^Neko walks in stage left^

Fourth post!

Yeah, sorry about the long wait. I've been going through some stuff on top of college so I'm trying to not let my feelings affect my writing.

This chapter took soo long to finish. I got writer's block for like an entire week so I hope it's still decent for all of you faithful readers(I would say reviewers but…).

Disclaimer:

I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it. I do own my OC characters (and anything else that is unfamiliar).

^Neko exits stage right^

-On with the story

Ch. 4

In which key players are sorted…

Because Matt was a second year he had to leave Sam, Severus, and Lily behind. Sam released Clyde from his cage and he soared away, presumably to the owlry. Sam held Twyla in her arms. The rest of their things they left on the train- it would be sent to their rooms later via house elf magic. They exited the train into the long throng of students shuffling along toward the end of the platform.

A large man stood ushering the first years around him and Sam couldn't help but stare, like many of her other classmates. Large didn't even begin to cover his size. He towered over the tallest seventh year by several feet. Ten first years couldn't even make the width of him. His size would have been intimidating had is face not had the warmth of a sweet little puppy. Sam caught his eyes and she awkwardly smiled, unsure of herself. Only with his naturally expressive eyes, was Sam able to tell he was smiling from his thick beard.

When all of the first years had been gathered they were led away from everyone else down a path to a dock on the vast lake that surrounded the school. There were three to a boat so the three of them easily got one and they were off.

It wasn't long before the school fully came into sight. It was a massive castle with tall towers and it even had a forest. It was, in a word, grand. The stone walls could be easily seen as aged and many lights from the windows lit up the castle quite beautifully. Sam was beyond impressed, and Lily and Severus couldn't help taking in a sudden breath of air.

They docked and got off the boats, entering into the entrance hall through the dock passage and into a large entryway. There they met a stern looking woman in robes of green next to a large set of doors. She began explaining to them what was going to be happening.

"I am Professor McGonagall. I will be your transfiguration teacher. In a few minutes you will follow me into the great hall where I will call you up to the sorting hat and you will be sorted into your houses. Then you will sit with the rest of your house mates. For those who don't know there are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Know that while you're at Hogwarts, you house will be like your family. You will live, study and eat with them. At the end of the year, we have the House cup where we tally up all the points your house has gathered throughout the year and the house with the most points wins the cup. Any good behavior earns your house points, any rule breaking loses points. Are there any questions?"

"Yes, do we really need to go through with the sorting if we're going to end up in Gryffindor anyway?" a messy black haired kid with glasses spoke up in the back. His other black haired friend gave him a high five.

Professor McGonagall smiled thinly, "With an attitude like that, Mr. Potter, I fear for the future of my house participating in the cup. Please refrain from anymore of it."

With that the Great Hall's doors opened and the first years entered, going to stand between the teachers table and the house tables. Professor McGonagall brought in a stool with a battered old hat on it and placed it before everyone. She then took out a long list and called out "Avery, Roan"

A boy with dirt brown hair slinked through the rest of the classmates and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on his head not more than a few seconds before crying out "Slytherin!" The Slytherins cheered for getting their first new classmate.

Next "Black, Sirius" was called. Everyone in the room seemed to become quiet. All eyes were on the black haired figure that seemed to saunter up and sit casually on the stool. Sam saw that it was the same boy whom had high fived that Potter kid. She was already not very fond of him. He seemed too 'holier than thou' for her liking.

Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. For a time nothing happened, but the look of concentration on Black's face was getting more pronounced. Finally, when everyone was at the edge of their seats the hat cried out "Gryffindor!"

The reaction was deafening. A mix of cheers and boos came from opposite sides of the Hall. Black, with all the suave in the world, strutted to the Gryffindor table where a small fan girl group seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Lily wrinkled her nose at the whole display and said "Ridiculous."

Severus glared at the boy the entire time.

Sam, for the simple fact she was American, had no idea what the fuss was about. The entire thing puzzled her until her name, "Burke, Samantha!" was suddenly called over the mass. It felt like her stomach had fallen away from her as she realized it was now her time to be sorted.

"Go on Sam." Lily said from behind her.

Sam walked slowly up to the stool, Twyla still in her arms. She looked at Professor McGonagall before sitting on the stool. Her nerves were so high it felt as if she was going to throw up. What if she didn't get Ravenclaw? What if she got Slytherin?

She glanced at the Slytherin table, the majority of which looked more ready to eat her than welcome her. Twyla mewed quietly and licked her chin in a way that said 'Don't worry, Mistress. I'm still here'. Sam calmed a bit at that. And then, her vision went dark.

"Interesting, very interesting." A voice whispered in her ear. "Plenty of ambition and resourcefulness. And very cunning indeed. But I also see a lot of intelligence, wit, and creativity. Then again, most of that steams into your cunning and ambition, now doesn't it?"

"I rather like Ravenclaw. Can I be a Ravenclaw?" Sam asked.

"Ravenclaw. You have a lot of the traits but they only exist to boost other traits. Yes, yes, disregard for the rules and even hidden leadership qualities. You will fit in well with…"

"Slytherin!" the hat cried.

Sam's blood had turned to ice. She didn't even hear the cheer she had gotten from Slytherin table at first. She started her long walk to the table on the far right, when Matt at Ravenclaw table caught her eye. He gave her a thumb up and smiled. Suddenly she didn't feel as bad. She looked back at Severus and Lily. Severus had a new look she had never seen on his face. It was one of pride and relief.

Sam looked back at Slytherin table and smirked. 'Alright,' she thought, 'If I'm a Slytherin then I'll be the best Slytherin I can be.' And with that she took a seat next to a blonde sixth year girl who had been talking to another blond seventh year boy across the table.

"Welcome to Slytherin!" she said.

"Thanks." Sam replied. Sam knew that Slytherins were a tight bunch with a lot of pride. She was already figuring that she'd have to make a right impression on them to not be tossed around too much. "I had a feeling I would end up in this house." She said with a light smirk.

The seventh year blond boy across the table inclined his head a bit, "You're a yank. Tell me, what is a yank doing at Hogwarts?" His voice was a drawl, dripping with disinterest. Sam knew that this was a test though. She could already see that this boy-no, man- was a powerful person to reckon with.

"Salem Witches Institute held no interest to me." She started, with a bored tone, "I have family members who have gone to Hogwarts before, so I decided to go as well. After all, it is the best in the world."

It wasn't a lie, her adoptive uncle had gone to Hogwarts and she was now part of the family. This would keep any future Slytherins from bothering her too much about blood status. She had just confirmed that she had magical history in her family; she just forgot to mention she was adopted.

Satisfied with her answer, they went back to talking with each other.

Lily was the next sorting to be noted. She looked as scared as Sam had felt walking up to the stool and putting on the hat. Sam smirked inwardly, 'Not so enthusiastic now, are we my friend?'

The hat didn't take that long before crying out "Gryffindor!"

Sam quirked an eyebrow. 'Gryffindor? Huh, that's interesting.'

Sam chanced a glance at Severus whom seemed very close to Lily. His face had changed to one of complete horror as it sunk in that his close friend would be in Gryffindor, the rival house to Slytherin. Sam felt very sorry for him and swore that if he got Slytherin she would do the best to support his friendship with Lily. She would never let a house rivalry tear her from her friends and she didn't think it should happen to him either.

There was one thing that bothered her though. Sam was a very observant person and right then she was observing something no one else of importance seemed to be noticing. The Potter kid was staring at Lily as she walked to the cheering Gryffindor table.

Sam shook her head. 'It's not as if it's illegal to stare at someone.' She thought to herself. 'I really need to mind my own business.' And with that she shoved the passing observation to the back of her mind.

Sam zoned out from the sorting, listening to some of the things the two blondes were saying. She soon found that unappealing for the level of hate there seemed to be for anyone with muggle blood.

By this time Sam was getting tired. The food hadn't appeared yet and she was almost ready to get to her common room for some good sleep before classes tomorrow. She tried to keep away, but ended up zoning out again for a very long time while several other first years got sorted into the four school houses.

Sam just managed to catch a name "Lupin, Remus." Being called after some other boy was sorted into Gryffindor. There was something familiar about this name but Sam couldn't remember so she took a chance look at the boy sitting on the sorting stool.

"By Merlin's white beard!" Sam whispered as she recognized the boy she had literally run into at Diagon Alley. His ash brown bangs got even more into his amber colored eyes as the hat was dropped over his head. Yep, this was the boy who freaked out and ran away after taking a look at her book. Sam had deduced that it must have been something he saw on the cover that had scared him. He had piqued her interest at Diagon Alley and, like anything that piqued her interest; she wanted to get to know him.

Suddenly the hat cried "Gryffindor!"

'Ah, pure dead brilliant.' This would be a lot harder to befriend him than she thought.

She watched interested as his face turned green and he slowly made his way to a seat at the house table, immediately pulling a book out from his robes. Sam smirked. At least they already had a conversation starter, she thought, remembering her somewhat large pile of books now waiting for her in Slytherin dorms.

Sam was left planning cunning ways in which she could corner the Gryffindor, as more people were sorted. Her stomach by now was protesting the long wait on food. She may have had a few snacks on the train but there was no way it could have fully tided her over until dinner. It was no surprise when her stomach let out a large growl. The blond across the table got an annoyed look on his face as he was interrupted, while the blonde next to her became very amused.

"It's too bad they don't have better lunch service on the train. With all the money Lucius' father puts into this school, one would expect better quality. If you ask me, some of the teachers could do with a little less pay." The blonde wrinkled her upturned nose at this. "Don't worry Miss…"

"Ah, Burke. Samantha Burke." Sam said politely.

"Miss Burke, we are already in the 'O's. The sorting should soon be over with. And I am Narcissa Black. This is Lucius Malfoy. You might not know this, being American and all," Sam frowned slightly, "but the Malfoy and the Black family are reviled for being of some of the purest blood around. You would do well to remember this. I have taken a liking to you so you might just be invited to some of our special parties."

Sam politely thanked Narcissa for her "kindness". Operation: Get Into Slytherin High Standings was so far a success; Sam was just worried that this might come to bite her in the butt later.

She turned to pay more attention to the sorting after a pudgy boy by the name "Peter Pettigrew" was sorted into Gryffindor.

A full out frown crossed her face as "Potter, James" was called and the same messy black hair was seen moving through what was still left of the first years.

Lucius apparently noticed her frown for he said "It be best to stay away from that one and any friends he makes. All the Potters and their friends seem to have an unnatural tolerance for mudbloods."

Sam stifled a gasp: that word. She was beginning to not like this blond. She was a "mudblood".

Sam knew she couldn't let that fact be known so she settled with nodding her head while thinking about how the Malfoy would look if he ever found out he actually talked to a muggle born like her.

Meanwhile, Potter was-no surprise- sorted into Gryffindor. There was a huge cheer as he made his way to the table and sat next to Black. They both gave each other looks before smiling most suspiciously toward a seething Severus.

Sam must have missed something important. She would have to ask Severus what happened tomorrow though.

Two more letters of the alphabet passes before the "S"s were reached and with it, Severus.

"Snape, Severus" was called and the pale boy in question walked stiffly up to the stool and sat down. His teeth were clenched, Sam could tell, and he was grasping his knees but other than that, he was a lot calmer than half the others who had been sorted.

"A friend of yours?" She heard Lucius drawl from across the table.

"Something like that." She replied, still focused on him.

"Slytherin, no doubt." Lucius surprisingly smiled, although the smile itself was quite expressionless, if that was at all possible.

Professor McGonagall lowered the hat onto Severus' lanky hair, but it hadn't even touched before, "Slytherin!" could be heard from its mouth.

Sam smiled big as she waited for him to make it over to the table. There was an open seat next to Lucius that she hoped he would take. She also looked around at Lily and Matt, one was smiling worriedly and the other was giving another smile and thumb up, respectively.

Severus, like she had wanted him to, sat next to Lucius who patted him on the back. Narcissa welcomed him and Sam smiled. Of all the reactions of his joining of the house the one he reacted to the most was hers, in which he nodded towards her.

The sorting finally ended and the food appeared after a word from the headmaster. Sam was so hungry, she dug right in, grabbing mostly vegetables but managed a few pieces of chicken and minced pie, which she had never tried before. There were in fact several dishes she had never even seen. She would have tried to eat more but seeing as she was already the one getting the most to eat of all the people around her, she decided to cut back. Twyla had woken up from her nap on Sam's lap and mewed at the smells. Sam ended up catering to her plea by feeding her some poached salmon.

Severus and Lucius, it seemed, were already on good standings as they had started a decent conversation. It began as a discussion on dark spells. There being a 6 year difference between them, it was something when Lucius was impressed with Severus' knowledge on dark spells. Seeing as how this didn't interest her as much she was content with listening along with Narcissa. It was when their conversation switched to poisons and their effects that Sam decided to speak up and truly showed where her talents lay.

It began when they started discussing Basilisk venom and its dark effects on a person. Severus had brought it up when he was describing the best way to poison a person. The effects were very fast working but they weren't disastrous enough for Lucius, who apparently liked seeing his enemies, suffer a lot- Sam got this from his preferred methods of torture. Severus then offered up dragon venom as the next option. Peruvian Vipertooth venom tended to melt victims from the inside out, a form of pre-digestion to make up for their smaller size compared to their preferred prey. Lucius liked that idea a lot more but started to go into other poisons one could mix with the venom to make the effects even more gruesome. It was at the point in which he mentioned mixing the venom with baneberry poison that Sam had to step in.

"First off, Baneberry and Vipertooth would make a horrible effect. Sure, the person would still end up dead but they would be dead faster than you can say the killing curse. I can tell you are looking for something that would leave them writhing in agony without any completely functional antidote."

At this point she had all three fellow Slytherins attention. She had paused for effect. Lucius, undeniable curious, and if she dare say, impatient, asked her to elaborate.

"Well, if you are going for a down right cruel way to kill someone, you could always use the venom of a Haunt. Haunts, from what I know, aren't usually taught in schools like this because they preferably hang around in the mountains. They are terribly vicious wolf-like creatures that prefer the taste of human flesh above all else. Their venom though, is probably even worse than they are. Trust me when I say, if you were to ever to be bitten by one, I suggest you let it finish the job."

Narcissa, at this point, gave an involuntary shiver. Severus was completely engrossed in what Sam had to say. And Lucius, well, he had a most pleased look. Annoying if you asked her; like an owner who was proud that his pedigree puppy had won first place in a competition. Knowing she would be chastised if she didn't continue, she started in on the effects.

"The venom works very slow and it can take up to 48 hours for the victim to fall into an irreversible coma that causes death within 3 more hours. The first of the effects can be thought of as something like a superhuman effect. The person slows down all over, from their heart to their brain. This causes the 48 hours to seem even longer to the victim. Along with slowing down, the person is completely paralyzed. The venom does its work by first liquefying the bones in the body. That way; pain is still capable of being felt. After liquefying many of the bones, it begins working on the outside of the skin, until the person sheds their skin like a snake. The only down side is there isn't a replacement…Are you alright, Narcissa?"

"Fine." Came her short reply. She had shoved away her plate along with a few others down the table who had begun listening to Sam's…detailed…explanation on the effects of one of the world's nastiest venoms.

"Shall I go on?" Sam asked, slightly amused by the reactions she was getting. Lucius and Severus still seemed interested but after looking around they too decided this was a conversation best continued later.

"That's perfectly fine for now." Lucius started, "What I can't help but wonder is how a first year Yank like you got so informed on a section of dark arts."

Sam smirked, "Well, my uncle just so happens to be a fairly popular Potion's master from where I come from. He's been teaching my cousin and me many potions related topics over the years. Poisons and venoms are something you have to be aware of when working around them."

"You know, I'm rather glad you are a part of Slytherin. Your services might just be called upon in the future."

Sam was ecstatic. She hadn't even been at school a full 3 hours and there was someone already praising her for her abilities. Soon she would be on her way to being the greatest Potion's Mistress to ever walk these halls.

Unbeknownst to her were the implications of Lucius' last comment.

Dinner and dessert finished with a few words from the head master. Then the Prefects of the houses began leading the students- more specifically the first years to their respected common rooms. Sometime during the feast, Twyla had fallen asleep so Sam wrapped her in the sleeve of her robe.

She caught a glimpse of Matt smile at her before he too continued with the rest of the Ravenclaws. Lucius and Narcissa were Prefects for Slytherin so Severus and Sam got to be at the very front of the group.

They were led down several levels to the cellars of Hogwarts. They finally descended the last set of stairs into a small, dark, hallway that clearly led through the dungeons. Just a few feet down Lucius stopped in front of a portion of the wall. He traced a small crack in the wall carefully. It wasn't until he took his hand away that Sam realized that it crudely resembled a snake in the shape of an "S".

"This is the entrance to the Common room. It would do well to remember it. If you do forget, however shameful that is, I suggest for your own sakes you ask a fellow year rather than an upper year. You will also need to know the password. They change every fortnight and are posted on the notice board. My advice applies to this as well. Listen up for I will only say the password once. Serpent!"

The wall seemed to shift over its self as an opening was quickly made and everyone filed through the small hallway that lead to the common room. Those upper years went about their normal business of preparing for tomorrow, leaving the first years to admire their new common room.

At first look, the dungeon room gave off an eerie feeling with the green iridescent light coming from the windows. It was very dark and to some may have seemed creepy but Sam found it quite cozy. It had cushy leather seats and a low fire place in the corner. Snakes were the main motif of course and many sections of the masonry were carved in the shapes of serpents. It would be a lie to say Sam didn't love snakes. It was the exact place that she would find comfort in. Sam immediately felt sleep overcome her and all she now wanted to do was crawl into her bed.

She bade goodnight to Severus and Lucius while Narcissa offered to show her to her dorm room.

"If you have any problems with any of our fellow Slytherins just let me know. I'll make sure to take care of it." Narcissa smiled in the door way before going to her own dorm room.

Sam yawned and finally put Twyla down. It hadn't even crossed her mind what a good kitten she had been throughout the night. The only thing on Sam's mind was sleep and after she found the bed with her luggage next to it, it wasn't long till she was fast asleep.

^Neko walks in stage left^

Like I said sorry about the wait. Thigs going on an all.

Sooo Sam is def showing interest in several characters now. And look! She is now friends with Lucius and Narcissa! Future foreshadowing anyone?

Now you might be thinking that all the key players have been introduced but that is far from the truth. There is still one more player we need but sadly he won't be introduced until well into the story. Just keep it in your memory.

Oooh I can't wait to write the next few chapters! In two more chapters Remmie's story will be revealed and the story will start going between them.

One more word: Please! Review! I'll even give you a template!

First thoughts:

What I liked:

What I didn't like:

What needs improvement:

Other thoughts(if any):

Now, there shouldn't be any reason why someone wouldn't be able to give good criticism. I shall be expecting at least 3 different reviewers who aren't Emmy or anyone else I know. I know Im now being a bit anal about this but I am an aspiring author and I need to build up my criticism tolerance.

^Neko exits stage right^

Well that's all for now. Next time: First day of school!