DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, but I fucking love it, so I'm writing this story.
Anyway, welcome to Chapter 8 of A Tale of Self-Inserts.
Chapter 8
The Reunion: Sierra Thomas
"You have a good summer, Sierra?" asked one of the occupants of the compartment.
Sierra shrugged. "As good as a summer can get without magic, Draco. Any news happening?"
Draco snorted. "Well my father told me that there's an event going on this year. Some sort of competition, he said. I reckon it's the Triwizard Tournament."
"What's that?" asked Sierra.
Draco blinked. "Right, forgot you're muggleborn. Okay, so the Triwizard Tournament is an international competition between the three largest magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons."
Sierra tilted her head. "Well that sounds interesting."
"The last one was in 1792, because the death count got too high," cut in Blaise Zabini.
"What kind of tournament is it?" inquired Sierra with a curious expression on her face.
"The Triwizard Tournament has three rounds, called Tasks. The type of Task for each round has always stayed the same. The first Task involves retrieving something, the second is a rescue mission that must be performed, and the third is a race for the Triwizard Cup. The first two Tasks don't actually matter, as whoever gets to the Cup first wins the Tournament. They only give you a heads start for the Third Task," said Draco.
Blaise raised an eyebrow. "How long did it take you to memorize that?"
Draco shrugged. "As soon as my father said there was a competition at Hogwarts."
Sierra shook her head. "Always the bookworm."
Draco puffed out his chest. "As the scion of House Malfoy, I must be knowledgeable of anything and everything I come across." He held it for a good second before breaking down in laughter, his friends joining him.
A knock on the compartment door interrupted their fun. Sierra stood up and brushed herself off before opening the door.
Outside stood three people, two boys and a girl, who were wearing their school robes, but with no house colors. New transfers perhaps?
"Hi," said the boy in the middle. He held out his hand, which Sierra shook. "I'm Cygus Lorman, and these are my friends Noel Jensen, and Oliver Shulze-" Sierra shook hands with the two mentioned. "-and we're incoming transfer students from Ilvermorny. We thought we'd drop by and say hi to some of our new classmates."
"Oh, well it's nice to have some Americans here. I'm Sierra Thomas, and these are my friends Draco Malfoy-" Draco nodded at the three Americans, which elicited a reply from them. "-and Blaise Zabini." The boy mentioned stood up, shook the boys' hands, and kissed the back of Noel's. The movement made her momentarily shocked, which made Cygus chuckle.
"Anyway," said Cygus. "We'll be on our way now. See you guys at the feast." The three Americans turned around and walked down the hallway.
Sierra sat down and fished out her copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. "Nice people," she commented. "Didn't know you could transfer schools. What do you think made them transfer?"
"I think it's because they found out the American government's been corrupt for almost a century," replied Draco. "Found that out when I was sneaking about in Father's study. I found some records on some of the illegal dealings they were doing, and get this: MACUSA's been trafficking magical animals. From Britain. This is something that could cause them to go to war, even."
"Why would they even do that?" asked Sierra incredulously. Were the Americans that greedy to make money, that they'd steal animals from other countries?
"I reckon it's for their parts. All the magical animals have body parts that are dead useful for potions, but I heard that the Thunderbird is endangered now. You think they're selling clothes made from the animals?" piped up Blaise.
Sierra shook her head. "Ugh, I don't even want to think about that." She continued to read her book, intent on not speaking until the next hour. The conversation came to a close, and the three teenagers read their books in silence, until the food trolley came along.
Sierra Thomas was born in a hospital during the middle of the day, along with her fraternal twin brother, one Dean Thomas.
The two grew up inseparable, sticking with each other through thick and thin. They grew much closer when they discovered that they could do magic, as was explained when Professor Snape visited their home. They shared what little tricks and wandless magic they could perform, resulting in a few nights without sleep.
Unfortunately, the twins began to drift apart, starting with Dean being sorted to Gryffindor, and Sierra to Slytherin. While Dean never gave in to the Gryffindor dogma of Slytherin as the "evil" house, thanks to a certain Weasley, he still worried for his sister's safety.
Sierra was pleasantly surprised to recieve a warm welcome by Draco Malfoy, of all people. She had heard that the Malfoys were firm believers of Pureblood Supremacy, and was curious as to why the son would welcome a muggleborn.
The Malfoy scion explained that after finding out that Lily Potter, along with her husband James, were responsible for killing You-Know-Who, Draco's opinion on muggleborns took a complete 180. He now believed that everyone had the same amount of magic, and that the term "muggleborn" should be renamed to "Newblood".
While her first year went by somewhat smoothly, Sierra found that Quirrel was seriously annoying with all his stutters, even though he did an adequate job at teaching. She decided to keep a close eye on him, when Draco pointed out that he
Quirrel's stutters were too regular.
Sierra decided to stay as far from Lockhart as possible, when she noticed him getting considerably close with a fifth-year Ravenclaw boy. She, along with half of the Slytherin dorm, showed remorse for Ginny Weasley's death at the hands of the Heir of Slytherin, and promised to try and ease the pointless house rivalry.
That was when Blaise Zabini decided to be part of their duo, which was now a trio.
The Italian explained that he was tired of trying to establish himself as the "prince" of Slytherin, and that he never actually thought of muggleborns any differently as purebloods. With a smirk, he stated that he "hated everyone just the same".
"As we begin, and I sing my sorting song, you wonder: what's a hat going to do? Well let me tell you, my friends, as I sing where the new ones belong, and listen to what I have to say, for they wait in quite a long queue.
Gryffindor, full of the brave and the bold, they are the ones who fight at the front. Their stories are the ones most told, but none of them are the slightest bit blunt.
Slytherin, full of the sneaky and clever, they are the hidden, the silent, they are seen almost never. The reputation it has, polluted by time, they are often the victims of the most hated crimes.
Ravenclaw, the wise and full of knowledge, they are the thinkers, the planners, and the ones who listen. They help drive, in your beliefs, a large wedge, they gave the power to make the light glisten.
Hufflepuff, you think, are full of the weak, I laugh in your face, as they are all but that. They hold many of the cards you seek, so I recommend you have a little chat.
As I finish this yearly song, I'll say just one last thing: I find that unity makes all things thrive, and the one who returns shall challenge everything. But I ask you not harbor any fear: The beginning, the Incipient has arrived!"
The entire Great Hall was silent, as the Sorting Hat bowed after finishing his song.
Dumbledore stood up from his chair and cleared his throat. "Well that was certainly...interesting. Anyhow, let the sorting begin!"
Sierra thought for a while on what the Hat had said. It was obviously foreshadowing something, but she couldn't think of anything but the (possible) Triwizard Tournament. She would have ended up missing the sortings of the Americans, were it not for the Headmaster's announcement.
"We have four new students that hail from the United States, so I ask that you give them all a warm welcome in their respective houses."
"Bay, Akzhol," said McGonagall. The boy walked up to the stool and sat down. After about a minute, the Hat cried out "HUFFLEPUFF!", and the entire house of badgers clapped for their new member.
Noel Jensen took slightly longer, but in the end was sorted to Ravenclaw. Sierra clapped slowly, suddenly feeling as if she had missed an opportunity.
It was at this point, that Sierra started to remember just who the Americans were.
Oh.
Cygus Lorman was called up, and before the Hat was placed on his head, he searched the crowd, before making eye contact with Sierra, and nodded. Sierra nodded in return, as she recognized the boy who was part of her drama class.
His sorting actually took the longest, as it took nearly five minutes, before the Hat cried out "GRYFFINDOR!"
As always, the house of lions cheered wildly for their new member, and Cygus sat down beside a girl that Sierra now knew to be Alex.
Oliver's sorting was the fastest she had ever seen, faster than Draco's even. The Sorting Hat wasn't even on Oliver's head, and already he had been sorted to Hufflepuff.
Sierra made a mental note to talk to them in the morning.
Alright! That was Chapter 8!
I would greatly appreciate any and all reviews.
