The day Professor Dumbledore was set to arrive came a few days later.

The summer sun was just about to rise, meaning it was well earlier than eight o’clock in the morning, but Madame Maxine and I waited patiently…it was the morning after term had ended, so that meant everyone was busy rushing around packing. The remains of Aurélie Dumont had already gone home, as her funeral was to be held a few days later, and Madame Maxine was still furious with me, but it couldn’t be helped. She paced the floors nervously, heels clicking with each step. 

‘Dumbledore is late,’ she said, checking her watch again. 

He wasn’t, but I thought it unwise to argue with my former-headmistress.

With a loud pop, Dumbledore suddenly appeared in his causal emerald green robes.

‘Ah, Olympe. Looking as lovely as ever. How are you?’ He asked politely.

‘I’m fine, ‘ow are you, Dumbledore?’ replied Madame Maxine.

‘Excellent ,’ he said. ‘I’ve just discovered this amazing muggle sweet, given to me by a dear old friend. Chocolate cream filled cupcake. Would you care for one?’ Madame Maxine shook her head no. ‘Alright then. How are you, Miss Quinn?’ He suddenly looked serious. ‘I heard about the incident last night. If something like that at Hogwarts, then there will be consequences. Understand?’

I nod my head shakily. ‘Yes, Headmaster.’

‘Good. Right then, shall we get going?’

‘Au revior, Madame Maxine,’ I said in my very best French dialect. Even though I had done this four times already, I still got a pang of guilt in my chest when saying goodbye to my professors.

‘Au revior, Mademoiselle Quinn,’ replied Madame Maxine.

I grabbed Dumbledore’s arm holding my luggage, and not a second later they were gone with a pop, and we appeared in front of a very grand castle, almost as grand as my old academy’s one. Standing on the steps in front of us was a stern-faced woman, wearing a green dress and her dark hair tied in a bun, a pointy black hat pulled on top of it.

‘Miss Quinn, this is Professor McGonagall. She has offered to do your sorting and then will escort you down to the Great Hall for dinner. You can leave your luggage in the hallway, I can assure you it will make it safely to your room when you come looking for it,’ Dumbledore explained.

I nodded. After Dumbledore had left, I followed Professor McGonagall down a few hallways. I would never find my way around!

At long last, Professor McGonagall opened a door and went into one of the rooms. She gestured for me to sit down on the stool in the center of the room, before reaching up to a high shelf a bringing down an old brown wrinkly hat. She put the hat on my head, and it began to speak.

‘What a clever girl,’ it said mysteriously. ‘Very bright, I can see. Even most pure bloods can’t acquire the outstanding knowledge you have, very wise indeed. Brave, as well. Courageous and loyal. But all that talent, it will just be all wasted. Hmm…where to put you…’

I swallowed hard and deep. I didn’t know what any of the houses were like, so how could I root for my placement in any of them?

‘Oh, I think I better put you in…SLYTHERIN!’

I sighed. I had a house. Whatever being a Slytherin meant…

McGonagall escorted me down to the Great Hall. Through so many corridors and hallways and doors. When we arrived finally, I suddenly realized why it was truly called the Great Hall. The bewitched ceiling, the arched windows, the enormous room. It was remarkable. Excitement fluttered through her entire body.

‘That is where Slytherin sits,’ Professor McGonagall said calmly, directing a hand to one of the long dining tables. I sighed gratefully, before lowering myself down on the wooden bench. I fill my dinner plate with some food, and begin to eat quietly. I heard a blond-haired boy talking to a girl and boy in front of him.

‘Draco, who’s that?’ The girl asked curiously, noticing my loneliness.

‘Victoria Quinn,’ Draco answered. ‘She was expelled from her old academy, Beauxbaton’s.’ The girl gasped. ‘Don’t bother speaking to her, Mattheo. Her family’s bad news, I can tell.’

Sitting beside me, the boy, Mattheo, tapped me on the shoulder. ‘Is your family really bad news?’ He asked me. He sounded…friendly?

‘My parents are dead,’ I say, loud and clear. ‘Dumbledore took me in when I was expelled.’

The boy looked me in the eye, sadly, and looked away. I couldn’t bear for him to find out my secret, or anyone….