This felt like an impossible task, some pupils had started late in schools of course, but the concept of entering Hogwarts as a new student at 18 years old was enough to make Veronica's knees buckle. She had been expelled from her last school in Norway, she had gotten careless... Experimenting in the dark arts had become somewhat of an obsession for her, when she eventually was caught her superiors were so concerned they wanted her removed from the school. It was overkill in her opinion but then again, she quite enjoyed overkill in the right circumstances. So they had shipped her here, to some English school for witchcraft and wizardry... She hated it already, she had only heard bad things about this school, students died here, murderers entered the ground, the forests were death traps... The only thing they had going for them was the architecture. She was taking in the masonry that surrounded her from inside the office of Albus Dumbledore. The elderly wizard was looking at her as if at any moment she was going to do something volatile. She could only imagine what kind of letter he received from her old school, no doubt they made her seem like the next dark lord. She was merely curious, as the saying goes... Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back, she just wanted her satisfaction.
"I trust you have learned your lessons and have grown from them since your exit from Durmstrang Ms. Nilsen?" She rolled her eyes, she was somewhat offended Durmstrang had her removed, they enjoyed their students taking an interest in the dark arts, but her behavior was allegedly inexcusable. This professor had an aura about him, he exuded calm, but in her experience the calmest of men can hide the darkest of secrets, she had not taken to her new head master already. "I will not cause you any issues if that is your concern." She said bluntly in a feminine Scandinavian accent. "I am not concerned about that, at Hogwarts we want to see all our young witches and wizards excel and become the best versions of themselves, that is my wish for you just as much as it is for the rest of my students." His voice had sincerity but her suspicious nature was still weary of this man and the persona he presented to her.
"Now, you will need a house, I will not subject you to a sorting ceremony in front of the entire school, if you could give me just one moment..." He rose from behind his ornate desk and left her sight. Now alone in the room she exhaled the nervous breath she was holding in. Her long pale fingers ran through her fiery auburn locks, she was undeniably Scandinavian... Flaming long locks, icy blue eyes and skin that very clearly did not see much sun. She had a scar on the left hand side of her jaw, another on the side of her right hand, they were clearly old injuries, permanent reminders on her skin of a checkered past she could never truly escape from. She could not help it, she had a delinquent mind, she was impulsive... Blunt... and sometimes painfully cruel. She wore it like armor and she refused to take it off.
The old man finally returned, sorting hat in tow. "Now if you don't mind sitting still for a moment..." He placed the hat on top of her head, she could feel it twitch and come to life, she tried to focus her mind, no doubt the hat already knew the darkness that dwelled in there...
"Well well well, what have we here? A new girl... What a pleasant surprise... You are a curious thing, and smart, not always book smart but street smart... you do not scare easily, sure of yourself... a little too sure of yourself, your ego is barely contained inside this room... There is only one place for an ego that big... Slytherin!"
She had heard of Slytherin house, they were disliked in this school if the rumors she heard were to be true. Dumbledore gave a nod as if the hat had just confirmed his suspicions. She immediately rose from her seat when the hat was removed. "I have my house can I leave now?" Being around authority figures made her skin want to turn inside out, it also made her want to do something to show this old man that she spat in the face of authority... She knew she had to keep that part of her on the inside... For now. If she got removed from this school her parents would surely disown her.
"Everyone is gathering to dine in the great hall, you have had a long journey I assume you are hungry. Your belongings and your crow will be brought to the Slytherin dormitory for you. One of your new classmates can bring you there after the meal." In all honesty she would have chosen to eat glass over sitting in a room full of perfect strangers. She nodded and rose to her feet, without another word passed between them she left the office and entered the hallway flush with students. One thing Veronica treasured was personal space, something that seemed to be unheard of to these people. She followed the throngs of gaggling teenagers into what she now knew to be the great hall. Hundreds of candles floated above them creating not only light but a warm hue, looking up at them was actually somewhat of a comfort. The hypnotic dancing of the flames made her restless soul calm and steady itself. She stood up a little straighter and exuded the confidence she always had, she would make this her own. She found the Slytherin house table with relative ease, she sat right down the end, away from prying eyes.
She could already feel several confused eyes fall on her, she was not some fucking fish in a tank if they wanted to gawk she would give the simpletons something to gawk at. She instinctively wrapped her fingers around her wand in her pocket, it would seem her hostility was in vein though, with a clearing of his throat Dumbledore had the rooms complete attention.
"I will make this brief. As we all know by now there will always be help at Hogwarts, not only help but hospitality and acceptance for all witches and wizards. I would ask you all to extend this hospitality for our newest student and new member of Slytherin house Ms. Veronica Nilsen who has transferred to us from Durmstrang." With an outstretched arm he motioned to where she was seated, she could feel every eye in the room on her, deciding to not act like a sheep that had been thrown to the wolves she sat up a little straighter with her head held high. The moment passed quickly and it wasn't long before the feast had materialized before them. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't starving, a plane ride followed by a train ride had left little time to eat anything outside of a bag of peanuts and a chocolate frog that escaped through an air vent.
"Nilsen? Isn't your father Henrik Nilsen?" A male voice spoke out. She turned to her right to see a blonde haired male seat himself next to her.
"Yes? And what of it?" She said her fork absently stabbing a piece of chicken she had now lost her appetite for. This boy had an arrogance about him, a smugness... She could tell he thought he was some kind of leadership figure.
"He does business with my father. Lucius Malfoy." Now that name rang a bell, for all the wrong reasons.
"Malfoy? You are a Malfoy? Then you are bad news." She said it as a fact not a question, the Malfoy family had a reputation that proceeded them, they were followers of the dark lord.
"That's funny, I have heard the exact same thing about you. What exactly did you do to get expelled from a school that prides itself on teaching the dark arts to students?" Of course he wanted information, information to report back to that family of his no doubt.
"I do not know. I guess I wasn't applying myself to the dark arts enough." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Now if you do not mind you are in the way of my limelight." She said looking him up and down.
"In the way?" He retorted arching a brow at her.
"Is there an echo in here or something? Yes? You are in the way. No offense, I assume you are used to having all the attention on you blondie but that is going to change. I am something new and shiny. You cannot compete with that." That talking piece of fabric said she had an ego and she was more than happy to prove it right. He seemed shocked by this, was she supposed to be some nervous stuttering flower because she was the new girl?
"where exactly do you get your self of importance from new girl?" She grinned, she could hear the slight venom in his tone now, he was evidently not used to being challenged by many girls in his own house.
"My good looks usually. A girl can get very far with a pretty face Mr. Malfoy... I do not believe I got your first name?" She sounded uninterested but she was anything but, the Malfoy family and her own family had too many similarities for her to even consider. If she got his name she could do some digging.
"Draco, Draco Malfoy." His name rang a bell... She would have to confer with her parents as soon as she possibly could.
"Well Draco, I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, but the pleasure is all yours."