“Weasley, Ginevra.”
As soon as her name was called, Ginny’s heart started pounding. She could feel it through her chest, and wondered if everybody else could hear it as well as she could. Worried it would pump right out of her chest, she walked slowly towards Professor McGonagall and the stool with the Sorting Hat.
She sat carefully on the stool. It was hard and uncomfortable, and Ginny hoped she would be one of the easy students to Sort. She didn’t want to have to sit there for long. Professor McGonagall put the hat on top of her head, and it sunk down to cover her eyes. She couldn’t see a thing, so she wouldn’t know the other students’ reaction to her house right away.
“Ah.” Ginny heard a voice in her ear, and jumped slightly. She wondered if everybody could hear the voice, or just her. “Oh, it’s just us, my dear. A Weasley, I see. My goodness, are they quite done?” Ginny gripped the stool, trying to control her anger at the hat.
“My, a temper, this one has,” the hat said thoughtfully. “Maybe the tradition shall break this year. . . Imagine, a Weasley in a house other than Gryffindor! Of course, you are also the first female Weasley in generations, are you not?”
Ginny’s heart seemed to skip a beat, and she breathed heavily, trying not to hyperventilate at the thought of not being in Gryffindor. Please, Gryffindor, she started to think, but then she was interrupted with a sudden longing.
Slytherin, she felt herself thinking, and gasped at the thought. Yes, Slytherin.
“Slytherin, you say?” the hat asked, sounding surprised. “Oh yes, I see it now. . . My, what would your mother say?”
Ginny felt the desire for Slytherin fill her up, just like the anger had in Hogsmeade. Like how she had insulted her brothers against her will. Before she could stop the hat, it had announced its verdict. “SLYTHERIN!”
She heard a mixed reaction of gasps and whispering emanate from the crowd, with the occasional clap here and there. Professor McGonagall, who looked at her with a shocked look on her face, took the hat off her head. Ginny was sure her visage showed the same emotion as she slid off the stool and walked slowly over to the Slytherin table. She couldn’t bear to look over at the Gryffindor table and her brothers, fearful of what their expressions would betray. She concentrated her gaze at the floor and sat down uncertainly at the table.
“Well, look who’s here,” said a voice Ginny recognized as the blond girl from the train, Cassidy’s. “Didn’t think we’d be seeing you, did we?”
Ginny didn’t reply, and tried to ignore Cassidy and Allie’s laughing. When food suddenly appeared on her plate, she didn’t flinch and didn’t start eating, but continued staring at the plate, trying her hardest not to cry. What had overcome her that caused her to be placed in Slytherin? She knew that she had teased Fred and George, but was that really bad enough for Slytherin? She hadn’t even had control over herself when she had bothered them! Should that even count?
Most importantly, why didn’t she have control over herself?
***
Ginny spent most of the feast in silence, picking at her food and staring at the floor. How could this have happened? Slytherin? She wasn’t a Slytherin!
She ignored Cassidy and Allie when they made fun of her, and bit back possible retorts. She was thinking about her family, and how she had betrayed them by being Sorted wrongly. Would they be upset with her? She thought of the Sorting Hat’s question: what would her mother think? They probably wouldn’t be mad, right?
The truth was, she didn’t know.
After the feast was over, she walked swiftly with the rest of the Slytherins to the common room, avoiding her family, who she could hear calling after her. She discovered that the Slytherin common room was in the dungeons. The group walked through the corridors until they came to a blank, slightly wet wall. Disgusted, Ginny was caught up in her thoughts and almost missed the password.
“Gaunt,” said the prefect who was guiding the first-years. Ginny wondered what it meant, and the prefect also answered that, almost as though he were reading her mind. “Pure-blood family,” he said as they walked through a newly opened door into the common room.
Their group separated, with each student going his or her own way. There weren’t many people in the common room yet, so it looked hostile and unwelcoming. It was a long and skinny room with hard-looking stone walls and greenish light that made Ginny feel sick. There was a fire burning in the hearth, but it wasn’t a homey one like at the Burrow. Ginny knew the Gryffindor common room was much nicer from her brothers’ descriptions, and wished yet again that she were there instead of in this cold, wet dungeon.
“Boys’ dormitories are on the left, girls’ on the right,” the prefect informed them before sitting down in a tall chair near the fire. He said no more, and Ginny walked towards the stairs on the right, hoping that Cassidy and Allie wouldn’t be turning in for the night for a while.
She was in luck, and the dormitory was empty when she arrived. There were three four-poster beds, covered in green quilts and sheets, which told Ginny that the mean girls from the train were her only roommates. Typical, she thought as she found her trunk and sat down on its accompanying bed. She supposed the bed wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t the same as her bed at home. She couldn’t help but wonder if the Gryffindors’ beds were better.
Looking around the room, Ginny took in the most green she had ever seen in one place in her life. She had just left the common room, so this was no small feat. There were no windows, for the room was underground, but there were green and silver curtains hanging on the wall anyway. Each of the beds was green, and the walls had green and silver stripes. She looked down and saw that even the carpet was green. She felt sick again, and drew the curtains around her bed, hoping to lie down and take a nap. Not to her surprise, the curtains were green as well. She fell back on the bed and buried her head in the pillows, and fell asleep within moments.
***
When Ginny woke up, the first thing she noticed was that the room was filled with the sounds of snoring. She sighed deeply and pulled back the horrid green curtains, looking around for the source of the noise.
She saw that Allie had taken the bed on her left, with Cassidy apparently in the far left bed. Cassidy’s curtains were closed, but Allie had left hers open. Her mouth was hanging open, a trickle of saliva rolling onto the pillow. Ginny could tell that it was Allie snoring as well, and turned away in disgust. She would have to deal with her as a roommate for seven years? She had no idea how she would survive.
Ginny tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t clear her mind enough to drift off. She decided to write in Tom Riddle’s diary to try to get some of her feelings out. She got out of bed quietly, afraid of waking Cassidy and Allie, and knelt on the floor next to her trunk. She rummaged around in the dark feeling for the diary. Luckily, she had almost forgotten it so it was on top of her clothes.
She took the diary and found a bottle of ink and a quill. Then she moved back onto her bed and closed the curtains to muffle the scratching sound of her quill. Finally, she was able to begin writing:
1 September 1992
Dear Tom,
Today was one of the worst days ever. I know I’ve been excited about going to Hogwarts for a really long time, and I’ve probably been bothering you about it, but it isn’t nearly as amazing as I thought it would be.
The train ride was horrible. I had to find a compartment by myself because I couldn’t find Fred, George, Ron or Harry. I still haven’t seen Ron and Harry, and I don’t know where they are! Anyway, I had to sit with three other first-years, and it was a nightmare. The first one, Luna Lovegood, is completely insane. She was trying to tell me about the ‘wonders’ of this thing called a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, which I’m certain doesn’t exist.
Then the other two! Oh, Tom, they really were awful. One of them is Cassidy, and she’s really mean and kept making fun of my family. And Allie is her friend and she seems like her sidekick or something. She was pretty much just agreeing with everything Cassidy said. They made fun of Hagrid, too. He’s a half-giant who’s friends with Ron and Harry. He seems nice, and I didn’t like how Cassidy and Allie were teasing him.
The worst part, though, was the Sorting. I never thought it would happen. I mean, I worried about it, but who doesn’t? I didn’t think I would actually have reason to worry, Tom! I was Sorted into Slytherin! So were Cassidy and Allie! It’s terrible here. Everything’s so green, I feel like I’m going to get sick.
Tom, what do I do?
Ginny
***
Ginny sat on her bed for another half an hour, waiting for Tom to answer her questions. She was confident that he would know what to do, if there was anything she could do. While she waited, she flipped through the pages of the diary, admiring the old quality of the paper. She wasn’t as crazy about books as Percy, but she had to admit that the smell of aged books was wonderful.
Eventually, she had meticulously smelled every page in the diary and opened it again to the page that she had written on. Her writing was gone, but there was nothing in its place. She sighed and lay back on the bed, holding the diary above her head. She thought about the great summer she had had, and it almost wiped the thoughts of the day out of her mind.
Almost.
***
She was standing in the compartment on the train that she had been in earlier. It looked the same, but there was nobody in it except for her. She looked down, and she realized that she wasn’t alone at all. No, there was a strange pig-like animal at her feet, its horn almost poking her in the shin. It was bright purple, and she gasped when she saw that it was going to the bathroom on her feet. Wonderful, she thought.
Suddenly the animal was changing, and Luna Lovegood knelt at her feet. “Oh, hello,” she said happily. “I see you’ve collected some wine.”
Before Ginny could reply, Luna doubled over. When she came back up, it was Allie in her place, laughing and pointing at her wet feet. Then she became Cassidy, who kept repeating, “Would you like one?” while holding out a Cauldron Cake.
Next was Hagrid, who got up off the floor and banged his head on the ceiling, asking her, “Are yeh related to Ron?” repeatedly.
Once Hagrid bent over to make room for his head, he changed into Professor McGonagall, who was holding the Sorting Hat and beckoning her closer. Ginny sat on one of the seats, and the hat fell over her eyes.
When she managed to move the hat so she could see again, she saw that her entire family was flashing before her eyes, one by one saying, “Slytherin?” before changing into someone else. They all had looks of astonishment and disappointment on their faces, ranging from mild shock to flat-out rage. Ginny could hear screaming, and realized it was herself right before her family vanished.
In their place stood a dozen different Harry Potters, with the same angry look on each of their faces. “I can’t believe you’re in Slytherin,” they said together, and Ginny sank back into the seat in shame. The Harrys advanced towards her.
“I thought you were a decent girl,” they said. “One that I liked. However, I was wrong. Who would ever like a Slytherin girl?”
Ginny tried to hold back a sob, but couldn’t, and it came out as a tiny squeak. She felt her eyes watering, and began crying against her will. The Harrys came at her one by one, turning into smoke right before her eyes. When only three were left, she closed her eyes.
***
Suddenly she was back in her dormitory, with Allie and Cassidy standing over her. “Aw, is poor Ginevra sad?” Cassidy asked, wiping a pretend tear from her own cheek.
“Does she want to go home to mummy?” Allie added, her lower lip jutting out in a fake pout.
They cackled with maniacal laughter, and Ginny burrowed her head in her pillow. She yanked the curtains closed and tried not to listen while Allie and Cassidy got back into their beds. She must have woken them up with her nightmare. She was glad they hadn’t gone for a teacher; that would have been humiliating.
At last, the sounds of their glee quieted, and Ginny was sure they were back asleep. Soon enough, the sounds of Allie’s snoring could be heard once more. Ginny picked up Tom Riddle’s diary and opened it one more time to the page that she had written on. The response was only a few sentences long.
Ginny,
There is a good reason for your being placed in Slytherin. Don’t worry, all will end well. You did say you wanted Hogwarts more interesting, after all.
Go to October 17 tomorrow morning. All will be revealed then.
Tom
Spellbound by ravenclaw1997
Chapter Notes: Thanks again to my mom for beta'ing. We were both exhausted this time, so cut us some slack. ;)
Also, please don't Avada Kedavra! me. Please.
***
Chapter Endnotes: Protego!
I still like reviews, but no Unforgivable Curses, comprende?