home (reader at hogwarts)

twenty nine

you were ready and almost visibly shaking when you began to hear the faintest sound of hushed talking. several little voices found their way across the black lake as boats lit up only by lanterns swam across under the quickly darkening winter sky.

a giant man sat in the first boat, with one boat all to himself whilst the children seemed to have grouped up in fours. you can't help but smile at the large man, who you had yet to meet, given that he was not at hogwarts when you arrived.

his boat stopped first and he was first to climb out, almost tipping the boat upside down as he did so.

"ello, professor mcgonagall." he addressed the woman beside you, as you held onto her wise hand with a clammy one of your own.

"thank you, hagrid. i'll take them from here." she told him softly and he grunted a response before stumbling away down a dark side path.

"oh my-" you breath.

there they all were. characters you had thought to be fictional standing right infront of you. the crowd of kids held familiar faces.

a boy with red hair and a splattering of freckles. a girl with hair as large as ever, teeth visibly too large for her shy smile. a boy with blonde hair, slightly smaller than everyone else and looking much more afraid. a boy with dark skin and a smug look on his face, standing beside a pale boy who looked at you as though you smelt bad.

"good evening, everyone. welcome to hogwarts. this is y/n snape, she'll be joining you and your peers in the sorting ceremony shortly. for now, watch your feet on the steps and follow me neatly up to the main entrance."

minerva instructs them with ease, and given her stern look and unshakable stance, the kids don't bother trying to double cross the woman or disobey her. you catch people in the year staring at you, with eyes wide open.

"snape has a daughter?"

you smile.

yes, he does.

the crowd follows you and minerva into the castle again, through the gate and into an echo-y hall that acted sort of as a foyer. not staying there for very long, only stopping to ensure every student had passed through, minerva urges the students to keep pushing forward till eventually yourself and the crowd of first years stood behind the door to the great hall.

you can hear the bustling noise on the other side and it makes your stomach flip. you had never heard so many people in one place at a time.

"behind these doors, is the great hall. when i say so, you will walk through them in single file and await your sorting. whilst you are here at hogwarts, your house will be like your family-"

minerva's eyes glance over the pale boy from before. oh, you know who he is.

"you earn points by following rules, participating in lessons and performing in extra curricular activities. losing points is a consequence of not doing the same or breaking school rules. let us hope we bring good fortune to each of our houses."

minerva's stiff face softens when she glances at you and find you staring right up at her, attentive to every word she says.

"there are four houses..." she continues. "gryffindor, hufflepuff, ravenclaw and-"

"slytherin." the pale boy interrupts.

minerva nods. "slytherin."

"please do your best to neaten yourselves up whilst you wait for me to return."

you follow minerva's gaze and you find that she is glaring at the boy with vicious red hair and a lopsided collar and tie.

standing right beside him- you can't believe it, is harry potter.

"i-" you immediately find an excuse to jump into conversation with them. "i think she was talking to you two."

they laugh and the ginger, ron shakes his head. "it's my short robes and harry's messy hair."

"harry?" you say, feigning surprise. "harry potter?"

the boy with jet black hair grins at you before the pale boy speaks up.

"yes, did you not hear on the train? harry potter has come to hogwarts-"

he looks at you.

"i- i wasn't on the train." you say slowly, wandering how he hadn't clocked that yet.

"oh." he says, "in that case, i'm malfoy by the way. draco malfoy."

the boy next to him, taller and darker in skin smiles handsomely at you and you can't help but smile back. zabini's not a villain yet.

"my name's blaise zabini and this is crabbe and goyle."

two other boys grunt a response and your smile wavers.

"nice to meet you." you mumble.

harry speaks up this time. "how come you were here before us?"

"i arrived with my father, when the teachers arrived to set up for this year."

"snape?" ron says shocked. "all these years i've been hearing about snape, but not one person's ever mentioned a daughter."

"he's been very private with me." you justify, remembering what severus had previously told you to say. "-kept me out the public eye for protection."

"yeah," draco added, a smirk on his face. "he wouldn't want his old friends trying to get in touch with you."

you look at him and know exactly what he's talking about. the people around you, however, don't.

"no." you say, patiently. "i'm not sure any normal person would, unless of course, you want to be in a room full of them."

"have been." draco says. "don't remember it though."

blaise chuckles. "narcissa probably cast a memory charm, your aunt-"

"shut it, blaise." draco nudges him in the arm.

you tilt your head and realise everyone around you is watching the exchange- not understanding the implications behind it in any way.

you glance back at harry. "it's nice to meet you, harry. i'm y/n."

"i know." he smiles. "it's good to meet you too."

the girl with wild hair standing a few feet behind him, glances quickly at you before frowning.

hermione.

you wonder what she was thinking.

then, you feel a small breeze and the sound of muffled chatter and everyone looks up.

pearly white, translucent ghosts of all different frames and faces float above you chattering noisily to each other.

several people in the crowd let out a scream.

"what the-" harry gasped.

a ghost, resembling a fat monk was saying rather piously. "i say we ought to give him a second chance-"

another ghost shakes their head. "my dear friar, haven't we given peeves all the chances he deserves? he gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really a ghost-"

the ghost looks down and spots the crowd.

"i say, what are you all doing here?"

nobody answers and so you speak up. "we're about to get sorted."

"new students!" smiled the fat friar, the monk looking ghost. "oh i do hope to see you in hufflepuff- my old house, you know."

suddenly, minerva is standing close behind you and you feel her hand rest on your shoulder.

"move along now." she says sharply. " we're ready for you."

the ghosts grin at the crowd of new students and a lot of you grin back whilst some scrunch their faces up in confusion as the ghost disappear through a wall.

"follow me."

you all follow minerva and the doors to the great hall open on their own as if hogwarts itself is letting you in.

welcome.