"Ma'am?" Usagi shrunk under the fierce stare that the professor was giving her, stepping more timidly the closer she got to the stern looking woman. McGonagall analyzed every move the blonde made as she approached, making Usagi feel somewhat like the prey of some dangerous wild animal. 'Come off it, Usagi, you sound like an idiot.'
"Dumbledore doesn't want you seated with the other students until you've been sorted." The woman explained, but Usagi didn't feel very enlightened. She trailed McGonagall wordlessly down a path that she wouldn't have noticed otherwise. Her mind drifted to the endless methods of sorting she could be put through and how very few of them she might be successful in.
'They might just throw me out with all the skill I have,' she mused dully, looking up at the huge entrance to Hogwarts castle. The whole place was very large and intimidating, she noted, letting McGonagall open the wooden doors. Instead of entering the conventional route, the professor led her to the staff doorway around the corner. Not many noticed their quite appearance as the blonde was ushered to a seat at the teacher's table.
Or at least, it looked like all teachers sitting at the wooden surface. Angled the opposite way, there were four identical long tables side by side that took up most of the rooms' floor space. The ceiling above, or what should have been the ceiling, was open to the heavens, which were a dull, stormy gray presently. Catching eye contact with Lee Jordan, they grinned at each other momentarily before the hall silenced for sorting ceremonies.
Usagi shifted her attentions to the man in the seat next to hers. His blue eyes twinkled jovially as he watched the nervous first years fumbling to their house tables, enhanced by the half moon spectacles perched on his crooked nose. A particularly clumsy student nearly tripped over his robes, and his mouth twitched into a smile that illustrated the wrinkles in his amiable face. If Usagi'd ever had a mental image of a wizard before now, it would have been this man exactly.
"Good evening, Miss Tsukino. Or should I say, Serenity-hime?" Startled, Usagi visibly shifted in her seat. Her cheeks flared under the embarrassment of being caught staring, but she shook her head enthusiastically. Vaguely, she realized the wizard beside her was speaking her native tongue of Japanese.
"Just Usagi will be fine, Dumbledore-sama." She responded, following his example of languages. A few surrounding professors sent puzzled looks their way but there was a general disinterest otherwise. Albus Dumbledore smiled down at the blue-eyed girl beside him, finally tearing away from the sorting.
"What brings you to Hogwarts, then, Usagi?" He asked, his blue eyes sweeping over the hall. Once again Usagi followed his exampled and glimpsed the hall in its entirety. More than half of the first year students had been assigned a house thus far.
"A series of events to lengthy to go into. Right now, I'm supposed to protect Harry Potter. It what my mother wants me to do." Usagi scanned what she believed to be the Gryffindor table and found the green-eyed boy. He was laughing at something Ron had said and didn't notice her stare.
"And?" Dumbledore inquired nonchalantly, sensing there was something more. Usagi smiled lightly.
"I'm not sure if I can do it." The buzz over the hall seemed to cease as McGonagall called for silence. Albus looked over at the Japanese girl pensively but didn't make any comments. McGonagall motioned to her and Usagi took the hint. She rose from her seat beside the headmaster and traipsed to the woman's side, concentrating hard on suppressing her clumsy tendencies.
"We have a transfer student from Japan. Her name is Usagi Tsukino," The blonde winced as McGonagall murdered her name, "and I expect you'll all welcome her as one of your own. Please have a seat so we can sort you."
'Mother, I will be strong, but if I have to become Sailor Moon again...I don't know if I can take it.' Usagi watched as the hall full of apprehensive students disappeared into blackness. Even the hushed whispers of the nearby teenagers were extinguished by the aged hat that almost dropped down to her nose.
'Hmm...what a troubled girl. Where should I place you? You're much too pure for Slytherin. Not quite clever enough for Ravenclaw. You possess the loyalty and kindness of a Hufflepuff, but the courage and determination of a Gryffindor.' Usagi listened to the musing voice in her ear with interest.
"Gryffindor," she whispered frantically, registering the hat's dispute. She shifted on the stool anxiously as the murmurs of the hall reached her ears again.
'Why do you want to be in Gryffindor?' The hat inquired, genuinely curious.
"I'm supposed to protect Harry Potter, and he's in Gryffindor. I'd appreciate it if you put me there," she responded. The hat was silent for several moments as the talk in the hall became more pronounced. Usagi felt her cheeks starting to grow warm again.
'Protect Harry Potter, you say? You must be Serenity-hime. Is it true, then, that your guardians...?'
"Yes." Usagi snapped viciously, not bothering to lower her voice to a whisper. The hall went completely dead, but the blonde was too disoriented to be embarrassed from the attention. She glared at the blackness of the hat, trying to block out the tears of frustration. It was her fault.
'I'm sorry. It was rude of me to intrude. I'm placing you in GRYFFINDOR!' The whole room seemed to exhale at the shout, and Usagi snatched the hat off of her head instantaneously. The Gryffindor table cheered accordingly as the odd girl walked to their table, seating herself beside Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins, Harry Potter and company a few seats over.
"Hey, you okay? It sure did take you long enough." Lee laughed, his eyes lighting up joyfully as the empty dishes filled with steaming foods. He immediately snatched up enough to fill his plate, glancing towards her for an answer.
"I'm fine, and this food looks really good." She replied mirthfully, shaking off the memories that had sprung up at the mention of her guardians. Quickly following Lee's lead, she piled a mountain of food on her own plate and dug in. Her mood did a complete turn around in the presence of Fred and George Weasley, even though she still didn't know which one was which, and by bed time she was laughing merrily with the group of them.
"Tsukino!" Usagi winced as she heard the familiar call of McGonagall over the crowd.
"Looks like I'm off on another great adventure." She mused dully, turning towards the waiting woman with somewhat of a frown. Waving off Lee and the twins, she joined her new head of house at the doors to the Great Hall.
"I just wanted to inform you that the teachers know of your social status. Regardless of this you'll be treated with the same attitude as the rest of the students. You'll be expected to follow the same rules." Usagi almost giggled when she caught sight of McGonagall's bun wiggling with the motions of her head, but she effectively calmed her mirth.
"I don't want any special treatment, Professor McGonagall. Besides, my title isn't really relevant anymore since the Moon Kingdom is virtually extinct." The blonde said, a frown passing over her face. "Is that all you wanted?"
"Yes, but I suppose I'll have to take you to the Gryffindor commons myself since your class is already gone." McGonagall nodded. Usagi smiled brightly and followed the strict professor, deciding she might like the woman more than she originally thought she would.
I changed this chapter around significantly because I thought the whole Usagi-getting-upset-and-marching-out-of-the-Grand-Hall thing was too melodramatic. I like this much better. I'll go down a few more caffeine-filled sodas and try to work my way through next chapter's revision. See ya.
-SachiNyoko- 'Correct me if I'm wrong, everyone else does.'