3,778Chapter 4: The Sorting 1971
Chapter 4: The Sorting 1971
Hermione felt a sort of indescribable relief as she sat in the boat going towards Hogwarts. The rest of the first years seemed awed by the sight, and she could not blame them. She remembered exactly what the sight of Hogwarts had done to her in 1991. Hogwarts was, would, or whenever be a sight to be seen.
It was odd seeing someone other than Hagrid tending the boats with the first years in it. So many years had passed where Hagrid was the only always welcoming face in troubled times.
The professor that was escorting the first years, who introduced himself as Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, was apparently the resident professor of Care of Magical Creatures. He was a wiry and older wizard, who seemed quite displaced around people. He had a hat on his head with a nest in the middle, and seemed perfectly okay with the entire situation, even while all the first years took turns giving him critical and curious looks. His personal appearance seemed more like a man who slept in the barn with his animals than a typical professor, and Hermione would have given a lot at that moment to sent a photo to Harry with a note asking him "you thought Professor Snape had greasy hair, you should have met THIS guy!"
Hermione's mind shuffled through a large amount of various factoids and dates, trying to put together if Hagrid would be on the grounds this particular year. He wouldn't be teaching until around 1994, as she recalled that was when Kettleburn retired, but he should still be the grounds keeper. Somewhere, someplace, there was a copy of Hogwarts: A History just waiting for her to stick her nose into it.
Hermione turned to see Lily staring wide-eyed at the castle. She looked absolutely dreamy at the sight before her, and the corner of Hermione's lips curved upward. Such wonder was to be cherished. Childish innocence was something to be treasured even more so in a time where war loomed on the horizon, and there was a part of Hermione that wished she had been allowed more of a childhood her first time around.
She lifted her head as she watched the familiar form of Fawkes flitting around the towers and ramparts of Hogwarts, and she longed to stretch her wings once more, ride on Minerva's shoulder as she patrolled the corridors, and sing her songs over Black Lake.
Eyes were upon her, and she turned her head. Severus was staring at her intently. Hermione lifted a brow at him, unconsciously giving him one of his older self's expressions.
"Sickle for your thoughts, Severus," Hermione said softly.
"You look… relieved," he said after a moment.
Hermione looked down and then back at the future Potion Master. "I suppose I am."
"Most people would not consider going to school a… relief," he said carefully. It seemed a struggle for him to speak to her.
Hermione's corner of the mouth twitched upward. "There are times I prefer books to people," she confessed. "Books do not judge if I do not understand their entirety. I can come back to them tomorrow or six years from now, and they will welcome me the same. Might as well do my learning here. Just look at this place. Even the walls tell stories. Imagine what they have seen."
Her words seems to have an effect on the withdrawn young wizard and he nodded silently. Lily was staring at her intently. "What if I don't fit in?" Lily said with worry. "What if I'm not really a witch?"
Hermione frowned slightly. "That's nonsense," she said. "If you weren't a witch, you wouldn't have gotten a letter. I'm betting you could always do things even when you were younger. Make flowers bloom. Summon breezes when none were there before? Such magic is in you, Severus, and me. It is the same. It sings in our blood. It makes you a witch or a wizard. But Hogwarts… Hogwarts will teach us how to control it. It will teach all of us how to be more. You are already fitting in."
"You sound like one of my old teachers back in school," Lily said, but she was smiling.
Hermione scoffed. She had no idea. She had apprenticed under Minerva McGonagall, master of the strict teaching demeanour and stern scowl of "it will be done or heads will roll." Sounding like a teacher was a bit too normal for her. Realising that sounding like a teacher as an eleven year old was probably a little creepy, Hermione broke out into a disarming grin instead, causing Lily to giggle.
The boats were landing on the shoreline, and the torches were beginning to ignite to light the path up to the main gates. Hermione's nostrils flared as the scent of the lake blew up the path. She leapt up from the boat and stood on the landing with excitement, holding her hand out to Lily to help her out.
Lily grasped her hand shakily, and took a hesitant step to the landing. She stared up the long stairway with wide eyes. Hermione held out her hand to Severus. He stared at her hand as though it were going to shift into a serpent and bite him, but after a few moments, took it, allowing Hermione to pull him up.
It was surreal being back at Hogwarts that had never been attacked by Death Eaters. There were no scars marking the surface of Hogwarts to indicate the years spend rebuilding it. The wards were strong an had the original signature of magic upon them. The energy of Hermione Granger and Minerva McGonagall no longer entwined together in the signature of the wards. The non-apparate jinx was in full force, no longer attuned to allow her passage.
Minerva. She would have to call her Professor McGonagall again. The elder witch would no longer know her. A twinge of pain flashed across her face. They had been practically inseparable colleagues and friends. Minerva had been motherly as her Master, and she had filled a gaping hole in Hermione's life after she had her falling out with her parents after her sending them off to Australia. Her relationship with her parents had never recovered, but they were alive, and Hermione thanked Merlin for that every day after the war, even when her pain of losing them to mistrust and inability to wrap their minds around the extent of what she was willing to do to save them. Hermione felt the first true tug of regret and anguish in her chest thinking about the loss of her relationship with Minerva and the bond they shared as Master and Apprentice.
"Hermione, come on," Lily said, tugging her arm and dragging her up the stairs.
Hermione wiped her eyes with her hands and attempted to centre herself.
Severus was looking at her. His black eyes asked so many questions.
Hermione turned her head away and sniffed, shaking her head.
"There you are, twin," Sirius yelled as he slammed into her from behind. "James, Remus, Peter, come meet my sister."
Hermione stiffened the moment Peter's name hit her ears.
"Hermione, these are my new mates, James, Remus, and Peter."
"Charmed," Hermione said stiffly, clenching her teeth to keep from launching herself at Peter Pettigrew. Oh what she wanted to do with him. It didn't matter at that moment that Peter Pettigrew was innocent of doing everything he had done in Hermione's original life. It was because of him that Harry had been forced to live under a staircase with the Dursleys. A stab of pain hit her as memories of Harry sneaked into the cracks in her emotions thanks to her reminiscing about Minerva and the Grangers.
Hermione lifted her head imperiously, channelling her genetic inheritance to Walburga Black.
"Don't be like that, sis," Sirius huffed. "We're going to be seeing a lot of each other! We'll be lounging in the Gryffindor Common Room after the Feast with all sorts of new mates."
"I may be your twin, Sirius," Hermione said with a deadpan expression, "but that does not make your interests my own. Allow me to at least make my own friends before you assume your friends will just saunter up and take me in."
"Oooh," said the black-haired wizard who looked so much like Harry. "She's a spitfire."
The boy with light brown hair and scars across his face fidgeted with discomfort. He put his hand on James' shoulder, muttering something. His green eyes flicked to Hermione almost apologetically. Young Remus Lupin. Hermione started to loosen her tense stance, but then a boy with mousy brown hair and blue eyes looked at her with a smirk on his face. "You're right, James."
Hermione stiffened. Her body tensed. Harry had once said that he had seen into Snape's memories during their Occlumency lessons. What he had seen had shaken him. His father, who was praised by so many, had been a horrible person as a teenager. James Potter, much to Harry's shame, had been the type of bully that made him ashamed he had so blindly believed in his father being a great man. It had been Hermione that had talked him down into believing that people could change. James Potter had given his life for his wife and son. He may have been a horrible excuse for a teenager, but he had loved Harry and his mother.
However, all these glimpses of the future meant nothing. Right now, James Potter was an arrogant git, and his newly formed group of fledgling Marauders were not far behind.
"Come on, Sirius," Peter whined. "Why don't you introduce us properly to your bird?" He came up with a large helping of false bravado thanks to his friends, but what he had said seemed to shake Sirius out of whatever macho daze he had been wallowing in. Sirius stiffened.
Peter made a move to touch Hermione, and in that moment multiple things happened.
Hermione curled her lip back in disgust and stepped back. Severus and Lily tugged her back to them with Severus standing in front of her in his first display of pure anger, and Sirius stood in front of his twin sister with fire in his eyes.
"You will treat my sister with the respect she deserves, Peter Pettigrew," Sirius snarled, a hint of his father dripped venom into his words. "She is not my bird, nor is she yours that you can presume to touch without her permission."
Peter groveled. "Come on, Sirius. You know I didn't mean it like that." He clutched his hands together in a way that reminded Hermione so much of his older self when Remus and Sirius had turned him back into a human in the Shrieking Shack.
Sirius' transformation from jester who teased his sister into the face of wrath that protected her was a balance with a very clear line. He was allowed to tease his sister and push her buttons, but these new friends of his were not on the safe list. They had not proven themselves worthy. He glared into the face of Peter Pettigrew with the very incarnation of rage.
Peter stepped back, casting his eyes down, unable to meet the fury in Sirius' eyes.
Hermione placed her hand on Severus' shoulder. "Let's go, Severus," she said softly, her teeth clenched together. She patted Lily's hand that was tugging on her with frantic concern.
Severus' dark eyes flicked from the gang of Marauders and Hermione and then he relaxed slightly. He followed Hermione and Lily up the stairs towards Hogwarts.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall announced. She was wearing the same pointed hat with feathers that Hermione remembered from the first time around. Part of Hermione wondered if she wore the same outfit for the Welcome Feast on purpose. Minerva had on a dignified green velvet robe and a silver cloak pin that shimmered with opal inlay that was both shiny and attractive. "Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your Houses, They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now while you're here, your House will be like your family. Your triumphs will gain you points. Any rule breaking will lose points. At the end of the year the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup. The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily." (HPSS) Minerva shambled past the doors into the Great Hall, probably to make sure everything was ready for the new students to enter.
Hermione felt a pang of loss as she stared after the Deputy Headmistress. She missed Minerva and the closeness they shared.
"Four Houses?" Lily whispered nervously. "What House do you think I'll be in?
"Whatever House you'll be in will be lucky to have you, Lily," Hermione reassured her.
"I'm so nervous," she confessed, clinging to Severus' robe sleeve in her panic.
"Lily," Hermione admonished. "You'll be fine."
Hermione saw Severus giving Lily a sympathetic and pained look. He knew the same thing Hermione did. The chances of a Muggle-born watch being sorted into Salazar's House was not likely. That wasn't the only thing, however, as trait wise, Lily was about as far away from being on Slytherin's list of admirable traits as Harry Potter would be in Hufflepuff.
"We'll still be able to be friends, right?" Lily squeaked. "Even if we are in different Houses?"
She looked at Severus and Hermione with a pleading expression.
"Of course," Hermione said with a sniff.
Severus nodded to Lily silently.
The doors to the Great Hall opened and McGonagall waved them in. "We're ready for you, come, come," she said.
The ceiling of the Great Hall captured Lily the moment her eyes set upon it. She stared at it with wonder, practically tripping into Severus, and then backed up into Hermione. Childlike wonder apparently trumped out dexterous grace.
They managed to walk down the main aisles without taking out their fellow students, which was a miracle in itself. Hermione looked wistfully at the Gryffindor tables where she, Harry, Ron, Neville, the twins, and Seamus spent countless hours together. But the faces she saw at the tables as she walked by were not familiar. There was no welcome there.
The Sorting Hat was singing its songs as it always did, and Hermione boggled that the hat managed to make up different songs every year. It was a pretty large accomplishment for a hat.
Albus Dumbledore, slightly less silvery in the beard, made the yearly announcements. The Forbidden Forest was still forbidden. Some wing or another was off limits. First years were not allowed to have broomsticks. No magic in the corridors. Hermione yawned. Even as a professor, she found the yearly announcements worth of a yawn or two.
Minerva stood in the middle of the platform next to a stool, the Sorting Hat dangling in her hand. "Now when I call your name, you will come forth. I shall place the Sorting Hat upon your head, and you will be sorted into your Houses," McGonagall said.
"Hermione Black," McGonagall called, and Hermione had a strange sense of being the first one called up déjà vu.
Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the stool and sat down.
The Sorting Hat settled upon her head like an old friend, and she felt the tingle in her mind as it perused her head for what he needed to make its decision.
"Hrm," the hat said. "Difficult. Bravery, no doubt. Intelligence, definitely. Loyalty. Cunning. Drive to achieve your goals. Hrm. Hrm."
The hat grumbled on top of her head for quite a bit, and Hermione could feel eyes upon her. Lovely. She was causing a hat-stall. That was just what she needed to start off her second career at Hogwarts.
"Slytherin!" the hat announced joyously, happy with itself.
Hermione's eyes bulged out of her head. What!
There was applause coming from the Slytherin tables, and Hermione found herself sitting at the "enemies'" table for the first time in her life.
"Welcome to Slytherin, Hermione," Lucius voice purred at her as he tilted his head to her.
Hermione bowed her head to Lucius automatically. "Lucius," she greeted him in return.
Sirius was on the stool this time, and the moment it hit his hair, the hat proclaimed, "Gryffindor!"
Hermione felt a pang of loss from the part of her that was Hermione Ankaa Black. They had grown up together, and now, despite the fact that part of her knew it was going to happen, there was no denying that her twin brother was more different than her than she cared to admit.
When Lily's turn was up and the hat cheerfully proclaimed, "Gryffindor!" Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew Severus would be having pangs of regret that he would be separate from his childhood friend. She wondered if it was like being separated from your twin for the first time.
When Severus was proclaimed Slytherin, the Slytherin table erupted in happy cheers yet again, and Severus took a seat next to Hermione. He looked over his shoulder towards the Gryffindor tables, watching Lily being greeted by James and Sirius. It took everything in her repertoire to keep from willing Peter Pettigrew into flames from her glare alone. Backstabbing rat.
Hermione, not one to forget her manners, introduced Severus to Lucius, knowing that her doing so would put him under her wing, so to speak, even though she was first year. It was something she knew Lucius would understand.
"Severus, this is," Hermione choked on the word friend as part of her refused to let that pass her lips, "Lucius Malfoy. Lucius, this is my friend Severus Snape."
Lucius tilted his head in greeting, his grey eyes looking down his finely chiselled nose in a very typical Malfoy manner. "Welcome to Slytherin, Severus. If you have any questions, I will assist you, if I can."
Severus nodded silently.
The rest of the Sorting went through quickly, and the Welcome Feast was full of all the tasty foods Hermione remembered and adored. Severus looked like he'd never seen so much food before in once place in his life, while Lucius picked at his food with a fork with the kind of manners one would expect from the elder Lucius Malfoy.
By the time everyone was told to retreat to their dormitories, the only thing that kept Hermione from auto-piloting to the Gryffindor tower was Lucius weaving out in front of her and "herding" her back in the right direction with his body. It was actually quite subtle as to not make her lose face in front of the others, but Hermione made a mental note to herself that she had to start paying better attention to where her feet here going.
Sagacity hooted happily to her as she found her bed, and she was changed into her night clothes and curled up go to sleep before she could even realise her head had hit the pillow. Sagacity perched on her bedside table, sitting atop her copy of Hogwarts: a History, seemingly content to keep her company instead of flying off to get to know the other school owls.
She curled up under the warm duvet, blissfully oblivious to the world as sleep dragged her under.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A/N: I need hand from someone who knows Marauder time period better than I do. Who are the Slytherin in the House during the time of the Marauders? I know Lucius is in his fifth year by the time Hermione and Severus have their first year, and Avery and Mulciber are for sure of the right "time" because Lily loathes them in canon. Bellatrix is already graduated by then, and so would be the Lestrages, I presume. So that leaves…. Bartemius (Barty) Crouch Junior… and that's where my brain kinda skids to a halt and crashes into things.
When I think of Kettleburn, I think of Radagast the Brown from Lord of the Rings (with a birdnest in his hair)- more attuned to beast animals than the human animal. I'm not sure how Hermione is going to get on with Professor Kettleburn. He's apparently a man with more probations and lost limbs than any other professor. I have to wonder if the reason Hagrid was so well accepted was because Kettleburn was a menace to everyone including himself. (I consider this even more sad considering what a disregard Hagrid had for the safety of students with his crusade to support "misunderstood creatures" that truly do just want to eat the student body (ie the accromantula colony)