Chapter three:
If there was anything Harry had learned from his first day out of Azkaban it was that people were going to react differently to him.
The Ministry were all aghast and the Minister was apologetic for something Harry assumed he had no knowledge about.
The man that had escorted them into the school, who he learned was called Rubeus Hagrid, wasn't aware of who he was but looked at him strangely enough.
The headmistress regarded him as a human being, someone who desired to be treated like one. But for a minute, Harry had seen a flicker of something else. She had known his parents, that much was clear, but everything else was unknown.
And then came Snape. Severus Snape, a man that looked like water frozen over on a cold December morning. A man that began to regard him like he was nothing more than something beneath his shoe. But Harry had noticed a quick change when they actually looked each other in the eyes.
Snape looked haunted, first and foremost but then something changed. "You," he paused uncertain. "Have dead man's eyes."
"Azkaban," Harry had said. "P-please tell no one."
Severus Snape nodded and then his expression became cold once more. "Well Potter, I'm your head of house and I'll be teaching you potions."
Harry stuck out his hand, "W-well met. I'm Harry."
The man paused, his expression didn't change but already Harry was noticing a difference. "I know who you are, Potter. Everyone in the wizarding world does, keep up. As I was saying, I'll be teaching you potions. Goodness knows you'll need all the extra help you can get to pass your exams next year."
Harry just inclined his head and let the professor continue talking.
"There aren't many eighth years left this year so there will be fewer pupils than normal. You'll be sharing a dorm with the other eighth year boys, the girls dorm separately. You will attend breakfast each morning, and sit on your house table. The same will be said for the other meals."
Harry nodded once more.
"There will be no tomfoolery and you must attend all classes and help earn points so that your fellow classmates and yourself may win the house cup. Any behaviour at risk to rule breaking will endanger your place at this school. Is this understood?"
"Yes, p-professor."
Snape stilled. "Good luck. Now get changed into your uniform and off to the Great Hall with you. The first years will be getting sorted any minute."
Harry had changed and then left in the same direction he had arrived, hoping he wouldn't get lost. He took the time to further examine the castle as he went. There were portraits, whose eyes followed him along with their muttering. He tried his best to ignore it but when a knight yelled out to him he quickened his steps.
The doors were just ahead but then he noticed the headmistress leading a group of first years to them and he almost lost his footing as he called out for her to wait.
"Potter? What are you doing?" Her voice had risen a little. "Has Severus kept you all this time?"
Harry had reached her and nodded, he looked over at the new students and saw them staring. They had all fell silent and it made Harry nervous.
"Right, Potter come with us and quickly go to the Slytherin table. Now for the rest of you, follow me."
The doors opened and hundreds of pairs of eyes rested upon them. McGonagall lead the first years up to the front and Harry, not knowing where the Slytherin table was, sat down in panic on the first table he saw. Many heads turned to face him, many frowns and more muttering but Harry just stared ahead at the sorting.
If there was anywhere he looked out of place, it was on that table. He noticed everyone's ties were the same shade of yellow and even though the majority seemed friendly, they stared at his tie with some level of caution.
"Hey," the person to his left whispered to him.
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"This is the Hufflepuff table."
"And?"
She furrowed her brows. "And your table isn't this one. The Slytherin one is the one on the far right."
"Why can't people sit on different house tables?" He whispered back.
"That's just not how it works."
"Why?"
"I don't know!"
There voices had risen a bit and it had caught more attention.
"Potter! Abbott! Keep your voices down; the sorting is still taking place." McGonagall said while holding a piece of parchment.
Snape stood up and looked at Harry, "And may I suggest you take a seat at your own table, Potter."
The girl, Abbott, gave him a friendly nudge and he got up and walked to the Slytherin table. Names were now being called out once more but people watched as Harry sat down next to a second year boy on his own table and smiled at him, which earned him a few funny looks.
Once everyone sat down, the headmistress gave a few words of encouragement and then the feast started,
Harry had never seen so much food before, the thought both excited him and made him feel sick at the same time. So he played it safe and helped himself to a small portion. This too earned him funny looks as the first years piled their plates sky high and still ate like they were royalty.
"Professor McGonagall said your name was Potter?" A girl who looked about his age asked from across from him. He nodded.
"Where have they been hiding you?"
Harry forced out a gargled laugh and shrugged his shoulders. "N-nowhere special."
He offered his hand, "Well met. I'm Harry."
She took it but her eyes had widened. "My name is Parkinson. Pansy Parkinson. You? You're Harry Potter?"
Harry nodded once more and returned to eating his food. He'd picked out the plainest he could find. It would be his first day eating a decent meal; he didn't want to throw up.
"Erm, Harry? May I call you Harry?"
He looked at Pansy, "Sure."
Pansy wasn't sure what to say. "Erm –"
"Y-you don't have to say anything, it's fine."
He had finished eating and now he desperately wanted to sleep somewhere decent.
"That's not it. Why, erm, why are you in Slytherin?"
He looked at her strangely, "Why are you?"
She thought for a minute. "Because that's what was expected of me and that's who I became. What about yourself?"
He offered a rare smile, "The hat told me so."
She laughed a little and then gestured to her side where three boys were sat and then to her other side where there was a girl.
"This is Daphne Greengrass." She pointed to the girl before turning to her other side. "And this is Theodore Nott, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini."
Harry's head shot up and looked at the blond boy, "Malfoy?"
"Yeah, what about it?" The blond spat out.
"N-nothing, I just. . . I kind of knew your father."
The boy in between him and Pansy shook his head quickly and mouthed something Harry couldn't make out. The rest of them all made the same faces but Draco's eyes hardened.
"You knew him how exactly?"
Harry thought for a moment before saying that they were neighbours. He hoped that if wasn't a dead give away but realised once he had said it that it was fairly obvious. Maybe they wouldn't believe him.
"I'm pretty sure I would recognise you if we were neighbours."
"Appearances can be deceiving."
"Right," Malfoy looked dubious but let it drop.
"Well anyway guys this is Harry Potter," Pansy managed to say before anymore interruptions.
Everyone who heard turned to stare at him, and then the whispers started. Harry didn't blame them but he wished they would be quiet.
"Just call me Harry."
"So, erm Harry." Pansy said. "What were you doing before you came here? Were you at another school?"
"No I've never been to high school before."
Their mouths dropped open. It was Theodore who spoke this time. "You do know about magic don't you?"
"Why else would he be here, Nott?" The Greengrass girl huffed.
They started debating between themselves and Harry didn't want to interrupt them, he chose to look at the teacher's table to see who was there.
Some he recognised, like McGonagall, Snape and Hagrid but he couldn't name the others until his eyes laid upon a haggard figure that was slumped in his chair. His face was scarred, his hair with wisps of grey and he wore an all too familiar suit.
Harry was looking at a man who calls himself Mooney when he thinks no one is listening, who sits alone most nights and reads, who always has chocolate on him in case of emergencies.
"Remus," he whispered.
"Oh you know him?" Pansy asked.
Harry must have looked haggard himself. "A long time ago."
A silence fell upon them.
