An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
Post by Victoria Vargas on Aug 31, 2020 6:10:53 GMT 10
Victoria couldn't prevent herself from gasping at the sight before her. The Great Hall was like nothing she'd seen before, with four massive, long tables stretched around them as she and her group walked down the middle isle, each of them seeming to hold the gaze of the older, sorted students. The rest of the school appeared to be there, sitting with their houses.
As the group of small first years reached the front of the hall, Victoria noticed a wooden stool placed at the front that supported a large, battered looking brown hat. After a moment, Victoria realized that everyone in the hall was staring at the hat, so she turned back to face it and her mouth fell in surprise. Was the hat moving and talking? Was this the Sorting Hat?
Vargas' attention turned toward Professor McGonagall, as the Headmistress lifted up a long roll of parchment that held the names of the first year students. The atmosphere tensed suddenly, as the woman called them off by one and each student made their way up to be sorted.
When it came time for Victoria Vargas to be sorted, she cautiously made her way to the front, feeling as if the eyes of other students were piercing the back of her neck. She took a deep breath and sat on the stool as the hat was placed on her head, letting it sink below her eyes.
'Hmm, right then,' said the hat, in a voice only she could hear. 'Plenty of ambition, I see. You've a creative mind, too. So where to put you?'
A pause.
'You seek knowledge and success, yes you would be among your kind in Ravenclaw,' said the hat. 'Then again, Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness - there's no doubt about that. Resourceful, too... Yes, you would do well there.'
The hat fell quiet, awaiting her reaction and thoughts on the two options. It also needed to know if she truly valued knowledge without gain, as it was one of the fundamental differences between Ravenclaw and Slytherin for someone like her - with the goals she envisioned and her determination to achieve them.
Would she be happy to simply gain knowledge for the value of it alone, or would she prefer to put it to use as a means to an end?
Post by Victoria Vargas on Sept 1, 2020 6:11:35 GMT 10
For a fleeting moment, the only thing Victoria was aware of was the feeling of ancient cloth covering her brown eyes. Then a little voice that belonged to the hat she was wearing began whispering in her ear. It mused on about where it believed she could achieve greatness and where she could possibly be among her own kind, almost as if it were examining her mind.
'You enjoy hearing yourself talk, don't you?' Her words may have come across rude, but it was nothing more than an observation on her part. If anything, the remark would buy Victoria more time to decide where she wanted to go. It seemed the Sorting Hat was giving her the chance to write her own destiny and it was a chance she didn't take lightly. It was important.
'I embrace my ambition and my drive. I want to be a writer, someone who writes about everything.' She tutted her head, adjusting her posture. 'I want to travel the world, explore new places and meet new people. I want to be that person everyone looks back on in the future and thinks about, wondering where I am and what I'm doing. Then, they open the Prophet and see Victoria Vargas on the front page byline.'
'I thought it obvious where to put me.' Victoria sighed, disappointed as she expected the hat to be a lot smarter than it conveyed. 'Slytherin.' Her decision was quick and certain.
The hat knew she was buying time, so waited for her to continue - though there was a grunt of annoyance at her comment. It usually only got the chance to talk once a year, for a thousand years, so it liked to make the most of it.
Tempted as it was to explain itself and assure her the decision was obvious much sooner than she believed, the hat resisted in favor of moving on to the next student. Ones like Victoria came and went and the hat knew often nervousness or a need to remain in charge of their destiny overrode everything else.
'Yes, was clear before you ever thought it...' said the hat.
The applause from the Slytherin table were dignified and not as intense as the other houses, but were no less welcoming as they beckoned Victoria to join them.
Post by Victoria Vargas on Sept 1, 2020 23:00:24 GMT 10
There was a moments pause before the hat's loud announcement. Victoria then felt the hat being lifted off her head by Professor McGonagall and she made her way off the stool and toward the Slytherin table. Their reactions were dignified, but not boisterous like some of the others she witnessed before her—but they were no less welcoming after becoming part of the house founded by Salazar Slytherin. The nearer Victoria Vargas got, the more it felt right.
'Hello, it's nice to meet you.' She was all grins, her toffee brown hair hanging loose over her robes as she shook the hands of her Slytherin housemates. Everyone seemed pleasant enough, at least for the time being. Then, with introductions out of the way, Victoria sat down on the crowded bench, squeezing in between some of the other first years to make room for herself.
Victoria grinned and waved at a platinum-haired girl she had gotten chummy with while waiting to be sorted, spotting her far off at the Ravenclaw table. The girl and Vicky hit it off instantly while waiting and as tempting as it was to become a Ravenclaw if only to have a close friend from the very beginning, Slytherin was the one and only choice that made sense to Victoria.