♫ still don't know my name

- labrinth

"but you still don't know my name..."

✧

cr. renissance via tumblr.

Priscilla remembered when she stepped onto the Godrian Knot in Ilvermorny five years ago. She remembered when the wooden carving of the Wampus lit up before her, and how absolutely relieved she was to get selected into the house her parents each belonged to. 

At the time, making her parents proud meant everything to her. That day she got her letter to attend Ilvermorny, her parents sat her down and explained everything. They explained were well-respected Aurors in America and what an Auror was. They explained magic to her and showed her some basic spells to ease her into the understanding of it. From that day forward, she began to see less of her parents as they took on harder jobs. Work always drew them away from home. Cilla thought that getting into Wampus house and doing well at school would make her parents take notice of her more, but in the end, it didn't make a difference.

She never understood why they didn't tell her she was a witch sooner. 

She spent the rest of her childhood practically raised by a rotation of nannies, mostly from the Wizarding World. There was one incident where a no-maj nanny caught her with her toys levitating in the air, and it made an absolute mess of things. Cilla, only being eleven at the time, thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing at the shrieking nanny. Her parents thought the opposite. 

They never quite understood her mischievous nature.

Over the years at Ilvermorny, Cilla tried her best to make meaningful friendships but it never quite worked out. She was often getting her friends in trouble for her pranks despite all her meticulous planning. Over time, she realized her friends never truly understood her and they started to leave her out of hangouts with weak excuses. 

She found herself sneaking out on weekends to the nearby mall. She'd pocket any jewelry that caught her eye, fished half-eaten sandwiches out of the trash, and wander around no-maj society like she used to with her parents. She spent almost all of her time in the record store there, listening and learning new songs, then sitting outside and singing what she learned to make a few bucks. She got pretty decent at it. When she got older, on particularly rough days, she'd try to make new friends, but nothing ever stuck. Last year she even found some no-maj guys to hook up with behind a dumpster just to feel something.

To make it simple, Priscilla Roberts was miserable in Massachusetts. When her parents suggested she transferred to Hogwarts, she agreed almost a little too eagerly.

She was sick of being the good girl with the great grades with a secret no-maj double life, and she was sick of nobody understanding her.

Now, standing in the Great Hall with the rest of the first years, she almost wished she could go back. The sorting ceremony here was completely different from Ilvermorny's and far more up-scale. At her old school, all the older students weren't in the same room watching the ceremony unfold, they would wait upstairs for the ceremony to finish from the balcony. At Hogwarts, the sorting ceremony was a huge affair in front of the entire school, matched with shouting and applause every time a student was sorted. The only way it was similar to Ilvermorny's was the singing of the school's song.

As all the students who were several heads shorter than her walked up to the musty hat and got sorted, time began to blur. She schooled her appearance into cool focus and tried to hide her anxiety behind it, but her mind was racing. Eventually, she began to pick at her tights and look around the room, but the faces of students wouldn't register.

"Roberts, Priscilla!" called an older witch facilitating the sorting, snapping her out of her trance and making her heart race.

"Professor McGonagall, if I may say a few words," the headmaster interrupted, and the professor stepped aside graciously. 

"I have an exciting announcement to make this year, students," the headmaster, Dumbledore, began. He was an old bat with a long beard and wore gray wizard robes. She heard the Headmaster of Hogwarts would be old, she had imagined an Obi-Wan Kenobi type, but this took it to a whole new level. He walked down the steps from the professor's table and motioned for Cilla to step forward with a warm smile.

Priscilla felt her heart fall into her ass. This was going to be so embarrassing. She didn't think she'd get singled out like this.

She turned around and looked at the Hufflepuff table, and Nitara and Cedric were giving her supportive thumbs up and motioning her forward.

"Don't be shy now, Priscilla," Dumbledore ushered quietly, and Cilla joined him in front of the sorting hat. "This young witch is Priscilla Roberts," he announced to the hall, "she is one of many transfer students we will be welcoming at Hogwarts this year. She hails all the way from America and had once attended Ilvermorny. She will be beginning her sixth year with us here at Hogwarts."

The hall filled with whispers, everybody looking directly at her.

Did Dumbledore mention other transfers? It gave Priscilla a bit of relief, knowing she wouldn't be the only one after all.

"Please join me in welcoming Ms. Roberts, I urge you all to make her feel right at home here at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall, if you please," Dumbledore gestured to the professor, and she smiled and lifted the sorting hat back up above the chair.

Priscilla took a deep breath and sat down. Once the old hat was on her head, the strong voice of the hat startled her, resulting in a couple of laughs from around the Great Hall. "Hm... such potential, there is talent here..." it mused. It felt like it was turning over the pages of her mind and story like a book.

"There is courage, yes indeed, but a thirst to prove yourself as well..."

As the hat continued to think about where to put her, Cilla looked around the Great Hall. Nitara had a huge smile on her face, no doubt hoping for her to be in Hufflepuff with her. Cho was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, smiling fondly for her new friend. Her eyes gazed over to the Gryffindor table and she noticed the two ginger-haired twins. One was watching her intently, the other was poking around at a younger Gryffindor sitting next to him, telling jokes. She made eye contact with Fred Weasley, then looked away quickly in embarrassment. 

Her eyes flickered on the Slytherin table for a split second. Just then, the clock stopped, and she could feel something slip into place.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Priscilla finally let herself smile as her house cheered and banged on the table with their fists. Professor McGonagall lifted the Sorting Hat from Cilla's head and she stood up to make her way to the Slytherin table.

She couldn't explain how or why, but her being sorted into Slytherin felt right.

She looked to Nitara, for a moment worrying if her friend was disappointed she wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff, but Nitara was clapping and cheering with the rest of the Slytherins, so much so that Cedric had to pull her back down by her robes.

"What? I'm being supportive!" Nitara said to Cedric as he chuckled at her.

The Slytherins were smirking and introducing themselves to Priscilla as she sat down at the table, not wasting a moment. Mentions of grand houses, funny last names, and prestige flew past her. The names all began to blend together after a while, but one stood out for sure.

He walked down amidst the cheering and put an arm down on the table next to where Cilla was sitting and talking to someone. She looked up to see a boy with platinum white hair and a smirk on his face. 

"The name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he reached his other hand out to shake hers.

"Hey," she said and shook his hand politely. He seemed rather full of himself as he smirked down at her. His hair was styled into the perfect 90s alt-boy look, with the middle part and strands falling into his eyes. One look at him and she could tell he was swimming in money, his fingers were adorned in large, gaudy rings, one of them with what looked like a two-carat emerald set on a snake-like band, and had his ears pierced with brilliant diamonds. He had an air of arrogance about him that Cilla already knew was a common trait of Slytherin house, but he took it a whole step further.

Just then, a bundled-up napkin hit Draco in the head, making Cilla choke on a laugh. She covered her mouth so she wouldn't offend the boy, as he whipped his head around to the Gryffindor table. 

The culprit was clear, it was Fred from the train station. His brother was nudging him in the arm as he smirked and waved at Draco, then winked at Cilla. 

Draco looked back down at Cilla and she immediately whipped the grin off her face. 

"Nice to meet you, Malfoy," she choked out, suppressing the laugh and pushing Fred Weasley out of her mind as best she could.

✧

♫ stop thinking (about me)

- alfie templeman

"well, I guess I should stay here for a little while..."

✧

Draco sat down next to Priscilla as the sorting of the remaining first-years continued, much to Fred's dismay.

"Fred, do you know the Ilvermorny girl?" Hermione asked curiously, seated across from him at the table. She had a rather large book open on Ilvermorny, always prepared, and her eyes kept flitting over to the Slytherin table under her mess of curly hair.

Fred watched, entranced, as Priscilla laughed at something Draco was saying.

"Fred?" Hermione tried again.

George gave his brother a good elbow in the gut, causing Fred to fall out of his trance. "Does Freddie have a crush?" his brother teased, making young Colin giggle beside him.

Fred gave his brother a shove. "Of course I don't, you git. I was actually thinking of asking her how her head is feeling after what happened with the bludger."

"Inspecting her pretty head, are we Freddie?"

Hermione chuckled with Ron and Harry as she rolled her eyes at the twins. She returned to the book in seconds, excitedly brushing up on her knowledge of the American school in anticipation of meeting the new girl while Ron stuffed his face with sweets and Harry watched Dumbledore, starry-eyed.

Suddenly, the sorting ended and the feast appeared before them, and everyone forgot about Fred's fascination with the new girl.

✧

"This is the most food I've ever seen," Priscilla gawked at the widespread before her. Roast chicken, ham, steaks, soups, mashed potatoes, oh how she loved potatoes... There were even some foods she didn't recognize, like Yorkshire Pudding, Steak and Kidney Pudding (GROSS!), something called Chiddingly Hotpot, Bouillabaisse...

Malfoy scoffed beside her. "If you think this rubbish is good, you should taste what the house-elves back home cook up."

"Oh...I don't support house-elf slavery," Cilla explained.

Draco looked taken aback, "so you've never had any house-elves? That's so -"

They were interrupted by a girl sitting near the twins shrieking about house elves to a ghost whose head was semi-attached to his neck.

"That's a weird coincidence. Anyways, I had nannies instead. My parents were never home," Cilla explained before the conversation got any more awkward. She wanted to give Draco the benefit of the doubt, maybe things surrounding house-elves were different in England, but that didn't sway her beliefs one bit. She didn't support their enslavement at all but she didn't want to make any enemies on her first day.

"Agh, my parents tried hiring a nanny for me once, it was awful," he laughed, "She was such a stupid old hag, she would drink so much elderflower wine that she would get drunk and dance around the house."

Cilla laughed, "Are you kidding, that sounds like my dream job!"

"What do your parents do for a living, then? I don't recognize your last name," Draco asked, getting right down to the point.

"They're Aurors back home."

"So they're both wizards?"

Cilla nodded in return, wondering why Draco would care about whether or not her parents were wizards.

"That's good to know," he mused, then leaned closer, "you stick with me and my boys Priscilla. We don't want you hanging around the wrong sort if you know what I mean." He looked over at the Gryffindor table.

"Well, one of them did whack me with a bludger at the train station, but they don't seem so bad." Cilla sighed.

Draco rolled his eyes and continued eating his "rubbish." From that point forward Cilla decided not to continue on the subject but instead got to know the other Slytherins sitting around her.

It took a lot of effort not to turn around and talk to the Gryffindors.

✧

"So! I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices," Dumbledore commanded from the top of the room.

He explained a very, very long list of forbidden objects inside the castle and how it had been extended from last year. Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs were on the chopping block. Much to Cilla's delight, she had already checked the rulebook. Everything in her truck was legal because it wasn't made in England. A beautiful loophole.

He explained the Forbidden Forest was still forbidden and mentioned a town called Hogsmeade.

"Hogsmeade?" Cilla whispered to Draco.

"It's the town next door, it's bloody boring," Draco explained, then looked at her with a smirk. "We should go together next trip."

Cilla blinked at him and then before she got a chance to answer, Malfoy yipped and jumped a bit in his seat. He looked down and they both saw a toe-biting kettle waddle away back to Fred. It nuzzled its way into his robes as he kept a smug look on his face, his chin in his palm.

"I'll get that stupid Weasley for this," Draco muttered, but Priscilla could only giggle.

"I thought it was funny," she admitted. Draco shot her a disgusted look then focused back on what Dumbledore was saying about a new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Fred smiled at himself from the Gryffindor table, nodding at his brother in proud victory while Hermione scolded him.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year due to a very special event we have planned," Dumbledore explained. The great hall erupted in disapproval. The twins shouted all sorts of profanities in protest, and even Cilla slammed her hand down on the table.

"Fuck!" she whisper-yelled. "I really wanted to try out this year. Fuck..."

Draco smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "We could always play a few rounds if you want..."

"As I was saying, it's my great pleasure to announce that this year Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament -"

"You're JOKING!" Fred yelled, causing the great hall to laugh. Cilla looked at him, laughing as well, while Malfoy looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there for being interrupted again by Weasley.

Dumbledore went on to explain the nature of the Triwizard Tournament and emphasized how dangerous it was. So dangerous that it had been canceled numerous times and had failed to be reinstated until that particular year.

"Wow," Cilla said under her breath, "looks like I got here when things were getting interesting," she said with a smirk. What a tremendous opportunity for some chaos.

The headmaster announced that students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons would be arriving when the trials begin in October. There were a thousand galleons and eternal glory up for grabs.

"I'm going for it," Fred hissed down the Gryffindor table loudly.

"Only students that are of age, that is seventeen or older, may enter the tournament as per the Ministry's new protocols -" the great hall was filled with discontented screams yet again.

Dumbledore's speech ended swiftly after that. The Slytherin prefect started calling for first-years to follow him, and before Draco could make another move, Cilla excused herself and made her way over to Nitara, who was giddy and excited to see her.

"Oh come here, you Slytherin!" she laughed and wrapped Cilla in a bone-crushing hug.

Cedric laughed. "Don't kill her Nitara it's only her first day."

"I can't help it, I'm so happy for you, Cilla," Nitara smiled.

Cilla smiled in return. She really liked Nitara and Cedric. The three started making their way out of the Great Hall when Cilla thought to ask a very important question.

"What do you guys think about Draco Malfoy?"

Cedric scoffed, and Nitara scrunched her nose. "He's kind of awful, Cilla. He and his goons have been torturing these halls for years."

"A little dramatic there, Nini," Cedric chuckled.

"Don't Nini me!! The boy's a menace!!"