A Serpent Among Lions

Chapter 3 Shock and Disbelief

Meghan sat on her bed at Hogwarts, crying, the curtains drawn about her because she didn't want to be disturbed. How could this happen?

She knew that if she played things correctly that she could say that she was homesick, but she knew that she wasn't fooling anyone. Everyone knew why she was upset. She thought back to the day which had started out so perfectly...

Her and her mum had left at 10:30 to get to King's Cross so that she could board the Hogwarts Express at 11am. She saw her Uncle Ron there with his twins who were going to be first years too; Emily and Connor. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur were there with their oldest son William who was fifteen and had been made a prefect for Gryffindor and their youngest daughter Willow who was starting that year as a first year.

After many hugs and kisses and tears, they all boarded the Hogwarts Express together, found an empty compartment and sat together, with the exception, of course, of William who had to sit with the other Prefects and then patrol.

"I bet we're all in Gryffindor," Emily said excitedly, "Let's get beds next to one another, Meghan, okay?"

Meghan nodded; her and Emily had had loads of sleepovers and they always had lots of fun. It would be great spending the whole time at Hogwarts with her...it would be like one big sleepover! "I hear they have all these ghosts there. They say that one that is the Slytherin ghost is really scary, he's covered in blood," Meghan shivered.

Connor spoke up for the first time since they had boarded, "Yeah, but Nearly Headless Nick supposed to be really cool! Apparently the reason he's called that is because his head is held on by just a really tiny piece of skin."

"Ewww!" The two girls exclaimed together, "That's gross!"

The rest of the trip was spent pigging out on the food from the trolley and talking about the different things they would see and do at Hogwarts. Meghan secretly was hoping to make the Quidditch team. Her dad and Mum had taught her how to fly as soon as she could walk practically. She knew that her dad had been on the Gryffindor team in his first year and she was hoping to follow in his footsteps.

The train ride was long and she hadn't slept well the night before; she had been too excited. So after she ate the lunch that she had brought and bought some candy off the trolley, adding wizard cards to her collection from the chocolate frogs, she drifted off to sleep.

She was startled awake by someone gently shaking her shoulder. She woke up to see Emily there, holding her school robes, "What's up, Em?" she said, yawning.

"We're going to be there soon, you should put your robes on. William said they want us dressed for the feast."

"Oh, okay," She said, yawning again. Taking the robes from her cousin, she slipped them over her head and tried to straighten her hair. It was long and red like her mum's, but like her dad's it was curly and tended to stick out so she usually wore it in a ponytail. Taking a rubber band out of her pocket, she ran her fingers through it and put it in her usual ponytail, hoping it looked okay.

Fifteen minutes later they pulled into the train station and they were escorted to the boats by Hagrid, groundskeeper at Hogwarts and Care of Magical Creatures professor. That was one class Meghan was looking forward to. She had a cat named Scooter that she had brought with her and she loved animals. She also looked forward to History of Magic, because it was being taught by her Aunt Hermione.

The ride across the lake was a little scary-- Meghan had always been a little afraid of the dark but she didn't want anyone to know that so she acted like she enjoyed it. At one part she thought she saw a tentacle sticking out of the water and remembered that her mum had said that a giant squid lived in the lake.

By the time they got to the Great Hall, they could hear the rest of the students talking. Deputy Headmaster Flitwick came and opened the doors for them and lead them in. They were lined up in the front and watched as a stool was brought out and a hat placed atop of it. Meghan had been told about the sorting and knew that it wasn't any big deal. Just put the hat on your head and it would tell you what house you were going to be in.

Meghan waited impatiently while other students were sorted into their houses and finally it was her turn. She had to stop herself from skipping up to the stool and sat down as the Sorting hat talked to her. She really didn't hear what it said, she was just waiting for the word Gryffindor to ring out. It seemed as if everyone else was waiting with baited breath as well to hear where she would go.

After a few minutes the word "SLYTHERIN!" echoed across the Great Hall, followed by many exclamations of surprise, including one of her own. She gallantly held back the tears as she climbed down from the stool and reluctantly took her place at the Slytherin table. She knew that people were staring at her and whispering behind her back. She noticed the curious glances that she got when she got to the Slytherin table and knew exactly what everyone was thinking...

What was a daughter of Harry and Ginny Potter doing in Slytherin?

Somehow Meghan made it through the feast, eating but not tasting anything. From time to time she would glance over at the Gryffindor table where all her cousins were sitting. She was the one in their family that had been sorted in anywhere else but Gryffindor and she felt like an outsider.

After the feast was over and she was being lead out of the Great Hall with the other first years, Aunt Hermione caught up with her and took her aside. One of the Slytherin prefects told her what the password was so that she could get into the dormitories and she found herself being lead to her aunt's office.

When they arrived, Aunt Hermione gestured to a chair in front of her desk and motioned for her to sit down. She gave her a tight hug before sitting down herself at her desk.

"Aunt Hermione, how could this have happened? All my cousins are in Gryffindor and I won't have any friends or anyone to talk to."

Hermione looked at her with concern and love, "Meghan, just because you are in Slytherin doesn't mean that you are a bad person, or that you're not brave. You have a sharp mind and are good at figuring things out, you know that you are."

Meghan knew that this was true, but it didn't make her feel any better. What would her mother say? What would her father think?

Hermione seemed to be able to read her face, because the next thing that she said surprised Meghan, "Meghan, did you know that your dad was almost put in Slytherin as well?"

Meghan's mouth dropped open and she looked at her aunt in surprise, "He was?"

"Certainly. Now you don't think he's a bad person now do you?"

"Of course not! He vanquished...you know who!"

"Well, there you go. Don't worry about it. You will do fine and your cousins will be there for you no matter what."

Meghan came back to the present. It still hurt not having any of her cousins there, but she was going to make the best of it and maybe even prove the Sorting hat wrong. She knew that a lot of Slytherins went bad but she would NOT be one of them. She was going to be the exception to the rule!