Chapter 8
Dear Mum, Ava wrote, pausing over her parchment for a moment as she considered what to write after her first full day. She was still getting used to writing with a quill, and figured writing a letter might help her settle into the practice before classes on Monday, when her ineptitude would be more obvious.
Dear Mum,
Hogwarts is both everything and nothing like we expected. Alya and I were sorted into separate houses. She's in Ravenclaw, just like we expected her to be, but I ended up in Slytherin. Can you believe it?
I have five roommates. Samar Shafiq is as bold as she is curious. I wonder if her family comes from somewhere in the Middle East, though she says she's from the Sacred Twenty-Eight. She's got darker skin and this dark, curly hair, and she's rather tall for an eleven-year-old. She's got a sturdy build for a girl, but she holds herself well. She's one of those girls I would expect to see as a ringleader. I'd hate to get on her bad side.
Aislinn Galbraith is as Irish-looking as anyone I've ever seen. She's got this really red hair, freckles, and she's pretty small, but she's so very quiet. She's so timid I worry a breeze would startle her into a hole in the ground.
I can't quite figure out Evette Rathbone. She's about my height, with pale skin and really pretty golden-brown hair. She's friendly enough, but there's something about her that makes me uneasy. I can't explain it. Maybe I'm being too judgmental, but I think I will tread lightly and keep her at a distance for now.
Tanith Beckett comes from an older family. She doesn't belong to the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but I think her family is well-respected in the magical world. She's a bit haughty and proud of her family name, and I haven't quite made up my mind about her. She's always primping her hair, and Evette is always complimenting her "beautiful chesnut curls."
I think my last roommate has Short Girl Syndrome. Blair Resnick is even smaller than Aislinn, but she's a spitfire. She's cut her dark hair short and she looks like this little ball of pent-up rage. She scares me a little bit, but she's also quite witty. She says she "might not be one of you purebloods, but I'll be damned if I'm not at least as good if not better at magic than every single one of you." (It's not really swearing if I'm quoting her, Mum.) I think we could be friends. (Don't worry, I won't pick up bad language habits.)
Ava paused, nibbling her bottom lip while she searched for words to express what she wanted to. Already she'd written three pages describing her roommates. How much should she say about her conversation with Carina Malfoy?
Being in Slytherin is a bit strange. Lineage and blood are really important, which is why they all talk about their families so much. They all assume I'm from a magical family, but there are two prefects who know I'm not. One of them told me not to tell anybody I'm a muggleborn just yet… She says they'll bully me if they know you and Dad are muggles.
Ava stared at the paragraph for a long time, then scowled. She crumpled it up and tossed it in the fire. She didn't want her parents to know she was nervous about what would happen if her housemates found out she was a muggleborn, and she certainly didn't want them thinking she was ashamed of it. Instead she wrote about the common room, the selkies, the sign language, and the bond she shared with the other Slytherins. She wrote about looking forward to starting classes on Monday, and her excitement about this brave new world.
I'm going to see Alya at dinner soon. I'll write again when I have time. Give Dad my love, and give August a treat from me. I do miss having a dog close by, but hopefully he won't miss us too terribly. Good luck with your garden!
Love, Ava
With a satisfied nod, she folded her letter, sealed it, and tucked it in her pocket. She would ask one of the upperclassmen later how best to send it to her mother.
Despite Carina's warnings, Ava's first twenty-four hours as a secret muggleborn in Slytherin House had been fairly manageable. Most of her year mates had only briefly touched on their families at dinner on the first night, which Ava was grateful for in retrospect. The others had assumed that since she was in Slytherin, she must come from some magical family, albeit a lesser known one. Whenever the topic came up after her discussion with Carina, she deftly dodged questions and steered the conversation to safer waters.
She hadn't had a chance to speak to Alya all day, not even at lunchtime because Samar and Blair had dragged her away to explore the castle and practice some of the sign language they'd learned earlier. She liked them, and hoped they liked her well enough to stick around when it came out she was a muggleborn.
As though thinking of them had summoned Samar and Blair, the two girls swept into the common room and spotted Ava in a corner as she stowed away her quill and inkwell.
"Oh, have you been writing to your family? Excellent! We can take our letters to the Owlery together," Blair announced, waving a letter of her own. "Come on. If we hurry we can make it there and back before dinner."
"Do you have a letter too?" Ava asked Samar, who nodded.
"Have you seen Aislinn anywhere?" she asked, brushing her dark curls off her shoulder. "Evette and Tanith are still in our room, but Aislinn slipped out at some point and I can't figure out where she's gone. I wanted to see if she had a letter too."
"I think she went down to the lake chamber," Ava answered. "She's caught on really quickly to the sign language."
Sure enough, Aislinn was down in the glass chamber sitting cross-legged on the floor and signing slowly to the young selkie from their orientation. She startled when Samar, Blair, and Ava walked in, but accepted Samar's invitation to join them and said her goodbyes to the selkie.
Conversation was fairly easy on the way up to the Owlery as Samar and Blair debated the merits of owning an owl ("They're so much more useful!," insisted Samar) versus a cat ("They provide better companionship," said Blair), while Ava and Aislinn discussed sign language.
"I feel like my movements are still so clumsy, but you seem to be doing very well," Ava told her as they reached the top of the tower that housed the owls.
"I'm slow," Aislinn disagreed softly.
"But at least they can understand you. I fumble through the words and then change my mind about what to say halfway through my thought! It's rather frustrating."
That, at least, teased a small smile from Aislinn.
After watching her roommates send off their letters, Ava borrowed a school owl, a beautiful golden brown one, and quietly gave it her home address. She watched it for only a moment as it soared out one of the windows, then hurried to catch up to the other girls.
They chatted all the way down to the Great Hall where dinner was just beginning. As they stepped inside, Ava scanned the tables and found Alya among the Ravenclaws. Several of them had turned to stare at the new arrivals—no, Ava realized as her heart jumped into her throat. The Ravenclaws were staring at her.
As she watched, several of them put their heads together, whispering rapidly. Further up the table, Alya talked animatedly to her own year mates, unaware of the stir.
Ava had just turned to tell the other girls she was going to tell her sister something when someone grabbed her arm, pausing her just inside the doors. She looked up at a Ravenclaw boy a year or two older than her, who tilted his head as he scrutinized her.
"Hey, you're Alya's sister, right?" he asked. Ava tensed. Was it her imagination, or was his voice carrying a little too well in the vast hall? In her periphery, she saw Samar, Blair, and Aislinn stop as well, looking back at her questioningly.
"Yeah," she answered warily, glancing at her twin. Alya had perked up at the sound of her name.
"Amazing!" he said, his eyes glittering. "She says your parents are muggles though. Is that true?"
Ava's heart began to race as regular conversation died around them. She swallowed and tore her eyes from Alya to the Slytherin table. It was easy to spot Carina among the others, her piercing eyes locked on Ava. She gave no indication of what Ava should do. She just… sat and watched the exchange, lowering her goblet to the table.
"Well?" the Ravenclaw boy pressed, regaining Ava's attention. "Are you muggleborn?"
"Yes," she mumbled. Her cheeks warmed as questions passed from student to student and murmurs began to rise.
"But that can't be right," Samar cut in, coming to stand beside Ava with furrowed brows. "She was sorted into Slytherin. Everyone knows muggleborns aren't sorted into Slytherin. It simply isn't done. She can't possibly be a muggleborn."
By now Alya had stood and made her way to their little group, frowning.
"But we are muggleborn," she said, looking between Samar and her housemate. "Professor McGonagall had to bring our Hogwarts letters to us personally so she could explain about magic."
Samar's eyes widened and she turned to Ava. "You didn't tell us that." Her voice held a note of accusation.
"I was going to—"
"Didn't tell us what?" another voice interrupted. "Move over, Walsh, you're in the way." Evette squeezed through the door, followed closely by Tanith.
"Ava is a muggleborn," Samar explained flatly. Tanith and Evette stared at Samar, then at Ava and Alya, both frowning. While Tanith's frown was that of someone trying to work through a difficult math problem, however, Evette's was venomous.
"What do you mean she's a muggleborn?" she demanded. "She's a Slytherin!"
"I mean she has muggle parents," Samar snapped. "How much plainer do you need it to be?"
Evette gawked for a moment. "But that's impossible. Muggleborns don't belong in Slytherin. Everybody knows that."
"What's so wrong with muggleborns?" Alya wanted to know, an edge in her voice as she folded her arms.
Evette waved a hand dismissively. "Muggleborns aren't as pure, obviously, and therefore not as powerful. Slytherin House only accepts those of a pure lineage, and you and your sister aren't."
"Excuse me?" Alya shrieked.
The discussion was drawing more attention by the minute and Ava wished she could curl into herself and disappear. She had hoped for at least a few days to settle in before their lineage came out, but it was happening too fast.
"Maybe they aren't muggle-born," an older Ravenclaw boy suggested, standing up as well. "Maybe their mother had a fling with a wizard and didn't realize it. That would explain why Ava's in Slytherin." He flashed her what he must have thought was an encouraging smile, which Ava didn't bother to return.
"How dare you!" Alya shot back. "Our mother would never do such a thing!"
"Alya," Ava pleaded quietly. "Come on, let's go." Maybe they could go to the library until curfew. Alya didn't budge.
"Well, there has to be some sort of explanation," Evette insisted, propping her hands on her hips.
"Of course there's an explanation! The Sorting Hat saw that your system is bigoted and realized Slytherin House is a perfect fit for Ava and put her where she belongs, regardless of her blood status," Alya snapped. Evette glared at her.
"You clearly don't understand how magic works, but since you were raised by muggles, I'll explain it to you," Evette said as though speaking to a toddler. "The Sorting Hat is bound by the system set up by the four founders of Hogwarts. It can't put a muggleborn in Slytherin, ergo your parents can't both be muggles."
"You—" Alya cut herself off, rendered speechless by her own rage.
"The Sorting Hat knew I was muggleborn!" Ava burst. "It said as much when it sorted me!"
"Aw, poor lamb," Evette cooed. "Either that ratty old thing needs to be replaced, or maybe it was just telling you what you thought you knew."
Ava's blood ran cold. Could magic wear off of an item? Could it become faulty over time?
"In any case," Evette continued as she studied manicured nails, "you should be grateful. Being in Slytherin means your blood isn't tainted like you thought it was. You do come from a magical line. How wonderful for you." She smiled, but it was the Cheshire smile of a cat playing with a mouse. Ava gritted her teeth.
"Believe what you want," she spat. "My sister and I are muggleborn, and we are proud of it."
Evette narrowed her eyes. "You would reject your own magical heritage?" She took a step closer to Ava, who held her ground as the air crackled with furious energy. "You're a disgrace to Salazar Slytherin."
"That's enough, girls." Carina had appeared and stepped between them, though Ava would have liked nothing more than to leap at Evette Rathbone and tear her perfect hair out and chip her stupid nails on the flagstones.
"But she—" Alya protested. Ava squeezed her arm more tightly to silence her. Alya turned to her, confused at Ava's slight shake of her head.
"Go on, then," Carina told the group. "Take your seats. I'd like to finish my meal before it gets any colder. You too, Ava." She gave Ava a meaningful look that said, don't let them see you bothered.
Begrudgingly, Ava followed Carina to the Slytherin table. The blonde prefect sat back down with her friends, but of Ava's roommates, only Aislinn cast a brief backward glance at her. Samar refused to look at her, even straddling a space that could have fit both of them between Aislinn and Blair. Ava hesitated, wondering if Samar might budge. When she didn't, Ava moved to an empty space at the end of the table.
Ava made an effort to fill her plate, but the speculations and whispers still reached her ears. Affairs, memory charms, secret adoptions—all were foolish theories, but all seemed plausible to the student body. She tried to force some of her meal down, but her stomach had shrunken in on itself in humiliation. She wanted to run from the hall, wanted to escape the onslaught of whispering, accusing looks from the Slytherins, and Alya's questioning gaze.
When she deemed an acceptable amount of time had passed, she rose from the table and headed for the door. Alya caught up with her in the entrance hall.
"Um, care to explain what happened in there?" she said. Ava glanced over her shoulder to ensure they weren't being followed, then repeated her conversation with Carina Malfoy the night before.
"I wanted to talk to you after breakfast this morning, but I couldn't find you," Ava finished. "Then I had sign language lessons before lunch and practice after…"
"Sign language practice?"
"It's a Slytherin thing. The point is, Slytherin House will either hate us for being muggleborns, or they'll refuse to admit we're muggleborns at all." Ava halted in the corridor outside the library, hanging her head. "I'm so sorry, Alya. If I were in Ravenclaw with you, we wouldn't have to deal with this."
Alya was silent for a long moment, then Ava felt the familiar warmth of her twin's hand in hers.
"We'll be okay," she said confidently. "This can't be any worse than the bullying in primary school."
Somehow, Ava wasn't so sure.
Hermione Granger checked her watch, cursed under her breath, and started gathering her books. She'd come across a terribly intriguing passage in her Ancient Runes textbook and had stopped by the library before lunch to track down further material on the subject. She'd fallen down something of a rabbit hole then and was only just realizing she had only fifteen minutes to get down to the Great Hall and grab something to eat.
She forced herself not to run to Madam Pince's desk, but once she'd checked out her stack of six books, she bolted out the door and ignored the librarian's indignant squawk. She sidestepped the two first year girls lingering outside the library doors, cast an apology over her shoulder, and raced for the stairs.
It was a near thing, but she made it to the doors of the Great Hall with seven minutes to spare. She was not surprised that Harry and Ron were still there, talking animatedly as they cast their eyes toward the Slytherin table.
"Where've you been?" Ron burst when she slid onto the bench acoss from them. "You've just missed it!"
"I was at the—"
"Library," Harry finished for her with a grin. She swatted him and began to load a plate.
"Yes, actually. I was reading about Sanskrit in my Ancient Runes textbook and—"
"Never mind that," Ron cut her off. "Did you know there was a muggleborn Sorted into Slytherin last night?"
Hermione's head snapped up and her hand jerked involuntarily, scattering her chips. She blinked at the boys for a moment, wondering if she'd heard them right.
"What?"
"It's true!" Neville cut in. "They had a big argument about it a bit before you came in."
"Hang on, start from the beginning," Hermione demanded. She worked through two sandwiches while her classmates recounted the scene to her, her brow furrowing.
"And they're certain they're muggleborn?" she asked when they finished.
"They both say so," Harry said with a shrug. "The Slytherin one even says the Sorting Hat told her she's a muggleborn."
Hermione frowned, trying to fit the pieces together. "That doesn't make any sense though. Why would the Sorting Hat place her there if it knows she's a muggleborn?"
"Maybe she lied about the Sorting Hat," Ron suggested, but Hermione shook her head.
"I don't think so. The Slytherins would be more likely to accept her if she said the Sorting Hat told her she did come from a magical family, not that she's muggleborn, unless she was trying to spare her sister…" Hermione trailed off, turning it over in her head.
"Well, you're muggleborn. What would you have done?" Harry asked.
Hermione mulled it over. "I'm not sure. I'd have to think about it." She glanced past the boys at the Slytherin table, scanning the youngest faces. "Who did you say it was?"
"The Walsh twins," Seamus replied. "They're not over there anymore though. They left just before you arrived."
About to turn back to her food, Hermione paused. An all-too-familiar blond boy rose from the table and her stomach twisted at the disgust written on his face.
"Those poor girls," she murmured.
"What do you mean?"
"The Malfoys will eat them alive," Hermione explained as Draco paused to speak to his sister.
Harry and Ron shared a dark look and Hermione pushed her plate away. Draco's taunting was grating enough with him being in a separate House. She couldn't imagine what the bullying would be like for the girl spending so much of her time in close proximity to both Malfoy siblings. She worried her lip between her teeth.
"Do you think they'll be alright?" she asked.
"I reckon the Ravenclaw twin will," said Ron. "I dunno about the other one though. The Slytherins are ruthless."
"That's what worries me." She checked her watch and sighed as the dishes were magically cleared away. At least she'd gotten part of a meal, no matter how sour it felt in her stomach now.
Hermione followed the boys down to the lake, but her thoughts were far from the warm sunshine on her back and the chill of the water on her toes as she waded in the shallows. Instead, she remembered. She remembered her first two months at Hogwarts, the loneliness, the anxiety of doing something wrong, the silent tears dripping onto her pillowcase long after the other girls in her dorm had gone to sleep.
Hermione ached, both for the girl she had been and the girl Sorted into a House who would damn her for her blood. She'd been lucky to find friendship in Harry and Ron. She offered a silent prayer that, somehow, the Slytherin girl would find friends to ease her sorrows, too.
