As they watched over the raucous students, each member of staff had the same thing on their minds: the Addams boy. Two teachers at the Head Table were torn between trepidation and excitement. This year, the start of term staff meeting had been a little more exciting than the usual checks and preparations. It had been more like a briefing, where they had been informed of their famous new charge and advised on how to handle him, and recruited to help guard a most coveted object: the Philosopher's Stone!
Quirinus Quirrell and Severus Snape couldn't deny how much they were looking forward to observing this child from such a mysterious and dark family. Snape was a dark wizard by nature and had moved in circles that only ever spoke of that family with respect and admiration. Quirrell was always curious about finding new dark magics, but it was his master who was really intrigued.
Both servant and master were shocked at the news that Dumbledore was allowing a child that could turn out to be so dangerous into his school. Voldemort had learned of the Addams family in his many years seeking out more and more powerful magic after Hogwarts. His Knights had been quite informative, he'd visited a few branches of the family in Europe and had sought out every reference to them he could find, but every time he felt he was getting close to learning the secrets of their power, something devastating would happen to pull his attention away and eventually he got caught up in pushing forward with his plans, and left his research for a later time. It seemed this year would be a good time to continue. He had been resigned to suffering through the year, hiding quietly and waiting for a chance to take the stone, but it seemed fate had sent him something to keep his interest.
He wasn't expecting to learn the secrets of the Addams' – the boy was just a child after all, but who knew what he would reveal? Maybe he could even be recruited. It was an exciting thought.
The briefing regarding the child had been interesting to say the least. Dumbledore had stated quite clearly that he was to be treated like every other student, that the staff were to curb any dangerous behaviour or thinking as they usually would, but it was left implied that they should go about this delicately, to only act as necessary, and everyone present already knew that they didn't want to do anything that might provoke his parents. Dumbledore hoped that after the initial shock, he would just become like any other student.
The magnificence and beauty of Hogwarts castle could not be denied. It transcended all sense of aesthetics. Heri couldn't judge the other students for their gasps of appreciation as the castle came into view. And he couldn't deny his own small gasp when he sensed the immense magics of the place.
Soon enough the first years were led into the castle by a man that was even bigger than Lurch and greeted by a stern looking witch who prepared them for the sorting ceremony. Well, she had explained the 'what' but not the' how', and every idea Heri heard coming from his fellow first years to explain what the sorting consisted of was more interesting than the last, as they escalated from simple tests to fighting magical creatures. He felt Kounna tighten around his arm as she sensed him preparing for battle.
When they were finally led into the hall and presented with an old hat, Heri couldn't help but feel a little cheated. When he realised it was sentient however, he remembered that sometimes you just have to make your own fun.
The first student was called and quickly sorted into Hufflepuff. Then Herido Addams was called up to be sorted and it seemed as though the whole hall took a collective breath.
As soon as the hat was placed on his head, Heri was taken aback with how easily it slipped into his mind. He may not have been the most skilled in Occlumency (indeed he was not), but he thought he would have had some resistance to the intrusion. Never mind. He crossed his arms and ankles as the masses watched on, wondering what on earth he was doing. He thought it best to get comfy.
"Hmm," He heard the hat start speaking within his mind, "it's been a long…"
"My, how rude you are." Heri interrupted in a light, conversational tone.
"I, I beg your pardon?" The hat responded dubiously.
"I should think so!" Heri was starting to enjoy himself already. "Entering a person's mind without permission…"
"But I can't help it, I…"
"And a child's mind at that!" He ignored the interruption and continued. "It's a little offensive if you ask me."
"But I'm the Sorting H…"
"But entering an Addams' mind without permission? That's suicidal." As he had been using his foremost thoughts to speak to the hat, Heri was thinking of what memories could cause the most psychological distress. He pushed the memory of the first time he had opened Pandora's Box into the forefront of his mind.
The effect was immediate: the Sorting Hat was overwhelmed by incomprehensible evils from the beginning of time. He started to cry out in pain, but Herido quickly shushed him.
"Hush little hat. We don't want to cause a scene, do we?" He pushed a little harder to drive his words home, and the hall could only watch in horror or fascination and the hat bit down hard on its own brim in an effort to stay quiet.
Heri took a moment to enjoy the muffled whimpers coming from the hat and the pleas being spoken into his mind.
"Are you going to sort me anytime soon? That, after all, was the excuse given for your insolence, was it not?" The hat simply continued to writhe and whimper. He sighed and cleared his mind for a moment. The hat gave a shaky breath of relief. "There now, wasn't that nice of me?" But he didn't pause for long. "Now, let's try again."
As he started to focus of the memory again the hat whined and let a quiet plea slip out of its mouth!
"Please!" It spoke softly, but Heri was not happy.
"Hush!" His tone, that up until now had been almost friendly and teasing, became hard. He opened his mind and pushed harder and the hat went back to writhing in pain, trying to be quiet and just knowing it could get worse.
At the quiet cry, McGonagall looked back at the Headmaster for a second before she stepped forward to take the hat, but Herido held up a hand to stop her and then a finger, indicating he would just be a moment more and her hand dropped. It was probably just having a difficult time sorting the boy. She couldn't see it chewing harshly on its own brim after all.
Knowing he would have to wrap this up soon, Heri continued:
"You wanted in my head – this is the price of admission. A little agony is really the least you can do to make this worthwhile. I was expecting a battle!" That hat just continued to squirm. "You should know, I'm not going to stop this time until you do your job." The smile on his face was creeping out the students in front of him. Some of them looked a little pale, even though they had no idea what was going on.
The hat managed to drag in a laboured breath.
"Slytherin!" It cried out in a strangled moan. Heri immediately buried the memory and the hat sagged on his head. He held up his hand again to stop the hat from being taken.
"I trust this will all remain private?"
"I'm bound to secrecy!" Came the hats instant reply.
"Ah, you really should have opened with that." And with that Heri removed the hat and handed it McGonagall, where it seemed to almost curl up in her arms.
The Slytherin students, who had been watching intently, began the obligatory clapping as he made his way to their table. He gave Hermione a wink as he walked, but she just shook her head in exasperation. He felt sharp eyes watching his steps from the Head Table and had to bite his tongue to keep from grinning. What fun!
The Sorting Ceremony had to be suspended for a few minutes in order for the Hat to recover enough to continue. To fill the time this took, Dumbledore gave a small speech about the upcoming year and when the hat still wasn't ready, he decided to give the start of term announcements early. Heri took note of each one: the Forbidden Forest was out of bounds – a silly rule, easy to ignore; no magic was to be used in the corridors – again, obviously a rule made to be ignored; Quidditch trials – Draco had mentioned on the train that the balls they used at school didn't explode or contain lethal blades, and Heri thought this made the game a little dull, so he wouldn't be playing. The last announcement however, did catch his interest:
"And finally, 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." Did that mean you were allowed there if you didn't mind dying a painful death? He was impressed that something so dangerous would be at this school. Pugsley was going to be so jealous. As far as Heri knew, they had nothing like this at Ilvermorny.
When the Sorting resumed, Heri watched as each student took to the stool in an effort to remember their names and faces.
Millicent Bulstrode was the first one to be sorted into Slytherin after Heri. He clapped and greeted her politely when she reached the table, but as she went to sit beside him, he informed her that the seat was already taken. She gave him an odd look and then left a space. He noted as a few of the older students nodded their greeting to her as though they were previously acquainted, but turned his attention back to the sorting when he heard Hermione's name called.
As she disappeared beneath the hat, he could see her worrying her lip. The sorting took about thirty seconds and then the hat loudly declared 'Slytherin!'.
Almost every person in the Great Hall felt their minds blank for a few seconds. And then chaos erupted.
The Slytherins, who had presented a dignified front up until now, were by far the loudest and crudest in their objections. Some actually stood to help express their outrage. Across the other three tables the reactions were mixed. There were many looks of quiet disbelief and Heri could hear the Weasley twins howling with laughter above all the noise. It seemed that everyone had started conversations with those around them, all with different views about this sorting. Herido thought the overreaction was rather silly. He was under the impression that muggleborns had been sorted into Slytherin before, but it would appear that no one was expecting it.
The excited chattering didn't seem to be ebbing any time soon and from the looks on some of the Slytherin's faces, he couldn't help but hope there might be a riot. He watched the scene from his place at the table, like a king gazing upon an interesting entertainment, a small smirk playing on his lips and fingers lightly strumming the table.
He was quite pleased with the outcome of his efforts and gave Hermione a nod as she made her way over to him. She sat between him and Bulstrode, who quickly moved much further down the bench and as Heri turned to greet her he realised she was shaking and looking down at her clasped hands. He frowned. He heard a nearby Slytherin tell her to leave, but before he could do anything about it, Dumbledore stood once more and called for calm.
After a few words of levity, the sorting resumed for the second time, and Herido ignored it in favour of observing his friend.
Hermione could only stare at her hands. She had expected a reaction when she'd heard the hat's decision, but to feel so much hate directed at her was too much. She'd thought that she would be able to deal with it – she'd often been a target for bullying at her old school, but this was something else. The aggression almost felt tangible and she worried about what would happen to her now.
"'Mione?" She looked up just a little at the sound of her friend's voice, unshed tears in her eyes. She watched as his eyes narrowed a little and he tilted her chin up. "You belong in this House, Hermione." He spoke with reassuring conviction. "More so than any of these ignorant fools, I imagine. Do not give them permission to make you feel bad or unworthy!" His voice was rather sharp and she gave him a small smile. She was terrified, but she wasn't alone.
During their little chat, Draco had also been sorted into Slytherin. He took a seat opposite Herido. There was plenty of room as a bubble had appeared around Hermione where no Slytherin would sit. The others at the table were shocked to note the Malfoy heir sit and greet both Herido and Hermione.
Draco could see the girl's terror and Heri's frown and decided to try and ingratiate himself a little more:
"You know that now you're a Slytherin, you're not allowed to wear that look." He tried for cool apathy. "This is the best House and you should be proud to have been sorted here!" He kept his chin in the air, as though he only really cared about the House looking superior and turned to watch the sorting. Heri smiled at the look of shock on the girl's face. Draco had something of a politician about him and so far it was proving rather useful.
McGonagall looked extremely pleased to be finished with the sorting this year. Dumbledore stood.
"I'm sure we're all looking forward to the opportunity of welcoming our new Housemates after this most interesting sorting ceremony. Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few more words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
Heri felt a little lost: what was that supposed to mean? Was it code?
"Aren't you hungry?" He looked up to see Draco filling his plate with the food that had appeared at some point. Ah! A spell then? Hermione let out a quiet laugh at his confused expression.
"I think he was just trying to ease the tension." She suggested.
"Father says he's simply mad." Draco added.
Heri conceded that both might be right and took a look at the food. It all looked rather bland, but he settled for some of the rarer beef and vegetables, wishing he had brought his own seasoning. He'd have to send for some.
"You should eat too." He told Hermione. She hadn't even bothered putting food on her plate.
"You'll need it!" Came a nasty voice from amongst the first years, but Heri hadn't been looking to see who had spoken.
"I really don't think I could eat a thing." She admitted quietly. Once again she was far too subdued for Heri's liking.
"Nonsense!" He declared surely. "We have classes tomorrow and if you underperform due to lack of brain fuel you will have let them win. That's unacceptable!" He tapped her plate and then lifted her chin again. He had once seen his mother telling Wednesday that if you create a life you are responsible for it. This had been back when she was trying to animate her dolls, but he thought it applied to this situation too. He was at least partially responsible for creating this girl and he would see her victorious.
During the meal the ghosts arrived to greet the students en masse. After meeting with a few prominent seniors, the Bloody Baron made his way down the Heri.
"Mr Addams. Welcome to Slytherin House!" He spoke politely at least.
"Baron." Heri said in greeting, keeping an eye on the ghost. He was wary of what he would make of all the new members of his house. He was, after all, a symbol of Slytherin and therefore all the prejudices they espouse. Well, he supposed it was better to find out what he was dealing with sooner rather than later. "Baron, may I introduce my fine friend, Miss Hermione Granger."
The Baron stared at Herido a moment more, before turning his attention to said girl, looking altogether unimpressed.
"Ah yes, Miss Granger. I can only expect great things from you!" He spoke in a way that made it obvious she had better be great. "For one of your kind to be honoured with entrance to our most noble house surely means you have something worthwhile." Heri gave her a miniscule nod and this time he didn't have to lift her chin for her.
"Of course, Baron." Heri was pleased to hear that authoritative tone – it worked well for her. "I expect to be fighting Heri here for the place of top student!" The Baron held back his opinions for now. He didn't really appreciate the girl's overconfidence, but many of his ghost friends attended Addams' Balls and he suspected this child could have him exorcised if he so wished.
"I hope you are right Miss Granger. Slytherin has won the House cup for many years now and if we lose out this year, we will only be able to look to our weakest link for the blame." He gave her a look that told her he thought she was the weakest link, and then threw up his own chin and moved further along the row. Heri gave her a smile and both Draco and Hermione thought she had done very well in dealing with the scary Bloody Baron. Draco was worried about what his father would have to say about his new acquaintance with the mu…ggleborn, but if nothing else she had balls!
After the Baron had left, Draco's old friend Blaise Zabini came over to greet him with a look of questioning and the smallest of glances to the controversial new girl. It seemed that the presence of the teachers and Addams boy was holding everyone a bay for the moment, but Draco's friends wanted answers. Draco could only hope his family name could save him from the social suicide he was about to commit.
"Blaise," He started, making sure to keep his tone superior. "I never should have doubted you'd make it into Slytherin. That's twenty galleons I owe you! Let me introduce our new Housemates, Herido Addams and Hermione Granger."
"Zabini… are you related to the famous enchantress?" Heri spoke and Blaise paused for a moment, unable to tell whether the words were an attack or a simple question of facts. In the end he decided it would be in his interest to stay civil with the Addams and gave him the benefit of the doubt.
"I am. It's nice to meet you, Addams." He said, and Draco noticed with disappointment that his friend had neglected to greet Granger. "Draco, Pansy's been asking for you."
Hermione was feeling a little more confident after her encounter with the Baron and with Herido by her side.
"Well there is plenty of room here for anyone that wants to join us." She spoke 'us' purposefully and noticed as the dark haired boy's featured started to screw up. Draco quickly stepped in to prevent his friend from answering. He had a feeling that whatever was about to come out of Blaise's mouth would have seen him Giant Squid food by the end of the night. He forced out a laugh.
"A great thing about Pure-Bloods is that we all tend to know each other; I'm sure she's busy catching up with friends." Blaise simply frowned at his friend, but then Draco gave him the tiniest of head shakes and he remembered how disturbed Nott had seemed on the train when he returned alone. He wouldn't talk about what had happened, but clearly something was going on that he didn't know about. He had known Draco for a long time and couldn't imagine him playing nice with a mudblood without good cause. This had to be down to the Addams.
Rumours about the boy had been circling and getting more and more exaggerated during the journey to Hogwarts. The pureblood children had sat together and shared what they had heard about the family, but no one really seemed to know any facts. All he could really say with any sense of surety was that they were a dark family from America, but if Draco was taking the boy seriously, perhaps he should too. He glanced around the table. None of the other Slytherins were taking cues from the Malfoy heir, so maybe he was simply overanalysing the situation and Draco had been taken in. On the other hand, there was no smoke without fire, right? If any of the rumours on the train had been true, it would be worthwhile getting friendly with Addams before everyone else moved in. In the end he supposed it came down to trusting his friend's judgement.
He resigned himself to his fate and sat down beside Draco, focusing on the conversation now being shared between the other three. With obvious reservations, he formally introduced himself to both Addams and Granger and joined the conversation as courteously as he could. And he did his best to ignore the stares from his fellow first years.
Heri couldn't distinguish this boy's magic. There were too many people present to get a solid reading, but he knew that any extra bodies would help combat the prejudice his friend would have to deal with and so he allowed the boy to stay.
The teachers had all watched the events of the evening with rapt attention. Albus could help but feel relieved. Herido Addams might have come from a dark family, but it seemed he was protecting the unfortunate Granger girl, so things were looking up. Maybe the girl's placement in Slytherin could turn out to be a great turning point in overthrowing Pure-Blood prejudice. He was suddenly excited to meet with the boy and find out if he could be useful in the upcoming fight against the dark!
Severus Snape felt a headache coming on. He had of course expected to be receiving Addams into his House, but the reality of the situation was somewhat harder to comprehend. He supposed that mentoring the boy would produce opportunities unavailable to the other teachers. But on top of having to deal with the boy, he had been given the responsibility of caring for a muggleborn student. That had never happened before on his watch. He would have to find out what, if anything, had been done to protect students in this situation in the past. Snape too was relieved to see that Addams seemed to have taken the girl under his wing, but couldn't begin to guess at what that meant!
Voldemort was disturbed. There had been no doubt in anyone's mind that the Addams boy was dark, and the events of his sorting seemed to have proved it, as well as being mildly entertaining. But his behaviour towards the mudblood was confusing. He should have been a sure-fire ally. Had Dumbledore gotten to him? He would have to have Quirrell create an opportunity to speak with the boy about his ideologies. He could only hope that his involvement with the girl was merely part of some plan to amuse himself, but he seemed so genuine.
The feast eventually ended with the school song. He didn't join in, but Heri appreciated the twins performing the song to a slow funeral march. It made the song much more tolerable in his opinion.
I had to cut this chapter in two as I felt it was running a little long and don't want lengthy chapters.
Now that the holidays are over, I won't be able to update as often, but will aim for at least two chapters a week.
Thank you as always xx