Virgina "Pepper" Potts (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notaweasley) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
accioavengers2012-06-03 02:35 am
notaweasley) wrote in accioavengers2012-06-03 02:35 am
Entry tags:
Sorting and House Loyalties
Virginia “Ginny” Potts had always told herself that House rivalries were petty and most people at school knew that was something she firmly believed in. But despite that, they would have been surprised if she had ever told them about her Sorting day.
She had known from a young age that she was going to one day attend Hogwarts, that much was certain. Her mother and father had been overjoyed and surprised respectively when she first displayed her magical powers at the age of three. Her mother’s paintbrush had suddenly lifted up into the air and began to paint a rather messy flower on the easel in front of it, but it was distinguishable nonetheless and enough to have her mother sweep her into her arms with a gleeful laugh and her father to drop the tea tray he had been bringing for them.
So when she attended Hogwarts, and got on the train with her cousin Henry preparing to make the trip her school for the next seven years, it was with a slightly heavy heart. It should have been her parents on the platform waving her off alongside her aunt and uncle and it shouldn’t have been just Henry who was kissing his parents good-bye – she should have too. Of course she adored Rachel and Joseph, but they weren’t her parents and the loss of them was still fresh for her despite their accident being several months ago. Her parents were the ones that she should have been writing letters to from the school about her lessons and her problems and about her day to day life but that would be a difficult feat since they were in a place that not even owls could fly to.
Despite that, she waved and blew kisses from the compartment before settling back to gaze at the passing scenery, scramble for treats from the cart and join in the bustle of the other first years. She forgot her momentary sadness with the journey across the lake and the entrance into the Great Hall and mourning was instead replaced by awe and wonder. The stories her mother told her were unfolding before her eyes and the pictures she used to paint suddenly seemed more real than they ever had before.
It was only when the sorting began that she could feel the heaviness in her heart again. Her mother had been a Gryffindor; full of life and daring and bravery and she had gone on and on about how she hadn’t ever wished to be any other house than that. She had often claimed that Ginny would love it there too and doubtless do great things. From that point on, Virginia had wanted nothing more than to be in Gryffindor too, feeling it would make her mother proud and bring her that much closer to being the woman she admired. But now, standing in that Great Hall with all the eyes on her, she wasn’t so sure she was brave of heart at all. When her name was finally called, she gently moved through the thinning group to the stool where the Hat sat and waited for it to be placed on her head.
“Well, well what do we have here? Not another Weasley clearly…otherwise it would have been off to Gryffindor for you.”
Her fingers rolled gently under the edge of the stool and she reminded herself to seem calm and collected on the outside even though she felt her heart fall. Despite that, the Hat continued whispering in her ear.
“Ah, what’s this? You want Gryffindor, don’t you? But that won’t do, it’s not the right house for you…Let’s see…hard working, patient, a bigger heart than you like to let on…clever and bright but a certain wanting for more than you have. You have ambition buried deep inside that heart of yours and you could do great things with it.”
Virginia took a little intake of breath, and her eyes travelled over to the table awash in green and silver almost as if realizing where the Hat was going to place her. It chuckled in her ear and her eyes bolted back to the front where she found Henry’s familiar face in the crowd.
“But you don’t want Slytherin do you? You’re much more humble than that…too humble in fact and much too loyal to go to a House where rivalries to Gryffindor run high. Are you sure? You could do great things there. Be the star you want to be and rise above the rest…No? Pity. Well then better be…Hufflepuff!”
She let out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding in when the House was announced and the table of yellow and black burst into applause. A bright smile was flashed to her cousin who was clapping along before she cast one last glance back at the Hat who was awaiting the next student. It seemed to smirk at her and perhaps it was a trick of the light but she could have sworn she saw it flicker its tip towards the Slytherin table. Immediately, she looked away and went to greet the cheerful faces that were waiting for her at the table and made a silent vow to herself: from that moment on, she’d work hard and become someone her parents could be proud of no matter what people said. More importantly, she’d become proud of herself and regardless of what house she was in, she’d be something great and she’d be certain to do it by her own terms.
She had known from a young age that she was going to one day attend Hogwarts, that much was certain. Her mother and father had been overjoyed and surprised respectively when she first displayed her magical powers at the age of three. Her mother’s paintbrush had suddenly lifted up into the air and began to paint a rather messy flower on the easel in front of it, but it was distinguishable nonetheless and enough to have her mother sweep her into her arms with a gleeful laugh and her father to drop the tea tray he had been bringing for them.
So when she attended Hogwarts, and got on the train with her cousin Henry preparing to make the trip her school for the next seven years, it was with a slightly heavy heart. It should have been her parents on the platform waving her off alongside her aunt and uncle and it shouldn’t have been just Henry who was kissing his parents good-bye – she should have too. Of course she adored Rachel and Joseph, but they weren’t her parents and the loss of them was still fresh for her despite their accident being several months ago. Her parents were the ones that she should have been writing letters to from the school about her lessons and her problems and about her day to day life but that would be a difficult feat since they were in a place that not even owls could fly to.
Despite that, she waved and blew kisses from the compartment before settling back to gaze at the passing scenery, scramble for treats from the cart and join in the bustle of the other first years. She forgot her momentary sadness with the journey across the lake and the entrance into the Great Hall and mourning was instead replaced by awe and wonder. The stories her mother told her were unfolding before her eyes and the pictures she used to paint suddenly seemed more real than they ever had before.
It was only when the sorting began that she could feel the heaviness in her heart again. Her mother had been a Gryffindor; full of life and daring and bravery and she had gone on and on about how she hadn’t ever wished to be any other house than that. She had often claimed that Ginny would love it there too and doubtless do great things. From that point on, Virginia had wanted nothing more than to be in Gryffindor too, feeling it would make her mother proud and bring her that much closer to being the woman she admired. But now, standing in that Great Hall with all the eyes on her, she wasn’t so sure she was brave of heart at all. When her name was finally called, she gently moved through the thinning group to the stool where the Hat sat and waited for it to be placed on her head.
“Well, well what do we have here? Not another Weasley clearly…otherwise it would have been off to Gryffindor for you.”
Her fingers rolled gently under the edge of the stool and she reminded herself to seem calm and collected on the outside even though she felt her heart fall. Despite that, the Hat continued whispering in her ear.
“Ah, what’s this? You want Gryffindor, don’t you? But that won’t do, it’s not the right house for you…Let’s see…hard working, patient, a bigger heart than you like to let on…clever and bright but a certain wanting for more than you have. You have ambition buried deep inside that heart of yours and you could do great things with it.”
Virginia took a little intake of breath, and her eyes travelled over to the table awash in green and silver almost as if realizing where the Hat was going to place her. It chuckled in her ear and her eyes bolted back to the front where she found Henry’s familiar face in the crowd.
“But you don’t want Slytherin do you? You’re much more humble than that…too humble in fact and much too loyal to go to a House where rivalries to Gryffindor run high. Are you sure? You could do great things there. Be the star you want to be and rise above the rest…No? Pity. Well then better be…Hufflepuff!”
She let out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding in when the House was announced and the table of yellow and black burst into applause. A bright smile was flashed to her cousin who was clapping along before she cast one last glance back at the Hat who was awaiting the next student. It seemed to smirk at her and perhaps it was a trick of the light but she could have sworn she saw it flicker its tip towards the Slytherin table. Immediately, she looked away and went to greet the cheerful faces that were waiting for her at the table and made a silent vow to herself: from that moment on, she’d work hard and become someone her parents could be proud of no matter what people said. More importantly, she’d become proud of herself and regardless of what house she was in, she’d be something great and she’d be certain to do it by her own terms.