The Grey-eyed Serpent

Chapter 4: The start-of-term feast

The sorting ceremony finished with 10 other 1st years sorted into Ravenclaw. Draco ended up being Slytherin like the two had expected along with other purebloods that Alix recognized to be Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Milicent Bulstrode, and Tracey Davis. Most of them she had met before at the annual yule ball that her aunt Cissa held every year.

The 10 newly sorted Ravenclaws were completely unfamiliar to Alix. Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Padma Patil, Mandy Brocklehurst, Michael Corner, Lisa Turpin, Sue Li, Isobel MacDougal, Stephen Cornfoot, and Oliver Rivers. Alix could only hope that she'd get along with them. All of them greeted her politely and Alix could feel their hesitation which made her wonder why.

Oblivious that she is, Alix didn't realize how intimidating she seemed to others. Her being a pureblood and a Clementine added to her intimidating demeanor. The Clementine name would always spark intimidation whenever and wherever as they were a very powerful and ancient house. Having grown up as a Clementine herself, Alix never realized how others viewed their family because, for her, it was a natural and everyday thing.

Alix took the chance to further observe the great hall. Golden plates, utensils, and cups were placed in front of every student. A huge space was made on her each side, almost as if the students were afraid to get any closer. How would she make friends when her housemates were already afraid of her? Alix sighed, remembering her mother's words. Mina felt her distress and laid her head on top of Alix's left shoulder.

Alix turned around and her familiar nuzzled her. "I'm alright, Mina" Alix reassured her familiar and her housemates gaped at hearing her speak in the Zouwu tongue. The Slytherins', whose table was closest to them also glanced curiously at Alix.

"Liar, I sense your distress. I'm not a pet, I'm your familiar" Mina growled in reply, and if she could she would cross her arms.

Alix sighed, leaning her head to Mina's mane. "Just tired, I wanna sleep immediately after this" she reasoned. Mina purred loudly, her tail delicately swinging back and forth.

"Me too, Alix," Mina said, closing her eyes. The two had a small moment before they were interrupted by someone and if Alix remembered correctly, the boy's name was Anthony Goldstein, a blonde boy with bright blue eyes and curly hair. He sat in front of Alix and a charming smile was plastered on his face.

"Wow, this is the first time I've ever heard a Clementine speak in animal language my whole life" Alix laughed at the boy who was pretending to wipe his non-existent tears.

"For my family, this is just normal," Alix said, a small smile on her lips.

"So, does every single one in your family really have a familiar?" Alix recognized the girl to be Sue Li.

Alix nodded. "Do tell us more! It's not every day we meet a Clementine!" Mandy Brocklehurst spoke, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"What do you want to know?" Alix asked, trying to be as friendly as she could.

"Well, for example, what other familiars does your family have?" Terry Boot said, joining in on asking Alix a bunch of questions.

"Well, my mum has a white tiger, for example, my father has an orange tiger, and my little sister has a Hungarian horntail, although he's still a baby" Alix started and glanced around to see that her fellow housemates were astonished.

"I thought the dragon was just a rumor. I never would have expected it to actually be true" Padma Patil said, the first one to recover from the shock.

Alix giggled at their reactions. "Oh, but my grandmother's familiar is my favorite. Hers is a thunderbird! Her familiar is the most awesome thing I've ever seen, well, with the exception of Mina. And my grandfather had a lion! I used to always play with him when I was a kid" she said, getting carried away with all the talk about familiars.