I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it, then. solo

One foot after another.

That's all Olivia could manage, for now, faced with a sight unlike any she'd ever seen.

Words fail to capture the glow inside Olivia's small chest as she let her eyes dance around the magnificence of the Great Hall. She snapped her jaw shut upon realizing it had been let agape at the spectacle, instantly whirling her head around to ensure that no one had witnessed her awe.

As she scanned the nearby faces, most unremarkable, a familiar sight caught her attention. She snapped her eyes back to the glint of recognition and felt her face squint into a sneer. She squinted her eyes at the sight; an older boy, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a round nose. The same nose that sat upon her father's face, and her uncle's, and --

"George!" she spoke aloud, to no one in particular. Once certainty had set in, she cupped her freckled hands around her mouth and whisper-shouted towards the boy. "George!"

She flinched at a tug on her robe. As she was ushered towards the front, she tried desperately to keep her eyes on George. Inevitably, his face disappeared into the crowd. "I'm certain that was him," she spoke, once again to no one in particular.

Sat amongst unfamiliar faces, Olivia kept to herself. She lodged her nervous hands between her knees, swallowing with each new name called to the front of the Great Hall. She studied the expressions of the crowd as each new student's house was announced. Excitement, anticipation, joy-- Interestingly, she couldn't detect any surprise among the spectators.

With this realization, she turned her focus to the hat, atop the head of a boy she'd never met. She narrowed her gaze and watched the interaction; what she could see, anyway, which wasn't much. The exchange looked plainly simple; a musty old hat sat on the head of a froggish young boy and then bam. Somehow, this old, strange hat was meant to have... What? Read the boy's mind? The floating candles were nearly a step too far for Olivia to accept, but this? 'Give me a break,' thought the young, astute Olivia.

She deliberated for a moment, then slowly panned her gaze around the room. She took in the banners of each house with much focus, wondering about their significance. Her interest settled, naturally, on the banner floating above George's table.

"Hufflepuff!" called out the hat, and George's table celebrated. A foxface young girl skipped almost cheerily to the others. They greeted her with the same affection and familiarity as an old friend.

'Right, then,' thought Olivia, plotting no more than usual, 'Hufflepuff it is.'

* * *

And now, her turn. She stood from her seat without hesitation, now certain of her fate. She hung Hufflepuff banners in her brain, fixing them to the ceiling of her mind with hat-proof nails. She summoned her love of skunks-- Or was it badgers? A quick glance assured her; badgers. She summoned her phony, newfound love of badgers and thought only Hufflepuff-ian thoughts.

The hat was lowered onto her mess of frizzy, disheveled auburn hair and Olivia couldn't help but flinch. Instantly, the phony yellow banners in her mind came torn down, and the badgers disappeared, leaving only Olivia and the musty old hat.

"I see--" started the hat, only to be interrupted by an all-too-certain Olivia.

"I'll spare you the time, hat. My name is Olivia Henry, and I'm a Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff, eh?" retorted the hat with an almost admiring tone.

"That's right, hat. A Hufflepuff, that's what I am. It's in my blood. If you don't believe me, look in my mind-- You'll see my cousin. He's Hufflepuff, too. Sat right over there, in fact."

"Hmm," hummed the hat, and Olivia's patience grew thin. As her temper rose, she felt waves of laughter roll off of the hat. "No, no, I'm afraid you're wrong, young one."

"Must not've checked very thoroughly, hat, or you'd find that I'm most definitely never wrong," thought Olivia.

And then, in a voice louder than the one she'd conferred with in the foyer of her mind, came a booming voice: "Slytherin!"

"Fine," thought the grouchy Olivia, "I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it, then."