After her failed sorting, Hermione was met with hushed silence that soon formed into small whispers that speculated what this could mean. She barely registered anything as Professor McGonagall ushered her away to a corner next to the high table where all the teachers sat, each one of them showing creased foreheads and worried expressions. Professor Dumbledore himself seemed dumbfounded and his eyes followed her figure and lingered for a few seconds before he cleared his throat.

"Let us continue the sorting!"

Professor McGonagall stood frozen for a moment before nodding vigorously. "Yes, of course." She shot Hermione a sharp look before rushing back to her original position as if nothing had happened.

"Longbottom, Neville!"

Hermione watched numbly as he rushed to the stool awkwardly, before promptly falling. She was too confused to even laugh as he picked himself up and jammed the sorting hat on his head. It waited for a long time, and Hermione half-wished that he too, was undecided. That would certainly make her feel less alone, and maybe, it was a common thing to happen! She held that hope, but then the sorting hat shouted out the verdict, "GRYFFINDOR", and she fell into despair again.

Hermione felt nothing as the sorting pulled on and didn't even crack a smile when Neville stumbled to the Gryffindor table with the hat still slipping over his forehead when he had to run back amongst peals of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Isobel," who was ruled a Ravenclaw. Hermione felt a pang of jealousy as she watched both the students warmly welcome into their respective houses.

She pinched her arm hard, hoping it was all a dream. The fading pink mark on her otherwise unblemished skin and the sharp pain proved otherwise. Tears pricked her eyes as she watched her hopes disappear into thin air.

"Malfoy, Draco" was next and Hermione watched, almost numbly as he was declared a Slytherin. He proudly joined the Slytherin table on the far right, but Hermione thought she saw a slight glimmer of sad acceptance as if he was almost wishing for something else.

Everyone else passed by quickly as if Hermione's mind wanted nothing more than the whole ordeal to be over.

"Malone, Roger" and "Moon, Lily" were Hufflepuff. A few more students passed, including two twins named "Patil, Padma" and "Patil, Parvati" who were respectively Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. At "Potter, Harry" the cheers were the loudest as he was sorted into Gryffindor.

After that, Hermione's senses blurred out, only sharpening at "Weasley, Ron" and "Nott, Theo"  with "Zabini, Blaise" who were Gryffindor and Slytherin twice respectively.

Blaise was the last student to be sorted and soon the room fell into silence. Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He snapped his fingers and Hermione looked in awe as the gold plates situated in front of each student on the long tables were suddenly filled with food of countless varieties. Suddenly, her stomach growled in protest and she rubbed it, wishing more than ever she was part of the students and a feeble part of her even hoped that she would be given some to eat before being sent home.

Sent home. Hermione hadn't even thought of that and suddenly her appetite disappeared. What would her parents think? She would become a laughingstock. An image of Justin laughing as he told his new classmates about her infiltrated her head and she suddenly felt sick.

"Hermione, yes?" Hermione looked up to see a professor with greasy black hair and a crooked nose. He had sallow skin and although his height wasn't extremely tall, his bony composure made it seem so. "Follow me."

Hermione stared at his back dumbfounded as he led her to a room off to the side, his black cape swishing with every step. She glanced back to have one final look at the students, some of which were talking to ghosts and the others devouring the dessert plates.

As the door shut, she took a deep breath and looked ahead. They were in a brightly lit room that made her head pound, and to her surprise, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid were also there along with Professor Dumbledore.

She stared at them, trying to figure out if they had just teleported or if she was too much in her head to notice, but before she could even think it through, Professor Dumbledore spoke up first, eyes piercing through her. "As matters have it, there's a bit of an issue with which house you belong in, and the truth is, this has never quite happened before, so we are all on standby for what should be done next."

Hermione gulped. "Am I going to be expelled?" The irony. Miss star-student being expelled from school before even learning anything.

Professor Dumbledore let out a laugh. "That is out of the question. The radar that detects wizards and witches went out of its way to prove that you will be an extraordinary witch." Hermione blinked at the statement that sounded so similar to Ollivander's. "It would be too dangerous to let you back into muggles without teaching proper control over your powers and Hogwarts is simply the best school for you to join at the moment. It's too late to change that and it is our duty as teachers to help all students grow, which is not something we'd achieve if we had to leave you go." Hermione didn't like the sound of that. It was almost as if he was implying that they would let her go if they could.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, her voice barely more than a murmur.

"Well of course, since the sorting hat couldn't decide, you have to. So please do tell me, which house do you wish to be in?" Hermione noticed he didn't quite answer her question.

"I-" Hermione hesitated. There were only 3 options since she was not going to join Hufflepuff since Justin was there. Ravenclaw would be the best option but she only knew people from Gryffindor and Slytherin, even if they were all very rude. "I don't know."

"If I may speak," the hook-nosed teacher said. "I believe she will be very good in Slytherin."

"Oh don't be silly Snape," the stout woman said. Her kind eyes looked at Hermione warmly. "Your students will eat the poor girl up, even more so considering her lineage. At least in Hufflepuff, the students will welcome her with no bullying because of this mishap."

"In that case, Professor Stout," Professor McGonagall pointed out, "she will be better accustomed in Gryffindor, where I know she has already met a few comrades."

"Well, she will certainly flourish in Ravenclaw. The spells cast on the train were immaculate and she needs better harnessing of her skills," the short man huffed.

Professor Snape shook his head, with an exasperated expression. "Flitwick, you once again fail to understand that your students can be even sharper with their words."

Hermione stared at them all, bewildered. What was going on? And how did Professor Flitwick know of her spells on the train?

"I don't understand," she said hesitantly.

"Our radar can still detect spells, and of course, it detected the ones cast in the train. Due to the circumstances, we had checked it thoroughly and they were perfectly cast, which, considering your non-magical lineage, is even more exemplary," Dumbledore informed her. "So quite naturally, it is even more potent to decide which house you belong in. We were all hoping for the sorting hat to decide, but it seems that it was unreliable in this case."

"So now I have to decide?" Hermione asked, panic filling her lungs. "I'm horrible at making decisions, I-I can't-"

"You won't have to worry too much," Dumbledore cut her off, "about the impacts of the situation you were just put in." He took out what looked like an hourglass on a string out of his pocket. "After all, we can simply just change the past."

Hermione's eyes widened. "A time turner! I read about that in Magical Objects and their Purposes and it was even mentioned in Forbidden Uses of Certain Objects, and I'm sure it's illegal to use, so how did you-?"

Dumbledore smiled. "I think you forget who I am, Miss Granger. I had stored this for I feared a time will come when we would need to use it."

Hermione flushed and nodded.

"As for the house," Dumbledore mused. "It will be too chaotic to decide simply by ourselves, so we'll let something else do it for us." He reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out what looked like a little smooth stone. At his touch, the pale shimmery gray surface turned red and gold. He held it out for Hermione to take. "This stone is the basis for the sorting hat, but considering its size, it isn't something to entrust young children with."

Before Hermione could take it, Professor McGonagall spoke up. "Are you sure about this, Albus? You do know that the founders of Hogwarts had specifically instructed that the stones never be used for students. It is deemed to be a bit inaccurate as well and we don't know if it is the best option, especially considering the circumstances."

Professor Snape grimaced. "Yes, Minerva is right, Professor. As headmaster, you should take into consideration the consequences of this action."

Dumbledore waved it off. "Oh, Minerva and Severus. You both truly do worry a bit too much. I have already discussed it with Flitwick and I'm sure it will be no problem. There's no harm in doing it whatsoever."

Professor Flitwick pushed his glasses higher up his nose. "Yes, but we also discussed the fact that it can be a bit dangerous."

"Dangerous how?" Hermione asked, which made all the adults look at her as if they had nearly forgotten she was still there.

"None of your worries," Dumbledore said brightly before holding out the stone once more for Hermione to take.

Hermione accepted it and was surprised by the texture. Visually, it seemed very hard and rock-like as one would expect, but it was strangely warm to the touch and seemed to grip onto her fingers.

They all watched the surface of the stone, holding their breaths. As they watched, the stone flickered a golden hue, to which Professor McGonagall let out a breath, but then changed into a slightly more yellow color, leading to a bright smile from Professor Sprout. Before Hermione could groan at her stroke of unluckiness, it changed into a very bright blue with bronze trimmings, but before Professor Flitwick could say anything, it finally set into an emerald green hue, silver designs shining at the edges.

Professor Snape stood taller, victorious.

Hermione watched all of this confused. Even if she had cast some rather impressive spells on the train, it did not merit the fact that all the professors seemed to be fighting over her like a pack of stray dogs over the last piece of meat.

They all stared at the rock for one last minute, every one brimming with annoyance at how easily it seemed to change, but this time, it didn't falter.

Headmaster Dumbledore let out a grin, though Hermione thought it looked slightly forced, and took the rock from her shaking hands. "Slytherin," he chuckled. "Well, Mrs. Granger, here is your house."