Somewhere deep in the castle, the Sorting Hat had just finished deliberating over a new student.

Y/n was the new student.

It was an unusual time for an arrival. Mid-year transfers were rare, and rarer still was one sorted without the usual fanfare of the start-of-term feast.

The hat had barely touched her head before it announced her house.

Slytherin.

The dungeons swallowed her up quickly after that. Green and silver banners. Cold stone. The low murmur of students who didn't know her name yet, and didn't particularly care to learn it.

By the next morning, she was expected in Potions.

The classroom door was heavy oak, and it did not open quietly. Every head turned.

The exam was silent and tense. Questions on moonstone, bezoars, wolfsbane. Y/n wrote for the full time.

When the last quill stilled, Snape stepped forward.

Snape made a sharp motion with his wand. The stack of parchments glowed once, then stilled with red ink scores blooming across each page.

Then Snape picked up the final paper.

The new girl.