A/N Long time no see huh? The last year has been crazy busy for me. But now I have time to write again! And thanks to my detailed notes, it was pretty easy for me to pick up writing this again. Enjoy!

Chapter 12- The Children of Hogwarts

"Harry. Neville. Did you just-" Hermione gasped as she heard a voice in her mind. Harry and Neville both nodded, looking wide eyed up at the castle.

"What happened?" Draco asked. He hadn't heard a thing.

"I think Hogwarts just spoke to us," Neville squeaked, in awe of the power he could feel. It was immense, but there seemed to be no human aspect to it.

"The castle is sentient," Harry whispered to them. "I never felt this the first time around, so it must have something to do with the crowns. But we can feel her, like a hum in the back of our minds. Right now she's happy, her children are home. It's odd, I can tell that she knows the Heirs have returned, yet this love we feel from her isn't directed at us in any way; it's shared equally among every student, both current and new. It's limitless, she would die to protect us, but she is bound. Dumbledore."

Hermione understood Harry's rambling. It was such an intense feeling, it was difficult to articulate. The magic she felt was ancient, fuelled by the deep ley lines of the land and the residual magic of generations of spellwork. And the feeling only intensified as they grew nearer and nearer to the castle. Any moment now they would hit the shore…

With a soft thud, their little boat came to a stop at a little rocky pier. The feeling of awe and power had become almost overwhelming. But just when Harry thought he couldn't even stand under the weight of it, there was a good natured chuckle in his mind, and the sensation all but disappeared.

"I am sorry my little ones, it has been a long time since I have had to shield my power from the human mind. Welcome back, my Heirs. We will make things right this time," Hogwarts whispered in their minds. Hermione was telling Draco what was happening softly, as to not attract the attention of Ron, whom had rapidly moved to be as close to Harry in the throng of students as he could be.

"Gabriel?" Draco asked Hermione, assuming the angel had somehow talked to the castle.

Hermione shook her head. "She is in our minds. Through her link with the crowns, she knows everything that we know. And to some extent, we know some things about the castle itself. But so that it doesn't overwhelm our minds, it is being trickled to us as we need it. Which is, ironically, all we really know so far."

Hagrid had lead them up the steps at this point, stopping in front of the large oak front door. Checking that he had all of his charges, he knocked three times. Professor McGonagall opened the door immediately, looking much younger than when Harry last saw her. The threat of war had aged his Head of House drastically in the original timeline, making her look even harsher than she actually was. While he had thought that she had looked rather stern the first time he had seen her, he could now see the small contained smile that she had when she was excited.

"The first years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said, just as he had in the original timeline. If all went well, there shouldn't be too many differences from the original timeline tonight.

Just as before, Professor McGonagall thanked Hagrid, before leading the first years through the entry hall and into the antechamber near the Great Hall, before giving her speech about the Sorting Ceremony. This time, Harry heard Ron give a huff of disgust when Slytherin was mentioned.

Professor McGonagall left for a few moments to announce that the first years had arrived. While they were waiting, Harry heard Ron regaling Seamus with tales of how the sorting ceremony went, according to Fred. This simply caused the rest of the students to become even more nervous. Harry nearly laughed, remembering the shock that they would be in for when the ghosts would come floating through. And right on schedule, they did just so. Harry smiled as he heard them arguing amongst themselves before noticing the students.

After a few more moments, Professor McGonagall returned, hurrying the ghosts along. Once the first years had formed a line, she lead them through the double doors into the Great Hall. He heard the gasps of the other first years, and feigned surprise as best as he could. Hermione, Neville, and Draco were doing the same. Once they were lined up in front of the rest of the school, Harry stood proudly and looked out at the students, rather than staring at the ceiling like he had last time.

The Sorting Hat was placed on his stool in front of them, and began his yearly song, exactly the same one as the original timeline. One by one, in alphabetical order, the first years were called to be sorted. Hannah and Susan both went to Hufflepuff as before, and so on until Hermione was called out.

Hermione calmly walked forward and allowed the hat to be placed on her head. It was though her invisible crown didn't exist. But something was different this time. Very different. Immediately, the Sorting Hat gasped in her mind, but thankfully remained unchanged in appearance.

"No!" She heard Hogwarts yell. "You will not ruin this girl, Hat!" and with what she could only describe as a swift mental struggle, Hogwarts dueled with the Hat. The Hat was screaming that he couldn't control himself, that Dumbledore had bewitched it. With a huff of annoyance, Hogwarts appeared to change her strategy. Within moments the Hat had calmed itself, Dumbledore's power over it broken. All within a second.

"My apologies your Highness," The Sorting Hat said in her mind. "Dumbledore has had me under his control for many years, putting certain students where he sees fit. But no more. While you are the Heir to Ravenclaw, it is not where you truly belong. You have the heart of a lioness, and so that is where you belong. Fear not Princess. Dumbledore will not know of your secrets." Out loud, the Sorting Hat called out Gryffindor, and Hermione went to sit at her old House. When she sat down, Hermione gave a meaningful look at her friends, but it wasn't necessary. Hogwarts explained the situation to Harry and Neville. There wasn't a way to tell Draco about it just yet, so they would tell him what had occurred later

Harry and Neville once again heard the groan of annoyance come from Ron. After a few minutes, Neville was called out to be sorted.

"Ah yes, another Heir. And another heart of a lion. Tell me little one, do you want to be sorted into Gryffindor? For this is where Dumbledore wants to put you." The Sorting Hat mentally asked Neville. Neville was certain that he wanted to be in Gryffindor, and the Hat called out so. Neville sat across from Hermione, before looking back to watch the rest of the sorting.

Within moments it was Draco's turn to be sorted. The blond haired boy was curious to see where he would go.

"A friend of the Heir's I see. Their secret is safe with me," The Hat quickly stated when he felt Draco's surprise. "Young man, you are very difficult to place, for you have many qualities befitting all of the House's… but I sense that it is Slytherin where you are needed." And so, Draco was once again placed into his original House to the cheers of his old Housemates.

Despite the Sorting Hat being freed, the Sorting ceremony was going just as it had before. Harry suspected that this was because Dumbledore didn't have plans for every student, and the only one so far that he could have influenced in the original timeline was Neville, and potentially Draco.

"Potter, Harry." Professor McGonagall finally called out. A hush washed over the Great Hall, before the muttering began. Harry? The Harry Potter?

Ignoring the whispers, Harry confidently walked forward to the stool. As the Hat was placed on his head, he heard the Hat chuckle. " My my Mister Potter, I've never seen a first year command so much respect before he has even been sorted. The Heir to both Gryffindor and Slytherin. And yet again, Gryffindor is where you belong… How curious. I'm sure the castle will fill me in on the details when she is finished fortifying my mind. But for now…".

"Gryffindor!" The hall erupted as it did before, with the same cat calls from Fred and George. Harry sat down next to Hermione, shaking hands with those around him. He saw Dumbledore raise his glass to him, and gave nothing in response.

The rest of the sorting ceremony went on, until there were only a few students left. Ron was the second to last student to be sorted, before Blaise Zabini.

As the red haired boy had the Sorting Hat placed on his head, Harry could tell that something was different. Ron started going pale, and shook his head in denial once. Quicker than his original sorting, the Hat called out his House.

"Slytherin!"

Ron seemed to be in shock. He hadn't moved from his seat, and appeared to be on the verge of tears. After a moment, one of the Slytherin Prefects moved to drag Ron to his table. Draco was trying his hardest not to laugh, and made sure that there was at least one other Slytherin first year between him and Ron. He needn't worry though; Ron was silent during the entire feast, barely touching the feast in front of him.

Harry, Hermione, and Neville shared an amused look. It seemed that Ron was finally where he deserved to be. At least they wouldn't have to deal with him in the dorms anymore. And maybe the Slytherin upperclassman would knock some sense into the blithering idiot.

"Wait till mum hears about this" one of the Weasley twins, Fred, Hermione thought, was saying to his friends. "I'd pay a good galleon to see her lose her shit over it," George continued. Rather than being upset at their brothers sorting, the twins seemed elated, like it was the greatest prank they had seen all year. Percy had a small frown on his face, but didn't say a word about the situation.

Dumbledore stood up and said his piece, saying his random words of the year. "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" But this time, Harry didn't laugh. Everything Dumbledore did had some sort of meaning, he had come to learn. Everything was deliberate. So what was the point of these words? And as before, they were warned about the corridor that was out of bounds.

Harry enjoyed the feast as much as he had the first time he experienced it. There was always something special about the Sorting feast, with the excitement of the first years fuelling the atmosphere. He could hear a low humming in the back of his mind. Hogwarts was content, elated with her newest additions.

Professor Quirrell sat at the teachers table, with no indication that a part of Voldemort's soul had taken up residence on the back of his head. Harry wasn't concerned with the man yet. There was nothing they could do until he had the cloak of invisibility back. And in the meantime, the part of Voldemort's soul was too weak to be able to do any harm to anyone. It felt odd knowing that they were all that close to the darkest wizard of their time however.

Nearly Headless Nick sighed loudly after awhile, the mounds of food making him envious. "Oh how I do wish I could taste real food again," the would be huntsman exclaimed.

"What was your favourite meal in life Sir Nicholas?" Hermione asked, making sure to use his proper title.

"A well cooked side of beef, with lots of gravy and bread. Not the most elegant of dishes mind you, but it warmed my soul. And who are you young lady? I do so love it when students use my name properly." Sir Nicholas smiled as he spoke to Hermione.

"Hermione Granger, pleased to make your acquaintance good Sir" Hermione replied, slightly bowing in her seat. She had gotten along with the ghost in the original timeline, and having a ghost on their side was a very good connection to have.

All too soon, the feast was over. Dumbledore rose from his throne like chair, tapping on his glass. After wishing his students a good year and a peaceful sleep, he bid the prefects to rise and stay behind as the rest of the upperclassman left the hall for their dorms. Harry could see that Ron was nearly in tears as he joined the likes of Crabbe and Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott.

Percy led the first year Gryffindors on the same route as the original timeline, sticking to the same speech that he had obviously been practicing. Once they made it to the Gryffindor common rooms, Harry and Neville said their goodnights to Hermione. It was strange to all of them to be back in such a familiar place after seeing it all be destroyed by war. However, with a bit of a mental lullaby from Hogwarts, they all slept very well that night.