The Sorting
Evan felt a sort of unease settle over him after that. He was letting his nerves get the better of him, he knew he was. It shouldn’t be that big an issue to him, but after that boy’s reaction, he was wondering if Slytherin really would be that bad to be sorted into. As he was allowing himself to get whisked away in his thoughts, he felt a hand slip into his and looked to his left to see Pandora giving him a soft smile, her eyes showing how nervous she was as well. The woman continued to call names, and the hat continued to sort the children into their houses.
“Barty Crouch Jr” she called, and Evan watched as the boy practically strutted to the hat, in an air of feigned confidence. All that confidence seemed to drain slowly as Barty had the hat placed on his head and sat for, quite possibly, the longest time yet. It was almost as if the hat didn’t know where to place him. Evan watched curiously, noting that it looked like Barty and the Sorting hat were having a debate in the boys mind before the hat eventually called out “Slytherin!” Barty’s face practically split into two with how wide he smiled before he got down and jogged to his housemates, sitting next to Regulus.
The sorting continued, the hat quicker with the rest of the students now, seeming to have no doubt on where it was placing the students. “Marlene McKinnon” a girl with blonde hair and a determined look on her face marched up to the stool and sat as she stared over all four houses. The hat barely touched her head before it called out “Ravenclaw!” and the girl seemed quite pleased. There was a series of small claps and cheers that came from the table as she walked towards it smiling. ‘I guess she got the house she wanted then’ Evan thought.
“Evan Rosier” called the professor. And just like that, Evan felt his heart drop. It took him a minute to move, his nerves slamming into him all at once, as he felt eyes move to land on his figure, watching and waiting to see where he would go. To his left, Pandora gave his hand a small squeeze and shoved him a little. He stumbled forward a step, and gathered himself before walking up to the stool, a journey that felt like ages even though it was really a few seconds. Not that he was counting anyways his brain felt like mush, but his thoughts seemed to be constantly changing. As he turned and took his seat on the stool, he made eye contact with his sister while the hat was placed on his head.
“Ah, yes, Mr. Rosier. You have a brilliant mind my boy, no doubt. Smart as a whip, but you have so much ambition within you. A drive to prove yourself and be the greatest you can be. Loyal too, it seems. Very loyal. This is quite difficult I must admit. Where to put you though, that is indeed the question.” The hat spoke. Evan looked around confused, wondering if anyone heard the voice too, but it seems to just be him hearing. ‘My parents would kill me if I ended up anywhere but Slytherin’ he thought to the hat, panic lacing his thoughts as his mind drifted to his parents. He could see it clearly when he thought of their last moments before getting on the train. Their blank faces with cold eyes as they stared at him and told him he better make them proud. “Hmm, if you are sure, my boy, that you want to follow your parents wishes, then id best put you in..” Evan takes a deep breath, steeling himself as the hat shouts “Slytherin!” he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and smiles down to his sister before getting up and joining Barty at the table. Shaking hands with the others as he sat next to him.
“Pandora Rosier” and just like that Evan is panicking again. Because he can see Pandora hesitate and stare at him with worry evident in her eyes. He gives her what he hopes is a convincing enough smile and a thumbs up, encouraging her to go up to the hat. He hopes she doesn’t get Slytherin. He knows its not what she wants, and if Evans there, their parents won’t be concerned with where she ends up. He watches as she takes a deep breath, and as she walks to the stool, he does too. She deserves to be somewhere she wants, not where his parents want them to go. He wasn’t lying when he told her she would be brilliant in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. He just hoped the hat saw it that way too. Luck seemed to be on his sister’s side as it turned out, because the hat took considerably less time debating with her than it did him, and it wasn’t long until the hat called out “Ravenclaw!” for the hall to hear. Pandora smiled and looked at Evan as he cheered for her, not caring that his housemates were staring. She had gotten what she wanted after all, and Evan was proud she ended up where she wanted to go. She was going to be brilliant; he just knew it. He watched her take a seat next to the other girl, Marlene and immediately she started striking up a conversation. His sister was practically radiating with happiness and as a result, Evan was too.
It didn’t take much longer for the sorting to finish, some students who went to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, both tables cheering loudly with every student they got. They seemed to be quite friendly to Evan. Some of the Slytherins though were grumbling under their breaths to their friends, and Evan didn’t really understand why. Maybe it was some kind of house rivalry thing. After the sorting was done, the feast began and everyone immediately started eating and talking, catching up on how their summers went. “I wonder if my dad will send a letter after he finds out I’m in Slytherin. He thought id for sure be a Ravenclaw you know. I wonder if he’ll care.” Barty spoke first, while grabbing a goblet of pumpkin juice and looking at Evan. “Why’d it take so long to sort you anyways?” he asked. Evan just shrugged. “It didn’t know where to put me. Eventually it chose Slytherin I guess.” He mumbled before shoving a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth. “Why would your dad be upset if you were in Slytherin Barty?” Evan asked, surely it's not THAT bad. Right? Barty just shrugged, “he thinks the house only spits out corrupted wizards and witches I suppose. I don’t care either way. I think I’m going to like it here anyways with you here.” Evan smiled at him and turned his attention to the boy next to him, who had been quiet this entire time.
“And what about you? Regulus, right? It's nice to meet you, my names Evan, and this is Barty.” He held his hand out to the boy. Regulus just stared at him, eyeing him over like he was assessing a threat. Cautiously he took Evans hand and shook it. “Yeah, Regulus. Nice to meet you too.” The boy said, quickly shaking his hand. Barty patted his shoulder, making Regulus’ eyes go wide as he stilled. “It's nice to meet you mate!” he said cheerfully, completely unaware he had startled the poor boy. “I- uh, yeah, yeah you too Barty.” Regulus said in a strained voice. Evan eyed him curiously, ‘maybe he just doesn’t like to be touched?’, he thought. Regulus cleared his throat and went back to eating silently. Barty, however, was happily oblivious to him having made regulus feel awkward and continued pestering the boy with questions. And Regulus, bless his heart, was doing his best to keep up with them. “So, Regulus, what class are you excited for this year? Personally, I think either potions or defense are going to be brilliant.” Barty said enthusiastically. Regulus chewed on his bottom lip and tugged slightly on one of his curls, a nervous habit it seemed, Evan had been watching him do it when a question made him pause and go quiet, seemingly uncomfortable. “I… don’t know. My, uh. My parents want me to get perfect grades in each class, so I doubt it really matters what class I’ll enjoy. Right?” Regulus said, his eyes falling to his plate. Evan felt bad, with that sentence, he knew that he and Regulus had one thing in common at least. They were doing this for their parents. Not for themselves. “I think transfiguration would be cool. I wonder what they’ll teach us since it’s our first year.” Evan says, trying to bring the attention from Regulus and give him a slight break from Barty’s onslaught of questioning. The boy gave a relief filled look his way and quickly fell silent as Barty started rambling away, listing topics he thought would be cool to learn.