Lydia's Story

Lydia moved aside as the first-years lined up, watching Professor Snape carefully for her cues. As the last few students assembled into a somewhat wavy line, she saw him cast her a brief glance before starting towards the end of the line. She hurried into place, wishing there was someway to calm her churning stomach.

Once everyone was in place, and Professor McGonagall had straightened the line of students, she led them out of the room and to another set of doors. They continued through the doors, entering into the Great Hall.

It was enormous, holding four long tables that seated the schools students, and a fifth long table at the top of the Hall for the staff. Above the tables floated thousands of candles, illuminating the faces below. Professor McGonagall led the first-years to the top of the Hall, where they stood facing the students while the teachers sat behind them. Lydia followed Snape, who led her to the High Table. An extra chair had been set out next to his, and Lydia sat down. Looking along the table, many of the teachers turned to give her welcoming smiles, while Hagrid waved to her from the end of the table. She returned the smiles and the wave, relieved to see that not all the teachers were as cold as Snape.

Lydia's attention was once again draw to Professor McGonagall, who had placed a four-legged stool in front of the line of first-years. Craning her neck slightly, Lydia watched as an old hat was placed on the stool, looking very worn. It was patched in several places, and a long rip spread near its brim. Not sure of what to expect, Lydia's eyes flashed between Professor McGonagall and the grubby hat. After a few silent moments, the rip along the brim opened wide and, to Lydia's great surprise, the hat began to sing:

Many a year ago it seems,

The duty fell to me,

To sing my song and bring the news,

Of where students ought to be.

Chosen by the founders four,

To help young students find their way,

When, confused, they stumble in,

On their first Hogwarts day.

Four houses to choose from,

Not one less or more,

Each one by a different founder,

To fill with students they adore.

Gryffindor, loving bravery,

Chose the strong of heart,

While Slytherin, feeling differently,

Thought cunning the greatest art.

Ravenclaw claimed for her own house,

The brainy and the smart,

While Hufflepuff took to her dear house,

The just and kind of heart.

All these students, with their differences,

Are each key to this great school.

And if Hogwarts hopes to stand,

Unity's the greatest tool.

House to house and hand to hand,

Leaving differences behind.

Only when you work together,

Can your strengths all be combined.

Now at last, the time has come,

For me to send you separate ways.

But remember, our division,

Could bring the end of Hogwarts' days.

As the hat fell silent, the Hall broke into applause. Lydia, though not sure how to feel about such an introduction, clapped along with the others. From where she sat, she could see students at the house tables whispering to each other, sometimes casting glances of dislike to students of other houses. Lydia wondered how they could act so openly divided after all that the hat had said.

The whispering died down as Professor McGonagall gave another steely gaze. Once the Hall was again silent, she raised a long piece of parchment to her eyes.

"Aberdeen, Daniel!"

A tall boy at the end of the line stepped forward, pulling on the hat with shaking hands as he sat on the stool.

Silence filled the Hall until at last the hat called, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table at the far right broke into cheers as the boy made his way towards them.

"Alleger, Tanya!"

A tiny blonde stepped forward, pulling the hat down over her eyes.

"RAVENCLAW!"

This time, the table second on the left broke into applause as Tanya hurried to find a seat. Lydia was paying close attention to which table was which. She could already guess which one held the Slytherins: she could see Draco watching from the table second on the right, his grey eyes shining in the candlelight. He was talking to Pansy Parkinson and a tough-looking girl on his left. The Slytherins reminded Lydia a lot of her old schoolmates at Durmstrang; they all seemed to carry themselves with an air of pride and disdain, and all looked very tough. Looking up, Draco smiled up at her and gave a small wave, Pansy looking furious.

The line of first years slowly disappeared, until at last "Zelman, Patricia" was sorted into Hufflepuff. Lydia felt her heart race as he waited nervously for her turn.

A man with a long, silver beard stood from his seat at the centre of the High Table. As all eyes fell on him, Lydia realised that he must be Professor Dumbledore.

"Before we end our Sorting, I have a very important announcement to make," he said, his eyes shining happily from behind his half-moon spectacles. "This year, we have the honour of welcoming a new student joining us from Durmstrang! She will be entering her sixth year, and I know we will all do our best to make her years here at Hogwarts as memorable as possible!"

With this, he sat down as Professor McGonagall read the final name off the parchment.

"Meliflua, Lydia!"

As Lydia stood up, she felt as though her legs had turned to jelly. Making her way along the High Table, she was horribly aware of the many eyes following her, staring in shock and disbelief. As she passed the end of the table, Hagrid gave her a last encouraging wink before she reached the fateful stool. The last sight she saw before pulling the hat down over her eyes was Draco smiling up at her expectantly.

As she gazed into the inky blackness of the hat, she could hear a small voice coming from the hat itself. "My, my, my, aren't you an interesting mix of qualities! Full of potential, I see. A Meliflua, she said? Why, I haven't sorted anyone from that family in years! Yes, the last to pass through Hogwarts had been sorted into Slytherin, and later made quite a name for herself...unfortunately. But she was quite different from you, much more power-hungry. Now let me see here...a good mind and heart, I see. Yes, yes, and talented, too! Pure-blooded ancestry, I see... And a strong need to prove yourself...well isn't that something? Courage is here, too! Yes, definitely a lot of courage in you!"

What courage? Lydia scoffed to herself. I'm shaking like a leaf, just from a simple Sorting ceremony!

Not expecting an answer, Lydia was surprised when the hat replied to her silent rant. "Courage, my dear girl, is what's holding you to your seat as we speak! I see in your mind here that you know the challenges you will have to face, and yet you don't back down. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the facing of it! Well, then, I'll have to say...GRYFFINDOR!"

*~*~*~*~*

Draco felt his mind go blank.

"Gryffindor? This - This has to be a mistake!" he muttered incredulously to himself. He, like every other student in the Hall, had been certain Lydia would be in Slytherin. She came from a pure-blood family, known far and wide for their long history in the Dark Arts. How could she not show the traits so highly prized by Salazar Slytherin himself? The empty seat next to him that he had saved especially for her seemed to taunt him, mocking his fallen hopes. Draco stared up at the hat, his expression angry and scandalized.

*~*~*~*~*

As the hat was pulled off her head, Lydia's ears were greeted by a brief applause by Hagrid and most of the teachers, ending quickly in an awkward silence. Across the room, every students face shone with bewilderment. Their thoughts were all the same; Since when does a Meliflua belong in Gryffindor?

The Gryffindors gaped up at her with open mouths, fear and bewilderment etched across their features. Looking down the table, Lydia felt her heart drop as she spotted the upturned faces of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville, all looking very unwelcoming.

Both the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws, though surprised, looked frankly relieved. They all seemed to cast each other comforted smiles, glad that the worst was now over.

The Slytherins, on the other hand, looked furious. The only happy face that Lydia could see at their table was Pansy's, who smirked tauntingly at her from behind Draco's back. Draco himself looked murderous, his gaze following Professor McGonagall as she put away the Sorting Hat. He soon turned his eyes back to Lydia, his expression pained.

Lydia rose cautiously from the stool, her face burning under the schools gaze. Her footsteps seemed to resonate through the silence as she made her way to the Gryffindor table at the far left. As she made her way past the Ravenclaws, many of them leaned away from her, their eyes still following her like a dangerous zoo animal. Moving along the Gryffindor table, Lydia watched as many of the Gryffindors hurried to fill the seats next to them. Before long, the bench was littered with books, bags, and even a few plates and goblets that had been moved to fill in the spaces. Not until she reached the end did she find a seat next to a terrified first-year, having nothing to fill in the gap. She sat timidly next to him, smiling nervously at the staring faces around her. Only when Professor Dumbledore again stood to his feet did many of them turn their gaze away from her.

Professor Dumbledore stood with his arms outstretched. While his face bore a wide smile, his eyes seemed to have lost some of their previous glow. As he looked around the room, his gaze lingered briefly on the Gryffindors.

"To all our new students, welcome! To our returning students, welcome back! There is much to be said, but never on an empty stomach! For now, tuck in!" The school cheered as he sat down, and the plates filled with mounds of delicious food. Lydia recognised many of the dishes as ones her mother sometimes made, while others completely mystified her.

In all her anxieties, Lydia had completely forgotten how very hungry she was. She now piled her plate with her favourite foods, trying to ignore the staring eyes around her.

*~*~*~*~*

Further down the Gryffindor table, Harry and the others spoke earnestly between bites of their food.

"What does it think it's doing, putting her here?!" Ron said angrily, bits of potato flying from his mouth.

"I wonder if she managed to bewitch it somehow?" Hermione suggested, wiping Ron's specks of potato off her cheek. "Mind you, I can't think of any spell that would work on an object with as much magic as the Sorting Hat. Hogwarts: A History said that the Sorting Hat is protected by all kind of charms to guard it against tampering."

"Well, the hat has never made a mistake yet, has it?" Harry pointed out, his food still lying untouched. "Why can't we just assume for a minute that maybe she's not like the rest of her family? I mean, Dumbledore trusts her, so why can't we?"

The moment he said it, Harry knew he had hit a wall. The others shook their heads adamantly, Hermione looking at him like he was a naive three-year-old.

"Harry, we know you can't understand our worries, but you have to trust us, " Hermione sighed. "A family like hers is no laughing matter, it's like trying to say that maybe Draco's not like his father!"

Sighing, Harry picked up his fork and speared a piece of chicken. The others continued discussing the Sorting as he turned things over in his mind. He couldn't help but wonder if Dumbledore knew something they didn't.

*~*~*~*~*

Before long, the food faded from their plates and was replaced instead with desserts beyond description. Once everyone had had their fill, these too disappeared, leaving the plates immaculately clean. Lydia, though still feeling isolated, felt slightly better after the glorious feast. She watched as Professor Dumbledore once again rose to his feet, and addressed the watching crowd.

"Now that you have all had a chance to keep your stomachs well rounded, I have a few start-of-term notices for you all. Our newest students, as well as some of our not-so-new students, should be aware that the Forbidden Forest on the grounds is strictly out of bounds to all students. Also, our caretaker Mr. Filch has requested that I remind all of you that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes. There is also an extensive list of banned items posted on his office door for all who wish to see it, though I do believe that it will soon be moved somewhere with more space to hold it. Quidditch trials will be held on the second week of term, and all students interested in trying out for their house team are asked to speak to Madame Hooch. On a different note, I would like to bring your attention to a few changes in staffing this year. As many of you already know, we will be hosting two Divination teachers this year: Professor Trelawney and Firenze, neither of which are here right now. Professor Trelawney will be teaching all NEWT level classes, while Firenze has volunteered to teach all students up to their fifth-year. Also, as we were unable to find a replacement Defence against the Dark Arts teacher this year, Professor Snape has kindly volunteered to fill that post as well as teaching his usual Potions classes." There was scattered polite applause throughout the Hall, centred mainly at the Slytherin table. No one else seemed very happy to hear that Snape would be teaching two classes. In fact, many students from the other houses began muttering angrily. Looking up at the High Table, Lydia saw that Professor Snape looked very pleased with himself. "Now then," Dumbledore continued, and silence fell through the room again, "unless I am very much mistaken, that is all of our notices for today. It's now time for us all to take our tired selves to bed!" At his dismissal, the students cheered before rising out of their seats. They left the Hall, wandering in different directions according to their houses.

Lydia, not wanting to get lost, followed along behind a small group of giggling Gryffindor girls. They wound their way through the many corridors and staircases of Hogwarts, Lydia trying hard to remember the way. Just as she was sure that she would never remember another step, they came to a stop in front of a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she asked, looking down at them.

"Crumple-Horned Snorkack," one of the girls said, and Lydia watched as the portrait swung open to reveal a round opening in the wall.

Lydia crawled in after the others, entering into the Gryffindor common room. Once inside, all eyes again turned to her, the room suddenly becoming silent. Lydia spotted a girl coming down a set of stairs, apparently coming from the girls dormitory. Lydia hurried toward the stairs, eager to get away from staring eyes. Climbing the stairs, she could hear whispers starting in the room down below, and knew they were all talking about her. Reaching the dormitory, she saw that her trunk had been placed by one of the four-poster beds. Pulling out her copy of Quick Quidditch Tips, she crawled onto her bed and closed the curtains around her, trying to block the memories of the evening from her mind.