"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."
"Addams, Richard!" A blonde haired boy with freckles on his cheeks nervously walked towards the stool. He sat there, and Lyra could tell his hands were shaking, but then the Hat screamed out,
"Hufflepuff!" The boy then let out a breath of relief before hopping out of the stool and running towards the Hufflepuff table.
Another student was called, and he ended up in Hufflepuff too, before Sirius was called out.
"Black, Sirius."
The Great Hall went silent, the Heir of the Noble house of Black, he surely would be placed in Slytherin. But hearing such powerful name caused the Hall to quiet down.
Lyra turned to the boy, who she knew was taking a deep breath, before putting on a confident face, and strutting over to the stool. It took a longer time to sort him, for about two minutes, before the hat called out,
"Gryffindor!"
Sirius stared ahead of him with wide eyes, before his face broke out into a grin. The Hall was dead silent, but then the Gryffindor table burst into cheers. The boy hopped out of the stool, walked past them and sent a wink towards James and Lyra, who lightly rolled their eyes.
The Sorting went on, and when it came to the letter H, her name was called out.
"Hyperion, Lyra."
The Great Hall grew silent once more. She knew her father was famous, and she missed her first sorting. The name Carrington didn't seem to be too praised, they were a very respected and rich family, but not that famous.
So, the girl simply rolled her eyes and confidently walked towards the stool. She saw Professor McGonagall raise an eyebrow at her confidence, and she noticed there was a bit of curiosity on Dumbledore's eyes. She tried to ignore him, not used to seeing the look on his face. As far as she knew, Dumbledore was sort of all-knowing.
And knowing something more than Dumbledore gave her great satisfaction. Oh how the tables have turned. She thought, Dumbledore knew about horcruxes because of Slughorn, and right now, he had no clue.
The hat was placed on top of her head, before it burst into life.
"Ah.. Miss Hyperion, we meet again. Or Miss Carrington, I should say?"
Luckily for her, only she could hear what the Sorting Hat said, if everyone else could hear them, she was ultimately screwed.
The Sorting Hat is a form of magic, not tied into one timeline, she remembered.
"Brilliant, still as intelligent as ever! More so, I dare say. I stand by what I said in the future, Miss Hyperion. You'd do great in Ravenclaw, but alas, you're still a lion by heart. Good luck on this life, Miss Hyperion. Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor table burst into claps and cheers, Lyra had a proud grin on her face when she hopped off the stool and walked towards the Gryffindor table. Moments later, the sorting was done, and Dumbledore started his annual speech, before he said two words Lyra wanted to hear.
"Tuck in!"
Various kinds of food appeared within their sight, and Lyra immediately tucked in. While she was enjoying her meal, and conversation, she felt someone poking in her head. She immediately snapped her head, and made eye contact with Dumbledore, she gave him a blank stare, and from beside him, she could see McGonagall whisper something on his ear, staring at her.
She raised an eyebrow at the two, causing them to be taken aback, before she turned around once more and continued he conversation.
"What about you, Lyra? Favorite Quidditch team?"
"Puddlemere United." She told them.
"You like them just because Oliver was in it." Harry scoffed.
"Shut up, Harold." Lyra said.
Lyra blushed at those words, only Harry knew of her crush on the boy. She had been on the same year, and the only reason she never played was because she was too busy staring at him. Truth to be told, Lyra would admit that she's a bloody good player, better than Harry, dare she say.
"It's Harry." the boy grumbled.
But she wouldn't dare play in front of Oliver, because she knew he'd insist she play, and she could never say no to the Scottish boy. If she did play, she'd definitely lose the game, her eyes would always trail over to the keeper. So, she kept Quidditch as her hidden talent. Perhaps she'd play this time.
The last time she's heard of Oliver, was around two weeks before her death. Oliver sent her a letter, asking her about how she was doing, and if she needed any help. Of course, she gave him a brief reply, considering it was dangerous to send letters that time around. The pair remained close friends even after they graduated Hogwarts.
-------
The semester finally settled, and the first years felt the pressure of their subjects, except for one, of course.
Lyra had no struggles with her studies, always the first on to finish her assignments, but rarely raising her hand in classes. She usually left that job to Lily. However, the first Potions class she had was definitely interesting.
Slughorn assigned the students to brew a forgetfulness potions, quiet harsh for their first lesson, but Lyra reckoned that Slughorn wanted to test the students' limits. Lyra simply shrugged at his request and took out her cauldron, which managed to catch the attention of Slughorn, and most of the students.
"What's this? This isn't a standard size 2 pewter cauldron! Merlin's beard, Miss Hyperion, a standard size 2 Copper Cauldron?"
"A standard size 2 pewter cauldron can only hold so much potions being brewed, Professor. Using the same cauldron for more than 6 times would make it quiet difficult to clean. However, a copper cauldron, would be easier to clean, the ingredients wouldn't be stuck to it's material during brewing a potion, so I prefer an easier way. Unless someone else would like to clean my cauldron spotless." She explained.
Slughorn seemed taken aback at her knowledge, but nodded in satisfaction.
"5 points to Gryffindor for brilliant knowledge, Miss Hyperion."
Lyra simply beamed before gathering her ingredients. She did not even take out her textbook, which her friends and the Professor noticed.
"Do you not need your textbook to find the right ingredients, Hyperion? Wouldn't want your precious cauldron to be flawed, would you?" Sirius snickered sarcastically, causing some students to roar with laughter.
"If you haven't noticed, Black. I'm collecting the right ingredients, or do you not know what the ingredients look like, Mr. Black?" She retorted, barely glancing at the boy. James snorted at the comment, and Remus hid a smile, while Sirius huffed lightly.
Lyra then went back to her table and pulled out her wand, muttering,
"Glacius." A shot of translucent blue light shot out of her wand and towards the cauldron.
Lyra nodded in satisfaction, before pouring 5 cups of water and 6 tablespoons of Scurvygrass.
"Incendio." A small burst of fire lit up under the cauldron.
She brought the ingredients to a full rolling boil and added the Lovage slowly. Stirring the ingredients clockwise 6 times, she added the sneezewart. Her potion turned into a deep sapphire blue color. She continued stirring counter clockwise twice, and adding the crocodile heart. Letting the potion boil for four minutes exactly, she stirred once clockwise. She noticed the ingredients completely blended together, before pointing her wand to the fire and reducing the heat. She then added the dried and ground hellebore to her potion, waiting for it to turn a sky blue color.
As she let the potion simmer for approximately 12 minutes, she watched as Slughorn watched her intently, nodding in satisfaction. He had thought that she would at least miss a step, considering she didn't even read her book. But to his complete surprise, as the time hit 12 minutes, she dispersed the fire and removed the cauldron from the fire. Letting it cool for awhile, she picked up a vial for the potion, and scooped the potion, scanning the vial for any flaws. The potion turned out perfect.
Slughorn walked over to her table, taking the vial from her hand slowly, watching as the girl stare at him for approval. He then scanned the potion, looking for any signs of flaw, but he beamed when he found none.
"Brilliant! Twenty points to Gryffindor! Miss Hyperion managed to brew a perfect forgetfulness potion without reading her book! Brilliant, you are, my dear." He smiled at the girl.
Lyra blushed at the praise, noticing every pair of eyes turning towards her.
"How did you do that?" Lily asked her curiously.
"I memorized the whole book." She muttered, playing with the hem of her sleeves.
"You're amazing." Lily grinned.
Lyra simply blushed at the comment.
"Psstt! Psstt! Can you help me with this?" Lyra turned her head to see Sirius pointing at his bubbling potion which had turned into an ugly shade of gray.
Lyra frowned at the sight,
"Did you not cut the crocodile's heart into half inches?" She questioned.
"I reckoned there's no difference. You put them together at the same time, do you not?" Sirius shrugged.
"Yes, but you cut it in half so it can spread evenly! If you don't, the heart will melt only in the center of the potion, you idiot!" She hissed, hitting the back of his head
"Ouch!" He hissed back, rubbing the back of his head.
Lyra quickly conjured a cup of water and poured 1/4 of the water, before stirring clockwise twice, and adding a teaspoon of Sneezewart, before stirring once clockwise. After letting it sit for a few minutes, she added the hellebore and pointed at Sirius.
"Now stir twice counter clockwise, and let it simmer for 12 minutes. Next time, do exactly what the book says." She reprimanded him.
"Yes, mum." Sirius smirked teasingly, earning an eye roll from the girl.