Chapter Text
Chapter One
I stood at the top of the stairs as I did every year, watching the new set of First Years enter through the main doors of the castle. As usual, I could quickly identify that the majority of them were nervous, excited or somewhere in between. I noted a few faces that looked familiar – probably siblings of older students. I could recognise Bill Weasley’s younger brother from the hair alone.
It only took a stern look from myself to quiet the excited whispers from the crowd of students. It struck me, as it often did, just how young our First Years were at this point. Really, they were barely more than children, and for almost all of them, this was their first time away from home.
Even so, I could tell that nothing that I said was going to dampen the excitement in the crowd – even the news that they were going to sorted in houses in front of the rest of the school. I noticed some nervous looks, as always, but the majority of the children still seemed excited. I could see one small brunette girl beaming particularly brightly.
I allowed the children one small smile before I opened the doors of the Great Hall with my wand and led them down the gap between the house tables. The chatter from the rest of the school subsided somewhat as we entered but it took Albus standing up from his seat to bring a full silence over the Great Hall. I had to force myself to hold back an amused smile at the looks on the new students’ faces at Albus’ speech.
I was fully composed, however, when I rose from my seat to start the Sorting Ceremony itself. The room remained quiet until the first student had been sorted – when Allen, Suzi’s new house burst into applause and cheers.
It was always uplifting to hear the celebration that each house gave, unfailingly, to every new student that they welcomed. As I moved through the list, my Gryffindor students especially were getting more and more excitable with each student sorted into their house.
I was nearing the end of the list when I called out, “Tonks, Nymphadora!”
But to my surprise, before Miss Tonks could even move out of the crowd of students who were yet to be sorted, I heard muttering and even some hissing from the Slytherin table. I frowned, quickly giving their table a glare that I hoped made it clear that they were totally out of line. It was an unusual response, even from the Slytherin table, and it took a moment for me to realise who Miss Tonks’ parents were.
I recognised the small girl who emerged from the crowd instantly – she was the girl who I had noticed beaming in the Entrance Hall before the Sorting. I could hedge a guess, I thought wryly, that Miss Tonks took after her father. To my confusion, however, the child was now blonde. Hadn’t she been a brunette ten minutes ago?
I shook my head slightly, unsure how she had done it. I had little time to dwell on this, however, as Miss Tonks bounced up to the stool, only tripping over her own feet slightly as she approached me, her bright beam still all over her face. The hat had barely touched her head when it shouted, “Hufflepuff!”
The Hufflepuff table cheered loudly as Miss Tonks made her way towards them, drowning out any mutters from the Slytherin table – and I noticed a few Hufflepuff students give the Slytherin table dark looks. They were clearly very willing to defend one of their own. Though, in the case of Hufflepuff house, they probably would have defended any students against nasty mutters like that.
I saw an older Hufflepuff student give Miss Tonks a kind clap on the shoulder as she sat down at the Hufflepuff table. She seemed happy and settled there. As bright and innocent as the child seemed to be, however, I felt quite sure that I had dodged a bullet by not being her Head of House. Something told me that she was going to be a troublemaker.