Harry woke up with a smile on his face and looked toward his window. He smiled at his owl a snowy white owl he named Belladonna. Getting up from the bed he pulled on the finest robes he had, a pair of pitch black silk robes. Fixing his glasses he opened the door, only to come face to face with Draco mid-knock.
"I swear you do that just to creep me out Harry. How you always open the door right before I knock is uncanny. Mother and father are downstairs waiting for us." Draco turned and left with Harry following him.
When they hit the bottom of the stairs and entered the dining hall they were greeted warmly by Narcissa and Lucius. Lucius checked over Draco to make sure nothing was amiss with his wardrobe and Narcissa did the same for Harry.
They sat down to eat a full English breakfast. The aroma of the freshly scrambled and poached eggs, was enough to set even Lucius's well trained stomach growling. Then they were hit with the succulent scent of the bacon, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, toast, and sausages and baked beans. They all had separate teas to go along with their meal, Dobby and the other house elves were more than happy to serve them.
As they finished their meal it ended up being 10:30 in the morning. Performing a quick cleaning spell on the boys, Lucius and Narcissa side-apparated them to King's Cross Station. Harry was staring in shock as the giant red steam engine, he had seen planes of course, but nothing as grand as this piece of machinery. He realized he was gawking and quickly schooled his features, No need to embarrass my care-takers, he thought.
Dobby popped their things into the station before taking his leave of the Malfoys and Harry. "Belladonna, we're going to Hogwarts. I'll see you there alright?" With that Harry opened Belladonna's cage and she flew off. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Lucius.
"I expect you and Draco to get the best marks of your year, let no one stand in your way. If there is someone above you in ranking, find out who they are and use them to your advantage. There's a man, Severus Snape. Stick close to him, he'll provide aid to you. He and your mother were close friends."
Having said what he needed to, Lucius turned to Narcissa and gave a short nod. A sharp whistle sounded, and they noticed the time was 10:55. That's when a gaggle of redheads came through with the loudest being the mother. A short, heavy woman was loudly complaining about not being able to find "him". Whoever he was, Harry couldn't help but shudder. Saying goodbye to Lucius and Narcissa, Harry and Draco boarded the train and found an empty compartment toward the end of the train.
Sitting down and finally relaxing, they noticed the door open. Two hulking brutes were standing in the doorway. Draco stood up and offered his hand, as did Harry. Walking in and closing the door behind them, they introduced themselves as Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. "I'm Harry Potter, I owe Lucius and Draco a great deal for saving me from my.. Disgusting relatives."
Greg and Vince merely raised an eyebrow at this, before asking what house he was looking to get into it. "Well, I think I'd be a good fit for any of them. Although from what Draco has told me it's between Slytherin and Gryffindor. I'm leaning more toward Slytherin, their ideals tend to coincide with mine." They nodded at his answer, as if expecting it.
"Goyle, Crabbe, how have your studies been going? My father stopped mine for various reasons." He glanced at Harry, and they caught on quickly.
"They've been quite well, we've improved some but I'm worried Professor Snape still won't think I'm up to par." Goyle said this with a frown. Crabbe slowly nodded in agreement.
"As for me, I'm more worried about McGonagall. I think she'll assign me extra lessons for her class, though from where I first I'm leaps ahead."
Draco nodded, he understood what they were saying. That's when Harry spoke up about his side-glance. "Draco, why'd you glance at me?"
Draco sighed, hoping he wouldn't have had to say anything to Harry. Then he thought, What if I turn this around. Tell him that I'm learning what he could use on his relatives. "I didn't want to inform you of this, since I'm not sure how you'd have reacted. I might as well tell you, I'm learning things that you'd want to use on your family." Harry's eyes took on a sadistic gleam and he began to smirk wickedly.
"When we get to Hogwarts, write your father using Belladonna. Tell him I'd like to join you for these lessons, is it safe to assume that was what you three were talking about?" At Draco's nod, Harry broke into a full out grin. "Well, at least some of the books I read will help me catch up to you three." The door was rudely ripped open, seeing a tall, lanky redhead standing there. Sneering at the rude and inconsiderate slob, they were about to say something. Before they could the boy spoke.
"Any of you seen Harry Potter? Heard he was going to be heading to Hogwarts today. You think he still has the sca-"
"Honestly, you expect us to answer your stupid questions without you even knocking on the door. Red hair, shabby clothes, the stench of poverty… You must be a Weasley." Draco, Crabbe and Goyle all laughed while Harry stared at this person coldly. He remembered the lard that was with this one, I must have been the one they were looking for. A good thing I met Draco and his family first, who knows how much of a coward I'd have been if I met this one.
"Shut it Malfoy! We all know your father was a death eater." A sharp gust of wind blew in from the window, blowing Harry's hair out of his face, allowing the Weasley to see his scar. His face had a wide smile on it, "Harry, mate! What're you doing here with this scum? Come on, I've a compartment we can go to." He reached out to grab Harry, only to find a wand pointed at his face.
"I'd leave if I were you, Weasel. We don't take kindly to people insulting family, or those that saved us from despicable people. You remind us of those we spent time with, leave or we'll make you regret ever stepping foot in here." The Weasley fled like hellhounds were after him. Harry collapsed back into his chair, only to fall asleep immediately.
Draco and the others were completely surprised and a little weirded out by how Harry reacted and spoke. "Any idea why he started talking in plurals Draco?" He shook his head, he'll have to write home to his father about this. Perhaps there is much more to Harry than any of us know.
-LADLADLAD-
When Harry finally came to he noticed the others were playing exploding snap. He heard a soft knocking on the door, opening it caused the boys to look toward the door. They saw a chubby boy and a girl with abnormally large teeth and incredibly frizzy hair. "Have any of you seen a toad? Neville here lost his." They suppressed a cringe at the unusually high pitched voice of the girl.
Draco spoke up, "Can't say I have, what did you say your name was?"
The girl perked up and, practically yelled at them "I'm Hermione Granger, the first witch in my family! This here is Neville Longbottom. Anyway we're gonna go look some more, bye!" Hermione and Neville both took off, as Harry turned around he saw Draco, Crabbe and Goyle's faces and laughed hysterically at them.
Draco scowled, "What's so funny?"
In between taking gulps of air, Harry managed to say, "Your… Faces, were priceless!" Before he fell back to hysterics.
An announcer stated that they'd be arriving at Hogsmeade soon and to get changed. As they all finished getting dressed they felt the train come to a stop. Stepping out of their compartment into the mass of people Harry felt his temper rising at how crowded it was. Before he could do anything though, they were off the train and heard a booming voice which caused Harry to cringe.
"Firs' years! Firs' years, o'er here! Oi, Harry been doing alright?" Hagrid called out to him. Harry gave the half-giant a small smile in the hopes it'd deter him from speaking any more. "Only four to a boat! … An' min' yer step."
As the boys gathered into the boat they heard a loud splash behind them, turning around they saw Hagrid picking up the Weasel from the Black Lake. Chuckling to themselves they found out the Weasel's name was Ron, not that they cared. Hagrid called out "Forward!" and the boats lurched beginning to move.
"Watch yer heads." All of the children ducked their heads to avoid the vines hanging down. When they looked up, they saw a massive stone castle illuminated by the moonlight and perfectly reflected in the Black Lake. Until a tentacle came up and gave a wave toward the group.
When the students were off the boat Hagrid approached the doors and knocked. A stern looking woman in black robes with a pointed hat came out, "The firs' years perfessor McGonagall."
"Thank you Hagrid." Hagrid smiled at this and wandered off, "Now, first and foremost, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will soon be sorted into one of four houses, those houses being; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin." She seemed to grimace at the statement of the last house. "I'll give you all some time to clean up." She looked pointedly at the Weasel.
A few minutes later the hall doors opened and the first years began to walk forward before coming to a stop in front of a hat on a stool. The hat then surprised them all as it ripped its brim open and 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 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!
"When I call your name, please step up and place the hat on your head. Abbot, Hannah!"
The girl ran up to the stool, sat down and shoved the hat down onto her head before it yelled out, "Hufflepuff!"
Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy all went to Slytherin, the Granger girl went to Gryffindor as did Longbottom. The name everyone was waiting for was finally called, "Potter, Harry!" Harry gracefully walked to the stool and sat down, placing the hat on his head.
"Well, you are interesting Mr. Potter, it seems each house could do you some good… You have plenty of nobility and courage for Gryffindor. Book smarts you have as well, but not the thirst for knowledge's sake. People who must earn your loyalty, and after what you've been through I can hardly say I blame you, at least you'll be civil to others. Slytherin would easily help you the most and with your ambition you could become the one to control that house."
"Hat, you know where to send me and I shall stand by your decision."
"Very well Mr. Potter, but be careful of the Headmaster. He isn't as kind as he seems."
"SLYTHERIN!" The hall was dead silent at the announcement, Harry calmly stood and walked toward the Slytherin table. When he was halfway there, the Slytherins remembered to clap for their new housemate. Well, let's see who I'll be taking down first shall we?
a/n: Since the amount of reviews I've gotten have driven me quite literally insane about Hermione and Neville being docked points from Gryffindor, it has been changed. You all have my sincere apologies about the error and my neglect to fix it. In my defense, I am writing typically at around 3-4 in the morning (yes AM). That's typically because I have classes at college that I don't stop working on, thanks for understanding.
