When Professor McGonagall saw the First Years, led by Hagrid, she started her introductory speech. She scanned the crowd for Harry, and for his little sister, Daphne. Dumbledore had spoken to all the professors before term began about this new child, only seven, attending Hogwarts.

She had warned Dumbledore, all those years ago, about sending Harry to live with those Muggles. Both children looked malnourished and small for their age.

McGonagall had her doubts, but Dumbledore was a genius. He had visited their home himself, if there had been something amiss, McGonagall had no doubt he would have removed the children from their care right then.

Daphne was very tiny for her age, and clung to Harry. She was very skittish and jumpy, easily frightened. She looked so fragile and vulnerable amongst the others. She had asked Dumbledore several times why a seven year old little girl was attending Hogwarts, but he repeated that she was powerful and had bouts of uncontrolled magic that required her to begin her studies early.

"In front of the whole school?" Daphne had whispered to Harry, barely audibly, when McGonagall explained that they would be Sorted into their Houses in front of the entire school.

"Don't be scared, Daph," soothed Harry.

McGonagall led the First Years into the Great Hall. She called the names, and no one batted an eye when she said, "Evans, Daphne." But there were gasps and murmurs across the Hall when they saw how tiny the girl was. She looked more like a five or six year old, than her actual age. Harry was holding her hand, walking her up to the stool. She looked terrified. Harry lifted her up gently and set her on the stool and nodded encouragingly, and then went back to the other First Years waiting to be Sorted. Daphne looked up at McGonagall with eyes wide and full of terror. She was so scared that she was shaking.

"You're all right, dear," McGonagall said gently, quiet so that only the child could hear. "Are you ready?" The little girl nodded, and McGonagall placed the Hat on her head.

Only Daphne could hear the Hat saying, 'Hard to read you, child. There are a lot of secrets in your mind…' The Hat had been shouting to the Hall, at the same time, though.

"Ravenpuff! Slytherdor! Gryffinthin! Slytherpuff! Huffleclaw!" McGonagall looked worriedly at Dumbledore. Again, whispers and murmurs spread across the Hall.

There had been Hatstalls before, but not like this. The Hat had never shouted out mixed up names of Houses.

It went on like this for some time, and McGonagall glanced at Dumbledore again. She stepped closer to him, "What should I do?" She whispered.

"It's all right, Minerva," said Dumbledore quietly. "We wait." She nodded and glanced at the other teachers, who were all looking concerned and worried at the little girl. Except Snape, whose expression was almost always unreadable.

'A lot of power, compassion, extreme intelligence, a lot of secrets, a lot of fear… but I think you need the friends you'll find here…' The Hat said to Daphne's mind, and then out loud it shouted, "Slytherin!" McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief and lifted the Hat. Daphne looked up at McGonagall, with a confused and frightened expression.

"It's all right, Evans," said Mcgonagall gently. "That's the Slytherin table over there, go on and sit with them now."

"Can I stay with my brother?" Daphne whispered.

"That's fine," said McGonagall gently. McGonagall reached to help Daphne hop off the stool, but Daphne flinched away from her, looking terrified. "Let me help you down, here take my arm," said McGonagall. Daphne hesitated, and then took brief hold of McGonagall's arm and let go as soon as her feet safely hit the ground. McGonagall watched as the child walked toward Harry Potter, though she read off the next name on the list.

"Slytherin," whispered Harry, looking worriedly at Daphne. "That's… that was Voldemort's House, Daph. Bad witches and wizards get Sorted into Slytherin." Daphne looked panicked, then.

"Why didn't you say that sooner?" Daphne asked meekly. "Maybe it chose wrong… maybe I can change Houses…"

"It did seem confused," said Ron with a shrug. "But I don't think anyone's ever changed Houses before." Harry's expression was so distraught that Ron continued, "Merlin was a Slytherin, and he turned out okay. I mean, she's the youngest student to attend Hogwarts in over a century, she'll be fine Harry!"

When the Hat Sorted Harry into Gryffindor, Daphne went to sit with him. There were murmurs again across the Hall. Students were meant to sit with their House. But Percy, even though he was a Perfect, wasn't about to tell this terrified, tiny little girl that she had to leave her brother to go sit with strangers at the Slytherin table.

Everyone was welcoming Harry, proud that the famous Harry Potter was in their House. "We got Potter!" Fred had exclaimed. And then Fred and George immediately started joking around with Daphne.

"And a little Slytherin infiltrator," said George with a laugh.

"I'm sorry," said Daphne in a panicked tone. "I just wanted to sit with my brother. Am I in trouble?"

"Don't mind them," said Percy.

"That's right, don't mind us," said Fred, smiling. "We just like to joke around with everyone. We might take a page out of your book, though. We'll start siting at other House tables just to confuse everyone. You're obviously a genius, like us."

"You two? Geniuses?" Ron scoffed. "But really, Daphne, don't mind them, they do joke with everyone."

The children chatted and laughed, Harry and Daphne listened intently to everything they said, as neither of them had been around other wizard children before. Daphne learned that Seamus Finnigan was raised by a Muggle father and witch mother, that Neville grew up with his grandmother and his family had thrown him out a window to test his magical abilities.

"But what if you weren't magical?" Daphne asked, sounding alarmed.

"Oh, I would've gotten hurt," said Neville. "But my family's used to me getting hurt, I'm quite clumsy and forgetful. Lucky they're all wizards. My gran has become an expert at healing magic."

Later, the Slytherin Prefect, Gemma Farley, approached the Gryffindor table. She walked up to where Harry and Daphne were sitting.

"Hello, Daphne Evans," said Gemma quietly. Daphne turned to look at her, as did Harry and the others. Gemma knelt a little, so that she was closer to eye level with Daphne. "I'm Gemma Farley, one of the Slytherin Prefects, and I wanted to let you know that at the end of the feast, I'll be showing you and the other First Years the way to our dormitories."

"Thank you, Gemma," said Daphne quietly. Gemma smiled encouragingly and stood, walking back to the Slytherin table.

After dessert, Dumbledore made his announcements. He looked pointedly at the Weasley twins when he mentioned that the Forest is forbidden. Daphne whispered "Do you two explore the Forest?"

"Oh, an aspiring troublemaker are you, Daphne?" George whispered back, chuckling a little.

"I read about the Forest," whispered Daphne. "Are there really unicorns that live there?"

"Sure," said Fred. "We've seen them."

"Quiet!" Percy hissed at the twins. "Listen to the Headmaster." Daphne had flinched as Percy chastised them and whispered a barely audible 'Sorry' to him. "Not you, don't worry, Evans, you're not in trouble."

At the end of the feast, Daphne hugged Harry before walking over to the Slytherins, to join the other First Years in following Gemma. Draco watched the tiny child walking toward them. He already loathed the girl's brother, but Daphne had been Sorted into Slytherin. And from the rumors, she was only five or six years old. She looked so fragile and vulnerable, the only small child among the others. She looked up uncertainly at the other eleven year old First Year Slytherins.

"Daphne Evans," Draco said to her, kneeling down a bit so that he was at eye level with her. "You're Harry Potter's little sister." Daphne nodded silently. "I'm Draco Malfoy. These are my friends Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle." He motioned to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Nice to meet you," said Daphne in a small, meek voice. She looked frightened. "Do we really have to sleep in the dungeons?"

"Don't worry," said Draco, standing up and turning to join the other Slytherins following Gemma to the dungeons. He reached out, offering his hand to Daphne, who hesitantly accepted it. "It isn't like a prison cell or something, it's luxurious and comfortable according to my father. He was a Slytherin as well. What House were your parents in? I thought Harry Potter was raised by Muggles, but clearly not as you were Sorted into —"

"My parents are Muggles," said Daphne. Crabbe and Goyle made a sound of disapproval. Draco took pause at this as well.

"You sure you belong in Slytherin?" Crabbe asked. "A Mu-"

"That's… uncommon for a Slytherin," said Draco, interrupting Crabbe. "But Merlin was a Slytherin, and he was Muggle born."

"But he created the Order of Merlin to protect Muggles," said Goyle. "My father has said Merlin's the shame of Slytherin House."

"Merlin was a great sorcerer," argued Draco.

"So being Muggle born is bad?" Daphne asked, looking worriedly up at Draco.

"Yes," insisted a girl called Pansy Parkinson, walking just ahead of them. "I wouldn't let anyone else know about that if I were you."

"Well," said Draco to Daphne. "Like I said, it's pretty rare for a Slytherin." He peered down at the girl with interest. His father had always looked down on Muggle-borns, calling them Mudbloods. His mother had never used that word, though. But his father also held Professor Snape in high regard. Professor Snape was a friend of their family, and Draco's godfather; he'd visited when Draco was little, and he had vague memories of calling the man "Uncle Sev." And although Snape was a half-blood, Draco's father always said that he was an honor to Slytherin House.

They entered the dungeons, and Gemma taught them all the password to the Slytherin Common Room, a secret door hidden in the stone wall. "And don't share this password with anyone else!" Gemma warned them. They all walked into the room, and Gemma pointed to where the dormitories were and explained some of the rules like curfew.

"It was nice meeting you," said Daphne quietly to Draco. She bowed her head politely and then walked to the girl's dormitory.

Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode chatted about classes, books they were reading, hexes they wanted to learn.

"What about you, kid?" Pansy said to Daphne, who was looking through her trunk for something. "What class are you most looking forward to?" The girl looked up at her, blushing slightly.

"Oh," said Daphne quietly and meekly. "I think… well, I wish I could take Care for Magical Creatures as a First Year."

"Well I'm looking forward to Transfiguration," said Pansy. "I want to learn how to turn my enemies into slugs."

"You have enemies?" Daphne asked, her eyes wide.

"Well, not yet," said Pansy. "But still, it will be useful to know!" The child said nothing, and went back to looking through her trunk. She had pulled out very oversized clothes. She left the room quietly to shower and change. When she returned, Pansy and Millicent burst out laughing. The little girl was wearing what clearly were Harry's pajamas. She had a t-shirt so large it ended below her knees, and sweatpants so large they were dragging over her feet.

"Why don't you have pajamas of your own?" Pansy asked. Daphne shrugged, blushing.

"I don't like nightdresses," said Daphne. Pansy shrugged and went back to talking to Millicent.

That night, Pansy woke up hearing a child crying and whimpering in terror. She sat up, and looked around. Daphne wasn't in her bed. Millicent was awake as well, and both girls got up, walking to the sound of cries.

"No no no, please, no!" They recognized Daphne's voice now, she sounded terrified. It was coming from the Common Room. Was someone hurting her? Pansy broke into a run.