Chapter Three
by Lionheart
I O I O I
All of the characters present who were indigenous to the series were sorted to Gryffindor by their creator, so it was not surprising they agreed that must be the best house to be in.
Kodachi had been portrayed as willing to give up her station, pride and honor, indeed all of the things she'd cherishing in life for the love of a man who barely tolerated her. It was even less surprising that she adapted herself to the desires of those who'd treated her so kindly.
All through that train ride the cluster of students began to form as friends.
Harry and Kodachi had pretty much given up doubting that they were siblings. Everyone they met seemed to take it for granted. True, most of those they'd talked to initially had been Weasleys, but then there had been that Draco guy and from what everybody said his sort were obsessive about tracing bloodlines.
Of course, everyone on the train had heard the gossip about Harry's sister and had wanted to appear 'in the know' when they greeted them. For all the brouhaha about Harry himself, most of the books and recounts of his legendary encounter with You-Know-Who put very little emphasis on his family. Sure, some mentioned that his parents died in that attack, but they always went on to say he'd been placed with relatives.
A sister was a relative, right?
From the accounts about Harry it was difficult if not impossible to tell if he'd been raised as one sibling out of twelve. Plus, given how many secrets had been kept during those dark days of You-Know-Who's reign of terror you'd have to know the Potters personally to think otherwise. And only a handful of people had been that close, close enough to know better.
After all, there was Harry openly acknowledging this girl as his sister. What was everyone supposed to think?
Hagrid was one of those few who knew Lily and James Potter close enough to know. After all, he'd only pulled one baby out of the fire of their ruined house, hadn't he? If there was another one it would have burnt crisp, like toast, because he hadn't saved it. And if he hadn't, who would have? He'd searched everywhere.
So when the load of students began disembarking from the train and the half-giant heard the sort of gossip they'd been sprouting, he knew sure enough that something was going on. So after guiding the first years to the boats and before he got in he got this girl who was claiming a relation to the Boy Who Lived aside.
"Now look you ere." Hagrid was trying to be stern with the girl, glancing back over the boats' way so he could be sure no one was overhearing anything he had to say before drilling this girl with a glance. "Now I don know what yer up to, but listen close. I was a good friend o the Potters an I know sure as anyone that Arry ain't got no twin. Ye see?"
Kodachi, sheltered from view by the half giant and his massive coat, blushed and shrank in on herself. "I know, sir. You see I only got a letter a couple of months ago, saying that... well, here, let me show you."
She took a stained parchment out of her pocket and handed it over to the giant, who took it in fumbled fingers and read:
"Miss Kuno,
Due to a recent set of difficulties, it seems that your name has been overlooked for some time. While it is now far beyond the normal time for acceptance into our center for learning, it has come to my attention that a certain extra-dimensional establishment occasionally takes up residence within the local mall.
If you would present these letters to the proprietor of one Spells R'Us, you could, if desired easily find a method to reduce your age to the appropriate level and begin studies after all. Otherwise I would not have contacted you.
We would be honored to have another member of the line of Hecate attend. House Slytherin has especially suffered from the lack of your family's firm, if odd, sense of honor.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
The scrap of letter ended below that line in some kind of potions burn (it had been in her pocket during a particularly nasty accident while experimenting). But Hagrid knew that signature well enough.
Kodachi looked very small and unimposing as she shrugged. "I'm seventeen, but the potion they gave me reduced me to this age. It wasn't until the train that people were calling me Harry's sister. Everyone seemed to know about it."
She shuffled her feet. "I don't mean to presume, sir. But Harry... loves me. And... I think I love him, too. My... adopted family didn't treat me as much other than an annoyance. I... I want to have a brother I can believe in." Kodachi couldn't believe how much she'd admitted, but it was in defense of her right to be close to Harry.
Lies might have been more comforting, but somehow she saw this person loved Harry too. She wanted him to believe her without deception.
How Hagrid could take that letter's text as proof of her relation to Harry was a mystery that didn't make much sense. But then, it wasn't entirely unprecedented either. This author has sat bewildered as people read directly from a note or book and managed to misquote the text as the exact opposite of what was clearly written within, believe their misinterpretation, and defend it. The rather vague note had no chance of convincing anyone already inclined for or against Kodachi's supposed relationship with Potter that it didn't agree with them.
In truth, it didn't say much of anything about Kodachi or her family, but it had Dumbledore's signature on it, and that meant whatever it said was important to the burly man.
Besides, Hagrid wants to trust people, a side effect of having a wonderful, kind heart, like he does.
A Law of the Ranmaverse came into effect: Namely the one about people jumping to the most improbable conclusions, then rationalizing them. Most often that rule applied to Ranma, but others were not immune to its effects.
The big giant of a man blinked tears from out of his eyes and grabbed the girl in a frantic hug. "I'm so sorry." Hagrid blubbered. "I ne'er meant to doubt ye. Gosh, Lily had Arry when she was twenty two, that ud mean you'd a been born when she was a fifth year. No wonder she gave ye up fer adoption! Her parents were right dead set against anythin like that happenin and there's no way she coulda raised ya at school, and all. Lily and James weren't even that close back then! She musta been worried sick, thinkin ta be a mother an all witout even a husband to elp er!"
Sniffling back tears, Hagrid looked at her, extending his hug to arm's length and smiling kindly. "Yer got yer father's eyes, and is hair too." He ruffled Kodachi's hair affectionately. "But the rest o ya is yer mother."
Hagrid blinked in astonishment. "Blimey! Didn Dumbledore's letter say ya was a Hecate? No wonder Lily was so powerful! Sure, an if I ad that witch's blood in me I'd claim ta be a muggleborn as well! There's an ancestor worth hidin if there ever was one. Now look you ere, Kodachi. You an Arry are good kids. Don't you go listenin ta anyone says otherwise. Yer mum weren't the firs witch got herself knocked up in her mid-school years. Them robes will hide anythin if ye wear em right, an more an one girl got herself in trouble and kept it all secret til she gave the kid away an no one the wiser. You jes keep telling everone that you an Arry are twins, and I'll back ya up to the hilt. Ye got my word on it!"
Releasing Kodachi after another strong hug, Hagrid turned to lead her back to the boats and whispered as they went. "Now, 'Dachi, yer mum ad it right bout not wanting it known she was a Hecate. Slytherin ain't ad an onest witch er wizard in it yet, an iffn they thought ye was a Hecate they'd put ye in there an no mistake. A ouse full o backstabbin snakes, they is. Do like yer mum did an go fer Gryffindor. That is, if ya want ta have friends ye can count on, an all."
He finished with a completely honest face full of friendly concern for her.
Kodachi's world had gone a bit dizzy. This man had known... her mother? And here he was acknowledging her? She resembled her parents? Hmm, that was a better thought than the pair she'd left, who'd raised her in Japan. Actually, a set of penguins would arguably make for better parents than those two. But..?
She had her father's eyes! She skipped merrily to the boats and got in, giggling, next to Harry, Hermione and Ron.
The boat ride was suitably fantastic, and all too quickly over. Soon the entire group was standing at the gates of Hogwarts. Hagrid knocked with thumping booms, and when McGonagall opened the doors, the half-giant gently took her inside and closed the doors behind the two of them.
"Don you worry, McGonagall. I set em straight, I did." Hagrid was speaking softly. "Lily's daughter, one she ad in er fifth year is ere. Got a letter from Dumbledore wit er. She'd ad er age changed, all due ta Dumbledore, so she could fit in. There was talk on the train about it, but I set em right. We're ta make as if she'n Arry are twins, ya see? That way there won't be no talk as could shame er parents."
Eyes twinkling, sure he was doing right by the progeny of his friends, Hagrid smiled at a rather flustered McGonagall as he turned to open the door again. "Ye should see er, McGonagall. She's got James' eyes, an his hair too. But other'n that she's Lily all over."
With that the giant of a man opened the doors again and went off herding his cargo of pupils back together, already drifting from a few seconds without supervision.
I O I O I
Minerva McGonagall was not a woman prone to idle or lazy mistakes, however she did have alot of trust in a man who kept frequent secrets, Albus Dumbledore. She had known James and Lily when they'd gone to school, obviously as she'd enjoyed being their head of house and favorite teacher.
What Hagrid said could have been true. James had almost won Lily early in their fifth year and they'd had some sort of falling out not even their closest friends seemed to understand. An unwanted pregnancy leading to a concealed baby could easily explain that - better than most ideas.
The one time she'd ever dared venture to ask Lily why she'd grown so fond of the boy only to hate him so suddenly she'd only received the answer "Because he's a jerk!" Which was not very informative.
So it could be.
However, she had fallen prey to pranks or misunderstandings before by being too trusting. Hagrid's word alone was one thing, but unsupported she was uncertain how much weight to assign to it. So she watched Dumbledore carefully as she led in the new crop of first years, and when she saw him spot the girl who was supposed to be Harry's sister, beam into a great smile and start nodding, she considered that matter confirmed.
Well, that explained why Lily had been so moody her fifth year. She'd previously thought it must have been studying.
Dumbledore, for his part, was glad to see that Hecate's heir had been able to make the adjustments to her life to properly attend Hogwarts, and began nodding absently as he calculated how this could fit into his plans for revamping House Slytherin. The great smile was in part due to seeing her close to Harry. Apparently they had made each other's acquaintance on the train.
Excellent, excellent.
Professor Sprout caught McGonagall's eye and made a questioning face. The deputy headmistress paused to whisper something quickly in her ear before turning to collect the Sorting Hat and stool. Seeing Sprout had obviously been enlightened by the look on her face, Professor Flitwick nudged her lightly and got whispered the news, and so it passed on down the staff table, skipping Dumbledore who already knew and was lost in his thoughts in any case, on down to Snape, who when he overheard it began to scowl even more terribly at Harry Potter and the girl he'd been informed was his twin sister.
Just like Dumbledore to keep the brat a secret up til now.
Professor McGonagall had progressed, while this was going on, up to where she stood by the Sorting Hat with her attendance scroll, the one in Percy's handwriting (with a spot of scribbling from Ginevra on it) and began to give instructions to the newly arrived First Years.
The roll went by fairly fast, until it ran into a snag toward the end of the 'C's'. Vincent Crabbe was not to be seen. Still, they knew he had been on the train, and it was not the first student in nearly a thousand years to get adventurous and decide to explore the castle 'just a bit' before the Sorting and gotten lost in doing so.
Hagrid and Filch got up from the staff table to go look for the boy, Hagrid muttering soft apologies about having left the flock unsupervised 'jest fer a minute' outside of the main doors, and that was probably around when he'd gotten lost.
One of the Weasley twins sitting at the Gryffindor table made an expectant 'Why hasn't our prank gone off' look to the other, who helplessly shrugged, gestures not missed at the main table.
When they hit Goyle and the pupil in question was not to be found McGonagall knew this was going to be one of those years. Still, it was hardly unusual. It rarely happened that one student ran off alone, more often they did so in small groups, thinking there was safety in numbers. Professor Sprout left the table to make certain they hadn't circled around back and gotten into her greenhouses (which had quite a few dangerous plants no one should go near without instruction), and the Sorting went on.
Dumbledore was inwardly confused (though he feared to show it lest any interpret that as undue concern for the missing students who were probably all fine) when the 'H's' rolled past without a Hecate. But that was fine, she had probably wanted to use her family name, after all. But that comforting thought went away when the 'K's' marched past and no Kuno.
He could see the girl right there, and wondered what the matter was.
Things went calmly on up into the 'M's' when it was discovered young Draco Malfoy was also truant. At this point Professor McGonagall turned around to direct a questioning gaze to a face at the head table, but that woman, one with red hair and a proud bearing, simply gave a confused shrug. Dumbledore took that opportunity to whisper quietly to a ghost that he had motioned near, and that figure nodded, swept around a gaze informing the rest of the specters before they all left the room, presumably to get involved in the search.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself before what was undoubtedly going to be an interesting year, Professor McGonagall read the next name on the list, a second pureblood. "Ranko Malfoy."
Kodachi's eyes narrowed as she saw a redhaired girl spring forward, jumping nearly fifty feet from closer to the back of the room to land gracefully at the front, arcing high over all of their heads as she did so. The pigtail was gone, her red hair flowed freely all of the way down her back to nearly her ankles. She wore makeup and jewelry and a fine, embroidered robe of close to the quality of Kodachi herself's garments; yet it was undoubtedly the same girl, the style was unmistakable, as was the girl's unhappy pout and her breast size. Really, a C cup at age eleven?
Kodachi smirked. The harridan's height was even unchanged. Apparently she'd stopped growing up early on and instead only rounded out. That kind of figure turned to fat so easily over the mature years.
Then she reminded herself that seeing this girl here could only cause dear Tatewaki heartache and so must in itself be a good thing. Nor would she be required to fight her over Ranma, so perhaps a new start was in order. She'd have to see. Then again, an idle prank for revenge or old time's sake could be appropriate. Something gentle and none too dire, like leaving her naked and paralyzed, upside down in this very hall before breakfast one morning could still prove amusing.
Quite unusually, the hat sat a full minute on the girl's long, bouncy hair before calling out, "I need some help on this... Professor Dumbledore?"
"Yes?" The ancient headmaster felt quite surprised to be addressed, and had to quit the whispered conversation he'd been having with a returned Sprout to conduct this business with the hat.
"You're the Headmaster, you tell me. This student is perfectly qualified for two Houses... Hmm, maybe even three, though it's a close one. Thankfully I can rule out four, and the third is iffy. But there's just no disqualifying this person from either of two Houses, and she has no preferences of her own either way. What should be done with her?"
Dumbledore blinked. This, he could say honestly, had never happened in his experience either as a student or as a staff member in all of his long years at Hogwarts. Going the path of least resistance, he asked the hat, "What do you suggest?"
"Hmm, going to be that way, are you? Very well, it's not been done in five hundred years, but there you go, it has been done before. So Headmaster Crimshaw's ruling in now put out of use, is it? That's fine, I prefer doing things this way, really. Dual House Student! This one goes in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor!"
"Uh, where do I sit?" The redhaired beauty asked the hat as she lifted it off her wavy locks.
"Pick a table, child. You'll be using them both often enough during your time here." The hat put in a gentle reply. "Ah, I can recall back when this was done all of the time. You'll do well, girl. Just don't forget, you've got two Houses to call your own and live up to. Don't favor either of them over the other and everything will work out. Next!" The hat barked at Minerva McGonagall, who startled rather badly and nearly dropped her scroll, thus missing the hat give out a soft belch with lots of soap bubbles. Dumbledore, deep in his conversation with Sprout, also missed this warning sign.
Fred and George Weasley saw this and gave each other thumbs up.
Things went more or less as usual from that point for a short time on. The Sorting Hat gave an occasional hiccup or belch, which the anxious and highly stressed staff largely missed as concern grew over the missing trio and the search had to be widened, while McGonagall, who was apart from this discussion, had her own worries to be concerned about as she was in charge of class scheduling and what do you do with a student who is supposed to belong to TWO houses?
Her fingers started trembling rather badly when the 'P's' came by and Dual House students went from one to three as the Patil twins also got that Ravenclaw + Gryffindor pairing. The hat gave a long bubble-filled belch at that point, filling that portion of the hall with colorful soap bubbles and looking a little tipsy in its seat. It had to be rescued by the next student from falling off its chair it had begun swaying about so badly.
Pansy Parkinson had been so surprised to get sorted into Ravenclaw earlier.
Dumbledore had gone off to coordinate the search of Hogsmead, where a concerned Hagrid had confessed he'd left the little tykes alone 'jest fer a second, honest!' The others of the staff had gone off to join the search, or were concerned chiefly in counting the remaining students, coming up one too many and starting over in confusion. Students around the hall had begun to look at the broadly grinning George and Fred Weasley, while McGonagall was near the end of her rope wondering if Peter Pettigrew's appearance had anything to do with the trio of disappearing students, and once when she'd paused to relay this concern to the staff table behind her three quarters of the remaining teachers had vanished to various methods of conveying this concern, either to the search party or by flooing the Ministry of Magic. Then, when she had been sure she couldn't get any more out of sorts, before she'd turned back around to face the student tables she was certain she'd been goosed!
Having her panties stuck up her crack by that anonymous grope had been doing nothing good for her concentration from that point, and her eyes were more on the student body searching for culprits or guilty faces than it was on the stable, safe and always predictable Sorting Hat behind her.
"Harry Potter!" She realized she'd sounded angry barking out his name like that and did her best to take the bite out of it with a smile before wincing and throwing her steely gaze back over the hall.
She wasn't going to just give in and adjust her underwear before the whole school! No, she'd wait until she could excuse herself from the staff table during mealtime and do so in privacy.
"Hmm, hic! Washa matta Hairy Pot-tuh?" The hat slurred into the boy's mind as it was put on his head. It nearly fell off to one side, and he had to hold it steady as it seemed likely to slip off at any moment, as if it had no balance at all.
"Nothing. Nothing's the matter with me." The Boy Who Lived replied timidly, uncertain of this unexpected twist.
"Hm, jush wha ah thought, no gutsh." Then it yelled aloud, "Hufflepuff! Schnerk. Hic!" It fell off the stool to land on its side, even though Harry had put it down properly. But no one seemed to notice as the young star ran off to join his table to loud applause.
Students began to look confused as they got off the chair, and once Professor McGonagall had even turned around to wonder what the matter was, but doing so she exposed her vulnerable backside so not only did she get goosed, but her bra strap snapped and broken as well! Now her fronts were hanging unsupported and swaying about so she had to be careful how she moved. She'd almost given one child a blow on the head as she'd whipped about from first receiving that treatment and her breasts flared out, lifting the fabric of her loose robe.
Now she was certain she could feel the seams of her undergarments unraveling before the entire school and was determined to keep her beady eyes on potential pranksters so nothing further happened.
Paying very little attention to the actual Sorting was going to cost her, however.
"Ginevra Weasley." One of the prefects, and also a first year, startled badly when they heard the name, but McGonagall pierced them both with her beady eyes, just daring them to try something. Watch them let her guard down again. Ha! Just because she was friends with the Weasley family didn't mean she was going to take her eye off them for a minute!
"Gr... yffin... slyther... puff." The Hat hiccuped, so inebriated it could no longer pronounce properly. "Wasshername? Oh, riiiight. Gryffin.. Door! Atsh riigh."
Ginny left the hat to puddle on the ground like a used towel while McGonagall ferociously refused to bow to the itch in her butt crack and shouted out "Ronald Weasley" more angrily than intended.
The Sorting Hat didn't even seem to notice when Ron picked it up and put it on his head. "An, Ah... I kno an... anuzer name, too! Slytherin!"
Ron's face paled when he heard this, and trudged miserably over to the correct table, dropping the hat carelessly on the ground behind him. Moments later the last student picked it up and it seemed the hat had gone on to a funky drunk. "Ey! I kno! Asschitent Groundshkeep'r, thatsh a good un."
It then fell off Blaise Zambini's head and began to loudly snore.
I O I O I
"George, my brother and friend, sneaking a couple glasses full of muggle fabric softener to the Sorting Hat was the best prank we ever did."
"Fred, you never said a truer word. It was superb. Now it comes to a huge problem we have to face, however."
"And what problem would that be?"
"How, my dear sibling, are we going to top this prank?"
"Ahh, indeed, that bears cogitating upon." They toasted each other with glasses full of pumpkin juice.
Up at the main table, Professor McGonagall couldn't find her bra anywhere. (Ginny had it, having scooped to pick it up on her way out, after having pranked her teacher's rump with an itch just to get in on her brothers' fun).
The lady teacher was never more glad in her life to see Professor Dumbledore come into the room, trailing most of the Hogwarts staff. "Albus, did everything go alright? Did you find the missing students? Are they unhurt?"
"Yes, yes, they're all fine. Snape is leading a small team from Hogsmead toward them right this moment using 'Point Me' charms. However, I must inquire. The Kodachi girl, did you get everything settled away with her? And with Harry?"
"Yes, of course Albus. They're taken care of, and everyone has been Sorted, though the students did get a bit rowdy toward the end with so many of the teachers missing."
"Understandable, Minerva, perfectly understandable from their point of view. This was a rare opportunity for exercising post-summer mischief before getting down to their studies. We must be tolerant."
"Easy for you to say, Albus." McGonagall took a sip of treacle toffee juice and gave herself another serving of stoat, turning her attention around herself, looking for an opportunity to leave the table and find some time to correct her current undergarment difficulties.
In the background, Nodoka was chatting. "...and our underwear was a bit old and ratty. Just as a woman never wears B-list undies on a date she thinks might end up with said undies being viewed, no self-respecting girl wants some strange elf rifling through her luggage and getting a look at frayed laces or seams that aren't seemly. So we had to buy all new."
"Professor Malfoy," McGonagall smoothly interjected. "Do you think you might look after my duties for a moment? I'm afraid that I must excuse myself on urgent, personal business."
"Of course," the redhaired new teacher nodded.
McGonagall nodded gladly and swiftly left the room.
Dumbledore waited for her to return, but after half an hour concluded that she might not, so he stood and rang his spoon against his glass several times, silencing the hall. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I have some start-of-term announcements to make. First, as you will all note, Professor Quirrel has not rejoined us this year. Over the vacation he took hold of an opportunity to get some field experience in the forests of Albania and came over all dead, so I'm afraid we had to give him the year off. In his place you will find an excellent returning teacher, an old member of our staff, Professor Nodoka Malfoy."
There was some scattered applause.
Dumbledore nodded, encouraging that positive reaction. "Yes, yes. She will be taking over the Defense Against the Dark Arts post hopefully for a very long time. And with us, you will find joining our school at the same time, is her daughter Ranko Malfoy, who if I recall correctly has become our first dual-house student in approximately five hundred years. I'll be sure to tell the rest of you what that means as soon as I know myself. I'm afraid this came upon us rather unexpectedly, but we shall overcome our surprise."
His eyes twinkled as he lowered the right hand and raised the left. "Also, joining us this year for the first time is Cologne of the Joketsuzoku - a village of Chinese Amazons. You will find her a strict disciplinarian and a font of useful information. She will be replacing Professor Binns, who has also been belatedly removed from our staff on account of his death, as our History of Magic instructor."
This time the applause were heartfelt from the older students, who'd found Binn's boring lectures intolerable and completely uninformative.
"One final note before you all go to your beds, a colony of screaming, flesh eating ghouls has taken up residence in our basement. Until we get time to clear them out, please go out of your common rooms in groups of no less than four to prevent being messily devoured. That is all."
I O I O I
Before the staff had time to file out their own door on the way to their beds, Percy came up to Professor Dumbledore dragging a girl by her arm, interrupting the teacher's conversation with Nodoka Malfoy in order to shove his kid sister forward. He'd already pulled away her hat and mask, removed the makeup with charms and unspelled the dye on her hair.
Then the prefect started pontificating. "Sir, I don't know if you are aware. But this is my little sister Ginevra. She's still too young to attend Hogwarts but somehow managed to include herself in the Sorting. I'd appreciate it if you could send her home at once, Professor."
Dumbledore began to look serious, separating himself from his earlier discussion with a very grave face. His eyes glanced down, taking in the girl and asking, "Is this true?"
Ginny pulled her arm out of her brother's grasp, having to stomp on his foot to get him to let go. Percy hopped around, holding one foot and looking very undignified. "You prat! You'll be sneezing Bat Bogies for a year when I get through with you! Sorry sir, I don't see how I did anything wrong. I'm already a powerful witch. I can cast spells with my mother's wand better than most of your other first years."
"But are you," the headmaster asked, ignoring the hopping Percy, "still only ten years old?"
"Yes, sir." The girl got downcast.
The prefect had finished massaging his painful instep and set it down, limping over to his kid sister with an eye toward violence before he caught the teachers looking and calmed down. Dumbledore looked very grave indeed. "I am sorry, mister Weasley, but the Sorting is a binding magical ceremony. I am afraid that, having gone through it, your sister is indeed a student of Hogwarts. There is nothing I can do, short of expulsion, to remove her, and she has only the same seven years to finish her studies as the rest of you, so sending her home could only put her behind. I fear it may be quite a struggle for her to keep up as it is. I shall owl your parents at once, of course. I imagine they will want to get her a proper wand, so that Molly can regain hers for keeping house."
With a squeal of glee, Ginny broke free of her brother's attempts to grasp her and sped off toward the backs of the retreating first year Gryffindors.
McGonagall quirked her lips. That one would be a handful, she was sure. Well, the needed business she'd returned here to the Great Hall for concluded, she got up from Albus' other side, and bid goodnight to the other staff members, before catching a glance of the stunned prefect. "Mister Weasley, would you care to pick up the Sorting Hat, which I notice is still lying on the floor, and follow me? We can discuss your family's circumstances on the way to return it to storage."
Numbly, Percy leaned down to grab the hat around the brim, lifting it up. It suddenly ceased snoring and shouted out grumpily, "Slytherin!"
Percy dropped the hat in shock as the markings on his robe turned green and silver.
I O I O I
Author's Notes:
Okay now, honestly, how many of you are tired of the SAME old Sorting leading to the SAME old tired cliches? Where you probably had to endure the SAME song quoted over again using the Exact Same Words as before! Only three-quarters of those stories will throw Harry in Slytherin as if that would solve all of his problems?
On his first night in school, Harry had a nightmare where he had Quirrel's turban on his head insisting that he get himself resorted into Slytherin. That's not something he'd dream up on his own. So, Tommy-boy at least was convinced that his own plans to destroy Harry Potter would have worked out BETTER if the boy was in that House, surrounded by the children of Tom's old lackeys and cronies. Why does no one ever account for that?
Harry has TWO chief enemies. The Dark Lord Voldemort is one, and surrounding yourself by those who would die for him, and HAVE already killed for him, would not be the wisest of all choices. But the other is the Dark Lord Dumbledore, who ADMITS in the final book, in the King's Cross chapter, to having driven Harry to suicide!!
It was 'for the greater good' you understand.
He does not use those exact words, but That Is What He Says! He admits it to Harry's face. But the boy has been so brainwashed by all that's been done to him so far that not even the guy's own confession that he was a power-hungry bastard, potential murderer of his own sister, attempted dark lord and architect of all of the misery in Harry's life phased the boy in the slightest.
Can you say 'brainwashed?' Sure, I knew you could. Perhaps it had something to do with having had the Headmaster's loyal toady ripping apart the walls of your mind. After all, those sessions were completely unsupervised. Perhaps he didn't ONLY destroy what he found in there to open him up to Voldemort. Who is to say Snape did not also implant suggestions? After all, the most major switch of Harry's character traits, behavior and intelligence during the whole series occurs at about that time.
He goes from Hero to Zero in about nothing flat. But that's not something Snivellus would ever have done to the son of his most hated enemy, would he? No, of course not. After all, he doesn't hold grudges. No, you're being ridiculous. I don't even know why you brought it up.
