Chapter 3 "The sorting hat/ A Malfoy Gryffindor?"
(I own neither 'Harry Potter' nor 'The Addams Family' nor their subsequent plots/characters.)
The Great Hall was utterly beautiful not a candle out of place not a child out of station and better dressed and groomed than usual was the Hogwarts staff as they awaited the incoming students and more specifically the Addams heir. Even their resident bat er-Potions Master Snape had been harassed by both his peers and elders to better groom himself for this occasion and was looking physically if you ignored his now permanent sneer looking quiet resplendent in new potion making inappropriate robes, washed and slightly kept looking hair and a rather foreboding glower about him.
Expectations were high school attendance was at its max as several transfer students chose to enlist in Hogwarts this year if only to try and establish ties to the well known pureblood family. The hat freshly cleaned and mended was placed with care upon the stool to wait the incoming new students ready to place the young minds into the most appropriate house as the signal was given by the arrived ghosts who flew in with an unusual dower about them. Shortly after Minerva arrived looking rather pale and grim with the students trailing behind.
The first pair being one Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott eyes were arrested though as they came to the second couple heading down the rows of tables. The first most noticeable thing about them was Harrison Addams looking particularly dark next to his rather opposite companion one Draco Malfoy who could not have looked any more smug in that moment as he briefly glanced behind himself to see a scowling Daphne Greengrass in arm with one Pansy Parkinson. It wasn't the odd and never before the Weasley twins pairing it was the fact that as Harrison Addams passed the lit candles they changed from the burning fire they had been to a maleficent black darkening the great hall.
Worry spread and eyebrows rose as the room temperature dropped in addition to these other changes and had not Harrison Addams not held his wand or been in or on Hogwarts grounds until this very moment sabotage would have been called as it was the innocent for a first time Weasley twins where subject to many a glare from both the staff and known to them the house elves who had spend so much of their time this summer to prepare for the arrival of a VIP guest. One Niblet the house elf was particularly displeased as he was assigned the task of fixing the damages on top of serving the last meal as punishment for allowing the Weasley twins to fool him when he had been responsible for ensuring tonight's last decorations.
Yet the candle didn't change back to the appropriate color and the room temperature remained quiet chilled if only slightly warmer as charms were applied to ward off the cold. Yet the Sorting Hat was not disheartened he could neither see, nor feel so the changes made little difference to him and with joy in his heart and a song in his head he opened his mouth and sang:
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 Gryffindors 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 folks 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 (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!
He finished with a flourish of applause from both students and staff and so gallantly bent the tip of his hat in acknowledgement and waited for the first person to sit under his brim.
"Hannah Abbott!" Came the first name called and a delightful child sat below, she was neither overly manipulative or cunning enough to enter the Slytherin house, nor was she overly brave and as excitable as the Gryffindor House, she neither sought information for the knowledge or joy of seeking and so Ravenclaw was out however she was a hard worker with an intense loyalty to those who earned her trust so better be—"Hufflepuff!"
Students clapped and cheered as the young eleven year old rosy cheeked with joy raced to the near standing house and then the next name was called and like a flame doused in water all was silenced in the great hall.
"Harrison Addams!"
~.~
All eyes watched as they boy approached fluid in grace as many purebloods were and breaths were held as he sat and the hat was placed upon his head. Silence rained for a whole minute and a half before with a shout the hat began to chew on his own brim and Minerva was quick to pull him off the Addams head and a horrified staff and a mystified student body watched as the hat began to consume itself.
Quickly and with all haste a stunning spell was fired off at the bunkered hat which froze him just as he was consuming the last of his brim. Murmurs went up before chaos spread and not a whisper could be heard threw out. Yet one Harrison Addams was disturbed by none of this as he sat still upon the stool an eerie smile on his lips as he awaited the conclusion of these events.
~.~
When the sorting hat could not be fixed and upon any attempts at reanimation would proceed to eating himself regardless of the restraints cast upon him the Hogwarts Staff was forced to use a method not considered since the day of Hogwarts very creation. So three days after 'the Event' in which everyone was referring to the Sorting Hats attempt to eat itself, each of the Head of Houses were called forth with the Headmaster presiding as a tie breaker should two or more houses be at stalemate on a student's placement.
Severse Snape as Slytherin Head of House appeared first looking the very picture of being the dark wizard his house was infamous for producing, Minerva McGonagall as Gryffindor Head of House followed next her very stature seemed to scream prim and proper while her near visible pride added a glow to her otherwise aged face, Pomona Sprout as Hufflepuff Head of House followed her the very set to the woman smiling so brilliantly added a pretty feature to the heavy set woman her very aura seemed to scream good natured intent and Filius Flitwick as Ravenclaw Head of House was the last to enter and he was by far the more noticeable of the four House Heads as he was by far the more usual of them he was so short in stature he could have easily been mistaken for a miniature dwarf and his wild shock of white hair only seemed to make the weathered lines of his face all the more pronounced he was all but running after his fellow staff members in his struggle to keep up with them. Once gathered together at a single long table each with a few questions in front of them aware that while the entire world was not currently watching them this was sure to be on the front page of the 'Daily Prophet' with informants abound as returning students, several in mixed tried to hide quills and paper to document for later letters when this sorting was finished.
The first student to be sorted was also the current probable cause of the Sorting Hats malfunction- Harrison Addams. The pureblood walked again as he had the first night confidence oozing from him as he sat upon the finished wood surface of the three legged wizarding stool, it was a minor precaution in case a student tried to alter the house placement magically. Dark green eyes seemed to prompt a challenge to the professors seated in front of him.
Snape started first, looking far less immaculate than he had the first night and rather irritated at the Addams in front of him for the last few days and nights stresses.
"Mr. Addams what makes you believe you are good enough to be in Slytherin?" The dark sneer added to the question was enough that the few people paying enough attention to his expression shrink back in true fear. The Addams was silent for a moment more as if carefully thinking of his answer even as his blank face gave a difference of belief.
"I do not believe it is a matter of my being good enough for your house Professor, rather it's a matter of wither your house benefits me by being."
Snape nods stiffly neither completely pleased nor displeased by the cheeky answer but he knew just from it that the boy would do well in his house. Minerva begins after sending a less than pleased look to both of them.
"Mr. Addams a troll is standing between you and an injured friend what do you do?"
"If it has no quarrel with me let it by, if there is a confrontation presuming it to be so kill the troll."
Minerva smiles in encouragement pleased with his tenacity while at the same time irked by his perceived stupidity for thinking he could possibly defeat a troll at his age.
"Mr. Addams, you are in the center of a garden maze and your goal is to get out what is your first thought on how to go about this without knowing the restrictions?" Flitwick smiled brilliantly standing in his seat as he peered curiously at the young man even while standing upon his bench however he was still no taller than Minerva while she was seated.
"Burn it down."
"Mr. Addams you and a friend are paired for a swimming exercise with the rest of your classmates as you and your partner are to begin demonstrating your partner falls in the water and begins to drown what do you do?" Sprout questioned smiling winningly as in her mind there were few souls that would not at least deserve to be within her illustrious house. Her smile died a quick death as she registered his answer.
"Hope they don't learn to swim too quickly."
~.~
The line stands divided as Slytherin and Gryffindor are now head to head several more questions later as Harrison had answered their questions by far the most satisfyingly and therefore could go either way. All eyes turned to the Headmaster and in a split second decision that was more based upon the greater good than on real consideration of where the student might have done the best in, one Albus Dumbledore yelled out.
"Gryffindor!" The hall if possible went quiet and still you couldn't have heard a heart beat for a split second of time before the Gryffindor table cheered and all other house tables cried foul! Yet they were ignored as another student was called forth. Yet with obvious view of favoritism three of the professors furious now were much harsher upon the fearful students that approached them and because of this many an eleven year old lost courage and concentration and many ended up in a most inappropriate house.
Vincent Crabbe was placed within Hufflepuff as he showed neither the brilliance of the Ravenclaw, the pride of the Gryffindor's nor the cunning wit of the Slytherin and there was just no one else that was willing to take the perceived imbecile. His fellow Gregory Goyle was shortly to follow him for his own ignorance and lack of what the professors wanted.
One Hermione Granger ended up in Ravenclaw as when flustered as she was by an upset staff she could only answer questions with facts directly related to her texts. One Daphne Greengrass ends up in Ravenclaw as well more for her family's connections than for any real want of knowledge herself. Neville Longbottom is placed within the Hufflepuff house as all others took his stuttering and awkwardness with much less candor than one may, had they taken the time to really get to know the boy.
~.~
It was one Draco Malfoy who really struck an odd nerve though for not a soul could predict that he would gain or rather wish to gain entrance into the illustrious Gryffindor house. Nerves steeled face far paler than normal and sweat beading his brow unattractively he sat waiting for his turn with the judges.
He as everyone else in the great hall knew that Harrison was suppose to have been in Slytherin the hat would surely have placed him there had it not gone mad and eaten itself. To think he a Malfoy would be forced as thusly to be trodden upon and forced to join the Gryffindor house all to maintain such a coveted alliance with the Addams heir.
There was not a doubt in his mind that he should be in Slytherin just as his father and father's father before him had all been in the great house. However to be so would risk everything he currently had in his favor with the Addams heir. They would be enemies by house affiliation if he decided to live up to the Malfoy tradition. This was all Dumbledore's fault! None of this would be hanging on his decision if it hadn't been for him!
Should he be…dare he say it a Malfoy Gryffindor? A quick glance in Harrison's direction did little to assure as now timid gray eyes focused to see him watching the proceedings with an empty expression. Draco gulped nervously sweat accumulating on his neck making the once carefully styled hair clump and loosely curl, yet another unattractive feature and Draco rubbed his neck self-consciously at the perceived imperfection. His hands began to tremble within his sleeves.
His parents had agreed that an alliance with the Addams family would indeed be beneficial to their waning public opinion. It was crustal after the scandal with the family's involvement in the Dark Lords war. Profits in investments had been at an all time low as many families never ousted for involvement cut their ties to salvage their own reputations. The honor once attached to their illustrious name besmirched with the destruction of the Dark Lord.
They needed the alliance with the Addams family and normally Draco would not have been privilege to this knowledge until his completion of Hogwarts and he was officially groomed to become the next Malfoy scion. However circumstances as thus had deemed it necessary so that he could understand the importance of using any asset he had at hand to ensure a bond between himself and the Addams heir.
Draco understood all of this yet still he hesitated, he would be ridiculed by every last one of his current alliances should he chose the Gryffindor house. For there was no doubt in his mind that he could fool these people into gaining acceptance, save maybe his godfather, Severus could be overruled however which was what he was counting on. Yet to risk it all as he was when there was still a chance at failure and nothing to fall back on… it felt like he was going to leap from his broom at the very height of the National Quiddinch Pitch with no safeties to catch him.
His eyes again turned to Harrison, he was an alright bloke, odd for sure but Draco himself had never really associated with any child outside of his current blood class. The parties his family were invited to; due to their own claimed pure blood, were not nearly as well connected as others due to the debacle with his twelfth great grandfather and his accused relationship with an elf. It could not be verified mind because the records of the Malfoy ended with the eighth generation being like most wizards they were long lived at no less than one hundred years each… everything beyond that was all by word of mouth and other substantiating documentation that did not count for the official pre-dereliction…
The Addams family however predated both Merlin and his many predecessors; no one knew for sure just when they had first begun as those records became closed to the public when the Addams family closed their doors to all those neither family nor friend. However still on record in Gringotts was their family's un-updated tree. It was un-updated in that it only carried the names of the family heirs and their married partner's traceable lineage as they were the only ones subject to public eye this tree back dated all the way to the second century B.C. however as each new generation was added so then was another generation taken away to give room to the massive portrait.
Only the Addams themselves knew when their tree started and with whom although there were a few of magical pureblood decent in China and Africa that boasted longer lines not one of them could boast the reputation or wealth of the Addams and not a single one of the remaining High Society could boast to the legal perks of the magical boundaries as the Addams could still to this day, they had the ability to curse and even kill muggles legally with no repercussions from anyone, in fact rumor had it that the Addams practiced these to perfection while children something even their elders encouraged! Yet they still refused to act with the Dark Lord who enjoyed and encouraged these same acts, granted not among children but adults…
"Draco Malfoy!" Draco was snapped from his rambling thoughts as his name was called by the odious half blood Hagrid and he grit his teeth sharply at the grating sound of his voice even as he stood and smoothed his already immaculate robes and covertly hid his still trembling hands in his billowing sleeves. His stomach was doing flips, curling in his belly-a rather sick feeling and he again wished that he had been able to use the loo before he became subject to all of these people's attention, he could just imagine what his mother would say if she could see just how disheveled he looked now.
Head held high, back straight, marching forward with a purpose; his father had told him that it was more of an arrogant stride than a purposeful one, which was why he usually refrained from using it. However he had already subconsciously decided on his choice. His eyes unwittingly traveled to the Slytherin table there were few empty spaces at the table regardless of the fact that they now had the lowest number of entrances since Hogwarts Founding. Although wither this was because of Severus' high standards or because Dumbledore was bias in his final judgments was anyone's guess.
Could he have a tie and have Dumbledore decide in Gryffindor favoritism once again? It would not only save his reputation as the choice would have been out of his hands and he could still save face with his current alliances but it would allow him access to Harrison.
A gloomy thought entered him mind however, Dumbledore knew his father had been a death eater and that his family in general were dark wizards, the nasty old coot would not want him anywhere near his illustrious house of lions and even if it came down to it he would place Draco in Slytherin if only for his family connection.
Was Addams favor really so necessary? Draco knew he was by far the most magnetic personality currently in attendance in Hogwarts outside the Addams heir himself. He could easily smooth talk his way around the red tape and possibly gain more allies within the Slytherin House to more than adequately make up for losing so valuable a connection as Harrison. However with his grasp spread so thin and Crabbe and Goyal no longer able to act as a buffer to whichever enemies that may arise he was vulnerable.
Draco sat upon the chair that waited him dramatically with a typical heir's aura about him you could say, after all a Malfoy could never appear weak in public if he could avoid it, he already had vultures picking at his family and himself, he need not encourage those weaker than himself to start picking as well.
~.~
'There is good in everyone, no one is born who is wholly evil or bad. Everyone has that moment of conscious in which tells them that what they are doing is wrong, not right, the opposite of what another might think to do. Granted they may choose not to act on this, they may be taught otherwise, but they knew better. '
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
This thought, this philosophy is what sustained one Albus Dumbledore, all of his plans, all of his goals and all of his beliefs resided in this one known fact. There was good, there was evil and then there was the perceived gray in-between these two known sides that Albus believed himself to be apart. He could be neither good nor evil if he was to have the greater good succeed. If such a place as hell existed and he had to go there to ensure that this world he left behind remained a good and gray place he knew it could be then so be it.
Harry James Potter was supposed to have ensured this; he was to have been the sacrifice needed to ensure a brighter future for everyone. He was the chosen one, the savior the world needed, the one who had seen the darker sides of life, experienced the pain under such a life and then taste the freedom this one of light and goodness offered him. So that when the encroaching darkness came to steal this away he would fight for it. It was selfish of him to try and mold Harry in the image he wanted for himself but Albus knew for a fact he wasn't whom this world needed in this coming trial and Harry as who he had thought to make him was.
Yet he was gone, he had simply vanished the very night of his placement with the Dursley's. The wards had never completed placement because Petunia Dursley had never read the words contained within his letter. So whichever protections he could have offered had never been enacted because of Harry's one blood relative never activated the hidden protections. That no one had ever seen the boy was presumed to have been part of the darker forces working within the Dursley household and by the time he had actually gone out to check, aware that had Petunia read his letter she wouldn't dare to kill the last of the Potter's; it had been too late for him to be found or traced.
If and when a memory was gone from the mind there was no retrieving it by memory charm or potion it was just that, gone. Such was the memory of what had happened that night to Harry, Petunia could no more recall what happened to her nephew than she could recall what the last day of her menstrual cycle had been twenty years ago. He was not an important part within her life or mind-frame and as such, no more important than the other had been in her mind, so too easily forgotten and never remembered. In fact Albus had no idea which of the two adults in the Dursley home had been the last with Harry or if he had even been within their home at all.
Locator spells had been for not, which under the circumstances meant one of two very real possibilities; the first and worse possibility was that Harry Potter was dead and the second most likely possibility was that Harry had been taken in my a magical family. That was not to say that this magical family was ideal in fact there was a very high probability that this family was as dark as they come to have kidnapped they boy who lived and turned him against the very fabrications that Albus had designed for him with their own forms of abuse and harassment. There were chances however that this had not happened yet slim they were, which was why upon the acceptance letters Albus had been so hopeful.
This however had died when Hagrid could not find him with the Addams Family. To have an acceptance letter travel to the place of last known location only happened on the rare instances in which the property itself was under no magical jurisdiction and therefore deaths of magical individuals on this property as births could not be recorded within any of the magical catalogs. Which meant one of two things one Harry Potter was still alive within the Addams grounds being held prisoner or a worse but not improbable situation in which Harry had last been alive when he entered and died there where his body was then never removed…
Harrison Addams was his key to finding out the truth, he a full four months younger than Harry had been given an attendance acceptance letter a full two months after the cut-off date simply because he was the only link that may be between finding wither or not Harry was alive or dead. That other wizarding schools followed this same procedure was common place among rivaling schools so not unexpected so to ensure his choosing of Hogwarts had required some…unexpected embellishments and entitlements. Harrison's placement in Gryffindor was based on the same concept goal because more than anything Albus needed Harrison Addams to succumb to his good inclinations to reveal to him Harry's location and he was certain in that if Gryffindor could not help him along the way then he as one of the greatest wizards of all time could.
This is again where his philosophy came into play. Surrounded as he was by the light Harrison Addams would learn that difference in good and evil, light and dark; and while Harrison Addams due to nature and bloodline alone could never be a purely light wizard Albus hoped to make him in to a shade of gray.
Albus was rather loath to place any child within the direct influence of the dark which would be Slytherin not saying that each and every member within that particular house was going to be evil and dark, just that temptation for those two elements were far more daunting than say the Hufflepuff house. No child deserved that kind of temptation, but then.. some had already succumbed to it. He still held hope however that these children would and could be reached whatever hostilities there may be between houses, these were children after all and as susceptible to emotion as any other regular child and the peer pressures that came from them.
It was with the best of his abilities that he attempted to remain impartial to family ties and current behaviors as even the most spoilt of children could change their tunes within certain trials and situations. Yet even he knew that he was not impartial he was human and subject to their own weaknesses. It was this same weakness that had him witnessing the pale Malfoy heir and many of his same peers of dark families, sit before the House Heads with both dignity and pride draped about him like a shroud, and ignore his answers to the questions given by those same professors and label him Slytherin.
It was here he saw his own error and here that he realized his own bias judgment. As Severus and Minerva began to argue amongst themselves bickering back and forth that he saw his weakness. Would the sorting hat have placed Draco in another house? Would the sorting hat have seen his pride and placed him in Gryffindor? Or seen his intelligence and placed him in Ravenclaw or even seen his loyalty to his friends and placed him in Hufflepuff?
Why Slytherin? What had he seen in this child that was any different than any little child that had gone before him? He was from a dark family no doubt but on close inspection he could see the little boy trembling, see the sweat on his brow the longer the two professors debated before him see the true fear in his eyes and yet the pride that tried to conceal this very vital flaw. This was a little boy that held the dearest desire to follow in his father's footsteps to make him proud and yet Minerva as she always seemed too could see past his desire, name and dark inclinations to the little brave boy that sat before a watching audience and trembled in fear.
This was not a dark soul no one so young and impressionable was, this was simply a boy that deserved a chance for greatness. However did he Albus deserve to deter the boys chosen path when nothing was at all certain for him in either house save maybe his family pride; and this would indeed be his decision. Severus would never give him up knowing his family as he did and Minerva would never submit him up towards the darker side with her firm belief that no child was evil and Slytherin would and could turn them so.
Albus held up his hand for silence which he achieved with limited results, the awe had by now diminished as more children came and were sorted and as such as boredom came so wandered attentions and whispering voices spread as many of those who had not been so subtle silenced to listen to his verdict.
His eyes met the very gray eyes of the expectant looking Malfoy who's skin began to bleach white in true fear the longer he took to answer. Albus looked once to an irritated but slowly outraged looking Minerva and then the smug looking Severus who's own eyes held an infuriated gleam as he stared at the Malfoy child. One was left to wonder at exactly what he had said to gain such downright disapproval from the man.
Yet Albus had chosen, he could not think in terms of what he or the others wanted he had to think in the terms as the sorting hat would have, of where the child needed to be.
"Gryffindor!"
~.~
A minute passed as even the whispering silenced and everyone stared at the pale face of one Draco Malfoy however none seemed to be more shocked than he for before the shouting of foul could be called the young boy fainted dead out. It was Severus Snape who was first to move to try and reawaken the shocked boy before postponing the sorting again to take him up to the infirmary personally as no one else went to take the initiative; even the Gryffindor house was suspiciously silent of both applause and cheer as they stared in horror not at the unconscious Malfoy being carried out by their sallow cheeked greasy haired potions master but at their beloved Headmaster-gone-mad Dumbledore.
Three more students fainted before all returned to some semblance of order and one Pansy Parkinson broke out in tears and could not be consoled not even when the sorting continued on after the interruption and she was thusly sorted into Hufflepuff which resulted in all the more tears from the now inconsolable child.
Yet throughout it all the eerie eyes of one Harrison Addams watched the scene amused as he pulled from within his robes a bottle with cross and skull upon it before uncapping it and drinking from the suddenly noxious smelling liquid… he was…rather amused at the whole ordeal.
End. Chapter 3
Smart Guide III: For those who wish to know and to get it out of the way for those who may ask.
1. Chapters will be hold up for a longer time until I can get a permanent or even temporary Beta Reader. I have been communicating with a few maybe's at the moment I just hope this chapter will be a good incentive for them to think my work is worthy so stay with me if your still interested I'm working on both trying to improve and getting these chapters out to you!
2. For those of you who have been reviewing with no responses I apologize I don't have the access that I would like at the moment so if you have questions you would like answered please feel free to PM me.
3. I have updated only in thanks to my reviewers breaking my word of waiting for a Beta Reader and while I hope to have one before I post my next chapter I will post it anyway if you the reviewers continue to inspire me as you have been. Sorry again about the bad, grammar, nonsensical babble, and all other typing and technical errors.
4. For now this is the end of the Start Guide until or unless someone asks something enough or if reviews request its return. This apparently hasn't been helping anyone so this is to explain the lack of future knowledge.
5. Now for the fun stuff, I am basing most of the Addams characters on their movie adaptations not the TV series, however for those of you following this closely you will notice that I have taken quite a bit from their cartoon references, such as Gomez being the eldest brother, address (country unwithstanding), some of their age, wealth… well it's a longer list than I thought please keep movie minded for their characters appearances they are so much more entertaining…
Thank you for tuning in. See you next chapter. Bye!