Sophie Pendragon, Year One | Half-Vampire At Hogwarts

Chapter Eight: Wrong Sort

           While eating our snacks, Ron's rat was eating some jelly beans. Ron pet him and Calcifer was uninterested. Ron's rat was rather odd and I could read its emotions as if it was a person.

          "Pathetic, isn't he?" Ron asked.

          "A little," Harry said politely.

          "What's his name?" I asked.

          "Scabbers. He was my brother's but then he got an owl," Ron replied.

          "Is your brother attending too?" I asked.

          "Yeah. I have five older brothers and a younger sister. Percy, Fred, and George are attending with us. My family has all been sorted into Gryffindor?" he answered.

          "Five?!" Harry and I both asked, shocked.

          "What about you?" he asked me directly.

          "My parents are dead. I had six older siblings but they were killed," I said softly and lost my appetite.

          The cabin got quiet and the two boys felt uncomfortable. Harry was sympathetic and nudged me.

           "It's ok. My parents are dead too," he said.

           I smiled weakly and Ron tried to cheer us up, "My brother Fred taught me a spell to change the color of Scabbers's fur. Want to see? He said it would tell him yellow."

          Harry and I both nodded and Ron cleared his throat when he pulled out his wand. Before he could start, a girl with frizzy hair ran to our cabin and opened the door.

          "Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost it," she said.

          We all shook our heads and she insisted on seeing Ron's spell. It didn't work and she insisted that all her spells worked for her. She was overly confident and almost degrading towards us. My appearance caught her off guard and she offered to demonstrate a simple spell for us. She sat across from us and pointed her wand at Harry's face. I instinctively put my hand on my wand in case she was going to try something and Ron noticed.

          "For example, oculus reparo," she casted and cleaned Harry's glasses.

          Harry and Ron were both speechless and she introduced herself as Hermione Granger. Ron introduced himself next and Hermione realized that the boy with glasses was Harry Potter. When she turned to me, I introduced myself as Sophie Pendragon. She didn't recognize my name and excused herself to leave. Before she left, she suggested that we change into our robes. Harry and Ron agreed and excused themselves from the cabin to give me some privacy.

          When I finished changing, I was about to open the door when I felt some tension in the hallways. Tension from someone I also did not want coming to Hogwarts. It was Draco. I could tell he was there with two other boys and they were confronting Harry and Ron. I didn't want them to be outnumbered so I took another tablet before opening the door. Please work.

          "I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," Draco said when I stepped out.

           "Harry, I'm done changing," I said, hoping to interrupt.

          Draco was there with two other boys. All three of them were in their robes. Draco introduced Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle to us and I caught his eye. My chest throbbed and I looked away when we made eye contact. His eyes were gray. He was still unhappy.

          "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. This one," Draco said, looking at Ron now, "I don't need to ask his name. Red hair and a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

          "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry replied and walked into the cabin with Ron to change.

I didn't think this through and was left in the hallway alone with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. Draco told those two to head back without him under his breath but I could hear him clearly. To my surprise, Draco was unhappy, but he was also confused around me.

          "Have we met before?" he asked and stared intensely at me.

          "What do you mean?" I asked, looking away from his gaze.

          "I mean, I think I've seen you before," he said, adjusting his robes.

          "You came into the tailor when I was leaving. We were both in Diagon Alley. You were talking about Quidditch," I replied.

          He was surprised, "That was you? Carrying all those robes?"

          I nodded, also surprised he did notice me. He shuffled a bit and held his hand out to me.

          "Like I said, I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he introduced himself again.

          I took his hand despite making my nose throb, "Sophie Pendragon."

          His grip on my hand tightened, "The vampire family?"

          I turned red with him holding my hand, "Yes. I'm not a full vampire so don't worry."

          He smirked, pulling me a step closer, "You're red. Do you like me?"

          I scoffed and pulled my hand away, "Maybe I will bite you."

          He was amused and pulled my braid, "My father will hear about that if you even try."

          I rolled my eyes at him, "What makes you think we've met before anyways?"

          "Well, silver hair and red eyes are hard to forget. I feel like I might have met you before. Almost like a dream," he said, embarrassed.

          "I look like a monster. I reckon it was a nightmare," I snorted.

          "Monsters are supposed to be ugly. You aren't," he said carelessly.

          I glanced at him and he was getting embarrassed and excused himself. He did remember me. How? Was Jenkins unable to erase me fully from his memories? What did Lucius remember? Should I tell dad about this? No. Relax. We aren't even at Hogwarts yet. This encounter isn't what I predicted and I wiped my nose to see a faint streak of blood on the back of my hand. I swallowed two more tablets and held my nose, hoping it would stop soon. Harry and Ron opened the door and let me back in. I told them my nose was sensitive and we talked and ate for the rest of the train ride.