Author's Note: this wasn't my favorite chapter, but it had to be done :) I want to thank my lovely beta once again, Tash (Pondering) who did a lovely job on this chapter. Thanks hun! (3990 words)
Chapter 1 “ The Truth Doesn’t Make A Noise
1 September, 1971
Eleven-year-old Jordanna Benton sighed as she checked yet another compartment on the Hogwarts Express; this one was occupied by five Hufflepuff fourth years who seemed to be having Exploding Snap war, where by the looks of it, their hair was charmed to the Hufflepuff house colors of yellow and black upon losing.. One girl who was sitting on the seat closest to the window had her entire head colorized, plus her eyebrows. She looked rather annoyed as she watched the game on the floor take place. She couldn’t be very good, Jordanna thought, for the train had departed less than five minutes ago from the platform.
Jordanna sighed again and continued on her way. At the rate this was going, she was never going to find a seat and would end up sitting in the corridor like a loner during her first ride to Hogwarts. To top it off, she was nearing the end of the train; the likelihood of sitting alone was becoming more plausible.
She looked out the window in the corridor and continued walking; she watched the countryside speed by like a blur and half smiled when she realized she was really going to Hogwarts. She had only dreamt of it, but now it was real.
“Watch it,” a sharp voice came from in front of Jordanna. She tore away from the window and looked straight. She had walked directly into another girl who had been going in the direction Jordanna had just come form.
“Oh, uhm,” Jordanna mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
The girl eyed her curiously. “You a first year?”
Jordanna nodded. “Yeah. I’m Jordanna Benton.” She held out her hand to the girl who shook it.
“Elena Parkinson. First year, too.”
Jordanna raised her eye brows in surprise, but quickly lowered them. She had definitely heard that name before. “Parkinson?” she asked, trying to sound as casual as she could. “So, er, you’re a Slytherin, I’m assuming? Or, well, going to be …”
Elena nodded. “Yes,” she said matter-of-factly. “The Sorting Hat’s got another think coming if I’m placed anywhere else.” She paused and raised her eyebrow in suspicion. “Why? What about you? You another one of those Gryffindor blood traitors?”
Jordanna shook her head. “Parkinson, right? Trust me, being a Slytherin is something I definitely want.” She stopped and rolled her eyes. “But I come from a long line of Hufflepuffs.” Elena raised her eyebrow suspiciously again. “I’m nothing like my parents; in my opinion, Hufflepuff is just a house to house all of those who don’t belong anywhere else. Those who are too weak to stand up for themselves, to be unique. Slytherins are cunning, Ravenclaws are smart, and Gryffindors are brave, as they say.”
“What about the Hufflepuffs? Would ‘wimps’ be a good word to describe them?”
Jordanna nodded.
Elena’s suspicion quickly disappeared as she suppressed a laugh. “Great minds think alike,” she said simply. “Benson, is it?”
“Benton.”
“Right.” Elena pointed to Jordanna’s bags. “I’m assuming you can’t find anywhere else to sit? If you want, you can come and sit with me. If you like Slytherin as much as you say, you’ll definitely like everyone in there.”
When Jordanna nodded, Elena pushed her way past her and led both of them to a compartment near the middle of the train. When she opened the door, five heads looked up, past Elena and at Jordanna.
“This is Jordanna Benton,” said Elena as she helped Jordanna lift her trunk into the luggage racks above. “Don’t worry. She’s a pure-blood “ right?” Jordanna nodded. “- yeah, pure-blooded first year.” The others nodded to indicate she was allowed in and Elena pointed to a brown-haired boy who sat next to the door. “This is Evan Rosier; he’s a first year too.” Then Elena pointed to a rather tall and skinny raven-haired boy who was twirling his wand in between his fingers. “That’s Andrew, my brother. He’s a fifth year along with Narcissa Black-” a long blonde-haired girl nodded. “-and Lucius Malfoy.” Lucius did nothing to greet Jordanna, however merely continued to stare absent mindedly at her, flipping a page of the newspaper in his hands.
“And that-” Elena pointed to a petite brunette who sat across from Evan, “-is Adrienne Wilkes; she’s another first year.” She shut the door behind her and sat in between Lucius and Adrienne, leaving an empty spot next to Evan; Jordanna hesitantly sat beside him.
“So, Benton,” Narcissa Black began slowly, “Pure-blooded, as you say?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, never heard of the name Benton to be honest,” Narcissa continued.
“Long line of Hufflepuffs, she said,” Elena chimed in; Jordanna cringed slightly and looked at Elena, who was now staring closely at her nails as if she had just done nothing wrong.
“Then why is she here?” Lucius asked, speaking for the first time, putting down the issue of the Daily Prophet that he had been holding in his hands.
“Hufflepuffs are wimps, and I’m definitely not one of them.” Jordanna said quietly. “Most of them are just as bad as, er, Mudbloods. Don’t you agree?” She felt herself cringe at the use of the word ‘Mudblood’. Growing up, she had been taught not to use the word, as it was disrespectful, but now since the circumstances had changed, Jordanna felt it was necessary.
Both Lucius and Narcissa raised their eyebrows in surprise and then looked at each other quickly, as if communicating without talking. They both turned back to Jordanna and nodded slowly in unison.
“Touché,” Lucius said impressively. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“Do you plan on being in Slytherin?” Evan Rosier asked from beside Jordanna. Jordanna looked around the compartment and saw everyone divert their attention back to her.
She nodded. “Well, yeah, why else would I be here?”
“But if your family is all in Hufflepuff,” he continued, “how can you be so sure you’ll be in Slytherin?”
Jordanna sighed and shrugged. “All I can do is hope,” she said truthfully. “I know I’m not like the rest of my family, and have done things in the past to make me Slytherin-worthy. Plus, I have too much ambition to be in Hufflepuff.”
“The worst you can do is Gryffindor,” Elena said who was still fiddling around with her nails. “You’d be far from a Slytherin if you were placed there.”
The others nodded in agreement and the subject of Jordanna and the Hogwarts houses seemed to slowly die. Everyone went back to doing their own things, and ten minutes later, both Lucius and Narcissa left the compartment for their newfound duties as Prefects. By the time they had returned, night had fallen and the Hogwarts Express was just minutes away from stopping at the platform in the wizarding village Hogsmeade, where from there, they would be transported up to the castle.
But as the arrival into Hogsmeade drew nearer, Jordanna was beginning to feel slightly nervous. What if she was placed into Hufflepuff like the rest of her family? She would definitely lose her new acquaintances (if she could even call them that) and knew her mother would be disappointed. What would she do from there? Follow what her mother had made her swear to do, or just be herself?
“Firs’ years,” called a voice over the crowd of students once the scarlet steam engine had stopped completely. “Firs’ years this way.”
“Wow,” Elena gasped as she hopped off of the train and caught a glimpse of the giant-sized man who was calling them over. “He’s huge.”
“Oh, that’s Hagrid,” Andrew explained. “He’s the gameskeeper round here; dunno why to be honest, he’s kind of useless. I only ever see him near the edge of the Forbidden Forest and then during the holidays when he lugs in the Christmas trees. But yeah, he’s pretty huge.”
“Oafish, more like it,” said Jordanna, unable to contain herself.
“That’s not even a word,” Adrienne pointed out as she hopped off of the train after her.
Andrew laughed. “Calm down, anyway, who cares? Next time you see Cissy and Lucius, be sure to tell them that.” Jordanna raised an eyebrow and Andrew chuckled. “They feel the same way,” he explained simply.
“Oh …”
“Firs’ years, this way, firs’ years,” Hagrid called out once again. Jordanna looked at the crowd of the other first years and noticed that it seemed to be growing every minute. She wondered how many students there were just in each year.
“Well, I need to catch a carriage,” Andrew said. “Go meet the oaf; the faster you go, the faster you’ll all be officially one of us.” He winked and turned on his heel and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Jordanna, Elena, Adrienne and Evan alone.
“He’s right,” Evan said. “Let’s go.”
The four walked over to the group of first years and were immediately ushered off by Hagrid to the lake that, by the looks of it, seemed to surround half of the landscape of Hogwarts. And in the lake, Jordanna noticed, were several small wooden row boats which seemed to lack oars. She looked at the rest of the other first years curiously, where some seemed to be as confused as her, while other didn’t even seem fazed.
“Now four ter a boat,” Hagrid called out once the reached the water’s edge. “No more, no less.”
Elena pushed her way through the crowd in hopes of climbing into the first boat. Jordanna and the others followed. As Jordanna waited for the others to climb in before her, she felt someone bump into her from behind. She turned around and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, sorry,” mumbled the dark haired boy. “I tripped.” He paused and Jordanna saw his line of vision move up and down her body. “I’m Sirius B-”
She forced a smile sarcastically. “That’s nice.”
“Benton, you coming?” Elena’s voice came from behind. Jordanna nodded and then with one last look at the boy named Sirius, she turned on her heel and entered the small boat. Elena was chuckling.
“That was Sirius Black …”
“Oh,” Jordanna said quietly, blushing slightly. “Narcissa’s brother?”
Elena laughed again and shook her head. “Oh, Merlin no,” she explained. “He’s her rather annoying cousin, you see. She doesn’t really like him; she says he doesn’t act like a Black or a pure-blood …”
Jordanna raised her eyebrow. “How do you know all of-?”
“We’re pure-bloods,” Adrienne said simply. The others nodded. “Real pure-bloods are all intertwined one way or another. If it’s not by blood or marriage, it’s by our parents or relatives who befriend other pure-bloods. Most of our parents try to arrange to marry us all off to one another to keep the line, well, pure.”
“Yeah,” Evan said as he looked at the surroundings around him, not really paying much attention to the conversation. “After a few years it’s more like you’re marrying your own family.”
Jordanna wrinkled her brows in confusion.
Elena nodded. “Yeah. That’s why the Slytherins all seem to know each other, their families, their business, etcetera, when they arrive at Hogwarts. A lot of families have yearly get-togethers, like mine, the Blacks, the Rosiers, the Wilkes’ just to name a few. That’s how Evan, Adrienne and I all know each other.”
“We’ve been good friends since we were six,” Adrienne added.
Elena nodded. The boat that they were currently sitting in jerked a bit forwards. “Oh finally, we’re moving.”
As if there was an invisible rope attached to every boat on the lake, each of the boats began moving forwards, smooth sailing across the lake. Jordanna smiled as she took in her surroundings. It was amazing.
“At least it’s not raining,” Elena said as she looked around. “In my brother’s first year, they all got drenched; there was a massive thunderstorm.”
Adrienne and Jordanna both chuckled while Evan rolled his eyes in humor.
The rest of the boat ride to the other side of shore was rather quiet, except for the boat next to them, where its occupants (including the boy called Sirius) were discussing the sorting ceremony that would occur once they got to the castle. As they went on about being sorted into Gryffindor and Slytherin, and possibly even Hufflepuff, Jordanna was beginning to feel slightly nervous. The ceremony was less than minutes away she suspected; what if, she thought again, she wasn’t placed in Slytherin, but rather, Hufflepuff? She wondered just what her mother would say if that turned out to be the case.
She sighed and then caught sight of the gleaming castle of Hogwarts and shook the thought out of her head for the time being. The castle was enormous and beautiful; she quickly counted at least six floors but somehow she suspected there were more.
Jordanna was jerked back into reality when she felt the small boat hit the edge of the shore. She and the others hastily climbed out of the boat and waited for the others to arrive as well.
“Now follow me,” Hagrid called out to the crowd once everyone had exited their boats. All of the first years followed him at a quick pace, having to take one or two large strides whereas Hagrid only took one. Within just a minute or two, Hagrid had thrown open the castle’s doors and stepped into the entrance hall. A slightly aging woman stood on the other side of the hall in front of two large oak wooden doors, waiting to greet Hagrid and the group of first years.
She had black hair that was pulled into a tight bun which sat on the top of her head and wore a long, billowing purple cloak over her shoulders. In her arms she had a scroll of parchment and a floppy black hat.
“’Ere yer are, Professor McGonagall,” Hagrid said in his booming voice.
“Thank you, Hagrid,” the woman named Professor McGonagall said. She pursed her lips slightly and watched as Hagrid disappeared around the corner.
“Through these doors,” McGonagall began once Hagrid had completely disappeared, “you will be sorted into one of the four houses in front of the rest of your peers and future teachers. The houses are as follows: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Immediately after the sorting ceremony, the feast will commence.” She turned around and faced the doors. “Now follow me.”
Professor McGonagall took one step towards the oak doors which opened immediately with her movement and presence. Jordanna’s eyes widened as she looked around the large hall as they entered. On both sides of her and the other first years sat two long tables which Jordanna suspected were the tables that sat students from each house. And at the front of the hall, behind a three-legged stool in which a ragged looking hat sat on, was another long table. Due to the elderly witches and wizards sitting there, Jordanna guess that it was reserved for the staff.
The entire hall was quiet and quite nerve-wracking as all of the older students stared at the young first years entering the Great Hall.
“Look at the ceiling,” whispered someone from behind Jordanna. All of the first years looked up and some even gasped. The ceiling was completely transparent. It showed the dark and starry sky outside and the clouds which hastily covered a half-moon right above the castle. They continued to murmur until a cough echoed through the hall.
The entire hall was quiet once again and Jordanna looked around to see if she was missing something. Wasn’t the ceremony supposed to start? At that precise moment, the hat which sat on the stool broke out into song, startling Jordanna slightly.
“A thousand years or more ago,
When I was just first founded-”
Jordanna broke her gaze with the singing hat, for she had become distracted with the looks of the other students in the hall. They all looked happy to be there; some, she noticed, weren’t even paying attention to the bad singing of a rugged hat, whereas others seemed quite intrigued. Jordanna didn’t understand what was so special about the hat … it was only singing, after all.
The hall suddenly broke out into cheer, and Jordanna turned around, noticing that the hat had finished singing. From beside her another first year squeaked excitedly, “It’s even better than Hogwarts: A History claims!”
McGonagall stepped forward up onto a small platform where the stool stood. She cleared her throat and silence fell. “Now when I call your name,” she began, “proceed forward and you will be sorted into the appropriate house.” She unrolled the piece of long parchment she had been holding earlier and cleared her throat.
“Benton, Jordanna.”
Jordanna silently cursed. Stupid alphabet, she thought angrily. She slowly made her way over to the small platform, stepping up and taking another step forward to sit on the stool. She stared at her feet as the Sorting Hat was placed on her head; she could feel the eyes of everyone, particularly Elena, Narcissa and Lucius burning into her.
“Ahh, Miss Benton,” a voice said in the back of her head. “The last one I believe?”
Jordanna looked around the Great Hall, slightly confused as to where the voice was coming from. “Er yes?” she thought slowly, taking a whim of a guess at its source.
“Excellent,” the voice seemed to be contemplating, “Excellent; your mother, Miss Benton, was the infamous Seer if I remember correctly?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, she was a smart one.”
Jordanna frowned. “Then if she was so smart, why was she in-”
“In Hufflepuff?” the voice asked, completing Jordanna’s thought. “That, Miss Benton, is for me to know, and for you to find out.” There was a pause. “Now tell me, which house do you want to be placed into?”
“Slytherin, of course,” Jordanna thought confidently.
“But for all of the wrong reasons.”
Jordanna raised an eyebrow, which thankfully was covered by the overly large hat which seemed to fall past her nose. “What-?”
“I can see into the back of your mind, young Benton,” the voice said, cutting Jordanna’s thought off. “And the reason you wish to be placed in Slytherin is not a reason I whole-heartedly agree with.” There was a rather long pause, in which the hat seemed to be thinking which left Jordanna slightly speechless, comprehending what the hat had just said. “That is why I shall place you in the house I feel is best suited to you, RAVENCLAW!”
Jordanna closed her eyes in disappointment as a table somewhere in front of her began clapping and cheering. The Sorting Hat was removed from her head and shamefully, Jordanna walked through the crowd of first years to the Ravenclaw table. She sat beside a small blonde-haired girl, a second year, Jordanna suspected, who greeted her with a smile.
The rest of the ceremony went by slowly for Jordanna. She examined her fork the entire time and ate as little as possible during the feast. When it was time to go to bed, Jordanna tried looking for Elena Parkinson (who was placed into Slytherin the moment the hat touched her head), but was ushered off by the Ravenclaw Prefect up to Ravenclaw tower.
Jordanna had had a very hard time falling asleep that night. She kept thinking of the Sorting Hat and the other Slytherins, and even dreamt about attending a ceremony in which Elena married the famous Salazar Slytherin in the dungeons of Hogwarts. However she was woken abruptly by a snore from one of the girls in her dorm.
The next morning after getting dressed, Jordanna headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She ate alone and was somewhat depressed; however her mood was brightened slightly when the Heads of Houses passed out the timetables to each student. She noticed that the first year Ravenclaws had at least one class a day with the first year Slytherins. That would mean she would see Elena, Adrienne and Evan daily - she somehow hoped that that would be a good thing.
Jordanna looked around the Great Hall and spotted Elena sitting at the Slytherin table with the same people she had been with last night, plus a few extra unfamiliar faces. Jordanna looked down at her time table again, and then thought of her mum.
“Promise me you’ll do whatever “ it “ takes-”
She made her decision. Jordanna stood up and walked around the edge of the Ravenclaw table, and made her way over to the Slytherins. She stopped short and the others looked up in surprise.
“Well, well,” Elena said, raising her eyebrow and smirking. “What do you want, Benton?”
“Look, Parkinson,” Jordanna said, sitting down across from her and putting her elbows on top of the table to lean on. “That Sorting Hat … it’s bogus …”
“Yeah?” Elena challenged, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Jordanna nodded. “Yeah. Look, I belong in Slytherin …”
From beside Elena, Narcissa put down her goblet and asked, “How can we be so sure?”
Jordanna took a look around the Great Hall nervously and then dropped her voice to a whisper. “You know this so called war that’s on the brink of starting?”
The nearest students around her immediately stopped what they were doing and all exchanged a glance. Lucius narrowed his eyes, as did Andrew, and the two met the others’ eyes.
“How d’you know about-” Narcissa began, but was cut off by Jordanna.
“The war?” she supplied. The others nodded suspiciously. “Well, wouldn’t a real pure-blood know about that?” She specifically looked at Adrienne as she said it, whose face seemed blank.
“Who’re you working for?” Lucius finally asked.
Jordanna let out a laugh. “Oh please; my mother is a retired Healer and my dad is a Muggle coffee shop owner. I highly doubt two old folk who are socially incapable when it comes to wizards and the wizarding world would know about a war …”
At least she was partially telling the truth.
“Then how do you-?”
“Look,” she cut him off. “You wanted to know why I deserve to be a Slytherin.” She lowered her voice again. “This so called ‘war’ and the mastermind behind it … the Dark Lord as they call him, I believe, well let’s just say I think he has the right idea when it comes to blood and purity.”
A few spots down a boy with a long, crooked nose and slightly greasy hair stopped short of putting his fork into his mouth, and lowered it slightly, but Jordanna paid no attention to him. Everyone exchanged glances again and Lucius folded his arms in deliberation. From beside him, Narcissa caught a glance at everyone around them at the table and then turned to Jordanna, her face still quite expressionless.
“You know what, Elena?” she began, turning to the young girl beside her. “She’s got potential.”
Jordanna raised her eyebrows in surprise, but quickly recovered and lowered them. She hadn’t excepted them to give in so easily; she had at least four other excuses to argue with, but she smiled to herself as she threw them into the trash inside of her mind, thankful that she no longer needed them.
“Plus,” Jordanna said quietly, “You know what they say about Ravenclaws - we’re smart. Trust me; if you ever need help with anything, I’m sure I’d be able to pull it off.”
Lucius unfolded his arms and sighed. “You’re interesting, Benton, I’ll admit that. You seem like you’re on the right track. Plus one more pure-blood we can save is an advantage for saving the wizarding world.”
Jordanna grinned mischievously. “Trust me,” she said, “you won’t regret it.”
Elena nodded. “You better hope so. Listen, Jordanna, this is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You can be a Slytherin-”
“However not officially,” Jordanna said quietly.
“Exactly. You can be one of us, however one screw up…” Elena made the actions and noise of cutting her neck with a knife.
“You’re out.” Narcissa finished.
Jordanna grinned again and leaned back, whispering, “Excellent.”
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