Chapter 3. The First Day of Their Youth
"Master Draco! Master Draco needs to wake up now!"
Young Malfoy slowly opened his eyes, staring at the dark ceiling of his bedroom for a few seconds before turning his head to the left and looking at their house elf.
The boy had had a sleepless night which wasn't any surprising considering what day it was today. The anticipation had been making him feel more and more nervous throughout the last few weeks and now the stress was reaching its peak as he was having a hard time even simply clenching his cold shaking fists.
"What is it, Dobby?" he mumbled and his gaze slid to the clock on the wall. "It's still too early to get up."
"Oh, that's right, Master! But it's Master's mirror! Master's friend is—"
"Shut up now, I get it. Give it to me."
Dobby smiled happily and snapped his fingers — a white oval shaped crystal that was vibrating demandingly fell onto the boy's blanket, which made young Malfoy smirk as well as he gripped it hastily.
"Harry?" He looked at the middle of the crystal where the small shard of the two-way mirror rested, protected by the conjured transparent cell.
"Hey there, mate. How's it going?"
Draco shrugged trying to look as impassive as possible as he observed his one and only friend's cheerful face.
"Decent, I suppose. Some idiot has just awakened me far earlier than necessary, but other than that I'm good."
"Well, I just thought it would be fair for me to do that since Gwen did the same to me half an hour earlier. So," he drawled narrowing his eyes teasingly, "Have you decided yet?"
The blond boy groaned and rolled his eyes irritatedly.
"No, I haven't. Didn't I tell you not to ask me again?"
"Oh, come on, don't be such a sissy! You might get sorted into Hufflepuff at this rate, you know."
"Yeah, right. Not happening."
"Oh, but it will happen for sure! Look at you, still can't even decide where you wanna go! It's so easy, really. To join all the cool guys like myself or to rot with weak ass idiots who are always all talk and nothing else..."
Young Malfoy gave his friend a deadpan look.
"If the choice is about joining the guys who are as cool as you are, then I suppose I should really look for another option."
Harry laughed loudly, making Draco glance at the door to his room cautiously and cover the crystal with his palm suppressing the sound just in case.
"Please. You're just afraid to be outmatched by us. I understand it, though. It's always easier to be the best among the worst than to be the worst among the best." He snickered, but frowned a bit the next second as he noticed that Draco lowered his eyes as his face darkened.
"It's not really about that, and you know it," he muttered, biting his lip thoughtfully.
They've been discussing the pros and cons of the houses of Hogwarts for months by now, and it was a very touchy topic to him, although the heir to Malfoys rarely showed his concerns in any way.
As much as he would like to get sorted into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, either of which was most likely where Harry would end up tonight, he knew that it would inevitably lead to some dramatic consequences. Generations of Malfoys had been in Slytherin, it was an unspoken rule in their family, something absolutely not even debatable. Breaking it would most definitely turn his father against him at the very least, probably ultimately leading Draco to getting banished from his home and family. And whereas he probably wouldn't care about his father's opinion alone all that much, the boy certainly didn't want to break the ties with his beloved mother, not to mention all the money and other heritage he would lose by going this way.
"Yeah, I know," uttered Harry quietly, smiling reassuringly at his blond friend. "Don't worry. We'll come up with an idea, one way or another. That's what we always do, isn't it?"
Draco let out a tiny smile as well, feeling a bit relieved. As goofy and immature as James Potter's eldest child was sometimes, The Boy Who Lived certainly had that ability to make anyone's mood get better regardless of the situation.
"Being rivals is kind of cool, too, don't you think so?" said Draco carefully, scratching his chin. "Imagine all the things we could arrange, pretending to be enemies and manipulating everyone from our houses—"
"Giving up already? I see, I see," Draco's face reddened immediately and he gripped the crystal tighter.
"Screw you, Potter!"
"Careful. If you wanna become rivals, I'll make sure to kick your sorry arse as often as possible. And Snape won't save ya, for I have someone to back me up, too. Speaking of which, getting sorted into Gryffindor would grant you her protection as well."
"And Snape would make me his primary target in this case. No, thanks. Besides, damn, Harry! Abusing your family bonds like that? How dishonorable of you! I don't wanna be associated with such a scoundrel."
Harry's eyes narrowed mockingly.
"Now then, look who's talking, mister My Daddy Will Buy Me a Golden Throne In Slytherin If Only I Ask Him To."
"If, Potter. If is the key word here. There is no way in hell I'm doing that. Besides, I don't see how is it worse than having a teacher to always back you up."
It was the black haired boy's turn to roll his eyes.
"Yeah, right. As if you don't know that mum will always be the first to punish me no matter what I do."
They kept staring at each other's face willfully for a few seconds before Draco finally sighed.
"Fine, touche. But you still haven't proven your point."
"As if I need to prove anything to a sissy like you."
Before he could retort that, Draco flinched as he heard the familiar quiet noise coming from the stairs. Giving a short glance to the door again, he whispered,
"Mother is coming. I have to go."
"Fine. See ya in the train."
"Yeah. See you."
Draco handed the crystal to Dobby who hid it with another snap of his tiny fingers and disappeared just a few seconds before the door opened and the beautiful blonde woman in her thirties entered the room.
"Draco, dear. I can see that you are already awake. Are you feeling well?" She looked at his unusually pale face anxiously, coming close to the boy and touching his forehead with her palm. "Too nervous, aren't you? Have you even slept this night?"
"Yes, mother, I have. Thank you. I'm feeling just fine, but you are correct, I am feeling quite nervous."
Narcissa sighed, caressing his cheek lightly.
"That's a relief. But not to worry, son, feeling nervous is perfectly fine for such a fateful day. Don't be embarrassed by your feelings."
He looked away, feeling embarrassed.
"I suppose you are correct... but I can't allow father to see me like that. He would get very angry." He lowered his head, making his mother purse her lips and sigh again, with sadness this time.
"Please, don't think that your father doesn't care about your feelings, Draco. He only wants the best for you, it's just that he wasn't taught to show his concerns to anyone."
"Right... and apparently nobody cares about what I want," her son mumbled, making Narcissa frown a little and touch his chin gently, making the boy meet her vigorous gaze.
"That is nonsense. Like a true Malfoy, you are to decide your own fate, son. Do not allow anyone or anything to take the freedom of choice from you. Give me a promise."
The boy nearly gasped, staring into his mother's deep grey eyes.
She knew it. She knew everything about his inner fight! About all of his concerns and doubts! Was she meaning that...?
"I—I promise... Mum," he whispered the last word, making a rare warm smile appear on the woman's pale, slightly tired face.
"Very well. There is nothing for me to worry about, then. I believe that your heart will tell you what to decide. And your father... let me handle this problem. Don't worry about him." She pecked his cheek with her lips, making the boy's heart warm up as he smiled brightly. "Get up now, we should not be late today. Breakfast is already on the table."
"Right!"
"Harry! Stop this right now!"
"But she's the one who started it, mum!"
"I don't care! I told you to stop, didn't I?
"But that's unfair—!"
"I said now! Ten points from Gryffindor!"
"Oi! I haven't even been sorted yet!" He sighed in defeat, feeling the familiar chill going down his spine when his mother gave him that look that never promised anything good.
He lowered his hand, and the hazel eyed girl whom he had been levitating with his magic until now smacked onto the floor on her butt right next to him and gasped, rather wanting to make the boy feel bad than because of any real pain.
"Oww! That hurts!" she groaned, to which Harry grinned shamelessly as his new wand raised up from the floor and flew right into his hand the instant he looked at the magical tool.
"Too bad. You will know better than stealing my stuff next time."
The girl pursed her lips resentfully, crossing her tiny arms on her chest and frowning.
"I won't see you again until next summer. You won't even remember about it by that time, so I'll do it again for sure!"
"Nope. First, you'll see me on Christmas. Second, I never forget anything. And third, you should get up from the floor and eat. These pancakes are really delicious."
The girl stuck up her tongue at her brother, getting up and coming to the second chair.
"Food at Hogwarts is probably much more delicious anyway," she muttered, taking her fork reluctantly while Lily turned her head from the sink to give her daughter a scolding glance.
"Harry is feeling very nervous right now, Gwendolen, and he's probably not all that pleased to leave his home either. Like you said it yourself, you won't see him again for a while, so please, don't be this annoying to him."
"Yeah, Gwen. Don't be this annoying to me, or else I'll send you flying again, this time until I get on the train."
"No, you won't!" cried the girl.
"Well, if that's what you wanna believe."
"Mum...!"
"Dear Lord... Stop it already, please," the red haired woman pleaded, massaging her temple and sitting down as well. Before she could add anything else, James entered the room, dressed in his auror uniform, yawning and stretching his exhausted limbs as came close to the table with dishes.
"Mornin'," he muttered, sitting down next to his wife and taking a cup of coffee.
"Daddy!"
"Hey, dad. Had a tough night?" asked Harry looking at his father curiously.
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Have you caught some dangerous criminals?" gasped Gwen with her eyes widened in awe, which made James chuckle.
"Nah. We spent some wonderful time digging through the archive and doing a shit ton of boring paperwork."
"James, language!" Lily frowned at her husband, shaking her head disapprovingly.
"Sorry, sorry. But it's true, honey. Sometimes I wish I got an opportunity to work at Hogwarts as well."
Lily giggled.
"You'd make an awful teacher, you know. Not to mention that the only reason why I agreed to this job three years ago was that this way I can spend more time with our children."
"You make it sound as if I don't wanna spend more time with them, too!" exclaimed the man pretending to be indignant.
"Oh, that's not what I mean," the woman smiled, reaching out to kiss the corner of his mouth. "It's just that I miss the times when we worked together."
"Well, what you do is very important, too," said James making Lily sigh quietly as she took a sip of tea.
"Nothing is more important than catching criminals like Voldemort, though," reasoned Harry taking another bit of his snack.
Lily frowned, but didn't reply to his statement. Instead, James hemmed,
"Well, that's debatable. Don't you think that teaching the future aurors is even more important than what said aurors do in general? Without proper education, the institution of aurors would collapse in no time. We don't want unskilled amateurs protecting us, do we?" James smirked, making his son frown and lower his eyes, looking a little ashamed.
"I guess you're right." Lily's features softened as she noticed Gwen's troubled gaze directed at her brother — clearly the girl didn't like seeing him being so dull. It was too unlike the always optimistic and cheerful boy.
"Hey, big brother..." Harry looked at the girl questioningly without a hint of his usual smile. She didn't know why what their father had said bothered the boy that much, but she certainly wanted him to feel better, especially knowing that their mother was right and he certainly would miss them a lot as well in just a few hours. "Maybe—if you want—you can take Smokey with you so that you don't feel lonely there, at school."
The Boy Who Lived smirked at his sister.
"Your cat hates me, Gwen. You know it."
She nodded, looking overly serious.
"Yes, but it's only because you used your magic on her too many times. If you tried, you could become friends with her."
He shook his head while their parents kept discussing something uninteresting to their children quietly.
"Nah. I'd rather let it stay with you so that you have someone to annoy while I'm absent."
The girl smiled and kicked his knee under the table, which made the boy wince and chuckle at the same time.
"Dummy! I'll be missing you. I already am."
Feeling a little embarrassed for some reason he didn't understand himself yet, the boy looked away again, sipping the cold pumpkin juice.
"Yea, me too. Don't worry, though. You'll go to Hogwarts as well pretty soon."
The girl frowned in disbelief.
"You're kidding, right? That's five years of waiting!"
"Five years is not that much, sweetie," said Lily turning to her daughter and moving a long strand of straight black hair from her face. "Trust me, that day will come a lot faster than it seems right now. I still remember how—"
"Actually, the nostalgic talk is all cool and nice, but we're about to be late," James interrupted the woman, making her look at him with deprecation and concern at the same time. "The portal will be activated in two minutes. Harry, are you sure that you're prepared? Haven't forgotten anything, have you?"
"Of course, dad. I'm more than ready to go."
"Very well then. Go get your trunk, we gotta make haste."
"Can I go, too?" whimpered Gwen, to which James nodded.
"Sure, darling. That would be an interesting experience for you. Lily, put the glue charms on her just to make sure she doesn't get lost in time and space while we travel."
"I know right?" his wife stood up from the table, rushing towards the wardrobe to get her light azure coloured summer mantle.
A few minutes later the four of them already appeared at Platform 9¾ right next to the large red steam engine named Hogwarts Express. It was 10:53 o'clock, and although many parents have already left the station, the Potters still had plenty of time to say their goodbyes to each other. And not just Potters...
"Sirius! Rem!" Harry gasped happily when the two of his father's best friends apparated next to them, grinning happily at The Boy Who Lived. "You've come!"
"Of course, pup. You didn't think we'd miss this glorious day, did you?" Sirius bowed down to hug the boy tightly, winking at James and Lily before rustling Gwen's hair, which made the girl who was still under the impression from the portal travel giggle. "What's up with your faces, brats? Cheer up! It's supposed to be a celebration!"
"Oh, you could celebrate anything, Sirius. Even your own funeral," Lily rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile.
"Damn right! That's because I'm sill able to enjoy my life to the fullest, my dear Lily! No matter how shitty the last night was, right, Prongs?"
"Yeah..." The man yawned, squeezing out a weak smile. "Moony, have you taken care of those scrolls?"
"You don't need to ask, really. Of course I have. You are such a tyrant boss, I must say," said Remus, to which Sirius nodded making James smile apologetically.
"Well, sorry, guys. We needed to finish the job before our vacation. Told ya."
"Blah blah blah. Harry, promise me not to grow up into such a boring fellow, alright?" Sirius winked at the boy, making the boy smirk as his sister giggled again.
"That would be pretty hard given that mum is going to be one my teachers at Hogwarts."
Lily's green eyes narrowed at her son in pretentious anger.
"I will remember that, young man. Hopefully you are prepared for your first lesson tomorrow."
"What? Tomorrow? That soon? And here I hoped I would get at least a short break!" Everyone's collective snicker was interrupted by the loud sound coming from the train, marking that it was only one minute left until the departure. Most people have already left the platform, reminding them that they should hurry up.
"Anyway, Harry, you should go now," said James hugging his son. "Remember everything we've been training and don't ever use it unless there is an absolute necessity. I'm counting on your conscientiousness."
"Sure, dad. Don't worry about it." The boy smiled, wincing slightly when Lily kissed his cheek and hugged him as well. "Mum! Not with everyone watching, alright? Besides, it's not like I won't see you in a few hours." She smirked, trying to adjust his messy black hair much to the boy's displeasure — both of them knew that it was absolutely futile anyway, so the only possible purpose behind her action could be teasing him.
"Find yourself some good friends, pup, and make sure to make the walls of Hogwarts shake once again! They should remember us the Marauders!"
"Be careful, Harry. Don't do anything silly or reckless," said Remus smiling at the boy who nodded quickly to both the men, turning around to face the train. Just as he made a step toward it, he felt the two small arms hug his waist from behind, making the young wizard stop and turn his head to the side to see his sister sobbing quietly.
"Write me a letter, will ya?"
He smiled, nodding again.
"As soon as possible. Don't cry. We'll meet again soon." She let him go slowly, stepping aside and brushing her tears away. The boy stormed forward, jumping into the train that was already starting to move out and pulled the trunk inside, waving at his family one last time.
The door to the wagon closed and the boy sighed with relief, taking the white crystal out of his pocket and sending a weak wave of magic into it.
"Hey, Malfoy. Where are you?" He could hear the echo of his own voice not too far to the left — two or three compartments away, not more.
There was a pause before he head a quiet hissing,
"Damn you, Potter... what the hell have you done, I'm—"
"No matter, I can hear ya. Just a second," he strode to the end of the wagon, opening the closed door and staring at the three persons inside.
"Oh, hey guys. Mind if I join you?" Before they could reply, he entered the compartment, closing the door behind his back and putting his trunk away. "What's up, Malfoy?" He gave the blond boy whom he was seeing in person for the first time in four years a questioning look.
Draco was paler than usual and appeared to be feeling very uncomfortable. It was obvious why — clearly the other two were pure-bloods he knew, most likely Slytherin material.
Exactly what Harry was looking forward to meet.
"I—well—"
"Who the hell are you? We didn't allow you to join us," the weedy blue eyed brunet boy barked, looking at the newcomer with uncovered arrogance and despise.
"Now that's rude. So full of yourself, aren't you? Well, no matter. Blimey, Malfoy, you didn't tell me that you're friends with some unmannered... half-blood, I presume?" He smiled politely and his gaze moved to the blonde girl who was looking at him with a blank face. "That's fine by me, though. I find all the pure-blood traditional teachings rather boring and old fashioned anyway. What are your names, by the way?"
They didn't respond, staring at him silently. The girl still had the indifferent expression whereas the boy who was sitting next to her had a mixture of feelings written on his face.
"I am Nott. Theodore Nott. And this is Daphne Greengrass, my future wife."
Harry's brow cocked skeptically.
"Your future wife? Yikes! Aren't you guys rushing things just a little bit?"
"It doesn't concern you," replied Nott, looking at the green eyed boy triumphantly.
Harry glanced at Draco who looked very nervous now. Wiping the drops of sweat off his forehead, the blond boy shrugged and rolled his eyes negligently, as if trying to say 'it's none of our business'.
"Well, if you say so. Not like I'm really interested anyway. Can't she speak for herself, though?"
"Her family is poor and dying out. They barely had any money to pay for their debts lately. But my father was kind enough to... Solve all their problems, so to say..." Harry ignored the pompous speech of the boy, looking at the girl thoughtfully instead — she still didn't react to, in Harry's opinion, the pretty offensive words, keeping studying him mutely with her bright blue eyes instead.
"You haven't introduced yourself, though. But seeing how cocky you are, I suppose you come from a very influential family, don't you?" asked Theodore, making The Boy Who Lived turn his head and give him a slightly baffled gaze.
"Oh, that... Yeah, I guess you could say so. My name's Harry. Harry Potter. Pleased to meet both of you."
Nott's eyes widened in shock, but young Potter didn't pay any attention to him — such reaction was very common whenever he met someone new. After all, he was pretty famous among wizards of Great Britain.
But what drew his attention was the weird reaction of Daphne. For a second he was beginning to assume that she was being under Imperius curse or something similar — she didn't react to basically anything that was said around her, even to his name. But when he looked closer...
Her lips curled into the tiniest of smiles at his introduction, and for a brief moment her eyes appeared to be much more alive than before.
But then it was all gone, and she turned away, focusing her attention on the fields behind the window.
Making a mental note to ask Draco about this strange girl later, Harry turned to Nott again.
"Something wrong?" asked The Boy Who Lived making Theodore close his mouth and shake his head, trying to calm down as the notable excitement overwhelmed him.
"I should've known! I've seen your father a few times and you look exactly like him! Woah!"
"Not exactly. I got my eyes from my mom."
"Oh, right," Nott winced as if he had just swallowed something very sour. "That mud—I mean, muggle-born. I forgot about her existence. You should've done the same thing, actually—"
Harry flinched as Draco took his wand out of his pocket all of sudden, pointing its tip at Theodore's face.
"Take that back."
The green eyed wizard turned his head to give his friend a long studying gaze, shocked by his outrageous reaction.
It was strange to say the least, seeing him behaving like this. Of course, knowing the temper of his parents, something like that could be expected from Harry himself, but he had been trained to control his emotions ever since the very young age. That's why a trivial taunt like this could hardly work on him.
But Malfoy... Why would he want to defend Lily Potter? He had only seen her once in his life. Surely that wasn't enough to be the reason to it...?
"Take what back? What's wrong with you, Malfoy?" Nott tried to look calm and cool, but it didn't miss Harry's eye that his face paled a bit when Draco drew his weapon out.
"I said take it back, Nott. You better do it right now, or else I will wipe the floor with your ugly face."
Daphne frowned, looking at the slightly shaking wand in Draco's hand, and then she moved her gaze to her friend, waiting for his retort.
"Let's not make a show here, Malfoy. I get it, you're friends with Potter, and I agree that what I said was misplaced. I'm sorry. It's not a reason to flick your wand around, you could gouge someone's eye at this rate. Look at your friend," he gave Harry a venomous grin, looking into the impassive green eyes. "He's not trying to show off, behaving like a true pure-blood is supposed to. And he's not trying to scare me with his nonexistent skills either. You should know your place as well."
Draco's face reddened, and he flicked the wand, opening his mouth to cast some spell, but then something strange happened — the wand fell out of his hand, dropping onto the floor of the compartment and rolling toward the window.
Theodore sneered while Daphne frowned again, narrowing her eyes at Harry and peering at him searchingly, appearing slightly puzzled.
"Look at you, what a joke. Can't even hold your wand properly. Some pure-blood wizard you are, huh," Nott laughed again, making Draco clench his fists in anger.
"Relax, Malfoy. Let this clown amuse us a bit longer. There is nothing better to do while we're on the way to Hogwarts anyway."
Draco squinted hatefully at the laughing boy before he sat down slowly, picking his wand from the floor and taking it away.
"I don't find clowns any amusing, especially when all they do is making us pure-bloods look bad," he muttered contemptuously, snorting and looking away.
"I can see that you're pretty confident, Potter. Why not try and show anything better than Malfoy's pathetic performance then? I am waiting."
Harry shrugged, grinning joyfully.
"Why would I bother? You are all talk, Nott, just like the scum you call your parents. I destroyed their master when I was an infant. Dealing with the likes of them, and all the more so you, is nothing to me."
The boy gasped in fear in anger at the same time, mumbling,
"I—you—"
"Please, Theo, stop. You shouldn't meddle with him, it's dangerous," the girl finally opened her mouth, though it was but a whisper, not moving her eyes away from Harry.
"What did you say?" the enraged boy yelped, standing up and taking his wand out. Draco raised his own wand again while Harry himself still didn't make a move, moving his gaze from Daphne back to Nott.
"You heard the lady. I'd rather get the hell outta here if I were you. Just a friendly advise, you know." He smiled politely, enjoying the indescribable expression of Theodore's face.
"We'll meet again, Potter. And you will pay for your insolence." He took his trunk and stormed out of the compartment as soon as he could.
Draco lowered his wand slowly, giving a long studying look to Daphne who clearly didn't intend to hurry up to follow her friend.
"Now what was that?" asked Harry, dropping the mask of politeness and indifference the second after Nott left. "Why did you tell him to stop? I was only beginning to have fun."
"Because I have seen what you are capable of, Mr. Potter." Her voice was unexpectedly sweet. Deceivingly so.
"Harry is fine. And what do you mean you've seen it? What exactly did you see?"
The girl didn't answer, moving toward the door, and when Harry was already sure that she decided to simply ignore his question, she stopped, giving him a short glance.
"I have seen you using your magic twice. I am aware of the fact that none of us can match you in terms of power and skill for now. Kindly avoid taunting Theodore from now on. I will do my best to make him avoid you as well." She bowed her head politely, stepping out of the compartment and closing the door, leaving the two friends alone.
After a few seconds of silence, Harry finally let out a loud sigh of relief.
"Woah, Malfoy. I didn't know you were friends with an idiot and a weirdo. You're full of surprises, you know."
"They are not my friends," the blond boy snorted, hiding his wand in a pocket of his pants. "They just happened to follow me into this compartment. Nott most likely wanted to make some profitable connections in advance, that is something you could expect from a slug like him."
Harry smirked, leaning backwards and closing his eyes.
"You're nearly sounding like a Gryffindor now. What about that girl, though? What's with that 'future wife' bravado?"
Draco shrugged, looking unsure.
"No idea. But if it's a joke, it's a very weird one, don't you think so? Why would we even care about their love life, or anything related to them for that matter?"
Harry thought for a few seconds before replying,
"You're right, there is no reason for them to lie in this case aside from Nott trying to look cool, but that hardly sounds cool, to be honest. If anything, I'd feel pretty damn depressed if I already had a 'future wife' at my age."
"Yeah, same here."
They remained silent for a good minute. The impressions over the newly met peers were already gone, and the awkwardness of the moment hit them like a furious giant.
Although both Harry and Draco were excited to finally meet again, neither of them had imagined their meeting to be this eventful and weird.
"Anyway... have you decided yet?"
Draco groaned in frustration, grabbing his head and turning away to look out the window while Harry chortled, amused by the fact that he had managed to get on his friend's nerves again.
They spent the rest of the way to the school discussing what happened before, Nott and Daphne, their families, the future subjects and the houses, of course. But no matter how hard Harry pushed, the blond didn't spill a word regarding his own preference here.
Truth to be told, Draco wasn't even sure why Harry presumed that it was up to them to choose their future house. And even if that was the case, he certainly didn't want to look like a coward in his friend's eyes, but at this point, he really had no idea what to decide, provided that he would actually get to choose, of course.
Absorbed by the talk, the two boys didn't notice how they reached Hogsmeade. Following the half giant named Hagrid along with a bunch of their peers, they crossed the Great Lake and entered the ancient castle, meeting a tall, black haired witch in emerald green robes. She had a very stern face which, along with her looks, made Harry remember all the tales of his dad and the Maradeurs, so the boy figured out who she was nearly instantly.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the half giant.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big that it was probably possible to fit the whole house of Potters inside of it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches similar to the ones at Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. The rest of the school already was here—but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would have done under different circumstances, peering around nervously. Harry noticed that Nott and Daphne stood as far from him and Draco as possible, which made the boy grin and poke Draco in the ribs, nodding in their direction — the blond smirked as well as he noticed them, too.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, drawing their attention. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points." The two friends exchanged understanding glances before turning their eyes back to McGonagall.
"At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville Longbottom's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron Weasley's smudged nose.
Harry preferred to ignore the advise, and so did Draco who always looked perfect anyway.
"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber, and Harry sighed.
"From what I know, she's a big shot here. We should avoid getting on her nerves, at least at first."
"Yeah, she looks pretty dangerous." Draco kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.
Then something happened that made some first years in the room jump about a foot in the air—several people behind Draco's back screamed.
"What the—?" Everyone gasped in fear. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance—"
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost—I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.
Nobody answered.
"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling happily around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away reluctantly through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."
Harry got into line behind Ron Weasley, with Draco behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. Harry had heard plenty of stories from his parents about this amazing place, but never had he imagined it to be so strange and splendid. It was lit by thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting, including Lily Potter whom her son recognized as soon as he noticed her, of course.
Professor McGonagall led the first years up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers sitting behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly in an attempt to ignore all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard some girl whisper,
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens. Just like he had been told...
Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and also extremely dirty, but both Harry and Draco knew its history, so they would never complain unlike some muggle-bornes around them seemed to want. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. 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 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 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 (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. "So we've just got to try on the hat!" whispered Ron Weasley to Neville Longbottom who nodded nervously. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." Harry smilrked at that.
Yes, taking on a troll would be far more interesting than this boring ceremony. And giving a short glance to Draco, The Boy Who Lived realized that his friend probably thought something among those lines as well, though for a different reason.
Professor McGonagall 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. "Abbott, 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 moments pause, and...
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.
The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.
"Bones, Susan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!" "RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.
"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see the Weasley twin brothers catcalling, which made him grin.
"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin, as well as Tracey Davis.
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide.
"Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.
"Greengrass, Daphne!" Harry's gaze followed the blonde girl who put the hat on, and after a short pause it exclaimed, "SLYTHERIN!" The green eyed boy sighed with the slightest hint of sadness.
Nothing unexpected here. Most Slytherins were always the same.
"Granger, Hermione!" The girl with bushy brown hair almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron Weasley groaned — apparently he had met this Hermione before, and he wasn't very fond of the idea of studying with her for some reason. There was no doubt that he would end up in Gryffindor as well, of course.
When Neville Longbottom was called, he nearly fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with him. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."
Then Draco's turn finally came. He let out a loud sigh and strode forward when his name was called, but unexpected to many, the hat didn't say a word for quite a while as the blond boy sat there with his eyes closed. Harry watched his friend's emotionless face worriedly. The seconds seemed to last impossibly long, and just when he heard the students in the hall beginning to whisper something to each other, Draco opened his eyes, looking vigorous and relaxed at the same time. Harry stopped breathing for a second.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Accompanied by rare claps of muggle-born students who were not familiar with his name, Malfoy took the had off and walked towards his house's table. The Weasley twins were the first ones to applaud loudly, and in just a few seconds every single Gryffindor joined them, including Harry who never had a doubt where he was going to be sorted anyway.
There weren't many people left now. "Moon"…, "Nott"…, "Parkinson"…, then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"…, then "Perks, Sally Anne"…, and then, at last—
"Potter, Harry!" As he stepped forward, whispers much louder than in Draco's case suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. "Potter, did she say?" "The Harry Potter?" The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat.
He waited.
"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. A lot of courage and confidence, I see. A shrewd mind as well. There's talent, ah my goodness, yes—and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?" The answer should be obvious. I'm not leaving Malfoy alone among strangers, and neither am I letting my father's hopes down.
"Pretty dedicated, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? This kind of loyalty is worthy of Hufflepuff. On the other hand, you could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that—no? My, such unbridled fury... wizards like you become great no matter where I send them, that's how fate works, so I'll leave it up to you. And since you're so sure—welcome to GRYFFINDOR!"
He took off the hat and walked quickly toward his house's table. He was relieved by his little victory, so he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer so far. Percy Weasley the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down next to Draco and the girl named Hermione opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice cold water.
He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Lily, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up and winked. Harry grinned back.
And in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once since he had seen the old wizard a dozen of times before. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Harry spotted Snape, too — he was sitting next to the nervous young man who was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban. To Harry's surprise, Snape who looked much better than how Sirius had always described him before didn't pay any attention to either him, Draco or Lily — as a matter of fact, he was watching stealthily this strangely looking man who evidently felt quite uncomfortable having such a gloomy company, even though he didn't notice Severus' glances.
Harry sighed, finally meeting his friend's emotionless gaze. He was proud of Draco. He hadn't been sure what he would chose in the end, but now he knew that he hadn't been wrong about this guy since the very beginning.
"Well... Here we go," said Harry, returning his gaze to the High Table.
"Yeah...," came the quiet response.
Both of them realized that this was only the beginning of a long journey.
Only 4 chapters of the prologue part left now. Please let me know what you think in the reviews, they are very useful to me!
