The day that Hermione would leave for Hogwarts brought with it powerful, mixed feelings. She knew that the impressions she made on the train would stay with her for the rest of her life in the modern wizarding world.

She arrived exactly fifteen minutes before the train was due to depart, bidding her parents farewell before the stone barrier that separated the two worlds. Already, she could see wixen arriving; most had made the effort to at least pretend to be muggles, even if the sudden concentration of old fashioned suits, massive trunks and owl cages was a dead giveaway. Others hadn't even bothered with the attempt. A huddle of women swept past in long, floor length robes complete with hats as a pair of pretty young girls trailed behind them, looking around as if expecting a muggle to jump out with a pitchfork.

'Comic-con must be on this week. I'm surprised Eddy isn't out.' One muggle said to her husband as they pushed their way past the unrepentantly dressed witches.

'Pretty dedicated bunch, those ones. I thought I saw an owl.' Her husband said in reply.

A friendly looking boy, perhaps in one of the older years offered to help her through the barrier and onto the train with her trunk, so she said goodbye to her parents quickly and followed him into the wizarding world.

The Hogwarts Express was a scarlet steam train which, Hermione knew, had been obtained in the biggest memory modification operation to date. Knowing that even Berg would consider that a dry fact, she refrained from mentioning it. Instead, she asked about the glittering badge on her guide's chest and learned that he was the head boy and was in Hufflepuff.

She took a carriage on her own, deciding to let people come to her, and pulled out her notes on wizarding genealogy, attempting to put family names to faces as she watched wixen gather on the platform. The Malfoy family were unmistakable, silver-blond hair being their defining characteristic. They had a son who was already dressed in his plain black robes which suggested he was a first year like her. He was already talking to a small, pug-faced girl and two large, stupid looking boys loomed behind him, shadowed by their equally large and looming fathers. Right before the train left, a frantic red-headed family arrived with a crowd of children in shabby clothes. Hermione assumed that these were either Prewetts or Weasleys, families that were notoriously closely intertwined and always produced lots of children.

She was joined in her compartment by a tubby boy who introduced himself as Neville, leaving off any family names. Hermione did the same, but made sure to flash her family ring a couple of times. The boy eyed it warily, which she assumed meant that he recognised it and eventually she noticed that he wore an heir's ring around his neck on a chain.

Neville was quietly knowledgable, she learned. He was not academically brilliant, not did he seem particularly powerful but he had a deep knowledge of natural magic and herbology. Like Berg, his magic was warm and earthy and Hermione just knew that he had a steady bravery and patience that would make him a dependable wizard some day.

They had the compartment mostly to themselves as the countryside grew wilder outside the windows. There was a fair amount of racket in the corridor as older students reunited with their friends but neither first year paid much attention to it as Hermione listened to Neville talking about the greenhouse his nan let him look after at home. Eventually, he realised that his toad had somehow escaped, despite the door being closed and they set off to try and find it.

Hermione allowed Neville to do most of the work, hovering behind him and assessing each compartment of students whose door they knocked on. Whilst she'd read about the houses before, she took the opportunity now to form her own impressions; the Ravenclaws seemed rather aloof, like pale imitations of Lady Grindelwald whilst the Gryffindors were a boisterous bunch, reminding her strongly of Herr Lintzen. The Slytherins were a mean bunch, sneering at them both and being decidedly unhelpful, but Hermione knew that they carried among their number almost all of the old and influential families. She would have to brave their sneers at some point if she planned to get anywhere in the magical world.

Finally, they came across a carriage of their own year group. It was the group from the platform; Malfoy, his two cronies and the snooty girl. They'd been joined by a thin, unattractive boy and one of the willowy girls that had followed the witches Hermione had seen on the muggle platform

'Longbottom. You've found yourself a girlfriend.' Malfoy sneered as soon as the door slid open.

'Malfoy.' Neville acknowledged, a tremor in his voice. 'This is Hermione, Hermione, this is Draco Malfoy.'

'Hermione who?' Pug-girl demanded. Neville's face went blank and he looked back at Hermione.

'Hermione of Gorlois.' Hermione stepped forwards smoothly, introducing herself.

'Mudblood.' Malfoy said dismissively. His cronies laughed.

'I am not.' Hermione hissed. Whilst she saw nothing wrong with new bloods, she knew that she at least needed to make her status clear. With the British prejudice she'd never get anywhere otherwise.

'Of course not.' The girl giggled, 'she's an "of Gorlois"!' The louts guffawed loudly and Malfoy snickered. Hermione drew herself up angrily.

'You know nothing. My line was old whilst yours was still scrabbling in the dirt with the chickens.'

'Oh yes, the famous "of Gorloises", how could we forget?' Malfoy drawled, earning himself another round of snorts.

'Haven't heard of Morgana then?' Hermione demanded furiously. 'Mordred, Morgause, Igraine?'

'Oh come on!' The girl laughed. 'You can't actually expect us to believe that? If you're going to pretend you're from some family, Mudblood, at least pick a more likely one than that.'

'Oh, I'm descended from Circe!' Malfoy mocked through gales of laughter. Resolutely, Hermione decided to prove them wrong but she was intelligent enough to realise that now was not the time. She tossed her hair and withdrew with a haughty stride, noting as she did that the small boy was not laughing with the rest. He alone looked contemplative, and she noticed his eyes fixed on the ring on her finger. She glanced down at his own hand, recognising the seal on his ring bore the same shade of blue coloured stone as her own. He was probably a Nott and if anyone knew of her family name, it would be the heir to the family that were widely considered the wizarding genealogists.

After her falling out with the children in Nott's compartment, she was eager to do better with the next group of first years. She followed Neville down the corridor and eventually they came upon the messiest compartment so far. The floor was covered in a thick layer of sweet wrappers and more were piled up around the two boys that sat opposite one another. A red-head (Weasley or Prewett) had his wand drawn and pointed at a rat in his lap.

'Are you doing magic?' She asked eagerly, keen to see what her wizarding peers were capable of.

'Er, I suppose.' The boy answered doubtfully, looking nervously back down at his rat. He cleared his throat and adjusted his grip on his wand and Hermione immediately knew the spell wouldn't work. He had such weak intent that he'd be lucky to get a spark, even if the words that spilled from his mouth weren't complete rubbish.

'Well, that wasn't a real spell, was it?' Hermione said, trying to reassure him.

'My brothers told it to me.' The boy said, rubbing at the end of his nose where a black speck marked the pale skin.

'Well, I would have made sure to jinx them if they'd tried to teach me such rubbish. My brothers and I have practiced loads of magic and we managed most of the useful spells in the first year text books last year, its all rather elementary but I expect they want to ease us into it, you know?' She paused, realising she hadn't even found out their names yet. 'I'm Hermione of Gorlois, who are you?'

'Ron Weasley.' The redhead answered, looking slightly thunderstruck, 'who're your brothers? Mine might know them?'

'Oh, they both go to Durmstrang. I'm the first in my family to come to Hogwarts in centuries.' She waved a hand dismissively. She looked at the dark haired boy with the glasses expectantly.

'Harry Potter.' He supplied.

'Oh, Where's your ring?' She asked, searching for the symbol that should have given him away. He just looked at her blankly. 'You're the patriarch now, aren't you? Where's your ring?'

'I don't have a ring.' Harry said, looking like she'd spoken a foreign language.

'Well, you should speak to the goblins at Gringotts, I'm sure they'd be able to tell you. It's very important, otherwise you'll never be able to deal with your house affairs properly.'

'Did you hear about Gringotts?' Ron asked, perking up for the first time since his failed spell. 'Someone broke in.'

'Really?' Hermione asked, fascinated. 'How did they get past the Goblins?'

'Nobody knows.' Ron said mysteriously. 'Dad says it must have been a really powerful dark wizard to get through all the enchantments. They didn't take anything though, which is what's got everyone confused.'

'That's strange. There's plenty of easy, low security vaults they could have gotten into once they were inside, even if they couldn't get to the one they intended to go to.'

'Well, its gotten everyone nervous incase its You-Know-Who again.' Ron said the name nervously, glancing around as if terrified that even the moniker would have the dark wizard jumping out at him. Hermione's mind jumped to Gellert, sitting in some cell in his own prison and she wondered if people spoke his name with the same fear.

There was a long moment of heavy silence, then Neville tapped her on the shoulder and reminded them that they were almost there, and that the boys should probably change. She said her goodbyes, leaving the boys and heading back to their compartment, toad still missing but wanting to check on their other belongings before they arrived.

Before long, the train was drawing to a stop at a dark platform. A cool voice told them to leave their belongings on the train as a stampede of footsteps rumbled down the train and black-robed students flooded out through the doors. Hermione and Neville joined the throng, forcing their way against the flow to reach a giant of a man who called for all the first years. Finally they broke free of the crowd and made their way over to a huddle of pale, nervous looking students. Hermione easily picked out the boys from Malfoy's carriage, Harry and Ron. Justin was there too and he waved at her. She nodded back, then followed the large man with his bobbing lantern down a long, overgrown path that wound its way into the woods.

She stumbled several times before giving up with a huff.

'This is ridiculous, can't we have some light?' She hissed, throwing her hand up to conjure a floating witch light to light the path ahead. Gasps of surprise and awe met her actions and she caught Neville gaping at her like a fish. 'Well, get moving!' She prompted the boy in front of her. He turned around and kept shuffling down the path in her conjured light whilst murmuring broke out behind her.

'Ye'll get yer first sigh' of Hogwarts in a bit.' Hagrid called back up to them, then he squinted. 'An' put tha' light out!'

'Oh for Circe's sake.' She hissed as she extinguished her light and promptly stumbled over another root in the darkness. 'This is ridiculous... oh!'

A magnificent castle had appeared through the curtain of trees in front of them. It perched precariously on a mountain opposite, windows glittering like stars in the night sky. It was denser than Blau Berg had been, towers and turrets soaring up in close proximity to one another, so that it looked almost like a solid mass against the darkness. Bridges arched over a deep gorge so that one could access the grounds, which fell away towards a dark, encroaching forest that hugged the edge of the great loch that they stood at the edge of now. Floating just off the beach below them was a fleet of little boats, which people were already climbing into, still goggling at the castle above them. Realising she was one of the last ashore, she hopped in with Harry and Ron, Neville almost tipping the boat over as he followed behind her.

At a single word command from the giant the boats all took off, gliding noiselessly across the water. In an almost choreographed movement, their heads tipped back as they approached the castle, then at another command from the giant, they ducked beneath a curtain of ivy and the light winked out.

With a gentle crunch, their boats bumped up against an invisible shore, and feeling their way forwards, they all clambered out to stand in a huddle on a pebbly shore. Following the distant glow of his lantern, they felt their way up a stone staircase which wound in damp curls up through the rock and eventually emerged onto smooth, damp grass at the foot of the castle.

They followed like sheep up to the base of a large door and the giant gave three powerful, booming knocks.

The doors swung open with a smooth silence that could only be achieved with magic. Professor McGonagall stood there in the same set of emerald robes as she'd worn when she first met them, but now there was a wide brimmed, pointed hat on her head.

They wee led across an entrance hall that was large, but nowhere near as stunning as the one in Blau Berg. There was a large set of double doors, underneath which spilled the sound of hundreds of happy voices. They passed this one and were taken into a smaller antechamber.

'Welcome to Hogwarts.' McGonagall said once they were all gathered silently in front of her. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses...' Hermione let her gaze wander around the room, only half listening. Malfoy had somehow managed to go even paler and was kneeding his hands in his pockets whilst Harry looked like he was about to faint. There were two Indian looking siblings clutching hands and a girl that could almost have passed for a tubby Jessica was talking to them.

McGonagall left, the door shutting behind her with a thud. For a moment there was just quiet, nervous muttering, then suddenly several people screamed.

A column of pearly white figures had drifted through the wall, arguing fiercely and not seeming to notice the students gathered at floor height below them. Hermione had never actually seen a ghost, despite knowing that there was a whole wing of the Grindelwald castle dedicated to them and that there were twenty or so living there. There was one in a ruff and big, billowing trousers and another rotund one in a monk's habit. Suddenly, the ghost in the ruff noticed them all gaping up at them.

'I say, what are you all doing here?'

'New students!' The monk exclaimed, smiling. 'About to be sorted, I suppose?'

Hermione nodded along with several other students.

'Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know?' The monk said.

'Move along now.' McGonagall was back, and they all turned quickly to face her again. 'The sorting ceremony is about to start.'

With an excited muttering, the ghosts drifted away through the wall and into what Hermione assumed was the adjacent dining room. They were instructed to form a line, which proved oddly difficult because nobody seemed to want to lead. Eventually, Justin ended up at the front and McGonagall swept away, the first years following like ducklings.

The Great Hall more than made up for the disappointment of the entrance hall. Thousands of candles glowed and flickered below a soaring ceiling enchanted to look like the sky outside. Four long tables ran the length of the room, lined with students in black, faces all turned towards them. Golden plates and goblets glittered down the length of the room, casting warm reflections over people's clothes and large serving platters suggested the tables would soon be groaning with food. At the far end of the hall was a fifth table on a raised dais, this one populated by teachers. In the middle of the table was an old wizard that Hermione knew instantly, and with another pang of sadness was Albus Dumbledore. He was a year younger than Gellert, and his age-weary face and long white beard were a painful reminder of what Gellert surely looked like now. She wasn't sure whether she hated him or not for winning the duel, on one hand he had put Gellert in prison, on the other, at least he hadn't killed him.

They fanned out in front of the staff table and McGonagall placed a small, three-legged stool at the top of the short flight of stairs. On top of the stool, she put a hat that Hermione was certain must be the sorting hat. It was old and ragged with big stains and a patch that crumpled the tip.

Silence fell.

Then the hat burst into song. It was a jaunty little tune about the qualities of the four houses and instructing them on how to get sorted. She heard Ron muttering about how he'd been told he was supposed to wrestle a troll she wondered if anyone else ever read books, or was it unique to her, Gellert and Berg?

When the hat fell silent, McGonagall unrolled a long roll of parchment.

'Abbot, Hannah.' She called. A pink-faced girl with her hair in pigtails scurried up to the stool and McGonagall dropped the hat on her head. There was a moment of silence, then the hat opened its mouth and pronounced her a Hufflepuff. The table on the far right erupted in cheers, waving yellow-trimmed sleeves as she made her way over; a huge grin splitting her face from ear to ear. Bones, Susan also went to Hufflepuff then Boot, Terry became the first Ravenclaw.

Hermione didn't know which house she wanted to be in - there was no precedent for her family, unlike most of the other students here. Whilst she was sure Hufflepuff had an illustrious history, it just didn't seem like the kind of house that promoted excellence. Slytherin would help her foster the right connections she knew it would be a tricky first couple of months until she could make a name for herself. Conversely, Ravenclaw would provide quick acceptance but might make fostering connections trickier. Gryffindor - the name of the house itself was virtually something one could put on their resume, who didn't want a public declaration of their chivalry?

Justin became a Hufflepuff as well, then shortly is was Hermione's turn. To her relief, even though she would have put money on her Muggle name appearing on the parchment, McGonagall hesitated briefly before calling out 'Gorlois, Hermione.'

She crossed to the stool quickly, sitting and allowing the hat to drop down over her eyes. It was dark and the sound of the hall seemed artificially deadened. Then, inside her Occulumency shields, a voice spoke.

'My my, how unusual! Yes, Yes, definitely not a Hufflepuff. Bravery, certainly but my my what intelligence. I'd put you in Ravenclaw... but what have we here?'

The hat paused and she could almost feel it rifling through her thoughts.

'The old ways, hmm? A High Priestess, I don't believe anyone has held that title since before I was made. Freeing Grindelwald, bringing back your family name, very ambitious. Well, there's only one house that will truly help you on your way to greatness. Better be...'

'Slytherin!' The hat bellowed to the room at large. The table on the left cheered for her and she made her way over quickly, taking a seat between a tall second year and Millicent Bulstrode.

'Hermione Gorlois, was it?' A second year opposite her asked. She smiled back at him politely.

'Not quite, Hermione of Gorlois, it's a title, rather than a family name.'

She had the attention of everyone around her now, so she deliberately placed her hands on the table, putting her family ring on full display as Malfoy took the seat a couple down from her.

'So what's your actual name then?' The second year demanded.

'Well, I guess in full it would be Hermione Granger, High Priestess of Gorlois and ward of house Grindelwald.' She said, forcing herself to sound modest and uncertain. If she hadn't had their attention before, she certainly held the attention of half the table now. Even Malfoy had fallen silent and was staring at her.

'Grindelwald?' A third year witch from down the table demanded.

'Ward, as in, sponsorship? They haven't done that in years, even on the continent!'

She nodded up the table at them, doing her best not to preen at the attention.

'As in Gellert Grindelwald, the dark wizard?' Another third year confirmed. Hermione winced, hoping that the others hadn't noticed.

'His mother was the one to sponsor me.' She corrected, 'The High Witch Katerina Grindelwald.'

Malfoy was looking at her open mouthed, Pug-face was spluttering whilst Nott sat quietly beside her, still wearing that contemplative look.

'Are you sure you want to be shouting that around? Dumbledore'll be making your life difficult enough just for being in Slytherin, without bandying about that you're a Grindelwald.' The third year advised, looking up at the staff table.

'He already knows, it was a ritual adoption so the name appeared on my letter.' She waved a hand carelessly.

'A ritual adoption? Isn't that blood magic?' A second year asked. He was big and burly with hands like tennis racquets.

'Of course.' Hermione laughed, 'but its no worse than a Samhain ritual - just a mixing of blood, no sacrifice or anything.'

Dead silence met her words.

'Perhaps you shouldn't mention that to anyone outside of Slytherin. Blood magic has been on the list of restricted magic for centuries in Britain. We're a little more accepting in this house, but you could end up in real trouble if you let that slip to someone in Gryffindor.' The third year witch who'd spoken first cautioned.

'But that means you can't celebrate Samhain with your ancestors? Or Harvest, or even Beltane?' She was thunderstruck.

'Nobody's celebrated those for years. Old spells like that don't actually work!' A dark skinned boy had just sat down opposite her and Hermione spluttered.

'Of course they do! I mean, its tricky magic and you've got to have a host, a channel and a key that know how to wield their core without a wand...' She trailed off, seeing everyone looking at her with sceptical expressions.

'You'd be lucky to find three people who can do wandless magic.' Nott informed her. Confused, she reached out with her magic, noticing quickly that the people around her had strange, rigid cores. There was a powerful bond running between the older students and their wands hilts the younger students appeared almost entirely dormant and unpracticed.

'Oh. I mean, Lady Grindelwald started both Gellert and I wandlessly, so that we'd never come to rely on our wands too much.' She explained awkwardly, realising why people had been so surprised by her witchlight on the path.

'You started learning magic wandlessly?' Malfoy asked sceptically, 'don't be ridiculous, most adults can't do that.'

'But children can.' Nott said quietly, still looking at Hermione with that odd expression. 'Accidental magic is wandless, so we must just... forget how at some point.'

At that moment, silence fell across the hall again and their whispered conversation had to pause. Dumbledore stood up and although he was facing the whole hall, Hermione felt like he was fixated on her. She stared back with a defiant tilt of her chin.

'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you.'

Dumbledore sat back down to a wave of slightly baffled applause, then the food finally appeared on the table. Hermione neatly helped herself to generous portions of each dish - potatoes, roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, peas and carrots, beans and cabbage.

'Brilliant!' The dark skinned boy said loudly. 'I'm starving.'

The tension was broken and attention shifted away from her and to the food. She smiled to herself; she'd gotten their attention, now she just needed to cultivate that into respect. Yes, Slytherin was definitely the place for her.