Chapter 3
Hogwarts was not at all what Rhaenyra had imagined. Rhaenyra knew Hogwarts was old and prestigious, but because of the secrecy surrounding it, she hadn't seen pictures of the school, so she wasn't sure what to expect. Hogwarts stood before them, an impressive and huge stone fortress, looking magical in the darkness of the evening, glowing faintly. Hogwarts was impressive, even by Rhaenyra standards, and Rhaenyra was after all from a very wealthy family of wizards and witches who owned several lavish mansions and a couple of ancient castles. Hogwarts was a massive castle, with large estates and it seemed to humm with old magic, so that the air around them almost crackled with the power of the magic.
No one had paid them any attention on the train or in the trolleys on the way, which relieved Rhaenyra. She knew that the newspapers often wrote about the Targaryens, and this had increased with the scandalous tragedy that had befallen them, which obviously interested people greatly. However, the newspapers had not leaked the fact that they would be starting school at Hogwarts. The girls' parents had been very protective of them, so there were never any pictures of them in the papers and therefore none of the other pupils seemed to recognise them.
When they arrived at the school, Rhaenyra and Helaena followed the others in through the large main doors. As they entered Hogwarts, an elderly, stern-looking woman gestured in the sisters' direction and they went towards her, a little hesitantly, leaving the others to go ahead with the crowd.
"Misses Helaena and Rhaenyra Targaryen?" She asked curtly. The girls nodded with uncertainty.
"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall and I have been waiting for you. Please follow me," McGonagall instructed and turned to leave.
"Excuse me, but why can't we go with the others?" Rhaenyra took the liberty of asking, and watched wistfully as the others went on. McGonagall raised one eyebrow subtly, but the stern expression didn't change.
"All the pupils at Hogwarts will be sorted to houses and since you don't have one yet, you will first be sorted before attending the feast with the others."
"Ah... okay," Rhaenyra began.
"Let's go then," the professor sternly insisted and turned with a flip of her skirts, leaving Rhaenyra and Helaena to exchange worried glances before following.
McGonagall led them into a small lobby where a group of wizards and witches several years younger than them were waiting, and then turned back to the sisters.
"Wait here until you are called by name to come in. The first years will be called first and then it will be your turn," she said, and instead of waiting for a reply, she went through the door in the lobby in hurried steps, leaving Rhaenyra and Helaena to wait with the younger ones. A few of the first years eyed them with interest, some looking tense and others a little unwell. Rhaenyra raised her eyebrows slightly and glanced at Helaena, who was also watching the first years with interest and grinned slightly at Rhaenyra when she noticed the look.
After a while the younger ones were called by name one by one into the hall. Every time one left, there were yells calling loudly either GRYFFINDOR, SLYTHERIN, HUFFLEPUFF or RAVENCLAW.
The crowd was dwindling fast and Rhaenyra found herself getting nervous. She had heard some of the houses beforehand, so she knew the sorting would be partly based on character, personality and potential. However, she doubted how such a large number of students would fit so homogeneously into four different houses, which could determine the rest of their lives. Helaena, who had read about Hogwarts before they started school, had given the 'descriptions' of all the houses and Rhaenyra had no idea which one she or Helaena belonged to and didn't really care, as long as she was in the same house as her sister.
Their mother, Aemma, had once studied at Hogwarts and belonged to the Gryffindors. Courage and fearlessness did not sound like bad traits to have, especially since Rhaenyra was a future dragon rider who had many enemies because of her name alone and also because of her parents' involvement in the First Wizarding War. On the other hand, the Targaryens had a long history in England and many of their ancestors had been educated at the House of Slytherin at Hogwarts. On the other hand, Hufflepuff didn't sound bad either for their "ordinariness", because Rhaenyra just wanted her life to be ordinary for a change after a long summer. She didn't feel very hard-working, though. Ravenclaw seemed the least suitable house for her, because she didn't feel particularly thirsty for information and education.
Rhaenyra flinched at the voice of Helaena's name being called out. The last of the first years had already been sorted into their houses.
"Good luck," Rhaenyra muttered to her sister, who was now looking remarkably pale.
"For you too," Helaena replied and gave Rhaenyra's hand a little squeeze, then went through the door. Rhaenyra listened with her heart pounding so loudly that she was afraid she would not hear noises from the hall.
"HUFFLEPUFF," came the roar a moment later, followed by raucous cheers. Rhaenyra sighed and then grinned to herself in satisfaction. Of course Helaena was Hufflepuff, remembering the description of the house. Now she would just have to get into the same house. Her smile slowly faded as she thought about it and heard a voice inside her say nastily that she was not kind, hardworking or honest. Rhaenyra had always been much lazier than Helaena, and at times felt very selfish, and certainly not always honest. Rhaenyra felt a cold sweat on her skin and felt a little sick to think about it.
"Rhaenyra Targaryen," came the call, and she started to go for the door, stiff with dread. Rhaenyra took a deep breath at the door and put on what she hoped was the most confident and cool expression possible on her face, but probably looked just as terrified as she felt.
Entering the hall, Rhaenyra could not concentrate on anything but walking, feeling hundreds of eyes following her movements. The hall she had entered was huge, lit by thousands of candles, with four long tables filled with students of all ages. In addition to the four tables, there was a smaller table with the professors. She watched as Professor McGonagall, whom she had met earlier, gestured firmly toward her to join her. Rhaenyra went and sat stiffly in the chair the professor indicated. Once seated, McGonagall placed a sorting hat, which had seen its best days, on Rhaenyra's head.
"Ah, yes, yes. Yes, yes, hundreds of years have passed since the last Targaryen visited Hogwarts and now there are two of them at once. Courage you do have, like Gryffindor, but no, you're more cunning and ambitious like..." the hat spoke only to her, but then roared its last word. "SLYTHERIN!"
There was a faint and confused clapping in the hall from a long table decorated in green and silver, which was most obviously the Slytherin table. McGonagall lifted the sorting hat from her head, but Rhaenyra remained seated in dismay, refusing to understand what had happened. Rhaenyra didn't care that she didn't get as rapturous applause as Helaena, but watched as the stunned-looking students stared at her and began to chatter quietly amongst themselves. Rhaenyra felt the blood drain from her face and had to do her best not to burst into tears as she slowly realized she was not sorted in Hufflepuff like Helaena.
"Miss Targaryen, please go to the Slytherin table and we can start the feast," McGonagall said to Rhaenyra, who swallowed her tears, still frozen. She slowly got up and started walking towards the Slytherin table. Rhaenyra heard muttering and whispering in the hall and saw at the table some of them looking at her with interest and some with open disgust, and then she remembered what she had heard from her sister about the Slytherins. It was known for its dark wizards and sure enough, every single child of the Death Eater belonged to the Slytherin or else they would surely have been banned by their parents. Rhaenyra felt a chill and realized that she would have to live in the same house with the children of the Death Eaters who had killed her parents and younger brother. Alone. Rhaenyra sat down uncertainly at the end of the table next to the youngest of them all, not wanting to even go to guess who was her age and accidentally bump into the children of the Death Eaters. She swallowed hard and felt anxiety and anger surging inside her. She looked around for Helaena and finally found her watching her from across the hall with a similar expression on her face to the one she felt. Rhaenyra could distantly hear Headmaster Dumbledore start to speak and then someone else spoke as well, but she couldn't focus on the words from her anxiety.
Food came and went. Rhaenyra ate on her hunger without tasting much and concentrated only on swallowing her tears. Rhaenyra thought to herself that she must have been allowed to change her house, for she could not possibly understand how anyone would expect or allow her to stay in Slytherin knowing the background of the other Slytherins. Rhaenyra avoided the glances of everyone at the same table, not even wanting to know what the glances of the others said.
At the end of the feast, Rhaenyra and Helaena exchanged anxious glances and both nodded slightly in agreement. They got up and started to approach the end of the hall where all the teachers and the headmaster were. They made their way to McGonagall, who was standing talking to another teacher. As they approached, the teachers stopped talking and the other teacher left McGonagall with the girls.
"We need to be in the same house," Rhaenyra said, trying to sound as calm and confident as possible. Mcgarmiva raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"That is not possible. The houses that you were sorted into are permanent."
"You can't seriously expect me to stay in the same house with the children of the Death Eaters!" Now Rhaenyra's voice rose in anguish.
"Yes we can and we are. Those are serious allegations, Miss Targaryen. We will not allow old grudges and prejudices to guide our teaching at Hogwarts. Children are not their parents and are not responsible for the choices and actions of their parents," Mcgarmiva said sternly.
"Their parents killed my parents and my brother," Rhaenyra said quietly, frustrated and her voice breaking. McGonagall’s expression softened a little.
"There is no evidence of that. And even if there was, their children cannot be judged for the actions of their parents. I assure you that you will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts and I hope you will forget these prejudices against your housemates," McGonagall said seriously. "I think you will do very well in your new house, but no more of that for now," she said sternly, turning her stern gaze on Helaena. "The other Miss Targaryen is now good, and will accompany Miss Hannah Abbott to the Hufflepuff’s dormitories." McGonagall gestured in the direction of Hannah, who was standing nearby, with an exasperated expression, and left the girls after saying so, leaving the sisters to worry for themselves. Rhaenyra and Helaena exchanged pained glances and noticed a dark-haired man approaching them.
"Miss Targaryen, welcome to Slytherin. I'm Professor Severus Snape, head of the Slytherin house." Snape said in a sarcastic tone, apparently guessing that Rhaenyra was not pleased with her new house. Snape had long black greasy hair and dark eyes that looked at Rhaenyra with mock amusement. Snape turned his gaze to Helaena. "I understand you have been instructed to go to your own dormitories," Snape grunted in a way that made Hannah flinch and start to pull Helaena away. Helaena gave Rhaenyra's hand a little squeeze before she went with Hannah. Rhaenyra looked sadly after them and Snape pursed his lips sourly at Rhaenyra's dramatics.
"I've asked Miss Pansy Parkinson to help you settle into your new house. She's in the same year as you, so I'm sure she can give you the best support and friendship to make your stay in Slytherin as comfortable as possible," Snape grinned mockingly, implying the exact opposite of what he said. Snape nodded his head in the direction of the girl standing behind Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra turned to face the dark-haired girl. Pansy looked at her appraisingly from head to toe and then walked closer. Pansy had shoulder-length black hair and dark blue eyes.
"I'm Pansy Parkinson and I'm one of the prefects of the Slytherin house and I've agreed to show you the Slytherin rooms," Pansy smiled. Rhaenyra was wary, for Pansy exuded a veiled hostility despite her apparent friendliness. She had never heard of the Parkinson's before, and so she guessed that it had no direct connection with the Death Eaters. Pansy waited a moment, as if expecting Rhaenyra to say something, but Rhaenyra could not think of anything sensible to say, so she just stood silently, feeling foolish.
"Follow me," Pansy finally said.
The girls walked out of the hall with the others, without talking to each other any more. Rhaenyra concentrated on worrying about her fate and therefore didn't even pay much attention to where they were going before they started down the stairs. People around them whispered and glanced at Rhaenyra curiously and she avoided everyone's gazes as best as she could. As they descended the stairs, the atmosphere grew darker as the light dimmed and the air grew colder with each step, and Rhaenyra had a sinking suspicion that Pansy wasn't taking her to the Slytherin dormitory. Pansy noticed Rhaenyra's hesitation and rolled her eyes at her a little mockingly.
"The Slytherin dormitories are in a dungeons," Pansy said in a bored tone and continued walking down the stairs.
“Lovely,” Rhaenyra muttered, but she doubted that Pansy didn’t hear it. When they finally came down the stairs, they stopped in front of a stone wall with a huge snake carved into it.
"King of poisons," Pansy said to the snake. The snake started slithering on the wall and the stones moved to open the door to the Slytherin's dormitories and entered. Although the staircase leading to the dungeon had been cold, Slytherin's rooms were not. They were surprisingly comfortable and, above all, suitably warm.
"The password to the door is changed every two weeks and the password can be found on the notice board," Pansy gestured towards the wall, where the current password was actually written. "Telling passwords to anyone other than Slytherins is forbidden, as is letting other houses into Slytherins’ premises." Pansy paused hesitantly for a moment, then gringed at Rhaenyra. "By the way, you do understand English, don't you? The introduction will be a bit awkward if you don't understand anything I am saying. I hear you're from Bulgaria."
"I speak English," Rhaneyra muttered and grimaced.
"Good," Pansy grinned, then hesitated. "How did you get to come to Hogwarts in the middle of everything? Usually you have to be a student here from your first year."
Rhaenyra couldn't answer, so she just shrugged. Pansy had clearly been hoping for something juicier and looked a little disappointed.
"This is indeed the common room of the Slytherin house," Pansy gestured around her and Rhaenyra looked around. The walls were stone and the room was dimly lit. The interior was decorated in lush green, silver and other dark shades. A few other Slytherin sat on the dark sofas, watching the presentation with interest. Pansy, however, did not introduce them to Rhaenyra or Rhaenyra to them. They walked out of the common room into a long corridor that seemed to lead nowhere. The walls of the corridor had numbers one to seven on either side.
"On the right are the girls' rooms. The rooms are numbered according to what year you are in, so our room is number five," Pansy said and walked down the hall to the number five and then stepped straight through the wall under the number. Rhaenyra followed a moment later and stepped through the wall. Their sleeping quarters were large and circular, with huge beds a few feet apart near the walls. The ceiling was enchanted, reflecting the night sky. On two of the adjacent beds were two girls, one a petite dark-haired girl and the other taller with light brown hair. The girls stopped talking when Pansy and Rhaenyra entered.
"These are your roommates, Daphne Greengrass," Pansy pointed in the direction of the shorter girl, "and Tracey Davis," Pansy pointed to the taller girl," and then there's Millicent Bulstrode, but she hasn't come in yet," Pansy said. "That's your bed," Pansy pointed to the bed nearest the exit. At the head of the bed was a pile of Rhaenyra's belongings.
The introduction was clearly over since Pansy reached her own bed without saying anything more to Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra walked over to her new bed and began to dig out her things. The other girls made no attempt to speak to her, nor did Rhaenyra to them. After changing into her night clothes, Rhaenyra drew the curtains on her bed so she could have some privacy. She began to cry quietly and considered her options. Rhaenyra decided to write to her brother, demanding a response to being thrown into the mouth of the sharks at Hogwarts without her sister, and decided to deliver the letter first thing in the morning while going to see her dragons. Rhaenyra had been instructed that Hagrid, the key keeper, would take her to the dragons. Rhaenyra missed her dragons and wondered for a moment if she should sneak off to see them now, but decided she didn't want to spend the night wandering around a castle she didn't know, probably without even finding Hagrid.
Rhaenyra had not yet recognised any of the names of the Death Eaters she knew, and was relieved that at least the girls sharing her room were somewhat neutral. She hadn't felt this lonely even since her parents and Aemond's death, having had her dragons and Helaena with her, but now she had neither and was left to be completely alone. Rhaenyra was awake for a long time before finally falling asleep in the small hours of the morning.