Chapter 6
The Sorting Hat settled on Jinx’s head, its wide brim nearly covering her golden eyes. She sat perfectly still, hands folded in her lap, her expression unreadable as the Hat began to deliberate.
“Ah, well, this is... interesting,” the Hat mused, its voice a soft whisper only Jinx could hear. “Quite a complex mind you have, my dear. Sharp, cunning, driven... but where to put you? Let’s explore, shall we?”
Jinx raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. “Just pick one,” she murmured, low enough that no one but the Hat could hear.
“Patience, child. This is important. Now, let’s see... Slytherin seems an obvious choice. Resourceful, ambitious, you carry that Snape name, and oh, yes, you certainly have the temperament for it. You could achieve greatness there.”
Jinx stiffened, a shadow crossing her face. “I am me. I’d rather not have a name define me.”
The Hat chuckled. “Fair enough. Perhaps Gryffindor then? You’re certainly brave, fearless, even. That little stunt on the train proves as much. Charging into things without hesitation... but, hmm, no. There’s something about you that doesn’t quite fit their mold. Too calculating, perhaps.”
“Thank Merlin,” Jinx muttered.
“Still, you value loyalty,” the Hat continued, ignoring her remark. “Hufflepuff could give you the steady foundation you’ve lacked, the acceptance you secretly crave. Yes, you might thrive there, finding kinship and camaraderie.”
Jinx’s lips twitched, almost into a smirk. “Kind of you to assume I crave anything. Hufflepuff’s lovely, I’m sure, but I doubt I’d fit in.”
“Ah, deflecting, are we? Very well,” the Hat said, a note of amusement in its tone. “That leaves Ravenclaw. A curious mind, sharp as a blade, always questioning, always learning. You don’t just want answers, you demand them. I see your thirst for knowledge, your relentless pursuit of understanding. Yes... perhaps Ravenclaw.”
Jinx tilted her head slightly. “Perhaps?”
“You challenge even me,” the Hat replied. “You are not one to follow blindly. A seeker of truth, yet unafraid to break the rules to find it. Yes, yes, Ravenclaw. That’s where you belong.”
The Hat suddenly raised its voice, declaring for all to hear: “Ravenclaw!”
The Ravenclaw table erupted into applause, though there was a clear undercurrent of curiosity among the students. Jinx removed the hat and handed it back to Professor McGonagall, her expression as calm and composed as ever.
Without missing a beat, she strode toward the Ravenclaw table, her movements light and confident. When she reached the table, however, her composed demeanor shifted ever so slightly. She bounced onto the bench with a surprising amount of energy, flashing the other Ravenclaws with a wide, mischievous grin.
“Ravenclaw, huh?” she said, leaning her elbows on the table. “Guess I’ll have to start living up to the reputation.”
A few of the students exchanged glances, clearly unsure what to make of her. Harry, still seated at the Gryffindor table, couldn’t help but chuckle. He’d seen the sharp edge to Jinx’s personality, but now, for the first time, he glimpsed something lighter, almost playful.
Ron leaned over, muttering, “Ravenclaw? Didn’t see that coming. Thought for sure she’d be in Slytherin.”
Hermione huffed softly. “She doesn’t fit into one box, Ron. The Hat knows what it’s doing.”
Jinx caught sight of Fred and George Weasley at the Gryffindor table, their faces scrunched up in comically exaggerated pouts, complete with dramatic hand gestures of mock despair. Her purple eyes narrowed in amused challenge, the corners of her mouth quirking upward in a sly grin.
Without hesitation, and to the astonishment of everyone watching, she stood up from the Ravenclaw table.
“Wait, what is she doing?” Hermione asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
Ron leaned forward, his eyes wide. “Is she allowed to do that? Can you just... switch tables?”
Harry, on the other hand, felt a grin creeping onto his face. Of course, Jinx would do something like this.
Jinx strolled over to the Gryffindor table with the kind of confidence that turned heads, her Ravenclaw tie slightly askew and her robes swishing behind her. She plopped down on the bench between the twins, throwing an arm around each of them.
“Miss me already?” she teased, her tone dripping with mock sincerity.
Fred put a hand to his chest, pretending to swoon. “Oh, terribly. The heartbreak was almost too much to bear.”
George nodded solemnly. “We were this close to storming the Ravenclaw table and demanding they give you back.”
Jinx laughed, a sound that drew a few surprised glances from nearby students. “Well, lucky for you, I have no interest in sitting with a bunch of stuffy know-it-alls.”
From the Ravenclaw table, a few students exchanged baffled looks, while others seemed vaguely offended. Meanwhile, the Gryffindors erupted into whispers, clearly trying to figure out if Jinx had just defied some unspoken rule of Hogwarts decorum.
Professor McGonagall, seated at the staff table, arched an eyebrow but said nothing, her lips twitching as though she was fighting back a smile.
“You do realize you’re going to get in trouble for this,” Hermione said, though there was a faint note of admiration in her voice.
Jinx leaned back casually, snagging a roll from a nearby plate. “What’s the point of rules if you don’t bend them now and then?”
Harry chuckled, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure if Jinx was chaotic or brilliant, maybe both.
“You’re a Ravenclaw,” Ron pointed out, still looking bewildered. “Aren’t you supposed to care about, I don’t know, following rules and learning stuff?”
Jinx smirked, tossing a piece of bread at him. “Who says I can’t do both?”
Fred and George burst out laughing, raising their goblets in a mock toast. “To Jinx Snape,” Fred declared. “The first Ravenclaw who doesn’t play by the rules!”
George grinned. “You’re an honorary Gryffindor now. No take-backs.”
Jinx gave an exaggerated bow, still seated. “I humbly accept.”
Harry caught Hermione rolling her eyes, though she was clearly trying to suppress a smile. It was only the first night, and Jinx was already making her mark on Hogwarts.
As the feast wound down, the students began trickling out of the Great Hall, heading towards their respective common rooms. Jinx remained seated at the Gryffindor table with Fred and George, her arms crossed as though daring anyone to tell her to leave.
“Well, Jinx,” Fred began, his tone mournful as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “It seems this is goodbye.”
George sighed theatrically, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
Jinx rolled her eyes but played along, slumping dramatically against Fred. “I’ll miss you both terribly. Promise me you won’t forget me.”
“Forget you?” Fred gasped, clutching his chest as though wounded. “Impossible!”
“Unthinkable!” George added, leaning into the melodrama.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched the exchange with varying degrees of amusement and exasperation. Ron muttered under his breath, “They’re all mental.”
Jinx stood up suddenly, tossing her head back with an air of mock tragedy. “Fine! I’ll go to my Ravenclaw tower, but only because I have no other choice. Farewell, my dear Gryffindors. Think of me fondly!”
Fred grabbed her hand as if to stop her. “Wait! One last thing!”
Jinx raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Fred smirked. “Promise us you’ll bring chaos to Ravenclaw. They’ll never know what hit them.”
Jinx grinned wickedly. “Oh, you can count on it.”
With that, she finally made her way out of the Great Hall, leaving behind a few chuckling Gryffindors and more than a few confused looks from the Ravenclaws.
Jinx climbed the stairs to the Ravenclaw tower, her steps echoing in the quiet corridor. When she reached the door, a bronze eagle knocker spoke in a calm, melodic voice.
“I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?”
Jinx paused, tilting her head thoughtfully. “A shadow? No, wait… sound.”
The door clicked open, revealing the Ravenclaw common room, a serene and elegant space bathed in silver and blue tones. She glanced around, her golden eyes gleaming with interest.
“Not bad,” she murmured to herself, tossing her bag onto a nearby chair.
Making her way to the girls’ dormitory, Jinx found her bed, neatly made, with soft blue blankets and a small nightstand beside it. She flopped onto it unceremoniously, staring up at the ceiling.
“Ravenclaw, huh?” she muttered, a small smile playing on her lips. “Guess we’ll see how this goes.”
The day had been chaotic, and the night stretched ahead, quiet and full of possibility. For now, though, she closed her eyes and let herself drift to sleep, her mind already buzzing with ideas for tomorrow.
The next morning, the Great Hall buzzed with the usual chatter of students reuniting after the summer break. Plates piled high with food lined the tables, and the smell of toast and bacon filled the air. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, mid-conversation, when Jinx strode in.
Heads turned immediately.
She was wearing her Ravenclaw uniform, but only barely. The crisp white shirt was cropped, revealing a sliver of skin above the waistband of her trousers. She had loosely looped her Ravenclaw tie, still blue and bronze, around her neck, as an afterthought. The trousers, intended to be full length, had been shortened to just below the knee, leaving the raw edges slightly frayed. Completing the look were a pair of heavy, scuffed black boots that thudded against the stone floor as she walked.
Without hesitation, she made a beeline for the Gryffindor table and plopped down between Fred and George, grabbing a slice of toast from Fred’s plate.
The reactions came in waves.
Viktor, seated at the staff table, let out a long, exasperated sigh, rubbing his temples. “It is not even one day into the term,” he muttered to Jayce, who was unsuccessfully trying to suppress a grin.
Severus Snape’s dark eyes narrowed as he observed his ward from across the hall. His lips thinned into a line of disapproval, but there was a flicker of something in his expression, resignation. Of course, she would do this. Why wouldn’t she?
Meanwhile, Fred and George delighted in the situation. Fred draped an arm around Jinx’s shoulders, grinning broadly. “Now this is what I call school spirit!”
George nodded in agreement, nudging her. “The boots really tie it all together. Makes a statement, doesn’t it?”
Harry, seated across from them, was trying very hard not to laugh, his hand covering his mouth. The sheer audacity of her outfit, and the fact that she’d come to sit with them instead of her own house, was just so Jinx.
Ron, on the other hand, looked utterly baffled. “Is she… allowed to do that? Aren’t there rules or something?”
Hermione’s jaw was practically on the table, her cheeks flushed with outrage. “Rules? Of course, there are rules, Ron! You can’t just… just mutilate the uniform like that! And she’s not even sitting at her house table!”
Draco Malfoy, passing by on his way to the Slytherin table, stopped short. His grey eyes widened as he took in the sight. “What is she wearing?” he hissed, his voice dripping with disdain. “It’s a disgrace! Even for a Ravenclaw.”
Jinx, entirely unbothered by the commotion, tore into her toast with a satisfied grin. “Good morning to you too, Malfoy.” She leaned back casually, propping her boots on the edge of the table, much to Hermione’s horror.
“Feet off the table!” Hermione snapped, glaring at her.
“What?” Jinx smirked, tilting her head innocently. “I’m just getting comfortable.”
Snape stood abruptly, his robes billowing as he swept toward the Gryffindor table. Jinx noticed him coming and gave a mock gasp. “Oh no, here comes the fun police.”
“Miss Snape,” he said, his voice low and menacing, “a word. Now.”
Fred leaned over, whispering loudly, “Bet you a Galleon she talks her way out of it.”
George grinned. “You’re on.”
As Snape turned to lead her away, Jinx stood and shot the twins a wink. “Hold my toast,” she said with a smirk, tossing the crust to Fred.
Harry couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, much to Hermione’s continued dismay.
Across the hall, Jayce turned to Viktor and shook his head. “We’re going to need stronger coffee for the rest of the year, aren’t we?”
“Da,” Viktor said with a long-suffering sigh. “Stronger coffee. And a miracle.”
A couple of minutes later, the Great Hall doors swung open, and all eyes turned as Jinx and Severus Snape re-entered.
Jinx was bouncing on the balls of her boots, her smile as wide and mischievous as ever. She looked entirely unbothered, if anything, more energized, while Snape trailed behind her, his expression a mixture of resignation and utter defeat. He pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering something under his breath that no one could quite catch.
The twins exchanged a gleeful look. George groaned and reached into his pocket, pulling out a shiny Galleon, which he slapped into Fred’s outstretched palm. “Should’ve seen that coming,” he muttered.
Fred beamed, tucking the coin away triumphantly. “Never bet against a Snape,” he quipped, winking at Jinx as she sauntered back to her seat at the Gryffindor table.
Harry, who had been trying to hold back laughter since Jinx left, couldn’t take it anymore. He burst into uncontrollable laughter, doubling over as his shoulders shook. The absurdity of the situation, Snape, defeated by his own ward, and Jinx acting as though nothing had happened, was too much.
Hermione, on the other hand, looked as though she might combust. Her mouth opened and closed, her face an impressive shade of red. “What… how… He let her off? Like that?” she sputtered, gesturing wildly toward Jinx.
Draco, seated a few tables away, was equally aghast. He stared, slack-jawed, before snapping out of it and glaring in Snape’s direction. “Professor Snape,” he hissed, his tone dripping with indignation. “Surely, you didn’t just… let her get away with that! It’s an insult to the rules!”
Snape shot Draco a withering glare, one that immediately silenced the Slytherin. He muttered something about “choosing his battles” before retreating to the staff table, his robes billowing behind him.
Ron, meanwhile, was simply confused. “Wait, so… nothing happened? At all? She didn’t even get detention?”
Hermione folded her arms tightly, glaring at Jinx as though she could will her into feeling remorse. “This is completely unacceptable! How is anyone supposed to take the rules seriously if she gets to flout them whenever she wants?”
Jinx flopped back down between Fred and George, grabbing a muffin from the table and biting into it with relish. “Oh, relax, Granger,” she said through a mouthful of blueberry. “It’s just clothes.”
“It’s the principle,” Hermione shot back.
Harry wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. “I don’t know, Hermione. I think it’s hilarious.”
Jinx gave Harry a mock bow. “Thank you, little birdy.”
Hermione’s brow furrowed, but before she could ask what that meant, Draco stood abruptly and marched off toward the Slytherin table, muttering furiously under his breath about “favoritism” and “unbelievable.”
Ron scratched his head, glancing between the retreating Draco and the still-fuming Hermione. “Well,” he said, shrugging, “at least breakfast is entertaining this year.”
George nudged Jinx, grinning. “And that’s how you make an entrance.”
Harry laughed again, while Hermione groaned into her hands. It was shaping up to be quite the year.