Amethyst woke to a shaft of sunlight falling across the bed and setting her hair ablaze. She lay in the luxurious softness for a few more minutes before deciding to get up. Her perfectly arched dainty white feet hit the polished wood floor with a soft pat. Amethyst ducked her head under the bed and bid good morning to her mice friends.

Amethyst looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her red hair with its streaks of silver and gold hung in gleaming waves down her back. Amethyst sighed deeply and her violet eyes reflected a sense of melancholy. All her life she had been made to feel ashamed of her looks. Amethyst wondered how the teachers and students would react to her appearance. Would they find her as repulsive as her grandfather said she was?

To tell the truth, Amethyst was horribly nervous. She would have to be sorted into a house, and she didn't know what to expect. She had a terrible feeling that she knew which house her grandfather would want her sorted into, if he had allowed her to attend Hogwarts: Slytherin. Considering what she was and who her grandfather was, it would only make sense. Or what, as Amethyst feared, if she didn't belong anywhere? What if she fit equally into every house and couldn't be put into just one?

Amethyst swallowed her fears and picked up her magical golden brush. As she brushed her hair, she felt her nervousness subside. It always happened. Whenever she brushed her hair, she immediately felt better, happier and more confident. It was as though her mother were there, stroking Amethyst's hair and reassuring her.

Amethyst was ready and waiting when Professor Dumbledore came to get her and escort her down to the Great Hall.

"You'll have to wait outside the Great Hall until all the students are seated," he said. "Then you can come in, and we will have a sorting ceremony just for you."

Amethyst nodded and watched Dumbledore go into the hall. She was standing all alone outside the doors – but she didn't feel sorry for herself. She had spent far too much time alone for that. But she was feeling nervous.

The students' chattering had died down inside the Great Hall, and Dumbledore's voice came floating out.

"We have a new student with us who will be starting at Hogwarts today. Unlike our first years, who are also beginning their classes today, she will be going directly into sixth year. Before that happens, however, we must see which house she belongs in. Please welcome Amethyst Serenity Leithian Silverhill!"

The doors flew open, and Amethyst stood in the doorway. All the students turned to look at the newcomer, and Amethyst slowly made her way up the aisle to where Dumbledore stood. She could hear whispers and mutterings from the students. As she passed, boys turned their heads to gawk and many girls narrowed their eyes in obvious jealousy.

When she reached the front of the room, another professor gave her a stool and placed an old hat on Amethyst's head. Immediately Amethyst could hear the hat's voice.

"Well, well, well. King Darksphere's granddaughter! That's very interesting. Now, where to put you, Amethyst Darksphere..."

Not Amethyst Darksphere, please, Amethyst thought desperately. Amethyst Silverhill. I don't want to be a Darksphere.

"But you are a Darksphere," the hat replied. "Whether you like it or not, it's a part of who you are. You have Darksphere traits, oh, yes. Soundly Slytherin traits: cunning, ambition, a disregard for rules."

The hat chuckled. "But there is more to you than that. You could be in Ravenclaw. You have one of the most brilliant minds I've seen. You love learning, and you'd be happy in Ravenclaw. And you have the work ethic and loyalty to make an excellent Hufflepuff. But somehow, I don't think either of those houses is right for you. You deserve to be in a house that's the center of attention, like Slytherin—"

But what about Gryffindor? Amethyst thought.

The hat laughed again. "I was just getting there. You deserve to be in a house that's the center of attention, like Slytherin or Gryffindor. Yes, you would make a good Slytherin. But you also have the heart of a lion. You are very brave, Amethyst Serenity Leithian Silverhill. And I'm not sure which house you would be best in. So now I put it to you: What house do you want to be in?

Gryffindor, Amethyst thought promptly.

"Very well, then," the hat said. "GRYFFINDOR!"