"STUPEFY!"
The jet of red light flew right over the Death Eater's shoulder and hit a glass-fronted cabinet full of variously shaped hourglasses. The cabinet fell to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere. Harry watched as the hourglasses broke apart. Time turners... He realized. And then everything went silent as a blinding white light filled the room. Then Harry heard a rushing noise, like heavy wind, but all was still.
The next thing he knew, he was somewhere else. He saw someone with blonde hair and a sneer on his face in front of him. MALFOY! He drew his wand with surprising speed. Wait... Why was my wand in my pocket? And why am I wearing these clothes and not my robes? Wait, why am I on the train!?
But even as he thought this, he pointed his wand at Malfoy and yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Pointing it to the two hulking figures behind him, he shouted, "Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus!" Then he realized it was not Lucius Malfoy, but Draco Malfoy. The two people behind him were Crabbe and Goyle. He was on the train to Hogwarts for the first time. Then he heard a voice say behind him, "Bloody hell! I thought you lived with Muggles? How do you do that?"
Harry spun around. behind him was Ron, with dirt on his nose. He could not understand what had happened. He was in the Department of Mysteries! In the Time Chamber, fighting the Death Eaters for the Prophecy! Ah... The time turners broke and time must have changed. "Ron! I'm sorry, the time turners broke, my stunner missed the Death Eater. We're back in first year, on the train! Remember? Hermione is about to come in helping Neville look for Trevor."
Ron looked at him strangely. "Have you gone mad, Harry?"
But then they were interrupted and Hermione came in. "Excuse me, have either of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one."
"Hermione!" Said Harry. "Do you know me?"
"Of course I do!"
"Good! Can you please explain to Ron-"
"Everyone knows who you are. You're Harry Potter. How do you know my name?"
Harry felt a chill creep up his spine. "You mean neither of you remember?" Everything we did- saving the Stone, killing the basilisk and Riddle, the Tournament, and Umbridge? Going to the Ministry to save Sirius?" He was getting desperate now.
"No offense mate, but you're mad!" Ron exclaimed, looking alarmed.
"No I'm not! All that really happened!"
"Look, If it did happen, then I should be able to remember it, too!"
"No, you couldn't!"
"Are you calling me dumb!?"
"Yeah, maybe I am!" Harry was livid.
"You know what? Just stay out of my way, Potter! I don't want to have to deal with a moronic liar like you, anyway!"
"I'm not a liar!"
"Yes you are! I'm starting to wish you had died with your family, Potter!"
Now a cold fury overtook Harry. He looked at Ron, who scrambled as far away from Harry as possible, looking terrified. Hermione, who had been watching the whole thing, open mouthed, let out a frightened squeak and ran.
But the world got white and quiet.
Suddenly he was in a boat with a tall, dark skinned boy, a pretty girl with blonde hair, and another girl with reddish-brown hair. He had no idea how he got here, but then remembered that the flash of light that happened was the same as what had happened in the Ministry. Feeling a malevolent gaze upon him, he turned to see in the boat behind him was Ron, Hermione, and Neville. Neville was crying, Hermione was ignoring him. But Ron had a gaze upon him that was so murderous, he felt a pang of pain inside him. What had he said? He had a feeling he would never know...
He turned back to see the boy staring at his forehead with shock, and the girls chatting animatedly with each other. "Are you Harry Potter?" The boy had a voice that was smooth and deep. But something else was hidden in it, something Harry wasn't sure he had heard before. Hope mixed with hate. At the sound of his name, Harry was suddenly aware of how quiet it had gotten in the boat.
"Yes... That is my name."
All the blonde girl could do was gape at him with incredulity. The brunette started chattering away with such speed Harry could barely keep up with the flow of questions. "Are you really? Where do you live? Isn't all of your family dead? Oh, I forgot, I'm Tracey Davis, this is Daphne Greengrass," She referred to the blonde, "And that is Blaise Zabini, he doesn't talk much. Daphne's family is often invited to parties held by the Zabini's, and I come along as I'm her best friend. He doesn't talk much, he's the strong and silent type, tall and dark. I know all about you, I really do. Well, that's not really true, but I hope I will soon. Don't you Daphne? Harry, how come you are so thin? Do you get treated right? Why are your glasses broken? What house do you want to get sorted in? I want to go into-"
"Davis, shut up!" Blaise hissed. He sent harry an apologetic look.
"Oops, sorry!" Tracey giggled.
Daphne finally spoke up, "Sorry about Tracey, but she doesn't know when to stop talking."
"It's no problem," Harry said quickly.
"It actually is, you were getting annoyed. You were just too polite to say so," Daphne said cooly.
"Er... What?"
"I'm a Seer. I can't see the future, but I can see magical auras."
"Oh, erm... Okay?"
"Well, enough of this. Would you like to be friends? Anyone who is an enemy of Malfoy is a friend of mine. I absolutely DETEST him!"
"How did you know-"
"That you cursed them? I saw the magical signature appear."
And everything went white again...
"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 top 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 steady 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!"
Harry knew where he was, but time was still going haywire. McGonagall began to read names off a piece of paper. Nothing seemed to have changed. He remembered a few more than others from his time in his first year, five years ago. Or is that now? He was getting a headache from thinking about time's enigmas. "Davis, Tracey!" Harry listened closely. Tracey left the line of first years and went up to the stool, sat down, and picked up the hat. Then she dropped it, tried to pick it up, and the stool tipped over and she fell. Blushing bright red, she stood the stool upright, picked up the hat, put it on, and sat back down. A few moments passed, and the hat screamed out, "SLYTHERIN!" Harry groaned slightly. When she wasn't babbling, she was quite fun to talk to. Wait... Am I starting to remember? He concentrated hard, but achieved nothing. He was shook out of his revery to look up and see Daphne put the hat on her head. The moment it touched her hair, it yelled out, "SLYTHERIN!" Smiling broadly, she went down and joined the Slytherin table, sitting next to Tracey.
More of the conversation came back to him... Tracey was asking question after question of Harry's life, and he answered them. He felt like we was getting cross-examined by a policeman. Daphne interrupted, "Tracey, shut up! She laughed, "Poor Harry doesn't even know anything about us!" Then Daphne started explaining the complicated lives of pureblood families. Purebloods were usually rich, and had ties to every other pureblood family. So there were large parties held often, and Tracy and Daphne met at one of these. Blaise met them a few parties later, which was at the party they met Malfoy. They all disliked the pureblood mania. Seeing as there were few pureblood families left, they were getting inbred. Politics were everywhere, even within individual families, and-
He was startled out of his memory by McGonagall saying, "Potter, Harry." He went up to the hat, hearing all the whispering breaking out all over the hall, and feeling the eyes of every student upon him. He went to the stool, picked up the hat, and put it over his head as he sat down. The hat was big for him, though, so he was faced with complete darkness as it slipped over his face. And he heard that familiar voice in his ear, "So... The famous Harry Potter. Oh? And I see I have sorted you before. Yes, yes... The time turners made an alternate timeline. You seem to have equal qualities for Gryffindor and Slytherin. But where to put you..."
Harry's immediate thought was of Ron and Hermione, before he realized he had made them hate him somehow. Then he thought of Blaise, Tracey, and Daphne. They are my friends now... And who knows? Maybe Slytherin will be different than Gryffindor.
The hat began speaking again, "You could have so much in either house. But only one will help you with your destiny. Yes, I know all you know, and all everyone knows that I have sat upon. I can see past, present, and future. This time, I will do something different. It will not be the same. But someday, you will have to make a choice that will change your life forever. I will put you in-"
"SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted. In that instant, an uproar came from the Slytherin table. Daphne and Tracey let out squeals of joy, while Marcus Flint, a great sloth of a kid, kept bellowing, "WE'VE GOT POTTER! WE'VE GOT POTTER!" Harry glanced at Snape. He was shocked, and looked torn between a sneer and a smirk. He went and sat down by Daphne and Tracey, the latter of which put her arm around him and gave him a hug. He was engulfed in hugs and pats on his back from various Slytherins, and only heard the last one to be sorted. Blaise came to sit on Tracey's other side.
The rest of the night passed in a blur. Harry was exhausted... He had fifth year, dealing with Umbridge, the D.A., studying for all of the O.W.L.s, taking them. Then he learned about Sirius, to go to the Ministry and fight. Then he was suddenly on the train, curing Malfoy and arguing with his best mate. When he finally stumbled into bed, he was vaguely aware of the fact that he shared dorms with Blaise, Malfoy, a weedy boy called Theodore Nott, and a boy he thought was named Scorpus Scythe. His last thought as he drifted into the land of dreams was that this year was going to be interesting...
When Harry woke up in the morning, he was starving. Looking over, he saw that Everyone was asleep but Blaise. He was dressed, sitting on his bed, and staring at Harry with a sardonic smirk. "Should we prank these three?" he asked with a malicious tone to his smooth voice.
"No, let's do everyone but Malfoy!"
"Good idea. Do you have any ideas?"
"Yep." Taking out his wand, Harry murmured, "Serpensortia," conjuring four snakes. He put one in each bed, except for Malfoy's. "When I tell you, hiss menacingly and act like you are going to strike at our throats!" Harry hissed in parseltongue.
"You speak it?"
Harry whirled toward Blaise, who said, "Yes, I am a parselmouth, too."
"Wow... Next year will be a pain," Harry groaned.
"What?"
"Never mind. Just lay back down in bed and act like we were asleep."
"Mind if I do the honors?" Blaise asked while he was undressing.
"Be my guest."
Once they were all situated, Blaise hissed, "Now!" At once, four snakes began hissing and spitting. Harry yelled, and everyone woke up to see a snake about to strike at their face. Harry wasn't sure, but looking back on that day, he thought that the level of noise and pandemonium that erupted reached levels around that of a sonic boom. They all blamed Malfoy, who vehemently refused guilt. It makes sense, seeing as he wasn't guilty. Harry and Blaise dressed again, and walked down to the common.
In Harry's opinion, the Gryffindor common room was much more comfortable. The Slytherin common room was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. This dungeon extends partway under the lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge. The common room has lots of low backed black and dark green leather sofas with buttons, skulls, and dark wood cupboards. It has quite a grand atmosphere, but also quite a cold one. One corner was basically a study hall, devoted to homework, classwork, and more. At one end were some windows that looked right into the lake. He could see for hundreds of feet in the unclouded water.
But suddenly, Harry had an idea. He remembered all of the passwords to Gryffindor Tower. He could get in... He could get his invisibility cloak from Dumbledore, and scope out all of the passwords to the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff common rooms as well. He knew enough, he could almost have free reign. But first off, he will have to visit the Room of Requirement for a few things. No, I can't. I have to get breakfast and my schedule, and then I have to go to all my classes. It can wait until the weekend. And since this is all very easy and basic review, I may as well study for other things. Yeah, I'll visit the room of requirement now, Harry thought to himself. Having made a plan about what to do with his free time, he set off with a spring in his step, knowing that this wear will be quite fulfilling.