my slytherin

sorting

"rosae, periwel" Professor McGonagall called out.

I felt cold sweat on my hands as I was walking up the steps. I'd wished for a bit more time, a few more names to calm myself down.

"Hmm, well, that's a smart girl. Wise like a Ravenclaw! Yes, I think that you really are the wisest person I have ever sorted in years. Almost, as smart as Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter. But is that bravery I see there? Is that a need to make your own future? Oh, now, I'm split. Gryffindor would suit you as well. Oh! Another funny aspect. Look at this talent! Are these special abilities? Slytherin would be proud to have such talent. And yet I do see some traces of loyalty. A Hufflepuff in heart. Oh, my! I haven't been this confused in years And what do you say, dear girl?"

'I suppose you can make the right choice yourself.' I thought silently. 

"How odd! No one has passed up the opportunity to choose his own house before! How wise. And what about your parents, girl?"

"i don't  know" I whispered while my eyes were wandering around until a certain blonde slytherin boy caught my attention. he looked back at me and stared until i looked away.

"How strange. I would bet everything they were in Slytherin. Let me make a choice, then. This wisdom should not be ignored. RAVENCLAW!"

I didn't know why but I was surely satisfied with that. As he said Ravenclaw was for the smart and intelligent ones. I was happy with the idea that I was the most intelligent girl the sorting hat had seen in years. The black worn lady pointed at me where the Ravenclaw table was.

I sat down and waited to meet my classmates. I can recall that Harry Potter was put in Gryffindor and Draco Malfoy, the sad boy, was put in Slytherin. After five minutes it was Luna's turn and I was so happy to realize that she was sorted in Ravenclaw, too!

After the sorting ceremony, it was time for the feast and it was the perfect opportunity to get to know my schoolmates. I got seated next to a third-year. 

"Jack, by which criteria were we sorted? I mean, does each house represent something?"

"Let me tell you: Gryffindor is for the brave ones, or as I always say, the talented ones, Hufflepuff is for the loyal ones, or as I say, the leftovers," - well, that's offensive - "and Ravenclaw - that's us - is for the smart ones, or as I say, the cool ones." he laughed. He couldn't think I didn't notice that he only mentioned three of the houses, of course.

"And Slytherin?"

"Slytherin? Well, they are supposed to be the ones that are like Gryffindor - talented - but not brave." I looked at him like I was not satisfied with his answer. "Or as everyone except the Slytherin ones say, the bad ones, the rich ones, the bully ones and of course the pureblood ones."

"Pureblood?"

"The ones that have wizard parents."

"And what about the ones that have muggle parents?" Like hermione..

"They are the muggleborns," he hesitated like he didn't want to say the word but there was no hate in his voice. "Or more often referred from the Slytherins as the... hm... the..." he cleared his throat. "Mudbloods... But let's not use this word again..." he whispered.

"Is being a muggleborn a bad thing?"

"Well, according to Slytherins... yes. For them a muggleborn is less of a wizard."

"That means my little sister is a mudblood?" I said and Jack turned to look at me rather regretfully.

"Don't worry, no Ravenclaw cares about the blood status. What I think? Muggleborn or not, she is a witch."

"i know one person whos a muggle"

" Hogwarts has many muggle born students. she or he is not the only one, rosae. if you want to know, I'm half blood, half wizard and half Veela. Do you know what a Veela is? It's a powerful creature that lives in forests and mountains and we mostly are girls. Do you know what that means? I'm one of the only boys in a supernatural team full of girls, that's worse than being a muggle blood believe me!" He said these last ones faster to make me laugh a bit and I thought I didn't want to disappoint him, so I laughed.

"So, I guess you can know everything about someone's character only by looking at his tie. That is either too comfortable to think of or too depressing. But I guess you're right... I noticed this boy was rather rude while we were waiting for the sorting ceremony. And he was sorted in Slytherin," I said and tried to make it sound as an absent minded comment. In reality, I just wanted to know a bit more about  Draco Malfoy.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Jack.

"About that boy, sitting over there," I said and discreetly pointed at the blonde Slytherin.

"Oh..." he said and turned back to his plate without looking further. It seemed like he knew who he was and he didn't need more time to recognize him.

"Do you know him?" I asked impatiently as he didn't seem willing to tell me more about him.

"I would never mistake that hair color. It's just the same as his father's," he said, still avoiding to look up.

"Why? Who is his father?"

"He's called Lucius Malfoy. He is one of the most powerful men in the Ministry of Magic. Not to mention richer than everyone in this room put together. The Malfoys are known to be the ones to hold the purity of their blood. They don't want muggles in their family. Their bloodline is known to be the purest one, along with the Black family. Soon enough, the Malfoys and the Blacks united their houses. Draco's mother is called Narcissa Black. The thing is that both the Malfoys and the Blacks don't have the best reputation among the wizards. Lucius Malfoy was You Know Who's most loyal follower."

"You mean that dark wizard? Isn't that wizard dead?" I asked, recalling all these things Luna had told me about the dark wizard with the strange name.

"Yes, he died ten years ago," answered Jack.

"And didn't his followers go to prison, or something like that?"

"They did. Most of them. But those who had power managed to get themselves out, or in Malfoy's case, to never get in," he said and gave me a strange forced smile. I thought about it for a moment. There were so many things I wanted to ask.

"So what is that wizard's name, anyway?" I asked curiously.

"We don't say his name!" he said so I didn't push it further since I knew he wouldn't ever tell me. "He was the evilest wizard of our age. Some compare him to Grindelwald, the wizard who almost destroyed the whole magic world, only a lot - lot - worse. His crimes threatened our nature. He claimed that magic should be used by those who are worth it. And soon enough he slipped to the darkest side. I'm telling you, he was so evil and his heart was so loveless that he even killed the only woman he loved." he said raising his eyebrows.

"Why? Who was she?"

"She was one of the most celebrated women in magic history. Her name was acrid mata and she was the Ministry's Ambassadress. But she had done great things for us. She was asked to fill the Minister's place many times before she died. And believe me, she died very young. I think she was only 25 when that happened. My mother was talking about her all the time," he said.

This conversation left me numb for many hours after it stopped. My head was spinning with all these new thoughts and I must admit, that at that very first night in Hogwarts, I felt a bit lost. I left the Muggle world behind and entered a world of magic, yet both shared many qualities. In my first day I had learned that racism and war didn't stop when I set foot on Hogwarts Express.

In a way, I thought that belonging to a minority should make people stronger, more united. Yet, now I realised that even wizards, people who were hunted and feared for centuries, did not know better than to single out muggleborns.

Oh, well, we have always lived alongside evil, haven't we? I promised to myself I would leave these thoughts behind and have a fresh day tomorrow. Yet, as I was closing my eyes and hoped for the best, thoughts of separate houses and muggleborns and You Know Who and his evil deeds and last thoughts of Draco Malfoy, that sad boy, troubled me.