Carnivorous Hats And Green Corridors

I did my best to focus on Mum as she sniffled something about "her baby girl growing up already," but the gray forms twisting in the train's smoke drew my attention, as usual. I patted Mum distractedly as I watched the wraith-like shapes twirl. They reminded me of ghostly dancers. I smiled.

"Jynx!" I blinked up at my mother. Allora Lovegood glared down at me with the odd purple-blue eyes I had inherited, but a moment later, she softened and pulled me into a tight hug, wailing, "Oh, Jynx, be careful!" I hugged her back briefly and then wriggled free, grabbing my trunk as the yells of "last call for passengers!" was heard. I gave Mum a swift kiss on the cheek and ran to the train, clambering on board, not realizing I hadn't said good-bye until it was too late.

"Nice, Jynx," I murmured to myself. "You won't see her 'till Christmas!"

Ooh, Christmas! Shiny lights and ribbons and PRESENTS! Distracted once again, I didn't pay attention to where I was going until- SMACK!

"Ow, " I said, slightly surprised. I looked at the redhead in front of me who was now rubbing her reddening forehead.

"Were you there a few seconds ago?" I asked her, squinting.

"Y-yes," she stammered, obviously flustered.

"I didn't see you. I was thinking about Christmas. Is there anything you'd like for Christmas?" I asked brightly.

"Um…."

"I've never heard of an 'um' but I can try to find one for you, if you'd like," I offered.

The girl giggled. "I'm Ginny Weasley. Is this your first year, too?"

"Yep," I replied cheerfully. Ginny just kept staring at me, expectant.

I looked back, blankly. Was I supposed to say something? Umm…. "Ever eaten eels soaked in pickle juice and fried in Jell-O? Is that even possible?"

"Er…no, I don't think so- what's your name?"

Oh, that's what I had forgotten! I beamed. "My name is Jynx. Want to find a compartment?"

"Sure," said Ginny shyly, "if you wouldn't mind. "

"Of course not! My cousin Luna said she would save me a spot, anyway. We'll fit you in."

It turned out that Luna had gotten a compartment in the way back, so I had time to get Ginny used to me. Soon she was chatting, and I learned a lot about her: How she would sneak her brothers' brooms out when they weren't looking and fly them ("Don't tell them!" "Of course I won't, Ginny. Is it fun?" "Don't tell me you've never ridden one! I could give you lessons, if you want." " I'd love that, thank you."), how she always felt a little guilty because sometimes her Mum seemed to favor her, the only daughter, while her older brother Ron often got the short stick ("He'd rather die than admit it, though"), she liked the color green, Ron knew and was best friends with Harry Potter (I noted that her face flushed a little at the well-known name), and that she was wondering why she was doing all of the talking and I was not?

So I did tell her a little. 1. I was a Lovegood ("Really? " Ginny asked. "Cool! They've been around as long as the Weasleys, I think. It also kind of explains how you're rather-" She stopped, face flaming.) 2: I had no idea who my father was, 3: I was already running out of facts, 4: We were at the compartment Luna was in.

I opened the glass doors and plopped down next to her, kicking my trunk underneath the seat. Ginny did the same.

Luna didn't even blink at the sight of the redhead. "Hello. I'm Luna. Who are you?"

"Ginny Weasley, " I supplied. Luna nodded and went back to her Quibbler. I grabbed an extra magazine and offered Ginny another. She took it.

We read for the next few hours, the silence often broken by Ginny's frequent questions:

" What's a Dindarad?"

"Wait, Wrackspurts affect your brain? How?"

"Why not just call it a turnip? It looks like a turnip."

" Exactly what do plimpies look like? Do they taste good? "

Luna could answer them more easily than I, but as she was reading and oblivious to the world, I did my best on my own. The last question was easy for me.

"They're…squishy, " I told her, miming squeezing with my hands. "And clear. They taste like lemongrass and…" I struggled for a word- " jellyfish. " I had never eaten jellyfish before, but oh, well. "They're fluttery and sort of slosh in your stomach. "

Ginny looked faintly nauseated. Satisfied, I went back to my magazine.

Soon enough, we found ourselves standing out on the train platform, staring up at a gigantic man. He was smiling, though, so I smiled right back. He noticed, I think. "Firs' years, c'mon, then," he greeted us, and led us to the edge of a large black lake (I was to learn later that that was what it was named for). "Four ter a boat, " the man ordered gruffly, which followed by Luna, Ginny and I getting in a boat with a boy who had floppy light brown hair and brown eyes. He glared at us suspiciously.

"Why d'you have your wand behind your ear?" he asked, tone rude.

Luna, who the question was directed at, didn't answer, but Ginny bristled at his tone. The boy didn't notice.

"I bet you're from some muggle family, " he continued scornfully. I listened disinterestedly. "I bet you don't even know how to use- " He stopped when Luna finally turned to look at him, blue eyes wide and unfocused. " Hello," she told him, as if she hadn't even noticed him there. She probably hadn't. "Did you say something?"

He turned away, muttering. "Freak. "

"I heard that," I told him mildly, my smile not faltering as his glare turned on me. He just didn't know us, was all. "That's OK, you know. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion."

I caught his next comment- " Double freak. "

I sighed.

Hogwarts was beautiful. I smiled happily, watching as candles floated under and enchanted black sky.

"Aren't you nervous? " Ginny hissed to me, practically hopping from foot to foot, looking pale underneath her freckles. The Sorting was about to begin, and neither of us were listening. I shook my head, but Ginny wasn't looking- she was craning her head to see over the mass of students, expression eager.

Not seeming to find what she was looking for, she whispered, "Where is he?" in a faintly disappointed tone.

"Hmm?"

"Harry Potter!" Ginny's face quickly regained some of it's color and I followed her gaze to look for the famous boy. I couldn't see him. I could, however, see the expression on my new friend.

"You like him," I observed.

She turned scarlet, but was saved from answering as a stern looking, bespectacled woman (I recalled her name to be something like Professor Manacle) called out the first name- "Kivley, Willis!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat Willis had on his head roared. I gave it an inquiring look. When had that gotten there?

"Ludza, Carmin!" A thin brunette girl tripped towards the hat. It took longer than Kivley, Willis before-

"RAVENCLAW!"

I listened for a while (Soren Fox, the Boy-With-An-Opinion from the boat ride became Gryffindor along with Colin Creevy, while Aquila Black became Slytherin). But one thing rarely interested me for long, and my mind and eyes began to wander to the teachers. One or two seats were empty, I noted. Manacle's and two other's. I knew the Headmaster, Dumbledore, and I thought I recognized a blond haired, blue eyed man who smiled as much as I did. But his looked forced. What was his name again? Glob? Gibbons? Gilderloy, that was it. Gilderloy Lockhart. I seemed to remember Mum calling him an " idiot and a fraud, and we'll have nothing to do with his damn books." So that would be interesting.

"Miss Lovegood! Miss Lovegood!" My head snapped to find Professor Manacle- and everyone else- staring at me. Oops. Ginny murmured something encouraging as I started towards the Hat. I gave it a suspicious look. Was it safe? Normally I didn't put hats with a mouth on my head- they might eat it-

"Please put the Sorting Hat on, Miss Lovegood," Professor Manacle said impatiently.

Right. I let the big, floppy, possibly carnivorous thing slip over my eyes. Staring at blackness, I waited.

But nothing happened.

One minute. Two minutes.

I could hear people starting to whisper restlessly and I began to feel the first twinge of something negative in my stomach- what if the Sorting Hat never decided? What if I didn't make it in? Was it because…I hated to think of the possibility, but….was it because I didn't know who my father was? But no, that wasn't rational. Wait, since when was I rational? OK- Hat, sorry I thought you might eat my head and still do not trust that I'm completely safe wearing you but could you please put me where my father went-

"SLYTHERIN!" the Hat finally screamed.

I yanked the thing off my head (which was thankfully still attached to my neck) and went over to my new House's table unhurriedly, mind whirling. My father was a Slytherin? I had thought, from the clues my mother had dropped occasionally, that he might have been Ravenclaw. "Nothing much escaped his notice," I remembered Mum saying when I was nine, and then later, "He always found some new information he would get caught up in." I supposed, now, that that would work for Slytherin as well.

Just one problem- Mum HATED Slytherin.

I watched as Luna became a Ravenclaw and Ginny (throwing me an anxious glance as she went) made her way to the Gryffindor table. Soon enough, the Sorting was over and the feast began. I took a little bit of everything, not knowing what was what. My eyes widened. This stuff (which was lumpy and purplish gray) was good.

"Excuse me, " The girl next to me tapped me on the shoulder. " Dreamer. Pass the potatoes, please."

She looked familiar. I drew up a name. " Are you Aquila Black? "

"You're close," she told me, drooping heavy-lidded eyes so that she looked lazy and half-asleep, "but no. The one you want is my twin-" She tossed light blond hair in the direction of a girl identical to her, who looked so tired that I wouldn't have been surprised if she fell asleep in her pudding. "- I'm Cassiopeia. "

"Hi, Cassy."

Cassiopeia laughed, obviously delighted. She dropped her formal tone. "How did you know I liked that nickname?"

I smiled back. "I didn't."

"Oh." She turned away, and for a moment I thought she was done talking, even though I hadn't given her the potatoes yet. Then I saw her twin jump and her eyes fly open wide, as if she had just been kicked under the table.

"Wake up, Quil. This is- wait, what's your name?" She raised a pale eyebrow at me. I noticed her eyes were light green.

"Jynx- with a 'y'. You have pretty eyes." I was talking to both of them.

"Thank you," Aquila mumbled, already starting to fall asleep again. "And my name is…" Plop. Right in the pudding- I thought so.

"Now, pass the potatoes," Cassy said.

"This is the Slytherin Common Room?" One of the smaller boys (whom I noticed was getting several nasty looks, for some reason) asked, black eyes round with wonder.

He had a point in asking, I rather thought. The Common Room was certainly a sight to behold. Rough stone walls and a low, sloping ceiling surrounded us. Intricately carved, dark wood held skulls and other odd, intriguing objects, and misty green light filtered through lanterns hanging from chains. By the fireplace, many regal, high-backed chairs had been placed. I picked up a skull to inspect it more closely.

"It's human," I told Aquila certainly.

Aquila eyed it warily, is if expecting the skull to bite her. " That's…nice. "

"And that one-" I pointed "- is a Boomslang. That one's a Griffin's, and that one there-"

"I'm quite sure I've received the point," Aquila cut me off, tone delicate. There was a point? "Thank you."

"Do you work a lot with that sort of stuff?" A large, rather plain girl with dark eyes and tangled orange hair asked eagerly.

"No," I replied cheerfully.

Disappointed- "Oh."

"Enough chit-chat, " the boy prefect ordered briskly. "Now, remember, the password is 'hogwash'. Easy enough- but getting into your dormitories is harder. "

I saw the boy who had been in awe of the Common Room gulp. A few gave him contemptuous glances.

"It's very simple. You have to solve a problem and judged on your solution will you be put in your rooms- with the three other roommates who you shall be stuck with for the next seven years. Girls go to the left, boys to the right. Once you go, close your eyes and wait- your whole little adventure shall happen in your mind. Choose wisely," he added with a snicker, and opened the door.

"One more thing," he added. "Slytherins strongly believe in House loyalty and union, just as a little reminder for your stay here."

We filed in. I closed my eyes and waited, ignoring that it felt quite like this was the second time I had done this in this night. All I needed was a stool and a head-eating hat to complete the image. Soon enough, a voice slid into my brain and practically dripped it's words in.

Open your eyes.

I wondered if it was an illusion, that voice. I kept my eyes squeezed closed. Or maybe it was real? It sounded a bit like those hybrids my Uncle Xenny was researching, the ones whose eyes would ooze pus and only ate the-

Now, girl.

Fine, whatever you say. I opened my eyes.

And blinked.

I was no longer in the Slytherin corridor leading to the dorms. I stood in some sort of house. It was very bland and simple, and who ever owned it really needed to redecorate it, but-

Your task is to get out of this house. There is only one corridor that can lead you out, and that is the green one. Use the map- a book appeared in my hand- to help you. Also- I hope, for your sake, that you're a fast runner. You'll get it- you seem like one for illogical logic. Goodbye, now.

Oh, dear. Feeling just a little bit lost, I peeked inside the book that whoever-the-voice-who-talked-to-me-was gave me. Sure enough, it was an extremely detailed map of every floor of the house (which turned out to be extremely large), so I searched the pages for the green hall.

I didn't find it, obviously. That would have been too easy. Feeling the corners of my mouth pull up slightly ( I liked something new to challenge me), I went through it again, carefully making note of anything green.

…Green glass vases on the seventh floor…green velvet coverings on unused bookshelves…but it wasn't enough for a whole corridor.

Why, there was even a little green dot on the edge of each right page of the map book. Sighing slightly, I flipped the book shut-

-And let out a tiny "oh!" of surprise.

If I flipped through the book from the beginning to end, the green dots blurred together to form a straight, unbroken green line. The map was showing a new hallway- but how did I get there?

I frowned lightly. Illogical logic. It doesn't have to make sense, I told myself. Illogical logic, illogical logic, illogical logic….

Wait! I was thinking of it the wrong way. This was an illusion, wasn't it? Who said I had to find the corridor? Maybe all I had to do was find the idea. Let's see… To create the green line on the map, the thing I needed was speed- to flip the pages really fast so that the dots ran together-

I hope, for your sake, that you're a fast runner.

I allowed myself a grin. All I had to do was run at top speed through all of the levels, like the line. It was so perfectly illogical that it could work. I was sure of it.

After checking the map again, I found I was on the top floor, and the nearest stairway was close by. I ran to it, and upon seeing the long, spiraling rail that followed the stairs down, I altered my plan a little. I swung my legs over the rail, made sure I had my balance, and pushed off-

" WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! " I laughed as I picked up speed, my black hair flying out behind me. Faster and faster I went- I was reaching the last level- I couldn't stop-

I hadn't actually thought about this part. Whoopsie.

And then, the rail was gone from underneath me and I sailed forward, head first and with wide eyes, right into a….bed? I suddenly found my face smashed in Slytherin green and silver bed covers. Sitting up, I looked around. Yep, definitely Slytherin.

Congratulations, The voice told me. Very clever of you.

"Will you stay here?" I asked aloud.

Perhaps, it replied.

"I'm going to call you Molasses."

I heard Molasses give what rather sounded like a sigh. If you wish it, child.

"Who are you?"

No answer. Molasses was gone. Having nothing else to do, I started unpacking my trunk, putting things in little places obviously made for that purpose (shelves under the bed, a small cabinet with a key that could also be used as a bedside table, and I even found hollowed out compartments in the bedposts- very secretive and Slytherin-ish) I saved little things for last- a blue and white china fox that could fit in the palm of my hand, a charm bracelet bare of charms (which I immediately put on) a little glass rose (my grandmother's) and my diary.

The diary was small, and charmed by my mother so that it never ran out of pages and would only open for me (and even I needed a password). I had gotten it as soon as I learned how to write, as a gift from my uncle. I murmured the password, and watched as the tiny lock unclasped, and then flipped to the page that I had specifically left for clues of my unknown, absent father. I grimaced at the short list, before adding, "Slytherin" to it.

After hiding the diary away, I had nothing to do but wait. I was just beginning to think that my roommates must not be the brightest if it was taking them such an awfully long time for them to solve the puzzle, when the door slammed open and a blond-haired blur streaked in. The girl was running at top speed and apparently couldn't stop- that is, until she ran right into the wall. I got up and hurried over.

"Are you alright?" I asked the girl, who was lying face down in front of me.

"No," The girl, I could now identify as Cassy, moaned. "I think my nose is broken."

She rolled over slowly and sat up, to stare at me with wide eyes (which, with heavy eyes like those, it simply looked normal). "Jynx!"

"Your nose is most definitely not broken," I told her.

Cassy poked said part of her face. "No? Maybe it's just bruised. You had that thing about the green corridor, too?"

I nodded.

Cassy sat up straighter. "I only took so long because the curtains kept falling down."

I looked at her blankly. "Curtains?"

"Oh, did you do something different? I took down those transparent blue curtains, hung them on the walls of the shortest yellow corridor that I could find. The colors on top of each other looked sort of green. The problem was, I had to attach the hangings to the ceiling as well, and that didn't work out too well." Cassy shrugged. "So when I finally realized that I could probably just use magic to get them up there, I was so relieved I ran out as fast as I could. Unfortunately-" She smiled sheepishly- " I forgot to stop. "

"How-" She began to ask when she was interrupted by a bellow and a familiar girl with orange hair appeared and fell, apparently from the ceiling, landing with a spectacular crash. She bolted upright before clutching her head with a groan and crumpling back down. It was Cassy's turn to rush over then, me a beat behind.

" What-? " She asked, reaching out her hand help the other girl up.

Once the girl was sitting comfortably, she told us- "I fell through the floor by accident. " She turned a mottled pink, obviously embarrassed.

Well. I supposed falling through the floor would definitely be fast enough.

"What is going on?" A new voice came from behind. Aquila Black walked in calmly. Cassy stared in disbelief-

"How come you're not running?"

"Why am I not what?"

"Well, then, how'd you solve it?"

"I simply found the owner of the house and demanded he let me out."

Cassy stared some more.

"Just…just like that?"

Aquila sighed exasperatedly. "Yes, Cassiopeia, just like that. What did you do? Smash the floor and dig your way out?"

The orange-haired girl blushed darker.

"Was the owner's name Molasses?" I asked interestedly.

Now Aquila and the girl from the ceiling joined Cassy in the staring thing. I stared back.

"What?"

"Anywaaaaay," Cassy said, turning to the unknown girl, "You haven't mentioned your name."

"Katrina Rivers."

"I know of that family," Aquila piped up. "Respectable. Mama has spoken highly of them."

I noticed her voice changed slightly at 'Mama'.

Katrina just nodded, looking awkward.

"Well, I reckon it's time for bed," Cassy said, attempting a break from the slightly stiff silence. Katrina mumbled something in agreement and Aquila gave a prim nod. I was already heading for the covers.

It took me a while to go to sleep, listening to Katrina's sort snores and Aquila's and Cassy's faintly rasping breaths. When my eyes finally slid closed, I dreamed of the thick green coils of a snake, and eyes that flashed from human to serpent, from brown to red….

And when I woke up, I did not remember.

A/N: Alright, please don't kill me...I know it took a while! Two months...*cough* ." You'll notice I changed some things: The summary is different now, the rating is "M" because I am paranoid, and my pen name...I'm now Hidden Traces. It's like a shortened version of my other pen name, eh?

-Yes, Professor Manacle is actually McGonagall and Jynx just screwed it up!

Big thanks to Inauspicious Stars, as she is my beta...

Shout-out to: Allian (Who I have learned is actually Yeizhi), Inauspicious Stars, XShanz97X, Rainglyph13 for reviewing. I really appreciate it, guys!

If you review, I'll tell you the secret of that riddle they were given, if you like.

(March 18- Edited a teensy thing- Jynx no longer has a Sight. Oh, well...it would have been a fun idea to play with, but I don't want her anywhere near Mary-Sue-ish and it wasn't a needed attribute, anyway.)