Puppet Strings (Hogwarts x Reader)

Chapter 2

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Keagan, Bo!" A pink-faced girl with a brown braid stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down.

A moment's pause —

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Bo went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Y/n saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Pratchett, Hailey!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Hailey scuttled off to sit next to Bo.

"Bits, John!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with John as he joined them.

"Johnson, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Smith, Sophia" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers.

Y/n was starting to feel a bit more nervous, now.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon" ... , "Nott" ... , "Pakvi" ... , then "Picket, Sally" ... , and then, at last —

"Potter, Y/n!"

As Y/n stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"Like Harry Potter?"

"There's another? But I thought—"

The last thing Y/n saw before the hat dropped over her eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at her. Next second she was looking at the black inside of the hat. She waited.

"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. So much like your brother, but all at once so unlike your brother."

What does that mean? Y/n thought bitterly.

The hat seemed to ignore her. "Interesting, interesting. I see ambition, but with that comes the overlap of bravery, yes... A true Thunderbird, but you could have been a Wampus...."

What does that have to do with anything?

The hat again ignored her. "Hmm...there is something inside you, something that I can't quite put my finger on....something your brother didn't have...let's see...better be—SLYTHERIN!"

Y/n heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. Her heart plummeted, and she took off the hat. The lights from the Great Hall blinded her and she blinked. She caught sight of Professor McGonagall's face. There was something in her expression, but Y/n couldn't read it. The woman took her wand and muttered something, then flicked it towards Y/n. The crest on her robe changed from the four houses to the emerald green of the Slytherin serpent. It seemed as if her fate was sealed.

She walked shakily toward the Slytherin table and sat down. She was greeted warmly from a few of the girls, but a good number of them were giving her odd looks. She didn't blame them—she knew that most people probably expected her to be in Gryffindor.

She looked over at the Gryffindor table. Ron's jaw was dropped, but he shut it and looked away when he saw Y/n watching him. Some of the Gryffindor's looked almost betrayed, as if they wanted to scream, No, hey, the Potters belong in Gryffindor!