Published on: 3/16/20

Words: 3,085

Hermione POV

When I finished playing, I sighed and was about to put my guitar away when I heard someone speak. The voice came from the door, so I turned myself quickly to look at the person. "Wow," he said. James and Sirus were there, but Sirus was the one that spoke. "How long have you been there?" I asked them. "Since the first song, but we stood outside to listen. We came in in the middle of the second one," James said and I nodded. "I'm James Potter, by the way. And this is..." he started and Sirius continued. "Sirius Black," he said and winked at me. I blushed lightly and smiled. "Hermione Evans," I said and shook James' hand. I nodded towards Sirius and put away my guitar. Once I did that, I picked up Mitsuki and wrapped him around my waist.

"You want to be a Slytherin like your sister?" Sirius said after we watched me put the snake around me. "No, I'm going for Gryffindor. Don't let Mitsuki fool you. He's lovable. Just misjudged. I have a phoenix too," I said and nodded towards Nova on the floor. They looked at Nova and gasped. "Aren't phoenix supposed to be red?" James asked. "Yeah, but she's blue. And I like her like that. She's unique," I said and smiled. "Can I play with them, mistress?" I heard Mitsuki ask me eagerly. "Sure, but don't scare them," I said and turned to them. "Parseltongue is something I picked up on a few years back. I use to ask snakes if they need anything. By the way, Mitsuki wants to play with you guys but I told him that he could as long as he didn't scare you guys," I said and they nodded wearily.

Mitsuki unwrapped himself from me and slithered to James. He climbed his leg and brought his face up to James' neck. "Don't worry, he won't bite you," I said as Mitsuki slowly went to James' neck and started licking him and causing James to laugh. "It tickles," he said and I smiled. looked at Sirius and he looked astounded. Mitsuki then moved to Sirius and did the same thing. After a while, Mitsuki slithered back to me and wrapped himself around me to sleep.

"So, that fight you had with your sister. What was that about?" James asked warily, not sure if he should bring it up. "She and Severus, our friend, did something yesterday that I didn't like. It wasn't because they did it to me, it was because they did it to Petunia, our older sister, and I knew that Lily would never do such a thing on her own without being convinced. That's just how she is. We fought about it yesterday, and we ignored each other all of today until I went to say goodbye to Tuney and I heard the argument Lily and Tuney had. She had called us freaks and Tuney walked away from Lily. I talked to Tuney about it and after that came on the train. I dropped my things off here and went to find her. You guys know everything from there," I said and they nodded.

"So what happened after I left?" I asked them. "Well, after you left. Snivellus came in and started talked with your sister. We got into an argument with them and decided to leave them alone. Then we heard you playing the guitar and decided to check it out," Sirius said and I nodded. I looked outside and noticed that we were close to the station. "We should start changing. I'll be back," I said and unwrapped Mitsuki from me. I grabbed my robes and left to go to the girls' restroom. I changed quickly and looked in the mirror. My skirt was at my hips and ended above my knee, and my shirt was buttoned except for the first one and it wasn't tucked in since it ends at my hips. I had stockings under my skirt while ended just above my knee and I still had my flats on. I folded up my dress and put the robe on leaving it open because it didn't bother me and my wand was in my pocket. I walked back to the compartment and saw that Sirius and James were done changing. I smiled at them and put my dress away. After that, I wrapped Mitsuki around my waist and covered him with my robe.

We talked about a lot of things while we waited to reach the station. I bought chocolate frogs when the trolley came by. Sirius and James bought stuff too but I didn't like the flavored beans. Still don't trust those things. We talked about the classes we might get and the friends we would make. When we made it to the station, we left of luggage and I begrudgingly left Nova. I didn't like it but I had too. Mitsuki was still wrapped around me so he was safe. When we got off the train, I heard Hagrid's voice calling the first years. James, Sirius, and I headed to the boats but we needed one more person. I saw a familiar light-brown-haired boy and I approached him. "Hey, we need one more person on our boat. Care to join us? I'm Hermione Evans, by the way," I said and he seemed surprised. Then he smiled, "Sure, I'd be glad to join you. I'm Remus Lupin," he said shyly and I smiled. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the boat that James and Sirius chose. I got on with Remus' help and then he got on. "Hey, guys, this is Remus Luin. Remus, this is James and Sirius. We met on the train," I said and they all shook hands.

"So, Remus, what house do you think you will end up in?" James asked and I just shook my head. "I think I'll end up in Ravenclaw, you?" he asked. "Gryffindor. Hermione also wants to end up in Gryffindor," James responded. "I see you more in Gryffindor too, Remus," I said and he seemed surprised. "Either way, no matter what house you end up in, I'll still be your friend," I said and he smiled at me. "Thanks," he said and then turned to Sirius. "What about you?" he asked. "My whole family's been in Slytherin but I don't want to be there. Maybe the hat will put me in a different house," he said and Remus nodded. Then we all turned to see the castle in all its glory. I still got excited about seeing it. The last time I saw the castle it was near ruins. No students. No teachers. Just empty walls and some were even turned to rubble. Looking at it now, I can feel hope for this world. I won't fail. Voldemort will die this time around. I thought to myself as we reached the shore. James and Sirius got off and they helped me get off. Then we helped Remus. We were lead to the Entrance Hall where McGonagall was waiting for us.

She went in and we waited to be called. As I talked to the Marauders, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Lily and Severus standing behind me. The other turned to them as well. "Yes, Lily?" I asked her, not sure if we were going to fight or not. "Hey, 'Mione. I...I'm sorry for our fight yesterday and for pushing you away today when you were only trying to help," she sighed out quickly. I smiled at her and hugged her tightly. "I forgive you. But don't ever do it again. And I'm sorry too. I should have left you alone and waited for you to talk to me..." she cut me off. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It was my fault," she said and not wanting to argue with her about this, I just smiled and hugged her again. Then I turned to Severus and waited for him to apologize. He saw my face and sighed. "I'm sorry as well. I shouldn't have gone with Lily and looked through your older sister's stuff. I won't do it again," he said and looked down. He hated apologizing but he knew he did wrong so he had to.

I smiled and hugged him too. "I forgive you. Now stay and meet my new friends," I said and pulled them both next to me so the others can see them. "So for you guys to officially meet. Lily, Sev, this is James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. Guys, this is my twin sister, Lily, and our best friend Severus Snape. Now, James, Sirius, if I find out you guys have been bothering Sev then you will be on the receiving end of my fury. And it won't end pretty. Sev, I don't have to worry about threatening you because you've already been on the receiving end of my fury and I know you don't want that again," I said and everyone noticed the slight fear in his eyes but he didn't let his body show it. He nodded and then McGonagall came back and lead us into the Great Hall. All of us looked around in awe. It looked even more beautiful than my first time.

We got to the front of the hall and Dumbledore warned us about the forbidden forest and everywhere else we weren't allowed to go. Then the Sorting Hat started singing like it does every year. After his song, McGonagall unrolled a parchment. "When I call your name you will come forth, I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses," McGonagall said and we waited. "Pandora Adams," she called. I girl with dirty blond hair walked up. She looked like Luna. This must be her mother. I thought to myself.

The hate was placed on her head and it yelled: "Ravenclaw!" The Ravenclaw table clapped and I smiled. Next was Avery, he got into Slytherin. Surprise. After a couple of names, it was Sirius' turn. "Sirius Black." He went up and sat on the stool. "Gryffindor!" the hat yelled and I smiled. He smiled at us as he went to the Gryffindor table. A lot of names later, it was finally my turn. "Hermione Evans," McGonagall called and I went up. I sat on the stool and the hat was placed on my head.

"Hello, there little one. Now, let's see where you will fit. Let's see, I think we have a few choices for you here; oh good gracious, this is going to be difficult. You are a genius, that much is obvious, so Ravenclaw would suit you nicely in that regard. But you are also brave, brave beyond belief I see. And loyalty - goodness you have an overflowing amount of loyalty. However, I can see everything floating around in your mind. The things you have done, the killing, the running, the loss, the growing hatred, resentment. Your soul is almost as hard as a rock. This typically points to Slytherin... What do I do with you...? Now, what's this, Dark Arts? My, my, you have been a busy one, walking on the fence a bit are we?"

"Hey!" I cut in. "How did you get to those? I have the hardest mind barries around! And I would like you to know before you start to judge me – even though that is your job – that all the stuff I did, I did not do it out of malice or hatred. I know that towards the end that seems rather hard to believe but it is true. If you look deep enough you will see the intentions were pure." "Interesting, I will consider that. And I got through those easily because I'm supposed to see everything. But don't worry, only I would have been able to get through those. No one else could have, maybe Dumbledore but he would have a tough time. Now, loyal, brave, tricky, smart, cunning, hard-working, independent, selfless...wow, you really are a tricky one." There was silence and the hat seemed to be digging around in her head, looking for something.

"Ah-ha!" it announced. "Found it." "Found what?" I asked. "Your spark," it said smugly. "My what?" "Your spark, that which makes you tick. I see now, you are what you are mostly because of selflessness and loyalty, and you do it through determination and bravery. Damn it, you also use your smarts and cunning to do things properly. Your spark is annoying, it's not narrowing it down much; but still, it seems to be leaning more towards bravery and genius," it said. "Okay, why didn't you just find this spark thingy at the beginning?" The Sorting Hat snorted, "Because usually the students aren't this difficult, and it takes time," he said. "Well, now that you've found my 'spark' what exactly does it tell you?"

"It tells me that what you've done you did out of respect for others, out of dedication to others, to try and better the lives of others, because you care for them. This would put you in Hufflepuff, however, you also follow your instincts, you run on impulse, and that's Gryffindor. But you couldn't get any of it done without your extensive knowledge. Geez, why are you so difficult?" "Um, I thought you dug around in my brain, shouldn't you know?" I asked confused yet amused. "Okay, fine. Sit still, I will go through everything."

"You are a very odd hat. You know, it didn't take nearly this long the first time around." "The first time? Holy Godric's puffed-up sleeves! How on Merlin's bungled up Earth did I miss that?" he shrieked in my head. "For a hat, you sure do have a colorful vocabulary. Do you mind telling me what has you all in a twist?" "You used Merlin's Box!" "Yeah, you didn't figure that out the first time? For something that's supposed to read a person's mind you're not doing a very good job." I said still amused. "Hey, lay off the insults! I have a tough job here! Anyway, it seems that your magic decided to only allow me access to information that would help in your sorting, it somehow managed to hide everything else. You are one amazing girl. Did you hide this on purpose?" "No, you just said that you go through my barriers,"

"Ahhhhhhh! Sentient Magic! Your magic is alive!" he yelled in my head. "Care to explain?" "Well, um...your magic is talking to me now." "It's talking to you? It's my magic, it should be talking to me!" "Yeah...about that. She doesn't know how to talk to you, yet." "She? My magic is a girl?" "Apparently so. Hmm, this is very interesting," the hat went silent. I rolled my eyes and huffed. "Care to share?" "Oh, right. Well, she says that even though you could go into every house, you would be most powerful if I placed you in Gryffindor." "How could my magic possibly know that?"

"Well, she says she knows everything about you; past, present, future, and the other future. That's intriguing, I'd like to explore this with you, and your magic. We could have some great talks, us three. But for now, I think we have kept the professors and students waiting long enough - they seem to have forgotten about us." The hat lifted it's fringe just enough so I could peek out, sure enough, the headmaster, professors, and students had started having quiet conversations. She gave a mental snort and said, "We could just keep talking, they seem to be doing just fine without us."

"Sounds good to me. Now, about this Sentient Magic thing, I think I remember Rowena and Salazar researching something similar when they were building the castle." "Really? How can I find out about that? Do they have notes?" I asked excitedly. "I think they wrote some sort of book about it, not just about Hogwarts but also about how they thought magic might be sentient. I'm not sure if they ever found proof, or if they figured out how to talk to magic but they certainly tried."

"That's all well and good but where is the book?" I asked. "Hmm, I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you this." "Allowed to tell me what?" "Well, there's this room, it's called the Founder's Hall, it has everything in it. It's like the heart of the school." "Wow, I've never heard of it. Where is it?" "Well, the reason you've never heard of it is that it only reveals itself to the Founder's Heir, someone who is the heir to all the founders."

"Wouldn't that take like, forever, to happen? I mean, you'd have to find someone who had a parent from Slytherin and Gryffindor. In this day and age that is highly improbable." "I think you misunderstand, when I say heir, I don't mean by blood, I mean by spirit or soul. Someone who has all the qualities of all the founders; someone like you."

"Me? That's why you're telling me this, you think I'm the heir?" "You do remember how long it took me to sort you?" "We haven't actually done that yet you know." I reminded the hat as a side note. "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I think you're the heir and I think you could get into the hall." "Okay, one problem: I don't know where it is." "The only entrance I can tell you about it the one in the Astronomy tower, there are other ways to get there but they are sealed from the inside so you will have to get in first." "So, Astronomy tower, what do I do?" "Just touch the wall next to the door and think about your need." "What need?"