The Selection
Mary:
"Riddle, Mary"
This was the moment, the words, which initiated my whole destiny. My whole life depended on the next few words of this piece of old leather. The Sorting Hat of Hogwarts.
Slightly shaking but with long strides I climbed the few steps to the three-legged stool and sat down on it. All eyes were on me and I felt my teachers burning gazes on my neck.
Without warning, everything turned black. I wanted to adjust the hat on my head when a squeaky voice rang out: "A Riddle!? What am I going to do, or rather, what will you do? Hmm... so, where do I send you little one?"
I didn't know why he was so surprised about my name. As far as I knew, both my parents weren't wizards. I got the letter unexpected and my father had just laughed and said that it must be a stupid joke.
"Well, let's try again... SLYTHERIN!"
Somewhat surprised, I got up and went to the applauding table. Why this house? I was Muggle-born! All I knew about this house was that it was the most Muggle-hating house in Hogwarts! And I was assigned to them?! Now this had to be a joke...
Alice:
''SLYTHERIN!"
Mary looked absolutely terrified. The question was why? I mean, I knew that there were some bad apples in Slytherin, but in general, Students of Slytherin had quite the bright future. And in all my time here I had met quite a lot of friendly Slytherins.
Mary Riddle, I had heard that name before. Auntie Minerva and the other teachers had mentioned this name, whenever they thought that I wasn't listening.
Since I was a curious person, I had researched the name, which was incidentally not so easy, because I had to go to the Restricted Section in the library. I'd spent hours in the library before I had discovered her name. Riddle, the birth name of Voldemort. I was wondering if she knew that. Judging from her look, at the word Slytherin, she probably didn't. But some of the other Students may know. I looked over to the Slytherin Table and studied some of the new faces. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
,,Nott, Theodore.'' Immediately I looked to my right. Next to me stood my closest friend and dearest friend Theo. We had known each other since childhood, which in itself was exceptional enough, considering the circumstances. But the fact that our families were very different, never bothered us. For years now, we talked about the day we would enter Hogwarts together, in the hopes that we would end up in the same house.
Theo looked at me for reassurance and I gave him a smile. I put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a light push forward. Theo smiled back at me before going up to the stool and sitting down on it. The hat was put on his head and it didn't take long for it to decide.
,,SLYTHERIN!'' Theo gave me an insecure look, before going to his assigned table. I started to grow nervous. It was to be expected that he would end up in Slytherin, his father had been in the same house. But we both knew that I didn't have the same odds he had. That's why we had both secretly hoped, that we would be put into Ravenclaw.
My look went back to Theo. He was sitting next to a boy who had the same light hair-colour he had. It was a weird match, considering that they were the only ones with such light hair. The boy next to Theo said something and everybody around him started to laugh, except Theo. He rolled his eyes and looked back at her. He mouthed 'Please don't leave me alone'. I giggled and looked back to the guy next to him. I knew who he was, the older Slytherin Students had talked about him quite a bit last year. She hadn't known what all the fuss was about until Peter, one of the older and friendlier Slytherins had explained everything to her. This boy was Draco Malfoy. He descended from one of the oldest and purest wizard families. Adding to that, his father was Lucius Malfoy, former Slytherin and a very powerful man in the wizarding world. So yes, Draco Malfoy was every Slytherins wet dream. Well, except for Theo. Theo had never cared about things like that. He was a soft boy and didn't judge you about things you didn't have any influence on. And from what I heard, Draco didn't have much to offer, except for his father and his blood. Theo had known Draco from before, because his father had arranged a couple of meetings for them. He wanted Nott to have a good time as Draco's friend in Hogwarts.
"Tepes, Alice.'' I raised my head and looked at Auntie Minerva's face. She nodded at me and I nervously walked to the stool. When I sat on it, she put the hat on my head. I didn't want to be separated from Theo but I honestly didn't think that I belonged to Slytherin
"Oh, that's interesting … GRYFFINDOR!''
The hat was taken from me again, and I stood up. Minerva smiled at me as I walked past her. But the face I really cared about was Theos. I looked at him while going to the Gryffindor table. He seemed as sad as I felt. Gryffindor and Slytherin. Our friendship was going to be tested. I sat down at the table, between a brown-haired girl and a dark-haired boy who had made some space for me.
"Hey, I'm Hermione, and you?", She held her hand out to me.
I shook it and said, "Alice, nice to meet you."
I felt the blood flow through her hand and I released it quickly. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem to be in a room full of people. Sure, I could smell the blood of every living being in this room but that wasn't a problem, as long as I did not have to feel it. The teachers of Hogwarts had all tried their best to help me learn and control my vampire side. It took a while but right now I was in optimal control of my powers.
I talked to Hermione for a while and observed from time to time, who got assigned to which House. After every first-year student had been assigned to a house, Dumbledore gave a short speech and then everyone began to eat. I wasn't too hungry though. Being separated from Theo like this killed my appetite.
Mary:
Silently I poked around in my food. They all seemed to know each other here! The only one who could not join in? Exactly, me. A brown-haired girl turned to me and asked "Hey. Mary, right? Are you a pureblood?"
I looked at her with raised eyebrows. ,,A what now?''
,,Oh my god, I can't believe you haven't heard of that term before. Pureblood, means that both of your parents and all of your lineage, were wizards. You know, your Family must be clear of muggles.'', she explained proudly. Ah Muggles, that was a term that I knew. My Grandma had explained that word to me. Muggles, were the non Magic people, the normal ones.
So I sighed and replied in a defeated tone: ''Muggle-born"
With that answer, I brought everyone around me to silence. They all looked at me. Some baffled but most of them rather contemptuous.
Unfaced by their behaviour I went on poking my food and waited for my house to calm down. Of course, this was not the case. A boy laughed and turned to me.
"Listen Riddle. The next few years are going to be the worst of your life you dirty Mudblood."
Ok. That was enough. Without giving him an answer, I got up and left the hall.
In the corner of my eye I registered that a girl from the Gryffindor table stood up too. Ignoring that, I walked to the dungeons and wanted to go down when I was stopped by a cold hand on my shoulder. I turned around and looked into the eyes of the boy, who had insulted me.
"Not so fast Mudblood. I was not done yet! "I tried to remember his name. Oh yeah Draco. Draco Malfoy. And behind him there were two other boys with ugly faces.
"Take your hand off my shoulder Malfoy!" I hissed. For a second he looked at me in surprise, but quickly pulled himself together and stood menacingly in front of me.
At that moment I saw the Gryffindor girl from earlier. Up close, she looked a little pale. She was heading towards us. What did she want?
Alice:
I saw how Draco and two other idiots stood up to follow Mary Riddle. Normally I wouldn't have cared at all, but Theo had secretly and in a low voice asked me to go after them. I hadn't been paying attention to the Slytherin table after we had started to eat, but apparently something went wrong, or else Theo wouldn't want me to step in. Sighing I got up and went after them.
Draco had caught up to Mary and grabbed her by the shoulder. The three idiots had built up in front of Mary and Draco raised his hand to slap her.
Mary had noticed me and was focused on me while the others had still not discovered my presence. I used my Speed and placed myself in front of Mary, just in time to catch Draco's hand.
"Are you beating girls Draco? That's not very nice of you..." I squeezed his arm tighter making the pain visible in his face. The two gorillas behind him both took a step back.
"Let go of me, you monster! I know exactly who you are! You are the daughter of this killer, Vlad. You and your father are monsters!"
"Well, since you already know who I am, you know what I eat, and currently I have an enormous appetite for pureblood ... " I licked my lips demonstratively and then released him. Draco gave me a scared and angry look before he ran away with his friends right behind him. I turned around to Mary.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. You should take better care of yourself. I don't know what they wanted but I guess that they will come back for you."
Mary looked a bit afraid and suddenly I felt bad for saying that.
,,Hey don't worry, you're not alone. Apparently you have more friends than you know.'' I winked before turning around and leaving.
Mary:
Sceptical, I watched the Gryffindor go. Why had she helped me? And why had Draco called her a monster? When I decided to go after her, she was already out the door and gone. I stood there for a few minutes until I turned around and walked to the dungeons. Draco's words kept turning around in my head. Could he be right?
I sighed heavily, waiting for the prefect, who could tell me the password. Why had I, to be in Slytherin? Why no one else? I was so deep in my thoughts, that I did not notice how the first year with the prefect approached me.
Only when the sharp voice of a pug-faced Girl yanked me out of my mind, I realized it. "Careful people, Mudblood Alert!" She shrieked and earned approving giggles of bystanders. I closed my fists but didn't let any other sign of my annoyance show.
"What's the password?" I asked annoyed.
I could actually have guessed the answer. "Pureblood." Inwardly screaming I entered the common room and rushed in the girls dormitory. Argh! I did not understand why this blood thing was so important. Actually, I didn't even want to know.
Alice:
I didn't even get back to the great Hall, before Minerva had caught up with me. She gave me a lecture about my behaviour towards Draco. I defended myself saying that I only protected this girl. Minerva gave me a disapproving look, but she knew that I was right, so she let it slip. I wanted to go back to the great Hall but Minerva advised me to go grab my things from my room and move into the Gryffindor dormitory.
Going back to my room felt weird, because I knew that after today this wouldn't be my room anymore. I had lived here for the last five years. The only thing that made it easier was the fact, that I didn't need to leave this place completely. I would still bi in Hogwarts, just not in my room. With a deep breath I took my suitcase, that I had already prepared in advance, and left the room. A bit sad I walked over to the Gryffindor dormitory. In front of the portrait I took a deep breath and steeled myself for what was to come in the future.
After entering I got a couple of surprised looks. Everyone's baggage had been brought up to their room, so the question that was hanging in the air was, why did I have to bring my own luggage? Well, at least no one actually asked, cause this wasn't Slytherin, it was Gryffindor and most people were friendly here. Let's say that was what I was hoping. Finally, Hermione greeted me and helped me get my suitcase up to the room she was staying in. I took over the last free bed. I would have liked to lay on my bed for a while, but the other girls in the room had started talking about the school, boys, and their homes. This was a conversation I didn't want to have so I excused myself and left the room. I wanted to take a walk to distract myself because Draco's words came back to me. It wasn't just him though. There had been a lot of people to insult my father and me. Auntie Minerva, Dumbledore and Theo had always tried to shield me from those comments, but this was a world of magic after all and nothing stayed hidden.
Those people all thought that my father was a monster and for years I defended him every time. But what I said never mattered. The people only gave me sad or angry looks. They either thought that I was just an ignorant little girl defending her father or that I was just as bad as my father. And Malfoy was just like any of these other idiots.
Annoyed, I walked through the corridors of Hogwarts, looking for anything that might distract me and lift my mood. As I looked around I noticed a dark-haired boy staring out of a window. I had never seen him around here before so he must have been a first year just like me and he was wearing Gryffindor Clothing, so I decided to approach him.
,,Can you see anything interesting out there?'', I asked him with my hands behind my back. Surprised by my sudden appearance he turned around and after a second of confusion he smiled.
,,Everything here is interesting.', he answered.
,,So I guess that your parents aren't wizards.'' Suddenly the boy seemed sad. Apparently, I had made a big mistake and I instantly regretted my words.
,,Actually they were… but they died when I was still a baby, so I grew up with my aunt and my uncle. And what can I say? They aren't nice people, at least not to me.'' I was surprised and saddened by his story. It was weird, I didn't think that there was someone here with a similar story to mine. In some way, I shared his pain.
,,I was raised by my aunt too. By the way, I'm Alice, proud niece of Professor McGonagall.'' I said, with a small smile.
,,Harry. Nice to meet you.''
,,Well Harry, if you ever have a question about this place you are very welcome to ask me, I was practically raised here and I know Hogwarts quite well.'' Harry started to smile.
,,If you say it like that…''
We spent a long while talking about Hogwarts and the area surrounding it. Turns out that Harry had a ton of questions about everything in the wizarding world. It was fun to explain those things to him. He really brightened up my day.
