'Thoughts'
"Speech"
~Parseltongue~
Etymology of new spells I make up will be present at the end of the chapters they are first used in. If not, please review and let me know.
Chapter 5: A Fucking Hat?
As the trio entered the train, Aaron, who was in the front, was invited into an open compartment. He went in, excited at the prospect of making friends. However, when Harry and Vera moved to join, they saw that it was full.
"Oh…sorry guys, if you want, I can come out and we can find another place to sit together." Aaron said apologetically.
"No, no, it's fine. You will be able to make some friends here this way. We will find some other place to sit." Vera said. As the twins moved on, they found an empty compartment and sat inside.
Vera cast a silent Locking Charm (Colloportus) on the door to the compartment, as well as a Silencing Charm (Silencio) around them and an Obscuring Charm (Obscuro) on the windows. "Harry, I just got an idea about what we can do with the contamination in your scar." Vera said slowly, uncomfortable about bringing that up again.
"Really? What is it?" Harry asked, flinching slightly in memory of the events that took place revolving around that piece of information.
"You mentioned how you saw a memory of the Dark Lord addressing his followers about some prophecy after touching the black goo, right?" Vera asked.
"Yes…oh! I see where you are going with this! If anyone knew what the stuff is, it would be the Dark Lord." Harry said excitedly.
"Yes, and plus, he was supposedly the most fearsome Dark Lord of all time. Surely we will find some other useful spells and his own learnings about magic in his memories. I want you to watch his memories for an hour – perhaps from the first important moment of his life. I want to see how time inside his memories compares to real time. I will wake you up if more than an hour passes out here." Vera said.
Harry nodded before smacking his head. "I'm such an idiot! I can't believe I didn't consider it yet! What is it that the Dark Lord and Herpo the Foul have in common?" Harry asked Vera quickly.
"They are both Parselmouths…and both were extremely dark wizards!" Vera said.
"If any book has information about this contamination done by the Dark Lord, it's Herpo's parselmagic book, which we have!" Harry said triumphantly.
"That's true! We should get in the trunk and look through it as soon as we are in private in Hogwarts! Chances are that we will find something!" Vera said.
"Speaking of the trunk's contents, you should get your familiar out of it now. Poor Levi's been cooped up in there too long." Harry commented.
"Right. While I do that, get into the Dark Lord's memories and do what I told you. If you aren't able to use a Tempus Charm or look at a watch to accurately measure the amount of time you are in the memories for, exit immediately so that we can think of some other idea. If you are able to do so, stay and learn." Vera said.
Harry nodded and, after checking the time to see that it was 10:45 a.m., closed his eyes. He navigated his mindscape to find where he hid the corrupted piece of it. Several illusions, mirages, and parselmagic wards shifted until he found the wall with the horrible, horrible black goo on it. Bracing himself, Harry touched it. Once again, he was whisked into Voldemort's memories. Using his legilimency to navigate, he went to what seemed to be a significant moment.
He was able to use the Tempus Charm to see that it was 9:30 p.m. He did a double-take. How had time passed by so quickly? Or perhaps the charm was showing him what time it was in this moment in Voldemort's memories. That made more sense. Vera would have woken him up if an hour had passed. He cast the charm again and saw that the month was January and the year was 1934.
Relieved, Harry took a moment to check his surroundings. He was cooped up in a room. The chilling cold weather indicated that it was around January – rather early into the year. The room had no windows and no colors in it. There was only a bed, a table, a closet, and a rickety chair. Everything in the room was in shades of grey – the walls, the bedsheets, the pillows, the closet – even the wood of the table and chair was dull and greyed out. It was as if Harry was in a black-and-white movie. The room was – for all practical purposes – a prison cell.
Harry, now oriented well enough to separate his consciousness from Voldemort's in the memory, managed to get a read on Voldemort's emotions and thoughts at this point in his life.
It turned out that this place was an orphanage – a rather sad-looking one, in Harry's opinion. He kind of felt bad that Voldemort had to live in such a depressing place. Speaking of Voldemort, that was not really his name. It turned out that his name was actually Tom Marvolo Riddle – as evidenced by some muggle school books on his table. Through the years of the children bullying him, it seemed that Tom, like the twins, was able to discover powers.
In fact, this was the moment when young Tom started to experiment with his powers. Harry caught some of the thoughts flowing through his mind – 'Now I will show them.', 'Let's see if I can move this pen with my magic.', 'Time for revenge.' – these were the thoughts running through the boy's head. It was eerily similar to Harry's own thoughts when he first discovered his abilities. Harry continued to observe for an hour, and learnt that Tom had a very troubled childhood – wherein he was picked on for being different and bullied due to his weak physical stature.
Harry decided to start out with Tom's childhood, as it would help him understand more about the boy who became the Dark Lord. In the first memory of Voldemort that Harry saw, the Dark Lord mentioned a prophecy, and the whole incident left Harry with a feeling that he would surely face the man and/or his followers in the future. Understanding your enemy was of utmost importance.
Harry cast a Tempus Charm once more and saw that twenty minutes had passed. He did not want to keep Vera waiting too long, so he exited the memories and regained consciousness.
"An hour passed for you already?" Vera asked incredulously.
"No, I exited after twenty minutes. I thought it would be suspicious if we keep the doors locked for so long. How much time has passed out here?" Harry asked.
"Ten minutes." Vera said. "This is amazing, Harry! You can learn twice as much from the Dark Lord's memories during the same amount of time!"
"This has been a very informative experience, but let us open the door now. We can't miss the chance to meet new resources." Harry said.
"You mean people." Vera admonished.
"There's a reason why people are called 'human resources', Vera." Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "Anyways, I almost forgot. Before we open the doors, get over here." Harry said, opening his arms.
Vera straddled his lap. "Wanna kiss your sister for a bit, do you?" she asked playfully.
"You say that as if it's a bad thing." Harry said, as he started to kiss her.
"Depends on who you ask, I guess." Vera admitted, kissing her boyfriend-brother back.
They continued to make out for a minute before reluctantly separating and unlocking the door. They removed the Silencing Charm and Obscuring Charm as well. Almost a minute after that, a red-haired boy came rushing into their compartment. Harry used his metamorphmagus abilities to hide the scar on his head, so the boy didn't recognize him.
"Mind if I sit here, everywhere else is full." the boy said. Vera saw a group of people outside – who could only be the boy's parents and little sister – waving at him. 'Looks like they're cutting it pretty close with the time.' Vera thought.
Meanwhile, Harry almost snorted. Hogwarts: A History stated that the train was built to accommodate over five-hundred students – almost double of the students that attended Hogwarts today. Clearly, the boy was too lazy to find somewhere else to sit – and Harry couldn't fault him. In the same position, he too would find the closest compartment to sit in. But the boy didn't need to lie about it.
"You are Mr.…" Harry prompted.
"Weasley – Ronald Weasley." the boy said.
"Right, Mr. Weasley, we have no problem letting you sit here, but you don't need to lie about the other compartments being full." Harry said warmly, causing the boy's ears to redden. Harry didn't want to be unnecessarily rude to anyone. Despite this boy's obvious poverty, he did have quite a large family, which meant that if he could at least be cordial with this boy, he would have access to a lot of possibly interesting and important information.
"Sorry…I just got here pretty late, and y'know, some of the other compartments already have their own groups and stuff…" Weasley trailed off.
"It's quite alright. We would have done the same in your place. Go ahead, take a seat." Vera gestured.
"By the way, sorry for forgetting to introducing ourselves. I'm Harry Potter." Harry said, sticking out a hand for Weasley to shake. If he was popular in this world, it was better to milk it for what it was worth. He only hid the scar as it would be quite uncomfortable to be flocked with admirers and fans. It would be better to slowly ease himself into this world and introduce himself to a few people at a time.
"Vera Black." Vera said simply, offering Weasley a hand to shake as well. Weasley shook both their hands, before his eyes widened.
"Wait…Harry Potter?" Weasley asked incredulously.
"Yes, that's me." Harry shrugged. 'This one's a bit slow, isn't he?' Harry thought.
"D'you have the y'know…scar?" Weasley asked, gesturing to his own forehead.
"I do, but it does attract too much attention, so I hide it." Harry said.
"Oh, ok. I guess that makes sense." Weasley nodded. "Wait, Vera Black? I thought you were twins." Weasley said with a frown.
"You don't like my name, Mr. Weasley?" Vera asked.
"It was apparently a very dark House. There was a Death Eater – Sirius Black – who was arrested for killing a wizard and thirteen muggles with a single curse. They are pretty bad news." Weasley said darkly.
"We did not know this, Mr. Weasley. Thank you for telling us. Rest assured; we are nothing like this 'Sirius Black'." Vera said. The twins decided to look up this Sirius Black later. He was their godfather – even going so far as to name the twins as his successors – but he was incarcerated due to being a Death Eater. His story didn't add up
"We are, but some circumstances occurred, causing me to become a Black" Vera said.
Weasley nodded. He didn't question them further on this – his parents drilled it into him to not be nosy when people were clearly trying to keep something a secret. "Do you remember anything? Anything that happened that night?" he asked them
"That's not a very tactful question to ask, Mr. Weasley. You are asking me if I remember the night our parents were murdered." Vera admonished.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Ms. Black, Mr. Potter. It's just that my parents – they told me about all these awful things that You-Know-Who did, and I thought if I could tell them how you killed him, it would make them happy." Weasley said, looking down.
"It's quite alright. You didn't mean anything by it. But it's always good to watch what you say. And please, call me Harry." Harry said.
"You can call me by my first name as well." Vera nodded.
"Only if you both call me Ron." Ron said with a smile. He was quite a good-natured boy – quite gullible and easy to manipulate. He would certainly be a useful resource.
"Alright, then, Ron. Now, why don't you tell us which House you think you would be sorted into?" Harry prompted.
"Gryffindor, mostly. Entire family's been sorted there, though mum says my brothers Fred and George narrowly missed out on being sorted into Slytherin. Although I suppose Ravenclaw would be alright. Slytherin is a definite no-go, and Hufflepuff, well, it's too plain and people say only the dumb people go there. Well, better Hufflepuff than Slytherin, I'll say." Ron said, sneering a bit whenever he said Slytherin.
"Gryffindor…I see. But what exactly do you have against Slytherin? The qualities it looks for make it quite a wonderful House." Vera asked.
"Well, I guess it is a good House in theory, but these days most of the Death Eater kids get sorted there. I do feel bad for the people who get there by actual merit and suffer with the bullies, though." Ron said, adding the afterthought at the end.
'Hmm…Slytherin sounds like a bit of a suspicious House to be in. Professor Snape was one and he seemed to despise Gryffindors, and Ron here has a strong dislike for the Slytherin House – and he would most probably be in Gryffindor. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are certainly not for us, but Ravenclaw does seem like a bit of a neutral ground between Gryffindors and Slytherins – neither Professor Snape nor Ron seem to mind it much. Perhaps Vera and I should reevaluate our decision on which House we should try to join.' Harry thought.
"I see…so, Ron, why don't you tell us about your family." Harry said.
"Yeah, well, we are all pretty close, but my family is pretty large." Ron said. "I got five elder brothers and a little sister." Ron added, a little wearily.
"I see…you don't like having to live up to their achievements, do you?" Vera asked.
"How do you –" Ron started to ask, as Harry interrupted him.
"We are very good at reading people." he said.
"Oh…well, you're right. My eldest brother – Bill – he left Hogwarts with twelve OWLs – all 'O's – and eight NEWTs. He was a prefect during his fifth and sixth years, and he became Head Boy in his seventh. He is a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts and works in Egypt now. The second eldest – Charlie – he got a more achievable nine OWLs and five NEWTs, but he was Gryffindor's best Seeker in the entire century and works as a Dragon Handler in a reserve in Romania.
Percy, the third brother – he is working towards a stable career in the Ministry of Magic, and he has already become a prefect this year. He is also on his way to completing a twelve-OWL syllabus and has top grades in everything. The twins – Fred and George – their grades aren't great, but they are geniuses when it comes to their knowledge of magic. They are capable of performing even seventh-year spells for their pranks and enchantments, and they are probably the most popular students at Hogwarts as well." Ron said.
"That certainly would put a lot of pressure on you, but don't you think several students are like that too?" Vera asked.
"All the heirs of the Noble Houses would have to fit their titles, people like Vera and I would constantly be compared to our parents – our accomplishments credited to theirs." Harry said.
"Muggle-borns would have to become accomplished to prove to their possibly distrustful parents that magic is worth studying and exploring." Vera added.
"Wow…I guess I never thought about it like that. You both are pretty wise, you know?" Ron said.
"Nice of you to say, Ron. Also, you have another advantage – apart from your parents, you have five additional trusted sources who you can learn magic from. You do want to become a powerful wizard, right?" Harry asked.
"You're right! In fact, the twins did teach me a spell! Watch!" Ron said excitedly, taking out his rat.
"This is my pet rat, Scabbers." Ron explained. "This spell is supposed to turn him yellow."
Ron started waving his wand. "Sunshine daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid fat rat yellow!" Ron said loudly. But, surprise, surprise, nothing happened.
"I'm pretty sure that's not a real spell, Ron. Your brothers must have told you that as a joke." Vera said.
"While there are incantations like 'Stupefy', 'Obliviate', and 'Erecto' are derived from English, English is not yet a powerful enough magical language for complex incantations." Harry explained.
"Really? How do you both know so much already?" Ron asked excitedly.
"Trade secret." Vera said, with a finger to her lips. Ron laughed.
"Fine, keep your secrets. Why don't you do magic if you're that good?" he dared.
Vera snapped her fingers, and a bright blue flame appeared on her palm.
"Without a wand?" Ron asked incredulously, almost mimicking Draco's expression when they showed him.
"Yep." she said smugly.
"Amazing! But why the snap though?" Ron asked.
"Theatrics." Vera shrugged.
"What about you? Can you do wandless magic?" Ron asked excitedly.
"I already am." Harry said lazily, pointing to Ron.
"What? But…" Ron started to say, before looking down to see that he was levitating off his seat. "Bloody hell! How'd'you do that?" Ron asked.
"Practice. We can only do a few spells without a wand, though." Harry lied.
"That's incredible! I wish I could do that!" Ron said.
"Perhaps you can if you practice very hard. We learned that very few people have this ability, and we don't want to draw too much attention, so we would appreciate it if you can keep this between us." Vera said, causing Ron to look very proud of himself for being worthy of the twins' trust.
This was a secret the twins were fine with getting out. A small Fire Charm done wandlessly wouldn't cause much worry. Even if someone read Ron's undefended mind, the secret they would find wouldn't cause too much trouble for the twins.
'He wears his emotions on a sleeve. Clearly, he has no experience with occlumency. Let's see what we can learn.' Harry thought, as he used legilimency to flick through Ron's memories.
He found that Ron's family was incredibly poor, and Ron desperately wanted to become wealthier. This greed would be quite easy to utilize, as the twins were very wealthy. Harry wondered why the two sons who were out of Hogwarts did not financially support their family. It was indeed quite sad to see that all of Ron's possessions were either hand-me-downs or second-hand items. However, his family did love him very much and they were very close-knit.
The sister, Ginny, seemed to be enamored by the Boy-Who-Lived, and even hoped to marry him in the future – which, unfortunately for her, was no longer possible. The mother, Molly, seemed to perfectly fit the 'Mother Hen' character archetype – very overbearing, but well-meaning. The father, Arthur, was a humble Ministry worker – although he was quite quirky and had an inexplicable, perhaps even unhealthy, fascination for muggles and their inventions. However, he was a tinkerer – a very smart, but underrated man. Harry supposed he could learn quite a bit from him.
Harry also found something that had to be investigated. Ron's rat, Scabbers, was Percy's before. Percy found it before his first year, and it was the exact same size that it was now. Rats didn't usually live longer than four years – even magical ones. The rat was already four years old. Plus, it was the same size as when Percy found it, meaning Percy had found it when it was an adult. That meant that this rat was well over four years old. That rat would have to be on the brink of death, but it seemed perfectly healthy. Suspicious.
"Ron, by the way, the wand you used to do magic. It seemed quite old. I wasn't aware you could own wands before the age of eleven." Harry commented, wanting to direct the conversation to Ron's poverty. This was something exploitable.
"Oh…actually, you see, my family is quite, um…" Ron started to say.
"Poor?" Vera prompted gently.
"Y-Yes, that. All my stuff – they used to be owned by my older brothers. I got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." Ron said disdainfully.
"That is unfortunate. Apparently, the wand is supposed to choose the wizard or witch – otherwise they cannot perform magic properly." Harry said.
"But how am I supposed to do magic then?" Ron asked.
Could you tell us the composition of this wand?" Vera asked.
"Ash and Unicorn hair. Twelve inches. Why?" Ron asked.
"We will see if we can work something out with your current wand. Otherwise, we will buy you a new one." Harry said.
Ron got angry. "I'm not a charity case!" he yelled.
"Oh, heavens, no. We wouldn't do that for free." Vera said.
We would if you can stay in touch with your two eldest brothers and ask them for details about their work – such as the projects they are doing and the spells they are learning." Harry added.
"You then have to share this information with us. Of course, you get the additional benefit of learning from them as well." Vera said.
"The offer is tempting, but –" Ron started to say, shifting uncomfortably.
"Let's sweeten the deal. Since you clearly have no owl, we shall buy you one from Diagon Alley – any one you choose. However, if you want that, you must throw in Scabbers as part of the deal." Harry said shrewdly.
"I'll do it!" Ron said. "But how will you get me the new stuff?" Ron asked.
"Let's see…today is a Sunday. We will contact you about the plans by owl this week, and on the weekend, we will take you to the Alley." Vera said.
"Sounds awesome! You guys aren't shitting me, right?" Ron asked.
"No, we are not. In fact, we will even give you some collateral. Give us Scabbers now and write a letter to Bill Weasley asking him about his current projects at Gringotts, and we will give you ten Galleons in exchange. This way, we can't back out of the deal.", Harry said.
"Awesome!" Ron said, as he gave the twins a squealing Scabbers and greedily held out his hands for the gold.
Harry silently stunned the rat and put him in his pocket.
He then, on Harry's and Vera's instruction, wrote a letter to Bill.
Dear Bill,
Before you ask, I'm borrowing my friend's owl to send this letter to you. Anyways, what's up with your work at Gringotts and stuff? I decided that I want to learn as much as possible about magic and the careers out there after talking to some of my classmates. They are really smart and can already do some magic. I don't want to fall behind.
With that said, could you explain some of your recent projects to me? Like what you were doing to work on them and some magic you learned as part of the job? I know there is a lot of secrecy and all, but I'm not asking for any names or anything. Just tell me what you can. And don't worry about any squeamish stuff – I can handle it.
Your brother,
Ron
"Wonderful. Now let's send it via Hedwig." Vera said, attaching the envelope to the owl and sending her off.
"Alright then, Ron, we got a deal. Just keep this up, and we will keep paying you. But don't mention this to anyone, got it?" Harry said seriously.
"Are you mental? No way I'm telling anyone. They will tell me that I should stop or something." Ron said.
"Good…now, what will you tell your family when they ask about your new stuff?" Vera asked.
"I…didn't think about that." Ron admitted sheepishly.
"How about you tell them that we bought them for you as an early Christmas present, wanting for you to do better in school?" Harry asked.
"Good idea!" Ron exclaimed.
At this moment, a brunette girl with bushy hair and a pompous expression on her face abruptly entered the compartment.
"Hello, you three, my name is Hermione Granger. Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one." The girl asked.
"Well, Ms. Granger, it would have been more polite of you to knock, but it seems we are past that now." Vera said, causing the girl to flush with embarrassment.
"Lay off, Vera. Anyway, Ms. Granger, is this boy with you right now?" Harry asked, as a pudgy blond boy stepped up from behind the girl.
"You are Neville?" Vera asked.
"Yes. My name is Neville Longbottom." The boy said shyly.
"The heir of House Longbottom?" Harry asked in surprise, causing the boy to shrink away slightly.
"Y-Yes." he responded.
"Well, Mr. Longbottom, have you tried summoning it?" Vera asked.
"No, I haven't learned that spell yet." Longbottom said.
"Well, what's the toad's name?" Harry asked.
"Trevor." Longbottom said.
"Accio Trevor." Harry said, pointing his wand – the holly one – to the compartment door.
The Granger girl let out an appalled squawk as she felt something slam against her butt.
"Neville, I will hex you so bad that no one will be able to tell you were once a human!" Granger yelled, whipping out her wand, causing Longbottom to whimper in fear.
"Ms. Granger, it wasn't him. Turn around and you will see for yourself." Vera said through chuckles.
The girl did indeed find that it was, in fact, a warty lime green toad that was the culprit of her assault. "I'm sorry, Neville, I didn't check properly." Granger apologized.
"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed blissfully, as he took the toad in his hands. "No worries, Hermione." he said.
"Well, now that we all have been well-acquainted, why don't the two of you sit with us?" Harry asked pleasantly. The two accepted and entered the compartment.
"Now, introductions. "I'm Harry Potter." Harry said
"You're Harry Potter?" Longbottom asked.
"I just said that." Harry grumbled.
"I read about you! You're in several books – Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts!" Granger said excitedly.
"That's nice, Ms. Granger, now, let us move on." Harry suggested, causing Hermione to look down sheepishly.
"Anyways, I'm Vera Black. Don't mind my brother – he is still struggling to get used to his fame." Vera said.
On Longbottom's questioning, Harry and Vera repeated the story that they told Ron about Vera being a Black.
"I'm Ronald Weasley. You can call me Ron." Ron said.
"You may call me and Vera by our first names as well." Harry said.
"Only if you do the same for us." Hermione said with a grin, as Neville nodded.
As the three chatted for some time, a woman came by their compartment, offering snacks from a trolley.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked with a kind smile.
"What is available?" Vera asked.
"Many things. Sweets include Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Chocolate Cauldrons, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Chocoballs, Jelly Slugs, Pepper Imps, Pink Coconut Ice, Saltwater Taffy, Toffee, and Treacle Fudge. For beverages, we have only Butterbeer, Cream Soda, and water. Our savory snacks include beef jerky, a selection of black puddings, fish and chips, and a variety of savory pies." the lady said.
"In that case, one of everything for each of us," Harry said, gesturing to himself and Vera. "And whatever they want."
Harry considered offering to pay for everyone, but Ron already had his money and whatever he wanted wouldn't cost more than one or two Galleons – even if he ordered the same as Harry and Vera. Neville was from a Noble House, and Hermione did seem quite affluent.
After everyone finished ordering, they had quite a lot of fun exploring the selection of sweets. The twins' savory dishes were able to fill everyone's stomachs as their lunch. It seemed only Ron had remembered to pack some from home – but they were unappetizing, dry corned beef sandwiches – certainly not the best food. They simply kept those aside and enjoyed everything else. While the savory foods were as expected, it was the sweets that blew everyone away.
Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans were more of an intriguing game than a snack. The twins quickly learnt what Ron meant when he told them to be careful. They started off strong, with flavors like strawberry, coconut, marshmallow, and fudge, with a few questionable flavors, like pork skin, mushroom, mashed potatoes, and chicken soup here and there, However, Harry was the first to experience a horrible flavor – rat poison. Vera followed soon after when she ate a cockroach-flavored bean. The twins both left their Every Flavor Beans aside, and drank plenty of water to wash off the taste.
The Chocolate Frogs, while being the best quality chocolate the twins had ever eaten, were quite interesting and gimmicky – especially because of the cards they came with. Anticipating the cards, Ron and Neville bought several of the Chocolate Frogs, but noticing that they got cards they already had in their collection, they gave their cards to the twins and Hermione, who loved the cards as they were wonderful – albeit brief – sources of information on interesting wizards and witches throughout history.
Harry, Vera, and Hermione decided to pool their chocolate frog collection for now and note down all the information on something that was not easy to misplace once they reached Hogwarts.
They got Morgana, Merlin, Hengist of Woodcroft, Albus Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, Lord Voldemort, Gellert Grindelwald, Gilderoy Lockhart, Armando Dippet, and Bertie Bott (They would have gotten more, but Ron silently swiped away Agrippa and Ptolemy from Neville. It was of no consequence – the twins would get the information on the cards from Ron later anyway).
"It's so unfair that you guys got the best cards on your first time. D'you know how many years we've been collecting to get those?" Ron asked sourly.
"It's the information that we want anyway. It doesn't matter whoever keeps the cards themselves." Vera said.
"So, I can keep them after you both copy the information down?" Hermione asked.
"Not all of them. We would like to keep one to analyze the magical portrait. We didn't get a chance to see what exactly makes them move." Harry said.
"That is a pretty advanced thing to do. Say, didn't you do the Summoning Charm already? Exactly how far ahead are you both?" Hermione asked.
"We just know a few useful spells – nothing too special, like the Levitation Charm, Summoning Charm, Fire Charm, and the Banishing Charm." Vera said dismissively.
Ron looked like he was about to say something, but he remembered it was supposed to be a secret. Harry shot him a grateful nod, causing Ron to look very pleased with himself.
The twins did not want to end up sharing secrets with Hermione, as she seemed to have an overinflated sense of respect for authority figures. Subtle peeks into her mind told the twins that Hermione was of the classic "Teacher's Pet" archetype. Perhaps she could be made to see that authority figures were not always right, but until that happened, the twins would not reveal much to her. Even Ron would be privy to only a few secrets that the twins were okay with being made public.
However, Hermione was a complete bookworm who had a prodigious ability to memorize information. She would be an excellent assistant researcher for the twins if they could manage to tempt her enough.
Neville, on the other hand, seemed very shy. His mental defenses were rudimentary at best – as if they had been hastily constructed over a very small period of time. Harry had no trouble navigating Neville's mind. While Hermione's life, until she learned of magic, was quite uneventful, Neville's was rather horrible. Until Neville finally demonstrated accidental magic, his family was downright abusive. Neville was the butt of several squib jokes, taunts, and even corporal punishments in order to provoke his magic.
He had only demonstrated magic when his great uncle dropped him out of a window when he was distracted. It was quite humorous to see the boy bounce all the way to the pier, but Harry was saddened to see that their classmate had endured so much abuse. Prior to Neville's display, he was beaten, drowned, and verbally berated – all in an attempt to stimulate his magic. His grandmother was even stupid enough to force him to go to Hogwarts with his father's wand – clearly she had no knowledge of how a wand worked.
Speaking of Neville's parents, Harry was incredibly sad to see that their fates were worse than death – driven to insanity due to Cruciatus Curse exposure. Harry couldn't imagine how Neville would have felt interacting with them. However, the less compassionate, more calculative side of him found something exploitable – if Harry and Vera helped him build some confidence, they would earn Neville's trust. However, if they healed his parents as well, they would have his undying loyalty. And the loyalty of an heir to a Noble House would be incredible to have.
Moving back to the sweets, the Chocolate Cauldrons were extremely decadent – a dark chocolate exterior that was filled with melted milk chocolate and topped with marshmallows (which represented the bubbling of a cauldron). However, they were also rather messy. After Ron tried to eat one by biting into it, the group decided to start from the top and slowly work their way to the bottom, drinking the melted chocolate as they went.
The Cauldron Cakes were quite similar to the Chocolate Cauldrons. They were more brownie than cake, and they were topped with vanilla buttercream frosting. The insides were filled with warm toffee. Everyone had a difficult time choosing between the chocolate and cake versions of the cauldrons.
Pumpkin Pasties – while admittedly delicious – were essentially miniature pumpkin pies that came in packages of four. They were dough pockets filled with a sweet and spicy pumpkin filling.
Chocoballs were also not as exciting as the twins hoped. Of course, the dark chocolate balls with sweet strawberry cream filling were very rich and delicious, but they didn't have the same magic as the cauldron sweets.
Similarly, Jelly Slugs were simply jelly sweets that were charmed to move like slugs, Pink Coconut Ice was a coconut-based sweet that had the temperature and texture of shaved ice, and Saltwater Taffy, Toffee, and Treacle Fudge were about as expected.
The only remaining magical sweet that actually had some interesting effects was the Pepper Imp. It was a strong, peppermint flavored candy that made steam come out of the consumer's ears. As they came in a back, the group had some fun sneaking the candies into each other's meals as a prank. However, they stopped, as no one was able to prank Harry or Vera this way.
The Butterbeer was another star of the show – the twins couldn't quite describe it. It had faint hints of eggnog – the naughty kind. Besides that, it had hints of butter (obviously), rum, cocoa, vanilla, and mint. The flavors balanced extremely well together – creating a drink that was just the right balance between refreshing, relaxing, and rich. The trolley lady said it was non-alcoholic, but the twins were not so sure. The twins had used their disguise in the past to taste alcoholic beverages – just for research purposes, of course – and Butterbeer had very similar nuances. Magic was a truly wonderful thing, it seemed.
The time was now 2:30 in the afternoon, and everyone in the twins' compartment had fallen asleep due to the sugar crash. Harry was the first to stir. "Argh…I'm never eating that much candy again…" he slurred groggily, feeling a little nauseated.
"I agree…I don't think I can get up." Vera slurred back, holding her stomach. It seemed she had woken up as well.
"Water." Harry said, reaching to his bottle. Luckily, it was two liters. His mouth and throat were parched. After using magic to cool the water, Harry brought it to his lips and chugged half of it.
"Ahh…so much better…" he said, leaning back relaxedly. Vera did the same.
"We really let ourselves go today, didn't we bro?" Vera asked.
"Too true." Harry agreed, slinging an arm around his sister. The twins stood up and smoothed out their robes – it wouldn't do to appear disheveled once they reached Hogwarts. A few minutes passed and the rest of the party woke up.
The compartment door opened wide and Draco Malfoy stepped in, followed by two thuggish looking boys Harry didn't know.
"Hey Harry, Vera, looks like I finally found you're compartment." Draco said.
"Oh, hello, Draco. You've been looking for us since boarding?" Vera asked teasingly.
Draco snorted. "Pfft. Of course not. It's insulting that you would think so little of me. I only started looking a few minutes ago. I got bored talking to these buffoons." Draco said, gesturing behind him.
"You do know that they are right behind you, right?", Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Please. They are slower than trolls. They wouldn't get the insult if I wrote it out on parchment and handed it to them." Draco said.
"Heh, heh, parchment." the shorter boy chuckled stupidly.
"Yes, parchment taste good." the taller one agreed.
"I…see…perhaps you can leave them in their kennels and join us, then?" Vera asked.
"As much as I would love to, I have to lug these two around with me everywhere I go – some bodyguard nonsense. Father ordered them to." Draco said, scrunching his nose.
Ron finally got over his shock that Harry and Vera were friends with a Malfoy of all people. "What are you doing here?" Ron asked with a sneer.
Draco was about to be rude, but he remembered what Harry said about diplomacy. "Apologies for interrupting your…whatever it is you were doing." Draco said, looking at the mess on the table. "Yes, well, anyway, my name is Malfoy – Draco Malfoy. Pleasure to meet you." Draco said, sticking a hand out for Ron to shake. Ron snorted.
Now Draco was angry. "Think my name's funny, do you? Well, father told me all about you – red hair, second-hand possessions, and a family with more children than they can afford. You must be a Weasley." Draco said.
"Now, now, both of you. Play nice." Harry warned.
"Weasley started it." Draco said petulantly.
"I agree. Ron, why did you feel the need to snort when Draco offered you an olive branch?" Vera asked.
"His family is dark – right in You-Know-Who's Inner Circle." Ron said.
Draco looked like he was about to retort, but Harry cut him off. "Ron, why do you insist on alienating people because of that? For all you know, the reasons behind people joining the Dark Lord may be more complex than you assume. And do you really think you should judge an innocent person based on what their parents did?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I can be civil with Malfoy, but I won't become friends with him." Ron said.
"That's more than enough for now. We don't need all our friends to be friends with each other as well, but at least respect the friendships." Vera said, more to everyone than just to Ron. Draco and Ron nodded.
"And Draco, you were still out of line there. Remember our conversation at Madam Malkin's?" Harry asked.
"Right." Draco said without elaborating.
"Very well then, I guess we have a bit of a party now. Care to join us, Draco, and you two…troll…boys…whatever you are?" Vera asked.
"Sure. Crabbe, Goyle, stand in those two corners." Draco said, pointing to the corners adjacent to the compartment door.
"Yes. Draco go brrrr…" Crabbe said stupidly, lumbering over to his corner.
"Yes, Draco taste good." Goyle agreed, clumsily stalking over to his own corner.
"Did I hear that right? I'm not the only one who heard that, right?" Hermione asked.
"Something you'd like to share with us, Draco?" Harry teased, raising an eyerbrow.
"Crabbe, Goyle, shut up!" Draco yelled; his face flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry, guys, they say weird things sometimes – well, weirder than usual." Draco said.
"It was pretty funny." Ron said, not bothering to hide his chuckles.
"I concur." Vera said, struggling to hide her laughs.
As a red-faced Draco took a seat after Hermione and Neville introduced themselves to him – as far away from Ron and Hermione as possible (he might act civil with mudbloods, but he was far from liking them) – the compartment door opened again.
"Room for more, guys?" Aaron asked, walking in with five companions.
"It would be a bit of a squeeze, but I think we can manage." Harry said.
"Who are your friends, Aaron?" Vera asked.
"Oh, right. Would you all mind introducing yourselves?" Aaron asked his companions.
"My name is Ernest MacMillan." a pompous-looking boy next to Aaron said, giving a small, but polite, nod.
"Daphne Greengrass." a pretty raven-haired girl said icily from behind them. Everything about her demeanor screamed "ice-cold". She seemed to be quite unapproachable.
"Hi! My name is Tracy Davis! Don't mind Daphne – she'll warm right up once you all get to know her – you'll see!" a bubbly dark-skinned girl said, apologizing for her friend, who glared at her.
"Hello, I am Susan Bones. A little birdie told me a bunch of other first years were cooped up in here, so here we are." a slightly chubby redhead girl said playfully. She wasn't exactly fat or overweight – just chubby.
"I'm the little birdie. The name's Hannah – Hannah Abbott." a blonde girl with her hair tied in pigtails said with a wink. She seemed to be a bit of an airhead.
Everyone who was already seated introduced themselves as well. The new group then looked at Crabbe, who was body-slamming against the floor, and Goyle, who was picking on the wall and eating the pieces of wall paint that were chipped off. Hannah asked the question everyone was thinking. "What are we supposed to be looking at?"
"This, everyone, is what happens when Hogwarts accepts trolls as exchange students." Vera said.
"It's what happens when babies are abandoned in a giant colony." Harry added.
"It's what happens when Death Eaters have a 'bring your child to work day'." Ron added.
"It's what happens when trolls' brains are overloaded after getting their asses beat by people who know how to read." Hermione added, immediately covering her mouth, ashamed of using inappropriate language.
"It's what happens when purebloods take inbreeding to the next level." Neville added, causing Harry and Vera to frown a bit, as they remembered that it would be a long time before they could reveal the nature of their relationship.
Finally, Draco got excited enough to join in. "It's what happens when parents use one too many a Crucio on their children." he said, causing everyone to look at him weirdly.
"What? Too far?" he asked, causing everyone to nod a bit – except Aaron and Hermione, who didn't know what a Crucio was. "Sorry." Draco said.
"It's fine, I give you an 'O' for effort." Vera said, as everyone laughed. Once they were all settled, Hermione spoke up.
"What exactly is a Crucio?" she asked.
"Nothing pleasant – the worst torture spell out there. The Ministry will give its perpetrator a life-sentence in Azkaban if they catch them using it." Harry said.
"Azkaban?" Aaron asked.
"A horrible place. It doesn't have walls – except in the high-security cells – as the Dementors there drive you crazy. They are soul-sucking fiends that extract every last happy thought from you and trap you within your own mind." Draco said with a shudder.
"That's barbaric! It's totally inhumane! Is it the only prison in magical Britain?" Hermione asked.
"Fortunately, it's not. The Ministry contains prison cells for common thieves and scammers. Azkaban is for the worst of the worst – the murderers, rapists, torturers, and convicted followers of You-Know-Who." Neville said.
"But sending criminals to Azkaban is as good as killing them, if it is as bad as you say!" Hermione insisted.
"Well, Ms. Granger, would you suggest they run around in the open, then?" Draco asked.
"N-No, but they cannot be rehabilitated if they go to a place like Azkaban!" Hermione argued.
"The people who end up in Azkaban totally deserve their punishment, Hermione, trust me." Neville said seriously, thinking of the Lestranges, who tortured his parents.
Hermione slowly nodded, deciding to look up Azkaban and read about it in more detail later.
The group continued to interact with each other – and the twins were able to become well acquainted with all of the members. As the others interacted, the twins reviewed the list of things they needed to work on (other than the usual stuff) in order of priority:
1. Look up Harry's contamination
2. Find out Hogwarts' secrets and map out all areas worth exploring
3. Look up Sirius Black
4. Experiment on Scabbers – what made him tick?
5. Find out about the prophecy mentioned by the Dark Lord
6. Figure out ways to contact others without owls – communication needed to become faster, more efficient, and less traceable
7. Build good relations with peers, upperclassmen, and professors. Prioritize Noble House members to have easier access to their knowledge and resources
8. Get in contact with Hogwarts alumni and Ministry workers to have an easier time navigating the magical world
9. Visit Potter and Black properties – there could possibly be important resources and tomes that they could learn from
10. Give interviews for the Daily Prophet to increase popularity and credibility
The twins decided to focus on those ten for now (ten was a nice, round number). They noted these down on a notebook with a pen – quills were too inconvenient. They could write with a quill, but pens were so much easier. Paper was also much smoother to write on than parchment. Using parchment made sense if the writer used a quill, as it was thicker and better at absorbing ink, but the twins were still more comfortable with paper.
"What's that you're writing?" Ron asked.
"Just a diary. It's pretty private, so if you don't mind…" Vera trailed off.
"Sure, sure, got it. I'll let you be." Ron said.
After the group climbed out of the train when it stopped, they found themselves on a gravel path, with carriages pulled by large, bat-winged, skeletal horses - Thestrals. Of course, these were only seen by Harry, Vera, and Aaron – who had all witnessed the death of Vernon.
Before Aaron could ask about them, the Hogwarts students all heard a booming voice. "Firs' years! C'me 'ere! Firs' years! Righ' this way!" the familiar voice said.
The twins turned to see Hagrid waving a hand in the air, signaling them.
"Look at that stupid oaf. Father said he got drunk and set his hut on fire once." Draco sneered.
"Hush, Draco. Vera and I found out that he is one of Dumbledore's right-hand men. We can learn a lot of important stuff from him if we play our cards right." Harry muttered.
"I would call the sorting ceremony rigged if you and your sister are not sorted into Slytherin." Draco said. Harry and Vera just smiled.
The first years followed Hagrid through a few thickets of trees. Draco bitched and moaned a bit, but Vera discreetly cast a silencing charm on him – just to last for a minute or two – and everyone continued to walk.
Hagrid led them out towards a lake. After he performed a headcount and found that one person was missing. A minute later, a disgruntled Draco came out, looking like he fell out of a tree.
"You look like crap." Vera smirked.
"You silenced me! I got trampled by Crabbe and Goyle!" Draco hissed.
"I was tired from the train ride. I didn't want to listen to you moaning about getting your panties in a twist." Vera retorted.
"Hmph!" Draco pouted, pointedly looking away.
"Oh, grow up, Draco." Harry said, discreetly siphoning away the dirt on Draco's robes and mending the small cuts and scratches on his skin. He also used a bit of magic to arrange the boy's robes properly and re-style his hair. It was not a good idea to have a potential ally embarrass themselves. No one noticed, as they were too busy following Hagrid as he led them to a boat. Draco thanked Harry, before the three followed Hagrid.
"Righ' now listen up! No more 'n four ter a boa'! Got tha'? Step in – carefully – don' need yeh ter fall in ter the lake." Hagrid instructed. Harry, Aaron, Vera, and Draco sat in one boat. Ron, Neville, Hermione, and Ernest (Ernie) sat in another. Daphne, Tracy, Susan, and Hannah sat in one more. Crabbe and Goyle had to get in separate boats with rather small and thin first years, in order to fit everyone.
Aaron was still very chubby – more so than Neville – but it was quite amazing what five weeks of good training and cardio could do for someone. He used to be over sixty kilograms in weight, but after strict meal planning and plenty of exercise, he was able to lose over ten kilograms so far, while putting on more muscle. It was quite the journey he made, and Petunia was very proud of his commitment.
The view of the castle from the Black Lake was magnificent – the students were just starting to understand the charm of this old castle. The twins could just feel the raw magic emanating from the structure – primordial, powerful, and potent. They took a deep breath, feeling this magic energize them and purify them.
Draco looked at them oddly. "What are you two doing?" he asked. Aaron also turned around and listened curiously
"Letting this castle's magic course through our bodies." Vera said dreamily.
"What the hell? You can do that? How?" Draco asked.
"Tell me too!" Aaron said.
"How about we show you?" Harry asked, putting a thumb on Draco's forehead. Vera did the same with Aaron.
"On three, I want you both to inhale with us." Vera said. "One. Two. THREE!"
They all inhaled, Harry and Vera helping Draco and Aaron out. Once they stopped, they all opened their eyes.
"This – this feels amazing – like I can to anything!" Aaron said.
"He's right! How did you know that the castle can do this?" Draco asked.
"Instinct." Harry replied.
"Did it really increase my power to such an extent?" Draco asked skeptically.
"No, not really. It just made the power you already have more easily accessible." Vera said, after studying him for a moment.
"An interesting observation. One worth investing." Harry said, noting something down in a notebook. Suddenly, Tracy's voice called out to them.
"Hey guys! If you're done snorting the castle's magic, we've almost reached the shore!" she said, drawing laughs from a bunch of surrounding first years.
"That girl really needs to learn to shut up." Harry muttered, causing Draco and Aaron to chuckle.
Once everyone reached the shore of the lake that faced the castle, Hagrid led them all to a gate. On the way, an arrogant-looking dirty blond boy with an upturned nose purposefully bumped into Aaron as he walked. "Watch where you're going, fat arse!" he yelled, drawing laughs from a few other first years.
Aaron started to become sad, but Harry patted his shoulder. "At least you can change that aspect of yourself, Aaron. That little shit will pay." Harry promised.
"Don't kill him." Aaron said quietly.
"I have some better, less messy ideas." Harry said. Aaron nodded.
The gate opened, and the students walked in. A stern middle-aged woman strode up to the group. "Is this everyone, Hagrid?" she asked.
"Aye, Perfessor, counted 'em meself!" Hagrid said, very pleased with himself.
'That doesn't inspire much confidence, but what can we do?' the woman thought exasperatedly. "Right, thank you, Hagrid. I'll take it from here." she said with a nod.
"I'll go back ter my hut, then, Perfessor." Hagrid nodded, as he took his leave.
"Right, then. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. All of you, follow me." she said.
The students followed her towards a large room with the remaining students seated at each of the four tables – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The ceiling looked like the evening sky outside – of course, the twins knew that it was enchanted to match the sky outside from reading Hogwarts: A History. Thousands of floating candles hovered high above where the students sat, and glittering golden plates and utensils lined the tables – oh, the vanity of this school. On the dais, where the twins and the remaining first years were about to go, there was a long table on which all of the professors were seated, with the headmaster sitting at the center with a higher, throne-like chair.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall said. "The Opening Feast will begin shortly, after you all, this year's batch of first years, get sorted into your respective houses. The House that you are sorted in determines your family at Hogwarts. You and your Housemates will eat together, sleep together, attend classes together, represent your House during quidditch matches together, and essentially help each other out throughout your seven years of education at Hogwarts. Of course, this doesn't mean you can't interact with other House students as well.
As many of you are aware, there are four Houses at Hogwarts – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each possesses its own defining traits and noble history. All these Houses have produced their own shares of great and powerful wizards and witches. While you are at Hogwarts, you earn points for your House by following and upholding rules, actively participating in class, going above and beyond what you are required to learn, and your general triumphs. You will lose your House points if you break rules, demonstrate a bad example for your schoolmates, or carry yourselves in a disrespectful or indecent manner.
The Sorting Ceremony takes place in front of the whole school, as you can see. This will be the first impression you make on your upperclassmen and professors. Hence, I suggest you all take a moment to smarten yourselves up." Professor McGonagall said her eyes lingering on a few students. "I will return to fetch you all once everything is prepared. It will only take a few minutes, so wait patiently."
Harry and Vera made sure their robes were immaculate and arranged properly. Vera had a few stray strands of hair, which she promptly combed using magic. Harry's Nike shoes were untied, and he quickly retied them. Harry tried many times to do something about his hair, but Vera said she liked it more as is, and Harry was never able to set it right anyway, so he let it be.
"Do any of you know how we get sorted?" Vera asked the friend group. After everyone said "No", Harry and Vera were curious. Susan, Hannah, Draco, Ron, Neville, Daphne, Tracy, and Ernie were all raised by wizards and witches. How could they possibly not know?
"Well, Fred and George said it hurts a lot, but I think they were joking." Ron said pensively.
"Father always skirted around the topic when it came up." Draco said. The remaining members of the little group gave similar explanations.
"I never found anything about this ceremony in Hogwarts: A History either." Hermione said in confusion.
"This is strange…why would the Sorting Ceremony be such a huge secret. I would understand a few families keeping it a secret as some sort of surprise, but all of them? Something is amiss." Harry said.
"Well, if anyone can find out what's up with the ceremony, I s'pose it'll be you and your sister." Ron said, patting Harry's back.
Suddenly, as pearlescent, translucent white figures came towards where the students were standing out of a wall, several students – muggle-borns, probably – shrieked and jumped.
About twenty ghosts were deep in a conversation with each other – not even acknowledging the first years. A fat little monk spoke up. "Forgive and forget, I say! We ought to give him a second chance."
What an idiot. Clearly, he was a Hufflepuff – with all his forgive and forget nonsense, the twins mused. Of course, they did have a fight (that was a major understatement), and they did forgive each other, but they were sure that this man – ghost – was used to dispensing unlimited forgiveness. They simply were good at reading people – in this case, ghosts – like that.
"My dear Friar, we have given Peeves more chances than he deserves. He gives us a bad name! He isn't even our kind, you know? I say – wait, what are you all doing here?" a sanctimonious-looking ghost wearing a ruff and tights asked the first years.
"New students!" the monk realized. "I am Friar, but everyone just calls me the Fat Friar. I don't mind if you call me that – it's true after all – hope to see you all in Hufflepuff!" the monk said before flitting away.
'Called it.' the twins thought. What a moron – didn't he know that the Sorting Ceremony was a farce and that students were equally distributed among the four Houses? They turned their attention back onto the other ghost. However, before the ghost could say anything, Professor McGonagall had returned.
"Move along, now." she ordered the ghost sharply, and he zoomed out of the place. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." she said, directing the first years towards the dais.
"Now, arrange yourselves in a line and stand in front of the Head Table, please. Once your name is called, step forward to be sorted." Professor McGonagall said. She left, and a minute later, she returned with a rickety wooden stool with a ragged looking hat on top.
What was the hat for? Were they supposed to do something with it? Perhaps use it for some sort of spell? These questions ran through everyone's minds.
Suddenly, a stitch on the hat ripped open and the hat started to sing.
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry,
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin,
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means,
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
So all that the students had to do was put on the hat? Why hadn't the twins been able to guess? Surely, they knew what to do with a hat, right? Suddenly, it hit them – the information on the hat was protected by the Fidelius Charm. Somehow, the hat itself was the Secret-Keeper. Both the fact that the hat was used to sort the students and how it sorted them were protected by it. In the line "So put me on! Don't be afraid!", the hat revealed how it was used, and in the line "For I'm a Thinking Cap!", it revealed what exactly it was. The twins exchanged knowing glances and nods, as the crowd burst into a smattering applause.
"So we just gotta try on the hat? I'll kill Fred and George! They were going on about wrestling a troll!" Ron said emphatically.
"Don't be silly, Ron. There are only two trolls here…that we know of. It will take forever for everyone to wrestle them." Vera said, looking at Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe was picking his nose, while Goyle was sniffing a tiny earthworm he had collected in the forest.
Ron really tried to hold his laughter. But he couldn't keep a snort from escaping his nose, causing Professor McGonagall to shoot him a glare.
"When I read your names off this sheet, come to the stool and put the hat on your head." Professor McGonagall announced. Many first years nervously shifted in their places.
"Abbott, Hannah." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat yelled, as the girl skipped merrily to her House table.
"Avery, Bacchus." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat yelled.
"Black, Vera." Professor McGonagall called, with a twinge of confusion. Vera confidently stepped forward and put on the hat. Over at the Head Table, Dumbledore was frowning in confusion. He was not aware of this development.
As Vera put on the hat, a voice spoke in her mind. "Ah, I see, Ms. Black, your occlumency is quite developed, but it is still no match for me. Don't worry – I shall not reveal your secrets to anyone. I literally, physically can't." the hat said.
"I'm sorry, I can't remove my defenses, as that would leave me susceptible to legilimency attacks from others." Vera said.
"Fair point, but still, do try to relax a bit. No need to be wary of me – here – I swear on my magic that I will not reveal your secrets." the hat said.
"Alright, then." Vera said, relaxing just enough to not feel stressed when the hat looked into her mind.
"My, my, quite devious, aren't we? Practicing magic in secret – even the darker varieties, oh dear." the Hat said playfully. Vera remained silent.
"Well, you are clearly a Slytherin, but you do have the wisdom and thirst for knowledge that is commonly seen in Ravenclaw." the Hat said absently.
"Not Slytherin. That is too suspicious and not a neutral enough House. Ravenclaw seems to be well-liked by all the other Houses. That is a strategically better choice." Vera said.
"Well, you certainly aren't lacking in the qualities of that House, so I suppose I can't deny such a polite request, eh?" the Hat chuckled. "RAVENCLAW!"
Vera relaxed as she strode briskly to the Ravenclaw table and took her seat. Roger Davies and Penelope Clearwater, the prefects, acknowledged her with a polite nod, which she returned.
"Bones, Susan." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Boot, Terrence." Professor McGonagall called. "RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled.
"Brocklehurst, Amanda." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Brown, Lavender." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"Bulstrode, Millicent." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
"Corner, Michael." Professor McGonagall called. "RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled.
"Crabbe, Vincent." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Hufflepuff?" Draco asked Harry in confusion.
"Oh, come on, don't say you didn't expect it. You see how devoted he is to you – I bet Goyle will be a Hufflepuff too." Harry answered. Draco frowned a bit.
"Davis, Tracy." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
"Dolohov, Konstantin." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
"Dunbar, Faye." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"Evans, Aaron." Professor McGonagall called. As Aaron put the Hat on, he almost jumped as the Hat spoke in his mind.
"Yes…Aaron Evans. Very loyal to your cousins, and a great desire to prove yourself and gain their full trust. Very Hufflepuff qualities. In fact, I hardly feel that you would fit in any other House. You do have some of their qualities, but they are not your defining traits. Any personal choices you would like me to consider?" the Hat asked.
"Could you put me where you think I fit best?" Aaron asked nervously.
"Well, if you request that, who am I to refuse? HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Finnigan, Seamus." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"Goldstein, Anthony." Professor McGonagall called. "RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled.
"Goyle, Gregory." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Granger, Hermione." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"Greengrass, Daphne." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
"Jones, Megan." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Lestrange, Estelle." Professor McGonagall called. "RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled, causing some confusion. A Lestrange not in Slytherin? That was interesting.
"Li, Su." Professor McGonagall called. "RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled.
"Longbottom, Neville." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"MacDougal, Isobel." Professor McGonagall called. "RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled.
"MacMillan, Ernest." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Malfoy, Draco." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
"Moon, Lillian." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
"Nott, Theodore." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
"O'Kealleigh, Leanne." Professor McGonagall called. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat yelled.
"Parkinson, Pansy." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
"Patil, Padma." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"Patil, Parvati." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"Potter, Hadrian." Professor McGonagall called. When Harry put on the Hat, and relaxed his defenses after having the same conversation with the Hat as Vera did, the Hat spoke in surprise.
"Oh my, Mr. Potter, this is one of the clearest Slytherin cases I have ever seen. I suppose there is a bit of Ravenclaw, but it is minute compared to your Slytherin side. I learned some interesting things about you from your twin already, although my vow forbids me from telling you. Your tendency to think of people as resources is extremely Slytherin. However, we currently don't have many Slytherin slots left, so I shall allow you to choose between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. However, I do suspect that I already know your choice." the Hat said.
After Harry used the same reasoning for wanting to be sorted into Ravenclaw as Vera did, The Hat agreed. "Before I sort you, Mr. Potter, I must commend you and your twin for figuring out one of my secrets so early on. Well, with that said, RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled.
"Rookwood, Claudius." Professor McGonagall called. "RAVENCLAW!" the hat yelled. Cheers emerged from the Ravenclaw House – the Ravenclaws were evidently pleased that Harry was sorted there. The Gryffindors were confused. Why was Harry in Ravenclaw? Weren't his parents in Gryffindor?
Harry, in confident strides, made his way to the cheering Ravenclaws. On the way to his seat, the prefect, Roger Davies, aggressively shook his hand, welcoming the boy to their House and promising to help him out whenever necessary. Harry smiled at all of the 'Claws and nodded to them politely as he took his seat beside his twin.
"Smith, Zacharias." Professor McGonagall called. Harry finally found the opportunity to prank the arrogant boy. As he smugly put the Hat on his head, Harry wandlessly focused some magic around the Hat to distort what it said.
"GAY!" the Hat yelled, as the entire hall burst into laughter and the professors struggled to calm them down.
"PISSANT!"
"DICKFACE!"
"WANKER!"
"CUNT!"
"FUCKFACE!"
The Hat continued to spew out insults that got more and more vulgar and the students roared louder and louder in laughter. The professors tried to figure out what was wrong with it, but nothing was wrong with the Hat. Hence, the professors weren't able to figure anything out. As the insults worsened, the Hat started to weep. After it cried out "COCKSUCKER!", Harry felt bad for it and ended the spell. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled out, still embarrassed by what happened. "There, there, Alistair," Dumbledore soothed the Hat, cradling it as an embarrassed Zacharias went to sit with his still laughing Housemates. As the Hat stopped sniffling, Dumbledore gently placed it back on the stool and announced. "If I discover who was responsible for this, it will be fifty points from their House!". Dumbledore then stepped away and nodded to Professor McGonagall.
"Thomas, Dean." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"Turpin, Lisa." Professor McGonagall called. "RAVENCLAW!" the Hat yelled.
"Weasley, Ronald." Professor McGonagall called. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled.
"Zabini, Blaise." Professor McGonagall called. "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat yelled.
After everyone took their places, the twins relaxed and thought about their day. It was quite eventful - they did manage to forge foundations to many potentially important alliances in the future. All was well.
End of Chapter 5
(A/N: Hey readers, this has been a chapter with a bit less action, I know. However, it was a necessary exposition chapter that needed to be written for future events and interactions to make sense. With that said, I did still incorporate a little humor into this chapter, which I hope you will find enjoyable. I will update later with a more action-heavy chapter.)