The Heiress of Slytherin

Meeting an Opinionated Hat

Recap: She returned the smiles and felt stronger. She was a Stone woman, a powerful witch, and a powerful siren. And she was not alone. She could do this. The doors to the great hall opened, and hand-in-hand with her new friends, she strolled confidently through the entryway, and into the Great Hall.

Summoning every ounce of Stone family pride she had in her, Ivy lifted her chin, pushed back her shoulders, and squeezed Pansy and Selina's hands as hard as she could. They both sucked in a breath but soldiered on graciously without a word to their evidently petrified friend.

As they walked into the Great Hall, Ivy slackened her hold on her friends hands slightly, out of sheer shock of the magnificence of the room they entered. There were four long rows of heavy oak tables, stretching all the way up the hall.

Each table was filled with students whose ties and crests were clear indicators of the houses they had been sorted into; bright, cherry red and gold for Gryffindor, brilliant, azure blue and bronze for Ravenclaw, honey yellow and black for Hufflepuff, and emerald green and silver for Slytherin.

At the front of the room there stood a stunning gold podium, carved into an intricate owl, and behind it was another, slightly shorter oak table, where an array of impressive looking witches and wizards sat, facing the rest of the hall. In the middle, on a chair slightly grander than the rest, sat an old wizard with a long grey beard in purple robes that were littered with golden stars, matching his golden half-moon spectacles which sat in front of bright, twinkling eyes.

Ivy immediately understood that this must be Dumbledore, and it briefly crossed her mind that she would have to meet with him as soon as possible to discuss Stheno. It would be quite awkward if he said no to the snake, because Ivy was not about to let her pet go home without one hell of a fight.

As she thought this, she made eye contact with Dumbledore, and she briefly thought she saw something like recognition flash through the wizards eyes, before he the twinkly look returned. He nodded  and smiled briefly at her, then continued to scan her classmates faces.

Before Ivy had a chance to think on the odd exchange, she heard Hermiones bright, strong voice ring out behind her. "It's not real, the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."

Hearing this, Ivy glanced up quickly and felt her breath taken from her again as she saw the whole night sky laid out before her on the arched roof. She had read the same book as Hermione, but had been so taken in by the rest of the hall she'd forgotten that detail.

She turned her head around to smile a bright smile at the smart witch - her own simple thank-you for pointing out the magnificent display. Catching her eye, Hermione smiled back, if possible, even more brightly, pleased that somebody had appreciated the fact.

After what seemed like a year to Ivy, who did not take kindly to having quite so many eyes on her, the group of small witches and wizards reached the front of the room. Having received their instructions outside of the hall, they waited in silence for a few seconds before the fearsome looking witch start to read out names from a scroll of parchment.

Ivy remembered the witch's name as McGonagall, and listened as she called out the names on her list in alphabetical order by their last names. Cursing being a Stone for the first time, Ivy watched as Malfoy's friends, Dumb and Dumber were sorted into Slytherin.

Hermione had sat on the stool for a few beats of silence herself, fidgeting nervously, before the hat had made its decision and loudly appointed her to Gryffindor. Ivy dropped her friends hands for a moment to grin at the witch and send her two thumbs up. Hermione beamed back and skipped happily to her housemates table.