Chapter One
"Are you excited?" My snob of a cousin, Rupert, asked me pompously as we walked down the grimy strip of concrete that was Platform 9 ¾- the platform from which we would catch our train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"No," I replied dully. I was the last of my family to start at the freaking school- I'd been hearing about it my whole life. Did you know it has five towers? And that the Gryffindor common room is the largest of all of them? Or that gold and red are much nicer than green and silver, which don't go together at all? No, I wasn't excited about starting at Hogwarts. Resigned, yes. But happy- no.
"Why ever not?" Rupert stopped his lengthy explanation of the Hogwarts curriculum and stared at me in surprise.
I rolled my eyes at him. "'Cos I'm going to be stuck in the same building as all of you," I replied, gesturing vaguely behind me to where my cousins and siblings were already chatting animatedly with their friends.
"Not just the same building," Rupert corrected me, "but even the same common room. Have I told you that the Gryffindor colours are red and gold?"
"Many a time," I said sarcastically, kicking him in the shin.
Instead of reacting how a normal person would, Rupert just frowned at me. "What did you do that for?" he asked calmly.
"You're being a stuck up prat," I answered over my shoulder, desperate to get away from him. Unfortunately my parents were blocking my escape route.
"Mel!" my mum crowed, bearing down on me with her arms open. I skilfully dodged and gave her a disdainful frown.
She ignored it and stepped back, glancing anxiously at her husband- my dad- to see whether he had noticed it. As usual, he was too busy chatting happily to my brothers about Quidditch to notice the fact that his daughter had been 'hostile'.
"Well, honey," she said in a sickly sweet tone, "We'll be so proud of you when you get into Gryffindor. Won't we, George?" she added, shooting a stern glance at dad. He looked over and nodded, surprised, as if he hadn't noticed I was there.
I scowled. "What makes you think I'll get into Gryffindor?" I asked rudely.
My brother, Travis, heard me and agreed. "Yeah, she'll probably be in Slytherin," he said, poking his tongue out at me.
My mother gasped. "No! No one in this family is getting into Slytherin," she said firmly, then looked sideways at Travis. "And I don't want to hear that again. Understood?"
I sighed, already bored with the proceedings. I just wanted to get on the train and way from these people. "Can I go now?" I asked bluntly.
"Sure," mum answered distractedly. She was busy polishing my brother's Head Boy badge.
My whole family- cousins included- have been put into Gryffindor, ever since I can remember and before. My mother had been in it, my father was in it, my eldest sibling, Camellia, had been in it. My oldest brother, Stephen, was in it and Head Boy. My next brother, Carter, was sixth year, Gryffindor, and a prefect. My other two brothers, Julius and Travis, were in fourth and third years respectively. Gryffindor house was really more like Weasley house- there was at least one in every year.
There was never any doubt among the family- except maybe for Travis- that I was going to be placed in Gryffindor. Where I 'belonged'. All my cousins that attend Hogwarts were in Gryffindor too.
I lugged my trunk onto the fire-engine red train, just as the steam began to come out of the funnel, and walked down the passage, searching for a compartment to sit in. I went through the next few carriages, and soon I could see that I wouldn't find an empty one, as I had hoped. I passed cousins and siblings, but none of them even gave me a second glance. In my family, I was in the 'outer circle'.
I barged into the next one and stood in the doorway. "Can I sit here?" I asked flatly, not waiting for an answer before I put my luggage in the overhead rack.
The boy sitting in there looked up from whatever he was doing and rolled his eyes. "Looks like you didn't give me a choice," he said good-naturedly. He had black hair and brown eyes, but he had a mischievous look about him. I knew I didn't want to sit with this kid, but I glanced back out and knew I had no choice. Everywhere else was full.
I groaned and sat down loudly. He stared at me for a few moments before trying to start up a conversation. "My name's Finn Hunter," he said.
"That's nice," I said.
"Aren't you going to tell me yours?" he asked, when it became clear to him I wasn't going to say anything more.
"No," I scoffed. I avoided his penetrating stare by glancing around the cabin. It was old and drab, there were several burn marks where previous students had exploded things that had melted onto the walls.
"Are you going to be in first year?" he asked, as if he couldn't stand the silence.
"What does it look like?" I sneered.
He nodded in answer to his question. "I think that's a yes," he said to himself, as if he were trying to be funny.
"So," he said slowly.
I ignored him and spent the rest of the time staring out the window and the boring country scenery. It was going to be a long ride.
"Firs' years, over 'ere!" a voice called when I stepped out of the compartment. Thankfully, as soon as I stepped out of the carriage Finn hadn't tried to follow. I think he got the point that I wasn't particularly keen on him.
We were at a station, although smaller and less grand than the one at Platform 9 ¾. Rolling green hills surrounded it, and in the distance I could just make out a castle, but before that I could see the faint glimmer of water. I knew we were expected to cross a lake, but judging by the confused whisperings of several other students, they didn't.
I followed the rush of students as they made their way over to a giant, burly man with a tangle of curly black beard. He held a lantern up high in the evening sky as he led the way down a small track to the edge of the lake. Resting on the sandy shore were about ten or so boats, all small and brown and wooden. They looked as if they'd barely be able to carry a bunch of first years, let alone a giant man ten feet tall.
"All right," he said in his poor grammar. "Four to a boat! Come on, come on! We don't 'ave all night," he said loudly, as the kids at the front meekly went a bit closer.
I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly, shoving past a couple of kids who made no attempt to get into the rickety boats. "Hurry up," I said harshly.
Although they looked startled, several students followed my example and we were in a boat that magically started to row by itself, taking us away from the group and across the vast expanse of water. I turned to study my shipmates.
One was a girl, who had thick dark curls that tumbled down past her shoulders. She glanced at me and I could see that she had dark blue eyes, and several freckles. She looked pale and scared.
I moved onto the next boy. He was tall, with fair hair and green eyes. He was staring eagerly towards the castle.
The last- to my surprise- was Finn Hunter, the boy who had been in my compartment. He was studying our classmates too, and when he got to me was watching me slyly.
"What?" I asked abruptly.
"Nothing," he replied coolly. He turned to the boy. "What's your name?" he asked.
The boy smiled at him. "I'm Joel O'Weill," he said cheerfully.
"Finn Hunter," Finn replied, equally up-beat. Then he said to the girl, "Hi. What's yours?"
"I'm Saskia Bartlett," she replied, not sounding nearly as scared she looked. Then all three unanimously turned to look at me expectantly.
I stayed sullenly silent.
"Well," the girl, Saskia, prompted. "What's you name then?"
"Do you want to know?" I asked lazily.
"Yeah," Joel said, waiting.
"I don't think I'll tell you," I replied dismissively, turning away from them to focus on the school. It was very large now, and I could see everything my siblings had talked about- the towering turrets, large archways and the overall huge building. It was almost beautiful, in a strange way. I could see that the other students had already arrived and were in the Great Hall, judging by the brilliant light coming from what most probably was a large room. In any case, it was a series of lit up windows.
The boat bumped up against the lake edge, and Saskia and Joel got out. I was at the back of the boat, and just as Finn went to get out he suddenly slipped and elbowed me- right out of the boat, into the murky dark water below.
I was not a very confident swimmer, as I had never really felt any need to go swimming. It wasn't often hot where I lived, and when it was I just dealt with the heat. I was sorry to say that I almost had a phobia of water.
"Augh!" I shrieked and went under. I was panicking and the water rushed into my lungs and made me choke. My eyes were burning and I flailed about, trying to scream but only getting a mouthful of water for my trouble.
The next time I surfaced, however, someone shouted a very surprising thing: "Stand up!" And I did. It turned out I could stand up perfectly, with my head and even shoulders well above the water level. When I finally felt that I could look up, Finn was standing there, laughing hysterically. Saskia and Joel didn't look all that sympathetic, either.
Other students were all staring curiously towards us, some smirking and some looking confused. I summoned all the dignity I could and held my head high. "You'll pay for that, Hunter," I said in the most threatening tone I could manage.
Finn only laughed harder. "Oh really," he said when he managed to calm himself somewhat, "and you are just so scary." He doubled over in laughter again.
I glared at him in scorn before stalking out of the lake. Unfortunately my shoe became caught in the mud, so I had to double back and actually go face first into the water to reach it.
By the time I caught up to the rest of the group, soaked, muddy and miserable, they were just entering Hogwarts. "I heard that we have to fight a lion," one girl whispered to her companion.
I scoffed loudly enough for them to glance over. A lion? As if. "So the would-be Hufflepuffs have to fight a badger, then?" I asked, feigning curiosity.
The girl blushed and the students within hearing distance laughed.
"Ahem," a voice said, cutting the laughter short. A stately woman in a tall pointing hat cleared her throat. She looked quite old, but not in a feeble sort of way. "I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House. In a moment you will be sorted into your houses. They are; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."
"I guess we know were you're going, don't we?" a voice whispered in my ear. I looked over and wasn't startled to see Finn there, smirking at me as he surveyed the puddle that had appeared around me.
"Your house will be like your family for the time that you are at Hogwarts." McGonagall finished. She went through the doors, during which time I caught a glimpse of one of the tables. Would I be sitting there tonight?
"We are ready for you," she said, coming back out importantly. She thrust the doors open and the first years filed down the aisle. I was in the middle of the group, and I looked to my left, at the Gryffindor table. I passed Stephen, Carter and my twin cousins Erin and Ewan, sitting towards the other end of the table. Evidently the older you were, the higher up the table you got to sit.
After the sorting hat did it's little song and dance (of which most of the first years were suitably impressed) McGonagall said her little speech about not going into the forbidden forest, banned items on Filch's list, and the head boy and girl. "This year," she said, "the Head boy and girl are: Stephen Weasley and Jessica Mildrich!" I had no idea who this Mildrich girl was, but I didn't clap. The freaking prat hadn't stopped going on about his little badge since he got the letter in the mail.
"And now we will begin the sorting," she said, holding up a scroll and reading the first name. "Alberts, Rosalind," was the first one.
A scrawny, plain girl with dull blonde hair walked up to the hat and put it on. After what was probably less than a minute, the hat proclaimed, "Hufflepuff!"
"Avenell, Cameron," was next on the list. The last name sounded familiar, but I couldn't figure out why.
After a few minutes, during which it looked like they were arguing, the hat screamed, "Slytherin!" The boy looked neither glad nor happy about this, but I saw him sweep an eye up and down the table wearily before taking a seat closest to the front.
"Bartlett, Saskia," was that girl who had been in the boat. The one who hadn't helped me out of the lake, or even told Hunter off. A minute later, "Gryffindor!" was yelled out. I sighed; I honestly didn't want to share a house with that one.
Name after name was read out. Some took a long time, but others, such as "Dolohov, Irana," only had to have the hat lowered above their head before the house was called out.
"Hunter, Finnulas!" made me look up from staring at the back of a frayed cloak in front of me. The kid that had pushed me into the lake, and then laughed, was sitting on the stool. He took a few minutes, before the hat yelled, "Gryffindor!" and the table burst into applause.
Finally, "Walker, Arjun," was called out and placed in "Ravenclaw!" I was next.
"Weasley, Melissa!" I rolled my eyes and stepped forward. There was only one other person left. I sank onto the stool and the tattered hat was placed on my head.
"Hmm," it thought. "Yet another Weasley." I'm the last one, I thought back ruefully. "So I see." The hat answered. "Ravenclaw's no good. Not that sharp, apparently." I'm smarter than some people I know are, I thought indignantly. The hat ignored me. "Hufflepuff's no good either. Gryffindor- you don't possess all the qualities, but I could make allowances- what's that? A thirst to prove yourself, like so many before you… Yes, you would do well in Slytherin." I'm not a pureblood, I objected. "But you have more of the qualities than Gryffindor," the hat thought, waiting for my reply. When I had none, it shouted, "Slytherin!"
A/N: If you would be so kind as to review, your thoughts would be very much appreciated. Thank you!