Author's Note: While I did my best to keep the events and characters as close to canon as possible, there are times when these may deviate. All of the original characters in this story are of my own creation. Thank you for reading!
Prologue:
"Anne, dear!" her mother called from the garden.
"I'll be right there!" Anne yelled back after spotting the owl from her bedroom window.
She sprinted down the stairs. Of course she had known about Hogwarts almost since birth, but it was still hard not to be excited about her Hogwarts letter. Along with the owl, Anne also noticed Severus Snape making his way up the path toward her family home.
"Vivian," Snape greeted her mother with a nod, as Anne took the letter from the tawny owl that had just landed on the gate.
"How are you, Severus?" Vivian Prince smiled.
Anne interrupted before he could respond.
"It's here, mum! It's finally here!" she squealed, frantically waving the letter in her mother's face. "We'll have to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow and—"
"Forgive my daughter, Severus," Vivian said to him, cutting Anne's excited chatter short. "Hogwarts is all she's been talking about for weeks," she laughed before turning serious. "Nicholas is waiting for you upstairs in his study."
Snape nodded and left the two of them in the garden as he entered the manor to meet with Anne's father. Anne watched the back of the greasy-haired man's head as he walked away. She knew this man was her father's cousin, but his visits were rare. However, just at the moment, his unexpected presence wasn't overly concerning to her because she was too ecstatic over the long anticipated arrival of her letter.
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Anne's magical schooling began long before Hogwarts, as was customary to the old wizard families. From the time she spoke her first word, she knew she would attend the famous school for witchcraft and wizardry. Her parents answered all of her questions and always encouraged learning. Thus she grew up with a healthy curiosity and an insatiable hunger for knowledge.
While her parents were supportive of Anne's curiosity, there were questions they refused to answer as she grew older. Once she started attending classes at Hogwarts, it became apparent to her that asking questions was not always the best way to get information from people. So, she found alternative ways of learning the things her parents told her that she was "too young" to know.
Late at night, while her parents thought she was sleeping, Anne would sneak into her father's library and read for hours about the subjects her parents wouldn't teach her. At a young age, she was fascinated by the dark arts and all of the magic that had been deemed too dangerous or advanced to be included in a school textbook.
From her father's books, and from her visits to the Restricted Section of the school library (with permission slips signed by Severus Snape), she taught herself to brew potions likely never introduced even to seventh year students. By the time she was fourteen, she had mastered spells that many adult wizards would never consider attempting. Over the years, Anne Prince learned many things that she shouldn't know, but she did not yet know everything she needed to.
On the night before she was due to start her sixth year at Hogwarts, as she sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace in her father's study, reading from a large leather-bound tome, Anne thought back to when she had first arrived at the magical school.
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"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, going on to explain the Sorting and the four Houses.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes. I shall return when we are ready for you," she continued. "Please wait quietly."
Many of the new students looked terrified and had no trouble waiting quietly, except for one girl who was whispering excitedly about what the Sorting would entail. Everyone gasped when the House ghosts showed up. Anne smiled as a pudgy ghost greeted them.
"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" the Fat Friar exclaimed, before Professor McGonagall returned and dismissed the apparitions.
"The Sorting Ceremony is about to start," she informed them. "Now, form a line and follow me."
The Great Hall was even more beautiful than Anne's parents had told her it would be. Thousands of candles floated above the four House tables laid out with golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall, the teachers sat at another long table, and it was to this table that the first years were led.
As she stood facing the hundreds of other students, Anne saw McGonagall place down a stool and on it, the old Sorting Hat. It began singing almost immediately.
After the hat finished its song, Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a roll of parchment.
"When I call your name," she instructed, "you will step forward, place the hat on your head, and sit on the stool to be sorted."
Anne watched several students try on the hat while she waited for her name to be called. She knew she had a long wait ahead of her with the last name Prince. Finally, a name she recognized was called.
"Malfoy, Draco!" Professor McGonagall read from the scroll.
Anne rolled her eyes as Draco swaggered forward. The hat hardly touched his head before it screamed, "Slytherin!"
She stuck her tongue out at him as he sauntered by her on his way to the House table.
"Good luck," he declaimed.
Next to Anne, a girl with a puggish face giggled. There must be something wrong with her, Anne thought. A few more names were called before the girl moved.
Apparently, her name was "Parkinson, Pansy." Anne cringed as Pansy hurried toward the Slytherin table to sit next to Draco. There is definitely something wrong with her, Anne decided as she began surveying the tables, trying to figure out what group might best suit her. She considered her parents' old Houses. Her mother had been in Ravenclaw (wit beyond measure), while her father was a proud Slytherin.
Just as Anne began thinking of the sort of friends she might make in Hufflepuff, the Great Hall erupted in loud cheers of "We got Potter! We got Potter!"
Anne turned to see the famous boy, Harry, at the Gryffindor table, shaking hands with a redheaded boy wearing horn-rimmed glasses and what looked like a shiny prefect badge pinned to his robes.
After the cheering quieted slightly, Anne's name was called and she stepped forward, silently hoping she wouldn't be forced to spend the next seven years sharing a common room with this insufferable version of Draco Malfoy.