Chapter 4 - Arrivals
On the morning of September the first, Sophia was up earlier than anyone else. She awoke at half five inside her suite in the Grosvenor Hotel. By the time that Richard had woken up at half six, she was downstairs having breakfast in the dining area of the hotel, dressed and ready to go. "You're up early Sophia." Richard remarked as he made his way to breakfast, a bleary-eyed George following him.
"How could you not be up? I admit to being rather," Sophia paused as she thought of a word, "excited I believe is the word." She gave Richard a small smile, before returning to her breakfast.
"We have to be there before eleven, but as I have things to do, and George here has to home and get ready for his own schooling, we will drop you off at around nine." Sophia nodded in agreement, and the other two finally sat down to eat.
Later that day, the three were being driven to King's Cross Station by Thomas. Sophia was situated in the middle seat in the back, reading a book that she was taking with her for the train ride. "Did you make sure you brought everything?" Richard asked.
"Yes, I double checked." Sophia said, putting her book on her lap, and tightening up her cardigan.
"And for your safety?" At the question, Sophia undid her cardigan and showed her father her pistol that was in its holster.
"Taken care of." Richard nodded as they pulled up outside the station.
"Stay here Thomas, we won't be long." Thomas nodded as they started getting out into the mild September morning.
"Good luck Sophia." Thomas called to her. She turned back to him, giving a slight nod, and then stepped out herself. As they walked into the main station, Richard having collected her suitcases that she had packed, none of them saw the two black cars across the road, their respective occupants watching different targets.
It was busy inside the station, even if it was the weekend. They found themselves moving between the crowds of people who were moving in any direction that took their fancy. Eventually, they made it to platform nine. "Run at the wall between platform nine and ten." George mockingly said. Sophia gave him a look, before walking at the wall and going straight through it, her things going through with her. Richard and George looked at each other, before shrugging and following her through the wall.
The platform was remarkably empty when Richard and George exited on the other side. A few older students were mulling about outside the train. Sophia was standing by the side of the tracks, her suitcases in hand. "Alright Sophia, this is it." Sophia looked at Richard.
"Thanks dad, I'll see you at Christmas." She then uncharacteristically gave Richard a hug, which he happily returned. She then gave one to George as well, which caught him completely by surprise. "Don't go falling into rivers now." She told him. George laughed as she broke off the hug.
"I wouldn't give you the satisfaction." She took her suitcases, and giving her family a small smile, she stepped onto the Hogwarts Express.
Being so early getting on the train meant that finding a carriage to herself was very easy. Instead of lifting her suitcases on the racks above the seats, she instead placed them on the seats, hoping to indicate to everyone else that she didn't want to sit with anyone. Pulling a pad of paper and a pen out of the larger suitcase, she started writing up her plans, not only for this year, but for when she ran Armitage International.
Meanwhile, at a castle in Scotland, Albus Dumbledore was finalising a meeting with his staff. "Are there any questions you want answered before the children arrive?" The heads of the Hogwarts houses looked at each other, before McGonagall began.
"What about Potter Albus? There is no sign of her anywhere. She wasn't recognised by the wards of the train."
"Even I slightly concerned that the little brat hasn't shown up. You'd think she would boasting it everywhere." Severus said, but Albus merely looked at them with a twinkle in his eye.
"I think you will find Minerva that we have met Ms Potter, and that she seems to be quite content." McGonagall looked confusedly at Dumbledore, which prompted him to answer her question properly. "Ms Sophia Armitage is also Ms Violet Potter. They are one and the same." Minerva looked at him in shock.
"Are you certain? I admit she looks similar, but there was no scar."
"By examining the scar, I can feel its presence, even when it cannot be seen."
"Well then, we must talk to her about it. And we must speak about why she is not with those disgusting Dursley's you placed her with." Minerva went. Albums put his hands forward, wanting to pacify her somewhat before continuing.
"I understand the reasons, and indeed I also want to know why she is now living with Mr Armitage. However, I do not believe it will be helpful to push her into a world of fame at this moment. You should all address her as Armitage until I have a chance to speak to her. I'll let her settle in for a week or so before talking to her about it."
"I'll be doing no such thing Albus. The little brat will probably be spoilt anyway. I say we we just outright tell her." Said Snape, storming out before Albus could respond.
Back on the Hogwarts Express, Sophia felt the train start to pull off as eleven o'clock passed. It was soon after this that she heard her compartment door open, and three boys, two of whom were large in stature were standing in the doorway. The blonde one, who clearly saw himself as the leader, spoke to her in a voice that gave away his arrogance.
"This is my compartment. Please remove yourself from it mudblood." Sophia looked up at him, giving a look of being utterly unimpressed.
"I wasn't aware that you had bought this compartment, nor that you had your name engraved in the seats. So, until that is the case, please locate the door, and get out." The boy seemed to be shocked that she had spoken to him in the way that she did. He turned to the larger boys behind him.
"Crabbe, Goyle, help this mudblood out of her seat." But as they moved towards Sophia threateningly, an older student moved behind Draco, wearing green trimmed robes.
"Malfoy, stop acting like a Gryffindor and move on. You're embarrassing yourself." The two larger boys stopped moving as the elder girl told off their boss.
"Wait till my father hears about this." The blonde boy then left in a huff, and the older girl left the compartment too, leaving Sophia alone once more. But it was only for a few minutes before someone else came through the door. The bushy hair of the person covered their face as Sophia rolled her eyes. But her father had taught her a lot since the incident at her old school two years ago, and she couldn't afford to enter this school alone. The blonde boy had may himself pretty clear that some would look down on her. She wasn't going to allow these hostile people to get close to her. Sophia made the decision there and then to be what her teachers at primary school had called 'friendly'. She needed a safety net, like her father had with Thomas. Tentatively, as she never really tried to be nice to others, Sophia placed down her paper and moved over to the girl.
"Are you alright?" The other girl didn't stop crying for a few minutes. Sophia was at a complete loss as she waited for the tears to end. Finally, the girl stopped and sat up properly. Sophie decided to reach up towards one of her suitcases. Moving it onto her seat, she opened it up and handed the girl a pack of tissues. The girl took it slowly.
"Thank you." She said, as Sophia closed her suitcase and replaced it where it had been beforehand.
"Not a problem. Now, what's happened?" Sophia watched the girl compose herself before she spoke.
"I was helping someone look for their toad. I simply asked someone if they had seen it and they called me, they called me -" The girl looked like she was going to start crying again.
"Mudblood?" When the girl nodded to her, she couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly. She was getting upset over a word she was sure neither of them knew the meaning of. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I was called that myself earlier. I don't know what it means, so I didn't care." Finally, she extended her hand to the girl. "I'm Sophia, Sophia Armitage." The girl's eyes looked at her.
"As in Armitage International?"
"The very same."
"I'm Hermione Granger. It's wonderful to meet you" Sophia moved back onto her chair. "So, what's it like having a dad who owns a company?" Hermione asked.
"Not how you think it is. It's a lot of meetings that he has to go to, and I have to understand everything that happens."
"But why?" Sophia looked at Hermione dangerously.
"Careful Hermione. Don't ask questions which you don't need the answers to." She saw Hermione deflate slightly. "You can ask questions of course, but don't expect to always get the answer you want." Hermione nodded to Sophia, before standing up.
"I'm just going to go and find my stuff. I'll be back soon." Hermione received a nod from Sophia, before she left the carriage.
Hermione later returned with her things, but was being followed by a rude ginger boy who apparently wouldn't shut up. He had forced himself inside the carriage and had started eating some of the most disgusting looking sandwiches that she had ever laid eyes upon. He started speaking, but with the so-called food still in his mouth. "So, what house do you think you'll be sorted into?"
"I'm between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. But Dumbledore was in Gryffindor, so I'd prefer that." The boy nodded.
"And you?" He asked to Sophia, who continued to try and ignore him as she attempted to write down more of her ideas. Eventually though, she got annoyed with both pairs of eyes looking at her intently.
"I don't even know the houses, so I don't care." Hermione nodded, but the boy seemed offended by this.
"How can you not know the houses?" He asked. Sophia shrugged. Before he could speak again, Hermione spoke up.
"There's Gryffindor, known mostly for bravery, Hufflepuff for loyalty, Ravenclaw for knowledge, and Slytherin for ambition."
"Load of evil snakes if you ask me." Sophia now openly scowled at the boy.
"There is nothing wrong with wanting to be the best. If that is your view, then you should leave." The cabin fell silent for a short while, before the boy finally got up and left. Sophia looked at Hermione. "Well, that's him gone. He is going to be annoying in the least." Hermione nodded, before going back to her book, and Sophia went back to her idea pad.
In a dark cave located just off the south coast of England, two hooded men were moving. If anyone was there, they may have just made out one of the figures fumbling against the wall. The wall of the cave seemed to close in on itself, and the people disappeared inside. After walking for what seemed like a long time, they emerged into a large, circular room. It's main centrepiece was a rectangular marble altar, caked in dried blood. Behind it sat an obsidian throne, with someone sitting on it. His voice carried around the room, and the two other figures stopped immediately when he spoke.
"What news have you brought me?" He asked.
"My lord Duke, the Potter girl has gone to Hogwarts" The older man got no further before the figure lunched at him faster than he could see.
"What do you mean she got to Hogwarts? I told you not to let her get there you miserable scum!" He picked up the younger associate and threw him against the wall. There was a loud crack as the spine broke on impact. The figure turned away, before turning back, his black cloak swirling as he did so. "No real problem I suppose. But it will push our plans back a few days. I'd hoped to have more time to educate her on us. You will come with me to scout Hogwarts." The man looked at his companion, moaning at the edge of room.
"What about him?" The figure looked at the youngest person in the room.
"Let him suffer before dies." The dark and cloaked person moved towards the entrance. With a last look at the younger man in the corner, before leaving after his master.
Up in Scotland, Sophia and Hermione had just gotten onto a boat to cross the lake, along with another girl, and someone who Hermione introduced as Neville. He spent much of his time on the boat journey looking over the side, as the other occupants, minus Sophia, comforted him about his missing toad. As the boats turned into view of Hogwarts, there were gasps good up all around. Sophia managed to resist gasping, but her eyes did widen at the beauty of the castle. Slowly the boats started to pull up at a dock near Hogwarts, where a stern looking woman, whom Sophia remembered from the meeting at her house, stood at the top of a small flight of stairs. As soon as everyone disembarked, she began. "In a few moments, you will be entering the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into your houses. Whilst you are here, your house will be like your family. Good behaviour will earn you points, and bad behaviour will lose you points. The house with the most points, will win the house cup." She looked over them, though her eyes lingered fractionally longer on Sophia. "There are four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. If there are no more questions, then I shall make sure that we are ready to begin." As she turned around, Neville rushed forward.
"Trevor!" He shouted, picking up the road on the steps. McGonagall looked at him, and he shrank backwards. As McGonagall left, a slight chuckle from the left of the small four-person group was heard.
"Look at that pathetic Longbottom. Who wants a toad anyway?" The crowd parted to show the blonde boy from earlier. The girl who shared the boat with Sophia spoke up almost immediately.
"Leave him alone Malfoy." He turned to look at the girl.
"Bones, how disappointing to see you in league with these, degenerates." He looked pointedly at Hermione and Sophia.
"Malfoy, either you leave or I'm going to end up breaking your nose." Malfoy sneered at her.
"You should be worried about what my father will do to you."
"And you should be scared about what my dad will do to yours." Sophia replied instantly, going nose to nose with Malfoy. Neither of them noticed McGonagall's return until she gave a slight cough, causing them to move apart.
"If you'll come this way, we will begin."
The great hall was a room that Sophia almost thought was infinite in height. She barely noticed the people around her, looking up at the night sky. Hermione was several places behind her with Susan Bones, talking about a book that Hermione had read. Though she was very quickly surprised by the signing hat, she soon realised that it was just some sort of magical gimmick for something. When the first person's name was read out as Hannah Abbott, Sophia watched with interest as the hat went on her head for a few moments before shouting her house,
"Hufflepuff." The far table to her right cheered as the girl made her way over. Just after though, McGonagall spoke again.
"Armitage, Sophia." Sophia made her way up to the small stool just in front of the head table. The hat went down on her head, nearly obscuring her view of the hall, when it seemed to speak to her in her head.
"Ah, let's see what's special about you." She was confused for a moment. Did she just think the answers?
"Yes Ms Armitage, or should I say Potter?" Sophia frowned at the name, she didn't want to be called that ever.
"Fair enough, but why kill your muggle family? Hmm, that was intriguing." Sophia was now slightly worried. What if this got out.
"Don't worry, your life and secrets are perfectly safe with me. My only problem is where to put you. Not Gryffindor. You would be too restricted there I feel. And whilst your loyalty to your Foster family is commendable, I do not see you making it very far in the house of the badger." That was fine by Sophia, she didn't really like yellow anyway.
"So that narrows me down to Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Your intelligence or your ambition. Which would you prefer?" Sophia gave it a think. She supposed that knowing things was not very useful if you didn't know what to accomplish with it.
"Are you sure? They will not accept you, as yourself nor as the person you should have been." The hat waited a few moments, before realising she had no answer. "Very well."
The hall was waiting with impatience. This girl had been on the hat for well over five minutes. Hermione had begun to get slightly worried over it. Finally, it started speaking out loud once more. "You are a difficult one, but I think you would do best in ... Slytherin!" And the entire hall, even the Slytherin's, gasped in surprise as Sophia handed the hat back, and made her way to the Slytherin table.
A/N A poll has been posted regarding the future of the storyline after this story. Please do vote on it.