Chapter Seven: Sorting
As the train slowed to a stop people started crowding in the corridors. So that she didn't lose the boys in the mass of bodies Victoria latched onto their arms and they moved with the flow out onto the platform.
Since night had already fallen, the platform was pitch black. There was only two lights on either side of the platform to mark where it started and ended, but that wasn't nearly enough to make it easier to see – especially when the cloud cover was hiding the majority of the stars and moon.
From over the head of the students (the majority of which were heading to the right side of the platform), another lamp appeared. Since the man holding it had to be at least 8feet, Victoria assumed that this was Hagrid. A guess that he confirmed moments later as he started shouting to be heard over the chattering students.
"Firs' years! Firs' Years over here!" As they went to join the few first year that were already huddled around the man, Hagrid smiled as he spotted Harry. "All right there, Harry? C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years?" he counted the heads of students around him. "Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
Hagrid set off to the right – the opposite direction of the other students – were the only light came from Hagrid's lamp. The students were slipping, and stumbling all over the place and Victoria temporarily separated from her boys to where Malfoy was walking with a group of kids he seemed to know.
"Hay, you lot know how to cast lumos yet?" she questioned. Since Malfoy would likely only be willingly walking with purebloods from prominent families it was safe to assume that they had receive basic magical tutoring prior to entering Hogwarts, which would likely include how to cast the light charm.
"Yeah, we all know how to cast it." Malfoy answered her, shooting a look to his friends to stop them saying anything. Her features were distinctly Weasley – no other wizarding family had the same red hair; the closest would be the Bone's auburn - which meant it was easy to identify members of the Weasley family. This meant that Malfoy's friends would have all identified her despite it being dark. The only reason she wasn't ignored or degraded for being a Blood Traitor, was because Malfoy had chosen to give her the benefit of the doubt – likely remembering her words in regards to Harry and politeness.
"Good. There isn't enough light along this path. Do you think you guys could split into two groups and take the sides? I'll take the back to make sure there aren't any stragglers. And Hagrid's got the front." Victoria gave them her plan.
"That should work. Goyal, Parkinson, Greengrass, Nott you guys go to the left. Crabbe, Zabini, Davis stay with me on the right." Malfoy ordered his friends who all drew their wands and cast the light charm. Victoria lit her own wand and headed back to Harry and Ron who were now walking with Neville.
With so many students lighting the path they were able to make their way down the steep, narrow path which was bordered on either side by thick trees. Eventfully they came out from among the trees which led to the side of the Great Lake, and stood proudly on top of the cliff was Hogwarts. With all of her lights casting a golden glow across the grounds, the students didn't need the light of their wands anymore to see the path.
The student's continued sending glances of awe and wonder at the castle as they all clambered into the small boats that were floating at the edge of the lake. Since it was four to a boat, Neville joined Victoria, Harry and Ron in their boat. He was still very pale, and kept whimpering every now and then, but he otherwise seemed to be fine. The journey across the lake was spent in silence until they got closer to the cliff face.
"Head's down!" Hagrid yelled in warning as they got close to the cliff-face which was covered in Ivy.
"Why, if Hagrid can get through then we don't need to bend to make it through?" Victoria questioned confused while watching Hagrid and the first two boats disappear into the passageway that was clearly hidden by the Ivy. And indeed, even with Hagrid ducking he was taller than the first years.
When their boat passed through the Ivy curtain they were plunged into darkness for a short while before leaving a tunnel and entering an underground harbour which had several fire torches placed on poles at the end of each of the three piers. There was also a series of torches on either side of a staircase that disappeared from their sight.
The student's gathered together on the stone floor at the end of the piers, while Hagrid checked on all the boats. Victoria wasn't sure what he was checking, since the boats were magically tethered and it was clear no students were left in the boats.
"Is anyone missing a toad?" Hagrid questioned, returning from the last boat carrying said amphibian. Victoria blinked, how had the toad managed to make it from the train down to the boats without being seen?
"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed happily, retrieving his runaway pet from the giant of a man.
"Right, then. We'd best get going." Hagrid declared and led the way up the passageway in the cliff face.
The walk up the stairs was long, and several of the students grumbled about having to walk such a long way while they were tired and hungry, but Victoria was far too fascinated by the things she was seeing to feel how hungry she was.
The walls were carved from smooth granite, as were the stairs. Although there were two points along the staircase which appeared to be alcoves but there was no door visible. She wondered if the doors had just been sealed, or if they had been hidden to prevent attack through the dungeons. Victoria added it to her to do list – she already had 'recreate the Marauders Map with additional features' on her list, so it wouldn't be too hard to add 'discover any hidden doors or passageways to the harbour' to that list since it would be a useful thing to have on the map.
The stairs came out onto grass next to the walls of the castle. Once the last student was on the grass, the passage closed and there was no discernible difference from where the grass was and the secret passageway. The other students didn't look back to the passageway since they were enchanted by the sight of the castle they were stood next to.
Hagrid led them across the grass to a pathway which led to the stairs which lay before the double doors which were the entrances to the castle. The student's all huddled together on the steps while Hagrid knocked on the door.
McGonagall answered the door, wearing what appeared to be her Clan colours of green and blue, although she had a badge of the house crest pinned to the right side of her robe. She led the first years through to a room next to the Great Hall and gave a speech on the houses being family before heading into the Great Hall to make sure they were prepared for the sorting.
"Do you know how they sort us?" Harry asked nervously.
"Its tradition not to tell the first years, something about building character by letting us sweat first." Victoria answered.
"Yeah, Fred and George said something about a troll. Of course, they were lying, trolls aren't something kids can fight." Ron agreed. Victoria had explained to him that not only would it be ridiculously dangerous and against the law, but it would also not adequately discover personalities.
"So, you don't know?" Harry clarified.
"Like she said, it's tradition. No one knows." Malfoy spoke, alerting them to the fact that all the first years were paying attention. The fact that they were in such a small room, and everyone was so nervous, it didn't surprise Victoria so much but she wasn't expecting anyone to join in the conversation.
"So, we're all terrified about what personality test or screening they're going to be doing in front of the entire student body. You know, the normal feelings you're supposed to feel when you attend a new school, with new teachers, away from your family for the first time." Victoria continued sardonically. "Not like we weren't nervous enough."
"Yeah, some traditions just don't make sense." The boy that Victoria believed Malfoy had called Nott commented in amusement.
"You would think they would consider the fact that we were likely to be very nervous. We could be sorted into houses in privet and then introduced as a group. That would help reduce how nervous we all are. But this is the way it's been done since the founding." The girl Victoria believed was called Greengrass was the next to speak up.
"Maybe we could speak with our heads of houses and see if we can't make this better for future first years?" Hermione suggested timidly. "I mean, set up a petition?"
"I think that would need more than us. We'd likely need support of older years and the teachers themselves. And then speak with the governors, since they and the headmaster would be in charge of seeing if it would be logistically feasible." Victoria imputed.
"A lot of us have parents or family on the Board. We can ask what would be needed to make something like this go through." Malfoy said thoughtfully.
"We're not even sorted yet, and we're talking about changing things." The Bones heiress (identifiable by her auburn hair and similarity to her aunt who had visited the house) said in amusement.
"Having common ground could create bonds between our year group; Headmaster Dumbledore is always going on about house unity." Victoria pointed out.
"Ghosts." A boy with sandy hair alerted the group to the fact that they were no longer alone.
"Forgive and forget, that's what I always say." The ghost with the ruffle was commenting.
"Ah, what are you all doing here? Shouldn't you be at the feast?" another ghost, wearing the monk uniform, commented.
"We're all first years." One of the girls near the front of the group answered nervously.
"Ah, of course."
"The feast is starting, move along." Professor McGonagall's strict voice cut through the conversation.
"Well, I hope to see you in Hufflepuff, my old house you know." The monk said cheerfully as the ghosts floated across the room and out the wall that connected to the Great Hall.
"Follow me." McGonagall led them out of the room and across the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall.
The first years had fallen into two lines, side by side, and walked in silence as they stared around the Great Hall in awe. The night sky was clear above them, some stairs starting to shine through the cloud cover. There were hundreds of candles floating above the tables, their melted wax disappearing before it could drip onto the heads of students. The tables were laced with golden plates, goblets and other dining equipment.
McGonagall placed the stool and hat at the front of the hall, bringing everyone's attention to the front of the hall. The song the hat sung was about the qualities of the four houses and the way that the founders had worked together to make the school and teach people.
The sorting itself passed quickly, with no bumps in the road except for Harry's sorting when all the students started whispering and the Gryffindor house went crazy when he was sorted into their house. Victoria breathed a slight sigh of relief when he was sorted there since she had no idea how the Death Eaters would respond if he was sorted into their house – the house of their Lord.
Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor and it was finally Victoria's turn, the last person except for Blaise Zabini. When her name was called, Victoria looked briefly to Ron. She knew that her sorting would be accepted by all her brothers except for him. There is a chance that his prejudice was to deep even now for him to see past, but she was hopeful that his knowledge of her, and the family's closeness might be enough. She didn't want to lose her twin, not over something so small.
"Ah, interesting. You truly have the best of your families within you. The bravery of your father's family and the cunning intelligence of your mothers. Fred and George had almost been sorted into Slytherin because of their ambitions and high hopes, but their bravery and determination was far greater and they could make connections without being in Slytherin. You could do the same, but I can see that your drive to protect more than just your family is there. And it would be easiest to do this in Slytherin. You are also aware that your business would grow within Slytherin which would help support your family. Although it seems you and your siblings have already helped your father's financial situation more than anyone else in decades.
You truly are an interesting one." The Sorting hat whispered into her mind.
"Thank you." Victoria thought back to the hat, aware of the whispering that was starting to spread through the hall. Weasleys had been sorted into Gryffindor for so long that people assumed that they didn't go anywhere else. So, the fact that she was taking more than a minute to be sorted was very surprising.
"Now then. I suppose it's time I sorted you. SLYTHERIN!"
As the hat shouted its prognosis there was silence in the hall, for long enough for Victoria to remove the hat and stand. At which point the twins overcame their surprise.
"Go Victoria!" Fred cheered, getting to his feet and clapping.
"Finally, a Weasley brave enough to go into our true house." George joined in, also getting to his feet and clapping.
"Well done," Percy was the next to get over his shock.
As Victoria started moving over to her new house, Professor Snape started clapping which prompted his house to join in out of politeness and unity. After all, they couldn't be seen shunning a new member of their own house, especially when both Malfoy and, now Snape, had been polite and listened to her. That, and the twins' pranks was well known among the upper years and they didn't want to become targets because they had publicly ignored their little sister.
Just as she claimed her seat, Victoria looked over to Ron and saw that he was lowering his hands from clapping and he offered her a smile and she breathed out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. He was accepting her sorting.
Blaise Zabini joined them at the Slytherin table and Dumbledore stood in order to start the feast. As he was well known for not giving a stable first impression, Dumbledore's words didn't make any sense but signalled the food appearing on the table.
"So, a Weasley in Slytherin." Malfoy commented while they all served themselves something to eat.
"A female as well." she answered back smartly. "I'm aiming to make myself the first of many things."
"You're already the youngest person to set up a business. My mother loves your candles." Tracy Davies commented.
"Thank you. I'm thinking about trying out some new scents." Victoria responded, cutting the chicken she had chosen into bite sized pieces. "Maybe I could send out a survey to my loyal customers asking which scent they would like to see?"
"I think that would be a wonderful idea. Or maybe making some of your custom candles part of the new line." Daphne Greengrass suggested.
"How do you know I don't already do that?" Victoria challenged.
"What are you planning on doing about your business from here?" Malfoy asked, playing disinterest but not quite managing it.
"I have permission from the headmaster to convert one of his classrooms into a lab as long as I make sure a teacher checks my safety precautions and knows the hours I'll be working there. It's a concession put in place to anyone who has business outside of school they need to run. Normally, only young Lords and Heirs use this policy." Victoria explained, making sure they all knew that she wasn't getting special circumstances because her family was 'light' or 'friendly' with the headmaster.
"How are you going to have the time? What with your homework as well?" Blaise asked.
"I'm very good at time management," Victoria answered, delicately tucking into her food. Her aunt Mural had ensured that she and the rest of the Weasley had the pureblood manors that high society so highly praised even if the majority of them didn't actually use that etiquette. Being in Slytherin meant that she would likely end up using it more than the rest of her siblings – outside of Percy who used it for when he's interacting with the people he needed to get in good with to work in the ministry and move up his position.
"You'll have to keep on top of your grades. Professor Snape only accepts the best." A second year warned.
"I'm aware. I'm not going to let my grades suffer. I'm not going to just be running my natural products business for the rest of my life." Victoria responded. She was well aware that she could support herself using the business, but getting good grades meant she would be able to get a better job doing something else that she loved – perhaps enchanting or spell crafting. "Besides, I've got a reputation to live up to."
"Reputation?" Draco asked.
"Bill got 11 NEWTS, 9 at O level, Charlie got 9 NEWTS, 5 at O level and I'm pretty sure Percy's going to achieve 12 OWLS this year based on his work ethic and previous grades." Victoria rattled of proudly.
"What about your other brothers, um, Fred and George?" The same second year from before asked. "They're pranksters. I doubt their grades are that good?"
"Pranksters they may be, but that doesn't make them stupid. How do you think they come up with all their ideas?" Victoria responded. She was just as proud as Fred and George, as she was of Percy, Charlie and Bill. And she knew that they would be able to open their joke shop and do brilliantly – putting Zonko's out of business.
"It seems that this generation of Weasley might just manage to pull your name from the gutter." Draco observed, seeing how the girl before him would take the insult to their family name. She had already proven that she was different to what was expected of the child of the blood traitor family. And she might just achieve the impossible and remove the taint from their name.
"You mean remove our title of Blood Traitor?" Victoria placed her knife and fork on her empty plate, dapping at her mouth with a napkin and raising an eyebrow in challenge.
Malfoy didn't back down. "Precisely. It's a taint that has limited your family for generations."
"Five generations." Victoria corrected. "And it has not limited us, because we haven't allowed it to. We care not what others label us as, because family is far more important than society's opinion of us. And if the pureblood society remembered the reason we were classed as Blood Traitors, they would realise, that title cannot be applied to my family any longer. We don't take our place among the Lord's and Lady's because my father has chosen not to."
No one could make a comeback to her bold statement because Dumbledore chose that moment to stand and make his start of term speech. Welcoming the students, and giving the standard warnings. Plus, the extra warning about the third-floor corridor. That had Victoria sighing in disappointment. She had hoped that that the Headmaster wouldn't be so foolish as to hide the Philosopher's Stone in Hogwarts.