As much as I love the books, I regret to say that all of Harry Potter belongs to J K Rowling. This includes all of the characters except for Ryua (who's mine) most of the places, and an awful lot of the spells. Oh, and if you see something that looks like one of your stories, I'm really, really sorry. I don't mean to plagiarize. I've just read a lot of really cool fanfics, and they melt into my brain, but I'll try not to use any of it.

Hogwarts and the Sorting

Ryua smoothly walked off of the train and looked around. The sun had just finished setting, and the sky was a soft velvet blue. The still lake reflected the crystal stars and the turrets of Hogwarts glowed a warm gold. A bellow came from the beach "Firs' years, over here! Alright there, Harry?" She turned towards the voice, and saw a huge man beckoning them towards a fleet of boats. Deep down, Ryua wished someone would ask if she were alright, but then buried it under a thick layer of self-independence. She knew she could take care of herself.

They all loaded into boats, Ryua stubbornly sitting with a pair of twin girls who introduced themselves as Padma and Parvati Patil rather than her useless brother who was still attempting to look dignified even with the occasional hiccupping giggle. They glided out across the lake, and under an ivy draped cave onto a beach with a winding stair. At the top, they came out into the Hogwarts entrance hall, where they were intercepted by a stern looking witch who directed them into a smaller room. She gave them a speech about the four houses, which was distressingly vague. She already knew about Slytherin, of course, but her family always talked about the other three with disdain, loathing Gryffindor, looking down on Hufflepuff, and ignoring Ravenclaw. She was cautious, and wanted to know what kind of a house she would end up in.

When they all filed into the Great Hall, after a slight interruption by the school ghosts, Ryua saw the four house tables and the head table all filled with staring eyes. Luckily, when the hat started to sing, she got some of her answers. So, the chivalrous and brave at heart go to Gryffindor, she thought, and loyal hard workers to Hufflepuff, intellectuals to Ravenclaw, and ruthless, cunning people to Slytherin. She was optimistic when the hat said, "You're in safe hands..." hoping for a true, honest impartial judge for the first time in her life. Maybe she could finally start living her own destiny...

"Abbott, Hannah!" The sorting had started. Ryua looked coolly on the proceedings, although her heart was vibrating with a hope and excitement she couldn't remember often having. This was her chance, her first chance to live her own life, to be judged for the things she had to keep hidden from the world in order to survive her family, and maybe get a measure of freedom from her father's harsh rule.

"Malfoy, Draco!" How had so many of them passed already? Sure enough, her brother swaggered up from the half as large line of first years, and was sorted Slytherin the moment the hat touched his sleek blond head. "Malfoy, Ryua!" Ryua stepped forward, trying not to let her trembling hands show. She sat perfectly upright on the stool, as her mother was always trying to get her to do, and the hat was lowered to her head. Just one more second, and she could be free from her family's tight rule... "Slytherin!" the hat screamed. What? Ryua thought furiously, You never even looked at my mind, how can you know where I belong... but it was too late. The hat was lifted up, and she had no choice but to sweep off to her new table. Curse this useless Dark Pureblood! It's not fair! I don't want to be in Slytherin, it didn't even give me a chance once it saw my bloodlines. Oh, (she said something that would have earned her a spectacular set of welts for 'unladylike behavior' at home) I don't want to be judged by my ancestry. Ryua sat at one end of the table, barely noticing Potter sorted into Gryffindor or the headmaster's speech after 'Blaise, Zabini' became the newest Slytherin. She mechanically ate some Yorkshire pudding and a small piece of chicken, all the while in a stupor, not even acknowledging some Slytherin prefect across from her. She took one strawberry from the dessert spread, vaguely storing Dumbledore's speech in the back of her mind for later, but paid attention to the school song, noting how much more cheery the other houses were in their renditions.

They were released from the feast, and the Slytherins descended a few staircases when she heard the prefect say "Darklight" to a blank section of wall. A door swung outward to reveal a low, dark room lit by chain-suspended green lights and a large fireplace. Ryua quietly followed Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson to the girls' dorms and sat numbly on her bed. Luckily, the other two took her aloofness as a superior's wish not to be disturbed and so did not talk to her. Ryua drew her dark green curtains about her black quilted bed, and fumbled into her pajamas she secretly bought at Madam Malkin's two weeks ago.

Even in the near darkness, she could see their bright red color, and a lump caught in her throat. She had so hoped to be free of her family's restrictions, and now was tied into Slytherin, and all hope of being free to wear bright colors and flamboyant emotions was squashed. For the first time in five years, a tear gathered at the corner of Ryua's ice-blue eyes and trickled down her cheek. She sat there in the dark, silently weeping for her lost chance at freedom.