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ᏟᎻᎪᏢᎢᎬᎡ ᎢᏔᎾ
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     It felt childish and dumb for Valentina to be doing this. She was surrounded by first years blabbering about what their house would be. Professor Grubbly-Plank had been quite peeved that Valentina didn't arrive with the other first years. It was embarrassing when the professor had to track her down and place her amongst them. Their voices filled her head and she could feel thoughts seep with anxiety. Val wasn't really sure what she wanted to be in. Her mother never talked of her own time in Hogwarts. Isadora was a woman of shame. She hated what she did at Hogwarts and after it as well. Val knew that was the reason they hadn't returned to England until now. She gathered from their incoherent thoughts what seemed to be the worst house to be in for some but the best for others. It was split down the middle, Slytherin house was thought of with both pride and disgust. None of the other houses were this infamous and respected at the same time.

     "What is she doing here?" Murmurs and confusion followed the comment from the tiny blond boy with a chipped tooth.

     First years really were quite thick, Valentina thought to herself. Everyone's head turned to the girl who was only about three years older, but those years mattered significantly. Here were prepubescent children judging Valentina. She wasn't that much taller than much but there were very obvious differences between her and the group.

     "I'm here for the sorting hat. What are you lot mumbling on about." She glared at the eleven-year-olds.

     A silence fell upon them when a lady dressed in purple and black robes strode over to the giggles and hushed voices belonging to the students. Her stone face did not even twitch at the sensation of a smile as she looked out onto the first years, well and the fourth year. Valentina smiled at her. The seriousness made her feel like she was a disappointment in the professor's eyes.

     "We're ready for you. Follow me." She paraded down hallways and doorways that wound around for ages. They reached the towering doors of the Great Hall and meandered down the rows of other students. Val brushed up against someone's shoulder and whispered an apology. The boy glared at her and an image of pale thin hair and green robes materialised. It almost looked as if he was going to hiss at her. He was going to lunge with poisoned fangs and slithered tongue. Ophelia stumbled into the crowd of first years and her lungs squeezed themselves inwards, suppressing her breathing. A brunette sneered down, well up, at Valentina.

     "Watch where you're going." Her voice was laced with venom.

     Valentina mumbled what felt like the hundredth apology that night. The professor that led them down to the Great Hall walked up a short flight of stairs. She stood by an ordinary wooden stool and a worn wizard hat that sat upon it. The rip near the hat's brim opened and the hat burst into song. The ominous song, which spoke of the houses and the necessity of their unification, put Valentina on edge. She knew something bad was coming. She could feel the hair on her neck stand straight up after its warning.

     "Abercrombie, Euan." Her head swivelled into the direction of the professor by the stool.

     The boy stumbled up to the stool and trembled when the hat was placed on his head. The sorting hat paused for a moment before bellowing, "GRYFFINDOR!"

     Valentina's eyes followed the now grinning boy as his house welcomed him with applause. Once sat down, her eyes detached from the victorious scene to her cousin. He sat by Hermione, Ron, and Harry, whom she met earlier on the train to Hogwarts. They all seemed like interesting people and she wished to be in Gryffindor with them if only to stay close with that group. The professor finished with the A's and next up were the last names starting with B. Beads of sweat slid across her forehead and collected within her clenched fists.

     "Badger, Isla." The sorting hat immediately followed with, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

     "Belrose, Valentina." Everyone's eyes stuck to the transfer student's figure as she slowly walked to the hat.

     Her foot skipped a step on the way to the stool but her body caught herself in time. She looked out across the group of black robes with their different colours and landed on the red crowd. Her cousin was looking straight at her. His eyes slightly crinkled at her and his tight lips tugged up into a small smile. She smiled back with the slightest grin and plopped down on the stool. Valentina remembered one picture of her mother in black robes with yellow accents. Her mother looked so distraught that day, not even smiling into the picture. Maybe she would end up a Hufflepuff like her. The voices of everyone's minds had not bothered her until now. They all looked at her as if her head would transfigure into an elephant's or she would burn the castle down. She picked up pieces and images: feelings. 'What's a git like her doing at Hogwarts', 'She was too idiotic she was held back three or four years' . She shut them out and was comforted by the deafening silence that fell around her. The hat plopped onto her brunette hair and instantly mumbled.

     "Hmm. A Legilimens. How refreshing. A good mind at that too. I can feel you want more though. You wish to be great, the best of your age. A nice thirst to prove yourself I see."

     "Is Slytherin really that evil?" She thought.

     "There were plenty of great wizards who came from Slytherin. Merlin was the greatest of them all. He was in Slytherin." The hat paused for a moment, and if it could it would be scratching its chin. "Very astute as well I see. You desire the brightest mind. But the lengths you would go to get it. Cribbing spells in muggle schools?"

     "SLYTHERIN!" Neville's face fell from across the room.

     There was scattered applause amongst the houses. Valentina beamed at the green robes as they cheered the loudest for her. Their fists pounded against the wooden tables, reverberating into her chest and echoing the beat in her heart. The red, yellow, and blue robes curled their lips at the Slytherin table and the girl who stumbled her way there. Her heart almost escaped her chest and a girl welcomed her in a hug.

     "I'm Astoria Greengrass. Third-year." She took Valentina's hand and shook. "This is my sister Daphne. Come. Sit."

     The girl patted the hard bench next to her. A silence fell over the room again as Professor McGonagall, whose name she learnt from Astoria, glared at the obnoxious babblers. The rest of the sorting ceremony went quickly for Valentina and her anxieties lessened. The names mixed together into one big ball of mindless drivel.

     The sorting ceremony finished with "Zeller, Rose" who was sorted into Hufflepuff. Professor McGonagall plucked the hat off from the stool and picked the stool up soon after. She marched the objects away and Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet. The headmaster wore deep-purple robes scattered with silvery stars and a hat that matched his ensemble. Valentina imagined the food that soon would appear on her plate and her stomach grumbled in response. The old man demanded everyone's attention.

     "To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands — welcome back! There is time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

     Valentina sighed with relief and kept in laughter as her new headmaster flipped his beard over his shoulder to eat. Food appeared on the tables. The five long tables creaked under the weight of pies, vegetables, bread, sauces, and flagons of pumpkin juice. Valentina could not suppress the grin that crawled all the way up to her ears. This was definitely better than any public or homeschooling in America.

     "So how did you possibly transfer to Hogwarts? Just like that?" A pug-faced brunette glowered down at Valentina.

     Valentina gulped down the roasted beef that she shovelled in her mouth moments before. "Sorry I didn't catch your name. I'm Valentina Belrose, and you are?" Her eyebrow quirked up at her final words.

     "Pansy Parkinson. I'm a prefect for Slytherin actually so if you don't wish your life to be a living hell I suggest you lose the attitude."

     "Sorry, mum," Valentina whispered under her breath but raised her voice for the rest of her conversation. "I'm terribly sorry. Just nervous you see, could you imagine being a first-year again and not only that but a fourth-year in that position."

     "Oh, I'm so terribly sorry. Poor Belrose." Pansy put an end to their conversation and leaned over to Astoria's sister, Daphne Greengrass.

     "Don't worry, most Slytherins are rude to the other houses. They'll get over you eventually. I had to endure their tormenting my first year but it's sort of an initiation to go through it." Astoria reached over for some pie. "Anyway, how did you get into Hogwarts?"

     "Dunno. I was just being homeschooled in the U.S. and a letter was sent to me. You guys must desperately need students if you're willing to have a British girl turned American here."

     "I wonder, Dumbledore and Potter are apparently loony now. They think that You Know Who's come back but the Daily Prophet says otherwise."

     "Isn't Potter the only one to survive Voldemort." Astoria cringed at the name. "I think I sat on the train with him and my cousin." Valentina scooped some peas into her open mouth.

     "Oh, that's bad news. Stay away from him and his friends."

     "Oh." Valentina looked over to see her cousin happily chatting amongst the people Astoria advised strictly to stay away from.

     Valentina plopped her fork unceremoniously onto her empty plate and looked back over to Neville. He looked back at her too and offered a half-hearted smile. He quickly turned his back towards her and Valentina could only see a blond head. The commotion of the feast settled down and Professor Dumbledore rose and extended his arms to quiet the remaining conversations. He gave his speech and was rudely interrupted by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Umbridge. Valentina clenched her fists. She wanted to punch that woman in her toad face.

     "I'm sure we'll be very good friends my arse," Valentina whispered to Astoria.

     Astoria snickered in response. Umbridge continued her little propaganda speech and everyone in the Great Hall seemed to have rolled their eyes so far up their sockets that they were seeing their own brains. Valentina looked over to see Daphne and Pansy's heads laying on the table. She suppressed her giggles at the snores of Pansy. They belonged to a grounded walrus with respiratory issues, most likely asthma or bronchitis. Umbridge sat down. Dumbledore and the staff clapped unwillingly as well as some other students. The students were dismissed shortly after which caused Pansy and Daphne to jolt awake.

     "Damn. I must've fallen asleep that was terribly boring." Pansy projected her voice across to Daphne and Astoria. "Well, it looks like I have to deal with these bloody first years. Does that include you too, Belrose?"

     "I think I'll just talk to Dumbledore, thank you."

     Any time she could use to avoid Parkinson, the better. She pushed against the crowds of dumbfounded first years and other years who clearly knew what they were doing. Against the crowd, in the tiny space between the tables, Valentina was a salmon swimming upstream. The crowds died down as she reached the staff table. She freely walked the few steps towards Dumbledore.

     "Professor Dumbledore!" Valentina yelled you gain his attention. "Professor Dumbledore, I know it's peculiar of me to ask at the moment, but seeing as I'm not technically a first year I was wondering where to go."

     "Nonsense, shouldn't your gifts as a Legilimens help aide you in that."

     Valentina's eyes shot straight open at his comment. No one, except for Dumbledore and her mother, knew what she was.

     "You see, I don't want to use it, and I'd rather not let anyone else know." She hinted.

     "Very well, Professor Snape will help you in your endeavours, seeing as all the prefects and head boy and girl have vanished. You will find in time, that your gift is very valuable in times like these." Dumbledore smiles down at the fourth year.

     "Come with me, Miss Belrose." A man with greasy hair and a very large nose sneered at Valentina.

     She followed him through the corridors and down to the dungeons. Many students stared at the pair as they made their way. Snape offered no small talk on their walk and neither did Valentina. This caused an awkward silence to stretch between the two. Valentina chewed around the skin surrounding her fingernails.

     "So the weather-"

      "Don't even try it." Snape paused after every word. "Here we are, Miss Belrose. I hope you find your arrangements... accommodating. I will be expecting your presence every now and again for a certain boy to practice Occlumency. That is very well why you came to Hogwarts, is it not?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you for your help." Valentina wanted to curtesy out of spite.

     Once she entered the Slytherin common room, a prefect pointed her to the fourth year dormitories and she was on her way. She was so tired she did not even notice the giant squid staring into the common room from the lake. She so desperately wanted to be in Gryffindor with all the friends she had met on the train and her cousin. That seemed impossible now. They thought she was tainted with evil now in Slytherin. Was her legilimency the only reason she got into a prestigious school like Hogwarts, she thought.

Oof writing characterisation for characters that aren't my own oof. I'm sorry Dumbledore and Snape.