A/N:
I know I kept changing P.O.V's in the last chapter but I had major writers block and couldn't focus on just one P.O.V. and I will change to different perspectives in this chapter which consists of the sorting ceremony.
Harry P.O.V:
Harry couldn't believe it as he stepped off the train. He was almost at Hogwarts. He wouldn't have to listen to his uncle Vernon saying that he was a freak just like his parents, that he didn't deserve new glasses or new clothes because Dudley's would fit him, for almost a year. Grinning he looked around and saw Bella, who had pulled her hair into two separate braids instead of the loose braid that hung over her shoulder, about two metres away with three other boys their age, smiling slightly as she continually changed her hair, clearly nervous.
"First years! First years this way!" A loud booming voice Harry recognised as belonging to Hagrid shouted, causing Harry to loose Bella in the swarm of first years that walked towards Hagrid. "Alright there, Harry."
"Hi Hagrid." Harry said before Hagrid turned around and led Harry and the rest of the first years towards what appeared to be a giant lake.
"Alright, no more than four to a boat." Hagrid said, stepping into a boat and taking up the whole space when he sat down.
Following Ron, a sandy haired boy, and another boy who reminded Harry of a shorter, slimmer version of his cousin Dudley, Harry sat down and caught sight of Bella, her bright hot pink hair giving her away as it slowly turned to a dark auburn, sitting in a boat with the three boys she was laughing with on the platform before the boats started moving.
Bella's P.O.V:
Bella was nervous as she took her first steps into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Having read about it Hogwarts: A History, she knew it was big but she didn't know just how big it was. Scrunching her nose up and changing her hair colour from auburn to bright hot pink to a dark brown almost black colour and rolling her eyes as a group of other first years around her gasped at her change in hair colour as they barely noticed Hagrid leaving them with Professor McGonagall who lead them into a large room near an even larger room just inside of the entrance where Bella could hear voices coming from a room directly in front of them and in front of an extremely large staircase that Bella noticed led to the upper floors.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall said once inside the room she had guided the first first years to. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While at Hogwarts, your house will be your family, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."
Bella noticed that Professor McGonagall had looked at her when she told everyone to smarten up. Sighing as she grabbed one of her braids, she noticed that it taken on a dull bubblegum pink as McGonagall had spoken. Scrunching her nose again Bella willed her hair to take on its natural auburn, and smiling slightly as it took on a dark auburn, right as about half a dozen ghosts floated through the walls discussing something and not noticing the frightened first years.
Bella was getting more nervous as the minutes ticked by. So nervous that she didn't hear the ghosts talking to the first year students or hear when McGonagall walked back into the room and told the ghosts to leave and started ushering the first years to follow her.
Glancing around as they formed a line, Bella noticed as her and the rest of the first years followed McGonagall into the Great Hall that she was standing next to Draco. Bella hoped that she would be in the same house as him, but didn't want to be separated from Harry.
"See that boy next to Isabella?" Bella heard Ron whispering from behind her making Bella stay focused on keeping her hair the dark auburn that was her natural hair colour. "That's Draco Malfoy. His parents were some of the first to come back to our side just before You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark side."
Bella rolled her eyes. In the letter her mother wrote to her before she had died, it had been explained that the Malfoy's had in fact been bewitched, and Draco had been the cause of the bewitchments to become less effective on Draco's mother, Mrs Malfoy, meaning the bewitchments also became less effective on Mr Malfoy as well because Mr and Mrs Malfoy were Soul Mates. That and the fact that Bella and Draco were Soul Mates had helped the Malfoy's to realise their mistake in joining the Death Eaters and become double agents for an organisation Bella's mother had called the Order of the Phoenix.
Grabbing the edge of her sleeves in her fingers, Bella became more nervous as Professor McGonagall told her and the rest of the first years to stand in a line facing the rest of the school with their backs to the professors. Her eyes darted around and Bella noticed that the rest of the school were sitting on four tables that were similar to the teachers table with golden golden plates and goblets placed in front of each student, which seemed to shine in the light that emitted from the candles floating in mid air.
"It's enchanted to look like the night sky." Bella heard someone whisper as she looked up at the ceiling which seemed to resemble the night sky.
Just then Professor McGonagall placed a four legged stool and a hat in front of the new first years. Bella's shoulders slumped in relief - it seemed all the first years had to do was try on the hat before going to their respective houses.
Stupid idiots. Bella thought, thinking about the twins, Fred and George as the Sorting Hat started singing. Trying to get me to believe that we would have to face something like a troll, even if it was funny that Ron believed it who in turn tried to get Harry and I to believe it.
Draco's P.O.V:
Draco was nervous as he listened to Professor McGonagall go through the list of names of the first years after the Sorting Hat had sang a song. He really wanted to be placed in Slytherin, but as he glanced to his left and saw Bella struggling to keep her hair in what appeared to be her natural dark auburn as McGonagall got closer to her name he couldn't help but hope that she would be placed in Slytherin as well, or at least be placed with her brother.
"Malfoy, Draco." McGonagall called out and Draco swaggered forward and sat down.
"SLYTHERIN!" The Sorting Hat called as the hat barely touched his head and cheering could be heard from the Slytherin table.
Walking towards the Slytherin table, Draco ignored everything until Harry was called.
"That's Harry Potter?" Draco heard a couple of the older students mumble as Harry walked up to be sorted.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat shouted after almost five minutes to loud applause from the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff tables.
"Potter, Isabella!" Professor McGonagall called reading from the parchment, causing Draco to smirk as he watched Bella's hair turn a bright vivid red in her anger before it started continually changing colours in her nervousness as she moved out of the line of first years and moved to sit on the stool.
"Isabella Potter a Metamorphmagus?" Draco heard a couple of the older Slytherin's whispering as he watched McGonagall place the Sortung Hat on Bella's head, and she waited to be sorted.
Bella's P.O.V:
"Hmm, I can see that you have the mind of a Gryffindor, but you have a lot of bitterness to your adopted parents, do you not? You also have a resourceful, ambitious and cunning nature. That fuels the Slytherin part of you … hmm?" The Sorting Hat said. Bella was confused a bit. Slytherin? Her? Sure, she held some resentment to her adopted parents for not telling her she was adopted and had a twin brother, but she didn't think it would have any effect on which house she was going to be in.
"SLYTHERIN!" The Sorting Hat announced, the answer ringing loudly through the Great Hall as Bella's hair suddenly turned a bright emerald green with silver streaks.
Clapping from the Slytherin table was the only thing heard in the room. Bella glanced at Harry who smiled nervously as he and the Weasley twins clapped while Bella gulped nervously at being separated from her brother.
"We got Potter! We got Potter!" A couple of the older Slytherin's yelled uncharacteristically as Professor McGonagall removed the Sorting Hat.
Bella was shocked, but happy. She was in the same house as her Soul Mate. Smiling, she walked towards the Slytherin table and sat down facing Draco Malfoy who was smiling at her timidly.
"You're a metamorphmagus, aren't you?" Draco whispered, looking at Bella's green and silver hair and smiling wider as Bella nodded shyly as Blaise Zabini got sorted into Slytherin and sat next to her just before Dumbledore stood up.
"Welcome!" Dumbledore said as everyone in the hall became quiet. "Welcome to a new year of Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
Everybody clapped as Dumbledore sat back down, much to Bella's surprise. She didn't know whether to laugh or not.
"Is he - a bit mad?" Blaise asked looking between Theo, who Bella noticed was sitting next to Draco across the table, and Bella who still didn't know whether to laugh or not.
"Mad?" A prefect, who was sitting on Bella's right hand side, asked. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world. But he is a bit mad, yes. Ravenclaw, seem to think he'll loose his mind at some point, yet he hasn't."
At this, Bella really did laugh as food appeared in front of her and along the rest of the table.
Harry's P.O.V:
Harry looked over at the Slytherin table, and saw that Bella was laughing with the three boys that she had been with on one of the boats. A ghost with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained silver with blood seemed to floating between Bella and another first year.
"That's The Bloody Baron." Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, said.
"How did he get covered in blood?" Seamus, the sandy-haired boy that took the same boat across the lake as Harry, asked.
"I never asked." Nearly Headless Nick said delicately.
"Percy, who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Harry asked suddenly looking at the staff table and seeing the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, who Harry remembered seeing at The Leaky Cauldron sitting next to a hook-nosed teacher who seemed to be looking straight past Quirrell's turban and straight into Harry's eyes.
"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape. He's also the Head of your sisters house."
Over the next hour, the food had disappeared to be replaced by an assortment of puddings, but then the puddings disappeared as well and Dumbledore had gotten to his feet again as the hall fell silent.
"Ahem - just a few more words since we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins. "I have been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to to die a very painful death."
Draco's P.O.V:
Draco rose to his feet as the two fifth year prefects told him and the rest of the Slytherin first years to follow them to the Slytherin common room and glancing at Bella who was laughing with Blaise as she kept changing her hair colour.
"What the…?" Draco heard Blaise mumble as the two fifth years stopped in front of a blank stretch of stone wall and turned towards the nervous first years.
"This is the entrance to the common room. The password to the common room changes every two weeks and you will be able to find the password on the common room on the notice board. If you have family in other houses, which is uncommon but not unheard of, you will not be able to visit each other in your respective common rooms, but will no doubt see each at meal times and during breaks. The current password is Slytherin." The male prefect said and Draco noticed that he glanced at Bella who seemed upset by this as her hair continued to change colour as the prefect gave the password and the first years followed both prefects into the common room.
"Girls, your rooms are on the right, and boys your rooms are on the left." This time it was the female prefect who had spoken up as they came to a stop in front of a set of double doors. "Boys aren't aloud in the girls dormitories. If they do enter then they will be made to exit the room. First years are also expected to be back in the common room no later than seven in the evening."