Summary: Due to promote unity of the school, the whole of Hogwarts is resorted. What will happen as Hermione gets separated from the trio? What exactly is her role in the war? Rating – PG-13. (might change. HGSS)
Disclaimer: I own nothing here except the plot. (whatever, I don't know how to write long disclaimers)
Chapter 1: Unexpected
Hermione looked forward to the beginning-of-year feast. It was her last year of Hogwarts and she looked at the approaching castle eagerly, knowing that this will be her last time as a student to look upon the massive, impressive view. Even Harry and Ron, as unsentimental as they are, were silent for once.
"Hurry up! I am starving!" Ron grumbled.
The sorting finally finished, but the surprise has just started. For just then, Dumbledore stood up and announced, "Welcome to another year to Hogwarts. I really hope that all of you have had a good holiday and are finished emptying your brains. After all, coming to school has the purpose of filling them up again." People chuckled at that. "Now, to graver matters. I am sure many of you have heard of Voldemort (many flinched). Three years ago, I have said that only in unity, will the school survive this war. The sorting hat has kindly reminded you of it in its marvelous song. This year, a new, shall I say, policy will be implemented. All of you will be resorted this year into new houses, in which you are to mix around with your new housemates and treat them as you have so far treated you housemates. This will also be a chance for all of you to know your schoolmates better. The new sorting will take place after the long awaited dinner." With that, Dumbledore sat back down.
There was a buzz as the talking grew louder. Hermione was shocked by the news. Harry looked up at Dumbledore but he only winked. Only Ron seemed unperturbed.
"Well, I 'm sure we'll both be sorted back into Gryffindor. Come on both of you. Why the unhappy look?" he said as he started to shove food into his mouth, quenching his hunger.
"What if we're separated?" Harry asked.
Hermione was at a loss of what to say. She ate very little, remembering her first sorting six years ago. At first, the sorting hat had told her that she would make a splendid Ravenclaw. What if she was sorted into Ravenclaw? What about Harry and Ron? She couldn't bear being separated from them.
The whole meal was a blur. Harry and Ron were arguing about what would happen to the Quidditch team. Both of them were optimistic that they would get into Gryffindor. Hermione wasn't. Before long, desert was served while the sorting began. They started with the second year. After the long wait...
"Finnigan, Seamus." Professor McGonagall's voice rang out.
"Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted almost at once as it touched his head. Gloomily, Seamus moved to the Hufflepuff table.
Hermione felt as if her stomach contained lead. She knew it was her turn and before Professor McGonagall called out her name, she already stood and walked towards the stool where the hat sat.
The hat dropped over her eyes and Hermione gripped the edge of the stool tightly. "Hmmn, you have changed since the last time I sorted you. You'll still make a good Ravenclaw...yes, but there's something else. Great ambition. Talent for magic. No more foolish bravery too. Certainly not a dunderhead." All the while, Hermione's mind felt blank. "Well, well, a change of scene might be in order. That makes you a..."
"Slytherin!"
As Hermione stood up, she felt sick. Slytherin. The house she had hated for as long as she knew. What would Harry and Ron say? Hermione also realized that so far, she had been the only Gryffindor who had been sorted into the serpent house. Numbly, she made her way to the Slytherin table.
Promoting unity was one thing. Going into a house where muggle-borns are considered filth is another thing. Shut it Mione, this is what its all about, going into another house so that the whole population have an even mix, a part of her mind chided her. But is it what she was expecting? Not this, another voice said.
Shutting those thoughts off her mind, Hermione steeled herself and sat down beside a Slytherin girl she did not know. The hat was sorting Malfoy now and he was sorted back into Slytherin. The first remark he said when he sat down opposite her was, "Welcome to the serpents den, mudblood." He smirked.
Hermione ignored him. She had changed in the past few years and she knew it. She was no longer easily provoked. From the warm and friendly girl who was open with her emotions, she changed into a calculating person, and developed an astonishing amount of self-control and cunning. If the hat thought she would make a good Slytherin, she would lift her head high and accept the challenge.
Very soon, it was Harry's turn. To her envy, both Ron and Harry had been sorted back into Gryffindor. In fact, she was the only Gryffindor transferred to Slytherin. There were few people in Slytherin who went to other houses and only a couple of Ravenclaws and a few Hufflepuff came over. Ron and Harry tried to catch her eye but she resolutely turned away. She wasn't ready to face this yet.
She surveyed the people around her. Malfoy was opposite her, with Pansy Parkinson leaning on him, trying to get his attention. Malfoy looked really irked. The source of his irritation soon became clear to Hermione. Both Crabbe and Goyle had been sorted to Hufflepuff, to his annoyance. Good, he lost his bodyguards, Hermione thought.
The sorting finished as Blaise Zabini came over to the Slytherin table and sat with her. Dumbledore stood up once again. "And now, before you go to bed, I need to introduce to you our Head Boy and Girl. Our new Head Boy this year will be Mr. Neville Longbottom, from Ravenclaw house, previously in Gryffindor." There was much applause. Neville is a rather likable person, despite his faults. Neville stood up and waved.
"As for our new Head Girl, we did not have the chance to send her the letter due to some....ah...unforeseen circumstances. May I announce to you, the Head Girl for this year would be Miss Hermione Granger from Slytherin house, previously from Gryffindor." There were applause for her too, but less as many took in the situation. Hermione Granger, the famous Harry Potter's friend, teacher's pet, bossy-know-it-all, in Slytherin? She caught Dumbledore's glance at her. Was it disbelief that she had actually made it to Slytherin house? Or pity? Or did she just imagined it?
Hermione was not surprised at this. She had hoped she could be Head Girl ever since she had been made prefect but she never gave it much thought. She stood up slowly and attempted a feeble smile. Malfoy had just whispered something to her. She did not actually catch it but it sounded like an insult.
"As many of you do not know the location of your new houses yet, your head of house would lead you there. Now, off you trot to bed. Sleep tight and may you dream of bedbugs tonight." With that, each head of house led their students to their respective sleeping areas. With a pang, Hermione realized that she would not be working with her best friends in the cozy Gryffindor common room anymore. Her room would also have changed, not that it mattered though. As head girl, she would have the privilege of having her own bedroom.
Snape, with his customary black robes billowing around him as usual, let the students without so much as a word as a backward glance. He walked briskly, with a slight wince as Hermione's sharp eye noticed. What had happened, she wondered. Does it have to do with Death Eater meetings, she mused.
Instead of the tiring climb, they made many descends through sloped hallways and tunnels. She had never seen this parts of Hogwarts before, she reflected. She walked silently, without a partner, right behind Snape. The made many turnings and finally reached the Slytherin dormitory. It was guarded by two serpents and a round stone door. It was just as she expected, green, cold and uninviting, not to mention windowless. Even though the fire was lighted, she felt cold. As there weren't many transfer students, Snape left it to the students to find their own rooms. Just as Hermione proceeded to look for her rooms, Snape called her. "Miss Granger, a word please. Come to my office shortly." He exited.
Being a tower, the Gryffindor dormitory led upwards while the Slytherin dormitory led downwards. She climbed down through the winding staircase and reached the bottom most and reached an intricately designed wooden oak door. There was a silver plaque on the door, with a snake on it and the words "HEAD GIRL" in bold. Gingerly, she turned the handle and looked inside.
It opened to a spacious study room, with tables and couches so that she need not study in the common room. There was even a fireplace with rugs (of green). There was a cozy arm chair set beside the fireplace, which painfully reminded her of her grandparents' house, where her grandmother used to sit in the rocking chair knitting sweaters for her. There were many portraits on the wall, and awards she assumed belonged to the previous head students. Opposite the fireplace was a door leading to her bedroom. She pushed it open and found a four-poster bed with cozy looking quilts. There was a curtained window, which aroused her curiosity. After all, this is the dungeon. It showed the night sky outside, enchanted no doubt. Her bathroom was spacious, even though it was a tad too silver and green to her liking, after six years exposure to the warm and friendly colour of red and gold. However, all in all, she had to agree that the place was luxurious, and way beyond her expectations.
Hermione went into the bathroom to tidy herself and took off her scarves and other unnecessary clothes before making her way to Snape's office, wondering what he wanted. It must be just some head girl notices, she thought.
She knocked the door and immediately hears Professor Snape's voice telling her to come in. To her surprise, besides Snape, Professor McGonagall and even the headmaster was there.
"Ah, good evening Miss Granger. Have a seat. You must be wondering why you are here. I trust you are surprised why you did not receive the letter informing you of your position as head girl in the holidays. There is a reason to that, although I must say that surprises are often good for the soul. You don't need to worry about that." Dumbledore said, with the ever- present twinkle of his eyes.
"I am not worried professor, just surprised. I assume you have other issues to discuss with me other that this." Hermione answered.
"Oh yes. You are sharp enough Miss Granger. Good, good...Now to more important things. Are you aware that you are the only Gryffindor sorted into Slytherin house?"
Hermione nodded, wondering where this is going to lead. Is it too much to hope for that she be allowed to go back to Gryffindor because of this?
"Much as I like a more even mix, friendship between students of both houses has not been that strong. In fact, I did not really expect you to be sorted into Slytherin. However, the sorting hat always has its own reason. It is much wiser that all of us, having seen much more years." Dumbledore paused at this.
Hermione took advantage of it and asked, "and do you know why, sir?"
"We do not know. For now we can only guess. Minerva here has been telling me that you have nearly finished all the books in the school library. I must say it is quite an accomplishment. I must say even I myself did not come close to that. Of course, I am a hopeless cook and sad to say, did not find the subject fascinating, and thus neglected to read up books regarding that subject." Hermione giggled at this. She could mentally picture Dumbledore in an apron and a tall chef hat trying to juggle his cooking.
"It is Minerva's wish that you be allowed access to certain parts of the restricted sections of the library. I need not tell you the rules, I expect that you know them already. Also, you will have advanced training of Defense Against the Dark Arts here with Professor Snape who has kindly consented to take you as one of his students." Snape grunted at that comment, otherwise his face passive.
Hermione was elated with the news that she would not be running out of books to read. The restricted sections is after all, to her knowledge, more than ten times bigger than the usual parts open to all students.
"Hermione, you are just the sort of student Salazar Slytherin would have chosen for his house. And moreover of your achievements over the past years, not to mention your little...adventures with Harry and Ron, often making me wonder whether I should expel all three of you or not." She looked alarmed at this but decided that Dumbledore was just joking.
"I am not Sybil Trelawney and do not know how to predict the future. However, I think that you might have a bigger role than you think in the war against Voldemort. Therefore, I hope you will study hard to prepare yourself." His tone has become more somber as he continued. "Perhaps, someday you'll understand. For now, child, just study hard and do your best. You will understand..."
Understand what? Hermione thought. Why was Dumbledore being so mysterious to her? Why did he call her 'child'? Did he think she was incapable of receiving the information? Or did he not know what lay in store for them either? Hermione could not tell.
"Albus, I think that is enough..." Professor McGonagall cut in.
"One more thing, Minerva. I trust you can be sworn to secrecy Hermione?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "You are the only one in Slytherin, with the exception of Severus here of course, who knows of the Order of the Phoenix. Do not and never, in any circumstances, repeat to anyone in Slytherin, or for that matter anyone else, about what you know of the Order. I am sure you understand the implications. If you come across any happenings, please come to Severus, Minerva or myself at once. Good night and I'll leave you to Severus to discuss other housekeeping matters."
Professor McGonagall smiled ruefully and said, "looks like I've lost my best student. Be well, Hermione and don't be afraid to look me up, even though I am no longer your head-of-house. Goodnight."
With that, both of them left Hermione to a tired-looking Snape.
"You know your duties as head-girl?" Hermione nodded. "Well, in that case, I do not have much to say. You'll be working along with Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson, the other two prefects of Slytherin. I hope there will be no problems to that or I will give all three of you detentions, Slytherins or not." Hermione was rather surprised at this declaration. Snape usually favours his house. Well, she was in his house now.
"Also Miss Granger, being a former Gryffindor, I do not know how well you will adapt to your new surroundings. I can only advise you to be careful and keep your eyes and ears open all the time. You're dismissed."
Snape give her advice? It was ridiculous, as she thought back about it. Snape hated her and did not make and pretenses that he did not. Being the friend of Harry Potter has that disadvantage, she noted wryly. Working along with Malfoy and that simpering idiot of a Parkinson might prove to be hard.
I can do it, Hermione decided resolutely. Mudblood or not, it was her duty to and she will do whatever she can. Hermione was not fool either. What Dumbledore and Snape said made sense. No matter what purpose the hat has of sending her to Slytherin, Dumbledore had made it to his advantage and in other words, she would act like a sort of spy of the students. Any junior Death Eater activities are to be reported to those three. Not that she would pick up much, Hermione thought. She was an outsider and she knew it perfectly.
Well, I'll show them I can play the game properly too, she thought. If this were going to help in the war, she would do it. She immersed herself in the newfound resolution and walked into the almost deserted common room and made her way to her room, the strangeness of it all unnoticed as she was tired. She decided to turn in early.
I still have Harry and Ron to face in the morning, she thought and went to sleep promptly.
I know I should be working on other works but really, I am stuck. Besides, if I ever write the Green Flame Torch, I will wind up writing nonsense. At least I think this is original. Comments?