Chapter 14 – Anything but Slytherin
A few hours later, Lizzie and Ron departed the train onto an outdoor platform in a village town she saw a sign for that said Hogsmeade. The older students knew where to go, so the first years were obvious to spot based on their clueless expressions.
She tugged on her uniform to fix it. White dress shirt, pull over sleeveless cardigan, tie with a school emblem Ron had to help her figure out how to knot, a black pleated skirt and gray knee-high socks. It was much smarter looking than the forget-me-not blue uniforms at Sacred Heart and worlds better than the yellow and gray hideous toe rags for uniforms she would have worn at St. Catherine's. The only thing she didn't understand the purpose of was the black robes they wore over them. Reminded her of capes. It felt foreign to say the least, and she didn't like not being able to roll up sleeves easily.
She was distracted by a familiar voice that called out for all the first years to come over. She followed Ron and smiled up at Hagrid for the first time since their adventure to London. "Ya made it, Lizzie!" He said. "Didn't give you too much trouble I hope?" He asked.
"Was just a few miles shy of getting shut up in a correctional school instead, but I made a turn around," she said.
"Ruddy pieces of work," he grumbled. The other first years stared up at him in awe.
"Small class this year," he said. "But... I suppose that's to be expected," he added grimly. "Follow me to the boats!" He yelled out to the gathering of students.
"What do you think he meant by that?" Lizzie asked Ron.
"What? The small class size?" He asked. Lizzie nodded.
"The way I understand it, around the year we were born, they purged most muggle born names off the registry. It was part of the war; other side was winning. Any muggle born students who exhibited the magic needed to be added to the list would have had to do so after the war ended. So... class size has been lighter on that front for a while. They've tried to reconstruct it. Our class probably especially so, at the height of the war people were scared to have children. Not to mention a lot of wizard families died, even some of the sacred 28 lost their last in blood lines. But then... well then you... you ended it. Next year there will probably be loads of first year students," he explained.
"How do you know this?" Lizzie asked.
"My dad works in the muggle relations and artifacts office at the ministry. He's helped do a lot of the damage control on muggle born student enrollment," Ron said.
They reached the docks and filed four to each boat to sail across a large lake. Lizzie filed in with Ron, a brunette Irish boy by the name of Seamus Finnegan, and a tall black boy by the name of Dean Thomas.
Dean didn't know who Lizzie was which was refreshing. He explained that he was muggle born when the others didn't believe him. Seamus had to explain it to him and the crude recap made Lizzie cringe a little. Ron looked apologetic.
When the boat was about a quarter out on the lake, Lizzie saw the lights of the castle and was absolutely speechless. It was massive and beautiful. Like something from her wildest dreams. The way the light reflected off the lake and the stars twinkled overhead, she decided she never wanted to leave.
"Are you alright?" Ron asked. "Amazing, isn't it?"
Lizzie opened her mouth but no words came out. "It's..." she whispered. My parents went here, she thought. She'd never been anywhere her parents were. The thought of them waving her off at the station sank in deep to her bones. If they were ever going to be with her in spirit, it would be here.
The group of students all exited the boats and followed Hagrid up to the school where an elderly woman with dark green robes and a pointed hat met them in a large courtyard. She escorted them to a spacious room and asked them all to gather around for an announcement.
Lizzie and Ron stood near the front of the group together and she looked around for the first time at the other faces in better light. "Welcome to Hogwarts," the woman said in a thick Scottish accent.
"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress, Transfiguration's instructor, and Head of Gryffindor House," she said. "In a few moments you will pass through the large double doors and join your classmates for the welcome feast, but first we will host the sorting ceremony and you all will be sorted into your houses," she explained.
"There are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You will spend seven years here and your house will be most akin to a family. Your triumphs will earn you house points, rule breaking will lose your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup. Please fix yourselves up over the next few minutes and I will return to escort you to the sorting ceremony," she instructed.
Lizzie flattened down her skirt, tried to fix her tie, and combed her hair out with her fingers before putting it up again. From the corner of her eye, she saw a pointed pale face looking at her intently.
"You didn't say you were Azalea Potter in Diagon Alley... what did you say your name was?" He asked her abruptly and everyone went quiet. Lizzie looked over to see the boy she met named Draco coming toward her.
"Lizzie," she said. "I go by Lizzie," she clarified.
"Azalea is a prettier name, in my opinion," he said. This struck a chord with her.
"I didn't exactly ask for your opinion," she said and Ron choked on a laugh.
"So, it's true then, you are Azalea Potter?" He asked. Whispers broke out amongst the students.
"I am..." she said.
"That is Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, in case you don't remember my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he introduced.
When Ron chuckled again, Draco shot him a disdainful look. "Think that's funny? Red hair, hand-me-down robes, must be a Weasley," he sneered. Ron looked abashed and it made Lizzie noticeably angry.
"You must not know much about any of this... raised by muggles you had said. You'll find that some wizarding families are better than others. Your father was one of an esteemed line... I can help you sort out the right from the wrong to be close with," he said. Lizzie stared at him for a moment.
"Surprisingly enough, I'm confident in my ability to tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks," she said with a reproachful glare. He looked back at her with a twinge of embarrassment and disappointment, but frowned and headed back to his group.
McGonagall had reentered the room a moment later and gestured for them to enter the hall. It was massive. Four long tables stretched the length and was overlooked by a raised platform where the teacher's table sat. Their group filed in and walked down the center, each and every one of them stared up at the ceiling which looked like the night sky.
At the hilt of the room, they gathered around in front of a stool with a hat perched on the seat. It was an old hat and Lizzie wondered what was to be done with it. It sprung to life with a crease that opened into a sort of mouth and sang a tune about the houses. From what she gathered Gryffindors were brave, Hufflepuffs were loyal, Ravenclaws were smart, and Slytherins were cunning. It also said there's nothing in your head it can't see which gave Lizzie intense pause.
"Ron, can I ask you something?" She whispered. He nodded. "What house was... what house was the man who killed my family in? Assuming he went here?"
"Slytherin. I believe all witches and wizards who have gone bad have been from Slytherin," he whispered back. Lizzie clenched her jaw.
"Now, when I call your name, you will come have a seat. I will place the sorting hat on your head and it will announce your house," McGonagall explained.
"Susan A. Bones," she announced. A red headed girl walked forward timidly and sat down. The hat perched on her head for a brief moment and then yelled, "Hufflepuff!" One of tables rumbled with applause and she left to take her seat amongst them.
"Hannah K. Abbott," another Hufflepuff.
"Gregory H. Goyle," the first Slytherin.
"Lisa R. Turpin," the first Ravenclaw.
"Dean A. Thomas," the first Gryffindor.
"Neville F. Longbottom," the hat seemed to take a while to decide his, then finally yelled "Gryffindor!"
"Hermione J. Granger," the girl from the train... the hat stalled with her as well for a few moments and then placed her in Gryffindor.
"Padma M. Patil," another Ravenclaw.
"Parvati Z. Patil," another Gryffindor, they appeared to be twins, Lizzie was surprised they weren't in the same house.
"Vincent P. Crabbe," another Slytherin.
"Ernie G. McMillian," another Hufflepuff.
Lizzie had an intrusive thought that the hat wouldn't place her for some reason and she'd be sent back on the train. Stupid, she thought but couldn't decide if she fit into any of the categories.
"Ronald B. Weasley," Ron went up nervously and the hat made him jump. It yelled Gryffindor not five seconds later and he relaxed noticeably before joining his brothers. Lizzie had another intrusive thought that since everyone she met was now in Gryffindor, she'd be placed elsewhere and need to start over. Her parents were in Gryffindor according to Ron's brother, but did that matter?
"Seamus T. Finnegan," another Gryffindor. That was now everyone in the boat too... perfect... she thought.
"Draco L. Malfoy," Lizzie narrowed her eyes at him while he approached the stool. The hat didn't even touch his head before yelling "Slytherin!"
Anything but Slytherin, she thought nervously.
"Theodore B. Nott," another Slytherin.
"Michael J. Corner," another Ravenclaw.
"Lavender N. Brown," another Gryffindor.
There were only a handful of them left and Lizzie was fidgeting her hands. She looked up a black-haired, black-eyed man staring at her from the teachers' table. He looked in a sort of veiled shock and looked away when she caught eyes with him. For a moment her scar burned but stopped as quickly as it started. She couldn't remember it ever having done that before.
The pain took her focus off the next couple of names long enough to hear, "Azalea L. Potter," and the room went completely silent for a moment before breaking into whispers as Lizzie approached the stool. When she turned around, she saw people craning necks and even the teachers seemed to sit up in anticipation.
Lizzie sat down and grabbed the edges of the stool.
It was quiet for a moment and her fear she would be unable to place resurged irrationally. Then it made a loud "hmmm," in her ear and she flinched a little.
"This is difficult. I quite honestly do not know whose head I'm in and whose I'm not. Plenty of courage I see, astounding amount of strength and grit. You're no stranger to pain and adversity. Stronger for it, but you don't agree," it said. She wondered if anyone could hear it but she hadn't heard it to any great extent for anyone else. Just a laugh and comment about Ron being another Weasley and something about the Longbottom not knowing his potential. The way people stared intently made her uneasy though.
"Good mind too when intact. Smart and problem solving. But cunning, extraordinary amount of talent, excellent potential, desire to prove yourself... you don't seem afraid of the means to an end... just based on what you did to get here today... well I'm inclined to put you in Slytherin," it said. Lizzie thought as hard as she could against that. Anything but, please, she thought desperately. Anything...
"Not Slytherin? Well, I do agree I'm rather conflicted, your courage is astonishing. You're also righteous to a fault. Incorrigible... this is a challenge," it said.
She must have been sitting here for several minutes longer than anyone else had unless time was moving in slow motion. Her heart rate picked up.
I don't trust myself, please don't put me in Slytherin, she thought.
"Well in that case, better be..." he paused again for a really long moment. "Gryffindor!" It shouted and the Gryffindor table erupted into thunderous applause. She heard the twins she met yelling "We got Potter!" and some cat whistles from down the line. Lizzie smiled wide and left the stool toward the table in a hurry. Hands flew at her from every direction, but she was relieved to have already met most of the faces around her.
Lizzie looked up at the man in the center of the staff table. He was elderly, silver haired, with half-moon spectacles, and raised his goblet at her in a toast-like gesture until the remaining students had been sorted. Justin Finch-Fletchly in Hufflepuff, Pansy Parkinson in Slytherin, Blaise Zabini in Slytherin, Anthony Goldstein in Ravenclaw, Cormac McClaggen in Gryffindor, Mandy Brocklehurst in Ravenclaw, Millicent Bulstrode in Slytherin, Tracy Davis in Slytherin, Faye Dunbar in Gryffindor, and Zacharias Smith in Hufflepuff.
The applause died out and the man at the center stood.
"Excellent sorting ceremony, I trust our newest students will find homage. Welcome, everyone. As most of you know, I am Albus Dumbledore. I have some start of term notices. First, we are welcoming Professor Quirrell as our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Second, that the dark forest is strictly prohibited to all students. Third, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is also prohibited to all those who do not wish to die a most painful death," he announced.
Lizzie giggled but was perplexed why nobody else had. "Wait, really?" She asked, leaning toward Percy. He nodded. Lizzie noticed the black-haired man staring in her direction again.
"Percy, who is that man talking to Professor Quirrell?" She asked.
"Professor Snape, Potion's master, Head of Slytherin House. But he's been after the dark arts post for years. Hard one to get on with," he explained.
The feast began when more food than Lizzie had ever seen in her life appeared in front of them. She paused and sat on her hands while people piled their plates. It was foreign to her to eat with anyone, and even in school settings they had to wait for grace.
"Eat... plenty to go around," Percy said, dishing some onto a plate for her. Lizzie took several bites she relished in. The food was incredible. Halfway through her moderately portioned plate she stopped and felt ill a moment. She listened to the others chat. Dean and Hermione were both muggle born. Seamus told a story about his muggle father finding out his mum was a witch. Neville lives with his grandmother but was from a well-known pure blood family. Ron, Cormac, Lavender, Parvati, and Faye were all from known pure blood families.
"So where did you grow up, Azalea?" Percy asked. The people around them went quiet to listen.
"You can call me Lizzie, preferred really... in my experience only those who don't like me call me Azalea," she said.
"That's fair, Lizzie it is," he said.
"I grew up in Surrey," she said.
"Whereabout?" He asked.
"Little Whinging," she said.
"Relatives adopted you I take it?" He asked.
"Oh, um no... never adopted," she said.
"Surely you of all people didn't get placed in an orphanage?" He asked.
"No... no both my parents lost their folks. It was only my mum's sister and her husband. But they never actually adopted me, just in their charge," she explained.
"Your mother was muggle born I believe," he said.
"Um, yes, apparently. I know very little about them. Wasn't allowed to ask. Not technically supposed to be here either but I reckon they can't do anything about it now," she explained.
"Not supposed to be here?" Seamus laughed. "You're the one person here they would have sent a squad of aurors in to go get..." he said.
"Was muggle school interesting? I take it they sent you?" Percy asked.
"You could put it that way, I guess. I went to an extremely conservative catholic school. It's a little different. Inspired primarily by the Inquisition," she said. Dean choked on his drink in response.
"What's the Inquisition?" Ron asked.
"Holy Inquisition. Group in the Catholic church that was set up to exterminate heretics," Lizzie said.
"Heretics?" Ron asked.
"Number of things. Anyone who doesn't conform to Roman Catholic beliefs. Most heinous they consider being those who worship the devil and practice... well...witchcraft. Hence why they didn't want me to come," Lizzie explained.
"They exterminate them?" Ron asked, horrified.
"Well, no, not anymore. Murder is illegal in both worlds if you weren't aware. The Inquisition was a long time ago. But they still don't tolerate it," Hermione interjected, and cast a strange look at Lizzie. "Which subsect?" She asked.
"Cyprian Council... their primary focused is on Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, meaning outside the church there is no salvation. So... no salvation for me, apparently... whoops," Lizzie said sarcastically with a forced laugh.
"So, this is all new?" Percy asked dubiously.
"To be perfectly honest, part of me still thinks it's possible I'm in a coma or something and none of it is even real. If that's the case, I'll happily stay a vegetable. If not, even better. But yes, all new," she said.
"That's how I feel, grew up just me and my mum... don't know what my dad was. Pinch me, right? None of it feels remotely possible," Dean said.
"Amen to that," Lizzie agreed with a smirk and held up a glass toward him.
"Well, come to me if you need anything. I extend that to everyone, I'm a prefect," Percy said.
"Yes, we all know you're a prefect Percy. P for Percy, P for Prefect..." one of the twins groaned. Percy gave him a brotherly grimace in response that clashed with his uptight and mature demeanor.
Lizzie wanted to ask what a prefect was, but when she picked up her fork her stomach lurched like she was going to vomit. The rules about eating were transcending distance apparently. It made Lizzie more ill to think her body had conformed so tightly to that particular punishment. He's not here, he's not here, he's not here, she thought. Nine years of never being away from her uncle longer than a work day unless they went on holiday without her. Lizzie wondered how long it would take to rid her mind of automatically following his insidious rules and expectations.
She was determined to stamp it out. But at the moment she didn't want to throw up at the table.
"Percy, is there a bathroom near here?" She asked, using all her willpower to choke down the nausea.
"Yes, just out the doors and around the first bend at the end," he said and she got up. Heads turned as she left but it was better than hurling for an audience.
She made it to the bathroom just in time to lose the dinner, having loosened her tie and pulled off the strange cloak so it didn't get dirty. Stupid hat thinks I'm strong, apparently it doesn't see all after all, my stomach definitely doesn't qualify, she thought cynically, sitting with her back to the bathroom stall. She waited until a second wave hit and then got up slowly to wash her mouth out in the water basin.
Lizzie looked up at herself for the first time in a while. There was a bit of bruise on her left temple and she looked pale. She'd learned more about her family in tid bits of conversation thus far than she had in nine years. She'd be figuring out a way to join Melody by now if she had made it to St. Catherine's instead. She'd be here for seven years and knew nothing about it. Is it even safe? She thought. Has to be... better at least... she reasoned. I can't be that unlucky... The rate her mind was spinning started to make her queasy again. It took a few minutes to gather herself and then she left the bathroom to return to the feast.
When she stepped out there was a loud whistle and cackle, she looked over to see something that both resembled a ghost and a man. "Aha! Little firsty already out of bounds!" He laughed. Lizzie was confused and didn't know how to respond.
"Peeves! Off!" Someone barked.
"I was just wondering why this little girl was in the bathroom. Losing her dinner from what I could tell," he laughed.
"Peeves, off!" The man barked again, and then shifted attention to Lizzie. "Azalea... Potter..." he said.
"Potter? THIS is the Potter girl? She's too small. Look at her! Surely the dark lord could have thrown her out of a window," Peeves laughed.
Lizzie chuckled a little at the crude humor and it surprised both of them. But she stopped as quickly as she started.
"Sorry... who's the dark ...?" She started to ask but stopped realizing who he must have been referring to.
"She doesn't know!" Peeves laughed and drifted off in an opposite direction howling with laughter. "She doesn't know!"
Lizzie pointed to Peeves as he left and looked back at the man with an inquisitive expression. "Sorry...Can I ask what that is exactly?"
"Poltergeist..." the man Percy had pointed as professor Snape said slowly.
"Right...obviously" Lizzie said a little sarcastically, frowning at her feet in disbelief.
"What are you doing away from the feast?" He asked sharply.
"Wave of illness, needed the loo, sir...apologies," she said innocently and honestly.
"Food not up to par?" He asked with a twinge of contempt.
"Wh-? No... just a stomach bug... food was incredible... I just didn't want to lose it in front of everybody," she explained.
He seemed to be able to tell there was a subtle lie in her words and stared intently at her face.
"Fighting on the train?" He asked pointing to her face.
"Oh... um no..." she said. "Just...clumsy..." she lied. Again, he didn't seem convinced.
"You best head back or you'll miss the tour to the common room," he hissed.
"Right. Thank you..." she said politely and headed off.
She entered the Great Hall as the prefects were lining up first year students and hurried into line with Ron.
"You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said dismissively.
Percy led the group of them up a stairwell corridor lined with moving oil paintings that greeted them as they passed and staircases that changed direction. Up at the end of the seventh floor, they stopped at a large portrait of a fat lady wearing a pink petty coat.
The portrait stared at the group for a moment before asking for a password. "Caput draconis," Percy said and the portrait swung open to reveal a large oval shaped room lined with woven tapestries and a spatter of furniture surrounding a large hearth.
"This is Gryffindor Tower, the common room is a lounge if you will, the boy's dormitory is upstairs and down to your left, girls it's the same but on the right. Your belongings have already been brought up. Don't hesitate to find me should you have any questions or need anything," he explained. As he finished, groups of older students came in and made themselves at home in the common area. Lizzie looked around with a dumbfounded expression. Never in her life was it permissible to "lounge," never was it alright to wander even if just around a tower like this, not on your own whims or terms. She doubted leaving the tower at night was allowed but even such, the amount of comfort and homage the other students seemed to be taking for granted gave her both a sense of relief in the present and an unrelenting resentment for the environment she had grown up in.
Lizzie walked up with the other girls to the dormitory and looked around at five four-poster beds. They were lined with red curtains to draw for privacy and the bedding was soft and comfortable. Her trunk was at the end of the one farthest across from the door. There was a uniform, now in Gryffindor maroon and gold accent colors draped on the chair, a small writing desk with a few of the supplies she bought, and Hedwig perched by the window.
She sat on the ledge with Hedwig for a moment to pet the snowy owl fondly and looked out over a fantastic view of the lake and mountainside.
Lizzie rummaged through her trunk and pulled out several things she hadn't purchased. There was a set of soft night wear and other basic clothing essentials, a bath robe, slippers, and warm socks. There was also a winter coat and hat, good quality too, and unsigned note that some essentials were noticed missing. She would repay whoever supplemented them had they added a name. It was a woman's writing surely, it seemed like an extremely motherly thing to do.
Lizzie unpacked her smaller bag of essentials which notably didn't have much. She unfolded a pair of her own socks she brought and slipped a bottle of pills into the bottom of her trunk. She hadn't taken the ones given for weeks and swiped what she could that morning before they left.
Lizzie then opened the letter packet and skimmed through the assigned reading. She pulled out four textbooks she should be ahead in and set them on her bed determined to read as much as possible before classes started the following day. She changed into a comfortable pajama set and sat cross-legged on the bed to start reading when the girl she knew to be Lavender Brown stared at her from across the way.
"You're pretty," she said politely. Lizzie looked up and frowned. She'd rarely been told that so straightforwardly.
"Um.. thank you," Lizzie said.
"What's it like?" She asked.
"What's what like?" Lizzie inquired.
"The fame..." she said with excited eyes.
Hermione looked over. "What's the story exactly? Nobody gave me a clear answer," she asked.
Parvati, Lavender, and Faye all looked over at Hermione in disbelief. "Don't look at her like that, I never got a clear answer either," Lizzie said.
"My parents are muggle dentists. I've read most of the history material but haven't caught up all the way on modern times," Hermione explained.
Parvati spoke first. "The Potters were said to be in hiding from he-who-must-not-be-named, did you read about him?" She asked Hermione. Hermione nodded.
"But he found them on Halloween Night of 1983. Broke into their home in Godric's Hallow and killed Azalea's parents. She was three, and he tried to kill her but it didn't work. Some say it rebounded and he died instead but there was never a body recovered. It destroyed his powers and he lost hold, hasn't been seen since. Azalea was found later and sent to live with muggles for safety... this is the first anyone has seen or heard of her since that happened. That's why they're all whispering. She ended the war, brought down the darkest wizard of our times, hundreds went to prison after. We've had almost a decade of peace. All that was left on her was the scar..." she continued.
Hermione stared at Lizzie apologetically but with amazement and disbelief.
"But you didn't know? If you grew up in Cyprian Council surely, they didn't tell you -" Hermione said.
"No, my mother's sister married into the church. They told me my dad got us into a drunk car accident. Young, dumb, irresponsible... I was supposedly better off without them..." Lizzie said bitterly.
"Do you remember them?" Parvati asked.
"No, just flashes mostly. I didn't really believe the story but I also didn't imagine any of this. Like I said, they didn't want me to come," Lizzie admitted.
"Why were the Potters targeted?" Hermione asked.
"That's not known. They were known to work for Dumbledore in the resistance against the war. They'd defied you-know-who several times. Some say it had something to do with her actually. Nobody knows why the spell didn't work. She's the only person ever known to have survived it," Lavender said.
The girls soon after shut out the lamps and turned in for bed. Lizzie didn't want to keep anyone up while she read, so she made her way down to the common room. There were still several students scattered and she caught sight of the twins and some others from the train. One of the twins gestured her over.
"That was the longest hat stall in history I reckon," he said. "What did it want to put you in? Slytherin?" He asked.
Lizzie nodded. "Seemed to have more faith in me than I do... I just wanted anything but," she said.
"You gathered the type to go to Slytherin then?" Lee asked. "I mean they're not all bad, but the ones that do go bad reach the point of no return," he explained.
"I think it knew I didn't trust myself enough... I don't know how to explain it..." Lizzie said.
"Well brave hearts go to Gryffindor, most of us thought you'd be here. Angelina, Alicia and Ken are out some money though," George said.
"Imagine if we all had to pay up to Towler?" Fred laughed.
"You alright?" Lee asked, noticing Lizzie's demeanor. Lizzie nodded absently and stared into the fire.
"Put down the books and rest. First day is always rough," he said.
"Let us know if you need anything," the twins offered and they headed up to bed. Lizzie sat there for a long time reading through a Potions book and a Transfigurations chapter until her eyes got too heavy to continue. It was a short night of sleep, but still the best night she'd had bar none.