Chapter 5 - Backlash
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The cold, piercing eyes of Severus Snape widened as he took in Raven's appearance. Her short hair was an unnatural shade of violet, which matched her eyes, and the locks hung around her head. She turned to look at him with apprehensiveness in her expression, and it was then he noticed the blood-red chakra on her forehead.
The monumental event of her hood being lowered wasn't as traumatizing as Raven might have expected. Dumbledore didn't seem to look shocked; in fact, he continued to gaze at her with the same kind face as he had before.
"You're beautiful, my dear."
Her head whipped back at the Headmaster's words and she eyed him shrewdly. When she found nothing but genuine sincerity in his soft eyes, Raven felt something unfamiliar. This wasn't the first compliment on her appearance she had received, but this one seemed so personal. As though he was referring to all of her.
She bit her lip and willed the prickling behind her eyelids to leave. She nodded to Dumbledore and stood up. Turning to face Severus Snape, her cape fell open, and he instinctively took the rest of her in with his quick, darting eyes.
Her anxiety was met with a raised eyebrow.
Choosing not to comment on her apparel, Severus merely grabbed the stool behind him and placed it in the center of the room. The strangeness of this girl was no matter of concern for him...and what was his matter would be straightened out by Albus.
Giving one last look back to Dumbledore, who smiled and nodded encouragingly, Raven approached the stool and sat down uncomfortably. Her eyes belied the calm façade she gave, and they darted nervously to the worn hat still in Snape's hands.
Severus glided forward silently and, without hesitation or warning, placed the hat on her head.
Raven was immersed in blackness as the hat sunk down to the bridge of her nose. She was about to push it up higher when she heard a small voice next to her ears.
"Well now. What have we hear?" it said curiously.
Raven deigned not to reply to a talking hat.
"You do realize, of course, that you need to lower your mind barriers so I can Sort you properly."
"I'm afraid that's not possible."
She heard the hat snort. "That's preposterous! Now let me in!"
Raven's lip curled. "Not on your life."
Professor Dumbledore then removed the hat.
"Raven, my dear," said Dumbledore, "I need you to open up to this hat."
"It would be disastrous if I did," she replied coldly.
Snape was staring at her with trepidation, and not a little confusion.
"Trust me, Raven."
She narrowed her eyes. "I was not aware that trust wasn't a two-way street."
"Not yet it isn't," Dumbledore responded. "But if you do this it will certainly help me trust you."
"Not if the results are what I expect they will be," she muttered, snatching the hat from his gnarled hands.
Putting it on, she was again consumed in blackness.
"Ah, here for another go, are we?" said the voice haughtily.
"You wanted everything," Raven said, bracing herself, "so here it is...ALL of it!" And with that she dropped her mental defenses, and the hat was engulfed in her mind and soul.
Then came the screaming.
She would have noticed the agony of the hat, but she was using her entire will to control the beast within her.
It all happened within several seconds, but it was long enough for her father's presence to drain Raven's strength. She finally managed to raise her shields again just as Severus Snape ripped the hat off.
No longer was there a face on the hat, and its color had faded significantly. There was a new rip along its brim, as though it had writhed frantically to escape the head it had sat on.
Even Dumbledore's face matched Snape's expression of absolute shock and horror as they stared at the hat.
Raven quickly replaced the hood to cover her face, and she stood solemnly. "I'll leave now," she said hoarsely as she crossed to the office doors.
"Leaving is the last thing I want you to do," said Dumbledore in an odd tone. "On the contrary: we have much to discuss."
A/N: Just a reminder to avoid confusion, this entire story was meant to be done in drabbles (100 words exactly per chapter). I dropped this idea after Chapter 5 and adopted a normal format from here on out.
