Sorting out the houses.
Larry had only a small bag that he chose to keep with him, while the others left their trunks on the train as instructed. As the three of them stepped out and onto the platform they heard Hagrid`s voice calling for the first years to assemble, and they scrambled to reach him without being overrun by all the others. "Hullo Larry, you didn't bring Hedwig on the trip I see" Hagrid said beaming as he saw Larry. (The big man had allowed his memory to be changed slightly, so he now remembered giving Hedwig to Larry and not to Harry Potter.).
"Hey Hagrid" Larry called and waved at him, but refrained from trying to come nearer. By now the platform was packed with milling students, and they all had barely space to move an inch.
"Follow me all you first years" Hagrid finally called as the stream of first years lessened.
Together they trooped to the shore of the lake where small boats waited for them. As they congregated they were divided into fours and the boats set off, the trip was uneventful but for Hagrid finally finding Neville's lost toad.
Larry had of course seen the castle before, but found himself oohing and ahhing with the others despite that, the view from the lake was spectacular after all.
As soon as they reached the castle Hagrid left them to go find the deputy head, and while they were waiting Larry heard Malfoy saying "I thought that Harry Potter would be starting this year, I wonder where he is. I know he isn`t here at least, a pity father would have liked for me to make his acquaintance". The rest of the students were craning their necks hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous Harry Potter, and bemoaning the fact that he didn`t seem to be present.
And that shows just what you know Larry thought to himself, quite happy not to be Harry Potter at this moment. As the ghosts streamed in many people jumped violently, Larry just waved cheekily at those he had met around the castle.
Hermione seemed too scared to stop chattering and was going on nonstop about how lucky he was to know the castle already. Larry patted her back a bit to try and calm her, saying "I have just lived here less than a month so I don`t know much either. Calm down now Hermione or you will have a nervous breakdown before dinner is served".
Hermione did not seem capable of calming and continued chattering, but as the two boys exchanged suffering glances she luckily noticed them and finally shut up. "We are all nervous Hermione, but it will all be over soon enough. Try to remember how to breathe in the mean time" Neville said in a calming manner. Neither of the three spoke any more while they lined up and trooped into the great hall.
Larry felt the excitement flow around him, but his own nervousness abated when he saw Severus sitting at the front. He smiled brightly up at him, and in turn Severus inclined his head in that regal manner of his. Larry didn`t pay much attention to the hat singing or the sorting, he woke enough to clap as both Hermione and Neville were sorted into Gryffindor (a bit of a surprise as she seemed more of the Ravenclaw type, and Neville seemed much more a Hufflepuff type). Larry felt his excitement mount as the list neared the S part of the alphabet, and finally he heard his new name called. As he sat down and the hat was dropped over his head he heard a small voice in his ear "well this is a surprise, Harry Potter sitting here bold as brass under a different name. I know that the school has already pointed you out as champion for Gryffindor, but I`d like for you to help try reconciling the houses. Use your new fathers' cunning, and your own sense of what is right to help plant ideas in the Headmasters mind so that we may sway Slytherin away from the dangerous path they have been following for years".
"I`ll do what I can" Larry thought back at the hat, and heard it announce to the hall that he was to go to Gryffindor house. As he trooped down to the table and sat down between Hermione and Neville, the table clapped politely. He sat down and turned to look up at the teachers table again, Gem was smiling proudly at him. True to form Severus didn`t smile, but Larry thought he saw a proud glint in the dark eyes that met his, Severus lifted his empty goblet to him in a small congratulatory toast and Larry felt happiness fill him as he turned back to the rest of the table.
After the last of the students had been sorted the Headmaster got up and spread his arms wide "To our new students welcome to Hogwarts, to our older students welcome back. I have a few things to say to you, but they can keep till later, for now you are welcome to tuck in".
Within minutes students were laughing and joking as they filled plates, and as they ate they chatted happily about all and sundry. Full and happy Larry watched as the the desserts vanished, and the Headmaster again got up clapping his hands to get their attention. "Again I would like to welcome everyone to a new year here at Hogwarts, before we all find our soft beds and get some well earned sleep I need to give out some information. First and foremost the forbidden forest is, as it says forbidden for all students to enter. This year the third floor corridor is closed for refurbishment, and students would do well to stay away from there.
Now I know some of you had expected to see Harry Potter here, but sadly his family has opted to leave Britain. This is a loss for our school of course, but Mr. Potter will hopefully enjoy living abroad and we all hope to see him come back here at one point. Lastly I want to wish you all a good night, and express my hope that you will be fresh and eager tomorrow as you start your first lessons".
With that they were dismissed, and the first years clustered around their prefect. "First years follow me" he called "there are many trick staircases here, some go a different way on Tuesdays and some have trick steps. If you find yourself stuck, don`t hesitate to yell for help. Everyone here has at one point stepped on the wrong step, or found themselves stuck in the wrong place. I urge you to stay away from Peeves, the poltergeist however. He is more likely to topple things on you than anything else".
As he said this they finally reached the portrait of the fat lady, and the prefect gave the password "Toad".
As the portrait swung open Neville whispered to Larry, "I`m glad it`s an easy password, I`m rubbish at remembering such things so I hope they stick to the easy stuff". Larry doubted that every password would be as easy but didn`t bother saying this, as the crowd had just been let through to the common room. The prefect continued talking for a while, showing them where the stairs were to the different dormitories and talking a bit about rules. But nobody seemed to pay attention, as everybody was busy yawning and longing to get into some warm comfy beds. Larry felt pleasantly tired as he trooped after the rest of the boys in his dormitory, and soon found his trunk had been placed by one of the beds. His cat Blackie was lying on his covers purring contentedly, as she waited for him. The sight of Blackie cheered him and after brushing his teeth he crawled into his bed sighing in a contented way as he felt Blackie curl up at his side.