Disclaimer: Gryffindor! Hufflepuff! Ravenclaw! Rowling!
Introduction
This is the first new story idea that I fleshed out and wrote up after starting Scribble Pad. I actually considered making this a self-contained one-shot, but I feel like this first chapter can't quite stand on its own. It's too much exposition. We need to see the consequences of this Sorting to really make it work, so I'm adding it to the anthology.
This story is based on the fanon idea that muggle-borns are either excluded from Slytherin or face dangerous persecution in that house. In Deathly Hallows, Scabior says, "there ain't a lot of Mudblood Slytherins," meaning there are still a few. The premise here is that the year before Harry starts at Hogwarts, a muggle-born Slytherin was murdered by his house-mates, and the Sorting Hat takes matters into its own proverbial hands to break the back of Slytherin's pureblood hegemony. Here's how it starts.
The Sorting Hat's Mistake
"How d'you think we get Sorted?" Harry whispered to Ron in the antechamber.
"I dunno," Ron said. "Fred told me we had to wrestle a troll."
"A troll?" Hermione Granger squeaked.
"Could be," said another boy who's name Harry hadn't learnt yet. "My brother says a kid died in the Sorting last year."
The new first-years gasped. They wouldn't let them do something that dangerous, would they?
"Don't be ridiculous," a girl said. "That wasn't during the Sorting, it was a fight between a couple of Slytherins around Christmas. It wasn't even a first-year."
Most of them sighed with relief, but Hermione squeaked even louder. "A student died last year?" she said in horror.
"Yeah. I heard there there was this big duel, and it trashed their whole common room."
"I heard it was two on one," another voice added.
"What were they fighting about?" asked Neville Longbottom.
The girl shrugged. "Slytherin politics, I guess. You know how they get into dark magic there. They always have something to fight about." Half a dozen other kids nodded sagely.
Professor McGonagall returned and escorted the new first-years into the Great Hall. Harry was initially awed by the sight, but his mind soon turned to his mounting fears. Was Hogwarts really so dangerous that students killed each other? How had something like that happened? And what if he was Sorted into Slytherin? Would he be in danger here like he was with the Dursleys? Voldemort was in Slytherin, Hagrid said, and all the other bad witches and wizards. What if people still liked Voldemort in Slytherin and hated Harry because of it?
He became so consumed with his thoughts that he barely noticed when Professor McGonagall brought in a stool and set a tattered old hat upon it. But then, something happened that was strange even by magical standards. The Sorting Hat opened its brim, and everyone else was shocked when, for the first time in a thousand years, it didn't sing. It spoke.
"This is not a year for songs," it said. "This is a year for mourning and reflection. I tell you this plainly so that, perhaps, some good can come of it. For the new first-years, I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, and it is my job to Sort you into your Houses."
Harry stared. They were supposed to be Sorted by a hat?
"I have bragged in the past that in all my centuries of Sorting students, I have never made a mistake," the Sorting Hat said. "No matter how badly a Sort turned out, I could always find the thread that tied them back to the essential qualities of their house. But never before has my choice resulted in the death of a student before they even left the school. So tonight, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you I was wrong."
A flurry of whispers broke out around the Great Hall. Many were confused, especially the first years. Many of the older students where whispering their theories about what this was about and what the Hat would do.
"Some eight months ago," the Hat said, "just before Christmas, Andrew Macdonald was murdered in these very halls! Andrew was a fourth-year muggle-born boy whom I Sorted into Slytherin. Yes, there are a few of them for those of you who don't pay attention. Andrew was brilliant, as clever as they come and more than able to hold his own in a game of wits. And he dreamed of going far in the magical world. In short, he was the finest that Slytherin House had to offer, and he would have floundered in any other. But he was murdered by two sixth-year Slytherins who were offended that a muggle-born would dare to grace their house."
Hermione gasped loudly. She looked terrified at the news. Slytherins hated muggle-borns enough to kill them? Harry was surprised, too. He still didn't understand how it had happened.
"Those murderers are dead now," the Hat continued, "but Slytherin as it now stands has many other lesser abusers and bullies, along with those who enable them, agree with them, or merely give their tacit approval. This cannot stand!
"I have thought long and hard over the past eight months about whether I made a mistake in Sorting those boys to Slytherin. Did I make a mistake with the murderers? No, they were both well-suited to Slytherin, and I could not have known what monsters they would become at the age of eleven. Andrew then? He was so well-suited to Slytherin that it would have been an absurdity to send him to any other house, but after careful thought, I have come to understand that I was wrong. The correct Sorting for Andrew Macdonald should have been…Beauxbatons!"
Louder gasps filled the Hall. The Sorting Hat send a student out of the school? It was unthinkable! Scandalous! Harry began to get nervous for an entirely different reason. Would the Hat send him away too? Would it say Hogwarts was too dangerous for him and make him go back to the Dursleys?
"I should have protested loudly to the Headmaster that none of the four Houses of Hogwarts would both make that boy happy and keep him safe. I should have torn open the violence and prejudice within Slytherin House for all to see instead of muddling through and trying to keep it stable as it was.
"For a thousand years, I have sat on this stool and Sorted every student who came through those doors. And for a thousand years, I have watched with dismay as I divided them, broke up friendships, and fed prejudices. Not since Salazar Slytherin left this school have the four houses been truly united. Always Slytherin has stood apart despite the best efforts of the teachers, and its divisions are deeper now than they ever have been. Now, I see it is my curse to quarter every year whether it is good for Hogwarts or not, and I am no longer content to merely watch. I will Sort because I am compelled to Sort, but I will not be passive in the face of threats that would tear apart the school from within.
"You have heard my warning. Heed it well. Now, let the Sorting begin."
Dead silence filled the Great Hall. Harry looked around. The teachers appeared just as stunned at the students. Even Professor Dumbledore looked faintly surprised, though he soon settled into a solemn expression. "Well, that was certainly enlightening," he spoke in a kindly voice. "Professor McGonagall, I believe the Sorting Hat has directed for the Sorting to proceed."
Professor McGonagall looked between Dumbledore, the Sorting Hat, and the first-years. "Yes, I suppose so, Professor Dumbledore," she said nervously. "When I call your name, sit on the stool and put on the Hat to be Sorted…Abbott, Hannah."
Hannah Abbott stepped forward, shaking from head to toe. She looked like she might faint before she even reached the stool. Professor McGonagall took her hand and helped her sit down, then placed the Hat on her head. It was oversize, so it dropped down over her eyes. The entire Hall waited with bated breath. The Sorting Hat had not said what action it would take. Just what was it about to do?
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat shouted.
Hannah yelped in surprise, then whipped the Hat off her head. She was crying with relief as she stumbled down to the Hufflepuff Table, which began cheering for her.
A moment later, Susan Bones also went to Hufflepuff. After her, Terry Boot became the first Ravenclaw. Mandy Brocklehurst also went to Ravenclaw, and Lavender Brown went to Gryffindor. So far, no one acted like anything unusual was happening. But then…
"Bulstrode, Millicent," McGonagall called.
A large, square-jawed girl walked forward and sat on the stool. The Sorting Hat considered for a moment and said, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Millicent's eyes were wide when she took the Hat off her head. Evidently, that was a surprise to her. Still, no one else was making a scene about it, so she took her place at the Hufflepuff Table quietly.
Michael Corner went to Gryffindor next, then Stephen Cornfoot went to Gryffindor as well, and then Vincent Crabbe was Sorted into Hufflepuff.
"What?!" came a shout, but it didn't come from Crabbe. It came from Draco Malfoy. "That can't be right!" Crabbe just stood there dumbly, looking confused what to do.
Professor McGonagall turned to look at Malfoy with uncertainty in her eyes. "That is between Mr. Crabbe and the school," she said. "We will examine this closer if need be. Mr. Crabbe, please take your seat at the Hufflepuff Table."
Crabbe went. Tracey Davis was next, and she was Sorted into Ravenclaw. Harry thought she looked faintly disappointed, but she didn't object to going to the Ravenclaw Table. However, whispers were starting to break out. Ten students in, and there was not a single new Slytherin. Kevin Entwhistle became the eleventh—another Ravenclaw. Would the Sorting Hat simply refuse to Sort anyone to Slytherin this year? Was it going to end the house on its own?
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin," McGonagall called.
Justin went forward to the stool, and the Hat had a rather long conversation with him. Harry could see the boy's lips moving. He wondered what they were talking about. Finch-Fletchley sounded like a muggle name, upper-class at a guess. Would that mean something?
Suddenly, the Hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"
Everyone jumped at the sudden outburst. Justin held his head high as he walked to the Slytherin Table. So the Sorting Hat wasn't ending the house, but Harry could hear the whispers. Justin was muggle-born, the same as the boy who had been murdered. Hermione watched him go in surprise, but didn't say anything.
The Sorting went on. Seamus Finnigan went to Gryffindor. Malfoy seethed when his other flunky, Goyle, also went to Hufflepuff. Hermione Granger had an even longer conversation with the Hat than Justin had, but she eventually went to Slytherin, much to Harry's surprise. She had been terrified of Slytherin a few minutes ago. What had happened? She didn't seem a bad kid, either. Meanwhile, Daphne Greengrass went to Ravenclaw and sat down next to Tracey.
Neville Longbottom sat on the stool for nearly five minutes, and people whispered that they were sure he was going to Hufflepuff before the Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" No one seemed more surprised by that than Neville himself, who ran off while forgetting to take the Hat off his head.
Then, came Malfoy's turn. He also spent a lot of time with the Hat on his head. Harry couldn't hear what they were saying, as much as he wanted to. If he could, he might have been surprised to hear the Hat say, "If I had it my way, Mr. Malfoy, you would be a Gryffindor. But I'm afraid I can't send another student to his death. And it would be all the worse if that death came at the hands of his own father. Do you deny it? You know what your father is capable of. But I still think a different house will do you good, so let us hope you excel in…RAVENCLAW!"
To Harry's great surprise, Malfoy didn't protest at his own Sorting like he had at Crabbe's and Goyle's. In fact, he looked rather shell-shocked, walking off to the Ravenclaw Table in silence.
Shortly afterward, Theodore Nott also went to Ravenclaw. Pansy Parkinson and Padma Patil were both Slytherins, while Padma's twin sister, Parvati, became a Gryffindor. That certainly got a reaction. Twins Sorted into Slytherin and Gryffindor? The two girls stared at each other in horror across the Great Hall before they took their seats. The Hat had mentioned breaking up friendships. It couldn't be easy on families either, Harry thought.
But then, it was "Perks, Sally-Anne," and then…"Potter, Harry."
Harry began to walk forward, and the whispers around him intensified. After all the strangeness that had happened already, where would he go? He'd heard his parents had been in Gryffindor, but with the Sorting Hat defying expectations for so many, it wouldn't surprise him if it put him somewhere else. He saw all eyes on him as the Hat dropped over his own eyes.
"Interesting. Very interesting," a small voice said in his ear. He almost didn't recognise it as the same voice shouting the Sortings to the Hall. "Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. And you have a thirst to prove yourself. That's what I was hoping to see. Hmm, yes, one very obvious choice. No doubt about that."
Harry gripped the edge of the stool. Not Slytherin, he thought.
"Not Slytherin, eh?" the Hat said. "The fact that you say that is the very reason I'm trying to reform Slytherin. I'm sure you've heard it's dark, but many good and noble witches and wizards have come from Slytherin too, no doubt about that. Merlin himself was a Slytherin, and a friend to muggles, to boot."
But what about Voldemort? Do people still like him in Slytherin? he thought worriedly.
"Oh, some do, but you won't be in danger there. The Headmaster will make extra certain of that. And most of them don't. Slytherin isn't that bad—or it won't be when I'm through with it! Besides, I don't think you want to be in Ravenclaw with Draco Malfoy, do you?"
Harry remembered Malfoy's arrogant attitude. He definitely didn't want to be in the same house as him. Hufflepuff didn't sound very like a very good house, and not just when Malfoy talked about it. Hermione Granger had thought Gryffindor was the best, but then she went to Slytherin.
The Sorting Hat chuckled. "Yes, you would do well in Gryffindor," it said, "but I'm moved a few people around from where they might have gone. Gryffindor isn't the best for you right now. You have no experience with the magical world, and that's not always easy, but you'll find more people you can relate to in Slytherin this year in any other house. Don't dismiss that. No, there's only one choice for you. I'm sure that you'll be great in…SLYTHERIN!"
The Great Hall erupted in shouts of protest. The Gryffindors were indignant, and the Weasley Twins shouted, "That's rubbish!" At the Ravenclaw Table, Draco Malfoy seemed to be trying to murder Harry with his eyes. The Slytherins' response was mixed—some applauding, especially the first-years, and some looking surprised or angry. But as Harry stood up, he tried to take the Sorting Hat's words to heart. Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hermione Granger were already there. He'd have someone he could relate to. He took his seat near them, and the Sorting continued.
The two people who made the biggest scenes actually turned out to be Zacharias Smith, who was Sorted into Slytherin over his loud protests that he was a direct descendant of Helga Hufflepuff; and Ron Weasley, who was Sorted into Hufflepuff despite all of his brothers being Gryffindors. Personally, Harry thought that if Ron wanted to stand out from his brothers, going to a different house was a good way to do it, but Ron didn't look happy. His Twin brothers at the Gryffindor Table simply looked too shocked to react to his Sorting. But they could still be friends, Harry thought. He tried to give Ron an encouraging wave across the Hall, to which he weakly responded.
In the meantime, Sophie Roper and Dean Thomas, both muggle-borns, both became Slytherins. Harry heard whispers around him that they made four new muggle-born Slytherins in all, which was high for any house in a given year, let alone this one. Finally, Blaise Zabini was the final Slytherin and the final Sorting, and the feast could begin, but it wasn't the joyous occasion it usually was, especially for the thoroughly rattled Slytherin House.
Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat at the High Table, still looking solemn. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts," he said. "I wish I could say it were under better circumstances, but indeed, troubled times are upon us. You have heard the Sorting Hat's warning, and I repeat it now. There will be no tolerance for violence in this school. Too long has Hogwarts allowed divisions between houses to grow and prejudice of blood to fester. This must stop, or else the school will tear itself apart.
"The murderers of Andrew Macdonald were killed last year in an act of legal self-defence when they attacked another muggle-born student who proved more capable than they. The threat from them is over, but I fear the sentiments that drove them to such violence remain. Therefore, I have instructed the teachers and staff to be vigilant for acts of bullying and bigotry of any kind, and I call on our prefects and our new Head Boy and Girl to aid us in ensuring the protection of all the students of Hogwarts. Together I have hope that we will make this year the start of a bright new era at Hogwarts, and with that, I say, tuck in."
Distracted as he was, Harry didn't notice the feast appear on the table until Justin offered him some potatoes. He was startled to see the amazing assortment of food that appeared before him. But he also looked around and saw people eyeing the knot of five muggle-raised students uncomfortably. Finally, one of the older boys spoke up: "So, Potter, pretty exciting for your first night at Hogwarts, yeah?"
"Uh huh," Harry said. "I guess it normally doesn't go like that?"
"No. The Sorting Hat usually sings a cheerful song. And there aren't many big surprises for who goes where. But tonight there were about six kids from families that always go to Slytherin who wound up going somewhere else…I'm Adrian Pucey, by the way," he introduced himself, and Harry shook his hand.
"And a bunch of muggle-borns ended up here," another boy pointed out unhappily.
"Cool it, Cassius," Pucey said. "What'd you expect with what the Sorting Hat said. We can still have Slytherin pride with them."
"Did someone really kill the two murderers last year?" Hermione said with wide eyes.
Pucey frowned. He lowered his voice and leaned closer: "Yeah. Down at the end of the table. Robert Wallace. See him?"
Harry looked to the end of the table where an older, sullen-looking boy sat with just a couple of friends, separated from the rest of their house. He looked like he might be a seventh-year.
"He did it, and they said it was justified," Pucey told them. "The thing is, a lot of us aren't so sure it was really above board. It was technically self-defence, but he was definitely looking for a fight."
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"The thing you have to understand, Potter, is that the Sorting Hat normally sends one muggle-born to Slytherin every other year. We talked it over, and we think it only sent the ones who really couldn't go anywhere else to us, but no more than it had to. With one every other year, there were just enough for the older ones to protect the younger ones if there was any trouble. But something went wrong."
"What?"
"Those same two guys attacked Wallace the year before last. He was a fifth-year then. He fought them off, but he got hurt, and his parents got scared and wouldn't let him come back." Pucey glanced at the five muggle-raised students knowingly. Many of their parents would surely feel the same way. "He told his folks Macdonald and Church—the other muggle-born below him—would be in danger without him here to protect them, but his folks didn't listen and made him go to Beauxbatons for the year.
"By the time Christmas came, and Macdonald was murdered, Wallace had come of age. No one can prove it, but we're pretty sure he ran away from home on Christmas Day to come back here and go after the murderers. He was furious. I though he might just start cursing people randomly. Before the end of Winter Holidays, one of them had picked a fight with the other—no one's sure who—and the two killers wound up dead. It wasn't pretty."
Another older girl spoke up: "So if any of you muggle-borns are afraid, don't be. Everyone here's too scared of Wallace to try anything."
Dean, Justin, and Sophie all seemed to be relieved by that, but Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, and he could tell she agreed with him that he wasn't so sure about the whole thing.
This was going to be an interesting year.