds. Regina decided to get out of her robes and change into something more comfortable, and rummaged through her cabin trunk. She eventually found a pair of simple black trousers and a maroon, knitted sweater. She closed the drapes furthest away from the wall and changed in the privacy of the corner next to her bed. After folding her robes and placing them neatly on her bed, she dug up a hair brush from her trunk, undid her braid and tried to get most of the knots out of her hair. Next, she searched her belongings until she found the book she was looking for. 'The Standard Book of Spells, grade 1', the title said. With the book in her hands, Regina took a moment to look around the room. Bullstrode and Davis both sat on a bed, giggling and whispering excitedly to each other, but the others had presumably returned to the common room.

Regina figured that if she was going to be stuck with her house members for the rest of her stay in Hogwarts, she might as well try and make a friend. She wasn't sure whether she would dare to take initiative, though; but the prospect of being permanently left out pleased her even less. Given the two girls left in the dorm were caught up in their own conversation, she decided to trust her luck and went down the stairs to the common room; spell book in one hand and Oddball under an arm.