Nullus Fastidium

Hogwarts was even more amazing than Jaxon could have ever imagined. The castle put even Malfoy Manor to shame. For the first time that he could remember, he was completely happy. He was in a grand castle with hundreds of other students. He would finally be able to meet people who weren't his family. He could finally make friends that he chose. Hogwarts was a new freedom for Jaxon, and it was completely intoxicating. The only thing that could dampen his mood was his sister. Emica was acting like a complete snob towards everyone and everything. When they boarded the train, all she could comment on was how "archaic" train transportation was. When Hagrid took the first years across the lake to the castle, she thought that he was a "filthy half-breed" and that they should have arrived by carriage like the other students. When they entered the castle, she sniffed around and immediately turned her nose up into the air. She looked just like their grandmother, Narcissa Malfoy, when she did that.

For every negative thing that Emica had to say about Hogwarts, Jaxon found ten things that he absolutely loved about it. There was nothing better than this place, and he decided that he loved it almost more than he had ever loved anything else. After a few minutes, a harsh-looking older woman approached the first years. She looked at them appraisingly before finally speaking. "Good evening and welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor McGonagall. I am the head of Gryffindor house and the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts." With this she shook her head and grumbled something that sounded like "should be headmistress". "In any event," she continued, "we will head along to the Great Hall, where we will begin the Sorting Ceremony." The students followed Professor McGonagall into the hall, where the rest of the Hogwarts student population was looking at them. Professor McGonagall then set a stool in the front of a hall and picked up a ratty, weathered looking hat. Jaxon was a bit perplexed by this, but he tried to not let it show. Professor McGonagall then placed the hat atop the stool, and to his amazement, the hat began to sing.

The hat finished his song, and most of the students applauded politely. Jaxon noticed that the Slytherins were silent and did not seem to be too appreciative of the hat's song. Professor McGonagall then began reading names off of a list. Jaxon was suddenly nervous. He didn't know which house the hat would sort him into, but he hoped for his sake that it was Slytherin. He didn't much care for what he saw at the Slytherin table, but he knew that Malfoys were always in Slytherin and his father expected no less from him. His anxiety was rising as the first name was called. "Ackley, Addison" slowly approached the stool. When she sat, Professor McGonagall placed the cap on her head. After a few seconds, the hat announced "RAVENCLAW". Addison Ackley seemed relieved that the process was over and went to join the Ravenclaw table.

He watched as more and more first years were sorted. "Finnigan, Kiegan", a very nervous looking boy with bright red hair stumbled and fell flat on his face as he was walking toward the stool. He stood up, his face matching the red of his hair and took his place on the stool. Eventually he was placed into Gryffindor, and he fell on his face again getting off of the stool. Very embarrassed, he shuffled his way to the Gryffindor table, where he was comforted by his fellow Gryffindors. Jaxon had been watching this closely, and had it not been for his father's expectations, he would have very much liked to be a Gryffindor. He was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard "Malfoy, Jaxon" being called. He anxiously stepped up to the stool and sat. "A Malfoy," the hat questioned, "but you don't have a Malfoy way about you. You are as pure as white sand, but your pureness also includes your heart. No, no Slytherin is not the place for the pure of heart. You will be the first Malfoy ever to be in GRYFFINDOR!"

Jaxon's pale complexion turned even whiter than before. As he joined the Gryffindors, all he could think about was his father. His father was going to have a conniption. How could he be the first Malfoy to not be in Slytherin? Emica looked at him questioningly, but she didn't have time to dwell on this as "Malfoy, Marigold" was read off of the list. Emica started up to the stool, but before sitting, she turned and faced the other students. "My name is Emica. If anyone ever calls me Marigold after this, they will be extremely sorry," she said. She then sat on the stool and looked expectantly at Professor McGonagall. She, along with many students, were shocked at the gall of this little first year and, quite frankly had lost her train of thought. She recovered quickly and placed the began to place the hat on Emica's head. Immediately, the hat yelled "SLYTHERIN", and Emica joined the Slytherins.

The sorting continued, and Jaxon had began watching the ceremony intently so that his mind could possibly wander from the fact that he was a Gryffindor. He was afraid of his father's reaction, but surprised by his reaction of not being upset about it himself. He tried to focus on the sorting. He looked around at the other first years, and his eyes met those of a rather pretty girl with dark brown hair, and the most beautiful green eyes that he had ever seen. They looked at each other until Professor McGonagall called out "Potter, Bridget". Jaxon thought for a second. Potter? As in Harry Potter? No, it can't be. Father would have warned us about any Potter children. He would have made us promise to stay away from them. He caught Emica's glance, and she seemed to be thinking the same thing that he was thinking. Bridget Potter, along with her triplet siblings Brittany and Bryce Potter were all sorted into Gryffindor.

Bridget Potter sat next to him. "Hi, I'm Bridget. What's your name?" Jaxon looked at her, unsure if he should answer or not. He decided that he would look like he was scared if he didn't, so he replied, "Jaxon Reid Malfoy". Bridget smiled, "Reid, huh? Well, since you used your full name, I will use mine. I am Bridget Lillian Potter. Those two," she pointed at a black haired boy and a dark brown haired girl, "are my triplets Bryce and Brittany". She then pointed towards a girl two girls with strawberry blond hair. "The bigger one is Isabelle Weasley, a fourth-year. The little one is her sister Simone, she's a first year like us". She showed him a girl with auburn ringlets, who was a second-year named Sarah Weasley. Then she pointed out the fiery red haired boy who had fell during the Sorting. "Kiegan Shandy Finnigan," she said. "He will have my head for telling you his middle name, so I had to." She then introduced "Katherine Weasley", who was the female Gryffindor prefect. She pointed at the Slytherin table. "Sarah warned me about two of those Slytherins. They're second years too, but they're as mean as can be. Their names are Christopher Goyle and Nathaniel Crabbe."

Jaxon's stomach sank. He already knew Chris Goyle and Nate Crabbe. He had been forced to spend time with them as a child because their parents were friends with the Malfoys. Bridget was not wrong in her thinking that they were mean. They were complete prats. Jaxon had spent much of his childhood being ridiculed by the two of them because they found that Jaxon was nowhere near as intimidating and domineering as his father. Jaxon had chalked it up to years of Crabbes and Goyles being dominated by Malfoys. This apparently was not the case, and he was not too happy about this information. His thoughts were interrupted by Bridget asking him, "Are you related to Draco Malfoy by any chance?" He had known that this question was coming, but he tried to play it off. "What makes you ask that," he asked. She shrugged her shoulders. "My father told stories about his days at Hogwarts, and he often mentioned a Draco Malfoy. It's not too common of a name, so I thought that you might be related." Jaxon sighed, "Yes, he is my father. And your father is Harry Potter." Bridget nodded. "My father is Harry Potter, and my mother is Hermione Granger." Jaxon looked defeated. Of all of the people to befriend he chose the daughter of two of the people his father hated the most. At least he didn't befriend the child of Ron Weasley. He remembered his father saying horrible things about the Weasley family. Wait a minute, Jaxon thought, weren't all of the people she just showed me named Weasley?

His heart sank. Please tell me that I am not in the house my father hates along with the children of everyone that he hates. I may as well not ever go back to Malfoy Manor, he thought. He turned to Bridget. "All of the other people you pointed out, are they related to Ron Weasley by any chance?" Jaxon asked. Bridget looked surprised. "Of course they are. You must not get out much. In fact, Sarah is Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown's daughter. Kiegan Finnegan is the son of Ginny Weasley and Seamus Finnegan. Isabelle and Simone are the children of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacoeur. Katherine is the daughter of Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater. I know that your father hated my aunts and uncles, but please don't hold that against them. They really are good people," Bridget looked ready to cry. Jaxon felt the need to comfort her. "Bridget, don't worry, I don't hate anyone. No matter what my father tells me to feel for people."

This seemed to cheer Bridget up. They didn't have much time to talk, however, because the Headmaster had stood up, obviously wanting their attention. "This is Hogwarts. Of course, unless you're completely daft, you already know this. I am Professor Snape, the Headmaster. I don't make flowery speeches, as everyone above the first year already knows. Stay out of the Forbidden Forest, because it's Forbidden. This applies to everyone, even if your last name happens to be Potter or Weasley," at this the Potters, Weasleys, and even Kiegan Finnigan looked infuriated. Snape didn't seem to be affected by this, and he continued. "Just because Mr. Filch is no longer with us, does not mean that there will be chaos running amok in the halls of this school. Anyone caught breaking any of the rules that have been provided to your house dormitories will be expelled immediately. My name is not Albus Dumbledore, I don't believe in five hundred chances to correct your behavior," at this the Potter triplets looked quite put out. You could tell that they either loved this Albus Dumbledore, that they were disappointed in the inability to break the rules, or a combination of both. "Finally, there is a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor again this year. Professor Groves had decided to take another path in life, perhaps one that does not involve jumping out of a window after being unable to fight the Imperius Curse. I will allow your new professor to speak before you are dismissed. Professor Longbottom, say your piece so that we can end this fiasco," with this Snape sat down and a pudgy man stood.

"Hello, I am Professor Longbottom. It wasn't too long ago that I was sitting at the Gryffindor table myself. I remember most of your parents, and if you take after them at all, I expect great things in my classroom," he said looking directly at the Potters. He continued his speech. "Unlike Professor Snape, I love giving 'flowery speeches' as he so eloquently put it. However, this is not the time or place, as I know that it has been a long exciting day and there will be plenty of time for speeches in my class. Good luck this term, and I look forward to seeing all of you in class," he finished. Snape stood again. "This feast is over. Prefects lead your houses to the dormitories. There will be no congregating in the Common Rooms, go straight to your bedrooms. That is all," and he turned and left the Great Hall looking very irritated.

Jaxon looked at Bridget. "Funny, I don't remember him being that irritable in my father's school stories," he said. Bridget laughed. "That's because your father was his favorite student. He wouldn't have been irritable to him. Come on, we better walk faster. We're getting left behind," she said as she quickened her pace. They walked through what seemed like an endless maze, up never-ending staircases, through what looked to be walls, and past a number of ghosts. Finally, after Jaxon thought was an eternity, they made it to a large portrait of a hefty woman in an atrocious dress. She looked at the students appraisingly. "Password?" she asked. Katherine Weasley walked up to the portrait. "Amor debello," she said. The portrait then swung open like a door. She turned and faced the students. "You need to remember that password, or else you can't enter the tower. And Professor McGonagall will be quite upset if you have to interrupt her to retrieve the password," she informed them. Jaxon looked at Bridget. "What a peculiar password for a dormitory," he stated. She looked at him questioningly. "Why? What does it mean? I'm useless when it comes to Latin," she inquired. He looked thoughtful. "It means 'love ends war'. I wonder why they would use that as a password," he said.

Bridget didn't seem to care much about the password once they entered the tower. The Common Room looked nice enough, much more hospitable than Malfoy Manor, but Bridget was already heading towards her dormitory. She looked over at him. "Goodnight Jaxon. I will see you tomorrow," she said as she climbed the stairs heading to her bedroom. He watched as she walked out of sight and then followed the other first year boys to their dormitory. Once in the room, he realized how exhausted he really was. All of the other boys seemed to be feeling the same way, as they all practically fell into their beds and collapsed fast asleep.