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'Not Slytherin, not Slytherin. . .'

Not Slytherin, eh? You'd make true friends in Slytherin, you'd do such great, great things in Slytherin. . .

'Not Slytherin, not Slytherin, not Slytherin. . . .'

Very well, better be GRYFFINDOR!

Albus nearly toppled to his knees after he stood up from the wooden stool when the Sorting hat was whisked off his chestnut hair. He staggered to the clapping Gryffindor table, taking a seat next to Fred and Roxanne Weasley, who patted him harshly on the back and said, "Welcome to Gryffindor, Al!"

They waited the long list of names to pass, until there were only a handful of students to confirm their fate. That group contained of Rose Weasley, who was Fred's, Roxanne, and Albus' cousin. A middle aged man, Professor Baratrum, read out the names with a slightly bored tone.

"Weasl-"

Baratrum cleared his throat, and squinted the paper as if he had seen the words incorrectly. "Weasley, Rose."

Rose ran up the short steps and basically fell onto the chair. The hat came down to her chin, and she sat there, her muscles straining from being so tense. Everyone waited.

Another Weasley, hm? I know exactly-

'No!'

You're. . . . interesting.

'I- don't want to go in Gryffindor. I mean, you can put me in there, if you'd like, but you can't just assume that, if I'm a Weasley, that I'll be in Gryffindor!'

Very, very interesting. Quite the wit and determination, Rose.

'Just put me where you think I should go, but you can't assume things-'

I never assume, I look inside, to see what house they shall be in-

'What about Clara Victor girl? You sorted her into Hufflepuff in half a second.'

I can search minds very quickly, and her mind was nearly identical to a true Hufflepuff's.

'And yet, you nearly put me in Gryffindor, without much of a look, other than I was a Weasley. Tell me, should I be in Gryffindor?'

Rose heard nothing but silence from the hat for a stretch of time. She felt a sense of satisfaction. She seemed to have outsmarted the Sorting hat! Rose lingered on this feeling for as long as she could, but even after that had passed, the hat stayed silent. What was going on?

"RAVENCLAW!"

The hat was whisked rudely off her head, taking a few strands of her hazel hair with it. Rose didn't even bother glaring at Baratrum evilly, as most people were staring at her, some curious, some surprised, but most skeptical. She felt special eyes on her back, and looked back to see Albus and many of her cousins gazing at her with sad expressions; they expected for her to be sorted immediately into Gryffindor. She sat down at the Ravenclaw table, her back to them.

"I know you,"

A familiar voice was standing behind her. A boy with grey eyes stood at eye level to Rose.

"Who are you?" Rose asked.

"I'm Lysander Scamander, and you're Weasley?"

Rose was annoyed by this. She stood up with a glower embedded on her face. "I'm Rose, thank you." She said curtly. "So glad to see I'm recognized by my family."

Lysander, although short, returned the facial expression. "I'm glad you think so,"

Suddenly, another boy, almost identical to Lysander, came up behind him. "Hey! You're Rose, aren't you? I'm Lorcan. We met at the Battle of Hogwarts reunion thing, right?"

"Oh. So that's where I've seen you." Lysander's stare persisted as Lorcan tugged on his shirt.

"Hey, I think Rick is waiting for us, got something he wants to tell us," Lorcan pulled Lysander's back to Rose, who sat down immediately to the last name being called out, and him being quickly sorted into Slytherin.

A very old, gray haired woman stood up from the Headmistress' chair and walked around the long table of Professors and came to the podium. The whole hall was dead silent. Albus thought it was a bit creepy.

"Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts!" the woman said, her voice echoing throughout the student's ears. "I am Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of our school. First, I must go over a few things. Our caretaker, Argus Filtch, is. . .no longer in service, so I would like to introduce our new caretaker, Mr. Finnegan Abby." Standing off to the side, a thin, scarred man looked blankly around the students. McGonagall resumed her speech. "We would also like to remind students that, although the Forbidden Forest is open to third years and above, only a small part is available to roam freely. Barriers will be placed, but any student caught beyond the barrier will have consequences, as well if found on the third floor corridor.

"Although many people do not think I should be telling students this, but I believe you have the right to know that this is my last year at Hogwarts. At the end of this year, I will pack my things and leave the Headmistress post."

Murrmurs erupted throughout the Great Hall. Albus wasn't sure how he felt about this yet; he only knew what James, Mum and Dad had told him. Rose, however, was deeply saddened as she had listened thoroughly the stories about Minerva McGonagall. She was looking forward to a year under the rule of Minerva.

"On that note, I hope you all have an great year. Let the feast begin!"

Food appeared in a flash on the plates, and each student dug in. The salad was delicious, Rose even tried some expertly made vegetarian pizza. She grinned wide. The Hogwarts food was much better than her dad's cooking. He didn't usually cook, but when her mum was away, he was forced to.

Albus didn't like the fact Rose was sorted into Ravenclaw. He was close to her in a cousin sort of way; he had imagined them talking in the Gryffindor common room, walking together to classes, and racing each other to meals. Those images were now shattered, with Rose now residing in Ravenclaw tower.

He also wondered why the hat took so long to sort her. Victorie had the smart idea to time her; Rose had taken five minutes and sixteen seconds. Aunt Hermione had told him the usual reason why people could take so long; the hat would have trouble deciding what one of two houses they belong in. Albus seriously wished the other house besides Ravenclaw was Gryffindor.

Victorie came up behind Albus and hugged him tightly, nearly crushing him completely. "Ow!" he complained.

"Congrats on getting into Gryffindor, Al!" She whispered in his ear.

"Get off," Albus said, still squirming in her grasp. He tried hard to conceal a smile, but failed terribly.

Victorie squeezed him and released, give Albus a chance to breathe. Fred patted him on the back again, but he had long been used to this playful violence. The only mystery here was: where was James? Most people expected for James to be the first one to congratulate him on finally getting into Gryffindor. What had happened?

"Boo."

Albus whipped his head around to see none other than his bother with a large can of pumpkin juice over Albus' head. "Happy Gryffindor making," James said, and then dumped the pumpkin juice on Albus' body.

Most of the Great Hall was now proceeding to staring at Jame's younger brother soaking wet body. Many laughed hard(including most of Albus' cousins) and many were just stunned. "James!" Roxanne exclaimed in mock horrification. Albus, in his soaking robes, glowered at James and nearly jumped on him to wrestle, but reminded himself they were in a school.

"What'd you do that for!?" Albus exclaimed.

"It's the new initiation! Dump a bucket of pumpkin juice on the new Gryffindors!"

Rose, a table across giggled at the scene before her. She took out her wand and recalled the spell for water. "Aquamenti!" she yelled. A thin stream of water shot out her wand at a high pressure; it hit Albus square on the back. He spinned around to see a red-faced Rose, her face hot from laughing so hard.

"What is it with you people and liquids?!" Albus shouted, arms raised.

"Thought you might need a wash after that sticky pumpkin juice!" Rose shouted back.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Professor McGonagall hand Professor Flitwick ten galleons.

Soon, however, the drama died down. When the feast was almost over, Rose saw something quite peculiar.

She saw another girl, blonde and a small nose, appear right in front of her. It lasted for only a short second, but she was there, nonetheless. Her eyes were closed the entire time, but Rose's were wide open. Who was that?

Throughout the feast, there was no other sign of her. Rose ran over the possibilities of what could have happened. A ghost? No, she was too colorful for that. A hallucination? She didn't have those, and even if this was one, it would have been longer. Was she even human? Was she even a she?

Rose constantly thought about her all through the Ravenclaw orientation and when she was searching for her dorm. She nearly missed it, too.

Second to last in her dorm, Rose asked who else was missing. A girl with mismatched eyes spoke up.

"Annabeth Chase."

.ii.

Hugo yawned. "Do I really have to?"

"Yes, Hugo, you do. Now, go to bed. You need your rest for your first day!"

Hugo's mum fought the urge to yawn after seeing Hugo yawn, but he saw her give in and open her mouth wide. He smiled and let her walk with him to his room. His room contained of several, small knick-knacks, including muggle circuit boards and microscopes with purplish rocks underneath them. "You should really clean your room," Hugo's mum said, sighing.

"But, I've got everything where I need it," He replied sleepily. He climbed into his bed and pulled the covers close.

"I know," She brushed back her son's bushy brown hair, watching him fall asleep.

Hermione left the room after dousing the lights with her wand, closing the door quietly, then placing a silencing charm on the door so Hugo couldn't hear her, no matter what she did.

Then, Hermione Weasley sat down on her couch, put her head in her hands, and cried, cried until she fell asleep.