The Dark Lord's Daughter (Book 1): Song Bird

The Sorting Hat

"It's not real, the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." I can barely hear Hermione say to another girl who was looking up in awe at the ceiling.
"All right, will you wait along here, please? Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbldedore would like to say a few words."
An elderly man with a long white beard and twinkly blue eyes stands slowly. My head suddenly bursts with pain as he meets my eyes for just half a second before contiuing to scan the crowd.
"Ugh." I feel sick, my stomach is in knots and my head is swimming and I see that very same eye peering down at me, like I'm a doll I used to tuck into a box when I pretended it was naughty.
"Notte- blimey- are you okay?" Ron choked quietly holding onto to me as I swayed in
place.
"Y-yeah I'm fine Ron- promise." I see a patch of red haired boys at a table not to far from us and I straighten and put on as normal of a face that I can manage and wave.
"Notte do you need to sit down?" I blushed when I realized Harry had seen me nearly faint out of the blue. My cool calm facade was breaking and I could only think it was his fault.
"Yeah- brilliant"
"I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch" he motions to a middle-aged man with thinning hair that was holding an evil looking cat in his hands
"Has asked me to remind you that the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you." The first years quietly gave each other panicky looks and whispered to each other wondering what could possibly be on the third floor.
"When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses." Professor McGonagall paused and pursed her lips.
"Hermione Granger."
"Oh, no. Okay, relax." She goes up to the little stool next to the Professor.
"Mental that one, I'm telling you." Ron said to Harry before I could give him a quick smack on the arm.
"I rather liked her, she was smart- unlike you." Ron gapes at me and pretends to be offended.
Harry nods in agreement, not really paying attention to what we were saying.
McGonagall places the old floppy hat on Hermione's bushy hair.
"Ah, right. then...hmm...right." Okay...Gryffindor!!" Yells out the sorting hat.
The Gryffindor table bursts into cheers, Hermione jumps off with a smile.
"Draco Malfoy." Draco saunters up proudly. The tattered hat doesn't touch a hair on his head before it shouts out,
"SLYTHERIN!"
"There isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasnt in Slytherin." Ron muttered towards Harry who looked pale at the thought.
"Susan Bones." A small redheaded girl goes up.
I see Harry look around and meet eyes with a greasy haired man at the head table, possibly a proffesor.
"Ahh!" Harry holds his fore head and hisses.
"Harry, what is it?" I ask him wondering if the man could have done this to Harry and stepped so the man couldn't see Harry any longer. He met eyes with me and his face briefly contorted to disgust-hate and back to watching the rest of the first years being sorted.
"Nothing...it's nothing, I'm fine." I look back at Harry who seems to compose himself a bit but doesn't look at me.
" Let's see...I know...Hufflepuff!"
"Ronald Weasley." Ron pales and glances at me, I pish him forward. He walks slowly up the stairs and lets Professor McGonagall set the hat on him.
" Ah! Another Weasley. I know just where to put you...Gryffindor!!" Ron lets out a relieved sigh and rushes to our brothers who are cheering like absolute maniacs.
"Notte Weasley."
I breathe deep and walk steadily up the stairs and sit on the stool.
"Weasley- no I don't think you are dear... powerful yes... hmm memories you can't see, I see. Do you know who you truely are dear?"
"No."
"Do you want to? I can tell you now..."
"Yes."
McGonagall swept the hat off of my head and brought it to the headmasters table and the whole of the school watched silently as she placed the hat in front of Dumbledore.
"I guess I broke it?" The twins roared in laughter. Their laughing echoed off the walls for a few moments, the rest of the school seemed eerily quiet.
"She broke it, I knew she was too dumb to get in!" The twins wiped away tears as McGonagall finally placed the hat back on my head.
"Very well... where do you want to go then Miss Weasley?"
I guess I couldn't know yet.
"With my family."
"Which one?" McGonagall gave a cold glare to the hat.
"Gryffindor."
"Then let it be....GRYFFINDOR!"
My brothers and the rest of the table exploded and cheered until I was finally sitting next to my brothers and Hermione. McGonagall gave our group a tight lipped smile.
"Harry Potter."
Silence, you could feel the anticipation in every student, every teacher in the Great Hall.  He gulps and takes his seat on the stool. The hat goes on his head.
"Hmm...difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage I see, not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh yes, and a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you?"
Harry mumbles something to the hat, its so quiet you can almost hear him.
"Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know. Its all here in your head. And Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness! There's no doubt about that! No?Well, if youre sure...better be...GRYFFINDOR!!"
The Hall errupts in cheers, the head table full of teachers even broke into applause. The man with greasey hair and the slytherins gave half heartened claps. Harry sits next to me and gives me a relieved grin- and I know exactly what he feels. Relief that he actually got sorted into a house, it must be surreal for him to be here. Compared to his muggle family's house.
"We got Potter! We got Potter!" My twin brothers are cheering like maniacs more excited than they were for even Ron and I to be sorted.
"Your attention, please." McGonagall elegantly dinged a cup. Dumbledore stood slowly and spread his arms out to us.
"Let the feast...begin."
The tables fill with scrumptious looking food. Turkeys and sausages, mashed potatoes and brightly colored vegetables, I realized how famished I was.
"Wow." Harry breathed his eyes wide and I start digging in.
"I couldn't have put it better Harry!" I take a huge bite of potatoes and grin at my new two friends and my brothers. Ron just keeps stuffing his face, Hermione gives me a nervous smile and Harry makes eye contact with me again. A chill goes down my spine- and I have no idea what it means.