Star clutched her head, wondering how much more abuse it could take. The person she had run into was a small, pale-haired boy, who was scowling fiercely in her direction. “Watch it, loser!” he snarled, shoving past her and disappearing in the crowds.
“How rude,” Star mumbled to herself as the boy’s head bobbed out of view. She once again gathered herself together and let the crowd take her along, seeing as she had no idea where she was going. A hand suddenly reached out of the crowd and attached to her arm, causing her heart to lurch. But it was only James, with the others right behind him.
“Where are you going?” he scolded. “First years go over there, with Hagrid. Al, you lead the way. I need to find the carriages,” James ended hastily, handing Star’s arm to Albus and disappearing, once again, into the mob of people.
Albus quickly dropped her arm and beckoned for the others to follow him, and soon they were standing in front of a huge man, who was bellowing, “Firs’ years, over here!” Star gaped at the man, for she had never seen anyone so big and scary in her life. She glanced over at the others, but, to her astonishment, they were greeting the giant cheerfully.
“Hullo Hagrid, good summer?” Albus asked, for once no sign of nervousness in his voice. Star gulped, feeling too scared to get past the giant to get to the little boats the others were climbing into. Rose looked back and, seeing Star still standing on the shore, ran back over and grabbed her arm.
“Come on, Hagrid’s nice!” she laughed, dragging Star past the man and into the boat. Despite the others’ assurances, Star still heaved a sigh of relief when they were past Hagrid, and began to move forward in the water.
She sat at the very front of the boat, eyes straining to catch a glimpse of the school up ahead. Star tried her hardest not to blink, but after a few minutes of staring at darkness, she had to close her eyes for several seconds. And when she opened them again, she saw the castle.
Her gasp of wonder was drowned out by all the other first years, who had burst out into excited murmuring as the boats moved closer, allowing them to take in the sparkling beauty of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Star couldn’t help it; her mouth dropped open and her eyes bulged out of her head.
She stayed in this state of dazed awe until they had walked to the castle and through the huge front doors into the Entrance Hall of the monolithic castle. Then a sense of nervousness and not belonging crashed over her, and Star didn’t think she could take another step forward.
Comet, the little dragon still in her pocket, licked her hand comfortingly, but Star was still frozen in place as the other first years moved past her, shoving her out of their way. Someone, she didn’t see who, tugged on her arm, and she stumbled forward, almost falling over on her face. Like Jazz, she thought with a faint sense of amusement. The thought of her guardian, her mother, inspired courage in Star, and she lifted her head and began to walk, shaking off the helping hand in the process.
The first years stopped again, to be greeted by a teacher, who began talking about the four Houses at the school, but Star tuned him out. Well, she didn’t mean to, but the blood roaring in her ears made it hard to hear. She glanced at Albus, who smiled nervously, and Eric, who flashed her a thumbs up and a cheeky grin. Feeling slightly reassured, Star focused on the professor, who was now saying, “Okay first years, follow me into the Great Hall.”
“Whoa,” was all Star could say when she saw the Great Hall. Four tables, stuffed with students. Hundreds of candles floating in the air The ceiling showing the clear sky outside, reflecting the crisp stars and a luminous quarter moon. It was almost too much for Star, who had never seen anything so spectacular before in her life. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were as wide as they could get.
The line of first years stumbled to a stop in front of a small stool. The teacher who had led them in had disappeared for a few seconds, and Star shifted nervously in line. The professor returned, a grubby hat grasped in his hand. He set the hat on the stool, and Star raised an eyebrow in a skeptical expression she had learned from Jazz. She exchanged a glance with Rose, who just shrugged her shoulders. A rip near the brim of the hat opened up…and the hat began to sing.
Star’s jaw dropped again, and she wasn’t the only one. It was a quite catchy tune, and quite a few of the other first years began to chuckle and tap their feet. Star wasn’t one of them; she was still too nervous. After the hat’s song was finished (Star still wasn’t listening to a word it said. She hoped she wouldn’t regret that later.), the first teacher stepped up next to the stool, holding a long scroll of parchment.
“Attention first years!” he said sharply, erasing all small smiles and smaller giggles. “You will come up to the stool, and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head. When it tells you your new House, you will go sit with the other members of that House.” The words were spoken crisply, and were sharp enough to pop the bubble Star felt she had surrounding her and separating her from everything else.
“Arulla, Tom,” the professor called out the first name on the scroll. A small, scrawny boy stumbled his way forward and let the hat fall down over his eyes. After a few seconds, the hat yelled out, “HUFFLEPUFF!” A table covered in yellow and black broke out in applause, and the boy looked relieved.
The professor ran through the names slowly, and even with her anxiety Star began to get bored and drift off. Finally, the professor called out, “Cylene, Estella!” Star scowled for a second, annoyed that he had used her real name. Her new friends looked perplexed at the different name, but she had no choice but to step forward up to the hat.
As she reached the stool, a sudden burst of courage inspired her to say, “It’s Star. Star Cylene,” loudly enough for everyone to hear. Some small titters rang through the students, mostly from the Slytherin table. The others were astounded at the first year’s temerity, the professor included.
He cleared his throat and said pompously, “Er, yes. Star Cylene. Take a seat.” Star took another deep breath, and waited for the velvety darkness of the hat to envelope her. For a few moments, the hat was silent, and Star began to feel ridiculous.
“Hmm, another Cylene. Didn’t expect that,” The hat, if anything, sounded amused. “By adoption though. Ah, I see. Interesting…you are pure of heart, untainted by bias of the Houses. Very unusual.” Star was surprised; she didn’t expect anything like that from the hat. Before she could comment, the hat continued. “Intelligent, but untrained. A better heart than many I’ve seen, I’ll tell you that. You’ll do great things Estella, great things. It is clear where you belong. It has to be…GRYFFINDOR!”
Star felt her face break out in a grin so wide, it felt like her face was splitting in two. She hopped off the stool and ran over to the Gryffindor table, feeling many hands patting her back as she took a seat in between Fred Weasley and a beautiful girl she didn’t know.
As the Sorting continued, the girl offered her a hand. “Hello, I’m Alice Weasley,” she greeted.
After Star introduced herself and the Sorting went on, Star felt brave enough to ask, “Weasley? Are you and Fred and Rose siblings?” She was quite bewildered; it seemed that there were an unnatural amount of Weasleys around. Fred snorted in amusement, and Alice laughed, her voice tinkling pleasantly like chimes.
“No, no. Us Weasleys just have a very large family,” Alice answered in a whisper, leaning her head closer to Star so she could be heard over the Sorting. “My father, Bill Weasley, Fred and Eric’s father, George, and Rose’s father, Ronald, are all siblings. Plus, there’s our other cousin, Sam.” She stretched out her neck and pointed to a very serious looking boy with thick glasses and flaming red hair. “He’s the Headmaster’s son,” Alice said proudly, while Fred rolled his eyes.
“Yes, and he doesn’t let us forget it,” Fred whispered in Star’s other ear, his usually serious eyes twinkling mischievously. Star’s mouth made a little “o” in surprise; she hadn’t even noticed who the Headmaster was, let alone that he was a Weasley.
Curious, she strained her neck to look at the front table, where all the teachers were sitting. In the very center, in a throne-like chair, was a young man, whose face uncannily resembled Sam’s, right down to the horn rimmed glasses. He had his fingers steepled, and had them up to his lips, as if he were deeply contemplating the results of the Sorting. His face looked serious, but also kind, like he could smile and laugh at any moment. Star immediately liked him.
“Look, Malfoy is next,” Fred murmured, startling Star. She returned her attention to the Sorting, and saw the pale boy, whose luggage her head painfully remembered, was at the front of the line.
“Malfoy, Scorpius,” The professor called sharply, and the boy smoothly stepped up to the stool and confidently let the hat slide over his head.
“What’s up with Malfoy?” Star asked curiously, seeing, of all things, hate and disgust in Fred’s face. She looked up and down the Gryffindor table; even Alice had a scowl on her pretty face.
“His grandfather was a notorious Death Eater, and his father was a snarky little ferret,” Fred replied, his voice thick with loathing. Star looked at the boy on the stool again, but despite her experience with him and the others’ words, she couldn’t bring herself to hate somebody she didn’t really know.
“Maybe he’s different,” she whispered with a shrug.
“And maybe I’ll marry the Headmaster,” Fred said with a scoff. Star rolled her eyes, then frowned slightly. Scorpius seemed to be having difficulty with the hat; his hands clenching the stool were white, and his face was twisted in concentration. After a long time, in which everyone grew impatient, the hat finally yelled out, “GRYFFINDOR!”
Deathly silence fell over the Great Hall; if a pin dropped, it would have sounded like thunder. The professor stiffly lifted the hat from Scorpius’s head, revealing his eyes. Star noticed they were full of shock, anger, hate, and, mostly, fear. After a moment, murmuring began to fill the Hall again, and Alice muttered to Fred, “Better hurry with those wedding arrangements; Headmaster Weasley won’t want to wait long.” He was too shocked to reply indignantly.
“Please go sit at your House table, we have other students to Sort,” The professor said gently, though there was shock and confusion in his eyes. Scorpius stood up with great difficulty, and slumped his way over to the Gryffindor table, taking a seat at the very end and immediately burying his head in his hands in shame. Star felt pity twist her heart, but both Fred and Alice looked appalled.
“How’d a Malfoy get into Gryffindor?” Fred spat, not bothering to lower his voice. At a glare from a professor, he blushed and looked down at his hands, murmuring, “Right…I’m a prefect…”
Alice explained to a puzzled-looking Star. “See, every Malfoy, generation after generation, has been in Slytherin. Scorpius’s cousin is in Slytherin now,” Alice nodded towards a dark-looking girl, about sixth year, who currently looked horrified at her cousin’s Sorting. “No Malfoy has ever been considered for another House; it was always a given that they were in Slytherin.”
“Well, things change,” Star murmured. “Things always change.”
The Path of a Star by shooting_star42
Chapter Notes: Okay, here's Chapter 3, up and running! This personally is my favorite chapter so far; I hope ya'll like it too! By this point, I'm flying solo, so reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Chapter Endnotes: :O Who could have predicted that? Well, I hoped you liked it! Maybe enough to leave a nice review...