Aurora Rosier & the Year of the Snake

The Year of the Snake

It felt like everything was happening in slow motion.

Aurora made her way to the cheering Slytherin table. She glanced around the Great Hall before she lost her vantage point, trying to spot the reactions of her friends. Cedric was applauding with the rest of the school - ever the true Hufflepuff -, but the slack-jawed shock on his face told her exactly how he felt about her sorting. Hermione looked as if she were about to cry. Even Harry, with his minimal knowledge of the wizarding world, seemed confused.

But Aurora felt strangely calm.

A part of her wanted to cause a scene. A large part of her. She wanted to shriek and demand that the hat sort her again and again until it finally sorted her - correctly - into Hufflepuff. She wanted the easy path. She knew that Marius would want to raise all hell the moment he found out that she had failed him and hadn't been good enough to even be recognized as a member of the Fawley legacy. It was to the extreme that Aurora, in the back of her mind, wondered if she would be welcomed home at all that summer.

There was another part of her, however, that was experiencing a moment of clarity. She knew, deep down, that even if she did try to make a scene and be resorted, nothing would change. She heard the hat's laughter echoing in her ears. Although it went against everything she had ever been told since birth, she knew that the Sorting Hat was right. The family legacy she had been molded for had never been her own. She was a Rosier, not a Fawley.

And Aurora Rosier was destined to be brilliant.

So instead, she focused all her energy on getting from the front of the Great Hall to the Slytherin table without tripping. She could come more to terms with being sorted once she was safely sitting down again.

As she approached the table, the eight out Slytherin first-years stared up at her. Draco grinned, motioning for her to sit beside him.

"Scooch, Parkinson," he said, elbowing the girl beside him. It was the other girl Aurora had overheard in the chamber, the one with a black bob. She didn't seem happy about it, but she moved over anyway, giving Aurora a space to squeeze in. "Welcome to Slytherin, Rosier."

Aurora nodded her thanks before turning to face the rest of the sorting. She took a few deep breaths, trying to subdue the pounding that had settled between her eyes after the hat had been lifted.

As "Zabini, Blaise" joined the Slytherins, Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and whisked the Sorting Hat away.

Aurora looked around, unsure of what might happen next; the day had already been so full of surprises. Other students had the same idea, casually continuing conversations they had started before the first years had entered. The golden plates were still empty in front of them, much to Aurora's growling stomach's dismay. The cauldron cake she had eaten on the train seemed like ages ago.

After a few moments, Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet and the hall fell silent at once. He beamed down, his arms opened wide as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all gathered before him.

"Welcome!" he boomed. "Welcome, 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!"

Before anyone could blink, the dishes littering each table were instantly covered in food - eliciting a muttered "Finally." from Pansy Parkinson. Aurora's mouth watered as she examined the selection: roast beef, roast chicken, roast duck, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.