"No," Anna said in a horrified voice, "no, Daddy, you can't possibly mean what you just said, you can't -"
"I'm afraid I'm more than serious, Anna," Severus Snape said grimly.
"But – but Hogwarts is all about the four Founders, the four houses! You can't just – just go and dismiss one of them!"
"There is no need to be so dramatic," said Severus, even though he disliked this situation even more than his daughter, "nobody is dismissing Slytherin, it will be simply – simply disbanding the older students, for their own good and for the benefit of the entire school. Or so the board of governors claims," he scowled, which made Anna soften somewhat towards her father.
"But Daddy, you are the Headmaster! You were head of Slytherin for many years! You don't have to let this happen."
"I cannot overrule the entire board of governors, Anna," Snape shook his head. "If only some of them had been on my side... but unfortunately, they are adamant that the change must take place."
"I just don't understand why," Anna said tearfully.
"Even I cannot deny Slytherin has been a bigger source of trouble than the rest of the houses put together," admitted Snape, "The Dark Lord. The Death Eaters. Curses in the corridors. Promotion of hatred and disdain towards Muggles and Muggle-borns. That sinister collaboration of certain students with the murderers of Ronald Weasley a couple of years ago -"
Noticing Anna's mortification, he stopped. It had been her ex-boyfriend, Thorbjorn Rowle, who had had a hand with Ron's Weasley's murder, though this version was never officially proven, and Severus knew his daughter didn't need him to help rub it in.
"I'm lucky to avoid the gale of expulsions some of the governors insisted on," he concluded.
"The only reason some Slytherins are trouble-makers is because it's a house for ambitious people, and well, with kids this often runs into mischief," insisted Anna, "consider how many successful careers came out of being in Slytherin – I'm sure some people are simply jealous of that, and that's why they want to destroy our house!"
"Slytherin won't be destroyed," Snape assured his daughter, "first-years will still be sorted into Slytherin on September the first, but they will be the only year in the house. Within several years, there will be again as many Slytherins as before, and theoretically, by that time the negative influences, which have been hitherto passed on, will be eradicated."
"This isn't just ridiculous, this isn't even practical, Daddy," said Anna, "what about the size of the classes? The dormitories? The bathrooms, for Merlin's sake?"
"It will be a bit crowded," admitted Snape, "but we'll manage."
Anna gulped as though swallowing a bitter pill that was stuck in her throat.
"So where will we all go?" she asked, "Will we have to go through the Sorting again?"
"No, we don't want to confuse the Sorting Hat," said Snape, "your subsequent Sorting will be determined by personal characteristics and the evaluation of your Head of House."
"Which means?" Anna stared at her father blankly.
"Which means you are going to be in Gryffindor."
Gryffindor. For a fleeting second, Anna tried to imagine her life as a Gryffindor. She will be with James, she reminded herself, cheering up a little, and her brother Septimus and his friends. But then she realized with horror she would also have to share a room with Molly Weasley, that insufferable bookworm...
"I've been a Slytherin for six years," said Anna, tears welling up in her eyes again, "this is going to be my final year in school, I was so looking forward to it, Daddy – studying for my N.E. with all my friends, playing Quidditch, and – it was supposed to be fun, and now it's all going to be ruined!"
"I regret this, Anna," said Severus Snape, "but there is really not much I can do. Perhaps at the end of this year, if the new arrangement doesn't go well, I can convince the governors that it's a foolish experiment, but right now..."
Anna thought about it some more. She felt it's going to be heartbreaking to be forcefully parted like that from the friends who have been her companions for six years now. Her friends...
"Where are Vinny and Gertie going?"
"Lavinia Malfoy and Gertrude Nott have been admitted to Ravenclaw," said her father.
"Well, then, I want to go to Ravenclaw too!" Anna said defiantly.
"You will be in Gryffindor," Snape replied wearily, but firmly, "some students from your house must go there, and frankly, Anna, you are one of the few Slytherins who won't cause an explosion among the lions."
That was something Anna could not deny. Lavinia in Gryffindor, now, that would have ended with a murder within an hour.
"What about my Head Girlship?" she asked, "Am I still going to get the badge?"
"Yes," said Snape, and Anna brightened just a little, "and I must emphasize that I expect you to live up to it. You don't want to be seen as the one who was made Head Girl just because she's the Headmaster's daughter."
Anna looked at her father and sighed.
"Well, Dad," she finally said, "I guess I should be happy you didn't think I would fit in with the Hufflepuffs."