11. A class in more than just charms.
The sorting had been a wild night and after Severus had pulled his prefects to the side and explained that the youngest Potter had a Grim as a familiar, he’d been dragged into an evening meeting to discuss the sorting itself and any last minute changes that were needed.
Severus could see Burbage and Babbling whispering to one another, gossiping as two women did. Severus could only guess it was about the shocking sorting of the night before.
“-A McNair in Hufflepuff and a Potter in Slytherin. It’s scandalous. That’s what it is. It’s Sirius Black all over again with Gryffindor and we all know how that turned out!” Burbage whispered to Babbling, shaking her head. Severus sent a look to Minerva who rolled her own eyes and sighed.
“A student's placement is one that is personal. We can not expect them all to be the same as their families, be they brothers, fathers, mothers or sisters. They’re who they are and we should not work under the assumption that they hold the same values as those before them.” Minerva said calmly, catching both women's attention.
“Oh come off it, you’re just disappointed that Lyra Potter isn’t in your house. Especially if she has the same Quidditch prowess as her brother-” Burbage began, Sprout made a noise of disagreement.
“Charity. Really? I’m surprised at you, acting like some errant school girl. Should we put you back with the first years?” Sprout scolded, Severus had to pointedly breath out his nose to stop himself from snickering at the flush that took over the woman’s face. He straightened up at the look Sprout sent him and sent his own glare when she wore a triumphant smirk.
It really sucked being the youngest member of staff.
“That was the largest sorting in the last five years, wasn’t it?” Lupin’s voice chimed, clearly trying to change the subject.
Second youngest with the Wolfs employment.
Severus purposely ignored him as Flitwick answered, his face excited as he answered.
“Oh! That’s because of the baby boom that happened the year after the war. We’re projecting a steady increase in students for the next four years at least. I believe in 1981 to 1987 there was a record number of births across the UK as a whole and-” Flitwick went on the babble about the amount of children born whilst Lupin nodded his head in understanding.
Severus wasn’t surprised, he’d always sucked up to Flitwick.
“Ah! I see we’re all here!” Albus’s voice called as he finally arrived in the staff room, Minerva sending Severus a look and then the Headmaster a scolding look of his own.
“We’ve been here for thirty minutes, Albus. We’re exhausted after today and we’ve still got to get up earlier tomorrow. I’m sure this meeting could have taken place-” Minerva began but Albus interrupted her.
“Of course, of course. It has been a long day of preparing for the students. But we do have some things to discuss, Poppy has a few students she needs to cover medical issues with for you all and we do have the case of a certain familiar that you approved of.” Albus said, waving her off. It was only after years of knowing him that Severus could tell the man wasn’t happy about that.
“A student has a familiar? Which one is it? Is it one of the higher years? It’s usually one of them-” Burbage began nattering on, Severus had to hold himself back silencing the woman.
“Miss Potter is the master of a Grim,” Minerva’s voice cut through the incessant chatter, rendering the room silent. “She’s had this Grim for a number of years and alerted me about his existence in August. His name is Sirius - though she’ll be referring to him as Siri during her time here due to the…circumstances currently pertaining to that name.”
“*That’s* what she meant,” Lupin’s voice muttered, catching everyone’s attention. The idiot flushed from his spot beside Sprout and sunk in his chair a little. “I ran into her on the train during the Dementor attack…I’d spotted the Grim and asked the train at large if it was *Serious* - obviously in mild shock from the Dementors and then finding a Grim, she wasn’t too pleased by the question. She must have misheard me.” he answered, attempting for bashfulness but Severus didn’t buy it. The man spoke too much for such a simple answer.
“Oh dear, what a fright that must have been.” Sprout said, setting a gentle hand on the wolf's arm in quiet comfort. Lupin just gave an awkward smile.
“Minerva had alerted me to her familiar once the sorting had finished. I’ve already alerted the Slytherin Prefects to expect the…beast within the dorms.” Severus explained calmly, reaching forward and taking a sip of his tea.
“I’ll be sure to send a Familiar bandana to the Slytherin common room as well,” Dumbledore assured, his eyes twinkling. “It’s an interesting choice for a child to have a Grim as a familiar. Why, I’ve not seen one in my time as a student, teacher or head-master of this school.” The man hummed out.
“Yes, yes. It’s very interesting,” Minerva sighed out. “The Grim will accompany her to most classes - Potions not included - and from what I’ve heard, he’s very friendly. Alert your prefects of his existence so that they are aware of his presence,” Minerva stated, moving on quickly. “Poppy, anything pressing that we must be aware of?”
The meeting soon delved into a mind-numbing run down of students that may need extra attention - Severus made sure to note those that had allergies to common potion ingredients. He’d be sure to insist they use gloves during those lessons.
The meeting soon came to an end and as Severus made his way back towards his quarters a thought hit him suddenly. Dumbledore had barely spoken during that meeting, seeming to just be watching them all.
It made Severus tense because Dumbledore was never quiet during a meeting. Not unless he was planning something…he can only hope it doesn’t involve him or the Potter children.
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Lyra was pretty sure that the Slytherin dorms were better than the Gryffindor ones, at least from what she knew of them.
Unlike the Gryffindors, she only had to share a room and bathroom with one other girl - Astoria had happily agreed to room with her over the other two, who’d purposely ignored Astoria before the sorting. They’d clearly regretted that choice by the envious looks they kept sending Lyra.
The Slytherin Common room was cosy too, full of warm fires, reading nooks and many sofas around the room. She could see herself actually being able to read without interruption in the common room, unlike the times Harry had lamented about the lack of space to do so in his own common room.
It also seemed that every room - minus the bathrooms - had a direct view into the lake, acting as a large aquarium of sorts. Lyra was positive she could spend hours sitting in her dorm just looking into the lake and trying to memorise every creature she saw.
There was so much more that made her think her common room was better than what little she knew of her brothers and listing it all could take a thousand feet of parchment just to get through it all. She wasn’t going to waste time doing so, however, as she was busy preparing for her first day.
Astoria was in front of the standing mirror in their room, placing her blonde waves into a simple braid, her robes already immaculate. Lyra herself had finished dressing a few minutes prior and was tying a dark green bandana around Sirius’s neck, the front of which was adorned with the Slytherin crest. In golden stitching under the crest read ‘Potter, Lyra. Familiar - Siri.’
From what she’d understood, the bandana would show that Sirius wasn’t some lost Grim that would undoubtedly be chased off by the house-elves, scared older students or the grounds keeper.
“He’ll be joining us for our classes then?” Astoria asked as she finished her braid. Lyra looked up as she finished tying the bandana in place.
“Most of them, Apart from History of Magic and Potions, according to the letter I received Professor Snape has said he does not want him in the room for health and safety reasons. Dumbledore thinks bringing a guide of spirits into a room with a ghost as the teacher isn’t a good idea so he’s gotta sit outside.” she explained, slipping off the bed and wandering over to the mirror to fiddle with her own hair.
“From what I heard, having a ‘guide’ show up and lead Binns away wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Astoria hummed as she watched Lyra for a moment. “You’ve got a…unique…hair texture. It’s like…curly and wavy at the same time.” The girl told her plainly.
“Harry’s the same,” Lyra explained as she finally managed to put her hair in a loose bun - it seemed to at least control the hair for now. “It looks as if we both got our hair from our dad? Harry looks really similar to his in the photos he got for Christmas a couple years ago.” Lyra explained, sighing in relief when the hair band didn’t suddenly snap in two like so many other times she’s put her hair up.
“Oh, that makes sense. The Potters are known for having wild hair,” Astoria hummed, taking one of the loose strands around Lyra’s face and tugging it a little. “I’ll ask Daphne if she has any suggestions for your hair.”
“Oh, it’s alright. I don’t want to bother your sister.” Lyra said softly, shaking her head at the other girl. Astoria just hummed as if she didn’t hear her, leaving her side to grab her backpack. Lyra kept a small frown on her face as she grabbed her own satchel, patting Sirius’s head as the Grim nuzzles her hand.
“Ready? The Prefects are probably already waiting. It’s a tradition to take the first years to the hall on the first morning, just so you know…” Astoria paused and looked to Lyra curiously. “Does Gryffindor do something similar?” she asked Lyra.
“..ur…I don’t actually know? Harry never brought anything like that up.” She admitted, in reality her brother hadn’t actually talked much about his early days at Hogwarts and the…lack of letters hadn’t helped. Not that she mentioned it.
“Huh, probably not then. The other houses just aren’t up to snuff, my father says so.” Astoria told her, leading Lyra and Sirius to the door. Sirius let out a grumble and Lyra mentally grumbled with him.
She liked Astoria, but she didn’t like some of her comments. Lyra mentally shook her head, she couldn’t change a person’s views in just one day - and honestly, they were eleven. They both had time to learn and grow.
“Right, yeah. Let’s get down there. Last thing we need is to mess with tradition.” She gave a forced smile, not that the other girl noticed as she laughed. Lyra called Sirius over before following Astoria down.
She’d already rocked the proverbial boat by sorting into Slytherin, she didn’t need to capsize it on the first day of school.
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Albus quietly sipped his tea as he watched the students filter into the Great Hall. The previous night's conversation about Lyra Potter hadn’t proved too helpful about her place in this world now that she’d placed in that forsaken house.
A dark witch in the making, that was what she was.
But Albus could make it work, the little comments he’d heard from Burbage before he’d entered the room had him thinking.
‘It’s Sirius Black all over again…’
He could paint the girl as someone like Regulus Black, dark to the core and just waiting to take the position of heir for the family line. It would work perfectly. He could say she grew jealous of Harry’s fame, that her life in the shadows caused her to grow jealous and impatient.
He’d push her to spend more time with the Malfoy heir and his group - she was already falling in with the Greengrass spare from what he could see. That much he could tell as he watched the two children whisper to one another at the end of the Slytherin table.
It would make Harry’s story all the more tragic, defeating one dark lord whilst his sister rises as another right under his nose and Albus-
“Albus-” Minerva’s voice whispered to him, catching his attention, he gave a pleasant smile and a hum as he turned his deputy, displeased she interrupted his thoughts but knowing he had a part to play.
“Yes, what is it, Minerva?” he asked, sipping once more from his cup.
“I was asking if we're going to eat today. You’ve barely touched anything so far and living on tea just won’t do.” The woman scolded him as if he was one of their many students, making Albus inwardly grumble whilst outwardly chuckle.
“Ah, I was lost in thought. Do forgive an old man, Minerva,” He smiled, taking a single bite of toast before continuing. “I just couldn’t help but notice Harry’s yet to come down for breakfast yet and Lyra seems to be…settling in with the Slytherins.” He commented, tilting his head to the child who was feeding that beast she called a familiar some bacon.
“I assume Mr Potter is awaiting Mr Weasley to awaken, as he usually does on the first day of classes. Look, Miss Granger has just arrived and in toe..” just as Minerva said both Harry and the youngest male Weasley stumble into the Great Hall. Both looked as exhausted as they usually did - though Harry seemed to flinch upon sitting down.
Albus would keep an eye on that, perhaps the boy was becoming sensitive to those around him. That wouldn’t be good.
“Do excuse me, Albus. I need to pass out the time tables.” Minerva told him, slinking off to do exactly that. Albus kept his eyes on the Gryffindor table.
He’d make this work some way or another, Lyra was always a sacrificial piece anyways.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Lyra quietly walked with Astoria and the rest of the first years as they made their way to their very first class of the year, Charms with the Ravenclaws. Sirius was half attached to her leg as they walked through the halls, seeming to be on high alert as his ears stood tall and his body toward above the first years around them.
“Lyra!” Harry called out to Lyra, clearly on his way to one of his own classes. A grin on his face as he bounded over. The other Slytherins - Astoria included - all shuffled away from her as Harry arrived. “How's it going?” He asked, rubbing Sirius’s head as he looked at her expectantly.
“Alright..” Lyra mumbled, glancing as the group of Slytherins all seemed intent on ignoring her brother, even Astoria. It kind of hurt, having them act as if someone she cared about didn’t exist. “We have Ch-” Lyra began but the Prefect leading them cut her off.
“Move it along Potter, we’ve got first years to get to class.” Flint ordered, the seventh year looking at Harry with disdain. She hadn’t caught the seventeen year olds first name but had heard his first name enough in the last few hours to learn it.
“Oh come on Flint, I’m just saying hi to my sister-” Harry tried but Flint didn’t seem to willing to listen as he just turned on his heels.
“Move it first years!” Flint yelled, already marching off down the hall, some of the first years look at her before following. Astoria stays the longest before running off after the rest of the group. Sirius watched with a quiet huffing sound.
“Jeeze, what’s crawled up Flint’s ass…” Harry muttered, shaking his head a little. “Look, I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright and to pass this over,” Here, Harry passed her one of the notebooks she had brought to help with organising her notes for class. “Figured you’d want it.”
“Thanks Harry.” Lyra sighed out, giving her brother a quick hug. “But I really gotta go. It’s a whole…thing to show up as a united front. Enjoy whatever class you have next!” Lyra said before running off to catch up with her group, not hearing Harry yell after her.
It took a few minutes to find the rest of the group and she easily slid in behind them, Flint glared at her from the front of the group as he sent the rest of the students into the classroom, holding her back before entering. Sirius gave a warning growl as he stood beside her, glaring at the older boy.
“You need to get your act together,” Flint said sternly, speaking over Lyra as she tried to answer. “You’re a snake now. We don’t just stop in the hallways and talk to Gryffindors. We especially don’t let them learn our schedule.” Flint told her, glaring down at her, his over sized teeth smacking together in a way that Lyra thought of a Donkey with its lips drawn back.
“He’s my brother.” she said simply, Flint just scoffed.
“He’s the enemy.” Flint countered, Sirius growled a little and Lyra reached up, placing a hand on his chest to stop the Grim from doing something.
“He’s my brother,” Lyra said sternly, acid green eyes staring up at him in warning. “He would never hurt me or any of the others-”
“You don’t get it,” Flint sighed out, running a hand over his face. “We’re snakes, Potter. The enemy to everyone here. Doesn’t matter if your ambitions are good and pure like being a healer or if you plan world domination. It’s all the same to that lot,” He told her, ignoring her attempts to speak up again. “And the older Potter might not look to say something, but his friends? Some of the other students if they learn about the schedule? Can you risk your housemates safety just because you trust your brother, who trusts everyone if they smile at him-”
“He does not-”
“He does. I might not like Potter but I’ve been playing against him for the last three years. He just needs a few nice words and he’s your best friend. He’s the enemy right now, not because he’d hurt you or them, but because the people he trusts so openly might use that information to hurt you.” Flint finished up, Sirius hadn’t stopped growling above her but Lyra…Lyra could see his logic.
Flint didn’t know that Harry and her had been cleansed of compulsions but he made solid points. Harry trusted too easily, even after the compulsions were removed her older brother had instantly decided his head of house and her head of house were trustworthy with little thought.
Who was to say he wouldn’t extend that trust to someone that would hurt her fellow first years.
“...I’ll keep that in mind.” Lyra said softly, shifting from foot to foot.
“Do so. I won’t warn you again.” Flint warned, voice full of ice before he turned on his heel and left. Leaving Lyra alone in the corridor for a moment before she gently nudged Sirius into the Charms classroom.
The other first year Slytherin’s were all sat down already - almost all paired up bar one of the boys, Lyra fights the uncertainty in her chest as she goes to sit down by him - Elton if she remembered rightly, but the black haired boy shoved her bag away from him.
“Sit somewhere else.” He growled at her, Sirius let out his own warning growl - making the already pale boy go almost ghost white. Lyra sighed, picking up her bag and nudging Sirius towards one of the free seats and ignoring the snickering from the other Slytherins. Astoria looked over at her before turning back to the other girls.
Lyra swallowed the hurt as she set her desk up and showed Sirius where to lay down, the large dog settling down quietly by her feet whilst she processed the actions of the other Slytherin’s. It was clear that Astoria could be friendly but she wasn’t sure if the girl was an actual friend with the way she was acting. It was like she was only friends with Lyra when she had no one else to speak too.
It hurt, but she wouldn’t let it show.
“You’re on the wrong side of the classroom, snake.” One of the Ravenclaw girls hissed out as she and the rest of her house entered. Lyra simply raised an eyebrow at her and gestured to the many seats around her. She notes that the girl hasn’t noticed Sirius just yet.
“There is over thirty seats. I’m sure me sitting here isn’t going to disrupt you that much.” Lyra said simply. The blonde haired girl in blue fumed as she started moving towards Lyra.
“Listen snake, I’ve been told about your lot by my-AH!” The girl shrieked as Sirius stood up and leaned over Lyra with his teeth out, smiling at the girl who stumbled back and into the other. “What is that-”
“Grim!” Another Ravenclaw yelled, shocked. Lyra just hummed and reached up, patting Sirius’s shoulder. “How are you-”
“This is Siri. My Familiar. He’s very protective.” Lyra said simply, as she opened up her note book and laid out her quill and ink. She can feel all of the first years looking at her and she finds herself looking to the Slytherins silently.
“You act like this is news. He was eating breakfast with us this morning- are you all blind?” She asked incredulously, the Slytherin’s all look away from her whilst the Ravenclaws start to cautiously take their own seats - away from Lyra and Sirius. Leaving them alone in a section by herself.
Fine. If she was going to be an outcast, she could deal with that.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
“I can’t believe Pocket Potter almost gave him the first year time table.” Draco ranted as their group moved towards Ancient runes - the only three missing from it being Millicent, Crabbe and Goyle.
“Flint probably didn’t need to be so harsh,” Daphne hummed out as she walked with them, her books held in her arms. Theo found himself agreeing quietly whilst Draco continued his rant.
“She should have known better than-” Draco sighed out.
“She wouldn’t have, would she? I mean, she’s the first Slytherin in her family and it's not like she has anyone left to ask.” Pansy said, flipping her hair a little with a huff. “The issue is that the first years didn’t seem to get the message about house unity, despite Snape and the Prefect’s lecture on it. Singling her out like that in three classes, honestly they’re making us look-”
“My sisters in that group,” Daphne recalled bitterly, though she didn’t look too happy either. “I don’t understand her. She’d been rather excited about sharing with Pocket Potter after finding out about the Grim. Maybe they had a disagreement?” Daphne mused to herself.
“Or she remembered her worth-” Pansy tried again but Theo sighed and spoke up.
“Pocket Potter?” he asked the group, Blaise grinned at him proudly.
“It was my idea. Draco was ranting about both Potters and we couldn’t keep track of which one. So, she’s Pocket Potter. Small enough to fit in your pocket.” he said simply. Theo stares at him for a moment before sighing.
“I feel like…if she hears about that, the Grim is going to eat you.” Theo sighed out but Blaise just looked excited at the idea.
“Flint’s going to speak to the first years again about it. He’s not happy about the isolation,” Draco sighed out, bringing them back to topic. “I mean honestly. All this because she spoke to Potter, as much as I hate the guy it shouldn’t have caused this much of an upheaval-”
“It only caused so much because she didn’t know-” Daphne defended the girl, the group starting to squabble a bit about it before Theo sighed.
“If she didn’t know, then she didn’t know. There’s probably a lot of things she doesn’t know. It’s our job as her betters to teach her. Maybe not the way Flint did it, but I’m sure someone could sit down and speak to her about it-”
“I’ll do it-” Daphne began, Pansy interrupted.
“You only want to help Pocket Potter because she was the only one to actively talk to your sister and not avoid her-” the other girl started.
“She should have known-” Draco tried again.
“How, how would she have-” Blaise tried, Draco seemed to finally blow - raising his voice just a little.
“Because she knows pureblood etiquette! I’ve seen it! She knew how to address me, how to address us all. Someone who has that information clearly knows something or at least has a brain! You’d think she would use it to know that giving information over or talking to her brother so openly could cause her issues.”
“Perhaps she simply didn’t care,” Theo said calmly, watching as the group stopped and turned to him. He shrugged at them. “She’s had no qualms about telling Draco off multiple times already or talking back to Blaise. She has shown, repeatedly in just twenty-four hours, that she doesn’t care about peoples opinions of her. If she’s as smart as Draco thinks she is, then she probably figured out that her actions would lead to ostracisation. You want to teach her the Slytherin way, go for it. But don’t expect her to treat it as gospel.” Theo said, throwing his hands up.
The group stays quiet for a few beats before an arm roughly slings itself over his shoulder, Blaise's grinning face appearing in the corner of his eye.
“That is the most I’ve heard you speak in a while. Going soft for Pocket Pot-agh-” Blaise groaned as Theo elbowed him in the gut, before simply stepping away.
“I said what I said. Now, can we please get to ancient runes and forget about the Potters-” He started to say, only to pause as he spotted Potter and Granger outside the classroom. “Oh for fuck sake-” he hissed out.
He just wanted one year, one where it wasn’t all about Potter.