Harry Potter Next Generation: Family Legacy

Chapter Forty-One: Nothing But You (Scorpius)

 I sat watching Rose on her chair, eyes closed, quietly murmuring things to the Sorting Hat that sat atop her head. A dull, aching pain ebbed on the back of my head, from where I had fallen after a certain someone paralyzed me.

What was the Sorting Hat telling her? That she was a humongous jerk and an insult to all wizards? I had tried to be nice to her, I really had, but she made it clear that she wasn't going to be nice to me. Well, two could play that game.

The Sorting Hat had been talking to Rose for about five minutes before she quietly removed it and stared at the Hazel, Albus, and I with large, troubled eyes. She held it out gently.

"Does anyone want to wear it?" she said quietly, unlike her usual self.

I stared at the ragged hat, and before I could stop myself had crossed the room and taken it from her. Trying not to look at her freckled face, I marched back to my seat and jammed it on my head, the fabric bending over my head. The flap was so large the hat covered almost my entire face. Godric Gryffindor must have had a very large head.

"Scorpius Malfoy? I remember you. You're sorting was one of the most... memorable I'd ever had. You joined the ranks of Sirius Black, and... that's about it."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," I said through gritted teeth, making sure that none of the other people in the room heard me. They seemed to be preoccupied with other things. Albus glaring at Hazel, Hazel pretending not to notice, and Rose staring at a wall.

I hope this will change my feelings about Hufflepuff, I thought.

"I know that you believe you choose yourself to be in Hufflepuff, but I would have placed you in that house of yellow and black anyway." The Sorting Hat chuckled. "I don't regret any placing I've ever put, Scorpius. Not even you."

"So you think that I'm a true Hufflepuff?" I asked the Hat. "'Cause, I don't feel very loyal or kind or anything."

"As I told Ms. Weasley, your house does not define you. You are the one who decides your future, not Helga Hufflepuff or anyone." I breathed in to ask another question, when the Hat lowered it's voice and said," but you are fighting a war greater than anyone else's. People see you and see your last name, don't they?"

"Yes..." I whispered, and looked at the ground. Call me a hypocrite, but I really wasn't proud of my Malfoy name. Even though I may have told my sister otherwise.

"Prove them wrong, then."

"Wow, what a great piece of advice." The hat didn't respond. "Is that all you're going to say?" I hissed. The hat gave no response, and with a head full of thoughts, I took the hat from my head and held it out to Hazel.

"Put it on," I said weakly. Mystified, Hazel took it and placed it gently on her head. She closed her eyes as I presumed that it was speaking to her. I took a deep breath and leaned slightly back into the fluffy chair I sat in.

Almost like the Sorting Hat was still whispering things to me, the words that it had said kept running through my head, over and over again. Once the words had replayed for the seventh time, however, my chest tightened and the hatred that I felt for everyone who had hated me dissolved. Revolting against everyone wasn't going to solve my problems, they'd only prove the claim that I was nothing but a Malfoy.

I will prove them wrong, I pledged, no idea who I was actually thinking to. Maybe myself. I'll show everyone that the only thing that can define you is yourself. Not your family, not your house, nothing but you.