A/N: Well, I finished another chapter since yesterday, so why not upload it? Once again, thank you for all of your support. I really appreciate it. In this chapter, the sorting ceremony takes place. Stay tuned for next chapter when some turbulent times await Miss Allen.

"Abbot, Hannah!"

Lola watched Hannah nervously make her way up to the Sorting Hat, trembling uncontrollably. She momentarily thought how scary it must feel to be one of the first people in line, just before realising her own surname was –

"Allen, Lola!" McGonagall called.

Lola felt her heart skip a beat. She also felt pretty stupid. Having everyone eye her curiously as she sat down on the small, wooden stool didn't help either.

As a dedicated Harry Potter fan, Lola had wondered countless times before what House she would belong to if she were to attend Hogwarts. She had solved many quizzes in magazines and on the internet, each giving conflicting results, but most popularly indicating Ravenclaw. Lola tried to brush these thoughts off; she didn't want any of it to have an impact on the Hat's ruling. She was genuinely curious.

Suddenly, Lola was looking, not at the crowded Great Hall, but at the black inside of the Sorting Hat.

"Ah," a faint voice said inside her head. "A good brain, I see. Very determined. Observant. Studious. But no thirst for knowledge, not really… More about personal gain and a sense of superiority…"

Lola found that comment rather rude. "What else are you supposed to do with knowledge? Eat it?" she snapped inwardly.

"Now that's interesting… Very unyielding. A persistent intolerance and impatience towards criticism. Yes, surely not good enough for a Raven –"

"Excuse me," Lola thought angrily. She felt very weird having an internal battle with the voices in her head in front of about a thousand people, but she didn't care. "I didn't come all the way here to sit on a flimsy stool and be judged by an inconsiderate, inanimate object like you!"

The voice in her ear chuckled. "Oh, but that is exactly why you did, my dear!" it responded. "Judging is what I do. And back-chatting, although not ideal at Hogwarts, is indeed a show of quick wit I must admit."

Fuming, Lola waited, hearing nothing but the rumbling of her stomach for a while, until the Sorting Hat groaned with frustration.

"Where to place you… Where? Not a fair player, so no Badger for you… Not enough spine for a Slytherin either…"

"What about Ravenclaw?" Lola piqued with hope.

"Considerable. But you won't survive there. Too challenging for an idle mind like yours." Lola had to bite her tongue to avoid saying something out of line. "Nor will you be happy, either way. You may think that you're clever, but in fact, you're simply good at deduction and have an above-average memory. Unfortunately, spending hours on a puzzle for the sake of it is not your strong suit. I see no natural curiosity in you."

Lola had to admit that the account being given by the Sorting Hat did sound an awful lot like her.

"But what I do see is lots of courage," the voice continued. "And the ability to stand up for what you believe in. The question is, how far are you willing to go for it…?"

Lola considered the question. The answer was clear to her. "Not as much as a Slytherin, if that's what you're wondering."

Though she didn't know how, Lola felt the Hat smile. "Well, then. It is sorted. You are a GRYFFINDOR!"

The table to the far left erupted with loud clapping and cheering, as Lola Allen became the first Gryffindor that year.

As she climbed down the stool, took the Hat off and thanked Professor McGonagall, Lola tried to process what had just happened. The conversation she had with the Sorting Hat went nothing like what she had imagined it would go. The Hat was blunt, maybe too blunt considering not everyone there that day possessed a great deal of self-confidence. But more surprising than anything, the Hat had read Lola like nobody else had before.

"I thought you wanted to be in Ravenclaw," Percy said as Lola collapsed next to him at the Gryffindor table, looking somewhat amused.

"Changed my mind," Lola replied impassively. She was certainly not in the mood for recounting the Sorting Hat's remarks.

Percy gave Lola a calculating look but didn't press any further.

They watched the rest of the sorting ceremony, clapping whenever they heard "Gryffindor!" and quietly booing whenever the Hat ruled "Slytherin!". When Harry's name was announced, everyone at the table started chattering.

"Potter – that Potter?"

"Is it really him?"

"Which one is he?!"

"The Harry Potter?

"– sit down Stewart! Can't see him…"

"Would be great to have Potter in Gryffindor," Percy murmured, getting a few nods from the table.

"Oh yeah? And what are the odds of that?" snickered a boy with dark brown hair and hazel eyes from across the table.

"Well, Kenneth," Percy said pompously. "If you had read Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, you would know that Potter comes from a long line of Gryffindors –"

"We all know that family history doesn't mean a thing when it comes to Houses," Kenneth Towler responded quickly. "Even twins get put in different Houses sometimes. And for the last time, it's Ken! You don't see me calling you Percival..."

"But defeating Who He Must Not Be Named," said a tall girl with long black hair. "That takes courage, no?"

"He was a baby then, Angelina," Ken replied. "You're giving him too much credit."

"What do you reckon, then," asked the girl sitting next to Angelina, Katie Bell, as she fiddled with her brown hair mischievously. She obviously liked Ken. "Where will Potter go?"

Ken looked back at Harry, who was still sitting with the Sorting Hat on his head. "I reckon Slytherin."

Lola felt Percy gasp next to her. "What makes you say that? Of all the people who belong in Slytherin in this room, Harry Potter is surely not on that list!"

"Well, how do you know? Have you met him? Has anyone here met him?" He looked around the table demandingly. "He could be the evilest bastard for all we know. But to defeat someone like Who He Must Not Be Named as a baby, you have to be his equal I say. I'd be damned if Potter doesn't end up with the Slytherin lot."

Lola put on her best poker face. "I agree with Percy. But if you're so sure about it, do you want to make a bet?" she asked Ken directly.

Ken started at Lola, trying to determine the source of her confidence. Then he shrugged. "Sure. 2 Galleons on Slytherin."

Everyone at the table quickly pledged their alliance to either Ken or Lola. A moment after –

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The smirk on Ken's smug face vanished immediately. Katie gave him an apologetic look.

"Pay up, everybody!" Lola said merrily as Harry Potter joined their table. She was finally beginning to enjoy her time at Hogwarts.

Lola was starving by the time the ceremony ended and food magically appeared at their table. She helped herself to everything that didn't contain meat and listened to Neville talk about his family as she ate.

"– they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad," he was saying.

"And you, Lola?" Ronald Weasley, who was sitting in front of her, asked her.

Lola tried hard not to choke from being caught so off-guard. She took a sip of pumpkin juice and cleared her throat before she spoke.

It was going to be tricky to not reveal her actual story.

"Not much. My father is a farmer, and my mother used to be a primary school teacher but she quit her job when my little sister was born to take care of her. The letter came so unexpectedly, can't say any of us were expecting it. But Professor McGonagall handled everything so professionally and I found myself here!" She could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as she blushed from all the attention.

"Hear, hear," Seamus Finnigan exclaimed. Lola raised her glass at him before taking another sip.

Suddenly, she heard Harry go "Ouch!" as he clapped a hand to his head.

"What is it?" asked Percy worriedly.

"N-nothing." Harry replied. "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he then asked Percy.

Lola followed Harry's gaze and her eyes fell upon a thin man with oily black hair, a large, hooked nose and very dark, penetrating eyes. Percy went on to explain who Professor Snape was.

"There's something about him, isn't there?" Lola asked Harry.

Harry nodded quickly and went back to his treacle tart without another word. Lola couldn't be sure if it was because he was distraught by the mere presence of Snape or because he still remembered their weird exchange on the Hogwarts Express, but she was almost certain that Harry Potter was intentionally avoiding her.

"And finally," Dumbledore was saying when Lola snapped out of her reverie about why The Boy Who Lived might be ignoring her. "I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

A few people, including Harry, laughed nervously. Lola felt all blood drain from her entire body. How could she forget… The stone! Fluffy! But that meant...

Voldemort!

Her eyes widened as she realised the extent of her knowledge. She had more awareness and understanding of everything that was happening, than anyone else who surrounded her that evening, and amongst about a thousand people, Lola found that for the first time in her life she felt completely alone.

And then, Lola saw something which made her blood curdle. Quirinus Quirrell was eyeing her from across the High Table with an unreadable expression on his face.

A/N: Thanks a bunch for reading. Consider leaving a review if you liked/disliked the chapter. See you again in the next chapter, hopefully!