Amazing cover by Julia Kim, also known as @soulofstaars!
Ananya Adur is the daughter of a set of very prestigious muggle politicians who are not pleased to find out that she is different from what they expect of her: she is a witch.
In fact, they ar...
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Gasps echoed throughout the room as pearly, translucent figures drifted through the walls and passed over their heads. "What the heck are those?" Ananya heard Penny whisper, and she shared the sentiment. One figure with a ruffled collar and old-timey clothes twisted his body and looked down at the students.
"Well hello, first-years!" He gave a jolly smile, then beckoned for the other...ghosts?...to follow him into the loud hall next to the antechamber.
Ananya looked at Ron with wide eyes. "What were those things?"
"Ghosts, I think. Percy told me about them and said they weren't bad." Ron's face was pale too, so he must have been unnerved just like the others. Probably because it was just so unexpected, like McGonagall stepping back into the room right when Ron finished speaking.
The stern professor cleared her throat, drawing the students' attention, and began to speak. "Hello, again, students. It is now time to head into the Great Hall and begin the start-of-term feast. Please follow me." Her Scottish brogue was softer than it had been earlier; Ananya thought it might have been to soothe the children's' frayed nerves. McGonagall led them into a magnificent room with four long tables stretching from on end to another and a smaller table where the professors seemed to be sitting. Ananya looked up and saw thousands of floating candles underneath a starry sky instead of the ceiling. She remembered there being something in her history book about the ceiling being charmed to show the sky, and gazed in wonder.
A cough from McGonagall startled her, and a lot of other first-years, from their awe. "When I call your name, please come forward and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!" A blonde girl with a round face tipped forward, accompanied by a couple of titters from a table decked out in green and silver. She sat warily, and a floppy hat was plunked on her head. After a moment, the hat opened its mouth and yelled out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The three not raised with magic, Harry, Hermione, and Ananya, gasped.
"It can talk?" Ananya whispered at Penny furiously. Penny shrugged, and pointed back at McGonagall discretely.
"Adur, Ananya!" She jumped nervously, then tried her hardest to walk with confidence and sit on the school. A small voice echoed in her ears as the professor set the hat on her head.
"Hello, Ananya. How do you do?" She jumped, horrified that the hat was inside her mind. "Sorry about that. I assumed since you're a pureblood that you would know about that. Anyway, shall we get to the sorting?"
Ananya was shocked at the revelation—her parents were muggles, through and through. What was this hat going on about?
"You're quite kind and loyal, smart too. Not much cunning though, or bravery. That just leaves Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw—but which to choose? Hm...tough decision...maybe you'd like to make it?"
Her brows furrowed. A choice? Usually her parents were the ones that forced her to do what they wanted...but she wanted to be somewhere that would make everyone proud, and maybe with her new friends too. The hat hummed, then began to speak again. "Well, it seems you'll be in...HUFFLEPUFF!"
Professor McGonagall lifted the Sorting Hat from her head, then pointed to the yellow and black table when she saw how confused Ananya was. She flushed, embarrassed, and strode over to the table, where a space opened up next to a friendly-looking girl who had a badge on her chest, proclaiming her a 'Prefect'. Ananya sat and gave the girl a smile.
"Hello, Ananya! I'm Penelope Clearwater. I'm the Hufflepuff prefect, which means I'll be your guide this year as you make your way around. I hope you settle in nicely." With that, the girl flipped her curls over a shoulder and paid attention to the Sorting again. Ananya looked back to the line of first-years.
"Brown, Lavender!" A pause. "GRYFFINDOR!" The girl flounced to the cheering red table and sat next to an unfriendly-looking girl who sneered heavily at her. Yikes.
Ananya turned her attention to the Great Hall again, examining the tables with care. The red table was Gryffindor, the yellow Hufflepuff. A boy, Gregory Goyle, was called to the green table. Slytherin, which left blue to be Ravenclaw. With all of the houses figured out, Ananya tuned back in to the Sorting just in time to hear Professor McGonagall call out Hermione's name.
"Granger, Hermione." The girl's bushy hair masked her face, and she conversed with the hat for quite some time before it finally called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" Ananya frowned. One friend out, three to go. Hopefully at least one would join her in the Hufflepuff house, or she'd be pretty upset. It didn't matter, though, as long as they got put where they would thrive.
Neville, the toad boy, was sorted into Gryffindor also, which was surprising. The slick-haired boy from earlier was called up as Draco Malfoy, and was immediately sorted into Slytherin. Soon enough it was Penny's turn to be sorted, and Ananya sat forward eagerly.
"Porter, Penny-Anne." McGonagall called out, lifting the hat onto Penny's head. An exhilarating, terrifying moment pursued, and finally the hat opened its mouth. "Let's go with...HUFFLEPUFF!" Ananya cheered for her friend, waving at her excitedly and beckoning her to the seat beside her own.
Penny plopped down and grinned, breathless, at Ananya. "We're in the same house!" The two hugged swiftly, then were broken out of it by the deputy headmistress calling out Harry's name.
"Potter, Harry!"
This was the longest wait yet, and Penny whispered something about a hat-stall. They both squeezed hands, hoping for him to join them or Hermione. At least he would be with someone he knew. "GRYFFINDOR!"
They both cheered, even if he wasn't in Hufflepuff, as Harry went to sit beside Hermione and the ghost who'd greeted them in the antechamber earlier. Finally, the looked up at the platform and saw that Ron was next. He was a Gryffindor too, but that was alright, because they could be friends even in separate houses.
