Chapter 7: The Sorting Ceremony
The time soon flew by and before Harry knew it, the train had pulled up at Hogwarts Station. Quickly getting his trunk down, he took it and Hedwig outside to drop off with the other trunks and owl cages to be taken up to their rooms after being sorted. He then noticed Hagrid at the far end of the platform who started to call to all of the first years.
"Firs' years! This way to the boats now! Come along, don' be shy!" Hagrid bellowed.
Harry walked up to Hagrid with the rest of the first years and placed a practiced smile on his face as he greeted Dumbledore's half-giant lackey.
"Hello Hagrid," Harry greeted.
"A'! 'Ello 'Arry! I see tha' everyone's 'ere. Now, all of you follow me to the boats and we can head to Hogwarts," Hagrid responded with a smile.
Harry followed his fellow first years and Hagrid to find a convenient number of boats on the shore line that could fit up to four students in each. Hagrid told this to the students as he climbed into the one at the front and set off once everyone had boarded a boat. Harry found himself in the same boat as Hermione and some other girls. The brunette saw him and turned her head, refusing to look at him though. He did feel some remorse for making her angry by refusing to tell her the truth, but it was obvious that she wouldn't believe him anyway with her attitude towards books and authority figures at the moment. Maybe, if she could get over that, she might be a good ally as she was clearly very smart.
~Until then, my Harry, there's nothing you can do. She needs to come around on her own. You can try and be nice to her if you ever do come into contact with her, but I wouldn't try to push anything at the moment while she's still on edge~ Sabrina explained, trying to reassure Harry.
~You're right. Thanks Sabrina~ Harry responded with an inward smile.
After a short journey across the lake, including giving the students their first look at Hogwarts, the first years finally docked on the shores of Hogwarts and got out of the boats. Hagrid led them inside and sent them towards the Great Hall before heading off. Harry just stayed in the middle of the crowd to avoid bringing any attention to himself, which seemed to be working. When they got to the doors to the Great Hall, then were stopped by a woman standing in front of the entrance.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall; Head of Gryffindor House and your Transfiguration professor. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. However, before you join them, you must be sorted into your houses. There are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While you are here, your house will be like your family. You're triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule-breaking will result in losing points. The house with the most house points at the end of the year will win the House Cup-" the woman explained before being cut off.
"Trevor!" a boy cried as he saw his lost toad by the woman's feet. He picked his toad up and hurriedly scurried backwards and apologised as he saw her stern look.
~I bet that must be that Neville boy who lost his toad on the train~ Sabrina mused, earning a nod of agreement from Harry.
"The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily," the woman finalised before heading into the Great Hall and closing the doors behind her.
After the woman's talk, the first years all began to speak to each other, wondering what to expect from the professors, the Sorting Ceremony and the lessons taught at Hogwarts. Some of the assumptions about what they were required to do for the ceremony made Harry and Sabrina inwardly laugh at the absurdity of them. Unfortunately for Harry, he was so wrapped up in his own amusement that he neglected to notice the three boys coming towards him until it was too late.
"So, the rumours of what they were talking about on the train were true. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts," the blond boy stated with a smirk.
The boy's statement got many of the first years talking, wondering if they might get to meet and talk to the famous Boy-Who-Lived themselves and befriend him. Harry sighed in annoyance at this and cursed himself for not being more vigilant. At least he had his back to the crowd so that they didn't see his face to be able to recognise him before the Sorting Ceremony.
"This is Crabbe and Goyle. And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," Draco said, indicating the two boys behind him and himself.
~Something doesn't feel right about this, Harry. I don't like it~ Sabrina commented with worry.
"Well, you already know who I am. Is there something you need?" Harry enquired cautiously.
"Well, I just thought that, considering who you are, you would need some help around here as you haven't been in the Wizarding World for 10 years. After all, you don't want to be making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there," Draco explained with a slight dark tone to his voice as he stuck his hand out for a handshake.
~Who comes out with something like that if they're only trying to help? He seems too fishy for my liking. Don't trust him, Harry~ Sabrina stated with concern.
"You've been misinformed then. As for making friends, I believe that I can tell the wrong sort for myself. I thank you for the offer though," Harry responded, trying to sound as polite as possible.
In return, Draco glared at Harry. Before anything more could be said, the woman returned and sent Draco back into the crowd before stealing a glance at Harry and addressing the first years again.
"They're ready for you now. Follow me," the woman said as he led the first years into the Great Hall and up to a stool in front of the table where Harry assumed was where the professors sat.
On the stool was a brown and tattered pointed hat which was soon picked up by the woman as she addressed the first years again.
"Now, when I call your name, you will come up, sit on the stool, I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses," the woman explained as the Sorting Ceremony began.
The woman began to call out the names of the first years. Notable ones that Harry listened to were Malfoy and his cronies getting sorted into Slytherin, Ron Weasley getting sorted into Gryffindor and Hermione Granger, who was the textbook bookworm and academic, getting sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw as he would've expected. There was clearly more to the girl than what meets the eye. The boy who he assumed was Neville was also sorted into Gryffindor. Considering the boy's mannerisms, body language and general attitude, Harry was rather surprised at this development. He would need to keep a close eye on many of the Gryffindors now, it seemed. However, the time came for his name to be called, and he could only smirk at what would happen next. It was time to begin the first step of his plan.
"Harry Potter!" the woman called.
Everyone began looking around in an attempt to locate Harry in the crowd, but their attempts were fruitless until he stepped out himself, giving everyone a clear view of him for the first time. He inwardly chuckled with Sabrina as he saw Ron's expression changed from flabbergasted to fear as he clearly recognised him from the train.
Harry walked up to the stool and sat down, letting the woman place the Sorting Hat on his head. As soon as that happened, he began to hear the voice of the sentient hat in his head.
'Difficult...very difficult...Plenty of courage, I see, an excellent mind too, not very trusting, but loyal to those worthy of your trust, and there's talent and an ambitious plan here...Oh yes...and a thirst to prove yourself...But where to put you?' the hat lamented in Harry's mind.
'I wouldn't try to pry into those plans if I were you. I've allowed you to see my traits, but that is all I will permit as I don't trust Dumbledore not to try to find anything out through you. We both know which house I am expected to be in, so why not cut the small talk and sort me into Gryffindor like Dumbledore wants so that we can end the matter,' Harry replied harshly.
'You are correct about Dumbledore, Mr Potter. You have clearly thought this through quite well...Yes, this will be very interesting indeed...' the hat responded before leaving the forefront of Harry's mind to address the rest of the students, "Better be...GRYFFINDOR!"
The Gryffindor table cheered almost triumphantly as Harry grinned and walked over to the table, instantly getting pats on the back and handshakes while listening to "We got Potter!" over and over again. You'd think that he was nothing more than an object. Then again, that's exactly how Dumbledore viewed him; an object and pawn to use for his schemes to do for the 'Greater Good' of the Wizarding World a.k.a. for himself.
After the final first years had been sorted, Dumbledore gave a customary greeting speech and warned everyone to stay away from the Forbidden Forest and the Third Floor Corridor on the right-hand side. Harry had a bad feeling that the Corridor might be wherever that package was being kept. He would definitely need to be cautious around Dumbledore and that area as he wondered whether the package might be one of Dumbledore's tests to see whether he was still on the light path.
Speaking of Dumbledore, Harry caught a small glimpse of the wide grin that was plastered on the old man's face and the malicious glint in his eyes that disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, leaving no-one but Harry any wiser to the true nature of the old man. This made Harry grin himself as it meant that Dumbledore had fallen for his ploy. By making sure that he was sorted into Gryffindor, the old fool would still believe that he was noble and on the light side so, therefore, easy to manipulate. However, the old fool would never know, until it was too late, that the boy that he wanted to use as his pawn had actually switched the roles around without Dumbledore suspecting a thing.
Harry's good mood was soon gone when a familiar red-haired boy walked up to him with a confident grin on his face. This wasn't going to end well...at least for Ron.
"Hey, mate! I can't believe that you never said who you were on the train! I'm sorry for offending you and all. I hope that we can still be friends though," Ron said, holding his hand out to Harry as Malfoy did earlier today.
"It's not me who you should be apologising to, now is it? And what do you mean 'still friends'? We never were. If I recall, you said that I would be begging to be your friend once you became best mates with the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. I don't see me being your friend or begging to be at the moment. If there's one thing that I hate; it's a backstabbing bully! Especially one who tries to humiliate their own sister behind her back!" Harry growled, causing who he assumed were the other Weasley sons to look at Ron with accusing glares.
"B-but, I was only joking! She's my little sister for crying out loud and she has a giant crush on you! You surely don't want a crazy fan-girl hounding you all throughout Hogwarts, right?!" Ron exclaimed with a hint of worry as he tried to convince Harry to give up on Ginny.
"She didn't seem to act like a lot of the people here did when I introduced myself. In fact, she kept herself very composed, unlike you're doing right now," Harry retorted, getting slowly more angry by the second.
"Come on, mate! You'll get nowhere by being her friend, especially now. Look, if you accept my friendship, I'll teach you everything you need to learn about Hogwarts and what it means to be a Gryffindor, ok? You'll need to get rid of that snake though. People might get the wrong idea and start assuming things if it continues to hang around you," Ron carried on, unaware of the anger that flared in Harry.
"I already know whatever you have to teach me. As for getting rid of my familiar, you'll find that it's not something that can be done as she is bound to me. Also, she is a she and her name is Sabrina! Stop calling her an it! You're nothing more than a hypocrite, saying that a snake is automatically evil and therefore I'll become dark by associating myself with one. If it wasn't for Sabrina, I wouldn't be here right now, so think about that before being so quick to judge. If I ever hear you insult Sabrina again, you'll wish that you had your voice box removed as a child!" Harry threatened , almost spitting the words out like they were venom.
Ron seemed to get the hint at last and decided that he would leave and wait to try and befriend Harry another day. Harry finally sighed with relief when Ron left and began to eat at last, giving some smaller pieces of meat to Sabrina, who was very happy with how Harry had defended her and decided to voice her appreciation.
~Thank you, my Harry. I must say that you've managed to touch my heart again with the way to defended me. I don't think that I've seen you this angry with someone before, even with Dumbledore~ Sabrina commented.
~I won't allow this foolish prejudice to continue and if that means that I need to make some threats along the way, then so be it. People like Ron should learn that prejudice does nothing but cause more problems and that bullying anyone, especially your own family, is never ok~ Harry responded vehemently, trying to calm himself down.
~Ah, so that's the reason. You're angry because that weasel insult the pretty little girl, huh?~ Sabrina concluded with an inward chuckle.
~Partly, but I am angry about the insults towards you equally. I've never been around someone who has insulted you before, so I guess that I was not fully prepared and let my anger get the better of me there. I'm sorry, Sabrina~ Harry explained with a hint of regret, thinking that he had upset Sabrina.
~Don't apologise to me, my Harry. I think that it's sweet and shows how much you care about me and Ginny. We're clearly very lucky to have someone so quick to come to our defence. By the way, you still haven't told me exactly why you accepted her friendship so quickly and without hesitation. I know how you are when it comes to trusting people, so why her?~ Sabrina asked, letting her curiosity get the better of her.
~I don't know to be perfectly honest. I knew that I would need allies here, but I didn't expect to make real friends. It's just that something about her...I don't know how to explain it, but something about her made me want to trust her. I don't know whether it was her genuine lack of information about this plot against me, her genuine interest in me as Harry Potter, not the 'Boy-Who-Lived', or something else~ Harry explained, picturing the young girl in his mind with a beaming smile on her face.
~I think that little Ginny's crush has a crush on her!~ Sabrina teased, laughing inwardly.
~Don't even try to tease me about this, Sabrina. This is serious~ Harry scolded Sabrina, with a slight blush on his cheeks.
~Fine, fine. Spoil all of my fun, why don't you? I'm just saying that it does sound like you care a lot for her, even though you've only just met. Are you sure that-?~ Sabrina tried to say before getting cut off.
~I don't have a crush on Ginny! She's clearly important, or dangerous with how easily she can get through my defences. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I can't afford to be getting involved with anyone at the moment anyway. Besides, she's only 10 and I'm 11. I may not have a child's mentality, but she still does. It won't work at the moment~ Harry interrupted, trying to defend himself.
~You can't keep yourself that isolated, my Harry. Just because you can trust her, doesn't make her dangerous. She clearly likes you, so I highly doubt that she would do anything to hurt you. Also, considering what we can assume about her life with her family, I don't think that she has a normal child's mentality either~ Sabrina argued.
~I still can't afford to get her too involved in this. She might get hurt if I get too close to her. A friend is fine, but not what you're thinking. That would only make her an even bigger target than she probably is or will be when she enters Hogwarts. I won't lose anyone because of my mistakes and selfishness~ Harry retorted, clearly wanting the conversation to end.
~Caring about and loving someone is not a mistake or being selfish. As for losing her, you may lose her much sooner than you think if you continue to think like this~ Sabrina said with sadness.
Harry shrugged Sabrina's last comment off, ending the conversation then and there. Sabrina could only hope that this Ginny girl could bring her Harry out of this dark place. After everything that had happened, she could understand why he was not very trustful, but to still attempt to keep himself closed off to someone who he did trust was something that she couldn't let him do. Maybe, Ginny Weasley would be his saving grace from the darkness that threatened to consume him.
After having his fill, Harry looked up and scanned the professors' table, noticing a rather pale, dark-haired man in long black robes staring at him with an irritated and angry expression on his face. Harry decided to ask one of the Weasley brothers, Percy he believed his name was as he recalled the Weasley matriarch calling each of them by name to go through the pillar at King's Cross, who that man was.
"Say Percy, who's that man over by Professor Quirrell?" Harry enquired.
"Oh, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions. However, he's been after Professor Quirrell's job for years. He's usually very biased towards Slytherin as he's their Head of House, so I'd be careful around him if I were you," Percy answered.
~What a great start! Already there's a professor who hates my guts just because I'm not in his house! How can he get away with something like that?!~ Harry exclaimed.
~Likely, it's all part of one of Dumbledore's schemes. However, the way this Snape character looks at you; I think that there's more to it than just the fact that you're not in Slytherin~ Sabrina replied.
~You could be right there. I may need to do some investigating then to find the answer~ Harry concluded, thinking about how to get information out of the Potions professor.
Eventually, the feast was over and Percy, being one of the Gryffindor prefects, led Harry and the rest of the first years to the Gryffindor common room and told them the password to enter through the Fat Lady's portrait. Percy then addressed them all once they got inside.
"Welcome to the Gryffindor common room. The dormitories are up the staircase behind me. The boys' dormitory is up the stairs to the left and the girls' is the same but to the right. You'll find that you're belongings have already been brought up for you, so I suggest that you go and unpack your things now. Lessons start tomorrow, so make sure to do Gryffindor proud," Percy explained before leaving to find his friends.
Harry was the first to head upstairs and into the boys' dormitory to begin unpacking. To start, he let Hedwig out of her cage and stroked her for a while, apologising for leaving her up here as he didn't know that she would be here alone for so long, which she seemed to accept. As he began to unpack his clothes, he realised that Ron and three other boys had followed him up. As he looked over the boys, he soon recognised them as Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. They all went to their beds and also began to unpack.
~Can I come out now, please? I just want to look around for a little while~ Sabrina asked.
~Alright then, but don't go off too far~ Harry cautioned.
Sabrina uncoiled and slithered down Harry's arm, slithering onto the bed. She raised her head and began to taste and smell the air before slithering off again to learn about this new environment. The other boys noticed her appearance and instantly jumped onto their beds in fright.
"S-s-s-snake!" Dean screamed.
"H-h-how did it get in here?!" Seamus cried out.
"Because I brought her in!" Harry growled, emphasising Sabrina's gender to show that she was a living, breathing creature.
"B-b-but why?" Neville asked hesitantly, slightly fearful of Harry now.
"Because Sabrina is my familiar. You all should know that a wizard's familiar will always stick around him and they cannot be separated," Harry answered, rolling his eyes at the boy.
"But your owl is your familiar too and owls don't stay around us all of the time!" Ron exclaimed.
"That's because owls are free spirits. They love to fly around, but they never go away from the area that their master is in unless told to by them. In fact, as you are seeing here, Hedwig is very happy with me at the moment. It's only when I let her out that she will go in the first place. As for Sabrina, she's not a bird, so she cannot fly. She slithers around, like she is now, to find out about her surroundings. That is much more dangerous, especially due to her size and some...unsavoury characters...so she usually stays coiled around my arm for protection," Harry explained, looking over the boys are he said 'unsavoury characters', indicating the prejudice and fear they were showing.
"But, if she's your familiar...does that mean...?" Neville asked hesitantly, leaving the question hanging as he feared the answer.
"That I can talk to her? Yes, I can. Is that a problem?" Harry asked, clearly displeased with everyone's reaction.
"B-but, only dark wizards can speak to snakes!" Seamus cried out.
"Really? That's what you think? You'd label a language, of all things, dark just because not many can do it and because it's snake language? I thought that the Wizarding World was prejudiced, but this is just plain foolish! So what? Are you going to call me dark now. "Famous Harry Potter, 'Boy-Who-Lived', has gone dark after getting a snake for a familiar"? What a joke!" Harry chastised, ending the conversation there and then as the boys thought over what he had said about foolish prejudice.
Once Harry finished unpacking, he called Sabrina back to him, who looked at the four boys once more to assess their threat levels to Harry. Seeing them as way too weak to be an issue, she slithered back up onto Harry's bed and coiled up his arm again, making the four boys shudder.
"Sabrina won't hurt any of you just because, alright? As long as you leave me alone, she won't see you as a threat. Her expression clearly shows that she doesn't consider you lot to be a threat to me. Either grow up and toss your prejudices aside, or you will not fare well in the future when you go into the outside world," Harry explained before heading downstairs and leaving the boys alone.
