Did you realize?

That you were a champion

In their eyes?

~ Champion – Kanye West

Chapter 4: Welcome to Hogwarts

The boat ride to Hogwarts was enchanting for Tobias. He and Draco and a boy they knew as Theodore Nott rode in the same boat towards the colossal wizarding castle in front of them. Tobias sat in awe as the Hogwarts castle revealed itself more and more as it came into view. He ran his fingers against the water, relishing in the way it flowed smoothly through his fingers. He looked over a few boats to see Hermione, Neville, and Ron sitting together. At the front was the Hogwarts gamekeeper, a man named Hagrid, who they all had met after exiting the train. While the older years rode on carriages, first years were to travel by boat.

"I still can't believe you went to go talk to them." Draco sneered. His comment knocked Tobias out of his reverie. Draco took no time to round on him about his little visit to Hermione's compartment. Tobias merely shrugged it off, assuring to Draco they weren't bad people, and that the Hermione girl was as skillful in magic as they were. Given his points, Draco still snorted and they began another conversation about Quidditch.

Tobias returned his view back to his best friend. He shrugged. "We got off on a bad start. I didn't think it was a crime to try to make friends." Draco snorted again.

"The girl is a person of interest." The boy named Theodore spoke up. "Sorry, Theodore Nott." He stuck out both his hands, which Draco and Tobias took.

"Draco Malfoy."

"Tobias LeStrange." Tobias looked back at Hermione, who apparently was staring at him. Her eyes grew wide and she quickly turned her head back around towards Neville.

"She's very skillful in magic." Theodore went on. "Though I've never heard or even seen the name Granger throughout any of the pureblood bloodlines."

Draco shrugged. "Tobias thinks she's a half-blood."

"I'm not so sure anymore." Tobias said slowly. He was still staring at Hermione. Her back was still turned, but he couldn't help wondering why she had been staring at him in the first place.

/

On the other side of the lake, Hermione, Ron, and Neville were also captured in the structure of their new wizard school. Ron couldn't stop bragging about how his brothers told him everything he needed to know at Hogwarts, and Neville was trying his best to listen, as if Ron held the key to a perfect first-year experience. Hermione couldn't help but to listen herself. Several months ago she had been accepted to Hogwarts and was fully aware that she was a witch. She had never thought about it before—she always knew there was something…..different about her, but never had she thought she was a witch. She was so excited she read all of her school textbooks the first week she received them. She had read Hogwarts: A History twice already, claiming it her favorite book.

But when she wasn't looking at Ron, she was staring at Tobias. He was sitting in a boat with Draco and another boy who she didn't know. Tobias was strange to her, if that was the right word for it. He was clearly raised in a pureblood family, hence the way he talked and carried himself. But for him to willing come to her compartment, after the fight that happened before? He made the choice to befriend a blood traitor, a muggle-born (though he didn't know she was one yet), and clumsy Neville Longbottom. If that wasn't un-Slytherin like, Hermione didn't know what was.

"And my brothers said to always stay away from the Slytherins." Ron's voice found its way into Hermione's thoughts. "They're nothing but a bunch of back-stabbing snakes."

Neville gulped. "But Tobias seems nice, and he's positive he'll be put in Slytherin. Should we not talk to him?"

Ron spoke again but was barely audible. Hermione had turned back around to look at Tobias. He did seem nice, as Neville put it, but there was something odd about him. What kind of boy as nice as him, had a friend like Draco? It wasn't until after a few seconds that Hermione realized that Tobias was staring back at her. She felt her cheeks grow red and she quickly turned back around to face Ron and Neville. Why had he been staring at her? Why had she been staring at him for so long?

She tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind as the boats were beginning to reach the drop-off point at the castle. Hagrid's boat made it there first, and the rest followed suit. After all the first years exited their boats, they followed the game-keeper to the front doors of the castle, anticipation burning in their veins as they approached the large wooden doors of Hogwarts.

/

Dumbledore was sitting at his usual place at the High Table. On his left sat Snape, Quirrell, and Professor Sprout. On his right sat the empty seat that was to be Professor McGonagall's, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor Flitwick. He watched as the older years found their way into the great hall, finding a seat with friends at their respective tables. Filch had just brought in the stool for the sorting, placing the sorting hat on top of the wooden stool.

Dumbledore was eager about this year than any other year during his reign as Headmaster. It had been eleven years—and now he was finally going to meet Harry Potter. Though he kept his excitement inside, this was something he had been looking forward to—there was no doubt the rest of the professors were eager as well. But none of them would show it, given the certain circumstances that had previously been put in place.

"Here they come." He heard Flitwick squeak from the end of the table. And he was certainly right, McGonagall pushed the great hall doors opened. The hall went silent as a large group of first years walked inside the great chamber. Dumbledore stood, watching as each first year walked towards the front until he found Tobias. He was standing beside the Malfoy heir and the boy he knew as Theodore Nott. He raised his eyebrows to also see he was standing beside who he knew to be Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom. Strange set of friends. He thought. A strange set indeed.

Tobias stood with the rest of the first years, eagerly waiting for the sorting to begin. He was standing in the midst of the new friends, with the exception of Draco, that he had met on the train. Draco and Ron still weren't talking to each other, but Tobias didn't think much about it. He was too busy listening to Hermione spit out facts about the castle as they walked through the great hall. As they walked down between two of the long tables, he looked up at the ceiling, amazed by the design. It looked so real, as if they were actually outside.

"It's bewitched to like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." Hermione whispered.

Tobias nodded. He had to give it to her, she'd done her research. With all his summer training, Tobias hadn't thought once to open one of his school textbooks, yet read it. They walked closer and closer to the front of the hall, where a stool with a brown, dusty hat was waiting for them.

"There it is." He heard Draco whisper excitedly. "The sorting hat."

Indeed it was. They all gathered around the hat. For a few nerve-wrecking moments, the hat was completely silent. And so was the great hall. No one said anything—you could literally hear the silence in the room. But then the hat twitched, and the brim of the hat opened. Tobias raised an eyebrow at the hat as it broke into a song.

"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."

Draco groaned. "Do we really have to listen to this?"

Tobias had to admit. The hat song was a little much, but he didn't mind. A singing hat, that was different. He watched as Ron was also dreading the hat's song. Neville only stood there, Tobias guessed he was trying to think of a way not to embarrass himself during the sorting. Theodore seemed out of it, Tobias was sure that he probably didn't even hear the song. And then there was Hermione, who listened intently to the song as if she had heard nothing like it in her whole life. He made a mental note to ask her why she was staring at him during the boat ride earlier.

The song ended some minutes later and the whole hall stood up, bursting into applause. The hat bowed to the students sitting before him and went silent once more. The woman they had met after leaving the boats, Professor McGonagall, cleared her throat, pulling out a rolled up piece of parchment from her robes.

"When I call your name," She said rather loudly. "you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Granger, Hermione!"

Tobias, Theodore, Draco, Neville, and Ron all watched as Hermione practically ran to the stool.

"Mental, that one." Draco and Ron said in unison, before snapping their heads at each other. Tobias simply shook his head, sending a message that this wasn't the time.

They watched as Hermione jammed the hat on top of her head. Nobody had time to even breathe as the hat screamed out "GRYFFINDOR!" and the table on the right stood up and cheered, whooped, and clapped as Hermione made her way to what Tobias realized was the Gryffindor table.

"Nott, Theodore."

"SLYTHERIN!"

A table on the far end on the hall then erupted with cheers and hollers as Theodore made his way to what was obviously the Slytherin table.

"Malfoy, Draco."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Draco hopped down, sending a smirk towards Tobias as he made his way towards the table, finding a seat beside Theodore.

Ron was next, and as he predicted, he was put in Gryffindor. Tobias watched as he walked over to sit by a clan of other redheads, which Tobias assumed to be his brothers. There were two boys who were obviously twins and another boy who seemed way older and wore a set of circular spectacles. Neville was after Ron. He barely made it to the stool before he tripped on his robes, causing a roar of laughter to be heard from the Slytherin table. Tobias had to hold in a laugh himself—Neville was his friend. Tobias was surprised when Neville was sorted into Gryffindor—maybe the hat saw something in him that his grandmother didn't.

"LeStrange, Tobias."

The High Table watched eagerly as Tobias approached the sorting hat. Dumbledore was relieved to see that Voldemort had not opted to change the boy's physical features. He looked exactly like James, and he had Lily's eyes. He didn't wear glasses, as they all expected he would—probably a feature altered by Voldemort himself. But nonetheless, he looked exactly as they all expected he would. Snape couldn't keep his eyes off of him—a part of him resented him because of his resemblance to his late school enemy, but his eyes reminded him of her, and that was enough for him. Quirrell was intrigued by the boy—this was the proposed "dead" Harry Potter, the chosen one, living among them as the Heir of the Dark Lord. He chuckled softly at the thought.

Tobias slammed the hat on his head, hoping his sorting would be as quick as the rest of his friends. But after a few moments, the hat was still silent. Tobias became worried. Something was wrong.

"Difficult." The hat said. "Very Difficult. Many traits of a Slytherin, yes. But many traits of Gryffindor as well. You destiny screams one but your heritage screams another. Which one to choose?"

"Just put me in Slytherin." Tobias thought to himself, embarrassed that he was up here this long already.

"Slytherin, eh?" The hat spoke again. "You have chosen your fate. SLYTHERIN!"

Tobias let out the breath he had been holding and eagerly made his way to the Slytherin table to sit beside Theodore and Draco. He looked over and found Hermione, Ron, and Neville, who all gave him a thumbs up for getting into the house he wanted.

Dumbledore then stood up, holding up his hands to cease the noise echoing throughout the hall. He was smiling at all of the students, happy to be seeing a new year at Hogwarts.

"Welcome!" he shouted. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

He sat back down, and the great hall once again erupted in applause. Tobias didn't know whether to be confused or worried.

"Oh Merlin," Draco said while putting his face in his hands. "We have a nutter for a Headmaster."

Theodore chuckled. "I think he's creative."

As soon as Theodore spoke, a plethora of dishes appeared on the table. Each dish held a different entre'—roast beef, chicken, potatoes, boiled and roasted, peas, carrots, the list went on. Tobias felt like he was right back at home, grabbing any and everything he could get his hands on and putting it on his plate. Draco and Theodore had done the same, and they stuffed their mouths until their bellies screamed uncle. Tobias was thinking about grabbing another piece of chicken when he felt a cold breeze brush his neck. He shivered and looked up, his eyes meeting a terrifying ghost. His eyes were blank and his robes were stained with silver blood.

"The Bloody Baron." Theodore whispered. "Try not to stare too much."

Tobias nodded and quickly averted his eyes from the ghost. He turned to look at the members of the High Table. He recognized Dumbledore from the chocolate frog wizarding cards he collected and Quirell, who he knew was his grandfather's doctor. There was man beside Quirell who he didn't recognize. He had greasy black hair and his skin was almost as pale as Draco's.

"Who's the teacher next to Quirrell?" He asked, never removing his stare from the teacher.

"Snape." Draco said as he stuffed another piece of chicken in his mouth. "He works for your grandfather, but he doesn't really stop by much. My father says he has a very important mission that requires him to be out all the time."

Draco reached for another piece of cake, but as soon as his hand touched the table, all the dishes disappeared. Tobias heard him curse under his breath, but ignored it as Dumbledore stood up again. The great hall grew silent once more.

"I have a few more announcements before we separate to our respective houses. First, first years should note that the forest on the grounds of the castle is forbidden. Second, Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

Draco snorted, while Theodore held a smirk on his face that told Tobias that they would be some of the few who would not follow these rules.

"Quidditch trials will be held during the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing should see Madam Hooch." There was another pause.

"Finally, I would like to make it known that the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is restricted to everyone who would not wish to die a very painful death."

Tobias was barely bothered by this statement. There was nothing in this castle that his grandfather hadn't prepared him for. Draco seemed to feel the same way, because he went to fumble with the hems of his robes. Theodore looked unbothered as well. Tobias looked across the table to notice that Ron's face had completely gone pale, and Neville was silently fretting in his seat. Hermione, however, seemed unbothered by the fact.

"At least someone has their head." Tobias thought.

/

The trip to the Slytherin common room was a long one. Whose great idea was it to put a common room, a place where people slept, down by the dungeons in the castle? However, it didn't feel any different from the hallways of LeStrange Manor. Long and cold they were indeed. The longer you walked, the darker it got. They finally reached a portrait of what looked like the ghost Tobias had seen earlier in the great hall.

The prefect in front of him said the words "Pure-Blood" and informed the first years that this was the password to get inside the common room and that they should never share their password with any other house. The portrait then swung forward and the first years crawled through, stopping at the sight of the great room in front of them. The common room was dark, lit by a few fireplaces here and there and several rays of green light shining through the windows. The couches and chairs were made of black leather and the rug was Slytherin green, with the house animal—a snake, plastered on the front.

The boys went upstairs to find their rooms. Tobias was pleased that he, Draco, and Theodore were sharing a room along with two boys who introduced themselves as Crabbe and Goyle. Tobias and Theodore didn't really care much for the boys, but Draco seemed to take a liking to them—seeing that they were a pair of imbeciles who didn't know a hippogriff from a dragon. While Draco went downstairs to continue his conversation with his new cronies, Tobias plopped down on his bed, laying back on his new bed. He noticed Theodore did the same.

"Not your ideal style of living, but it's enough, right?"

"Huh?" Tobias said sitting up.

"You know," Theodore kept his casual tone. "You being You-Know-Who's grandson and all, I bet your bed is bigger than all five of these combined."

Tobias chuckled and laid back down. "Not exactly." That's all he said. It was true, his bed wasn't that big, but it was big enough. To be honest, Tobias liked Hogwarts better than he did home. It was the atmosphere, the idea of being around other wizards his age. He was alone at LeStrange Manor, except the times when Draco came over. Here it felt different, like he was finally where he belonged. He laid there, pointing out the similarities and differences between Hogwarts and the Manor. After a while, he heard Theodore snoring and soon rolled over on his side and fell asleep as well. His dreams were filled with possible scenarios for his first day of school and a particular dream that had been occurring for months now. A bright green light, a woman screaming, a man in a black cloak.

A strange set of friends indeed. Follow, Fav, and Review!

~TheeStoryTeller