Chapter 1
Sorting
I stood in line with the first years, waiting to be sorted. I looked around, seeing fear on most faces and excitement on others. The most fearful belonged to a cute, if fluffy haired, little girl, a pale redheaded boy with lots of freckles, and a black haired boy with a little scar on his head. The most excited was a pale platinum blonde boy and the girl beside him, a pug-faced child with blonde hair. She looked very snobby, standing there clutching his arm like a limpet. He looked resigned, not trying to push her away but doing nothing to encourage her.
I turned my attention back to the front, waiting for my name to be called. I had had the houses explained to me, and I couldn't wait to see which one the hat would pick for me.
"Day, Sarah!"
I smiled and walked up to the front. I heard a few snickers at a third year being sorted, but they quickly stopped. Professor McGonagall put the sorting hat on my head. I sat there on the stool, listening to the hat mutter to itself in my head. Then…
"SLYTHERIN!"
The table on the far left started cheering. I headed over there to watch the rest of the first years get sorted. Most of them were Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Only a few went to Slytherin – four boys and three girls. The boys were Vincent Crabbe, Greg Goyle, Draco Malfoy (The platinum blonde) and Blaise Zabini. The girls were Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson (Draco's limpet) and me, of course.
During dinner we all made conversation and looked evilly at the Gryffindor table, like we were expected to, but it wasn't until we got to the common room that the real conversation started. Professor Snape, our head of house, poured himself a glass of scotch at the bar. I am sure that the sign 'seventh years only' was honorary only.
The politics of the House were hard for me to understand at first, but it was immediately obvious that everyone had a preformed respect toward Draco and Blaise, and to a lesser extent, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
Blaise, Draco and Pansy were sitting next to each other on a couch, not nearly filling it all, they were so cuddly. Draco and Blaise were holding hands, and strangely, Pansy didn't seem to mind, though she glared daggers at Millicent when she went to sit by Pansy. Pansy looked around the room, and beckoned to me!
I raised an eyebrow and went to sit with the eleven year olds.
I said, "Hello, I'm SD." They introduced themselves, even though I already knew their names. They asked about my accent, and I told them about being from America and growing up in Idaho.
Pansy said, "You mean… You're a mudblood?"
The whole room went silent. Even Professor Snape, who seemed to like me a little, stared at me. I quickly figured out what the term meant, hearing whispers about Muggles.
I smirked and said, "I'm adopted. My real parents must have been wizards; otherwise I wouldn't be in Slytherin."
Everyone in the room slowly went back to their conversations. My three new 'dare I say it?' friends kept shooting odd glances at me, but talked to me normally enough.
After about an hour, as people started drifting up to bed, I went over to talk to Professor Snape. "Sir," I started. "Sir, my CD player won't work. Is there some kind of spell you could cast on it?"
He looked at me for a minute, as if measuring me, and I returned his gaze expectantly. After that minute, he nodded. "Bring me all your electronic equipment in the morning, first thing. Remember that even if they work, you cannot use them during my class."
I smiled joyously, thanked him profusely, and thought I saw a hint of a suggestion of a smile as I went up to bed.