Okay, I do not own Harry Potter, or any of its characters, yadda, yadda, yadda. I did copy about the first 1/3 of this chapter (loosely) because I saw no need to change it for the most part. But from then on out, it's completely my writing.

---

Feeling nervous about the sorting, Harry got into line. McGonagall ushered them through the double doors and into the great hall.

It was the most amazing sight Harry had ever seen. There were four tables running the length of the hall, perpendicular to the Teacher's table. All of the tables were set with gold plates and cups. The entire room was lit by countless floating candles. But most amazing was the ceiling. Seeming completely invisible, it seemed to mimic the night sky.

Behind him, Hermione whispered "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

Such a thing was amazing to Harry. He would have to ask Hermione for her copy of the book to figure out how they did that. It was done so well that it hardly seemed to be a ceiling at all.

But Harry snapped back to attention when he saw Professor McGonagall place a stool in front of them. On top of the stool was a wizard's hat. As he tried to figure out what it was for, the Hat began to twitch. 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 Griffindors 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 (although I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause at the end of the song. Even bewildered as he was, Harry clapped along with the rest.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry smiled, but not for his friend's joke. The sorting hat told him what he was worrying about the entire time. From the ride on the train, he knew he didn't want to be in Hufflepuff or Slytherin. While he was sure that they were great houses, he just knew they weren't from him. And with the song, Harry knew which house he wanted.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbot, Hannah"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause -

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered quite loudly as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

And the process continued for quite a while as they wend alphabetically through the list. Granger was sorted into Gryffindor, followed by Longbottom.

The list continued on, getting closer and closer to him. Moon, Nott, Parkinson, a pair of Patils. Finally, Perks was called and once she was sorted into Ravenclaw, it was Harry's turn.

"Potter, Harry!"

As he stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

The hat dropped down onto his head, covering his eyes. In all honestly, he was glad to avoid the stares from everyone in the hall. Now, he waited for the hat.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting…. So where shall I put you?"

Ravenclaw Harry implored to the hat. I want to learn.

"Ravenclaw, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You have much curiosity and a strong mind, but the same could be said for all of the houses. You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness."

No Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, Not Slytherin, not Slytherin

"Well, if you're sure - better be RAVENCLAW!"

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Ravenclaw table. He felt bad about not pushing for Gryffindor with the hat, but it beat being Slytherin. Ravenclaw was in an uproar over the pick. The usually calm and collected students were cheering loudly for, quite possibly, the best pick of the year.

An older girl with long curly hair came up and shook his hand. "Welcome to Ravenclaw, Potter. I'm Penelope Clearwater. I'm the Ravenclaw prefect."

Through all this, Harry was a bit off balance from the sorting. While shaking Penelope's hand, his eyes made contact with Ron's. The boy looked a little disappointed, and Harry shrugged. It wasn't as if it was the end of the world.

Harry found a seat between a boy and a girl, Michael Corner and Lisa Turpin respectively. Michael was a quiet boy with long brown hair. Lisa, on the other hand, was tall, blond, and quite chatty.

"You're Harry Potter?" She asked. "I didn't hear much of you growing up because my mum's a muggle. Though, my dad made me read up on all this over the summer before coming. You know, they've got whole chapters dedicated to you in some books."

"Really?" Harry asked, embarrassed. He didn't want to be in the spotlight very much, and this unnerved him greatly. But Lisa continued on.

"Yeah, but it's mostly guesswork. They don't know how you defeated Voldemort, so those chapters are usually guesswork into how you did it. Most of them claim that it was Accidental Magic."

Harry nodded at this. He remembered all the times that strange things had happened beyond his control. Jumping onto building tops, talking to snakes. It made sense.

The sorting continued all through this, and the last ones were called. Ron was immediately put in Griffindor. Relieved, he rushed over to his brothers at the table. Zabini was put into Slytherin.

Albus Dumbledore got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms wide open, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would loke to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

He sat down. Everyone clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh.

"Is he - a bit mad?" He asked Lisa.

"I'd imagine that at 150 or so, you'd be a little out of it too." She responded, laughing. Harry laughed at this too, she was probably right. But he stopped laughing when the dishes magically were filled with food.

Harry's mouth fell open. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork shops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken the lion's share of the meals, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything and began to eat. It was delicious.

"How'd the food get here?" Harry asked, halfway through the meal, suddenly remembering how it had showed up.

"House elves." Penelope answered. "They prepare the food down in the kitchens, then using magic, they send it up to the plates."

"House elves?" Harry asked. There was so much he didn't know about the wizarding world.

"Yeah" Lisa broke in. "They're bound to service by the castle. They cook and clean the entire castle, I'd imagine. They're dead useful, and can do crazy things with magic."

"Cool." Harry said. He would have to see one of them, they sounded very interesting.

"So, when do classes start?" Lisa asked. "All of the classes sound so amazing, I can't wait to begin!"

"They'll start tomorrow." Penelope said. "You'll just be taking two classes a day, every day but Sunday."

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are well fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors

"Quiddich trials will be held in the second week of the term. This year, we have decided to make them fully open tryouts, pending decision by Team Captains. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.

And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. "Everyone pick their favorite tune, and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Everybody finished at different times, leaving the hall in a deafening cacophony of contradicting tunes. By the end, only two Griffindor boys, who looked distinctly like Ron, were still singing. Once they are finished, the whole hall clapped.

"Ah, music," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Ravenclaw first years followed Penelope orderly through the crowd to the west exit. As they walked out of the great hall, she began to talk.

"Ravenclaw students live in Ravenclaw Tower." She explained, leading them up the stairs. "To get in, you have to answer a question posed by the knocker. Usually, it's not that hard, but if you get it wrong, you have to wait until someone comes along who answers it."

And there they were, standing in front of the large door. Penelope grabbed the ornate eagle knocker and rapped it against the door.

"What does man fear above all else?"

"Death" Penelope answered clearly and evenly. The door swung open silently. What Harry beheld was quite possibly an even more amazing sight than the Great Hall itself.

The common room consisted of a wide, circular room with a dark blue carpet. The arched windows were tall and elegant, and were hung with matching dark blue curtains and bronze silks as well. There were tables, chairs, and even bookcases. The entire room gave off a friendly library feel.

Lining the sides of the Ravenclaw tower were two staircases. "Those lead to the dorms. Left side is for boys, right for the girls. The first door is for the first years. Your baggage has been placed in there. Unpack, and go to bed. Breakfast starts at 7:30, Classes start at 9:00."

Harry, Michael, and all the other boys immediately went up to their beds. Like Penelope told them, they quickly unpacked. All of them were exhausted from the long day. Too tired to talk much, they went to bed immediately.

Harry had the usual dream - a high pitched scream, then a flash of green light. Waking up in a sweat, he had to remind himself that it was just a dream, and went back to bed immediately - he didn't want to miss class tomorrow.

---

Harry woke up surprisingly early that morning - about 7:00. Putting on his school robes, he went downstairs to wait for other people to get up. Surprisingly, some of the upperclassmen were already awake. A large knot were watching a pair of students play wizard's chess.

Overhearing murmurs from the spectators, Harry recognized the two boys as Duncan Inglebee and Randolph Burrow. Randolph was winning, judging by the number of Duncan's pieces that were in a pile of rubble off to the side of the board. Within a few minutes, Duncan lost, and the game was over. Harry watched, fascinated, as the boys' pieces began to reform themselves.

Harry turned to one of the other boys and asked "Sorry, but what's the game they're playing?"

"Wizard's Chess," The boy said without looking at Harry. But after a second, he turned. "Ah, Harry Potter!" He said, loudly enough to make all the heads turn at the mention of the name. Murmurs of "Have him play!" ran through the group until he was pushed, good-naturedly, towards the board. It had completely reset with all the pieces in their correct places.

"But I don't know how to play." Harry said meekly. It didn't help that he was getting all this unwarranted attention.

"It's quite simple." The boy who had won said. "Each square has a name, and you call out where the pieces move. They'll explain how the pieces move as they play." And so they began. All the boys were eager to give Harry advice. Apparently, no one had ever beaten Randolph in Wizards Chess, and they hoped that Harry would be the one to finally end his winning streak. Alas, even with all the advice they gave him, Harry still lost. It went all the way to the end of the game though, and Harry even queened a pawn. It came down to a sneaky checkmate by Randolph's bishop. Once it was over, Randolph shook his hand. "Good job, Harry. We should play Wizard's chess some other time."

But right then, it was time for breakfast. Lisa and Michael had come down by then, and both seemed more energetic than last night. Together, they went down to breakfast led by some of the other students. Like the night before, there was an abundance of foods to eat. Still stuffed from last night's meal, Harry didn't eat much more than he would have with the Dursleys. During breakfast, Dumbledore stood up at the teacher's table, and waited for the hall to grow silent.

"Class Schedules will be given to you by your heads of house. For students in 6th and 7th year, you should meet with your head of house during breakfast to go over your schedules" And breakfast continued after the quick announcement.

Professor Flitwick charmed the schedules to fly to their recipients. Harry's soared into his hand as he read.

Harry Potter's 1st Year Schedule:

Morning Classes: 9:00-12:00

Afternoon Classes: 2:00-5:00

Monday - Charms / Transfiguration

Tuesday - History of Magic / Herbology

Wednesday - Potions / Defense Against the Dark Arts

Thursday - Charms / Potions

Friday - Herbology / Transfiguration

Saturday - Defense Against the Dark Arts / History of Magic

Astrology - Wednesday nights 9:00-11:00

Quickly checking with Lisa and Michael, he discovered that all three of them had the same classes. Glad to have some friendly faces in their classes, the three headed off to Charms together.

---

When they got to the Charms classroom, they immediately noticed that it would be a Ravenclaw - Griffindor Class. Harry sat with Michael, and Lisa sat with some of the other Ravenclaw girls. When Ron came into the room, Harry beckoned him over to the desk next to him and Michael. Ron and Seamus plopped down into seats next to them.

"Hey, Ron. I'm sorry about not making it into Gryffindor." Harry said.

"Don't worry, Harry." Ron replied. "At least it's Ravenclaw. If you were in Slytherin, I don't think we would have gotten on so well. And if you're in Ravenclaw, it means you'll be smart enough to help me with homework!"

Both Harry and Ron laughed until Flitwick rapped his wand on the pile of books that he had to stand on to keep at eye level with everyone.

"Good morning, students," He beamed. "As I'm sure you're already aware, Monday morning's charms classes will be a Gryffindor - Ravenclaw shared class. And to extol the virtues of both houses, please show the courage to ask questions if you don't understand something." The entire room chuckled politely at his pun. "Let's pull out our textbooks, The Standard Book of Spells, and read chapter one. Can anyone tell me why we take Charms at Hogwarts?" Immediately, both Hermione and Lisa rose their hands. "Yes, Miss Turpin."

"Charms is the foundations of all spells" Lisa said. "If it involves a wand, Charms gives us the understanding to cast them. Transfiguration relies heavily on the things we learn in Charms."

"Very good!" Flitwick exclaimed. "Ten points to Ravenclaw! Now, today, we will be trying the spell Alohomora. Can anyone tell us what Alohomora does? Ah yes, Granger."

"Alohomora is the unlocking charm." Hermione stated. "It can open most locks."

"Yes, very good!" Flitwick said "Ten points to Griffindor! The way you cast it…"

And soon all the students were practicing with simple key locks that he had handed out. They weren't having any luck. Which, incidentally, turned this into the perfect time for small talk.

"So, where are you from, Michael?" Harry asked, muttering Alohomora and waving his wand at the lock with no luck.

"Surrey." He replied. "My dad's an Auror, my mum works with the Portkey office. So, we had to live close to headquarters."

"What's it like to have wizards for parents?" Harry asked. It was something he was quite curious about, being raised by muggles.

"Pretty boring, actually." Michael replied. "You don't get to do much until you go to school. Pretty much just fly brooms, and you can't do that much unless you're in the middle of nowhere - muggles don't take too well to seeing people fly brooms."

"What's your favorite team for Quidditch?" Ron asked from across the table.

"Wimbourne Wasps, who else?" Michael said, and it immediately grew into a Quidditch argument. Harry smiled. He barely understood Quidditch, but it was fun watching them argue. Ron was going on about the 'Chudley Cannons' who, according to Michael, never won. Eventually, it got so heated that Flitwick had to get them to stop, and focus on practicing the spell. Looking around, it didn't seem as if anyone had gotten it.

"Professor Flitwick!" An excited voice came from the other side of the room. "I did it!" Lisa had managed to unlock the lock, much to Hermione's chagrin.

"Very good, Turpin!" Flitwick exclaimed. "Ten points to Ravenclaw! My, we do have a very good crop this year."

And with Lisa's success, everyone just pushed themselves harder to get the spell. By the end of the class, the only person who had matched Lisa was Hermione, proudly smiling at her open lock. Ron thought that he had opened the lock, but upon Flitwick's closer inspection, it turned out that he had only broke the lock. Before sending everyone off, Flitwick gave homework to read the first chapter of the book and write a 6 inch essay on the importance of proper pronunciation in spells. And after that, it was off to lunch.

As they headed down to the great hall, Harry asked Ron and Michael to give him a better explanation of Quidditch, which they obliged.

---

In the afternoon, Ravenclaws once more shared Transfiguration with Gryffindor. While Charms was a lighthearted and carefree class, Transfiguration turned out to be a more somber experience. Although Professor McGonagall had surprised them all by turning herself into a cat, she made it clear that she would not tolerate shenanigans in her classroom. Immediately, they got into turning a match into a needle. Much like before, Lisa was the first to succeed, followed quickly by Hermione. And although it was a more difficult class, Harry had managed to make the matchstick metal and pointy. Just glad that he had managed to do anything at all, he shouldered his bag and made to leave when Professor McGonagall stopped him.

"May I speak with you for a minute, Potter?" She asked. Harry had no reason to object, so he stayed as all the other students filed out. "Thank you potter. You know, I taught both your parents when they came here." Not knowing what to say, Harry kept silent. He didn't really know his parents at all, and wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel. "I just want to tell you that even though you aren't under my house, you can always come to me for help." Harry thanked her, and left for dinner. The short conversation unnerved him greatly.

Harry quickly caught up with both Ron and Michael, who ware arguing about Quidditch again. "Okay, break it up you guys." Harry laughed. "I'm sure both the Wasps and the Cannons are great teams." They relented, not really angry over the argument, anyways.

"Have you guys heard about tryouts?" Ron asked. "Apparently, there's open tryouts, even for first years. We all should try out!"

"Wicked!" said Michael corner, but Harry looked perturbed.

"I've never flown a broom before." Harry said.

"Blimey, I forgot!" Ron exclaimed. "You were raised by muggles!"

"There's flying lessons with Madam Hooch on Sunday" Ron said. "You should go if you want to find out whether you can fly."

And that was that. After grabbing a bite to eat in the great hall, Michael and Harry went up to the Ravenclaw Tower to take care of the homework from Flitwick and McGonagall. After a long day's work, they went to bed. And for the first time in his life, Harry felt like he belonged. That night, Harry smiled in his sleep.

---

A.N.: Okay, this is my 'Harry as a Ravenclaw' fic. The pacing is a bit fast in this chapter, methinks, but I'm probably going to slow it up. What I'm generally planning for the fic is Harry/Hermione and Michael/Lisa. I could do other pairings, but those are the ones I think make most sense. Harry is obviously OOC, because he wanted to be in Ravenclaw. The hat said he would do well in any house, but doing Ravenclaw seems much rarer than Slytherin. So, I'm playing up his curiosity. Honestly, I just sat down and wrote all this today because I couldn't think of much else to do today. Please review if you want the fic to continue, I really think this could be a cool project, but if no-one wants to read it, then I don't know why I'm writing it.