Chapter 16: Sorting

As soon as the train pulls into the station I dart from it, weaving my way through the crowd and finding my group. "Hey guys." I say happily as we head over to the half giant that's calling for first years. "How was the train ride?"

"It was nice." Hermione says. "Did anything interesting happen with you?"

"I found another possible sibling. I haven't asked her but I think she's Apollo's blood sister." I say as the half giant leads us to some boats and tells us to get in with no more than four to a boat.

Artemis, Apollo, Aeolus, and I share one while Nightshade, Hermione, Jekyll, and Hyde share, Rogue, Raine, Wanda, and Pedro share a third, and Stone Breaker rides with three strangers. We turn a bend in the river and enter the wards of the school, which I feel immediately embrace me like an old friend. I smile fondly at the beautiful castle made of black stone. Once we arrive at the shore the half giant, Hagrid I think his name was, leads us to the stern looking woman wearing green robes that was with Hermione in Diagon Alley.

"The firs' years', Professor McGonagall." Hagrid says.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them from here." the woman says before leading us to a large set of double doors, giving us a small speech, and heading through the door to get things ready. As soon as she is gone the other students begin talking excitedly to each other.

"Did you hear?" I hear a red headed girl whisper to her friend excitedly, "Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts this year!"

"Harry Potter? Really?" her friend asks.

"I'm Harry's best mate you know." the annoying red head from Diagon Alley says proudly, making a bunch of students look at him in awe. "We grew up together, playing Quidditch and stuff. I always beat him as seeker."

"Really?" I ask and he turns to look at me, "Because I don't remember you ever coming to the lab."

"What lab?" he asks, confused. "What would that have to do with anything?"

"Well, most of my siblings and I grew up in the same lab. Aeolus here was born with the name Hadrian, Harry, Potter. I don't recall you ever being in the lab or friends with any of us." I tell him with a shrug, "Aside from that, Aeolus would never be friends with a mutant hater like you."

"Why not?" he asks angrily, "He's perfectly normal!"

I laugh at that before asking, "Are you blind?" I gesture at Aeolus, "He has wings! I don't think that fits into your messed up version of normal."

He opens his mouth to respond but before he can someone clears their throat; we turn and see McGonagall who says, "We're ready for you now." She leads us through the doors and up to an old hat; the sorting hat. We all stare at it for a few seconds before it opens its mouth and sings a song. Once the song is done everyone claps and McGonagall steps forward once again, this time holding a scroll, she clears her throat a bit before saying, "When I call your name you will come up, sit on the stool, I will put the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your house." she unrolls the scroll and the sorting goes by as usual until McGonagall calls out, "Black, Leah." I remain where I'm standing so she looks around the group and calls again, "Black, Leah."

I cross my arms over my chest and the headmaster looks at me and says, "Miss Black, she called your name. You're supposed to step up."

"I refuse to respond to that name, Headmaster Dumbledore." I say calmly, "As I recall, I requested to be referred to by my mutant name and as such will not respond to anything else. Also, I believe that's strike one."

"I did not see a reason to allow your request." he tells me, "Now, Leah, please come to be sorted."

"Strike two." I say with a smirk. "The letter I sent accepting my position here stated that if it is unacceptable to call me by my mutant name I be notified by August fifteenth so I could make alternate schooling arrangements. As I never received a response my request was accepted, creating a magical contract as I had channeled my magic into the letter as I wrote. This means that if either you or Professor McGonagall refer to me by my birth name one more time I have the right to claim either your lives or an object I wish for as penance, as well as forming a blood feud between my families and yours; and I don't really think you want the Black and Munroe lines against you." I pull out my copy of my acceptance letter and bring it over to McGonagall. "The others wrote identical letters with their mutant names."

She reads it before nodding and calling, "Shock'n'awe."

I take a seat on the stool and she sets the hat on my head. As soon as it's on my head the hat speaks in my mind, 'Hello Lady Leah. You have many plans for the future...if you wish to find your father look in the ministry public records building for Sirius Black. What house do you want me to put you in?'

'Hello Gregory. Me, Wanda, and Pedro go to Slytherin. The rest go where my visions put them.' I tell him before saying in a whisper, "Thank you for the advice."

'Yes my lady.' he says before calling to the rest of the room, "Slytherin!"

I stand and head over to join Andromeda, Tessa, and Amanda at the Slytherin table. The table cheers and the three I sat by bow their heads to me, the closest thing they can do to bowing without raising suspicion. I look around and see that all the people I drew on still have the markings on their faces. The rest of the sorting goes by quickly with Wanda and Pedro joining me in Slytherin, Aeolus, Apollo, Wolfsbane, Stone Breaker, and Rogue going to Gryffindor, Nightshade and Hermione going to Hufflepuff, and Jekyll, Hyde, and Artemis going to Ravenclaw.

Dinner starts so I dish myself a large plate of food and begin eating. After dinner Dumbledore gives a warning against going to the third floor corridor unless you wish for a painful death...I'll check that out tomorrow night. After that my house prefects lead us to the dormitories. When we get to the entrance Venera turns to us and says, "Alright, so, every year we allow the first years to try to choose our new password, if it's a good one then it stays that the rest of the year. Any volunteers?"

I raise my hand and she gestures for me to step forward. I do and look at the wall, tilting my head as I think of one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes before smirking and saying, "With the truth, you don't have to remember anything." The door slides open and the prefects nod in approval before leading us into the common room where they give a speech about how everyone else is out to get us; after the speech I go over and sit with Amanda, Tessa, and Andromeda, my twins following soon after and sitting on the ground in front of me. It doesn't take long for a bunch of other Slytherins to migrate over to us, keeping just enough distance from me that I don't end up crowded. I look around, then at Venera and ask, "What's with the crowd?"

"They're followers of your path." she tells me as she takes a seat. "I did suggest they wait until the first meeting before meeting you. Would you like to attend the first meeting, my lady?"

"Sure, but don't call me that when we're in places that people who don't know will hear. I'm keeping my identity a secret for a while." I say, "That being said, I'm gonna need you all to cover for me if professors show up tonight, I need to go somewhere tonight without being caught."

"Where? Why? You realize that we just got here, right Shock?" Wanda asks worriedly

A few of my followers start looking worried for her and one of them nervously tells her, "It's dangerous to question her."

"Before her morning coffee maybe." Pedro says with a laugh.

"These two are my twins in this life." I tell my followers before looking at Wanda, "To answer your questions, Asgard, to get some of my things, and yes I do know that we just got here." I look back at my followers, "So, cover for me?"

"Of course we'll cover for you, my lady." a fourth year says.

"Great." I say with a smile, "Out of curiosity are you fifty the only followers in Hogwarts?"

"No." Venera tells me. "You also have twenty eight Hufflepuff followers, fifteen Ravenclaw followers, five Gryffindor followers, and two followers that are part of the school staff, Professors Flitwick and Sprout."

"So of my three hundred and eighty eight followers ninety eight of them are England based between the ages of eleven to seventeen?" I ask and she nods. "Nice to know. So the rooms are the same in Slytherin, right? We each have our own?"

"You've been here before?" Wanda asks

"Yeah, one of Odin's favorite punishments is banishing his kids into mortal forms. He did that once after Thor and I decided to play chicken on horses in the throne room and accidentally destroyed a vase that was older that Odin, we ended up here on Midguard and the people who raised me after that ended up deciding to treat me as a boy, even naming me a boys name. Eventually me and Thor found each other and with the help of two friends we made this school." I say.

"You're Salazar Slytherin, aren't you?" Amanda asks in an awed tone.

"Yeah." I say.

"What was the fight that made you leave the school about?" a second year asks, "Supposedly you even battled with swords over it."

I blink before chuckling and saying, "Thor and I have a tendency to settle every small argument with sword fights. I didn't leave the school, I went for a walk and got caught in an avalanche, ended up back on Asgard because I served my sentence. As for the argument...well, to be honest it's because he took the last slice of bacon that was on my plate during breakfast. I also had nothing against Muggleborns, that was my nephew, Serpens, personal hatred." I then get up and stretch before telling them, "I'm going to go find my room and run my errands."

"Have a good night." Pedro says; I smile at him before walking away