Harry Potter and the New Order
At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honourable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.
Maya Angelou
Chapter One
Harry stood at the back of the crowd of chattering children. No one came near him as they gazed in amazement at the charmed ceiling of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. To tell the truth Harry was in awe at the ceiling especially as he didn't think he would ever have got to this stage and been allowed in.
The occupants of the hall quieted as a man stood at the top of the hall commanding silence just by his presence. Harry knew this man, oh yes he knew this man; Professor Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts, who had incidentally been in charge of monitoring Harry throughout his life. He rubbed the silver bracelet on his wrist as he mentally scowled. Snape had been responsible for him wearing it. It bound him to Hogwarts for the next seven years and also allowed his loyalty to the cause to be established without the painful legilimens that he had been accustomed to before.
He turned his attention back to the hall's occupants noticing they had started the Sorting and watched as Granger, Hermione stumbled forward towards the Sorting Hat. Her grey uniform a marked her as a muggle born, when she was sorted as a Gryffindor, he saw her directed to the Gryffindor muggleborn seating area, where surrounded by others dressed as she was, she was welcomed. The sorting progressed with the number of students still standing dropping. Harry watched as Malfoy, Draco was sorted to Slytherin, his black uniform fitting in with the sea of black at the Slytherin table. No muggleborn area was needed here as none were ever sorted into his house although a small group at the end of the table wore the black and grey of half bloods. This was what he was dressed in the black with the wide grey stripe on the sleeve; collar and hem marking him as half blood in this world were blood was important. However his uniform was different. It held the white snake motif front and back that he had worn on all his clothing for as long as he could remember. He loathed it, detesting what it stood for. That he was the child of the great traitors and as such was monitored constantly and mocked for his heritage.
Finally only he was left standing. He guessed he should have been earlier in the order if he was allowed his surname but as it was 'Harry' was all he was allowed as a name and this was what was called. Any mention of his surname or parents names was banned after his parents defeat and he had grown up answering to Harry only or worse.
He walked forward feeling all eyes on him as whispers broke out around the hall, people noticing the marking on his robes and realising just who he was. Then he reached the stool and all whispers were suddenly blocked out by the hat landing over his ears and a voice talking into his head. 'Ahh, difficult, very difficult. You have cunning and desire to better yourself, which is not surprising really. Despite that Slytherin would not do, however much you would suit Slytherin, Slytherin would not suit you. Hmm, courage, yes and a good mind. I know just where to put you, it better be GRYFFINDOR. Harry got off the stool and walked towards the Gryffindor table, hearing silence around instead of the applause that all other sorted students received. He knew which ever house he was sorted in would find it hard to accept him but the silence was icy and lasted until he sat down. He had been informed in his meeting earlier with Snape that his seating position was at the foot of whichever table he was sorted into, signifying his position in this new ordered world where blood and loyalty was all that mattered.
When Harry had sat down, Professor Snape started speaking again giving out the start of term announcements regarding clubs and rule changes but Harry tuned them out, he had been given his own set of rules earlier. Most consisted of restrictions, which didn't surprise him after all he was still amazed he had even been allowed to come to learn magic, he had thought they would keep him as far away as possible but he guessed that his presence here was an attempt by the Dark Lord to look benevolent, which after all was why Harry was still alive.
Finally Snape finished speaking and declared the feast started. Food was not denied to him unless he was being punished but all he ever received was plain food. On the surrounding tables he could see Purebloods tucking into exotic and fancy dishes whilst the groups of muggleborns had slightly less fancy food appearing in front of them. Blood status was denoted in all activities these days and had been ever since the deaths of his parents and Dumbledore.
Where Harry sat isolated he could see the new students introducing themselves and everyone excitedly chattering as they ate. The new students at the Gryffindor table at least those in the muggleborn section were comparing wands. Harry wondered who had his wand at the moment. After he had been taken to choose it, it had been taken off him and he had been informed he would receive it back for classes. He shrugged there was not much he could do about it now, so he concentrated on eating and memorising faces, so he would have a fair guess at who in each house and year he should avoid.
One of the new Gryffindor muggleborn students tried to speak to him, where he sat isolated but was shushed by an older student before he could reply. He was clearly the subject under discussion as looks were shot at him but no one after that approached him although he caught the girl who had originally tried to speak to him shooting him sympathetic looks occasionally. He remembered her name suddenly, it was Hermione and he wondered whether she would try to speak to him again at some point. He had been resigned to seven years of loneliness after all he had spent the last few years alone apart from a range of adults supposedly there to look after him but in reality guarding him. Snape had told him he wasn't to try to influence people by talking to them unnecessarily and he feared the punishment it would bring if this girl did try to make friends with him.
Finally the feast finished and as they were dismissed, Harry followed the new Gryffindors out of the Hall to see where he was to live for the next seven years. The common room was not obviously divided but it was clear that the Purebloods got the seats by the fire leaving the other half of the room for the others. The prefects including a bossy looking boy who introduced himself as Percy Weasley gathered all the new first years in the centre of the room to lay down the Gryffindor rules and introduce them to where they would be living for the next seven years.
'Welcome to Gryffindor, the house of the brave. In here will be your family for the next seven years, you will eat, sleep and learn together. Whilst Slytherin may currently be the most powerful house, it is to be hoped that Gryffindor will play their part in making the school a good learning environment and a stepping stone to the world beyond these walls. Now if the girls would follow the female prefects up the stairs to your left, I will show the boys to your dormitory.' Said Percy pompously. Harry noticed that one of the new students also had similar red hair as did a couple of boys seated near the fire, who were scribbling on parchment and looking slightly shifty. As Harry went to follow the boys, he was held back roughly.
'Not you,' One boy sneered at him. 'Traitors aren't allowed in the dormitories. This is your room' and Harry felt himself shoved towards a small door under the boys stairs 'after all we can't have you out of reach of running errands can we? You will stay in there at all times unless you are required to run errands. We don't want to see a traitor littering our common room.' There were murmurs of agreement from around the room and Harry found himself inside the room as the door was banged too.
He picked himself off the floor groaning, he had been hoping that the students hadn't been told about his status of errand boy but that didn't seem like it was true. The prefects must have been told on the train. Snape had informed him earlier that one of the conditions of him being allowed at Hogwarts was if he made himself useful outside of class. He guessed he wouldn't be getting much time to himself and wondered when he would fit in his own work. He had no recourse either, protesting would bring punishment and he had had enough of that over the years to know it was unlikely to be pleasant, whether physical correction or more restrictions or tasks. Snape was highly inventive with punishments when it was required and now he was around him for longer he expected they could get worse.
Looking around the room he saw a small pallet on the floor next to a stack of clothes and books. Other than that the room was plain, resembling a cupboard more than anything with bare stone walls. The only thing likely to be cheerful was the small window close to the floor but at the moment only darkness could be seen. Looking through the books he found they were old battered copies of the first year textbook and he settled down to read one before falling asleep.
Two floors below, Snape entered his office to find someone seated in his chair. He dropped to his knee bowing his head as he recognised the figure of the Dark Lord.
'My Lord, the sorting is complete. The Slytherins are all children of your death eaters, with no Muggleborns or half bloods sorted into the house.'
'Thanks you, Severus, you may rise and take a seat. What of Harry? I presume you told him of his restrictions when he arrived this afternoon?'
Snape rose and taking a seat replied 'Harry is a Gryffindor, just like his useless parents. He knows his boundaries and should remain isolated amongst the students. I have placed the bracelet on him and am now able to monitor his location and loyalties. My Lord, what am I to do about his wand?'
'Hmm, for the moment, just keep giving it to him for wand classes. There may come a time when we can identify one his fellow students to entrust the wand to between classes but at the moment we shall keep all temptation away from him. We will see if the holding of the brother wand to mine means anything. Now I must go. Inform me if Harry steps out of line at all and if you need anything.'
With this he apparated, the only person allowed to apparate in Hogwarts after he had usurped the headmasters right after the death of Dumbledore and the fall of the ministry. Snape still held the wards but the castle recognised Voldemort as its master now and major alterations to the structure could only be carried out by him, something Snape was slightly miffed about but had no desire to tell Voldemort.
Snape sat down tiredly at this desk pushing the paperwork out of the way. The last few years had been busy after the Dark Lords victory seven years ago and it was only now settling down. Although this year with the appearance of Harry at Hogwarts already looked unlikely to be the quiet year he had been hoping for.
He had been monitoring Harry for the Dark Lord for a few years now due to his legilimency skills since the Dark Lord did not yet want to meet with the boy he had for some reason saved. He had gone to kill the Potters and had managed this as well as defeating Dumbledore who turned up just as the Dark Lord was preparing to kill the four year old boy, thus starting the process that had made him ruler of Britain. Something had occurred during the battle with Dumbledore that had made him spare Harry instead installing him in a guarded cottage and monitoring his thoughts, behaviour and a peculiar scar on the boy's forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. It had been a surprise when the Dark Lord had allowed Harry to come to Hogwarts but now it was his responsibility to monitor the boy's behaviour as well as thoughts ensuring he remained isolated from the other students as the Dark Lord wished. Why precisely the Dark Lord required this, he wasn't sure but he knew better than to question the reasoning instead focusing on scarring Harry into submission with threats and restrictions. It was an easy task now after Harry had been kept isolated for seven years, being monitored and punished for any physical or mental infraction of the rules although the boy's spirit was still intact and his rebellion always hovered close to the surface.
He had seen the muggleborn student reach out to him and then be drawn back into the fold with an explanation from an older student. The looks afterwards worried him but as yet there was nothing he could do and she would learn their relative places in the world, learn what the white snake mark that Harry wore meant and how it was better as a muggleborn not to be singled out. If not she would find herself shunned in this new world she had entered, considered for only the worst of positions no matter what her results although her blood meant she was only allowed certain jobs any way. Now she was in the wizarding world to stay. Her parents would have been obliviated when leaving the station and she would live in one of the muggleborn housing blocks for the rest of her life after qualifying from Hogwarts.
With a check of the device monitoring Harry's location, he saw he was in bed asleep and getting up he headed that way himself shelving all issues regarding Harry and the rest of the school until tomorrow.