Remus Lupin sat alone in his room. It was the day before his first day at Hogwarts.
He knew he should be excited. Dumbledore had come to his parents and given him special permission to attend Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But all that he felt was afraid. Afraid that the other students would not like him, afraid that he would be alienated for what he was, but most of all afraid that he would hurt someone.
Remus Lupin was not like the other students going to Hogwarts, for he had a secret. And this secret had cost him his childhood.
The secret stemmed out of something that had happened to him at a very young age. His family did not talk about it, they called it "the accident." Though his parents were both very supportive, Remus knew that they were both a bit afraid of him.
After "the accident" Remus was confined to the house. He never was exposed to strangers. He never had any friends.
Up until the letter from Hogwarts arrived, he had been taught by a private tutor, who came to his house twice a week. Remus's parents constantly reminded him how lucky he was that the tutor had agreed to come at all, what with Remus's condition and all.
Despite his constant state of confinement, Remus was not deprived of the finer things in life. He taught himself to play the piano and read many books that were considered very advanced for a child his age. But despite all this, he was not happy.
A part of him was constantly yearning for someone to understand him. Ever since the accident, the only human beings he had seen on a regular basis were his parents and his tutor.
The tutor was a dry elderly gentleman who was very interested in dull subjects such paleontology and didn't very much care for children. Needless to say, his presence was not a very great comfort to Remus.
When Dumbledore had come to his house, and invited him to attend Hogwarts, Remus couldn't believe it. He wanted very badly to go, but somehow he doubted he would fit in.
Remus knew perfectly well what an unusual boy he was.
On September first, Camarese took her daughter to the London train station and saw her safely aboard train #313, on route to Nocti Academy.
Avalon watched from the window to see her mother depart. Luckily, Camarese had places to be that evening and chose not to stick around to watch the train depart.
After she retreated from sight, Avalon heard the train's whistle blow, signaling last call. She ran down the aisle and off the train. The Hogwarts train was scheduled to leave in two minutes.
She dashed down the walkway, searching desperately for platform 9 ¾. To her horror there was none. There was a platform nine, and then right after it a ten.
Biting her lip nervously, Avalon looked about her in panic. What would she do if she missed the train to Hogwarts? She couldn't call her mother. Camarese would not respond well if she found out her daughter was not even enrolled in Nocti, but was planning to go off to Hogwarts instead.
Just as she was about to go into hysterics, Avalon noticed a boy toting an owl and several suitcases being ushered along by an old woman.
"Hurry up, hurry up now Sirius!" The woman urged as hustled along. "If you miss the train I simply don't know what I'll do! If you hadn't forgotten your owl back at the house."
Avalon watched them hopefully. Almost shamefully, she approached them. "Are you going to Hogwarts?"
The old lady nodded and smiled. "Yes, this is Sirius, my grandson. This will be his first year at Hogwarts.
Avalon smiled her fake little smile that she reserved for social situations. "I suppose you know how to get to platform 9 ¾."
"Of course dear, it is right through that barrier there, between 9 and 10. Here, just watch Sirius do it first." She ruffled the boy's hair affectionately, and he groaned and patted it down.
Sirius glared at his grandmother and walked up to the barrier at a casual pace. One second he was in plain view, but the next moment the boy blurred out of view.
"You go next darling," the old lady urged.
Avalon accepted politely, she was used to adults fawning over her. She knew that once she got on the train and there were no parents to force kindness on their children it would be just as bad as at Pre-Nocti. Avalon knew very well what lurked under people's polite faces. She had yet to meet a person who hadn't treated her badly. Avalon had been hurt so often that she automatically assumed that every person she met would hurt her if she gave them the chance.
On the train, the atmosphere was not what Avalon had expected. Everywhere she looked, children were laughing.
Avalon associated laughter with pain. People laughed when another person was in pain. That was the nature of people. At parties people would pretend to laugh and be witty, but the only things that made people really laugh seemed to be ones that caused other people to hurt.
But the laughter on the train seemed completely natural and not forced. Yet Avalon did not see anyone in pain, anyone to laugh at. The children all seemed happy.
Quietly and seriously, Avalon found an empty compartment and settled herself down in seat by the window. It was not long after she had sat down that the train began to move. She had arrived barely in the nick of time.
"What am I doing here?" Avalon wondered out loud. She doubted that Hogwarts could be much different than Nocti, yet she had risked so much to come here.
Several minutes later two boys rushed into the chamber, panting and out of breath. One of them she recognized as the boy from the platform.
"I think we lost them James," Sirius panted.
The other boy, whom Avalon assumed was James, ran his fingers through his very messy black hair and adjusted a pair of thick glasses. "Right then, I suppose it wasn't the smartest idea to slip that exploding powder into that girl's lemonade."
Sirius turned, noticing Avalon for the first time. She shrunk back in her seat at his glance. His appearance reminded her of Terry. He had the same cold gray eyes and dark hair.
"Oh, hello there. I didn't realize there was anyone in here." Sirius peeped out the curtains that separated the chamber from the adjoining one.
Suddenly he jumped back and pulled close the blinds quickly.
"James! Hide! I think she saw me!"
James looked about in panic but Sirius ducked beneath the bench on which Avalon was sitting, hiding his face behind her legs.
Just as the curtains were pulled open, James grabbed one of Avalon's suitcases and held it in front of his face.
Avalon raised an eyebrow at the boy's pathetic attempt at hiding himself.
A red headed girl with lemonade stains down the front of her shirt stood glowering in the doorway. "You!" she shouted at the boy.
Avalon didn't understand why the boys seemed so frightened of the girl. She didn't seem like any kind of physical threat. Back at Pre-Nocti, if any of the boys had been annoyed or angered at a girl, they simply would have struck her or forced her to back off.
The girl threw Avalon's suitcase to the floor and proceeded to scream insults in James's face for nearly ten minutes, all the while aiming a finger at his nose.
"You are an immature, shameless, jerk! And I expect you will not last any time at all in Hogwarts! If you think you can pull stunts like that and not get expelled, well you are wrong! If you so much as come near me again I'll tell the headmaster on you and you will be expelled!" The girl finally turned and retreated in the direction she had come.
James breathed a loud sigh and collapsed in a nearby bench and Sirius crawled out from beneath Avalon.
Her confusion overcoming her fear Avalon decided to inquire, "Why didn't you just hit her? I mean, two against one, what could she do?"
James laughed and Sirius looked at her oddly. "Why would we do that?" he asked.
"You sure got told James!" Sirius laughed happily.
"First day and all! Thank you so much my very best friend, for hiding under the bench while that whole thing happened. I can tell what a brave guy you are," James spoke in irritation.
Yet somehow, Avalon knew that he was not truly angry at his friend. Something felt very strange about the way that these two were acting, the way that all the people she had met aboard the train were acting.
Just then, a thin boy with deep brown eyes and floppy light brown hair came in leading a pudgy boy who seemed to be crying and wiping his eyes on his arm.
"Hi, you guys haven't happened to have seen a rat have you? This is Peter, he just lost one," the thinner of the two boys introduced the crying one.
James shook his head and Avalon shrugged. But Sirius raised one finger in the air and suddenly fell to the floor and slithered around underneath Avalon's bench once more.
He mistakenly pulled against Avalon's skirt and she rolled her eyes and pulled her legs up onto the seat.
A moment later Sirius emerged from under the seat holding a slightly ruffled, pathetic looking rat by it's tail.
"Tarot!" Peter cried happily, grabbing his rat from Sirius's fingers. "Thank you!"
Sirius shrugged and extended a hand, "No problem. My name's Sirius."
The brown eyed boy introduced himself as Remus in a quiet voice while Peter collapsed on one of the seats, relieved to have recovered his precious pet. Avalon tried not to think about Silver.
All of her life she had been forced to be around people who she couldn't stand, but somehow she wished these strange people would leave her alone with her thoughts. She did not understand them and their lighthearted attitudes. She kept waiting for their true colors to shine through.
By the time the train stopped, Avalon had managed to kick all the boys out of her section long enough to change into her school robes. Luckily, Hogwarts supplies and uniforms had been very similar to those at Nocti. The only difference was, that Avalon was carrying many more gruesome potion supplies than what was needed for Hogwarts, and several Dark Arts books, that she planned to lose as soon as possible.
When she excited the train, she was ushered, along with the rest of the first years off in a separate direction than the rest of the school. She had left her baggage on the train as instructed, she hoped it would all get to her room all right.
The first years were escorted to a lake, and instructed to get into rickety boats, three students each. She found herself being placed with the red headed girl who had bombarded James on the train and one of her friends.
Lily smiled at her and introduced her self and so did the other girl who turned out to be named Alice. Avalon smiled coldly and stated her name.
Soon the two girls forgot about the sullen dark haired girl who didn't want to giggle and gossip and went off into their own little world of scandal and dreams.
All of a sudden the fog cleared and Avalon got her first glimpse of Hogwarts.
Pre Nocti had been a cold and aloof place, the actual building used to be a factory. Impersonal, and practical were two words used to describe the place.
Avalon's first impression of Hogwarts was well, magical. A giant castle rose out of the gloom, lights from it's turrets reflecting in the calm lake. Avalon gasped and watched as the castle loomed closer and closer until the rickety boats were pulling up to the shore and she was being helped out of her boat.
Inside, they were greeted by Albus Dumbledore, a Hogwarts Professor, who led them into the great hall to be sorted into their houses.
All of the first years chattered nervously, scared of whatever strange ceremony that would determine what house they would join. Avalon felt no such worry. She had learned to repress her fear for so long that it was almost an alien emotion. No small task such as a sorting could evoke emotion from Avalon's statue like serenity.
When she entered the hall, she saw a old worn black hat, sitting atop a rickety stool. Oddly enough all of the many students seemed to be focusing on the hat, as if expecting a rabbit to pop out unexpectedly.
After all the students had entered, an elderly man stood in front of the students and began to speak, "Hello students. My name is Edwin Tarantela and I am your Headmaster here at Hogwarts. This year we will begin the year with the sorting ceremony, as usual. Without further ado, may I present, the sorting hat."
Most of the older students stood and clapped and the hat began to sing. Avalon stared in amazement and confusion. The song was lighthearted and silly, all the things which had been taboo in Pre-Nocti.
When it's song had finished, Albus Dumbledore began to call students' names off a piece of paper.
First came Adelwacker, Ashley. A short pudgy blond girl waddled up to the stool and pulled the hat over her ears. After a moment the hat announced her as a Hufflepuff.
Avalon stood calmly waiting for her turn. She took her dark hat off her head and began to fiddle with it. A few more names were called and then "Black, Sirius!" was shouted out.
In surprise, Avalon dropped her hat and jumped about a foot in the air. She recovered quickly and retrieved her hat from the floor, embarrassed. After a moment she calmed down. The name Black always made her think of Amanda Black, the woman who she had seen killed as a child. Nonsense, she assured herself, there must be thousands of Blacks in the world, just because the two shared a name did not guarantee that they were related.
Sirius shot her a funny look, and journeyed over to the stool confidently, plopping the worn hat onto his head.
The cap had barely touched his hair when it called out "Gryffindor!"
A loud cheer arose from a table which Avalon assumed must be Gryffindor. A large maroon and gold banner hung over the table.
More students were called up and Avalon watched closely. The students who were put into Slytherin seemed to be those which Avalon was accustomed to. These were the unpleasant and sneaky ones who loved to see others writhing in pain. Avalon feared that this was where she belonged.
She knew she didn't belong in Hufflepuff. Avalon was already to ambitious and perfect to belong to a house of such nothings. Ravenclaw she felt had potential. She had always been very bright and studious. Gryffindor puzzled her. The students put in Gryffindor all seemed very strange to her. The laughed and smiled and were friendly and happy. She knew that she could not belong to such a house.
Sighing with resignation, she supposed she would be put in Slytherin. Oh well, at least she was not in Nocti. In Nocti all of the students were of the Dark sort, unhappy and cruel. Here at Hogwarts those students seemed to be the minority.
The red head who had yelled at the boy on the train was made a Gryffindor and Avalon sighed again. She wondered what it would be like to be around people like that, people who took life so lightly.
She watched as one by one the students were sorted. She recognized a boy named Severus whom she had known from Pre-Nocti. He had been one of the students who had been constantly picked on. She wondered what house he would be in.
Remus Lupin was made a Gryffindor, then Alice Matthew was put into Ravenclaw. Finally Avalon's name was called out.
She approached the stool bravely, her face devoid of any emotion. Stonily, she lifted the had and placed it on her head.
When she had watched the other students, she had only heard the hat call out the house they were to be in, but when the hat was on her head, Avalon felt it sifting through her memories or thoughts.
"Hmm, great ambition, you would do well in Slytherin," the hat mused. "Avalon sighed sadly, resigning herself to her destiny. "But you have shown great bravery, in choosing to come to Hogwarts, and that cannot be overlooked."
Avalon felt her heart rising.
"In Slytherin you would be among those who understand you. There you would fit in. But I do believe that you would do well in Gryffindor. For you have shown great strength. In Gryffindor however, there will be many obstacles to overcome. I will let you choose. Stay on the path on which you have been placed, and thrive easily, or choose the path for yourself and struggle. Either way you can be great. The potential is all here,"
"Please Gryffindor," Avalon felt herself whispering, almost without thought.
Then the hat yelled Gryffindor and cheers began to come from the maroon and gold table. Avalon did not smile, but got up off the stool ceremoniously, and placed the hat on it's seat before heading to hers.
Avalon's fate had been decided.
He knew he should be excited. Dumbledore had come to his parents and given him special permission to attend Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But all that he felt was afraid. Afraid that the other students would not like him, afraid that he would be alienated for what he was, but most of all afraid that he would hurt someone.
Remus Lupin was not like the other students going to Hogwarts, for he had a secret. And this secret had cost him his childhood.
The secret stemmed out of something that had happened to him at a very young age. His family did not talk about it, they called it "the accident." Though his parents were both very supportive, Remus knew that they were both a bit afraid of him.
After "the accident" Remus was confined to the house. He never was exposed to strangers. He never had any friends.
Up until the letter from Hogwarts arrived, he had been taught by a private tutor, who came to his house twice a week. Remus's parents constantly reminded him how lucky he was that the tutor had agreed to come at all, what with Remus's condition and all.
Despite his constant state of confinement, Remus was not deprived of the finer things in life. He taught himself to play the piano and read many books that were considered very advanced for a child his age. But despite all this, he was not happy.
A part of him was constantly yearning for someone to understand him. Ever since the accident, the only human beings he had seen on a regular basis were his parents and his tutor.
The tutor was a dry elderly gentleman who was very interested in dull subjects such paleontology and didn't very much care for children. Needless to say, his presence was not a very great comfort to Remus.
When Dumbledore had come to his house, and invited him to attend Hogwarts, Remus couldn't believe it. He wanted very badly to go, but somehow he doubted he would fit in.
Remus knew perfectly well what an unusual boy he was.
On September first, Camarese took her daughter to the London train station and saw her safely aboard train #313, on route to Nocti Academy.
Avalon watched from the window to see her mother depart. Luckily, Camarese had places to be that evening and chose not to stick around to watch the train depart.
After she retreated from sight, Avalon heard the train's whistle blow, signaling last call. She ran down the aisle and off the train. The Hogwarts train was scheduled to leave in two minutes.
She dashed down the walkway, searching desperately for platform 9 ¾. To her horror there was none. There was a platform nine, and then right after it a ten.
Biting her lip nervously, Avalon looked about her in panic. What would she do if she missed the train to Hogwarts? She couldn't call her mother. Camarese would not respond well if she found out her daughter was not even enrolled in Nocti, but was planning to go off to Hogwarts instead.
Just as she was about to go into hysterics, Avalon noticed a boy toting an owl and several suitcases being ushered along by an old woman.
"Hurry up, hurry up now Sirius!" The woman urged as hustled along. "If you miss the train I simply don't know what I'll do! If you hadn't forgotten your owl back at the house."
Avalon watched them hopefully. Almost shamefully, she approached them. "Are you going to Hogwarts?"
The old lady nodded and smiled. "Yes, this is Sirius, my grandson. This will be his first year at Hogwarts.
Avalon smiled her fake little smile that she reserved for social situations. "I suppose you know how to get to platform 9 ¾."
"Of course dear, it is right through that barrier there, between 9 and 10. Here, just watch Sirius do it first." She ruffled the boy's hair affectionately, and he groaned and patted it down.
Sirius glared at his grandmother and walked up to the barrier at a casual pace. One second he was in plain view, but the next moment the boy blurred out of view.
"You go next darling," the old lady urged.
Avalon accepted politely, she was used to adults fawning over her. She knew that once she got on the train and there were no parents to force kindness on their children it would be just as bad as at Pre-Nocti. Avalon knew very well what lurked under people's polite faces. She had yet to meet a person who hadn't treated her badly. Avalon had been hurt so often that she automatically assumed that every person she met would hurt her if she gave them the chance.
On the train, the atmosphere was not what Avalon had expected. Everywhere she looked, children were laughing.
Avalon associated laughter with pain. People laughed when another person was in pain. That was the nature of people. At parties people would pretend to laugh and be witty, but the only things that made people really laugh seemed to be ones that caused other people to hurt.
But the laughter on the train seemed completely natural and not forced. Yet Avalon did not see anyone in pain, anyone to laugh at. The children all seemed happy.
Quietly and seriously, Avalon found an empty compartment and settled herself down in seat by the window. It was not long after she had sat down that the train began to move. She had arrived barely in the nick of time.
"What am I doing here?" Avalon wondered out loud. She doubted that Hogwarts could be much different than Nocti, yet she had risked so much to come here.
Several minutes later two boys rushed into the chamber, panting and out of breath. One of them she recognized as the boy from the platform.
"I think we lost them James," Sirius panted.
The other boy, whom Avalon assumed was James, ran his fingers through his very messy black hair and adjusted a pair of thick glasses. "Right then, I suppose it wasn't the smartest idea to slip that exploding powder into that girl's lemonade."
Sirius turned, noticing Avalon for the first time. She shrunk back in her seat at his glance. His appearance reminded her of Terry. He had the same cold gray eyes and dark hair.
"Oh, hello there. I didn't realize there was anyone in here." Sirius peeped out the curtains that separated the chamber from the adjoining one.
Suddenly he jumped back and pulled close the blinds quickly.
"James! Hide! I think she saw me!"
James looked about in panic but Sirius ducked beneath the bench on which Avalon was sitting, hiding his face behind her legs.
Just as the curtains were pulled open, James grabbed one of Avalon's suitcases and held it in front of his face.
Avalon raised an eyebrow at the boy's pathetic attempt at hiding himself.
A red headed girl with lemonade stains down the front of her shirt stood glowering in the doorway. "You!" she shouted at the boy.
Avalon didn't understand why the boys seemed so frightened of the girl. She didn't seem like any kind of physical threat. Back at Pre-Nocti, if any of the boys had been annoyed or angered at a girl, they simply would have struck her or forced her to back off.
The girl threw Avalon's suitcase to the floor and proceeded to scream insults in James's face for nearly ten minutes, all the while aiming a finger at his nose.
"You are an immature, shameless, jerk! And I expect you will not last any time at all in Hogwarts! If you think you can pull stunts like that and not get expelled, well you are wrong! If you so much as come near me again I'll tell the headmaster on you and you will be expelled!" The girl finally turned and retreated in the direction she had come.
James breathed a loud sigh and collapsed in a nearby bench and Sirius crawled out from beneath Avalon.
Her confusion overcoming her fear Avalon decided to inquire, "Why didn't you just hit her? I mean, two against one, what could she do?"
James laughed and Sirius looked at her oddly. "Why would we do that?" he asked.
"You sure got told James!" Sirius laughed happily.
"First day and all! Thank you so much my very best friend, for hiding under the bench while that whole thing happened. I can tell what a brave guy you are," James spoke in irritation.
Yet somehow, Avalon knew that he was not truly angry at his friend. Something felt very strange about the way that these two were acting, the way that all the people she had met aboard the train were acting.
Just then, a thin boy with deep brown eyes and floppy light brown hair came in leading a pudgy boy who seemed to be crying and wiping his eyes on his arm.
"Hi, you guys haven't happened to have seen a rat have you? This is Peter, he just lost one," the thinner of the two boys introduced the crying one.
James shook his head and Avalon shrugged. But Sirius raised one finger in the air and suddenly fell to the floor and slithered around underneath Avalon's bench once more.
He mistakenly pulled against Avalon's skirt and she rolled her eyes and pulled her legs up onto the seat.
A moment later Sirius emerged from under the seat holding a slightly ruffled, pathetic looking rat by it's tail.
"Tarot!" Peter cried happily, grabbing his rat from Sirius's fingers. "Thank you!"
Sirius shrugged and extended a hand, "No problem. My name's Sirius."
The brown eyed boy introduced himself as Remus in a quiet voice while Peter collapsed on one of the seats, relieved to have recovered his precious pet. Avalon tried not to think about Silver.
All of her life she had been forced to be around people who she couldn't stand, but somehow she wished these strange people would leave her alone with her thoughts. She did not understand them and their lighthearted attitudes. She kept waiting for their true colors to shine through.
By the time the train stopped, Avalon had managed to kick all the boys out of her section long enough to change into her school robes. Luckily, Hogwarts supplies and uniforms had been very similar to those at Nocti. The only difference was, that Avalon was carrying many more gruesome potion supplies than what was needed for Hogwarts, and several Dark Arts books, that she planned to lose as soon as possible.
When she excited the train, she was ushered, along with the rest of the first years off in a separate direction than the rest of the school. She had left her baggage on the train as instructed, she hoped it would all get to her room all right.
The first years were escorted to a lake, and instructed to get into rickety boats, three students each. She found herself being placed with the red headed girl who had bombarded James on the train and one of her friends.
Lily smiled at her and introduced her self and so did the other girl who turned out to be named Alice. Avalon smiled coldly and stated her name.
Soon the two girls forgot about the sullen dark haired girl who didn't want to giggle and gossip and went off into their own little world of scandal and dreams.
All of a sudden the fog cleared and Avalon got her first glimpse of Hogwarts.
Pre Nocti had been a cold and aloof place, the actual building used to be a factory. Impersonal, and practical were two words used to describe the place.
Avalon's first impression of Hogwarts was well, magical. A giant castle rose out of the gloom, lights from it's turrets reflecting in the calm lake. Avalon gasped and watched as the castle loomed closer and closer until the rickety boats were pulling up to the shore and she was being helped out of her boat.
Inside, they were greeted by Albus Dumbledore, a Hogwarts Professor, who led them into the great hall to be sorted into their houses.
All of the first years chattered nervously, scared of whatever strange ceremony that would determine what house they would join. Avalon felt no such worry. She had learned to repress her fear for so long that it was almost an alien emotion. No small task such as a sorting could evoke emotion from Avalon's statue like serenity.
When she entered the hall, she saw a old worn black hat, sitting atop a rickety stool. Oddly enough all of the many students seemed to be focusing on the hat, as if expecting a rabbit to pop out unexpectedly.
After all the students had entered, an elderly man stood in front of the students and began to speak, "Hello students. My name is Edwin Tarantela and I am your Headmaster here at Hogwarts. This year we will begin the year with the sorting ceremony, as usual. Without further ado, may I present, the sorting hat."
Most of the older students stood and clapped and the hat began to sing. Avalon stared in amazement and confusion. The song was lighthearted and silly, all the things which had been taboo in Pre-Nocti.
When it's song had finished, Albus Dumbledore began to call students' names off a piece of paper.
First came Adelwacker, Ashley. A short pudgy blond girl waddled up to the stool and pulled the hat over her ears. After a moment the hat announced her as a Hufflepuff.
Avalon stood calmly waiting for her turn. She took her dark hat off her head and began to fiddle with it. A few more names were called and then "Black, Sirius!" was shouted out.
In surprise, Avalon dropped her hat and jumped about a foot in the air. She recovered quickly and retrieved her hat from the floor, embarrassed. After a moment she calmed down. The name Black always made her think of Amanda Black, the woman who she had seen killed as a child. Nonsense, she assured herself, there must be thousands of Blacks in the world, just because the two shared a name did not guarantee that they were related.
Sirius shot her a funny look, and journeyed over to the stool confidently, plopping the worn hat onto his head.
The cap had barely touched his hair when it called out "Gryffindor!"
A loud cheer arose from a table which Avalon assumed must be Gryffindor. A large maroon and gold banner hung over the table.
More students were called up and Avalon watched closely. The students who were put into Slytherin seemed to be those which Avalon was accustomed to. These were the unpleasant and sneaky ones who loved to see others writhing in pain. Avalon feared that this was where she belonged.
She knew she didn't belong in Hufflepuff. Avalon was already to ambitious and perfect to belong to a house of such nothings. Ravenclaw she felt had potential. She had always been very bright and studious. Gryffindor puzzled her. The students put in Gryffindor all seemed very strange to her. The laughed and smiled and were friendly and happy. She knew that she could not belong to such a house.
Sighing with resignation, she supposed she would be put in Slytherin. Oh well, at least she was not in Nocti. In Nocti all of the students were of the Dark sort, unhappy and cruel. Here at Hogwarts those students seemed to be the minority.
The red head who had yelled at the boy on the train was made a Gryffindor and Avalon sighed again. She wondered what it would be like to be around people like that, people who took life so lightly.
She watched as one by one the students were sorted. She recognized a boy named Severus whom she had known from Pre-Nocti. He had been one of the students who had been constantly picked on. She wondered what house he would be in.
Remus Lupin was made a Gryffindor, then Alice Matthew was put into Ravenclaw. Finally Avalon's name was called out.
She approached the stool bravely, her face devoid of any emotion. Stonily, she lifted the had and placed it on her head.
When she had watched the other students, she had only heard the hat call out the house they were to be in, but when the hat was on her head, Avalon felt it sifting through her memories or thoughts.
"Hmm, great ambition, you would do well in Slytherin," the hat mused. "Avalon sighed sadly, resigning herself to her destiny. "But you have shown great bravery, in choosing to come to Hogwarts, and that cannot be overlooked."
Avalon felt her heart rising.
"In Slytherin you would be among those who understand you. There you would fit in. But I do believe that you would do well in Gryffindor. For you have shown great strength. In Gryffindor however, there will be many obstacles to overcome. I will let you choose. Stay on the path on which you have been placed, and thrive easily, or choose the path for yourself and struggle. Either way you can be great. The potential is all here,"
"Please Gryffindor," Avalon felt herself whispering, almost without thought.
Then the hat yelled Gryffindor and cheers began to come from the maroon and gold table. Avalon did not smile, but got up off the stool ceremoniously, and placed the hat on it's seat before heading to hers.
Avalon's fate had been decided.