Chapter Two – The Power of Parseltongue

Daniel stroked the orange tabby kitten in his lap. It purred and playfully clawed him in the hand. "Ouch, Merlin," he said, pulling away from the little kitten, whose topaz-coloured eyes had turned, x-ray-like, to Carly.

"He's cute," Carly said.

"Yeah, I found him outside, under our porch last night," Daniel said. "I hadn't gotten a pet, so Mum said I could take him to school with me."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Carly said, neither of the children noticing the golden-eyed bird and feline looking daggers at one another, presumably for simply being.

Carly proceeded to tell Daniel all about the young Muggle who had performed magic and for whom she, Carly, had purchased a wand. Daniel looked interested in the strange case Della posed, but from a nearby compartment came a deafening scream.

"It's going to strike!" someone yelled.

"Stay here," Daniel said to Carly as he stood up, thrusting an agitated Merlin back onto the seat. "I'll go find out what's up."

"No way," Carly said, and Ceridwen gave a betrayed hoot. "You're not going alone, and if there's an adventure to be had, you're not counting me out!"

Faces peered out from around the corridor, from every compartment. Carly caught sight of Abe, Patrick, and Atarah, who still seemingly hadn't found seats. They pushed and shoved their way toward Carly and Daniel, and Abe made sure they were alright. "Yes; we're fine," Carly said, but then she realized that the compartment that was the source of all the speculation was Caterina's.

"Caterina!" she exclaimed.

"Carly, we're fine—!"

Inside the compartment was what looked like a broken bomb of sorts, and coiling from it was a live ball python. "Geez, leave them alone!" Carly said. The snake obeyed.

"Get in this jar," Daniel said, and he placed a large jar on the ground into which the snake slithered, recoiled, and was quiet.

There was no applause. There was only silence. Carly had just realized the magnitude of what she and Daniel must have just displayed.

"He's cute," said Daniel, getting up to examine his catch.

"Some Slytherins dropped him, in a wacky sort of Dungbomb," strawberry-yellow-haired Ariel robes said, and Carly noticed that even though Ariel was a first year, she was already wearing Gryffindor robes.

"You're Parselmouths, you know," said Tessa.

"I realize that now," Carly said. "Daniel…"

"Oh, we heard a Slytherin was entering, Orphiuhcus' great-great-great—"

"Never mind," said another voice. A large boy approached Daniel. "Don't worry, boys, he's one of us, then!"

There was a general cry of assent from the older Slytherin members.

"I won't be in Slytherin," Daniel said defiantly. "I won't."

"Not worthy, huh? Lucky to be going to Hogwarts, Mudblood…have fun in Hufflepuff."

"There is nothing wrong with being in Hufflepuff!" Carly shrieked.

All eyes in the corridor turned to Carly now.

"You'll be the other Ravenclaw, then?"

"Of course," Carly said, coolly.

"'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure!'" one of the oldest Slytherin boys said in falsetto.

"Maybe to some," said Carly. "And if they're right, you've barely got two Sickles to rub together, huh?"

The non-Slytherins in the train car all gave an appreciative laugh at this remark, Abe laughing hardest of all.

One of the Slytherin girls, a pug-faced blonde, had her wand out now. Pointing at Carly, she said, "Eat slugs!"

Carly acted quickly. "Magneto!" she cried, and her wand seemed to catch the pug-faced girl's curse. She threw it back at the group of Slytherins, and everyone went back into their compartments positively guffawing, without looking to see which Slytherin had been hit.

"Carly, that was awesome," Abe said as he, Patrick, and Atarah joined her and Daniel in their compartment.

"Thanks," Carly said. She and Abe were seated side by side, across from Atarah, Patrick, and Daniel, the last of whom sat, lonely, gazing out the window.

"Guys, this is Daniel," Carly said. "Daniel Slytherin. Dan, this is Abe, Atarah, and Patrick." she added.

"Parkinson, Montague, and Flint," Patrick said. "Those guys are nasty."

"Yeah, but evidently Carly's nastier," said Abe, proudly. Simultaneously, his and Carly's eyes rested upon the extra seats that should be Della's.

"I'll talk to McGonagall about getting Della in, mate," Patrick said to Abe. "She should go, even if she is a Muggle."

"But she's not a Muggle," Carly said, and she quickly began to explain Della's demonstrations of magic. "She seems very powerful, to me."

"I've never seen her do magic," Abe said, thoughtfully. "Well, McGonagall can probably teach you how to use a Pensieve…you can show her whatever my sister did."

"Can I really?" Carly asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Patrick said.

An old witch pushing a cart offered to sell the quintet candy, and they got as many Chocolate Frogs as they could carry. They began trading cards and talking about what they hoped to do this year at Hogwarts.

About a thousand Frogs later, Carly had Dumbledore, Agrippa, Merlin, Ptolemy, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Severus Snape, Herpo the Foul, Bertie Bott, St. Mungo, Everard, and a very rare card which she found last: Godric Gryffindor.

"Hey, I've got Gryffindor," she said.

"The Weasley brothers would buy that from you for about twenty Galleons, I bet," Patrick said, looking at his cards, which included Paracelsus, Wendelin the Weird, Armando Dippet, Morgana, Nicholas Flamel, Perenelle Flamel, Viktor Krum, and Dilys Derwent.

"Can I see, Carly?"

Daniel had spoken for the first time since he had been introduced to the others. Carly handed him the card, which he admired animatedly with an awestruck expression on his face.

"It's really him!?" he exclaimed. "That's what he looked like, when he lived—! Oh, my goodness! It's Godric Gryffindor!"

"Seriously, mate, we don't care if you're a Slytherin, you don't have to act like a Gryffindor," Patrick said.

"I actually hope I'm in Gryffindor," Dan replied. He handed the card back to Carly. "Awesome," he said.

"Thanks," Carly said, taking the card back and putting it in a Muggle binder, containing plastic leaves with pockets for Frog cards to fit inside. She hesitated before placing Gryffindor's imposing portrait beside an older one of Phineas Nigellus. "Danny, would you like to keep this?"

Danny looked up. His face broke into a smile he couldn't control. So Carly handed it to him before he could really say "yes."

"Thanks," he said. Carly shrugged. "I'm not going to be in Gryffindor."

Danny's mind strayed back to the moment, just a few hours ago, when Carly had said to him, "You're not going alone, and if there's an adventure to be had, you're not counting me out!"

"Are you sure? Gryffindor always prized the brave and adventurous," he said.

"I'm not that brave," Carly says. "Like Della says, anything can stem out of loyalty."

"Spoken like a true Hufflepuff," Atarah said with a grin.

Before their train ride ended, Carly had also acquired Bathilda Bagshot, Cornelius Fudge (which they thrust out the window), Gwenog Jones, Sirius Black, and a few others, including Professor McGonagall.

Carly, Caterina, Dan, Ariel, and Tessa got into boats following a giant named Hagrid. Carly and Dan shared their boat ("Three to a boat!" Hagrid called) with a quiet, ashen-faced boy named Ben.

A squat professor with flyaway grey hair stood waiting for them in the entrance chamber. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, over the excited first years. "I am Professor Sprout, Deputy Headmistress. In a moment, you'll be taken into the Great Hall, where you'll be Sorted into your Houses. The four Hogwarts Houses are Gryffindor—" Danny sighed longingly—"Hufflepuff—" Carly looked defiant—"Ravenclaw—"a chorus of "oohs" sounded somewhere near Caterina—"and Slytherin." Some smug-looking rich kids smirked.

"While you're here at Hogwarts, you will sleep in the dormitory appropriate for your House. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws go to their respective towers, Hufflepuffs to the basement, and Slytherins to the dungeons. Your achievements will earn you points for your House…your faults, when demonstrated, will lose points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will receive the House Cup and the Great Hall will be decorated in that House's honour. You will all also have the chance to try out for your House's Quidditch team. Any questions?"

Carly raised a trembling hand.

"Yes, Miss—?"

"Hawken," Carly said. "Professor, I know a witch who was not invited to Hogwarts."

Professor Sprout's eyebrows went so high they would surely disappear into that flyaway hair soon.

"Then please address the Headmistress after the feast, Miss Hawken."

There were none further, so Professor Sprout addressed the clamoring mass again. "Then, shall we? Follow me, if you please, first years."

The queue of first years followed Professor Sprout into the Great Hall, where four long tables sat, almost entirely occupied by students. Carly caught Abe's eye. He smiled, and she nodded, to nervous to smile back.

Old names like "Abbott" came up, and Professor Sprout called everyone very kindly. 'H' wasn't far off. Finally…

"Caterina Hawken!"

Caterina sat upon the Sorting Stool, Carly knowing herself to be next…Caterina's eyes were screwed shut.

"RAVENCLAW!" screeched the Sorting Hat.

"Charlotte Hawken!"

Carly walked up to the Sorting Stool and sat upon it…then the Sorting Hat sat upon her.

"Interesting…" murmured a tiny voice that Carly wasn't sure was just inside her head or out. "I see a great deal of courage, creativity, not a lot of book smarts though…there's plenty of resourcefulness…and pure blood…Ravenclaw's blood…"

Carly's mind felt pretty blank to her. She wasn't sure there was quite as much to that petrified brain as the Sorting Hat had said.

"But, oh, loyalty…that is, after all, the quality you value most…"

Yes, yes it is.

"Then," said the Sorting Hat, "it had better be…HUFFLEPUFF!"

Carly was largely applauded by the Hufflepuffs, who had only acquired "Abbott." She took her place beside Abe, across from Atarah, and watched the others be Sorted, and as the queue dwindled lower and lower, she saw Ariel be rightly Sorted into Gryffindor. Danny's turn came not long thereafter.

He sat on the stool and the hat touched his head.

"I can see that you want to be in Gryffindor very badly," it said. "And I can see that you would do very well there. Better, perhaps, than in any other House. It's a perfect fit. And so, I'm sorry to tell you—" Danny's Adam's apple plummeted—"that before leaving Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin cursed me so that I could only ever place those with direct Slytherin blood in Slytherin House."

Have a word with McGonagall—

"SLYTHERIN!"

And, tearfully, Danny was sent into Slytherin.

"That's your friend, right?" Abe asked. "The one who wanted to be in Gryffindor?"

"Yeah," Carly said.

"His surname's Slytherin?"

"Yeah."

"Poor kid," Abe remarked.

Danny and Carly were in the Headmistress' office that evening. Danny went first; they figured his query would not take nearly as long as Carly's.

"No, I cannot switch your House, Mr. Slytherin," McGonagall said a bit coldly.

"Why not?" Danny said. "The whole reason I'm in Slytherin is because of my blood! Please…it'll never work out. I hate Slytherin, I'm Muggle-born, I—I—"

But Professor McGonagall cut across him, saying that she'd think about it, and that he ought to give Slytherin House a try first.

"How would you feel?" he shot at her as he stood on the threshold. "Would you want to be in Slytherin?"

"Mr. Slytherin, go to bed, before I send your House into negative numbers in points."

"I'd really appreciate that, if you did," Danny said.

"Go to bed. I shall speak with the Heads of House."

"Do," Danny said, and he walked out.

"Now, Miss Hawken…why are you here?"

"I have a question," Carly said.

"Then please ask it," McGonagall said. "Professor Sprout inferred that your query would be of some importance."

"Professor…" Carly began, her voice aquiver. "Abe Stanch in Hufflepuff has a little sister, who is my age. She's even a bit older than me, and should have been invited to Hogwarts."

"Did she demonstrate any magical skill?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes. My friends told me there would be a way I could show you…?"

"The Pensieve?" McGonagall seemed lost in thought. "Yes, I suppose…Albus? Do you think this is wise?"

She addressed the painting directly behind her. Carly noted that the wall was full of portraits of sleeping adults, in progressively more old-fashioned attire.

"You must teach her the spell," Dumbledore replied.

"Indeed. Miss Hawken, if you please?"

Carly got the incantation down with surprising quickness for a first year. She placed her plasmid thought into the ethereal Pensieve, in its stone basin, with engraved runes. "Well, then, Miss Hawken," said Professor McGonagall, "After you."

Carly put her wand in the Pensieve, and it sucked her in. She was falling through the darkness, and was suddenly back in that day in Diagon Alley in which she had met Della. She saw herself, and all her friends, but they could not seem to sense McGonagall or Carly's present self.

"What's wrong with your sister?" Atarah whispered to Abe. He cast his gaze over at her miserably, before replying, "Della didn't get a Hogwarts letter. She's a Muggle."

"Oh," Atarah said. "Should we have breakfast here?"

The group went into the Leaky Cauldron. Everyone was chattering about House Quidditch teams and whatnot except for Della, and Carly saw herself instigate the friendship for which she had come to the sharp Headmistress.

"Psst, Della."

"What?" Della said, wretchedly. She turned her head up slightly to face Carly.

"It's okay to be a Muggle," Carly said. "I bet you can do all sorts of things wizards have never done before."

Della shrugged. "I always thought I'd be magic, because Abe is, and because…well, I can make things happen that probably shouldn't, on their own. Watch."

She picked up her spoon, and Carly watched. Della tossed it into the air, and, hand outstretched in its direction, watched it float around the room, knocking into the wizened wizard's ear and upsetting the pumpkin juice.

"You must be magic," Carly said. "Your letter must just be late."

"Even if I do turn out to be a Muggle," she said, and said the last word with deep resentment, "can we still be friends?"

Carly grinned. "Of course," she said. "I'd like that a lot."

Then they glided through the darkness to the scene in which Carly had bought Della's wand. Not even Ceridwen could see the real Carly or Professor McGonagall.

More darkness came and Platform 9¾ materialized. Della and Carly were bidding each other final goodbyes. Carly got onto the train, and after a bit more darkness they were in the crowded corridor where the Slytherins had harassed the first years and especially Danny. The last memory Carly shared with McGonagall was of giving Danny the Frog card of Godric Gryffindor.

Soon she was back in the Headmistress' office with Professor McGonagall. She picked herself up off the floor and waited for McGonagall to speak.

"Miss Hawken, the Slytherins who hassled all of you will be disciplined for their actions. As for Daniel Slytherin, he will most likely remain in his current House. The girl is magic."

"Why isn't she here?" Carly asked.

"The school board has disallowed the extension of invitation to Hogwarts School to Muggle-borns," she replied. "Those who came before the cut-off, like Abe Stanch, they were forced to clear, and of course Mr. Slytherin's name is his right to attend. However, according to the board's dictates, we can invite anyone we discover able to perform magic. Therefore, word will be sent to Miss Stanch straightaway."

Carly beamed. She was escorted to her dormitory by Professor Sprout, who told her that Professor Slughorn had taken Danny to his Slytherin dormitory. Carly's dormitory was lonely, "Abbott" having been a boy. Her things were all there, Ceridwen hooted in the corner. There were false windows in her basement room, and she placed Ceridwen in one of their sills.

Danny, however, remained awake all night long. There was a Nott, a Goyle, a Macnair, and a Flint in his dormitory. He felt very lonely, and hung the card of Gryffindor over his bed.

Patrick, Atarah, and Abe worried that Della would not be able to come to Hogwarts. Carly thought it would be only fair to tell them, and so she did, and they were overjoyed.

Then Carly went to bed, feeling emotionally very tired from such a range of positive and negative—she fell asleep instantly.