In this chapter, we'll be introduced to several new characters.
Well, you probably already know who they are. But I'll let you guess who she'll meet.
Mind you, not everyone will be pleasant.
After all, James Potter and his friends were troublemakers in their youth.
Chapter 5: Sorting Things Out
Mary looked for a seat on the Hogwarts Express.
The conductor was named Luco Motive.
Mary Potter wondered if she was living in a world full of puns.
She noticed a ginger boy sitting on a seat by himself.
"Is this seat taken?" asked the girl.
He shook his head.
Mary sat next to him. It seemed as good of a seat as any.
"My name is Ron. Ron Weasley." noted Ron.
He then noticed the lightning mark on her head.
"Wait a minute…I know you! You're the great Mary Potter!" exclaimed the boy.
It was a wonder she didn't have her own Chocolate Frog card.
Though perhaps they didn't have Chocolate Frog cards for her yet because she only just got her wand.
"Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?" asked Mary.
"Man, I feel so lucky to be sitting next to you." remarked Ron.
"Well, I guess I am a lucky girl. My parents weren't though." answered the girl.
She sighed.
Ron put a hand on her shoulder.
Mary didn't know why, but it felt comforting.
Ron offered her a Chocolate Frog.
"Thanks, but should we be eating something that's alive?" asked Mary.
The chocolate frog was hopping about.
"It doesn't seem to stop your owl." pointed out Ron.
"Yes, it doesn't. Wait a minute…" answered the girl.
As it turned out, Hedwig was trying to eat the chocolate frog.
Seemed she had a fondness for amphibians.
"Hedwig! No! It's made of chocolate!" warned the girl.
Hedeig scratched her head with her wing.
It looked a lot like a normal frog.
But on closer inspection, it wasn't dripping mucus. It was dripping chocolate syrup.
And yes, for some strange reason, she didn't mind eating that. It was a lot easier for her to catch toads though. They couldn't jump nearly as far.
"Whew!" exclaimed Mary.
She had really dodged an Avada Kedavra spell with that one.
"They come in non-magical varieties as well. For people who don't want to play with their food." explained Ron.
Mary nodded.
She decided to eat a non-magical chocolate frog. That way she wouldn't feel guilty.
Afterwards, she noticed there was a card that came with the frog.
"Is this Albus Dumbledore?" asked Mary.
She recalled Hagrid telling her about him.
"No way! That's the rarest card there is!" exclaimed Ron.
He never thought he would live to see it.
"Well, people do say I'm lucky." answered Mary.
She had been curious to see what Dumbledore looked like.
Now was her chance.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of somebody blowing raspberries.
"Who was that?" asked the girl.
"It's that mean kid, Draco Malfoy. He thinks he's better than other kids coming to Hogwarts simply because he's pure-blooded. Never mind the fact that some pure blooded wizards were known to marry their cousins." pointed out Ron.
Mary stuck her tongue out.
"I'm also pure-blooded, but my mother assured me we never did that." answered the boy. His mother and father did bear some resemblance to each other…but they were different in personality. So they likely weren't related.
"What do you mean by pure blooded?" asked Mary.
"It means that both of your parents are wizards." answered Ron.
"I guess I'm a half-blood then." noted the black-haired girl. Though technically speaking, her mother was a witch.
"That's become increasingly common lately." remarked the boy.
She heard raspberries again.
Mary went to investigate.
Draco was blowing raspberries at a girl, who was rolling her eyes.
"Why are you doing that?" asked Mary.
"She doesn't belong here! Her parents were Muggles!" exclaimed Draco. Personally he considered it unfair that she got to use magic anyways…much like Petunia Dursley did, seeing as she was magicless.
"She can use magic, can she?" questioned the girl.
To her knowledge, Hogwarts did not discriminate against Muggle-born wizards. Otherwise, her mother would not have been allowed in.
"Also, she's ugly!" exclaimed Draco.
Mary slapped him in the face.
"Ow!" exclaimed the boy.
"Now will you stop pestering her?" asked Mary.
"Fine. I will…for now." answered Draco.
"Thanks, I figured he would never leave me alone." answered the girl.
She introduced herself as Hermione Granger.
"I wish I were that brave." noted another boy sitting on the train.
He tried to do something, but he didn't have the courage. Luckily, Draco never bullied him, since he was a pure blood too.
"You'll get there if you try." answered Mary.
"I guess." nodded the boy.
"Your name is? I assume that you already know who I am." asked the girl.
"Neville Longbottom. Have you seen my toad? He's on the train somewhere." answered Neville.
Mary had an idea.
She knew that owls had good eyesight, so she had Hedwig search for the toad.
"Bring him back to me, will you? Just don't eat him." instructed Mary.
Hedwig asked if he was made of chocolate too.
"No. It's just that he belongs to somebody." answered the girl.
Hedwig nodded.
Sure enough, this plan worked surprisingly well.
Vector (the toad) was panicking, but he wasn't slimy like a frog was so it didn't stop Hedwig from gripping him.
Understandably, he was happy to be reunited with Neville. That had been scary…though it seemed he had misunderstood the owl's intentions.
"You found my toad! Thank you, Mary!" exclaimed the boy.
Suddenly, the train stopped.
After disembarking the train, Mary, Ron, Potter, and Neville found themselves on a boat.
Luckily, nobody fell overboard this time. And the weather was calm so they didn't have to worry about treacherous waves.
On a nearby boat was Draco Malfoy.
Mary could see that Draco had already befriended two boys named Crabbe and Goyle, who were also on that boat.
They reminded her of the friends that Dudley hanged out with.
The only difference was that they could use magic.
It might be best for Muggle-borns to stay away from those three.
Ron offered her Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans.
"These look tasty." noted Mary.
"Yeah, but they aren't exaggerating when they say every flavor." remarked Ron.
"Really?" asked the girl.
"You don't know what you'll get until you put it in your mouth. Though the color does provide a hint as to what it'll be. I had one that tasted like rubber." explained the boy.
"Have people ever written complaints to Bernie Botts?" asked the girl.
"In their defense, it's not untrustworthy advertising." justified Weasley.
Though some of the beans seemed designed specifically for masochists. He couldn't think of anybody who wanted to eat something that tasted like a troll's droppings.
Luckily for Mary, she enjoyed every flavor that Ron offered her. It was amazing what variety they had.
Perhaps her stellar luck was kicking in again.
She decided to offer one to Neville. It was colored red.
However, he shrieked when he put it in his mouth.
"What's wrong?" asked Mary.
"It tastes like blood!" exclaimed the unlucky boy.
She gave him the heimlich maneuver.
He spat it out into the water.
"Thanks." answered Neville.
The boats took them directly to the castle.
"Wait, we're going to be learning at a castle?" asked Mary.
She was expecting it to be a normal building.
But then again, the wizarding world was much different from the Muggle world.
She was starting to understand that all too well.
"Personally I think that's part of the fun." answered Ron.
"But it might be haunted." pointed out the girl.
"It is...but the ghosts are friendly." explained the boy.
Though they did supposedly frighten the first years, hence Bill deciding to warn Ron about them.
"In that case...I think I can live with that." spoke Mary.
A woman wearing a witch's hat. was there to welcome them.
"Greetings. My name is Minerva McGonagall. Please take a seat at the table marked with a question mark."
Mary nodded and sat at the table marked with a question mark.
The first years did so as well.
They were all curious as to what house they would end up in. Though some of them could make a pretty good guess. Like Draco Malfoy, for instance.
"Now then, allow me to introduce you to the Sorting Hat. It will decide which house you end up in." explained McGonagall.
Apparently, the Sorting Hat was looking forward to doing so, because he was singing a song about it.
Mary was surprised that the hat could talk, let alone sing, but to be honest, this was probably the least crazy thing that had happened to her today.
"You think somebody should make albums regarding the songs he sings?" asked Ron. Bill told him that he changed his song every single year, so that Hogwarts students who were past their first year would have something new to look forward to.
"Maybe." answered Hermione. But she was hesitant to sell them to Muggles. Though the Sorting Hat sounded human enough, people would want to know who was singing that music.
Ron Weasley approached the Sorting Hat first.
"Do I really have to put that on my head? I think we all know what my house is going to be." noted Ron.
He was well-aware that his family were all a bunch of Gryffindors. Something told him that his sister was going to be Gryffindor as well.
He had been expecting a brother though. Who would have thought that his mother would end up giving birth to a girl? It truly was something that people would notice on the Weasley family tree.
Some Slytherins found it confusing that the Weasleys kept ending up in Gryffindor, given that they were a pure-blooded family. Wouldn't they fit in with them better?
"Can you wear me for tradition's sake? Your whole family has worn it, so I figure you shouldn't be an exception." noted the hat.
"I guess you're right." nodded Ron.
He put the sorting hat on his head.
"Slytherin!" exclaimed the sorting hat.
Ron gasped.
His brothers Fred and George Weasley (who had shown up to watch their brother be sorted) gasped as well.
"Just kidding. Gryffindor!" shouted the hat.
"Wow, thanks for doubly subverting my expectations!" exclaimed the boy.
"You're welcome." answered the talking hat.
"I think we should hang out with that hat sometime." remarked George.
"Yeah. That was an awesome practical joke!" exclaimed Fred.
As for Hermione, her expectations were averted.
"Gryffindor!" exclaimed the Sorting Hat.
"Are you sure you don't want to put me in Ravenclaw?" asked Hermione. "Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Gryffindor, it's just that people say that I'm really smart."
Though considering that Albus Dumbledore himself was in Gryffindor, perhaps she shouldn't complain about that.
"I considered that, but it's really remarkable how brave you are when you found out that you were a wizard. Many Muggle-borns panic when they discover that they're a wizard or a witch, but you kept your cool surprisingly well." answered the Sorting Hat.
"Oh, yeah." noted the girl.
Perhaps she wouldn't be out of place at Gryffindor after all.
Likewise, Neville was confused when he was placed in Gryffindor as well.
"There must be a mistake. I'm not courageous at all. I don't belong in Gryffindor." explained Neville.
Though he didn't think that he belonged in Slytherin, either. They seemed like a bad crowd. Not to mention that Death Eaters had targeted his parents...which he didn't openly talk about.
"You do have courage. You just don't realize it yet." contradicted the Sorting Hat.
Neville wondered if the Sorting Hat was crazy before he joined the Gryffindors at their table.
While Neville and Hermione's results were surprising, the same could not be for Draco Malfoy.
"Slytherin!" exclaimed the Sorting Hat.
"I haven't felt this unsurprised since I found out that Scabbers loves cheese." remarked Ron.
"Scabbers?" asked Mary.
"My pet rat." explained the boy.
Scabbwrs let out a squeak.
As the Sorting Hat was placed on her head, Mary asked the Sorting Hat a question.
"You're not going to put me in Slytherin, are you? I don't know how I feel about being placed in the same house as my parents' killer." pointed out the girl.
"Are you sure? You'd be surprised how well you'd do in there." remarked the Sorting Hat.
"But I'd have to share space with that mean boy, Draco Malfoy. Not to mention that the house emblem is green...which is my least favorite color." answered Mary.
"How do you feel about red?" asked the Sorting Hat.
"I love that color...wait, that's the opposite of green, isn't it?" questioned the girl.
"In that case, I think I have just the house for you. Gryffindor!" exclaimed the Sorting Hat.
Ron, Neville, and Hermione cheered in applause.
It looked like Mary would be sharing space with them.
"I didn't want her to be part of my house anyway." remarked Draco.
Not someone who sympathizes with Muggles.
Crabbe and Goyle nodded.
Though she wasn't a Muggle-born, he would give her that much.
"I think I'm going to like it here." remarked Mary.
It looks like Mary is going to be in Gryffindor.
You probably already knew that.
I could ship Ron with Mary but I want to think outside the box. Just as Harry didn't end up with Hermione. It could have happened, but Ginny is a huge Harry Potter fangirl. I think she was too good of an opportunity for Harry to pass up.
As for who she's going to end up with, feel free to make guesses. She's not ending up with Draco though. I can tell you that much.