Chapter 2
Anna stood next to her mother, who, in traditional pureblood fashion, was dressed to the nines to see off her daughter. The pair stood hand in hand on the platform, gazing at the shiny red of the Hogwarts Express. The final whistle rang out and the elder woman turned to Anna, crouching down holding her softly by her small shoulders.
‘Are you ready darling?’ she asked imploringly, eyebrows raised. The small girl nodded, and the elder woman rose, turning behind her to call out:
‘Miss Black, how lovely it is to see you’.
The girl in question was undoubtedly beautiful as she stood talking to a tall blonde boy, The Malfoy heir. He, like everyone else was completely enamoured with her, which was not unsurprising. She was smiling softly, with her eyes firmly fixed upon his, until, with a swift movement she began to walk over to the mother and daughter pair, embracing Mrs Dolohova warmly, and turning to Anna, offering her arm to her, so the two could board the crimson train together.
Narcissa led Anna to a carriage at the front of the train, filled with the Slytherin pureblood elites. Anna perched next to the window, albeit a little uncomfortably. Conversation flowed around her, but her eyes were fixed on the changing scenery outside of the window, how different it was from the views of her home, the only similarity the expansivity of it all. The journey passed quickly, and soon the view of Hogwarts could be seen as the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. Narcissa bent down giving Anna a brief hug before leaving her with the rest of her new schoolmates, to arrive at Hogwarts in the manner which is tradition.
‘Anna? Anna Dolohov? It's Dorcas Meadows, I’ve been to those big fancy gets togethers at yours a couple times, really cool house you've got’.
She turned to her left to see Dorcas Meadows, a girl she had met briefly a few times at her mother’s various events, although they had never spoken besides the necessary introductions. Although this detail did not seem to bother Dorcas who grinned grabbing the Russian girl’s hand in hers.
‘I didn’t know you were coming here, just assumed you’d be off to Durmstrang, you are pretty far from home, aren’t you? Don’t worry, we’ll be fine, all my brother ever talks about is Hogwarts and how great it is, now I’ll finally understand what he’s going on about all the time’ She was waving her free arm wildly as the two girls sat in the boats that were to take them across the black lake.
‘What house are going into’ Anna turned to look at the excited girl beside her.
‘Ah it doesn’t quite work like that, I’m surprised no ones mentioned it to you, honestly some people. So, I assume you know the basics, the four houses etc. Well, there’s a hat…’
‘A hat? Godric what kind of school is this?’
Dorcas scoffed before continuing, ‘The hat makes a judgement of you, places you in the house best suited to you, your aims, talents. Its pretty cool actually, it’s weird that something can know more about you than you do, don’t you think?’
‘This all sounds invasive and strange, I can’t believe this is the norm here, my father said at Durmstrang they don’t believe in houses, something about unity, seems strange. I think it will be nice to be in a house, to have unity, another family of sorts.’
The two girls stood before the hat, Anna anxiously glancing to the side where Dorcas was excitedly fidgeting.
‘Sirius Black’
A dark-haired boy with sharp cheekbones, he was being pushed about playfully by a messy brunette boy with round glasses and a stupid grin plastered on his face. The boy had made appearances at her mother’s stupid dinners, but she couldn’t ever remember crossing paths. She watched as he strolled up to the stool, with a smirk he sat onto the chair, and the hat had barely brushed his curls before it screamed.
‘GRYFINDOR!’
There were a few names, yet they passed by unnoticed to Anna until:
‘Anna Dolohov’ McGonagall called.
The girl stepped up to the stage turning to face the packed hall. McGonagall placed the hat firmly on her thick hair, as Anna gazed out upon the four different tables.
‘Hmm interesting, interesting, a fresh bloodline, there is something unprecedented about you, something beneath, you’d do well in Ravenclaw, your intelligence is clear, yet it is not right for you, I sense, in you, something slippery yet there is fierce loyalty within you. I think, it has to be,
SLYTHERIN!
Anna rose, slowly up as McGonagall removed the ancient sorting hat from her head, she turned to look at Dorcas pleadingly before walking towards the Slytherin table, to a round of cheers and clapping.
Narcissa beckoned across the table, and Anna sat down beside her, the elder girl wrapping her arm around her shoulders gently, leaning to whisper.
‘I knew you would be in with us, it’s the only place for someone of your calibre after all’ she smiled softly before turning back to the sorting.
Anna watched uneasily as Dorcas walked up onto the stage, the ancient old thing considered for a minute, between Hufflepuff and Slytherin, until it settled, and so did Anna.
‘SLYTHERIN’
Dorcas squished in beside Anna, and the duo watched the rest of the sorting animatedly.
Anna turned to whisper, ‘Where is the headmaster?’ she hesitated, ‘Dumbledore?’ the name sounded foreign from her mouth, a contradiction to her perfectly accented English.
Before Dorcas could respond, he appeared, walking through the huge oak doors at the back of the hall, his arms outstretched, voice booming.
‘Ah students, I apologise for my tardiness, it seems the time got away from me, I regret missing the sorting, always a delight. I just wish to pass on some beginning-of-term notices. Filch, our caretaker, would like me to remind you all that the woods are out of bounds for ALL students and, due to unforeseen circumstances, the quidditch pitches will be out of bounds for a short while to resolve the issue.’ There were a chorus of groans across the hall before Dumbledore spoke again, ‘I hope you all have a prosperous year, and I believe it is now time for the feast to begin.
After the meal the prefects led them down to the dungeons, explaining the process of the passwords and other housekeeping information. Exhausted, Anna climbed the stairs to her dorm, which to her relief only contained two beds, one for herself and one for Dorcas. Their trunks were already placed at the foot of their beds.
The dorm was extravagant to say the least with deep green plush accents, curtained beds, a small area in the corner with a window into the depths of the Black Lake, before which was a green chaise. The pair shared a bathroom also, with a silver stand-alone bath and green tiling.
‘They really took the Slytherin colours and stuck to them, didn’t they?’ She turned to Dorcas, a small smile on her face.
‘It’d be pretty awful if you hated your house colour wouldn’t it, you’d get sick of it, and I don’t think Dumbledore would let you transfer houses because you didn’t like the colour palate.’
‘He’s definitely eccentric enough’ Anna shrugged, and the two girls looked at each other trying not to laugh, before both flopping down on the bed Dorcas had claimed bouncing up with the soft mattress of the comfortable bed. They both turned to face each other.
‘I’m glad it’s you I’m in a room with, I don’t think I could deal with Paloma Avery’, Anna said dragging out the insufferable girl’s name dramatically.
Dorcas grinned, pulling Anna into a shambolic hug, the two sliding off the bed slowly before lying in a heap on the cool floor.
‘I think I will like it here.’