Disclaimer: Don't you get it yet? I don't freaking own him!
Of Travel and Sortings
"You're famous? You're bloody famous and you didn't even know it!" Silver yelled incredulously.
"Keep your voice down!" Harry hissed.
Silver looked at him strangely, while Ron let out a burst of laughter. "Oh, get over yourself, mate. They'll find out sooner or later," he sighed. "He doesn't like to be hounded about his being famous. Ever since Creevey formed the Harry Potter fan club.."
Silver sniggered, while Hermione glared lightly at Ron. "Well, it must be rather torturous having a bunch of first years chase you," she said sympathetically. "But of course you wouldn't bother to care, Ron."
Ron's eyes darkened slightly, but it disappeared in an instant. "Say, Silver, how did you snap Malfoy's wand?"
"You snapped Malfoy's wand?" Harry asked eagerly.
Silver nodded, and proceeded to tell them the story of what had happened on the platform. Upon finishing, the two boys stared at her openmouthed, while Hermione looked at her thoughtfully.
"That's interesting," she remarked quietly.
"What is, 'Mione?" Ron asked curiously, leaning over her to the book she was pulling out of her bag. "What's that? Maya Ligardelli's Guide to Muggle Magic?"
"We learned about it in Muggle Studies," Hermione explained. "Once in a while, some Muggles get a bit of magical talent. Not enough to go to Hogwarts, but
mainly they can tell if there's a bit of magic being performed around them. But they're not actually all that rare, you get a few every decade or so."
"But what does that have to do with me?" Silver interjected.
"Well, there's also the Muggles that have extremely powerful magic powers. These are extremely rare, and come around maybe once in a millennium, if we're lucky. Silver, I think you're an Elementor."
"Elementor? That sounds like a Dementor," Ron mused, and Harry flinched.
"What's a Dementor?" Silver asked.
"They guard the wizards' prison, Azkaban," Harry said shortly. "They get rid of all happy memories and leave you remembering only the bad ones."
"Oh," Silver said quietly.
An uncomfortable silence settled between the four, before Ron cleared his throat. "So, 'Mione, what is an Elementor?"
"An Elementor is the opposite of a Dementor, and they are purely good. They can create things out of the fire, water, air, and earth, and they have powerful love magic. It's said that You-Know-Who fell in love with an Elementor once."
Ron's eyes widened. "Really? So that means that Elementors are basically magically perfect."
Hermione shook her head. 'No, not necessarily. Elementors have quick tempers and are weak when faced with death of another. There are other weaknesses as well, but I can't remember them."
"That doesn't make any sense though," Harry told her, frowning. "If Silver's an Elementor, how can she be a Muggle?"
Hermione frowned. "I'm not sure. You'll have to ask Professor Dumbledore for that."
"So, the Mudblood know-it-all doesn't know something. That's a first," a cold drawl came from the compartment.
Silver spun around to face Malfoy, and Ron and Harry both made furious grabs for their wands. But before either could do anything, Hermione pointed her wand at Malfoy's throat, leaving him trembling in fear.
"I am not a Mudblood, Malfoy, but a Muggle-born," she spat at him. "And I am thoroughly intending to enjoy my last year at Hogwarts, and you better not ruin it or I'll hex you to the other side of Venus and then turn you over to my new friend Silver here," she threatened, smirking at the look of obvious terror on Malfoy's face. Oh, and 20 points from Slytherin for using rude names," she called at his back.
He turned around and marched back in. "20 points? You can't do that!" he protested.
"On the contrary, Malfoy, if you haven't noticed, I am Head Girl, and Ron is Head Boy, just in case you're blind as well as dumb."
But Malfoy was gaping at her. "Head students? He made the Mudbood and the Weasel Head students? He's gone loony, Dumbledore has. By the way, Weasel, I suppose your parents were proud. Did your mother die of shock?"
Whatever response Malfoy had been expecting, it obviously had not been for Ron to grasp him by the neck of his robes. "Don't you dare talk about my mother," he swore at him. "She's sick, you git, sick because of some bloody curse sent her way by the attack on Diagon Alley. Don't you dare insult her."
Was that a flicker of sympathy in Malfoy's eyes? Silver brushed it off, and the train screeched to a stop. Gathering her things from the seat, she watched Harry turn to the blond boy.
"Malfoy, what happened to your flunkies? Where are Crabbe and Goyle?"Malfoy's eyes hardened. "Aren't you in touch with the wizarding world, Potter? All the Slytherins left. They went to Durmstrang."
"What about you?" Ron demanded.
Malfoy glared at him, then let out a sigh of defeat. "My father and mother had a fight. She didn't want me to go so far away, and he had to give in. I'm probably the only Slytherin still here."
"And that's a bad thing?" Ron asked sarcastically.
Hermione sighed. "Honestly, Ron, you have no tact."
Malfoy glared at Ron, Then stalked off to another carriage. Hermione, Ron, Harry, Silver, and Ginny climbed aboard. Ginny looked at Silver curiously. "Hello. I don't think we've met before. I'm Ginny," she said, holding out her hand.
"Silver Seltzer," Silver replied. "I'm new here, so that's why you haven't seen me. By the way, don't ask him yet. Wait for it."
They stared at her. "How did you know what I was thinking?" Ginny asked suspiciously.
"What? Oh, that. I don't know. I'm sorry," she told Ginny.
"Wait for who?" Harry wanted to know. Hermione hushed him, and they spent the rest of the carriage ride in silence.
The Great Hall was a bustle of rumors when they arrived. Ginny went off with her friends, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione took Silver to the Gryffindor table, where she was introduced to everyone they knew. It seemed that the topic of conversation was the Slytherin table. True to Malfoy's prediction, he was the only student sitting there. There was no doubt why the Slytherins had went to Durmstrang. It was obvious they were preparing for the Dark Arts. The one question that penetrated everyone's mind was what Malfoy was still doing at Hogwarts. Of course, Silver already knew, but she suspected that Malfoy had not been entirely truthful.
Dumbledore raised his hand, and the sorting of the first-years began. After Charles Weber was sorted into Hufflepuff, the murmuring began again, obviously assuming that the sorting was over. Dumbledore, however raised his hand again.
"As I'm sure many of you have noticed, there have been no students sorted into Slytherin House tonight. Unfortunately, all the other Slytherins have trarnsferred into Durmstrang. As for obvious reasons, we cannot have a house with only one student in it, and that student will have to be resorted. Mr. Malfoy, if you please."
Malfoy walked up to the stool resolutely with his mouth set in a thin line. Sitting down, he plunked the hat down on his head. The hall held its breath, and after a tense moment, the hat murmured something.
"Sorry, couldn't hear that," Dumbledore said cheerily.
"Gryffindor."
A stunned silence filled the hall, and then hushed conversation took its place.
Across from her, Silver saw Ron's mouth open in shock. Mind reeling, she looked back at Malfoy. According to what Harry had told her earlier, Gryffindor was for the brave and Slytherin for the ambitious, and the two were bitter rivals. Logically, that would mean that Malfoy had done something abnormally brave over the summer. Now if she could only figure out what.
Silver was jolted out of her thoughts as Dumbledore raised his hand again. "As some of you may already know, we will have a new 7th year student this year. She is, as we have recently discovered, an Elementor."
There were a few murmurs of recognition and some mutters of confusion from the younger students.
"For those of you who do not know what that is, I highly recommend Maya Ligardellli's Guide to Muggle Magic. For those of you too lazy, please ask either Hermione Granger or Ronald Weasley, our new Head Boy and Girl. I would go to Miss Granger, however."
Some of the older students laughed, and Hermione blushed.
"Now, would Silver Seltzer please step up to the Sorting Hat?" Dumbledore asked over the commotion.
Silver stood and felt hot pink tinge her cheeks as all eyes turned to her. But, determined to make a good first impression, she stood tall and sat on the stool, placing the hat cautiously on her head, and waited.
She jumped as suddenly a voice filled her head.
"Mmm, you're complicated. Very complicated."
"Huh? What was that?" Silver asked.
"I'm the hat, honey. Very smart and knowledgeable, and much older than you are. You've got a very interesting future, honey, but where to put you? Slytherin's out of the question of course, and you're much too smart to be in Hufflepuff. Yet, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor both seem suitable. Hmm, well, I really am quite unsure. Oh, no, wait a moment. Oh that? Oh, yes that's quite characteristic. No doubt about it, you will be spending your year in GRYFFINDOR!"
The Gryffindor table burst into applause. Blushing, Silver placed the hat gently on the stool and ran down to it, scooting in next to Hermione. Glancing around the table, she met many smiling faces, but zeroed in on Malfoy's, which portrayed a mix of confusion and anger. However, she had no time to dwell on it as Dumbledore clapped his hands again.
"Again, all students are reminded that they are not to go into the Forbidden Forest. Misses Seltzer and Granger, and Misters Malfoy, Potter, and Weasley, please come to my office after dinner. But now, let us eat!"
Heaps of delicious-looking food appeared on the plate, and Silver and her newly acquired friends wasted no time digging in. However, just one person surveyed the hall and ignored the food, troubled and too preoccupied to eat.
A/N: You know. REVIEW!
