The train ride was crazy for Ginny, from pulling out of King's Cross to arriving in Hogsmeade. It had almost driven her to tears at some points, but she had tried her best to keep control of them. She was a first year; everyone would expect her to cry, but she wanted to prove them wrong.
Right off the bat, she had walked down the train looking for Fred, George, Ron, and Harry, but hadn't found any of them. She had known that she wouldn't be able to find Percy, but she had expected the rest of her family to be nearby. Unfortunately, they weren't in any of the compartments that she checked in. She had gone in both directions as far as she could bear, and had finally given up and sat with a few nice-looking girls who she thought seemed to be first-years as well.
One of the girls had introduced herself as Luna Lovegood, and had been reading a magazine upside down. When Ginny had turned her head to read the title, Luna had said, "Oh, don't you read the Quibbler?"
She had then handed Ginny a magazine identical to her own and scooted over to make room for Ginny to sit. Ginny sat down reluctantly and opened the magazine to the first page. It was very colorful and had a headline that read, Origin of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. "What's a Crumple-Horned Snorkack?" she asked Luna, not looking away from the magazine.
"Oh, it's a fascinating creature," answered Luna. "They live in Sweden, you know."
"Right," said Ginny, dragging out the word. "Sweden."
One of the other girls in the compartment, who had long dark hair and olive-colored skin, had caught her eye then, and made a motion in Luna's direction to indicate that she was crazy. Ginny hadn't joined in on the other girl's thinking, but she did have to admit to herself that the idea of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks was an odd one, especially after seeing the picture in the magazine that went with the article.
The supposed 'Crumple-Horned Snorkack' was a blinding shade of purple, and it had an uncanny resemblance to a pig, except for the fact that it had an enormous horn sticking out of the top of its head. The horn was several feet long, gray, and spiraled, and Ginny was surprised that the pig-like creature wasn't tipped over. It seemed to be very top-heavy, but it was standing firmly on all four feet.
"Um," she started, not wanting to hurt Luna's feelings but wanting to ask her about the strange animal, "is it supposed to be purple?"
"Oh, yes," replied Luna, pointing to a sentence in Ginny's magazine. "You see, it's from all the grapes they eat. Their urine is wonderful wine. . ."
Ginny's eyes widened, shocked at this statement. "Er, okay," she said, as the girls across from them laughed hysterically. "That's . . . um, very interesting."
The rest of the trip was spent in silence, while Ginny pretended to be reading the magazine and the girls who had laughed at Luna gossiped quietly to themselves. Luna seemed unfazed by their behavior, and was content with reading her magazine, occasionally pointing something out to Ginny, who acted as if she cared.
When the lunch trolley came around, Ginny realized that she had forgotten her corned beef sandwiches in the rush to get to King's Cross on time, and had her birthday sweets in her trunk, under all of her clothes. She didn't have any money either, so she wasn't able to get anything for lunch. Luna seemed oblivious to the fact that the trolley was there, but the two gossiping girls bought Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes.
"Would you like one?" asked one of the girls, holding out a cake to Ginny. The girl's brown eyes sparkled with mischief, but Ginny passed it off as Fred and George-like.
"Oh, yes, thank y-" Ginny started, reaching for the cake, but the girl pulled her arm back and cackled with laughter.
"Like we would share with you," she said, exchanging a look with her friend, who was also laughing. "You're a Weasley, aren't you?"
Ginny nodded her answer sadly, and the girl burst out laughing again. "The blood traitor Weasleys? Has to be, right Allie?"
"Definitely," answered the girl named Allie. "Well, we know one pure-blood who won't be in Slytherin!"
This was one of the moments that had almost caused Ginny to cry, but she had bit her lip hard to hold back the tears. She started to taste blood, and let up a bit, allowing her eyes to water. She could pass this off as allergies if need be. She didn't answer Allie, but turned back to her magazine, staring intently at the page entitled, So You Think Your Home Has Nargles.
***
When they finally arrived at Hogwarts, it was already dark outside, and Ginny shivered a little as she stepped out onto the platform. She was greeted by a giant, hairy man who was yelling, "Firs' years over here!"
She walked over to the giant and stood before him. "Hello," he said, leaning down to see her face better. "Are yeh related to Ron?"
"Er," she said, caught off guard, "yes."
"Thought so," he replied, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Name's Hagrid. Could yeh help me get them firs' years over here?"
Ginny turned around, and saw that Hagrid was looking right at the mean girls from her compartment on the train. They were pointing at her and Hagrid, looking specifically at Hagrid and laughing. She turned back to Hagrid and said, "Um, sure."
Gulping, she walked over to the girls, who were watching her approach with sour looks on their faces. "We need to get all of the first-years together," she said, waiting for the awful response she was sure would come.
The girl named Allie glared at Hagrid and replied, "Why should we? Who would want to stand by that oaf anyway?"
"Yeah, he's disgusting," added the other girl, whose name Ginny didn't yet know. "Would it kill him to comb his hair?"
The girls laughed, and Ginny asserted, "Hey! You can't talk about him like that!"
After they had stopped laughing, the girls looked at each other and nodded in agreement, as if they knew what the other was thinking. "Oh, is he a friend of yours? Maybe a cousin?" asked Allie, smiling cruelly.
Infuriated, Ginny felt her face turn red, and was glad that it was dark outside. Then she felt herself become angrier than she had ever felt before, and clenched her fist. The anger bubbled up inside her until she felt like she would explode, and she was about to punch the girls when Hagrid came up behind her. "About ready?" he asked.
"Of course, sir," answered Allie sweetly, smiling at him.
"Well then let's go!" Hagrid turned around and started towards the water, where the boats to the castle were.
Ginny, shocked at how close she had come to violence and at Allie's polite behavior, followed him, wondering why she had suddenly become so mad. She had calmed down quite easily, but the anger she had felt a few moments ago had been so intense, so strong, that it scared her.
What was going on with her?
***
Meanwhile, in Ginny's trunk, Tom Riddle's diary shook as the students' luggage was moved to the school. If it could have smiled, it would have been grinning broadly. The plan was working, just as he had hoped it would when he had created the Horcrux.
The girl had fallen for the bait. She had written in the diary every day that she could, telling him all about the boy. He was staying at her house for the summer, and she was spending a lot of time with him. It was a perfect arrangement, really. Brilliant of Lucius to put the diary in the girl's cauldron. He had picked just the right person.
Such a gullible girl. She trusted him so, told him all of her secrets. He knew about her family problems, her friend problems, even some he would have cared not to hear, such as her dropping her toothbrush in the toilet and what she ate for dinner.
Those were unimportant things. The details he really paid attention to were the ones about the boy. That boy. The boy, who had caused his downfall, defeated him. No, not defeated. He was still alive, was he not? Living through the diary, through the girl.
And he would succeed.
***
The ride across the lake was, for Ginny at least, the most wonderful thing she had ever experienced. She completely forgot about her problems and was enthralled by the beautiful sight of Hogwarts castle. The lights in the windows lit up the night, and the many towers of the castle made for a magnificent silhouette. There was truly only one word that could do it justice:
Magical.
When they arrived at the castle, they walked through the grounds to the giant front doors. Ginny was hypnotized by how tall they were. She found it hard to believe that they opened at all, let alone as smoothly as they did when Hagrid knocked.
A tall witch in scarlet red robes stood behind the doors, which opened immediately. They followed her through a huge entrance hall to a small, unimpressive room. The witch, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, explained to them the different houses and how they were about to be Sorted into the house that was most appropriate for them. Ginny thought Professor McGonagall glanced in her direction when she mentioned Gryffindor, and assumed that she knew she was a Weasley. She left after her speech, and they waited in silence.
Or, near silence.
"Why do they even bother making us wait?" It was the mean girl who Ginny had met on the train but didn't know the name of. She walked over to Ginny, her friend Allie following close behind.
"Do you think they should make us wait?" she asked, flipping her curly blond hair over her shoulder and staring at Ginny pointedly.
"Um," Ginny began, fiddling with her fingers in her nervousness. Most of the people in the room were looking at them. Even Luna Lovegood had marked her place in her magazine to watch. "Maybe it's a tradition."
"Who would have a tradition to wait?" asserted Allie, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know," said Ginny apprehensively. "It could just be something they do."
"Whatever," stated the blond girl. She turned around and walked away again with Allie following her once more. Ginny thought it seemed like the blond girl was in charge and Allie was just tagging along, but what did she know?
Just then, a pair of double doors on the side of the room opened, and Professor McGonagall appeared behind it. "Please form a line and follow me," she said, and waited for them to organize themselves before walking back through the doors.
They were in a wonderful hall now, with what seemed like millions of candles floating in midair over long, huge tables packed with students. There were four tables, which Ginny knew from her brothers were for the four houses. She scanned the tables, seeing Percy, Fred, and George, but not Ron or Harry. She looked up and down the table where she had found her other brothers, but they were nowhere to be found. She saw their friend Hermione, and noticed that she looked just as frantic as Ginny felt. She gave Hermione a small smile, but was unsure as to whether she saw it.
They walked down the hall and finally stopped in a line facing the rest of the students. Ginny gulped, realizing that they would all watch her be Sorted. She was confident that she would be in Gryffindor, but what if she wasn't? What would these people - strangers - think?
Before she grasped what was happening, everyone in the hall was applauding. She looked around and figured out that the Sorting Hat had already sung its song. She had missed it, wrapped up in her own thoughts. Pay attention! she thought to herself.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,"* said Professor McGonagall, who was holding a roll of parchment in one hand and the Sorting Hat in the other.
Ginny felt her heart start to beat faster, and spent the time it took for the professor to call the first few names trying desperately to calm herself down. Before she knew it, Professor McGonagall was saying, "Bishara, Aaliyah."
The olive-skinned girl from the train stepped up to the stool, and Ginny made a mental note to call her by her full name sometime and see how she liked it. What are you thinking? she asked herself, for this was not something she would normally want to do, what with having an unusual name herself. She shook her head clear just in time to hear the Sorting Hat's verdict.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The second table on the right exploded with cheers and applause, and Allie hopped off the stool looking excited about her house.
Once Ginny started paying attention, she was able to enjoy the ceremony more. "Creevey, Colin" entered Gryffindor, and she thought he seemed to be a very hyperactive and irritating person, just by the look of elation on his face. He ran to the table and almost tripped over the bench sitting down, a camera around his neck snapping all the way there.
Luna Lovegood stopped reading her magazine after having her name called twice, and was Sorted into Ravenclaw, to Ginny's surprise. She didn't think Luna seemed to be very intelligent. Luna walked dreamily to her table and sat down lightly. As soon as she was seated, she pulled out her magazine again and paid no attention to the rest of the Sorting.
"Rhodes, Cassidy" was called soon enough, and the blond girl from the train bounced onto the stool happily. She grinned when the Sorting Hat announced that she was the newest member of Slytherin, and she took a seat next to Allie. Ginny was glad that she finally knew her name; maybe it would help her stand up to the mean girl.
Ginny waited for her name to be called, listening politely to everybody else's Sorting, but privately thinking about what house she would be in. She knew she didn't have anything to worry about, but she did anyway. She was sure every other member of her family had felt the same way: what if they were Sorted into the wrong house? Soon, she would get her answer.
"Weasley, Ginevra."
Spellbound by ravenclaw1997
Chapter Notes: I feel compelled to thank my mother for beta'ing, even when she says, "Ooh, you're one of those annoying authors," when she reads my cliffhanger. Thanks, mom. >.<
As far as the Crumple-Horned Snorkack goes, I looked it up on the Lexicon to no avail, so made up my own rendition of it. I blame my mom for its purple-ness.
***
Chapter Endnotes: Thanks for reading!
Roses are red,
violets are blue.
You know what would make me happy?
Review, review, review!