The first-years followed the giant Hagrid across the lake to Hogwarts. As Ariana gazed up at the towering castle, she couldn't help but marvel at its weighty sense of history.
Still, as someone from the 21st century, Ariana found the castle, despite its beauty, utterly unsuitable for living. The thought of spending the next seven years here made her visibly grimace.
Having talked with her along the way, Draco Malfoy found Ariana quite pleasant and naturally stuck by her side as they made their way to Hogwarts.
Seeing her frown, Draco asked, "What's wrong?"
Ariana answered awkwardly, "This castle looks like a great tourist attraction, but it's definitely not meant for living. We're going to be stuck here for seven years that's a bit depressing."
"You're not satisfied with a castle this beautiful?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "What, is your family's castle even grander?"
"Don't you think this castle is a relic from the Middle Ages?" Ariana gave him a puzzled look. "I'd bet the student dormitories don't even have bathrooms. It's almost the 21st century buildings like this aren't fit for humans anymore."
"Your castle has bathrooms in the bedrooms?" Draco was genuinely surprised. "Wouldn't that be noisy?"
Flushing toilets were, after all, quite loud.
"Modern soundproofing is excellent," Ariana said matter-of-factly. "Besides, why would anyone else be living in your bedroom?"
Clearly, she had misunderstood what Draco meant.
"The Muggle world's buildings have gotten that advanced?" Draco stared at her, utterly shocked.
Instead of answering, Ariana asked, "Which county is your family's estate in?"
"Birmingham," Draco replied.
Ariana didn't comment but gently suggested, "Judging by your clothes, your family must be wealthy. You really should buy a villa in London the living conditions would be so much better."
Worried Draco might take offense, Ariana added, "There are a lot of gangs and homeless people in Birmingham. Safety is definitely an issue."
"But there are too many Muggles in London. They'd see us using magic," Draco frowned, his pretty brows furrowing.
"Then just don't use magic," Ariana said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Pure-blood wizards took great pride in their magical heritage. How could they possibly refrain from using magic? Draco looked at her speechlessly."We're wizards. How can we not use magic?"
Ariana thought for a moment and suggested, "Then buy a massive villa in the countryside, along with a few luxury cars. It'd be easy to get into the city, and there wouldn't be any Muggles nearby. Problem solved."
"How much would that cost?" Draco asked curiously.
"I bought a luxury villa last year for £13.25 million. Prices might be higher this year," Ariana replied. Property is an appreciating asset anywhere in the world, and she owned quite a few.
"How much is that in Galleons?" Draco asked.
"A little over a month ago, I exchanged currency at Gringotts five pounds to one Galleon. Do the math," Ariana said.
Draco was quick he calculated it in an instant and was thoroughly stunned.
"Over 2.6 million Galleons? Muggle castles are that expensive?" Draco's eyes widened.
For reference, a Nimbus 2000 only cost about a thousand Galleons. Even his father hadn't bought him one. It wasn't because first-years weren't allowed to bring brooms to school that was just a rule. If his family really wanted to, they could have bought one and kept it at home.
Ariana, however, found this all perfectly normal.
"I've read about wizarding history. There are only about ten thousand wizards in all of Britain. Even if you did business with every single one of them, how much could you really earn? Now think about how many Muggles there are in the world," Ariana reminded him.
Although pure-blood families looked down on Muggles, that didn't mean they were completely ignorant. Just in London alone, the Muggle population exceeded six million.
Draco, still reeling from the numbers, nodded."You're right. There are just so many Muggles. Even if you made just one Galleon off each of them, that'd be unimaginable wealth. Your family must be really rich, to buy such an expensive castle so casually."
Ariana shrugged."Keeping money in the bank only makes it lose value. I bought the property to preserve its worth."
"I was planning to immigrate to the United States next year, so I'll be selling off these assets soon. If your father is interested, he can buy from me. Since we're classmates, I can give him a small discount."
Thinking of her emigration plans left Ariana somewhat listless.
Draco, not wanting to lose face, simply said, "I'll write to my father and ask. I haven't started managing the family business yet."
The two of them chatted away about real estate during the Sorting Ceremony, barely paying attention to what was happening on the platform until Professor McGonagall called Draco's name, snapping them out of their conversation.
"Draco Malfoy," Professor McGonagall called loudly.
Draco walked up, and before the Sorting Hat had even touched his hair, it shouted, "Slytherin!"
McGonagall was calling names alphabetically by last name. Most of the sortings passed without much excitement until Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor, which caused quite a stir.
After Draco left, a Black boy took his seat. Perhaps having seen Draco talking with Ariana for so long, he leaned over and whispered to her.
"What's the big deal about Gryffindor, right? Look at him all scrawny and weak. Does he really look like someone who could've defeated You-Know-Who? Maybe it was his parents who perished along with the Dark Lord."
Ariana blinked in surprise, her expression practically asking, Who are you?
The boy quickly introduced himself."Blaise Zabini. I saw you talking to Draco for quite a while you're pure-blood, right?"
"Can't talk to him if I'm not pure-blood?" Ariana recited her usual backstory.
"Alright, I get it now. Draco probably talked to you because you look like a pure-blood. Seems like we're pretty far down the Sorting list. Wanna chat about Harry Potter?"
With nothing else to do, Ariana didn't mind passing the time.
Blaise continued,"The story about his parents perishing along with the Dark Lord just makes way more sense, right?"
Ariana replied indifferently,"Then why do all the books say he defeated the Dark Lord?"
Blaise frowned."He was only one year old didn't even have a wand. How could he have possibly beaten the most powerful Dark wizard? Maybe it really was his parents who died with him."
Ariana realized Blaise wasn't really looking for her opinion and quickly lost interest in the conversation.
With a last name starting with "C," Ariana was called just before Blaise.
When she put on the Sorting Hat, she immediately heard a voice speaking directly in her head.
"You're perfect for Slytherin but you're a Muggle-born witch."
"You can see my memories?" Ariana asked, startled.
"I can't see memories. I can only see your attributes. You don't have the courage of a Gryffindor, nor the kindness and integrity of a Hufflepuff, nor the pure pursuit of knowledge of a Ravenclaw. You're a Slytherin through and through."
"Then just put me in Slytherin," Ariana offered.
But the Sorting Hat warned her,"Slytherin hasn't been kind to half-bloods in decades let alone a Muggle-born like you."
Hearing that, Ariana gave up any hope that her parents had been wizards. Still, she tried to persuade the Hat."You won't tell, and I won't tell. Who would know? I came to Hogwarts to learn magic, not to stir up conflict."
"…Very well. Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat finally announced.
As soon as Ariana stepped down, she saw Draco waving at her, ordering his two bulky friends to move so he could save her a seat.
With someone already vouching for her, Ariana naturally didn't refuse.
"I knew you'd end up in Slytherin," Draco said with a satisfied smile.
"The Sorting Hat said Slytherin was the only house I fit into," Ariana said vaguely.
Draco was a little possessive he remembered that right after his Sorting, Ariana had chatted with Blaise for quite some time."What were you two talking about just now?" he asked.
Ariana casually summarized their conversation. Since she was still largely clueless about the magical world, she offered Draco a suggestion."When you write to your father, you might want to ask about this maybe there's some hidden plot."
"Alright." Draco nodded grimly.
He then asked, puzzled,"Since the Hat said you were only suited for Slytherin, why did it take so long?"
Ariana explained,"I was asking if it could see my memories. I bought a second-hand book on Occlumency before school started."
"There were notes in the margins saying you need the Imperius Curse to verify your progress, but I don't have any other wizards around me and you can't cast it on yourself. I thought maybe the Sorting Hat had the same effect as the Imperius Curse."
Quite a few people had been planning to probe Ariana's bloodline, but upon hearing her mention the Imperius Curse, they immediately backed off in fear.
Even Draco paled and whispered a warning."The Imperius Curse is one of the Unforgivable Curses. The Ministry of Magic treats it as a serious crime you really shouldn't mess with it."
Ariana had read about this in recent magical history, but she didn't take the Ministry's laws too seriously. She also found Draco's reaction rather odd.
"If I remember correctly, most wizarding families take pride in their Dark Arts heritage. Isn't the Malfoy family the same?"
Draco couldn't possibly deny it."Yes, but you still have to consider your surroundings. It's annoying to constantly have the Ministry knocking at your door, right?"
Ariana suddenly recalled that the Ministry couldn't casually interfere with Hogwarts' affairs, meaning they couldn't easily enter the school.
Her eyes lit up with excitement as she leaned toward Draco."The Ministry can't just waltz into Hogwarts, right? So why don't we secretly learn the Imperius Curse? I really want to test my Occlumency progress."