A/N: Thank you to everyone who has followed and favourited! It excites and motivates me to know that you're reading and enjoying my story!
*I claim no ownership of anything from J. 's magical world nor the original Harry Potter universe, only the story at hand and original characters*
September 1st 2010
Violet could hardly contain her excitement as her father parked the car across from Kings Cross Station at ten twenty on a sunny Wednesday morning. She had packed, unpacked and repacked all of her things at least ten times over the last few days to make sure she definitely had everything she needed, now as she climbed out of the car she pulled Dahlia's cage and a small blue backpack which contained her wand, her robes and a copy of a book called 'Hogwarts; a History' by Bathilda Bagshot, that Hermione had sent her by owl the day before, out along with her. Her father found a trolley and pulled her trunk onto it, she put Dahlia on top and they started across the bustling street to meet Teddy and Andromeda.
As they came to a stop outside of the entrance Violet caught sight of a familiar face beaming at her, pushing a trolley containing much the same items as her own, his grandmother had a lock of relief upon her face.
"good morning Dudley, Violet, goodness me, I didn't think we were going to get away in time, young James wanted to come along too, I think he would have tried to jump on the train personally" Andromeda greeted them both with a hug.
Teddy grinned nodding in agreement with what she had said.
"shall we get going? It's far easier to get onto the platform now than it will be in fifteen minutes when everyone's in a rush" she asked Violets father as he nodded in agreement.
As they strode through Kings Cross Station towards platform nine and ten Violet felt a sudden nervous twang in the pit of her stomach, what if she couldn't get through? Uncle Harry had assured her that she wouldn't have any problems with it, so she should just stay calm, but she couldn't help herself.
"ok" said Andromeda as they came to a stop facing the barrier between platforms nine and ten "Violet, why don't you step through with Teddy and his trolley, and then your dad and I can follow through with yours?"
Violet and her father nodded in agreement then Violet placed her hand on Teddys trolley handle and they started walking together, heading straight for the barrier. Violet had expected a hard wall and a clattering of noise, to be stopped by the barrier, instead they simply kept walking a few short steps before coming to a stop on a whole new platform which had been hidden moments before.
Violet was amazed as she took in her surrounding, a large glass dome ceiling far above her head, a few people stood with their children here and there around the platform and the most amazing part of the scene, a huge red steam train glistening in the beams of sunlight hitting it from above.
"why don't we find a compartment for you to sit in and get your luggage on board, then we can say our farewells" Andromeda suggested.
They chose the nearest compartment to where they stood so that they could wave farewell and after loading their trunks and the two happily teetering owls into it, the two students returned to the platform to find that Bill, Fleur and Victoire had stopped the chat with her father and Andromeda.
"hey Victoire!" Teddy greeted her happily "you can share our compartment if you like?"
"oh, no thank you Teddy, I'm just waiting for my friends, we agreed to ride the train together, thank you though" Victoire replied with a smile.
A few minutes later Victoire spotted her friends and took off to find a compartment with them. Teddy and Violet stood with the group of adults quietly chatting about the train ride to come before Victoire darted back to bid her parents and Andromeda farewell.
"oh gosh is that the time!" Andromeda exclaimed, glancing at her watch "you two best be getting on as well or you'll miss it! Come here Teddy, give your gran a cuddle"
Violet looked up at her dad and gave him a huge hug while Teddy hugged his grandmother and Fleur and shook Bills hand.
"look after yourself Vi, follow the rules and be sure to write okay?" her father said quietly into her hair, a blonde mess down her back.
Violet promised to write, as did Teddy and the two of them climbed back onto the train and sat down in their compartment grinning at their farewell party through the window.
A piercing whistle sounded and several students still on the platform scrambled aboard as the beautiful old steam train lurched slowly forward.
Violet and Teddy waved to their families until they were no longer in sight upon the platform then settled into their seats across from each other.
They spent the train ride talking about Hogwarts, Teddy explaining how the classes work and the how students get sorted into the different houses.
"what are the houses?" Violet asked, taken aback, no one had mentioned this to her before.
"well there's Gryffindor, that's where all of the Weasley family, Harry and Hermione got placed, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, that's my house and there's Slytherin" Teddy told her, matter of factly.
"but how do they choose your house? Is it random?" Violet asked anxiously, needing to know what she could expect.
"nah, there's this really old hat, the sorting hat, it's bewitched, you put it on your head and it figures out what qualities you possess and value and chooses your house based on them. Gryffindors generally value bravery, daring, nerve and chivalry, Hufflepuffs value hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty and playing fair, Ravenclaws value knowledge, wit and intelligence and Slytherin values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness. The traits desired for each house where decided centuries ago by the founders of the school but they don't mean what they used to" Teddy explained.
"what did it used to mean?" Violet asked curiously.
"well, there used to be really strong competition between the houses, they all sat at different tables in the hall and didn't really hang about with people from other houses, especially where Slytherin was concerned, but that's changed now, there's no set house tables, except for the start of year feast and sorting and the end of year feast when the house cup winner gets announced. We still sleep in house dormitories, but there isn't the same competition as there used to be…not since the war" Teddy trailed off at the end of his explanation and changed the subject as the lunch trolley arrived.
The two of them bought pumpkin pasties and some different sweets to share and settled back into their seats, Teddy changed the topic of conversation to the wizard sport Quidditch, which lasted them until a prefect tapped on the door and poked her head into their compartment.
"we'll be arriving in about ten minutes, you two ought to have your robes on by now" she said kindly, tucking a stray strand of dark hair neatly behind her ear, before leaving them again.
Teddy and Violet pulled on their robes and Teddy explained what would happen when they arrived at the station, Violet was disappointed to hear that she would need to separate from Teddy for the final leg of the trip as first years arrive by boat across the lake.
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later Violet found herself in a wooden row boat with a few other nervous first years sailing smoothly across a huge lake, led by an enormous man with long black hair streaked with silver and a great bushy beard.
The first years where then led across a lawn and inside through an enormous set of doors and met by a tiny little man, shorter than even the smallest first year, with a mess of hair as white as snow upon his head.
"follow me please" he instructed them as the last few students filed into the hall, turning on the spot and leading them past another large set of doors behind where a hum of noise was emanating, and into a small room off the entry.
"My name is Professor Flitwick, deputy headmaster here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in just a few moments I will take you all into the great hall so the sorting ceremony may commence, please wait quietly here while I tell the headmistress we are ready to go" the tiny man explained.
A few short moments later he returned to the small room and instructed the still silent first years to follow him in single file. The students did as they had been asked and one by one they entered the great hall, full of students and teachers looking in their direction. The hall itself was uncomfortably silent. Once all of the first years were lined up at the front of the hall, facing the rest of the students who were all gazing up at them, Professor Flitwick placed a stool at the front of the other students and placed an old, beaten up hat upon it before turning to the anxious first years.
"I will call your names, one by one, at which point you will come forward, place the hat upon your head and sit in the stool to be sorted" the tiny professor addressed the first years.
"Anderson, Zachary" called Professor Flitwick and a thin boy with light brown hair took a seat on the stool with the hat atop his head before being sorted to Hufflepuff moments later.
Anderson, Zachary was followed by a boy named Taylor Bradigan and a girl named Victoria Campbell, both of whom were sent to Ravenclaw, Emily Clarke was sent to Gryffindor and her twin brother Joshua was sent to Slytherin.
"Dursley, Violet" called the tiny professor, it took Violet a few moments to register that this was her name.
She stepped forward nervously, all eyes upon her as she placed the hat upon her head and took a seat.
"hmmmm" came a strange voice from within her head "well this is very interesting"
"what is?" Violet asked the voice within her head.
"I see many qualities which you both possess and value, miss Dursley, loyalty, humbleness, patience, dedication and fairness, all befitting of a true Hufflepuff. Intelligence, wit and a craving for knowledge, qualities desired for Ravenclaw house. Courage, determination and leadership worthy of Gryffindor, even ambition and resourcefulness, those qualities sought by Salazar Slytherin himself" the hat said within her head, it seemed to Violet that he was talking to himself, rather than answering her question.
"the fact that you will do great things for our world is merely a given miss Dursley, the question at hand is where you will best be able to do those great things" the hat said after several long minutes of silence "do you best fit Hufflepuff where you will find loyal friendship to guide you along the way?... no no, I don't believe that you will need much guidance from your peers my dear…. No, not Hufflepuff. Perhaps Ravenclaw, where you will find yourself surrounded by others who seek knowledge above all else?...or perhaps even Gryffindor, where pride and leadership will drive you forward, like so many before you?...or could it be that Slytherin will aid you in bringing our world forward with change?...yes yes yes, that is the key…" the hat said within her head as it processed the information at hand to come to a decision, Violet realised that the hall which had been previously silent was aloft with whispers, how long had she been sat here?
"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat with finality, Violet realised at once that this had been announced to the entire hall as the Slytherin table erupted with cheers and some students from other houses glanced at each other nervously.
Violet climbed quickly from the stool and joined the Slytherin table, she took the seat beside Joshua Clarke and watched as the remaining first years were sorted and the tiny professor removed the hat and stool from the hall before a thin, stern looking witch in ruby red robes took to the podium, commanding the immediate attention of students and staff alike.
"welcome" she said, her voice portraying an air of authority "to another year at Hogwarts, as I'm sure you're all quite hungry after your journey, we will commence the feast without further ado!"
The feast was wonderful with every type of roast meat and vegetables imaginable and a number of ghosts gliding into the hall as the sweets appeared, seemingly from thin air. Violet chatted quietly with the other Slytherin first years, of which there were four. To Violets delight only one of the Slytherin first years was born to magical parents, she felt better that they would all be starting together.
Finally, after everyone had stopped eating sweets and Violet felt much like she did after any Christmas spent at her grandparent's house, ready to burst, the food disappeared and the thin witch took to the podium once more.
"now that we have all filled our stomachs, I would like to remind all students that the forest within the school grounds is strictly out of bounds to all students, Mr. Filch, the school's caretaker" she said, indicating to an old man who looked worn and tired at the end of the staff table as she spoke his name "has asked me to remind you all that the use of magic in the school's halls is prohibited. Any students wishing to try out for their house quidditch team must submit their names to their head of house promptly as trials will be held in two weeks' time, first years, please follow your house prefects who will guide you to your dormitories. Have a wonderful school year and goodnight"
The moments she stopped speaking and turned back to the staff table the hall erupted with noise as students stood and started filing out of the hall towards their dormitories, Violet and the other Slytherin first years stayed seated and waited for their prefects, they were soon approached by the same dark-haired prefect who had told Violet and Teddy to change into their robes on the train.
"my name is Nicole Williams and I am one of the Slytherin prefects" she introduced herself as a tall boy with pale skin and dark hair joined her "this is Jacob Brown, he is the other Slytherin prefect, please follow us and we will show you the way to the Slytherin common room and dormitories"
And with that, the two prefects turned around and started walking towards the exit, Violet noticed that while the first years from the other houses where all heading somewhere above the ground, the Slytherins were being lead down a narrow staircase, they traipsed for what felt like hours through long tunnels and corridors, their footsteps echoing off the ceiling and walls.
"here we are" Nicole said as she came to a stop in front of a seemingly blank stretch of stone wall "the password for this term is 'Merlin'"
As soon as she had said the password the wall peeled back creating a large oval shaped archway, the five first years filed in behind the two prefects and watched in awe as the archway closed over behind them, turning back into a stretch of stone wall. Violet turned back to the common room, amazed by the ornate marble fireplace which took pride of place on the wall opposite the entry, with a large silver serpent with emerald eyes on the wall above it, huge green windows stretched the height of the walls allowing mellow green light to filter through, Violet gave a start as what appeared to be a ginormous squid floated past the window nearest her.
"Girls dormitories are to the right, boys to the left, first years are in the first dormitory along each hall" Jacob said, indicating to a door on either side of the large round common room.
"your bathroom is directly across the hall from your dormitories" added Nicole "go and get settled in, you'll find your things have already been put in there"
And with that both prefects turned and walked away, each to a different group of people sat within the common room. The first years followed their directions and went to find their dormitories, sure enough, they found their trunks at the end of their beds.
Violet found her trunk at the foot of a four-posted bed between two large windows with identical four poster beds on either side, on her bed lay a green and silver scarf and tie along with black dress pants, a grey pleated skirt, two white button up shirts, one short sleeve and one long sleeved and a grey sweater with two green stripes around the waist and wrists.
Each of the three Slytherin girls took their school clothes and robes and hung them in the wardrobe opposite their beds before changing into their pyjamas and climbing into their beds.
They chatted quietly amongst themselves about the train ride, the sorting ceremony and the feast until slowly they each dropped off to sleep.
