Chapter one
Stepping into Hogwarts's magical, otherworldly hall, Alexandra felt something cold curl in her gut. Her face was solemn compared to the excited, chittering, children around her, like she was being sent off to war.
Harry Potter was hard to spot, his short statue almost impossible to find through the crowd, but his ginger haired friend already stood out like a torch. Alex regarded Harry with a wary eye, noting the discrepancies of his appearance compared to what was described in the books. He was bonier than his movie adaption, but his glasses were surprisingly well cared of.
It's to be expected for a children's book about magic to be unrealistic, having the reader to suspend their disbelief to enjoy the story, but fiction is now reality, and Alex didn't know how the made-up characters will play with this reality. Would the world warp to fit Rowling's nonsensical logic, pathetic children running around with their sticks of doom, and even dumber people in political power, or would reality force them to adapt to be more cunning, more ruthless, and more destructive?
She doesn't know which is worse.
Professor McGonagall's appearance distracted Alex from her thoughts, and she walked with the crowd towards the Great Hall.
The minutes leading up towards her sorting was tense. While she had a strong sense of self, memories of Hermione (A bookworm, know-it-all, teacher's pet), and Peter Pettigrew (coward, rat, pathetic) sorting into Gryffindor for gods know how, doubt whispers into her mind.
The musty, old brown hat covered her eyes, and the voices of the great hall muffled. The creaky old stool she sat on felt unsafe, but Alex suspects that there are several spells placed to keep it from '
Well, I haven't seen a mind quite like yours in a long time.
Alex thought she was prepared, but when the voice rang inside her head, she jolted upwards, and through the hat she could hear some children snickering.
'You've seen people like me?' She asked, curious and slightly wary. She knew the hat has some sort of privacy limit, preventing it from sharing information with even Dumbledore, yet she doesn't know to whom exactly it extends to.
Is it limited to children? To the living? Immediately those two factors might disqualify her, but even those are quite a stretch.
Well, reborn, yes. From your world, most likely not. There was one particularly interesting one who used to have fur and lived in a more strength-based hierarchy… well, now's not the time to reminisce. We're here to determine where you will go.
'You don't sort strictly based on traits, correct? Why go through this effort to classify me, a three-dimensional person, based on only two traits out of the limited options we have?' Alex doesn't know if she has any talent in occlumency, but she could feel the hat rummage through her memories, and she knows it can understand the depth of her opinion, not limited to the words she can articulate.
You misunderstand, Alexandra. Those 'which Harry Potter house are you' quizzes really did not help explain my purpose.
Eleven year old's, as you know, do not have a strong sense of self. They are easily influences, and their time at Hogwarts will determine their development for the future. You see, my purpose is to place them in a house that will push them forward. I was, or will be, swayed to put Hermione in Gryffindor because it's what will help her gain a trait that she values and wants, which is courage. Discrimination based on house wasn't this severe in my creation's time, so only recently,
'Recent based on your standards old man… hat. A hundred years isn't recent for us mortals'
I suppose you're correct, forgive my mistake. Only since the rise of Voldemort had I felt the need to not simply sort based on my wisdom, but also the safety of the student I'm sorting. For a long time, no house was viewed as inferior, so it's a relatively new limit I'm attempting to perfect.
This has been a very riveting conversation, but I digress. This is still your sorting after all. As mentally you are of age, I'd like to hear your thoughts on where you want to go.
'You're already hearing my thoughts whether I like it or not, so you already know.'
Aye, though I would like to see if I can convince you otherwise.
With Slytherin, I believe it'd be good for you, taking care of the children. You'd be a good leader, and you certainly don't lack ambition and cunning. Salazar would've adored you.
'Salazar may have, but I highly doubt the children would appreciate a mudblood ordering them around'
Hufflepuff would also do you a lot of good, in my opinion. They're kindness and positive attitude might be just what you need.
'I'm a person of the 20th century. I am certainly not hard working. Nether am I loyal.'
Gryffindor…
'We both know that it'd be awful for me and the others. I'm certainly not one to enjoy the company of such rowdy people, and similarly they'll most likely find me a killjoy. In addition, I wouldn't want to touch the golden trio with a ten foot pole'
It's indeed not the best option for you, but even so, with your abilities and knowledge, you'd do a lot of good if placed in the right situation. For the greater good, some might say.
Alex stiffened. She knew she's attracting attention with a hat stall, yet if she let the hat put her in Gryffindor, she'd burn the fucking thing and fly to America.
The hat chuckled, and she relaxed. They both know it wouldn't do that.
You wouldn't suit Ravenclaw.
'I do! I'm very interested in the logic of magic, and I intend to find out what lead to my reincarnation.'
I know what you want, though what I meant was that you seek knowledge for purpose, not for the sake of knowing. The house would be more of an enabler for your anti-social tendencies.
'Well, in the end, my house is up to you. But I made my opinion pretty clear'
Indeed, and I find it a waste to place you in a house where we both know you'll hide and waste away behind a book, keeping up this charade until your dying breath. In the end, I believe the house that'll help you grow the most is
"Hufflepuff!"
Her face was carefully blank, as the hat was removed from her head, but if the people around her could see her seething internal state, they'd move a further away from the furious witch.
Alexandra should've torched the thing when she had the chance.
*note im not shitting on ravenclaw great house just as the author and creator of the character I know that in order for Alex to play an active role in the story, she'll have to be place somewhere outside her classic comfort zone.
In ravenclaw she knows that she can get by with zero personality and just hide away with a book somewhere. She also wouldn't be involved in any of the plot, since ravenclaw in the HP books never really had any plot relevant characters other than luna, and even so luna's a singular character that doesn't interact w the main plot DUE to her being a ravenclaw, but more because EVEN THOUGH she's a ravenclaw.
Also for the reason she's in Hufflepuff, she is loyal and hardworking, just in a different way. She hasn't made any deep connection since coming into this world, and the hat views it as her loyalty to her old life, even if the loyalty is self destructive. She hasn't worked particularly hard so far, but he can see that if she has an obsession with something, she will work smarter not harder, but still it's good enough for the hat.