"𝕺𝖍, 𝕸𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖓!"

𝘼𝘾𝙏 𝙄: 𝙎𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩?

╔══       ❀•°❀ •❀      ══╗
“𝘼𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙜𝙤
𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙
𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩
𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚
𝙖 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜.”
-𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙡 𝘽𝙖𝙧𝙙

╚══      ❀•°❀°•❀      ══╝

The heavy thundering of rain could be heard outside, but that didn't put a damper on the student's moods, the hall inside erupted in cheers at the end of Dumbledore's speech, the first year's sorting had just been finalized, and they were ready to dig into the magical feast that awaited them.

Before the food could appear though Dumbledore cut in with a sudden announcement, "Today we will be accepting another new student into our ranks, they weren't sorted with the first years because they will be joining as a third-year..."

As the words were leaving his mouth outside the hall you could hear the dull taps of flat heels as the aforementioned person walked down the corridor to the big doors leading to the great hall. Just as they came to stand in front of the doors, they swung open, showering them in the bright, golden light of the sea of candles floating in the air.

"Everyone please give a warm welcome to Miss Merletta Lynx-Merlin."

Heads swung back to watch as the hooded figure walked down the aisle, between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, to where the headmaster stood next to the chair that the sorting hat was placed on.

Whispers immediately started flying through the air as friend groups pushed their heads together while keeping their eyes on the person that advanced to the front of the hall.

"Did he say her last name was Merlin?"

"Like The Merlin??"

"If she's a third-year now, why is she joining so late?"

Sentence after sentence was spoken in hushed whispers but they quieted down as the person reached their headmaster, even the staff watched rigidly as they hadn't been informed of this new arrival, well all of them except Minerva who watched the figure with a light smile, returning the short nod she sent her way.

The stranger and Dumbledore both raised their hands meeting with a firm grip in the middle. "Nice to see you again old man," said the girl a soft smile on her face under the hood, "Likewise Merletta, it's good to finally have you here this year." She chuckled at that simultaneously reaching her hand up to throw her hood back finally freeing her face of the shadow the hood cast upon it.

Her brown tresses cascaded down her back as the hood fell onto her shoulders; some students tried leaning back trying to get a glimpse of her face as she was still facing the staff's table. Minerva's smile widened as she laid eyes on the girl's face, she came to where girl stood clasping one of her hands in her own. "Oh, my dear Mel, look at how you've grown," she said softly as she glanced over the more prominent bone structure in her cheeks. "I've missed you dearly, Minnie," the girl replied gently her eyes shining as they met the eyes of woman she thought so highly of.

"Come by my classroom during your break tomorrow so we can have tea and catch up, I'll brew your favorite dear," and with that, she patted the girl's left cheek and returned to her seat at the staff's table.

"Ready to get sorted?" Dumbledore asked with an amused lilt in his voice. "Ready as I'll ever be," she said as she turned to sit on the stool as Dumbledore took the hat into his hands. Everyone watched silently with rapt attention as they all finally got a glimpse of the mysterious girl's appearance. Some people's breath caught as they looked over her alluring features as she sat on the stool and held her hands in her lap. Everyone watched with bated breath as Dumbledore gently lowered the hat onto her head.