Chapter 10
The Sorting Hat
The first of September came rather quickly for Harry and his brother. The two spent their final month before Hogwarts the same as any other month, hanging around with their friends. The only difference was that they talked more about what they were going to do and see once they are in Hogwarts.
Harry woke up early on the sunny September day, and found himself running around his room, making sure he had everything packed. Over the years, his shelves and even furniture changed to reflect his growing interests. Gone were his stuffed animals from when he was a little boy, all packed away in the basement, Mrs. Malfoy promised. In their place, were books, fictional tales of witches and wizards going on grand adventures both fictional, as well as nonfictional (although Harry will admit he found those books a little boring), along with older toys and pictures of him and his friends. Currently, Harry was packing clothes into his trunk, deciding on which colors from his never-ending rainbow of robes to bring along with him to Hogwarts. He just finished putting away a dark blue robe when he heard something behind him. He turned to see that a couple of his books fell off of their shelves, and something was moving underneath them.
Frowning, Harry approached the books. "Hello?" he asked.
"Hello, can you help? I'm a little stuck." Came a voice from underneath his books. Harry made a noise and quickly lifted a couple to see a small snake with poisonous green scales struggling. Its tale was currently being crushed by the heaviest book that Harry owned.
"Oh! I'm so sorry," Harry said, looking at the snake, "Are you okay?"
"No, a book is crushing my tail!" the snake grumbled. "Some wrinkling thing brought me in here to eat rats and now I am stuck under a book!"
Harry looked at the snake sadly and made a noise, "I'm sorry, don't bite me I'm taking it off," he said. Harry bent down and picked up the book. As soon as it was high enough, the snake darted away, curling around itself as Harry pushed the book back onto the shelf where it belonged with the others. The snake huffed and looked at Harry. It hissed annoyed before slithering away. Harry watched it for a moment before realizing what happened. "I found a talking snake! I have to tell Draco," He grinned.
He made sure that his books were all secure on his bookshelf then ran across the hall into Draco's room where the blond was still sleeping. "Wake up Draco! I found a talking snake," Harry said with childish excitement, as though he was five once more.
"Go away Harry, I need beauty sleep," Draco muttered sleepily. Harry, however, did not take that for an answer. He grabbed Draco's blankets and pulled them roughly off of his brother. Draco yelled at the sudden coldness. "Harry!" He yelled angrily, glaring at him. "What the heck!?"
"I saw a talking snake, I wanted to tell you about it," Harry said, flinching slightly at Draco's glare. Draco's glare turned into a tired look.
"There's no such thing as a talking snake Harry," He yawned. "It was probably just a dream."
"No it wasn't!" Harry said stubbornly. "My books fell on the snake and I had to save it! The house-elves got it so that it can take care of the mice!"
"We have no mice Harry," Draco yawned again. "He sat up fully and rubbed his eyes. "But fine, I'm up now. Happy?"
"Not really because you're being a prat about not believing me," Harry said, pouting slightly.
Draco sighed and shook his head, "Fine Harry, I believe you," he said. "Look, let's just get dressed alright? Father will kill us if we're even close to late for the Hogwarts Express."
Harry nodded and went back to his room. He dressed simply, deciding on wearing a dark purple robes for the day. He smiled as he walked out, Draco already waiting for him in the hallway. "Come on you," Draco said, and the two went for breakfast. Their parents were already in the private dining room, Mr. Malfoy reading the Daily Prophet. He barely looked at the two as Harry and Draco too their seats. "You're both late," he said.
"Draco didn't want to wake up," Harry said.
"You were sleeping too!" Draco said, "Harry had a dream where he was talking to a snake."
"That's nice boys, we're leaving in an hour," Mr. Malfoy said, fully distracted by the paper. Mrs. Malfoy, however, smiled at the two.
"How are you boys feeling?" she asked. "Today's a big day."
"I'm excited," Harry grinned.
"Same here," Draco said. "I know we'll both in Slytherin."
"It's only natural," Mrs. Malfoy smiled. "The Malfoys have been in Slytherin for generations. Now, Harry, there will be a lot more people in Hogwarts, and some people might not like your… bright fashion sense," she began.
"Not that he will be wearing it," Mr. Malfoy muttered. "You will get points deducted if you are out of uniform."
"Yes but there are weekends," Mrs. Malfoy said, giving her husband a look. "Anyway, we are not going to be there obviously to tell you how to dress, Harry, however if you do choose your preferred colors, just be ready in case some others don't see how charming it is to see you in them."
"Okay, mum," Harry nodded. Mrs. Malfoy hummed approvingly, and Harry's sense of clothing was left at that. Although, he turned to Draco and grinned, leaning towards him and whispered, "First weekend we're wearing our pink robes!" he winked at Draco who just nodded.
When breakfast was done, both boys were sent to their rooms to make sure everything was packed. House-elves helped them, and once they made sure that they had everything, the trunks closed and locked themselves, the house-elves teleporting them to the floo powder room. "There is an entrance in Muggle London," Mr. Malfoy said, "however, we are obviously above that," Mr. Malfoy said. He took a silver container and opened it. "We are going to Platform Nine and three quarters," he said. "I shall head there first." He took a fistful of the green powder into his gloved hand and handed the container to Mrs. Malfoy. He went to the fireplace and stand in it. "Platform Nine and three quarters," he said clearly and threw the powder down. Mr. Malfoy disappeared in green fire.
"Harry, you're next," Mrs. Malfoy said once the fire died down. Harry took powder from the container and moved to the fireplace. "Platform nine and three quarters!" he called out and green fire engulfed him. Like always, Harry kept his eyes shut until he felt his feet land on solid ground. He stepped out as he opened them once more and gasped.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Harry saw his father standing expectantly a little ways from the fireplace. Harry stepped away and waited silently for a moment later, Draco walked through, followed by their mother. Mr. Malfoy checked his pocket watch and grumbled. "Twelve past ten," he muttered.
"We came here with plenty of time," Mrs. Malfoy smiled. The family walked down the station with Harry and Draco looking around.
"Where's Uncle Sirius?" Draco frowned.
"It appears he and Lupin could not make it," Mr. Malfoy said. "Such a shame."
"Oh Lucy, we knew you cared," a voice smiled. Harry and Draco grinned as they saw Sirius and Remus walking near them. The boys rushed to hug them while Mr. Malfoy looked on, annoyed. "Luckily, we were here for half an hour," Sirius continued. "Actually ran into a couple old friends of ours, the time went away very quickly."
"Oh? How fortunate," Mr. Malfoy scowled. "Now boys, have a good term, don't get into any trouble," he said, looking at his sons. "Don't forget to write to your mother, and we'll see you during Christmas."
"Have fun boys," Sirius grinned, ruffling their hair. "Get good grades, but don't be too much like stiff upper lips, eh?"
"Don't worry father, we'll behave ourselves," Draco said, Harry nodding along. Mr. Malfoy just stared at them.
"Fine then, say goodbye to your mother," he commanded.
"So unemotional," Mrs. Malfoy sighed, "come here boys." She hugged both of them and fixed Harry's ruffled hair. "But we are serious, behave boys. Both of you."
"Bye mum, I'll miss you," Harry said.
"Goodbye mother."
The two stepped away from their mother and looked at Mr. Malfoy who stayed still, holding his walking stick with both hands. He just nodded at them. Sirius and Remus both hugged them, and with final goodbyes, Harry and Draco were pushing their trunks down, looking for an empty compartment. They found one near the back of the train. They've put their owls in first before starting to shove and heave Harry's trunk towards the train door. It was too heavy for the both of them.
"Do you need any help?" Two red headed older boys who looked like twins walked up to them.
"Please," Harry smiled.
"Come on Fred!" one of them called out. With the twins' help, both Harry and Draco's trunks were at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.
"Thanks," Harry and Draco said, Harry swiping his sweaty hair out of the way.
"What's that?" said the twin called Fred, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.
"Blimey," said the other. "Are you—?"
"He is! Aren't you?"
"What?" Draco said defensibly, standing between the twins and his brother.
"Harry Potter!"
"Uh yeah, but my last name's Malfoy," Harry said.
The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.
"Fred! George! Are you there?"
"Coming, mum!" With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.
Harry and Draco sat down, with Harry sitting next to the window. "I wonder where Blaise and the others are," Harry said, looking out at the crowds looking for their friends. He saw the twins return to a gang of red-headed family and hummed. "Draco?"
"Huh? What? Oh, I don't know," Draco shrugged.
"Oh, I was going to ask if you remember what dad said about the family with red hair? You remember? We saw a man with red hair once when we visited dad at work," Harry said.
"Weasley," Draco said immediately. "Father says they're 'second-handed hand-me-down wizards who are not worth even an ounce of time that they take up.'"
"Oh," Harry frowned, "but those two boys seemed nice," Harry smiled.
"They did," Draco nodded. "Which is why Uncle Remus told us 'never take everything our father says about other families to heart.'"
"Except the Parkinsons, because Pansy's horrible, with horrible clothes," Harry said, "And the Zabinis, because Blaise is still the best," he grinned.
Draco grinned as well and nodded. He leaned over Harry to look out the window and made a noise, "I'll go look for Blaise and Daphne, see if they're on the train yet," he said. "Knowing Theo, he'll just come to us."
"He tends to do that," Harry nodded. He stretched and pushed Draco away, "Go on," he said.
"Pushy little brother," Draco muttered, but left. Harry just grinned and laughed softly to himself before looking out the window once more. As expected, not five minutes passed until he caught sight of Theo, who made a straight line towards the back of the train without even looking around. When he reached the window that Harry was looking out, he just looked up at it and said, "Are you going to sit around looking like a pretty damsel Harry, or are you going to help me?"
Together, the two pulled Theo's trunk up and it joined Harry's and Draco's. The boys sat down, and Theo looked around. "I'm guessing Draco is off looking for Blaise and Daphne?" he asked.
"Yeah—how did you guess?" Harry asked.
"Because I just do," Theo said. "So how was the rest of your summer, Harry?" Harry grinned and told Theo about his summer as well as the snake that he helped this morning. However, like Draco, Theo did not believe him. "Why would house-elves bring a snake in to deal with mice?" he asked. "They would have just magicked it away."
"I don't know, maybe the saw the snake and thought it was hungry," Harry frowned. "But it's real! I did speak to it!"
"Sure, Harry," Theo hummed. The pre-teen frowned and just huffed, shaking his head as the compartment door opened. Draco walked in, followed by Daphne and Blaise as well as two more. Harry jumped up to hug Blaise and Daphne, pulling Daphne to sit next to him, while he regarded the other two.
They were both boys looking on the heavier sides of things. Their hair were short and their pudgy faces both had a simple look about them as they just stood around, silently. "Harry, you remember Crabbe and Goyle, correct?" Draco asked.
Harry stared at them for a moment. "Uh sure," he just said, not really remembering them. He looked at the two boys and for a moment were reminded about a story about baby trolls.
"They don't have anywhere to sit, so they're staying here," Draco said, leaving nothing up for discussion. Harry shrugged, not really caring. He smiled at the two boys, making sure to look as cute as possible. "Hello," he said, "it's nice to meet you two again. I'm Harry."
The two boys only glanced at him. "Vincent," one grunted.
"Gregory," the other said.
Theo sighed and shook his head, "Vincent Crabbe and Greggory Goyle," he said for clarification. Harry smiled and turned to Daphne, "Did I tell you about the new robes I got? They sparkle!"
"No," Daphne said, and the two started talking robes and clothes in general before joining the others, mainly Theo, Draco, and Blaise, in talking about wider topics. Before Harry knew it, the train was pulling out of the station. Every now and again, Harry would look outside the window to watch the changing scenery. London quickly turned into towns, which made way to the countryside as they continued to travel north. A woman pushing a trolley came along during some part in the afternoon, and the children brought snacks ranging from Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Chocolate Frogs, a very popular snack that Harry liked more for the chocolate than the cards. However, Blaise lets the cards a lot. "Which ones did you get Harry?" he asked.
"Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel—and Morgana," Harry said, looking up at his friend.
"Oh! I need Morgana! I'll trade you uh, a pumpkin pastry for it," Blaise grinned.
"Okay," Harry said, trading the card for the treat. He looked at the two cards he had and hummed. He never really read them, so he now took the time and made an interested noise, "Did you guys know that Dumbledore worked with Nicolas Flamel?" he asked.
"Yes," Theo said but the others shook their head. Theo sighed and said, "All I know is that the two worked on alchemy together."
The group just made a noise before moving on. Half an hour later, a girl knocked on the compartment door. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes. "Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one," she said.
"No," Draco said shortly.
Harry glared at him before giving the girl a sweet smile, "No we haven't, sorry," he said politely. The girl looked around before closing the compartment door. Goyle spoke for the first time in a while, muttering, "Mudblood."
"HEY! Don't say that," Harry snapped, glaring at him.
"He's right," Draco said, "Harry's birth mother was a muggleborn, you don't say that Goyle!"
The boy just shrugged and looked around, only to see hard faces looking at him disapprovingly. A silence followed that only was broken awkwardly as time moved on. The five of them largely ignored Crabbe and Goyle for the rest of the ride, Harry reminding them to change as it was starting to get dark outside, the lanterns in the compartment turning on by themselves. Soon enough, the train started to slow down, and Harry felt very nervous all of a sudden. He found that his only relief was that everyone else looked equally as nervous. When the train slowed to a stop, Harry jumped up and quickly grabbed Draco's hand, squeezing hard. His brother winced but held Harry's hand just as tightly. The group filtered out of their compartment, joining the crowd on a tiny dark platform. It was cold and Harry shivered as he saw a lantern came bobbing over the heads of students, followed by a booming voice yelling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"
They followed the voice to see a giant man standing around with a big hairy face and beard. "C'mon follow me—any more firs' years? Mind yer step now! Firs' years follow me!"
The man led the first years down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side that Harry thought they were going through some thick trees. Nobody spoke much, not that Harry wanted to. He kept his hand firmly in Draco's as they rounded a corner and then there was a chorus of "Oooooooh!"
The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, is windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. "No more'n four to a boat!" the man called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and his friends glanced at each other before Blaise and Daphne joined the two in one boat, with Theo going into another with Crabbe and Goyle, as well as Parkinson, whom Harry fully forgotten about if he was being honest.
Once everyone was in, the fleet of boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. There was a curtain of ivy that the boats passed through and found themselves in an underground dock. Draco and Blaise heled Harry and Daphne out before they all started to follow the man once more, Theo joining them again.
From the harbor, the first years were led up a set of stairs into a corridor that ended with a large doorway. The man knocked on the door, and it opened revealing a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was not to cross her. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall, ma'am," the man said.
"Thank you Hagrid, I shall take them from here." She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big, Harry felt he could fit both his and Draco's bedroom three times over and still have room for more. Professor McGonagall led them to a set of great wooden doors where hundreds of voices were coming from. She stopped and turned around to talk with them. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. While you are here, your house will be like your family. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the coveted House Cup, a great honor.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school." Harry felt a cold wind of nerves take over. Professor McGonagall went through the door, and immediately talk erupted around him. Harry, however, found that he felt oddly quiet, staring down at his feet until Professor McGonagall came back a few moments later saying, "We are ready for you now."
The first years formed a line and the doors opened wide for them. They entered the Great Hall, a long and large room lit by thousands of floating candles that reminded Harry of whenever they had Christmas home with the shimmering floating crystals. There were four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years to the staff's table, stopping them before they fully reached it and told them to wait. She went to the side and brought forth a stool on which she placed an old patchy hat. The room became silent and Harry wondered for a moment what was going to happen before a rip appeared near the brim of the hat, forming a large mouth, and it started to sing.
It had a horrible singing voice; Harry came to realize quickly. It reminded Harry of the time he and Draco found a cat near Sirius and Remus's home stuck under the fence and it kept making the world's most awful noise. He couldn't really even begin to focus on what exact words the hat was saying, for all Harry could picture was that poor cat and how he had to get Remus to use his magic to make the fence post temporarily disappear to get the cat free. The singing stopped, and for some reason everyone applauded. Harry did not really know why, maybe the lyrics were good, but Harry figured most likely it was not.
Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a scroll. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"
A girl walked forward and sat down on the stool. The hat was lowered onto her head, covering her eyes. A few moments later, the hat sounded out "HUFFLEPUFF!"
The table to the right of Harry cheered loudly as the girl slipped off of the seat to join her new house. And so it went, the first years being called one by one to be sorted. Harry steeled himself and mentally collected himself as Professor McGonagall gotten closer and closer to M.
"Malfoy, Draco!"
Draco swaggered forward and the hat barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!" The table all the way to the left cheered and Harry took a step forward, readying himself to hear his name.
"Moon, Lily."
Harry stopped. He felt his heart drop as he stared at Professor McGonagall. She skipped over my name! he thought. His face dropped as he looked around at his friends, who were all equally confused. He looked over at Draco, who was sitting at Slytherin Table with Daphne. Both had their mouths hanging open but not one of them knew what to do. Should they make a scene? Should they stop and ask? Harry suddenly felt even more nervous than ever. Was there a mistake? Did his name just not get added? Or, worse, was he not supposed to be here at all? He looked up at the staff table, only to see a similar confused look on Dumbledore as well. He did not know what all of this mean. Harry was so preoccupied that he did not notice that Theo was called, followed by Pansy Parkinson, both of them going to Slytherin. Next came a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then, snapping Harry out of his thoughts, Professor McGonagall called out, "Potter, Harry!"
Harry stepped forward; however he couldn't help but frown as they got his name wrong. As he reached the stool, he stopped for a moment and looked at Professor McGonagall, "Uh, ma'am, that's not my name," he said softly as whispers broke out like little hissing from all over the hall. "I'm Harry Malfoy, or Harry Potter-Malfoy."
Professor McGonagall frowned. "These lists are taken directly from the Book of Admittance, which the Quill of Acceptance writes in on the day you were born. It cannot be altered. However, I will bring this up with the headmaster. You may be sorted now."
Harry felt a little at ease and smiled as he sat onto the stool. The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second, he was looking at the black inside of the hat.
"Hmm," a small voice said in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, on yes plenty of that, and a thirst to prove yourself. So where shall I put you?"
Pick Slytherin, Harry mentally thought.
"Slytherin eh? Are you sure? You can be great you know, it's all here in your head. And Slytherin could lead you on that path to greatness… but I'm not sure."
Pick Slytherin, Harry thought more forcefully. The hat chuckled. "Are you sure?"
Pick. Slytherin.
"Well then, SLYTHERIN!"
Harry grinned and slid off of the stool. Slytherin table was clapping, the students Harry recognized from his parents' Yule Ball congratulating him as he made his way to his brother and sat down next to him. Draco ruffled his hair and the two siblings grinned. It was only then that Harry noticed that the rest of the Hall was too oddly quiet, and there were plenty of eyes on him. But Harry did not care, to be honest. He was with his friends and brother. The sorting ended with Blaise joining Slytherin and he sat on Harry's other side, grinning.
"Hello husbands," he said, grinning at Draco's confused face. "Come on Draco don't tell me you forgot," he chuckled.
"I didn't," Harry said, remembering their old childhood game. "On the bright side we're all in Slytherin."
"Was there any doubt?" Draco asked. Harry just shrugged and looked around at the people who surrounded him. He could finally relax now, sighing as the last of the nerves left his body and he was left grinning and entirely starving. Professor McGonagall has taken away the stool and the Sorting Hat and Dumbledore was standing. He looked around at his students, nodding his head gently before saying a couple words, and much to Harry's relief food appeared and he finally had his first dinner as a Slytherin.
A/N: Slytherin! But when will people believe about the Talking Snake? And what about Quirrell, Mr. Author? And what exactly is Draco's new plotline and WHERE IS THE YAOI? Find out soon!
Noir Kumo: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I really hope that you continue loving the cuteness of Harry and Draco Malfoy!
DivineEuphoria: You're relieved with one bit of news but I'm sorry to say about the second... you'll just have to see.
Retired10: No, Dumbledore isn't manipulative in this one. Just an old man who made a deep mistake. Ya'll are so untrustworthy of him lmao what did the other fanfics do? Whose moms am I calling? As always though, thanks for reading!
Padfootette: Thanks!
Marvynthepheonix: THANKS!