Everything was about to change for a young boy with messy brown hair, through the gargantuan doors in front of him lay his future. To his left stood his first true friend in the wizarding world but before any conversation as to what the future may hold could continue, the stern looking professor McGonagall began the process of ushering then into the great hall. Many in the group of eleven year olds looked timid or amazed, while others looked simply happy or indifferent, the difference between the two groups clear as day. The group stopped in front of a stool with an accent wizards hat upon it. Before the new students had the opportunity to truly digest their new environment, the professor began to call names and the sorting began.
Adjusting his glasses and glancing back to his friend, the young boy had little time to dwell on the rounds of applause as each student departed to their new compatriots, until that same friend was called "Black, Sirius" James suddenly found himself looking with newfound attention to the sorting hat, Sirius had left his side and departed to the front with comfortable ease, a far cry from many of the new students thus far. McGonagall places the sorting hat on his head for mere moments before it made its announcement "SLYTHERIN" the table to the far side erupted in applause before the newest of the Black students began to make his way to their table. James felt nervous now, he had rarely spent time around children his own age, what with his parents being unusually old to be having children, even by wizarding standards. The other source of his worries came from what his parents had told him throughout his childhood, that slytherin was the source of dark wizards and witches, the sorts who had followed Grindlewald. His Gryffindor father and Hufflepuff mother would not approve of a slytherin in the family but James was reluctant to lose his first real friend.
His mind was suddenly cleared when he saw, for the first time, the girl stood in front of him. She seemed excited, but her eyes betrayed the fact that she knew, at least to some extent, about her surroundings. Surely she would be a pureblood or a half blood, in a roundabout sort of way James tried to justify her being in Slytherin as well, his already nervous mind conjuring a fantasy that made choosing Slytherin more bearable when faced with the wrath of his parents.
"Potter, James" suddenly shaken from his train of thought, James took his place on the stool, the vast number of candles obscured by the old hat now on his head "it's been a while since I've had a Potter to sort, normally it's quite easy, but with you I sense a reluctance to join your fathers house"
"I...I can't be a Gryffindor" James replied, still not quite sure of himself.
"You can't eh? Perhaps instead we should place you in Hufflepuff, the house of your mother"
"I don't think I would belong there either"
"Your mind pulls in one other direction, towards your young friend. If you do not wish for the alternatives, however easier they may be, then it must be SLYTHERIN"
Thunderous applause erupted from the table of snakes as a pureblood whose ancestry belonged to another house was welcomed for the first time. James focused his attention on Sirius and noticed he was sat beside a girl not too dissimilar in appearance to him, but with a slightly more regal appearance, she seemed mildly pleased at his place in their house. Sirius on the other hand had a beaming smile and looked to James with an approving nod, beside him an empty space which he took. "Congratulations James! I knew you would be joining us, it's nice to see another family embracing their pureblood heritage, my cousin here thought you would be a Gryffindor for sure"
"Your cousin?" James replied.
"Yes, allow me to introduce you to Bellatrix Black, my cousin and second year" for the first time James could see the girl up close, her smile gone briefly to be replaced by destain at a muggleborn being sorted into Ravenclaw. "It's a pleasure James, you've made the right decision instead of mingling with mudbloods and blood traitors"
James simply nodded in response, his attention now fixed on one of the few remaining students, the girl from before. His hope for her to be slytherin, however silly it seemed now, was still there.
"Evans, Lily" Sirius at last noticed where James' attention had drifted to and furrowed his brow in thought.
"Evans...Evans...she's a mudblood, I don't recognise her name. Why're you so focused on her?" James was briefly snapped out of his focus by Sirius' question.
"GRYFFINDOR" his eyes darted back to the girl he had seen, his hopes now dashed. He felt down that Lily would not be joining them, but perhaps it was for the best with all the blood supremacists that Slytherin had.
"James?" Sirius was eyeing him suspiciously now.
"Sorry, I er had run into her before boarding the train, I was hoping she was one of us" while James had meant a Slytherin, Sirius hadn't interpreted it that way.
"That's the problem with mudbloods, can't work out who to trust until the sorting ceremony. That's what my father always told me"
James wasn't paying much attention though, instead his thoughts drifted to the future, one that felt strange not to include this young girl in. A path which was once so clear was suddenly shrouded and replaced with another, without any clear reason James felt the urge to turn to his left once more, to look at Bellatrix, who was currently in a reserved discussion with another second year.
The rest of the feast was relatively uneventful and before any real introductions with the rest of the year could begin, the prefects were guiding the newest snakes down to the dungeons. The lower levels of the school had a much colder feel to them, not necessarily a harsher design but certainly a less welcoming one.
The lead prefect, a boy who had briefly introduced himself as Augustus Nott stopped before an unsuspecting bit of wall "this is the entrance to the Slytherin common room, you would be wise to remember its location and the password is purity" James frowned, his parents had always been against all the pureblood supremacy and this was a thinly veiled reminder that only those of a certain heritage would survive in Slytherin, there was nothing he could do and opening his mouth now would only alienate him or worse.
Beyond the wall lay a strange room, it was formal and had very fine furniture but it still had the unwelcoming feel that the rest of the dungeons enjoyed. Augustus once again stopped to address the first years " welcome to Slytherin, professor Slughorn is our head of house but has delegated the duty of welcoming you all to me" he gave a hard stare to one boy in particular who visibly gulped "we are the ambitious and the cunning, if you break the rules do not get caught, if you need help, have something another needs. We prefects will guide you back to the great hall in the morning for breakfast so I strongly recommend you all go to bed immediately" rather abruptly Augustus ended his introduction and went to talk to a group of older students by the fire, leaving James and the rest of the boys to find their way to their dormitory.
Beside James were three other boys, besides Sirius "right chaps, best if we introduce ourselves, I'm Sirius Black"
A boy with a crooked nose and greasy black hair answered first "Severus Snape"
Another with mousey brown hair, the same one who the prefect had stared at spoke up "Nathaniel Nott"
Lastly the final boy with a somewhat arrogant look began to talk "Evan Rosier, And you are?" He looked towards James, the only one seemingly uncomfortable in his current surroundings "James Potter" Evan didn't seem too impressed with this answer but did ease up somewhat "your family hasn't been in Slytherin before has it"
"Not to my knowledge no" James replied, worried slightly by the new direction of the conversation
"Well we all come from old Slytherin families, you would do well to learn from us"
It was Sirius who intervened next, preventing the discussion from escalating "well Evan, my family has been here longer than yours or Nathaniels and I think James will fit in just fine here, now I suggest we all find our dorm and get some sleep" Sirius' tone left no room for argument, ending the little show in the middle of the common room before it could really begin.
So this was his first day at Hogwarts thought James, but he couldn't shake from his mind, that girl or even his parents and the wrath he would incur once they knew he was a Slytherin.