Choices
Chapter One
By: Nyra II
A/N: This will be Dark! Harry, 'cause I don't like Light, Goody-Goody Harry at all. The idea for this story was given to me by Queen of Halloween. Thanks!
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11-year-old Harry James Potter sat alone in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. He was reading one of the schoolbooks he had bought a month ago when Hagrid had taken him to Diagon Alley, after he had explained the truth about how Harry's parents James and Lily had been killed.
Harry had been surprised, to say the least, when he found out that the Wizarding World was real, but for some odd reason it had not been a very big shock.
While they were in Diagon Alley, Harry had gotten all of the things required for First-Year Hogwarts students, but he had gotten several extra books, in order to know more about the strange new world of magic. During his last month with the Dursley's, he had read each of his books at least eight times, and he wished that he had gotten more to read, do to the fact that it was getting rather boring, reading the same books over and over.
Harry looked up from the book as the train started moving, but then he simply continued reading. The reason he was alone in the compartment was because he really didn't want to speak to anyone, much less some idiot who kept babbling nonsense like one of the fellow First Years he had met at an ice-cream parlor in Diagon Alley.
He didn't want to go to Hogwarts at all. Sure, he wasn't happy at the Dursley's, and the idea of learning magic was interesting, but he didn't want to go to this school.
Something told him that the Headmaster, Doubledoor, or whatever his name was, couldn't be trusted. As a general rule, he didn't trust adults at all. In his experience, they only hurt you in the end, intentionally or not. Mostly intentionally, though.
He had a strange feeling that anyone in this… Wizarding world was dangerous, and that making loyal and decent friends wouldn't be easy.
He'd never had many friends, they really didn't tend to stick around long after Dudley and his gang started teasing them, and during the last few years he had realized that he didn't care if he had friends or not. Sometimes he even thought that he was better off without the annoyance.
While he had been in Diagon Alley, he had somehow managed to convince Hagrid to let him go into Muggle London and get some new clothes that would fit properly, rather than the overly large, torn remains of Dudley's old clothes that his relatives ad given him.
Most of the new clothes he had gotten were black, as it had always been his favorite color, and Hagrid had seemed surprised when he noticed it. Harry really didn't care though. Hagrid was nice enough, but Harry didn't really want to be friends with anyone in this new Magical World.
That slightly confusing line of thought was interrupted when the door of the compartment opened, and a red-headed boy who appeared to be a First Year stepped into the compartment.
"Can I sit here, everywhere else is full?" he asked.
Harry nodded.
"Yeah, sure."
The redhead sat down and held out his hand.
"I'm Ron, Ron Weasley."
Harry shook his hand and simply replied with "Harry."
"Do you play Quidditch?" asked Ron.
"No." said Harry shortly, slightly annoyed.
"Oh." said Ron.
Harry went back to reading his book, and Ron studied him in confusion.
Harry obviously came from a Muggle family, do to the black Muggle clothes he was wearing. His jet-black hair went down to his chin, and it had a slight curliness to it, though it was hardly noticeable. His dark green eyes were not covered by glasses, as Harry had not needed them since sometime around his tenth birthday, and those emerald eyes shone with knowledge. Knowledge from books, and the kind of knowledge that only comes from experiencing things.
Harry looked up when he noticed Ron was looking at him.
"What?" he asked, annoyed.
"Are you from a Muggle family?" Ron asked.
"No. I lived with my aunt and uncle, they're Muggles, but my parents both went to Hogwarts, they died when I was almost two years old." said Harry. He didn't want to discuss his past with some stranger, and ound it extremely irritating that Weasley had asked.
Ron nodded.
Harry rolled his eyes. Obviously, this... Weasley… wasn't going to shut up any time soon.
"Do you play Quidditch?" he asked, with a sigh, resigned to his fate.
"Of course! It's the best game in the world." and with that, Ron started explaining everything about Quidditch to Harry, who nodded politely as he listened to Ron rant about things that he already knew, do to the Quidditch book he had bought in Diagon Alley.
Thankfully, Ron was soon interrupted when a bushy-haired girl opened the compartment door.
"Have either of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one." she asked, a bossy tone in her voice.
Ron shook his head.
"No." said Harry.
"Oh well…I'm Hermione, by the way, Hermione Granger." she stuck out her hand and Harry shook it.
"What's that you're reading?" Hermione asked, looking at the book in Harry's hand.
"A First-Year Transfiguration book. This is about the ninth time I've read it." he replied.
"Really? I've memorized all of our books for the year. What did you think of Defense against the Dark Arts?"
"It was very interesting." said Harry, then they both looked at Ron for his opinion, but he was looking a bit shocked.
"We were supposed to read the books before we went to Hogwarts?" he asked, appearing ready to faint.
"No. But I thought it would be best to be prepared." said Hermione.
Harry nodded in agreement.
The three sat in the compartment talking for quite a while, though it was mostly Harry and Hermione talking and Ron looking lost, as he coudn't understand hardly a thing they talked about, before Hermione looked at her watch and jumped up.
"We'll be at Hogwarts soon, we should change into our school robes." she said.
Hermione left the compartment to change in the bathroom, and Harry and Ron quickly changed into their school uniforms.
After they were done and had sat down again, there was a knock on the compartment door, and it opened a moment later, revealing the pale face of the blond boy Harry had met in Diagon Alley.
"Hello, Potter." he said.
"Hi, Malfoy." was the reply. The two had met in Madame Malkins, and they had talked for a while afterwards too. They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't enemies either.
Draco then noticed Ron. He sneered. "Hello Weasel."
But Ron didn't seem to notice, he was staring at Harry with an odd look in his eyes.
"You're Harry Potter!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, I am." said Harry, annoyed again by the way everyone seemed to react that way when they heard his name. He hated it.
"What exactly are you doing, sharing a compartment with Weasley?" asked Draco, looking slightly sickened by the mere thought of such a thing.
"There was no where else to sit, and Ron's... not like the other's you told me about."
Draco had told Harry about the Weasley family, but Ron didn't seem to be like what Draco had described at all.
At that moment, Hermione came back into the compartment.
"Who are you?" she asked, looking at Draco.
"Draco Malfoy." he replied.
Anything that would have happened next was cut off do to the loud voice that filled the train, though it didn't seem to be coming from any particular place.
"We will be arriving at Hogsmeade Station in three minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken up to the school later."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco formed a sort of silent truce, promising not to argue. Not tonight, at least. The train soon slowed and stopped and the students filled its corridors, exiting and meeting up with friends.
"Firs' Years! "Firs' Years o'er 'ere!" said a familiar voice loudly. It was obviously Hagrid; no one else had that horrible accent.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco, along with the rest of the First Years, followed Hagrid down a sloping path, several students nearly tripped, and soon they were standing at the edge of a lake. There were about ten small boats lined up on the shore.
"No 'ore 'hen four to a boa'!" said Hagrid.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco got a boat to themselves and soon they were going across the lake, around a corner and…
There were 'ooohhhh's' and 'aaahhhh's' as the boats rounded a corner and the First Years got there first look at there new school. It was really quite a sight, the enormous caste sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the black lake, the castles many windows lit with what were obviously flames from torches.
That, or the inside of the entire building was on fire.
The First Years all ducked as the boats passed under some low-hanging vines, and the boats came to a stop after drifting through a dark tunnel for a while.
They got out of the boats, following Hagrid as he walked through the tunnel, up a set of stairs carved from its rock floor, and came to a stop in front of a wooden door. Hagrid knocked upon it, and it was quickly answered by a sever-looking, slightly elderly woman.
"The Firs' Years, Professor McGonagall." said Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid." said McGonagall, before leading the First Years through a few corridors, and coming to a stop in a room not far from the Great Hall... not that any of the First Years knew that.
McGonagall left after telling them to try and 'Make themselves look presentable', with a rather pointed look at Ron, who had a large amount of dirt on his nose.
"How do you think they Sort us? It didn't say anything about it in 'Hogwarts: A History." asked Harry.
"You read that book too?" asked Hermione excitedly, obviously prepared to go into a full discussion of it right then and there.
"My brothers, Fred and George, told me that we get Sorted based on how well we wrestle a troll." said Ron, looking a bit green and extremely frightened.
Upon hearing that, Hermione looked scared and horrified, clearly wishing she hadn't excepted her Hogwarts letter, while Harry and Draco looked disbelieving.
"I highly doubt they'd risk us dying just to Sort us." said Draco, rolling his eyes, though he sounded a bit unsure.
Before anyone could answer, McGonagall came back into the room.
"We're ready for you now."
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Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and the rest of the First Years followed McGonagall out of the strange room and into the Great Hall. Harry heard Hermione whispering to Draco and Ron that the ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and soon they came to a stop in a single-file at the front of the Hall, near a stool with a patched and frayed Hat on it.
Just as they were getting extremely confused, the Hat opened at the brim and began to sing.
A/N: I can't remember the Song, so it's not in the story, sorry.
After the Hat finished singing Ron got a relieved look on his face and he muttered angrily, "I'll kill Fred and George!"
McGonagall held up a long parchment and began to call out names.
"Abbott, Hannah."
"HUFFLEPUFF!" yelled the Hat a few moments later.
"Boot, Terry."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Brown, Lavender."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Crabbe, Vincent."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Finch-Fletchly, Justin."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Finnegan, Seamus."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
After several more First Years, McGonagall finally called,
"Granger, Hermione."
Hermione shakily walked up to the Hat, and it was placed on her head. There were moments of silence.
"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the Hat.
Hermione beamed as she walked over to the Ravenclaw table.
"Goyle, Gregory."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Longbottom, Neville."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
A few more students were called before,
"Malfoy, Draco."
"SLYTHERIN!" said the Hat immediately upon touching his head.
"Patil, Padma."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Patil, Parvati."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Parkinson, Pansy."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Potter, Harry."
Harry walked up to the Sorting Hat, and as soon as it was on his head he heard a voice in his ear speaking.
"Hmmmm…Well, this is interesting…… Plenty of courage, smart, a wish to learn more…power, oh goodness yes, but it's both dark and light. It's Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor for you."
'I just want to get out of my parents shadow, when Hagrid met me he spent nearly five minutes talking about how much I look like my dad, but I don't want to have anyone comparing me to my parents when they don't even know me. I don't want them to think I'm some sort of hero' thought Harry.
"Well, those are wise words. You are certainly Ravenclaw material, but your hatred of the Muggles you have met, and your wish to prove yourself are Slytherin traits. You will find out the Truth in a few years, but you might know sooner than that. The best place for you, Harry, is definitely……
"...SLYTHERIN!"
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The Halloween Feast was about halfway through, and Harry was sitting at the Slytherin table beside Draco, thinking about everything that had happened since he had been sorted into Slytherin.
After about a week Ron, who was put in Gryffindor, had gotten over the fact that Harry was a Slytherin, and they had become good friends since then. Hermione was quite happy in Ravenclaw, and she was also one of Harry's closest friends.
He still wasn't at all happy to be at Hogwarts, but he had finally accepted the fact that no matter how much he wanted to, he could never go back to being just a Muggle.
The Wizarding World would never let there dear 'Boy-Who-Lived' go, and that thought made Harry so angry that he had already decided, after some thought, that if Voldemort ever rose again the world could stuff itself down a tiny hole and die, for all he cared.
For about two weeks now, he, Draco, Hermione, and Ron had suspected that Professor Quirell was after something secret, which was hidden in the third floor corridor, which they had accidentally discovered was being guarded by a giant Three-Headed-Dog named Fluffy.
He had finally given up and accepted the fact that no matter how much he wanted them to, Ron, Hermione, and Draco would never quit being his friends, but he still kept an amazing amount of secrets from them.
He didn't want the constant annoyance of having his friends prying into his business, and there was no way in hell that he would tell them anything of relative importance. But they were interesting to hang out with when he was bored.
Suddenly Harry was brought out of his thoughts as the Hall's doors were thrown open, and Quirell ran into the room, stopping just in front of Dumbledore and gasping out,
"T- Troll…i- in…t- t- th- the dungeons…th- thought y- you …ought t- to k- kn- know." before collapsing in an unconscious heap upon the floor.
There was silence for a full second, before there was an enormous clap of thunder and all the students began to scream, run around in circles, or knock each-other down as they rushed to the doors. Harry simply sat there, staring at them with a raised eyebrow, and wondering how on Earth they could be so stupid.
It only further proved his belief that most of the human population were sheer idiots.
"SILENCE!" yelled Dumbledore, "Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories, Professor's come with me."
Harry looked at Draco, who had also remained at the table, and they simultaneously stood up, calmly following the Slytherin Prefects out of the Hall.
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"Wake-up, Harry!" said a voice he recognized as Draco's.
"We have to get down to the Great Hall right now, apparently someone didn't know about the troll and got killed by it, Dumbledore's gonna make some kind of speech." continued Draco.
That woke Harry up completely.
"A student got killed?" he asked, shocked. "Who was it?"
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A/N: I've just commited a horrible crime. A cliffy in the first chapter! But I didn't want to go through the whole 'first day of classes, finding out about Fluffy' and all those things. I don't want to draw First Year out forever.
PLEASE REVIEW!
