The Sorting.
The great hall was like nothing I had ever seen. There were hundreds of floating candles. The ceiling was bewitched to look like the sky. The sky was shining bright with stars. There were four tables one with a snake and it had a silver runner with green edges. The next table had a yellow runner with black edges and a badger. The next table had a dark blue runner with light blue edges and an eagle. The last table had a red runner with gold edges and a lion on it. At the front of the room raised above the rest was a table filled with staff members.
She walked up to a stool and placed a tattered old wizards' hat on it. A tear near the brim opened and the hat began to sing.
Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So, try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
So, put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!
She held up a scroll of parchment. "When I call your name please come sit on the stool and try on the hat then go sit at the appropriate table."
I breathed a sigh of relief that was easy enough. "Abbott, Hannah." A red headed girl went forward and put on the hat. "Hufflepuff!" The hat shouted. She sat at the table with the yellow runner and badger.
"Black, Aria." At her name murmurs broke out. She held herself confidently ignoring the murmurs. "Slytherin!"
"Bones, Susan." A girl in blonde pigtails came forward.
"Hufflepuff!" The hat shouted, and she went to join Hannah.
"Boot, Terry."
The hat shouted. "Ravenclaw!"
"Brocklehurst, Mandy." was Ravenclaw too.
"Brown, Lavender" Became the first Gryffindor.
"Bulstrode, Millicent." was the first Slytherin.
Sometimes it shouted out the house immediately other times it took a few minutes. Like with Seamus Finnegan. He went to Gryffindor.
"Granger, Hermione!" "GRYFFINDOR!" I saw Ron groan as she went to join their table.
"Longbottom, Neville"
"Gryffindor!"
"Malfoy, Draco." Draco swaggered up to the stool.
"Slytherin!" The hat said almost as soon as it touched his head.
"Patil, Padma"
"Ravenclaw!"
Her twin "Patil, Pavarti!"
"Gryffindor!"
"Potter, Jamie!" I went forward and everyone muttered. Potter as in the Jamie Potter.
Ah Ms. Snape … interesting very interesting. You are a tricky one to place. Very brave and daring. You also have Slytherin blood and power. Not a bad mind either. An eagerness to prove yourself. A strong desire for family and loyalty. I think you will be.
"Slytherin!" The whole hall gasped. The twins catcalled. Draco beamed excitedly. I went to sit next to him, and Aria. I looked up at the staff table and the hooked nose professor. I recognized him from the Leaky Cauldron.
"Weasly, Ron"
"Gryffindor!" The annoying redhead smiled happily. The Gryffindor table clapped politely.
"Zabini, Blaise" "Slytherin!" With that the sorting ended.
The headmaster stood up and walked up to the podium on the front of the platform. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few words to say before we dig into our delicious feast. ODMINT! BLUBER! NITWIT! TWEAK!" Then went to sit down.
I didn't know weither to laugh or not but then suddenly food appeared. I wondered if the headmaster was a bit mad.
"I am so glad you are in Slytherin!" Draco beamed at me.
I smiled at him.
Draco smiled back. "I don't know if our friendship would have survived if you were in Gryffindor!" Draco said shuddering at the thought.
I glowered at him. "I must not be very important to you then." I huffed and turned to Aria.
"So Aria are you ok with being Slytherin?" I asked.
"Well, I have you and you don't seem bad neither do the twins. As long as I have a few friends I will be fine." She smiled at me.
"Hey Jamie, Glad you are in our house!" Fred grinned at me.
"Yea, now it will be easier to corrupt you!" George smiled.
I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Who says I need corrupting."
The twins laughed and said. "We do! You know how much fun it is going to be making the savior into the greatest troublemaker Hogwarts has seen. We have big plans for you!"
I laughed again. Draco tried to reclaim my attention but I ignored him. He eventually huffed and gave up turning to Blaise instead.
I looked up at the staff table and the hooked nose man from Diagon Ally was staring at me. He seemed suspicious. It was a weird feeling. He was talking to the man I had seen with a turban.
"Who is that?" I whispered to an older Slytherin.
Seeing where my attention was she smiled. "That is Professor Snape our head of house. He is very strict but as long as you don't cross him he is great." She said.
The hall slowly quieted as everyone at their fill and became subdued. The headmaster once again stood to talk at the podium.
"Now that we are all fed and watered I have a few start of term notices that I would like to hand out. First Mr. Filch the caretaker had asked me to remind you that there is no magic allowed outside of classes. Secondly there is a list of some four hundred items banned from having in the castle. See Mr. Filch if you wish to view this list. First years please note that the forbidden forest is out of bounds for all students. A few later years would do well to remember that as well." His blue eyes twinkled to the twins. "Curfew is nine O'clock sharp. You must be in your common rooms before curfew. Lastly but most importantly the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is strictly out of bounds for all those who do not wish to die a most painful death. Now on a happier note in anyone wishing to try out for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. Now before bed we should sing the school song." He waved his wand and silver ribbon shot out of the end forming into words. He conducted the tune with his wand and the hall erupted into song. Everyone sang at their own pace and ended at different time.
Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
The tune slowed and ended as the ribbon vanished. "That should be it I think. Off to bed you trot you need to be well rested for classes."
The twins by their whispering and looks on their face had no intentions of following those instructions. They seemed to be debating what was in the third-floor corridor, and how they could find out without getting caught. They followed the prefects into the dungeons and behind a bare stretch of wall was the common room. You just approached the wall and gave it the password. The current password was Parseltoung. It was huge and had windows that looked out into the lake. The lighting gave the common room a greenish tinge. It had a huge fireplace and silver carpet and green walls. There were tables to study at and several green armchairs and couches to relax in. There was a corridor off the back of the common room.
Our head of house came in after we did. We all gathered around as he waited for us to settle. He had and no-nonsense air about him like McGonagall. He was tall and pale with straight black hair to his shoulders. He had a hook nose and obsidian eyes. His eyes met mine and again some emotion flashed across his face. "Welcome to Slytherin. My name is Professor Snape. It is a great honor to be sorted into this house. Slytherins have a bad reputation. Most of the school is against you, so I have laid out some rules to make yours and my life easier. First no curse words including the M word. I do not care what your parents allow at home they are not here. You will keep your rooms clean. You will keep the common room clean. No house elf is going to do your work for you here. Curfew is nine o'clock for first years ten on weekends. Second and third years it is ten o'clock. Fourth years and up midnight. No skipping meals. No fighting among yourselves. Slytherin will put up a united front. Everyone will go through a physical exam by madam Pomphrey signup sheets are on the wall next to the Slytherin code of conduct." He said and with a swish was gone.
"Boys on the left girls on the right. There are two to each room except for prefects who get their own." The prefect said. I followed the rest down the corridor until coming across Jamie Potter and Aria Black.
There were two beds with silver sheets and green bed covers. One had my trunk along with three Slytherin ties that were green and silver striped. There were three black sweater vests with the Slytherin crest on the left side for the winter. Athena was curled up on my bed. Aria and I each had a wardrobe, desk and bookshelf. We put away our things and I let her have the bathroom first. When she went to bed I went into the bathroom and changed into my nightgown. I got into bed and pulled Athena into my arms and quickly drifted off to sleep.
I awoke to my alarm feeling well rested I fed Athena and packed my bag while Aria was in the bathroom then I got dressed while she packed her bag and we headed down to breakfast. Whispers followed us. Did you see her? Next to the Sirius Blacks daughter. Did you see her scar? I can't believe she is Slytherin! We sat with the twins and Aria listened while the twins talked about the pranks they wanted to pull this year. I liked their ideas and smirked as the ideas played out in my head. The twins were geniuses. The best part about their pranks where they didn't do it out of meanness. They just liked to have fun and laugh. Draco sat next to me soon after we arrived.
"Hi, Jamie excited for classes this morning?"
"Yes, and you?" I said sharply.
"Duh I can't wait to start learning magic." He said smiling oblivious to my tone.
I nodded and went back to eating. I felt annoyed that he would consider giving up our friendship if I was in Gryffindor. I was also hurt by this fact and it made me withdraw from him. I was going to leave him before he could leave me. Soon the post owls arrived, and Draco's eagle owl brought him a package of sweets.
An owl brought me a note and I opened up the note.
Dear Jamie,
Would you like to meet for tea this evening? I knew James and Lily quite well and would love to chat with you.
Yours,
Hagrid.
I thought for a second and shrugged what harm could it do. I pulled out my quill and ink and wrote back a quick yes. I tied it to the owl's leg and she flew off. I replace the ink and quill into my bag. I finished my breakfast quickly and then Professor Snape came and distributed schedules to everyone.
Classes were pretty interesting. Professor sprout was very nice. She had fly away brown hair and kind blue eyes. She was short and plump. She was also head of the Hufflepuff house. We had Herbology with the Ravenclaws and I partnered with Aria. Draco was annoyed I could see it in his eyes. Herbology was fun I liked that class. For our first lesson we trimmed some herbs used in potions.
Next was transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs. Professor McGonagall was a stern witch that kept her hair dark auburn hair in a tight bun and had sharp brown eyes. She was smart and no nonsense. She also gave off an aura of authority. She could silence a room with one look.
"I am Professor McGonagall as you all should know. Transfiguration is a very complex and serious bit of magic. There will be no fooling around in my class. Anyone that fools around in my class will leave and not return. We will start off by learning the theory then we will start off by turning matches into needles." We went over the spell and mindset for transfiguration. We would make our attempt starting next class. The rest of the class was over the theory of transfiguration. She stunned us all by turning her desk into a pig then back. We were disappointed to learn we wouldn't be doing that for a while.
After transfiguration was lunch. I happily ignored Draco and I could see the hurt and confusion in his eyes. I groaned internally maybe I should give him another chance. The next words out of his mouth to Blaise however killed that plan.
"That stupid mud blood thinks she is so great! She acts like she knows everything. I heard her boring Weasel stupid about all the facts about Hogwarts she read." He said sneering.
"What does that word mean?" I asked. I didn't want to say it because I could tell it was bad from his tone, but I was curious.
"It means dirty blood. It's used by people that believe people from muggle families shouldn't even be allowed to study magic." Aria said giving a hard look to Draco.
I grew very angry at this. "Like your arrogance makes you any better Malfoy and I don't want to hear you call anyone that name again!" He looked like he had been stunned. Then he pulled his face into a nasty sneer.
"Oh, did I offend the great Jamie Potter? Why don't you just go to Gryffindor and take the traitorous trash with you. Not everyone is going to give you your way just because you're the savior." He scoffed. He froze realizing he took it to far he opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.
My hands balled into fist and I tried hard not to cry from the pain his words caused. "You know I was considering talking to you again. I was stupid to think you were ever my friend. I see now a filthy half-blood like me is below the great Draco Malfoy. All your arrogance and name throwing is going to get you is a very lonely life." I got up and stomped off to gain composure before class. Aria followed me throwing a disgusted look Draco's direction.
"Don't worry about him. His family is prejudice beyond belief. There was really no hope for him."
"You know his family?" I asked.
"He is my second cousin. His mother is my dad's cousin." Aria said. "They tried to get custody me, but my godfather got to keep me." Aria said happily.
After lunch was History of Magic which you think would be interesting especially because the professor was a ghost. It was the most boring class ever! Professor Binns had a droning voice that made you want to go to sleep. He never varied during his lecture. I fought hard to take notes and pay attention. He made a bloody war sound boring!
I was excited for Charms and Potions. Charms because that was the class where we would learn to levitate stuff. We also would learn how to do other useful spells like silencing charms and such. Potions you could do all sorts of things with heal, prank, enchant. That and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Defense Against the Dark Arts not only do you learn about defensive spells but you also learn about dark creatures.
When I went to bed that night I thought of the man Severus Snape. Was my head of house Severus Snape? Was it a different Snape? Did James know? I knew I would have to find out. For now, though I would be watching this professor closely. It made me even more anxious for potions class.
When I went to Hagrid's I was determined to ask him about my parents. Maybe I could ask him if Professor Snape is Severus Snape and if he knew my mum. When I knocked on Hagrid's door I was greeted by loud booming barks.
"Back Fang! Back!" He opened the door holding onto a very large boar hound. I smiled, and he let me in.
"Ello Jamie, nice to meet you. I don't think I formally introduced myself. Rubeus Hagrid keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts.
"Nice to meet you Hagrid, so you knew my parents?" I asked interested.
"You got yer mums' eyes. She was a brilliant witch. Very strong and fierce. Yer dad was great Quidditch player very popular." Hagrid said.
I looked at him wide eyed. "What did they look like?"
"Yer don't know what they look like?" I shook my head eyes stinging.
"I never knew I was a witch until I got my letter." I said. "My Aunt and Uncle told me they died in a car crash."
"Lily and James die in a car crash! It's an outrage!" Hagrid boomed.
"They didn't even want to let me come here. I had to sneak out." I said.
"Why those ruddy muggles!" Hagrid said angrily. "I will be having a word with Professor Dumbledore about this."
His anger faded, and he looked sad. "I don't have any pictures of them on me. I will try to get some for you though."
"Thanks Hagrid." I smiled.
"Yer mom had curly red hair. It was dark red. Yer look a lot like her in the face. You have her green eyes. James had messy black hair. He was small and lean. Best seeker I have ever seen."
"Who did they hang out with?" I asked hungry for more information.
"Yer mum hung out with Professor Snape actually. They had some kind of fallen out though. James was friends with Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. He and Black were like brothers."
"Black as in Aria's father?" I asked.
He nodded.
"She never mentioned that." I said surprised.
"Doubt she knows. Not like she has had a lot to do with him." He said.
"True." I had heard about Arias father being a murderer. She was not her father though.
"So how were yer first classes?" He asked trying to change it to a happier subject.
"History of magic is boring! Other than that, I like my classes." I said.
"He is pretty boring. My favorite class would have been care of magical creatures." He said.
"Would have been?" I asked.
"I got expelled in me third year." He said.
"I am sorry." I mumbled I wanted to ask for what, but I thought it would be rude. I took my leave soon after that. So, the potions Professor was the same Snape. I was even more excited for potions at this point. I was eager to learn about the man that could be my father.