While the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years waited in the great hall, the first years had to wait outside the great hall. Harry zoned out, thinking about the four houses and wondering what he wanted to be in. He had no clue which Hogwarts house he would be put in. Behind him, he heard an argument break out.
Oh shit.
Draco got into a verbal fight with some random red-haired kid. All Harry heard was the red-haired kid calling Draco a daddy's boy, saying the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Quite honestly, Mr Malfoy seemed nice.
On biased grounds, Harry turned towards the red-haired kid and said, "Just leave Draco alone. Will you?"
"Oh look, another Death Eater's child," The red-haired kid said to Harry.
Images flashed through Harry's head. A green light, his mom's screams, Hagrid telling him how his parents were really killed, his ten-year imprisonment at Number Four Privet Drive, a flying motorcycle, his dad saying "take Harry and go."
Anger and rage filled Harry. He didn't care that people were watching, he lost control of his emotions. Harry grabbed the red-haired kid and pinned him against the wall. His breathing was hard. Harry knew he was red in the face. Harry whipped out his wand with his free hand and put the tip to the other boy's neck. The little asshole would pay.
"You take that back," Harry said at last.
The other boy said nothing.
"Harry, stop," Draco said, "Calm down."
Harry felt all eyes on him. He was breathing deeply, still filled with anger and rage.
"Harry?" Draco's tone sounded slightly concerned.
Harry let go.
"Don't listen to Weasley," Draco said as they walked away from the crowd of first years. They went to an empty corner and leaned against the wall.
"Weasley, is that his name?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, ignore the lot of them, there are at least five of them, all redheaded, all Gryffindorks, all blasted idiots."
"You sound obsessed, you sure you don't want to marry one?" Harry asked sarcastically.
They laughed. In the back of his mind, Harry still thought about the fight. "Oh look, another Death Eater's child," the boy had said.
xXxXxXx
"Harry Potter," Professor McGonagall's voice rang throughout the great hall. Harry stepped forward and glanced back at the other first years. Draco smiled at him and nodded. Weasley looked horrified as he realized that he called Harry Potter a Death Eater's child. And everyone whispered, not just the unsorted first years, but the whole great hall.
"Did she say, Harry Potter?"
"The Harry Potter."
"The boy who lived."
You get the gist.
Harry sat on the step stool. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on Harry's head. He couldn't see. The whispers of the other students were all muted. He couldn't hear anything. It was peaceful.
"Getting into fights already, Harry?" The hat said, piercing the silence.
"Let's just get this over with," Harry whispered.
"No need to be so loud," the hat said.
"Alright, do you take preferences into account?" Harry thought silently.
"I already know you want to be put in Slytherin, are you sure? Slytherin has been known for practicing the dark arts."
"I don't care," Harry thought.
"Alright then, Harry," the hat said, "SLYTHERIN!"
The hat got lifted from his head. Most people looked horrified. That was their problem. Harry walked over to the Slytherin table with a grin on his face.
xXxXxXx
"Oi! First-year Slytherins, follow me," one boy shouted. Harry assumed he was a prefect so did what he was told.
Ten new Slytherins that year, including Harry and Draco.
So far Harry and Draco had met two other students, The Greengrass twins. Daphne and Astoria. The twins seemed nice. They didn't treat him like a god or demon, they treated him like a human. Harry liked that. He liked that a lot.
The Slytherin prefects led the Slytherin first years to the dungeons. It was fucking freezing. The prefects walked up to a portrait.
The girl spoke, "Now, remember, the password is 'Gringotts'."
Suddenly the portrait swung open. There was a lavishly decorated room, with decorative snakes. The lighting was dim, the bookshelves were full and the seats looked comfortable. There was only one minor problem.
It was as cold as the rest of the dungeons. There was a fireplace with green fire but that did next to nothing about the lack of heat. Hopefully, the beds were warm.
"Boys to the left, girls to the right," the female prefect said.
Harry and Draco said goodnight to the Greengrass twins and went up the left stairs. When they got up there they saw seven grand doors. When they found the one that said "first-years", they went in along with the other first-year Slytherins.
As the six boys got ready for bed, they introduced themselves. There was Zabini, Greg, Vincent, Theodore, Draco, and Harry. After getting ready for bed, everyone claimed a bed. There were six large beds. Harry claimed a bed next to Draco.
Harry got in bed. Wow, the beds were warm and comfortable. He sank in immediately and sighed. Harry tried to sleep but no matter how much he tried or relaxed, he couldn't fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the fight between him and the first year Weasley.
The way he grabbed Weasley letting his anger spill out in public, Draco trying to calm him down. Worst of all, Wealsey calling Harry a son of a Death Eater. Harry squeezed his pillow trying to use it to let his anger out.
He imagined the pillow was Weasley, he squeezed harder. All the other boys were sleeping. Nobody was watching. He punched his pillow a few times, letting out a good chunk of his bottled anger.
Harry felt satisfied. As he calmed down, he realized how tired he really was.
"Goodnight," Harry said to nobody in particular.
He yawned and sank into his warm new bed.
"Goodnight," Harry said again, with that, he fell asleep.
xXxXxXx
Harry was in a dark room. He couldn't see anything.
"Hello?" Harry asked into the darkness of the room.
Suddenly, a fire appeared in front of him. No, not just fire. There was a pedestal surrounded by a ring of fire. On the pedestal was a red rock. Harry was overwhelmed by its glory. All his senses were blocked out. All he knew was that he wanted- no, needed that stone.
He reached forward to grab it. He walked through the ring of fire. Fire licked his skin but didn't burn. He was right in front of the pedestal. He extended his hand. His sense of longing was moving him. His hand closed in around the stone.
A blinding white light shone out of stone, engulfing everything. Harry let go of the stone to shield his eyes. The stone hit the floor and the light disappeared, as did the fire. He was back in complete darkness.
He looked down. The floor was just as dark as the rest of the room. Maybe he could break it? He stomped his foot hard, he heard a small crack. He stomped again, another small crack. The cracks were too small. He jumped, A bigger crack. He grinned. He jumped again. He could see light shining through the cracks. He jumped even harder.
The floors broke.
Harry fell. The wind gushed through his hair and clothes. He grabbed his glasses. He was falling, and falling, and falling.
Harry woke up. He was panting. What the fuck was that stone? Harry looked around, all the other boys were sleeping. His breathing slowed to a normal pace. Harry noticed a clock, it was 2:23 am.
Even though he just woke up, Harry was exhausted. He felt like he didn't sleep at all. He yawned and sank back into bed, falling into a dreamless sleep.