Chapter 2
"There are four layers and two parts to the Royal Hierarchy. Kings/Queens are at the top of part one. Princes/Princesses are at the top of part two. Then, in part one is the Kings/Queens' Nobles. The same in part two but they're the Princes/Princesses' Nobles. After that in part one is the Kings/Queens' Knights. The same in part two for the Princes/Princesses. Last is everyone else. They're classed as Commoners. The overall hierarchy of each House is King/Queen, Prince/Princess, King/Queen Nobles, Prince/Princess Nobles, King/Queen Knights, Prince/Princess Knights and then the Commoners. Each Hogwarts House's hierarchy has no influence over those in other Houses (even the Royals)."
"Do the Professors know about the hierarchy?"
"It's been a thing since Hogwarts started but it's also a thing that the Professors pretend it doesn't exist and don't try to find out who are members of the Royal Courts. If you win the challenge for Ravenclaw and Slytherin, you'll be the first heir of more than one Hogwarts House to attend/rule in Hogwarts. You'd have a Royal Court made up of Ravenclaws and Slytherins. Each level has rules for how many you can have but exceptions can be made. There's only supposed to be one Prince/Princess and one King/Queen in each House but the Weasley twins, Fred and George, are both the Gryffindor's Princes. When Oliver Wood finishes school, he's going to be a fifth-year and Gryffindor's new Quidditch Captain, they'll both be Gryffindor's Kings. However, they can still only select one new Prince/Princess to be King/Queen when they finish. They're going to be third-years."
"So, how many Nobles and Knights can I have?"
"Typically, you'd have two Nobles and three to five Knights. However, as you'd have two Houses, that wouldn't be fair. So, my guess is you'd have three to four Nobles with at least one Noble being from each House. You'd probably have four to six Knights with at least two Knights being from each House."
"Ok... Are you sure I can't try out for the Quidditch team? It seems like it'd be a lot of fun." Archie chuckled at my words.
"Maybe next year. First-years aren't allowed to try out for the team." He laughed when I pouted in response to his words so I pushed him. He just laughed more.
...
I got on the train, took the first empty compartment and pulled out the Standard Book of Spells - Grade 3. I've already made it through the first two. Halfway through the book, a boy knocked on the door. I put the book down and opened the door. "Yes?"
"Ha- Have you- Seen a- A toad? I l- Lost T- T- Trevor. I- I'm N- N- Neville," he whimpered through his tears. God, he's pathetic.
"No. But I'll help you look." We split up and searched the train. I got to the last compartment I was supposed to search and there were two boys in it. The black-haired, green-eyed boy spotted me before his red-headed, blue-eyed friend. The redhead had his wand out and cleared his throat before the other boy nudged him and they both looked at me. "Have either of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one." They both shrugged and I looked back at the redhead's wand. "Are you doing magic? Let's see then." The boy cleared his throat again and pointed his wand at his rat.
"Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!" There was a yellow flash of light and the rat squeaked but that was it. I scoffed.
"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? Of course, I've only tried a few simple spells myself. But they've all worked for me." I walked opposite the black-haired boy and sat down. I pulled my wand out and pointed it at the boy's glasses. His eyes went wide. "For example, Oculus Reparo." The boy's glasses fixed themselves. He took them off his face, looked at them in disbelief and put them back on. I noticed his scar. "You're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger." I looked at the other boy. He looked really embarrassed and angry that I'd shown him up. "And, you are?"
"Who the hell do you think you are? You filthy, little Mudblood!" He spat. I felt his magic try to push mine to submit. I saw Harry look at the boy before looking at me and his magic joined the other boy's magic and tried to force mine to submit. I easily pushed their magic back and forced them onto their knees with my magic.
"Never try that again. Do you understand?" They nodded and I let go of my magic. They sighed in relief and sat back down.
"I'm Ron Weasley. Sorry about that. I shouldn't have challenged someone clearly a lot more magically powerful than myself."
"Well, at least now we know who's our leader," Harry grinned. "What House are you hoping for? We need to know what House we're following our leader into."
"Slytherin." They didn't look surprised. They just nodded and started to talk about Quidditch. I looked at them both and debated whether or not to tell them everything. I decided to tell them. Ron was clearly not a Blood Traitor like the rest of his family if he called me a Mudblood and Harry didn't ask what a Mudblood is so he knows and didn't mind Ron using the word... I'll tell them and if they don't like it, I'll just Oblitivate them. I told them everything and, while they were shocked about who my father was, they both agreed they'd still follow me.
"I've always been that Weasley boy. The one no one can remember. Even my parents forget my name sometimes. Fred and George are twins and pranksters. Percy is a Prefect, gets excellent grades and will probably be Head Boy. Charlie was Quidditch Captain and Bill was Head Boy and the eldest. Anything I do they've already done and Ginny is the only girl. I never stand out. I'm tired of being the one everyone always forgets. The Weasleys have always been Sorted into Gryffindor. Maybe getting Sorted into a different House will be the thing that makes me stand out. That makes people finally remember who I am and that I exist," Ron said.
"I don't want to be the boy who lived. I just want to be free. Free of others' expectations. Free from the Dursleys. Free to be me. I'll still follow you, Hermione." Ron asked him about the Dursleys and Harry told us everything. I told him about how Dumbledore was his magical guardian and put him there. It's safe to say Harry kind of hates Dumbledore now.
...
"Hermione Granger," Professor McGonagall called and I walked over to her, sat down and Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on my head.
"Hello, Miss Riddle... Hmm... This is difficult. You're a great fit for Ravenclaw. Very intelligent. Always pursue knowledge. Very creative with your fantasies. As violent as they are... And Hufflepuff. Very loyal to your parents even though you only recently found out about them and haven't even met them yet. You work very hard all the time to be the best. Very patient. Willing to wait for the best opportunity... And Gryffindor. Very courageous. You never give in to your fear. The very few times you've felt it. You're not afraid to stand up for yourself. However, you're not very chivalrous, are you? And Slytherin... My... You're a perfect fit for Slytherin. Even more so than Ravenclaw, although you'd still fit in perfectly there. Probably because, as a Ravenclaw and Slytherin heir, the traits of the Houses are not only present in you but have passed down through the bloodline. Slytherin... You're very ambitious. Even more so than any other Slytherin I've Sorted in the last few decades. You're very resourceful. We've already been over your intelligence and your determination rivals even that of Salazar Slytherin himself. There is nowhere else to Sort you, my dear. SLYTHERIN!" The Sorting Hat yelled. I gave the Sorting Hat back to Professor McGonagall and walked over to Archie.
"Hey, Archie."
"Congratulations, little snake." I sat down next to him and made sure to leave space for Harry and Ron between the two of us. "Little snake?"
"I'm expecting two other... Unexpected... Additions to Slytherin." I grinned at Archie.
"Who?"
"Harry Potter and Ron Weasley." A girl opposite us snorted and the girl sitting next to her chuckled. The only ones Sorted into Slytherin before me were Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis. So the boys sitting next to them are Crabbe and Goyle... No idea which is which, though. I was too busy talking to Harry and Ron to notice anything other than their names.
"Neither of them will be Sorted into Slytherin. They'll be Gryffindors. I'm Tracey Davis, by the way," said the girl who chuckled.
"Millicent Bulstrode," said the other girl. The boys introduced themselves too. Archie and I gave them our names and a girl came over and sat next to us.
"Hi, I'm Daphne Greengrass. Hey, Millie." All of us except for Millicent introduced ourselves again. "What are you all talking about?"
"Granger, here, seems to think Potter and Weasley will be Slytherins," Millicent said and Daphne gave a polite, lady-like chuckle. I didn't even know kids could chuckle like that.
"Oh, really? 5 Galleons says otherwise."
"If you're really that confident, Daphne, then 5 Galleons for each boy." She held her hand out and I shook it.
"Deal," Daphne said and I smirked at her.
"Too easy." A boy named Draco Malfoy, another boy named Theodore Nott and a girl named Pansy Parkinson joined us before it was Harry's turn. Daphne explained our bet to the others as I focused on Harry's Sorting.
"Granger seems to think Potter and Weasley will be Slytherins. We've bet 5 Galleons on each boy. That's why she's focusing on Potter so intently," Daphne said. Harry's Sorting seemed to be taking a few minutes. Harry and I made eye contact for a few seconds and I saw Harry's resolve harden.
"Slytherin!" The Sorting Hat yelled and the whole Great Hall was silent. Harry handed the Sorting Hat back and I started clapping as he made his way over. Ron joined in and I leaned over to shove Archie. Archie started clapping too and so did the other Slytherin first years. Eventually, all of Slytherin joined in as Harry sat down next to Archie. I moved over to sit next to him. I grinned at him.
"Daphne, you owe me 5 Galleons."
"You bet on me?"
"And Ron."
"Makes sense. I did tell you I'd follow whatever House you were Sorted into and Ron said the same. Can't exactly be in a different House to our fearless leader now, can we?" Everyone was silent at Harry's words. The same thing that happened with Harry's Sorting happened with Ron's. It took a few minutes, Ron and I made eye contact and a few seconds later the Sorting Hat declared him a Slytherin. The Great Hall went silent other than Harry, Archie and I clapping before other Slytherin first years joined in and then the rest of Slytherin. Ron sat down on my other side. There was only space left for one person on our side of the bench now. Which was good because only one other was Sorted into Slytherin. His name was Blaise Zabini.
"So, Daphne now owes you 10 Galleons, huh?" Ron asked as Harry explained my and Daphne's bet to him.
"Yep," I said. "However, since it was you two getting Sorted that made me that money, it's only fair that, out of the five Galleons I made on each of you, you each get three." Ron went to protest but I stopped him. "Don't." Ron stayed silent.
...