The door opened, and Harry saw a tall black-haired witch in emerald-green robes.
“The firs’-years, Perfessor McGonagall,” said Hagrid.
“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.”
The firsties were led across the Entrance Hall and into a side room. The Entrance Hall was built to impress with neat stone paving and walls. The ceiling was high, and a grand marble staircase led to the upper floors. They crowded into a small side room. While passing a set of massive double doors, Harry heard the sound of hundreds of voices. The rest of the school was waiting behind those doors.
“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall.
“The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses.
The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house. Each house has a dormitory for you to sleep in and a Common Room where you can spend your free time.
The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While attending Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour.
I hope each of you will bring honour to whichever house becomes yours.
The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school.”
The professor gave the firsties her best menacing glare.
Then she pointed at Hermione. “What is that on your right sleeve, miss?”
“That is the House Potter crest, professor. The two red bars show that I am a Potter protectee.”
Professor McGonagall glared at Hermione, and then she cast a spell at the crest. A white glow appeared around the crest, which remained as it was.
“Who put that on your robe, and why can’t I remove it?”
Harry stepped up to shield Hermione. “Professor, Potter family magic placed that crest on Hermione’s robes. She is a Potter protectee. You will not be able to remove it. You will also be unable to remove the Potter crest from my robes.”
Professor McGonagall huffed. “Who are you?”
“I am Harry Potter, heir to House Potter. I must also point out that wearing house crests and insignia is allowed by the school rules approved by the Hogwarts Board of Governors.”
The professor glared at Harry. She then scanned the rest of the group. Her glare lingered on Neville and Susan as they showed their family crests on their sleeves.
Professor McGonagall nearly opened her mouth again but seemed to get control of herself.
“I shall return when we are ready for you,” said Professor McGonagall.
One more glare.
“Please wait quietly.”
She left the chamber.
-ooOOoo-
“Now comes the softening up. A visit from the ghosts to get the kiddie's imaginations working and then the terrifying march to their doom.”
“Shut up, Tom!”
-ooOOoo-
Harry had to admit that Tom had been there and done it all many years ago. The ghosts flowed through the walls of the side room as they took their usual short-cut to the Great Hall for the sorting and the feasting. Of course, the ghosts didn’t enjoy the food but loved getting the firsties worked up.
Professor McGonagall returned and lined up the firsties. They followed the tall witch across the Entrance Hall and through the doors to the Great Hall.
Harry was impressed. The great hall of a good-sized medieval castle was thirty metres long, fifteen metres wide, and fifteen metres high. Harry couldn’t tell how big this hall was, but it was bigger.
The décor was impressive. Thousands of lit candles floated in mid-air over four long tables where the rest of the students sat. These tables were laid with golden plates and goblets; what a bunch of show-offs.
At the far end of the hall was a platform. There was a long table across the platform where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here. They were lined up with their backs to the teachers and faced the tables where the students were seated. They were the centre of attention of the students, the ghosts, and the teachers.
Harry was impressed by the ceiling. He saw a smooth black expanse of the night sky dotted with stars.
He heard Hermione whisper. “It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside; I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.”
Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a patched, frayed, and dirty pointed wizard’s hat.
At last, Harry was to meet the Sorting Hat. According to Tom, the hat was fully empowered with Legilimency and had its own personality. The four founders gave the hat its own personality and identity. It isn’t recorded anywhere that the founders meant to make the hat sentient, but it was. Its name was Alistair.
The next part of the show began. The hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:
“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,
But don’t judge on what you see,
I’ll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats, sleek and tall,
For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There’s nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can’t see,
So, try me on, and I will tell you,
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet, in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don’t be afraid!
And don’t get in a flap!
You’re in safe hands (though I have none)
For I’m a Thinking Cap!”
There was enthusiastic applause as the hat finished its song. Then, finally, it bowed to each of the four tables and became still again.
Professor McGonagall unrolled a scroll.
“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said.
“Abbott, Hannah!” Hannah walked to the stool. She glanced at Harry, and Harry gave her one quick wave. Then, she put on the hat and sat. Hannah looked calm, but Harry could see the tension in her magic. Dumbledore spotted the Abbott family crest. He glared but didn’t say anything.
“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat. The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.
“Bones, Susan!” Susan walked quickly to the stool; she gave Harry a wave. Harry nodded back at her. Harry watched as Professor Dumbledore glared at Susan’s family crest.
“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat again, and Susan walked off to sit next to Hannah.
Terry Boot went to Ravenclaw.
Mandy Brocklehurst went to Ravenclaw.
Lavender Brown went to Gryffindor.
Millicent Bulstrode went to Slytherin.
Tracey Davis went to Slytherin.
Justin Finch-Fletchley went to Hufflepuff.
Seamus Finnigan went to Gryffindor.
“Granger, Hermione!” Hermione hurried to the stool and put the hat on her head. The purebloods among the students saw the crest on her sleeve, and the whispers began. “Protectee! Protectee!” Dumbledore turned his head away in a gesture of annoyance.
“GRYFFINDOR!” shouted the hat. Hermione sprang up, placed the hat on the stool and gave Harry a brilliant smile as she almost skipped to sit at the Gryffindor table. Harry waved and nodded. What was going to happen to him would take some explaining.
Daphne Greengrass went to Slytherin.
Neville Longbottom went to Gryffindor as expected. Neville gave Harry a nod and a wave as he walked away.
“MacDougal, Morag” went to Ravenclaw.
Draco Malfoy was next. The blonde bully swaggered forward when his name was called. The hat barely touched his head when it yelled, “SLYTHERIN!” Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, smirking to himself.
Professor McGonagall was working through the list; “Moon”, “Nott”, “Parkinson”, “Patil”, and “Patil”, “Perks”.
Then “Potter, Harry!”
As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out all over the hall.
“Potter, did she say?” “THE Harry Potter?”
Harry felt a wave of Legilimency wash over him. He stopped, removed his hat, and turned to face Headmaster Dumbledore. The Legilimency stopped. Harry knew that Dumbledore didn’t see anything other than what Harry wanted him to see, which was the imposing south face of Potter Hall.
Harry stared at Dumbledore. He saw the expression change on Dumbledore’s face as the sight of Harry’s facial scars and the four parallel scars across his head sank in. Dumbledore also saw the Potter crest on Harry’s sleeve. Dumbledore’s expression became more worried than angry.
Many students in the hall and the teachers saw the crest and the scars that Dumbledore saw. There was a collective intake of breath.
Harry made his way to the stool and sat. The Sorting Hat was placed on Harry’s head.
“Hmm,” said a small voice in his ear.
Then Harry heard. “Oh my! OH MY! OH MY! Mister Potter! What are you doing here? Why are you here?”
“I want to get a magical education and make new friends, Alistair.”
“You don’t need a magical education! So why are you here?” Alistair was panicking.
“I want to make new friends, then,” Harry answered.
“OOH! OOH! OOH! Albus is not going to like this!”
“Alistair, has the headmaster tried to tell you where to place me?”
Alistair muttered. “This is most irregular! Yes! He did try to tell me where to put you.”
“So, what are you going to do? You know you have only one choice.”
“YES! YES! YES! I know! I know!”
“They’re all waiting.”
“Fine! Fine! Godric Gryffindor, the conceited git! This was all his idea. Making me do this forever and ever. If I must, then I must!”
Alistair broke the connection and opened his mouth.
“SLYTHERIN!”
The breath many observers had been holding came out in a rush.
“What!” “No!” “That’s not right!” “Make the hat do it again!”
Many of the objections came from the Slytherin benches.
Harry stood up, carefully placed his pointy hat on his head, slanted it to cover his lightning scar and walked to the Slytherin table. He sat on the end nearest to the teachers. Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell were sitting at the teacher’s table. Their seats were the closest to the Slytherin table, and they were both staring at Harry.
-ooOOoo-
“Snape is trying to skim your surface thoughts.”
“Let him try, Tom. I have my Azkaban cell mindscape in place. Dumbledore saw the south side of Potter Hall when he wanted to get me earlier.”
Snape had been glaring at Harry. He suddenly turned away.
“He got it. He got a quick trip to Azkaban. He sensed what it feels like, and then he tasted the watery slop they serve instead of food.”
“Yuk! Serves him right!”
-ooOOoo-
Ron Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor, and Blaise Zabini went to Slytherin.
Ron sat at the Gryffindor table next to Seamus Finnigan and stared at Harry. If looks could kill, Harry would be cold in the grave right now.
Zabini sat next to Harry. “Potter! Congratulations!”
“Thank you, Zabini, but what are you congratulating me for?”
“For making the right choice. My mother had ten thousand on you being sorted into Slytherin.”
“The sorting wasn’t my choice. I didn’t tell the hat to do anything. It was entirely the hat’s choice.”
The black pointy hat was a Hogwarts uniform item. Students had to wear it at the start of formal feasts. When they sat down, they were allowed to remove it. Most of them folded the hat and sat on it.
Harry kept his hat on. He tried to keep it on while he was out in public.
A hand from behind Harry grabbed the brim of his hat. A thin leather strap unwound from around the hat band and lashed the offending hand. The hardened tip of the strap left a deep red mark on the back of the hand but did not draw blood.
“YEOW!”
Harry turned to see an older Slytherin boy standing behind him. He was shaking his hand with obvious discomfort. Harry skimmed his name from his disorganised mind as the strap rewound itself around the band of Harry’s hat.
“Yaxley! I do not like my things being touched without my permission.”
Yaxley’s thick features reacted in anger.
“Take your hat off, you idiot.”
Harry shook his head. “I prefer to keep it on as much as I can. There is no rule against that, is there?”
Yaxley glared at Harry, growled, and lurched off to the other end of the table.
Zabini sniggered. “New rule, everyone, don’t touch anything belonging to Mister Potter.”
Two other first-year students moved to seats opposite Harry and Zabini.
Zabini smiled and nodded to them. “Greengrass, Davis, how are you this evening?”
The blonde pureblood princess responded. “I’m well, Zabini. Will you introduce us?”
“Certainly, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis, allow me to introduce Harry Potter.”
Harry nodded to both girls. “I’m pleased to meet you, Lady Daphne, Miss Davis.”
“Drop the ‘Lady’ thing, Potter. I hate it.” Daphne replied.
“I am Tracey, and she is Daphne, and I love what you did to Yaxley. Can I get that spell for my stuff?”
Harry waited for a second before replying. “That is family magic, I’m afraid. However, I know other charms to help keep unwelcome hands off your things. I can give them to you when there isn’t an excess of listeners.”
Daphne smiled and nodded.
Dumbledore stood and gave his best kind grandfather smiles to the students.
“Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I want to say a few words. And here they are.”
“Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”
“Thank you!” He sat down, and the hall clapped and cheered.
Harry shook his head. The headmaster had just called the Hogwarts house elves who were in charge of serving the feast.
The food appeared on the serving plates in front of the students, and the feast began. Harry selected a few slices of chicken and some steamed vegetables.
After the first wave of rich overcooked food was dealt with, Tracey looked at Harry. “You don’t smile, laugh, or show anything on your face. Why?”
Daphne moved in her seat. Tracey yelped. “Hey! Don’t kick me.”
Daphne stared at Harry. “Sorry about that, Potter. Tracey has all the clever subtlety of a sledgehammer.”
Harry sighed. “I prefer Harry, and I should answer that. I have not had a normal life. It will soon come out that I was kept in an institution where any show of emotion was punished. So, I learned to hide my emotions. I have been told that my development has been held back in many ways. I may learn to show more reactions to people in the future, but it will not be today or tomorrow.”
Harry watched Daphne. He did not need Legilimency to see her rapidly reach the correct conclusion.
“How did that happen? Why did they send you there?”
Harry sighed again. “When I was placed in my relative's home after my parents died, there was an uncontrolled outburst of magic from me. My relatives died. The authorities didn’t know who I was, so I was declared muggle-born and a child from that family. They decided I had powerful and dangerously unstable magic, so I was placed in the magic suppression cells. They assumed that I would quickly die. I didn’t die; I was overlooked and stayed there until a few weeks ago. I was found when my Hogwarts Acceptance letter arrived.”
Tracey was suspicious. “You are completely in control. Your magic is like nothing I’ve seen before.”
Harry nodded. “This is now, that was then. The Ministry does not have a great record for looking after children identified as muggle-born.”
The puddings were served.
Harry did not take any.
Zabini could not hold back. “You hardly eat anything? What is it? This food is terrific.”
Harry looked at Zabini. “My diet was very restricted in the institution. So, I must be careful and eat a few easily digested things.”
Zabini came again. “One more thing, the dark glasses. Why?”
“I have had some problems because of my lack of development. My eyesight was injured and failed to develop. I can see about one-tenth of what other people see. The healers gave me these spectacles. My magic uses them to see heat. I can see people and things because of their heat.”
Tracey frowned. “You walk around and don’t run into things and people. You act as though you can see. There is something else.”
Harry nodded. “It’s magic. I can sense magic.”
The headmaster made a waffling and weird welcome speech. Harry listened and tried to work out what the headmaster was really saying. Finally, he decided that Dumbledore was setting some kind of challenge to the brave and foolhardy. The Gryffindors would no doubt respond.
The feast ended, and the prefects were directed to take the first years to their dormitories.
Harry jumped up and hurried to the Gryffindor table. He caught Neville by his elbow. “Neville, check your journal.”
Hermione pushed through the crowd to reach Harry and Neville. “What happened? Can you change it?”
Harry shook his head. “The hat can’t change anything. I’ll put what happened in the journal. Got to go! Sorry!”
A Slytherin prefect caught up to Harry. “Potter, come with me!”
Harry followed the prefect; Susan chased after him. Then, Harry turned and mimed writing in a book.
Susan nodded and turned back to the Hufflepuff group.
The prefect led Harry in the opposite direction from the steps down to the dungeons. “Where are you going?”
“Professor Snape wants to speak to you,” the prefect replied.
The trip ended at a gargoyle on the third floor. Professor Snape was waiting for him.
The prefect hurried away, and Snape stared at Harry. There was a detectable level of hostility in his composure but no Legilimency.
“The headmaster wishes to speak to you, Potter. Follow me!” Snape turned, and the gargoyle stepped aside. A spiral staircase behind the gargoyle's usual position started to rotate and rise. Snape moved onto the step, and Harry followed.
The ride finished at a landing with a closed door. Snape did not have time to knock.
“Come in!”
The door opened on its own. Snape walked in, and Harry followed.
The office was pretty much as Harry remembered from his briefings. The portraits of former heads of the school were all awake and interested. Fawkes was sitting on his perch, and the sorting hat was on a high shelf. Alistair moved and muttered when Harry looked at him.
“Harry! My boy!” Dumbledore smiled at Harry and beckoned him forward. “Please, take a lemon drop and be seated.”
“No, thank you, headmaster. Lemon drops are not good for me.”
“Well! Harry! My boy! This has been very interesting! There is much to say and do. But, first, may I ask why you chose to go into Slytherin?”
Harry held back his annoyance. “Headmaster, I did not choose my house. There was a little discussion over the sorting. Perhaps the Sorting Hat had only one choice that it could make.”
Snape growled. “You seem certain about that, Potter.”
“Professor, you know how the hat works. It saw all of me, and its choice was made. I did not offer any arguments.”
Dumbledore frowned. “You know how the hat works. How do you know that?”
“I have had discussions with several different magical people. They have been very helpful.”
There was a long silence.
Dumbledore spoke. “Where have you been? Don’t say Azkaban! I know that can’t be true.”
Snape moaned. “Headmaster! Please reconsider! I am certain that Mister Potter has been resident there for many years.”
“WHAT!”
Snape remained silent. Dumbledore glared at him, and then he turned to Harry.
“Remove that crest from your robe. I have forbidden house business at Hogwarts.”
Harry stared at the headmaster. “Headmaster, you do not have the authority to order me to do that. Also, Potter family magic put that crest on my robe and the Potter protectee's robe. Those crests cannot be removed now.”
Dumbledore looked to be unable to respond.
After several seconds he said. “You may both go!”
Harry turned and walked quickly to the door. Snape followed.
“This way, Potter!”
Harry followed Snape to the Slytherin dungeon.
Snape gave the password, and they entered the Common Room.
It was almost the same as the descriptions he had been given; it was black leather, green walls, and silver trim.
The firsties were clumped together, waiting. Snape motioned Harry to join the group.
Snape gave what he guessed was the normal welcoming speech.
The tone was very much ‘DO AS I SAY OR ELSE’.
Slytherin solidarity was to be maintained at all times. It’s ‘us’ against ‘them’ and ‘they’ always have official support.
If there are any problems between house members, they must be sorted out behind closed doors. Preferably in the Slytherin Common Room so that there is a good chance of witnesses in case things get heated.
The two fifth-year prefects gave the firsties an orientation talk. To Harry’s surprise, the girls were given a separate talk where they were told to take any problems they had to Professor Septima Vector. She was a Slytherin graduate and was more likely to understand issues faced by Slytherin girls. This was new. None of his background briefings covered this development. They were also told that a female prefect or Professor Vector must accompany any female student to meetings with male staff, including Professor Snape. In addition, Professor Snape must accompany any student to any interview with the headmaster.
Slytherins were not to travel around the castle alone. There must always be a group to move from class to class and to the Great Hall. Harry got the impression that all of these precautions were new.
All actions against Slytherins by any student from another house were to be reported to a Slytherin prefect. Particular attention is to be given to any activity involving Gryffindors. Professor Snape was expecting trouble this year. They must have assumed, along with everyone else, that Harry would go into Gryffindor. So, Professor Snape must have expected him to be the cause of the expected problems.
Harry knew there would be problems. However, they were not the problems that the professor was expecting.
The formal talks were over. Malfoy started talking to the group. “If any of those Gryffindork losers want to complain about us, make liars out of them. Keep your mouths shut and take your lead from me. I know how to deal with them.”
Harry had left the group and moved towards the boy’s dormitory corridor. Malfoy shouted. “POTTER! You’ll be the first to suffer if there is any trouble.”
Harry couldn’t avoid it. He turned and slowly strolled back to face Malfoy. The witnesses later reported that the light in the Common Room seemed to get dim. The temperature dropped, and people started to shiver. Malfoy had been smirking at Harry. The crowd drew away. They felt an urgent need to be somewhere else. Malfoy stopped smirking as Harry stepped up to him. Malfoy’s hands went to his face. He started clutching at his throat and undoing his tie and collar. Then he was staring about wildly and making choking sounds. Then he slumped into the chair behind him.
Harry stepped up to Malfoy. “I’m sorry if you aren’t feeling well, Draco. Try to think happy thoughts. Then you might not feel like you are suffocating.”
Harry turned and walked to the boy’s dormitory corridor doorway. Malfoy gasped loudly and took a series of deep breaths.
The temperature suddenly returned to the usual level, and the light returned.
Zabini looked at Daphne Greengrass and gave her a raised eyebrows ‘That was impressive!’ look. Daphne returned a silent “Wow!”
The first years hurried away to their dormitories, whispering to each other about what had happened.
Theodore Nott was standing over Malfoy. “What happened? Are you sick?”
“No! I suddenly couldn’t breathe. It was as though these strong hands had me by the throat. Only there was nothing there. Did Potter cast a spell? Did you see him do anything?”
No one saw or heard anything other than Harry’s statements, which were not in any way magical.
Harry found the first-year dormitory. The name on the door was ‘First-Year Common Room’. It was a smaller version of the Slytherin Common Room.
There were six doors around the walls and the entrance door. Harry found a door with his name on it. He pushed the door open and waited; nothing happened. He sensed no aggressive intent towards him from the magic in the Common Room or his own room.
Blaise Zabini entered the Common Room. He took two steps from the door and stopped as he watched Harry. Harry flicked his right hand, and his holly wand flew to his left hand. He then cast six silent spells at the door to his room.
“What was that, Potter?”
Harry did not look around. “They, Zabini, are locking, privacy, and secrecy charms. You are welcome to try and break in. I’d like to have someone test them out.”
Harry walked into his room, and the door shut behind him. Harry cast enchantment detection spells around the room and found nothing he didn’t expect. The listening and magic detection enchantments were standard for a prison cell in a DMLE station. So, he left them all in place. If he needed privacy, then the snooping charms could be counteracted.
His trunk was on a stand at the foot of his bed. As well as the bed, there was a desk, a desk chair, an armchair, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe. There was one door which opened into a small but adequate bathroom.
There was a heavy thump on the door. Harry nearly smiled and nodded. He guessed that Draco had arrived and tried to blast the door to Harry’s room with an aggressive demolition spell.
Harry opened his trunk and took out his journal as another dozen blasting spells hit his door. The whole story of Harry’s conversation with the Sorting Hat was written out for the gang to read. Harry speculated that the issue that forced Alistair to place him in Slytherin was the extended tuition in magic that he had received from the Death Eaters in Azkaban. There was also the fact that Harry was well-suited to Slytherin. He was genuinely ambitious and cunning. Another heavy thump hit the door, after which there was complete silence.
Harry showered and went to bed. He noticed during the bombardment that a few small lizards appeared on the room's walls and ran about after each impact. This was promising. As he rested, waiting for sleep to overtake him, he called out to the room in Parseltongue. He invited the lizards to come to him and discuss a mutually rewarding arrangement.
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